Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
August 21, 1897



26th Wisconsin
Chapter 10

In the organization of Sherman's army for the Atlanta campaign, the Eleventh and Twelfth corps were consolidated into one, which was designated the Twentieth Corps, Gen. Jos. Hooker, commanding, and made a part of the Army of the Cumberland. By this change, the survivors of the Eleventh Corps got rid of their old corps commander, Gen. Howard, a consummation long wished for, he having lost their respect and confidence at Chancellorsville; but the new corps commander was none other than the incompetent army commander under whom they had been defeated and belied in that battle.

In the new shuffle, the Twenty-sixth was assigned to the Third Brigade, Colonel Ward; and Third Division, Gen. Ben. Butterfield; on the 23rd of April, 1864, it joined its brigade in Lookout Valley, 417 strong, convalescents and recruits having considerably augmented its numbers.

Preparations for the great campaign having been completed, the division broke camp on the 7th of May, and moved forward to within three miles of Buzzard Roost, near Dalton, and on the next day, the Twenty-sixth took part in a reconnaissance towards the enemy's position there. It became engaged in a hot skirmish with the rebels, in which two of its men were wounded. With the balance of the corps, it marched through Snake Creek Gap to Resaca, where the enemy were found intrenched, and our boys deployed in line of battle on May 13th. On the 15th, the division was sent to the extreme left of the army, where it participated in the assault on the enemy's position, Ward's brigade leading the charge, supported by the second brigade, in which was the Twenty-second Wisconsin.

The Twenty-sixth, occupying the right of Ward's line, charged up a hill in the front, capturing the rifle-pits of the rebel skirmishers. The enemy's main line of works was on an adjoining ridge, nearly parallel with the one just taken, and the intervening valley was covered with a dense growth of young pines. The brigade swept down into the valley, but the thick growth of pines badly broke up the line, and when they had struggled through, our boys were met by such a heavy artillery and musketry fire that they were unable to carry the main line. Falling back to the ridge first taken, the Union line repulsed and assaulted by the enemy and held the position during the remainder of the battle. The rebels evacuated Resaca that night, leaving our army in the undisputed possession of the field.

In this battle, the Twenty-sixth lost 15 killed or died of wounds, and 36 wounded. Of the Ozaukee boys, Herman Opitz of Mequon (now of the town of Saukville), was wounded. He was discharged on account of wound, Feb. 15, 1865.

Starting in immediate pursuit of the retreating foe, the division encountered the enemy's rear guard on the 18th, and drove it from position to position. At Cassville, Ga., the skirmishers of the Twenty-sixth had a lively brush with those of the enemy, and drove them from the field. The rebel army continued its retreat, and Shermanís pursued it closely. On the 25th of May, the division crossed Pumpkin Vine creek and encountered the enemy in the vicinity of New Hope Church. The Twentieth Corps swung into line of battle, and the First and Third divisions advanced and drove the rebels back a mile, to a fortified position with a swampy ravine in front. Ward's brigade was on the extreme left, the Twenty-sixth being in the second line. A hot fight took place, extending the whole length of the corpsí line, the rebels using their artillery very effectively, while the nature of the ground prevented the Union forces from using their artillery. Ward's brigade becoming heavily engaged, the Twenty-sixth moved up to the first line, where it relieved an Ohio regiment, and opened on the enemy in its usual spirited manner. The fight continued until darkness made it impossible to see two yards away in the woods, and then the fighting ceased for the day with advantages on the Union side. "The night was pitch-dark," writes Gen. Sherman, who was there in person, "it rained hard, and the convergence of our columns toward Dallas (four miles southwest) produced much confusion. I am sure similar confusion existed in the army opposing us, for we were all mixed up. I slept on the ground, without cover, alongside a log, got little sleep, resolved at daybreak to renew the battle, and to make a lodgement on the Dallas and Atlatoona road if possible, but the morning revealed a strong line of intrenchments facing us, with a heavy force of infantry and guns."

The battle was renewed the next day, however, but without success, and for the next week, there was some bloody fighting in those woods near New Hope Church, the boys dubbing the position "Hell Hole." The official report of the Twenty-sixth at New Hope Church is as follows: Killed or died of wounds, 17; wounded, 23. None of the Ozaukee boys were injured in this engagement, which is also known as Burnt Hickory, and as Dallas.

On the 28th of May, Lieut. Col. Boebel was mustered out on account of wounds, and Major Winkler succeeded him as Lieut. Colonel. During the few days spent near New Hope Church after the first day's battle, the Twenty-sixth, with the balance of its division, was gradually moving toward the left to gain possession of the railroad near Ackworth, and flank Johnston's position. The other corps of the army were now in line.

Sherman writes, "All this time a continual battle was in progress by strong skirmish-lines, taking advantage of every species of cover, and both parties fortifying each night by rifle-trenches, with head-logs, many of which grew to be as formidable as first-class works of defense. Occasionally, one party or the other made a dash in the nature of a sally, but usually it sustained a repulse with great loss of life. I visited personally all parts of our lines nearly every day, was constantly within musket-range, and though the fire of musketry and cannon resounded day and night along the whole line, varying from six to ten miles, I rarely saw a dozen of the enemy at any one time; and these were always skirmishers dodging from tree to tree, or behind logs on the ground, or who showed their heads above the hastily-constructed but remarkably strong rifle-trenches. On the occasion of my visit to McPherson on the 30th of May, while standing with a group of officers, among whom were Generals McPherson, Logan and Barey and Col. Taylor, my former chief of artillery, a minie-ball passed through Logan's coat-sleeve, scratching him, and struck Col. Taylor square in the breast; luckily he had in his pocket a famous memorandum-book, about which we used to joke him a good deal; its size and thickness saved his life, breaking the force of the ball, so that after traversing the book, it only penetrated the breast to the ribs; but it knocked him down and disabled him for the rest of the campaign."

By the 4th of June, Sherman's army was on the railroad, and Johnston being thus flanked out of his strong position at New Hope Church and Dallas, fell back before the advance of our army to a position which took in Kenesaw, Lost and Pine Mountains. Following the retreating enemy, the Twentieth Corps struck his line on the 6th of June near Pine Mountain, and a brisk skirmish ensued. By the 16th, the rebels had been driven from Lost and Pine Mountains, and had retreated to and intrenched a position which had Kenesaw as its salient. Shermanís lines pressed forward, and by the 20th, Johnston's right and left rested on Noonday and Nose's creeks, the latter being southwest of Kenesaw. Here the Twentieth Corps closed up against the rebel line near "Kulp House," where an assault was made on Hooker's line on the 22nd, which resulted in the repulse of the enemy. Butterfield's division was not actively engaged in this affair, but while closing in on this position two or three days previous, it had some lively skirmishing with the enemy, and the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin captured a rebel battle-flag.

In the meantime, the rain came down day after day almost without ceasing, and varying from a heavy down-pour to a wetting drizzle, and as a consequence, the digging of trenches and fighting in the wet woods and briar-filled fields was anything but pleasant. But finally the rain ceased and the hot June sun came out, drying up the dripping bushes and the saturated clothing and blankets of the troops and carrying sunshine into many a weary soldier's heart. The Kulp House was about three miles from Marietta, which lay in the rear of Kenesaw, and like the rest of the line, the skirmishing was constant and brisk there until Johnston evacuated the Kenesaw position on the night of July 2nd, and retreated towards the Chattahoochie River.

The losses of the Twenty-sixth during the month of June are officially reported as follows: Killed or died of wounds, 16; wounded, 36. Of the Ozaukee boys, John Paul, of Mequon, was mortally wounded, dying June 24th; and Wm. Hausburg and Anton Neumeister, both of Mequon, were wounded. Hausburg recovered and eventually returned to the regiment, but Neumeister was still absent on account of his wounds when the regiment was mustered out the following year.

Joining in the pursuit of Johnston's army, the Twenty-sixth skirmished with the enemy in his Nickajack Creek position until he was driven across the Chattahoochie. On the 17th of July, it crossed that river with its corps, at Paice's Ferry, and accompanying its movements toward Atlanta, crossed Peach Tree Creek about noon on the 20th. In the sanguinary battle which occurred on the banks of that creek that afternoon, the Third Brigade, now commanded by Col. Wood, formed the left of the battle line of the corps, connecting with the right of Newton's division of the Fourth Corps, in which was the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin, the "Milwaukee Regiment." The Twenty-second Wisconsin was deployed as skirmishers in front of Wood's brigade and the three Badger regiments being thus brought together in the famous battle, all won fresh laurels and fought it out side by side.