The National tribune., 1902-02-27
WITH SHERMAN'S ARMY.
Incidents Recalled by Louisville to the
Sea " and Fighting Them over" Sketches.

Incidents Recalled by Louisville to the
Sea- and Fighting Them over" Sketches.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Comradc
Lyman S. Widneys From Louisville to
the Sea- is to me most interesting bit
of history. | have been following him
mot as n stragGlcr) very closely. l shall
| not make Il pretcnSe of correcting him,
either, although his diary" in several in
stances is at fault with my memory
Many of the places and engagements re-
ferred to in his narratives are yet fresh
i'll my memory, and | am "a sojer boy
again with Sherman" "and we're bound
to take Atlanta" l want to add my tes-
timony in honor to the Christian soldier
and able commander Gen. .. o. Howard.
When the Fourth Corps was first
formed in battle line in front of Atlanta
| the left of which joined the right of the
Army of the Tennessee, if my memory is
not at fault), Gen. Howard's headquarters
were but a short distance from the right
of the 9th Ind. Battery Ito which | be-
longcd). Several times 1 had occasion to
pass his headquarters tent, and upon one
occasion especially, being early in the
morning, before camp was "astir,'' heard
some one within, apparently in earnest
conversation, speaking in n very guarded
| tone, scarcely above n whisper Mt times.
Naturally, my curiosity was excited. and
without acting the "eavesdropper," / halt
tu iOIB eIouSH 10 eaten IHe OTl1L OF the
conversation, for such it was-Gen. How
ard conversing with the God of battles.
and asking Of Him wisdom and guidance.
| There were many sad hearts when it be-
came known that Gen. Howard had been
assigned to command of the Army of the
Tennessee, but there were as many sincere
wishes and Goddess yOus which followed
him to his new command.
/ find n very serious mistake in Com
RI do Iro = pypppc'C that II
shot from one of the guns of the 9th
Ind. Battery that killed Gen. Polk, when,
in fact. under the personal direction of
Gen. Sherman, Serg't Frank McCollum.
center section of the 9th Ind. Battery.
sighted the gun that threw the shot that
killed rebel Gen. Polk.
/ had almost forgotten that the 74th
Ohio lay in our immediate front Gf it did.
but now that mention is made of it I
recall n conversation | had with n 18th
boy not very long ago. This comrade made
mention of the incident (the killing of the
rebel Gen. Polk referred to above: that
he was on the picket line Mt the time and
was not relieved, by some mistake, for
two nights and day after the killing OF
Polk. This cOmrade asked me if l remem-
bered a dirty. hungry fellow coming into
the camp of the 9th Ind. Battery and sit
ting down by a fire, where some Of the
9th boys were making coffee. and gener-
ougly invited him to share with them the
coffee and bacon with "hardtack," and
without any apology he accepted, for to
say that he was hungry was putting it
very mildly, that in all his soldering he
had never appreciated and enjoyed a meal
quite as he did that one, not having had
any coffee and but little of crackers and
bacon for nearly two days.
| remember very distinctly the "gray-
headed" veteran mentioned by Comrade
Owens, and it was remarked at the time
with what modest coOlness and fearless
ness he moved about; did not seem to have
any particular business anywhere but evil
all the time. He was certainly an inter-
esting character.
Just one more shot" Away off to our
right front about mile away was. from
our point of view, formidable rebel fort. |
In it was a big gun (old u. S. ordnance.
incidentally someone saw huge puff of
smoke suddenly sent out from the fort, |
and the next act on the program was the
9TH Ind. boys lodging a huge shell that
came hurtling through the air, lend over
end" apparently hunting for something
and nothing in particular. Some of us per-
formed our part well for amateur actors
or acrObats. Actual measurement of
shell at the time when planted
1112 inches in diameter; butt" of shell, |
extreme length, 16H inches. Subsequent
ly we moved u short distance to the left,
from which position we fired at irregular
intervals fuse and percussion shells into
the city of Atlanta.-D. ID. HOLM, 9th
Ind. Battery, Huntington, Ind.