THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN.
Orders to move--The river crossed--Sedgwick's command--The First
corps withdrawn--Gallant conduct of the Light
division--Advancing to the heights--The line of battle--The
columns of attack--Attack of Howe's columns--Of Newton's
column--Of Burnham's--Misfortune following victory--Fight of
Bartlett's brigade--The First division at work--A critical
position--The Sixth corps surrounded--Savage fight of Neill's
brigade--The corps withdraws to Banks' Ford--Recrosses the
river--Hooker's operations on the right--Position of the
corps--Rout of the Eleventh corps--The rebels repulsed--Jackson
renews the attack--The rebels again repulsed--Hooker recrosses
the river.
On Tuesday, the 28th of April, the Sixth corps received orders to break
up its camp and be ready to march at a moment's notice. Eight days'
rations had been issued to the men, who were in the highest spirits,
having forgotten all their former discouragements, and were now only
anxious for an encounter with the enemy. A storm of rain of some
violence set in on the morning of the 28th, which rendered marching
difficult. At twelve o'clock we received the order to "fall in," and in
five minutes we were on our way to take our place in the line of battle.
A march of six miles through thickets and bogs, brought us to the rear
of Falmouth Station, at a short distance from the river. Here we
bivouacked for the night, and were awakened before daylight in the
morning by the sound of artillery and musketry at the river, where
Russell's brigade, of the First division, was forcing a passage across
the stream. The Second division only had been allowed to rest quietly
during the night. The men of the Light brigade had toiled from dark
until nearly dawn, carrying the pontoon boats on their shoulders to the
river side, and launching them in the stream. So noiselessly had they
conducted their operations, that the pickets of the enemy took no alarm
until they suddenly saw the braves of Russell's brigade approaching in
the boats, just as dawn was breaking. The astonished confederates fired
a few volleys of musketry, and our guns threw among them a few charges
of cannister, and the rebels fled precipitately. A number of prisoners
were captured, among them the officer of the picket-guard. Colonel
Irwin, of the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, who had, at Antietam, commanded
the Third brigade of the Second division, was among the wounded on our
side.
At sunrise the Second division filed down to the river side, and took
position in line of battle. Our horses cropped the green blades which
had sprung from the grain scattered for their food nearly five months
before. The division was upon the very spot where it lay before, at the
first battle of Fredericksburgh. The bridge also was in the same place
that Franklin's bridge had been. The point was known as Franklin's
Crossing.
The First division of our corps (Brook's) was on the other side of the
river, holding the plain for some distance. The pickets of that division
formed the half of a circle of about three-fourths of a mile in
diameter, the center being at the pontoon bridge, where some earthworks
were thrown up. At our left, about a mile down the river, the First
corps had also effected a crossing. The rebels had offered strong
resistance, but the crossing was gallantly accomplished by Wadsworth's
division in boats. Like the First division of our own corps, Wadsworth's
division was holding a semi-circular portion of the plateau; but being
able to maintain the position by some fighting.
Sickles' Third corps was upon the high ground in the rear, ready to come
to the assistance of the corps at the river. The three corps, First,
Third and Sixth, were under command of General Sedgwick.
The rebels spent the day in throwing up intrenchments and shelling
Reynolds' position. Toward night the artillery practice ceased, and the
First and Sixth corps bivouacked where they had stood during the day,
but Sickles and his corps were ordered to the assistance of Hooker, on
the right.
The morning of the 30th was lowery, but the clouds dispersed as the day
advanced. About noon the troops were massed by brigades, and a
congratulatory order from General Hooker was read to them, amid great
cheering. "The enemy," said the order, "must now come out and fight us
on our ground, or retreat ingloriously." Nothing more of interest
occurred that day; but, in the afternoon of the following day, the First
corps became engaged in a fierce artillery duel with the enemy, in which
the corps lost a large number of its men in killed and wounded. At
sunset an order came from General Hooker, at Chancellorsville, for
General Sedgwick to assume a threatening attitude--to make a severe
demonstration--but to make no attack. There was much marching and
getting into position, and regiments and divisions were marched and
countermarched in such a manner as to convey to the rebels the
impression that a grand attack was to be made at that point. The enemy
was evidently deceived by these maneuvers, and heavy columns of rebel
infantry commenced to form upon the old battle-field. While we stood in
line of battle, one of our bands near the skirmish line struck up the
air, "Dixie." The rebels, hearing the strains, set up defiant cheers,
which were answered by our army in the most tremendous shouts
imaginable. The contest seemed for the time to depend on strength of
lung, and our boys certainly beat them at shouting.
As the sun disappeared behind the hills, when Hooker's guns were
thundering, we retired to our tents. All day long the earth had been
shaken by tremendous firing of artillery on the right; and now, as
darkness gathered over the scenes of conflict, the thundering of the
guns and the trembling of the earth seemed like a succession of
earthquakes. The spirit of our boys rose, as the battle on the right
progressed, and there seemed to be indications of work for them. Groups
might be seen at any time, when we were not standing in line of battle,
telling yarns, singing songs, playing ball and pitching quoits, while
they momentarily looked for the order to advance upon the heights, into
the very jaws of death.
Saturday morning, May 2d, the First corps was withdrawn from its
position; its bridges were taken up, and the corps moved past us up the
river to join the main body of the army under Hooker, on the right. The
Seventy-seventh was sent to do picket duty on the ground occupied by the
First corps the night before. Our reserve was posted a little way from
the river, in a pleasant field, where the fresh clover furnished a soft
bed for the men, and a dainty bite for our horses. Just in front of us
was a lovely spot--the residence of Doctor Morson, for fifteen years a
surgeon in the United States navy. The place was in remarkable order;
the gardens in full bloom, the mocking birds building their nests, and
the greenlets warbling sweetly among the flowering shrubs.
We strolled along the banks of the beautiful river, gathering flowers
and glancing at our "secesh" neighbors on the opposite bank, only a few
yards distant; or we lounged in the shade of our tents, enjoying the
charms of a lovely May day, while the terrible din of battle on the
right, where Hooker's forces were contending, shook the ground beneath
us, and we knew that ere the sun set, thousands of our brave comrades
must be sacrificed.
As the evening drew near, we who were on the north side of the river saw
our skirmishers, of the "Light division", drive back the skirmish line
of the enemy. It was a gallant feat, and finely executed. Our hearts
leaped for joy as we watched our brave fellows, their line as perfect as
though on drill, advance, firing rapidly, and pressing the enemy at
"double-quick." They made no halt until they had crossed the whole
breadth of the plain and reached the base of the hills.
Few who were then in the Sixth corps will ever forget that scene. The
sun, just sinking behind the hills where Hooker was at work, threw a
beautiful golden light over the plain, and crowned the heights with
brilliant hues. It was one of those evenings of surpassing loveliness,
such as gladdened our hearts only at long intervals. Prominent in the
foreground of the beautiful scene was a noble white steed, with its
gallant rider, dashing from one end of the skirmish line to the other.
None who witnessed the spectacle will forget the white horse and the
fearless rider; and few of the Second or Light divisions need be
reminded that the horseman was Colonel Baker, of the Forty-third New
York, who was then in charge of the skirmish line.
The "Light division" was, as we have before stated, the First brigade of
our Second division, with regiments from the First and Third divisions
which had been, a short time before leaving camp, detached to form an
independent organization. The arrangement was broken up immediately
after this battle, and the regiments put in the First and Second
divisions again.
Immediately after the brilliant advance of the "Light division," the
Seventy-seventh regiment was ordered to leave the picket line and join
its brigade. The Second division crossed the river and took position,
the Third brigade in front, the Vermont brigade in rear. The
Thirty-third and Forty-ninth New York, of the Third brigade, went
forward as pickets in front of the hills, relieving pickets of the
"Light division," which moved to the right. We remained in line all
night, sometimes throwing ourselves upon the ground to catch a moment's
sleep, then roused in expectancy of an advance.
At four o'clock in the morning we did advance. Straight across the plain
we went, until we came nearly to the base of the heights, where the
hosts of the enemy awaited us, then taking the Bowling Green road, filed
to the right and proceeded to the rear of Fredericksburgh; the
Seventy-seventh in front, the Twenty-first New Jersey, the Forty-ninth
New York, Twentieth New York, Seventh Maine and Thirty-third New York,
constituting the Third brigade, under command of General Neill,
following in the order mentioned. Then came the Vermont brigade, Colonel
L. A. Grant commanding; these two brigades forming the whole of Howe's
(Second) division of the Sixth corps since the First brigade was
detached.
As we gained the rear of the eastern part of the town, the batteries of
the enemy opened upon us, and swarms of infantry rose up in our front
and poured volleys of bullets into our ranks. The "Light division" and
Newton's Third division of our corps had passed through the streets of
the town, and were now on our right. The skirmishers from Wheaton's and
Shaler's brigades had struck those of the enemy near a large mansion,
where, each party dodging behind the garden fence, the cherry trees and
the outhouses, they kept up a lively engagement for several minutes, but
Newton's advance was forced to yield the ground.
In the meantime, the long line of rifled cannon which surmounted
Stafford Heights, on the north side of the river, as at the first battle
of Fredericksburgh, were throwing huge shells across the wide valley and
stream into the works of the enemy. One or two field batteries near the
head of our own column, and some attached to the other divisions, got
into position and opened a fierce cannonade.
General Howe quickly formed his troops in line, as did the other
division commanders.
The line of battle of the corps extended from the pontoon bridge at
Franklin's Crossing to the right of the town of Fredericksburgh. First,
on the left, Brooks' division held the plain in front of the crossing.
Next, on the right, in front of Marye's Heights, was Howe's Second
division; then the "Light division," Colonel Burnham; and on the extreme
right was Newton's Third division. Gibbon's division of the Second
corps, which, because its encampment was in plain view of the enemy, had
been left behind, also crossed into the town by a bridge which it threw
over, and took position on the right of the corps.
General Sedgwick, finding that the heights could only be carried by
direct assault, directed storming columns to be formed in the Second and
Third divisions and the Light division, which order was at once carried
into execution.
In the Second division, General Howe directed General Neill to lead the
advance. The plan of attack of the division was in two lines of battle
of three regiments each.
The first line consisted of the Thirty-third New York, Colonel Taylor,
the Seventh Maine, Colonel Connor, and the Twenty-first New Jersey,
Colonel Van Houten, preceded by the Seventy-seventh New York, Colonel
French, as skirmishers. The line was commanded by General Neill[1]. The
second line consisted of the Sixth Vermont, Colonel Barney, the
Twenty-sixth New Jersey, Colonel Morrison, and the Second Vermont,
Colonel Walbridge, and was under command of Colonel L. A. Grant. Both
lines were arranged from right to left, in the order above mentioned.
[1] "I was ordered to form three regiments as the _advance of a
column of assault_ against the heights of Marye's Hill, back of
Fredericksburgh. I led the Thirty-third New York, Twenty-first
New Jersey and Seventh Maine Volunteers, preceded by the
Seventy-seventh New York, who were acting as skirmishers, under
a heavy fire of shot and shell."--_Neill's Report._
The Forty-ninth and Twentieth New York formed the right reserve, and the
Third, Fourth and Fifth Vermont, under Colonel Seavor, the left reserve.
The next column was composed of the Seventh Massachusetts, Colonel
Jones, and the Thirty-sixth New York, Colonel Walsh; both under the
command of Colonel Jones--the Fifth Wisconsin, Colonel Allen, acting as
skirmishers. Supporting the column, in line of battle, were the Sixth
Maine, Colonel Harris, Thirty-first New York, Colonel Jones, and the
Twenty-third Pennsylvania, Colonel Ely.
The right column of all consisted of the Forty-third New York, Colonel
Baker, and the Sixty-first Pennsylvania, Colonel Spear--the two
regiments under command of the latter officer, who fell, mortally
wounded, while leading the charge. The Sixty-seventh New York, Colonel
Cross, and the Eighty-second Pennsylvania, Major Bassett, under command
of Colonel Shaler, supported this right column.
At half-past ten, the arrangements for storming the heights were
completed, and Newton's batteries opened upon the enemy. At the sound of
Newton's first gun, General Howe ordered his batteries to direct their
fire upon the heights, and then ordered the storming column forward.
The division advanced toward the bold bluffs, which, bare of trees as
well as the plain below, allowed the enemy an excellent view of all our
movements. A railroad traversed the plain near the bluffs, and in a deep
cut through which the road passed, were rebels. They rose up as we
advanced, and poured showers of leaden hail into our line; but one of
our batteries, getting an enfilading fire on the road, sent the
gray-coated occupants hurriedly to the rear. For a moment we halted, the
batteries on either side playing into each other with spirit.
It was a moment of contending emotions of pride, hope and sadness, as
our gallant boys stood face to face with those heights, ready to charge
upon them. At double-quick, and in splendid style, they crossed the
plain. Our line was perfect. The men could not have made a more orderly
appearance had they been on drill. Proud of their commands, Generals
Howe and Neill, and Colonel Grant, cheered the men onward, while
Lieutenant-Colonel French, in charge of the skirmish line, inspired, by
his own intrepid behavior, the utmost confidence and bravery in his men.
They took the matter as coolly as though on parade.
Just in rear of the division, three batteries of Parrott guns were
playing into the works of the enemy, while from the heights above, all
the opposing batteries poured a terrible and destructive fire upon the
advancing lines. Having gained the rifle pits at the base of the hills,
they pushed forward to capture the heights.
[Illustration: STORMING OF MARYE'S HEIGHTS BY HOWE'S DIVISION.]
A more grand spectacle cannot be imagined. There were the hills, enough
to fatigue any man to climb them without a load and with no one to
oppose. At the foot of the hills were thousands of the enemy, pouring
into them volleys of musketry, and on the heights were their lines of
earthworks, with their artillery, from which poured grape and cannister
in a frightful storm. But the boys pushed nobly, steadily on, the rebels
steadily retreating, the division coming up in splendid style. Generals
Howe and Neill and Colonel Grant directing the movements and cheering on
the men, as they pressed undauntedly against the murderous storm of iron
and lead that met them from above. Our men were falling in every
direction, but the lines were immediately closed, and on they passed.
With shouts and cheers that drowned the roar of artillery, the noble
division, with bayonets fixed, mounted the heights, the rebels
retreating in confusion. Of that noble column the skirmishers of the
Seventy-seventh first reached the heights of Marye's Hill, the
Thirty-third New York, in line of battle, followed, and then the Sixth
Vermont,[2] the other regiments of the two brigades being but a moment
behind. But the work was not all done yet. On our left was an earthwork
of strong profile, from which now the rebels turned their guns upon us.
Against this the column turned, and soon gained possession of it also. A
third stronghold then fell into our hands, and we were in undisputed
possession of the heights. While the troops under Neill and Grant had
thus nobly stormed the works in front, Colonel Seaver, with his three
regiments, had scaled the heights further to the left.
[2] General L. A. Grant, in his report, does unintentional
injustice to a brave regiment. He says: "The Sixth Vermont
followed the Thirty-third New York, _and was the second_ to gain
the heights of Fredericksburgh." The Thirty-third was not the
first to gain the heights on that part of the line. The
testimony of General Neill, as well as of the members of the
regiment, and the many trophies it captured, fully establish the
claim of the Seventy-seventh to the honor.
With one or two exceptions, every regiment in the division had behaved
with great gallantry.
The Seventy-seventh New York captured a stand of colors belonging to the
Eighteenth Mississippi regiment, two heavy guns, a large number of
prisoners, among whom was Colonel Luce of the Eighteenth Mississippi,
and great numbers of small arms.
As the regiment reached the heights, and took possession of the guns,
General Howe rode up, and, taking off his hat, exclaimed: "Noble
Seventy-seventh! you have covered yourselves with glory!" The general's
words were greeted with tumultuous cheers.
In the second work, the Thirty-third New York captured a piece of heavy
ordnance and a number of prisoners. The regiment had exhibited great
spirit and bravery. Six color-bearers had been shot down successively.
It was at the signal of the first gun in Newton's front that General
Howe had ordered the charge of the Second division. The Third division
and the Light division had not been idle while the events we have
described were going on. It will be remembered that the column on the
right consisted of the Forty-third New York and the Sixty-first
Pennsylvania, supported by a line of battle; and that the other column
consisted of the Seventh Massachusetts and Thirty-sixth New York, also
supported by other regiments.
The ascent in front of the Third and Light divisions, though steep, was
less precipitous than in front of Howe's column, and a good road led to
the heights. But a stone wall skirted the base of the hills, behind
which the rebels swarmed in great numbers.
Under the fire of the rebel batteries, Newton's and Burnham's regiments
lay, some in the outskirts of the town, some in the cemetery, until
General Sedgwick gave the order for the advance. Then, almost at the
same time, both commands moved up the glacis towards the heights.
Colonel Jones, with his two regiments, the Seventh Massachusetts and
Thirty-sixth New York, pushed forward up the telegraph road, against the
stone wall, bearing to the right of the road; their knapsacks and
haversacks were left behind that they might be unencumbered with
needless burdens. As they approached within three hundred yards of the
wall, a murderous volley checked the advance, and threw the head of the
column into disorder. In two minutes the men were rallied, and again
they approached the wall, this time nearer than before; but again they
were broken. A third time they were rallied; this time they pushed
straight forward to the works.
The column under Colonel Spear started briskly forward, divested, like
the others, of knapsacks and haversacks. Sallying from the town at
double quick, in column of four ranks, they crossed the bridge just
outside the city, when the gallant Colonel Spear received his mortal
wound, and fell at the head of his men. The Sixty-first, which led the
column, shocked at the death of their beloved leader, broke, and in
confusion turned toward the town. This unfortunate confusion spread to
the men of the Forty-third, who, checked by the disordered mass in
front, and submitted to a galling fire, also commenced falling back.
Finding any attempt to get the men through the disordered mass in front,
the gallant Wilson drew his colors to the right and rallied his regiment
around them. Then, bounding forward, the regiment reached the heights
scarcely behind any of the regiments on the left, capturing a gun and
many prisoners.
The line of battle under Colonel Burnham advanced on the left of the
road; the Fifth Wisconsin on the skirmish line, the Sixth Maine, the
Thirty-first New York, and the Twenty-third Pennsylvania in line. Four
more gallant regiments could not be found in the service. Leaving
everything but guns and ammunition, they started forward, encountering a
shower of bullets, grape and canister, as soon as they rose above the
slight knoll which had concealed them. We of the Second division looked
with admiration upon the advancing line; our flag--it was the flag of
the Sixth Maine--in advance of the others, its brave color-guard
bounding forward, then halting a moment while the men came up, then
dashing forward again, and finally gaining the heights before us all! It
was a noble spectacle, and filled our hearts with pride for our brave
comrades of the Light division. The Light division secured as trophies
about seven hundred prisoners and five cannon.
Thus the heights were won. It was a glorious day for the Sixth corps.
Never was a charge more gallantly made. But it was a sad day, for many
scores of our brave comrades lay stretched in death, along the glacis,
and on the steep ascent, in the ravines and along the road.
The Seventh Massachusetts, the Sixth Maine, the Fifth Wisconsin, the
Second Vermont, and the Seventy-seventh, Thirty-third and Forty-third
New York, were among the greatest losers. The Sixth Maine reached the
rebel works with the loss of six captains and the major, and a
proportional number of enlisted men. Two color-bearers and
Lieutenant-Colonel Newman were shot in the Thirty-first, and Colonel
Jones, of the Seventh Massachusetts, was seriously wounded, while one
hundred and twelve of his brave men were either killed or wounded.
The wounded had been taken to the city, where they were kindly cared for
by the surgeons of the corps, who had seized the town for hospital
purposes. Churches and private dwellings swarmed with the unfortunate
men, whose mangled forms told of the fearful work of the day. Surgeons
were hard at work ministering relief to the suffering, binding up the
wounds or removing the mangled limbs which offered no hope of recovery;
while nurses administered food and coffee, and prepared beds, such as
could be extemporized from blankets spread upon the floors. More than
three thousand wounded were brought into the city before nightfall.
Upon the very heels of the brilliant success of the corps commenced
disaster. An order from General Hooker had directed General Sedgwick to
advance toward Chancellorsville, and form a junction with the main army.
So the corps which had so nobly won the heights pressed on for further
achievements. The heights were left behind. Brooks' division, which now
took the lead, had advanced as far as Salem Church, on the
Chancellorsville pike, when, instead of meeting any portion of Hooker's
army, a few shells from rebel guns warned the division of the presence
of the enemy.
A dense thicket was in front, and Bartlett's brigade, which had the
advance, was deployed to skirmish and ascertain the position of the
concealed foe. Presently, having fallen upon a strong line of
skirmishers, the brigade was formed in line of battle; the
Twenty-seventh New York on the right, then the Fifth Maine, then the One
Hundred and Twenty-first New York, and on the left the Ninety-sixth
Pennsylvania; the Sixteenth New York holding the skirmish line in front.
General Bartlett advanced his line to the thicket, the Sixteenth driving
the rebel skirmishers, the brigade following closely. At the edge of the
thicket General Bartlett halted the line, but being ordered by General
Brooks to advance rapidly, he pushed on again.
Advancing through the thicket about thirty rods, the brigade suddenly
found itself face to face with a rebel line. The confederates were lying
down in a road which traversed the thicket; and, when the Union line was
within twenty yards, they suddenly discharged a volley, which, had it
been well aimed, must have almost annihilated the brigade; but the fire
was returned with effect, and presently, the confederates were glad to
leave the road, which was almost filled with their dead and wounded, and
seek shelter behind rifle pits. The rifle pits were but a few yards in
rear of the road, and here a very strong force was posted. The Union
forces occupied the road, and directed their fire against the works; but
the rebel fire cut down their unprotected ranks like grass before the
scythe. For fifteen minutes the gallant regiments endured this murderous
fire, and then fell back in good order, having lost, within twenty
minutes, nearly seven hundred men; of whom two hundred and seventy-three
were from the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York.
The New Jersey brigade, and the whole division, had by this time been
brought into action, and great slaughter was made in almost every
regiment. Newton's division was also fiercely engaged on the right,
Wheaton's brigade holding its position only by the most stubborn
fighting. The enemy having forced the First division to retire, advanced
against our line; but the batteries under Williston, Rigby and Parsons,
by splendid practice, repulsed the onset. The Second division, forming
the rear of the column, had not been brought into the engagement.
Darkness came to the relief of the corps, and the men slept soundly on
their arms after the arduous duties of the day; but there were many
misgivings among officers in regard to what to-morrow might bring forth.
While we rested, the enemy was bringing up reinforcements from the
direction of Richmond. Very early in the morning the siege guns on
Stafford Heights, opposite the town, sent some shells screaming across
the valley to the heights of Marye's Hill, giving the alarm to those in
the town and to those who had so recently left it. Lines of rebels were
seen all along the outskirts of the town and on the crests above.
Fifteen thousand confederate troops were between the Sixth corps and
Fredericksburgh Heights. The surgeons immediately prepared to send the
wounded across the river, but, supposing that to accomplish the whole
before the rebels should take possession of the town would be
impossible, made every preparation for being themselves taken prisoners.
A small detachment of Gibbon's division still guarded the town, but
nearly all his troops had recrossed the river and were on Stafford
Heights. But the small force in the town seemed sufficient to convey to
the rebels the impression that it was well guarded, for they made no
attempt to seize the immense amount of hospital stores which was at
their mercy, or to molest the wounded or the surgeons.
The Sixth corps was now in a critical position; its communications
entirely cut off, and surrounded by hosts of the enemy. The corps was
sandwiched between the rebels on the heights and Lee's whole army; while
on its left was a strong force, and on its right an impassable river.
Dispositions were at once made to meet the emergency.
Brooks' division was drawn back, and Howe's, still in the rear, changed
front and quickly extended the line of battle to the river, so as to
include Banks' Ford, six miles above the city, over which communications
were at once established.
The whole of Early's rebel division occupied the crest of Marye's and
Cemetery Hills; the divisions of Anderson and McLaws were on our flank;
and the brigades of Hays, Hoke and Lawton, supported by Lee's whole
army, were in our rear. We were in the vicinity of Salem Church, and our
only line of retreat was upon the road leading to Banks' Ford.
The first demonstration of the rebels, on the morning of the 4th, was
against the position held by Neill's brigade. A company from the Seventh
Maine, and two companies from the Forty-ninth New York, in conjunction
with a part of Martin's battery, and supported by the remaining
companies of the Forty-ninth, gallantly repulsed and routed a whole
brigade of rebels, capturing two hundred prisoners, and the colors of
the Fifty-eighth Virginia regiment; which last trophy was borne off by
the men of the Forty-ninth, and was the second stand of colors taken by
that gallant brigade in this engagement, the Seventy-seventh having
captured the other.
The day wore away with little fighting till five o'clock. General Howe
had so disposed his troops as to occupy two positions.
In front was the Third brigade, holding a crest which overlooked a
ravine through which the rebels must pass. Behind the brigade was
another ravine, in which was a thin skirt of woods. In rear of this
second ravine, and behind a swell of ground, the Vermont brigade was
strongly posted, forming the second line of battle. There were in each
of these two brigades about three thousand men.
Now came the most fearful struggle of the campaign. At five o'clock the
rebel hordes came, with deafening yells, upon the division. The
divisions of Early, Anderson and McLaws rushed upon the single brigade
of less than three thousand men, massing their troops in the ravine, and
charging with impetuous fury. But the noble regiments heroically
withstood the shock, the Germans of the Twentieth only going to the rear
in confusion. The stubborn resistance of the brigade prevented the
rebels from piercing our lines, and cutting off our retreat, and thus,
by its gallantry, enabled the corps to cross at Banks' Ford. But one
thousand men--more than one-third of the brigade--fell on that crest.
Colonel Van Houghton, of the Twenty-first New Jersey, was mortally
wounded, and many other choice spirits were among the fallen. General
Neill was injured by the fall of his horse, which was shot. General Howe
now ordered the brigade to fall back, and the decimated regiments left
the front line, and fell behind the strong position held by the
Vermonters. The rebels, thinking this a retreat, followed with yells of
exultation, but were met by the second line of battle, which, from its
position behind the swell of ground, was concealed, with a murderous
fire, which sent them reeling back to the cover of the first ravine.
Their charge had inflicted little damage upon the Union line. It was now
nearly dark, and the reception which the rebels had received had so
completely routed and broken them, that they made no further attempt
upon our lines.
About nine o'clock, the division was ordered to fall back to Banks'
Ford, now two miles distant from us. We fell back quietly, and found
that the other divisions had preceded us, and were snugly behind rifle
pits. They had fallen back as soon as it was dark, leaving the Second
division to cover the retreat.
Meantime, comparatively little fighting had been done by the other
divisions, though a constant skirmish was kept up, and in the evening
the confederates managed to get in the rear of a part of the picket of
the Light division, capturing a large number of prisoners from the
Forty-third and Thirty-first New York, and Sixty-first Pennsylvania.
The position at Banks' Ford might have been held until reinforcements
could have reached the corps from Hooker; but, unfortunately, that
general, receiving from General Sedgwick first, intelligence that he
could not safely hold the position, then that he could, ordered the
corps to be withdrawn, and afterward countermanded the order; but the
last order was only received when the movement had been accomplished.
Toward morning the corps recrossed the Rappahannock on pontoon bridges;
not without the utmost difficulty; one bridge being destroyed by rebel
artillery, and the other barely saved from destruction long enough to
allow the troops hurriedly to pass over.
The corps had passed through a fearful ordeal, and had shown itself to
be made of heroic material. No two more brilliant feats had been
performed during the war, than the storming of the heights of
Fredericksburgh, and the splendid resistance when surrounded and
attacked by overwhelming forces. The men came out of the fight, not
demoralized, but as ready to scale those terrible heights again, if
called upon, as they had been on the 3d of May.
General Sedgwick had manifested during the fights, those masterly
qualities which made him one of the greatest soldiers of the age. His
conduct on the retreat was cool and unimpassioned. Personally examining
every part of the ground in front and rear, riding from one end of the
line to the other, now ordering a battery placed at some commanding
point, and now looking out a new position to which his troops might fall
back in case of necessity, he was everywhere present, full of energy, as
determined to save as he had been to win.
Throughout the land the glorious deeds of the Sixth corps became
household words; but its glory had been dearly purchased. Five thousand
of the heroes who crossed the Rappahannock on the 2d of May, were either
dead or wounded. Colonel Van Houghton, one of New Jersey's bravest sons,
had received a mortal wound, from which he died in the hands of the
enemy. Captain Luther M. Wheeler, of the Seventy-seventh, was shot while
we halted at the foot of Marye's Hill. It was a sad loss to his
regiment, and the corps. Few more gifted young men could be found in the
army. He was one of our bravest and most efficient officers. Gentle in
his relations with his fellows, cool and daring in battle; his youthful
face beaming with fortitude, was a continual joy to his men in time of
danger. He died as he had lived, a hero.
The Forty-third had lost Captain Knickerbocker and Lieutenant Koonz. Two
young men of brilliant promise, greatly loved and respected in their
regiment and in their native city, Albany.
The wounded men in the hospitals exhibited the same heroic fortitude in
their sufferings that they had manifested in the charge and in the
retreat. A few instances are given as illustrations of many: Erskine
Branch of Company D, Seventy-seventh New York, when his leg was torn to
shreds by a shell, hobbled off on the sound one and his gun, singing
"The Star Spangled Banner." Corporal Henry West was shot through the
thigh, and he was brought to the rear. "I guess," said he "that old Joe
West's son has lost a leg." The corporal died soon after. While in the
hospital, suffering from extreme anguish, a wounded man at his side
lamented that he had come to the war. "I am not sorry that I came,"
instantly responded the brave corporal.
Let us now turn back and glance hastily at the maneuvers of the main
army at Chancellorsville. We, of the Sixth corps, could only see by the
balloon which, like some huge bird, hovered over the army, where it held
its position, and the unceasing roar of artillery told us of a severe
struggle with its foe; while rumor brought, now reports of brilliant
success, and anon tales of sad defeat. We knew little of the true state
of affairs at the right, and it was only when we mingled with our
comrades of the other corps that we learned the details of the battle of
Chancellorsville. We now repeat it as it was given to us. On the day
that the army broke up its winter camp, General Hooker led the Fifth,
Eleventh, Twelfth and Second corps, except Gibbon's division of the
latter, up the river, until he reached Kelley's Ford, about twenty miles
above Fredericksburgh. Here he crossed his whole force, and pushing
southward and eastward, uncovered the United States Ford eight miles
below, which was guarded by a brigade of rebels, and struck the
intersection of the Gordonsville plank road with the Orange county
turnpike, about five miles from United States Ford; having by great
exertions crossed two rivers and marched twenty miles. At the crossing
of the two roads, west of the turnpike, and south of the plank road,
stood a single large mansion, the Chancellor house. Here General Hooker
made his head-quarters, and from this point he disposed the corps of the
army so as to form a line of battle, which should face south and east,
with a single corps to guard against an advance from the west. The Third
and First corps soon joined Hooker's forces, and the corps were posted
as follows: The Eleventh corps, under General Howard, was on the right
of the line, three miles southwest of Chancellorsville, facing westward;
next, to the left of Howard, but far to the south, and holding the
turnpike five miles in front of Chancellorsville, was Sickles with his
Third corps; back almost to the plank road, and left of the turnpike,
was Slocum with the Twelfth corps; and still to the right, and behind
the plank road, the Fifth corps, under General Meade, faced toward the
southwest; behind Meade and Slocum, the Second corps was posted, one
division guarding the approach to the bridge. The country was densely
wooded. Except an open space about the house, it was a tangled
wilderness. The ground was low and marshy, and nearly level. Earthworks
were thrown up in front of all the corps, and everything seemed in
readiness for the enemy, for whom General Hooker now waited, hoping,
that by fruitless assaults upon what seemed an impregnable position, the
enemy would be so exhausted that he might turn upon him with fresh
divisions, and rout the retreating forces. His programme was to secure a
position in the rear of the rebel positions at the fords, while that
portion of the army left at Fredericksburgh was to divert attention from
the principal movement. Stoneman, with the cavalry, was to make a grand
raid on the communications of the rebel army, burning the bridges and
tearing up railroads. The main body of the army having secured its
position, and accomplished its work, the Sixth corps was to press
forward and harass them in their retreat toward Richmond.
Saturday afternoon, almost at dark, the First corps, Reynolds', which
had that morning parted company with the Sixth corps, crossed the river
and took position near the ford, four miles in rear of Howard.
The rebel army had been on the southeast of ours. Sickles, on the
afternoon of Saturday, discovered a train of wagons and ambulances
moving across the pike far in his front. He sent a force to cut it in
two, and was successful in taking a large number of prisoners and in
creating a panic in the train. He advanced, and was met by a strong
force of the enemy. He now sent to General Howard for reinforcements.
General Howard led a brigade to his assistance in person, and then at
full speed galloped back to his corps. He was just in time. Bursting
shells on the right of his line told of the presence of the enemy.
"Stonewall" Jackson, with an immense force, had passed round our army,
and now came like an avalanche upon the right division of the Eleventh
corps, General Devins. The men were cooking their coffee, when suddenly
the whizzing of innumerable bullets aroused them from their culinary
engagements. The hosts of Jackson, with yells and shouts, fell like a
thunderbolt upon the astonished division, and it melted away like a
snowflake in summer. The next division, Shurz, tried to maintain the
ground, and did what men could do, but could not withstand the shock of
fifty thousand men. General Hooker, fearing that the flying Germans
would stampede the whole army, directed the cavalry which was with him,
to charge upon the fugitives and arrest their flight; but no power could
halt them. The commanding general at once directed General Sickles to
attack the enemy on the flank, and, if possible, check his farther
advance.
General Howard, with great presence of mind and perseverance, succeeded
in stopping the rout at a stone wall, behind which he posted his line.
Forty pieces of artillery were also, by General Hooker's order,
concentrated to oppose the confederates, who again rushed forward with
mad desperation, and were met with terrific fire from this long line of
guns. They staggered back, but soon rallied, and again charged, and
again met with a terrible repulse. The conflict now ceased for the
night. Hooker drew in his lines, making them more compact, changed the
disposition of some of the corps: throwing the Eleventh corps from the
right to the left of the line, and bringing Meade, with the Fifth corps,
to the right. Sickles and Slocum, with the Third and Twelfth corps, were
near the Chancellor house. Artillery was massed to command the
approaches to the turnpike, and earthworks went up in the night as if by
magic. At daylight, Sunday morning, Jackson, with all his forces,
advanced on the turnpike, against the Chancellor place, not with the
thin line of battle, but in solid mass. His men poured from the woods
like a torrent, their shouts and yells making a pandemonium of the
wilderness. Suddenly, from the mouths of forty cannon was hurled against
them a cruel storm of grape and canister, which ploughed through the
advancing column, carrying death and destruction in its course, while
the infantry from the Third corps poured into the faces of the desperate
foe a terrible hail storm of bullets which almost decimated the heavy
column. With the desperation of madness, the rebels rushed against this
terrible fire, almost reaching the muzzles of the guns, only to be
hurled back again by the fearful tornado in front. The Third corps
seemed hardly able to hold its position, but now General Hooker sent two
divisions of the Second corps to attack the enemy in the flank. These,
with the Fifth corps, came with great force upon the left of the column.
It reeled, the huge mass wavered to and fro, and then fell back in
flight. The troops at the house, however, had been forced back, and
General Hooker again shortened his lines, making his forces still more
compact.
Again, in the afternoon, the rebels came on exultingly, but not with the
desperation that marked the attack of the morning. Hour after hour they
strove to drive back or break in two the Union line, but it was
immovable. Artillery poured into the ranks of the assailants the most
deadly fire, until they fell back, long before nightfall, disheartened
and defeated. Hooker had at length succeeded in accomplishing a part of
his object. He had allowed his enemy to fight him until his army was
exhausted and dispirited, while he himself had half his army fresh and
ready to charge upon the weakened foe. Now came the time for action. If
he now succeeded in putting the enemy to flight, the rebel cause was
destroyed; if, on the contrary, he suffered a repulse, what would be the
result? The river was swelling rapidly; the pontoons could even now with
difficulty be held together. If, haply, they were to be swept away, all
means of retreat would be cut off, and a repulse would amount to
annihilation. Sedgwick and the Sixth corps were driven back, and
Stoneman, who had gone with his cavalry toward Richmond, was not heard
from. In the midst of these doubts, he called a council of corps
commanders, who agreed, not unanimously, that it was advisable to
recross the river. So the army, on Wednesday, was withdrawn across the
river, when victory seemed ready to rest on our banners.[3] Without
doubt, had the general known of the panic created by the cavalry in the
rear, or had he been sure that his communications would remain intact,
the result would have been far different.
[3] The author makes no attempt to discuss the merits of the
controversy, which grew out of this battle, between two of the
best soldiers of our army. The reader will find, in the Report
on the Conduct of the War, 1865, all the facts and arguments on
both sides, by those most competent to give them--Generals
Hooker and Sedgwick.
The loss to the whole army, in this campaign, was over seventeen
thousand in killed and wounded.[4] Very many of these were left in the
hands of the enemy.
[4] The following statement exhibits the loss to the various
corps in killed, wounded and missing:
1st, 292
2d, 2,025
3d, 4,039
5th, 699
6th, 4,925
11th, 2,508
12th, 2,883
Cavalry, 145