Battle of Dreury's Bluff.
The Forces Engaged.
Casualties.
The Pursuit of General Butler's Troops.
Bombardment at Howlett's House.
The Wounding of Lieutenant John W. Mullins.
His Death.
Withdrawal from Howlett's House.
General Beauregard, in command of the department, arrived on the
morning of the 14th, having passed with a cavalry escort entirely
around the enemy's left. About noon of the 15th we were moved to an
inner line of defenses, which shortened the line to be defended; thus
was made necessary by the smallness of our force, for it appears that
the Confederates had only 13,000 men with which to meet Butler's
40,000. This Confederate force was divided, two or three brigades
remaining at Petersburg under General Whiting. No help could be had
from the Army of Northern Virginia, then engaged in desperate struggle
at Spottsylvania, with the Federal Army of the Potomac.
It was made known to us on the evening of the 15th that at a council of
war held by General Beauregard and his subordinates it had been
determined to attack General Butler's army next morning at daylight,
and that the division of General Ransom, to which our brigade (Terry's)
belonged, was to lead the attack. Late in the day, Sunday, we marched
toward the James River to a point overlooking Kingsland Creek, behind
which, on the higher ground beyond, the enemy was in line of battle in
force, sheltered by temporary log breastworks, a small body of
Confederate cavalry guarding the Confederate left. Being supplied with
sixty rounds of cartridges, we lay down in a skirt of timber near the
old stage road leading from Richmond to Petersburg, a little more than
three-fourths of a mile from the enemy's line. We were informed that we
should be up at 2 A.M., march forward and open the battle at daylight.
Some who had passed unscathed through the ordeal of a dozen battles
were to go down in this, among them the gallant boy Walker, of the 11th
regiment, who had borne aloft and planted on the enemy's works at
Gettysburg the flag of this regiment, having his horse killed under him
there and a number of bullets through his clothing.
To fight this battle of Dreury's Bluff was imperative, and to become
the assailants was a necessity, for if the enemy should maintain his
position then occupied in front of Dreury's Bluff (only seven miles
below Richmond) and General Grant continued his flank movement to the
James River until he formed a junction with General Butler, the fate of
Richmond, and most probably of the Confederacy, would have been decided
a year earlier; hence this battle, and the necessity of fighting it
successfully, which we did.
During the early part of the night preceding, I visited the artillery
company of Captain David A. French, from my county. Captain French was
absent that evening, the company under the command of his brave
Lieutenant D. W. Mason. Captain French arrived next day during the
progress of the battle. Lieutenant Mason led his company in the
thickest of the fight, sustaining his already brilliant record as a
brave soldier. Promptly at 2 A.M. on Monday, the 16th, we were roused
from our slumbers and quickly gotten into line, discarding all
baggage--indeed, everything that would make a noise calculated to
arouse the enemy. Stealing quietly out of the woods, we proceeded down
the old stage road, through a field, across Kingsland Creek, where we
halted, forming a line of battle. The Alabama brigade of General
Gracie, and the North Carolina brigade of General Hoke, formed the
front line, with Generals Terry's and Fry's commands four hundred yards
in rear, forming the second line. The assaulting force could not have
numbered four thousand men all told. What was in front of us we did not
know, being already enveloped by a dense fog. The columns now formed,
the brigade of Gracie led off, ours following at close distance. The
Federal skirmishers in their rifle pits, alarmed by the commands of our
officers, fired rapidly, but at random, as they could not see us on
account of the fog; but their fire aroused their main line of battle.
The ground over which the attacking column passed was a gradual ascent
from the creek bottom for a distance of three hundred yards to the
summit, then a slight descent for the same distance to the enemy's
battle line, the right of which rested on a swamp rendered almost
impenetrable on account of the water, thorns and brambles.
Terry's brigade, only forty or fifty yards in rear of Gracie's, reached
the summit almost as soon as Gracie's men, who, as well as ourselves,
became immediately exposed to the enemy's fire, which as yet was not
effective, for they could not see us, and now as the fire had opened,
the smoke therefrom, together with the dense fog, created a darkness in
which a man could not be seen a few yards away. General Terry had
halted his brigade on the summit, where it was receiving the enemy's
fire, now becoming more accurate, causing some of the companies on the
right to lie down. Colonel Flowerree, now commanding the 7th Virginia,
observing this, called out: "Stand up, men! Don't you see the balls are
striking the ground at your feet, and there is greater danger lying
down than standing up."
On our immediate right was Barton's brigade, commanded by Colonel Fry.
A part of Gracie's men had gotten close to the enemy's line, meeting
such stubborn resistance that they lay down and our brigade was ordered
forward. Now was the supreme moment. Such a deafening rebel yell! It
must have given every Yankee in the region roundabout a cold chill, for
to this day they say that hideous rebel yell was dreaded more than
bullets. Here on this summit we had stood in awful suspense for twenty
minutes or more, exposed to the enemy's fire. It was therefore a
positive relief to hear the word: "Forward!" And forward we went,
through fog, smoke and leaden hail. At each volley delivered by the
enemy, down went numbers of our men, and as yet not a man in our
brigade had fired a shot, anxious at least to see something to shoot
at, and to get to closer quarters.
The 7th Virginia held the left of the brigade line, overlapping by
three or more companies the left of Gracie's line. These companies in
the headlong rush saw nothing of Gracie's men, who had halted and laid
down. Now near the enemy's firing line, unable to get forward on
account of the swamp referred to, Captain Parr, Adjutant, took these
three companies by a double quick to a position on the right wing, but
before this could be accomplished the regiment had broken the enemy's
line--that of a New Jersey regiment of Heckman's brigade--and crossed
his breastworks, making a right wheel, uniting with the companies led
by Captain Parr, and struck the flank of the 27th Massachusetts
regiment, capturing its Colonel (Lee), together with its colors, a
large number of prisoners, including General Heckman, the brigade
commander, who was captured by Sergeant Blakey of F Company, who
surrendered his sword to Colonel Flowerree of our regiment. This
incident was witnessed by the writer. This wheel and attack upon the
enemy's flank and rear had relieved the pressure on the 1st, 11th and
24th regiments, which for some minutes before were engaged in a
hand-to-hand contest with the enemy behind their breastworks; indeed,
so close had they gotten that the men did not take time to return
ramrods to their thimbles, but ran down the cartridges, fired away,
filling the logs of the breastworks and trees with the ramrods. This
may be thought a fish story, but it is absolutely true. French's Giles
County battery of four guns already mentioned was on the field just to
our right and in the hottest of the battle, suffering loss in making a
brave fight.
The loss in the 1st, 11th and 24th regiments of our brigade had been
severe in officers and men--some companies losing nearly half their
number in killed and wounded. The color sergeant of the 11th regiment
had a bayonet fixed to the point of his color staff, which he used with
effect upon the enemy at the breastworks. The brigade continued its
flank movement along the rear of the enemy's position until it had
cleared the whole of its original front, and had gained a position
looking back towards Kingsland Creek, where it halted and faced about,
taking possession of the enemy's log breastworks and fronting the
enemy. A short lull now followed, during which an Irish Sergeant of the
1st regiment came to me talking with J. Tyler Frazier, and presented me
with a fine black felt hat, lost by some Federal officer in his hurry
to get away, about which hat the sequel will appear later. In a few
minutes the enemy on our right flank was upon us, and before action
could be taken to meet them, fired a volley enfilading our line, but
thanks to their bad aim and the fact that the men were mostly lying
down, nobody was hurt; however, in making left wheel to meet this
assault, four men were injured; among them I recall Sergeant Carpenter
of Company A, a gallant soldier, was killed; Sergeant Fry of D Company
in the melee fell--he may have stumped his toe. The Confederate troops
on our right struck the flank of the enemy, who had flanked us, and
repulsed their attack, and with this the battle virtually ended. Butler
was retreating and getting away--a thing he was good at. He had had
enough and was willing to quit. He retired behind his intrenched line
at Bermuda Hundred, where the Confederates "bottled him up."
The Federal casualties in this battle were 422 killed, 2380 wounded, of
which 1388 were made prisoners, together with five stand of colors, of
which four of the colors and 400 of the prisoners were taken by our
brigade, and five field guns were captured. The Confederate casualties
were 514 killed, 1086 wounded. In Terry's brigade the losses were as
follows:
1st Virginia 12 killed, 25 wounded
7th Virginia 2 killed, 37 wounded
11th Virginia 15 killed, 94 wounded
24th Virginia 28 killed, 108 wounded
-- ---
57 killed, 264 wounded
Total 321
The brave Colonel Maury and Major Hambrick of the 24th were wounded,
the former severely when within a few feet of the enemy's line, the
latter mortally. Company D of the 7th regiment lost John W. East, and
John S. Dudley, slightly wounded. The losses in the 7th regiment were
less on account of its being less exposed in its flank movement on the
enemy's right and rear.
The Confederate troops remained on the battle field that night, burying
the dead and caring for the wounded. Early next morning we started in
pursuit of the enemy, whom we followed on this and the next day to the
Howlett house on the James, where the Confederates had some unfinished
earthworks. Reaching the edge of an open field on which the earthworks
were located, I was directed to go forward to the works to see what or
who was there, and finding the trenches entirely abandoned, I waived
my cap, when the 1st and 7th regiments speedily came up and took
possession. Here they suffered eleven hours from an unmerciful shelling
from a number of Federal gunboats in the river. Several men of the two
regiments were killed or injured. Lieutenant John W. Mullins of Company
D, in command of the skirmish line, was dangerously wounded in the
breast, dying on the 22d of June following. He was a bright and brave
young man. Major Howard and Sergeant Tom Fox of the regiment were badly
hurt. Withdrawing the evening of the 19th, we went into camp a short
distance from the Clay house.