The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1862-07-31
COMM NECAYED.
CAMP NEAR STEVENSON, Ala. !
July 18th, 1852. {

f July 18th, 1882.
Mr.. EDITOR: On account of the deartl
e of war news from this department of tn
army, will give YOU the report of Go
f X. after the battle of Shiloh. The Com
paay was under command of lst Lieut.
/. L. j. Henderson. and after performing
forced march Of seventy five miles from
, Columbia. Tenn, arrived at Pittsburgh
Landing at 8 o'clock in the morning, I'll
of April. 1t was almost impossible tc
land from the steamboat on account of the
vast crowds Of Grants troops, who
under the panic of the day before, had re-
treated to the river bank seeking a place
of safety from the rebels. Co. X crowded
through them and formed in line of battle
on the brow of a hill little distance from
the river bank. After an hours rest, du-
ring which time the rebel artillery and
musketry were playing with fearful effect
upon the advance lines, the Company was
marched upon the The field il the thickest
of the fight, This was the first time that
the boys had an y 6sportunity of facing the
enemy. and not man shrunk from his
post, but appeared to be actuated with
greater vigor and energy, and manifested
Willingness for the fight worthy Of tried
veterans. Their position upon the field
was raked by the enemy's artillery and
infantry but they held it for about thirty
minutes, when they were ordered to charge
upon the rebels, during the course of the
charge their way was obstrxcted by a
marsh with from one to three feet of wa
ter, into which many OF the men had run
some distance before ii was discovered to
be impossible. Lieut.. Henderson,, with
some of the men. had penetrated into the
middle Of it under perfect storm Of mus
kerry from the rebels who were stationed
upon the opposite sife. but were obliged
to retnrn and the company then fled
around :he end of it and continued the
charge AT this point the men fell killed
or wounded on all sides. Sergeanis The.
Welch and Charles II. Ream, and Priyates
Charles Lehr, Phillip Kirkendall and Jes-
see Hathaway were wounded The charge
was continued with renewed energy and
the rebels commenced tho retreat which
they continued until fairly out of danger.
The company ihen returned 10 the land-
Ing. their courso nearly obstructed by the
mangled bodies of both sides. and the
smell of blood became so offensive tha,
many were attacked with severe vomiting
Their tents, blankets and camp equipage
having been left at Savannah. they were
compelled to bear the peltngs of a mos
pi'iless storm of rain without particle of
protection or food during the sh,. The
next morning they advanced FIVE miles on
the track Of the rebels, camped and re-
maned there without camp equipage for
five bays. During this time they were
engaged on picket guard and burying the
dead, the most revolving of all duties ever
imposed on men. To gather the scatter
ed remains Of half putrd bodies. limbs,
and appendages laying iu pools Of purify
inc blood is duty too shocking to admi.
of description Many of the men imagin-
ed they could smell the effluvia for two
mouths subsequently.
The duties of the company during the
remainder Of April was that of scouting.
skirmishing. and building roads and brid
ges on the line toward Corinth. It's oper.
atoms before Corin:h have been given ia
our Of my former letters and will not be
repeated.
The officers in command. in this part of
Alabama, have been SO busily engaged in
rumaging the country for cotton, and ship.
ping 1t off. that the subsistence necessary
for the increased number Of men concen-
tra:ed here. has been entirely overlooked,
and we are on short allowance in conse-
qence.
Company "K" has lost ten men By death
on account Of sickness; eleven discharged |
from service, one prisoner, and the balance
not with the Company. on furlough and
in hospitals, twenty three. leaving fifty one
men, about an average number with all the
companies, except one. in our Regiment. /
company oh" has disappeared, entirely
from the Regiment.
Yours truly.
j. NJ. CONFER. Capt CO. X.
Coercion i'm Illinois.