some letters from new york have said, "if you are ever in battle, do describe it." in this curiosity i have myself shared, and have always longed to know not only how the scene appeared, but how the spectator felt. i am able now to answer the question, and in so doing i will try and describe to you precisely how the attack appeared to me, without entering into an account of anything but what i saw, and how i felt.
it was by accident that i was at fort donelson, and with the attacking column. my regiment left me at st. louis attending a court-martial. the court adjourned soon afterward, and then, with another member, an officer of the fourteenth iowa, i started for fort henry.
we descended the mississippi to the narrow point where the ohio joins it, and on which are the fortifications of cairo. at cairo there were no boats, save those of the government, conveying troops, and on one of these we went. it was the mcgill, and on board was the regiment which was to lead the assault at fort donelson, the second iowa.
up to the time of starting we supposed that the destination of the boat was fort henry, on the tennessee. it was then announced, fort donelson on the[pg 21] cumberland. we glided slowly up the ohio, against its swollen current, and passed the mouth of the tennessee during the night. i arose with the first gleam of light, and went on deck to find that we had entered the cumberland. it seemed a narrow river, winding amid wooded hills and banks covered with noble oaks. the soldiers, who had passed the warm, moonlit night on deck, were rising, one by one, folding blankets and packing knapsacks. i turned from them to the river, and looked curiously for the people who dwelt in this, the rebel part of kentucky.
for a short time there was nothing but woods. then a little log house appeared upon the bank, a shed beside it, with its single horse and cow. it was a humble home, and hardly worth a second glance, a hundred such might be seen on the banks of any river; but in front of the door stood a sturdy little flag-staff, and from it waved the stars and stripes. the family had risen at the sound of the steamer. the mother stood in the doorway, holding an infant, and waving an apron. a little girl near by timidly tossed her hood around her head. two ragged boys at the water's edge swung their caps joyfully. the father stood on a stump, hurrahing alone but lustily; and over them, in the dim grey light, fluttered their little flag. "they mean it," "they are honest," "there's no make-believe there," were the exclamations of the soldiers, as they crowded to the side of the boat and answered the father and his boys with their louder cheers. this was[pg 22] the first house we saw, and the warmest welcome we received; for though many hats were waved to us during the day, and a few flags shown, none equalled, in their manifest sincerity, the inmates of the little log house.
the day was soft and beautiful. we passed it upon the upper deck, laughing, chatting, and watching the shifting scenery of the winding river. a pleasure excursion it seemed to all; and again and again some one would remark, "we may be on the brink of battle, yet it seems as though we were travelling for pleasure."
among the rough exteriors which campaigning gives, two officers of the second were remarkable for their neat appearance. some jokes were made at their expense, calling them the dandies of the regiment, and their state-rooms the band-boxes; and it was agreed that they were too handsome to be spoilt by scars. two days afterward one of these, captain sleighmaker, fell at the head of his company, heroically charging the rebel breastworks. a little later, as i was galloping for the surgeons, i passed a wounded officer, borne by four soldiers in a blanket. as i rode by he called out, "we have carried the day, captain." i looked around and saw it was the other, major chipman. "are you badly hurt, major?" i said, pulling up my horse. "no, not badly," he answered. "don't stop for me;" and when the surgeon arrived he refused to have his wound dressed, and sent him to his men.
in the afternoon we overtook twenty steamboats laden[pg 23] with troops, and led by four black gunboats. they moved slowly and kept together, as if they feared approaching danger. then came a change of weather, and night closed in upon us, dark and dreary, with cold and snow.
when the next morning broke i found we had made fast to the western shore. on either bank were high and wooded hills. the gunboats lay anchored in the middle of the stream, all signs of life hidden beneath their dark decks, save the white steam that slowly issued from their pipes, and floated gracefully away. far down the river could be seen the troop-laden transports, moored to the trees along the bank. the sky was clear and bright; the forest sparkled with snow, and the warm waters of the river smoked in the frosty air. such a picture i have never seen—never shall see again. as the troops began to debark, the band of the second iowa came out on the upper deck, and the dear "star-spangled" echoed along the river. the men beat time, and hurrahed as the notes died away.
the place of landing was about three miles below fort donelson. i may here say that the fort itself is about half as large as the battery, but that it is only a corner of a large square of earthworks stretching some two miles on each side. to avoid the cannon on the works it was necessary for us to make a circuit of several miles. the country was woods, high hills, and deep ravines. a glen that we entered after leaving the river bore a strange resemblance to one on my father's[pg 24] farm. as i looked around i could almost believe it was the same, through which, on just such bright winter mornings, i had driven the wood-sleigh or wandered with my gun. but the troops were marching, and i had no time to grow homesick. we passed, in the course of our march, a little log house. i went up to the door and spoke to the people. they seemed sad and dispirited. there had been firing between the pickets a day or two before, and a shower of balls had pattered around the house. the woman said she wished she were forty miles away, and the man said he would not care if he were a hundred.
a little girl was near the door, and i asked her what was her name, to which she replied, after a good deal of embarrassment, "nancy ann." i let nancy ann look through my spyglass; and, as she had never seen or even heard of one before, she was very much astonished. nancy ann's mother thereupon became quite hospitable, and invited me to come in and rest, but the column was then well nigh over the hill and i had to push on.
at last we reached the position assigned to us, and here we found the fourteenth iowa, to which my friend belonged, and with it i determined to remain until i could find my own regiment.
around us were thick woods. a deep glen ran in front, and beyond this, along the brow of the opposite hill, ran those earthworks of the rebels which we were to win.
[pg 25]
it was less than half a mile across; and occasionally a rifle ball fell near us, but the distance was too great for them to be effective. i looked through the trees and examined the hill with my glass, but could see nothing save the ridge of fresh-turned earth. along the side of the hill were our sharpshooters watching the works. i could see them crawling up behind trees and stumps, sometimes dragging themselves along the ground, sometimes on their hands and knees. their shots were frequent, and sounded as though a sporting party were below us. it was hard to believe that they were shooting at men. it was wonderful, too, how soon the mind accustomed itself to these strange circumstances. after the first half hour we took no more notice of the rifle shots than though some boys were there at play. behind those earthworks were cannon as well as men. we were completely within range, and they could have sent their shot and shell amongst us at any time. the night before no fires had been allowed, as they would indicate our position to the rebels; but they were now burning, and around one of them three or four of us gathered to dine. as we sat down upon a log, we heard distant sounds of cannon along the river. "there go the gunboats; the fight has begun; they are shelling the rascals out," said everybody. we had taken for granted all the time, and, indeed, up to the last minute, that the gunboats would dismantle the fort, and that all we should have to do would be to prevent the escape of the rebels. in[pg 26] this we were much mistaken. the cannonade lasted an hour, and then stopped. we hoped the fort was taken, but no such news came to gladden us.
in watching the earthworks, in talking and warming ourselves at the camp-fires, the afternoon wore away. evening came, and it was determined to risk the fires. again we sat down beside one for supper. it consisted of hard pilot-bread, raw pork and coffee. the coffee you probably would not recognize in new york. boiled in an open kettle, and about the color of a brown stone front, it was nevertheless our greatest comfort, and the only warm thing we had. the pork was frozen, and the water in the canteens solid ice, so that we had to hold them over the fire when we wanted a drink. no one had plates or spoons, knives or forks, cups or saucers. we cut off the frozen pork with our pocket knives, and one tin cup, from which each took a drink in turn, served the coffee.
it grew darker; the camp-fires burned brightly, and no threatening shot or shell had come from the fort. our sharpshooters and sentinels were between us and the rebels; and it was determined that we might sleep. the men stacked their arms, and wrapped themselves in their blankets around the fires. this was my first night out. hitherto my quarters had been in houses; i had not even passed a night in a tent. a life among the comforts of new york is not a good preparative for the field. i had looked forward to a tent at this season with some little anxiety, but i was now to begin [pg 27]without even that shelter. my water-proof blanket and buffalo skin were also on board the steamer, so that i had to trust to the better fortune of my friends for these. we managed to find four blankets, two of them were wet and frozen, and a buffalo skin. the snow was scraped away from the windward side of the fire, and the two frozen blankets were laid on the ground—a log was rolled up for a wind-break, and the buffalo spread over the blankets. on this four of us were stretched, and very close and straight we had to lie. it fared ill with the trappings of military life; handsome great-coats were ignominiously rolled up like horse-blankets, and my beautiful sabre (the gift of north moore street friends), ordinarily stained by no speck of rust or drop of rain, was tossed out in the snow, with pistols and spy-glasses, used in camp with the same gentle treatment.
for a few minutes i kept awake; the rebels were but fifteen minutes distant, and if they chose to make a night attack their shells might burst among us at any moment. the snow-flakes began to fall faster and faster. i slipt my head under the blanket and fell asleep. i can imagine that you will say we were to be pitied; but never did i sleep more sweetly. soon after midnight the sound of cannon roused us. the snow was three inches deep upon our blankets, yet we were comfortable, and surprised to find it lying there. the ground, however, had thawed beneath us; and when we rose, the snow crept in among our blankets[pg 28] and wet them. lying down was out of the question; we bent down a couple of saplings and spread blankets over them, making a little shed. under this we crept, after piling plenty of wood upon our fire. the soldier's invariable comfort—his pipe—was at hand, and thus we chatted, smoked and dozed till daylight.
