CHAPTER
LX
Through the kindness of Wm. H. Spade one of the
members of our company, we are able to present the following table, giving the
name of the principle towns as well as the distances while traveling in the cars:
From Bealton
to Washington
54 m’s
“Washington to Martinsburg 120 “
“
“ Martinsburg to Newburg 167 “
“ Newburg to Belton 77 “
“ Belton to Benwood 31 “
“ Bellaire to Columbus 137 “
“ Columbus
to Centreville 117 “
“ Centreville to Indianapolis
63 “
“ Indianapolis
to Jeffersonville 108 “
“ Jeffersonville
to Nashville 185
“
“ Nashville
to Normandy 61 “
Total
amount 1,120 “
On the 5th, the day of our arrival, after
we had put up temporary quarters, we devoted considerable time to giving
ourselves a general overhauling and the amount of “flees” which we had
accumulated during the time we were on board the cars, was truly astonishing. In every nook and corner the boys could be
seen bringing their thumb nails into active operation. The most of the boys were so full of the
cussed “varmints” that it did not require any particular exertion to find them.
Orders were given us to erect temporary shelter, and
we supposed that we would probably remain here for some time. In the evening of the day after our arrival
our camp was thrown into a wild state of excitement by the arrival of several
mounted jay-hawkers, who announced that a large force of rebel cavalry and
infantry were moving upon us.
Colonel Pardee at once ordered the men under arms and
every arrangement made to give the enemy the best we had in store for
them. After reinforcing the picket lines
to prevent a surprise, the regiment having stacked arms, we were permitted to
lie down, but were duly cautioned to be ready to fall in at the first tap of
the drum. The rebels failing to put in
an appearance we were permitted to rest through the night undisturbed.
At noon , Oct. 7th,
our regiment was ordered to move. Almost
instantly the tents were struck and the regiment under command of Colonel
Pardee crossed Duck River
We passed a number of houses on our march, and from
the smoked Yankees around the premises, we learned that the “Rebs had jus done
gone and moved out pass dar this morning.”
All of which was particularly interesting information to us.
About five miles out on the march our progress was
impeded by a stream, the bridge having been destroyed by the rebels. Colonel Pardee dismounted and at the head of
the column plunged into the water and waded thro’ the stream. The boys greeted this act with a cheer and
gallantly followed his example, and in less time than it takes us to relate it,
every man was on the opposite side.
It soon became apparent to us that our destination was
Shelbyville, the county seat of Bedford
County Normandy on the Manchester
and Lewisburg road, which, as was reported, was occupied by General Wheeler and
a force of rebel cavalry.
As we neared the town several rebel prisoners were
taken past us, having been captured by our cavalry the main body
having skedaddled upon hearing of our advance.
On passing a house, surrounded by a large yard, on the
outskirts of the town we noticed several persons waving handkerchiefs, and
among them a little girl waving a flag.
As we marched past close to them, Lt. Parks said to the little girl:
“Sissy, weren’t you afraid that the Rebels would steal
your flag and tear it for you?”
“No, ‘tause I hidded it, when zey was here,” was the
quick-witted response of the loyal little curly headed maiden.
Our officers becoming satisfied that they could not
overtake the fleeing cavalry with infantry, and night coming on they wisely
concluded to abandon the pursuit, and we consequently went into camp for the
night.
On the following day we broke camp at about 9 o’clock , a. m., and started for Normandy Station. Upon reaching the creek, Ellis Noll of our
company having been attacked with something similar to poison, did not, like to
get wet, offered Wm. Henninger of our company, one dollar if he would carry him
across. Henninger at once consented and
Nolly straddled his back amidst the cheers of those who beheld the affair, and
was deposited on terra-firma, without a drop of water touching him. Ellis did not have the dollar just then, and
we presume that Henninger chalked it down to his profit and loss account, where
it undoubtedly stands today.
We reached camp in due time and soon took possession
of our old quarters. Here we devoted
ourselves to the ordinary routine of camp life and which was occasionally
marred by the report of scared contraband, to the effect that Wheeler “am a
coming, certain suah,” which announcement never failed to create a stir.
Among the most exciting episodes that occurred during
our stay at Duck River Creek Bridge
On Tuesday the 20th, Company G and B, of
our regiment were ordered to march to Shelbyville, under command of Captain
Davis. We broke camp early in the
morning, and the Captain who was a fast walker, exerted him self considerable
to give us a good sweating, a result which he accomplished to his utmost
satisfaction. We reached Shelbyville a
little before noon , and were at once quartered,
in one of the public buildings of the town, and the company was put on patrol
duty.
After the first details were made, those of the boys
who were not on duty looked around the place.
It was by far the best Southern town that we had been in yet, and the
large number of Union people residing here,
really made it a very desirable place to be quartered in; provision of every
kind was really abundant, and all that was necessary to get almost anything
that the heart could desire, was sufficient greenbacks.
On the day after our arrival in the town, a Creole
barber, who had been a servant to some rebel officer, got into an altercation
with some soldiers in his shop, in relation to the bravery of the respective
armies, when the barber was given the lie, he sprang for a carbine that was
hanging on the wall, when he was knocked down, being a desperate man and
evidently a very strong one, springing up and making for the weapon, feeling
that he would do some one injury, a sergeant of the 29th Ohio, drew
a revolver and shot him in the head, killing him instantly. At the report of the revolver, those in the
shop and in the immediate neighborhood of the building, skeedaddled in every
direction, and well for them that they did, for the patrol under Lt. Byers,
came upon the scene on a double quick.
Upon entering the little shop, they found the barber dead, with a bullet
hole in his forehead.
The soldiers had all made their escape and, the
patrol did not succeed in arresting any one connected with the affair. The barber was raised up from the floor and
placed upon a bench. A guard was placed
in front of the shop, after which word was sent to the Mayor of the town, who
sent several men to take charge of the corpse and the guard was relieved and
sent back to head-quarters.
The men who were sent by the Mayor to take charge of
the murdered man upon satisfying themselves that he was really dead, proceeded
to make a rough box, placed him in it, secured an old horse and cart and
conveyed it to the cemetery, unloaded the box and proceeded to dig a grave in
which they placed him. Thus what had
been a human being, in the full enjoyment of life, but four short hours before,
was consigned to that “bourne from whence no traveler ere returns.”
In the evening we were notified that we had been
relieved and that we wo’d return to the regiment on the following morning,
Thursday, October 22nd.
In the morning before starting the Mayor sent two camp
kettles of whiskey around to our quarters.
While the men were being drawn up in line, one of the Ohio boys, who had
helped to bring the whiskey to our company, succeeded in walking away with one
of the kettles of whiskey, and it was very good they did, since the one kettle
that was left us, was sufficient to make all those intoxicated who desired to
drink. At about 9
o’clock we again turned our back on Shelbyville, having first given
three cheers and a tiger for citizens of the town.
The march homeward, for the first mile or two was a
good one, the tanglefoot which we had imbibed caused the roads to become to
narrow and occasionally the ground would rise up and strike one of the heavily
ladened ones in the face, and then it would require the combined efforts of two
or three of his companions to help him on his feet, and then sometimes the trio
or quartet, as the case might be, wo’d fall and flounder together. After we had marched several miles, the
effects of the whiskey wore off, and then the growling and grumbling commenced
and which was persistently kept up until camp was reached, which we did at a
little after 3 o’clock , p. m.
The time was passed in camp at Duck River in the
ordinary routine of a soldier’s life, the history of one day being that of
another; camp guard or picket police duty at 9 a. m., sick call at 9:15,
company drill from 10 to 11; dinner next, company or regimental drill from 2
o’clock to 3 p. m., dress parade at 4, retreat and roll call at 9, taps 15
minutes later, “lights out and to bed.”
The latter order was not always obeyed, and seated in our tents, we frequently
talked, generally about home and our loved ones, long after taps had
sounded. Playing cards, writing letters,
reading and gossiping were our principle means of killing time when not
otherwise engaged.
At tattoo, on the evening of October 23rd,
we received orders to move the following day.
Orders to move were seldom ever received with much enthusiasm, owing to
the dread uncertainties of a soldier’s life and consequently the orders just
given us had the effect of sending us quietly to our quarters. The principle query in our minds being,
“wonder which way we will move?”
On the following day our pickets were relieved and
every arrangement made for the move.
Rations were divided among the respective members of the various messes,
letters written to friends at home and every possible arrangement made for the
pending move. Saturday and Sunday were
both passed without moving, although the suspense in which we passed the two
days, momentarily expecting to hear the command to “fall in,” was a severe test
upon us and went a long way to destroy the pleasure and enjoyment which under
other circumstances we would have had.
At about 4 o’clock , a.
m., on Monday day morning, October 26th, we were routed up and
ordered to prepare to move at once. Our
tents were, soon. struck and every thing hastily packed and we were ready to
start. A train of cars came steaming up
to the station and at sunrise we got on the cars and moved away at the slowest
possible rate of speed, it was soon evident to us that we were not destined to
travel very far, as the train upon which we were riding made a halt every
minute or two, rarely running over half a mile without making a halt and then
sometimes halting an hour at a time, we traveled in this manner all day and by
night reached Deckard, a station on the railroad, 21 miles from where we had
started in the morning. Here we remained
all night and in the morning the train started out again having first reversed
the cow catcher for fear that the cows would run over us, as the boys jokingly
remarked. During the day we passed a
number of small railroad towns which had the usual dilapidated southern
appearance everything going to ruin. We
halted at Stevenson for dinner. Here the
boys made a raid upon the Post suttler and in less time than I can tell it, he
was completely gutted out. It was
amusing to see the suttler and his assistants follow the boys and attempt to
recapture the articles which the boys had taken from the shop. We remained in the cars until dusk, by this
time having reached Bridgeport . Here we got out of the cars and remained for
the night.
On the following morning, October 28th, we
crossed the Tennessee River at Bridgeport ,
on a Pontoon Bridge and commenced our first march toward the front. Our march during the day was a very fatiguing
one, as a great part of it was over a very rough and unbroken country, and
night overtook us before we reached our destination and we were compelled to
continue our march for several miles, along the base of high and threatening
mountains which made the darkness appear still more impenetrable, causing the
boys to meet with innumerable falls and tumbles, and we were glad when we were
ordered to camp for the night, which was done when we reached Wartrace, having
marched about 15 miles. The Colonel put
out camp guards and made arrangements to remain for the night.
During the night, Corporal Schroyer, who had charge of
one of the outposts arrested a man on suspicion of being a spy, and taking him
before the Colonel who examined him and finding that he had passes in his possession
from Grant, Rosencranz, Sherman, Thomas, &c., pronounced him all
right. After he had dismissed him the
man reached into his boot and from some concealed place he brought forth passes
signed by General Lee, Gen. Bragg, &c., and turning to the Co1one1, said:
“What do you think of my being all right now?”
The action of the man, as well as the fact of the two
sets of passes sorely puzzled the Colonel, and he replied to the man’s inquiry,
“I’ll risk you, I think you are all right,” and when
they left the Colonel’s tent, the latter called Schroyer back and whispered to
him:
“I do not rightly know what to think of that man, keep
a good watch on him, and if he tries to escape from the post before morning,
shoot him down like a dog.”
Between ten and eleven o’clock at night, heavy firing
was heard in our front, although it appeared to be a great distance from us,
the steady rolling sound told our practiced ears that a brisk infantry
engagement was going on in the front. To
us it was a harbinger of what was awaiting us on the morrow and drawing our
blankets closer around us, we tried to settle in to that peaceful slumber,
known only to the tired veteran, but ere we had accomplished this, we heard the
sound of a horse approaching our camp at full speed, the striking of his mailed
hoofs upon the hard ground and rocks announced his approach, and soon upon the
night air rang the picket’s sharp and stern command “Halt!”
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