of Richmond on the Brook road, a broad highway leading into the city.
Here were required skill, good generalship, and a cool head, but
"Cavalry Sheridan" was equal to the occasion. We fought front, flanks,
and rear against infantry and cavalry, repulsing charge after charge,
killing two rebel generals and scores of their men. Oh, how we prayed
for room to make a mounted charge, but could not! At one time our
situation was critical, and some of us became a little nervous. For a
while General Sheridan seemed at a loss what to do, and suggested that
General Gregg mount his division and try to break through the enemy's
lines, so as to draw off the forces attacking our other two divisions,
and thus allow Wilson's command to cross the Chickahominy, and that he
(Gregg) rejoin the Army of the Potomac the best way he could, leaving
his artillery with Sheridan and the rest of the corps. Gregg, however,
concluded to hold fast where he was. Then we dismounted some more
regiments and advanced our lines on the flanks and rear. The enemy
thinking we intended to make a general attack, concluded to anticipate
it by a countercharge, which they did, just as we wanted them to do,
and they were repulsed all along the lines. While we held the flanks
and rear, Custer, with his Michiganders and their Spencer carbines,
drove the enemy from the front and built a bridge across the
Chickahominy at Meadow Bridges, by which we succeeded in getting all of
our artillery over. We then retired without molestation. This proved
that we had given the rebels a severe drubbing, and in sight, too, of
the spires of the rebel capital. We then marched on until we reached
Butler's army, and encamped on the banks of the James River at
Haxhall's Landing, remaining there two days to replenish our supplies
of rations, forage, and ammunition.
While at Haxhall's I got out my fishing-lines with the intention of
having a catfish supper, for catfish were plenty in the river. During
the excitement of catching the fish I noticed one of my lines drawn
taut. I began pulling it up, and said to Captain Parry, who was with
me, "I guess I have a whale this time," when behold! a water-logged
torpedo came to the surface with a large catfish twisted around one of
the blocks. No one could have dropped anything quicker than I did that
combination of catfish and torpedo, and pulled for shore. In the mean
time Parry was having a good laugh at my expense. Out in front of me
was a picket boat, and the officer hailed me to know what was the
matter. When I told him, he passed word to the rear, and said, "Hold on
to your line; the captain will come in his gig." I was curious to know
how the captain could run a gig on water, and the crew of the boat
laughed very heartily at my ignorance. I gave the whole business to the
captain, and shortly after received from him in return a nice case of
the "ardent."
We rejoined the Army of the Potomac near Spottsylvania Court-House on
May 25, and then took the advance again until we arrived at Hawes'
Shops. Here, on the 28th, we were attacked by cavalry and infantry, and
fought dismounted for five hours, driving the enemy from the field. In
this engagement I think we piled up more dead rebels than in any other
of our fights during the whole war. A few days afterwards General Grant
made his head-quarters on our battle-ground, but was forced to move
them on account of the stench arising from the dead bodies which were
still unburied.
The next day after the fight at Hawes' Shops we moved to the left
around Bethesda Church, witnessing the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps' hard
contest with the enemy at that place. On the following day we arrived
at Cold Harbor just in the nick of time to prevent the enemy's infantry
from taking an old line of breastworks. We repulsed several of their
charges, and held our ground until relieved by General "Baldy" Smith's
command, which was very slow in coming to our relief from West Point,
on the York River.
After being relieved by General Smith's command we mounted, moved by
the left, and were constantly engaged with the enemy until we reached
Bottoms' Bridge, where we took our stand to await all comers. After
resting a couple of days, Sheridan took two of his divisions and
commenced another long march for the relief of General Hunter, who was
supposed to be at Lynchburg, or in its vicinity. At Trevellian Station,
on the Lynchburg and Richmond Railroad, on June 11, we butted against
the rebel cavalry corps and a division of infantry. These people gave
us a good shaking up, but we captured several hundred prisoners, and
learning from them that Hunter had retreated over the mountains and
that they had been sent by rail to overtake us, Sheridan concluded that
he had better get back home. So we gathered up our slightly wounded,
and came back by the way of the Spottsylvania battle-ground, the column
marching past the famous tree that was cut down by musket-balls in the
Bloody Angle. We made a rapid and circuitous march, and arrived at the
White House Landing, on the Pamunkey River. Here we found an immense
wagon-train waiting for us to guard it over the country to the James
River. In performing this duty General Sheridan displayed great
generalship, preserving the trains and delivering them safely inside of
our lines. During the movement Gregg's cavalry division covered the
rear and flank next to the enemy. About the time Sheridan was parking
the train on the banks of the James we were attacked at Saint Mary's
Church, on June 24, by a superior force of the enemy, composed of
mounted and dismounted cavalry and one division of infantry. We came
together like two battering-rams, then backed off for vantage-ground,
and went at each other again and again. This unequal engagement
continued all day and until night spread its protecting mantle over us.
We then retired within our lines near Wilcox's Landing. This retreat
would never have happened had it not been that Sheridan and the other
division were in entire ignorance of what was going on in their rear,
for the enemy had captured all dispatches sent to him by Gregg, several
officers and men being taken prisoners while performing this messenger
duty. Our losses in killed, wounded, and captured upon the field were
very heavy. But we did well, considering that the numbers opposed to us
were three or four to one, and did not lose a single wheel, though we
were pretty severely knocked about.
The cavalry corps were, on June 28, ferried across the James River to
the south side, and we moved up towards Petersburg, taking position on
the left and rear of our army at that point. During the months of July
and August, Sheridan was kept very busy marching his cavalry from the
left of the Army of the Potomac over to the right of the Army of the
James and back again. In every one of these movements we were hotly
engaged dismounted, and struck some severe blows, invariably killing
some general officer belonging to the enemy. On one of these occasions,
after moving over to the right, Sheridan was ordered to embark two of
his divisions upon transports, and instead of going up the James he
went down, crossed the bay and went up the Potomac to Washington, and
thence to the Shenandoah Valley. The history of his succeeding campaign
is familiar to all.
Gregg's division remained with the Army of the Potomac, covering its
left and rear, taking the advance in all reconnoissances in force made
by the army. During one of the engagements at Ream's Station, Colonel
Chamberlain, of the First Massachusetts Cavalry, was wounded in the arm
by a "tree-frog," or sharp-shooter. I asked him why he was limping
around in such a funny manner. His reply was, "Damn it, Tommy, if you
were wounded in the arm you would limp too." We saw the fellow who
fired the shot and ran some men to the bottom of the tree. Chamberlain
gave the order to fire, when down came Mr. Tree-Frog looking like a
bundle of rags. In this same engagement Mahone's division was repulsed
three times by the First District of Columbia Cavalry, dismounted. This
regiment was composed of Maine men and was shortly afterwards
consolidated with the First Maine Cavalry. It was armed with the Henry
rifle (sixteen-shooter), and was composed of veterans who could not be
excelled for coolness and bravery. Its position at Ream's Station, on
August 25, was on the left of a new division of the Second Corps. A
German brigade in this division deliberately abandoned a new line of
intrenchments with seven guns, leaving their loaded muskets standing up
against the earthworks. Some of our dismounted cavalrymen used these
muskets as long as they could find ammunition for them. General Hancock
and General Gregg were present in person, for they were anxious to save
the guns, and the slaughter in Mahone's division must have been
terrible, as the repeating rifles wiped out line after line. No
supports coming, the cavalry was compelled to give way when Mahone made
his fourth charge, capturing the guns of the Second Corps. In the last
charge my horse was killed and I was severely injured, and was sent
home for thirty days in consequence.
Returning to the front on October 1, I was relieved from staff duty and
ordered to take command of my regiment, now composed of reenlisted
veterans who had passed through the furnace of war from 1861 to 1864.
In the latter part of October our brigade did some very effective work
in the engagement at the Davis farm, on the left and rear of our lines
at Petersburg. General Fitz-Hugh Lee threw his whole command upon us,
compelling our brigade to change front three times, but we repulsed him
at every point, driving him from the field. We did not know what force
we were engaged with until we captured the adjutant-general of Young's
brigade. That handsome officer remarked to General Davies that it was
fearfully bad weather for moving about and for cavalry fighting. Davies
replied, "Yes, you people were not contented in your camps, but must
come out here for a fight, and I guess you got one." The
adjutant-general, noticing the troops his people were fighting, asked
General Davies how many brigades he had under him. Upon being informed
that there was but one brigade of five regiments, he exclaimed,
"Impossible! Why, we had three brigades against you." He was then
started for the rear, apparently much chagrined.
A few days after this Gregg's division was ordered out to join the
Second Corps in a reconnoissance in force to the left of our army,
beyond Hatcher's Run. These reconnoissances were generally accompanied
by Generals Grant and Meade in person, and our engagements with the
enemy sometimes resulted in a heavy battle. During this particular
movement the First Pennsylvania Veteran Cavalry covered the rear of our
division, while the First Maine Cavalry was in the advance, forcing a
crossing at some creek. General Gregg was anxious to connect with
Hancock's left flank, but as he could only move his division in columns
of twos through the dense woods, the movement was very slow. During its
execution we were attacked by a brigade of rebel cavalry, commanded by
General (now Senator) Butler, of South Carolina. For a full half-hour
the enemy had a soft thing of it, throwing shot and shell into us
without our being able to reply. But Gregg could not bother with side
issues at that critical moment, so he ordered the First Pennsylvania
Cavalry "to take care of those people," as he expressed it. The attack
of this small regiment on the flank of the rebels was so sudden that
the latter were glad to escape with their guns. The officers and men of
the First Pennsylvania were highly elated over their success, and felt
proud of themselves, for they were but a handful in comparison with the
number they had attacked and driven away. The First Maine Cavalry were
just as successful in their attack in front as we were in the rear.
During the month of November we made another movement to our left. My
regiment was on picket duty when the order came to move to the front,
but it was soon relieved and ordered to report to the brigade. Upon our
arrival at the front, and as we were passing the head of General
Crawford's division, General Gregg gave orders for his division to
dismount and advance on foot. From what I could glean from a
conversation with one of his staff, Crawford evidently had orders to
close the interval between Gregg's right and the rest of the Fifth
Corps. Those who have witnessed a division of cavalry dismounting and
going into action on foot know what a demoralizing effect it has on
those in the rear, for the led horses are generally sent back at a
gallop to re-form and advance quietly, following up their various
commands. While this retrograde movement of dismounted horses was being
made, General Crawford yelled to one of his staff, and sent him off
with his compliments to General Warren, to say that the cavalry were
repulsed, and they would trample his men to death if he attempted to
make the movement ordered. I began to expostulate with the general, but
it was of no use, so I ordered my regiment forward at a gallop,
dismounted, and went into action. My dismounted horses no doubt
increased the demoralization of the "dough-boys."
During this same month of November, General Gregg moved his cavalry
division out to Stony Creek Station, driving the enemy off and
capturing and destroying the stores which had been accumulated there in
great quantities. Among the articles was a cask filled with sorghum
molasses. Some of the men turned it up on end, drove in the head, and
began filling their canteens with its sweet contents. Most of them were
too short to reach over, when along came a tall Yankee of the First
Maine Cavalry, with half a dozen canteens, and brushed the little
fellows away as though they were so many flies. I noticed a
consultation among these little fellows, when they suddenly made a
rush, seized the big fellow by the legs, lifted him up and sent him
head-foremost into the cask and turned it over. It was as much as I
could do to save the poor fellow from being smothered to death. We
rolled him down the hill into the creek, where he washed himself off,
and when he came up, he said in his nasal tone of voice, "Warn't that
the durnedst trick you ever hearn tell of?"
In the month of December, Gregg's cavalry division was ordered to take
the advance of the Fifth Corps and cover the country while the infantry
were tearing up and destroying the Weldon Railroad. We reached a point
named the "Three Rivers," and had a very sharp brush with the enemy,
losing several officers and men.
Upon the return march our cavalry took a road running parallel with the
one that our infantry were on, the enemy following us closely. On this
homeward march, while in the advance, I witnessed the sickening sight
of some of our men lying dead with their hearts and private parts cut
out and thrust in their mouths. These atrocities were supposed to have
been committed by citizens of the neighborhood out "bushwhacking." The
poor fellows who met with such horrible treatment had become
intoxicated from the large quantity of apple-jack found in that section
of the country, and were murdered in cold blood. That raid was known as
the "Apple-Jack Raid."
During the month of January, 1865, my regiment was doing picket duty on
the left and rear of our main lines. One day, noticing a number of hogs
running loose in the woods in our front, I gave permission for some of
the men to go out and kill them. Soon afterwards one of the videttes
sent in word that two of the men were captured by the rebels. I quickly
mounted a squadron and went off at a gallop, knowing well that there
was but one place where the rebels could cross the stream below Lee's
mill, we being on the inside circuit. I pushed rapidly for that point.
Upon our arrival I noticed a few fresh tracks of horses that had
crossed towards us, but had not returned. I then made preparations for
the arrival of the squad with their prisoners. We waited perhaps half
an hour, when the squad came in view with their two prisoners, each
carrying a dead hog. The poor fellows were staggering under their heavy
loads, and their captors were twitting them about being pork butchers.
My men were entirely concealed on either side of the stream. We
remained quiet until the whole party had reached the middle between the
banks, when I gave the signal to my men to arise and cover the party
with their carbines. It was like a dramatic tableau to witness the look
of consternation upon the faces of the party, for there was no escape
for them. As for the two butchers, it was laughable to look at them.
They began looking around to ascertain if it was fun or earnest, when
they espied me, and both hogs dropped from their shoulders into the
water, and the two men fell against the bank, yelling for us to give
their captors a volley. I then ordered the rebels to advance one at a
time, dismount, and take off their arms. I asked my two men who it was
that had suggested that they should carry the hogs, and they pointed to
the sergeant and one other man. These two were ordered to pick up the
pork and move back, under charge of the two that were recaptured, to
the picket reserve. As the command was moving out for the return, some
wag in the squadron remarked to the rebel sergeant, "How do you like
that for a movement by inversion?"
In the month of March an order came from general head-quarters
directing me to take my regiment, with a trusted scout, and proceed to
the head of the Blackwater Swamp, when we would find a body of
marauders composed of deserters from both armies. These men had been
murdering our pickets nightly for what plunder they could get from the
dead bodies. My orders were to destroy these scoundrels. The orders
were carried out to the very letter.
On my return to camp, after six days and nights of hard marching, a
leave of absence for ten days was sent me without application on my
part. I took advantage of the furlough and went home. Upon my arrival
there, I found awaiting me a personal telegram from General Sheridan,
who had rejoined the Army of the Potomac that same morning with the
other two divisions of the cavalry corps, having marched overland from
the head of the Shenandoah Valley. This dispatch directed me to take
the first train and come to the front as rapidly as possible, and upon
my arrival at City Point to assume command of all the newly-remounted
men there and join my division on the march. Though I had just arrived
home I obeyed the order and took the first train for Washington, went
directly to the War Department, showed my dispatch, and was at once
sent to Annapolis on a special engine. I then took a dispatch-boat in
company with Colonel Comstock, of General Grant's staff, arrived at
City Point on the morning of the 31st of March, and joined our division
at Dinwiddie Court-House in time to take part in the engagement of that
day.
The next day came the battle of Five Forks. Here Sheridan threw his
whole cavalry corps upon the enemy, with the exception of my brigade.
As for my own regiment, we had all the fighting we wanted in keeping
the enemy from getting around on Sheridan's left and rear. In this
battle whole brigades went into action mounted and dismounted, the
mounted men dashing over breastworks as though they were mere piles of
dirt, and capturing prisoners by the thousand. While in conversation
with General W. H. F. Lee, who was taken prisoner, he told me that he
was in the act of sighting a cannon to sweep along that portion of the
works where the Fifth Corps were piling over when he heard a voice
saying, "Surrender, you rebel son of a gun!" and looking up there he
saw one of our cavalrymen astride a mule, with his revolver between the
mule's ears, reaching over in the act of pulling trigger. In a few
seconds the earth-work was filled with our mounted cavalry. The
much-abused army mule, after all, was of some service besides hauling
heavy loads.
On the following day, April 2, our cavalry struck the South Side
Railroad and continued in pursuit of Lee's retreating army. Richmond
and Petersburg fell on the 3d, and these good tidings seemed to give
new life to both men and horses. On we pressed until we reached
Jetersville, on the Danville Railroad, on April 4. About one o'clock
that night, as we lay to horse, the First Pennsylvania Cavalry was
ordered to mount and report to General Sheridan at once. Under
Sheridan's fly I found General Crook (who was now in command of Gregg's
old division) and General Davies looking over a map. I was shown the
position where the enemy were supposed to be, near Amelia Court-House,
and was instructed to proceed with my regiment about two or three miles
in advance of our brigade, press through all small detachments, and
attack the enemy's wagon-train at daylight. We reached some high ground
just as the sun was rising, and below at our feet lay the whole rebel
army in line of battle, apparently sound asleep. It was a beautiful
sight to look upon. Here instructions were given to the men that when
the charge was sounded by the bugles they should yell like demons and
tell all the rebels they met, particularly the officers, that Sheridan
and all his cavalry corps were upon them. This regiment with its three
hundred veterans charged through a number of outlying commands,
destroying about three hundred wagons, cutting out twelve hundred head
of horses and mules, capturing eight hundred prisoners, eleven rebel
battle-flags, and a bright, new spick-and-span battery of Armstrong
field-guns, which shortly before had been presented by the ladies of
Liverpool to the corporation of the city of Richmond. We held our
ground and captures until General Davies came to our relief, which he
did very promptly.
Let me relate an amusing incident. Between daylight and sunrise I
observed a body of rebel cavalry holding Paines' Cross-Roads. In a
house by the roadside there resided an Episcopal clergyman. The
gentleman came out, stood at his gate, and looked first at us, then at
his friends. He had a gold watch in his hand, as though looking at the
time of day. I ordered two squadrons to charge the rebels and clear the
road, and while they were performing that duty we advanced the balance
of the command, halting in front of our religious friend, when the
following conversation took place: "Good-morning." "Good-morning, sir."
"You are the first live Yankee cavalry commander I have seen since the
war commenced." My reply was, "Then you are not a pupil of General
Hooker's." He laughingly said "No," and then he asked, hearing the
firing of the small-arms of the charging squadrons, "Are you going to
have a battle here? If so, how long will it last?" My reply was, "No,
sir; we will move on." I then asked him why he kept his watch in his
hand. His reply was, "I thought I would time you to find out how soon
you would be driven off the sacred soil of the immortal Washington." I
moved away, smiling at the old rector's loyalty to the Father of his
Country, when I heard a scuffle behind me. Upon looking around I
observed my own orderly seizing the watch and saying, "We will tell you
the time when the Johnnies stop running." Then he dashed away before I
could stop him to return the stolen watch.
All of our captures from the enemy, except the battle-flags and the
watch, were turned over, by order of General Davies, to the Tenth New
York Cavalry, and we then proceeded as rapidly as possible to join the
main command. The First Pennsylvania Cavalry joined the brigade and
resumed the fighting, for the rebels were very sore over the captures
and were trying hard to retake their guns, but we succeeded in getting
back to Jetersville safely.