Show IDE COWARDLY 11th REGIMENT Story Illustrating the Influence of Officers Over the Men Under Them I I did not take men long to lear company and regImental drill after being I be-ing called Into the field by the outbreak lof the cIvi war and it was only a question of weeks when ever soldier i knew how to take care of himself in camp I was grand materIal for an armyfarmers miners mechanIcs clerks day laborersmen of brawn and men of pride and such was the rush I at first that the recruiting officers would reject a man almost on account I of an old scar When raw material I was dried and disciplined and hardened hard-ened up every man was a fighter A I grave mistake was made by the com pan and regImental officers in the vey beginning and though rectified In most instances before the year was out gross injustice had been done to I thousands ot brave men I There was but one officer In the Fourth infantry who started In rIght I He was ridiculed and burlesqued for months but time proved hIs sagacity I and brought him his promotion He I was the captain of company G and I his very first move vaS to know every I man in his command by name HIs next was to study each man by hImself I hIm-self Company G was made up of all sorts of men from the sturdy farmer i of 40 to the boy of 20 who had always I been coddled as a pet Not ten out of i the 100 had ever had their courage tested Taken altogether they were a I fnelooltn6 body ofpien and after six weeks of camplf pen y showed up better than any otherrompan Most captaIns would have been proud and satisfied and boasted a little Captain White was simply pleased Camp life was but the pIcnic preceding war I There would be long marches and he went at It to toughen his men Everyday i Every-day ran or shine they marched In i squads for so many miles They were I taught the easiest step their loads I were gradually increased theIr feet were hardened by degrees When the Seventeeth was brigaded I with us everybody spoke In praise of its stalwart rank and file No better material could have been found in I AmerIca A couple of weeks however i showed the colonel to be an egotist and a drunkard and few of the regimental I or company officers seemed anxIous to give hIm credit One day the Seventeenth Seven-teenth came out to relieve the Fourth on the outpost duty Not a man of them had ever fired his musket not a man had ever seen confederate not a man had heard the ping of a bullet Companies were detached to cover along a-long front and to guard a bridge and a railroad crossing At midafernoon 100 confederate cavalry dIvided into squads of 25 attacked four fun companies com-panies of the Seventeenth at about the same moment One discharge of carbines car-bines followed by a yell did the business busi-ness in each Instance The same 100 cavalry then fell upon the reserve of the Seventeenth and routed 50 men I at a dash One thousand men were beaten routed and disgraced by 100 I and all because the officers had not coached them Just a week later 50 men out of company G fought 40 confederates con-federates for an hour and prevented them from burning a brIdge 1 hat was the beginnIng ot the hoodoo of the Seventeenth I had disgraced itself self and disgraced the brigade and nothing short of a gallant tight would restore its prestige The officers cursed I the men 01 cowards and skulks and the men lost confidence In themselves Two weeks after its disgraceful rout five companies were sent out at nIght to drive a score of confederate shar > shooters out of an old mill and tae p ssSIon The major in command had hardly been seen by any of the men be fere He hardly knew one of the ca tains by name He swaggered and commanded and the 500 marched out Companies would have marched in open order ready to support each other The major had no sense He marched his 500 in a solid body with a tramp to be heard a mile away The sharp slooters heard the tramp of infantry suspected what was coming and 15 of them went into ambush along the road and at a proper moment opened fire In five mInutes the five companies were defeated and flying back to camp leaving leav-ing a score of dead and wounded In the enemys hands Officers and men made a foot race of i and as they came streamIng into the camp the brigadier brig-adier hunted out the major and shouted shout-ed at hIm By God sir you are a contempt ble coward sir and thIs is another disgrace dis-grace on the brigade I you dont put your resignation in my hands within half an hour Ill horsewhip you it of the camp The major compiled and was glad to I get out and the next day the colonel followed quit New officers were appointed ap-pointed and to them the brigadier said Gentlemen the Seventeenth has got as good fighting blood as there is 1n this army but it has disgraced the brigade Go at I and work your men up I yOU handle them right they will fight if i you let them smirch the reputation of this brigade again Ill hold you per I I onaly responsible The officers at once set about the working uP business but how was I done They insulted the captaIns and the captains retaliated on the rank and file One night after a week or so Captain White marched company G out of cap and an hour later had possession posses-sion of the old mill and 28 prisoners Then the brIgadier said t9 the new colonel col-onel of the Seventeenth ThInk of that sir Go to Captain White and lear how to handle your men But the colonel would have resigned 6 t = dT < r 1 first He called his officers together and said they must giv the men double drill and that in the next fight they might shoot down any man who tried to make a bolt of it And the captains got theIr respective companies out on the parade ground and looked sz lge and swelled out their chests and shouted You are a laughing stock of this brIgade You have had two or three chances to win glory but you have runaway run-away like beaten curs In our next fight I I a1 vll shoot the man who even turn pale And every private in every company I I remembered that when he ran away he followed his three officers and was notable not-able to overtake them A month later I at 0 ocock one summer morning the II Second brIgade swung into battle line on the left center It stretched across a cotton field with Its rIght and left connecting In the woods The fight began be-gan far above us That meant waiting and It is the that makes I waiting make cowards II cow-ards of brave men Down the lines of the Fourth Seventh and Twelfth went I the company officers and when they reached a whiefaced private whose musket was trembling In his grasp and I whose chIn was aquiver they lad3 han on hIs shoulder and whispered In hIs ear I Come Tom but you want to brace up Thats a hI of a racket up there I hut Its mostly all noise Well have I I the enemy in front of us pretty soon and well go for him heavy Cant scare us with their blfng old man Ill bet dollars to cents youi win the stripes of a corporal in this fight Those few words braced Tom and the other men up like a drink of brandy and pretty soon they began jolting and were all right Over in the Seventeenth It was different however The officers were at the regulation dIstance in rear of the lines and the men had nobody to brace them up To talk to each other oth-er made matters worse We were quite prepared for what happened Of a sudden the enemy opened fire on our front with artillery and as the first shell exploded In the ranks of the Sev ententh the full thousand men broke back like a flock of frIghtened sheep A second shell completed the business and there was a stampede which carried car-ried them a mile to the rear A few of the officers tried to stop the rush but most of them went with the men Ve lengthened lines to fill the gap until another regiment was brought up and we saw no more of the Seventeenth Seven-teenth until the next day Then the I officer of the regiment were paraded and the major general said to them I know the history of the Seventeenth Seven-teenth sInce its first skirmish You area are-a dIsgrace to your state to the army and to yourselves I shall recommend that the regiment be wiped out of existence ex-istence On the morning that the order of I I disbandment arrived the officers were ordered to report at headquarters for instructions The Seventeenth was in charge of a senior captain and some of the companies had no higher officer than a second lieutenant All except two or three were at headquarters 10 miles away when a Confederate column col-umn which had cut loose and marched by night through field and forest burst out of the woods upon the camps of the detachments along the river The surprise was complete and without a check the enemy swept along down the stream At the first sound of battle the men of the Seventeenth turned out of their tents There were no officers to gIve them orders They had always run away They were a pack of cowards coW-ards A few had already started to move off when there came the thunder of hoofs from the west and a woman rode into camp No man of the Seventeenth Sev-enteenth had ever seen her before ad to this day her Identity has not been established She must have been the wife of some officer in cap above but I what his rank or name has never been made known She was hardly above 20 years old fair haired and handsome and every man thrilled as she pulled up her horse and cried out They are making a stand up thereby there-by the creek and if you will join them the enemy can be checked Where Is your column We save none What regiment is this regment The cowardly Seventeenth I Then God help them up there I had hoped to find men here Dont you I hear them They are fighting for life Oi if they had but another regiment I Well go Well go Fall In Fall In was shouted and echoed all over camp and 5 minute ater very man ha his musket and cartrIdge box and every company was formed I This way thIs wayome on called the woman and as she turned her horse the companies fell into column col-umn and followed after swinging their caps and cheerIng as they marched Up the road crowded with white faced fugitives and yet never a man of the Seventeenth fell out The guns boomed and thundered and the mus I leetry volleyed but never a man of the Seventeenth lagged Presently they met wounded men crawling behind trees and logs and dead men with eyes I looking up at the hot sun but the orderly or-derly sergeants shouted Forward Forward and the men shut their I teeth and smiled grImly Ahead of them but turning ever moment to look back and smile dnd beckon rode the unknown woman A round shot plowed up the dirt near by but she gave no heed A shell burst against a tree a few yards away and filed the air with splinters but she dId not turn her head The bullets came thicker and thIcker but she held her way till a line of blue suddenlY came into vIew 1 1 and then waved her hand and said Right down there comrades Is where they ned you and after today no man wU cal the Seventeenth a regiment of cowards regmeIt HIp hip hurrah And a swinging of caps and a dash forward and the line was strengthened not a loment too soon The enemy hurled shell and grapehe poured volley after vole he charged again and agaIn but the line stood firm and cheered as it stood It was a fight of an hour before be-fore relnforcem came up Men looked for the cowardly Seventeenth In its camp but only a few dazed officers were there They looked for the cravens cra-vens down on the line defending the creek but they found none there Behind Be-hInd the log breastwork were a few I hundred living men theIr eyes still aflame and theIr faces black with powder pow-der staIns and on theIr right and left and behind them more dead and wounded than the whole brigade had yet lost Not a coward had died not a coward had lived on Led by a woman all had become heroesC B Lewis |