The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-03-26
REINFORCING ALLATOONA.
Personal Recollec.io ions of a Member of the
9Th Wis Battery

Personal Recollec. ions of Member of the
9Th Wis Battery.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: I have
been following Gen. Raum's history Of
| the Atlanta Campaign with great inter-
est. largely because / was in Gen. John
E. Smiths Third Division. Fifteenth
Corps. of which Gen. Raum's Brigade
formed a part. The events Of Hoods
movement northward are still fresh in
| my memory. Our battery 18th Wis.,
was in the fort on the hill at the west
end of the railroad bridge over the Etc.
wah. which bends just above the bridge
and rms east for about a quarter of
| mile. then bends to the south and south
| west. forming three sides of level bot
| wagon bridge below the railroad bridge,
the road therefrom running across this
fiat to Gainesville. one mile distant.
| well remember Oct. IA. the day be-
| fore the Allatoona fight. when We worked
all day pulling out ficod wood which the
freshet had carried against the railroad
bridge. threatening its destruction.
In the evening about or O'Clock
train came from the north, loaded with
troops, who cheered US as they passed.
We watched them as the train slowly
crossed the bridge. as We knew it was
unsafe. always thought these were part
of COrse's troops, and was so informed
| after the war by member of the 18th
Ill. This train must have entered Ala
toOna about dark, and we heard no trains
after that. This l know conflicts with
Gen. Raum's statement placing Corse's
arrival near daybreak of the 9Th. No
trains crossed the bridge after that night
for several days, as it was condemned as
unsafe.
All day the 9Th the battery was kept
in readiness for instant service, as we
listened to the sounds of battle at Ala
toona, only four miles away in direct
line. Our only infantry support was two
small Indiana regiments, the 4Sth and
59th. hut probably in case of attack we
could have been reinforced from Kings
ton or Resaea. Part of the First Bri-
gade of our division, consisting of the
4th Minn., 18th Wis. 93d ILL.,. and 18th
Wis. Battery, formed the garrison of
AllatoOna.
On the 9th the wounded were trans
ferred in ambulances to our side of the
river whence they were taken by rail to
the north. There were pitiable sights
that day. l remember seeing FIVE dead
officers of the 39th Iowa lying side by
side ut the railroad, to be sent north
l noticed particularly an officer who was
wounded in the head, who threw himself
in great agony from side TO side. endan-
gering n little boy, said to be his son,
who was in the ambulance with him. He
had no insignia of rank, but wore the
dark blue of an officer. I have often
wondered who he was.
Doubtless the 250 Henry rifles carried
by the 18th III. were one of the main fac
tors in saving AlatOona. The rebs
couldn't stand the Yankee guns. which
they asserted were loaded over night and
fired all the next day. The rebel dead
were piled in front of this regiment. We
did not know until afterward how near
we were to possible capture. as had Ala
toona fallen our turn would have come.
On the morning of the eth Gen. Cox's
Twenty-third Corps came. and we knew
we were safe. About the 10th, I think
1t was, we awoke to see a bright sun
shining upon the camp of the entire
Fourteenth Corps on the fiat below us.
1 hunted up the 9Th Wis. Battery, and
found some boys whose acquaintance I
to find 81, Shorty, and the boys of Co.
=. 2OOth Ind. because l hadn't made
their acquaintance at that time. Posi-
bly, 81 and his companions were enjoy
ing their leave of absence at home after
their pleasure trip to Andersonvlle.
After Hoods raid. was one of de-
tachment from the battery sent to Nash
VILE to procure horses to equip us for the
march to the sea. After reaching Resi-
ca by rail we marched along the railroad
just destroyed by Hoods army The de-
struction was complete. ties all burned
and rails twisted in every conceivable
shape. a favorite way being to twist
them. while hot. around stumps and trees.
Twenty or % miles of road was thus de-
stroyed. We failed in our mission for
horses, and as a result we were Obliged
to give up our new 12-pound Napoleon
guns to the 10Th Wis Battery, which
went with the division to the sea. while
we, with the old guns of the 18th were
sent to Nashville to take part in the de-
Tense of that city against Hoods army.
as Sherman allowed but one battery TO
a division on the march through Georgia.
we parted with the infantry with which
we had served for years with mutual re-
grets.
L neglected to state in the proper place
that three companies of the 18th Wis.
which were in blockhouses south of ALA
toona, were captured by Gen. French.
n brother-in-law of mine was among the
and after languishng in sew
erai Southern prisons, including MiIlen
and AndersOnville, was exchanged, reach
ing Annapolis mere skeleton; his life
was was, barely saved. A day or two before
the Allatoona battle two of our boys,
Andy Wentworth and Will Stewart. were
captured by rebel cavalry as we were ONT
three miles from camp grazing our horses.
we saw them next when we arrived at
Madison in July. 1SG5.-E. J. ORR. 9th
WIS. Battery L. A. Villisca, Iowa.
Unite on One Bill.
EDITOR NATJoyAr Tpypr,xr mn,