Near Jonesboro, August
31, 1864.
We were afraid we would have no battle this month, but our
fears were disappointed in a very summary manner this p. m. Hardee, in command
of his own and Hood's old corps, attacked the Army of the Tennessee again, the
weight of the assault being on our corps. The second division, M. L. Smith's,
had the hardest of the fighting. The position our regiment held was unluckily
too strong. They did not dare attack us. But we had a splendid view of the
fight, both on our right and left.
Six Johnnie lines of battle debouched from the woods on our
left, and swept right across our front on open ground, within long musket
range, say 600 or 700 yards. This was 2:30 p. m. They were coming over to
attack the 16th Corps. A five-gun battery on the right of our regiment and two
guns on our left opened on them with spherical case, and threw some canister.
They had hardly fired two shots when a Rebel 10-pound Parrott opened on them in
front, and a Napoleon battery on our left flank. The Rebels shot admirably and
you may imagine our regiment was in a pretty warm position, though our works
and traverses made the danger but little.
In ten minutes from the time we first saw the Rebels they
struck the 16th Corps, and after a right heavy fight of near an hour they came
back flying. Our boys, though not near enough to do much effective shooting,
put in 40 or 50 rounds apiece, just to keep our hands in. About the same time
they struck Morgan L. they struck our first brigade and the left of our
brigade. Our division repulsed them easily and Morgan L. slaughtered them
awfully, but he had a hard fight. They charged up close to the left of our
regiment, but owing to the direction of our lines not where we could fight
them. Our brigade took one colonel, one major, three captains, one lieutenant and
30 men prisoners. The 2d division took several hundred. I can't guess what
their loss is, though it is not as heavy as on the 22d or 28th of July, for
they did not fight nearly as well. Besides losing a host of men in this
campaign, the Rebel Army has lost a large meaure of vim, which counts a
good deal in soldiering. Our loss in this fight is comparatively nothing. Say
30 men in our brigade; we have four or five scratched in our regiment, but only
one much hurt. A spent 12-pound solid shot rolled on him. Kilpatrick
started for the railroad south this morning. He has had a big fight with
Cleyburn's division, but don't know much about it. During our fight to-day
Schofield and Stanley, 23d and 4th, took the railroad and are destroying it.
Hood, with Polk's old corps, are above him and cut off from Hardee.
SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an
Illinois Soldier, p. 294-5
No comments:
Post a Comment