USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. I > Part 49
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His simple surprise put the Provost Marshal in a good humor, and, after a little friendly conversation, during which he read Mr. Whitcomb's letter to Captain Avis, he sent the prisoner to General Winder.
At the close of a rigid examination, in which Harter uttered no word of falsehood, Winder asked, "Young man, what assurance have I of the truth of what you say?" "You have nothing but my word, General," said the spy, "unless you will let me go to work." General Winder looked hard into the eyes of the prisoner, and seemed to weigh the tones of his soft, shallow voice. Harter did not winee under the scrutiny, and Winder, still looking at him, and speaking slowly as if not quite assured, said, " You may have the liberty of the city, while I make further inquiry."
The city was full of exultation over the withdrawal of McClellan's humbled and disappointed army. Personal griefs were lost in the public joy. All the inspiriting sounds of war constantly rang along the streets, as troops day and night passed through on their way to reinforce General Jackson.
581
IN RICHMOND.
At this time occurred the execution of Wheeler, a Union spy, who was betrayed by the confession of his dying com- rade, a Catholic, to a Confederate officer disguised as a priest. Every man, woman and child was on the lookout for enemies to the Confederacy, and Harter, while he was much on the streets, prudently kept aloof from intercourse with the citi- zens. He was full of anxiety; the time allowed him by Sigel was slipping by, and every hour increased the vast force which threatened Pope's front. Three times he petitioned General Winder for a pass to Charlottesville. After eight days in Richmond, he received a pass, and set out, ostensibly in search of railroad employment, really on his return. General Lee and other prominent officers were on the same train. They stopped at Gordonsville, where General Jackson and the greater part of his army was encamped, and Harter stopped at the same place.
The next morning, August 16th, the army took up the line of march to the Rapidan. Harter, as if fired with enthusiasm by the sight of the grand array, went to General A. P. Hill and offered his services as scout. General Hill complimented the applicant for preferring the dangers which beset the scout to the lucrative security of the railroad engineer, and prom- ised to get him a horse, giving him meantime permission to ride in an ambulance.
The Confederate army, shielded from the view of the Union outposts by a ridge of hills extending along the right bank of the Rapidan, marched almost to Raccoon ford, and en- camped under Clark's hill. No fires were made.
The next day, Sunday, not a wheel was turned; stillness. prevailed through the army; the vast multitude seemed imbued with the devotional spirit of General Jackson. He, however, attended to such business as he considered neces- sary.
In the afternoon, as the spy, with his eyes shut, lay in a clump of low cedars, three officers of high rank threw them- selves on the ground in the shade of the empty ambulance, which was near. One, with long, light hair curling on his- shoulders "like the ringlets of a great, big girl," he recognized as General Hill. Another he heard addressed as General
38
582
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
Taliaferro. The singular appearance of the third convinced the spy that he was no less a personage than General Jackson.
The Generals spread out maps, and in low tones talked of movements to be commenced the next day. Harter gathered that Longstreet was to cross the Rapidan some distance above Pope's right, and get round to his rear, while Lee and Jack- son were to attack the Union front. The Generals seemed united in their belief that Pope's forces would be captured or scattered after suffering a total defeat, and that the way to Washington would then be open, as certainly would be the case.
Harter's budget was now full, and his anxiety was intol- erable, but his mind could suggest no feasible plan of escape. Early Monday morning he went up on Clark's mountain to get a view of the situation; there he found many Confederate officers with their glasses examining the approaches to the Union army. He went back, and entered a farm house for his breakfast. While he sat here, pickets came running in, hatless and breathless, with the intelligence that a troop of Pope's cavalry had surprised them, and had captured several of a signal corps on Clark's mountain.
General Jackson sent two regiments to the right and left to surround the cavalry. Harter, unnoticed in the excitement, followed the right hand regiment, until he was beyond obser- vation, when he stole into the woods and cautiously made his way to the river bank. He left his coat on the ground, and, with his boots swung round his neck, swam the Rapidan. He entered the Union lines without any difficulty, and went to the tent of General Buford, who recognized him, and sent him, dripping as he was, to General Pope. Barely an hour had elapsed since he left Jackson's camp.
McDowell and Reno listened calmly as he stated the posi- tion of the Confederate army, and related what he had over- heard of the Confederate plans. General Pope was much excited. "I did not know there was an armed Rebel this side of Gordonsville," he exclaimed. Harter was subjected to an examination, during which he showed his pass from the War Department at Richmond, Mr. Whitcomb's letter, and a late Rebel paper. His intelligence was confirmed by a letter,
.
583
TESTIMONY.
written by General Lee at Gordonsville, August 15th, to General Stuart, and taken from the person of a prisoner cap- tured by a skirmishing company of cavalry.
It is needless to say that no time was lost by General Pope in ordering a backward movement, but before detailing the · retreat, the following letters, which witness to the truth of Harter's story, are inserted.
Letter from Franz Sigel, Major General commanding first corps of Army of the Potomac:
" NEAR FORT DEKALB.
To whom it may concern:
This is to certify that Thomas O. Harter, Sergeant in com- pany A, First regiment Indiana volunteer cavalry, was, on the 21st day of July last, employed by me to go on a secret mission. Furnished with a citizen's outfit, together with horse and bridle, he left my quarters at Sperryville on the above mentioned day, with instructions to penetrate the enemy's lines via Staunton, Charlottesville, Stannardsville and Gordonsville, and, if possible, to report to me within three weeks.
On the 18th day of August he reported at my headquar- ters, on the Robertson river, near the Rapidan, that the enemy was advancing upon us in great force, where he was encamped, the names of the general officers commanding, the probable strength of the enemy, and the contemplated plan of attack. Subsequent information substantiated the correctness of Ser- geant Harter's statements.
The information being communicated to General Pope, he was thereby enabled to take such measures as he deemed necessary and prudent for the protection of his army.
I would, in consideration of the services of Thomas O. Harter, recommend him to the favorable consideration of the General Government." (Signed.)
Second letter from General Sigel:
" NEAR FORT DE KALB, VIRGINIA, September 17, 1862. Hon. John P. Usher :
DEAR SIR-Sergeant Thomas O. Harter has requested me
584
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
to address you a note, and mention therein the value of the service rendered our army by the information furnished by him. I have already given him a certificate to that effect, and have only to add that, but for the opportune arrival of Harter at our headquarters on the Rapidan, on the 18th of August, with a full account of the plans and designs of the enemy, which were stated to General Pope, enabling him to take such measures as the exigencies of the case demanded for the protection of his army, we should have labored under much disadvantage. I had sent Harter out on the 21st of July for the purpose of gathering such information as would be useful to us in the conduct of the campaign, and he ac- quitted himself in a manner to satisfy the confidence I reposed in him."
Letter from General McDowell:
WASHINGTON, October 22, 1862.
" On the 18th of last August, being in company with Major General Pope at the headquarters of General Reno, not far from the Rapidan, at Raccoon ford, a person, representing himself as a spy sent out by Major General Sigel, came to General Pope, and represented himself as having just come from the enemy's lines; that he had been through their army, the larger part of which was but a short distance from the river, in our front, behind a mountain ridge running parallel with the river; that this army was on the point of marching, had their teams ready to hitch up, and were evidently to move at an early moment to turn our left. The information as to the condition, position and force of the enemy induced General Pope to order his own army to retreat immediately behind the Rappahannock. The information, given at the time above stated, proved to be correct, and was of the high- est importance, as it enabled us to defeat the plans of the enemy to get between us and the forces coming to join us by way of Fredericksburg and Manassas. I do not recollect the name of the man who gave us the information, nor do I think I should now recognize him."
General Pope was no sooner satisfied of the truth of the
585
ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK.
spy's report, than he gave orders for retreat behind the North Fork of the Rappahannock. By means of railway and wagon train, horse and foot, it commenced that very hour, and on the 20th was entirely effected, in spite of burning suns and chill- ing dews; of crowded roads and choked up streams; of the burden to each man of sixty pounds, which was the weight of the equipments of a soldier in the Eastern army; of fre- quent halts, three minutes or three hours long, always uncer- tain; of dust and thirst and haste, and of the enemy's cavalry.
In his new position, General Pope had the short range of the Bull Run mountains on his right, the Orange and Alex- andria railroad on his left and rear, and the river on his front, which was six or eight miles in extent. Thoroughfare Gap, through which the Manassas railroad passes, is not difficult of defence, for, though it allows the crooked passage of a creek, a turnpike and a railroad, its north side is almost inac- cessible to the foot of man, while the face of the southern rock scarcely affords on its smooth surface foothold to a cling- ing plant; but, unfortunately, the mountains are accessible in two other places. On the railroad are the stations of Manas- sas Junction, Bristow, Catlett's, Warrenton Junction, Beals- tou, and, where the road crosses the river, Rappahannock. The river is long, and in low water can be forded in fifty places, yet it is often impassable, as, in the somewhat exag- gerated language of Mr. Lincoln, a heavy dew causes a freshet.
At every ford and at every bridge, General Lee tried to cross. On Pope's right Sigel met him, on his centre McDow- ell, and on his left Banks and Reno. Brigades, divisions and corps were hurried from point to point as danger threatened. On the 21st Sigel went down towards the railroad to the assistance of McDowell; on the 23d he hastened back to Sulphur Spring, followed by McDowell, Banks and Reno. Artillery, crowning each height and commanding each bridge, was almost constantly in play. On the mornings of the 22d and 23d the Sixteenth Indiana battery was the first in action. On the 23d it stood in a group of pines, while they were shorn by the enemy, and poured its fire until every gun of six- teen on the opposite height was silenced and withdrawn.
586
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
When Sigel started up the river to prevent the crossing of the enemy near Sulphur Spring, General Milroy was in the rear of his corps, but gaining a direct road, the Indiana Gen- eral was soon in the advance. He crossed a bridge on sleep- ers, from which the Rebels had torn the planks, and drove the enemy beyond a second stream; but there he found himself in a "hornet's nest. As if by magic, the woods and hills were alive with the enemy; the deserted batteries were sud- denly manned, and a semi-circle of guns, nearly a mile round, poured a steady stream of shell and canister on the bridge." Federal batteries hastened to the rescue, and under shelter of their fire Milroy recrossed the stream, and rejoined his command.
Neither vigilance nor valor, nor both together, availed. The Confederates gained Pope's rear. First General Stuart, with his cavalry, found his way round to Catlett's station, where he burned wagons, captured horses, stole clothing and took prisoner the sick and wounded in the hospitals. Next, Gen- eral Jackson, with all his men, came through Thoroughfare Gap, before Pope had been able to get a force in its front, and marched unopposed to Manassas and Bristow stations, where they did not stint their enjoyment of the vast Federal stores collected at both places, and where they also tore up the railroad, and destroyed the rolling stock.
During seven days, in which Pope with his single strength held off the mighty force of Lee, he almost hourly entreated Halleck for reinforcements, and Halleck, in his turn, urged McClellan to hasten to the field. At last the troops from the peninsula began to dribble into the Army of Virginia; but they reached the field unprepared for service. Heintzelman's corps arrived at Warrenton Junction without artillery, with- out wagons, without even horses for the general and field officers, and with only four rounds of ammunition to the man. The corps of Porter had a very small supply of provisions, and but forty rounds of ammunition to the man.
The Third Indiana cavalry was daily required to furnish escorts and guides to the arriving troops; it also furnished details for picket duty. The Twentieth Indiana, as soon as it arrived, was placed at Rappahannock station on guard.
587
BATTLE NEAR GAINSVILLE.
Near Bristow station General Hooker came in contact with General Ewell's division of Jackson's corps, and routed it after a sharp battle. General Kearney hastened to the ground, joined Hooker, and, with him, followed the Confed- erates through Centreville and along the Warrenton turnpike.
On the 28th the two armies were oddly mixed together. Longstreet's corps, nearing Thoroughfare Gap, and Rickett's division guarding the gap, faced each other with very few intervening miles. King's division, Gibbon's brigade in advance, and Jackson's corps were rapidly moving, the one west, the other east, on the Warrenton turnpike, while Heint- zelman was in the rear of Jackson, and hastening after him. The circumstances of the two armies were similar in several respects. Jackson was cut off from Lee; Pope was cut off from Washington. Longstreet's troops were hungry; Pope's army had not enough to eat. Sigel was heard to say, "A biscuit is worth more to us now than a bayonet." Jackson was dependent on Longstreet's promptness and good faith; Pope's chief hope was in McClellan.
About sunset sudden and sharp artillery firing, having the exact range of his brigade, informed Gibbon of the proximity of the enemy. He immediately ordered his men to move up and storm the battery. Tearing down a fence in their front, they moved a few hundred feet through woods, and up a slope. Doubleday's brigade was not slow to follow. The Nineteenth Indiana, now first in battle, had Gibbon's left. "The com- manders of companies seemed to vie with each other in the discharge of their duty. When the ranks were thinned out by the deadly fire of the enemy, they were closed up with as much promptness as if on drill." Major May was wounded and crept into a thicket to avoid the tramp of fighting men. The Confederates brought a battery to their right and threat- ened Meredith with an enfilading fire; but before it was in action companies B and G wheeled at right angles to the line of the regiment and forced it back. Scarcely was this success achieved, when a large force of infantry appeared on the left, and Meredith in turn withdrew a few yards; but his horse was shot, and falling upon him, forced him to leave the field. Lieutenant-Colonel Bachman assumed command, and
588
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
directed the regiment with gallantry and skill, maintaining the second line until, at night, the enemy ceased firing. The battle lasted scarcely an hour, yet more than one-third of the troops engaged were killed or wounded.
The great slaughter is accounted for by the closeness of the lines. During some movements, they were within easy speak- ing distance. A Lieutenant, with a few men, standing on the left to give notice of any attempt at flanking, saw in the dark a body of soldiers move up towards the Rebel lines. " Who goes there?" he asked. "Twenty-Fourth Virginia," was the reply. "All right. Pass Twenty-Fourth Virginia," said he, with a presence of mind which saved him and his men from capture.
Several hours were spent in looking up the wounded, and carrying them out of the forest to a temporary hospital, yet all, as it was afterwards discovered with grief, were not found.
The Nineteenth lost one hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded, and thirty-three missing.
On the morning of the 29th Jackson's right rested above and near the village of Groveton, which is on the Warrenton turnpike, his left on the old battle-field of Manassas and near Sudley Springs. Sigel, with Schurz on his right, Schenck on his left, and Milroy on his centre, advanced towards him at dawn. Near Young's creek, Milroy and Schenck, leaving their men at breakfast, reconnoitred five hundred yards in advance, and, discovering sharpshooters concealed in a wood, called up a battery and chased them out. The corps advanced with skirmishers deployed, and almost reached Jackson's main force, which was securely posted behind a railroad embank- ment. Here a vehement artillery and infantry contest lasted four hours. At length Sigel's corps fell back, Milroy being the last to withdraw.
Heintzelman was early in position. . Kearney held his right wing, and Robinson, partly in line, partly in support, had Kearney's right. Early in the afternoon Robinson was sent to the aid of Sigel. He drove forward several hundred yards, but Sigel being forced back, he was left in front of all others, with both flanks in air, and could advance no further. In this exposed position his men fired and hacked away with the
589
PREMATURE REJOICING.
same valor which marked their career on the peninsula. Colonel Brown fell at the hand of a sharpshooter. He spoke no word after the bullet struck him, but he needed no confes- sion nor preparation, for his peace was already made with God.
At five o'clock General Kearney brought up reinforcements; other troops followed, and soon the enemy's left was doubled back upon his centre.
Suddenly a sharp, quick fire announced a fresh and firm division of the enemy. Ricketts, having been threatened in the rear by a Confederate force which had found its way over the mountains, had retreated, and the consequence was the rapid advance of Longstreet through Thoroughfare Gap. The enemy, however, was not able to gain the ground he had lost, and the day closed with the greater part of the field of battle in the possession of our army.
In the morning paroled prisoners brought the report that the Confederates were retreating, and their report was con- firmed by skirmishers. An exulting messenger departed with the blessed tidings to Washington. Not only Pope, McDow- ell, who was modest and cautious, announced to the Cabinet, " We have gained a decided victory."
On the morning of the 30th, General Pope was convinced that the enemy, instead of retreating, was concentrating before him, and in more than double the force of the previous day. At the same time he felt persuaded that General McClellan, instead of seconding him, was withholding food, forage and troops. It was with much anxiety, therefore, and in no little bitterness of feeling, that he made arrangements for a des- perate battle. His line was in the form of a bent bow, the convex side toward the enemy, and Porter, who had hitherto quietly but resolutely avoided obedience to orders, was placed in the centre, where he must either fight or run. Heintzel- man, Reno and McDowell had the bent sides of the bow. Sigel, at first in the rear of Porter, afterwards moved to his front and left. A few of McDowell's troops, among which was the Seventh Indiana, had the extreme right. Hooker and Kearney had the chief part of the right line. Pope's batteries were in the rear of the infantry, on high, advantageous ground.
590
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
General Banks, with his command, covered the extreme left, in order to keep off reinforcements for the enemy, and to be used as a reserve.
General Lee's line bent inward, and stretched at least five miles, from Sudley Springs on Bull Run, beyond the Manassas railroad. The centre, consisting almost entirely of artillery, was on a commanding height, a mile and a half west of Groveton. Longstreet had the right wing, Jackson the left, behind the railroad embankment, which had protected him the previous day.
Artillery firing and skirmishing occupied the day until four o'clock, when Porter moved towards the Confederate centre. He quickly and confusedly fell back, but recovered and made a brave stand. The hostile wings now swung together, and the two armies wrestled in awful battle, while the undulations of the plain aud even the light of day were hid by dust and smoke. Jackson's powerful corps, with all Jackson's power- ful energy, pounded Hooker and Kearney. They did not · break nor bend, and the best and bravest regiment there was no better nor braver than the Twentieth Indiana, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Wheeler. One in three of Kearney's men fell; none surrendered, and not a foot of ground was given to the enemy.
The left and centre were gradually forced back. A long time Milroy held his ground, first with his own brigade, then troops he gathered up and held while his men went back for ammunition. His patched up line grew thin, and he gal- loped to McDowell for reinforcements. With these he main- tained his position until night stilled the tumult, and stopped the commotion of the battle. He then turned back in search of his brigade, in order to prepare for a renewal of the con- test in the morning. What was his astonishment to find that all the troops near him had withdrawn. Where he expected to see thousands he found not a soldier. He went on and on in painful, bewildering doubt and uncertainty. At last he met with General Sigel, and learned that the army had been ordered to retreat across Bull Run to Centreville. One moment he was overcome with a terrible grief; the death-knell of our glorious Government sounded above the murmur of flying
591
SECOND BULL RUN.
troops, the rumble and roll of artillery and wagon trains. But a leader cannot despair, and shaking off paralyzing thought, General Milroy hastened to the further side of Bull Run, and stood in the darkness from ten until midnight, calling to his men as they crossed the bridge, and gathering them together.
While thousands and thousands of troops, bewildered by the loss or the neglect of their officers, wandered about with- out aim or rest, Milroy's brigade was refreshed with coffee, a few hours' sleep, and the kind companionship of their com- mander.
The falling back of the left and centre forced the right to retreat, and bleeding and faint, their best men dead or help- less, Kearney's and Hooker's corps reached Bull Run near midnight. The Seventh Indiana, far on the right, and closely pressed by infantry, lost its color-bearer and many more, and in the end was cut off from its brigade. Following a round- about road, it came upon a hospital, and joined a force which there relieved Robinson's brigade. "What force is that?" the officers demanded of troops which, in the darkness, were seen close in their front. "Sturgis' brigade," was the reply. "Show your colors!" was now the demand, but the colors could not be distinguished, and the enemy, for such the new troops proved, fired a volley. The Seventh fell to the ground, and but few were wounded, although Colonel Gavin was of the number. The fire was returned, and Sturgis' bri- gade fell back.
General Gibson, General Kearney and General Reno were assigned to the rear guard. The Nineteenth Indiana, which, with all of Gibbon's brigade, remained in McDowell's front line until it was flanked right and left, and supported on the retreat a battery which repeatedly checked the progress of the enemy, crossed the bridge while the engineers were cutting away its supports.
"Franklin with his corps had arrived at Centreville, six miles in the rear. Sumner was four miles behind Franklin. These fresh troops could be brought on the field in the morn- ing in time to renew the action, but starvation stared both men and horses in the face, and, broken and exhausted as they were, they were in no condition to bear hunger also."
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