War Stories for my Grandchildren

"I wrote you of our change of camp, going four miles away from the river beyond Shiloh Church toward Corinth; and we are now under orders to proceed to Monterey, five miles from this camp, so that to-morrow night we hope to be thirteen or fourteen miles from the river, and five or six miles from Corinth. But I think we shall not have a great battle for some days yet, for I think the enemy will wait for us to attack them in their intrenchments.

"You must not be too solicitous if you hear of a great battle, or be too credulous of telegraphic reports. I will try to do my duty, and we will leave the result to our Heavenly Father, who has kindly been my shield and protector thus far through terrible dangers."

On the 7th of May I write: —

"We are all packed up in camp under marching orders to go two miles farther to the front, and are quietly waiting for the orders to move, so while we are waiting I will try to pencil you a little note at least."

For the first time since I entered the army, with the exception of temporary colds, I report a slight illness: —

"I have been a little unwell for two or three days past, but we are having very pleasant weather to-day, and I shall soon be well again. I cannot afford to be sick at this time; I must wait at least till we get the enemy out of Corinth or wherever we meet them. I see by the papers that the reporters have got the enemy out of Corinth. It may be so, but we don't know it here."

May 8 I note the arrival at the camp of Alexander McFerson: —

"Zan arrived at the river night before last, but did not get out here till this morning. I sent a recommendation to Governor Morton this morning for his appointment, and he will go at once to work.

"We are now fourteen miles from Pittsburg Landing, and six miles from Corinth. We are getting forward gradually; moved one mile to the front yesterday."

The letter of May 12 says: —

"We have been moving out slowly and by degrees from Pittsburg. We are now about eighteen miles from the river, and six miles from Corinth. Our pickets are within three or four miles of Corinth, and can hear very plainly the locomotives whistle and the drums beat. We have various rumors of its evacuation, but can tell nothing of their truth. I think the enemy are still there.

"I have come very near being quite ill for the last few days with fever, but fortunately have escaped and am nearly well again. We were called out in line of battle the other day by a false alarm, and I thought I must go out with my men, though I had a high fever; and standing out in the hot sun for two hours (and we have hot sun now) nearly laid me up permanently. It is the nearest I have come to being real sick since I have been in the service; but I am pretty well over it now, thanks to my strong resolution and Dr. Walker's good treatment. Dr. Walker says I have barely escaped typhoid fever. I have taken medicine quite freely. I cannot afford to be sick now; the enemy must first be driven out of Corinth."

On the 16th I write: —

"We move up slowly, and as we go we fortify our camps by a continuous line of breastworks of logs, brush, and earthwork. The newspaper reporters have kept you unnecessarily alarmed about the battle 'which could not be delayed a day longer,' and yet it has been delayed for a month. When it is to come off I do not know, or whether it is at all. We have for more than a week past been right in the face of the enemy's pickets, the men of our regiment fighting them all the time; and whenever it becomes necessary for us to move our camp forward, our pickets make a push on them and drive them back the required distance, rather obstinately however. The pickets are now about a mile in advance, and almost any time we can hear the rifles crack, and frequently they go by volleys. If the enemy are going to fight we can't go much farther.

"Zan is in good health and doing well. He is the most anxious man in the regiment for a fight."

In a previous letter I noted that Colonel Veatch had received his commission as brigadier-general, and that Governor Morton was on a visit to the camps and we might expect our promotions soon. I had also reported Governor Morton's visit to Fort Donelson after the battle there. He was one of the most distinguished civilians which the Civil War brought into public notice, and was especially esteemed for his services toward the soldiers. Many years after the war one of our Presidents, in a public address, said: "When history definitely awards the credit for what was done in the Civil War, she will put the services of no other civilian, save alone those of Lincoln, ahead of the services of Governor Morton."

I reported May 19: —

"Governor Morton visited us yesterday and was warmly received by the boys. He told them he would make Lieutenant-Colonel Morgan colonel and me lieutenant-colonel for our services in the field, and the captains have voted for Captain Rheinlander for major. I will get my commission to-day, and so you can address me as Lieutenant-Colonel Foster hereafter, and call me colonel, not major!

"We are called out into line of battle now every morning at daylight, and some mornings we are out in line by three o'clock; thus, you see, we are determined not to be surprised again by the enemy, if early rising is to have anything to do with it. So I am writing my letter to you before sunrise!"

A short letter on the 22d says: —

"I write you this note to say I will write you a long letter to-morrow, to assure you of my increasing health and strength, and to let you know we are still out of a battle. Since Captain Rheinlander has been made major, I can be relieved of a portion of the outside heavy work, and have the responsibility of the command divided. If Colonel Morgan was back again, I could take things comparatively easy."

In the letter of the 23d it is stated that the St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati papers are now regularly on sale by newsboys, showing that the communication with the rear was well maintained, but I still want the Evansville papers, the magazines and the "Evangelist." I go more into detail in the method of our advances: —

"We are slowly and safely approaching Corinth, making our way secure as we go. We have a heavy skirmish with the enemy's pickets; if they are obstinate we get out the artillery, throw a few shells into the woods, drive them back over a ridge into a hollow a half mile or so, then leave our camp equipage behind, and march out with guns, knapsacks, haversacks, spades, axes, and picks in hand and throw up breastworks on the ridge. When that is done we move up our camp equipage and remain in camp here for a day or more. Then we shove up the enemy's pickets again, and make another camp; and thus we are approaching the enemy's works. Our generals, I believe, are going to consult the lives of the soldiers in winning the next battle. The most of the people in the States seem anxious that the fight should come off in a hurry. If they had to do the fighting it might be different.

"If Beauregard will really stand, he will surely be defeated, though it may cost the lives of many brave soldiers; but the life of any of us is nothing in comparison with the life and safety of the Nation. If it were not so I would not risk my life in the contest."

Under date of May 29, I allude to a forward movement of the Twenty-fifth Indiana, similar to others previously made, but which, unknown to us at the time, was a general advance of Sherman and Hurlbut's divisions, and proved to be the last military demonstration against Corinth, as the enemy was then engaged in the evacuation of the place: —

"We went forward yesterday with our brigade and drove the enemy back a mile, thus getting room for a new camp. To-morrow we all move up another mile, getting close neighbors with Corinth.

"We were all glad to welcome Colonel Morgan back to-day, and I have been busy talking regimental matters with him.

"The paymaster has been with us to-day, and I am sending you six hundred dollars. I want you to be at perfect liberty in using the money. Make your house and family comfortable, live well and enjoy yourself. Consult father about the rent of the house, respecting which you wrote me. Don't let these business affairs worry you. Take the world easy."

At last the grand march on the rebel stronghold of Corinth was over. My letter of June 1 says: —

"I suppose there was at least one anxious heart relieved by the news which ought to have reached home yesterday that the rebels had evacuated Corinth, and concluded not to give us battle. So you, and the thousands of wives and relatives of our soldiers, can rest quiet for some time. After the long preparations and constant and watchful readiness we had maintained for battle, it was and is now a great relief for us to relax and take some comfort. For weeks men have been sleeping with all their accouterments on and their arms by their sides, and were ordered out in line of battle sometimes at midnight, or any other hour; but always at early daylight. It is a great relief to us all to lie down quietly now and sleep without being disturbed by the 'long roll' or hasty orders from the generals. I have enjoyed the luxury of the good morning naps, waiting for the rays of the sun to waken me. Until last night I have slept with all my clothes on and in utmost readiness for a prompt turnout. I am thankful for good sleep now, and you are thankful that we had no battle.

"None of our regiment has been killed, but several were wounded on picket and in the recent skirmishes. I have passed through several narrow escapes, but then 'a miss is as good as a mile.' In the last skirmish three days ago, Dr. Walker and I were talking together, on horseback, discussing the close range the enemy had upon us with their cannon, while the shot would occasionally rattle through the trees, when an unwelcome visitor in the shape of a shell came whizzing along, and went into the ground right between our horses, tearing up the dirt at a fearful rate. The boys dug it out, and it was found that the rebels in their hurry had forgot to gouge the fuse, and fortunately it did not explode.

"I rode into Corinth yesterday. The fearful ravages of war are visible on all sides, in the charred walls, solitary chimneys, smoking ruins, and waste all around. The rebels burned all their storehouses full of supplies, their magazines, armories, etc. In peaceful times the town was a very attractive place.

"General Hurlbut is said to be anxious to get the position of commandant of Memphis, and to march our division over immediately and occupy. It is uncertain whether he will succeed. My health, also Zan's, is good now."

The escape of the Confederate army from Corinth, and the subsequent breaking up of Halleck's great army was a disappointment to the people of the North. Halleck's generalship has been severely criticized by both Grant and Sherman in their "Memoirs." Grant describes the movement upon Corinth as "a siege from the start to the close" and says, "I am satisfied that Corinth could have been captured in a two days' campaign commenced promptly on the arrival of reinforcements after the battle of Shiloh." Sherman laments that "the advance on Corinth had occupied all of the month of May, the most beautiful and valuable month of the year for campaigning in this latitude"; and he adds that "by the time we had reached Corinth I believe that army was the best then on this continent, and could have gone where it pleased."

While Buell's army was sent toward the east, Sherman and Hurlbut were sent west toward Memphis. Our regiment was destined to have no rest, as the day after we entered Corinth, June 1: —

"We received orders to support Sherman's division which had gone forward on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad toward Memphis. In half an hour we were in line of march, with two days' rations and no tents. We had a heavy rain that evening. The men marched two hours into the night, and then lay right down by the roadside on the wet ground and slept till morning. In the morning we went to work cleaning out and chopping the fallen timber from the railroad, and then went into camp, and here we are now, five miles out west from Corinth. Our camp baggage was not all up for five days.

"We have a very pleasant camp in a shady forest, everything to make us comfortable in camp but the wood-ticks, which are multitudinous, pestiferous, and unescapable; they have almost worried the life out of me by their biting. This country abounds in snakes, lizards, and all kinds of troublesome insects.

"I have taken a few rides out into the neighboring country, and find it tolerably well settled, but the soil is very poor, the people likewise and very ignorant. Since we have been in this camp we have managed to get for our mess fresh milk, young chicken, eggs, green peas, onions, and lettuce, which are great luxuries with us, who had had nothing but Government supplies and what we could get from the settlers.

"We find very little bitter feeling or hostility exhibited toward us by the country people, and all willing and longing for peace. But the men are almost all gone, either in the army or afraid to trust us. They who did not volunteer have been forced into the rebel service by the conscription system, until there are hardly enough left to gather the wheat, which is now ready for harvesting. The farmhouses were full of women and children. They have no money but Confederate scrip and 'shin-plasters.' How it makes their eyes sparkle to see our soldiers' silver and gold. But what is more desired by them than silver and gold is coffee. It very often happens that we are utterly unable to get their consent to sell one of the few remaining chickens on the farm with silver at high prices, but a pound of coffee will get the last old hen on the place.

"We don't certainly know what is to be our future destination, but it is semi-officially stated in camp that W. T. Sherman's and Hurlbut's divisions are to constitute the branch of the army which is to move on Memphis. We are anxious to go to that place, but our wish has nothing to do with it, as we are Government soldiers to be disposed of as our generals think best. There you see I have filled up the sheet with a matter-of-fact business-like letter, without assuring you how much I long to be with you and at home. But I don't allow myself to think too much of these things or I would get homesick. I long with you for the war to end, that I may lay aside my emblems of the army, and return to my dear wife and child, and the comforts and enjoyments of civil life, but I must be patient."

Some days later an undated letter says: —

"I had thought of writing you a good long letter this morning, but all human hopes are vain. This morning we have marching orders for the west, and there is no time for letter-writing. We are not informed as to our destination, but the general impression among the officers is that we are bound for Memphis. Will you come down to see me there, or shall I jump on a boat and come up the Mississippi and Ohio and see you?"

My next letter was written from Grand Junction, a station on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, midway from Corinth to Memphis. The marching orders mentioned in the preceding letter were for Memphis, but on reaching this station our regiment was diverted from its course, as will be seen from the letter of June 20: —

"We arrived here five days ago, but our brigade was sent on an expedition down to Holly Springs, thirty miles south in Mississippi, to destroy the Mississippi Central Railroad, which took us till last night: the rest of the army remaining here to support us in case of danger. We came back all safe. The march was a very rapid, but pleasant one, through a beautiful country and to one of the prettiest towns in the South. We hope to leave for Memphis to-morrow."

This was the last letter written by me from the Twenty-fifth Indiana. On my arrival at Grand Junction I learned that Alexander McFerson, my wife's brother, was ill at Lagrange, a station on the railroad a short distance from Grand Junction. I at once hastened to his bedside, and found him suffering from a severe attack of typhoid fever, which was prevalent in the camps. Notwithstanding he received the most skillful medical attendance, the virulence of the disease soon placed him beyond human aid, and he died on June 27.

I secured a furlough to take his body home. The regiment continued on its march to Memphis, and I went on my sad journey to Evansville, bringing the body of the young soldier to his bereaved mother and sister. The sequel shows that I never returned to the Twenty-fifth Indiana, with which I had passed through so many dangers and privations, and with whose men I had formed the deep attachment of soldier comradeship.

The following editorial in the "Evansville Journal" of July 2, 1862, reflects the sentiments of all who knew him: —

A telegram last night brought the melancholy news of the death of Lieutenant Alexander McFerson to his friends in this city. He died at Lagrange, Tennessee, on the 27th ult. at the age of seventeen.

When he asked permission to join the army he said that he felt it his duty to go into the service; that neither of his mother's sons were there, and he would never feel satisfied unless he did his share in putting down the rebellion. Less than two months ago he left his friends and home, buoyant in health, and with high hopes of a pleasant and useful career in the grand army of the Mississippi, having been appointed commissary to the Twenty-fifth Indiana Volunteers. But how soon those hopes are blasted, how soon that health is destroyed by a fatal disease. In early youth, he is cut off. Young McFerson was a generous, noble youth, warm-hearted, and highly esteemed by the whole community, who will warmly sympathize with his bereaved friends in this hour of their affliction.

VI

GUERRILLA WARFARE IN KENTUCKY

When I arrived at Evansville in July, 1863, on furlough, I found the border country on both sides of the Ohio River in Indiana and Kentucky in a state of feverish excitement. The counties of western Kentucky were overrun with Confederate soldiers, who had secretly and singly passed through the military lines, and were engaged actively in the work of securing recruits for the rebel army, and, after mounting them on horses taken from loyal citizens, sent them back through the lines to the South. Guerrilla bands were roaming through these counties, terrorizing the Union men, and threatening to cross the Ohio. In fact, about the time of my arrival at home a small guerrilla force had occupied Newburg, a town nine miles above Evansville, and robbed the stores, striking terror into the inhabitants.

As no regular forces were available for defense, Governor Morton had rushed several bodies of Home Guards to Evansville, and was organizing thirty and sixty days' men for service in various parts of Indiana, to serve until the Federal Government was able to protect the disturbed districts by regularly organized and armed troops. General Love, who had charge of these State forces, with his headquarters at Evansville, requested me to take command of these irregular levies, and occupy Henderson, the most important town in that section of Kentucky, ten miles below Evansville on the Ohio River, as a base for operations against these marauding rebels. This I consented to do, as a temporary expedient.

On the 26th of July, a few days after we had occupied Henderson, Governor Morton repeated from Indianapolis a telegram from General J. T. Boyle at Louisville, commanding the United States military forces in Kentucky as follows: "Give the order to Lieutenant-Colonel Foster in my name to command at Henderson." As my furlough from the Twenty-fifth Indiana was about to expire, and neither Governor Morton nor General Boyle would listen to my intimation that I would have to rejoin my regiment, estimating highly the value of my military experience in the absence of other available officers, the Governor secured from General Grant an order detaching me temporarily from the Twenty-fifth Indiana, and authorizing me to continue in the service in Kentucky.

I was clothed by General Boyle with the most drastic authority to put an end to the troubles in western Kentucky. The order above quoted by which I was placed in command at Henderson contained also the following instructions: —

Order the officers in my name to kill every armed rebel offering resistance and all banded as guerrillas. I want none such as prisoners. Order them to disarm every disloyal man.

Only a few days after I was put in command by General Boyle. August 2, he sent the following telegram: —

If officers and men do not obey my orders to shoot down the armed rebels, every bushwhacker, guerrilla, or banded villains, our forces had better be withdrawn from the field. We can only save the State by putting them to the sword. I want none of them as prisoners. Take no oath or bonds. You will shoot down the scoundrels.

These and other orders from him of like character which I quote will indicate the bitter spirit which prevailed at that time in Kentucky between the loyal and disloyal citizens. General Boyle was a native-born citizen of Kentucky.

Immediately after I assumed command at Henderson I set to work to get the irregular and inexperienced forces collected there into such organized shape as would enable me to go out into the country to attack and drive out the rebel bands which were infesting that region. While engaged in that work, I was embarrassed by a civil duty which I had to face. A short time before my arrival an election had been held in Kentucky for city, county, and other officials. General Boyle had issued an order regulating the election to this effect: —

No person hostile in opinion to the Government will be allowed to stand for office in Kentucky. The attempt of such a person to stand for office will be regarded as in itself sufficient evidence of his treasonable intent to warrant his arrest. In seeking office he becomes an active traitor, if he does not become one otherwise, and is liable both in reason and in law to be treated accordingly. All persons of this description in offering themselves as candidates for office will be arrested and sent to these Headquarters.

The election at Henderson had resulted in the choice of a mayor and city council, all of whom were sympathizers with the rebellion. On my arrival the mayor fled from the city. I telegraphed General Boyle: "The mayor of this city has left town without leave. Been absent a week. Strongly suspected of being among the guerrillas. The city council are secessionists in sympathy. Have you any action to direct?" He replied: "When mayor returns arrest him. If you deem proper arrest any of the council, and send all to Camp Morton. The men elected to office in Hopkins County I wish taken and sent in with others. Leniency and conciliation do no good. The scoundrels must be subjugated or killed."

It was soon established that the mayor had fled through the lines and joined the Confederate forces, whereupon I summoned a meeting of the council and requested them to declare the office of mayor vacant, and each of them to take the oath of loyalty exacted of suspected citizens. Rather than take this action all the members of the council resigned. The city marshal likewise refused to take the oath of loyalty, and I declared his office vacant. This left the city without any civil government.

I therefore issued a proclamation as military commander of the post, assuming control of the civil affairs "until the loyal citizens shall have filled the offices with loyal men," and ordering an election to be held on a day designated. Meanwhile a citizen of Henderson was appointed by me provost marshal and furnished with a military guard to enforce order. My action in the matter was approved by my superior commanders. Thenceforth during my command in western Kentucky I had no trouble with the civil authorities of Henderson.

Having gotten my forces in a fair condition for a campaign against the guerrilla bands, I was about to make an expedition into the adjoining counties, when I received a report that the Confederate trooper John Morgan, with a large force, was just across the line in Tennessee and learned that one of his subordinates, Adam Johnson, a noted guerrilla chief, was already in my district. Before moving, I inquired of General Boyle as to Morgan's whereabouts, and he replied: "Morgan is near Gallatin. He cannot venture into your section. No danger from that source. Johnson is a great liar, as all rebels are. You can go where you please. Act on your own discretion. Shoot down the banded scoundrels as guerrillas or as recruits for the rebel army."