Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
September 19, 1896



The Ozaukee Rifles
Chapter 13

Independence Day, 1864 was a typical summer day in Georgia, clear, warm and bright and the boys of the Sixteenth were astir at an early hour, making preparations for an eventful day. At 8 A.M. the Thirty-first Illinois and the Sixteenth Wisconsin were ordered to ìfall in without knapsacks,î and as such an order in the presence of the enemy generally meant a fight, the boys made preparations accordingly. The two regiments, under command of Gen. Force, were marched out to the picket line, where they deployed in line of battle, one on each side of the road leading south to and across Nickajack creek, and two companies of the Thirty-first were deployed as skirmishers. Having loaded their guns the two regiments, preceded by the skirmish line, moved forward with flying colors. They had not gone a mile when the crack! crack! crack! of the skirmishersí rifles were heard, they having run on to rebel scouts, and soon answering shots sent bullets zipping back through the main line and wounding a member of Co. C. of the Sixteenths.

The country thereabouts proved to have a very rough, rolling surface, the larger part of which was covered with timber in which the undergrowth was so dense as to be almost impregnable for a line of battle, and very slow progress was made, the troops tearing their clothes and disarranging their individual tempers in the struggle to pass through.

But the small clearings crossed occasionally by the line of battle were full of dew-berries, which grew so thickly that the shoes of the soldiers were actually colored by constant contact with them, and they were so ripe, juicy and tempting that many of the boys could not refrain from stooping now and then to grab a handful, even though by so doing they broke the line and drew upon themselves the wrath of the officers. At noon the line had reached a point about three miles from camp, and as the rebel cavalry had disappeared, a halt was ordered to give the boys a chance to eat a cold dinner.

After dinner, companies C, G and I of the Sixteenth, under command of Capt. Wheeler of Co. G, deployed as skirmishers, relieving the Illinois boys, and pressed forward into a tract of dense timber that covered the hills on the north bank of the Nickajack. They had gone but a few rods when Co. G, which was in the center and straddling the road, struck a picket outpost of the enemy, a fact that showed the near proximity of a rebel camp. A volley from Co. G sent the rebel pickets to the rear on the run, and our boys breaking into a double quick followed close at their heels down a steep hill and through dense underbrush that hid objects from view that were only two rods distant. On the boys tore through the brush, making no sound but that of breaking twigs and the occasional ìsteady, boys, steady,î of the officers, when suddenly they found themselves on the bank of the creek and the reserve pickets of the enemy pouring a volley into them from a hill on the further side. The bullets cut the bushes around our boys, but luckily hit none of them, and they hastily glanced around for good places to cross the stream. The Nickajack was here, a rapid stream of some three or four rods in width and two to three feet in depth. A few rods above the ford where the road crosses was a small mill and dam, and on large rocks that rose above the surface of the water just below the dam planks were laid for a foot bridge. Across these planks dashed a number of the boys with a yell while the others jumped into the stream and waded across amid whistling minies, and as soon as they gained a footing on the further bank routed the rebs and chased them south through the timber. A half mile south of the creek a large clearing was reached on a hill in the south part of which the rebels were busy putting the finishing touches on a formidable looking line of earthworks. A volley from our skirmish line sent the workers scurrying to cover, and just then Gen. Force rode up, and after a look at the rebel position ordered his skirmishers to fall back to the south bank of the creek. The enemy's skirmishers followed, and the afternoon was spent in a very noisy celebration of our country's natal day, and in the exchange of civilities (?) in the shape of minie bullets. To illustrate how the boys spent the afternoon the following incident is given: Sergt. ìBillyî Lake of Co. G, one of the Chippewa valley boys and a crack shot, was with the writer shooting from behind a large boulder, and was much annoyed by the close shooting of a rebel who kept himself well concealed behind a large tree. Finally the rebel grew a little careless and allowed his hips to protrude on one side of the tree, a fact that was quickly noticed by Lake, who taking a careful aim fired.

The bullet dusted the reb's pants beautifully, and Lake laughingly remarked as he reloaded his rifle: ìThat Johnnie won't sit down for a month, I'll bet.î

The main line of battle remained on the north bank, where it had been reinforced by the Thirtieth Illinois, until it grew dark enough to cover the movement, when the three regiments were marched across to the south bank and forming on the skirmish line at a signal poured two or three volleys in the direction of the enemy. The rebel skirmishers were so surprised by the unexpected showers of lead that they left that vicinity without even saying ëgoodnight.î

The Union troops then started for camp, with the exception of Co. G, which was left as a rear guard and remained in position on the south bank of the creek for some twenty minutes after the departure of the regiments. While our boys were thus watching silently in the dense darkness of the woods, the heavy tramp, tramp of a marching column was heard approaching from the enemy's lines, and the boys of Co. G began to have visions of Andersonville, when fortunately the rebel column filed off of the road and stacked arms a few rods from where our boys were lying. They were so near that the orders of the officers, given in low tones, were distinctly heard by our boys, as was also some of the conversations of the men when they laid down after stacking arms. Co. G succeeded in getting safely away, however, the darkness and noise of the water rushing over and through the rocks in the creek favoring them, and by midnight was safely in camp, very tired after the ìcelebration.î

The next day the corps marched several miles to the right and down the Nickajack, and swung into line on the north bank in the midst of a very lively skirmish, the noise of which almost rivaled that of a battle. Here the enemy was strongly entrenched on the south bank and our line was soon behind a line of earthworks on the north bank, where they remained several days, the pickets keeping up the customary ìchoppingî fire and our artillery occasionally sending over a remainder in the shape of a shell.

On the 9th of July our army succeeded in gaining possession of two fords of the Chattahoochee, and of course the moment Sherman secured a footing on the south bank, Johnston's position on the north bank was insecure, and he retreated across the river that night. The next day our division marched down the river to a ford near the mouth of the Sweetwater, feinting to cross the river at that point. Here large fields of ripe, luscious blackberries were found, and the boys who had been living on hardtack and salt port so long pitched in and had a feast of berries, in spite of daily shellings from the enemy's batteries, who threw shells over among the berry pickers hoping thus to frighten them away. It was here that a rebel soldier shouted across the river and asked one of our pickets who commanded the Yankee army. On being told that ìBillyî Sherman did, he replied: ìWall, I guess he commands ourn few, for when youns move weuns have to move tew!î

July 12th the Twelfth Wisconsin infantry, which had until then been serving in another division, was assigned to the brigade in which the Sixteenth belonged, and was gladly welcomed by the boys of the latter regiment. Up to this time the Twelfth had not seen much hard fighting, and was still quite a large regiment, but before the end of that campaign its line was greatly shortened.

On the night of the 16th the division joined the balance of the corps back near Marietta, and with the remainder of the Army of the Tennessee crossed the creek at Roswell, some eighteen miles above the railroad bridge. The Army of the Cumberland crossed at fords just above the railroad bridge and the Army of the Ohio crossed some distance below Roswell. Thus when Shermanís army was on the right, north of Atlanta, the Army of the Ohio in the centre, and the Army of the Tennessee on the left and threatening Atlanta from the east. On the 18th the latter army struck the Atlanta & Augusta railroad at Decatur, captured some trains with supplies and then tore up the track. On the 20th our corps was marching rapidly on the road leading from Decatur to Atlanta, when about noon we hard the cannonading off to our right front, which soon increased in volume and continued some two hours. It was the battle of Peach Tree Creek. When Johnston retreated across the Chattahoochee, Jeff Davis relieved him of the command of the army and gave it to Gen. J. B. Hood, a well known fighter. Hood's first move was to march a part of his army out of the trenches and attack the Army of the Cumberland as it was crossing the Peach Tree Creek, but he was defeated with a heavy loss.

That afternoon the whole army closed in on the outer or Peach Tree Creek line of the enemy, and began to swing into line, the armies of the Cumberland, Ohio and Tennessee forming from the right to the left in the order named, the 15th corps straddling the Augusta railroad, the 17th corps coming next in the line with the left in air, while the 16th corps followed some distance in the rear. About 5 P.M. the First brigade formed in line on the left of the division and of the whole army, the two Wisconsin regiments in the first line and three Illinois regiments in the supporting line, and with the rest swept forward in battle array out of the timber and into a large clear plain east of Atlanta, which was hidden from view by a hill, over a mile distant on which could be seen the earthworks of the enemy.

The scene was a grand and thrilling one as the two corps swept out into and across this plain, the long lines of blue with their flying colors and glistening bayonets, the batteries of artillery at proper intervals, the generals and their brilliant staff and preceding all the thin line of skirmishers already engaged with that of the enemy, making a picture that long remains bright on memory's walls. Half an hour later the First brigade reached and entered a large piece of timber in which the undergrowth was very thick and the boys found it difficult work to force their way through. Half way through the woods the skirmish line met with strong resistance, and the minies came back through and over the main line, the boys in which grasped their guns with a firmer hold, and with determination upon every face pressed silently forward. Shortly the light of a clearing was seen not far ahead, and just then the command was given to halt, which was followed a few minutes later by an order directing the troops to remain where they were for the night and to sleep on their arms. It was now growing dark, and after eating a cold supper of hardtack and raw pork, the boys selected positions behind trees and such other objects as might protect them from the bullets, which continued to come from the skirmish line of the enemy with that spiteful ìzipî that indicated the close proximity of the shooters, and with their rifles in their hands or lying by their sides, were soon fast asleep. Away to the right cannon roared and thundered; all along the line the skirmishers kept up a brisk fire; bullets and shells zipped and shrieked over and through the bivouacs of both armies; but still the weary soldiers that were not on duty slept on as peacefully as though they were far away in their boyhood homes. Many a gallant boy slept calmly on that field that night and dreamed of some ìdistant Biagen,î that before the setting of another sun was pouring out his life blood on that now famous and historic ground.