CHAPTER XI.

THE PHALANX IN VIRGINIA.

The laurels won by the Phalanx in the Southern States, notwithstanding

the "no quarter" policy, was proof of its devotion to the cause of

liberty and the old flag, which latter, until within a short period had

been but a symbol of oppression to the black man; Cailloux had reddened

it with his life's blood, and Carney, in a seething fire had planted it

on the ramparts of Wagner. The audacious bravery of the Phalanx had

wrung from Generals Banks and Gillmore congratulatory orders, while the

loyal people of the nation poured out unstinted praises. Not a breach of

discipline marred the negro soldier's record; not one cowardly act

tarnished their fame. Grant pronounced them gallant and reliable, and

Weitzel was willing to command them.

In New York City, where negroes had been hung to lamp posts, and where a

colored orphan asylum had been sacked and burned, crowds gathered in

Broadway and cheered Phalanx regiments on their way to the front.

General Logan, author of the Illinois Black Code, greeted them as

comrades, and Jefferson Davis finally accorded to them the rights due

captured soldiers as prisoners of war. Congress at last took up the

question of pay, and placed the black on an equal footing with the white

soldiers. Their valor, excelled by no troops in the field, had finally

won full recognition from every quarter, and henceforth they were to

share the full glory as well as the toils of their white

comrades-in-arms. Not until those just rights and attentions were

attained, was the Phalanx allowed, to any great extent, to show its

efficiency and prowess in the manoeuvres in Virginia and vicinity,

where that magnificent "Army of Northern Virginia," the hope and the

pride of the Confederacy, was operating against the Federal government.

But when General Grant came to direct the movements of the Eastern

armies of the United States, there was a change. He had learned from his

experience at Vicksburg and other places in his western campaigns, that

the negro soldiers were valuable; that they could be fully relied upon

in critical times, and their patriotic zeal had made a deep impression

upon him. Therefore, as before stated, there were changes, and quite a

good many Phalanx regiments--numbering about 20,000 men--were taken from

Southern and Western armies and transferred to the different armies in

Virginia.

The 19th Army Corps sent one brigade. General Gillmore brought a brigade

from the Tenth Army Corps. At least ten thousand of them were veterans,

and had driven many confederates out of their breastworks.

The world never saw such a spectacle as America presented in the winter

and early spring of 1864. The attempt to capture Richmond and Petersburg

had failed. The Army of the Potomac lay like a weary lion under cover,

watching its opponent. Bruised, but spirited and defiant, it had driven,

and in turn had been driven time and again, by its equally valient foe.

It had advanced and retreated until the soldiers were foot-sore from

marching and counter-marching, crossing and re-crossing the now historic

streams of the Old Dominion. Of all this, the loyal people were tired

and demanded of the Administration a change. The causes of the failures

to take the confederate capitol were not so much the fault of the

commanders of the brave army as that of the authorities at Washington,

whose indecision and interference had entailed almost a disgrace upon

McClellan, Hooker, Burnside and Meade. But finally the people saw the

greatest of the difficulties, and demanded its removal, which the

Administration signified its willingness to do. Then began an activity

at the North, East and West, such as was never before witnessed. The

loyal heart was again aroused by the President's call for troops, and

all realized the necessity of a more sagacious policy, and the

importance of bringing the war to a close. The lion of the South must be

bearded in his lair, and forced to surrender Richmond, the Confederate

Capitol, that had already cost the Government millions of dollars, and

the North thousands of lives. The cockade city,--Petersburg,--like the

Gibralter of the Mississippi, should haul down the confederate banner

from her breastworks; in fact, Lee must be vanquished. That was the

demand of the loyal nation, and right well did they enter into

preparations to consummate it; placing brave and skillful officers in

command.

[Illustration: PARADE OF THE 20TH REGT. U. S. C. T. IN NEW YORK.]

The whole North became a recruiting station. Sumner, Wilson, Stevens and

Sherman, in Congress, and Greeley, Beecher, Philips and Curtis, with the

press, had succeeded in placing the fight upon the highest plane of

civilization, and linked _freedom_ to the cause of the Union thus making

the success of one the success of the other,--"Liberty and Union, one

and inseparable." What patriotism should fail in accomplishing,

bounties--National, State, county, city and township--were to induce and

effect. The depleted ranks of the army were filled to its maximum, and

with a hitherto victorious and gallant leader would be hurled against

the fortifications of the Confederacy with new energy and determination.

Early in January, General Burnside was ordered again to take command of

the Ninth Army Corps, and to recruit its strength to fifty thousand

effective men, which he immediately began to do. General Butler, then in

command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, began the

organization of the Army of the James, collecting at Norfolk, Portsmouth

and on the Peninsula, the forces scattered throughout his Department,

and to recruit Phalanx regiments. In March, General Grant was called to

Washington, and received the appointment of Lieutenant General, and

placed in command of the armies of the Republic. He immediately began

their reorganization, as a preliminary to attacking Lee's veteran army

of northern Virginia.

As has before been stated, the negro had, up to this time, taken no very

active part in the battles fought in Virginia. The seed of prejudice

sown by Generals McDowell and McClellan at the beginning of hostilities,

had ripened into productive fruit. The Army of the Potomac being early

engaged in apprehending and returning runaway slaves to their presumed

owners, had imbibed a bitter, unrelenting hatred for the poor, but ever

loyal, negro. To this bitterness the Emancipation Proclamation gave a

zest, through the pro-slavery press at the North, which taunted the

soldiers with "_fighting to free the negroes_." This feeling had served

to practically keep the negro, as a soldier, out of the Army of the

Potomac.

General Burnside, upon assuming his command, asked for and obtained

permission from the War Department to raise and unite a division of

Negro troops to the 9th Army Corps. Annapolis, Md., was selected as the

"depot and rendezvous," and very soon Camp Stanton had received its

allowance of Phalanx regiments for the Corps. Early in April, the camp

was broken, and the line of march taken for Washington. It was rumored

throughout the city that the 9th Corps would pass through there, and

that about 6,000 Phalanx men would be among the troops. The citizens

were on the _qui vive_; members of Congress and the President were eager

to witness the passage of the Corps.

At nine o'clock on the morning of the 25th of April, the head of the

column entered the city, and at eleven the troops were marching down New

York Avenue. Halting a short distance from the corner of 14th street,

the column closed up, and prepared to pay the President a marching

salute, who, with General Burnside and a few friends, was awaiting their

coming. Mr. Lincoln and his party occupied a balcony over the entrance

of Willard's Hotel. The scene was one of great beauty and animation.

The day was superbly clear; the soft atmosphere of the early spring was

made additionally pleasant by a cool breeze; rain had fallen the

previous night, and there was no dust to cause discomfort to the

soldiers or spectators. The troops marched and appeared well; their

soiled and battered flags bearing inscriptions of battles of six States.

The corps had achieved almost the first success of the war in North

Carolina; it had hastened to the Potomac in time to aid in rescuing the

Capitol, when Lee made his first Northern invasion; it won glory at

South Mountain, and made the narrow bridge at Antietam, forever

historic; it had likewise reached Kentucky in time to aid in driving the

confederates from that State. Now it appeared with recruited ranks, and

new regiments of as good blood as ever was poured out in the cause of

right; and with a new element--those whom they had helped set free from

the thraldom of slavery--whom they were proud to claim as comrades.

Their banners were silent, effective witnesses of their valor and their

sacrifices; Bull's Run, Ball's Bluff, Roanoke, Newburn, Gaines' Mills,

Mechanicsville, Seven Pines, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern,

Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, South Mountain, Knoxville,

Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Gettysburg, were emblazoned in letters of

gold. The firm and soldierly bearing of the veterans, the eager and

expectant countenances of the men and officers of the new regiments, the

gay trappings of the cavalry, the thorough equipment and fine condition

of the artillery, the clattering of hoofs, the clanking of sabres, the

drum-beat, the bugle call, and the music of the bands were all subjects

of interest. The President beheld the scene. Pavement, sidewalks,

windows and roofs were crowded with people. A division of veterans

passed, saluting the President and their commander with cheers. And

then, with full ranks--platoons extending from sidewalk to

sidewalk--brigades which had never been in battle, for the first time

shouldered arms for their country; they who even then were disfranchised

and were not American citizens, yet they were going out to fight for

the flag. Their country was given them by the tall, pale, benevolent

hearted man standing upon the balcony. For the first time, they beheld

their benefactor. They were darker hued than their veteran comrades, but

they cheered as lustily, "hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for Massa Linkun! Three

cheers for the President!" They swung their caps, clapped their hands

and shouted their joy. Long, loud and jubilant were the rejoicings of

these redeemed sons of Africa. Regiment after regiment of stalwart

men,--slaves once, but freemen now,--with steady step and even ranks,

passed down the street, moving on to the Old Dominion. It was the first

review of the negro troops by the President. Mr. Lincoln himself seemed

greatly pleased, and acknowledged the plaudits and cheers of the Phalanx

soldiers with a dignified kindness and courtesy. It was a spectacle

which made many eyes grow moist, and left a life-long impression. Thus

the corps that had never lost a flag or a gun, marched through the

National Capitol, crossed long bridge and went into camp near

Alexandria, where it remained until the 4th of May.

The Phalanx regiments composing the 4th division were the 19th, 23rd,

27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 39th and 43rd, commanded by General E.

Ferrero.

The Army of the James, under General Butler, which was to act in

conjunction with the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, was composed of

the 10th and 18th Corps. The 10th Corps had two brigades of the Phalanx,

consisting of the 7th, 9th, 29th, 16th, 8th, 41st, 45th and 127th

Regiments, commanded by Colonels James Shaw, Jr., and Ulysses Doubleday,

and constituted the 3rd division of that Corps commanded by

Brigadier-General Wm. Birney.

The 3rd division of the 18th Corps, commanded by Brigadier-General

Charles G. Paine, was composed of the 1st, 22nd, 37th, 5th, 36th, 38th,

4th, 6th, 10th, 107th, 117th, 118th and 2nd Cavalry, with Colonels Elias

Wright, Alonzo G. Draper, John W. Ames and E. Martindale as brigade

commanders of the four brigades. A cavalry force numbering about two

thousand, comprising the 1st and 2nd, was under command of Colonel

West,[31] making not less than 20,000 of the Phalanx troops, including

the 4th Division with the Ninth Corps, and augmenting Butler's force to

47,000, concentrated at Yorktown and Gloucester Point.

On the 28th of April, Butler received his final orders, and on the night

of the 4th of May embarked his troops on transports, descended the York

river, passed Fortress Monroe and ascended the James River. Convoyed by

a fleet of armored war vessels and gunboats, his transports reached

Bermuda Hundreds on the afternoon of the 5th. General Wilde, with a

brigade of the Phalanx, occupied Fort Powhatan, on the south bank of the

river, and Wilson's Wharf, about five miles below on the north side of

the James, with the remainder of his division of 5,000 of the Phalanx.

General Hinks landed at City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox. The

next morning the troops advanced to Trent's, with their left resting on

the Appomattox, near Walthall, and the right on the James, and

intrenched. In the meantime, Butler telegraphed Grant:

"OFF CITY POINT, VA., May 5th.

"LIEUT. GEN. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States,

Washington, D. C.:

"We have seized Wilson's Wharf Landing; a brigade of Wilde's

colored troops are there; at Fort Powhatan landing two

regiments of the same brigade have landed. At City Point,

Hinks' division, with the remaining troops and battery, have

landed. The remainder of both the 18th and 10th Army Corps

are being landed at Bermuda Hundreds, above Appomattox. No

opposition experienced thus far, the movement was

comparatively a complete surprise. Both army corps left

Yorktown during last night. The monitors are all over the

bar at Harrison's landing and above City Point. The

operations of the fleet have been conducted to-day with

energy and success. Gens. Smith and Gillmore are pushing the

landing of the men. Gen. Graham with the army gunboats, lead

the advance during the night, capturing the signal station

of the rebels. Colonel West, with 1800 cavalry, made several

demonstrations from Williamsburg yesterday morning. Gen.

Rantz left Suffolk this morning with his cavalry, for the

service indicated during the conference with the

Lieut.-General. The New York flag-of-truce boat was found

lying at the wharf with four hundred prisoners, whom she had

not time to deliver. She went up yesterday morning. We are

landing troops during the night, a hazardous service in the

face of the enemy.

"BENJ. F. BUTLER,

"A. F. PUFFER, Capt. and A. D. C. _Maj.-Gen. Commanding._"

About two miles in front of their line ran the Richmond & Petersburg

Railroad, near which the enemy was encountered. Butler's movements being

in concert with that of the Army of the Potomac and the 9th Corps,--the

latter as yet an independent organization.

General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, numbering 120,000 effective

men, crossed the Rapidan _en route_ for the Wilderness, each soldier

carrying fifty rounds of ammunition and three days rations. The supply

trains were loaded with ten days forage and subsistence. The advance was

in two columns, General Warren being on the right and General Hancock on

the left. Sedgwick followed closely upon Warren and crossed the Rapidan

at Germania Ford. The Ninth Corps received its orders on the 4th,

whereupon General Burnside immediately put the Corps in motion toward

the front. Bivouacking at midnight, the line of march was again taken up

at daylight, and at night the Rapidan was crossed at Germania Ford. The

corps marched on a road parallel to that of its old antagonist, General

Longstreet's army, which was hastening to assist Lee, who had met the

Army of the Potomac in the entanglements of the wilderness, where a

stubborn and sanguinary fight raged for two days. General Ferrero's

division, composed of the Phalanx regiments, reached Germania Ford on

the morning of the 6th, with the cavalry, and reported to General

Sedgwick, of the 6th Corps, who had the care of the trains. The enemy

was projecting an attack upon the rear of the advancing columns. Gen.

Ferrero was ordered to guard with his Phalanx division, the bridges,

roads and trains near and at the Rapidan river. That night the

confederates attacked Sedgwick in force; wisely the immense supply

trains had been committed to the care of the Phalanx, and the enemy was

driven back before daylight, while the trains were securely moved up

closer to the advance. General Grant, finding that the confederates were

not disposed to continue the battle, began the movement toward

Spottsylvania Court House on the night of the 7th. The 9th Corps brought

up the rear, with the Phalanx division and cavalry covering the trains.

Butler and his Phalanx troops, as we have seen, was within six miles of

Petersburg, and on the 7th, Generals Smith and Gillmore reached the

railroad near Port Walthall Junction, and commenced destroying it; the

confederates attacked them, but were repulsed. Col. West, on the north

side of the James River, forded the Chickahominy with the Phalanx

cavalry, and arrived opposite City Point, having destroyed the railroad

for some distance on that side.

Leaving General Hinks with his Phalanx division to hold City Point, on

the 9th Butler again moved forward to break up the railroad which the

forces under Smith and Gillmore succeeded in doing, thus separating

Beaureguard's force from Lee's. He announced the result of his

operation's in the following message to Washington:

"May 9th, 1864.

"Our operations may be summed up in a few words. With one

thousand and seven hundred cavalry we have advanced up the

Peninsula, forced the Chickahominy and have safely brought

them to our present position. These were _colored cavalry_,

and are now holding our advanced pickets toward Richmond.

General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry from Suffolk, on

the same day with our movement up James river, forced the

Blackwater, burned the railroad bridge at Stony Creek, below

Petersburg, cutting in two Beauregard's force at that point.

We have landed here, intrenched ourselves, destroyed many

miles of railroad, and got possession, which, with proper

supplies, we can hold out against the whole of Lee's army. I

have ordered up the supplies. Beauregard, with a large

portion of his force, was left south, by the cutting of the

railroad by Kautz. That portion which reached Petersburg

under Hill, I have whipped to-day, killing and wounding

many, and taking many prisoners, after a well contested

fight. General Grant will not be troubled with any further

re-inforcements to Lee from Beaureguard's force.

"BENJ. F. BUTLER, _Major-General._"

But for having been misinformed as to Lee's retreating on

Richmond,--which led him to draw his forces back into his

intrenchments,--Butler would have undoubtedly marched triumphantly into

Petersburg. The mistake gave the enemy holding the approaches to that

city time to be re-enforced, and Petersburg soon became well fortified

and garrisoned. Beaureguard succeeded in a few days time in

concentrating in front of Butler 25,000 troops, thus checking the

latter's advance toward Richmond and Petersburg, on the south side of

the James, though skirmishing went on at various points.

General Grant intended to have Butler advance and capture Petersburg,

while General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, advanced upon

Richmond from the north bank of the James river. Gen. Butler failed to

accomplish more than his dispatches related, though his forces entered

the city of Petersburg, captured Chester Station, and destroyed the

railroad connection between Petersburg and Richmond. Failure to support

his troops and to intrench lost him all he had gained, and he returned

to his intrenchments at Bermuda Hundreds.

The Phalanx (Hinks division) held City Point and other stations on the

river, occasionally skirmishing with the enemy, who, ever mindful of the

fact that City Point was the base of supplies for the Army of the James,

sought every opportunity to raid it, but they always found the Phalanx

ready and on the alert.

After the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16th, Butler thought to remain

quiet in his intrenchments, but Grant, on the 22nd, ordered him to send

all his troops, save enough to hold City Point, to join the Army of the

Potomac; whereupon General W. F. Smith, with 16,000 men, embarked for

the White House, on the Pamunky river, Butler retaining the Phalanx

division and the Cavalry. Thus ended the operations of the Army of the

James, until Grant crossed the river with the army of the Potomac.

[Illustration: SCENE IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

Negro baggage train drivers watering their mules.]

On the 13th of May, Grant determined upon a flank movement toward

Bowling Green, with a view of making Port Royal, instead of

Fredericksburg, his depot for supplies. Sending his reserve artillery to

Belle Plain, he prepared to advance. It was in this manoeuvre that

Lee, for the last time, attacked the Federal forces, outside of cover,

in any important movement. The attempt to change the base of supply was

indeed a hazardous move for Grant; it necessitated the moving of his

immense train, numbering four thousand wagons, used in carrying rations,

ammunition and supplies for his army, and transportation of the badly

wounded to the rear, where they could be cared for.

Up to this time the Wilderness campaign had been a continuous fight and

march. The anxiety which Grant felt for his train, is perhaps best told

by himself:

"My movements are terribly embarrassed by our immense wagon

train. It could not be avoided, however."

It was the only means by which the army could obtain needful supplies,

and was consequently indispensable. It was the near approach to the

train that made the confederates often fight so desperately, for they

knew if they could succeed in capturing a wagon they would probably get

something to eat. Soon after the advance began, it was reported to

Grant, that the confederate cavalry was in the rear, in search of the

trains. On the 14th he ordered General Ferrero to "keep a sharp lookout

for this cavalry, and if you can attack it with your (Phalanx) infantry

and (white) cavalry, do so." On the 19th Ferrero, with his Phalanx

division, (4th division, 9th Corps) was on the road to Fredericksburg,

in rear of and to the right of General Tyler's forces, in the

confederates' front. The road formed Grant's direct communication with

his base, and here the confederates, under Ewell attacked the Federal

troops. Grant sent this dispatch to Ferrero:

"The enemy have crossed the Ny on the right of our lines, in

considerable force, and may possibly detach a force to move

on Fredericksburg. Keep your cavalry pickets well out on the

plank road, and all other roads leading west and south of

you. If you find the enemy moving infantry and artillery to

you, report it promptly. In that case take up strong

positions and detain him all you can, turning all your

trains back to Fredericksburg, and whatever falling back

you may be forced to do, do it in that direction."

The confederates made a dash for the train and captured twenty-seven

wagons, but before they had time to feast off of their booty the Phalanx

was upon them. The enemy fought with uncommon spirit; it was the first

time "F. F. V's," the chivalry of the South,--composing the Army of

Northern Virginia,--had met the negro soldiers, and true to their

instinctive hatred of their black brothers, they gave them the best they

had; lead poured like rain for a while, and then came a lull. Ferrero

knew what it meant, and prepared for their coming. A moment more and the

accustomed yell rang out above the roar of the artillery. The

confederates charged down upon the Phalanx, but to no purpose, save to

make the black line more stable. They retaliated, and the confederates

were driven as the gale drives chaff, the Phalanx recapturing the wagons

and saving Grant's line of communication. General Badeau, speaking of

their action, in his military history of Grant, says:

"It was the first time at the East when colored troops had

been engaged in any important battle, and the display of

soldierly qualities won a frank acknowledgment from both

troops and commanders, not all of whom had before been

willing to look upon negroes as comrades. But after that

time, white soldiers in the army of the Potomac were not

displeased to receive the support of black ones; they had

found the support worth having."

Ferrero had the confidence of his men, who were ever ready to follow

where Grant ordered them to be led.

But this was not the last important battle the Phalanx took part in.

Butler, after sending the larger portion of his forces to join the Army

of the Potomac, was not permitted to remain quiet in his intrenchments.

The confederates felt divined to destroy, if not capture, his base, and

therefore were continually striving to break through the lines. On the

24th of May, General Fitzhugh Lee made a dash with his cavalry upon

Wilson's Wharf, Butler's most northern outpost, held by two Phalanx

Regiments of General Wilde's brigade. Lee's men had been led to believe

that it was only necessary to yell at the "niggers" in order to make

them leave the Post, but in this affair they found a foe worthy of their

steel. They fought for several hours, when finally the confederate

troops beat a retreat. An eye witness of the fight says:

"The chivalry of Fitzhugh Lee and his cavalry division was

badly worsted in the contest last Tuesday with negro troops,

composing the garrison at Wilson's Landing; the chivalry

made a gallant fight, however. The battle began at half-past

twelve P. M., and ended at six o'clock, when the chivalry

retired, disgusted and defeated. Lee's men dismounted far in

the rear, and fought as infantry; they drove in the pickets

and skirmishers to the intrenchments, and made several

valiant charges upon our works. To make an assault, it was

necessary to come across an opening in front of our

position, up to the very edge of a deep and impassable

ravine. The rebels, with deafening yells, made furious

onsets, but the negroes did not flinch, and the mad

assailants, discomforted, returned to cover with shrunken

ranks. The rebels' fighting was very wicked; it showed that

Lee's heart was bent on taking the negroes at any cost.

Assaults on the center having failed, the rebels tried first

the left, and then the right flank, with no greater success.

When the battle was over, our loss footed up, one man killed

outright, twenty wounded, and two missing. Nineteen rebels

were prisoners in our hands. Lee's losses must have been

very heavy; the proof thereof was left on the ground.

Twenty-five rebel bodies lay in the woods unburied, and

pools of blood unmistakably told of other victims taken

away. The estimate, from all the evidence carefully

considered, puts the enemy's casualties at two hundred.

Among the corpses Lee left on the field, was that of Major

Breckenridge, of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry. There is no

hesitation here in acknowledging the soldierly qualities

which the colored men engaged in the fight have exhibited.

Even the officers who have hitherto felt no confidence in

them are compelled to express themselves mistaken. General

Wilde, commanding the Post, says that the troops stood up to

their work like veterans."

Newspaper correspondents were not apt to overstate the facts, nor to

give too much favorable coloring to the Phalanx in those days. Very much

of the sentiment in the army--East and West--was manufactured by them.

The Democratic partizan press at the North, especially in New York and

Ohio, still engaged in throwing paper bullets at the negro soldiers, who

were shooting lead bullets at the country's foes.

The gallantry and heroic courage of the Phalanx in the Departments of

the Gulf and South, and their bloody sacrifices, had not been sufficient

to stop the violent clamor and assertions of those journals, that the

"niggers won't fight!"

Many papers favorable to the Emancipation; opposed putting negro troops

in battle in Virginia. But to all these bomb-proof opinions Grant turned

a deaf ear, and when and where necessity required it, he hurled his

Phalanx brigades against the enemy as readily as he did the white

troops. The conduct of the former was, nevertheless, watched eagerly by

the correspondents of the press who were with the army, and when they

began to chronicle the achievements of the Phalanx, the prejudice began

to give way, and praises were substituted in the place of their

well-worn denunciations. A correspondent of the New York _Herald_ thus

wrote in May:

"The conduct of the colored troops, by the way, in the

actions of the last few days, is described as superb. An

Ohio soldier said to me to-day, 'I never saw men fight with

such desperate gallantry as those negroes did. They advanced

as grim and stern as death, and when within reach of the

enemy struck about them with a pitiless vigor, that was

almost fearful.' Another soldier said to me, 'These negroes

never shrink, nor hold back, no matter what the order.

Through scorching heat and pelting storms, if the order

comes, they march with prompt, ready feet.' Such praise is

great praise, and it is deserved. The negroes here who have

been slaves, are loyal, to a man, and on our occupation of

Fredericksburg, pointed out the prominent secessionists, who

were at once seized by our cavalry and put in safe quarters.

In a talk with a group of faithful fellows, I discovered in

them all a perfect understanding of the issues of the

conflict, and a grand determination to prove themselves

worthy of the place and privileges to which they are to be

exalted."

The ice was thus broken, and then each war correspondent found it his

duty to write in deservedly glowing terms of the Phalanx.

The newspaper reports of the engagements stirred the blood of the

Englishman, and he eschewed his professed love for the freedom of

mankind, and particularly that of the American negro. The London

_Times_, in the following article, lashed the North for arming the

negroes to shoot the confederates, forgetting, perhaps, that England

employed negroes against the colonist in 1775, and at New Orleans, in

1814, had her black regiments to shoot down the fathers of the men whom

it now sought to uphold, in rebellion against the government of the

United States:

"THE NEGRO UNION SOLDIERS.

"Six months have now passed from the time Mr. Lincoln issued

his proclamation abolishing slavery in the States of the

Southern Confederacy. To many it may seem that this measure

has failed of the intended effect and this is doubtless in

some respects the case. It was intended to frighten the

Southern whites into submission, and it has only made them

more fierce and resolute than ever. It was intended to raise

a servile war, or produce such signs of it as should compel

the Confederates to lay down their arms through fear for

their wives and families; and it has only caused desertion

from some of the border plantations and some disorders along

the coast. But in other respects the consequences of this

measure are becoming important enough. The negro race has

been too much attached to the whites, or too ignorant or too

sluggish to show any signs of revolt in places remote from

the presence of the federal armies: but on some points where

the federals have been able to maintain themselves in force

in the midst of a large negro population, the process of

enrolling and arming black regiments has been carried on in

a manner which must give a new character to the war. It is

in the State of Louisiana, and under the command of General

Banks, that this use of negro soldiers has been most

extensive. The great city of New Orleans having fallen into

the possession of the federals more than a year ago, and the

neighboring country being to a certain degree abandoned by

the white population, a vast number of negroes have been

thrown on the hands of the General in command to support

and, if he can, make use of. The arming of these was begun

by General Butler, and it has been continued by his

successor. Though the number actually under arms is no doubt

exaggerated by Northern writers, yet enough have been

brought into service to produce a powerful effect on the

imaginations of the combatants, and, as we can now clearly

see, to add almost grievously to the fury of the struggle.

"Of all wars, those between races which had been accustomed

to stand to each other in the relation of master and slave

have been so much the most horrible that by general consent

the exciting of a servile insurrection has been considered

as beyond the pale of legitimate warfare. This had been held

even in the case of European serfdom, although there the

rulers and the ruled are of the same blood, religion and

language. But the conflict between the white men and the

negro, _and particularly the American white man and the

American negro, is likely to be more ruthless than any which

the ancient world, fruitful in such histories, or the modern

records of Algeria can furnish_. There was reason to hope

that the deeds of 1857 in India would not be paralleled in

our time or in any after age. The Asiatic savagery rose upon

a dominant race scattered throughout the land, and wreaked

its vengeance upon it by atrocities which it would be a

relief to forget. But it has been reserved for the New

World to present the spectacle of civil war, calling servile

war to its aid, and of men of English race and language so

envenomed against each other that one party places arms in

the hands of the half savage negro, and the other acts as if

resolved to give no quarter to the insurgent race or the

white man who commands them or fights by their side. In the

valley of the Mississippi, where these negro soldiers are in

actual service, it seems likely that a story as revolting as

that of St. Domingo is being prepared for the world. No one

who reads the description of the fighting at Port Hudson,

and the accounts given by the papers of scenes at other

places, can help fearing that the worst part of this war has

yet to come, and that a people who lately boasted that they

took the lead in education and material civilization are now

carrying on a contest without regard to any law of

conventional warfare,--one side training negroes to fight

against its own white flesh and blood, the other

slaughtering them without mercy whenever they find them in

the field.

" * * * It is pitiable to find these unhappy Africans, whose

clumsy frames are no match for the sinewy and agile white

American, thus led on to be destroyed by a merciless enemy.

Should the war proceed in this manner, it is possible that

the massacre of Africans may not be confined to actual

conflict in the field. Hitherto the whites have been

sufficiently confident in the negroes to leave them

unmolested, even when the enemy was near; but with two or

three black regiments in each federal corps, and such events

as the Port Hudson massacre occuring to infuriate the minds

on either side, who can foresee what three months more of

war may bring forth?

"All that we can say with certainty is that the unhappy

negro will be the chief sufferer in this unequal conflict.

An even greater calamity, however, is the brutalization of

two antagonistic peoples by the introduction into the war of

these servile allies of the federals. Already there are

military murders and executions on both sides. The horrors

which Europe has foreseen for a year past are now upon us.

Reprisal will provoke reprisal, until all men's natures are

hardened, and the land flows with blood."

The article is truly instructive to the present generation; its

malignity and misrepresentation of the Administration's intentions in

regard to the arming of negroes, serves to illustrate the deep-seated

animosity which then existed in England toward the union of the States.

Nor will the American negro ever forget England's advice to the

confederates, whose massacre of negro soldiers fighting for freedom she

endorsed and applauded. The descendants of those black soldiers, who

were engaged in the prolonged struggle for freedom, can rejoice in the

fact that no single act of those patriots is in keeping with the

Englishman's prediction; no taint of brutality is even charged against

them by those whom they took prisoners in battle. The confederates

themselves testify to the humane treatment they unexpectedly received at

the hands of their negro captors. Mr. Pollard, the historian, says:

"No servile insurrections had taken place in the South."

But it is gratifying to know that all Englishmen did not agree with the

writer of the _Times_. A London letter in the New York Evening _Post_,

said:

"Mr. Spurgeon makes most effective and touching prayers,

remembering, at least once on a Sunday, the United States.

'Grant, O God,' he said recently, 'that the right may

conquer, and that if the fearful canker of slavery must be

cut out by the sword, it be wholly eradicated from the body

politic of which it is the curse.' He is seldom, however, as

pointed as this; and, like other clergymen of England, prays

for the return of peace. Indeed, it must be acknowledged

that if the English press and government have done what they

could to continue this war, the dissenting clergy of England

have nobly shown their good will and hearty sympathy with

the Americans, and their sincere desire for the settlement

of our difficulties. 'If praying would do you Americans any

good,' said an irreverent acquaintance last Sunday, 'you

will be gratified to learn that a force of a

thousand-clergymen-power is constantly at work for you over

here.'"

After the heroic and bloody effort at Cold Harbor to reach Richmond, or

to cross the James above the confederate capitol, and thus cut off the

enemy's supplies,--after Grant had flanked, until to flank again would

be to leave Richmond in his rear,--when Lee had withdrawn to his

fortifications, refusing to accept Grant's challenge to come out and

fight a decisive battle,--when all hope of accomplishing either of these

objects had vanished, Grant determined to return to his original plan of

attack from the coast, and turned his face toward the James river. On

the 12th of June the Army of the Potomac began to move, and by the 16th

it was, with all its trains across, and on the south side of the James.

Petersburg Grant regarded as the citadel of Richmond, and to capture it

was the first thing on his list to be accomplished. General Butler was

made acquainted with this, and as soon as General Smith, who, with a

portion of Butler's forces had been temporarily dispatched to join the

army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor, returned to Bermuda Hundreds with

his force, he was ordered forward to capture the Cockade City. It was

midnight on the 14th, when Smith's troops arrived. Butler ordered him

immediately forward against Petersburg, and he moved accordingly. His

force was in three divisions of Infantry, and one of Cavalry, under

General Kautz, who was to threaten the line of works on the Norfolk

road. General Hinks, with his division of the Phalanx, was to take

position across the Jordon's Point road on the right of Kautz; Brooks'

division of white troops was to follow, Hinks coming in at the center of

the line, while General Martindale with the other division was to move

along the Appomattox and strike the City Point road. Smith's movement

was directed against the northeast side of Petersburg, extending from

the City Point to the Norfolk railroad. About daylight on the 15th, as

the columns advanced on the City Point road at Bailey's farm, six miles

from Petersburg, a confederate battery opened fire. Kautz reconnoitered

and found a line of rifle trench, extending along the front, on rapidly

rising ground, with a thicket covering. The work was held by a regiment

of cavalry and a light battery. At once there was use for the Phalanx;

the works must be captured with the battery before the troops could

proceed. The cavalry was re-called, and Hinks began the formation of an

attacking party from his division. The confederates were in an open

field, their battery upon a knoll in the same field, commanding a

sweeping position to its approaches. The advancing troops must come out

from the woods, rush up the slope and carry it at the point of the

bayonet, exposed to the tempest of musketry and cannister of the

battery. Hinks formed his line for the assault, and the word of command

was given,--"forward." The line emerged from the woods, the enemy opened

with cannister upon the steadily advancing column, which, without

stopping, replied with a volley of Minie bullets.

"The long, dusky line, arm to arm, knee to knee."

[Illustration: PHALANX SOLDIERS AT WORK ON RIVER OBSTRUCTIONS.]

Then shells came crashing through the line, dealing death and shattering

the ranks; but on they went, with a wild cheer, running up the slope;

again a storm of cannister met them; a shower of musketry came down upon

the advancing column, whose bristling bayonets were to make the way

clear for their white comrades awaiting on the roadside. A hundred black

men went down under the fire; the ranks were quickly closed however, and

with another wild cheer the living hundreds went over the works with the

impetuosity of a cyclone; they seized the cannon and turned them upon

the fleeing foe, who, in consternation, stampeded toward Petersburg, to

their main line of intrenchments on the east. Thus the work of the 5th

and 22nd Phalanx regiments was completed and the road made clear for the

18th Corps.

Brooks now moved up simultaneously with Martindale, on the river road.

By noon the whole corps was in front of the enemy's main line of works,

Martindale on the right, Brooks in the center, the Phalanx and cavalry

on the left, sweeping down to the Jerusalem Plank Road on the southeast.

Hinks, with the Phalanx, in order to gain the position assigned him, had

necessarily to pass over an open space exposed to a direct and

cross-fire. Nevertheless, he prepared to occupy his post, and forming a

line of battle, he began the march. The division numbered about 3,000, a

portion of it being still at Wilson's Landing, Fort Powhatan, City Point

and Bermuda Hundreds. This was a march that veterans might falter in,

without criticism or censure. The steady black line advanced a few rods

at a time, when coming within range of the confederate guns they were

obliged to lie down and wait for another opportunity. Now a lull,--they

would rise, go forward, and again lie down. Thus they continued their

march, under a most galling, concentrated artillery fire until they

reached their position, from which they were to join in a general

assault; and here they lay, from one till five o'clock,--four long

hours,--exposed to ceaseless shelling by the enemy. Badeau says, in

speaking of the Phalanx in this ordeal:

"No worse strain on the nerves of troops is possible, for it

is harder to remain quiet under cannon fire, even though

comparatively harmless, than to advance against a storm of

musketry."

General W. F. Smith, though brave, was too cautious and particular in

detail, and he spent those four hours in careful reconnoissance, while

the troops lay exposed to the enemy's concentric fire.

The main road leading east from Petersburg ascends a hill two or more

miles out, upon the top of which stood what was then known as Mr. Dunn's

house. In front of it was a fort, and another south, and a third north,

with other works; heavy embankments and deep ravines and ditches, trunks

of hewn trees blackened by camp fires, formed an abatis on the even

ground. Here the sharpshooters and riflemen had a fair view of the

entire field. The distance from these works to the woods was about three

hundred and sixty paces, in the edge of which lay the black Phalanx

division, ready, like so many tigers, waiting for the command,

"forward." The forts near Dunn's house had direct front fire, and those

on the north an enfilading fire on the line of advance. Smith got his

troops in line for battle by one o'clock, but there they lay. Hinks

impatiently awaited orders; oh! what a suspense--each hour seemed a

day,--what endurance--what valor. Shells from the batteries ploughed

into the earth where they stood, and began making trouble for the

troops. Hinks gave the order, "lie down;" they obeyed, and were somewhat

sheltered. Five o'clock--yet no orders. At length the command was given,

"forward." The skirmishers started at quick time; the enemy opened upon

them vigorously from their batteries and breastworks, upon which they

rested their muskets, in order to fire with accuracy. A torrent of

bullets was poured upon the advancing line, and the men fell fast as

autumn leaves in a gale of wind. Then the whole line advanced, the

Phalanx going at double-quick; their well aligned ranks, with bayonets

glittering obliquely in the receding sunlight, presented a spectacle

both magnificent and grand.

[Illustration: A GALLANT CHARGE. The 22nd Negro Regiment, Duncan's

Brigade, carrying the first line of Confederate works before Petersburg,

Va.]

Duncan rushed his skirmishers and reached the ditches in front of the

breastworks, which, without waiting for the main body, they entered and

clambered up the steep embankments. A sheet of flame from above was

rained down, causing many a brave man to stagger and fall back into the

ditch, never to rise again. The troops following, inspired by the daring

of the skirmishers, pressed forward on the run up to the forts, swept

round the curtains, scaled the breastworks and dashed with patriotic

rage at the confederate gunners, who deserted their pieces and ran for

their lives. Brooks and Martindale advanced simultaneously upon the

works at Osborn's house and up the railroad, sweeping everything before

them. The Phalanx seized upon the guns and turned them instantly upon

the fleeing foe, and then with spades and shovels reversed the

fortifications and prepared to hold them. Fifteen pieces of artillery

and three hundred confederates were captured. "The Phalanx," says the

official report, took two-thirds of the prisoners and nine pieces of

artillery. General Smith, finding that General Birney, with the 2nd

Corps, had not arrived, instead of marching the troops into Petersburg,

waited for re-inforcements unnecessarily, and thereby lost his chance of

taking the city, which was soon garrisoned with troops enough to defy

the whole army. Thus Grant was necessitated afterward to lay siege to

the place.

The confederates never forgot nor forgave this daring of the "niggers,"

who drove them, at the point of the bayonet, out of their breastworks,

killing and capturing their comrades and their guns. They were chided by

their brother confederates for allowing negroes to take their works from

them. The maidens of the Cockade City were told that they could not

trust themselves to men who surrendered their guns to "niggers." The

soldiers of the Phalanx were delirious with joy. They had caught "ole

massa," and he was theirs. General Hinks had their confidence, and they

were ready to follow wherever he led.

The chaplin of the 9th Corps, in his history, says:

"In this movement a division of colored troops, under

Brigadier-General Hinks, seems to have won the brightest

laurels. They first attacked and carried the enemy's outpost

at Bailey's farm, capturing one piece of artillery in the

most gallant manner. On their arrival before Petersburg,

they lay in front of the works for nearly five hours,

waiting for the word of command. They then, in company with

the white troops, and showing equal bravery, rushed and

carried the enemy's line of works, with what glorious

success has already been related."

This, indeed, was a victory, yet shorn of its full fruits; but that

Petersburg was not captured was no fault of the Phalanx. They had

carried and occupied the most formidable obstacles.

Badeau, in chronicling these achievements, says:

"General Smith assaulted the works on the City Point and

Prince George Court House roads. The rebels resisted with a

sharp infantry fire, but the center and left dashed into the

works, consisting of five redan's on the crest of a deep and

difficult ravine. Kiddoo's (22d) black regiment was one of

the first to gain the hill. In support of this movement, the

second line was swung around and moved against the front of

the remaining works. The rebels, assaulted thus in front and

flank, gave way, four of the guns already captured were

turned upon them by the negro conquerors, enfilading the

line, and before dark, Smith was in possession of the whole

of the outer works, two and a half miles long, with fifteen

pieces of artillery and three hundred prisoners. Petersburg

was at his mercy."

This failure made a siege necessary, and General Grant began by regular

approaches to invest the place, after making the three desperate

assaults on the 16th, 17th and 18th. It had been indeed a bloody June;

the soil of the Old Dominion, which for two centuries the negro had

tilled and made to yield the choicest products, under a system of cruel

and inhuman bondage he now reddened with his blood in defense of his

liberty, proving by his patriotism, not only his love of liberty, but

his courage and capacity to defend it. The negro troops had marched and

fought with the white regiments with equal intrepidity and courage; they

were no longer despised by their comrades; they now had recognition as

soldiers, and went into the trenches before Petersburg as a part of as

grand an army as ever laid siege to a stronghold or stormed a

fortification.

On the 18th of June, General Ferrero reported to General Meade, with his

division of the Phalanx, (4th Division, 9th Corps), and was immediately

ordered to join its own proper corps,--from which it had been separated

since the 6th of May,--at the crossing of the Rapidan. It had served

under Sedgwick and Sheridan until the 17th, when it came under the

direct command of General Grant, and thus remained until the 25th of

May, when General Burnside, waiving rank to Meade, the 9th Corps was

incorporated into the Army of the Potomac. During its absence the

division sustained the reputable renown of its corps, not only in

protecting the trains, but in fighting the enemy, and capturing

prisoners. Before rejoining the corps, the division was strengthened by

three regiments of cavalry,--the 5th New York, 3rd New Jersey and 2nd

Ohio. From the 9th of May till the 17th, the division occupied the plank

road, looking to the old Wilderness tavern, covering the extreme right

of the army, extending from Todd's to Banks' Ford. On the 17th, the

division moved to Salem Church, near the main road to Fredericksburg,

where, as we have seen, it defended the rear line against the attack

made by the confederates, under General Ewell.

The historian of the corps says:

"The division on the 21st of May was covering

Fredericksburg, and the roads leading hence to Bowling

Green. On the 22nd it marched toward Bowling Green, and on

the 23rd it moved to Milford Station. From that date to the

27th it protected the trains of the army in the rear of the

positions on the North Anna. On the 27th, the division moved

to Newtown; on the 28th, to Dunkirk, crossing the Maltapony;

on the 29th, to the Pamunkey, near Hanovertown. On the 1st

of June the troops crossed the Pamunkey, and from the 2nd to

the 6th, covered the right of the army; from the 6th to the

12th they covered the approaches from New Castle Ferry,

Hanovertown, Hawe's shop, and Bethusda Church. From the 12th

to the 18th they moved by easy stages, by way of Tunstall's

New Kent Court House, Cole's Ferry, and the pontoon bridge

across the James, to the line of the army near Petersburg.

The dismounted cavalry were left to guard the trains, and

the 4th Division prepared to participate in the more active

work of soldiers. Through the remainder of the month of

June, and the most of July, the troops were occupied in the

second line of trenches, and in active movements towards the

left, under Generals Hancock and Warren. While they were

engaged in the trenches they were also drilled in the

movements necessary for an attack and occupation of the

enemy's works. A strong feeling of pride and esprit de

corps sprung up within the hearts of the blacks, and they

began to think that they too might soon have the opportunity

of some glory for their race and country."

How natural was this feeling. As we have seen, their life for more than

a month had been one of marching and counter-marching, though hazardous

and patriotic. When on the 18th, they entered upon the more active duty

of soldiers, they found the 3rd Division of the 18th Corps, composed of

the Phalanx of the Army of the James, covered with glory, and the welkin

ringing with praises of their recent achievements. The men of the 4th

Division chafed with eager ambition to rival their brothers of the 18th

Corps, in driving the enemy from the Cockade City. General Burnside was

equally as anxious to give his black boys a chance to try the steel of

the chivalry in deadly conflict, and this gave them consolation, with

the assurance that their day would ere long dawn, so they toiled and

drilled carefully for their prospective glory.

But the situation of the Phalanx before Petersburg was far from being

enviable. Smarting under the thrashing they had received from Hinks'

division, the confederates were ever ready now to slaughter the

"niggers" when advantage offered them the opportunity. A steady,

incessant fire was kept up against the positions the Phalanx occupied,

and their movements were watched with great vigilance. Although they did

not raise the black flag, yet manifestly no quarter to negro troops, or

to white troops that fought with them, was the confederates'

determination.

"Judging from their actions, the presence of the negro

soldiers, both in the Eighteenth and Ninth Corps," says

Woodbury, "seemed to have the effect of rendering the enemy

more spiteful than ever before the Fourth Division came. The

closeness of the lines on the front of the corps rendered

constant watchfulness imperative, and no day passed without

some skirmishing between the opposing pickets. When the

colored soldiers appeared, this practice seemed to increase,

while in front of the Fifth Corps, upon the left of our

line, there was little or no picket firing, and the outposts

of both armies were even disposed to be friendly. On the

front of the Ninth, the firing was incessant, and in many

cases fatal."

[Illustration: IN THE TRENCHES]

"General Potter, in his report, mentions that, when his

division occupied the front, his loss averaged some fourteen

or fifteen officers killed and wounded per diem. The

sharpshooters on either side were vigilant, and an exposure

of any part of the person was the signal for the exchange of

shots. The men, worn by hard marching, hard fighting and

hard digging, took every precaution to shield themselves,

and sought cover at every opportunity. They made fire proofs

of logs and earth, and with tortuous covered ways and

traverse, endeavoring to secure themselves from the enemy's

fire. The artillery and mortars on both sides were kept

almost constantly at work. These were all precursors of the

coming, sanguinary struggle for the possession of Cemetery

Hill. Immediately in front of the salient occupied by the

Ninth Corps, the rebels had constructed a very strong

redoubt, a short distance below Cemetery Hill. In the rear

of the redoubt ran a ridge nearly at right angles with the

rebels' lines, to the hill. It appeared that if this redoubt

was captured, the enemy's line would be seriously

threatened, if not entirely broken up. A feasible plan for

the destruction of the redoubt, was seriously discussed

among the soldiers of the corps; finally Colonel Pleasants,

of the 48th Pennsylvania Regiment, devised a plan to run a

mine under the intervening space between the line of the

corps and the redoubt, with the design of exploding it,

directly under the redoubt. To this plan General Burnside

lent his aid, and preparations were made for an assault upon

Cemetery Hill, at the time of its explosion. The work of

digging and preparing the mine was prosecuted under the most

disadvantageous circumstances. General Meade reluctantly

gave official sanction, and the work of excavation proceeded

with, despite the fact that General Burnside's requisitions

for supplies were not responded to. Nevertheless, in less

than a month the mine was ready, and after considerable

discussion, and not without some bickering, the plan of

attack was arranged, which, in brief, was to form two

columns, and to charge with them through the breach caused

by the explosion of the mine. Then to sweep along the

enemy's line, right and left, clearing away the artillery

and infantry, by attacking in the flank and rear. Other

columns were to make for the crest, the whole to co-operate.

General Ferrero, in command of the Phalanx division was

informed, that in accordance with the plan of attack, he was

to lead in the assault, when the attack was made, after the

mine had been fired. He was ordered to drill his troops

accordingly. After a careful examination of the ground,

Ferrero decided upon his methods of advance,--not to go

directly in the crater formed by the explosion, but rather

upon one side of it, and then to take the enemy in flank and

reverse. When he informed his officers and men that they

would be called upon to lead in the assault, they received

the information with delight. His men, desirous of emulating

their comrades of the Third Division of the Eighteenth

Corps, felt that their cherished hope,--the opportunity for

which they had prayed,--was near at hand; the hour in which

they would show themselves worthy of the honor of being

associated with the Army of the Potomac. They rejoiced at

the prospect of wiping off whatever reproach an ill-judged

prejudice might have cast upon them, by proving themselves

brave, thereby demanding the respect which brave men

deserve. For three weeks they drilled with alacrity in the

various movements; charging upon earthworks, wheeling by the

right and left, deployment, and other details of the

expected operations. General Burnside had early expressed

his confidence in the soldierly capabilities of the men of

the Phalanx, and now wished to give them an opportunity to

justify his good opinion."

His white troops, moreover, had been greatly exposed throughout the

whole campaign, had suffered severely, and had been so much under the

fire of the sharpshooters that it had become a second nature with them

to dodge bullets. The negro troops had not been so much exposed, and had

already shown their steadiness under fire in one or two pretty severe

skirmishes in which they had previously been engaged. The white officers

and men of the corps were elated with the selection made by General

Burnside, and they, too, manifested an uncommon interest in their

dark-hued comrades. The demeanor of the former toward the latter was

very different from that of the other corps, of which that particular

army was composed. The 9th Corps had seen more service than any other

corps in the Army of the Potomac. Its operations in six States had given

to the men an experience calculated to destroy, very greatly, their race

prejudice; besides a very large portion of the regiments in the corps

came from the New England States, especially Massachusetts, Vermont and

Rhode Island, where race prejudice was not so strong; consequently the

treatment of the men in the 4th Division was tempered by humanity, and

pregnant with a fraternal feeling of comradeship. And then there was a

corps pride very naturally existing among the white troops, which

prompted a desire for the achievement of some great and brilliant feat

by their black comrades. This feeling was expressed in more than one way

by the entire corps, and greatly enhanced the ambition of the Phalanx to

rout the enemy and drive him out of his fortifications before

Petersburg, if not to capture the city.

These high hopes were soon dissipated, however. General Meade had an

interview with General Burnside on the 28th; the subject was fully

discussed as to the plan of the assault, as proposed by General

Burnside, and made known to Meade by Burnside, in writing, on the 26th.

It was at this meeting that General Meade made his objections to the

Phalanx leading the assault. General Burnside argued with all the reason

he could command, in favor of his plans, and especially for the Phalanx,

going over the grounds already cited; why his white troops were unfit

and disqualified for performing the task of leading the assault, but in

vain. Meade was firm in his purpose, and, true to his training, he had

no use for the negro but as a servant; he never had trusted him as a

soldier. The plan, with General Meade's objection was referred to

General Grant for settlement. Grant, doubting the propriety of agreeing

with a subordinate, as against the commander of the army, dismissed the

dispute by agreeing with Meade; therefore the Phalanx was ruled out of

the lead and placed in the supporting column. It was not till the night

of the 29th, a few hours before the assault was made, that the change

was made known to General Ferrero and his men, who were greatly

chagrined and filled with disappointment.

General Ledlie's division of white troops was to lead the assault, after

the explosion of the mine on the morning of the 30th. It was on the

night of the 29th, when General Burnside issued his battle order, in

accordance with General Meade's plan and instructions, and at the

appointed hour all the troops were in readiness for the conflict. The

mine, with its several tons of powder, was ready at a quarter past three

o'clock on the eventful morning of the 30th of July. The fuses were

fired, and "all eyes were turned to the confederate fort opposite,"

which was discernible but three hundred feet distant. The garrison was

sleeping in fancied security; the sentinels slowly paced their rounds,

without a suspicion of the crust which lay between them and the awful

chasm below. Our own troops, lying upon their arms in unbroken silence,

or with an occasional murmur, stilled at once by the whispered word of

command, looked for the eventful moment of attack to arrive. A quarter

of an hour passed,--a half hour, yet there was no report. Four o'clock,

and the sky began to brighten in the east; the confederate garrison was

bestirring itself. The enemy's lines once more assumed the appearance of

life; the sharpshooters, prepared for their victims, began to pick off

those of our men, who came within range of their deadly aim. Another day

of siege was drawing on, and still there was no explosion. What could it

mean? The fuses had failed;--the dampness having penetrated to the place

where the parts had been spliced together, prevented the powder from

burning. Two men (Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergeant--afterwards

Lieutenant--Henry Rees,) of the 48th Pennsylvania volunteered to go and

ascertain where the trouble was. At quarter past four o'clock they

bravely entered the mine, re-arranged the fuses and relighted them. In

the meantime, General Meade had arrived at the permanent headquarters of

the 9th Corps. Not being able to see anything that was going forward,

and not hearing any report, he became somewhat impatient. At fifteen

minutes past four o'clock he telegraphed to General Burnside to know

what was the cause of the delay. Gen. Burnside was too busy in remedying

the failure already incurred to reply immediately, and expected, indeed,

that before a dispatch could be sent that the explosion would take

place. General Meade ill-naturedly telegraphed the operator to know

where General Burnside was. At half-past four, the commanding general

became still more impatient, and was on the point of ordering an

immediate assault upon the enemy's works, without reference to the mine.

Five minutes later he _did_ order an assault. General Grant was there

when, at sixteen minutes before five o'clock, the mine exploded. Then

ensued a scene which beggars description.

General Badeau, in describing the spectacle, says:

"The mine exploded with a shock like that of an earthquake,

tearing up the rebels' work above them, and vomiting men,

guns and caissons two hundred feet into the air. The

tremendous mass appeared for a moment to hang suspended in

the heavens like a huge, inverted cone, the exploding powder

still flashing out here and there, while limbs and bodies of

mutilated men, and fragments of cannon and wood-work could

be seen, then all fell heavily to the ground again, with a

second report like thunder. When the smoke and dust had

cleared away, only an enormous crater, thirty feet deep,

sixty wide, and a hundred and fifty long stretched out in

front of the Ninth Corps, where the rebel fort had been."

The explosion was the signal for the federal batteries to open fire, and

immediately one hundred and ten guns and fifty mortars opened along the

Union front, lending to the sublime horror of the upheaved and quaking

earth, the terror of destruction.

A confederate soldier thus describes the explosion, in the Philadelphia

_Times_, January, 1883:

"About fifteen feet of dirt intervened between the sleeping

soldiers and all this powder. In a moment the superincumbent

earth, for a space forty by eighty feet, was hurled upward,

carrying with it the artillery-men, with their four guns,

and three companies of soldiers. As the huge mass fell

backwards it buried the startled men under immense

clods--tons of dirt. Some of the artillery was thrown forty

yards towards the enemy's line. The clay subsoil was broken

and piled in large pieces, often several yards in diameter,

which afterwards protected scores of Federals when

surrounded in the crater. The early hour, the unexpected

explosion, the concentrated fire of the enemy's batteries,

startled and wrought confusion among brave men accustomed to

battle."

Says a Union account:

"Now was the time for action, forward went General Ledlie's

column, with Colonel Marshall's brigade in advance. The

parapets were surmounted, the abatis was quickly removed,

and the division prepared to pass over the intervening

ground, and charge through the still smoking ruins to gain

the crest beyond. But here the leading brigade made a

temporary halt; it was said at the time our men suspected a

counter mine, and were themselves shocked by the terrible

scene they had witnessed. It was, however, but momentary; in

less than a quarter of an hour, the entire division was out

of its entrenchments, and was advancing gallantly towards

the enemy's line. The ground was somewhat difficult to cross

over, but the troops pushed steadily on with soldiery

bearing, overcoming all the obstacles before them. They

reached the edge of the crater, passed down into the chasm

and attempted to make their way through the yielding sand,

the broken clay, and the masses of rubbish that were

everywhere about. Many of the enemy's men were lying among

the ruins, half buried, and vainly trying to free

themselves. They called for mercy and for help. The soldiers

stopped to take prisoners, to dig out guns and other

material. Their division commander was not with them, there

was no responsible head, the ranks were broken, the

regimental organizations could not be preserved, and the

troops were becoming confused. The enemy was recovering from

his surprise, our artillery began to receive a spirited

response, the enemy's men went back to their guns; they

gathered on the crest and soon brought to bear upon our

troops a fire in front from the Cemetery Hill, and an

enfilading and cross-fire from their guns in battery. Our

own guns could not altogether silence or overcome this fire

in flank, our men in the crater were checked, felt the

enemy's fire, sought cover, began to entrench. The day was

lost, still heroic men continued to push forward for the

crest, but in passing through the crater few got beyond it.

Regiment after regiment, brigade followed brigade, until the

three white divisions filled the opening and choked the

passage to all. What was a few moments ago organization and

order, was now a disordered mass of armed men. At six

o'clock, General Meade ordered General Burnside to push 'his

men forward, at all hazards, white and black.' His white

troops were all in the crater, and could not get out. As

instructed, he ordered General Ferrero to rush in the

Phalanx; Colonel Loving was near when the order came to

Ferrero; as the senior staff officer present, seeing the

impossibility of the troops to get through the crater, at

that time countermanded the order, and reported in person to

General Burnside, but he had no discretion to exercise, his

duty was simply to repeat Meade's order. The order must be

obeyed; it was repeated; away went the Phalanx division,

loudly cheering, but to what purpose did they advance? The

historian of that valiant corps, presumably more reliable

than any other writer, says:

"'The colored troops charged forward, cheering with

enthusiasm and gallantry. Colonel J. K. Sigfried, commanding

the first brigade, led the attacking column. The command

moved out in rear of Colonel Humphrey's brigade of the Third

Division. Colonel Sigfried, passing Colonel Humphrey by the

flank, crossed the field immediately in front, went down the

crater, and attempted to go through. The passage was

exceedingly difficult, but after great exertions the brigade

made its way through the crowded masses in a somewhat broken

and disorganized condition, and advanced towards the crest.

The 43rd U. S. Colored troops moved over the lip of the

crater toward the right, made an attack upon the enemy's

line of intrenchments, and won the chief success of the day,

capturing a number of prisoners and rebel colors, and

_re-capturing_ a stand of national colors. The other

regiments of the brigade were unable to get up, on account

of white troops in advance of them crowding the line. The

second brigade, under command of Colonel H. G. Thomas,

followed the first with equal enthusiasm. The men rushed

forward, descended into the crater, and attempted to pass

through. Colonel Thomas' intention was to go to the right

and attack the enemy's rifle-pits. He partially succeeded in

doing so, but his brigade was much broken up when it came

under the enemy's fire. The gallant brigade commander

endeavored, in person, to rally his command, and at last

formed a storming column, of portions of the 29th, 28th,

23rd, and 19th Regiments of the Phalanx division.'

"'These troops' made a spirited attack, but lost heavily in

officers and became somewhat disheartened.

Lieutenant-Colonel Bross, of the 29th, with the colors in

his hands, led the charge; was the first man to leap upon

the enemy's works, and was instantly killed. Lieutenant

Pennell seized the colors, but was shot down, riddled

through and through. Major Theodore H. Rockwood, of the

19th, sprang upon the parapet, and fell while cheering on

his regiment to the attack. The conduct of these officers

and their associates was indeed magnificent. No troops were

ever better lead to an assault; had they been allowed the

advance at the outset, before the enemy had recovered from

his first surprise, their charge would have been successful.

But it was made too late. The fire to which they were

exposed was very hot and destructive; it came from front and

flank, it poured into the faces of the men. It enfiladed

their lines. The enemy's rage against the colored troops had

its bloody opportunity."

And they made use of it.

Captain W. L. Fagan, of the 8th Alabama Regiment, thus gives an account

of the fight, from the confederate side:

"The crater combat, unlike other battles in Virginia, was a

series of deeds of daring, of bloody hand-to-hand fighting,

where the survivor could count with a certainty the men he

had slain. A few days ago a soldier said to me: 'I killed

two at the crater; they were not three feet from me when

they fell. I had followed the fortunes of the Confederacy

from Williamsburg to Appomattox Court House, and had, to the

morning of July 30, only seen two bayonet wounds;--one

received at Frazier's Farm, the other at Turkey Ridge, June

3, 1864.' Men stood face to face at the crater. Often a

bayonet thrust was given before the Minie ball went crashing

through the body. Every man took care of himself, intent on

selling his life as dearly as possible. The negroes did not

all stampede. They mingled with the white troops. The troops

of Mahone, Wilcox and Wright were greeted with defiant

yells, while their ranks were mowed down by withering fires.

Many officers commanding negro troops held their commissions

for bravery. Encouraged, threatened, emulating the white

troops, the black men fought with desperation. Some

Confederate soldiers recognized their slaves at the crater.

Captain J----, of the Forty-first Virginia, gave the

military salute to 'Ben' and 'Bob,' whom he had left hoeing

corn down in Dinwiddie. If White's Division had occupied

Reservoir Hill, Richmond would have been evacuated."

But let the writer of the following tell what the brave black men met

after having advanced beyond the crater, where they grappled with the

sullen foe filled with the recollection of the capture, in June, of

their works, guns and comrades by the "niggers" of the 18th Corps. It

was not _lex talionis_ that they observed, but a repetition of the Fort

Pillow Massacre. Under the head of "The Confederate Charge," the

particulars are given:

"The Federals now held the crater and the inner line.

Generals Lee and Mahone arrived on the field about 7:30 A.

M. A ravine, which deepened on our right, ran parallel with

this inner line and was used by Mahone in which to form his

brigade when preparing to attack. At 8 A. M. Mahone's

Brigade, commanded by Colonel D. A. Weisiger, brought from

the right of Hoke's Division, was formed in this ravine and

advanced to the assault. The Federals, concentrating a

terrific fire of musketry and artillery, ploughed out great

gaps in these fearless Virginians. Nothing daunted, they

pressed forward and recaptured the inner line. The loss of

this brigade was heavy, both in men and officers, more than

two hundred Virginians falling between the ravine and the

captured works. The Federal troops, white and colored,

fought with a desperation never witnessed on former

battle-fields. The negroes, it is said, cried 'No quarter.'

Mahone and Wright's Brigades took only twenty-nine of them

prisoners. The Federals still held the crater and part of

the line. Another charge was necessary and Wright's Georgia

Brigade was ordered up from Anderson's Division. Wright's

Brigade, forming in the ravine, moved forward to drive the

Federals from the line they still held. The enemy, expecting

their attack, poured a volley into the Georgians that

decimated their ranks, killing and wounding nearly every

field officer in the brigade. The men rushing forward,

breasting a storm of lead and iron, failed to oblique far

enough to the right to recapture the whole line, but gained

the line occupied by and contiguous to the line already

captured by Weisiger, commanding Mahone's Brigade. Mahone's

Brigade and Wright's Brigade had captured forty-two

officers, three hundred and ninety men and twenty-nine

negroes.

"It was now about 10 A. M. General Grant made no effort to

reinforce his line or to dislodge Wright and Mahone from the

positions they held. A courier dashed up to General J. C. C.

Sanders, commanding Wilcox's Brigade, informing him that his

brigade was wanted. The men were expecting this courier, as

they were next in line, and they distinctly heard the shouts

of Mahone's and Wright's men, followed by the heavy

artillery firing, while the word had passed down the line

that the salient had not been recaptured. General Sanders

moved his brigade, consisting of the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth,

Eleventh and Fourteenth Alabama Regiments, to the left and

occupied the ravine. There was no shade or water in this

ravine, while the men were exposed nearly four hours to a

scorching sun. The heat was almost beyond human endurance.

Strong men fainted and were carried to the rear. The waves

of hot air at times were almost suffocating. For the first

and only time the men were told what was expected of them.

General Saunders explained the situation to the officers of

the regiments. Each captain spoke to his men, urging them to

retake the salient, or Petersburg and Richmond must be

evacuated. The men were ordered to fix their bayonets

securely, to trail arms--not to fire, not to yell, but to

move quietly up the side of the ravine, and then, every man

run for his life to the breastworks. They were told that

Generals Lee, Beauregard, Hill, Mahone, Hoke and every

general officer of the army would watch them as they moved

forward.

"At 1:30 P. M. the firing had almost ceased and the

Federals, overcome with heat, did not expect an attack.

Saunders formed his brigade and moved quietly up the side of

the ravine. Hardly a word was spoken, for the Alabamians

expected to die or retake that salient. The eye of General

Lee was fixed on them. When they caught sight of the works

their old feelings came back to them and yell they must.

With the fury of a whirlwind they rushed upon the line they

had been ordered to take. The movement was so unexpected and

so quickly executed that only one shell was thrown into the

brigade. The works gained, they found the enemy on the other

side. It was stated that Lee, speaking to Beauregard, said:

'Splendid!' Beauregard spoke with enthusiasm of the

brilliant charge.

"In an instant the Federal army was aroused, and batteries

opened along the whole line, while the infantry fire was a

continuous roar. Only a breastwork divided Wilcox's Brigade

from the Federals. A moment was required for Saunders to

reform, and his brigade mounted the inner line and forced

the enemy backwards to the outer line and the crater. The

crater was full of white and negro soldiers. The

Confederates, surrounding it on every side, poured volley

after volley into this heaped-up mass of terrified negroes

and their brave officers. The negroes ran in every direction

and were shot down without a thought. Bayonets, swords and

the butts of muskets were used. The deafening roar of

artillery and musketry, the yells and imprecations of the

combatants, drowned the commands of officers. A negro in the

crater attempted to raise a white flag, and it was instantly

pulled down by a Federal officer. The Federal colors were

planted on a huge lump of dirt, and waved until Sergeant

Wallace, of the Eleventh Alabama, followed by others, seized

them and tore them from the staff. Instantly a white flag

was raised, and the living, who were not many, surrendered.

The crater was won."

With the exception of General Burnside, no commander of the Army of the

Potomac was in favor of the Phalanx participating in a battle. What,

then, had the Phalanx to expect of those to whom they had borne the

relation of _slave_? The confederates had a right to expect hard

fighting when they met the Phalanx, and the Phalanx knew they had to

fight hard when they met the confederates. It was the previous

associations and habits of the negro that kept him from retaliating for

the several massacres that had been perpetrated upon his

brother-soldiers. It was not for a want of courage to do it: it was only

necessary for those who commanded them to have ordered it, and they

would never have taken a confederate prisoner.

Many of those who commanded them needed but public opinion to sustain

them, to give such an order as would have made every battle between the

Phalanx and the confederates bloody and inhuman. It was but the

enlightened sentiment of the North, the religious teaching of the

brotherhood of man, the high character and moral training of the

statesmen on the side of the Union, that restrained the Phalanx from

retaliation, else they possessed none of the characteristics of a

courageous, sensitive and high tempered people. The negro is not

naturally docile; his surroundings, rather than his nature, have given

him the trait; it is not naturally his, but something which his trainers

have given him; and it is not a difficult task to untrain him and

advance him beyond his apparent unconsciousness of self-duty and

self-preservation. Let him feel that he is to be supported in any

transaction uncommon to him, and he can act as aggressively as any race

of men who are naturally quicker in temperament. It is this

characteristic that made the negro what General Grant said he was: in

discipline a better soldier than the white man. It was said that he

would not fight: there is no man in the South who met him on the

battle-field that will say so now.

These are a few of the thoughts that came to me as I listened for an

hour, one evening in June, 1883, to the confederate Gen. Mahone, whose

acquaintance the writer enjoys, reciting the story of the fight at the

crater, where the negro met the confederate, and in a hand-to-hand

struggle one showed as much brute courage as the other. It would not be

doing the negro justice to accord him less, and yet that courage never

led him to acts of inhumanity. It is preferable that the confederates

themselves should tell the stories of their butcheries than for me to

attempt them. Not the stories told at the time, but fifteen years

afterward, when men could reflect and write more correctly. There is

one, an orator, who has described the fight, whose reference to the

crater so gladdened the hearts of his audience that they reproduced the

"yell," and yelled themselves hoarse. No battle fought during the war,

not even that of Bull Run, elicited so much comment and glorification

among the confederates as that of the crater. It was the bloodiest fight

on the soil of the Old Dominion, and has been the subject of praise by

poets and orators upon the confederate side. Capt. J. B. Hope eulogized

"Mahone's brigade" in true Southern verse. Capt. McCabe, on the 1st of

November, 1876, in his oration before the "Association of the Army of

Northern Virginia," in narrating the recapture of the works, said:

"It was now 8 o'clock in the morning. The rest of Potter's

(Federal) division moved out slowly, when Ferrero's negro

division, the men, beyond question, inflamed with drink,

(there are many officers and men, myself among the number,

who will testify to this), burst from the advanced lines,

cheering vehemently, passed at a double quick over a crest

under a heavy fire, and rushed with scarcely a check over

the heads of the white troops in the crater, spread to their

right, and captured more than two hundred prisoners and one

stand of colors. At the same time Turner, of the Tenth

corps, pushed forward a brigade over the Ninth Corps'

parapet, seized the Confederate line still further to the

north, and quickly dispersed the remaining brigades of his

division to confirm his successes."

The truth is over-reached in the statement of this orator if he intended

to convey the idea that the men of the Phalanx division were drunk from

strong drink; but it may be looked upon as an excuse offered for the

treatment the courageous negro soldiers received at the hands of their

captors, who, worse than enraged by strong drink, gave the battle-cry on

their way to the front, "_No quarter to niggers!_" This has been

admitted by those in a position, at the time, to know what went on. In

his "Recollections of the Recapture of the Lines," Colonel Stewart of

the 61st Virginia Regiment, says:

"When nearly opposite the portions of our works held by the

Federal troops, we met several soldiers who were in the

works at the time of the explosion. Our men began ridiculing

them for going to the rear, when one of them remarked, 'Ah,

boys, you have got hot work ahead,--they are negroes, and

show no quarter.' This was the first intimation we had that

we were to fight negro troops, and it seemed to _infuse_ the

little band with impetuous daring, as they pressed toward

the fray. I never felt more like fighting in my life. Our

comrades had been slaughtered in a most inhuman and brutal

manner, and slaves were trampling over their mangled and

bleeding corpses. Revenge must have fired every heart, and

strung every arm with nerves of steel, for the herculean

task of blood."

On the Monday morning after the assault of Saturday, the Richmond

_Enquirer_ said:

"Grant's war cry of 'no quarter' shouted by his negro

soldiers, was returned with interest, we regret to hear, not

so heavily as ought to have been, since some negroes were

captured instead of being shot. Let every salient we are

called upon to defend, be a Fort Pillow, and butcher every

negro that Grant hurls against our brave troops, and permit

them not to soil their hands, with the capture of one

negro."

There is no truth in the statement. No such cry was ever made by negro

soldiers; and when it is remembered that the confederate congress, in

four short months after this declaration, began arming slaves for the

defense of Richmond, it is readily seen how deep and with what sincerity

such declarations were made. The Southern historian Pollard thus

describes the situation after the assault and the ground had again come

into the possession of the confederates:

[ILLUSTRATION: BEFORE PETERSBURG.

Phalanx soldiers, under a flag of truce, burying their dead after one of

the terrible battles before Petersburg.]

"The ground all around was dotted with the fallen, while the

sides and bottom of the crater were literally lined with

dead, the bodies lying in every conceivable position. Some

had evidently been killed with the butts of muskets, as

their crushed skulls and badly smashed faces too plainly

indicated.' Within this crater--this hole of forty by eighty

feet--were lying one hundred and thirty-six dead soldiers,

besides the wounded. The soil was literally saturated with

blood. General Bartlett was here, with his steel leg broken.

He did not look as though he had been at a 'diamond

wedding,' but was present at a 'dance of death.' A covered

way for artillery was so full of dead that details were made

to throw them out, that artillery might be brought in. The

dead bodies formed a heap on each side. The Alabamians

captured thirty-four officers, five hundred and thirty-six

white and one hundred and thirty-nine colored soldiers. The

three brigades had seventeen stands of colors, held by

seventeen as brave, sweaty, dirty, powder-stained fellows as

ever wore the gray, who knew that, when presenting their

colors to division headquarters, to each a furlough of

thirty days would be granted.

"The crater was filled with wounded, to whom our men gave

water. Adjutant Morgan Cleveland, of the 8th Alabama

Regiment, assisted a federal captain who was mortally

wounded and suffering intensely. Near him lay a burly,

wounded negro. The officer said he would die. The negro,

raising himself on his elbow, cried out: 'Thank God. You

killed my brother when we charged, because he was afraid and

ran. Now the rebels have killed you.' Death soon ended the

suffering of one and the hatred of the other. A darkness

came down on the battle-field and the victors began to

repair the salient. The crater was cleared of the dead and

wounded. Men were found buried ten feet under the dirt.

Twenty-two of the artillery company were missing. Four

hundred and ninety-eight dead and wounded confederates were

buried or sent to the hospitals. Between the lines lay

hundreds of wounded federals, who vainly called for water.

These men had been without water since early morning. Some

calling louder than others, their voices were recognized,

and as their cries grew fainter, we knew their lives were

ebbing away. Our men, risking their lives, carried water to

some.

"I find in my diary these lines: 'Sunday, July 31, 1864.

Everything comparatively quiet along the lines. Hundreds of

federal soldiers are lying in front of the crater exposed to

a scorching sun; some are crying for water. The enemy's fire

is too heavy for a soldier to expose himself.' Late on

Sunday evening a flag of truce was sent in and forwarded to

General Lee. General Grant had asked permission to bury his

dead and remove his wounded. The truce was granted, to begin

on Monday at 5 A. M. and conclude at 9 A. M. Punctual to the

hour the federal details came on the field and by 9 A. M.

had buried about three hundred. The work was hardly begun

and the truce was extended. Hour after hour was granted

until it was evening before the field was cleared."

With these selections from the mass of confederate testimony before us,

of their "daring, bloody work," given by participants, it is well to

read some of the statements of those who battled for the Union on that

occasion.

Many of the correspondents at the seat of war, ignorant of the real

facts regarding the assault, attributed the failure, not to General

Meade's interference with General Burnside's plan, but to the Phalanx

division, the men who bore the brunt of the battle and gained for

themselves a fame for desperate fighting. But some of those who _were_

acquainted with the facts have left records that tell the true story and

give honor to whom honor is due. Gen. Grant is among the number; he

perfectly understood the whole matter, knew that General Burnside, not

being allowed to carry out his own plans, but at the last moment

compelled to act contrary to his judgment, could not fight with that

enthusiasm and confidence that he would have done had he been allowed to

carry out his own ideas. In his "Memoirs," General Grant gives an

account of the explosion of the mine and the assault after placing the

blame for the "stupendous failure" where it belongs. I quote a few

preliminary words which not only intimate where the trouble lies, but

gives the key to the whole matter. Speaking of General Burnside's

command, he says:

"The four divisions of his corps were commanded by Generals

Potter, Wilcox, Ledlie and Ferrero. The last was a colored

division; and Burnside selected it to make the assault.

Meade interfered with this. Burnside then took Ledlie's

division--a worse selection than the first could have been.

* * * * Ledlie, besides being otherwise inefficient, proved

also to possess disqualifications less common among

soldiers."

A correspondent of the New York _Evening Post_ says:

"We have been continually notified for the last fortnight,

that our sappers were mining the enemy's position. As soon

as ready, our division was to storm the works on its

explosion. This rumor had spread so wide we had no faith in

it. On the night of the 29th, we were in a position on the

extreme left. We were drawn in about nine P. M., and marched

to General Burnside's headquarters, and closed in mass by

division, left in front. We there received official notice

that the long-looked-for mine was ready charged, and would

be fired at daylight next morning. The plan of storming was

as follows: One division of white troops was to charge the

works immediately after the explosion, and carry the first

and second lines of rebel intrenchments. Our division was to

follow immediately, and push right into Petersburg, take the

city, and be supported by the remainder of the Ninth and

Twenty-eighth corps. We were up bright and early, ready and

eager for the struggle to commence. I had been wishing for

something of this sort to do for some time, to gain the

respect of the Army of the Potomac. You know their former

prejudices. At thirty minutes after five, the ball opened.

The mine, with some fifty pieces of artillery, went off

almost instantaneously; at the same time, the white troops,

according to the plan, charged the fort, which they carried,

for there was nothing to oppose them; but they did not

succeed in carrying either of the lines of intrenchments.

"We were held in rear until the development of the movement

of the white troops; but, on seeing the disaster which was

about to occur, we pushed in by the flank (for we could go

in in no other way to allow us to get in position); so you

see on this failure we had nothing to do but gain by the

flank. A charge in that manner has never proved successful,

to my knowledge; when it does, it is a surprise.

"Our men went forward with enthusiasm equal to anything

under different circumstances; but, in going through the

fort that had been blown up, the passage was almost impeded

by obstacles thrown up by the explosion. At the same time,

we were receiving a most deadly cross-fire from both flanks.

At this time, our lieutenant-colonel (E. W. Ross) fell, shot

through the left leg, bravely leading the men. I immediately

assumed command, but only to hold it a few minutes, when I

fell, struck by a piece of shell in the side. Capt.

Robinson, from Connecticut, then took command; and, from all

we can learn, he was killed. At this time, our first charge

was somewhat checked, and the men sought cover in the works.

Again our charge was made, but, like the former,

unsuccessful. This was followed by the enemy making a

charge. Seeing the unorganized condition and the great loss

of officers, the men fell back to our own works. Yet a large

number still held the fort until two P. M., when the enemy

charged again, and carried it. That ended the great attempt

to take Petersburg.

"It will be thus seen that the colored troops did not

compose the first assaulting, but the supporting column; and

they were not ordered forward until white troops in greater

numbers had made a desperate effort to carry the rebel

works, and had failed. Then the colored troops were sent in;

moved over the broken ground, and up the slope, and within a

short distance of the parapet, in order, and with steady

courage; but finally broke and retreated under the same fire

which just before had sent a whole division of white

regiments to the right-about. If there be any disgrace in

that, it does not belong exclusively nor mainly to the

negroes. A second attack is far more perilous and unlikely

to succeed than a first; the enemy having been encouraged by

the failure of the first, and had time to concentrate his

forces. And, in this case, there seems to have been a fatal

delay in ordering both the first and second assault."

An officer in the same engagement says:

"In regard to the bravery of the colored troops, although I

have been in upwards of twenty battles, I never saw so many

cases of gallantry. The 'crater,' where we were halted, was

a perfect slaughter-pen. Had not 'some one blundered,' but

moved us up at daylight, instead of eight o'clock, we should

have been crowned with success, instead of being cut to

pieces by a terrific enfilading fire, and finally forced

from the field in a panic. We had no trouble in rallying the

troops and moving them into the rifle-pits; and, in one hour

after the rout I had nearly as many men together as were

left unhurt.