General Humphreys says that late in the winter of 1865, General Grant
became aware that General Lee had determined to abandon Petersburgh and
Richmond in the early spring and unite with General Johnston, then in
front of General Sherman, in North Carolina. Briefly the Confederate
plan was to evade Grant, crush Sherman, and then face Grant with a
united and victorious army. But Grant thought it wise to take the
initiative, drive Lee from his intrenchments before he was ready to
leave them, and try to crush him before he could unite with Johnston.
In response to an invitation from General Grant, General Sherman
visited him at City Point, the 27th day of March, and they arranged
that Sherman should suddenly move away from his works before Johnston,
march northward, and either join Grant before Richmond, or if Lee was
moving south--either of his own volition or because driven
south--should head him off, and unite with Grant in decimating his
forces before he could get aid from Johnston.
That very night, General Ord, in command of the Army of the James,
moved from the north side of the James with two divisions of the
Twenty-fourth Corps, one of the Twenty-fifth and his cavalry, making a
forced march over terrible roads, in the dark, rainy night, and the
stormy day succeeding it, we took position at a late hour of the 28th
of March in the rear of the Second Corps at Hatcher's Run, having
traveled thirty-six miles to do so. The morning of the 28th, General
Sheridan had moved out with the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, and
working to the left of our army, sought to reach the right and rear of
that of the enemy. This movement was supported on the 29th by the
Second and Fifth Corps, when we moved to the front to take the position
vacated by the Second Corps. This movement to the left had the effect
desired by General Grant, General Lee strongly reenforcing the force
opposing Sheridan, having to weaken his lines before Petersburgh to do
so. Sheridan pressed forward the 29th, the 30th, the 31st, the enemy
growing in his front as he forced them backwards until April 1st, when
with his cavalry force and the Fifth Corps he fought the battle of Five
Forks, capturing Pickett, 4,500 men, 13 colors and 6 guns.
While the battle of Five Forks was raging, General Grant, from
information brought him from Sheridan, pushed the Second Corps forward
to carry the enemy's intrenchments, those to our left. Their attack
failed. The order issued by Grant that night called for an assault in
the early morning of the 2d of April, by the Sixth, the Ninth and so
much of our corps as Ord had marched across the river. The Sixth Corps,
on our immediate right (the Ninth Corps lying beyond it) was to break
the enemy's line. Its formidable attack, calculated to carry any sort
of work it might find before it, and howsoever defended, was made at
daylight by its three divisions, formed by brigades with regimental
front, and swept all before it, quickly beating down the enemy's sharp
resistance and capturing a long line of three miles with many guns and
prisoners. The Ninth Corps attacked at the same time, taking the works
so familiar to us, on both sides of the Jerusalem Plank Road, but
finding a line of works in the rear of those they captured, and
strongly held by General Gordon's Corps, they made no further advance.
The Eleventh had moved out to the front the 29th of March with the rest
of its corps, when the Second Corps moved to the left. The night of the
29th the regiment lay in the woods before an outlying line of the
enemy. The 30th it pressed forward with its division, driving the enemy
into their works. The picket line of the regiment then thrown out
before the part of their works in our front, becoming heavily engaged,
company after company was sent to its reenforcement until the whole
regiment was engaged. In its immediate front, just across a wide
slashing, and sweeping our lines, was a rebel battery. Its fire
became so distressing to our men, that they determined to silence it.
Carefully concentrating their fire upon its guns mounted _en barbette_,
it was not long before the battery's fire slackened, and was finally
completely silenced, the gunners flatly refusing to man their guns in
the face of the uninterrupted storm of bullets sweeping across the
parapet. Night came on with the regiment in the same position it had
occupied during the day. As it grew dark we fell back into the woods a
few rods. Then a numerous fatigue party, made up from the regiments of
the brigade, was sent out to throw up a line of intrenchments, a heavy
picket line covering this fatigue work, with the regiments of the
brigade some rods in the rear lying in line of battle behind their
stacked guns. Towards morning the monotonous roll of picket firing that
had been kept up during the night suddenly rose in volume on our
immediate front, then the charging yell of a rebel line of battle
brought every man of us to his feet. Well, within a minute the brands
of the low burning bivouac fires were scattered to the right and left,
that their flickering light might not serve the enemy to pour a volley
into us by, (I can see Sergeant Keene jumping and kicking with
characteristic promptness and vigor at the brands of a fire D had,) and
we had seized our guns, set up an answering yell, and were rushing
through the darkness at the oncoming enemy. At our yell the enemy, who
had run over our pickets, expecting to surprise us, supposing our line
of battle to be lying right behind the picket one, the momentum of
their charge gone, their blow delivered in the air, our yell rising
from an unexpected position, caused them to stand, irresolute and
uncertain, for the brief moment we needed in which to reach the just
thrown up works, works that the enemy was not aware of the existence
of, and that the darkness prevented their seeing, and occupying the
reverse side of as a cover against our counter charge, they halting
within a rod or so of them. And before they could realize their exposed
position, and in spite of the loudly expressed determination of our
Brigade Commander, that they should not, the men of the Eleventh had
opened so severe a fire on the dark mass of agitated figures that could
be dimly seen against a background of lightening sky, that those of the
enemy who did not throw themselves flat upon the ground to escape it,
and remain so until daylight when they gave themselves up as prisoners,
went fleeing through the darkness pursued by a storm of bullets, losing
heavily in the progress of their escape. General Dandy did not
remonstrate against the orders the officers of the Eleventh were giving
their men to fire, out of regard for the Confederates, but in the
confusion and darkness of the hour he had lost the position of his
regiments, and was really confident that the mass of men in our front
was composed of our own troops. To solve the question it was shouted to
those men "What regiment is that?" "The Eleventh," was the answer. "The
Eleventh what?" They would not answer the question. Could it be that
it was really a part of our regiment in advance of us? We could not
clearly see the length of a company, much less that of our regiment, so
could not make sure by observing the length of our line that we were
not behind a part of our own regiment. "Who's your Colonel?" cried a
voice to them, "Colonel Davis," was the answer, and "Fire, Fire," rang
out along our line, and the rolling volleys did their dreadful work. It
was the Eleventh Mississippi that stood before us, and Colonel Davis,
their Colonel was in command of the assaulting brigade. This was the
morning of April 1st. We lay behind the new but already christened
works that day, with a heavy and constantly engaged skirmish line
before us. At night we went into position for the assault of the
morning of the 2d, spending the night largely in listening to the
tremendous roar of the cannon bombarding the Confederate lines, waiting
in suspense until we should move forward at the signal--a cannon shot
from a particular point--that should send the Sixth Corps men through
the stubborn works before us. It was so dark a night that it was nearly
5 o'clock before the troops could see to move at all intelligently, and
then they could see but a few yards before them. But at the cannon shot
the massed brigades of the Sixth moved forward rapidly, broke the
enemy's picket line, and poured over their main defenses. At this
moment our own picket line, a heavy one, and reenforced by the brigade
sharp shooters, picked men, commanded by Lieutenant Payne, all under
command of Captain Maxfield, as brigade officer of the day, who the
Captain had pressed forward during the night until they were close
under the works in our front, at this movement they were ordered to
charge, and regardless of the opposing numbers, dashed over the abatis
and into the Confederate works, laying about them so vigorously that
the enemy viewed them as part of an advancing line of battle, throwing
down their rifles and surrendering in such numbers that Captain
Maxfield seemed to be in command of a small section of the rebel army
to the brigade as it moved over the works to his support. He had a most
efficient coadjutor in caring for his prisoners, and separating them so
far from their thrown down rifles as to remove any temptation they
might have to pick them up again when they should realize how small a
force they had surrendered to, for he had promptly appointed Sergeant
Locke, of Company K, as his Provost. "Fall in here, the tallest on the
right," shouted that active officer, "Now count off by twos," then it
was "Right face, Forward March," and the unarmed Mississippians were
swinging off with a firm, military stride, under a new commander.
Promptly making connection with the Sixth Corps advance, General Gibbon
moved with them towards Petersburgh. By arrangement our corps took
precedence of the Sixth after crossing the captured works, the Sixth
forming on the right and left as a support. Our advance soon reached
the Confederate works, advanced before their main inner line, here
running up from the Appomattox and along Indian Town Creek. The
advanced works we moved directly on were Forts Gregg and Whitworth. Our
division was moved to the front and an assault made on these forts.
These forts, especially Gregg, made a desperate defense. General Gibbon
says that the assault on this fort was "the most desperate one of the
war." It was only taken by a determined bayonet dash led by Lieutenant
Payne, of our regiment, who was the first man to leap into the fort and
who owed his life to his skill with the use of the saber, a skill
acquired as a trooper in Mexico, and in many desperate Indian fights
during a term of service on the plains of the west. As Gregg fell,
Whitworth was carried, and the first in it too were of the Eleventh,
Companies A and B, that had been detached as skirmishers when the
regiment crossed the Confederate works in the morning. These companies
had driven the enemy's skirmishers through the fields between the
enemy's lines of works, finally forcing them into a great area of log
barracks flanking Whitworth, when the Confederates made it warm for our
men in every way, they setting fire to the barracks, and fighting from
street to street of the blazing structures. Finally the rebel
skirmishers fell back into Whitworth, A and B then crowded closely to
this work, returning its heavy fire with interest, until Turner's
brigade of West Virginians moved forward to assault the fort, when
the boys of these companies of the Eleventh darted forward at the head
of the assaulting column, entering the fort by its sallyport, and
the rebels were already throwing down their guns when Turner's men
appeared on the scene. Nor were A and B yet satisfied. Anticipating
an immediate assault on the enemy's inner and only remaining line of
works, these companies pushed across the intervening fields and secured
a skirmishing position on Indian Town Creek, where they remained for
some time, anxiously looking for an advancing Union column, and fully
determined to head it, and if possible be the first armed Yankees to
enter the Cockade City. But General Humphreys says the Sixth Corps men
were exhausted, having been under arms for eighteen hours now, and it
was concluded not to attack further until the next morning. Up to the
night of the 2d of April, of D, Privates Tehan, Mathews, Morrill, Ryan,
Stratton and Watson were wounded, Privates Ryan and Watson mortally,
and Sergeant Gowell, Privates Bickmore, Brien, Findel, Geary, Gibbs,
Seavey, Simmonds and Stevens were taken prisoners. Of the prisoners
Private Bickmore was wounded when captured. The prisoners from D were
taken while on the picket line, when the Mississippians ran over it the
morning of April 1st, and Private Peter Haegan would have been added to
their list but for his shrewdly begging permission of his captor to be
allowed to get the haversack Peter had left at the foot of a tree near
the post he was surprised on. The good natured Mississippian allowed
him to go the few feet only separating him and his provender bag, but
Peter failed to return, preferring to throw himself upon the ground and
crawl to the rear until he had reached our line.