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diff --git a/34891.txt b/34891.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b1867d --- /dev/null +++ b/34891.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1506 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Sketch of the First Kentucky Brigade, by George B. Hodge + +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: Sketch of the First Kentucky Brigade + +Author: George B. Hodge + +Release Date: January 8, 2011 [EBook #34891] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKETCH OF FIRST KENTUCKY BRIGADE *** + + + + +Produced by Sam W. 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.) + + + + + + + + + + SKETCH + OF THE + FIRST KENTUCKY BRIGADE + + + BY ITS + ADJUTANT GENERAL, G. B. HODGE. + + + FRANKFORT, KY. + PRINTED AT THE KENTUCKY YEOMAN OFFICE. + MAJOR & JOHNSTON. + 1874. + + + + + TO + GENERAL JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE, + ITS NOBLE COMMANDER, + TO THE + GALLANT SURVIVORS, + AND TO THE + MEMORY OF THE IMMORTAL DEAD + OF THE BRIGADE, + THIS SKETCH + IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. + + + + +SKETCH OF THE 1ST KENTUCKY BRIGADE. + + +In the general history which will go down to posterity of such immense +bodies of men as were gathered under the banners of the Confederate +States of America, it is not likely that more than a brief and cursory +reference can or will be made to the services of so small a force as +composed the First Kentucky Brigade. Yet the anomalous position which +it occupied, in regard to the revolution, in having revolted against +both State and Federal authority, exiling itself from home, from +fortune, from kindred, and from friends--abandoning everything which +makes life desirable, save honor--gave it an individuality which +cannot fail to attract the attention of the calm student, who, in +coming years, traces the progress of the mighty social convulsion in +which it acted no ignoble part. The State, too, from which it came, +whatever may be its destiny or its ultimate fate, will remember, with +melancholy and mournful interest, not, perhaps, unmingled with +remorse, the career of that gallant band of men, who, of all the +thousands in its borders inheriting the proud name and lofty fame of +Kentuckians, stood forth fearlessly by deeds to express the sentiments +of an undoubted majority of her people--disapprobation of wrong and +tyranny. Children now in their cradles, youths as yet unborn, will +inquire, with an earnest eagerness which volumes of recital cannot +satisfy, how their countrymen demeaned themselves in the fierce ordeal +which they had elected as the test of their patriotism; how they bore +themselves on the march and in the bivouac; how in the trials of the +long and sad retreat; how amid the wild carnage of the stricken field. +Fair daughters of the State will oftentimes, even amid the rigid +censorship which forbids utterance of words, love to come in thought +and linger about the lonely graves where the men of the Kentucky +Brigade sleep, wrapped in no winding-sheets save their battle-clothes, +beneath no monuments save the trees of the forest, torn and mutilated +by the iron storm, in which the slumberers met death. It has seemed to +me not improper, therefore, that the story should be told by one +possessing peculiar facilities for acquiring knowledge of the +movements of detached portions of the force, and who, in the capacity +of a staff officer, under the directions of its General, issued every +order and participated in every movement of the brigade, who had not +only the opportunity but the desire to do justice to all who composed +it, from him who bore worthily the truncheon of the General, to those +who not less worthily in their places bore their muskets as privates. +A deep interest will always be felt in the history of the effort which +was made, by men strong in their faith in the correctness of +republican forms of government, notwithstanding the tyranny which the +great experiment in the United States had culminated in, to +reconstruct from the shattered fragments of free institutions upon +which the armies of the Federal power were trampling, a social and +political fabric, under the shelter of which they and their posterity +might enjoy the rights of freemen. When the first seven Southern +States seceded, and President Lincoln took the initial steps to coerce +them, the Legislature of Kentucky, by an almost unanimous vote of the +House of Representatives, declared that any attempt to do so by +marching troops over her soil would be resisted to the last extremity. +The Governor had refused to respond to the call of the Executive for +troops for this purpose. The Legislature approved his course. But here +unanimity ceased; effort after effort was made in the Legislature to +provide for the call of a sovereignty convention. The majority +steadily resisted it. As a compromise, the neutrality of the State was +assumed, acquiesced in by the sympathizers with the North because they +intended to violate it when the occasion was ripe; acquiesced in by +the Southern men because, while their impulses all prompted them to +make common cause with their Southern brethren, they believed that the +neutrality of the State, in presenting an effective barrier of seven +hundred miles of frontier between the South and invasion, offered her +more efficient assistance than the most active co-operation could have +done. The Legislature adjourned; the canvass commenced for a new +General Assembly; delegates were elected, pledged to strict +neutrality; the Northern sympathizers had been vigorous, active, and +energetic, and unscrupulous. They had in every county organized "Home +Guards;" arms were, by their connivance, introduced by the Federal +Government in large quantities. On the first Monday in September the +Legislature met, the mask was thrown off; neutrality was scouted; +troops were openly levied for the Northern army, and the outraged +Southern men revolted. + +Early in the summer of 1861, bodies of the young men of the State had +repaired to Camp Boone, in Tennessee, near the Kentucky line, where +were forming regiments to be mustered into the service of the +Confederate States. Most of these had been previously members of the +State Guard of Kentucky, and consequently had enjoyed the advantage of +systematic and scientific drill. They were rapidly organized into +three regiments of infantry, known as the 2d, 3d, and 4th Kentucky +Regiments of Volunteers, the 2d having as its Colonel, J. M. Hawes, +recently an officer of the United States Army, but who, with a +devotion which almost invariably manifested itself among the officers +of Southern birth, promptly and cheerfully gave up the advantages of a +certain and fixed position in a regularly organized army, to offer his +sword and military knowledge to the cause of Southern independence. He +was soon succeeded by Colonel Roger Hanson. The 3d had as its Colonel, +Lloyd Tighlman, the 4th Robert P. Trabue. Colonel Tighlman, before his +regiment was actively in service, was made a Brigadier, and its Lieut. +Colonel, Thompson, succeeded to the Colonelcy. These three regiments +formed the nucleus of a brigade, to the command of which Brigadier +General S. B. Buckner, recently Inspector General and active Commander +of the Kentucky State Guard, was assigned by President Davis. To this +command were afterwards added the 5th Kentucky, commanded by Colonel +Thomas Hunt, the 6th, commanded by Colonel Joseph Lewis, Cobb's +battery, and Byrne's battery of artillery. + +On the 17th of September, 1861, General Buckner, with some Tennessee +troops and the Kentucky regiments, moved to Bowling Green, in +Kentucky, and occupied it, fortifying it and fitting it for the base +of active operations of the Confederate armies in Kentucky, which it +became for some months. One regiment of infantry and a battery of +artillery was thrown forward to the bridge on Green river, under +command of Colonel Hawes--the bridge, shortly after, was burned by the +Confederate troops. Capt. John Morgan, a few days subsequently to +this, reached this command with one hundred men from the interior of +Kentucky. These men were mounted, to serve as scouts; and here +commenced that career which afterwards gained for their fearless +leader a continental reputation as a bold, daring, and effective +partisan officer. Few men, indeed, with means so limited, and in the +midst of movements so grand and stupendous that the career of general +officers have been lost sight of, have won such a name and reputation. +Of a mild and unassuming demeanor, gentle and affable in his manners, +handsome in person, and possessed of all that polish of address which +is supposed to best qualify men for the drawing-room and parlor, no +enterprise, however dangerous, no reconnoissance, however tiresome and +wearying, could daunt his spirits or deter him from his purpose. For +months, with his handful of men, he swept the northern bank of Green +river, cutting off the supplies of the enemy, destroying bridges +necessary for their transportation, capturing their pickets, and +harassing their flanks, moving with a celerity and secrecy which +defied pursuit or detection. No commander of a detached post or guard +of the enemy could flatter himself that distance from Bowling Green or +disagreeableness of weather could protect him from a visit from +Morgan. He was liable to be called upon at any hour, in any weather, +or at any point beyond the intrenched camps of the Federal army. The +earth might be soaked with rain, which for days had been falling, the +roads might be impassable, the Green and Barren rivers with their +tributaries might be swollen far beyond their banks, but over that +earth and across those rivers, when least expected, came Morgan as +with the swoop of an eagle; and, after destroying the munitions of the +enemy, or capturing his guards, was away again, leaving behind him a +polite note intimating he would call again soon, or perhaps +telegraphing a dispatch to the nearest Federal commander, giving him +full and precise particulars of the movements he had just made, and +most provoking details of the damage he had just committed. Long after +the Confederate army had retired from Kentucky, when the entire State +was in undisputed possession of the Northern armies, many a Southern +sympathizer found immunity and protection from maltreatment and +outrage by the significant threat that Morgan would visit that +neighborhood soon. And, indeed, during the disastrous retreat from +Nashville, the tireless partisan, passing through Eastern Tennessee +and Kentucky, far in the rear of the Federal army, fell upon their +train at Gallatin, Tennessee, and lit up the spirits of the despondent +Tennesseans by one of his bold and daring strokes. Even when the +Southern army had passed the Tennessee river, when every available +soldier of the South was supposed to be at Corinth to meet the +overwhelming hosts of the invader, Morgan, gathering three or four +hundred of his men, recrossed the river, fell upon the railroad train +at Athens, Alabama, captured two hundred and eighty prisoners, and +destroyed the cars. Ambushed, defeated, cut to pieces, and routed by +greatly superior forces a few days afterwards, hardly had the news +reached Louisville of his disaster, when, collecting two hundred of +his scattered command, he fell like a thunderbolt upon the railroad +train at Cave City, in the centre of Kentucky, capturing many +prisoners, thousands of dollars in money, and destroying forty-three +baggage cars laden with the enemy's stores. + +Early in November, 1861, the Hon. John C. Breckinridge arrived at +Bowling Green, when he resigned his seat as Senator from Kentucky, in +the Federal Congress, and was immediately commissioned as Brigadier +General, and assigned to the command of the Kentucky Brigade, General +Buckner assuming command of a division of which the Kentucky Brigade +was a component part. He assumed command on the 16th of +November--having as his Chief of Staff and A. A. General, Captain +George B. Hodge, and Aid-de-Camp, Thomas T. Hawkins. The brigade was +ordered to Oakland Station, on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, +where, in connection with Hindman's brigade, it remained in +observation of the movements of the enemy on the north bank of the +Green river, who was known to be in great force at Munfordsville, and +in his cantonments extending back towards Elizabethtown, and was +supposed to be only waiting the completion of the Green river bridge, +which he was repairing, to advance his entire column, estimated at +80,000 men, on Bowling Green and Nashville. Behind the curtain of the +brigades of Hindman and Breckinridge, Gen. Johnston was rapidly +pushing on the fortifications at Bowling Green; and by the latter part +of January, 1862, they had become quite formidable. + +It had, however, become doubtful whether the enemy would attempt the +passage of the Green river. It was certain, if he did so, his true +attack would be developed in a flank movement, by way of Glasgow and +Scottsville, on Nashville, while there was left him the alternative of +massing his troops at Paducah, then in his possession, and availing +himself of his enormous supplies of water transportation, of moving by +the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers on Forts Henry and Donelson, by a +successful attack on those works, turning the flank of the Confederate +forces at Bowling Green, opening the way to Nashville, and possibly +enabling him to interpose between the Southern armies and their base +of operations. To guard against this latter movement, the divisions of +Generals Floyd and Pillow, and a portion of the division of General +Buckner, were, about the 20th of January, moved, by way of +Clarksville, to the support of Donelson. With this force marched the +2d Kentucky Regiment, which, after covering itself with imperishable +glory in the terrible combat, of three days, at Fort Donelson, was, on +the 16th of February, surrendered to the enemy; and passing into +captivity, ceased to participate in the campaign of the spring and +summer of 1862. + +By the 10th of February, definite information had been obtained by +General Johnston of the movements of the enemy. He was convinced that +an overpowering force had moved upon Forts Donelson and Henry; that a +heavy column was pursuing Crittenden, after defeating and routing him +at Fishing Creek, threatening Nashville on that flank; and that a +force almost as large as the Confederate force at Bowling Green was +held in hand by the enemy, to be poured across Green river and attack +him in front, while the two bodies on his right and left united at +Nashville and closed upon his rear. With the promptness and decision +which characterized his high and serenely courageous mind, General +Johnston determined to retire from Bowling Green and fall back on +Nashville, where, uniting with the garrisons and troops in defense of +Forts Donelson and Henry, should those places be found to be +untenable, he could hold the divisions of the Federal General, Grant, +in check, while he went to the assistance of Crittenden, and crushed +the Federal column advancing by way of Cumberland Gap. The +fortifications of Bowling Green were with every expedition +dismantled; the government stores shipped as rapidly as possible to +Nashville, and on the 9th of February an order was issued by Major +General Hardee, commanding the central army of Kentucky, directing +Generals Hindman and Breckinridge to repass the Barren river and be in +Bowling Green by the night of the 10th. The admirable discipline which +General Breckinridge had exercised and maintained in and over his +command, enabled him to comply promptly with the order, without +confusion and with no loss of stores, equipments, or supplies. His +brigade, marching at 8 o'clock A. M., on the 10th passed Barren river +bridge at 3 P. M., and bivouacked three miles south of Bowling Green +for the night. Hindman, being farther in the rear, lost a few of his +scouts, and had hardly time to blow up the bridges over Barren river +when the head of the enemy's column came into sight, and immediately +commenced shelling the railroad depot and that portion of the track on +which were lying the freight trains. These they succeeded in firing +finally. + +When the retreat of the army commenced, Breckinridge's brigade was +constituted the rear guard--General Hardee, however, being still in +rear with the cavalry and light artillery. Notwithstanding the fact +that cold, freezing, and intensely inclement weather set in; +notwithstanding the fact that evidences of the demoralization which a +retreat in the presence of an enemy always produces were too apparent +in many divisions of the army, yet the soldierly manner in which +Breckinridge brought off his brigade, losing not a straggler from the +ranks, not a musket or a tent, speaks more creditably for him and for +them than the recital perhaps of their deeds of daring in the field +could do. + +In truth, history records no sadder tale than the retreat of the +Kentuckians from their native State. For the rest of the army there +was yet hope. Far to the South lay their homesteads, and their +families rested still in security. Between those homesteads and those +families and the advancing foe were innumerable places where battle +might be successfully offered, or where at least the sons of the South +might rear a rampart of their bodies over which the invader could not +pass. Time, political complications, mutations of fortune, to which +the most successful commanders are liable, might at any time +transform the triumph of the Northmen into disaster and defeat. Months +must elapse before the advancing columns of the enemy could reach the +South, and ere that time arrived pestilence and malarious disease +would, amid the fens and swamps of the gulf States, be crouching in +their lair, ready to issue forth and grapple with the rash intruders +from a more salubrious clime. But for the Kentuckians all was +apparently lost. Behind their retiring regiments were the graves of +their fathers, and the hearthstones about which clustered every happy +memory of their childhood; there, in the possession of the invader, +were the rooftrees beneath which were gathered wives who, with a +wifely smile gleaming even through their tears, had bidden their +husbands go forth to do battle for the right, promising to greet them +with glad hearts when they returned in the hour of triumph; there were +the fair faces which for many in that band had made the starlight of +their young lives; there were young and helpless children, for whom +the future promised but suffering, poverty, destitution, and want; +there, too, were the thousands who had with anxious and waiting +hearts, groaning beneath the yoke of the oppressor, counted the hours +until the footsteps of their deliverers should be heard. On the 13th +of February the brigade crossed the line between Kentucky and +Tennessee; a night in which rain and sleet fell incessantly was +succeeded by a day of intense and bitter cold. Everything which could +contribute to crush the spirits and weaken the nerves of men, seemed +to have combined. But for those dauntless hearts, the bitterness of +sacrifice, the weakness of doubt and uncertainty had passed, when, by +a common impulse, the General, his staff, and the field officers +dismounted, and, placing themselves on foot at the head of the column, +with sad and solemn countenances, but with erect and soldierly +bearing, marched for hours in the advance; and then was observed, for +the first time in that brigade, through every grade and every rank, +the look of high resolve and stern fortitude, which, amid all the +vicissitudes of its fortunes characterized the appearance of its +members, and attracted the attention and comment of observers in every +State through which it passed. Henceforth for them petty physical +discomforts, inconveniences of position, annoyances of inclement +weather, scantiness of supplies, rudeness of fare, were nothing; they +felt that they could not pass away until a great day should come which +they looked forward to with unshaken confidence, and with patient +watchfulness. They might never again dispense in their loved native +State the generous hospitality which had become renowned throughout +the continent; what remained to them of life might be passed in penury +and in exile. Their countrymen might never know how they had lived or +where they had died; venal historians might even teach the rising +generation to brand their memories with the stigma of treason and +shame, but a day was yet to come of the triumph of which they felt +they could not be deprived; days, weeks, months might elapse, they +could bide their time. State after State might have to be traversed, +great rivers might have to be passed, mountain ranges surmounted, +hunger and thirst endured, but the day and the hour would surely come +when with serried ranks they should meet the foe, and their hearts +burning with the memory of inexpiable wrongs, should, in the presence +of the God of battles, demand and exact a terrible reckoning for all +they had endured and all they had suffered. + +The night of the 14th was passed at Camp Trousdale, where summer +barracks, which had been erected to accommodate the Tennessee +volunteers stationed there for instruction, afforded but inadequate +protection against the bitter cold of the night. These were the next +night burned by the cavalry which covered the retreat, and afforded to +the people of Tennessee the first evidence that their State was about +to be invaded. The spirits of the army, however, were cheered by the +accounts which General Johnston, with thoughtful care, forwarded, by +means of couriers, daily, of the successful resistance of Fort +Donelson. The entire army bivouacked in line of battle on the night of +the 15th at the junction of the Gallatin and Nashville, and Bowling +Green and Nashville roads, about ten miles from Nashville. It was +confidently believed that by means of boats, a large portion of the +force would be sent to the relief of Fort Donelson. But on the morning +of the 16th, it began to be whispered, first, among the higher +officers, spreading thence, in spite of every precaution, to the +ranks, that Donelson not only had fallen, but that the divisions of +Floyd, Pillow, and Buckner had been surrendered as prisoners of war. +Rumors of the wildest nature flew from regiment to regiment, the enemy +were coming upon transports to Nashville--the bridges were being +destroyed--the forts below the city were already surrendered--the +retreat of the army was cut off--and as if to confirm the rumors, +during the entire morning, the explosion of heavy artillery was heard +in front and in the direction of Nashville. This proved to be caused +by the firing of guns at Fort Zollicoffer, which, after having being +heavily charged, were, with their muzzles in the earth, exploded to +destroy them. At 4 P. M., on the 16th, the head of the brigade came in +sight of the bridges at Nashville, across which, in dense masses, were +streaming infantry, artillery, and transportation and provision +trains, but still with a regularity and order which gave promise of +renewed activity and efficiency in the future. At nightfall General +Johnston, who had established his head-quarters at Edgefield, on the +northern bank of the Cumberland, saw the last of his wearied and tired +columns defile across and safely establish themselves beyond. + +Amid all the disasters and gloom of the retreat, the great captain had +abundant cause of self-gratulation and confidence. He had reached +Kentucky in October of the previous year to find the plan of +occupation of the State to be upon three parallel lines of invasion, +and yet all dependent upon a single point as the base of operations +and the depot of supplies. Vicious and faulty as these unforeseen +events proved it to have been, he had made the most of the situation. +He found an army of hastily levied volunteers, badly equipped, +miserably clad, fully one half stricken down by disease, destitute of +transportation, and with barely the shadow of discipline. Never able +to wield more than eighteen thousand fighting men at and around +Bowling Green, with these men he held at bay a force of the enemy of +fully one hundred thousand men. The Southern States were protected +from invasion. Time was obtained to drill and consolidate the +volunteer force. The army was sustained in the fertile and abundant +grain-producing regions of Kentucky, transportation gathered of the +most efficient character, immense supplies of beef, corn, and pork +collected from the surrounding country and safely garnered in depots +further South for the coming summer campaign; and when, finally, the +defeat of Crittenden, and the overwhelming attack on Donelson had +apparently cut off his retreat, leaving him eighty miles in front of +his base of operations and his magazines, he had with promptness, +unrivaled military sagacity, and yet with mingled caution and +celerity, dismantled his fortifications at Bowling Green, transmitted +his heavy artillery and ammunition to Nashville, and extricated his +entire army from the jaws of almost certain annihilation and capture. +The enemy came from the capture of Fort Donelson, in which he had lost +in killed and wounded a force equal to the entire garrison of the +place, to see, to his astonishment, an army in his front undismayed, +and held in hand by a General who had just displayed to the world +military qualities of the highest order, and a genius for strategy +which seemed to anticipate all his plans and as readily to baffle +them. In the capture of the army defending Donelson the Confederacy +lost, as prisoners of war, the gallant and idolized Buckner, Hanson +and his splendid regiment, and many Kentuckians connected with the +staff of those officers. + +The night of February 16th found the army encamped safely upon the +Murfreesboro and Nashville road; but it found the city of Nashville in +a condition of wild and frantic anarchy. + +The Capital of Tennessee, Nashville, contained, ordinarily, a +population of about 30,000 souls. The revolution had made it the +rendezvous of thousands fleeing from Kentucky, Missouri, and Western +Virginia. So great was the throng of strangers, that lodging could be +with difficulty procured at any price. Every house was filled and +overflowing, boarding was held at fabulous prices, and private +citizens whose wealth would, under most circumstances, have secured +their domesticity from intrusion, were, perforce, compelled to +accommodate and shelter strangers whom the misfortunes of exile and +persecution had thrown upon the world. Many business houses and +warehouses had been transformed into hospitals for the sick soldiery +of the forces in Kentucky. So great was the influx of invalids that in +many private families as many as three and four of the sick were to be +found. Here, too, were brought hundreds of artificers and artisans, +the government having established manufactories of various kinds to +supply the wants of the army. In no single city of the Confederacy was +to be found so large and so varied a supply of all those articles +which are essential to the maintenance of a large and well-appointed +army. During the fall and winter, under government patronage and +assistance, many thousands of hogs and bullocks had been slaughtered +and packed. These were stored in the city. Immense magazines of +ammunitions, of arms, large and small, of ordnance stores, of +clothing, of camp equipage, were located here. Capacious warehouses +were filled with rice, flour, sugar, molasses, and coffee, to the +value of many millions of dollars. The Chief Quarter-Master and +Commissary were accustomed to fill at once the requisitions of the +armies of Kentucky and of Missouri, of Texas and the Gulf. It may be +safely estimated that, at the fall of Donelson, Nashville had crowded +within its limits not less than sixty thousand residents. It never +seems to have occurred to the citizens, or, indeed, the government, +that Nashville was really in danger. A few unimportant and valueless +earth-works had been thrown up, looking to its defense, but no +systematic plan of fortification had been fixed upon or followed up; +nothing but the situation of Fort Donelson, on the State line, +prevented the enemy's gunboats, or even his unarmed transports, from +coming up to the city and mooring at its wharves. + +On Sunday morning, as the citizens were summoned by the church bells +to the various houses of worship in the city, congratulations were +joyously exchanged upon the successful defense of Fort Donelson. Ere +the hours of morning devotion had expired, the news of its fall came +like a clap of thunder in a summer sky. The most excited and +improbable stories were circulated, yet no exaggeration, no +improbability, seemed too monstrous to command credence. Donelson was +more than an hundred miles down the river, yet it was insisted that +the enemy's boats were within a few miles of the city. The passage of +the army across the Cumberland and through the town added to the +general panic and confusion. Consternation, terror, and shameful +cowardice seemed to have seized alike upon the unthinking multitude +and the officers who were expected to evince fortitude and manliness; +and now commenced a wild and frantic struggle for escape. Thousands +who had never borne arms, who were, by all the laws of civilized +warfare, exempt from the penalties of hostilities, were impressed with +the conviction that the safety of their lives depended upon escaping +from the doomed Capital. On all the railroads from the city trains +were hourly run, bearing fugitives a few miles into the interior. The +country roads were thronged with vehicles of every character and +description; the hire of hacks rose to ten, twenty, fifty, even an +hundred dollars for two or three hours' use. Night brought no +cessation of the tumult. It rained in torrents, but all through the +night might be seen carriages, wagons, drays, and tumbrils crowded +with affrighted men and their families. Tender and delicate women, +feeble and carefully nurtured children, were to be found, exposed to +the inclemencies of the weather, in open carts and wagons, abandoning +luxurious and costly houses for the precarious sustenance of doubtful +and uncertain charity in their flights. Nor was the disgraceful panic +confined to non-combatants or timid citizens. Men who had gained high +reputation for courage and presence of mind seemed to have ignored +every sentiment of manliness in their indecent haste to secure safety; +nay, some who were high in military position, whose province and whose +duty it was, peculiarly and particularly, to guard public property and +protect government stores, used their official position to obtain +trains of cars upon which were packed their household furniture, their +carriages, their horses, and their private effects; and having +effected this, they made haste to be gone. + +Troops were left in the city by order of Gen. Johnston, but the mob +spirit rose triumphant. For many days the store-houses of the +government stood open and abandoned by their proper custodians. Every +one was at liberty to help himself to what he desired; and it may well +be supposed that the thousands who crowded the streets were not slow +to avail themselves of the privilege. Not only were hundreds of +thousands of dollars' worth of provisions carried away and +sequestered, but the very streets and highways were strewn with bales +and packages of raiment and clothing hastily taken away and as +recklessly abandoned. It was currently estimated that public property +to the value of at least five millions of dollars was dissipated and +destroyed in a few hours. There were not wanting, however, noble and +brilliant examples of firmness, courage, and forethought. On Tuesday +following the surrender, the wagonmaster of the 2d Kentucky Regiment +reached the head-quarters of the Kentucky Brigade with fourteen empty +wagons with which he had escaped from Fort Donelson. These the gallant +Breckinridge loaded with supplies of subsistence and clothing, which +were the means of comfort to his command months after the abandonment +of Nashville. Even when the enemy was hourly expected in the city he +might have been seen on the northern bank of the Cumberland +superintending the transit of herds of well kept cattle brought from +Kentucky, that his command might be furnished with fresh rations +during their further retreat. + +Slowly and steadily the army fell back from Nashville until, on the +22d of February, it reached Murfreesboro. Effecting then a junction +with the army of General Crittenden, which had retreated from Fishing +Creek, and for the first time since the departure from Bowling Green, +General Johnston found himself in condition to offer and accept battle +from the enemy. + +It was evident to the great man who commanded the department of the +West that he could not linger in Tennessee. He was doubtless able to +successfully resist the force under Gen. Buell which had now occupied +Nashville, but it was well known that none of the force occupied in +the reduction of Donelson had ascended the river. With unlimited +supplies of water transportation, nothing was easier than for them to +pass round the peninsula, and, ascending the Tennessee river, land a +force in his rear and place him in the same dilemma from which he had +just so skillfully extracted his army. A retreat behind the Tennessee +was inevitable, and the strategical position he occupied at +Murfreesboro opened to him three routes. He might pass over to the +turnpike road from Nashville, through Columbia and Pulaski, parallel +with the railroad, and cross at Florence, or, throwing himself into +the mountain passes of Eastern Tennessee, in their wild gorges and +rugged ravines, he might defy pursuit and retreat upon Chattanooga. +This, however, would have been a virtual abandonment of the +Mississippi and its valley. Still a third route was open. Due south +from Murfreesboro ran a road through a comparatively unfrequented +country, passing directly through Huntsville to Decatur, on the +southern bank of the Tennessee river. While this route offered the +advantage of a middle course between the two great lines of +macadamized roads east and west of him, enabling him, in case of +necessity, to pass over to either; it was not without objections. +Lying, for the most part, through cultivated and deep bottoms, on the +edge of Northern Alabama, it rises abruptly to cross the great plateau +thrown out from the Cumberland Mountains, here nearly a thousand feet +above the surrounding country, and full forty miles in width, covered +with dense forests of timber, yet barren and sterile in soil, and +wholly destitute of supplies for either man or beast. Two weeks of +unintermitting rain had softened the earth until the surface resembled +a vast swamp; but along this route the Commander-in-Chief determined +to pass; and, after occupying a week in reorganizing his army, a cloud +of cavalry, consisting of Morgan's Squadron, the 1st Kentucky Cavalry, +the Texas Rangers, Wirt Adams', Scott's, and Forrest's regiments were +thrown out in the direction of the enemy, with orders, as they fell +back, to burn the cotton and destroy the bridges; and the further +retreat thus commenced. + +History records no example of a retreat conducted with such success +under such adverse circumstances. Rain continued to fall almost +without intermission; it was spring, the season most unpropitious for +transits over country roads, and the passage of such numbers of horses +and wagons, rendered the route literally a river of liquid mud. For +miles at times the wagons would be submerged in ooze and mire up to +the hubs of their wheels, while the saturated condition of the earth +rendered comfortable encampments impossible. The ascent of the +plateau, although only about two miles of distance, consumed a day for +each brigade, and time was everything to men in their condition; yet +steadily, earnestly, hopefully, they toiled on until, on the 10th of +March, the head of the army had reached a point within three miles of +Decatur, but with the Tennessee swollen far beyond its banks, flooding +the country for miles in every direction, and sweeping with resistless +force over the roads and fords. Happily, at this point, the Memphis +and Charleston Railroad crossed the Tennessee; and, as a precaution +against its freshets, the railroad company had constructed an +embankment fifty feet in height and two miles in length on which were +laid their rails; this embankment was still ten or twelve feet above +the surrounding waters, and reached to the terminus of the bridge. Its +narrow width of seven feet precluded the possibility of anything like +orderly movement; but over it were passed the infantry and cavalry +without cessation either day or night. The artillery and +baggage-wagons were placed on platform cars, and at a given signal the +track was cleared while they were run to and over the bridge. +Patience, perseverance, and indomitable will finally accomplished the +work, and on the 16th the Kentucky Brigade, bringing up the rear of +the army, marched through Decatur. A month had elapsed since the fall +of Donelson, but the army was at last behind the Tennessee, and all +was not yet lost. Still the danger was not yet over. The enemy +commanded the river and might, by vigorous movements, prevent the +junction of the army of Central Kentucky with that of General +Beauregard, which had fallen back from Columbus, in Kentucky, and was +now endeavoring to unite with that under General Johnston. In truth, +it seemed that, if the enemy was prompt and vigorous in his movements, +this would be impossible. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad runs +nearly due east and west, pursuing for ninety miles an almost parallel +course with the Tennessee river--never diverging from it more than +twenty miles, and in many places approaching to within eight or ten. +Numerous streams which drain the country and empty into the main river +were crossed by it, and on the margins of these streams are almost +invariably found swamps requiring heavy trestle-work to support the +rail. A little celerity on the part of the enemy might at any hour +enable him to destroy a section of this trestle-work, and thus cut off +the communication. To transport the army by the country roads was +impossible, the torrent-like rains which had impeded the progress of +the army through Tennessee had continued to fall after the passage of +the river. In many places the country was covered with sheets of water +too deep to be forded, while the roads, not thus submerged, were +impassable for horsemen. It was difficult for the various corps to +pass far enough from Decatur to find encampments. Within a mile of the +town might be counted scores of wagons, on the various roads, sunk to +their beds in mire, and which the quagmire of oozing earth around them +prevented the possibility of unloading. Hindman's brigade of Arkansas +troops was thrown forward by rail to Courtland immediately. Crittenden +was pushed beyond him to Iuka, and on the 21st the Kentucky Brigade, +under General Breckinridge, was dispatched, with its field pieces, +ammunition, and baggage, to Burnsville, within fifteen miles of +Corinth, by cars, while the horses and wagons were sent to struggle +through as best they could on the dirt roads. + +The remainder of the army was gradually pushed on to Corinth, meeting +there the army of Beauregard, and confidence and hope were once more +restored. The danger of an immediate surprise was over; but the +greatest vigilance was necessary to meet and prevent the enemy from +landing in force, and, by strength of numbers, accomplishing that +which he had failed to do by celerity of movement. For several days +his gunboats swept up and down the Tennessee river, shelling the +banks, and apparently seeking a favorable point to disembark from his +transports. The little village of Eastport, situated some eight miles +from Iuka, it was supposed, offered him peculiar advantages, and +preparations were made to resist him by throwing up earth-works, and +placing in position two thirty-two pounders. He continued, however, to +make feints, landing a few regiments at various points, but almost +immediately withdrawing them, until information was received, which +convinced the Commander-in-Chief that the attack of the enemy would be +on Corinth, where is located the junction of the Mobile and Ohio +Railroad with the Charleston and Memphis Railroad. Meantime, the +greater portion of the division of General Crittenden, composed of +Statham's brigade and Bowen's brigade, was sent forward to Burnsville, +and ordered to report to General Breckinridge. Hindman's force had +passed on to Corinth, and was now incorporated with, and formed part +of, the corps d'armee of General Hardee. Scouts were kept constantly +reconnoitering the roads leading to the Tennessee river, and vigorous +efforts made to bring the army to a high state of efficiency in +discipline and equipment. The enemy, it was now known, had landed +seven divisions of his army, amounting to about forty-two thousand +men, at a point on the Tennessee river, near Pittsburg Landing, and +was now encamped in position, his right resting on a small stream +called Owl Creek, and his left on Lick Creek, the streams running +nearly parallel to each other, four miles apart. To meet and crush +this force, or cripple it before General Buell, with his army, which +was advancing through Tennessee, could reinforce it, was the object of +the Commander-in-Chief, preparatory to which, his army was +re-organized and cast into four divisions or corps. + +The first, under General Bragg, consisted of 9,422 men. + +The second, under General Polk, numbered 4,855 men. + +The third corps was commanded by General Hardee, 15,524 men. + +And the reserve, consisting of the Kentucky Brigade, Statham's +brigade, and Bowen's brigade, amounted, according to the returns in +the Adjutant General's office, on the night of April the 5th, to 6,894 +men, commanded by Brigadier General John C. Breckinridge. The cavalry +amounted to three thousand. + +Two roads, the one from Corinth, the other from Burnsville, lead to +Pittsburg Landing; they unite on a ridge four miles from the river, +and thence the road, gradually descending a long slope, leads to the +Tennessee, along a spur of the hilly range, with lateral slopes, to +Lick Creek on the one side and Owl Creek on the other. The whole +tongue of land between these streams is densely wooded with unbroken +forests; and as it approaches within a mile of the river, is covered, +in addition, with a thick mass of undergrowth sweeping to its banks. +On this unfavorable ground the battle was to be fought. On the morning +of April the 4th, at 3 o'clock, A. M., the reserve corps marched from +Burnsville, by way of Farmington and Monterey, expecting to reach the +point of junction of the two roads that night. A heavy rain storm, +however, obstructed its progress, as well as that of the other +divisions of the army, and it was not until the night of the 5th of +April that it reached the junction. Rations had been provided for +three days, but no tents and no baggage were taken--the want of which +added greatly to the discomfort of the commands, and rendered many +unfit for duty. The delay and the tired condition of the troops on the +night of the 5th caused a difference of opinion to prevail at the +council of war as to the propriety of attacking; but General Johnston +determined to proceed. The other divisions had, on the night of the +5th, reached the positions assigned them, and were posted thus: the +third corps formed the first line of battle, its right resting on Lick +Creek and its left on Owl Creek, and bivouacked in order of battle +within half a mile of the enemy, who seems to have been unconscious of +the blow about to be struck. In rear of that the first corps, under +General Bragg, bivouacked in order of battle a quarter of a mile +distant. The second corps, under General Polk, was massed in column of +brigades on the road from Corinth, immediately in rear of the junction +with the Monterey road, and had orders to move up and form in line of +battle as soon as the troops in advance had moved on sufficiently, +while the reserve corps, under General Breckinridge, was massed in +column of brigades on the Monterey road, with orders to move when +General Polk's corps had passed, and hold itself subject to the +contingencies of the day. At 5 o'clock, A. M., on the morning of April +6th, General Hardee drove in the pickets of the enemy, and the +terrible battle of Shiloh commenced. Steadily and irresistibly he +swept on, driving the enemy before him, until the camps were reached, +where the resistance became most desperate. The second line of battle, +under General Bragg, had by this time been brought up and intermingled +with the first line, and the central advanced camp of the enemy was +abandoned by him only, however, that he might make the more stubborn +resistance behind it and in front of the others. Observing an attempt +of the enemy to flank on the extreme left, General Beauregard sent +orders to detach the Kentucky Brigade, and send it to that point. This +was done--the command now devolving upon Colonel Robt. P. Trabue, +Colonel of the 4th Kentucky and senior Colonel of the brigade. During +the whole of that bloody day, from 9 o'clock, when it became engaged, +it maintained the reputation of its native State, and slowly but +surely pushed back the force opposed to it. It never gave way or was +broken, though terribly cut to pieces; it never charged that it did +not break the ranks of the army; and it was found, when the action +closed in the evening, after ten hours of continuous fighting, in the +front rank of the army. It will be necessary to refer more +particularly to its movements as we progress. Owing to the dense mass +of the undergrowth the troops were brought in close proximity to each +other, and the firing was consequently destructive, murderous, and +deadly. + +Two o'clock had arrived; the whole army was and had been engaged for +hours, with the exception of Bowen's and Statham's brigades of the +reserve corps. The enemy had been driven through, and from half of his +camps, but refused to give back further. Giving way on his right and +left wings, he had massed his force heavily in the centre, and poured +an almost unintermitting hail of fire, murderous beyond description, +from his covert of trees and bushes, when General Breckinridge was +ordered up to break his line. Having been most of the day in +observation on the Hamburg road, marching in column of regiments, the +reserve was now moved by the left flank, until opposite the point of +attack, rapidly deployed in line of battle, Statham's brigade forming +the right and Bowen's the left. The long slope of the ridge was here +abruptly broken by a succession of small hills or undulations of about +fifty feet in height, dividing the rolling country from the river +bottom, and behind the crest of the last of these the enemy was +concealed; opposite them, at the distance of seventy-five yards, was +another long swell or hillock, the summit of which it was necessary to +attain in order to open fire; and to this elevation the reserve moved, +in order of battle, at a double-quick. In an instant the opposing +height was one sheet of flame. Battle's Tennessee regiment, on the +extreme right, gallantly maintained itself, pushing forward under a +withering fire and establishing itself well in advance. Little's +Tennessee regiment, next to it, delivered its fire at random and +inefficiently, became disordered, and retired in confusion down the +slope. Three times it was rallied by its Lieutenant Colonel, assisted +by Colonel T. T. Hawkins, Aid-de-Camp to General Breckinridge, and by +the Adjutant General, and carried up the slope, only to be as often +repulsed and driven back--the regiment of the enemy opposed to it, in +the intervals, directing an oblique fire upon Battle's regiment, now +contending against overwhelming odds. The crisis of the contest had +come; there were no more reserves, and General Breckinridge determined +to charge. Calling his staff around him, he communicated to them his +intentions, and remarked that he, with them, would lead it. They were +all Kentuckians, and although it was not their privilege to fight that +day with the Kentucky Brigade, they were men who knew how to die +bravely among strangers, and some, at least, would live to do justice +to the rest. The Commander-in-Chief, General Albert Sidney Johnston, +rode up at this juncture, and learning the contemplated movement, +determined to accompany it. Placing himself on the left of Little's +regiment, his commanding figure in full uniform, conspicuous to every +eye, he waited the signal. General Breckinridge, disposing his staff +along the line, rode to the right of the same regiment, and with a +wild shout, which rose high above the din of battle, on swept the +line, through a storm of fire, over the hill, across the intervening +ravine, and up the slope occupied by the enemy. Nothing could +withstand it. The enemy broke and fled for half a mile, hotly pursued, +until he reached the shelter of his batteries. Well did the +Kentuckians sustain that day their honor and their fame. Of the little +band of officers who started on that forlorn hope, but one was +unscathed, the gallant Breckinridge himself. Colonel Hawkins was +wounded in the face; Captain Allen's leg was torn to pieces by a +shell; the horses of the fearless boy, Cabell Breckinridge, and of the +Adjutant General, were killed under them, and General Johnston was +lifted dying from his saddle. It may well be doubted whether the +success, brilliant as it was, decisive as it was, compensated for the +loss of the great Captain. + +Few men have moved upon the stage of public life who have been the +peers of Albert Sidney Johnston. Tall and commanding in person, of +gentle and winning address, he was the most unassuming of men; yet his +mind was cast in nature's largest mould; possessed of that high and +serene courage which no reverses or trials could overcome, patient in +difficulties, earnest in effort, firm in purpose, he had been invested +by the President with the powers of a Pro-Consul. His sway extended +from the Alleghenies to the western confines of Texas. Supervising the +movements of five separate armies, in countries hundreds of miles +apart, his capacious mind embraced the details of all, while +exercising almost unlimited authority over four millions of people. No +stain of personal or selfish ambition rests upon his noble character. +The nation and the army felt that there was always hope while Sidney +Johnston lived, and yet his death was not without a grand and crowning +triumph. Well he knew the battle must be won; fully as well he knew, +to win the battle, that charge must be successful. The last vision +which fell upon his glazing sight was the flying ranks of the enemy; +the last sound which struck upon his ears, now sealing in death, was +the exultant shouts of his army, telling him that the field was won, +which he believed secured the triumph of the cause for which he +offered up his life. + + Pure and lofty had been the great soldier's life; + Grand and worthy even of himself was his death. + +The general repulse of the enemy had now thrown the reserve on the +extreme right of the Confederate line. Far on the left might be heard +the musketry of the Kentucky Brigade and the roar of its artillery as +it pushed its columns forward. It was fighting its way to its gallant +General, and the hour was drawing near when they were to meet in the +pride of glorious success. General Bragg, observing that behind the +right flank of the enemy dense masses of troops were massed, from +which reserves were drawn to sustain his line, concentrated the fire +of his batteries, loaded with spherical case and shell, upon them. The +effect was magical. The right of the enemy broke and fled, the centre +followed, then the left wing; and charging along the whole line, the +Confederate army swept through the camps of the enemy, capturing three +thousand prisoners and driving the Federal force cowering beneath the +shelter of the iron-clad gunboats; and then and there, in the full +fruition of success, the Kentucky Brigade and its General met for the +first time during that bloody day since their separation in the +morning, both covered with glory; both proud of and gratified with +each other. The terrible day of reckoning so long and so patiently +waited for had come at last; and as they strode over the field of +blood their pathway to vengeance had been lit by the gleam of bayonets +and the lurid glare of the cannon's flash. The greatest conflict which +as yet had taken place between the sections had been won by the +scorned and despised "Southern mob." For fifteen hours they steadily +drove before them the finest army of the Federal Government. Superior +in numbers, in discipline, in arms, and equipments, the army of Grant +had lost its camps, its baggage, provisions and supplies, and the +panic-stricken remnant of it huddled cowering under the banks of the +Tennessee, only protected from total annihilation by the gunboats +lying in the stream, a disorganized and terror-stricken mob, while +its dead and wounded lay in thousands for miles behind the Confederate +army. By some fatal misapprehension of those in authority, which it is +useless now to discuss, the full fruits of the victory were not +gathered. The Confederate army paused when it had only to stretch +forth its hands and grasp as prisoners of war the whole hostile force. +Night fell quickly over the scene of carnage, and the tired heroes, +worn out with the long and harassing march of the preceding days, and +the fifteen hours of mortal combat, sank, by regiments and brigades, +upon the blood-soaked earth, amid the dead and dying, to sleep--a +sleep so deep and profound that not even the groans of the wounded, or +the deep boom of the heavy guns of the enemy, which were fired during +the whole night, could break or disturb it. No record exists of a +contest between such numbers of men in a country so densely wooded and +in a space so confined. Brilliant generalship General Johnston +undoubtedly displayed in surprising the enemy, and in the skill with +which he handled raw troops, hurling mass after mass upon the enemy +and beating him in detail; but there was neither room nor opportunity +for strategy or maneuvre--it was a death grapple of man to man--stern +and deadly combat in which the men of the South maintained their long +and proud pre-eminence. + +During the night, General Buell with a fresh army of twenty-five +thousand men, nearly as large as the Confederate army originally was, +came up, hastily crossed the river, and threw himself in front of the +army defeated on the 6th. The Confederate army, in the meantime, after +despoiling the Federal camps, had been withdrawn beyond them and +formed anew in order of battle. Skirmishing commenced at 6 o'clock, +A. M., but the engagement did not become general until 9 o'clock, +A. M., from which time, until 2 P. M., the Northern armies were again, +as on the day before, steadily driven back through its camps and +forced towards the river. A heavy and continuous rain had commenced +falling at midnight after the battle of the 6th, and continued until +near daylight. The effect of this upon men wearied and exhausted, as +was the Southern army, was terrible. The wounded who had fallen late +in the evening, and near the enemy's lines, could not be recovered; +they were consequently exposed during the entire night, and endured +sufferings of the most agonizing character. It was impossible, too, in +the darkness and confusion, to reform the lines for a night bivouac +with that accuracy desirable in such critical circumstances, and the +proximity of the abandoned camps of the enemy afforded a temptation to +straggling which, in too many cases, proved irresistible, and, as was +seen during the battle of the next day, demoralized many corps, and +impaired the efficiency, to a great extent, of the army, and it may, +with truth, be said, led to the loss of the second day's battle. So +great, indeed, had been the diminution of the ranks by death, wounds, +and straggling, that at no time during the contest of the 7th was +General Beauregard enabled to bring more than fifteen thousand +effective men to hand in battle. The army of the enemy under General +Grant had been totally defeated, and had only escaped complete rout +and annihilation by its inability to cross the Tennessee river, and +the protection of the gunboats; thousands had been slain, thousands +wounded, thousands captured, and thousands demoralized, but in a force +so large as it originally was (estimated by its own officers at +forty-two thousand men) there were, of course, large masses capable of +effective service on Monday; to these was to be added the force of +Buell of twenty-five thousand fresh troops, and it may be safely +estimated that, notwithstanding the reverse of Sunday, and the immense +loss of the enemy on that day, he took the field on Monday with quite +forty thousand combatants, or nearly three times the Southern force. +The leaders of the Confederate army were fully advised of the +reinforcement, and of the peril which threatened the Confederate army +in a second conflict in its exhausted condition, but they deemed it +necessary to cripple this force before withdrawing from the field. + +The Kentucky Brigade which had preserved, to a great extent, its +organization and discipline, was again stationed upon the extreme +left. Its battery of artillery, commanded by Capt. Byrne (Cobb's +battery having on Sunday been destroyed in battle), was engaged for +three hours with two batteries of the enemy--firing during the duel +more than one thousand cartridges, and finally silenced both. The +infantry, drawn up in order of battle as a support to the battery, +stood enthusiastic spectators of the tremendous cannonade; and, +although frequently suffering severely from the grape of the enemy, +more than once broke spontaneously into a shout of encouragement and +admiration at the gallant manner in which Byrne handled his guns. The +enemy hurled charge after charge of infantry against it, but +unsuccessfully. The fifth regiment of infantry, commanded by Col. +Thos. H. Hunt, charged in turn, routing the opposing force, but with +some loss to its force, losing many valuable officers. Colonel Robert +Trabue, of the 4th Kentucky Regiment, as senior Colonel of the +brigade, commanded it on this, as on the preceding day, with +conspicuous gallantry and marked soldiery ability. + +But there is a limit to human endurance. The battle of the 7th was +fought by General Beauregard with but fifteen thousand men. Exhausted by +the struggle of the preceding day, he had received no reinforcements, +and he determined, at 2 o'clock, P. M., to withdraw. In good order, and +with the precision of a parade, division after division was withdrawn. +General Breckinridge, with his own brigade and Statham's brigade, +bringing up the rear, and bivouacking at the summit of the ridge, during +the night, within sight of the enemy's lines. A soaking rain fell all +night upon the wearied troops of the rear guard, while the rest of the +army slowly made its way to Corinth. + +Many of the noblest of the sons of Kentucky had fallen; but +conspicuous in position and character were two men who, in the same +discharge, in the same regiment, and within a few feet of each other, +fell mortally wounded. + +George W. Johnson, of Scott county, Kentucky, had passed more than +forty years of his life in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. +Singularly modest and retiring in demeanor, he had seemed to scorn the +turmoil of public life and the undignified contest for public place. +The soul of honor and high integrity, he was respected by all who came +in contact with him. Earnest and sincere in purpose, his course in all +things was open, to a proverb; cultivated in mind, he was a profound +thinker, if not an active participator, in national politics. Early in +the history of secession he had arrived at the conclusion that the +separation was final; and with all the earnestness of his +straightforward nature he had urged that Kentucky should share the +fate and cast her fortunes with the South. When it was evident that +the Legislature of Kentucky had sold and bartered her honor to the +Federal Government, he promptly abandoned home and its tranquil +enjoyments to cast his lot with those of his countrymen, who were +gathering at Bowling Green to resist the attempt at coercion; and yet +in an act of revolution, the strong reverence of the man for law, +order, and regular government, manifested itself. Mainly and almost +wholly to his efforts is due the formation of the Provisional +Government of Kentucky, of which he was elected the head; and when the +army retreated from Kentucky, gathering his Council around him, he +accompanied it in all its vicissitudes and movements. On Sunday, +during the battle of Shiloh, he served as a volunteer Aid-de-Camp to +the commanding officer of the Kentucky Brigade, until his horse was +killed under him, when, seizing a musket, he took his place in the +ranks of the 4th regiment and fought on foot during the remainder of +the day. Monday morning found him in the same humble position, +assuming all the duties and sharing all the dangers of a simple +private in the ranks. At eleven o'clock he fell, shot through the +body, remaining alone and unaided on the field while the army fell +back, and during the long and inclement night which succeeded. He was +found on the morning of Tuesday by the enemy, and died in his camp. +None who knew him can doubt that through the long hours of that day of +agony, and the silent stillness of that night of suffering and pain, +his great heart was consoled by the conviction of the swift coming +independence of his country. + +Thos. B. Monroe had early entered public life. His firmness of +character, depth of information, and brilliancy of talent, indicated +him as a leader of men in the first hours of his manhood. Called +before he was thirty years of age to the Secretaryship of State, he +had zealously and determinedly advocated the secession of the State. +Disappointed, as were thousands of others, at her lukewarmness, he had +resigned the Secretaryship, and, making his way through the lines of +the Federal army to Bowling Green, had been appointed Major of the 4th +Kentucky Regiment. The promise of his military career equaled that of +his civil life. A few weeks only was necessary to place him high in +the estimation of the senior officers of the army, and to win for him +the unbounded confidence of his men. He fell, mortally wounded, within +a few feet of Governor Johnson, and died on the field of battle, +bequeathing his sword to his infant son, and with the last breath, +requesting he might be told "his father had died in defense of his +honor and the rights of his country." + +The morning of the 8th of April was consumed in falling back to the +junction of the Corinth and Burnsville roads, where General +Breckinridge stubbornly took his stand, with his force bivouacking in +the open air, sinking often to their boot-tops in mud, drenched +nightly with the rain, he and they obstinately refused to move an inch +until the wounded in the hospitals were removed. Again and again the +enemy sent out strong columns to dislodge him. Sometimes these were +charged by the cavalry under Forrest and Adams, and driven back in +disorder, losing many prisoners; sometimes, overawed by his firm and +dauntless front, they retired without attacking. For five days he thus +held his position, his whole force subsisting on rations of damaged +bread and raw pork. When he did move every wounded man had been sent +forward; the army was safe in its lines at Corinth. On the 13th of +April he marched, at the head of his band of heroes, wasted now to +spectres, haggard with hunger and suffering, into Corinth. He had won +for himself, throughout that entire army, the reputation of a skillful +General, a brave and courageous captain, and had now the ardent love +and devotion of strangers as well as friends, and was the idol of the +Reserve. At Corinth he received the just reward of his high and +soldierly conduct, the commission of a Major-General, and passed to +the command, permanently, of a division. Here appropriately ends the +history of these troops as a brigade. They served throughout the war +in other brigades and divisions, but no longer continued to act as one +organization. + +The cause of Southern independence has gone down in blood. These men +and their compeers had elected to try their cause in the tribunal of +last resort, the forum of battle. The verdict has been rendered +against them; there is no expectation, or, perhaps, wish, for further +appeal. Hanson fell mortally wounded at Murfreesboro, Helm died at +Chickamauga, Thompson was slain on the very spot of his birth and his +infancy in Kentucky, to which he had returned after three stormy years +of absence. Buckner surrendered his sword, last of all of the +commanders of the South, in the extreme western confines of the +Confederacy, and only when the advancing wave of Federal conquest, +after sweeping across the face of the continent, had borne to his very +feet the wreck of the nation whose soldier he deemed himself. +Breckinridge, in exile with saddened eyes, strives through the mists +of the great lakes of the north, to catch some glimpse of the land he +loved so fervently and served so faithfully. Of their less +distinguished comrades, hundreds are lying all along the route of the +sad retreat from Bowling Green, consigned to unconsecrated earth, +their requiem the sighs of their sorrowing comrades. Many are resting +by the lonely banks of the Tennessee and beneath the deep shadows of +the tropical foliage of Baton Rouge. They will sleep none the less +tranquilly in their quiet and unmarked graves because the dear land +for whose deliverance they fought so long and so well, is ground by +the heel of centralized power. Some survive, their mutilated forms +monuments of a heroism which would have illustrated the days of Bayard +or of Coeur de Lion. The memory of neither the living nor the dead +"will be rendered infamous" until the peoples of the earth have ceased +to honor manliness of spirit, freedom of thought, and heroism of +deeds. Imbued with the loftiest sentiments which ever animated the +bosoms of men, they went forth to poverty, to exile, to suffering, to +battle, and to death, for what they believed to be the maintenance of +constitutional liberty and free government. + +Selfish ambitions and personal aspirations had no abiding place in +their world. Men bore the firelock and served as subalterns, who +could, with brilliant genius, have wielded the baton of Generals. +Among them but one ambition existed, who should most faithfully serve, +who should most steadfastly die. Kentucky has no cause to blush for +them. The principles they upheld had been taught them on her soil; +they are embalmed in the archives of her Legislatures, enunciated in +manifestoes of her conventions. Wayward though she may deem these +children in the assertion of her rights, they are still her sons. Not +now, perhaps, but in the fulness of coming time, the proud old mother +will, with an eager zeal, gather these her offspring to rest in the +only fitting place, her honored bosom. Not now, perhaps, but in the +coming time, on that monument which she has erected at her Capital to +those who have in the past, and will in the future, serve her, she +will inscribe their names and write beneath them, "these, too, were my +children, and died in what they believed was the defense of my honor." +We who saw the gallant dead shrouded in their gory cerements, await +with calm confidence the coming of that time. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Variable spelling is preserved as printed. + +Capitalisation of place names is preserved as printed. + +Page 5--the author refers to Colonel Lloyd Tighlman, rather than the +more usual spelling, Tilghman. This is preserved as printed. + +The following amendments have been made: + + Page 5--Byrnes' amended to Byrne's--"... and Byrne's battery + of artillery." + + Page 7--Hawkin amended to Hawkins--"... and Aid-de-Camp, + Thomas T. Hawkins." + + Page 7--conection amended to connection--"... where, in + connection with Hindman's brigade, ..." + + Page 24--vengence amended to vengeance--"... their pathway + to vengeance had been lit ..." + + Page 29--Murfresboro amended to Murfreesboro--"Hanson fell + mortally wounded at Murfreesboro, ..." + + Page 30--requium amended to requiem--"... their requiem the + sighs of their sorrowing comrades." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sketch of the First Kentucky Brigade, by +George B. 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