With One of Opdycke's Tigers at Kennesaw

    Continuing on the theme of looking back on the key events of the Atlanta campaign brings us to the following account of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain written by First Lieutenant Hezekiah Newton Steadman, a member of "Opdycke's Tigers" also known as the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Before the war, Steadman worked as a teacher and started his military career as a corporal in Co. B in August 1862; he was successively promoted to commissary sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and ended the war as the captain of Co. K. After the war, he went into farming and at the time of his death in 1882 was a minister.

    Kennesaw Mountain was, in Steadman's words, "one of the bloodiest days in the history of the 125th Ohio," especially for its officers. The regiment lost 9 officers and 44 men in its charge upon the Rebel works which Steadman described for the readers of the Chardon Jeffersonian Democrat. Steadman's letter was written in September 1864 and published in the October 21, 1864 edition of that newspaper. The 125th Ohio was attached to the Third Brigade (Harker) of the Second Division (Newton) of the IV Army Corps (Stanley) during the campaign.

Corps badge for the Second Division IV Corps
(Image courtesy of Union Drummer Boy)

Atlanta, Georgia

September 17, 1864

          Passing the minor incidents that transpired, we come to the history of the 27th of June, a day never to be forgotten by those who participated in its terrors before Kennesaw-one of the bloodiest days in the history of the 125th Ohio. I do not presume to give you anything like a description of the terrible grandeur of the scene which occurred around Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia on the eventful 27th of June, for it is beyond my power to paint in words the sweeping line, the rushing column, and the deadly charge. The army of Johnston had been forced back step by step, ever retreating but fighting still until their lines reached one of the strongest positions, both naturally and artificially, which it is possible to imagine. Their right rested on rocky and precipitous Kennesaw, their left crossing the town of Marietta, while their whole front was protected by massive and almost impregnable works. For reasons best known to our generals, it had been determined that a general assault should be made upon portions of the enemy’s works, and the morning of the 27th selected as the time of trial.

At an early hour, the 125th Ohio was moved out, and taken to that part of our line occupied by Stanley’s forces and was here deployed as skirmishers, crossing the front of our brigade (the Third) and joined on the right and left by other regiments from other divisions, the whole skirmish line being under the direction of Colonel Emerson Opdycke. The command of the 125th Ohio devolved on Lieutenant Colonel David H. Moore, aided by Major Joseph Bruff. Our line was formed immediately in rear of our outer works, and here waited the signal that was to send us forward like a living crushing avalanche upon the foe. 

General Emerson Opdycke

As we lay deployed, I took a hasty view of the ground over which we were to pass. Immediately in front of our left (where I was stationed) was an open field, extending down to a piece of timber some 40 rods distant, in the edge of which were the enemy’s rifle pits which were filled with the best troops of Johnston’s army. About 15 rods in rear of these pits was the main line of the Rebel works and within range of our own. The right companies were similarly situated, while the center of the regiment was more protected by a belt of timber which extended nearly to the enemy’s line. It was not over 55 rods from our breastworks to those of the enemy, and in passing over this space we were not only exposed to a fire from the rifle pits, but also that of the main works. Such was the nature of the ground that there was no shelter from the instant we crossed our works to go forward until we reached these Rebel pits. Our orders were to “take those pits.” Once over our own works, there could be no safety but in instantaneous movement and success.


This map from the American Battlefield Trust shows the primary aim of the Union assault being the Dead Angle held by Maney and Vaughan's Confederates, and Harker's brigade was right in the thick of it. Despite the determined efforts of Steadman and his comrades, the Union assault ultimately failed and is considered one of Sherman's most serious mistakes of the entire campaign. 

Colonel Opdycke commanded “Forward” and the 125th Ohio led by its gallant lieutenant colonel and major, had passed the last works that could shelter them from the enemy’s fire and rushed upon the enemy. The enemy’s fire was most terrific. Secure behind their works, their infantry deluged us with balls while their artillery swept our depleted ranks with grape and shell, pouring upon us an unceasing tide of death. Many of our brave boys fell close to the enemy’s abatis. Lieutenant [Alson C.] Dilly [Co. C] fell dead within a few feet of the works while gallantly leading his men. Lieutenant Burnham fell pierced by four balls close by the ditch. Captain [Elmer] Moses [Co. E] was badly wounded at the head of his company. No line of skirmishers could storm those works in the face of such a fire. The assailing columns advanced to support us, but could not reach us, so severe was the fire.

A fine portrait of some of the officers and enlisted men of the 125th Ohio from the Photographic History of the Civil War. The stories these men could have told...

At this instant, General Charles Harker fell from his horse mortally wounded; the regiments on the right and left of the 125th Ohio fell back, drawing upon us the whole fire of the enemy in our front. No troops could live under such a fire, and the orders came for the 125th Ohio to fall back to the captured pits and to hold them. Slowly and sullenly we fell back, and did hold these pits, though the enemy came out and made the most desperate attempts to wrest them from us. But in vain, for every pit was a “Tiger’s” lair, held by men who would have perished rather than have yielded them. We had accomplished all we were ordered to do in taking and holding the rifle pits, for it was not expected that a skirmish line could successfully storm such main works as those of the enemy. The storming columns had been withdrawn before the 125th Ohio was ordered back to the rifle pits, and the attempt abandoned for the time. In due season, the regiment was released and what remained of it was taken back to the ground occupied by it before starting out in the morning. Our loss was severe, numbering 44 men and nine officers killed and wounded. This almost unprecedented loss of officers arose from the fact that we were so close to the enemy that it was an easy matter for them to single out officers from the men.

A flank marker belonging to the 125th Ohio (Ohio History Connection)

A few instances of personal daring and address. As we were rushing upon the rifle pits, a Rebel officer seeing our lieutenant colonel in advance of the line, sprang toward him and with a drawn saber, demanded his surrender. Colonel Moore’s argument being the more powerful, the Rebel yielded his sword to the Colonel who sent him to the rear. In the heat of the engagement, I had to pass along the line to execute an order which had been given me, and in so doing found Colonel Opdycke mounted on his favorite horse, riding as coolly along the skirmish line as though on a pleasure tour, instead of being in the midst of a storm of balls. I also saw a Private in Co. B named Isaac Brown rush into a rifle pit and capture its entire contents of five Rebels. These instances came under my own observation. No doubt but there was many other deeds of personal daring, for it was a day of daring deeds. A truce was shortly after agreed upon, for the purpose of allowing us to bury our dead, which we did, and they now fill soldier’s graves. The motto of the 125th Ohio “A glorious victory or an honorable grave,” and it is a common saying here in the 4th Corps that where Opdycke’s Tigers cannot go, no other troops need try.

Source:

Letter from First Lieutenant Hezekiah N. Steadman "Victor," Co. E, 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Jeffersonian Democrat (Chardon, Ohio), October 21, 1864, pg. 1

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on t...
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true ...
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of h...
Read more

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Ma...
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on se...
Read more

In front of Atlanta with the 68th Ohio

Image
  The arrow corps badge of the 17th Army Corps was worn by many members of the 68th Ohio in the latter days of the war.       Private Edward A. Bigelow of Co. F of the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wrote this brief account of the Battle of Atlanta just two days afterwards to his father back home in Henry County, Ohio. The regiment formed a part of Colonel Robert K. Scott's three regiment all-Ohio brigade consisting of the 20th, 68th, and 78th regiments, being designated the Second Brigade of the Third Division of Frank Blair's 17th Army Corps. Bigelow's letter originally appeared in the Napoleon Press newspaper and was copied in the Toledo Daily Commercial which was providential as no known copies exist today of the wartime Napoleon Press.  
Read more

Charging Battery Robinett: An Alabama Soldier Recalls the Vicious Fighting at Corinth

Image
W riting 30 years after the Battle of Corinth, James A. McKinstry of the 42 nd Alabama recalled his experiences storming Battery Robinett with Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2 nd Texas and expressed guilt that it was perhaps his action that brought about the colonel’s demise. “On seeing a line of Federals approaching, and before giving the situation a thought, I immediately raised my gun and fired full into the breast of a Federal sergeant, who was in front of the column, and only a short distance from us.  'Twas then that Captain George Foster shouted, "Cease firing, men! cease firing!" and waved his handkerchief, then I realized the true situation. 'Twas too late! That fatal volley had been turned on our little band from the muzzles of 1,500 muskets. I was still standing just as I was when I fired my last shot, and within a few feet of Colonel Rogers, when a Minie ball went crashing through my left hip and turned me half round; another went tearing through my ...
Read more

Cook & Brother of New Orleans

Image
    The lockplate of a New Orleans-made Cook & Brother Enfield rifle produced in 1862 shows the fine craftsmanship that became the hallmark of the maker throughout the Civil War. Note the stars and bars flag at left, an emblem used on C&B's production throughout the war and the Cook & Brother, N.O. 1862 markings. Earlier production weapons at New Orleans had the flag located just above the maker's name while later weapons produced in Athens, Georgia would have a modified flag and Athens on the plate followed by the serial number.        In the spring of 1861, two English-born businessmen, Ferdinand and Francis Cook of New Orleans, perceived the need for the South to have its own domestic production of firearms and  set out to prove "that rifles could made here as well as in Yankee land or in Europe." The brothers  elected to produce copies of the British Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield rifle as this was considered the benchmark longarm...
Read more

I Want to See a Battle: A Hoosier at Shiloh

Image
W riting in his diary, Private Manius Buchanan of the 29 th Indiana recalled the eagerness with which his regiment marched towards Savannah, Tennessee with the sounds of the battle of Shiloh ringing in their ears.           “The forced march was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m,” he noted. “The rest was really needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’ The sound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing grows more intense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear; but no, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be my only chance.” The regiment would go into action the following afternoon, and of the four neighborhood boys who had enlisted together in Co. B, only Buchanan escaped unscathed. One afternoon's exposure to the horrors of battle was all it took to satisfy this Hoosier's desire to see the elephant. “I wanted to see a battl...
Read more

An Interview with Forrest in May 1864

Image
  “The noise of battle is the only music that ravishes the senses of Forrest.” I t was May 1864. Back east, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were locked in the deadly dance of the Overland Campaign while in Georgia, General William Tecumseh Sherman's army squared off against General Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of the Tennessee in the campaign for Atlanta.       Based in relatively quiet northern Mississippi, General Nathan Bedford Forrest bided his time waiting for a Federal advance from Memphis. Earlier in the month, General Samuel Sturgis led a brief campaign into Mississippi but Forrest was sure Sturgis would venture out again. In the meantime, he tried to keep his reorganized command intact despite persistent demands from his superiors that he return the absentees and deserters who inflated his ranks (nearly 1,000 in number) to their original commands.      Around this same time,  an old acquaintance from Me...
Read more