Battle of Chattanooga.
On Oct. 20, 1863, I was ordered with Lt. S. A. Thayer and four flagmen to establish a signal station of observation on Moccasin Point, to watch the movements of the enemy and report to a signal station on Cameron Hill directly south of Chattanooga, from whence there was a telegraph line to the headquarters of the army in the town. Our station was on the edge of a bluff overlooking the river, and about fifty yards in rear of the guns of Capt. Naylor's battery, the 10th Indiana. This battery consisted of one 10-pounder and one 20-pounder Parrott, and two 12-pounder brass howitzers. To the right and a little lower down on the point, was Capt. Spencer's battery the 1st Illinois, formerly Capt. Aleshire's, of two brass Napoleons and two 12 pounder howitzers. Still further to the right and rear was encamped a brigade of infantry under the command of Gen. W. C. Whitaker. On the north face of Lookout Mountain were two lines of intrenchments with redoubts on the eastern and western extremities, and a covered way around the point. There had been a battery near the Craven house, but the fire of our guns was so accurate that it had been withdrawn to the summit of the mountain where it was more secure. Our batteries had a good range of the wagon road across the point of Lookout and also of the Summertown road on the eastern side of the mountain, a portion of which could be seen. As Capt. Naylor was serving at division headquarters as ordnance officer, Lt. Crosby was left in charge of his battery, and with his Parrott guns he did some very fine shooting. He sank the trail of one of them in the ground elevating the muzzle sufficiently to explode some shells directly over the summit of the mountain. One day we noticed a signal officer on the point of Lookout, signaling to Gen. Bragg's headquarters on Missionary Ridge, and Lt. Crosby was about to fire at him when I requested him not to do so in order that I might try to read his message. I called off the numbers to one of my flagmen, who wrote them down and afterwards compared them to the Confederate code which had been given me, but they did not agree. As the flagman on the mountain stood with his left side towards me, it was very difficult to distinguish the motions of the flag from the right to the left; so I thought I did not get the numbers correctly, or else the officer was using a cipher. I tried again however, Lt. Crosby writing down the numbers for me, but meeting with no better success, I said I had no objection to his firing at the flag, which he did, the shell exploding very near it, and we saw it no more. There was a rumor soon after that a signal officer had been killed on the top of the mountain, but I never heard it confirmed. The signal station was probably moved further back on the summit where we could not see it, as communication was still kept up with Missionary Ridge. For firing at the summit, Lt. Crosby cut his fuses for twenty seconds, and for firing at the enemy on the Craven farm and the Summertown road, for ten and twelve seconds. A little later a section of 20-pounder Parrotts was placed on an elevation to the right and some distance to the rear of the batteries mentioned, which enfiladed the enemy's lines on the western slope of the mountain. The firing from Lookout Mountain though frequent did little damage on Moccasin Point, the shells either falling short or going over our heads into the Tennessee river.
One evening while sending a message by torchlight it became necessary to fill the stationary foot-torch with turpentine. In doing so some of the fluid was accidentally spilled on the ground, which afterwards became ignited from one of the torches, the flame spreading rapidly among the dry pine needles and brush on the ground. The enemy seeing the fire commenced shelling us, one shell striking very near, but with the assistance of some men from the battery, by stamping and beating, we soon succeeded in extinguishing the fire. Waiting a few minutes until everything was quiet, I lighted my torches again and finished my message without being again disturbed. Not long after this there was a forest fire on the eastern side of Lookout Mountain, which burned for nearly a week, but as it approached the houses near the point it was extinguished.
The following are a few of the messages sent in cipher from the signal station on Moccasin Point to the station on Cameron Hill:—
Oct. 26, 1:20 a.m.
Gen. Thomas:—Beat the enemy off Williams' Island twice to-night. Want no help.
(Signed) Whitaker, General.
Oct. 29, 7:50 p.m.
Gen. Thomas:—Rebel troops were moving about northeast. They were twenty-seven minutes in passing a given point.