The National tribune., 1906-09-13
FORT MALONE.
The Part Takennby the 9Th Mich. or
That MomentoaS April p 1896.

Euitor Natlonal lEipuue. Ane ISeu
Book of Michigan" says:
prominent hmong the chain of
works in front Of our army at Peters
burg was Fort Malone. 1t had been
decided to attack that point at day
break on the day before the evacuation
of Petersburg. The sassaulting column
Is formed of regiments in mass. the
point of attack aboiit 800 yards distant;
the main assault to be made by large
brigade of new otroops (207th Pa. and
several other late arrivals of Pennsyl-
vania regiments from home). The bril-
gade of the eth Mich. is in their sup
porting columns; the advance column
is on the move. Soon a heavy fire of
musketry and artillery is opened by the
| enemy. The new troops waver for a
moment, then dash gallantly forward.
Soon their hearty cheers announce sue
cess. The men coming to the rear with
the wounded shout triumphantly to the
old brigade: Boys. we have taken the
fort for you. and for Gods sake see II
| you can hold it. But the firing every
moment increases in vigor, and tie news
| from the fort is doubted. Soon the
command comes. Forward, First Rri-
gade!' They advance, with hearty
cheer, on the double-quick. and soon
reach the new brigade, who are only in
the rifle pits 1t is found impossible
for the First Brigade to pass them The
assault is likely to prove failure;
death to halt and await orders: dis
grace to fall back, the only alternative
| is to attempt the fort with 123 men in
the 27th. moments delay would be
fatal. Instantly the direction of the
regiment is changed; the command, un-
masked, charges again to the front. ad-
vances at the double-quick on the fort
| The brigade commander fears the re-
suit and shouts, Don't attempt the fort
Colonel. Break to the right The Col
oners strong, clear voice rises above
| the deafening roar and answers back
with gallant spirit, Fort or nothing"
| Taking up the cry, the whole regiment
shout exultantly, Fort or nothingH
| Pressing onward under a tremendous
fire of grape they are soon out of range,
under embankments. The ditch is
cleared. the walls are gained, and on
| their ragged edge are in triumph plant
ed the colors of the 27th, capturing its
eastern wing with three pieces of artil-
lery, taking 1874 prisoners, and holding
the fort during the day against repeated
| assaults of the enemy.
During the night the regiment
| moved to the right OF the captured for;,
and there threw up breastworks con-
Meeting it with the Federal picket line,
and the Third Brigade at 3 a. m. ad-
vanced and entered Petersburg, the
tHeIfy HAVING WllHuIdWu uUTluH lHN
| night"
So much quoted from ''The Red Book
of Michigan" written by reliable and
competent officer, a witness of the "o1-
pleasantness." / trust, Mr.. Edito- the
comrades who read the dear old Ma
tional Tribune and chance to note the
above will pardon my seeming selfish
ness in proudly proclaiming the valor
and triumphs of my old regiment. one
of the fighting 800" which sustained
loss of 80 per seent,pr more. The 9th
Mich. was one ofv300 fighting rcgi-
ments of the Union, army receiving spe-
cial mention by the War Department,
and Congress in 1866 These regiments
show casualty lists of over 30 per cen.
of total enrolment. The 27th's total
enrolment is stated to be 2.029.
AS 1 have been. severely criticized
several times by comrades as to the
correctness of my version of the cap
ture of Fort Mahone and death of Gen.
A. p. Hill. will you kindly give me space
for few personal remembrances Of
that strenuous existence of tremendous
results, and 1 viii drop this subject for
good? 1 have never tried to datract
from other regiments or commands, bit
simply written from my recollections of
the glorious part taken at the time by
my own observation; and. besides.
don't claim to be infallible. but the
more inquire into the history the more
am confirmed / am nearly right
AS to Comrade ]. H. Linck, OF the
207th Pa. do not doubt he is sincere
and SO saw and understood that affair
at the time. as he states in The Ma
tional Tribune of April 5. Perhaps
can enlighten or refresh his memory, as
he did mine.
Early on the foggy morning of April
81, 1865, between 2 and 3 a. m, his
regiment, the 207th Pa, I think (not
sure as to number of regimenD, were
under arms just outside of and to the
right of Fort Sedgwick (Fort Damna-
ton, the Johnnies called it), close Up
and under cover of heavy breastworks
awaiting the command to assault. The
brigade Of the 9th Mich. was a few
yards only to its rear. The enemy was
aware. or guessed. something unusual
was about to happen, and opened n
terrific cannonade, to which Fort Sedg
wick vigorously replied. All the troops
at this point were considerably an
noyed by the bursting shell and debris
flying from the parapet of the fort AMI
breastworks. The awful fire of Forts
Sedgwick and Malone lighted up the
very heavens The deafening roar and
crash were simply appalling. The two
forts were rightly named ("Forts He'll
and DamnationO. Just at the most
awful din and roar the Pennsylvania
Brigade got the command to assault
and over our own works they went, pell-
NELL for Fort He'll. AS 1 quoted from
the Michigan Red Book, the rest, ex-
cept, perhaps, the new brigade, NAV
have diverged to the left and come in to
the left of the 27th Mich. few mo-
ments later. AS to that I would not
dispute positively, but at the moment ]
reached the crest of the parapet of the
fort there were no troops in the strong
hold but wore the gray. OF this I am
certain, as my viewpoint was on the
outer angle of the fort, where my COM
pany (B) was the first to get inside
moro by accident than otherwise II
happened thus: In front of the works
Comrade Linck will remember Gf, as
he claims. he was thar, too" and I
don't doubt him), were tree-tops staked
to the ground. the tops sharpened and
pointing towards us; then some che-
vaux de frise, consisting Of logs bored
through at right angles with a large
auger and stakes sharpened at both
ends, driven through the logs and wired
together at the ends, making a very
perplexing impediment, combined with
the enemy's fire, which, unfortunately
for the 207th Pa.., and good luck for
the 27th Mich, which made its assault
instantly after the .207th drew the enc
my's heavy fire. which was too high to
be effective against the 9th Mich. Thus
we gained the fort with but a very
small loss. A mortar somewhere in