No. 20.
Reports of Lieut. Col. Bedan B.
McDanald, One hundred and first Ohio Infantry, of operations December 15-30,
1864, and January 17-21, 1865.
SIR: I have the honor to make the following report of the operations of my command during the present campaign, commencing December 15. 1864:
During the night of December 14 orders were received to provide the necessary amount of ammunition and make other preparations for an active campaign. At the same tune orders were also received to move at 6 o'clock the following morning. I had previously taken the precaution to make all needful preparations, and was ready to move promptly at the time designated. The colonel commanding in person assigned to my regiment the right of the front line of his brigade, and at the same time gave general directions to be observed during the day, to be varied only as he should direct. I moved with the brigade across the Granny White pike, beyond the Acklen place, then west on the Hillsborough pike, and formed in line of battle in front of the works constructed by the Second Division, Fourth Army Corps, and to the right of the Hillsborough pike. In this position we remained during most of the forenoon, waiting for the formations on our extreme right to be completed. I think it was near 12 m. when the first general advance was ordered. As we moved forward I noticed that the Ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, General Grose's brigade, joined on my right, and the general guide was right. Our skirmishers succeeded in driving those of the enemy beyond the point at which our first line was to be established, and my regiment sustained no loss in reaching it. While in this position the enemy shelled us vigorously, but succeeded in doing but little damage. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon another advance was made to a road running parallel and within about 300 yards of the rebel works. The banks of this road formed an excellent protection to our men from the enemy's musketry, which at times was very severe. In the last advance we had crossed the Hillsborough pike and formed about 200 or 300 yards to its left. While in this position, and at about 4 p.m., an assault of the works was ordered, and executed in splendid style. My regiment moved forward promptly at the command, although encountered by a heavy fire of musketry. As far as my observation went no one faltered until the enemy's works were in our hands, and I claim for my regiment the honor of having planted the first colors on the rebel works at that point of the line. In the advance the right wing of my regiment struck an angle in the works in which was posted three pieces of artillery. Officers and men forced their way through the embrasures, capturing these guns. The artillery (three pieces) was turned over to the ordnance department and a memorandum receipt given by Lieutenant Croxton, ordnance officer First Division, Fourth Army Corps. Two officer's sabers were captured, and have been forwarded, with statement, through the adjutant-general's department. We also captured and sent to the rear about 100 prisoners, including several commissioned officers. The ground in and about the trenches was strewn with abandoned clothing, small-arms, intrenching tools, &c. At this time the utmost enthusiasm prevailed, and the command became somewhat scattered, and it was near night-fall before it could be reformed. The direction of march was here changed toward the Granny White pike. The ground was very uneven, and moving in line quite difficult as well as tiresome on the men. By direction of the colonel commanding I threw forward a company as skirmishers, and the advance was continued to a short distance beyond the Granny White pike, where a halt was ordered and position taken for the night.
Where all did so well it is difficult to discriminate in favor of any one, but I feel that my own thanks and those of the command are due to Sergt. Jesse H. Hall, Company I, who was temporarily carrying the regimental colors. I never witnessed more gallant conduct than he displayed during the entire day, always carrying the colors at the head of the command. On the 16th my regiment was changed from the right to the center of the brigade. Being in reserve we did not become engaged and suffered no loss. We moved to the Franklin pike and out to Brentwood Hills, and there bivouacked until daylight the following morning. I have participated with other portions of the army in pursuit of the enemy as far as Lexington, Ala.
A report of the casualties of my command has already been forwarded through the proper channels.
I have to thank both officers and men for gallant bearing during the two days of battle and victory at Nashville, and for the uncomplaining and patient manner in which they have endured the severities of the campaign.
Actg. Asst. Adjt. Gen., 1st Brig, 1st Div., 4th Army Corps.
SIR: I have the honor to report:
In compliance with orders received from headquarters on the evening of the 17th instant I furnished my regiment with three days' rations of hard bread and moved at 7 p.m. same day out the Big Cove road in pursuit of a party of bushwhackers that had captured one first lieutenant, four men, and one team of a forage party that had been sent out from my regiment on that day. On the morning of the 18th Lieutenant White, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, reported to me with one company of cavalry, twenty-five men, as also Captain Harris, Union scout and guide, with written instructions for me. I crossed Flint River by means of a raft constructed of logs and a small canoe, and scoured the country lying between Flint River and Paint Rock River from the Tennessee River as far north as Cedar Mountain, capturing four bushwhackers, with their horses, arms, and accouterments; also two citizens charged with harboring and feeding bushwhackers, named John Cobb and William P. Hornbuckle. The names of the prisoners captured with arms are Adams Cobb, Theophilus Cobb, George W. Hunt, and Harrison D. Herring. I am informed that all the above-named prisoners have taken the oath of allegiance to the United States Government, since which time they have engaged in bushwhacking. I burned some fifty tenements on my line of march that were occupied by bushwhackers and their supporters, leaving their families in a houseless, helpless condition, with orders to leave that country by going north or moving south of the Tennessee River. The community at large through the country between Flint and Paint Rock Rivers uphold and support these bands of guerrillas, by feeding them and communicating with them, informing them of any Federal force that is in the vicinity, in order that if they are closely pursued, they hide their arms, disband, and become good, loyal citizens at once, armed with an oath of allegiance, properly attested and approved by U.S. officers. Such being the case, with the addition of the mountains to flee to in order to conceal themselves in the rocks and caves, it is impossible to capture them without they are taken wholly by surprise. I returned to camp on the afternoon of the 21st, being absent four days.
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 45, Part 1 (Serial No. 93), pp. 192-5
