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TO CARE FOR HIM WHO HAS BORNE THE BATTLE, AND FOR HIS WIDOW AND ORPHANS "
ESTABLISHED 1877.
WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, JANTJAHY 21, 1882.
NEW SERIES. VOL- L, N- 23.
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND
STONE RIVER-THE SECOND DAY.
4 Lll in tko Storm Incidents of the Battle Caralry
Charge by Colonel Eli H. Harraj Prepara-
tiOHS for the Final Straggle.
From a forth-coming history of " Kentucky in the War,"
by G. C. Kniftin, late lieutenant -colonel on the staff of
Major-General Thomas L. Crittenden.
IV.
While the heroic commander of the Union
army, with fearless confidence in his remaining
troops, was hurling the hard-hitting brigades of
the Left and Centre upon Hardee'3 victorious ad
vance, kindling anew the dying embers of hope
in the breasts of the retreating soldiers of the
Eight, and by his exalted courage snatching vic
tory from the jaws of defeat ; while Thomas, calm
and brave, with perfect presence of mind, super
intended every move in the desperate game of
battle, watchful of every point, a tower of
strength to his devoted men, and Crittenden,
more cheerful then usual in the hell of carnage
that raged along his front, brought regiment
after regiment and battery after battery in sup
port of the point where Hazen and Hascall and
Grose and Cruft were clinging tenaciously to
their position, and beating back the desperate
charges of Polk and Breckinridge, the cavalry
were performing prodigies of valor in the rear
and on the right. General "Wheeler, on his re
turn from his exploits at La Vergne, to the rear
of Hardee's line on the morning of the 31st, found
that the battle had opened. He immediately
joined in the pursuit of Johnson's retiring di
vision, while Wharton, in command of ten regi
ments of cavalry and a battery of artillery,
moved over towards the Nashville pike and
turned his attention to the immense supply
train of the army. A portion of this train, six
miles long when stretched out upon the road, was
moving across the country from the Wilkinson to
the Nashville pike. The scene was one of the
most indescribable confusion. Urged by im
pending calamity the canvas-covered wagons
flew across the fields with the velocity of four
mule power, each driver plying whip and spur;
sutler wagons, bounding over the rocks, distrib
uted their precious contents along the way.
Stanley's thin line of cavalry, stretching from
the woods in rear of Negley to the right and left,
rested its right flank upon the Wilkinson pike,
where Col. Zahm, with the First, Third, and
Fourth Ohio cavalry was stationed in rear of
Overall's Creek.
Col. Minty, in command of 950 cavalry, crossed
Overall's Creek early in the morning and took po
sition parallel to, and a mile distant from, the
Nashville pike. 'The Fourth Michigan and First
Tennessee dismounted, formed a skirmish line
with Jenning's battalion of the Seventh Penn
sylvania and two companies of the Third Ken
tucky, under Captain Davis, supported by the
Anderson Troop in their rear. Wharton advanced
AT FULL CHARGE,
after a few volleys from his artillery, but meeting
with stubborn resistance drew off, but in a few
minutes rallied and bore down, two thousand
strong, upon Minty's little command. The An
derson Troop gave way and the confederate
troopers swept past the left. Hastily remount
ing, the remainder of the command fell back
across an open field out of range of the artillery,
leaving the train, with fully a thousand fugitives
from the battle-field, in possession of the enemy.
At daybreak Zahm's brigade was drawn up in
line of battle and two squadrons were sent to the
right and front to reconnoitre. Soon the cannon's
opening roar upon his left, announced the begin
ning of battle. The rush of infantry to the rear
gave token of disaster. Now came the exultant
shout of victory and the sweeping charge of
McCown's columns overlapping Johnson, and
appearing on the right of the cavalry. Falling
back he formed in line of battle a mile in the
rear, where the enemy opened upon him with ar
tillery. The first shell killed Major Moore, of the
First Ohio. Again he fell back, when Willich's
old regiment halted in its retreat and formed in
support of the cavalry, when the two repulsed a
charge, but only for a moment. The torrent of
fugitives fled through the woods like leaves be
fore the blast, and after them pressed the charg
ing regiments of Ector and Raines in resistless
volume. Meanwhile Wharton's cavalry brigade
was moving rapidly past CoL Zahm's right and
the confederate infantry pushing by his left at a
distance of two hundred, yards. An aide to Gen.
McCook, came requesting succor for the supply
train moving over toward the Nashville pike.
The attack was made, but the line was too
weak. The First Ohio charged with five com
panies, and its brave commander, Colonel Minor
Millikin, was killed by John Bowers, of the Texas
Rangers. The remaining regiments fell back, fol
lowed, by the First Ohio, across Overall's Creek.
Colonel Wharton says, in his report: " The com
mand that had captured the wagons, thinking
they had driven the entire force of the enemy's
cavalry across Overall's Creek, and apprehending
danger only frora that quarter, were prepared to
meet it only from that direction. Besides, many
were scattered along the wagon train directing
its movements and guarding prisoners. In this
cdndition they were attacked by the same party
of cavalry from the direction of Murfreesboro
that I had repulsed with artillery." Owing to
this, he says, he was "unable to bring away more
than five or six pieces of artillery, a portion of
the wagons, a few beef cattle, and mules cut from
the wagons." Hi3 loss was about 150 killed,
wounded, and missing.
THE THIRD ATTACK
came from a force that Wharton had not yet met.
Before they had time to take advantage of their
success, Kennett was upon them. Colonel Eli
H. Murray, at the head of his gallant regiment,
the Third Kentucky, charged down upon the
train, sweeping Wharton's cavalry before him.
Here the brave Captain Wolfley, with eighty
men, and Captain Breathitt, with his battalion,
charged with such velocity as to turn the tide of
battle, driving the rear forward upon the front,
where the Fourth Regular Cavalry struck it with
drawn sabres. The rout of the confederates was
complete. The entire train, with 250 prisoners,
were recaptured. The hospital of Palmer's di
vision, which had fallen into their hands, as well
as the Fifth Wisconsin battery, and one section
of the First Ohio, were recaptured, and Wharton'3
brigade routed and driven back two miles. The
Third Ohio easily rallied and took part in the
fray. Captain Otis's sabre charge was brilliantly
executed. Dashing forward with the velocity of
a locomotive, the trained battalions fell upon the
undisciplined mob huddled together at the head
of the train where Murray had swept them in
his irresistible onslaught. The train was moved
close up in rear of the Left Wing, where it re
mained unmolested during the remainder of the
day. In a battle such as that at Stone River,
where a long line of troops is engaged simulta
neously, it is impossible to give due credit to
each regiment that deserves it. The writer wit
nessed scenes of personal daring which to recount
would occupy the space allotted to the descrip
tion of this battle. These will be noticed more
at length in the historical sketches of regiments.
There were many instances in which officers, cast
ing aside their swords, seized the muskets of
their fallen soldiers, and fought side by side with
their men. Entire companies fought without
officers. In great emergencies such as this there
is positively no rank except that which valor
bestows. Orders to fall back, were, in several
cases, unheeded, and the men held their places
inline
' UNDER THE LEADEN HAIL,
obstinately refusing to retreat. It was notmerely
a line of battle, but a Nation in arms, repelling,
with a Nation's pride, this bold assault of its re
bellious sons upon its life.
In the quality of courage, however, the con
federates, with abundant cause, claim an equal
share. General Polk refers as follows to an in
cident that occurred during the assault of two
of his brigades upon Sheridan early in the day :
"A battery was pouring a murderous fire into
the brigade of General Maney from a point which
made it doubtful whether it was ours or the
enemy's. Two unsuccessful efforts had been
made by staff officers, one of whom was killed in
the attempt, to determine its character. The
doubt caused the brigade on which it was firing
to hesitate in returning the fire, when Sergeant
Oakley, color-bearer of the Fourth Tennessee,
and Sergeant Hooka, of the Ninth Tennessee
confederate regiments, gallantly advanced eight
or ten paces to the front, displaying their colors,
and remained ten minutes in a place so con
spicuous as to be plainly seen and fully to test
from whom their brigade was suffering so se
verely. The murderous fire instead of abating was
increased and intensified, and soon demonstrated
that the battery and its support were not friends
but enemies. The sergeants then returned to
their proper positions in the line unhurt."
Darkness covered the battle-field. The roar of
artillery, the rattle of musketry, the koarse
shouts of command had ceased, and in the silence
that followed there fell upon the ears of the sol
diers on picket the groans of men in mortal
agony lying within the space that separated the
lines. In rear of the pickets men sank upon the
ground where they had stood and shivered
through the night without fires, for the faintest
flash of light on either side became a target for
alert artillerists. A cup of hot coffee, that Dom
invs donari to the weary soldier, on this night of
all .nights when he needed it most, was denied
him. All through the night the
AMBULANCES PASSED TO AND FRO
on the road to the hospitals, where further tor
ture awaited the wounded unless the angel of
death kindly relieved them of the ministrations
of the surgeons. A space twenty yards in front
of the White House, near Overall's Creek, was
covered with the mangled forms of men await
ing their turn upon the operating tables. Inside
were groups of surgeons with sleeves rolled up
to the elbows, their brawny arms red with blood,
one handling the saw, another the knife, another
the probe, while others bound up the bleeding
stumps and turned the patient, henceforth the
Nation's ward, over to nurses who bore them
tenderly away. In a corner lay a ghastly heap
of arm3 and legs and hands and feet, useles for
evermore. The busy fingers which had indited
the last fond message to the anxious wife or
mother would never caress them more. Does this
horrible recital grate upon the ear? It is as
much a part of the history of a battle as is the
furious charge andrepulse from which it resulted.
Not twenty years have passed since that awful
scene was witnessed, and even now the strange
and unnatural spectacle is presented of men pro
fessing to represent the sentiment of the people
of the United States in Congress, gravely dis
cussing THE EXPENSE OF THE PENSIONS
which the Government contracted to pay to its
soldiers maimed for life in defense of their
country, and to the dependent families of those
who lost their lives in her service. " 'Tis true
'tis pity, pity 'tis 'tis true."
.The writer, returning from a ride along the
lines where he had been undor orders to see that
all fire3 were extinguished, came upon a battery,
in the rear of which, at the lottom of a trench on
a bed of glowing coals, the artillerists were cook
ing supper. The savory smell of broiling steak
and steaming pots of coffee saluted his nostrils.
Dismounting, he was at once invited to partake
of a soldier's hospitality. His tired horse was
fed, and in a moment he received at the hands
of a grizzly veteran a cup of coffee and a cake of
hard bread covered with juicy steak, tender and
succulent. His meal dispatched, he wa3 about to
remount and ride back to headquarters, when he
was asked if he knew where the beef-steak came
from. He said he did not, but that it was the
best he ever ate. " Come here and I will show
you," said the sergeant. He led the way a few
yards distant to where an artillery horse lay
dead, killed by a cannon ball. His flank had
been stripped of the skin, and the tender, juicy
steak that had contributed to the enjoyment of
the writer had been cut from the flesh.
At army headquarters a strange scene, reveal
ing the characteristics of he prominent com
manding officers, was presented. With prudent
regard for the safety of his supplies, General
Ro3ecrans had ordered the subsistence train back
to Nashville, thus enabling him to manoeuvre his
army without regard to front" or rear. There
was no indication that Bragg contemplated with
drawal, and the prevailing impression was, that
a heavy assault would be made upon some point
in the Union line early in the morning. Where
would the blow fall? Would the line at that
point be strong enough to lesist it? Has Bragg
any troops that have not been engaged ? Are
reinforcements for him on;:he way? were ques
tions more easily asked thu a answered.
Mounting his horse, the lommanding general
rode to the rear,accomp3i4Jy Gen. Stanley and
a few staff officers. Past the hospital, to Overall's
Creek, the group of horsemen pursued their way.
In the fields on both sides of the road the dark
ness was dispelled by bivouac fires lighted by
the straggling soldiery of the Right Wing. Along
the pike the long supply train moved slowly and
steadily on its way to Nashville, while here and
there a few wagons were cut out of it by a
faithful commissary, the contents of which,
after a hard night's work, he would succeed in
transferring to the soldiers' haversacks.
Walker's and Starkweather's brigades had
already passed to the front, where the former
bivouacked in close column in reserve in rear
of McCook's left, and the latter, posted on the
left of Sheriden, next morning relieved Van
CI eve's division, now commanded by Colonel
Sam Beatty, which resumed its position in the
Left Wing. Generals Van Cleve and Wood, each
suffering from wounds in the foot, were sent in
ambulances back to Nashville.
Headquarters were located in a double log
house, which then stood on the east side of the
turnpike about opposite the lower ford of Stone
R i ver. In a room on the left-hand, General Thomas
sat before a fire, asleep ; the officers of h:3 staff,
stretched upon the floor, with their feet to the
fire, were also asleep. Ready at a moment's
warning to obey any order that might be given
him,
THE OLD SOLDIEB
was snatching a brief respite from care, in the
friendly arms of Morpheus. To a question from
Gen. Rosecrans, earlier in the evening, he had-
made the characteristic reply: "The question of
retiring from the battle-field is one of such deli
cacy that I am quite willing to leave it to the
judg-ment of the commanding general." On the
right of the passage-way a-far different scene was
presented. General Crittenden paced the floor
with quick, impatient stride. " Communication
is cut off," said one. "We must fall back," said
another, and the words were deliberately uttered
by a brave man. "My corps is not whipped,"
shouted Crittenden, "and we must not fall back."
At this moment General Rosecrans entered the
room and caught the expression as it fell from
the lips of his heroic corps commander. " Gentle
men, we fight or die right here," said the Chief,
as he passed them and took a seat by the fire.
Colonel W. D. Bickham, an aid-de-camp to Gen
eral Rosecrans, in his delightful book, " Rosecran's
Campaigns with the Fourteenth Army Corps,"
referring to the meeting of officers at headquar
ters, says : " To appreciate the dramatic effect of
this grave consultation of heroes the reader must
enter deeply into the spirit of the occasion. No
pen can portray the situation. The day had be
gun in dreadful disaster, and the sun had declined
upon a spectacle of dreadful splendor. Seven
thousand gallant men had fallen during ten
hours. Regiments had lost, some their colonels,
some all their field officers, and half or more of
their company commanders. Johnson's two best
brigadiers were gone, Sheridan's three were dead.
Wood and Van Cleve were, disabled, ten colonels,
ten lieutenant-colonels, and six majors, were
killed, wounded, or captured. Sheridan alone
had lost seventy-two oflicers. The Regular brig
ade, 1,500 strong that morning, had lost twenty
two most valuable officers and 508 disciplined,
valiant, and trusty soldiers. Almo3t two-thirds
of the battle field almoatme-fifth of our artil
lery, were in possession of the enemy. Commu
nication was in a measure cut off from Nashville.
Some of the subsistence trains had been destroyed,
and
THE WEARY, HUNGEY SOLDIERS
who marched and fought on Friday, Saturday,
Monday, Tuesday, and bloody Wednesday, and
who had slept or watched, shivering in the bleak
December atmosphere, the last two nights with
out fires, were now without either food or fire.
Artillery ammunition was scant, and it was ex
tremely doubtful if more could be forced through'
the clouds of rebel cavalry that hovered upon the
single thread of communication with the base of
supplies. No wonder brave men advised retreat,
but the high resolve of the commanding general
to "fight or die right here," the plucky assertion
of Crittenden that hi3 " corps was not whipped,"
the universal confidence felt in General Thomas,
and the fidelity of the division and brigade com
manders to their chiefs, united all in the deter
mination not to surrender the field of battle.
On the morning of the 31st the Michigan En
gineers and Mechanics, three hundred and ninety
one strong, broke camp at Mill Camp and moved to
LaVergne, where they encamped three-fourths of
a mile south of the village. On the following day
General Wheeler, with his own brigade and those
of Generals Wharton and Buford, 4,700 strong, in
compliance with orders from General Bragg,
moved upon the supply train on the Nashville
pike and struck La Vergne at 4 p. m. The sub
sistence train moving toward Nashville was im
mediately attacked hj Wharton in the town and
by Wheeler a mile north. The result was the
capture and destruction of thirty wagons and
the addition of 150 names to the parole lists.
While this was going on Wharton directed Pike's
battery to open upon Innes's command, posted in a
cedar brake, and after an hours' bombardment at a
distance of four hundred yards, charged with three
regiments under command of Colonel3 Cox, Smith,
and Malone. After seven distinct charges had
been repulsed with great gallantey, Gen. Whar
ton drew off and sent in a flag of truce demand
ing immediate surrender. This being refused,
another was sent, asking permission to bury their
dead and carry off their wounded. This was also
refused, and the confederates retired, marching
back ladened with captured booty from the trunks
of officers, and taking with them ten wagons la
dened with army supplies, they returned to Mur
freesboro, where they arrived at one o'clock on
the morning of the 2d of January. Col. Innes
collected the dead and buried two of his own
and six of Wharton's, and sent fifteen wounded
to the hospital, of which nine were confederates.
As compared with the heavy fighting of the day
before at Stone River the affair wa3 insignificantj
but as exhibiting the pluck of an isolated regi
ment in defending itself against overwhelming
numbers it is worthy of a place in history.
While the intrepid commanders of the army of
the Union were emerging from the Slough of
Despond upon the solid ground of firm resolve to
conquer or die, the following dispatch wa3 writ
ten at the headquarters of General Bragg :
Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862.
General Cooper, Richmond, Va. :
We assailed the enemy at seven o'clock this
morning, and after ten hours' hard fighting have
driven him from every position except the ex
treme left, where he has successfully resisted us.
With the whole exception of this point, we oc
cupy the entire field. We captured 4,000 pris
oners, including two brigadier-generals, 31 pieces
of artillery, and some two hundred wagons and
teams. Oar loss is heavy. That of the enemy
much greater. Braxton Bragg.
In his official report of the battle, made on
February 23, he says : "These important suc
cesses and results had not been achieved without
heavy sacrifices on our part, as the resistance of
the enemy, after the first surprise, was most gal
lant and obstinate. Numbering at least two to
our one, he was enabled to bring fresh troops at
every point to resist our progress, and he did so
with the skill and judgment which ha3 ever
characterized his able commander."
Upon this report is the following indorsement:
" Let this be copied at once for Congress, leaving
out the compliment to General Rosecrans. Jas.
A. Seddon, Secretary of War."
Allusion has been made to the belief entertain
ed by Breckinridge that a heavy force was ad
vancing upon him from the direction of Lebanon,
and that, fearing to weaken his force by complying
with Bragg's order for two brigades, he held them
until the reception of a peremptory order to re
inforce Polk. In his report, Bragg says, after re
ferring to an anticipated attack upon Breckin-
ridge: "The orders for the two brigades wer-s
countermanded, and dispositions were rnae at
his request to reinforce him. Before they could
be carried out, the movement ordoted disclosed
the fact that no force had crossed Stone River; that
the only enemy in our immediate front then was a
small body of aharp-gooters, and that there was
no advance on tb Lebanon road." Recrimina
tion ensued, hd, knowing he was right, Breck
inridge; stoutly asserted that a heavy force had
crosmk Stone River. Even after the lapse of
nearly two months, when Bragg wrote his report,
and when he must have seen the report of General
Rosecrans in print, detailing Van Cleve's move
ment, he still asseverated as above quoted that
no force had crossed Stone River. Polk had been
made the scapegoat to atone for the fiasco at
Perryville, and Breckinridge was compelled to
bear the blame for the defeat at Stone River.
The sun of the New Year rose bright and
fair; an occasional gun gave token of the
proximity of the two contending armies. Dur
ing the night Rosecrans retired his left to a more
advantageous position, the extreme left resting
on Stone River above the lower ford and extend
ing to Stokes'3 battery posted on a knoll on Rous
seau'3 right. Beatty's division was posted across
Stone River on the margin of the woodland that
covered a gentle slope from the river to an open
field in their front. Acro33.this field the Lebanon
road, running nearly' at right angles with the
front of Beatty's line, wa3 nearly in sight ; off to
their right and front an elevation still held by
Hanson's brigade of Breckinridge's division was
crowned by Cobb's battery of artillery. The con
federate line, formed by Polk and Breckinridge
on the right and Hardee on the left, extended
from the point on Stone River where Chalmers'3
brigade had bivouacked since the 23th in a direc
tion almost at right angles with its original line.
The body of the brave General Sill wa3 found
where it had fallen and sent to Murfreesboro,
where it was buried. At dawn on the 1st of
January the right flank of General Polk was
advanced to occupy the ground vacated by the
left flank of the Union army. The cavalry was
put in motion for the roads in the Union rear to
cut off trains and repeat the programme of the
30th of December. Neither commander deemed
it advisable to attack, but each was watchful of
every movement of the other. The picket lines
on either side were thrust forward within sight
of the main lines of the opposing force, on the
alert to notify their commanders of any move
ment in their front. As two gladiators of equal
strength who, having fought until nature is ex
hausted, stretch their herculean forms upon the
earth, each confident that his antagonist 13
as unable as himself to renew the contest, rise
when refreshed and glare upon each other,
watchful for advantage, so were these contending
armies, drawn up in firm array, weaker in nu
merical strength, but more compact and infinitely
stronger in indomitable will, on the morn
ing of the New Year, each awaiting the order to
advance and clo3e in a Snal struggle.
It was the crouching of tigers before the death
grapple. To becontinued.
MAHAGERS OF SOLDIERS HOMES.
The board of managers of the National Volun
teer Soldiers' Homes met in annual session at
Willard's Hotel Wednesday. The morning
session was devoted to going over the estimates
of appropriations for these homes. President
Arthur and Secretary Lincoln were present at
the meeting. The afternoon meeting was devoted
to routine business. Gen. W. B. Franklin, presi
dent, and Gen. M. T. McMahon, Secretary, and
the following members were present: Gen. Mc
Clellan, Gen. Charles W. Roberts, Col. Harris, and
Major Fulton.
CONTESTED ELECTIONS.
In the House Committee on Elections Wednes
day the contested case of McDowell vs. George,
of Oregon, was taken up, and after discussion
thereon the following resolution was adopted :
"Resolved, That the pretended contest of S. W.
McDowell against Hen. M. C. George be and the
same is hereby dismissed." The committee then
took up for consideration the Sessinghaus-Frost
case, and the following resolution was, after brief
debate, adopted : "Resolved, That the motion of
thecontesteefor the suppression of the testimony
in this case be overruled, and the testimony be
ordered printed without prejudice to either
party." The case of Bailey vs. Barbour was next
considered, and it was resolved that the testi
mony in that case should also be printed.
IT SMELLS OF GUNPOWDER.
Concerning the rising in the Balkan peninsula
many dispatches are published. It is said to
have begun in Herzegovina, extending to the
border districts of Dalmatia, Bosnia, Albania,
and probably Montenegro. It has been deter
mined to dispatch an army corps to crush the
insurrection. It is reported that Russian engi
neer officers had an interview with the insurgent
chief, Peter-Samardjic, at Cattaro; that the con
ference was held in a hut and lasted throughout
a night. Peter Matanovica was arrested on board
a steamer going to Cattaro. The insurgents who
overpowered the military posts near that town
subsequently released their prisoners, those of
the gendarmes who are natives of the province
joining the rebels, while those who came from
Austro-Hungary were forced to retire to Mostar.
A St. Petersburg dispatch says: "Since that
arrest at the Bridge of Gatchina on the 2d of
January thirty-seven persons have been captured.
Dr. Brouck, alias Mart, was taken at hi3 home
in Nadege street, where a trap had been laid and
where an individual who came there with his
wife made such a resistance that he could only
be arrested after beinp wounded by a ball from
a revolver. After his death it was discovered
that he was' an officer of artillery,"
Bl
.
