FORT HENRYCHAPTER I.
“Say, Will, did you see that one as it crossed the line just now?”
“No, Jim; how can a feller see anything this dark night?”
“Well, he ran right by me, and I think he was as big as our dog, Rover, at home. Isn’t it a beastly shame that orders are so strict about shooting while on guard? I’d like to have shot that fellow for sure.”
“Never mind, Jim; you’ll have enough of shooting before this war is over, I’m thinking, for I feel it in my bones that Gen. Grant is getting ready to start something in the way of fighting, for I’ve seen him two or three times, and he looks to me as though he was a fighter.”
“Well, old scout, anything but this kind of soldiering.”
The conversation was between two youngsoldier boys of Company A, 45th Illinois Volunteers, while on guard duty around camp in the month of January, 1862, at Cairo, Illinois, on one of the darkest and rainiest nights they ever saw. The “It” was a calf that in crossing the path had startled Jim so much he was tempted to shoot it. As the two neighbor boys, just from the farm in Northern Illinois, trudged back and forth on their posts through the deepest and blackest mud they had ever seen, they stopped at the end of their “beat” as they met, and talked for a few moments of home and the loved ones left behind; of camp and its arduous duties, of drilling and guard duty, and then of what would be the next move. The American Volunteers always kept up a “think” or two in their heads as to what would and should be done in fighting the battles for the Union.
“Will, I hope we won’t have to stay here long.”
“You bet we won’t” responds Will. “Granthas got something up his sleeve and we’ll be moving before long, take my word for it.”
Will was right. In a few days a large number of steamboats gathered at the wharf, and were being loaded with ammunition, commissary stores and all the needed accessories of an army, and then the day came to break camp and the boys marched on the boats, wondering which way the boats would head out in the river.
On February 4th, 1862, the boats are loaded to the guards and the order is given, and with Gen. Grant leading the way, the boats steam out into the Ohio and start upstream.
Will and Jim were packed on the upper deck of the steamer “City of Memphis” like a box of sardines with their comrades. While the day lasted the boys feasted their eyes on the scenery from either side and enjoyed the first steamboat ride of their lives.
At night they spread their blankets on the deck and laid down to dream of home, but beforegoing to sleep, they had a “talk-fest,” as they called it, Jim thinking they must be going to Cincinnati. But Will thought different, and said: “I don’t know where we’ll land, but I’ll bet a hard tack it will be down south somewhere among the secesh.”
The next morning when they awoke they found themselves, not on the Ohio, but on the Tennessee river headed down South. “What did I tell you last night, Jim, that we were going to land somewhere in Dixie.”
“Say, Will, are you in close touch with Grant that you know what he’s going to do?”
“No, but what’s a feller got a ‘bean’ on top of his body, if it isn’t to think a little and reason things out somewhat?”
During the day our boat tied up at a landing for the purpose of loading up with cord wood for fuel. Permission was given to the boys to go ashore and stretch their legs. There was a large warehouse there, stored with merchandise.The owner at once secured a guard to be placed over some barrels of whiskey. In every company there were men who liked strong drinks, and in prowling around they spied these barrels of whiskey, and ways and means were at once started to get some of the fiery stuff. One of the soldiers was directed to go near one of the barrels and while talking with the guard to let his gun drop on the floor, the man underneath would note where the gun struck the floor by the dust loosened up, and the man who had let his gun drop came down and directed just where the end of the barrel of whiskey would be. An auger was procured and a hole was bored through the floor into the barrel of whiskey. The boys stood ready with their canteens and caught the precious stuff (?) as it came down. Not long after quite a number of the soldiers were making merry and showing certain signs of being under the influence of liquor. The officers were puzzled as to how the men securedthe liquor and rushed to the guard, accusing him of his failure to properly guard his charge. He denied strenuously that he had permitted any one to touch the barrels. One of the officers leaned against one of the barrels and being empty it toppled over, and the cat was out of the bag. The guard was exonerated, but some of the soldiers who had taken too much of the stuff for their good were arrested and punished. The plotters, however, were not discovered. It is a strange fact that those who liked the fiery liquid, could smell out where it was located and use the most curious ways to obtain it.
On February 6, 1862, in the afternoon, we landed on the eastern bank of the river, and the soldiers were located in camps near by. This being our first camp in Dixie, it was called “Camp Halleck.” How it did rain that night and blow, leveling many of our tents.
Many of the boys made light of their mishaps.We pitched our tents near a farm house, and the planter, not knowing our reputation at home for honesty and uprightness, went to our Colonel and asked that a guard be placed around the farm house to protect him and his property. The Colonel granted the request, for at this stage of war, orders were very strict about foraging and taking anything from the planters. It fell to the writer’s lot to stand guard for two hours that night, during that fearful storm, over some pigs. How disgusted he was: the idea of enlisting to fight for “Old Glory” and save the Union, and the first thing he had to do was to guard a lot of dirty pigs that were not half as good as those in his father’s farm yard, but “orders is orders,” as Jim said, and ’tis a soldier’s duty to obey. Strict orders were issued that no trespassing would be permitted and a soldier caught stealing would be severely punished. My two hours of guard duty over those pigs was up at last and I turned them overto another sentinel. During the night a great squawking was heard, and in the early morning the owner of the farm complained to our Colonel that the soldiers had stolen his geese. The Colonel ordered an officer to search each tent to find the stolen geese and the thieves. When the officer came to our tent, he commenced to turn over our blankets and knapsacks. There was one sleepy fellow lying down with his head on his knapsack for a pillow, apparently sound asleep; the officer touched him, but he slept on and one of the boys said: “Don’t wake that fellow up, he’s been on guard duty all night.”
“All right,” said the kind-hearted officer and passed out of the tent. How relieved we were when he had gone away, for that sleepy fellow had his head on his knapsack which held the goose. Of course we had goose for breakfast, and it tasted mighty good if it was a “Dixie” goose. Don’t ask me who stole it, forI’ll never tell, and my comrades will not tell.
The next morning we took up our line of march toward Fort Henry. The rain had fallen the night before, making the roads very muddy. Many times we had to stop, stack arms, throw off knapsacks and put our shoulders to the wheels of the artillery and help them out of the mud holes. We came to several streams not bridged, but we were enthusiastic in our seeking the enemy and spoiling for a fight. Taking no time to build temporary bridges, we plunged into the water waist deep and pushed ahead. This made me think of what I had read of our Revolutionary fathers “wading swollen streams and toiling through almost impassible barriers to fight for their liberty and rights.”
We hadn’t come to the fighting yet, but we hoped to do so soon; then we could class ourselves with our forefathers. Now, I smile over the thought I had then when a lad of 18 years, and though you may smile, the thought comesthat if we youngsters had not had the spirit of emulating the deeds of our forefathers, where would this grand nation be today?
In the distance the gunboats were hammering away at Fort Henry, and as the sound of the booming cannon came to our ears we wished we were there to attack from the land side. Commodore A. H. Foote, with five gunboats, had attacked the fort and the fight was a most thrilling picture; the whizzing of fragments of bursting shells; the deafening roar of the guns in the fort; the black sides of five gunboats belching fire at every port hole was something to be remembered a lifetime. The fire from the gunboats dismounted seven big guns and brought down the flagstaff, and, together with the bursting of a rifled gun in the fort, created a panic in the enemy’s ranks. A shot from the enemy passed through the boiler of the Essex and many were scalded. When the Union tars were told that the enemy had surrendered, asailor named Breas, who was badly wounded, sprang to his feet saying, “Surrender! I must see that with my own eyes before I die,” and then, climbing two short nights of stairs to the deck, he saw a white flag flying over Fort Henry, and shouted, “Glory to God!” sank exhausted on the deck and died that night.
We were tramping along in the mud when a messenger passed along the line announcing the capture of the fort by the gunboats. Some of us cheered, but others were silent and really felt sore at the sailors for their taking of the fort before we had a chance to help them. How foolish we were then. We had enough of fighting ere the war was over, and after the first battle we never begrudged other forces the honor of gaining a victory without our help. Most of the enemy had “skedaddled” to Fort Donelson. Commodore Foote took a small number of prisoners, together with Commander General Tighlman. It was after dark when we reachedthe outer earthworks, inside of which we camped. Here we spent our second night in Dixie, without any shelter save the blue sky above us. We built large fires and managed to keep fairly comfortable, although it was pretty cold. Will was up very early the next morning, and, having an intense desire to see the inside of the fort, took “French leave” and started in that direction. (A French leave is nothing more than a “pass” taken on your own responsibility.) He found that the fort was situated on a very low piece of land; indeed, it was a swamp, nearly all surrounded by water. The works were well constructed, but whoever selected this as a suitable site for a fort was, Will thought, either insane or knew nothing of modern warfare. Ignorant as Will was of military ways, he said he would not have picked on this place for a fort. Here Will had his first view of the dead and mangled upon the battle field. One of the largestof the cannon had burst while the cannonading was in progress and this carried destruction to all those around the gun, tearing them all to pieces. Will said afterwards: “I shall to my dying day carry that picture in my memory.” Now, for the first time, did Will realize the horrors of war. In his eagerness to secure relics he knocked off a large piece of the bursted cannon and with other relics he loaded himself down, but after carrying them for a while he threw them away, thinking it would be a long time ere he returned home, as it surely proved to be. After viewing the destruction on every hand until he was satisfied, Will returned to camp in time to escape being noticed by his officer.