The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-12
THEIR BAPTISM OF FIRE
FIGHTING REGIMENTS THAT BALkED
IN THE FIRST FIRE.
Courage of Fifty-Fifth Illinois After
a Temporary Scare-Drill Under
Fire of WiIIich's Germans.
New York Sun.

New York Sun.
Said a veteran of the civil war who was
one Of Kent's officers at Santiago: ut
proved unfortunate for the Seventy-frst
New York that the Spaniards didn't put up
a more lasting fight If that regiment had
had chance to charge the city defenses,
its experience at the San Juan crossing
would not have been heard of again Every
soldier knows that it is the usual thing for
raw regiment to make some sort of balk
OF Its first fight, / recall scores of cases
in the civil war. For this reason fresh reg
iments coming to the field were brigaded
with seasoned troops, and a commander al
ways handled the recruits with the utmost
care to give the right kind Of initiation.
THE first experiences of several noted
fighting regiments bear on this point. There
was the Fffty-ffth Illinois, which joined
Sherman at st. Louis in the fall Of 81 and
fought under him from Shiloh to Benton
vile. This regiment holds high place among
the 300 fighting regiments whose losses in
Killed and mortally wounded entitle them
to special classification. In its thirty-five
months of campaigning it piled up death
roll of 157, or about Is per cent. of the num-
Der borne on the regimentaI rolls. Proba-
bly, one out of every five who stood in it's
ranks in battle was killed. Yet in its very
first engagement this regiment skedaddled
In the face of the enemy.
THE baptism of fire of the Fifty-fifth was
at Shiloh. In that battle is was detached
from Sherman's division and sent off to the
extreme left of the front line to hold posi-
ton more than a mile from other friendly
troops: 1t so happened that the left of the
FEDERAL line was the very point the Confed-
outset.
This flank rested upon the Tennessee river
and from across that river help would come
to Grant ii 1t came at all. The Confederate
commander wished to fight it out with
Grant alone, and therefore aimed to force
the federal line back from the river and
seize the crossing before a junction could be
erected between the troops on the field and
the 10000 marching to their relief
The tIfty-hfth, 800 strong, lay on the left
upon 1t in it's advanced position. The battle
on PREMISES front was hardly under way
when the Confederates saw the Illinois
though to strike the charging column in the
flank. 1t fell to Chalmers's brigade to Crap
pie with the new enemy, and that command
moved up under the personal direction of
Albert Sydney Johnson to drive the Yankee
regiment into the Tennessee river. Chal-
merS opened the ball with shells, and the
F'ifty-ffth was ordered to change position
Being compelled to turn face from the
enemy the men forgot for the instant that
they were there to maneuver and fight,
and broke into q genuine sxedaddle. 1t was
q case Of fright pure and simple, and the
schedaddle was not to the rear out Of
harms way, but off to the right across
ravine about 100 rods from the starting
point.
reached the other side of the raVine some
Confederate cavalry rode into view, and the
regiment formed q square, as taught on the
drill ground to resist cavalry. This ma
neuver steadied all hands, and when Chal-
mers's onslaught began the Illinois boys re-
ceiVed it with the utmost GOODNESS, holding
their JOl0OiQs
forty yards. The effect of the fire was aw-
full. Chalmerss command was used UP,
and, although 1t lost heavily, it maintained
the ground until Premises line had been
smashed on its right. Then. being ordered
to retire, the command moved back until
the order countermanded Facing
about. the men coolly marched to their old
position and opened fire upon the advanc-
ing Confederates. The fear which had led
to a skedaddle a short time before had
given place TO fighting vim. More than
once that day and the next the bad break
redeemed.
THE THIRTY-SECOND INDIANA.
Another instance at Shiloh was that Of
the noted German regiment, Wilhch's Thir-
ty-second Indiana, in the desperate struggle
around the church on the second day of the
battle In order to meet a flank attack OF
the enemy Which led out his Germans to-
clear the front of tho line OF battle, one
of the most daring exploits in warfare. He
formed his men in double column with Skin
mishers and plunged into the grove where
the Confederates were concealed near the
church. In advancing his regiment would at
times disappear for moments In the irregu-
lar wood between the lines, then emerge,
marching with bold front upon the enemys
stronghold. Gradually the ranks grew thin
and finally remnants came back seeking
cover in disorder. Not cowardice, however
drove them back. They had marched into
the wood in which the enemy was massed
ceived calling fire upon both TANKS
well as from the rear. The oldest troops
cannot stand fire from the rear and the
Germans retreated.
"Wllch soon rallied his men. reformed
the column and plunged once more into the
fatal wood. A slight reaction and wavering
again unsettled the men as they trod the
same ground. where the battle meanwhile
had developed its fiercest energy and a fire
swept the field q tornado. In the midst
of 1t all Colonel Which stopped the firing
of his men, and, holding them at attention
as coolly as when on the parade ground,
drilled them in the manual Of arms until
point their rifles with the accuracy of the
hunter After that they marched shoulder
to shoulder with the victorious line which
cleared the field and won the day for Grant.
Some soldiers think that the best fight
ers in the long run are the very ones who,
at the outset--not alone the first time, but
alWays-blanch just a little to show they
know what is before them and then brace
for the worst. Whether or not the theory
VIII mold g0oQ Tor men IN the mass, Lhere
is foundation for it in the experience of GER
tain regiments. One instance is the famous
recoil of Pat Cleburne's Irish Tennesseeans
the Fifth Confederate, from the stone wall
at PerryVile. This regiment marched boldly
up to a wall behind which lay in ambush
Colonel Lytles Irish Tenth, of Cincinnati.
IRISH AGAINST IRISH.
Perryville might be compared to Donny-
brook in more ways than one. The heads
to be bit were in masses, that is to say, the
batteries, battalions and regiments lying
around loose. Things were helter-skelter on
both Sides When the Fifth Confederate
marched TO the front, charmed by the
sounds of fighting, it seemed engaged in a
chase after a rainbow. The smoke and roar
of battle receded as it dashed ahead. All at
once while the regiment was screened as
IL seemed to the men, by stone wall about
thirty rods away, hundreds or rifles opened
upon them with a terrific crash. Lytle's !
Irishmen were behind the convenient wall |
and were using it to shelter their own
heads The line of Tennesseeans sWayed !
and as one man drew back A glance at
their former position showed a goodly rank |
of PROSTATE comrades cut down in file as
they had marched. Then, recovering their
grip as quickly as they had lost II, the Ten
nesSeeans, without stopping for ORDERS |
dashed for the wall, leaping over the dead
and dying in their mad charge for revenge.
AT FL Caney ] saw something like that