UN!VE=U"M OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS HISTORICAL KOHEKT S MOOKE, < OI.ONEF,. HISTORY OF THK EIGHTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. COMPILED AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE REOIMENTAL ASSOCIATION, i>v HENRY J. ATEN, FIRST SKK<}EANT COMIIANY O ; MSMBEK OF THK JSOCIBxr OF THK AKMY OF THE CUMK_KL AND. HIAWATHA. KANSAS. 18O1. , 1901, In the years that have passed since the close of the War of the Rebellion there has been more or less talk among its members of a history of the regiment. Colonel Dilworth gave the subject much attention, and at one time had about decided to undertake the work. He had long commanded the regiment, and was more than ordinarily well equipped for the compilation of such a work, and it is much to be regretted that he did not find time to accom- plish his purpose. Then there were several men in the ranks who kept diaries through the war, some of whom, at least, had the writing of a history of the Eighty-fifth as an end in view. But no definite steps had been taken until the matter was taken up by the Regimental Association. In order that the reader may know how the work was undertaken by the writer, and for the information of those of our comrades who have not enjoyed the privilege of at- tending its reunions, the following short sketch is given of the origin and purpose of the At a meeting of old settlers and ex-soldiers held in Rockwell Park, at Havana, 111., on September 16th, 1885, there were present fifty-six former members of the Eighty-fifth regiment, all of the companies being represented except Company F. At this meeting an organization was formed to be known as the Eighty-fifth Regi- ment Illinois Volunteer Association. The declared purpose of the association was to hold annual reunions on or about the eighth day of October, that being the anniversary of the first battle in which the regiment was engaged, for social enjoyment; for the cultivation of the friendships formed during the trying ordeals of soldier life; for the gathering of material for historic purposes, and for teaching patriotism to the young. The following named comrades were elected officers for the first year: Philip L. Dieffenbacher, commander; David Sig- ley, adjutant; William H. Hole, treasurer; Jacob H. Prettyman, quartermaster; James T. Pierce, commissary, and Joseph S. Bar- wick, chaplain. 58461 v j INTRODUCTION. The association has held a reunion each year since its organi- zation, with an average attendance of sixty-five members. At the annual meeting in 1899 it was decided to hold the next reunion on the third Wednesday in October, 1900, and a motion was adopted authorizing Comrade Henry J. Aten to compile and publish a history of the regiment. At the sixteenth annual meeting held in Havana on the third Wednesday in October, 1900, the association was broadened and its usefulness extended by amending the constitution so as to permit the wives of members to become honorary members of the asso- ciation, and their sons and daughters to become auxiliary mem- bers. At this meeting Havana, Illinois, was selected as the place for holding future reunions, the same to be held on the third Wednesday in October, and the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: A. D. Cadwallader, commander; William H. Hole and David Sigley, vice-commanders; James T. Seay, adju- tant; Thomas C. Eaton, quartermaster, and J. B. Shawgo, trustee of the Kennesaw Mountain Monument Association. When the task of writing a history of the gallant regiment in which it was my good fortune to serve during the War of the Re- bellion, was assigned to me, the trust was accepted with many misgivings. I knew the work would be both delicate and difficult, and after considering various plans, the one worked out in the following pages seemed to promise the best results, and I entered upon the work with such ability as I could command, regardless of the time required or the labor involved. Although present with the regiment every day from its organization until it was dis- banded, I found as the work progressed, my memory in conflict with the official reports, letters written at the time events to be narrated were occurring, and the diary kept by myself throughout the War. In all such cases I have relied upon the written record, believing it to be more trustworthy than mere recollection. Most of the personal incidents which would have enlivened the story have been lost in the years that have passed since the war ended, but it was believed that the official reports, histories of the Civil War, and the memories of leading commanders on both sides could be drawn upon to make up much that had been lost to mem- ory. It also appeared not only appropriate, but necessary, to a proper appreciation of the work accomplished by the regiment, to include a brief outline of the campaigns in which it was engaged, and connect its movements with the larger movements of the bri- INTRODUCTION. Vli. gade, the division, the corps, and the army of which it was a part. This has been attempted, and in the course of compilation, the writer has personally examined every book and paper in the office of the adjutant general at Springfield relating to the Eighty-fifth, the records of the pension office and of the war department at Washington have been searched, and the following authorities have been consulted: The Personal Memoirs of General Grant. The Personal Memoirs of General Sherman. The Personal Memoirs of General Sheridan. A Narrative of Military Service, by General W. B. Hazen. The Life of Gen. George H. Thomas, by Thomas B. Van Home. The American Conflict, by Horace Greeley. The History of the Army of the Cumberland, by Gen. Henry M. Cist. The History of the Army of the Cumberland, by Thomas B. Van Home. Atlanta, and the March to the Sea, by Gen. Jacob D. Cox. The History of the Ninety-sixth Illinois, by C. A. Partridge. The History of the 113th Ohio, by Sergeant F. M. McAdams. The History of the Fifty-second Ohio, by Nixon B. Stewart. The History of the Eighty-sixth Illinois, by John H. Kinnear. McCook's Brigade at Kennesaw, by Captain F. B. James. The Rebellion Records, published by the U. S. Government. A Narrative of Military Operations, by the Confederate Gen- eral, Joseph E. Johnston. Advance and Retreat, by the Confederate General, J. B. Hood. The Life of the Confederate General, N. B. Forrest, by General Thomas Jordan. The narrative has been made impersonal, and the personal sketches have been written with no desire to unduly exalt the per- sonal achievements of anyone. A blank, forwarded to every mem- ber of the regiment whose address could be ascertained, in many instances failed to elicit a reply. Such should not complain if they find their personal sketches deficient, although the writer made every effort to complete them. The work was undertaken as a labor of love, with no expectation of pecuniary reward, and with the entire edition sold, the copy retained by the writer will be the most expensive. Cherishing the memory of every old comrade, whether living or dead, proud of the fact that it was my privilege to be associated. viii. INTRODUCTION. with them through an heroic epoch, this work is submitted with the hope that it may awaken proud recollections in the breast of an old comrade; that it may make a son's heart exult at the sight of a father's name, and inspire him to unselfish and patriotic effort, and, above all, that it may help reveal and establish the truth, from which none of the brave men of the Eighty-fifth have anything to fear. The writer has made no effort to meet the re- quirements of critics, but has written for those who, by experience or sympathy, can enter into the spirit which actuated the volun- teer soldier in the war for the Union. And if the book shall meet the approval of surviving comrades, their friends, and the friends of those deceased, I shall feel amply rewarded for my labor. To all the comrades who have aided in the work I return cor- dial thanks, and it gives me pleasure to acknowledge my obliga- tions for information furnished to General I. N. Reece, adjutant general of Illinois, and his courteous office force, to the Hon. H. Clay Evans, commissioner of pensions, and to General R. A. Alger, secretary of war. HENRY J. ATEN. Hiawatha, Kansas, February 1st, 1901. xrf tihianrje Swhstritors. No. Copies. 1. MRS. CARRIE A. PRENT1SS, Burlington, N. J. 1. COLONEL R. S. MOORE, Littleton, Colo. 2. WILLIAM A. DILWORTH, Omaha, Neb. 3. GEORGE E. RIDER, Fort Smith, Ark. 4. DR. PHILIP L. DIEFFENBACHER, Havana, 111. 1. THOMAS STEVENS, Hiawatha, Kan. 1. DR. GILBERT W. SOUTHWICK, 1213 Bath St., Santa Barbara, Cal. 2. COLONEL JAMES R. GRIFFITH, Kenosha, Wis. 1. MRS. JOSEPH S. BARWICK, Virginia, 111. 1. COLONEL ALLEN FAHNESTOCK, Glasford, Peoria County, 111. 3. LIEUT. ISAAC W. CHATFIELD, 514 21st Avenue, Denver, Colo. 1. O. L. RIDER, Vinita, Indian Territory. 1. N. L. RIDER, Vinita, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. 1. MRS. O. H. HARPHAM, Havana, 111. 1. SAMUEL JONES, ,Mason City, 111. 10. LIEUTENANT D. L. MUSSELMAN, Quincy, 111. 1. PHILIP CLINE, Harrisonville, Mo. 1. JOSEPH A. MATES, Naron, Pratt County, Kan. i. WILLIAM MCLAUGHLIN, Manito, in. 1. DAVID P. BLACK, Manito, 111. 1. LEVI S. ANNO, Kingston, Hunt County, Texas. 1. ROBERT PRINGLE, Hot Springs, South Dakota. 1. JOHN W. ALYEA, Kingfisher, Oklahoma. 1. WILLIAM T. LANGSTON, Abilene, Kan. 1. BENJ. F. KRATZER, Soldiers' Home, Los Angeles, Cal. 2. THOMAS C. EATON, Havana, 111. 1. ALONZO F. KREBAUM, Duncan's Mills, 111. 1. JESSE BAILOR, Bard, Louisa County, Iowa. 2. STEPHEN B. NOTT, Lewlstown, 111. 1. CHARLES T. KISLER, Havana, 111. 2. MASSENA B. NOTT, Lewistown, 111. 1. ANDREW J. OPYDKE, Cayton, Shasta County, California. 2. LIEUTENANT A. D. CADWALLADER, Lincoln, 111. 1. WILLIAM B. WINCHELL, Lewistown, 111. 1. WILLIAM H. MITCHELL, 5941 Princeton Avenue, Chicago, 111. 1. JAMES S. CHESTER, Easton, Mason County, 111. 4. DAVID SIGLEY, Havana, 111. 1. FRANCIS N. CHESTER, Teheran, Mason County, 111. 2. BENJAMIN F. SCOVILL, McKenzie, North Dakota. 2. FRANK BLANCHARD, Havana, 111. 1. JOHN C. WILSON, Elk Creek, Johnson County, Neb. 1. JOHN L. PHELPS, Cadams, Nuckolls County, Neb. 1. JOHN R. NEVILL, Kincaid, Anderson County, Kan. 1. JACOB S. DEW, Tecumseh, Neb. x . UST OF ADVANCE SUBSCRIBERS. No. Copies. 1. ISAAC LAYMAN, Dewey, 111. 1. GRANVILLE MADISON, Blue Springs, Gage County, Neb. 1. JOHN SIZELOVE, Calispell, Stevens County, Washington. 1. WILLIAM RHINEDERS, Rice Lake, Barron County, Wis. 2. JOSEPH B. CONOVER, Kilbourn, Mason County, 111. 1. NEWTON C. PATTERSON, Mason City, 111. 1. CHARLES L. HAMILTON, Carlinville, 111. 1. WILLIAM D. CLOSE, Forest, Woods County, Oklahoma. 1. CAPTAIN P. S. SCOTT, Petersburg, 111. 4. JAMES T. SEAT, Havana, 111. 1. JAMES FERGUSON, Petersburg, 111. 1. HENRY SUTTON, Havana, 111. 1. JAMES LYNN, Mason City, 111. 1. WILLIAM SPILLMAN, Spring Bay, 111. 1. HENRY AMSLER, Pontiac, 111. 1. MATTHEW L. WRIGLt, f, Alvaretta, Woods County, Oklahoma. 1. JAMES F. BURT, Litchfleld, 111. 1. JOHN LIVINGSTON, Bushnell, 111. 2. CAPTAIN H. S. LA TOURRETTE, Winchester, 111. 1. GEORGE COOPER, Summum, 111. 3. JOHN ATEN, Astoria, 111. 1. LEWIS P. WRIGHT, Enion, Fulton County, 111. 2. DR. JOSEPH B. SHAWGO, Quincy, 111. 1. JOHN THOMPSON, Oilman City, Harrison County, Mo. 1. PERRY W. CLUPPER, Salem, Jewell County, Kan. 1. JOHN N. PARR, Summum, Fulton County, 111. 1. HENRY SHIELDS, Centralia, Lewis County, Washington. 1. WILLIAM H. McLAREN, Canton, 111. 1. THOMAS B. ENGLE, Coburg, Montgomery County, Iowa. 1. JOEL A. BARNES, Summum, 111. 1. CAPTAIN JAMES T. McNEIL, Table Grove, 111. 1. GEORGE B. McCLELLAND, Plymouth, Hancock County, 111. 1. SAMUEL THOMPSON, Lamar, Barton County, Mo. 2. HENRY C. SWISHER, Lyndon, Osage County, Kansas. 1. GEORGE H. WETZEL, Lewistown, 111. 1. WILLIAM C. HUDNALL, Astoria, 111. 1. JAMES P. ADDIS, Linden, Cleveland County, Oklahoma. 2. WALTER HUDNALL, San Antonio, Texas. 1. CHARLES DUNCAN, Duncan's Mills, 111. 1. DR. HENRY H. WILSON, Lewistown, Fergus County, Montana. 2. MARTIN K. DOBSON, Lewistown, 111. 1. JOHN R. POWELL, Sheldon's Grove, 111. 1. ANDERSON JENNINGS, Wister, Choctaw Nation, Indian Ter. 1. WILLIAM LANDON, Ponca City, Kay County, Oklahoma. 1. JOHN LAPOOL, Laclede, Cabell County, W. Va. 1. JOHN WATSON, 807 Millman Street, Peoria, 111. 1. CHARLES G. MATTHEWS, Renfrew, Grant County, Oklahoma. 1. LEONIDAS COLLINS, St. John, Putnam County, Mo. 1. WILLIAM SEVERNS, Clayton, St. Louis County, Mo. 1. JOHN B. PALMER, Orondo, Douglass County, Washington. 1. WILLIAM BECK, Rogers, Benton County, Ark. UST OF ADVANCE SUBSCRIBERS. XI. No. Copies. 1. SEBASTIAN G. BLUMENSHINE, Clearwater, Sedgwick Co., Kan. 1. ISAAC FOUNTAIN, Upland, Franklin County, Neb. 1. D. P. VAN HORN, Cotter, Iowa. 2. WILLIAM H. HOLE, Mason City, 111. 1. LESTER N. MORRIS, Lincoln, 111. 1. JACOB PRETTYMAN, Havana, 111. 1. GEORGE N. HOPPING, Beaver City, Neb. 1. DAVID ZENTMIRE, Cherokee, Crawford County, Kan 1. GEORGE DRAKE, Clinton, Clinton County, Iowa. 1. JOSIAH McKNIGHT, Mason City, 111. 2. LIEUTENANT DANIEL HAVENS, Manito, 111. 1. ELI M. COGDALL, Manito, 111. 1. DALLAS A. TRENT, Manito, 111. 1. MRS. MARTHA A. MALONEY, Manito, 111. 1. MRS. MARY E. COX, Manito, 111. 1. CAPTAIN SAMUEL BLACK, Menominee, Wis. 1. COLONEL BYRON PHELPS, Seattle, Washington. 1. MRS. SARAH LANGSTON, Forest City, 111. 2. JOHN E. RENO, Table Grove, Fulton County, 111. 1. MRS. MARY TOWN, Havana, 111. 4. CHARLES MORRIS, Havana, 111. 1. LUCIE J. ROBERTS, Manito, 111. 1. QUARTERMASTER HOLOWAY W. LIGHTCAP, Havana, 111. 1. CAPTAIN C. M. BARNETT, Geneva, Neb. 1. PUBLIC LIBRARY, Havana, 111. 1. JAMES GOBEN, Kilbourne, 111. 1. CHARLES POND, Shubert, Neb. 1. SAMUEL GRISSOM, Kilbourne, 111. 1. L. G. BLUNT, Kilbourne, 111. 1. MRS. LUCINDA BRYAN, Sciota, 111. 1. JAMES J. PELHAM, Thermopolis, Wyo. 1. JOHN L. HARBERT, Kilbourne, 111. 1. CHARLES ERICK HULT, Swedesburgh, Henry County, Iowa. 1. JAMES WALKER, Easton, 111. of ?0riraiis. Colonel Robert S. Moore. ( FRONTISPIECE.) Colonel Caleb J. Dilsworth. Major Robert C. Rider. Surgeon Philip L. Dieffenbacher. Asst. Surgeon Gilbert S. Southwick. Adjutant Clark N. Andrus. Quartermaster Holovfay W. Lightcap. Captain George A Blanchard. Captain Henry S. LaTourette. Lieutenant D. L. Musselman. Lieutenant John M. Robertson. Sergeant W. Irving Shannon. First Sergeant Henry J. Aten. ( GROUP.) Chaplain Joseph S. Barwick. Lieutenant A. D. Cadwallader. Corporal David Sigley. Corporal Joseph S. Conover. John Aten. Dr. P L. Dieffenbacher. Henry C. Swrisher. Dr. Joseph B. Shaw go. Prof. D. L. Musselman. Henry J. Aten. CHAPTER I. By the middle of the summer of 1862 there were few among the people either North or South, who had not found ample cause for revising their estimate of the mag- nitude and duration of the Civil War. During the year and more that had passed since the firing upon Fort Sumter, there had been many engagements, some of which had been bloody enough to satisfy the most san- guinary, and each side had scored its victories. Nearly twenty thousand men had been shot dead on the battle- field; upward of eighty thousand had been wounded, while an unknown number had died of disease, in the ser- vice. The early engagements were disastrous to the Fed- eral arms. Bull Run was a crushing defeat, the Union troops falling back in panic to the gates of the National Capital. At Wilson's Creek, Missouri, the army was forced to retreat, after the loss of their gallant leader, General Lyon, and many men. Some victories of minor importance had been gained in West Virginia, and the battle of Belmont, Missouri, was fought in November, 1 86 1, which served to give the Western troops confi- dence in themselves and in their commander. At Mill Springs, Kentucky, the Union forces won a handsome victory, in which the enemy was beaten, driven, routed, his general slain and his standards captured. Driven and pursued from Missouri, the rebels were defeated in a hard fought battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Fort Don- elson was captured with 15,000 prisoners and a large number of cannon. The 'battle of Shiloh, fought in 14 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. April, 1862, was a decided victory for the Union arms, though dearly won, and on the thirtieth of May the Fed- eral forces occupied Corinth, Mississippi. And on the first of June, after having seized the peninsula in Vir- ginia, the army of the East was within five miles of the Confederate Capital. At this time, a line beginning on the Chickahominy river in front of Richmond, Virginia, thence running through Cumberland Gap on the south- ern border of Kentucky, and extending through Hunts- ville, Alabama, and Corinth, Mississippi, to Helena, Arkansas, would show the positions occupied by the Union armies, and also indicate the vast region that had been wrested from the foe. Meanwhile, the South had changed its opinion of northern pluck and endurance, and began to admit by its energetic action, that the military instinct was not a sec- tional monopoly. To recover their losses, the Confed- erate authorities devised a plan for an offensive cam- paign, in which the armies under Lee in Virginia, Bragg in Tennessee, and Van Dorn in Mississippi were to be largely reinforced, and at the same time attack the Fed- erals and drive them from the South. Then Bragg and Van Dorn would unite the standards of their victorious columns at Louisville or Cincinnati, while Lee should plant the Confederate flag on the dome of the National Capitol, and the two Confederate armies would invade the North and compel a recognition of the independence of the Southern Confederacy. The plan for driving the Union forces from Southern soil and invading the North by a simultaneous advance of all the Confederate armies, was popular with the peo- ple in rebellion, and under their united and enthusiastic THE CALL FOR ADDITIONAL TROOPS. 15 support developed unexpected strength and at first met with signal success. Suddenly the Union armies were thrown on the defensive, and from the Chickahominy to the Mississippi the enemy appeared so confident and aggressive, that it became a question whether our armies were not to be forced backward, the scenes of strife transferred to the States north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, and free soil be watered with the blood of heroes slain in battle. In this emergency, the governors of all the loyal States signed a letter to the President requesting him to issue a call for additional troops, and in response to this letter, Mr. Lincoln on July 2nd, 1862, issued a call for 300,000 volunteers. The people fully appreciated the gravity of the situation, but there was some delay in assigning quotas to the various States, so that but little was accomplished in the way of recruiting until July had nearly closed. But by the time the recruiting machinery was in readiness volunteers were responding in large numbers, and the closing week in July and the early days of August witnessed large enlistments. The need of troops continuing and becoming more and more press- ing, the President on the fourth of August issued an- other call for 300,000 men in addition to the 300,000 called out in July. That month of August, 1862, was one long to be re- membered by those who shared in its exciting events. The menacing attitude of the South had prepared the loyal people of the North for the most energetic action ; the successive calls for additional troops thrilled them with military ardor, and the response was a wonderful one. All sorts and conditions of men left their business 16 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. and enlisted in the ranks. Boys of fifteen sat down and cried because they were not permitted to enlist, and everywhere there was manifest the most intense devotion to the Union and its starry banner. And the young men of the North, many of whom had others dependent upon them for support, to the number of more than half a mil- lion, responded to the call of their country within the brief space of two months. Amid the stirring- events of that period the Eighty- fifth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was organ- ized. Recruited at the most critical period of the war, it. was composed of excellent material. With few excep- tions officers and men had been familiar with the use of firearms from their youth, and very many were excellent marksmen. They had met men returning from the great battles of the previous year, wounded and maimed for life. The pride and pomp and circumstance of glorious war had disappeared, and all knew that war meant not only wounds and death, but hunger, hardship and 'priva- tion. Rapidly organized and equipped, it was hurried to the front to meet the rising tide of rebellion on the banks of the Ohio river. Commanded with ability and led with rare courage, it was given opportunity to bear a conspicuous part in the struggle for the preservation of the Union. It never turned its back to the foe but once, and then only in obedience to peremptory orders. To its gallant conduct in the fierce heat of many battles, and its noble bearing in every emergency its members have ever been able to refer with pride. To the recital of some of these events and to the narrative of the whereabouts of the command from day to day, the following chapters are devoted. RECRUITING OF THE REGIMENT. 17 CHAPTER II. Captain Robert S. Moore, of Company E, Twenty- seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, had been wounded in the advance upon Corinth, Miss., and was at his home in Havana, on leave of absence when the first call for troops was issued in July, 1862. Impressed, by experience and observation at the front, of the urgent need of more troops in the field, he at once began to re- cruit a regiment under the following authority, which is copied from the original still in possession of Colonel Moore : GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, STATE OF ILLINOIS. ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE. Springfield, July llth, 1862. Captain Robert S. Moore, Twenty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Vol- unteers, Havana, 111. Sir: At direction of Governor Yates you are hereby authorized to enroll and report at Peoria ten companies of infantry for Gov- ernment service for three years unless discharged, to form a part of the forces authorized by late call of the President. Each of said companies to consist of not less than (83) nor more than (101) strong, able-bodied men, and to be reported with at least minimum number of men within thirty days from this date. If not reported with minimum number within thirty days, the companies will be liable to consolidation with others similarly situated or the men (previous to muster into service) at the pleas- ure of the Governor, discharged. Company officers will be ap- pointed and commissioned by the Governor, the recommenda- tions of the companies will be duly considered but fitness for position will be the rule governing appointments. You will keep me advised of your progress in recruiting, report- ing weekly the number (and names) actually enrolled, and state 18 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. when squads or companies are ready to camp, and marching and transportation orders will be promptly supplied. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, ALLEN C. FULLER, Adjutant General. Official: JOHN H. LOOMIS, Assistant Adjutant General. At this time Caleb J. Dilworth was practicing law in Havana, and he became associated with Captain Moore in recruiting a regiment. Under their energetic direc- tion recruiting was conducted in various towns, which resulted in raising five companies in Mason County. In the summer of 1861 the Hon. S. P. Cummings, of Astoria, was commissioned mustering officer with the rank of major, and was active in recruiting some of the companies that entered the service from Fulton County in that year. As soon as the quota had been assigned the state under the first call of 1862 he established re- cruiting stations in Astoria, Summum, and Marble's Mills, in South Fulton. And by the time supplies and transportation were provided, three companies were raised and ready to go into camp from Fulton County. Soon after the five companies from Mason and the three from Fulton arrived at Peoria, the designated rendez- vous, they were joined by a company commanded by Captain P. S. Scott, from Menard County, and one en- rolled by Captain John Kennedy, at Pekin, in Tazewell County, in the latter part of June. This completed the number of companies required to form the regiment; each company being under officers of their own selection, and all enlisted from adjoining counties. The camp at Peoria was pleasantly situated on high, well-drained ground, immediately above the city, and near the west bank of the Illinois river. The camp was MUSTERED IN THE SERVICE. 19 supplied with tents and straw, but no blankets were fur- nished for several days, and meantime, the frequent rains and cool nights gave the men a foretaste of things to come. Those who had left home unprepared for such an emergency made no little complaint, while those who had brought blankets with them, were inclined to mani- fest an undue appreciation of their own wisdom and fore- sight. Eager to learn their new duties, the men were constantly drilled in that part of the school of the soldier which comprehends what ought to be taught recruits without arms. The twenty-seventh day of August, 1862, was made memorable by the appearance of the mustering officer, Captain S. A. Wainwright, of the Thirteenth United States Infantry. On his arrival the boisterous drums sounded the assembly, and that splendid body of nearly one thousand gallant men fell into line for the first time and became a regiment. The long line was formed with little delay and an inspection held, few being rejected and those in almost every instance on account of being over or under the age limit for service in the army. After the surgeons had completed their examination of the physi- cal qualifications of the men, the process of muster-in was proceeded with. And as these stalwart men stood there, with uplifted hands, and swore to serve their coun- try "for three years unless sooner discharged," it was indeed an impressive spectacle ; a scene that will never be wholly forgotten by the participants who still survive. The companies having elected their officers previous to their arrival in camp, the line officers repaired immedi- ately after the muster-in, to a large tent to complete the organization of the regiment by the election of field offi- 20 HISTORY OF THE 8STH ILLINOIS. cers. At this meeting the field officers were elected and the appointment of staff officers agreed upon. The fol- lowing is the list of THE FIELD AND STAFF. Colonel Robert S. Moore, of Havana, Mason County. Lieutenant-Colonel Caleb J. Dilworth, of Havana, Mason County. Major S. P. Cummings, of Astoria, Fulton County. Adjutant John B. Wright, of Havana, Mason County. Quartermaster Samuel F. Wright, of Havana, Mason County. Surgeon James P. Walker, of Mason City, Mason County. First Assistant Surgeon Philip L. Dieffenbacher, of Havana, Mason County. Second Assistant Surgeon James C. Patterson, of Mason City, Mason County. Chaplain Joseph S. Barwick, of Havana, Mason County. NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. Sergeant-Major Clark N. Andrews, of Havana, Mason County. Quartermaster-Sergeant James T. Pierce, of Havana, Mason County. Commissary Sergeant Thomas J. Avery, of Bath, Mason County. Hospital Steward James L. Hastings, of Mason City, Mason County. Principal Musician John Hazlengg, of Bath, Mason County. According to the system of infantry tactics in use at this time, a regiment was composed of ten companies to be habitually posted from right to left in the following order : A, F, D, I, C, H, E, K, G, B, in accordance with the rank of captains. Under this provision of tactics, the honor of bearing the colors belonged to Company C. But for some reason unknown to the writer, the compan- ies were posted in the line of the Eighty-fifth, beginning with A on the right and running in consecutive order to K on the left. Under this arrangement, which was quite CALEB J. DILWORTH, 21 OF UNIFORMS AND ARMS SUPPLIED. 23 unusual. Company E occupied the right center, and be- came the color company. This formation was continued throughout the service. On Thursday, August 28th, clothing was issued; each soldier receiving a dark blue blouse, sky blue pants, woolen shirts and socks, cotton drawers, a forage cap, blanket and a pair of shoes. This made a neat and com- fortable uniform, which proved so well suited to the ser- vice that its use was continued, with but one change, throughout the war. The forage cap afforded such slight protection in either sunshine or storm, that it soon gave way to the black felt hat. The next day, light blue overcoats of the regulation pattern, with capes, were issued, and each soldier received a kflapsack and canteen. In the afternoon, muster rolls having been prepared, each company was marched to headquarters and $13 paid to each member by the paymaster. This payment was made in carrying out a promise made the men at enlist- ment, that each should receive one month's pay in ad- vance. On Friday, September 5th, arms and accoutrements were received and issued to the companies. The arms were the Enfield rifled muskets, and were as good a weapon as was then in general use. The Eighty-fifth was considered very fortunate in securing new Enfields, especially so considered by the members of the regiment, of whom there were quite a number who had seen pre- vious service. Almost every regiment entering the ser- vice in 1861 was armed with old Austrian or Belgian muskets; doubtless the most unreliable and dangerous firearm ever invented. And among the terrors of the first year's service, these men always remembered the: 24 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. uncertain action and the diabolic antics of those infernal guns. From the first the men had been kept almost con- stantly on the drill ground, and as all were anxious to learn, some progress was made in the school of the sold- ier. They had learned to step in time, and to march by squad and company. Eagerly they had awaited their arms and accoutrements, and now, everyone expected that a few days at least could be devoted to drill in the manual of arms before leaving the camp of instruction. But the pressing need of more troops at the front allowed the men of the Eighty-fifth but one day in which to drill in the manual of arms. The brief stay in camp at Peoria had been profitably employed, and calls up few but pleasant memories. Nearly all had suffered more or less from colds incident to a change from the comforts of home to the outdoor life of the camp, and the radical change of diet had affected some unfavorably. But few, however, had been sent to the building outside the camp grounds, over which floated the yellow hospital flag. Of those sent to the hospital, James Grant, private of Company K, died there on September 8th, his being the first death in the regiment. While more time was sadly needed for instruction, and officers and men alike felt the need of it, yet all were ready and anxious to go to the assistance of their brave, hard-pressed comrades who had gone to battle for the Union in the year gone by. They wanted to bear a hand in turning back the tide of invasion now threatening northern homes, and their opportunity was now at hand. A series of disasters had overtaken our armies while the OFF FOR THE SOUTH. 25 regiment had been forming; the Army of the East had been routed from the front of the rebel capital ; Lee with his victorious army was already on northern soil, and the advance of Bragg's army had arrived within striking dis- tance of both Louisville and Cincinnati. CHAPTER III. At about nine o'clock on Sunday morning, Septem- ber 7th, 1862, the Eighty-fifth Regiment Illinois Volun- teer Infantry marched out of its camp at Peoria and down through the main street of the city to the railway station. The day was bright and clear, and although the ringing church bells were calling the people to worship the Prince of Peace, the patriotic citizens crowded the line of march to cheer and speed the departing soldiers. There was but little delay at the depot, and about one o'clock, or a little later, a start was made for Louisville, Kentucky. The trip was made without incident or acci- dent of especial note. Lafayette, Indiana, was reached at about eight o'clock the next morning, and Indianapo- lis at six o'clock in the afternoon, and at two o'clock on Tuesday morning, September gth, the regiment arrived at Jeffersonville. The men were very tired with the long ride in the crowded cars. Few had slept in all the pre- vious night, as there were two in every seat, and all were glad to change from the crowded cars to the ground for a short rest. About noon the regiment crossed the Ohio river, and marched through Louisville to the southern limits of the city, where it went into camp. The day 26 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. was hot, the streets dusty, and the men were very much fatigued, although the distance marched was not great. Notwithstanding the alleged neutrality of Kentucky, the regiment was now in Dixie. In the city the people were laboring under the most intense excitement. Among the citizens every shade of opinion prevailed from that held by the most devoted loyalist to that of the most pronounced secessionist, and on the day following the arrival of the regiment martial law was proclaimed. Wednesday, September lotfi, was full of hard work, the day being spent in squad and company drill, particu- lar attention being paid to the manual of arms, the work ending with a dress parade. Dress parade was a new experience to nearly all of the officers and men, but the regiment made a fairly creditable appearance. In the afternoon of the next day a heavy thunder storm sud- denly broke upon the camp. The high wind leveled many of the tents to the ground, while the downpour of rain thoroughly drenched the men and the entire outfit of the camp. The insurgents having forced into their armies all the able-bodied men in the South, were now exerting their full strength against the Federal line. After a series of bloody defeats, accompanied with heavy loss, the Army of the Potomac had been driven from the peninsula in Virginia, and was now about to engage in a deadly con- flict with the flushed victorious enemy, on soil dedicated to freedom and far to the north of the National Capital. On August 1 7th, a part of Bragg's army under General Kirby Smith turned the Union force out of Cumberland Gap. Whereupon the Union commander blew up his THE) DANGER THREATENING LOUISVILLE. 27 elaborate fortifications, abandoned his heavy artillery, destroyed his stores, and began a hasty and disastrous retreat. After capturing detachments of Union troops on garrison duty at various posts, the rebel column of invasion encountered a green Union force at Richmond Kentucky, which had been hurriedly concentrated to oppose the rebel advance. A fight ensued, in which the Union troops were driven back on reinforcements under Major General William Nelson, who assumed command, but a rebel victory had already been won. The Union troops were dispersed, and General Nelson wounded, while his army lost nine pieces of artillery and many pris- oners. The Confederate general set forward for Lexing- ton, which he entered on September ist, amid the frantic acclamations of the rebel sympathisers of that intensely disloyal region. He moved on through Paris to Cynthi- ana, and threw his advance well out toward Cincinnati. Meanwhile General Bragg with the main body of the Confederate army crossed the Tennessee river above Chattanooga, passed to the left of the Union army, and pushed into Kentucky. This compelled General Buel to abandon the whole of Tennessee except a small district in the immediate vicinity of Nashville, and hasten by forced marches to the defense of the line of the Ohio river. Louisville, with its immense resources, was the immedi- ate object of this gigantic raid, while the capture of Cin- cinnati and other northern cities was considered possible even probable, by the enthusiastic followers of the rebel chief. The near approach of the Confederate army filled the rebel citizens in the city with high hopes, while many of the loyalists fled for refuge to various points north of the Ohio. 28 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. General Nelson was assigned to command the army forming at Louisville, and although suffering from a wound received at Richmond, his energetic action re- stored order, and the air of dejection soon disappeared. With the arrival of almost every boat and train came new troops, who were rapidly formed into brigades and divis- ions for the defense of the city. The troops that escaped from the battle at Richmond began to appear by this time, and the opportunity for capturing the city was numbered among the lost hopes of the southern people. On Friday, September I2th, the Eighty-sixth Regi- ment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry arrived. It had camped near the Eighty-fifth at Peoria, and was mustered in by Captain Wainwright on the same day. There was the usual Sunday morning inspection on the I4th, and on the 1 5th a brigade was formed, composed of the Eighty-fifth, the Eighty-sixth and the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiments, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the Fifty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and Battery I, Sec- ond Illinois Light Artillery, and designated as the Thirty-Sixth Brigade. The brigade thus formed had quite an unusual experience, in that these regiments and this battery remained together until mustered out at the close of the war, the only change in its composition being the addition of small regiments toward the close of the service. Colonel Daniel McCook, of the Fifty-second Ohio, being the ranking colonel, took command of the brigade by virtue of seniority, holding the position until mortally wounded while leading the command in a des- perate charge. The brigade moved at an early hour through the city, and passed in review before the com- THE FIRST LONG ROLL. 29 manding general. The day was hot, the streets dusty, and the men were very tired when they reached camp at six o'clock in the evening. On the 1 8th the brigade was engaged in throwing up a line of entrenchments, the line running through the suburbs of the city. The next day the regiment was held in readiness to march at any moment, with two days' rations in the haversacks. On the 2Oth the Eighty- fifth moved out on the turnpike, some ten miles toward Bardstown, returning to camp on the evening of the 22nd. No event of importance transpired on the march, but the trip was useful in seasoning the men for the longer marches soon to come. On Tuesday, September 23rd, at three o'clock in the morning, there was a call to arms, and the brigade marched to the entrenchments, where it remained under arms throughout the day. In the afternoon General Nelson reviewed the line, and urged the importance of firing low in case of an at- tack. The regiment spent the next day on picket, some distance out, returning to the entrenched line in the evening, when the men were instructed to occupy near- by houses for the night. On the 26th the regiment returned to camp, packed up the camp outfit, and moved into the city. Judged by the appearance and smell of this camp, it had recently been occupied as a horse or mule yard. The next day the camp was unusually dull until well along in the after- noon, when a captain of one of the companies, doubtless impelled by a sense of duty, undertook to discipline his first lieutenant. Then a breach of the peace occurred in which the captain prevailed and the lieutenant was thor- 30 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. oughly disciplined in fact, if not in accordance with the provisions of army regulations. The veterans of General Buel's army were now arriv- ing, and within a few days that splendid body of trained soldiers were located in camps in the immediate vicinity of the city. They had made a race with the rebel army under Bragg from the Tennessee to the Ohio ; had won the race, and were now eager to be led against their old- time foe. Nor had they long to wait, as immediate preparations were made for taking the field against the enemy, who was known to be at Bardstown, only thirty miles away. On Monday morning, September 29th, the startling intelligence was brought to the camp of the Eighty-fifth that General Nelson had been shot and killed at the Gait House, and a detachment from the regiment was hur- riedly sent to the hotel for guard duty. The following account of the tragedy is condensed from reports cur- rent at the time, and is believed to be substantially cor- rect. About eight o'clock in the morning Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis met General Nelson in the office of the Gait House and presented some grievance. A controversy ensued in which Nelson, after applying an insulting epithet to Davis, slapped him in the face. Whereupon Davis, who was unarmed, borrowed a pistol from a by-stander and shot Nelson, who died within a few minutes of the shooting. General Nelson was a man of powerful build, in perfect health, six feet two inches in height, and weighing over two hundred pounds, while General Davis was a small man, less than five feet ten inches in height, and weighing only about one hundred and twenty-five pounds. THE KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN. 31 General Nelson had been in command of the depart- ment until the arrival of General Buel on the 25th. He was bred a sailor, and was holding a commission in the military service, although an officer in the navy. In- tensely loyal to his country, he was among the first to organize by his individual exertion a military force in Kentucky, his native state, to rescue her from the vortex of rebellion, toward which she was rapidly drifting. Un- fortunately for himself and his country, he was arbitrary, overbearing, and his outbursts of temper made him many enemies. So totally unfitted for the command of volun- teer soldiers was he, that it may well be doubted whether his violent end caused mourning in a single breast among the rank and file of the army. General Davis, after serving in the war with Mexico, entered the regular army, and was a lieutenant under Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, when it was bom- barded. At the beginning of the Civil War he led the Twenty-second Indiana to the field, and was soon pro- moted brigadier general. He commanded a division at the battle of Pea Ridge with conspicuous skill and gal- lantry. He was arrested for the killing of Nelson, but was never tried. The writer has always understood that, but for this lamentable affair, General Davis would have been assigned to command the division of which the Thirty-sixth Brigade was a part in the coming campaign. A year later he assumed command of the division, and finally commanded the corps to which the brigade was attached, and officers and men learned to admire the skill with which he handled his troops. The brigades of new troops that had been hurried to the defense of Louisville were distributed among the 32 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. veteran divisons of Bud's army, and the army thus re- cruited, was divided into three corps, designated the First, Second, and Third, commanded by Generals McCook, Crittenden, and Gilbert respectively. The Thirty-sixth Brigade was assigned to a division under command of Brigadier General P. H. Sheridan, in Gil- bert's Corps. The twenty days spent in Louisville were of great ad- vantage to the new regiment. The men became accus- tomed to camp life ; much of the time was spent in drill, and something was learned in marching and picket duty. The regiment was weakened by sickness during the month, and quite a number had to be left in the general hospital when the command entered upon the Kentucky campaign. The deaths at Louisville were: Henry Howell, of Company A ; Robert Driver, of Company F, and William Cunningham, of Company H. On Tuesday morning, September 3oth, 1862, Gen- eral Buel's army of about 60,000 men moved out of Louisville, and the advance began. Bragg's army num- bered about 40,000 men, the greater part being in posi- tion at Bardstown. Many delays occurred during the day, and the Eighty-fifth camped for the night within one mile of the city. On the first of October the com- mand moved very slowly, passing through a fine country, on very dusty .roads. After reaching camp the Eighty- fifth, with the brigade battery, was thrown out on picket a mile and a half in advance of the camp. During the night enough rain fell to soak the men's blankets, and the next morning the regiment resumed the march with- out breakfast. A series of skirmishes commenced within a few miles of Louisville, which constantly increased until THE KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN. 33 the cautious advance of the army reached Bardstown on October 5th, when it was found that the enemy had retreated. The regiment passed through that town on Sunday, and camped that night on Rolling Fork, a stream some six miles beyond Bardstown. A timid advance, which could scarcely be called a pursuit, was continued on the 6th and 7th, the regiment passing through Fredericktown, Springfield, Texas and Hunts- ville, and on the 7th Gilbert's corps, which was in the center, closed down on the enemy, who was concentrated and ready for battle in a position of his own choice near Perryville. The season had been very dry, the roads were dusty, the weather hot, and water was so scarce that the troops had suffered exceedingly. Men became so thirsty that it was no unusual sight to see them spread their handker- chiefs over stagnant pools, covered with scum, and slake their thirst with the water thus filtered. The brigade arrived at the front about eleven o'clock in the night of the 7th, and the men lay down, without water, in line of battle for such rest as might be had on the eve of their first battle. 34 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 1862. CHAPTER IV. On Wednesday, October 8th, at three o'clock in the morning, the men were quietly aroused from their brief sleep, and the brigade began the advance, with the Eighty-fifth in front. During the night some pools of still water were discovered in the bed of Doctor's creek, a tributary of Chaplin river, and the advance was made for the purpose of seizing a range of hills beyond the stream, with a view of securing a supply of water. It was very dark and absolute silence was enjoined, and while the regiment was marching by the right flank, the enemy's pickets opened fire from a position just beyond the creek. At once our skirmishers rushed forward, supported by the entire regiment, and after a short, sharp fight, Peter's Hill was carried, and before daylight our line was firmly established and a limited supply of bad water was obtained. In front was an open field, with heavy timber beyond, while timber and thick underbrush extended well toward the left of the regiment. About sunrise the enemy formed a column of infantry and artillery in this woods, and sent it forward, covered by a cloud of skirmishers, to retake the position from which the Eighty-fifth had driven him. His artillery opened with spherical case, which made it exceedingly uncomfortable for the regi- ment for a time, as it could not reply. But as soon as the brigade battery could be brought up, the guns of the enemy were silenced, and a few volleys cleared the field in front. Still the rebel force in the underbrush to the left kept up a very annoying fire, until the Second Mis- October, 1862. THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 35 souri Infantry moved across the front under General Sheridan's direction, charged into and cleared the thicket. This regiment, contrary to the usual equip- ment, was armed with the sword bayonet, and met with heavy loss in this charge. After his efforts to retake the lost position had been repulsed, the enemy remained in- active on this part of his line for some three hours or more. The day was clear and the range of hills just beyond Doctor's creek afforded a fine view of the valley of that stream extending northeast to Chaplin river. In this valley were small farms, the homes of a peaceful com- munity, unused to the 'bloody scenes about to be enacted in its midst. Fields, from which the wheat had been gathered, now rank with ragweed. Corn standing in the shock, orchards that had yielded up their mellow fruit, and the timbered ridges which here and there ex- tended into the valley from the west all these were to be swept and torn before night by the hurricane of war. About ten o'clock the advance of McCook's corps arrived in the valley, and from the elevated position occupied by the Eighty-fifth, his troops could be seen as they came into line of battle across the foot-hills, without a shot being fired. When the First corps deployed there remained but the usual interval between McCook's right and the left of the Thirty-sixth brigade. But suddenly, and without warning, the enemy, who nad been con- cealed in the heavy timber in his front and east of the creek, made a furious attack along his entire line, and about one o'clock the Thirty-sixth brigade started to his assistance. It had not gone far, however, when the enemy advanced again to assault and carry the line of 36 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 1862. hills the brigade had seized in the morning, and quickly returning under orders, the command resumed its former position. The recall of the brigade was most opportune, for no sooner had it returned to its original line, than the enemy opened with two batteries, under cover of which his assaulting column began the advance. To this fire the batteries of the division at once responded, and for a time there was a well-sustained artillery duel. Soon, how- ever, our batteries turned their attention to the advanc- ing lines of infantry, using shell at first, then case and canister. This did not check the determined advance, and when the enemy came within short musket range our batteries ceased firing; the infantry advanced and poured into the rebel ranks a most destructive fire. The action was short, sharp and decisive. The rebel lines wavered for a moment and the next found the enemy in full retreat. During the action Carlin's brigade of Mitchell's division arrived on the right of Sheridan; wheeled partly to the left; struck the retreating enemy in the flank, and pursued him beyond Perryville. In this pursuit Carlin captured two caissons, an ammunition train of fifteen wagons, and a train guard of one hundred and thirty-eight men. As soon as the enemy was driven from Sheridan's front, his batteries were turned upon the masses of the enemy now surging against the right of McCook's corps. No longer menaced by the enemy on their own front, the men of the Thirty-sixth brigade had an unob- structed view of the terrible battle ranging along the front of the First corps. The quiet rural scene of the morning, whereon they had watched McCook set his October, 1862. THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 37 troops in battle array without a sound of strife, now rilled with flame and fury, had become a veritable valley of death. The shells from our batteries could be seen tear- ing through the masses of the enemy, or bursting in the midst of his serried column, as he recklessly charged the Union line. The fleecy smoke rose from the batteries of friend and foe and hung in the palpitating air. The spiteful puffs from the file firing marked the infantry line, while far to the rear a burning barn, fired by rebel shells, appeared. In full view, the wounded who were still able to walk, were drifting to the rear, while the stretcher bearers bore the more severely wounded back from the blue line, so stubbornly contesting every inch of the ground. So the battle ebbed and flowed, until darkness closed the eventful day upon a never-to-be-forgotten scene ; one which neither tongue nor pen can adequately describe. The determined resistance made by McCook's corps, aided by the batteries of Sheridan's division, and the arrival of fresh troops, prevented the enemy from pursu- ing his advantage to a successful conclusion. His plan was rendered abortive ; no definite results were obtained by his desperate fighting, and as soon as darkness inter- vened he retreated, leaving the fielcl with his killed and wounded in possession of the Union army. The enemy abandoned the field so quietly that his retreat was not known until the advance began at daylight on the next morning. The losses in the Eighty-fifth were less in number than might have been expected, considering the work accomplished, but more than were sustained by any other regiment in the Thirty-sixth brigade. According 38 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 1862. to a table published in the Rebellion Records,* the bri- gade loss was : Seven killed ; 63 wounded, and 9 miss- ing, total, 79. In this same table, which purports to be a revised list, the loss in the Eighty-fifth is given as 5 killed, 38 wounded and 9 missing. Assistant Surgeon P. L/. Dieffenbacher has kindly furnished the names of the killed and wounded, but as his list shows the number wounded to be less than the revised list published in the War Records, we must conclude that several men were slightly wounded who did not report to the surgeon. It is not possible to give the names of such, nor is it possible to give the names of the missing. The following are the names of killed and wounded, according to the list fur- nished the writer by Surgeon Dieffenbacher : COMPANY A. KILLED Corporal Benjamin White, Lemuel Y. Nash. WOUNDED First Sergeant Albert G. Beebe, Sergeant Daniel Havens, William D. Blizzard, Gibson Bass, and William M. Thompson. COMPANY B. WOUNDED Lieutenant Charles W. Pierce, Thomas M. Bell, Ben- jamin F. Kratzer, Ellis Southwood. COMPANY C. KILLED Henry Shay, Orlando Stewart. WOUNDED Sergeant John H. Duvall, James S. Chester, Chan- ning Clark, William Newberry, Jonathan P. Temple. COMPANY D. KILLED Sergeant Freman Brought. WOUNDED William Davis. COMPANY E. WOUNDED William F. Allen, Royal A. Clary, James Lynn. COMPANY G. WOUNDED John Aten. * Vol. LXVI, page 1036, Rebellion Records. ROBERT G. RIDER. MAJOR. tn m UNIYERSm of ILLINOIS October, 1862. THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 41 COMPANY H. WOUNDED Henry Bloomfield, Marion Horton, Solomon Meyers, Lemuel J. Sayres, Daniel Worley. COMPANY I. WOUNDED Sergeant Laban V. Tartar, Corporal James Mosland- er, William Minner, John Watson. COMPANY K. WOUNDED Jefferson Bowers, Isaac Fountain. When the eventful day closed, it was with a sense of infinite relief that the tired, hungry men threw them- selves upon their blankets for rest and sleep. They began the fight without breakfast ; had no dinner, and now when night came the arbitrary orders of a grossly incompetent corps commander prevented the issue of rations until mid-night. All had looked' forward to the test of battle with more or less solicitude, lest some should fail to meet the stern demands of duty when the supreme hour of trial should come. But the men the boys in the ranks had proved themselves true born heroes, while the officers had shared with them alike the danger and the glory of the day. The Eighty-fifth had established a Deputation for both fighting and staying qualities ; a reputation that must be sustained in all future actions, and now, confident in themselves and in each other, officers and men awaited the coming of another day. At daylight on the morning of the Qth, the advance began by moving the troops, not engaged the previous day, against the left of the enemy. This movement soon developed the fact that the enemy had retreated during the night. Bragg had quietly and in good order retired, leaving his killed and wounded on the battlefield. About 42 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 1862. noon the Thirty-sixth brigade moved across the field from which the enemy had delivered his attack on McCook's corps, and after a short march camped at Perry ville; remaining in this camp throughout the loth and nth. In the meantime burial parties gave the dead of both friend and foe decent burial. At places on the field the dead were scattered very thick ; bearing striking proof of the deadly character of the conflict. The writer remembers a point where a Confederate battery had been taken and retaken. There the Union and rebel dead appeared in about equal numbers, and among them the faithful horses that had drawn the battery into action. Considering the number of troops engaged, the losses were severe, amounting to 4,348 in killed, wounded and missing more than one-fifth of the force engaged on the Union side. The loss of the enemy was never known, but it must have equaled, if it did not ex- ceed, ours. Bragg in his official report admits a loss of twenty-five hundred prisoners, but as fully 4,000 prison- ers, consisting mostly of sick and wounded, fell into our hands, he must have reported, as he usually did, much less than his actual loss. Buel reported the strength of his command before the battle at 58,000 effective men ; less than one-half of which was brought into action. The entire Confederate force in Kentucky did not exceed 40,000 men, and of this force fully 15,000 men were under Kirby Smith near Frankfort, too far from the battlefield to render Bragg any assistance whatever. But when the time came for striking a decisive blow, the Union commander failed to use his whole force, and the battle of Perryville furnishes a signal example of lost opportunities. Buel had a October, 1862. THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 43 largely preponderating force; his men were well equipped and eager to be led against the enemy, but he utterly failed to rise to the demands of the occasion. General Don Carlos Buel graduated in the class of 1841 at the West Point Military Academy, and served in the War with Mexico, where he was wounded and won the brevet rank of major. From 1847 to 1861 he served as assistant adjutant general in the regular army, and his long service in the routine of a bureau office probably unfitted him for handling, on the battlefield, the large number of troops which composed his command. After finding the enemy and closing down on his position on the evening of the /th, it appears to have been Buel's plan to spend the following day in preparing to fight a great battle on the 9th. But the Confederate com- mander disposed of that proposition by striking quick and hard on the 8th. Bragg was well known to be a fighting man, and a breach of the peace should have been expected by Buel, as soon as our army appeared within the usual murdering distance of the enemy. Although Buel was a soldier by education, he was without confidence in himself or in -the troops he com- manded. This lack of confidence was mutual, the troops distrusting the ability of their commander many going to the extent of questioning his loyalty. This unfortu- nate feeling was well nigh universal and was shared alike by both officers and men. General Thomas had urged Buel to fight at Sparta, Tennessee, before Bragg entered upon his gigantic raid in Kentucky. A corps com- mander, distinguished for his soldierly instinct, severely censured Buel for failing to attack the enemy at Glas- gow and other points, while the two armies were march- 44 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 1862. ing on parallel roads in Kentucky, so near each other that a battle might have been brought on if there had been any desire to fight. General McCook told the writer within a few years that if Buel had sent him any one of the five divisions standing idle, and in easy reach, at three o'clock in the afternoon at Perryville, he would have destroyed .that part of Bragg's army with which his corps was engaged. In the reorganization of the army at Louisville, some seemingly inexcusable blunders were committed. The division which General Thomas, doubtless the most able officer in our army, composed of veterans he had led so long, was taken away from him, and he was named as second in command, which really left this capable officer without any command whatever. But worst of all, by some "hocus pocus" unexplained to this day, Charles C. Gilbert, who had not then been appointed a general officer by the President, was assigned to the command of the Third corps. Without experience or other quali- fication, Gilbert was undoubtedly the worst appointment to command an army corps made during the war. On the day of battle, in utter disregard of the necessities of his troops, he left the men short of rations throughout the day and until late the following night. Even then his abritrary orders were only relaxed at the earnest so- licitation of General Sheridan. Fortunately for his coun- try, the battle of Perryville was the first and last appear- ance of this incompetent officer as a corps commander. After three days had been frittered away in useless tactical manoeuvres, a timid advance was resumed on the 1 2th. The division moved through Danville and Lan- caster, where the batteries exchanged a few shots with October, 1862. THE BATTLE OF PERRYVIIJ,E. 45 the rear guard of the enemy. But the foe was quickly routed and the march continued without further inter- ruption through Stanford to Crab Orchard, where the command arrived on the evening of the I5th. Bragg had made good his escape and the invasion of Kentucky was ended. It is a noteworthy fact that the campaign in Ken- tucky caused the most bitter feeling in the opposing armies against their respective commanders. But per- haps the feeling of disappointment was greatest among the Confederates, and certainly the most difficult for them to bear. They had entered upon the Kentucky campaign under the promise of 20,000 recruits for the rebel cause, and had brought guns along to supply that number of recruits with arms. But the hoped for upris- ing did not occur; the arms were never taken from the wagons, and needlessly encumbered the train of the flee- ing foe as he returned to Tennessee. General Bragg did not consider so far as the Confederacy was con- cerned that the state was worth fighting for, and now, disappointed in his scheme of conquest, and bitterly cen- sured by his own army, he made haste to get beyond the barrier the Cumberland river was supposed to afford. On Thursday, the i6th, F. S. Henfling, of Company F, was accidentally shot in the leg. The regiment had been out to give the men an opportunity to discharge their guns, and it seems probable that some gun missed fire, which may account for the accident. The wound proved fatal, Henfling dying a few days later in the hos- pital. On Sunday, the iQth, the regiment was detailed for picket duty. Rest for the tired men and animals had 46 HISTORY OF THE 85TH IIJJNOIS. October, 1862. been the order of the day at Crab Orchard, and the new troops especially enjoyed their stay in that genial cli- mate. But the next day orders were received for a con- centration of the army at Bowling Green, and in the early morning the regiment took up the line of march from the picket line. After a march of twenty miles the regiment camped for the night on a stream known as Rolling Fork. The line of march led the Thirty-Sixth brigade through Lebanon, Parkville, New Market and Campbellsville. A fall of six inches of snow during the night and early morning of the 25th was the only inci- dent that happened to relieve the monotony of the march. This was a new, if not an agreeable, experience for troops without tents or shelter of any kind. On Saturday, November ist, the regiment arrived at Bowling Green. That night the tents which had been left at Louisville, were brought up, the mails arrived and were distributed, and from letters and papers received from home the men learned of the progress or the war the fortune that had followed the other armies in the broad field. They also learned without regret that Buel had been removed. From General Orders it appeared that our army, heretofore known as the Army of the Ohio, had been designated as the Army of the Cumber- land, under the command of Major General W. S. Rose- crans. November, 1862. ADVANCE TO NASHVILLE. 47 CHAPTER V. The dark and gloomy days in which the Eighty-fifth entered the field were followed, as dark days usually are, by brighter and more hopeful ones. The operations of General Lee in Virginia and Maryland; of General Bragg in Tennessee and Kentucky, and of Generals Price and VanDorn in Northern Mississippi, during the summer and autumn of 1862, covered the broadest field and displayed the boldest aggression of the Confederate armies during the war. For a time the tide of invasion ran high in the east, where Lee pressed the Union army back into Maryland, but at Antietam he met a bloody defeat and his army was forced to retire into Virginia to defend the approaches to the Confederate Capital. In Kentucky some of the rebel rangers may have caught a hasty glimpse of the Ohio river, but after the battle of Perry ville Bragg made haste to get behind the moun- tains of Tennessee. Just when General Bragg lost hope completely is not revealed, but at the moment when suc- cess seemed within his grasp, his bold strategy failed and he drifted about in Kentucky until expelled by a far from energetic pursuit. But when Price and VanDorn at- tempted to play the role of invaders in Mississippi, and perform their part in the scheme of invading the North the result was different. Confronting them was the small army under General Grant, in positions chosen with admirable skill. And instead of retreating and call- ing loudly and without ceasing for reinforcements, like McClellan and Buel, the hero of Donelson and Shiloh defeated the enemy at luka, routed him at Corinth, and 48 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. November, 1862. dispersed the foe at the Hatchie river. Grant not only did not retreat, but fixed more firmly than ever his re- lentless grasp on that end of the Confederacy. But promising as was the beginning of these cam- paigns to the South, like all others of similar character throughout the war, actual accomplishment fell far below Southern expectation. And when General Lee retreated from the battlefield of Antietam, General Bragg from Perryville, and Generals Price and_VanDorn from luka, Corinth and the Hatchie river, the Southern people saw plainly that the war was still to bring desolation to their homes and destruction to their section. They realized that their boldest strategy and the exertion of their full strength could only delay, but could not permanently prevent the advance of the Federal armies. During September and October the invading armies were driven back within the original limits of the Confederacy, and new offensive campaigns planned, the main one in the west, looking to the reconquest of Tennessee and North- ern Alabama, to be executed by the Army of the Cum- berland. On Tuesday morning, November 4th, marching orders were received, the destination being Nashville, Tennessee. All soldiers not able to march were sent to the general hospital which had been established at Bowl- ing Green. That evening the brigade camped a few miles beyond Franklin, and the next day crossed the state line and camped at Mitchellville in Sumner County, Tennessee. Here the Eighty-fifth was detailed for guard duty and remained at Mitchellville until noon on the 8th, when the march was resumed. The regiment arrived at Edgefield, a handsome suburb of Nashville, at noon on November, 1862. ADVANCE TO NASHVILLE. 49 Monday, the loth, and camped on a plateau north of the river and just outside the little town. On Wednesday, the I2th, the division was reviewed by General Rosecrans, and the men saw the new army commander for the first time. The change of command- ers was hailed with delight, and, while almost any change would have been acceptable, the appointment of Rose- crans, fresh from his well-earned victories in Mississippi, was especially gratifying. Nor was he long in winning the entire confidence of his new command. On the i Qth there was a detail made from the Eighty- fifth, under command of Captain Scott, to guard a train sent out for forage. This detail had proceeded some sixteen miles down the Cumberland river, when a tree, suddenly and without warning, fell across one of the wagons, instantly killing William S. Potter and William Ray, of Company E. These men were sitting near the middle of the wagon, and others sitting in front and rear of them, in the same wagon, escaped wholly unharmed. On Friday, the 2ist, the Thirty-sixth brigade went on a foraging expedition. This trip, as well as others made in the next month, were made with the full equip- ment necessary for fighting a battle if necessary, the bat- tery accompanying the brigade. The expedition re- turned the next evening with sixty beef cattle, two hun- dred hogs, seventy-five sheep, and a large amount of hay and corn. On Saturday, the 22nd, the division marched through Nashville, and out on the Murfreesboro pike, some seven miles to the crossing of Mill creek. At this point the Eighty-fifth camped near the turnpike, and on the eastern slope of a timbered hill. On the 25th the 50 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. November, 1862. regiment went on picket, the outposts overlooking the valley of Mill creek. On the hills beyond the outposts the enemy could be distinctly seen. Bragg was concentrat- ing the rebel army at Murfreesboro, and had strong out- posts at Lavergne, his cavalry pickets being advanced to the south banks of Mill Creek valley. In the immediate presence of the enemy it was usual for one-third of the command detailed for picket duty to be kept on outpost guard, one-third kept awake and under arms at the reserve post, and one-third allowed to sleep beside the fires. The guards on outpost duty from Company G brought in two prisoners captured at a farm house near the line during the day. At Peoria the Eighty-fifth was supplied with large Sibley tents, five of which were allowed to each com- pany. The men had by this time learned to make themselves quite comfortable. As soon as the weather became cold enough to require fires various kinds of fireplaces were improvised, and in this way made the large tents very pleasant and cheerful. Bayonets stuck in the ground answered the purpose of candlesticks, the accoutrements were hung to the center pole, while around its base were grouped the shining Enfield rifles. The men told stories, sang songs, wrote letters, played cards or checkers according to incli- nation, until tattoo and taps, when the lights went out and the men went to bed. When lighted up of an even- ing the camp at Mill creek seen from a distance pre- sented a very pretty picture. The white tents, standing in regular rows, and each lit up within, appeared as snug and cozy as any rustic village scene. During the month of November the following November, 1862. ADVANCE TO NASHVILLE. 51 changes took place among the company officers: On the 1 2th John W. Neal, second lieutenant of Company A, resigned and returned home, and Private Daniel Westfall was promoted to be his successor. On the same day First Lieutenant Lafayette Curless, of Com- pany G, resigned, and Second Lieutenant John M. Rob- ertson was promoted to be first lieutenant, and First Sergeant D. L. Musselman was chosen second lieuten- ant. Captain Nathaniel McClelland, First Lieutenant Luke Elliot, and Second Lieutenant William Cothern, all of Company H, resigned during the month, and Pri- vate David Maxwell was chosen captain, Private James T. McNeil, first lieutenant, and Private Washington M. Shields, second lieutenant of Company H. During the month of October and November death was busy in the ranks, his victims being found in the hos- pitals at Louisville, Harrodsburg, Danville and Bowling Green. Those dying were : John W. Bradburn, David A. Gordon, Franklin Gill more and Corporal Joseph F. Rodgers, of Company A; Henry Connor and Samuel Danawain, of Company B; William Clark, Ephraim Gates, John A. Gardner, George Gregor)'-, Daniel W. Hastings, Robert S. Moore, Joseph O'Donnell, Eben- ezer Paul, George W. Reynolds, Archibald J. Stubble- field and Corporal William C. Pelham, of Company C; Michael Ekis, William A. Mence and Christopher Shutt, of Company E ; Henry Henfling, F. S. Henfling, Henry Stalder, John Turner and Alexander Woodcock, of Company F; John Cunningham and William Cunning- ham, of Company H ; Wilson Hughes and Thomas J. Roves, of Company I ; First Sergeant Robert F. Rea- son, Corporal : William K. Rose, George H. Cottrell, 52 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 1862. Charles P. Riddle, Moses Shaw, Michael Speicht and Everard Tegard, of Company K. CHAPTER VI. Active preparations were making for an advance of the army and a battle that all felt must be fought for the possession of middle Tennessee. There were many skir- mishes and affairs of outposts which, in one instance at least, approached almost to the dignity of battle. Trie foragers had almost daily encounters with the enemy, but all these were only incidental to the concentration of two large armies, each of which was anxious to try the issue of battle once more. In the reorganization of the army which took place about the beginning of the month, the Thirty-sixth bri- gade was detached from Sheridan's division, and on the loth returned to Nashville for garrison duty. General Rosecrans had assigned Brigadier Robert B. Mitchell to the command of that important post, with the brigades of Brigadier James D. Morgan and Colonel Daniel Mc- Cook, to garrison the city. Of the departure of tfie bri- gade from his division, General Sheridan said:* "Col- onel Daniel McCook's brigade reluctantly joined the garrison at Nashville, everyone in it disappointed and disgusted that the circumstances at the time existing should necessitate their relegation to the harassing and tantalizing duty of protecting our depots and line of sup- ply." On arriving at Nashville the brigade went into * Vol. I, page 210, General Sheridan's Personal Memoirs. December, 1862. GARRISON AT NASHVILLE. 53 camp not far from where the Vanderbilt University now stands and occupied that camp or one in the immediate vicinity during its term of service in the Nashville garri- son. The two brigades assigned to garrison Nashville in December, 1862, remained together until the close of the war, and were composed of the following commands : FIRST BRIGADE. General James D. Morgan Commanding. Tenth Illionis Colonel John Tillson. Sixteenth Illinois Colonel Robert F. Smith. Sixtieth Illinois Colonel Silas C. Toler. Tenth Michigan Lieutenant-Colonel C. J. Dickerson. Fourteenth Michigan Colonel Myndert W. Quackenbush. SECOND BRIGADE. Colonel Daniel McCook Commanding. Eighty-fifth Illinois Colonel Robert S. Moore. Eighty-sixth Illinois Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Magee. One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois Col. Oscar F. Harmon. Fifty-second Ohio Lieutenant-Colonel D. D. T. Cowen. ARTILLERY. Captain Charles M. Barnett Commanding. Battery I, Second Illinois. The First brigade had been on garrison duty at this place since the beginning of the Confederate invasion of Kentucky. It was strong in numbers, thoroughly drilled, and officers and men appeared the seasoned vet- eran soldiers that they were. The campaign from Louisville to Nashville had been necessarily severe on the new troops. The men had been given and set out on this their first campaign with the full allowance of equipment, consisting of all that mys- terious and curiously contrived outfit which was for a long time issued to the infantry an outfit that no old 54 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 1862. soldier would, and no new soldier could carry and wear without breaking- down. The result was that many broke down under the unreasonable burdens, while the bad water available along the line of march, owing to the prevailing drouth, produced much sickness, which had greatly thinned the ranks of the Second brigade. All through the winter the camp regulations were very strict, no one being allowed to pass the limits of the camp without written permission. Reveille sounded every morning at half-past five o'clock. Roll-caH fol- lowed immediately, every man being required to take his place in line in the company street, those failing to re- spond being placed on extra duty. Then followed prep- arations for breakfast, after which the grounds were thoroughly policed. At half-past eight came guard- mount, a part of the detail being assigned for picket duty and a part for camp guard. At half-past nine company drill began, lasting from one to two hours. In the early afternoon there was battalion drill, and at half-past four came dress parade. Before the command left Nashville, guard-mount, battalion drill and dress parade became very elaborate affairs. The first thing demanding the attention of the new commander on his arrival at Nashville was the supply of his army. The railroad from Louisville to Nashville had been badly damaged by rebel cavalry raids and at least one long tunnel blown up. But the railroad was re- paired and the line of supply reopened, and sufficient supplies accumulated to justify an advance against the enemy. New clothing was issued and the divisions left on guard at points on the railroad were drawn in and placed in camps south of the city. During the first two December, 1862. GARRISON AT NASHVILLE- 55 months of his command General Rosecrans had been untiring in his efforts to assimilate with his army the new troops that had been attached, and had obtained authority from Washington to dismiss from the army all officers who failed from any cause to do their whole duty. Under this authority many officers were permitted to resign their resignation being endorsed at army head- quarters "for the good of the service." On the 26th General Rosecrans with 47,000 men of all arms began the advance against the enemy, who was known to be fully as strong in numbers and in a position of his own choice in front of Murfreesboro. The advance met with stubborn resistance, which steadily increased until the battle of Stone River had been fought and won and Murfreesboro wrested from the defeated foe. Early in the day the roar of artillery could be distinctly heard in the camp of the Eighty-fifth, and from that time there were rumors of disaster to the Union army. These rumors may have been inspired in part by the citizens of the city, who were notoriously disloyal, and in part by anxiety caused by the well-known fact that the rebel army was quite as strong in numbers as that of its assail- ant. These rumors and the impossibility of getting reli- able news from the front made the closing days of the year days of great anxiety for the "Government people" at Nashville. At noon on January 2nd, 1863, the Eighty-fifth, with the Fourteenth Michigan, and a brigade of Kentucky and Tennessee troops, moved out on the Murfreesboro pike. While waiting tHere we learned from soldiers re- turning from the front, who had been slightly wounded, that a bloody battle was still in progress, and that while 56 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. January, 1863. it had opened on the morning of December 3ist, with a decided advantage to the enemy, who at that time as- sumed the offensive, that since noon of that day the bat- tle had been in favor of the Union arms. Moreover, we learned another thing, which at first was disagreeable news, but after a moment's reflection was accepted as an assurance that our army was not only still fighting, but proposed to continue the battle. This report was that a large train loaded with provisions and ammunition, which had been sent out from Nashville, had been at- tacked that morning at Lavergne by rebel cavalry, the guards dispersed, and the train captured and destroyed, and that the command was then waiting to guard an- other train to the front. This train was composed of three hundred and three heavily loaded wagons, contain- ing both provisions and ammunition. It was near sunset when the long train closed up on the pike, and the long night's march began. Near the asylum, some seven miles out, the advance had a sharp fight with the cavalry of the enemy, in which the enemy was routed, with the loss of several in killed and wounded and ten prisoners. Soon after dark, as if the elements were in league with the foe, rain began to pour down, which continued without ceasing throughout the weary night. At Lavergne the command passed the wreck of the train captured in the morning, the wagons still burn- ing. The turnpike was in fairly good condition and steadily, hour after hour, the men marched on through mud and rain and darkness, to the tedious rumble of the wagons. The tiresome monotony of the march was only broken when some driver felt called upon to exhort his mules with warlike language to greater effort. It was a P. L. DIKFFlfiNBACHKR, SL'KGECm, 57 Of Hf Atlanta began. The Fourteenth corps held on to the Utoy creek line until all the other corps passed to its rear and on toward the coveted rail- road. At three o'clock on the morning of the 27th the Second division retired from the line at Willis Mills on Utoy creek, and marched some two miles southwest, where it was massed, and the Eighty-fifth was sent to the picket line. In the afternoon the enemy's pickets came in sight, but as they maintained an attitude of observa- tion at a safe distance they were not molested. The next morning we moved to Mount Gilead church, where we passed the Fourth corps, and the division again became the right flank of the entire army. The enemy was found on the south side of Camp creek, but he was quickly dis- persed by the skirmishers of the Second brigade. A bridge was built, over which we crossed, and the division 14 222 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. September, 1864. arrived on the Montgomery railroad, one-half mile east of Red Oak, that evening. During the 2Qth the com- mand was engaged in destroying the railroad, and on the next morning we marched to Shoal Creek church, where we rested for several hours, the division being massed as if an attack was anticipated. In the afternoon the com- mand moved to within six miles of Jonesboro, on the Macon railroad, and camped for the night. Orders were issued to be ready to march at daylight on the 3ist, but no movement was made until afternoon. About three o'clock the noise of battle was heard in the direction of Jonesboro, and the First and Third brigades moved rapidly in the direction of the fighting. But the firing soon ceased, and the division camped at Renfroes cross roads. The enemy had been found in strong force at Jonesboro, a small town on the Macon railroad, twenty-two miles south of Atlanta, behind heavy earth- works. West of the town his line ran nearly north and south, but north of the village it made an abrupt turn, ran east to the railroad, and beyond that extended some distance to the southeast. His entire line was well for- tified with artillery at the angles, in position to sweep his front, making a very difficult line to carry by direct as- sault. During the afternoon the Army of the Tennes- see had closed down on the enemy from the west, devel- oped his line to the angle north of the town and en- trenched a position facing that of the enemy. On Thursday morning, September ist, the Four- teenth army corps wheeled to the right, using our divis- ion as a pivot, with the intention of storming the rebel right. The Second division was to keep in touch with the left of the Army of the Tennessee. About noon the September, 1864. ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 223 movement brought the corps in line parallel to the ene- my's works north of the town, and it was formed into an assaulting column in an old open cotton field. As we emerged from the woods just beyond Flint river a shell from a rebel battery revealed to us the position of the enemy's line. The first shot was succeeded by others in quick succession, and as our column formed in full view it made an attractive mark for the rebel gunners. Their first shots passed over our heads or struck the ground in front, but they soon got the range and their shells burst around and among us at a lively rate. Our division was formed with the Second and Third brigades in front, each in two lines, with the batteries in the interval be- tween the brigades, while the First brigade was held in reserve. The Third brigade had the right of the line and was formed in the following order: First line, Twenty- second Indiana on the right, the Fifty-second Ohio on the left, and the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois in the center, the Eighty-fifth, Eighty-sixth and One Hundred and Tenth Illinois forming the second line. From our line it was about one thousand yards to the rebel batteries in the angle, with a swamp and sev- eral deep ditches intervening. As soon as our batteries could get into position they opened fire and a furious cannonade ensued. To the left as far as we could see brigades were massed for a charge, with batteries thun- dering from the intervals between them, flags waving and flashing in the sunlight, staff officers dashing here and there, all made a martial scene grand and inspiring in the highest degree. At the command the men moved forward with bayonets fixed and their empty guns at the right shoulder-shift. 224 . HISTORY OF THE) 85TH ILLINOIS. September, 1864. The swamp and ditches encountered were .so difficult to cross that the Second and Third brigades had to move by the right flank some distance, and then cross in regi- mental column. The crossing was accomplished as rap- idly as possible, and the First brigade was brought up and placed in the front line on the left of the division. All this time the troops were under fire from the rebel batteries, and many were killed and wounded by shells. The assaulting column was reformed on the slope of a hill beyond the swamp, within about two hundred yards of the enemy's position. Here the ground offered a slight protection, a brief halt was made, and the line rec- tified. Soon the bugles sounded the charge, and the whole line rushed forward. The enemy, self-confident and exultant at our audacity in attacking lines so strong, held his musketry fire until we were in short range, when his first volley killed and wounded at least one-half the men lost in the assault. The fight was short and bloody, but his entire line of works was carried. Eight hundred and sixty-five officers and men, including one brigade commander, were captured in the works. About one thousand more were picked up during the night which should be credited to the assault. The Second division captured two four-gun batteries, one thousand stand of small arms and six battle flags. These trophies were won at the point of the sword and bayonet, under a furi- ous fire of musketry, on ground swept by grape and can- nister, from men whose fighting qualities have never been excelled, posted behind breast-works as strong as men long trained in the art of constructing defensive works could make them. While gallantly leading the brigade near the enemy's September, 1864. ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 225 works Colonel Dilworth received a severe wound, a musket ball passing through his neck, and he was carried from the field. Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Langley, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois, being next in rank, assumed command of the brigade. The Eighty- fifth was now on the right of the front line, and under a heavy fire from a force seeking to penetrate between our right and the left of the Army of the Tennessee. Here Major Robert G. Rider, commanding the Eighty-fifth, received a gunshot wound in the head .and the command of the regiment devolved upon Captain James R. Grif- fith, of Company B. Other regiments were brought up in line with the Eighty-fifth, and heavy firing was kept up until long after dark, checking the advance of the enemy, who was then no doubt preparing to retreat. The assault was the only entirely successful one of the campaign, and decided the fate of Atlanta. The troops slept on their arms, and were startled during the night by what appeared to be terrific artillery firing in the direction of Atlanta. All supposed there had been a night assault by the Twentieth corps, but w^e learned next day that the noise proceeded from the explosion of ammunition, the rear guard of the enemy having de- stroyed his abandoned ordnance stores as his army retreated from the city. The Twentieth corps moved forward at daylight, occupying the city and taking charge of the property not yet destroyed. The morn- ing of the 2nd found nothing in our front save the wreck of a defeated enemy, who had retreated during the night, leaving his dead unburied and his wounded uncared for. It is the most trying moment in the experience of a soldier, when a charging column is preparing for the 226 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. September, 1864. final dash against the enemy's works. The pressure on brain and nerve is intense, and under the strain some become panic stricken, while others perform the most valorous deeds. Just as the line was being adjusted for the supreme effort three men broke from the ranks of a certain regiment and ran back into the fields. While running up the side of a hill seemingly beyond the danger Hne an avenging Confederate shell passed over the heads of hundreds at the front and, as if directed by fate, tore two of the fleeing fugitives to fragments. On no other occasion was the use of the bayonet so general or so well authenticated. Three brothers named Noe, of the Tenth Kentucky, went over the rebel parapet together, and two of them pinned their adver- saries to the ground with the bayonet.* In this assault the fact was demonstrated that where men make an as- sault with empty guns the bayonet can be freely and effectively used. Of the troops engaged in the assault at Jonesboro all belonged to the Fourteenth corps, and those composing the storming column consisted of the Second division entire, and one brigade of the Third division. The vic- tory was rich in the spoil of the battlefield. Nearly two thousand prisoners, two batteries, one thousand stand of small arms and seven battle flags were among the trophies. No such capture of men and material had been made since the storming of Mission Ridge. In addition to being the only successful assault on the enemy's main line in the long campaign, more cannon, battle flags and munitions of war were captured by the Second division at Rome and Jonesboro than were captured by the entire * Rebellion Records, No. 72, page 753. September, 1864. ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 227 army between Dalton and Atlanta. And the glory be- longs in part to the officers and men of the Eighty-fifth, the living and the dead, who had a part in that trying campaign. For nearly four months they had been almost constantly under fire, at every moment liable to be picked off, while the sound of whistling bullet and bursting shell had seldom been out of their ears. In the assault the Second division lost five hundred and forty in killed and wounded, of which one hundred and thirty-five were from the Third brigade. At Jones- boro the Eighty-fifth sustained the following CASUALTIES. FIELD AND STAFF. WOUNDED Colonel Caleb J. Dilworth, commanding the brigade; Major Robert G. Rider, commanding the regiment. COMPANY B. KILLED Corporal Lewis Boarmaster. COMPANY D. WOUNDED Corporal William D. Close, Jacob S. Dew, Henry Howarth and Newton C. Patterson. COMPANY E. KILLED Thomas Owens. COMPANY F. KILLED Sergeant David Hamilton. COMPANY H. WOUNDED Corporal Thomas B. Engle and William Frietley. COMPANY I. WOUNDED Sergeant Neal P. Hughes and Ellis Moore. COMPANY K. KILLED First Sergeant Smith B. Horsey. WOUNDED Sergeant Charles Pond. On Sunday morning, the 4th, the Third brigade was ordered to escort the prisoners and hospital train to Atlanta. The men enjoyed their two days of rest after- the battle, and were prepared for a long and rapid march, 228 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. September, 1864. and reached the city that evening. The prisoners able to march numbered some seventeen hundred men, and these marched two and two in the middle of the road, while the command marched in four ranks, two on either side of the captives. Arriving in the city the prisoners were turned over to the garrison, and the Third brigade went into camp on the west side. Within the next few days General Sherman's entire army returned to the vicinity of the city, and went into camps at the follow- ing points : The Army of the Tennessee at East Point, the Army of the Ohio at Decatur, and the Army of the Cumberland in and around Atlanta. During the campaign the following changes oc- curred among the commissioned officers: Adjutant Clark N. Andrus died on July 23rd of wounds received at Kennesaw mountain, and First Lieutenant Preston C. Hudson, of Company I, was commissioned to succeed him on that date. The position of first assistant surgeon had long been vacant, when Dr. Gilbert W. Southwick, of Arcadia, 111., was appointed to that position under date of August 29th. First Sergeant John K. Milner, of Company A, died of wounds received at Peach Tree creek; he had been commissioned first lieutenant of his company on March 2Oth, 1863, but for lack of the re- quired number of men he had never been mustered. He died on the twentieth of August in the hands of the enemy. On the 2Qth of August Captain James T. Mc- Neil, of Company H, resigned and First Lieuten- ant Ira A. Mardis was promoted to be captain. Captain McNeil had never recovered from the hardships and exposure of the rebel prison. During the Atlanta campaign the following deaths September, 1864. ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 229 occurred in the Eighty-fifth from diseases or wounds : FIELD AND STAFF. Adjutant Clark N. Andrus. COMPANY A Corporal Calvin W. Boon, John F. Anno, William Dortzfield and David Kratzer, of wounds. COMPANY B William Buff alow, of wounds; William H. Skiles, of disease. COMPANY C Corporal Thomas Stagg, Jeremiah Deiterich, Dan- iel Daugherty, William H. Neeley, James K. Young and Thomas M. Young, of wounds; and James Moslander, of dis- ease. COMPANY D John J. Murphy and Hugh Morgan, of wounds; and Willard Hicks, of disease in Andersonville prison. COMPANY E First Sergeant A. J. Taylor, Sergeant William F. Hohamer, Corporal Bowling Green, Corporal James N. Sheets and James E. Thomas, of wounds. COMPANY G Silas Dodge, of wounds. COMPANY H Charles A. Hughes, of disease; John A. Thompson, of wounds. COMPANY I Charles Cain, of disease. COMPANY K John Seibenborn, of disease. The official reports at the close of the Atlanta cam- paign show that the aggregate loss of the Third brigade was one thousand and eighty-nine, distributed among the regiments as follows :* Twenty-second Indiana 231 Fifty-second Ohio 253 Eighty-fifth Illinois 194 Eighty-sixth Illinois 176 One Hundred and Tenth Illinois 29 One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois 206 Total . ....1,089 * Rebellion Records, Serial No. 72, page 717. 230 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. September, 1864. The casualties in the Second division numbered twenty-four hundred and seventy-two, and the aggre- gate loss by each brigade was reported as follows :* First brigade 536 Second brigade 847 Third brigade 1,089 Total 2,472 The Atlanta campaign had ended; a campaign des- tined to live in history as long as brilliant strategy is studied, and the history of stubborn, continuous fighting is read. And well had the Eighty-fifth borne its part, and sustained the record for heroism and gallantry won on the threshold of its career, at Perryville. The Presi- dent, Congress, the press and the loyal people of the land gave unstinted praise to General Sherman and the gal- lant officers and soldiers who had forced their way over broad rivers and through mountain passes from Chatta- nooga to the "Gate City." But tne rebel army had not been destroyed, and other arduous campaigns, much marching, and hard battles must yet be fought, and in them the Eighty-fifth was to have a conspicuous part. At this time the official reports show an aggregate pres- ent for duty in the regiment of two hundred and nine- teen. * Rebellion Records, Serial No. 72, page 643. September, 1864. RESTING AT ATLANTA. 231 CHAPTER XIX. During the stay in Atlanta the Eighty-fifth camped on the left of the White Hall road, just beyond the city limits. The camp was well located, fuel and water con- venient, little duty was required, the men were allowed the freedom of the city, and all who cared to do so made the circuit of the works erected for its defense. These earthworks had required the labor of thousands of slaves for months, and were models of strength and solidity, and while General Sherman was preparing plans for a new aggressive campaign, the men discussed the prob- able direction of their next march. In the meantime, General Hood was preparing to assume the offensive, and startle the country by a campaign bold in its concep- tion, but destined to end in signal failure. The rest at Atlanta continued for nearly a month, the health of the regiment was greatly improved, and its numbers were increased by the return of many of those who had fallen out because of sickness or wounds during the campaign. In the exchange of prisoners, which took place at this time, some of our comrades were for- tunate enough to be included, and returned to duty. A strong inner line of earthworks was constructed so that a small force might hold the city against assault, and nearly all non-combatants were sent north or soutfi, whichever way they chose to go. Upon a hint from army headquarters that a limited number would be fur- loughed, a few officers and men applied for twenty-five- days' furloughs. But the approval of these applications was destined to meet the command far to the north. 232 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 186*. On Thursday, the 29th, the Second division received orders to be ready to march at a moment's notice, and there were rumors of a raid in the rear. By eight o'clock three days' rations had been issued, and all were in readi- ness, but the day passed without further orders. Mean- while the men waited and ate, and ate and waited, until, as is usual under such circumstances, many of them had eaten their three days' allowance in a single day. Soon after dark the command moved to the railroad and boarded a train of empty freight cars, which reached Chattanooga the following evening. From there the division proceeded on the same train to Huntsville, Ala., where it arrived at noon of Sunday, October ist. The brigade went into camp south of the town, and soon the tired men were fast asleep. But this much-needed rest only lasted two hours, when the bugles sounded the as- sembly, and the command hurried back to the station to take the train so lately abandoned for Athens. A few miles out from Huntsville the railroad track was found torn up and the command left the train and marched to Athens, arriving on the afternoon of the 3rd. When the Eighty-fifth, with the other troops com- prising the Second division, hurried aboard the train at Atlanta, and officers and men were packed in dirty freight cars like sardines in a box, it was understood that the movement was of great urgency, but nothing was known of our destination. Now it was learned that the rebel general, Forrest, with a large force of cavalry had crossed the Tennessee river and attacked the garrison at Huntsville. But the advance of the Second division compelled him to abandon the fight, and retire in the direction of Athens. Damage to the railroad 'was For- October/1864. BACK IN ALABAMA. 233 rest's main object, but General Morgan's advance was so rapid that little was accomplished in that line by the raid- ers, and they soon sought safety in flight. From Athens the enemy moved in the direction ol Florence, on the Tennessee river, and on the morning of the 4th the Second division moved in pursuit. In the afternoon the command forded Elk river, the water reaching to the arm-pits of the men, and camped for the night at Rogersville, some four miles beyond. A heavy rain had been falling through the day, which continued without ceasing throughout the night, and the men spent a miserable night. An early start was made on the next morning, the command crossing Shoal creek during the day, and camped for the night within six miles of Florence. The Third brigade had the advance on the morning of the 6th. Our skirmishers soon found the enemy, and rapidly drove Forrest's rear guard through the town and beyond the river. In this skir- mish John W. McClaren, of Company H, was wounded. He had but recently recovered from a wound received near Dallas, Georgia. On the evening of the Qth a division of cavalry com- manded by General C. C. Washburn arrived to take up the pursuit of Forrest. The men thought that these troopers boasted overmuch of what they would do with Forrest when they found him, and were not at all sur- prised to learn later that they had found him a very tough proposition. The Second division started back to Athens on the morning of the loth, and at the same time, with a flourish of trumpets, the cavalry division crossed the river to hunt Forrest. Soon after starting we could hear the roar of artillery in the direction the 234 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 1864. cavalry had taken, and the men were assured that our troopers had ''found Forrest." Long afterward we learned that Forrest had turned on his over-confident pursuers and whipped them to his heart's content. An- other illustration of the truth that "He should boast that putteth off the armor rather than he that girdeth it on." From the time the command took the train at At- lanta until it arrived at Florence the rain fell heavily and almost continuously. The roads became very muddy and the streams were swelled to the tops of their banks. The bridges had been destroyed by the enemy, the com- mand had no pontoons, and the men had to ford the streams. The water, reaching at times to the armpits, kept their clothing wet and increased the weight they had to carry. The little sleep they secured was that of exhaustion and afforded them but little rest. Their clothing was worn, many were without shoes, and all were footsore and weary. Perhaps the trip from At- lanta to Florence came as near taxing to the utmost the physical endurance of the men as any campaign thus far experienced. However, the weather cleared up while at Florence, and the return to Athens was much more com- fortable, although the march was rapid, the command arriving there on the evening of the I2th. The application for furloughs made at Atlanta was approved and met the command at this point, and a few of the Eighty-fifth left for home on the first train for the north. They little thought that the fortunes of war would interfere with their return to duty with the regi- ment until the following spring. But at the expiration of these furloughs Sherman's army was on its way to the sea, and those returning from the north were held at October, 1864. AGAIN IN CHATTANOOGA. 235 Chattanooga until they could reach the army on the Atlantic coast. On the 1 3th the Third brigade boarded a freight train and arrived in Chattanooga the next day. While at this place about one-half of the men received shoes, and some clothing was issued, but still there was but a meager supply. The division was kept under marching orders during the stay in Chattanooga, and while there General Sherman was using all the means in his power to bring General Hood's army, which was known to be between Resaca and LaFayette, to battle. In order to understand the situation it is necessary to briefly review the movements of the two armies since the Second division left Atlanta. In the last days of September the President of the Southern Confederacy made a visit to the headquarters of General Hood, and a bold plan of aggression was mapped out. According to this plan Hood was to throw his entire army upon our communications, capture the garrisons and destroy the railroad, then cross the Tennessee river and invade Ten- nessee and Kentucky. In pursuance of this plan Hood soon appeared on the railroad north of Atlanta and with his whole army began destroying the road. This, the first step in the second great Confederate scheme of northern invasion, it was hoped would compel Sherman to abandon Atlanta, and force his armies out of Georgia. But, leaving the Twentieth corps to garrison Atlanta, Sherman moved with all his remaining troops in hot pur- suit, with the hope of forcing the enemy to a general en- gagement. Hood destroyed over thirty miles of rail- road, captured the garrisons at Big Shanty, Ackworth, Tilton and Dalton, but was repulsed at Altoona and 236 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. October, 18W. Resaca. At Altoona Hood met a decided repulse with heavy loss. Although the garrison at this point num- bered less than two thousand men, it captured over four hundred prisoners and buried two hundred and thirty- one of the enemy's dead left on the field. This would show, according to the usual proportion of killed ;:o the wounded, that the loss of the enemy exceeded in num- ber the entire strength of the garrison. But Hood was marching light and living on the country; his strategy was brilliant; his movements were executed with dash and skill, and it was found impossible to bring him to a general engagement, Tuesday, the i8th, our division, with Wagner's di- vision of the Fourth corps, under the personal command of General Schofield, moved out on the L/aFayette road across the battlefield of Chickamauga, camping for the night at Lee and Gordon's mills. The next day the march led through LaFayette, the command camping just be- yond the town. On the 2Oth we passed the camps occu- pied the night before by the rebel army under General Hood. During the day the Second division came in touch with other divisions of Sherman's army, and for a time a battle seemed probable. The rear guard of the enemy showed a disposition to fight, but after making a pretentious demonstration, he suddenly withdrew from our front, and continued his retreat toward Gadsden, Ala. Within the next two days the entire army was concentrated around Gaylesville, ready for the next move in the game. At Gaylesville, a small town on the eastern border of Alabama, General Sherman's army remained almost a week. It was a period of comparative rest to the rank I>AVIli SIOLKY, CORPORAL. COMPANY B. 237 October, 1864. THE MARCH TO GAYLESVILLE. 239 and file, but of great activity to their commander, for he was completing plans for his march to the sea. Three days' rations of bread, meat and coffee were issued, with orders that they must last five. But as forage was abundant in the rich valleys of that pleasant region this was considered no great hardship. Guard duty was light, as the troops were well massed, and the details sent out for supplies brought in sweet potatoes, meat, mo- lasses and honey. The men operated the mills in the vicinity, and in this way obtained a supply of corn meal and unbolted flour. But by the end of our stay the country was eaten out. While Sherman's army lay at Gaylesville Hood began to move north from Gadsden as if bound for Ten- nessee, and on the 28th, when the main body of our forces moved south from Gaylesville the Fourth corps was sent back to defend the line of the Tennessee river. That day we marched nine miles toward Rome, camp- ing for the night at Missionary station, near the Georgia and Alabama line. The next morning the march was resumed, the command arriving at Rome that afternoon. The Eighty-fifth camped on the north side of the Etowah river on the ground where the Second division fought the battle of Rome in the month of May. On the last day of October the Third brigade guarded the trains of the Fourteenth corps to Kingston, to which point the First and Second brigades followed on the next day. At this time the curious and extraordinary spectacle was seen, of two hostile armies moving in exactly oppo- site directions. As Hood moved north, Sherman marched south, and each embraced in his plan the same 15 240 HISTORY OF THE 8STH ILLINOIS. November, 1864. object the invasion of his adversaries' country. Both were men of sanguine temperament, but the Union leader manoeuvered with a degree of prudence unknown to the insurgent general. At first, General Sherman thought Hood would abandon his plan of invasion, and throw his army to our front, or move south on parallel lines until opportunity offered for battle; but as the enemy's north- ward march continued, it became necessary to provide for the defense of Tennessee. To this end, the Twenty- third army corps was turned back from Rome, with orders to report to General Thomas, who was organiz- ing an army at Nashville to meet and destroy the rebel army in the event it crossed the Tennessee river. Friday, the 4th, Major Harris visited the Eighty- fifth, and officers and men each received eight months' pay. The soldier is a very honest sort of person, although much given to borrowing between pay days, and soon the men were engaged in paying off their small debts. But this large payment coming at a time and place where there was little opportunity for spending money, made the camp unusually flush, and what to do with the surplus money became the question of the hour. Fortunately the regiment had a chaplain whom all could trust, and after securing a leave of absence for that pur- pose, he gathered up the money the men wished to send to family and friends, and left for the north. On arriv- ing home he went to all for whom he had money and delivered it in person. This was but one of the many kindly acts of the good chaplain which endeared him to the men. The presidential election occurred while we lay at Kingston, and on the 8th of November, the regiments November, 1864. THE RETURN TO ATLANTA. 241 from nearly all of the states voted for president. Com- missioners were sent to receive the ballots of those in the army who would have been entitled to vote if at home. But the Illinois soldiers were denied this privilege because a Copperhead legislature had refused to make the necessary provision. So while the men from other states were exercising the elective franchise, those from Illinois had to content themselves with expressing their contempt and hatred for those who brought this wrong upon them. Doubtless among the men from Illinois, there were many "souls made perfect," but if the remarks made upon that occasion are to be considered in evidence, then surely none but the wholly unregener- ate gave utterance to their feelings. On the afternoon of the loth, we marched through Cassville, and then went into camp at Cartersville, where we remained until the morning of the J3th. On the I2th the last railway trains passed going north, and later in the day the telegraph was cut and Sherman and his army were left in the middle of the Southern Confederacy, with no means of communication with the outside world or base of supplies, until he should open one on the sea coast. That day General Sherman took dinner at the headquarters of the Second division, and while there received and answered the last dispatch from the north, and the work of burning surplus army stores and destroying the railroad was commenced. That night the line of fire lighting up the road as far as the eye could reach, revealed the thorough manner in which the work of destruction was being done. On the 1 3th, the division moved at an early Hour, and, after destroying six miles of railroad, marched five 242 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. November, 1864. miles further, camping for the night at Ackworth. The next day we marched twenty-one miles and arrived at Atlanta on the I5th. From Kingston to Atlanta the line of march lay over familiar and historic ground. Trees riven by cannon balls or girdled with fierce mus- ketry; breastworks the command had struggled for but a few short months before, and the graves of both blue and gray, all testified to the determined nature of the summer's conflicts. Everything in the city that could make it valuable to the enemy as a military point was to be destroyed and we found Atlanta wrapped in flames. That night the burning mills, machine shops and warehouses afforded a grand and awe inspiring sight; a sad and melancholy exhibition of the blighting desolation of war. We had left that vicinity forty-five days before, and in that period the Second division marched over two hundred miles, traveled by rail four hundred miles and destroyed seven- teen miles of railroad. Eli F. Neikirk, second lieutenant of Company K, resigned on November 4th, but as the company was below the minimum number, no successor was commis- sioned to fill the vacancy. During the period of which this chapter treats, the following deaths occurred : Henry P. Jones and Martin Troy, of disease, Company D ; Richard Griffin, of Com- pany E, wounds; Clinton Logan, of Company F, was killed by accidental discharge of a musket, and Barn- hart Noblack, of same company, died of wounds; and Sergeant Lorenzo D. Gould, of Company G, died of disease. November, 1*. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 243 CHAPTER XX. General Sherman divided his army into two grand divisions or wings, the right wing composed of the Fif- teenth and Seventeenth corps, commanded by Major- General O. O. Howard, and the left wing consisting of the Fourteenth and Twentieth corps, commanded by Major-General Henry W. Slocum; and, in addition, there was a cavalry division, commanded by Brigadier- General Judson Kilpatrick, making in round numbers an army of about sixty-five thousand men. The regiments composing this veteran army had been reduced by the casualties of constant service to one-third their original number. The space occupied by a brig- ade at this time was no longer than that filled by a regi- ment when first mustered. A regiment that could parade three hundred men out of the thousand it entered the service with, was considered lucky, and thirty men made more than the average company. Such had been the loss ratio that the files of four at the outset had been reduced, in many instances, to a single soldier. This veteran army was an army of boys and very many of them, while veterans in the service, were yet too young to vote. Commanders of regiments were often less than thirty years of age, while the company and staff officers were generally much younger. Their long hard service had made them fertile in resources, and inspired them with unbounded self-confidence. Glorying in their strength, they waded streams flushed with recent rains; built corduroy roads through dismal swamps; pulled wagons and cannon out of bottomless mudholes 244 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. November, 1864. and stormed the enemy's entrenched lines, with as little concern as they resumed the march in the morning-. Through the return of those recovering from wounds, the exchange of prisoners, and a small number of recruits, the aggregate present for duty had been materially increased. When the march to the sea began, the Second division had an aggregate present for duty of 5,542, of which number 1,721 belonged to the Third brigade. But for the reason given below the number present for duty in the Eighty-fifth cannot be given. Up to the time of the arrival of the Eighty-fifth at Atlanta, each company had been allowed room in the wagon train for a box containing its books and papers, which box, when opened, answered the purpose of a desk. But in September orders were received to pack the records and turn the boxes in to the quartermaster. The understanding at the time was that at the end of the campaign they would be returned. Accordingly morn- ing reports, order books, and retained copies of all papers were packed in company desks and delivered to the quartermaster. It was afterwards reported that all had been shipped to Chattanooga for safe keeping and later that they had been accidentally destroyed by fire. That they were destroyed by fire the writer has no rea- son to doubt, and whether the burning was accidental or intentional, the result was the same all were lost. This was most unfortunate, as the loss of the morning reports renders it impossible to give the strength of the regiment at important periods, and that of the order books makes it equally impossible to give credit to indi- viduals and detachments detailed for special duty. The march to the sea began on the morning of November, IBM. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 245 November I5th, by the two corps of the right wing mov- ing directly toward Macon. And bright and early on the 1 6th, the Twentieth corps began to march past our camp, but it was near noon before the Second division moved in the rear of the left wing toward Augusta. It will be observed that the two corps of each wing moved on sharply diverging lines, threatening both Macon and Augusta, but the general plan contemplated a concen- tration of the entire army at Milledgeville, the capital of the state, about one hundred miles southeast of Atlanta. We marched ten miles the first day, and camped for the night on Snapfinger creek. The next day we marched sixteen miles, passing through Litho- nia, destroying four miles of railroad, and camped for the night at Con)^ers, thirty miles east of Atlanta by rail. As the destruction of railroad communications between Richmond, the Confederate capital, and the gulf states was an important part of General Sherman's plan, he spared no effort to accomplish that end. And as the method finally adopted for this purpose was both novel and thorough, a brief description is here inserted. A brigade would halt in its march along a railroad line, stack arms and the men scatter along one side of the track Then each man would take hold of a tie, and at the word of command, all lifting together, would throw the ties end over end, the fall breaking the rail loose from the ties. Then the ties would be piled up like cob- houses, and these with other fuel would be set on fire, and the rails thrown across them. In a short time the rails would be red hot in the middle, when the soldiers would seize the rail by the two ends, and wrap it around a tree like a necktie or interlace and twine a pile of them 246 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. November, WM. together in great iron knots, while others with cant- hooks would twist the hot rails into corkscrew patterns, which .it was impossible to straighten, and rendering them useless for any purpose other than old iron. In this way an army corps marching along a railroad could easily destroy ten to fifteen miles in a day. Moreover, to complete the destruction of the enemy's communi- cations, the railway culverts were blown up, the bridges burned and the machine shops were leveled to the ground. The extent of line destroyed was enormous. More than a hundred miles of the road from Chatta- noga running through Atlanta to Macon ; from Atlanta east toward Augusta another hundred miles, and almost the entire length of the Georgia Central was ruined to the suburbs of Savannah. On the iSth, we marched sixteen miles, passing through Covington and Oxford, and destroyed three miles of railroad, camping beyond the-Ulcofauchee river. On the next day we marched twenty miles, passing through Sandtown and camping near Shady Grove. We marched twenty miles on Sun- day, the 2Oth, and camped near Eatonton factories, which we burned. The next day we turned south, marched twelve miles toward Milledgeville, through a heavy rain and over bad roads, and camped south of Cedar creek. We remained in camp the 22nd and the First and Third divisions with the pontoon train passed to the front. Weather cleared up cold after a slight flurry of snow. On the next day, we marched fourteen miles, camping on the plantation of Howell Cobb, who had been secretary of the treasury under Buchanan, and was then a general in the Southern army. This planta- tion abounded in corn, beans, peanuts and sorghum November, 186*. THE MARCH TO THE) SEA. 247 molasses, all of which, together with the fences and buildings, were appropriated by General Davis to the use and comfort of his men. Near our camp was a stack of peanuts, containing probably more than a thou- sand bushels. That night the men roasted and ate of them until many have never cared for peanuts since, and when we left in the morning, the stack caught fire and the remainder was consumed. Indeed the fire con- sumed about all found on this traitor's plantation that hungry men and animals could not eat. We passed through Milledgeville about ten o'clock on the 24th, crossed the Oconee river, and moved in the direction of Louisville. Up to this time there had been no organized force to resist our progress, or to even seriously interfere with our rollicking foragers. Appeals as fervid as they were futile had been made by both Con- federate and state authorities, calling upon the people to rise and expel the invaders from the state, but the utter helplessness of the situation was so apparent to all that the people, paralyzed with fear, paid little or no heed to the noisy but impotent proclamations. But when near Saundersville, on the 26th, our old time enemy, General Wheeler, with his cavalry appeared on the scene and drove our foragers in on the main column. The Second brigade being in advance deployed, and, after a sharp skirmish, drove the enemy through the town, with the loss of one killed and two wounded. We crossed the Ogeechee river on the next day and arrived at Louisville on the evening of the 28th, where we remained for two days. On the next day a foraging party was suddenly sur- rounded and captured. They were disarmed and hur- 248 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS November, WM. ried a short distance into the woods, where they were stood in line by their inhuman captors, and deliberately shot down in cold blood. Several were instantly killed, and the wounded shammed death until their captors left the scene. Soon after the camp was aroused by one of the slightly wounded, and a strong skirmish line advanced and recovered the dead and relieved the wounded. In this affair the loss of the Eighty-fifth was as follows: KILLED William Earp, sergeant of Company F; Simon Heaton, of Company H. WOUNDED Sergeant F. M. McColgan, of Company F; Corporal Perry W. Clupper, of Company G. Warned by this experience, our foraging party was strongly reinforced the next morning, which was very fortunate as the events of the day proved. The forag- ing party of the 3Oth, found abundant forage some eight miles from camp and had filled their wagons by noon. But while eating their dinner previous to the return trip, the rebel cavalry suddenly appeared between them and camp and opened fire. The men quickly ral- lied, however, and charged through the enemy's line, but by the time they had routed the foe and closed up- their forage train, the enemy was found again in their front. The news of the peril surrounding the foragers soon reached camp and the Eighty-fifth started on the double quick to their assistance, reaching them none too soon, as they had charged and scattered the rebel cavalry eight times that afternoon and were well nigh exhausted. They had, however, pluckily held on to their forage train. About the time the regiment started to the relief of the sorely-pressed foragers the other regi- December, 1864. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 249 ments were advanced against the enemy, who were boldly threatening the camp, and after a sharp skirmish drove him out of a line of earthworks and a mile or more beyond. A cotton gin containing forty or fifty bales of cotton, from behind which the enemy had fired on our men, was burned. We moved from Louisville on December ist, our division guarding the corps train and reserve artillery, while the other two divisions marched on parallel roads to our left. We marched in this way for several days until we reached the Savannah river. The roads ran through swamps that had to be corduroyed before the train could pass, the country was generally flat and sparsely settled, and while the foragers found a fair sup- ply of meat and sweet potatoes, flour and meal were very scarce. On Sunday, the 4th, we destroyed three miles of railroad at Lumpkins station, and the next evening, after a hard day's march over difficult roads, we camped at Jacksonboro, near the point where Brier creek falls into the Savannah river. On the 6th, we marched twenty miles, moving not far from and parallel with the river. Our route led us through dismal swamps and deep loose sand, through which the train moved with great difficulty. We camped after dark near Hud- son's Ferry. An amusing incident occurred at this camp, which delayed the supper of a hungry mess. Near Milledge- ville a colored man came to a certain mess and offered to cook meals and carry its outfit on the march, in return for permission to go along with the army. He was the blackest man the writer ever saw; of powerful build and gigantic stature. But his speech was a kind 250 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 1864. of jargon and very difficult to understand, and from the disconnected story he told around our camp fire, it appeared that he was a native of Africa; that he had been brought oyer by a slave trader from the African coast but a short time before the war began, and sold to a Georgia planter living in the vicinity of the state capital. He proved to be a good cook, a noble forager and provided the best the country afforded for the mess. As soon as fires had been kindled on that occasion for cooking supper, and as the colored man, with a camp kettle in each hand, was starting for a supply of water, a rebel gun-boat over in the river opened fire, sending a monstrous sixty-four-pounder shell screaming over our heads. In passing, it tore branches from the trees, which added to the infernal noise made in its flight. At the moment of its passage, the writer was looking at the cook, perhaps somewhat anxiously, as he was very hungry, and saw him bound into the air, give an unearthly scream, fling his camp kettles to the wind and go bounding end over end through the brush, to disap- pear in the darkness. He vanished as completely as if he had been translated, and we never saw him afterward. Fortunately the gunboat, which was probably patrolling the river, only fired one shot, but it was observed that the men were content to cook on low fires and eat in the dark. On the 7th, we marched fifteen miles, passing through two swamps that were badly obstructed by trees felled by the enemy to delay the advance, and camped near Ebenezer Creek. The next day we had to wait until pontoons were brought up and bridges built before we could cross the two streams known as Big and Little December, 1864. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 251 Ebenezer. This was historic ground, Ebenezer church, standing at the roadside, having been a rallying point for General Marion and his men in the War of the Revo- lution. It was dark when we camped that evening, the rain was falling steadily, and everything in the shape of fuel was soaked with water. Finally, when with much effort the men had succeeded in starting their fires, and had just put their coffee on to boil, orders were received to fall in and return to Ebenezer creek. Wheeler's cav- alry was pressing the rear guard and threatening the pontoon train with capture. The wet, tired, and hun- gry men, while taking their places in the ranks, made many forcible if not elegant remarks descriptive of their feelings, and expressive of their forlorn condition. But perhaps no one came nearer expressing the sentiment of the entire brigade than did a soldier who was observed to linger to the last, over a coffee can that refused to boil. At the last moment, he kicked his can over and his fire out, and as he slung his musket across his back and started to take his place in his company, his strong, clear voice rang out in perfect time, as he sang a profane parody of the line in that familiar song, "O, when this cruel war is over." The return of the Third brigade to Ebenezer creek promptly checked the enemy and we camped about midnight on the north bank of that stream. On the 9th, we marched eight miles, built bridges over two creeks, and ran up against a line of rebel earthworks, with a battery planted at the point where the works crossed the road. The enemy had selected a strong position to make a brief stand with a few men, at a point where a road 252 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 1864. passed between two swamps. When the rebel battery opened on the head of the column, the Third brigade was promptly deployed on both sides of the road, and our battery was brought up and returned the enemy's fire. In the artillery duel which followed, Lieutenant Coe, of Battery I, Second Illinois artillery, was killed, and two men on the skirmish line were wounded. The death of Lieutenant Coe cast a gloom over the entire brigade, where he was well known for his courage and skill, and where he was universally respected for his gentlemanly bearing. At this time darkness intervened and the entire brigade remained as a picket line for the night. We afterward learned that the enemy had intended to defend the city, only fifteen miles distant, on the line of defenses here encountered. This line of de- tached works extended from the Savannah river on the east to the Ogeechee river on the west. But the rapid advance of the right wing of the army down the right bank of the Ogeechee turned the enemy under General Hardee out of this line of works, and forced him to fall back to his interior line at the city. The next morning we found the works in our front abandoned and we advanced to the Ten-mile House, where we fell in with the Twentieth corps, which had the right of way, and we camped at that point for the night. On Sunday, the nth, we closed down on the enemy's defenses at Savan- nah, which were found to be very formidable and armed with an abundance of heavy artillery. Savannah was then a city of some twenty-five thou- sand people, is situated on the right bank of the Savan- nah river and distant but fifteen miles from the ocean. It is built upon an elevation about forty feet above tide December, 186t. THF MARCH TO THE SEA. 253 water, as near the harbor entrance as suitable ground on which to build a city could be found. Just below the city the land sinks almost to the level of the sea, and is cut into islands by canals or creeks. The Savannah and Ogeechee rivers fall into the ocean near each other, and for about fifty miles from the sea, a strip of land sep- arates them not more than ten to fifteen miles in width. As our army approached from the north, down this nar- row strip of land, it formed a compact line from the Savannah river on the left to the Ogeechee near King's bridge on the right. The skirmish line in front of the Second division was near the three-mile post, the entrenched lines of the enemy being about a quarter of a mile nearer the city. On December I3th, a division of the Fifteenth army corps, commanded by General William B. Hazen, stormed and carried Fort McAllister, on the right bank of the Ogeechee, capturing the entire garrison, together with the armament of the fort. This brilliant feat of arms solved the question of a base of supplies on the sea coast, by opening the Ogeechee river to light draught steamers, by the use of which supplies could be brought up to King's bridge and landed in the rear of the right of the army. The capture of this fort v/as of vast importance. The foragers were no longer able to procure either food or forage, in a country almost entirely devoted to rice farming, and for several days the army had been living on short rations drawn from the scant supply brought from Atlanta in the wagon trains. But the successful issue of the assault on Fort McAllis- ter not only insured abundant food supplies, as soon as the river could be cleared of obstructions, but the mails 254 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 1864. would be brought up and we would hear from the loved ones at home. Through the thoughtfulness of General Grant, a fleet of vessels loaded with supplies for the army was waiting for the arrival of Sherman's army on the coast. The mails which had accumulated since his departure from Atlanta had with like care been forwarded by a despatch boat, and on the i/th the hearts of the men were made glad by the distribution of the mails that had piled up during their sojourn in tfie tottering Confed- eracy. In the meantime a heavy fire was maintained along the skirmish lines and the enemy's workswere reconnoit- ered to find, if possible, points where they might be car- ried by storm. Several points in front of the Fourteenth corps were selected, where it was thought the enemy's entrenched lines might be carried. Siege guns were brought up from the fleet outside the harbor, and placed in batteries to protect the assaulting columns. Light bridges were constructed for the men to carry, with which to cross the canals and ditches that might be encountered in the charge, which promised to be san- guinary. But before arrangements for the assault had been completed, the enemy withdrew from the city, crossed the river and retired into South Carolina. The enemy retreated during the night of the 2Oth, and before daylight the next morning our skirmishers entered his abandoned works, thus ending a brilliant and successful campaign by the capture of Savannah. Among the property abandoned by the fleeing enemy were two hun- dred and fifty pieces of heavy artillery and over thirty thousand bales of cotton. .JOSEPH B. CO3VOVKR, 255 December, 1864. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 257 The Third brigade arrived at Savannah with an aggregate strength of 1,714, of which there were present for duty in the Eighty-fifth 232. CHAPTER XXI. When General Sherman determined to abandon Atlanta, march quickly across three hundred miles of hostile country and seize one of the harbors on the sea coast, the subsistence of the army upon the country became a necessary part of his plan. An army can live on the country while on the march, but it must have the ordinary means of supply within a very few days after it halts, or it will starve. All the ports on the southern coast were known to be fortified ,and presumably strong enough to render abortive any attempt to carry them by storm. Ordinary prudence, therefore, demanded that sufficient provisions be carried in the wagon trains to supply the army while engaged in gaining possession of a harbor on the coast suitable for a new base of supplies. To meet such an emergency twenty days' rations were taken in the wagon trains from Atlanta, but these were not to be issued while the army was moving into new fields each day. In an elaborate general order issued at the beginning of the campaign, General Sherman said, "The armv will forage liberally on the country during the march," and provided for daily details from each brigade, whose duty it should be to gather from the country along the line of march food for the men and forage for the animal s. 16 258 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 18W. The order also provided that the details for foraging should be under the command of discreet officers, and the supplies gathered should be issued by the commis- sary department. The result proved unsatisfactory ; the forage detail lived on the fat of the land, while the troops claimed that they did not get a fair share of the hams and honey, the turkeys and chickens, the pigs, potatoes and molasses. So the plan was modified by authorizing a detail of four men from each company, making a detachment of forty men, under the command of a bold and enterprising officer, to forage for each regiment, the provisions gathered to be issued independent of the commissary department. This plan proved entirely satisfactory. Having been advised of the intended line of march and the probable location of the next camp, the foragers would start before daylight and visit during the day every farm and plantation within five or six miles of the marching column. Wagons, ox-carts and family car- riages were pressed into service and loaded with provi- sions and forage, in short, everything that could be used as food for man or beast was taken, and brought to the road on which the column was marching, if possible, in advance of the trains. Then as we drew near camp in the evening the strange and varied collection, not only of food and forage, but of ingeniously contrived make- shifts of transportation, made a mirth provoking caval- cade. A wagon loaded with corn and cornfodder, drawn by a thoroughbred horse and a scrawny mule, a silver mounted family carriage loaded with hams and bacon drawn by a jackass and a cow in rope harness, and an ox-cart loaded with animals dead and alive, drawn by a December, 186*. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 259 cow and mule hitched tandem. Oxen and cows, as well as horses and mules, were used by the foragers as pack animals, and these would appear loaded down with tur- keys, chickens, corn meal, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. The extravagant militia uniforms of past genera- tions were occasionally found, and foragers dressed in them added to the comical side of the fantastic proces- sion, as they escorted their improvised trains of booty to the camp. Even the regimentals of the revolutionary period would sometimes appear in the forager's mas- querade. At one time a forager dressed in a continen- tal uniform indicating high rank, with chapeau and wav- ing plume, mounted on a fine horse with a strip of car- pet for a saddle, appeared at the roadside and with mock gravity reviewed the column at it passed. In a country of dense population, where the distance between towns and cities is not great, a requisition for food and forage is practical and far preferable to seizure. But in a region so sparsely settled as that through which our army marched, where towns were few and small, and where supplies were generally found on scattered farms and plantations, there was no way by which pro- visions could be obtained except by direct seizure. For- aging, therefore, became a vital necessity and the for- agers, commonly known as "Sherman's Bummers," per- formed a service without which the march to the sea would have been an impossibility. But the aptitude of the forager for his task, and the originality of his meth- ods, was a revelation alike to all, from the commanding general down to the rank and file. At first the foragers went on foot, but first one and 260 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. November, 1864. then another secured a horse and very soon all were mounted. Moving in advance or on the flanks, they formed a body of ideal rangers. Their long range rifles gave them a decided advantage over the carbines of the enemy's cavalry, and none of his troopers were ever able to break through the foragers' line far enough to feel the marching column. In seeking out hidden stock and stores, and in finding their way about the country, they seemed to be guided by an unerring instinct. In many instances, fearing the rapacity of the "vandal Yankees," the inhabitants had fled, taking with them what they could. Where the premises were abandoned, the for- agers made a clean sweep, but where the citizens were found at home they made a fair divide, leaving enough to support the family. In other cases it was found that the planters had buried their provisions in the ground, and driven their horses, mules and cattle into the swamps for safety, for the Federal and Confederate armies were alike dependent upon foraging for their subsistence. But the men soon became skillful experts in discovering stores that had been buried. From the general appearance of the barns and smoke-houses on the plantation, they quickly decided whether provisions had been buried or stock sent to the swamp. By indi- cations they would probably have found hard to describe they would determine the vicinity in which the stores would likely be found. Then they would advance in line, in open order, driving their ramrods into the ground, and very soon the hidden treasure, whether of bacon and hams or sweet potatoes, would be discovered. Usually a hint from some darkey would indicate the par- ticular swamp where the animals had been concealed, December, 1864. TUB MARCH TO THE SEA. 261 when the horses, mules and beeves would speedily change owners. Gathering- subsistence was not the only service ren- dered by the bold and dashing foragers. They not only had an abiding faith in their own invincibility, but they held the cavalry of the enemy in utter contempt. So when attacked by the enemy, no matter what the num- bers were, they gave fight. Others hearing the firing would hasten to take part, and if forced to retire they fell back fighting, and sooner or later the sound of battle would gather numbers sufficient to rout any cavalry force they ever encountered. In some instances they drove the enemy away, seized bridges before they could be destroyed, and held them until the main column appeared. Their duties called them to endure great hardships, and placed them in grave peril, but their love of fun caused them to give a rollicking turn to the most gloomy situation. When we reached Savan- nah the function of the forager ceased, they surrendered their horses to the provost marshals and returned to their duties in the ranks. No greater compliment can be paid to the so-called "Bummer," and no better proof of the high discipline maintained in our army, can be asked or given than the statement that this fact affords. The march to the sea afforded the troops a rare opportunity to look upon the homes of the south, and to learn how the war affected them. The picture in some instances was sad, in others it was simply ludicrous. In the midst of plenty there was apparent decay. The country was full of what were luxuries to us and no army ever lived better than we did. That an army of sixty-five thousand men could live sumptuously while it 262 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. December, 1864. marched leisurely through a state in which thousands of Union soldiers had died of starvation in prison pens, was a demonstration of the utter untruthfulness of the claim of the rebel authorities, that they were unable to feed the famishing prisoners. In addition to the sheep, swine, fowls, corn meal, and sweet potatoes consumed by the troops while on the march, 13,000 beeves, 5,000 horses, and 4,000 mules were found suitable for army use and were pressed into the service. When the first mail reached the army in front of Savannah, the papers were eagerly searched for news from our comrades in war-wasted Tennessee. It will be remembered that we left General Hood in Northern Alabama, apparently intent upon invading the North. At the same time General Thomas was organizing an army at Nashville to repel the threatened invasion. By the newspaper reports it appeared that after crossing the Tennessee, Hood had been delayed at Pulaski and Columbia, by the defensive tactics resorted to by Gen- eral Thomas, who was manoeuvering to gain time for the concentration of his army. Already impatient at what seemed to him uncalled for delay, when he found the Fourth and Twenty-third army corps entrenched across his path at Franklin, the fiery chief of the rebel army attacked them with rather more than his usual recklessness. The assault was made with the dash and impetuosity so characteristic of the southern soldier, and although the enemy met a bloody repulse, his attacks were continued until far in the night. But it also appeared that after repulsing the enemy with heavy loss at all points, our army had retired during the night December, 1864. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 263 to Nashville, leaving our dead on the field and followed by the Confederates. While we had no doubt the enemy had been roughly handled in his rash attempt to carry the entrenched lines at Franklin, defended as they were by such veteran soldiers as those of the Fourth and Twenty-third army corps, yet the fact that the retreat of our army had been continued to Nashville, where a great :md decisive battle must soon be fought, caused much solicitude over the situation in Tennessee. But all anxiety was soon re- moved. Almost at the moment of our triumphant entry into Savannah came the news of a glorious victory at Nashville. Our comrades had stormed and carried the enemy's entrenched lines, captured fifteen thousand prisoners, seventy-two pieces of artillery, seventy stand of colors, a large quantity of small arms and other spoils of the battlefield, while the scattered fragments of the rebel army, impelled by the instinct of self-preservation, were flying in dismay and disorder, never to appear again as an organized force. Savannah was an old place, considered of such im- portance at the time of the War of the Revolution that it was besieged in turn by both the American and Brit- ish armies. It was successfully defended against an attack of the British in 1776, but two years later it fell into their possession. In 1779 the American army, commanded by General Lincoln, with our French allies, attempted to recapture it, but was defeated. A monu- ment erected to the memory of Count Pulaski stands on the spot where he fell while gallantly leading his men in the assault. Near the camp of the Eighty-fifth was a sec- tion of grass grown earthworks, but their outlines were 264 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. January, 1865. well preserved, said to have been erected by General Lincoln. During our stay at that point this old em- bankment was much frequented by the players of "chuck-a-luck." In the city were many quaint old buildings, and its streets were lined with shade trees of rare beauty. At many of the street crossings were small parks adorned with the willow-leaf oak, a handsome evergreen, while in the large yards surrounding the homes of the well-to-do, were found magnolias, tropical shrubs and flowers that bloomed the year round. Bay street, the principal thoroughfare, was made beautiful by the rows of trees which divided its ample width into driveways. The plantations just beyond the city limits had been the homes of a wealthy and cultivated society. Gen- erally the homes had been left in charge of colored ser- vants, and were filled with rare books, pictures and other evidences of refined life. Around these plantation houses were giant live-oaks, whose great branches, as large as the trunks of trees in our own northland, spread out wide enough for a regiment to hold dress parade beneath them. From their boughs hung in graceful fes- toons the drooping tillandsia, the long moss of the south, and when glorified by the morning sun these trees presented a never-to-be-forgotten picture. The coast with its numerous bays, estuaries and inlets, was one continuous bed of oysters, furnishing food for the hun- gry and delicacies for the epicure. The mild climate, in which we saw neither ice nor snow, was a luxury not before enjoyed by our army. Moreover, it was obvious that the end of the war was near. The past year had been an eventful one, in which war January, 1865. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 265 had been waged upon a gigantic scale. At times the nemy, with the energy of despair, had carried the in- vader's banner far northward, to meet in every instance irretrievable defeat. In the east, General Early led his troops almost to the defenses around the National Cap- ital, to be defeated, and later his army destroyed by Gen- eral Sheridan. In the west we have seen the army under Hood ruined at Nashville by General Thomas, and be- yond the Mississippi, when General Sterling Price assayed the role of invader, General Rosecrans captured his cannon, destroyed his wagon train and dispersed his followers. There was, therefore, but one army left for the defense of the Confederacy, and that was held at Petersburg in Grant's relentless, vice-like grip. Soldiers of all grades felt well assured that when our army moved from Savannah our colors would point toward the rebel capital. At Savannah one soldier was heard to say to another, ""I hope our regiment will be among the first mustered out at the close of the war, before all the good jobs are taken." It is, perhaps, needless to add, this was said by an Irishman. This raised the question for the first time, what will become of the vast army of young men soon to be thrown upon their own resources, what can they do for a living when the United States ceases to provide for the "government people"? Previous to this, the uncer- tain duration of the war, and the chances for living through it, had held that question in abeyance. But now the spectre had been raised, "a ghost that would not down," and from that time to the end, it traveled with us by night as well as by day. During our stay in Atlanta the Ninety-second Ohio 266 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. January, 1865, infantry occupied a camp near that of the Eighty-fifth, and as this period was devoted to almost unbroken rest throughout the army, the unusual activity observed in that regiment could not pass unnoticed. Each morn- ing the camp was policed, after which there was guard mount and squad and company drill. In the afternoon there was batallion drill and in the evening dress parade. Indeed, the requirements of army regulations were strictly observed, as fully as if the regiment had then for the first time entered a camp of instruction. These things were recalled when just before leaving Savannah, Benjamin D. Fearing, colonel of that regiment, was pro- moted to the rank of brigadier general, and assigned to the command of the Third brigade. General Fearing was a lineal descendant of General Israel Putnam, famous in the War of the Revolution, of whom it was said, "He dared to lead where any dared to follow." The troops enjoyed their short stay in Savannah to the utmost. Their duties were light; they were allowed the fullest liberty consistent with good order, and there was a continual round of sight-seeing and merry-mak- ing. But the soldiers soon tired of the monotony of the camp; they missed the pungent smell of the piney woods, and they longed for the excitement of the march. An active campaign promised a change of scenery, of duty and of diet. True this involved much marching perhaps hard fighting, but it meant business, and they were not journeying through the South for their health. .All knew that Savannah was but one stage in their jour- ney to Richmond, and all were eager to pay their re- spects to the original secessionists the people of South Carolina. They remembered that her people had been January, 1S65. THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 267 rebellious subjects for more than thirty years, and so far they had escaped the scourge of war. The birth-place of nullification and secession, her people had rocked the cradle of rebellion, and fanned the sparks of insurrection into the flames of civil war. And now, that the state was to be ravaged through its utmost length, and over an average breadth of forty miles, it appeared to them to be but a fair measure of justice. When the plan for the march north was conceived the rebel garrison at Charleston, to which place General Hardee and his command had fled when he evacuated Savannah, was capable of making a respectable defense, while the broken fragments of Hood's army, which had escaped from Tennessee, were being hurried across Georgia to assist in the defense of Augusta. But unless these widely scattered forces could 'be united, the enemy would be utterly unable to meet our veteran army in the open field. It was, therefore, the purpose of General Sherman to threaten both Augusta and Charleston, and when the widely diverging movement of the two wings of his army should leave the enemy divided and in doubt as to his real destination, he would march rapidly on Columbia; then with his army united proceed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, four hundred and twenty- five miles distant, thoroughly destroying the railway system of South Carolina on his way, as he had that of Georgia in the march to the sea. To accomplish his feint against Charleston, General Sherman transported the most of the right wing, under General Howard, by sea to Beaufort, where it arrived on the loth. At the same time a part of one corps marched in that direction by the Union causeway. On Sunday, 268 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. January, 1865. the 1 5th, General Howard moved his troops forward, through mud and rain, and seized the Savannah and Charleston railroad at Pocotaligo, twenty-five miles in- land. General Slocum crossed two divisions of the Twentieth corps over the Savannah river, above the city, and occupied Hardeeville, a station on the same line of railway. So by the middle of January our army had secured firm footing in South Carolina, and was ready to begin the march northward as soon as sufficient food and forage could be accumulated. CHAPTER XXII. Preparations for the coming campaign called forth every energy, and the utmost activity prevailed through- out the army. But a rise in the river swept away our pontoon bridge at Savannah, and General Slocum was ordered to move with the remaining divisions of the left wing, including General Kilpatrick's division of cavalry, up the Georgia side of the river to Sister's ferry, where he was to cross over and seize the Augusta and Charles- ton railroad near Blackville. This railway he was to destroy effectually, while making a well-sustained men- ace on Augusta. At the same time the right wing was expected to strike the same line of railroad at Midway, still maintaining the feint against Charleston. The army numbered sixty thousand men, and car- ried with it sixty-eight pieces of artillery. The trains were made up of some twenty-five hundred wagons, with six mules to each wagon, and about six hundred ambu- January, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 269 lances, with two horses each. The wagons contained an ample supply of ammunition for a great battle, for from that time to the end, the possibility of our having to fight a battle with the united armies of the Confeder- acy, should General Lee escape from General Grant, was a contingency to be provided for. The wagons also contained forage for seven days, and provisions for twenty days, mostly of bread, coffee, sugar and salt. The supply of the small rations was generous, but the troops were to depend largely for breadstuff and meat, on flour, meal, cattle, hogs, and poultry likely to be found along the line of march. The country was considered so difficult that the Confederate authorities believed the swamps and streams would prove an impassable barrier to Sherman's army. It was like all the southern sea board, low and sandy, with numerous swamps and rivers. The streams are usually bordered with wide swamps and approached by long, narrow causeways leading to bridge or ferry. These causeways could be defended indefinitely by small bodies of troops, who, when dispersed, could destroy the bridges and ferry boats, and obstruct the roads by felling trees. The rivers of South Carolina generally flow par- allel with the Savannah, and many of them are both broad and deep. So it would be found necessary to march far into the interior of the state, on the ridges be- tween the streams, until near their headwaters, before crossings would be found and the heads of column turned in the desired direction. On January 2Oth the left wing, to which the Eighty- fifth belonged, moved out of Savannah in a pouring rain and marched ten miles on the Augusta road. At this 270 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. January, 1865. point we were mud-bound and water-bound until the 24th, when we abandoned the road, and by struggling through field and forest, the command reached Sister's ferry on the 28th, having marched but forty-two miles in eight days. To add to the difficulties of the situation the river had been raised by the continued rains until it overflowed its banks, and at that time was about three miles wide. A pontoon bridge had been laid at this point, and was guarded by the gunboat Pontiac. The weather cleared on the next day and the river ran down, so that a part of the command crossed over on the 5th of February. Previous to crossing we had to build tres- tles for considerable distance and then corduroy the road for tw;o miles and a half, the men working in water from ankle to waist deep. While marching through Georgia it was not unusual to hear the citizens say, "Why don't you all go over into South Carolina, and take, burn and destroy; her people began the war." Sometimes this was said with a sneer- ing', taunting manner, implying that there we would find a people less submissive, who would fight to the bitter end and die in the last ditch. But generally we thought we could see that the people of Georgia would look upon a raid through their sister state with at least a degree of complacency. To this chaffing our men invariably re- plied that we were going to South Carolina as fast as we could march, and if they would possess their souls with patience, they would soon see a just recompense of reward meted out to those who first set up the flag of rebellion. General Kilpatrick's cavalry division moved throughout this campaign on the front or flank of the February, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 271 left wing. These troopers crossed on the pontoon bridge on the evening of the 7th, and many of the Third brigade were at the bridge when they passed into South Carolina, and never were troops in higher spirits. They said that "Wherever we followed their trail we would find chimneys but no houses; that their route would be marked by blazing ruins, and that a crow in passing over their line of march would need to carry a haversack." That this was no idle boast was fully established by the ravaged country found whenever we had the misfortune to fall in the rear of Kilpatrick's rough riders. The Fourteenth corps had left Savannah without being supplied with hard bread, sugar, coffee and salt, but while waiting for the flood in the Savannah river to subside, steamers brought an abundance of these rations. Mails were received and north-bound mail was taken by the out-going transports until the last moment. The Third brigade left Sister's ferry on Wednesday, the 8th, in charge of the corps train, marched fifty miles in the next three days, and reached the Charleston and Augusta railway at Williston on the I2th. At a cross road near this place the guide boards pointed north to Barnwell C. H., south to Burton's ferry, east to Fiddle pond, and west to Augusta, Ga. This railroad was destroyed for some thirty miles or more, while the cav- alry drove the enemy to within twenty miles of Augusta. At the same time our working parties met those of the right wing, it having reached the railway at or near Mid- way. When the destruction of the road had been com- pleted, and the feints against both Augusta and Char- leston had attracted sufficient attention both wings took direct roads to Columbia. We crossed both branches 272 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. February, 1865. of the Edisto river, meeting no opposition other than swamps, until the I5th, when a slight skirmish was had with Wheeler's cavalry, which did not delay the march- ing column a moment. On the morning of the i6th we arrived in front of Columbia, within an hour after the arrival of General Howard and the right wing. The union of the two wings of the army before the first ob- jective in the campaign was a fine tribute to the skill with which the widely divergent wings had been led and manoeuvred. It was now so evident that the enemy could offer no serious defense at Columbia that the city was left to the tender mercies of the right wing, while we moved up the Saluda river to Mount Zion church, where we laid a pontoon bridge during the night and crossed that stream the next morning. On the I7th we marched to Broad river, camping for the night at the mouth of Wateree creek, where we learned that the right wing had entered Columbia at ten o'clock that morning. As the command marched across the high land be- tween the Saluda and Broad rivers, a very extended view of the country was afforded. The day was clear, but a perfect tempest of wind was raging. In every direction as far as eye could see fire was burning, the wind spread- ing the devouring flames far and wide. None had ever seen such widespread and almost universal destruction. That evening the ammunition train was parked near the camp of the Third brigade. While the preparation of supper was in progress fire, which had been communi- cated to the tall dry grass which surrounded both camp and train, was observed approaching the wagons. In- stantly a\\ realized the presence of a new enemy, and for ^f ATEN, COMPANY G. 273 THE February, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROUNAS. 275 a lime it seemed no possible effort could arrest the progress of the eager flames, and that our ammunition train was doomed. But by heroic righting the flames were finally subdued, our ammunition saved and a ter- rible disaster averted. That night, while the tempest was still raging with unabated fury, Columbia was burned. General Sher- man always claimed that the retreating rebels, by burn- ing cotton in the streets, from which the fire was carried to the buildings by the high wind, caused the burning of the city. The writer has never been able to adopt that theory. There had been many Union prisoners of war held in Columbia until the appearance of our army in front of the city caused their removal. Many of them, by concealing themselves in the city until our troops entered, had been rescued. These men claimed to have been badly treated by their captors and by the citizens as well, and they would have been more than human if they had not embraced the opportunity to get even. More- over, some of them, after escaping from prison, where they had been almost starved, had been hunted down and recaptured by citizens with bloodhounds. Then, too, there was a feeling among the rank and file that the capital of the state first to adopt the ordinance of seces- sion, and first to insult the flag, should feel more than a passing touch of war. For these reasons it would seem probable that if our men did not burn Columbia it was because the fire was accidentally started before they got round to that which they considered a duty. At Freshley's ferry, the point selected for crossing Broad river, that stream was found to be fullv two hun- dred yards wide. On account of the tardy arrival of the 17 276 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. February, 1865. pontoon train the Third brigade crossed in flat boats and took position on the opposite hills to protect the cross- ing in the event of an attack from that direction. When the pontoon train arrived and all the boats had been placed in position, the bridge fell short by ten boats of reaching the farther shore, and we had to await the ar- rival of additional pontoons. Meanwhile General Cheat- ham, with a part of the remains of Hood's army, was crossing the same stream a few miles above in haste to unite with other forces in our front. The man after whom the ferry was named owned a flouring mill a short distance below and a large planta- tion half a mile or more beyond the crossing. Well supplied with wordly goods he had become prominent as a citizen before the war and during its progress he acquired notoriety as a rebel. One of our men of an inquiring turn of mind, "on investigation bent," learned this and much more from the books and letters found in the Freshley mansion before it accidentally caught fire. These papers and books of account showed that this man held a commission as receiver of the tax levied in kind on the people of his district by the Confederate authorities for the subsistence of the rebel armies. Our men also learned through the colored people that this miller, planter and ferryman had kept a pack of blood- hounds with which he hunted escaping Union prisoners and ran down the fleeing slaves. Whether Freshley fell into the hands of our advance or not the writer never knew, but if he did the awful score that stood against him may have been most unfortunate for him. Early on Sunday, the iQth, we moved toward Alston, breaking up the railroad to near that place. On the February, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 277 2 ist we crossed Little river at Winnsboro, where both wings of the army were again united, the right wing having destroyed the railway the entire distance from Columbia to Winnsboro, where the army was now massed. Winnsboro is situated on the South Carolina and Charlotte railway, thirty-nine miles north of Columbia and seventy miles south of Charlotte, N. C. The move- ment of the entire army so far north served to support the theory that it was Sherman's purpose to march to Virginia by the way of Charlotte. To maintain this de- lusion the cavalry were boldly pushed up to within five miles of Chester, while the infantry broke up the rail- road almost to that point. At Winnsboro there was a rigid inspection of the wagon trains, and all surplus baggage was thrown out and burned. This was rendered necessary because every wagon would be needed in the conveyance of grain and forage for the animals while marching through the very difficult and barren country the army was now about to enter. "Soldiers," says the cynic, "may live on enthusi- asm, but horses and mules must have oats." Here, too, many broken-down horses and mules were shot, rather than abandon them to fall into the hands of the enemy. This was a sad duty, for the men had long since learned to admire the patient endurance of those much abused partners of adversity. Next in importance in the army, after the health and efficiency of the men, is the condition of the mules. At this period of the war the Federal government was the largest mule owner in the world, and in a campaign like the present their endurance was tested to the utmost 278 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. February, 1865. limit. Without ancestry or hope of posterity this curi- ous animal is the puzzle of the brute creation. A past- master in devilment, he abounds in cunning while his solemn visage tends to disarm suspicion. He appears to have been born old in iniquity ; an appearance which the dexterity of his heels and roguish tricks seem to con- firm. Always longing for something to eat, he prefers forbidden or stolen food, but on occasion can go for days without food or water. The most disreputable in ap- pearance, he is the most useful of all the dumb toilers whom man holds in unending slavery. Steady, method- ical work suits the mule, and he seems to know the na- ture of the emergency as well as his driver does. His great sad eyes may have a distressed look; his gaunt flanks throb, but there is no lagging. Driven by whip and spur on half or quarter feed until they drop from exhaustion, thousands of mules were left to die in the mud holes in which they fell. A man can give vent to his sufferings; he can ask for help; he can find some re- lief in crying, praying or swearing, but for the poor abandoned mule there was no help no hope. On the 22nd the Second division moved in charge of the corps train, and for the next few days the rain fell almost constantly, the road seemed bottomless and wherever a wagon moved the road had to be corduroyed. We reached the Catawba river at Rocky Mount Post- office, on the evening of the 23rd. and on the completion of the pontoon bridge the Second division crossed over. Then the bridge parted, leaving the other divisions and the corps train on the other bank. At this point were encountered the greatest difficulties. A broad, turbu- lent and rapidly rising river separated the command, Feb nary, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 279 which was the left and exposed flank of the army, while the other corps, more fortunate in their crossing, were pushing for Cheraw, on the Great Pedee river. When the general commanding learned the awkward situation confronting the Fourteenth corps he authorized General Davis to destroy his trains. But no one in the command would sanction this except as a last resort. Again and again the bridge was swept away by the rising stream and the flooring lost, but fortunately all the boats save two were recovered, and material to replace the lost flooring was obtained by tearing down the buildings near the crossing. Finally, about midnight of the 27th, the bridge was reconstructed and the trains, without the loss of a single wagon, crossed over, followed by the other divisions belonging to the corps. The unfortu- nate, but wholly unavoidable delay of the Fourteenth corps, had checked the progress of the whole army at a time when an effort was being made for a rapid concen- tration of the army at Cheraw. Between the Catawba, the Wateree, and the Great Pedee rivers, our line of march led us through a country rich in memories of the War of the Revolution. We were told that Lord Cornwallis with his command crossed the Catawba at the place the Fourteenth corps found such a difficult crossing. But a short distance to our right was the battlefield of Camden, where the brave Baron DeKalb fell fighting in the patriot's cause. On the first day of March we took dinner on the field where troops under General Gates had an engagement with the British under Colonel Tarleton, and the swamps bor- dering the streams were made forever famous by the ad- ventures of General Marion and his dashing rangers. 280 HISTORY OF THE S5TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865, By a forced march we made seventy-two miles in the four days next after leaving the Catawba river, over roads that had to be corduroyed almost the entire dis- tance. One night the Third brigade marched all night long, arriving in camp just as the head of column moved out on the new day's march. The command, of which the Eighty-fifth was a part, reached the Great Peclee river, eight miles north of Cheraw, on the 3rd of March, the same day that the right wing entered that city. At Cheraw General Howard captured twenty-eight pieces of artillery, three thousand stand of small arms, and an immense quantity of ammunition and stores. Many of the captured stores belonged to private parties who had moved them to Cheraw for safe keeping when General Hardee evacuated Charleston. The left wing of the army remained quietly in camp in the vicinity of Sneeds- boro, while a bridge was thrown across the river, and until the right wing moved north from Cheraw. Stung into activity by the overwhelming disaster threatening the Confederacy the rebel authorities put forth every effort to concentrate a force capable of meet- ing Sherman's army in the field. General Hampton with his cavalry division hastened to join Hardee in his retreat from Cheraw to Fayetteville, while Joseph E. Johnston was called from retirement and placed in supreme command of all the troops supposed to be avail- able to stay the triumphant march. General Johnston was at this time at Charlotte trying to form an army out of the remnants of Hood's army, local garrisons and the militia of North Carolina, with which to meet and turn the invader back. Energetic, skillful and courageous, he only lacked an army to make him a foe to be dreaded. March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 281 The news of Johnston's assignment to command was received by our army as notice to be prepared for well- planned, stubborn resistance. Officers and men agreed that the Confederate government had at last taken a wise step, although they felt equally sure that it was too late for even Johnston to stop the progress of Sherman's army. The Great Pedee is three hundred yards wide where we crossed just below Sneedsboro, and required for a bridge forty-two canvas boats. The crossing was com- pleted and the pontoons lifted and loaded on the evening of the /th, and the next day we crossed the line into the state of North Carolina, fourteen miles south of Rock- ingham. On the 9th we crossed Lumber river (Little Pedee) at Graham's bridge in a very heavy rain. A resin factory was burning just above the bridge, and as our column passed over the surface of the water was ablaze with burning resin and turpentine, presenting in the pouring rain a weird, uncanny sight. The command reached the plank road leading to Fayetteville at Thirty- five Mile Post. About the beginning of the present campaign Gen- eral Wade Hampton had been sent from Virginia to take command of the Confederate cavalry in South Carolina in the hope that his great personal influence would arouse the people of that state to energetic action in de- fense of their homes, and thus do what the most fervent appeals had so signally failed to accomplish in Georgia. But the people, almost frantic from fear, refused to rally to his standard, and so far the magic of his great name had not checked the advance of Sherman's army. Com- ing as the especial champion of South Carolina, Hamp- 282 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865. ton had been driven from her capital, the city of his home, and expelled from his native state, without fight- ing a single battle. In the retreat from Cheraw to Fay- etteville he had been deceived into moving too far north, and on the evening of the Qth, in his effort to rejoin Har- clee, he unexpectedly found Kilpatrick's cavalry division interposed between his command and the infantry col- umn he was seeking to overtake. Thinking he saw an opportunity to surprise Kilpatrick by a night attack, and hoping in the sudden onset to disperse or capture his clashing troopers, Hampton made his plan to attack be- fore daylight on the morning of the loth. The plan was well conceived, the movement up to the moment of attack skilfully concealed, and the resulting surprise complete. But Kilpatrick and his men were apt to de- velop unexpected resources in the rough-and-tumble fight, and it required but a short time for them to rally, when they routed the enemy by a return charge. The Second division was moving on the extreme left of the infantry column, and the evening of the gth, camped about four miles south of Kilpatrick. Between two and three o'clock on the next morning, the noise of a furious battle broke out in the direction of the cavalry camp. The artillery firing was heavy and continued, giving notice of more than the ordinary affair between outposts, and the Second brigade was hurried off in the direction of the conflict, while the other brigades of the division resumed the march with the utmost unconcern. That night when the Second brigade rejoined the divis- ion we learned that Kilpatrick had been surprised, his headquarters, his artillery and many of his men captured in the first onset. But while the exulting enemy was en- March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROUNAS. 283 gaged in plundering headquarters, and trying to harness the horses to the batteries, Kilpatrick rallied his men and charged the foe, recovering his headquarters, recaptur- ing his artillery and driving the enemy from his camp with heavy loss, before the arrival of the infantry brigade sent to his relief. Meeting General Kilpatrick many years ago he told the writer some interesting details omitted from the official report of that rough-and-tumble fight. The general said, "On the evening before the fight we ran into the rear of General Hardee's column, and from pris- oners captured learned that Hardee was rapidly retreat- ing to Fayetteville, and that Hampton with the cavalry was a few miles in the rear, but rapidly moving on the same point. Upon receiving this information, I deter- mined to intercept him, and prevent his force from unit- ing with that of Hardee. I posted one brigade at a ham- let called Solemn Grove, on the Morgantown road, another brigade on a road some three miles north, and the third brigade some three miles southeast, at the point where the last mentioned road intersects the road to Morgantown. That night I slept in a house at the inter- section of the roads. Toward morning I became rest- less, got up and stepped out on the porch, where I was standing in my nightshirt, when several men dressed in our uniform rode up and inquired for General Kilpat- rick's headquarters. Something in the tone of voice, perhaps, aroused my suspicion, and I promptly replied, "Down the road about half a mile," and away they went. Just then I saw the enemy in force coming on the charge, and I ran around the corner of the house and in the direc- tion of a swamp. Soon I was fortunate enough to catch a 284 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865, horse and mounting bareback rallied a few men and began to fight. The sound of our firing made a rallying point for our men, and very soon I had a charging col- umn formed. The rebels struck our artillery park in their charge, which broke them up rather badly and ob- serving that they were intent on plunder, and widely scattered, the charge was sounded and after a sharp fight, we drove the enemy from the field." On the loth, the Third brigade had charge of the division train, and soon after leaving camp the rain be- gan to fall in torrents, the earth seemed to melt under our feet, and that day and night we corduroyed the road for the greater part of twelve miles. Layer after layer of corduroy disappeared in the ooze, and it required the best efforts of both men and officers to move the train of one hundred and fifty wagons over the weary miles of quicksand. Officers and men were compelled to work through the whole night in pouring rain, and in mud and water from one to three feet deep, but the hardy Union warriors lifted the wagons out of the mire, and landed the train in the division camp at eight o'clock on the morning of the nth. Here we rested an hour for breakfast, and then pushed on to Fayetteville, arriving there at two o'clock that afternoon. On approaching Fayetteville, the Fourteenth corps was designated to enter first and the Third division hav- ing the advance on that day, with but a slight skirmish, took possession of the city about noon, the enemy under Hardee retreating in the direction of Raleigh. Seventeen pieces of artillery and many small arms were captured and the U. S. arsenal, basely surrendered by a treacher- ous officer at the beginning of the war, was recaptured. March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 285 CHAPTER XXIII. Fayetteville is situated on the right bank of the Cape Fear river and at the head of navigation. It is one hun- dred and thirty miles from the sea, and ninety-five miles from Wilmington. In addition to the arms and ammu- nition captured with the arsenal, there were cotton mills and iron foundries engaged in manufacturing supplies for the Confederate army. On Sunday, the day follow- ing our occupation of the city, a steamer arrived from Wilmington with the news that General Terry had cap- tured that place, and that a force under General Scho- field was moving from New Berne to join General Sher- man at Goldsboro. Other steamers and gunboats ar- rived during our stay, which served to put us in touch with the United States once more. While at Fayetteville, General Sherman caused the total destruction of the arsenal and the extensive machinery which had been removed to that place from the old United States armory at Harper's Ferry, and since used in the manufacture and repair of arms for the Confederate government. The iron foundries and cot- ton mills were also effectually destroyed, but little or no damage was done to private property. While marching through South Carolina, the troops seemed to feel that upon them devolved the duty of punishing the inhabi- tants for their life-long hostility to the Federal Union, and they plundered and destroyed practically without let or hindrance. But from the moment of entering North Carolina, the indiscriminate destruction of private property ceased, the demeanor of the whole army 286 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865. changed, and the men willingly yielded to the custom- ary restraints of discipline. Up to this time Sherman had been successful in inter- posing his army between the widely scattered forces of the enemy. But the garrison at Augusta, reinforced by fragments of Hood's army under General Cheatham, had been given ample time to join the rebel force being organized in the vicinity of Raleigh. Hardee had also retreated in that direction and General Bragg was fall- ing back across our front, with an army of uncertain numbers, before the advance of Generals Terry and Schofield. These forces, when once united under a leader so skillful as General Joseph E. Johnston, would constitute an army strong enough in numbers to justify extreme caution in the last stage of the campaign. In order, therefore, to be prepared for anv emergency, two divisions of each corps were stripped of their trains, ex- cept the wagons necessary to carry an ample supply of ammunition, and the trains, guarded by the remaining divisions were sent on the most direct route to Golds- boro. This gave to each wing four unencumbered divi- sions ready for instant battle. The trains of the Fourteenth corps were placed in charge of General Baird, commanding the Third divi- sion, and the Eighty-fifth was detailed as train guard, to accompany his command. The entire army moved on the 1 5th except the train guard, which was delayed in taking up the pontoons until the next morning. The cavalry in advance of the left wing soon encountered more than the usual opposition, and before night on the first day out had to call up the infantry supports. By noon on the i6th, Hardee was found with cavalry, infan- March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 287 try and artillery in position, and strongly entrenched near Averysboro. His position covered the road to Goldsboro, and it was necessary to drive him from this road in order to secure it, as well as to maintain the threat against Raleigh. In the stubborn action which ensued tHat afternoon Rhett's brigade of South Carolina troops was unceremoniously overthrown, his battery of three pieces of artillery and most of his men captured. During the night Hardee retreated toward Raleigh, and the next day the left wing turned toward Goldsboro, in- tending to make a rapid march direct to that point, with- out paying further attention to the enemy, who still men- aced the left flank. In the battle of Averysboro, our wounded numbered four hundred and seventy-seven, a very serious loss, when it is remembered that every man had to be carried in the ambulance train. Believing that the feint against Raleigh had led Har- dee to make his stubborn fight at Averysboro for the purpose of gaining time for General Johnston to con- centrate his forces in front of the state capital, General Sherman directed the entire army to march as rapidly as possible to Goldsboro. After burying the dead at Averysboro, the left wing marched on a single road in that direction, while the right wing and trains moved on the same place, but on roads some distance south and east. No opposition was encountered on the I7th, and after marching eight miles over horrible roads, the Four- teenth corps camped two miles east of Mingo creek. Saturday, the i8th, the Second division had the ad- vance of the corps, arid the foragers under command of Major J. T. Holmes, of the Fifty-second Ohio, drove the enemy to Bushy swamp, where he was found in position 288 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865. from which he opened with artillery. The division was quickly deployed and drove the enemy from his position, and went into camp at four o'clock in the afternoon by the direct order of General Sherman. During the day mounted men were almost constantly seen near the line of march, sometimes in groups at the openings in the woods, at other times single horsemen watching the troops on the road ; all passing toward the head of the column, or working their way through the woods to gain by close view the number of our men. In the evening reconnoitering parties were sent out who found nothing but cavalry videttes, who fled beyond Mill creek, burning the bridge behind them. Sunday morning, the iQth, gave promise of a beauti- ful day. For almost the first time in weeks the sun was shining, and, in that southern latitude, it was the recur- ring season of foliage and flowers, and fruit trees were in full bloom around the infrequent farm houses. But the morning so clear and calm, like many a Sunday in the army, was destined to be a day of deadly conflict. For several days General Sherman had been march- ing with the left wing, and his headquarters had been with the Fourteenth corps. But he was so confident that his threat against Raleigh had forced General Johnston to concentrate his forces for battle at that place, that he started to ride over to the right wing, as soon as the ad- vance began on Sunday morning. The dense timber through which he rode shut out the sound of battle, and he did not learn of the struggle in which the left wing was engaged until overtaken by a courier that night. The foragers found the enemy within five hundred yards of camp that morning, and soon these renowned March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROUNAS. 289 warriors, who usually made short work of dispersing a line of rebel cavalry, became discouraged, and sullenly fell back behind our skirmishers. One brigade after an- other was brought up and deployed, until the whole of the First division was in line of battle, yet everywhere it found the enemy strong, and his resistance as determined as it was unexpected. In front of the left of the line was a swamp of a depth then unknown, while on the right front the ground was covered with a thick growth of black- jack and pine trees. General Slocum, commanding the left wing, was present with the advance, and under his orders General Carlin advanced his line to ascertain the enemy's intention and develop his position. After a sharp fight, a line of the enemy's infantry was routed, when sud- denly the whole line dashed against a line of earthworks, manned with infantry and abundantly supplied with artil- lery. From this line the enemy opened such a destruc- tive fire that our whole line was repulsed with heavy loss. By this time, the Second division arrived, and the First and Second brigades were placed on the right, with the Third brigade massed in reserve. No sooner had these dispositions been made than the entire line was assailed with the utmost impetuosity, and at once the engagement became general. The advancing lines of the eager enemy far outreached the left of General Car- lin's line, and the first division, already much weakened by the stubborn work of the morning, began to retire, the men fighting desperately as they retreated slowly. This was the critical period of the battle. The Twen- tieth corps was hurrying to the front, but yet too far in the rear to render any assistance in the present crisis. The First and Second brigades were holding their own, 290 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865. which made the Third brigade available for the desper- ate task of turning back the victorious foe on the left. The Third brigade was standing in columns of regi- ments faced to the front, and when the left began to give way, our corps commander, General Davis, ordered Gen- eral Fearing to swing the brigade to the left and to charge the enemy in flank. The scene was dramatic; the general's orders were given with confidence and en- ergy, and officers and men were alike inspired by the en- thusiasm of their commander, and they struck the enemy a stunning blow. In a moment the brigade was in the vortex of battle and engaged in a fierce and deadly con- flict. As it advanced its right became exposed, but for- tunately Cogswell's brigade of the Twentieth corps, ar- rived after marching the whole of the previous night and moved in on Fearing's right. The men of these two brigades Fearing's and Cogswell's seemed to feel that upon them devolved the desperate honor of stem- ming the tide of defeat and turning it into victory, and after a fierce and bloody contest, the enemy gave way and fell back in confusion. So resistless had been the unexpected attack of these two brigades, that the enemy's whole line gave up the ground it had gained, and the battle ceased along the entire front. But none doubted that the enemy would return to the assault, and the entire line rapidly threw up a line of defenses. General Morgan, with the two brigades on the right, had not only held his ground, but had also punished the enemy severely. Carlin's troops, veterans all of them, were easily rallied on a new line, with their left sharply refused, and artillery was brought up and placed in position on commanding ground. While en- DK. P. L. DIKFFKNnACHKR. 291 Of UNIVERSITY March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 293 gaged in building rude works during the lull in battle, the men expressed a lively satisfaction at the prospect of righting behind field-works a thing that had rarely fallen to their lot, and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the prospect. Ammunition was brought up, and piled in convenient places along the line, and every prepara- tion made for the most stubborn defense. It was about five o'clock when the long line of the enemy emerged from the pine woods beyond the fields. It was a magnificent spectacle; every company present- ing a parade front ; every foot keeping time, while not a skulker left that splendid line. It was a sight that even veteran soldiers seldom see. But when the enemy came within short range, he met a deadly fire which checked ; then drove him back. Again and again, he rallied and surged forward; but he could not pass a certain point. Each assault was more hopeless than the one preceding, and finally the rebel line rolled back into the woods, leav- ing his killed and wounded piled thick upon the bloody field. In the desperate conflict following the charge of the Third brigade, General Fearing was severely wounded, and, from loss of blood, was compelled to leave the field. When retiring, he left the brigade in command of Lieu- tenant-Colonel Langley, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois. This was the second time this gal- lant and meritorious officer had been called to assume command of the brigade in the indescribable turmoil of battle, and well and faithfully did he perform his duty. General Fearing was the fourth commander to fall while leading the Third brigade in action within less than a year. 18 294 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865. Along the line of the First and Second brigades the fighting was no less severe. The First brigade, after repulsing the first attack, leaped over their works, pur- sued the retreating rebels into their own works, and cap- tured the colors of the Fortieth North Carolina regi- ment. Then followed an incident rarely found in the annals of war. A column of the enemy had passed through the interval between the left of the First and Second brigades and the right of Cogswell and Fearing. Then swinging to the left, this column assailed the line of Mitchell and Vandever from the rear. But the men quickly passed over to the reverse side of their works, and after a sharp and bloody struggle, repulsed this rear attack. As the enemy began to retreat our men again leaped their works and charged to the rear ; captured the colors of the Fifty-fourth Virginia ; took a large number of prisoners, and dispersed the intruding force. The struggle was unequal throughout the day, and at times it seemed the enemy would overwhelm our small force, by sheer force of numbers. In the last engage- ment every man was placed in the firing line even the headquarter's guard and the small detachment guarding the ammunition train filled a gap in the extended line. No further reinforcements could be hoped for that day, and there was nothing left but for the men to fight it out. But when night came, the enemy had been decisively re- pulsed at all points, and the weary troops lay down to rest upon their arms, ready to renew the contest at a moment's warning, and well assured that Sherman and the right wing would be with them by daylight the next morning. With the repulse of his last assault, General John- March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 295 ston's declared purpose of destroying 1 Sherman's army, by crushing one corps after another in its isolation, failed. On the iQth he outnumbered our available force at least three to one, but by daylight on the morning of the 2Oth, the forces were equalized by the arrival of Gen- eral Hazen's division of the right wing, and four brig- ades called up from the wagon-train guard. And before night General Sherman with his whole army was closing down on the enemy's entrenched lines. There was some sharp skirmishing on the 2ist, as the enemy's line was developed, but that night General Johnston quit a position no longer tenable, and retreated to Smithfield. In this instance, as in all others during the war, this skill- ful Confederate commander made a safe retreat, leaving nothing behind except his unburied dead and the wounded in his field hospitals. The Union losses in the battle of Bentonville fell largely on the Fourteenth corps, and were mostly in- curred in the fighting of the first day. The aggregate loss to the left wing was 1247, of which the Twentieth corps lost 314, and the Fourteenth corps 933, the Second division bearing more than one-half of the last men- tioned loss. As usual, the rebel commander made no report of his losses, but we buried 267 of his dead, and captured 1,625 prisoners. The official reports all speak in the highest praise of the conduct of our officers and men. General Davis especially requested the promotion of Brigadier General Morgan,* which request was heartily endorsed by Gen- eral Sherman, and within a few days after the battle of Bentonville the commander of the Second division re- * Rebellion Records, Serial No. 98, page 437. 296 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 1865. ceived the brevet rank of major general. General Fearing was unstinted in his commendation of the men of the Third brigade, giving them great credit for their accu- rate aim and low firing.* * On the 22nd the whole army resumed the march to Goldsboro, where it arrived and went into camp on the following evening. Since leaving Savannah the left wing, of which the Eighty-fifth was a part, had marched five hundred miles, through a country noted for its broad rivers, bad roads and almost impassable swamps. The almost daily rains had swelled the streams, and the heavy wagon-trains churned the soft dirt into sloughs of bottomless mud. But in all that long march we found no mud deep enough, no hills steep enough, and no quicksands treacherous enough, to prevent the tak- ing of our trains wherever the column was ordered to move. It was not unusual to be compelled to corduroy four or five miles of road covered in a day's march, and in the construction of corduroy roads, the men soon be- came very proficient. Fortunately the material was usually found in abundance and near by. Pine saplings, eight to ten inches through the cut, split in two, and laid face down closely touching each other, made the best road, but smaller saplings, unsplit poles, and even fence rails were freely used. In some places the rising water would float the corduroy away, at other times it would disappear in the mud and quicksand under the heavy trains, when another course would be laid, and generally this had to be done in ceaseless, pitiless rain. But through it all the men were cheerful and ever ready for a joke. At the crossing of South river, we had more ** Rebellion Records, Serial No. 98, page 535. March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 297 than the usual difficulty, and the men had to wade a long- distance in water up to their waists. After much patient wading in this seemingly shoreless stream, one soldier was heard to remark to his comrade: "I guess Uncle Billy has struck this stream endwise." As we approached Goldsboro, General Sherman or- dered the wagons out of the road, and the columns to close up and pass in review before himself and Generals Schofield, Cox, and Terry. Wading streams, building corduroy roads and bridges, and lifting wagons out of the mire, had played havoc with the men's apparel. Shoes and hats had been worn out and lost, uniforms were torn and faded, and the whole army was in motley garb bare feet, bare legs, torn coats, felt hats in fact, almost every conceivable kind of headwear was to be seen, while many a valiant warrior went without shoes or hat. "The pride and pomp and circumstance of glorious war" had disappeared. But the bands played; the files closed up, and the ragged men began to step to music for the first time in months, as they marched with precise ranks and elastic tread, past their great leader. Some one of the officers in the distinguished group said : "See those poor fellows with bare legs !" To this Gen- eral Sherman replied : "Splendid legs ! splendid legs ! I would give both of mine for any one of them !" Goldsboro is situated on the railroad from New Berne to Raleigh, about midway between the two cities, and at the point where the railroad from Wilmington to Petersburgh crosses the first named road. Here we were reinforced by General Schofield with the Army of the Ohio, and the Tenth army corps under General Terry. After assisting in the destruction of Hood's 298 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. March, 186S. army at Nashville, the Twenty-third army corps had been transferred by river and rail to Washington, thence down the Potomac and by sea to New Berne. From New Berne, General Schofield's column had fought its way inland, arriving at Goldsboro one day ahead of our army, while General Terry, after capturing Fort Fisher by storm, had moved up the Neuse river and joined Sherman's army about the same time. With the troops from Tennessee came many officers and men belonging to our army, who had been in northern hospitals on account of wounds or disease, but, now recovered, were returning to duty. Among those returning was Lieu- tenant Musselman, who now resumed command of Com- pany G. He had been on leave of absence and returning was caught with others at Chattanooga, when communi- cations between the north and Sherman's army were sev- ered in November. Unable to rejoin the command, they reported to General Thomas, who assigned them to duty in Tennessee, where they remained in the discharge of various duties until relieved to join the army at Golds- boro. Two days after the arrival of Sherman's army, the railroad from New Berne to Goldsboro was repaired and the first train of cars came in, and the ample supplies provided at New Berne, by the foresight of General Grant, began to come forward to the army. This was to be a point for general refitting, for which but a brief stop was to be made. Clothing was brought up and issued, and every effort was put forth to equip the army, in the shortest possible time, for its last campaign. In the campaign from Savannah to Goldsboro, the Fourteenth corps destroyed 30 miles of railroad; cap- March, 1865. CAMPAIGN OF THE CAE.OLINAS. 299 tured 581 prisoners; 697 horses and 1,300 mules. The corps lost in killed, wounded, and missing, 1,244 men.* The following deaths from disease occurred in the Eighty-fifth since the regiment moved south from At- lanta: Enoch Mustard, of Company B, died at Savan- nah, Ga., January 6th, 1865; Louis Ishmael, of Com- pany C, died at Annapolis, Md., December 15th, 1864. Captain Samuel Young, of Company D, died November 23rd, 1864, and William Boyd, of Company G, died at Lexington, Ky., February I2th, 1865. Daniel Koozer, of Company A, died of wounds at Goldsboro, on the 27th. He had been detached as a scout at division headquarters, and was wounded by guerrillas while in the discharge of his duty. Rebellion Records, Serial No. 98, pages 437, 438 and 439. 300 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. April, 1865. CHAPTER XXIV. At this time the military situation was interesting and exciting. General Lee, at Richmond and Petersburgh, less than two hundred miles distant, was besieged by General Grant, who was watching his adversary with sleepless eyes. General Johnston, with the only other respectable Confederate army, was at Smithfield, about midway between Goldsboro and Raleigh. If Lee should remain behind his entrenchments, in the attitude of de- fense which he had maintained for months, his defeat and destruction would be almost certain the moment our army should drive Johnston beyond the Roanoke ; and this General Sherman would be abundantly able to do, as soon as supplies arrived in sufficient quantities to warrant an aggressive movement. Lee might call Johnston to his aid by forced marches, while Sherman was refitting and getting ready to move, and with the united armies attempt to raise the siege and ovenvhelm Grant. But the two Confederate armies united would not be strong enough to beat Grant in his securely en- trenched position, and before a siege could be under- taken, Sherman would arrive and close the last avenue of escape. In this situation, the best thing General Lee could do would be to quietly slip away from Grant ; unite his army with that of Johnston near Roanoke, and try to destroy Sherman's army before Grant could fol- low. The question was, would Lee make the attempt to escape from Grant, and try to fight a great battle with the combined armies of the Confederacy against Sher- man's army? We now know that is just what he tried April, 1865. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN. 301 to do, and the first move he made in that direction was the signal for Grant to strike. Accordingly on the last day of March, thinking he saw symptoms of such a movement, Grant struck, and, after a series of sanguin- ary battles, the Confederate lines were broken and Lee, with his shattered army, was put to flight. The Confed- erate capital was evacuated, and the officers of the rebel government became individual fugitives, each seeking to expatriate himself. With the reinforcements received at Goldsboro, the army numbered eighty-eight thousand men, with ninety- one pieces of artillery. It was, perhaps, as nearly per- fect in instruction, equipment, and general efficiency as volunteer troops can be made while in the field. Then, too, in the coming campaign it was to be led by the bold- est and best fighting generals, as corps commanders, to be found in the field, either east or west. The Army of Georgia, under command of General Slocum, with his two corps commanded by Generals Jeff C. Davis and Joseph A. Mower; the Army of the Ohio, commanded by General Schofield, and his two corps, commanded by Generals J. D. Cox and A. H. Terry, and the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by General O. O. Howard, and his two corps, commanded by Generals John A. Logan and Frank P. Blair. Thus equipped and com- manded, the army was prepared to fight a desperate, final battle with the combined armies of the Confederacy, in case Lee and Johnston should effect a junction before General Grant could follow Lee to the Roanoke. On April 5th, preparations for an advance had been so far completed that orders were issued for the move- ment to begin on the loth, and on the 6th, news was 302 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. April, K6S. received of the fall uf Richmond and Petersburg!!, and the flight of Lee's army, glorious news which was des- tined to get better and better, with one sad exception, to the end. At daylight on the morning of the loth of April, the whole army moved directly against the enemy at Smith- field, the Fourteenth corps in advance, on the main road, and the second division the advance of the corps. With- in three miles the enemy was found behind the usual bar- ricades of fence rails, but his outposts were swept aside without a moment's hesitation. A dispatch received that morning from Virginia stated that Grant, in pur- suit of Lee, had already made large captures of prisoners and artillery, and this animated the eager troops to in- crease their efforts to bring Johnston's army to battle. There was now no delay in attacking the enemy or wait- ing for others to turn a flank, but wherever found, the enemy's position was promptly charged and his troops dispersed. Early on the next morning our corps en- tered Smithfield, to find that Johnston had retreated after destroying the bridges over Neuse river. Here a brief delay was encountered until the pontoons could be brought up and a bridge laid, when the headlong pur- suit of the enemy was resumed. On the morning of the I2th, while passing through one of the pine forests peculiar to that region, where the taper columns rose a hundred feet before spreading their branches into arches like those of some vast cathedral, the command was halted at the end of the first hour's march for the usual five minutes' rest. The day was bright and warm, the scene restful and beautiful, and while the men were enjoying their brief rest the com- April, 1865. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN. 303 mand was electrified by the announcement that Lee, with his entire army, had surrendered at Appomattox. The announcement came through corps headquarters, and General Davis, with pardonable pride, recalled the fact that just four years before, while a lieutenant in Fort Sumter, he had heard the first gun fired in the War of the Rebellion. This was a happy prelude to the glori- ous news and reminded one and all that it was the fourth anniversary of the firing on the devoted band of heroes in Charleston harbor. While the announcement of the surrender of Lee and his army came to us so unexpect- edly by the roadside, its full significance was at once understood. All realized that the war was virtually over. The message meant home, and wife, and children, and happy reunions with friends throughout the land. It carried indescribable joy to brave men, whose patience had been sorely tried, and whose strength had been well- night exhausted by weary marches and indecisive bat- tles. Then after hearty cheers that rang through the piney woods and seemed to fill the blue dome above us, the command fell in, faced to the front, and eagerly re- sumed the march against the only remaining army of the Confederacy. Two incidents, said to have occurred upon the an- nouncement of Lee's surrender, illustrate the humor and the pathos of the scene. As the bearer of the glad tid- ings dashed along the line, a soldier, quick as the mes- sage fell upon his ears, answered : "Be dad ! You're the man we've been looking for for the last four years." At the roadside a woman and several small children stood at the gate, watching the antics of the shouting soldiers. As she realized the import of the news, she 304 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. April, 1865. turned to the children and said, "Now papa can come home." The brigade passed through Raleigh on the evening of the next day and camped for the night west of the city limits. The capital city of North Carolina had escaped the ravages of war, and was one of the most beautiful cities we had seen in the South. From Raleigh the Fourteenth corps marched thirty-six miles southwest to Aven's ferry on the Cape Fear river, where it arrived on the evening of the I5th. While in camp at this point, General Johnston set up the white flag, an armistice was proclaimed, and negotiations began for the surrender of his army. On the 1 7th, while the men were almost delirious with joy over the assurance of returning peace, the startling intelligence was received that President Lin- coln had been assassinated. At first the men were so stunned and dazed by this wanton and cruel murder that they wandered about the camps aimless and speechless, their sorrow too deep for utterance. The President had endeared himself to the Union soldiers to an extent that it is nearly, if not quite impossible, for those outside the army to wholly understand. In the darkest hours of the terrible struggle his firmness of purpose and his faith in ultimate success had been an unfailing source of inspira- tion. To the rank and file "Father Abraham" was no unmeaning term. It was not a sentiment, it was a fact. It was the precise term that described the love and vene- ration they felt for him, whose courage rose in the dark- est hours to the majesty of grandest heroism. They had followed him with the confidence of children, while he led the people with almost more than mortal wisdom. April, 1865. THE FINAIv CAMPAIGN. 305 It was his serene confidence that restored their failing faith his never relaxing hope that cheered them on to victory. The question of the ages had come to be set- tled on the battlefield, "Can a nation endure the test that is founded upon the declaration that all men are free and equal?" In such a contest a general might fail, many of them did fail, but in the President there must be neither variableness nor shadow of turning. He had com- manded through a four-years' battle. His wisdom had guided the people through four years of tempest and storm with singular tact and matchless skill. Then, too, there was a sense of personal bereavement to many who had followed him as a trusted political leader in Illinois, with the zeal and enthusiasm known only to youth. Up to this hour the only desire of the men had been to end the war and go home. To that end they had been willing to undertake any hardship, endure every priva- tion, and brave any danger. But now that one so gentle, so kind and forgiving, should be so causelessly murdered seemed incomprehensible, and they began instinctively to lay this monstrous crime to the brutalizing influence of a system that had debauched the people of the South and to regard it as a legitimate consequence of rebellion against lawful authority. Then a desire for vengeance took possession of them, and they rejoiced in the thought that negotiations for surrender might fail, that hostilities might be resumed in order that they should have an opportunity to avenge the foul crime committed at Washington. But this terrible desire for vengeance passed away ; the avenging hand was stayed, and neither shot nor shell was sent on its deadly mission. On the 1 8th an agreement was signed between Gen- 306 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. April, 1865. eral Sherman and General Johnston for the surrender of all of the Confederate forces then remaining in the field. But, as this agreement was conditional, it had to be sub- mitted to the President before becoming final, and the existing truce was continued until the agreement could be sent to Washington for approval or rejection by the President. As the agreement contained political ques- tions not properly subject to the decision of a military convention the whole agreement was unceremoniously rejected by the President, and General Grant was ordered to Raleigh to take command of the army in per- son and to resume hositilities at once. In the generous terms accorded to General Lee at Appomattox General Grant had gone to the limit of liberality and the authorities were not willing to grant further concessions to those in rebellion against the Fed- eral Union. In the exercise of generous sentiment and sound judgment he had established a precedent which all of his subordinates were expected to follow in their negotiations with the enemy. So when General Sher- man, for the moment, laid aside the character of a soldier and assumed that of a diplomat, he permitted himself to entertain and submit for approval terms of surrender which the government could not sanction. General Grant upon his arrival at Raleigh, with graceful tact, turned his presence into an apparent visit of consultation with Sherman, and but very few, even in the army, knew of his visit until he had come and gone. Without a moment's delay, General Sherman advised the Confederate commander of the rejection of the agree- ment, proclaimed an end to the truce, and demanded the surrender of the rebel army upon the same terms given April, 1865. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN. 307 to General Lee. At the same time, orders were issued to the army to be ready to resume hostilities at the end of the forty-eight hours' notice required by the terms of the armistice. But there was to be no more war, the prof- fered terms were promptly accepted, and, on the 26th, General Johnston surrendered all of the Confederate forces east of the Chattahoochee river ; and the next day General Grant returned to Washington without having announced his presence to the army, and without his presence being known in the camp of the enemy. Now. according to immemorial custom, Sherman's victorious legions should have been drawn up in line with sounding trumpet and waving plume, while the captives should in that imposing presence, furl their flags and ground their arms. But instead of this triumphant pageant, the rebel army was permitted to furl its ill- starred banners and lay down its arms in the seclusion of its own camp, and there was neither blare of band nor peal of cannon heard in the quarters of the Federal army. But as soon as the result became known, the gray and the blue were seen drinking from the same canteen and eating from the same haversack. The duty of receiving the arms and munitions of war, and of issuing paroles to the officers and men of the Con- federate army, was assigned to General Schofield, and the Twenty-third army corps, commanded by General Cox, was advanced to the vicinity of Greensboro, then the county-seat of Guilford county, where that duty was performed. It therefore came to pass, that the final scenes of surrender took place in close proximity to the battlefield of Guilford Court House, where, in the War of the Revolution, the American army commanded by 308 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. April, 1865. General Greene fought a memorable battle with the Brit- ish under Lord Cornwallis. The engagement marked the turning point in the British campaign, as on that hotly contested field the Continental forces checked the advance of the British army of invasion and a few days after the battle, Cornwallis was compelled to retire into Virginia, where he shut himself up in Yorktown. At the time of the surrender, the "Old Court House" had almost entirely disappeared, a few dilapidated build- ings being all that remained to mark the site of that his- toric town. But the topography of a country which dominates military movements does not change mater- iall /,. and hill and valley and stream remain the same through ages. The fact that our line of march led our army to cross the streams where Cornwallis crossed, passing on the way the fields where he fought, and end- ing our campaign at a point where his invasion was checked eighty years before, would seem to place the art of war among the exact sciences. The final agreement for the surrender was signe:l on the 26lh, ?nd on the next morning orders were issued, directing the right and left wings of the army 10 m.ircl? by easy stages to Richmond. So Sherman' army that had fought its way to Atlanta, marched to Savannah and thence to Raleigh, did not see the surrender of John- ston's army, although the men shared the curiosl:y com- mon to victorious soldiers respecting that event. The divisions composing the two wings were drawn in, the ammunition trains were relieved of their now useless contents, and the wagons were loaded with provisions and forage, and by the evening of the 3Oth, preparations for a peaceful homeward march had been completed. HENKY C. SWISH KK. COMPANT H. 309 UbRARY Of- M UNIVtfiSlfY May, 1865. THE) FINAL CAMPAIGN. 311 On the morning of May ist, the Second division moved out of Morrisville; crossed the Neuse river that afternoon, and passed through Oxford, the shire town of Granville county, the next day. On the 3rd, we crossed Tar river, and later in the day the North Carolina and Virginia state line, camping for the night near Taylor's Ferry, on the Roanoke river. The next day we crossed the Roanoke on a pontoon bridge, eight hundred feet in lenth, passed through Boydton Court House, and camped on the Meherrin river. Thence our route led through Nottoway Court House, and across the famous Appomattox river at Good's bridge, to Manchester, op- posite Richmond, where we arrived on Sunday evening, May 7th. It was an odd experience" for the first few days to march steadily on without here and there forming a line of battle, and to go to sleep at night undisturbed by the prospect of a midnight call to arms. Then, too, the citi- zens no longer fled or hid at the approach of our army, but one and all, men, women and children, flocked to the road to see it pass. Frequently in the family groups at the roadside, men clad in the faded gray uniform of the Confederate soldier could be seen, good-naturedly jok- ing with their former foes as the column passed by. And "Say, Yank ! ain't you 'uns all a long ways from home?" and "Johnny! Why don't you fix up that fence?" are ex- amples of the innocent chaffing that took place between the blue and the gray. We never knew whether all the petty annoyances to which Sherman's army was subjected while it camped in the vicinity of Richmond were caused by General Hal- leek's direct orders or not. But soon after the fall of 19 312 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. May, 1865. the Confederate capital that distinguished non-comba- tant was assigned to command the Department of the James, with headquarters in Richmond. His martial zeal had been restrained to such an extent while serving as chief of staff at Washington, that when he was ap- pointed to the command of the armies in the field, he was bubbling over with fight, and ready to display the most bloodthirsty zeal. Among the first orders issued after his arrival at Richmond was one directing his troops to disregard the armistice then pending between Generals Sherman and Johnston while negotiations were in progress for the surrender of all of the Confederate armies remaining in the field. This was a most flagrant violation of the laws of war, and a direct insult to Sher- man and his army. Yet, notwithstanding this base out- rage, Halleck issued orders directing Sherman's army to pass in review before him, as it marched through Rich- mond. Sherman promptly forbade the proposed review and advised Halleck to keep out of sight while the army passed through the city, if he desired to avoid an expres- sion of the just indignation felt alike by the officers and men of his army. Then Halleck, whose capacity for blundering seemed without limit, refused to permit any of Sherman's men to enter the city. Among the officers and men in Sherman's army, there were many who had marched from the Mississippi to the James, and never before in all their weary marches had been refused permission to enter a captured town or city. They could see ex-Conederate soldiers and citi- zens going to and coming from the city at will, but when they attempted to visit the city, they were met at the pontoon bridge by a provost guard, who informed them May, 1865. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN. 313 that Sherman's men could not pass the bridge. But the men had come too far to see the rebel capital to be de- nied the sight without a protest. So a little time was spent in quiet organization in the seclusion of the camps, and then the men proceeded to resent this new indignity and to show in their own way their contempt for a dun- derpated martinet. A large crowd assembled at the south end of the bridge, entirely unarmed and without officers or orders, when upon the agreed signal the men rushed upon the guards, many of whom were jostled into the river, and by sheer weight of numbers seized the bridge. The affair was entirely irregular, but there is little doubt that General Sherman appreciated the grim humor displayed by his unarmed men in wresting the Richmond bridge from Halleck's guards. But so far as we could learn, and strange as it may appear, Halleck never resented the conduct of the men in overthrowing his guards, nor was any one arrested for defying his or- ders and invading the city against his mandate. On the morning of the nth. the army crossed the James river and passed through Richmond. The troops moved at the usual marching pace, making no parade of ceremony and there was no review. The sidewalks were crowded with citizens and ex-Confederate soldiers, whose curiosity to see Sherman's army insured their presence, while the memory of the recent death of their most cherished hopes, rendered impossible any demon- stration of approval or greeting of welcome. This nat- ural feeling so evident among the spectators, was re- spected by the passing troops and no song of victory was heard while Sherman and his army marched through the graveyard of southern hopes and Confederate ambition. 314 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. May, 1865. It was expected that the earthworks erected for the defense of the rebel capital would be found to be monu- ments of engineering skill, massive in their proportions and impregnable in their strength. But the fortifica- tions proved disappointing, and officers and men agreed that they were in no way so strong, nor were they so elaborate in construction as the works encountered near Atlanta. After taking dinner in the rebel works, at the point where the road to Hanover Court House leaves the city, we crossed the Chickahominy river and camped for the night within a few miles of the battlefields of Me- chanicsville, Gaines Mills and Fair Oaks. From Richmond to Washington Sherman's army marched on holy ground. Over this narrow field the tide of battle ebbed and flowed throughout the war, and from hill and valley and plain the smoke of sacrifice had risen, and the atoning blood had been poured out. Al- most one continuous battlefield, the familiar scenes along the line of march constantly reminded us "of the night in the trench and the pale faces of the dead." Insignificant towns and hamlets had been immortalized by the valor- ous deeds performed in their thriftless streets, and the crossings of the almost numberless streams had been re- peatedly taken and retaken by cunning stratagem or dashing courage. The two armies operating between the Union and Confederate capitals had been the largest snd the best equipped in the service, and the conflicts be- tween them had been very frequent and deadly. But the battles, while bravely fought and bloody enough to satisfy the most sanguinary, had been so indecisive and fruitless that it may well be doubted if the campaigns in Virginia previous to that of 1864-5 contributed in the May, 1865. THE FINAL CAMPAIGN. 315 least degree to the final triumph of the National cause. Sherman's army reached the heights overlooking Washington City, on the ipth of May, 1865, and went into camps just below those already in possession of Gen- eral Meade's Army of the Potomac. To the vast major- ity of Sherman's army this was their first sight of the national capital. From our camp we could see the dome of the capital, as it stood in simple grandeur against the sky, and it was difficult to realize that within less than a year the enemy had looked upon it with covetous eye, while the roar of his guns could be distinctly heard in the White House. Yet in the preceding July, while the Army of the Potomac was engaged in the siege of Petersburg, and Sherman's army was on the Chattta- hoochee river, the rebels under the command of General Early were thundering at the gates of the capital city of the Union. But then, the stupendous operations of the last year of the struggle had been conducted upon a field of such magnitude, that the common mind could scarcely keep pace with the rapid march of events. The Army of the East and the Army of the West occupied the south bank of the Potomac river from a point opposite Georgetown to Alexandria, and the next few days were spent in preparing for a great military display, which was to take place in the national capital in honor of the final victory for the Union. To the men of the Western army this would be a new experience; they had never witnessed a formal parade of ceremony, and in all their long service they had observed no holi- day. 316 HISTORY OF THE 85'f H ILLINOIS. May, 1865. CHAPTER XXV. It is said to have been at the suggestion of Secretary Stanton, that the armies of the east and west were as- sembled in the national capital to be reviewed by the commander-in-chief. Coming from distant fields, these armies had different histories, but the men were bound together by a common cause the preservation of national integrity. Their love of country had the force of a religious passion, and during all the long period, when the fate of the Union was at stake, their efforts never relaxed, their vigilance never ceased, and there was no abatement of their purpose to capture or utterly destroy the enemies of the republic. They had vindi- cated national authority, they had set the bond man free, and now they brought home peace. These priceless trophies made it proper for the President, attended by the chief officers of the government, to welcome them in the name of the republic. They had earned the right to receive the laurel wreath from the steps of the capitol. General Grant had commanded the Western army in all its early victories and had been at all times the prime favorite of the men. He never made speeches to them and never solicited applause, but the most humble sol- dier could approach him, and he had a quiet way of over- coming difficulties that was as simple and as easily un- derstood as it was effectual. If his means or supplies were imperfect, he found the best available substitute, and if he could not accomplish the full requirement, he performed as much as was possible. He had the faculty of imparting to his troops the determination to win with May, 1865. THE GRAND REVIEW. 317 which he was himself inspired, and their feelings toward him soon came to be that of implicit trust. Constantly ready to fight, he lost no opportunity that prompt action could turn to advantage, and throughout an unbroken career of victory he never declined the offer of battle. Grant would drive his chariot through passes others would not venture to approach. He would hold the enemy in his relentless, vice-like grasp until he had ac- complished his full purpose, and leave upon the mind of his observer the impression that he had a reserve of power, other resources not yet called into action. After leading the Western army to a series of splen- did victories, beginning at Belmont and ending in the crushing defeat of Bragg at Chattanooga, his men were not surprised to see him called to a larger field of useful- ness. Grant's merit had won for him the command of all armies of the Union, and at once the vast military power of the north began to move in harmony, respon- sive to the clear purpose of his comprehensive mind. Proud of their old commander, the men watched the ter- rific struggle in the east with ever increasing admiration for his courage and his skill. Grant would win, they knew that, but the question was, Would the end come before the west could lend a helping hand to the east? So they marched on to Atlanta; to the sea, and were almost ready to join hands with their comrades of the east, when the final consummation came which insured union and liberty throughout the land. And now, the proposed review would afford an opportunity for the veterans of Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chatta- nooga to unite with the heroes of the Wilderness, Spott- sylvania, Petersburgh and Appomattox in paying a trib- 318 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. May, 1865. ute of respect to the soldier hero of the struggle, before they should return to civil life. Promptly on Wednesday morning, May 23rd, the head of the column of the Army of the Potomac wheeled round the capitol and the grand review began. There is no more beautiful weather than that of Washington in the early summer, when the warmer air comes with the lengthening days, and on this memorable occasion the weather was all that could be desired. Pennsylvania avenue, with its great length and ample width, was ad- mirably adapted for a review of the grand armies. Tens of thousands of people from the northern states had come to witness the imposing spectacle, and to welcome the returning heroes. The most ample preparations had been made for the occasion. Seats had been erected in the parks bordering the broad avenue for the accom- modation of the vast crowd of visitors. The President and General Grant were seated on an elevated stand in front of the White House, surrounded by members of the cabinet, foreign ministers, and distinguished visitors. The whole city was in holiday attire, the noble avenue was lined, on both sides and from end to end, with ad- miring people, and every window was filled with eager spectators. It was the annual recurring season of foli- age and flowers, and there were flowers on every hand in seemingly endless variety and profusion, while many of the visitors carried wreaths for their favorite regi- ments. The national flag, was flying from the public buildings, and from almost every house and store, and to see the stars and stripes in other places than at head- quarters, or above the heads of the color-guard, was as novel as it was pleasing. May, 1865. THE GRAND REVIEW. 319 Nearly all day for two successive days, from the cap- itol to the White House, could be seen a mass of vet- eran soldiers in columns of companies, marching with steady tread to the inspiring strains of martial music. To the multitude of spectators it was a revelation of the greatness and power of the republic ; while to the actors in that royal pageant of joy and gladness it was the event of a lifetime. Indeed, more than one enthusiastic sol- dier was heard to declare that it was worth ten years of any man's life to be able to say, "I was there." Only a part of the vast forces of the Union marched through Washington on the grand review, but the number was large beyond any but the skilled mind to reckon. If we say that sixty-five thousand men passed in review each day, or one hundred and thirty thousand in the two days, it is still difficult to comprehend the magnitude of the display. Perhaps a better idea may be conveyed by stating- that for six hours and a half each day of the re- view Pennsylvania avenue was filled with marching troops, whose columns if connected would be over thirty miles in length. The first day of the review was given to General Meade's army, and this afforded an opportunity for many of the officers and men belonging to General Sher- man's army to attend and witness the parade of the Army of the Potomac. There was very naturally more or less generous rivalry between the soldiers from the east and west, and as comparison was made of their respec- tive qualities and characteristics, the memory was busy with the histories of the grand armies. From the first the rank and 'file of the Eastern army followed their lead- ers with courage that never wavered and with enterprise 320 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. May, 1865. that never wearied. But they had been unfortunate in the generals appointed to command them, and the long list of sickening disasters which befel that devoted army in the first three years of the war should be charged to their commanders' gross incompetency. But under the direction of General Grant's unconquerable genius, the battles of the Army of the Potomac, from the Wilder- ness to the crowing victory at Appomattox, have no par- allels on the continent of America. , Operating in a field easy of access from the national capital, the Army of the East was frequently visited by distinguished persons in whose honor reviews were held. On such occasions the evil custom had grown up of rec- ognizing the presence of the visitor, be he soldier or statesman, by a hearty greeting of applause. Now when troops marching by company front, cheer and swing their hats, the step is invariably lost, the align- ment is broken, and it is impossible to maintain uniform intervals between the companies. On the first day's re- view, it was observed that a very large proportion of the regiments destroyed their military bearing in this way, as they passed the reviewing stand. The Army of the Potomac had a very much larger number of recruits, substitutes, and drafted men in its ranks, than appeared in the Western army. This was not surprising when it is remembered that Sherman's army while marching through the Confederacy, had been far beyond the reach of recruiting stations, and that few recruits and fewer conscripts found their way into its ranks. At all times, accustomed to receive full supplies directly from the north, through a secure base on the sea coast, the east- ern troops had never been compelled to wrest supplies May, 1865. THE GRAND REVIEW. 321 from the enemy, nor to gather food and forage from a hostile country. Consequently the Army of the Poto- mac appeared well-dressed and handsomely equipped on the grand review. Punctually at nine o'clock on the next morning, May 24th, the signal gun was fired and the steel crowned ranks of Sherman's army wheeled into the broad avenue at the capital, its brilliant and successful leader riding proudly at its head. The army was uniformed and equipped as on the march, officers taking pride in pre- senting their respective commands as they had served in the field. Each division was preceded by its corps of pioneers, composed wholly of colored men, carrying axes, spades, and picks. These marched in double ranks, keeping perfect dress and step. Long practice in marching, which is in one sense a drill, and the almost entire absence of recruits, conscripts and substitutes, told greatly in favor of the western troops, and the sense of military propriety and exactness was not offended by demonstrations of applause. The cadence was perfect and the hearty robustness of the men was very striking, while the mounts of the officers were magnificent, owing to the frequent oppor- tunities for capture. All day long Pennsylvania avenue resounded with the firm and steady tread of well-drilled, thoroughly disciplined soldiers, who with careful dress on the guides, uniform intervals between the companies, and all eyes to the front, marched toward the White House. Around the joints of glittering muskets carried in that compact column, the pungent smell of battle smoke still lingered, and above the troops were borne the bul- 322 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. May, 1865. let-riddled flags, many of whose ragged folds were stained with the life blood of him who carried it in the fore front of battle. In that majestic column, moving with the pre- cision and regularity of a pendulum, were regiments that had entered the service of their country in April, 1 86 1, and that had served in every state that engaged in rebellion, except Florida, Louisiana, and Texas; that had followed Grant at Belmont, Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, and that had never left a battlefield in possession of the foe brigades and divi- sions that had never learned to retreat, and had never experienced the sickening woe of defeat. An unbroken career of victory made the men conscious of their prow- ess, their step was elastic and buoyant, and the marching column was the poetry of motion. Not so well dressed as their comrades of the Eastern army, their campaigns had led them over broader fields, and their experience had been more varied and extended. The whole army had marched more than a thousand miles within the last six months, and the men had passed the entire winter without the shelter of either roof or tent. It had been their good fortune to be commanded throughout the war by officers who were enterprising, skillful and above all, thoroughly in earnest, there had been no occasion for issuing daily bulletins announcing that "All is quiet on the Mississippi or the Tennessee." No army in either ancient or modern times had traversed such a vast ex- tent of territory, and the prisoners it had captured largely outnumbered the men in the Western army, now cele- brating the final victory of peace. From the nature of the conflict the Union soldiers were invaders, and from first to last they were the ag- May, 1865. THE GRAND REVIEW. 323 gressors. They found the enemy behind defensible rivers and entrenched in mountain passes. The road to victory led them over mountains of difficulties and through valleys of tribulation ; and as the sanguine tide ebbed and flowed in the stupendous struggle, how often Freedom's friends sat pale with fear at Freedom's peril ! But at last the mighty balance settled on the side of those whose banners, torn with shot and shell, still bore the stars and stripes. In that supreme moment, while many wounds still stung and bled, the Union soldiers put aside the desire for vengeance that comes to man in battle and with victory; forgave their enemies on the battlefield, and sent them to their homes to enjoy in peace the protection of the government they had so un- justly and wickedly tried to destroy. And now, as the victorious Union armies celebrate the return of peace, "With malice towards none, with charity for all," they parade no captives, and display none of the spoil of bat- tlefield. Many who set out with us, indulging the same fond hopes of safe return, now filled soldiers' graves, and the applause so heartily given to the soldiers present was mingled with tears for the loved and the lost ; those who came not back. Moreover, the great emancipator, the beloved of the people, had been most foully slain, and but few days had passed since countless multitudes of people had bowed with uncovered heads, reverent and silent, before his bier. The remembrance of these national bereavements could but tinge with sadness all the splendid and inspiring scenes of the grand review. 324 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. M ay, 1865. After the review the Eighty-fifth returned to camp on the south bank of the Potomac, but on the next day the entire brigade marched through the city and went into camp near the Soldiers' Home, two and one-half miles north of the capitol. Our camp, which was pleas- antly situated, overlooked the city, and there came a delightful sense of perfect rest after a long and toilsome task had been accomplished ; a relief from the tension of nerve and brain, no language can adequately express. The men were permitted to roam at will over the city, and every opportunity was given them, by the officers and employes in the various departments, to visit the public buildings and to observe the methods employed in the transaction of the business of the government. The treasury, patent office, and navy yards, all were thrown open to the soldiers, and so far as the writer has learned, there was no abuse of the courtesy extended. But while they treated the civil officers of the govern- ment with marked consideration, at least one of the city officials fell a victim to their mischievous pranks. They seized the horse and buggy used by the captain of police, and drove until tired of sight-seeing, when they returned the outfit to that worthy with profuse thanks for the pleasure the drive had afforded them. Men belonging to the Fifteenth corps "captured," as they facetiously termed it, the Fourteenth street rail- road, and ran it for their own convenience. They al- lowed a citizen to ride, but were careful to exact the full fare or more. If the usual five cent fare was tendered, it was accepted. If a passenger handed up a quarter or more, the soldier acting as conductor took it, but re- turned no change, nor did he turn any fares in to the May, 1865. IN CAMP AT WASHINGTON. 325 company. The line was far from being popular with the citizens, as the soldiers ran it regardless of any time table, and while all were taken on, it was uncertain where or when the car would stop to let them off. At Fort Slemmer, near the camp of the Eighty-fifth, a soldier was seen one morning walking up and down in front of an officer's tent, carrying a log on his shoulder. The soldier looked lonely and weary, and the case was promptly investigated by a man sent over for that pur- pose, whose report showed that the soldier at the fort was undergoing punishment for some trivial breach of discipline. Then a number of unarmed men went over to the fort; dismissed the man to his quarters; warned the officer in command that they did not approve of that method of punishment, and brought the log back with them. These are examples of their daily mischief; pranks that were more ludicrous than evil, and all per- formed in the most jovial, good-natured manner. Colonel Dihvorth was promoted to be brigadier gen- eral on March I3th, and Captain James R. Griffith, of Company B, who had been commanding the Eighty- fifth since the resignation of Major Robert G. Rider was accepted at Savannah, Georgia, was promoted to be lieutenant colonel. On the nineteenth day of May, Captain Pleasant S. Scott, of Company E, was commissioned, major, vice Major Rider, who had re- signed on account of wounds; First Lieutenant Hugh A. Trent was dismissed from the service, and First Ser- geant Charles Borchert, of Company E, was commis- sioned first lieutenant; First Lieutenant Andrew J. Mason, of Company F, was commissioned captain, and Sergeant Francis M. McColgan, of same company, was 326 HISTORY OF THE) 85TH ILLINOIS. June, 1865. commissioned first lieutenant. But on account of the regiment and companies being below the minimum, Lieutenant Colonel Griffith was the only one that could be mustered. On Saturday, June 3rd, our old and loved com- mander. George H. Thomas, arrived from the west, and that evening reviewed the Fourteenth corps. The troops in the Department of the Cumberland had been designated the "Fourteenth corps" very early in the war, and it became the nucleus of the army which he led with such consummate skill in later years. He had com- manded the corps until his merit won for him the com- mand of the Army of the Cumberland, and the men had become greatly attached to him. They believed then, and they still think, that George H. Thomas, "pure as crystal and firm as rock," was the greatest soldier Vir- ginia, the mother of presidents, gave to either side in the Civil War. The last muster rolls were made out, and on Mon- day, the 5th, the regiment was mustered out of the ser- vice of the United States by Lieutenant George Scroggs, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois, acting commissary of musters, and the next morning the Eighty-fifth was ordered to Springfield, 111., for final payment and discharge. The four regiments and bat- tery that formed Dan McCook's brigade at Louisville, Ky., in the early days of September, 1862, had come to the parting of the ways. Brought together by a com- mon peril and for a common purpose, they had marched and camped and fought side by side for almost three years. Their long, hard service inspired perfect confi- dence and trust in each other, and while the organization DR. JOSEPH 13. SHA.WGO, COMPANY O. 327 HbRARY Of ' UNIVWSIT.Y June, 1865. THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY. 329 ended here, the comradeship formed in camp and field will last as long as life remains.* About noon the regiment marched to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, where a delay occurred in securing transportation, and the freight cars provided for our accommodation did not arrive until the afternoon of the 7th. At Piedmont that night the men seized enough lumber from a convenient lumberyard to comfortably seat the dirty freight cars, and with the use of their hatchets they not only secured ventilation, but made openings through which they could admire the pictur- esque scenery afforded by the Allegheny mountains. At Parkersburgh, W. Va., the regiment was transferred to a stern-wheel steamer, which landed it at Lawrence- burgh, Ind., on the forenoon of the loth. Between Cincinnati and Lawrenceburgh an accident happened which lent a tinge of sorrow to the home- coming of the regiment. Hugh Gehagan, of Company F, while standing on the lower deck of the steamer en- gaged in conversation with a group of comrades thoughtlessly leaned against a fender, fastened at the upper end, but hanging loose at the lower guard, and he fell into the river. At the cry of "A man overboard" the boat was quickly stopped and every effort possible was made to rescue the drowning man. But he sunk to rise no more with the life-boat almost within his reach. * Tne number mustered in and the number present at the muster out of the four original regiments did not greatly differ, as appears by the following: 52nd Ohio mustered first and last, 1,089, of whom 331 were present at muster out; 85th Illinois mus- tered first and last, 944, of whom 349 were present at muster out; 86th Illinois mustered first and last, 993, of whom 468 were pres- ent at muster out; 125th Illinois mustered first and last, 933, of whom 424 were present at muster out. 20 330 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILUNOIS. June, 1865. It seemed hard that this faithful soldier who had dared and suft'ered so much should meet such a tragic death when almost within sight of home, while his co^'-ades could only stand idly by and watch a life go out that thev were powerless to save. After breaking bread with the loyal and hospitable people of Lawrenceburg, who had generously provided a substantial dinner for the soldiers, the homeward jour- ney was resumed on board a train of freight cars. Such trains ran slowly in those days, but on Sunday, June nth, 1865, the regiment reached Springfield and disem- barked at Camp Butler, where the men were to receive -final payment and be discharged. A safe trip has brought the soldiers almost home, and as they enter the camp in which their service is to end, strange memories come trooping past. Eventful years have passed since they proudly marched from Peoria for the front. Then the long line with faces mainly young and fair, numbered almost one thousand men; now some are missing from every file; all are bronzed, and many are prematurely old, while the total mustered for discharge is less than four hundred. With sadness they recall the forms and faces of the slain; mostly young, unmarried men, whose native virtues fill no liv- ing veins, and will not shine again on any field. The contrast between the going and returning braves is no more striking than the changed conditions they must prepare to meet. Many of them were school boys when they enlisted, but they are now too old to begin again at the turned-down page of the books they left unfinished. Others had positions three years ago, now filled by per- sons too prudent to serve their country. But unselfish devotion to duty has broadened their manhood ; the hardships endured and the difficulties overcome have given the soldiers confidence in themselves, and they are June, 1865. THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY. 331 determined to cultivate the arts of peace with a soldier's fortitude and patriotism a citizen's industry and integ- rity. The next few days found the officers busy with their reports, turning' in ordnance stores and camp equipage, and making settlement with the government. All arti- cles not otherwise accounted for were reported under the head of "Lost in action." This account was alike the refuge of the "just and the unjust," and furnished a safe retreat for many a quartermaster, ordnance officer and company commander, whose accounts had got tangled. When the reports were completed the pay- master announced his readiness to pay off the men, and on Monday, the iQth, the first sergeants called the roll for the last time ; each soldier received his arrears of pay and an honorable discharge, and the Eighty-fifth regi- ment, Illinois volunteer infantry, passed into history. Of the 944 officers and men that entered the service in the Eighty-fifth, 95 were killed or died of wounds, 148 were wounded whose wounds did not prove fatal, 137 died of disease, 208 were discharged for disease or wounds, 46 were transferred to other organizations, and 349 were mustered out to await the hero's final detail : An aged soldier, with his hair snow white, Sat looking at the night. A busy, shining angel came with things Like chevrons on his wings. He said, "The evening detail has been made Report to your brigade." The soldier heard the message that was sent, Then rose and died and went. EUGENE F. WARE, Private, Company E, First Iowa Vol. Infantry. 332 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. CHAPTER XXVI. In the following pages the military history of all who had a part in making the regiment illustrious is given, together with some account of the subsequent career of those with whom the writer has been able to communi- cate. This is a record of deeds done and duty per- formed, which, although brief, and in many instances in- complete, is their best eulogy. As originally made up, the roster of the field and staff of the Eighty-fifth will be found in Chapter II, together with the manner in which the regiment was recruited and organized. In subsequent chapters all changes among the commissioned officers are recorded at tfie time and place they occurred. It is therefore only nec- essary, in this connection, to give a personal sketch of THE FIELD AND STAFF. COLONEL ROBERT S. MOORE was born in Green county ,. Kentucky, March 19, 1827. When he was ten years of age his par- ents removed to Illinois and settled on a farm in Sangamon (now Menard) county, where he worked on the farm until the breaking out of the Mexican war. He enlisted as a private in Company F, Fourth regiment, Illinois infantry, and participated in the battle of Cerro Gtordo and in the siege of Vera Cruz. At the peace with Mexico he returned to Illinois, located his land warrant in Mason county and engaged in farming. While thus engaged he founded the town of Spring Lake. In 1854 he married Miss Isabella Trent, removed to Havana and engaged in buying and shipping grain, while still paying attention to his farm. At the beginning of the War of the Rebellion he promptly offered his service to his country, recruited a company and en- tered the service as captain of Company E, Twenty-seventh regi- ment, Illinois infantry. He was engaged at the battles of Bel- mont and Farmington, and at the siege of Corinth he was wounded. While at home on leave of absence on account of his THE FIELD AND STAFF. 333 wound he was authorized by Governor Yates to raise a regiment under the first call for troops in 1862, and upon its organization he was commissioned colonel of the Eighty-fifth. Of commanding appearance, he possessed an admirable voice, while his soldierly instinct and military experience enabled him to fit the regiment for effective service in a remarka'bly short time. With his regiment he opened the battle of Perryville, Ky., and at the close of the fighting he was complimented for his skill and courage by his superior officers. At the battle of Stone River he was injured in the hip by a vicious horse, an injury from which he never wholly recovered. He remained in command of the regi- ment until the following June, when he resigned for disability. No officer ever enjoyed more fully the confidence of his men, and few so fully merited it. He returned to Havana and resumed the grain business until 1879, when he removed to Colorado and en- gaged in farming and mining. His address is Littleton, Colo. COLONEL CALEB J. DILWORTH was born near Mount Pleas- ant, Jefferson county, Ohio, April 8, 1827. His parents, Abram Rankin Dilworth and Martha Stanton Judkins, were of old Quaker stock. They removed to Indiana, and soon after to Illinois. They were living near Canton, in Fulton county, at the time of the Black Hawk war, and took refuge with friends in Canton when there was an Indian alarm. An elder brother, Rankin, gradu- ated from the military academy at West Point in the class of 1844, and died from wounds received at the battle of Monterey in the war with Mexico. A half-brother, William H. Evans, was quar- termaster of the Eighty-fifth during the last year of its service. Colonel Dilworth read law with General Leonard F. Ross, of Lewistown, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. In the fall of 1853 he married Miss Emily Phelps, daughter of William and Caroline Phelps, of Lewistown, 111., the only issue of such mar- riage being a son, William A., now practicing law in Omaha, Neb. In 1862 the subject of this sketch was practicing law in Ha- vana, 111., and assisted in recruiting the Eighty-fifth, and at the organization of the regiment was commissioned lieutenant col- onel. He served in that capacity until Colonel Moore resigned, when he was promoted to be colonel. He commanded the regi- ment from June 14, 1863, until June 27, 1864, when, in the midst of the indescribable turmoil of battle at Kennesaw mountain, Geor- gia, the command of the brigade devolved upon him through the death of his seniors. It was his plucky decision that held the 334 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. ground wrested from the enemy, although his corps and army commanders doubted its possibility. At Peach Tree creek his brigade forced a crossing of that stream, although defended by largely superior numbers, fighting the battle out alone with the Third brigade, and winning for himself and his command the highest commendations of his superiors. He continued in com- mand of the brigade until wounded by a gun shot at the battle of Jonesboro, Ga., the ball passing entirely through his neck. Re- covering from his wound, he was hastening to the front to rejoin his command when, upon his arrival at Chattanooga, he found that communication with Sherman's army had been severed. He reported to General Thomas for duty and was appointed to the command of the post at Cleveland, Tenn., a position which he held with credit to himself until the post was discontinued. He was then assigned to command at Covington, Ky., where he remained until the close of the war. He was commissioned brevet brigadier general March 13, and was mustered out of the service June 5, 1865. After returning to Illinois he practiced law at Lewistown until the autumn of 1870, when he removed to Lincoln, Neb., where he resumed the practice of his profession. He was elected state's attorney in 1874 and served two terms. In 1878 he was elected attorney general, holding the office for two terms, and in 1892 he was elected department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic of Nebraska and served one term. As a soldier he was enterprising and fearless; he won merited distinction at the bar. He had retired from active professional life and was residing in Omaha, where he died on Saturday, Feb- ruary 3, 1900. His remains were taken to Lincoln and buried in Wyuka cemetery on the Monday following, past department com- manders acting as pall-bearers, while department officers con- ducted the services. LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES P. WALKER, son of Joseph Walker, was born in Adair county, Kentucky, April 6, 1826. His father, Joseph Walker, removed to Illinois and settled on a farm in Sangamon (now Logan) county in 1830. Seven years later found the Walker family at Irish Grove, in Menard county, where his father died in 1841, leaving a crippled wife and younger son to the care of James P. He took his mother to his mother's father in Kentucky, where he remained for three years, working on a farm to get money to return to Illinois. He was fortunate in that THE FIELD AND STAFF. 335 his father was an educated mail, as all his schooling was obtained from his father before his death. On his return to Illinois in 1844 he began the study of medicine and by working on the farm and teaching school he earned the money which enabled him to prose- cute his studies. When the war with Mexico broke out he enlisted in Company F, Fourth regiment, Illinois infantry, commanded by Colonel Edward D. Baker, was a messmate of Colonel R. S. Moore and participated in the battle of Cerro Gordo and the siege of Vera Cruz. After the war he resumed the study of medicine and gradu- ated from Rush Medical College in 1850. In 1857 he located at Mason City and was practicing his profession when the War of the Rebellion began. Under the first call for troops in 1861 he recruited a company and entered the service as captain of Com- pany K, Seventeenth regiment, Illinois infantry. He participated in the battles of Fredericktown, Fort Donelson and Shiloh. After the battle of Shiloh he resigned, returned home, helped to raise the Eighty-fifth, and at the organization of the regiment he was commissioned surgeon. He was promoted to be lieutenant colonel on June 14, 1863, and was dismissed from the service on October 6, 3863. Just prior to the battle of Chickamauga he was arrested for permitting his hungry men to forage, that being at that period of the war about the worst thing an officer could be accused of. Un- fortunately for Colonel Walker he did not violate his order of arrest when the battle came on. If he had no doubt he would have escaped punishment. But his remaining under arrest afforded an opportunity for those whom his kindness to his men had offended, and he was summarily dismissed without a hearing. He returned to his former home and resumed the practice of medicine, which he continued to his death, which occurred on January 14, 1892. He was buried by his comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, a special train carrying the post from Havana to Mason City to attend his funeral. LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES R. GRIFFITH was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 2, 1834. He served for some time as a member of the Chester and Delaware Dragoons, and removed to Illinois in the fall of 1856, locating at Havana, in Mason county, where he was engaged as a general merchant at the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. He enrolled Company B, of the Eighty-fifth, and was chosen captain at the organization of 336 HISTORY OF THE 85TH ILLINOIS. the company. He participated in all the campaigns and battles in which the Eighty-fifth was engaged, was wounded at the assault on Kennesaw mountain, but speedily recovered and returned to duty. At the assault on the enemy's works at Jonesboro the com- mand of the regiment devolved upon him when Major Rider was wounded and disabled, and again he succeeded to the command of the regiment when Major Rider resigned, and led it through the Carolina campaign, on the grand review at Washington, and on its return to the state for final discharge. He was promoted to be lieutenant colonel on April 7, 18G5, and was mustered out with the regiment. After the close of the war he located in Kenosha, Wis., where he engaged in business. His present address is No. 812 Pomeroy street, Kenosha, Wis. MAJOR SAMUEL P. CUMMINGS had long been prominent as a merchant in Astoria when the War of the Rebellion began. He had also been prominent in affairs political in the county and fre- quently served as a member of the county board. Early in the war he had been commissioned a mustering officer with the rank of major, and had assisted in recruiting several of the early regi- ments. He enrolled two companies for the Eighty-fifth and at the organization of the regiment he was chosen major. He was favor- ably mentioned for gallant conduct at the battle of Perry ville by his colonel and brigade commander, served through the Kentucky campaign, and participated with the regiment in the battle of Stone River or Murfreesboro. Failing health, however, compelled him to resign at Nashville, and his resignation was approved for disability on April 6, 1863. He returned to Astoria, where he continued in business until within the last few years, and where he still resides. He has served his constituents as supervisor, judge of the county court, and has represented his county in both branches of the legislature. Possessed of an ample fortune he is now enjoying a ripe old age among the people he served so long. MAJOR ROBERT G. RIDER was born in Ravenna, Portage county, Ohio, March 14, 1831, attended Jefferson college at Can- nonsburg, and studied medicine at Washington college, Washing- ton, Pa. He removed to Illinois in 1855 and the following winter attended a course of lectures at a medical college, Dubuque, Iowa. He began the practice of his profession at Mobile, Ala., but re- turned to Illinois some three years later, and at the beginning of THE FIELD AND STAFF. 337 the War of the Rebellion was practicing medicine at Havana, in Mason county. He enrolled Company K and was elected captain of that com- pany at its organization, commanded the company at the battle of Perryville, through the Kentucky and Murfreesboro campaigns, and was promoted to be major of the regiment April 6, 1863. He was appointed provost marshal when the brigade was assigned to garrison duty at Murfreesboro, Tenn., but returned to