USA > Massachusetts > Clippings pertaining to the history and reminiscences of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry > Part 10
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And expected at one time to have a share In that first great cavalry battle.
E're long our division left the ford, For the Rebs had a movement begun, Which compelled the Union Army again To cover Washington.
Like two subtle monsters the two bodies moved, Serpent-like, day after day, Leaving in their trail the old battle-fields, Over which we wended our way.
That long the two armies should peacefully move, Was not to be expected, perhaps, And we had now and then a brush with the Rebs At the mountain passes or gaps.
Oh, the terrible march o'er the plains of Manassas And across the field of Bull Run, In a stifling air, weighted with dust, And under a burning sun.
With seareely a drop of water to be had Anywhere on the route. That eighteen miles' march che 17th of June I shall never forget about.
More than half of our men fell out of the ranks During the march that day, Many of whom were entirely prostrated, Some of whom died by the way.
CHANCELLORSVILLE.
On the twenty-seventh of April, The army moved again, Under its new leader, To fight a new campaign. With Hooker in command, "Fighting Joe," as he was called,
'Twas said that we could "whip the Rebs, Or bag them, onc and all." To flank Lee at the upper Fords We saw to be Hooker's plan, When we erossed over the Rappahannock And through the Rapidan ; We waded the latter river, Where the water was arm-pit high, With cartridge-boxes on our guns, To keep the powder dry. We came to the right-shoulder-shift, Thus mounted onr baggage aloft, Which we carried on our guns, high and dry, While the river we crossed. On reaching the southern shore, Our army eneamped for the night, Having possessed the enemies' ground, For which we'd expected to fight.
May-day morning our corps advanecd again, Cautionsly feeling its way, Along the road to Chancellorsville, Where we arrived at mid-day. We cneountcred the Rebel picket, Captured some, while others fell back To warn the Rebel army That the Yanks were on their track. We halted ncar the Chancellor House, Where we rested an hour, or so, When our brigade was sent to the front To reconnoitre the foe. Advaneing towards Fredericksburg. With flankers and skirmishers out. We very soon found the rebels in force, And were ordered to face about. Thus, having performed the mission, Which to us had been assigned, We retired, without a collision Our "(First) Division" to find. But the fighting was not long delayed, For the cnemy pressed us sore, And a furious onslaught made On the Second Division of our Corps, Which bravely withstood the assault, Returning a murderous fire, Though the irresistible charge of the foe Compelled them to retire.
The "Regulars" were not driven far Ere the Rebels were held at bay, Though far enough to uncover the road On which our Division lay, Thus cutting us off from the army And putting us in a bad plight, For we became lost in the "Wilderness," And tramped all the livelong night. Though we joined our eorps again, Early the following day, How we got back I can't tell, 'Twas by some unaccountable way. Then, instead of giving us rest, They gave us picks and spades, Which were freely used by willing hands, Till a strong defence was made. That afternoon I went to the front With the rest of Company K, Where we formed a picket-line, Until nine o'clock the next day. Shall I ever forget the scenes of that night, That lovely Saturday night, When all was serene above, And the moon shone so beautifully bright ? Nay ; and there are stronger reasons, Indellibly stamped on my mind, That carry me back to the scenes of that night, Which I spent on the picket-line. We were posted along in the woods, On a line very near 'o the Rebs, So near we could hear them converse, Now and then, could hear what they said. Of course we were on the alert, Watching sharp with our ears and eyes, To detect any stir in the enemies' lines, And prevent a surprise. Jur Sergean ** relates this incident, Which I record as a fact, Namely, one of our men on the line Spied, as he thought, a "Greyback ;" Het instantly leveled his gun, Took deliberate aim, it is said,
When the Sergeant whispered, "hold your fire, Let's try and capture the Reb."
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So they promptly laid their plans To advance on the foe, by the flank ; The move was a grand success, But the prize was a veritable Yank, Who proved to be one of our mnen, Belonging to Company K, Who, wearing his rubber reversed, Appeared to be dressed in grey. If the comrade had hastily fired, How sad might have been the mistake ; To the Sergeant's desire to capture a Reb, The man owed his narrow escape. Please pardon me for this disgression, And return with me now to the fight, Not by our Corps on the left of the line, But by the troops on the right. Just between daylight and dark, A desultory fire began, Then suddenly ceased, and we thought (For the night) it was done. 'Twas a calm preeceding a storm, For soon there burst on the air
That Rebel yell we so often heard, Which resembled a cry of despair ;
It was Jackson, attacking our flank, Charging the "Eleventh Corps," And there followed the yell, instantaneously, A fearful erash and roar. As on they came like a tidal wave, We waited with breathless suspense, And the nearer they came the firmer we grasped Our weapons for self defence. With our muskets loaded, and bayonets fixed, We stood ready to meet the blow,
Anxiously waiting, aye, eagerly watching For signs of the advancing foe. Stonewall Jackson had laid well his plans, Successfully turning our flank, He was sweeping it back, towards the centre and left, Like a mighty avalanche. Surprised by the sudden attack, A part of the Corps gave way, And fled before the advancing foe, In utter dismay. Fortunately, it cannot be said, Of all the troops on the right, That they ingloriously fled The instant the foe came in sight ;
Nay, there were many who faeed the foe, And nobly met the assault, Troops who bravely gave blow for blow, Compelling a lialt. I have said 'twas a lovely night, But I claim that 'twas something more, A night more terrific I never experienced Either sinee or before. If I did not tremble with awe, The ground upon which I stood Shook with the thunder of battle, That reverberated through the wood. On Sunday morning at half past five, The battle was renewed, When one of the most sanguinary Struggles of the war ensued. Our lives, which had been restored By the previous midnight assault, Were now snecessfully held, Though the enemy stubbornly fought; Thus, till noon, the troops on our right W'ere desperately engaged ; Then and there one of the bloodiest Battles of the war was waged.
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From the picket-line, (at nine a. m.), Our Company was withdrawn, Then to find that our Corps, (the Fifth), Had been relieved, and gone, And the works, which they had built The day and night before, Were occupied by Howard's troops, The Eleventh Army Corps. Our Corps had gone to the right, So the boys ( with the cre-cent§) said, Doubtless, they've gone there to fight, So we thought, as we pushed ahead ; We found them in an open field, Entirely surrounded by woods, At the junetion of the Fredericksburg And Orange Court House roads. Twas a Very importaut position, As was readily to be seen By the long line of artillery, Our Brigade was sandwiched betweeni. There, during the day, we got some rest, And the night, some sleep on our arms, But were of -times awaked by the skirmishers' fire, Which proved to be false alarms. Monday night found us prepared To meet an attack of the foe, But as they deferred the expect. d attack, Our Brigade was ordered to go Across the plain to the woods beyond, To feel the enemy there, 'And thus ascertain the force in our front, By drawing their file. We received. as we entered the wo ds, A furious volley from the Rebs, Mixed with grape and canister, Most of which passed over our heads; Thus the facts, which we desired, Were quickly aseertamed, And we retired, but with a small loss, Behind our works again. With pride, I remember how, (under fire), We returned with such precision,
As to licit a rousing cheer From the rest of our Division;
For we not only found the toe in force, But provoked a desperate assault, Which, if not successful in carrying our works, Was mainly our gunners' fault; For, when they advanced to the open field, In treble columns massed, Our guns, double-shotted with grape and canister, Mowed them down like grass. "Good heavens! they lay in winrows on the field !" So one of our officers said, As, with field-glass in hand. he mounted our works, To watch the advance of the Rebs. Again and again, they made the attempt To charge across the plaiu. But as oft were with terrible slaughter repulsed By our gunners' deadly aim. Strange to say, on the following day, We. (sixty thousand, or more), There quietly lay. while the Rebs stole away To annihilate Sedgwick's Corps. When Hooker learned at Fredericksburg Sedgwick had met with defeat, He lost all faith in his boasted success, And ordered a hasty retreat. I remember that we received orders To be ready to move at dark, But 'twas three o'clock in the morning Ere we were permitted to start. As I've said before, so say I now, And history will prove the same, Whenever we had a battle storm, We were sure of a storm of rain ;
Soon after the charge above described, The rain in torrents came down, Not only drenching us through and through, But flooding the ground. In inud and water, half way to our knees, On the night of the fifth of May, Our Brigade covered the retreat, Reaching The river "t break of day. Where the "Jobnnies" gave us a parting salute, As across the bridge we tramped. Then, with a slight loss, our regiment plodded Back through the mud to our camp.
*Capt. Joseph E. Cousens. t Moses Drown. #Grafton H. Ward. §Eleventh Corps badge.
GETTYSBURG.
By Sergeant S. C. SPAULDING, Co. K, 32d Mass.
After the battle of Chancellorsville, The plan of General Lee Was to transfer his army from "Old Virginia" On to the soil of the free ; To this end he crossed the Potomac, And swept up Cumberland valley, Confiscating horses, and freely supplying The wants of his destitute army. Where then were the "Boys in Blue ?" Pressing on at the top of their speed, Not under command of Hooker, But their new commander, Mead; For Hooker had been relicved of command, At his own request, (it is said), And General Mead,* our Corps commander, Had been appointed instead. July first we arrived at Hanover, Just over the Pennsylvania line, Where we waited for orders, From four p. m. until nine ; When we marched to the music of guns, Music hath charms, (so they say). Such music had wonderful charms for us, We'd followed it day after day. I distinctly remember the flash of excitement, Our army experienced then, From the simple announcement made(though false), McClellan's in command again ; Each regiment cheered, as along the line, The word, contagion-like, run, The musicians caught it, when, though a rare thing, We stepped to the beat of the drum. It was twelve o'clock when we halted that night, Sleepy, jaded, and worn, Glad to rest for three or four hours, (We marched at four in the morn.) For days and weeks, the question had been Where and when will the battle be ? It could now be answered at Gettysburg, First of July, sixty-three. Early July second, we reached the field, And were placed in battle array, Facing the foc we had often met, And must meet again that day. There we were held in reserve, at first, In support of Sickles' corps, While our line of battle extended to the right, At least three miles or more. The First, the Second, the Third, the Fifth, The Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were there, Each in there several places assigned, For the terrible struggle prepared,
While Seminary Ridge, running parallel with ours, A mile or more away, Was occupied by the rebel army. That inorning of the second day. As all was quiet along the line, And our Corps was in reserve, We slept on our arms, basking in the sun, With nonght to disturb. Owing to our long, forced march, We needed both sleep and rest, But to many who slept, it was their last sleep, E'er their sleep in death. There (I remember) we ealınly waited, Till half the day had gone, In an almost painful, ominous silence, Which bespoke the gathering storm. At four p. m., the rattle and crash, And thunder of battle was heard, It was Longstreet, attacking the troops in our front, Sickles' Corps, the Third, Although they bravely met the assault, And, though they stubborniy tried To hold their gronnd, or check, at least, The surging tide, On, on it came, irresistible, Like a tidal wave of the sea, Till 'twas plain to be seen, to turn onr flank, Was the purpose of Lee. 'Twas then our Corps was sent to the rescue, Our Division taking the lead, Advanced o'er the ridge, and down the slope, Across the open field, Thenee into a piece of woods in our front, Where we were ordered to halt, And unsling knapsaeks, thus be prepared The better to meet the assault ; We'd scarcely time to get into line, Before the advaneing foe Met us face to face, having crushed Sickles' line with a blow. Ax ou they came, from the woods beyond, We were ordered to kneel and fire, When we poured such volleys into their ranks, As to cause them to retire,
From the open field in which they were. To the woods from whence they came, Where, from behind the trees and rocks, They renewed the fight again. Then came the order, ( already anticipated), Load and fire at will ; Meantime there were many brave men in our ranks Either wounded or killed. There we held the foe in cheek, Where the deadly struggle begun, And not until the fighting had ceased, Was our brigade withdrawn. Soon we were ordered to advance again, And quickly did we respond, Charging through another field, To the edge of the woods beyond, Where we inet the foe again, And another struggle begun, When many a gap was made in our ranks, As the men dropped one by one. In the fearful confliet in which we shared, In that hotly-contested field, Many a comrade's devotion to the flag Was with his life blood sealed ;
A field that will long be remembered, no doubt, By the men of our brigade, Since called the "Whirlpool of Gettysburg," On account of the charges there made ; Or, the struggle there might well be compared To the ebbing and flowing tide, For oft the Union and Rebel lines Swept o'er it, from side to side. When our shattered brigade retired From that terrible field of gore A counter-charge was made on the foe By the Third Division of our Corps ; As the men were all Pennsylvanians, I think there can be no doubt As to the spirit with which they charged On the foe, and put them to rout. With two hundred and twenty-seven men, Our regiment entered the fight, And our loss was found to be seventy-eight, When the fighting ceased for the night.
*5th Corps.
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