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BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.An Error of Great Importance Rectified,Whereby Troops Who Fought Nobly AreGiven Their Due.Bad Mistake Regarding the Location ofCertain Brigades In the Fight Dls-from a new fbovementof the rebel* further to the right. This waa brilliantly performed.Simultaneously with this advance of Whittaker’s second line YanDerveer's brigade,returning from the Keiiey field, formed on Whittaker’s left and climbed the ridge to Brannan’s position, where it relieved a portion of his troops tbai were out of ammunition. In this second movement of Whittaker the Ninety-sixth Illinois was on the right, and when the ridge in it* front wascarried and Whittaker was established in single line from his left to his right the latter was neldhy the Nlnety-Rlxtn.\ \ r it wam nr fgg MoVMCTarr JThat the severing of the latter regiment occurred which has been mentioned, and which led to the erroneous transposition of brigades when the preliminary work of staking the field began. While Whittaker’s second line was rushingcovered and Set Right.rapidly by the flank to the right and moving obliquely toward the summit,Mitchell’s column,Washington, November 14.— [Special.]Many veterans in Ohio. Illinois, iDdlaua, andMichigan are directly interested in some questions concerning the famous operations of Granger’s corps on Sunday afternoon at the battle of Chickamauga which have just been Settled by a visit of a party of officers to the field. The question at issue wus the entire transposition of positions most generally to Mitchell’s and Wblt-tuker i brigades of Bleedman's division In the battle of Sunday afternoon. The organizations which participated in the ruovemeuts which were under consideration were the Fortieth andI ighty-ninth Ohio, the Nlnty-sixth and lloth Jiiluol*, the Eighty-fourth Indiana, the Twenty-second Michigan, and the Eighteenth Battery Ohio Light Artillery, composing Whittaker’s brigade of Steed man’s division; the Niuty-eiehth, 118th and 121st Ohio, the Seventy-eighth, Illinois and Battery M., First Illinois Light Artillery, composing Mitchell’s brigade of Steed-man’s division, and the Twenty-first Ohio, of Sirweli’s brigade of Negley’s division.This latter regiment, at the close of the battlefought with, aud a large nart of it was capturedwith the Twenty-second Michigan aud the lilgbty-ninth Ohio, of Whittaker’s brigade.BESIDES THESE ORGANIZATIONSFrom several Btates which are deeply and di-icctly interested in the new questions of positions which have recently arisen, and have nowbeen settled, the entire Army of the Cumberland, and that largo body of readers who are making a study of Chickamauga are indirectly interested. Birange as it may appear to all who k now the prominence aud the vast importance of the work done by Bteedmau’s two brigades on the right of Thomas’ line of buttle on Sunday afternoon, the positions heretofore generally assigned to these brigades have been found to be erronnou*. Whittaker’s eommaud has, up to this time, been, by most writers, located on the r *-bt of Bteedman’s line, that is, on the extreme r ght on Horseshoe Ridge, thus bolding the right of the army, while Mitchell’s brigade has beeu locati d on the left of Whittaker, and thus on the right of Branaan..'he exact reverse has now been clearly shown ri be correct. That is to say, in the magnificent ; Mu of Meed man's, two brigades on the right of J ran nan's line, against the combined assaults of seven brigades in the divisions of Preston, Bush-ioil Johnson aud Hindman, Whittaker, and not Mitchell, went Into position on the right ofI amian, while Mitchell formed to Whittaker’s i ighrt, miid became the right of the army.TbH discovery is not only Interesting as a matter of history, and important as an element of correctness In the forthcoming series of official i..apt. of the battle, but )L makes possiblo aCLEAR UNDERSTANDINGlt;jf so dbtjuestlons relating to the captures from i I wenty-first and Eighty-ninth Ohio, and theT wei ty-second Michigan, which it lias not been iKMftlele heretofore to satisfactorily untangle. NCM lug is taken away by the change from thecredit which bus always been given to, and v hie a was richly deserved by every portion of the line. The discovery that the po-.:iio'is of these two noted brigades It id been interchanged on the fleid, aud that stakes driven to designate Mitchell’s position lt;o\ci*ed the ground actually occupied In the ttie oy Whittaker, and the reverse, was a real so marching in double-quick, was in motion to the right in rear of Whittaker. It was here that the two right companies of the Ninety-sixth Illinois, as already described, not hearing the command to Whittaker’s line to face the left and move to the crest, kept on toward the right, lhe head of Mitchell’s column immediately cut these two companies off from the main part of their regiment, aud they, continuing to move with the head of Mitchell’s column, soon foundthemselves on the ridge with him, and on the right of everything. And so it came to be believed in various quarters for these many years that,as men of the Ninety-sixth Illinois certainly were on the extreme right of the line, and had the colors of their regiment with them, and asthe Niuetv-sixfh was surely known to be the right of Whittaker in the battle, therefore Whittaker’s must have been tbe right brigade ofSteed wap’s line.THE RECENT VISIT TO THE FIELDHas also made clear the manner of Bteedinan’a withdrawal at sunset, and the facts of the captures made of the regiments temporarily attached to Whittaker aud in action on his left.It has heretofore been a matter of uncertainty as to the ridge to which Bteedman withdrew his brigades at sunset, at that time entirely out of ammunition, and from which he withdrew an hour later to MacFarland’s Gap. It is known that he retired; his battery upon the ridge. Upon which he contemplated reestablishing his line,and that under cover of its guns he withdrew the brigades. This position was discovered by the visiting party in a curious way. A year agoForrest Camp of Confederate veterans, at tNrnt-taoooga, presented your correspondent with a section of an oak tree containing fifteen canistershot, which was known to have been cut on oneof the ridges of Snodgrass Hill. The man whocut the tree was found, and he conducted the party to the stump from which he had cut the relic. It turned out to be in front of a ridge about three hundred yards in the rear of Bteedman’* brigades, and that the section containing the canister had beeu cut from the tree about forty feet from the ground. Tiie side of the tree which contained the shot was turned toward the ridge, and the height at which the canister took eliect showed that they were from charges fired from the west of the ridge to which the wit hdrawaltook place, toward tho crest of the one abandoned. It is known that no other battery thansalt of the very numerously attended reunions oi the veterans of the Army of the Cumberland •’ i Chattanooga last Bep Lem her.Many members of these celebrated brigades visited this field of their fame and inspected the ► ;ul;es which had been driven in marking the . pproxlmkte locations along Horse-shoe Ridge.i helt;e had been fixed in the preliminary workthe one from Bteedman’s line could have been In action on this portion of the field.THIS CORRECTION OF POSITIONSMakes everything clear jn regard to the captures from the Eighty-ninth Ohio and the Twenty-second Michigan, under the command of Colonel Lefavour, aud temporarily serving in Whittaker’s brigadff, and from the Twenty-first Ohio,vvhicn was Immediately on their left. The threeregiments were thus fighting directly to the right of Brannan’s line. When YVbittaker withdrew’, through some mistake they did not receive notice that the line was to fall back. Their line had in part conformed itself to the movement to tbe rear, when an officer in Granger’s corps, not certainly Identified, ordered this portion of the fine back toward the crest, upon the supposition that it had withdrawn without authority. In the meantime Kelley’s Confederate brigade had occupied the abandoned summit, beginning at a point about fifty yards to the right of where Braunan was still in position, and only separated from him by a thicket of low bushes. As the Union regiments, returning toward the summit reached the vicinity of K*el-ley’s line, Trigg’s Confederate brigade had crossedthe ridge further to the right, aud, coming down into the rear of these three regiments, their capture was easily ettected. Subsequently, and almost immediately, VanDerveer’s brigade,on the right of Brannan and next on the left of the captured regiments, discovered both Kelley’s aud Trigg’s lines In time, and by a rapid disposition of forces drove them both off, and continued to hold their own position until all fighting had ended, when thev were vHthdrawn. H. V. B.A TEL£3EAPH EATS WABattending the preparation of the map* upon wbi3h Colouel B. C. Kellogg, of the army, hasOn Between the Government and the Western Union Company.been at work during the past year. The lines v. ere right, as all agree, but, as now appear, the positions of tbe two brigades upon them were wrong. These were fixed upon the representations of a staff officer of General Bteedman, who assisted in forming the lines of battle, aud \lt;bo had been often on the fleid. The mistake which led to transposing these brigades was a very various as well as a very natural one. j t was well known that tho only battery used to the right of Braunan on the ridge was Battery 1, First Illinois, and that it was on the extreme nr tit. It was also known to this staff officer that in* n of the Ninety-sixth Illinois, w ith the colors of that regiment, formed part oi the support of th'i battery, It was further undisputed that the Ninety-sixth Jlliuois was the right of Whittaker’s line. Ith? imed clear tbu«, w in.uK.ers urmaue neia meright of tbe Hue next to Battery M. But It now at nears thatonlj' two companies of the Ninety-sixth Illinois were with the battery on tho right, while the whole of Mitchell’s Brigade was Sana'a ichod between this fragment of the Ninety-• iXthandits other eight companies. These latter were In line next ou t he left of Mitchell, aud formed the right of Whittaker. From this lint Whittaker extended to the left until his ids connected with Brannan’s right.TheWashington, November 14.—[Special.]decision of the First Comptroller of the Tneas-iihmvii •» tuo I I, Vi V? im-t had. therefore, for many years,that Wlttaker’s brigade held theIA NUMBER OF TTIE VETERANSOf Bteedman’s division w ho, from their visit and observations of tho old fighting ground, werelt; onvinced that the positions of their brigades i.ad been transposed, called on Colonel Kellogg und expressed their doubts of the correctness of i be locations as made. Colonel Kellogg, who had ».coopted these from officers of the command, needed only this notice that there was doubt anv-rhere to take hold of the question with energy. Correspondence was opened with all whom itwas supposed could throw light ou tho question, and an analytical study of both Union and Confederate reports was prosecuted in connection with the correspondence received. An inspection of the official battle reports disclosed that not one of them showed by direct statement which of the two brigades in question occupied ejther the right or the left of the line. The reports of General Granger, Bteedman, Whittaker and Mitchell, as well as four regimental reports, which are the only ones of that grade In the files, are each found to he lacking in direct information upon tho question at issue. It was possible,however, by analytical comparison of these reports with each other aud the Confederate reports, aud also with accounts written by field, company and battery officers at the time, and tho statements made by participants ou the field, to clear the subject of error aud make the truth appear. In eounectiou with this wide off:respondence with the prominent surviving actors on this portion of the field aid this close study, a party to visit the field for the purpose of study ou the spot was organized by General J. B. Fullmou. of Bl Louis, who, at the time of the battle, was Adjutant General and Chief of BtaiT to General Granger. Retook with him Colonel A. B. Ilobluson, of S.urysville, 0., formerly of the i2lst Ohio, theury that the recent order of the Postmaster General reducing the rates for Government dispatches is retroactive and dates from the beginning of the present fiscal year does not finally decide the controversy so far as the WesternUnion Company is concerned. The Western Union has not presented any bills to the Government since tbe’dispute arose, and that company, through its Executive Committee, has made formal protest and declared its intention of refusing to assent to the new rate until its rightsare defined. il JThis means a legal fight through the Court ofClaims. As the amount involved is not very large, the total of Government business beingless than $2uu,000 a year, the Western Union can afford to hold back its bills until its case is heard, with the certainty of being no worse off than it would be without a contest, and the possibility of being able to obtain a decision ending at once and for all the nagging and chipping policy which each successive Postmaster General seems called upon to institute against it the instant he is sworn in.The influences behind these agitations are well known. There are among them a set of men who, although at one time Western Union officials, afterward branched out in opposition to it. With their knowledge of their old company’s affairs and their desire to harass the existing management, and perhaps pave the way for a Government telegraph, the business of saving money to the Government Is pretended a pretext for present schemes. Tbe Postmaster General, whoever he may be, is always justified in trying to have the Government business done at the lowest possible rate, but the Government is not so poor that It needs to use its autocraticpower to compel service at a loss to any common carrier in order to save a few thousand dollars.WET MONEY BAGS.Sliver Taults of the U. S. Treasury inCondition from Dampness.Badleached the crest of the main ridge aud charged oeyopd it, and who was a We to fix murks whicn«‘ould not be Questioned just the place where was indisputably established Captain KG. Dolton.formerly of Battery M, First Illinois, the onlyartillery in Steedman’s line, and theeominaud-iug officer of the Thirty-fifth Ohio, whichthe right of Braunan’s line, who was able to rWHSpointout tiiis location, which has heretofore been accurately fixed by the concurrent testimony of amajority of tiie officers who occupied it in the oat lie* *THIS PAETf OF OFFICERSBpent two full days last week on Horseshoe Ridge in the study of the details of Bteedman’* fight, and the Confederate movements which resulted in the capture of considerable portious of ibe Twenty-first aud Eighty-ninth Ohio and the Twenty-second Michigan—in all about five hundred meu. Reside* these questions, those belonging to the movement* in withdrawal were examined and made plain.As to the formation of the line. It was made toappear, beyond ground for successful dispute, that Granger s assault with Whittaker’s brigadeof Bteedniau’s division eliarged up the ridge andfought it* way to a position next ou the right ofBrannan,while Mitchell, following Whittaker,established himself on Whittaker’s right, and thusbecame the extreme right of the Union line.», f**£t also appeared in characters of1 fgbu ureat a* has boeo the credit awarded both thwe brigades for their magnificent assaults, lichlyss Kti]Fdeserve the world-wide renownwhich their deeds won tor them, still the full measure of their notable achievement* ha* not as yet been comprehended, nor has history made full award lor their bravery. For it now appears tfiat tho assault upon Union Rid^eandthe successful holding of that were only portions oi their work. The extreme limits of thek* advance now show that both ravines and ridgesbeyond the main crest were cleared and carriedtwice and sometime* thrice. The fighting alongibesumnut lias been understood; that beyond it—which rose itself to the dignity of a batile, andwas prosecuted with persistence aud success by these two brigades against sevenWashington, November 14. — [Special.]The new Treasury silver vaults are in a terrible condition from leakage from the grounds in the court-yard above. Treasurer Houston says the silver—about 187,000,000—is stored in bags of 810,000 each, and the bags are placed In wooden boxes, two in each. These boxes are piled one on top of another nearly to the top of the cages. In some of the cells the boxes are overflowing with water, and the moisture stands out in beads on the canvass. Of course the dampness can s not very well hurt the silver, but it will rot the bags and the boxes, in which case tbe sliver would bestrewn all over the floors and would necessitate a recount, and would cost a good deal of mouey. He fears that it will be necessary to take tiie money out now and rebag aud rebox the whole. Tliis would probably cost not less than 810,00b.“If something is not done,” he said, “the odor coming from the decaying bags aud boxes will be terrible, and will render it Impossible for anybody to remain in the vault to work. There is no chance of the dampness evaporating, for the space is conflued. There is no means of telling just bow deep the water has penetrated, for thocages have not been opened.”It is probable that an effort will be made tosteam tho moisture of the bags. Bome experiments have beeu made that indicate that such a measure would be successful. In any event, however, some of the silver will have to be rebagged.Fourth-Class Postmasters.Washington, November 14.—[Special.']—Thefollowing^ fourth-class Postmasters were appointed to-day:Ohio—New Knoxville, Auglaize County, Henry Cook; Thompson, Geauga County, R. H. Uood-scll.Indiana—Kossuth, Washington County, James Spencer; J^awler, Washington Counts', James Wilson; Rush Creek Valley, Washington County, James W. Riley; West Lebanon, Warren Couuty, Wm. 11. Lincoln.Kentucky—Dycusburah, Crittenden County, A. S. Hard; Meeting Creek, Hardin County. J. C. Adams; West Point, Hardin County, K C. Jenkins.West Virginia—Alton, Upsher County, Geo. W. Sijnootf Dial Rock, McDowell County, H. J. Williams; Hawthorn, Logau County, Rebecca Vinson; Maybury. McDowell County, J. B.Kramer; Newfound, Wyoming Couuty, LemuelGoode.Capital City Notes.Washington, November 14.—[Special.}portion of two brigades of his I | ^°™™‘‘KS,oner Raum to-day appointedd lonnmm of several ,,tUr* *»•,' - lb Moore a member of tbe Board of En-amiuing Burgeons at McArthur, O.OPENS A NEW CHAPTER OF IIONOR.A brief statement will enable those familiar with the general features of Bund ay afternoons battle on BnodgrA** Hill to understand the post-tionsas they have now been fixed. After the break in the general line shortly before noon as is well known, liarkor’* brigade of Wood’s division had established itself on the northern spur of Bund gras* mu, in (he opc-n fieid to the north or left of the Snodgrass house. General Brannan, with a M©wmdrvlsion ana r*mnani» of several others nad taken a strong position on the crest to the right of the Snodgrass house, extending alon' Horseshoe Hi dee as it curved toward the southand west- N^giey had held the crest to the right Brannan, but abandoned it before ho w#ts uu-der fire, and-thus the enemy bad*beou enabled to gaiu the crest considerably to the right of Bran-uuu, and were rapidly moving upon his rear.At this supreme moment Granger arrived with’wo brigade* of Bteedman * division, Whittaker w advance and Mitchell in rear. This columnmarched by tbe flank in fours, and was double-quicked behind Snodgrass Itiili, and as the rearOf Whittaker's brigade reached a point opposite Brannan’* right, on the crest above, it laced toward the crest, and, with aStorekeepers and Gauger*.WASHINGTON, November 14.—The Secretary of the Treasury has made the following appointments in the Internal Revenue Service:C. P. Burgdorf, storekeeper and gauger. Fifth Tennessee; Samuel P. Conley, storekeeper, Bixthd?nnessec; J. M. Puckett, storekeeper aud gauger, Fifth Tennessee: J. W. Hte-phensou, storekeeper. Eleventh Ohio.I—The resignation of Judge Hench, of Indiana. Chief of a division In the Comptroller’s office! has been accepted to take effect on the 1st prox ’ and Mr. Frank Bwlggart, of Logansport. Ind is named as his successor. ’Augustus W. Shaw, of Indiana, has been seiected for appointment aa Deputy ThirdAuditor of the Treasury in place of William H Wfelsh, resigned. Ho will be appointed on the President’s return from his Maryland trip.TREMENDOUS AND DESPERATE ASSAULT,Fought its way to the summit, and establisheditself on the right of Brannan. Its flrstlinedidmore, it charged beyond the ero*t and drove the enemy to the bottom of the deep ravine beyond. 1 here the first Hue was forced back over the second by tho fury of the recovering enemy. But the second line stood steady on the crest, and aoon the first line, which had passed to the rear under the Cover of tho first, was successfully rallied by General Bteedman, who seized the colors of Ibe 116tb J liiuoiM uod rode with them iu his hand toward the top of the ridge. Tin* second line was then hurried to the right to assaultill* ridge again in that l\—Admiral Gberardi, whose management ofaffairs at Hayti, duriug the troubles there la*t summer, won for him the thank* of Beeretaxy Tracy, has been ordered to proceed to the West indies again. He will go down iu either tii* Kearargo or Galena.Edward Noblk. while hunting near Mt. Bter-, O., wan accidentally shot by a companion.lingHe may die.Adi ice to Mother*.—MRS. WINSLOW’S SOOTHING SYRUP should always be used when children are cutting teeth. It relieves the little suflerer at once*it produces natural, quiet sleep by relievlna the childprouuetsu natural, Quirt ut relievingIrom pain, and tbe little cherub awakes aa nbriiruxn pa id. aim me «iue caeruo awakes an “bright as abutton.”_ It is very pleasant to ta*te. It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays all pain, relieves windregulates the bowels, and is the beat known remedy lor duurrbcea, whether arising hum teeuiuaa or oa«/ ml a aauls a bean*.
Newspaper Details
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Fri, Nov 15, 1889
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
James M.
USA 30 Dec 2019
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