USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. II > Part 6
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60
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
river. Included in Franklin's force were the old divisions of Hooker and Kearney, now under Sickles and Birney. Hooker parted with them reluctantly, on the peremptory order of Burnside, who desired that Franklin, being in front of the Rebel line, should make the main assault, and with sufficient force to insure its success. Birney remained on the northern bank at the head of the lower bridges, with orders to cross early on the 13th.
The 12th was consumed by the Union general in crossing the river and reconnoitring the enemy's position. It was spent by the Rebel commander-in-chief, in drawing together detached portions of his army, and in adding with needless caution to the strength of his intrenchments.
Longstreet formed the Rebel left and centre, and extended along the bold, bare bluffs above the city, into the oak and pine-clad heights in its rear and below it. His advance line was at the foot of the hills, one brigade, the next day two brigades, in a sunken country road behind a stout stone wall, five or six hundred yards long. His batteries could sweep the city and the narrow strip of plain in its rear, by a direct and converging fire. Jackson's corps lay on Longstreet's right, on the same ridge of semi-circular hills, and stretched to the eastward into the valley toward the river. Stuart, with two brigades of cavalry and with a force of horse artil- lery, had the extreme right, reaching to Massaponax creek. In front of Jackson, the ground was comparatively low and unbroken, and the plain stretched to a width of two miles. In front of Longstreet, it was a succession of hillocks, ditches, fences and muddy fields. Close in the rear of the city was a canal, which might be called his first line of defense.
An ominous silence prevailed throughout the 12th. Stern and grave expectation rested on the army, not unnaturally relieved here and there by frolicsome gaiety. A soldier, with a white beaver or a wig on his head, a fine dress falling about his shoulders, a doll in his arms, excited roars of laughter. But the good provost marshal, General Patrick, had no more leniency for one kind of robbery than for another, and was also cautious about inflaming Southern feeling; he, there- fore, shortly put an end to these capricious capers.
61
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG.
Saturday the 13th broke still and warm, like a lingering touch of Indian summer in mid-winter. Fog hung heavily on river, hill and plain. After ten, the fog slowly lifted.
Franklin's force comprised about sixty thousand men, and extended from the outskirts of Fredericksburg, three miles along a broad, well-shaped road, the old Richmond road, parallel to the river, nearly to Massaponax creek. In its front, the wide, unobstructed plain afforded room for the deployment of troops out of hostile range. Franklin was ordered to gain a point which would enable him immediately to place his forces in rear of the enemy's extreme right, and, by a new road connecting the wings of the rebel army, give him free access to the open ground in the rear of the line of heights. Not until the position was taken, were the heights back of the town to be assailed; but immediately on the announcement of Franklin's success, Sumner was to advance to the assault. Between nine and ten, Meade's division of Franklin's troops swept over the open ground toward the crest on which the enemy was posted, and in the woods of which he was concealed. Gibbon's division, which should have been close at hand on its right, moved on the right of its rear, and Doubleday's division had the left of its rear. Just as the advance began, Birney's division of Hooker's corps arrived from the other side of the river and took its station in and near the old Richmond road, to move forward when called upon. No Indiana regiments were in Meado's division, and none in Gibbon's. In Doubleday's were the Nineteenth, included in Meredith's brigade, and the Seventh, under Lieutenant Colonel Cheek, Colonel Gavin being in command of the brigade. In Birney's division was the Twentieth regiment in Robinson's brigade. Meade was apparently unobserved until he was within range of the Rebel batteries, which were entirely hidden from him. The fire did not check him; it gave him fresh impetus. Rushing forward with vigor and suddenness, he broke through the enemy's lines, drove him from his advanced works, captured several flags and several hundred prisoners, passed rows of muskets stacked, the Rebels not having had time to take them up, and penetrating to Jackson's reserve, reached the
-
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
road, which Burnside considered the key of the enemy's position. But he outran the tardy Gibbon, and when as- sailed on both flanks by Jackson's reserves, he was compelled to give way. Gibbon advancing slowly, met with a moment- ary success, but he was assaulted impetuously by a fresh Rebel force, and he fell back in disorder. Birney moved up on Meade's ground and met the tide of pursuit. He checked it, and Robinson's brigade, with a furious bayonet charge which the Rebels fled before, wrested from their grasp two of Meade's batteries, but being without support on right or left, or rear, Birney could not follow up his advantage. Doubleday, at the beginning of Meade's advance, was turned square off to the left, to meet a strong Rebel force which threatened to gain his flank and rear. He drove the enemy before him more than a mile. His further progress was re- strained only by the failure of the assault on his right.
About noon, when Meade gave every promise of success, Sumner began to storm the centre of the Rebel line. He selected French and Hancock for the work, because these generals were "two of the most gallant officers in the army, and their troops had never turned their backs to the enemy." Their behavior this day justified his choice. "They did all that men could do." General Kimball's brigade was placed in front. Kimball's skirmishers drove back the cnemy s skirmishers and established a line of battle on a little rise of ground in the face of the lower range of Rebel breastworks, and almost beneath the upper range of guns. The Four- teenth Indiana, Major Cavins, on the left, the Seventh Vir- ginia and two New Jersey regiments forming the remainder of Kimball's brigade, supported the skirmishers. Tier upon tier the enemy's fortifications rose before them. In the shel- ter of the slight elevation gained by his skirmishers, French deployed his troops in column of attack, brigade front, with intervals of two hundred paces. Hancock's division followed, and forming in the same manner, joined the advance of French.
The fascination with which the spectators on Stafford Heights watched the amphitheatre before and beneath them, seemed for a few moments to be shared by the opposing
63
THE IMPREGNABLE WALL.
heights. The batteries ceased and the hills were still. But it was no charm which held the mouths of Rebel guns; no admiration for that steady line of noblest Americans which restrained the hands of Rebel gunners. When the artil- lery north of the river was forced to withhold a fire which streamed indiscriminately on friendly and hostile lines, the Rebels joyfully poured down cross storms of shot and shell. French's column was the focus of a semi-circle of batteries. It quivered. Gaps were visible at the distance of a mile. But the ranks closed up and marched on, inspired by an awful courage and the delusive hope that when once within the shelter of the first hill the most terrible part of their duty would be done. They were but sixty paces from the base of the hill, when suddenly the stone wall was alive and burning with musketry. Every foot of the wall securely sheltered a sharpshooter. The muskets of the assailants were impotent. Their artillery played harmlessly on the stones. They melted away, falling dead or wounded, flying to the rear, or throwing themselves to the ground in the hol- lows of the plain.
Hancock's division, each brave Irishman in its front gaily adorned with a sprig of evergreen in tribute to his native isle, was dashed back by the same terrific fire.
Howard, Sturgis and Getty advanced to the support of French and Hancock, only to be in turn driven from the ground. Kimball, wounded in the thigh, was early carried from the field, but his brigade, under the command of Colonel Mason of the Fourth Ohio, and his staff, by his direct order, remained until sundown, sheltered by a slight depression in the ground.
When three assaults had failed, Burnside sent Hooker, with his two remaining divisions, to take a hand in the dreadful game. Hooker reconnoitered the position, con- sulted the officers who had been engaged, and sent word to his commander that the point was impregnable. Burnside reiterated the order. Hooker hastened back in person to Stafford Heights and urged his opinion. Burnside was as impregnable as the wall at the foot of Marye's Heights. He who had weathered the storms of Hatteras, hopeful and
64
THIE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
dauntless when all around were faltering or in despair, was undaunted now. Hooker unwillingly returned. He beat the wall with batteries, then threw forward his column of assault. It was hurled back in less than fifteen minutes.
It was now dark. Burnside's advanced line occupied the side of a hillock, which was within sound of the piteous cries of the wounded. Attempts made to remove or relieve the sufferers were only successful in provoking the Confede- rate fire.
At four the next morning, Sunday, Burnside sent the fol- lowing dispatch to the President: "Our troops are all over the river, and hold the first ridge outside the town and three miles below. We hope to carry the crest to-day. Our loss heavy, say five thousand."
The crest was not carried on the 14th. It was not as- saulted. In the words of Abram J. Buckles, a private in the Nineteenth, "Everything this day seemed as if hushed, and mourning over the slaughter of the day before." Ex- pecting with each hour an order to advance, the army stood in battle array from sunrise until sunset. The Third Indiana and other cavalry, which on the 12th had taken position on Stafford Heights, and held themselves ready for an emer- geney, still waited. The forces on the southern boundary of the amphitheatre were equally inactive.
Monday, the long lines of battle continued unbroken. The dead were buried. The wounded were carried off. Supply wagons were withdrawn. Every preparation was made apparently for a bloody day's work on the morrow.
The line of pickets ran from the Rappahannock, three miles below the lowest bridge, nearly westward to the vicin- ity of Fredericksburg, when it bent toward the north. The piekets lay flat, in the rear of the city, as the Rebels could depress their artillery sufficiently to rake everything two feet above the surface of the ground. In many places, hostile sentinels were close enough for the exchange of words.
Monday night, the Nineteenth Indiana guarded the ex- treme left. It was a wild night. In the darkest hour, while each ear and each eye was intent lest the din of the elements and the depth of the darkness should cover a movement of
65
BURNSIDE RELUCTANTLY WITHDRAWS HIS ARMY.
the enemy, to the shivering pickets came a whispered order to fall back. They withdrew noiselessly. In their rear was not a gun, nor a caisson, nor a man of the vast army they had supposed wrapt in sleep. The very intrenching tools were all gone. At daybreak, pressed by the enemy, they reached the river. At the head of the only remaining bridge stood engineers waiting to take up the planks. Two regi- ments from other parts of the picket line were about cross- ing. But it was necessary to check the pursuers of the Nineteenth, and the three regiments forming into line turned a bold face toward the foe, who fired but one round. The passage was now effected, the planks were taken up, and the pontoons were floated to the other side.
The out-posts of the Nineteenth, far in the front when orders reached them, arrived at the water's edge to find the unbridged river between them and the army. But skiffs close at hand dispelled their momentary dismay and carried them quickly to the further shore.
It was not without a severe struggle with himself that Burnside gave up Fredericksburg. During the assaults on Saturday afternoon he walked up and down on the bank of the Rappahannock and exclaimed vehemently: "That crest must be carried!" He compelled Hooker, against the wishes and judgment of the latter, to make the last essay. Satur- day night he went over the whole field on the right, inquiring into the condition and feeling of both officers and men. Although he found disappointment and despondency almost everywhere, he prepared to lead in person the Ninth corps in an assault at an early hour the next day. He gave up the attempt only on the urgent solicitation of Sumner. Then with deep reluctance, and feeling in his heart that he could yet succeed if he were but rightly seconded, he determined on a withdrawal.
Losses summed up were: To the Rebels, five thousand, to the Army of the Potomac, twelve thousand three hundred and twenty-one.
It would be useless to attempt to paint the grief and con- sternation produced by the publication of the result. On 5
66
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
the removal of McClellan and the appointment of a fighting General, hopes of uninterrupted success had animated all lovers of their country. The disaster was the more appall- ing and the more exasperating. With patient sorrow Burn- side bared his head to the shame and blame which popular feeling, fired by party spite, hastened to heap on him. Say- ing not a word of the failure in Washington to send forward the pontoons, and not a word of the failure of Franklin, with more than half the army and a good position, to turn the right wing of the enemy, he wrote to Halleck: "For the failure in the attack I am responsible, as the extreme gal- lantry, courage and endurance shown by the officers and soldiers were never excelled, and would have carried the point if possible. The fact that I decided to move from Warrenton to this line rather against the opinion of the President, Secretary of War and yourself, and that you have left the whole movement in my hands, without giving me orders, makes me the more responsible."
The people and the President responded nobly. And well they might. Others could, and, as time wore on, did con- quer the enemy. Burnside alone, of all the commanders-in- chief, showed that he had conquered himself.
Mr. Lincoln wrote to the army: "Although you were not successful, the attempt was not an error, nor the failure other than an accident. The courage with which you, on an open field, maintained the contest against an intrenched foe, and the consummate skill and success with which you crossed and recrossed the river in the face of the enemy, show that you possess all the qualities which will yet give victory to the cause of the country and of popular government."
The comments of the enemy on the battle of Fredericks- burg are in the customary arrogant strain of the South. Pollard says: "In this part of the field," i. e. the rear of Fredericksburg, where was Kimball's brigade, "the enemy displayed a devotion that is remarkable in history. This display does not adorn the Yankees. To the Irish division was principally committed the desperate task."
Again: "The victory had been purchased by us with lives, though comparatively small in number, yet infinitely
67
OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE BATTLE.
more precious than those of the mercenary hordes arrayed against us."
The correspondent of the Richmond Enquirer says: "The "railroad gap at one time was filled with Yankees, when a well-directed shot from the battery exploded in their midst, killing about fifty of the hirelings."
The Indiana troops in the battle of Fredericksburg were few in number, but were not called to the performance of insignificant duties. In the main fighting, the Fourteenth led the advance. The Nineteenth covered the retreat of the whole army. Captain Kalley of the Fourteenth was killed. Lieutenant Gibson, of the same regiment, died of wounds received.
In Couch's official report, the following paragraph occurs: " Kimball's brigade was in front. By its subsequent conduct, it showed itself worthy to lead." Sumner, during an exam- ination before a Congressional committee which was ap- pointed to investigate the causes of the repulse, twice as- serted that his troops, foremost of which was Kimball's bri- gade, "did all that men could do."
Colonel Cutter, who, in the absence of Meredith, com- manded the brigade of the latter, says in his official report:
"I sent an order to Colonel Williams, of the Nineteenth Indiana, to call in his pickets at half-past four in the morn- ing, and to follow his brigade in silence to a new position, up the river, without intimating that they were to cross the river. He obeyed the order to the letter, and when day dawned, found himself and his regiment following the army across the Rappahannock. He had at least three miles to march and reach the bridge, and was the last of that vast army to cross. I am under great obligation to all the officers and men for their cordial co-operation during the brief period I was in command, but especially to Colonel Williams for the coolness and good judgment which he exercised in obey- ing my orders, and which resulted in saving one of the best regiments in the service."
The battle of Fredericksburg cost the Army of the Po- tomac the only general who in actual contest had shown himself able to cope with Stonewall Jackson. General
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
Kimball, seriously wounded, was carried from the field about two o'clock on the afternoon of the 13th. The next day, Mr. Holloway, an agent of Governor Morton in the work of relieving Indiana wounded, saw him on his way to Wash- ington, lying in a freight car, and unable to move without assistance. He was attended by an orderly. Another gen- eral, slightly wounded, and sitting in the same ear, was at- tended by three orderlies. Holloway's pride was a little touched by the comparatively neglected state of Kimball, and he asked, "Where are the members of your staff?" "On the field," replied the Indiana general, "their services were needed."
Wounds were principally from shell. In consequence, flesh was lacerated and bones were crushed to an unusual degree. Agents of the Sanitary Commission were on the ground, immediately after the battle, with abundant sup- plies, and greatly relieved the suffering which rose from the removal of the wounded from the comfortable houses of Fredericksburg to the damp ground of hospital tents.
Two agents, who had been sent by Governor Morton to attend to the wants of Indianians, were very efficient. Mr. Richardson, the well-known correspondent of the New York Tribune, under date of December 18, alluded to the care which had commissioned them, in the following manner:
" The peculiar and constant attention to the troops his State has sent out so promptly, is the prominent feature of Governor Morton's most admirable administration. In all our armies, from Kansas to the Potomae, everywhere I have met Indiana troops I have encountered some officer of Gov- ernor Morton going about among them, inquiring especially as to their needs both in camp and hospital, and performing those thousand offices the soldier so often requires. Would that the same tender care could be extended to every man, from whatever state, who is fighting the battles of the re- publie."
Among the most efficient of the regimental chaplains was E. H. Sabin of the Fourteenth, of whom Major Cavins wrote: "He was complimented by the surgeons and com- manders of the regiments of Kimball's brigade, for his skill,
69
DYING ALONE AND DYING AT HOME.
energy and valuable services. He greatly endeared himself to the officers and soldiers of the whole brigade, by his un- tiring attention to their wants."
As rapidly as the wounded were put in condition for safe transportation, they were removed to the general hospitals in Washington and Point Lookout. The last man was taken away on Christmas.
The care of the sick during the changes of this campaign, was peculiarly hard. When the army, preparatory to the attack, concentrated on Stafford Heights, the occupants of camp hospitals, which were comfortable log huts, were trans- ferred to division hospitals. The change was made hastily and confusedly, in the night and in the rain. As every man who could carry a gun had been marched off with his regi- ment, the patients were forced to rely on their own wasted strength. Frequently they could not find the division hos- pitals. Exertion and exposure confirmed the hold and hast- ened the work of disease.
Sad hearts, of a young but already long-orphaned family, recall one who lay languishing when his comrades left him, and was no more when they returned. How he died, or when, or where, none knew. No tears fell, and no heart ached, as dust was given to dust. Why should his fate be told? He was but one of thousands, and the sisters who grieved for the quenching of his young and noble life, are lost in the multitude of mourners.
Wesley Kemper, whose letters were quoted in the chapter on the Twentieth Indiana, received here his finishing stroke. From the time of the seven days' battles, weakness and wear- iness had preyed on him, yet on the muddy banks of the James, in the march across the peninsula, standing picket on the Rappahannock as Pope fell back, he did a soldier's duty. He dragged himself after his regiment toward Bull Run, but only reached it to watch beside the lifeless body of Colonel Brown. Not until he was hopeless, did he apply for a dis- charge, and not until he had followed his comrades to Fred- ericksburg, and was dying, did he receive his discharge. He reached Indianapolis on the last day of 1862. When he saw his home, he said with the satisfaction of a tired child,
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
"On the old stamping ground at last!" He died on New Year's day, after all his wanderings, in the house where he was born, and after all his sufferings, in his mother's arms.
A letter from Samuel List, of the Seventh, shows how little vindietiveness or bitterness existed in the hearts of the privates:
"OPPOSITE FREDERICKSBURG,
December, 1862.
"For two days previous to the retreat of the Army of the Potomae but little went on in the way of fighting. Every- thing seemed to indicate that our army was waiting for something, no one knew what. Monday two flags of truce were sent out by our men, in front of where we lay, to get our dead and wounded. Hundreds from both sides flocked out to see each other. The Rebels came pouring out of the woods by scores without any guns. So did our men. They met half way, shook hands, talked, traded coffee for tobacco, etc. The Rebel privates seemed very anxious for the war to close. They said: "If it were not for the officers the war would have ended long ago." I believe if we had remained there a month, and the officers had not interfered, the two armies would have been in the same camp. I tell you the Rebel officers had to watch their men close to keep them from coming over to our side. In fact I saw seven throw away their guns, hold up a white cloth, and come over. I must confess it was the most impressive sight I ever saw. It made me feel that they were our friends, even if they were fighting us.
" Monday night just after dark we relieved our pickets, as usual, and lay down on our arms to sleep. At ten we were called up. Everything was got ready to move. Not a word was spoken, except by the officers, and that was done in a whisper. We supposed we must be going to steal some position on the Rebels in the darkness, but we were marched off in silence to the river, and in a few minutes were on the other side. We were nearly in the rear of the left grand division, and consequently were among the last. It was just midnight. The night favored us. It was dark, and the
71
NEITHER EAGLE NOR SERPENT.
wind blew from the Rebels. The artillerymen muffled their cannon wheels with rags, and took them off the field by hand, almost out of the teeth of the enemy. To-morrow, it is said, we move back to Brooks' Station. Why, I know not. I have quit inquiring into our movements. I go when they tell me, and stop when they tell me, and have come to the conclusion that the ways of war are mysterious."
"Only the eagle or the serpent," it is said, "reaches the top of the loftiest mountains." Burnside's career, as the head of the army of the Potomac, confirms the reflection. That career was short. It could not be otherwise. With all the fearlessness and daring, he had little of the soaring ambition of the monarch of the air; and he wholly lacked the wind- ing wisdom of its earthly rival. His expressions of diffi- dence when he was promoted to the command of the Army of the Potomac took right hold of the heart of the people, and his frank assumption of the responsibility of the Frede- ricksburg battle, melted away, seemingly, every vestige of distrust. That the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern army should, above everything else, be honest, was a subject of almost devout joy. Yet in the army there were from the beginning exceptions to the general admiration and attachment, officers who resented the promotion of the un- pretending General of the Ninth corps, or who sincerely regarded him as unequal to the vast responsibilities of his new position. Burnside's expressed self-distrust, and his acknowledgment of mistake, were ready weapons for ungen- erous hands, and were slyly and ruthlessly turned against him.
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