Kitabı oku: «War Stories for my Grandchildren», sayfa 9

My last letter to my wife from East Tennessee was written on the last day of 1863, which I began with a prayer: —

"Let us not forget to thank our dear Heavenly Father for all His mercies of the past year. Oh, how good He has been to us, even with all our troubles! How little we have done in our lives to repay that goodness! May He make us more worthy of His mercies and blessing in the New Year, and may He preserve our lives that we may together meet and praise Him. To His watchful care I commit my dear wife and little ones.

"I last wrote you from New Market. I was enjoying a quiet rainy Sunday there, reading some good book I found at the house where I was quartered, when about noon I received orders for my division to move forward and attack the enemy and drive him back from Mossy Creek. It was an unwelcome order that rainy Sabbath, but we executed it, and after considerable skirmishing took up a new line two miles beyond Mossy Creek. Yesterday Colonel Wolford's division and mine were ordered out at three o'clock in the morning to Dandridge, where it was reported a division of rebel cavalry was encamped. We went, but found the enemy had left the night before, and we returned at 4 P.M. just in time to miss a nice little fight at Mossy Creek. The enemy attacked our outposts at 11 A.M. and drove our troops back two miles, but ours in turn drove them back again beyond our lines. It is not often that my men have the fortune, or misfortune, to miss the fighting, as we did yesterday.

"We have here our entire force of cavalry, and one brigade of infantry. The rest of the army is at Strawberry Plains and Blain's Cross-Roads. Longstreet is reported at Morristown with the main body of his army. I suppose General Foster intends to drive him away from there, if possible, how soon I don't care because I want to come home as soon as the fighting here is over, and take a little rest with my dear wife and darling little girls."

I may venture, before closing my East Tennessee correspondence, to give in part the last of these letters, as a specimen of letters to a soldier's child, written on January 1, 1864: —

"Why should I not write a letter this New Year's Day to my dear little Alice? I am so far away I can't give you any nice present; all I can do is to try to write you a good letter…

"What have you and Lillie and the other little children been doing to-day? And did you have a Christmas tree and a happy time then? Papa has not had much of a New Year's Day. It has been so cold, oh so very cold to-day. Was it cold at home? I could tell you a story about the cold. Would you like papa to tell you a little story in his letter? Do you still like to hear stories? Well, I can tell you part of it, and mamma can tell it over to you and fill it up.

"Papa, you know, is away off, out in the mountains, so far away from home, in the army, and you know there are so many poor soldiers in the army. Yesterday, the last day of the old year, was such a gloomy day, it was so muddy and wet and rainy. And then last night it blew so hard and rained so much; it was like a hurricane (get mamma to tell you what that is). And the poor soldiers have no houses to live in, like little Alice, with nice warm beds, and they don't have large tents like you saw out in the woods near home last summer when Uncle Jimmy and the rest of the boys and men were out soldiering. They have to live in the fields and woods, and their tents are like grandma's tablecloth, only smaller, and they stretch that up over a pole and it is open at both ends, and at night two or three or four of them get down on their hands and knees and crawl into it and pull their blankets over them when they go to bed. The soldiers call them 'dog-tents.' Ask Lillie if she thinks it would be good enough for her 'Trip.' Well, last night, after many of the soldiers had been marching in the rain, and when most of them were wet and their blankets wet, they built large fires, but they wouldn't burn well because it was too wet, and they crawled into the 'dog-tents,' and were trying to get to sleep when the naughty wind commenced to blow and it began again to rain, and the rain would blow on their heads and they would draw them further into their tents, and then it would rain on their feet, and pretty soon there came up such a hurricane that it blew all their tents clear off of them, and there they were lying on the muddy ground, and the cold rain pouring down on them. And they all had to get up out of bed. It had rained so hard that it put all their fires nearly out so they couldn't get warm. Poor soldiers, don't you pity them?

"Some of the soldiers were out, away off in the dark woods on that terrible night on picket (get Willie or Uncle Aleck to tell you what that is). And they had to sit all night on their poor horses away out by themselves with their guns in their hands and swords by their sides, watching to keep the wicked rebels from slipping into camp in the dark night and killing your poor papa and the rest of the soldiers. After a while the rain stopped, but the wind kept blowing and whistling through the trees and over the mountains and making such a terrible noise. You can hear it whistle around the corner of grandmamma's house, but it moans and whistles so much louder out here over the mountains, it might frighten little girls if they did not know what it was. Soon the wind began to change around toward the north where Jack Frost lives and from where the white snow comes, and the rain began to freeze, and the ground got hard, and it was so cold, oh bitter cold. The poor soldiers could sleep no more that night, their blankets were all frozen stiff as an icicle, and they had to build great big fires to keep their coats and pants from freezing on them. It was all they could do to keep from freezing; they could not keep warm.

"Some of the men, when we went out to drive away the rebels from the other side of the mountain, were hungry and they stopped behind us at a farmhouse to get something to eat, and the wicked rebels caught them and took their overcoats away from them, and took their warm boots off their feet; and some of the poor fellows got away from them and walked all the way from the rebel camp over the frozen ground barefooted. To-day the soldiers have done nothing but build big fires and stand close up to them and try to keep warm.

"These poor soldiers and your papa have come away from our homes and left good mammas and dear little daughters to keep the wicked bad rebels from making this country a poor, unhappy one, and that when little Alice and the dear children of the other soldiers grow up they will have a good and a happy country, and won't have to know about wars and such terrible things. You must remember about the poor soldiers, and pray God that He will be very kind to them and make the time soon come when they and your papa can all of them go home to their dear little daughters and good mammas.

"Kiss mamma and little Sister Edith for me, and tell your little cousins Gwyn and Foster and Johnny that your papa hopes to come home soon and that he will then come around with you and see them all."

As intimated in the last letter to my wife, General Foster did make a forward movement with his entire force, and pushed the enemy toward the Virginia line, but thereafter there was a lull in army operations for the rest of the winter on both sides. The time had come for which I had so long looked when I could without injury to the service ask for a leave of absence, which General Foster, commanding the Department, cheerfully granted, and before the last of January, 1864, I was on my way home, going by way of Chattanooga and Nashville, as the railroad communication was then well established.

I have noted the death of my father in April, 1863. He had been actively engaged in extensive mercantile affairs, and while not wealthy (as the world estimates wealth now), was possessed of considerable property, both real and personal. By his will he made me the executor of his estate and guardian of the two minor children. In August, 1863, after I was well on the march to East Tennessee, I received a letter from my brother stating that the court at Evansville had required my presence in the proceedings for the settlement of my father's estate, but I obtained a stay until I should be able to get released from my army duties, with the assurance on my part that I would make as little delay as possible.

When I reached home I found the affairs of my father's estate in such condition that I could not conclude my duties as executor in the time fixed for my "leave" from my command. There was the widow, two minor and four adult heirs claiming attention to my duties as executor. Under the circumstances I felt it proper to tender my resignation from the army, especially as I had already determined to do so at the expiration of my three years' term of service, which would be within four months.

There was no reason for me to tender my resignation except the undischarged duty of executor and my earnest desire to be with my family. During my entire army service I had enjoyed good health and was pleased with the active life. I had been reasonably successful in military affairs, and had held large and important commands to the satisfaction of my superior officers, and there was every prospect of my early promotion in rank. But I put aside preferment and possible military distinction for the more immediate call of family duty. The outlook for the suppression of the rebellion was at that date most favorable. Grant had been made commander-in-chief, and was organizing his army for the final march on Richmond; Sherman was preparing for his advance on Atlanta and his march to the sea; and at no time since the opening of hostilities had the cause of the Union looked so auspicious.

General Sturgis, in command of the cavalry corps to which I belonged, in forwarding my resignation to the Department general made the following endorsement: —

"In approving this resignation, I cannot refrain from expressing my deep regret in parting with so intelligent, energetic, and brave an officer. I have for some time been aware of the business and family interests which I feared would sooner or later deprive the army of the services of Colonel Foster, yet after so long and faithful service he should be, I think, relieved under the circumstances. His loss, however, will be severely felt in this corps and his place hard to fill."

When my resignation became known to the Sixty-fifth Regiment the officers held a meeting in which a series of resolutions were adopted declaring "that Colonel Foster, since his connection with the regiment has been unceasing in his labors in, and untiring in his devotion to, the cause in which we are engaged, and has spared no means to render his regiment efficient; that he has commanded the regiment with distinguished honor to himself and to the regiment; that in his resignation the regiment and the service have lost an efficient and valuable officer; and that he bears with him to his home our highest esteem and our best wishes as a citizen."

An editorial of considerable length appeared in the "Evansville Journal," from which the following is an extract: —

We regret exceedingly to learn that Colonel John W. Foster has felt it to be his duty to resign his commission as colonel of the Sixty-fifth Indiana Regiment, and that his resignation has been accepted. We have known for some time that circumstances – growing out of his father's death, occasioned an almost absolute necessity for his personal attention to the settlement of a vast amount of unfinished business left by the Judge – were conspiring to force Colonel Foster out of the service, but we were in hope that matters might be so arranged as to enable him to remain in the field. It seems, however, that this could not be done, and our Government loses the services of one of its most gallant, energetic, and experienced officers. Colonel Foster entered the service of his country in the summer of 1861, as major of the Twenty-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteers. He laid aside the profession of the law, and took upon himself the profession of arms, from a conscientious belief that his first service was due to his Government. Without experience, or even a theoretical knowledge of military life when he entered the service, so close was his application to study, that but a short time elapsed before he was a thorough master of all the duties incumbent upon his position as Major of the regiment, or for that matter with any position connected with the regiment. Colonel Foster was a rigid disciplinarian, yet he exacted nothing from his men that was not essential to the efficiency of his regiment, or that he was unwilling to perform himself.

After a detailed review of my military service, it adds: —

Colonel Foster has proven his patriotism by his actions and in retiring to private life he will carry with him the assurance that he has merited the good wishes of his countrymen and secured the great satisfaction of an approving conscience.

From an editorial in the "Louisville Journal" the following is extracted: —

The resignation of Colonel John W. Foster of the Sixty-fifth Indiana Regiment has been accepted. His retirement from the army is to be regretted, as he was one of the most experienced, efficient and gallant officers in the service.

After a sketch of my military career, it says: —

Colonel Foster accompanied the expedition of General Burnside in the movement on East Tennessee, at times commanding brigades and even divisions. Just before tendering his resignation he was recommended for a brigadier-general's commission by Generals Burnside and Grant. Important business relating to his father's estate demanded immediate attention, and forced his resignation. The army and the country alike regret his retirement to private life.

VIII
WITH THE HUNDRED DAYS MEN

About three months elapsed after my return home from the East Tennessee campaign when a new appeal was made to me to reënter the military service. General Sherman was assembling at and near Chattanooga an army to make his great drive on Atlanta and into the very heart of the rebellion. To succeed in his decisive movement he had to draw his supplies from north of the Ohio River over a single long line of railroad communication, reaching from Louisville through the States of Kentucky and Tennessee to Chattanooga, and beyond as his army advanced. This line of supplies was mainly through hostile territory, and every part of it had to be guarded by armed soldiers. In order to give Sherman every possible trained soldier to swell his army so as to make the movement a success, it was determined to send all the soldiers then guarding this line of railroad to the front, which would prove a large addition to the fighting force of Sherman's army, and to replace them as guards with new recruits, who could be effective behind intrenchments and when on the defensive. Accordingly the Governors of the States of the Middle West made a call upon their several States for regiments of volunteers to serve for one hundred days, the estimated period of Sherman's campaign to Atlanta.

The call upon the State of Indiana was responded to with alacrity, and within a few days several regiments were formed and in a short time made ready for service. It was the desire of Governor Morton to have these raw recruits commanded, as far as possible, as colonels and other staff officers, by men who had already seen service and were experienced in actual fighting. One of these regiments, largely made up from Evansville and the adjoining counties, expressed a strong desire that I might be appointed to command them, and this action was followed by a telegram from Governor Morton tendering me a commission as colonel, and making a strong appeal to me to again give my services to the country in this great emergency.

I confess the call did not strongly appeal to me from a military viewpoint, as the contemplated service did not promise any distinction in warlike operations; but on the other hand, it was a service which would be just as useful in promoting Sherman's success as if we should be sent to the front and take part in the actual fighting, for without this line of communication for supplies being maintained his campaign must assuredly prove a failure. I recalled the fact in ancient history that the greatest of Hebrew generals, following the well-recognized rules of warfare, insisted on giving to those who guarded the camp and protected the line to the rear the same honor and emoluments as those who did the fighting. The Scriptural historian has preserved King David's words: "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike." So important did he deem this principle that the historian records that "from that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day."

I had made much progress in the business of settling my father's estate, the cause of my previous resignation, and having secured my wife's consent to my reënlistment, there seemed to be no good reason for not responding to the call of the Governor and my townsmen and neighbors, and within three days after tender of my commission I was on the way to put myself at the head of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Indiana Infantry Volunteers. I have indicated that the character of the service to which we were to be assigned, the guarding of the railroad, did not promise any brilliant military exploits, and the extracts which I shall make from my letters may not be found of much interest, but they will at least set forth the manner in which we filled up our Hundred Days' service in the cause of our country.

The One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Indiana was mustered into service May 23, 1864, at Indianapolis, and passed through Louisville. My letter of the 31st states: —

"We left Louisville on Saturday morning, and I stationed the companies along the railroad from Shepardsville to Nolin, ten miles below here (Elizabethtown) on the railroad. I had hardly got the companies distributed, selected my headquarters here, and got my dinner, before the train arrived from Nashville bringing an aide to Major-General Rousseau, who was on the hunt for the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Indiana, which should go to his command in Tennessee, but he saw by the Louisville papers that it had been stopped, and would go along the railroad. The aide had orders for me to go direct to Nashville at once, disregarding all orders from all sources but the War Department; but as General Burbridge had ordered me to come here, and as I was in his district, and was guarding important bridges which should not be abandoned, I decided to wait until the generals should get their conflict in orders adjusted. We have been waiting in doubt as to our future for two days; meanwhile the generals had been telegraphing with each other and with me, until last night I received orders to go to Nashville as soon as transportation was provided. How soon the cars will be ready to take me down I do not know."

Within two days we arrived in Nashville whence my letter of June 4 says: —

"I wrote you a note yesterday that we would go to Murfreesboro. I went down there yesterday and returned this morning. I will be off for that place again in an hour with three companies. The rest of the regiment will follow to-night and in the morning. We shall not be quite so well situated there as we were at Elizabethtown, nor for that matter as comfortably situated as at home, but I think we can get through the one hundred days there at least tolerably safely, which is the great point with you, is it not? Uncle Tom arrived here yesterday from the Sixty-fifth in poor health. I have been hunting for him this morning, but have not as yet been able to find him."

This last refers to Colonel Johnson, of whom I have made reference in previous letters. Three times he had been granted furlough on account of ill-health, but with the grim determination of a martyr, he persisted in his effort to remain with his command, at that time at the front with Sherman's army.

In my letter of June 8, I give an account of our camp and surroundings at Murfreesboro: —

"When we arrived here the general directed me to camp the regiment in the fortress, a large and very strong series of earthworks and rifle-pits, built by Rosecrans's army after the battle of Stone River. The enclosures are large, open spaces, without a particle of shade or grass, entirely exposed to the sun. The troops already in the fortress have erected tolerably comfortable barracks, but there was no material out of which to make any more; and as our men had nothing but shelter tents, I was afraid if put into such a camp the exposure would bring on sickness. So I rode all round the vicinity of the town and found several very good camping-places, and induced the general to let us camp out of the fortress, in such suitable place as I might select. I found a very fine camp in a beautiful grove just at the edge of the town, and adjoining a very fine spring of water, which pleases officers and men very much. Two companies are stationed below on the railroad, and we shall have eight companies here, making a very respectable battalion.

"How long we will remain here is very uncertain, but we shall be very well satisfied to stay here during the remainder of our one hundred days. Since we went into camp I have been putting the regiment through in drill and duties of soldiers, keeping officers and men quite busy. Besides these drills, Lieutenant-Colonel Walker drills the officers an hour, and I have two recitations of officers an hour each in Tactics and Regulations. In the evenings after supper I give them a lecture on the Army Regulations, organization, and military customs, which is quite as profitable to me as to them, as it requires considerable study and posting on my part. We had our first battalion drill to-day and it proved quite interesting. At the present rate of daily duties in one month I shall have the regiment in a condition to compare favorably with the veteran regiments in drill at least. I want to bring them home well drilled and thoroughly instructed in the duties of the soldier. I have the reputation of being a strict disciplinarian, but I think the officers and the intelligent men appreciate it. The exercises not only make them better soldiers, but the active service makes them more healthy than to lie idle in camp.

"Our camping-ground is on the lawn in front of one of the finest houses in the State. The surroundings were before the ravages of war very beautiful. The house was the headquarters of the rebel General Bragg, before he fell back after the battle of Stone River. The owner was formerly quite wealthy, the possessor of a large plantation here and one in Mississippi. He is now keeping a store in town for the support of his family, reaping the reward of the rebellion of himself and relatives."

In my letter of June 13 I give another view of camp life: —

"Yesterday was our first real Sabbath in camp, and we spent it very pleasantly. We had the Sunday morning inspection at eight o'clock, beginning it with a short religious exercise by the chaplain. The inspection would have been very creditable to old soldiers. The men had their arms and accouterments and clothing in fine order and looked well. These Sunday morning inspections have a fine effect, it causes the men to clean up themselves and their arms, and makes them feel it is a real Sabbath, which they are likely to forget in camp.

"After inspection we were quite liberal in allowing the men more passes for the day, going out in squads in charge of officers. Some went to church, but many went to stroll over the battlefield of Stone River, which is about two miles from town. Major Hynes and I went in town to church, and heard Dr. Gazeton preach. He has just returned from the South. The Doctor is (or was) a New School Presbyterian of some reputation in Tennessee before the rebellion. He is a bitter rebel, but, of course, did not give any manifestation of it in his services. There was a strong New School Church here before the war, but they were all rebels; the church building almost ruined by the armies, and its members very much scattered.

"At five we had preaching by our chaplain, a Baptist brother from Spencer County, a good man but a very poor preacher, an old farmer and ignorant; is worse than the chaplains of my other two regiments. I shall go out of the war, I fear, with a poor opinion of chaplains from personal experience. Although our chaplain's sermon was a poor affair, the men were attentive and respectful. Altogether the day was very creditably passed by the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Indiana. But how much more pleasantly and profitably it would have been spent by me at home, with my own family and in our own church."

In a letter of June 15 I refer to the character of the regiment: —

"We are getting along very pleasantly in camp; everything passes off quietly; the men are making a commendable degree of progress in the drill, and take to soldiering very readily. Thus far I have had no difficulty in controlling the men. I never saw a regiment more easily governed. This comes in part from its personnel. Being called upon for only one hundred days of service, many business and professional men, who could not well afford to give up their business entirely, can arrange to go into the army for so short a time; and as a result the lower officers and the men are many of them among our best citizens. Besides, the service is easy. We have none of the hard marches and exposures described by me in the campaigning of the Twenty-fifth and Sixty-fifth Indiana. As a private in one of the Evansville companies, was my younger brother James H., who left the senior class at the Indiana University before graduating to serve his country."

This letter also relates an event which brings out the terrible consequences of war in dividing families, especially in the border State of Kentucky: —

"I wrote you some time since that a brother of Major Hynes (of our One Hundred and Thirty-sixth) was in the rebel army and had been at home at Bardstown, Kentucky. Hynes received a letter this evening from his father telling him that his brother had been killed in trying to get back through our lines to the Southern army. He was shot in the woods and lay in the bushes two weeks before his father found the body."

Referring to the rebel cavalry raids which were just then threatening Washington and Baltimore, I wrote: —

"Even if Washington is burnt the rebels can't hold it, and it would be the means, I hope, of raising up the North to renewed efforts, and then there would be a good opportunity to remove the Capital to the West, where it ought to be. We have not suffered enough in the North yet to make the people see that there is to be no peace with the rebels except by their complete overthrow. Otherwise we are disgraced, ruined, forever destroyed as a nation. We must and will in the end put down this wicked rebellion. The ways of Providence are inscrutable. 'God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform,' but He is a God of Justice and Right, and we will triumph in the end. Had I been an infidel or a weak believer in the righteousness of God, long since I would have been discouraged, but I am not. Let us pray for our country, for the triumph of right, of truth, of freedom, and that God may in His wisdom hasten the end of this bloody war and the return of peace; and that we may together live to enjoy our family and Christian privileges under it."

On July 16 I report: —

"General Van Cleve has been called temporarily to Tullahoma, which leaves me in command of the post and brigade here, including Fortress Rosecrans. The change will probably be only for a few days or a week. I would much rather be with the regiment, as I am interested in the drill and instruction of the regiment, and can spend the time pleasantly with them.

"I am now at headquarters of the post very comfortably situated; have a room for myself carpeted and well furnished. Captain Otis, General Van Cleve's adjutant-general, a very competent officer, is left here, and he has his wife with him. It looks quite homelike to sit down at a table with a lady to preside, and also to nurse the baby. It was reported that the rebels were crossing the Tennessee River yesterday at Claysville, intending to make a raid on the railroad, but I hardly believe it."

A bright side of the soldier's life is given in my letter of July 21: —

"We have no news of special importance. I don't have very much to do in my post command, am comfortably situated in quarters, and have about enough business to keep the time from being dull. Captain Otis and his wife and I are the only members of our mess, and we have a very pleasant table. When General Rosecrans was in command here he established a large hospital garden, worked by the convalescents in the hospitals. It is now producing large quantities of vegetables, and our table is very liberally supplied from it with green corn, tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, potatoes, squashes, etc. We also enjoy plenty of milk and butter, with ice to cool them. The general left his servant here, and he has nothing to do but take care of my room, black my boots, and brush my clothes, etc. There are a number of officers' wives here, and we have frequent company in our parlor of these and occasionally of rebel ladies. So you see the hardships of the poor soldier's life at present being undergone by me are such as I may be able to endure with safety to my life!"

In my letter of July 30, I report my return to the regiment: —

"General Van Cleve arrived last night and I returned to the command of the regiment. I think it was needing my attention from appearances. In the two weeks I have been absent there has been only one battalion drill. Although this is Saturday afternoon and we are not accustomed to having drill that afternoon, yet I am going to give them battalion drill to make up for lost time. I want them to make a fine appearance when we return to Indiana. We are now drilling in the bayonet exercise, which interests the men very much."