USA > Massachusetts > Clippings pertaining to the history and reminiscences of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry > Part 4
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The 27th we marched to Frederick City where we arrived about 4 P. M. We forded the Monocacy River about noon, and made a hard days march (twenty-five miles.) We halted there till the morning of the 29th, when we marched through the town of Liberty to Johnsonsville, where we arrived in the evening, marching twenty-five miles. The 30th we marched twenty-eight miles in fifteen hours, reaching Myersville at dark.
Gettysburg.
July 1st we marched to Hanover, Pa., where we arrived about. 2 P. M. After passing the town we halted in a ten acre lot enclosed with a splendid rail fence, six rails high. There for the first time in our army experience we received rations of rails. The two top rails only were to be taken, and two allowed for each company. This new order of things will be explained when I say we had returned from the land of Dixie to a State loyal to us and " our country." We remained there till nearly dark, when we resumed our march northward, halting about midnight in the woods, by the road- side, where we lay down to rest our weary limbs. At 4 A. M., after a hasty breakfast, we marched again, reaching the vicinity of Gettysburg at 8 A. M. Halting about two iniles east of the town we formed in line of battle, our corps being held in reserve until the arrival of the Sixth Corps, to which had been assigned that place. Immediately on their arrival, we were relieved at the rear and ordered to the front. Our brigade ad- vanced to the ridge at the right of Little Round Top, where we halted in line of bat- tle. From that elevated position we had a splendid bird's-eye view of the rebel army then massed on Seminary Ridge. Our halt there was short. As the battle waxed hot in our front, we were pushed forward to support our troops engaged. We advanced into, and nearly through a belt of woods, halting within supporting distance of our single line of batile, which extended along the edge of the open field in which the bat- tle raged. Our line of battle was formed in the woods, with the ground descending to the opening in our front. The enemy occu- pied the woods on the opposite side of the field, and within easy musket range, and were pouring a murderous fire into our troops ahead of us, who from their exposed position, were being terribly cut up. It was evident that they could not long with- stand the shock and must fall back,-there- fore we were ordered to unsling our knap- sacks and prepare for the worst. Scarcely had we resumed our places in line, when the remnant of our line engaged, fell back through our ranks to the rear.
Having now been brought face to face with the enemy, we were ord'ed to kneel and fire that we might be less exposed. We were ordered to load and fire at will, and as rapidly as possible, and (if I may judge by the storm of bullets that poured into our ranks) I should say the enemy were faith- fully executing the same order.
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I cannot better portray our situation, and the danger to which we were exposed, than by giving a statement of my own experi- ence during the few moments we held that position. I was in the front rank, on the right of our company. No sooner had we got into line and commenced firing, than two comrades next on my right were hit, - one in the body who was mortally wounded, the other in the head and instantly killed. The first comrade on my left was wounded in the foot, and went to the rear, as did our 1st Sergeant, with a wound in his side, who was hit directly behind me, (while standing I presume.) A little bush at my right, and within my reach, was repeatedly hit with bullets which clipped its leaves and twigs. Twice was I forcibly reminded that some- body was making good line shots, by bullets which struck directly in front of me, and near enough to throw the dirt and leaves into my face. Notwithstanding the excite- ment of the conflict, the uninistakable evi- dences of the danger to which I was ex- posed made me tremble, for I expected every instant to be hit, and doubtless should, had we remained there a little longer. But just then we were ordered to change our posi- tion, and as we withdrew I felt that I had a new lease of life.
I think we could have held our ground against the enemy in our front, but the re- moval of troops on our right, left our flank exposed to the enemy in that direction, who instantly took advantage of our situation and compelled us to fall back, which we did in good order, bringing our dead and wound- ed with us. We marched by the flank to the left a little way, then forward through the woods to an opening, where three regi- ments of our brigade, viz. : 4th Michigan, 62d Pennsylvania, and ours, (the 9th Mass. being on picket) charged across the field to the woods on the opposite side, where we halted behind a stone wall, adjusted our line and commenced firing at the enemy who occupied the woods in our front in" large numbers. We had fired but a few rounds when we discovered that we were under fire from flank as well as front. Our right having again been left exposed by a break in our line, the enemy had turned our flank, and our brigade was in danger of being annihilated or captured. The com- mand was given to fall back, and notwith- standing the terrible fire we were subjected to, our line was not broken, except as our ranks were thinned by the bullets of the enemy, until we reached the middle of the field, when the enemy swarmed upon our flank and rear, and the sharpest contest we
had ever experienced, ensued. Our ranks which had already been fearfully decimated, now became broken by the shock of the enemy upon our flank, and the hand-to- hand encounter of not a few of our num- ber with the enemy who had gained our rear.
On that field there were many acts of heroism worthy to be recorded, one only of which I will mention here, viz. : Lt. Col. Jeffers, in command of the 4th Michigan, seeing the colors of his regiment fall into the enemy's hands, made a brave, yet des- perate attempt to recover them, and while in the act of wresting the flag froin the hands of its captors, was thrust through with a bayonet and carried dead from the field. Not only the colors of the 4th Michi- gan, but those of the 62d Pennsylvania, fell into the enemy's hands,-ours being the only ones brought from the field.
The enemy flushed with victory were not satisfied with their success in the field, but pressed us to the woods, picking off our men at every step, until they met the 3d division of our Corps, (Pennsylvania Re- serves,) who if not fighting on their own farms, (as doubtless some of them were) fought desperately for their homes and fire- sides, charging furiously upon the enemy, and turning again the tide of battle, drove : them as they had driven us, across the open field.
While retreating through the woods, and just before we met our support, a comrade running by my side fell prostrate on the ground, pierced by a minnie ball which en _ tered the back of his head, making a noise as it entered like the report of a pop-gun, and so loud that I heard it distinctly above the din of battle. I saw that he was not killed (for he made an effort to get upon bis feet again) so I stopped and helped him up and to the shelter of a large rock near by, for the bullets were flying thick and fast just then and there, several striking the rock as we went behind it. There I laid him down, removed his knapsack, and bathed . his head where the ball entered, when I left him to be cared for by the Ambulance Corps, whose duty it was to look after the wounded, while I sought my regiment which had fallen back, and whose colors I soon discovered behind a stone wall, around which the regiment was rallying for defense against the enemy, whose advance however, had not only been checked before it reached that point, but whose temporary success had been turned to defeat. As it was near- ly night the fighting soon ceased on that part of the field, and we fell back to the rear, taking our position behind a stone wall, near the base of Little Round Top,
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where our regiment lay till the 5th, when the fighting around Gettysburg liad ceased.
When our shattered regiment had re- formed, many were the faces that we missed from their places in the ranks, as you see by the following, copied from the Adjutant. General's Report for 1863, viz. : Out of a total of 229 taken into the fight, 81 were lost in killed, wounded and missing. Our company (K) lost a larger proportion, viz. : 16 out of 32, were killed, wounded or taken prisoners. Among the prisoners was my tent-mate, George H. Nichols, who died a prisoner on Belle Isle. Three of our com- pany were killed in the charge, namely: Frederick A. Cutter, Leopold H. Hawkes and Thomas L. Jackson, and two were mor- tally wounded, namely: Charles Ward, Sergeant Major, who died July 9th, 1863. and William L. Gilman, Corporal, who died July 30th, 1863.
During the forenoon of the 3d it was com- paratively quiet, but about 1 o'clock the great artillery duel between the Union and Rebel armies began, and for two hours the heavens and earth, woods, hill and dales. resounded, yea trembled with the thunder of more than two hundred guns. Then came the terrible charge of Longstreet's Corps, with a crash of musketry scarcely less terrific todlisten to: Although we were not in a position to witness the charge or the cannonade, we were frequently remind- ed that there was something besides thun- der in the air, for now and then a solid shot or bursting shell (fired at random) fell in the field before us, or went whizzing and screaming over our heads. I remember a solid shot carne unpleasantly near us. Sev- eral of our company were sitting close be- hind the wall, while our Major was sitting a little way back, near a rock,and on higher ground. The shot (which I should say was a 12 pound one) just cleared the wall and the Major's head,-removing his hat for him, and striking the rock glanced off some 30 feet to the ground, where one of our company picked it up.
The 4th of July was a sad day instead of a holiday to me, for I was sent with three comrades of my company to search out and bury our dead, which we found and buried where they fell. They had lain so long it was with difficulty we could recognize them among the many that lay scattered over that field, known as as the Wheat Field, which Col. Batchelder in his accurate and vivid description of the battle, as rep- resented by his celebrated painting, desig- nates as the Whirlpool of the battle of Get- tysbnrg.
At 4 P. M., July 5th, we left Gettysburg in pursuit of the defeated rebel army which had retreated during the night of the 4th, followed closely by our 6th Corps. We marched to Emmetsburg that night, where we encamped till the morning of the 7th, when we resumed our march, halting for the night at Adamsville after a march of twenty miles. On the 8th we crossed South Mountain to Middletown,-distance ten iniles. Although our march of thirty miles on the 7th and 8th was made through mud such as only soldiers know how to appreci- ate, and in a drenching rain, we were never in better spirits, for our victory at Gettys- burg and the good news from Vicksburg had not only inspired us with hope, but had given us new strength to enable us to endure our hardships and discomforts. On the 9th we marched to Mount Carmel Church,-six iniles The 10th we advanced to Williamsport, where a large part of the rebel army re-crossed the Potomac, and where they were seriously checked in their flight for the want of bridges on which to cross the river, which in consequence of the heavy rains had become so swollen as not only to be impassable at the fords with- out a bridge, but the high water had de- stroyed the only bridge they had on which to cross, thus detaining them.
Immediately on eur reaching Williams- port we formed in line of battle. On the 11th and 12th we moved cautiously forward, pressing the enemy towards the river till we came near their entrenchments, when we halted and began to build breastworks ourselves, instead of driving the enemy to the wall or into the river, as doubtless we might have done. The 13th we spent in fortifying our position, while the enemy spent the day in making good their escape across the river, consequently when we ad- vanced late in the afternoon, it was to find that the rebs had played it on us, having shown us a bold front, while their main force had placed the river between them- selves and us.
During the next ten days our corps fol- lowed the retreating army. We made a flank movement by way of Berlin, where we crossed the Potomac the 17th, then down the valley to Manassas Gap, where we ar- rived about noon the 23d, and forming in line of battle immediately advanced to the support of the 3d Corps then engaged with the enemy who occupied the Gap and its approaches. We had a good view of the fight there,but were not under fire, as the enemy were driven steadily back by the 3d Corps, until at dark they retired into the
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gap when the fighting ceased for the night, and we slept on our arms. The next inorn- ing our division being ordered to reconnoitre the enemy's position on the right of the Gap, advanced in line of battle up the steep mountain side which was covered with woods, and next to impassable with no more serious obstacles to overcome than the rocks, trees and thick underbrush, and for- tunate it was for us that we did not meet the enemy there, for had they at that time occupied that position I think it would have been impossible for us to have reached the sunnit of the mountain, which was gained by our regiment only, after a desperate scramble.
Having ascertained that the enemy had withdrawn from the position, we returned to the valley where we rejoined our corps. On the following day we marched towards Warrenton where we arrived the 26th, hav- ing marched thirty-five miles in the two days.
On the Sth of August we left Warrenton and marched to Beverly Ford, where we en- camped for about five weeks. There we made the cosiest camp I ever saw. I find in one of my army letters a description of it (which I copy) :
"Our camp is in a forest of young pines planted since our arrival. It looks beauti- fully, especially in the evening. I went out a little way from our camp last evening to take a bird's eye view of it. How cosy it looked with the lights from our tallow can- dles glimmering through the trees from nearly every tent, which seemed almost buried in the green foliage that surround- ed it. Our camp is laid out in streets,-one for each company. At the head of each street is the Captain's tent, which is sur- rounded by an artificial evergreen hedge with an arched entrance, with some device in evergreen wrought into or suspended from the arch,-as for instance Company i K has a Maltese Cross (our corps badge. ) Company I, of Charlestown, has the Bunker Hill Monument. Company D, of Glouces- ter, (fishermen) has an anchor, &c., &c. But our tented cities be they ever so com- fortable and attractive are short lived. We build them up to-day and pull them down to-morrow. We may be quietly enjoying our quarters to-day, and to-morrow be twen- ty-five miles away. Such is a soldier's life."
While we were encamped at Beverly Ford five deserters from our corps were tried, convicted and sentenced to be shot, and the sentence was executed near our camp in the presence of the corps which was drawn up en-masse, (on the hillside) facing the place
of execution. No more solemn scene did 1 witness in the army than the march of those five men from the barn in which they were confined to their graves already dug. They were dressed alike, viz. : White shirts, pants, shoes and stockings and caps. The procession was as follows: The band, play- ing the death march, then four soldiers bear- ing an empty coffin, which was followed by the prisoner (who was soon to occupy it) guarded by four soldiers, the two in front with reversed arms, and the two in the rear with trailed arms. Then another coffin and prisoner, borne and guarded as described above, and so the five doomed men marched across the field to their graves, where each seated upon his coffin was to pay the penal- ty of desertion by death. Although at first they marched with firm and steady step, they staggered ere they reached the spot where they were to face death at the hands of eighty men selected from the Provost Guard, who were then in line, ready to fire the fatal volley that should send their bodies into the open coffins, (on the foot of which they sat) and their souls into eternity .- When all was ready (the men having been placed in position and blindfolded) the offi- cer in command of the guard, without a word, but by the motion of his sword indi- cated the ready-aim-fire, and instantly every gun (forty loaded with blank and for ty with ball cartridge) was discharged and all was over. Silently we viewed the solemn spectacle, and as silently returned to our camp, wondering if the terrible penalty thus paid in the presence of ten thousand men, would deter any of our number who might be disposed to violate the rules of war by desertion and bounty jumping, from doing so, lest they also might meet the same fate.
On the 15th of September we crossed the Rappahannock and marched to Culpepper, where our cavalry encountered the rebel cavalry which had fallen back with but slight resistance to our advance. There they made a stand, but were forced to retire when our batteries opened on the town from the hill where we approached it, making it too hot for the inhabitants as well as the troops,-the former retiring to their cellars, and the latter to a piece of pine woods two miles beyond, where they made another stand. There a lively skirmish took place, but the enemy were again driven from their position and we encamped on the ground where the fight occurred. The pine woods near our camp showed conclusive evidence of the destructive fire of our artillery,- many trees from six to ten inches through having been cut down by shot and shell.
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We encamped there nearly a month, per- forming the various duties incident to army life. The first thing we did was to build comfortable quarters. We then went on picket and remained three days. A fugitive from our regiment (a French Canadian, who deserted on our march to Gettysburg) was arrested at the recruiting camp on the island (where he had enlisted for a bounty) and returned to us under guard. He was conrt martialed and sentenced to be branded with the letter D, have one half of his head shaved, and drummed ont of camp. The branding and shaving was done in a hol- low square formed by our brigade. We then formed in line with open ranks, (the front rank faced to the rear) when the prisoner was marched under guard between our ranks, precededby the band playing the Rogues March, -thus dishonesty dis- charged from the service and sent north through our lines. While we were there another deserter from our division was sen. tenced to be shot,and the sentence was exe- cuted near our camp in the presence of the division. Our regiment while in position to witness the execution, received orders to go on picket, and marched immediately from the field ere the fatal volley was fired.
During our encampment there our regi- ment was re-enforced by 184 drafted men. They were distributed among the several companies and made good soldiers.
On the 10th of October, just after mid- night, we were aroused and ordered to break camp. We immediately set to work to pull down and pack up. Before daylight we were marching towards the Rapidan, where we arrived about 10 A. M. It was evident to us that the movement was not intended to be a secret one, for we were ordered to build large fires which we kept burning through the day. Just before sundown we fell into line and retraced our steps to the camp we evacuated in the morning. Arriving at dark we spread our shelters on the old walls which we left standing and turned in for the night as we supposed .- Soon after we were ordered to be ready to march again in two hours. As we had everything packed except our shelters, and had turned in with our clothes on, we could march at a moment's notice. Therefore we determined to improve the two hours in sleep, having often by sad experience learned its value. Fortunately however, we did not march till morning, which gave us eight hours sleep instead of two. Early the next morning (Sunday) we turned our backs upon our camp again and marched north
towards Culpepper. On reaching the town our column left the dusty road and filed on to the sidewalk. It seemed almost as if the cruel war was over and we were tramping home, so quiet was the place. But ere we had reached the centre of the town we were surprised by receiving a volley from the window just above our heads. As it was a volley of words instead of bullets, none of us were seriously wounded, although that kind of ammunition sometimes wounds. The attack was made not by Stonewall Jackson, (for he was dead) but by an enthusiastic female admirer, who, thrusting her head out of the window, spit upon us, exclaiming at the same time-" I wishi Stonewall Jackson was alive, he'd drive you Yank's from here very quick."
We were harrassed by a more dangerous foe ere we had proceeded many miles .- The enemy ever on the alert, were quick to discover our movements, and had followed close upon our rear and threatened an at- tack upon our column when we were com- pelled to act on the defensive. Securing an advantageous position we formed in line of battle aud waited an attack. As the ene- my were not disposed to accept the chal- lenge we resumed our march towards the Rappahannock, which we reached and crossed on a pontoon bridge about dark. After crossing the river we halted for the night. The next morning we faced the enemy again. Re-crossing the river our corps with the 2d advanced in line of battle. We soon encountered the enemy's picket line which we drove back a considerable distance and until we approached near their main force, when a sharp skirmish took place. I suppose the movement was made to discover the enemy's strength and position, and hold in check as large a force of their army (then advancing on Washing- ton) as possible without forcing a battle.
Having advanced as near as we could to their position without bringing on a general engagement, we halted and lay down in line of battle, where we remained through the day and till after midnight, when we quietly withdrew and marched rapidly back to the Rappahannock, which we crossed about daylight and halted for breakfast. After a hasty meal of hard-tack and coffee, we resumed our march, reaching Catlett's Station (distance twenty-five miles) just about dark.
As the two great armies of Virginia were moving northward in parallel lines, and near enough together for each to know the position of the other by the cloud of dust raised by the tramp of men and horses, it is not strange that collisions were frequent.
On the 14th of October, at S A. M., we left Catlett's Station and marched north, reaching Bristow Station about noon. Just after crossing a small stream called Kettle Run we halted for dinner. We built small brush fires on which to fry our pork and boil our coffee, and were just in the midst of cooking our dinner, when bang, bang, bang, went the guns of a rebel battery, and crash, whizz came the shells flying into our column. In an instant the order " for- ward " was given. Away went the pork and coffee, and away we went double quick towards Manassas Junction, where our corps arrived in time to prevent the enemy from getting possession of that strong posi- tion. Meantime the 2d Corps which was ust behind us at Bristow Station was vigor- ously attacked by the enemy, but heroically met their assaults upon their line of battle which was formed along the railroad and gave them a strong position for defence. As the battle continued we were ordered about 4 P. M. to reinforce our troops en- gaged, and marched to their relief at double quick. We arrived on the field just at dark, but too late to share in the fight, or the honors of the victory they gained on the instant of our arrival, capturing several hundred prisoners and a number of pieces of artillery.
The battle fought and won, left nothing for us to do but to retrace our steps, which we did inimediately, returning through Manassas to Bull Run, which we forded after midnight, halting near by till morn- ing, having marched twenty-five or thirty iniles. To say that we were wet, cold, tired and hungry, will give one (not accustomed to such a tramp) but a faint idea of our condition that night. The next day (Thurs- day) we marched to Fairfax where we re- mained till Friday evening, when we re- turned to Centreville, (eight miles) arriving at 11 P. M., making the march in a drench- ing thunder storm, and fording three streams which were more than knee deep. On going into camp we built fires, cooked our coffee, which we drank hot, then rolled our- selves in our blankets for a few hours sleep.
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