The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-18
VETERANS TELL OF
old FORT MALONE
JOURNAL PICTURE RECALLS ,sTO-
RIEs OF TERRIBLE FIGHTING.
Jasper T. Darling Of Sixty-frst Massa-
chusetts and D. L. Morgan Of First
Minnesota Get Baptism Of Fire in
Battles Around Petersburg Horrors
of War Shown in Records Of Nor
tally. r..

Civil war veterans continue to take
great interest in the war scenes pub
lished in The urnal Jasper T.
Darling. past commander of Columbia
post, 706, of Chicago, who served in
Company G Of the sixty,irst Massachu,
recollection Of the, fight before Fort
Malone, the strategic point Of the con-
federate works before Petersburg, and
who recognized at =. once the union
picket post published in T ne Jour
n Friday. -. .,..I- -. .,....@ -.
t'There is some mistake said Mr.
Darling, "regarding. the manner Of the
evacuation Of Fort Malone. Tho Hor-
ace Greeley says the, works were quiet
With Malone, which was taken by the
Sixty-frst Massachusetts after twelve
hours hard fighting and the loss of
fully per cent of its men. --.
March to the Fray.
"Our regiment constituted part of
the independent brigade stationed at
the headquarters of supplies at City
Point. There had been desperate fight
Of men were killed. We received or
ders to move in to take and hold it,
We marched at a slow double-quick
fourteen miles, arriving about noon be-
fore the works, and the fight began.
cit was terrible. Their works were
high and strong with a deep ditch at
the base full of water. We fought con-
could drive the enemy out of the works
We were so close together that we lost
many men by hand grenades. The
works were finally carried by tunnel
ing thru them. The confederates be-
gan to withdraw at midnight but did
not cease firing until 8 am. Fort Ma
hone was the key to the confederate po-
sition and it's capture meant the fall
| Of Petersburg.
Belonged to tho First.
D. L. Morgan, past commander Of the
department of Vermont, served with
the First Minnesota after it had been
recruited and saw active service with
the regiment before Petersburg. He
remembers the vicious fighting Of the
ten months siege. The boys of the
First were a mart Of the force th"t
threw up the first federal earthworks
before the city. s,..
"Fort Mahone was a strong posi-,
tion,' says Mr.. Morgan. "The federal
work opposite it was Fort Sedgwick.
So fierce was the fighting between these
points that Fort Sedgwick was called
by the soldiers Fort He'll and Fort
Malone was called Fort Damnation.
"There were many picket outposts
on the line similar to the one shown.
The lines were sixteen miles long and
there was fighting every foot Of the
way. It was almost impossible to send
relief out in daylight, all changes be.
ing made at night, except to a few
posts where there were bitches from
the main works to the posts. Much
of the fighting was at close quarters
On the day Fort Malone was taken We
! were some distance away, between il
and the point akvhe1es, Sheridan broke
thru and captured the RAILROAD leading
into the city, cutting off its supplies.
:. Battle Claims -Four. "a
| Mr.: Morgan remembers Minneapolis
we'll as it was fifty years ago. ON,
father was postmaster here under Lin
coln,' said he. "When the First WA
recruited after it's losses Captain lief
felfnger raised two companies in tn
city. We went to the front befor
Petersburg and: took the place of tn
old veteran regiment, tho we were 70
the most part mere boys. We were sta
toned there in different positions befor
the works for ten months.
"While we were stationed at For
Smelling waiting to be sent to the from
there were eight Of us, all boys, VIII
occupied four hunks in one Of tn
smaller towers. Four Of the eight wer
killed in battle, three were captured i
battle, two Of them after being SER
ously wounded. One died in Anderson
vile from his wounds. Of the eigh'
only three saw the close Of the war;