New Madrid, “by Jingo,”
March 14, 1863.
Night before last we received four heavy guns front Cairo
and two or three of these infantry regiments planted them during the night
within a half mile of the enemy's main fort and within three-fourths of a mile
where their gunboats lay. The seceshers discovered it at daylight and then the
fun commenced. Their gunboats and forts about 30 or 40 pieces in all, put in
their best licks all day. We had two. regiments lying right in front of our
guns to support them against a sortie, and several other regiments behind ready
for a field fight The enemy kept in their works though and it was altogether an
artillery fight. Our regiment was in the saddle all the a. m. but in the p. m.
we lay; around our quarters as usual with not a particle more of excitement
perceptible than the quietest day in Cairo showed. In tint: evening the colonel
and Major Case and myself went out in the country for our regular little mush,
and milk, but that hasn't anything to do with the story. The firing ceased
about an hour after sunset and we turned in for the night with all quiet in
camp. About 2 o'clock this morning three Rebel regiments made a little sortie
with, the intention of doing- some devilment, but they ran against a field
battery of ours that sent them back kiting. This morning the fort and town were
found to be evacuated. I rode down, through what is left of the town, for the
Rebels burned! many houses to give their guns a better chance at the
approaches, and cut down nearly all of the shade trees. There was not an
inhabitant left in town, they all moved out before we came here and every door
was open. The Rebels I think plundered the town after the citizens left; anyway
our boys grumbled a good deal about the people's leaving nothing in their
houses. They went away very badly scared and in an awful hurry, for there were
tables with wine on, and cards and beds that had been used last night and
blankets, and they left all their heavy artillery. They must have had all of
their light artillery with the horses hitched to it and harnessed, and a lot of
horses saddled and tied, for the halters cut with the ties left on the posts,
showed that they were in too much of a hurry to untie. They also left all their
tents, some 500, standing, most all of them as good as the best of ours, and
barracks for several regiments, quarters in all for probably 10,000 men, the
generals say, but I don't think they will hold so many. I think we got 40 guns,
24's and larger, besides some field pieces. We also get a big lot of amunition,
lots of mules and wagons, and the boys are now fishing out of the river whole
boxes of quartermaster's goods — clothing, blankets, etc., that the secesh
rolled in as they ran. The general is better satisfied than if he had taken
them prisoners. Coming back from the town and fort I rode over the ground where
the balls lit thickest yesterday. They had scratched things around considerably
— barked trees, knocked fences, busted a house or two, plowed ground like
everything, and by the way, knocked six of our men for keeps, and wounded
horribly about 15 more. That was all that was done yesterday. 'Tis astonishing
that no more of our men were killed but you must recollect that these
infantrymen that were supporting our batteries lay in trenches and were all
killed while well covered, comparatively. One ball struck square in the trench
and relieved one man of two legs and another man of one. I saw one man who had
been struck by a falling 25-pound solid shot in the centre of his breast and went
down and out at the small of his back. That was a pretty hard sight. While they
were firing the hottest our boys would jump on their little dirt piles in front
of the rifle pits and trenches and swing their hats and cheer and drop back
into their ditches very rapidly. A shell 18 pounds fell about 20 feet in front
of the ditches, and a boy of 12 or 14 years jumped out and grabbed it up while
the fuse was still burning. A soldier saw it and hollered at him to drop it and
scoot, but he hadn't time to get away, so he dropped it and threw himself flat
with his feet toward it and almost then it burst, but harmlessly. Well, we've
got Madrid and enough to pay us for our trouble. I think that our loss will be
covered by 20 killed and 35 or 40 wounded in the whole two weeks. That's a
large estimate. What the next move will be have no idea, but some say that
we'll cross the river and operate with Grant in a southerly direction of
course. I'd rather be in this down-the-river movement than any other part of
the army. Have thought so ever since I joined the army. This cavalry business
is bully. We have all the running around and fun and little skirmishing without
much of the heavy work and tall fighting. The loss of the enemy we don't know
but there are about 40 fresh graves at the fort and we found several dead
bodies there this morning. Also found a half dozen men that were left by some
means.
SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an
Illinois Soldier, p. 67-9
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