The National tribune., 1885-04-23
FIGHTING THEM OVER.
What Our Veterans Have to Say About
Their Old Campaigns.
PERRYVILLE.
The Part Gen. Posts Brigade Took in the Figh,

The Part Gen. Posts Brigade Took In the Fight
To THE EDITOR: In a late TRIBUNE is
published correspondence between Gen. Gil
bert and Gen. CarIin. In Gen. Gilberts letter
he refers to the fact that when imp0rtuned for
aid by Gen. McCOok, he finally sent 10 his aid
q brigade and battery. The reading of the
correspondence Tevives memories of the past
and il does not require much brushing OF the
memories of the surviving members of Gen.
Posts Brigade Temporarily commanded at
Perryyile 10y Col. Gooding. OF 22d Ind,) TO re-
member that they Were the troops hurried into
the fight ON that occasion.
That little brigade composed OF the seth, 74th,
and 18th Ill. and 22d Ind. and 5th Wis battery,
had been lying in reserve IN line of battle all
day listening to the sputter of musketry and
the roar of artillery, expecting every moment
% he called into action. Many were the COM
ments made by our boys on the situation, bat
tie remark made by Bully" Nelson / we'll
remember. The boys had listened intcntly to
tue noise of battle, and concluded all the troops
in the army except ourselves were engaged, and
the conflict had apparently come nearer TO Us,
thus indicating the falling back of our troops.
Nelson leaned against a gun wheel and said:
well, boys, there Is one consolation, and that
Is that the reGeis fight like the Devil IN the
early part Of the jght, but our boys come i'll
like quarter-horses ca the home-stretch."
The 5Jth Iii. aud 22d Ind. were veteran but
small regiments. When we struck the Ohio
River many OF the 22d Ind. took French leave
aud visited their friends across the river, and
had not returned when the battle occurred.
The 74th and 10Th Ill. were brand-new regi-
ments having but recently Joined US at Louis
vile. In fact they had never had a battalion
drill nor fired musket. Our 9Th Wis. battery
was also then considered a veteran company,
having been organized in August, 1861, heard
hostile guns at New Madrid, aided in the siege
OF CorInth, and marched from Jacinto, Miss,
TO MurfTeesbeT0, and from thence TO Louisville.
That horrible campaign under Buell. Will never
be forgotten by man nor beast, and will proba-
bly, never he written up as ii really occurred.
all who accompanied his column from Muir
freeSboTo, Tenn, to Perry vile via Louisville,
have much TO remember. Quite recently L
heard one OF our boys remark that the Generals
were apparently the only men who marched
into Louisville with wholeseats TO their trousers
and shoes on their feet Who will ever forget
our joyful reception in Louisville? But to re-
turn TO our story. Our gallant little brigade
stood il line in q Kentucky cornfeld awaiting
orders The roar of battle at the front was con-
tinuous. Late i'll the afternoon Gen. Gilbert and
staff stopped near our right, and an officer wear
ing snowy buckskin gauntlets waived his hand
at our brigade commander, who rode up to him
and received orders In few moments the
brigade was in column moving rapidly to the
front (except the 18th ILL.,, which was detached
tLat our brigade belonged 10 JEFF Z. DaviSs Di-
vision, (Gilbert's Corps then temporarily COM
manded by Gen. Mitchell, gallant and efficient
officer, and we were directed TO report on the
battlefield TO Gen. McCcok. 1t was not long
before We began TO meet streams of wounded
and stragglers and saw evidences of sanguinary
strife, and il seemed but a few moments eye We
were Gcployed into line on the battlefield Our
battery went into action front" on the brow
OF slight hill in the edge of a wood, and the
infantry was ordered to az vance il line of bat
tie. We appeared to have been placed by Gen.
hcCook personally, as he sat on his horse near
our left. The infantry moved forward with
shout and Gen. HcCook expressed great
satisfaction with their gallant department.
Owing TO the dense smoke and lateneSs of
the afternoon, it was at first hard 10 locate
the enemy, and / can now see cur Captain as
he sat on bis horse and, shading his eyes with
his hand, shouted, Where are they! Where
are they! D 'em, where arc they!" How
ever, at our immediate front was heavy bank
of smoke and continual fash Of fame, and
from it poured forth storm of lead and iron
hail. Our boys began firing rapidly as we'll
drilled artilierymen conld do, and the infantry
advanced and fred rapidly, but the result was
that in very short time our little brigade was
almost entirely annih;lated. The 10Th Ill. had
314 MEN SHOT DOWN
almost in their tracks, and the other regiments
appeared as one regiment. had my attention
called 70 one company reporting a Captain,
non-commlsSioned officer, and two enlisted men.
1t was quite evident that somebody had made
serious mistake ia showing in small brigade
Of three small regiments and battery, where
nothing less than a whole division should
have been launched against the enemy at that
point. While We all aim to be charitable we
reserve the right TO criticise errors. Somebody
was TO blame for the bad generalsbip at Perry
vile. ii McCo0k's ambition vaulted SO high as
to have induced him to fight Bragg whole army
with his corps and our brigade when it was not
necessary, he should have been called to account
for it. And if Gilbert was so dull that he could
rest almost in sight Of whole corps being
chawed up, as McCook was, and not order to
the rescue more than a small brigade of
his magnificent corps of veteran troops, he
should have been cashieTed. ] remember
that for several days after the engagements
We could hear of whole divisions, including
&c Thomas's that never fired a gun, al
tb 6gh in hearing and sight Of the battle,
a. field and general officers begging to be al
! we'd 10 go to the relief of the gallant patriots
VINO Were fighting superior numbers at the
front and dying like heroes by their colors. If
Buell. is not guilty, he has certainly suffered
greatly. But we shall always blame him.
Subsequent events seemed to establish the fact
that there were plenty of troops, but they were
not utilized. McCooks troops fought as only
AMERICAN VETERANS WILL FIGHT,
and the sight of the field on which the
battle ragged confirmed to the highest de-
gree their valor and fortitude 1t seemed
entirely uncalled for that McCook's troops
should fight Bragg's whole army and suffer such
losses, while a magnificent army lay within
supporting distance and not fire gun. We
did not admire Buell.. for the reason that
he marched the very life out of u.s. and besides
was apparently a heartless martinez, and when
he reached the enemy and neglected to i'm
prove the golden opportunity to strike deadly
blow, our dislike grew into feeling worse than
dislike. He did not appear to have the neces-
sary organization TO meet the crisis. The troops
which marched with Buell. from Chattanooga
and those which Joined him at Murfrecsboro
from Mississippi were in no condition to be
trifed with, and they apparently had sufficient
cause TO be exasperated. ] have conversed
with great many of our old brigade who par
ticipated in the battle of Perryville, and be-
Geve the following extract from letter written
by me lin response to an invitation to attend)
TO the Executive Committee of the 74th ILL., Re
union, September, 1884, expresses their senti-
ments:
Il well remember when the 74th and 18th
Ill Joined us at Louisville, and how pited
the poor fellows during the rapid march from
fhQ1ee 20 xyuil nur hat,o