But to Spotsylvania history will accord the palm, I am sure, for
having furnished an unexampled muzzle-to-muzzle fire; the longest roll
of incessant, unbroken musketry; the most splendid exhibition of
individual heroism and personal daring by large numbers, who, standing
in the freshly spilt blood of their fellows, faced for so long a
period and at so short a range the flaming rifles as they heralded the
decrees of death. This heroism was confined to neither side. It was
exhibited by both armies, and in that hand-to-hand struggle for the
possession of the breastworks it seemed almost universal. It would be
commonplace truism to say that such examples will not be lost to the
Republic.--_General John B. Gordon, C. S. A., in "Reminiscences of the
Civil War."_
Immediately after the cessation of hostilities on the 6th of May in the
Wilderness, Grant determined to move his army to Spotsylvania Court House,
and to start the wagon trains on the afternoon of the 7th. Grant's object
was, by a flank move, to get between Lee and Richmond. Lee foresaw Grant's
purpose and also moved his cavalry, under Stuart, across the opponent's
path. As an illustration of the exact science of war we see the two great
military leaders racing for position at Spotsylvania Court House. It was
revealed later that Lee had already made preparations on this field a year
before, in anticipation of its being a possible battle-ground.
Apprised of the movement of the Federal trains, Lee, with his usual
sagacious foresight, surmised their destination. He therefore ordered
General R. H. Anderson, now in command of Longstreet's corps, to march to
Spotsylvania Court House at three o'clock on the morning of the 8th. But
the smoke and flames from the burning forests that surrounded Anderson's
camp in the Wilderness made the position untenable, and the march was
begun at eleven o'clock on the night of the 7th. This early start proved
of inestimable value to the Confederates. Anderson's right, in the
Wilderness, rested opposite Hancock's left, and the Confederates secured a
more direct line of march to Spotsylvania, several miles shorter than that
of the Federals. The same night General Ewell at the extreme Confederate
left was ordered to follow Anderson at daylight, if he found no large
force in his front. This order was followed out, there being no opposing
troops, and the corps took the longest route of any of Lee's troops.
General Ewell found the march exhausting and distressing on account of the
intense heat and dust and smoke from the burning forests.
The Federal move toward Spotsylvania Court House was begun after dark on
the 7th. Warren's corps, in the lead, took the Brock road behind Hancock's
position and was followed by Sedgwick, who marched by way of
Chancellorsville. Burnside came next, but he was halted to guard the
trains. Hancock, covering the move, did not start the head of his command
until some time after daylight. When Warren reached Todd's Tavern he found
the Union cavalry under Merritt in conflict with Fitzhugh Lee's division
of Stuart's cavalry. Warren sent Robinson's division ahead; it drove
Fitzhugh Lee back, and, advancing rapidly, met the head of Anderson's
troops. The leading brigades came to the assistance of the cavalry; Warren
was finally repulsed and began entrenching. The Confederates gained
Spotsylvania Court House.
Throughout the day there was continual skirmishing between the troops, as
the Northerners attempted to break the line of the Confederates. But the
men in gray stood firm. Every advance of the blue was repulsed. Lee again
blocked the way of Grant's move. The Federal loss during the day had been
about thirteen hundred, while the Confederates lost fewer men than their
opponents.
The work of both was now the construction of entrenchments, which
consisted of earthworks sloping to either side, with logs as a parapet,
and between these works and the opposing army were constructed what are
known as abatis, felled trees, with the branches cut off, the sharp ends
projecting toward the approaching forces.
Lee's entrenchments were of such character as to increase the efficiency
of his force. They were formed in the shape of a huge V with the apex
flattened, forming a salient angle against the center of the Federal line.
The Confederate lines were facing north, northwest, and northeast, the
corps commanded by Anderson on the left, Ewell in the center, and Early on
the right, the latter temporarily replacing A. P. Hill, who was ill. The
Federals confronting them were Burnside on the left, Sedgwick and Warren
in the center, and Hancock on the right.
The day of the 9th was spent in placing the lines of troops, with no
fighting except skirmishing and some sharp-shooting. While placing some
field-pieces, General Sedgwick was hit by a sharpshooter's bullet and
instantly killed. He was a man of high character, a most competent
commander, of fearless courage, loved and lamented by the army. General
Horatio G. Wright succeeded to the command of the Sixth Corps.
Early on the morning of the 10th, the Confederates discovered that Hancock
had crossed the Po River in front of his position of the day before and
was threatening their rear. Grant had suspected that Lee was about to move
north toward Fredericksburg, and Hancock had been ordered to make a
reconnaissance with a view to attacking and turning the Confederate left.
But difficulties stood in the way of Hancock's performance, and before he
had accomplished much, Meade directed him to send two of his divisions to
assist Warren in making an attack on the Southern lines. The Second Corps
started to recross the Po. Before all were over Early made a vigorous
assault on the rear division, which did not escape without heavy loss. In
this engagement the corps lost the first gun in its most honorable career,
a misfortune deeply lamented by every man in the corps, since up to this
moment it had long been the only one in the entire army which could make
the proud claim of never having lost a gun or a color.
But the great event of the 10th was the direct assault upon the
Confederate front. Meade had arranged for Hancock to take charge of this,
and the appointed hour was five in the afternoon. But Warren reported
earlier that the opportunity was most favorable, and he was ordered to
start at once. Wearing his full uniform, the leader of the Fifth Corps
advanced at a quarter to four with the greater portion of his troops. The
progress of the valiant Northerners was one of the greatest difficulty,
owing to the dense wood of low cedar-trees through which they had to make
their way. Longstreet's corps behind their entrenchments acknowledged the
advance with very heavy artillery and musket fire. But Warren's troops did
not falter or pause until some had reached the abatis and others the very
crest of the parapet. A few, indeed, were actually killed inside the
works. All, however, who survived the terrible ordeal were finally driven
back with heavy loss. General James C. Rice was mortally wounded.
To the left of Warren, General Wright had observed what he believed to be
a vulnerable spot in the Confederate entrenchments. Behind this particular
place was stationed Doles' brigade of Georgia regiments, and Colonel Emory
Upton was ordered to charge Doles with a column of twelve regiments in
four lines. The ceasing of the Federal artillery at six o'clock was the
signal for the charge, and twenty minutes later, as Upton tells us, "at
command, the lines rose, moved noiselessly to the edge of the wood, and
then, with a wild cheer and faces averted, rushed for the works. Through a
terrible front and flank fire the column advanced quickly, gaining the
parapet. Here occurred a deadly hand-to-hand conflict. The enemy, sitting
in their pits with pieces upright, loaded, and with bayonets fixed ready
to impale the first who should leap over, absolutely refused to yield the
ground. The first of our men who tried to surmount the works fell, pierced
through the head by musket-balls. Others, seeing the fate of their
comrades, held their pieces at arm's length and fired downward, while
others, poising their pieces vertically, hurled them down upon their
enemy, pinning them to the ground.... The struggle lasted but a few
seconds. Numbers prevailed, and like a resistless wave, the column poured
over the works, quickly putting _hors de combat_ those who resisted and
sending to the rear those who surrendered. Pressing forward and expanding
to the right and left, the second line of entrenchments, its line of
battle, and a battery fell into our hands. The column of assault had
accomplished its task."
The Confederate line had been shattered and an opening made for expected
support. This, however, failed to arrive. General Mott, on the left, did
not bring his division forward as had been planned and as General Wright
had ordered. The Confederates were reënforced, and Upton could do no more
than hold the captured entrenchments until ordered to retire. He brought
twelve hundred prisoners and several stands of colors back to the Union
lines; but over a thousand of his own men were killed or wounded. For
gallantry displayed in this charge, Colonel Upton was made
brigadier-general.
The losses to the Union army in this engagement at Spotsylvania were over
four thousand. The loss to the Confederates was probably two thousand.
During the 11th there was a pause. The two giant antagonists took a
breathing spell. It was on the morning of this date that Grant penned the
sentence, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer,"
to his chief of staff, General Halleck.
During this time Sheridan, who had brought the cavalry up to a state of
great efficiency, was making an expedition to the vicinity of Richmond. He
had said that if he were permitted to operate independently of the army he
would draw Stuart after him. Grant at once gave the order, and Sheridan
made a detour around Lee's army, engaging and defeating the Confederate
cavalry, which he greatly outnumbered, on the 11th of May, at Yellow
Tavern, where General Stuart, the brilliant commander of the Confederate
cavalry, was mortally wounded.
Grant carefully went over the ground and decided upon another attack on
the 12th. About four hundred yards of clear ground lay in front of the
sharp angle, or salient, of Lee's lines. After the battle this point was
known as the "Bloody Angle," and also as "Hell's Hole." Here Hancock was
ordered to make an attack at daybreak on the 12th. Lee had been expecting
a move on the part of Grant. On the evening of the 10th he sent to Ewell
this message: "It will be necessary for you to reestablish your whole line
to-night.... Perhaps Grant will make a night attack, as it was a favorite
amusement of his at Vicksburg."
Through rain and mud Hancock's force was gotten into position within a few
hundred yards of the Confederate breastworks. He was now between Burnside
and Wright. At the first approach of dawn the four divisions of the Second
Corps, under Birney, Mott, Barlow, and Gibbon (in reserve) moved
noiselessly to the designated point of attack. Without a shot being fired
they reached the Confederate entrenchments, and struck with fury and
impetuosity a mortal blow at the point where least expected, on the
salient, held by General Edward Johnson of Ewell's corps. The movement of
the Federals was so swift and the surprise so complete, that the
Confederates could make practically no resistance, and were forced to
surrender.
The artillery had been withdrawn from the earthworks occupied by Johnson's
troops on the previous night, but developments had led to an order to
have it returned early in the morning. It was approaching as the attack
was made. Before the artillerymen could escape or turn the guns upon the
Federals, every cannon had been captured. General Johnson with almost his
whole division, numbering about three thousand, and General Steuart, were
captured, between twenty and thirty colors, and several thousand stands of
arms were taken. Hancock had already distinguished himself as a leader of
his soldiers, and from his magnificent appearance, noble bearing, and
courage had been called "Hancock the Superb," but this was the most
brilliant of his military achievements.
Pressing onward across the first defensive line of the Confederates,
Hancock's men advanced against the second series of trenches, nearly half
a mile beyond. As the Federals pushed through the muddy fields they lost
all formation. They reached close to the Confederate line. The Southerners
were prepared for the attack. A volley poured into the throng of blue, and
General Gordon with his reserve division rushed forward, fighting
desperately to drive the Northerners back. As they did so General Lee rode
up, evidently intending to go forward with Gordon. His horse was seized by
one of the soldiers, and for the second time in the campaign the cry arose
from the ranks, "Lee to the rear!" The beloved commander was led back from
the range of fire, while the men, under the inspiration of his example,
rushed forward in a charge that drove the Federals back until they had
reached the outer line of works. Here they fought stubbornly at deadly
range. Neither side was able to force the other back. But Gordon was not
able to cope with the entire attack. Wright and Warren both sent some of
their divisions to reënforce Hancock, and Lee sent all the assistance
possible to the troops struggling so desperately to restore his line at
the salient.
Many vivid and picturesque descriptions of this fighting at the angle have
been written, some by eye-witnesses, others by able historians, but no
printed page, no cold type can convey to the mind the realities of that
terrible conflict. The results were appalling. The whole engagement was
practically a hand-to-hand contest. The dead lay beneath the feet of the
living, three and four layers deep. This hitherto quiet spot of earth was
devastated and covered with the slain, weltering in their own blood,
mangled and shattered into scarcely a semblance of human form. Dying men
were crushed by horses and many, buried beneath the mire and mud, still
lived. Some artillery was posted on high ground not far from the apex of
the salient, and an incessant fire was poured into the Confederate works
over the Union lines, while other guns kept up an enfilade of canister
along the west of the salient.
The contest from the right of the Sixth to the left of the Second Corps
was kept up throughout the day along the whole line. Repeatedly the
trenches had to be cleared of the dead. An oak tree twenty-two inches in
diameter was cut down by musket-balls. Men leaped upon the breastworks,
firing until shot down.
The battle of the "angle" is said to have been the most awful in duration
and intensity in modern times. Battle-line after battle-line, bravely
obeying orders, was annihilated. The entrenchments were shivered and
shattered, trunks of trees carved into split brooms. Sometimes the
contestants came so close together that their muskets met, muzzle to
muzzle, and their flags almost intertwined with each other as they waved
in the breeze. As they fought with the desperation of madmen, the living
would stand on the bodies of the dead to reach over the breastworks with
their weapons of slaughter. Lee hurled his army with unparalleled vigor
against his opponent five times during the day, but each time was
repulsed. Until three o'clock the next morning the slaughter continued,
when the Confederates sank back into their second line of entrenchments,
leaving their opponents where they had stood in the morning. All the
fighting on the 12th was not done at the "Bloody Angle." Burnside on the
left of Hancock engaged Early's troops and was defeated, while on the
other side of the salient Wright succeeded in driving Anderson back.
The question has naturally arisen why that "salient" was regarded of such
vital importance as to induce the two chief commanders to force their
armies into such a hand-to-hand contest that must inevitably result in
unparalleled and wholesale slaughter. It was manifest, however, that Grant
had shown generalship in finding the weak point in Lee's line for attack.
It was imperative that he hold the gain made by his troops. Lee could ill
afford the loss resistance would entail, but he could not withdraw his
army during the day without disaster.
The men on both sides seemed to comprehend the gravity of the situation,
that it was a battle to the death for that little point of entrenchment.
Without urging by officers, and sometimes without officers, they fell into
line and fought and bled and died in myriads as though inspired by some
unseen power. Here men rushed to their doom with shouts of courage and
eagerness.
The pity of it all was manifested by the shocking scene on that
battlefield the next day. Piles of dead lay around the "Bloody Angle," a
veritable "Hell's Hole" on both sides of the entrenchments, four layers
deep in places, shattered and torn by bullets and hoofs and clubbed
muskets, while beneath the layers of dead, it is said, there could be seen
quivering limbs of those who still lived.
General Grant was deeply moved at the terrible loss of life. When he
expressed his regret for the heavy sacrifice of men to General Meade, the
latter replied, "General, we can't do these little tricks without heavy
losses." The total loss to the Union army in killed, wounded, and missing
at Spotsylvania was nearly eighteen thousand. The Confederate losses have
never been positively known, but from the best available sources of
information the number has been placed at not less than nine thousand men.
Lee's loss in high officers was very severe, the killed including General
Daniel and General Perrin, while Generals Walker, Ramseur, R. D. Johnston,
and McGowan were severely wounded. In addition to the loss of these
important commanders, Lee was further crippled in efficient commanders by
the capture of Generals Edward Johnson and Steuart. The Union loss in high
officers was light, excepting General Sedgwick on the 9th. General Webb
was wounded, and Colonel Coon, of the Second Corps, was killed.
Lee's forces had been handled with such consummate skill as to make them
count one almost for two, and there was the spirit of devotion for Lee
among his soldiers which was indeed practically hero-worship. All in all,
he had an army, though shattered and worn, that was almost unconquerable.
Grant found that ordinary methods of war, even such as he had experienced
in the West, were not applicable to the Army of Northern Virginia. The
only hope for the Union army was a long-drawn-out process, and with larger
numbers, better kept, and more often relieved, Grant's army would
ultimately make that of Lee's succumb, from sheer exhaustion and
disintegration.
The battle was not terminated on the 12th. During the next five days there
was a continuous movement of the Union corps to the east which was met by
a corresponding readjustment of the Confederate lines. After various
maneuvers, Hancock was ordered to the point where the battle was fought on
the 12th, and on the 18th and 19th, the last effort was made to break the
lines of the Confederates. Ewell, however, drove the Federals back and the
next day he had a severe engagement with the Union left wing, while
endeavoring to find out something of Grant's plans.
Twelve days of active effort were thus spent in skirmishing, fighting, and
countermarching. In the last two engagements the Union losses were nearly
two thousand, which are included in those before stated. It was decided to
abandon the attempt to dislodge Lee from his entrenchments, and to move
to the North Anna River. On the 20th of May the march was resumed. The men
had suffered great hardships from hunger, exposure, and incessant action,
and many would fall asleep on the line of march.
On the day after the start, Hancock crossed the Mattapony River at one
point and Warren at another. Hancock was ordered to take position on the
right bank and, if practicable, to attack the Confederates wherever found.
By the 22d, Wright and Burnside came up and the march proceeded. But the
vigilant Lee had again detected the plans of his adversary.
Meade's army had barely started in its purpose to turn the Confederates'
flank when the Southern forces were on the way to block the army of the
North. As on the march from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania, Lee's troops
took the shorter route, along main roads, and reached the North Anna ahead
of the Federals. Warren's corps was the first of Meade's army to arrive at
the north bank of the river, which it did on the afternoon of May 23d. Lee
was already on the south bank, but Warren crossed without opposition. No
sooner had he gotten over, however, than he was attacked by the
Confederates and a severe but undecisive engagement followed. The next
morning (the 24th) Hancock and Wright put their troops across at places
some miles apart, and before these two wings of the army could be joined,
Lee made a brilliant stroke by marching in between them, forming a wedge
whose point rested on the bank, opposite the Union center, under Burnside,
which had not yet crossed the river.
The Army of the Potomac was now in three badly separated parts. Burnside
could not get over in sufficient strength to reënforce the wings, and all
attempts by the latter to aid him in so doing met with considerable
disaster. The loss in these engagements approximated two thousand on each
side.
On the 25th, Sheridan and his cavalry rejoined the army. They had been
gone since the 9th and their raid was most successful. Besides the
decisive victory over the Confederate cavalry at Yellow Tavern, they had
destroyed several depots of supplies, four trains of cars, and many miles
of railroad track. Nearly four hundred Federal prisoners on their way to
Richmond had been rescued from their captors. The dashing cavalrymen had
even carried the first line of work around Richmond, and had made a detour
down the James to communicate with General Butler. Grant was highly
satisfied with Sheridan's performance. It had been of the greatest
assistance to him, as it had drawn off the whole of the Confederate
cavalry, and made the guarding of the wagon trains an easy matter.
But here, on the banks of the North Anna, Grant had been completely
checkmated by Lee. He realized this and decided on a new move, although he
still clung to his idea of turning the Confederate right. The Federal
wings were withdrawn to the north side of the river during the night of
May 26th and the whole set in motion for the Pamunkey River at
Hanovertown. Two divisions of Sheridan's cavalry and Warren's corps were
in advance. Lee lost no time in pursuing his great antagonist, but for the
first time the latter was able to hold his lead. Along the Totopotomoy, on
the afternoon of May 28th, infantry and cavalry of both armies met in a
severe engagement in which the strong position of Lee's troops again
foiled Grant's purpose. The Union would have to try at some other point,
and on the 31st Sheridan's cavalry took possession of Cold Harbor. This
was to be the next battle-ground.
[Illustration: IN THE AUTUMN OF 1863--GRANT'S CHANGING EXPRESSIONS]
Although secure in his fame as the conqueror of Vicksburg, Grant still has
the greater part of his destiny to fulfil as he faces the camera. Before
him lie the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the slow investment
of Petersburg. This series forms a particularly interesting study in
expression. At the left hand, the face looks almost amused. In the next
the expression is graver, the mouth close set. The third picture looks
plainly obstinate, and in the last the stern fighter might have been
declaring, as in the following spring: "I propose to fight it out on this
line if it takes all summer." The eyes, first unveiled fully in this
fourth view, are the unmistakable index to Grant's stern inflexibility,
once his decision was made.
[Illustration: IN THE AUTUMN OF 1864--AFTER THE STRAIN OF THE WILDERNESS
CAMPAIGN]
Here is a furrowed brow above eyes worn by pain. In the pictures of the
previous year the forehead is more smooth, the expression grave yet
confident. Here the expression is that of a man who has won, but won at a
bitter cost. It is the memory of the 50,000 men whom he left in the
Wilderness campaign and at Cold Harbor that has lined this brow, and
closed still tighter this inflexible mouth. Again, as in the series above,
the eyes are not revealed until the last picture. Then again flashes the
determination of a hero. The great general's biographers say that Grant
was a man of sympathy and infinite pity. It was the more difficult for
him, spurred on to the duty by grim necessity, to order forward the lines
in blue that withered, again and again, before the Confederate fire, but
each time weakened the attenuated line which confronted them.
[Illustration: MEADE AND SEDGWICK--BEFORE THE ADVANCE THAT BROUGHT
SEDGWICK'S DEATH AT SPOTSYLVANIA