The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-02-25

candidate for the chief magistracy. One
of these stories is illustrative of the many.
Capt p. s. Carson, of Southport. who COM
manded Company q In the Seventieth In
diana General Harrison's regimentl In the
battle OF Resaca related an of incident ,S ed Oh
solicitude of the General for those OF his
command. The battle had closed, leaving
Company G In possession OF captured
battery, taken In the charge which tho
Seventieth led, and the report bad gone
back to headquarters that of the five killed
in the company Captain Carson was one.
and of the twenty-five wounded that Dan
Ransdell and NJ. q. McLain were among the
number. These men were personal lrlends
of the General. and he was greatly moved
when the sad news came to HIM. Later III
the evening he learned that Carson was
unhurt, and he sent for him 20 come TO
headquarters. II went" said The Captain
i'm relating the incident, land was met by
General Harrison, who, with tears In his
eyes, shook my hand, congratulated me on
nv escape, and tenderly inquired after the
individual men in my company who had
been wounded. In every way possible he
of my soldiers, and have always regarded
him as a very sympathetic man. AS COM
mander he was q strict dlsclplInarl an. but
he was always just; and this trait OF char
acter. together with his undaunted courage,
made him great favorite with all under
him."
The account Gen. Lew Wallace gives of
General Harrison's famous charge upon the
confederate batteries at Resaca shows In
graphic description his courage and skill
as a commander. 1t is as follows: TO
General Ward, of the First Brigade, there
presently rode UP an officer with the order
to attack. The hill on the right OF the road
was pointed out to him as the one againsS
which he was to direct his column. With
ont loss of time the order was repeated TO
Colonel Harrison, who. approaching the
work before him, paused TO give some dl-
rections. Seeing the impoSsibillty OF max
ing way through the woods apd dense un-
dergrowth on horseback. he ordered a gen.
eraI dismount of field and staff officers, and
dismounted himself. He also made up his
mind that 1T would DC dlfncult, II not ao-
solutely impossible, to preserve his line.
Once fairly within the grove OF young pine
trees he would be unable to see from right
to left of his regiment; II the captains
could do better with their companies they
might congratulate themselves. The colors
were to be displayed TO the best advantage,
as center about which the men were To
mass themselves and by which they were
to govern their advance He said to the Of
fcer who brought him the order: i am not
familiar with the ground; you are. TO
with me and show me the battery; do not
want to charge flank on TO it, The two
then started to reconnoltre. Ihe report or
a gun saved them the trouble. Divinlng
the direction of the shell which passed
over his head. Harrison called out so as to
be heard by the line behind him: Come on,
boys and started down the hill
"The brigade, with a great shout, put
itself in MOTION, arms at rignt-snoulaeI-
shift and all the flags raised TO the utmost.
The crash of the five regiments throu gh the
underbrush. the rush and tear must be I'M
agined. Seeing SO large body OF men IN
the act of charging, the rebels on the oppo-
site crest opened upon 1t with great guns
and small Under the sharp. 'zip-zip' OF the
bullets, and the singing ping OF grape
shot, familiar to every veteran, officers ana
men took up the cry of forward As was
anticipated, the column rushing down the
declivity lost its alignments and intervals
and fused into a mass while crossing the
valley. When the ascent was made, the
entanglement of the several commands had
become inextricable. But In the supreme
disorder, they still bore on, unmlndful or
the cannon in the redOubt then confronting
them-on through the smoke and terrible
din. Men fell fast, and there was no time
to cSrry them TO the rear-scarcely tlme 10
avoid tralnpllng, the wounded 10 oeatn-
CoIOrs now and then went down; next mo-
ment they would reappear.. At length the
redoubt was reached. Without hating or
waveripg, the exultanta mass poured over
and into it, and then tho sSpture wasenect-
ed, the guns in possession; evfIy yg regimens
in the brigade was represented tfeGf, nor
may it be said with truth that the success
was attributable TO. any of the commands
exclusively.
Colonel Harrison was among the first to
cross the parapet. 1t has been said that he
was the very first. A hand-to-hand combat
ensued, the gunners defending themselves
with their hammers, and their assallants at
tacking with their dubbed muskets; offi-
GERS exchanged pistol shots. Itwas, in fact.
one of the rare instances of a genuine bayo-
net charge without shot fired, except by
the defenders of the redoubt. The artil-
lerymen stood at their posts TO the last;
those not killed were taken prisoner.
After that General Harrison was chris
tened by his soldiers Little Ben. the sobri-
auet by which they still know him."