2015.002.016e
Letter written by Private Cecil Fogg of Company B, 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, to his father from Chattanooga, TN. His company left the Signal Station to rejoin his regiment in Trenton, GA then came down into the Chickamauga Valley. He describes being part of the advanced guard in the Battle of Chickamauga, being fired at by Confederate pickets. Despite being outnumbered they managed to turn the Rebels back and took prisoners. Col. William G. Jones was killed with another man from his company. The following day they were part of the center and were nearly surrounded, being fired on by sharpshooters from 3 sides but eventually were able to meet up with Gen. Gordon Granger’s Reserve Corps and fell back to Union fortifications.
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Chattanooga Sept 24th
Father
I am sitting in one of the “Last Ditches” (just finished) writing this. I have been through a two day fight and nearly 2 weeks of skirmishing since I wrote to you last and have escaped unhurt up to this time. Co. B staid up on the mountain above Jasper guarding the Signal Station from the 22nd Aug. till the 6th of Sept. On the 6th we started for our Regt. which was at Trenton Ga. we got there on the 8th. On the 10th we started southward and went about 10 miles then crossed over Sand mountain [AL] one of the Look-out range, when we were coming down the valley into Chickamauga Valley we could see where Gen. Negley’s Division was fighting a whole Corps of Rebels. I was in the advance guard
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coming down the mountain and was fired at by Rebel pickets at the foot of the mountain. It was about dark when we got to the foot and we ran the pickets in abut a mile farther and then stopped for the night. Several balls came pretty close to me that evening and one of our co. was wounded. We skirmished around here till the 18th when it was discovered that the Rebels were moving towards Chattanooga on the other side of Pigeon mountain. we started and marched all night of the 18th Our Brigade was about the center. The Rebels out numbered us 3 to one according to their account. There was a weak place in our line a little to our right when the Rebs broke through
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and we were called out there to turn them back, and we did it we took some prisoners there who said it was the hardest fighting they had ever done and they had been in nearly all the fights in the east. There is where our Regt lost the most. Col [William G.] Jones was killed and Maj. [William H.G.] Adney wounded one of our co. killed and 5 wounded. The next day the big fight came off They turned our right and left and we were nearly surrounded in the center and were exposed to a fire of sharp-shooters on three sides of us. About an hour before sunset our Brigade took the lead and made a charge to cut our way through and get out of there, and we got out just about sunset. When we stopped Gen. Reynolds, Col. [Philander P.] Lane of the 11th
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Capt Henry, 3 Lieutenants and about 150 of our Brigade (mostly 36th men) were all that was present. The balance had taken a different direction after passing through the 1st and 2nd line of Rebs and come out by a shorter cut bringing with them about 200 prisoners when Gen. Reynolds and his 150 men stopped it was sunset, and we had run 4 or 5 miles, cut our way through 3 lines of rebs and were then chasing a while Brigade of Cavalry. The dirt and noise we made then was all that saved us, we found our way to Granger’s Corps, then to our own, and fell back 6 or 7 miles that night. Monday night we fell back to the fortifications and have been at work fortifying all the time since.
Col [Timothy Robbins] Stanley of the 18th was slightly wounded Sunday.
Cecil Fogg
Cecil Fogg enlisted in Company B of the 36th OH Volunteer Infantry on August 12, 1861 at Marietta, OH at the age of 20. He served through his three year term of service and re-enlisted for the war, but was mustered out July 27, 1865 based upon a surgeon’s certificate of disability. The 36th served in West Virginia in 1861, and participated in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam as a part of the 9th Corps before being transferred west in January 1863. As a part of the Army of the Cumberland’s 14th Army Corps (George H. Thomas), the regiment fought at Chickamauga and later in the Atlanta and Savannah, GA (March to the Sea) Campaigns.
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