The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1905-01-05
SOLDIERS AT HOME.
THEY TELL SOME INTERESTING
ANECDOTES OF THE WAR.
How the Boys of Roth Armies Whi1ed
Away Life in Camp-Foraging Ex-
periences, Tiresome Marches-Thril.
ling Scenes ON the Battlefield.

IAN old diary" said One Hundred
and Twenty-fifth Illinois man. re
minded me of that mysterious man on
horseback at Kenesaw. Dhis is what
I recorded in my diary June 10, 1864:
Again ordered forward, but the john
nies have gone TO higher ground. We
follow them up. and at night we are
at the foot of n mountain, up the sides
of which are skirmish pits, and near
the top seems to be breastwOrks, with
here and there embrasureS for natter-
les. We soon know that the batteries
are in place all right, and nineteen of
our cannon open to reply to the rebs
on the top of the mountain. At the
same time n furious thunder cloud
comes up and joins il the hurly-burly,
and such a roaring, shaking, and quak-
ing as ensued is seldom witnessed.
That reads like it was written at the
front, under the conditions stated by
n soldier present and a participant.
lie was at the foot of Kenesaw, in
Georgia. and belonged to Colonel Dan
McCook's brigade, all right, but when
he made his record he did not know
the name of the location.
History later made the name men,
orable; incidents Of few days later
fixed themselves Oh my memory. espe-
cially the charge of June q, 1864, on
the dead angle of Kenesaw, by Colonel
McCook's brigade. l belonged to COM
pany h, One Hundred and Twenty
fifth Illinois. Our Colonel, Oscar +.
Harmon. of Danville, ILL.,, was killed
| after Colonel McCook fell while COM
manding and leading the brigade in
| the second effort to rush the works.
He was within the twenty-foot line
of the enemy's works. My place was
on the extreme left, and after we had
| made the rush and during the confu-
sion which ensued, some calling on us
to go forward. others to fall back, 1
lay down, uncertain just what to do.
In the interim 1 looked just in time
| to see General Charles G. Harker fall
| from his horse. He was the only
mounted officer or person saw.
cannot recall the color of the horse.
nor could l say as to his leading n
charge. He was to my rear and left;
that is. beyond the extreme left or
McCook's brigade, which was refused
or not so close to the rebel works as
was the right wing, which was lodged
Oh the outside of the works at point
about twenty feet from the angle to
! the north. / could see the colors of
one of the regiments planted In the
loose earth at the foot of the works
! and our men were lying fiat on the
face Of the breastworks in support OF
the colors.
Just as that scene was before me
l had one side Of my hat torn out by
rebel bullet. This volley gave us 4
chance to get the drop on the rebs and
the firing Stacked. 1t seemed to me
like pot hunting on the river below
Danville when l was a boy. The firing
got so slack that l got up and looked
around. Everybody was gone eScep
the dead and wounded. The brush ani
underground screened me, and
straightened myself up and deliberate
liz walked back to the rear until
came to the rifepits evacuated by the
rebels some ways down the hill. A
recall it now it seems to M that th'
Johnnies must have thought that thel
had killed enough Of us for one killing
for when we had pulled ourselves to
cether the soldier instinct resumed tn
ascendant and officers and men re
formed and pushed up to the brow o.
the hill. where we fortified within
twenty-seven steps of the rebels ans
made it about the hottest place for th'
sDace of the front Of the brigade tha
the rebels held at any time from Chat
tapooca to Atlanta, and we kept 1t no
until the rebels evacuated their posi-
ton July 2 and 8, 1864, when we TO!
lowed them to the Chattahooch'
rlver."-Chicago Inter Ocean.