SHERMAN STILL FLANKING.
Pine Mountain, and death of Gen. Polk--Georgia scenery--Before
Kenesaw--The unreturning brave--Marietta ours--Across the
Chattahoochee.
On the morning of the eleventh all was quiet. At an early hour we
advanced one mile, and formed in line of battle in front of the
enemy; and no demonstration having been made against us, we were
withdrawn at night, and went into camp till the 14th, during which
time nothing of interest took place, save the arrival of the cars
at Big Shanty with rations; and it made all feel better to know
that we were not expected to march and fight upon empty stomachs.
At noon on the 14th our division struck camp and marched to the
left three miles, formed our line of battle, and remained there
till the next day. Some skirmishing took place in front of Pine
Mountain, on which the rebel Gen. Polk was killed on the evening of
the 14th. He was one of the Bishops of the Episcopal Church before
the war, and possessed great influence in the South. In the army he
had attained the rank of Lieutenant-General, and was esteemed an
able officer. In company with some other commanders he had taken a
position on the mountain to observe our movements, when one of our
batteries opened upon them; they withdrew for a time, but curiosity
drew them back; and while engaged in conversation with his
companions, a shell struck him on the left arm, and passed through
his chest; of course he was killed instantly. These particulars
were obtained from a rebel officer who fell into our hands a few
days after.
On the 17th I ascended the mountain, the enemy having evacuated it,
and visited the spot where he fell. While there I had a fine view
of Lost and Kenesaw Mountains; and when I looked at their steep
sides from which their batteries were belching shot and shell,
it really seemed madness to think of attempting to make them our
own. Others might have looked at them with the eye of a tourist;
but I looked at them with reference to the difficulties which they
presented to our advance. Viewed as mere scenery, they present a
grand and imposing spectacle; but I thought of Tunnel Hill and
Rocky Face, and the struggle they had cost us, and then thought of
the lives that must be sacrificed before those embattled hights
which frowned before me could be ours. Mountains are beautiful,
sublime, and all that; to ascend them with pleasant company and
in delightful weather, and gaze from the summit at the lovely
landscape below, is full of delight; but we soldiers think of the
sheets of flame and the storm of bullets through which we must
press our way before those summits, standing out so boldly in the
sunlight, can be gained.
On the 17th we advanced over two lines of rebel works which were
evacuated the previous night; but soon were compelled to form in
line of battle, having come up with the enemy's pickets in front of
their strong fortifications--the Sixth Kentucky in the front line
as usual. We advanced slowly till night, driving the skirmishers
into their works, and advancing our own lines within close range
of the enemy's rifle pits, and spent most of the night in throwing
up works to protect ourselves, our position being quite an exposed
one in an open field. Next morning the rain began to fall, and
continued without intermission during the day; this, however,
did not prevent constant skirmishing and cannonading. About two
o'clock the enemy opened a battery which enfiladed our line of
works, rendering our position rather a warm one, notwithstanding
the drenching rain to which we were exposed. We remained here till
sundown, and were relieved only to take a position still further
to the front, where we had to build another line of works during
the night, in an open field, within close range of the rebel
sharp-shooters. I do not remember ever having known as much rain
to fall in a single day as on the preceding one; we had been two
days in the front line without being relieved, and were obliged
to cut green corn and weeds to keep us out of the mud and water
of the trenches, when we lay down for a few moments' rest. Early
next morning our skirmishers were thrown forward, who soon returned
and reported that the enemy had left during the night; a number of
deserters came into our lines during the day, and we also captured
a number of prisoners.
The enemy were driven that day to their works at the foot of
Kenesaw Mountain, and troops were in motion, and cannonading kept
up all night. In the morning the Sixth Kentucky was relieved from
picket, and formed in the front line, working at the intrenchments
till two o'clock, P. M., having been on picket duty the
twenty-four hours previous; and then, wearied as we were with labor
on the breast-works, were ordered into the front line of battle.
All this, however, was done cheerfully, and the rebels were driven
into their rifle pits, and our line of battle established within
six hundred yards of their works. Here we fortified ourselves
and remained till the second of July, when Kenesaw Mountain was
evacuated.
During all that time we had fighting, more or less, every day; our
picket lines were within seventy-five yards of the enemy's, and it
was dangerous for a man on either side to show his head above the
works. Our regiment was on picket every other day, as was every
regiment in our brigade--our lines being weakened to enable Gen.
Sherman to feel the enemy's flanks.
On the 23d of June Companies H and K were on picket, when it
was ordered to make a demonstration in our front; the line was
to advance at five. P. M., supported by the Ninety-Third Ohio
Volunteer Infantry. In obedience to orders the advance was made.
Capt. Owen was in command of the picket; but before they moved I
was ordered to send another officer to his assistance, and sent
Capt. Nierhoff. Our boys had scarcely got from behind their works
when the enemy opened a galling fire upon them; they advanced the
line, however, to the rifle pits, but with the loss of fifteen
men out of the thirty-five that were engaged--among the killed
was Capt. Nierhoff. Company H had four killed and eight wounded;
Company K had two wounded; the Ninety-Third Ohio lost forty-three
in killed and wounded. We held the position which we had gained at
such a sacrifice till dark, when our lines were withdrawn to their
original position. The bravery of the men was put to a severe test
by this movement; but it was, beyond doubt, ill-advised, as every
man knew that we were in full range of the rebels' main line of
works.
Several fierce contests took place while we were in front of
Kenesaw Mountain--one of the bloodiest of which took place on our
left, the sad and sickening traces of which remained till the enemy
retreated. On the night that the enemy evacuated their stronghold,
our brigade was ordered to relieve some troops on our left, and my
regiment was placed in the front line, so close to the enemy that
each party did picket duty from the main line of their respective
works, which were not more than one hundred yards apart. Across
this narrow space two charges had been made--one by the rebels, the
other by our men, in each case with severe loss to the charging
column; and the intervening space was now, several days after the
battle, thickly strewn with the swollen, disfigured, and putrefying
bodies of the gallant dead upon the very spot where they fell--blue
jackets and gray all intermingled, all silent and peaceful in their
last sleep, presenting the saddest spectacle I had witnessed amid
all the dreadful scenes of the war. The carnage must have been
terrible; but the gray uniforms far outnumbered the blue on that
sad field of the slain. The reason why they were left unburied is
said to have been the refusal of the rebel officer commanding that
part of the line to receive a flag of truce--such a wretch deserves
neither a soldier's grave nor a soldier's tear.
On the 3d of July the army moved in pursuit of the retreating foe;
and after marching ten miles went into camp near the railroad south
of Marietta. All was quiet for the first time for two weeks. The
evacuation of Kenesaw threw Marietta into our hands, which was
occupied immediately as a depot for supplies, and for the use of
our sick and wounded. This is said to be one of the most beautiful
of Southern cities, the town being well built, and the suburbs
adorned with dwellings eminently suggestive of comfort within,
and they certainly are outwardly beautiful. The Georgia Military
Institute occupies a beautiful and commanding situation south of
the town, and the inhabitants are a much superior class of people
to any we had as yet met with in our march through the State.
The scenery in the vicinity possesses the great charm of
variety--lovely valleys and mountains sublime--Kenesaw, Altoona,
and Lost Mountains being all in full view. Before the war this was
quite a manufacturing point. Churches and school-houses are more
abundant than in most portions of the South through which I have
passed, and I am convinced there are also not a few Union men.
On the morning of the 4th of July our brigade moved a mile to the
left, the enemy being near at hand. Line of battle was formed, with
the Sixth in the front line; fighting all day, the foe before us
in force and strongly fortified. We held our position till next
morning, when it was ascertained that Sherman had again succeeded
in his favorite flank movement, and the enemy was again forced to
leave his strong-holds and fall back, this time over Chattahoochee
River, into the first lines of his strong works for the defense
of Atlanta--only eight miles distant. The pursuit then began--my
regiment in the advance. During the day we came up with their
rear-guard, had some fighting, and captured some prisoners, and
reached the river in time to prevent the rebels from destroying
the bridge over which they crossed near Vining's Station. After
a little fighting, with the river between us, we were ordered to
fall back and pitch our camp. We remained there till the 10th,
our pickets on the north bank and the rebel pickets on the south.
Here we stopped five days; our batteries were located at the best
points, and the most furious cannonade that I had yet heard was
kept up both day and night. The sharp-shooters, too, were busy; nor
did the rebels permit us to do all the shooting with the big guns;
but planting their batteries, they fired with great precision--at
one time obtaining such a good range on the camp of the Sixth
Kentucky as to wound several of my men. At some points on the river
some of our boys and the "rebs" would get up an armistice, and gray
jackets and blue jackets would meet and mingle in the greatest
harmony, and in an hour or two would be pouring a deadly fire into
each other's ranks.
Our next move was to the left, and up the river, to effect a
crossing. We marched seven miles, and went into camp. The next day
we were ordered to cross; but when we reached the river we found
the bridge was not completed, which delayed us several hours. We
got over at length, marched about a mile and a half, and went into
camp. Next morning we changed our position, moving forward, and to
the right, upon an elevated point, upon which we soon erected a
strong line of works, behind which we lay till the 17th, when the
Third Division of the Fourth Army Corps was ordered to move down
the south side of the Chattahoochee as far as Vining's Station,
to dislodge the enemy, who was then in front of the Fourteenth
Corps, and hold the crossing till the pontoons were laid and the
army across. This we accomplished without the loss of a man, and
succeeded also in capturing some prisoners; and having finished our
work, returned the same night to our camp.