PENSION "ROLL OF HONOR."
Are on the Pay List.
Special to The
New York Times.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9.
Now and then, when some unusual difficulty is encountered by
pension hunters in breaking through
the laws when Congress has interposed between the grabber and the Treasury,
a howl of remonstrance
is heard, accompanied by heartrending eloquence about the sacredness of
the obligation imposed
upon the Nation in the civil war and
the duty of everybody to insist that there shall be
no abatement of generosity in the compensation extended to the men who freely exposed their lives
to the rain of shot and shell
from the would-be destroyers of the Nation. According to the
policy of these noisy patriots, every
name on the pension rolls is that of a hero. But there
are exceptions,
and here is the story of several, all of whom won honor and pensions in a group.
There was a bit of a fight under
Lookout Mountain on Nov. 24, 1863. Gen.
Thomas called it
"a reconnoissance(sic) in
force," and historians who were not
there,- but who have imagined
things
about the event, have referred to it picturesquely as “the battle above the clouds.”
Among the
regiments that took part in this fight was the Eighth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry,
under command of Col. Sidney M. Barnes, The brigade
commander was Gen. W. C. Whitaker.
Starting
from a point west of Lookout Mountain on Nov. 23, the
force encountered the enemy next
day about a mile west of the point of Lookout Mountain, as the historians who were not
there,
but who have imagined things about the event,
have referred to it picturesquely as "the
battle above the clouds.” Among the regiments
that took part in this fight was the Eighth
Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, under command of
Col. Sidney M. Barnes. The brigade commander
was Gen. "W. C. Whitaker. Starting from
a point west of Lookout Mountain on Nov.23, the
force encountered the enemy next day about a
mile west of the point of Lookout Mountain,
as the Union troops swept along the side of
the hill, with the frowning rocks above swarming
with Confederate soldiers.
The Eighth Kentucky was well in front of the attacking party, but, according to the report
of Col. Barnes, it never was really in the fight, although exposed at times to fire. The
regiment seized and held on to the spur or ridge until next morning, when a little party
of gallant officers and men made their way to the top of the hill and planted the colors of
the Eighth, the Confederates retreating, but leaving many prisoners in the hands of the
assailants, during the fight of the 24th. a "fog," as the Colonel says, hung over the
mountain, so that it was difficult to see anything that was going on at a distance, and
prevented anybody from seeing a "battle above the clouds" that did not take place. In
December, after the fight had been fought a week, Col. Barnes wrote a full report of the
action. After describing: the movements of the regiment in detail, he brought his report
to a close with the following paragraph:
All my officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, with the exceptions hereinafter
named, did their duty and are entitled to praise, except Corp. Burges Elliott and Privates
John W. Ward and George Aldridge of Company B; John Brandenburgh, John Ashcraft. William Hall,
William H. Ross, Henry Fike of Company D; Privates William Mays and Daniel Edwards of
Company F. and Privates William Aldridge, Harden Moore, and John Selby of Company H.
They are reported by their
company commanders as having, without permission, fallen out and
to the rear after crossing
the creek and the advance had commenced. Corp. Elliott contends
that he was sent to the rear
with a prisoner by Lieut. Phipps of Gen. Whitakers’s staff about
which I am not advised. He has
heretofore been a good soldier. The others
contend they broke
down and could not keep up. They are stout men, and I regret to say
that I fear they did not
altogether
discharge their duty. They all rejoined the command on the mountain after the
enemy was driven off.
In all the operations about
Chattanooga(sic),including Lookout Mountain
and Missionary Ridge,
the Eighth Kentucky did not
have a man killed, either of the rank and file or of the
officers. All told, its casualties
were four privates wounded.
On the pension roll of honor are found the following names," and the persons enumerated are
receiving" every month the amount of pension set opposite to their names. They are all mentioned
in the report of Col.
Barnes. Not a man has escaped the Pension Bureau:
|
|
Of the seventeen patriots who distinguished
themselves so greatly on Nov. 24, 1863. fifteen
survive the perils and dangers of the fight which they declined,
and all are estopped(sic)
from complaining that republics are ungrateful. All they need
to complete their happiness
is medals of honor.
Published
August 10, 1901