GETTYSBURGH TO THE WILDERNESS.
From the date of their return from the field of Chancellorsville to the
11th of June, the sharp shooters remained in camp near Falmouth engaged
only in the usual routine duties of camp life. Drills, reviews and other
parades of ceremony were of frequent occurrence, but nothing of moment
took place to essentially vary the monotony of their lives. Occasionally
a detail would be made from the company for a day or two of especial
service at some portion of the picket line where the rebel sharp
shooters had become unusually aggressive, but affairs in those parts
generally soon became satisfactory, and the men would be ordered back to
camp. These little episodes were eagerly welcomed by men tired again of
the inactivity of their lives in permanent camp. During this time,
however, important changes in the organization of the company took
place. Capt. Seaton, who had never entirely recovered from the effects
of his wound received at Malvern Hill, resigned on the 15th day of May,
and E. W. Hindes was appointed and commissioned captain. C. D. Merriman
was promoted to be first lieutenant and H. E. Kinsman second lieutenant,
the two former to date from May 15, 1863, and the latter from May 26.
The non-commissioned officers were advanced to rank as follows:
First Sergeant, Lewis J. Allen.
Second Sergeant, A. H. Cooper.
Third Sergeant, Cassius Peck.
Fourth Sergeant, Paul M. Thompson.
Fifth Sergeant, Edward F. Stevens.
First Corporal, Jacob S. Bailey.
Second Corporal, L. D. Grover.
Third Corporal, Chas. M. Jordan.
Fourth Corporal, E. M. Hosmer.
Fifth Corporal, Edward Trask.
Sixth Corporal, W. H. Leach.
Seventh Corporal, M. Cunningham.
Eighth Corporal, Edward Lyman.
The new officers had been connected with the company from its
organization; they were all roll of honor men, straight up from the
ranks, and were men of distinguished courage and skill, as they had
demonstrated already on at least fifteen occasions upon which the Army
of the Potomac had been engaged in pitched battles with the enemy,
besides numberless minor engagements and skirmishes. Indeed, their
lives might be said to have been passed, for the year and a half they
had been in the field, in constant battle, and the same was true of
every man in the company as well. The month of June was, however,
destined to bring with it hard marches and stirring events.
Not content with the results of the Maryland campaign of 1862, which had
resulted in a disastrous rebel defeat at Antietam, Lee, perhaps
recognizing the historical fact that a power which allows itself to be
placed entirely on the defensive is sure to be beaten in the end,
determined to essay once more an invasion of the loyal states, and to
transfer the seat of war, if possible, from the impoverished and
suffering South, to the soil of populous and wealthy Pennsylvania.
His route was substantially the same one pursued by him the previous
year, but not now, as on that occasion, was the severe fighting to take
place on the soil of Virginia.
By skillful feints and rapid marches, he succeeded in placing his army
north of the Potomac before the Union commander could strike a blow at
him. Early in the month it was certain that Lee was about to take the
field in some direction. Sick and wounded were sent to northern
hospitals, all surplus baggage and stores were turned in, and the Union
army, stripped of everything but what the men carried on their persons,
was ready to follow or to confront him. On the 11th of June the sharp
shooters broke camp at five o'clock P. M., and, for the third time,
marched out from the ground that had been their home for nearly seven
months. Twice before had they left the same place to fight desperate
battles with the same enemy, and twice had they returned to it, defeated
and despondent. Many a man, as the regiment marched out, wondered in his
heart if such would be their fate again; but soldiers are optimists by
nature and education; they soon learn that to fear and dread defeat is
to invite it; that confidence begets confidence, and that the example of
courage and cheerfulness is contagious. Not for a long time, therefore,
did these gloomy thoughts possess their minds, and soon they were
stepping out merrily to the sound of the bugle.
Other portions of the army had preceded them, and still others were
starting by different roads; and as far as the eye could reach, as the
columns passed over some height of land, could be seen the clouds of
dust that, rising high in the air, betrayed the presence of marching
men. Pressing rapidly northward, passing successively Hartwood church,
Rappahannock Station, Catlet's Station, Manassas Junction, Centerville
and Green Springs--all familiar as the scenes of past experience, and
many of them sacred to the memory of dead comrades--they forded the
Potomac at Edwards' Ferry on the 25th of June and reached the mouth of
the Monocacy, having marched thirty-one miles on that day. Arriving at
that point, tired and foot-sore, as may be imagined after such a march,
they found an aide-de-camp ordered to conduct them to their allotted
camp ground. He appeared to be one of those nice young men who were so
often appointed to positions on the staff for their beauty or their
fragrance, or for the general elegance of manners, rather than for their
ability to be of any real service. This young person, with no apparent
idea of where he wanted to go, marched them up and down and around and
about, until the patience of Trepp, the Dutch lieutenant-colonel, was
exhausted. Commanding halt, he turned to the bewildered aide and with
phrases and objurgations not fitted for the polite ears of those who
will read this book, concluded his lecture with "Now mine frent, dese
men is tired and dey is to march no more dis day," then, turning to the
regiment, he commanded, in tones that might have been heard at
Washington, "Men, lie down!" and the sharp shooters camped just there.
Leaving this place on the twenty-sixth, they marched to Point of Rocks,
and on the twenty-seventh to Middletown. On the twenty-eighth they
marched via Frederick and Walkersville and crossed the Catoctin
Mountains at Turner Gap. On this day the corps commander, General
Sickles, returned to his command after a short absence, and on the same
day General Hooker, not being able to make his ideas of the campaign
square with those of the department generals at Washington, was
relieved, at his own request, and General Meade was appointed to the
command. The army parted with Hooker without very much regret. They
recognized his wonderful fighting qualities as a division or corps
commander, and he was personally popular, but they had never quite
forgiven him for Chancellorsville, where he took his army, beaten and
well nigh crushed, back from an enemy numerically weaker than his own,
while he had yet nearly forty thousand soldiers who had not been engaged
in the action, and hardly under fire. It is safe to say that his army
had no longer that degree of confidence in his ability to handle large
armies, and to direct great battles, so essential to success. Of his
successor the army only knew that he was a scholarly, polished
gentleman, personally brave, and that as a brigade, division and corps
commander he had made few mistakes. On the whole, his record was
favorable and the men marched willingly under him, although the choice
of the rank and file might possibly have been some other man.
On the twenty-ninth the sharp shooters marched with the corps to
Taneytown, some twenty miles distant, and on the next day to within two
miles of Emmetsburgh, where they camped for the night. On the morning of
July 1st the guns of Reynold's fight at Gettysburgh were plainly heard,
and in the late afternoon they started for the point of action, some ten
miles distant, making most of the distance at the double quick.
At about sunset they arrived on the field and went into bivouac in the
rear of the hill known in the history of the subsequent battle as Little
Round Top, and were once more confronting their ancient antagonists. The
sharpshooters were now attached to the second brigade, commanded by Gen.
J. H. H. Ward, of the first division, under Gen. Birney, the old third
division having been consolidated with the first and second after the
terrible losses of the corps at Chancellorsville, and in this connection
we shall have to follow them through the battle of Gettysburgh. The
battle of the 1st of July was over. The First and Eleventh Corps had
sustained a serious defeat, and at the close of that day the rolls of
these two corps showed the terrible loss of over nine thousand men, and
yet the battle had hardly commenced. The situation was not an
encouraging one to contemplate; not half the Union army was up, some
corps being yet thirty or forty miles distant, while the events of the
day showed that the rebel army was well concentrated--but the die was
cast, events forced the battle then and there, and thus the rocky ridges
of Gettysburgh became of historic interest and will remain so forever.
Troops arrived rapidly during the night and were assigned places, as
they arrived, in the chosen line, which was in a direction nearly north
and south. The extreme left rested on a rocky height rising some three
hundred feet above the level of the surrounding country; some five
hundred yards to the north of this hill, called Round Top, rises a
similar elevation, although of less height, called Little Round Top;
thence north to Cemetery Hill, immediately overlooking the village of
Gettysburgh about two miles distant, the Union troops occupied, or were
intended to occupy, a rocky ridge overlooking and commanding the plain
to the westward. From Cemetery Hill the line was refused and curved
backward to the east until the extreme right rested on a wooded eminence
called Culp Hill, and fronted to the east, so that the entire line was
some three miles, or perhaps a little more, long, and was in shape like
a fish hook, the shank lying along the ridge between Round Top and
Cemetery Hill, and the point on Culp Hill. Below the bend of the hook,
at the base of Cemetery Hill, lay the village of Gettysburgh. Such was
the Union position at daylight on the morning of the 2d of July, 1863.
Fronting that portion of the federal troops which was faced to the west,
and at a distance of about one mile, ran another ridge, parallel to the
first, called Seminary Ridge, and which was occupied by the Confederate
army. To the north and east of Gettysburgh the ground was open, no
ridges or considerable body of wood land existed to cover or screen the
movements of the rebel troops. The village of Gettysburgh was occupied
by the enemy on the afternoon of the 1st of July after the defeat of the
First and Eleventh Corps, and yet remained in their possession. Midway
between the two armies ran the Emmetsburgh road, following the crest of
a slight elevation between the two lines of battle. The position
assigned to the Third Corps was that portion of the line immediately
north of Little Round Top where the ridge is less high than at any other
portion. Indeed, it sinks away at that point until it is hardly higher
than the plain in front, and not as high as the ridge along which runs
the Emmetsburgh road. At an early hour on the morning of the 2d,
Sickles, believing himself that the latter ridge afforded the better
position, and perhaps mistaking Gen. Meade's instructions, passed down
into the valley and took up the line of the Emmetsburgh road, his center
resting at a point known in the history of the battle as the "peach
orchard." From this point his line was prolonged to the right by
Humphrey's Division along the road, while Birney's Division, to which
Ward's brigade with the sharp shooters was attached, formed the left,
which was refused; the angle being at the peach orchard, and the extreme
left resting nearly at the base of Round Top, at a point known by the
altogether suggestive and appropriate name of the Devil's Den--a name
well applied, for a more desolate, ghostly place, or one more suggestive
of the home of evil spirits can hardly be imagined. Barren of tree or
shrub, and almost destitute of any green thing, it seems cursed of God
and abandoned of man.
Pending the deployment of the Third Corps, four companies of the sharp
shooters, F, I, D and E, with the Third Maine, a small regiment of only
two hundred men, were detached from Ward's brigade and ordered to a
point in front and to the right of the peach orchard, where they were
directed to advance to a piece of wooded land on the west of the
Emmetsburgh road and feel for the enemy at that point. The four
companies, deployed as skirmishers, advanced in a northwesterly
direction, and at about nine o'clock encountered a strong force of the
rebels, consisting of at least one brigade of Longstreet's command,
who, with arms stacked, were busily engaged in preparing their breakfast
when the rifles of the sharp shooters gave them notice of other
employment. They were taken entirely by surprise, and quickly perceiving
this fact, the riflemen dashed forward, firing as they pressed on as
rapidly as the breech loaders could be made to work. The rebels made but
a short stand; taken entirely unprepared and unaware of the
insignificant numbers of the oncoming force, they seized their guns from
the stack, and, after one or two feeble volleys, retreated in confusion.
The general in command made a gallant personal effort to rally his men,
but fell dead from his horse immediately in front of Co. F. The rout of
the enemy at this point was now complete, and pressing their advantage
to the utmost the sharp shooters drove them back nearly to the main
rebel line on Seminary Ridge, capturing many prisoners who were sent to
the rear, and a large number of small arms which, however, they were
unable to bring away. Having thus cleared the ground nearly to the main
rebel line, they took position behind walls, fences, etc., and for the
two or three hours following were engaged in sharp shooting with the
enemy similarly posted in their front. Their position was now some
distance to the right of the peach orchard and in front of the right, or
right center, of Humphrey's Division.
At about half-past three in the afternoon Longstreet commenced his
attack on Sickles' extreme left near Round Top, the battle soon
becoming very severe also at the angle in the peach orchard and
involving Humphrey further to the right. The attacking columns had
passed to the left of the sharp shooters and the fighting was now in
their left and rear. The rebels in their front also became very
aggressive and they were gradually pushed back until they became
intermingled with the troops of Humphrey's Division posted along the
Emmetsburgh road where the struggle soon became close and deadly. The
angle at the peach orchard was the key to Sickles' line, and against it
Longstreet pushed his best troops in dense masses, and at this point
occurred some of the hardest fighting that took place on the whole
field; but as the troops whose doings are chronicled in these pages had
no part in that struggle, it is enough to say that after a gallant
resistance the line was broken at the angle and the shouting rebels,
rushing through the gap, took both portions of the line in reverse,
while both portions were yet resisting heavy attacks on their fronts.
Such a situation could have but one result--both wings were compelled to
retire in confusion.
Anticipating this, Meade had ordered heavy supporting columns to be
formed behind the crest of the ridge and these were ordered down to the
relief of the sorely tried Third Corps. Barnes' Division of the Fifth
Corps, the same to which the sharp shooters had been attached for so
long a time, and in the ranks of which they had fought in all the
battles previous to Fredericksburgh, came gallantly to the rescue, but
were unable to withstand the terrible vigor of the Confederate assault,
and Caldwell's Division of the Second Corps was also thrown in to check
the onset.
These troops fought with the greatest courage but were defeated with the
loss of half the men engaged. In the mean time Longstreet, finding the
ground between the left of Birney's Division and the base of Round Top
unoccupied, pushed a force behind the Union left at that point which
succeeded in gaining a position in the rocky ravine between the two
Round Tops from which they pushed forward to secure the possession of
the lesser elevation, at that moment unguarded. This was the key to the
entire Union line, and once in the hands of the rebels would probably
decide the battle in their favor. But Warren, another old Fifth Corps
friend, quickly discovered the danger and ordered Vincent with his
brigade to occupy and defend this important point. The struggle for its
possession was terrible, but victory perched upon the Union banners and
the hill was made secure. Vincent and Hazlett, both of the Fifth Corps
also, were killed here. They had been well known and highly esteemed by
many of the officers and men of the sharp shooters, and by none were
they more sincerely lamented.
Darkness put an end to the battle of July 2d. Lee had gained
considerable ground, for the whole of the line occupied by the Third
Corps was now in his possession. There yet remained for him to carry the
real line of the federal defenses which was as yet intact. The position
taken by Gen. Sickles had been intrinsically false, and was one from
which he would have been withdrawn without fighting had time allowed.
Lee had gained ground, and that was all, unless the inspiriting effects
of even partial success can be counted.
Many thousands of Union soldiers lay dead and wounded on the field, and
the Army of the Potomac was the weaker by that number of men, but Lee
had lost an equal, or more likely a greater number, so that on the whole
the result of the day could not be counted as a substantial gain for the
rebels, and when the federals lay down for the night, it was with
confidence and assurance that the morrow would bring its reward for the
mishaps of the day. The corps commander, Gen. Sickles, had been wounded
and Gen. Birney succeeded to the command. Gen. Ward took command of the
division, and thus it came about that Col. Berdan was in command of the
brigade.
Company F had killed on this day Sergeant A. H. Cooper, and Geo. Woolly
and W. H. Leach wounded. Woolly's wound was severe and resulted in the
loss of his arm. Other companies in the regiment had suffered more or
less severely, the four companies engaged in front and to the right of
the peach orchard losing twenty men, killed and wounded, out of the one
hundred engaged.
During the night succeeding the 2d of July the shattered remains of the
Third Corps was withdrawn from the front line and massed behind the
sheltering ridge as a reserve. Its terrible losses of the day, added to
those sustained at Chancellorsville, had reduced the once powerful corps
almost to the proportions of a brigade. As the troops stood in line the
colors were like a fringe along its front, so close together were they.
The regiments that defended them were like companies--indeed, many
regiments had not the full number of one hundred men which is called for
on paper by a full company. The Third Corps was nearly a matter of
history, but the few men left with their colors were veterans, tried and
true, and although they were not displeased to be relieved from the
active fighting yet in store for the federals, they were quite ready to
stand to arms again whenever it should please Gen. Meade to so direct.
At daylight the enemy opened a heavy artillery fire all along the line.
The random nature of the firing was proof, however, that nothing more
serious than demonstration was intended.
Late at night on the preceding day the rebels had succeeded in gaining
important ground on the extreme right, and had indeed possessed
themselves of almost the whole of the wooded eminence known as Culp's
Hill, from which their artillery, should they be allowed time to get it
up, would take almost the entire Union line in the rear. To regain this,
Geary's Division was sent in early in the day, and after four hours of
severe fighting the rebels were dislodged and the Union right was
restored. Affairs now became quiet and so remained for some
hours--suspiciously quiet indeed, and all felt that some great effort
was about to be made by the Confederates. At about one o'clock a single
gun was fired as a signal from the Confederate lines near the seminary,
and instantly one hundred and fifteen guns opened on the Union center,
which was held by the First and Second Corps, supported by all that
remained of the Third. Never before had the Union troops been subjected
to such an artillery fire. Previous to this battle the cannonading at
Malvern Hill had always been quoted as the heaviest of the war. The
bombardment of Fredericksburgh had also been on a magnificent scale, but
here the troops were to learn that still further possibilities existed.
Eighty Union guns responded vigorously, and for two hours these
guns--nearly two hundred in number--hurled their shot and shell across
the intervening plain in countless numbers. The Union artillery was
posted along the crest of, or just behind the ridge, while the lines of
infantry were below them on the western slope. The soldiers lay prone on
the ground, sheltering themselves behind such inequalities of the
surface as they could find, well knowing that this awful pounding was
only the precursor of a struggle at closer quarters, which, if less
demonstrative and noisy, would be more deadly; for experience had taught
them that however frightful to look at and listen to, the fire of shell
at such long range was not, on the whole, a thing to inspire great fear.
It is a curious fact, however, that heavy artillery fire, long
sustained, begets an irresistible desire to sleep; and hundreds of Union
soldiers went quietly to sleep and slept soundly under the soothing
influence of this tremendous lullaby.
At three o'clock the artillery fire ceased, and from the woods crowning
Seminary Ridge, a mile away, swarmed the grey coated rebels for another
attempt on the federal line. Lee had tried the left and had failed; he
had been partially successful on the right on the preceding evening, but
had been driven back in the morning. It only remained for him to try the
center. In the van of the charging column came Picket's Division of
Virginia troops, the flower of Lee's army, fresh and eager for the
strife. On his right was Wilcox's brigade of Hill's corps, and on his
left Pender's Division. Could Picket but succeed in piercing the Union
center, these two supporting columns, striking the line at points
already shattered and disorganized by the passage of Picket's command,
might be expected to give way in turn, and the right and left wings of
the federal army would be hopelessly separated. But others besides Lee
saw this, and Meade hastened to support the points on which the coming
storm must burst with all the troops at his command. The Third Corps was
ordered up and took position on the left of the First, directly opposite
the point at which Wilcox must strike the line, if he reached so far.
Our artillery, which had been nearly silent for some time, opened on the
oncoming masses as they reached the Emmetsburgh road with canister and
case shot which made fearful gaps in their front, but closing steadily
on their colors they continued to advance. Their courage was
magnificent and worthy of a better cause. Eight Union batteries,
brought forward for the purpose, poured an enfilading fire into the
rushing mass, while Stannard's Second Vermont Brigade, far in advance of
the main line, suddenly rose up and, quickly changing front, forward on
the right, commenced a close and deadly fire directly on their exposed
right flank. Their track over that open plain was marked by a swath of
dead and dying men as wide as the front of their column; still they
struggled on and some portion of the attacking force actually pierced
the Union line, and the rebel Gen. Armistead was killed with his hand
upon one of the guns of Wheeler's battery. The point had been well
covered, however, and no sooner did the rebel standards appear crowning
the stone wall, which was the principal defensive work, than the troops
of the second line were ordered forward and for a few moments were
engaged in a fierce hand to hand fight over the wall. The force of the
rebel attack was, however, spent; exhausted by their march of a mile
across the plain in the face of the deadly fire, and with ranks sadly
thinned, the rebels, brave as they undoubtedly were, were in no shape to
long continue the struggle. They soon broke and fled, thousands,
however, throwing down their arms and surrendering themselves as
prisoners rather than risk the dangerous passage back to their own
lines, a passage only in a degree less perilous than the advance.
In the meantime Wilcox, on the right, had pushed gallantly forward to
strike the front of the Third Corps where the sharp shooters had been
posted in advantageous positions to receive him. They had opened fire
when he was some four hundred yards away, too far for really fine
shooting at individual men, but not so far as to prevent considerable
execution being done on the dense masses of men coming on. This attack,
however, was not destined to meet with even the small measure of success
which had attended Picket's assault, for Col. W. G. Veazey of the
Sixteenth Vermont, one of the regiments of Stannard's Second Vermont
Brigade, which had been thrown forward on the right flank of Picket's
column, seeing that attack repulsed, and being aware of the approach of
Wilcox in his rear, suddenly counter-marched his regiment and made a
ferocious charge on the left of Wilcox's column, even as he had just
done on the right of Picket's. The effect was instantaneous; they
faltered, halted, and finally broke. Launching forward, Veazey captured
many prisoners and colors, many more, in fact, than he had men in his
own ranks.
The fighting of the 3d of July now ceased and the federals had been
signally successful. The morrow was the 4th of July, the birthday of the
nation; would it be ever after celebrated as the anniversary of the
decisive and closing battle of the war? Many hearts beat high at the
thought, and the troops lay on their arms that night full of hope that
the end was at hand.
The repulse of Lee's final assault on the 3d of July had been so
complete and crushing, so apparent to every man on the field, that there
were none who did not awake on the morning of the 4th with the full
expectation that the Army of the Potomac would at once assume the
offensive and turn the repulse of the last two days into such a defeat
as should insure the utter destruction of the rebel army. Everything
seemed propitious; Sedgwick's gallant Sixth Corps had arrived late on
the night of the second, and had not been engaged. The men were fresh
and eager to deliver on the national holiday the death blow to the
rebellion. The troops who had been engaged during that terrible three
days battle were equally eager, notwithstanding their labors and
sufferings, but Meade was eminently a conservative leader, and feared to
"Put it to the touch
To win or lose it all."
And so the day was spent in such quiet and rest as could be obtained by
the men. The wounded were gathered and cared for, rations and ammunition
were issued, and every preparation for further defense should Lee again
attack, or for pursuit should he retreat, was made. Some rather feeble
demonstrations were made at various points, but no fighting of a serious
character took place on that day. The sharp shooters were thrown forward
as far as the peach orchard where they took up a position which they
held during the day, constantly engaged in exchanging shots with the
rebel pickets posted behind the walls and fences in the open field in
front of the woods behind which lay the rebel army. It was of itself
exciting and dangerous employment; but, as compared with their
experiences on the two preceding days, the day was uneventful. Co. F
lost here, however, two of its faithful soldiers, wounded, L. B. Grover
and Chas. B. Mead. Both recovered and returned to the company, Grover to
be promoted sergeant for his gallantry on this field, and Mead to die by
a rebel bullet in the trenches at Petersburgh. The regiment as a whole
had suffered severely. The faithful surgeon, Dr. Brennan, had been
severely wounded while in the discharge of his duty in caring for the
wounded on the field, and Capt. McLean of Co. D was killed.
Many others, whose names have been lost in the lapse of years, fell on
this bloody field. The fifth was spent in gathering the wounded and
burying the dead. On the sixth Meade commenced that dilatory pursuit
which has been so severely criticised, and on the twelfth came up with
the rebel army at Williamsport, where Lee had taken up and fortified a
strong position to await the falling of the river, a sudden rise of
which had carried away the bridges and rendered the fords impassable.
The army was eager to attack; flushed with their success, and fully
confident of their ability to give rebellion its death blow, they fairly
chafed at the delay--but Meade favored the cautious policy, and spent
the twelfth and thirteenth in reconnoitering Lee's position. Having
finished this preliminary work, he resolved on an attack on the
fourteenth; but Lee, having completed his bridges, made a successful
passage of the river, and by eight o'clock on that morning had his army,
with its trains and stores, safe on the Virginia side.
On the seventeenth the Third Corps crossed the river at Harper's Ferry
and were once more following a defeated and flying enemy up the valley,
over the same route by which they had pursued the same foe a year before
while flying from Antietam. The pursuit was not vigorous--the men
marched leisurely, making frequent halts. It was in the height of the
blackberry season, and the fields were full of the most delicious
specimens. The men enjoyed them immensely, and, on a diet composed
largely of this fruit, the health of the men improved rapidly.
On the nineteenth the sharp shooters reached Snicker's Gap, where, on
the 3d of the previous November, they had looked down on the beautiful
valley of Virginia and beheld from their lofty perch Lee's retreating
columns marching southward. To-day, from the same point of view, they
beheld the same scene; but how many changes had taken place in that
little company since they were last on this ground! Death, by bullet and
by disease, had made sad inroads among them, and of the whole number
present for duty the previous November, less than one-half were with
their colors now, the others were either dead in battle, or of wounds
received in action, or honorably discharged by reason of disability
incurred in the service. Sheridan once said that no regiment was fit for
the field until one-half of its original numbers had died of disease,
one-quarter been killed in action, and the rest so sick of the whole
business that they would rather die than live. Judged by this rather
severe standard, Co. F was now fit to take rank as veterans. Descending
the mountains, they marched southward, passing the little village of
Upperville on the twentieth.
On the twenty-third the Third Corps was ordered to feel the enemy at
Manassas Gap, and there ensued a severe skirmish, known as the affair of
Wapping Heights. The sharp shooters opened the engagement and, indeed,
bore the brunt of it, dislodging the enemy and driving them through the
gap and beyond the mountain range. They inflicted considerable loss on
the rebels, and made a number of prisoners.
In this affair a man from another company came suddenly face to face
with an armed rebel at very short range; each, as it subsequently
appeared, had but one cartridge and that was in his gun. Each raised his
rifle at the first sight of the other and the reports were simultaneous.
Both missed--the rebel bullet struck a tree so close to the sharp
shooter's face that the flying fragments of bark drew blood; the Union
bullet passed through the breast of the rebel's coat, cutting in two in
its passage a small mirror in his breast pocket. They were now upon
equal terms but each supposed himself at the disadvantage. Yankee cheek
was too much, however, for the innocent Johnnie, for the sharp shooter,
with great show of reloading his rifle, advanced on the rebel demanding
his surrender. He threw down his gun with bad grace, saying as he did
so: "If I had another cartridge I would never surrender." "All right,
Johnnie," said the Yankee, "If I had another you may be sure I would not
ask you to surrender." But Johnnie came in a prisoner. In this action
the sharp shooters expended the full complement of sixty rounds of
ammunition per man, thus verifying the assertion of their ancient enemy
in the ordnance department that "the breech loaders would use up
ammunition at an alarming rate;" both he and others were by this time
forced to admit, however, that the ammunition was expended to very
useful purpose. Passing now to the southeast over familiar grounds they
encamped at Warrenton on the twenty-sixth, and on the thirty-first at or
near White Sulphur Springs, where they remained until the 15th of
September, enjoying a much needed rest. It was eighty-one days since
they left their camp at Falmouth to follow and defeat Lee's plans for an
invasion of the North, and during that time they had not had one single
day of uninterrupted rest. Here the regiment had the first dress parade
since the campaign opened.
On the 15th of September they broke camp and marched to Culpepper, some
ten miles to the southward, where they remained until the 10th of
October. On the 22d of September eight days rations had been issued and
it looked as though serious movements were contemplated, but the plan,
if there was one, was not carried out.
On the 11th of October, with full haversacks and cartridge boxes, they
broke camp and moved again northward, crossing the Rappahannock by
Freeman's ford, near which they remained during the rest of that day and
the whole of the twelfth on the picket line, frequently engaged in
unimportant skirmishes with the enemy's cavalry. On the thirteenth they
marched in the early morning, still towards the north, prepared for
action, and at Cedar Run, a small tributary of the Rappahannock, they
found the enemy in considerable force to dispute the crossing. Here a
severe action took place, and as the emergency was one which did not
admit of delay, the attack was made without the formality of throwing
out skirmishers, and the sharp shooters charged with the other regiments
of the division in line of battle. Edward Jackson was severely wounded
here, but returned to his company to remain with it to the close of the
war. Quickly brushing away this force the corps advanced northwardly by
roads lying to the west of the Orange & Alexandria railroad and parallel
with it, and after a fatiguing march arrived at Centerville, only a few
miles from Washington.
The cause of this rapid retrograde movement was not easily understood by
the men at the time, but was subsequently easily explained. Lee had not
been satisfied with the results of his three previous attempts to
destroy the Union army by turning its right and cutting it off from
Washington, and had essayed a fourth. It had been a close race, but the
Union commander had extricated his army from a position that, at one
time, was one of grave peril, and had it compact and ready on the
heights of Centerville with the fortifications of Washington at his
back. Lee was now far from his own base of supplies and must attack the
Union army in position at once, or retreat. He took one look at the
situation and chose the latter alternative, and on the nineteenth the
Army of the Potomac was once more in pursuit, the Third. Corps with the
sharp shooters passing Bristoe's Station on that day with their faces
toward the South. On the twentieth they forded Cedar Run at the scene of
their battle of the week before, and on the same day, owing to an error
by which the sharp shooters were directed by a wrong road, they
recrossed it to the north bank, from which they had, later in the day,
to again ford it to reach their designated camping place on the south
side near Greenwich, thus making three times in all that they waded the
stream on this cold October day, sometimes in water waist deep. The next
camp made was at Catlet's Station, when the sharp shooters with the
Third Corps remained inactive until the 7th of November awaiting the
repairing and reopening of the Orange & Alexandria railroad which had
been greatly damaged by Lee in his retreat, and which, as it was the
main line of supply for Meade's army, it was necessary to repair
before the army could move further southward.
On the seventh, the railroad having been completely repaired and the
army fully supplied with rations, ammunition and other necessary
articles, Meade determined to try to bring his enemy to a decisive
action in the open field, and to that end directed the right wing of his
army, consisting of the Fifth and Sixth Corps under Sedgwick, to force
the passage of the Rappahannock at Rappahannock Station, while the left
wing, consisting of the First, Second and Third Corps, was directed on
Kelly's Ford, some five miles lower down the river.
The Third Corps, under Birney, had the advance of the column, the sharp
shooters acting as flankers, until the head of the column arrived at the
river opposite the designated crossing place. The enemy were found in
strong force occupying rifle pits on the opposite bank, and the column
was deployed to meet the exigency of the occasion. The sharp shooters
were at the front as skirmishers and advanced at the double quick in
splendid order until they reached the bank of the river, when they took
such cover as was afforded by the inequalities of the ground, and
commenced an active fire upon the enemy in the rifle pits on the
opposite side. It was soon found, however, that they could not be driven
from their strong position by simple rifle work, and the regiment was
ordered to cross the stream and drive them out by close and vigorous
attack. It was not a cheerful prospect for the men who were to wade the
open stream nearly waist deep and exposed to the cool fire of the
concealed enemy, who would not aim less coolly because the sharp
shooters would necessarily be unable to return the fire; but the line
was carefully prepared and at the sound of the bugle every man dashed
forward into the cold and rapid water and struggled on. Co. F was one of
the reserve companies and thus followed the skirmishers in column of
fours instead of in a deployed line. As the skirmishers arrived on the
further shore they naturally took such cover as they could get, and
opened a rapid fire. The Vermonters, however, closely following the
movement, passed the skirmish line thus halted and pushed on without
stopping to deploy even. Capt. Merriman, who had just succeeded to his
well deserved promotion, led the way until he stood upon the very edge
of the works overlooking the rebels within, of whom he demanded an
immediate and unconditional surrender. He was far in advance of his men,
and the rebels, at first taken aback by the very boldness of the demand,
now seeing him unsupported as they thought, refused with strong language
to surrender, but on the contrary called upon him to yield himself up as
their prisoner. Merriman, however, was not minded to give up his
captain's sword on the very first day he had worn it, and called out for
"Some of you men of Co. F with guns to come up here." His call was
obeyed, and five hundred and six Confederates surrendered to this little
company alone. In the company the casualties were as follows: Patrick
Murray, killed; Eugene Mead, Watson P. Morgan and Fitz Green Halleck,
wounded. Having thus uncovered the ford the sharp shooters were pushed
forward some distance to allow the remainder of the left wing to cross
and form on the south bank. Advancing about a mile from the river they
took up a position from which they repulsed several feeble attacks
during the day, and at dark were relieved.
For their gallantry and dash in this affair they received unstinted
praise from their brigade commander, De Trobriand, they having been
transferred back to his brigade some days previous. On the next day the
troops advanced towards Brandy Station where the union of the two wings
of the army was expected to take place. Considerable resistance was met
with at several points during the day, and at one point the skirmishers
of the third division, which was in advance, being unable to start the
rebels, the corps commander sent back his aide for "the regiment that
crossed the river the day before," but the brigade was some miles in
rear of the point of obstruction, and Gen. De Trobriand, rightly
believing that it would be unjust and cruel to require these men to
march so far at the double quick after their severe service of the day
before, sent the second regiment instead, who fully met the requirement
and soon cleared the road for the head of the column. On arriving at
Brandy Station the vast open plain was found packed and crowded with
troops, the entire Army of the Potomac being now concentrated here. The
sharp shooters went into camp on the farm of the so called loyalist John
Minor Botts, where they remained for the eighteen days following. In
consideration of his supposed loyalty, every effort was made to protect
the property of the owner of the plantation, but _rails_ are a
temptation that no soldier was ever known to withstand on a cold
November night. Evil disposed troops of other organizations raided the
fences every night, and the troops nearest at hand, the sharp shooters,
were required to rebuild them every day; and in this manner they passed
the time until the 26th of November, when the army broke camp and
crossed the Rapidan at several points simultaneously.
This was the initial movement in what is known as the Mine Run campaign.
The Third Corps crossed at Jacobs Mills ford, their destination being
understood to be Robertson's Tavern where they were to join the Second
Corps in an attack on the Confederate line behind Mine Run at that
point. But Gen. French, by a mistake of roads, and sundry other
unfortunate errors of judgment, found himself far to the right of his
assigned position, and while blindly groping about in the mazes of that
wilderness country, ran the head of his column against Ewell's Corps and
a brisk fight took place, which was called the battle of Locust Grove.
De Trobriand's brigade was near the rear of the column and was not
therefore immediately engaged. The familiar sounds of cannon and
musketry indicated to their practiced ears something more than a mere
affair of skirmishers, and soon came an order to take up a more advanced
position in support of the Third Division which was said to be heavily
engaged. Upon arriving at the front the sharp shooters were deployed
and ordered forward to a fence a little distance in advance of the main
Union line, and to hold that position at all hazards. Moving rapidly
forward they gained the position, and quickly converted the stout rail
fence into a respectable breastwork from which they opened fire on the
rebels in their front. Near them they found the Tenth Vermont, and thus
once again stood shoulder to shoulder with the men of their native
state. Five times during that afternoon did the enemy endeavor to drive
the sharp shooters from this line, and as often were they repulsed, and
each time with heavy loss. In one of these assaults the colors of a
rebel regiment, advancing immediately against Co. F, fell to the ground
four times, and just there four rebel color bearers lay dead, stricken
down by the fire of the Green Mountain riflemen.
The line of breastworks were held until the fighting ceased after dark,
when the sharp shooters were relieved and retired from the immediate
front and lay on their arms during the night. Co. F had lost in the
battle of the day five good men; E. S. Hosmer was killed at the fence,
while A. C. Cross, Eugene Payne, Sherod Brown and Corporal Jordan were
wounded. Cross rejoined the company and served faithfully until the
battle of the Wilderness in the following May where he was killed. Payne
returned to duty and served his full term of enlistment and was
honorably discharged on the 13th of September, 1864. Brown never fully
recovered from the effects of his wound and was subsequently transferred
to the Veteran Reserve Corps. Jordan also reported again for duty and
served until the 31st of August, 1864, when he was honorably discharged
on surgeon's certificate of disability. The regiment had lost thirty-six
men killed and wounded during the day, while the corps had suffered a
total loss of fifteen hundred, and had not yet reached its objective
point. And this was the soldiers' Thanksgiving Day at Locust Grove. Far
away in quiet northern homes, fathers and mothers were sitting lonely at
the loaded tables thinking lovingly of their brave boys, who were even
then lying stark and cold under the open sky, or suffering untold
agonies from cruel wounds. But this was war, and war is no respecter of
time or place, and so on this day of national thanksgiving and praise,
hundreds of the best and bravest suffered and died that those who came
after them might have cause for future thanksgiving.
"To the misjudging, war doth appear to be a worse calamity than slavery;
because its miseries are collected together within a short space and
time as may be easily, at one view, taken in and perceived. But the
misfortunes of nations cursed by slavery, being distributed over many
centuries and many places, are of greater weight and number."
Further severe fighting took place on the next day, but the sharp
shooters were not engaged. On the twenty-ninth (the corps having changed
its position on the previous day, taking up a new line further to the
left), the sharp shooters were deployed as skirmishers and pushed
forward to within sight of the strong works of the enemy on the further
side of Mine Run where they were halted and directed to closely observe
the movements of the rebels, but to do nothing calculated to provoke a
conflict, the preparations for assault not being completed on the Union
side. While laying here in a cold November rain storm they had ample
opportunity to calculate the strength of the enemy's line and the
chances of success. It reminded them strongly of Fredericksburgh. The
position was not dissimilar to that. Here was a swampy morass instead of
a hard plain, but beyond was a height of land and, as at
Fredericksburgh, it was crowned with earth works, while at the base of
the elevation, plainly to be seen by the watchers, were the long yellow
lines that told of rifle pits well manned by rebel soldiers. It looked
like a desperate attempt, but early on the morning of the thirteenth, in
obedience to orders, the sharp shooters advanced across the swamp
through the partly frozen mud, in many places mid-leg deep, driving the
rebel pickets into their works and pressing their way to within a few
rods of the enemy's front, which position they held, being of themselves
unable to go further without support, which was not forthcoming. This
advance had the seeming character of a demonstration only, but the sharp
shooters made the best of their opportunities, picking off a rebel now
and then as the chance occurred. Night came on and no hint of relief
came to the worn and weary men.
It was intensely cold and, of course, they had to endure it as best they
could, since to light a fire within so short a distance of the watchful
rebels would be to draw the fire of every gun within range. Neither
could they get the relief which comes from exercise, for the first
movement was the signal for a shot. So passed the long and dismal night;
the men getting such comfort as they could from rubbing and chafing
their benumbed and frost-bitten limbs. Morning dawned, but yet no relief
from their sufferings; and it seemed to the waiting men that they were
deserted. At times firing could be heard on the right, but of other
indications of the presence of their friends there were none. They
remained in this state all day on the 1st of December, and at night,
after thirty-six hours of this exposure, they were ordered back across
the swamp. Many men were absolutely unable to leave their positions
without aid, so stiff with cold and inaction were they; but all were
finally removed. The army had retired from the front of the enemy and
was far on its way to the river, leaving the Third Corps to cover the
withdrawal; the greater portion of this corps was also en route for its
old camp, and the sharp shooters were thus the rear guard of the army.
The march was simply terrible. All night they struggled on, many men
actually falling asleep as they marched and falling to the ground, to be
roused by shakes and kicks administered by their more wakeful comrades.
In spite of all, however, many men left the ranks and lay down in the
fields and woods to sleep, preferring the chance of freezing to death,
or of that other alternative only less fatal--being made prisoners--to
further effort. At day break the regiment arrived at the Rapidan at
Culpepper Mine ford, crossing on a ponton bridge and going into bivouac
on the north bank, where they could at least have fires to warm their
half frozen bodies. Here they lay until noon, their numbers being
augmented by the arrival of the stragglers, singly and in squads, until
all were accounted for, though at day break there were not guns enough
in some of the companies to stack arms with. At night, however, all were
comfortably quartered in their old camp--a thankful lot of men. This was
perhaps the most severe experience that Co. F had to undergo during its
three years of service. On many occasions they had more severe fighting
and had often to mourn the loss of tried and true comrades; but never
before or after did the company, as a whole, have to undergo so much
severe suffering as on this occasion. The principal loss of the regiment
in this campaign was by the death of Lieut.-Col. Trepp, who was shot
through the head and instantly killed on the 30th of November. Col.
Trepp had been with the regiment from the first, having joined as
captain of Co. A. He was a Swiss by birth, and had received a military
education in the army of his native land, and had seen much service in
various European wars. He was a severe disciplinarian, even harsh; but
was endeared to the men by long association in the field, and was
sincerely lamented.
From this time until the 6th of February, 1864, the regiment lay in
camp, inactive. On that day they were engaged in a reconnoissance to the
Rapidan, but were not engaged.
On the 28th of March the gallant old Third Corps, reduced as it was by
its losses at Chancellorsville, Gettysburgh and Locust Grove to the
proportions of a small division, passed out of existence, being
consolidated with the Second Corps, and becoming the first and second
brigades of the Third Division of that corps, Gen. Birney continuing in
the command of the division, while the corps was commanded by Gen.
Hancock, who had so far recovered from his wound received at Gettysburgh
as to be able to resume his place at the head of his troops. The sharp
shooters were attached to the second brigade, commanded by Gen. Hays.
This change was viewed by the officers and men of the Third Corps with
great regret. They were proud of their record, and justly so, but the
necessities of the service were paramount, and no sentiment of loyalty
to a corps flag could be allowed to interfere with it. In recognition of
the distinguished services rendered by the old organization, however,
the men were allowed to retain their corps badge; and they took their
places in the ranks of Hancock's command resolved that the honor of the
old Third should be maintained unsullied in the future, as it had been
in the past.