...driving it back they could surround & capture our Brigade. Again the right gave way & almost before we knew it we were in very close quarters. The left of center of right wing had fallen back till our lines run about thus

                       

[diagram of battle lines with M. at the bottom, 1, 2, & A at the line; seven black dots for batteries encircling the line]

 

and our Brig was stationed on sides 1 & 2 of the diamond. Our Regt was in the front corner "A" & they had 7 batteries marked [black dot] playing upon us. We had 3 similarly marked inside of the square & several beyond the open neck but I cannot exactly give their positions. Fifteen columns deep (I take the statements of some rebel prisoners taken the succeeding day for the depth of their columns) they attempted to close up the square. Then came what has been termed the bloodiest hour of the 5 days fight. The square was a cedar forest and the land—there was no land—the surface of that part of the earth was nothing but large rock not quite joining at the seams often finding them 8 or 10 feet wide but generally from 2 to 4. These seams would vary from 2 to 20 ft in depth & out of these chasms the cedar grew their horizontal branches starting from the trunk reaching from tree to tree making it almost impossible to get through & when you did move had to leap from rock to rock between the thick & interwoven branches. We were formed on the south edge of it & had to retreat directly through it. We were ordered to retreat & help force apart the north & east sides of the square. It would have been impossible to have retreated in any kind of a line if we had been but drilling & the result was that our Brigade got badly separated. Neither could the enemy advance in any line & therefore we suffered less than if their firing had been regular & systematic. I misunderstood our order for retreating & would not leave my position till the rebels were not more than 8 rods from on 2 sides & our men not much father in the rear. Seeing I stood between their fire & ours I ran back to our lines but missed our Regt & saw as I went back the corpse of Col Roberts the first I was aware of his being killed. Our Brigade Inspector requested me to get some men & carry him to the rear but I  had but just picked him up when he ordered me to drop him & fall back to the rear to prevent being captured & looking around I saw the butternuts about 10 rods off / their yells rising above the din of battle & eagerly pushing on. There was just then heavy firing a few rods at my right & I hastened there & fired a few times. The rebels were checked & began retreating but to follow them was certain capture & we were ordered to fall back. Again seeing Lt Henibeck (Brig Insptr) I asked him where our Regt was & he replied that it had been sent to the left to support Gen Shafer who was sorely pressed & the balance of the Brig to the right to support the right wing, but said if I did not find it readily to fall in with any Reg't as I could not come amiss. I started for the left but struck our line too far to hit our Regt & fell in with Co B of the 15 Wis & fought with them till 3 P.M. Twice had we replenished our cartridge boxes & again were out of ammunition I we were ordered to the rear for rest & a fresh supply of cartridges, but not till we had pressed apart the narrow neck & the right partially rallyed & assisted by the balance of our Brigade had by a gallant bayonet charge driven the rebels back & got & afterward held a strong position. How we ever got out of that cedar swamp is to me a miracle. All I can say is we fought out. The rebel Divs I mentioned as being sent to the rear of the right wing finding that Bragg did not succeed in breaking our centre one Div was sent 12 miles in our rear & intercepted captured & burned a long provision train of ours, at Lavergne. The other soon after in fact just before the Regt I was with fell back charged upon & captured a provision train in our immediate rear & I had but just got my cartridge box replenished when I heard heavy musketry there & I hastened there, but was too late. I only arrived in time to see a lot of rebel prisoners marched by & learned that our cavalry had charged upon them recaptured the train & all of our boys taken with it & about 100 secesh. It was then about dark & the heavy firing had ceased & soon after I saw one of our men driving a recaptured wagon & begged for something to eat. Tired & hungry I could scarcely stand & when he told me that he was ordered ½ mile back to camp for the night & if I would go back I should have all I wanted, I at first thought I would not go back, but a second thought told me how hopeless the task was to get anything to eat there & I finally started & the ½ mile proved 1½ miles. We cooked some supper & were just eating it when I heard Lt Scott's voice (one of Col Roberts A.D.C.) & learned from him that our Regt had / been sent to the right & joined the rest of the Brig. Early in the morning I picked up all I could find of the Brig formed a Co & marched them to it. For a while some few persons threw out hints that I was cowardly & ran away & I would not deign to answer their insolent queries but they soon finding out where I was soon stopped all such allusions. Our Brig was badly scattered but for all that gives a good account of itself. Wherever the fire was hottest there you could find squads of them fighting like so many tigers & the next morning all that were left joined the Brig. Gen. Rosecrans had every one arrested who tried to get past our rear guard & go to Nashville & but 3 of our Brig were among them & I think not one of our Regt. After joining the Regt I found that wing field Officer of the Brig had had his horse shot from under him; that Col. Harrington of the 27^th Ill was killed Lt Col Stanwick Comdg the 29^th Ill was dangerously wounded & the Maj of the 51^st Ill wounded & taken to the rear; that very many of our line officers were either killed wounded or captured & that our whole Brig did not then number over 600 men. I also heard Gen Rosecrans say that after our regt had been surprised Gen Rosecrans dare not let the left swing around in rear of M. fearing the enemy would separate our army & defeat was then certain. We held now a strong position. Our left had not moved & our right had retaken some of the lost ground so now our lines ran thus                                                    

 

[diagram of battle lines showing M. at the bottom]

 

the dotted line showing how much ground we lost. The rebels could not approach our line now from any point without crossing a cleaned field some ½ mile wide but expecting a heavy attack somewhere the right & right of center being on much land as the cedar forest which I heretofore described unable to dig rifle pits built a stockade of logs & concealed them by cedar brush while the left & left of center dug rifle pits

 

The enemy about 9 A.M. attempted to break our line oppo in front of our Div & we laid low behind our stockade until they arrived within 60 or 70 yds of us when we poured live canister & grape among them & in less than 10 minutes their force looked like a Co deployed as skirmishers without ever stopping to fire a gun after their first volley they run for their lives. Our skirmishers were thrown in the rear of one / Miss Brig & captured what there was left of it—87 all told. About 2 P.M. they attacked our line just at our left a battery meanwhile playing upon ours. We soon arranged 3 batteries so as to get a good cross fire & in 5 minutes silenced their battery & their infantry met with precisely the same success their troops had in the morning. It commenced raining again that day & rained nearly all the time till Sunday morning. We were fortunately on rock, but we could get but a few rods either way before we struck mud & were forced to stay right there without shelter or food, without fires & necessarily without sleep save a little "cat napping" we obtained by standing against a tree. Friday the heavy skirmishing on our right led us to think that our left would be attacked in full force nor were we deceived. Our army & theirs had been strongly reinforced & at 3 P.M. the army in full force assailed the enemys left. We had [faded] a heavy force in front of our lines & they fell back gradually until they reached our rifle pits, the rebels following [faded] constant yells rising far above the roar of artillery. Our force 3 columns deep met them at the rifle pits & my pen fails to give any idea of the rapid heavy firing of muskets & artillery. The forces were not more than 36 rods apart & I being at the right & not in the firing [faded] of hearing—a rise of ground prevented my seeing—the whole. For fully an hour the battle raged furiously & then the rebel line [faded] the gallant Rousseau ordered his men to charge & Stanley immediately followed him. On we drove them capturing 18 guns 3 stand of colors about 1500 prisoners. Night set in, raining hard & dark as Egyptian blackness but Rousseau still pushed on driving them pell mell beyond their entrenchments. Not daring to follow them farther in the dark he stopped & occupied the entrenchments himself. In the night they [faded] Saturday they made another effort but were badly whipped & we afterward learned that it was only a feint to cover a retreat. for they commenced leaving M. immediately after the repulse of Friday & by Sat night it was clear of rebels. Sunday we occupied the town & this ends the fighting

 

            You folks at home can form but a faint idea of our sufferings from Wednesday till Monday. Some of the troops forced by hunger cut slices from dead horses killed on the field & ate it. Others lived on parched corn & others [faded] just as near nothing at all. This with the [faded] made it peculiarly a trying time. Our loss was terrible. I think the 1^st or rather the 2^nd day (Wednesday) our loss was more than the enemy's. It is when troops are beating a [faded] retreat that it suffers severely. From Thursday morning on I think their loss was fully 2 to our 1 & I am inclined to think it will reach 3 to 1. Nearly all of the prisoners they took or at least half of them were our wounded & we found about 2,000 [faded] wounded in M. which they were unable to get away

 

            The rebel press [faded, paper fold, torn] the world believing that they were not defeated but were calculating to evacuate M but Bragg's Official report of the battle knocked all such statements to the winds. Bragg admits a defeat & says that he had to retreat especially to prevent being captured & mourns dolefully over what he calls "the irretrievable loss of Middle Tenn." Our loss is reported at 12,000 & I think that will not cover it by full 3,000. I have every reason to believe the rebel loss will reach nearly if not quite 25,000

 

            I have talked with prisoners taken each day of the fight & by their own statements believe their force was fully equal to ours & I am inclined to think more. Until Sat. morning every prisoner was as sure of our being driven to Nashville as they were of their existence but our [faded] of Friday night & the firing of Sat morning showing that our line was just outside of M. completely killed all this fine hope. About one thing they nearly all agreed & that was that their [faded, torn paper fold] that M. was ours [faded] fell to 40,000 & some 2 hours later to only 20,000. But [faded] had we outnumbered them by ¼ it would have been but an equal contest. The whole country is one of natural fortification & they were upon chosen ground & with no easy way for us to get at from entry by natural approaches at which one regiment could [faded]. Some of the more "talkative" say that they were in many battles / in the east & say they had rather meet a Brig of eastern or Ohio troops than a Regt of the western troops. They say as a general thing the Eastern men betray an ignorance of the use of a gun which at the west it seems as if they were born with one in their hands. The rebels fought well, very well. It is worse than foolish to deny that when they do get fixed for a fight they fight with an ardor & courage worthy of emulation. I cannot help respecting them they fought so bravely while the cowardly guerillas I as heartily despise. Never before have I fully conceived the force of Scott's couplet

                       

"And that stern joy which warriors feel

In foemen worthy of their steel"

 

            How dearly we bought the victory. What scores of gallant Officers there [paper hole] forfeit of their lives. Col Roberts even when the iron hail fell thickest, swinging his hat & cheering his men I mourn as a brother. Lamented Julius P Garesch, Gen Rosecrans Chief of Staff fell torn to pieces by a shell & I could mention 100 more whose memory will ever be green in the hearts of the army. Lt Chipman, one of Emily S[?] old friends, was killed. Rosecrans was always where the battle raged most furiously but was not harmed. Our Co lost 10 men, the Regt. 158 the Brig over 600. All of our convalescent have been lately sent to us & still our Brig does not number 1200. Our Regt was in the battle with about 400 men & now we number convalescent & all only about 325. I never recd a wound though I have a bullet hole through my overcoat & one, I think, through my pants though I may have run a limb through them. Many of our boys were scratched by balls & fragments of shell but all disdained to be put upon the wounded list unless really unfit for duty. I was talking with some rebel prisoners who spoke of our Brig. [paper fold, hole] it to say that 2 such brigades on our extreme right & they would have lost M. on Wednesday; that we fought worse than incarnate devils, & that they believed the devil helped us or we would never got out of the cedar swamp; that they had killed Roberts & though we had taken every thing that would identify him they knew him, had buried him & cut his name on the pine board, & when we recovered the ground we found that last statement / we found to be true, for at his grave was a board with the inscription "G. W. Roberts, Col. of the 42 Ill. Sharp Shooters & Act'g Brig Gen."

 

His body was taken up & sent to Nashville & there in a metallic coffin is waiting for the arrival of his father who telegraphed that he would come after him. As a soldier Roberts had but one failing, that failing is a true soldiers pride. He was too brave & was not content unless he & his command could be in the bloodiest of the fight. A few days before we left Murfrees Camp Sheridan he told Capt Morgan if ever his Brig got in close quarters unless the enemy gave way there would not be a Regt left for he would never surrender & he knew his men would not run. How fearfully true his words have proved. Last Sunday, a week the day we were in M. I went over the battle ground. The cedar forest is completely mowed by the enemy's artillery. It is almost impossible to wind one's way through it. Only in time of an engagement would any one ever try to lead a horse through there yet now it is full of their rotting carcasses. The dead had all been buried the wounded removed, but many of the dead were thrown in the chasms and covered with brush, it being next to impossible to get dirt to cover them. Since making our camp here our Regt has been to Nashville to guard a provision train & the road is full all the way (33 miles) with dead horses. Murfreesboro is one vast hospital. Every house is full of wounded; our men & secesh. Scarcely an inhabitant is found they all having left before we got here. The country around excepting the cedar forests, cedar appearing to grow only among the rock, is exceedingly fertile there is an abundance of forage around here. The day we camped here I started out in quest of something to eat & going about 2 miles in front of camp I came upon a large plantation expressive of thrift & plenty. Going in the house I found only 2 widows^(?) & 1 man there. The man was a son of the younger widow, she said & had his leg shot off at M. Wed. morning. The older widow said her only son was surgeon of the 44^th Ten Infty (Rebel). I asked no more / questions but went to plundering if plundering it is. Me & my squad took ham & beans, lard & dried peaches, all we could carry & started back. Before we left others on the same errand had arrived & I learn that unless in less than 2 hours the place was stripped of everything eatable. I have but little sympathy for these union widows & do not care if they suffer severely. Our supplies are coming up now & once again we begin to live quite comfortable again. I cannot think we will stay here long. It is said that Bragg is strongly posted now between Tullahoma & Winchester & Rosecrans is too stirring a man to let him stay there long unmolested. I hardly think however that they will make a decided stand this side of Chattanooga. The health of the regt is surprisingly good. As I always thought the excitement of a life in front of the enemy more than counterbalances the exposure we have. In fact want & exposure do not appear to affect us, only for the time being any more than if we were wooden men

 

            One thing more & I close. Of our Officers with us I feel justly proud. We had but few some as usual being sick & staying at Nashville but those with us gave many evidences of gallantry & coolness winning bright laurels for those who survived the fight & may they long live to wear them. Of the bravery of the troops I need say nothing. Their long list of killed & wounded, their obstinate fighting & their final victory is their record. I have been interrupted many times since commencing this long letter & I know that it is disconnected very, but I have got in nearly every thing of general interest & as I have but little time now for writing I will depend on you to let all my folks, Noah Amanda & Aunt Amanda & every one else [faded] to know that I and all "O.K." yet & do please do write often.

           

Remember me especially to Mother

                                                                       

Yours truly

J. C. Clark

 

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