Chapter 12, History of the 85th Illinois Regiment Volunteer Infantry

History of the 85th Illinois Regiment
Illinois Volunteer Infantry
by
Henry J. Aten

CHAPTER XII
Pages 123-143

November 1863 - December 1863

   The plan prepared by General Grant for the battle of Chattanooga provided for an attack on the rebel right flank, supposed to rest on the north end of Mission ridge. The defective maps of that period showed that this ridge extended to the river, but the view from our camp discredited the maps, and the dense forest beyond the river concealed the enemy and his line of defenses. It therefore became necessary to learn where the right of the enemy rested, and the nature of the ground over which the attacking columns must move after crossing the river. On the 7th General Thomas requested Colonel McCook to select a man of known courage and sound discretion to cross the river at night and hide by day, while examining the ground between the river and the enemy’s right. For this hazardous and delicate duty Colonel McCook selected Captain James T. McNeil, of Company H, of the Eighty-fifth.
   Captain McNeil made several trips across the river, from which he returned in safety, but on the fifth trip Captain Pleasant S. Scott, of Company E, accompanied him, and both were captured and sent to Libby Prison at Richmond. Both escaped after many hardships and returned to the regiment in the winter, when we learned the particulars of their adventures in the Confederacy. Captain McNeil, with others, were caught in the act of digging a tunnel, through which they hoped to escape, and for a time he was confined in a dungeon. After his release from the dungeon he succeeded in trading the uniform of a Confederate lieutenant, and dressed as a rebel officer he walked out of prison while a ball was in progress in the officers’ quarters, and following others until near the picket, when he eluded the guards and passed the rebel lines. Then he fell into the swamps around Richmond, got lost and wandered for thirteen days, living on persimmons occasionally found hanging on the trees in the winter. But after intense suffering he finally reached the Union lines at Yorktown. Captain Scott escaped from a small-pox hospital, the loathsomeness of the disease accounting for the lack of vigilance observed among the guards.
   At daybreak on Tuesday, the 17th, while the command was at roll-call, a rebel battery which had been quietly placed in position on the opposite bank of the river during the night, fired a volley into the camp of the Third Brigade. It was observed that the roar of Captain Barnett’s guns instantly followed the flash of the enemy’s guns and the rebel battery fired but one volley. The prompt response of our battery was a striking illustration of the value of being prepared for instant battle. It was Captain Barnett’s custom at morning roll-call to require his men to be in their places at their guns and ready for action. This occasion found the battery in position, the men at their respective places, with their guns loaded, and their response was so prompt, the fire so rapid and accurate that the rebel battery was overthrown before it could fire a second round. The rebel battery had fired into the camp at short range at a time when all the men were at roll-call, yet the only one killed or wounded by the enemy’s shells was Levi W. Sanders, chaplain of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois. A shell which failed to explode passed in its flight through the soldiers’ quarters, entered a small cabin the men had erected for the spiritual adviser, struck the wall and in the rebound killed that worthy officer while yet in bed.*

*We asked one of the 125th boys a few days afterwards why the chaplain was the only man touched, and he said: "I suppose he was the only man in the regiment that was prepared to die." - The History of the 52nd Ohio, by Rev. Nixon B. Stewart.

   At this time Chattanooga was the scene of the most intense activity. Following the restraint imposed by investing lines, the menace of starvation, and the dread of possible disaster, the Army of the Cumberland displayed new vigor, while the genius of General Grant directed the concentration of forces sufficient for the accomplishment of his full purpose. All the troops that could be spared from the rear were ordered forward, and General Sherman, command the Army of the Tennessee, was directed to move with the Fifteenth corps – four divisions – to Chattanooga as rapidly as possible. To facilitate the movement of troops in the coming battle, and to render the crossing of the river feasible at different points, the construction of pontoons for two additional bridges was ordered. The coming of troops, the arrival of supplies, and the din of preparation for the approaching conflict would have made the place historic without the great victory which was soon to send joy to the loyal people throughout the land.
   The topography of battlefields suggests plans of battle; dominates tactical combinations, and is intimately connected with the story of the conflict waged upon them. When the war began Chattanooga was a town of some two thousand inhabitants, situated in a natural amphitheater, and surrounded by the magnificence of mountain view and the beauty of the quiet valley. The Tennessee river flows in a general southwesterly course, but just above Chattanooga it turns due west. Below the town it turns south until it runs against the perpendicular base of the north end of Lookout mountain. This turns the river west for a mile or more, when, with an abrupt turn, it runs due north some five miles, thence northwest, until it flows through the narrow pass between Raccoon mountain and Wallen’s ridge, when it again resumes its southwesterly course.
   The city is on the south bank of the Tennessee and at the north end of Chattanooga valley. This valley varies in width from two to six miles, and is some twenty miles in length from northeast to southwest. Immediately below the main street, which runs perpendicular to the river, Cameron hill rises abruptly one hundred and fifty feet from the river bank. From the top of this natural observatory an unobstructed view may be had of the accessories, of mountain and valley, of stream and plain, with which nature furnished the stage whereon the grandest scene of real war was enacted. Three miles southwest, Lookout mountain rises twenty-four hundred feet above sea level. At its northern end it rises perpendicularly one hundred and fifty feet, then ascends with a gradual slope to the palisades, which are from forty to one hundred feet in height. These perpendicular palisades extend across the north end, and along its east and west sides some considerable distance. West of Lookout mountain is Lookout creek, and west of that Raccoon mountain, which extends north some seven miles beyond the northern limit of Lookout mountain. Flowing along the eastern base of Lookout mountain for twenty miles, is Chattanooga creek, which drains Chattanooga valley. At the south end of the valley the cone-shaped Pigeon mountain stands like a sentinel on duty. To the east of the valley is Mission ridge, its irregular summit rising from six to eight hundred feet above the plain, and ending in foot hills near the Tennessee. East of the city and midway between it and Mission ridge, Orchard Knob rises one hundred and fifty feet about the general level of the valley. Brush Knob, a similar elevation, stands a half mile toward the north-east. North of the river is Moccasin Point, a range of hills one hundred and fifty feet high, extending from above Chattanooga, and jetting into the bend in the river north of Point Lookout. Beyond Moccasin Point Wallen’s ridge rises thirteen hundred feet above tide water. On the opposite side of Moccasin Point, due west of the city and two miles distant, is Brown’s ferry. The valley between Moccasin Point and Wallen’s ridge concealed the movements of Sherman’s army as soon as it crossed the river at Brown’s ferry, and left the enemy to mere conjecture as to whether it would appear in the attack on Mission ridge or move on to reinforce Burnside at Knoxville.
   Notwithstanding General Grant’s energetic preparations for battle, which could not have escaped the notice of General Bragg, General Longstreet, with a large force of the enemy, was detached and sent to Knoxville to overwhelm Burnside and attempt to regain what had been lost in that region. This movement against Knoxville increased Grant’s eagerness to attack Bragg, and caused much anxiety lest Knoxville should fall before reinforcements could be spared to assist in the defense of that place. But General Sherman was delayed by bad roads, high water and broken bridges until the 23rd, when he massed three of his divisions behind the hills at Caldwell’s ford, ready to cross the Tennessee the next morning.
   The North Chickamauga, a stream flowing into the Tennessee just above the camps occupied by the Third brigade, afforded an opportunity to launch the pontoons for bridging the river, while the movement would be screened by timber from the enemy’s view. A detail from the Third brigade, in charge of Captain John Kennedy, of Company F, of the Eighty-fifth, launched one hundred and sixteen pontoons in this stream on the 23rd. Captain Kennedy had been a boatman on the Illinois river prior to the war, and so expert was he in his work that he launched as many as three of the boats in a minute. In the evening a detail was made from the brigade of sufficient numbers to row the boats out of the creek into the river and down to the place where the bridge was to be thrown across. This detail was made from among the men used to boating, and was under command of Captain H. S. LaTourrette, of Company G, of the Eighty-fifth, with orders to be ready to man the boats at midnight. Promptly at the appointed hour one hundred and sixteen boats, each carrying thirty well-armed men in addition to the rowers, pulled out of the creek and silently dropped down the river, hugging the north bank until they reach the point for the intended bridge, when all pulled for the other shore. This was quickly reached, when the men jumped ashore and captured the picket post known to be at this point. So quickly and quietly was this done that the nineteen men constituting the post were taken without firing a shot. Two divisions of troops were quickly carried over in the boats, when the work of laying the pontoon bridge was commenced, and by eleven o’clock in the morning of the 24th troops were crossing on a bridge thirteen hundred and fifty feet in length. Ample preparations for forcing a crossing, in case resistance should be offered, by planting fifty-six pieces of artillery on the hills north of the intended crossing, had been made during the night before. But Bragg had been suddenly and somewhat roughly aroused from his dream of fancied security on the afternoon of the 23rd.
   Fearful lest Bragg should retreat, General Grant ordered an attack on the enemy’s advanced line, which extended from Brush Knob on the north, around the base of Orchard Knob, and for a mile or more farther south. Promptly at one o’clock on the 23rd the divisions commanded by Wood and Sheridan moved out of their works and formed in the open plain. Between the Union and rebel lines lay open fields without stump or tree or fence, save the thin belt of timber which here and there concealed the enemy’s line. The Eleventh corps, under General Howard, was formed in solid column as a reserve to the attacking force, which moved with eager step in perfect time. The flying flags and the sun flashing from ten thousand polished rifles presented a spectacle of singular magnificence. Groups of rebel officers viewed the scene from Bragg’s headquarters on Mission ridge, while the enemy’s pickets, but a few hundred yards away, stood idly looking at what they supposed to be preparations for a grand review.
   When the advance sounded the line moved forward with the steadiness and precision of veterans on parade. Not a straggler nor a skulker could be seen as all went eagerly forward. Soon the enemy realized it was not a review, but a bold attack. His pickets fell back to the main line and their scattering shots were quickly followed by the roll of musketry and the roar of cannon. The plain was dotted here and there with fallen men in blue, and men were seen with stretchers bearing off the wounded. Puffs of blue smoke mark for a moment the line of rebel works, a moment more and a hearty cheer is heard, and the works are ours with 200 prisoners.
   A break in the bridge at Brown’s ferry prevented the division of General Osterhaus, of the Army of the Tennessee, from crossing the river in time to take part in Sherman’s attack on Mission ridge, and it was attached to General Hooker’s command in Lookout valley. This accident caused the Second division of the Fourteenth corps to be assigned to Sherman’s command at the last moment, and we crossed the river at one o’clock on the 24th, and the advance began. No resistance was offered by the enemy save that easily overcome by a strong skirmish line, until one of the foot hills in which Mission ridge ends was taken. A little later the enemy made an effort to retake it, but was decidedly repulsed, when the hill was fortified and we rested on our arms in line of battle for the night. The day was cold, with drizzling rain at times, but far to the right could be heard the sound of battle. Thick clouds of mist enveloped the top of Lookout mountain, and at times reached to its base. From the veiled summit burst the peal of thunder and the lightning flashed out, while the soldiers in the valley anxiously awaited the result of the conflict among the clouds. In the afternoon, the mist was blown away for a few moments, when the Union line appeared in full view. The flash of gun and gleam of steel stood out distinctly on the dark background formed by the mountain’s rocky face, and revealed the right of the line firmly fixed at Point Lookout, while the left was sweeping in triumph toward Chattanooga. Then the brigade bands in the valley began to play.
   That night came on clear and cold, and the lines were swept by the eager north wind. Camp fires seemed indispensable, but they were a dangerous luxury in the face of alert sharpshooters. But the men were elated with another victory. The entire army was now united in a continuous line on the south side of the river, and during the night Bragg withdrew his troops from Lookout mountain and Chattanooga valley to strengthen his lines on Mission ridge. So with snatches of sleep, achieved under much difficulty, the men were ready for whatever might be provided for them in the morning.
   As soon as it was light enough to see on the morning of the 25th General Sherman moved his three divisions against the main fortified line of the enemy, holding General Davis, commanding the division to which the Eighty-fifth belonged, as a reserve in supporting distance of his attacking columns. The enemy was found strongly entrenched, on commanding ground, in a position of vital importance to the safety of the rebel army. Bragg was now fully aroused to his danger, and as this point protected his line of supplies and of retreat if found necessary, he hurried reinforcements to this part of his line. After terrific fighting Sherman’s center division gained a high crest within three hundred feet of the enemy’s entrenchments, which it held tenaciously throughout the day and from which it made repeated assaults, but without securing a lodgment in the rebel line. About noon a brigade of the Eleventh corps, which connected Sherman with the Army of the Cumberland, was sent in, but was repulsed. At two o’clock a brigade that had worked its way almost up to the enemy’s works, was caught in the flank by a rebel force and rather roughly handled. This rebel success was, however, but for the moment, when the enemy was in turn struck in the flank, his brigade broken and his troops dispersed. By three o’clock the fighting along Sherman’s front was virtually over, and the rebel right stood unshaken, but his determined and persistent attack at a vital point had caused Bragg to weaken his lines farther south, and thus rendered success easier for the attack on his center.
   By the time Hooker, with three divisions, was forming his line of battle across the enemy’s left at Rossville, while Thomas, with four divisions, stood ready to strike the center of Bragg’s weakened line. Between Orchard Knob and the rebel line was a valley covered in part by timber and underbrush. This field was in range of the direct and enfilading fire of all the rebel liens, the one at the base, the one half way up, and the main line at the top of Mission ridge. The ridge in front of Thomas was about six hundred feet in height; its sides furrowed with gullies; dotted over with timber, some of which had been felled, and in places huge rocks cropped out. At the summit a heavy line of earthworks protected fifty pieces of artillery which commanded the field, while at a small house on top of the ridge Bragg had his headquarters. This house was directly in front of Orchard Knob, and from it floated the rebel flag.
   At four o’clock six guns are fired at regular intervals from Orchard Knob, and twenty thousand men move forward in line of battle, exposed at every step to a terrific artillery fire. The air over their heads is dotted with the white, round clouds formed by bursting shells. But never faltering, quickening the pace as it goes, the blue line moves on until it dashes up to the line of leveled rifles at the base of the ridge. There is a moment of death and terror, and the men leap over the parapet and into the trench, capturing the defenders to a man, who as they stream to the rear, are pursued by the iron hail beating down from the hill top on both friend and foe. Sense of time is lost in such an hour, and seemingly but a moment passes before the long blue line begins the perilous ascent. Then the enemy redoubled his efforts and the firm earth trembled with the incessant roar of artillery. At this time artillery firing increased in rapidity until it reached, by one count of a cool-headed officer at Grant’s headquarters, fifty-eight guns in a single minute. And now there comes, as the blue line nears the crest, the quick, sharp rattle of musketry, which soon deepens into a continuous roll. This is far more dreadful to the experienced ear than the loudest cannonade. It tells that the final scene is about to be enacted; that victory must be quickly seized or a few retire in the bitterness of bloody defeat. But the line goes surging over the crest of Mission ridge. Almost simultaneously the rebel line is carried in half a dozen places, and the enemy break in full retreat. Regiments are captured entire, and battery after battery is taken.
   During the afternoon General Davis proposed to General Sherman to take the Second division and assault the rebel works beyond the left of Sherman’s line of attack. The division was fresh and strong in numbers – over seven thousand effective men – and if successful in the proposed attack we would have seized the road over which Bragg retreated during the night. But General Sherman, no doubt wisely, declined the offer of his enterprising subordinate. And so it turned out that the Second division did not become engaged, although shells passed over and fell around about is throughout the entire day.
   Arrangements were promptly made for the pursuit of the enemy, and the Second division at head of the column moved about midnight across South Chickamauga creek and proceeded up the north bank of that stream as rapidly as possible. Toward morning the fog became so dense that it was found impossible to proceed without great risk, and the command was ordered to make coffee and get their breakfast. As soon as the fog began to rise the troops were put in motion, but the enemy offered little resistance until the railroad at its crossing of Chickamauga creek was reached. Here the enemy seemed disposed to fight, but after a brisk skirmish he was driven toward the station. Chickamauga station was now in full view, presenting a couple of formidable looking fieldworks, with an open plain in full view, over which the troops would have to move in direct attack. The battery opened but failed to bring a reply, when the skirmishers of the First brigade advanced, and after a sharp fight drove the enemy from the little hamlet. This rapid advance compelled the enemy to abandon considerable property undestroyed.
   In this spirited affair the Twenty-first Kentucky, of the First brigade, learned through prisoners taken from a Kentucky regiment in the Confederate army, that it was a fight between Kentucky loyal and Kentucky rebel face to face, and it created intense enthusiasm throughout the line. The order to advance and attack the fieldworks in their front was received with cheers, and executed with a dash that soon sent the enemy back to his main line, now formed on a hill beyond the town. A battery in the road opened fire, but was soon driven from its position by the fire of the Third brigade battery. In the meantime, the entire division had been deployed, and when the advance began the enemy retired in great haste, leaving two twenty-four-pounder siege pieces in our hands and considerable commissary, quartermaster’s and ordnance stores were captured and saved, notwithstanding the efforts of the enemy to destroy them. Thus ended a gallant little fight with the rear guard of Bragg’s army.
   General Sherman arrived at the head of the column at this time, and by his direction the troops were allowed a short rest, after which the pursuit was renewed with increased vigor. The roads were now strewn with broken wagons, and two caissons were captured. The pursuit grew in interest as the prospect of overtaking the foe increased, and the usual marching pace gave way to the double quick. This was kept up some two miles, when the enemy was found again in position near Graysville, beyond some open fields. For some distance the troops had been confined to a narrow, muddy road while passing through a swamp. Here the enemy opened on the column with a two-gun battery, but as the eager troops reached the open ground, regiments rushed into line, the men fixing their bayonets as they ran; the charge was sounded, and the rebel line was routed and two pieces of artillery captured. This happened at nightfall and the command bivouacked for the night. The force here encountered proved to be two brigades, commanded by General Maney, who was severely wounded in the fight.
   The next morning the pursuit was resumed at daylight, the Third brigade in advance. But about eight o’clock we formed a junction with General Palmer, commanding the Fourteenth corps, and found that other troops had the right of way on the Ringgold road. The skirmishers from the Third brigade had taken the Ringgold road and opened communications with General Hooker, then engaged with the enemy just beyond Ringgold. In doing this they captured one hundred and fifty-two prisoners. The division remained at Parker’s Gap during the 28th, awaiting instructions.
   Fear for the safety of General Burnside at Knoxville had a dominating influence over all of General Grant’s plans for battle at Chattanooga, and over his pursuit of the defeated enemy. As soon, therefore, as Bragg had been driven beyond Taylor’s ridge, and the left of the Union army interposed between Bragg and Longstreet, General Grant arrested the pursuit of the enemy and ordered a strong force to march rapidly to the relief of Knoxville.
   On Sunday morning, the 29th, the Second division moved with the force under command of General Sherman for the relief of Burnside. This force was without camp or garrison equipage, and moved with a train only sufficient for carrying ammunition to fight a battle which was to be expected. It marched rapidly over muddy roads; through winter rains, and was compelled to live on such scanty fare as the country afforded after being ravaged by our enemies. The command arrived within a few miles of Knoxville on the evening of December 6th, when it was discovered that Longstreet was in full retreat up the Tennessee valley. He made an attack, but was repulsed before the relieving column came within striking distance, and at once the command started on its return to Chattanooga.
   The Second division returned by way of Morgantown, Madisonville and Columbus, where the division remained five days, operating some mills in order to supply the men with food, and in breaking up bands of guerrillas and murderers infesting the vicinity. Parties of infantry, mounted upon horses procured from farmers, were sent out and gathered in many of these scoundrels. Resuming the march on the 15th, by the way of Charleston, Cleveland, and McDaniel’s Gap, and passing through Chattanooga, the Eighty-fifth reached its camp at Friar’s Ford or North Chickamauga, on December 19th.
   During the Knoxville campaign it was necessary to obtain food and forage from the East Tennessee farmers, a majority of whom were loyal, and every effort was made to compensate those from whom supplies were taken. This could only be done by a regular detail in charge of an officer authorized to issue vouchers, and very stringent orders were issued against individual foraging. This lead to some amusing incidents, one of which was told at the expense of the commander of the Third brigade. It was said that one morning Colonel McCook was riding some distance in advance of the command when he suddenly encountered a soldier standing beside a hog in its death struggle, holding in his hand a knife from which the blood was still dripping. Amazed at this flagrant violation of orders, the colonel thundered out, "Who killed that hog?" Whereupon the soldier politely saluted the colonel, and said: "Colonel, I am a butcher by trade and I offer it as me professional opinion that this hog died a natural death." Pat’s ready wit caused the colonel to burst out laughing and saved the man from arrest and punishment.
   The writer remembers an exhibition of loyalty on the part of an East Tennessee farmer, which, under the distressing circumstances, appeared heroic. On a very cold night our brigade camped on a farm from which all the fence rails were taken and consumed during the night. As we resumed the march about sunrise the next morning we saw the owner of the farm, and old white-haired man, with maul and wedge, busy splitting rails at the roadside. And while the column passed by he stood with uncovered head, his face radiant with loyal enthusiasm, cheering the flag of the Union.
   In this campaign the men exhibited the utmost fortitude under ever-increasing difficulties. The weather was cold and stormy; the men without tents or overcoats; a large number without blankets, and many were barefoot. On frosty mornings the men could be tracked by the blood from their bleeding, shoeless feet, and in the entire campaign but six days’ rations were issued. The distance marched – counting both ways – was two hundred and forty miles; thoroughly testing their endurance and their discipline. Their soldierly conduct greatly pleased General Sherman, and in a letter written to General Davis, he said:*

*Rebellion Records, Serial No. 56, page 439

"Your division led in the pursuit of Bragg’s army on the route designated for my command, and when General Grant called on us so unexpectedly and without due preparation to march to the relief of Knoxville, you and your officers devoted yourselves to the work like soldiers and patriots, marching through cold and mud without a murmur, trusting to accident for shelter and subsistence. During the whole march, wherever I encountered your command, I found its officers at their proper places and the men in admirable order. This is the true test, and I pronounce your division one of the best ordered in the service. Be kind enough to say to General Morgan, General Beatty, and Colonel McCook, your brigade commanders, that I have publicly and privately commended their brigades."
And in his official report,**

**Sherman's Memoirs, Volume 1, page 384

General Sherman thus compliments the division and it commander: "General Davis handled his division with artistic skill, more especially at the moment we encountered the enemy’s rear guard near Graysville at nightfall. I must award this division the credit of the best order during our movement through East Tennessee, when long marches and the necessity of foraging to the right and left gave reason for disordered ranks."
   The battles around Chattanooga were fought on three successive days, but as all were parts of one comprehensive plan – directed by one master mind – they appear in history, and rightly so, as the battle of Chattanooga. It was the most picturesque battle of the war, and the storming of Mission ridge was one of the marvels in military history. And when the enthusiasm of the troops bore them up the steeps, and they surged over the rebel works at the crest, the hold of the Union army was firmly fixed on the very vitals of the South.
   General Grant had sixty thousand men in action, and General Bragg probably had forty thousand, but the disparity in number was more than made good by the almost impregnable position occupied by the insurgent army. The losses of the Union army were 757 killed, 4,529 wounded, and 330 missing, making a total of 5,616. Bragg’s losses in killed and wounded are not known, his official report being rendered untrustworthy by the fact that his total loss is reported at much less than the number of prisoners captured by the Union army. He lost by capture 6,142 men, 42 cannon, 69 gun carriages, and 7,000 stands of small arms. His loss in material was immense, part of which he destroyed in his precipitate flight, but much was left uninjured and fell into loyal hands.
   The Second division, although close in support of the attacking column, did not become actively engaged at Mission ridge. Yet shot and shell passed over and fell all around us. The official reports include the Knoxville campaign, and the losses are given as 41 in the division, 11 of which are credited to the Third brigade. The losses in the Eighty-fifth were:

WOUNDED – Levi Clifton, of Company F, and Charles R. Branson, of Company H.

   Charles W. Pierce, first lieutenant of Company B, was transferred to the invalid corps on November 2nd, and First Sergeant Albert D. Cadwallader was promoted to be first lieutenant. Captain Charles W. Houghton, of Company D, resigned on December 27th, and First Lieutenant Charles H. Chatfield was promoted to succeed him, First Sergeant Samuel Young being promoted first lieutenant.
   On November 27th John W. Booth, of Company A, died in the field hospital, his being the only death in the regiment in the two months of which this chapter treats.
   On Saturday, the 26th, the brigade abandoned its comfortable camp at North Chickamauga, and moved through Chattanooga to a place beyond Mission ridge, and camped at McAfee’s Church. As the men were still without tents, and although the next day was Sunday, they began as soon as it was light to construct quarters. It was a rainy day, but the work went merrily on, and it was remarkable how soon the small pine trees were converted into very comfortable cabins. It was well that no time was lost, for the new year came in with snow and extreme cold.

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