From North Anna to Cold Harbor--Joined by the Twentieth South
Carolina.
It was while entrenched south of North Anna that our troops heard of
the death of our great cavalry leader, General J.E.B. Stuart, who fell
mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, on May the 18th. If the death of
Jackson was a blow to the army and the South, the death of Stuart was
equally so. He was the Murat of the Southern Army, equally admired and
beloved by the infantry as the cavalry. The body of the army always
felt safe when the bugle of Stuart could be heard on the flank or
front, and universal sadness was thrown around the Army of Northern
Virginia, as well as the whole South, by his death. It was conceded
by the North, as well as the South, that Stuart was the finest type
of cavalry leader in either army, Longstreet badly wounded, Stuart
and Jenkins dead, certainly gave the prospects of the campaign just
opening anything but an assuring outlook.
* * * * *
TWENTIETH SOUTH CAROLINA REGIMENT.
About this time our brigade was reinforced by the Twentieth South
Carolina Regiment, one of the finest bodies of men that South Carolina
had furnished during the war. It was between one thousand and one
thousand two hundred strong, led by the "silver-tongued orator,"
Lawrence M. Keitt. It was quite an acceptable acquisition to our
brigade, since our ranks had been depleted by near one thousand since
the 6th of May. They were as healthy, well clad, and well fed body of
troops as anybody would wish to see, and much good-humored badgering
was indulged in at their expense by Kershaw's "web feet." From their
enormous strength in numbers, in comparison to our "corporal guards"
of companies, the old soldiers called them "The Twentieth Army Corps."
I here give a short sketch of the regiment prior to its connection
with the brigade.
The Twentieth Regiment was organized under the call for twelve
thousand additional troops from South Carolina, in 1862, along with
the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth, Holcomb Legion, and other
regiments. The companies composing the Twentieth assembled at the race
course, in Charleston, S.C., in the fall of 1862. The companies had
already organized in the respective counties, and elected officers,
and after assembling in Charleston and organizing the regiment,
elected the following field officers:
Colonel----L.M. Keitt.
Lieutenant Colonel----O.M. Dansler.
Major----S.M. Boykin.
Adjutant----John Wilson.
Quartermaster----John P. Kinard.
Commissary----Brock.
Surgeon----Dr. Salley.
Assistant Surgeon----Dr. Barton.
Chaplain----Rev. W.W. Duncan.
Company A, Anderson and Pickens----Captain Partlow.
Company B, Orangeburg----Captain McMichael.
Company C, Lexington----Captain Leaphart.
Company D, Orangeburg----Captain Danley.
Company E, Laurens----Captain Cowen.
Company F, Newberry----Captain Kinard.
Company G, Sumter----Captain Moseley.
Company H, Orangeburg and Lexington----Captain Ruff.
Company I, Orangeburg and Lexington----Captain Gunter.
Company K, Lexington----Captain Harmon.
Captain Jno. P. Kinard, of Company F, was made Quartermaster, and
First Lieutenant Jno. M. Kinard was promoted to Captain.
A singularity of one of the companies, I, was that it had twenty-eight
members by the name of Gunter. The Captain and all three Lieutenants
and seven non-commissioned officers were of the name of Gunter, and it
is needless to add that it was called the Gunter Company.
Colonel Keitt, acting as Brigadier General while in Charleston, the
entire management of the regiment was left to Lieutenant Colonel
Dansler. He was a fine officer, a good tactician, and thorough
disciplinarian. A courteous gentleman, kind and sociable to all, he
was greatly beloved by officers and men, and it was with feelings of
universal regret the regiment was forced to give him up, he having
resigned in the spring of 1864, to accept the position of Colonel of
the Twenty-Second Regiment.
The regiment remained at the race course for several months, for drill
and instruction. In February, 1863, they were moved to the west end of
James' Island, near Secessionville, for guard and picket duty. After
this, they were transferred to Sullivan's Island, and quartered in the
old Moultrie House and cottages adjacent. Four companies were ordered
to Battery Marshall, on the east side of the Island, to assist in the
management of the siege guns at that point.
On the 7th of May the Federal gunboats crossed the bar and made an
attack upon Forts Sumter, Moultrie, and the batteries on Morris'
Island. Here the regiment was subjected to a heavy cannonading
from the three hundred pounders from the Federal ironclads. Colonel
Dansler, however, moved the regiment to the east, in the sandhills,
thus avoiding the direct fire of the enemy. One of the ironclads was
sunk and others badly crippled, drawing off after dark. In December
eight companies were moved over to Mt. Pleasant and two to Kinloch's
Landing.
During the memorable siege of Morris' Island, the Twentieth did its
turn at picketing on that island, going over after dark in a steamer
and returning before day.
On the night of the 30th July, 1863, while the regiment was returning
from Morris' Island, the tide being low, the steamer Sumter, on which
the regiment was being transported, was forced to take the main ocean
channel. It was the duty of those on garrison duty at Fort Sumter
to signal Moultrie and the shore batteries of the movements of the
transport steamer. For some cause or other Sumter failed to give the
signals, and Moultrie being aware that there was a steamer in the
harbor and no signals up, opened upon the ill-fated steamer with all
her guns, thinking it one of the enemy's ironclads. This was a signal
for the shore batteries to open their guns, and in a few moments
shells came crashing through the decks and cabins of the crowded
steamer from all sides. This created a panic among the troops, and had
it not been for the self-possession and coolness of the captain of
the steamer, the loss of life would have been appalling. The captain
turned his boat and beached it as soon as possible, not, however,
before the men began leaping over the sides of the vessel in one grand
pell-mell. The dark waves of unknown death were below them, while the
shells shrieked and burst through the steamer. There was but little
choice for the panic stricken men. Fortunately the waters here were
shallow enough for the men to touch bottom and wade out, some to Fort
Johnson, some to Fort Sumter, while others remained in the shallows
until relieved by small boats from shore. The regiment lost sixteen
men, either killed or drowned.
On the 16th or 18th of May, 1864, the regiment was ordered to
Virginia, and reached Richmond about the twenty-second, and was
ordered to join Kershaw's Brigade, reaching it about the 28th of May,
near South Anna River.
After the resignation of Lieutenant Colonel Dansler, Major Boykin
was promoted to that position, and Captain Partlow made Major. By
the death of Colonel Keitt, Boykin and Partlow were raised in regular
grade, and Captain McMichael made Major. Lieutenant Colonel Partlow
was wounded at Deep Bottom soon after this, and did Hot return to duty
until near the close of the war. Colonel Boykin and Major McMichael
were both captured at Cedar Creek, and neither returned until after
peace was declared. The regiment was commanded during the remainder of
the service, with short exceptions, by Captain Leaphart.
Colonel Keitt being senior Colonel now in the brigade, was placed in
command. It was unfortunate for Colonel Keitt and his command, being
transferred to our army just at the moment it was in one of the most
active and vigorous campaigns of the war. The men were ill-prepared to
meet the requirements expected of soldiers, to undergo forced marches
in the burning heat of summer, to accustom themselves so suddenly to
the scant and badly-prepared food, night pickets in the open, in face
of the enemy, and all the hardships incident to a soldier's life in
the field. These troops had seen but little of real service, having
only done garrison duty around Charleston, quartered in barracks or
good tents, while now they had to take the field, with no advantage of
the veterans, in the way of supplies and in accommodations, and with
none of their experience and strength of endurance. They had all the
courage of the veteran troops, but lacked acclimation. Their company
discipline was well enough, and had excellent company and field
officers, but were sadly deficient in regimental and brigade drill. It
is doubtful if either their commander or any of their field officers
had ever been in brigade drill or executed a maneuver in a larger body
than a regiment. Like all new troops in the field, they had overloaded
themselves with baggage, and being thus overloaded, straggling was
universal in the regiment, until they became endured to the fatigues
and hardships of the march. Had they come out two or three months
earlier, and taken on the ways and customs of the soldier in the
field, it would have been much better. Still they deserve the
highest degree of praise for their self-denials, their endurance, and
fortitude in the march and in battle. The necessity of the occasion
caused them to learn rapidly the intricacies in the life of the
veteran, and their action in battle in a few days after their arrival,
stamped them as a gallant body of men.
On the night of the 31st of May orders came to prepare to march. Grant
had withdrawn from our front, and was still rolling along on Lee's
right. Both armies were now moving in the direction of Cold Harbor,
where McClellan, two years before, had tried to stay the flight of
his troops and to check the victorious march of Jackson, Hill, and
Longstreet. Now Grant was tempting fate by moving his beaten troops
to this ill-fated field, there to try conclusions with McClellan's old
antagonist.
The Federals were moving with rapid gait to this strategic point, but
Lee having the inner line, was first on the field. It must be borne in
mind that since the 4th of May the army had been idle scarcely a day.
From that day to the 1st of June it had been one continual battle. If
the infantry was not engaged, it was the artillery that kept hammering
away, while Stuart's Cavalry hovered around the flanks and rear of the
enemy, ready at a moment to swoop like an eagle upon his prey. We
were continually under arms, either on a forced march night and day,
checking the enemy here, baffling him there, driving back his advance
lines, or assaulting his skirmishers. At night the sound of the
enemy's drums mingled with that of our own, while the crack of the
rifles in the sharpshooters' pits was almost continuous. Early on the
morning of June 1st Kershaw's Brigade was aroused and put on the march
at a rapid pace in a southeasterly direction.
When nearing the old battlefield of Cold Harbor the men began to snuff
the scent of battle. Cartridge boxes were examined, guns unslung, and
bayonets fixed, while the ranks were being rapidly closed up. After
some delay and confusion, a line of battle was formed along an old
roadway. Colonel Keitt had never before handled such a body of troops
in the open field, and his pressing orders to find the enemy only
added perplexity to his other difficulties. Every man in ranks knew
that he was being led by one of the most gifted and gallant men in the
South, but every old soldier felt and saw at a glance his
inexperience and want of self-control. Colonel Keitt showed no want of
aggressiveness and boldness, but he was preparing for battle like in
the days of Alva or Turenne, and to cut his way through like a storm
center.
As soon as the line was formed the order of advance was given, with
never so much as a skirmish line in front. Keitt led his men like
a knight of old--mounted upon his superb iron-gray, and looked the
embodiment of the true chevalier that he was. Never before in our
experience had the brigade been led in deliberate battle by its
commander on horseback, and it was perhaps Colonel Keitt's want of
experience that induced him to take this fatal step. Across a large
old field the brigade swept towards a densely timbered piece of
oakland, studded with undergrowth, crowding and swaying in irregular
lines, the enemy's skirmishers pounding away at us as we advanced.
Colonel Keitt was a fine target for the sharpshooters, and fell before
the troops reached the timber, a martyr to the inexorable laws of the
army rank. Into the dark recesses of the woods the troops plunged,
creeping and crowding their way through the tangled mass of
undergrowth, groups seeking shelter behind the larger trees, while the
firing was going on from both sides. The enemy meeting our advance in
a solid regular column, our broken and disorganized ranks could
not cope with them. Some of the regimental officers seeing the
disadvantage at which our troops were fighting, ordered a withdrawal
to the old roadway in our rear. The dense smoke settling in the woods,
shielded our retreat and we returned to our starting point without
further molestation than the whizzing of the enemy's bullets overhead.
The lines were reformed, and Colonel Davis, of the Fifteenth, assumed
command (or perhaps Colonel Henagan).
Colonel William Wallace, of the Second, in speaking of this affair,
says:
"Our brigade, under the command of the lamented Colonel Keitt, was
sent out to reconnoitre, and came upon the enemy in large force,
strongly entrenched. Keitt was killed, and the brigade suffered
severely. A few skirmishers thrown out would have accomplished the
object of a reconnoissance, and would have saved the loss of many
brave men. Our troops finding the enemy entrenched, fell back and
began to fortify. Soon our line was established, and the usual
skirmishing and sharpshooting commenced. That same evening, being on
the extreme left of Kershaw's Division, I received orders to hasten
with the Second Regiment to General Kershaw's headquarters. I found
the General in a good deal of excitement. He informed me that our
lines had been broken on the right of his division, and directed me
to hasten there, and if I found a regiment of the enemy flanking his
position, to charge them. I hurried to the point indicated, found that
our troops to the extent of a brigade and a half had been, driven
from their works, and the enemy in possession of them. I determined
to charge, however, and succeeded in driving them from their
position, with but little loss. Our regiment numbered one hundred and
twenty-seven men. The enemy driven out consisted of the Forty-eighth
and One Hundred and Twelfth New York. We captured the colors of the
Forty-eighth, took some prisoners, and killed many while making
their escape from the trenches. We lost in this charge one of our
most efficient officers, Captain Ralph Elliott, a brother of
General Stephen Elliott. He was a brave soldier and a most estimable
gentleman."
Our lines were formed at right angles to that on which we had fought
that day, and the soldiers were ordered to fortify. The Second and
Third on the left were on an incline leading to a ravine in front of a
thicket; the Fifteenth and Twentieth, on the right of the Third, were
on the brow of a plateau; in front was the broad old field, through
which we had marched to the first advance; the Third Battalion,
Eighth, and Seventh, on extreme right, were on the plateau and fronted
by a thicket of tall pines.
As nearly all regimental commanders had been killed since the 6th of
May, I will give them as they existed on the 1st of June, three weeks
later:
Second--Major Wm. Wallace.
Third--Lieutenant Colonel W.D. Rutherford.
Seventh--Captain James Mitchel.
Eighth--Major E.S. Stackhouse.
Twentieth--Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Boykin.
Third Battalion--Captain Whitener.
Brigade Commander--Colonel James Henagan.
Grant stretched his lines across our front and began approaching
our works with his formidable parallels. He would erect one line of
breastworks, then under cover of night, another a hundred or two yards
nearer us; thus by the third of June our lines were not one hundred
yards apart in places. Our pickets and those of the enemy were between
the lines down in their pits, with some brush in front to shield them
while on the look out. The least shadow or moving of the branches
would be sure to bring a rifle ball singing dangerously near one's
head--if he escaped it at all. The service in the pits here for two
weeks was the most enormous and fatiguing of any in the service--four
men being in a pit for twenty-four hours in the broiling sun during
the day, without any protection whatever, and the pit was so small
that one could neither sit erect nor lie down.
Early on the morning of the 3rd of June, just three days after our
fiasco at Cold Harbor, Grant moved his forces for the assault. This
was to be the culmination of his plan to break through Lee's lines or
to change his plans of campaign and settle down to a regular siege.
Away to our right the battle commenced. Heavy shelling on both sides.
Then the musketry began to roll along in a regular wave, coming nearer
and nearer as new columns moved to the assault. Now it reaches our
front, and the enemy moves steadily upon our works. The cheering on
our right told of the repulse by our forces, and had a discouraging
effect upon the Federal troops moving against us. As soon as their
skirmish line made its appearance, followed by three lines of battle,
our pickets in front of us were relieved, but many fell before gaining
our breastworks, and those who were not killed had to lie during the
day between the most murderous fire in the history of the war, and sad
to say, few survived. When near us the first line came with a rush at
charge bayonets, and our officers had great difficulty in restraining
the men from opening fire too soon. But when close enough, the word
"fire" was given, and the men behind the works raised deliberately,
resting their guns upon the works, and fired volley after volley into
the rushing but disorganized ranks of the enemy. The first line reeled
and attempted to fly the field, but were met by the next column, which
halted the retreating troops with the bayonet, butts of guns, and
officers' sword, until the greater number were turned to the second
assault. All this while our sharpshooters and men behind our works
were pouring a galling fire into the tangled mass of advancing and
retreating troops. The double column, like the first, came with a
shout, a huzzah, and a charge. But our men had by this time reloaded
their pieces, and were only too eager awaiting the command "fire." But
when it did come the result was telling--men falling on top of men,
rear rank pushing forward the first rank, only to be swept away like
chaff. Our batteries on the hills in rear and those mounted on our
infantry line were raking the field, the former with shell and solid
shot, the latter with grape and canister. Smoke settling on the ground,
soon rendered objects in front scarcely visible, but the steady flashing
of the enemy's guns and the hail of bullets over our heads and against
our works told plainly enough that the enemy were standing to their
work with desperate courage, or were held in hand with a powerful grasp
of discipline. The third line of assault had now mingled with the first
two, and all lying stretched upon the ground and hidden by the dense
smoke, caused the greater number of our bullets to fly over their
heads. Our elevated position and the necessity of rising above the
works to fire, rendered our breastworks of little real advantage;
considering, too, the disparity of numbers, then three lines against
our one, and a very weak line at that. The loud Rebel yell heard far
to our right told us to be of good cheer, they were holding their own,
and repulsing every assault. The conflict in front of Breckenridge's
Division was the bloodiest, with the possible exception of that of
Mayree's Hill, in front of Fredericksburg, and the "Bloody Angle," of
any during the war. Negro troops were huddled together and forced to
the charge by white troops--the poor, deluded, unfortunate beings
plied with liquor until all their sensibilities were so deadened that
death had no horrors. Grant must have learned early in the day the
impossibility of breaking Lee's line by direct charge, for by twelve
o'clock the firing ceased.
This last assault of Grant's thoroughly convinced the hero of
Vicksburg and Missionary Ridge of the impossibility of breaking Lee's
lines by direct advances. He could not surprise him at any point, or
catch him off his guard, for Lee knew every foot of the ground too
well, having fought all over if for two years. It was estimated and
confirmed afterwards by official reports, that Grant had lost sixty
thousand men from his crossing of the Rapidan to the end of the 3rd of
June, just thirty days--more men than Lee had in the commencement of
the campaign. Grant had become wiser the more familiar he became with
Lee and his veterans, and now began to put in new tactics--that of
stretching out his lines so as to weaken Lee's, and let attrition do
the work that shells, balls, and the bayonet had failed to accomplish.
The end showed the wisdom of the plan.
The two regiments on the left of the brigade did not suffer so greatly
as the others, being protected somewhat by the timber and underbrush
in their front. The enemy's dead lay in our front unburied until
Grant's further move to the right, then it became our duty to perform
those rites.
* * * * *
COLONEL LAWRENCE MASSILLON KEITT.
Colonel Lawrence Massillon Keitt was the second son of George and Mary
Magdalene Wannamaker Keitt. He was born on the 4th day of October,
1824, in St. Matthews Parish, Orangeburg District, S.C. He received
his early education at Asbury Academy, a flourishing institution near
the place of his birth.
In his thirteenth year he entered Mt. Zion College at Winnsboro,
Fairfield County, where he spent one year in preparation for the South
Carolina College, which he entered in his fourteenth year, graduating
third in his class. He read law in Attorney General Bailey's office
in Charleston, S.C., and was admitted to the bar as soon as he was of
legal age. He opened a law office at Orangeburg, the county seat.
At the first vacancy he was elected a member to the Lower House of
the General Assembly of the State, in which body he served until his
election to the Lower House of Congress in 1853. He served in that
body until December, 1860, when he resigned his seat and returned
to South Carolina on the eve of the secession of his State from the
Union. He was a leading Secessionist and was elected a member of
the Secession Convention. That body after passing the Ordinance of
Secession elected him a delegate to the Provisional Congress of the
Confederate States, which met at Montgomery, Ala. He was a very
active member. On the adjournment of the Provisional Government of
the Confederate States he returned to South Carolina and raised the
Twentieth Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers and went into the
Confederate Army. His command was ordered to Charleston. He served
with his command on James' Island, Sullivan's Island, Morris' Island,
and in Charleston in all the important engagements. He was in command
of Morris' Island twenty-seven days and nights during its awful
bombardment. When ordered to evacuate the island he did so, bringing
off everything without the loss of a man. He was the last person
to leave the island. General Beauregard in his report to the War
Department said it was one of the greatest retreats in the annals of
warfare.
The latter part of May, 1864, he left Charleston with his command and
joined General Lee's Army thirteen miles from Richmond. He carried
about sixteen hundred men in his regiment to Virginia. It was called
the "Twentieth Army Corps." He was assigned to Kershaw's Brigade and
put in command of the brigade. On the first day of June, 1864, while
leading the brigade, mounted on a grey horse, against a powerful force
of the enemy he was shot through the liver and fell mortally wounded.
He died on the 2d of June, 1864. By his request his remains were
brought to South Carolina and laid by the side of his father in
the graveyard at Tabernacle Church. Thus passed away one of South
Carolina's brightest jewels.
* * * * *