قراءة كتاب A Historic Sketch, Lest We Forget Company "E," 26th Ohio Infantry in the War for the Union, 1861-65

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A Historic Sketch, Lest We Forget Company "E," 26th Ohio Infantry in the War for the Union, 1861-65

A Historic Sketch, Lest We Forget Company "E," 26th Ohio Infantry in the War for the Union, 1861-65

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
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J. D. Cox, in his writing on the battle, has left the impression that the two brigades doing outpost duty continued their retreat past the main line to the river, I feel that in justice to those brigades (and more especially to company E, 26th and company D, 65th Ohio, both Morrow County companies), I should say a few words more. I have never yet seen in any official report a single statement justifying his position. Cox on that day was in command of the 23rd corps. It was his line that was broken at the Carter House and it was Opdyke’s brigade of our division that, without orders, started the countercharge which, with the assistance of Lane’s comrades and part of the 23rd corps, reestablished the continuity of the line. Either of those three brigades, called Sheridan’s old division,[6] have more regiments listed among Fox’s three hundred than has the entire corps commanded on that occasion by Cox. When we started from our first position, exposed on the plain, it became necessary for us to make speed and clear the field in front of our main line that our men in the works might open fire. In this hasty retreat it was but natural for the men to incline to the left or east toward the pike or road by which we had retreated from Columbia, and some of the extreme left of our regiment reached the works near the Carter House and found them already vacated by our troops and occupied by the enemy, and two or three of company B were taken prisoners after reaching the main line. Of these, Sergeant David Bragg, now living in Columbus, Ohio, and one of the oldest railroad mail clerks now in the service, was one. From the recent call for volunteers and the draft, quite a large assignment of new troops had been made to some of the regiments in Lane’s and Conrad’s brigades. (Our regiment received none.) These new troops reached us while on the retreat from Pulaski but a few days before. They had never been drilled and it is probable that a large share of them may have continued their flight beyond the main line. Opdyke’s, Lane’s and Conrad’s brigades (2nd division, 4th army corps) lost more men than the entire other four divisions of infantry and the cavalry corps that was present, and as a rule, if you follow the trail of blood, you are keeping close to the fighting line.

The veterans of that old division, whose well-tried courage shone forth in historic grandeur, it is not overpraise to say were practically panic-proof. Opdyke was in the direct line of retreat, and on the same reasons given by Cox and others for the break in the line at the Carter House, he (Opdyke) with no line of works to protect them would certainly have been “carried away” if the flight of Lane and Conrad had continued to the river. The men of the 26th were called from the lines and we crossed the river before midnight and continued our march, arriving at Nashville December 1st, near noon, where we made coffee and lay down to rest for the first time since the morning of November 29th. In the evening company E was called to tear down some buildings in front of our established line and to build works during the night. We remained at this line until the battle of Nashville, December 15th and 16th. December 9th Captain Wm. Clark was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, First Lieutenant Phillips M. Ogan to Captain and Sergeant Walden Kelly to First Lieutenant. The first day of the battle, the 4th corps, leaving a detail to hold the works, moved to the right, attacked the enemy, driving them from their fortified position. The 26th Ohio was left in our main line of works, deployed to a division front or nearly half a mile. Our instructions were to hold them. We were not engaged the first day. On the morning of the second day’s battle, December 16th, before daylight, we moved to position in the front line of the brigade and at daylight moved toward the Brentwood Hills, driving the enemy’s outposts and establishing our lines under easy Enfield rifle range of their fortified line. Under a heavy artillery and infantry fire we held position until about 3 p. m., when we were instructed to prepare ten rounds for rapid firing, at a given signal to commence and at a second signal, to be given as we exhausted the ninth round, we were to charge with loaded guns and capture the works on our front. These instructions were literally carried out, a heavy per cent of the enemy being captured in their works. We pursued rapidly until dusk. Early in the morning of the 17th we were in pursuit, the 4th corps in the lead on the direct line of Hood’s retreat. Thus in midwinter, following as rapidly as possible, the bridges were all destroyed, and flooded streams delayed the pursuit, which was continued until January 1, 1865. The broken and disorganized army of Hood’s crossed the Tennessee River at Florence, Ala. The latter part of the campaign was done by us on short rations; three days to last five were the orders. Our line of march was changed to Huntsville, Ala., where we arrived January 7, 1865, and remained enjoying a well-earned season of rest until March 15. Soon after arriving Captain Ogan rejoined his company and Lieutenant Kelly was temporarily placed in command of company F. This proved to be permanent. On February 28th he was commissioned captain and assigned to said company after having served three years and over eight months in company E, and, as it proved, after all our fighting was over. In March we (the 4th army corps), moved to East Tennessee by rail via Chattanooga and Knoxville to Bulls Gap, thence marched repairing and rebuilding the railroad northeast toward Richmond, Va. While at this work, near Greenville, Tenn., we received the news of Lee’s surrender. That night was spent hilariously cheering and singing that old familiar piece, “Go Tell Aunt Rhoda the Old Gray Goose Is Dead.” The following morning I doubt if there was enough ammunition in the cartridge boxes of the men in our division to have made a respectable skirmish. Soon afterward Johnston surrendered to Sherman and the 4th corps was ordered by rail to Nashville, where we expected to be mustered out. May 9th the corps passed in review before General Thomas and received his congratulatory order on the 10th. About the 1st of June it became the talk of the camp that our corps would probably be sent to the Mexican frontier on account of the Maximilian government which foreign powers were trying to establish there. Strong protests were made by both officers and men, feeling that we had fulfilled the terms of our enlistment, “three years or during the war,” but to no avail. June 16th the command started. Just before starting all who had less than ninety day’s to serve were mustered out. The 97th Ohio infantry of our brigade came under this order. Fifty-six of their men, who had more than the specified time yet to serve, were transferred to the 26th, company E receiving her share of them. The command moved by rail to Johnsonville, Tenn., thence, by steamboats down the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, La., by ocean steamers to the Matagorda Bay, landing at Indianola, since destroyed by a storm similar to the one a few years ago at Galveston. We marched about thirty-five miles and camped on the Plasadore, about July 20th. Here we remained. Nothing especially interesting or eventful worth relating took place—no drill, except dress parade. Guard and fatigue duty was reduced to the minimum until mustered out October 21. We started on the home trip the 24th. On account of storms and an unsafe vessel we ran into the harbor at Galveston and remained four days, were transferred to a safer vessel and arrived

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