85th Illinois Infantry: Chapter 14

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

CHAPTER XIV.
Pages 161 - 174
_____________

May 1864 - June 1864

     On May 1st, 1864, more than two hundred thousand men stood ready to move against the enemy at the bidding of Lieutenant General Grant. While these troops were divided into two widely separated columns, of nearly equal strength, they had a common object, the destruction of the rebel army under General Lee in front of Richmond, and that under General Johnston standing in front of Dalton. And on the fate of these armies rested the hopes of the Confederacy.

     The column which General Sherman was to move against the enemy at Dalton was composed of the Army of the Ohio, comprising the Twenty-third corps, commanded by Major General J. M. Schofield, with 13,500 men and 28 guns; the Army of the Tennessee, comprising portions of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps, now arriving at Chattanooga under command of Major General James B. McPherson, with 24,000 men and 96 guns, and the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Major General George H. Thomas, with 60,000 men and 130 guns. The Army of the Cumberland was composed of the Fourth, Fourteenth and Twentieth Army corps, and three divisions of cavalry, commanded by Generals Judson Kilpatrick, Edward M. McCook and Kenner Garrard – the whole making a grand aggregate of 98,797 men and 254 guns [Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, Vol. II, page 24].

     The Fourteenth Army corps, commanded by Major General John M. Palmer, numbered 19,637 effective men. The First division was commanded by Brigadier General Richard W. Johnson; Second division, by Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis, and the Third division, by Brigadier General Absalom Baird. The brigade commanders in the Second division were: First brigade, Brigadier James D. Morgan; Second, Colonel John G. Mitchell, and Third, Colonel Daniel McCook. The monthly report of the Army of the Cumberland for April 30th, 1864 [Rebellion Records, Serial No. 75], shows 7,135 effective men in the Second division. But unfortunately these monthly returns do not descend to brigades and regiments.

     On the part of the Eighty-fifth the campaign began on Tuesday morning, May 3rd, when the Third brigade left its camp at Lee and Gordon’s mills, and that evening it joined the First and Second brigades from the camps at McAffee’s church, at Ringgold. On the 5th we moved through Thoroughfare Gap, and camped at the forks of the Cleveland and Dalton roads, not far from Catoosa Springs. Before the war Catoosa Springs had been a favorite health and pleasure resort, but at this time both buildings and grounds were in a very dilapidated condition. During the day, although the enemy was in plain view on the hills beyond, there were few in command who did not visit the famous watering place.

     By the evening of the 6th all the forces were in line, and General Sherman’s grand army ready to close down on Dalton and General Johnston’s veteran army. We were on familiar ground, having skirmished over it in February, and all understood that we would be up against a tough proposition as soon as the advance began.

     Saturday, the 7th, the entire army moved forward. Reveille sounded at half-past three o’clock, and before sunrise the troops were on the march. The advance was assigned to our division, with the Third brigade in front. The enemy’s cavalry were soon encountered, but were steadily driven by the skirmish line of the Fifty-second Ohio until within cannon range of Tunnel Hill. At this point the enemy opened with artillery; our batteries were brought into action, and a sharp fight ensued, in which the enemy were driven into Buzzard Roost. The advance seized a high round hill, known to us as Signal Hill, and around it the Second Division bivouacked until the 9th. On the afternoon of that day the Second brigade, supported by the Third, advanced along the left of the railroad and swept the enemy from a line of hills in front of the gap, and the entire division took a position in Buzzard Roost.

     On the 10th the division pressed the enemy back into the gorge until his lines were fully developed, and our batteries were brought to bear on his entrenchments. The rattle of musketry and the roar of cannon continued throughout the day. Rain was falling steadily and the pungent smell of battle smoke filled the valleys. The faces of the men were powder-grimed and their clothing stained with the soil from the protecting hillsides. After the advance had gone to the utmost and the men began to make the best of an ugly situation, the first mail arrived since the regiment left Lee and Gordon’s mills. But as soon as its distribution drew a crowd, the vigilant enemy’s shells began to fall around in such numbers that the men quickly returned to such shelter as tree, or rock, or hillside afforded. In the evening the weather turned unusually cold for the time of year, but the position held by the command was so close under the enemy’s guns that the men had to spend the night without fire. The next morning we were relieved by a brigade from the Fourth corps, and retired to the vicinity of Signal Hill, where we enjoyed a day to rest. The Eighty-fifth lay near the signal station, at which General Sherman spent most of the day, and from which the fighting in the gap and on the hills to the right and left of it could be plainly seen.

    On the 12th the Second division marched at sunrise for Snake Creek Gap, which was reached after a march of fourteen miles at dark. After a brief halt for supper the march was resumed, and continued until near daylight. The night trip, through this famous gap, was one to be remembered. The division was in the rear of the corps, and through the long hours the column toiled on through the narrow, crooked defile. The night march was not a long one when the number of miles traversed is considered, for this wild and picturesque defile is but six miles in length. But the road was only such a track as country wagons had worn in the bed of a stream that meanders through Rocky Face mountain, or passed over projecting spurs. The artillery and ammunition trains in front delayed the march, yet the men were not allowed to tarry more than a few moments at any point for rest. Many sank down from exhaustion, feeling they could not go another step. At last, near daybreak, the weary column halted, and the soldiers set about preparing coffee and frying meat over quickly kindled bivouac fires.

     The Army of the Tennessee passed through Snake Creek Gap on the afternoon of the 9th, but after pressing his advance close to the enemy’s fortifications, General McPherson decided not to attempt to carry them by assault and prudently waited the arrival of reinforcements. The movement of a strong column to his support rendered the position of General Johnston at Dallas untenable, and while the Twenty-third corps of the Army of the Ohio, and the Fourteenth and Twentieth corps of the Army of the Cumberland were moving through Snake Creek Gap, the enemy retired to his defenses near Resaca. This town stands on the north bank of the Oostanaula river. The Connasauga falls into the river just about the town, while Camp creek flows into the Oostanaula immediately below. North of Resaca, and between Camp creek and the Connasauga, were hills, which made it a very strong place for the entrenched camp which the rebel commander had prepared for his army.

     After a brief rest on the morning of the 13th the Second division took a position on the left of the corps in the advance upon the enemy’s entrenched lined. The fighting during the day was confined principally to our right, and but little opposition was encountered on our immediate front. That night the Third brigade occupied a position on the left of the corps, our pickets connecting with the right of the Army of the Ohio. On the 14th the command advanced, conforming to the movements of troops on the right, but without becoming actively engaged. During the day there was heavy fighting along the lines, and part of the enemy’s works were captured with several pieces of artillery. In the afternoon the Third brigade was massed in support of the First division, and came under a sharp artillery fire. That night we relieved the brigade of General Carlin, of the First division, and during the night completed the works he had already begun on the front line. All day Sunday, the 15th, there was sharp skirmishing and shot and shell came plunging through the timber. The muskets spoke spitefully and the bullets sped singing over the works and many came pattering down among the men, striking logs and trees, or cutting off leaves overhead, Jacob Bortzfield, of Company A, being wounded.

     During the day Sherman contracted and strengthened his lines, and a pontoon bridge was laid below the town, and the cavalry crossed, threatening the enemy’s flank. Johnston’s position, although very strong, had the fatal defect of giving him a river at his back, and a small force on the opposite bank would make his investment complete. Seeing that he could no longer remain in safety, he withdrew during the night of the 15th, destroying the railroad bridge behind him. So when the bugles sounded on the morning of the16th the rebel works were found to be deserted, and the army entered upon a vigorous pursuit of the enemy.

     At sunrise General Davis moved the Second division rapidly down the west bank of the Oostanaula, under orders to cross the river at a bridge supposed to be near the mouth of the Armuchee creek, and thrust the division between the retreating enemy and a rebel force known to be at Rome. After a rapid march of fifteen miles the command reached the point where the bridge was supposed to be, but there was no bridge, indeed, there had never been any. The river was too deep to ford. We had no pontoons, and how to act under the embarrassing circumstances became a difficult problem. But General Davis was a man of action, and believing that the main object of the expedition could best be obtained by pushing on to Rome, he determined to try to seize a bridge at that place.

     The next morning a rapid march began at daylight, and ten miles were covered by noon, when we encountered the enemy’s pickets at a creek eight miles from Rome. Here the men cooked and ate dinner; the trains were parked and left under guard of two regiments, and at two o’clock the headlong march was resumed. A double skirmish line drove the enemy without causing a halt in the column, until he opened with artillery from his works on De Soto hill, on the west side of the Oostanaula river. Preparations for attack were quickly made; the second brigade on the right, the Third on the left of the Resaca and Rome road, and the First massed in support. The Eighty-fifth was formed in the second line, on the left of the brigade. The order to advance was given and the entire line moved rapidly forward, arriving at the top of a ridge just in time to meet the enemy ascending the opposite slope. Instantly both sides opened fire, which was furious and well sustained for some time, but we had the ridge and soon drive the enemy into his entrenchments, capturing one piece of artillery abandoned by the insurgents in their hasty flight. Near the close of the action the Eighty-fifth was moved to the left and front, and at the end of the fight it was in the front line.

     At dark the left of the Eighty-fifth rested on the river, and the enemy had been driven into his defenses erected for the protection of Rome, the county seat of Floyd county, Georgia. This was a city of some three thousand inhabitants when the war commenced, and is situated at the point where the waters of the Oostanaula and the Etowah unite to form the Coosa river. As the city was known to contain extensive iron works, foundries and machine shops, it was reasonable to expect a stubborn defense, and the line was connected and made strong during the night. Our line extended from the river above to the river below the town, completely investing the enemy’s works. Then the tired men, who had marched eighteen miles and fought a very pretty little battle, rested on their arms for the night.

     A heavy fog delayed the attack until nine o’clock the next morning, when the skirmish line rushed forward and wrested the works from the enemy’s skirmishers. But the retreating enemy burned the bridges in his flight, and under the protection of his batteries hoped to hold the city until his stores could be removed to a place of safety. Two batteries located in formidable looking field works, one above the city on the east bank of the Oostanaula, and one on the south bank of the Coosa below, opened fire on our advance, but our batteries soon silenced them. In the meantime, the Eighty-fifth had been constructing rafts of fence rails, on which the men placed their arms, ammunition and clothing, then swimming the Oostanaula they pushed these rafts before them to the opposite shore. Once on the other side a skirmish line was quickly formed under the direction of Colonel Dilworth and other officers of the Eighty-fifth, which drove the enemy from the city and raised the banner of freedom over rebellious Rome. So rapid was the advance of the Eighty-fifth from an unexpected quarter that a sufficient number of pontoons were captured to bridge the Oostanaula, and a few hours later the Third brigade crossed the river and occupied the city.

     The division captured three pieces of field artillery, five 32-pounder garrison guns, and two 8-inch Howitzers, together with large stores of quartermaster, commissary and medical supplies, great quantities of cotton and tobacco, a train loaded with salt, and the extensive ironworks, foundries and machine shops, upon which the enemy relied for a large part of his ordnance supplies and repairs. It was the intention of the enemy to remove the stores and destroy the shops and foundries, but our advance was so rapid and the attack so prompt and energetic that he was compelled to fly before his purpose could be accomplished.

     The men always took great pride in this battle, which was fought out by the Second division alone. The day was very warm; the men marched eighteen miles, and for almost half the distance had skirmished with the enemy. And had it not been for the fact that the attention of the entire country was so largely directed to the manouevres, battles and actions of such vast armies, both east and west, this battle would have been considered, and justly so, a very important victory for the Union cause. The division lost in this engagement one hundred and forty-nine in killed and wounded. The losses of the enemy were never reported, but as he fought behind entrenchments most of the time, his killed and wounded probably numbered less than ours.

     The pickets of the enemy continued to hold the south bank of the Coosa river for several days, and kept up at intervals a vicious skirmish firing into the city, killing and wounding soldiers and citizens indiscriminately. But we were compelled to await the arrival of additional pontoons from the main army before we could dislodge the enemy from the farther shore. However, on the 22nd sufficient pontoons arrived to span the river below the city, when the First brigade laid a bridge, crossed the river, seized the enemy’s works, and drove him from that entire front. The six days of rest at Rome were most welcome, and the men made good use of their opportunity. The first thing with most of them was a bath, next they thoroughly washed their clothing. Then after they had slept all they cared to, they wandered through the cozy little city, and if the company of the Roman Nobles (?), most of whom had fled with the rebel army, was missed, no soldier complained of their absence. On the 23rd, the Second brigade and the batteries crossed to the south side of the Coosa; three days’ rations were issued to each man, and preparations completed for an early advance on the next morning. The casualties in the Eighty-fifth were: Richard Maguire, of Company E, wounded, and N. J. Kemp, of Company K, wounded.

     At five o’clock on Tuesday morning, the 24th, the Second division moved out of Rome on the direct road to Van Wert. A march of eighteen miles brought us in touch with the main army, the right under General McPherson being at Van Wert. That night we camped on Euharlee creek. The next day we passed to the left of Van Wert, over a point of Alatoona mountain, and that night camped near Dallas and in close support of the main column. The march had been long and rapid, and during the afternoon a pouring rain fell. The noise of battle mingled with the peals of thunder, for in the midst of the storm the troops under General Hooker fought a bloody battle near New Hope church. The rain continued through the night, making our camp, which we reached very late, utterly wretched.

     On the 26th the division was ordered to move toward Dallas, and after crossing Pumpkin Vine creek at Bishop’s bridge, some two miles northwest of the town, the enemy’s pickets were found on the Burnt Hickory road. Our skirmishers drove the enemy through Dallas, and the division formed a line of battle on the East Marietta road. The enemy was found behind strong entrenchments extending across this road, his right resting on the west end of Ellisberry mountain, and the men rested on their arms for the night. The next morning the Third brigade advanced with sharp skirmishing, a mile or more into a gorge in the mountain, and during the day the brigade in a single line was entrenched so as to secure this pass. During the afternoon the noise of fierce battle was heard a few miles to out left, and it was learned that a severe engagement resulted in an attempt to turn the rebel right at Pickett’s mills.

     During the day, the Twenty-second Indiana was on the skirmish line, sustaining a loss of three killed, six wounded, and two missing. That night while being relieved by the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois, the enemy made a vigorous attack which led to an exciting conflict. In the darkness and confusion of the first onset it was hard to distinguish friend from foe, and the enemy captured one officer and fourteen men. A countercharge was made immediately, in which two officers and twenty-seven men were captured from the enemy. There were a number killed and wounded on both sides in this fight in the dark, but in the end our advanced position was retained, and the enemy retired in utter confusion. The Third brigade occupied this position, with some sharp skirmishing, until the end of the month.

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