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Show ' How He Saved Gen. Thomas's I' ' I 'Army Is Told by Gen. Benja- niin F. Bryant. K- I! PAST COMMANDER OF V, WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT fyM Vivid Recital of Somo of f he ' Stirring Events of the ,; j Civil War. A ' ! Like the skirl of the Highlanders' bagr- ' pipes on the cars of tho bcsloscd Karri - IE ' , ."on at Laicknow; llko Die far-heard wlnd- j hip of the German bugles, drifting down X Mi thff plain, from Bluchcr's reinforcements h, jj to Wellington's tried men, as night drew J 'lOj on at Waterloo so sounded the wild yelps y from the dust-dried throats of "Mad" jf ..'? CJordon Granger's running troops to tho .! 'V' desperate soldiers of Thomaa at Chicka- manga. it fc r There Is no Incident of the civil war more fraught with human Interest than f' i the story of Gordon Granger's relief of J, 'I Thomas, as told by General Benjamin ."(. a' F. Bryant of La Crosse. Wis., past com- Si inander of tho department of Wisconsin, ' :, CI. A. R and ono of the best Informed A , : 1 1 authorities on the civil war In the coun- 1' : i try, who is stopplns at the Knutsford . 1 i hotol. jii- Genoral Bryant enlisted In tho One 7 '( i Hundred and First reglmont of Ohio In- II , fantry. August 31, W. which was mus- ti icred at Monrovia. Huron county, Ohio, VM and imntciilfitcly went to Kentucky, where fi"'t I It moved out with Bucll's army on Octo- rj bor 1. EK-ht days luter they engaged B I in the battlo of Perryvillu. The regiment jfi 1 then becamu a part of tho army of the jj j ! Cumberland, under Hosecrans. about No- .' i vembur, when Bucll was relieved. Gen- 1 finl Bryant enlisted as a sergeant and V was promoted to Hrst lieutenant after :V,. ;! Stones River. After Chlckamauga he was tm li 1 mado a captain. ' j Tells of Engagements. , I Terhaps no man has a more intimate I knowledge of the details and general Ji. scheme of tho civil war than General ft Hryant. As ho sat In the lobby of the jv, I Knutsford Sunday afternoon he talked , entertainingly of many engagements and l ti. outllricd several big campaigns, but tho , i most fascinating story was his account I of how General Gordon Granger camo to ' .' ioneral Thomas's help during the most ' , dc-sperato crisis of Chlekamauga. "Chattanooga, the strategic point, was 1 about 11 f teen miles from the battlefield." 1 nld General Bryant, "and Lookout Moun- I tain began at Chattanooga and ran south beyond the lield of battle. The union j ' i forces were east of the mountain. They -tnded In a long line of about fiO.000 ' f men. opposed by Kragg's forro of Tl'.OOO h( confederates, rongstreel camo tip on the Hocond day with his fresh Virginia re-(nforcomonts re-(nforcomonts to help Bragg. On the night 'if tho second day's lighting Rosecrans thought the game was up. Two divisions j on the right had become separated by a gap that was Wt open when Woods , pulled out bis division. Sheridan and ! Davis were driven back, taking 5000 men I . away from the union fores, and Rose- t rans. fearing that Chattanooga might bo I assaulted by the confederates, dropped I back. This left Thomas, tho second in command, at thj head of the union army. t "it happened that Rosecrans bad sent ' I Gordon Granger with .1500 men to guard , ', J lie road, and ordered him to stav at ' TiossvlHo Gap until further orders. " Wo .' ti must now leave Granger at Rossvllle Gap I l' : 11(1 r.lnrn In Tliiiimc Its! , Fell ou Thomas's Army. J ' "As soon as Sheridan. PavJs nnd Hose- 1 "t rans had ben beaten back or retired 1 1 toward Chattanooga. Bragg's full force, j 1 with 1-ongstreet's fresh Virginians: added. i ! fell like a catapult on Thomas's annv. J (, Thomas fought and fought. IIn never gave I an Inch. He more than earned the soliri- . Muet. 'The Roi-k of Chlckamauga." But I l.ongslreet and Bragg hammered and pounded him until it seemed as though l ,1 the line must break and that no human r 1 1 power could hold the union forces tip to 1 tiie terrific onslaughts. J 'j "Hour after hour the battlo dragged I 1 along. U semed a horrible turn of A , ' ate thai Thomas should be there alone. " facing tile tiring-, with Rosecrans, Davis, Sheridan and Woods away on a useless ,.. I quest. ij "But Thomas thought that something 1 must happen. He stood like a rock, and !v ' his army fought the long (fay through 'is. under a. hell , of shot. i 'Thomas's army was nigh unto the ; breaking point. It had held out long and bravely, but the Iron in their souls was giving way tinder the awful tension. , "Amo Idea of the frightful slaughter ' f Chlckamauga may be gained from the 7? . j simple statement that I lost 7fi per cent x of my own company In killed and wound - 1 I;- ed. Steadman threw his division on Snod- grass hill to hold if and lost one-third of his force in twenty minutes. 1 "Our hearts weiv frozen with despair. 1 But suddenly, during n little lull In the ' ining, tho union men heurd. faint and far away, a strange, uncannv sound. It was tho most hair-raising thing ever u i;j heard among the fearful sounds of haitle- J if Jlelds. It did not seem like a human ll sound. And yet we felt It must be hu- J, ' man. It sounded like the high, screnm- I Jug yelp of starved wolves running down j' , Tie 'inarry. Nearer and nearer It came. , - At first we though;- it might be the rebel f ' "ll. it was so plerclnglv high. But it , was different from the rebel veil. IK l; V That Strange Cry. y i "On and ou they came. Shriller and ' ; j more broken Bounded that strango, bark- t , 5 ing cry. And then they burst Into sight! 1 ' 'Mad Gordon Granger and his S500 men. who lind been left to guard the road i i n Rossvllle Gap. wllh orders from Ro3c-rranK Ro3c-rranK to stay there until further orders', k, . i ' Rosecrans had forgotten. Granger stayed, ( ( impatient under the roar of the battle 11 , bat reached his ears. At last, as tho R ,. hours dragged by ono after tho other n '4 ?"d no orders came, Gordon Granger : broke his discipline. He massed his .1500 ' - men, started them on the double time ,, and ran them to the battle. "Granger's men ran and ran until they f were almost fainting from exhaustion. , Ana a? ,lle-v' ra" tnv' honted and i-hoerc-d. But the du.?t baked their throats and caked their lips and the veils sank I, I"io sharp yolps and broken barks. i "But on they came, and when they burst L ,5 'nlo view the union army went wild. That ! I ,., turned the tide of battle. Just ono little I. i"1"-."1 11 Bavr'(l tho whole union army. . i , for If Thomar. had not held his line like V ' ?i,r0.ck, 0"r,rrces would have, been nnni- U 4 1 !u,at, fb('r?re tl'ey could have reached I f ) Iho Ohio river. It was a crucial mo- j ; ment. Gordon Granger and his velplng I'll j tnlrty-five hundred saved the day. It was II 'J ? a battle won against orders." |
