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AN OlD LETTER FOUND,Of Interest to Vt»t«»rtii* of the 13fHlt III-• ^-. 'k . .. gj-IT: -L * ”;r Iinot* Vo I mi leer Infantry, j jlo the Editor of the Pontiac Sentinel:The following letter whs found in the book vin which Lieutenant Phil D. Plattenburg, * late Adjutant of the I25tth Kegt. 111. Inf. Vol., kept personal record of the daily pro- j ^ oeedings of the regiiueut. Believing that it might be of iuterest to members of the regiment in vonr county I have written it oat from the original pencil copy nnd forward it to you. J. E. J.i/i 1In the Field near Dallas. Oa., June 2d, H’dQr's 129tb III. Vol. lnft., 1st Brigade..‘Id. Div., 20th Corps.The charge on a battery and rifle pits ot ,, the eneuiv at K^saea, Ga., May 16, 1H»'4.aTo the Editor, Chicago Tribune: In the \Cincinnati Cmmierical, under the date of t May 26th ult, appears what purports to be an extract from a letter of Mr. J. A. Daugb j c erty, correspondent of the Louisville Journal, giving an account of the charge ol'Ward's Brigade upon the fort and ride pitsof the enemy near Kesaca, on the 16th uit, which said extract is such a grose misrepresentation of the facts and has been so mnti- ] lated in tLt r from one paper to an* j tother, that beiou ft it eve witneftniuid partici- ! jpant m the change inyntlf, I deem it a dutywhich I owe to the gallant dead and wound ed of ail th** regiments of that brigade tostate the facts as they actually occurred. ii I IAs preparatory to the assault, the brigadlt;was formed in column ot regiments w regimental front, at fortvfour paces, in tervals in direct order as follows: Fist, 70thliid ; second. 102nd III.: third. TOth. (fourth. 120th III.; fifth, 105th III.The enemy opened upon the column with shells from four guns as it emerged in s.ght at a distance of about eight hundred yards from the fort.Then the column immediately entered a dense thicket of very small cedars and as it ascended a stuHll hill abot four hundredyards from the fort it met the withering tire of a whole brigade of rebel troops behind the breastworks or rifle pits flanking the fort. Theu the whole column began the j charge at a double quick with a yell and charged up to the fort.In the advauce there was a necessary change of direction to the right nearly at right angles with the direction in which the column began the movement, and in consequence thereof the companies upon the right of each regiment having a much smaller arc of a circle to pass over arrived at ornear the fort much sooner than the centeror left of the regiment.When the right companies of the l2*Jtb regiment had arrived at the fort there was no visible evidence that any charge hid been made into or through the fort but when the actual charge into nnd through the fort had been made the charging party consisted ot parts of the right companies of each regiment in the brigade, the rear regiments having bv this means been closed up on the head of the column.The fort being s:iuplv a natural basiu in the ridge with formidable breastworks fl Hiking it on the right and left and on higher ground, the Coucentrie lire therefrom into the fort forced the charging party to abandon it and to throw themselves just outside of the guns in a position to hold and defend them and the fort,At the time however of this charge the color bearer of the ljoth III. Inf, 8ergt. lDss. C*o, H. who waa shot down and killedin the fort at his colors with another storming party from the 102d and 12inh III. entered the fort from the center, charged through the fort and planted the colors attirst letween the fort and breast works in the rear, but afterwards removed the colors and planted them by the guns where they remained till late at night (when relieved by Gen. Gearv’s Division,) defended fromthree to live hundred men and officers of thevarious regiments of the brigade.W bile the colors of the I2dth III. were the first planted in the fort, jastice demands that 1 *hon!d sav that immediately, or soonthereafter the colors of the 102d III, and106th 111. were also planted along side the guns. lt;Here follows a seeming personal reminiscence which he has drawn a pencil through which I left go in. J. E. J.) The above facts 1 was personally au eye witness to as in a second charge into the fort the tire became so withering from the rifle pits I waa compelled to take relief behind the cession of one of the guns aud there remained until darkuess enabled me to escape as my life would have been the forteit had 1 attempted to escape sooner,lieiug either at or in the fort at the timethese charges Were made 1 Witt ill 14 fkiiitf likflto ««lt;* and know wu it took pluw, and 1 bt -lit*?# t Uo ftbovfe at alt'u*t at to bt* an v%cot r jot tttOitdliuu of tin? taetn nn tin y occurred, 1 4poke above of liitf mutilation m tin i n tract from tin oorrlt;N»pou J.lt;00* of Mr- J. A, Daugherty,in tUt abovt t xtr i©t# a* originally writt* aand publittind by Unu^bertf III the Lon*#-\ilU* Journal, 14 tit* f diowing snmtrue*: 1 nrouati ttm Mtmtmim. now nnd Unn. m*4*'.-W “ --WF-the bret /.e curried off the sulphurous oluod the It ig is seen waved by the faithful color bearer. Sergeant Hess, of the I2iuh III.” Inthe extract as published by the CincinnatiCoiuiuerioai. the name and the regiment lt;,rthat faithful color bearer who there lost his life while standing by his colors, has been purposely omitted, by whom and for whatpurpose I leave other* to judge.
Newspaper Details
Pontiac Sentinel
Pontiac, Illinois, US
Fri, Aug 04, 1899
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
TN, USA 01 Jun 2023
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