USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. I > Part 45
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General Lee's army saw the battle-field of the preceding day with more than twenty cannon left upon it, and deserted by all but the dead and the desperately wounded; saw also General Stoneman in his pretended flight towards the east, and, convinced that the whole' Federal army was retreating in that direction, followed in haste and with great excitement.
About the middle of the forenoon Smith's division, which
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AN END TO HOPE.
held a hill opposite the battle-ground of the previous day, the river being between the two points, was by a short but sharp attack driven from its position towards the open plain, the place of rendezvous, or, rather, the reservoir, of the army. There was no other firing throughout the day, the main force of the Confederates being engaged in looking for the Union army where it was not; and the Union army in putting into execution a different plan of retreat from that which General Lee had marked out. Late in the day the wagon trains were all in motion, preceded and flanked by Keyes, with Porter's tired corps straggling after.
The aspect of the crowded plain and of the hurrying lines of troops declared the desperate condition of the army. If more was needed, the mortal anguish on General McClellan's face could be read by all. Privates, as they trudged along or lay on the ground, discussed the situation in grave under tones, and compared opinions. They trusted and hoped as they had hitherto trusted and hoped, or, in sudden overwhelm- ing doubt and mortification, they ground their teeth and clinched their fists. Officers bitterly thought of what might have been if the Army of the Potomac in its strength had been hurled on Richmond. Rumor lighted up the terrible uncertainty with hope, or cast upon it a still deeper darkness. Burnside, it was said, had landed at Fortress Monroe with fifty thousand men. Then it was not Burnside, but Beaure- gard, who was on the James, lying in wait with a hundred thousand soldiers.
Occupants of the hospitals, before night all the wounded were taken from the open air, lay pale and broken-hearted, knowing too well, from the studied silence as to their fate, that they were to be abandoned. Scarcely an eye was closed in sleep that Saturday night; yet even a picket alarm did not. disturb the close line of sentinels.
At dawn of Sunday, the 29th, there was yet no sound of the enemy. The stream, which had been running all night, of cannon, wagons, pontoons, ambulances and soldiers, was. still pouring into the swamp.
With the first streak of light, McClellan and his guard, a: regiment of lancers, left Savage's Station. After them stag-
35
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
gered a long, confused line of sick and wounded, into whom fear and hope infused a trembling strength. Pickets were thrown out on the road to Richmond. Heintzelman, Sumner, Franklin fell back slowly from the border line of intrench- ments. Fires, kindled by tons of turpentine and whisky, and consuming vast quantities of army stores, gave the death- blow to any blind, lingering hopefulness. A railroad train, loaded with ammunition and wrapped in flames, dashing down a descending grade to the river, consummated the destruction.
All day the living stream poured from the plain into the wood. If possible the retreating troops carried in their hearts a greater sorrow than that which dried the eyes and whitened the lips of the helpless inmates of the hospitals, and a deeper indignation than that which trembled in the voices of the surgeons, chaplains and nurses who chose to remain with the deserted sufferers, and to fall with them into the cruel hands of enemies.
General Sumner was attacked before he reached Savage's Station, half way from Fair Oaks, but he drove back the enemy, and arrived at the station with little loss. Filing across the plain with twenty thousand men, his own and Franklin's corps, he took up a position on the further side to arrest the enemy should he approach the rear of the train still rumbling into the woods.
Five hours the twenty thousand soldiers stood there, almost as motionless as the dark trees behind them. Now and then their patient faces were upturned to the slow marching sun, which was to give the signal for their retreat. At last the slant beams fell athwart the silent and deserted plain. A few minutes more and the corps would move into the woods. Those few waiting moments brought the enemy. First a cloud of dust rose in the direction of the Chickahominy, then the solemn tramp and hollow murmur of an on-coming army weighed on the evening breeze.
Jackson and Longstreet carefully examined all the roads to the White House. Late in the afternoon they reached the river, but only to discover the remnant of Government prop- erty in flames, and to see a throng of vessels heavily freighted
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BATTLE OF SAVAGE STATION.
with stores, soldiers and runaway negroes dropping slowly down the crooked Pamunkey. Most of the negroes were women. They sat on deck quietly nursing their babies, and singing hymns, while the White House blazed, the Confed- erate cannon roared, and the two Confederate Generals, with their armies behind them, stood baffled on the bank.
General Jackson never lost time in vain regrets. He marched back, bridged the river and presented himself before Sumner, who was prompt to accept the challenge. An artil- lery duel, which lasted an hour, was followed by close battle on the plain. The Union soldiers stood as firm as the trees behind them, and with long, loud shouts of triumph repulsed the Confederates. Gray, old Sumner, unwilling to leave a field he had won, sent an urgent request to McClellan to be allowed to drive the enemy into the river in the morning, but he was refused.
During the battle on Savage's plain, the train pushed steadily along, one extremity out of the woods and already on the Quaker road; Porter and Keyes marched before and beside the train; the anxious line of wounded and sick hob- bled after; Heintzelman, the Twentieth Indiana guarding his rear, felt his way over an upper and little used swamp road; and Huger, Magruder, Longstreet and Hill hastened after Heintzelman and round the swamp towards the Quaker road, hoping to head McClellan, whose movement they now began to understand. The night was intensely dark, the sky being covered with dense clouds, from which came long peals of thunder, seeming to answer the artillery of the battle.
Monday, the 30th, the clouds cleared away, and the sky was more burning bright than ever. The two armies worked on panting towards the James. The clear, loud whistle of a steam valve, followed by another and another, signaled that gunboats were waiting, and that the river was almost gained. A roar of delight went up from the foremost host. Safety was now the single thought of Mcclellan's ambitious army.
At noon General Jackson found General Franklin strongly seated on the further bank of White Oak creek, the bridge in his front destroyed, and the corduroy road torn up. Jackson
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
assailed him, determined to force him back. Franklin held
his ground with equal determination. While they were engaged, the train went on, Hooker, McCall, Kearney, Slo- cum, Sedgwick, nearly parallel with its course, and guarding the Richmond road from the swamp to Malvern Hill, which Keyes and Porter had already reached. Sedgwick was in the rear, a reserve, McCall to the right of Hooker, and, much to the annoyance of the latter, a little in his front. About three a large Confederate force came down the Richmond roads. First Slocum was attacked, but only in a prefatory way, then Kearney, and last McCall, with a fury which drew the attention of Heintzelman, above all to the center of his line. McCall did not stand his ground an hour. Some of his men fought as they retreated, but some, especially of his artillery, could not hear a word of command, nor see anything but a strip of woods behind, which seemed to offer protection. As they fled they uncovered Hooker's front, but the exposure was not objectionable to him. He marched upon the deserted field, stopped the enemy's premature rejoicing, and rolled the battle over on Sedgwick, who had kept pace with him. Sedg- wick struck with equal readiness, and threw the Confederates on towards Kearney, where they mingled with and doubled the force which had not ceased beating Kearney's front since the first onset. "Gaily, my boys. Go in gaily!" said the one-armed General, looking into every eye as if he distin- guished each man. His strong exultant voice could be heard whenever the fire slackened, cheering his men. He cheered them on to death as well as to victory. No losses in this battle were equal to his. Colonel Brown had General Rob- inson's left, and Robinson had Kearney's left, the point which was first, last, all the time, and most fiercely assailed.
Towards dark Heintzelman ordered up reinforcements. They were needed, for the enemy's force was overwhelming in number as well as persistent in assault. Now, however, he withdrew.
It was ten o'clock. General Lee rode gloomily among his dead, and ordered up the divisions of Wise and Magruder, neither of which had reached the ground in time to take part in the battle, to perform the duties of burial. He ordered
537
GLENDALE.
General Jackson to cover the retreat, in case the army should have to fall back, and he sent directions to Richmond to get the public property ready for removal. General Hooker, in his report of the battle of Glendale, says: "We could see from the torches that the enemy was busy all night long searching the battle-field, but up to daylight there had been no apparent diminution of the heart-rending cries and groans of the wounded. The unbroken, mournful wail of human suffering was all that we heard from Glendale during that long, dismal night."
Among the captured in this battle was Captain Read, of the Twentieth Indiana, with his son, a boy of sixteen years,. and several of his company. He was skirmishing, and una- ware of the rapid approach of the enemy until he was shut in between the two fires. Seeking shelter on the ground and in thickets, he still kept up a vigorous fire. His son called, "Father, I'm shot!" He ran to him, laid him carefully down on a pillow of leaves, and under the protection of a clump of bushes, and then, at the boy's entreaty, went back to his post, where he could direct the fire of his men. Shortly after the father was shot through both shoulders, all his men were wounded, and the battle ceased with them inside the enemy's lines. William Read, the son, was as fair, gentle and gifted as he was brave. He died in Libby prison.
While General Heintzelman's corps was engaged in the battle of Glendale, General Franklin's corps, having deci- sively repulsed Jackson, retired, leaving the rear of Heintzel- man exposed. In haste an account of the position was sent to General McClellan. No reply was received, and the mes- sage was repeated, and coupled with it was an urgent request for orders. Still there was no reply. Consequently Heintzel- man and Sumner assumed the responsibility of continuing the retreat.
By the middle of the next afternoon the whole army was collected on Malvern Hill, one of the highest of the slight eminences which border the James. From the broad top, on which stands a beautiful old country seat, buried in vines and trees, it slopes down gently towards the east and north, and
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
falls off abruptly to the northwest into a ravine, which extends to the river. In the rear flows the river. On every other side spread fields of grain, bounded by woods and crossed by broad, smooth roads. The green corn was in tassel, the wheat either awaiting the sickle or already cut and bound in sheaves. The reapers had fled, leaving their year's labor to be trodden down and destroyed. In contrast with the low, dark, tangled jungle of the Chickahominy, the scene was fair, overhung, though it was, by the heavy frown of war.
On the river lay five gunboats. On the hill top and on the upper slopes nearly three hundred cannon were arranged. The troops were placed below the artillery in shallow rifle-pits, which had been dug in the night. Until now the army had fought corps by corps; on Malvern Hill it was for the first time massed, and prepared for united action. The Comman- der-in-Chief, who had not been present in any previous engagement, was also on the field. Though panting, sweat- ing, haggard and faint, the Union troops stood at bay on the bank of the James more defiantly than they marched forward through Oak Grove to begin the long seven days' battle. It was as if they scorned themselves for having yielded ground, and sought to retrieve their name. "We'll clothe this hill in sheets of flame before they take it!" said one proudly. Gen- eral Porter's corps held the left, and reached almost to the river. Artillery was so disposed behind and above him that sixty guns could be brought to bear on any point in his front or left. Couch's division of Keyes corps was next; then fol- lowed Heintzelman, Sumner, Franklin, and the rest of Keyes' corps, extending by a backward curve nearly to the river, and deployed in woods which here encroach on the slope of the hill. The line along the front and left was very strong, as the enemy was expected to appear on the roads from White Oak swamp, and from Richmond. Before noon his skirmishers and some of his artillery began feeling along the left wing and front, but it was not until the middle of the afternoon that an attack was made.
The Confederate army was also massed for the first time. Every corps, division and brigade was on the ground. Six
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MALVERN HILL.
days of fighting and pursuit, of hope, exultation and disap- pointment flushed the pride of the pursuers, and kindled their rage, while the taste of blood roused within them the lurking wild beast of human nature. Their animosity had become venom; their courage was double the daring they had ever before displayed. It is asserted, and with the appearance of truth, that whole regiments were inflamed by an infusion of gunpowder in whisky, prepared under the direction of officers. Certain it is that men of only deathless bravery, or with mad- dened veins, could assault, and assault again and again, that bristling hill. The shock of battle was not in any of the previous engagements more constant, and it was not in any so terrible.
The attack was opened by a heavy fire of artillery on Kearney's left and Couch's division, and was followed up by a brisk advance of infantry. It was repulsed, and the right of the Federal line brought forward to a thick clump of trees, where it had a fine position and a better fire. The Confed- erates were determined to carry the hill over Couch and Por- ter. Brigade after brigade started on a run across the open space, rushed through a storm of canister and shell, and came so close that the gunners sometimes turned pale at their guns; but always before the batteries were reached, a long, dense line of infantry sprang up from rifle-pits, which were sheltered from the sun by sheaves of wheat, poured in a single volley, and dashed forward with the bayonet, capturing prisoners and colors, and driving the enemy in confusion. It was wonder- ful that an army so worn and wearied as McClellan's could fight as it did; it was agonizing that exhausted nature should fail at last, and that many a noble soldier should fall in the ranks from sheer fatigue.
The gunboats threw shell all the time among the enemy's reserves and advancing columns, and by their fearful roar and shriek added to the confusion and commotion. The artillery did not cease until nine o'clock. The enemy was signally repulsed, with immense Confederate and slight Union loss.
The retreat was resumed, but with murmurs. Especially it chafed the proud heart of General Kearney. He burst into
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
a passionate deprecation. "I, Philip Kearney, an old soldier, enter my solemn protest against this order for retreat,-we ought, instead of retreating, to follow up the enemy and take Richmond. In full view of the responsibility of the declar- ation, I say to you all, such an order can be prompted only by cowardice or treason."
In rain and mud, and with the languor and depression of mind which follow excitement, the army dragged its slow length along from Malvern Hill to Harrison's bar, where a widening of the river protected its rear. The fallen were left on the field. The pattering rain drops washed away from their bodies the blood and dirt of battle, cooled the fever of the living, and gave the dead their only preparation for the grave. A thick, far-stretching fog followed the rain, and enveloped river and shore.
After every engagement in this long battle, the National army was forced to leave its dead unburied, and its wounded to fall into the hands of the enemy. Many a bleeding soldier made an attempt to escape imprisonment by dragging him- self from the field and along the line of his retreating com- rades; but, often, wrapt in his blue coat, and with his head on his blanket, he fell asleep alone in the woods, never to wake again. In almost every copse such a sleeping soldier lay.
Nearly a thousand carriages came from Richmond with bread, water and wine for the Confederate wounded, and took them, after they were refreshed, into the city. The helpless prisoners, about eight thousand in number, lay neg- lected, in farm houses, negro-huts and barns, their medicines, bandages and stores taken from them by the orders of Con- federate surgeons, their food, consisting of scanty allowances of bacon and flour, with now and then a few crackers. Their clothes were loathsome with stiffened blood.
In the seven days' battle more than sixteen hundred men were killed, and fifteen thousand were wounded and captured. The Twentieth Indiana went into the battle of the Orchards eight hundred strong, and reached Harrison's bar with three hundred and fifty.
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THE NATION AWAITING TIDINGS.
As people gathered in a wild tempest on the ocean shore watch a ship,-their own ship, full of their own country- men,-dismasted, struggling, driving against the rocks, and strain their eyes, but see only now and then, and that dimly, what seems to be a brave effort to master the waves, so, during the seven days' battle-storm, the loyal people of the North watched the loyal army. They saw that it fought and won on Wednesday in the battle of the Orchards; that it fought and held its own on Thursday at Mechanicsville; that it fought and lost on Friday at Gaines' Mill, and was driven over the river; that on Saturday the troops were rushing together from every quarter, that Yorktown was evacuated, the track was torn up, the bridges were burning, the stores were in flames; and the harassed Cabinet heard from McClel- lan the bitter reproach: " You have done your best to sacrifice this army!" then they neither saw nor heard.
Forty-eight hours passed, and scanty tidings came to Mr. Lincoln. The longer suspense of the Nation was broken by the brave assurance from Malvern Hill that the wreck was saved.
The reader, who remembers the allusion to the Syracusan expedition in the introduction to the Peninsular campaign, may care to read here one or two closing sentences from Grote:
"It was now the sixth day of the retreat,-six days of constant privation, suffering and endurance of attack,-yet Nicias, early in the morning, attempted a fresh march, in order to get to the river. The march was accomplished, but when the unhappy fugitives reached the river, their strength, their patience, their spirits, and their hopes for the future were all extinct."
After recounting the surrender of the Greeks, and the fate of the prisoners, Grote closes with the 'flower which Thuci- dides lays on the grave of Nicias, the author of the whole calamity, "What a pity! Such a respectable and religious man!"'
The same flower may be laid with sorrowful hands on the grave of McClellan; but the American General was not so unhappy as to see the destruction of his noble army. The
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
American soldiers never lost their strength, their patience, their spirit or their hopes for the future; and in the hour of greatest need reinforcements came. On the 2d of July the banks of the James echoed and re-echoed a welcome to troops straight from the Valley of the Shenandoah, Shields' brave division, in the van of which marched the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Indiana.
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THE FIRST TRIALS.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST .- BY A MEMBER OF THE REGIMENT.
"The dirty Federal invaders."-Speech of Jefferson Davis before the Legis- lature of Mississippi.
I HAD not counted the cost; I felt that I ought to go; I was willing to fight; I could deprive myself of every home com- fort; I could endure fatigue and hardship; I believed I could do my duty on the battle-field; but before reaching all this there was a task to perform which troubled me; it was part- ing with my wife. My heart sank within me at the thought. I could not even bear to tell her that I had enlisted; but at last I nerved myself. She did not speak for some moments; then she uttered no word of entreaty, but sobbed out, "Go, and God bless you!" Her submissiveness and her patriotism took from me a great weight. I was glad and proud that I could fight for such a woman, that I could defend such a home as mine.
The small wardrobe I could carry with me was soon packed, and I was ready to go, when the long steam whistle announced the approach of the train. Shall I ever return? Shall I ever see these familiar objects again, this face dearer than all? I could not drive these thoughts from my mind. They clung to me as the shadow to the traveler on a sunny day.
After sixteen hours in a crowded car, we arrived at Indian- apolis, and took up our line of march to Camp Morton, I was so unused to marching, to loss of sleep and want of food, that I really suffered in this walk of two miles.
We might have been very comfortable at Camp Morton if we had known how to take care of ourselves. Men who have been blessed with good homes are much annoyed on enlisting by their inability to make themselves comfortable.
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
Government gets little good from them until they have had at least six months' experience in a desolate country.
Our regiment was organized in the middle of July, and being organized, it was thought desirable to have battalion drill. After hard labor on the part of the Adjutant, who was a good military man, and almost the only one in the regi- ment, we were able to perform, "By the right of companies to the rear into column." This was the only battalion move which we had a chance to make before we left Indianapolis for the seat of war. We had no guns at this time, not even for the sentinels, who stood guard with clubs in their hands. It was amusing to see them walking past with a huge club at a "right shoulder shift," when they did not know a "right shoulder shift" from a "present arms."
When the news came of the battle of Bull Run we were ordered by the Governor to be ready at a moment's warning to start to Virginia. We were all in an uproar in an instant. Everything except garrison equipage had to be furnished, yet long before the time arrived for our departure we were ready and waiting.
On the last day of July, 1861, the Twenty-First left Indian- apolis, amidst a shower of blessings from ladies, who bade us not to return until the flag of our country should again wave over all the United States. All along the route we were greeted by the smiles and kind words of fair women, who gave us water and sandwiches, and with swimming eyes bade us adieu. In the North the women are the essence of goodness and loveliness. If this country is saved, it is they who saved it. In the South the women are she-adders. If this country had been destroyed, it would have been their work.
August 3d we marched through Baltimore to Camp Dix, on Locust Point, between Forts McHenry and Federal Hill. We were placed under the command of General Dix, who seemed to like our regiment, as he gave us the most important posts to hold. Two companies were sent to Fort McHenry, one to guard bridges and one to guard the magazines. Four companies being on detached duty, and larger detachments being required to go with the supply boats to Washington as
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THE EASTERN SHORE.
guards, the duties of the regiment were hard. Sometimes, however, they were unintentionally relieved by our western simplicity. On one of the expeditions to Washington, a Lieutenant, not knowing that passes were necessary, thought he would take some of his men and look about the city. As they were sauntering along, an officer accosted them, and ascertaining that they had no pass, he told them that the Provost Marshal had heard that they were in town and wanted very much to see them. Willing to accommodate that digni- tary, they consented to visit him, and thus one guard led some dozen or more prisoners to the Provost Marshal, who smiled as they announced themselves, and as he informed them that they were prisoners. The innocent Hoosiers were astounded; but on making an explanation, were dismissed without punish- . ment.
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