USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. I > Part 39
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Monday morning, General Bayard with his brigade, which was now in advance of Shields' division, appeared from the east, and entered Strasburg with Fremont, a little more than a day after Jackson's entrance.
There was nothing now to do but to follow Jackson, and catch him from behind, unless General Shields, by proceed- ing up the eastern side of the Shenandoah, could yet get before him. The effort to do this was made. Fremont retained Bayard, and continued in the track of Jackson. Shields hastened up the eastern side of the Valley. The rapidity of the pursuers was scarcely equaled by the celerity of the pursued, and had it not been for the advantage which the bridges gave Jackson, it is probable the chase would soon have ended. As it was, his rear came almost daily in contact with Fremont's advance. Friday, the 6th, a fiercer contest than had yet occurred took place beyond Harrisonburg. Col- onel Windham, the Federal commander in the engagement, was killed, and the bold Ashby was carried dead in the arms of his men from the field. The two armies were now so close together that Jackson was forced to turn upon Fremont. He turned with the valor of a lion. Ata spot called Cross Keys, where two roads cross at right angles, he arranged his men
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CROSS KEYS.
so that they were protected and partially concealed by abrupt hills and large trees. Here he coolly waited an attack. The battle began with heavy firing, and continued with great vio- lence almost until dark. General Milroy, himself in advance of his foremost battery, led the center, forced the enemy back from point to point, penetrated Jackson's center, and was almost in contact with his guns, when it was discovered that his left flank was exposed by the withdrawal of a brigade which had fought four hours at his side. An order to retire was immediately sent to him.
The following passage is quoted from a concise narration of the pursuit written by General Fremont:
"At a council of general officers, held on Saturday, it was the almost unanimous opinion that the troops could not be carried further. The question before the council distinctly was, whether or not, in their exhausted condition, and the absolute want of provisions, they could be safely moved for- ward another march, upon the certainty that, if we were able to do so, the enemy would be reached within that distance and a battle fought. Except upon the certainty of a battle, · their condition would not have justified an advance, but upon this incentive the troops were ordered forward the next day into a country where every advantage was with the enemy; and at Cross Keys attacked him at sight, and in confessedly twice their number. They fought this battle gallantly, and upon their last ration lay down upon the hard-fought field tired and hungry, and at daylight the next morning were again in pursuit of Jackson, who escaped only by means of the bridge which intervened between him and destruction."
It is necessary to go back to General Shields to understand why a bridge intervened between Jackson and destruction. General Shields went up the east side of the Shenandoah at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles a day, entirely without baggage, but over ground which quicksands made exceedingly fatiguing. Cinders and ashes floating down the current kept him informed that General Jackson was outstripping him. June 4th, Wednesday, he ordered Colonel Carroll with the fourth brigade, consisting of the Seventh Indiana, First Vir- ginia and two Pennsylvania regiments, to hasten to Port
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
Republic and save the bridge at that point, on the supposi- tion that Jackson would proceed on the turnpike to Staunton, in preference to the mountain road which led through Port Republic, and with the intention to pass over this bridge and join General Fremont. It was ten at night when the order was received. The men had marehed twenty miles since sunrise. They were roused, however, in a few minutes, and cheerfully, though painfully, trudged fifteen miles further before they were allowed to stop for sleep. Saturday, Colo- nel Carroll, then at Conrad's store, twelve miles in advance of the most of his brigade, and eighteen in advance of his division, with the Seventh Indiana, one hundred and fifty cavalry, and a single battery of six guns, was directed to go on to Waynesborough, thirty-five miles distant, to destroy there the depot, bridge and train, and to attack Jackson's flank. He was overtaken during the first day by several detachments, and his number somewhat increased. In the night scouts reported to him that Jackson's train was but a few miles beyond Port Republic, where it was guarded by two hundred and fifty cavalrymen.
Port Republie is a village situated in the angle formed by . the junction of the North and South rivers, the parent streams of the Shenandoah. The bridge which Carroll was ordered to save was over North river, and connected with the road leading to Cross Keys, which was two or three miles distant.
Early Sunday morning Colonel Carroll galloped through South river, which is shallow, and took possession of the bridge. Jackson's army was directly before him on the west- ern side of the river; Shields was far behind; Colonel Tyler was nearer, but not yet within sight or sound; Carroll's infantry was a half mile off, though hastening up; his cavalry was but a handful, and he had with him only two guns. It was impossible to hold the bridge, but he could do better, he could destroy it, and make Jackson fight Fremont with an impassable river in his rear. One half hour Fate held in her hand the eivic crown with which the brows of those are wreathed who save the lives of fellow-citizens. But Carroll was no Horatius, to fight while his men applied pitch and the torch. The golden opportunity to do a great deed slipped
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TWO BATTLE FIELDS.
unrecognized from the patriot's grasp. Carroll fell back with his cavalry and his infantry, and the Rebels, seizing the bridge, turned the muzzles of his guns after him.
Two miles down the river Carroll was joined by General Tyler, and came to a stand. The two officers applied their field-glasses to an examination of Jackson's rear, and calcu- lated that it could defy an army of fifty thousand men. Without their glasses they could plainly see the bridge offer- ing a broad and easy passage to the enemy. Beyond the bridge they could see the dust and smoke of a fearful battle. Sometimes faint, and sometimes loud, they could hear the unceasing roar of musketry and artillery. If valor did not call upon them to fight, discretion exhorted them to run, and pointed to them the open road of safety behind them. They heard neither voice, and lay still. As night fell the hollow roaring grew faint, and died away. The moon and stars came out and cast their sacred light on two battle-fields,- where the struggle had been, and where it was yet to be, where the grass was trodden and stained and torn up by the roots, and the trees were scarred, and the dead lay sleeping, and where the earth was still green and fresh, and the living were lost in wearied slumber. Both were alike silent.
The following sentence is found in the diary of a private in the Seventh regiment:
" We felt confident that the calm would last only until day- light shut out the beautiful stars, and that the day would cut down like withering grass many who were now in health and vigor. We thought of the kind, familiar faces far away, and the dear hearts which were ignorant of our awful danger, but. which never forget to pray for us. Unrestrained tears fell over many a brown cheek, but we looked to high heaven for pro- tection, and fell asleep on our arms."
Through the night General Jackson's train wound in safety along the mountain road, and his army, undisturbed, crossed the river. As early as five in the morning, General Winder led a brigade from the main line toward the little Union army of Tyler, numbering about three thousand men. He crossed South river on a bridge of wagons. Behind him came Gen- eral Taylor and General Ewell, and after the engagement
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
had begun, and had continued long enough to show that not an equal and not a double force could drive the Federals back, General Jackson ordered forward Generals Tailaferro and Trimble, thus increasing the Confederates engaged to eight thousand.
As General Winder approached, Tyler formed his line in the shape of a crescent, each horn terminating in a battery. The left, the Sixty-Sixth Ohio, was sheltered by a rugged and wooded hill; the right, the Seventh Indiana, stood in a field on the low river bank, among stalks of green corn. Not a man but felt it was almost certain ruin to meet the over- whelming and determined numbers of Jackson. If yesterday they dared not burn a bridge in the rear of an army which was fiercely fighting, how could they to-day stand their ground before that same army disengaged?
As the Confederates came near they spread out right and left without breaking the line in front, and in the face of well directed artillery and musketry marched up towards the Stars and Stripes. Winder's brigade found shelter behind the fence of the field in which stood the Seventh Indiana, and lost no time in getting into action. Taylor met with no success in repeated attempts to plant a battery opposite Tyler's left, and a portion of his brigade crossed the ground and joined in the attack on the Seventh. With this reinforcement Winder made a rapid and bold charge on both front and flank. His troops swept down like an engulfing billow; but the Stars and Stripes spread out their folds and waved and flapped. Colo- nel Gavin rode up and down the front, and cheered and praised his men; their own hearts cheered them; perhaps they remembered "the dear ones who were ignorant of their awful danger, but who never forgot to pray for them;" what- ever they remembered or felt, they met the on-coming wave as the sturdy rock meets the sea, tossing it back broken and foaming.
Strengthened with two more Virginia regiments, the Con- federate force, again like the relentless sea, returned to the charge. Higher it rose than before, threatening to overwhelm all resistance; five shots, one after another, struck Colonel Gavin's horse; the Colonel was dismounted; the regiment
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PORT REPUBLIC.
was pushed back, and the right was on the verge of defeat, when the Sixth Ohio, which was in the rear of the Seventh Indiana, crossed to the front. The two regiments together pressed back the enemy over the field, over the fence, and forced him at last to fly right and left. The glad shout of victory rose from the Federal right, but it sank before wild cheers from the Confederate right.
Jackson, watching his left, and weighing its spirit against the resolution of Tyler's right, turned to General Taylor, pointed to the battery on the hillside, and said: "Take that, or the day is lost!" Taylor cried to his men : "Louisianians, can you take that battery?" "We can!" they shouted, and five regiments rushed over the low ground and up the hill in the face of ball and flame. Twice they took the battery, and twice it was retaken. The third time they held it, and driving the regiments which supported it, they sent up the shout which startled the Federal right. Tyler gave the order to retreat, and his little army retreated, leaving the dead and wounded on the field.
The retreat continued twelve or fourteen miles, the pursuit but six or eight.
General Fremont had not remained an idle listener. He heard the sound of conflict, and hastened to join his forces to those of Tyler. He reached the river at noon. Tyler was gone; Jackson was vanishing over the hills, and the dis- loyal bridge, after having so well served the traitor, was smoking in ruins.
The losses at Port Republic, killed, wounded and missing, were one thousand. The Seventh Indiana, which went into the fight with three hundred and fifty, had eighteen killed, one hundred and twenty-three wounded, and thirty-two miss- ing. One of the killed was Captain Waterman, who was distinguished for his bravery. The losses at Cross Keys were six hundred and twenty-five.
No stain but of blood was on the rough blue uniforms of the private soldiers. They were prompt and patient and true. Their fight was worthy of their cause. God bless their name and memory! But somewhere there was shame. The dis- · appointment and gloom with which both the armies of Fre-
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
mont and of Shields saw the escape of Jackson, and turned from the battle-fields of the Upper Shenandoah, can be measured only by their toils, their hardships and their hopes.
General Fremont, in a proud and affectionate report which he makes of the conduct of his troops, says: "They were always prompt in obedience, patient in suffering, and efficient in action."
The troops of Shields had spent the winter in skirmishing with Jackson, and trying to get a fair fight with him. They met him after many disappointments at Winchester, and drove him before them almost to Staunton. Their soldierly character caused them to be transferred to the Army of the Potomac, and to be returned immediately to the Shenandoah Valley. In one month they marched more than four hundred miles, half of this distance in extreme haste, and under the influence of intense excitement. Their clothes wore out, their shoes gave out, and blood from their lacerated feet sprinkled many a mile of the stony road east of the Shenan- doah.
A few passages from the private letters of private soldiers may give a little glimpse of individual life in the Valley cam- paign of 1862. The following was written the day after the arrival of Shields' division before Fredericksburg. The writer, Samuel V. List, was a member of the Seventh, and , about nineteen years old. He was killed long after in the battle of the Wilderness:
" We walked over some very poor land. I fear a great many poor people will suffer for something to eat in this part of the country before another year. Thousands of acres around Manassas, and between here and there, are thrown out into a common, the fences all being burned by the Rebels. I have seen but one field ploughed for corn since we left the Shenandoah Valley, and that was about one half planted. There is hardly a field of wheat standing. I believe I saw one field yesterday, and that did not look as if it could make more than five bushels to the acre. 'The rebels have literally murdered their own families to gratify their passions. We reached Falmouth about four o'clock to-day, marched through it, and camped on the river opposite Fredericksburg, which
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LETTERS HOME.
is one of the most beautiful places I have yet seen in Vir- ginia. There is a tremendous force here.
" But I must not forget to tell you what I saw this morn- ing. I would not have missed the sight for five dollars. It was nothing more nor less than Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. I went down to the branch to wash, (the Doctors recommend that we wash off every chance we can get,) and while I was there the cars came in, and I noticed quite a stir among the soldiers round the train. I suspected there was some General or 'big man' on the cars; so I went to see too. Sure enough, two big men stood there, 'the men for the times.' They took an omnibus, drawn by four gray horses, and followed by Gen- eral McDowell and staff, proceeded to General McDowell's headquarters over in town. Old Abe was dressed very plainly, and looked very much care-worn, still he seemed to be in fine spirits at the prospect of soon crushing this unholy rebellion. Secretary Stanton is fine looking, with black whiskers and hair. I don't know what brought them here, unless it was to see us Western boys. There were a great many disappointed fellows when they heard the President had been here and it was too late to sec him."
It may be that the President and Secretary visited the Army of the Potomac at this time for the purpose of seeing Shields' division. It was regarded on all quarters with no little atten- tion. "We gazed with special interest," says an officer in General King's brigade, "at those veterans of six months' service, who had actually smelt powder, and been in battle. Standing round their camp-fires making coffee, cleansing their weapons and accoutrements, or fitting up their shelter tents. with walls of cedar boughs, they seemed to us, unfledged tyros, warriors worthy of our homage."
The following was written by one of the Thirteenth, from a hospital in Luray, where he was left during the last pursuit up the Valley :
" When General Jackson found that Shields' force was out of supporting distance, he bounced on Banks like a thousand. of brick. We turned right round when we heard of it, and marched back.
31
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
" On the march many a time I went round to my comrades and asked them for a piece of cracker, which I would not have looked at at home. You can have no idea, nor can any other man, what it is to march all day with a heavy load, in mud and water, with your shoes full of mud and gravel, wading rivers, rained on, nothing or very little to eat, then at night stand guard. You must count your pieces of cracker, or you will have none to-morrow.
"Sometimes we never stop till after night, then if there is a whole division camping together every man has to lie down in his place as in ranks. If we get a place that is any ways level, that is all we ask. Before morning we sometimes find ourselves in the water, with our pockets full of it. We get up at the sound of the bugle, and try to dry our blankets before a fire. Then, if we have time, the cry is, 'Boys, where do you get water?' Off we go with our canteens to a creek where horses and mules are drinking, and men are washing their faces and their feet. It makes no difference. We get the water, make our coffee, and breakfast is ready. Then the bugle sounds, 'Fall in!' Our loads are again on our sore shoulders, we feel a little stiff till we get warmed up like an old horse, then we go fast enough. This is what we have been doing for over a month. When we reached Luray half our regiment was barefoot, and could not walk on the stony pike, so we were left."
Thomas Fisher writes to his mother:
"A mother is like time, not missed until lost, her cares and attentions are so interwoven with one's nature. 'Uncle Sam' is kind, but no one ever says now, 'Come, Tom, let me see if this or that fits you;' or when my clothes get wet pleads with me to take them off and put on dry ones. I miss you, mother, as I never missed you before; but if I had it to do over again, I would still enlist, because our Government is the freest that ever existed, and our cause the hope of civil- ized man, the precious fruit of the labors of Washington and his comrades."
This affectionate and true-hearted boy was also killed before Richmond, in 1864.
It yet remains to recount the part taken by the Third cav-
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THIRD CAVALRY RECONNOITRING.
alry in the attempt to intercept Jackson. Upon the transfer of the Army of the Potomac from the front of Washington to the peninsula of the James, it was deemed advisable to leave the battalion of the Third cavalry, owing to the limit of transportation for horses. General Hooker much regretted to part with the organization, and officers and men of the battalion alike regretted the necessity which cut them off from the privilege of sharing the fortunes of the division, and which, at that time, was construed by many as closing to them all chance of participating in the active scenes of the war. On the 24th of May, while the command was in barracks in the northern suburbs of Washington, orders were received to join General Geary's brigade on the line of the Manassas Gap railroad. The command marched from Washington about three o'clock on the morning of Sunday, the 25th, and passing through Fairfax Court House, bivouacked at Gainesville that night. Early the following morning it proceeded to Thor- oughfare Gap, in Bull Run mountain, where Colonel Carter reported to General Geary, and received orders to make a reconnoissance to the vicinity of Warrenton. The troops under General Geary, mainly infantry, had the day previous fallen back from the neighborhood of Manassas Gap, under the impression that the enemy was in their front in strong numbers. The reconnaissance developed nothing of the enemy, and on returning to Thoroughfare Gap it was a cause of surprise that the force left there had fallen back to Manassas Junction, having abandoned and destroyed a considerable amount of property. Colonel Carter marched his command to Gainesville, and the next day proceeded to Manassas Junc- tion, where the main body of General McDowell's force was concentrated.
On the 28th, having received orders to make a reconnois- sance along the Blue Ridge, and endeavor to ascertain the whereabouts and intention of the enemy, the battalion went as far as Aldie, the day following marched to Upperville, on the Winchester turnpike, and on the 30th crossed the Shenan- doah. After proceeding some five miles towards Winchester, which was understood to be held by the enemy in consider- able force, the commanding officer prudently recrossed to the
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
eastern side of the river, and bivouacked in Ashby's Gap. It was raining heavily. General Geary came up the following day, and remained at that place until the 3d of June, when he went to Piedmont. The Third cavalry was placed on guard duty along the line of the railroad, which was then in operation to Front Royal, and remained on such duty until about the 13th, when the command marched to Luray to join General Shields' division, with which it went to Front Royal. When the division was sent to the Army of the Potomac, the Third cavalry was left at Bristow Station, on the Orange and Alexandria railroad.
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BACK OVER THE BLOODY FIELD.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE CAPTURED DRUMMER.
With cautious step, and ear awake,
He climbs the crag, and threads the brake;
And not the summer solstice, there, Tempered the midnight mountain air, But every breeze that swept the wold,
Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. In dread, in danger, and alone,
Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, Tangled and steep, he journeyod on. -The Lady of the Lake.
THE following diary and narrative, by one of the prisoners taken at Port Republic, show that the policy of incapacitating our captured soldiers for future military service was adopted early in the war. The writer is Austin D. Springer, drummer of company F, Seventh regiment.
June 9th. I was left on the field by our little band attend- ing to the wants of the wounded, and was taken prisoner. All prisoners were surrounded by guards with bayonets fixed, and marched back over the entire battle ground, to the rear of the Rebel army. The dead, wounded and dying were strewn over the field just as they had fallen, and many were calling for water, for help and for friends. The sight was so horrible that I could hardly help wishing that I had been one of the fallen, that I might not have the scene forever stamped on my memory. We marched nine miles to the summit of one of the Blue Ridge mountains. There the Rebels set up a flag they had taken from the Twenty-Ninth Ohio, and as it floated in the air they laughed scornfully, and taunted us and sneered at us. Our hearts burned, but we could say nothing. We had not had anything to eat the whole day, not even breakfast, and were hungry, but no rations were brought to us. We had no blankets, the fires were small, for
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
want of wood, and a cutting wind blew on the mountain. We could not sleep for cold.
June 10th. The morning was cold and drizzly. We were called into line at seven o'clock, without any breakfast, and started on our way. The guard was instructed to bayonet or shoot any one who could not keep up. When we had reached the foot of the mountain, we were all crowded into a miserable, old log stable. We were wet, hungry and tired. The colors of the Twenty-Ninth Ohio were again set up, and we were tormented by questions, such as: " What did you all come down and invade our soil for?" and by nicknames, such as " Mudsills," "Lincoln Hirelings," and " Yankees." At night a little flour was given us. We wet it with water and baked it on boards and flat stones. Forty-three of our regiment and four hundred others were crowded together that night in the old barn. After all seemed to be asleep, Sergeant Harry Fisk quietly ripped the flag from the staff and hid it in the lining of his blouse. He cut the staff into two or three pieces and hid the spear in the hay.
June 11th. When daylight came, the guards discovered that the flag was gone, and there was soon a boisterous hunt made for it, while threats and curses were heaped upon us. Lieutenant Hayett, the officer in charge of us, offered fifty dollars for the man who had burnt the colors, but he could not be found. When the search was given up, we started on our march without any breakfast. We met troops going to reinforce Jackson. All along the road citizens joined the guard, with their double-barreled shot guns, and calling us thieves and marauders, threatened to shoot us if we but made a crooked step. We bore this treatment as long as we could, then we told the officers in charge that we were human, and had feelings, and it was wrong to allow us to be treated so. Lieutenant Hayett listened to us, then told these men that they could turn back .. The cavalry boys treated us very kindly. We arrived at Ivy Station, a distance of eighteen miles, at sunset, and lay down at night without any supper and without any shelter.
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