Part 6

While all the troops in this command have behaved with credit to themselves and honor to the cause in which they fight, for pluck, coolness and promptness in the hour that tests men's courage, among all the regiments taking part in the late move in front of Nashville, the 9th Indiana Cavalry of brigadier General Hammond's brigade, is worthy of special and honorable mention, and, particularly, its splendid charge upon the works and forces of the enemy at Franklin yesterday--an exploit unsurpassed by anything written of the war, and compared to which in point of success, Major Zagonyi's celebrated charge at Springfield, which created such a sensation at the beginning of the war, and interested the principal artists of the country in the face of a homely but ordinary man, becomes tame and unimportant. Some five hundred yards, over undulating grounds, made miry by recent rains, from the advance, (9th Indiana Cavalry, Colonel George W. Jackson commanding), of Hammond's brigade, and upon the north side of Big Harpeth river was a section of a battery, supported by two regiments of infantry, strongly entrenched behind abatis and rifle-pits; in front of them a regiment of cavalry drawn up to receive a charge. On the south side of the river four guns were so planted as to enfilade the road. Filing and forming to the right and left of the road, with a coolness, which seemed utterly regardless of the terrible accuracy with which the rebel guns were aimed, while their shells were mangling horses and their riders, the men seated themselves more firmly in their saddles, tightened the reins, and "looked on sky and tree and plain" as sights they might never see again. Led in person by Colonel Jackson, in a line which would have awakened the admiration of Old Hardee himself, the 9th, at a walk, advanced to victory--many of them, alas, to death. From a walk to a trot, from a trot to a gallop, the short distance of five hundred yards was soon traversed, and the Hoosier boys measured arms with the chivalry from Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Overwhelmed by the celerity and boldness of the movement, many of the enemy were sabered and captured before they had fairly entered into the spirit of the fight. Before the impetuous Jackson three men in gray fell in less time than it takes now to tell it. A little Sergeant from Company K, George Leslie, with no weapon but his sabre, took from their gun a Lieutenant and artilleryman.

To describe a real cavalry charge, however, where sabres are crossed and skulls are cleaved, as was the case at Franklin on the 17th inst., and do it justice, is impossible. One may tell how hundreds of well-drilled, well-mounted men, with clean blades, seen through the clear morning air, moving like machinery, is a sight not often seen, and a splendid embodiment or representation of power, and in the rush of a charge may liken it to the tornado, that must sweep the earth unless averted. This may be said, but a hundred instances of individual prowess must necessarily be overlooked. In fifteen minutes the field was won. Two stands of colors, two guns and 250 prisoners were the spoils of victory. The remainder of the enemy, in confusion, fled through Franklin, leaving it to be taken with near 2,000 of their wounded, without further fighting. This, with 400 men, for the other regiments, comprising the brigade, were not formed until the enemy had been driven across the river. Prisoners said the cavalry had never acted so before--that they were not even given time to fight, before they were whipped, and, even after surrendering, had difficulty in escaping the hoofs of the horses.

Rebel officers accounted for the desperate and determined fighting of our men, by saying they had been given whisky and gun-powder. The latter part of the statement was strictly true. A successful cavalry charge--the capture of stands of colors, guns and prisoners, is a new episode in the great rebellion. But the faithful historian in the annals of the heroes and heroic deeds of the war, and glowing tributes to the devotion of patriot soldiers, will find no theme more worthy the beauties of our Saxon tongue, than the charge of the 9th Indiana Cavalry at Franklin.

COL. JACKSON.

It has not been our purpose in these papers to make special mention of any officer. As an exception to the general plan, I have thought that a brief mention of Col. Jackson's name would give no offense and could not be regarded as an unfair discrimination. Holding, by virtue of his rank, the most conspicuous place, he is in the eyes of his old comrades the foremost mark for blame or praise. He went west soon after the conclusion of the war--since then but little has been known of him by members of the regiment. The latest information concerning him, in possession of the writer, dates back some years, at which time he was reported as living with his family upon a farm near New Salem, Kansas, in feeble health. If living now he would be accounted an elderly man. His military history, briefly stated in the army records, is as follows:

Mustered as Second Lieutenant, Company C, 34th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, September 21, 1861.

Mustered as First Lieutenant, same Company, April 14, 1862.

Mustered Captain May 12, 1862.

Resigned October 7, 1863; promoted Colonel 118th Regiment.

Mustered Colonel 121st Regiment (9th Cavalry), 1864.

Honorably discharged June 3, 1865.

The career disclosed by this brief recital, although but the skeleton of his gallant service in behalf of his country, is one of which his friends may well be proud, but to stop with it would not satisfy those who followed his leadership with confidence and recall his memory with affectionate regard.

Having been much in personal contact with him in camp, on the march, and in action, the writer may take a partial view of his character--but to-day, after the lapse of many years, recollecting his strong and weak points, and he had them both, I deem it only a just tribute to the "old Colonel," as the boys used to call him, to say that he was a brave soldier, an able and skillful officer, a faithful and generous friend.

He was unfortunate in a nervous organization, which sometimes affected his temper, compelling him to do and say things which he had occasion to regret and which unfitted him for camp life. In its monotony he grew restive and irritable, sometimes by too violent manifestations of his feelings, giving offense to brother officers without just cause--but mounted and at the head of the 9th, and fronting the enemy or leading the charge, he was always the alert, gallant and splendid leader.

The education he was possessed of, was of a solid character and was derived more from contact with men than from books. He did not affect learning, though he was intelligent and well informed on current affairs. Had he begun his career in the army with higher rank than a Lieutenancy, or with influential friends to have secured the prompter recognition of his merits, or earlier obtained opportunities for the display of his soldierly qualities, he would have won distinction in a war so fruitful of able Generals. As it is, his friends must be content with the knowledge that in the various posts assigned him he was faithful, capable and brave, and that those esteemed him most who knew him best.

WRECK OF THE SULTANA.

No single event during the war so startled and shocked the North as that which has since been known as the "Sultana Disaster."

On the 23d day of April, 1865, the steamer Sultana left Vicksburg with a total of passengers and crew of 2,141 persons. Of this number thirty-five were Federal officers and 1,996 Federal soldiers, recently having been released from Catawba, Enterprise and Andersonville prisons. The remaining 110 were made up of the crew and passengers taken on board at points between New Orleans and Vicksburg.

The physical condition of these officers and soldiers is well known to those familiar with the treatment received by Federals in Southern prisons,--long confinement in stockades, without protection from heat or cold, or rain, without adequate food or clothing, deprived in sickness of medical aid and the commonest comforts. All were weak and many were absolutely helpless in the presence of danger.

The estimated capacity of the boat was 376 persons, besides the crew. The overloading of the boat made it necessary to make any disposition of the men practicable. They occupied all available room. They were stowed away wherever space was found to place them. The trip up the river to the place of the tragedy was made without the occurrence of any unusual incident. The last stop was at Memphis, at which place the boat took on coal. At about 3 o'clock on the morning of the 27th of April, 1865, when opposite Fogleman's Landing, some eight miles above Memphis, the steamer's boiler exploded. The vessel took fire immediately and was soon burned to the water's edge.

It were idle to attempt a description of the scene that followed that explosion. It was 3 o'clock in the morning. The water was very cold. Many passed from the sleep of life to the sleep of death without awakening. Others without warning found themselves rudely awakened by contact with the icy water of the Mississippi. They saw the fierce river lit up by the burning steamer; saw their comrades struggling with the waves, heard their appeals for help, without the power to respond. They fought bravely with the darkness and cold and flood for life, sometimes even to death for the possession of a log, or boat, or other float, that could bear but one, often cruelly, but naturally asserting Nature's first law, when its assertion meant death to a weaker brother. Yet such sad pictures were relieved by others of devotion and gallantry and sacrifice not surpassed in earthly trials. Some who were able to swim, notwithstanding the shock and chill of the waters, kept afloat for a time, and were successful in getting hold of floating planks and rails, and thus maintaining themselves until rescued. Many floated thus as far as Memphis before they were picked up, and though rescued from the water, died soon after from the scalding and burns received on the vessel, and from long exposure to the cold and from exhaustion. An instance is related of a mother, who clasping her babe in her arms, floated from the wreck to Memphis, where she was taken from the water. She lived, but the little one was dead.

The light from the burning vessel was seen, and the explosion heard for many miles. At a later hour these evidences of disaster would have brought greater numbers to the rescue. The time of the accident was unfavorable to prompt assistance. As it was, vessels of all descriptions, chiefly skiffs, put out promptly and rendered much assistance.

A soldier passenger on the boat relates that while in the water he saw a horse swim by him with a dozen men clinging to him; he says he saw a soldier attempting, with the aid of a plank, to save two little girls. A rope was thrown him, and in attempting to catch it, the children escaped from his exhausted arms. He seemed to lose all thought of the rope; he beat about wildly to regain his helpless charge, which were borne from him in darkness, but he was finally rescued nearly dead from exhaustion.

Of those who were rescued, 200 died in the hospital of Memphis alone. Near fourteen hundred were killed by the explosion or drowned. Those able to be removed were sent North to Cincinnati, Ohio, but those belonging to the Indiana regiments were stopped at Indianapolis, where they received such attention as thoughtful consideration could bestow.

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We give the following extracts from Memphis papers appearing within a day or two of the disaster:

STATEMENT OF SERGEANT L. B. HINCKLEY.

I belong to the 9th Indiana Cavalry. I had just gone to bed and fallen asleep, when all of a sudden I was awakened by some horrible noise. I sprang out of bed and found the cabin full of flame and the passengers all jumping overboard. The water for a while around was covered with people struggling for life. I never heard such terrible and mournful wailings. The glare of light showed a scene such as never before had been witnessed. I happened to find a log after swimming some distance. There was eight of us started on this log; before we reached the wood, however, four of them gave out and sank to rise no more. I had at first got hold of a shutter, but finding some one else who needed it worse than I did, I gave it up. I reached the wood on the log and got on to a tree. I was rescued from my uncomfortable position about daylight from the little island opposite Mr. Fogleman's house. We found one who had reached the wood, his name being Wm. Curtiss, of Company F, 1st Virginia Cavalry. He was almost in the agonies of death, and had clutched the limb to which he had caught, and could not be taken from his position until the limb was cut. Mr. Fogleman's house was opened to us, and we had every attention shown us that could be under the circumstances.

WORK OF THE CREW OF THE GUN-BOAT ESSEX.

The officers and crew of the iron clad Essex deserve unstinted credit and praise for the part they took in picking up the passengers of the ill-fated steamer Sultana. Lieutenant James Perry, Ensign of the Essex, was awakened yesterday morning about 4 o'clock, and informed that the steamer Sultana had blown up, and was now burning; that the passengers were floating down the river and crying for help. The Lieutenant jumped up immediately, and was startled and horrified by the agonizing cries of the people in the river. He said, that never in all his life, did he hear anything so dreadful, and hopes it may never be his lot to hear such screams again. He immediately ordered the boats to be manned, which was done in very quick time. The morning was very dark. It was impossible to see twenty feet ahead, and they had nothing to guide them whatever but the shrieks and groans of the wounded and scalded men. The first man picked up was chilled through and through, being perfectly benumbed and unable to help himself. Lieutenant Berry, seeing the condition the man was in, very generously divested himself of his own coat and put it on him. The second man they took up died in a few moments after being taken aboard. The men who had Captain Parker's gig picked a woman up out of some drift. She was at that time just making her last struggle for life. About the time this woman was picked up a steamboat yawl came there and helped pick up some more who were clinging to the drift. Lieutenant Berry said it was impossible for him to give any description of the scene; he said it beggared all description; that there were no words adequate to convey to the mind the horror of that night. He continually heard the persons in the water cry out, "Oh, for God's sake save us, we cannot hold out any longer." The boats of the United States steamers Groesbeck and Tyler were on hand, and displayed great vigilance and zeal in picking up the drowning men. Lieutenant Berry, with the help of the crew, picked up over sixty men. Among those of the crew who deserve special notice, are John Tompson, the Captain's coxswain, who with gig, picked up twenty-six men; also John Hill and William Quinn displayed a heroism which deserves to be rewarded by promotion. In fact the whole crew acted in such a noble manner that too much cannot be credited to them for their noble endeavors to save the perishing multitude that was floating down the river, and while we compliment the men we would not be unmindful of the part Lieutenant Berry performed. He seemed to forget his rank, he

"Doffed his sparkling cloak, And went to work with might and main,"

mingling as one of the crew in the magnanimous work of saving human life. With commendable forethought, Captain Parker sent ten boats out to explore the shore from Memphis to the place of the disaster. Up to half past three o'clock yesterday only five boats have returned. They had found a few dead bodies, but could not find any survivors along the shore. We think by this time that all except those who sank to rise no more, have been picked up; for all classes, both high and low, searched hard and diligently all day yesterday in hunting up the survivors of this calamitous disaster. Had the disaster occurred an hour or two later, Captain Parker feels assured that the naval force here could have saved several hundred lives instead of the sixty alluded to. Unfortunately the night was dark, and the boats were obliged to steer in the direction of the cries, being unable to see more than a few of those struggling in the water. William Young, gunner's mate on the United States iron clad Essex, distinguished himself by his courageous acts. Mr. Young rendered invaluable aid in rescuing from watery graves many of the sufferers by the Sultana's explosion. He is an old sailor, having been for thirty years an active seaman, twenty-three years of that time in the navy.

When the steamer Rose Hamilton was nearing the head of the little island opposite Mr. Fogleman's residence, she was hailed by a skiff belonging to some fishermen who came aboard, having discovered among the willows the body of a young lady, apparently about twenty years of age. She was of medium height, say about five feet five inches, with a fine head of long brown hair, blue eyes, and had a slight scar across the chin. She was dressed in the night attire of a respectable lady. She wore on her bosom a neat breast pin of plain jet set in gold. She was a very handsome lady, and had not been recognized at last accounts. Her body was taken on board the Rose Hamilton and as decently laid out as circumstances would permit. Unknown to those by whom she was thus cared for, when the sorrows and cares of life were all over, who she was, what home may be filled with mourning because she comes no more, are questions which cannot be answered, yet, whoever she may be, her friends could wish for no more tender care than strangers have bestowed, for many a manly eye grew moist as they gazed on the pale form in death.

A VISIT TO THE WRECK.

After the explosion of her boilers, and the rapid spread of the flames, the burning mass of what had been the fine steamer Sultana, floated slowly down with the current until within a few hundred yards of Mr. Fogleman's residence, when it grounded on the Arkansas shore. We visited the wreck about 10 o'clock. It had sunk in twenty feet of water, and the jackstaff was standing up before the black mass, as though mutely mourning over the terrible scene, a silent witness of which it had been. The boat was almost entirely consumed. The charred remains of several human bodies were found, crisped and blackened by the fiery element. The scene was sad to contemplate, and those who witnessed it can never forget it. The Rose Hamilton, Pocahontas, Jenny Lind and Bostona were cruising around the place ever and anon picking up the breathless body of some unfortunate one, who "slept the sleep of death;" or some more fortunate, who had escaped a watery grave, though exhausted by a fearful night of agony and struggle for life.

STATEMENT OF PRIVATE FRED ALBACK, SECOND MICHIGAN CAVALRY.

I was awakened when the explosion took place, lying on the top of the wheel house. As soon as I discovered that the boat had exploded, I caught hold of the fender and slid down to the water and let myself in, having nothing on me at the time. I judge I must have swam about ten miles. The river was alive with people crying and calling for help in the greatest of agony. Just as I was coming down off the boat I saw two ladies who had thrown themselves into the water, they having nothing to keep them up, and sank, when I saw them no more. When the explosion took place it threw the cabin into the air, and it fell back upon the shell of the boat in one mass of ruins, crushing many of the passengers, who were thus caught and were undoubtedly burned to death. Very many caught hold of horses by their manes and tails, but whether they escaped or not I cannot tell, as I never heard of them afterwards.

STATEMENT OF PRIVATE R. H. SIMPSON, COMPANY I, NINETEENTH INDIANA.

I went to sleep about 2 o'clock and was awakened in about half an hour by hot water falling on my face and hands. I was not struck by anything nor scalded, but remained on the boat until the flames compelled me to leave. I then ran up on the cabin floor, snatched off a door and then made my way down to the lower deck and jumped into the river. By the light of the burning steamer I could see hundreds of the passengers in the water, all crying and wailing for help. I swam for about one mile and a half, and when I got to the island, just opposite Mr. Fogleman's, there I caught hold of the bushes. I saw three men drown while I was in the water. One of them had gained the trees and was holding to the limbs; a skiff was fast coming to his help, but being utterly exhausted he lost his hold and sank, when the skiff was about ten steps off. The other two had almost gained the bushes, but sank before they could reach the trees.

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An event so appalling as this could not occur even at a time when the country was accustomed to hear of the deaths of great numbers of men, without action upon the part of the government looking to the investigation of its cause. A military committee and a committee upon the part of Congress were appointed for that purpose. Both committees, no doubt, discharged with fairness and ability the duty assigned them. There were many theories and rumors as to the cause. Rumor charged that the Post Quartermaster at Vicksburg, by a contract with the owners of the vessel, received a commission of $2.00 for each soldier passenger furnished, and for that consideration he had recklessly crowded the vessel beyond her capacity. It was also charged that the machinery was out of repair, and the vessel generally unseaworthy.

The investigation, however, disclosed the fact that before leaving Vicksburg her boilers had been repaired by competent mechanics; that the charge against the Quartermaster was untrue; that the disaster was not due to the fact that the vessel was carrying more than her estimated capacity. The writer has not been able to obtain the report made by either of the committees as to the true cause of the explosion.

Among the lost were men from every company of the 9th Cavalry. The following list may not be complete, but is believed to be correct so far as it goes: