menu_book Chapter 12

chapter twelve of company h by sam r watkins this librivox recording is in the public domain hundred days battle rocky face ridge when i got back to dalton i found the yankee army advancing they were at rocky face ridge now for old joe's generalship we have seen him in camp now we will see him in action we are marched to meet the enemy we occupy turner's gap at tunnel hill now come on mr yank we are keen for engagement it is like a picnic the soldiers are ruddy and fat and strong whoop whoop hurrah come on mr yank we form line of battle on top of rocky face ridge and here we are face to face with the enemy why don't you unbottle your thunderbolts and dash us to pieces ha here it comes the boom of cannon and the bursting of a shell in our midst ha ha give us another blizzard boom boom that's all right you ain't hurtin nothing hold on boys says the sharpshooter armed with a whitworth gun i'll stop that racket wait till i see your smoke again boom boom the keen crack of the whitworth rings upon the frosty morning air the cannoneers are seen to lie down something is going on

yes yonder is a fellow being carried off on a litter bang bang goes the whitworth and the battery is seen to limber to the rear what next a yell what does this yell mean a charge right up the hill in a little sharp skirmish for a few moments we can see the yankee line they are resting on their arms the valley below is full of blue coats but a little too far off to do any execution old joe walks along the line he happens to see the blue coats in the valley in plain view company h is ordered to fire on them we take deliberate aim and fire a solid volley of minnie balls into their midst we see a terrible consplutterment upon them and know that we have killed and wounded several of sherman's incendiaries they seem to get mad at our audacity and ten pieces of cannon are brought up and pointed right toward us we see the smoke boil up and a moment afterwards the shell is roaring and bursting right among us ha ha ha that's funny we love the noise of battle captain joe p lee orders us to load and fire at will upon these batteries our enfields crack keen and sharp and ha ha ha look yonder the yankees are running away from their cannon leaving two pieces to take care of themselves

yonder goes a dash of our cavalry they are charging right up in the midst of the yankee line three men are far in advance look out boys what does that mean our cavalry are falling back and the three men are cut off they will be captured sure they turn to get back to our lines we can see the smoke boil up and hear the discharge of musketry from the yankee lines one man's horse is seen to blunder and fall one man reels in his saddle and falls a corpse and the other is seen to surrender but look yonder the man's horse that blundered and fell is up again he mounts his horse in fifty yards of the whole yankee line is seen to lie down on his neck and is spurring him right on toward the solid line of blue coats look how he rides and the ranks of the blue coats open hurrah for the brave rebel boy he has passed and is seen to regain his regiment i afterwards learned that that brave rebel boy was my own brother dave who at that time was not more than sixteen years old the one who was killed was named grimes and the one captured was named hauser and the regiment was the first tennessee cavalry then commanded by colonel j h lewis you could have heard the cheers from both sides it seemed for miles john branch raised the tune in which the whole first and twenty-seventh regiments joined in

cheer boys cheer we are marching on to battle cheer boys cheer for our sweethearts and our wives cheer boys cheer we'll nobly do our duty and give to the south our hearts our arms our lives old lincoln with his hireling hosts will never whip the south shouting the battle cry of freedom all this is taking place while the yankees are fully one thousand yards off we can see every movement that is made and we know that sherman's incendiaries are already hacked sherman himself is a coward and dares not try his strength with old joe sherman never fights all that he is after is marching to the sea while the world looks on and wonders what a flank movement yes sherman is afraid of many balls and tries the flank movement we are ordered to march somewhere falling back old joe knows what he is up to every night we change our position the morrow's sun finds us face to face with the yankee lines the troops are in excellent spirits yonder are our big guns our cavalry forrest and wheeler our sharpshooters and here is our wagon and supply train right in the midst the private's tread is light his soul is happy

another flank movement to-morrow finds us face to face well you have come to fight us why don't you come on we are ready always ready everything is working like clockwork machinery is all in order come give us a tilt and let us try our mettle you say old joe has got the brains and you have got the men you are going to flank us out of the southern confederacy that's your plan is it well look out we are going to pick off and decimate your men every day you will be a picked chicken before you do that what the yankees are at rasaka and have captured the bridge across the ustanalee river well now that's business that has the old ring in it tell it to us again we're fond of hearing such things the yankees are tearing up the railroad track between the tank and rasaka let's hear it again the yankees have opened the attack we are going to have a battle we are ordered to strip for the fight that is to take off our knapsacks and blankets and to detail bev white to guard em keep closed up men the skirmish line is firing like popping firecrackers on a christmas morning every now and then the boom of a cannon and the screaming of a shell ha ha ha that has the right ring we will make sherman's incendiaries tell another tale in a few moments when halt about face

well what's the matter now simply a flank movement all right we march back retake our knapsacks and blankets and commence to march towards rasaka tom tucker's rooster crows and john branch raises the tune just twenty years ago and after we sing that out he winds up with there was an ancient individual whose cognomen was uncle edward and the old woman who kept the peanut stand and a big policeman stood by with a big stick in his hand and arthur fulgrim helloes out all right go ahead toot toot toot puff puff puff puff tickets gentlemen tickets and the marie greys raise the yell all aboard for kuleoki while walter coleman commences the song i's gw'n to join the rebel band fighting for my home thus we go marching back to rasaka battle of rasaka well you want to hear about shooting and banging now gentle reader don't you i am sorry i cannot interest you on this subject see history the yankees had got britch's hold on us they were ten miles in our rear had cut off our possibility of a retreat

the wire bridge was in their hands and they were on the railroad in our rear but we were moving there was no mistake in that our column was firm and strong there was no excitement but we were moving along as if on review we passed old joe and his staff he has on a light or mole-colored hat with a black feather in it he is listening to the firing going on at the front one little cheer and the very ground seems to shake with cheers old joe smiles as blandly as a modest maid raises his hat in acknowledgment makes a polite bow and rides toward the firing soon we are thrown into line of battle in support of polk's corps we belong to hardy's corps now polk's corps advances to the attack and hardy's corps fifty or seventy-five yards in the rear a thug thug thug the balls are decimating our men we can't fire polk's corps is in front of us should it give way then it will be our time the air is full of deadly missiles we can see the two lines meet and hear the deadly crash of battle can see the blaze of smoke and fire the earth trembles our little corps rush in to carry off our men as they are shot down killed and wounded

lie down thug thug general hardy passes along the line steady boys the old general had on a white cravat he had been married to a young wife not more than three weeks go back general go back go back go back his cried all along the line he passes through the missiles of death unscathed stood all through that storm of bullets indifferent to their proximity we were lying down you know the enemy is checked yonder they fly whipped and driven from the field attention by the right flank fly left march double quick and we were double quicking we knew not whither but that always meant fight we pass over the hill and through the valley and there is old joe pointing towards the tank with his sword he looked like the picture you see hung upon the walls we crossed the railroad halloo here comes a cavalry charge from the yankee line now for it we will see how yankee cavalry fight we are not supported what is the matter are we going to be captured

they thunder down upon us their flat-footed dragoons shake and jar the earth they are all around us we are surrounded form square platoons right and left wheel kneel and fire there we were in a hollow square the yankees had never seen anything like that before it was something new they charged right upon us colonel field sitting on his gray mare right in the center of the hollow square gives the command front rank kneel and present bayonet against cavalry the front rank knelt down placing the butts of their guns against their knees rear rank fire at will commence firing now all this happened in less time than it has taken me to ride it they charged right upon us no doubt expecting to ride ride over us and trample us to death with the hoofs of their horses they tried to spur and whip their horses over us but the horses had more sense than that we were pouring a deadly fire right into their faces and soon men and horses were writhing in the death agonies officers were yelling at the top of their voices surrender surrender but we were having too good a thing of it we were killing them by scores and they could not fire at us if they did they either overshot or missed their aim

their ranks soon began to break and get confused and finally they were routed and broke and ran in all directions as fast as their horses could carry them when we reformed our regiment and marched back we found that general johnson's army had all passed over the bridge at resaca now reader this was one of our tight places the first tennessee regiment was always ordered to hold tight places which we always did we were about the last troops that passed over now general reader that is all i know of the battle of resaca we had repulsed every charge had crossed the bridge with every wagon and cannon and everything and had nothing lost or captured it beat anything that has ever been recorded in history i wondered why old joe did not attack in their rear the explanation was that hood's line was being enfiladed his men decimated and he could not hold his position we are still fighting battles innumerable the yankees had thrown pontoons across the river below resaca in hopes to intercept us on the other side we were marching on the road they seemed to be marching parallel with us it was fighting fighting every day when we awoke in the morning the firing of guns was our reveille and when the sun went down it was our retreat and our lights out fighting fighting fighting all day and all night long battles were fought every day and in one respect we always had the advantage they were the attacking party and we always had good breastworks thrown up during the night

johnson's army was still intact the soldiers drew their regular rations of biscuit and bacon sugar and coffee whiskey and tobacco when we went to sleep we felt that old joe the faithful old watchdog had his eye on the enemy no one was disposed to straggle and go back to company q company q was the name for play outs they even felt safer in the regular line than in the rear with company q well as stated previously it was battle battle battle every day for one hundred days the boom of cannon and the rattle of musketry was our reveille and retreat and sherman knew that it was no child's play to day april fourteenth eighteen eighty two i say and honestly say that i sincerely believe the combined forces of the whole yankee nation could have never broken general joseph e johnson's line of battle beginning at rocky face ridge and ending on the banks of the chattahoochee adairsville octagon house the first tennessee always occupies tight places we had stacked our arms and gone into camp and had started to build fires to cook supper i saw our cavalry falling back i thought rather hurriedly i ran to the road and asked them what was the matter they answered matter enough yonder are the yankees are you infantry fellows going to make a stand here

i told colonel field what had been told to me and he hooted at the idea but balls that had shucks tied to their tails were passing over and our regiment was in the rear of the whole army i could hardly draw any one's attention to the fact that the cavalry had passed us and that we were on the outpost of the whole army when an order came for our regiment to go forward as rapidly as possible and occupy an octagon house in our immediate front the yankees were about a hundred yards from the house on one side and we about a hundred yards on the other the race commenced as to which side would get to the house first we reached it and had barely gotten in when they were bursting down the paling of the yard on the opposite side the house was a fine brick octagon in shape and as perfect a fort as could be desired we ran to the windows upstairs downstairs and in the cellar the yankees cheered and charged and our boys got happy colonel field told us he had orders to hold it until every man was killed and never to surrender the house it was a forlorn hope we felt we were gone fond skins sure enough

at every discharge of our guns we would hear a yankee squall the boys raised a tune i's gwine to join the rebel band a-fighting for my home as they loaded and shot their guns then the tune of cheer boys cheer we are marching on to battle cheer boys cheer for our sweethearts and our wives cheer boys cheer we'll nobly do our duty and give to the south our hearts our arms our lives our cartridges were almost gone and lieutenant joe kearney joe sewell and billy carr volunteered to go and bring a box of one thousand cartridges they got out of the back window and through that hail of iron and lead made their way back with a box of cartridges our ammunition being renewed the fight raged on captain joe p lee touched me on the shoulder and said sam please let me have your gun for one shot he raised it to his shoulder and pulled down on a fine-dressed cavalry officer and i saw that yankee tumble he handed it back to me to reload about twelve o'clock midnight the hundred and fifty fourth tennessee commanded by colonel mcgeveny came to our relief the firing had ceased and we abandoned the octagon house our dead and wounded there were thirty of them were in strange contrast with the furniture of the house

fine chairs sofas settees pianos and brussels carpeting being made the death-bed of brave and noble boys all saturated with blood fine lace and damask curtains all blackened by the smoke of battle fine bureaus and looking-glasses and furniture being riddled by the rude missiles of war beautiful pictures in gilt frames and a library of valuable books all shot and torn by musket and cannon-balls such is war kenesaw line the battles of the kenesaw line were fought for weeks cannonading and musketry firing was one continual thing it seemed that shooting was the order of the day and pickets on both sides kept up a continual firing that sounded like ten thousand woodchoppers sometimes the woodchoppers would get lazy or tired and there was a lull but you could always tell when the old guard had been relieved by the accelerated chops of the woodchoppers am detailed to go into the enemy's lines one day our orderly sergeant informed me that it was my regular time to go on duty and to report to captain beasley of the twenty seventh i reported to the proper place and we were taken to the headquarters of general leonidas polk

we had to go over into the enemy's lines and make such observations as we could and report back by daylight in the morning our instructions were to leave everything in camp except our guns and cartridge boxes these were to be carried but under no circumstances to be used except in case of death itself we were instructed to fall in the rear of our relief guard which would go out about sunset not to attract their attention but to drop out one or two at a time to pass the yankee picket as best we could even if we had to crawl in our bellies to do so to go over in the yankee lines and to find out all we could without attracting attention if possible these were our instructions you may be sure my heart beat like a muffled drum when i heard our orders i felt like making my will but like the boy who was passing the graveyard i tried to whistle to keep my spirits up we followed the relief guard and one by one stepped off from the rear i was with two others arnold zellner and t c dornan we found ourselves between the picket lines of the two armies fortune seemed to favor us it was just getting dusky twilight and we saw the relief guard of the yankees just putting on their picket they seemed to be very mild inoffensive fellows they kept to looking over toward the rebel lines and would dodge if a twig cracked under their feet

i walked on as if i was just relieved and had passed their lines when i turned back and says i captain what guard is this he answered nein boch you bet is what i understood him to say what regiment are you from ben bist mir ein riefel fabien what regiment is your detail from ich du mein got donnermettel stafelschwitze i had to give it up i had run across the detail of a dutch regiment i passed on and came to the regular line of breastworks and there was an old irishman sitting on a stump grinding coffee general mccook's brigade bejabbers he answered to my inquiry as to what regiment it was right in front of me the line was full of irish soldiers and they were cooking supper i finally got over their breastworks and was fearful i would run into some camp or headquarter guard and the countersign would be demanded of me i did not know what to do in that case but i thought of the way that i had gotten in hundreds of times before in our army when i wanted to slip the guard and that was to get a gun go to some cross street or conspicuous place halt the officer and get the countersign

and while standing near general sherman's headquarters i saw a courier come out of his tent get on his horse and ride toward where i stood as he approached says i halt who goes there a friend with a countersign he advanced and whispered in my ear the word united he rode on i had gotten their countersign and i felt i was no longer a prisoner i went all over their camp and saw no demonstration of any kind night had thrown her mantle over the encampment i could plainly see the sentinels on their weary vigils along the lines but there was none in their rear i met and talked with a great many soldiers but could get no information from them about two o'clock at night i saw a body of men approaching where i was something told me that i had better get out of their way but i did not the person in command said say there you sir say you sir says i are you speaking to me yes very curtly and abruptly what regiment do you belong to says i one hundred and twenty seventh illinois well sir fall in here i am ordered to take up all stragglers fall in fall in promptly

says i i am instructed by general mccook to remain here and direct a courier to general williams headquarters he says it's a strange place for a courier to come to his command marched on about an hour afterwards about three o'clock i heard the assembly sound i knew then that it was about time for me to be getting out of the way soon their companies were forming and they were calling the roll everywhere everything had begun to stir artillerymen were hitching up their horses men were dashing about in every direction i saw their army form and move off i got back into our lines and reported to general polk he was killed that very day on the kenneslaw line general stevens was killed the very next day every now and then a dead picket was brought in times had begun to look bilious indeed their cannons seemed to be getting the best of ours in every fight the cannons of both armies were belching and bellowing at each other and the pickets were going at like woodchoppers in earnest

we were entrenched behind strong fortifications our rations were cooked and brought to us regularly and the spirits of the army were in good condition we continued to change position and build new breastworks every night one-third of the army had to keep awake in the trenches while the other two-thirds slept but everything was so systematized that we did not feel the fatigue pine mountain death of general leonidas polk general leonidas polk our old leader whom we had followed all through that long war had gone forward with some of his staff to the top of pine mountain to reconnoiter as far as was practicable the position of the enemy in our front while looking at them with his field glass a solid shot from the federal guns struck him on his left breast passing through his body and through his heart i saw him while the infirmary corps were bringing him off the field

he was as white as a piece of marble and the most remarkable thing about him was that not a drop of blood was ever seen to come out of the place through which the cannon-ball had passed my pan and ability is inadequate to the task of doing his memory justice every private soldier loved him second to stonewall jackson his loss was the greatest the south ever sustained when i saw him there dead i felt that i had lost a friend whom i had ever loved and respected and that the south had lost one of her best and greatest generals his soldiers always loved and honored him they called him bishop polk bishop polk was ever a favorite with the army and when any position was to be held and it was known that bishop polk was there we knew and felt that all was well golgotha church general lucius e polk wounded on this kenesaw line near golgotha church one evening about four o'clock our confederate line of battle and the yankee line came in close proximity

if i mistake not it was a dark drizzly rainy evening the cannon-balls were ripping and tearing through the bushes the two lines were in plain view of each other general pat claiborne was at this time commanding hardy's corps and general lucius e polk was in command of claiborne's division general john c brown's division was supporting claiborne's division or rather in echelon every few moments a raking fire from the yankee lines would be poured into our lines tearing limbs off the trees and throwing rocks and dirt in every direction but i never saw a soldier quail or even dodge we had confidence in old joe and were ready to march right into the midst of battle at a moment's notice while in this position a bomb loaded with shrapnel and grape-shot came ripping and tearing through our ranks wounding general lucius e polk and killing some of his staff and right here i deem it not inappropriate to make a few remarks as to the character and appearance of so brave and gallant an officer at this time he was about twenty-five years old with long black hair that curled a gentle and attractive black eye that seemed to sparkle with love rather than chivalry and were it not for a young mustache and the goatee that he usually wore he would have passed for a beautiful girl in his manner he was as simple and guileless as a child and generous almost to a fault

enlisting in the first arkansas regiment as a private soldier and serving for twelve months as orderly sergeant at the reorganization he was elected colonel of the regiment and afterwards on account of merit and ability was commissioned brigadier-general distinguishing himself for conspicuous bravery and gallantry on every battlefield and being scalped by a minnie ball at richmond kentucky which scar marks its furrow on top of his head to-day in every battle he was engaged in he led his men to victory or held the enemy at bay while the surge of battle seemed against us he always seemed the successful general who would snatch victory out of the very jaws of defeat in every battle polk's brigade of clabourne's division distinguished itself almost making the name of clabourne as the stone wall of the west polk was to clabourne what murat or the old guard was to napoleon and at the battle of chickamauga when it seemed that the southern army had nearly lost the battle general lucius e polk's brigade made the most gallant charge of the war turning the tide of affairs and routing the yankee army

general polk himself led the charge in person and was the first man on top of the yankee breastworks vide general d h hill's report of the battle of chickamauga and in every attack he had the advanced guard and in every retreat the rear guard of the army why because general lucius e polk and his brave soldiers never faltered and with him as leader the general commanding the army knew that all was well well this evening of which i now write the litter corps ran up and placed him on a litter and were bringing him back through company h of our regiment when one of the men was wounded and i am not sure but another one was killed and they let him fall to the ground at that time the yankees seemed to know that they had killed or wounded a general and tore loose their batteries upon this point the dirt and rocks were flying in every direction when captain joe p lee jim brandon and myself ran forward grabbed up the litter brought general polk off the crest of the hill and assisted in carrying him to the headquarters of general claiborne when we got to general claiborne he came forward and asked general polk if he was badly wounded and general polk remarked laughingly well i think i will be able to get a furlough now

this is a fact general polk's leg had been shot almost entirely off i remember the foot part being twisted clear around and lying by his side while the blood was running through the litter in a perfect stream i remember also that general claiborne dashed a tear from his eye with his hand and saying poor fellow at once galloped to the front and ordered an immediate advance of our lines claiborne's division was soon engaged night coming on prevented a general engagement but we drove the yankee line two miles dead angle the first and twenty-seventh tennessee regiments will ever remember the battle of dead angle which was fought june twenty seventh on the kenesaw line near marietta georgia it was one of the hottest and longest days of the year and one of the most desperate and determinedly resisted battles fought during the whole war our regiment was stationed on an angle a little spur of the mountain or rather promontory of a range of hills extending far out beyond the main line of battle and was subject to the enfilading fire of forty pieces of artillery of the federal batteries it seemed fun for the guns of the whole yankee army to play upon this point we would work hard every night to strengthen our breastworks and the very next day they would be torn down smooth with the ground by solid shots and shells from the guns of the enemy

even the little trees and bushes which had been left for shade were cut down as so much stubble for more than a week this constant firing had been kept up against this salient point in the meantime the skirmishing in the valley below resembled the sounds made by ten thousand wood-choppers well on the fatal morning of june twenty seventh the sun rose clear and cloudless the heavens seemed made of brass and the earth of iron and as the sun began to mount toward the zenith everything became quiet and no sound was heard save a peckerwood on a neighboring tree tapping on its old trunk trying to find a worm for its dinner we all knew it was but the dead calm that precedes the storm on the distant hills we could plainly see officers dashing around hither and thither and the stars and stripes moving to and fro and we knew the federals were making preparations for the mighty contest we could hear but the rumbling sound of heavy guns and the distant tread of marching army as a faint roar of the coming storm which was soon to break the ominous silence with the sound of conflict such was scarcely ever before heard on this earth

it seemed that the archangel of death stood and looked on with outstretched wings while all the earth was silent when all at once a hundred guns from the federal line opened upon us and for more than an hour they poured their solid and chain shot grape and shrapnel right upon this salient point defended by our regiment alone when all of a sudden our pickets jumped into our works and reported the yankees advancing and almost at the same time a solid line of bluecoats came up the hill i discharged my gun and happening to look up there was the beautiful flag of the stars and stripes flaunting right in my face and i heard john branch of the rock city guards commanded by captain w d kelly who were next company h say look at that yankee flag shoot that fellow snatch that flag out of his hand my pen is unable to describe the scene of carnage and death that ensued in the next two hours column after column of federal soldiers were crowded upon that line and by referring to the history of the war you will find that they were massed in column forty columns deep in fact the whole force of the yankee army was hurled against this point but no sooner would a regiment mount our works than they were shot down or surrendered and soon we had every gopher hole full of yankee prisoners yet still the yankees came

it seemed impossible to check the onslaught but every man was true to his trust and seemed to think that at that moment the whole responsibility of the confederate government was rested upon his shoulders talk about other battles victories shouts cheers and triumphs but in comparison with this day's fight all others dwarf into insignificance the sun beaming down on our uncovered heads the thermometer being one hundred and ten degrees in the shade and a solid line of blazing fire right from the muzzles of the yankee guns being poured right into our very faces singeing our hair and clothes the hot blood of our dead and wounded spurting on us the blinding smoke and stifling atmosphere filling our eyes and mouths and the awful concussion causing the blood to gush out of our noses and ears and above all the roar of battle made it a perfect pandemonium afterward i heard a soldier express himself by saying that he thought hell had broke loose in georgia sure enough

i have heard men say that if they ever killed a yankee during the war they were not aware of it i am satisfied that on this memorable day every man in our regiment killed from one score to four score yea five score men i mean from twenty to one hundred each all that was necessary was to load and shoot in fact i will ever think that the reason they did not capture our works was the impossibility of their living men passing over the bodies of their dead the ground was piled up with one solid mass of dead and wounded yankees i learned afterwards from the burying squad that in some places they were piled up like cord wood twelve deep after they were time and time again beaten back they at last were enabled to fortify a line under the crest of the hill only thirty yards from us and they immediately commenced to excavate the earth with the purpose of blowing up our line we remained there three days after the battle in the meantime the woods had taken fire and during the nights and days of all that time continued to burn and at all times every hour of day and night

you could hear the shrieks and screams of the poor fellows who were left on the field and a stench so sickening as to nauseate the whole of both armies arose from the decaying bodies of the dead left lying on the field on the third morning the yankees raised a white flag asked an armistice to bury their dead not for any respect either army had for the dead but to get rid of the sickening stench i get sick now and i happen to think about it long and deep trenches were dug and hooks made from bayonets crooked for the purpose and all the dead were dragged and thrown pell-mell into these trenches nothing was allowed to be taken off the dead and finely dressed officers with gold watch-chains dangling over their vests were thrown into the ditches during the whole day both armies were hard at work burying the federal dead every member of the first and twenty seventh tennessee regiments deserves a wreath of imperishable fame and a warm place in the hearts of their countrymen for their gallant and heroic valor at the battle of dead angle no man distinguished himself above another all did their duty and the glory of one is but the glory and just tribute of the others

after we had abandoned the line and on coming to a little stream of water i undressed for the purpose of bathing and after undressing found my arm all battered and bruised and bloodshot from my wrist to my shoulder and as sore as a blister i had shot one hundred and twenty times that day my gun became so hot that frequently the powder would flash before i could ram home the ball and i had frequently to exchange my gun for that of a dead comrade colonel h r field was loading and shooting the same as any private in the ranks when he fell off the skid from which he was shooting right over my shoulder shot through the head i laid him down in the trench and he said well they have got me at last but i have killed fifteen of them time about is fair play i reckon but colonel field was not killed only wounded and one side paralyzed captain joe p lee captain mac campbell lieutenant t h maney and other officers of the regiment threw rocks and beat them in their faces with sticks the yankees did the same

the rocks came in upon us like a perfect hail-storm and the yankees seemed very obstinate and in no hurry to get away from our front and we had to keep up the firing and shooting them down in self-defense they seemed to walk up and take death as coolly as if they were automatic or wooden men and our boys did not shoot for the fun of the thing it was verily a life-and-death grapple and the least flicker on our part would have been sure death to all we could not be reinforced on account of our position and we had to stand up to the rack fodder or no fodder when the yankees fell back and the firing ceased i never saw so many broken down and exhausted men in my life i was as sick as a horse and as wet with blood and sweat as i could be and many of our men were vomiting with excessive fatigue over exhaustion and sunstroke our tongues were parched and cracked from water and our faces blackened with powder and smoke and our dead and wounded were piled indiscriminately in the trenches there was not a single man in the company who was not wounded or had holes shot through his hat and clothing captain beasley was killed nearly all his company killed and wounded

the rock city guards were almost piled in heaps and so was our company captain joe p lee was badly wounded poor walter hood and jim brandon were lying there among us while their spirits were in heaven also william a hughes my old messmate and friend who had clerked with me for s f and j m mays and who had slept with me for lo these many years and a boy who loved me more than any other person on earth has ever done i had just discharged the contents of my gun into the bosoms of two men one right behind the other killing them both and was reloading when a yankee rushed upon me having me at a disadvantage and said you have killed my two brothers and now i've got you everything i had ever done rushed through my mind i heard the roar and felt the flash of fire and saw my more than friend william a hughes grab the muzzle of the gun receiving the whole contents in his hand and arm and mortally wounding him reader he died for me in saving my life he lost his own when the infirmary corps carried him off all mutilated and bleeding he told him to give me florence fleming

that was the name of his gun which he had put on it in silver letters and to give me his blanket and clothing he gave his life for me and everything that he had it was the last time that i ever saw him but i know that away up yonder beyond the clouds blackness tempest and night and away above the blue vault of heaven where the stars keep their ceaseless vigils away up yonder in the golden city of the new jerusalem where god and jesus christ our saviour ever reign we will some time meet at the marriage supper of the son of god who gave his life for the redemption of the whole world for several nights they made attacks upon our lines but in every attempt they were driven back with great slaughter they would ignite the tape of bomb-shells and throw them over in our lines but if the shell did not immediately explode they were thrown back they had a little shell called hand grenade but they would either stop short of us or go over our heads and were harmless general joseph joseph e johnson sent us a couple of chevaux de frise when they came a detail of three men had to roll them over the works those three men were heroes their names were edmund brandon t c dornan and arnold

although it was a solemn occasion every one of us was convulsed with laughter at the ridiculous appearance and actions of the detail every one of them made their wills and said their prayers truthfully and honestly before they undertook the task i laugh now every time i think of the ridiculous appearance of the detail but to them it was no laughing matter i will say that they were men who feared not nor faltered in their duty they were men and to-day deserve the thanks of the people of the south that night about midnight an alarm was given that the yankees were advancing they would only have to run about twenty yards before they would be in our works we were ordered to shoot every man was hallooing at the top of his voice shoot shoot tee shoot shoot tee on the alarm both the confederate and federal lines opened with both small arms and artillery and it seemed that the very heavens and earth were in a grand conflagration as they will be at the final judgment after the resurrection i have since learned that this was a false alarm and that no attack had been meditated previous to the day of attack the soldiers had cut down all the trees in our immediate front throwing the tops down hill and sharpening the limbs of the same thus making as we thought an impenetrable abatis of vines and limbs locked together

but nothing stopped or could stop the advance of the yankee line but the hot shot and cold steel that we poured into their faces from under our head logs one of the most shameful and cowardly acts of yankee treachery was committed there that i ever remember to have seen a wounded yankee was lying right outside of our works and begging most piteously for water when a member of the railroad company his name was hogg johnson and the very man who stood vidette with theodore sloane and i at the battle of missionary ridge and who killed the three yankees one night from fort horsley got a canteen of water and gave the dying yankee a drink and as he started back he was killed dead in his tracks by a treacherous yankee hid behind a tree it matters not for somewhere in god's holy word which cannot lie he says that he who giveth a cup of cold water in my name shall not lose his reward and i have no doubt reader in my own mind that the poor fellow is reaping his reward in emmanuel's land with the good and just in every instance when we tried to assist their wounded our men were killed or wounded a poor wounded and dying boy not more than sixteen years of age asked permission to crawl over our works and when he had crawled over the top and just as blair webster and i reached up to help the poor fellow he the yankee was killed by his own men

in fact i have ever thought that is why the slaughter was so great in our front that nearly if not as many yankees were killed by their own men as by us the brave ones who tried to storm and carry our works were simply between two fires it is a singular fanaticism and curious fact that enters the mind of a soldier that it is a grand and glorious death to die on a victorious battlefield one morning the sixth and ninth regiments came to our assistance not to relieve us but only to assist us and every member of our regiment first and twenty-seventh got as mad as a wet hand they felt almost insulted and i believed we would soon have been in a free fight had they not been ordered back as soon as they came up every one of us began to say go back go back we can hold this place and by the eternal god we are not going to leave it general johnson came there to look at the position and told us that a transverse line was about one hundred yards in our rear and should they come on us too heavy to fall back to that line when almost every one of us said you go back and look at other lines this place is safe and can never be taken

and then when they had dug a tunnel under us to blow us up we laughed yea even rejoiced at the fact of soon being blown sky high yet not a single man was willing to leave his post when old joe sent us the two chevaux de frise and kept on sending us water and rations and whisky and tobacco and word to hold our line we would inevitably send word back to rest easy and that all is well at dead angle i have ever thought that this is one reason why general johnson fell back from this kenesaw line and i will say to-day in eighteen eighty two that while we appreciated his sympathies and kindness toward us yet we did not think hard of old joe for having so little confidence in us at that time a perfect hail of minnie balls was being continually poured into our head logs the whole time we remained there the yankees would hold up small looking-glasses so that our strength and breast works could be seen in the reflection in the glass and they also had small mirrors on the butts of their guns so arranged that they could sight up the barrels of their guns by looking through these glasses while they themselves would not be exposed to our fire

and they kept up this continual firing day and night whether they could see us or not sometimes a glancing shot from our head logs would wound some one but i cannot describe it as i would wish i would be pleased to mention the name of every soldier not only of company h alone but every man in the first and twenty-seventh tennessee consolidated regiments on this occasion but i cannot now remember their names and will not mention any one in particular fearing to do injustice to some whom i might inadvertently omit every man and every company did their duty company g commanded by captain mac campbell stood side by side with us on this occasion as they ever had through the whole war but soldiers of the first and twenty-seventh regiments it is with a feeling of pride and satisfaction to me to-day that i was associated with so many noble and brave men and who were subsequently complimented by jeff davis then president of the confederate states of america in person who said

that every member of our regiment was fit to be a captain his very words i mention captain w c florinoy of company k the martin guards captain ledbetter of the rutherford rifles captains kelly and steele of the rock city guards and captain adkisson of the williamson greys and captain fulker and other names of brave and heroic men some of whom live to-day but many have crossed the dark river and are resting under the shade of the trees on the other shore waiting and watching for us who are left to do justice to their memory and our cause and when we old rebels have accomplished god's purpose on earth we too will be called to give an account of our battles struggles and triumphs reader mine i fear that i have wearied you with too long a description of the battle of dead angle if so please pardon me as this is but a sample of the others which will now follow each other in rapid succession and furthermore in stating the above facts the half has not been told but it will give you a faint idea of the hard battles and privations and hardships of the soldiers in that stormy epoch who died grandly gloriously nobly

dying the soil of old mother earth and enriching the same with their crimson life's blood while doing what only trying to protect their homes and families their property their constitution and their laws that have been guaranteed to them as a heritage forever by their forefathers they died for the faith that each state was a separate sovereign government as laid down by the declaration of independence and the constitution of our fathers battle of new hope church we were on a forced march along a dusty road i never in my whole life saw more dust the dust fairly popped under our feet like tramping in a snowdrift and our eyes and noses and mouths were filled with the dust that arose from our footsteps and to make matters worse the boys all tried to kick up a bigger dust cavalry and artillery could not be seen at ten paces being perfectly enveloped in dust it was a perfect fog of dust we were marching along it then being nearly dark when we heard the hoarse boom of a cannon in our rear it sounded as though it had a bad attack of croup it went croup croup croup the order was given to a bout-face double quick march

we double quick back to the old church on the roadside when the first tennessee cavalry commanded by colonel lewis and the ninth battalion commanded by major james h aiken passed us and charged the advance of the federal forces we were supporting the cavalry we heard them open deadly missiles were flying in every direction the peculiar thud of spent balls and balls with shucks tied to their tails were passing over our heads we were expecting that the cavalry would soon break and that we would be ordered into action but the news came from the front that the cavalry were not only holding their position but were driving the enemy the earth jarred and trembled the fire fiend seemed unchained wounded men were coming from the front i asked the littered corps who have you there and one answered captain asia g freeman i asked if he was dangerously wounded and he simply said shot through both thighs and passed on about this time we heard the whoops and cheers of the cavalry and knew that the yankees were whipped and falling back we marched forward and occupied the place held by the cavalry the trees looked as if they had been cut down for new ground being mutilated and shivered by musket and cannon-balls horses were writhing in their death agony and the sickling odor of battle filled the air

well well those who go to battle may expect to die and halo ever surrounds the soldier's life because he is ever willing to die for his country battle of dallas breckinridge charges the heights we are ordered to march to dallas reader somehow the name and character of general john c breckinridge charms me that morning he looked grand and glorious his infantry artillery and cavalry were drawn up in line of battle in our immediate front he passed along the line and stopping about the center of the column said soldiers we have been selected to go forward and capture yon heights do you think we can take them i will lead the attack the men whooped and the cry we can we can was heard from one end of the line to the other then forward guide center march were words re-repeated by colonels and captains they debouched through the woods and passed out of sight in a little ravine when we saw them emerge in an open field and advance right upon the federal breastworks it was the grandest spectacle i ever witnessed

we could see the smoke and dust of battle and hear the shout of the charge and the roar and rattle of cannon and musketry but breckinridge's division continued to press forward without wavering or hesitating we can see the line of dead and wounded along the track over which he passed and finally we can see our battle flag planted upon the federal breastworks i cannot describe the scene if you reader are an old soldier you can appreciate my failure to give a pen picture of battle but breckinridge could not long hold his position why we were not ordered forward to follow up his success i do not know but remember reader i am not writing history i only try to describe events as i witnessed them we marched back to the old church on the roadside called new hope church and fortified occupying the battlefield of the day before the stench and sickening odor of dead men and horses were terrible we had to breathe the putrid atmosphere the next day colonel w m voorhees forty eighth tennessee regiment took position on our right

now here were all the murray county boys got together at new hope church i ate dinner with captain joe love and frank frearson filled my haversack with hardtack and bacon battle of zion church july fourth eighteen sixty four the fourth day of july twelve months before pemberton had surrendered twenty five thousand soldiers two hundred pieces of artillery and other munitions of war in proportion at vicksburg the yankees wanted to celebrate the day they thought it was their lucky day but old joe thought he had as much right to celebrate the sabbath day of american independence as the yankees had and we celebrated it about dawn continued boom of cannon reverberated over the hills as if firing a fourth of july salute i was standing on top of our works leveling them off with a spade a sharpshooter fired at me but the ball missed me and shot william a graham through the heart he was as noble and as brave a soldier as ever drew the breath of life and lacked but a few votes of being elected captain of company h at the reorganization

he was smoking his pipe when he was shot we started to carry him down to the rear but he remarked boys it is useless please lay me down and let me die i have never in my life seen any one meet death more philosophically he was dead in a moment general a j vaughan commanding general preston smith's brigade had his foot shot off by a cannon-ball a few minutes afterwards it seemed that both confederate and federal armies were celebrating the fourth of july i cannot now remember a more severe artillery duel two hundred cannon were roaring and belching like blue blazes it was but a battle of cannonade all day long it seemed as though the confederate and federal cannons were talking to each other sometimes a ball passing over would seem to be mad then again some would seem to be laughing some would be mild some sad some gay some sorrowful some rollicking and jolly and then again some would scream like the ghosts of the dead in fact they gave forth every kind of sound that you can imagine a reminded one of when two storms meet in mid-ocean the mountain billows of waters coming from two directions lash against the vessel's side while the elements are filled with roaring thundering and lightning

you could almost feel the earth roll and rock like a drunken man or a ship when she rides the billows in an awful storm it seemed that the earth was frequently moved from its foundations and you could hear it great as it moved but all through that storm of battle every soldier stood firm for we knew that old joe was at the helm kingston here general johnson issued his first battle order that thus far he had gone and intended to go no further his line of battle was formed his skirmish line was engaged the artillery was booming from the rebel lines both sides were now face to face there were no earthworks on either side it was to be an open field and a fair fight when fall back what's the matter i do not know how we got the news but here is what is told us and so it was every position we ever took when we fell back the news would be hood's line is being enfiladed and they are decimating his man and he can't hold his position but we fell back and took a position at cassville cassville our line of battle was formed at cassville i never saw our troops happier or more certain of its success

a sort of grand halo illumined every soldier's face you could see self-confidence in the features of every private soldier we were confident of victory and success it was like going to a frolic or a wedding joy was welling up in every heart we were going to whip and rout the yankees it seemed to be anything else than a fight the soldiers were jubilant gladness was depicted on every countenance i honestly believe that had a battle been fought at this place every soldier would have distinguished himself i believe a sort of fanaticism had entered their souls that whoever was killed would at once be carried to the seventh heaven i am sure of one thing that every soldier had faith enough in old joe to have charged sherman's whole army when halt retreat what is the matter general hood says they are enfilading his line and are decimating his men and he can't hold his position the same old story repeats itself old joe's army is ever face to face with sherman's incendiaries we have faith in old joe's ability to meet sherman whenever he dares to attack the soldiers draw their regular rations every time a blue coat comes in sight there is a dead yankee to bury sherman sherman is getting cautious his army hacked thus we continue to fall back for four months day by day for one hundred and ten days fighting every day and night on the banks of the chattahoochee our army had crossed the chattahoochee

the federal army was on the other side our pickets on the south side the yankees on the north side by a tacit agreement as had ever been the custom there was no firing across the stream that was considered the boundary it mattered not how large or small the stream pickets rarely fired at each other we would stand on each bank and laugh and talk and brag across the stream one day while standing on the banks of the chattahoochee a yankee called out johnny oh johnny oh johnny reb johnny answered what do you want you are whipped aren't you no the man who says that is a liar a scoundrel and a coward well anyhow joe johnson is relieved of the command what general joseph e johnson is relieved what is that you say general joseph e johnson is relieved and hood appointed in his place you are a liar and if you will come out and show yourself i will shoot you down in your tracks you lying yankee galoot that's more than i will stand if the others will hands off i will fight a duel with you now show your manhood

well reader every word of this is true as is everything in this book both men loaded their guns and stepped out to their plates they were both to load and fire at will until one or both were killed they took their positions without either trying to get the advantage of the other then some one gave the command to fire at will commence firing they fired seven shots each at the seventh shot poor johnny reb fell a corpse pierced through the heart removal of general joseph e johnson such was the fact general joseph e johnson had been removed and general j b hood appointed to take command generals hardy and kirby smith two old veterans who had been identified with the army of tennessee from the beginning resigned we had received the intelligence from the yankees the relief guard confirmed the report all the way from rocky face ridge to atlanta was a battle of a hundred days yet hood's line was all the time enfiladed and his men decimated and he could not hold his position old joe johnson had taken command of the army of tennessee when it was crushed and broken

at a time when no other man on earth could have united it he found it in rags and tatters hungry and heart-broken the morale of the men gone their manhood vanished to the winds their pride a thing of the past through his instrumentality and skilful manipulation all these had been restored we had been under his command nearly twelve months he was more popular with his troops day by day we had made a long and arduous campaign lasting four months there was not a single day in that four months that did not find us engaged in battle with the enemy history does not record a single instance of where one of his lines was ever broken not a single route he had not lost a single piece of artillery he had dealt the enemy heavy blows he was whipping them day by day yet keeping his own men intact his men were as in good spirits and as sure of victory at the end of four months as they were at the beginning instead of the army being depleted it had grown in strength tis true he had fallen back but it was to give his enemy the heavier blows he brought all the powers of his army into play ever on the defensive tis true yet ever striking his enemy in his most vulnerable part

his face was always to the foe they could make no movement in which they were not anticipated such a man was joseph e johnson and such his record farewell old fellow we privates loved you because you made us love ourselves hardy our old corps commander whom we had followed for nearly four years and whom we had loved and respected from the beginning has left us kirby smith has resigned and gone home the spirit of our good and honored leonidas polk is in heaven and his body lies yonder on the kenesaw line general breckinridge and other generals resigned i lay down my pen i can write no more my heart is too full reader this is the saddest chapter i ever wrote but now after twenty years i can see where general joseph e johnson made many blunders in not attacking sherman's line at some point he was better on the defensive than the aggressive and hence bis pecare in bello non nici general hood takes command

it came like a flash of lightning staggering and blinding every one it was like applying a lighted match to an immense magazine it was like the successful gambler flushed with continual winnings who staked his all and lost it was like the end of the southern confederacy things that were were not it was the end the soldier of the relief guard who brought us the news while picketing on the banks of the chattahoochee remarked by way of imparting gently the information boys we've fought all the war for nothing there is nothing for us in store now what's the matter now general joe johnson is relieved generals hardy and kirby smith has resigned and general hood is appointed to take command of the army of tennessee my god is that so it is certainly a fact then i'll never fire another gun any news or letters that you wish carried home i've quit and am going home please tender my resignation to jeff davis as a private soldier in the c s army five men of that picket there were just five as rapidly as they could took off their cartridge boxes after throwing down their guns and then their canteens and haversacks taking out of their pockets their gunwipers wrench and gunstoppers and saying they would have no more use for them things they marched off and it was the last we ever saw of them

in ten minutes they were across the river and no doubt had taken the oath of allegiance to the united states government such was the sentiment of the army of tennessee at that time chapter twelve