1791 From Stunning Loss To Amazing Victory

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F r o m Stunning Loss T o Amazing Victory

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Valiant Eighth Kansas Capped Exploits At Missionary Ridge 100 Years Ago By BOB TONSING SR., Staff Writer O n e h u n d r e d y e a r s a g o t o m o r r o w ( N o v . 2 5 , 1 8 6 3 ) t o o k p l a c e o n e of t h e g r e a t c h a r g e s of A m e r i c a n m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y — t h e s e e m i n g l y s u i c i d a l d a s h u p t h e s t e e p s l o p e s of M i s s i o n a r y R i d g e a t C h a t t a n o o g a , T e n n . W i t h o u t , o r d e r s f r o m G e n . U.S. G r a n t , w h o w a t c h e d in a m a z e m e n t a n d c o n s t e r - nation from O r c h a r d Knob, inspired Union troops b r a v e d withering Conf e d e r a t e fire f r o m a b o v e to s w e e p t h e e n e m y f r o m t h e s t r a t e g i c h e i g h t s a n d open t h e w a y for S h e r m a n ' s e v e n t u a l m a r c h to A t l a n t a and the sea. In t h e f o r e f r o n t of t h a t a t t a c k w a s a K a n s a s r e g i m e n t , t h e E i g h t h V o l u n t e e r s — t h e o n l y g r o u p f r o m t h i s n e w l y f o r m e d s t a t e to s e r v e w i t h t h e A r m y of t h e C u m b e r l a n d a n d o n e of t h e f e w t o see s e r v i c e - m u c h b e y o n d t h e K a n s a s - M i s s o u r i line.

A T VICTORY POINT—Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing, daughter of John A. Martin, Civil War colonel of the Eighth Kansas Regiment, looks at a monument i,-atop Missionary Ridge honoring the •; unit which breached 'the Confederate defenses at this,place.

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Activities of border ruffians such as Quantrill and the continual threat of invasion by Southern forces made it necessary to keep most .of the Kansas troops in the state. That, in fact, was the Eighth's type of duty for some months. Its history began in September and October of 1861, when it was mustered into service at Fort Leavenworth, with most' of its 678 men drawn from the*" northeast around Atchison. Appointed as colonel was a veteran Army officer, Henry W. Wessels, a West Point graduate who knew how to fashion the untrained frontier youths into an efficient fighting force. Named as lieutenant colonel was John A. Martin, who at the age of 18 had come from Pennsylvania to Atchison, bought a proslavery paper called "Squatter's Sovereign" and had changed its name to "Freedom's Champion.',' In late 1860 he had served as secretary of the constitutional convention at Wyandotte and had written several portions of the document under which Kansas the following January was admitted to the,Union. He then was 21 years old. SENT TO MISSISSIPPI

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STORY I N BRONZE — This is the metal plate shown in photo above, giving a brief account of the Eighth's part in the Ridge conquest.

The regiment spent a bitterly cold winter on border patrol, with only a few uneventful scouting trips into Missouri to break the monotony. In late May of 1862, the men of the Eighth heard with enthusiasm that they were to head for Corinth, Miss., against which the Union armies under General Halleck were operating. Col. R. H: Graham was in command as the barge trip down the Missouri River started. At St. Louis Graham died and Lt. Col. Martin became head of the unit. Later designated a full colonel, he led the regiment during its long and illustrious service. / After some action at Corinth, the Eighth in late July was ordered to march eastward to aid in the struggle for-control of the Tennessee River. On Sept. 3, 1862, a' large Federal force including the Eighth started for Nashville on a forced march in bad weather and through

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FEAT RECORDED — Tom Erwin of Chattanooga reads the inscription on a monument recalling the Eighth Kan-

Staff Photos.

sas' charge a century ago that captured Orchard Knob and cleared the way for the Missionary Ridge attack.

ACE 4—Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963

rugged country where all bridges had been destroyed. As Col. Martin later described it, "Faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundreds of men had fallen by the roadside on this terrible night march." In the weeks that followed the Kansans took part in several bloody encounters with enemy units, and won a fine reputation for their fighting ability and spirit. RULED NASHVILLE On Nov. 20, gent back to Nashville, the Eighth took over provost duty in the city for six months, with Col. Martin serving as provost marshal. With about two-thirds of the citizens Southern sympathizers, the unit had its hands full in bringing order from chaos. Dozens of hospitals were kept operating to receive wounded. The city was swarming with rebel spies, since the entire Army of the Cumberland was camped around the city. The regiment actually served as the municipal government. All citizens were required to sign oaths of allegiance or be sent south to the Confederate lines. When on June 8 the Kansans were ordered back to service with their division, the citizens loudly protested, and presented Col. Martin a gold sword in a gesture of appreciation for his services. It was evident at that time that Chattanooga was the most likely point for a'showdown battle between two great armies. In early July, Gen. Robert E. Lee's drive toward Washington was stopped by the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pa. Almost simultaneously Gen. U. S. Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg and headed east in pursuit of Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, which took up defensive positions south of Chattanooga along Chickamauga Creek. Rail lines brought reinforcements from the northeast to both opposing armies. Early in September Union General Rosecrans sent his western columns pouring piecemeal through the widely scattered mountain passes into northern Georgia. These included the Eighth Kansas, which marched across Stevens gap south of Lookout Mountain. It was known by that time that Bragg's forces were ahead in great strength, and skirmishers of the two armies were keeping up a running fight. Heavy artillery firing could be heard during the entire day on Sept. 18, 1863. BATTLE AT CHICKAMAUGA This is Col. Martin's account of the events that followed: "The next morning we again moved on. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters were established. As we neared, a more terrible sound greeted our ears—the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves beating upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's divisions, with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and, after forming a line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, 'going

JOHN A. M A R T I N . . As Kansas' Governor in 1885 . in,' as Gen. Rosecrans expressed it, 'wher the fight was hottest.' "Our brigade was formed in two line; the Eighth Kansas, 15th Wisconsin and 35t Illinois in front; the 25th Illinois in rear . . "After forming we were advancing raj idly through the rugged forest, but had pre ceeded only a few hundred yards when terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeed© by another and another. The two hostil forces met without skirmishers, in front, an< in an instant were furiously engaged in des perate combat. Our men promptly replied b the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battL became one steady, deep, jarring thunder Our line was moved forward firmly^ until i rested along the brow of a small rise o ground. "The crash of musketry became dense and more terrific, and the artillery added it; thunder to the furious raging of the batth storm. The rebels rushed forward line aftej line of troops, charging with desperate valoi and impetuosity, but our men held their po sition firmly and defiantly, firing with sucl coolness and precision that at every dis charge great gaps were cut in the enemy'; lines, and bleeding, broken and staggering they reeled before the awful hail of leadei death that greeted them. ATTACKS REPULSED "In vain they rallied and advanced agaii and again—they could not move our firm unyielding lines. For half an hour this des perate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In thai brief time over a third of our brigade was killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and 150 men were already struck. "Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and the left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their line or force them back, but at last Col. Heg (the brigade commander), seeing that disaster must follow this attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave an order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men, fell back slowly about 50 yards. Here they were re-formed, and after a short halt, charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm, driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bullets flew like hailstones; grape and canister, shot and shell, whistled and crashed through, and over and around the devoted ranks, but the heroism of the men rose with the terrible grandeur and desperation of the awful battle, and they stood like walls before the fury of this storm. BRIGADE CHIEF KILLED "But no courage, however sublime; no enthusiasm, however magnificent,, and no discipline, however perfect, could continue to resist the masses of fresh troops which the enemy was constantly hurling against these two small brigades, fighting alone in the woods, detached from other portions of the (Continued on Page 19)

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Location's

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Civil War Defeat, Victory: Kansans Played Great Roles in Key Battles (Continued from Page 4) larmy, and already bereaved of nearly half their numbers..The division«was finally or-" dered to fall back to a fence some distance to the rear, and facing the woods in which it had been fighting. The two brigades had lost in killed and wounded over 40 per cent of all engaged. Col. Heg, our brigade commander, .•was mortally wounded about the middle of ?the afternoon, and' the command devolved "upon Col. Martin, of the Eighth. Two-thirds •of the field officers of the division were neither killed or wounded, and over half the uline officers. ' \ if. *"It was a fearful day's work. The roar of musketry never for an instant ceased, and at times it grew so intense as to drown the r crashes of artillery. The ground was strewn J with dead and wounded, and almost every Moot of the shot-torn field was red with the 'crimson of loyal blood. The two small brig a d e s of Davis' division had fought, alone, , !two full divisions of the rebel army, .under ; the personal command of Gen. J. B. Hood. 1 This we learned at the time from prisoners > captured, and the official reports of the rebel commanders afterward substantiated the fact. Gen. Hood- was severely wounded d i rectly in front-of, the'Eighth Kansas, and his leg amputated .on the field." If ' GAP COSTS BATTLE ..j, But the valiant stand of the Kansans and their comrades was to prove partially futile. After almost equally fierce fighting the next day, it developed that a fatal gap had been left in the Union lines, allowing ihe Confederates to pour through. The Federals, fighting a desperate rear-guard battle, withdrew northward toward Chattanooga. The sorely battered Southerners were unable to stage ian effective pursuit. > j Union losses—killed, wounded or missing , p-in the two-day battle were 16,170 and Confederate 18,454, an almost identical 28 per • cent of the forces involved. Among the hardtest hit units was the Eighth Kansas. Going Jnto the battle with 406 men, it lost 243, or jiiver 65 per cent. " K Pouring into Chattanooga, the mauled .Federals set up makeshift defenses and started more permanent ones: Gen. Bragg's forces soon almost surrounded the city, with their lines anchored on Missionary Ridge j east of the city and on Lookout Mountain to the southwest. . . .•! For nearly two months the Confederate | guns rained shots on the Union positions, but their short range prevented great damage. 'The worst foes were hunger and disease. {Gen. Rosecrans cut officers and men to onef third rations. Work mules died from lack of food. Famished men snatched grains of corn dropped near the horse troughs. One of the regiments killed and ate a dog that wandered into camp. I I NEAR STARVATION j A separate story could be written on the hardships endured in that siege. Col. Martin ; related that he was amazed, however, • at i the good humor that prevailed throughout ! the ordeal, and the faith in ultimate success. This proved justified when supplies floated down the Tennessee River, at the west edge 'of the city, arrived Oct. 26. On Nov. 12 rations were increased to two-thirds. Meanwhile Gen. Grant had reached * Chattanooga and taken charge of the defense. The Eighth Kansas, its ranks reinforced to near-normal strength, took a position facing Orchard Knob, in the east edge bf the city, and about a half mile from the base of Missionary Ridge. On Nov. 15 Gen. Sherman arrived with fresh troops and prep" arations began for an attack on the Rebel heights. ' c When the Yanks scaled the west side of tout Mountain they found the enemy alady 'had abandoned its positions on the summit. Grant ordered capture of Orchard Knob serve as a base of operations. The Eighth Kansas was chosen to lead the attack. Col. Martin gave this account of .the I charge on the afternoon of Nov. 23: "The field.was crossed, the woods be-

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yond reached, and then for a moment a stubborn struggle e n s u e d , and a deafening crash and roar followed, as the rebels strove to check this impetuous charge. But Kansans led the van that day, and the fighting blood of the old Eighth was at fever heat. The rebel horde could no more stem the torrent that struck them than they 'could . check a bursting billow with a feather. Our men dashed forward right on their line so fiercely and rapidly that one-half of them 'were captured, and the rest broke in wild confusion to the rear. A quick race through the woods ensued. The fleeing rebels never stopped until they reached their reserves behind the line of entrenchments running over Orchard Knob. Here another struggle came, but with a ringing cheer our boys rushed on like a furious flood; again the rebel line faltered,, broke and fled, and Orchard Knob was ours." From.then until Nov. 25 the Knob was fortified to serve as a base of operations, while guns on Missionary Ridge kept up a hail of shots. Headquarters for Generals Grant and Sherman we're established. . On the morning of Nov. 25 "it was evident the Confederates hadynoved all their artillery to.'the top of Missionary Ridge, leaving only infantry below, and strengthened entrenchments up the slopes. Between Orchard Knob and the base of the ridge was a dense woods, then a wide, open field, and then a slight, abrupt rise of ground, on the top of which was a strong line of earthworks. Beyond was a plateau about 100 feet wide, and above this the ridge rose, ragged, broken and steep, to a height of nearly 500 feet, its summit crowned by a line of entrenchments. The entire area from the Knob to trie top of the ridge was covered by dozens of batteries and the foes' musket fire. ,

brave fellows, they knew the work before them was quick success or sure destruction. The rebel pickets, too, opened fire. Our men did not answer, but with arms trailing or on the right shoulder pressed forward, until they burst like a thunderbolt out of the woods and into the open field. Then from the whole line there rose a h>ud, hearty, ringing cheer, and on they swept. "In the field the columns were caught in the fierce fire from the rebel line at the foot of the hill, and soon in the still deadlier volume of musketry from its summit. But there was never a waver nor a pause in the advance nor a straggler from it. In a few moments our men were nearly across the field. There was a break in the gray lines behind the rebel works; a few rushed to the rear and began to climb the slope, but nearly all, throwing down their muskets and holding up their hands in surrender, leaped to our side of the entrenchments and cowered behind them, for the hail of bullets now rained down from the hill was as deadly to them as to us. The first line was won, and the prisoners were sent toward the rear. "We had no orders to go beyond this line of works, and a brief-halt was ordered; but it was instantly seen by every soldier in the ranks that no line could live there, raked from every direction as it was by both artillery and infantry. Almost simultaneously several regiments moved Forward toward the hill and, as if animated by a common impulse, all followed. Grim and silent, with compressed lips and eyes fixed on the goal before them, they breasted the fiery sleet of battle and commenced the steep ascent. From behind the rifle pits on the summit shot and shell rained down upon them in a ceaseless torrent, and the roar of the contest grew deafening. All regular formations of lines were soon lost. "Great masses of men, who had crowded together in the places easiest of ascent, were climbing the steep at intervals and vying in their efforts to be first. Regiments were so intermingled that their organization and unity soon disappeared, t h o u g h the greater portion of e a c h clustered around their battle flags, and these were in every case ahead. Gradually these groups took the form of a wedge or triangle, the apex being the regimental battle flag. The progress was necessarily slow.

DEFIED HAIL OF LEAD About 2 o'clock on the 25th the charge order was signaled. This is Col. Martin's story of what followed^ ' "Through the branches of the leafless trees we saw a bright flame leap out and a dull gray smoke curl up all along the summit of the ridge; a crash like a thousand thunderclaps greeted us; s o l i d shot went screaming through the timber, and hurtling shells exploded above and around us, their scattered fragments shrieking through the air like a legion of demons. Without an order the line broke into a double quick—

'Chiclcamatiga

Chattanooga

Chickamauga And Chattanooga Nat'l Pari

30 Miles BATTLE AREA—This map shows the routes by which tourists may visit the Chickamauga battlefield (lower left in Georgia) and Missionary Ridge, which serves as the eastern boundary of the main section of Chattanooga. An auto road traverses the entire length and is lined with monuments honoring military units which fought there.

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"Above, the summit of the hill was one sheet of flame and smoke, and the awful explosions of artillery and musketry made the earth fairly tremble. Below, the columns of dark blue, with the old banner of beauty and of glory leading them on, were mounting up with leaning forms, each eager with desperate resolution to be first. Cannon shot tore through their ranks; musket balls were rapidly and fearfully decimating them; behind them the dead and wounded lay thick as autumn leaves; before them, death was reveling in a whirlwind of carnage; but the lava-flood of battle pouring down upon them no more checked the grand advance than if it had been the soft rain of summer. "Our brigade went up in the center of one of the half-circular bends of the ridge. On the right of us Hazen's men breasted a point; to the left Beatty also had a headland. Between an Ohio regiment of Hazen's brigade, and one or two of ours that had their flags well ahead, there sprang up a fierce rivalry as to which would be first planted on the rebel lines. At last but a dozen yards separated the line of gray and the columns of blue, while the flags of the Eighth Kansas, Sixth and 49th Ohio and sev- ' eral other regiments were but a few yards from the red clay banks that were belching forth streams of fire and sulphurous smoke. "With a wild cheer and a madder rush our men dashed forward, and for a few moments a sharp, desperate, almost hand-tohand fight with bayonet and ball ensued. Before this resistless assault the rebel line was lifted as by a whirlwind, and borne backward, bleeding and confused. In quick succession half a dozen Union battle flags

were planted upon the works, and in a mo ment more the foemen were hurrying dowi the hill on the opposite side and off into th woods b e y o n d . Our men were rapid!; formed, and we were preparing to mov down the breastworks to the left, whil Hazen's men did the same on the right when suddenly the whole rebel line gav way. "Then followed a scene of tumult an confusion which baffles description. Graj clad men rushed wildly down the hill an" into the woods, tossing away muskets, Mar kets and knapsacks as they ran. Officers frantic with rage, rushfeti from one panic stricken group to the other, shouting am cursing as they strove to check the headlon flight, but all in vain. "Our mei^pursued the fugitives with a eagerness only equaled by that of the foe to escape; the horses of the artillery wer shot as they, ran-; squads of rebels wer headed off and brought back as prisoners and in 10 minutes all that remained, of th defiant rebel army that had, besieged Chat tanooga were captured guns, disarmed pris oners, moaning wounded, ghastly dead, an> scattered, demoralized fugitives. Missionar Ridge was ours. "The Eighth K a n s a s captured foil pieces of artillery, 500 stand of small arnu and more prisoners than it had men in it ranks. The regiment also claims to hav planted upon the rebel breastworks the firs .Union coloris that waved there. So, after tw months and five days, ended the terribl siege of Chattanooga. The march from Oi chard Knob to the summit of Missionar; Ridge occupied just one hour and 15 mir utes." • ' . . : • • IN^CONFLICT TO CLOSE After this triumph the Eighth Kansa returned home for a brief furlough and rt cruitment period. Then it was sent back t Chattanooga, and joined Gen. Sherman' forces for the march to Atlanta. In a perioi of 69 days, it was under fire for 63 days an< 44 nights. It. spent 33 days in the siege o Atlanta, entering the city with other Unioi troops on S,ept. 8, 1864. Early the next yea it took part in the battle of Nashville tha destroyed : Confederate Gen. Hood's arm; and practically ended the war on the west em sectors. After Lee's surrender in Apri the regiment was sent to Texas and thei home for mustering out. During its term of service the Eightl traveled 10,750 miles. It participated in li battles and 18 skirmishes. It lost in battli three commissioned officers and 62 enliste< men killed; 13 commissioned officers and 25! enlisted men wounded, and one commis sioned officer and 20 enlisted men missinga total of 64 killed, 272 wounded and 21 miss ing, or full casualties of 358. Of the missinj nearly all were killed, and of the woundei nearly one-third died of their injuries. 3iC

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Upon discharge Col. Martin at the age o 26 was breveted a brigadier general. He re sumed duties as editor and publisher of th< Atchison Daily Champion for the rest of hi: life. He was the first state commander o the Grand Army of the Republic, and upoi election as 10th governor of the state ii November 1884 he founded and became firs commander of the Kansas National Guard Reelected in 1886 as governor, he completet his term in January of 1889. Late that yeai he was stricken ill and died, leaving hi; widow, Ida Challiss Martin, and seven chil dren. Three Of them still live: Paul A. Mar tin, retired editor and publisher of the Lans ing (Mich.) Journal; Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing Atchison, and Harres Martin, Merriam, Kan Mrs. Tonsing is the mother of the write) of this article. * * * Most of the facts in this story were taken from the "Military History of the Eightl Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry," a 112 page book written by Col. Martin following ' the close of the war and published by him in 1869.

Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963—PACE 1

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From Stunning Loss To Amazing Victory Valiant Eighth Kansas Capped Exploits At Missionary Ridge 100 Years Ago By BOB TONSING SR., Staff Writer O p e h u n d r e d y e a r s a g o t o m o r r o w ( N o v . 2 5 , 1 8 6 3 ) t o o k p l a c e o n e of t h e g r e a t c h a r g e s of A m e r i c a n m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y — t h e s e e m i n g l y s u i c i d a l d a s h u p t h e s t e e p s l o p e s of M i s s i o n a r y R i d g e a t C h a t t a n o o g a , T e n n . W i t h o u t , o r d e r s f r o m G e n . U.S. G r a n t , w h o w a t c h e d in a m a z e m e n t a n d c o n s t e r - nation from O r c h a r d Knob, inspired Union troops braved withering Conf e d e r a t e fire f r o m a b o v e t o s w e e p t h e e n e m y f r o m t h e s t r a t e g i c h e i g h t s a n d o p e n t h e w a y f o r S h e r m a n ' s e v e n t u a l m a r c h to A t l a n t a a n d t h e s e a . I n t h e f o r e f r o n t of t h a t a t t a c k w a s a K a n s a s r e g i m e n t , t h e E i g h t h V o l u n t e e r s — t h e o n l y g r o u p f r o m t h i s n e w l y f o r m e d s t a t e to s e r v e w i t h t h e A r m y of t h e C u m b e r l a n d a n d one of t h e f e w t o see s e r v i c e - m u c h b e y o n d t h e K a n s a s - M i s s o u r i line.

A T VICTORY POINT—Mrs. Ruth M . Tonsing, daughter of John A. Martin, Civil War colonel of the Eighth Kansas Regiment, looks at a monument ,-atop Missionary Ridge honoring the unit which breached the Confederate defenses at this,place.

Activities of border ruffians such as Quantrill and the continual threat of invasion by Southern forces made it necessary to keep most^pf the Kansas troops in the state. That, in fact, was the Eighth's type of duty for some months. Its history began in September and October of 1861, when it was mustered into service at Fort Leavenworth, 1 with most of its 678 men drawn from the* northeast around Atchison. Appointed as colonel was a veteran Army officer, Henry W. Wessels, a West Point graduate who knew how to fashion the'untrained frontier youths into an efficient fighting force. Named as lieutenant colonel was John A. Martin, who at the age of 18 had come from Pennsylvania to Atchison, bought a proslavery paper called "Squatter's Sovereign" and had changed its name to "Freedom's Champion.? In late 1860 he had served as secretary of the constitutional convention at Wyandotte and had written several portions of the document under which Kansas the following January was admitted to the,Union. He then was 21 years old. SENT TO MISSISSIPPI

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STORY I N BRONZE — This is the metal plate shown in photo above, giving a brief account of the Eighth's part in the Ridge conquest.

The regiment spent a bitterly cold winter on border patrol, with only a few uneventful scouting trips into Missouri to break the monotony. In late May of 1862, the men of the Eighth heard with enthusiasm that they were to head for Corinth, Miss., against which the Union armies under General Halleck were operating. Col. R. H. Graham was in command as the barge trip down the Missouri River started. At St. Louis Graham died and Lt. Col. Martin became head of the unit. Later designated a full colonel, he led the regiment during its long and illustrious service. / After some action at Corinth, the Eighth in late July was ordered to march eastward to aid in the struggle for-control of the Tennessee River. On Sept. 3, 1862, a large Federal force including the Eighth started for Nashville on a forced march in bad weather and through

Staff Photos.

FEAT RECORDED — Tom Erwin of Chattanooga reads the inscription on a monument recalling the Eighth Kan-

sas' charge a century ago that captured Orchard Knob and cleared the wav. for the Missionary Ridge attack.

ACE 4—Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963

rugged country where all bridges had been destroyed. As Col. Martin later described it, "Faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundreds of men had fallen by the roadside on this terrible night march." In the weeks that followed the Kansans took part in several bloody encounters with enemy units, and won a fine reputation for their fighting ability and spirit. RULED NASHVILLE On Nov. 20, Sent back to Nashville, the Eighth took over provost duty in the city for six months, with Col. Martin serving as provost marshal. With about two-thirds of the citizens Southern sympathizers, the unit had its hands full in bringing order from chaos. Dozens of hospitals were kept operating to receive wounded. The city was swarming with rebel spies, since the entire Army of the Cumberland was camped around the city. The regiment actually served as the municipal government. All citizens were required to sign oaths of allegiance or be sent south to the Confederate lines. When on June 8 the Kansans were ordered back to service with their division, the citizens loudly protested, and presented Col. Martin a gold sword in a gesture of appreciation for his services. It was evident at that time that Chattanooga was the most likely point for a'showdown battle between two great armies. In early July, Gen. Robert E. Lee's drive toward Washington was stopped by the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pa. Almost simultaneously Gen. U. S. Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg and headed east in pursuit of Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, which took up defensive positions south of Chattanooga along Chickamauga Creek. Rail lines brought reinforcements from the northeast to both opposing armies. Early in September Union General Rosecrans sent his western columns pouring piecemeal through the widely scattered mountain passes into northern Georgia. These included the Eighth Kansas, which marched across Stevens gap south of Lookout Mountain. It was known by that time that Bragg's forces were ahead in great strength, and skirmishers of the two armies were keeping up a running fight. Heavy artillery firing could be heard during the entire day on Sept. 18, 1863. BATTLE AT CHICKAMAUGA This is Col. Martin's account of the events that followed: "The next morning we again moved on. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters were established. As we neared, a more terrible sound greeted our ears—the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves beating upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's divisions, with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and, after forming a line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, 'going

JOHN A . M A R T I N . . As Kansas' Governor in 1885 . in,' as Gen. Rosecrans expressed it, 'wher the fight was hottest.' "Our brigade was formed in two line.' the Eighth Kansas, 15th Wisconsin and 35t Illinois in front; the 25th Illinois in rear . . "After forming we were advancing raf idly through the rugged forest, but had pre ceeded only a few hundred yards when terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeeds by another and another. The two hostil forces met without skirmishers in front, am in an instant were furiously engaged in des perate combat. Our men promptly replied t> the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battl became one steady, deep, jarring thunder Our line was moved forward firmlyj until i rested along the brow of a small rise o ground. "The "crash of musketry became dense and more terrific, and the artillery added it: thunder to the furious raging of the battli storm. The rebels rushed forward line aftei line of troops, charging with desperate valoi and impetuosity, but our men held their po sition firmly and defiantly, firing with sucl coolness and precision that at every dis charge great gaps were cut in the enemy'; lines, and bleeding, broken and staggering they reeled before the awful hail of leadei death that greeted them. ATTACKS REPULSED "In vain they rallied and advanced agaii and again—they could not move our firm unyielding lines. For half an hour this desperate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In that brief time over a third of our brigade was killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and 150 men were already struck. "Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and the left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their line or force them back, but at last Col. Heg (the brigade commander), seeing that disaster must follow this attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave an order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men, fell back slowly about 50 yards. Here they were re-formed, and after a short halt, charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm, driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bullets flew like hailstones; grape and canister, shot and shell, whistled and crashed through, and over and around the devoted ranks, but the heroism of the men rose with the terrible grandeur and desperation of the awful battle, and they stood like walls before the fury of this storm. BRIGADE CHIEF KILLED "But no courage, however sublime; no enthusiasm, however magnificent,, and no discipline, however perfect, could continue to resist the masses of fresh troops which the enemy was constantly hurling against these two small brigades, fighting alone in the woods, detached from other portions of t i e (Continued on Page 19)

xlventure, Gulls in Films {.VICTORY— Adventure and chills are wrapped up in the three features' showing. Paul Newman stars in "Hud". Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan take the leads b y ' The Vam-

pire." "Escape to Burma" is the third feature. 'MEADOWLARK— The intriguing "Mondo Case" doubles with "Wall of Noise," starring Suzanne Pleshette, Ty Hardin and Dorothy Provine.

TWIN — Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Thelma Ritter are featured in the romantic comedy, "A New Kind of Love," which is set in gay Paris. "If a Man Answers"

has Sandra Dee co-starred with Bobby Darin. 42 SKYVUE — "September Storm," 'combining passion, treasure-hunting and greed, features Joanne Dru, Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss. Also showing are "Far Country," with James Stewart and Ruth Roman, and "The She Creature," with Chester Morris and Maria English.

Location's

Everything

HOLLYWOOD (AP)—Archie "You know," said Co Moore, the ageless ex-Iight- "you look like you could heavyweight champ, is work- five or six rounds with Soi ing as an actor now in moires Liston right now." and television. "Well, that depends," s The other day Lee J. Cobb was complimenting the old 'Archie. "Whether you mt Mongoose on his fine physical in a bar—or in the ring, you mean the ring, never." condition.

1 Civil War Defeat, Victory: Kansans Played Great Roles in Key Battles (Continued from Page 4) army, and already bereaved of nearly half their numbers^.The division«was finally or-" dered to fall back to a fence some distance to the rear, and facing the woods in which it had been fighting. The two brigades had lost ' i n killed and wounded over 40 per cent of all engaged. Col. Heg, our brigade commander, i w a s mortally wounded about the middle of fine afternoon, and the command devolved " npon Col. Martin, of the Eighth. Two-thirds ) of the field officers of the division were leither killed or wounded, and over half the a line officers. ' ' ft. * " I t was £ fearful day's work. The roar of musketry never for an instant ceased, and , at times it grew so intense as to drown the / 7 crashes of artillery. The ground was strewn with dead and wounded, and almost every, 'foot of the shot-torn field was red with the * crimson of loyal blood. The two small brig a d e s of Davis' division had fought, alone, t. jitwp full divisions of the rebel army, .under • the personal command of Gen. J. B. Hood. ': This we learned at the time from prisoners captured, and-the official reports of the rebel commanders i afterward substantiated the .fact. Gen. Hood-was severely wounded d i rectly in front of, the Eighth Kansas, and his ,leg amputated .on the field."

yond reached, and then for a moment a stubborn struggle e n s u e d , and a deafening crash and roar followed, as the rebels strove to check this impetuous charge. But Kansans led the van that day, and the fighting blood of the old Eighth was at fever heat. The rebel horde conld no more stem the torrent that struck them than they could .check a bursting billow with a feather. Our men dashed forward right on their line so fiercely and rapidly that one-half of them °were captured, and the rest broke in wild confusion to the rear. A quick race through the woods ensued. The fleeing rebels never stopped until they reached their .reserves behind the line of entrenchments running over Orchard knob. Here another struggle came, but with a ringing cheer our boys rushed on like a furious flood; again the rebel line faltered,, broke and fled, and Orchard Knob was ours."

From. then until Nov. 25 the Knob was fortified to serve as a base of operations, while guns' on Missionary Ridge kept up a hail of shots. Headquarters for Generals Grant and Sherman we're established. - On the morning of Nov. 25 "it was evident the Confederates' hadynoved all their artillery to."'the top of Missionary Ridge, .leaving only infantry below, and strengthened entrenchments up the slopes. Between 1 ' GAP C O S * BATTLE Orchard Knob and the base of the ridge was •i But the valiant stand of the Kansans and a dense woods, then a wide, open field, and their comrades Was to prove partially futile. then a slight, abrupt rise of. ground, on the I jAfter almost equally fierce fighting the next top of which was a strong line of earthday, it developed that a fatal gap had been works. Beyond was a plateau about 100 feet left in the Union lines, allowing J h e Confedwide, and above this the ridge rose, ragged, ' erates to pour through. The Federals, fightbroken and steep, to a height of nearly 500 ing a desperate rear-guard battle, withdrew feet, its summit crowned by a line of ennorthward toward Chattanooga. The sorely battered Southerners were unable to stage -' trenchments. The entire area from the Knob to tfie top of the ridge was covered by dozens jan effective pursuit. » of batteries and the foes' musket fire. ., , Union losses—killed, wounded or missing . J—in the two-day battle were 16,170 and ConDEFIED HAIL OF LEAD federate 18,454, an almost identical 28 per cent of the forces involved. Among the hardAbout 2 o'clock on the 25th the charge test hit units was the Eighth Kansas. Going order was signaled. This is Col. Martin's into the battle with 406 men, it lost 243, or story of what followed!- . . * jover 65 per cent. "Through the branches of the leafless - i • Pouring into Chattanooga, the mauled • trees we saw a bright flame leap out and a Federals set up makeshift defenses and dull gray smoke curl up all along the sumstarted more permanent ones. Gen. Bragg's mit of the ridge; a crash like a thousand forces soon almost surrounded the city, with thunderclaps greeted us; s o l i d shot went j their lines anchored on Missionary Ridge screaming through the timber, and hurtling i east of the city and on Lookout Mountain to shells exploded above and around us, their i the southwest. scattered fragments shrieking through the I', For nearly two months the Confederate air like a legion of demons. Without an orVguns rained shots on the Union positions, but der the line broke into a double quick— their short range prevented great damage. i.The worst foes were hunger and disease. I Gen. Rosecrans cut officers and men to onef third rations. Work mules died from lack of ' food. Famished men snatched grains of corn ~fstyP&lf ;.:";jiJ^:Chiclcamauqa dropped near the horse troughs. One of the regiments killed and ate a dog that wandered into camp. i '§ NEAR STARVATION ; A separate story could be written on the hardships endured in that siege. Col. Martin related that he was amazed, however, at Tthe good humor that prevailed throughout the ordeal, and the faith in ultimate success. This proved justified when supplies floated down the Tennessee River, at the west edge of the city, arrived Oct. 26. On Nov. 12 rations were increased to two-thirds. Meanwhile Gen. Grant had reached ••(Chattanooga and taken charge of the defense. The Eighth Kansas, its ranks rein- . forced to near-normal strength, took a position facing Orchard Knob, in the east edge bf the city, and about a half mile from the base of Missionary Ridge. On Nov. 15 Gen. Sherman arrived with fresh troops and preparations began for an attack on the Rebel ^eights. ••••.•" : I When the Yanks scaled the west side of Lookout Mountain they found the enemy already had abandoned its positions on the , summit. jf Grant ordered capture of Orchard Knob to serve as a base of operations. The Eighth Kansas was chosen to lead the attack. Col. Martin gave this account of the charge on the afternoon of Nov. 23: if "The field.was crossed, the woods be-

Chattanooga

Dhickamauga And Chattanooga N a t l

\

Part

30 Miles BATTLE AREA—This map shows the routes by which tourists may visit the Chickamauga battlefield (lower left in Georgia) and Missionary Ridge, which serves as the eastern boundary of the main section of Chattanooga. A n auto road traverses the entire length and is lined w i t h monuments honoring military units which fought there.

brave fellows, they knew the work before them was quick success or sure destruction. The rebel pickets, too, opened fire. Our men did not answer, but with arms trailing or on the right shoulder pressed forward, until they burst like a thunderbolt out of the woods and into the open field. Then from the whole line there rose a loud, hearty, ringing cheer, and on they swept. "In the field the columns were caught in the fierce fire from the rebel line at the foot of the hill, and soon in the still deadlier volume of musketry from its summit. But there was never a waver nor a pause in the advance nor a straggler from it. In a few moments our men were nearly across the field. There was a break in the gray lines behind the rebel works; a few rushed to the rear and began to climb the slope, but nearly all, throwing down their muskets and holding up their hands in surrender, leaped to our side of the entrenchments and cowered behind them, for the hail of bullets now rained down from the hill was as deadly to • them as to us. The first line was won, and the prisoners were sent toward the rear. "We had no orders to go beyond this line of works, and a brief-halt was ordered; but it was instantly seen by every soldier in the ranks that no line conld live there, raked from every direction as it was by both artillery and infantry. Almost simultaneously several regiments moved forward toward the hill and, as if animated by a common impulse, all followed. Grim and silent, with compressed lips and eyes fixed on the goal before them, they breasted the fiery sleet of battle .and commenced the steep ascent. From behind the rifle pits on the summit shot and shell rained down upon them In a ceaseless torrent, and the roar of the contest grew deafening. All regular formations of lines were soon lost. "Great masses of men, who had crowded together in the places easiest of ascent, were climbing the steep at intervals and vying in their efforts to be first. Regiments were so intermingled that their organization and unity soon disappeared, t h o u g h the greater portion of e a c h clustered around their battle flags, and these were in every case ahead. Gradually these groups took the form of a wedge or triangle, the apex being the regimental battle flag. The progress was necessarily slow. "Above, the summit of the hill was one sheet of flame and smoke, and the awful explosions of artillery and musketry made the earth fairly tremble. Below, the columns of dark blue, with the old banner of beauty and of glory leading them on, were mounting up with leaning forms, each eager with desperate resolution to be first. Cannon shot tore through their ranks; musket balls were rapidly and fearfully decimating them; behind them the dead and wounded lay thick as autumn leaves; before them, death was reveling in a whirlwind of carnage; but the lava-flood of battle pouring down upon them no more checked the grand advance than if it had been the soft rain of summer. "Our brigade went up in the center of one of the half-circular bends of the ridge. On the right of us Hazen's men breasted a point; to the left Beatty also had a headland. Between an Ohio regiment of Hazen's brigade, and one or two of ours that had their flags well ahead, there sprang up a fierce rivalry as to which would be first planted on the rebel lines. At last but a dozen yards separated the line of gray and the columns of blue, while the flags of the Eighth Kansas, Sixth and 49th Ohio and sev- ' eral other regiments were but a few yards from the red clay banks that were belching forth streams of fire and sulphurous smoke. "With a wild cheer and a madder rush our men dashed forward, and for a few moments a sharp, desperate, almost hand-tohand fight with bayonet and ball ensued. Before this resistless assault the rebel line was lifted as by a whirlwind, and borne backward, bleeding and confused. In quick succession half a dozen Union battle flags

were planted upon the works, and in a mo ment more the foemen were hurrying dowi the hill on the opposite side and off into th woods b e y o n d . Our men were rapid! formed, and we were preparing to mov down the breastworks to the left, whil Hazen's men did the same on the righf when suddenly the whole rebel line gav way. "Then followed a scene of tumult an confusion which baffles description. Graj clad men rushed wildly down the hill an into the woods, tossing away muskets, Man kets and knapsacks as they ran. Officers frantic with rage, rushfeti from one panic stricken group to the other, shouting an< cursing as they strove to check the beadlon; flight, but all in vain. "Our men, pursued the fugitives with a: eagerness only equaled by that of the foe to escape; the horses of the artillery wer shot as they; ran; squads of rebels wer beaded off and brought back as prisoners and in 10 minutes all that remained, of th defiant rebel army that hacL besieged Chat tanooga were captured guns, disarmed pris oners, moaning wounded, ghastly dead, an' scattered, demoralized fugitives. Missionar Ridge was ours. "The Eighth K a n s a s captured foil pieces of artillery, 500 stand of small arms and more prisoners than it had men in it ranks. The regiment also claims to hav> planted upon the rebel breastworks the firs .Union color's that waved there. So, after tw months and five days, ended the terribl siege of Chattanooga. The march from Oi chard Knob to the summit of Missionar Ridge occupied just one hour and 15 min utes." IN.'iicONFLICT TO CLOSE After this triumph the Eighth Kansa returned home for a brief furlough and re cruitment period. Then it was sent back t Chattanooga, and joined Gen. Sherman' forces for the march to Atlanta. In a perid of 69 days, it was under fire for 63 days am 44 nights. It. spent 33 days in the siege o Atlanta, entering the city with other Unioi troops on Sjept. 8, 1864. Early the next yea it took part1 in the battle of Nashville tha destroyed Confederate Gen. Hood's arm; and practically ended the war on the west ern sectors. After Lee's surrender in Apri the regiment was sent to Texas and thei home for mustering out. During its term of service the Eightl traveled 10,750 miles. It participated in 1; battles and 18 skirmishes. It lost in battli three commissioned officers and 62 enliste* men killed; 13 commissioned officers and 25! enlisted men wounded, and one commis sioned officer and 20 enlisted men missinga total of 64 killed, 272 wounded and 21 miss ing, or full casualties of 358. Of the missinj nearly all were killed, and of the woundei nearly one-third died of their injuries. ak

*

*

Upon discharge Col. Martin at the age o 26 was breveted a brigadier general. He re sumed duties as editor and publisher of th< Atchison Daily Champion for the rest of hi.' life. He was the first state commander o the Grand Army of the Republic, and upoi election as 10th governor of the state ii November 1884 he founded and became firsi commander of the Kansas National Guard Reelected in 1886 as governor, he completec his term in January of 1889. Late that yeai he was stricken ill and died, leaving hi; widow, Ida Challiss Martin, and seven chil dren. Three Of them still live: Paul A. Mar tin, retired editor and publisher of the Lans ing (Mich.) Journal; Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing Atchison, and Harres Martin, Merriam, Kan Mrs. Tonsing is the mother of the write) of this article. *

*

-i-

,

Most of the facts in this story were taken from the "Military History of the Eightl Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry," a 112page book written by Col. Martin following • the close of the war and published by him in 1869.

Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963—PACE 1

F r o m Stunning Loss To Amazing Victory Valiant Eighth Kansas Capped Exploits At Missionary Ridge 100 Years Ago By BOB TONSING SR., Staff Writer O p e h u n d r e d y e a r s a g o t o m o r r o w ( N o v . 2 5 , 1 8 6 3 ) t o o k p l a c e o n e of t h e g r e a t c h a r g e s of A m e r i c a n m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y — t h e s e e m i n g l y s u i c i d a l d a s h u p t h e s t e e p s l o p e s of M i s s i o n a r y R i d g e a t C h a t t a n o o g a , T e n n . W i t h o u t , o r d e r s f r o m G e n . U.S. G r a n t , w h o w a t c h e d in a m a z e m e n t a n d c o n s t e r - nation from O r c h a r d Knob, inspired Union troops braved withering Conf e d e r a t e fire f r o m a b o v e to s w e e p t h e e n e m y f r o m t h e s t r a t e g i c h e i g h t s a n d o p e n t h e w a y f o r S h e r m a n ' s e v e n t u a l m a r c h to A t l a n t a a n d t h e s e a . I n t h e f o r e f r o n t of t h a t a t t a c k w a s a K a n s a s r e g i m e n t , t h e E i g h t h V o l u n t e e r s — t h e o n l y g r o u p f r o m t h i s n e w l y f o r m e d s t a t e to s e r v e w i t h t h e A r m y of t h e C u m b e r l a n d a n d one of t h e f e w t o see s e r v i c e - m u c h b e y o n d t h e K a n s a s - M i s s o u r i line.

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; A T VICTORY POINT—Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing, daughter of John A. Martin, Civil War colonel of the Eighth Kansas Regiment, looks at a monument ,-atop Missionary Ridge honoring the unit which breached the Confederate defenses at this;place.

Activities of border ruffians such as Quantrill and the continual threat of invasion by Southern forces made it necessary to keep most
STORY I N BRONZE — This is the .metal plate shown in photo above, giving a brief account of the Eighth's part in the Ridge conquest.

FEAT RECORDED — Tom Erwin of Chattanooga reads the inscription on a monument recalling the Eighth Kan-

The regiment spent a bitterly cold winter on border patrol, with only a few uneventful scouting trips into Missouri to break the monotony. In late May of 1862, the men of the Eighth heard with enthusiasm that they were to head for Corinth, Miss., against which the Union armies under General Halleck were operating. Col. R. H. Graham was in command as the barge trip down the Missouri River started. At St. Louis Graham died and Lt. Col. Martin became head of the unit. Later designated a full colonel, he led the regiment during its long and illustrious service. i After some action at Corinth, the Eighth in late July was ordered to march eastward to aid in the struggle for-control of the Tennessee River. On Sept. 3, 1862, a large Federal force including the Eighth started for Nashville on a forced march in bad weather and through

Staff Photos.

sas' charge a century ago that captured Orchard Knob and cleared the way, for the Missionary Ridge attack.

ACE 4—Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963

rugged country where all bridges had been destroyed. As Col. Martin later described it, "Faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundreds of men had fallen by the roadside on this terrible night march." In the weeks that followed the Kansans took part in several bloody encounters with enemy units, and won a fine reputation for their fighting ability and spirit. RULED NASHVILLE On Nov. 20, Sent back to Nashville, the Eighth took over provost duty in the city for six months, with Col. Martin serving as provost marshal. With about two-thirds of the citizens Southern sympathizers, the unit had its hands full in bringing order from chaos. Dozens of hospitals were kept operating to receive wounded. The city was swarming with rebel spies, since the entire Army of the Cumberland was camped around the city. The regiment actually served as the municipal government. All citizens were required to sign oaths of allegiance or be sent south to the Confederate lines. When on June 8 the Kansans were ordered back to service with their division, the citizens loudly protested, and presented Col. Martin a gold sword in a gesture of appreciation for his services. It was evident at that time that Chattanooga was the most likely point for a'showdown battle between two great armies. In early July, Gen. Robert E. Lee's drive toward Washington was stopped by the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pa. Almost simultaneously Gen. U. S. Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg and headed east in pursuit of Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, which took up defensive positions south of Chattanooga along Chickamauga Creek. Rail lines brought reinforcements from the northeast to both opposing armies. Early in September Union General Rosecrans sent his western columns pouring piecemeal through the widely scattered mountain passes into northern Georgia. These included the Eighth Kansas, which marched across Stevens gap south of Lookout Mountain. It was known by that time that Bragg's forces were ahead in great strength, and skirmishers of the two armies were keeping up a running fight. Heavy artillery firing could be heard during the entire day on Sept. 18, 1863. BATTLE AT CHICKAMAUGA This is Col. Martin's account of the events that followed: "The next morning we again moved on. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters were established. As we neared, a more terrible sound greeted our ears—the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves beating upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's divisions, with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and, after forming a line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, 'going

JOHN A. M A R T I N . . As Kansas' Governor in 1885 . in,' as Gen. Rosecrans expressed it, 'wher the fight was hottest.' "Our brigade was formed in two line; the Eighth Kansas, 15th Wisconsin and 35t Illinois in front; the 25th Illinois in rear . . "After forming we were advancing raj idly through the rugged forest, but had pre ceeded only a few hundred yards when terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeede< by another and another. The two hostil forces met without skirmishers in front, an> in as instant were furiously engaged in des perate combat. Our men promptly replied \> the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battl became one steady, deep, jarring thunder Our line was moved forward firmlyj until i rested along the brow of a small rise o ground. "The "crash of musketry became dense and more terrific, and the artillery added it; thunder to the furious raging of the batth storm. The rebels rushed forward line aftei line of troops, charging with desperate valoj and impetuosity, but our men held their po sition firmly and defiantly, firing with sucl coolness and precision that at every dis charge great gaps were cut in the enemy': lines, and bleeding, broken and staggering they reeled before the awful hail of leadei death that greeted them. ATTACKS REPULSED "In vain they rallied and advanced agaii and again—they could not move our firm unyielding lines. For half an hour this desperate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In that brief time over a third of our brigade was killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and 150 men were already struck. "Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and the left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their line or force them back, but at last Col. Heg (the brigade commander), seeing that disaster must follow this attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave an order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men. fell back slowly about 50 yards. Here they were re-formed, and after a short halt, charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm, driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bullets flew like hailstones; grape and canister, shot and shell, whistled and crashed through, and over and around the devoted ranks, but the heroism of the men rose with the terrible grandeur and desperation of the awful battle, and they stood like walls before the fury of this storm. BRIGADE CHIEF KILLED "But no courage, however sublime; no enthusiasm, however magnificent, and no discipline, however perfect, could continue to resist the masses of fresh troops which the enemy was constantly hurling against these two small brigades, fighting alone in the woods, detached from other portions of the (Continued on Page 19)

J4dventure, Chills in Films i, VICTORY— Adventure and chills are wrapped up in the three features' showing. Paul Newman stars in "Hud". Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan take the leads in* "The Vam-

JL

pire." "Escape to Burma" is the third feature. 'MEADOWLARK— The'intriguing "Mondo Case" doubles with "Wall of Noise," starring Suzanne Pleshette, Ty Hardin and Dorothy Provine.

TWIN — Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Thelma Ritter are featured in the romantic comedy, "A New Kind of Love," which is set in gay Paris. "If a Man Answers"

has Sandra Dee co-starred with Bobby Darin. 42 SKYVUE — "September Storm," -'combining passion, treasure-hunting and greed, features Joanne Dru, Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss. Also showing are "Far Country," with James Stewart and Ruth Roman, and "The She Creature," with Chester Morris and Maria English.

Location's

Everything

HOLLYWOOD (AP)—Archie 'You know," said Co Moore, the ageless ex-light- "you look like you could heavywejght champ, is working as an actor now in mo\yes five or six rounds with Soi Liston right now." and television. "Well, that depends," s The other day Lee J. Cobb was complimenting the old 'Archie. "Whether you mt Mongoose on his fine physical in a bar—or in the ring, condition. you mean the ring, never."

••.-•••:•-.

Civil War Defeat, Victory: Kansans Played Great Roles in Key Battles I (Continued from Page 4) army, and already bereaved of nearly half jtheir numbers^-The division -was finally or-" tiered to fall back to a fence some distance :jto the rear, and facing the woods in which ithad been fighting. The two brigades had lost in killed and wounded over 40 per cent of all engaged. Col. Heg, our brigade commander, v was mortally wounded about the middle of *the afternoon, and the command devolved ' upon Col. Martin, of the Eighth. Two-thirds , of the field officers of the division were 'either killed or wounded, and over half the line officers. '. "It was if fearful day's work. The roar of musketry never for an instant ceased, and at times it grew so intense as to drown the / ? [crashes of artillery. The ground was strewn with dead and wounded, and almost every. 'foot of the shot-torn' field was red with the ""crimson of loyal blood. The two small brig a d e s of Davis' division had fought, alone, / ; two full divisions of the rebel army, .under 'the personal command of Gen. J. B. Hood. ; This we learned at the time from prisoners - captured, and the official reports of the rebel commanders, afterward substantiated the fact. Gen. Hood was severely wounded d i rectly in front of the Eighth Kansas, and his •leg amputated.on the field." If GAP COSTS BATTLE t H But the valiant stand of the Kansans and 'their comrades Was to prove partially futile. > After almost equally fierce fighting the next day, it developed that a fatal gap had been 'left in the Union lines, allowing £he Confed' erates to pour through. The Federals, fighting a desperate rear-guard battle, withdrew northward toward Chattanooga. The sorely battered Southerners were unable to stage -' !an effective pursuit. . j Union losses—killed, wounded or missing - p-in the two-day battle were 16,170 and Confederate 18,454, an almost identical 28 per cent of the forces involved. Among the hardest hit units was the Eighth Kansas. Going into the battle with 406 men, it lost 243, or jover 65 per cent. Pouring into Chattanooga, the mauled: Federals set up makeshift defenses and started more permanent ones: Gen. Bragg's forces soon almost surrounded the city, with jtheir lines anchored on Missionary Ridge J east of the city and on Lookout Mountain to the southwest. For nearly two months the Confederate guns rained shots on the Union positions, but their short range prevented great damage. .'The worst foes were hunger and disease. : Gen. Rosecrans cut officers and men to one! third rations. Work mules died from lack of food. Famished men snatched grains of corn dropped near the horse troughs. One of the regiments killed and ate a dog that wandered into camp. ) ;f NEAR STARVATION < j A separate story could be written on the '.hardships endured in that siege. Col. Martin related that he was amazed, however, • at fine good humor that prevailed throughout I the ordeal, and the faith in Ultimate success. /This proved justified when supplies floated down the Tennessee River, at the west edge jof the city, arrived Oct. 26. On Nov. 12 rations were increased to two-thirds. , Meanwhile Gen. Grant had reached * .Chattanooga and taken charge of the defense. The •Eighth Kansas, its ranks rein- . forced to near-normal strength, took a.position facing Orchard Knob, in the east edge of the city, and about a half mile from the base of Missionary Ridge. On Nov. 15 Gen. Sherman arrived with fresh troops and preparations began for an attack on the Rebel ^eights. c» I When the Yanks scaled the west side of Lookout Mountain they found the enemy already had abandoned its positions on the . Summit. if Grant ordered capture of Orchard Knob to serve as a base of operations. The Eighth Kansas was chosen to lead the attack. Col. Martin gave this account of the -charge on the afternoon of Nov. 23: "The field was crossed, the woods be-

yond reached, and then for a moment a stubborn straggle e n s u e d , and a deafening crash and roar followed, as the rebels strove to check this impetuous charge. But Kansans led the van that day, and the fighting blood of the old Eighth was at fever heat. The rebel horde could no more stem the torrent that struck them than they 'could . check a bursting billow with a feather. Our men dashed forward right on their line so fiercely and rapidly that one-half of them 'were captured, and the rest broke in wild confusion to the rear. A quick race through the woods ensued. The fleeing rebels never stopped untO they reached their reserves behind the line of entrenchments running over Orchard knob. Here another struggle came, but with a ringing cheer our boys rushed on like a furious flood; again the rebel line faltered,, broke and fled, and Orchard Knob was ours." From.then until Nov. 25 the Knob was fortified to serve as a base of operations, while guns on Missionary Ridge kept up a hail of shots. Headquarters for Generals Grant and Sherman we're established. . On the morning of Nov. 25 "it was evident the Confederates' hadynoved all their artillery to.''the top of Missionary Ridge, .leaving only infantry below, and strengthened entrenchments up the slopes. Between Orchard Knob and the base of the ridge was a dense woods, then a wide, open field, and then a slight, abrupt rise of. ground, on the top of which was a strong line of earthworks. Beyond was a plateau about 100 feet wide, and above this the ridge rose, ragged, broken and steep, to a height of nearly 500 feet, its summit crowned by a line of entrenchments. The entire area from the Knob to the top of the ridge was covered by dozens of batteries and the foes' musket fire. ., DEFIED HAIL OF LEAD About 2 o'clock on the 25th the charge order was signaled. This is Col. Martin's story of what followed^ "Through the branches of the leafless trees we saw a bright flame leap out and a dull gray smoke curl up all along the summit of the ridge; a crash like a thousand thunderclaps greeted us; s o l i d shot went screaming through the timber, and hurtling shells exploded above and around us, their scattered fragments shrieking through the air like a legion of demons. Without an order the line broke into a double quick—

TENNESSEE" r^fChiclcamauqa

Chattanooga

ssmm^m Chickamauga And

Chattanooga Nail

3d Miles BATTLE AREA—This map shows the routes by which tourists may visit the Chickamauga battlefield (lower left in Georgia) and Missionary Ridge, which serves as the eastern boundary of the main section of Chattanooga. An auto road traverses the entire length and is lined with monuments honoring military units which fought there.

brave fellows, they knew the work before them was quick success or sure destruction. The rebel pickets, too, opened fire. Our men did not answer, but with arms trailing or on the right shoulder pressed forward, until they burst like a thunderbolt out of the woods and into the open field. Then from the whole line there rose a Jpud, hearty, ringing cheer, and on they swept. "In the field the columns were caught in the fierce fire from the rebel line at the foot of the hill, and soon in the still deadlier volume'of musketry from its summit. But there was never a waver nor a pause in the advance nor a straggler from it. In a few moments our men were nearly across the field. There was a break in the gray lines behind the rebel works; a few rushed to the rear and began to climb the slope, but nearly all, throwing down their muskets and holding up their hands in surrender, leaped to our side of the entrenchments and cowered behind them, for the hail of bullets now rained down from the hill was as deadly to them as to us. The first line was won, and the prisoners were sent toward the rear. "We had no orders to go beyond this line of works, and a brief'halt was ordered; but It was instantly seen by every soldier in the ranks that no line could live there, raked from every direction as it was by both artillery and infantry. Almost simultaneously several regiments moved forward toward the hill and, as if animated by a common impulse, all followed. Grim and silent, with compressed lips and eyes fixed on the goal before them, they breasted the fiery sleet of battle and commenced the steep ascent. From behind the rifle pits on the summit sfiot and shell rained down upon them in a ceaseless torrent, and the roar of the contest grew deafening. All regular formations of lines were soon lost. "Great masses of men, who had crowded together in the places easiest of ascent, were climbing the steep at intervals and vying in their efforts to be first. Regiments were so intermingled that their organization and unity soon disappeared, t h o u g h the greater portion of e a c h clustered around their battle flags, and these were in every case ahead. Gradually "these groups took the form of a wedge or triangle, the apex being the regimental battle flag. The progress was necessarily slow. "Above, the summit of the hill was one sheet of flame and smoke, and the awful explosions of artillery and musketry made the earth fairly tremble. Below, the columns of dark blue, with the old banner of beauty and of glory leading them on, were mounting up with leaning forms, each eager with desperate resolution to be first. Cannon shot tore through their ranks; musket balls were rapidly and fearfully decimating them; behind them the dead and wounded lay thick as autumn leaves; before them, death was reveling in a whirlwind of carnage; but the lava-flood of battle pouring down upon them no more checked the grand advance than if it had been the soft rain of summer. "Our brigade went up in the center of one of the half-circular bends of the ridge. On the right of us Hazen's men breasted a point; to the left Beatty also had a headland. Between an Ohio regiment of Hazen's brigade, and one or two of ours that had their flags well ahead, there sprang up a fierce rivalry as to which would be first planted on the rebel lines. At last but a dozen yards separated the line of gray and the columns of blue, while the flags of the Eighth Kansas, Sixth and 49th Ohio and sev- ' era! other regiments were but a few yards from the red clay banks that were belching forth streams of fire and sulphurous smoke. "With a wild cheer and a madder rush our men dashed forward, and for a few moments a sharp, desperate, almost hand-tohand fight with bayonet and ball ensned. Before this resistless assault the rebel line was lifted as by a whirlwind, and borne backward, bleeding and confused. In quick succession half a dozen Union battle flags

were planted upon the works, and in a mo ment more the foemen were hurrying dowi the hill on the opposite side and off into th woods b e y o n d . Our men were rapid] formed, and we were preparing to mov down the breastworks to the left, whil Hazen's men did the same on the right when suddenly the whole rebel line gav way. "Then followed a scene of tumult an confusion which baffles description. Gra\ clad men rushed wildly down the hill an into the woods, tossing away muskets, blar kets and knapsacks as they ran. Officers frantic with rage, rushfeti from one panic stricken group to the other, shouting an< cursing as they strove to check the headlon flight, but all in vain. "Our men, pursued the fugitives with a; eagerness only equaled by that of the foe to escape; the horses of the artillery wer shot as they, ran; squads of rebels wer beaded off and brought back as prisoners and in 10 minutes all that remained, of th defiant rebel army that had besieged Chat tanooga were captured guns, disarmed prfc oners, moaning wounded, ghastly dead, an scattered, demoralized fugitives. Missionar Ridge was ours. "The Eighth K a n s a s captured fou pieces of artillery, 500 stand of small arms and more prisoners than it had men in it ranks. The regiment also claims to hav planted upon the rebel breastworks the firs .Union coloris that waved there. So, after tw months and five days, ended the terribl siege of Chattanooga. The march from Or chard Knob to the summit of Missionar; Ridge occupied just one hour and 15 mii. utes." ' IN.-CONFLICT TO CLOSE After this triumph the Eighth Kansa returned home for a brief furlough and re cruitment period. Then it was sent back t Chattanooga, and joined Gen. Sherman' forces for the march to Atlanta. In a perio< of 69 days, it was under fire for 63 days an< 44 nights. It. spent 33 days in the siege o Atlanta, entering the city with other Unioi troops on Sept. 8, 1864. Early the next yea it took part' in the battle of Nashville tha destroyed Confederate Gen. Hood's arm; and practically ended the war on the west ern sectors. After Lee's surrender in Apri the regiment was sent to Texas and the) home for mustering out. During its term of service the Eightl traveled 10,750 miles. It participated in l: battles and 18 skirmishes. It lost in battle three commissioned officers and 62 enlistei men killed; 13 commissioned officers and 25! enlisted men wounded, and one commis sioned officer and 20 enlisted men missinga total of 64 killed, 272 wounded and 21 miss ing, or full casualties of 358. Of the missin; nearly all were killed, and of the woundei nearly one-third died of their injuries. ik

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Upon discharge Col. Martin at the age o 26 was breveted a brigadier general. He re sumed duties as editor and publisher of tht Atchison Daily Champion for the rest of hi: life. He was the first state commander o the Grand Army of the Republic, and upoi election as 10th governor of the state ii November 1884 he founded and became firs commander of the Kansas National Guard Reelected in 1886 as governor, he completec his term in January of 1889. Late that yeai he was stricken ill and died, leaving hi; widow, Ida Challiss Martin, and seven chil dren. Three of them still live: Paul A. Mar tin, retired editor and publisher of the Lans ing (Mich.) Journal; Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing Atchison, and Harres Martin, Merriam, Kan Mrs. Tonsing is the mother of the write] of this article. * * * Most of the facts in this story were taker from the "Military History of the Eightl Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry," a 112page book written by Col. Martin following • the close of the war and published by him in 1869.

Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963—PACE 1

F r o m Stunning Loss To Amazing Victory Valiant Eighth Kansas Capped Exploits At Missionary Ridge 100 Years Ago By BOB TONSING SR., Staff Writer Ope hundred years ago tomorrow (Nov. 25, 1863) took place one of the great charges of American military history — the seemingly suicidal dash up the steep slopes of Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga, Tenn. Without, orders from Gen. U.S. Grant, who watched in amazement and conster- nation from Orchard Knob, inspired Union troops braved withering Confederate fire from above to sweep the enemy from the strategic heights and open the way for Sherman's eventual march to Atlanta and the sea. In the forefront of t h a t attack w a s a Kansas regiment, the Eighth Volunteers—the only group from this newly formed state to serve with the Army of the Cumberland and one of the few to see service-much beyond the Kansas-Missouri line.

; A T VICTORY POINT—Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing, daughter of John A . Martin, Civil War colonel of the Eighth Kansas Regiment, looks at a monument j-atop Missionary Ridge honoring the \ unit which breached "the Confederate defenses at this place. f

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Activities of border ruffians such as Quantrill and the continual threat of invasion by Southern forces made it necessary to keep most,pf the Kansas troops in the state. That, in fact, was the Eighth's type of duty for some months. Its history began in September and October of 1861, when it was mustered into service at Fort Leavenworth, with most '• of its 678 men drawn from the** northeast around Atchison. Appointed as colonel was a veteran Army officer, Henry W. Wessels, a West Point graduate who knew how to fashion the'untrained frontier youths into an efficient fighting force. Named as lieutenant colonel was John A. Martin, who at the age of 18 had come from Pennsylvania to Atchison, bought a proslavery paper called "Squatter's Sovereign" and had changed its name to "Freedom's Champion." In late 1860 he had served as secretary of the constitutional convention at Wyandotte and had written several portions of the document under which Kansas the following January was admitted to the.Union. He then was 21 years old. SENT TO MISSISSIPPI

The regiment spent a bitterly cold winter on border patrol, with only a few uneventful scouting trips into Missouri to break the monotony. In late May of 1862, the men of the Eighth heard with enthusiasm that they were to head for Corinth, Miss., against which the Union armies under ; General Halleck were operating. Col. R. H: Graham was in command as the barge trip down the Mis. ''•• .:• souri i River started. At St. Louis Graham died and Lt. Col. Martin became head of the unit. Later designated a full colonel, he led the regiment during its long and illustrious service. / After some action at Corinth, the Eighth in late July was ordered to march eastward to aid in the struggle for-control of the TenSTORY I N BRONZE — This is the nessee River. .metal plate shown in photo above, On Sept. 3, 1862, a large Federal force giving a brief account of the Eighth's including the Eighth started for Nashville on a forced march in bad weather and through part in the Ridge conquest.

Staff Photos.

FEAT RECORDED — Tom Erwin of Chattanooga reads the inscription on a monument recalling the Eighth Kan-

sas' charge a century ago that captured Orchard Knob and cleared the wayt for the Missionary Ridge attack.

ACE 4—Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963

rugged country where all bridges had been destroyed. As Col. Martin later described it, "Faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundreds of men had fallen by, the roadside on this terrible night march.'-' In the weeks that followed the Kansans took part in several bloody encounters with enemy units, and won a fine reputation for their fighting ability and spirit. RULED NASHVILLE On Nov. 20, Sent back to Nashville, the Eighth took over provost duty in the city for six months, with Col. Martin serving as provost marshal. With about two-thirds of the citizens Southern sympathizers, the unit had its hands full in bringing order from chaos. Dozens of hospitals were kept operating to receive wounded. The city was swarming with rebel spies, since the entire Army of the Cumberland was camped around the city. The regiment actually served as the municipal government. All citizens were required to sign oaths of allegiance or be sent south to the Confederate lines. When on June 8 the Kansans were ordered back to service with their division, the citizens loudly protested, and presented Col. Martin a gold sword in a gesture of appreciation for his services. It was evident at that time that Chattanooga was the most likely point for a'showdown battle between two great armies. In early July, Gen. Robert E. Lee's drive toward Washington was stopped by the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pa. Almost simultaneously Gen. U. S. Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg and headed east in pursuit of Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, which took up defensive positions south of Chattanooga along Chickamauga Creek. Rail lines brought reinforcements from the northeast to both opposing armies. Early in September Union General Rosecrans sent his western columns pouring piecemeal through the widely scattered mountain passes into northern Georgia. These included the Eighth Kansas, which marched across Stevens gap south of Lookout Mountain. It was known by that time that Bragg's forces were ahead in great strength, and skirmishers of the two armies were keeping up a running fight. Heavy artillery firing could be heard during the entire day on Sept. 18,1863. BATTLE AT CHICKAMAUGA This is Col. Martin's account of the events that followed: "The next morning we again moved on. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters were established. As we neared, a more terrible sound greeted our ears—the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves beating upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's divisions, with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and, after forming a line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, 'going

JOHN A. M A R T I N . . As Kansas' Governor in 1885 . in,' as Gen. Rosecrans expressed it, 'wher the fight was hottest.' "Our brigade was formed in two line: the Eighth Kansas, 15th Wisconsin and 35t Illinois in front; the 25th Illinois in rear . . "After forming we were advancing raj idly through the rugged forest, but had pre ceeded only a few hundred yards when terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeeds by another and another. The two bos til forces met without skirmishers in front, ani in an instant were furiously engaged in des perate combat. Our men promptly replied t> the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battl' became one steady, deep, jarring thunder Our line was moved forward firmlyi until i rested along the brow of a small rise o ground. "The crash of musketry became dense and more terrific, and the artillery added it; thunder to the furious raging of the battl* storm. The rebels rushed forward line aftei line of troops, charging with desperate valoi and impetuosity, but our men held their po sition firmly and defiantly, firing with sucl coolness and precision that at every dis charge great gaps were cut in the enemy'; lines, and bleeding, broken and staggering they reeled before the awful hail of leadei death that greeted them. ATTACKS REPULSED "In vain they rallied and advanced agaii and again—they could not move our firm, unyielding lines. For half an hour this des perate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In that brief time over a third of our brigade was killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and 150 men were already struck. "Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and the left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their line or force them back, but at last Col. Heg (the brigade commander), seeing that disaster must follow this attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave an order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men fell back slowly about 50 yards. Here they were re-formed, and after a short halt, charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm, driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bullets flew like hailstones; grape and canister, shot and shell, whistled and crashed through, and over and around the devoted ranks, but the heroism of the men rose with the terrible grandeur and desperation of the awful battle, and they stood like walls before the fury of this storm. BRIGADE CHIEF KILLED "But no courage, however sublime; no enthusiasm, however magnificent, and no discipline, however perfect, could continue to resist the masses of fresh troops which the enemy was constantly hurling against these two small brigades, fighting alone in the woods, detached from other portions of the (Continued on Page 19)

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dventure, Chills in Films VICTORY— Adventure and chills are wrapped up in the three features showing. Paul Newman stars in "Hud". Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan take the leads inV'The Vam-

pire." "Escape to Burma" is the third feature. MEADOWLARK— The intriguing "Mondo Case" doubles with "Wall of Noise," starring Suzanne Pleshette, Ty Hardin and Dorothy Provine.

TWIN — Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Thelma Ritter are fe'atured in the romantic comedy, "A New Kind of Love," which is set in gay Paris. "If a Man Answers"

has Sandra Dee co-starred with Bobby Darin. 42 SKYVUE — "September Storm," "combining passion, treasure-hunting and greed, features Joanne Dru, Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss. Also showing are "Far Country," with James Stewart and Ruth Roman, and "The She Creature," with Chester Morris and Maria English.

Location's

Everything

HOLLYWOOD (AP)—Archie 'You know," said Co Moore, the ageless ex-Iight- "you look like you could heavywejght champ, is work- five or six rounds with Soi ing as an actor now in mo^jes Liston right now." and television. "Well, that depends," s The other day Lee J. Cobb was complimenting the old 'Archie. "Whether you mi Mongoose on his fine physical in a bar—or in the ring, you mean the ring, never." condition.

Civil War Defeat, Victory: Kansans Played Great Roles in Key Battles J. (Continued from Page 4) lanny, and already bereaved of nearly half their numbers. The division nvas finally or-' dered to fall back to a fence some distance to the rear, and facing the woods in which it had been fighting. The two brigades had lost in killed and wounded over 40 per cent of all {engaged. Col. Heg, our brigade commander, .;was mortally wounded about the middle of *jjhe afternoon, and the command devolved ' [upon Col. Martin, of the Eighth. Two-thirds yot the field officers of the division were leither killed « r wounded, and over half the inline officers. ' if- * " I t was a fearful day's work. The roar 'of musketry never for an instant ceased, and at times it grew so intense as to drown the / J crashes of artillery. The ground was strewn : with dead and wounded, and almost every * foot of the shot-torn field was red with the "'crimson of loyal blood. The two small brigades of Davis' division had fought, alone, / i two full divisions of the rebel army, .under the personal command of Gen. J. B. Hood. : This we learned at the time from prisoners ; captured, and the official reports of the rebel conunanders afterward substantiated the /fact. Gen. Hood was severely wounded d i rectly in front of the Eighth Kansas, and his leg amputated .on the field." J ] -.' GAP COSTS BATTLE 11 But the valiant stand of the Kansans and their comrades was to prove partially futile. • After almost equally fierce fighting the next day, it developed that a fatal gap had been left in the Union lines, allowing ihe Confederates to pour through. The Federals, fighting a desperate rear-guard battle, withdrew northward toward Chattanooga. The sorely battered Southerners were unable to stage an effective pursuit. < Union losses—killed, wounded or missing |—in the two-day battle were 16,170 and Confederate 18,454, an almost identical 28 per cent of the forces involved. Among the hardiest hit units was the Eighth Kansas. Going jnto the battle with 406 men, it lost 243, or jover 65 per cent. : Pouring into Chattanooga, the mauled •• Federals set up makeshift defenses and started more permanent ones: Gen. Bragg's forces soon almost surrounded the city, with their lines anchored on Missionary Ridge | east of the city and on Lookout Mountain to the southwest. For nearly two months the Confederate l guns rained shots on the Union positions, but their short range prevented great damage. 'The worst foes were hunger and disease. | Gen. Rosecrans cut officers and men to one' third rations. Work mules died from lack of food. Famished men snatched grains of corn dropped near the horse troughs. One of the regiments killed and ate a dog that wandered into camp. '. NEAR STARVATION A separate story could be written on the . hardships endured in that siege. Col. Martin related that he was amazed, however, at the good humor that prevailed throughout the ordeal, and the faith in ultimate success. This proved justified when supplies floated down the Tennessee River, at the west edge of the city, arrived Oct. 26. On Nov. 12 ra" tions were increased to two-thirds. . Meanwhile Gen. Grant had reached * .Chattanooga and taken charge of the defense. The Eighth Kansas, its ranks reinforced to near-normal strength, took a position facing Orchard Knob, in the east edge of the city, and about a half mile from the base of Missionary Ridge. On Nov. 15 Gen. Sherman arrived with fresh troops and preparations began for an attack on the Rebel heights. • I When the Yanks scaled the west side of Lookout Mountain they found the enemy already 'had abandoned its positions on the „ summit. jf Grant ordered capture of Orchard Knob Ito serve as a base of operations. The Eighth Kansas was chosen to lead the attack. Col. Martin gave this account of the {charge on the afternoon of Nov. 23": T "The field.was crossed, the woods be-

yond reached, and then for a moment a stubborn struggle e n s u e d , and a deafening crash and roar followed, as the rebels strove to check this impetuous charge. But Kansans led the van that day, and the fighting blood of the old Eighth was at fever heat. The rebel horde could no more stem the torrent that struck them than they 'could check a bursting billow with a feather. Our men dashed forward right on their line so fiercely and rapidly that one-half of them were captured, and the rest broke in wild confusion to the rear. A quick race through the woods ensued. The fleeing rebels never stopped until they reached their reserves behind the line of entrenchments running over Orchard Knob. Here another struggle came, but with a ringing cheer our hoys rushed on like a furious flood; again the rebel line faltered,, broke and fled, and Orchard Knob was ours." From.then until Nov. 25 the Knob was fortified to serve as a base of operations, while guns on Missionary Ridge kept up a hail of shots. Headquarters for Generals Grant and Sherman we're established. . On the morning of Nov. 25 "it was evident the Confederates' hadynoved all their artillery to."'the top of Missionary Ridge, leaving only infantry below, and strengthened entrenchments up thfe slopes. Between Orchard Knob and the base of the ridge was a dense woods, then a wide, open field, and then a slight, abrupt rise of, ground, on the top of which was a strong line of earthworks. Beyond was a plateau about 100 feet wide, and above this the ridge rose, ragged, broken and steep, to a height of nearly 500 feet, its summit crowned by a line of entrenchments. The entire area from the Knob to the top of the ridge was covered by dozens of batteries and the foes' musket fire. , DEFIED HAIL OF LEAD About 2 o'clock on the 25th the charge order was signaled. This is Col. Martin's story of what followed^ "Through the branches of the leafless trees we saw a bright flame leap out and a dull gray smoke curl up all along the summit of the ridge; a crash like a thousand thunderclaps greeted us; s o l i d shot went screaming through the timber, and hurtling shells exploded above and around us, thenscattered fragments shrieking through the air like a legion of demons. Without an order the line broke into a double quick—

TENNESSEE r^TChickamauqa

Chattanooga

—'«• Chickamauga A n d Chattanooga Nat'l Pari

30 Miles BATTLE A R E A — T h i s m a p shows t h e routes by w h i c h tourists m a y v i s i t t h e Chickamauga battlefield (lower left i n Georgia) a n d M i s s i o n a r y Ridge, w h i c h serves as t h e eastern b o u n d a r y o f t h e m a i n section o f Chattanooga. A n a u t o road traverses t h e e n t i r e l e n g t h a n d is l i n e d w i t h m o n u m e n t s honoring military units w h i c h fought there.

brave fellows, they knew the work before them was quick success or sure destruction. The rebel pickets, too, opened fire. Our men did not answer, but with arms trailing or on the right shoulder pressed forward, until they burst like a thunderbolt out of the woods and into the open field. Then from the whole line there rose a ]pud, hearty, ringing cheer, and on they swept. "In the field the columns were caught in the fierce fire from the rebel line at the foot of the hill, and soon in the still deadlier volume of musketry from its summit. But there was never a waver nor a pause in the advance nor a straggler from it. In a few moments our men were nearly across the field. There was a break in the gray lines behind the rebel works; a few rushed to the rear and began to climb the slope, but nearly all, throwing down their muskets and holding up their hands in surrender, leaped to our side of the entrenchments and cowered behind them, for the hail of bullets now rained down from the hill was as deadly to • them as to us. The first line was won, and the prisoners were sent toward the rear. "We had no orders to go beyond this line of works, and a brief halt was ordered; but it was instantly seen by every soldier in the ranks that no line could live there, raked from every direction as it was by both artillery and infantry. Almost simultaneously several regiments moved forward toward the hill and, as if animated by a common impulse, all followed. Grim and silent, with compressed lips and eyes fixed on the goal before them, they breasted the fiery sleet of battle and commenced the steep ascent. From behind the rifle pits on the summit snot and shell rained down upon them in a ceaseless torrent, and the roar of the contest grew deafening. All regular formations of lines were soon lost. "Great masses of men, who had crowded together in the places easiest of ascent, were climbing the steep at intervals and vying in their efforts to be first. Regiments were so intermingled that their organization and unity soon disappeared, t h o u g h the greater portion of e a c h clustered around their battle flags, and these were in every case ahead. Gradually "these groups took the form of a wedge or triangle, the apex being the regimental battle flag. The progress was necessarily slow. "Abotfe, the summit of the hill was one sheet of flame and smoke, and the awful explosions of artillery and musketry made the earth fairly tremble. Below, the columns of dark blue, with the old banner of beauty and of glory leading them on, were mounting up with leaning forms, each eager with desperate resolution to be first. Cannon shot tore through their ranks; musket balls were rapidly and fearfully decimating them; behind them the dead and wounded lay thick as autumn leaves; before them, death was reveling in a whirlwind of carnage; but the lava-flood of battle pouring down upon them no more checked the grand advance than if it had been the soft rain of summer. "Our brigade went up in the center of one of the half-circular bends of the ridge. On the right of us Hazen's men breasted a point; to the left Beatty also had a headland. Between an Ohio regiment of Hazen's brigade, and one or two of ours that had their flags well ahead, there sprang up a fierce rivalry as to which would be first planted on the rebel lines. At last but a dozen yards separated the line of gray and the columns of blue, while the flags of the Eighth Kansas, Sixth and 49th Ohio and sev- ' eral other regiments were but a few yards from the red clay banks that were belching forth streams of fire and sulphurous smoke. "With a wild cheer and a madder rush our men dashed forward, and for a few moments a sharp, desperate, almost hand-tohand fight with bayonet and ball ensued. Before this resistless assault the rebel line was lifted as by a whirlwind, and borne backward, bleeding and confused. In quick succession half a dozen Union battle flags

were planted upon the works, and in a mo ment more the foemen were hurrying dowi the hill on the opposite side and off into th woods b e y o n d . Our men were rapid! formed, and we were preparing to mcv down the breastworks to the left, whil Hazen's men did the same on the right when suddenly the whole rebel line gav way. "Then followed a scene of tumult an confusion which baffles description. Graj clad men rushed wildly down the hill an into the woods, tossing away muskets, blar kets and knapsacks as they ran. Officers -frantic with rage, rushfeu from one panic stricken group to the other, shouting ani cursing as they strove to check the headlon, flight, but all in vain. :' ..... "Our men, pursued the fugitives with a; eagerness enly equaled by that of the foe to escape; the horses of the artillery wer shot as they, ran; squads of rebels wer headed off and brought back as prisoners and in 10 minutes all that remained, of th defiant rebel army that had> besieged Chat tanooga were captured guns, disarmed pris oners, moaning wounded, ghastly dead, an> scattered, demoralized fugitives. Missionar Ridge was ours. "The Eighth K a n s a s captured foil pieces of artillery, 500 stand of small arms and more prisoners than it had men in it ranks. The regiment also claims to hav planted upon the rebel breastworks the firs .Union colori* that waved there. So, after tw months and five days, ended the terribl siege of Chattanooga. The march from Oi chard Knob to the summit of Missionar; Ridge occupied just one hour and 15 mil) utes." IN:;CONFLICT TO CLOSE After this triumph the Eighth Kansa returned home for a brief furlough and rt cruitment period. Then it was sent back t Chattanooga, and joined Gen. Sherman' forces for the march to Atlanta. In a perioi of 69 days, it was under fire for 63 days am 44 nights. It. spent 33 days in the siege o Atlanta, entering the city with other Unioi troops on Sjept. 8, 1864. Early the next yea it took part in the battle of Nashville tha destroyed 'Confederate Gen. Hood's arm; and practically ended the war on the west era sectors. After Lee's surrender in Apri the regiment was sent to Texas and thei home for mustering out. During its term of service the Eightl traveled 10,750 miles. It participated in 1 battles and 18 skirmishes. It lost in battli three commissioned officers and 62 enliste< men killed; 13 commissioned officers and 25! enlisted men wounded, and one commis sioned officer and 20 enlisted men missinga total of 64 killed, 272 wounded and 21 miss ing, or full casualties of 358. Of the missinj nearly all were killed, and of the woundei nearly one-third died of their injuries.

* * * Upon discharge Col. Martin at the age o 26 was breveted a brigadier general. He re sumed duties as editor and publisher of th< Atchison Daily Champion for the rest of hi: life. He was the first state commander o the Grand Army of the Republic, and upoi election as 10th governor of the state ii November 1884 he founded and became firs commander of the Kansas National Guard Reelected in 1886 as governor, he completei his term in January of 1889. Late that yeai he was stricken ill and died, leaving hi; widow, Ida Challiss Martin, and seven chil dren. Three of them still live: Paul A. Mar tin, retired editor and publisher of the Lans ing (Mich.) Journal; Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing Atchison, and Harres Martin, Merriam, Kan Mrs. Tonsing is the mother of the write] of this article.

* * * Most of the facts in this story were taker from the "Military History of the Eightl Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry," a 112page book written by Col. Martin following - the close of the war and published by him in 1869.

W i c h i t a Eagle and Beacon M a g a z i n e — N o v e m b e r 2 4 ,

1963—PACE 1

*

~ : • •'.-

From Stunning Loss To Amazing Victory Valiant Eighth Kansas Capped Exploits At Missionary Ridge 100 Years Ago By BOB TONSING SR., Staff Writer O p e h u n d r e d y e a r s a g o t o m o r r o w ( N o v . 2 5 , 1 8 6 3 ) t o o k p l a c e one of t h e g r e a t c h a r g e s of A m e r i c a n m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y — t h e s e e m i n g l y s u i c i d a l d a s h u p t h e s t e e p s l o p e s of M i s s i o n a r y R i d g e a t C h a t t a n o o g a , T e n n . W i t h o u t , o r d e r s f r o m G e n . U.S. G r a n t , w h o w a t c h e d in a m a z e m e n t a n d c o n s t e r - nation from O r c h a r d Knob, inspired Union troops b r a v e d withering Conf e d e r a t e fire f r o m a b o v e t o s w e e p t h e e n e m y f r o m t h e s t r a t e g i c h e i g h t s a n d open t h e w a y for S h e r m a n ' s e v e n t u a l m a r c h to A t l a n t a and t h e sea. In t h e f o r e f r o n t of t h a t a t t a c k w a s a K a n s a s r e g i m e n t , t h e E i g h t h V o l u n t e e r s — t h e o n l y g r o u p f r o m t h i s n e w l y f o r m e d s t a t e to s e r v e w i t h t h e A r m y of t h e C u m b e r l a n d a n d o n e o f t h e f e w t o see s e r v i c e - m u c h b e y o n d t h e K a n s a s - M i s s o u r i line.

8 •• ••"'•• W$fc$&ia

7 AT VicfORY POINT—Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing, daughter of John A. Martin, Civil War colonel of the Eighth Kansas Regiment, looks at a monument v -atop Missionary Ridge honoring the unit which breached "the Confederate defenses at this,place. '] :

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Activities of border ruffians such as Quantrill and the continual threat of invasion by Southern forces made it necessary to keep most^pf the Kansas troops in the state. That, in fact, was the Eighth's type of duty for some months. Its history began in September and October of 1861, when it was mustered into service at Fort Leavenworth, with most! of its 678 men' drawn from the*" northeast around Atchison. Appointed as colonel was a veteran Army officer, Henry W. Wessels, a West Point graduate who knew how to fashion the'untrained frontier youths into an efficient fighting force. Named as lieutenant colonel was John A. Martin, who at the age of 18 had come from Pennsylvania to Atchison, bought a proslavery paper called "Squatter's Sovereign" and had changed its name to "Freedom's Champion." In late 1860 he had served as secretary of the constitutional convention at Wyandotte and had written several portions of the document under which Kansas the following January was admitted to the.Union. He then was 21 years old. SENT TO MISSISSIPPI

STORY I N BRONZE — This is the metal plate shown in photo above, giving a brief account of the Eighth's part in the Ridge conquest.

FEAT RECORDED — Tom Erwin of Chattanooga reads the inscription on a monument recalling the Eighth Kan-

The regiment spent a bitterly cold winter on border patrol, with only a few uneventful scouting trips into Missouri to break the monotony. In late May of 1862, the men of the Eighth heard with enthusiasm that they were to head for Corinth, Miss., against which the Union armies under General Halleck were operating. Col. R. H: Graham was in command as the barge trip down the Missouri River started. At St. Louis Graham died and Lt. Col. Martin became head of the unit. Later designated a full colonel, he led the regiment during its long and illustrious service. / After some action at Corinth, the Eighth in late July was ordered to march eastward to aid in the struggle for-control of the Tennessee River. On Sept. 3, 1862, a" large Federal force including the Eighth started for Nashville on a forced march in bad weather and through

s u n PSoto».

sas' charge a century ago that captured Orchard Knob and cleared the wayt for the Missionary Ridge attack.

ACE 4—Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963

rugged country where all bridges had been destroyed. As Col. Martin later described it, "Faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundred's of men had fallen by the roadside on this terrible night march/' In the weeks that followed the Kansans took part in several bloody encounters with enemy units, and won a fine reputation for their fighting ability and spirit. RULED NASHVILLE On Nov. 20, Sent back to Nashville, the Eighth took over provost duty in the city for six months, with Col. Martin serving as provost marshal. With about two-thirds of the citizens Southern sympathizers, the unit had its hands full in bringing order from chaos. Dozens of hospitals were kept operating to receive wounded. The city was swarming with rebel spies, since the entire Army of the Cumberland was camped around the city. The regiment actually served as the municipal government. All citizens were required to sign oaths of allegiance or be sent south to the Confederate lines. When on June 8 the Kansans were ordered back to service with their division, the citizens loudly protested, and presented Col. Martin a gold sword in a gesture of appreciation for his services. It was evident at that time that Chattanooga was the most likely point for a'showdown battle between two great armies. In early July, Gen. Robert E. Lee's drive toward Washington was stopped by the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pa. Almost simultaneously Gen. U. S. Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg and headed east in pursuit of Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, which took up defensive positions south of Chattanooga along Chickamauga Creek. Rail lines brought reinforcements from the northeast to both opposing armies. Early in September Union General Rosecrans sent his western columns pouring piecemeal through the widely scattered mountain passes into northern Georgia. These included the Eighth Kansas, which marched across Stevens gap south of Lookout Mountain. It was known by that time that Bragg's forces were ahead in great strength, and skirmishers of the two armies were keeping up a running fight. Heavy artillery firing could be heard during the entire day on Sept. 18, 1863. BATTLE AT CHICKAMAUGA This is Col. Martin's account of the events that followed: "The next morning we again moved on. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters were established. As we neared, a more terrible sound greeted our ears—the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves beating upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's divisions, with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and, after forming a line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, 'going

JOHN A. MARTIN . . As Kansas' Governor in 1885 . in,' as Gen. Rosecrans expressed it, 'wher the fight was hottest.' "Our brigade was formed in two line.' the Eighth Kansas, 15th Wisconsin and 35t Illinois in front; the 25th Illinois in rear . . "After forming we were advancing raj idly through the rugged forest, but had pre ceeded only a few hundred yards when terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeeds by another and another. The two hostil forces met without skirmishers in front, ani in an instant were furiously engaged in des perate combat. Our men promptly replied t> the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battL became one steady, deep, jarring thunder Our line was moved forward firmly? until i rested along the brow of a small rise o ground. "Hie "crash of musketry became dense and more terrific, and the artillery added it: thunder to the furious raging of the battli storm. The rebels rushed forward line aftei line of troops, charging with desperate valoi and impetuosity, but our men held their po sition firmly and defiantly, firing with sucl coolness and precision that at every dis charge great gaps were cut in the enemy's lines, and bleeding, broken and staggering they reeled before the awful hail of leadei death that greeted them. ATTACKS REPULSED "In vain they rallied and advanced agaii and again—they could not move our firm unyielding lines. For half an hour this desperate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In that brief time over a third of our brigade was killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and 150 men were already struck. "Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and the left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their line or force them back, but at last Col. Heg (the brigade commander), seeing that disaster must follow this attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave an order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men fell back slowly about 50 yards. Here they were re-formed, and after a short halt, charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm, driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bullets flew like hailstones; grape and canister, shot and shell, whistled and crashed through, and over and around the devoted ranks, but the heroism of the men rose with the terrible grandeur and desperation of the awful battle, and they stood like walls before the fury of this storm. BRIGADE CHIEF KILLED "But no courage, however sublime; no enthusiasm, however magnificent,, and no discipline, however perfect, could continue to resist the masses of fresh troops which the enemy was constantly hurling against these two small brigades, fighting alone in the woods, detached from other portions of the (Continued on Page 19)

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Civil War Defeat, Victory: Kansans Played Great Roles in Key Battles a J, (Continued from Page 4) larmy, and already bereaved of nearly half Itheir numbers^.The division nvas finally or-" jdered to fall back to a fence some distance ;to the rear, and facing the woods in which it had been fighting. The two brigades had lost in killed and wounded over 40 per cent of all ^engaged. Col. Heg, our brigade commander, .was mortally wounded about the middle of •the afternoon, and- the command devolved ;uppn Col. Martin, of the Eighth. Two-thirds ]|bf the field officers of the division were 'jeither killed « r wounded, and over half the 'line officers. '. ?• * "It was sT fearful day's work. The roar of musketry never for an instant ceased, and at times it grew so intense as to drown the / ^crashes of artillery. The ground was strewn with dead and wounded, and almost every • foot of the shot-torn field was red with the trimson of loyal blood. The two small brig a d e s of Davis' division had fought, alone, /' , two full divisions of the rebel army, .under the personal command of Gen. J. B. Hood. ; This we learned at the time from prisoners ; {captured, and the official reports of the rebel commanders afterward substantiated the /fact. Gen. Hood was severely wounded d i rectly in front -of, the Eighth Kansas, and his leg amputated-on the field."

i

.I GAP COSTS BATTLE •f But the valiant stand of the Kansans and I their comrades Was to prove partially futile. ! After almost equally fierce fighting the next day, it developed that a fatal gap had been 'left in the Union lines, allowing the Confederates to pour through. The Federals, fighting a desperate rear-guard battle, withdrew northward toward Chattanooga. The sorely battered Southerners were unable to stage an effective pursuit. > Union losses—killed, wounded or missing . |—in the two-day battle were 16,170 and Confederate 18,454, an almost identical 28 per peat of the forces involved. Among the hardest hit units was the Eighth Kansas. Going into the battle with 406 men, it lost 243, or jover 65 per cent. Pouring into Chattanooga, the mauled: Federals set up makeshift defenses and istarted more permanent ones: Gen. Bragg's forces soon almost surrounded the city, with •their lines anchored on Missionary Ridge east of the city and on Lookout Mountain to . the southwest. For nearly two months the Confederate I guns rained shots on the Union positions, but their short range prevented great damage. .'The worst foes were hunger and disease. : Gen. Rosecrans cut officers and men to one' third rations. Work mules died from lack of food. Famished men snatched grains of corn dropped near the horse troughs. One of the regiments killed and ate a dog that wandered into camp. 1 NEAR STARVATION ; A separate story could be written on the hardships endured in that siege. Col. Martin related that he was amazed, however, • at tihe good humor that prevailed throughout the ordeal, and the faith in ultimate success. This proved justified when supplies floated down the Tennessee River, at the west edge pi the city, arrived Oct. 26. On Nov. 12 rations were increased to two-thirds. , Meanwhile Gen. Grant had reached *',Chattanooga and taken charge of the, dejense. The Eighth Kansas, its ranks rein- . forced to near-normal strength, took a position facing Orchard Knob, in the east edge of the city, and about a half mile from the base of Missionary Ridge. On Nov. 15 Gen. {Sherman arrived with fresh troops and preparations began for an attack on the Rebel ^eights. c, i When the Yanks scaled the west side of Lookout Mountain they found the enemy already had abandoned its positions on the .summit. if Grant ordered capture of Orchard Knob to serve as a base of operations. The Eighth Kansas was chosen to lead the attack. Col. Martin gave this account of the charge on the afternoon of Nov. 23: .i "The Held.was crossed, the woods be-

yond reached, and then for a moment a stubborn straggle e n s n e d, and a deafening crash and roar followed, as the rebels strove to check this impetuous charge. But Kansans led the van that day, and the fighting blood of the old Eighth was at fever heat. The rebel horde could no more stem the torrent that struck them than they 'could . check a bursting billow with a feather. Our men dashed forward right on their line so fiercely and rapidly that one-half of them 'were captured, and the rest broke in wild confusion to the rear. A quick race through the woods ensued. The fleeing rebels never stopped until they reached their reserves behind the line of entrenchments running over Orchard knob. Here another struggle came, but with a ringing cheer oar boys rushed on like a furious flood; again the rebel line faltered,, broke and fled, and Orchard Knob was oars." From.then until Nov. 25 the Knob was fortified to serve as a base of operations, while guns on Missionary Ridge kept up a hail of shots. Headquarters for Generals Grant and Sherman we're established. . On the morning of Nov. 25 "if was evident the Confederates hadynoved all their artillery to 'the top of Missionary Ridge, leaving only infantry below, and strengthened entrenchments up the slopes. Between Orchard Knob and the base of the ridge was a dense woods, then a wide, open field, and then a slight, abrupt rise of. ground, on the top of which was a strong line of earthworks. Beyond was a plateau about 100 feet wide, and above this the ridge rose, ragged, broken and steep, to a height of nearly 500 feet, its summit crowned by a line of entrenchments. The entire area from the Knob to the top of the ridge was covered by dozens of batteries and the foes' musket fire. „ DEFIED HAIL OF LEAD About 2 o'clock on the 25th the charge order was signaled. This is Col. Martin's story of what followed: "Through the branches of the leafless trees we saw a bright flame leap out and a dull gray smoke curl up all along the summit of the ridge; a crash like a thousand thunderclaps greeted us; s o l i d shot went screaming through the timber, and hurtling shells exploded above and around us, thenscattered fragments shrieking through the air like a legion of demons. Without an order the line broke into a double quick—

fTChiclcamafiqa

Chattanooga

K

Chiclcamauga And Chattanooga Nat'l Pari

30 Miles BATTLE AREA—This map shows the routes by which tourists may visit the Chickamauga battlefield (lower left in Georgia) and Missionary Ridge, which serves as the eastern boundary of the main section of Chattanooga. An auto road traverses the entire length and is lined with monuments honoring military units which fought there.

brave fellows, they knew the work before them was quick success or sure destruction. The rebel pickets, too, opened fire. Our men did not answer, but with arms trailing or on the right shoulder pressed forward, until they burst like a thunderbolt out of the woods and into the open field. Then from the whole line there rose a Jpud, hearty, ringing cheer, and on they swept. "In the field the columns were caught in the fierce fire from the rebel line at the foot of the hill, and soon in the still deadlier volume of musketry from its summit. But there was never a waver nor a pause in the advance nor a straggler from it. In a few moments our men were nearly across the field. There was a break in the gray lines behind the rebel works; a few rushed to the rear and began to climb the slope, but nearly all, throwing down their muskets and holding up their hands in surrender, leaped to our side of the entrenchments and cowered behind them, for the hail of bullets now rained down from the hill was as deadly to • them as to us. The first line was won, and the prisoners were sent toward the rear. "We had no orders to go beyond this line of works, and a brief-halt was ordered; but it was instantly seen by every soldier in the ranks that no line could live there, raked from every direction as it was by both artillery and infantry. Almost simultaneously several regiments moved forward toward the hill and, as if animated by a common impulse, all followed. Grim and silent, with compressed lips and eyes fixed on the goal before them, they breasted the fiery sleet of battle and commenced the steep ascent. From behind the rifle pits on the summit shot and shell rained down upon them in a ceaseless torrent, and the roar of the contest grew deafening. AH regular formations of lines were soon lost. "Great masses of men, who had crowded together in the places easiest of ascent, were climbing the steep at intervals and vying in their efforts to be first. Regiments were so intermingled that their organization and unity soon disappeared, t h o u g h the greater portion of e a c h clustered around their battle flags, and these were in every case ahead. Gradually these groups took the form of a wedge or triangle, the apex being the regimental battle flag. The progress was necessarily slow. "Above, the summit of the hill was one sheet of flame and smoke, and the awful explosions of artillery and musketry made the earth fairly tremble. Below, the columns of dark blue, with the old banner of beauty and of glory leading them on, were mounting up with leaning forms, each eager with desperate resolution to be first. Cannon shot tore through their ranks; musket balls were rapidly and fearfully decimating them; behind them the dead and wounded lay thick as autumn leaves; before them, death was reveling in a whirlwind of carnage; but the lava-flood of battle pouring down upon them no more checked the grand advance than if it had been the soft rain of summer. "Our brigade went up in the center of one of the half-circular bends of the ridge. On the right of us Hazen's men breasted a point; to the left Beatty also had a headland. Between an Ohio regiment of Hazen's brigade, and one or two of ours that had their flags well ahead, there sprang up a fierce rivalry as to which would be first planted on the rebel lines. At last but a dozen yards separated the line of gray and the columns of blue, while the flags of the Eighth Kansas, Sixth and 49th Ohio and sev- ' era! other regiments were but a few yards from the red clay banks that were belching forth streams of fire and sulphurous smoke. "With a wild cheer and a madder rush oar men dashed forward, and for a few moments a sharp, desperate, almost hand-tohand fight with bayonet and ball ensued. Before this resistless assault the rebel line was lifted as by a whirlwind, and borne backward, bleeding and confused. In quick succession half a dozen Union battle flags

were planted upon the works, and in a mo ment more the foemen were hurrying dowi the hill on the opposite side and off into th woods b e y o n d . Our men were rapidl; formed, and we were preparing to mov down the breastworks to the left, whil Hazen's men did the same on the right when suddenly the whole rebel line gav way. "Then followed a scene of tumult an confusion which baffles description. Graj clad men rushed wildly down the hill an into the woods, tossing away muskets, blar kets and knapsacks as they ran. Officers frantic with rage, rushfeti from one panic stricken group to the other, shouting an. cursing as they strove to check the headlon. flight, but all in vain. "Our men, pursued the fugitives with a eagerness only equaled by that of the foe to escape; the horses of the artillery wer shot as they, ran; squads of rebels wer headed off and brought back as prisoners and in 10 minutes all that remained, of th defiant rebel army that had, besieged Chat tanooga were captured guns, disarmed prif oners, moaning wounded, ghastly dead, an. scattered, demoralized fugitives. Missionar Ridge was ours. "The Eighth K a n s a s captured foil pieces of artillery, 500 stand of small arms and more prisoners than it had men in it ranks. The regiment also claims to hav planted upon the rebel breastworks the firs JJnion colore that waved there. So, after tw months and five days, ended the terribl siege of Chattanooga. The march from Oi chard Knob to the summit of Missionar; Ridge occupied just one hour and 15 min utes." IN;;CONFLICT TO CLOSE After this triumph the Eighth Kansa returned home for a brief furlough and re cruitment period. Then it was sent back t Chattanooga, and joined Gen. Sherman' forces for the march to Atlanta. In a perio< of 69 days, it was under fire for 63 days an( 44 nights. It spent 33 days in the siege o Atlanta, entering the city with other Unioi troops on Sept. 8, 1864. Early the next yea it took part' in the battle of Nashville tha destroyed Confederate Gen. Hood's arm; and practically ended the war on the wesl ern sectors. After Lee's surrender in Apri the regiment was sent to Texas and thei home for mustering out. During its term of service the Eightl traveled 10,750 miles. It participated in li battles and 18 skirmishes. It lost in batth three commissioned officers and 62 enliste< men killed; 13 commissioned officers and 25! enlisted men wounded, and one commis sioned officer and 20 enlisted men missinga total of 64 killed, 272 wounded and 21 miss ing, or full casualties of 358. Of the missinf nearly all were killed, and of the woundec nearly one-third died of their injuries. * * # Upon discharge Col. Martin at the age o 26 was breveted a brigadier general. He re sumed duties as editor and publisher of thi Atchison Daily Champion for the rest of hi; life. He was the first state commander o the Grand Army of the Republic, and upoi election as 10th governor of the state ii November 1884 he founded and became firs commander of the Kansas National Guard Reelected in 1886 as governor, he completec his term in January of 1889. Late that yeai he was stricken ill and died, leaving hi; widow, Ida Challiss Martin, and seven chil dren. Three of them still live: Paul A. Mar tin, retired editor and publisher of the Lans ing (Mich.) Journal; Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing Atchison, and Harres Martin, Merriam, Kan Mrs. Tonsing is the mother of the writei of this article.

* * * Most of the facts in this story were taker from the "Military History of the Eightl Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry," a 112page book written by Col. Martin following ~ the close of the war and published by him in 1869.

Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963—PACE 1

F r o m Stunning Loss To Amazing Victory

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Valiant Eighth Kansas Capped Exploits At Missionary Ridge 100 Years Ago By BOB TONSING SR.# Staff Writer One hundred years ago tomorrow (Nov. 25, 1863) took place one of the great charges of American military history — the seemingly suicidal dash up the steep slopes of Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga, Tenn. Witho u t o r d e r s from Gen. U.S. Grant, who watched in amazement and conster- nation from Orchard Knob, inspired Union troops braved withering Confederate fire from above to sweep the enemy from the strategic heights and open the way for Sherman's even tual march to Atlanta and the sea. In the forefront of that attack w a s a Kansas regiment, the Eighth Volunteers—the only group from this newly formed state to serve with the Army of the Cumberland and one of the few to see service^much beyond the Kansas-Missouri line. Activities of border ruffians such as Quantrill and the continual threat of invasion by Southern forces made it necessary to keep most,of the Kansas troops in the state. That, in fact, was the Eighth's type of duty for some months. Its history began in September and October of 1861, when it was mustered into service at Fort Leavenworth, with most' of its 678 men drawn from the'' northeast around Atchison. Appointed as colonel was a veteran Army officer, Henry W. Wessels, a West Point graduate who knew how to fashion the" untrained frontier youths into an efficient fighting force. Named as lieutenant colonel was John A. Martin, who at the age of 18 had come from Pennsylvania to Atchison, bought a proslavery paper called "Squatter's Sovereign" and had changed its pame to "Freedom's Champion." In late 1860 he had served as secretary of the constitutional convention at Wyandotte and had written several portions of the document under which Kansas the following January was admitted to the.Union. He then was 21 years old.

A T VICTORY POINT—Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing, daughter of John A. Martin, Civil War colonel of the Eighth Kansas Regiment, looks at a monument 1,-arop Missionary Ridge honoring "the unit which breached 'the Confederate defenses at this;p|ace.

SENT TO MISSISSIPPI The regiment spent a bitterly cold winter on border patrol, with only a few uneventful scouting trips into Missouri to break the monotony. In late May of 1862, the men of the Eighth heard with enthusiasm that they were to head for Corinth, Miss., against which the Union armies under General Halleck were operating. Col. R. H. Graham was in command as the barge trip down the Missouri River started. At St. Louis Graham died and Lt. Col. Martin became head of the unit. Later designated a full colonel, he led the regiment during its long and illustrious service. f After some action at Corinth, the Eighth in late July was ordered to march eastward to aid in the struggle for-control of the Tennessee River. On Sept. 3, 1862, a large Federal force including the Eighth started for Nashville on a forced march in bad weather and through

STORY I N BRONZE — This is the metal plate shown in photo above, giving a brief account of the Eighth's part in the Ridge conquest.

b

r

FEAT RECORDED — Tom Erwin of Chattanooga reads the inscription on a monument recalling the Eighth Kan-

S U M Pliotoo.

sas' charge a century ago that captured Orchard Knob and cleared the way^ for the Missionary Ridge attack.

ACE 4—Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963

rugged country where all bridges had been destroyed. As Col. Martin later described it, "Faint with hunger, drowsy from loss of sleep, and enervated with fatigue, the exhausted troops reached Nashville. Hundreds of men had fallen by the roadside on this terrible night march.*'' In the weeks that followed the Kansans took part in several bloody encounters with enemy units, and won a fine reputation for their fighting ability and spirit. RULED NASHVILLE On Nov. 20, gent back to Nashville, the Eighth took over provost duty in the city for six months, with Col. Martin serving as provost marshal. With about two-thirds of the citizens Southern sympathizers, the unit had its hands full in bringing order from chaos. Dozens of hospitals were kept operating to receive wounded. The city was swarming with rebel spies, since the entire Army of the Cumberland was camped around the city. The regiment actually served as the municipal government. All citizens were required to sign oaths of allegiance or be sent south to the Confederate lines. When on June 8 the Kansans were ordered back to service with their division, the citizens loudly protested, and presented Coi. Martin a gold sword in a gesture of appreciation for his services. It was evident at that time that Chattanooga was the most likely point for a'showdown battle between two great armies. In early July, Gen. Robert E. Lee's drive toward Washington was stopped by the Union victory at Gettysburg, Pa. Almost simultaneously Gen. U. S. Grant captured the Mississippi River stronghold of Vicksburg and headed east in pursuit of Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg's forces, which took up defensive positions south of Chattanooga along Chickamauga Creek. Rail lines brought reinforcements from the northeast to both opposing armies. Early in September Union General Rosecrans sent his western columns pouring piecemeal through the widely scattered mountain passes into northern Georgia. These included the Eighth Kansas, which marched across Stevens gap south of Lookout Mountain. It was known by that time that Bragg's forces were ahead in great strength, and skirmishers of the two armies were keeping up a running fight. Heavy artillery firing could be heard during the entire day on Sept. 18, 1863. BATTLE AT CHICKAMAUGA This is Col. Martin's account of the events that followed: "The next morning we again moved on. A disagreeable tramp of eight miles brought us to the widow Glenn's house, where Gen. Rosecrans' headquarters were established. As we neared, a more terrible sound greeted our ears—the dull, heavy crashes of a dense musketry fire, rising and falling in sullen, resounding, deafening roars, like waves beating upon a shore. The enemy had attacked Reynolds' and Van Cleve's divisions, with great fury, driving the latter back in disorder, and our division came up just in time to check the impetuous advance of the rebels. We moved rapidly nearly two miles to the left and, after forming a line of battle, advanced through the dense woods, 'going

JOHN A. M A R T I N . . As Kansas' Governor in 1885 . in,' as Gen. Rosecrans expressed it, 'wher the fight was hottest.' "Our brigade was formed in two line; the Eighth Kansas, 15th Wisconsin and 35t Illinois in front; the 25th Illinois in rear . . "After forming we were advancing raj idly through the rugged forest, but had pre ceeded only a few hundred yards when terrific volley saluted us, rapidly succeeds by another and another. The two hostil forces met without skirmishers in front, an. in an instant were furiously engaged in des perate combat. Our men promptly replied t the rebel fire, and at once the roar of battli became one steady, deep, jarring thunder Our line was moved forward firmlyi until i rested along the brow of a small rise o ground. "The'crash of musketry became dense and more terrific, and the artillery added it: thunder to the furious raging of the battle storm. The rebels rushed forward line aftei line of troops, charging with desperate valoi and impetuosity, but our men held their po sition firmly and defiantly, firing with sucl coolness and precision that at every dis charge great gaps were cut in the enemy': lines, and bleeding, broken and staggering they reeled before the awful hail of leader death that greeted them. ATTACKS REPULSED "In vain they rallied and advanced agaii and again—they could not move our firm, unyielding lines. For half an hour this desperate struggle was thus continued. The carnage on both sides was dreadful. In thai brief time over a third of our brigade was killed and wounded, and still the frightful carnival of slaughter raged unabated. Of the Eighth, five captains, three lieutenants and 150 men were already struck. "Our flanks, too, were exposed, and the lines were being enfiladed by a heavy fire, some of the enemy having already penetrated, on the right and the left, far to our rear. The desperate valor of the troops had resisted every effort to break their line or force them back, but at last Col. Heg (the brigade commander), seeing that disaster must follow this attempt to hold this isolated position any longer, gave an order to retire, and loading and firing as they went, our men, fell back slowly about 50 yards. Here they were re-formed, and after a short halt, charged the enemy with impetuous enthusiasm, driving him back until our former position was almost regained. For a quarter of an hour the line was firmly held by the thrice decimated command. Bullets flew like hailstones; grape and canister, shot and shell, whistled and crashed through, and over and around the devoted ranks, but the heroism of the men rose with the terrible grandeur and desperation of the awful battle, and they stood like walls before the fury of this storm. BRIGADE CHIEF KILLED "But no courage, however sublime; no enthusiasm, however magnificent,, and no discipline, however perfect, could continue to resist the masses of fresh troops which the enemy was constantly hurling against these two small brigades, fighting alone in the woods, detached from other portions of the (Continued on Page 19)

Adventure, Chills in Films

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VICTORY— Adventure and chills are wrapped up in the three features showing. Paul Newman stars in "Hud". Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan take the leads uV'Tbe Vam-

pire." "Escape to Burma" is the third feature, 'MEADOWLARK— The'intriguing "Mondo Case" doubles with "Wall of Noise," starring Suzanne Pleshette, Ty Hardin and Dorothy Provine.

TWIN — Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Thelma Ritter are featured in the romantic comedy, "A New Kind of Love," which is set in gay Paris. "If a Man Answers"

has Sandra Dee co-starred with Bobby Darin. 42 SKYVUE — "September Storm," ^combining passion, treasure-hunting and greed, features Joanne Dru, Mark Stevens and Robert Strauss. Also showing are "Far Country," with James Stewart and Ruth Roman, and "The She Creature," with Chester Morris and Maria English.

Location's

Everything

HOLLYWOOD (AP)—Archie 'You know," said Co Moore, the ageless ex-light- "you look like you could heavywejght champ, is working as an actor now in mo\yes five or six rounds with Soi Liston right now." and television. "Well, that depends," s The other day Lee J. Cobb was complimenting the old •Archie. "Whether you m( Mongoose on his fine physical in a bar—or in the ring, you mean the ring, never." condition.

Civil War Defeat, Victory: Kansans Played Great Roles in Key Battles j, . (Continued from Page 4) yond reached, and then for a moment a stubborn straggle e n s u e d , and a deafenlarmy, and already bereaved of nearly half ing crash and roar followed, as the rebels their numbers. The division «was finally or-" strove to check this impetuous charge. But dered to fall back to a.fence some distance Kansans led the van that day, and the fightto the rear, and facing the woods in which it ing blood of the old Eighth was at fever had been fighting. The two brigades had lost heat. The rebel horde could no more stem in killed and wounded over 40 per cent of all the torrent that struck them than they could ; engaged. Col. Heg, our brigade commander, check a bursting billow with a feather. Our 1 was mortally wounded about the middle of men dashed forward right on their line so -the afternoon, and the command devolved fiercely and rapidly that one-half of them jnppn Col. Martin, of the Eighth. Two-thirds 'were captured, and the rest broke in wild *;;of the field officers of the division were confusion to the rear. A quick race through teither killed or wounded, and over half the the woods ensued. The fleeing rebels never aline offleers. ' stopped until they reached their .reserves 58 *"R was £ fearful day's work. The roar behind the line of entrenchments running of musketry never for an instant ceased, and Orchard Knob. Here another struggle at times it grew so intense as to drown the / over came, but with a ringing cheer our boys 'crashes of artillery. The ground was strewn rushed on like a furious flood; again the I with dead and wounded, and almost every rebel line faltered,, broke and fled, and Or\ foot of the shot-torn field was red with the chard Knob was ours." '•crimson of loyal blood. The two small brig a d e s of Davis' division had fought, alone, From.then until Nov. 25 the Knob was ,.xwo full divisions of the rebel army, .under fortified to serve as a base of operations, the personal command of Gen. J. B. Hood. while guns on Missionary Ridge kept up a 1 This we learned at the time from prisoners hail of shots. Headquarters for Generals captured, and the official reports of the rebel Grant and Sherman we're established. comjnanders afterward substantiated the -On the morning of Nov. 25"if was evi^fact. Gen. I^ood was severely wounded d i dent the Confederates' had^noved all their rectly in front of the Eighth Kansas, and his artillery to.'the top of Missionary Ridge, leg amputated on the field." .leaving only infantry below, and strengthened entrenchments up the slopes. Between $f ' GAP COSTS BATTLE Orchard Knob and the base of the ridge was m But the valiant stand of the Kansans and a dense woods, then a wide, open field, and their comrades Was to prove partially futile. then a slight, abrupt rise of. ground, on the | After almost equally fierce fighting the next top of which was a strong line of earthday, it developed that a fatal gap had been works. Beyond was a plateau about 100 feet left in the Union lines, allowing ihe Confedwide, and above this the ridge rose, ragged, erates to pour through. The Federals, fightbroken and steep, to a height of nearly 500 ing a desperate rear-guard battle, withdrew feet, its summit crowned by a line of ennorthward toward Chattanooga. The sorely trenchments. The entire area from the Knob battered Southerners were unable to stage to ttie top of the ridge was covered by dozens an effective pursuit. » of batteries and the foes' musket fire. , { Union losses—killed, wounded or missing . p-in the two-day battle were 16,170 and ConDEFIED HAIL OF LEAD federate 18,454, an almost identical 28 per cent of the forces involved. Among the hardAbout 2 o'clock on the 25th the charge est hit units was the Eighth Kansas. Going order was signaled. This is Col. Martin's jnto the battle with 406 men, it lost 243, or story of what followed^. ' jover 65 per cent. "Through the branches of the leafless •j Pouring into Chattanooga, the mauled i trees we saw a bright flame leap out and a !Federals set up makeshift defenses and dull gray smoke curl up all along the sumstarted more permanent ones. Gen. Bragg's mit of the ridge; a crash like a thousand Jorces soon almost surrounded the city, with thunderclaps greeted us; s o l i d shot went •their lines anchored on Missionary Ridge screaming through the timber, and hurtling '• east of the city and on Lookout Mountain to shells exploded above and around us, thenscattered fragments shrieking through the • the southwest. air like a legion of demons. Without an orFor nearly two months the Confederate der the line broke into a double quick— Vguns rained shots on tie Union positions, but their short range prevented great damage. :The worst foes were hunger and disease. : Gen. Rosecrans cut officers and men to oneTENNESSEE^ ' third rations. Work mules died from lack of food. Famished men snatched grains of corn
~13 \

brave fellows, they knew the work before them was quick success or sure destruction. The rebel pickets, too, opened fire. Our men did not answer, but with arms trailing or on the right shoulder pressed forward, until they burst like a thunderbolt out of the woods and into the open field. Then from the whole line there rose a ]pud, hearty, ringing cheer, and on they swept. "In the field the columns were caught in the fierce fire from the rebel line at the foot of the hill, and soon in the still deadlier volume of musketry from its summit. But there was never a waver nor a pause in the advance nor a straggler from it. In a few moments our men were nearly across the field. There was a break in the gray lines behind the rebel works; a few rushed to the rear and began to climb the slope, but nearly all, throwing down their muskets and holding up their hands in surrender, leaped to our side of the entrenchments and cowered behind them, for the hail of bullets now rained down from the hill was as deadly to • them as to us. The first line was won, and the prisoners were sent toward the rear. "We had no orders to go beyond this line of works, and a brief'halt was ordered; but It was instantly seen by every soldier in the ranks that no line could live there, raked from every direction as it was by both artillery and infantry. Almost simultaneously several regiments moved forward toward the hill and, as if animated by a common impulse, all followed. Grim and silent, with compressed lips and eyes fixed on the goal before them, they breasted the fiery sleet of battle and commenced the steep ascent. From behind the rifle pits on the summit sfiot and shell rained down upon them in a ceaseless torrent, and the roar of the contest grew deafening. All regular formations of lines were soon lost. "Great masses of men, who had crowded together in the places easiest of asceni, were climbing the steep at intervals and vying in their efforts to be first. Regiments were so intermingled that their organization and unity soon disappeared, t h o u g h the greater portion of e a c h clustered around their battle flags, and these were in every case ahead. Gradually these groups took the form of a wedge or triangle, the apex being the regimental battle flag. The progress was necessarily slow. t

"Above, the summit of the hill was one sheet of flame and smoke, and the awful explosions of artillery and musketry made the earth fairly tremble. Below, the columns of dark blue, with the old banner of beauty and of glory leading them on, were mounting up with leaning forms, each eager with desperate resolution to be first. Cannon shot tore through their ranks; musket balls were rapidly and fearfully decimating them; behind them the dead and wounded lay thick as autumn leaves; before them, death was reveling in a whirlwind of carnage; but the lava-flood of battle pouring down upon them no more checked the grand advance than if it had been the soft rain of summer. "Our brigade went up in the center of one of the half-circular bends of the ridge. On the right of us Hazen's men breasted a point; to the left Beatty also had a headland. Between an Ohio regiment of Hazen's brigade, and one or two of ours that had their flags well ahead, there sprang up a fierce rivalry as to which would be first planted on the rebel lines. At last but a dozen yards separated the line of gray and the columns of blue, while the flags of the Eighth Kansas, Sixth and 49th Ohio and severa other regiments were but a few yards from the red clay banks that were belching forth streams of fire and sulphurous smoke. "With a wild cheer and a madder rush our men dashed forward, and for a few moments a sharp, desperate, almost hand-tohand fight with bayonet and ball ensued. Before this resistless assault the rebel line was lifted as by a whirlwind, and borne backward, bleeding and confused. In quick succession half a dozen Union battle flags

were planted upon the works, and in a mo ment more the foemen were hurrying dowi the hill on the opposite side and off into th woods b e y o n d . Our men were rapidl; formed, and we were preparing to mov down the breastworks to the left, whil Hazen's men did the same on the right when suddenly the whole rebel line gav way. "Then followed a scene of tumult an confusion which baffles description. Gray clad men rushed wildly down the hill an into the woods, tossing away muskets, blar kets and knapsacks as they ran. Officers frantic with rage, rushfeU from one panic stricken group to the other, shouting an< cursing as they strove to check the headlon. flight, but all in vain. "Our men, pursued the fugitives with a; eagerness only equaled by that of the foe to escape; the horses of the artillery wer shot as they, ran; squads of rebels wer headed off and brought back as prisoner* and in 10 minutes all that remained, of th defiant rebel army that had besieged Chat tanooga were captured guns, disarmed pris oners, moaning wounded, ghastly dead, an scattered, demoralized fugitives. Missionar Ridge was ours. "The Eighth K a n s a s captured foil pieces of artillery, 500 stand of small arms and more prisoners than it had men in it ranks. The regiment also claims to hav planted upon the rebel breastworks the firs .Union colore that waved there. So, after tw months and five days, ended the terribl siege of Chattanooga. The march from Oi chard Knob to the summit of Missionar; Ridge occupied just one hour and 15 miu utes." IN:;CONFLICT TO CLOSE After this triumph the Eighth Kansa returned home for a brief furlough and re cruitment period. Then it was sent back t Chattanooga, and joined Gen. Sherman' forces for the march to Atlanta. In a perioc of 69 days, it was under fire for 63 days ani 44 nights. It. spent 33 days in the siege o Atlanta, entering the city with other Unioi troops on §ept. 8, 1864. Early the next yea it took part in the battle of Nashville tha destroyed Confederate Gen. Hood's arm; and practically ended the war on the west ern sectors. After Lee's surrender in Apri the regiment was sent to Texas and thei home for mustering out. During its term of service the Eightl traveled 10,750 miles. It participated in V battles and 18 skirmishes. It lost in battli three commissioned officers and 62 enliste< men killed; 13 commissioned officers and 25! enlisted men wounded, and one commis sioned officer and 20 enlisted men missinga total of 64 killed, 272 wounded and 21 miss ing, or full casualties of 358. Of the missinj nearly all were killed, and of the woundei nearly one-third died of their injuries.

* * * Upon discharge Col. Martin at the age o 26 was breveted a brigadier general. He re sumed duties as editor and publisher of th< Atchison Daily Champion for the rest of hi: life. He was the first state commander o the Grand Army of the Republic, and upoi election as 10th governor of the state ii November 1884 he founded and became firs commander of the Kansas National Guard Reelected in 1886 as governor, he completet his term in January of 1889. Late that yea) he was stricken ill and died, leaving hi.' widow, Ida Challiss Martin, and seven children. Three of them still live; Paul A. Mar tin, retired editor and publisher of the Lans ing (Mich.) Journal; Mrs. Ruth M. Tonsing Atchison, and Harres Martin, Merriam, Kan Mrs. Tonsing is the mother of the writei of this article. * * * Most of the facts in this story were taken from the "Military History of the Eightl Kansas Veteran Volunteer Infantry," a 112page book written by Col. Martin following - the close of the war and published by him in 1869.

Wichita Eagle and Beacon Magazine—November 24, 1963—PACE 1