The National tribune., 1910-05-19

Cumberland being defeated at Chicka- !
mauga The Army of the Cumberland
was made up of Americans. sons and
grandsons of the hardy pioneers who
had conquered the West A rife was
as familiar to them knife and fork
They shot to kill every time. and could
not be routed and never were"
Praises the Fourteenth Corps
I. A. Conner. Co. d. 18th Ky. writes:
"I belonged to the Fourteenth Corps,
under old Pap Thomas. and was in the
bloody battle of Chickamauga Com
rade John Burns. Co. Z, 23d KY. de-
| tends the Fourth Corps. While soma
of the Fourth Corps did fight like tigers
the entire day. they as corps were not
on the battlefield, but drifted away to
Chattanooga very early in the morn
| ing, and built that line of works from
the foot of Lookout Mountain to a point
west of the town and helped build that
bridge across the Tennessee River and
unspike a few siege guns left there by
Bragg when he retreated.
II cannot see how Sergt John w.
Stevens, Co. II, s7th Ind. could have
misrepresented the Fourth Corps at
that battle. The trouble with the
Fourth Corps was its commander failed
| to do what he was commanded to do by
Rosecrans, who ordered him to close
| up on Randalrs Division on his left
| Instead of doing that he left gap be-
tween my division and the left flank OF
| the Fourth Corps, which the rebels soon
discovered, and pushed heavy column
| of troops into the gap and sent the
| Fourth Corps to Chattanooga, or most
| of them.
! The Fourth Corps did good fighting
Saturday. and what was left on the
field Sunday morning did good fighting
/ But the old Fourteenth Corps never
lcI,1 l.
| world began. AS we skirmishers were
| going back to our regiments from tho
Il skirmish line we met the troops drifting
/ toward Chattanooga. Rosecrans and
and Gen. Garfield riding just in front
of them up and down the line trying to
stop them. Garfield pleaded with them
to go back to the front. The skirmish-
ers numbered about 100. We tried hard
/ with bayonets on to stop them. but they
just pushed our guns out of their way
and drifted on. The Fourteenth Corps
was on the battle line from early sun
rise till nearly sunset. when they were
ordered off. IL Sheridan's Division was
driven off the field I never knew It
Some of McCook'S and Crittenden's
i troops remained on the field all day.
| Turchin's Brigade cut it's way out late
| in the evening" We were nearly sur
rounded when the orders came from
! Gen. Turchin TO fix bayonets and fol-
| low
| What the Fourteenth Corps did at
| Stone River let those who were there
| defend the honor of their corps My
regiment got there on the ground one
day too late on account of transporta-
| ton. The old Fourteenth Corps always
! did her duty. She did it at Mission
AIRY Ridge, at Peach Tree Creek. in
front of Atlanta and clear thru also at
| Bentonville, n. c., and she stands to-
day the inferior of none"
The Different Corps
Joseph A. Porter. Sergeant, Co. G.,
Tooth Ill, Sterling. Kan, writes:
/ Il read the article by Comrade John
E. Burns. in which he claims the Fourth
Corps (Crittenden's) took a great part
/ in the battle of Stone River, also at
Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge I
will cOncede to him honor for the
Fourth Corps at Missionary Ridge, but
not at Stone River or Chickamauga.
The Army of the Cumberland was
under Gen. Rosecrans; McCook. right
wing. Thomas center, and Crittenden
left wing. You see, there was no Fourth
Corps. About that time McCook's was
named the Twentieth Corps. Thomas's
the Fourteenth Corps and Crittenden's
the Twenty-first Corps During the
lTullahoma campaign another corps was
added under Gen. G.. Granger. called
the Reserve Corps. The Cavalry Corps
was under Gen Stanley. This was the
army at Chickamauga. 1t was the
Twenty-first Corps, with Gen. Changers
Reserve Corps, who went to the aid Of
Gen. Thomas
Before the battle of Missionary
Ridge Gems. McCook and Crittenden
| were laid on the shelf, and the Twen-
tieth and Twenty-first Corps were
formed into the Fourth Corps, and
Hooker's Eleventh and Twelfth Corps
from the East were made into the
Twentieth Corps, or at least parts of
. them were.
!, MY regiment each year has a Re
union in Will County, ILL.,, on the Thurs
was all from that County. You will
see by reading the history that the
; Tooth HI. went up the Ridge close to
Gen. Bragg's headquarters, SO you see
we were in it,
Il Stands Up for the Fourteenth.
w.P. De Wolf. 1o5th Ohio, Second
Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth
Corps, Conneaut, o., writes:
"A detraction from the record of the
old Fourteenth Corps, by John Burns,
Co E, 23d KY. was published in The
National Tribune, March "a. Now, 1t
will take but very few words to prove
Comrade Stevens was right, and that
EComrade Burnss memory has failed
! teenth Corps being defeated at Stone
River will say the Army of the Ohio
had its designation changed to the
Fourteenth Corps (the department hav-
ing been curtailed and then called the
Army of the Cumberland). and divided
into three grand divisions. the right
under McCook, the center under Thorn
as and the left under Crittenden. This
does away with the Fourteenth Corps
being whipped at Stone River.
Here is a little history in regard to
the Chickamauga fight Thomas had
stood for nearly two days fighting for
part of the time the combined rebel
forces At p. m. on Sept. 20 Gordon
Granger who had held small corps,
the Fourth, in reserve at ROssville. re-
ported to Gen. Thomas, and Gen.
Thomas began to withdraw his troops
from the field. and at $50 the same
night the Fourth Corps reported to
Gen. Thomas on the last day of the
battle, only two hours and half be-
fore the battle ended, and at no time
did the Fourth Corps have third as
many men on the field as the Four
teenth~tiid. The old Fourteenth Corps
was covered with glory at Chickamauga,
and, you bet. it will remain there The
old S7th Ind. was always there, and
never took a back seat 8,