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__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
The Battle of Allatoona Pass The 7th Illinois Veteran Infantry
The Battle of Allatoona Pass is the one battle where the Henry Repeating Rifle played a very important role. Some even credit the Henry with winning the battle. Captain John A. Smith of Company E, 7th Illinois Infantry even states that the success of this battle would decide whether the march to the sea would be possible or not. Was Allatoona Pass an important battle? Of the 128 volumes of the "Rebellion Official Records," there are 2 volumes practically devoted to events leading up to this battle, the battle itself, and the consequential results.(51) It was important for many reasons but most of all it was General Sherman's supply line. The Western & Atlantic Railroad was used to ship supplies to Sherman's army during the Atlanta campaign. So Allatoona Pass was a supply base that contained over 1,000,000 rations, including 8,000 beef cattle, and ammunition. It also contained over $3,000,000 worth of property. This made Allatoona Pass a likely target for General Hood.(57)
Colonel John T. Tourtellotte was the garrison commander. His troops consisted of the 4th Minnesota Infantry, the 18th Wisconsin Infantry, the 93rd Illinois Infantry, part of the 5th Ohio Cavalry and the 12th Wisconsin Battery. His total command numbered 985. The artillery consisted of 2 Napoleons and 4, 3 inch rifles. The defenses were 2 small forts, a trench works and several small redoubts and rifle pits.(57)
Major General Samuel French was given the job of securing Allatoona Pass and burning the railroad trestle over the Etowah river. This order was sent to French October 4 at 7:30 a.m. French was also to fill in the railroad cut at Allatoona Pass. This, if it could be done, would be a major undertaking. The cut itself was 300 feet long and varied in depth up to 175 feet. This was to be filled in with anything available including dirt, logs, brush, rails, etc.(57) General Hood stressed the burning of the bridge and even sent a second message stressing its importance. The number of French's troops seems to very from 3,200 to as high as 6,000 depending on what source you read. French was also given a Battalion of 12 Napoleons commanded by Major John Myrick. It is thought that General Hood did not know about the rations located at Allatoona Pass. Had he known he might have made more of an effort, making it a top priority mission.(57)
On October 4, 1864, General Sherman telegraphed General John Corse, age 24, at Rome to take his entire command to Allatoona Pass, having learned that Confederates were heading that way. General Corse left Rome at 8:30 PM on October 4 and would not arrive at Allatoona Pass until 12:00 midnight on Oct. 5. Because of a train mishap he was only able to transport 1,054 men. These troops included: 8 companies, 280 men of the 39th Iowa commanded by Lt. Col. James Redfield, 9 companies, 267 men of the 7th Illinois commanded by Lt. Col. Hector Perrin, 8 companies, 267 men of the 50th Illinois commanded by Lt. Col. William Hanna, 2 companies, 61 men of the 57th Illinois commanded by Capt. Van Steenberg and a detachment of the 12th Illinois 155 men commanded by Capt. Koehler. This brigade was commanded by Colonel Richard Rowett.(43) It should also be noted that Company D of the 7th Illinois was left behind in Rome as part of the guard, each regiment was required to leave one company.(44,51) Upon arrival at Allatoona Pass General Corse unloaded his troops and 165,000 rounds of ammunition. He sent the train back to Rome for the rest of his troops but another accident prevented there arrival in time for the battle.(43)
On October 3 almost every dispatch sent by General Sherman to his generals included some mention of Allatoona Pass. General Corse's chief objective was to prevent the enemy from taking Allatoona Pass. To accomplish this he had a total force of around between 1,500 to 2,000. This included his own force of 1,054 and those of Col. Tourtellotte, about 1,000. At 6:00 AM on October 5, General Corse's troops were posted as follows: The 7th Illinois and 39th Iowa were in line of battle, facing west on a spur that covered the redoubt on the hill over the cut; one company of the 93rd was in reserve. The balance of the 93rd was deployed as skirmishers and moved along the ridge in a westerly direction feeling out the enemy who was trying to push around the right flank. The 4th Minnesota and the 50th Illinois and 12th Illinois were in the works on the hill east of the railroad cut. The balance of the troops were on outpost or skirmish duty.(43)
At 6:30 a.m., the Confederate artillery on Moore's Hill opened fired on Union positions. The 12th Wisconsin Artillery answered and an artillery duel was under way. French ordered General Claudius Sears to continue toward the railroad and attack from the north. At the same time General Francis Cockrell with 1900 troops would attack, supported by General William Young with his 400 troops, the western most end of the Union lines.(57) This is the position defended by Company E of the 7th Illinois.
At 8:30 AM from the north on the Carterville Road General Corse received the following demand of surrender under a flag of truce. For a flag of truce a black servant had a handkerchief stenciled with the words "A. Coward" on it. French's adjutant, Major David Sanders, handed the surrender demand to Lieutenant William Kinney of the 93rd Illinois saying he would wait 15 minutes for a reply.(57) Lt. Kinney gave the note to Colonel Rowett who delivered it to General Corse. The note read: "Around Allatoona, Oct. 5, 1864 Commanding Officer U.S. Forces, Allatoona; Sir:-I have placed the forces under my command in such position that you are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood I call upon you to surrender your forces at once and unconditionally. Five minutes will be allowed you to decide. Should you accede to this you will be treated in the most honorable manner as prisoner of war. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, S.G. French, Major-General commanding"
To this surrender demand General Corse replied the following: "Headquarters, Fourth Division, Fifteenth Army Corp. Allatoona, Ga., October 5, 1864, 8:30 a.m. Major-General S G French, C.S. Army, etc.: Your communication demanding surrender of my command I acknowledge receipt of and would respectfully reply that we are prepared for 'the needless effusion of blood' whenever it is agreeable to you. I am, very respectful, Your obedient servant, John M. Corse, Brigadier-General Commanding U.S. Forces"(42)
Upon delivering his answer General Corse prepared his defense. He directed Col. Rowett to hold the spur on which the 39th Iowa and 7th Illinois were formed, sent Col. Tourtellotte over to the east hill with orders to hold it to the last, sending for reinforcements if needed. Taking 2 companies of the 7th Illinois down a spur parallel with the railroad and along the brink of the cut, so disposed them as to hold the north side as long as possible. Three companies of the 93rd, which had been driven in from the west end of the ridge were distributed in the ditch south of the redoubt, with instructions to keep the town well covered by their fire and watch the depot where were stored over a million rations. The remaining battalion, under Major Fisher, lay between the redoubt and Rowett's line, ready to reinforce whenever most needed.(43)
Just after issuing these orders the attack came full force. Young's brigade of Texans, 1,900 strong, had gained the west end of the ridge and moved along the crest striking Rowett's command. They were checked by the massive fire of the 16 shot Henry repeaters. The 7th Illinois continually raked the Confederate lines firing as fast as they could work the levers on their rifles, cutting the Confederates to shreds with their sixteen shooters. These repeaters would be used many time throughout this battle checking the Confederates in at least 6 attacks on their position.(43)
An eye witness account is given by a member of Company A, Private Frank D. Orcutt. First off Orcutt enlisted at the first call for volunteers in Company K. After the 3 month enlistment was up he re-enlisted into Company A for 3 years. The date of this enlistment was July 25, 1861. Orcutt was from Carlinville, Illinois and is listed as a musician in the company roll. He re-enlisted as a Veteran on Dec. 22, 1863 and fought the rest of the war, mustering out July 9, 1865.
His account of his actions is taken from letter written by Frank D. Orcutt home. "Early in the forenoon of the next day a demand came in for a surrender followed immediately by an impetuous and headlong attack which overwhelmed Company I who were out as Skirmishers, killed the Capt. Jack Sullivan and captured all who were not killed. The assault partially succeeded. The 7th Regt. and 39th Iowa were partly cut off from the fort, but those who reached it poured in the severest fire upon the assailing forces that had ever been seen up to that time, with such splendid result that the attacking forces melted away out of sight as though the earth had opened and swallowed them. The cook of Company A, who had coffee made for us in a ravine near us was taken prisoner, but in the confusion and haste of leaving, the Rebels neglected to take him along. He says General French with an entire division were the assailants. That he saw the General make frantic endeavors to induce his men to storm us out. He saw them make several attempts to rout us, each time resulting in a sudden collapse of their line when they would come tumbling back to the starting place to receive the scolding of General French who upbraided them for their failure to dislodge us from the ditch outside the fort. Have accord the opportunity of an ocular demonstration of the effectiveness of the writer's firing, after fully 400 cartridges had been used without any perceptible result--besides burning his hand and exhausting and depressing him mentally and physically. It was at the close of the battle the writer had climbed over the top of the fort and was looking over the top of a six pounder cannon where a fellow in gray bending low came up from a ravine and entered the cabin of an artillerist. Soon smoke issued from a knothole of the side toward us. Levelling my 16 shooter across the wheel of the open carriage I awaited a 2nd discharge from the hole. As rapidly as his gun could be loaded, for it was an Enfield Rifle (muzzle loading) he proceeded with his 2nd shot. Instantly my rifle cracked for my aim had been fixed upon the hole and no more smoke issued from that place. Almost immediately from behind a tree close to the cabin a glimpse of a hat was had. Then it disappeared only to reappear in a moment. My gun was already in position having good rest over the open carriage and at the second appearance of the head, was discharged. I was positive that from my high position none other observed the hat, and not another shot was fired from the fort that day afterward. Our cook came in and reported the enemy as retreating, and upon going to the spot from curiosity, a body was seen lying in the shanty, and one at the foot of tree. Both killed by a bullet in the head. There are no grounds for believing that any other of the many shots fired by the writer took effect. Therefore his service to the Government is no longer to be considered as non-effectual. With a range inside of 60 yards and no distracting movements to interfere it will readily be seen and recognized as no very skillful performance, yet large numbers of men go into battle and do valiant service without ever knowing if they ever succeeded in producing even a scratch upon their opponents."(60)
Up from the west and the south Young's troops came. They were headed towards the warehouse containing the rations and army supplies. Capt. John A. Smith, who was only about 20 years old, was commanding Company E of the 7th Illinois Infantry. This company had 52 men and was the largest company in the 7th Illinois Infantry at this time. He was asked if he could take care of the attacking regiment, part of Young's brigade, numbering about 400 troops. He replied, "I can, Sir," and with a sixteen shooter on his shoulder he turned to his 52 men armed with Henrys also and said "Come on, boys" and gave the command, Forward. The movement was in the open. The enemy could not understand it, 52 against 400. Reaching a position in line with the left flank of the rebel regiment, Capt. Smith gave the command, "By right into line." In 5 minutes the rebel regiment was broken to fragments and practically annihilated. The huge volume of fire pouring forth from the Henry Repeating tore the rebel regiment to pieces. This was not without a price to pay. Company E lost 17 killed, 21 wounded and 4 captured. This was 80% of the company's strength.(42)
Captain Smith states in 1910 his account of this action. He mentions that the Henry Repeating rifle played a crucial role in saving Allatoona Pass form the rebels. Captain Smith was the person that purchased the Henry rifles for the 7th Illinois Infantry. When he bought them, the agent in Chicago from whom he purchased them made Captain Smith a beautiful silver mounted presentation grade Henry with his name engraved on the breech. This Henry accompanied him to Allatoona Pass. It was the only time in which Captain Smith used a gun in the line of battle.(51)
In the 2 hour action in which Company lost 80% of their strength, Captain Smith used his silver plated Henry, firing and reloading many times. The following is Captain John A. Smith telling what happened to his silver plated Henry. "I had a boy in my company named William H. Burwell. He was a very large man, not very tall, and on the left of the company. We would wait until we heard the rebels yell as they came up to the side of the ridge. They always yelled first and then fired. When we were reloading after one of these volleys, Burwell turned to me and said, "Captain, my gun is out of order.' He couldn't get the cartridge into the chamber. Meantime I had loaded and emptied my gun several times. I said, 'All right Billie. You take my gun and I will see if I can do anything with yours.' I got down on my knees and got out one of those Barlow knives which you all remember, but I was unable to remove the difficulty."
Part II
"About that time we were ordered back to the fort and after the battle was over next morning we commenced gathering up the dead. Of course the wounded and dead lay all together that night. The left of the company rested on the Carterville Road. In one of the ruts that had been worn by the wagons lay William Burwell on his face, dead, and under him was my silver mounted rifle all covered with blood. He had evidently been killed in the act of firing. My gun was the only one saved out of the 17 lost by the company."(51) The Confederates ended up with the rest. As long as the ammunition held out, they were of use to the Confederates. General French even kept a captured Henry from Allatoona Pass. He surrendered the brass frame Henry shortly after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox.(58)
Because of the action of Company E and the 7th Illinois Infantry with their Henrys, Allatoona Pass was saved from the Confederates. Company E was shot to pieces and along with the rest of the 7th Illinois, the 93rd Illinois and the 39th Iowa fell back to the fort.(51) It was now about 11:00 a.m. By this time the Confederates had driven most of Corse's command into the forts on either side of the railroad cut.(57) For the next 2 and a half hours they repelled several attacks from the north, the west, and the south from Young's, Sear's and Cockrell's brigades. During this action Col. Redfield of the 39th Iowa fell, shot 4 times.(51) General Young was also wounded, receiving a nasty wound to the foot.(57) During this fighting a lot of it was cruel hand to hand fighting. Bayonets and rifle butts were used to fight off the attackers. Every man in the 39th Iowa Color Guard was killed or wounded and their flag was ripped from the staff.(57)
The Confederates were so disorganized by now that no regular assault could be made on the fort. The trenches were filled and the parapets lined with men. As long as the ammunition held out the fort was impregnable. The fort was receiving fire from the north, south and west. An effort was made to take the U.S. fortifications, but the 12th Wisconsin battery was able render it impossible for a column to live within 100 yards of the works.(43) After several cannoneers had been wounded, private James Croft loaded one of the 3 inch-guns with double canister and fired. This shot demolished the Confederate ranks attacking the high ground west of the fort. For this action he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.(57)
At 12:15 p.m. General French received a message that a large number of Union infantry and cavalry were headed his way. At 12:30 p.m. French ordered Sears to withdraw and Young and Cockrell were to follow an hour later. The fighting continued as word was slow to get to the proper people.(57)
About 1:00 p.m. (another source states the time of his wound at 10:00 a.m.) General Corse was wounded by a rifle ball that incapacitated him for 30 or 40 minutes. Colonel Rowett then assumed command. He gave the order to cease fire in order to conserve ammunition for the next attack. When General Corse heard this he thought that Rowett was going to surrender and shouted "No surrender, by God Hold the fort." Just then Colonel Rowett receive a head wound that put him out of action. By this time General Corse was back in command.(57) The men tried to fire and stay under cover at the same time. The enemy had concentrated a murderous fire and it was difficult to get a shot off. The 7th Illinois with their 16 shooters pumped out shot after shot as fast as the could fire.(43)
Part of the 7th was taken prisoner around this time. Here is an address given by Lieutenant James Crawley, Co. I during one of the reunions of the 7th Illinois. He said "I was taken prisoner at Allatoona Pass October 5, 1864, about 1:00 in the afternoon. The regiment was ordered to retire to the fort. There were 39 of us out of the regiment that were left firing our Henry rifles and did not hear the order to retire. We were left out in the rifle pits and when I emptied my gun and looked around, the hill between us and the fort was swarming with rebels. We turned our fire toward the fort but where one rebel would fall there would come a dozen in his place. I emptied my sixteen shooter twice and was down on my knees loading again when I looked up and there stood a Johnny Reb within about twenty feet of me with a musket leveled at me. He wanted to know if I surrendered and I told him I guessed I couldn't do any better. They marched us over where their artillery was and then we found that our forces had not surrendered, and the enemy was retreating. Under the circumstances we could do nothing less than retreat with the enemy, and we marched all the afternoon till about sundown, when we went into camp at New Hope Church, about ten miles from Allatoona Pass. If the boys had listened to me that night we could have made our escape just as well as not. About dark it began to rain very hard, and there were 102 of us and only 30 guards, ten on relief, and the remaining 20 were in among us. I could have picked up two or three guns at any moment. I proposed to my comrades that two of them go and engage each guard in conversation and at a signal each two men grab his guard, throw him inside of the guard line, grab the guns and march the rebs back to Allatoona Pass. We could have been back before daylight and not fired a shot. I have always been sorry that I allowed the boys to persuade me out of making that attempt." Lieutenant Crawley and the others ended up in Millen Prison.(40)
The artillery was silent for want of ammunition. One brave fellow, whose name has since been forgotten, volunteered to cross the cut, which was under enemy fire, and go to the fort on the east hill and procure ammunition. Having executed his mission successfully, he returned in a short time with an arm-load of canister and caseshot.(43)
About 2:30 p.m. the enemy were observed massing a force behind a small house and the ridge on which the house was located, about 150 yards to the northwest. The dead and wounded were moved aside to make room to place a piece of artillery to command the house and the ridge. A few shots from the gun threw the enemy's column into great confusion. The Union troops them poured in a devastating and continuous fire from their Henrys and muskets that made it impossible for the enemy to rally. From this time until near 4:00 p.m. the advantage belong to the Union troops. Shortly thereafter the last of the Confederate army left the field, leaving their dead and wounded.(43)
After failing to capture the garrison and supplies an effort was made to destroy the supplies. A Confederate Colonel, with a lighted torch, was within a few feet of the store house when killed by a shot from a guard. This was a perfectly place shot in the middle of his forehead. If not for this shot the large accumulation of supplies stored there would have been destroyed. Had the Confederates been successful in burning the supplies it would have endangered the Atlanta campaign and the march to the sea.(44) It could be that this bullet came from a Henry repeating rifle.
Several times during the battle General Sherman tried to keep in touch with General Corse at Allatoona Pass. Sherman was at Kenesaw mountain some 20 miles away. He relied on the signal corp. Two of the men on the receiving end at Allatoona Pass were W.E. Lawless of the 7th Illinois and F.A. West. One of the famous messages sent by General Sherman and received by these men was "Hold the Fort for I am coming." (44) While the battle of Allatoona was at its height General Sherman was straining every nerve to throw a strong force in between Allatoona and Dallas, so as to cut off the column making the attack. The Confederate records show that it was an apprehension of this movement that caused General French to withdraw from before Allatoona but the fact remains that after 14 hours, skirmish and battle he was repulsed at every point with heavy loses.(43) Loses for French were listed as 287 dead and 783 captured(42) including General William H. Young. In research of the records of the battle, Captain John A. Smith of Company E, 7th Illinois gives a figure of 1800 killed and wounded. This figure comes from the fact that on September 21, 1864 after the battle of Lovejoy Station French's army had 4,700 men. The report of November 14, 1864 shows 2,900 men with the only battle being Allatoona Pass.(51)
Loses for the 7th Illinois were considerable. The regiment went into the fight with 291 men, minus the 32 men of Co. D. 190 of were armed with Henry repeating rifles. From these rifle over 31,000 rounds of ammunition were fire at an average of 163 per man. The loss in the regiment was 4 commissioned officers and 42 enlisted men killed, 6 commissioned officers and 67 enlisted men wounded and 37 prisoners, making a total of 150 men, more than half of the regiment. The regimental colors have 217 bullet holes through them, one cutting the staff entirely in two with 11 other bullet marks on the staff. Of the 11 color-bearers 8 were killed or wounded.(41) The 7th Illinois' flag and the 39 Iowa's flags were not the only ones shot full of holes. The flag of the 12th Wisconsin Artillery received 107 bullet holes.(57)
Flags were not the only thing shot full of holes. The headquarters tent of the 93rd Illinois stood between the fort and the enemy lines. The tent was supported by sixteen ropes, four from each side from the top of the walls and four on each side from the fly. When the battle was over the tent was still standing but it was supported by only three ropes, two on one side and one on the other; 13 ropes had been severed by bullets. There was hardly a square inch of the tent that had not been penetrated by bullets.(43)
Were the Henry rifles an important factor in this battle? Without the sixteen shooters the order for Captain Smith to "fix" that Confederate regiment would never have been made. Without the sixteen shooters, with which the 7th Illinois Infantry was generally armed, the great Battle of Allatoona Pass would have been lost to the Union forces, and likewise the supplies for Sherman's army, which would have made it impossible for him to make his march to the sea that year. The sixteen shooters, in harmony with the rock and steel men behind them, did work.(56)
After the battle General Sherman was so gratified with the defense of Allatoona Pass that he made it the subject of a General Order, dated October 7, 1864. He said: "The General commanding avails himself of the opportunity, in the handsome defense made of Allatoona, to illustrate the most important principle in war, that fortified posts should be defended to the last,regardless of the relative numbers of the party attacking and attacked. * * * The thanks of this army are due, and are hereby accorded to Gen. Corse, Col. Tourtelotte, Col. Rowett, officers and men, for their determined and gallant defense of Allatoona, and it is made an example to illustrate the importance of preparing in time, and meeting the danger, when present, boldly, manfully, and well. Commanders and garrisons of the posts along our railroad are hereby instructed that they must hold their posts to the last minute, sure that the time gained is valuable and necessary to their comrades at the front. "By order of "Maj.-Gen. W. T. Sherman. "L.M. Dayton, Aid-de-Camp.
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