The National tribune., 1883-06-14
The rifteenth Corps at Peach Tree Greek.
r NATIONAL TRIBUNE:

10 tne fdltOr NATIONAL tribune.
Comrade Joseph Engomar in his letter appear
ing in THE TRIBUNE of May 10th, very correctly,
think claims for the Twentieth Corps the chiefcredit
of having fought the battle of Peach Tree Creek,
July 20, 1864. In conclusion, he makes the same
mistake for which he was taking another comrade
TO task, in this, that he says 1t was General
Gearys division OF the Twentieth Corps that scaled
the rocky peaks of Lookout Mountain, fought the
battle in the Clouds &c. Now, then, while
Gearys division did take important part in that
engagement and did its whole duty nobiy, the
First division of the old Fifteenth Corps under
that gallant Dutch soldier Osterhaus bore its full
share in that battle as did also several brigades
is no room for controversy. General Howard.
in the Atlantic Monthly Tor August, 1876 de-
scribes that whole campaign in very well writ
ten paper, which is worthy of reproduction. He
says, in speaking of Hooker the day of the battle:
:" He had now of his own troops Geary's division
and osterhaus division" adding, in paren;
theses, these belonged to the celebrated
Fifteenth Corps that were good anyspherc to fight
battle, clean out village, or forage literally on
Eleventh Corps officer from the Eastern army, can
hardly be supposed to have been partial to our
corps, though he was ever just and that is all that
we or any one should ask. He also puts with
Hooker on that day Whittakcr's and Crosses bril-
gades of the Fourth Corps, under Cruft, and these
troops, like our division of the Fifteenth Corps,
must share with Geary whatever glory belongs to
the Lookout Mountain affair, though We never
considered the fighting of that day at all severe
compared to what We had done at Donelson, Shi-
lob, and Vicksburg, or afterwards did in the
Atlanta campaign.
General HooISer's report, as it appears In Part l.
Conduct of the War" p. l65, states that he had
the divisions above mentioned, one from the Fiji
teenth, one from the Fourth. one from the TWEEN
tieth under Osterhaus. Cruft and Geary, i'll the
order given. In his description of the operations
OF that and the next day an impartial reader could
not discover that Geary was any more actively or
effectively engaged than Crutt or 0sterhaus. In
speaking of tile 1wenty-fifth he says: Whenever
the accidents of the ground enabled the rebels to
make a stand, Geary and Osterhaus, always in the
right place, would pour whitening fire into their
ranks, and again the race was renewed In regard
to the prisoners, he adds F." Osterhaus alone cap
tured two thousand of them"
General Hooker pays the very highest compli-
ment to what he calls his = new command when
he says in the report quoted from: The greatest
difficulty I experienced with my new command
which caused me the most solcitude, was the dis
position to attack regardless of circumstances and
almost OF consequences. 1t has never been my
fortune 10 serve with more jealous or more de-
voted troops" The writer was one of the boy SOL
diers of one of the regiments (Scventy-sixth Ohio
of the First Brigade First Division of the Fifteenth
Corps, and was wounded in the fight at Ringgold
on the 9th, where his brigade and the Thirteenth
Illinois, Fourth Iowa, Seventh Ohio, and several
other regiments suffered what seemed at the time
loss that could as we'll have been avoided.
1t was not my purpose in this to give an account
of that campaign any of its battles but simply TO
set my comrades right IN regard to the forces that
fought the battle above the clouds. II was not
much OF battle at best 1t was bold and brilliant
rather than obstinate. The Cumberland Army boys
can speak for themselves but venture the opinion
that they did not call it such fighting they had
division thought it picnic compared with places
they had been in often before. 1t was romantic
affair." and viii live longer in story and song than
Others more bloody and terrific.
like to see soldier feel special pride in his
particular command, and can pardon him for think
ing his regiment brigade just little the best in
the service, but he ought to be just to others. /
share this feeling IN regard to the old Fifteenth
Corps, and am proud of its record and achieve
ents part of the Army of the Tennessee includ-
ing Fort Henry, Donelson, Corinth, Shiloh, and
ell the various battles that make up the siege and
fall of Vicksburg; Chattanooga, the Atlanta CAM
paign the battles of the I'D and 18th in particular
and Jonesboro the assault and capture of Fort
McAllister the immortal defense of Allatoona, tho
march to the and the final cam aign up through
the Carolinas. ending with the surrender of john
Ston.
We had but finished the long and arduous Vicks-
burg campaign, including the siege of jackson I'M
mediateiy following, when our corps sent TO
Memphis, marched over miserable reads and in
weather four hundred miles across the Chat
tanooga. getting into Lookout Valley in the night
TO help fight the Chattanooga battles beginning The
next day. Our division, with Hooker on the right
and the other divisions on the left WAS at Tunnel
HILL and Immediately thereafter was put on the
march to Knoxville over frozen ground, without
tents or adequate supplies. to relieve Burnside who
was besieged by Longstreet. 1t after this that
General Sherman said . L assert that there is no
better body of soldiers in America than the Fiji
teenth Corps" See his a. Memoirs" vol l. D. 3S3
Yours, fraternaily,
L. u. HUMPHREY
INDEPENDENCE KAN