Part 10 (1/2)

But the success of the troops already raised in Kansas fired the hearts of other devoted men to lend a hand in the battle for the Union and liberty. In June, 1863, another regiment was organized at Fort Scott, and the regimental organization of the same was completed at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The regiment went into camp on the Poteau river, about two miles south of Fort Smith. The work of drill and discipline was here carried on till the regiment was in splendid condition for the field.

On the 24th of March, 1864, the regiment left Fort Smith, and set out on the Camden expedition, forming a part of Col. Williams' brigade of General Thayer's division. This division united with that under Major-General Steele on the Little Missouri river, after which they all moved on together against the rebels in the direction of the Red river.

The rebels under Generals Price, Smith and Taylor having defeated Union General Banks at the Red river, Major-General Steele retreated eastward to Camden, a distance of about sixty miles. During the retreat the regiment had several skirmishes with the enemy, and quite distinguished themselves.

On the 29th of April, 1864, the rebel cavalry came up with the rear of the Union forces at the Saline river, and skirmis.h.i.+ng continued until night came on. A pontoon bridge had been flung over the river, and all the Union soldiers had already crossed except some artillery and two brigades of infantry, which included the Second Kansas Colored Regiment.

We had six regiments in all on our side. The rebels came close up to our forces, and waited for the dawn of day to begin the battle. Union General Rice, of Iowa, formed his brigade in the centre; the Twelfth Kansas Infantry, under General Hayes, was on the left, and the Second Kansas Colored Regiment, under Colonel Crawford, was on the right. There were also two pieces of artillery on the Union side.

As soon as it was light enough, the opposing forces drew nearer one another, and the battle commenced in dead earnest. The crash of musketry was terrific. The rebels strove again and again to break through our thin lines, but the Union forces stood their ground with firmness, repelling every onset of the rebels till re-enforcements came back over the pontoon bridge to our aid. The rebels, who had in vain attempted for three long hours to break down the colored men of Kansas, next brought a battery of artillery to bear upon them, and opened fire. When Col.

Crawford saw this, he ordered the brave young men to charge upon the guns with the bayonet, and led the charge himself. All the gun-carriage horses were killed but two; the gunners were killed, wounded or had fled; the intrepid and heroic Kansas colored boys took possession of the rebel battery, and brought them over to our side! Truly, this was a brave deed! (Zabulun and Naphtali were a people who jeopardized their lives unto the death upon the high places of the field). When the Second Kansas returned with the rebel guns, the officers and men, in the midst of the battle, gave them a glorious salute, waving their swords in the air, and tossing up their caps on the points of their bayonets, whilst our devoted braves smiled with pleasure. After this successful capture of the guns, the Second Kansas was moved into the centre of the line; a charge by the entire Union forces was made along the whole line, and now the rebels everywhere gave away, and the victory was complete. The Second Kansas was the first to begin the battle, and they were the last to leave the field.

Thus the war went along the Western frontier. There were no great battles, as was the case in the East. But here was plenty to do for all that, and it was done well. There were at times great hards.h.i.+ps to endure-long, weary marches, cold, and the want of all things; but such is the life of the soldier, and such is war. We must take the rough with the smooth. Upon the whole, the Western men fought bravely and successfully, and mightily helped to pull down the rebellion.

The present generation have very little idea of the excitement that prevailed all over the country during the long war. Where all our regiments did so well-indeed, covered themselves with honor-it would be ridiculous to make any distinction, and place one before another. But I may at least make a selection at random, and single out the 54th Regiment of Ma.s.sachusetts, in March, 1863, who fought with unsurpa.s.sed valor until the close of the war-yea, after the close of the war! I followed the career of that devoted regiment as if I had been one of the brave fellows! Well, how they did fight, to be sure! They fought at James Island, at Fort Wagner, at Ol.u.s.tee, at Honey Hill, and at Boykin's Mill, after the war was over, because they had not heard that Lee had surrendered!

This Boykin's Mill was a few miles from Camden, South Carolina. The Fifty-fourth Regiment had fought every step of the way from Georgetown to Camden, and the rebels made a last desperate, but unsuccessful stand at Boykin's Mill. It was a splendid place for the defense, as there was no other way of approaching it except by a narrow embankment about two hundred yards long, where only one man could walk at a time. The rebels had torn up the planks of the bridge over the mill-race, thus compelling the men of the Fifty-fourth to cross over on the timbers and cross-ties, and all this under a fatal fire of musketry, which swept the embankment and the bridge, and made it little better than a ”forlorn hope” to pa.s.s over. But the Fifty-fourth did not falter. They had fought at Ol.u.s.tee and Fort Wagner, so they charged over the dreadful way in single file.

The first men to advance were all shot down, but the rest of their comrades advanced over their prostrate bodies, till the enemy became so panic-stricken at the sight that they gave up the fight, abandoned their position at the mill, and fled. There seems to have been a poet in the regiment-Mr. Henry A. Monroe, of New Bedford, Ma.s.sachusetts, who was the drummer-boy of Company C, of the Fifty-Fourth. He thus describes the fight at Boykin's Mill:

One wailing bugle note-then at the break of day, With martial step and gay the army takes the way From Camden Town.

There lay along the path, defending native land, A daring, desperate band entrenched on either hand In ambuscade.

A low and dark ravine beneath a rugged hill, Where stood the Boykin Mill spanning the creek, whose rill Flows dark and deep.

Only a narrow bank where one can scarcely tread; Thick branches meet o'erhead; across the mill-pond's bed A bridge up-torn.

One single sharp report:-A hundred muskets peal,- A wild triumphant yell, as back the army fell Stunned, bleeding, faint.

As when some mighty rock, obstructs the torrent's course; After the moment's pause, 'twill rush with greater force, Resistless on.

A moment's pause, and then our leader from his post, Viewing the stricken host, cried, ”Comrades!-all is lost If now we fail!”

Forming in single file, they gaze with bated breath; Around,-before,-beneath,-on every hand, stern death His visage showed.

”Forward!”-They quickly spring with leveled bayonet; Each eye is firmly set upon that pathway, wet With crimson gore.

That Balaklava das.h.!.+-Right through the leaden hail, O'er d.y.k.e and timbers frail, with heart that never fail They boldly charge.

Facing the scathing fire without a halt or break, Save when with moan or shriek in the blood-mingled creek The wounded fall.

What could resist that charge?-Above the battle's roar There swells a deafening cheer, telling to far and near, The Mill is won!

Anecdotes of deeds of bravery and devotion kept cropping up all through the war. During the early part of the war on the Lower Mississippi, a former slave a.s.sisted in bringing in a lot of prisoners, and he himself actually drove his former owner before him into the Union camp! ”Old Master” a.s.sumed bullying airs to induce him to let him escape, but the soldier pointed his gun at him repeatedly, saying, ”Go on, sir, or I'll shoot!” So he brought him into the camp, all radiant with smiles, and who can blame him for smiling at such a time as this?

At Marion, Tennessee, there were many incidents of personal bravery, of which this was one. A colored soldier had got a tree stump close to the rebel line, and in spite of all efforts to dislodge him, he still stuck to his post, and picked off their men. The rebels charged on the stump, but when the Union line saw the movement they concentrated their fire on the advancing men, and drove them back. Then there followed long and loud cheering for that brave and lonely soldier, who still stuck to his stump and kept firing away with a regularity that was truly wonderful.

The stump was riddled with bullets, but he still stuck to it, although at times he was nearer to the rebel lines than to the Union ones.