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Editors Constitution,—Your special correspondent's account of the
battle of Chickamauga, written from the scene of that conflict, under date of March 15th, 1883, is very interesting reading, but, while written in a spirit of fairness, it is evidently not the production of one who regards the subject from a Southern point of view.
Want of accuracy on some points of little historic importance is to be expected in any account by one person, though an actor therein, of a two days battle, but there are grosser inaccuracies in the well-written narrative of your correspondent which should not go uncorrected—notably, his statements as to the numbers engaged.
An editorial paragraph in your Sunday issue, calling attention to the account of the
battle of Chickamauga therein published, says it is desirable, for the truth of history, to have the statements of the actors in such scenes while yet living.
Acting upon the implied invitation contained in said paragraph, I venture to present to you some recollections of the
battle of Chickamauga, in which I will include certain comments on the account given by your correspondent.
I cannot hope to make my contribution as readable as that of
Mr. Burr, but I shall endeavor to be accurate.
I was an actor throughout this bloody battle, being, then, a captain of artillery in
Cheatham's division; and while I do not claim to possess any accurate knowledge of what occurred beyond my immediate view, it happened that I was so situated as to see about as much of the operations on the field as any one man. Where I write of matters beyond my own knowledge, I shall be guided by the official reports.
Your correspondent is mistaken in saying that most of
Bragg's army had crossed the
Chickamauga during the night of September 18th, and was moving into position shortly after daylight on the 19th.
As far as the writer can learn, only the cavalry and two divisions of infantry had crossed.
Other portions of the army crossed at different points after sunrise on the 19th, and still other considerable bodies of our troops were not brought over till late in the day, and did not appear on the field of battle at all.
Cheatham's division crossed at Hunt's ford long after sunrise on the 19th, and was not moved to the front till several hours later.
My
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recollection is that a demonstration was made near
Lee & Gordon's mill while troops were being crossed further to the right.
The first fighting on our side in the battle of the 19th was by
Forrest's cavalry, which was reinforced by
Walker's division, and these two commands did all the fighting on our right until after midday.
As
Cheatham's division was moving rapidly to the right to support
Walker, we passed by a large body of troops so much better dressed than any in our army, that there was a general inquiry as to what command they belonged to. We learned with surprise that this was a portion of
Hood's division—
Benning's brigade—and this was the first intimation we had of the arrival of reinforcements from
Virginia.
When we arrived on the battle ground
Walker had been driven back.
Our division was thrown forward, rather on
Walker's left, and attacked that portion of
Thomas's corps which had overlapped
Walker's left flank.
Cheatham's men drove the enemy rapidly till it was found they held their ground behind a line of temporary breastworks of logs and rails.
From this line our men would recoil, followed by fresh Federal troops, and so the tide of battle ebbed and flowed for quite awhile.
Your correspondent correctly describes it as a desperate and stubborn fight.
He is entirely wrong, however, in his account of a conflict between the troops of
Cheatham and
Sheridan.
These two commands never fought face to face at all,
Sheridan being further to our left, in front of
Hood.
From time to time during the fight we could tell when fresh troops were thrown against us by the way they opened fire, but our men met and repulsed each successive assault.
Your correspondent mentions that up to this point the divisions of
Brannan,
Baird,
Johnson,
Palmer,
Van Cleve and
Reynolds, were all sent forward, and ‘each in turn, although fighting stubbornly, was driven back by the force of the attack from masses of fresh troops,’ whereas, as a matter of fact, up to that time the only Confederate forces opposed to them had been
Forrest's cavalry, and
Walker's and
Cheatham's divisions of veteran troops.
Holding the field against such odds, our losses were necessarily very heavy, and as a specimen of the mortality, I will state that the loss in my own battery, of four guns, was forty-nine horses killed, and forty-one men killed and wounded.
The superior number of
Thomas's troops enabled them to overlap our front and attack us in flank, through a considerable interval between our left and
Hood's right, and
Cheatham's division was finally forced to fall back, leaving on the field the guns of my own battery,
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which had been advanced well up to the front with
Cheatham's left brigade (
Wright's), and could not be retired after the horses were killed.
Just at this time
Stewart's division came to our aid. His right brigade covered the ground which had been occupied by
Cheatham's left, and recapturing the lost battery, drove back the enemy vigorously.
The fighting then extended along
Stewart's whole front (after 2 P. M.) to
Hood's troops on his left, and for awhile the hottest of the fight was here.
Thomas continued to press our right, under
Cheatham and
Walker, but our men held their ground on a slight eminence, repulsing the advance with artillery and musketry, and finally upon the arrival of
Cleburne's division, after sunset, a general advance was ordered.
The whole Federal force was swept from the ground over which we had fought during the day, and driven in confusion till dark.
After
Cheatham's troops were forced back, the writer, leaving the remnant of his company with the
first lieutenant, rode towards the right of the division in search of
General Cheatham, to report the loss of his guns.
Meeting first
General Preston Smith, that officer on learning my mission, said I was just the man he wanted.
That the captain of his battery, Scott, was sick at
Lafayette, and the first lieutenant having been seriously wounded, he had only one
junior-lieutenant with the battery.
‘So,’ said he, in his usual bluff way, ‘if you want work to do, young man, stop right here, and I'll give you plenty of it.’
Accepting the offer, I took command of
Scott's battery, under
General Smith, until that gallant general was shot after dark.
Our command had halted in line in the forest after the last advance, and
General Smith, with his staff, riding a short distance in front, discovered a small body of detached troops, whose answer to a challenge showed them to belong to the enemy.
When called on to surrender they fired a straggling volley, which killed
General Smith and an officer on his staff.
Having safely passed through the dangers of the thickest fight he met his death, when least expected, after the battle had ceased.
Now, as to the numbers engaged in this fighting on the 19th of September, the
Confederates had in action, all told, not quite thirty-two thousand men, of which the five thousand of
Cleburne's division came on the field near dark.
The reports of the
Federal generals show that they had in action nearly forty-six thousand men, of which number thirty thousand were opposed to
Walker,
Cheatham and
Forrest, and nearly sixteen thousand in front of
Stewart and
Hood.
The Confederate loss in the day's engagement was estimated at six thousand—a
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very heavy loss, taking into consideration the fact that the battle was a series of engagements by divisions coming up in succession, and that none of the troops were under fire all day.
But at the close of the day our troops were in good spirits, and confident of success on the morrow.
Early on the morning of the 20th,
Cheatham's division was in line ready for orders to advance and waiting for the battle to begin on the right.
Every one was asking what caused the delay and all were impatient to move forward, well knowing from the sounds that had reached our ears during the night, that the
Federal troops were felling trees and fortifying, and thus every minute's delay was enabling them to strengthen their position.
I was still in command of
Scott's battery attached to
Smith's brigade (now under
Vaughan) and I well remember that for nearly two hours I sat on my horse in front of the battery with drivers mounted ready to move forward at a moment's notice.
It was a bright, sunshiny morning, calculated to suggest to one's mind far pleasanter things than war and bloodshed.
While waiting, the writer remembers that with the scenes of the terrible conflict of the previous day still fresh in mind he had far more time than he wished to contemplate the probability of a repetition of the same that day, and the possibility of a less fortunate termination for himself.
Who was to blame for this delay is a question that has never been definitely settled.
General Bragg laid the blame on Gen eral
Polk, and
General Polk, I believe, claimed that the fault was partly
General Bragg's in failing to give proper orders, and partly due to the tardiness of
General D. H. Hill, who, after making a late start from bivouac, waited to ration his men. Whoever was at fault, it was a grievous error, and one that cost many a man's life, but I know that the officers of
Polk's corps were never willing to accept that view of the matter which laid the blame entirely upon
General Polk.
He was a grand old man. There were doubtless better generals than he, but none more conscientious or less liable to the charge of permitting his own ease or convenience to interfere with duty.
My recollection is that it was near ten o'clock before an advance was ordered, and it was then discovered that
Stewart's division had been extended too far to the right and was in front of
Cheatham's line.
This necessitated further delay here,
Cheatham being halted where he stood, was held in reserve.
While waiting here,
Captain Scott, who had left his sick bed at
Lafayette, came up with an order from
General Polk directing me to turn over the command of his battery to
Captain Scott and to report
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to
General Polk for staff duty.
From this time until the arrival of our army at
Missionary Ridge I served on
General Leonidas Polk's staff.
I found staff duty by no means the sinecure so many of us had been disposed to consider it, and being kept actively moving here and there with orders, I was an eye-witness to much of the movement and fighting on the right wing of our army.
Our right beyond
Cheatham was formed in a single line throughout, I think.
At least I can remember no point on a large extent of this wing, along which I repeatedly rode with orders, where a second line in reserve was seen.
The distance covered by the right wing, from
Longstreet's right to the point where
Polk was to overlap and flank
Thomas's left was probably too great to admit of doubling the lines, but I remember that it seemed to me, young soldier as I was, that in such formation we would hardly be able to drive an equal or superior force from a chosen position behind breastworks.
The Federal left wing had built strong field works of trees cut down during the night, and from their extreme left this line of works extended back at almost a right angle from the front, so as to protect their flank.
Our troops advanced with spirit and did not make the attack in detachments as intimated by your correspondent.
The works were first struck by the left of
Breckenridge's division, and immediately afterward by the right of
Cleburne's division.
Breckenridge's right brigades swung around the angle of the works, where, with the efficient support of
Forrest's cavalry on their right, they made a bold dash at the enemy's flank and rear, but large numbers of troops were thrown against them, checking their advance and finally driving them back.
Behind their works the
Federals seemed to have men enough to keep the front line of pieces always loaded, as a continuous stream of fire met our men at every charge.
As our brigades were driven back they were rallied to the charge again, and thus the fight soon assumed that shape not inaptly described by
Captain Howell: illustrative of the falling of a baulky team.
The strongest part of the field works were afterwards found to be at and near the angle on the
Federal left, and here the fire of small arms and artillery was so constant and deadly that it seemed a hopeless task to carry it by assault with a single line.
The gallant
Kentuckians under
Helm, and
Lucius E. Polk's brigade on their left, made desperate assaults upon this strong position, and stubbornly held their ground for some time in the face of a fire of artillery and musketry, before which it seemed impossible for a man to live.
But they were forced back with heavy loss,
General Helm being among the killed.
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After being repulsed from every attack, our troops were withdrawn beyond the fire of the enemy, and for a considerable period after noon there was almost a cessation of fighting on our right.
During this time our troops were being rearranged and put in shape for another general assault, and, while staff officers were sent hither and thither with orders,
Generals Polk and
D. H. Hill held a consultation.
This consultation lasted some time, and of the fact that it was not harmonious the writer happened to be a witness, in this way: Having been sent to
General Cleburne for certain information desired by
General Polk, I found the two
Lieutenant-Generals still in consultation on my return, and, riding up to within a respectful distance,
I dismounted and awaited
General Polk's pleasure as to receiving my report.
The General saw me waiting, and very soon he rose from the log on which they sat, and, as he turned towards me, I heard him say to
General Hill, with considerable warmth of manner, ‘Well, sir, I am sorry that you do not agree with me, but my decision is made, and that is the way it shall be done,’ or words to that effect.
I never heard what was the point at issue between them, but soon
Polk's staff-officers were all busy with orders for carrying out the plan he had in mind.
I remember that, when forming to renew the assault, a delay was made while
Cleburne's division was moved so as to fill up a considerable gap in our line, nearly opposite the angle of the works, which gap had been left open as our reformed commands had closed in to the right.
The order to
General Cleburne was sent by me, and, as was often
General Cleburne's habit, he chose to ride first over the ground to be occupied, unaccompanied by any of his staff, only directing me to go with him to point out the left of the line on which it was desired to form.
On our return, as he was riding along in his usual slow, imperturbable fashion across the angle between our lines, I noticed that he was getting uncomfortably near the enemy's position, and as I, feeling constrained to follow, rode in his rear, ventured to suggest that he was within shot-range of their guns.
He neither noticed my remark nor changed his course, till suddenly he was startled by the ‘zip!’
‘zip!’
of the minnie balls and the sharp rattle of infantry fire opened on us, when he turned to the left and dashed quickly out of range in the timber, but all too slowly for my impatient desire to lengthen the distance between the enemy and the party whom official courtesy forced to be the rear man in this retreat.
Major Richmond, of
Polk's staff, was missing early that afternoon, and we afterwards found that he had been shot while making a short cut across this very angle.
While we had this cessation of fire
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on our right, we could hear the sound of brisk fighting on the left of
Bragg's line, and these sounds showed us that our troops under
Longstreet were driving back
Rosecranz's right.
The troops of
Thomas had ample opportunity to hear it, too, and doubtless understood it as we did.
The weakening of their right to reinforce their left, which had been so desperately assaulted, placed the
Federal right wing in a condition to be more easily handled by
General Longstreet's command, and right gallantly did the veterans from the Virginia army, assisted by their western brethren, drive back their right and break their centre.
This was doubtless the turning point in the battle.
Besides routing their right,
Longstreet's success no doubt had a demoralizing effect on
Thomas's men, who, while they did not know the extent of the disaster on their right, could not fail to understand from the sounds which reached their ears during the period of waiting at their end of the line, that the
Confederates had the best of the fight.
But your correspondent's account would appear to give all the credit to
General Longstreet, and leave upon the mind of his readers the impression that having broken up the right of
Rosecranz's army,
Longstreet changed front to the right and drove
Thomas from his strong position on the left.
This is not distinctly claimed for
General Longstreet, but the inference is clearly conveyed to the mind of the reader, not only by what your correspondent states in his account of the battle, but from the language which he quotes as from the mouth of
General Longstreet himself.
As an eye-witness to the disposition of the troops, and of the final charge which drove
Thomas from his defences, I wish to correct that impression and state what did occur on our right.
In the new arrangement of the lines on this wing, a portion of
Cleburne's command was to the right of the angle in the
Federal works-
Lucius E. Polk's brigade being placed, if I remember correctly, somewhat to the right of where
Helm had made his assault.
Preparatory to the assault a heavy artillery fire had been concentrated on the strongest point of
Thomas's defences.
In replying to our artillery and in repelling minor attacks of our infantry the writer noticed that the Federal artillery used solid shot from their smooth bore guns, and recognizing the significance of this, as an artillery man, he called
General Polk's attention to the fact that they had probably exhausted their most effective ammunition.
As they also showed a disposition to spare their infantry fire except when forced, we concluded that their supply of ammunition of all kinds was getting short.
The ordnance wagons being driven close up in
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rear of our lines our own cartridge-boxes were fully replenished, and everything being in readiness orders were given to press the enemy so as to engage his attention along the whole line, but to make no general assault till we could hear the result of an effort to be made to break through the defences in front of
Lucius Polk's brigade.
As I had been several times over the ground, I was sent with the orders directing the assault by
Brigadier-General Polk, and was instructed to return with information as soon as assured of its success.
Riding by the side of
General Lucius Polk, I witnessed the splendid charge of the veterans of his brigade up the ridge held by
Thomas.
I never witnessed a more enthusiastic and intrepid charge, and it carried everything before it. What seemed to be a heavy skirmish line behind logs was quickly destroyed and forced back on a front line of log breastworks, and such was the impetuosity of the attack that our men rushed up to and over these works driving the troops there, in utter confusion, back on the main line.
Here
General L. E. Polk said to me: ‘Go back and tell the old general that we have passed two lines of breastworks, that we have got them on the jump, and I am sure of carrying the main line’.
At the top of my horse's speed I rode to where
General Leonidas Polk waited in a small glade, near
Breckenridge's left.
As I was seen approaching,
Breckenridge,
Cheatham and other commanders present drew up on horseback around
General Polk, who immediately on receiving my report said to those officers: ‘Push your commands forward, gentlemen, and assault them vigorously along the whole line.’
Away went generals and staff at full speed, and when the order to advance reached our troops, who were expecting it, the stirring Confederate yell arose and swelled to a full chorus along the whole line as our men rushed to the charge.
General Thomas had probably drawn a large portion of his force to support his extreme left, in order to prevent our driving him back there and cutting him off from
Chattanooga—leaving a weaker force to hold the position behind the works, whose strength he had seen tested earlier in the day. Whether the determination of
Gereral Polk to attack the works in front of
Cleburne was based upon this supposition I know not, but it proved a fortunate decision for us. As our troops advanced they encountered the heavy force on
Thomas's extreme left, and our right was roughly handled.
But by this time
Lucius Polk had broken through the line of works, and as the
Federal line found itself attacked, right and left, in flank, as our
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troops passed through this opening, they broke from the line and fled precipitately.
A considerable portion of
Thomas's force on his left, where
Liddell had been repulsed, may have retired in comparative order, but as his troops fell back from what was their original front they were attacked in flank by our men who had charged over the works, and with the victorious shouts of
Longstreet's wing sounding in their ears from one side, answered by the prolonged yells of our wing on the other, the greater portion of the
Federal army was soon broken into a disorganized and panic-stricken mass of fugitives.
Such, at least, was their condition in front of the troops with which I passed over their field works.
I have read accounts of this fight from the
Federal side, and some from Confederate officers who were with our left wing, in which it was stated that
Thomas withdrew his forces about dark.
In our front they withdrew before the charge of our troops over the breastworks, and the quantity of small arms and accoutrements scattered in all directions, limber-chests, caissons, and pieces of artillery abandoned where they had been jammed in between trees and saplings in rapid flight, bore conclusive testimony to the character of their withdrawal.
Darkness and the near approach of the two wings of our arm), towards each other made it expedient to stop the pursuit of the fugitives.
Your correspondent magnifies the number of men in
Bragg's army.
In one place he says
Bragg lost ‘two-fifths of his 70,000 men.’
Further on he mentions his asking
General Longstreet, ‘Why did
Bragg bring on the battle of the 19th with only 55,000 men, when he knew that you were on your way to reinforce him and he would have 70,000 next day?’.
So he states our force on the 19th as 55,000 men, and 70,000 on the 20th.
I have heretofore stated the number engaged on our side on the 19th as less than 32,000, and
General Longstreet could have informed him that our whole effective force never exceeded 55,000 men, and deducting at least 6,000 lost in Saturday's fight, we had only about 49,000 men in the engagement of the 20th of September.
The official reports of the
Federal commanders show their force on that day to have been 53,550 men. Take into consideration also the fact that this force was behind breast works; some of which were of a very formidable character, and it will be easily understood, by every one familiar with such matters, that we fought against great odds.
It is probable that
Bragg's loss in killed and wounded was heavier
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than that of
Rosecranz.
Fighting at such disadvantage our troops suffered severely in the desperate charges against entrenched lines, and there were points in open spaces in front of their works where an active person might have crossed a considerable extent of ground on the dead bodies of our men, which lay like fallen timber in newly cleared land.
I do not remember that I ever saw an official report of our loss, but I remember hearing it stated at headquarters as about 17,600.
There is no doubt of the fact that the fruits of our hard-earned victory were thrown away by the failure to follow it up promptly.
Our troops were eager to advance, and could not understand the delay on the battle-ground all next day. Finally, when we did move, it was not directly on
Chattanooga.
Had the victory been followed up, as advised by
General Longstreet and
General Forrest, there is little doubt but that we would have taken
Chattanooga at once, and, probably, have broken up
Rosecranz's army.
I was sent forward with communications to
General Forrest on
Missionary Ridge, and heard him express the opinion that he could drive the wreck of
Rosecranz's army into or across the
Tennessee river with the cavalry force of our army alone.
No one chafed at our inactivity more than this hard-fighting cavalry general, and more than once he sent back messages to
General Bragg, urging the importance of pushing the defeated enemy.
Becoming interested in the subject, under the influence of the ‘old-soldier’ habit of talking over past battles, I have written more than I intended at the start.
I regret that I have had to make so frequent use of the pronoun ‘I,’ but I trust I have not done so in a way to indicate a want of proper modesty.
I regret that a want of experience in the
role of newspaper correspondent makes it almost a necessity for me to write in the first person.
The details as to my personal services in different commands in this engagement, are given to show that I was so situated as to be able to see very much of the operations of our troops, and those points, of which I have written minutely, are indelibly fixed in my memory as an actor or eye-witness in the scenes.
Macon, Ga., April 5th, 1883.