10

SERVICES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH O. V. I.

Camp Delaware was located near the City of Delaware, Ohio, and there, on August 19th, 1862, was mustered, into the service of the United States,

THE 96TH OHIO VOLUNTEERS.

The men comprising this regiment were hastily gathered from the counties of Delaware, Knox, Logan, Union, Marion and Morrow, every branch of the industries of this cultivated region being represented on its rolls.

There was nothing in the gathering together of this command that was not common to it with others. Its career was such as war with a foe both powerful and desperate created for an army of a million men, and in which all shared in privation and peril, victory and defeat, as well as in the glory of ultimate success over the enemies of their common country. Its history can only be a plain statement of events in which their comrades shared, and from whose brow or tomb no garland leaf shall be taken away.

Gathered from the study, the counter, the workshop and the field, transplanted from homes filled with comforts and many luxuries, into a camp that afforded only the earth beneath and sky overhead, these practical men lost no time in building barracks, at which they worked with right good will, meanwhile, with as much cheeriness as possible, cultivating an acquaintance with hard tack and bacon, and the severe restraints and restrictions that are indispensable to the duties of the soldier.

Nor were they forgotten by their friends in the country about them. Troops of visitors, from tottering men to prattling babes, enlivened the camp during the day. To the greetings of loved ones was added the cheerfulness of general society, and an evidence of the deep interest attaching to them and the cause for which they forsook home for the camp and field. The distastefulness of the rations was modified by dainties contributed by ladies, who often lingered until after dress parade. During the brief stay of the regiment, they were complimented by a visit from Governor Todd and several other officers of State, the Governor delivering to the command an eloquent and stirring address, filled with the patriotic ardor that actuated him throughout the war.

Sunday, the 31st, was particularly bright and cheerful. A man that has a soul within him will instinctively feel proud when decked in the martial dress of his country. Our uniforms were bright and new, our arms burnished to glittering perfection, which enabled us, on dress parade, to vie with the dress and beauty of our numerous and both interesting and interested visitors. This glimpse of military romance and vanity was suddenly dissipated by the reading of orders to be ready to move for the front on the following morning by railroad train, at exactly six o'clock.

Then came the tearful, swift good-byes, the tender blessings that linger still in many a memory and garland many a grave. It had been but twelve days since we were mustered into the service, and our duties as soldiers were necessarily almost a mystery, as it requires many months to discipline and drill raw recruits. The regiment was fortunately composed of not only cultivated but earnest men, and responding to the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Brown in command, astonished all concerned in their transportation, by being, on their first movement from camp, ready at exactly the appointed time. The few moments we waited there were strangely thrilling. Our transition from peaceful scenes to those of war and strife, had actually begun. We were now leaving the tenderest of friends to face murderous enemies, leaving homes that some of us should never see again. The locomotive's whistle in very kindness broke the thread of painful revery, and we were whirling

on our way.

The rebel general, Kirby Smith, was hovering around Cincinnati, through which we passed in the evening to Covington, which was then the front. We were south of Mason and Dixon's line, in the land of slavery, in the State of haughty, defiant, neutral Kentucky, but were courteously received by the loyal citizens, who treated us to a splendid and welcome supper at the armory. The forces at this point were commanded by Gen. A. J. Smith, U. S. A., and Col. Vance, 96th Ohio, although inexperiencd, was out of necessity placed in command of a brigade, the command of the regiment devolving on Lieut.-Col. Brown. The various companies were posted at different points in and about the city, each charged with important duties, the bustle and deep concern grat

ing harshly on the nerves of the clerk and plowboy soldiers. This concern was not only deep but earnest. The country was aroused and Ohio not only sent her volunteers, but poured out a vast horde of "Squirrel Hunters," for the protection of her city and her honor as a State.

Kirby Smith, with a vast army of rebel veterans, was swooping down upon them, cool, wary and self-possessed, his men all transformed into that strange being, the disciplined soldier, while to oppose him came raw regiments that knew nothing of discipline, drill or maneuver, and who, sustained by pride only, would stand up and fight, and if need be, die, but could not be moved in action, as in so doing they would inevitably go to pieces. The coolness with which they faced the impending peril was something remarkable.

The war cloud to the South was little less disquieting than the absolute terror among the citizens, who saw in fancy their loved homes riddled with shot, contending armies sweeping the streets and they fleeing with their families for shelter. Nothing that apparently could add to the excitement was absent. Rebels conveyed information through the lines and came back to spread the most appalling news. Not without the best of reasons, the most watchful care was exercised to avoid surprise. Nervous anxiety, and entire want of familiarity with the duty, led to frequent alarms. Troops turned out to the thrilling long-roll, marched quickly to the supposed point of danger amid the ringing of alarms on the city bells, expecting to take a hand in the clash of arms and to witness actual bloodshed. All the regiments present had about the same experience, and few escaped some incident such as befell companies C and B. The former had been sent out to Fort Mitchell, for the double purpose of serving as an out-post and to aid in mounting some heavy guns in the Fort. About noon one day they noticed down the road in the direction of danger, an ominous cloud of dust, rising continually, and coming nearer and nearer. Such a cloud could only be made by a moving cavalry command, and such it must be. Company C quickly formed, for the first time to meet the foe, and for the first time accept challenge to battle. But no one faltered, and

Corporal Scott, afterward Chaplain, expressed his feelings on the subject in hand, by observing, "Boys, trust in the Lord, keep your powder dry, and shoot straight when they come." Company B had been sent for, and by a forced march, in the hot sun, their knapsacks heavily loaded with all sorts of wares brought from home, arrived in a breathless condition, and formed in line with their comrades, just in time to join in the discovery that the enemy was an approaching drove of mules!

We look back now, with a smile, on what were then most serious matters, and wonder that Kirby Smith did not carry out his plans, by descending on our undisciplined masses, running over our trifling rifle-pits and earthworks, constructed with toil, in rair, mud and often with the ditch on the wrong side. But perhaps he was deterred by the horde of "Squirrel Hunters," who, each filled to the brim with patriotism, made this invasion a personal matter, to be settled by the unerring squirrel rifle. He certainly would have been filled with fear, had he appreciated the nonchalance with which they made their camps "lively" with song and story, while they shot at mark, just to keep their hands in, until the invaders should become targets? All joined in genuine exultation, when it was known that Kirby had retired, especially our " Squirrel Hunters," who glided quietly home, while we prepared at once to look elsewhere for laurels.

CHAPTER II.

ARRIVAL AT MEMPHIS.

Breaking camp on the 8th of October, we took our line of march for Falmouth, Kentucky. The exciting scenes and exacting toils through which we had passed, seemed to us, to be about all we could endure and live. Our course now lay through a very rough and broken country, it being often necessary to aid the teams in moving the wagon trains up the hills, water being very scarce, the sun pouring down upon us with scorching heat, our heavily-laden knapsacks and accoutrements adding their weight to our weariness, we toiled through our first rehearsal of real soldiering. Among the incidents of the march, all will remember, how amid, what then seemed terrible pains and privations, we met the remnants of the 95th Ohio, that had been scattered into fragments at Richmond, Ky. Their doleful looks and sad condition; their account of battle, defeat and disorganized retreat, would have shocked any men on earth. We are proud that it only shocked, without wilting us, or deterring our movement to the front, while they with all haste sought the rear.

Halting at Falmouth nine days, we arrived at Cynthiana on the 20th, without further incident worthy of remark, save the continual impression on the minds of both officers and soldiers, that the war was being conducted on peace principles, at least, so far as Kentucky was concerned. No possible precaution to save our bitterest enemies from molestation, either in property or person, was omitted. This volunteer command was in earnest, and desired to begin to do some hurt to traitors, and failed to see merit in the orders that forbade the least foraging, or even the use of rails or any other convenient means of securing comfort to the famished, starved, weary, footsore soldiers, who followed, for pure purposes, the country's flag. Of these restrictions, the climax was reached at Cynthiana, where an order was published, prohibiting any one, officer or private, from leaving his