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diff --git a/old/68665-0.txt b/old/68665-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5747249..0000000 --- a/old/68665-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3252 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of With Grant at Fort Donelson, Shiloh -and Vicksburg, by Wilbur F. Crummer - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: With Grant at Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg - and an appreciation of General U. S. Grant - -Author: Wilbur F. Crummer - -Release Date: August 1, 2022 [eBook #68665] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David E. Brown and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH GRANT AT FORT DONELSON, -SHILOH AND VICKSBURG *** - - - - - - _With_ - Grant _at_ Fort Donelson, - Shiloh _and_ Vicksburg - - And an Appreciation of General U. S. Grant - - _By_ - WILBUR F. CRUMMER - of the 45th Regt., Ill. Vols. - - [Illustration] - - With Illustrations - - Published 1915 - _By_ E. C. CRUMMER & CO. - Oak Park, Ill. - - - - - Copyright 1915 - _By_ W. F. CRUMMER - - - - -[Illustration: _Yours truly_ - -_Wilbur F. Crummer_] - - - - -Table of Contents - - - Pages - - Fort Henry 11-23 - - Fort Donelson 25-47 - - Shiloh 49-90 - - Vicksburg 91-171 - - Appreciation of General U. S. Grant 173-190 - - - - -Illustrations - - - Pages - - 1. General Grant examining a prisoner’s haversack - at Fort Donelson 31 - - 2. Charge of the 8th Missouri and 11th Indiana - Regiments, led by General Lew Wallace, - at Fort Donelson 44 - - 3. The fight in the peach orchard at Shiloh 66 - - 4. The 23rd Indiana and 45th Illinois Regiments - charging Fort Hill after the explosion of - the mines June 25th, 1863, at the siege of - Vicksburg 138 - - 5. General U. S. Grant 173 - - - - -FOREWORD - - -In this year of 1915, when the sounds of battle and strife come wafted -to us across the sea from Europe, the younger generation are asking -questions of the Veterans of the Civil War about their experiences in -battle. - -Formerly I lived in Galena, Ill., and having been personally acquainted -with, and a neighbor of General U. S. Grant, and one of the “Boys in -Blue” who followed him in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh and -Vicksburg, I deem it my privilege to add my mite to the history that -clusters round the greatest military genius of modern times. - -To please many friends who have heard my lectures on the Civil War, and -at the request of my children, the following pages have been written, -from data made at the time and since, and from a vivid memory of the -stirring days of 1862 and 1863. - - WILBUR F. CRUMMER. - - Oak Park, Ill., June 14, 1915. - - - - -FORT HENRY - -CHAPTER I. - - -“Say, Will, did you see that one as it crossed the line just now?” - -“No, Jim; how can a feller see anything this dark night?” - -“Well, he ran right by me, and I think he was as big as our dog, Rover, -at home. Isn’t it a beastly shame that orders are so strict about -shooting while on guard? I’d like to have shot that fellow for sure.” - -“Never mind, Jim; you’ll have enough of shooting before this war is -over, I’m thinking, for I feel it in my bones that Gen. Grant is -getting ready to start something in the way of fighting, for I’ve seen -him two or three times, and he looks to me as though he was a fighter.” - -“Well, old scout, anything but this kind of soldiering.” - -The conversation was between two young soldier boys of Company A, 45th -Illinois Volunteers, while on guard duty around camp in the month of -January, 1862, at Cairo, Illinois, on one of the darkest and rainiest -nights they ever saw. The “It” was a calf that in crossing the path had -startled Jim so much he was tempted to shoot it. As the two neighbor -boys, just from the farm in Northern Illinois, trudged back and forth -on their posts through the deepest and blackest mud they had ever seen, -they stopped at the end of their “beat” as they met, and talked for a -few moments of home and the loved ones left behind; of camp and its -arduous duties, of drilling and guard duty, and then of what would be -the next move. The American Volunteers always kept up a “think” or two -in their heads as to what would and should be done in fighting the -battles for the Union. - -“Will, I hope we won’t have to stay here long.” - -“You bet we won’t” responds Will. “Grant has got something up his -sleeve and we’ll be moving before long, take my word for it.” - -Will was right. In a few days a large number of steamboats gathered at -the wharf, and were being loaded with ammunition, commissary stores and -all the needed accessories of an army, and then the day came to break -camp and the boys marched on the boats, wondering which way the boats -would head out in the river. - -On February 4th, 1862, the boats are loaded to the guards and the order -is given, and with Gen. Grant leading the way, the boats steam out into -the Ohio and start upstream. - -Will and Jim were packed on the upper deck of the steamer “City of -Memphis” like a box of sardines with their comrades. While the day -lasted the boys feasted their eyes on the scenery from either side and -enjoyed the first steamboat ride of their lives. - -At night they spread their blankets on the deck and laid down to dream -of home, but before going to sleep, they had a “talk-fest,” as they -called it, Jim thinking they must be going to Cincinnati. But Will -thought different, and said: “I don’t know where we’ll land, but I’ll -bet a hard tack it will be down south somewhere among the secesh.” - -The next morning when they awoke they found themselves, not on the -Ohio, but on the Tennessee river headed down South. “What did I tell -you last night, Jim, that we were going to land somewhere in Dixie.” - -“Say, Will, are you in close touch with Grant that you know what he’s -going to do?” - -“No, but what’s a feller got a ‘bean’ on top of his body, if it isn’t -to think a little and reason things out somewhat?” - -During the day our boat tied up at a landing for the purpose of -loading up with cord wood for fuel. Permission was given to the boys -to go ashore and stretch their legs. There was a large warehouse -there, stored with merchandise. The owner at once secured a guard to -be placed over some barrels of whiskey. In every company there were -men who liked strong drinks, and in prowling around they spied these -barrels of whiskey, and ways and means were at once started to get some -of the fiery stuff. One of the soldiers was directed to go near one of -the barrels and while talking with the guard to let his gun drop on the -floor, the man underneath would note where the gun struck the floor by -the dust loosened up, and the man who had let his gun drop came down -and directed just where the end of the barrel of whiskey would be. An -auger was procured and a hole was bored through the floor into the -barrel of whiskey. The boys stood ready with their canteens and caught -the precious stuff (?) as it came down. Not long after quite a number -of the soldiers were making merry and showing certain signs of being -under the influence of liquor. The officers were puzzled as to how the -men secured the liquor and rushed to the guard, accusing him of his -failure to properly guard his charge. He denied strenuously that he -had permitted any one to touch the barrels. One of the officers leaned -against one of the barrels and being empty it toppled over, and the cat -was out of the bag. The guard was exonerated, but some of the soldiers -who had taken too much of the stuff for their good were arrested and -punished. The plotters, however, were not discovered. It is a strange -fact that those who liked the fiery liquid, could smell out where it -was located and use the most curious ways to obtain it. - -On February 6, 1862, in the afternoon, we landed on the eastern bank of -the river, and the soldiers were located in camps near by. This being -our first camp in Dixie, it was called “Camp Halleck.” How it did rain -that night and blow, leveling many of our tents. - -Many of the boys made light of their mishaps. We pitched our tents -near a farm house, and the planter, not knowing our reputation at home -for honesty and uprightness, went to our Colonel and asked that a guard -be placed around the farm house to protect him and his property. The -Colonel granted the request, for at this stage of war, orders were very -strict about foraging and taking anything from the planters. It fell -to the writer’s lot to stand guard for two hours that night, during -that fearful storm, over some pigs. How disgusted he was: the idea of -enlisting to fight for “Old Glory” and save the Union, and the first -thing he had to do was to guard a lot of dirty pigs that were not half -as good as those in his father’s farm yard, but “orders is orders,” as -Jim said, and ’tis a soldier’s duty to obey. Strict orders were issued -that no trespassing would be permitted and a soldier caught stealing -would be severely punished. My two hours of guard duty over those pigs -was up at last and I turned them over to another sentinel. During the -night a great squawking was heard, and in the early morning the owner -of the farm complained to our Colonel that the soldiers had stolen -his geese. The Colonel ordered an officer to search each tent to find -the stolen geese and the thieves. When the officer came to our tent, -he commenced to turn over our blankets and knapsacks. There was one -sleepy fellow lying down with his head on his knapsack for a pillow, -apparently sound asleep; the officer touched him, but he slept on and -one of the boys said: “Don’t wake that fellow up, he’s been on guard -duty all night.” - -“All right,” said the kind-hearted officer and passed out of the tent. -How relieved we were when he had gone away, for that sleepy fellow had -his head on his knapsack which held the goose. Of course we had goose -for breakfast, and it tasted mighty good if it was a “Dixie” goose. -Don’t ask me who stole it, for I’ll never tell, and my comrades will -not tell. - -The next morning we took up our line of march toward Fort Henry. -The rain had fallen the night before, making the roads very muddy. -Many times we had to stop, stack arms, throw off knapsacks and put -our shoulders to the wheels of the artillery and help them out of -the mud holes. We came to several streams not bridged, but we were -enthusiastic in our seeking the enemy and spoiling for a fight. Taking -no time to build temporary bridges, we plunged into the water waist -deep and pushed ahead. This made me think of what I had read of our -Revolutionary fathers “wading swollen streams and toiling through -almost impassible barriers to fight for their liberty and rights.” - -We hadn’t come to the fighting yet, but we hoped to do so soon; then -we could class ourselves with our forefathers. Now, I smile over the -thought I had then when a lad of 18 years, and though you may smile, -the thought comes that if we youngsters had not had the spirit of -emulating the deeds of our forefathers, where would this grand nation -be today? - -In the distance the gunboats were hammering away at Fort Henry, and -as the sound of the booming cannon came to our ears we wished we were -there to attack from the land side. Commodore A. H. Foote, with five -gunboats, had attacked the fort and the fight was a most thrilling -picture; the whizzing of fragments of bursting shells; the deafening -roar of the guns in the fort; the black sides of five gunboats belching -fire at every port hole was something to be remembered a lifetime. The -fire from the gunboats dismounted seven big guns and brought down the -flagstaff, and, together with the bursting of a rifled gun in the fort, -created a panic in the enemy’s ranks. A shot from the enemy passed -through the boiler of the Essex and many were scalded. When the Union -tars were told that the enemy had surrendered, a sailor named Breas, -who was badly wounded, sprang to his feet saying, “Surrender! I must -see that with my own eyes before I die,” and then, climbing two short -nights of stairs to the deck, he saw a white flag flying over Fort -Henry, and shouted, “Glory to God!” sank exhausted on the deck and died -that night. - -We were tramping along in the mud when a messenger passed along the -line announcing the capture of the fort by the gunboats. Some of us -cheered, but others were silent and really felt sore at the sailors -for their taking of the fort before we had a chance to help them. -How foolish we were then. We had enough of fighting ere the war was -over, and after the first battle we never begrudged other forces the -honor of gaining a victory without our help. Most of the enemy had -“skedaddled” to Fort Donelson. Commodore Foote took a small number -of prisoners, together with Commander General Tighlman. It was after -dark when we reached the outer earthworks, inside of which we camped. -Here we spent our second night in Dixie, without any shelter save the -blue sky above us. We built large fires and managed to keep fairly -comfortable, although it was pretty cold. Will was up very early the -next morning, and, having an intense desire to see the inside of the -fort, took “French leave” and started in that direction. (A French -leave is nothing more than a “pass” taken on your own responsibility.) -He found that the fort was situated on a very low piece of land; -indeed, it was a swamp, nearly all surrounded by water. The works -were well constructed, but whoever selected this as a suitable site -for a fort was, Will thought, either insane or knew nothing of modern -warfare. Ignorant as Will was of military ways, he said he would not -have picked on this place for a fort. Here Will had his first view of -the dead and mangled upon the battle field. One of the largest of the -cannon had burst while the cannonading was in progress and this carried -destruction to all those around the gun, tearing them all to pieces. -Will said afterwards: “I shall to my dying day carry that picture in -my memory.” Now, for the first time, did Will realize the horrors of -war. In his eagerness to secure relics he knocked off a large piece of -the bursted cannon and with other relics he loaded himself down, but -after carrying them for a while he threw them away, thinking it would -be a long time ere he returned home, as it surely proved to be. After -viewing the destruction on every hand until he was satisfied, Will -returned to camp in time to escape being noticed by his officer. - - - - -FORT DONELSON - -CHAPTER II. - - -With the fall of Fort Henry, we started toward Fort Donelson. The -roads were muddy and the country hilly, making the marching hard work. -About 3 o’clock p. m. of February 12, 1862, the distant booming of -cannon told us all too plainly that we were near the enemy, and we were -urged to greater speed. When within two miles of the fort a group of -officers passed us, among them Gen. Grant, Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, Col. -Oglesby and others. We were ordered to unsling knapsacks and leave them -in company piles, with a guard over them, and then away we went over -hills, valleys and ravines, through the woods and dense thickets. After -having marched about a mile and a half we were halted, darkness having -arrived. The night was very chilly and cold. Our boys had left their -knapsacks two miles to the rear and were without blankets. Cold, hungry -and disappointed, we shivered during that long, dreary night, and -began to realize what an earnest, cruel thing a soldier’s life was. But -it was our first experience, and we knew nothing about making ourselves -comfortable. We learned better after a while and always carried our -blankets with us, whether in battle or not. It is the best plan to -always have a blanket with you. During the night it rained and turned -very cold. We were forbidden to leave the lines, hence could not go -back for our blankets. Will gathered up a pile of leaves and crept into -them, but this did not keep him warm, and becoming cold he got up and -paced back and forth to try to keep warm. - -At the first streak of day--February 13, 1862--the enemy bade us good -morning by sending us a shell that burst close to our lines, but doing -little damage. The boys were mad and, gathering their muskets, said: -“Let’s show them that we are not to be shot at without returning the -compliment,” but our officers were not ready to give us a chance. -The battle was on, however, at other points of the line, and at last -we were to have our hearts’ desires, namely, of having a shot at the -enemy. We were moved shortly to the right and formed in line with our -brigade. - -About noon our General, W. H. L. Wallace, sent the 48th Illinois to -attack what looked like a small redoubt to the left and front of us. -This regiment gallantly attacked and fought desperately for some time, -but losing their Colonel, they fell back, and then Gen. Wallace ordered -the 45th Illinois to go to their aid. Now the time had come for us to -show what stuff we were made of; now had come the time to do what we -had promised our loved ones at home--to fight gallantly for the dear -old flag. The orders of our Colonel were: - -“Attention, battalion! Fix bayonets; shoulder arms; right shoulder -shift, arms. Forward, march!” and all moved toward the enemy’s works -over very rough ground. The redoubt of the enemy was on a hill, the -ground sloping down toward us, while the trees and brush had been cut -down to retard our progress. Presently the bullets began to sing about -our heads: _zip, ping, ping_, and as we climbed the hill we were met by -a murderous fire of musketry; the men were falling in bunches and the -enemy poured into us grape and canister from their cannons. - -When we got close enough the order to fire was given, and we boys sent -our first lead into the enemy who showed themselves on top of the -breastwork. The firing on both sides was brisk, but our Colonel would -not let the men advance any farther. He knew we could not climb over -the trench in front of the breastworks and scale the works. We fought -an hour at great disadvantage, when the order was given to slowly -retire. We had smelt powder for the first time and had heard the whiz -of the minie-ball, many of our brave comrades making the greatest -sacrifice a man can make for his country. They had given their lives -for the flag. - -The gunboats on the river side of the fort had been doing valiant -work, but had suffered badly at the hands of the enemy. The flagship -St. Louis, had her steering wheel shattered, the pilot was killed, and -Admiral Foote was wounded. The flagstaff was shot away and Captain J. -V. Johnston, fastening the flag to his arm, walked the deck and gave -the signals. - -For the interest of my young readers, I must tell you about Captain -Johnston’s little boy, Master James Vincent Johnston, aged about 8 -years at the time. Captain Johnston’s wife and little boy were visiting -him on the gunboat when the enemy opened fire from an unseen battery on -the shore. The Captain had tied the boy by his mother’s side in one of -the cabins, but he succeeded in untying himself and ran off among the -gunners, where he seemed to take great delight during the excitement. -Presently the Captain came along and met the little fellow carrying a -pouch of powder. His father was surprised, and asked him where he got -his load. The child answered: - -“Why, Tommy had his head shotted off over there an’ I’m carrying the -powder,” and he ran to the gun carrying his load. - -The Captain let him have his way and little Jimmy was the hero of the -battle, and the sailors called him “Admiral Jimmie.” - -After the unsuccessful attack on the fort we again took our places in -the line with our brigade. During the night the cold was intense and -the men suffered much; some perished, icicles hanging from the caps of -the sentinels. Our grub at this time was very scarce. We learned better -later on in the war to always carry a good supply of hard tack in -our haversacks for just such emergencies. - -[Illustration: General Grant examining a prisoner’s haversack at Fort -Donelson] - -Towards evening some prisoners were captured and were taken to General -Grant, who examined their haversacks and found them well filled with -rations. The General reasoned from this fact, that the enemy were -preparing to make their escape, which they did try to do the next day. - -Soon after dark some of us were detailed to dig trenches and assist -in erecting breastworks for the artillery. The Seventh Corporal was -detailed to take charge of the squad, but it being so bitter cold he -feigned sickness and turned the squad over to Will. He took his place -and did the best he could, getting no sleep at all during the night. -The next morning Jim asked Will how he liked his job. “Oh,” said Will, -“the job was all right, but I’ll tell you, Jim, I think less of that -Seventh Corporal than I did before, because of that little trick of -his.” - -During the night the Confederate Generals held a council of war and -decided to mass their troops on our right the next morning, and cut -their way out and escape. - -Just as the first faint streaks of light came over the hills, so also -came the compliments from the enemy, in the shape of iron shells from -their cannons. McAllister’s battery returned the salutation in earnest -and the battle was on again. Saturday, February 15, 1862, the enemy -massed 10,000 troops opposite General McClernand’s division, on our -right, and advanced upon our line, the pickets being fired upon before -dawn. - -The order, “Fall in,” was given and in a few minutes the woods rang -with rattle of musketry and the roar of cannon. The enemy were -determined to turn our right flank and escape. The battle raged -fiercely for an hour and a half, and then came a lull. Colonel Forrest -with his dashing cavalry made a charge on our lines at one point -and captured one of our batteries. The fighting at other points all -along the line that stretched for over three miles was heavy. About 10 -o’clock our troops upon the extreme right ran out of ammunition, and -Gen. Oglesby’s brigade had to fall back. - -General Lew Wallace now came up with fresh troops, their cartridge -boxes full, and those that had fallen back having now received plenty -of cartridges re-formed their lines and again took part in the fight to -drive the enemy back into their breastworks. - -On the left of our lines a charge on the works had been ordered by -Gen. Grant, and Gen. C. F. Smith, leading the boys in blue, placed -his hat on his swordpoint and holding it aloft, cried out: “This way, -boys; come on,” and the boys followed their courageous leader amidst -a terrible hail of minie-balls and cannon shot. The 2nd, 7th, 12th -and 14th Iowa and the 25th Indiana Regiments engaged in this charge, -planting their colors on the outer works, the enemy falling back to -an inner breastwork. There was more or less fighting all day, but we -finally drove the enemy back into their fort and had them cooped up and -nearly surrounded. - -During the battle in front of our lines, one of our company was wounded -and went a few rods to the rear and sat down behind a tree. The -Lieutenant Colonel seeing him there and thinking he was skulking went -at him fiercely, saying: “Gill, get back into line.” Now, Gill was an -odd genius, slow of speech and having a peculiar drawl in his manner of -speaking, replied: “I guess not, Colonel; I’m wounded.” - -“Where are you wounded?” - -“In the breast, Colonel.” - -The Colonel still having his doubts, asked where the ball hit him. -Gill, raising his finger and covering the track of the bullet, said: -“It went skewaggling this a way.” - -Sure enough, a minie-ball had torn a hole clear across his breast, -making an ugly looking flesh wound. Gill remained behind the tree until -told to go and see the surgeon. - -It is a fact that many new words were coined during the Civil War, some -of them coming into general use and finding place in the dictionaries. - -So far I have not seen Gill’s new word in the dictionaries, but surely -it was a most apt description of how he was wounded. - -Another member of our company was taking his coffee from the fire in -the early morning when a stray, spent bullet from the enemy struck him -in the head and knocked him down. He was taken back a short distance -and the surgeon extracted a bullet flattened out and lying just under -the scalp. He recovered, but the boys called him “Old bullet-proof -skull,” or “Old hard head,” after that. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -That night, as the boys lay in line of battle, they discussed the -doings of the day. - -“Say, Will, how did you feel to be in battle today?” - -“Well, Jim, the greatest strain was waiting in line of battle, either -for an advance or to receive the enemy’s charge when I could do -nothing, and hearing the booming of cannon and rattle of musketry in -other parts of the battle field, I felt as though my heart was in -my mouth, and there came a desire to run for a place of safety; but -after we got into action, amid the smoke, dirt, excitement and noise, -I forgot where my heart was and had no desire to run; fear had been -displaced by a savage instinct to inflict injury on the enemy.” - -Many have tried to explain the feeling while on the battle field, and -it is probable that a battle affects men in different ways. However, -we think Will’s description of the feeling is about right. - -Late Saturday night we bivouacked near the firing line without fire and -very little to eat. The ground was covered with snow and ice and the -weather very cold. - -Captain Johnson, of Company F, had his feet frozen so badly he never -could wear his boots again, but, instead, wore a pair of large army -brogans. - -Fatigue parties were detailed to search for and bring in the wounded; -this labor extending throughout the night, the surgeons never rested -and there was no distinction between the blue and the gray. - -As the Union army on this dreary Saturday night rested in bivouac close -in front of the enemy’s works, the moans of the wounded could be heard, -and here and there flickering lights moved through the woods on errands -of mercy. - -Mother Bickerdike, a nurse with the Union army, was out on the battle -field with her lantern, groping among the dead, stooping down and -turning their cold faces towards her, she scrutinized them earnestly, -uneasy lest some might be wounded and left to die uncared for. How -many poor fellows, sick and wounded, have been ministered to by her -loving hands, and the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee, who loved -Mother Bickerdike, have said over and over again, “God bless Mother -Bickerdike.” - -One incident has come down to us which shows how she loved her boys. -One morning, visiting one of the wards in a certain field hospital -at about 11 o’clock a. m., she found the poor fellows had had no -breakfast; the doctor in charge, had not been present to make out the -special diet list for each one, he having been out on a spree the night -before. The doctor came in just as Mother Bickerdike learned the facts -and she went for him. - -“You miserable scoundrel; here these men, any one of them worth a -thousand of you, are suffered to starve and die, because you want to be -off on a drunk. Pull off your shoulder straps, for you shall not stay -in the army a week longer!” - -The doctor laughed at her, but within three days she had caused his -discharge. He went to General Sherman to be reinstated. - -The General said: “Who caused your discharge?” - -“Why,” said the doctor, hesitatingly, “I suppose it was that woman, -Mrs. Bickerdike.” - -“Oh,” said General Sherman. “Well, if it was she, I can do nothing for -you; she ranks me.” - -During the night, while we boys were trying to keep from freezing and -wondering what the morrow would bring forth, the Confederate Generals -held another council of war, deciding they could not hold out longer -against Gen. Grant’s army, and would surrender. - -Colonel Forrest (who commanded the cavalry) during the council arose -and said: “I will not surrender my command or myself,” and left the -council. During the night, or early morning, he and his command escaped -by wading the river on our extreme right, which was unprotected by the -Union forces. - -Colonel Forrest was a brave man and a terrible fighter, as our troops -afterwards learned on numerous occasions. - -The two senior Generals of the Confederates turned the command over to -Gen. S. B. Buckner, who somewhat scornfully notified his colleagues, -that if they proposed to escape they must do so speedily, for after he -should open negotiations with General Grant no one would be allowed to -leave the fort. - -I have always admired General Buckner for declining to leave, claiming -as he did, that it was honorable to stay with his soldiers. - -During the night or early morning, Gen. Buckner sent a note, under a -flag of truce, to Gen. Grant, asking an armistice to arrange terms of -surrender. - -Without a moment’s hesitation, Gen. Grant wrote the following answer, -probably one of the finest specimens of energetic war literature in -military history. - -“No terms other than an unconditional and immediate surrender can be -accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.” - -Upon the receipt of this, Gen. Buckner promptly returned his answer of -acceptance. - -From this time on during the war, Gen. U. S. Grant was known as -“Unconditional Surrender Grant.” - -Will kept a diary and we are permitted to quote from it: - -“Soon after daybreak (Sunday, February 16, 1862) we heard great -cheering by the troops along the line and presently orderlys came -galloping towards us, swinging their caps and proclaiming the news of -the surrender of the fort. Did we shout? Well, if we didn’t use our -lungs then we never did. Hip! Hip! Hurrah! from every man in blue. -The victory was ours and we rejoiced over the fall of the Confederate -stronghold.” - -The Union loss was about 2,400, and the Confederate loss was 2,000 -killed and wounded, besides 15,000 prisoners and munitions of war. - -Presently the order to march was given and we marched into Fort -Donelson with bands playing and colors flying. It was a grand sight, -as regiment after regiment poured in with their flags floating gayly -in the wind, and the brass hands playing, “Hail Columbia,” “Yankee -Doodle,” etc., in such style as the gazing captives had never heard -even in the palmy days of peace. - -The Confederates were drawn up in line with their guns thrown down, and -with a woebegone, sullen, downhearted look they watched our parading. - -[Illustration: Charge of the 8th Missouri and 11th Indiana Regiments, -led by General Lew Wallace, at Fort Donelson] - -A few of them told us they were forced into the army and did their -fighting unwillingly. We did not believe a word of it. We marched -to the large fort next to the river and planted our colors upon the -ramparts and then camped inside the fort. The prisoners were very -anxious to know what their fate was to be. They were assured they would -be taken north and kept as prisoners of war until exchanged. - -Gen. Lew Wallace was the first inside the works, and going to the -Confederate headquarters was met by Gen. Buckner, who invited him to -breakfast, which invitation was accepted, the bill of fare being coffee -and corn bread. - -The fall of Fort Donelson was the first great and valuable victory won -by the Union armies during the war. When the news flashed through the -loyal states, the people went wild with enthusiasm. Salutes were fired, -joy bells rung, flags displayed everywhere, and the people asked one -another: “Who is this Grant, and where did he come from?” Before the -war closed the people found out who Grant was and what was in him. - -There were others in the battle of Donelson, who, afterwards became -famous. There was our gallant Illinois soldiers, Colonel John A. Logan, -the “Black Eagle” of Egypt; the bluff old Colonel Richard Oglesby, both -of whom became Major Generals, and after the war served in the United -States Senate from the State of Illinois. Then Gen. Lew Wallace, of -Indiana, the noted author of “Ben Hur,” and Colonel John A. Rawlins, -of Galena, Ill., chief of staff of Gen. Grant, who, afterwards became -Secretary of War under Grant, and many others. - -In speaking of Colonel Oglesby, we must give you an old story about him -which happened while he was in command of the 8th Illinois Regiment. -One day while the regiment was in camp, two of the drum corps went -into the woods to practice, and, while practicing, a nice fat pig -came nosing around. The temptation to the drummers was too great; the -pig was caught and slaughtered, but now the thought came to them: “How -shall we get into camp without discovery.” A happy idea, “Let’s put -him in the big drum.” So the head of the drum was taken off and Mr. -Pig safely stowed away, and they arrived at camp. The regiment was on -dress parade when they arrived at camp. The Colonel was vexed at their -absence, and as soon as he saw them, sternly ordered them to take -their places with the music. The drummers did not know what to do, but -one of them went up to the Colonel, and, in an under tone, told him -the situation, winding up with, “We ’low, Colonel, to bring the best -quarter over to your mess.” The Colonel thundered out: “Sick, hey! Why -didn’t you say so at first. Go to your quarters, of course. Battalion -right face, to your quarters, march.” The Colonel had fresh pork for -supper. - -After the fall of Fort Donelson, the people of the North believed that -it would be but a short time until the rebellion would be put down, and -we boys could go home. Captain Johnson wrote home: “I believe it won’t -be over three months now until the rebellion will be squelched and we -shall be permitted to go home.” - -Yes, we boys thought then that we had broken the backbone of the -rebellion, and that the war would soon be over. How badly mistaken we -were history proves. It was but the beginning of a terrible four years -of battle and bloodshed ere the end came. - - - - -SHILOH - -CHAPTER IV. - - -We remained in Fort Donelson for a little over two weeks. The weather -was miserably wet, cold and disagreeable all the time, and the boys -wondered why we didn’t move on, and were getting impatient. - -“Say, Will, how long do you think we are going to stay in this -miserable old hole?” - -“I don’t know, Jim; but I’ll bet you a hard tack that we will be -marching within three days.” - -“You seem to be so cocksure, I wonder if Gen. Grant has told you -anything.” - -“No, Jim,” said Will, “he hasn’t told me anything, nor do I believe he -has told anybody what he is going to do, for I believe he is one of -those silent men that talk very little.” - -“Well, what makes you so certain we are going to move soon?” - -“Oh, I just put two and two together and add them up and it makes -four. So, when I see them getting the horses and mules all shod and -loading up our commissary and ammunition wagons to the top, I just say, -that’s two and two and that makes four, and so we march.” - -“Well, Will, you are a curious fellow, and if we do move soon, I’ll say -you are one of the smartest fellows in camp.” - -“Oh, shaw! that isn’t smartness, that’s just a little common horse -sense put to work.” - -Will’s prophecy came true, and in three days the victorious army under -Grant started again for the Tennessee River. On March 24, 1862, we -landed at Pittsburg Landing on the west side of the Tennessee River, -and went into camp about two miles southwest of the landing. - -At this place Gen. Grant was assembling an army to march on to Corinth -and attack Gen. Johnson’s Confederate forces. Our troops had been -located with a view to convenience, rather than in a compact line -facing an enemy. The great gaps between the different divisions -indicated that the officers did not expect a general attack; still, I -cannot see how they could have lulled themselves into this belief. To -show that there had been signs of an enemy hovering near our camps, I -will copy from an old diary kept by me at that time. I had forgotten -this incident until reading it lately when it all came back to me as -vividly as though of recent occurrence. “April 4th. Today I am on guard -as Sergeant of the Second Relief. - -“At night the troops were ordered out in line of battle, word having -come that an attack had been made upon our outer line of pickets. Our -regiment moved to the right and in front of our camp. - -“My relief was on duty some little distance in the woods. Soon after -the alarm was given, I received orders from the officer of the day to -take off my sentinels and order each man to his respective company for -duty. I proceeded to obey orders and had passed about half way ’round -giving orders to my men, when, groping through the underbrush, I came -to a sentinel whom I could not see very well because of the extreme -darkness, and supposing he was one of my guard, I gave the order, and -was just starting away when the sentinel called out sharply, ‘Halt.’ -I had given the countersign before, so I turned and wanted to know -what was up. He informed me that he was on picket duty and wanted to -know who I was and what I wanted. I explained the situation to him, -which seemed satisfactory, and I was permitted to go. Retracing my -steps I found my own guard line. I had, in the darkness, stumbled into -the picket line of another regiment and was ordering in soldiers with -whom I had no business. The sentinel was all right and determined to -do his duty, for as he cried _halt_ he raised his musket, pulled the -hammer and was ready to shoot, but as an obedient soldier I obeyed his -command and halted, and in so doing escaped being shot by one of our -own soldiers. The troops were kept in line of battle until 10 o’clock -p. m., when the officers, believing it to be a ‘scare,’ ordered the -soldiers to their respective camps.” - -This incident tends to show that the enemy was hovering near our -immediate front. - -Calling a few years ago upon my old Colonel, Gen. John E. Smith, of -the United States army (now deceased), and talking over some of our -battles, I asked him about some feature of the battle of Shiloh, to -which he replied: “Well, Wilbur, after reading all the histories and -articles published on the battle of Shiloh, I am in doubt whether I was -there at all.” But he was there, and by reason of his courage and skill -merited the promotion he afterwards received. - -The Generals and officers have had almost a monopoly since the war, in -telling how such and such a battle was fought, and the magazines have -been filled with the story of General So and So winning this battle -and losing another. The Sergeants, Corporals and the privates who did -the hard fighting in the ranks have not been heard from very much. It’s -about time we had our say, so that the future historian may gather -facts from the ranks as well as from the officers, and thus be able to -make a complete history. - -The ground at Shiloh is quite uneven and very woody, with here and -there a field or “clearing.” - -There was a little log church near Gen. Sherman’s camp, called -“Shiloh,” where the battle commenced, and the great battle of April 6 -and 7, 1862, has gone down in history as the battle of Shiloh. - -The Confederate army had approached our lines very quietly within two -miles; the beating of drums had been forbidden and every precaution -taken to keep the Union army from knowing of their presence. The sound -of “taps” in the Union army at 9 o’clock Saturday night was distinctly -heard in the enemy’s camp, but we heard no “taps” from their army. - -Never did a morning open with brighter, happier prospects than did that -Sunday morning of April 6, 1862. Never did the sun beam forth, shedding -its golden rays on a devoted, unsuspecting army, with more loveliness. -Never was a wilderness made more cheerful and inviting by the innocent -chirpings and songs of myriads of warbling songsters, perched among -the many trees of our camp, little dreaming of the approaching dangers -which was destined so soon to be drenched with human blood. - -Will, being an early riser from force of habit, having been raised on a -farm, had been up long enough to have eaten his breakfast, while Jim, -his bunk mate, was just coming out of his tent, when the rattle of -musketry was heard out in front to the southwest. - -“Will, what was that noise off there, rumbling of the wagons?” -inquired Jim. - -“No, Jim, I think its musketry firing.” - -“Oh,” said John Shannon. “You are away off. There isn’t any enemy -within miles of us.” - -While the boys were debating, the long roll sounded at headquarters, -“bur-r-r-r rat-tat-tat-bur-r-r.” - -The boys were astonished and startled, but they knew then what the -noise they had heard meant, and each man jumping for his musket and -cartridge box, fell into line without the word of command. In less than -five minutes the regiment was in line ready for orders. This was about -6 o’clock in the morning. After waiting impatiently for some fifteen or -twenty minutes, we received orders from Gen. McClernand, commanding our -division, to move to the left a little and out in front to support Gen. -Sherman’s division, whose troops were the first to receive an attack -from the enemy, which was so fierce, desperate and sudden that some -of his troops were surprised and thrown into a panic. They rallied, -however, and checked the foe. Soon heavy musketry and cannonading were -opened on our immediate left. Again we were moved to the left to aid -the troops now in mortal combat, and taking our position in the woods -we awaited the enemy. - -Now, out of the forest in front march the gray line of battle, four -columns deep, with arms at a right shoulder shift. On the columns -march, without a break in their ranks, carrying a flag which appears to -be the stars and stripes. - -When they got near enough for our soldiers to open fire on them, we -begin to get uneasy and want to commence firing. The men in the ranks -realize that the first volley is needed now to check the oncoming foe. -Jim was one of the nervous fellows and said to Will: “What does it -mean? Why don’t our officers give the command to fire?” - -Will replied: “You know the orders are not to fire until the command -is given.” But even Will believed we were making a mistake in not -firing, now that the enemy was in range. - -The strain for those few minutes becomes too intense. A few of the men -commence to shoot without orders, when an officer rushes down the line -shouting: “Cease firing, those are our troops.” - -Two or three men of Will’s company, who had no fear of an officer, and -who now at this supreme moment seemed to know more than their officers, -had been firing, among them Jim, who answered the officer: “The hell -they are! You will find out pretty d--d soon they are not.” - -Will said: “Better obey the officer, Jim; but I can’t blame you for -swearing a little just now.” The soldiers obeyed and ceased firing. - -Five minutes of terrible suspense, with that gray line advancing nearer -and nearer; then suddenly a most destructive volley of musketry was -poured into our ranks, and our men fell like autumn leaves. Did we -wait for orders to “fire?” No! Every man opened fire, loading and -discharging his gun as rapidly as possible, the roar of musketry from -either side being terrific. The underbrush is mowed down by bullets. -Men are shot in several places in the body in a moment. The dead lie -where they fall, and the wounded drag themselves to the rear. Our -rapid firing has now checked the onward march of the enemy in our -immediate front, but the regiment and battery upon our right were not -so fortunate, and with unearthly yells the enemy charge the battery. -The gunners fight like heroes, manning their guns until bayoneted. The -boys thought it was Schwartz’s battery. The horses all being killed or -wounded the cannon could not be taken away and were captured. It is -related of an officer of this battery that, later in the day, he rode -up to Gen. Grant, and touching his cap, said: “Sheneral, I vants to -make one report. Schwartz’s battery is took.” - -“Ah,” said the General; “how did that happen?” - -“Veil, you see, Sheneral, de secesh come up in front of us and dey -flank us and so Schwartz’s battery was took.” - -“Well, sir,” said the General; “you spiked the guns, of course?” - -“Vat!” exclaimed the officer; “schpike dem new guns. It would spoil -dem.” - -The regiment that supported this battery failed to stand up to the -rack, and when the charge was made beat a retreat too soon. Our right -flank was now about to be turned by the enemy, and the order was given -to fall back a short distance. We fell back about two hundred yards and -the lines were again formed. At this first engagement of the day we -left a large number of our boys to sleep their last sleep. Again the -battle was on, and the terrible work of destruction went on all along -the line. The screaming shells and whizzing bullets carried death and -wounds wherever they went. The line of battle stretched for a distance -of two miles and raged with fury the entire length, the enemy massing -their forces at certain points and pushing the Union troops back, then -attempting to flank the regiment to the right or left. Such were the -tactics used by Generals Johnson and Beauregard, and they were well -managed, indeed. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -One position after another was taken, and from each we were driven, or -had to fall back for fear of being flanked. - -The third position our brigade took was on the brow of a small hill, -where we held the enemy at bay for two hours, at one time charging and -driving them for a quarter of a mile, then falling back for lack of -support on our right. - -A Confederate officer has said of Shiloh: “The Confederate assaults -were made by rapid charges along the line. They were repeatedly checked -and often repulsed. Sometimes counter charges drove them back, but -whether in assault or recoil, both sides saw their bravest soldiers -fall in frightful numbers.” This officer’s statement is true to the -letter. - -We then took a new position on the edge of an open field. For an hour -we listened to and were in the midst of an artillery duel. At times -the battle seemed to die out, and all was still in our immediate -vicinity; but this stillness only portended the fiercer the fight when -again commenced. - -About 3 o’clock our cartridges began to run low, and we borrowed each -of the other until all was gone; we were holding the enemy, but now -our guns were silent. What a helpless man a soldier is in a battle -with no ammunition. We marched to the rear left in front in search -of cartridges, and none too soon either, for a troop of the enemy’s -cavalry were seen on our right, trying to get in our rear and take us -prisoners. We had not gone far when we met a line of fresh troops, -of whom we begged cartridges, but the caliber was not the right size -for our Enfield rifles and we could not use them, and we started on -again hunting for cartridges, the enemy pressing us so hard that the -Captain of the rear company went rushing up to the Colonel, exclaiming -breathlessly: - -“My God, Colonel, they are not fifty yards from my company, and we -haven’t a shot to defend ourselves.” - -“Keep cool,” said the Colonel, “and don’t say anything, the enemy don’t -know we are out of ammunition, and we will come out all right yet.” - -We had not gone far when we met a wagon loaded with cartridges. Caliber -58. Did you ever see a hungry lot of men wade into a bang-up dinner? - -Will was the first to mount the wagon and rip open one of the boxes -in quick order, the men scrambling up into the wagon, and crying out: -“Give me some, give me more!” The cartridge boxes and pockets were -filled in short order. We then took our position on the right of our -brigade, supporting a battery. - -The enemy soon opened on us with a heavy artillery fire, and either -having the best guns or gunners silenced our cannon. The horses were -killed, men wounded and killed, but the infantry held the line; we felt -strong and courageous now, with plenty of cartridges. The men began to -realize that this line must be held though every man fall. - -[Illustration: The fight in the peach orchard at Shiloh] - -There was one place on the battle line of Sunday which was occupied by -the gallant troops under Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, and who held the enemy -at bay for a long time, the Confederates charging this place several -times and being repulsed each time. “Its a regular hornet’s nest,” -said one of the Confederate officers, and the spot as located by the -United States Commissioners of the Shiloh National Park, bears the -name, “Hornet’s Nest,” at the present time. It was at this point that -the brave and beloved Gen. W. H. L. Wallace received his mortal wound. -To the east of the “Hornet’s Nest,” a short distance, is the place -where Commanding General of the Confederate army, Gen. Albert Sidney -Johnston, was killed. I believe that Gen. Johnston was the greatest -General of the Confederate army, and many others agree with me. - -A little to the rear of Gen. Wallace’s troops was a small pond of -water. The wounded soldiers crawled to this pond to slake their thirst -and bathe their wounds, and so many washed their wounds in this pond -that the water looked like a pool of blood, and it was called the -“Bloody Pond.” - -The pond is still there, and has a fence around it, with a tablet -giving its name, “Bloody Pond,” and captured cannon surround it. - -The Union forces that were left were now concentrated in a much shorter -line, with no gaps susceptible to a flank movement of the enemy. - -As the sun went down in the west I noticed it looked as red as blood, -indicative of the bloody work we had been doing on that holy Sabbath -day. Night again brooded o’er us. - -With the awful carnage of blood and destruction strewn over two miles, -with thousands of killed and wounded on both sides, no doubt both -armies were glad that darkness closed the terrible struggle, for the -day at least. Our Orderly Sergeant of our company called the roll and -out of 55 that started in the morning, 31 answered “here,” and with the -exception of two or three, the rest had been killed or wounded. - -We bivouacked on the firing line, the rain coming down during the night -wetting us through and through. Our company was with others detailed -for picket duty that night between 10 and 12 o’clock, and stationed -about two hundred yards in front of our line. - -Will was posted near a big tree. The night was pitch dark, and having -had nothing to eat since morning he was tired and sleepy. But, -realizing the duty of a soldier never to fall asleep on the picket -line, he tried in every way to keep awake. In telling his experience -afterwards to Jim, he said: “I never worked harder. I pulled my hair -and bit my lips to keep awake. About 11 o’clock I heard the cracking of -twigs in front of me. The darkness was intense. I could see nothing, -but sleepiness was gone then. I listened intently. On it came, -something, somebody making straight for me. I waited, with musket ready -to fire, until I thought it time to make the challenge, and then cried -out: ‘Halt; Who goes there?’ He halted, and out of the darkness came a -voice saying: - -“‘I am wounded and want to get to a surgeon.’ I was not satisfied with -this. He might be an enemy trying to capture the sentinels, and the -enemy then would make a night attack on our sleeping army in the rear. -So I plied him with questions as to his regiment, brigade and division, -to which he answered in such a manner that he convinced me he was -telling the truth, and I told him to advance. He came hobbling along -with a broken ramrod of a cannon for a crutch, shot through the leg. I -called the Sergeant of the Guard: ‘Sergeant of the Guard, Post No. 6,’ -and the next sentinel took up the cry and pretty soon the Sergeant came -and I turned the poor fellow over to be taken to the Surgeon.” - -All things have an end. Twelve o’clock came, and, being relieved, we -returned to the sleeping line, and, throwing ourselves on the ground, -we at once fell asleep. All night the surly gunboats kept up a deadly -fire on the enemy in front of our left. - -Twice during the night I awoke, and could hear the groans and cries of -the wounded lying out there on that bloody field. Some cried for water, -others for some one to come and help them. Many years have passed since -that terrible day and night, yet when my mind reverts to that time, I -can hear those poor fellows crying for water. God heard them, for the -heavens were opened and the rain came. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -In the evening of April 6 a few of Gen. Buell’s troops had arrived and -were placed in position. During the night the boats brought the balance -of Buell’s army across the Tennessee River and they were in line of -battle ere the break of day. - -Volumes have been written about the battle of Shiloh. Some think -Buell’s army saved us. Of course, they helped to win the second day’s -battle; still there is nothing to prove that Gen. Grant’s army would -not have won without their assistance on the next day. - -Let me quote what I wrote over fifty years ago, when it was fresh in my -mind: - -“Some think it was Buell’s army that saved the army of Gen. Grant from -total destruction. I think otherwise, and my reason is this: we had -been driven back so near the river that our lines were concentrated as -before they were scattered. During the night Gen. Grant and his aides -had perfected their line of battle, and Gen. Lew Wallace’s division had -arrived from Crump’s Landing, and every man left in the line knew that -to retreat another foot meant total annihilation, and the words: ‘We -must whip them in the morning,’ were upon every man’s lips.” - -The enemy was badly hurt, and Gen. Grant knew it and felt confident -that victory must be ours on the morrow. - -The morning light had scarcely come on the 7th of April when the roar -of artillery announced the opening of the second day’s battle. The -command, “Forward,” was given and the entire line moved forward. We -were the aggressors today, and made the first attack. - -Fighting continued steadily, the enemy yielding every foot with great -reluctance, stubbornly holding their ground, until 12 o’clock, when a -general charge was made, and the tide of battle was turned in favor -of the Union forces. During this charge, Will fell to the ground, -thinking he was shot through the leg, for it hurt so badly he couldn’t -stand up; he pulled up his trousers to see where the minie-ball had -struck him, to find that the ball had only grazed his shinbone, cutting -a nice clean hole through his pants, but not bringing a drop of blood. -Will was disgusted, that he should fall out with just a bruised -shinbone, and jumping up he went limping after his company. - -By 3 o’clock Gen. Beauregard, who was now in command of the Confederate -forces, gave the order for a retreat. They kept up a fight to cover -their retreat until night, but when darkness came we were in possession -of our old camps, where we bivouacked, filled as they were with the -dead of both armies. We had no difficulty in sleeping well, even -though the silent dead lay all about us. The dead do not disturb us; -it is the living we should be afraid of. We built fires and cooked our -frugal meal, and, after eating, we gathered ’round the camp fire and -recounted the deeds of valor done during the great battle, speaking -kind words of our brave comrades who had fallen. - -A few Sibley tents, torn and riddled by shot and shell, were all we -had left. I lost my shirts, blankets, letters from home, my testament -(mother’s gift) and a picture of the “girl I left behind me.” I was -more indignant over the loss of my girl’s picture then I was over the -other articles. - -On Tuesday I was detailed with others to bury the dead lying within our -camp and a distance of two hundred yards in advance. I had charge of -digging the grave, if a trench over sixty feet long and four feet deep, -can be called a grave. - -The weather was hot, and most of the dead had been killed early Sunday -morning, and dissolution had already commenced. The soldiers gathered -the bodies up and placed them in wagons, hauling them near to the -trench, and piling them up like cord wood. - -We were furnished with plenty of whiskey, and the boys believed that it -would have been impossible to have performed the job without it. - -When the grave was ready, we placed the bodies therein, two deep; the -father, brother, husband and lover, all to lie till Gabriel’s trumpet -shall sound. All the monument reared to those brave men was a board, -nailed to a tree at the head of the trench, upon which I cut with my -pocket knife, the words: “125 rebels.” - -We buried our Union boys in a separate trench, and on another board -were these words: “35 Union.” Many of our men had been taken away and -buried separately by their comrades. It was night when we finished the -task, some of the squad, “half seas over” with liquor, but they could -not be blamed, for it was a hard job. The next day we burned the dead -horses and mules. - -A few words about the great battle of Shiloh, as an old veteran views -it, as well as some words deduced from history. - -It has often been told that the enemy surprised us at Shiloh; that the -men were asleep in their tents and were even bayoneted there. This most -certainly is erroneous. The Confederate officers report that early -Sunday morning, while they were planning the attack, their discussion -was abruptly brought to an end by the Union out posts commencing an -attack on them. - -Our soldiers were _not surprised_ in the sense of being taken off their -guard. - -It was a surprise in the sense, that Gen. Grant and his officers did -not expect an attack in force by the enemy, or if they did, they made -a great mistake in not being prepared. The fact remains, we were not -ready to receive the enemy; not a shovelfull of earth had been thrown -up for protection, and the several divisions were scattered so as not -to form a continuous battle line. If mistake it was on the part of -Gen. Grant, he profited by it, for such a thing did not happen ever -afterward. That the first day’s battle of Shiloh was a stubborn and -desperate battle cannot be denied. Badeau, in his military history of -Gen. Grant, says: “For several hours of the first day there was as -desperate fighting as was ever seen on the American Continent, and -that, in proportion to the number engaged, equaled any contest during -the rebellion.” - -Gen. W. T. Sherman said: “I never saw such terrible fighting afterward.” - -Gen. Grant has said: “Shiloh was the severest battle fought in the west -during the war, and but few in the east equaled it for hard, determined -fighting.” Again he says in his Memoirs, speaking of Shiloh: “I saw -an open field the second day, over which the Confederates had made -repeated charges, so covered with dead that it would have been possible -to walk across the clearing in any direction, stepping on dead bodies -without the foot touching the ground.” - -Gen. McClernand and his division have never received their just meed of -praise for his and their part in the battle of Shiloh. - -Gen. Grant in his later life says this: “The heaviest loss sustained by -the enemy was in front of Sherman’s and McClernand’s divisions.” - -The official records show that on April 5, 1862, Gen. Grant had 39,830 -men and officers for the first day’s battle, and Gen. Johnston of the -Confederates had 43,968 when we started the battle of Shiloh. - -The loss of the Confederates was 24⅓ per cent; the loss of Grant’s five -divisions present for duty on Sunday was 26¾ per cent. The loss of the -Army of the Tennessee under Grant at Shiloh was 10,944; the loss of the -Army of the Ohio under Buell was 2,103. Only a few regiments of Buell’s -army got into action late in the evening of the first day. Total Union -loss 13,047, but this includes 2,314 Union prisoners of Gens. Prentiss’ -and Wallace’s divisions; the loss of the Confederates was 10,699. - -I remember no amusing incidents during the battle, save that of one -of my company, who was shot through the mouth in such a way as to -knock out all of his front teeth. He was a German, who spoke English -brokenly, and swore like a trooper; he would spit blood and then curse -the enemy with great vehemence, and loading his gun and firing, would -exclaim: “D-- ’em, dey tinks dey vill spile me so I can’t eat hard -tack, d-- ’em, I’ll show dem!” And so he fought while his comrades -cheered him on. - -It has been said that war is grand and heroic; that fighting is a -glorious thing; so it is to read about, but the veterans of fifty years -ago have seen war; they know what a horrible thing it is, and I believe -that every old veteran who has stood in the battle front, has it in -his heart to say: “God grant that wars may cease, and that universal -peace may come to this world of ours.” - -Shiloh was a terrible battle, and now after fifty years have slipped -by, I sit in my easy chair and occasionally dream of the past. I seem -to hear again as vividly as then, the booming of cannon, the rattle -of musketry and the whiz of the minie-ball, amid the cries and groans -of my comrades who touched elbows with me, and I ask myself: “Can it -be? Was I there, or is it a wild fancy of the brain?” The scenes come -too vividly before my memory to doubt it, and I thank God that I was -able with my comrades to bear a humble part in saving to those who -come after us, this grand nation, and in helping to perpetuate but one -flag, the Stars and Stripes--the “Heaven-born banner”--to float over a -reunited land and people. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -Before leaving my story of the battle of Shiloh, it will interest -the reader to peruse the following account of a visit of some of the -participants in the battle, just 47 years after. - -The National Association of the Survivors of the Battle of Shiloh -held their annual reunion on the battle field of Shiloh, April 6 and -7, 1909. Sixty-six veterans, with their wives and sons and daughters, -boarded the steamer “Santillo” at St. Louis, Mo., April 2, 1909, -and started for Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. On the morning of April 6, -1909, we landed at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. Upon the bluff is the -National Cemetery, where 4,000 Union soldiers lie buried, most of the -head stones bearing the name “Unknown.” It is a beautiful cemetery, -overlooking the Tennessee River. The farmers from the surrounding -country were there with their hacks and carryalls ready to be engaged -for a reasonable sum to take the Northern visitors all over the battle -field. Our party secured a rancher with a big wagon drawn by a pair of -lazy mules (our objective point being the camp of the regiment of which -we were members), over fine made, drained roads, and although it had -rained heavily the night before, the roads were dry and clear of mud. -We found a National Park of nearly 4,000 acres, laid out with roads in -every direction; we found monuments everywhere, as well as markers and -tablets, denoting the camp of every regiment and different positions -held by each regiment and battery in the great battle of April 6 and -7, 1862. Great credit is due the Park Commissioners and Major D. W. -Reed (of the 12th Iowa Regiment), Secretary and Historian, for their -magnificent work in making this beauty spot in Tennessee. Monuments -have been erected by the different states in honor of their troops -taking part in the battle. The South have also erected monuments to -the memory of the Confederate troops. The Alabama state monument was -dedicated on April 7, 1909, both northern and southern men and women -participating. The Daughters of the Confederacy of Alabama had sent -flowers and a request that the ladies from the North would place them -upon the monument, which the Chicago, Iowa and South Dakota ladies -did. A prayer was offered and Capt. Irwin, an ex-Confederate, made -an address, and he was followed by a Union veteran, eulogizing “Old -Glory.” Then a young man from the South spoke, saying among other -things that he was glad he lived today instead of forty-seven years -ago, for now, if the United States were called to a war, the North and -South would go side by side, defending their common country. And then -the company sang “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” - -The two days at Shiloh battle field were filled with intense interest -to all who were present, especially the veterans who took part in the -battle; and where it happened that two or more members of the same -regiment were present they would hunt up their camp ground and then -find the different positions they held in the battle line of those -days, and standing on the same ground as then, live in memory again -the terrible scenes of the long ago. The battle line of April 6 and 7, -1862, is about three miles in length and we visited most every part of -the field, including the most noted places, viz.: the “Hornet’s Nest” -and the “Bloody Pond.” - -To those of our party who wended their way to Shiloh church, where -the battle began, a unique experience awaited us. On April 6 (there -being about twenty-five from the boat present), upon coming in sight -of the church, we beheld the citizens of the surrounding country, -with their wives and children, gathered from miles around. The Albert -Sidney Johnston Camp of Confederate Veterans were holding their -semi-annual meeting in the church, there being present probably -twenty-five veterans. We were met by the veterans of the Confederate -army with a glad shake and a cordial invitation to remain to dinner -with them, which was accepted, and we did enjoy their fried chicken -and all the other good things. The dinner was eaten with the sauce of -reminiscences and repartee between the blue and the gray. We will give -you one little incident in which the Union veteran seemed to get the -worst of it. Noticing the leanness of the ex-Confederates, the Union -veteran said: “Johnnie, how is it all you fellows look so lean, as -though you hadn’t enough to eat?” The ex-Confederate, on a wooden leg, -made quick reply: “Well, Yank, you see it’s this way. You-uns shot us -onto crutches and we-uns shot you-uns on the pension roll.” After many -a joke and story of the battle, the people adjourned to the church for -services, the church being filled. Gen. Basil Duke, one of the Shiloh -Park Commissioners, gave a fine address, giving his experience in the -battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded. He was in Morgan’s command of -the Confederate army. Among other things he said: - -“We fought in the Civil War for the cause we thought was right. We -believed the rights guaranteed to us under the constitution were being -taken away from us, and you must admit that our love for our homes and -property is as dear to us of the South as it is to you of the North. -The people of the North believed that to divide the United States -would destroy this Nation. Time has proved under the providence of -God that the judgment of the North was correct, for had we succeeded -in establishing the Confederate States of America, no doubt later on -other states would have felt aggrieved on some question and would have -seceded, and in time, had our cause won, this nation would have been -divided into a great many small principalities governing themselves. -Now the issues for the weal of this great Nation are as dear to us of -the South as you of the North.” - -Gen. Duke closed his address by saying that: “We all rejoice at the -fraternal feelings now existing between the North and the South, and -hope that ever these bonds of love and good will between us may grow -and cement us together, stronger and stronger, and we shall continue to -prosper and enjoy the rights and privileges of this great Nation.” - -W. F. Crummer, of Chicago, Ill., on behalf of the boys in blue and -their friends, responded, contrasting the scenes of 47 years ago with -those of today. He said in part: “It was a beautiful Sabbath morning, -April 6, 1862. The birds were singing among the trees and nature was -putting forth her verdure of green, when suddenly the booming of -cannon, the shrieking of shells and the rattle of musketry heralded -the beginning of one of the most terrible battles of the Civil War. -I will not take the time to relate all my experiences of that battle, -but simply say this, that when, on Monday evening, we had regained our -camp, we found a few Sibley tents all riddled with shot and shell, and -while you, ex-Confederates here, had possession of our camp you took -my knapsack, blanket, the testament my mother gave me, which I hope -you read and profited thereby. You are welcome to that, but one thing -you took made me feel badly, and that was the picture of the girl I -left behind me, and I am here today to ask you to return that picture. -The scene of that awful field of carnage and bloodshed changes. Today, -after 47 years have rolled by, the birds are singing in the trees and -nature is putting forth its green as then, and all is peaceful, and -instead of cannon and bullets greeting us you meet us with open hands -and extend to us a cordial greeting and your bountiful hospitality. -Our hearts are moved and we thank you most heartily. We rejoice with -you that today we know no North, no South, no East, no West, but a -reunited country, with one flag and one nation, the grandest Nation on -the earth. We trust that we shall always remain a happy and prosperous -people, both North and South, working together for the good of the -entire country. The feeling of good fellowship shown us today indicates -that we are one in spirit and love for our Nation. May we all so live -that when the roll is called up yonder we may answer ‘Here,’ and enter -into the heavenly land our God has prepared for us. Again thanking you -for your most kindly greeting and hospitality, I bid you Godspeed until -we meet again.” - -The meeting was dismissed in a novel manner. All rose and, shaking -hands, sang as they marched around the church, to a Southern melody: -“It’s All Over Now; It’s All Over Now,” and with many a “Come and see -us again,” the veterans and their friends from the North bade their -Tennessee friends a hearty good bye. - - - - -VICKSBURG - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -A half of a century has passed since the memorable Vicksburg campaign -of the Civil War began in the year 1863. - -It was my lot to take part in the Vicksburg campaign, and, in giving -some reminiscences of that siege, I must speak from the standpoint -of a soldier of the 45th Illinois Regiment, Gen. Logan’s division in -Gen. McPherson’s 17th Army Corps, being a part of Gen. Grant’s army. -Before taking you to the actual siege we must carry you with the army -from Milliken’s Bend on the Louisiana shore above Vicksburg round on -the west side of the Mississippi River to Bruinsburg, 70 miles below -Vicksburg, and tell you of the marches and battles we had before we -entered the city. In the spring of 1863 we find Gen. Grant and his army -of 30,000 men encamped at Milliken’s Bend. We could not cross the river -at that point and attack Vicksburg from the north, inasmuch as a large -portion of that country was an impassable swamp. The first plan devised -was to cut a canal to the west, thereby changing the current of the -river, by which it was proposed to carry troops, forage and ammunition -by transports south of Vicksburg, but this scheme proved ineffectual -and was abandoned. Where Vicksburg stands, the cliffs rise abruptly -from the water’s edge 200 feet. Twenty-eight heavy guns were mounted on -the river front, all of which had a plunging fire. Our gunboats could -not elevate their guns to do them any damage. Vicksburg was impregnable -from the north and the river front. Jeff Davis said: “Vicksburg is the -Gibralter of America.” By the way, speaking of Jeff Davis reminds me he -had a plantation not far from Vicksburg. Soon after the Yankees reached -that vicinity, Jeff’s slaves deserted him, bag and baggage, and a queer -lot of contrabands they were, indeed. - -Notice the daring plan of Gen. Grant, namely, to take his army around -on the Louisiana shore to a point south of Vicksburg, cross the river, -cut loose from his base of supplies and enter the enemy’s country. - -Gen. Grant devised the plan to have Admiral Porter’s gunboats and -several steamboats, loaded with rations and ammunition, run the -batteries at Vicksburg and be ready to transport the army across the -river. The first intimation the rank and file had of such a thing was a -notice that our Colonel received one day from the Commanding General: -that volunteers were wanted to man the steamboats; to act as firemen, -engineers, pilots, etc. The Adjutant called the regiment into line, -and the Colonel explained what was wanted. He told the soldiers of -the dangerous undertaking; that in all probability the steamers would -be riddled with shot and shell and many might perish. Notwithstanding -all this, if there were any who would volunteer for this service, -let them step three paces to the front. Almost the entire regiment -stepped to the front. There was one Lieutenant who did not step to -the front. Suffice it to say he was never promoted. The reason is -obvious. The Colonel then told the Captains to select those who had -had some experience on the river, and enough men were found to man -a hundred steamers. There was one of those brave volunteers of our -regiment--Charlie Evans--who held to the pilot wheel, when a cannon -ball went crashing through the pilot house, driving pieces of timber -against him with such force that he never fully recovered, and a few -years after we buried him at Galena, Ill. Now the boats are loaded and -manned by those brave boys from the Northern prairies. All is ready, -the night is propitious, the signal is given and Admiral Porter’s -flotilla of gunboats and steamers start down the river on the 16th day -of April, 1863, to run that storm of fire and iron hail. The enemy -endeavored to send those boats and their heroic crews to “Davy Jones’ -Locker” that night, but with the exception of one boat, the “Henry -Clay,” they finally passed through. For two hours and forty minutes -the fleet was under fire. Every transport was struck and disabled. For -eight miles the enemy’s cannon hurled shot at them, but the loss of men -was small in killed and wounded. Now the gunboats and steamboats have -run the rebel batteries and are below the city ready to transport the -troops and cannon from the west bank of the river to the east. - -Prior to the running of the batteries, many of the troops had marched -down on the Louisiana side of the river to Hard Times and Bruinsburg, -and were waiting for the boats to arrive, with much anxiety, fearful -that they would not stand the awful hammering the enemy would give -them. The first to show up was the burning wreck of the “Henry Clay.” -As it floated by an old southern man whose magnificent mansion bordered -the Mississippi River, rubbed his hands in glee, exclaiming, “Where -are your gunboats now? Vicksburg has put an end to them all.” Not long -after his jubilant remark the gunboats appeared coming down the river, -and presently the whole fleet hove in sight; then the boys, turning to -the haughty Southerner, said: “Did Vicksburg put an end to them all?” -The old man was too mad to endure the taunts, and turning away, hid -himself. The next day he set fire to his own home rather than allow it -to shelter his fancied enemies. - -About this time there was excitement in Richmond and Washington. -The Confederate government was amazed that their “Gibralter” should -have been passed by the “Yankee” fleet of gunboats. At Washington, -consternation took hold of the officers at the war office. Gen. -Grant had not informed Gen. Halleck of his plans as to the capture of -Vicksburg. Halleck was angry and sent a dispatch ordering Gen. Grant -to turn back, but the dispatch failed to reach its destination. There -had been a determined effort made at Washington by some Senators and -Governors and friends of other Generals, to have Grant removed from -his command; but President Lincoln said to them: “I rather like the -man; I think we’ll try him a little longer.” So, because of the faith -of Lincoln in Grant’s ability, it became possible for him to make -that most remarkable campaign and capture of Vicksburg. I believe it -is a fact, that now, in the military schools of Europe, the military -campaign of Gen. Grant at Vicksburg is studied and considered by -authorities as one of the most daring and brilliantly executed -movements in modern warfare. - -Now for the campaign as seen from a soldier’s view. The army has been -conveyed across the river. The enemy falls back to Port Gibson, -burning the bridges across the Bayou Pierre. The loss of the bridges -does not delay the army very long, for we are supplied with boats or -pontoons; with these, in addition to lumber from fences, houses and -barns, a bridge is soon built. After crossing the pontoon bridge we -soon encountered the enemy at Thompson Hill or Port Gibson. A sharp -fight ensues, but the enemy is soon routed and retreats. During our -fight at Thompson Hill we had with us that day a Congressman from the -North. He had a horse and was riding with our Colonel when the quick -rattle of musketry in our front was heard. The order was quickly given -and we were moving forward in line of battle. Presently the usual -noisy introduction of the sharp crack of the musket and the whiz of -the minie-ball opened the exercises. There was a deep ravine a little -in our rear. The Congressman or his horse was very tired and remained -in the ravine until he heard the wild cheer of our victorious charge, -when he came out of that ravine on the gallop, swinging his hat and -shouting: “Give it to ’em, boys.” It was safe then. But you couldn’t -blame him much. He wasn’t getting the enormous sum of $13 per month -to be shot at. A Congressman’s salary didn’t justify the sacrifice of -being riddled with bullets. - -Three days’ rations are issued to the soldiers and this we are told -must sustain us for the next five days. The march is then resumed. On -May 12th, at 11 o’clock, we meet the enemy, 5,000 strong, at Raymond, -and the fight is opened by the artillery and a sharp battle is fought. -The enemy charge our lines, but are repulsed, the lighting continuing -until about 2 o’clock p. m., when the order for a charge is given and -forward with a cheer the boys go, the enemy breaking and retreating. -We occupy the town of Raymond that night. The dead are buried; the -wounded are cared for and by daybreak the next morning we are on the -march, headed for Jackson, Miss., to clean out Gen. Johnston, and his -army that he has concentrated at that place. Our rations are getting -short, but the country affords us a fair supply of some things, such -as fresh pigs, chickens and vegetables, which we take as a matter of -crippling the enemy as well as to satisfy the hungry boys in blue. Our -march begins at 4 o’clock in the morning. One day we marched all day in -the drizzling rain and at night when we camped we were wet to the skin, -hungry and tired, but not one word of grumbling could be heard. On May -14, 1863, we arrive at the outskirts of Jackson and meet the enemy. -During the battle at Jackson a rather amusing incident happened. We -were in line of battle and had moved up to the vicinity of a plantation -around which were scattered a number of bee hives. Now, had we not been -engaged with the enemy, our boys would have liked nothing better than -to have despoiled those bees and supped on honey, but for the present -we had important work on hand. The bees were quiet enough until the -minie-balls went crashing through their hives, when they came out and -rushed at us with terrible ferocity. Men can stand up and be shot at, -all day, with the deadly musket, but when a swarm of bees pounces upon -a company of men in concert, it’s beyond human nature to stand it, -and so two or three companies retired from the field. In fact, our -lines were re-formed in that particular locality so as to avoid those -Southern bees. They had no “rebel yell,” but their charge on us was -a successful one. We sometimes captured things we did not want. At -Jackson we captured a smallpox hospital and its inmates. We didn’t want -it, you may be sure, for everybody kept at a respectful distance from -it. - -The battle of Jackson is fought, the final charge is made and the city -is ours, Gen. Johnston and his army retreating to the north and east. -The final charge made by the Iowa boys under Gen. Crocker of Iowa, was -one of the most superb and gallant of the war. Gen. Grant said that, -with the exception of Sherman and Sheridan, Gen. Crocker was the best -division commander in the army. We are now 80 miles from Grand Gulf and -50 miles east of Vicksburg. Immediately the army is wheeled about and -faced toward Vicksburg, and the march commences to that city. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -On May 16, 1863, at Champion Hill, the enemy was encountered, strongly -stationed, on a series of ridges or hills, naturally well adapted for -defensive purposes. Here we met Gen. Pemberton’s army of over 40,000 -men coming out of the entrenched position in the city to make mince -meat of Grant’s army. The battle opened early in the forenoon and raged -for half a day, in which only 15,000 soldiers, or a portion of Grant’s -army, was engaged. It was one of the hard-fought battles of the war and -one of the most bloody. The battle was mainly fought by McPherson’s -17th Army Corps and Hovey’s division of the 13th Corps. - -Gen. Logan’s charge on the extreme right, about three o’clock in the -afternoon, was one of the finest charges of troops that I witnessed -during the war, and I was in nine different battles. It has been said -that at the battle of Champion Hill for a time there was as fierce -fighting as any seen in the west. The colors of my regiment were -riddled with bullets and our color guards were all killed or wounded. -About three o’clock the enemy gave way and commenced a retreat towards -Vicksburg. - -After driving the enemy from the field those engaged all day were tired -out and halted for a time on the battle field. I would like to portray -the scene that we gazed upon. It was a horrible picture and one that I -carry with me to this day. All around us lay the dead and dying, amid -the groans and cries of the wounded. Our surgeons came up quickly and, -taking possession of a farm house, converted it into a hospital, and we -began to carry ours and the enemy’s wounded to the surgeons. There they -lay, the blue and the gray intermingled; the same rich, young American -blood flowing out in little rivulets of crimson; each thinking he was -in the right; the one conscious of it today, the other admitting now -it were best the Union should be maintained one and inseparable. The -surgeons made no preference as to which should be first treated; the -blue and the gray took their turn before the surgeon’s knife. What -heroes some of those fellows were; with not a murmur or word; with no -anaesthetic to sooth the agony, but gritting their teeth, they bore -the pain of the knife and saw, while arms and legs were being severed -from their bodies. There was just one case that was an exception to -the rule. He was a fine-looking officer and Colonel of some Louisiana -regiment of the Confederate army. He had been shot through the leg and -was making a great ado about it. Dr. Kittoe, of our regiment, examined -it and said it must be amputated; the poor fellow cried and howled: -“Oh, I never can go home to my wife on one leg. Oh, oh, it must not -be.” “Well,” said the gruff old surgeon, “that, or not go home at -all.” The Colonel finally said yes, and in a few minutes he was in a -condition (if he got well) to wear a wooden leg when he went home to -his wife. - -The enemy are retreating to the city to get behind the breastworks, and -Grant’s army is pushing them right along every day. It is twenty days -now since the campaign began. In that time the army has marched nearly -200 miles, beaten two armies in five different battles, captured 27 -heavy cannon and 61 pieces of field artillery; taken 6,500 prisoners -and killed and wounded at least 6,000 of the enemy. Starting without -teams and with an average of three days’ rations in the haversacks, we -subsisted principally on forage found in the country. Only five days’ -rations had been issued in twenty days. Still, neither suffering nor -complaint was witnessed in the command. The army was in fine condition, -so Gen. Grant said. Since it had left Milliken’s Bend it had marched by -day and night, through mud and rain, without tents and on irregular -rations. Gen. Grant said then: “My force is composed of hardy and -disciplined men, who know no defeat and are not willing to learn what -it is.” Well, if marching day and night in the mud and rain, on short -rations, made us hardy, I reckon he told the truth. I tell you today, -after 50 years have passed, I can remember the gnawing of hunger on -that memorable march, and I recollect one day spying a piece of bacon -rind at the road side, which some more fortunate soldier had thrown -away, and grabbing it as a great treasure I removed the dirt and ate -it with a ravenous appetite. Before we get to Vicksburg we must have -another battle at the Big Black River. The enemy were discovered in -force, strongly posted near the bridge. The day was hot and Gen. -Lawler, who was rushing around in his shirt sleeves, discovered that by -moving one portion of his brigade through the brush under cover of the -river bank, the remainder to push directly against the left flank of -the enemy, he could reach a position where he would be able to carry -the works by storm. As soon as his troops were properly placed, Gen. -Lawler led his boys in blue in a magnificent charge, capturing one -entire brigade of the enemy, and forcing the remainder to beat a hasty -retreat to Vicksburg. - -On May 18, 1863, Gen. Grant’s army invested the enemy’s defenses of -Vicksburg and then commenced a siege that lasted for 47 days, an -account of which it is my purpose to give as concisely as possible. -The enemy’s breastworks encircled the city somewhat in the shape of a -horseshoe, being about eight miles in length. The ground around the -city is very rough; steep hills, deep gullies, underbrush, cane and -willows and everything to impede the army. Gen. Grant, with about -30,000 men, had cooped up Gen. Pemberton and his army of over 35,000 -men. (Seven weeks later P. surrendered 30,000 men.) Soon after Gen. -Grant had assigned his several Corps Commanders to their places (Gen. -Sherman being on the right, Gen. McPherson in the center and Gen. -McClernand on the left), several charges were made at different points -on the line, but owing to the strong forts and entrenchments, the enemy -repulsed us with heavy loss. The union lines, however, are advanced, -positions for artillery are selected, and the daily duel of the -sharpshooters is opened up in the immediate front. - -After so much marching and fighting, the boys in blue are weary and -hungry, and a few days’ rest is granted the men, that they may attend -to some washing and cleaning up. Very few of us had a second shirt -to wear. Toward the close of the war but few carried knapsacks; it -wasn’t necessary. It is related of an Irishman that, upon being asked -why he didn’t go to the Quartermaster and draw a knapsack, replied: -“An’ what do I want a knapsack for?” “Why, to put your clothes in, -Pat.” “Sure, an’ if I should go on dress parade wid me clothes in me -knapsack the Colonel would be after puttin’ me in the guard house.” May -21st we are furnished with a good square meal by Uncle Sam--if hard -tack, sow bacon, beans and coffee can be called a square meal. We so -considered it after the hardships of the last month. And having been -strengthened in the inner man with plenty of food, Gen. Grant proposes -to carry Vicksburg by storm on the morrow, May 22, 1863. Shall we ever -forget that desperate charge? No, and I believe had Gen. Grant known -at the time how strongly the enemy were entrenched and how valiantly -they would fight, he would never have ordered that charge. He thought, -no doubt, as we soldiers believed, that having been so successful in -meeting the enemy recently, we could whip any armed force that opposed -us. May 22, 1863, the order was given to commence the attack at 10 -o’clock. At that hour the battle opened; every piece of artillery was -brought to bear on the works; sharpshooters at the same time began -their part; nothing could be heard but the continual shrieking of -shells, the booming of cannon and the sharp whiz of the minie-ball. -At the time the assault was attempted our bivouac was in a ravine -just east of the “White House,” or “Shirley House.” Running in front -of the house was the main Jackson wagon road leading into the city. -For about five hundred yards the road had been cut down in the ridge -to a depth of a man’s head, then the ridge sloped a little and the -road opened out in plain view of the forts of the enemy not 200 yards -distant. We marched in columns of four through this cut in the road -until we reached the point where we would be exposed to the enemy’s -guns, then we were to deploy to the left along the slope of the hill, -until the entire regiment was out of the road, when at the word of -the commanding officer--“By the right flank, charge”--we were to go -over the enemy’s works. As we came out of that road Major Cowan gave -the command, “double quick,” and we started across that open space. -Major Cowan, commanding the regiment, fell at the first volley from the -enemy, having only taken a step or two. - -The enemy was watching and the instant we appeared in sight they opened -into us an awful volley of shot and shell. There was no one to give -the command to halt, or right face and charge; the Major was killed -and the ranking Captain didn’t know it. We went as far in that hail of -death as we thought would be sufficient for the regiment to form in -line of battle, and then we dropped flat on the ground. Being First -Sergeant of Company A of my regiment, I was at the head of the regiment -with Major Cowan when we started across that deadly piece of open -ground, the Major falling by my side, but I kept right on at the head -of the regiment until space enough was given the regiment to form in -line under the brow of the hill. The ground sloped down hill from the -enemy’s parapet, and by flattening one’s self about as flat as a hard -tack, he was comparatively safe from the musketry fire of the enemy. -The regiment came through, but the dead and wounded lay thick over -that stretch of 200 yards. The order to charge the works was, after a -short time, given by the ranking Captain, and we started up the hill, -to be met by a sweeping volley of musketry at short range, which mowed -the men down in bunches. We could not return the fire, for the enemy -were safe behind their breastworks. Some of our men reached the top of -the parapet, but fell as fast as they climbed up. No troops could face -such a destructive fire from a protected enemy. Presently the order is -given to fall back, and we retire under the brow of the hill and remain -there until after dark, when we took our usual place in the rear of -the “White House.” The charge of my regiment is but a picture of all -other regiments that took part on that day. The assault was no more -successful at other points of the line, and the Union army suffered -great loss. The works were strongly constructed and well arranged to -sweep the approaches in every direction; their position was too strong, -both naturally and artificially, to be taken by storm. Wherever the -assault was attempted, the hillsides were covered with the slain and -wounded, many of them lying in the hot sun during the day crying for -water, which could not be taken to them. Three thousand Union soldiers -were killed or wounded in this disastrous charge; more men in this -one charge were lost than were lost during the late Spanish War. The -army was now made sadly sure that over ground so rough and with such -strong forts and entrenchments it could not hope to carry Vicksburg by -storm. It clearly proved the great advantage an army has in having -breastworks and entrenchments to cope with the enemy. Gen. Grant had -had such wonderful success so far that he really thought his troops -could walk right up to and inside those fortifications. But the fact -has been demonstrated that the loss of precious lives would be too -great, and preparations for a siege were begun and the pick and shovel -were brought into requisition. Saps and rifle trenches were constructed -and in these our sharpshooters were continually on the lookout for -the hidden enemy. Before we had constructed outer rifle pits so as to -make them comparatively safe, our boys with their bayonets and a tin -plate, dug little holes in the ground and on top of the earth placed -a few fence rails. Between these rails our men could pick off the -sharpshooters of the enemy and many a duel was had here between the -pickets of the two armies. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -The duels between the sharpshooters of the two armies were fierce and -deadly. All of us like heroes. There were many heroes beside the great -Generals. Here is one from the ranks. John Battle Harrison was wounded -at Shiloh and again at Champion Hills. When told by the surgeon to go -to the hospital, he refused and remained fighting in the ranks with a -wound that would have taken hundreds of others to the hospital. This -brave soldier was killed in one of the sharpshooter duels. Our company -was on duty on the skirmish line all day, and we could not bury him -until night; then during the dark hours of the night we dug a grave on -the hillside, and wrapping his blanket around him, we left him to sleep -until the great reveille is sounded. I thought that night of the lines -I used to speak in school when a boy: - - “Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note - As his corpse to the rampart we hurried; - Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot - O’er the grave where our hero we buried.” - -But we must not falter if our comrades do fall, but take up our duty of -the soldier on the morrow and battle for the right. Now we are digging -trenches and making breastworks, as well as running a sap toward the -enemy’s lines by using the sap-roller. My young friends may ask what -a sap-roller is. We boys used to call it a “bullet-stopper.” Suppose -we take two empty barrels and lash them together, one on top of the -other, then wrap them ’round and ’round with willow saplings, fill them -with earth, put a cover on, lay them down, and you have a sap-roller. -By keeping this in front of a couple of men, they could dig a trench -directly toward the enemy’s lines, and still be protected from the -deadly minie-balls. We dug trenches and moved towards the enemy until -the two picket lines were within hail of each other. One of the -“Johnnies” made an agreement with one of our boys that they should -lay down their guns and have a talk, which they did. The Confederate -said our guns had killed many in the trenches. Sometimes there was a -richness in the repartee between the Union and Confederate pickets -that is worth repeating. One day a “Johnnie” calls out: “What are you -men doing over there?” and quick comes the answer: “Guarding 30,000 -Johnnies in Vicksburg, and making them board themselves.” Another -picket asks the question: “Why don’t you come and take Vicksburg?” and -the Union replied: “Oh, we’re in no particular hurry; Gen. Grant is -not yet ready to transfer you North.” The pickets of both armies were -good natured and used to brag of their ability to whip each other. -The gunboats and mortars from the river side make things lively for -the people inside the city. Day after day the sharpshooters are at -work; the cannonading is kept up; the saps are approaching the enemy’s -stronghold still nearer and nearer. The bursting of shells over our -heads, while resting in our camps, tended to make things lively, -in many instances causing wounds and death. One day the boys of my -regiment were cooking a mess of beans for dinner (beans were on the -bill of fare every day). The beans were being cooked in one of those -large camp kettles that were hung from a pole resting on two upright -sticks driven into the ground. The beans were supposed to be done. The -dinner hour was near at hand; two of the boys took hold of the pole and -lifted the kettle from its resting place to put it to one side. Just -then the sharp whirr of a piece of shell from overhead was heard and -the next instant it went crashing through the bottom of that kettle, -carrying beans and all with it, burying it in the earth. The two -soldiers, still holding the pole in their hands, looked at each other -in disgust for a moment, and then one of them, turning around, called -out to the waiting hungry soldiers: “Boys, your beans have gone to -h--l.” - -The boys in the ranks had no use for a “dude” officer. Gen. McPherson, -who commanded our corps (a braver or finer gentleman never breathed), -had on his staff a fine officer, but who was very fond of dress, and -when he would ride along the line of march, in his velvet suit, the -boys would guy him unmercifully. One day this Colonel came into the -trenches, and, stopping opposite where I stood on the embankment behind -the gabions, addressed one of our boys thus: “Sergeant, do you see the -enemy from this point?” The Sergeant replied: “Yes, sir, by looking -through this hole in the log, down that ravine you will occasionally -see the enemy crossing.” The Colonel got up, looked through the hole, -and saw some Confederates crossing the ravine, and then he was moved -to take a hand in the game, and turning ’round, said: “Sergeant, -load your rifle and let me have a pop at those fellows.” “All right, -Colonel,” and while he was still looking, the Sergeant at his rear, -loaded the musket. The gun had been in use most of the day, and was -pretty foul and if not held just right, would kick fearfully. Well, -wicked sinner that the soldier was, he took two cartridges, using two -charges of powder and one bullet, and loaded the Enfield rifle, put -the percussion cap on and handed it to the Colonel and, stepping back -into the trenches, awaited developments. The Colonel got ready, saw his -man, pulled the trigger and--tumbled back into the trench. He handed -the gun back, remarking: “Your gun, Sergeant, recoils considerable,” -and the innocent (?) soldier said, “Does it?” The Colonel did not ask -for a second shot. I’ll warrant he had a black and blue shoulder for a -month. The poor Colonel has passed away and the Sergeant never had the -opportunity to apologize to him. - -The sap-roller with the boys in blue behind it are gaining every day -in digging trenches toward Fort Hill. The men of Gen. Logan’s division -are employed in this work, and the plan is to undermine the enemy’s -Fort Hill and blow it up. While we had to be under fire from the enemy -constantly, we were better off than they; not only did they suffer from -a continuous shelling by the cannons and mortars, and the incessant -rattle of musketry, but they had to do it on pretty empty stomachs, -for toward the last they were reduced to a very meager diet, while -we were having plenty of bacon, hard tack, coffee, etc. The price of -food inside the city at that time was a little higher than in Chicago. -How do these prices please you: Flour, $1,000 a barrel; meal, $140 a -bushel; beef, $2.50 per pound, and mule meat, $1 per pound. - -What could you expect when there was a continuous siege of 47 days; -a city surrounded by an army that neither permits any one to go into -or come out of it; an army that slowly but surely is creeping up by -its sap-rollers and approaches, getting closer and closer each day? -I said we did not let any one into the city and none to come out of -it; still, notwithstanding all our watchfulness there were a few -who succeeded in getting through the lines, and a few that made the -attempt but failed. Permit me to give one instance. In front of the -line of the 15th Illinois Regiment, near the picket line, was a low -marshy sink, of about an acre in size, covered by brush and dense cane -brakes. One night a boy of about 10 years of age came out of the brush -towards the picket line, holding up his handkerchief as a sign that -he wished to surrender. The sentinel told him to come in; he did, and -the little fellow told a pitiful story; that he had been in Vicksburg -visiting his aunt who was sick; that his mother lived in Jackson, and -he wanted to go home. The story seemed plausible and he was allowed to -go through the lines. Not long after, one night, the pickets in that -same locality, heard a rustling in the bushes in the same swampy hole, -and surmising that something was wrong, surrounded it, demanding the -surrender of any one there on pain of being shot at once. To their -surprise out came a half-dozen men, each with a bag over his shoulder -containing 10,000 percussion caps. Gen. Johnston had sent the men and -caps back, led by the same little boy, and they were trying to get into -Vicksburg. They were marched to Gen. Grant’s headquarters, and while -waiting to be ushered into the General’s presence, one of the prisoners -said to the boy: “What do you suppose they will do with you, for you -are the fellow that got us into this fix?” The little fellow, cocking -one eye in a comical manner, replied: “Oh, I guess they won’t hurt me -much, coz I’se so little.” The little fellow was not hurt much, but -kept a prisoner until the surrender and then with the soldiers sent -home. - -The siege continues day after day; the bombardment from land and water -is incessant; the beleaguered army is reduced to quarter rations, -living on mule meat and thinking it good fare; the inhabitants of the -city hiding and living in caves, to escape the storm of shells from -the Union army and navy, which are exploding day and night in their -streets. The enemy are brave and fight valiantly for their city and -cause; neither the scorching sun nor the drenching rain keep them from -their posts. They suffer for water; they are pinched with hunger; -still they fight and hold the fort. However, the end is near. That -persistency and determination, so characteristic of our commander, -Gen. Grant, will surely win. It is related of Gen. Grant that one day -during the siege he was riding around the lines, and stopped at a house -to get some water. The only occupant was a woman who tauntingly asked -him if he expected to get into Vicksburg. “Certainly,” he replied. “But -when?” she said. “I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town, but -I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me 30 years.” The reply was -too much for the old lady, and her heart sank within her, as she rushed -back into the house to hide her anger. That reminds me of an incident -that passed between Gen. Grant and myself, the relating of which I -may be pardoned inasmuch as I am relating reminiscences. One hot day -in June I was in the trenches with my company, behind the gabions, on -duty as sharpshooters, when Gen. Grant, attended by one of his staff, -came along. He had climbed the hill and when he arrived opposite me -was perspiring and puffing greatly. We turned and saluted the General -as he walked along the trench. When he came opposite to me he said: -“Sergeant, is there any water convenient?” I replied, “None, General, -except what is in my canteen,” and taking my canteen from my shoulder, -half filled with pretty warm water, I handed it to him. He took it, -offered it to the officer, who declined, and then Gen. Grant took a -hearty drink from my canteen. He then handed it back, thanking me for -it, and passed on. So in the words of Miles O’Reilly’s poem-- - - “There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours, - Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers, - And true lovers’ knots, I ween; - The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss, - But there’s never a bond, old friend, like this-- - We have drank from the same canteen.” - -Although we are relieved often in our daily duty of sharpshooters, and -return to the ravines and hollows where we are bivouacked, still we are -constantly threatened with death; the soldiers wrote songs, and the -jest went around, fun actually being coined from the danger which some -comrade escaped, or attempted to nimbly dodge. There was no shirking or -quailing; danger had long since ceased to cause any fear. Exploding -shells and whistling bullets attracted but little notice. Even death -had become so familiar that the fall of a comrade was looked upon with -almost stoical indifference; eliciting, perhaps, an expression of -pity, and most generally the remark: “I wonder who will be the next -one?” Men are not naturally unmindful of danger, nor do their hearts -usually exhibit such indifference to human agony and suffering; yet the -occurrence of daily scenes of horror and bloodshed, through which they -passed, the shadow of the angel of death constantly hovering over them, -made them undisturbed spectators of every occurrence, making the most -of today, heedless of the morrow. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -Let us go back to the “White House” and Fort Hill in our front. The -Shirley or White House was not far from Fort Hill, and being on a hill -overlooked much of the field of operations, and was the frequent resort -of Gen. Grant and other commanders during the siege. Several officers -and men were shot in this house. A Lieutenant of Battery L went to -Colonel Maltby of the 45th Illinois (whose camp was along the “White -House”) and asked permission to use a room in the house for making out -the battery pay rolls. “Why, certainly,” promptly answered Colonel -Maltby, “walk right in; it’s a splendid place. I was shot in the leg -here yesterday.” - -It is of peculiar interest to the writer, as he was wounded in this -house while in the line of duty on July 2, 1863. Mr. Shirley and family -were living in this house when on May 18, 1863, the skirmishers of -the Union army advanced along the Jackson road, pressed back those -of Pemberton’s army into their main defensive line, so close at hand -that the salient fort, known as Fort Hill to the Union army, but to -the Confederates known as the Third Louisiana Redan, nearly west of -the house and immediately north of the road, was not over 350 yards -distant. As the building was an obstruction to the fire from the -Confederate line, it was to have been destroyed; but, according to the -story of Mrs. Eaton, the presence of her mother delayed carrying the -order into execution so long that the Confederate soldier who came to -do so, while holding a ball of blazing cotton to the building, fell -under the fire of the advancing vanguard and was buried the next day -upon the spot. As for Mrs. Shirley, she first had a sheet attached to -a broomstick and hung from an upper window, which gave some respite -from the fire of the Union troops. But their line soon reached the -house itself and practically rested there, so that a steady firing -upon it from the other side was inevitable. Notwithstanding this, Mrs. -Shirley remained there for three days, much of the time sitting behind -the large chimney for shelter. Having in the meantime learned of the -situation of the Shirley’s, orders came from Gen. McPherson for their -removal. They went accordingly, into a shallow cave hastily prepared -in a nearby ravine. Here the family remained for a time, Mrs. Shirley -having sickened from exposure and poor fare, but were soon after, by -Gen. Grant’s personal direction, removed to a plantation three miles in -the rear, where a negro cabin afforded temporary shelter. The Shirley’s -were Union people and Mr. Lossing, the historian, says: “That the -accomplished daughter kept a diary during the siege, each day’s record -closing with the prediction that success would crown the efforts of -the Union army.” The wish was father to the thought; her patriotism -was rewarded with the heart and hand of the gallant Gen. Eaton of the -United States army, and they were married about the close of the war. -They now reside in Washington, and if the facts of their courtship and -betrothal, conducted amidst the exciting scenes of a terrible siege, -were known, it would no doubt be a very interesting romance. But what -of the ladies who are in the besieged city? Many of them have left -their fine mansions and taken up their abode in the holes and caves of -the hills in and around the city, and so universal was this mode of -living that the city in its desolation looked like a “prairie dog’s -village.” One of the residents of the city afterwards said: “It got -to be Sunday all the time; seven Sundays in the week to us anyway. We -hadn’t anything to do and the time hung heavy. Seven Sundays, and all -of them broken up at one time or another in the day or in the night by -a few hours of the awful storm of fire and thunder and iron and lead.” -The caves were sometimes fearfully crowded, always hot and close. -Oftentimes a cave had from twenty to twenty-five people packed in it; -no turning room for anybody, and the air so foul, sometimes, you could -not have made a candle burn. A child was born in one of these caves one -night during the siege. Generally, there is considerable noise around -when a baby is born, but this fellow was welcomed with the booming of -cannon and the fierce shriek of the screaming shell. I’ll warrant, if -he was like most boys, he tried to make all the noise he could. But -he is no longer a baby, at least let us hope he is not, for he is old -enough now to be a man all through, being at this time over 50 years of -age. I have his picture and a fine-looking man he is. He writes on his -picture: “I was born 12 feet under ground.” One night a shell burst in -front of one of these caves and stopped up the hole to such an extent -the occupants came near smothering, and for a time there was some -lively scratching of dirt for a breathing hole. - -Fort Hill is said to be the key to Vicksburg. We have tried often to -turn this key, and have as often failed--in fact, the lock is not -an easy one, but we soon shall try the burglar’s plan, and with the -aid of powder blow the lock to “smithereens.” The sap or trench is -run to the fort and the fort is mined, the boys digging the dirt and -carrying it out in boxes. Great holes are dug underneath the fort, -and miners from the Lead Mine, 45th Illinois Regiment, who understand -tamping, have charged the 2,200 pounds of powder, and all is ready -to light the fuse. June, the 25th, a heavy artillery fire opened all -along the line, and at 2:30 p. m., the explosion takes place. Huge -masses of earth were thrown in the air, and the ground was shaken as -by an earthquake. As soon as the earth was rent, a bright glare of -fire issued from the burning powder, but quickly died away, as there -was nothing combustible in the fort. A few Confederate soldiers were -hurled into the air, one or two of whom came down inside our lines, -and some were buried in the fort, as was proven a few years after the -war, when the fort was dismantled and turned into a cotton field, a few -skeletons were found buried underneath. One negro boy fell among the -men of our company. He gathered himself together, and looked around as -though he thought the day of judgment had surely come. One of our boys -asked him how far up he thought he had gone, and he replied: “Don’t -know, Massa; ’bout free miles, I guess.” He believed it, for I never -saw such a frightened look on any one’s face, and his eyes stood out -and looked unnatural. When the smoke and dust had cleared away partly, -a great saucer-shaped crater was seen, where before was the A-shaped -Fort Hill. It was large enough to hold about 60 or 80 men. The 23rd -Indiana and the 45th Illinois were in the trenches ready to charge; the -command was given before the dust had fully settled; the 23rd Indiana -charging to the left of the crater to the top of the works; the 45th -Illinois up and into the crater. The enemy had come up behind the big -pile of earth thrown out by the explosion, and as we went into the -crater, they met us with a terrible volley of musketry, but on the -boys went, up and over the embankment with a cheer, the enemy falling -back a few paces to an inner or second line of breastworks, where are -placed cannon loaded with grape and canister, and these cannon belched -forth their death-dealing missiles, in addition to the heavy musketry -fire, with such telling effect that many of the brave boys fall to -rise no more; the line wavers, staggers, and then falls back into the -crater. The enemy charge on us, but we repel them at the west bank of -the crater, and a hand-to-hand conflict rages for hours; hand grenades -and loaded shells are lighted and thrown over the parapet as you -would play ball. These shells and hand grenades carry death, as many -as a dozen men being killed and wounded at one explosion. It seems to -me, in looking back, a wonder that any one in that hot place was left -to tell the story. I have witnessed our men grab these shells, at the -risk of their exploding, and fling them back. Many a brave hero laid -down his life in that death hole, or, as we most appropriately called -it, “Fort Hell.” The Chicago Tribune had its correspondent in the field -and, in the issues of that paper on July 3 and 6, 1863, he speaks of -the charge and fighting in the crater, saying: * * * “A wide embrasure -in the embankment was made into which the noble Lead Mine Regiment, -led by Colonel Maltby, rushed in and at once planted our banner amid a -terrific fire from the enemy. The conduct of the 45th Illinois Regiment -was grand in the extreme. Universal commendation is bestowed for the -gallant manner that regiment performed the duty assigned it, and in -no small degree upon the field officers who so nobly inspired the men -by taking the advance and marching up to the muzzles of the enemy’s -guns, so near that for a time it was a hand-to-hand fight. The colors -of the regiment planted on the parapet of the fort are literally torn -to pieces by the shots of the enemy. Two of the field officers, Lieut. -Col. Smith and Major Fisk, are no more. Col. Maltby is still suffering -from a severe wound.” - -[Illustration: The 23rd Indiana and 45th Illinois Regiments charging -Fort Hill after the explosion of the mine June 25th, 1863, at the siege -of Vicksburg.] - -We fought at close range with the enemy over that embankment of earth, -many of the men receiving bayonet wounds. A cypress log, with port -holes cut on the under side, was brought into the crater, and in -helping to place it on the parapet, Col. James A. Maltby was severely -wounded by splinters from the log. A solid shot from a cannon hit -the log, hurling it with terrific force against the Colonel and his -small command. Gen. John A. Logan said of Col. Maltby, at the siege of -Vicksburg: “He is the bravest man I ever saw on the field of battle.” -He was in the Mexican War, badly wounded at Chapultepec, then at Fort -Donelson in 1862 and then at Vicksburg. He was justly promoted to be -a Brigadier General for his bravery. A detail of about two companies -would hold the crater for two hours or more, their rapid firing causing -the rifles to become hot and foul, and the men weary and worn out, when -two other companies would slip in and take their places. Badeau, in his -history of Gen. Grant, says: “Details from Leggett’s brigade relieved -each other all night long, in their attempt to hold the crater.” I want -to correct his history and say, as I have a right to say, for I was -there and speak from what I know to be the facts, it was no “attempt,” -it was an accomplished fact that we _held it_, but to our great loss, -until the order was received to give it up. What a terrible sacrifice -it was to hold that little piece of ground. It probably was all right -to have made the charge into the crater after the explosion and try to -make a breech inside the enemy’s lines, but it surely was a serious -mistake, either of Gen. Grant or Gen. McPherson, to cause that crater -to be held for over 48 hours with the loss of brave men every hour. I -remember, upon returning to the trenches, after having been relieved -in the crater, of passing Gen. John A. Logan, surrounded by some of -his aid-de-camp, and as they bore past him some wounded hero, he broke -forth with vehemence, saying: “My God! they are killing my bravest men -in that hole.” Some one suggested that the place be given up. He said -in reply: “I can’t; my commanding officer orders me to hold every inch -of ground.” The crater was at last given up and we resumed the ordinary -duties of everyday life in the trenches and in camp. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -The army was without tents, yet very comfortable. They were encamped -along the steep hillside, mostly sheltered from the enemy’s shot. A -place was dug against the hill, and in many cases, into it, forming a -sort of cave. Poles were put up and covered with oil cloths, blankets -or cane rods, of which an abundant supply was near at hand. For fuel, -the farm fences were laid under contribution, in some cases being -hauled for two or three miles. The work of slaughter and destruction -went on day and night. The roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry, the -sharp crack of the rifle in the hands of the sharpshooters, reached the -ear from all sides. There was no cessation, no Let up. - - “Cannon to right of them; - Cannon to left of them; - Cannon in front of them; - Volleyed and thundered.” - -Stormed at with shot and shell, the beleaugered garrison and the -inhabitants of Vicksburg must have felt, as surely as day follows -night, that the end could not be much longer delayed. Mines and -countermines were dug and sprung. Not a man in the trenches on either -side could show his head above the breastworks without being picked off -by the sharpshooters. A hat held out for two minutes at a port hole -was riddled with minie-balls. Shells searched out all parts of the -city, with direful results. Several women and children were killed and -wounded during the siege. There were about 1,300 women and children in -the city during the bombardment, who, during the greater part of the -time, had been obliged to live in caves, cut in the hard clay hills -in the city, of which there were several hundred. At this day it may -seem to some of my readers that it was cruel and inhuman for the Union -forces to fire on defenseless women and children, but what could we -do; they were in the city and preferred to remain there to cheer on -their husbands and brothers in their work of trying to destroy the -Union. To show my readers with what feeling these Southern women showed -their hatred of the North and the boys in blue, let me give a simple -extract from a letter written by a Southern wife to her husband in the -Confederate army, which letter was captured near Vicksburg. Speaking of -the Yankees she says: “If there is an hereafter, a heaven or hell, I -pray to go to perdition ere my soul would be joined to rest in heaven -with the fiendish foe. It would be some solace to us, when we love our -husbands, fathers, sons and friends, to know they were fighting an -enemy, civilized or refined in a great degree. But, oh! the thought is -killing; is too painful, to see our men, the choicest, most refined -specimens of God’s work, destroyed and even forced to take up arms -against the offscourings, outcast dregs of creation, for every man -they lose is a blessing, a Godsend to humanity and society.” These are -strong words, and a woman that could harbor such feelings would have -the courage to stay in the doomed city and take her chances with her -husband and friends. - -To offset this, let me tell you of a romance of the war, which has -never been published, and was given me by Comrade Searles, late of -Chicago. Gen. Elias E. Dennis, in command of a brigade of our troops -during the siege, made his headquarters at a farm house (the home of a -widow and family), occupying one portion of it. The General was very -kind to the widow and orphans, often providing for them from his own -means. One of these children, a bright, winsome little girl of some -eight years, took a deep interest in all that transpired, remembering -many events of those stirring times, but above all, retaining a most -kindly recollection of the General who occupied the house. About twelve -years ago a reunion of some old veterans was held at Vicksburg. Comrade -Searles, of Chicago, was there, and among the Southern ladies who -welcomed them was this little girl, now, of course, grown to womanhood. -Accepting her kind invitation to visit her home, the next day found our -comrade in the same house where Gen. Dennis had made his headquarters -during the siege. Naturally, the conversation turned to the days of -1863. The lady, recalling the many kindnesses of Gen. Dennis, inquired -if he were alive, to which Comrade Searles replied: “Why, bless you, -I know him personally; he lives at Omaha.” She then asked her comrade -if he would be the bearer of a letter to the General, and he replied, -“Most gladly.” In due time this was delivered. What its contents were, -none save the writer and the General ever knew, but as he read the -letter, his lips quivered and his eyes filled with tears. The General -was alone in the world, his wife and only daughter having passed away. -Soon after he journeyed south. We know not what the greeting was; no -doubt the lady awakened in the mind of the old veteran memories of his -own lost, loved child, for shortly after this, he adopted the lady as -his daughter. He lived the remainder of his days in Vicksburg, and but -recently passed over to the eternal camping ground. When the General’s -will was proven, it was found that all his property had been left to -his daughter of the Southland. - -Another romance that commenced shortly after the surrender of the -city is worth recording. A Miss Mary E. Hurlburt, of Danbury, Conn., -a Northern girl, was visiting at the Lunn Mansion in the city of -Vicksburg at the outbreak of the war, and tarrying too long, was -compelled to remain there until the Union forces opened up the -Mississippi River. When Gen. Grant captured the city, the officers -of those commanding the troops in the city domiciled themselves at -different houses. Gen. Leggett and his staff located their headquarters -at the Lunn residence. Gen. John A. Rawlins, chief of Gen. Grant’s -staff, had occasion to visit the headquarters of Gen. Leggett and -naturally met Miss Hurlburt and their acquaintance soon ripened into -a love affair, which in a few months culminated in a wedding and the -young lady became the wife of Gen. John A. Rawlins, and shared with him -in all the honors conferred upon the General as the closest advisor of -Gen. Grant, and afterwards as Secretary of War. - -The month of June, 1863, was rolling by and the glorious 4th of July -drew near. The Union lines were getting closer and closer, and the -question was passed around among the boys, “Shall we spend the Fourth -in Vicksburg or in the trenches?” On June 28, the Confederates threw -over to our men a small biscuit made of corn meal and peas. To this was -attached a very small piece of meat and a note stating that it was one -day’s rations. The note went on: “We are pretty hungry and dreadful -dry. Old Pemberton has taken all the whisky for the hospitals and -our Southern Confederacy is so small just now that we are not in the -manufacturing business. Give our compliments to Gen. Grant and say to -him that grub would be acceptable, but we will feel under particular -obligations to him if he will send us a few bottles of good whisky.” - -Shall I give you the experience of a wounded soldier? Towards the -close of the siege, while in the line of duty, a minie-ball from a -Confederate sharpshooter went crashing through his right lung. His -comrades bore him back a short distance; the surgeon came and seeing -where the soldier had been shot, shook his head and said, “he cannot -live.” Comrades gathered around, saying in undertones, “poor fellow, -he’s got his discharge.” The soldier closed his eyes, and although -gasping for breath, as the warm life blood flowed from his wound and -gushed from his mouth, saw something--his past life came before -him like a living panorama; the good deeds and the evil of his life -appeared in a few moments; he thought he was soon to be ushered into -eternity, and how would it stand with him there. He breathed one little -prayer: “O, Lord, spare my life and I will serve thee all my days.” -Presently the ambulance came and he was lifted tenderly into it, to be -conveyed two miles to the rear to the brush hospital. The boys said -“good-bye.” He was but a youth, not twenty years of age; had been -promoted to First Sergeant after the battle of Shiloh and had endeared -himself to all in his company, many of whom were old enough to be -his father. Louis LaBrush, a Sergeant of the company, a Frenchman by -birth, but a true lover of his adopted country, loved this smooth-faced -boy, so badly wounded, and begged permission of the Captain to go -with the wounded soldier and watch over him. The Captain, seeing the -yearning Look in the eyes of the Sergeant, granted permission, and the -ambulance started with the old Sergeant watching with a tender care -over the little Orderly Sergeant pillowed on his knee. The sun was just -sinking to rest when they reached the hospital, which was only a brush -shed covered with branches from the trees, in which were long lines of -cots upon which the wounded soldiers lay. As the ambulance drew near -the surgeon in charge came out, and looking at the wounded man, said: -“Put him out there under that tree; he’ll die tonight,” and the old -Sergeant put his darling boy out under the tree, laying him tenderly -on the ground. The Sergeant and another comrade of his company, Henry -Winter, who was a nurse in the hospital, watched by the boy’s side -during the weary hours of the night. At midnight, as the doctor was -making his rounds, he observed the Sergeant still under the tree, and -went to see if the boy was yet living. Finding that he was, he then -made an examination by probing with his fingers into the wounds. The -splintered bones pierced the tender flesh and made the boy writhe in -pain, although the only protest was the gritting of his teeth. To cause -his boy such suffering, after the treatment he had received, was more -than the old Frenchman could stand, and he burst forth in a volley of -oaths, commanding the doctor to take his hands off immediately or he -would kill him, saying, “If he is going to die, let him die in peace; -you shall not kill him.” Seeing the fire in the old Sergeant’s eyes, -the doctor went away, muttering, “Well, the boy will die anyway.” -I want to say right here, that as a rule our surgeons were men of -sympathy and did all they could for the soldiers. The example I speak -of is one of the exceptions. The next morning the surgeon did not come, -but sent word that if the soldier under the tree was still alive, to -dress his wound, give him clean clothing and place him on a cot in the -hospital. He was alive and that boy recovered, even after the surgeon -in the army and the doctors at home said he couldn’t live. That wounded -boy lives today and is able to write this book in the year 1915, and he -is ever grateful in remembrance of the old French Sergeant and Comrade -Henry Winter, whose tender care aided in saving his life. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - -The trite saying of Gen. Sherman that “war is hell” cannot be fully -appreciated by the people of this generation; only those who have been -through the horrors of war on the battle field and in the hospitals, -can fully realize the horrors of war. Let me tell you how one brave man -of my company lost his life through the most reckless foolishness. One -day during the siege he succeeded in procuring some whisky from some -unknown source and drank enough of it to make him half drunk. While in -this condition he took it into his head to go out in the open and march -out towards Fort Hill, and finding something of interest in the open -field, he brought it to camp and boasted to the boys where he got it. -Some one went and reported to the First Sergeant that E---- was drunk -and had said that he was going to walk right up on top of Fort Hill. -The Sergeant detailed a Corporal to watch E---- and keep him in camp, -but the soldier having enough whisky in him to make him reckless and -without reason or sense, escaped his watch and went boldly up to Fort -Hill and climbed the fort, but when on top a bullet from the enemy -laid him low. As we boys got the body of our comrade that night and -buried it, we could not help but say, that if poor E---- had let the -accursed whisky alone he would have been living, and we then declared -that liquor was a greater enemy than the men who opposed us with their -muskets. - -On the 3rd day of July, 1863, a white flag was seen, nearly opposite -to the “White House.” Firing ceased in that vicinity and presently -several Confederate officers approached our lines to confer with Gen. -Grant. The General declined meeting them, but sent word he would meet -Gen. Pemberton at 3 o’clock in front of Gen. McPherson’s lines. Soon -after Gen. Pemberton came out and met Gen. Grant under a big tree, -about midway between the two lines, where they had a conference as to -the surrender of Vicksburg, “The Gibralter of America.” After a talk of -an hour, possibly, Gen. Pemberton returned inside the fortifications, -and then after correspondence lasting until the next day, terms of -surrender were finally agreed upon, and on Saturday, July 4, 1863, the -anniversary of American Independence, the garrison of Vicksburg marched -out of the works it had defended so long, and stacking their arms, -hung their colors on the center, laid off their knapsacks, belts and -cartridge boxes, and thus shorn of the accoutrements of the soldier, -marched down the road into the city. They went through the ceremony -with that downcast look, so touching on a soldier’s face. Not a word -was spoken, save the few words of command necessary to be given by -their officers, and these were given in a subdued manner. What an army -it was--30,000 men and 172 cannon. Gen. J. B. McPherson, commanding -the 17th Army Corps, addressed a letter to Col. Rawlins, chief of staff -to Gen. Grant, saying, “If one regiment goes in advance to the court -house to take possession, I respectfully request that it be the 45th -Illinois. This regiment has borne the brunt of the battle oftener than -any other in my command and always nobly.” Col. Rawlins endorsed this -letter, stating that it was left to Gen. McPherson to designate such -regiment as he saw proper to go forward and take possession of the -court house. Gen. McPherson then sent a letter to Gen. John A. Logan, -commanding the third division: “I suggest that the 45th Illinois take -the advance in going into the city.” Now the boys in blue take up their -line of march into the city. Gen. Badeau, in his history of Gen. Grant -says: “Logan’s division was one of those which had approached nearest -the works, and now was the first to enter the town. It had been heavily -engaged in both assaults and was fairly entitled to this honor. The -45th Illinois Infantry marched at the head of the line and placed its -battle-torn flag on the court house in Vicksburg. Gen. Grant and Gen. -Logan rode into the town at the head of Logan’s division.” - -When inside the works, and in the city, the men of the two armies -affiliated at once. Groups of Union and Confederate soldiers could -be seen wherever there was a shady place; the Union soldier pumping -the rebel and giving him in return for the information hard tack and -bacon, which the poor famished fellows accepted with a grateful look. -The Confederates reclined on the glass and while munching their hard -tack, tell what they “reckon” is their loss; how long they “allowed” to -hold out; how our sharpshooters killed “right smart” of their men and -they wish “we’uns” and “you’uns” could have this war ended and all live -together in peace. Many of the Union and Confederate soldiers were -seen walking arm in arm; they felt they were countrymen. Five days’ -rations were issued to the prisoners, consisting of bacon, hominy, -peas, coffee, sugar, soap, salt and crackers. - -Here is what one of the Confederates wrote about it: “How the famished -troops enjoyed such bounteous supplies, it is needless to state. For -once the brave boys were now objects of their enemy’s charity. They -grew jovial and hilarious over the change in their condition. The -Yankees came freely among them and were unusually kind. They asked -innumerable questions and were horrified at the fact of the men eating -mules and rats.” After feeding and paroling this large army of men, for -it took several days to parole them, they silently and sadly marched -out and off to their homes, while the boys in blue and the people of -the North were full of rejoicing. Here is a few lines, composed by one -of the boys in blue at the time: - - “The armies of the Union - ’Round Vicksburg long had lain, - For forty-seven days and nights, - Besieging it in vain. - Then came the morning of the Fourth, - Our nation’s jubilee. - Ah, could the news this hour go forth, - In Vicksburg soon we’ll be. - The siege is done, the struggle past, - On this eventful day; - Glad tidings crown us as at last - Our thanks to God we pay.” - -Yes, Old Glory floated over Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, and what -rejoicing there was throughout the North when the news came to your -homes that Vicksburg had fallen. Yes, Old Glory still floats there, -and may we earnestly hope it will continue to wave as long as the city -remains. We can rejoice today that we live to see a reunited people -with one country and one flag. But while rejoicing, let us not forget -those who have died on fields of honor, and while the years glide -on, let the dead of Raymond, Champion Hills and Vicksburg never be -forgotten. Let us think of them as standing guard over our dearly -won prize, until the bugle sounds for silence, while the angel calls -the roll. The third largest national cemetery in the United States is -located at Vicksburg. Each of the small head stones marks the resting -place of a hero. Seventeen thousand Union soldiers are buried in the -50 acres in this consecrated spot, of which 12,957 have the simple -inscription, “Unknown,” marked on their head stones. But they are not -unknown to Him who cares for all. He takes cognizance of the heroes who -fell fighting for their country and for freedom. Although their names -are missing from the roster of the city where their ashes lie, still -the great Jehovah keeps the record of the brave, and He will reward -them in His own good time. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - -At the request of Captain W. T. Rigby, Chairman of the National -Military Park Commission of Vicksburg, to visit that place for the -purpose of locating the positions held by my regiment during the siege -in 1863, I did visit Vicksburg, Miss., in August, 1902. - -I found the weather very hot, 99 degrees in the shade. However, it -was not as hot as it was when we were in that “crater” at Fort Hill, -years ago. The people of Vicksburg greeted me with a glad hand. The -contrast of long ago was striking. About the first man I met was an old -grizzled veteran wearing the Confederate button and, seeing my G. A. R. -button, he came up, and, extending his hand, greeted me: “How are you, -comrade; we wear different buttons, but we are brothers;” and I shook -his hand heartily and we had a pleasant chat of the siege. Then, we -were shooting minie-balls at each other; now, our shots were story and -laughter. - -Captain Rigby drove me out to the Federal and Confederate lines. Many -changes have taken place. Some few of the trenches and breastworks -remain, but many have been smoothed off for the plow. As we drove to -the spot where we camped, near the old “Shirley House,” I said to -myself, “Am I dreaming?” Can it be that this quiet, deserted place, -overgrown with weeds and bushes, with no sound save the sweet songs -of the birds in the trees is the same spot where, in the summer of -1863, so much life and action was seen each day; and where, instead of -the music of the birds, it was the music of the whizzing minie-ball -or the shrieking shell. In thought I went back to those days of noise -and blood, and I involuntarily looked over to Fort Hill to see if -the Confederate stronghold was still there, and listened to hear the -sharp crack of the sharpshooter’s rifle from the trenches, but all is -quiet and hushed. I am soothed by the stillness, the quiet and peace -that pervades these hills and ravines, and I wander in memory’s hall -of the long ago, when I am brought back to the present by Captain -Rigby, with: “Now, Crummer, you must locate the position of the camp -of your regiment during the siege.” This I proceeded to do, having no -difficulty, for the “Shirley House” is still there, although tumbling -down and going to ruin. Thanks to the Illinois Commission, headed by -Gen. John C. Black and others, Congress has made an appropriation to -have the “Shirley House” restored to its former state. This house -will be remembered for its prominence during the siege as a place -of observation by general officers and as headquarters of the 45th -Illinois. Quite a number of officers and soldiers were shot in this -house by the Confederate sharpshooters. - -I wandered through its ruins and you cannot imagine my feelings as I -stepped into the northwest room and stood on the identical spot where -on July 2, 1863, in the afternoon, while writing out an ordinance -report, a Confederate sharpshooter sent a minie-ball through my right -lung. - -I placed marker 403 as the center of our camp and No. 484 marks the -right of the camp of the 45th Regiment. This done, we approached Fort -Hill on the Jackson road, and although the entrenchments and forts -have been generally leveled off for agricultural purposes, changing -the face of the hills, yet there is enough left to show where the main -lines were. No. 489 marks the point where Major L. H. Cowen, 45th -Illinois, was killed in the assault on the afternoon of May 22, 1863. -The charge was made by the regiment, by right, in front. Major Cowen -and myself were in the lead and running together when he fell. Being -Orderly Sergeant of Co. A, it was my duty to be there. - -No. 488 marks the center of the line of the 45th Illinois at the time -of its closest approach to the Confederate line in the assault of May -22, 1863. - -While walking over this ground I remembered how close we hugged that -sloping hill, lying there in the scorching sun, with no chance to -return the withering fire of the enemy. - -Captain Rigby then asked me if I could locate the “crater” and Gen. -Logan’s line of approach to it. I walked over the hill, groping my -way through the tall weeds and undergrowth, and, coming back to the -captain, reported, by saying, “I can.” “Good,” he said; “you may drive -the markers.” I then drove marker No. 487 at the center of the west -line of the crater made by the explosion under the 3rd Louisiana Redan -(we called it Fort Hill) June 25, 1863. It may be questioned why I -could be so certain about the location of the “crater,” in as much as -the fort had been completely demolished. My principal reason is this: -Sergeant Esping, of our regiment, who fell in the “crater,” pierced -by a ball through his brain, was by my side at the time. We were -together in the northwest corner of the “crater” and we had a splendid -chance of doing good work, by looking off down the ridge to the right -and northwest from the “crater,” and firing on the Confederates in the -trenches. Those old trenches where the Confederates were on June 25, -1863, are still there, so in walking over the hill and getting the -right angle to those trenches, I was able to locate the “crater.” - -Markers Nos. 485 and 486 indicate the line of Logan’s sap, or approach, -to Fort Hill, commencing at the Jackson road. Captain Rigby thanked me -heartily for my services of the day. - -The 45th Illinois Infantry bore an honorable part in the siege, as the -official records show. - -The report of our Brigade Commander, Gen. M. B. Leggett, published -in the official records at Washington, under date of July 6, 1863, -relative to the charge and fighting in the “crater,” is interesting and -tends to corroborate the writer’s statements. - - * * * “At 3:30 p. m. of June 25, 1863, my command was in readiness, - the 45th Illinois being the first, supported by the other regiments - of the brigade and Lieut. H. C. Foster of the 23rd Indiana, with - 100 men, being placed in the left hand sap, with orders to charge - with the 45th Illinois, provided they attempted to cross the enemy’s - works. At 4:30 o’clock the mine was sprung and before the dirt and - smoke was cleared away the 45th Illinois had filled the gap made - by the explosion and were pouring deadly volleys into the enemy. - As soon as possible loop-hole timber was placed upon the works for - the sharpshooters, but the enemy opened a piece of artillery at - very close range on that point and the splintering timbers killed - and wounded more men than did balls, and I ordered the timbers to - be removed. Hand grenades were then freely used by the enemy, which - made sad havoc amongst my men, for, being in the crater of the - exploded mine, the sides of which were covered by the men, scarcely - a grenade was thrown without doing damage, and in most instances - horribly mangling those they happened to strike. The 45th Illinois, - after holding the position and fighting desperately until their guns - were too hot for further use, were relieved by the 20th Illinois. - The 20th Illinois was relieved by the 31st Illinois and they in turn - by the 56th Illinois, but, their ammunition being bad, they were - unable to hold the position and were relieved by the 23rd Indiana; - the 17th Iowa then relieving the 23rd Indiana, and the 31st Illinois - relieving them, held the position until daylight, when the 45th - Illinois relieved them and held the position until 10:00 a. m. of the - 26th; the 124th Illinois then relieved the 45th Illinois and held the - position until 5:00 p. m., when I received orders to withdraw to the - left hand gap, where I maintained the position until the surrender on - July 4th, when, by order of Major General Logan, my brigade led by - the 45th Illinois, was honored with the privilege of being the first - to enter the garrison, and the flag of the 45th Illinois the first to - float over the conquered city.” - -The National Park Commission are doing a noble work. Capt. Rigby is the -right man in the right place and with a corps of engineers is working -day and night to make a beautiful park for the delight of the people -that come after us. The state of Iowa has done the noble thing in -appropriating $150,000 to place monuments in the park on the spot which -the different Iowa regiments occupied during the siege. The Illinois -legislature has also made an appropriation of $250,000 for monuments -for the 78 different organizations engaged in that memorable siege. -When the memorial tablets from the different states shall have been -placed and the park fully laid out and completed, it will be one of -the notable historic battle fields of the Union, and one which we of -the North will occasionally visit with great interest. And now I close -my sketch with this prayer: that war may never come to our fair land -again, but that blessed peace, prosperity and righteousness may ever be -our heritage. - -[Illustration: GENERAL U. S. GRANT - -From a photograph taken in Galena, Illinois, at the close of the Civil -War] - - - - -GENERAL U. S. GRANT - -CHAPTER XV. - -AN APPRECIATION. - - -My closing chapter will be about our great commander, General Ulysses -S. Grant, giving a few personal incidents of his life. - -Orators, authors and statesmen have spoken and written of the great -General so much it would seem as though there was nothing more could be -said. However, as one who followed him through numerous battles during -the Civil War, and who, at the close of the war, became a resident -of Galena, Ill., and became personally acquainted with, and attended -the same church as the General, I feel I have the right to note down, -before the bugle sounds taps, a few words of appreciation of the man I -knew. - -For four years, just after the close of the war, I was in the employ -of Col W. R. Rowley, who was then Clerk of the Circuit Court of Jo -Daviess County, Ill., and who had been one of the close family staff of -General Grant during the early part of the war. - -General John A. Rawlins and Colonel Rowley were neighbors of the -General before the war and knew him well and intimately, and it is -believed by the citizens of Galena, and known by many prominent men in -the army, that these two men had more to do in helping and advising -General Grant during the early part of the war, and, indeed, all -through the war, so far as General Rawlins is concerned, than any of -his Generals or friends in Congress or out of it. - -Colonel Rowley and myself naturally had many conversations over the -incidents of certain battles and about General Grant. - -During the war and after, the enemies of Grant circulated many stories -about his being drunk on this and that occasion. - -If I wanted to stir Colonel Rowley up to a fighting mood, and hear him -use a “big, big D” (for he could use them occasionally), I would ask -him: “Colonel, how about this new yarn of Grant’s being drunk at Shiloh -when the battle commenced?” The question was the spark that exploded -the magazine of wrath and the Colonel would reply: “All a d--d lie. -Wasn’t I there with him all the time; don’t I know. When will all the -d--d liars get through telling their d--d lies about Grant.” And then I -would chuckle to myself and say: “Them’s my sentiments, too.” - -It has been said of General John A. Rawlins (chief of General Grant’s -staff), and, I believe, it must be true, for Colonel Rowley once told -me it was; that when Rawlins got mad he could use more “cuss words” -than any man in the army. General Grant never used “cuss words,” but he -loved these two men, notwithstanding their habit of emphasizing their -remarks sometimes with a big D. - -Grant loved his friends and was always true to them. Grant wouldn’t -lie; even in small matters he insisted that the truth should be spoken. -It is related of him that, after he became President and while one day -he was busy with his cabinet, some one called to see the President. One -of the cabinet officers directed the servant to say to the caller that -the President was not in. “No,” said the General; “tell him no such -thing. I don’t lie myself and I don’t want my servants to lie for me.” - -A great man who was associated with him in public life has said of -him: “He was the most absolutely truthful man I ever met in all my -experiences.” Another man who knew him well said of General Grant: “He -hated two classes of men--liars and cowards.” - -General Grant never aspired to political office, although urged by his -friends to do so. Just after the fall of Vicksburg some of the leading -citizens of Galena visited him at that place. One day, in a general -conversation, one of them asked what office he would like to have after -the war was over. He replied that there was one office he would like -to have when he returned to Galena. His friends pledged him their best -endeavors in aiding him for whatever he might seek, and, being pressed -to name the office, Grant said: “I would like to be alderman from my -ward long enough to have a sidewalk built to my residence.” Of course, -there was a laugh and the matter was dropped. Upon his first visit to -his old home at Galena, at the close of the war, the little city of -many hills got up a reception upon a grand scale for its hero. The -city was smothered with flags and decorations; the streets arched with -flags and words of welcome. When the General arrived amid the booming -of cannon and the huzzas of the people, he was hurriedly lifted into a -barouche and started up the street at the head of a long procession. -The first arch he met had in large letters: “General, the sidewalk is -built.” The General laughed and remarked: “I see my friends remembered -I wanted to be alderman.” - -After his first nomination for the Presidency he was with us at Galena -during the campaign, and had you seen the General moving around so -quietly and unostentatiously among his neighbors and friends, you would -have wondered that it could be the man who had just been declared the -greatest military hero of the age, and that he was soon to be at the -head of the nation. - -His record as President for eight years, and the honored guest of all -nations during his tour around the world, is an open history to all. - -Upon his return from his trip ’round the world, the General and family -took up their abode in Galena. The city again welcomed its hero to his -old home amid the plaudits of thousands that came from near and far to -tread its stony streets and pay their tribute of respect and honor to -the modest, silent man known the world over. I think the General was -more stirred to the heart with the kind tokens of love and friendship -and honor which his old neighbors and citizens of Galena showered upon -him than he was from all the attentions of nobility the world ’round. - -General Grant’s home life and his life among the people of Galena, even -after the world had acclaimed him the greatest General of the ages, and -honors had been showered upon him by the crowned heads of the world, -was that of a quiet, unobtrusive, simple life like his neighbors and -citizens. - -We loved him as a neighbor and citizen. We said among ourselves: -“Grant’s head is the same size it was before the war.” - -He has been called the “silent man.” Yes, he was rather guarded in his -talks among men generally, but I want to say (for I have listened to -him), that when among his friends and neighbors, if you could get him -started, he was one of the most entertaining talkers I ever listened to. - -During the month of June, 1880, while the Republican Convention was in -session in Chicago, General Grant and family were living in Galena. -He had held the Presidency two terms; he had also been ’round the -world, feted and honored everywhere by kings and emperors, and now he -had returned to the hills of old Galena to spend his days in rest and -quiet; but his friends, who believed in him, urged him to again stand -for the nomination for the Presidency. His friends of Galena, Ill., -knew what his personal wishes were; he did not wish to again resume the -burdens of office. However, according to the request of his family, -especially his wife, and also to his political friends, he finally -consented to make the run. You will remember what a fight there was in -the convention--how the immortal 300, led by Roscoe Conkling, clung to -the silent hero to the last. - -While the Convention was in progress, each day the General came down -town about 10 o’clock and spent an hour or two with his old friend and -comrade, Colonel W. R. Rowley. Rowley was then Judge of the County -Court, and I was clerk of the same court. Some of the friends were -privileged to be there. I remember distinctly that all of us were -intensely interested in every telegram that came to the office, but the -General paid very little attention to them. He kept us entertained with -most vivid recitals of what he had seen and heard in his travels ’round -the world. - -There was one man’s name before the Convention who had a few votes as -nominee for President. This man had been a trusted friend of General -Grant in former years, but his actions had caused many of the General’s -friends to doubt his friendship. One afternoon, while we were in -General Rowley’s office, a telegram came that convinced Rowley and the -friends that this man, while pretending undying friendship for the -General, was playing him false. Rowley and others were outspoken in -their denunciation of the course of this man who had helped Grant in -former years and who Grant had helped so much in the past. The General -was as calm and placid as though everything was lovely, his only remark -being: “He was my friend when I needed friends, if I can’t trust him, I -can’t trust anybody.” The friend referred to was Hon. E. B. Washburne. - -Hon. Roscoe Conkling said of General Grant: “Standing on the highest -eminence of human distinction, modest, firm, self poised, having filled -all lands with his renown, he has seen not only the high born and the -titled, but the poor and lowly in the uttermost parts of the earth rise -and uncover before him. The name of Grant shall glitter a bright and -imperishable star in the diadem of the Republic when those who have -tried to tarnish it are moldering in forgotten graves and when their -names and epitaphs have tarnished utterly.” - -This is a noble tribute of one great man for another; but we, his -humble neighbors of Galena, Ill., who knew the General so well, love -to think of the home life of this great man. One characteristic of his -life is not generally known, and I make bold to set it down in type -that all the world may know it. General Grant was a lover of his wife -all through his married life. A little secret of the home life of this -devoted man was known among the women of Galena, for they would tell -their husbands what a lover General Grant was, and to prove it they -would tell us that the General laced his wife’s shoes for her. - -While General Grant and Mrs. Grant were in Europe they paid a visit to -the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella. The thought of the ashes of the -royal couple sleeping side by side through the centuries appealed to -the devoted husband, and, turning to his wife, he said: “Julia, that is -the way we should lie in death.” So, when the Great General died they -found a memorandum left by him as to his last resting place. First, -he preferred West Point above others, but for the fact that his wife -could not be placed beside him there. Second, Galena, or some place -in Illinois. Third, New York; hence it is that in the beautiful tomb -at Riverside, the resting place of the General, there is room for the -ashes of Mrs. Grant. - -After General U. S. Grant had answered the last roll call at Mount -McGregor, in 1885, and the sad news came to his friends and neighbors -of his former home, among the hills of the quaint old city of Galena, -Ill., preparations were made to have a memorial service in the -Methodist Church, where he had worshiped before and after the war. The -church was draped in mourning. In front of the pulpit was a stand of -pure white flowers, with the initials, U. S. G., in purple flowers. - -The pew formerly occupied by the General when here was covered with the -United States flag, tastefully draped. The house was filled with his -friends and neighbors, and a feeling of personal loss was felt by all. -The services were simple but beautiful. Several of his personal friends -spoke feelingly of the Great General’s life, among them the writer, and -I am persuaded to close this appreciation by quoting my tribute given -in 1885, in Galena, upon that occasion: - -“The years glide swiftly by, the gray hairs come creeping on, and we -boys of the army of twenty years ago are no longer boys, but men, whose -numbers lessen each day as the months roll by.” - -Twenty-four years have passed since we donned the blue and marched down -the streets and off to war. The forms and faces and events of those -times at this distance seem unreal and shadowy, like the remembrance -of a dream, and yet today, in the midst of the great sorrow that hangs -over the land over the fall of our great chieftain, we are again -reminded of the waving flags and fluttering scarfs, the inspiring -strains of martial music, the shrill notes of fife and drum, and the -booming of cannon. We are today again reminded (for the death of our -hero brings to us vividly the past days in which he took so great -a part). I say, again are we reminded of the tears and prayers and -promises--the music of soft voices and gentle words, the brave words -spoken by mothers, sisters, sweethearts, the parting words, the last -good-bye. We cannot forget, nay, we live over again the battles of -Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg and other victorious battle fields -following our hero, whose memory we are tonight to cherish and revere. - -“All these dear and sacred memories of those stirring times come wafted -to us today like the weird airs of an Æolian harp swept by unknown -winds, and the ear is touched, and through the brain, nerve and soul, -and our hearts beat in sympathy and unison. - -“So, tonight, as a nation mourns the fall of the Great Commander, we -boys of the twenty-four years ago are more than privileged to add our -tears of sorrow as we follow in spirit our hero to his last resting -place. - -“We boys loved him. Often he led us amidst the storm of shot and shell -and where death faced us on every hand; but we soon learned that -although it meant hard fighting to follow General Grant, yet it always -promised victory, and that gave us inspiration to fight harder. - -“General Grant was a man of transcendent military ability. In the book -of fate it was written: ‘He shall be a chief and a captain.’ But above -all he was a manly and a pure man. He was tender and trusty and true. - - “‘The bravest are the tenderest, - The loving are the daring.’ - -“I always admired the humble side of his character. I think humility -was one of his finest traits; although feted and honored as no man of -this continent ever has been, he never for a moment showed any signs -of realizing his greatness, or evincing a desire to count the honors -conferred. Retiring in disposition, yet bold and brave to act when -necessity demanded it, I speak of him in loving memory. You all knew -him here in his former home, and who with him have worshiped ofttimes -in this church, and you all know that he was the bravest of the brave -and the truest of the true. - - “‘His mein, his speech, were sweetly simple; - But when the matter matched his mighty mind, - Up rose the hero; on his piercing eye - Sat observation; on each glance of thought, - Decision followed.’ - -“As the day came, so duty appeared, and the brave old General took it -up and did it earnestly and well. - -“How well great battles and campaigns were planned and fought; how -safely and wisely he guided the ship of state; how modestly he received -honors of the world from crowned heads; how gladly he returned to -the walks of a humble citizen; how bravely and patiently he suffered -through his terrible affliction--are they not all known to us, and are -they not written upon the pages of history for our children’s children -to read and study? - -“Is it weak, that we who followed the ever-victorious flag of our great -Commander, and who with him stood in trying places against evil and -treason, should drop our tears upon the fallen form of him whom we -loved? Nay, but let them fall, they but speak in louder tones than -words can, of the love and regard we had for him, who, as the years -roll by, will be honored and extolled as one of the greatest of all -nations. - -“Around the throne of the Eternal God must hover the spirit of such as -he who lived without ever having a selfish thought. - -“The steadfast friend, the gallant soldier, the great Commander has -fallen asleep. - - “Rest thee, friend, soldier, patriot, - Thy work is done.” - -[Illustration] - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or variant spelling has been retained. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH GRANT AT FORT DONELSON, -SHILOH AND VICKSBURG *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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