by John McElroy
CHAPTER XV THE FIGHTING AROUND BUZZARD ROOST
AND CAPTURE OF THE REBEL STRONGHOLD.
FOR the next few days there was a puzzling maze of movements, which musthave completely mystified the rebel Generals--as was intended--forit certainly passed the comprehension of our own keen-eyed andshrewdly-guessing rank-and-file and lower oflficers.
Regiments, brigades and divisions marched hither-and-yon, wound aroundand over the hills and mountains, started out at a great rate in themorning, marched some distance, halted apparently halfway, and thenperhaps went back. Skirmishing, that sometimes rose to the proportionsof a real battle, broke out at unexpected times and places, and asunexpectedly ended. Batteries galloped into position, without muchapparent warning or reason, viciously shelled some distant point, andthen, as the infantry were girding up themselves for something real tofollow all the noise, stopped as abruptly as they had begun, and nothingfollowed.
This went on so long, and apparently so purposelessly, that even theconstant Si and Shorty were shaken a little by it.
"It can't be," said Shorty to Si, one evening after they had gone intobivouac, and the two had drawn away from the boys a little, to talkover things by themselves, "that old Sherman's got one o' his crazy fitsagain, can it? They say that sometimes he gits crazier 'n a March hare,and nobody kin tell just when the fit'll come on him. I never did see somuch criss cross work as we've bin doin' for the last few days. I can'tmake head nor tail of it, and can't find anybody else that kin."
"I can't make it out no more than you kin," assented Si. "And I'vethought o' that crazy idee, too. You know them boys over there inRousseau's old division was under Sherman once before, when he wasin command at Louisville, and they say that he got crazier'n a locoedsteer--actually looney, so's they had to relieve him and send him backhome to git cured. They'd be really scared about things, but theirofficers heard old Pap Thomas say that things wuz goin' along all right,and that satisfied 'em. I ain't goin' to worry so long's old Thomas isin command o' the Army o' the Cumberland, and we're in it. He'll takecare that things come out straight."
"You bet," heartily agreed Shorty. "The Army o' the Cumberland'll be allright as long as he's on deck, and he kin take care o' the otherarmies, too, if they git into trouble. I struck some o' the Army o' theTennessee when I went back with them prisoners today, and got talkin'with 'em. I asked 'em if Sherman wasn't subject to crazy fits, and theysaid yes, he had 'em, but when he did he made the rebels a mighty sightcrazier'n he was. They went on to say that we'd git used to Shermanafter awhile, and he'd show us some kinks in soljerin' that we neverdreamed of."
"Sich plaguey conceit," muttered Si.
"I should say so. But I never seen anybody so stuck on theirselves asthem Army o' the Tennessee fellers. Just because they took Vicksburg--"
"With all the navy to help 'em," interjected Si.
"Yes, with more gunboats than we have army wagons. They think they knowmore about soljerin than anybody else in the world, and ackchelly wantto give us p'ints as to how to git away with the rebels."
"The idee," said Si scornfully. "Talkin' that way to the best soljersin the world--the Army o' the Cumberland. I hate conceit, above allthings. I'm glad I hain't none of it in me. 'Tain't that we say it, buteverybody knows it that the Army o' the Cumberland's the best army inthe world, and the 200th Injianny--"
"I told 'em that the Army o' the Cumberland was the best army, becauseit had the 200th Injianny in it, and, would you believe me, they saidthey'd never even heard o' the 200th Injianny?"
"Sich ignorance," groaned Si. "Can't they read? Don't they git thepapers?"
"There'd bin a fight right, there, if it hadn't bin for the officers. Iwanted awfully to take a fall out of a big Sergeant who said that Thomasmight be a good enough man for Chairman of a convention o' farmers,but when he went to war he wanted to have sich leaders as Sherman,McPherson, and Logan, and Osterhaus. But he'll keep. We agreed to seeeach other later, when we'll have a private discussion, and if he hasany head left on him he'll freely acknowledge that nobody in the Army o'the Tennessee is fit to be named in the same day with Pap Thomas."
"Better turn him over to me, Shorty," said Si, meditatively. "I thinkI'm in better shape for an argument just now than you are. You've bindoing a good deal in the last few days, and I'm afraid you're a littlerun down."
"No; he's my meat. I found him, and I'll take care o' him. But there'sjust one thing that reconciles me to this business. In spite o' all thissashayin' and monkeying we seem to be continually edgin' up closter tothem big cliffs where the rebels are, and something's got to bustpurty soon. It's jist like it was at Tullyhomy, but old Rosecrans ain'trunnin' things now."
"But Thomas is in the center, as he was then, and we're with him," saidSi hopefully. "There's tattoo, Le's crawl in."
The other boys had been affected according to their various temperamentsby the intricate and bewildering events of the past few days. The firstday or two they were all on the tenter-hooks of expectation and anxiety.Every bugle-call seemed to be a notice for them to rush into the greatbattle. Every time they saw a regiment moving, they expected to followand fall into line with it. They wondered why they were not sent inafter every skirmish-line they saw advancing. When a rebel batteryopened out in the distance they girded themselves in expectation ofan order to charge it. But Si and Shorty kept admonishing them that itwould be time enough for them to get excited when the 200th Ind. wascalled on by name for something; that they were not expected to fightthe whole campaign, but only to do a limited part of it, and they hadbetter take things easy, and save themselves for their share when itshould come to them.
It was astonishing how soon they recognized this, and settled down tomore or less indifference to things that did not directly concern theirown regiment. They were just at the age to be imitative, and the exampleof the veterans around them had a strongly-repressive effect.
So, after the second or third day of the turmoil of the openingcampaign, they ceased to bother themselves openly, at least, as to whytheir regiment did not move when others did, as to why they did not goto the help of others that were fighting, and as to when they were to besummoned to make a desperate assault upon the frowning palisades of rockwhich were literally alive with rebels and belching cannon.
When the regiment was lying still they occupied and amused themselves,as did the others, according to their several bents. The medical-mindedAlf Russell watched the movements and deportment of the Surgeons atevery opportunity, and was especially interested in everything that hecould catch a glimpse of, from feeling a man's pulse to extractinga bullet. The lathy Gid Mackall, whose appetite did not need thesharpening it got from the free mountain air, put in much of his timecooking, all possible variations of his rations with anything else thathe could get hold of, and devouring the product with eagerness. In spiteof Si's strict prohibition against card-playing, the sleepy headedJim Humphreys was rapidly, but secretly, mastering all the tricks andmysteries of camp gambling, and becoming an object of anxiety to theolder gamesters whenever he pitted himself against them. Sandy Baker,whose tastes ran to mechanics, "tinkered" constantly with his rifle andequipments, studying the nature and inner workings of every part, andconsidering possible improvements. Sprightly Harry Joslyn was fascinatedwith the details of soldiering, and devoted himself to becoming perfectin the manual of arms and the facings. Little Pete Skidmore was keenlyalive to all that was going on, and wanted to know everything. When hecould trust himself not to get lost from his regiment, he would scurryover to the nearest one, to find out who they were, where they had comefrom, what they had been doing, and whither they were likely to go. ButMonty Scruggs was constantly in the public eye, as he loved to be. Hispassion for declamation pleased officers and men. He really declaimedvery well, and it was a reminder to them of home and the long-ago schooldays to hear him "spout" the oldtime Friday afternoon favorites.
Therefore he was always called upon whenever there was nothing elseto engage the men's attent
ion, and his self-confidence and vanity grewrapidly upon the liberal applause bestowed on him. He was a capitalmimic, too, and daring as well, and it was not long before he began to"take off" those around him, which his comrades enjoyed even more thanhis declamations.
The llth of May, 1864, saw all the clouds of battle which had beenwhirling for days in such apparently diverse directions, gathering aboutthe deep gorge in Rocky Face Ridge through which the railroad passed."Buzzard Roost," as this was named, was the impregnable citadel behindwhich the rebel army had taken refuge after its rout at Mission Ridgethe previous November, and the rebel engineers had since exhaustedevery effort to make it still more unassailable. The lofty mountain roseprecipitously for hundreds of feet on either side the narrow gorge, andthe last hundred feet was a sheer wall of perpendicular rock. The creekwhich ran through the gorge had been dammed, so that its waters formeda broad, deep moat before the mouth of the gorge. The top of the ridgeswarmed with men, and to the rear of the gorge guns were massed inemplacements to sweep every foot of the passage.
It seemed madness to even think of forcing such a pass. A thousand menin the shelters of that fastness could beat back myriads, and it wasknown that Joe Johnston had at least 50,000 behind the Ridge. YetSherman was converging great rivers of men from the north, the northwestand west down upon that narrow gap, as if he meant to move the eternalrocks by a freshet of human force.
The rebels thrown out in advance of the gorge, on outlying hills, rocksand cliffs, were swept backward and into the gap by the resistlesswave of blue rolling forward, fiery and thundering, gathering force andvehemence as it converged into a shortening semi-circle about the ruggedstronghold.
The 200th Ind. moved forward and took its place in the line on a hillcommanding a view of the entrance to the gorge, and there waited itsorders for the general advance, which seemed imminent any instant.
For miles to the right and left the woods were crackling with musketry,interspersed with the booming of fieldpieces.
The regiment had stacked arms and broken ranks.
For an hour or two the men had studied with intense eagerness thebristling fortifications of the gap and the swarming foemen at thefoot of and on the summit of the high walls of rock. They had listenedanxiously to the firing to the right and left, and tried to make outwhat success their comrades on other parts of the long crescent werehaving. They had watched the faces of the officers to read there how thebattle was going.
But one after another found this tiresome after awhile and set himselfto his usual camp employments and diversions. Some got out needles andthread, and began repairing their clothes. Some gathered in groups andsmoked and talked. Many produced the eternal cards, folded up a blanketfor a table, and resumed their endless sevenup and euchre or poker forbuttons and grains of corn. Jim Humphreys found his way into one ofthese games, which was played behind a clump of bushes, and the buttonsrepresented dimes. He was accumulating fractional currency. Gid Mackallembraced the opportunity to cook for himself a savory stew with someonions distributed by the Sanitary Commission. Sandy Baker went over hisgun, saw that every screw was properly tight, and dropped the tiniestamount of oil on the trigger and the hammer, to ease their working. PeteSkidmore wandered down to the flank of the next regiment to find outif anything new had occurred. Harry Joslyn got himself into the exact"position of a soldier," with his heels together, his toes pointed at anangle of 45 degrees, and went through the manual of the piece endlessly.Si and the Orderly-Sergeant communed together about the rations for thecompany, and the various troubles there was always on the Orderly's mindabout the company's management. Shorty got off by himself, produced fromhis breast his mementoes of Maria, and read over her last letter for thethousandth time, though he knew every word in it. But he seemed to get anew and deeper meaning every time he read it.
Groups of officers would come up to a little rise in front, study thedistant ridge with their glasses for awhile, and then ride away.
A couple of natty young Aids followed their superiors' example, rodeup, dismounted, and studied the enemy's position with great dignityand earnestness, that it might have full effect upon the brigade behindthem.
Monty Scruggs saw his opportunity. He bound some tin cans together torepresent field glasses, mounted a stump, and began intently studyingBuzzard Roost.
This attracted the attention of the others.
"What do you see, Monty?" they shouted.
"See?" answered he. "Just lots and gobs. I see old Joe Johnston overthere, with Pat Cleburne, and Hood and Bragg, and Joe Wheeler. They'reall together, and pulling off their coats, and rolling up their sleeves,and shaking their fists at the 200th Ind., and daring it to come on."
CAPTURE OF REBEL STRONGHOLD. 185]
"Tell 'em not to sweat. Just hold their horses. We'll be overpresently," shouted the others, with yells of laughter. "What else doyou see?"
The young Aids turned around and glanced angrily at Monty and thelaughing crowd.
"I see old Jeff Davis there, with his Cabinet of traitors. He's writinga fresh proclamation to his people, with his blind eye, and has got hisgood one fixed on the 200th Ind., which he's telling Joe Johnston isbound to give him more trouble than all the rest o' the army."
"Good! Good!" yelled the rest. "So we will. Old Jeff's right for once.What else do you see?"
"Stop that, my man," said one of the Aids savagely. "You're disturbingus."
"Go ahead, and don't mind 'em," shouted the others. "They're only SecondLieutenants any way. Tell us what you see."
"I see way by Richmond, old Unconditional Surrender Grant's got BobLee by the throat, and's just wipin' up the State of Virginny with him.Lee's eyes is bulging out like gooseberries on a limb, and his tongue'shanging down like a dog's on a hot day--"
"Get down off that stump at once, and go back to your place," said theAid authoritatively.
"Don't mind him. He's only a staff officer. He can't order you. Goahead," shouted the rest.
"I see a couple o' young Second Lieutenants," started Monty, but the Aidsprang at him, and in an instant there was a rush of the other boys todefend him. Capt. McGillicuddy, who was usually conveniently deaf andblind to the boys' skylarking, looked up from the paper he was reading,hurried to the scene, quieted the disturbance, ordered Monty to get downand go back, and spoke sharply to the Aid about paying any attention tothe men's harmless capers.
The bugle blew "Attention," and everybody sprang to his place, andwaited eagerly for the next command.
"Men," said the Colonel, in his gentle, sweet voice, which, however,was distinctly audible to the farthest flank of the regiment, "we areordered to help our comrades by attacking the mountain over there. Yousee what is before you, and that it will be terrible work, but I knowthat you will do all that you can do for the honor of dear old Indiana."
An enthusiastic cheer answered him.
"Battalion--Take--Arms!" commanded the Colonel. "Rightface--Forward--File left--March!"
The regiment filed down through the woods on the hillside, and as itcame into the opening at the bottom was greeted by a volley from abattery on Rocky Face Ridge. The shells screamed viciously over theheads of the men, and cut through the tops of the trees with a deafeningcrash.
"Wastin' good cast-iron on the landscape, as usual," laughed Shorty, toencourage the boys. "I always wonder how the rebels pick out the fellersthey make cannoneers of. When they git hold of a feller who can't shootso's to hit anything less'n a Township set up edgewise, they put him inthe artillery."
"Mebbe they'll come closter next time," said little Pete with a shiver,as he trotted a little nearer Shorty.
"Naah, they'll never come no closter," said Shorty, contemptuously."They couldn't hit even the side o' the mountain if it wasn't in theirway and no place else for the ball to go."
Just then a shell screamed so close above Shorty that he involuntarilyducked his head.
"What makes you juke, if they can't hit nothing?" inquired little Pete,and the rest of them had
regained composure enough to laugh.
"O," said Shorty composedly, "that feller wasn't shootin' at me. He wasshootin' at the 1st Oshkosh, which is a quarter of a mile behind. Ifhe'd hit me it'd 'a bin an accident, and I don't want no accidents tohappen just now."
Approaching the cleared space in the center of the valley, the regimentwent into line in the brush and pushed through to the edge of the woods.The moment that it appeared in the fringe of brushwood a sharp volleycame from the line of rebels in the brush along the opposite side of theclearing. Evidently they were not expecting an advance at that moment,for their firing was wild, and wounded but a few men.
"Hold your fire till we are across," shouted the Colonel."Forward--Guide center--Double-quick--March!"
With a yell the regiment swept across the clearing into the brushbeyond. A furious, noisy scrambling ensued in the thickets. Neither sidecould see 10 yards ahead, and the firing, though fierce and rapid, wasnot very effective. Men shot at sounds, or motions of the bushes, andthe bullets, glancing on the limbs, whistled in all directions. But the200th Ind. pressed furiously forward, and though the rebels resistedstubbornly they were gradually pressed back up the hill. Occasionallyone was killed, many were wounded, and squads were caught in clumps ofbrush and compelled to surrender. Si and Shorty kept their boys inhand, on the left of Co. Q, restrained them from firing until they sawsomething to shoot at, and saw that they did not advance until theirguns were loaded. They heard a crashing volley delivered on their rightfront, and springing swiftly in that direction, came to a little break,across which they saw a squad of 15 or 16 rebels under the command ofa Captain, with their guns still smoking, and peering into the woodsto see the result of their fire. Si rushed at the Captain, with leveledgun, and ordered him to surrender.
"Are you an officer?" said the startled Captain as soon as he could gainwords. "I'm a Captain. I'll not surrender to any one under my rank."
"I'm Captain enough for you," answered Si, thrusting the muzzle of hisgun close to his face. "Surrender this minute, or off goes your head."
The Captain dropped his sword, and his men yielded.
The prisoners were conducted to the rear, and when Si returned with hissquad to the regiment he found it had forced its way to the foot of thehigh wall of rock that rose straight up from the slope.
The rebels on the crest, 100 feet above, had been trying to assist theircomrades below, by firing with their muskets, and occasionally sending ashell, where they could get their howitzers sufficiently depressed. Nowthey had bethought themselves to roll rocks and heavy stones off thecrest, which fell with a crash on the treetops below.
The 200th Ind. was raging along the foot of the wall, trying to find acleft in it by which they could climb to the top and get at their foes.Standing a few yards in the rear, under a gigantic white-oak, whosethick branches promised protection from the crashing bowlders, theColonel was sending parties to explore every place that seemed hopeful,and report to him. When Si came up with his squad he was directed to goto the extreme left, and see what he could find.
He did so, and came to a little open space made by the washings whichpoured over the crest of the rock when the rain descended in torrents.There was a cleft there, but it was 40 feet above them, and surroundedby rebels, who yelled at the sight of his squad, and sent down a volleyof bowlders. Si and his squad promptly dodged these by getting behindtrunks of trees. They fired at the rebels on the crest, who as promptlylay down and sheltered themselves.
The firing and stone-throwing lasted an hour or more, and then seemed todie down from sheer exhaustion.
As the stones begun to come down more fitfully, and at longer intervals.Shorty shouted to those on top:
"Say, you fellers up there, ain't you gittin' tired o' that work? Youain't hurtin' nobody with them dornicks. We kin dodge 'em easy, andyou're just strainin' yourselves for nothin'. Let up for awhile, till weboth rest and git a fresh hold. We'll amuse you if you will."
"What'll you do?" asked one of the rebels, peering over the crest.
"Lots o' things. I'll turn one o' my famous doubleback-actionflip-flaps, which people have come miles to see, when I was travelingwith Dan Rice. Or we'll sing you a song. We've here the World RenownedBallad-Singer of Bean Blossom Crick. Or we'll make you a speech. We havehere the Justly-Famous Boy Orator of Pogue's Run."
Everything had become quite still all around during this dialog.
"Give us a song," said the rebel, and his comrades' heads began showingover the edge of the rock.
"Now, no rock-throwing and no shootin' while he's singing'," saidShorty. "Give the boy a chance to git back to his tree after he's done."
"All right. We'll play fair. But no politics," came back from the rock.
"Go out there, Alf, on the gravel, and sing to 'em," said Shorty.
Alf Russell hesitated a moment, and then climbed up on the pile ofwashings and after clearing his throat, sang "When This Cruel War isOver" in his best style, and was applauded from the top of the rock andbelow.
"Now, give us your speech. But no politics," the rebels shouted.
Monty Scruggs stepped up on the mound and recited "Bingen on the Rhine"in his best school-exhibition style. The delight of the rebels wasboundless.
"Hip-hip--Hooray! Good! Good!" they shouted. "Give us another."
Monty scratched his head to think of something appropriate, and thenoccurred to him Webster's great speech in defense of the Union, whichwas then a favorite in the schools.
"When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun inheaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragmentsof a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent;on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, with fraternalblood. Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable."
The rebels listened with growing impatience to the words, and as Montyconcluded with his best flourish they yelled angrily:
"Heah, we told you no politics. Git back thar, now, quick, or we'll bustyour haid with this heah rock."
Shorty and Si raised their guns to shoot the man with the bowlder, andMonty skipped back to the shelter of his tree, saying with a grin:
"I was bound to give 'em a little straight goods before I quit, and theygot it. Old Dan Webster's very words."
"The orders is to stay right here for the night," said theOrderly-Sergeant, coming up through the brush to Si, "and be ready foranything that comes. I don't know what old Sherman means--whether he isgoing to send over some balloons to lift us to the top of the rocks,or set us to tunneling through. I suppose it ain't my business to know.I've got enough to do running this company. But something's got to bustinside the next 24 hours, and when it does there'll be the dumbedestsmash this country ever saw. Stay where you are till further orders, andmake yourselves as comfortable as possible."
The rebels on the rocks having quieted down, the boys stowed themselvesaround the roots of the trees, made little fires under the shelter ofthe rocks, cooked their suppers, smoked their pipes, and finally rolledthemselves in their blankets and went to sleep.
Little Pete "snugged" in with Shorty, but when that gentleman wasawakened by Si a little after daylight, Pete was gone.
Shorty fumed around at this while he was cooking his breakfast, for hewanted Pete to be there and eat heartily, in preparation for the arduousstruggles of the momentous day which was breaking for them.
But little Pete continued to be absent. No one had seen him, no one hadheard his voice, no one know anything about him. Shorty became greatlyworried, and the others shared his feelings, and began beating up thewoods around in search of some place that he might have fallen into.
With the daybreak the firing away to the left, where a lodgment had beenmade on Rocky Face Ridge, beyond the gap, broke out afresh, and rolleddown toward the gap. The squad listened intently to it as it camenearer, for they felt that it meant the beginning of the day's bloodybusiness. The crests above them remained silent.
Suddenly they heard little Pete's voice calling:
"Sergeant Klegg! Corporal Elliott!"
They looked in every direction, but could see no Pete.
"Sergeant Klegg! Corporal Elliott! Look up here. I'm up here on therocks."
They turned their eyes to the crest, and there saw Pete waving his hatto them.
"Come up here," he called. "There ain't no rebels up here. They've allgone off down into the valley."
From their tense hearts the boys sent up a cheer, which drew allattention to them. The news quickly spread along the line, and wasreceived with cheers.
"Go down that way about 100 yards," Pete called down, "and you'll find atall pine blowed down agin the cliff. You kin climb that, and git up towhere its top lays right agin a bunch of bushes. Shorty rolled on my legthis morning, and waked me up before daylight. I then thought I'd gitup and take a look, and see how things appeared before they got toshooting. I found the pine tree, and dumb it mighty quiet, intendingto sneak up close to the rebels. But I couldn't find none. They was allgone."
