St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-03-03
Missionary Ridge.
A VIVID ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE EY ONE
WHO WAS THERE.

VIVID ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE EY ONE
WHO WAS THERE.
To Col. Il. l.. Kimberly we owe Il
very g.. .ited narrative of the affair in
the New York Times. The writer com
manded on that occasion the 4ISt and
9}d Ohio regiments in Gen. Hazen's
brigade of Gen. Il. }. Woods division
and his command captured the 2Sth
Alabama and its works on Orchard
Knob, where Grant made bis head
quarters during the battle. We quote
as follows:
Our troops lay quietly along the
Orchard Knob ridge till the middle of
the afternoon. For two or three hours
before that time we saw Bragg'S intan
try hurrNlng along the crest of Mission
AIRY ridge toward Sherman's right. Ii
WAS evident enough that Bragg WAS
trusting III his apparently impregnable
position on the ridge in our front. and
sending large bodies of troops To pro-
tect his more vulnerable flank. where
Sherman waS vigorously pressing him.
Long before the army of the Cumbcr-
land was ordered to move. the necessity
of making some diversion in Sherman :
favor WAS discussed among the general
officers congregatcd about Grants head
quarters. The common understanding
was that SheI man was expected to turn
! the ridge on the cncmv'S right but we
could see that hy the middle of the day
/ his progress had ceased. while the hur-
| rying of Bragg'S troops along the ridge.
| in our front gave rise to Il fear that Sher-
man would Ice overwhelmed. Every
/ body. therefore. was prepared for the
order to advance and take the rifle
| pits at the foot of the ridge. That WAS
| the order exactly a> it was communicat
! ed L" division and brigade commanders.
who We're Instructed to move at the
/ signal of three guns from the battery
on Orchard Knob. II was to bc an au-
daciouS menace of the cncnN> centre.
to compel him to recall the troops h,
WAS sending against Sherman, or al
least To stop the >cndiu" Of more, troops
in that direction. The six guns from
the Orchard Knob battery helchcd forth
the signal. and the army of the Cumber-
| land Spraug to its feet and moved for-
/ ward out of the cover of trees and un-
dcIhruSh on the Orchard Knob position
and into the level. open plain thai
stretched away to the foot of Missionary
ridge. II mile nr more distant. AS th,
several lines broke from the cover into
the plain. Bragg> artillery on the ridg,
Salutrd them with Il tremendous thun-
den and Il storm of Screrching shells
Ii WaS Il magnificent spectacle. Away
/" the right and the left. the long
steady lines dwimdlrd in the view unit
Iuru and even regiments lost their IN
diNidualitN. and the firm ranks hccimc
upon the dead brown level of th;. plain
mere stripes of blue. fringcd with tn,
Tlittcriug haNonet>. and marked ut de
crea>iug intervals 10y the bright >carlc
of the rc"imcntal color>. Upon tn,
trovning ridge IN front of them. Bragg
mas~cd artillery bclchrd forth inccS>;tn
fire and over their heads the III" wa
full at the vanishing white putl> q
smoke from hrIStin" shells. The oh
irrtivc point the Iitlc-pitS at the foo
ot the ridge silent :l> death till th,
attacking army had crossed Il third q
the plain. and then its few defender
Jumped from their cover and Scimpcrc,
nimhIy mp the narrow. tortuou> path
;; to the top of the ridge. without Il shot
i ! On went the appalling menace to Bragg
centre the centre which. at the top q
'hHf ltt'l 'fl Sittb sill'l lueStb mn
l strcwm with logs and brush. and en-
: here ar.l there 10y water washed gullie>
i la\ hrhind earth works which il SCENE,
: no foe could ever reach. The rltlr-pil
were gained an almost hlo"dleSS Vie
tory. thus far. for the tremendous mtil
lcfv fire had been too high Throughout
Now came the crisis in the grand WA
=. drama. The ritle-pitS were nothin
II more than Il zig-Iag line of logs laid l!k
ii 4 worm fence. 1t WAS two logs in hight
II or barely two feet. Our men thrcN
themselves fiat on their faces undc
II this line of detcnScs, for no sooner ha
II they reached it than the artillery lii
II from the ridge WAS changed TO caniste
and shrapncl. and the infantry raine
+ down Il shower of balls. Mounte
/. officers were compelled to Instant
e abandon then horses and join the me
# in hugging the ground behind the log.
Is But even there. there was little shelter
The artillery and infantry on the ridg
{ turned their fire obliquely down its fac,
Il and thus looked behind and entiladet
more or less completely from one sid
or the Other, every pant of the zig "a
line of logs. The storm of shells an
1t Enfield bullets from the ridge was tel
rifle, and even the stone chmneys
the huts that the builders of the Ia
1t deteasc had occupied were sent whir
It ing about the ears of the proStrate IA
. Sallants. The din WIS tOrturing eve
ii to men accustomed to battle. and I'll
II flying missiles came so thickly that II
bt one could raise his head. The Vetera
el troops "f the army of the .Cumberlan
waited for no order to pet thpmSelN ',