USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1872, Vol. II > Part 40
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Yours fraternally,
W. J. ORTON.
" Wednesday, 15th, June, 1864.
" We left camp Sunday, at 8 o'clock, and marched all night, and all day, until seven, and out of the time we marched thirty-two miles, and only rested three hours, out of the twenty-three. Yes- terday we marched about eight miles, and we now are near the banks of the James river. Burnside's army crossed last night.
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They say our destination is Petersburg, south of Richmond. Grant says we must have Richmond by the 4th of July. But our men have got to fight before they get it. Grant keeps making flank movements, and gets nearer Richmond every time he moves. He stops in one place until he gets the whole rebel forces in the position that he wants them, then starts off in the night and leaves them behind. Our boys are tired out, foot sore, sick, and com- pletely worn out. A sick man has got to march, as well as the well men. We have got a regular officer for a Colonel, and he is so strict that he abuses his men. We never shall have another man like Col. Kellogg. You may show this letter to Captain Sperry, and it will answer the place of two letters. It is hard to write in the army. I have got some postage stamps. Remember me to all inquiring friends.
I remain yours, fraternally, W. J. ORTON.
Our soldiers serving in the south had a variety of vicissitudes and experiences, besides fighting the enemy: Major Frye, writing from Pass Marchal, says :-
" The moccasins and rattlesnakes are quite abundant, and appa- rently old settlers, as we killed one with nine rattles. They are quite a protection against a flank movement of the enemy through the swamp; and the aligators actually stick their noses into the tents, in hopes of stealing a biscuit or a piece of pork. And then, all night long, the soldier is lulled to sleep by the most infernal croaking of tree-toads, and kept asleep by the buzzing and biting of myriads of mosquetoes and yellow flies. One knows not how it is; but though every soldier has a musquito bar, still daylight will find as many inside as out : and them innumerable green liz- ards about four inches long, harmless, but sportive, gambol and catch flies and mosquitoes freely upon your face and body."
And so the fourth year closed with a general waning of the re- bellion, and a tightening of the cords by which the traitors were becoming bound, as with hooks of steel, under the magnificent valor of the union armies, and the splendid generalship of Gen, Grant.
1
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1865. The year opened auspiciously, and as soon as army movements could be made, there was a combined movement and determination on the part of all, officer and man, to squelch the rebellion, and that right speedily. And the campaigns of the year were begun with the hope and expectation of soon bringing the war to a successful close. In this final grapple, we had Grant before Richmond, Sherman in the south-west, and Terry in the south-east, respectively, working at the rebels trunk, and giant limbs, while officers and men, and all were in their best fighting trim. As the people of our State looked on the struggle, they recalled, with pardonable pride, the fact that these three soldiers, -- Grant, Sherman and Terry,-who had become the supreme hope of the nation in its hour of agony, had all sprung from a long line of ancestors, who were born upon the soil, and trained in the dis- triet schools of Connecticut. And old Woodbury had the proud satisfaction of having furnished the lineage of two of them- Grant and Sherman.1
Nearly all the Woodbury soldiers who were now in the war, except those who were serving in the grand old 5th Connecticut under Sherman, in his ever-memorable and glorious " March to the Sea," were in the regiments which were concentrated around Petersburgh and Richmond, under Grant, and were soon to wit- ness, and assist in the fall of these two strongholds, after a deadly siege, which had existed some ten months.
The war had far advanced, and there was an urgent need of men before even the northern mind could be educated up to the point of employing the services of colored troops. At length it was permitted, and Gov. Buckingham issued his call for the 29th Regiment. It was readily filled, as was also the 30th. The 29th contained a considerable number of Woodbury colored men, and it was now employed in the siege of Petersburgh and Richmond, being placed nearer Richmond than the white regiments.
On the preceding October, Grant had made a last effort to turn the Confederate right, and in this movement, the 29th was engaged : "Stubbornly was the advance contested; but from tree to tree, from bush, rock, and rifle-pit, the rebel skirmishers were driven, until they broke, and fled into the woods. The brigade remained in the woods while the 29th pushed forward, nearly six hundred
1 Samuel Grant, Jr., of Windsor, married Grace Minor, daughter of Capt. John Minor, of Woodbury, and the father and ancestors of General Sherman were natives of Woodbury, from the first settlement of the town, in 1672.
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strong, until they had made their way close up to the breastworks, from which poured a heavy fire. At this time, the enemy opened upon the 29th from a battery in an angle of the works; sweeping the line with shot and shell, and threatening to render it untena- ble. A well-directed rifle-fire silenced it. The gunners fell at their guns. Comrades attempted to crawl up; but they were shot down or forced back, and the guns remained as silent as if spiked. The blacks exhausted their ammunition, but replenished their supply from the dead or wounded. They vied with each other in deeds of daring. In a lull of battle they would call out, ' How about Fort Pillow to-day ?' 'Look over here, Johnny, and see how niggers can shoot!' They exposed themselves with the utmost recklessness and indifference ; and Capt. Camp was obliged to restrain them from useless exhibitions of their courage.
"During the afternoon, various points of the rebel works were assaulted, but without success. The 29th remained in front, firing until the muskets became so foul that the charge could not be rammed home. Nightfall found the regiment still engaged with unwearied enthusiasm where they had been for fifteen hours. By eight o'clock, the firing gradually slackened, and finally ceased ; and the regiment remained on the skirmish-line till daylight. A violent storm drenched the men completely; but they were vigil- lant until relieved.
" By this time, our negroes had showed that they could fight, if anybody had sincerely doubted it. On the skirmish-line this day, the 29th had lost twelve killed and sixty-seven wounded. Among the latter was Capt. James C. Sweetland. During the advance of the morning, Sergeant Jacob F. Spencer, of Clinton, ran far ahead of the line, and captured, single-handed, two armed rebels, and brought them back prisoners. They afterwards declared that they would never have surrendered to him if they had known he was a ' nigger.' Gen. Weitzel presented Spencer with a medal for . gallantry.
" Adjutant H. H. Brown said in the regimental report, 'Though twenty-three hours on the skirmish line, and the men excessively fatigued, I beg to call especial attention to the fact that there are none missing. When we returned to camp yesterday afternoon, we brought every man we took out, excepting those killed and wounded.' "
And in the final success of the union arms, in the surrender of Gen. Lee and his army, we find this regiment conspicuous :-
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." Weitzel, pressing near Richmond, north of the James, with one division of the 24th Corps, and one division of the 25th (col- ored) Corps, was attracted by the conflagration, and in early morning hurried forward over the vacated Confederate breast- works towards the city.
" Lieut. Colonel David Torrence reported, 'At sunset of April 2 we witnessed the last rebel dress-parade in Virginia, from the magazine of Fort Harrison. Early on Monday morning, April 3, 1865, the picket fires of the enemy began to wane, and an ominous silence to prevail within his lines. Very soon, deserters began to come into our lines, who reported that the works in our front were being evacuated. In a little while, we saw the barracks of Fort Darling in flames ; and tremendous explosions followed each other in rapid succession. The earliest dawn revealed to us the deserted lines, with their guns spiked and their tents standing. We were ordered to advance at once, but cautiously. The troops jumped over the breastworks, and, avoiding the torpedoes, filed through the rebel abatis ; and then began the race for Richmond.
"No words can describe the enthusiasm of the troops as they found themselves fairly within the rebel lines, and tramping along the bloody roads leading to the capital. The honor of first enter- ing that city was most earnestly contested. Many regiments threw away every thing but their arms, while this regiment ' double-quicked' in heavy marching order. Two companies of this regiment, G and C, that had been sent forward as skirmish- ers, reached the city close on the heels of our cavalry, and were, without the slightest doubt, the first companies of infantry to en- ter the city. Through the heat and dust the troops struggled on; and at last, as we came in full view of the city, the air was rent with such cheers as only the brave men who had fonght so long and so nobly for that city could give." 1
Throughout Sherman's Grand March, the veteran 5th maintain- ed iti early renown in all the battles. As an instance, it is men- tioned, that at the battle of Peach-tree Creek, near Atlanta, Ga., which was almost a complete surprise to the union army ;- " As the enemy came shouting and yelling from the woods within twenty yards, flaunting their flags in the assurance of an easy vic. tory, the old division closed sternly in, and the answer to their
2 Hist. of Conn. in the recent War.
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yells were union bullets and union cheers, For three hours the battle raged, the enemy being repeatedly repulsed, and as often re- turning to the charge, only to find a wall of fire and steel more impenetrable than before, and to lose increased numbers of their misguided soldiers upon the field. At a little before sunset the battle ceased. The returns of the 5th exhibited a loss of sixty men killed and wounded, out of less than 200 who went into ac- tion ; among whom were many of the best and most valued men of the regiment. 1
" In January, 1865, the army-'Sherman's Iron-clads,' as they were called by the Confederates, rested for a few weeks in and about Savannah, after one of the most remarkable campaigns in the wars of the world."
On the 6th of February, 1865, the 2d Heavy Artillery was en- gaged in the battle of Hatcher's Run, and did good service.
" At midnight the regiment marched back to quarters, arriving at sunrise, and having taken a ration of whisky, which had been ordered by Grant, or somebody else, in consideration of three nights and two days on the bare ground, in February, together with some fighting, and a good deal of hard marching, and hard work, the men lay down to sleep as the sun rose up, and did not rise up till the sun went down." ?
On the 25th of March, the regiment was engaged in the battle of Fort Fisher, and bore an honorable part, taking more prisoners than the number of its men taking part in the battle. This was a ery decisive battle, leaving miles of the rebel pieket lines in our possession, thousands of prisoners in our hands, and greatly tight- ning the grip of the union armies upon Petersburg. The activ- ty of this spring was in strong contrast with the endless cannon- iding and laying in the trenches not daring to show one's head without risk of its loss, the opposing picket lines running for miles within 200 feet of each other, that had prevailed for the preceding en months. It is difficult even now to see how the two immense irmies of Grant and Lee could have confronted each other for so ong a time without more active and decisive hostilities. How- ver, that period was past. All things were now ready, and the end, so long desired, drew near.
1 Crofut & Morris, p. 703.
2 Vaill.
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"On the 1st of April, Sheridan, with cavalry and infantry, won a great victory at Five Forks over the divisions of Pickett and Bushrod Johnson. Mr. Pollard tells us that on that occasion five thousand rebels, 'having got the idea that they were entrapped, threw down their arms, and surrendered themselves as prisoners.' Indeed, all the rebels along the line seemed about this time to have 'got the idea,' badly,-and General Grant determined to strength- en their hold upon it by a shotted salute in honor of Sheridan's victory at Five Forks. It was abont eleven o'clock on the eve- ning of the 1st of April, and all quiet, when BANG! went a gun from Fort Wadsworth. Heavy firing at a distance of three miles or more will not start soldiers from their bunks. Every shot may destroy a regiment or sink a ship,-it will not destroy their re- pose. But Fort Wadsworth was too near camp,-only fifty paces off-and the men were constrained to look out and see the cannon- ading of which that shot was the opening gun. Waterloo's open- ing roar and Hohenlinden's far flashes were but the work of pop- guns in comparison with the artificial earthquakes that shook Pe- tersburg and its bristling environs, and the lightnings which came in such quick succession that the jaws of darkness were not able to devour them up. Mr. Pollard says of it :-
""'On the night of the 1st April, Grant celebrated the vic- tory of Five Forks, and performed the prelude of what was yet to come, by a fierce and continnous bombardment along his lines in front of Petersburg. Every piece of artillery in the thickly studded forts, batteries, and mortar-beds, joined in the prodigions clamor ; reports, savagely, terrifieally crashing through the nar- row streets and lanes of Petersburg, echoed upwards; it appeared as if fiends of the air were engaged in a sulphurous conflict.'
" At about midnight, the regiment was called up and ordered to pack up everything. Knapsacks, however, were to be left be- hind ; and to secure greater silence, canteens were to be worn on the right side. Six companies and a half fell in, (the rest being on pieket,) and proceeded to brigade head-quarters, and thence to the neighborhood of Patrick's Station. All monnted officers were ordered to leave their horses inside the earthworks ; and the di- vision moved ont in front, a little to the left of the Look-out. A heavy picket fire was opened, under cover of which the lines were formed, three or four deep in all except our brigade, which had only two, although on the right of the division, and our regiment
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(of course) in the front line. The charge was expected to come off at four o'clock, but day began to dawn before the signal gun was fired. Skinner had command of the right wing of the bat- talion, Jones of the left wing, Hubbard of the whole. The ad- vance was made en echelon by brigades, with a great rush and yell-although a part of the 1st Brigade, (the Jerseys,) broke and ran, ingloriously. The advance was over precisely the same ground as on the 25th of March, and the firing came from the same battery and breastworks, although not quite so heavy. Lieut. Colonel Skinner and seven enlisted men were wounded- none of them mortally. A shot, which, judging from the hole it made, was something smaller than a minnie ball, struck Skinner on the side, under the right arm, went through an overcoat, wad- ded blouse, and vest, pierced the skin, and traveled seven inches on the ribs, then came out and sped on, and may have wounded another man, for ought that is known to the contrary. There was but little firing on our side,-but with bayonets fixed, the boys went in-not in a very mathematical right line, but strongly and
surely,-on, on, until the first line was carried. Then, invigorated and greatly encouraged by success, they prossed on,-the oppo- sing fire slackening every moment,-on, on, through the abbattis and ditch, up the steep bank, over the parapet, into the rebel camp that had just been deserted. Then, and there, the long tried and ever faithful soldiers of the Republic saw DAYLIGHT !- and such a shont as tore the concave of that morning sky, it were worth dying to hear. On the ground where so long the rebels had formed and drilled their battalions, our line was now re-form- ed, and then pushed on, over the hills and far away,-across a pike and past a telegraph, which was quickly cut,-then on, until at length Colonel Hubbard found himself and his half battalion alone on the Boydtown plank road. After cutting off and burn- ing a small wagon train loaded with medical stores, we marched back to the rebel camp, where we found the remainder of our brigade holding the right of the captured line. The rest of the corps was in line two miles further to the left, where it had some sharp fighting. Our skirmishers took several works and guns, but for want of support had to relinquish them, and the rebels, following up their slight advantage, turned the guns on us, making it very uncomforable for a few minutes,-our flank being quite un- covered,-when, suddenly, hurrah ! a column of reinforcements comes over the hill by Fort Fisher. The rebels turn their guns
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in that direction, but to no purpose :- for the 24th Corps marches steadily forward, goes into line by regiments, advances a heavy skirmish line, and then a superb line of battle,-whereupon the enemy abanden their works and flee. This advance of the 24th Corps was one of the most magnificent sights our soldiers ever saw : it drove the rebels before it as the hurricane drives dead leaves. Our men watched the charge until the line was a mile to the right, then moved inside of our works, and rested an hour. While there, Grant, Meade and Wright rode up, and were greeted with cheers that had in them the prophetic ring of the final and all-comprehending victory so soon to come. Unanimous cheers, too, they were.
" Generals, too, in this rejoicing hour, dispensed with their usn- al reticence, and seemed to think that it would not be prejudicial to good order and military discipline even to let enlisted men know what was going on 'in high military circles.' Every pri- vate soldier in the ranks was possessed of the intelligence that General Grant says that Sheridan is coming up the South Side without opposition ; General Wright reports that he cannot find any forces to the left,-so General Grant tells him to move on Pe- tersburg and ' take it as soon as God will let him.'
" The Corps followed the Second Corps-all except our brigade, which was detached and ordered to report to General Parke, com- manding the 9th Corps. We marched to the right, by the old camp near Warren's station, and up the corduroy to the rear of Fort Hell, where a rest of an hour was made, in a fiercely hot sun. Then the brigade advanced through a covered way, past Fort Hell, and out in front to the works that had been captured early that morning by Hartraft's division of the 9th Corps. There the men lay down in muddy trenches, among the dying and the dead, under a most murderous fire of sharp-shooters. There had been charges and counter charges,-but our troops held all they had gained. At length the hot day gave place to chilly night, and the extreme change brought much suffering. The men had flung away whatever was fling-away-able during the charge of the morning, and the subsequent hot march,-as men always will, under like circumstances,-and now they found themselves blank- etless, stockingless, overcoatless,-in cold and damp trenches, and compelled by the steady firing to lie still, or adopt a horizontal, crawling mode of locomotion, which did not admit of speed enough to quicken the circulation of the blood. Indeed, it was
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very cold. Some took the clothing from the dead, and wrapped themselves in it ; others, who were fortunate enough to procure spades, dug gopher holes, and burrowed. At daylight, Colonel Fiske and the 65th New York clambered over the huge earth work, took possession of Fort IIell, opened a picket fire and fired one of the guns in the Fort, eliciting no reply. Just then a huge fire in the direction of the city' followed by several explosions, convinced our side that Lee's army had indeed left. The regiment was has- tily got together,-ninety muskets being all that could be pro- duced-and sent out on picket to relieve the 200th Pennsylvania. The picket line advanced, and meeting with no resistance, pushed on into the city. What regiment was the first to enter the city is, and probably ever will be, a disputed question. The 2d Con- necticut claims to have been the first,-but Colonel Hubbard had ordered the colors to remain behind when the regiment went out on the skirmish line-and consequently, the stars and stripes that first floated over captured Petersburg, belonged to some other regiment. Colonel Hubbard was, however, made Provost Mar- shal of the city, and for a brief while dispensed government and law in that capacity. But city life was not conducive to good or- der and niilitary discipline, and the brigade shortly moved ont and marched gaily down to the old camp, four miles away. After re- maining there two hours, everything of a portable nature was packed up, a farewell leave taken of the Camp near Warren's Sta- tion, and the line of march taken up due west. The brigade now furnished a striking illustration of the difference between the marching and fighting strength of an army. It had come down from Petersbug to camp, numbering three hundred ;- now, nearly two thousand men, all of the 2d Brigade started in pursuit of the retreating rebellion.
" While passing through the heaviest of the rebel works, the brigade met President Lincoln and Admiral Porter, under convoy of a squadron of cavalry,-and saluted the dear old Uncle, who looked pale and thin. The Corps was overtaken toward evening, and the night passed in bivonac. Reveille sounded at 3:30 the next morning, and Pack up 5:30,-and after a march of about three miles, over a somewhat different country from that along Grant's Railroad-in that it was hilly and stony,-a halt was made of two hours or more, during which the official annoncement of the capture of Richmond was made by General Hamblin, and re- ceived with almost interminable shoutings, and a crashing of brass
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bands, the like of which was never heard before. Rebel Generals and staff officers, and squads of greybacks were brought in all through the day. Soon after noon the column was again put in motion, and after a heavy march through the swamps, went into camp at eight in the evening. During this afternoon our regi- ment passed the body of a negro whose throat had been cut by the rebels, and heard of a white man close by, who had been mur- dered in the same manner. The place where this night was spent was called Berill's Ford. On the morning of the 5th the march was resumed, and continued all day, with a halt of two hours at noon, during which two days' rations of hard tack, sugar and cof- fee were issued ;- and the corps encamped late in the evening in the neighborhood of Jetersville, in Amelia County. Orders were here issued by General Meade, hinting at long marches, and di- recting that rations be economized.
" And now came the day of the last fight for the 2d Connecti- cnt. It was the 6th of April, 1865. Reveille sounded at 4:30, and at 5:30 the lines were formed for an advance upon the enemy, who were in force immediately in front. The affair is thus de- scribed by Lieut. Curtiss ;- "
" After marching back two miles, on the road by which we came on the previous evening, we halted for half an hour, and were then ordered back to the ground from which we had just come. We had just halted there, after a muddy, slippery march, and were mourning that Lee had outwitted and escaped us, when, hark! Firing in advance and to the right. All right. We'll have him yet. We moved on and struck the Danville Railroad at Amelia Court House, marching alongside of it for two miles, and on it for a mile more, towards Burkesville. Here we met Johnny Wheeler, wounded, and Mackenzie and his cavalry. We struck off' west-north-west from the Railroad, and marched steadily forward, hour after hour, toward a distant cannonade. At four o'clock we began to overtake the cavalry, who reported every- thing going on well. We passed 15,000 prisoners just taken from Messrs. R. E. Lee & Co. The firing grew heavier and nearer, and at five we reached the cavalry battle-field of the morning. Although tired and 'played out,' there was no halt for us-but we moved forward into position, advancing beyond our batteries, which were playing a lively tune from a hill close by. When formed, the line was advanced-sometimes by brigade front and sometimes by a flank-but always on, until we crossed Sailor's
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