Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 262, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1911 — AROUND THE AMP FIR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AROUND THE AMP FIR

FIRST DAY OF CHICKAMAUGAi Detail* of JBloody Engagement'Given int Letter Written Home by Sergeant John Stevens. Of aU the battles of the Civil wart the battle of Chickamauga resulted InJ the greatest loss of fighting men from both sides combined. A bloody detail of the engagement was set down September 25, 1863, in a letter written home from Camp Chattanooga by a Union soldier, Sergt. John W. Stevens, who Is now the railroad flagman at the 1 Kenilworth avenue crossing In Oak Park, 111. An extract from the letter, telling of the first day's fight Xthat of September 19, 1863), is as follows: “After marching all night we halt-; ed —orders, 20 minutes for coffee—but before the 20 minutes were up our bugle sounded ‘Pall in,' and our officers repeated the command. We could see mounted orderlies riding In all directions, and it was apparent there was something more on hand than we knew. We only marched a

short way before the Second Mlnne-, sota regiment formed in line of battle. Our battery came up on the run and formed on the left of the Second Min-' uesota. The Thirty-fifth Ohio form-; ed on the left of the battery, and our regiment, the Eighty-seventh Indiana, formed in„rear of the battery as a support We only advanced a short distance before we found the rebs in full, force, and the ball game was on. The Thirty-fifth Ohio was getting the worst > of it and the Eighty-seventh was ordered to relieve them. We formed in, their rear and lay down. The Thirtyfifth passed to the rear. We were or-, dered to hold our fire when the Thirtyfifth Went back. They went on thei run. The rebs thougtft they were on, the retreat. They came after the Thir-ty-fifth on a charge, yelling like wild! men. They had not seen our regiment. We let them get within about 40 yards, when we Jumped to our feet, gave them one volley and started to meet them with cold steel. They broke and ran like scared sheep. “After giving three cheers we once, more got ready for the Johnnies. We did not have to wait long. They yrere soon back at us, three lines deep. Our batteries opened on them with canis- , ter. We were pouring in the musketry and it got to hot they gave it up. We had almost emptied our cartridge boxes, hut soon had them fljled up again. By this time t|xe Ninth Ohio had cometo our aid and none too soon: The rebs had been strongly re-enforced and had made a charge on our battery, taking two pieces, but were repulsed by the Second Minnesota and Thirtyfifth Ohio. Learning that they had taken two pieces of our battery, the Ninth Ohio and our regiment fixed bayonets and charged the rebs, recapturing our guns and some prisoners. “We then returned to our old position, where we waited for the rebs. They seemed satisfied to let us alone. We remained on-the field until about 4 p. m., when we Joined our division west of us on what was known at the Dyre farm, west of the Lafayette and Chickamauga pike. We had sent all our tents, blankets and knapsacks to the rear. We were not allowed to build any fires to cook or make coffee. So, after a hard day's fight, wo were compelled to eat raw sowbelly and hardtack and drink water for our supper. Our beds wire the cold earth, with the heavy dew and cloudless side* for our cover.”

“Our Battery Came Up on the Run."