WITH LEE IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA, 1862--THE MANEUVERS ON THE
RAPPAHANNOCK--SECOND MANASSAS CAMPAIGN--BATTLE OF OX HILL.
We left the South Carolinians of the army of Northern Virginia in front
of McClellan at Malvern hill, whence the Federal army retreated and
took shelter under the guns of the fleet at Harrison's landing. The
latter, naturally a strong defensive position, the genius and skill of
McClellan and his able engineers made a fortified camp, protected by
impracticable swamps and water-courses, and the batteries of the fleet
on its flanks. Here the army of McClellan was safe from attack and too
much shattered to take the immediate offensive. Meanwhile the corps of
McDowell, Banks and Sigel, which had been operating against Jackson in
the valley, and in immediate defense of Washington, had been united
under Gen. John Pope, and called the "army of Virginia." This army of
Pope was to be reinforced by General McClellan and march on Richmond
from the north.
Early in July, Pope was on the Rappahannock, with his outposts on the
Rapidan. His army was over 45,000 strong, and the only obstacle to his
advance was the cavalry under General Stuart. General Lee determined
to check Pope's further advance, until he could be satisfied of
McClellan's movements, and accordingly ordered Jackson to Gordonsville,
and early in August reinforced him with A. P. Hill's division. With
characteristic energy Jackson crossed the Rapidan, and on August 9th,
in the battle of Cedar Run, gave Pope's advance on Richmond a telling
blow. Gen. Maxcy Gregg's brigade of South Carolinians was in A. P.
Hill's division, with McIntosh's battery, but was not engaged in the
battle. Greatly to the disappointment of the Carolinians, they were
left behind to guard the passages of the Rapidan.
General Burnside, with a strong force, was at Fredericksburg, and
McClellan (August 13th) was still in his fortified camp on the James,
30 miles from the city of Richmond. The battle on Cedar run had
checked Pope, but he stood over 40,000 strong, in front of Jackson's
corps, and was receiving reinforcements from Burnside. On the 14th of
August, McClellan began the movement of his army by water to Aquia
creek on the Potomac. Anticipating this, on the 13th, General Lee
ordered Longstreet, with twelve brigades and their artillery, to move
by railroad to Gordonsville, and on the 15th took command in person
on the Rapidan. With Longstreet were Rhett's, Bachman's and Garden's
South Carolina batteries; Anderson's old brigade, under Brig.-Gen.
Micah Jenkins, with Corse's and Hunton's Virginia brigades, forming
the division of General Kemper; and the South Carolina brigade of
Brig.-Gen. N. G. Evans, which had joined the army in time to be
slightly engaged at Malvern hill. This, an independent brigade,
included the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty-third
regiments, the Holcombe legion and the Macbeth artillery, Captain
Boyce. Kershaw's brigade in McLaws' division was left in front of
Richmond; Hampton's brigade of cavalry, including the legion and Hart's
battery, was in McClellan's front.
General Lee planned an attack on Pope immediately before his arrival on
the Rapidan. R. H. Anderson's division was ordered up from Richmond,
and the plan of campaign was to be carried out on the 18th by crossing
the Rapidan and turning Pope's left. But a letter from General Lee
detailing the movements of the cavalry fell into Pope's hands by the
capture of Stuart's adjutant-general, and Pope, thus apprised of the
plans of his adversary, on the 17th fell back behind the Rappahannock
to a much stronger position. The lost dispatch had broken up the plans
for the expected battle, and Lee put his two corps in position on the
south bank of the Rappahannock, Longstreet on the right and Jackson on
the left.
Now, sure that he could with safety collect all his army on the
Rappahannock, General Lee wrote the President for the divisions of
D. H. Hill and McLaws, and General Hampton's cavalry. On the 19th,
the President, fearing that Richmond would be endangered, telegraphed
General Lee that until movements of the enemy were more developed he
would retain those commands before the capital. Finally, on the 24th,
Lee wrote Mr. Davis that he had intercepted a letter from General
Pope to General Halleck (commander-in-chief of the United States
armies), dated August 20th, stating his whole force for duty at
45,000, independent of Burnside, and revealing his plan to hold Lee in
check until McClellan could come up from the lower Rappahannock. Thus
General Lee was put in possession of General Pope's plans and formed
his own accordingly. He wrote the President that he wished his whole
army immediately, and all available troops, and added: "Hampton's
cavalry I particularly require." Richmond, he wrote, must rely upon
her defenses and field batteries. On the 26th, McLaws and D. H. Hill
and Hampton were ordered to Lee, and Mr. Davis wrote him: "Confidence
in you overcomes the view that otherwise would be taken of the exposed
condition of Richmond, and the troops retained for the defense of the
capital are surrendered to you on a renewed request." Neither of these
commands was able to reach Lee, however, until immediately after the
conflicts on the Rappahannock and the great struggle at Manassas. The
fords on the Rappahannock were too full for the crossing of the army,
and too strongly defended by Pope's artillery.
Several affairs occurred during the five days Lee was detained on the
right bank. In one of these Gregg's brigade was moved up to support a
battery, and subjected to a severe shelling from a high hill on the
left bank, losing several men killed and wounded. On August 23d a more
serious affair occurred, in which the brigade of General Evans and
Boyce's battery were engaged. The enemy had fortified a hill near the
railroad bridge at Rappahannock Station, and on the right bank. Evans,
supported by several batteries, was ordered to attack. The brigade
moved up promptly against the fortified position, under a sharp counter
fire, but before they reached charging distance the enemy retired,
leaving his intrenching tools and other property, but taking guns and
troops securely over the railroad bridge, which he fired and destroyed.
Evans ordered Boyce to occupy the steep hill with his battery, and that
gallant officer at once moved up but was immediately subjected to the
fire of four batteries from commanding heights on the north bank. He
was compelled immediately to withdraw, losing 8 killed and 14 wounded,
and 7 horses killed. Lieut. William Monro of the battery was severely
wounded. The brigade lost in this affair 27 killed and 84 wounded, a
total of 111.
Without waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements from Richmond,
General Lee began his movement around the right of General Pope on the
25th of August. Jackson was to move up the right bank of the river
beyond the extreme right of Pope, cross beyond Waterloo and move on
his railroad communications. Longstreet, after demonstrating in Pope's
front, was to follow Jackson. The genius of Lee, Jackson and Longstreet
was to determine the precise field and the essential conditions of the
battle.
Jackson marched early on the 25th, crossed the upper branches of the
Rappahannock, and camped at Salem, on the Manassas Gap railroad. On
the 26th he turned due east, passed the Bull Run mountains through
Thoroughfare gap, and by sunset was at Bristoe Station in Pope's
immediate rear, and on his main railroad communication with Washington.
The capture of Bristoe and Manassas Junction, with vast stores,
followed.
Gregg's brigade, which had been under fire at Rappahannock bridge on
the 21st, and further up the river on the Rappahannock hills on the
24th, crossed on the 25th at Henson's mill, and made a forced march of
24 miles that day up the Salem valley, and continued the march on the
26th "without wagons or baggage of any kind, turning to the right at
Salem, through Thoroughfare gap, and sleeping at night in rear of our
artillery in the road near Bristoe Station." General McGowan, whose
report is quoted, continues:
The next morning we reached Manassas Junction, where the enemy,
attempting to recapture it, were scattered with considerable loss. In
the afternoon of that day the brigade returned from pursuit, to the
junction, where three days' rations were issued from the vast supply
of captured stores, and the men for a few hours rested and regaled
themselves upon delicacies unknown to our commissariat, which they
were in good condition to enjoy, having eaten nothing for several days
except roasting ears taken from the fields near the road, and what was
given by the generous citizens of the Salem valley to the soldiers as
they hurried along in their rapid march.
At dark on the evening of August 27th (Wednesday), the brigade, in
conjunction with that of General Thomas, was thrown out on the south
side of Manassas Junction as the rear guard, and formed in line of
battle facing the enemy, who had during the evening been fighting
General Ewell near Bristoe Station. Standing under arms here we had
a fine view of the magnificent conflagration caused by the burning
of the sutler's and commissary stores, together with about 100 cars
freighted with every article necessary for the outfit of a great army,
all of which was set on fire about midnight and consumed.
About 2 o'clock in the morning of Thursday, the 28th, we silently
retired from our picket lines in front of the enemy, and by the
light of the smoldering ruins followed the division across Bull run
at Blackburn's ford to Centreville. Here we rested a short time, and
thence turned back toward Bull run, and moving by the Warrenton pike
crossed the run again near the stone bridge. At this critical moment
the enemy, falling back from the Rappahannock, caused doubtless by our
flank movement, were coming down the turnpike from Warrenton, meeting
us. We turned to the right, leaving the turnpike, and after going up
the run a short distance, changed front and were drawn up in battle
array along the line of the unfinished Independent railroad track,
facing the turnpike along which the enemy was moving.
As Gregg's brigade took this position, brisk firing was heard upon
the right, where the divisions of Taliaferro and Ewell were thrown
by Jackson against the column of Pope's army coming up the Warrenton
pike, expecting to find Jackson at Centreville. A severe engagement
followed, the battle of Groveton, in which Ewell and Taliaferro were
both wounded. About dark Gregg's brigade was hurried to the scene of
action, but the firing soon after ceased.
Jackson resumed his place behind the railroad and lay the night of the
28th in perfect silence, doubtless to create the impression that he
had retreated. Capt. J. F. J. Caldwell, of the First South Carolina,
Gregg's brigade, who has written an admirable history of his brigade,
and was himself a gallant participant in all of its hardships and
glories, thus describes the night of the 28th of August:
We were placed in columns of regiments and lay during the night in the
open field. The night before a battle is never a pleasant one, but
this was peculiarly trying. Strict silence was enjoined on every man.
We had three divisions, which, in all, would not sum up 20,000 men.
Before us was Pope with at least the bulk of the Federal army, which,
of course, was magnified by many thousands; behind us was no base, no
subsistence, no reinforcement! Longstreet with three divisions was
beyond Pope, and must be some time in reaching us. God, Jackson and
our own hearts were our dependence.
But Longstreet was not "beyond Pope," for he had that day forced the
passage of Thoroughfare gap, after a sharp conflict in which Drayton's
brigade (which included the Fifteenth South Carolina) took part, and
that night his command camped in the gap and west of the mountain.
Daybreak of August 29th, upon the great battle plains of Manassas,
found Jackson in his well-chosen position behind the railroad cut,
Longstreet descending the east slope of the gap he had won, and the
forces of General Pope forming for battle in Jackson's front. The
plan of the Federal commander was to attack and crush Jackson before
Longstreet could reach him. The battle opened by an artillery attack in
force on Jackson's right, which was promptly met. This failing to move
Jackson, an equally galling fire of artillery was delivered against his
left, and this also was replied to effectively. At 2 p. m. the infantry
battle opened against A. P. Hill on Jackson's left, and raged until
9 o'clock at night. Hill repulsed six separate assaults, the forces
against him being the commands, in whole or in part, of the Federal
generals Hooker, Kearney, Sigel and Stearns.
Gregg's brigade,[D] after sleeping on their arms on Ewell's
battlefield, had returned to their first position on the left at
early dawn of the 29th, and were put in line on the extreme left of
the army, near Catharpin run, occupying a small, rocky, wooded knoll,
having a railroad excavation bending around the east and north fronts,
and a cleared field on the northwest. This position was slightly in
advance of the general line, and besides being on the extreme left,
was considered important because of its command of the Sudley Ford
road. The brigade line made an obtuse angle toward the enemy, one side
nearly parallel to the railroad cut and the other along the fence of
the cleared field on the northwest, and enclosed the knoll, which
they were ordered to hold at all hazards. On this spot, barely large
enough to hold the brigade, they stood and fought from 8 o'clock in the
morning until dark.
[Footnote D: For the part borne by Gregg's brigade on the 29th, I shall
follow the official reports and Mr. Caldwell's history.]
The regiments of the brigade were posted from right to left in the
following order: The Thirteenth, Col. O. E. Edwards; the First, Maj.
Edward McCrady; the Twelfth, Col. Dixon Barnes; the Fourteenth, Col.
Samuel McGowan; Orr's Rifles, Col. J. Foster Marshall, in reserve.
Early in the morning, the enemy's advance being reported, General Gregg
sent forward McCrady to skirmish with it. The enemy lay in force in
a wooded hollow in front, and McCrady's advance drew the fire of his
line, front and flank. A sharp musketry contest followed and Gregg sent
up the Twelfth on McCrady's left. The two regiments charged and gained
ground forward, but on the right the enemy held his ground and fired on
McCrady's flank. Barnes had passed on beyond, and McCrady's position
was critical. Edwards, with the Thirteenth, came to his support, but
met such resistance that he had to fight independently. Meanwhile
Marshall, with the Rifles, had gone to Barnes' support, and those two
regiments were driving victoriously forward. McCrady, fighting front
and flank, was stubbornly holding his ground, and Edwards was stemming
the tide against his regiment. At this juncture Gregg recalled the four
regiments to the railroad position, as his orders were to act on the
defensive and not to bring on a general engagement. Time was everything
to Jackson, who knew his enemy was in his front with superior numbers,
and he did not risk a battle until Longstreet was reported to be on his
right.
The affair of the four regiments had checked the arrangements for
assault in Gregg's front, and he was in solid line awaiting the next
move. It soon came. Pressing on through the thick growth of bushes
along Gregg's front, the attack drove in his skirmishers, and the
infantry of the enemy poured in volley after volley as they advanced
to the railroad. It was a close fight of infantry, across the cut, and
ended in a repulse of the attack. Reinforced, he came for a second
battle with Gregg, and was repulsed. A third and a fourth assault
were met, and a third and fourth battle fought with the same result.
Gregg's brigade had now nearly exhausted its ammunition, and most of
the field officers were killed or wounded, with many most active and
gallant subordinates. Now came the critical hour of Jackson's battle.
Coming up the railroad cut from the left and right, and screened by its
high banks and the thick brush on both sides of it, the enemy massed
on Gregg's right, opposite a thick wood. In this wood were Edwards
and McCrady, forming the right of Gregg, McCrady supporting Edwards.
Beyond Gregg's right was the left of Thomas' Georgia brigade, quite an
interval being between the two brigades.
The fifth grand assault fell on Thomas' and Gregg's right, and easily
filled the wooded interval between them, flanking both Thomas and
Gregg. The moment was most critical. Edwards and McCrady changed front
to face the woods filled with Federal troops, and fought desperately.
Barnes came up to their help, while Marshall's Rifles heroically held
Gregg's left. But the right was about to be overpowered and crushed,
when Gregg sent in McGowan, his only reserve. The Fourteenth rushed
upon the crowded ranks of intruders in the wood, delivered their
volleys at close range, and shouting, charged the mass. At the instant
Thomas attacked from his side with the Forty-ninth Georgia, and the
victory was gallantly won. The whole assaulting force was driven by
Gregg's and Thomas' forces back across the railroad, and into the woods
beyond.
Almost exhausted by such terrible work, the cartridge boxes reduced
to two or three rounds, Gregg held his railroad line with a fixed
determination never to yield. In this resolve he was supported by
every officer and man of his brigade. When General Hill sent to ask if
he could hold out, says McGowan, "he replied modestly he thought he
could, adding, as if casually, that his ammunition was about expended,
but he still had the bayonet." And on the bayonet the brigade was now
to rely, as the most desperate assault from fresh forces in its front
was about to come. The rush and noise of the advance were heard, the
volleys of musketry swept over and through the thinned ranks of Gregg,
and in another moment the charging lines of the enemy were mounting the
banks of the railroad cut and rushing upon him. Meeting this heaviest
assault of the day, and fighting, first with their last cartridges,
and then with the bayonet, the men of the brigade gave slowly back.
They were not driven far from their battle line, when Gregg's call for
help was answered by General Hill. Branch and Field were sent in, and
with portions of their brigades met and turned the tide of assault.
Gregg's men were rallied by their commanders, and the Virginians, North
Carolinians and South Carolinians drove back the great assault across
and beyond the railroad, and again Gregg's line was formed. But the
brigade, after fighting for several hours, was worn out and its last
round of ammunition expended.
The gallant and heroic Marshall fell in this last conflict, as well
as his able lieutenant-colonel, D. A. Ledbetter. Colonels McGowan and
Barnes, Lieutenant-Colonel Farrow, and Majors Brockman and McCorkle
were wounded and borne from the field. Captains and lieutenants and
their brave men lay dead in every part of the field.
It was evident that another grand assault must be met. "Casting about
for help," says General Hill, "fortunately it was here reported to
me that the brigades of Generals Lawton and Early were near by, and
sending to them, they promptly moved to my front at the most opportune
moment." Gregg was relieved, and Lawton and Early, now, late in the
afternoon, advanced beyond the railroad, met the last assault of the
day, and drove the Federals in confusion to the rear. Night had come,
and with it rest for Gregg's heroic brigade. Jackson held his field,
and the effort to crush him before Longstreet came up had disastrously
failed.
The losses in Gregg's brigade were as follows: Orr's Rifles, 19 killed,
97 wounded, total 116; First, 24 killed, 119 wounded, total 143;
Twelfth, 24 killed, 121 wounded, total 145; Thirteenth, 26 killed,
118 wounded, total 144; Fourteenth, 8 killed, 57 wounded, total 65;
aggregate for the brigade, 613.
On this bloody day McIntosh did not have an opportunity to use his
guns. At Manassas Junction on the 27th, he had done effective work and
aided in silencing the enemy's battery and driving off his infantry.
The brigade was not in action on the next day, the 30th, but took
position under fire. While forming his command, Major McCrady received
a severe wound in the head, after passing through the storm of battle
on the 29th unhurt. McIntosh's battery, posted on Gregg's left, on the
30th, did splendid service in shelling the enemy's masses in front,
and in breaking his advances against Gregg's position. The following
officers are mentioned among the killed and wounded in the reports of
McGowan and McCrady, the former reporting for the brigade:
Killed: Orr's Rifles--Col. J. Foster Marshall, Lieut.-Col. D. A.
Ledbetter, Capt. M. M. Norton and Lieut. W. C. Davis. First--Capt.
C. D. Barksdale, Lieuts. John Monro and John C. McLemore, Sergeants
Lowrimore, Darby and Smith. Twelfth--Lieuts. J. A. May and J. R.
Hunnicutt. Thirteenth--Capt. A. K. Smith and Adjt. W. D. Goggans.
Wounded: Orr's Rifles--Lieut. J. S. Cothran. First--Major McCrady,
Capts. T. P. Alston and M. P. Parker, Lieuts. T. H. Lyles, G. R.
Congdon, John H. King, Z. B. Smith and Thomas McCrady. Twelfth--Maj.
W. H. McCorkle, Capts. E. F. Bookter and L. M. Grist; Lieuts. W. S.
Dunlop, M. K. Sharp, J. H. Bigham, M. V. Darwin, L. A. Garvin, T. A.
White, H. P. Thode, J. M. Hencken and J. C. Rollings. Thirteenth--Col.
O. E. Edwards, Lieut.-Col. T. S. Farrow, Maj. B. T. Brockman, Capts.
R. L. Bowden, P. A. Eichelberger, G. W. Meetze; Lieuts. J. D.
Copeland, R. M. Crocker, S. J. Greer, W. T. Thom and J. B. Fellers.
Fourteenth--Col. Samuel McGowan, Capts. C. M. Stuckey and J. N. Brown;
Lieuts. W. J. Robertson, W. J. Carter and J. H. Allen. A total of 12
commissioned officers killed and 37 wounded in the brigade.
Major McCrady mentions in his report for distinguished conduct on
the field, Color-bearer Spellman and Sergeant Matthews, Sergeants
Lorrimore, Smith, Darby, Kelley, Gore and Miller, Color Corporal
Owens, Corporals Wigg and Larkin, Privates Ruff, Holloran and Carroll,
Sergeant Ragan, Corporal Brereton, Privates Lyles and Duff. Capts.
W. T. Haskell, M. P. Parker, W. P. Shooter, Barksdale and T. P.
Alston, and Lieuts. James Armstrong, John C. McLemore, Thomas McCrady,
Hewetson, Brailsford, McIntire, Congdon, John Monro, Wiborn, Seabrook
and Hamilton were distinguished on the field.
The great issue of battle between Pope and Lee was to be determined
on the 30th. Longstreet was in battle array on Jackson's right, with
a front of seven brigades: First Hood, with his brigades, supported
by Evans; then Kemper, with two brigades in his front line, Jenkins
and Hunter, supported by Corse; then D. R. Jones, with three brigades
in echelon, on the extreme right, reaching the Manassas Gap railroad.
Wilcox, with three brigades, in column, was in close supporting
distance, behind Hood and Evans. R. H. Anderson with three brigades was
on the march for the field, moving from the direction of Warrenton. The
brigades of Evans and Jenkins were composed of South Carolina troops;
the Fifteenth South Carolina was in Drayton's brigade, with D. R. Jones
on the right, and the Hampton legion infantry was in Wofford's brigade,
with Hood on the left. Bachman's and Garden's batteries were in Major
Frobel's battalion, and Rhett's was in S. D. Lee's battalion.
Pope massed against Jackson, and after assailing him with a heavy fire
of artillery, attacked his whole line with all the aggressive power
he could command. Porter's corps assailed his right and center, and
Heintzelman's and Reno's corps attacked his left and left flank. These
three corps were supported by the divisions of King and Ricketts.
Jackson stood against this combination with his three divisions, and
made desperate resistance. For three hours, from 1 to 4 p. m., his
battle was purely defensive and held back the surging columns of
attack, but he saw that his limit of resistance had been reached and
sent to General Lee for a division. At that moment General Longstreet,
riding out to a commanding position oh Jackson's right, saw the
whole field of attack and seized the opportunity to enfilade the
line. Chapman's Virginia, Boyce's South Carolina and Reilly's North
Carolina batteries were called up at a run, and fully appreciating the
situation, went into telling action. The assaulting lines were broken
in ten minutes, rallied, returned, and were again broken. Rallying a
third time, they were a third time staggered by the fire of Boyce,
Chapman and Reilly, and Jackson's line was given a breathing spell.
S. D. Lee now put his battalion into action, and his guns swept the
field and "tore the line to pieces," says General Longstreet. Rhett's
South Carolina battery, commanded by Lieut. William Elliott, with Lee's
battalion, shared the honors of this grand assault of artillery in aid
of Jackson's heroic battle. The moment had come for Longstreet to move,
and as the commanding general rode on the field and ordered the grand
assault, he was sending the order to his division commanders to advance.
It was now late in the afternoon, but before night had settled down on
that great field of strife, Hood and Evans and Kemper and D. R. Jones
and R. H. Anderson had carried the battle beyond the Chinn house and
to the base of the great plateau at the Henry house, which commanded
the enemy's line of retreat over Bull run. But night had come and saved
the plateau to Pope's army and his retreat was secured to him.
Lee's victory was complete. But it had been won by a mighty sacrifice
of human life. South Carolina had laid down her noble sons in costly
sacrifice. Her brigades and regiments in that great battle had given
their very best. Among the gallant dead, and those who received mortal
wounds, at Manassas, on the two days of heroic strife, were the
following distinguished officers:
Col. J. F. Marshall and Lieut.-Col. D. A. Ledbetter, of Orr's Rifles;
Col. Thomas J. Glover, of the First South Carolina battalion; Col. John
V. Moore, of the Second Rifles; Col. John H. Means, of the Seventeenth;
Col. J. M. Gadberry, Eighteenth; Lieut.-Col. Francis G. Palmer, of the
Holcombe legion, and many other gallant spirits. Brigadier-General
Jenkins was wounded at the head of his brigade and over 400 of his
officers and men killed and wounded. Col. H. L. Benbow, Twenty-third
South Carolina; Maj. W. J. Crawley, of the Holcombe legion, and other
field, staff and company officers of the South Carolina commands were
wounded on the field. It is greatly to be regretted that there are no
reports from General Jenkins of record, or any one of his regimental
commanders, respecting the operations of the 29th and 30th.
As Hood's right swept on in its battle, Jenkins and Hunton kept abreast
of it, and Evans, in supporting Hood, came into battle connection with
Jenkins. This was particularly the case when the guns were captured at
the Chinn house. Colonel Corse in his report gives the line of program
which Jenkins observed, as passing beyond the Chinn house and south of
it, while Evans, who supported Hood's two brigades, passed beyond and
north of it. Wofford, who commanded Hood's right brigade, refers to
his advance against a battery at or east of the Chinn house, when the
Holcombe legion (of Evans' brigade) came up to his support and fought
"with much spirit and gallantry." Colonel Gary, the commander of the
Hampton legion infantry, in his report says: "We were then [Wofford's
brigade] hotly engaged around the Chinn house, where the brigade
captured several pieces of artillery. At this place the brigade of
General Evans came up in gallant style and relieved us." Evidently the
Chinn house, which stood about one mile southwest of Groveton, formed
the center of the theater of battle for the brigades of Jenkins and
Evans and the Hampton legion infantry, under Colonel Gary.
These commands carried their battle for a half mile east of the Chinn
house, when darkness checked and ended their advance. Over the space
indicated the South Carolinians fought with steady courage, attesting
their devotion by the sacrifices of the day. In this advance fell the
noble-hearted Governor Means, at the head of the Seventeenth; the
accomplished and gallant Glover, at the head of Hagood's First; the
brave Gadberry, leading the Eighteenth; the dashing Moore, commanding
the Second rifles; the heroic Palmer, urging the Holcombe legion to the
charge, and Henry Stevens, aide to Col. P. F. Stevens, falling with
five wounds.
A single shell bursting in front of Company K, Palmetto sharpshooters,
killed five young men--Theodotus L. Capers, James Palmer, Whiteford
Smith, Bearden and McSwain--graduates and undergraduates of college,
the very best Carolina could give for her cause. It is particularly
noted, that these were representative young men, sons of men of
prominence in the church and in the State. Never did one shell destroy
more of the beauty and promise of life, or carry more sorrow to human
hearts.
The Fifteenth South Carolina operated on the extreme right in support
of cavalry, and is reported as losing 21 in killed and wounded.
General Longstreet complained that Drayton was sent to the right
without his knowledge, and expressed his regret that he could not
command his aid when he needed it to reinforce the battle.
Major Frobel reported that on Friday morning he took Bachman's
battery, by General Hood's order, to the extreme right on the Orange &
Alexandria railroad, where Stuart's cavalry was operating. Here Bachman
opened on a column marching to the Confederate right. Fifteen rounds
were so well directed that the column halted and then disappeared
toward the left. Later, Bachman and Garden took post on the Warrenton
pike, and for two hours engaged the batteries of the enemy at the
Groveton house, and silenced them. On the 30th, in the afternoon,
following Hood's advance, Bachman and Garden advanced down the
Warrenton pike, Bachman taking position on the right of the road and
Garden on the left, both well out, and opened on the enemy's guns at
the Dogan house. Again the batteries engaged and drove the enemy's guns
away from the house, and prepared the way for Colonel Law's brigade to
carry the position. Bachman had exhausted his ammunition, and Garden
moved on until night stopped his progress. Major Frobel reported that
Bachman and Garden handled their guns with great skill and effect.
Lieutenant Siegling, a gallant officer of Bachman's battery, was struck
from his horse by a fragment of shell, and seeing the exposed position
of his mounted men, as he was falling gave the command, "Cannoneers,
dismount." His wound was through the stomach, and was supposed to be
mortal, but his cheerful resolution and strong physique, with skillful
surgical attention, carried him through the ordeal, and he rejoined his
command.
The following are the returns of casualties from the several South
Carolina commands engaged at Manassas on the 29th and 30th. Except from
Boyce's battery there are no reports of casualties in the artillery:
Gregg's brigade--Orr's Rifles, 116; First, 143; Twelfth, 145;
Thirteenth, 144; Fourteenth, 65. Jenkins' brigade--First (Hagood's),
124; Second Rifles, 58; Fifth, 39; Sixth, 115; Sharpshooters, 68.
Drayton's brigade, Fifteenth, 21. Wofford's brigade, Hampton's legion,
74. Evans' brigade, Holcombe legion, 155; Seventeenth, 179; Eighteenth,
113; Twenty-second,--; Twenty-third, 149; Boyce's battery, 6. The grand
total is 1,714, and of these, 281 are given as killed on the field.
Many of those reported wounded had received mortal hurt.
The morning of Sunday, August 31, 1862, dawned upon the plains and
hills and valleys of Manassas to find them covered with the dead, the
dying and the wounded of both armies. The trophies of victory cheered
the awful prospect, but the sight of the great battlefield filled every
manly heart with feelings of reverence for the dead and sympathy for
the wounded, both friend and foe. Ten thousand wounded Union soldiers,
30 pieces of artillery, many stand of colors, and 7,000 prisoners bore
witness to the steady courage and the heroic endurance of Jackson's
three divisions on the 29th, and the gallant charge of Longstreet's
wing on the 30th. Pope retreated after nightfall on the 30th and put
his rear guard in the Confederate defenses at Centreville.
He reported that he had been driven in perfect order from the field,
by overwhelming numbers; that the fight had been an unequal one; that
Longstreet had crushed his left with great masses of Confederates,
pouring down in a stream of reinforcements from the Bull Run mountains.
" ... At no time could I have hoped to fight a successful battle with
the immensely superior force of the enemy which confronted me, and
which was able at any time to outflank me and bear my small army to the
dust." But the official records show beyond question that on the field
of Manassas he had under his command 10,000 more men than Lee commanded
in his front on the 30th. Jackson's corps numbered scarcely 20,000 men
of all arms. Pope assailed it all day on the 29th, and made desperate
attempts to destroy it on the 30th, and not a man reinforced Jackson on
the 29th or the 30th; and the "superior forces" that assaulted General
Pope's right on the 30th were just the corps of General Jackson after
all its losses and work on the 27th, 28th and 29th of August.
General Longstreet tells us that on the morning of Sunday, the 31st,
General Lee called General Jackson to his headquarters and gave him
instructions to cross Bull run at Sudley's ford, march by Little
River turnpike, and intercept the enemy's retreat. On receiving these
instructions, says Longstreet, Jackson said, "Good!" and away he went
without another word. He marched on the morning of the 31st, struck
the Little River turnpike at Wykoop's, turned toward Fairfax Court
House, and camped for the night at Pleasant valley. On September 1st
he continued his march, passed Chantilly, and came upon Pope's forces
at Ox hill, just south of the turnpike, and about halfway between
Chantilly and Germantown. General Pope had due notice of the advance on
his right, and early on the 1st formed a determination, as he reports,
to fight a battle between the roads which come together at Fairfax,
on one of which he was stationed, Jackson, followed by Longstreet,
marching on the other.
Reinforced by Sumner's and Franklin's corps, General Pope arranged for
battle on the 1st of September with a force of 57,000. The corps of
Heintzelman, Reno and McDowell were in position south of the Little
River turnpike, facing almost north. Against these corps General
Jackson attacked on the afternoon of the 1st, the battle being fought
during a storm of rain and wind, which blew directly in the faces of
the Confederates. Jackson put his corps on right into line of battle,
Hill, Lawton and Starke from right to left. Jackson attacked by Hill's
division, and a severe battle followed until night. During the battle
a portion of Ewell's division, commanded by Lawton, supported General
Hill, but the battle was mainly fought by Hill, the brigades of Branch,
Gregg and Pender bearing the brunt of the fight. General Hill says that
the enemy stubbornly contested the ground, but on the fall of the two
prominent commanders on the field, Generals Kearny and Stevens, the
enemy was driven back, but not far, retreating entirely after night.
The battle was aggressive on Jackson's part, and as it progressed
pushed the Federal forces back, but night coming on both sides ceased
from conflict.
In this battle Gregg's brigade, leading Hill's division, came first
into line by its right, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth in the front
line, Orr's Rifles, the Twelfth and the First supporting. As the battle
progressed, the Rifles and the Twelfth were advanced to the front line
of battle, the First remaining in support, under command of Capt. C.
W. McCreary. Lieut.-Col. W. D. Simpson commanded the Fourteenth, and
Capt. James Perrin the Rifles. The losses in Gregg's brigade at Ox Hill
were reported as follows: Orr's Rifles, 5 killed, 25 wounded, total
30; First South Carolina, 1 killed, 7 wounded, total 8; Twelfth, 1
killed, 10 wounded, total 11; Thirteenth, 5 killed, 24 wounded, total
29; Fourteenth, 3 killed, 23 wounded, total 26; total, 15 killed,
89 wounded. Lieut. W. C. Leppard, of the Thirteenth, and Adjt. W.
C. Buchanan, of the Twelfth, were killed on the field after being
distinguished in the action. Captain West and Lieutenant Youngblood of
the Fourteenth, and Lieutenant Jenkins of the Rifles, were wounded.
We call the battle of Ox Hill a battle with Pope's rear guard, for
such it was. Though his army was in position to give battle to General
Lee on the 2d of September, his forces were arranged so as to secure
his retreat, and this he actually made on the night of the 1st and the
morning of the 2d, falling back on the defenses of Washington. General
Pope seems to have regarded his army at Centreville on the morning of
September 1st, though numbering 62,000, including Banks, near at hand,
no match for that of General Lee, which was not a man over 40,000, if
so strong. If he had only known the actual strength of General Lee's
army, the question arises, Would it have made any difference in the
results of the Rappahannock-Manassas campaigns?