The National tribune., 1896-11-05


short distance in the rear of Carlin's Divis-
ion, and were hurried forward at the sound
of the firing, arriving in time to find con-
siderable part of the Fourteenth Corps scat
tered over large plantation, trying to find
place wherein to re0rganize.
This was, however, a campaign in which
no provision had been made for line OF
retreat, or base of supplies" and it was very
glad to have somebody to take the fight OF
its hands and find breathing spell in which
to get itself in shape again.
This affair is known in history as the
battle of Bentonville, and trust my friends
of the Fourteenth Corps will take no offense
if mention that our fellows called it The
Battle of Acorn Run"
We reached Goldsboro on the oath, and
March 81 regular rations were issued to our
| division for the first time since Jan. IL. 1t
| was not bloody campaign, yet one OF hard
work. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston is reported
to have said that, considering the physician
labor and military hardihood required, there
! had been no such army since the Romans
under Titus besieged Jerusalem. He had
claimed it an impossibility for any army to
march through those Carolina swamps at
that season of the year.
Some ex-Confederate politicians have ac-
cused us Of committing outrages, and'pos-
sibly we did. That depends, however, on
what you would call outrages. We helped
ourselves literally to everything we wanted
to eat or to use, wherever we found 1t, and
destroyed all property that the enemy could
make use of for military purposes. 1t re-
quired hard and active work to feed 10000
men and all their animals in a country that
produced little but tar and turpentine in
the first place; while the Confederate army
| always had the first chance at all forage or
| produce.
In no instance that know of were peace
able citizens personally molested, nor were
prisoners killed. The Confederates cannot
| truthiully say as much, for more than one
! forager was killed while a prisoner. In some
instances where citizen had hidden supplies
that were needed he was compelled to dis
close them, and if he burned bridge or
! obstructed the road his property paid the
penalty. Abandoned houses in South Caro-
lima were frequently set on fire by some one
who felt that he had special mission as an
avenger. l don't know that any of us
thought it conduct prejudicial to good
order and military discipline to let them
burn.
Nor can truthfully claim that Sherman's
army was q model temperance society, but
it was very temperate On this trip. l heard
the corps commander lamenting just after we
left Savannah that there were only two bar
rels of whisky provided for the whole corps,
and even prejudiced person will admit
this was very small supply against snake
bites for $1,000 men for period Of two
| months. AS a matter of fact not drop of
it came beyond Division Headquarters, if it
reached that far.
No story of the march is complete without
| few words concerning the great leader. and
Gen. Horace Porter has said them so much
| better than / could that quote from his
speech at the New England dinner:
HE was maDy-sided man. He possessed
all the characteristics of the successful sol
dier-bold in conception, vigorous in execu-
| ton, and unshrinking under grave RESPONSE
bilities. He was singularly self-reliant,
| demonstrating by all his acts that much
danger makes great hearts most resolute.'
He combined in his temperament the rest
lessness of a Hotspur with the patience of a
| Fabius Under the magnetism of his pres
ence his troops rushed to victory with all
the dash of Cesar's Tenth Legion. Opposing
ranks went down before the ferceness of his
onsets. never to rise again. He paused not
| till he saw the folds of his banners wave
above the stronghoids he had wrested from
/ the foe.
while mankind will always appreciate
the practical workings of the mind of the
great strategist, they will also see in his
marvellous career much which savors of ro-
nance as well as reality, appeals to the
imagination, and excites the fancy. They
will picture him as legendary knight NOV
ing at the head of conquering columns,
whose marches were measured not by single
miles, but by thousands; as a chieftain
whose field of military operations covered
nearly half continent; who had penetrated
everglades and bayous; the inspiration Of
whose commands forged weaklings into
giants; whose orders all spoke with the true
bluntness of the soldier; who fought from
valleys depth to mountain hight and
marched from inland rivers to the sea.
No one can rob him of his laurels; no
man can lessen the measure of his fame.
His friends will never cease to sing peons in
his honor, and even the wrath of his enemies
may be counted in his praise. capt.
JULIAN w. HINKLEY, Co. E, Sd Wis,
GAINESVILLE, Wis
|