seizure of the Fords, there was, up to this time, no fighting. It was
impossible to judge at what time, or from what direction, the enemy
would first advance; but every possible preparation was made to guard
against a surprise. At two o’clock in the afternoon, a large force of
the enemy was discovered approaching from an easterly direction, and
coming along what had been a turnpike road; and also along a planked
road. Both these roads entered Chancellorsville at right angles; and
joining, form one direct road from a building called Tabernacle Church.
General Hooker, who had himself headed a cavalry party for the purpose
of reconnoitring, immediately on learning of the enemy’s approach
returned to his headquarters at Chancellorsville, and made ready to meet
them. It being uncertain from which of two points, the south and east,
the enemy’s attack would be made, both points were intrenched against
them. General Meade’s corps was formed on the front, facing the east;
the division of regulars occupying a point north of the old turnpike
road, and the other two divisions placed to the left of this on the line
of Bank’s Ford road. A division of General Sickles’ corps, under General
Berry, supported the left wing of this line; and General Couch’s corps
supported the right wing. General Howard’s and General Slocum’s corps
were placed in front, at the side facing the south, General Slocum’s
corps being formed in double column, with its left resting on the plank
road; and General Howard formed in line on the right of it. As supports
for this line, the two remaining divisions of General Sickles’ corps
were ordered up, under General Whipple, and General Birney.
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE, VA.
MAY 1–4, 1863.
The moment of attack had come. Soon the brisk cracking of rifles and
muskets announced the rebel proximity, and the Union skirmishers, in
compliance with orders, gradually fell back upon the main line of
battle. This manœuvre had the desired effect, and drew forth the enemy
in pursuit, yelling and shouting like fiends broken loose. Matters soon
began to look serious, for as rebel column followed column, and they
advanced directly upon General Meade’s second division, under General
Sykes, it seemed as if the small body of Union men would be instantly
overwhelmed by the large Confederate force. General Lee was always
distinguished for his skill in hurling a large force upon his opponents;
and the present manœuvre bade fair to be one of his many successes of
the kind.
The rebel force, as it charged out of the woods, was certainly three
times as large as that of General Sykes; yet the latter showed no
disposition to quail; but, after giving a moment’s glance to satisfy
their curiosity, every soldier brought his musket to his shoulder, and
five thousand bullets were sent into the rebel line. Such steadiness
appalled them. They were unprepared for it. Their front rank quailed
before it. The sudden thinning of their numbers amazed and frightened
them. They discharged their pieces recklessly and broke in confusion.
But there was no flight for them. The heavy bodies behind them, to whom
the front ranks had been a bulwark, protecting them from the murderous
volley of the Union regulars, were steady and determined. They, absorbed
the front rank in the second, and still moved forward—firm, unshaken,
confident. Meantime the Union men reloaded their pieces, and
simultaneously a volley was fired from both sides; and then, from the
brow above, the Union artillery opened with canister and grape, shooting
over the heads of the National troops and dealing destruction and
confusion to the enemy. And as the loud cannon continued its work with
fearful rapidity the order was given to “fire at will”—an order that was
copied by the enemy—and the continuous roar of musketry that followed
almost deadened the reports of the artillery. It was the first fight of
the great battle, and for nearly twenty minutes both parties stood firm,
as though nothing could lead them to give the prestige of a first
success to the other. But, although outnumbered, General Sykes’ division
had an advantage in the support of artillery, which, while his infantry
held the rebels in check, made huge gaps in their ranks. Still they
yelled and shouted defiance, and attempted charges and continued their
firing, rank after rank of them being broken and thrown back in
confusion, while their officers shouted, and ordered, and stormed, and
cursed, in the vain effort to rally them to a persistent, determined
charge. They fought well. They fought as none but Americans can fight.
But with musketry alone they could not contend against both artillery
and musketry. It was simply murder on the part of their officers to
attempt to hold them to it; and their officers began to appreciate the
fact when nearly half their column had been placed _hors de combat_; and
then the order was given to retire.
[Illustration: “STONEWALL” JACKSON.]
Shouts and cheers from the Union column proclaimed the enemy’s retreat;
and even the wounded staggered to their feet, leaning against their
comrades, and joined in the triumphant cry. But the triumph must be
followed up, and pursuit was ordered—an order that was quickly and
gladly obeyed. For upwards of a mile the victorious troops followed
closely on the heels of the vanquished rebels; till, coming upon a
second line of the enemy, in very strong force, General Sykes deemed it
imprudent to contend against new and fresh troops, and gave his men
orders to retire.
The rebels immediately prepared to give chase; but instead of flying
before the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, General Sykes’ men wheeled
and sent a heavy volley into their ranks, which determined them not to
follow up the chase; and the much shattered division was quietly
permitted to retire. Immediately upon the termination of the rebel
engagement with Sykes’ division, General Lee massed a large body of his
troops in the woods opposite Slocum’s division; and with great
suddenness came down like an avalanche upon it; but the troops met it
bravely, and with a half dozen volleys sent the rebels back. General
Howard’s corps was also engaged on the left with some light skirmishing
which did not amount to anything serious, although the rebels unmasked
one battery, and discharged a few shells upon the artillery men at work
some distance below it. The Union artillery opened in reply; and the
enemy immediately withdrew their pieces; and no further demonstrations
were made on either side during the remainder of the day.
THE SECOND DAY’S FIGHT. SATURDAY, MAY 2ND.
Many changes were made in the position of the national forces during
Friday night. The Second corps was thrown down the Banks’s Ford road,
holding the extreme left of the line, and, with a portion of the Fifth,
completed the line on the east up to the plank road supported by the
Second division of the third corps (General Sickles) which was resting
on the direct road to the United States Ford. The Second division,
General Geary’s, of the Twelfth (General Slocum) held the left of the
Union centre, its left resting on the plank road in front of the general
headquarters, and extending along the entire front of the field. General
Williams’ division of the same corps was formed on the right of this
line, facing to the southwest, its extreme right resting in the edge of
the woods facing a little cleared field, situated about two miles
southwest from headquarters. The Eleventh corps (General Howard) was
originally directed to take position on the right of General Williams,
with its right extending as far down towards the Wilderness road as
consistent with a proper strengthening of the position. Birney’s
division of the third corps was ordered to take position on the plank
road as a reserve both to the Eleventh and Twelfth; but General Sickles,
discovering an advantageous opening in a cleared field about a quarter
of a mile south of the plank road, and a mile and a half west of general
headquarters, obtained permission to advance Birney to this place, which
brought him between the Eleventh and Twelfth corps. At this point he
deployed off to the right around the field, General Williams occupying
the other side in the opening. In the general disposition of the forces
for Saturday, both Berry’s and Whipple’s divisions of the Third corps
were held in reserve, though Bordan’s sharpshooters were detached from
the latter’s division, for special duty with Birney.
The First corps (General Sedgwick) had arrived from the left, and were
placed on the extreme right, bringing the national lines down in that
direction, almost to the Rappahannock river.
Nor had the enemy been idle during this time; about midnight it was
observed by the advanced pickets of the Third and Twelfth corps, that
large masses of the rebels were being moved in front of the Union line,
with a view to get a position on the right, and flank it.
At the earliest dawn of morning on Saturday, 2nd of May, the enemy
executed a manœuvre to lead the Union generals to the belief that they
were evacuating, and deceived some of the corps commanders; but General
Hooker, perceiving that the movement of their wagon trains was nothing
more than a blind, directed General Sickles to plant a battery at a
point commanding the moving train, and shell it. This being done, the
train was thrown into complete disorder, and obliged to move back. To
obtain the road over which the wagon trains had been moving, General
Sickles ordered General Birney to advance his troops and take possession
of a hill opposite the road. This was done after much difficulty.
Captain Seely’s battery, of the Fourth United States artillery was
charged up the hill in such haste as did not leave it even time to
procure a supply of ammunition. It, however, worked brilliantly, till
obliged to retire to replenish its caissons. A charge upon the rebel
rifle-pits was now ordered, which resulted in the stoppage of their
musketry firing, and gave about a hundred of their occupants into the
hands of General Birney. With much skirmishing, and now and then severe
shelling, the advance was continued till Birney’s division occupied the
extreme brow of the hill. The rebels had been driven back over a mile,
and the Federals held a most commanding position. After sending to
headquarters many times for reinforcements, General Sickles at last
obtained permission to advance General Whipple’s division to the aid of
General Birney.
Later, the Eleventh corps was directed to advance, and join its flank to
Birney’s right; the Twelfth was to the left; and a general advance was
ordered. The skirmishers of both armies immediately became engaged; the
rebels gradually falling back. The soldiers of the Union charged boldly
upon the rebels, and the engagement immediately became general.
The enemy held their ground obstinately, fighting with most determined
bravery; as usual, owing to the skillful generalship of the rebel
generals, the enemy were in greater force than the Unionists wherever
they met, although the number of Lee’s army was greatly inferior to that
of Hooker. Borne down with heat and fatigue, the national troops began
to show evidences of faltering. To carry the heights in their present
condition was impossible, and General Williams ordered the retreat of
his division. But the most painful part of the defeat was yet to come.
The Eleventh corps, which had been ordered to the right of Birney, had
moved forward to the position assigned them on his flank. One brigade
succeeded in getting up the hill, and reported by its commander to
Generals Sickles and Birney. The rest of the corps met the enemy under
command of General Stonewall Jackson, when about two-thirds of the
distance up. Here they had a short engagement, in which it does not
appear they had even so large a force to contend against as that which
Williams, with his single division, had fought so bravely. Headed by
their commander the gallant Howard, the German corps charged boldly up
to the rebel lines. Here they were met, as the rebels often met their
foe, with shouts of defiance and derision, a determined front, and a
heavy fire of musketry. The German regiments returned the fire for a
short time with spirit, manifesting a disposition to fight valiantly.
But at the time when all encouragement to the men was needed that could
be given, some officers of the division fell back to the rear, leaving
their men to fight alone. At the same time General Devens, commanding
the First division, was unhorsed and badly wounded in the foot by a
musket ball. Thus losing at a critical moment the inspiriting influence
of the immediate presence of their commanders, the men began to falter,
then to fall back, and finally broke in a complete route. General Howard
boldly threw himself into the breach and attempted to rally the
shattered columns; but his efforts were perfectly futile. The men were
panic-stricken, and no power on earth could rally them in the face of
the enemy.
Information of the catastrophe was promptly communicated to General
Sickles, who thus had a moment given him to prepare for the shock he
instantly apprehended his column would suffer. The high land of the
little farm that formed the base of his operations was parked full of
artillery and cavalry, nearly all the artillery of the Third corps,
together with Pleasanton’s cavalry, being crowded into that little
fifty-acre inclosure. But Sickles was not to be thrown off his guard by
a trifle, and anything short of a complete defeat seemed to be
considered by him in the light of a trifle. With the coolness and
skillfulness of a veteran of a hundred campaigns he set to work making
his dispositions. He had not a single regiment within his reach to
support his artillery; Whipple was falling back, and must meet the
approaching stampede with his own force in retreat; Birney was far out
in the advance, in imminent danger of being completely surrounded and
annihilated; the rebel forces were pressing hard upon the flying
Germans, who could only escape by rushing across his lines, with every
prospect of communicating the panic to them. It was a critical moment
indeed, and one that might well stagger even the bravest-hearted. But it
did not stagger the citizen soldier. Calling to the members of his
staff, he sent them all off, one after the other, lest any one should
fail of getting through, to warn Birney of his danger and order him to
fall back. Then, turning to General Pleasanton, he directed him to take
charge of the artillery, and train it upon all the woods encircling the
field, and support it with his cavalry, to hold the rebels in check
should they come on him, and himself dashed off to meet Whipple, then
just emerging from the woods in the bottom land. He had scarcely turned
his horse about when the men of Howard’s corps came flying over the
field in crowds, meeting the head of Whipple’s column, and stampeding
through its lines, running as only men do run when convinced that sure
destruction is awaiting them. At the same moment large masses of the
rebel infantry came dashing through the woods on the north and west
close up to the field, and opened a tremendous fire of musketry into the
confused mass of men and animals. To add to the confusion and terror of
the occasion, night was rapidly approaching, and darkness was already
beginning to obscure the scene.
That which followed cannot be justly portrayed by the poor aid of words.
On one hand was a solid column of infantry retreating at double quick
from the face of the enemy, who were already crowding their rear; on the
other was a dense mass of beings who had lost their reasoning faculties,
and were flying from a thousand fancied dangers as well as from the real
danger that crowded so close upon them, aggravating the fearfulness of
their situation by the very precipitancy with which they were seeking to
escape from it. On the hill were ten thousand of the enemy, pouring
their murderous volleys in upon the National troops, yelling and
hooting, to increase the alarm and confusion; hundreds of cavalry horses
left riderless at the first discharge from the rebels, were dashing
frantically about in all directions; a score of batteries of artillery
were thrown into disorder, some properly manned, seeking to gain
positions for effective duty, and others flying from the field; battery
wagons, ambulances, horses, men, cannon, caissons, all jumbled and
tumbled together in an apparently inextricable mass, and that murderous
fire still pouring in upon them. To add to the terror of the occasion
there was but one means of escape from the field, and that through a
little narrow neck or ravine washed out by Scott’s Creek. Toward this
the confused mass plunged headlong. For a moment it seemed as if no
power could avert the frightful calamity that threatened the entire
army. That neck passed, and this panic-stricken, disordered body of men
and animals permitted to pass down through the other corps of the army,
destruction was sure. But in the midst of that wildest alarm there was a
cool head. That calamity was averted by the determined self-possession
of Major-General Daniel E. Sickles.
The disastrous flight of the Eleventh corps may here be concluded. They
did not all fly across Sickles’s line. They dispersed and ran in all
directions, regardless of the order of their going. They seemed
possessed with an instinctive idea of the shortest and most direct line
from the point whence they started to the United States Ford, and the
majority of them did not stop until they had reached it.
General Birney first learned of the shameful stampede of the German
corps by the flight of their troops across his lines; and seeing that
retreat was inevitable he prepared for it, but found that the rebels had
gained possession of the road by which he had advanced. He was,
therefore, obliged to make a road out, which he did by moving quietly
down into the ravine. This movement was successfully accomplished with
no further trouble than a slight skirmish with the rebels in the ravine;
after which General Birney moved his column out in perfect order.
General Whipple, with much difficulty, saved his command, which was
attacked in rear by the rebels, and broken in upon on the flank by the
demoralized men of the Eleventh. He brought off his troops, however, in
comparatively good order, and bivouacked for the night with Birney and
Pleasanton on a little farm in the woods. Thus ended the battle of the
second day.
THE THIRD DAY’S BATTLE. SUNDAY, MAY 3.
Once more General Hooker formed a new line of battle, which placed
General Reynolds on the extreme right, with his right flank resting on
the Rappahannock. General Slocum’s corps held the centre, and that of
General Sickles the left, with its left resting on the stream called
Scott’s creek.
Couch and Meade were left to look after the front towards
Fredericksburg, while the remnant of the Eleventh was to be used, if it
could be reorganized, wherever it could be most effective. On the
previous night, during the confusion of the stampede, General Berry, of
Sickles’ corps, had moved up the plank road and taken a position just at
the edge of the woods, where he met the enemy as they were advancing to
complete the discomfiture of the right wing, and had hurled them back
most effectually. He was then ordered to retain the ground he had thus
defended, which he did most gallantly, and lost his life at the post of
duty.
Precisely at sunrise the rebels advanced with characteristic promptness
and courage, upon the two divisions commanded by General Sickles. At the
same moment, another body pushed down the road towards Berry’s division,
and fell upon it with great violence. Never, on any battle field, have
men of any nation fought with more determined bravery than did the rebel
force on this occasion. It was evident that this battle must decide the
contest of the campaign between the National and the rebel troops. The
opposing force of Union men was very small; but they fought with most
determined bravery. Although they were assailed by a force of twenty
thousand men, against whom they could oppose only the remains of two
brigades under Williams and Whipple, numbering not over five thousand in
all, there was no faltering.
On the occasion of this Sunday morning attack the colors of the corps
were still upon the field, as also the corps commander. Their brigade
colors were also there, and he is but a poor soldier who deserts his
flag when it is in danger, and there was danger now.
But it was impossible that they could hold their ground against the
overwhelming numbers of the enemy; and after hardly an hour’s gallant
fighting, they were forced to fall back to the shelter of a stone wall,
some distance in the rear. Here they made another bold stand, and soon
mowed down from the enemy’s ranks tenfold the number which they had lost
from their own.
Regiment after regiment were completely swept away by their musketry and
the grape and canister of their artillery, and yet fresh regiments were
as often pushed forward to take their places. At last, gaining
possession of the woods on the right of the stone wall, the foe got an
enfilading fire on the heroic patriots, who were compelled to abandon
their position. But if the enemy had driven them back, it had cost him
dearly. That little field was strewn all over with the mangled corpses
of the slain rebels, telling the silent story of the desperation of the
struggle.
For more than an hour these men had held the rebels in check; and had
thus given General Hooker an opportunity to perfect his main line of
battle.
The battle had by this time become general, and raged fiercely in all
directions.
In the mean time the Sixth corps, General Sedgwick, had crossed the
Rappahannock, and were moving upon Fredericksburg. They carried the
first line of the rebel intrenchments, and thus obtained a position
about six miles from General Hooker.
On the following morning, Monday the 4th, the rebels appeared in strong
force upon General Sedgwick’s front, and upon the hills to the left.
About four in the afternoon they moved up to attack; and although the
Union artillery opened upon them from every point, their slow and steady
advance could not be checked; and General Sedgwick, after a hot and
fierce engagement of five hours, was compelled to fall slowly back to
Banks’ Ford, and that same night he recrossed the Rappahannock.
Up to this time, from five o’clock in the morning, the deafening roar of
musketry, and the booming of a hundred cannon had known hardly any
cessation from any point of the bloody field.
And yet the brave patriots held their position. Could human endurance do
more? They too, were suffering; not slain so lavishly as the enemy,
because sheltered; but their ranks were sensibly thinning. Half past
nine o’clock—the column was growing weak; ten o’clock—the work of death
still went on. Ten thousand brave men had closed their eyes in death
within the past five hours.
Two thousand an hour slain! Ten thousand more had been mangled and
crippled for life. The ratio of deaths to the simply wounded, was never
equalled in war. One to one. The Unionists mowed the enemy down by
brigades; they wounded only by dozens and scores. Could the Union men
endure the exertion long enough? Even though the rebels did so greatly
outnumber them, they should finally be destroyed. But the Federal troops
were exhausted.
Half past ten o’clock. The ranks were broken. From sheer fatigue the men
had given way. One entrance into their rifle pits and the still dense
masses of the enemy made but short work of clearing them. But though
repulsed, the Union troops were not disordered. Like veterans, every
column fell back in order; and the line was re-established at the old
brick house, Chancellorsville, General Hooker’s headquarters.