Statewide County IN Archives History - Books .....Chapter IX The March To The Sea 1893
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Book Title: History Of The 82nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry

CHAPTER IX.
THE MARCH TO THE SEA.

  The forces selected by General Sherman for his campaign to the sea embraced
the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twentieth Army Corps. The Fourteenth
was commanded by Brevet Major-General Jefferson C. Davis, the Fifteenth by
Major-General P. T. Austerhaus, the Seventeenth by Brigadier-General A. S.
Williams, and the Twentieth by Major-General F. P. Blair. They were designated
as right and left wings, the Fifteenth and Seventeenth forming the right, and
the Fourteenth and Twentieth forming the left wing, Major-General O. O. Howard
being in command of the right, and Major-General H. W. Slocum of the left wing.
The army contained sixty thousand infantry, five thousand five hundred cavalry,
and sixty-five pieces of artillery, with about one thousand three hundred
artillerymen, making a total of sixty-six thousand and eight hundred. We
concentrated at Kingston, Georgia, on the 2d day of November, 1864, for the
purpose of making arrangements for the campaign, remaining in camp until the
12th. During this time the army was paid off, there being several months due.
This was done to let the men with families send their money home for their
families to pass the winter with. The railroad and telegraph was destroyed
between Chattanooga and Atlanta, after sufficient supplies had been brought up
for the advancing army. General Thomas moved back with the Fourth and
Twenty-third Corps for arrangements to meet Hood should he advance on him, or to
follow him should he follow General Sherman. Everything being ready our corps
marched the 12th at 8 A. M., on the Kingston and Marietta road, passing through
Cartersville, encamping near Alatoona. On the 13th, marched at 6:30 o'clock A.
M., passing through Alatoona, encamping near Big Shanty. On the 14th, marched at
6 A. M., passing through Marietta, crossing the Chattahoochee River at Turner's
Ferry, encamping near the railroad bridge. On the 15th marched at 6 o'clock A.
M. Arriving at Atlanta passed through the city and encamped for the night.
During the night of the 15th the light from the burning city made our camp as
light as day. Details were sent in to check the fire. The more details the
brighter the light. S. V. W. Post, leader of our brigade band, brought his band
around to brigade headquarters and gave us some fine music, and when through
said, "Nero made music while Rome burned, why not Post make a little while
Atlanta burns." Had my wishes been granted he would have had to play as long as
there was anything to burn. This fine sight filled my idea of soldiering. The
army was well sifted by this time, and every man who started on this campaign
was a soldier in the fullest sense of the term, and could be fully relied on for
any duty assigned them. The commanders from captains up to the general in
command were men amply qualified to fill their places in any emergency. While it
looked like a big undertaking to cut loose from all communications in the rear
and start for the sea, a distance of about three hundred miles, there was not a
man in the command but what was anxious to make the start, never fearing the
result.

  On the 15th of November, 1864, the Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twentieth Corps
started on their lines of march, the right wing with Kilpatrick's cavalry on the
right flank through Jonesborough and McDonough, thence eastward and reached
Gordon on the 23d. The Twentieth Corps by Decatur, Stone Mountain, Social Circle
and Madison, thence southward to Milledgeville with instructions to tear up the
railroad from Social Circle to Madison and burn the bridges over the Oconee
River. On the 16th the Fourteenth Corps (of which the Eighty-second formed a
part) marched through Lythonia, Conyers, Covington, Sandtown and Shady Dale to
Milledgeville, tearing up the railroad as we advanced. On the night of the 22d
we encamped on Howell Cobb's plantation. The Twenty-third Missouri worked all
night burning the fences and buildings as a reward to Colonel Quinn Morton, for
insults offered him by Cobb, when a prisoner. To a person that never seen
railroads destroyed it would be a funny sight. As a little explanation will give
the idea of how it was done, I will state the mode. In some instances the track
was turned over the length of a regiment or brigade by raising gradually until
on a balance on the end of the ties, then at the word over, one shove and away
it goes.   Another way is to raise the spikes, loosening the rails from the
ties, pile the ties, fire them, and balance the rails across the burning pile,
and when the rails heat they bend down until the ends touch the ground. When
they cool they are so crooked that they have to be taken to the shop for
straightening before they can be used. Another way the Engineer Corps done,
having tools for the business, formed after the style of a cant-hook. Putting
one at each end of a rail and as many men as could get hold of the handle
bearing down (each end working in opposite  direction), this forced the spikes
out, and twisted the rail in something of the appearance of an auger, making
them entirely useless until melted and made over. Then pile the ties and burn
them. In many instances I have seen the rails taken up and heated on the burning
piles of ties, and when red-hot in the center four men at each end of the rail
would carry them to a tree or telegraph post, and place the red-hot part against
the tree and walk around until meeting, then pass and go until meeting again,
then let it drop. Our orders were to make fifteen miles per day, and do this
kind of work when along a railroad. The 23d the right wing reached Gordon and
the left wing Milledgeville. Milledgeville was the capital of Georgia, and one
of the most Godforsaken little holes I ever seen, the highest-toned ladies being
snuff dippers. We remained here one day. General Sherman had interposed his army
between Macon and Augusta, leaving the enemy in doubt as to his intentions. They
had no army to offer any resistance, and the citizens were perfectly paralyzed.
General Beaureguard was traveling through Georgia trying to fire the people up
to resist his advance, but to little use, as everybody was scared to death.
During our eight days' march we had not had any enemy but cavalry to bother us.
They hardly made us feel that we were soldiering, their show of fight being so
weak. The second move, the two wings moved on parallel lines for Millen. General
Kilpatrick's cavalry to destroy the railroad between Milledgeville and Augusta,
and try to rescue the prisoners at Millen. The left wing crossed the Ocona River
and moved through Sandersville and marched eastward toward the Georgia Central
Railroad. The right wing moved from Gordon on the railroad, tearing it up. The
division to which the Eighty-second belonged arrived at Louisville, Ga., and
received orders to move to General Kilpatrick's assistance, all the rebel
cavalry having attacked and being too many for him. We moved several miles to
the left and found his command on the bank of a deep stream called Rocky
Comfort, the bridge being destroyed and the banks too steep for cavalry to pass
over. As soon as the First Brigade, under Gen. Morton C. Hunter, crossed and
took the front, the enemy fell back out of gunshot. Kilpatrick's men and horses
being worn out was given until the next morning to feed and rest up. On December
1st Kilpatrick advanced in good style. Our brigade moved on the extreme left
flank with him for several days. During this time we were tearing up railroad
track one night, when Cobb's militia came down from Augusta with some artillery
and bombarded us. If any one was injured by this mob I never heard of it.
General Kilpatrick was at General Hunter's headquarters during the time of the
bombardment and said he would give them something to do in the morning. When
morning came he formed his command (our brigade supporting him) and charged the
rebels in their rail stockade, killing and wounding over one hundred. The other
two brigades of our division joined us, and the whole division moved with
Kilpatrick's troops, and drove the enemy through Waynesboro and across Buck Head
Creek. They burned the bridge in their rear. Kilpatrick sent detachments up and
down the stream for twenty miles, burning the bridges, and we never seen
anything more of Wheeler's command for three or four days. The left wing and the
Seventeenth Corps moved on parallel roads, making a feint on Augusta.
Kilpatrick's command was on the extreme left flank, and our division marched
with them as supports, all the rebel cavalry being in his front. The Fifteenth
Corps moved to the right. Our division, with Kilpatrick's Cavalry, took the
Savannah road. We came to a stream called Little Ebenezer River, about thirty
miles from Savannah, and found the bridge burned. The stream was very deep and
the banks extremely high. The crossing was only two miles from the Savannah
River, where the enemy had some gunboats, which were engaged in shelling the
crossing. While waiting for a bridge to be completed Wheeler came up in our
rear, thinking he had caught our cavalry without protection. He made a dash at
them, they being ordered to fall back in haste. Wheeler's command came charging
with a yell, our cavalry retreating rapidly. Soon the rebels received a volley
from the infantry, and retreated much faster than they had been advancing. This
was the last we saw of Wheeler on this campaign. Our bridge being completed we
cross and encamp for the night. A short distance to the left of this crossing is
a church called Ebenezer. A short distance from its front could be plainly seen
the banks forming the outside lines of Fort Green, used in the war of 1812. On
the inside of the fort stood a pine tree as much as one foot and a half through.
In the church I noticed a bible lying on the pulpit. It had many names of
soldiers of that war. As it had been used for a record of soldiers who were
fighting for the preservation of the United States, and apparently revered on
that account, I recorded my name on one of the fly leaves, being engaged in the
same kind of duty; but don't presume my name met with as much reverence as those
which preceded mine. From here on, until striking the main line of rebel works,
we met with but little resistance. When nearing the enemy's main works the
country was taken up mostly with rice fields. These were easily overflown,
making the water from one to three feet deep. This caused much labor to prepare
corduroy roads for the men and artillery to pass over. On the 10th the enemy was
driven to their main works. Then the movement of the army to form a perfect
siege commenced. The necessity for supplies compelled the right wing to take
Fort McAllister, commanding the Ogeechee River. About the time this was
accomplished, General Sherman, being on top of a rice mill watching the movement
of troops, observed a steamer which came to give notice that the supply fleet
was in waiting. On our march, we being on the extreme flank, our supply train
was in charge of the Second Division of our corps. They not being good foragers,
had used up our supplies (as well as their own) and when we came to the siege we
were entirely destitute of rations, and the outer country for forty miles had
been foraged clean by the rebels. The only thing we could get to sustain life
was rice, and it in the sheaf like we tie our wheat in this part of the country.
Threshing machines of every description, on the rude plan, were constructed and
used for the purpose of threshing it. Then the greatest fanning mill found was
to throw the grain and chaff into a kettle of water. The grain would sink to the
bottom and the chaff float on top. By pouring off and adding more water the rice
was put in shape for cooking. Water being very plentiful, it wasn't much labor
to procure an ample supply. Our horses ate the rice from the sheaf and appeared
to enjoy it much better than the men.

  The next day after taking Fort McAllister, Generals Sherman and Foster met
Admiral Dahlgren and made every arrangement for taking the city of Savannah by
force. Heavy siege guns were to be brought up, one corps to be thrown across the
Savannah River into South Carolina, to take the only road of the enemy's escape,
the navy fleet under Admiral Dahlgren to attack the water front, and the army to
storm the rear fortifications. General Sherman sent in a demand for the
surrender of the city and forces; but Hardee refused to surrender. Several
regiments from the Twentieth Corps were thrown across into South Carolina to
develop the enemy's position. Hardee appeared to think this meant a thorough
siege, and during the dark and windy night he withdrew his forces, making a
successful escape. On the next morning, December 20,1864, the Union forces
marched in and took possession of the city. Hardee had destroyed all the
material possible to keep the notice of his retreat from our army. He left his
guns unspiked; steamboats, railroad stock, cotton, and large quantities of
public property of value uninjured. With the exception of the capture of the
rebel forces, our march to the sea was a grand and glorious victory. It bore
every evidence of the weakness of the rebel cause, and showed to the world that
men engaged in a just cause could and would be successful in all their
undertakings. During the whole march there wasn't enough of the enemy confronted
us to stop one division of Sherman's "Grand Army." "We left a track of
desolation forty or fifty miles wide from Atlanta to Savannah. The railroad
system of the State was destroyed for months to come; work shops, station
houses, tanks, warehouses, mills, factories, cotton-gins and presses, besides
cotton, farm products, fences, buildings, etc. In the language of Colonel
Gleason, of the Eighty-seventh Indiana, "We made it a howling wilderness." This
victory, with others taking place at the same time, gave proof to the soldiers
on one side that their victory was close at hand, while on the other side that
the end was plainly in view. The fighting qualities of the rebel soldier had
vanished. Instead of one of them being equal to five "Yankees," they would much
prefered five on their side to one on ours, and even then I doubt very much if
they would have met with success when it came to a battle. The people through
the country were fully ready to say, "Let us cease our efforts in this cursed
cause." The Union army accepted of Savannah as a great Christmas gift. The army
was soon encamped in and around the city enjoying plenty to eat, and taking a
good rest for the next and last campaign upon which they were to be called to
march against their country's traitors. Now, to let the loved ones at home know
of their victory and safety, and to hear from the dear ones at home, was the
next pleasant task to accomplish. During our march Captain Grosvenor, of the
Eighty-ninth Ohio, died. He was on the staff of Gen. Morton C. Hunter, commander
of the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth Corps. I had the pleasure of
being on the same staff, and take great pleasure in saying he was a polished
gentleman, a true patriot, and as brave and gallant an officer as was ever in
any army. We had no men killed or captured in the Eighty-second, and very few
sick on the campaign. This was decidedly the finest soldiering it was my
pleasure to meet with during my time of service. Plenty to eat, reasonable
marching, and just fighting enough to remind us there was an enemy in our front.
To give its proper standing I would call it a regular "dress parade" performance
from Atlanta to the sea.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF THE EIGHTY-SECOND
Indiana Volunteer Infantry,
ITS ORGANIZATION, CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES.

WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF THE MEMBERS

BY
ALF. G. HUNTER,
Late Adjutant.

INDIANAPOLIS:
WH. B. BURFORD, PRINTER AND BINDER.
1893.


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