The National tribune., 1909-08-19
THE CHARGE ON FORT HILL.
The Real Story of the Assault of
May %. 1868.


]. w. Sapp. Pawnee, Okla. says that |
some smart reporter took advantage |
of Comrade Labille and made him tell |
a story about the charge on Fort Hill
that he would not have told had his
memory been as fine as formerly. Com |
rade Sapp wonders if we can get at the
real truth of that affair. He will try
to give the story Just as he saw 1t and
let the consequences rest with whom
they may. He is now nearing his 18TH
birthday, but his memory holds good
to any vital truth.
"May II we closed in on the Con-
federate works and each part of the
army took its position, the Fifteenth
Corps on the extreme right-First Di-
vision commanded by Gen. Steeie. the
Second by Gen. Blair. the Third oy Gen.
Logan. AS we were in the Second Di-
vision, First Brigade. Fort Hill came
in our immediate front. The Confed-
crate works, coming up from the river,
followed a high bluff with narrow
valley on the north with the timoer
felled for 800 yards or more; on the
east side. the ground was broken, with
several narrow ridges and hollows. with
the timber felled. Fort Hill was on
the northeast corner of the works.
blocking the road leading 10 the city.
was made to assault the entire line, but
failed Our brigade. commanded by
Gen. Giles A. Smith, was ordered across
the valley and up against the fort. and
some of the men got up close and took
shelter behind a house that stood Just
outside the fort. We kept up brisk
firing until dark, and then we slipped
away, and then the Johnnies came out
and set the house on fire. By the morn
ing of May % greater preparations
had been made to carry the works by
assault. and Fort Hill seemed to be the
key to success. A call was made for
so volunteers - one man from each
company in the entire brigade, with
reward of 80 days furlough. to storm
the fort and spike the cannons. Our
brigade was composed of the 9Th and
8th Mo-, 18th U. s., and two other regi-
ments. / am not certain, but to the
best of my memory they were the 31st
Ind. and 47th Ohio.
Joe Labille, a Frenchman, of my
company (C), volunteered and was
made color bearer. and our First Lieu
tenant. Geo. H. Stockman, a German,
volunteered as commander of what
was designated the "storming party"
Our brigade was shifted farther to the
left and directly east of the fort. with
the 9Th Mos right resting just south
of the road upon which the storming
u
charge. The road leading up to the
fort followed a narrow ridge and was
full of distractions. BY s o'clock all
was in readiness and the storming
party coming up out of the hollow.
passed by the regiment, charging them
not to fire into them. 1 noticed that
they carried no guns, but had bayonets
and sabers, and some carried scaling
ladders some 10 feet long, and just as
soon as they reached the plain road and
started on the double-quick they were
met with such storm of shot and
shell that they scattered and fell to
pieces before they got half way to the
fort, and the commander fell. wounded
in both legs. But Joe Labille was sue
cessful in reaching the fort and plant
ing the Flag right under the rebels
big guns. He made his escape in the
night without scratch. This is the
account he gave of himself the next
morning, but he had no knowledge as
to how the other members of the party
had Jared. AS this plan to capture the
fort failed, no further attempt was
made to assault the rebels strong
works. Having the advantage of the
hills and fallen timber, We did not suf-
fer any great loss, and in the darkness
of the night we made our escape unob-
served - not a man IN my company got
hurt. The next day we began to throw
and in three days we had our works
good and strong, varying from 25 to
100 yards from the enemy'S works,
according to the nature of the ground.
A flag of truce was sent out to bury
the dead, and both sides lay down their
arms to attend this solemn service. 1t
was Sunday afternoon that the long
lines of blue and gray stood up facing
each other while a detail of both blue
and gray were engaged in the burial.
The next incident was a scheme to
blow up the fort. A road was sunk
eight feet deep and clear up to the
fort, and a tunnel run under. Just
before we got ready to explode the
mine the Johnnies smelt mouse and
abandoned their stronghold. Then
we took heavy siege gun and planted
it close up to the great mound of dirt
with an oblique range to the south
west. This must have been the gun
that the Johnnies told us about after
the surrender, that shot clear over the
city and into the river below.
"Comrade Labille received his fur
Tough all right and returned in good
time to witness the surrender"