GENERAL ORDERS No. 112.
HDQRS. 4TH DIV., DIST. OF WEST TENN.,
Bolivar, Tenn.,
October 8, 1862.
Officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division! Comrades in
battle! Partakers of the weary march and the long watches, by your discipline
and courage the victory has been won; and the title of the “Fighting Fourth,”
earned at Shiloh, has been burnished with additional splendor on the Hatchie.
We were ordered on a forlorn hope to the aid of our
beleaguered brothers in arms at Corinth. The march was arduous, the undertaking
desperate. My orders were to reach Rosecrans at all hazards and relieve him or
perish.
By the blessing of the God of our Fathers and our Country
the forces which assailed that indomitable garrison at Corinth were scattered
and broken by their invincible courage before our turn came; but there was yet
work for the "old Fourth." The heavy mass of the enemy were
retreating by the State Line road, when, after crossing the Muddy, we met them.
Each arm of this division, gallantly co-operating with the other—cavalry,
infantry, and artillery—over a rough and dangerous country, overhill and
through ravines, forest, thicket, and a desperate enemy, made no breach in the
serried advance of this command. Aided by your brave comrades of the
Sixty-eighth Ohio and Twelfth Michigan, from General Ross' command, field after
field was swept, position after position seized and occupied, until the
crowning struggle of the day came on for the occupation of the high grounds
east of the Hatchie. The bridge across
that stream was carried at a charging step, the work of the artillery was done,
that of the infantry commenced in deadly earnest.
Major-General Ord, a stranger to you, but to whom the
division by its well-won reputation was no stranger, and who had hitherto led
the advance, was struck at the bridge and disabled. The command then devolved
upon your old commander. By misapprehension of the nature of the country across
the Hatchie a large portion of the division had been massed in impracticable
ground on the right of the road and exposed to a terrific fire of canister at
short range. That you bore it without the possibility of active return speaks
well for your discipline. Knowing the ground, I immediately determined to throw
out the main force to the left, crown the hill-side, and flank the enemy, and
it is among the proudest moments of my life when I remember how promptly the
several regiments disengaged themselves from their temporary confusion and
extended to the left, and with what a will they bent themselves to conquer the
hill. In twenty minutes all was over, the crest was gained and held, the
artillery rapidly in place, and the field of Matamora was won. The broken
fragments of the Confederate Army recoiled before your solid advance; their
main line of retreat was cut off and their troops forced over the broken ground
east of the Hatchie. Our duty was accomplished. Our wounded, the bloody
witnesses to the desperation of the fight, were to be cared for. Already the
victorious column of Rosecrans was thundering on their rear. It was my duty to
bring in the forces that remained to me.
You have returned to camp; no colors lost, not a man nor a
gun missing. It is a triumph, and you, and I for you, have a right to be proud.
With you in this achievement were associated the
Sixty-eighth Ohio and Twelfth Michigan Regiments. They were worthy to be with
you, and their conduct receives the praise of their commanding officer.
And now the necessities of the service remove me from the
immediate command of the Fourth Division. A promotion won by your courage and
discipline removes me to a larger command. I wish you to understand from these
my parting orders that I know full well that no regiment in my old division
desired to be under my command when we met at Donelson. The reason why I know
well, but care not to tell now.
Your respect I conquered at Shiloh, your regard I hope to
have acquired since. Give to the officers who may succeed me the same prompt
obedience, the same steady devotion to duty, and you will make me, wherever I
am, proud of the high reputation of the Fourth Division.
Remember, every man and officer, that I here again publicly
acknowledge that whatever I may have of military reputation has been won by
you, and that I wear it only as coming from you, and that any misconduct or
want of discipline on your part will grieve your old commander. Remember that I
place my honor as well as your own in your hands, and that if I find a
difficult place that must be held I shall call for the Fourth. I have no fears
how you will answer.
Our dead—our glorious dead! The joy of victory is dimmed
when we think of them. But they have died as they would wish—died in defense of
the Union and the laws; died bravely on the red field of battle with their
unconquered banner over them. Their comrades will avenge them. And when at last
our victorious flag shall float over the national domain reconquered and
united, and the weary soldier shall forget his toil in the endearments of home,
around your firesides and among your children and your neighbors you shall
recite as part of your glorious history how you swept the rebel hosts with
every advantage of position across the Hatchie and crowned the opposing hill
with a wall of fire and of steel that repelled the chosen troops of Van Dorn
and Price.
Infantry, artillery, and cavalry of the Fourth Division, and
your well-deserving companions of the Sixty-eighth Ohio and Twelfth Michigan,
you have done your duty, each in his place and each at the right time. You have
satisfied your general, and the country in due time shall know what is due to
each of you. I bid you for a while farewell.
Officers and men, continue to deserve your lofty reputation,
and then as heretofore you will receive the approbation of your general and
strengthen his hands in the performance of his duties.
S. A. HURLBUT,
Major-General.
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