THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
On the 22d of March the regiment embarked on the steamer Emperor, bound
for Fortress Monroe. The day was bright and glorious, the magnificent
enthusiasm on every hand was contagious, and few who were partakers in
that grand pageant will ever forget it. Alas! however, many thousands of
that great army never returned from that fatal campaign. The orders
required that each steamer, as she left her moorings, should pass up the
river for a short distance, turn and pass down by Gen. Porter's
flag-ship, saluting as she passed--a sort of military-naval review.
As the twenty-two steamers conveying this magnificent division thus
passed in review, bands playing, colors flying and the men cheering, it
was an inspiring spectacle for the young soldiers who were for the first
time moving toward the enemy. The enthusiasm was kept up to fever heat
until the leading steamers reached Mount Vernon, when, as though by
order, the cheering ceased, flags were dropped to half-mast, the strains
of "The girl I left behind me," and "John Brown's body," gave way to
funereal dirges, and all hats were doffed as the fleet passed the tomb
of Washington. On the twenty-third the regiment disembarked at Hampton,
Va., and went into camp at a point about midway between that place and
Newport's News, where they remained several days, awaiting the arrival
of the other divisions and the artillery and supplies necessary before
the march on Yorktown could commence.
Hampton Roads was a scene of the greatest activity, hundreds of ships
and steam transports lay at the docks discharging their cargoes of men
and material, or at anchor in the broad waters adjacent awaiting their
turn. Both army and navy here experienced a period of the most intense
anxiety. Only a few days previous to the arrival of the first troops,
the rebel iron-clad, Merrimac, had appeared before Newport's News, only
a few miles away, and had made such a fearful display of her power for
destruction as to excite the gravest apprehension lest she should again
appear among the crowded shipping, sinking and destroying, by the simple
battering power of her immense weight, these frail steamboats crowded
with troops; but she had had a taste of the Monitor's quality, and did
not apparently care to repeat the experiment. While thus awaiting the
moment for the general advance, Fitz John Porter's division was ordered
to make a reconnoissance in the direction of Great Bethel, the scene of
the disaster of June 10, 1861. The division moved on two roads nearly
parallel with each other. A body of sharp shooters led the advance of
each column, that on the right being under the command of Lieut.-Col.
Ripley, while those on the left were commanded by Col. Berdan.
This was the first time that the regiment had ever had the opportunity
to measure its marching qualities with those of other troops; they had
been most carefully and persistently drilled in this particular branch,
and as they swept on, taking the full twenty-eight inch step and in
regulation time, they soon left the remainder of the column far in rear,
at which they were greatly elated, and when Capt. Auchmuty of Gen.
Morell's staff rode up with the General's compliments and an inquiry as
to "whether the sharp shooters intended to go on alone, or would they
prefer to wait for support," their self-glorification was very great.
Later, however, they ceased to regard a march of ten or fifteen miles at
their best pace as a joke. Co. F was with the right column, under Col.
Ripley, and came for the first time under hostile fire. No serious
fighting took place, although shots were frequently exchanged with the
rebel cavalry, who fell back slowly before the Union advance. At Great
Bethel a slight stand was made by the enemy, who were, however, soon
dislodged by the steady and accurate fire of the sharp shooters, with
some loss. Pushing on, the regiment advanced some three miles towards
Yorktown, where, finding no considerable force of the enemy disposed to
make a stand, and the object of the reconnoissance having been
accomplished, both columns returned to camp near Fortress Monroe. The
march had been a long and severe one for new troops, but Co. F came in
without a straggler and in perfect order.
The experience of the day had taught them one lesson, however, and
certain _gray overcoats_ and Havelock hats of the same rebellious hue
were promptly exchanged for others of a color in which they were less
apt to be shot by mistake by their own friends. The uniform of the
regiment consisted of coats, blouses, pants and caps of green cloth; and
leather leggings, buckling as high as the knee, were worn by officers
and men alike. The knapsacks of the men were of the style then in use by
the army of Prussia; they were of leather tanned with the hair on, and,
although rather heavier than the regulation knapsack, fitted the back
well, were roomy and were highly appreciated by the men. Each had
strapped to its outside a small cooking kit which was found compact and
useful. Thus equipped the regiment was distinctive in its uniform as
well as in its service, and soon became well known in the army.
On the 3d of April Gen. McClellan arrived at Fortress Monroe, and early
on the morning of the fourth the whole army was put in motion toward
Yorktown, where heavy works, strongly manned, were known to exist. The
sharp shooters led the advance of the column on the road by which the
Fifth Corps advanced, being that nearest the York river. Slight
resistance was made by the enemy's cavalry at various points, but no
casualties were experienced by Co. F on that day.
Cockeysville, a small hamlet some sixteen miles from Hampton, was
reached, and the tired men of Co. F laid down in bivouac for the first
time. Heretofore their camps, cheerless and devoid of home comforts as
they sometimes were, had had some element of permanence; this was quite
another thing, and what wonder if thoughts of home and home comforts
flitted through their minds. Then, too, all supposed that on the morrow
would occur a terrible battle (for the siege of Yorktown was not then
anticipated); nothing less than immediate and desperate assault was
contemplated by the men, and, as some complimentary remarks had been
made to the regiment, and especial allusion to the effect those five
shooting rifles, held in such trusty and skillful hands, would have in a
charge, they felt that in the coming battle their place would be a hot
and dangerous, as well as an honorable one. At daybreak on the morning
of the fifth, in a soaking rain storm, the army resumed its march, the
sharp shooters still in the advance, searching suspicious patches of
woods, streaming out from the road to farm houses, hurrying over and
around little knolls behind which danger might lurk, while now and then
came the crack of rifles from a group across a field, telling of the
presence of hostile cavalry watching the advance of the invaders. More
strenuous resistance was met with than on the day before, but the rebels
fell back steadily, if slowly. The rain fell continuously and the roads
became difficult of passage for troops. The sharp shooters, however,
fared better in this respect than troops of the line, for deployed as
skirmishers, covering a large front, they could pick their way with
comparative ease. At ten o'clock A. M., all resistance by rebel
cavalry having ceased, the skirmishers emerged from dense woods and
found themselves immediately in front of the heavy earth works before
Yorktown. They were at once saluted by the enemy's artillery, and were
now for the first time under the fire of shell.
Dashing forward one or two hundred yards, the skirmishers took position
along and behind the crest of a slight elevation crowned by hedges and
scattered clumps of bushes. The men of Co. F found themselves in a peach
orchard surrounding a large farm house with its out-buildings. In and
about these buildings, and along a fence running westwardly from the
cluster of houses, Co. F formed its line, at a distance of some five
hundred yards from a powerful line of breastworks running from the main
fort in front of Yorktown to the low ground about the head of Warwick
creek.
Once in position, Co. F went at its work as steadily and coolly as
veterans. Under the direction of a field officer, who watched the result
with his glass, a few shots were fired by picked men at spots in the
exterior slope of the works to ascertain the exact range, which was then
announced and the order given, "Commence firing."
The rebels, ensconced in fancied security behind their strong works,
and who up to that time had kept up a constant and heavy fire from their
artillery, while their infantry lined the parapets, soon found reason to
make themselves less conspicuous and to modify very essentially the tone
of their remarks, which had been the reverse of complimentary. Gun after
gun was silenced and abandoned, until within an hour every embrasure
within a range of a thousand yards to the right and left was tenantless
and silent. Their infantry, which at first responded with a vigorous
fire, found that exposure of a head meant grave danger, if not death.
Occasionally a man would be found, who, carried away by his enthusiasm,
would mount the parapet and with taunting cries seem to mock the Union
marksmen, but no sooner would he appear than a score of rifles would be
brought to bear, and he was fortunate indeed if he escaped with his
life. At this point occurred the first casualty among the men of Co. F,
Corp. C. W. Peck receiving a severe wound. During the day a small body
of horsemen, apparently the staff and escort of a general officer,
appeared passing from the village of Yorktown, behind the line of
breastworks before spoken of, towards their right. When first observed
little more than the heads of the riders were visible above the
breastworks; near the western end of their line, however, the ground on
which they were riding was higher, thus bringing them into plainer view,
and as they reached this point every rifle was brought into use, and it
appeared to observers that at least half the saddles in that little
band were emptied before they could pass over the exposed fifty yards
that lay between them and safety. While the sharp shooters had been
successful in silencing the fire of the enemy's cannon, and almost
entirely so that of their infantry, a few of the rebel marksmen, who
occupied small rifle pits in advance of their line of works, kept up an
annoying fire, from which the Union artillerists suffered severely.
These little strongholds had been constructed at leisure, were in
carefully selected positions, usually behind a cover of natural or
artificially planted bushes, and it was almost impossible to dislodge
their occupants; every puff of smoke from one of them was, of course,
the signal for a heavy fire of Union rifles on that spot; but sharp
shooters who are worthy of the name will not continue long to fire at
what they cannot see, and so, after one or two shots, the men would
devote their attention to some other point, when the Confederate gunner,
having remained quite at his ease behind his shelter, would peer out
from behind his screen of bushes, select his mark, and renew his fire.
One spot was marked as the hiding place of a particularly obnoxious and
skillful rifleman, and to him, Private Ide of Co. E of New Hampshire,
who occupied a commanding position near the corner of an out house,
devoted himself. Ide was one of the few men who still carried his
telescopic target rifle. Several shots were exchanged between these men,
and it began to take the form of a personal affair and was watched with
the keenest interest by those not otherwise engaged, but fortune first
smiled on the rebel, and Ide fell dead, shot through the forehead while
in the act of raising his rifle to an aim. His fall was seen by the
enemy, who raised a shout of exultation. It was short, however, for an
officer, taking the loaded rifle from the dead man's hand, and watching
his opportunity through the strong telescope, soon saw the triumphant
rebel, made bold by his success, raise himself into view; it was a fatal
exposure and he fell apparently dead.
At nine o'clock P. M. the sharp shooters were relieved by another
regiment and retired to a point about half a mile in the rear, where
the tired soldiers lay down after nearly twenty hours of continual
marching and fighting. The fine position they had gained and held
through the day, was regained, however, by the rebels by a night sally
and was not reoccupied by the Union forces again for several days. On
the next day, Gen. Porter, commanding the division, addressed the
following highly complimentary letter to Col. Berdan:
HEADQUARTERS PORTER'S DIVISION,
THIRD ARMY CORPS.
CAMP NEAR YORKTOWN, April 6, 1862.
_Col. Berdan, Commanding Sharp Shooters:_
COLONEL.--The Commanding General instructs me to
say to you that he is glad to learn, from the admissions of
the enemy themselves, that they begin to fear your sharp
shooters. Your men have caused a number of the rebels to
bite the dust. The Commanding General is glad to find your
corps are proving themselves so efficient, and trusts that
this intelligence will encourage your men, give them, if
possible, steadier hands and clearer eyes, so that when
their trusty rifles are pointed at the foe, there will be
one rebel less at every discharge. I am, Colonel, very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
FRED. T. LOCKE, A. A. G.
Gen. McClellan, believing the place too strong to be carried by assault,
and his plans for turning the position having been disarranged by the
detention in front of Washington of Gen. McDowell's corps, to which he
had entrusted the movement, the army went into camp and settled down to
the siege of Yorktown. The ensuing thirty days were full of excitement
and danger, and Co. F had its full share. Several of the companies were
detached and ordered to other portions of the army. Co. F, however,
remained at regimental headquarters. Heavy details were made every day
for service in the rifle pits, the men leaving camp and occupying their
positions before daylight, and being relieved by details from other
regiments after dark. Details were also frequently made for the purpose
of digging advanced rifle pits during the night. These pits were
approached by zigzags, and could only be reached during the hours of
daylight by crawling on the hands and knees, and then only under
circumstances of great danger. They were pushed so far to the front
that, when the evacuation took place on the night of the 3d of May, they
were hardly more than one hundred yards from the main rebel line of
works, and hardly half as far from the rebel rifle pits. Frequent sharp
conflicts took place between bodies of rebel and Union soldiers striving
for the same position on which to dig a new rifle pit, in several of
which Co. F took a prominent part and suffered some loss.
So close were the opposing lines at some places that sharp shooting
became almost impossible for either side, as the exposure of so much as
a hand meant a certain wound.
In this state of affairs the men would improvise loop holes by forcing
sharpened stakes through the bank of earth in front of the pits, through
which they would thrust the barrels of their breach loaders, over which
they would keenly watch for a chance for a shot, and woe to that
unfortunate rebel who exposed even a small portion of his figure within
the circumscribed range of their vision.
The regimental camp before Yorktown was beautifully situated near the
York river and not far from army headquarters. Great rivalry existed
between the different companies as to which company street should
present the neatest appearance, and the camp was very attractive to
visitors and others. The officers mess was open to all comers and was a
constant scene of visiting and feasting. For a few days, it is true, the
troops, officers and men alike, were on short rations, but as soon as
the river was opened and docks constructed, the necessities, and even
the luxuries of life were abundant. At this camp the first instalment of
the much desired and long promised Sharpe rifles arrived. Only one
hundred were received in the first consignment, and they were at once
issued to Co. F as an evidence of the high esteem in which that company
was held by the officers of the regiment, and as a recognition of its
particularly good conduct on several occasions--it was a compliment well
deserved. On the night of the 3d of May, the rebels kept up a tremendous
fire during the whole night. Heavy explosions, not of artillery, were
frequent, and it was evident that some move of importance was in
progress. At an early hour the usual detail of sharp shooters relieved
the infantry pickets in the advanced rifle pits, and soon after daylight
it became apparent to them that matters at the front had undergone a
change, and cautiously advancing from their lines they found the rebel
works evacuated.
Pressing forward over the earth works which had so long barred the way,
the sharp shooters were the first troops to occupy the village of
Yorktown, where they hauled down the garrison flag which had been left
flying by the retreating rebels. All was now joyous excitement; what was
considered a great victory had been gained without any considerable loss
of life--a consideration very grateful for the soldier to contemplate.
Seventy-two heavy guns were abandoned by the rebels, which, though of
little use to them, and of less to us, by reason of their antiquated
styles, were still trophies, and so, valuable.
Regimental and brigade bands, which, together with drum and bugle corps,
had been silent for a month, by general orders (for the rebels had kept
up a tremendous fire on every thing they saw, heard or suspected), now
filled the air with many a stirring and patriotic strain. Salutes were
fired, and with the balloon, used for observing the movements of the
enemy, floating in the air overhead, one could easily believe himself to
be enjoying a festival, and for a moment forget the miseries of war. At
Yorktown the rest of the regiment received their Sharpe's rifles and,
with the exception of a few men who still clung to their muzzle loaders,
the command was armed with rifles of uniform calibre, and which were
entirely satisfactory to those who bore them. The Colt's five shooters
were turned in without regret; for, although they had done fairly good
service, they were not quite worthy of the men in whose hands they were
placed.
On the 5th of May was fought the battle of Williamsburgh, on which hard
fought field two companies of the regiment, A and C, bore an honorable
part--Co. F, however, was with the part of the command retained in front
of Yorktown. The guns were plainly heard at the camp, and painful rumors
began to be circulated. At about ten o'clock A. M. there came an order
to prepare to march at once, with three day's cooked rations; the
concluding words of the brief written message, "prepare for hard
fighting," were full of significance, but they were received with cheers
by the men who were tired of rifle pit work, and desired ardently an
opportunity to measure their skill with that of the boasted southern
riflemen in the field--a desire that was shortly to be gratified to an
extent satisfactory to the most pronounced glutton among them. The
preparations were soon made, and the regiment formed on the color line,
but the day passed and the order to march did not come. The battle of
Williamsburgh was over. On the evening of the eighth the regiment was
embarked on the steam transport "State of Maine," and under convoy of
the gun boats proceeded up the York river to West Point where they
disembarked on the afternoon of the ninth, finding the men of Franklin's
division, which had preceded them, in position. Franklin's men had had a
sharp fight the day before with the rear guard of the Confederate army,
but were too late to cut off the retreat of the main body, whose march
from the bloody field of Williamsburgh had been made with all the vigor
that fear and necessity could inspire. Here the sharp shooters remained
in bivouac until the thirteenth, when they were put in motion again
towards Richmond. The weather was warm, the roads narrow and dusty,
water scarce and the march a wearisome one. Rumors of probable fighting
in store for them at a point not far distant were rife, but no enemy was
found in their path on that day, and near sundown they went into camp at
Cumberland Landing on the Pamunkey.
On the fourteenth the regiment was reviewed by Secretary Seward, who
made a short visit to the army at this time. On the fifteenth they
marched to White House, a heavy rain storm prevailing through the entire
day. The sharp shooters were in support of the cavalry and had in their
rear a battery, the guns of which were frequently stalled in the deep
mud, out of which they had often to be lifted and pulled by sheer force
of human muscle. The march was most fatiguing, and although commenced at
half-past six A. M., and terminating at four P. M., only about six miles
were gained. White House was a place of historic interest, since it was
here that Washington wooed and married his wife; a strict guard was kept
over it and its surroundings, and it was left as unspoiled as it was
found. Above White House the river was no longer navigable, and the York
river railroad, which connects Richmond, some twenty miles distant, with
the Pamunkey at this point, was to be the future line of supply for the
army. On the nineteenth the troops again advanced, camping at Turnstall's
Station that night and at Barker's Mill on the night of the twentieth.
On the twenty-sixth they passed Cold Harbor, a spot on which they were
destined to lose many good and true men two years later, and went into
camp near the house of Dr. Gaines, and were now fairly before Richmond,
the spires of which could be seen from the high ground near the camp. On
the morning of the twenty-seventh, at a very early hour, there came to
regimental headquarters an order couched in words which had become
familiar: "This division will march at daylight in the following order:
First, the sharp shooters." * * * Three days cooked rations and one
hundred rounds of ammunition were also specified. This looked like
business, and the camp became at once a scene of busy activity. At the
appointed hour, in the midst of a heavy rain shower, the column was put
in march, but not, as had been anticipated, towards the enemy who
blocked the road to the rebel capitol. The line of march was to the
northward towards Hanover Court House.
As the head of the column approached the junction of the roads leading
respectively to Hanover Court House and Ashland, considerable resistance
was met with from bodies of rebel cavalry supported by a few pieces of
light artillery and a small force of infantry. At the forks of the road
a portion of Branch's brigade of North Carolina troops were found in a
strong position, prepared to dispute the passage. This force were soon
dislodged by the sharp shooters, the twenty-fifth New York, a detachment
from a Pennsylvania regiment and Benson's battery, and retreated in the
direction of Hanover Court House. Prompt pursuit was made and many
prisoners taken, together with two guns. Martindale's brigade was left
at the forks of the road before spoken of, to guard against an attack on
the rear from the direction of Richmond, while the rest of the division
pushed on to destroy, if possible, the bridges at the points where the
Richmond & Fredericksburgh and the Virginia Central railroads cross the
North and the South Anna rivers; the destruction of these bridges being
the main object of the expedition, although it was hoped and expected
that the movement might result in a junction of the forces under
McDowell, then at Fredericksburgh only forty miles distant from the
point to which Porter's advance reached, with the right of McClellan's
army, when the speedy fall of Richmond might be confidently expected.
The sharp shooters accompanied the column which was charged with this
duty. The cavalry reached the rivers and succeeded in completing the
destruction of the bridges, when ominous reports began to come up from
the rear, of heavy forces of the enemy having appeared between this
isolated command and the rest of the army twenty miles to the southward.
Firing was heard distinctly, scattering and uncertain at first, but soon
swelling into a roar that gave assurance of a hotly contested
engagement.
The column was instantly faced about, not even taking time to
counter-march, and taking the double quick--left in front--made all
haste to reach the scene of the conflict. The natural desire to help
their hard pressed comrades was supplemented by a conviction that their
own safety could only be secured by a speedy destruction of the force
between them and their camp, and the four or five miles of road, heavy
with mud, for, as usual, the rain was falling fast, were rapidly passed
over. As they neared the field of battle the sharp shooters, who had
gained what was now the head of the column, were rapidly deployed and
with ringing cheers passed through the ranks of the 2d Maine, opened for
the purpose, and plunged into the woods where the enemy were posted. The
spirit of the rebel attack was already broken by the severe losses
inflicted upon them by Martindale's gallant brigade which, although
out-numbered two to one, had clung desperately to their all important
position; and when the enemy heard the shouts of this relieving column,
and caught sight of their advancing lines, a panic seized them and they
fled precipitately from the field. Pursuit was made and many prisoners
taken, who, with those captured in the earlier part of the day, swelled
the total to over seven hundred. Two guns were also taken, in the
capture of which Co. F bore a prominent part. This affair cost the Union
forces four hundred men; the loss, however, principally falling on
Martindale's brigade, who bore the brunt of the rear attack. The sharp
shooters lost only about twenty men, killed and wounded--three of whom,
Sergt. Lewis J. Allen, Benjamin Billings and W. F. Dawson were of Co. F;
Dawson died on the 1st of June from the effects of his wound.
The regiment, however, met with a great loss on that day by the capture
of its surgeon, Guy C. Marshall, who, with other surgeons and
attendants, was surprised by a sudden attack on the field hospital by
the enemy's cavalry. Dr. Marshall never rejoined the regiment. Being
sent to Libby Prison, he was, with other surgeons, allowed certain
liberties in order that he might be the more useful in his professional
capacity. Placed upon his parole he was allowed, under certain
restrictions, to pass the prison guards at will, for the purpose of
securing medicines, etc., for use among the sick prisoners. The terrible
sufferings of his comrades, caused mainly by what he believed to be
intentional neglect, aroused all the sympathy of his tender nature, and
as the days passed and no attention was paid to his protests or efforts
to get relief, his intense indignation was aroused. Taking advantage of
his liberty to pass the guards, he succeeded in getting an audience with
Jefferson Davis himself. It is probable that his earnestness led him
into expressions of condemnation too strong to be relished by the so
called President. Howsoever it was, his liberty was stopped and he was
made a close prisoner. He continued his labors, however, with such
scanty means as he could obtain until, worn out by his over exertions,
and with his great heart broken by the sight of the suffering he was so
powerless to relieve, he died,--as truly the death of a hero as though
he had fallen at the head of some gallant charge in the field. He was a
true man, and those who knew him best will always have a warm and tender
remembrance of him.
On the twenty-ninth, the whole command returned to their camp near
Gaines Hill. The experience of Co. F for the next thirty days was
similar to that of Yorktown--daily details for picket duty were made,
and always where the danger was greatest; for, as it was the province of
the sharpshooter to shoot some body, it was necessary that he should be
placed where there was some one to shoot. In a case of this kind,
however, one cannot expect to give blows without receiving them in
return, hence it came about that the sharp shooters were constantly in
the most dangerous places on the picket line. At some point in the Union
front, perhaps miles away, it would be found that a few rebel sharp
shooters had planted themselves in a position from which they gave
serious annoyance to the working parties and sometimes inflicted serious
loss, and from which they could not readily be dislodged by the
imperfect weapons of the infantry. In such cases calls would be made for
a detail of sharp shooters, who would be gone sometimes for several days
before returning to camp, always, however, being successful in removing
the trouble.
On the thirty-first, the guns of Fair Oaks were distinctly heard, and
early the next morning the Fifth Corps, to which the regiment was now
attached, was massed near the head of New Bridge on the Chicahominy,
with the intention of forcing a passage at this place to try to convert
the repulse of the rebels at Fair Oaks on the day before into a great
disaster. The swollen condition of the river, however, which had proved
so nearly fatal to the Union forces on the day of Fair Oaks, became now
the safety of the rebels. A strong detachment of the sharp shooters,
including some men from Co. F, were thrown across the river at New
Bridge to ascertain whether the water covering the road beyond was
fordable for infantry. This detachment crossed the bridge and passed
some distance along the road, but finding it impracticable for men, so
reported and the attempt was abandoned.
No incidents of unusual interest occurred to the Vermonters after June
1st until the movements commenced which culminated in what is known in
history as the seven days battle, commencing on the 25th of June at a
point on the right bank of the Chicahominy at Oak Grove, and ending on
the first of July at Malvern Hill on the James river.
For some days rumors of an unfavorable nature had been circulating among
the camps before Richmond, of disasters to the Union forces in the
valley. It was known that Stonewall Jackson had gone northward with his
command, and that he had appeared at several points in northern Virginia
under such circumstances and at such times and places as caused serious
alarm to the government at Washington for the safety of the capitol. To
the Army of the Potomac, however, it seemed incredible that so small a
force as Jackson's could be a serious menace to that city, and
preparations for a forward movement and a great and decisive battle went
steadily on. On the 25th of June, Hooker advanced his lines near Oak
Grove, and after severe fighting forced the enemy from their position
which he proceeded to fortify, and which he held. On the night of that
day, the army was full of joyous anticipation of a great victory to be
gained before Jackson could return from his foray to the north. On the
morning of the twenty-sixth, however, scouts reported Jackson,
reinforced by Whiting's division, at Hanover Court House pressing
rapidly forward, with 30,000 men, toward our exposed right and rear. At
the same time large bodies of the enemy were observed crossing the
Chicahominy at Meadow Bridge, above Mechanicsville. It was at once
apparent that the Army of the Potomac must abandon its advance on
Richmond, for the time at least, and stand on its defense. McCall, with
his division of Pennsylvania reserves, occupied a strong position on the
left bank of Beaver Dam creek, a small affluent of the Chicahominy, near
Mechanicsville, about four miles north of Gaines Hill, and this command
constituted the extreme right of the Union army. On this isolated body
it was evident that the first rebel attack would fall.
At about three o'clock P. M. the division of the rebel General A. P.
Hill appeared in front of McCall's line, and severe fighting at once
commenced. About one hour later Branch's division arrived to the support
of the rebel general, and vigorous and repeated assaults were made at
various points on the Union line; the fighting at Ellison's Mills being
of a particularly desperate character. Porter's old division, now
commanded by Morell, was ordered up from its camp at Gaines Hill to the
assistance of the troops so heavily pressed at Mechanicsville. The sharp
shooters, being among the regiments thus detailed, left their tents
standing, and in light marching order, and with no rations, moved out at
the head of the column. Arriving at the front they took post in the left
of the road, in the rear of a rifle pit occupied by a battalion of
Pennsylvania troops and on the right of a redoubt in which was a battery
of guns. It was now nearly dark, the force of the attack was spent, and
the sharp shooters had but small share of the fighting. The night was
spent in this position, and the rest of the soldiers was unbroken,
except by the cries and moans of the rebel wounded, many of whom lay
uncared for within a few yards of the Union line. Some of the men of Co.
F, moved by pity for the sufferings of their enemies, left their lines
to give them assistance; they were fired on, however, by the less
merciful rebels and had to abandon the attempt. Before daylight the
order was whispered down the line to withdraw as silently as possible.
The men were especially cautioned against allowing their tin cups to
rattle against their rifles, as the first sign was sure to be the signal
for a rebel volley. Cautiously the men stole away, and, as daylight
appeared, found themselves alone.
They were the rear guard and thus covered the retreat of the main body
to Gaines Hill. As they approached the camp they had left on the
preceding afternoon a scene of desolation and destruction met their
astonished eyes. Enormous piles of quartermaster and commissary stores
were being fired, tents were struck, the regimental baggage gone, and
large droves of cattle were being hurried forward towards the lower
bridges of the Chicahominy--the retreat to the James had commenced.
Halting for a few minutes amidst the ruins of their abandoned camp
where, however, they found the faithful quartermaster-sergeant with a
scanty supply of rations, very grateful to men who had eaten nothing for
twenty hours and expected nothing for some time to come. They hastily
commenced the preparation of such a modest breakfast as was possible
under the circumstances, but before it could be eaten the pursuing
rebels were upon them, and the march towards the rear was resumed. A
mile further and they found the Fifth Corps, which was all there was of
the army on the south bank of the Chicahominy, in line of battle
prepared to resist the attack of the enemy, which it was apparent to all
would be in heavy force. The position was a strong one, and the little
force--small in comparison to that which now appeared confronting
it--were disposed with consummate skill. Dust--for the day was intensely
hot and dry--arising in dense clouds high above the tree tops, plainly
denoted the line of march, and the positions of the different rebel
columns as they arrived on the field and took their places in line of
battle.
Deserters, prisoners, and scouts, all agreed that Jackson, who had not
been up in time to take part in the battle of the previous day as had
been expected, was now at hand with a large force of fresh troops, and
it was apparent that the Fifth Corps was about to become engaged with
nearly the whole of the rebel army. Any one of three things could now
happen, as might be decided by the Union commander. The force on Gaines
Hill might be re-enforced by means of the few, but sufficient, bridges
over the Chicahominy and accept battle on something like equal terms;
or the main army on the right bank of the river might take advantage of
the opportunity offered to break through the lines in its front,
weakened as they must be by the absence of the immense numbers detached
to crush Porter on the left bank; or the Fifth Corps might by a great
effort, unassisted, hold Lee's army in check long enough to enable the
Union army to commence in an orderly manner its retreat to the James.
Whichever course might be decided upon, it was evident that this portion
of the army was on the eve of a desperate struggle against overwhelming
odds, and each man prepared himself accordingly.
In front of Morell's division, to which the sharp shooters were
attached, was a deep ravine heavily wooded on its sides, and through
which ran a small stream, its direction being generally northeast, until
it emptied into the Chicahominy near Woodbury's bridge. The bottom of
the ravine was marshy and somewhat difficult of passage, and near the
river widened out and took the name of Boatswain's swamp. On the far
side of this ravine the sharp shooters were deployed to observe the
approach of the enemy and to receive their first attack. In their front
the ground was comparatively open, though somewhat broken, for a
considerable distance. At half-past two P. M. the enemy's skirmishers
appeared in the rolling open country, and desultory firing at long range
commenced. Soon, however, the pressure became more severe, and a
regiment on the right of the sharp shooters having given way, they, in
their turn, were forced slowly back across the marshy ravine and part
way up the opposite slope; here, being re-enforced, they turned on and
drove the rebels back and reoccupied the ground on which they first
formed, soon, however, to be forced back again. So heavily had each of
the opposing lines been supported that the affair lost its character as
a picket fight, and partook of the nature of line of battle fighting.
The troops opposed at this time were those of A. P. Hill, who finally,
by sheer weight of numbers, dislodged the sharp shooters and their
supports from the woods and permanently held them. They were unable,
however, to ascend the slope on the other side, and the main federal
line was intact at all points. There was now an interval of some half an
hour, during which time the infantry were idle; the artillery firing,
however, from the Union batteries on the crest of the hill was incessant,
and was as vigorously responded to by the rebels. From the right bank of
the Chicahominy a battery of twenty pound Parrots, near Gen. W. F.
Smith's headquarters, was skillfully directed against the rebel right
near and in front of Dr. Gaines' house. At six o'clock P. M. Slocum's
division of Franklin's corps was ordered across to the support of
Porter's endangered command.
At seven o'clock the divisions of Hill, Longstreet, Whiting and Jackson
were massed for a final attack on the small but undismayed federal
force, who yet held every inch of the ground so desperately fought for
during five long hours.
Whiting's division led the rebel assault with Hood's Texan brigade in
the front line. The attack struck the center of the line held by
Morell's division, and so desperate was the assault and so heavily
supported, that Morell's tired men were finally forced by sheer weight
of masses to abandon the line which they had so long and so gallantly
held. Had the rebels themselves been in a position to promptly pursue
their advantage, the situation would have been most perilous to the
Union forces. The enemy had now gained the crest of the hill which
commanded the ground to the rear as far as the banks of the Chicahominy.
This deep and treacherous stream, crossed but by few bridges--and they,
with one exception, at a considerable distance from the field of
battle--offered an effectual barrier to the passage of the routed army.
But while the federals had suffered severely, the losses of the rebels
had been far greater. The disorganization and demoralization among the
victors was even greater than among the vanquished; and before they
could reform for further advance the beaten federals had rallied on the
low ground nearer the river and formed a new line which, in the
gathering darkness, undoubtedly looked to the rebels, made cautious by
experience, more formidable than it was in fact. Their cavalry appeared
in great force on the brow of the hill, but the expected charge did not
come; they had had fighting enough and rested content with what they had
gained. The least desirable of the three choices offered to the Union
commander had been taken, as it appeared, but a precious day had been
gained to the army already in its retreat to the James. A fearful price
had been paid for it, however, by the devoted band who stood between
that retreating army and the flushed and victorious enemy. Of the
eighteen thousand men who stood in line of battle at noon, only twelve
thousand answered to the roll call at night. One-third of the whole, or
six thousand men, had fallen. They had done all that it was possible for
men to do, and only yielded to superior numbers. It is now known that
less than 25,000 men were left for the defense of Richmond; the rest of
the rebel forces, or over 55,000 men, had been hurled against this wing
of the Union army hoping to crush it utterly, and the attempt had
failed.
Co. F had done its full share in the work of the day, and, although out
of ammunition, retained its position with other companies of the
regiment on the front line until the general disruption on the right and
left compelled their retirement from the field. Tired, hungry and
disheartened, they lay down for the night on the low ground a mile or
more in the rear for a few hours of repose. At about eleven o'clock
P. M. they were aroused and put in motion, crossing the Chicahominy at
Woodbury's bridge and going again into bivouac on the high ground near
the Trent Hospital some distance in the rear of the ground held by the
Vermont brigade on the northern, or right, bank of the river. During the
night the entire corps was withdrawn and the bridges destroyed. A fresh
supply of ammunition was obtained and issued at daylight, and at ten
o'clock A. M. the sharp shooters, with full cartridge boxes, but empty
haversacks, took up their line of march towards the James. In this
action the regiment lost heavily in killed and wounded. B. W. Jordan and
Jas. A. Read of Co. F were mortally, and E. H. Himes severely wounded.
Passing Savage Station, where the 5th Vermont suffered so severely on
the next day, the regiment crossed White Oak swamp before dark on the
twenty-eighth, and went into bivouac near the head of the bridge.
Wild rumors of heavy bodies of Confederate troops, crossing the
Chicahominy at points lower down prepared to fall upon the exposed flank
and rear of the federals were prevalent, and the dreaded form of
Stonewall Jackson seemed to start from every bush.
During the night, which was intensely dark, the horses attached to a
battery got loose by some means and, dashing through a portion of the
ground occupied by other troops, seemed, with their rattling harness, to
be a host of rebel cavalry. A bugle at some distance sounded the
assembly, drums beat the long roll, and in the confusion of that night
alarm it seemed as though a general panic had seized upon all. The sharp
shooters, like all others, were thrown into confusion and momentarily
lost their sense of discipline and disappeared. When the commanding
officer, perhaps the last to awake, came to look for his command they
were not to be found; with the exception of Calvin Morse, bugler of Co.
F, he was alone. The panic among the sharp shooters, however, was only
momentary; the first blast of the well known bugle recalled them to a
sense of duty, and, a rallying point being established, the whole
command at once returned to the line reassured and prepared for any
emergency.
At daylight the march was resumed and continued as far as Charles City
cross roads, or Glendale, the junction of two important roads leading
from Richmond southeasterly towards Malvern Hill; the lower, or
Newmarket road, being the only one by which a rebel force moving from
the city could hope to interpose between the retreating federals and the
James.
The sharp shooters were thrown out on this road some two miles with
instructions to delay as long as possible the advance of any body of the
enemy who might approach by that route. This was the fourth day for Co.
F of continuous marching and fighting; they had started with almost
empty haversacks, and it had not been possible to supply them. The
country was bare of provisions, except now and then a hog that had so
far escaped the foragers. A few of these fell victims to the hunger of
the half-starved men; but, with no bread or salt, it hardly served a
better purpose than merely to sustain life. To add to their discomforts
the only water procurable was that from a well near by which was said to
have been poisoned by the flying owner of the plantation; his absence,
with that of every living thing upon the place, made it impossible to
apply the usual and proper test, that of compelling the suspected
parties to, themselves, drink heartily of the water. A guard was
therefore placed over the well, and the thirsty soldiers were compelled
to endure their tortures as best they could. The day passed in
comparative quiet; only a few small bodies of rebel cavalry appeared to
contest the possession of the road, and they being easily repulsed. Late
in the afternoon the sharp shooters were recalled to the junction of the
roads, where they rested for a short time to allow the passage of
another column. At this point a single box of hard bread was procured
from the cook in charge of a wagon conveying the mess kit of the
officers of a battery; this was the only issue of rations made to the
regiment from the morning of the 25th of June until they arrived at
Harrison's landing on the 2d of July, and, inadequate as it was, it was
a welcome addition to their meager fare.
At dark the regiment marched southwardly on a country road narrow and
difficult, often appearing no more than a path through the dense swamp;
the night, intensely dark, was made more so by the gloom of the forest,
and all night the weary unfed men toiled along. At midnight the column
was halted for some cause, and while thus halted another of those
unaccountable panics took place--in fact, in the excited condition of
the men, enfeebled by long continued labors without food, a small matter
was sufficient to throw them off their balance; and yet these very men a
few hours later, with an enemy in front whom they could see and at whom
they could deal blows as well as receive them, fought and won the great
battle of Malvern Hill. During the night Co. F. with one or two other
companies were detailed to accompany Gen. Porter and others on a
reconnoissance of the country to the left of the road on which the
column was halted. With a small force in advance as skirmishers, they
passed over some two miles of difficult country, doubly so in the
darkness of the night, striking and drawing the fire of the rebel
pickets. This being apparently the object of the movement, the
skirmishers were withdrawn and the command rejoined the main column. So
worn and weary were they that whenever halted even for a moment, many
men would fall instantly into a sleep from which it would require the
most vigorous efforts to arouse them. Shortly before daylight they were
halted and allowed to sleep for an hour or two, when, with tired and
aching bodies, they continued their march. At noon they passed over the
crest of Malvern Hill and before them lay, quiet and beautiful in the
sunlight, the valley of the James; and, at the distance of some three
miles, the river itself with Union gun boats at anchor on its bosom.
It was a welcome sight to those who had been for six long days marching
by night and fighting by day. It meant, as they fondly believed, food
and rest, and they greeted the lovely view with cheers of exultation.
But there were further labors and greater dangers in store for them
before the longed for rest could be obtained. Passing over the level
plateau known as Malvern Hill, they descended to the valley and went
into bivouac. Here was at least water, and some food was obtained from
the negroes who remained about the place.
No sooner were ranks broken and knapsacks unslung than the tired and
dirty soldiers flocked to the banks of the beautiful river, and the
water was soon filled with the bathers, who enjoyed this unusual luxury
with keen relish.
The bivouac of the regiment was in the midst of a field of oats but
recently cut and bound, and the men proceeded to arrange for themselves
couches which for comfort and luxury they had not seen the like of since
they left the feather beds of their New England homes. Their repose,
even here, was, however, destined to be of short duration; for hardly
had they settled themselves for their rest when the bugles sounded the
general, and the head of the column, strangely enough, turned northward.
Up the steep hill, back over the very road down which they had just
marched, they toiled, but without murmur or discontent, for _this_
movement was _towards_ the rebels, and not away from them. Inspiring
rumors began to be heard; where they came from, or how, no one knew, but
it was said that McCall and Sumner had fought a great battle on the
previous day, that the rebel army was routed, that Lee was a prisoner,
that McClellan was in Richmond, and the long and short of it was that
the Union army had nothing more to do but to march back, make a
triumphal entry into the captured stronghold, assist at that often
anticipated ceremony which was to consign "Jeff. Davis to a sour apple
tree," be mustered out, get their pay and go home. When they arrived on
the plateau, however, a scene met their eyes that effectually drove such
anticipations from their minds. A mile away, just emerging from the
cover of the forest, appeared the forms of a number of men; were they
friends or enemies? Glasses were unslung and they were at once
discovered to be federals. Momentarily their numbers increased, and soon
the whole plain was covered with blue coated troops, but they were
without order or organization, many without arms, and their faces
bearing not the light of successful battle, but dull with the chagrin of
defeat. The story was soon told. Sumner and McCall had fought a battle
at Charles City cross roads, but had been forced to abandon the field
with heavy loss in men and guns. Instead of a triumphant march to
Richmond, the Fifth Corps was again to interpose between the flushed and
confident rebels and the retreating federals--but not, as at Gaines
Hill, alone. This was late in the afternoon of June 30. That night the
sharp shooters spent in bivouac near the ground on which they were to
fight the next day. At dawn on the 1st of July the men were aroused, and
proceeding to the front were ordered into line as skirmishers, their
line covering the extreme left of the Union army directly in front of
the main approach to the position. Malvern Hill, so called, is a hill
only as it is viewed from the southern or western side; to the north
and east the ground is only slightly descending from the highest
elevation. On the western side, flowing in a southerly direction, is a
small stream called Turkey run, the bed of the stream being some one
hundred feet lower than the plateau. On the south, toward the James, the
descent is more precipitous. The approaches were, as has been stated,
from the north where the ground was comparatively level and sufficiently
open to admit of rapid and regular maneuvers. The position taken by the
Union army was not one of extraordinary strength, except that its flanks
were well protected by natural features: its front was but little higher
than the ground over which the enemy must pass to the attack, and was
unprotected by natural or artificial obstacles. No earth works or other
defenses were constructed; although the "lofty hill, crowned by
formidable works," has often figured in descriptions of this battle. The
simple truth is it was an open field fight, hotly contested and
gallantly won.
The Union artillery, some three hundred guns, was posted in advantageous
positions, some of the batteries occupying slight elevations from which
they could fire over the heads of troops in their front, the most of
them, however, being formed on the level ground in the intervals between
regiments and brigades. The gun boats were stationed in the river some
two miles distant, so as to cover and support the left flank, and it was
expected that great assistance would be afforded by the fire of their
immense guns.
Porter's corps held the extreme left, with its left flank on Turkey run,
Morell's division forming the front line with headquarters at Crew's
house. Sykes' division, composed mostly of regulars, was in the second
line. McCall's division was held in reserve in rear of the left flank.
On the right of Morell's line thus formed, came Couch's division;
further to the right the line was refused, and the extreme right flank
rested on the James; but with this portion of the line we have little to
do. The main attack fell on the Fifth Corps, involving to some extent
Couch's troops next on the right. In this order the army awaited the
onset. In front of Morell's division stretched away a field about half a
mile in length, bounded at its opposite extremity by heavy woods.
Nearly level in its general features, there extended across it at a
distance of about one-third of a mile from the federal front, and
parallel with it, a deep ravine, its western end debouching into the
valley formed by Turkey run. This open field was covered at this time
with wheat just ready for the harvest.
Along the north side of this ravine, covered from view by the waving
wheat, the sharp shooters were deployed at an early hour and patiently
awaited the attack of the enemy. A few scattered trees afforded a scanty
supply of half grown apples which were eagerly seized upon by the
famished men, who boiled them in their tin cups and thus made them
fairly palatable; by such poor means assuaging as best they could the
pangs of hunger.
At about twelve o'clock heavy clouds of dust arising in the north
announced the approach of the Confederate columns, and soon after scouts
and skirmishers began to make their presence known by shots from the
edge of the woods, some two hundred yards distant, directed at every
exposed head. A puff of smoke from that direction, however, was certain
to be answered by a dozen well aimed rifles from the sharp shooters, and
the rebel scouts soon tired of that amusement. In the meantime the
artillery firing had become very heavy on both sides, our own depressing
their muzzles so as to sweep the woods in front; the effect of this was
to bring the line of fire unpleasantly near the heads of the advanced
sharp shooters. The gun boats also joined in the cannonade, and as their
shells often burst short, over and even behind the line of skirmishers,
the position soon became one of grave danger from both sides.
At about half-past two the artillery fire from the rebel line slackened
perceptibly, and soon appeared, bursting from the edge of the forest, a
heavy line of skirmishers who advanced at a run, apparently unaware of
any considerable force in their front. Bugler Morse of Co. F, who
accompanied the commanding officer as chief bugler on that day, was at
once ordered to sound commence firing, and the sharp shooters sent
across the field and into the lines of the oncoming rebels, such a storm
of lead from their breach loading rifles as soon checked their advance
and sent them back to the cover of the woods in great confusion and with
serious loss. The repulse was but momentary, however, for soon another
line appeared so heavily re-enforced that it was more like a line of
battle than a skirmish line. Still, however, the sharp shooters clung to
their ground, firing rapidly and with precision, as the thinned ranks of
the Confederates, as they pressed on, attested. They would not, however,
be denied, but still came on at the run, firing as they came. At this
moment the sharp shooters became aware of a force of rebel skirmishers
on their right flank, who commenced firing steadily, and at almost point
blank range, from the shelter of a roadway bordered by hedges. The bugle
now sounded retreat, and the sharp shooters fell back far enough to
escape the effect of the flank fire when they were halted and once more
turned their faces to the enemy. The tables were now turned; the rebels
had gained the shelter of the ravine, and were firing with great
deliberation at our men who were fully exposed in the open field in
front of the Crew house. Still the sharp shooters held their ground,
and, by the greater accuracy of their fire, combined with the advantage
of greater rapidity given by breach loaders over muzzle loaders, kept
the rebels well under cover. Having thus cleared the way, as they
supposed, for their artillery, the rebels sought to plant a battery in
the open ground on the hither side of the woods which had screened their
advance. The noise of chopping had been plainly heard for some time as
their pioneers labored in the woods opening a passage for the guns.
Suddenly there burst out of the dense foliage four magnificent stray
horses, and behind them, whirled along like a child's toy, the gun.
Another and another followed, sweeping out into the plain. As the head
of the column turned to the right to go into battery, every rifle within
range was brought to bear, and horses and men began to fall rapidly.
Still they pressed on, and when there were no longer horses to haul the
guns, the gunners sought to put their pieces into battery by hand;
nothing, however, could stand before that terrible storm of lead, and
after ten minutes of gallant effort the few survivors, leaving their
guns in the open field, took shelter in the friendly woods. Not a gun
was placed in position or fired from that quarter during the day. This
battery was known as the Richmond Howitzers and was composed of the very
flower of the young men of that city; it was their first fight, and to
many their last. A member of the battery, in describing it to an officer
of the sharp shooters soon after the close of the war, said pithily: "We
went in a battery and came out a wreck. We staid ten minutes by the
watch and came out with one gun, ten men and two horses, and without
firing a shot."
The advanced position held by the sharp shooters being no longer
tenable, as they were exposed to the fire, not only of the rebels in
front but to that of their friends in the rear as well, they were
withdrawn and formed in line of battle in the rear of the fourth
Michigan volunteers, where they remained for a short time. The rebel
fire from the brink of the ravine from which the sharp shooters had
been dislodged, as before described, now became exceedingly galling and
troublesome to the artillery in our front line, and several horses and
men were hit in Weeden's R.I. battery, an officer of which requested
that an effort be made to silence the fire. Col. Ripley directed Lieut.
J. Smith Brown of Co. A, acting Adjutant, to take twenty volunteers far
out to the left and front to a point designated, which it was hoped
would command the ravine. The duty was one of danger, but volunteers
were quickly at hand, among whom were several from Co. F. The gallant
little band soon gained the coveted position, and thereafter the fire of
the rebel riflemen from that point was of little moment. Lieut. Brown's
command maintained this position during the entire battle, and being
squarely on the flank of Magruder's charging columns, and being, from
the very smallness of their numbers, hardly noticeable among the
thousands of struggling men on that fatal field, they inflicted great
damage and loss in the Confederate hosts. It was now late in the
afternoon, no large bodies of the rebel infantry had as yet shown
themselves, though the clouds of dust arising beyond the woods told
plainly of their presence and motions. A partial attack had been made on
the extreme right of Morell's line, involving to some extent the left of
Couch's division, but was easily repulsed; the fire of Co. E of the
sharp shooters, which had been sent to that point, contributing largely
to that result. The artillery fire had been heavy and incessant for
some hours, and shells were bursting in quick succession over every
portion of the field. Suddenly there burst out of the ravine a heavy
line of battle, followed by another and another, while out of the woods
beyond poured masses of men in support. The battle now commenced in
earnest.
The Union infantry, heretofore concealed and sheltered behind such
little inequalities of ground as the field afforded, sprang to their
feet and opened a tremendous fire, additional batteries were brought up,
and from every direction shot and shell, canister and grape, were hurled
against the advancing enemy, while the gun boats, at anchor in the river
two miles away, joined their efforts with those of their brethren of the
army. It was a gallant attempt, but nothing human could stand against
the storm--great gaps began to be perceptible in the lines, but the
fiery energy of Magruder was behind them and they still kept on, until
it seemed that nothing short of the bayonet would stop them. Gradually,
however, the rush was abated; here and there could be seen signs of
wavering and hesitation; this was the signal for redoubled efforts on
the part of the Union troops, and the discomfited rebels broke in
confusion and fled to the shelter of the woods and ravines.
At the critical moment of this charge the sharp shooters had been thrown
into line on the right of the fourth Michigan regiment and bore an
honorable part in the repulse; indeed, so closely crowded were the Union
lines at this point that many men of the sharp shooters found themselves
in the line of the Michigan regiment and fought shoulder to shoulder
with their western brothers. The battle was, however, by no means over;
again and again did Magruder hurl his devoted troops against the Union
line, only to meet a like repulse; the rebels fought like men who
realized that their efforts of the past week, measurably successful
though they had been, would have failed of their full result should they
now fail to destroy the Army of the Potomac; while the Union troops held
their lines with the tenacity of soldiers who knew that the fate of a
nation depended upon the result of that day. At the close of the second
assault the sharp shooters found themselves with empty cartridge boxes
and were withdrawn from the front. The special ammunition required for
their breech loaders not being obtainable, they were not again engaged
during the day. In this fight the regiment lost many officers and men,
among whom were Col. Ripley, Capt. Austin and Lieut. Jones of Co. E,
wounded. In Co. F, Lieut. C. W. Seaton, Jacob S. Bailey and Brigham
Buswell were wounded. Buswell's wound resulted in his discharge. Bailey
rejoined the company, only to lose an arm at Chancellorsville.
The final rebel attack having been repulsed and their defeat being
complete and final, the Union army was withdrawn during the night to
Harrison's landing, some eight miles distant, which point had been
selected by Gen. McClellan's engineers some days before as the base for
future operations against Richmond by the line of the James river;
operations which, as the event proved, were not to be undertaken until
after two years of unsuccessful fighting in other fields, the Army of
the Potomac found itself once more on the familiar fields of its
earliest experience.
The campaign of the Peninsula was over; that mighty army that had sailed
down the beautiful Potomac so full of hope and pride less than four
months before; that had through toil and suffering fought its way to
within sight of its goal; found itself beaten back at the very moment of
its anticipated triumph, and instead of the elation of victory, it was
tasting the bitterness of defeat; for, although many of its battles, as
that of Hanover Court House, Williamsburgh, Yorktown, Mechanicsville and
Malvern Hill, had been tactical victories, it felt that the full measure
of success had not been gained, and that its mission had not been
accomplished. While the army lay at Harrison's landing the following
changes in the rolls of Co. F. took place: Sergent Amos H. Bunker, Azial
N. Blanchard, Wm. Cooley, Geo. W. Manchester and Chas. G. Odell were
discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability, and Brigham Buswell
was discharged on account of disability resulting from the wound
received at Malvern Hill. Benajah W. Jordan and James A. Read died of
wounds received at Gaines Hill and W. S. Tarbell of disease. E. F.
Stevens and L. D. Grover were promoted sergeants, and W. H. Leach and
Edward Trask were made corporals. At this camp also Capt. Weston
resigned and Lieut. C. W. Seaton was appointed captain, Second Lieut.
M. V. B. Bronson was promoted first lieutenant and Ezbon W. Hindes
second lieutenant. Major Trepp was promoted lieutenant-colonel, vice Wm.
Y. W. Ripley, and Capt. Hastings of Co. H. was made major.
The regiment remained at Harrison's landing until the army left the
Peninsula. The weather was intensely hot and the army suffered terrible
losses by disease, cooped up as they were on the low and unhealthy
bottom lands bordering the James. The enemy made one or two
demonstrations, and on one occasion the camp of the sharp shooters
became the target for the rebel batteries posted on the high lands on
the further side of the river, and for a long time the men of Co. F were
exposed to a severe fire to which they could not reply, but luckily
without serious loss.
CHAPTER THIRD.
SECOND BULL RUN. ANTIETAM. FREDERICKSBURGH.
About the middle of August, the government having determined upon the
evacuation of the Peninsula, the army abandoned its position at
Harrison's landing. Water transportation not being at hand in sufficient
quantity, a large portion of the army marched southward towards Fortress
Monroe, passing, by the way, the fields of Williamsburgh. Lee's Mills
and Yorktown, upon which they had so recently stood victorious over the
very enemy upon whom they were now turning their backs. Co. F. was with
the division which thus passed down by land. Upon arriving at Hampton
the Fifth Corps, to which the sharp shooters were attached, embarked on
steamboats and were quickly and comfortably conveyed to Acquia Creek, at
which place they took the cars for Falmouth, on the Rappahannock
opposite Fredericksburgh.
No sooner did McClellan turn his back on Richmond in the execution of
this change of base, than Lee, no longer held to the defense of the
rebel capitol, moved with his entire force rapidly northward, hoping to
crush Pope's scattered columns in detail before the Army of the Potomac
could appear to its support. Indeed, before McClellan's movement
commenced, the Confederate General Jackson--he whose foray in the valley
in May had so completely neutralized McDowell's powerful corps that its
services were practically lost to the Union commander during the entire
period of the Peninsular campaign--had again appeared on Pope's right
and rear, and it was this apparition that struck such dread to the soul
of Halleck, then General-in-Chief at Washington. Now commenced that
campaign of maneuvers in which Pope was so signally foiled by his keen
and wary antagonist.
The Fifth Corps left Falmouth on the 24th of August, marching to
Rappahannock Station, thence along the line of the Orange & Alexandria
R. R. to Warrenton Junction where they remained for a few hours, it
being the longest rest they had had since leaving Falmouth, sixty miles
away. On the 28th of August the sharp shooters arrived, with the rest of
the corps, at Bristoe's Station where Porter had been ordered to take
position at daylight to assist in the entertainment which Pope had
advertised for that day, and which was to consist of "bagging the whole
crowd" of rebels.
The wily Jackson, however, was no party to that plan, and while Pope was
vainly seeking him about Manassas Junction, he was quietly awaiting the
arrival of Lee's main columns near Groveton. The corps remained at
Bristoe's, or between that place and Manassas Junction, inactive during
the rest of the twenty-eighth and the whole of the twenty-ninth, and the
sharp shooters thus failed of any considerable share in the battle of
Groveton on that day. During the night preceding the 30th of August,
Porter's corps was moved by the Sudley Springs road from their position
near Bristoe's to the scene of the previous day's battle to the north
and east of Groveton, where its line of battle was formed in a direction
nearly northeast and southwest, with the left on the Warrenton turnpike.
Morell's division, to which the sharp shooters were attached, formed the
front line with the sharp shooters, as usual, far in the advance as
skirmishers. With a grand rush the riflemen drove the rebels through the
outlying woods, and following close upon the heels of the flying enemy,
suddenly passed from the comparative shelter of the woods into an open
field directly in the face of Jackson's corps strongly posted behind the
embankment of an unfinished railroad leading from Sudley Springs
southwestwardly towards Groveton.
It was a grand fortification ready formed for the enemy's occupation,
and stoutly defended by the Stonewall brigade. Straight up to the
embankment pushed the gallant sharp shooters, and handsomely were they
supported by the splendid troops of Barnes and Butterfield's brigades.
The attack was made with the utmost impetuosity and tenaciously
sustained; but Jackson's veterans could not be dislodged from their
strong position behind their works. The sharp shooters gained the
shelter of a partially sunken road parallel to the enemy's line and
hardly thirty yards distant; but not even the splendid courage of the
men who had held the lines of Gaines Hill and Malvern against this same
enemy, could avail to drive them from their shelter.
To add to the peril of the charging column, Longstreet, on Jackson's
right, organized an attack on Porter's exposed left flank. The corps
thus placed, with an enemy in their front whom they could not dislodge
and another on their unprotected flank, were forced to abandon their
attack. The sharp shooters were the last to leave their advanced
positions, and then only when, nearly out of ammunition, Longstreet's
fresh troops fairly crowded them out by sheer numerical superiority. Of
Co. F the following men were wounded in this battle: Corporals H. J.
Peck and Ai Brown and Private W. H. Blake. Corporal Peck was honorably
discharged on the 26th of October following for disability resulting
from his wound. The sharp shooters were not again seriously engaged with
the enemy during Pope's campaign. On the night after the battle they
retired with the shattered remains of the gallant Fifth Corps, and on
the 1st of September went into camp near Fort Corcoran. So far the
campaigns of the sharp shooters had, although full of thrilling incident
and gallant achievement, been barren of result. Great victories had been
won on many fields, but the end seemed as far off as when they left
Washington more than five months before.
Disease and losses in battle had sadly thinned their ranks, but the
remnant were soldiers tried and tempered in the fire of many battles.
They were not of the stuff that wilts and shrivels under an adverse
fortune, and putting the past resolutely behind them, they set their
faces sternly towards the future, prepared for whatever of good, or of
ill, it should have in store for them.
THE ANTIETAM CAMPAIGN.
On the 12th of September, the main portion of the army having preceded
them, the Fifth Corps crossed to the north bank of the Potomac, and by
forced marches came up with the more advanced columns on the sixteenth
and took part in the maneuvers which brought the contending armies again
face to face on the banks of the Antietam.
The rebels, flushed with the very substantial advantages they had
gained during the past summer, were confident and full of enthusiasm.
Posted in an exceptionally strong position, their flanks resting on the
Potomac while their front was covered by the deep and rapid Antietam,
they calmly awaited the Union attack, confident that the army which they
had so signally discomfitted under Pope would again recoil before their
fire. But the Union situation was not the same that it had been a month
before; McClellan had resumed the command, not only of the old Army of
the Potomac--the darling child of his own creation, and which in turn
loved and honored him with a devotion difficult for the carping critic
of these modern times to understand--but of the remains of the army of
Northern Virginia as well.
These incongruous elements he had welded together, reorganized and
re-equipped while still on the march, until, when they stood again
before Lee's hosts on the banks of Antietam creek on the 17th of
September, they were as compact in organization and as confident as at
any previous time in their history. Then, too, they were to fight on
soil which, if not entirely loyal, was at least not the soil of the so
called Confederate States; and the feeling that they were called upon
for a great effort in behalf of an endangered North, gave an additional
stimulus to their spirits and nerved their arms with greater power. But
with the history of this great battle we have little to do. The Fifth
Corps was held in reserve during the entire day. It was the first time
in the history of the company that its members had been lookers on
while rebel and Unionist fought together; here, however, they could,
from their position, overlook most of the actual field of battle as mere
spectators of a scene, the like of which they had so often been actors
in.
On the day after the battle they received a welcome addition to their
terribly reduced ranks by the arrival of some fifty recruits under
Lieut. Bronson, who had been detached on recruiting service while the
army yet lay along the Chicahominy during the previous month of June. On
the 19th of September the pursuit of Lee's retreating army was taken up,
the Fifth Corps in the advance, and the sharp shooters leading the
column. The rear guard of the enemy was overtaken at Blackford's ford,
at which place Lee had recrossed the Potomac.
The rebel skirmishers having been driven across the river, preparations
for forcing the pursuit into Virginia were made, and the sharp shooters
were ordered to cross and drive the rebel riflemen from their sheltered
positions along the Virginia shore. The water was waist deep but,
holding their cartridge boxes above their heads, they advanced in
skirmish line totally unable to reply to the galling fire that met them
as they entered the stream. Stumbling and floundering along, they at
last gained the farther shore and quickly succeeded in compelling the
rebels to retire.
Advancing southward to a suitable position, Co. F was ordered to
establish an advanced picket line in the execution of which order a
party under Corporal Cassius Peck discovered the presence of a small
body of the enemy with two guns, who had been left behind for some
reason by the retreating rebels. This force was soon put to flight and
both guns captured and one man taken prisoner. The captured guns were
removed to a point near the river bank, from which they were
subsequently removed to the Maryland shore. Remaining in this position
until after dark the sharp shooters were ordered back to the north bank
of the river, to which they retired. Morning found them posted in the
bed of the canal which connects Washington with Harper's Ferry, and
which runs close along the Maryland shore of the Potomac at this point.
The water being out of the canal, its bed afforded capital shelter, and
its banks a fine position from which to fire upon the rebels, now again
in full possession of the opposite shore from which they had been driven
by the sharp shooters the previous afternoon, but which had been
deliberately abandoned to them again by the recall of the regiment to
the northern shore on the preceding night.
It now became necessary to repossess that position, and a Pennsylvania
regiment composed of new troops were ordered to make the attempt.
Covered by the close and rapid fire of the sharp shooters, the
Pennsylvanians succeeded in crossing the river, but every attempt to
advance from the bank met with repulse. Wearied and demoralized by
repeated failures, the regiment took shelter under the banks of the
river where they were measurably protected from the fire of the enemy,
and covered also by the rifles of the sharp shooters posted in the
canal. Ordered to recross the river, they could not be induced by their
officers to expose themselves in the open stream to the fire of the
exulting rebels.
Every effort was made by the sharp shooters to encourage them to
recross, but without avail. Calvin Morse, a bugler of Co. F, and thus a
non-combatant (except that Co. F had no non-combatants), crossed the
stream, covered by the fire of his comrades, to demonstrate to the panic
stricken men that it could be done; but they could not be persuaded, and
most of them were finally made prisoners. In these operations Co. F was
exceptionally fortunate, and had no casualties to report.
The regiment remained at or near Sharpsburgh, Maryland, until the 30th
of October following. The members of Co. F, except the recruits, were
but poorly supplied with clothing; much had been abandoned and destroyed
when they left their camp at Gaines Hill on the 27th of June, and much,
also, had been thrown away to lighten the loads of the tired owners
during the terrible marches and battles they had passed through since
that time, and the little they had left was so worn and tattered as to
be fit for little more than to conceal their nakedness. The rations,
too, were bad; the hard bread particularly so, being wormy and mouldy,
and this at a place and time when it seemed to the soldiers that there
could be no good reason why such a state of things should exist at all.
But time cures all ills, even in the army, and on the 30th of October
the regiment, completely refitted, rested and in fine spirits, crossed
the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and were once more on the sacred soil of
Virginia. Moving southwardly towards Warrenton they arrived, on the
evening of November 2d, at Snicker's Gap and were at once pushed out to
occupy the summit. The night was intensely dark, and the ground
difficult; but a proper picket line was finally established and occupied
without event through the night. The next morning's sunlight displayed a
wonderful sight to the eyes of the delighted sharp shooters. They were
on the very summit of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and below them, like an
open map, lay spread out the beautiful valley of Virginia.
Scathed and torn as it was, to a close observer, by the conflicts and
marches of the past summer, from the distant point of view occupied by
the watchers, all was beautiful and serene. No sign of war, or its
desolating touch, was visible; except that here and there could be seen
bodies of marching men, and long trains of wagons, which told of the
presence of the enemy. Now, however, the head of every column was turned
southward, and the rebel army, which had swept so triumphantly northward
over that very country only two months before, was retiring, beaten and
baffled, before the army of the Union. The scene was beautiful to the
eye, while the reflections engendered by it were of the most hopeful
nature, and the sharp shooters descended the southern slope of the
mountain with high hopes and glowing anticipations of speedy and
decisive action.
From Snicker's Gap the army advanced by easy marches to Warrenton,
where, on the 7th of November, Gen. McClellan was relieved from the
command and Gen. Burnside appointed to that position. The army accepted
the change like soldiers, but with a deep sense of regret. The vast mass
of the rank and file honored and trusted Gen. McClellan as few generals
in history have been trusted by their followers. He was personally
popular among the men, but below and behind this feeling was the belief
that in many respects Gen. McClellan had not been quite fairly treated
by some of those who ought to have been his warm and ardent supporters.
They felt that political influences, which had but little hold upon the
soldiers in the field, had been at work to the personal disadvantage of
their loved commander, and to the disadvantage of the army and the cause
of the Union as well.
Whether they were right or wrong, they regretted the change most deeply,
and in this general feeling the sharp shooters stood with the great mass
of the army.
While they were always ready with a prompt obedience and hearty support
of their later commanders, the regiment never cheered a general officer
after McClellan left the head of the Army of the Potomac.
After a few days of rest at Warrenton to allow Gen. Burnside to get the
reins well in hand, the army was put in motion towards Fredericksburgh
where they arrived on or about the 23d of November. While at Warrenton
Gen. Burnside effected a complete reorganization of the army, on a plan
which he had been pressing upon the notice of his superiors for some
time. The entire army was divided into three Grand Divisions, the right
under Sumner, the center under Hooker, and the left under Franklin. The
Fifth Corps formed part of the Center Grand Division under Gen. Hooker,
and at about the same time Gen. F. J. Porter, who had been its commander
since its organization while the army lay before Yorktown during the
preceding April, was relieved from his command and was succeeded by Gen.
Dan'l Butterfield.
Gen. Burnside, having been disappointed in finding his ponton trains, on
which he depended for a rapid passage to the south bank of the
Rappahannock, ready on his arrival at Falmouth, was constrained to
attempt to force a passage in the face of Lee's now concentrated army.
The position was one well calculated to dampen the ardor of the troops
now so accustomed to warfare as to be able to weigh the chances of
success or failure as accurately as their commanders, and to judge
quickly of the value to their cause of that for which they were asked to
offer up their lives, but they undertook the task as cheerfully and as
willingly as though it had been far less uncertain and perilous. The
Rappahannock at this point is bordered by opposing ranges of hills; that
on the left bank, occupied by the troops of the Union and called
Stafford heights, rising quite abruptly from the river bank; while on
the southern shore the line of hills, called Marye's heights, recedes
from the river from six hundred to two thousand yards, the intervening
ground being generally open and, although somewhat broken, affording
very little shelter from the fire of the Confederate batteries posted on
Marye's heights. On the plain and near the river stands the village of
Fredericksburgh.
During the night of the 10th of December Gen. Burnside placed in
position on Stafford heights a powerful array of guns, under cover of
whose fire he determined to attempt the passage of the river at that
point, while to the Left Grand Division under Franklin was assigned the
task of forcing a passage at a point some two miles lower down. On the
night of the 11th attempts were made to lay the ponton bridges at a
point opposite the town. The enemy, however, well warned, posted a
strong force of riflemen in the houses and behind the stone walls
bordering the river, whose sharp fire so seriously impeded the efforts
of the engineers that they were forced to retire. The guns on Stafford
heights were opened on the town, and for nearly two hours one hundred
and fifty guns poured their shot and shell upon the devoted town. Each
gun was estimated to have fired fifty rounds; but at the close of the
bombardment the annoying riflemen were still there. Three regiments were
now thrown across the river in ponton boats, and after a severe fight in
the streets of the town, and after heavy loss of men, succeeded in
dislodging the enemy, and the bridges were completed. Of course a
surprise, upon which Burnside seems to have counted, was now out of the
question; but urged on by the voice of the North, whose sole idea at
that time seemed to be that their generals should only fight--anywhere,
under all circumstances and at all times--he threw Sumner's Grand
Division over the river and determined to try the issue of a general
battle.
The Center Grand Division, under Hooker, were held on the left bank of
the river and were thus unengaged in the earlier portion of that
terrible day; but from their position on Stafford heights, the sharp
shooters were eye witnesses to the terrible struggle in which their
comrades were engaged on the plain below--where Hancock's gallant
division, in their desperate charge upon the stone wall at the foot of
Marye's height, lost two thousand men out of the five thousand engaged
in less than fifteen immortal minutes, and where a total of twelve
thousand, three hundred and twenty-nine Union soldiers fell in the
different assaults; assaults that every man engaged knew were utterly
hopeless and vain; but to the everlasting honor of the Army of the
Potomac be it said that, although they well knew the task an impossible
one, they responded again and again to the call to advance, until
Burnside himself, at last convinced of the hopelessness of the
undertaking, suspended further effort.
During the day Griffin and Humphrey's divisions of the Fifth Corps, and
Whipple's of the Third, all belonging to the Center Grand Division,
were ordered over the river to renew the attack which had been so
disastrous to the men of the Second and Ninth Corps. Hooker in person
accompanied this relieving column, and after a careful personal
inspection of the field, convinced of the uselessness of further effort
in that direction, sought to persuade the commanding general to abandon
the attack.
Burnside, however, clung to the hope that repeated attacks must at last
result in a disruption of the enemy's line at some point, and the brave
men of the old Fifth were in their turn hurled against that position
which had been found impossible to carry by those who had preceded them.
Griffin and Humphrey's divisions fought their way to a point farther
advanced than had been reached in former attempts, some of the men
falling within twenty-five yards of the enemy's line, but they were
unable to reach it and were compelled to retire. It was clearly
impossible to carry the position. Hooker's educated eye had seen this
from the first, hence his unavailing suggestion before the useless
slaughter. His report contains the following grim lines: "Finding that I
had lost as many men as my orders required me to lose, * * * I suspended
the attack." With his repulse the battle of Fredericksburgh
substantially closed. The sharp shooters were not ordered to cross the
river on the thirteenth, and thus had no share in that day's fighting
and no casualties to report. On the early morning of the fourteenth,
however, the remainder of the Center Grand Division crossed to the
south bank, remaining in the streets of the town until the night of the
fifteenth, when the sharp shooters relieved the advanced pickets in
front of the heights, where considerable firing occurred during the
night, the opposing lines being very near each other. The ground was
thickly covered with the bodies of the gallant men who had fallen in the
several assaults, lying in every conceivable position on the field, gory
and distorted. How many of the readers of this book will make it real to
themselves what gore is? A familiar and easily spoken word, but a
dreadful thing in reality, that mass of clotted, gelatinous purple
oozing from mortal wounds.
Such things are rarely noted in the actual heat of the battle, but to
occupy such a field after the fury of the strife is over is enough to
unman the stoutest heart, and many a brave man, who can coolly face the
actual danger, turns deathly sick as he looks upon the result as shown
in the mangled and blood stained forms of those who were so lately his
comrades and friends. During the night the army was withdrawn to the
north bank, and just before daylight the sharp shooters were called in.
So close were the lines that great caution was necessary to keep the
movement from the sharp eyes of the peering rebel pickets. To aid in
deceiving the enemy the bodies of the dead were propped up so as to
represent the presence of the picket line when daylight should appear.
The ruse was successful, and the sharp shooters were safely withdrawn to
the town. They were the last troops on this portion of the field, and
on arriving at the head of the bridge found that the planking had been
so far removed as to render the bridge impassable. They had, therefore,
to remain until the engineers could relay sufficient of the planks to
enable them to cross. In their retreat through the town they picked up
and brought away about one hundred and fifty stragglers and slightly
wounded men who had been left behind by other commands. The Army of the
Potomac was again on the north bank of the Rappahannock. They had fought
bravely in an assault which they had known was hopeless; they had left
behind them twelve thousand of their comrades and gained absolutely
nothing. The loss which they had inflicted bore no proportion to that
which they had suffered; what wonder, then, if for a time officers and
men alike almost despaired of the cause of the Union? This feeling of
depression and discouragement was, however, of short duration. The men
who composed the Army of the Potomac were in the field for a certain
well defined purpose, and until that purpose was fully accomplished they
intended to remain. No reverse could long chill their ardor or dampen
their splendid courage. Defeated to-day, to-morrow would find them as
ready to do and dare again as though no reverse had overtaken them.
Thus it was that after a few days of rest the army was ready for
whatever task its commander might set for it. The sharp shooters
remained quietly in their camp until the 30th of December, when they
accompanied a detachment of cavalry on a reconnoissance northwardly
along the line of the Rappahannock to Richard's Ford, some ten miles
above Falmouth. The cavalry crossed the river at this point, covered by
the fire of the sharp shooters; a few prisoners were taken, and on the
1st of January, 1863, the command returned to their comfortable camp
near Falmouth, where they were agreeably surprised to find the Second
Regiment of Sharp Shooters, and among them, two other companies from
Vermont. The little band of Green Mountain boys composing Co. F had
sometimes felt a little lonesome for the want of congenial society, and
hailed the advent of their fellow Vermonters gladly.
At about this time Col. Berdan became an appendage to the general staff,
with the title of Chief of Sharp Shooters. The two regiments were
distributed at various points along the line, and the detachments
reported directly to Col. Berdan. The right wing, under Lieut. Col.
Trepp, was assigned to the Right Grand Division under Gen. Sumner, but
Company F remained near army headquarters.
On the 19th of January the Grand Divisions of Franklin and Hooker moved
up the river to essay its passage at Banks' ford, some six miles above
Falmouth, but in this affair, known as the Mud Campaign, the company had
no share, not even leaving their camp. Of this campaign it is enough to
say that it had for its object a turning operation similar to that
undertaken by Hooker some months later; but a furious rain storm
converted the country into one vast quagmire, in which horses, wagons,
guns and men were alike unable to move. It was entirely abortive, and,
after two days of exhausting labor, the disgusted troops floundered and
staggered and cursed their way back to their camps, actually having to
build corduroy roads on which to return. In consideration of their dry
and comfortable condition in camp, the sharp shooters freely conceded
all the glories of this campaign to others, preferring for themselves an
inglorious ease to the chance of being smothered in the mud. Some of the
difficulties of the march can be understood by recalling the requisition
of the young engineer officer who reported to his superior that it was
impossible for him to construct a road at a certain point which he had
been directed to make passable for artillery. "Impossible," said the
commander, "nothing is impossible; make a requisition for whatever is
necessary and build the road." Whereupon the officer made the following
requisition in the usual form:
SPECIAL REQUISITION.
REQUISITION FOR MEN.
Fifty men, each twenty-five feet high, to work in the mud
eighteen feet deep.
I certify that the above described men are necessary to the
building of a road suitable for the passage of men and guns,
in compliance with an order this day received from
Major-Gen. ----. Signed,
----, _Lieut. Engineers._
On the 25th of January Gen. Burnside was relieved from the command and
Gen. Hooker appointed to succeed him. The army accepted the change
willingly, for although they recognized the many manly and soldierly
qualities possessed by Gen. Burnside, and in a certain way respected and
even sympathized with him, they had lost confidence in his ability to
command so large an army in the presence of so astute a commander as
Lee. His manly avowal of his sole responsibility for the terrible
slaughter at Fredericksburgh commended him to their hearts and
understandings as an honest and generous man; but they had no wish to
repeat the experience for the sake of even a more generous
acknowledgement after another Fredericksburgh.
The remainder of the winter of 1862-3 was spent by the men of Co. F in
comparative comfort, although severe snow storms were of frequent
occurrence, and occasional periods of exceedingly cold weather were
experienced, to the great discomfort of the men in their frail canvas
tents. Both armies seemed to have had enough of marching and fighting to
satisfy them for the time being, and even picket firing ceased by tacit
agreement and consent.
Soon after assuming command, Gen. Hooker reorganized the army on a plan
more consistent with his own ideas than the one adopted by his
predecessor. The system of Grand Divisions was abandoned and corps were
reorganized; some corps commanders were relieved and others appointed to
fill the vacancies. The cavalry, which up to this time had had no
organization as a corps, was consolidated under Gen. Stoneman, and soon
became, under his able leadership, the equals, if not the superiors, of
the vaunted horsemen of the South. In these changes the sharp shooters
found themselves assigned to the first division of the Third Corps,
under Gen. Sickles. The division was commanded by Gen. Whipple, and the
brigade by Gen. De Trobriand. The detachments were called in and the
regiment was once more a unit. Under Gen. Hooker's system the army
rapidly improved in morale and spirit; he instituted a liberal system of
furloughs to deserving men, and took vigorous measures against
stragglers and men absent without leave, of whom there were at this time
an immense number--shown by the official rolls to be above eighty
thousand. Desertion, which under Burnside had become alarmingly
prevalent, was substantially stopped; and by the 1st of April the tone
and discipline of the army was such as to fairly warrant Hooker's proud
boast that it was "the grandest army on the planet."
The sharp shooters parted with their comrades of the Fifth Corps with
regret. They had been identified with it since its organization, while
the army lay before Yorktown, in April of 1862; they had shared with it
splendid triumphs and bitter defeats; they had made many warm friends
among its officers and men, with whom they were loth to part. Of the
officers of the Third Corps they knew nothing, but they took their place
in its ranks, confident that their stout soldiership would win for them
the respect and esteem of their new comrades, even as it had that of the
friends they were leaving. Gen. De Trobriand, their new brigade
commander, was at first an object of special aversion. Foreign officers
were at that time looked upon with some degree of suspicion and dislike,
and perhaps the foreign sound of the name, together with the obnoxious
prefix, had an undue and improper influence in the minds of the new
comers. However it came about, the men were accustomed to speak of their
superior officer as Gen. "Toejam," "Frog Eater," and various other
disrespectful appellations, much to his chagrin and discomfiture. Later,
however, when they became better acquainted, they learned to have a
mutual respect and esteem for each other and two years later, when they
parted company finally, the general issued to them a farewell address
more than usually complimentary, as will be seen further on. Indeed,
long before that time and on the field of actual and bloody battle he
paused in front of the line of the regiment to say to them: "Men, you
may call me _Frog Eater_ now if you like, or by whatever name you like
better, if you will only always fight as you do to-day." The sharp
shooters passed the winter months in comparative inaction except for the
ordinary routine of drills, inspections, etc., incident to winter
quarters; they took part in all the grand reviews and parades for which
Hooker was somewhat famous, and which, if somewhat fatiguing to the men
and smacking somewhat of pomp and circumstance, had at least the effect
of showing to each portion of the great army what a magnificent body
they really were, thus adding to the confidence of the whole.
On the twenty-first of February First Lieut. Bronson resigned, and was
succeeded by Lieut. E. W. Hindes, while, in deference to the unanimous
petition of the company, Sergt. C. D. Merriman was promoted second
lieutenant, both commissions to date from February 21, 1863. The roster
of the company now stood as follows:
Captain, C. W. Seaton.
First Lieutenant, E. W. Hindes.
Second Lieutenant, C. D. Merriman.
First Sergeant, H. E. Kinsman.
Second Sergeant, A. H. Cooper.
Third Sergeant, Cassius Peck.
Fourth Sergeant, Edward F. Stevens.
Fifth Sergeant, Lewis J. Allen.
First Corporal, Paul M. Thompson.
Second Corporal, Ai Brown.
Third Corporal, L. D. Grover.
Fourth Corporal, Chas. M. Jordan.
Fifth Corporal, E. M. Hosmer.
Sixth Corporal, Edward Trask.
Seventh Corporal, W. H. Leach.
Eighth Corporal, M. Cunningham.
The winter was not altogether devoted to sober work. Sports of various
kinds were indulged in, one of the most popular being snowball fights
between regiments and brigades. Upon one occasion after a sharp conflict
between the first and second regiments of sharp shooters, the former
captured the regimental colors of the latter, and for a short time some
little ill feeling between the regiments existed, a feeling which soon
wore away, however, with the opening of the spring campaign.
On the 5th of April the first regiment had a grand celebration to mark
the anniversary of the advance on Yorktown where the sharp shooters were
for the first time under rebel fire. Target shooting, foot races,
jumping and wrestling were indulged in for small prizes. Jacob S. Bailey
of Co. F won the wrestling match against all comers and Edward Bartomey,
also of Company F, won the two hundred yards running race in
twenty-eight and one-half seconds. In the shooting test the Vermonters
were unfortunate, the prize going to Samuel Ingling of Michigan. Gen.
Whipple, the division commander, accompanied by several ladies who were
visiting friends in camp, were interested spectators of the games. As
the season advanced and the roads became settled and passable,
preparations began on all sides for an active campaign against the
enemy. "Fighting Joe Hooker" had inspired the army with much of his own
confidence and faith in the future, and it was believed by the troops
that at last they had a commander worthy in every respect of the
magnificent army he was called to command.