USA > Illinois > Yates phalanx : the history of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Veteran Infantry in the war of the rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 13
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
Work thus continued, preparing for the great assault that was soon to take place. At last the morning of the July 18, 1863 dawned and gave promise to a hot, sultry day. In the early morning the fleet of ironclads and other vessels, under the command of Admiral Dahlgren, was seen in motion moving up the channel towards Battery Wagner, prepared for the great bombardment. The New Ironsides led, followed by the monitors' Weehawken, Patapsco, Nantucket, Montauk and Catskill, and the wooden vessels' Seneca, Paul Jones, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Wissahickon, with six mortar boats. They were soon in position and opened fire upon Fort Wagner. Our land batteries opened fire simultaneously, and over some eleven hours an incessant firing was kept up from over 100 guns, and within this time over 9,000 shells were hurled against Wagner. The enemy's firing was also rapid, throwing from their various forts an average of fourteen shots per minute. The shells thrown from our guns were so timed that when they struck or reached Battery Wagner they exploded, raising vast columns of sand and burying many guns, and uncovering to a great extent the bombproofs. The bombardment as witnessed by many of us from the summit of the sand hills above our camp was grand and terrifying, and when the mind contemplated the assault that was to take place, with the inevitable loss of life that must follow, it was filled with sorrowful foreboding and sickening fears that brought pallor to the face and tears to the heart, if not to the eye.
FORT WAGNER. SEA FRONT.
At seven p.m. the assaulting columns commenced forming at a distance of 1,350 yards from the fort. General Strong's brigade had the advance and was composed as previously in the assault of the 11th, with the addition of a regiment of colored troops-the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts, commanded
97
"But at what a cost!"
by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Why this regiment of colored men was chosen and placed at the head of the assaulting party is unknown. It may have been for political reasons, or to allow a race so lately emancipated from slavery to share in the glory of this undertaking; or again, it may have been to infuriate the rebels. But no matter what the reason was, placing them in this position and at the last moment, took up valuable time.
Darkness was approaching, made more dusky by a storm that threatened. Putnam's brigade was in support of Strong's and Stephenson's followed. The balance of the troops on the island was also under arms, back midway of the island. The whole of the assaulting force was under the command of General Seymour. General Gillmore was back, on the island.
At half-past seven p.m. the order to charge on the double quick was given by General Strong, and is thus described by an eyewitness and one who participated in it:
"The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts (Colored), 640 strong, at the command 'charge!' started out on the 'double-quick' in columns of 'wings,' with the right resting on the sea, and passed obliquely to the left towards the land face of the fort. They were met by fully twice their number in the garrison, who opened upon them when within 100 yards of the battery with a terrific volley of grape, shrapnel and musketry which had the effect of turning back the majority of the Regiment. A small number, however, still followed their brave Colonel across the moat or ditch and up the side of the fort, and succeeded in planting their flag upon the ramparts; there Colonel Shaw was shot dead together with many of his brave men; the others were panic-stricken, and fled.
"General Strong with the balance of his brigade remained still standing in columns of companies awaiting orders. It was not until the Negroes had been repulsed that he again gave the order 'Column, forward! Double-quick, march!' and forward the brigade rushed, the 6th Connecticut leading. All was quiet as the grave save the clatter of our tramp; not a gun was fired; the darkness of night was fast closing around us. As we neared the ditch, which contained some three feet of water, the parapet of the fort seemed to swarm with the enemy, who gave a fearful 'yell' and then opened a withering fire with cannon and musketry. The column reeled and swayed, and many fell; it was light as day with the incessant flashes of the guns; the air was filled with the cheers of the living and the moans of the dying as they fell under the deadly missiles of the enemy until they lay in rows and heaps far up the fatal slope of the battery. . The solid column of a few moments ago had melted away, with here and there a man standing in the gathering gloom; but they continued to press forward, stumbling over spikes, spearheads and wire entanglements that had been placed with fiendish ingenuity to impede progress. We reached the southeast bastion, the strongest part of the works, drove the rebels from their guns; followed them over the terrace, and over the superior slope, and at last stood upon the parapet-140 men, a mere handful -victorious! But at what a cost! We stood there in the darkness, awaiting orders and reinforcement, but none came. Nearly three hours passed, each man acting for himself, until the enemy, having been reinforced, made an assault which we could not withstand and had to surrender."
The Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Putnam, had in the meantime made a furious
98
YATES PHALANX
charge to reinforce those in the fort, but it was now dark, and they were driven back; and at last, late in the night, the shattered remnant of these brigades fell back, with Fort Wagner no nearer taken that it had been in the morning. General Strong was mortally wounded. Colonel Putnam was killed just as he reached the fort. Colonel Shaw had been killed at the first assault and was buried the next morning in a pit along with his dead Negroes. Over 800 of our dead were left behind and rudely buried in the sand the next morning by the Confederate soldiers. General Seymour was also wounded. Every field officer at the front, with the exception of Major Plympton of the Third New Hampshire, had been killed or wounded, and the entire Union loss in this assault was fully 2,500 officers and enlisted men, although it was never fully ascertained. General Gillmore's quarterly report ending July 20, 1863, showed that since the commencement of his operations on Morris Island he had lost 33 percent of his troops (13,000) in killed, wounded, missing and sick. The Sixth and Seventh Connecticut and the Forty-Eighth New York had been more than decimated in number.
Was this assault a sacrifice of life to incompetence? There were many bad, almost stupid blunders in the management of this assault, but it is not the intention of the writer to point them out or attempt an explanation, even were he competent. It was considered by the country a most disastrous failure, and history has never done full justice to the courage and heroism there displayed.
The hospital at the south end of the island, consisting chiefly of shelters for the operating tables, presented a most distressing and sickening sight even to the experienced surgeon during the whole night of the 18th and a part of the following day. As fast as the wounded could be cared for they were placed upon the hospital transport to be taken to Hilton Head.
In a few days many of the Eastern troops were ordered away to Hilton Head and some to Florida, but our division remained, under the command of Brigadier-General A. H. Terry.
Work was at once commenced again at the front with the spade (which was becoming known as the "Gillmore rifle"), and sapping and mining and running parallels was vigorously prosecuted by heavy details of men from the various brigades both night and day, and exposed to constant fire from the enemy. Numbers of heavy guns were also arriving, mostly 300-pounder Parrotts, and were hauled up the beach by teams of twenty or more horses to the positions they were to occupy.
In our hours of rest by day we were called upon to fight innumerable nuisances in the shape of sand-flies, fleas, and other pests; and besides, the heat was most intense and debilitating. At night the mosquitoes made it lively for us, and after an uneasy sleep it was no unusual thing to awaken with the eyes, nose, and mouth filled with sand that had drifted in through the various openings of the tent. During the night and when there would be unusual activity at the forts we would ascent the high sand-hills and watch the shells as they came towering up and over and then bursting with a dull, heavy sound and a scintillation that was brilliant in the extreme. Our details at the front were protected by heavy bombproofs which afforded them shelter from the storms and security from the enemy's shot and shell. Occasionally, however, a litter would come back bearing some poor wounded mortal to the hospital.3
"Hugh Snee's best friend and future brother-in-law. Moses Sheffler. was one of those"poor wounded mortals" to be carried back to the hospital. He received a musket ball wound in the skull that partially paralyzed him.
99
"But at what a cost!"
BOMB-PROOF.
August 20, Colonel Howell, of the Eighty-Fifth Pennsylvania, who temporarily commanded our Brigade, was injured severely by the collapse of a bomb-proof under which he was sheltered, causing concussion of the brain and scalp wound. After receiving the necessary attention and he was able to travel he was given leave of absence and departed for his home near Philadelphia, Colonel Osborn of the Thirty-Ninth succeeding him in command of the brigade.
The location of our quarters gave a splendid view of the whole scene of operations. In our front were our heavy batteries, and almost continually in exercise, with Forts Sumter, Wagner, Gregg and the batteries on Sullivan's Island. At our right was the imposing fleet, under command of Admiral Dahlgren, and at night the ships were splendidly lit up with signal lights and rockets. The scene presented was enjoyable, but when we thought all of this combination engaged in active and fratricidal warfare, a shade of sadness would involuntarily creep over us, and we turned to our beds wondering as to the result. During the subsequent operations on the parallels, and while Colonel Osborn was inspecting, as "Officer of the day," the various batteries, he was partially stunned by the premature discharge of a 300-pound gun, and was laid up for several days in consequence.
The second parallel was opened up by the flying sap at 750 yards from the fort on July 23; the third parallel at 450 on August 9; and beyond this point the trenches were pushed forward rapidly, sometimes by the flying sap and sometimes the full sap, as occasion required. The fourth parallel, at 200 yards, was finished and a ridge wrested from the enemy August 26. Beyond this point there was not a front enough for a parallel, and the approach was made by zigzags with sharp angles.
Fort Sumter had been continuously bombarded, and on August 24 General Gillmore reported it a mass of ruins. It was curious to watch the heavy solid shot and shell when they struck the fort, as they invariably did, the range being so perfect; and when they did strike, a heavy cloud of debris was lifted, and as it settled we could plainly see the break it had made in the wall of the fort.
In the latter part of August it was discovered that the enemy had a number of sharpshooters in some strong rifle-pits just in advance of Fort Wagner, and it wad determined to dislodge them. There were 250 picked men from the Twenty-Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers were selected to do this business. They crept quietly to the head of the sap, and upon the order being given dashed from there
100
YATES PHALANX
FORT SUMTER IN RUINS.
over the open space, and soon found themselves at the rifle-pits in close contact with the rebels. The enemy opened fire from both Wagner and Gregg, and for a short time the air was full of death.
The Union boys received the fire from the rifle-pits, which did but little execution-the aim had been too high, and before the "gray-backs" could reload, seventy-five of them were taken prisoners. From that time until the fall of Wagner no Confederates ventured outside the fort in our direction.
Supporting these assaults were a number of "Requa Batteries."4
In case of an assault at short range, each section or piece of the battery was intended to be as effective and would throw as much lead as a regiment of men in a given time. Sections of this battery were stationed along the advanced lines at the siege of Fort Wagner, and proved to be especial service in protecting the sappers and miners while extending their parallels. The men required to operate it were detailed from various regiments, and at the time it was photographed, as shown, the full battery was manned by details from the Thirty-Ninth Illinois, Third Vermont, and Ninth Maine Regiments, and was commanded by First Lieutenant A. W. Wheeler, Company K, and Second Lieutenant E. Kingsbury, Company E, of the Thirty-Ninth Illinois. Among the detail from the Thirty- Ninth were Sergeant Daniel Smouse, of Company K, Corporal George Burton, and Privates W. W. Ely, Charles C. Hudson, Thomas Kinney and Hugh R. Snee, with some few others whose names are not recalled.
4More properly known as the Billinghurst-Requa, these batteries consisted of six pieces, each piece or section comprising 25 heavy rifled gunbarrels, mounted on a two-wheeled carriage. The barrels could be elevated or depressed and spread fan-shaped to cover a greater lateral range if necessary. It was loaded at the breech, the cartridges being fixed upon a bar and taken from the caisson in that manner, the bar, in fact, being the breech of the gun, and all the cartridges were exploded simultaneously by pulling a lanyard.
"But at what a cost!"
"Regna Batting" manned by a Detachment of The 34th Regiment di's bots chiming the Siege of Charleston Sle.
Hugh R. Snex- 39# Reg Ill. 1761- 1845 .
aval was 1861- 60
101
102
YATES PHALANX
SECTION OF REQUA BATTERY.
Commanded by Lieutenants WHEELER and KINGSBURY, Thirty- Ninth Illinois. Morris Island, S C . 1863
103
"But at what a cost!"
The section in charge of Corporal Burton, and Privates Ely and Snee did excellent service in support of the charge made by the Twenty-Fourth Massachusetts that evening during August 1863, to dislodge the rebel sharpshooters in front of Wagner, the rapidity of firing and the well-directed aim of the piece rendering it very unsafe for the rebels within the fort to go to the assistance of their sharpshooters in the rifle-pits outside, and they were easily captured. But as soon as the battery disclosed its whereabouts, Forts Gregg and Moultrie and the mortars at Sumter opened a most vigorous fire upon it for a short time, but without effecting much damage.
One section of the battery was placed on a platform built in the water some distance from the beach, and protected by sand bags. It was often the target for the enemy's guns.
September 1, a large number of light mortars were taken to the front, and the position for the sharpshooters was enlarged; and on the morning of the 5th another heavy bombardment by the land batteries was commenced, and continued for a period of forty-two hours, the whole fire being concentrated upon Battery Wagner. On the evening of the 6th, five companies of the Thirty-Ninth were ordered to the front as "grand guards" at the trenches, and a like number from some of the other regiments, all under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Mann. At or near midnight a young man, an Irishman, small in stature, and whose clothing was dripping with sea brine, was brought by a corporal of the guard before the commanding officer as a deserter from Fort Wagner, and who stated that the fort was being evacuated by the rebels. Upon being questioned, he said,
"I deserted because I have no love for the rebels or their cause. I was taken some few months ago from a vessel that had run the blockade from the Bermudas', and placed in Fort Wagner as a soldier, and I want to go home. The majority of the garrison have gone, leaving a squad of men to set fire to the fuse connecting with the powder magazines, with the intent to blow you all up, and I escaped and made my way by swimming around to you in order to give the information."
He was told that the matter would be immediately inquired into, and if the intelligence he brought proved true that he would be rewarded and sent home; if otherwise, he would certainly be shot. "Well, sor, I'll take the chances!" said he.
He was given in charge of the guards, to be taken to General Gillmore, but not before a rough plan of the fort was drawn, with a request for him to point out the location of the magazines, which he did. Just previous to the arrival of this man, General Gillmore had sent up a dispatch from his headquarters on Folly Island, inquiring about the working of the calcium lights that had recently been placed in position. The answer had been returned, and Lieutenant-Colonel Mann, in his hurry and excitement over the good news, sent the following dispatch to General Gillmore direct, forgetting the courtesy due the Division Commander, Brigadier-General Terry, through whom it should have been sent:
"12:05 a.m.
General Gillmore: A deserter just in from Wagner reports that they have evacuated the fort, except a few men left to blow up magazines; says they have gone to Fort Gregg. Shall I turn
104
YATES PHALANX
my guns on it? Prisoner is Irish, and swam in. Have sent him to you.
Lt .- Col. O. L. Mann."
To this the following answer was returned:
Lieutenant-Colonel Mann: Turn all your batteries on Gregg.
"12:15 a.m.
General Gillmore."
"1:10 a.m.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mann: Cease fire on Gregg and open on Wagner actively for about fifteen minutes; then gradually slacken; then cease. When you have ceased, send five resolute men from the head of the sap into the fort to ascertain whether it is evacuated. If it is evacuated send in twenty men to seize any men who may be lurking there to blow up the magazine.
General Q. A. Gillmore."
"1:20 a.m. Lieutenant-Colonel Mann: If the fort is evacuated send the calcium light up to Wagner and put it on the parapet of the sea-face, so that it will be sheltered from James Island and Fort Johnson. Let the light be thrown on Gregg and the intervening ground.
General A. H. Terry"
"3:30 A.M.
General Gillmore: One of the five men sent in has returned and reports all is quiet. Captain James Wightman and twenty have gone in and the colors of the Thirty-Ninth Illinois are planted on the ramparts.
Lt .- Col. O. L. Mann."
The telegraph line was now ordered to be extended and taken into Fort Wagner. At five a.m. General Terry had his division under arms and in motion proceeding to Fort Wagner and Gregg. One regiment was left to garrison Fort Gregg and the Second Brigade, 1,000 strong, was put into Fort Wagner, while the balance of the troops were sent back to quarters.
At eight a.m. the telegraph line was completed to Fort Wagner by Lieutenant Dana, and the first dispatch to be sent over the completed line was the following:
"General Gillmore: The general officer of the trenches sends his compliments and congratulations to the General commanding from the bombproof in fallen Fort Wagner. His confidence in God and General Gillmore is unshaken."
Among the five men who volunteered to enter the fort after the news of its being evacuated, was
105
"But at what a cost!"
Private Cornelius Cox of Company G, and with the view of giving as much information as possible concerning the occupation of this formidable battery, the brief and modest account of Cox is here inserted.
STATEMENT OF CORNELIUS COX.
"Some time after midnight September 7, a man came in from battery Wagner, having swam out in the water to elude detection, and reported to the commanding officer of the trenches that Wagner was being evacuated. Soon after, Major Linton came around and called for volunteers from each company to enter the fort and ascertain whether the report was true or false. I volunteered for Company G. There were five of us. We separated, and passed around on top of the parapet until opposite each other, and then came through the fort and met in the center. While we were doing this, the rebels fired two shots from their small mortars, which was the last of them. After looking around and finding some of the guns spiked, one of the five was sent back to report the fort evacuated; after which the Regiment marched in and took possession. This was just at daybreak. I did not see any lighted fuse, but was informed afterwards that one of the five before mentioned did find a lighted fuse, supposed to lead to the magazine, and cut it. I do not think any particular officer, man or company is entitled to credit for first occupying the fort after the fact had been established that it had been evacuated. I do not write this because I wish to figure as a hero, for I am aware that it would be unjust to mention names, unless all that did their duty could be mentioned; but I do think five men from the Regiment, regardless of any particular company, are entitled to the credit of first entering Fort Wagner under very perilous circumstances.
"I may add that we each received a complimentary 'furlough' of thirty days endorsed by General Quincy A. Gillmore and Lieutenant-Colonel Orrin L. Mann."
There was great rejoicing over the downfall of this great earthwork-the most formidable of ancient or modern times, which had successfully withstood the combined efforts of both army and navy for nearly three months, and would have still held out had there been a larger force for its defense. The event was soon heralded in song.
"Yes, Wagner is ours! Oh, glory, hurrah! Won't all those head rebels feel gay! And the greatest arch-traitor the world ever saw- Old Jeff-will feel tickled today. All honor and fame to the gallant and brave, Who have forced the 'rebs' out of their holes; Bring out the old banner, and proud let it wave, With the sun shining bright on its folds. Then, hurrah, boy! hurrah! shout glory and sing, For the traitors look sadly forsaken;
106
YATES PHALANX
Our glorious old Eagle is still on the wing, For Wagner is taken! boys, taken!"
The possession of the whole of Morris Island placed Sumter and many of the enemy's other forts, and the lower part of the city of Charleston within reach of our guns, and these forts were soon abandoned. The city of Charleston, however, had been reached by shot and shell some weeks previously by a little battery known as the "Swamp Angel." This battery had been constructed about the middle of July. General Gillmore ordered Colonel Surrell of the New York Engineer Regiment and Major P. S. Michie to explore the marsh lying between Morris and James Islands in the direction of Charleston, and report if it was feasible to erect a small battery there whose shots could reach the city. After three days' patient investigation a favorable report was made, and an order was given to one of Colonel Surrell's subordinate officers, Captain Crusoe, to make the necessary requisitions and proceed with the work.
"SWAMP ANGEL."
This officer, after exploring the marsh and finding the mud not less than fifteen feet deep, closed his requisition by asking for 100 men, eighteen feet high, to do work in a marsh into which they were liable to sink eight feet. The officer was arrested instead of being promoted for his witticism, but the work was begun.
Planks were laid from the island westward across the marsh for nearly two miles to the spot on a small creek designated for the battery, and anchored down by sandbags to keep them from floating off in high tide. Over this pathway, in single file, details of soldiers carried bags of sand from which, with the aid of timbers floated up the creek from Folly Island, a small fort with capacity for one gun was in due time constructed, and all done under cover of darkness.
As soon as ready, a 100-pounder Parrot gun was floated there on a scow boat, under the same cover, and placed in position. On August 18 General Gillmore, under flag of truce, notified General Beauregard of the Confederate forces that he was prepared to reach the heart of the city with his guns, and that unless Forts Wagner, Gregg and Sumter were surrendered to the authority of the
107
"But at what a cost!"
United States, he should bombard the city; and further suggested that if his demand was not recognized the women and children should be removed from the city. General Beauregard thought this to be all nonsense on the part of Gillmore and refused.
The next day the "Swamp Angel" was trained on the spire of St. Michael's Church, plainly visible, and at two o'clock the following morning the first shot was fired. Those who witnessed the occurrence could trace the shell by its burning fuse as it went over on its mission. Shot succeeded shot until the third, whose shell exploded in the city of Charleston, and soon flames were seen ascending. It was learned the next day by the "exchanges" received by the courtesy of the pickets, that this shell charged with Greek Fire [similar to Napalm], had fallen through the roof of a large building filled with medical supplies and had started a serious fire that consumed an entire block of buildings before extinguished. The succeeding shots that were fired reached the city, but none proved so disastrous a did the third one. At the thirty-second shot, the reinforcement or rear portion of the gun was blown out, and this accident ended the brief but brilliant career of this famous little battery. The gun was never replaced, for before a new one could have been placed in position, Forts Wagner and Gregg had fallen, which brought us within easy range of the city.
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.