BATTLE OF FLEETWOOD HILL, JUNE 9TH, 1863
The Battle of Chancellorsville was fought on the 3d of May, 1863. It
stands in military history as one of the remarkable battles of the
world. It was a great victory in one sense for the Confederate Army,
but on that fatal field died Stonewall Jackson, one of the wonderful
soldiers of the ages.
Amidst the gloom of an unsuccessful campaign, and when defeat was
apparently impending about his hosts, a brave European general
gathered around him his several commanders and asked of them a
detailed enumeration of the forces that could be depended upon in the
approaching conflict. Conscious of the inferiority of numbers, the
reports were made, with countenances and words showing the profound
fear of misfortune on the coming day. Distressed by this despondence,
the unterrified leader rose and striking the table with his hands,
vehemently cried out: “How many do you count me?” Instantly the scene
changed. His courage restored the waning valor of his followers. In
all battles the Confederate soldiers in Northern Virginia, who came
in contact with General Jackson, counted him alone a mighty host.
In May and June, 1863, hope was still radiant in the hearts and minds
of the defenders of Southern independence. The superb defense of
Vicksburg, as well as Port Hudson, indicated that the possession
of the Mississippi was yet a debatable proposition, and that the
division of the Confederacy by the capture of that mighty stream
would be long delayed. The crushing of Hooker at Chancellorsville
demonstrated that none of the efficiency and power of the Army of
Northern Virginia was gone. Beyond the Mississippi, the position of
the army there made it certain that many months would come and go
before the Union forces would be able to get very far south of the
Arkansas River.
Soldiers as brave and self-reliant as the men of the Army of Northern
Virginia had grounds of hope that ordinary soldiers could not feel.
They were made of the best metal and fashioned in the finest mold,
and thus could hope when others might despair.
The first sting of the death of Stonewall Jackson had abated. General
Stuart had won honor when Jackson had fallen, and there were many,
many great soldiers in this army of Northern Virginia who felt the
uplift of faith in God, and these could but believe that in the end,
some way, another leader would be developed to help General Lee
in the future, and be to him what Jackson had been in the earlier
campaigns of that loved commander.
The Battle of Fleetwood Hill, sometimes called “Brandy Station,”
was almost entirely a cavalry contest. It was fought on the 9th of
June, 1863. Some of the most important as well as desperate scenes
of the battle were on what was known as “Fleetwood Hill.” This was
the center of a once beautiful estate. War had despoiled some of its
grandeur, but even in its ruin it was magnificent. The storm of
conflict raged from dawn to late in the afternoon, with unabating
fury. Men on both sides seemed immune to fatigue or fear, and for
fourteen hours, as if endued with supernatural energy and power,
struggled amidst dust, smoke, starvation and wounds and death with
unflagging fury, in the maddening work of ruin and destruction. This
hill was adorned by a colonial mansion. The ground about it rose
with gradual ascent until it reached the top of the eminence, from
which point there fell upon the gaze of the beholder one of the most
beautiful views in Virginia. This country had hitherto been rendered
famous by some of the greatest of military achievements known to men.
Later it would add new titles to historic greatness with the names of
Second Manassas, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, but on this day it
was to crown the cavalry of both the Army of Northern Virginia and
the Army of the Potomac with a glow that would never dim.
Culpepper Court House was the county seat of Culpepper County, and
within the limits of this county was situated Fleetwood Hill. It
was fifty miles from Washington, and Brandy Station was five miles
south of the north fork of the Rappahannock River. From Kelley’s
Ford on the Rappahannock River to Brandy Station was five and a
half miles; from Kelley’s Ford to Stevensburg was seven miles; from
Brandy Station to St. James Church was one mile and a half; and from
Brandy Station to Beverly’s Ford on the Rappahannock River was four
miles. From Fleetwood Hill to St. James Church was one mile, and from
Kelley’s Ford to Beverly’s Ford, three miles.
GENERAL ALFRED PLEASANTON
The Federal forces were commanded by General Alfred Pleasanton, who
was born in Washington City, June 7th, 1824. In 1844 he graduated
from the United States Military Academy and became second lieutenant
in the First Dragoons. He was at Palo Alto and at Resaca de La Palma.
He was in the Seminole war and in operations in Washington Territory,
Oregon and Kansas. In February, 1861, he became major of the Second
United States Cavalry and marched with his regiment from Utah to
Washington. He was in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 and in July of
that year was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. By September
he was a division commander. He was at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and
at Chancellorsville. His friends claimed that he stayed the advance
of Stonewall Jackson on May 2d, 1863. He was at Gettysburg and
subsequently transferred to Missouri. He was made a brigadier general
in the regular army in 1865, for meritorious conduct, and mustered
out in 1866. He was a vigorous and daring leader and won a splendid
reputation by hard fighting. Later in the struggle he was transferred
to the West and won some signal victories in Missouri, and was at one
time offered the command of the Army of the Potomac.
JOHN BUFORD
General Pleasanton had with him as second in command John Buford,
who was born in Kentucky in 1825. He was graduated from the Military
Academy at West Point in 1848, and became second lieutenant in the
First Dragoons. He was in the Sioux expedition in 1855, in Kansas in
1856 and ’57, and in the Utah expedition in 1857 and ’58. In 1861 he
was promoted to be a major and was designated inspector general of a
corps in November, 1861. He was on General Polk’s staff in 1862. On
the 27th day of July he was made brigadier-general and given command
of a cavalry brigade composed of some of the very best of Federal
cavalry, the 1st Michigan, the 5th New York, 1st Vermont and 1st West
Virginia. He was wounded at the Second Manassas. In the Maryland
campaign he was acting chief of cavalry of the Army of the Potomac.
He was also at Antietam. Upon the organization of the cavalry of the
Army of the Potomac, General Stoneman became the ranking officer,
and Buford commanded the reserve cavalry. He was at Fredericksburg,
December 3d, 1862, in Stoneman’s raid on Richmond in May, 1863, at
Beverly Ford, June, 1863. He was at Gettysburg and his associates
felt that he did wonderful service there. At Fleetwood Hill, he
did some of the best fighting. He was not afraid of any sort of
clash with his enemies. He died in November, 1863, and a statue at
Gettysburg commemorates his work there.
GEORGE WESLEY MERRITT
General George Wesley Merritt was born in New York City, June 16th,
1836. He went to West Point in 1855, graduating in 1860, and was
assigned at once to the cavalry service. By April 5th, 1862, he was
captain of the 2d United States Cavalry. He served on the staff of
General Phillips and St. George Cooke; later, under General Stoneman.
By April 3d, 1863, he had attained to the command of the 2d United
States Cavalry. He saw the fighting at Gettysburg. He was at Yellow
Tavern, where Stuart received his fatal wound. By June 29th, 1863, he
had become a brigadier general. He was with Sherman in the Shenandoah
campaign and in 1864 was made major general. He was one of the
three Federal commissioners to arrange the terms of surrender at
Appomattox. In June, 1898, he was appointed military governor of the
Philippine Islands, and with an army of eight thousand men arrived at
Manila on June 25th. His active military career covered a period of
nearly forty years, and he witnessed some of the most desperate and
effective fighting of any soldier who served in the army to which his
life was devoted.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DAVIS
With General Pleasanton also on that day was Benjamin Franklin Davis,
who was born in Alabama in 1832, graduated from the United States
Military Academy in 1854, and served with great credit in both
infantry and cavalry in Mexico. In 1861 he sided against the state of
his nativity. In 1862 he became colonel of the 8th New York Cavalry
and was in command of a brigade of Federals in this engagement. With
Wesley Merritt, D. McM. Gregg and Colonel A. N. Duffie, this made a
splendid aggregation of cavalry experience and military genius.
General Pleasanton had under him ten thousand nine hundred and
eighty soldiers. The best the Federal Army had in cavalry at that
time was at Fleetwood. The generals in command were brave, able and
experienced. They had been prodded about what Stuart had been doing.
Their pride and courage were involved and aroused, and they were
longing for an opportunity, which had now come, to have a real test
of the spirit and grit of the Confederate cavalry.
The horsemen of the Union armies had now been taught both how to ride
and how to shoot. They were well mounted and well armed, and their
training made them formidable foes. The war had now been in progress
for two years and the Federal cavalry drill and training had been
brought to a very high standard. The Federal troopers had become
apt scholars. They were anxious to demonstrate their valor, their
discipline and their power.
On the Confederate side were nine thousand five hundred and
thirty-six men, and these constituted the best horsemen the Army of
Northern Virginia could send into battle—in fact, about all it could
offer. Stuart himself had long since established a reputation as one
of the most enterprising and successful of cavalry leaders, and he
had with him lieutenants who were as brave and as able as any who
could be found. The generals and men under him were superb horsemen
and accurate shots when the war began. To great pride they had added
wide experience in campaigning. Well educated, highly bred, and
intensely patriotic, they were foemen the most intrepid men might
justly fear.
WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH LEE
Major General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee was a son of Robert E. Lee
and was born on May 21st, 1837. Graduating at Harvard when he was
twenty years of age, he was appointed second lieutenant in the 6th
Infantry, and he served under Albert Sidney Johnson in Utah and
California. In 1859 he resigned his commission to operate his farm,
known as the “White House,” on the Pamunky River, which became not
only important as a strategic position, but famous in the history
of the war. At the beginning of 1861, he organized a company of
cavalry and later became a major in the new-made Confederate Army.
In West Virginia he was chief of cavalry for General Loring. In the
winter of 1861 and ’62, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of
the 9th Virginia, and in less than two months became its colonel.
His regiment constituted a part of the brigade of General J. E. B.
Stuart. In the Chickahominy raid he was one of the three colonels
with Stuart, and his troops defeated the Federal cavalry on June
13th in this expedition. He suffered rough treatment at Boonsboro.
He was knocked from his horse and left unconscious by the roadside;
but reached Sharpsburg in time for the fight. He rode with Stuart
in the Chambersburg raid. His courage and intrepidity saved Stuart,
by protecting the ford at which he must cross. In November Lee
became brigadier general. He was prominent at Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville, and at Fleetwood he was captured after being
severely wounded. He was carried to Fortress Monroe and subsequently
to Fort LaFayette and was exchanged in March, 1864. At this time
he was promoted to be a major general and commanded a division of
Confederate cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia. He was with
General Lee, his father, to the end. After the war he returned to
his plantation. He was a member of the Fiftieth, Fifty-first and
Fifty-second Congresses from the Eighth Virginia District and died at
Alexandria in 1901.
WILLIAM CARTER WICKHAM
Another prominent leader on the Confederate side was William Carter
Wickham, who was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1820. He graduated
at the University of Virginia in 1842. He was bitterly opposed to
the war and voted against the Ordinance of Secession. He recruited,
however, the Hanover Dragoons, was in the first battle of Manassas,
and in September, 1861, was made lieutenant colonel of the 4th
Virginia Cavalry, and in August, 1862, became colonel of that
regiment. He rendered valiant service at the Second Manassas, at
Boonsboro and at Sharpsburg. At Upperville he was wounded the second
time, and took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 12th,
1862. Elected to Congress in 1863, he remained with his regiment
until the fall of 1864. He helped to stop Kilpatrick’s raid on
Richmond and Custer’s attack on Charlottesville. He was in the
Battle of the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania Court House, and was
with Stuart on May 11th, at Yellow Tavern. The last brigade order
issued by General Stuart was to General Wickham to dismount his
brigade and attack. Wickham was with Early in the valley. After the
reverse at Fisher’s Hill, he stayed the advance so as to allow the
reorganization of Early’s forces. On the 5th of October, 1864, he
resigned his commission in the army, transferring his command to
General Rosser, and took a seat in Congress. He died in Richmond,
Virginia, in 1888. The state of Virginia erected a statue to his
memory on the capitol grounds in Richmond.
BEVERLY HOLCOMBE ROBERTSON
Brigadier General Beverly Holcombe Robertson was a graduate of the
United States Military Academy in 1849, and became second lieutenant
in the Second Dragoons. By hard service in the West he was promoted
to first lieutenant in 1859, and was under Edgerton of the Second
Dragoons in the Utah campaign. He severed his connection with the
United States Army and became a colonel in the Virginia cavalry. He
was sent to take command of Ashby’s cavalry. In September, 1863, he
was assigned to the command of the Department of North Carolina,
and took charge of the organization and training of cavalry troops.
Immediately preceding the battle at Fleetwood, he was sent to
reinforce Stuart. He was at Gettysburg and in the raid through
Maryland. After returning from Gettysburg, the regiments comprising
his brigade were so reduced that he sought service in another field,
and was given command of the Second Division of South Carolina. His
cavalry forces were particularly prominent in the Battle of Charles
City Cross Roads, and in the battles with Sherman’s troops, on their
march to the sea, he bore a valiant and distinguished part.
JOHN RANDOLPH CHAMBLISS
General John Randolph Chambliss was born in Greenville County,
Virginia, in 1833, and graduated from the United States Military
Academy in 1853. In July, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the
13th Virginia Cavalry, and was under the orders of General D. H. Hill
on the James River during the fall of that year. He was assigned to
General W. H. F. Lee’s cavalry brigade, and was regarded as one of
the most determined and intrepid fighters. After General W. H. F.
Lee’s wound and the death of Colonel Sol Williams, Colonel Chambliss
took command of the brigade. He was at Gettysburg and in the Bristoe
skirmish. In December, 1864, he was commissioned brigadier general.
In the cavalry battle at Charles City Cross Roads on the north side
of the James River, he was killed on the 16th of August, 1864. His
body was buried by his enemies, but was afterwards delivered to his
friends. General Lee, in speaking of his death, said: “The loss
sustained by the cavalry in the fall of General Chambliss will be
felt throughout the army. By his courage, energy and skill, he had
won for himself an honored name.”
WILLIAM E. JONES
General William E. Jones, another of the Confederate leaders, was
born in Washington County, Virginia, in May, 1824. He graduated from
West Point in 1848. He did splendid service in the West. At the
time of the passage of the Ordinance of Secession by Virginia, he
had organized a company of cavalry known as the Washington Mounted
Rifles. His company was part of General Stuart’s command. He became
colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry with Fitzhugh Lee as lieutenant
colonel. In 1862 he was displaced by regimental election, and was
assigned to the 7th Virginia regiment. He was at Sharpsburg and was
promoted on November 8th to be brigadier general and was assigned
to the command of the Laurel Brigade. In April and May, 1863, he
conducted a daring and successful raid on the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, west of Cumberland. From this expedition he joined Stuart,
and at Brandy Station no leader acquitted himself more splendidly. At
Boonsboro his command captured over six hundred Federal prisoners. In
1861 differences had begun between General Stuart and Colonel Jones.
This became so intense that it was necessary to remove Colonel Jones,
and he was sent to Southwestern Virginia. A man of splendid executive
ability, he organized an excellent brigade and was with Longstreet
in Tennessee. He prevented Averell from destroying the salt works in
Southwestern Virginia. On May 23d, 1864, he was placed in command of
the Department of Southwestern Virginia, while General Breckinridge
was absent in the valley. In the fight at Piedmont, Virginia, he
fell, leading his forces in the conflict, and his body was not
recovered until after the battle.
THOMAS TAYLOR MUNFORD
Another officer of deserved distinction was General Thomas Taylor
Munford, who was born in Richmond in 1831. He graduated from the
Virginia Military Institute in 1852. At the outbreak of the war he
was a planter. He became lieutenant colonel of the 30th Virginia
Mounted Infantry, organized in 1861. This was the first mounted
regiment organized in Virginia. It was subsequently designated as
the 2d Regiment of Cavalry, General Stuart’s regiment being the 1st.
In the re-organization under Stuart, Munford became colonel. He was
in the first fighting and the last fighting of the Army of Northern
Virginia. His career as a cavalry officer was brilliant and notable.
The discharge of all duties committed to him were performed with
absolute faithfulness. When General Ashby died, General Munford was
recommended by General Robert E. Lee as his successor. He received
two severe wounds at the Second Manassas. He was in the Maryland
campaign, was at Sharpsburg and commanded a division of cavalry that
confronted Hancock’s troops. Later he became commander of Fitzhugh
Lee’s brigade. He was at Gettysburg and in the valley campaign with
Early. In November, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier general. At
Five Forks and at High Bridge he maintained the splendid reputation
that he had won in the earlier days of the war. He was with Rosser at
High Bridge, and, in the retreat from Richmond, bore both a prominent
and valiant part. After Lee’s surrender, he endeavored to collect the
scattered Confederate forces and form a junction with Johnson’s army.
General Fitzhugh Lee commanded his excellent services as a division
commander. With large agricultural interests in Virginia and Alabama,
he still survives, full of honors and full of years, and occupies a
most exalted place in the hearts of his Confederate comrades.
At no other place in the war were such a large number of cavalry
engaged in a single conflict. It was practically forty per cent more
men than were engaged in any one cavalry battle during hostilities,
and in few battles were such a large proportion of the leaders West
Point graduates.
On the 22d of May General Stuart reviewed the brigades of Fitzhugh
Lee, W. H. F. Lee and Wade Hampton. He counted four thousand
troopers. This review occurred between Brandy Station and Culpepper
Court House, and a sense of pride and exaltation filled Stuart’s
heart as he looked over the chivalrous and intrepid legions. A few
days later there came over from the valleys of Virginia General
William E. Jones, who brought with him a brigade of fairly well
mounted and armed men. They were of splendid material. There also
came from North Carolina another brigade under General Beverly H.
Robertson. Stuart’s forces now numbered five brigades, constituting a
magnificent array of cavalrymen. Always proud, he announced a great
review for June 5th. He wanted himself and he wanted others to see
in array this grand body of horsemen, in every respect the equal of
any nine thousand men who ever aligned as cavalry. He asked General
Robert E. Lee to be present and to impress these troops with a sight
of his magnificent personality. These horsemen rode, and walked,
trotted and galloped, and salvos of artillery magnified the splendor
of the movements and thrilled the hearts of the riders. General
Lee could not come, but General Stuart had all that the pomp and
pageantry of war at that date in Virginia could present.
General Stuart, still anxious that General Lee should see his men and
that the men should see him, announced another review and parade for
the 8th day of June. Many of the horses were the worse for wear, the
men’s uniforms were worn, faded and many threadbare, but the sabres,
guns and pistols were bright, and if their equipment showed the
marks of heavy service, their hearts were true and loyal to their
beloved country and they were ready to respond to its every call.
The mind of the Confederate commander was revolving the scheme of
the invasion of Pennsylvania, which was to culminate three weeks
later at Gettysburg. He was prone to look at things more quietly than
General Stuart, and so he reviewed this important part of the army
of Northern Virginia, but he forbade the discharge of artillery, and
he only allowed them to pass by him at a walk and trot. He knew who
and what they were and he knew that when the testing moment came
they would be worthy of the Confederacy. Neither General Lee nor
General Stuart had any foreshadowing of what the next day would bring
forth, and General Lee returned to his headquarters in the midst of
his infantry. Stuart’s headquarters were at Fleetwood Hill. General
Pleasanton’s headquarters were across the Rappahannock River, eight
miles away. Neither seemed to know just what the other was doing.
Pleasanton had marched his men down the Rappahannock. He allowed
no fires. He had been sent by General Hooker to find out just what
General Lee was doing and where his army was encamped. Two fords were
accessible, Beverly’s Ford and Kelley’s Ford. General Pleasanton had
resolved to use both to force the fighting and to back up the cavalry
with infantry, to drive anything out of his way that might cross his
path. Stuart, unconscious of the large force of cavalry and infantry
that was ready to cross the Rappahannock, had his men at and about
St. James Church, over at Fleetwood Hill, and down at Beverly’s Ford.
Pleasanton had with him some splendid artillery, especially the 6th
New York Battery. At Chancellorsville, thirty-seven days before, it
had written history, and on the morrow it was to write history again
at Fleetwood. With thirty men beginning the day, it would bring out
unscathed only six; four-fifths were to go down in the storm.
New Jersey, New York, Maine, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island were
getting ready with their troops to try out the question of the
courage and endurance of the horsemen from Virginia, North Carolina,
Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia.
There was to be an all-day fight, and it was to be a hand-to-hand
fight. It was to be a fight in which the sabre would be used. The
ever-handy revolver was to be an incident. The highest type of
courage was to play an important part. In this hard-fought contest
cowards would have no place. If there was cowardice hovering around
on that day it did not come to the surface. Valor oozed out from
the pores of the actors. The very atmosphere was full of courageous
inspiration. Death would lose its terrors on Fleetwood Hill, and fear
would be relegated to the rear. Smoke and dust would obscure the
sight but could not and would not affect the courage of those who
participated. It might hide the vision and obstruct the breathing,
but the men who were to fight at Fleetwood were to take no heed
of weather or atmospheres. It was to be a complete triumph over
all that nature could offer to impede, and a fight with an almost
supernatural fierceness that was apparently to be something more
than human.
With the dawn General Gregg, with Duffie, crossed at Kelley’s
Ford. Gregg traveled with Duffie to Stevensburg and then turned
north toward Brandy Station. Duffie went on farther and passed by
Stevensburg, and then turned north to Brandy Station; and Pleasanton
crossed at Beverly’s Ford, and he headed his columns toward Fleetwood
Hill, around which were to be woven wreaths of glory for the men on
both sides who here went to battle.
Stuart himself on the night of the 8th camped at Fleetwood Hill. This
position commanded a view of the entire country with the exception of
immediately westward, which was known as the Barbour place, which was
a little higher than Fleetwood Hill.
Telepathy, which frequently pervades the movements of armies, spoke
to the Confederates. Their slumbers were disquieted and they breathed
in the air that something important was close at hand. Stuart and
none of his men knew, for his scouts had not found it out, that less
than four miles away, indeed, in some places less than one mile
away, there were thousands of Federal cavalry ready to dispute the
question of supremacy. General Stuart was himself a mile in the rear
of his forces, which were at St. James Church, a third of the way
between Fleetwood Hill and Beverly’s Ford, on the road which ran from
Beverly’s Ford, and which led along the north bank to Duffin’s Run.
Pleasanton had crossed the Rappahannock in the early morning and was
starting on an expedition to break up Confederate communications
and find out where all the Confederates were. With twenty
thousand horsemen equally matched and in such close proximity,
all on the alert, battle could not be long postponed. General
Hooker had suspected a forward movement of General Lee’s army.
General Pleasanton had behind him Russell’s and Ames’ brigades of
infantrymen, and with real military skill had managed to conceal his
presence from his enemies, and the Confederates were surprised when,
at the dawn of day, Colonel Davis of the 8th New York Cavalry passed
the Rappahannock at Beverly’s Ford. The Federals had begun operations
very early, even before light. A company of the 6th Virginia Cavalry
was ready to dispute the passage of the river and these Virginians,
under command of Captain Gibson, persistently and skillfully delayed
the advance of the Federal forces. The pickets contested every inch
of ground, and for half a mile Davis’ brigade was fighting its
way—still pressing forward—and its men realized before the sun had
gotten up that the day’s work would be serious. After Davis and his
New York regiment had traveled half a mile, Major Flournoy, who
commanded the 6th Virginia Cavalry, collected one hundred men. It
was barely light, but he went after the 8th New York with vigor. A
third of the Confederates were either killed or wounded, but they
were not without recompense. Colonel Davis was killed in the fight.
Amongst those in the Confederate charge was Lieutenant R. O. Allen,
of Company D, 6th Virginia Cavalry. In the movement under Flournoy,
his horse was wounded and this induced him to remain in the woods.
Observing a Federal officer in the road, about two hundred feet in
front of his column, Lieutenant Allen advanced upon him. The Federal
commander’s attention was given to his men, and with his sword he
was waving them forward. Allen was upon him before he realized the
situation, and when Colonel Davis turned his head, he assaulted
Allen with his sabre. The fearless Virginian had only one shot in
his pistol; he was taking large risks. He reserved his single shot
for the crucial moment, and swinging himself upon the side of his
horse, he avoided the sword stroke of the Federal; and arising in
his saddle, he fired the one shot which he had reserved for the
emergency, and the Federal colonel fell dead.
Both Federals and Confederates advanced to the scene of this tragic
conflict. Losses were suffered on both sides. The Confederate
lieutenant hastily returned to his lines. The firing attracted the
attention of General Jones, who promptly ordered up the 7th Virginia
Cavalry. The men had been gathered in such haste that a number of
them were coatless, and some of them had pressed forward with such
impatience that they had not taken time to saddle their beasts. The
7th Virginia charged fiercely, but the Federals met the charge with
such courage that the Virginians were forced back and they passed two
guns, of Hart’s Battery, stationed in the road.
Early in the morning the artillery on both sides had given a
wonderful account of themselves. The 7th Virginia Cavalry, many
without their saddles, had rushed to stay the tide of Federal
advance from Beverly’s Ford. These, by sheer force of numbers,
were swept away, leaving the two guns of Hart’s Confederate Battery
unprotected. The Federals, animated by their success in scattering
the cavalry, believed they would find these guns an easy prey, but
the gunners were in no mood to yield their pieces or to run away from
their speechless companions, who, with them, had so firmly stood
in battle array for many months. They had learned to love the iron
and steel, cold and emotionless though it was, and the thought of
these long-time friends passing into the possession and use of their
enemies gave them keenest pangs of regret. Supports or no supports,
they resolved to fight out the right of ownership, and come what
might, to stand or fall by their beloved guns. They saw the advancing
foe. The vibration caused by the tramp of the rushing squadrons could
be felt, and to escape from capture or death seemed hopeless. Once
determined at all hazards to protect their cannon, all questions of
escape were dismissed and all fears banished. With haste quickened by
danger, they fired shot after shot into the advancing columns of the
assailants. Shells were discarded and the deadlier canister pushed
into the pieces, now warm by rapid firing, was sent crashing into
the front ranks of the foe. These dauntless files went down before
the withering currents of death that were starting every moment from
the two guns, and when at last they reached the pieces, their ranks
were shattered and their columns broken. Slowly the brave men by
hand moved their guns to places of safety, and at length they found
shelter behind the ranks of the forces disposed around the little
country church, and about which for five hours the storm of battle
had been raging with intense fierceness. The men who had stood for
these guns had risked much and dared everything without counting
cost, and as they rolled their guns and caissons into the Confederate
ranks, so gladly opened to receive them, their comrades greeted
them with shouts of admiration and approval. They had accomplished
more than they had even hoped. They had caught the contagion of
intrepidity that was in the air on that day. The conduct of the
men on both sides was such as to stir the hearts of brave people
everywhere in the world and to win for the American volunteer soldier
immortal acclaim.
At ten o’clock the din and turmoil had become appalling. Both sides
had changed positions, but fought with a courage like to that born
of despair. Wherever the men in gray found mounted or unmounted
bluecoats they rode at them with furious savagery, and likewise the
men in blue seemed to rise out of the earth fully armed and pressed
on to unrelenting conflict.
Some Confederate guns near St. James Church were especially
destructive and annoying to the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry and a
regiment of United States regulars. Their officers concluded that
the quickest and most effective way to get rid of this battery was
to ride it down. The cavalry was twenty-four hundred feet from the
annoying artillery, and the way led across an open space. The bugles
were sounded, the guidons were lifted and the order to charge stirred
the souls of these brave soldiers. Aligning themselves, they burst
into the open space like a devastating cyclone. The earth trembled
beneath the tread of the galloping steeds. They were riding, many
of them, to death, but death in the excitement of the moment lost
all its terrors, and madly they rode forward. There was no organized
force in front of this magnificent column to oppose the ride. The
guns were to the front and stood out boldly in the perspective. The
men at the guns knew well their duty and understood the call. Not a
man flinched. The horses were behind, but the cannoneers had no use
for horses now. Something like five minutes was necessary to reach
the battery. Every man, with quickened movements, prepared to fight
to the death and to drive, with promptness and despatch, grape and
canister into the ranks of the approaching Federals. The men in blue
looked ahead; they saw the gunners with nimble movements loading
and ramming the missiles. These they knew must soon send havoc into
their ranks, but not a man swayed from his place in the line where
duty bade him ride. Starting with victorious cries, they galloped to
the muzzles of the thundering guns. They rode over the pieces, they
sabred the gunners who did not dodge under the wheels and limber
chests. They could not stop. The gait was too rapid to rein up at
the guns; they dashed around and over them. If a man in gray showed
himself, the swish of a sabre drove him to cover. Now, beyond the
guns, they saw moving, charging men. The Federals had cut in between
Hampton’s and Jones’ brigades, and the moment of reparation had
arrived. Hampton and Jones ordered an assault upon these intrepid
assailants. Orders rang out shrill and clear. The gunners who for
a moment had disappeared under the wheels and chests sprang up and
began to push more grape and canister into the throats of their
cannon. They hurled their guns about, stood at their appointed
stations ready to turn the storm loose once more against these brave
men in blue, who, though balked in their work, had no mind to give up
the contest.
With the Federal lines a little scattered, Hampton and Jones rushed
down with impetuous fury and the Federals were glad to ride away and
escape from the onslaught of these numerous, new-found foes. The guns
were saved, but as if by fire; and the artillery at Fleetwood had
won, if it were possible, greater fame for the horse artillery of the
Army of Northern Virginia.
The morning was well advanced when a single horseman from one of
Robertson’s North Carolina regiments, riding with the swiftness of
the wind, advised General Stuart that the Federals were advancing
from Kelley’s Ford, that they were now at Brandy Station, and
were immediately in the rear of the Confederate line. This looked
like a bad mix-up all round. The Federals were in the rear of the
Confederates and the Confederates were in the rear of the Federals,
and nobody seemed to know exactly where the other body was.
When this startling announcement was made, which appeared so
unreasonable to General Stuart, because he did not know the man
personally, he directed the scout to return and satisfy himself by
closest inspection if it could be possible that the troops in the
rear were Federal forces. In five minutes the man returned and with
confidence pointed General Stuart to the Federal lines, then within
less than half a mile of Fleetwood Hill; and there, sure enough,
General Stuart saw a long column of the enemy passing. They were the
men that had gone under Gregg and Duffie, down by Stevensburg, and
had changed their front. They had sought and found their foes. These
Federals were facing toward Brandy Station. It was apparent that in
a few minutes this place would be captured, and half a mile away was
Fleetwood Hill, and this was the key to the situation.
General Stuart, great commander though he was, now faced difficult
and perplexing problems that might have embarrassed a man less
experienced and less great.
A single gun of Chew’s Battery, because of its exhausted ammunition,
had been abandoned on the side of the hill. Some imperfect shells and
some shot had been left over in the limber chest and this one single
gun was pulled up on the hill and was opened upon the advancing
Federals. A courier in great haste was dispatched to General Stuart
to tell him of the gravity of the situation. Only three Confederates
were there, and they saw that if the Federals once gained Fleetwood
Hill and were enabled to plant their artillery on its heights that
it must be recovered or the day was lost. General Gregg and General
Buford were advancing up the hill, and expected to take it without
any fight. They were surprised to find artillery there. They had
intended to attack General Stuart in the rear, where they believed
there was no protection, and the stubborn defense with this gun
amazed and puzzled the Federal commander. He did not know that on the
hill there was only one gun and three men; one of these was Major
McClellan, Stuart’s adjutant general. It would not have taken long
for a charging squad to have gotten control of this important post.
General Gregg, deceived by this stout resistance, prepared to meet
artillery with artillery, and he lost some time in unlimbering the
three guns he had with him, and as soon as possible they opened
vigorously upon the gun and three men who were defending Fleetwood.
To the first courier General Stuart had been incredulous; when
the second came, the sound of the Federal cannonading announced
unmistakably that the report was true. The Confederates, had nothing
closer to Fleetwood Hill than the 12th Virginia under Colonel Harman,
and a few men under Colonel White. Major McClellan had done all he
could to get orders carried to General Stuart. To get the orders
delivered and have reinforcements returned seemed many hours to him
and his two companions, now maintaining a place, the retaking of
which was necessary to win the battle, and if retaken would cost many
lives. Riding in hot haste, with lines broken, Colonel Harman was the
first to reach the scene of danger. As he rode up, Major McClellan
urged upon Colonel Harman the emergency of the situation. He gave him
no time to form his regiment, but ordered him to go in pell mell.
Harman was brave and enterprising and he obeyed his orders and rode
at full speed to the top of the hill, as the brave cannoneers were
retiring, after firing their last cartridge from the lone gun that
was standing off Gregg and his men.
One hundred and fifty feet away the 1st New Jersey Cavalry, under
Colonel Windom, was advancing in columns of squadrons, with banners
flying and sabres drawn. Colonel Harman’s followers of the 12th
Virginia had reached the top of the hill at this critical moment,
but in columns of fours it went north westwardly of the summit.
The men behind their intrepid colonel rode hard to follow him and
save the situation. Harman, realizing that instantaneous action
was necessary, took the men he had and directed the artillery at
the Federals. General Stuart, now alive to the exigencies of the
situation, had ordered General Hampton and General Jones to leave the
position at St. James Church and concentrate on Fleetwood Hill.
Hampton himself was a good soldier, and he had the perception of a
sagacious leader, and when he heard firing he realized the danger
and he had already commenced withdrawing his forces to meet the new
situation.
The 12th Virginia under Harman, always gallant, at this time seemed
to have failed by reason of their inability to get into line in
time to make the charge. Harman notified Colonel M. C. Butler, of
the South Carolina Legion, that he must look out for enemies that
were in the rear, and now the Confederates set about the task of
holding Fleetwood Hill, the center of this great cavalry fight. All
the regiments of Jones’ brigade and Hampton’s brigade participated
in charges and counter charges, and both sides had now reached
the top of the eminence. The 1st New Jersey Cavalry had temporary
possession of the hill. Harman and White had failed in the first
attempt to prevent the 1st New Jersey from this movement. Harman now
re-formed his regiment and went on furiously to avenge his former
failure. Half way up the hill the gallant Confederate colonel was
wounded in an encounter with the Federal commander. Colonel White
re-formed his squadrons. He charged along the west side of the hill
and attacked the three guns which General Gregg unlimbered and with
which he had opened a fierce fire. He drove the Federal cavalry away
from the guns, but the gunners of the 6th New York Battery, though
the cavalry left them, were not disposed to give up their pieces. Of
the thirty-six men, thirty were killed or wounded. All were killed
or wounded beside their guns. The Confederates took possession of
the pieces, but this was only after a resistance and valor that made
this Federal battery famous for all time to come. The possession of
these pieces, however, was not to remain long with the Confederates.
The captors were quickly surrounded with superior numbers, and the
Confederate commander was compelled to cut his way out with heavy
loss. He was glad to get away with even a remnant of his brave
followers.
Hampton, Jones, Robertson were all now converging upon Fleetwood
Hill. No sooner had Flournoy, who had already been seriously
battered, arrived with the 6th Virginia Cavalry than he was ordered
by General Stuart to charge the Federals on the right flank, which
was to the east and south of Fleetwood Hill. The decimation of the
day had reduced Flournoy’s regiment to two hundred men. Disparity
of numbers had no terrors for these brave riders. They forced the
lines of the enemy and attacked and captured their battery, but they
were unable to hold it, as more than one thousand Federals attacked
this regiment in the rear. But the scenes, like a kaleidoscope, were
changing. Every turn of the wheel seemed to make new combinations.
In the midst of this confusion and uncertainty General Wade Hampton
appeared upon the scene. He entered upon their view at a gallop. As
he approached Fleetwood Hill he saw the plateau covered with Federal
cavalry. There was nothing to do but fight it out and so General
Hampton ordered a charge of his columns.
[Illustration: MAP OF BATTLEFIELD OF FLEETWOOD HILL]
This field was now to witness one of the most thrilling and stirring
incidents of the entire war. By the commands on either side, two
brigades of horsemen in column were to make an attempt to ride each
other down. Such scenes with small numbers had occurred many times,
but now it was to be tried out on a larger scale. Nearly evenly
matched, the contest was to put to severest strain the valor and the
grit of all who should enter the arena.
Neither dared await the shock that the charge of the other would
bring. Motion, rapid motion alone would counteract the impact from
either side. To stand still meant to be overwhelmed. To ride meant
overturning, mayhap going down under a great crash, and possibly,
if the sword and bullets should be escaped, then mangling or death
beneath the bodies or hoofs of the maddened or injured horses.
The spirit of the hour was doing and daring. The leaders thought
quickly and acted promptly. The day was well advanced when this event
occurred.
Fifteen hundred horses would weigh one million, six hundred and fifty
thousand pounds; fifteen hundred men would weigh two hundred and
forty thousand pounds, an aggregate of one million, eight hundred and
ninety thousand pounds.
One million, eight hundred and ninety thousand pounds of flesh and
blood to rush at the rate of seven feet per second against a moving
wall of like weight and material meant woe, ruin, desolation. It did
not require long to cover the intervening space. Each side moved
toward the other with grim determination, and two bodies thus in
motion were to clash in a brief interval.
The men were enthused by the cries of “Charge! Charge! Charge!” and
the excitement and exhilaration of battle and struggle made every
heart fearless, defiant and reckless. They plunged their spurs into
the sides of their steeds. Some drew their sabres, others their
revolvers. The men spurring, shouting, yelling, by their enthusiasm,
excited and aroused the dumb brutes, who seemed to feel the energy of
combat. Racing at their highest speed, with mouths open and distended
nostrils, madly and furiously they galloped to the onset.
Horses and men alike seemed to catch the animation of great deeds,
and, as if in sympathy with each other, men and beasts together were
willingly rushing onward to make destruction and wreck. Not a single
man hesitated. Here and there a horse fell and his master went down
to earth, but not one turned aside from the path of jeopardy and
peril. The surging crowd, from both directions, was now, at highest
speed, pushing relentlessly forward to overwhelm their foes. The
beasts seemed almost human in the exhilaration and dash of the rapid
charge, and appeared to apprehend the call that was being made upon
their spirit and powers. Neither side took time to count the cost or
figure the result. If either rode away or hesitated, they felt that
the last state of that soldier would be worse than the first. There
was nothing left but to fight out the issues that war at this moment
had thus joined. Its terrors, if they reasoned, would overwhelm
reason. Three minutes was all the time that was allowed to calculate
before the awful shock would come. The crash would be bad enough, but
on the eve of this, the deadly sabre loomed up before the eyes of the
actors, the flash of the revolver and then the crush and down-going
of stricken, maimed, dead brutes, and with them broken limbs and
maimed bodies of the daring riders stood, if only for an instant,
before the vision.
The fearful onset speedily came. Some horses passed their heads by,
but this meant the lifting of the riders from their saddles to take
their chances in the crush below. Horses’ heads met horses’ heads,
and these sprang high into the air, and then fell in a heap on the
ground. Others by the tremendous shock were killed and lay gasping
in agony. Some swept by only to be turned about and anew to dash at
their opposers. Of the men, some already pale in death lay beneath
the bodies of their gasping steeds. Others, with glistening sabres,
were cutting and slashing those who fell or lay by their side, or
stood in their front. Again, others with their revolvers or carbines
were firing at their foes and with savage determination fought
without mercy or pity.
A dense cloud of dust rose from the spot where the struggling men
and beasts had met. The smoke of firearms shut out the light of day.
Amid these scenes of horror, darkness and suffering, men fought to
the death. In a little while, from the dust and smoke, with blackened
and stained faces the fighters began to rise. Those who had escaped
returned to help those who had fallen. The passions of war seemed
for a brief while satiated. The men in blue singly and in squads,
glad to be relieved from the horrible surroundings, some walking
and some riding, turned their faces from the fearful scenes of ruin
and disaster that loomed up in ghastly horror before their eyes.
They realized that the men in gray had vanquished them, and without
a stain on their valor and courage, they marched away to cross the
river they had forded at the coming of the dawn, with highest hopes
and grandest expectations of victory.
Over toward the west was a part of the 1st New Jersey Cavalry. They
had fought much during the day and they had fought well, but they
were not dispirited and they were ready to fight some more. Young’s
charge had cut them off from their comrades. They examined the field
and saw that they must either surrender or cut their way through the
Confederate lines. The Confederate guns were on a narrow ridge. To
gain their friends, these New Jersey men must pass through or over
these batteries. These Federal horsemen were too brave to hesitate
at any danger, however appalling. What was to be done must be done
quickly. Delay only increased danger and risks. The coward dies a
thousand deaths, the brave man dies but one, and animated by the
loftiest impulses of courage, they resolved to take the one chance,
and if need be to face the iron storm they well knew must burst upon
them, if they made gallant attempt to ride down their foes. The
bugle blast ended all questionings, and forward they galloped to meet
whatever the moment should bring.
The artillerymen looked and saw a new danger looming up on the
horizon. With the speed of the wind the men in blue were riding down
upon them. The pieces were quickly changed to meet this advancing
foe. At this critical moment there were no Confederate horsemen to
help defend or support the guns. The brave artillerists, spurred to
sublime valor by the exigencies of the supreme test, resolved to
defend their holdings or die with their pieces.
The blue-clad assailants came dashing upon the flank of the
batteries. In a moment the guns were turned and hurling defiance and
destruction in the face of the foes. They unhorsed and destroyed
some, but they could not destroy all, and a remnant rushed in upon
the nervy gunners who awaited the crash. It was a hand-to-hand fight
between the men on horseback and the men on the cannons and on the
ground. The Federal colonel fell at the side of a caisson. Another
gunner fired a pistol ball into the heart of the Federal major. These
died gloriously, but they died in vain. The charge failed. The enemy
retreated and glory crowned the brave artillerists with new laurels.
They were alone, but their name was legion, and they fought with fury
and with success. The Confederates held the coveted hill. Gregg had
made a great fight. He and his men had lost, but they had won for
Federal cavalry great honor and had shown a valor that was worthy of
any cause, and which entitled them to the praise of their people
and their country. From the south, toward Culpepper Court House,
clouds of dust now rose on the horizon. Long lines of Confederate
infantry were seen advancing. They had come to help their cavalry
comrades, but their coming so long delayed was of no avail. The
horsemen, without help, had driven back their foes and these were now
recrossing the Rappahannock, over which at dawn they had passed with
sure and expectant hopes of a speedy and great victory.
Two men, who fell on the Confederate side, proved a great loss.
Colonel Sol Williams, of the 2d North Carolina Cavalry, active, brave
and gallant, observing that his regiment was inactive for a brief
while, volunteering to ride with the charging column, went down at
the front. His death was a great loss to his country and to the
cavalry service.
Colonel Frank Hampton, younger brother of General Wade Hampton,
discerning an emergency, placed himself at the head of a small squad,
and charged a Federal column to delay its advance until other troops
could be brought to resist it. With hardly one to fifteen of the
foe, he assaulted the Federal column with fiercest vigor. His small
company responded to duty’s call, but it was a forlorn hope. They
died as brave men are ever ready to die for the cause they love.
Colonel Hampton fell, mortally wounded, but he fell where all the
Hamptons were wont to fall—at the front.
The Federal cavalry lost the field. They left some guns in possession
of their foes, many banners, hundreds of prisoners and numerous dead.
They hesitated long about leaving these things behind them, and a
real grief filled their hearts at the thought that, after a day
of so much daring and such brilliant achievement, they must recede
before their foes and desert their wounded—remit them to the care and
mercy of their enemies, and their dead to sepulture by the hands of
those they had so valiantly fought.
These memories were depressing, but notwithstanding these sad
recollections, they carried some splendid assurances from the field
of carnage and ruin. They had met in an open field the best troopers
the army of General Lee could send to conflict. Against these brave
and experienced riders of the Confederates they had held their
own, and for fourteen hours they had fought with a courage and an
intrepidity that not even the Confederate legions could surpass. They
had demonstrated that the Federal cavalry, when the conditions were
equal, was not inferior to the men who rode with Stuart, and who had
rendered his name and theirs illustrious. This new-found realization
of power and courage gave Federal cavalry a pervading consciousness
of their strength as warriors, and created in their minds and hearts
a quickened courage that would bear them up and make them more
fearless and efficient in the service their country would expect
from them, in the twenty-two months that yet remained before the end
would come, and Lee and his legions be compelled by the decrees of a
pitiless fate to ground their arms and acknowledge Federal supremacy.