124th Ohio Infantry Regiment
The 124th Ohio Infantry Regiment, also known as the 124th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was part of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry and played a significant role in several key battles and campaigns throughout the war.
Service
The 124th Ohio Infantry was recruited in the northern counties of Ohio, except for one company from Cincinnati, Company I. It rendezvoused at Camp Taylor outside Cleveland, Ohio, and mustered in for three years service on January 1, 1863, under the command of Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne.On Thursday, January 1, 1863, 750 men of the regiment marched into Cleveland and entrained there on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad to Cincinnati. The regiment crossed the Ohio River, and took four railroads, the Covington and Lexington Railroad, Lexington & Frankfort, Louisville & Frankfort, and Louisville and Nashville to Elizabethtown, KY, assigned to the Department of the Ohio staying until January 31, when it was ordered back to Louisville. There, after a few days and reassigned to the Army of Kentucky, it boarded steamboats in company with 20,000 other troops. After a ten-day transit, the force disembarked near Nashville, TN, entering on Tuesday, February 10.
First time at Franklin
From Nashville, the 124th Ohio Marched to Franklin, TN, arriving there February 21. Assigned to the Department of the Ohio, it served garrison duty there until June. While there it built the fortifications and defenses that would later see action in November 1864. Franklin served as the regiment's camp of instruction; perfecting its drill, and getting itself into proper shape for the battle-field. Franklin was the county seat of Williamson County in central middle Tennessee, approximately south-southwest of Nashville. In the aftermath of Maj. Gen Rosecrans' victory at the Battle of Stones River at the new year, the area was rife with Confederate regular and irregular forces, and their close proximity kept the 124th Ohio and the rest of the garrison strict in its picket discipline and alertness. Frequent skirmishes with these forces gave the regiment valuable combat experience despite its duty in a small garrison. The men of the 124th and the rest of the garrison were commanded by Col. Charles Champion Gilbert who had been criticized for his slow action at the repulse of Gen. Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky at Perryville despite checking the last rebel attacks and successfully counterattacking. The garrison soon developed a low opinion of him, as had the men in his corps at Perryville, and despised him as a martinet.Reports of Confederate activity further southwest near Columbia, led Gilbert to order Col. John Coburn to plan a reconnaissance in force there. On Wednesday, March 4, Coburn led a reinforced infantry brigade down the Columbia Turnpike toward Columbia. Four miles short of Spring Hill, Coburn made contact on his right with, a Confederate Army force composed of two regiments who were driven back.
The 124th was in the rear along the turnpike to Franklin guarding the brigade's ammunition train. Coburn's brigade had made contact with a much larger Confederate cavalry corps under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn. Suspecting he might be facing a larger force, Coburn sent word back to Gilbert who sent back an order for to advance and engage the enemy, intimating that Coburn was a coward. Meanwhile, his men on the line and in the fog of battle, elated at this seeming success, pushed on to Thompson's Station, from Franklin. Here they met the main Rebel force in much superior numbers, strongly posted behind stone walls. Dorn seized the initiative. Brig. Gen. Jackson's dismounted 2nd Division made a frontal attack, while Brig. Gen. Forrest's division swept around Coburn's left flank, and into his rear. A battle ensued, lasting two hours, the ground being stubbornly contested. After three attempts, Jackson carried the Coburn's hilltop position as Forrest attacked Coburn's wagon train and cut the 124th off from the rest of the brigade blocking Coburn's line of retreat.
Out of ammunition and surrounded, Coburn surrendered, along with all but two of his field officers. Only eleven men from the infantry force returned to Franklin. The 124th's bold front it presented to the enemy enabled the ammunition train and artillery to get safely off the field and back to the fortifications at Franklin.
The regiment saw no further combat during their stay at Franklin but suffered severely from disease endemic to the volunteer army of the time. Through all the suffering, the 124th, in its outnumbered garrison stood in line of battle one hour before daybreak each morning for two hours. The resulting inactivity during these watches chilled and weakened the bodies of the men.
Joining the Army of the Cumberland and the Tullahoma campaign
On Tuesday, June 2, 1863, the garrison was reassigned to Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland. A patrol from the regiment had a small skirmish in the morning near Thompson's station, but suffered no casualties. That afternoon, the small garrison abandoned the camp at Franklin that day, and after marching all day Wednesday pitched camp at Triune. The regiment stayed there until dawn Sunday, June 21 when it marched miles to join Brig. Gen. Hazen's 2nd Brigade under Hazen to Maj. Gen. Palmer's 2nd Division of Maj. Gen. Crittenden's XXI Corps, at Readyville. As part of the Tullahoma Campaign, on Monday, their new brigade marched up into the mountains via Bradyville, TN while Rosecrans seized Hoover's Gap to the south. XXI Corps arrived in Manchester on Tuesday, June 23. From there, Hazen made a reconnaissance to south to the Elk River, where the 124th spent July 4, 1864.On Sunday, July 5, Hazen's brigade returned to Manchester and went into camp. The 124th Ohio enjoyed the lull in the hot summer of 1863 at Manchester in a camp "of great beauty... praised for its neatness and cleanliness." Supplementing issued rations, the Ohio men "fared sumptuously off the luxuries of Corn and fruit afforded by the farms and orchards arouud them. Cooking utensils were procured and roast dinners became quite common." The Little Duck River passing through Manchester proved a welcome source of clean water coming down from the mountains. The clean water and plentiful diet had a salutary effect on the regiment's overall health, and the sick list became almost obsolete. The drill and discipline of the men were not, however, neglected, and the 124th Ohio soon received praise from inspecting officers for its discipline, cleanliness of arms and clothing, and proficiency in drill. This standing was held by the regiment until muster-out, and was clue to the untiring labors of Col. Payne and Lieut. Col. Pickands.
Tullahoma is considered a "brilliant" campaign and "a model of planning and execution" by many historians. The AoC had driven the rebels out of Middle Tennessee with minimal losses.
Summer Lull and advance on Chattanooga
File:Chattanooga_II_Battlefield_Tennessee.jpg|thumb|Map of Chattanooga II Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program. The Sequatchie Valley is the valley directly north of Chattanooga running from north northeast to the Tennessee River on the other side of Walden Ridge from Chattanooga.Rosecrans did not immediately pursue Bragg and instead paused to regroup and study the difficult choices of pursuit into mountainous regions. In mid-August, he would resume campaigning to take Chattanooga, Tennessee, and in the second week, the 124th Ohio received word to get ready to march. His plan was to cross the Cumberland Plateau into the valley of the Tennessee River, pause briefly to accumulate some supplies, and then make an unopposed crossing of the wide river. Due to the successful use of mounted infantry, specifically Col. John T. Wilder's brigade, Rosecrans devised a deception to distract Bragg above Chattanooga while the army crossed downstream. The 124th as part of Hazen's brigade would play a part in the deception.
The 124th Ohio's XXI Corps would advance on the city from the west, while Maj. Gen. Thomas' XIV Corps would cross over Lookout Mountain south of the city, while Maj. Gen. McCook's XX Corps and Maj. Gen. Stanley's Cavalry Corps would move further southeast threatening Bragg's railroad to Atlanta. If it worked, Rosecrans could cause Bragg to evacuate Chattanooga or be trapped in the city without supplies.
Rosecrans would send the Lightning Brigade and Robert H. G. Minty's cavalry brigade supported by Hazen's and Wagner's infantry brigades ahead of Crittenden's XXI Corps to conduct deception operations along the north bank of the Tennessee River across from Chattanooga. This force's mission was to sprint ahead of Crittenden's Corps toward the Tennessee River. While the 124th Ohio as part of Hazen's brigade held Bragg's cavalry's attention in the valley and Wagner's brigade encamped up on the Cumberland Plateau north northeast of the city, the mounted infantry and cavalry with their supporting artillery would visibly show their presence known along the north side of the river.
The remainder of the corps would spread out across the Cumberland Plateau heading north of Chattanooga, while the Rosecrans' other two corps crossed the river below Chattanooga and Bragg. Once the other corps were safely across the river, the XXI Corps would fall in behind them leaving the four brigades to keep Bragg focused across the river to the north bank. The four brigades would patrol the river, make as much noise as possible, and feign river crossing operations north of the city. That was what Bragg feared most, a crossing north of Chattanooga.
On Sunday. August 16, they struck their tents at Manchester, and marched up over the Cumberland Mountains. After fording a cold river, Tuesday might brought them to the first range of the Cumberland mountains. On Wednesday, the regiment was detailed to assist the wagon train up the steep mountain road, which occupied most of the day. The men spent the night of August 19–20 on the mountain, and "enjoyed a most refreshing sleep in the cool invigorating mountain air." Thursday morning, the 124th Ohio marched down off the ridge into the Sequatchie Valley - from its head. On Friday, August 21, they reached Poe's Tavern and encamped. They had covered about over rough, wooded, mountainous territory in five days.
Here again, as at Manchester, the men felt lucky. The Poe Branch of North Chickamauga Creek, "a pure cold stream of water" ran through the town. And again, they supplemented issued rations by living off the land's plentiful harvest of corn, fruit, potatoes, etc.
Meanwhile, other elements of XXI Corps to feint further north and east of Bragg, while moving his other corps west and downriver. Meanwhile, Rosecrans's deception on the river was underway. The Lightning Brigade appeared across from Chattanooga on the northbank. Hazen's brigade, containing the 124th, patrolled up and down the valley. Wagner's brigade patrolled from the plateau down to the river. Minty' cavalry troopers and Wilder's men pounded on tubs and sawed boards, sending pieces of wood downstream, to make the Confederates think that rafts were being constructed for a crossing north of the city. Starting Friday, August 21, Wilder's artillery, commanded by Capt. Eli Lilly, bombarded the city from Stringer's Ridge for a fortnight, an operation sometimes known as the Second Battle of Chattanooga. The deception worked and Bragg was convinced that the Union crossing would be above the city, in conjunction with Burnside's advancing Army of the Ohio from Knoxville.
During these weeks, he stealthily moved the other corps across the Tennessee and began flanking Bragg's left. As Hazen's brigade stayed in the valle, XX Corps crossed at Caperton's Ferry, from Stevenson on Saturday, August 29, building a pontoon bridge there. Most of XIV Corps crossed at Shellmound, Tennessee, on Sunday. Once Thomas and McCook were across, he pulled the XXI Corps and sent them over at Bridgeport. The fourth crossing site was at the mouth of Battle Creek, Tennessee, where the rest of the XIV Corps crossed on August 31. Without permanent bridges, the Army of the Cumberland could not be supplied reliably, so another bridge was constructed at Bridgeport by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's division, spanning in three days. Virtually all of the Union army, other than elements of the Reserve Corps kept behind to guard the railroad, had safely crossed the river by September 4. On the southern side, the AoC began finding more mountainous terrain and road networks that were just as treacherous as the ones they had already traversed. All the AoC, save Hazen's Wagner's Minty's, and Wilder's brigades, were across by Monday September 7.
While all this was going on, the Confederacy, concerned about Bragg's position, took steps to reinforce him. Johnston sent two weak divisions from Mississippi under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge and Maj. Gen. William H. T. Walker by September 4, and General Robert E. Lee dispatched a corps under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet from the Army of Northern Virginia.
On Tuesday, Bragg, who had already decided to abandon the city to withdraw to a more defensible position further south, learned from his cavalry that the three corps were across the river to the southwest. At this news, he sped up his withdrawal and marched his Army of Tennessee into Georgia. Bragg's army marched down the LaFayette Road and camped in the city of LaFayette.