USA > Connecticut > The story of the Twenty-first Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War. 1861-1865 > Part 6
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
was our task to climb those heights and drive them from their position of vantage.
If now we seek for Burnside's plan of battle, we find that apparently he had none. He hoped to gain some part of the enemy's lines, and thus secure a position from which he could move in rear of the crest back of the city, and compel the enemy to evacuate or to capitulate. Then with Sumner's forces to attack their left, he would prevent the removal of their artillery in case they attempted to retreat. This would imply that the greater part of the fighting must be done by Franklin's forces. During the day preceding the battle, Burnside was in consultation with Franklin. The latter urged his superior to attack the enemy in his front with a force of at least thirty thousand men, by daylight on the following morning. Burnside left him at six o'clock P. M., and promised him that he would send him orders within two or three hours, or in any event, before midnight. Franklin spent an anxious night, but received no orders until the following morning, and then they were so ambiguous, that he was in doubt as to their meaning. He was to move with one division at least, to seize the heights at Hamilton's crossing, to take care that the division be well supported, and line of retreat open, while he was to hold the rest of his command in a position for a movement down the old Richmond road. The purport of the matter was very different from what he had been led to expect from their previous conversation, and it was not received until half-past seven of the morning of the battle.
Says General Palfrey in "Campaigns of the Civil War :"- " It is a pitiful picture, but it is probably a true one, that Burnside passed the night of the twelfth, before the battle, in riding about, not quite at his wit's end, but very near it. As far as can be made out, he decided to attempt to do some- thing, he did not know exactly what, with his left. If he succeeded then he would do something with his right."
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Fredericksburg.
So far as can be learned, the other leading Federal officers were in no better plight. In place of confidence, their minds were filled with dark forebodings. Says Mr. Swinton, of The New York Times, in a report on the morning of the thirteenth : "It was with pain and alarm, this morning, that I found a general want of confidence and gloomy foreboding among the officers whose sound judgment I had learned to trust." Thus dawned the eventful "thirteenth " that looked down upon the two opposing armies. The plan of the attacking forces was obscure, to say the least. The leading officers, with heavy hearts, bore up as best they might ; the rank and file, ignorant of these circumstances, stood ready, to a man, to execute any order given ; while the army to be attacked rested securely in its intrenched position.
The air was mild for the season, the sky cloudless, but a thick haze hung over the valley concealing the movement of the troops from the enemy and somewhat delaying general movements. Says Longstreet : "The dense fog in the twi- light concealed the enemy from view, but the orders, ' For- ward, guide center, march,' were distinctly heard at different points on my right." The first attack of the day was made by that division which was commanded by him who after- wards became the hero of Gettysburg, General Meade. Sup- ported by the two remaining divisions of Reynolds' corps, he pushed his advance forward with creditable speed, crossing the plain before him, and driving the concealed enemy from the edge of the woods. Sweeping back the right flank of one brigade and the left flank of another, he reached the crest of the hill, and occupied a point on the road that Lee had con- structed to connect the right and left wings of his army, cap- turing in this movement two hundred prisoners and several stand of arms.
" The attack must be made with one division at least," said Burnside. And so it had been, and the division had done well ; but what could they do now to hold the ground they had gained in the face of the most successful of Generals,
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
Lee and Jackson, who sent forward re-enforcements on the double-quick. For want of support, Meade's division was speedily driven back; Gibbons' division, hastening to his support, was swept away, and when Burney's division, arriving upon the ground checked the advance of the enemy, they were within fifteen yards of his front. But if the gallant Meade suf- fered this repulse through no fault of his own, within less than seven months he was to witness the more disastrous repulse of Picket's charge at Gettysburg. By a quarter after two o'clock the fighting on the left had practically ceased.
At the right of the line, where our more personal interest centered, the two corps of Couch and Wilcox occupied Fredericksburg awaiting orders. Back of the city is a place known as Marye's heights, where the steep ridge for a little less than a mile runs nearly parallel with the river. Along the foot of these heights in the edge of the plain was a broad, well-constructed road, in front of which on the side toward the plain was a strong stone wall shoulder high. Along the front of this, earth had been thrown up, thus making one of the best of protections for infantry; while on the rising heights in the rear were defenses for sharpshooters, and earth- works for artillery wherever engineering skill could locate them to advantage.
The following description, from Carlton, the correspondent for The Boston Journal, may be of interest : "From General Sumner's headquarters, I have a wide sweep of country in view. On the right I see a steep bluff behind the town. *
* * At the top of the bluff I behold the house of Mr. Marye, with breastworks in front of it, on the edge of the bluff. Half way down the street I see a line of yellow earth and a line of men behind it. I can see cannon peeping from embrasures. I did not know at that moment, nor did anyone in the army know, that there was a sunken road running along the base of the bluff, and that a brigade of Confederates was lying there in the natural fortification There were three lines of men securely entrenched. Since then I have stood
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Fredericksburg.
upon the bluff with General Longstreet, who kindly pointed out the position of his troops and of. his cannon, planted to sweep every rod of ground between the bluff and the town. His chief engineer, after placing the cannon in position, said, " General, I've still some guns left." "Can't you put them in somewhere ?" "I don't need them. You couldn't rake the field with a fine tooth comb more completely than I can with my batteries," the chief engineer replied.
Between these defenses in the city at distances of seventeen hundred yards, as General Hancock estimates it, the plain was somewhat broken. Yet to reach these heights our army must charge over this plain, subject to the most destructive fire of both artillery and infantry. At eleven o'clock Burnside gave the command for the assault of these heights. General French's division of Couch's corps was the first to advance. They moved out of the city by the two roads ; crossed a canal on imperfect bridges, and went forward in face of an artillery fire that made gaps in their line that could be seen by the enemy a mile away. Then pausing behind a slight rise of ground to form in brigade front, they moved forward with dauntless courage to face one of the most murderous fires in the whole history of war. They advanced until within close proximity to the stone wall, when they fell back with the loss of twelve hundred men. Next the division of Han- cock, " the superb," moved forward to within twenty-five paces of the stone wall, and fell back, losing two thousand men, or forty per cent. of its strength. Then followed How- ard's division, with a loss of eight hundred and seventy-seven men.
It was now half-past two in the afternoon, and the second corps had spent its strength. An order was sent to General Franklin to renew the battle on the left and to attack in force along his whole line. But it appeared to be late in the day for such an extended attack; besides, in view of the morning's experience, he evidently had no faith in such a movement. He took upon himself the responsibility of ignoring the order.
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
This doubtless was well for the Army of the Potomac, but it cost him dear, for from this time he dropped out of the his- tory of the war. Meanwhile Sturges' division of the ninth corps was ordered. to make a fourth attack upon Marye's heights, only to be driven back with a loss of one thousand and twenty-eight men. This was followed by Griffin's divi - sion of the fifth corps with a loss of eight hundred and eighteen men.
But the ill-fated day drew at last to a close. The left wing under Franklin was idle, and the right wing had been re- pulsed five successive times, as by division front it had charged the enemy's position. He who was once hailed as the hero of Roanoke Island and Newburn, had, for some reason or other, attempted the impossible. Says Swinton, who spoke from personal observation, " There now grew upon his mind something which those around him saw to be akin to desper- ation. Riding down from his headquarters to the bank of the Rappahannock, he walked rapidly up and down, and gazing over the heights in front of him, exclaimed excitedly, ' The heights must be carried to-night.'" An order was sent to Hooker, and Humphrey's division moved forward to the assault. Hastily investigating the conditions, Hooker was convinced that further fighting was useless.
Hastening to his almost demented superior, he attempted to dissuade him from any further attack. But in vain. Humphrey's division after sunset moved forward over the ill- fated ground that had witnessed the defeat of five successive assaults, made one of the noblest charges on record, lost seventeen hundred men out of four thousand, and failed like its predecessors. Notice the conditions as described by Longstreet : " Humphrey is to charge with two brigades, while behind the stone wall there were three. The men were stationed there four decp; the rear lines loading while the front would fire." The stone wall was a sheet of flames that enveloped the front and flank of the enemy. With this
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Fredericksburg.
almost desperate assault closed the history of this eventful day.
We will now go back a little to consider the part the Twenty-first took in these events. General Gettey's division, to which the regiment belonged, lost two hundred and eighty- four men. Our regiment was called out from its camp on the morning of the day preceding the battle and marched upon a field that sloped toward the river. We stacked arms and waited our turn to cross. While waiting, some enterprising speculator appeared, having come from across the river, bear- ing a heavy load of tobacco, spoil gathered from the hostile city, which he sold cheap, to the great delight of our men. But we were not allowed to remain long in peace. The enemy had caught sight of us and were training their guns. Soon a shot passed over our heads, with its dismal, threaten- ing music, at which the whole regiment made obeisance, as does the full-grown grain before the passing breeze that pre- cedes some threatening storm. Then a shell, more accurately directed, fell in the midst of a neighboring regiment. Speedily we withdrew to a more secure place.
Late in the afternoon we crossed the river, and abode in the city for the night, finding a resting place in the streets, or in the houses as was most convenient. During the next day we were held in reserve till late in the afternoon, being stationed on a street running parallel with the river, and very near to the pontoon bridge. Here we witnessed in part the passing of the teams, between the right wing in front of us and the base of supplies on the opposite side of the river. Ambulances also were busy caring for the disabled. Frequently the wounded would return on foot if the hurt was not too serious. In the early part of the day, we heard with a good deal of enthusiasm of the success of General Meade's division. But, as the hours passed by, the news of success on the left was followed by reverses.
The firing at our front was kept up with varying intensity. There was no news of victories gained. It was ominous.
Y'et it was our first battle, and we
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
were sure that our army was so great and strong, that it would be impossible to check us. Therefore, the high ex- pectation of success with which the conflict was begun, was very slow to yield to the thought of defeat.
At last the sun sank through the dim haze to its rest. We had waited during these eventful and anxious hours, ready to obey any order, yet thankful that we had so far escaped. At length, about sunset, we were ordered forward through the streets of the city towards the front. Reaching the last street that runs parallel with the enemy's works, we " filed right," and soon halting and coming to the front, found ourselves facing the enemy. Along the side of the street looking towards the battle-field were scattered buildings, the interval between them filled with a picket fence. Immediately the Colonel gives the order, "Forward, guide center, march ! Get along the best way you can."
Hastening forward, we removed all obstacles not stationary, and went around those we could not move. A hundred hands quickly laid fences low on the ground, while companies that found buildings in their way filed around them and took their places in line on the opposite side. Leaving the city speedily in our rear, we hastened over ground somewhat un- even, and soon reached the field of battle as the carly twi- light faded into deeper darkness. Our advance was about the time of the gallant charge of Humphrey's division. It was a wild scene in the gathering darkness of that lurid night, with shot and shell flying over our heads, the incessant fire of infantry from behind the stone wall repelling the charge, and the rapid firing of cannon from the rising ground along the heights. Scarcely had we halted, when a caisson just in front of us, hit by a shell from the enemy, was blown up in a blaze of fire, scattering with fearful noise, shot and shell, and broken pieces of boards in every direction. But with the approach of darkness there came a cessation of hostilities, and soon comparative quiet reigned. From a barn nearby, many
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of the soldiers supplied themselves with hay. And here, after the excitement of this eventful day, we rested for the night.
" Our bugles rang truce, for the night cloud had lowered, And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky ; And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, The wearied to sleep, and the wounded to die."
Before light on the following day we were withdrawn from the field and moved back into the city. But scarcely had we finished breakfast when we learned that Burnside purposed to renew the battle immediately, charging Marye's heights with the entire ninth corps, commanding the charge in person. He designed to move forward, left in front. As our regiment was near the extreme left, it would have brought us in front. The enemy were already aware of this contemplated movement, as at twelve o'clock of the preceding night a dispatch-bearer had been captured with the information that Burnside was to renew the battle in the morning. Had we made the charge, we should have found the enemy prepared to meet us ; but fortunately, through the remonstrance of subordinate officers, this audacious command was never carried into execution.
What would have been the result to us if the charge had been made is not difficult to determine. We must have been a torn and shattered regiment, and many of us who now live to read an account of the battle would then have filled un- marked graves. But no one can know the feelings that pos- sess the soldier who waits long hours in expectation of en- gaging in a charge, save those who have experienced it. There is less heart-sickness in the marching forward into battle than in the anxious waiting, for in the former case the mind is occupied with something to do, in the latter it is filled with deep forebodings.
When, however, the anxiety of the coming charge gave way to the realization that it would not be attempted, our stay in the city became more pleasant. Empty houses were used as hospitals. The soldiers found in the deserted stores
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
provisions that supplied their wants, while in the vacant shops and yards was found fuel for cooking our newly gained sup- plies. Thus were passed the two days following the battle. The wounded were transported across the river, back to the old camp or to the hospitals farther north. On the night of the fifteenth we were again ordered forward to the battle-field as a picket line. The movement was made in silence, com- mands must be given in whispers. After a short stay we again moved back through the city, then over the pontoon- bridge, covered with soil to deaden the sound, then back to the camp, which we welcomed with no little satisfaction. Our loss had been slight, only six wounded, none killed. Respect- ing the conduct of the regiment in this its first experience under fire, the Colonel reports : " It is my duty and pleasure to testify to the gallantry, coolness and enthusiasm displayed by the regiment during the time it was under fire, and to the fortitude and alacrity with which the men fulfilled every duty required of them, during this day of excitement and suffering. The officers in particular have, without exception, shown themselves well worthy the trust reposed in them."
Of the battle, as a whole, it will ever stand as an example of brave fighting on the part of the men and poor generalship on the part of the leader. Says the correspondent of The London Times, at General Lee's headquarters : "That any mortal men could have carried the position before which they were wantonly sacrificed, defended as it was, seems to me idle for a moment to believe." It takes its place among the twelve great battles of the war. On our side the losses were, 1,284 killed, 9,600 wounded, 1,769 captured or missing ; total, 12,653. The losses on the Confederate side amounted to 608 killed, 4,116 wounded, 653 captured or missing ; total, 5.377. While with us after the battle there was discouragement and the consciousness of defeat, in the enemy's camp there were high hopes that soon the war would cease, with a recognition of the Southern Confederacy. Says General Longstreet : " General Lee went down to Richmond soon after the battle
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Fredericksburg.
to prepare for active operations, and returned with the infor- mation that gold had gone up to two hundred in New York, that the war was over, and peace would be announced in sixty days, that it would be useless to harass the troops by winter service."
A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
CORPORAL PALMER'S NARRATIVE.
At the time of the great battle of Fredericksburg, 1862, I was a boy seventeen years of age, full of patriotism, as Con- necticut boys have been in all of this country's struggles. I was a member of the third division of the famous old Ninth Corps, Burnside's former command, which the General held in reserve in the streets of Fredericksburg, until the last after- noon of the desperate fight. The plain in front of Marye's heights, and the fatal stone wall, was the scene of many brave charges of brigades, whose sacrifices are now a part of the Nation's history. Preparations began early in the day of December 13th. About 1:30 P. M., the second division, Ninth Corps, was directed to charge on the Hazel Run and Willis Hill front. At 4:30 P. M. there came a hurry order to the third division to go to the support of the second, and away we went, glad to take an active part, as we had been under fire more or less, for two or three days. As soon as we cleared the city streets, moving by the right flank, the Twenty- first on the right of division, we were exposed to a perfect shower of bullets and exploding shells from a general attack, which was taking place all along the front. Under this terrible fire we formed and moved forward towards the line of battle, the company to which I belonged, marching through
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
the back yards of the houses for two or three blocks, and we had a lively time in pulling up and breaking over the numer- ous fences to keep up with that part of the line which had less obstructions. We approached the scene of operations until the right of regiment reached the railroad at the depot, extending to the left through some brick kilns, a light battery of four pieces, situated on a low ridge in front of the left of regiment, shelling the enemy, whose front was near, as fast as they could fire the guns. We were ordered to lie down, which we did in short order, and settled ourselves into the soft clay of the brick yard, which offered some degree of shelter from the iron and lead which was flying so furiously around, and dangerously near, our heads. I noticed that it was owing to the nearness of the battery, that we were favored by so generous a portion of the enemy's ammuni- tion. After a time the fire slackened, our assault having met with a bloody repulse, and, as it proved, maneuvers were immediately ordered to make one more grand final charge and end the battle.
As the attack ceased and the firing had become desultory, I raised up on my elbows; the colors of the regiment brushed my face. Pushing the flag aside, I glanced up and down the line. The regiment appeared like two rows of dead men, everyone except the Colonel, with his head, face down, as low as possible. Wondering what the next move would be, I saw the captain of the battery running towards the regiment. Arriving near, he called, " Where is the commander of this regiment ?" He was answered that the Colonel was with the colors. Arriving near the Colonel, he repeated the question. The Colonel, who was on his knees, rose up and answered the captain's call. The captain, hurriedly saluting, said, "For God's sake, Colonel, give me six men quick, who know any- thing about firing a gun. I haven't men enough left to work my battery in the coming charge." The Colonel, facing the colors, repeated the call, adding, "Six men quick to volunteer to help the captain fight his guns."
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Fredericksburg.
I was the youngest member of the company; had heard and seen enough for several days, and especially during the previous hour, to know the seriousness of the situation, to realize the probable consequences of the act, to compare the exposure on the knoll, with the safety of the partial shelter of the brick kilns.
It took but an instant for me to determine that I would " set the pace " for that battery. By the time the Colonel had pro- nounced the word "volunteers," I stepped from the ranks closely followed by five comrades, all from my own company, namely : William H. Rogers, Wallace A. Beckwith, Jared B. Culver, and John W. Brewster, all of New London ; and Henry C. Lamphere of Montville.
We had but a few moments to look over the field and receive instructions from the sergeant, when the captain, read- ing the signals from the church belfry, gave the order to stand by the guns ready for action.
The troops that were selected to make the final attack, moved forward to the charge. Suddenly the enemy opened with every gun and musket that could be brought to bear. As we occupied the only rise of ground on our side, and was the only battery in action on our left, we found that several of the enemy's batteries were paying us particular attention, and that we had to take their concentrated fire. The battle grew more fierce! Twilight came on-twilight to darkness. The enemy had three lines of infantry : one three deep in the sunken road, one in rifle pits on offset back of road, the third part way up Marye's hill, with the Washington artillery on top.
It was a grand sight ! It was a great roar! One of the great battles of the war, and proved a terrible slaughter to the Union side. Our comrades in the rear testify that we kept the little battery barking. Our commander said our shells were bursting square in the ranks of the enemy, but our army could not accomplish the impossible. The heights
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