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p. 98-165

To give the history of a regiment on active duty during our late civil war as it should be given, is a task to which only the genius of a Bancroft or a Prescott is equal, and the writer of this sketch is aware, even more painfully than will be those who read it, of his inability to convey to the public any adequate idea of the grand, heroic services rendered the country by the Eighth Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry. Even if his pen was competent to do this work, the brief space allotted to the annals of a regiment in this report precludes any possibility of recording in it the detailed history of a service extending through four years and a half, and crowded so thick with events that its experience is equal to a century of ordinary peaceful life. He had hoped to be able to compress this sketch within yet narrower limits than it occupies, but the important campaigns in which the regiment took part were so numerous, and the incidents attending them so multifarious, the country in which it operated so vast, and its service so varied, exciting, and oftentimes so terrible, that justice to the heroic and devoted men, who on so many red fields of battle, shed luster on the State that sent them forth, demand something more than a mere skeleton analysis of the number of engagements in which it participated, the miles marched, and the men killed or wounded, or died of wounds or disease; and he finds it impossible to convey a clear understanding of the dangers, privations and toils they braved, suffered and endured, without embracing many circumstances that are of minor importance. As it is, much had to be omitted, that, if narrated, would give a better idea of the sacrifices and services of the soldiers of the Eighth, and of the glorious recklessness, and still more glorious faith, with which they marched, and suffered, and fought, through danger, disease and death, in the fields and camps they made historic and immortal.

The organization of the Eighth Kansas Infantry was commenced in August, 1861, and the first company (A) was mustered into the service on the 28^th of that month. The regiment was originally intended, and was recruited, for service in the State and along the border, as, at that period of our great national struggle, with hostile savages on our western and southern frontiers and Missouri overrun with rebel hordes, an invasion of Kansas was supposed to be inevitable. As was the case with many other Kansas regiments, the Eighth was also a mixed organization, intended to have eight companies of infantry, and two of cavalry, such a disposition, as it was supposed, being better adapted for service against marauding bands, and for the defense of the border.

The order for raising the Eighth was received late in July by Governor Charles Robinson, and recruiting officers were at once appointed. Kansas had already sent six regiments to the field, and another (The Seventh) was recruiting at the same time; but the young State, though sadly taxed to fill these calls, responded with enthusiasm and alacrity to this fresh demand. In September six full companies were mustered in, and in October two others were added.

The Governor had appointed, as Colonel of the regiment, Major Henry W Wessels, Sixth United States Infantry, an old and experienced officer, a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and a soldier who had seen service in the Florida and Mexican wars, and for many years on the Plains.

Early in October he assumed command, and under his personal supervision the organization was completed. To his watchful care and intelligent instruction, during the time he remained with the regiment, much of the high reputation it afterwards won for discipline, drill and efficiency, is due.

In October the headquarters of the regiment were established at Lawrence, but, owing to the exigencies of the service, it was found impossible to secure a general concentration at that point. Companies A, D, H and G, were stationed there; and others were scattered, at different points, over the State.

In November the organization of the regiment was as follows:

Colonel — Henry W. Wessels, Major Sixth U.S. Infantry

Lieutenant Colonel — John A. Martin, mustered in at Fort Leavenworth, October 27^th, 1861

Major — Ed. F. Schneider, mustered in at Fort Leavenworth, September 5^th, 1861

Surgeon — J.B. Woodward, mustered in October 4^th, 1861

Assistant Surgeon — George W. Hogeboom, mustered in October 22d, 1861

Adjutant — S.C. Russell, mustered in October 23d, 1861

Quartermaster — E.P. Bancroft, mustered in October 22d, 1862

Sergeant-Major — Sol. R. Washer, mustered in November 14^th, 1861

Quartermaster-Sergeant — Wm. Rosenthal, mustered in November 14^th, 1861

Commissary-Sergeant — V.S. Fisk, mustered in November 11^th, 1861

Hospital Steward — Jas. J. Phillips, mustered in September 12^th, 1861

Company A. — Jas. L. Abernathy, Captain; Samuel Laighton, First Lieutenant; John Conover, Second Lieutenant. Organized August 28^th, 1861. Aggregate strength of company, ninety-nine. Stationed at Lawrence.

Company B. — David Block, Captain; Charles Alten, First Lieutenant; Martin Manerlian, Second Lieutenant. Organized September 3d. Aggregate strength of company, seventy-eight. Stationed at Fort Leavenworth.

Company C. — Jas. M. Graham, Captain; John G. Bechtold, First Lieutenant; Richard R. Bridgeland, Second Lieutenant. Organized September 19^th. Aggregate strength of company, ninety. Station at Fort Riley.

Company D (Cavalry). — George F. Earle, Captain; A.J. Pike, First Lieutenant; A.D. Scarle, Second Lieutenant. Organized September 13^th. Aggregate strength of company, eighty one. Stationed at Lawrence.

Company E. — John Greelish, Captain, Milton Rose, First Lieutenant; Daniel R. Rooks, Second Lieutenant. Organized September 16^th. Aggregate strength of company, eighty-three. Stationed at Olathe.

Company F. — A.W. Williams, Captain; S.B. Todd, First Lieutenant; John L. Graham, Second Lieutenant. Organized September 28^th. Aggregate strength of company, ninety-one. Stationed at Iowa Point.

Company G. — N. Harrington, Captain; Robert Flickinger, First Lieutenant; Jos. Randolph, Second Lieutenant. Organized October 2d. Aggregate strength of company, seventy-one. Stationed at Lawrence.

Company H (Cavalry). — Asaph Allen, Captain; L.T. Heritage, First Lieutenant; Robert Madden, Second Lieutenant. Organized October 12^th. Aggregate strength of company, eighty-five. Stationed at Lawrence.

Aggregate strength of the regiment November 30^th, 1861, six hundred and seventy-eight.

On the morning of the 16^th of December, companies A and G, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Martin, struck tents at Lawrence and marched to West Point, Missouri, where they arrived on the afternoon of the 19^th, having traveled seventy miles. Colonel Wessels, with companies D and H, started for the same place on the 22d, and reached there on the 25^th.

During this month the different companies of the regiment added a number of recruits to their rolls, and Second Lieutenant John Conover, having received authority, undertook the organization of another company (I). By the 12^th he had recruited forty-four men, and was mustered in as First Lieutenant. On the 13^th of December the Eighth numbered in the aggregate, seven hundred and forty officers and men. Seven men died during the years, and one was discharged for disability.

Early in January, 1862, a detachment of forty-six men, under Captain A.W. J. Brown, was transferred to the Eighth from the Sixth Kansas, and became company K. Its other officers were, First Lieutenant Wm. S. Newberry, and Second Lieutenant W.J. Larrimer.

On the 7^th of February, much to the regret of the officers and men, Colonel Wessels received an order to proceed to Washington, and assume command of his regiment in the Regular Army. He started the next day, turning over the command of the Eighth to Lieutenant Colonel Martin. On the 15^th of the same month, companies A, F and G were ordered to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and started for that post next morning. On the 22d, the headquarters of the regiment, with companies D, H and K were removed to Osawatomie, Kansas.

The winter spent upon the border was a very trying one. The cold was intense, and although the duties were light, the men, unused to the exposure incident to camp life, suffered severely from the inclement weather. A number of scouts were sent into Missouri, but no engagements occurred, and the monotony of the camp, unbroken by a single incident of exciting interest, became exceedingly irksome.

On the 28^th of February the detachments known as companies I and K were, by order of Major General Hunter, commanding the department, consolidated as company I. Lieutenant Conover was promoted to the Captaincy. Captain Brown and Lieutenant Larrimer were mustered out. First Lieutenant Newberry retained his position, and First Lieutenant J. Milton Hadley was made Second Lieutenant.

On the same day General Hunter issued an order reorganizing a number of the Kansas regiments. Under its terms the Eighth was consolidated with a battalion raised for service in New Mexico, and Colonel R.H. Graham, of the latter, was assigned to the command. This order was received at Osawatomie on the 11^th of March, and the next day the companies stationed there, in accordance with instructions, broke camp and started for Fort Leavenworth. Important changes were made in the organization of the regiment by this consolidation. Companies D and H (cavalry) were transferred to the Ninth Kansas. Companies F and I changed their lettering, so that the former became company D and the latter company F; and three companies of Colonel Graham’s battalion, afterwards known as companies H, I and K, were added to the Eighth. Surgeon Woodward and Quartermaster Bancroft were transferred to the Ninth, and O. Chamberlain appointed Surgeon, and A. Robinson Quartermaster, in their stead. Quartermaster Sergeant Rosenthal was promoted to a Lieutenancy in the Ninth, and John R. Corker took his place. Hospital Steward Phillips was transferred to the Ninth, and Edwin J. Talcott appointed in his stead. The three companies added to the regiment were as follows:

Company H. — Edgar P. Thrego, Captain; Frank Curtis, First Lieutenant; H.C. Blackman, Second Lieutenant. Aggregate strength of company, ninety-one.

Company I. — Henry C. Austin, Captain; Marion Brooks, First lieutenant; A. Graham, Second Lieutenant. Aggregate strength of company, seventy-seven.

Company K. — Wm. E. Hurd Captain; James E. Love, First Lieutenant; Wm. H. Babcock, Second Lieutenant. Aggregate strength of company, seventy-one.

Aggregate strength of the regiment after the consolidation, eight hundred and sixty-two.

The regiment was then distributed as follows; Companies A, D and G were stationed at Fort Kearney, Nebraska; companies B and F at Fort Leavenworth; company C at Fort Riley, (Captain Graham commanding post); companies E and K at Aubrey, Kansas, (Major Schneider commanding); and companies H and I at Leavenworth city, on provost duty. Colonel Graham was detailed as Provost Marshal General of the State by Major General Hunter, and Lieutenant Colonel Martin as Provost Marshal of Leavenworth city.

No changes were made until the latter part of April, when company B relieved company H in the city, and company H was ordered to Fort Riley to relieve company C, the latter company being ordered to Fort Leavenworth.

Late in May orders were received to send all troops that could be spared to Corinth, Mississippi, against which place the armies under General Halleck were operating. The expedition which had started to New Mexico, under command of General Robert B. Mitchell, was suddenly recalled, and most of the regiments comprising it were ordered to the south. On the 25^th of May, at the earnest solicitation of General Mitchell, an order was issued by General Blunt (who had meantime assumed command of the department) directing the Eighth Kansas to go to Corinth, the companies then within reach to go at once; the others to follow as soon as possible. Companies E, H. and K were immediately ordered in, and by forced marches reached Leavenworth on the 27^th. After a review of troops on the 28^th, five companies of the Eighth, B, E, H, I and K, with a battalion of the Seventh Kansas, were embarked on board the steamer Emma and at daylight next morning started down the Missouri. The partings had been said: wives, mothers, sweethearts, fathers, and all the dear friends at home, were left behind. Perhaps never more were many of these men to grasp their hands, and look into the eyes that followed them, brimming with tears. They were launching into a future dark with peril and terrible with its weight of suffering of privations and of tolls; but they rejoiced that at last the languor of restrain was to be lifted from them and welcomed the call which summoned them to hold, over the green dominion of treason, the flag which symbolized the nation’s unity and empire. The glad picture of a country saved was imprinted upon their hearts, and lighted up their future imagination; the old, heroic blood, inherited from a glorious ancestry of soldiers, started from its arterial center, inspiring them with the fervor of patriotic self-sacrifice, and they gloried in the opportunity to interpose their hearts between the bullet of the traitor and the fair form of the Republic.

On the trip down the river, two men, Private Kech, company B, and Wrigley, company I, fell overboard and were drowned. With these exceptions, the passage was marked by no incidents, and was a very pleasant one. At daylight on the 31^st the boat arrived at St. Louis, where she remained until the evening of the 1^st of June. It had been expected that the troops would be sent up the Tennessee river, but at St. Louis news of the evacuation of Corinth was received, and on reaching Cairo they were ordered to proceed to Columbus, Ky., and thence, along the line of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, to Corinth. On the 2d, at about noon Columbus was reached and the troops disembarked, going into camp just outside of the abandoned rebel fortifications, on a high, steep bluff, overlooking the river.

Colonel Graham was taken sick at St. Louis, and left the regiment at that place, turning over the command to Lieutenant Colonel Martin. He never afterwards rejoined it, as he continued sick until his death, which occurred in October of the same year.

The troops comprising General Mitchell’s command, consisting of the First, Eighth and Seventh Kansas, and Second Kansas Battery: the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fifteenth Wisconsin, Infantry, and a battalion of the Twenty-second Missouri Infantry were concentrated at Columbus within a few days, and on the 8^th moved southward. The Second Kansas Battery was attached to the Eight Kansas, by order of the General commanding. After a march of three days, passing through Clinton and Moscow, Ky., we reached Union City, Tenn. Here we remained until the morning of the 16^th, when we again marched; but on the following day pitched our tents to await the arrival of our commissary train. Late in the night, however, news was received of an anticipated attack by the rebels on Trenton, Tenn., garrisoned by only a small force of cavalry, and Lieutenant Colonel Martin was directed to proceed to that place as rapidly as possible with the battalion of the Eighth and the Second Battery. At daylight the command was off, and at 3 p.m. reached Trenton, having marched twenty-four miles, ferrying across two branches of the Ohio river en route. The rebels did not make the attack, but the troops at Trenton were greatly relieved by the timely arrival of reinforcements.

The Eighth remained at this place until the 25^th, when the First Kansas took its place, and it marched to Humboldt, Tenn., arriving there the same day. Here it remained until the afternoon of the 2d of July, when it took the cars for Corinth, reaching that place at noon on the 3d. Reporting to General Halleck, it was assigned to General Jeff. C. Davis’ Division, Army of the Mississippi, and directed to report to Major General Rosecrans, on Clear Creek, for further instructions. By that officer it was temporarily attached to Colonel Fuller’s brigade to await the arrival of General Mitchell’s troops, and on the evening of the 3d, for the first time since its organization, the Eighth Kansas pitched its tents with, and formed part of, one of the Grand Armies of the Nation.

The regiment had to pass through a rigid ordeal at Corinth. The General-in-Chief had not yet learned that the war meant the destruction of slavery and as the Kansas troops, in passing through Kentucky and Tennessee, had not evinced any respect for the "peculiar institution", but had both stolen and harbored slaves, General Quinby, a pro-slavery officer in command of the district through which we passed, reported the Seventh and Eighth as mutinous, undisciplined and demoralized. At one time he issued an order threatening to muster them out in case they interfered with slave property and his partial reports preceded us, prejudicing the commanding General against the two regiments. General Rosecrans, to his honor be it said, refused to believe the reports that we were "mutinous and demoralized," but resolved to investigate and learn the truth for himself. Accordingly the day after our arrival, his Inspector General, Colonel Kenneth, arrived in the camp of the Eighth to inspect it. Entirely unexpected as this was, in ten minutes the command was ready. A very rigid examination, not only of the arms, clothing and accoutrements of the regiment, but of its personnel was made, and when through, Colonel K., in the most complimentary terms, expressed his satisfaction and pleasure at the result of his observations. The next day General Rosecrans personally complimented Lieutenant Colonel Martin upon the "discipline and drill of the men, and the perfect order in which the arms, accoutrements and clothing were kept." "No volunteer regiment in the army," he said, "had received so favorable a report from his Inspector." The Eighth was never afterwards charged with a lack of discipline or unsoldierly conduct, and in General Rosecrans, from that day forward, it always found an earnest friend.

General Mitchell reached Corinth on the afternoon of the 5^th, and the other troops of his brigade arrived a few days later. A beautiful camp ground was selected, and we were soon very comfortable situated. To the Eighth the stay at this place was of great advantage. The regiment was exercised in company movements in the morning and in battalion drill every afternoon. It was associated with older troops, and profited by their experience, acquiring their splendid confidence and self-reliance without losing any of its own splendid discipline; it was familiarized with the duties of outpost-guards and pickets, and thus its morale, as well as its efficiency, was greatly improved.

At 3 o’clock on the morning of the 22d of July the Eighth left Corinth and proceeded to Jacinto, twelve miles south, where it was attached to the First Brigade, Ninth Division, Army of the Mississippi, General Davis commanding the Division and General Mitchell the Brigade. It remained here twelve days, long enough to become acquainted with the troops with which it was thereafter to be associated, and to further perfect the officers and men in the routine of duties incident to a great army.

On the 2d of August orders came from General Rosecrans directing the regiment to proceed to Eastport, a small town then at the head of navigation on the Tennessee river and a large depot for commissary and quartermaster’s supplies. Only one company of cavalry was at that time stationed there, but a superior force of rebel guerrillas had been menacing the place, and a larger garrison was deemed necessary, as the point was important as a base of supplies, and there were probably several million dollars worth of government goods stored in the town.

At three o’clock on the morning of the 3d the regiment marched, and early in the afternoon of the fifth reached Eastport, passing through Iuka en route. On arriving, four companies were camped on the top of a hill overlooking the town and surrounding country, and inside a rough chain of breastworks which had been previously built. Lieutenant Colonel Martin assumed command of the post, and appointed Captain Block as Provost Marshal, that officer with his company (B) being stationed in the town, which was close to the river bank.

The Eight remained at Eastport fourteen days. During that time its scouts penetrated the country in every direction. A detachment under Captain Austin, company I, made scout to Chickasaw, about eight miles up the river, capturing twelve men and a large quantity of salt and flour, smuggled through our lines and intended for the rebel army. On a second visit to the place, Captain A. found a party of guerrillas engaged in rifling a store, but they broke for the woods as soon as discovered. Our men pursued and fired upon them, but were unable to overtake them. Lieutenant Rose, company E. made a scout across the river and captured two guerrillas. Lieutenant Blackman company H, was sent up the river to Florence, Ala., on the small steamer "Cottage," and captured a lot of stores taken from sutlers of our army by the rebels. Captain Hurd, company K, Lieutenant Keifer, company B, and Captain Greelish, company E, also made scouts into different parts of the surrounding country, and captured quantities of materials and munitions of war. The latter, while on a trip to Florence, took prisoners a rebel Colonel and a small detachment of rebel soldiers.

On the 18^th we received orders to be in readiness to march next day, and that evening the First Brigade arrived in Eastport. The other two Brigades came in next morning. General Davis being absent on leave, General Mitchell was in command of the Division, and Colonel Coler, Twenty-fifth Illinois, in command of our Brigade. At noon on the 18^th the Eighth crossed the Tennessee river, and marched out about a mile, camping near Waterloo, Ala. As the means of crossing were wholly inadequate, the troops of the Division did not all get over until the 22d. On the morning of the 23d, at 4 o’clock, the Division marched, traveling south and camped at noon, near Gravelly Springs. Next day, after a march of fifteen miles, it reached Florence, Ala.

Here we learned, for the first time, our destination, and the object of this movement. While Buell’s army watched the fords of the Tennessee, from near Florence to Bridgeport, Bragg had stealthily crossed it at Harrison, above Chattanooga, and traveling the Sequatchie Valley, was pressing hurriedly northward towards Louisville and Cincinnati, while Kirby Smith, with another Division, pressed through Cumberland Gap towards the same objective points. To meet this sudden and threatening move two Divisions of the Army of the Mississippi were ordered to reinforce Buell, and ours was one of those selected for this duty.

At Florence, therefore, the command was stripped for the campaign. Transportation was cut down to three wagons to a regiment, to be used for carrying ammunition and commissary supplies, all tents, except one to each regiment, were sent across the river to Tuscumbia; all necessary baggage was abandoned, and for the first time, the Eighth was organized in light marching order.

At two o’clock on the morning of August 26^th this terrible campaign commenced. It is impossible, in the space allotted to this report, to give any adequate description of the events that crowded it with interest, or of the hardships, toils and sufferings that attended it. The fiery southern sun beat upon the marching column like the heat of a furnace; the dust was almost insufferable, at times arising in such clouds that it was difficult to see three feet ahead; and water was very scarce, the only reliance, except at long intervals, being ponds digged by the farmers of the country for catching the rain that fell during the wet season. These ponds had become stagnant during the long drought, and their surface was, in nearly all cases, covered with a foul green scum, which had to be pushed aside to get at the water. We were never supplied with more than half rations, oftentimes less than that. During the latter part of the march the hard bread gave out, and flour was issued in its stead. This the men had neither the time nor the implements to bake properly; it could only be used by making of it a dough and frying it, or by pasting it upon their ramrods and baking it over the fire. As we abandoned all large cooking utensils at Florence and none others were issued, each man was thrown upon his own resources to provide vessels with which to cook his food. Canteens were made to supply nearly every want. Split in two, one side formed a frying pan, and the other, perforated with small holes, upon which they rasped what corn they could pick for making meal-cake or mush. Tin cups or old fruit cans supplied the place of coffee-pot and boiler, but only once a day was coffee to be had. So the commissary department was conducted on the march.

The first day out from Florence we traveled twenty-four miles, camping late in the afternoon, near the Tennessee line. The next day we camped at Lawrenceburg, Tenn., having marched twenty-one miles; the next, passing through Franklin at about 9 o’clock, we turned off southeast and camped twelve miles beyond, having marched nineteen miles. The next day (September 1^st) we reached Murfreesboro, nineteen miles. On the third day out from Florence our rear guard was attacked by guerrillas in pretty strong force, but they were driven off without loss. On the night of the 31^st the camp was alarmed and the men stood to arms for an hour in anticipation of an attack, but none was made.

At four o’clock on the evening of the 3d we started for Nashville. By the direct road the distance is thirty-two miles, but the bridges over several streams were destroyed and we were forced to travel by circuitous routes, so that the way was lengthened out to thirty-nine miles. The night was very chilly, and the march a rapid one. At 2 o’clock in the morning the column was halted in line and allowed to rest. The rail fences furnished fuel for the bivouac fires, and in ten minutes two lines of flame blazed along the sides of the road for six miles, irradiating the heavens with an angry glare, and revealing a wild, weird scene of army life, as it flashed from the stacks of burnished armes and shone upon groups of dusty soldiers preparing for a brief and grateful repose upon the bare chill earth, beneath the quiet stars. In three hours, however, the bugles sounded the advance, the command moved on, and at 11 o’clock, faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundreds of strong men had fallen by the roadside, powerless to proceed, and the jaded column, usually so compact, was stretched out for miles to the rear. On this terrible night march the Eighth acquired the name of the "grey hounds," from the solidity and rapidity of its marching. On reaching Nashville only about thirty of the regiment were absent from the ranks, while many other regiments did not have fifty with their colors.

We remained in Nashville until 4 o’clock in the afternoon of September 11^th, when we again started on, and marched that night, though a fearful storm, to Edgefield Junction, ten miles. Next afternoon, at four o’clock, we moved on, passing over a spur of the Cumberland Mountains at nine, and camping at two o’clock in the morning near Tybee Springs. At six o’clock the same morning we started again and had reached a point near Mitchelleville, when we were overtaken by a courier and ordered to return to Nashville. Facing about, we marched two miles and a half, and at 3 p.m. halted. Shortly afterwards the order to return was countermanded, and the troops were directed to move forward as rapidly as possible. At ten o’clock that night we were en route again; at daylight we passed through Franklin, Tenn., and an hour afterwards halted by the roadside, where a rest of two hours was allowed. We then pushed on again, and at eleven a.m. camped about fourteen miles from Bowling Green, Ky. The march from Murfreesboro to Nashville was exhausting, but this was even worse. It occupied forty-three hours, and during that time the troops were almost wholly deprived of food or rest, and traveled over forty-seven miles.

Next morning (15^th) at 2 o’clock, the Division was on the road, and at 1 p.m. went into camp about a mile north of Bowling Green. At 6 a.m. on the 17^th we again marched, leaving behind, by order of General Buell, all wagons except one to a regiment, and all clothing except that we had on. Rested and refreshed by the halt of a day and a half, and inspired by the intelligence that Bragg’s army was just ahead, the men were in high spirits, enthusiastic and eager for the expected combat. The whole army had been concentrated at Bowling Green, and its serried columns moved out by different roads simultaneously. We forded Big Barren river, and our Division moved along the Louisville pike until 10 o’clock, when it turned in the direction of Glasgow, to cut off a body of four thousand rebels reported at that place. Just after noon a drenching rain fell, and continued during the whole day. After a march of eighteen miles, we learned that the enemy had hastily retreated and we bivouacked for the night. Our wagon had been left behind, the men were entirely out of provisions, and nearly all their blankets were in the wagon. To add to our discomfort, the rain continued to pour down during the whole night. A straw stack furnished bedding to keep the troops off the ground, and a convenient rail fence paid its tribute to the cause of the Union by lighting our bivouac fires.

At 4 o’clock reveille sounded, and in half an hour, soaked, dripping, hungry and tired we were again on our way. No dinner or supper the day before; no prospect of breakfast or dinner that day, we knew, as we could not reach our commissary train until evening. We satisfied the cravings of our stomachs by eating corn plucked in the fields along our route, and after a march of eighteen miles, rejoined our Corps, near Bell’s Tavern, at 3 p.m. Here we found our train, and for the first time since the morning of the previous day, got a meal.

At 5 o’clock next morning we moved on, and shortly afterwards met the troops lately composing the garrison at Mumfordsville, captured and paroled by Bragg two days before. We were then within seventeen miles of that town, and half of Bragg’s army, with the greater part of his artillery and train, was on the south side of Green river. The passage of that stream was difficult, and had our army pressed directly on, the capture of a large portion of the rebel force was inevitable. But after a march of about four miles, we were halted at Prewett’s Knob, and remained there all that day and the next, and until half past four on the morning of the 21^st. We then moved on, but had gone only three miles, reaching Cave City, when we were formed in line of battle, and remained until four in the afternoon. That day Bragg got his whole force across the river, his rear guard having a spirited skirmish with Wood’s Division, in which a number of officers and men were killed and wounded. At four that afternoon our Corps moved on, and at 1 o’clock at night camped about a mile from Mumfordsville.

Next day the army was put in motion again. Our Division crossed Green river at 12 m., and camped at 1 o’clock that night thirteen miles north. Next day we marched twenty-three miles, reaching Elizabethtown (President Lincoln’s birth place), at dark. Twelve miles south, Bragg’s army had turned off to the right, moving towards Bardstown, and we were marching directly towards the Ohio river. We reached it next day at about 9 p.m. after a hot and exhausting march of twenty-five miles, camping near Westpoint, about twenty-five miles from Louisville. Next day we marched to Greenwood, fifteen miles distant. Three times that night the Division was called up and ordered to march immediately to Louisville, but each time the order was countermanded shortly after the wearied troops were formed in line. It was not until 8 o’clock in the morning that we finally started, and after having marched over six miles we reached the city, where we were paraded through all the principal streets in review by column of companies, tired, dusty and sleepy as we were, and it was after dark when we reached our camp in the southwestern portion of the city. The cordial enthusiasm with which we were received partially recompensed us for the fatigue of this useless march. The whole loyal population turned out to welcome us; ladies thronged the streets with baskets of provisions for the troops, men greeted us with hearty cheers, and the enthusiasm with which the coming of the army was hailed was unbounded.

Thus temporarily ended one of the most extraordinary campaigns of the war. Leaving Waterloo, Ala., on the 23d day of August, at noon on the 4^th of September we were at Nashville, Tenn., having marched two hundred and six miles in nine marching days, or an average of twenty-two miles a day. On the 11^th of September we left the latter place, and reached Louisville, Ky., on the 26^th of the same month, having traveled two hundred and eight miles in thirteen marching days, or averaging sixteen miles per day. Thus in twenty-two days we marched four hundred and fourteen miles once making thirty-nine miles in nineteen hours; on other days as little as four and five miles. There was no regularity in our movements; sometimes we rested by day and marched by night; at others, rested at night and marched by day. We were pushed onward when we should have halted, or halted when we should have advanced; and throughout the conduct of the march exhibited shameful mismanagement, or an utter disregard of either the health or comfort of the troops.

The army remained at Louisville four days. During that time large reinforcements were added to it, but they were mostly new regiments, which had not seen a day’s service, and almost as little drill. The increase was therefore simply in numbers; the efficiency of the army was but little enhanced. An entire reorganization was also had. Three corps were formed commanded respectively by Major General McCook, Gilbert and Crittenden and designated as the Right, Centre and Left Corps, Army of the Ohio. The Brigades and Divisions were numbered consecutively. Our Division was formed into three Brigades, two new regiments being added to each of these. The Eighth Battalion formed part of the Thirty-second Brigade (Colonel Caldwell, Eighty-first Indiana, in temporary command), Ninth Division, (General Mitchell commanding), Centre Corps (Mayor General C.C. Gilbert commanding).

On the 1^st of October we moved out of Louisville, Ky., taking the road to Bardstown, were the rebel army was reported to be concentrated. At dark that day, after a very tedious march, full of inexplicable delays, we reached Newburg, nine miles from the city, and went into camp. Next day we marched ten miles and the next six, camping on a branch of Salt river. The rebels had burned or destroyed all the bridges and placed obstructions in the road, so that our progress was very slow. On the 4^th we marched eight miles, passing through Mt. Washington, where our vanguard shelled a force of rebels out of the town. Next day the advance had a series of skirmishes with the retreating rebels, and several were killed and wounded on each side. At dark we entered Bardstown, and passing through it, camped a mile beyond the place, having marched about eleven miles. At 3 o’clock next morning we moved on, and at dusk camped five miles beyond Springfield, having traveled twenty-four miles. Near the latter town the advance Division had a skirmish with the rebels, resulting in the loss of several men on our side, and a larger number of the enemy, who made quite a stubborn resistance before giving way.

At 9 o’clock on the morning of the 7^th we pushed on, and shortly after noon the crash of cannon told us there was work ahead. Our Division this day had the advance, our Brigade forming the rear of the Division. Far to the left, where McCook’s Corps was, the heavy boom of artillery sounded almost continuous, and in our own immediate front we heard the ominous thunder which presaged the coming storm. Very soon an order came to hurry up, and the troops were moved forward at double quick step.

Bragg’s army was deployed to the north and west of Perryville. It had an admirable position, posted on a range of hills that commanded every approach, and protected by heavy timber, which concealed all its movements. It was also well supplied with water, while our troops suffered greatly from its want. Colonel Dan McCook’s Brigade having been sent to cover some hollows along Doctor’s creek, where a small supply of water was found, was vigorously attacked by the enemy, and our Division was ordered to his assistance. Reaching his vicinity, the Brigades of Colonels Carlin and Post were ordered to file off in line of battle on each side of the road, and the Twenty fifth, Illinois, Eighty-first Indiana and Eighth Wisconsin Battery of our Brigade, were halted in line with them, while the Eighth Kansas and Thirty fifth Illinois were hurried forward about a mile in advance to a range of hills on Dan McCook’s left, Privey’s Fifth Wisconsin Battery being sent out with them. The regiments took position on the left of the battery, which at once opened on the rebel position. The shots told handsomely, and the rebel batteries replying were several times forced to change their location to avoid the destructive effect of our shells. The rebel shots were poorly aimed. Two shells fell close to the right wing of the Eighth and burst, but did no damage; another fell directly in front of the battery, severely wounding one man. All others flew wide of the mark. This artillery duel was kept up until dark, when we were recalled to the main line, and remained during the night sleeping on our arms.

At daylight the next morning the fight was resumed. Four regiments of General Sheridan’s Division of our Corps had been ordered to the front as skirmishers, and during the forenoon kept up a brisk tight but the orders to our Division commanders were positive not to bring on a general engagement. On the left General McCook’s Corps was doing heavy fighting, as the constant roar of musketry and thunder of artillery evidenced. It was 1 o’clock in the afternoon, however, before we received any orders to advance, and the Division was then moved into position on the right of the main road, directly in front of Perryville. Colonel Post’s Brigade was shortly afterwards ordered to the assistance of McCook, while the two remaining Brigades were formed in line of battle, Colonel Carlin’s in front and ours supporting it.

The Division was then moved steadily forward until it occupied a position on the edge of a woods near the town. In front were several open fields, and along the fence on the further side the rebel line was posted. The Fifth Minnesota Battery was placed in advance of our lines, and opened fire on the enemy. The rebel regiments shortly afterwards made a charge on it supposing it to be weakly supported. They were permitted to approach within short range, when our troops poured into them several deadly volleys, and they fled in confusion, leaving their dead and wounded on the field.

A brisk artillery duel followed this advance and repulse, and for a time the shot and shell flew thick and fast, but our forces were moved slowly and steadily forward, the rebels falling back before them. At dark Colonel Carlin entered Perryville, capturing about two hundred prisoners and a large train loaded with ammunition.

This closed the fighting of the second day on our part. We camped on the battle field, sleeping on our arms, and awaiting the events of the morrow. White and cold in their last sleep, the dead lay all around us, the moans and groans of the wounded sounded in our ears; but worn out with fatigue, loss of sleep, and the feverish excitement of the past two days, the exhausted troops spread their blankets upon the bare ground and were soon slumbering as soundly as though reposing in their beds at home. Only the watchful sentinels and the agonized wounded remembered that battle had been there, and that its dreadful carnage was scattered all over the so lately peaceful field.

Early on the morning of the 5^th we moved forward again, the Eighth Kansas supporting a battery, which shelled the woods as we advanced. The enemy’s guns for a time replied, but feebly, and it soon became evident that they were retreating, with only a small rear guard to resist our advance. As we pressed on evidences of a hasty flight were manifest. Their dead and wounded were left uncared for, and the ground was covered with guns, blankets and knapsacks, indicating the confusion in which they had fled. We moved to the left, crossing the fields still strewn with the debris of battle, where McCook fought so gallantly, and halted at Goodnight Springs the enemy’s position on the day before. Here we bivouacked. And so closed the third day of the memorable battle of Perryville.

The Corps to which we were attached, with the exception of the Brigades of Colonel Post and Dan McCook, did no heavy fighting during this engagement, its commanding General, despite the earnest appeals and advice of his subordinates, refusing to allow it to press forward. Had it been advanced, as it should have been, the destruction of the rebel army was inevitable. In enveloped the enemy’s left flank, and could have crushed it like an egg shell. But for several hours the troops were exposed to a heavy artillery fire; and in this, its first experience on the battle field, the Eighth gave evidence of that sterling courage which, on future occasions, was so conspicuous. Never were men more eager to be led where the fight was raging hottest —never did men, in the face of danger, exhibit more firmness and resolve.

On the night of the 10^th, at about 10 o’clock, we left Goodnight Springs, marching during a cold, chilling rain to Nevada Station, four miles distant. Our regiment had the advance, and during the march scared out a small force of rebel cavalry, who betook themselves to hasty flight. We bivouacked at 1 o’clock, and remained there until 8 next night, when we again started on, marching in the direction of Harrodsburg until 2 o’clock in the morning. At 10 a.m. we were off again, and camped that afternoon near Harrodsburg. Net morning at 6, owing, as we learned, to the fact that the enemy had made a rapid march to the southeast, we moved back on the road some three miles, until we struck the Danville pike, and down it to within a few miles of that place. At 6 on the morning of the 14^th we started again, and passing through Danville, marched about twelve miles southeast, to a point near Lancaster. Here a force of the enemy was discovered, and our division, which was in advance, was rapidly formed in line of battle, our Brigade on the left, and the others to the right of the main road. Our batteries soon opened fire on the rebels, and theirs replied briskly. From our position we could see that a large train was passing through the town, and that the enemy (evidently a strong rear guard in charge of the train) were hurrying to and fro, apparently much confused and frightened. Meantime our lines were advancing in full order, our batteries keeping up a constant fire, and we had got within half a mile of the town, when General Mitchell received a peremptory order to withdraw his forces, and "not to bring on a general engagement." So we were moved back half a mile, and went into camp while the enemy was allowed a good long night in which to escape. Our pickets heard their train rumbling through Lancaster until about an hour before dawn.

Next morning, shortly after daylight we advanced toward the town, the Eighth having the front of the Brigade, and the Brigade leading the Division. Company B was deployed as skirmishers, and the regiment moved rapidly toward. A portion of the enemy’s rear guard had not yet left but upon our approach, hastily retreated, and being mounted, easily kept ahead. A brisk fire was maintained on both sides. We captured several prisoners and on entering Lancaster were received with frantic demonstrations of joy by the people. Discovering a force of rebels about a mile east of town, we filed rapidly through, greeted as we advanced by the fire of a battery posted on a hill near by. Companies E and K were then thrown forward as skirmishers to develop the enemy, and moved about a mile out, but the rebels retreated as fast as they advanced, and the recall was sounded. We were then ordered to move down the road to Crab Orchard, and deploying a company on either side as skirmishers, the regiment pushed on the skirmishers being relieved alternately by other companies as we advanced. We captured on the road about a dozen prisoners, and at 3 o’clock reached Crab Orchard.

In the skirmish at Lancaster some twenty of the enemy were killed and wounded, while our forces were fortunate in not losing a man. Had we been permitted to close in on the town on the evening of our arrival in front of it, there is no doubt we would have captured a large supply train, some of the enemy’s batteries, and several hundred prisoners, as we were afterwards informed by the citizens that the main body of the rebels had passed through during the day, and only a force of about a thousand cavalry was with the train.

We remained in camp at Crab Orchard four days. General Mitchell there received a leave of absence, and the command of the Division devolved upon General Woodruff, who had joined and been assigned to the command of our Brigade at Lancaster. On the morning of the 20^th the army marched back through Lancaster and Danville towards Lebanon, which place was reached on the evening of the 22d. We remained there until the 27^th when we moved on towards Bowling Green, reaching there at noon on the 1^st of November.

At Bowling Green, on the day of our arrival, Lieu. Colonel Martin received from the Governor a commission as Colonel of the Eighth with Graham, deceased. Captain James L. Abernathy, of company A, was at the same time promoted to Lieut. Colonel of the regiment.

On the 3d the whole army was rejoiced to learn that Major General Wm S. Rosecrans had arrived, and that he had been assigned to the chief command. To the soldiers of our Division, who had served under him in the Army of the Mississippi, his presence was peculiarly gratifying and the enthusiasm with which they hailed his coming was unbounded. Always a favorite General, the glory of his recent victories at Iuka and Corinth gave a fresher and greater charm to his name, and they felt that with him there would be earnest and telling blows struck — that while he commanded the tomorrow and to-morrows which in the past had lighted so many yesterdays to fatal blunders or disheartening repulses, would no more follow in a listless inefficiency and inglorious emptiness, while anarchy and feud where wasting the substance and loyalty of the land. The Corps, too, had, at Lebanon, been relieved of Gilbert, brave and cheery Alex McCook succeeding him in command. Thus two Generals, in whom the army had not the least confidence, passed out of sight and out of mind, never more to vex and dishearten the noble soldiers whose misfortune it was, for a brief time, to be subject to their orders.

On the morning of the 4^th of November our Corps left Bowling Green, and early in the afternoon of the 7^th reached Edgefield, opposite Nashville. No incident of importance marked this march, except a skirmish with rebel cavalry near Tyree Springs, in which five or six of the enemy were killed and wounded, and one man of the 25^th Illinois, of our Brigade, wounded.

We remained at Edgefield until the 4^th of December, when we crossed the Tennessee river, moved through Nashville, and camped on the Franklin pike, about four miles out. Here we remained until the 20^th.

The time spent in these camps was profitably employed in equipping the regiment anew, company, battalion, and brigade drills, and in re-establishing the discipline of the troops, always impaired by long marches, and especially marred during the campaigns under Buell and Gilbert. Ina few weeks, however, the regiment had fully attained its accustomed excellence, and at a review of the Division by Generals Rosecrans and McCook, on the 22d of November, was highly complimented by those officers for the neatness of its appearance, the perfection of its evolutions, and its fine discipline.

On the 8^th of December General Woodruff was assigned to another place, and the command of the Brigade devolved upon Colonel Martin, while Major Schneider assumed charge of the regiment. On the 9^th, in obedience to orders from Division Headquarters, the Eight Kansas, Twenty-fifth Illinois and Eighty-first Indiana, with a section of the Eighth Wisconsin Battery, proceeded, under command of Colonel Martin, on a reconnaissance to the front. After moving out the road to the vicinity of the enemy’s lines, four companies of the Eight and Twenty-fifth were deployed as skirmishers, and advanced with such impetuosity that the rebel pickets broke in confusion, abandoning many of their guns and some of their clothing in their flight. The command moved out about five miles, when, the subject of the reconnaissance (to ascertain what force was in our front) having been accomplished, the troops returned.

On the 19^th the Eighth was ordered by General Rosecrans to report to General Mitchell, who had some time before been assigned to the command of the post of Nashville, for provost duty in that city. Next day it moved to Nashville, going into camp back of the state house. Colonel Martin was appointed Provost Marshall of the city, relieving Colonel Gillem, of the First Middle Tennessee Infantry. The close of the year found the battalion discharging the duties of provost guards in this place.

During the year 1862, while the battalion, with regimental headquarters, was engaged in the operations thus narrated, the battalion in Kansas (except company G, which remained at Fort Laramie until January, 1863) was drawn together at Fort Leavenworth. Companies A and D left Fort Kearney during the latter part of June, and arrived at Leavenworth early in July. During the summer companies A, C and F were engaged in several expeditions after Quantrel and other guerrilla leaders. On the 15^th of August companies A and F formed part of a command which had an engagement with the forces of Colonels Coffey and Cockrill and Quantrel’s band, in which the rebels were driven from the field, losing a number killed and wounded. Companies A and D also had a skirmish in Platte county, Missouri, with Cy Gordon’s band of bushwhackers, in which one man of Company C was wounded.

At the close of the year the regiment numbered, in the aggregate, 776 men. Forty-nine deaths occurred during the year; seventy-two were discharged for disability, and fifty-nine deserted. The regiment marched 1,254 miles.

In the commissioned officers of the regiment, the following changes occurred after the consolidation: Martin Manerlian, Second Lieutenant company B, resigned July 15^th; First Sergeant Claudius Keifer appointed in his place, July 28^th. Second Lieut. D.D. Rooks, company E, resigned July 16^th; Sergeant Major Sol. R. Washer promoted to the vacancy, July 28^th. Col. R. H. Graham dropped from the rolls August 14^th; Lieut. Col. John A. Martin promoted Colonel November 1^st; Captain James L. Abernathy to be Lieutenant Colonel; First Lieut. Samuel Laighton to be Captain company A, and First Sergeant Rowland Risdon to be First Lieutenant company A, at the same time, Second Lieut. A. Graham, company I, dropped from the rolls August 14^th; First Sergeant Byron Slemmens promoted to his place, November 1^st. Adjutant S.C. Russell resigned November 16^th; First Lieutenant James E. Love appointed Adjutant November 17^th. Second Lieutenant Wm. H. Babcock promoted to be First Lieutenant company K, and First Sergeant A. J. Quinn to be Second Lieutenant same company, December 1^st.

The new duties to which the Eighth was assigned in Nashville were delicate and important, requiring in their performance sound judgment, untiring zeal, unceasing vigilance, and the strictest discipline. The whole army was then encamped around the city, and although the greater portion of it soon moved to the front, a garrison of several brigades remained. But in addition to the troops stationed at the post, there was an army of civilians employed in the quartermaster’s commissary and ordinance departments. Nashville being the main depot of supplies for the army; dozens of hospitals and camps of convalescents were located here; troops were constantly arriving and departing; the city was swarming with rebel spies; fully three-fourths of the whole population sympathized with the rebellion, and thousands of desperate and degraded characters, following in the wake of the army, made this city their temporary home. Rows were an every day occurrence, and hardly a night passed that was not stained by murder or blackened by outrage.

Into this chaos of anarchy and confusion, of lawlessness and crime, of treason and rebellion, the Eighth came like an avenging angel. It had to deal with vices and abuses deeply rooted, and almost impossible to eradicate or reform. It met the emergency with daring and decision, and combining freedom with order, kept down the turbulent without unnecessarily disturbing the well affected. Subject to temptations calculated to test severely the best organized and most thoroughly trained troops, its splendid discipline was never more conspicuous than during its sojourn in this demoralized city. The martial pride of its name rose superior to the allurements and contaminations that surrounded them; they gloried in maintaining unspotted their reputation as dutiful, trustworthy, orderly soldiers, and proved themselves equal to the highest duties by winning at once the respect of all good citizens and the warm approval of the Generals commanding. The streets, into which, before, it had been dangerous to venture after nightfall, were kept as quiet and peaceful as those of a New England village. The theaters, which had for a long time been closed on account of the disturbances which broke out in them nightly, were permitted to re-open, and the guards of the Eighth maintained in them perfect order and decorum. The humblest of its non-commissioned officers knew no rank when in the discharge of their duty enforcing the provost regulations, its bayonets gleamed in every street and alley and flashed on every corner, and its patrols, constantly on the alert, allowed no disturbance to escape their vigilance.

The city was divided into districts. Provost headquarters were in the State House. A patrol went out every two hours, made its rounds, visiting every portion of the district to which it was assigned, and remaining out until it was relieved by another. It then returned, and had a rest of four hours, there being three reliefs of the guard for every district. The men at the Capitol were considered on duty at all times, and must be ready for any emergency at a moment’s warning.

The regiment furnished, in addition to the provost patrols, the stationery guards at the Capitol, military headquarters, the penitentiary, the jail, the market house and the work house. The Provost Marshall had charge of all the military prisons of the city, and the four places last named were all used for the confinement of military offenders and prisoners of war. Some three hundred men from other regiments also reported to Col. Martin daily, for duty as guards at the commissary and quartermaster depots, the ordinance department and the prison hospital, all interior guards being under his control and directions. Captain Henry C. Austin, company I, was appointed Assistant Provost Marshal and Inspector of Military Prisons; Captain John F. Isom, Twenty-fifth Illinois, was detailed as Provost Quartermaster, and sometime later Captain John Conover, Eighth Kansas, as Chief of Police.

The duties of the Eight in Nashville commenced at a most trying period. Six days after it came into the city, the army advanced on Murfreesboro, and on the 28^th the great battle commenced. The rebel cavalry gained the rear of our army, several of our Divisions were driven back in confusion, and hundred of stragglers sought safety in Nashville. Within three days the patrols of the Eighth arrested over two thousand of these men, and they were at once sent back to the front. Two thousand five hundred rebel prisoners were also received within a few days after the battle, and had to be taken charge of and provided for. Within a week these were all sent to prisons in the North.

During the six months the Eighth remained in the city, rebel prisoners were arriving almost daily, and had to be guarded, provided for, sent North, and reports made of their disposal; a prison hospital was established for the reception of the sick and wounded among them; stragglers and deserters were arrested and sent to the front in squads, and the rebel sympathizers of the city were closely watched. At one time a number of rebel prisoners, some of them sick or wounded, were quartered in the houses of wealthy secessionists who had been manifesting intense anxiety for their comfort and well-being. This was the last of their solicitude on that score. The theaters were directed to play national airs every evening, and did so. The circulation of rebel newspapers was suppressed.

On the morning of the 22d of February companies A,C, D and F, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Abernathy, arrived in Nashville from Kansas. On the 20th of March company G arrived, and then, for the first time since its organization, a union of all the companies of the Eighth was effected.

On the 13^th of April, by order of General Rosecrans, the Provost Marshall arrested and confined in prison about one hundred of the most prominent citizens of Nashville. Some were afterwards sent north of the Ohio, some south into the rebel lines, and others of them were transferred to northern prisons for confinement during the war. This action created great excitement, as the arrests were made at different times during the day, and no one knew whose turn would come next. Consequently all of the rebel sympathizers were alarmed. The arrests were made as quietly as possible, but the order was firmly and faithfully executed.

On the 22d of April General Mitchell issued an order that within ten days every citizen of Nashville over the age of 18, male and female, should take the oath of allegiance or non-combatant’s parole, and give bonds for its observance, or go south of the lines. The execution of this order was entrusted to Colonel Martin. The next day a rush to the provost office commenced. Several prominent Union citizens of the city were invited to assist in fixing the amount of bonds, and cheerfully gave their aid and advice. A large force of clerks was detailed to make out the papers, but it was found impossible to get through within the time prescribed, and it was extended ten days. During that period over fifteen thousand persons took the oath or parole, giving bonds in amounts ranging from $500 to $20,000 for its faithful observance. Some two hundred, refusing to do either, reported to go south, and Captain Conover was detailed to escort them outside our military lines. During the twenty days occupied by this work, over fifty clerks were constantly employed, and hundreds of people thronged through the Capitol from morning until night.

On the evening of the 8^th of June orders were received directing the Eighth to proceed to Murfreesboro next morning and rejoin the Division. General Robert E. Granger, (who had sometime before relieved General Mitchell), telegraphed General Rosecrans urgently insisting that the regiment could not be spared, and stating that he would rather lose any two other regiments of the post garrison. The Mayor and other citizens of Nashville also telegraphed a protest, but the response was that the regiment was needed at the front, and early next morning its columns filed though the streets of the city, its bard playing that splendid refrain it had long ago made familiar to Nashville ears —"John Brown." This march out of town was a triumphal oration. Streets and side walks were crowded with citizens who had heard with regret that their favorite was ordered away, and had assembled spontaneously to bid it "good bye." Everywhere along the route of march it was greeted with cheers, the waving of handkerchiefs, and every other demonstration of approval. It had won and kept, during its six months stay in the city, the confidence of the loyal and the respect even of the disloyal, and the commanding General and officers of the post, the Governor, the Mayor and city officials, and all classes of citizens united in testifying to its uniform good conduct, soldierly bearing, and in regretting the necessity which called it to another field of duty.

Colonel Martin, Captain Austin, Captain Conover, and Captain Trego were ordered to remain at Nashville for a few days to instruct their successors in the duties of their positions. On the 17^th these officers, with the exception of Captain Austin, rejoined the regiment at Murfreesboro.

The aggregate strength of the regiment at the time it rejoined the Brigade was 700. It had recruited some forty men while in Nashville. On reaching Murfreesboro, the regiment was attached to the same Brigade to which it previously belonged, now numbered the Third, of the First Division. Twentieth Corps. Colonel Hans C. Heg, of the Fifteenth Wisconsin, was in command of the Brigade. The Division and Corps commanders remained unchanged.

The Eighth remained at Murfreesboro, going through with the usual routine of picket, police and camp duties, until daylight on the 24^th of June, when the army advanced on Tullahoma and Shelbyville. Both of these places were strongly fortified positions. Bragg’s headquarters, with 15,000 men, were at Tullahoma; Folk’s Corps, 18,000 strong, were at Shelbyville, and Hardee’s Corps, 12,000 strong, at Wartrace, between the two places, to the right of Shelbyville and front of Tullahoma. South of Murfreesboro some ten miles, and covering the objective points at which this movement was made, was a range of high hills, almost deserving the name of mountains. Over this range there were several roads, leading through Hoover’s Liberty and Guy’s Gaps, and against all of these demonstrations were made, some real and others feints. The country was admirably adapted for defensive operations, the only assailable point being those narrow gorges, running tortuously through the hills, and covered on both sides with a heavy growth of timber, which served not only to conceal but to protect the enemy. Granger’s Corps, with a strong force of cavalry, had started from Triune towards Shelbyville the day previous. It being Rosecrans’ intention to deceive Bragg by making a feint on his left, thus leading him to concentrate there, leaving the difficult passes on his right uncovered. Against these our main force was then to be advanced, and once secured, the army was to menace the enemy’s communications south of Tullahoma by moving to Manchester, and thus compel Bragg to leave his entrenched positions and give battle on ground that would not afford him the advantage of defensive works, or retreat across the Cumberland Mountains. This plan was, although somewhat delayed by the bad condition of the roads, successfully carried out in every particular, and the result was exactly what the commanding General had hoped.

The Division to which the Eighth was attached moved out about six miles on the Shelbyville pike, and then filed to the left across the country to the Wartrace road, camping that night in the vicinity of two or three dilapidated houses, called Old Millersburg. Our advance was skirmishing with the enemy during the whole day, and an attack made by Johnson’s Division of our Corps, on Liberty Gap, resulted in a severe fight, in which some fifty or sixty of our men were killed and wounded. This position was secured, however, and firmly held. Wilder’s cavalry brigade surprised the enemy at Hoover’s Gap, and held the place until the infantry could come up and secure it. The enemy having thus lost two of the strongest gorges through the hills, slowly fell back towards his entrenched camps.

Shortly after the army commenced its forward movement, a heavy rain set in, continuing almost incessantly during the entire day and night. The roads became nearly impassable. Wagons stuck fast, the artillery could only be moved forward by doubling teams and then with the greatest difficulty, and even the movements of the infantry were soon materially retarded by the soft, glutinous soil into which they sank almost half-knee deep at every step. The men, soaked and chilled by the rain, suffered terribly, and although we traveled only about twelve miles, the fatigue was greater than during a march of double the distance on a fair day.

We expected to move on early next morning, but after daybreak an order was received detailing the Eighth Kansas and Thirty-fifth Illinois as a guard for the corps train. Rosecrans had suffered severely by cavalry attacks in his rear at Stone river, and was determined on this occasion to guard against such a contingency. The wagons were parked in a ploughed field directly in our rear, and we had the irksome and irritating ill luck of waiting all day and the next night until the whole of them could get on the road, the rain, meantime, continuing to fall without cessation.

On the 26^th at 8 a.m. we at last got off, and after a march of four miles, passing the train on the way, joined the Brigade in camp. We remained until 2 o’clock in the afternoon, giving the men an opportunity to cook, when we again started, and after marching three miles went into bivouac on the Manchester road. The rain continued to fall, at intervals, during this day and night. In the afternoon General Carlin’s Brigade of our Division had a severe engagement with the enemy, in which he lost many of his men.

At 2 o’clock on the morning of the 27^th we were ready to march, but did not move until 2 in the afternoon. The heavy rain still continued, and the men were foot sore with marching through the mud, and sore in body from their cold, constant drenchings, but the sound of artillery ahead and the prospect of a fight kept their spirits up, and without a murmur they kept on. We marched, however, only four miles, going into camp on Garrison’s Fork.

Next morning at 8 o’clock, in the midst of the heaviest rain we had yet had, we started again. During the whole of the previous night, the rain had poured down in torrents, and the roads were, if possible, in even a worse condition than before. At noon we had marched eight miles, when, the rain having ceased, we halted to allow the men an opportunity to cook. At 2 p.m. we moved on, and at 2 o’clock that night went into camp near Manchester. In all of our past experience, rough as some of it had been, there was no march so disagreeable and exhausting as this. The route for several miles ran up a narrow, muddy ravine, then into a dense forest, where the road led through holes knee deep, with slushy, dirty water, and crossed, every mile or so, a running stream, which generally had to be forded. The light of the moon was obscured by the clouds and the overhanging trees, and in the dense darkness we blindly groped our way, stumbling over fallen trees, rocks and stumps, wading through creeks and crossing tumble-down bridges until we reached camp. Regiments and companies were jumbled together in perplexing confusion; officers sought in vain for their men, and at last gathering together what they could find, we were shown a camping place dense with an undergrowth of brush, in the bend of a creek, and tired, hungry, soaked with rain and chilled to the very bones, all sank on the wet ground and slept the sleep that follows perfect exhaustion. The rain continued to fall all night, but there were few who heeded it. The writer of this slept at the foot of a tree, with his saddle for a pillow, as soundly as if reposing on feathers, and awoke in the morning to find himself in a puddle of water about three inches deep, drenched by the rain from above and steeped in the watered that covered the ground thoroughly but evenly.

In the morning we learned that we were to remain here for a day or two, and although the camp was a miserable one, the prospect of a rest was as gratifying as it was unexpected. Our rations had given out at noon the day before, and we had not broken fast since. We got nothing to eat that day until three o’clock, when two of our wagons arrived and rations were issued. There have been meals more delicate and savory, but never one that tasted sweeter or was relished with greater zest than was our dinner of hard bread and salt side meat that afternoon.

The rain continued to pour down at intervals during the day, but ceased just after dark. The next day was the time for regular bi-monthly muster, and fortunately, until nearly night, was clear and warm. The regiment was mustered in the morning, and the day devoted to making out monthly rolls and letter writing. One of the officers of the Eighth, after completing the muster-roll of his company, endorsed the copy for the Adjutant General's office with the following amusing inscription:

³I make this roll lying flat on my belly on the ground, with a rubber blanket for a desk. If I was at Washington in a comfortable room, supplied with a hundred dollar desk, a gold pen, black, blue, red and purple inks, the latest and best patent rulers, and plenty of ﾔred tape' I could make a more artistic copy. But I have been constantly soaked with rain for seven days and nights; there isn't a bone in my body that doesn't ache; my fingers are as numb as though they were frozen, and my clothes are as stiff with Tennessee mud as my fingers are with chill. Under the circumstances this is the best I can do. If any first-class clerk in the department thinks he could do better, let him duck himself in the Potomac every five minutes and wade through mud knee deep for six days and then try it on. If he succeeds, I will change places with him with great pleasure.²

His roll was a frightful mess of blots and blotches, but it was never send back ³for correction².

The next day July 1^st opened beautifully bright and warm, and the forenoon was occupied in washing and drying clothing, cleaning arms, and baking a lot of flour issued instead of hard bread. At 2 o'clock p.m. we marched. The afternoon was excessively hot, and the sudden change made the heat more oppressive. After a rapid march of twelve miles, we entered the rebel stronghold, Tullahoma, at 12 o'clock at night. Two Divisions were in advance of ours, but they had not discharged a gun, the rebels having beat a hasty retreat during the previous night. The carriages of their siege, guns fired before they left, were yet burning when we entered the town. Six of these guns, with several warehouses filled with flour, meal, salt, clothing, etc., and the tents of several Brigades left standing in their places, were captured.

At 6 o'clock next morning we moved on again, marching to Elk river, nine miles and a half. Sheridan's Division, which was in advance, had a slight skirmish with the enemy at the river, and did not get across until nearly night so we went into bivouac. Next morning we forded the river, the water being waist deep, and after a march of four miles, fording two or three smaller streams on the way, reached Winchester, where we camped. During these two days we had frequent showers of rain, but the weather was warmer, and the clothing of the men soon dried out.

We remained in camp until the morning of the 8^th at 2 o'clock , when the Eighth Kansas and Thirty-fifth Illinois started on a scout to the Cumberland Mountains, five miles distant, in search of a force of rebel guerrillas, who had been committing many depredations. It had rained every day, at intervals, since we reached Winchester, and we marched that morning in the midst of a very heavy shower. On reaching the foot of the mountains, seven companies of the Eighth were deployed in line, the other three companies, with the Thirty-fifth Illinois, being held in reserve, and the ascent commenced. There was no road, and hardly sheep-paths, leading to the summit, but slowly and toilsomely the command made its way up, pushing through the dense growths of underbrush and climbing over the stony ledges and fallen trees scattered along the steep acclivity. Half way to the top the Thirty-fifth was halted, and the Eighth moved on alone. In about two hours it gained the summit, and shortly afterwards captured an old man who, by threatening, was induced to act as pilot. A march of two miles brought the regiment to the opposite side of the mountain, on the edge of an abrupt precipice, and the guide informed us that the guerrilla camp was under the rocks below. Colonel Heg took two companies and moved to the right, while Colonel Martin, with two others, moved to the left, to find passages leading down. After a toilsome descent, clinging to the brush and leaping from rock to rock, both detachments reached the foot of the ledge and moved towards each other. Suddenly and almost simultaneously they came upon the guerrilla camp, but they had seen us just in time, and not stopping a moment, plunged down the precipitous sides of the mountain, without the slightest regard for their necks. A volley was fired after them and our men started in pursuit, but the recall was at once sounded, as it was seen that a chase was useless. We captured a number of horses and mules, a quantity of stores and a lot of camp plunder, and bringing with us all that was valuable, made our way back to camp, where we arrived at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Thus ended our campaign against Tullahoma and the scout succeeding it. The marches were not long, but the terrible rains and mud through which they were made, combined to render them far more exhausting than ten times the distance. During the ten days occupied in marching to Winchester, not one passed without a heavy shower, and sometimes for twenty-four hours in succession the rain fell incessantly. The clothing of the men was never thoroughly dry, and rations were at all times scanty. Many of the men wore out their shoes before they had been on the march three days, and went barefoot the rest of the time. But they kept up their spirits nobly, and bore their hardships and privations uncomplainingly. The glorious recall of the campaign compensated them for all. In these ten days, without a serious battle, and with a loss of less than six hundred men in the whole army, Middle Tennessee was cleared of rebel soldiers, fully six hundred of the enemy were killed and wounded, seventeen hundred were taken prisoners, and several pieces of artillery were captured. Only the rapidity of Bragg's flight, the heavy rains and bad roads, saved him from even much greater disasters.

We had a pleasant camp at Winchester, and were rejoiced to learn that we were to remain there some time. The country around the place was picturesque; the climate salubrious; the water clear, cool and abundant, and the foraging good. The duty, too, was light, the health of the command excellent, and it soon again attained the discipline and neatness of appearance for which it was justly celebrated. It had been complimented many times before, as a regiment worthy of emulation, and that those who care to read its history may know what was said of it officially, the following reports and orders are embodied. They are but a few of the many received during its term of service, as there was never a review or inspection held in which the regiment, it forming a portion of the troops, was not complimented for its soldierly appearance, the perfection of its drill, and the neatness and cleanliness of its arms, accoutrements, clothing and camp.

Just after reaching Winchester the following circular order was received from Department headquarters:

³Headquarters Department of the Cumberland.

Inspector General's Office, Tullahoma, July 15, 1863.

³Colonel ﾑ I have the honor to make the following extract from the semi-monthly Inspection Report of Lieutenant Colonel H. N. Fisher, Assistant Inspector General Twentieth Army Corps:

³The Eighth Kansas, lately attached to the Corps, is splendidly equipped and well cared for. Its long stay in Nashville enabled it to attain a polish to a certain degree impracticable in the field, but its example is valuable in the Corps.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. S. BENT, Captain and A.A.I.G.

³To Lieut. Col. Goddard, A.A.G.²

³Headqr's Dep't of the Cumberland,

Tullahoma, July 17, 1863.

Respectfully referred to the commanding officer Eighth Kansas Volunteers.

By command of Maj. Gen. Rosecrans,

WILLIAM McMICHAEL

Major and A.A. General²

A short time afterwards the following circular order was sent from Corps headquarters.

³Headqr's Twentieth Army Corps,

Inspector General's Office,

Winchester, Tenn., July 31, 1863

³Colonel ﾑ I have the honor to call your attention to the following extract from daily report of Captain H. W. Hall, A.A.I.G., First Division, on the condition of camps of the Third Brigade, for 22d of July, 1863:

(Extract)

³The camps of the Eighth Kansas and the Twenty-fifth Illinois are the best in the Division. All are good in this Brigade. These regiments vie with each other in excellence in every respect, and are models worthy of imitation for any troops with which it has been my fortune to associate. The camps of the other regiments of this Brigade reflect much credit upon their Brigade and Regimental commanders, and have been repeatedly reported to me.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HORACE N. FISHER, Lieut. Col and A.I. General.²

³Headqr's Twentieth Army Corps,

July 31, 1863.

³Respectfully referred to the commanding officer of the Third Brigade, First Division. The General commanding the Corps is pleased to have so favorable a report of the regiments of this Brigade.

³By command of Maj. Gen. Sheridan,

G.P. THURSTON,

A.A.G. and Chief of Staff.²

To the commanding officer Eighth Kansas Infantry.

While at Murfreesboro the following circular order, also from Corps headquarters was issued:

³Inspector General's Office,

Twentieth Army Corps,

Murfreesboro, June 19, 1863

³Colonel — I take great pleasure in reporting to you the following extract from the daily report of the Inspector of the First Division, especially as the same regiments attracted notice of their Brigade Inspector:

(Extract)

³The drill, military appearance and dress of the Eighth Kansas Infantry is the best observed in the Division, and that of the Twenty-fifth Illinois next.

Respectfully submitted,

H.W. HALL

Captain and Inspector First Division

³Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HORACE N. FISHER, Lieut. Col. And A.I. General

G.P. THURSTON, A.A.G and Chief of Staff.²

"Headqr’s Twentieth Army Corps.

June 20, 1863

"Respectfully referred to Colonel Heg, commanding Third Brigade, First Division, who will have this creditable compliment conveyed to the within mentioned regiments.

"By command of Maj. McCook,

A.C. McCLURG

Captain and A.A. General. —

Many other orders, alike complimentary and creditable, could be given, but these are sufficient to show the character and standing of the regiment in the opinion of superior officers.

On the 17^th of August the Division broke camp at Winchester and crossing the Cumberland Mountains, reached Stevenson, Ala, on the 20^th. The distance marched was but thirty-eight miles, but as the Sequatchie valley cleaves through the heart of the mountains, two ranges instead of one are to cross, and the work of transporting an army over them, with all its wagons, artillery, etc., is toilsome and difficult.

As soon as the army was concentrated on the south side of the mountains, and sufficient supplies accumulated, Gen. Rosecrans prepared to force a passage of the Tennessee river, and at 5 o’clock p.m. on the 28^th of August our Brigade moved to Coperton’s Ferry, reaching there at 10 o’clock that night. We were accompanied by a battalion of pioneers and a pontoon train. The pioneers were at once set to work, behind the brush that fringed the bank of the river, getting the pontoons ready for launching. Our pickets and those of the rebels on the other side held frequent talks during the night, but advanced videttes had been stationed along the river for some time, and the enemy seemed unconscious of the fact that any considerable force had moved down, and was only waiting the first faint glimmer of dawn in the east to swoon across the wide channel upon them.

Before daylight all was in readiness. Our Corps commander, General McCook, and our Division Commander, General Davis, were both present to direct the movement in person. The enterprise was regarded as one of extreme peril, as it was not known what the enemy had on the other side, and if any resistance was made to our passage, the loss of life, with men crowded, as they must be into frail boats, would be fearful. The Generals commanding were therefore anxious as to the result, and nervously paced the bank of the river, listening and watching intently for any movement on the further side.

The Eighth Kansas and Fifteenth Wisconsin were selected to cross in advance. Two batteries were brought down and placed on the bank, masked by the dense foliage that overhung it, and ready slotted. The other regiments of the Brigade were placed in position, and at last the order to move was given. In a few moments the boats were launched into the stream, twenty-five or thirty men, with their officers, were crowded into each, sharpshooters were in position, oarsmen in place, and they shoved off. Every one knew that the most hazardous undertaking known in warfare ﾑthe crossing of a wide, deep river in the face of an enemy was being attempted, but not a man quailed at the danger. Anxiously they listened for the crack of the guns that would send many a gallant soul to its Maker, but in each boat there was intense excitement and rivalry as to which should first reach the opposite shore. A few moments passed, but no shot broke the peaceful stillness of the morning air. Almost simultaneously the prows of a number of boats touched the bank. The men leaped ashore, climbed the overhanging brush, and moved rapidly through a cornfield to the edge of a woods, where they were at once formed in line of battle. Skirmishers were thrown forward, and the advance began. The camp fires of the rebels were still burning, and half eaten ears of corn, upon which their horses had been feeding not a quarter of an hour before, strewed the ground. But the enemy had fled in a panic, not even making an attempt to resist the crossing of check the advance of the enthusiastic troops. Our skirmisher caught sight of them several times as we pushed forward, and passed some shots, but this was all. In a short time we reached the foot of Sand Mountain, about two miles from the river, and made a brief halt. The Fifteenth Wisconsin was directed to remain here, and the Eighth moved on, its gallant men tolling laboriously up the steep sides, until at 10, o'clock, almost exhausted, they reached the summit, and the regimental flag was unfurled from the top of a projecting rock. For the first time in long years the glorious Banner of the Stars waved there. The distance up the side of the mountain to the top, by the only practicable road, is a mile and three quarters.

The Eighth remained where it first halted after reaching the summit until 5 p.m. General Rosecrans, Garfield and McCook, with a number of other prominent officers, visited the mountain top, and the former highly complimented the regiments that had formed the advance for their energy and courage, while he congratulated them upon the successful accomplishment of so desperate an enterprise without loss.

The Fifteenth joined the Eighth in the afternoon, and at 5 o'clock the regiments moved out three miles, where they went into camp. The other regiments of the Brigade joined them that evening. They crossed the river as soon as the boats could return for them, and guarded the bank until a pontoon bridge could be laid down, which was done by 2 o'clock.

On the 31^st Generals Rosecrans and McCook issued orders complimenting the troops of our Brigade on the promptness, coolness and courage evinced by them in crossing the Tennessee, and thanking them for the success attending this desperate undertaking.

On the 2d of September we marched, and camped that night in Will's valley, sixteen miles south. General Stanley's cavalry Corps passed us here on the evening of the 3d. On the 4^th we moved to Muston's Gap at the foot of the Lookout range of mountains, and some twenty miles south of Chattanooga. Here we remained until the 8^th, when we moved to the top of the mountain, and marched across it, thirteen miles, to Lafourche Gap, going into bivouac at 9 o'clock at night. The rebels had felled trees in the road heading down into the valley, and next morning at daylight two companies of the Eighth were detailed, one (company F) to make a scout, and the other (company I) to clear the road of obstructions. A few hours afterwards, however, the Brigade was ordered to join that of General Carlin, eight miles below; the companies were recalled, and we marched south along the brow of the mountain, descending into the valley through Standlfer's Gap, late in the afternoon, and camping a few miles from Alpine, Ga. The remainder of our Corps arrived there on the 11^th.

It is proper, at this time, to give a brief statement of our position relative to the other Corps of the army and the enemy. While two Divisions of our Corps crossed at Carpenter's Ferry, others had within a few days effected crossings at Bridgeport, Shell Mound and Battle Creek, and a portion of Crittenden's Corps had moved directly on Chattanooga, arriving on the heights opposite that place on the 31^st of August. Thomas' Corps after crossing, pushed over the Lookout range some fifteen miles north of McCook, descending into McLemore's Cove through Stevens' Gap. These movements so alarmed Bragg that on the 6^th and 8^th of September he abandoned his strong position at Chattanooga, retreating southward and concentrating around Lafayette, facing the gaps in the Pigeon range of mountains beyond McLemore's Cove. Crittenden occupied Chattanooga on the 9^th, and from thence advanced to Ringgold, Ga.

The different Corps of our army were thus occupying widely detached positions, while Bragg was rapidly gathering strength. Buckner, from East Tennessee, and a strong division of Johnston's Mississippi army had already joined him, Longstreet's Corps of Virginia veterans was hastening, by rail, to reinforce him, and every soldier employed in the rear was rushed to his assistance, Georgia militia taking their places.

It took several days to develop these facts, and rapid movements were then made to concentrate. On the afternoon of the 12^th our Corps moved back to the top of the mountain. Next day we moved across it and descended into Will's valley through Muston's Gap, camping about five miles north of that place. It is understood that General McCook received information, which he deemed reliable, that it was impossible to join Thomas by moving directly north on the mountain top. But the next morning he learned better, and we moved back that day to Muston's. On the morning of the 16^th we again ascended the mountain, and marched across it to Stevens' Gap, a distance of twenty-three miles, reaching camp at 10 o'clock that night. On the 17^th we moved down into the Cove. This day was spent in maneuvering about among the hills and valleys, skirmishing, forming line of battle, advancing, countermarching, and going through all manner of evolutions, the exact purpose of which no one seemed to know. But the enemy was in front, in strong force, and the skirmishers of the two armies kept up a running fight all day. It was 12 at night before, worn out with excitement and fatigue, we went into bivouac near Lee's Springs. Old troops, accustomed to danger, become incredulous as to its approach, and never believe that a battle is imminent. Hence that night our weary men grumbled more because, after reaching camp, they were compelled to draw and distribute one hundred rounds of cartridges each, than they had at all the fatigues of the day.

On the 18^th we went through with the same maneuvering, changing position every hour or so, and momentarily expecting an attack. At 6 p.m., we started northeast, and after marching about four miles bivouacked in a corn field. There was heavy artillery firing during almost the whole of this day.

At 8 o'clock the next morning we again moved on. Our route lay along a dusty road, where troops had bivouacked in line the night previous and fired the fences for miles. Fragments of rails were yet smouldering amid the ashes, adding to the intolerable dust dense volumes of stifling smoke. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where General Rosecrans' headquarters were established. Several miles to the right of the road ran Chicamauga creek, and on the march we passed a number of Brigades waiting for orders, while is front at the fords of the creek, our artillery was keeping up a constant thunder. As we neared Rosecrans' headquarters a more terrible sound greeted our ears, the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves breaking upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's Divisions with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our Division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We were moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and front of widow Glenn's, about a mile of that distance on the double-quick, and after forming line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, ³going in,² as general Rosecrans after expressed it, ³where the fight was hottest.²

Our Brigade was formed in two lines, the Eighth Kansas, Fifteenth Wisconsin and Thirty-fifth Illinois in front; the Twenty-fifth Illinois in rear. The Second Brigade had not yet formed, but was rapidly doing so, three regiments of it to the right and one to the left ours, all some sixty yards in the rear. Colonel Post's Brigade was not with the Division, being detailed as guard to the Corps train, and the two small Brigades of General Carlin and Colonel Heg were all of General Davis' troops that were in action during either day's engagement.

After forming we were rapidly advanced through the rugged forest, but had proceeded only a few hundred yards when a terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeeded by another and another. The two hostile forces met without skirmishers in front, and in an instant were furiously engaged in desperate combat. Our men promptly replied to the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battle became one steady, deep, jarring thunder. Our line was moved forward firmly, until it rested along the brow of a small rise of ground. The Twenty-fifth Illinois was then ordered to a position in the front line. The crash of musketry grew denser and more terrific, and the artillery added its thunder to the furious raging of the battle storm. The rebels rushed forward line after line of troops, charging with desperate valor and impetuosity, but our men held their position firmly and defiantly, firing with such coolness and precision that at every discharge great gaps were cut in the enemy's lines, and bleeding, broken, staggering, they reeled before the awful hail of leaden death that greeted them. In vain they rallied and advanced again and again ﾑthey could not move over firm, unyielding lines. For half an hour this desperate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In that brief time over a third of our Brigade were killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and one hundred and fifty men were already struck. Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their lines or force them back, but at last Colonel Heg, seeing that disaster must follow an attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave and order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men fell back slowly about fifty yards. Here they were reformed, and after a short halt charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bulle