By Jared E. Billings
GGG Grandson of Private Anderson Billings , Co. B
and
GG Grandson of Private William Billings , Co. B
and
GGG Grandnephew of Private Pearson Billings , Co. G
INTRODUCTION
It surely began in the same manner as that of many units raised during the Late Ruction; eager young men, hungry for glory and adventure, answering with ardent patriotism the call to arms issued by their country. All would find more than they sought.
Most were very young, many little more than
boys. Some had probably never strayed further than 25 miles
from where they were born. Most of
them certainly had no concept of the magnitude of the desperate
struggle to which they were about to commit themselves. Many
would not survive the experience. None would be unchanged.
But midway through 1862, after nearly one
and one-half years of bloody conflict, they found themselves
lining up and adding their names to the
rosters of companies that would become known as the
Twenty-ninth Missouri Infantry Regiment.
The 29th got around. They saw action in
both the Trans-Mississippi and
Western Theaters of Operation. They served in the great armies
of both Grant and Sherman. They marched, they fought, they
struggled, they killed, and they died.
They slept on their arms in the rain, they
dug trenches in the blazing sun and they ate rancid food. Long
periods of sheer boredom were punctuated by moments of
abject terror and all-consuming desperation. They made do
without the comforts that others took for granted as they
endured privation and disease. They watched as their brethren
died of both battle wounds and sickness, yet they prevailed to
the end, proud soldiers in a victorious army.
It was not long after being organized into
a regiment before they were
thrown into the jaws of battle. Before the year of 1862 came to
a close they were a part of Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, the
first attempt to take Vicksburg, participating in the vain and
costly attacks at Chickasaw Bayou and Chickasaw Bluffs ordered
between Christmas and New Years Days. The first blood, in
abundance, had been spilled.
The first half of 1863 found them traversing the swamps of the Arkansas and Louisiana Deltas, following Grant across the river into Mississippi and settling into the Siege of Vicksburg during that long, hot summer. The latter half of the year included a grueling march from Memphis to Chattanooga where they fought at places with the names of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold Gap.
The cruelest and most trying demands were
yet to come.
1864
was the Campaign for Atlanta and the March to the Sea, and the
29th was there, present from the time of the opening skirmishes
until Sherman presented Lincoln with the city of Savannah as a
Christmas gift.
Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain.
Atlanta, Ezra Chapel, Jonesboro. The 29th was nearby when
General McPherson was slain. For the March to the Sea they
were unattached, mounted, and led one of the two columns.
In 1865 they were in the thick of the
Campaign for the Carolinas. They were there when General
Johnston surrendered his army. They then marched,
which they did so well, to Washington, DC, via Richmond, and
paraded by the podium in the Grand Review.
Then, those who were left went home and set about the rebuilding of a reunited nation, torn asunder by a very ugly and bloody affair. It is certain that every one of them carried the scars of their wounds, both of the flesh and of the mind, to their graves.
Here is their story....
First Blood: Chickasaw
Bayou
December, 1862
The Reduction of Fort
Hindman
at Arkansas Post
Early to mid- January, 1863
The Push for Vicksburg
Mid-January to July 4, 1863
The Battle Above The
Clouds,
Lookout Mountain
November 23 & 24, 1863
Missionary Ridge
November 25, 1863
Ringgold Gap and Taylor's
Ridge
November 27, 1863
Duty in Alabama
December, 1863 through March, 1864
The Atlanta Campaign
May 1 to September 8, 1864
Fighting Hood
September 29 to November 3, 1864
The March to the Sea
November 15 to December 10, 1864
The Seige of Savannah
December 10 through 21, 1864
The Campaign of the
Carolinas
January to April, 1865
The Grand Review,
Muster Out and Home
May through June, 1865
The Official Reports
References and
Bibliograpy
Biographical Data for
Selected Soldiers
About the Author
Links to Other Sites
...and that is the story of the 29th, as it stands to this point.
For comments, suggestions, corrections or additions, email me at:
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