[CHAPTER IX.]
RETURN TO THE FRONT.
Return home—How I spent my furlough—Join my regiment—Changes—Forward movement—Tunnel Hill—Rocky Face—Resaca.
With the preceding chapter it was intended that my story should end; but in the judgment of others, whose opinions it would be improper to disregard, it was thought best that I should add a short sketch of Sherman's celebrated campaign, which resulted in the capture of Atlanta. The part taken by my regiment in this, one of the most arduous and successful enterprises of the war, is worthy of remembrance, and will be of no less interest to my brave companions in arms than the scenes already described; and being in actual command of the remnant of that noble band of men known as the Sixth Kentucky, whose deeds of daring in that memorable march should never be forgotten, my position gave me ample opportunity to know how uncomplainingly they bore the fatigue and privations of the march; how firmly they held the post of honor and danger; how gallantly they charged the foe, and how nobly they fell.
It is a sad thought, that many who entered the service with me in this regiment three years ago, will never read these lines; for they are sleeping in quiet, nameless graves, over which loved ones will never come to weep; their deeds and generous self-devotion to their country in her hour of peril shall never be forgotten; and sorrowing friends will take a melancholy pleasure, as they read these pages, in remembering that those whom they shall see on earth no more were not victims in a useless and wicked struggle, but martyrs, rather, in a cause for which it is glorious to die.
To resume, then, the thread of my narrative. On reaching Washington our party was extremely anxious to visit their homes before again entering active service; and in order to do this furloughs and back pay were necessary. There was such a pressure of business at the War Office that we found great difficulty in having our wishes gratified in the particulars above named. At length, however, we found in Mr. Montfort, agent from Indiana to attend to the interests of the soldiers of that State, a friend whose sympathies were not bounded by the Ohio River, but one who was ever ready to aid all who wore the uniform of our common country. Our recent escape, and the dangers we had passed, enlisted his liveliest regard; and being familiar with the forms of business, he soon procured for us the desired furloughs, and the not less necessary pay. Nor did we confine our gratitude to empty expressions alone; before leaving for our homes we presented him with a very handsome testimonial in the shape of a beautiful cane, with gold head and appropriate inscription; and we feel greatly his debtors still, and trust that when declining years shall render necessary the staff to support his feeble steps, that his mind may be consoled by the reflection that his unselfish exertions on our behalf are gratefully cherished.
Home was now in immediate prospect; yet, so endeared had we become by association in Libby, and the perils attending our escape, that our parting was not without emotion. But soon there came to us all glad meetings—the embracings and welcomes of loved ones, and the cup of our joy was full. I made my way to Carrollton, Ky., the residence of my brother, the Rev. J. J. Johnston, and soon forgot the perils of the past in the joys of the present.
The days of my short furlough of thirty days passed rapidly; another of fifteen days was granted, and they, too, I need not say, passed sweetly and swiftly away; for in the first weeks of my home life I gave myself up to the delicious reveries of Love's young dream, and changed that dream only for the honeymoon, by giving my hand to Miss Annie Nash, in whose keeping my heart had long been.
Furloughs, however, like all things else on earth, have an end; and leaving friends—a nearer friend now than all the rest—my wife—behind, I hurried to the front, and joined my regiment between Knoxville and Chattanooga, a few days before the campaign against Atlanta began. My comrades gave me a hearty welcome; but there were faces that I missed, and well-known voices that I heard not—faces that I shall see and voices that I shall hear on earth no more. I had been spared amid all the dangers and sufferings of captivity; but they, amid the perils of the field and diseases of the camp, had gone to their rest.
On the third of May, one of the loveliest days of Spring, Hazen's Brigade, of the Third Division, Fourth Army Corps, was encamped near Cleveland, on the railroad leading from Chattanooga to Knoxville. Early in the day orders were received for a forward move; camps were broken up; all surplus baggage sent to the rear; the troops put in light marching order, one wagon only being allowed to each regiment, which was to transport officers' baggage and ten days' forage for the team. Thus prepared, at twelve o'clock, M., the assembly was sounded, which was soon succeeded by the forward, at which time the First Brigade moved on, full of glee and cheerfulness, as if on the way to some high festival, instead of the field of danger and of death. In a few moments the Second Brigade, with its distinguished and gallant leader, Hazen, at its head, moved on with that elasticity and precision of step so characteristic of that command, with the watchword, "On to Atlanta!" upon every lip. O, it was a grand sight to behold an army of veterans, whose courage had been proved on many a well-fought field, under the eye of brave and vigilant leaders, with banners frayed and torn in many a deadly struggle, under the cheering notes of the sounding bugle and the inspiration of past success, marching on to dangers greater and fields more glorious than those already won. The day was warm and the march long, and when night overtook us we camped in an open field, wrapped up in our blankets, our only tent the arch of blue, with its glorious stars above.