USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1872, Vol. II > Part 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
This regimeut had been in service about twenty-two months, and were now about to receive their first baptism of fire and blood -an event that was to carry death and decimation into its ranks with scarcely a parallel during the whole war. The battle receiv- ed the name of Cold IIarbor. And what was this place ?- three or four unpainted houses east of a sparce pine-wood, common in Virginia. Lieut. Vaill, who was the Adjutant of the regiment, and present at the battle, has so eloquently described it, that nearly his whole description is inserted here. 1
" Just at the left of the spot where we had stacked our musk- ets, was a hollow, basin-like spot, containing about an acre of land' and a few pine and chestnut trees, and well protected on the front by a curved line of breastworks, which were thrown up during McClellan's campaign, two years before, or else had been erected by Sheridan's Cavalry. In this hollow the three battalions of our regiment were massed, about two or three o'clock, preparatory to
* This battle was fought about ten miles North of Richmond.
1232
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
a charge, which had been ordered by General Meade to take place at five. By this time the field picces of the 1st Division had taken position directly in our rear, while the rebels had batteries directly in our front ; and for a long time the solid shot flew back and forth between them, right above our heads, lopping off twigs, limbs, and even large branches, which came crashing down among the ranks. Said Colonel Kellogg to the 1st Battalion, ' Now, men, when yon have the order to move, go in steady, keep cool, keep still until I give the order to charge, and then go arms a-port, with a yell. Don't a man of you fire a shot until we are within the enemy's breastworks. I shall be with you.' Even all this, added to a constantly increasing picket fire, and ominous signs on every hand, could not excito the men to any great degree of inte- rest in what was going on. Their stupor was of a kind that none can describe, and none but soldiers can understand. In proof of this, only one incident need be mentioned. Corporal William A. Hosford, then of Company E, heard the foregoing instructions given by Colonel Kellogg, and yet was waked out of a sound sleep when the moment came to move forward.
"Colonel Upton, the Brigade Commander, was in almost con- stant conference with Colonel Kellogg, giving him instructions how and when to proceed, surveying the ground, and anxiously, but quietly watching this new regiment, which, although it now constituted more than half his command, he had never seen in ac- tion. The arrangement of companies and battalions was the same that had been established in the defenses, upon the change from Infantry to Artillery. The following diagram will show the for- mation at Cold Hardor :
FRONT.
FIRST BATTALION-MAJOR HUBBARD. A B K
E
Left .-
---- Right.
Wadhams. Lewis. Spencer. Skinner.
SECOND BATTALION-MAJOR RICE. L
C
H G
-
Deane. Fenn.
Berry. Gold.
حـ
CHARGE OF THE 2D CONNECTICUT HEAVY ARTILLERY AT THE BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR, VA,
OMV GANTIS31
H
P.
1233
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
THIRD BATTALION-MAJOR ELLS.
M D
I F -
Marsh. Hosford. Burnham. Jones.
At five o'clock,-or it might have been somewhat later, -the hree battalions were moved just in front of the curved breast- work, where they remained for two or three minutes, still closed- n-mass. Knapsacks were left behind the breatworks. Pine woods,-or rather a few tall pine trees, not numerous enough to ide our movements-extended about ten rods to the front, and hen came an open field. Colonel Kellogg, having instructed Majors Rice and Ells to follow at intervals of one hundred paces laced himself in front, and gave the command, 'Forward ! Guide Center ! March !' The first battalion, with the colors in ;he center, moved directly forward through the scattering woods, rossed the open field at a double-quick, and entered another pine- wood, of younger and thicker growth, where it came upon the irst line of rifle-pits, which was abandoned at its approach. Pas- sing this line, the battalion moved on over sloping ground until it reached a small, open hollow, within fiftteen or twenty yards of the enemy's main line of breastworks. There had been a thick growth of pine sprouts and saplings on this ground, but the reb- els had cut them, probably that very day, and had arranged them so as to form a very effective abbatis,-thereby clearing the spot, und thus enabling them to see our movements. Up to this point here had been no firing sufficient to confuse or check the battal- on ; but here the rebel musketry opened. The commander of the 'ebel battalion directly in our front, whoever he was, had his men inder excellent control, and his fire was held until our line had reached the abbattis, and then systematically delivered-first by is rear rank, and then by his front rank. A sheet of flame, sud- len as lightning, red as blood, and so near that it seemed to singe the men's faces, burst along the rebel breastwork ; and the ground ind trees close behind our line were ploughed and riddled with a honsand balls that just missed the heads of the men. The bat- alion dropped flat on the ground, and the second volley, like the Irst, nearly all went over. Several men were struck, but not a arge number. It is more than probable that if there had been no other than this front fire, the rebel breastworks would have been
1234
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
ours, notwithstanding the pine boughs. But at that moment a long line of rebels on our left, extending all the way to the Rich- mond road, having nothing in their own front to engage their at- tention,1 and having unobstructed range on the battalion, opened a fire which no human valor could witstand, and which no pen can adequately describe.2 The appended list of casualties tells the story. It was the work of almost a single minute. The air was filled with sulphurous smoke, and the shrieks and howls of more than two hundred and fifty mangled men rose above the yells of triumphant rebels and the roar of their musketry. ABOUT Face! shouted Colonel Kellogg,-but it was his last command. He had already been struck in the arm, and the words had scarcely passed his lips, when another shot pierced his head, and he fell dead upon the interlacing pine boughs. Wild, and blind with wounds, bruises, noise, smoke, and conflicting orders, the men staggered in every direction, some of them falling upon the very top of the rebel parapet, where they were complety riddled with bullets, -- others wandering off into the woods on the right and front, to find their way to death by starvation at Andersonville, or never to be heard from again. LIE DOWN! said a voice that rose above the horrible din. It was the voice of Colonel Upton, whose large bay horse was dancing with a bullet in his bowels. The
" 1 The rest of the brigade, i. e., the One Hundred and Twenty-first and Sixty- fifth New York, Ninety fifth Pennsylvania, and Fifth Maine, were formed in three lines immediately on our left, and advanced when we did. But they re- ceived a heavy fire and advanced but part of the way. Indeed, the first battal- ion of our regiment went up to the enemy's breastwork alone. Our right was nobody's left, and our left nobody's right."
1 It has been related to the writer of this history, that just before this murderous fire from the left, a rebel soldier rushed among our men under pretence of surrender- ing, and the moment he was within our lines, he brandished a torch, which disclosed the position of our men. Then the murderous fire in- stantly came, and the traitorons spy was instantly shot by one of our men.
--
1235
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
'ebels in front now fired as fast as they could load, and those of our men who were not wounded, having worked their way back a 'ew yards into the woods, began to reply with energy. But the wounds showed that nine-tenths of our casualties were inflicted by that unopposed fire on the left flank. The second battalion followed the first, according to instructions, crossed the open field ander a scattering fire, and having moved through the woods un- til within perhaps seventy-five yards of the first battalion, was confronted by Colonel Upton with the command Lie down ! LIE DOWN !- which was obeyed with the utmost alacrity. Major Ells was wounded very soon after the third battalion commenced to follow, and his command devolved upon Captain Jones. Upon reaching the woods, this battalion also had orders to lie down. The rebel fire came through the woods from all parts of the line, and most of the losses in these two battalions occurred while lying here. 'Put up your saber, said Colonel Upton to a young officer, ' I never draw mine until we get into closer quarters than this. See the Johnnies! See the Johnnies! Boys, we'll have these fellows yet !' said he, pointing to the front, where a long string of them came running through the lines towards us. They were the very men who had delivered the first two volleys in our front, and (there being a lull in the firing at the moment) they came tumbling over the breatwork in a crowd, within two or three rods of where Kellogg's body lay. We had too much on hand just chen to run after safely bagged prisoners, and when they got to the rear of the 3d Division (who, by the way, having at first ad- vanced on our right, had broken and run to the rear, through our irst battalion as it was charging, and were consequently in a con- enient position to make the 'capture,') put a guard over them ind triumphantly marched them to army headquarters; and in lue time General Meade issued an order complimenting the Third Division of the Sixth Army Corps for having captured between hree and four hundred prisoners, which they never captured at ill.1 The lines now became very much mixed. Those of the ist battalion who were not killed or wounded, gradually crawled or
" 1 Every surviving man of the Second Connecticut Artillery will bear witness hat the Ninth New York Artillery, (which belonged in the the Third Division,) ame pell mell through our regiment toward the rear as we were charging .- and hat the capture of these prisoners was made by our regiment alone. Colonel Jpton, who saw the whole of it, said that the matter should be rectified, and the redit given to the Second Connecticut. But it never was."
1
1236
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
worked to the rear; and the woods began to grow dark, either with night, or smoke, or both. The news of Kellogg's death quickly found its way every where. The companies were formed and brought up to the breastwork one by one, and the line ex- tended toward the left. As Lient. Cleveland was moving in with the last company, a squad of rebels rose directly in front, fired a volley very wildly, and dropped. The fire was vigorously return- ed, and the enemy soon vacated the breastwork in our immediate front, and erept off through the darknesss. Thousands and thou- sands of bullets 'zipped' back and forth over the bodies of the slain-now striking the trees, high up, with a 'spud,' and now piercing the ground under feet. Upton stood behind a tree in the extreme front, and for a long time fired muskts as fast as the men could load and hand them to him. Some sudden movement caused a panic, and they started to flee, when he cried out with a voice that no man who heard it will ever forget,-Men of Con- necticut, stand by me! We MUST hold this line!' It brought them back, and the line was held. Firing was kept up all night long, by a few men at a time, to let the enemy know that we were there and awake, and thus to deter them from attempting to re- take the line, which they could easily have done. Major Hub- bard sent word twice to Colonel Upton, that if the enemy should attempt to return, he could not possibly hold it. Upton's reply was, 'He must hold it. If they come there, catell them on your bayonets, and pitch them over your heads.' At the first ray of dawn it was strengthened and occupied by skirmishers ; and du- ring our stay at Cold Harbor, which lasted until midnight of June 12th, it remained our front line ;- the rebel front line being about thirty-five rods distant, and parallel with it.
" On the morning of the 2d, the wounded who still remained were got off to the rear, and taken to the Division Hospital, some two miles back. Many of them had lain all night, with shattered bones, or weak with loss of blood, calling vainly for help, or water, or death. Some of them lay in positions so exposed to the ene- my's fire that they could not be reached until the breastworks had been built up and strengthened at certain points, nor even then without much ingenuity and much danger; but at length they were all removed. When it could be done with safety, the dead were buried during the day. Most of the bodies, however, could not be reached until night, and were then gathered and buried under cover of the darkness.
1237
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
" On the morning of the 3d, the regiment was again moved for- ward, under the personal command of Colonel Upton, from the same spot whence the fatal charge had been made thirty-six hours before; but this time we proceeded by a circuitons route, which kept us tolerably well protected. Several, however, were killed and wounded during this movement, and after we had taken po- sition. The line was pushed to the left, considerably nearer the Richmond road than we had been before, and there speedily cov- ered by breastworks. This, I presume, was our part of the move- ment of June 3d, which the larger histories regard as the battle of Cold Harbor. Perhaps it was. It has always seemed, how- ever, to the survivors of the 3d Connecticut Heavy Artillery, (Upton's Brigade, Russell's Division, Wright's Corps,) that the affair of June Ist was entitled to more than the two or three lines of bare mention with which it is tossed off in Greeley's American Conflict, Deming's Life of Grant, and probably every other of the more important and comprehensive histories of the war."
Capt. Walter Burnham, who was at the date of this battle cap- tain of our Woodbury Co. I, in a letter to Adjutant Vaill, gives some additional incidents of it. 1
" NEW PRESTON, CONN., Aug. 10, 1868.
"FRIEND VAILL ;- In accordance with your request, I will give you my recollections of Cold Harbor, beginning at the time when we, (the 3d Battalion,) were ordered to lie down among the pines.
"Shortly after Colonel Upton left, a young Lieutenant came into our midst (from what direction I know not,) and shouted- 'Now's the time-I'll lead you,' and I, on the impulse of the mo-, ment jumped up, and shouted 'forward,' when about half of Co. I, and a few men from H and C Cos., sprang forward and into the Johnnies' breastworks. The thought that I was a little rash and fast in giving the order, came too late-and as most of my men had obeyed the order, I could do no less than follow; which I did, and found it to be a safe place, compared with the knoll, al- though not as comfortable as it might have been under different circumstances, there being some 12 or 14 inches of water in the
1 Capt. Burnham was seriously wounded at Cedar Creek, and did not again re- join his regiment, but was breveted Major for gallant conduct in battle.
1238
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
ditch from which the Johnnies had taken the dirt to cover their breastworks, besides a great number of wounded men (Johnnies) just over the line of works,-some groaning, some crying for water, others calling upon some one to shoot them on the spot and end their misery- I distinctly recollect one little fellow from a Georgia Regiment, who was severely wounded, evidently while attempting to come in a prisoner, as he lay on the north side of the breastwork. His cries were terrible and heart rending, during the entire night: ' Why did my parents drive me into this cruel war? why could not I have staid at home ? Oh! father, mother, shall I ever see you again ? water, water, water: will some one shoot me ? kill me quick, I cannot endure this, &c., &c, and even under this call it was quite late in the night before this young man was supplied with water, when lying perhaps not more than twenty feet off, and this to the rear of our line; but so continu- ous was the firing, no man dared to leave the protection he then had. By morning a great number had died, and we supposed a great many had been removed during the night, as we heard foot- steps very distinctly during the entire night. Now under this excitement three-fourths of the men went to sleep and slept as soundly as would have been possible under far more favorable cir- cumstances. I myself took my turn with two other men of my company, to watch what we supposed to be a Johnny with musket in hand, just over the opposite side of the breastwork, whom we thought to be waiting, or rather soliciting an opportunity to pick some of us off. We watched him till daylight, and found him still sitting by the side of a tree holding his musket between his knees, but dead; was severely wounded and died during the night. - Just at the left of this man, we found a Lieut. Colonel severely wounded, but full of pluck and vim ; wouldn't tell his name, where he was wounded, what regiment, what he wanted, and when taken back to the hospital, refused to take water from the nurses; don't know whether he lived or died. By the way, shortly after we had gone into the Johnnies' line of works, the 10th Vermont came and re-formed directly in rear of where we were, and left the field. This to me seemed a little strange, as it looked as though we were to vacate. Shortly after, some one appeared from the swamp in front of us. We challenged him, and found him to be from the 10th Vermont. He proved to be a Sergeant, a tall, strapping six- footer, courageous, brave, full of pluck and daring. I felt quite satisfied to have him remain, as during the heavy firing, occasion-
1239
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
ally, some man would show a disposition to make to the rear, when this fellow's musket would come to a shoulder, with the re- mark that he would blow the first man's brains out who attempted to leave that ditch. The result was, most of us staid until morn" ing. About daylight we missed the Sergeant, and shortly after dis- covered him rifling the pockets of our own dead men. He was ar- rested and sent to the Provo's, He was a brave, courageous fel- low, nevertheless. Vaill, do you recollect the second morning after the fight, during a season of shelling, the fact of your sitting at the foot of a chestnut tree and a solid shot or shell going through the body of the tree a few feet above your head; also the shelling we received when we were marching down the ravine, a little to the right and front of the line. I always supposed I had a narrow escape. A shell exploded just at the right of the line, as we were moving by the flank, killed I think a man from D com. pany, just at our rear. A piece of the same sliell struck the top ear of my canteen, thereby entailing a loss of a canteen of water -which I had been at some trouble to obtain. You know that water didn't come by pipe into the back kitchen in those days; nevertheless, I did not feel like complaining."
Corporal (afterward Quartermaster Sergeant) Benjamin Well- man, of Company I, gives the following history of his experience at Cold Harbor :-
" I was wounded in the left cheek, the ball passing through un- der the left ear, while the 3d Battalion was advancing. This brought me down, and I was soon so weak that I could not get up. About two hours afterward, while lying here, I was again struck in the back. Sometime in the night there were two John- nies came up to me belonging to a North Carolina regiment; one of them gave me water, and the other said, 'You will be taken care of soon ; '-meaning, probably, that I would be taken prison- er. Soon after this, there were about a hundred came along, marching in column. Some of them stepped on me. Sometime afterward, a Colonel of a New York regiment came up and gave me a little 'Commissary,' which did me a great deal of good. IIe said we had taken five hundred prisoners, and told me to keep up courage. In the morning, I was taken to the field Hospital, and
1240
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
on the third was put into a government wagon, with several oth- ers, and carried to White House Landing. I returned to the re- giment on the 26th of December."
The regiment remained at Cold Harbor till the 12th of June, being almost every moment under fire from the 1st to the 12th, and men were being constantly picked off. Isaac Briggs, of our company, was wounded in the foot as he lay in his tent, reading, of which wound he subsequently died.
At midnight, on the 12th, the regiment started on a rapid march for Petersburgh, where it arrived on the 19th, and engaged in digging trenches and skirmishing with the enemy.
"This was" says Vaill, " the most intolerable position the regiment was ever required to hold. We had scen a deadlier spot at Cold Harbor, and others awaited us in the future; but they were agonies that did not last. Here, however, we . had to stay,-hour after hour, from before dawn until after dark, and that, too, where we could not move a rod without ex- treme danger. The enemy's frot line was parallel with ours, just across the wheat field ; then they had numerous sharp-shooters, who were familiar with every acre of ground, perched in tall trees on both our flanks; then they had artillery posted everywhere. No man could cast his eyes over the parapet, or expose himself ten feet in rear of the trench, without drawing fire. And yet they did expose themselves ; for where there are even chances of being missed or hit, soldiers will take the chances rather than lie still and suffer from thirst, supineness, and want of all things."
The regiment was not to remain here long. Jubal Early was now menacing Washington, and the 6th Corps, some 12,000 men, were ordered to its defense. So our men, on the 19th of July, 1864, found themselves marching in thick dust, in that direction. Early had destroyed a portion of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and had marched direct for the capital, which had, at this moment, but few soldiers to defend it. It was none too soon that this movement to drive him away was made, for while the corps was steaming down the James, Jubal's infantry was within six miles of the capital. The regiment marched straight through Wash- ington, to Tenallytown, on the 12th.
" Early was in front of Fort Stevens when we arrived, and brisk firing was going on between his pickets and Gen. Augur's
1241
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
hastily gathered troops, which consisted partly of hundred-days men, invalid corps men, citizens, and clerks detailed from the gov- ernment offices. A skirmish occurred just after dark, which re- sulted in a loss to our side of two hundred and eighty killed and wounded, and a retreat of the enemy, with equal loss. At ten in the evening the regiment marched two or three miles up the road, by Fort De Russy, to Fort Kearney, and after much shifting, lay down on their arms to sleep. In the morning, Companies C and H were sent to man a battery, but returned in half an hour. Early had learned of the presence of the Sixth Corps, and also of the 19th, (Emory's,) which had opportunely arrived from New Or- leans ; and he concluded not to capture the Capital, and Capitol, Congress and Archives, Arsenal and Navy Yard, Lincoln and Cabinet, until (as Pollard says,) 'auother and uncertain time.' He had begun his retreat toward Snicker's Gap, and pursuit was instantly made by the Sixth and a division' of the 19th Corps, under command of General Wright. Our brigade moved up the river at 2:20 P. M., and bivonaced late in the evening near Poto- mae Cross Roads." 1
The pursuit was continued to Snicker's Gap, and then this much marched regiment returned, with the 6th, to Washington, almost upon the double-quick. " Tenallytown was reached on the 23d, by way of the Chain Bridge, and the stiff, lame, sore, tired, hungry men, found thirty-six hours rest, new clothing, new shoes, soft bread, and surreptitious Whisky-for all which they were truly thankful ; also cross-cannon badges (the emblem of the artillery service) to adorn their hats, for which they would have been more thankful, if this badge had not been to them such a bitter moek- ery !"
Within forty-eight hours, Early stood upon the banks of the Potomac, shewing an evident intention of marching into Penn- sylvania, or anywhere else he could do the most damage. So, within three days after its return to Washington, the regiment found itself on the march again, which culminated in the bloody Shenandoah Valley. Our troops were in pursuit of Gen. Early 3-
1 Vaills' Hist.
2 Vaills' 19th
3 It was on this march, as the author has been informed, a somewhat zealous chaplain introduced into his prayer a couplet from a grand old hymn, but made it have quite a different meaning from the usual one, from his method of accentua- tion, thus :--
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.