The National tribune., 1900-01-04
FIGHTING THEM OVER.
What the Veterans Have TO Say
About Their Campaigns.
CHARGING WITHOUT ORDERS.
Comrade Hills Quotes Statements in Proof
of Chickamauga Incidents.

comrade Hills Quotes Statements in Proof
of Chickamauga Incidents.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In an
Swer to the numerous criticisms to which
have been subjected, by letter and through
the columns of THE TRIBUNE. from mem
bers of the 9th Ohio regarding my state
ment that Col. Kammerling made n certain
charge on the first day at ChckamauCa
without orders, | would say il was very
generally understood at the time that this
was the case, and Gen. Van Derveer in his
report was conservative. This IS what he
says: The 9th Ohio. which | had prcvi-
ously sent for, arrived at this moment ]
placed it on the right of my line. Still
farther to the right Il section OF Church S
Battery and the 18th Ohio, which had been
ordered to report to me. We're in position.
AS the enemy slackcned their fire, Col. ksem-
mcring, chatting like wounded tiger that
he had been behind at the opening. ordered
his men 10 charge, and away tncy went,
closely followed by the SIth Ind. and the
18th Ohio. the enemy falling back preclpl-
lately. The 9th Ohio in this charge recap
tIred the guns in Guenthcr'S Battery, 0tn
Art, and held them"
The General, after describing the mass
ing of the enemy's forces several lines deep
upon his left and rear, and the desperate
struggle that took place while the Ssh Were
gone again, refers to them in these words;
Having observed the enemy s great force,
as well as the perslStency OF his attack.
had sent messenger after messenger tc
bring up the 9th Ohio, which had not YET
returned from the charge"
Now. without reasonable doubt, the
General. if he had ordered this movement
would have said so i'll his repori; but in
ending this affair, / wish in all candor f,
saw there was no reflection intended
against the character or the abilities as a
commander of the gallant Colonel. The
only regret during that unhappy struggle
was that there were too few like hIm. And
let me repeat what wrote last j uly: There
was no better regiment in the service than
the 9th Ohio.
In answer TO Comrade Snodgrass in the
Nov issue, i'll confirmation of what
wrote about the advance and retreat al
Steedman, ] shall have to again refer to the
report of Van DCrvccr, and as this is in
harmony with what | remember of the
events myself it will have to stand for the
lack of proof to the contrary.
The General SAYS that during the latte,
part of the day the position directly upon
our right had been held by Gen. StcedTaan.
but which early in the afternoon had been
withdrawn without our knowledgt' thus
leaving our flank exposed. From the 81
lcnce at that point Gen. Brannan suspected
all might not be right and ordered me to
place the Both Ohio across that flank tC
prevent a surprise. This had scarcely
been done when a rebel force appeared III
the gloom directly in their front. a mount
ed officer rode up to within Il lew PAGES oi
the 3Jth and asked:
"What regiment is that"
To this someone replied: The 10Th OHIO
The officer turned suddenly and attempt
ed To run away, but our regiment delivered
Il volley that brought horse and rider to
the ground and put 10 flight the force.
Prisoners said this was Gen; t'fegg. Al
! D. m an order came from Gen. Thomas
that the forces under Gen. Brannan should
move quietly to Ro5sville, which was done.
Now, where was Whtaker's Brigade at
6 or $50? Certainly not upon our right at
this time nor one hour previous TO this.
There is no one event more clearly In
pressed upon my memory during my four
years service than about 3 or 3:3O see
ing Steedman in the vain endeavor TO
halt his troops on their way to the rear.
He was cutting the air fiercely with his
sword in one hand, while the other was
used with the greatest dexterity in throw
ing stones and at the same time using
language that would not be deemed choice
or select Any person who knew Old Jim
Steedman in war could testify TO the fact
that he was noted for two things-fighting
and swearing; and he could use the latter
with greater force and longer, without
missing n note, than any other person In
the Cumberland Army. The only other
person nearing his equal was Gordon
Granger. But in spite OF this they went
back out of sight.
This can be said without tincture of
criticism, as the great loss to Whitaker's
Brigade in this short struggle can testify.
1t is not question of time i'll the destruc-
ton of human life in deadly conflict. 1t
can be gagged by but simply the tough
proposition" YOU run up against"
0pa nnnprata Iyouli convey the idea that
! was in error by my making the state
ment that Whitaker's Brigade was not
engaged more than one hour. and at the
same time admitting that their losses were
greater, accofding to numbers. than any OF
the 80 brigades engaged: j would ask
him how long it took to almost annihIlate
Pickett's Division at Gettysburg? What
was left of the division went back, and
have never heard of them being cenSured
for the act.
Sometime before sunset ! went about 20
rods to the right, during iull in the fight
ing, to look for comrade. found his
dead body among others. AS far as !
could see there were plenty of dead, but the
living were conspicuous by their absence.
without doubt the most accurate living
authority regarding this matter is Gen. IL.
V. Boynton, who was III command of the
35th Ohio upon the extreme right during
the late afternoon. The comrade above re-
taken and held as the objective point of the
campaign, Chickamauga was 4 victory.
This has been dimiy referred to during all
those years. 1t was sprung at that time
upon a too conliding public for the purpose
OF letting down easier the three principal
characters responsible for defeat. Chicka-
mauga a victory? Pooh! Everything was
lost but honor. If this was not Il defeat
for the Union forces, Napoleon won vic
tory at Waterloo.
We old fellows should not make too
heavy draft upon our memory. 1t can
i'll afford the strain. In most of cases it
is a waste of energy to do So The treatises
upon the war of the rebellion are SO pro-
fuse and limitless that it is needless to go
begging for evidence, and we should pause
upon the threshold of time before making
an assertion that history and official records
do not sanction or verify.--H. III. HILLS,
Lieutenant, Co. !, ID Mimi, 1855 Thomas
ST., st. Paul, MINI.
. TRAMPIN' AN SCRAppIN'