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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31048-h.zip b/31048-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a095139 --- /dev/null +++ b/31048-h.zip diff --git a/31048-h/31048-h.htm b/31048-h/31048-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fae853d --- /dev/null +++ b/31048-h/31048-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1028 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Battery at Close Quarters, by Henry M. Neil. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} + + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#6633cc; text-decoration:none} + + ins.correction {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin solid gray;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Battery at Close Quarters, by Henry M. Neil + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Battery at Close Quarters + A Paper Read before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion, + October 6, 1909 + +Author: Henry M. Neil + +Release Date: January 23, 2010 [EBook #31048] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephanie Eason and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h1><i>A Battery at Close Quarters</i></h1> +<h2><i>A Paper</i></h2> +<h3>READ BEFORE THE OHIO COMMANDERY<br />OF THE LOYAL LEGION</h3> +<h4>October 6, 1909</h4> +<p> </p> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>HENRY M. NEIL</h2> +<h4>Captain Twenty-second Ohio Battery</h4> +<p> </p> +<h5>COLUMBUS, OHIO<br />1909</h5> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h5>THE CHAMPLIN PRESS<br />COLUMBUS, OHIO</h5> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h2>A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS.</h2> +<h3><span class="smcap">Being the Story of the Eleventh Ohio Battery At Iuka and Corinth</span>.</h3> + +<p>During the Civil War artillery projectiles were divided as to structure +into <i>solid</i>, <i>hollow</i> and <i>case shot</i>. The solid shot were intended to +batter down walls or heavy obstructions. Hollow projectiles, called +shell and shrapnel, were for use against animate objects; to set fire to +buildings and destroy lighter obstructions. Under the head of case shot +we had grape and canister. Grape shot is no longer used; being +superseded by the machine gun. Canister is simply a sheet iron case +filled with bullets and is effective only at very short ranges.</p> + +<p>The foremost European military writer, Hohenloe, states that in the +Franco-Prussian war, the batteries of the Prussian Guard expended about +twenty-five thousand shells and one canister, and that this one canister +was broken in transport.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>In the official reports of the recent Russo-Japanese War we find that +the Arisaka gun, which was the Japanese field piece, has a range of +6,600 meters. The Russian field pieces were said to give good results at +8,000 meters, or five miles. The Japanese, and later the Russians, made +a great feature of indirect fire. Having located a mass of the enemy, +probably beyond two ranges of hills, they would stake out a line +indicating the direction, then secure the range by the use of shells +which gave out a yellowish vapor on bursting. This vapor being observed +and signaled by scouts also indicated the necessary angles of departure +from the line of stakes and enabled the artillerymen, miles away from +actual contact, to complacently try experiments in battle ballistics +with very little fear of being interrupted by an enemy.</p> + +<p>The range of modern field artillery being officially reported at five +miles, permit me to take you back to a day, over forty-seven years ago, +when an Ohio battery, placed in the extreme front of battle, fought at +less than fifty yards.</p> + +<p>The village of Iuka lies in the northeast corner of the State of +Mississippi. The neighboring country is broken and, in 1862, was covered +with forests. Northwesterly from Iuka lies the village of Burnsville and +further on the little city of Corinth, close to the Tennessee line. In +1862<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Corinth possessed strategical advantages which caused it to become +a large supply depot for the Federal armies. South of Corinth and +southwest of Iuka, the town of Jacinto was located.</p> + +<p>On the eighteenth of September, 1862, General Sterling Price lay at Iuka +with an army of about twenty thousand Confederates. General E. O. G. +Ord’s force lay between Burnsville and Corinth and had just been +reinforced by Ross’s division. Burnsville was seven miles from Iuka. +General Rosecrans lay at Jacinto, nineteen and one-half miles from Iuka.</p> + +<p>General Grant, taking advantage of this situation, ordered a combined +attack by Ord and Rosecrans upon General Price. Under this order +Rosecrans moved from Jacinto at 3:00 A. M. September 19th, and was +within striking distance of Price’s patrols by noon. Ord was to attack +from the west and draw Price in that direction while Rosecrans was to +move to the rebel rear by the Jacinto and Fulton roads and cut off their +retreat. Neither of these Union armies was powerful enough to make, +alone, a successful attack upon Price.</p> + +<p>The strategical plan of attack above outlined was not carried out. Ord’s +strategy never reached the domain of tactics, for he went into camp +seven miles west of Iuka and the head of Rosecrans’ column was attacked +by the entire army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> of Price. It was with the head of this column that +the Eleventh Ohio Battery marched into the fight. Anticipating a +combined engagement the head of the column pushed its innocent way into +the maw of the entire rebel army. We had to fight first and think +afterward. Price had hours to choose his positions and, incidentally, he +chose our position also. We didn’t have time to change it.</p> + +<p>“Rapidity of movement and surprise are the life and soul of the +strategical offensive.” That maxim reads well but, in practice, it is +important to provide against being surprised by the other fellow before +you spring your surprise on him.</p> + +<p>For several miles in the afternoon of the 19th of September the advance +of Rosecrans’ column was warmly contested. The enemy’s sharp-shooters +occupied every point of vantage, making the last five miles a steady +contest. The cavalry had long ago been driven in. A few companies formed +an advance skirmish line only a short distance from the main column. +Near the front of the column marched the Eleventh Ohio Battery. The men +knew that an engagement was imminent but their immediate front was +unknown and unexplored. As usual, we had no maps. While marching through +a defile at the crest of a thickly wooded hill we noticed that the rifle +fire in front was suddenly increased.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> But there was no pause to +reconnoiter. The battery marched from the defile into within short range +of Price’s whole army. Instantly an entire rebel division concentrated +its fire on the battery with the intention of annihilating it before it +could unlimber.</p> + +<p>As we emerged from the cut this sudden concentration of rifle fire gave +me the impression of being in a violent hail storm. Riding at the head +of the column I turned my head to look for the men, expecting to see +half the men and horses down. To my great joy I found all uninjured. The +storm of bullets was passing just over our heads. We hastened to get +into position and unlimber before they could get the range. Just in +front of us the road turned to the right. We turned to the right into +the brush and took position facing this road. As our men were clearing +the hazel brush for positions for their guns a Wisconsin battery +appeared about three or four hundred yards to our left and unlimbered; +but it suddenly limbered up and galloped to the rear without having +fired a shot. It had been ordered back, leaving the Eleventh the only +Union battery in the battle.</p> + +<p>The Fifth Iowa took position just at our right. The Twenty-sixth +Missouri prolonged the line to the right of the Fifth Iowa. On our left +the Forty-eighth Indiana formed a line that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> swung somewhat forward at +its left flank. Our side of the fight began with these three regiments +in position. The front thus hastily formed did not permit of further +extension, owing to the nature of the ground.</p> + +<p>A little later the Fourth Minnesota and Sixteenth Iowa were, +respectively, echeloned in rear of the left and right flanks. The total +force actually engaged was 2800 Union and 11,000 Confederates.</p> + +<p>When the Eleventh went into position Lieutenant Sears was in command. As +junior First Lieutenant, I had the right section, while Second +Lieutenant Alger fought the center section. Of the acting Second +Lieutenants Perrine had the left section and Bauer the line of caissons. +During the fight I succeeded to the command when Sears went to the rear +with a wound. Alger was captured. Bauer was killed.</p> + +<p>The battery had taken position in line from column under an infantry +fire from an entire division at ranges of from 200 to 400 yards. Shells +from the rebel artillery were also crashing through our line. We opened +fire at first with shell. This shell fire proved so effective that a +rebel assault on the battery was ordered. A division of Price’s army +rushed to the charge. The battery changed from shell to double charges +of canister. The effect of the canister was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> terribly increased because +of the rebel method of charging in masses. Had the line to the left of +the battery held its front the assault on the battery would have been +impossible of success. But Col. Eddy of the 48th Indiana was killed and +the survivors of his regiment were swept back by overwhelming numbers. +The left flank of the battery was thus left bare and unsupported. On the +right the Fifth Iowa was cut to pieces. Only eleven officers and a +handful of men remained. With the line melted away the battery found +itself facing in three directions and battling with masses on three +fronts. It had a rear but no flanks. The guns were being worked with +greater speed and smaller crews. Cannoneers were falling. Other +cannoneers coolly took their places and performed double duty. Drivers +left their dead horses and took the places of dead or wounded comrades, +only to be struck down in turn. Of eighty horses only three remained +standing and a withdrawal of the guns was impossible. The surviving men +were too few to do more than work the guns. Finally the charging hordes, +checked and mutilated again and again in front, to right and to left, +pressed close. Eight thousand men against two score. On the fifth charge +the survivors were finally choked from the guns they would not abandon.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>General Rosecrans in his notice, in orders, of the facts and results of +the battle of Iuka, states that the Eleventh Ohio Battery participated:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Under circumstances of danger and exposure such as rarely, perhaps +never, have fallen to the lot of one single battery during this +war.”</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p>In the same order the commanding General further states:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“On a narrow front, intersected by ravines and covered with dense +undergrowth, with a single battery, Hamilton’s division went into +action against the combined rebel hosts. On that unequal ground, +which permitted the enemy to outnumber them three to one, they +fought a glorious battle, mowing down the rebel hordes until, night +closing in, they rested on their arms on the ground, from which the +enemy retired during the night, leaving us masters of the field.”</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p>General Hamilton’s official report, in describing the action of the +Union left flank, states:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>“Colonel Sanborn, in command of the first brigade, most gallantly +held the left in position until, under a desolating carnage of +musketry and canister, the brave Eddy was cut down, and his +regiment, borne down by five times their numbers, fell back in some +disorder on the Eightieth Ohio, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bartilson. +The falling back of the Forty-eighth exposed the battery. As the +masses of the enemy advanced the battery opened with canister at +short range, mowing down the rebels by scores, until, with every +officer killed or wounded and nearly every man and horse killed or +disabled, it fell an easy prey. But this success was short lived.</p> + +<p>“The hero Sullivan rallied a portion of the right wing, and, with a +bravery better characterized as audacity, drove the rebels back to +cover. Again they rallied and again the battery fell into their +hands; but with the wavering fortunes of this desperate fight the +battery again fell into our hands, and with three of its guns +spiked and the carriages cut and splintered with balls, it is again +ready to meet the foe.”</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>At the close of the engagement the ground in front of the battery showed +heaps of dead bodies. Statistics show that the Confederates’ loss in +this engagement amounted to eight hundred in killed and wounded. While +actual inspection of the field of carnage indicated that a large +proportion of the slain had met their death from the canister of the +Eleventh. The Brigade Commander’s report states that the battery fired +with great rapidity and extraordinary accuracy.</p> + +<p>The battery entered the fight with ninety-seven men and five officers, +commissioned and acting. Of these, eighteen were killed and thirty-nine +wounded, many mortally. A number of the wounded had been bayoneted at +their guns. Of the cannoneers alone, forty-six were killed or wounded. +Forty-six out of a total of fifty-four. More than five men out of every +six.</p> + +<p>The statistics compiled by Col. Fox in his “Regimental Losses in the +American Civil War,” show that this day’s record in killed and mortally +wounded equaled, within one, the total killed in any light battery +during its entire term of service. This work also states that the losses +of the Eleventh at Iuka were 22% greater than those sustained by any +other light battery in any one engagement during the war.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>You have been familiar with death and wounds and the aching pain of deep +sympathy for suffering comrades. Therefore I will not depict the +tortures and individual heroisms of those artillerymen who fell, to die +or partly recover. Those who died left a legacy of glory and honor to +posterity and to their country. That legacy is of greater value than the +greatest riches, for it will always endure, and the martyrs of the civil +war, the dead and the living, will proudly bear to the throne of God +those scars which were the price of their country’s salvation.</p> + +<p>One singular feature of this fight was that but two members of the +battery were taken prisoners. The guns were captured and recaptured +several times before dark. The battery men had never abandoned them +voluntarily. One Confederate prisoner afterward said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>“Those battery boys had so much spunk that we took pity on a few +who were left.”</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p>It may have been this respect for the courage of the artillerymen which +induced the Confederates to let the few survivors go. But could they +have looked into the future and seen these same men and guns at Corinth +only fourteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> days later, they would probably have dropped every other +work and secured them while they had this one chance.</p> + +<p>After attending to the wounded, the night after the fight at Iuka, all +members of the battery were ordered to a rendezvous. They were all +assembled by 5 A. M. and, after reverently burying our dead, the men +turned their attention to securing the guns and equipments scattered +over the field. The drivers cried softly as they removed the harness +from their faithful mounts. In one mass lay eighteen dead horses. These +three teams, instead of trying to escape, had swung together and died +together. My own horse received seven wounds. Toward the close of the +engagement he sank down and was left for dead. Some time during the +night he revived and was found by an officer of Rosecrans’ staff who +rode him until daylight. This horse survived the war two years, then +suddenly dropped dead in his stall. A bullet had finally worked its way +into an artery.</p> + +<p>Of the other three surviving horses one had an interesting history. He +was a fine strong bay who always worked as near leader. At our first +battle, New Madrid, this horse’s rider was <ins class="correction" title="original reads 'litterally'">literally</ins> cut in two by a +thirty-two pound ball. The horse kept his place, covered with the blood +of poor James Bibby. After this baptism he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> seemed to bear a charmed +life. He was mustered out with the battery, still able to do full duty.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning after the battle General Rosecrans ordered me to +refit the battery as rapidly as possible. After the guns’ spikes were +removed the pieces were found to be in serviceable order and work on the +splintered carriages was begun.</p> + +<p>A description of our six guns may be of interest. They were:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>2 rifled 6 pounders, bronze, (James pattern), (calibre 3.67, weight +of ball, 14 lbs.)</p> + +<p>2 smooth bore 6 pounders, (calibre 3.67, weight of ball, 14 lbs.)</p> + +<p>2 twelve pounder Howitzers, (calibre 4.62.)</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p>These guns would soon be needed again, for General Rosecrans had +promised us more work in the near future at Corinth. In this emergency I +was allowed to draw horses and equipment from the nearest available +sources without regular requisition. General Rosecrans’ foresight in +stretching regulations further permitted me to obtain recruits from my +brigade commander, and the rejuvenation of the Eleventh was soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> under +way. The new men were drilled as hard as their other duties permitted. +The battery was ready for the march to Corinth by the evening of October +1st.</p> + +<p>General Rosecrans had left orders with Colonel Crocker, who was left in +command at Iuka, to furnish the Eleventh with an escort to Corinth. On +the evening of October first I found that an escort could not be secured +for two or three days, as Colonel Crocker had only enough men present +for guard and picket duty.</p> + +<p>My orders were to report at Corinth as soon as possible. The news from +there indicated that a big battle was imminent. It also indicated that +the Eleventh ran some risk of capture if it went through alone. But +there was no way to avoid that risk. I therefore drew some extra horses, +sent mounted cannoneers forward as an advance guard, and started for +Corinth on the morning of October second. I felt very uneasy at starting +on that march for I knew that, if I met one of the numerous strong bands +of guerrillas or a Confederate force, I might be shot up first and +court-martialed afterward.</p> + +<p>Nothing unusual happened during the day’s march. By four P. M. we were +inside our own lines and a little later the battery was assigned to a +strange brigade. By the morning of October third I managed to secure an +order sending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> us to our old brigade. It looked much smaller than before +Iuka but that made us think all the more of it.</p> + +<p>After the failure of his Napoleonic tactics at Iuka, General Price +retreated to Ripley, Mississippi, where he united with a still stronger +rebel force, under General Van Dorn. Van Dorn assumed command of the +united forces and pushed forward toward Corinth with intent to overwhelm +Rosecrans.</p> + +<p>Corinth was surrounded by extensive works constructed by Beauregard when +he held that position against Halleck’s army. Rosecrans had too few +troops to man these works but had taken the precaution to hastily +construct an inner line of fortifications, which was traced about a mile +west from the center of the village.</p> + +<p>The cavalry had promptly notified Rosecrans of the formidable rebel +movement northward and he had hurriedly prepared to receive it. About 10 +A. M. on October third we moved from our camp east of Corinth, marching +through the town to a designated point at the right of the Federal +lines. These lines occupied the outer line of works built by Beauregard.</p> + +<p>At about 2 P. M. we received the order to fall back to the new line, +nearer Corinth. In executing this movement I saw several heavy columns +of rebels approaching, en route with the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> objective. It looked for +a time as if we might be surrounded, but nothing resulted except a few +singing bullets which did no harm. It was evident that the rebels felt +that we were in a trap and they were pursuing a prearranged plan in +springing it. As we reached the northwestern suburb of Corinth we swung +to the left and continued until we reached the right wing of the new +line, where we selected a fine position on rising ground with a clear +field of fire and a magnificent view.</p> + +<p>The new defensive line of which we had just formed a part, presented a +concave front to Van Dorn’s army. Our elevated position enabled the +batterymen to see both lines of battle. Being at the Federal right flank +we became one of the horns of the dilemma which confronted Van Dorn’s +hosts the next day.</p> + +<p>Van Dorn’s magnificent series of assaults against our line began about +9:30 the next morning. The masses of the enemy first attacked our left +flank and were repulsed. Then they assailed our center, penetrated it, +but were at length driven back into the cross fire of our artillery.</p> + +<p>By 2 P. M. the attacks against the left and center had exhausted +themselves and the peril of a broken center was narrowly averted. Then +the rebels, having concentrated for another supreme effort, bore down +upon Hamilton’s division on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> the right. This was good tactics, because +our right had been weakened by sending troops to the imperilled center.</p> + +<p>The now familiar sight of masses of rebels, screaming the familiar yell, +appeared in our front. As the mass approached I recognized them and +called to the men: “Boys, there are the same troops that fought us at +Iuka; are you going to let them touch our guns today?” The yell of rage +that went up was more ominous than a rebel yell ever tried to be.</p> + +<p>At six hundred yards the Eleventh opened with shell. The men worked like +tigers in their desperate resolve that their beloved guns would never +again feel the insult of a rebel touch.</p> + +<p>Three times they charged and three times they were repulsed. Each time +they came so close that we resorted to double charges of canister and +never a rebel reached the muzzles of our guns. By four o’clock the +Confederates were staggering back or surrendering in squads.</p> + +<p>From some prisoners taken at Corinth it was learned that they were still +unnerved from the moral effect of their assaults at Iuka. Those +prisoners stated that, as they went into the assault, they recognized +the bark of the guns of the Eleventh Ohio. Before these guns they had +seen hundreds of their comrades fall like wheat before the harvester. +They felt that they could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> not again silence the guns of the Eleventh. +It had taken five assaults to do so when the odds were many to one.</p> + +<p>At daylight of October 5th, after a night spent in convoying prisoners +and caring for the wounded, we started in pursuit of the remains of +Price’s and Van Dorn’s armies. During that day’s march our army simply +gathered in throngs of rebels. The retreating force had been three days +without regular rations and were too weak to escape.</p> + +<p>For two long days and nights we pressed our foes until our condition was +hardly better than theirs. At one A. M. on the second night’s march, we +were stumbling along, almost dead with fatigue, when suddenly a band +struck up the familiar song—John Brown’s Body. Other bands joined; we +all woke up and were soon swinging along without a thought of our +condition. I have often wondered what moral effect this musical +demonstration, at dead of night, had upon our quarry.</p> + +<p>It took us three days to return to Corinth, horses stumbling with +weariness, men asleep in their saddles, tired but happy, a victory won +against odds.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> +<h2>“AN ARMY EXPERIENCE”</h2> + +<p>The following appreciative remembrance of the action of the Eleventh +Ohio Battery at battles of Iuka, September 19, 1862, and Corinth, +October 4, 1862, appeared in the columns of the St. Paul (Minnesota) +Pioneer Press in 1884. Having been preserved by a Companion of the Ohio +Commandery, it was read by the Recorder, Major Thrall, at the Commandery +monthly meeting of October 6, 1909, as the Recorder’s contribution to +the discussion of an account of the part of the Eleventh Ohio in those +battles, which had just been presented by Captain Neil, and by general +request is published by the Commandery, without the advice or consent of +Companion Neil.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Geo. A. Thayer</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">A. B. Isham</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">L. M. Hosea</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Publication Committee</i>.</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 35%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> +<h2>“AN ARMY EXPERIENCE.</h2> + +<p>“No scenes of life are so deeply and indelibly impressed upon the memory +as those which occur in war and battle. All the mental faculties seem to +be melted into a fused condition by the excitement of the occasion, so +that a full and deep impression of all the principal events is made and +then to be suddenly turned to adamant so that the impression must remain +as long as the faculties endure. There is not a soldier of the late war, +who took part in any engagement, who does not have impressed upon his +mind some event or scene which then transpired that is just as vivid and +fresh today as on the day it was made. And when the memory is turned +toward it by the suggestion of any other faculty—by the sight of some +party connected therewith, or hearing kindred sounds, or by those more +hidden spiritual influences less understood that at times cause to form +in order and pass in review before the mind all the leading and exciting +incidents of past life, these events and scenes are again displayed with +all the vividness and strength<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> of first impression. These thoughts were +suggested to the writer upon meeting Lieutenant H. M. Neil of the +Eleventh Ohio Battery at the meeting of the Society of the Army of the +Tennessee at St. Louis, in 1882. Twenty years had passed since I had +seen his face, and I had reckoned him among the brave spirits of the war +which had gone to rest. When I saw him last before this, he was +commanding his battery in the thickest of the fight at the battle of +Corinth about 11 o’clock in the forenoon of October 4, 1862. His rank +was that of Second Lieutenant. All officers of higher grade were absent +in hospital from wounds received fifteen days before at Iuka, in which +battle this battery of a few more than 100 men had eighteen killed and +fifty-two wounded, and out of 148 horses had but three left standing at +the close of the engagement. The battery was captured by the rebels and +recaptured by our troops. Lieutenant Neil was the only commissioned +officer on duty at the close of the engagement, and he had been wounded +twice with shell and twice with bullets—severe flesh wounds. He was +besmeared with blood. The Lieutenant was, notwithstanding full of pluck. +He said the next morning, “If I can have one hundred men detailed from +the infantry and horses furnished, I will have the battery in fighting +trim again in two weeks.” Infantry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> soldiers readily volunteered upon +call to man the battery, and horses were furnished by the Quartermaster, +and on the afternoon of the 3d of October—fourteen days from the +annihilation of the battery the battle of Corinth was fought and the +Lieutenant having marched up from Iuka without escort, came upon the +field with his battery fully manned, equipped and drilled, amid the +hurrahs and tears of the infantry that had seen it destroyed under the +terrible fire of the 19th of September, and who now seemed to feel that +the battery men, horses and all, had come back from the regions of the +dead to aid in the terrible struggle now going on between the same +armies.</p> + +<p>“The Lieutenant received the heartiest congratulations of all officers +who had been with him in the battle of Iuka. While receiving those of +the writer he said: “I want you to stay right by my battery with your +regiment when it goes into action here, and if you will no rebel +battalions can take it this time.” There was a promise to comply with +his request. On the following morning when the irresistible assault of +the rebel army came, the Eleventh Ohio Battery was in position +commanding the whole rebel line and the Fourth Minnesota Infantry in +line flat upon the ground close in its rear. Lieutenant Neil was seated +on his thoroughbred from twenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> to forty feet in front of the battery, +between the line of fire of the guns of the middle section. He requested +the Colonel of the infantry to keep his eye upon him and whenever he +beckoned with his saber, to have the infantry rise up and deliver their +fire.</p> + +<p>“Now the assaulting lines of the rebel armies come on like a wave of the +sea, rolling along over breastworks and batteries. He orders the men to +open fire and, still in his advanced position, waves his hat constantly +to the advancing lines of rebels, and shouts, ‘Come on! Come on! if you +think you can play Iuka over again.’ A strange coincidence was that the +same rebel battalions came against this battery that had captured it on +the 19th of September. But they could not come on here. Three times the +Lieutenant signaled the infantry to rise and fire, and each time they +rose to hear him say, ‘No, no, they have broke again.’</p> + +<p>“For a half mile in front of this battery, after the battle, were large +areas covered with the dead and dying, which told with what terrible +effect it had been served during the assault.</p> + +<p>“The sight of the Lieutenant, after twenty years, brought up these +occurrences—this whole scene, and made it as fresh as if it had +transpired yesterday, and made me resolve to commit it to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> writing +before I died, feeling that none of us had done him justice in our +reports of these battles.</p> + +<p>“The scene at Corinth, if it could be placed on canvas, would be +thrilling even to strangers. An elegant thoroughbred Kentucky horse +fully caparisoned, on which the Lieutenant is sitting erectly, with his +hat in his hand, is standing out in front of the battery between the +lines of fire of the two center guns, seemingly conscious that if he +moved to the right or left he would be torn to atoms, and trusting +himself wholly to his rider, the Lieutenant is waving his hat in the +air, and bidding defiance to the foe; advancing in masses and lines upon +his positions, the artillerymen with superhuman power and skill, amid +the smoke that rolled incessantly from the muzzles of every gun, loading +and firing, is a picture before the mind at this distance plainer than +can be placed on canvas by the most skillful artist. It is such men and +such services that saved this nation in the war. They were not +conspicuous nor vain-glorious, perhaps not heard of before the war, nor +afterwards; but in the midst of it, meeting the full demands of the +great occasion and leaving the reward to posterity.</p> + +<p>“What this officer did after this battle in the war, I know not. He +passed from my sight when we withdrew from that line of battle, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +twenty years passed before I saw his face again, and during all this +time never heard a word concerning him. When I met him it was my +privilege to name him as one of the vice presidents of our society, +showing that time had in no respect obliterated or dimmed the memory of +his services.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">JOHN B. SANBORN, Commanding,</span></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">First Brigade, Seventh Division, Army of the Tennessee.</span></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">St. Paul</span>, Jan. 14, 1884.”</span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></p> + +<p>Additional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicate +both the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as presented in the original text.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Battery at Close Quarters, by Henry M. Neil + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS *** + +***** This file should be named 31048-h.htm or 31048-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/0/4/31048/ + +Produced by Stephanie Eason and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Battery at Close Quarters + A Paper Read before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion, + October 6, 1909 + +Author: Henry M. Neil + +Release Date: January 23, 2010 [EBook #31048] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephanie Eason and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + _A Battery at Close Quarters_ + + _A Paper_ + + READ BEFORE THE OHIO COMMANDERY + OF THE LOYAL LEGION + + October 6, 1909 + + + BY + HENRY M. NEIL + Captain Twenty-second Ohio Battery + + + COLUMBUS, OHIO + 1909 + + + + THE CHAMPLIN PRESS + COLUMBUS, OHIO + + + + +A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS. + +BEING THE STORY OF THE ELEVENTH OHIO BATTERY AT IUKA AND CORINTH. + + +During the Civil War artillery projectiles were divided as to structure +into _solid_, _hollow_ and _case shot_. The solid shot were intended to +batter down walls or heavy obstructions. Hollow projectiles, called +shell and shrapnel, were for use against animate objects; to set fire to +buildings and destroy lighter obstructions. Under the head of case shot +we had grape and canister. Grape shot is no longer used; being +superseded by the machine gun. Canister is simply a sheet iron case +filled with bullets and is effective only at very short ranges. + +The foremost European military writer, Hohenloe, states that in the +Franco-Prussian war, the batteries of the Prussian Guard expended about +twenty-five thousand shells and one canister, and that this one canister +was broken in transport. + +In the official reports of the recent Russo-Japanese War we find that +the Arisaka gun, which was the Japanese field piece, has a range of +6,600 meters. The Russian field pieces were said to give good results at +8,000 meters, or five miles. The Japanese, and later the Russians, made +a great feature of indirect fire. Having located a mass of the enemy, +probably beyond two ranges of hills, they would stake out a line +indicating the direction, then secure the range by the use of shells +which gave out a yellowish vapor on bursting. This vapor being observed +and signaled by scouts also indicated the necessary angles of departure +from the line of stakes and enabled the artillerymen, miles away from +actual contact, to complacently try experiments in battle ballistics +with very little fear of being interrupted by an enemy. + +The range of modern field artillery being officially reported at five +miles, permit me to take you back to a day, over forty-seven years ago, +when an Ohio battery, placed in the extreme front of battle, fought at +less than fifty yards. + +The village of Iuka lies in the northeast corner of the State of +Mississippi. The neighboring country is broken and, in 1862, was covered +with forests. Northwesterly from Iuka lies the village of Burnsville and +further on the little city of Corinth, close to the Tennessee line. In +1862 Corinth possessed strategical advantages which caused it to become +a large supply depot for the Federal armies. South of Corinth and +southwest of Iuka, the town of Jacinto was located. + +On the eighteenth of September, 1862, General Sterling Price lay at Iuka +with an army of about twenty thousand Confederates. General E. O. G. +Ord's force lay between Burnsville and Corinth and had just been +reinforced by Ross's division. Burnsville was seven miles from Iuka. +General Rosecrans lay at Jacinto, nineteen and one-half miles from Iuka. + +General Grant, taking advantage of this situation, ordered a combined +attack by Ord and Rosecrans upon General Price. Under this order +Rosecrans moved from Jacinto at 3:00 A. M. September 19th, and was +within striking distance of Price's patrols by noon. Ord was to attack +from the west and draw Price in that direction while Rosecrans was to +move to the rebel rear by the Jacinto and Fulton roads and cut off their +retreat. Neither of these Union armies was powerful enough to make, +alone, a successful attack upon Price. + +The strategical plan of attack above outlined was not carried out. Ord's +strategy never reached the domain of tactics, for he went into camp +seven miles west of Iuka and the head of Rosecrans' column was attacked +by the entire army of Price. It was with the head of this column that +the Eleventh Ohio Battery marched into the fight. Anticipating a +combined engagement the head of the column pushed its innocent way into +the maw of the entire rebel army. We had to fight first and think +afterward. Price had hours to choose his positions and, incidentally, he +chose our position also. We didn't have time to change it. + +"Rapidity of movement and surprise are the life and soul of the +strategical offensive." That maxim reads well but, in practice, it is +important to provide against being surprised by the other fellow before +you spring your surprise on him. + +For several miles in the afternoon of the 19th of September the advance +of Rosecrans' column was warmly contested. The enemy's sharp-shooters +occupied every point of vantage, making the last five miles a steady +contest. The cavalry had long ago been driven in. A few companies formed +an advance skirmish line only a short distance from the main column. +Near the front of the column marched the Eleventh Ohio Battery. The men +knew that an engagement was imminent but their immediate front was +unknown and unexplored. As usual, we had no maps. While marching through +a defile at the crest of a thickly wooded hill we noticed that the rifle +fire in front was suddenly increased. But there was no pause to +reconnoiter. The battery marched from the defile into within short range +of Price's whole army. Instantly an entire rebel division concentrated +its fire on the battery with the intention of annihilating it before it +could unlimber. + +As we emerged from the cut this sudden concentration of rifle fire gave +me the impression of being in a violent hail storm. Riding at the head +of the column I turned my head to look for the men, expecting to see +half the men and horses down. To my great joy I found all uninjured. The +storm of bullets was passing just over our heads. We hastened to get +into position and unlimber before they could get the range. Just in +front of us the road turned to the right. We turned to the right into +the brush and took position facing this road. As our men were clearing +the hazel brush for positions for their guns a Wisconsin battery +appeared about three or four hundred yards to our left and unlimbered; +but it suddenly limbered up and galloped to the rear without having +fired a shot. It had been ordered back, leaving the Eleventh the only +Union battery in the battle. + +The Fifth Iowa took position just at our right. The Twenty-sixth +Missouri prolonged the line to the right of the Fifth Iowa. On our left +the Forty-eighth Indiana formed a line that swung somewhat forward at +its left flank. Our side of the fight began with these three regiments +in position. The front thus hastily formed did not permit of further +extension, owing to the nature of the ground. + +A little later the Fourth Minnesota and Sixteenth Iowa were, +respectively, echeloned in rear of the left and right flanks. The total +force actually engaged was 2800 Union and 11,000 Confederates. + +When the Eleventh went into position Lieutenant Sears was in command. As +junior First Lieutenant, I had the right section, while Second +Lieutenant Alger fought the center section. Of the acting Second +Lieutenants Perrine had the left section and Bauer the line of caissons. +During the fight I succeeded to the command when Sears went to the rear +with a wound. Alger was captured. Bauer was killed. + +The battery had taken position in line from column under an infantry +fire from an entire division at ranges of from 200 to 400 yards. Shells +from the rebel artillery were also crashing through our line. We opened +fire at first with shell. This shell fire proved so effective that a +rebel assault on the battery was ordered. A division of Price's army +rushed to the charge. The battery changed from shell to double charges +of canister. The effect of the canister was terribly increased because +of the rebel method of charging in masses. Had the line to the left of +the battery held its front the assault on the battery would have been +impossible of success. But Col. Eddy of the 48th Indiana was killed and +the survivors of his regiment were swept back by overwhelming numbers. +The left flank of the battery was thus left bare and unsupported. On the +right the Fifth Iowa was cut to pieces. Only eleven officers and a +handful of men remained. With the line melted away the battery found +itself facing in three directions and battling with masses on three +fronts. It had a rear but no flanks. The guns were being worked with +greater speed and smaller crews. Cannoneers were falling. Other +cannoneers coolly took their places and performed double duty. Drivers +left their dead horses and took the places of dead or wounded comrades, +only to be struck down in turn. Of eighty horses only three remained +standing and a withdrawal of the guns was impossible. The surviving men +were too few to do more than work the guns. Finally the charging hordes, +checked and mutilated again and again in front, to right and to left, +pressed close. Eight thousand men against two score. On the fifth charge +the survivors were finally choked from the guns they would not abandon. + +General Rosecrans in his notice, in orders, of the facts and results of +the battle of Iuka, states that the Eleventh Ohio Battery participated: + + "Under circumstances of danger and exposure such as rarely, perhaps + never, have fallen to the lot of one single battery during this + war." + + +In the same order the commanding General further states: + + "On a narrow front, intersected by ravines and covered with dense + undergrowth, with a single battery, Hamilton's division went into + action against the combined rebel hosts. On that unequal ground, + which permitted the enemy to outnumber them three to one, they + fought a glorious battle, mowing down the rebel hordes until, night + closing in, they rested on their arms on the ground, from which the + enemy retired during the night, leaving us masters of the field." + + +General Hamilton's official report, in describing the action of the +Union left flank, states: + + "Colonel Sanborn, in command of the first brigade, most gallantly + held the left in position until, under a desolating carnage of + musketry and canister, the brave Eddy was cut down, and his + regiment, borne down by five times their numbers, fell back in some + disorder on the Eightieth Ohio, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bartilson. + The falling back of the Forty-eighth exposed the battery. As the + masses of the enemy advanced the battery opened with canister at + short range, mowing down the rebels by scores, until, with every + officer killed or wounded and nearly every man and horse killed or + disabled, it fell an easy prey. But this success was short lived. + + "The hero Sullivan rallied a portion of the right wing, and, with a + bravery better characterized as audacity, drove the rebels back to + cover. Again they rallied and again the battery fell into their + hands; but with the wavering fortunes of this desperate fight the + battery again fell into our hands, and with three of its guns + spiked and the carriages cut and splintered with balls, it is again + ready to meet the foe." + + +At the close of the engagement the ground in front of the battery showed +heaps of dead bodies. Statistics show that the Confederates' loss in +this engagement amounted to eight hundred in killed and wounded. While +actual inspection of the field of carnage indicated that a large +proportion of the slain had met their death from the canister of the +Eleventh. The Brigade Commander's report states that the battery fired +with great rapidity and extraordinary accuracy. + +The battery entered the fight with ninety-seven men and five officers, +commissioned and acting. Of these, eighteen were killed and thirty-nine +wounded, many mortally. A number of the wounded had been bayoneted at +their guns. Of the cannoneers alone, forty-six were killed or wounded. +Forty-six out of a total of fifty-four. More than five men out of every +six. + +The statistics compiled by Col. Fox in his "Regimental Losses in the +American Civil War," show that this day's record in killed and mortally +wounded equaled, within one, the total killed in any light battery +during its entire term of service. This work also states that the losses +of the Eleventh at Iuka were 22% greater than those sustained by any +other light battery in any one engagement during the war. + +You have been familiar with death and wounds and the aching pain of deep +sympathy for suffering comrades. Therefore I will not depict the +tortures and individual heroisms of those artillerymen who fell, to die +or partly recover. Those who died left a legacy of glory and honor to +posterity and to their country. That legacy is of greater value than the +greatest riches, for it will always endure, and the martyrs of the civil +war, the dead and the living, will proudly bear to the throne of God +those scars which were the price of their country's salvation. + +One singular feature of this fight was that but two members of the +battery were taken prisoners. The guns were captured and recaptured +several times before dark. The battery men had never abandoned them +voluntarily. One Confederate prisoner afterward said: + + "Those battery boys had so much spunk that we took pity on a few + who were left." + + +It may have been this respect for the courage of the artillerymen which +induced the Confederates to let the few survivors go. But could they +have looked into the future and seen these same men and guns at Corinth +only fourteen days later, they would probably have dropped every other +work and secured them while they had this one chance. + +After attending to the wounded, the night after the fight at Iuka, all +members of the battery were ordered to a rendezvous. They were all +assembled by 5 A. M. and, after reverently burying our dead, the men +turned their attention to securing the guns and equipments scattered +over the field. The drivers cried softly as they removed the harness +from their faithful mounts. In one mass lay eighteen dead horses. These +three teams, instead of trying to escape, had swung together and died +together. My own horse received seven wounds. Toward the close of the +engagement he sank down and was left for dead. Some time during the +night he revived and was found by an officer of Rosecrans' staff who +rode him until daylight. This horse survived the war two years, then +suddenly dropped dead in his stall. A bullet had finally worked its way +into an artery. + +Of the other three surviving horses one had an interesting history. He +was a fine strong bay who always worked as near leader. At our first +battle, New Madrid, this horse's rider was literally cut in two by a +thirty-two pound ball. The horse kept his place, covered with the blood +of poor James Bibby. After this baptism he seemed to bear a charmed +life. He was mustered out with the battery, still able to do full duty. + +Early in the morning after the battle General Rosecrans ordered me to +refit the battery as rapidly as possible. After the guns' spikes were +removed the pieces were found to be in serviceable order and work on the +splintered carriages was begun. + +A description of our six guns may be of interest. They were: + + 2 rifled 6 pounders, bronze, (James pattern), (calibre 3.67, weight + of ball, 14 lbs.) + + 2 smooth bore 6 pounders, (calibre 3.67, weight of ball, 14 lbs.) + + 2 twelve pounder Howitzers, (calibre 4.62.) + + +These guns would soon be needed again, for General Rosecrans had +promised us more work in the near future at Corinth. In this emergency I +was allowed to draw horses and equipment from the nearest available +sources without regular requisition. General Rosecrans' foresight in +stretching regulations further permitted me to obtain recruits from my +brigade commander, and the rejuvenation of the Eleventh was soon under +way. The new men were drilled as hard as their other duties permitted. +The battery was ready for the march to Corinth by the evening of October +1st. + +General Rosecrans had left orders with Colonel Crocker, who was left in +command at Iuka, to furnish the Eleventh with an escort to Corinth. On +the evening of October first I found that an escort could not be secured +for two or three days, as Colonel Crocker had only enough men present +for guard and picket duty. + +My orders were to report at Corinth as soon as possible. The news from +there indicated that a big battle was imminent. It also indicated that +the Eleventh ran some risk of capture if it went through alone. But +there was no way to avoid that risk. I therefore drew some extra horses, +sent mounted cannoneers forward as an advance guard, and started for +Corinth on the morning of October second. I felt very uneasy at starting +on that march for I knew that, if I met one of the numerous strong bands +of guerrillas or a Confederate force, I might be shot up first and +court-martialed afterward. + +Nothing unusual happened during the day's march. By four P. M. we were +inside our own lines and a little later the battery was assigned to a +strange brigade. By the morning of October third I managed to secure an +order sending us to our old brigade. It looked much smaller than before +Iuka but that made us think all the more of it. + +After the failure of his Napoleonic tactics at Iuka, General Price +retreated to Ripley, Mississippi, where he united with a still stronger +rebel force, under General Van Dorn. Van Dorn assumed command of the +united forces and pushed forward toward Corinth with intent to overwhelm +Rosecrans. + +Corinth was surrounded by extensive works constructed by Beauregard when +he held that position against Halleck's army. Rosecrans had too few +troops to man these works but had taken the precaution to hastily +construct an inner line of fortifications, which was traced about a mile +west from the center of the village. + +The cavalry had promptly notified Rosecrans of the formidable rebel +movement northward and he had hurriedly prepared to receive it. About 10 +A. M. on October third we moved from our camp east of Corinth, marching +through the town to a designated point at the right of the Federal +lines. These lines occupied the outer line of works built by Beauregard. + +At about 2 P. M. we received the order to fall back to the new line, +nearer Corinth. In executing this movement I saw several heavy columns +of rebels approaching, en route with the same objective. It looked for +a time as if we might be surrounded, but nothing resulted except a few +singing bullets which did no harm. It was evident that the rebels felt +that we were in a trap and they were pursuing a prearranged plan in +springing it. As we reached the northwestern suburb of Corinth we swung +to the left and continued until we reached the right wing of the new +line, where we selected a fine position on rising ground with a clear +field of fire and a magnificent view. + +The new defensive line of which we had just formed a part, presented a +concave front to Van Dorn's army. Our elevated position enabled the +batterymen to see both lines of battle. Being at the Federal right flank +we became one of the horns of the dilemma which confronted Van Dorn's +hosts the next day. + +Van Dorn's magnificent series of assaults against our line began about +9:30 the next morning. The masses of the enemy first attacked our left +flank and were repulsed. Then they assailed our center, penetrated it, +but were at length driven back into the cross fire of our artillery. + +By 2 P. M. the attacks against the left and center had exhausted +themselves and the peril of a broken center was narrowly averted. Then +the rebels, having concentrated for another supreme effort, bore down +upon Hamilton's division on the right. This was good tactics, because +our right had been weakened by sending troops to the imperilled center. + +The now familiar sight of masses of rebels, screaming the familiar yell, +appeared in our front. As the mass approached I recognized them and +called to the men: "Boys, there are the same troops that fought us at +Iuka; are you going to let them touch our guns today?" The yell of rage +that went up was more ominous than a rebel yell ever tried to be. + +At six hundred yards the Eleventh opened with shell. The men worked like +tigers in their desperate resolve that their beloved guns would never +again feel the insult of a rebel touch. + +Three times they charged and three times they were repulsed. Each time +they came so close that we resorted to double charges of canister and +never a rebel reached the muzzles of our guns. By four o'clock the +Confederates were staggering back or surrendering in squads. + +From some prisoners taken at Corinth it was learned that they were still +unnerved from the moral effect of their assaults at Iuka. Those +prisoners stated that, as they went into the assault, they recognized +the bark of the guns of the Eleventh Ohio. Before these guns they had +seen hundreds of their comrades fall like wheat before the harvester. +They felt that they could not again silence the guns of the Eleventh. +It had taken five assaults to do so when the odds were many to one. + +At daylight of October 5th, after a night spent in convoying prisoners +and caring for the wounded, we started in pursuit of the remains of +Price's and Van Dorn's armies. During that day's march our army simply +gathered in throngs of rebels. The retreating force had been three days +without regular rations and were too weak to escape. + +For two long days and nights we pressed our foes until our condition was +hardly better than theirs. At one A. M. on the second night's march, we +were stumbling along, almost dead with fatigue, when suddenly a band +struck up the familiar song--John Brown's Body. Other bands joined; we +all woke up and were soon swinging along without a thought of our +condition. I have often wondered what moral effect this musical +demonstration, at dead of night, had upon our quarry. + +It took us three days to return to Corinth, horses stumbling with +weariness, men asleep in their saddles, tired but happy, a victory won +against odds. + + + + +"AN ARMY EXPERIENCE" + + +The following appreciative remembrance of the action of the Eleventh +Ohio Battery at battles of Iuka, September 19, 1862, and Corinth, +October 4, 1862, appeared in the columns of the St. Paul (Minnesota) +Pioneer Press in 1884. Having been preserved by a Companion of the Ohio +Commandery, it was read by the Recorder, Major Thrall, at the Commandery +monthly meeting of October 6, 1909, as the Recorder's contribution to +the discussion of an account of the part of the Eleventh Ohio in those +battles, which had just been presented by Captain Neil, and by general +request is published by the Commandery, without the advice or consent of +Companion Neil. + + GEO. A. THAYER, + A. B. ISHAM, + L. M. HOSEA, + _Publication Committee_. + + + + +"AN ARMY EXPERIENCE. + + +"No scenes of life are so deeply and indelibly impressed upon the memory +as those which occur in war and battle. All the mental faculties seem to +be melted into a fused condition by the excitement of the occasion, so +that a full and deep impression of all the principal events is made and +then to be suddenly turned to adamant so that the impression must remain +as long as the faculties endure. There is not a soldier of the late war, +who took part in any engagement, who does not have impressed upon his +mind some event or scene which then transpired that is just as vivid and +fresh today as on the day it was made. And when the memory is turned +toward it by the suggestion of any other faculty--by the sight of some +party connected therewith, or hearing kindred sounds, or by those more +hidden spiritual influences less understood that at times cause to form +in order and pass in review before the mind all the leading and exciting +incidents of past life, these events and scenes are again displayed with +all the vividness and strength of first impression. These thoughts were +suggested to the writer upon meeting Lieutenant H. M. Neil of the +Eleventh Ohio Battery at the meeting of the Society of the Army of the +Tennessee at St. Louis, in 1882. Twenty years had passed since I had +seen his face, and I had reckoned him among the brave spirits of the war +which had gone to rest. When I saw him last before this, he was +commanding his battery in the thickest of the fight at the battle of +Corinth about 11 o'clock in the forenoon of October 4, 1862. His rank +was that of Second Lieutenant. All officers of higher grade were absent +in hospital from wounds received fifteen days before at Iuka, in which +battle this battery of a few more than 100 men had eighteen killed and +fifty-two wounded, and out of 148 horses had but three left standing at +the close of the engagement. The battery was captured by the rebels and +recaptured by our troops. Lieutenant Neil was the only commissioned +officer on duty at the close of the engagement, and he had been wounded +twice with shell and twice with bullets--severe flesh wounds. He was +besmeared with blood. The Lieutenant was, notwithstanding full of pluck. +He said the next morning, "If I can have one hundred men detailed from +the infantry and horses furnished, I will have the battery in fighting +trim again in two weeks." Infantry soldiers readily volunteered upon +call to man the battery, and horses were furnished by the Quartermaster, +and on the afternoon of the 3d of October--fourteen days from the +annihilation of the battery the battle of Corinth was fought and the +Lieutenant having marched up from Iuka without escort, came upon the +field with his battery fully manned, equipped and drilled, amid the +hurrahs and tears of the infantry that had seen it destroyed under the +terrible fire of the 19th of September, and who now seemed to feel that +the battery men, horses and all, had come back from the regions of the +dead to aid in the terrible struggle now going on between the same +armies. + +"The Lieutenant received the heartiest congratulations of all officers +who had been with him in the battle of Iuka. While receiving those of +the writer he said: "I want you to stay right by my battery with your +regiment when it goes into action here, and if you will no rebel +battalions can take it this time." There was a promise to comply with +his request. On the following morning when the irresistible assault of +the rebel army came, the Eleventh Ohio Battery was in position +commanding the whole rebel line and the Fourth Minnesota Infantry in +line flat upon the ground close in its rear. Lieutenant Neil was seated +on his thoroughbred from twenty to forty feet in front of the battery, +between the line of fire of the guns of the middle section. He requested +the Colonel of the infantry to keep his eye upon him and whenever he +beckoned with his saber, to have the infantry rise up and deliver their +fire. + +"Now the assaulting lines of the rebel armies come on like a wave of the +sea, rolling along over breastworks and batteries. He orders the men to +open fire and, still in his advanced position, waves his hat constantly +to the advancing lines of rebels, and shouts, 'Come on! Come on! if you +think you can play Iuka over again.' A strange coincidence was that the +same rebel battalions came against this battery that had captured it on +the 19th of September. But they could not come on here. Three times the +Lieutenant signaled the infantry to rise and fire, and each time they +rose to hear him say, 'No, no, they have broke again.' + +"For a half mile in front of this battery, after the battle, were large +areas covered with the dead and dying, which told with what terrible +effect it had been served during the assault. + +"The sight of the Lieutenant, after twenty years, brought up these +occurrences--this whole scene, and made it as fresh as if it had +transpired yesterday, and made me resolve to commit it to writing +before I died, feeling that none of us had done him justice in our +reports of these battles. + +"The scene at Corinth, if it could be placed on canvas, would be +thrilling even to strangers. An elegant thoroughbred Kentucky horse +fully caparisoned, on which the Lieutenant is sitting erectly, with his +hat in his hand, is standing out in front of the battery between the +lines of fire of the two center guns, seemingly conscious that if he +moved to the right or left he would be torn to atoms, and trusting +himself wholly to his rider, the Lieutenant is waving his hat in the +air, and bidding defiance to the foe; advancing in masses and lines upon +his positions, the artillerymen with superhuman power and skill, amid +the smoke that rolled incessantly from the muzzles of every gun, loading +and firing, is a picture before the mind at this distance plainer than +can be placed on canvas by the most skillful artist. It is such men and +such services that saved this nation in the war. They were not +conspicuous nor vain-glorious, perhaps not heard of before the war, nor +afterwards; but in the midst of it, meeting the full demands of the +great occasion and leaving the reward to posterity. + +"What this officer did after this battle in the war, I know not. He +passed from my sight when we withdrew from that line of battle, and +twenty years passed before I saw his face again, and during all this +time never heard a word concerning him. When I met him it was my +privilege to name him as one of the vice presidents of our society, +showing that time had in no respect obliterated or dimmed the memory of +his services. + + +JOHN B. SANBORN, Commanding, + +First Brigade, Seventh Division, Army of the Tennessee. + +ST. PAUL, Jan. 14, 1884." + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_. + +Additional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicate +both the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as +presented in the original text. + +The following misprint has been corrected: "litterally" corrected to +"literally" (page 14). + +Other than the correction listed above, printer's inconsistencies have +been retained. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Battery at Close Quarters, by Henry M. Neil + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BATTERY AT CLOSE QUARTERS *** + +***** This file should be named 31048.txt or 31048.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/0/4/31048/ + +Produced by Stephanie Eason and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. 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