did not think much of that fellow; his early associations had evidently
been bad; he was entirely too old, anyway. What the army needed, above
all things, were young, vigorous, dashing officers; but he supposed,
notwithstanding all this, that we should have to do something for the
Sergeant. He had rendered important service to the country by carrying
the honored President of our Board in his arms, and but for the timely
doses of catnip tea, administered by the Sergeant's mother, the gallant
knight of the black horse and pepper-and-salt colt would have been
unknown. "What do you say, gentlemen, to a second lieutenancy for
General Beatty's friend?"
"I shall vote for it," replied Stanley.
"Recommend him for a first lieutenancy," I suggested; and they did.
In the evening I had a long and very pleasant conversation with the
Sergeant. He had fought under Bradley in the Patriot war at Point au
Pelee; served five years in the regular army during the Florida war,
and two years in the Mexican war. His name is Daniel Rodabaugh. He has
been in the United States service as a soldier for nine years, and
richly deserves the position for which we recommended him.
SEPTEMBER, 1863.
1. Closed up the business of the Board, and at seven o'clock in the
evening (Tuesday) left Stevenson to rejoin the brigade. On the way to
the river I passed Colonel Stanley's brigade of our division. The air
was thick with dust. It was quite dark when I crossed the bridge. The
brigade had started on the march hours before, but I thought best to
push on and overtake it. After getting on the wrong road and riding
considerably out of my way, I finally found the right one, and about ten
o'clock overtook the rear of the column. The two armies will face each
other before the end of the week. General Lytle's brigade is bivouacking
near me. I have a bad cold, but otherwise am in good health.
3. We moved from Moore's Spring, on the Tennessee, in the morning, and
after laboring all day advanced less than one mile and a quarter. We
were ascending Sand mountain; many of our wagons did not reach the
summit.
4. With two regiments I descended into Lookout valley and bivouacked at
Brown's Springs about dark. Our transportation, owing to the darkness
and extreme badness of the roads, remained on the top of the mountain.
I have no blankets, and nothing to eat except one ear of corn which one
of the colored boys roasted for me. Wrapped in my overcoat, about nine
o'clock, I lay down on the ground to sleep; but a terrible toothache
took hold of me, and I was compelled to get up and find such relief as I
could in walking up and down the road. The moon shone brightly, and many
camp-fires glimmered in the valley and along the side of the mountain.
It was three o'clock in the morning before gentle sleep made me
oblivious to aching teeth and head, and all the other aches which had
possession of me.
5. A few deserters come in to us, but they bring little information of
the enemy. We are now in Georgia, twenty miles from Chattanooga by the
direct road, which, like all roads here, is very crooked, and difficult
to travel. The enemy is, doubtless, in force very near, but he makes no
demonstrations and retires his pickets without firing a gun. The
developments of the next week or two will be matters for the historian.
Sheridan's division is just coming into the valley; what other troops
are to cross the mountain by this road I do not know. As I write, heavy
guns are heard off in the direction of Chattanooga. The roads are
extremely dusty. This morning I consigned to the flames all letters
which have come to me during the last two months.
I have just returned from a ride up the valley to the site of the
proposed iron works of Georgia. Work on the railroad, on the mountain
roads, and on the furnaces, was suspended on our approach. The negroes
and white laborers were run off to get them beyond our reach. The hills
in the vicinity of the proposed works are undoubtedly full of iron; the
ore crops out so plainly that it is visible to all passers. Here the
Confederacy proposed to supply its railroads with iron rail, an article
at present very nearly exhausted in the South. Had the Georgians
possessed common business sense and common energy, extensive furnaces
would have been in operation in this valley years ago; and now, instead
of a few poorly cultivated corn-fields, with here and there a cabin, the
valley and hillsides would be overflowing with population and wealth.
We returned from the site of the iron works by way of Trenton, the seat
of justice of Dade county. Reynolds and Sheridan are encamped near
Trenton. I feel better since my ride.
6. (Sunday.) Marched to Johnson's Crook, and bivouacked, at nightfall,
at McKay's Spring, on the north side of Lookout mountain; here my
advance regiment, the Forty-second Indiana, had a slight skirmish with
the enemy, in which one man was wounded.
7. We gained the summit of Lookout mountain, and the enemy retired to
the gaps on the south side.
8. Started at four o'clock in the morning and pushed for Cooper's Gap.
Surprised a cavalry picket at the foot of the mountain, in McLemore's
Cove, Chattanooga valley. In this little affair we captured five
sabers, one revolver, one carbine, one prisoner, and seriously wounded
one man.
While standing on a peak of Lookout, we saw far off to the east long
lines of dust trending slowly to the south, and inferred from this that
Bragg had abandoned Chattanooga, and was either retiring before us or
making preparations to check the center and right of our line.
9. Marched up the valley to Stephen's Gap and rejoined the division.
10. Our division marched across McLemore's Cove to Pigeon mountain,
found Dug Gap obstructed, and the enemy in force on the right, left, and
front. The skirmishers of the advance brigade, Colonel Surwell's, were
engaged somewhat, and during the night information poured in upon us,
from all quarters, that the enemy, in strength, was making dispositions
to surround and cut us off before reinforcements could arrive.
11. Two brigades of Baird's division joined us about 10 A. M. Five
thousand of the enemy's cavalry were reported to be moving to our left
and rear; soon after, his infantry appeared on our right and left, and,
a little later, in our front. From the summit of Pigeon mountain, the
rebels could observe all our movements, and form a good estimate of our
entire force. Our immense train, swelled now by the transportation of
Baird's division to near four hundred wagons, compelled us to select
such positions as would enable us to protect the train, and not such as
were most favorable for making an offensive or defensive fight.
It was now impossible for Brannan and Reynolds to reach us in time to
render assistance. General Negley concluded, therefore, to fall back,
and ordered me to move to Bailey's Cross-roads, and await the passage of
the wagon train to the rear. The enemy attacked soon after, but were
held in check until the transportation had time to return to Stephens'
Gap.
12. We expected an attack this morning, but, reinforcements arriving,
the enemy retired. This afternoon Brannan made a reconnoissance, but the
result I have not ascertained; there was, however, no fighting.
I am writing this in the woods, where we are bivouacking for the night.
For nearly two weeks, now, I have not had my clothes off; and for
perhaps not more than two nights of the time have I had my boots and
spurs off. I have arisen at three o'clock in the morning and not lain
down until ten or eleven at night. My appetite is good and health
excellent. Last night my horse fell down with me, and on me, but strange
to say only injured himself.
We find great numbers of men in these mountains who profess to be loyal.
Our army is divided--Crittenden on the left, our corps (Thomas) in the
center, and McCook far to the right. The greatest danger we need
apprehend is that the enemy may concentrate rapidly and fight our widely
separated corps in detail. Our transportation, necessarily large in any
case, but unnecessarily large in this, impedes us very much. The roads
up and down the mountains are extremely bad; our progress has therefore
been slow, and the march hither a tedious one. The brigade lies in the
open field before me in battle line. The boys have had no time to rest
during the day, and have done much night work, but they hold up well. A
katydid has been very friendly with me to-night, and is now sitting on
the paper as if to read what I have written.
17. Marched from Bailey's Cross-roads to Owensford on the Chickamauga.
18. Ordered to relieve General Hazen, who held position on the road to
Crawfish Springs; but as he had received no orders, and as mine were but
verbal, he declined to move, and I therefore continued my march and
bivouacked at the springs.
About midnight I was ordered to proceed to a ford of the Chickamauga and
relieve a brigade of Palmer's division, commanded by Colonel Grose. The
night was dark and the road crooked. About two in the morning I reached
the place; and as Colonel Grose's pickets were being relieved and mine
substituted, occasional shots along the line indicated that the enemy
was in our immediate front.
CHICKAMAUGA.
19. At an early hour in the morning the enemy's pickets made their
appearance on the east side of the Chickamauga and engaged my
skirmishers. Some hours later he opened on us with two batteries, and a
sharp artillery fight ensued. During this engagement, the Fifteenth
Kentucky, Colonel Taylor, occupied an advanced position in the woods on
the low ground, and the shots of the artillery passed immediately over
it. I rode down to this regiment to see that the men were not disturbed
by the furious cannonading, and to obtain at the same time a better view
of the enemy. While thus absent, Captain Bridges, concluding that the
Confederate guns were too heavy for him, limbered up and fell back.
Hastening to the hill, I sent Captain Wilson with an order to Bridges to
return; and, being reinforced soon after by three pieces of Shultz's
First Ohio Battery, we opened again on the advancing columns of the
enemy, when they fell back precipitately, evidently concluding that the
lull in our firing and withdrawal of our artillery were simply devices
to draw them on.
In this affair eight men of the infantry were wounded; and Captain
Bridges had two men killed, nine wounded, and lost twelve horses.
About five o'clock in the afternoon I was directed to withdraw my picket
line--which had been greatly extended in order to connect with troops on
the left--as silently and carefully as possible, and return to Crawfish
Springs. Arriving at the springs, the boys were allowed time to fill
their canteens with water, when we pushed forward on the Chattanooga
road to a ridge near Osbern's, where we bivouacked for the night.
There had been heavy fighting on our left during the whole afternoon;
and while the boys were preparing supper, a very considerable engagement
was occurring not far distant to the east and south of us. Elsewhere an
occasional volley of musketry, and boom of artillery, with scattered
firing along an extended line indicated that the two grand armies were
concentrating for battle, and that the morrow would give us hot and
dangerous work.
20. (Sunday.) At an early hour in the morning I was directed to move
northward on the Chattanooga road and report to General Thomas. He
ordered me to go to the extreme left of our line, form perpendicularly
to the rear of Baird's division, connecting with his left. I disposed of
my brigade as directed. Baird's line appeared to run parallel with the
road, and mine running to the rear crossed the road. On this road and
near it I posted my artillery, and advanced my skirmishers to the edge
of the open field in front of the left and center of my line. The
position was a good one, and my brigade and the one on Baird's left
could have co-operated and assisted each other in maintaining it.
Fifteen minutes after this line was formed, Captain Gaw, of General
Thomas' staff, brought me a verbal order to advance my line to a ridge
or low hill (McDaniel's house), fully one-fourth of a mile distant. I
represented to him that in advancing I would necessarily leave a long
interval between my right and Baird's left, and also that I was already
in the position which General Thomas himself told me to occupy. He
replied that the order to move forward was imperative, and that I
was to be supported by Negley with the other two brigades of his
division. I could object no further, although the movement seemed
exceedingly unwise, and, therefore, pushed forward my men as rapidly
as possible to the point indicated. The Eighty-eighth Indiana (Colonel
Humphreys), on the left, moved into position without difficulty. The
Forty-second Indiana (Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre), on its right, met
with considerable opposition in advancing through the woods, but
finally reached the ridge. The One Hundred and Fourth Illinois
(Lieutenant-Colonel Hapeman), and Fifteenth Kentucky (Colonel Taylor),
on the right, became engaged almost immediately and advanced slowly. The
enemy in strong force pressed them heavily in front and on the right
flank.
At this time I sent an aid to request General Baird or General King to
throw a force in the interval between my right and their left, and
dispatched Captain Wilson to the rear to hasten forward General Negley
to my support. My regiment on the right was confronted by so large a
force that it was compelled to fall back, which it did in good order,
contesting the ground stoutly. About this time a column of the enemy,
_en masse_, on the double quick, pressed into the interval between the
One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and Forty-second Indiana, and turned
with the evident intention of capturing the latter, which was then
busily engaged with the rebels in its front; but Captain Bridges opened
on it with grape and canister, when it broke and fell back in disorder
to the shelter of the woods. The Forty-second Indiana, but a moment
before almost surrounded, was thus enabled to fight its way to the left
and unite with the Eighty-eighth. Soon after this the enemy made another
and more furious assault upon the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois and
Fifteenth Kentucky, and, driving them back, advanced to within fifty
yards of my battery, and poured into it a heavy fire, killing Lieutenant
Bishop, and killing or wounding all the men and horses belonging to his
section, which consequently fell into rebel hands. Captain Bridges and
his officers, by the exercise of great courage and coolness, succeeded
in saving the remainder of the battery. It was in this encounter that
Captain LeFevre, of my staff, was killed, and Lieutenant Calkins, also
of the staff, was wounded.
The enemy having now gained the woods south of the open field and west
of the road, I opposed his further progress as well as I could with the
Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois; but as he had
two full brigades, the struggle on our part seemed a hopeless one.
Fortunately, at this juncture, I discovered a battery on the road in our
rear (I think it was Captain Goodspeed's), and at my request the Captain
ordered it to change front and open fire. This additional opposition
served for a time to entirely check the enemy.
The Eighty-eighth and Forty-second Indiana, compelled, as their officers
claim, to make a detour to the left and rear, in order to escape capture
or utter annihilation, found General Negley, and were ordered to remain
with him, and finally to retire with him in the direction of Rossville.
This, however, I did not ascertain until ten hours later in the day.
Firing having now ceased in my front, and being the only mounted officer
or mounted man present, I left the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred
and Fourth Illinois temporarily in charge of Colonel Taylor, and hurried
back to see General Thomas or Negley, and urge the necessity for more
troops to enable me to re-establish the line. On the way, and before
proceeding far, I met the Second Brigade of our division, Colonel
Stanley, advancing to my support. Had it reached me an hour earlier, I
feel assured that I would have been able to maintain the position which
I had just been compelled to abandon. I directed Colonel Stanley to form
a line of battle at once, at right angles with the road and on its left,
facing north. Returning to Colonel Taylor, I ordered him to fall back
with the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and
form in rear of the left of Stanley's line, as a support to it. Soon
after we had got our lines adjusted, the enemy pressed back the
skirmishers of the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred and Fourth
Illinois, who had not been retired with the regiments, and, following
them up, drove in also the skirmish line of Stanley's brigade, whereupon
the Eleventh Michigan (Colonel Stoughton), and the Eighteenth Ohio
(Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor), gave him a well-directed volley, which
brought him to a halt. Our whole line then opened at short range, and he
wavered. I gave the order to advance, then to charge, and the brigade
rushed forward with a yell, drove the enemy fully one-fourth of a mile,
strewing the ground with his dead and wounded, and capturing many
prisoners. Among the latter was General Adams, the commander of a
Louisiana brigade.
Finding now that Colonel Taylor had not followed the movement with his
regiment and the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois, and seeing the
necessity for some support for a single line so extended, I hastened to
the rear, and, being unable to find Taylor where I had left him, I
induced four regiments, of I know not what command, which I found idle
in the woods, to move forward and form a second line.
At this time Captain Wilson, whom I had sent to General Negley some time
before the Second Brigade reached me, to inform him of my position and
need of assistance, returned, and brought from him a verbal order to
retire to the hill in the rear and join him. Convinced that the
withdrawal of the troops at this time from the position occupied might
endanger the whole left wing of the army, I thought best to defer the
execution of this order until I could see General Negley and explain to
him the necessity of maintaining and reinforcing it with the other
brigade of our division. But before Captain Wilson could find either
Colonel Taylor, who had in charge the Fifteenth Kentucky and One Hundred
and Fourth Illinois, or General Negley, the enemy made a fierce attack
on Stanley's brigade and forced it back. The unknown brigade which I had
posted in the rear to support it retired with unseemly haste, and
without firing a shot.
At this juncture frightened soldiers and occasional shots were coming
from the right and rear of our line, indicating that the right wing of
the army had either been thrown back or changed position. Stanley's
brigade, considerably scattered and shattered by the last furious
assault of the enemy, was gathered up by its officers and retired to the
ridge on the right and to the rear of the original line of battle.
Wilson and I made diligent efforts to find Taylor, but were unable to do
so. I was greatly provoked at his retirement without consulting me, and
at a time, too, when his presence was so greatly needed to support
Stanley. But later in the day I ascertained from him that he had been
ordered by Major Lowrie, General Negley's chief of staff, to join Negley
and retire with him to Rossville. He also had much to say about saving
many pieces of artillery; but it occurred to me that his presence on the
field was of much more importance than a few pieces of trumpery
artillery off the field. Why, at any rate, did he not notify me of the
order which he had received from the division commander? The charge of
Stanley's brigade had not occupied to exceed thirty minutes, and as soon
as it was ended I had returned to find him gone. The Colonel, however,
did, doubtless, what he conceived to be his duty, and for the best. His
courage had been tested on too many occasions to allow me to think that
anything but an error of judgment, or possibly the belief that under any
circumstances he was bound to obey the order of the major-general
commanding the division, could have induced him to abandon me.
Supposing my regiments and General Negley to be still on the field, I
again dispatched Captain Wilson in search of them, and in the meantime
stationed myself near a fragment of the Second Brigade of our division,
and gave such general directions to the troops about me as under the
circumstances I felt warranted in doing. I found abundant opportunity to
make myself useful. Gathering up scattered detachments of a dozen
different commands, I filled up an unoccupied space on the ridge between
Harker, of Wood's division, on the left, and Brannan, on the right, and
this point we held obstinately until sunset. Colonel Stoughton, Eleventh
Michigan; Lieutenant-Colonel Rappin, Nineteenth Illinois;
Lieutenant-Colonel Grosvenor, Eighteenth Ohio; Colonel Hunter,
Eighty-second Indiana; Colonel Hays and Lieutenant-Colonel Wharton,
Tenth Kentucky; Captain Stinchcomb, Seventeenth Ohio; and Captain
Kendrick, Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania, were there, each having a few men
of their respective commands; and they and their men fought and
struggled and clung to that ridge with an obstinate, persistent,
desperate courage, unsurpassed, I believe, on any field. I robbed the
dead of cartridges and distributed them to the men; and once when, after
a desperate struggle, our troops were driven from the crest, and the
enemy's flag waved above it, the men were rallied, and I rode up the
hill with them, waving my hat, and shouting like a madman. Thus we
charged, and the enemy only saved his colors by throwing them down the
hill. However much we may say of those who held command, justice compels
the acknowledgment that no officer exhibited more courage on that
occasion than the humblest private in the ranks.
About four o'clock we saw away off to our rear the banners and
glittering guns of a division coming toward us, and we became agitated
by doubt and hope. Are they friends or foes? The thunder, as of a
thousand anvils, still goes on in our front. Men fall around us like
leaves in autumn. Thomas, Garfield, Wood, and others are in consultation
below the hill just in rear of Harker. The approaching troops are said
to be ours, and we feel a throb of exultation. Before they arrive we
ascertain that the division is Steedman's; and finally, as they come up,
I recognize my old friend, Colonel Mitchell, of the One Hundred and
Thirteenth. They go into action on our right, and as they press forward
the roar of the musketry redoubles; the battle seems to be working off
in that direction. There is now a comparative lull in our front, and I
ride over to the right, and become involved in a regiment which has been
thrown out of line and into confusion by another regiment that retreated
through it in disorder. I assist Colonel Mitchell in rallying it, and it
goes into the fight again. Returning to my old place, I find that
disorganized bodies of men are coming rapidly from the left, in
regiments, companies, squads, and singly. I meet General Wood, and ask
if I shall not halt and reorganize them. He tells me to do so; but I
find the task impossible. They do not recognize me as their commander,
and most of them will not obey my orders. Some few, indeed, I manage to
hold together; but the great mass drift by me to the woods in the rear.
The dead are lying every-where; the wounded are continually passing to
the rear; the thunder of the guns and roll of musketry are unceasing and
unabated until nightfall. Then the fury of the battle gradually dies
away, and finally we have a silence, broken only by a cheer here and
there along the enemy's line.
Wilson and I are together near the ridge, where we have been all the
afternoon. We have heard nothing of Negley nor of my regiments. We take
it for granted, however, that they are somewhere on the field. As the
night darkens we discover a line of fires off to our left and rear,
toward McDaniels' house. That is the place where Negley should have been
in the morning, and we conclude he must be there now.