BATTLES OF LEESBURG, BELMONT, AND SHILOH.
Rebel Cruelty to Prisoners--The Fratricide--Grant Defeated--Saved by
Gunboats--Buell's Advance--Railroad Disaster--The South
Despondent--General Rosecrans--Secession will become Odious even in
the South--Poem.
BATTLE OF LEESBURG.
The battle of Leesburg was fought on the 21st of October, 1861. The
southern accounts of this battle were so contradictory, that I will not
give the various versions. One statement, however, all concur in--that
when the Federal troops retreated to the river, after being overpowered by
superior numbers, and had thrown down their arms, calling for quarter, no
mercy was shown them. Hundreds were bayoneted, or forced into the river
and drowned. The rebels clubbed their guns, and dashed out the brains of
many while kneeling at their feet and imploring mercy. I saw one ruffian
who boasted that he had bayoneted seven Yankee prisoners captured on that
occasion.
BATTLE OF BELMONT.
The battle of Belmont was fought on the 7th of November, 1861. I have
heard repeatedly from southern officers their version of the events which
occurred on that occasion. General McClernand, for the purpose of breaking
up the rebel camp at Belmont, attacked it in force at an early hour, and
completely routed the enemy, pursuing them to a considerable distance.
Returning, he destroyed completely the camp, but delaying too long, large
reinforcements were thrown over the river from Columbus, and the Federals
were compelled to retreat precipitately to their boats, not, however, till
they had fully accomplished the object of their mission. A scene occurred
on this field which exhibits one of the saddest phases of this internecine
strife. The incident was related to me by Mr. Tomlin, a lawyer of Jackson,
Tennessee, not unknown even in the North, who was personally acquainted
with the actors. Colonel Rogers, of an Illinois regiment, led his command
into action early in the contest. A Tennessee regiment opposed him with
fierceness for some time. At length they began to waver and exhibit
symptoms of disorder. At this moment their colonel, who had been unhorsed,
mounted a stump, and by an energetic and fervid address, rallied his men.
Again they began to falter, and again his burning words restored order.
Colonel Rogers believing that the safety of himself and regiment depended
upon the death of the Tennessee colonel, drew a pistol from his holsters,
rode up and deliberately shot him through the brain. The Tennesseeans
seeing their colonel fall, fled precipitately. On the return of the
Illinois troops, Colonel Rogers, impelled by curiosity, dismounted, and
scanning the features of the colonel whom his own hand had slain,
recognised his own brother. As the tide of battle had rolled past for the
moment, he ordered the corpse to be conveyed to a transport, on which it
was brought to Cairo, and thence borne to the stricken parents, who
mourned over and buried the remains of their brave but erring child, who
had met his fate at his brother's unconsciously fratricidal hand.
BATTLE OF SHILOH.
On April 6th, 1862, the sun rose clear; not a cloud was discernible in the
sky; it was truly a lovely Sabbath, even for a southern clime. Early in
the morning I took a walk with my little daughter, a child four years of
age, in whose prattle I was taking great interest. We had gone about one
hundred yards when my child exclaimed, "Pa, we must go back! it's going to
rain; don't you hear the thunder?" The sharp and stunning reports I soon
recognised to be the sound of cannon on the field of battle. The
cannonading continued incessantly during the day. The whole country became
intensely excited, and many citizens hastened to the battlefield, the
majority bent upon plunder. On Monday the battle still raged with
increasing fury. On Sabbath, General Grant had been completely surprised,
and would have lost his whole army but for the gunboats in the river.
These gunboats shelled the pursuing rebels, checking their advance, and
saving the discomfitted Federals. Buell arrived with his division on
Sabbath night, and on Monday the rebels were driven at every point during
the whole day, with great loss. When I heard the rebel officers state that
the gunboats lying in the Tennessee river had checked their pursuit, and
had committed great havoc amongst their troops, at the distance of nearly
three miles, I supposed that the rebel army had continued the pursuit till
they came in sight of the gunners on the boats, who then threw their
shells into their advancing columns, and my mistake was not corrected till
I saw the scene of action. A plateau extended from the river, where the
gunboats lay, to the hills, a distance of about one-quarter of a mile. The
hills rose to a considerable height, and were covered with a large growth,
and on their frowning summits the lofty trees seemed to intercept the
passing clouds. Grant's discomfitted and shattered army had taken refuge
on the plateau. Some had even thrown themselves into the river, and swam
across. Such was the position of affairs when the gunners threw their
shells over those lofty hills, and beyond them a distance of two miles,
into the midst of the rebels, checking their advance, and destroying them
by scores. Couriers constantly passed to and fro to give information of
the position of the enemy. All night long their shelling continued,
causing Beauregard to change his camp thrice. Thus,
"Bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there."
On Monday morning Buell's division advanced, and the tide was turned. The
rebels were driven from every position, and their loss was fearful; and
had pursuit been continued to Corinth, their whole army must have been
annihilated. General A. S. Johnson fell about three o'clock on the
Sabbath. The tibial artery had been severed--a wound not necessarily
fatal; but he remained in the saddle till he fainted from loss of blood,
and when borne from his horse by Governor Harris and others, survived but
twenty minutes. On Sabbath night Beauregard occupied, for a time, an old
Presbyterian church--a rude log edifice. The church was named Shiloh;
hence both Beauregard and General Grant, in their dispatches, named the
engagement the battle of Shiloh. I was in Rienzi as the wounded passed
down on the cars to the various hospitals below. They passed continually
for a month. On the 18th of April I went down to Macon, in Noxubee county.
A large number of wounded were on the train. A lady from the Female
Seminary in Aberdeen had been placed under my care. When we reached a
point six miles from Crawfordsville, I noticed a young man looking out in
an excited manner, and immediately after he jumped out and rolled down an
embankment. I was much surprised at his conduct, but soon the crashing of
the cars explained the cause. The train had been thrown from the track,
and was rushing down an embankment. Jumping from the cars now became
general. My lady friend arose, declaring that she also would leap from the
car. I caught and held her till the danger was over, and thus prevented
perhaps serious injury to her person, as all who jumped from the train
were more or less injured. On extricating ourselves from the debris of the
cars, an appalling sight met our view. The sick, wounded, dying, and dead,
were scattered promiscuously in every direction. Their groans and piercing
shrieks were heart-rending. The heavy fragments of the broken cars were
thrown upon their mangled limbs, and in many instances this disaster
completed what Shiloh had commenced. As we came down, I passed through the
train amongst the wounded. Some had lost an arm, several an upper lip, as
many an under lip. Through the body of one six balls had passed. They were
wounded in the feet, the hands, the head, and the body; and some who had
not been touched by ball or bullet were paralyzed by their proximity to
the exploding shells. Truly every battle is with confused noise and
garments rolled in blood. I remained some time at the destroyed train,
aiding in extricating those buried beneath the ruins. The extent of the
damage and destruction of life, I never accurately learned. It must,
however, have been great. The catastrophe was occasioned by a stick of
wood falling from the tender before the wheels of the adjacent car, which,
being thrown from the track, precipitated the whole train down the
embankment.
For weeks after the battle of Shiloh, little was done by Federals or
Confederates. The rebels firmly believed that Corinth could not be taken.
Its evacuation discouraged the people exceedingly. Nothing but disasters
had befallen them since the year commenced. Zollikoffer had been slain,
and Crittenden defeated, at Fishing Creek. Roanoke Island had been
captured. Forts Henry, Donelson, Pulaski, St. Philip, and Jackson had been
reduced. Island "No. 10" was taken, and New Orleans had fallen. The bloody
field of Shiloh had proved disastrous; and now, even Corinth, the boasted
Gibraltar of rebeldom, fortified by the "best engineer on the continent,"
and defended by the whole army of the southwest, had been evacuated. What,
under these circumstances, could resist the progress of Halleck to the
Gulf? Many saw the cause of these disasters in the fact that the rebel
generals had made their attacks upon the Union troops upon the Sabbath;
and all history confirms the truth that the army attacking on the Sabbath
is almost invariably defeated. Universal gloom and an all-pervading spirit
of despondency, brooded over the whole southern people. Had the rebel army
been crushed at Corinth, or had Beauregard been vigorously pursued, and
forced to fight or surrender, the war in the southwest would have been
terminated. General Rosecrans informed me that they could have crushed the
rebels at Corinth, and on my asking him why it was not done, he replied:
"It would have been done at the cost of many lives on both sides, and it
is not our desire to sacrifice life unnecessarily. Let Beauregard go down
to the swamps of Mississippi; he can do us no injury. It is not probable
that he will ever return to Corinth to attack us, and they must starve out
in a section which never produced enough to sustain its own population."
But Beauregard did not remain long in the swamps of Mississippi. He took
the flower of his army and hastened on to Richmond, to reinforce General
Lee, who immediately gave battle to McClellan, and drove him from the
Peninsula. Halleck should never have suffered McClellan to be compelled to
fight both Lee's forces and Beauregard's, whilst his own army was merely
protecting rebel property and consuming rations. I think General
Rosecrans, had he been in chief command, would not have thus acted; and
his statement to me was a mere apology for the conduct of his superior,
for his policy has ever been vigorous, and the rebels dread him more than
any living man. The lamented Lyon also inspired a similar wholesome dread.
I saw much of General Rosecrans. He is a genial, pleasant gentleman. He
seems desirous of accomplishing his end by the use of mild means; but if
these will not effect the object, the reverse policy is resorted to. The
rebels dread, yet respect him. He will do much to oblige a friend. I
desired at one time to go with my family beyond the Federal lines. General
Rosecrans went in person to General Pope to obtain a pass; but Pope's
orders were that no passes should be issued for a specified time. General
Rosecrans then asked and obtained permission to send one of his aids with
us, who conducted us beyond the pickets, a distance of five miles. This
act, the General remarked, was in consideration of the kindness I had
shown himself and staff while in Rienzi. The Federal generals committed a
great mistake in desiring to overrun the country without destroying the
rebel armies. A physician who drives a disease from one limb only to
appear in a more aggravated form in another, accomplishes nothing. And
when a general permits a hostile army to change its location as a
strategic movement, he has accomplished nothing, except giving aid and
comfort to the enemy. The rebels estimated their forces at the battle of
Shiloh at eighty thousand. Though considerable accessions had been
received, yet in consequence of sickness and desertion, their number was
about the same at the evacuation of Corinth. They lost about eleven
thousand, slain, wounded, and prisoners, in the battle.
War has a tendency to engender great bitterness of feeling between the
belligerents. The secessionists hate the northern people, but not with the
intensity of hatred which they exercise toward the Union-loving citizens
of the South. In South Carolina, in the days of nullification, the
nullifiers and Union men were very bitter in their hostility against each
other. After the suppression of nullification by General Jackson, the
cause being removed, the enmity ceased, and in a short time, the odium
attached to nullification became so great, that few would admit that they
had been nullifiers. Let the supremacy of the law and the Constitution be
enforced, and a few years hence, few, even in the South, will be found
willing to admit that they were secessionists. The descendants of the
Tories carefully conceal their genealogy; the descendants of the
secessionists will do the same. Slavery and secession will perish
together; and the classes of the South who have been fearfully injured by
both these heresies, will be fully compensated for their present distress
by the vast blessings which will accrue to themselves and posterity by the
abolition of an institution which has degraded labour, oppressed the poor
white man, opposed progress, retarded the development of the country's
resources, taken away the key of knowledge, caused every species of vice
to flourish, impoverished the people, enriched a favoured class at the
expense of the masses, caused woes unnumbered to a whole race--in short,
has been the prolific parent of fraud, oppression, lust, tyranny, murder,
and every other crime in the dark catalogue.
"We are living, we are dwelling
In a grand and awful time;
In an age, on ages telling,
To be living is sublime!
Hark! the waking up of nations,
Gog and Magog to the fray;
Hark! what soundeth--is creation
Groaning for its latter day?
Will ye play, then? will ye dally
With your music and your wine?
Up! it is Jehovah's rally!
God's own arm hath need of thine.
Hark! the onset! will ye fold your
Faith-clad arms in lazy lock;
Up! oh, up! thou drowsy soldier,
Worlds are charging to the shock!
Worlds are charging; heaven beholding;
Thou hast but an hour to fight;
Now the blazoned cross unfolding,
_On!_ right onward _for the right_.
_On!_ let all the soul within you,
For the truth's sake go abroad;
Strike! let every nerve and sinew
Tell on ages,--tell for God!"
SEE TO YOUR INTEREST!!
AMSTERDAM, _Jefferson co._, Ohio, _January 1, 1863_.
The undersigned tenders his thanks to his customers for their liberal
patronage in the past, and respectfully solicits its continuance.
He has recently made considerable additions to his stock of
DRY GOODS AND GROCERIES,
and he will endeavour to make it the interest of the citizens of Amsterdam
and vicinity to deal with him; nor will he permit his competitors to
surpass him in the cheapness and quality of his goods.
The _highest price_ will be paid for PRODUCE OF EVERY KIND, and _Cash_
will not be refused in payment for goods.
A word to the wise is sufficient.
DAVID AUGHEY.