The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 17, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports. Page: 772
x, 897 p. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this book.
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WEST TENN. AND NORTHERN MISS,
out suffering any injury; the only casualty sustained by the fire atp
this point being the loss of a leg by a lieutenant of the One hundred
and thirteenth Illinois. We were obliged to cut our road through the
forest, which delayed the advance of our artillery to the front until.late
in the afternoon. The division was led by the First Brigade, Col. Giles
Smith commanding, and Saturday evening occupied the extreme front:
nearest the fort, extending from the river bank (or near it) around to
the right for near three-quarters of a mile. Our advanced pickets were
within 300 or 400 yards of the enemy's works and in full sight of their
guns. I was ordered by Major-General Sherman, commanding the
corps, to show ourselves in the front, advancing our lines as far as pos
sible to draw their fire. We were replied to by shell and musketry, by
which we suffered a loss of 17 men in the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-fourth
Ohio and Fifty-fifth Illinois-nearly all these, however, by one shell.
General Sherman directed me to send a regiment as a picket and
skirmishers as far around to the right as I could, and reconnoiter the
ground and the enemy's position. Col. Giles Smith discharged this duty
with the Fifty-seventh Ohio, working his way unobserved by the enemy
almost up to their very works. The general went with me himself to
a point outside our extreme line of pickets, and within 400 or 500 yards
of the fort selected a point where he ordered the construction of earth-
works for the protection of Hart's battery (four 20-pounder Parrott
guns), which he then intended to place there in the morning. With a
detail of 200 men from the One hundred and twenty-seventh Illinois,
under the superintendence of Lieutenant Colonel Malmborg, Fifty-fifth
Illinois, this work was constructed. My entire division was under arms
and on duty all that night, which they thought no hardship when they
saw their corps general himself in their midst and front, despising his
own ease and denying himself rest.
General Morgan's troops having come up to the position assigned to
them in general orders and relieved my division, we were ordered about
daylight to move to the right to give, place for them, and were led by
General Sherman in person to the large open field, where the enemy
had their cavalry barracks, immediately in front of their intrenchments
Quickly observing the position the general ordered me to advance one
brigade and deploy it in line of battle across the field. The First Bri-
gade was promptly deployed into line, with Company A, Chicago bat
tery (Captain Wood), on its left, and Company B (.Captain Barrett) on
the right. The Second Brigade was held at hand (out of sight of the
enemy) on our left. Lieutenant Hart's battery of 20-pounder Parrott
guns was placed in the woods on our left, and vistas opened through
the woods, affording it an oblique fire (oblique to our line of advance).
The work constructed by General Sherman's order on Saturday night
was occupied by Blount's battery of 10-pounder Parrotts (in General A.
J. Smith's division).
At about 1 p. m. January 11 the line was ordered to advance and
assault the enemy's intrenchments. We were to advance at the expira
tion of three minutes after the fire from the batteries had ceased. Be-
fore the firing had ceased we discovered a brigade or regiment, forming
on the left of General Steele's division, commencing their march. They
moved at the double-quick; seeing which I appealed to General Sher-
man, who stood immediately by our lines, for orders. He commanded
the advance at once, and the First Brigade instantly moved forward at
the double-quick, followed immediately by the Second Brigade at a (udis-
tance of 150 yards. When the First Brigade arrived in close range of
the rifle-pits it was opened on by a heavy fire from the right and left
as well as the front of the intrenchments and by two batteries, ohe on772
[CHAu. XXIX.
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United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 17, In Two Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1886; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154626/m1/783/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.