Brock's Cross Road and Spottsylvania to North Anna.
Having been wounded in the last assault, I insert here Adjutant Y.J.
Pope's description of the operations of Kershaw's Brigade from the
Wilderness to North Anna River, covering a period of perhaps two weeks
of incessant fighting. The corps had been put under the command of
Major General R.H. Anderson, known throughout the army as "Fighting
Dick Anderson." His division had been assigned to Longstreet's Corps
in the place of Pickett's, now on detached service. Colonel Henagan,
of the Eighth, commanded the brigade as senior Colonel.
* * * * *
NORTH ANNA FIVER, VIRGINIA.
How many times, as soldiers, have we crossed this stream, and little
did we imagine in crossing that on its banks we would be called upon
to meet the enemy. "Man proposes, but God disposes." In may,
1864, after the battles of the Wilderness, Brock's Road, and
Spottsylvania--stop a minute and think of these battles--don't you
recall how, on that midnight of the 5th day of May, 1864, the order
came, "Form your regiments," and then the order came to march? Through
the woods we went. The stars shown so brightly. The hooting of the
owls was our only music. The young Colonel at the head of his regiment
would sing, in his quiet way, snatches of the hymns he had heard the
village choir sing so often and so sweetly, and then "Hear me Norma."
His mind was clear; he had made up his determination to face the day
of battle, with a calm confidence in the power of the God he trusted
and in the wisdom of His decrees. The Adjutant rode silently by his
side. At length daylight appears. We have at last struck in our march
the plank road. The sun begins to rise, when all of a sudden we hear
the roll of musketry. The armies are at work. General Lee has ridden
up the plank road with his First Lieutenant, the tried, brave old
soldier, Longstreet.
Nance has fallen, pierced by five balls, but we knew it not. Every
hand is full. Presently, our four companies came up, so gallantly they
looked as they came. Promptly filling up the broken line, we now move
forward once more, never to fall back. We have Nance's body. The wild
flowers around about him look so beautiful and sweet, and some of them
are plucked by his friend to send to his sister, Mrs. Baxter.
But go back to the fight. It rages wildly all around. Presently,
a crash comes from the right. It is Longstreet at the head of the
flanking column, and then Hancock is swept from the field in front.
Joy is upon us. Hastily Longstreet rides to the front. Then a volley
and he falls, not dead, but so shattered that it will be months before
we see him again. Then comes the peerless chieftain, Lee, and he
orders the pursuing columns to halt. A line of hastily constructed
fieldworks arise. A shout--such a shout rolls from right to left
of Lee's lines. It has a meaning, and that meaning is that Grant's
advance is baffled! But the Federal commander is not to be shut off.
If he cannot advance one way, he will another. Hence, the parallel
lines are started--the farther he stretches to our right, we must
stretch also.
So now comes the affair at Brock's Road, on the 8th of May. 1864. As
before remarked, Grant commenced his attempt at a flank movement, by
means of an extension of his columns parallel to ours, hoping to meet
some opening through which he might pour a torrent of armed men. Early
in the morning of the 8th of May, 1864, we are aroused and begin our
march. Soon we see an old Virginia gentleman, bareheaded and without
his shoes, riding in haste towards us. He reports that our cavalry are
holding the enemy back on Brock's Road, but that the Federal infantry
are seen to be forming for the attack, and, of course, our cavalry
cannot stand such a pressure. General Kershaw orders us forward
in double-quick. Still we are not then. Then it was that a gallant
cavalryman rushes to us and said, "Run for our rail piles; the Federal
infantry will reach them first, if you don't run." Our men sprang
forward as if by magic. We occupy the rail piles in time to see a
column, a gallant column, moving towards us, about sixty yards away.
Fire, deadening fire, is poured into that column by our men. A gallant
Federal officer rides just in rear, directing the movement. "Pick that
officer off of his horse," is the command given to two or three of our
cool marksmen. He falls. The column staggers and then falls back. Once
more they come to time. We are better prepared for them.
Right here let me state a funny occurrence. Sim Price observed old
man John Duckett, in the excitement, shooting his rifle high over the
heads of the Yankees. This was too much for Sim Price, and he said,
"Good God, John Duckett, are you shooting at the moon?"
Here is the gallant J.E.B. Stuart, Lieutenant General, commanding the
cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, with hat off, waiving it in
an enthusiastic cheering of the gallant men of the old Third. Well he
may, for the line they held on that day was that adopted by General
Lee for the famous Spottsylvania battle.
Just prior to the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, which was
fought on the 12th of May, 1864, sharpshooters were posted in trees in
the woods, and kept up a pretty constant fusilade when any head showed
itself. It is recalled that when Major R.P. Todd returned to our
command an officer, eager to hear from his home in South Carolina,
entered a little fly-tent with Todd, and presently one of these
sharpshooters put a ball through this tent, between the heads of the
two. Maybe they didn't move quickly. Here it was, that lest a night
attack might be made, one-third of the men were kept in the trenches
all the time, day and night. One of these nights, possibly the 11th of
May, a staff officer stole quietly where the Colonel and Adjutant were
lying and whispered, "It is thought that the enemy have gotten betwixt
our out posts and the breastworks and intend to make a night attack.
So awaken the soldiers and put every man in the trenches." The Colonel
went to one end of the line and the Adjutant to the other, and soon
had our trenches manned. The Colonel was observed full of laughter,
and when questioned, stated that on going to the left wing of the
regiment to awaken the men, he came across a soldier with some small
branches kindled into a blaze, making himself a cup of coffee. He
spoke to the soldier, saying:
"Who is that?"
The soldier replied, not recognizing the Colonel's voice: "Who in the
h----l are you?"
The Colonel said: "Don't you know the Yankees are between the pickets
and the breastworks, and will soon attack our whole line?"
He reported the man at these words, saying: "The Jesus Christ,
Colonel!" rolling as he spoke, and he never stopped rolling until he
fell into the pit at the works. Never was a revolution in sentiment
and action more quickly wrought than on this occasion with this
soldier.
It is needless to speak of the battle of Spottsylvania Court House,
except to remark that here our comrades of McGowan's Brigade showed
of what stuff they were made, and by their gallantry and stubborn
fighting, saved the day for General Lee.
Soon after this battle General Grant, though baffled by its result,
renewed his effort to reach Richmond. By a rapid march, General Lee
was before Grant's columns at the North Anna River. Here we hoped the
enemy would attack us. On the South side of this river, on the road
leading to Hanover Junction, good heavy works had been completed,
while a fort of inferior proportions on the North side was intended to
protect the bridge across the river from raiding parties of the enemy.
To our surprise, when the part of our army that was designed to cross
the river at this point, had crossed over, the Third Regiment, James'
Battalion, and the Seventh Regiment were left behind about this fort.
We had no idea that anything serious was intended; but after awhile
it leaked out that General Lee needed some time to complete a line of
works from one point of the river to another on the same stream, on
the South side, and that it was intended that the bare handful of men
with us were intended to hold the approach to the bridge in face of
the tens of thousands of Grant's Army in our front. Trying to realize
the task assigned us, positions were assigned the different forces
with us. It was seen that the Seventh Regiment, when stretched to the
left of the fort, could not occupy, even by a thin line, the territory
near them. We were promised the co-operation of artillery just on the
other side of the river. Presently the attack opened on the right
and center, but this attack we repulsed. Again the same points were
assailed, with a like result. Then the attack was made on our left,
and although the Seventh Regiment did its whole duty, gradually our
left was seen to give way. This emboldened the enemy to press our
right and center again, but they were firm. It was manifest now that
the enemy would soon be in our rear, and as the sun was sinking to
rest in the West, we made a bold dash to cross the river in our rear,
bringing down upon us the enemy's artillery fire of shot and shell,
as well as musketry. It looked hard to tell which way across the river
was best--whether by way of the bridge, or to wade across. It was said
our Lieutenant Colonel, who was on foot when reaching the opposite
bank, and finding his boots full of water, said to a soldier: "Tom,
give me your hand." "No, no, Major," was the reply; "this is no time
for giving hands." The ascent of the long bill on the South side
was made under the heavy fire of the enemy. When at its height, a
stuttering soldier proposed to a comrade to lay down and let him get
behind him. Of course the proposition was declined without thanks.
When we reformed at the top of the hill, there was quite a fund of
jokes told. Amongst others, the one last stated, Tom Paysinger said:
"Nels., if I had been there, I would have killed myself laughing."
Whereupon, the stutterer said: "T-T-Tom Paysinger, I saw a heap of men
down there, but not one that laughed."
War has its humorous as well as its serious side, and many a joke was
cracked in battle, or if not mentioned then, the joke was told soon
afterwards. It is recalled just here that in this battle an officer,
who had escaped being wounded up to that time, was painfully wounded.
When being borne on the way to the rear on a stretcher, he was heard
to exclaim: "Oh! that I had been a good man. Oh! that I had listened
to my mother." When he returned to the army, many a laugh was had at
his expense when these expressions would be reported. But the officer
got even with one of his tormentors, who was one of the bearers of the
litter upon which the officer was borne away, for while this young man
was at his best in imitating the words and tone of the wounded man,
he was suddenly arrested by the words: "Yes, I remember when a shell
burst pretty close you forgot me, and dropped your end of the litter."
The laugh was turned. All this, however, was in perfect good humor.
It has been shown how Kershaw's South Carolina Brigade closed the
breach in Lee's Army on the 6th of May, and turned disaster into a
glorious victory, and as the 12th of May, at "Bloody Angle," near
Spottsylvania Court house, will go down in history as one among the
most memorable battles of all time, I wish to show how another gallant
South Carolina Brigade (McGowan's) withstood the shock of the greater
portion of Grant's Army, and saved Lee's Army from disaster during
the greater part of one day. This account is also taken from
Captain Caldwell's "History of McGowan's Brigade." Being an active
participant, he is well qualified to give a truthful version, and I
give in his own language his graphic description of the battle of the
"Bloody Angle."
* * * * *
HISTORY OF MCGOWAN'S BRIGADE.
Reaching the summit of an open hill, where stood a little old house,
and its surrounding naked orchard, we were fronted and ordered forward
on the left of the road.... Now we entered the battle. There were two
lines of works before us; the first or inner line, from a hundred and
fifty to two hundred yards in front of us; the second or outer line,
perhaps a hundred yards beyond it, and parallel to it. There were
troops in the outer line, but in the inner one only what appeared to
be masses without organization. The enemy were firing in front of the
extreme right of the brigade, and their balls came obliquely down our
line; but we could not discover, on account of the woods about the
point of firing, under what circumstances the battle was held. There
was a good deal of doubt as to how far we were to go, or in what
direction.... The truth is, the road by which we had come was not
at all straight, which made the right of the line front much farther
north than the rest, and the fire was too hot for us to wait for
the long loose column to close up, so as to make an entirely orderly
advance. More than this, there was a death struggle ahead, which must
be met instantly. We advanced at a double-quick, cheering loudly, and
entered the inner works. Whether by order or tacit understanding, we
halted here, except the Twelfth Regiment, which was the right of the
brigade. That moved at once to the outer line, and threw itself with
its wanted impetuosity into the heart of the battle.... The brigade
advanced upon the works. About the time we reached the inner lines,
General McGowan was wounded by a minnie ball in the arm, and forced
to quit the field. Colonel Brockman, senior Colonel present, was
also wounded, and Colonel Brown, of the Fourteenth Regiment, assumed
command then or a little later. The four regiments, the First,
Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Rifles (the Twelfth had passed on to the
outer line), closed up and arranged their lines. Soon the order was
given to advance to the outer line. We did so with a cheer and a
double-quick, plunging through mud knee deep and getting in as best we
could. Here, however, lay Harris' Mississippi Brigade. We were ordered
to close to the right. We moved by the flank, up the works, under the
fatally accurate firing of the enemy, and ranged ourselves along
the entrenchments. The sight we encountered was not calculated to
encourage us The trenches dug on the inner side were almost filled
with water. Dead men lay on the surface of the ground and in the pools
of water. The wounded bled, stretched, and groaned, or huddled in
every attitude of pain. The water was crimson with blood. Abandoned
knapsacks, guns, and accoutrements, with ammunition boxes, were
scattered all around. In the rear disabled caissons stood and limbers
of guns. The rain poured heavily, and an incessant fire was kept upon
us from front and flank. The enemy still held the works on the right
of the angle, and fired across the traverses. Nor were these foes
easily seen. They barely raised their heads above the logs at the
moment of firing. It was plainly a question of bravery and endurance
now.
We entered upon the task with all our might. Some fired at the line
lying in our front on the edge of the ridge before described; others
kept down the enemy lodged in the traverses on the right. At one or
two places Confederates and Federals were only separated by the works,
and the latter not a few times reached their guns over and fired
right down upon the heads of the former. So continued the painfully
unvarying battle for more than two hours. At the end of that time
a rumor arose that the enemy was desirous to come in and surrender.
Colonel Brown gives the following in his official report: "About two
o'clock P.M. the firing ceased along the line, and I observed the
enemy, standing up in our front, their colors flying and arms pointing
upwards. I called to them to lay down their arms and come in. An
officer answered that he was waiting our surrender--that we had raised
a white flag, whereupon he had ceased firing. I replied, 'I command
here,' and if any flag had been raised it was without authority, and
unless he came in, firing would be resumed. He begged a conference,
which was granted, and a subordinate officer advanced near the
breastwork and informed me that a white flag was flying on my right.
He was informed that unless his commander surrendered, the firing
would be continued. He started back to his lines, and failing to
exhibit his flag of truce, was shot down midway between the lines,
which was not more than twenty yards at this point. The firing again
commenced with unabating fury." ... The firing was astonishingly
accurate all along the line. No man could raise his shoulders above
the works without danger of immediate death. Some of the enemy lay
against our works in front. I saw several of them jump over and
surrender during the relaxation of the firing. An ensign of a Federal
regiment came right up to us during the "peace negotiations" and
demanded our surrender. Lieutenant Carlisle, of the Thirteenth
Regiment, replied that we would not surrender. Then the ensign
insisted, as he had come under a false impression, he should be
allowed to return to his command. Lieutenant Carlisle, pleased with
his composure, consented. But as he went away a man from another part
of the line shot him through the face, and he came and jumped over
to us. This was the place to test individual courage. Some ordinarily
good soldiers did next to nothing, while others excelled themselves.
The question became pretty plainly, whether one was willing to meet
death, not merely to run the chances of it. There was no further
cessation of fire, after the pause before described. Every now and
then a regular volley would be hurled at us from what we supposed a
fresh line of Federals, but it would gradually tone down to the slow,
particular, fatal firing of the siege. The prisoners who ran into us
now and then informed us that Grant's whole energies were directed
against this point. They represented the wood on the other side as
filled with dead, wounded fighters, and skulkers. We were told that
if we would hold the place till dark, we would be relieved. Dark came,
but no relief. The water became a deeper crimson, the corpses grew
more numerous. Every tree about us, for thirty feet from the ground,
was barked by balls. Just before night a tree six or eight inches in
diameter, just behind the works, was cut down by the bullets of the
enemy. We noticed at the same time a large oak hacked and torn in such
a manner never before seen. Some predicted its fall before morning,
but the most of us considered that out of the question. But about
10 o'clock it did fall forward on our works, wounding some men and
startling a great many more. An officer, who afterwards measured this
tree, informed me that it was twenty-two inches in diameter. This was
entirely the work of rifle balls. Midnight came, still no relief; no
cessation of the firing. Numbers of the troops sank, overpowered, into
the muddy trenches and slept soundly. The rain continued. Just before
daylight we were ordered, in a whisper, which was passed along the
line, to slowly and noiselessly retire from the works.... Day dawned,
and the evacuation was complete.
Thus ended one of the most stubbornly contested battles of the war,
if not of the century. The whole army, from one end to the other, sung
the praises of the gallant South Carolinians, who, by their deeds of
valor, made immortal the "Bloody Angle."
* * * * *