BATTLES OF CHANCELLORSVILLE AND SALEM HEIGHTS—BATTERY H ORDERED TO
CHANTILLY, AND AFTERWARDS TO FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE—RETURN TO CAMP
BARRY—PICKET DUTY AT FAIRFAX SEMINARY—MOVED TO VICINITY OF FORT
SCOTT.
When Gen. Joseph Hooker was appointed to succeed Burnside in command of
the Army of the Potomac, he made earnest efforts to raise its _morale_
and increase its efficiency. In the meantime the inclement season and
the bad roads prevented any forward movement before spring. On the 13th
of April General Hooker commenced his campaign by sending a force of
cavalry, with artillery, across the upper fords of the Rappahannock, and
thence to the Rapidan, preparatory to a general advance of the army. A
storm and bad roads delayed the latter movement until the 27th. On the
morning of that day the Fifth, Eleventh, and the Twelfth Corps moved
toward the upper fords, which they reached the next day, and crossed on
the 29th. Thence they moved to the Rapidan, and crossed that stream at
Germania Ford and another some eight or ten miles above its confluence
with the Rappahannock. From this stream they advanced to the vicinity of
Chancellorsville, a village consisting of a single house and
out-buildings, and here three corps were massed on the 30th.
On the morning of the 1st of May four corps were there prepared for an
advanced against the enemy. During the 2d and 3d of May occurred one of
the hardest fought battles, of the war. The losses on both sides were
severe. On the 3d and 4th of May, Sedgwick’s Corps of nearly twenty
thousand, fought an almost independent battle at Salem Heights, near
Fredericksburg, about fourteen miles from Hooker’s position. They fought
with determined bravery, but were compelled by the presence of a
superior force to fall back, and recrossed the river in good order. The
main body of Hooker’s army safely recrossed the river on the evening of
the 5th. When morning revealed to the enemy the movement, they seemed
more content to have it take place, and made no attempt to hasten it.
The Union army had fought three days with about one-third of its numbers
against the massed forces of the enemy, and though forced to yield some
ground had repulsed their desperate assaults, and then returned to its
old camps having suffered large losses but not seriously weakened.
May 4th. At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville, General
Abercrombie ordered the right section under command of Captain Hazard,
in connection with the Twelfth Vermont regiment of our brigade, to
Rappahannock Station for the purpose of guarding the river at this
point. While stationed here Captain Hazard relates that a number of
negroes came across the river one morning, and the next day Hon. John
Minor Botts crossed and claimed them as his property. He talked with
them quite a while and endeavored to induce them to return with him.
This they declined to do. Mr. Botts claimed to be a Union man, and said
he would go to President Lincoln for redress. He also threatened to use
his influence to have his friend, the Hon. John J. Crittenden, of
Kentucky (who was holding out as a Union man), espouse the cause of the
Confederacy unless his (Botts’s) property was returned. His “boys,” as
he called them, were soon scattered and were employed in the army or at
the north, and were about as free as they were after the Emancipation
Proclamation. As an instance of the financial situation of the
Confederacy at that period of the Rebellion, Mr. Botts, who wore a pair
of cowhide shoes at this time, said they cost him twenty-five dollars in
Confederate money, in Richmond.
While the right section of the battery was with Captain Hazard at
Rappahannock Station, First Lieut. George W. Blair remained in command
of the camp at Union Mills. On the 17th of the month the centre section,
which was on picket guarding the ford at Kettle Run Shoals, was relieved
by the left section.
At ten o’clock on the morning of the 20th the battery received marching
orders and left Union Mills for Chantilly, near Centreville, arriving
there about one P. M., and going into park near the Twenty-fifth and
Twenty-seventh Maine regiments of infantry.
On the 24th many of the members of the battery availed themselves of the
privilege of visiting the old Chantilly battlefield.
May 26th. The sound of artillery firing was heard in the direction of
Drownsville, causing our battery to be held in readiness to move at a
moment’s notice.
May 29th. The long roll awakened us from our slumbers, and “boots and
saddles” call was sounded. The battery was hitched up and ready to move
in eight minutes. We anticipated an attack of the rebels on our picket
line. If they had come upon us then they would have found confronting
them the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Maine regiments (each eleven
hundred strong), and, with the Eleventh Massachusetts Battery and our
own battery, they would have met with a warm reception, as the night was
very dark and we had the advantage of a good position.
June 7th. Reviewed at ten A. M. by Gen. Alfred Pleasonton.
June 12th. While the battery was drilling in rapid movements, this
forenoon, one of our attached men, Private John D. White, of Company D,
Sixteenth Vermont Infantry, met with a painful accident. In mounting,
and while throwing his right leg over the back of his horse his left
foot slipped from the stirrup, throwing him on the pummel of his saddle
and causing a severe rupture. He remained in camp a week or more, and
was then sent to the post hospital, at Camp Barry, and remained there
until the muster out of his regiment.
It being the plan of the rebel General Lee to attempt an invasion of the
northern States, he at once set his troops in motion and did not meet
with any serious obstacle to his progress until Gettysburg was reached,
which we will notice further on.
On June 15th the battery witnessed the passage by its camp of the
Eleventh, Twelfth, Second and Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac, on
their way to intercept the rebel army, which was moving on Gettysburg.
On this date Private Earl Fenner was ordered on special duty to carry
dispatches to the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. On his
return he narrowly escaped capture by Mosby’s guerillas.
June 17th. We can hear distant cannonading in the direction of Aldie
Gap. We learn that our forces are having quite a brush with the enemy. A
large body of our troops are concentrating at Fairfax Court House,
awaiting orders to move toward Gettysburg. A number of rebel prisoners
passed our camp to-day under guard. Their brown butternut uniforms and
slouch hats indicated that they hailed from North Carolina.
June 25th. The battery received orders to leave camp at Chantilly this
morning at eight A. M., and proceed to Fairfax Court House, and report
to Brig.-Gen. Henry J. Hunt, who had command of the Reserve Artillery of
the Army of the Potomac. On our arrival there, Captain Hazard reported
to General Hunt that the term of service of the attached men assigned
from the Vermont brigade to our battery would expire on or about July
10th. The general, having more artillery than he needed, and noting the
deficiency in the number of men in our battery, ordered Captain Hazard
to report to Gen. William F. Barry, Chief of Artillery in the vicinity
of Washington. Thus, owing to the depleted condition of the battery, we
were not permitted to share with our sister batteries from our State in
the honor of participating in the mighty struggle at Gettysburg a few
days later, which shed so bright a lustre on the fame of the light
artillery that Rhode Island furnished to the armies of the Union.
In accordance with the instructions from General Hunt our battery
marched to Arlington Heights, camping outside of the intrenchments near
Annandale Court House. About midnight an officer on General Barry’s
staff directed Captain Hazard to withdraw his battery inside of the
intrenchments, as there were no infantry troops to support us should the
enemy appear in force. Accordingly we hitched up and shortly afterward
moved within the intrenchments.
At eight o’clock on the morning of the 26th we left Arlington Heights
and marched to Camp Barry.
June 28th. Our battery was again ordered to march, and, at eight P. M.,
left Camp Barry for Fairfax Seminary, passing through Washington, going
over Long Bridge to Alexandria, Va., and from thence to Fairfax
Seminary. On arriving in the vicinity of the Seminary a soldier on
picket, from a New York regiment, fired upon our battery, mistaking us
for the enemy. We then took position near Fort Ward, coming into action
front, running our guns out of the embrasures and in line with the
breastworks. As an attack was expected there our cannoneers remained at
their posts till reveille the next morning. Captain Hazard reported with
his command to Col. H. L. Abbott, of the First Connecticut Heavy
Artillery, commanding the Third Brigade, Defenses South of the Potomac.
General Hooker ascertained that Lee’s army instead of threatening to
attack him in front of Washington, had crossed the Potomac into
Maryland. He accordingly made a similar movement, crossing between
Harper’s Ferry and the capital. The 27th of June found the greater
portion of his forces in the vicinity of Frederick. When nearing this
place an order was received relieving him of the command of the Army of
the Potomac, and appointing in his place Maj.-Gen. George G. Meade.
Considerable astonishment was manifested among the army and the people
at this unexpected change. It was subsequently stated that General
Hooker was relieved at his own request, some of his plans not meeting
with the approval of those in authority. He declared in his orders he
felt that his usefulness was impaired, and he relinquished the command
with regret at parting from his brave comrades, especially at this time
when they were moving to drive the invaders from the loyal States.
General Meade, upon whom this unsolicited and unexpected honor and
responsibility was conferred, had been identified with the army from its
organization, and had proved himself an able and competent officer. On
the same day that he assumed command he issued orders for the movement
of the army, rendered necessary in order to checkmate the operations of
the Confederates.
On the 29th the position of our battery is thus defined by Colonel
Abbott, commanding our brigade, in his report of affairs on Little River
Turnpike, where our pickets were established. He says:
“I have the honor to report that the enemy have been reconnoitering on
the Little River Turnpike, just in front of our pickets, both last night
and to-day. On the first occasion three men put to flight a whole
company of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth New York (infantry),
although the only demonstration (the Confederates) made was to retreat
on being challenged by the pickets. On the second two armed men shot a
civilian and drove two others into our lines in sight of our pickets.
“Fort Worth is too high to command this road by night by artillery fire,
and my infantry is too bad to be trusted to protect even a section of
the light artillery there, where there is no retreat for it from
cavalry.
“I have ridden over the position this morning, and would respectfully
suggest that the Twenty-fifth Maine regiment, now near my right, be
placed where this company now is, to hold the road, and cover a section
of my battery (Hazard’s) to-night.
“After due examination I have decided, unless more force is available,
to put the whole battery in position in the rifle-pits, between Forts
Worth and Ward, covered by three companies of the One Hundred and
Seventy-eighth New York infantry, with orders to hold the Leesburg
Turnpike, and await further developments in case of an attack to-night.
“I cannot hold the Little River Turnpike without more infantry. If the
rebels pass Fort Worth on it, they ought to be stopped by the forces
near Alexandria; if they then turn up on the Seminary plateau the light
battery is ready to prevent their attacking our line in rear in that
vicinity, and the convalescent men ought to hold their own camp. Their
raid will thus do little good to them.
“If I try to block the Little River pike, I fear I shall lose my guns to
no purpose.”
Let us pause for awhile to observe the movements of the Union and
Confederate armies now approaching Gettysburg, the county seat of Adams
County, Pennsylvania, and eight or ten miles north of the Maryland line,
and about forty miles north of Frederick, from which place the Federal
army moved. On the evening of June 30th the Federal cavalry advance
reached Gettysburg, passed through the village and encamped on the
northerly side. On the following morning a deadly encounter took place
between the Union and Confederate forces, which resulted in the success
of the troops of the enemy and in the withdrawal of the Union forces to
Cemetery Hill, which lies nearly south of Gettysburg, and derives its
name from a cemetery which crowns its summit. Here our troops encamped
for the night, throwing up breastworks along the whole front, the
artillery well posted, and the positions on Cemetery Hill and Culp’s
Hill (to the right) were made exceedingly strong.
On the morning of July 2d, General Meade arrived on the field, and
determined to fight a defensive battle. The Federal line was an
irregular semi-circle, the centre of which was Cemetery Hill, fronting
the village, and thence running on the left southwest along the ridge
fronting the Emmitsburg road, to the hill called Round Top; and on the
right running nearly south over Culp’s Hill, and along the ridge
fronting Rock Creek to the Baltimore Turnpike. The rebels furiously
attacked our lines, and the result of the second day’s battle was the
gain of some half a mile of ground where the Third Corps had been forced
back, and the occupation of the extreme right of the Federal works. The
gain of the Confederates on the left was at a heavy cost, the Union
lines being in a stronger position than the day before.
The next day, the 3d, preparations were made to dislodge the enemy on
our right. Our troops advanced at that point, and drove the entire force
of the enemy out, and the Federal line was re-established as on the
previous day, the rebels also returning to their former positions. While
this engagement was transpiring on the right, it was comparatively quiet
along the other parts of the line except the usual desultory picket
firing.
At one o’clock a desperate charge on the Union lines at Cemetery Hill
was made by the rebels, composed of a division of Longstreet’s corps
under Pickett, which led the attack supported by other troops from
Longstreet’s and Hill’s corps. Says Longstreet: “The signal gun broke
the prevailing stillness, and immediately 150 Confederate cannon burst
into a deafening roar, which was answered by a thunder almost as great
from the Federal side.” The attack was gallantly made and the struggle
fierce, but the picked troops of the rebel army were finally routed, and
thus ended one of the greatest battles of modern times, which resulted
in a glorious victory to the Union arms and turned the tide of rebel
invasion, hurling Lee’s army back into Virginia, discomfited and
disheartened.
We will now return to the Department of Washington, which was under the
command of Maj.-Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, with Brig.-Gen. Gustavus A.
De Russy commanding defenses south of the Potomac, in which the brigade
under Col. Henry L. Abbott formed a part. Battery H was attached to this
brigade.
At three o’clock on the morning of July 2d, long roll was sounded. Our
battery occupied the breastworks near Fort Ward, and remained in that
position until reveille.
July 6th. At ten A. M. a review took place of the entire Twenty-second
Corps by Generals Casey and De Russy. Our battery is assigned to the
First Brigade, Third Division of the corps.
July 10th. The attached men from the Vermont regiments, who have served
with the battery since last March, left us to-day. Their term of service
has expired and they are about returning to their regiments to be
mustered out. They are good soldiers and we part from them with sorrow.
July 16th. Our battery was inspected to-day by Captain Howard on General
De Russy’s staff.
July 18th. The paymaster arrived in camp and we received two months’
pay, which was very welcome. While in camp here the several sections of
the battery were drilled by the bugle call by First Lieut. Charles F.
Mason, he also acting as bugler. First Sergt. Charles E. Bonn also
assisted in drilling the battery.
August 6th. We find on this date only twenty-seven men fit for duty in
camp, a large number being sick with chills and fever.
August 17th. Capt. Jeffrey Hazard, our battery commander, took his
departure, having tendered his resignation from the service. He bade us
“good bye” at retreat roll call and started for Rhode Island. Captain
Hazard was a skillful and efficient officer, loved and respected by his
men. While in command of the battery he brought it to a high state of
proficiency in drill and discipline. Upon the resignation of Captain
Hazard, First Lieut. Charles F. Mason assumed command of the battery. He
was a brave and accomplished soldier, having previously served with
Captain Hazard in Battery A, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. At the
battle of Antietam both of these officers, then lieutenants in that
battery, after many of their number had been killed or wounded, bravely
worked the guns for the want of men.
August 30th. Our battery was inspected by Colonel Abbott, commanding
Third Brigade, Twenty-second Army Corps, of the forces south of the
Potomac.
August 31st. At 12.30 A. M. we bade farewell to our old camp at Fairfax
Seminary and marched to Fort Scott, going into park in that vicinity.
September 1st. Moved our camp to higher land and nearer Fort Scott.
Farrier George W. Tracy died to-day in hospital at Fairfax Seminary.
September 12th. Again the welcome paymaster appeared in camp. We signed
the rolls and received two months’ pay.
September 30th. First Lieut. Crawford Allen, Jr., of Battery G, First
Rhode Island Light Artillery, has been promoted to the command of our
battery. Captain Allen came to us with a record of good service in the
field. He was commissioned second lieutenant in Battery G, First Rhode
Island Light Artillery, Nov. 7, 1861, and on the 18th of November, in
the following year, was promoted to first lieutenant. He participated
with his battery in the Peninsular campaign, and in the battles of
Antietam and the first and second Fredericksburg. In the latter
engagement, May 2d, 1863, Captain Allen was slightly wounded. He was
subsequently made adjutant of his regiment and acting adjutant-general
of the artillery brigade of the Sixth Army Corps, which positions he
continued to hold until he was promoted to the captaincy of Battery H,
to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Captain Hazard.
October 14th. We heard the sound of artillery firing in the direction of
Thoroughfare Gap, caused by a skirmish of our troops with Gen. Fitz Hugh
Lee’s cavalry. Our battery was ordered to hold itself in readiness to
move at a moment’s notice.
October 18th. The battery was reviewed by Colonel Abbott, commanding our
brigade.
October 20th. Captain Peirce, Chief of Artillery on the staff of General
De Russy, inspected our battery to-day.
November 18th. Private Andrew Turner, who had gone to his home in Hope
Village on a sick furlough, died in that place on this date.
November 17th. The battery was reviewed by Gen. William F. Barry, chief
of artillery.