The March to Maryland--Second Manassas. Capture of Harper's
Ferry--Sharpsburg.
The enemy lay quietly in his camps at Harrison's Landing for a few
days, but to cover his meditated removal down the James, he advanced a
large part of his army as far as Malvern Hill on the day of the 5th
of August as if to press Lee back. Kershaw, with the rest of McLaw's
Division, together with Jones and Longstreet, were sent to meet them.
The troops were all placed in position by nightfall, bivouaced for the
night on the field, and slept on their arms to guard against any night
attack. The soldiers thought of to-morrow--that it perhaps might be
yet more sanguinary than any of the others. Our ranks, already badly
worn by the desperate conflicts at Savage Station, Frazier's Farm,
Cold Harbor, etc., still showed a bold front for the coming day. Early
in the morning the troops were put in motion, skirmishers thrown out,
and all preparations for battle made, but to the surprise and
relief of all, the "bird had flown," and instead of battle lines
and bristling steel fronts we found nothing but deserted camps and
evidences of a hasty flight. In a few days we were removed further
back towards Richmond and sought camp on higher ground, to better
guard against the ravages of disease and to be further removed from
the enemy. The troops now had the pleasure of a month's rest, our only
duties being guard and advance picket every ten or twelve days.
While McClellan had been pushing his army up on the Peninsula the
Federals were actively engaged in organizing a second army in the
vicinity of Manassas and Fredericksburg under General John Pope, to
operate against Richmond by the flank. General Pope from his infamous
orders greatly incensed the people of the South, and from his vain
boasting gained for himself the sobriquet of "Pope the Braggart." He
ordered every citizen within his lines or living near them to either
take the oath of allegiance to the United States or to be driven
out of the country as an enemy of the Union. No one was to have any
communication with his friends within the Confederate lines, either
by letter or otherwise, on the penalty of being shot as a spy and his
property confiscated. Hundreds of homes were broken up by the order.
Men and women were driven South, or placed in Federal prisons, there
to linger for years, perhaps, with their homes abandoned to the
malicious desecration of a merciless enemy, all for no other charges
than their refusal to be a traitor to their principles and an enemy
to their country. Pope boasted of "seeing nothing of the enemy but
his back," and that "he had no headquarters but in the saddle." He was
continually sending dispatches to his chief, General Halleck, who had
been appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the Federal forces in the
field, of the "victories gained over Lee," his "bloody repulses of
Jackson," and "successful advances," and "the Confederates on the
run," etc., etc., while the very opposites were the facts. On one
occasion he telegraphed to Washington that he had defeated Lee, that
the Confederate leader was in full retreat to Richmond, when, as a
fact, before the dispatch had reached its destination his own army
was overwhelmed, and with Pope at its head, flying the field in every
direction, seeking safety under the guns at Washington. It is little
wonder he bore the name he had so deservedly won by his manifestoes,
"Pope the Braggart."
About the middle of July Jackson, with Ewell and A.P. Hill, was sent
up to the Rapidan to look after Pope and his wonderful army, which had
begun to be re-enforced by troops from the James. On the 9th of August
Jackson came up with a part of Pope's army at Cedar Mountain, and a
fierce battle was fought, very favorable to the Confederate side.
A month after Jackson had left Richmond, Longstreet, with three
divisions, headed by Lee in person, was ordered to re-enforce Jackson,
and began the offensive. While the Federal commander was lying
securely in his camp, between the Rappahannock and the Rapidan,
unconscious of the near approach of the Confederate Army, his scouts
intercepted an order written by General Lee to his cavalry leader,
giving details of his intended advance and attack. Pope, being thus
apprised, hurriedly recrossed the Rappahannock and concentrated his
forces behind that stream. Lee followed his movements closely, and
while watching in front, with a portion of his army, he started
Jackson on his famous march around the enemy's rear. Pulling up at
night, Jackson marched to the left, crossed the Rappahannock on
the 25th, and by the night of the 26th he had reached the railroad
immediately in Pope's rear, capturing trains of cars, prisoners, etc.
On learning that large quantities of provisions and munitions of war
were stored at Manassas Junction, feebly guarded, General Trimble,
with a small number of brave Alabamians, Georgians, and North
Carolinians, not five hundred all told, volunteered to march still
further to that point, a distance of some miles, notwithstanding they
had marched with Jackson thirty miles during the day, and capture the
place. This was done in good time, defeating a brigade doing guard
duty, and capturing a large number of prisoners, one entire battery of
artillery, and untold quantities of provisions. Jackson now appeared
to retreat, but only withdrew in order to give Longstreet time to
come up, which he was doing hard upon Jackson's track, but more than
twenty-four hours behind. This was one of the most hazardous feats
accomplished by Lee during the war, with the possible exception of
Chancellorsville, "dividing his army in the face of superior numbers,"
a movement denounced by all successful Generals and scientists of
war. But Lee attempted this on more occasions than one, and always
successfully.
Jackson concealed his forces among the hills of Bull Run, giving time
for Longstreet, who was fighting his way through Thoroughfare Gap
at the very point of the bayonet, to come up, while Pope was racing
around the plains of Manassas, trying to intercept Jackson's imaginary
retreat. It seems as if the one single idea impressed itself upon the
Federal commander, and that was that Jackson was trying to get away
from him. But before many days Pope found the wily "Stonewall," and
when in his embrace endeavoring to hold him, Pope found himself in the
predicament of the man who had essayed to wrestle with a bear. When
the man had downed his antagonist he had to call lustily for friends.
So Pope had to call for help to turn Jackson loose--to pull him loose.
On the 29th the forces of Pope, the "Braggart," came upon those of
Jackson hidden behind a railroad embankment on the plains of Manassas,
and a stubborn battle ensued, which lasted until late at night.
Longstreet came upon the field, but took no further part in the battle
than a heavy demonstration on the right to relieve the pressure from
Jackson. Longstreet's left, however, turned the tide of battle. Lee
turned some prisoners loose at night that had been captured during the
day, leaving the impression on their minds that he was beating a hasty
retreat. Reporting to their chief that night, the prisoners confirmed
the opinion that Pope was fooled in believing all day, that "Lee was
in full retreat," trying to avoid a battle. Pope sent flaming messages
to that effect to the authorities at Washington, and so anxious was
he lest his prey should escape, he gave orders for his troops to be
in motion early in the morning. On the 30th was fought the decisive
battle of Second Manassas, and the plains above Bull Run were
again the scene of a glorious Confederate victory, by Lee almost
annihilating the army of John Pope, "the Braggart." Had it not been
for the steady discipline, extraordinary coolness, and soldierly
behavior of Sykes and his regulars at Stone Bridge, the rout of
the Federal Army at Second Manassas would have been but little less
complete than on the fatal day just a little more than one year
before.
At Ox Hill, 1st September, Pope had to adopt the tactics of McClellan
at Malvern Hill, face about and fight for the safety of his great
ordnance and supply trains, and to allow his army a safe passage
over the Potomac. At Ox Hill, the enemy under Stephens and Kearny,
displayed extraordinary tenacity and courage, these two division
commanders throwing their columns headlong upon those of Jackson
without a thought of the danger and risks such rash acts incurred.
Both were killed in the battle. Phil. Kearney had gained a national
reputation for his enterprising warfare in California and Mexico
during the troublesome times of the Mexican War, and it was with
unfeigned sorrow and regret the two armies heard of the sad death of
this veteran hero.
During the time that all these stirring events were taking place and
just before Magruder, with McLaw's and Walker's divisions, was either
quietly lying in front of Richmond watching the army of McClellan
dwindle away, leaving by transports down the James and up the Potomac,
or was marching at a killing gait to overtake their comrades under Lee
to share with them their trials, their battles and their victories in
Maryland. Lee could not leave the Capital with all his force so long
as there was a semblance of an army threatening it.
As soon as it was discovered that Manassas was to be the real battle
ground of the campaign, and Washington instead of Richmond the
objective point, Lee lost no time in concentrating his army north of
the Rappahannock. About the middle of August McLaws, with Kershaw's,
Semmes's, Cobb's, and Barksdale's Brigades, with two brigades
under Walker and the Hampton Legion Cavalry, turned their footsteps
Northward, and bent all their energies to reach the scene of action
before the culminating events above mentioned.
At Orange C.H., on the 26th, we hastened our march, as news began to
reach us of Jackson's extraordinary movements and the excitement in
the Federal Army, occasioned by their ludicrous hunt for the "lost
Confederate." Jackson's name had reached its meridian in the minds
of the troops, and they were ever expecting to hear of some new
achievement or brilliant victory by this strange, silent, and
mysterious man. The very mystery of his movements, his unexplainable
absence and sudden reappearance at unexpected points, his audacity
in the face of the enemy, his seeming recklessness, gave unbounded
confidence to the army. The men began to feel safe at the very idea of
his disappearance and absence. While the thunder of his guns and
those of Longstreet's were sounding along the valleys of Bull Run, and
reverberating down to the Potomac or up to Washington, McLaws with his
South Carolinians, Georgians, and Mississippians was swinging along
with an elastic step between Orange C.H. and Manassas.
McClellan himself had already reached Alexandria with the last of
his troops, but by the acts of the ubiquitous Jackson his lines of
communication were cut and the Federal commander had to grope his way
in the dark for fear of running foul of his erratic enemy.
When we began nearing Manassas, we learned of the awful effect of the
two preceding days' battle by meeting the wounded. They came singly
and in groups, men marching with arms in slings, heads bandaged, or
hopping along on improvised crutches, while the wagons and ambulances
were laden with the severely wounded. In that barren country no
hospital could be established, for it was as destitute of sustenance
as the arid plains of the Arabian Desert when the great Napoleon
undertook to cross it with his beaten army. All, with the exception of
water; we had plenty of that. Passing over a part of the battlefield
about the 5th of September, the harrowing sights that were met with
were in places too sickening to admit of description. The enemy's
dead, in many places, had been left unburied, it being a veritable
instance of "leaving the dead to bury the dead." Horses in a rapid
state of decomposition literally covered the field. The air was so
impregnated with the foul stench arising from the plains where the
battle had raged fiercest, that the troops were forced to close their
nostrils while passing. Here and there lay a dead enemy overlooked in
the night of the general burial, stripped of his outer clothing,
his blackened features and glassy eyes staring upturned to the hot
September sun, while our soldiers hurried past, leaving them unburied
and unnoticed. Some lay in the beaten track of our wagon trains, and
had been run over ruthlessly by the teamsters, they not having
the time, if the inclination, to remove them. The hot sun made
decomposition rapid, and the dead that had fallen on the steep incline
their heads had left the body and rolled several paces away. All the
dead had become as black as Africans, the hot rays of the sun changing
the features quite prematurely. In the opening where the Washington
Battalion of Artillery from New Orleans had played such havoc on the
30th with the enemy's retreating columns, it resembled some great
railroad wreck--cannon and broken caissons piled in great heaps;
horses lying swollen and stiff, some harnessed, others not; broken
rammers, smashed wheels, dismounted pieces told of the desperate
struggle that had taken place. One of the strange features of a
battlefield is the absence of the carrion crow or buzzard--it matters
little as to the number of dead soldiers or horses, no vultures ever
venture near--it being a fact that a buzzard was never seen in that
part of Virginia during the war.
All was still, save the rumble of the wagon trains and the steady
tread of the soldiers. Across Bull Run and out towards Washington
McLaws followed with hasty step the track of Longstreet and Jackson.
On the 5th or 6th we rejoined at last, after a two months' separation
from the other portion of the army. Lee was now preparing to invade
Maryland and other States North, as the course of events dictated.
Pope's Army had joined that of McClellan, and the authorities at
Washington had to call on the latter to "save their Capital." When the
troops began the crossing of the now classic Potomac, a name on every
tongue since the commencement of hostilities, their enthusiasm knew
no bounds. Bands played "Maryland, My Maryland," men sang and cheered,
hats filled the air, flags waved, and shouts from fifty thousand
throats reverberated up and down the banks of the river, to be echoed
back from the mountains and die away among the hills and highlands
of Maryland. Men stopped midway in the stream and sang loudly the
cheering strains of Randall's, "Maryland, My Maryland." We were
overjoyed at rejoining the army, and the troops of Jackson,
Longstreet, and the two Hills were proud to feel the elbow touch of
such chivalrous spirits as McLaws, Kershaw, Hampton, and others in the
conflicts that were soon to take place. Never before had an occurrence
so excited and enlivened the spirits of the troops as the crossing
of the Potomac into the land of our sister, Maryland. It is said the
Crusaders, after months of toil, marching, and fighting, on their
way through the plains of Asia Minor, wept when they saw the towering
spires of Jerusalem, the Holy City, in the distance; and if ever Lee's
troops could have wept for joy, it was at the crossing of the Potomac.
But we paid dearly for this pleasure in the death of so many thousands
of brave men and the loss of so many valuable officers. General Winder
fell at Cedar Mountain, and Jackson's right hand, the brave Ewell,
lost his leg at Manassas.
The army went into camp around Frederick City, Md. From here, on the
8th, Lee issued his celebrated address to the people of Maryland, and
to those of the North generally, telling them of his entry into their
country, its cause and purpose; that it was not as a conqueror, or an
enemy, but to demand and enforce a peace between the two countries.
He clothed his language in the most conservative and entreating terms,
professing friendship for those who would assist him, and protection
to life and the property of all. He enjoined the people, without
regard to past differences, to flock to his standard and aid in the
defeat of the party and people who were now drenching the country in
blood and putting in mourning the people of two nations. The young men
he asked to join his ranks as soldiers of a just and honorable cause.
Of the old he asked their sympathies and prayers. To the President of
the Confederate States he also wrote a letter, proposing to him
that he should head his armies, and, as the chieftain of the nation,
propose a peace to the authorities at Washington from the very
threshold of their Capital. But both failed of the desired effect. The
people of the South had been led to believe that Maryland was anxious
to cast her destinies with those of her sister States, that all her
sympathies were with the people of the South, and that her young men
were anxious and only awaiting the opportunity to join the ranks as
soldiers under Lee. But these ideas and promises were all delusions,
for the people we saw along the route remained passive spectators and
disinterested witnesses to the great evolutions now taking place. What
the people felt on the "eastern shore" is not known; but the acts of
those between the Potomac and Pennsylvania above Washington indicated
but little sympathy with the Southern cause; and what enlistments were
made lacked the proportions needed to swell Lee's army to its desired
limits. Lee promised protection and he gave it. The soldiers to a man
seemed to feel the importance of obeying the orders to respect and
protect the person and property of those with whom we came in contact.
It was said of this, as well as other campaigns in the North, that "it
was conducted with kid gloves on."
While lying at Frederick City, Lee conceived the bold and perilous
project of again dividing his army in the face of his enemy, and that
enemy McClellan. Swinging back with a part of his army, he captured
the stronghold of Harper's Ferry, with its 11,000 defenders, while
with the other he held McClellan at bay in front. The undertaking was
dangerous in the extreme, and with a leader less bold and Lieutenants
less prompt and skillful, its final consummation would have been more
than problematical. But Lee was the one to propose his subalterns to
act. Harper's Ferry, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, where that
river is intersected by the Shenandoah, both cutting their way through
the cliffs and crags of the Blue Ridge, was the seat of the United
States Arsenal, and had immense stores of arms and ammunition, as well
as army supplies of every description. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
and the canal cross the mountains here on the Maryland side, both
hugging the precipitous side of the mountain and at the very edge of
the water. The approaches to the place were few, and they so defended
that capture seemed impossible, unless the heights surrounding could
be obtained, and this appeared impossible from a military point of
view. On the south side are the Loudon and Bolivar Heights. On the
other side the mountains divide into two distinct ranges and gradually
bear away from each other until they reach a distance of three miles
from crest to crest. Between the two mountains is the beautiful and
picturesque Pleasant Valley. The eastern ridge, called South Mountain,
commencing from the rugged cliff at Rivertoria, a little hamlet
nestled down between the mountains and the Potomac, runs northwards,
while the western ridge, called Elk Mountain, starts from the bluff
called Maryland Heights, overlooking the town of Harper's Ferry, and
runs nearly parallel to the other. Jackson passed on up the river with
his division, Ewell's, and A.P. Hill's, recrossed the Potomac into
Virginia, captured Martinsburg, where a number of prisoners and
great supplies were taken, and came up and took possession of Bolivar
Heights, above Harper's Ferry. Walker's Division marched back across
the Potomac and took possession of Loudon Heights, a neck of high land
between the Shenandoah and Potomac overlooking Harper's Ferry from
below, the Shenandoah being between his army and the latter place.
On the 11th McLaws moved out of Frederick City, strengthened by the
brigades of Wilcox, Featherstone, and Pryor, making seven brigades
that were to undertake the capture of the stronghold by the mountain
passes and ridges on the north. Kershaw, it will be seen, was given
the most difficult position of passage and more formidable to attack
than any of the other routes of approach. Some time after Jackson and
Walker had left on their long march, McLaws followed. Longstreet and
other portions of the army and wagon trains kept the straight road
towards Hagerstown, while Kershaw and the rest of the troops under
McLaws took the road leading southwest, on through the town of
Burkettville, and camped at the foothills of the mountain, on the east
side. Next morning Kershaw, commanding his own brigade and that of
Barksdale, took the lead, passed over South Mountain, through Pleasant
Valley, and to Elk Ridge, three miles distance, thence along the top
of Elk Ridge by a dull cattle path. The width of the crest was not
more than fifty yards in places, and along this Kershaw had to move in
line of battle, Barksdale's Brigade in reserve. Wright's Brigade moved
along a similar path on the crest of South Mountain, he taking with
him two mountain howitzers, drawn by one horse each. McLaws, as
Commander-in-Chief, with some of the other brigades, marched by the
road at the base of the mountain below Wright, while Cobb was to keep
abreast of Kershaw and Barksdale at the base of Elk Ridge. Over
such obstacles as were encountered and the difficulties and dangers
separating the different troops, a line of battle never before made
headway as did those of Kershaw and the troops under McLaws.
We met the enemy's skirmishers soon after turning to the left on Elk
Ridge, and all along the whole distance of five miles we were more
or less harassed by them. During the march of the 12th the men had to
pull themselves up precipitous inclines by the twigs and undergrowth
that lined the mountain side, or hold themselves in position by the
trees in front. At night we bivouaced on the mountain. We could see
the fires all along the mountain side and gorges through Pleasant
Valley and up on South Mountain, where the troops of Wright had camped
opposite. Early next morning as we advanced we again met the enemy's
skirmishers, and had to be continually driving them back. Away to the
south and beyond the Potomac we could hear the sound of Jackson's guns
as he was beating his way up to meet us. By noon we encountered the
enemy's breastworks, built of great stones and logs, in front of which
was an abattis of felled timber and brushwood. The Third, under Nance,
and the Seventh, under Aiken, were ordered to the charge on the right.
Having no artillery up, it was with great difficulty we approached
the fortifications. Men had to cling to bushes while they loaded and
fired. But with their usual gallantry they came down to their work.
Through the tangled undergrowth, through the abattis, and over the
breastworks they leaped with a yell. The fighting was short but
very severe. The Third did not lose any field officers, but the line
suffered considerably. The Third lost some of her most promising
officers. Of the Seventh, Captain Litchfield, of Company L, Captain
Wm. Clark, of Company G, and lieutenant J.L. Talbert fell dead, and
many others wounded.
The Second and Eighth had climbed the mountains, and advanced on
Harper's Ferry from the east. The Second was commanded by Colonel
Kennedy and the Eighth by Colonel Henagan. The enemy was posted
behind works, constructed the same as those assaulted by the Third and
Seventh, of cliffs of rocks, trunks of trees, covered by an abattis.
The regiments advanced in splendid style, and through the tangled
underbrush and over boulders they rushed for the enemy's works.
Colonel Kennedy was wounded in the early part of the engagement, but
did not leave the field. The Second lost some gallant line officers.
When the order was given to charge the color bearer of the Eighth,
Sergeant Strother, of Chesterfield, a tall, handsome man of six
feet three in height, carrying the beautiful banner presented to the
regiment by the ladies of Pee Dee, fell dead within thirty yards of
the enemy's works. All the color guard were either killed or wounded.
Captain A.T. Harllee, commanding one of the color companies, seeing
the flag fall, seized it and waving it aloft, called to the men to
forward and take the breastworks. He, too, fell desperately wounded,
shot through both thighs with a minnie ball. He then called to Colonel
Henagan, he being near at hand, to take the colors. Snatching them
from under Captain Harllee, Colonel Henagan shouted to the men to
follow him, but had not gone far before he fell dangerously wounded.
Some of the men lifted up their fallen Colonel and started to the
rear; but just at this moment his regiment began to waver and break to
the rear. The gallant Colonel seeing this ordered his men to put him
down, and commanded in a loud, clear voice, "About face! Charge and
take the works," which order was obeyed with promptness, and soon
the flags of Kershaw's Regiments waved in triumph over the enemy's
deserted works.
Walker had occupied Loudon Heights, on the Virginia side, and all
were waiting now for Jackson to finish the work assigned to him and to
occupy Bolivar Heights, thus finishing the cordon around the luckless
garrison. The enemy's cavalry under the cover of the darkness crossed
the river, hugged its banks close, and escaped. During the night a
road was cut to the top of Maryland Heights by our engineer corps and
several pieces of small cannon drawn up, mostly by hand, and placed in
such position as to sweep the garrison below. Some of Jackson's
troops early in the night began climbing around the steep cliffs
that overlook the Shenandoah, and by daylight took possession of
the heights opposite to those occupied by Walker's Division. But
all during the day, while we were awaiting the signal of Jackson's
approach, we heard continually the deep, dull sound of cannonading
in our rear. Peal after peal from heavy guns that fairly shook the
mountain side told too plainly a desperate struggle was going on in
the passes that protected our rear. General McLaws, taking Cobb's
Georgia Brigade and some cavalry, hurried back over the rugged
by-paths that had been just traversed, to find D.H. Hill and
Longstreet in a hand-to-hand combat, defending the routes on South
Mountain that led down on us by the mountain crests. The next day
orders for storming the works by the troops beyond the river were
given. McLaws and Walker had secured their position, and now were in
readiness to assist Jackson. All the batteries were opened on Bolivar
Heights, and from the three sides the artillery duel raged furiously
for a time, while Jackson's infantry was pushed to the front and
captured the works there. Soon thereafter the white flag was waving
over Harper's Ferry, "the citadel had fallen." In the capitulation
eleven thousand prisoners, seventy-two pieces of artillery, twelve
thousand stands of small arms, horses, wagons, munitions, and supplies
in abundance passed into the hands of the Confederates. Jackson's
troops fairly swam in the delicacies, provisions, and "drinkables"
constituting a part of the spoils taken, while Kershaw's and all of
McLaw's and Walker's troops, who had done the hardest of the fighting,
got none. Our men complained bitterly of this seeming injustice.
It took all day to finish the capitulation, paroling prisoners, and
dividing out the supplies; but we had but little time to rest, for
Lee's Army was now in a critical condition. McClellan, having by
accident captured Lee's orders specifying the routes to be taken by
all the troops after the fall of Harper's Ferry, knew exactly where
and when to strike. The Southern Army was at this time woefully
divided, a part being between the Potomac and the Shenandoah, Jackson
with three divisions across the Potomac in Virginia, McLaws with his
own and a part of Anderson's Division on the heights of Maryland, with
the enemy five miles in his rear at Crompton Pass cutting him off from
retreat in that direction. Lee, with the rest of his army and reserve
trains, was near Hagerstown.
On the 16th we descended the mountain, crossed the Potomac, fell in
the rear of Jackson's moving army, and marched up the Potomac some
distance, recrossed into Maryland, on our hunt for Lee and his army.
The sun poured down its blistering rays with intense fierceness upon
the already fatigued and fagged soldiers, while the dust along the
pikes, that wound over and around the numerous hills, was almost
stifling. We bivouaced for the night on the roadside, ten miles from
Antietam Creek, where Lee was at the time concentrating his army, and
where on the next day was to be fought the most stubbornly contested
and bloody battle of modern times, if we take in consideration the
number of troops engaged, its duration, and its casualties. After
three days of incessant marching and fighting over mountain heights,
rugged gorges, wading rivers--all on the shortest of rations, many
of the men were content to fall upon the bare ground and snatch a few
moments of rest without the time and trouble of a supper.
* * * * *