The National tribune., 1892-07-07
AT FORT SANDERS.

AT FORT SANDERS.
The BugIer of Battery L and VI, Sd U. s.
Art, Says His Battery was the First TO
Open Fire.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In your issue
of June 9, the article by Comrade d. w.
! Edmiston, Aid on the staff of Gen. Burnside,
at Knoxville, Tenn, and headed Fort San
ders; who commanded ii, and what staff
officer knows about it," | am sorry to say,
does not do justice to the officers and men
! that manned and fought that fight. and ! am
compelled to say that Mr.. Edmiston's men,
DRY is bad while in the main his statement
regarding London and Huff's Ferry is good,
| the writer having been under fire at that
| point, and in the presence of Gen. Burnside,
who was that day delighted with the fire of a
section of our battery. l thought that day
| he did not push his men as usual in battle, but
| looked more to falling back to Knoxville. When
| Mr. Edmiston claims that Fort Sanders was
manned only By Bcnjamins battery and a
section each of Roemer's and Berkley's bat
! teries he is mistaken. Fort Sanders was
! built on the hill Gen. Sanders was killed On,
and Ben amins was the first battery to enter
it, as he was then Chief of Artillery of the
Ninth Corps; but on Nov %, 1863, Capt. John
| Edwards Battery L and NJ Sd u. S. Art, was
ordered into Fort Sanders, and their six guns
were the first guns on the left; next came
Benjamin's, then to the right of Benz amin,
| Berkeley, then a section of some other volunteer
battery. / am pretty certain about this, from
the fact that | was there, and Oh that particu-
lar morning was awakened before day by
shell burying itself close to me in the dirt,
knocking a flour barrel all TO pieces few yards
from my head Capt. Edwards called me to
him, and found the whole battery awake and
at their posts.
was BugIar and Orderly for Edwards, and
l. Il 7 .f-r oil
from him in battle, and often in the Army of
the Potomac after he became Chief OF Artillery
of the Ninth Corps, placed batteries in positi
at his order, and according to my own ideas,
which always pleased him. OF this used to
be proud, but | told nobody about it.
When walked up TO Capt. Edwards at Fort
Sanders on Nov. %, 1863, he said to me: Sound
no calls; go to every gun aud see If every man
is at his post, and report at once" did so, and
as reported we heard some men swearing in
our front, and Edwards commanded, Ready,
frei" and six guns Of Battery L and u, Sd U. S.
Art, belcbed forth double-shotted canister.
Benjamin's battery did the same, aud in less
than 10 minutes after the first fire Capt John
Edwards was the parapet with the men
throwing out one-second fuse shells over the
large ditch in front of our guns. / know this.
because | carried some to them and saw them
throw them; and seeing is believing.
l also know that after the assault there were
dead and dying men four and five on top of
each other in front OF our gIns in the ditch.
l know this to he SO, because after flag of truce
was granted LoDgstreet to bury his dead ]
helped to pull them out of the ditch and felt
bad when one poor reb would find his brother,
another his father dead or dying, and believe
! actually cried with them when such sind
was made. l went through 16 hard-fo fought
battles and two other sieges and many skir-
mishes, but never saw such execution as We
4 4 fLz~a tfns
minutes. Or the 5000 that stormed US over
half lay dead or wounded inside Of 10 minutes.
The other half the infantry brought III pris-
oners.
If remember, and I think / do, that day
every battery commander fought his battery,
and don't think Benjamin was more in COM
mand than Edwards, nor Edwards more than
Berkeley or Roemer. When the battle was over
each battery THAT is. Edwards's, Berkley's, and
Roemer's sectionsl went back TO their former
positions. Ours was in front Of Brownlow's
house, facing the railroad depot. But we
counted some that morning at Fort Sanders
and, IN fact, whenever any fighting was to- be
done Battery l. and N was always sent to the
front, and they always did their duty.
When the Army of the Ohio that Winter,
after the battle Of Strawberry Plains, was
resting, Edwards's battery was always moving
with either cavalry or infantry and fighting,
sometimes on one ear of corn day. 1t seems
10 me Capt. John Edwards was made Chief of
Artillery soon after the storming of Fort San
ders, and that Benjamin was relieved or ordered
somewhere eise Burnside always knew that
Capt Edwards was the most experienced artil-
lery officer he had but somehow Edwards in
| CURED Burnside's displeasure at Fredericks.
burg when he asked him about position for
battery and Capt Edwards laughed at him and
told him battery could not stay 10 minutes
there. To prove it Burnside put one at the
ftll
as prophesied by Capt. Edwards. it went up in
less than 10 minutes. Burnside never loved
Edwards any after that, and, TO spite Capt. Ed
wards, more than anything else. he made Lieut..
Benz amin Chief of Artillery in 1862, and, as
Mr. Edmiston states, he had no confidence in
him when it came to action. But Burnside
knew what battery to put in Fort Sanders if he
did not know who to get to relieve Benjamin.
Mr.. Edmlston states that Lieut.. Benjamin
reserved his fire from the fort until the storm
| ing column was in full range of his guns, and
| when he opened fire the effect was terrific.
| Yes, it was terrific but Lieut.. Benjamin did
not do anything Of the kind. Capt E. II. Poe,
Engineer-in- Chief, the night before the storm
| ing Of Fort Sanders, had telegraph wires put up
| 100 yards from our guns, about Is inches high,
| from stump To stump, SO that when the enemy
| came on in the dark they would stumble and
/ fall, and naturally they would curse and swear.
That was to be our signal to FIRE. We were
aHdie tHdU tHes were tnen just lUu yards from
our guns and they were trained TO 100 yards
and double shotted with canister. All this by
order of Capt i. NJ Poe, Chief Engineer of the
| Ninth Corps. | overheard this conversation
between him and Capt. John Edwards the night
/ of Nov. %, when ii was being done, and if il
had not been for the foresight Of Capt. Poe in
putting the wires up it would not have resulted
in as terrific slaughter it did. In fact,
always will believe they would have taken the
/ fort, although Go not believe they could have
held it. But all honor is due Capt. Poe. next
| TO all the artillerymen in the fort, not one but
who was at bis post Benjami aud all. but he
did no more than any other battery COM
mander, and Burnside thought so when shortly
after he relieved him of the command of Chief
of Artillery and made Capt. John Edwards
| Chief of Artillery of the Ninth Corps In 1864
Capt. Edwards was appointed Inspector Gen.
eral Of all troops around Washington.
Longstreet should not have any credit for
his charge Oh Fort Sanders. But his men,