through which the Union Army might interpose itself between Richmond
and the Confederate Army have thus far proved unavailing. Whether
active at the head of his forces or weak and ailing, borne along his
line in a carriage, General Lee is still untiring in his watchfulness
and, loyally supported by such lieutenants as Ewell, Hill, Early,
Anderson and others, there is always a firm gray wall confronting the
determined line in blue. Attempts to force it had been unsuccessful
at the North Anna and Totopotomy and now, on McClellan's old battle
fields, another fierce assault is to be made on the enemy's works,
though the brunt of the charge will not come on the Fifth Corps this
day; rather will the story be told by those who fought in the ranks of
the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps, which had gained their places, some
portions thereof, late in the afternoon, and after desperate fighting
carried certain of the Confederate defences. Turning again to the words
of General Warren, we learn that there was a movement against the rebel
position which was intrenched with a large space of clear ground in
front, swept by artillery. The Corps suffers a loss of two hundred
killed and wounded and the line is extended four to five miles; the
Corps is attacked in several places, quite severely on the right just
before dark.
Lieutenant Dusseault of Company H has the following account of the
night of the 31st of May and the 1st of June, showing very well what a
portion of the Thirty-ninth was doing:--
[Sidenote: MAY 31, '64]
"On the skirmish line, last night, I became completely exhausted. We
were a mile and a half in advance of our main line; the sergeant with
me was of the One Hundred and Fourth New York; I left him in charge and
went to sleep. About midnight, when it was pitch dark, he roused me,
with the words, 'They are coming! They are coming!' It seems that the
enemy were marching in one, long, steady column towards our right. They
were so near that we could hear their voices, and their tramping shook
the earth where we lay. In the morning we found their earthworks empty,
and we so reported at headquarters. June 1st was pleasant but hot,
our skirmish line, a mile and a half from our main line, was in the
woods and close up to the enemy. At daybreak when we found their works
vacated, I reported to division officer of the picket, Major Pierce,
of the Thirteenth Massachusetts, who ordered me to advance my line.
But just as I was about to do so, we found the enemy were moving back
to our left. They passed within three hundred feet of our picket line,
thus putting us in a precarious position. Their flankers were within
two hundred feet of us, and we did not dare to move in the hour or more
that it took them to pass. There must have been five or six thousand
of them. They finally halted and slipped into their old works. Just
then, the New York Ninth Infantry, deployed as skirmishers advanced to
relieve us, making so much noise that they drew the enemy's fire and
several of the New York boys were killed. The rebels must have thought
the whole Yankee line was advancing, for they shelled the entire woods
severely. We lay as closely as possible, and when there was a lull
in the firing, we would fall back and thus gradually regained the
Regiment, and went to work at building breastworks. About 7 p. m., we
moved to our left, into an open field, where we threw up a new line
of works, making the eighteenth that we had started in this campaign.
There was a terrible battle in progress at our left, lasting till 9 p.
m., the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps losing heavily."
Though no part of the experience of the Fifth Corps, it is quite in
place to state that the battle which was heard at the Union left
was that of the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps in the beginning of the
sanguinary contest which was to rage along the lines of blue and gray
for almost two weeks and which, in these, the opening hours, marked the
attempt of the above named bodies to dislodge the Confederate divisions
of Hoke, Kershaw, Pickett and Field, reading from rebel right to left,
resulting in partial success but at the cost of between two and three
thousand men on our side. During the night of the 1st Hancock and his
Second Corps were withdrawn from the Union right, and by dint of a
very trying march were found at the extreme Union left in the morning
of the 2d of June, yet not in time for the early charge which had been
ordered for that day. The several corps are now in order from left to
right, Second, Sixth, Eighteenth, Fifth and Ninth, with a considerable
gap between the Eighteenth and Fifth, covered by a picket line only.
Captain Porter of the Thirty-ninth, in a paper read in 1881 before the
Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, refers to this hiatus
as an "interval over a most desolate piece of country, woody, rocky,
and quite hilly." The great 3rd of June charge, that to which Grant
in his Memoirs refers, saying, "I have always regretted that the last
assault at Cold Harbor was ever made," this bloody scene, also, was at
the Union left, the brunt being borne by the Second Corps, and in less
degree only by the men of the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps. Of the Fifth
Corps, Porter says, "Warren, who occupied a front of nearly four miles,
was altogether too much extended to allow of his having any available
force to assault with, and he was content with carrying the enemy's
skirmish line on his front." The Ninth Corps attacked the foe with some
success, pushing its lines well to the right of the enemy's left.
[Sidenote: JUNE 3, '64]
At noon of the 3rd, owing to the opinion of the several corps
commanders that further assaults would prove futile, General Grant
issued an order to the effect that there should be a suspension of
assaults until further notice. Then followed many days of digging,
applied to parallels and approaches and the making of reconnoisances,
thus keeping the enemy in a state of apprehension, lest he should
detach a portion of his forces to assist in the effort to head off
General Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley. General Warren's account of
the period gives very little of interest save that on the 4th, owing
to the withdrawal of the enemy from the front of the Ninth Corps, the
latter was moved around the Fifth to the space between the Fifth and
the Eighteenth Corps. On the 5th Warren made a reconnoisance on Shady
Grove road, and in the night withdrew to the rear, and was on the road
all night. The 6th he devoted to "putting things in order"; the 7th,
he sent Griffin's and Cutler's divisions to picket the Chickahominy,
and held Ayers and Crawford to support Burnside; 8th, 9th and 10th,
remained in camp; 11th, with all his corps, except Griffin and Cutler,
to Moody's, south of railroad, preparatory to further movement; 12th,
Generals Grant and Meade reached his headquarters at 5.30 p. m. Corps
started at 6 p. m. Reached vicinity of Long Bridge before midnight.
The notes made at the time by men of the Thirty-ninth consist largely
of statements of moving to the right or left and of coming back to
positions formerly occupied; of picketing and of sundry incidents, some
of which are appended, though, in the fighting for which the period
has such a bloody record, the Thirty-ninth bore a very small part,
yet it played its assigned rôle well, at no time failing to do with
alacrity whatever duty came in its way. While not actively engaged in
the assault of the 3rd, as stated above, the men were all on the alert
and anxiously expectant. On the 2nd General Lockwood, who had commanded
the reorganized Second Division a few days, was relieved and ordered
to Baltimore, there to await further orders. His methods were not to
the liking of General Warren. The general trend of the army was towards
the left, and in two installments the Corps marched on the 5th several
miles, fetching up at midnight at Cold Harbor, near the fighting points
of the 1st and 3rd days of the month, camping in the rear of the Second
Corps. Here follow three days of relative peace and quiet, in which
rations are drawn, cooked and consumed with relish and dispatch. "The
quietest time since the 3rd of May" is the record of one observer, and
another says, "It seems nice to be free from firing all the while,
though the bugles keep us in touch with camp life." Baggage wagons get
up on the 6th and officers, after picking out their valises are able
to enjoy a change of linen and, on this day, is promulgated the order
that our old brigade relations are changed and the whole organization
is transferred to the Second Brigade of the Third Division, the latter
being under the command of General S. W. Crawford while Colonel Lyle
remains at the head of the Brigade. The day also marks a slicking up
time, the camp being policed and the quartermaster deals out much
needed wearing apparel. Our camp is not far from the headquarters of
General Warren. Our change to the Third Division also changes the hue
of our corps badge, the maltese cross, from white to blue.
On the 7th, B. H. Dow, the only man wounded at Mine Run, returns to
his "C" Company. That an unusual degree of quiet prevailed in these
days appears when, on the 9th, the wagons brought up a desk for the
adjutant, the bands begin to play again, drilling is resumed and the
Second Brigade has a dress parade, but the event of all which pleased
the Thirty-ninth most was the return of Lieutenant Colonel Peirson, who
had been absent after his wounding at Laurel Hill. One of the boys thus
entered the incident in his diary: "We cheered him heartily; a brave
man commands the respect of all; his patriotism cannot be questioned,
when he has the privilege of a furlough of thirty days, but instead of
taking it comes back to his Regiment."
In Charles E. Davis's history of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Infantry,
we may read an excellent statement of the soldiers' feelings toward
General Grant:--
"No matter what happened, we moved forward. No backward steps were
taken--an experience to which the Army of the Potomac, hitherto, had
been unused. The consequence was that the "Old Man," as General Grant
was called, was always greeted with genuine enthusiasm, though he
didn't seem to care very much for it. In his old blouse and hat he
appeared like the rest of us,--ragged and dirty. Once when we passed
him, he sat on a platform car, gnawing away on an old ham bone. As
the boys cheered him, he gave the bone a flourish for a second,
and then went on gnawing it as though we were miles away. It was
wonderful how thoroughly this retiring, undemonstrative man had gained
the confidence of the army. In spite of the hard work we had been
having, the men were in good spirits, pleased that at last we were
accomplishing something."
[Sidenote: JUNE 7, '64]
The 7th marks the departure from the corps of the Eighty-third New
York, Ninth Militia of the Second Brigade, its terms of enlistment
having expired, and it is to offset the going home of regiments,
through reaching their end of service, that great numbers of recruits
are coming in constantly. In the case of the Eighty-third, so severe
has been its losses, it takes away only one hundred and fifty men. The
ninth day gives the men a new exhibition, that of a correspondent of
the Philadelphia Inquirer being escorted through the army by a Provost
Marshal's guard, bearing on his back, a board labelled, "Libeller of
the Press," on account of certain libellous letters he had written to
his paper. However sad the man may have been, through his punishment,
his plight affords the observers a deal of amusement. During these days
mails arrive and depart and, after the complete rest of a few days,
to the survivors of the May experience, life really seems to be worth
living. With the 11th is associated the memory of reveillé at four
o'clock, breakfast at six, and then a march which takes us across the
York and Richmond Railroad at about 11 a. m. and a mile or so south
of it we halt for dinner. The march ends near Bottom's Bridge on the
Chickahominy River, camps being pitched on the very ground occupied by
McClellan's troops two years before. The 12th is Sunday and so long
has been the interval since religious services were held, some men are
glad of the chance to hear a Christian Commission man preach; and the
Thirty-ninth is inspected by Colonel Lyle, brigade commander. At 7 p.
m. the line of march is once more taken up and we proceed some miles
towards the east, halting at eleven o'clock for a rest and supper.
TOWARDS THE JAMES RIVER
The veteran soldiers who are participating in this southward movement,
though they may not know the details that are in the minds of Grant
and Meade, are well aware that the grand purpose announced in the
Wilderness is still being developed and, that the "summer-long line" is
that which they are following. The Lieutenant General, having found
the way too effectually blocked via Cold Harbor as early as the 5th of
June, when Warren's men were withdrawn and sent towards the left of the
Union line, had determined to change his base of operations and, after
crossing the James, to lay siege to Petersburg, and thus to capture the
Capital of the Confederacy. The pause of the Fifth Corps for several
days had given the men the necessary rest and recuperation for the
lead they were to take in the new flank movement and now, just before
midnight of the 12th of June, they are awaiting the completion of a
pontoon bridge over which they may pass to the south side and so hold
the way open for the other troops to follow. General Warren refers to
the locality as Long Bridge, but the map which accompanies Humphreys'
"Campaign of '64 and '65" has it as "Long's Bridge," but in either
case, whether called for its length or some family resident near, the
structure had disappeared through the ravages of war, and a temporary
bridge becomes a necessity.
The Journal of the Fifth Corps Commander for this 13th of June has the
following entry:--
"Our cavalry drove back the enemy's to New Market Cross Roads.
Crawford's (Third) Division went to White Oak Swamp bridge to cover
passage of trains and Second Corps. At 8 a. m. began to withdraw,
bothered by McIntosh's (union) cavalry brigade, and only got as far as
St. Mary's Church, though traveling nearly all night. Enemy did not
follow."
Lieut. John H. Dusseault says:--
[Sidenote: JUNE 13, '64]
"On June 13, we resumed our march at 1 a. m., and crossed the
Chickahominy near Long Bridge, on pontoons, just before daylight.
There was some slight skirmishing. At 6 a. m., we marched for two
hours, covering about two miles only, and formed in line of battle.
We were now in White Oak Swamp, between the James River and the
Chickahominy, and the skirmishing was lively. We were marching on a
straight road and we could see a fort nearly a mile in front of us.
They opened upon us from the fort, and the first shell struck the
road before it reached our column. The men opened to the right and
left, and the shell ricocheted down between them. We then left the
road and went into the fields and woods. If I remember correctly we
went to the left of the road. Our Brigade advanced some ways in the
direction of Richmond, which was perhaps seven or eight miles away,
the balance of the division remaining in the rear as a support. We did
some light skirmishing during the afternoon, and the enemy charged
some dismounted cavalry, who were located upon our right, and drove
them back some distance. Shortly after dark, somewhere between 8 and 9
p. m., all of the officers of the brigade were ordered up to Colonel
Lyle's (the Brigade's) headquarters. The Colonel told us of the
position which we were in, stating that we were nearly surrounded, and
that an attempt would be made at about midnight to get out. He also
told us to tell our men of our position, also that no orders above a
whisper should be given, and, that if we heard so much as a tin dipper
jingling upon a man's haversack, to cut it off. We were told to get
what rest we could between then and midnight. At about midnight the
line fell in, seemingly without orders, faced to the left, and marched
through a field where some tall grain was growing, and the men,
knowing our position and being anxious to get out, kept increasing
their pace and rattling the grain, so that it was necessary to halt
them and to start them again from time to time until we had cleared
the grain field. The night was very dark and the darkness favored our
escape. We started again at Charles City Court House, not far from
the James. At this time the Second Corps was crossing the James. We
then found that while we were making this demonstration toward the
enemy and occupying their attention, Grant had been moving the chief
part of the army across the peninsular, toward the James River, and
Petersburg. In fact, when we arrived, the Ninth Corps had crossed
and the Second Corps was crossing the James. We crossed the James on
the 16th, on the transport General Howard and were landed upon the
Petersburg side at 9 a. m. I was told by another officer that it was
understood that it was necessary that some small portion of the army
should make this demonstration and occupy the attention of the enemy
while the chief part of it should be crossing to the Petersburg side
of the James and it was thought to be our turn to take the risk which
attended it. General Warren is said to have remarked that he never
expected to see us again."
After dark, we were withdrawn and started on a march which involved
the taking of a wrong road and the consequent loss of valuable time,
passing St. Mary's Church and just before daybreak of the 14th halted
on the road to Charles City Court House. Starting again at six, by ten
o'clock we were near the place named for that unfortunate British King
who lost both crown and head, the place showing plainly the effect of
McClellan's presence two years before. Were it not for the Court House
itself, a one-storied edifice with a porch, and a blacksmith shop the
place would be scarcely more than a name, but some one remarks, "We
must be getting somewhere for I can hear the steamers whistle on the
James River." Had we been supplied with rations our pleasure at the
prospect and the rest would have been greater, but our haversacks were
quite empty. However, we could go to sleep, which we proceeded to do at
the early hour of eight o'clock.
[Sidenote: JUNE 16, '64]
The 15th was not eventful save as it brought the long expected
wagon train and rations galore. There was a complete filling of all
receptacles with the necessities of army life, and after stuffing
ourselves with hardtack and the other good things that those wagons
carried we were in a mood to enjoy ourselves, though we couldn't help
wishing that the mail would come, bringing news from the far-away
homes in the North. With a sort of forewarning that exactions would
be made upon our vigor and strength on the morrow, again we turned in
early. Sure enough we were turned out at two o'clock in the morning of
the 16th for a march of three miles to Wilcox's Wharf on the banks of
the James and the sight of the glorious river and the banks, in many
cases, crowned with the mansions of aristocratic Virginians. The entire
country, robed in the brightest of green, was one to make an indelible
impression on the memory. The Thirty-ninth crossed the river on the
transports, "General Howard," "George Weems" and possibly others,
and by 9 a. m. we were all on the southern side. Here we found the
Seventh Massachusetts, an Old Colony regiment, just taking boat for
home. A splendid fighting body of men, they had earned the long rest
that was coming to them. The pause, when over the river, afforded an
opportunity for a plunge into the waters of the classic James, a chance
that thousands of the men embraced, the very first one since crossing
the Rapidan, and many declared that in all their army experience they
had found no place equal to it, certainly none that they enjoyed more.
Concerning this movement to the south of the James, a dispatch was sent
from army headquarters to Washington as follows:--
"Our forces withdrew from within fifty yards of the enemy's
entrenchments at Cold Harbor, made a flank movement of about
fifty-five miles march, crossing the Chickahominy and James Rivers,
the latter two thousand feet wide and eighty-four feet deep at the
point of crossing, and surprised the enemy's rear at Petersburg."
PETERSBURG
The long-continued battle of Petersburg had already begun before
we were in battle line. General Butler, on the other side of the
Appomattox, on this Thursday morning through General Terry, had
assaulted Port Walthall with the intention of interrupting the coming
of rebel re-inforcements on the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad and, the
night before, troops of the Eighteenth Corps, which had been with us
at Cold Harbor, had attacked south of the river, and had there been a
supporting force at hand, the second as well as the first line of works
might have been carried. As troops of the Second Corps came up they
were sent against the works and, during the night and the following
day, the 16th, the contest continued along the line composed of the
Eighteenth Corps on the right, the Second in the centre and the Ninth
on the left. All this while we of the Fifth Corps were sporting in the
waters of the James. Meanwhile other portions of the Fifth Corps had
gone forward, and at four o'clock in the afternoon the Thirty-ninth
with its neighbors started on the road to Petersburg. After covering
some ten miles of the way, we halted at 10.30 p. m. for food and rest,
the route having been over hills and through swamps, difficult at the
best, all the more so at night.
It was early in the morning of the 17th when the march was resumed,
and at 9 a. m. we halted in the rear of breastworks, our entire route
having been enlivened by the sound of firing, more or less vigorous,
indicating a resumption of the days at Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor.
Moreover, Massachusetts men do not forget that it is the 17th of June,
and noise they had grown to think a regular accompaniment of that
illustrious date. We are at the Union left and massed in the rear
of the Ninth Corps, under Burnside, and the duty of our Corps is to
act as a support of the Ninth if needed. We are about two miles from
Petersburg and from many points the city is plainly seen. The cupola
of Dinwiddie County Court House will be a target for Union artillery
during many coming months. Lying in the breastworks through the day and
night, we were exposed to the missiles of the enemy; Lieut Wyman of
"H" and Captain Willard Kinsley of "K" as well as others were wounded.
Unless he could sleep in the direst confusion there was no closing of
the eyelids during this first night in front of Petersburg. In this
memorable siege, the 18th of June is a notable date, for then there
was concerted action along the entire line, though not in such uniform
time and order as General Meade desired. It was a bloody day in which
a vigorous effort was made to force the rebel lines before the arrival
of help from the Northward. This might have been done earlier in the
day, but, before the advance could be made, re-inforcements had arrived
to nearly, if not quite, equal the number of the Union soldiers, and
General Meade's orders were to hold what had been gained and to fortify
immediately. The casualties of the four days, 15th-18th, footed up
nearly two thousand killed and more than eight thousand wounded, the
charges of this 18th day ending assaults on intrenched positions. The
work of the Fifth Corps is thus described by a war correspondent:
[Sidenote: JUNE 18, '64]
"On the left of the Ninth was the Fifth Corps, in the following order
of divisions: from right to left--Crawford (3), Griffin (1), Cutler
(4), Ayers (2). At early morning the advance was made and the enemy's
withdrawal discovered. The Corps then prepared for a new advance,
meanwhile keeping up a fierce fire of infantry and artillery. At noon,
simultaneously with the attack of the Second Corps, a determined and
vigorous advance was made. The ground to be crossed was generally open
and cultivated, slightly rolling, and here and there artificially
prepared with abatis, as well as naturally defended by undergrowth.
The advance was against the south side of the Norfolk Railroad, and
was partially, but not fully successful. In the evening again, at
the time of Mott's attack in the centre (when the First Maine Heavy
Artillery was so badly cut up) Griffin's and Cutler's divisions once
more assaulted with great vigor. But here as before the labor was
lost. The enemy foiled all our desperate endeavors."