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The Diaries of Noah Hart |
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Chapter V From Atlanta to the Sea Aug. 8, 1864 Capt. Hart wrote home again. He was near Atlanta that day. Since his letter of Aug. the 3rd (which has been lost) the 10th Michigan had been involved in flanking the enemy. It was a slow and tedious maneuver. To flank successfully required great caution and the best of generalship; if done correctly only a little progress was made every day. It’s easy to imagine the difficulties when one considers the flanking of an enemy force entailed moving thousands of troops, all their equipment, and doing so with as minimal amount of losses as possible. The enemy forces of course would have the option of engaging in battle or retreating to safer ground. This constant sparing and jousting, involving large forces would of course take time and energy, the latter of which Hart was running out of. He confessed that during the expeditions at the end of July and early August, he sort of melted down. Or in other words nature gave out. He went on to say that the rays of the sun were intense there and that he could not stand them as he used to before that awful day at Peachtree Creek. Hart concluded that he did not owe his service to the Government, since he was unable to serve. He had not gone out with his regiment for the last 5 days. Hart had made his mind up that 2 1/2 years of constant service in the line was enough for a man of his age. Unless he could serve in some other capacity he decided that when the Atlanta campaign was over, he would close his reports to the Army and tender his resignation. He had hoped to make an attempt for a commission in the field with one of the new regiments being formed. But he had no hope of this materializing because of his political relations with the appointing powers. Hart even wanted to return to Michigan for four or five months on recruiting service. He felt more and more every day that the few days allotted to him on earth should be spent with his wife and children. Three years in one man’s life was long enough for any one of his age; until all had taken their turn. Hart told his wife to tell two neighbors of his that it would be far more creditable to them to follow his example than to be hunting around the country for nigger substitutes. During the Civil War, a man could buy his way out of the Army by paying someone else to take his place. Hart was obviously referring to this when he made the remarks about substitutes. Hart’s disenchantment and war weariness were quite evident in this letter. He hold his wife she need not send a pen as he could get along without it. He could think of very many things that he needed but could get along without. He had spent no money in the Atlanta campaign for two reasons. First he had none to spend and second no way to spend it if he had it. Hart’s next letter was addressed still near Atlanta and was dated Aug. 13, 1864. Since his prior letter he and the 10th had been extending their lines day by day and closing in gradually and surely upon the enemy. He mentioned the enemy seemed to have rubberlike capacity, or the Union forces would have outstretched them. Hart said it was far better that the rebs had determined to fight it out there. The lines of communication to the front were of immense length already and the farther the 10th penetrated into enemy country the more they became exposed and the more troops it required to guard and protect the supply lines. For if the enemy should cut off the cracker and bacon line they would be in a pretty fix. There had been many Military changes. General Palmer had been relieved from command of the 14th Army Corps, Gen. Johnson was then placed in command. Hart’s regiment reported to General Schofield instead of Gen. Thomas. He gave this information to his wife so that in reading the papers she would understand the relation of his Division, Brigade and Regiment to the rest of the Army. On that particular day all was quiet on the 10th’s portion of the long lines, except for the popping of skirmishers at each others heads and occasionally the artilleries’ exchange of compliments. Hart hoped and prayed the campaign would end soon for he was in rags, this included pants, coat, shirt, drawers, hat, boots and everything else. There was one letter written by Hart that had no date nor place on it. It was a fragment from a hospital letterhead written in pencil. This letter described some fighting and it could easily have been related to this time and place as any other. Because of the eyewitness description of the fighting, it is included here. Apparently Capt. Hart’s regiment was not directly involved but were so close that he could see all the action. The fragment started out by saying a continual stream of shelling had been kept up.
Thus ended this letter. From the description Hart gave of this fighting is it any wonder its been said that war is hell? The letter of Aug. 25, 1864 was also addressed near Atlanta, Georgia. This letter went into the details of how an officer resigned his commission. Hart’s feelings were that no one should remain in the service after he was incapacitated for duty. The Army Doctor told him that the only way he would recover from sunstroke would be when cooler weather came. It was of no use to take medicine; it was a question of time and less heat. Hart told his wife that ever since that terrible day, pinned down in the sun at Peachtree Creek, he had never been right. He went on to say that he didn’t know if he could get his resignation accepted at all. If it were accepted, it would require two months to accomplish. At the time his resignation was sent in, an officer had to attach it with a certificate from the proper department of the government that his accounts had all been settled up to date. Inasmuch as Hart’s books and papers were in Chattanooga, it would necessarily require considerable time to examine and audit them from there. He had sent for the books and papers in order to prepare the necessary documents for his resignation. There was a postscript on this letter through which we can see how Capt. Hart wrote to and felt about his daughter. He wrote to her about how happy he was that she had good friends and how she should cultivate friendships and good will from all her associates. Through life, he went on to say, she would find it a very great advantage to be loved and respected by all, young and old. Hart hoped she would lose no opportunity to write him as often as she could. It would be to her advantage in several ways. It would improve her in composition and in communicating her ideas and sentiments. The art of writing, he told her, was a noble art. But for this art, how could he know anything about dear Mama, her brother and herself. Or her about him. Hart asked his daughter to think and act upon what he had written her. He knew she would, for she was a dutiful child and that she would teach her little brother both by precept and example. Sept. 19th, 1864 Hart wrote home again. It was not near Atlanta any longer. The 10th was busy putting up quarters, having arrived in Atlanta only the evening before. Hart no longer heard the roar of artillery or the crack of musketry. He felt the 10th would remain in Atlanta for thirty or forty days at least. Hart’s camp was just outside the city. He hadn’t been to town but was planning to go soon. As an historical footnote, the Feds did not take Atlanta until Sept. 1, 1864. We can all remember the movie "Gone with the Wind," when the last southerners, led by Gen. Hood, pulled out, burning behind them. Noah Hart was not involved in the first days of occupation of Atlanta. The 10th regiment on Sept. 1, 1864 was occupied at a place called Jonesboro, where the 10th was too terribly damaged to march into Atlanta. Hart did not get in until about a week later; and the above letter informed his wife of that fact. Once in Atlanta, Sherman’s army went through a large reorganization. Gen. Hood was continually trying to get Sherman out of Atlanta to chase him all over west Georgia and Tennessee. Sherman finally decided to let Hood go, cut his own supply lines, and headed for Savannah. Sherman could not hope nor expect his supply lines to stretch any further. He therefore destroyed the railroads behind him and lived off the country. This of course created terrible ill will among the Georgians, and there was some justification in their feelings. None of Hart’s letters are clear as to how much the 10th Regiment of Michigan actually participated in the pillage and plundering that went on. Hart was able to get back home in the fall of 18614, did some recruiting, and eventually rejoined his regiment in Savannah in January of 1865. But let us return to where we left off, namely, Capt. Hart and his arrival in Atlanta in early September. His next letter was dated Sept. 15, 1864 and was written in Atlanta. It described the battle of Sept. 1st at Jonesboro, which Hart said settled the question in regard to Atlanta. A Capt. Nims died the second day after the battle. The commanders all said the battle was won through the valor and impetuosity of the 10th Michigan and 14th Michigan. A brigade of rebs had been repulsed and they retreated thru the lines of the 10th as it was going in. The 10th captured and held two batteries. The battle was not won without many losses on both sides. Hart wrote, "It makes my heart ache to look upon our thinned ranks and to meet no more the familiar faces we have been associated with the last three years. A few more such battles and there will be no more 10th Mich. to help carry the day." Noah Hart was not in on the march of Sherman to the sea because we don’t hear from him again until Dec. 10th, 1864 and the letter was addressed from Buffalo, New York. He may have been in on some of it, but the way he always felt about the south, it was to his advantage to have missed the real hellish part because it would have so hurt his heart. Hart didn’t say why he was in Buffalo but we can presume he was on his way back South to join his regiment. This letter was very short and was the last one he wrote in the year of 1864. When Capt. Hart returned to the 10th Regiment, it was Jan. 15, 1865. He found the 10th on guard duty in Savannah, Georgia. Every man in the regiment seemed glad to see him. Hart couldn’t learn anything about his resignation; he expected he would have to wait there twenty days to be mustered out. For all intents and purposes the war was over for Hart. At least he seemed to enjoy Savannah while waiting for his discharge. He wrote that day to his wife that Savannah was a lovely place. He even stated that was where he wanted to live. Live Oak, Palmetto, and many other kinds of trees prevailed everywhere. The climate was delightful. He told his wife she would enjoy it there. It was so charming. The final letter we still have from Hart was dated Feb. 25th, 1865 (only months before Lee surrendered). It was addressed from Washington D. C. where he had been for about one week. He was working on the final audit of his books and accounts with the Goveminent in order to get a settlement. He told his wife he expected to leave for home in three or four days, but he had made up his mind not to leave until he affected a settlement, notwithstanding how tired and homesick he was. This last written record was rather short and terse. Hart complained that once signing his name to get into the Army, he had to sign it several thousand times to get out. He told his wife he had no news to communicate, the most he desired was to get out of Washington and greet his wife and children once more. Thus ended the saga of three years of duty for Captain Noah H. Hart. The 10th Regiment Michigan remained a part of Sherman’s Army until the end of the war. It left Savannah on Jan. 20, 1865 and started the campaign of the Carolinas. The 10th crossed the Savannah river at Sister’s Ferry, Feb. 6th, 1865 and was engaged with the enemy at Fayetteville, N. C. March 11th. It crossed the Cape Fear river on March 12th. Capt. Hart’s discharge papers are stored in the National Archives in Washington D. C. They described him as 51 years of age, gave his place of birth, and were executed on Feb. 5th, 1865 at Sister’s Ferry, Georgia. Thus his service ended; with the war lasting only 2 months more (Lee surrendered April 9, 1865). Hart was in the thick of it almost from the beginning to the end. |
Chapter V email: harts@ultranet.com Last Updated: 2/5/98 Hits since 2/5/98: Copyright © Richard Hart |