Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1903-09-15

| idu HUI heIeIy poSlSN piShSt = N''A
the Chattanooga roads. Thomas had
! placed at least a brigade on every road
| leading from the numerous fords OF the
| Chickamauga to RosSville and In q
manner to be quickly concentrated up
on threatened point. RosecranS
brought back two divisions of Nc
! Cooks column to aid Thomas and also
| called up three divisions of reserves
| under General Crittenden. This mass
Ing of troops around Thomas made his
line the pivot of the great battle to
| come. As the lines were; he had the
| left wing and stood as bulwark be-
tween the enemy and the roads TO
! Chattanooga.
War writers use the phrase bringing
ON a battle" to illustrate how some tri-
fling affair precipitates fight where
none was intended in the plans of the
leaders. So Thomas brought on the
battle Of Chickamauga by going out to
smash the Confederates who had cross
ed the dead line and might get trouble
some if let alone. Bragg hadn't intend
ed to fight at that time and place any
thing more serious than skirmishes to
clear the Chattanooga roads. Rose
Grams hadn't intended to fight then and
| there either, for the battle ground was
| too far from the Rossville road.
Half a score of little fights, starting
with brigade and drawing in a divi-
sion, took place Sept. 10, and that night
Braggs army was lined up west Of
the Chickamauga. Leonidas Polk COM
manded the right wing and Longstreet,
Lees old warhorse from the Army OF
Northern Virginia, the left. Longstreet
had brought two divisions Of his old
corps with him to help save Chattanoo-
ga. General d. II. Hill, another or
Lees marshals, commanded corps OF
western troops Buckner of Donelson
| fame led corps. Hood and McLaWs,
who had led the fierce fight in front of
Round Top at Gettysburg, were there
Pat Cleburne, the "Stonewall Of the
| West" Breckenridge, the fighting Ken
| tuckian; Joe Wheeler, the cavalryman
and Forrest, the all round fighter, were
| there with their hardened veterans
| from Shiloh and MurfreesbOro.
With Rosecrans were Thomas, Nc
Cook and Thomas l.. Crittenden as
leaders of army corps. With Thomas
were Baird and Negley and Brannan
and J. J. Reynolds, with McCook JEFF
c. Davis, R. w. Johnson and Phil Sher-
idan, leaders of divisions, and with
Crittenden T. J. Wood, Palmer and
Van Cleve. Gordon Granger command
ed q reserve of three brigades stationed
well back on the Rossville road, and
two divisions of cavalry under Edward
McCooE and General Crook watched
over the wagon trains.
! When morning dawned on the Goth
q heavy fog hung over the valley. The
Confederate chiefs had been given
their orders for attack, and at s o'clock
the battle opened near where the fight
ing ended the night before, the center
| of Thomas line. During the night
Thomas troops had built rude breast
works of rails and logs in front Of a
| state road running through the battle
| field parallel to the creek and connect
ing with the Rossville road three miles
away. A road from the creek led into
this at the point in the line held by
Bairds division.
With q prelude of skirmish fire, the
| divisions of Cleburne and Breckenridge
dashed forward upon Bairds line. The
famous Kentucky phalanx known as
the Orphan brigade was in the lead,
| and in their eagernesS the kentuckians
rushed upon Baird's breastwOrks, only
to be beaten back. Baird's line was
joined on the left by Beatty's brigade,
which had moved up in the night and
lay in the woods without breastworks.
| Seeing the Kentuckians recoil from
Baird, Beatty brought out two guns Of
Bridges Illinois battery and opened
fire. The Fifteenth Kentucky regi-
ment of Federals lay behind the bat
terry.
Bridges guns must be swept out Of
the way or the Confederate charge
upon Baird would end in useless
slaughter. The leader of the Orphans,
Ben Hardin Helm, lined up the Sixth
Kentucky and rode along the ranks to
infuse courage into the men for des-
perate deeds. The scene was battle
picture not to be put on canvas. Helm
was q noble soldier, friend of Lin
coin and man he sought to win over
| to the northern cause in 1861.
With few words, Helm led his Ken
tuckians forward into the battery, kill
ing its commander and all the horses
and cannoneers. Some of the Kentuck-
ians turned the guns upon Beatty's
men, and while Helm was directing
their fire the marksmen Of the Fiji
teenth Kentucky shot him dead in the
saddle.
Pushing through the gap in Beatty's
broken line, the COnfederates charged
past the flank of Baird and penetrated
to the state road. For an hour Thorn
as line was in danger. Baird's men