The National tribune., 1896-07-02
PORT GIBSON.
Lively Moments the Sth Ind. Experienced
There.

Lively Moments the sth Ind. Experienced
There.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: On the
afternoon of April 80, 1868, Gen. William
?. Benton's Brigade THE First), composed OF
the SD ILL.,, 99th ILL.,, stl and 18th Ind, and
LIST Ind. i. A., Carr's Division (Fourteenth)
Thirteenth Corps, landed at Bruinsburg
Miss.
We fell into ranks and marched towards
the Chickaslw range of hills, which was
about one mile away. The Orderly de-
tached three men and myself, and told me
| to report with them to a certain Quarter
master on the river bank. The Quarter
master ordered me to place guard on the
stores that had just been unloaded from a
steamer.
Every moment now we expected to hear
the roar of battle. Troops of the Thirteenth
Corps continued to arrive and disappear over
the Chckasaw Hills. After being on guard
| two hours or so, / inquired of cavalryman
who had been over the hills if the troops
were going into camp on the range. He in
formed me that they were marching right on.
/ wish 10 state incidentally that Gen.
Grant in his memoirs says that the troops
drew two days rations Mt Bruinsburg L
Sah cay 'NbtoH viz hOe
j informed the guards that did not pro-
pose to guard grub for anybody but my own
command, and if they wished TO go with
me to our regiment well and good, or if
they preferred to remain and guard the
supplies all right. One of the guards con-
sented to 20 with me, leaving the Quarter
master but two 10 do duty. / learned after
wards that the Quartermaster complimented
me in language not recorded in the Holy
Scriptures.
Smith, the guard, and I got our guns,
blankets, drew n good quantity of crackers
and 10-pound piece of picked pork from
that dear Quartermaster, threw the bundles
over our shoulders, and we were off for the
regiment like n flash. Alto o'clock that night
we came to the regiment. They had stopped
to make coffee and have supper. We arrived
just as they had finished supper, but as
luck wOuld have it / got the last pint of
coffee in The pot. The column moved before
/ could eat my supper; that coffee was very
hot but got on the outside of it in hurry.
At | o'clock a. No., May /, our skirmishers
drove in the eneny's pickets. We advanced
and the enemy opened up on us with artil-
lery. We replied with artillery. The enemy,
1t seemed to me, was delivering their shells,
at the tops of trees, and the jingling sounded
like throwing bottles against brick wall.
We moved for a position by the fash of
the enemy's guns, as the ground was very
broken. The artillery duel lasted three
quarters Of an hour, and then all was quiet
until daylight. When the vapor had risen
two or three feet from the ground, by lying
down we could see the Johnnies' legs as they
went from battery to n house on the right
of the battery, and we commenced to fire at
those legs from behind rail fence.
That was the opening of the battle of Port
Gibson. In short time Benton's Brigade
moved TO the right to let Gen. McGinnis's
Brigade, Of Hovey's Division, into the line-of-
battle.
Then executed q left wheel to get on
the enemy's flank. We passed through dense
canebrakes. We had to go sideways and
tramp and bend the cane the best we could.
We climbed HILL halted, and sent our col
ors back down into the canebrake to our
support-the 99sh Ill.-for fear that they
would fire on us by mistake. We advanced
to the top of second hill. Still no enemy in
sight We were ordered to deliver left
oblieue fire. 1t seemed odd to me- as no
enemy was in sight. We were shooting at
the battery near the Magnolia Church by
guess.
A moment after we fired Cen McGinnis's
Brigade made n charge, captured those two
pieces of artillery in the road, in front of the
church, and broke the enemy's line. of-battle
We advanced, and at noon we lay in the cut
of road sleeping and waiting for orders
Gen. McGinnis sent for reinforcements to
Gen. Benton, who remarked, Take the old
Sth."
We marched in rear of the artillery line.
We halted opposite ravine and ray down.
We were ordered into that ravine to rein
force the gallant Goth Wis. The ravine was
so narrow that we had to step on the 29th's
dead to get into position. We were there
hardly long enough to load our muskets
when Lieut.-Col. Charles Parish took our
colors and cried, "Come on, boysi"
The left wing of the 9th swung around
and we delivered raking fire as the regi-
ment was in the shape Of q horseshoe. We |
drove the enemy from that position, and
while we were on the hill we charged. The
enemy received renforcemeBts, and as they
came marching on the field waving their |
hats / could not but admire their gallantry;
but as the sun was sinking in the west we |
had the CoDfederates beaten and ON the re-
treat.
On May %, the day the brigade charged |
the fort south of the Jackson & Vicksburg |
Railroad, the Jolnnes used shells for field |
batteries, with short fuses, throwing them |
over the works Our boys often hurled them
back with good effect.-HENRY MILLER, |
Corporal, Co. ID, Sth Ind, Rochester, Ind.