USA > Connecticut > The story of the Twenty-first Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War. 1861-1865 > Part 5
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We left Ashby's Gap November 5, marched all day,
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The Advance Into Virginia.
making about fifteen miles, to Oak Hill, and went into camp during a cold rain, with the wind blowing furiously. As we had no tents we passed a miserable night. The next morning we started early, and after marching about an hour, we halted about three hours, for the infantry, artillery and baggage wagons to pass. Being near a grist mill, the boys got some meal and flour, and found a quantity of potatoes buried in a garden. Arrived at Orleans, we went into camp, having . marched about twenty miles, which was a long distance con- sidering the circumstances.
On the 7th of November it snowed hard all day and was very cold. We marched through mud and slush, passing through Waterloo, and went into camp in the woods, where we built fires to warm the ground, so that we could sleep, with at least a pretense of keeping out of the wet. This camp, for the want of a better name, was designated Camp Near Warrington, but later was christened with the more suggestive and appropriate title of " Camp Starvation," from the fact that the Commissary Department very nearly col- lapsed-so much so, that hard-tack sold for twenty-five cents a " tack," and scarcely anything could be obtained in the way of food for love or money. It was said that the rebel General Stewart's cavalry had cut off our supply train. Whether that was so or not, the long roll was sounded, and we were marched out in the direction of Waterloo to support General Pleasanton's detachment, which had come up with the enemy, and was being driven back. The rebels, finding that General Pleasanton was re-enforced, fell back, losing some fifty head of cattle and about a dozen prisoners. We remained under arms during the night, and as the enemy had disappeared, returned to Camp Starvation in the morning.
News that General Burnside had been assigned to the command of the Army of the Potomac, relieving General McClellan, was received by his old Ninth Corps with enthu- siastic cheering and expressions of joy at his promotion.
General Burnside was a great favorite with the soldiers,
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
particularly of the old Ninth Corps, which he commanded and which he made famous as one of the most efficient corps in the Army of the Potomac. He was a large and distin- guished-looking man, and of fine address and military bear- ing, and could ride a horse to beat a cow-boy. He was full of magnetism and military enthusiasm, and his presence seemed to inspire the men and make them equal to any endeavor or sa :rifice. His appearance on any occasion was the signal for the boys to yell, and they usually did it with a will. He could not ride past them at any time but they would break out into cheering, and it was no ordinary cheers either-they came from the heart. I have seen men lying in the face of the enemy (when he did not wish them to know our position, or force) break into the wildest cheering. The General would shake his hand at them as a signal to stop. but it would make no difference ; they cheered just the same, and only ceased when he was out of sight.
And he always rode, as the boys said, "as though the devil was after him." I remember particularly one day as the the whole Army of the Potomac was marching from Harper's Ferry to Fredericksburg, stretching out on the road like a great snake, when we marched for twelve days uninterrupt- edly, the General came like a whirlwind down the line, fol- lowed by his staff and some forty orderlies. The men opened ranks and gave him all the road (and he needed it all), falling back to the fences and cheering like mad. The General had been informed that the rebel General Stuart (of Stuart's cavalry) was just ahead and he hoped to capture him. Stuart learned that Burnside was coming, just as he and his staff were sitting down to dinner at a farm-house. So they abandoned the dinner and made their escape. Burnside and staff captured a good dinner, but Stuart got away. Burnside's body-guard and orderlies at such a time had a hard time to keep within hearing distance of the General, and they came straggling along after him, inquiring if we had seen anything of Burnside, and swearing that they could not keep within
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The Advance Into Virginia.
two miles of him. Of course their horses were not as good as his, and there were few that could ride as he could, and so they had a terrible time keeping track of him.
The country through which we passed was alive with rab- bits, and whenever one was started up the boys would yell so that the rabbit would often lie down, so scared he could not move, and they would pick him up, and he would be added to their rations. So whenever we heard a cheering away back in the line, the men would exclaim " Burnside or a rabbit," and you could always tell whether it was Burnside or a rabbit by the duration of the cheering. If it was brief and soon subsided, you could make up your mind it was a rabbit ; but if long continued and kept coming nearer and nearer, it was Burnside, and the men prepared to take to the fence, for Burnside had the right of way. Sometimes we would hear a faint cheer far away off, so far that we were just able to catch the sound, but growing clearer and clearer as it came rolling along up the lines of that great army, like a tremendous tidal wave, until it broke over us, and passed on, to be finally lost in the dim distance ahead.
On the morning of the 12th we had bean soup, with plenty of water, but so few beans that we were very soon more hungry than ever. We had notice this morning that there would be no more drills until we were supplied with food. During the day we received our first ration of hard-tack, ten to each man, and were very glad to get that, wishing only that there had been more. Some of it had worms in it, but we were glad to get anything, and down it went. Cold and frost and hunger made this camp memorable in our annals.
The 15th of November we were again ordered forward, leaving Camp Starvation, and arriving within about ten miles of Fairfax Station. Here we came upon Benjamin's Battery, which had encountered a small force of the enemy, and a skirmish ensued, in which the rebels were driven back, three of their guns being silenced by the first round, fired at a dis- tance of one mile, and another at the second round at a
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
distance of nearly two miles. As this was the first actual encounter with the enemy, who were easily routed, the men were greatly encouraged and looked eagerly for more foes to conquer. Some of them talked rather boastfully of the wonderful things they would do later on. They learned to talk more moderately when they discovered that the victory was not always on one side.
We left camp on the 16th, arriving at night near Warring- ton Junction, after a long and seemingly useless march in which we went nine miles out of our way. Since we had started on this long and tedious march, the men had learned by actual experience the wonderful adhesiveness of Old Virginia mud, about which they had heard so often, but of which the half had never been told. Many are the army brogans that lie buried deep in the "sacred soil " on the line of that long and tiresome tramp. The agriculturist of the future, as his plowshare shall turn up and disclose these relics of the forgotten past, will doubtless wonder what become of the former occupant of those shoes.
On the 17th we marched all day, with nothing of unusual interest to disturb the monotony, and camped at night at Cedar Grove, within eight miles of our destination. The next day we reached Falmouth, immediately opposite Freder- icksburg, having in about twelve days of marching covered nearly two hundred miles across the unfriendly State of Virginia.
Many weary and worn-out soldiers dropped out of the ranks long before our destination had been reached, and the rear guard were powerless to urge them forward. And so with broken ranks and only fragments of companies, we went into camp for the night, so tired and weary that even hunger was forgotten, or at least ignored by the desire for rest and sleep. The long march was ended, and the Army of the Potomac slept at last on the banks of the Rappahannock. On the following day (November 20th) camps were laid out on a level tract of land just in sight of the city. The Twenty-
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The Advance Into Virginia.
first had never yet received tents, not even shelter tents, and consequently had to construct rude and miserable shelters with their blankets, etc., as indeed they had always done since entering the service.
For days, worn out and exhausted men continued to come straggling into camp, and it was nearly a week before we had anything like our old numbers ready for duty. The men were heartily sick of marching, and, for a change, would have welcomed a sharp and decisive battle.
In fact, we expected that we were at once to take posses. sion of Fredericksburg, and from what we could learn, we did not anticipate it would be a very great undertaking ; neither would it have been difficult at that time, but later, after a month of delay, during which time the enemy had labored night and day in fortifying their position-it was practically impregnable-a fact we learned by a sad and terrible expe- rience during those two December days.
November 21st, a tremendous storm of rain fell and con- tinued without any cessation until the morning of the 23d, causing terrible suffering. Our men lay down at night under their rudely constructed shelters, to awake and find water rapidly rising around them and the rain pouring pitilessly down.
In the morning it was nearly ankle deep, and the soil had become so soft and muddy that it was useless to attempt to lie down anywhere in the camp; and so the men, without shelter, passed two as miserable days as they had ever known, some standing with blankets over their heads as a protection from the merciless storm, while some walked back and forth through the mud and rain endeavoring to pass away the weary hours, while others sat silent upon their knapsacks. longing for the storm to pass by. And pass it did ; but ere it had passed away, it had sown widely and freely the seeds of disease and death in many of the bravest and strongest in the regiment. After the storm the nien were allowed to go away into the woods to dry themselves by fires made there,
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
as the only place free from mud ; and on the 27th day of November, while Thanksgiving was being celebrated in our native state, our boys were busy in moving camp to some more appropriate ground. The previous camp was ever afterwards known as " Camp Death," from the fact that so many lost their lives there from the effects of the storm, and had been laid tenderly to rest beneath the unfriendly soil of Virginia.
The remair der of the month passed away while the regi- ment was daily perfecting itself in drill. December came with its cold winds and storms, and was fast passing away, and no attack had yet been made upon the rebellious city, and some had come to doubt whether an attack would ever be made; but on the morning of the 11th of December the roar of cannon rang out among the hills and valleys, rousing us from our slumbers, as the very earth trembled and shook. The battle had began, and was now raging with steadily in- creasing fury. It was no mild warring of the elements, but a storm of " leaden rain and iron hail," vomited forth from the mouths of hundreds of cannon on both sides of the river, and shaking the old hills with their thunders, as echo after echo came and went, telling the inhabitants for miles around that the battle of Fredericksburg had opened, and was being waged with terrible energy.
The pontoon bridges were being built under the deadly fire of the enemy, who were using their utmost endeavors to pre- vent them from being thrown across to the opposite shore.
But brave hearts and steady and determined hands had begun the work and could not be deterred, though many fell under fire of the enemy's sharpshooters concealed in the buildings on the shore. Nobly they accomplished their work, and the crossing began. Regiments, brigades and di- visions, with colors flying, and bristling bayonets reflecting the sunbeams from their glittering points, marched gallantly over into the traitorous city.
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The Advance Into Virginia.
At the opening of the battle, the Twenty-first with most of the other troops, were ordered under arms, and towards night of the first day of the battle were marched down near the river ready to cross. We did not, however, cross until the second day (Friday), when we marched over into the city just at night, stacked arms in the street, and slept in unoccupied buildings and stores. No infantry of any account had as yet been engaged, the battle thus far having been an artillery duel, the sharpshooters doing what they could to help it along.
On the morning of the 13th, the day which was to close on a dark and bloody field strewn with thousands of dead and dying, we were ordered down to the banks of the river, where we lay during most of the day, shot and shell passing over us, and often exploding among us, and severely wounding several of our men.
The battle had now begun in earnest, and the rattle of musketry mingled with the roar of cannon, told that the im- patient combatants were hotly contesting the ground, while the wounded and dying borne to the rear and across the river, told that many a poor patriot was fighting his last fight. Night was now coming on, when we were ordered to the front, and again marching up into the city, we formed in line of battle and proceeded to the field, while the musket balls fell among us, killing one man and wounding several. Ar- rived near the battle-field, we were ordered to halt and lie down until wanted, when Colonel Curtis, of the Fourth Rhode Island, immediately on our left and in our brigade (the Sec- ond), was shot from his horse, and his clarion voice hushed forever in the silence of death.
The firing soon ceased as the darkness of night closed over the scene, and we lay upon the field until the next morning, when hostilities having for the present, at least, ceased, we returned to the city. It was expected that this day (Sunday, the 14th,) would witness a still more desperate battle, it being the purpose of General Burnside to charge the enemy's
,
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
works, and, if possible, take them. The battle would be a desperate one, all knew it. . The Twenty-first had been designated to lead the advance on the center. The attack was to open at 10 o'clock A. M., but the hour came and passed, and so did the day. No movements were made, the attack having been declared too hazardous to attempt.
Monday, the 15th, passed, and as darkness came on we were ordered to the front, again expecting to attack the enemy's works under cover of the darkness. We marched out, near the field of battle, and silently awaited the order to move on their works. After about two hours or more of wait- ing, we were ordered to march as silently as possible to the river, and now for the first time learned that a large portion of the army had recrossed while we had been making a show in front to deceive the enemy. The Second Brigade now re- crossed, and we returned to our old camp, worn and weary from the fatigues of the battle, while the nation mourned the failure to carry the Heights, and the loss of many of her noblest and bravest sons.
'. STUCK."
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Fredericksburg.
CHAPTER VII.
FREDERICKSBURG.
(December, 12-15, 1862.)
When Burnside assumed command of the army, with headquarters at Warrenton, three plans of operation were possible. He might engage the enemy where he was, and if successful, follow him to Richmond; he might move by way of Fredericksburg toward the Confederate Capital ; or, he might choose the peninsula route. The plan that the new commander really favored, as Swinton tells us, was that by way of the peninsula. Could he only while away the time until the following spring, he hoped to adopt this route. But those in authority would neither tolerate so long a delay, nor sanction the repetition of a plan that had once failed. Per- haps from political reasons, or perhaps because of the de- mands of an impatient public sentiment, an immediate move- ment towards Richmond was demanded. Of the two cam- paigns possible, General Burnside chose that by the way of Fredericksburg, the paramount object of which was the capture of the Confederate Capital. It was left to General Grant to show, that not the capture of the Capital, but the destruction of Lee's army, was properly the object of our ambition.
The Fredericksburg plan was opposed by General Halleck, but the President gave his consent. After a short delay, Burn-
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
side set his whole army in motion towards Falmouth, on the opposite side of the Rappahannock from Fredericksburg. Before the troops left camp it had been arranged that Halleck should hasten the pontoons from Washington, that the army might cross immediately upon their arrival opposite the city, at least, so General Burnside understood. But when on November 17th, the advance of the army under Sumner reached Falmouth, there were no pontoons there, neither did they arrive until eight days later. This seriously disarranged the plans of the commander, and it would seem that whoever was responsible for the delay should bear at least a part of the blame for the disaster that followed.
At the time when our advance reached Falmouth, the city across the river was held by only two batteries of artillery, one regiment of cavalry and less than two regiments of infantry. Forty thousand men opposed them, and Lee and his army were forty miles away. If only the pontoons had been ready as Burnside expected, the Union army might have crossed the river almost without opposition, and occupied the heights for which they fought so desperately a few days later. Colonel Brooks, commanding a brigade, saw some cattle wade the stream separating us from Fredericksburg. He noticed that the water was not more than knee-deep. He in- formed General Sumner, who communicated with the com- mander of the army, asking for permission to cross at once. But General Burnside thought it inadvisable, and thus, by too great caution, a second mistake was made, for there would appear to have been sufficient engineering skill in the army to construct bridges, and ample provisions were on hand for several days. True, a storm immediately followed the arrival of our advance, but the advantage that would have been gained by a dash across the river, would have more than compensated for everything.
During the few weeks that followed, Burnside visited Washington, asking permission to go into winter quarters. To this the government would not consent, they demanded a
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Fredericksburg.
forward movement. To the credit of the commander, it should be stated that his original plan was frustrated by the apparently dilatory actions of General Halleck, and he was compelled, against his better judgment, to fight a great battle. During the delay that followed, General Lee hurried his entire army to the point threatened, and securely entrenched himself in a strong position. Let us consider the conditions. Fredericksburg was located on the right bank of the Rappa- hannock, in a somewhat broken plain extending from a short distance above the city to Massaponax river below. This plain is nearly six miles in length, and varies in width from half a mile above the city to two miles below. Opposite the city the plain is something less than a mile in width. It is bordered on the south by a bold ridge, running nearly parallel with the river, while back of this ridge is a plateau on which the Rebel Army encamped as fast as they arrived. As Long- street says : "General Lee now concentrated the entire Con- federate army for the first time, having in all over three hundred guns. With wise precaution he occupied the ridge bordering the plain on the south, and securely fortified it. He placed two hundred guns in position so that at least fifty of them could be brought to bear on any one point in the plain below. Moreover, on the hills behind, 'Marye's Heights,' batteries were stationed to repel a frontal attack."
But, meanwhile, Burnside was not idle. Since all advan- tages hoped for from his rapid march had been lost through the lack of pontoons, he began to make plans for more ex- tended operations. Opposite Fredericksburg, and for some distance below, the north bank of the Rappahannock rises in a high bluff that completely commands the city. Along this bluff and the banks below, our army seized the most available points for planting batteries. Not a few of our regiment will remember this because of the part they bore in the work. One evening, near the first of December, a detachment from our regiment re-enforced by others from the division, amount- ing in all to two hundred men, with picks and shovels,
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
repaired to the bluffs opposite the city. Divided into three reliefs, we began to the work of throwing up an earthwork. The city was almost within a stone's throw, just across the river. There was little to disturb the stillness of the night, save the barking of the dogs, or the dull thud of the picks, or the rasping of the shovels in the hands of the men. The city clock from the steeple of one of the churches, could be distinctly heard as it called off the hours of the night, and marked the time for the change of each relief.
The enemy's picket on the opposite bank must have heard us, but they made no sign. By daylight, the work at that point was finished, and the men retired to their respective camps. What was done here was repeated in many other places. Soon a hundred and forty-seven guns were in position, twenty-two of which were twenty-pounder "parrots," and seven were four and a half-inch siege guns. These were stationed, as General Hunt, chief of artillery, says: "In order to control the enemy's movements on the plain, to reply to and silence his batteries along the crest of the ridge, to com- mand the town and protect the troops in crossing."
And now that all was ready, the attempt was made to lay the pontoons. They were to be thrown across the river opposite the city, for the crossing of Sumner's and Hooker's forces, and two more were to be placed below for Franklin's corps. On the night of the tenth the boats were brought to the bank, and before daylight were slipped from the team and launched on the river. A dense fog covered the valley and partially concealed the pontonniers. As the day approached the enemy's picket, however, opened fire, and re-enforced by others, soon drove the engineers to shelter. Says Longstreet, " At three o'clock in the morning our signal guns gave notice of the enemy's approach. The troops being at their company quarters, were formed immediately and marched to their position along the line." The engineers in charge of the lower bridges, under command of Franklin, meeting with less opposition, completed their work by noon. But
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Fredericksburg.
those in charge of the three upper bridges, were met by such a destructive fire, that they were obliged to suspend operations. At ten o'clock Burnside gave orders to bombard the city. About fifty rounds were fired, but apart from having started fires in a few places, but little damage was done. We could not depress our guns to bear directly upon the buildings where the sharp-shooters were hidden. During the bombardment, fresh but unavailing attempts were made to complete the bridges. At length at General Hunt's suggestion, troops were ferried over in the pontoon boats, and landing on the opposite side of the river, soon drove the Rebel pickets from their entrenchments. This done, the bridges were completed in short order.
If it be asked why the enemy allowed this work to be accomplished, a reason may be found in General Lee's report. "The plain of Fredericksburg is so completely commanded by the heights held by the enemy, that no effective opposition could be made to the construction of the bridges or the passage of the river. Our position was therefore selected with a view to resist the enemy's advance after crossing." The bridges being finished on the eleventh, there was no obstruction to the passing of the troops on the twelfth. General Sumner had command of the right wing, Frank- lin of the left, while Hooker, as a reserve, was stationed in the center, with a large part of his troops not yet across the river. Many of his troops, however, were placed at the disposal of General Franklin. Here the two armies Illet each other face to face, one hundred and thirteen thou- sand under Burnside, seventy-eight thousand under Lee.
It shall be remembered that the enemy counted only the . available fighting men, while our report included many who were detailed as camp or wagon guards, so that the disparity in numbers is not so great as the figures might indicate. But if the enemy had fewer troops, they had an immense advan- tage in position. They were as those who occupy the seats of an amphitheatre, while we were in the arena below, and it
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