Chapter I: Front Matter

MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.

BY

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,

AUTHOR OF "STORY OF LIBERTY," "BOYS OF '76," "OUR NEW WAY ROUND THE WORLD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG," "WINNING HIS WAY," ETC.

BOSTON

DANA ESTES AND COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

_Copyright_, 1887,

BY ESTES AND LAURIAT

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY. PAGE

TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 1
Chap. I. HOW THE REBELLION CAME ABOUT 3
II. THE GATHERING OF A GREAT ARMY 22
III. THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN 37
IV. THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY 65
V. THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON 89
Thursday 98
Friday 104
Saturday 111
VI. THE SURRENDER 132
VII. THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING 153
VIII. THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING
From Daybreak till Ten o'clock 171
From Ten o'clock till Four 197
Sunday Evening 205
Monday 210
IX. EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS 229
X. OPERATIONS AT NEW MADRID 237
XI. OPERATIONS AT ISLAND NUMBER TEN 247
XII. FROM FORT PILLOW TO MEMPHIS 281
XIII. THE NAVAL FIGHT AT MEMPHIS 291

LIST OF DIAGRAMS.

PAGE

Bull Run Battle-Ground 60
The Fight at Blackburn's Ford 62
The Country around Fort Henry and Fort Donelson 69
Fort Henry 81
Fort Donelson 95
The Attack on McClernand 114
The Second Engagement 123
The Charge of Lauman's Brigade 128
Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity 155
Disposition of Troops at the Beginning of the Battle 173
The Fight at the Ravine 208
A Rebel Torpedo 230
Island No. 10 239
A Mortar 248
The Naval Fight at Memphis 295

MILITARY TERMS.

_Abatis._--Trees cut down, their branches made sharp, and used to block a road, or placed in front of fortifications.

_Advance._--Any portion of an army which is in front of the rest.

_Aides-de-camp._--Officers selected by general officers to assist them in their military duties.

_Ambulances._--Carriages for the sick and wounded.

_Battery._--A battery consists of one or more pieces of artillery. A full battery of field artillery consists of six cannon.

_Battalion._--A battalion consists of two or more companies, but less than a regiment.

_Bombardment._--Throwing shot or shells into a fort or earthwork.

_Canister._--A tin cylinder filled with cast-iron shot. When the gun is fired, the cylinder bursts and scatters the shot over a wide surface of ground.

_Caisson._--An artillery carriage, containing ammunition for immediate use.

_Casemate._--A covered chamber in fortifications, protected by earth from shot and shells.

_Columbiad._--A cannon, invented by Colonel Bomford, of very large calibre, used for throwing shot or shells. A ten-inch columbiad weighs 15,400 pounds, and is ten and a half feet long.

_Column._--A position in which troops may be placed. A column en route is the order in which they march from one part of the country to another. A column of attack is the order in which they go into battle.

_Countersign._--A particular word given out by the highest officer in command, intrusted to guards, pickets, and sentinels, and to those who may have occasion to pass them.

_Embrasure._--An opening cut in embankments for the muzzles of the cannon.

_Enfilade._--To sweep the whole length of the inside of a fortification or a line of troops.

_Field-Works._--An embankment of earth excavated from a ditch surrounding a town or a fort.

_Flank._--The right or left side of a body of men, or place. When it is said that the enemy by a flank march outflanked our right wing, it is understood that he put himself on our right hand. When two armies stand face to face the right flank of one is opposite the left flank of the other.

_File._--Two soldiers,--a front rank and a rear rank man.

_Fuse._--A slow-burning composition in shells, set on fire by the flash of the cannon. The length of the fuse is proportioned to the intended range of the shells.

_Grape._--A large number of small balls tied up in a bag.

_Howitzer._--A cannon of large calibre and short range, commonly used for throwing shells, grape, and canister.

_Limber._--The fore part of a field gun-carriage, to which the horses are attached. It has two wheels, and carries ammunition the same as the caisson.

_Pontoon._--A bridge of boats for crossing streams, which may be carried in wagons.

_Parabola._--The curve described by a shell in the air.

_Range._--The distance to which shot, shells, or bullets may be fired.

_Reveille._--The first drum-beat in the morning.

_Rifle-Pits._--Excavations in the earth or other shelter for riflemen.

_Spherical Case._--A thin shell of cast-iron filled with bullets, with a fuse, and a charge of powder sufficient to burst it. It contains about ninety bullets.

_Wings._--The right and left divisions of a body of troops, distinguished from the centre.

MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.

INTRODUCTORY.

TO THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES.

In my boyhood, my young friends, I loved to sit beside my grandfather and listen to his stories of Bunker Hill and Saratoga,--how he and his comrades stood upon those fields and fought for their country. I could almost see the fight and hear the cannon's roar, the rattle of the musketry, and the shouts of victory. They won their independence, and established the best government the world ever saw. But there are men in this country who hate that government, who have plotted against it, and who have brought about the present Great Rebellion to destroy it. I have witnessed some of the battles which have been fought during this war, although I have not been a soldier, as my grandfather was, and I shall try, in this volume, to picture those scenes, and give correct descriptions of the ground, the marching of the troops, the positions they occupied, and other things, that you may understand how your father, or your brothers, or your friends, fought for the dear old flag.