USA > Massachusetts > History of the Fifth Massachusetts Battery : organized October 3, 1861, mustered out June 12, 1865, v.2 > Part 21
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There were a good many temporary changes in the Bat- tery. On the 24th Lieut. Appleton took some more men over to Captain Gentry. Orders came to get ready for a raid of cavalry.
On Christmas Day the second anniversary of the Bat- tery's taking leave of Massachusetts, Lieut. Blake got back. The men had pie and cake for breakfast and supper and roast chicken for dinner. In the evening 17 re-enlisted men went home on a 35 days furlough, among whom was Private Dyer's tent mate Edwin J. Butler. Dyer sent his revolver home by Serg't Morgridge. Dec. 26, he was de- tailed to act as corporal for 35 days, while the re-enlisted men were at home. He took the last part of the night. Orders came to be ready for inspection the next day, but on the 27th, which was Sunday, it rained hard. They went out on the ground, but came back to camp without having been inspected.
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
Dec. 28, 1863, Lieut. Scott in Newport, sent surgeon's certificate to Adjutant General and to Captain Phillips in the Field. Sutter's goods arrived.
SUBSTITUTES IN DRAFT .- MONEY PAID.
WAR DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE. WASHINGTON, December 28, 1863.
General Orders, No. 400.
Sec. 2. And be it further resolved, That the money paid by drafted persons under the "Act for enrolling and calling out the National Forces, and for other purposes," approved third March. eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, and shall be drawn out on requisition, as in the case of other public moneys; and the money so paid shall be kept in the Treasury as a special deposit, applicable only to the expenses of draft, and for the procuration of substitutes. For these purposes it is hereby appropriated.
Approved Dec. 23, 1863. By Order of the Secretary of War.
E. D. TOWNSEND Assistant Adjutant General.
Dec. 29, 1863, Lieut. Appleton left on the 8 o'clock train for Washington and Boston, on a ten days' leave.
FROM CAPTAIN PHILLIPS TO CAPTAIN NASON.
HD. ORS. BATTERY E, (FIFTH) MASS. (LT.) ART'Y, Dec. 29, 1863.
CAPT. P. F. NASON, A. A. A. G. Sir.
In compliance with circular of the 28th Hd. Quarters A. P. I have the honor to report,
No. of men who have re-enlisted in this Battery, 30.
No. having less than 15 months to serve, who have agreed to re-enlist. None.
I am very respectfully &c.
HISTORY OF THE
Dec. 30, 1863, Acting Corporal Dyer went over to Head Quarters with sick report in the morning.
December 31st, the last day of the year was very stormy, but was brightened by the sight of a fresh supply of goods to the sutler for New Years which came in on Friday, and opened very cold but pleasant. The Captain's log house had by this time a good floor of pine boards, and he had an easy chair and a camp stool. The fireplace, built of stones and mud, held quite a pile of logs, and kept the temperature as high as necessary for comfort. The men had a New Years Day dinner of stewed turkey, and Lieut. Spear dined with Captain Phillips on turkey which was roasted. The mud of the morning froze in the afternoon.
January 2, 1864. Orders to prepare for inspection. Jan'y 3d. Sunday. Battery inspection in the forenoon Dyer had company to dinner-dined on bread toast --- Andrew W. Almy and Fred D. Alden. He received an invi- tation to a roast turkey dinner for Tuesday.
Jan'y 4th, there was drill on the manual of the piece in the morning. It began to snow in the forenoon and snowed all day, but the teams kept busy drawing logs for the stable. At dark the snow was three inches deep. Jan'y 5th it had cleared off and Corporal Dyer went over to the Doctors in charge of the sick in the morning, came back and went over to Captain Martin's Hd. Ors. to the dinner with Andrew W. Almy and Fred D. Alden. The next day he had some cake for supper out of Corporal Proctor's box. On this day Lieut. Appleton left Boston for camp with Captain A. P. Martin at 8 o'clock, and was in camp at 3.30 p. m. January 7th. The air was so cold the snow did not melt in the sun. Captain Phillips had eaves put on his log house as he found the water leaked into the walls. It commenced snowing again at 5 p. m. and continued to snow through the night. Dyer was Acting Corporal of the Guard. Serg't Nye went on a furlough of 35 days.
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CAPTAIN MARTIN'S COMMAND.
DEFINED BY LIEUT. APPLETON.
"Our Brigade is commanded by Captain Martin of the Third Mass. Battery, and he has as big a staff and as re- sponsible a place as any brigadier :- It consists of the Third Mass. Lieut. Aaron F. Walcott 12 1b. Napoleons.
Fifth Mass. Battery, 3 inch Ordnance.
Battery D, 5th U. S .- Griffin's Battery, commanded by fazlett killed at Gettysburg, now by Lieut. B. F. Ritten- house, Parrotts, 3 inch.
Battery F and K, 3d U. S. four guns, 12 1b. Napoleons, commanded by Lieut. George F. Barstow.
Battery L, Ist Ohio, 12 lb. Napolcons Captain Frank C. Gibbs.
Battery C. Ist N. Y. 4 guns, 3 inch Ordnance-same as Fifth Mass .- Captain Almont Barnes."
January 9, 1864, John H. Olin wounded at Gettysburg returned to the Battery. 4
January 10th Sunday, the snow melted a very little. Battery inspection in the forenoon. Corporal Proctor en- tertained Acting Corporal Dyer on roast turkey which came in a box from home. Jan'y 1Ith Dyer made two benches for their convenience. Captain Phillips attended a council of administration in the afternoon, to choose a Brigade sutler. . Mr. Clarke. their sutler, was elected. On the 12th Captain Phillips went home on leave of absence for 10 days, with permission to apply for extension of 5 days. He left Rap- pahannock Station at II a. m. Dyer went over with the sick to the Doctors. He felt "pretty bad" himself, but was "bound not to give up."
Jan'y 13, 1864. Roll call at the usual hour. It was pro- posed to have a four gun battery drill but Licut. Blake gave it up. The next day they had a drill on the piece. On the
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HISTORY OF THE
15th Dyer reported at Captain Martin's Hd. Qrs. at 9 a. m. with 5 men, and Lieut. Appleton wrote the letter to Secre- tary Stanton on Light Artillery in the Field ( see p. 52).
Jan'y 17, 1864. Inspection by Licut. Blake, Lieut. Appleton called upon Captain Clark of the 20th Maine after inspecting the bridge. Lieut. Rogers called and narrated his adventures. Jan'y ISth the Battery had orders to dig a trench in front of their houses. It rained hard but a system of drainage was laid out. About this date in a letter home, Lieut. Appleton urged the sending of conscripts to the Massachusetts Batteries immediately. He had no doubt there were enough at Long Island in Bos- ton Harbor to fill them all. "This should be attended to," he urged, "as it is hard on the men to have to do guard duty so often."
Jan'y 19th. Colonel John B. Batchelder the Gettysburg man called, and dined with Lieuts. Blake and Appleton. Appleton's horses ran away, over to General Sykes's Head Quarters. Dyer went over to the Doctor's. The hospital had been moved. Jan'y 20th the stockading of the stable was commenced and fifty logs erected. Corporal Proctor went into the woods with part of the fatigue.
January 22, 1864, Lieut. Scott returned to camp. At this time there were a great many ladies, wives of the officers, at the headquarters. They could be seen constantly riding over the country. "Rather a rough life for them at best," was the comment. Licut. Appleton's man "Joe" built a nice little stable for his two horses. Jan'y 23d was a per- fect day, the first one for a long time. Lieut. Appleton rode over and called at the S3d Penn., also at the 3d Brigade Head Quarters, saw Colonel Joseph Hayes and Lieut. Rogers. Very muddy under foot, but the Battery all busy at work on the stable. The 244th was Sunday, and Lieuts. Blake and Appleton rode up to Beverly Ford to the 18th Mass. Regiment. In camp it was decidedly a day of rest.
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
Fred. D. Alden dined with Corporal Dyer. The 44th Regt. N. Y. V. left for Alexandria at night. Jan'y 25th was very warm, and the mud was beginning to settle. Quite a num- ber of boards were left by the 44th of which they made good use in the Battery quarters.
Jan'y 26, 1864, George B. Trumbull and George H. John- son returned to the Battery. The next day Captain Phillips returned to camp in the afternoon and Colonel John B. Batchelder who was getting up a plan of Gettysburg, called and stopped all night.
January 28, 1864, the first veterans returned from 35 days' furlough, 12 re-enlisted men, Corporal Welch among them. 20th the second lot of 35 days' furlough men came back. 30th three more came back from furlough. Several more re-enlisted. Orders came to clean carriages and pieces for inspection next day. Jan'y 31st, inspection in camp at 9 a. m. by Captain Phillips. Lieut. Blake started on a 15 days' leave.
Feb. 1, 1864. Two more men re-enlisted. Feb. 2d. Lieut. Appleton came of age. In the evening there was a tempest, rain, thunder and lightning. On the 3d the men went into the woods cutting corduroy for stabling for the horses. Colonel Theodore Lyman called to see Lieut. Appleton.
Feb. 4, 1864. six recruits for the Battery arrived. The 5th was pleasant and the Battery was inspected by Captain Martin at 2 p. m. The Battery, and the officers' and men's quarters were inspected.
February 6, 1864, heard heavy firing all day up to the front, in the direction of the Rapidan, and pontoons went out to the front in the morning, which looked as if they were making reconnoissances. At night furloughs were approved for II more veterans. Firing of musketry audible just at dusk. The roads were in good condition, and weather fine for small military operations.
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HISTORY OF THE
Feb. 7, 1864. Sunday. Lieut. Appleton rode over to the 83d Pennsylvania, and called upon the ladies. Heard that the firing the day before was a reconnoissance over the Rapi- dan. Fred. D. Alden, Andrew Almy and James Allen, were visitors at the camp. Eleven more re-enlisted men went on 35 days' furlough. Feb. Sth Captain Phillips attended a council of administration to fix sutlers' prices. The band of the 18th Mass. Regiment came down. Serenade in the evening.
Feb. 9, 1864, began drills of raw recruits on the piece. The ladies of the 83d Pennsylvania called. On the 10th the Captain wrote of the stable :- "The great subject of interest in camp is our stable, which has been building for about four weeks, and is not yet finished. It is made of a stock- ade and floor of split logs, large enough to accommodate 120 horses, and the logs have to be hauled about two miles. I have borrowed two wagons from Brigade Head Qrs., and now have 5 six-mule wagons hauling logs and gravel,-to cover up the mud,-all the time."
Some of the men played euchre in the evening of the 10th with acquisitions from the 20th Maine. The next day Captain Phillips attended another council at Brigade Head Quarters, and six more recruits arrived. Appleton wrote in his Diary : "Dined at 5. with Colonel Joseph Hayes, General and Mrs. Sykes, Messrs. Hayes and others, at 3d Brigade Head Quarters, Ist Division, Fifth Corps. Quite a little party. Mrs. Sykes pretty, and a genuine example of the military lady of the U. S."
By General Orders No. 53, War Department Feb. II, 1864, Private W. H. Chamberlain was transferred to the Invalid Corps, to take effect Feb. 15, 1864.
Feb. 12th a party from Brigade Head Quarters called. Men busy drawing sand for the streets and park. Dyer discouraged about his leg. On the 13th still busy drawing sand. and Fred. D. Alden supped with Dyer. Lieut. Apple-
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
ton rode over to Brandy Station and Army Head Quarters, with a party of gentlemen from Brigade Head Quarters, to show them the country. A pretty long ride, but a perfect spring day.
LETTER OF SERG'T. WM. H. PEACOCK. "RAPP'K STATION, VA. Feb. 13, 1864.
Thinking you would like to see a picture of the Hill and River at this point, I enclose one taken from Harpers. [This was in Harper's Weekly, of November 28, 1863 .- 'The Anny of the Potomac. Capture by Sedgwick's Corps of the Rebel Works on the Rappahannock near the Rail- way Bridge. Sketched by A. R. Waud.' As cut from the paper the sketch has been well preserved, and is now in possession of Sergt. Peacock in Chicago, Oct. 10, 1902.] I consider this a very correct cut. I had a good view of our infantry as they charged the rifle pit, and this looks very much like it. Our Battery was shelling them out of the large Fort on the hill, also the pontoon bridge over the River. Our position was 1000 yards in rear of the large work, on a flat. The infantry charged under cover of fire of Battery D. 5th U. S., and our Battery. It was lively work. Our Battery now occupies the large Fort command- ing the new R. R. bridge, since built."
Feb. 14, 1864. St. Valentine's Day. Inspection of the Battery at 9 a. in. by Captain Phillips. On the 15th, the men went into the woods cutting stockade for stabling. 16th, Dyer felt pretty sick, but thought he could work it off, and went into the woods cutting wood all day. At night he felt worse instead of better. 17th the mercury was at zero. Dyer went to the Doctor's for medicine. 18th the Doctor ordered him to the hospital. 19th E. J. Butler and William Caswell called to see Corporal Proctor and Dyer
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HISTORY OF THE
at the hospital. Lieut. Appleton started on a ten days'
"leave." 2Ist. Battery inspection in the forenoon. Ed- ward Smith and William Gunning went over to the hospital to see Dyer, and Robert King came back with them to get sonie things for him.
Feb. 22, 1864, there was a Brigade drill of the batteries viz., Barnes', Barstow's, Walcott's and Phillips', four guns each. Of this Captain Phillips wrote home :---
"RAPPAHANNOCK STATION, Feb. 23, 1864.
I am sitting at my desk with my door wide open, and the men are playing ball out of doors. Yesterday we had a drill of four batteries, which lasted four hours, and was very fatiguing. I returned so hoarse that I could hardly speak, as it is rather difficult to give orders audibly when four bat- teries are rumbling over the ground. .. . Everything is very quiet here, and although the roads are now in very good condition, quite dusty, in fact, I imagine General Meade has seen too much of a Virginia winter, to be seduced into leav- ing comfortable quarters by such temporary inducements."
The 23d was pleasant. Oiled harness in the Right sec- tion. 24th, Oiled the harness of the Centre section and painted the Right section. Corporal Proctor and Private Dyer rode over from the hospital on an errand for the Doc- tor, and found the men busy painting carriages and oiling harness. The 25th was pleasant and the painting was con- tinued.
Feb. 26, 1864, the Battery was inspected by Captain Martin. Captain Phillips afterwards dined with Captain Martin. The Battery received & recruits transferred from the Third Mass. Battery.
Feb. 27th. Captain Phillips and Captain Nason, his father, and Lieut. Walcott rode to Culpeper Court House.
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
The Sixth Corps and some other troops moved towards the Rapidan. The Battery received orders at night to be ready to march carly in the morning. The men finished a new iness house.
February 29, 1864. Lieut. Appleton returned to camp. The Army is all under marching orders.
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CHAPTER XX. THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS.
MAY 5 TO 8, 1864.
"Headlong motions may be made, but let such be repressed ; inertia alone is at once unpunishable and unconquerable. . . Pause with Twenty-five millions behind you may become resist- ance enough."
-- THOMAS CARLYLE.
In the period of two months immediately preceding the movement of the Army of the Potomac from the Rapidan to the James. the spring of 1864, very important changes were made. The organization of the Army itself was recon- structed, and another commander was appointed, fresh from western triumphs like Mcclellan in '61, but with successes more phenomenal, laurels brighter and more abundant, and more than all anxious millions of American people, gradu- ates of a three years course in the study of the art of inter- necine war, behind him, who through their representatives in Congress had restored the grade of lieutenant general for the special purpose of placing Major General Ulysses S. Grant at the head of all the armies, with headquarters in Virginia.
But this time there was to be no farewell address from a retiring commander of the Army of the Potomac. General George G. Meade was still to retain the honor of the com- mand, and General Grant says in his Memoirs,-"I tried to make General Meade's position as nearly as possible what it would have been if I had been in Washington, or any other place away from his command."
Grant acknowledges that Meade's position proved embar-
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
rassing to him if not to Meade, and in this instance the de- feat of his purposes proved a triumph to American arms, inasmuch as the Army itself felt at once, and from the first promulgation of his promotion to power, the direct mag- netic influence of his genius. which left no room for doubt that his position could never be in Washington, nor in any place whatsoever outside the needs and requirements of that Army whose enthusiasm had been repressed and its ambi- tion checked for so long: every battle, whether lost or won. bringing with it its own peculiar concomitant of regret. Reaching out beyond all capabilities known and tried, they fastened upon Grant as the one man in the confidence of the nation, who could be relied upon not only to save them from defeat but to encourage them to follow up their victories.
Having been previously nominated to the grade of lieu- tenant general, on the 2d of March, Maj. Gen'l U. S. Grant was confirmed in that rank by the United States Senate, and on March 10th. 1864, he was assigned by Special Order of President Lincoln to the command of all the armies of the United States, Head Quarters to be with the Army of the Potomac. These were first established at Culpeper Court House, while General Meade's were at Brandy Station.
General Meade began the changes in the organization of the Army. The First Corps. having been condensed into two Divisions, became the 2d and 4th Divisions of the Fifth Corps, and so went out of existence. General G. K. Warren was placed in command of the Fifth Corps. The Third Corps was abolished. When the five corps were consoli- dated into three, the Reserve Division of Artillery was broken up, and the batteries were placed in the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps. General Henry J. Hunt still held the position of Chief of Artillery of the Army. Major Gen- eral Winfield S. Hancock was given the command of the Second Corps, and Major General John Sedgwick that of the Sixth Corps. To the Ninth Corps, commanded by
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HISTORY OF THE
Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, were assigned the regiments of U. S. Infantry ordered from New York Har- bor, the 4th and Joth Regiments.
The Artillery Brigade, composed of 9 batteries, com -. manded by Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, and attached to the Fifth Corps, comprised the following :---
Third Mass. Battery, Capt. A. P. Martin.
Fifth Mass. Battery. Capt. C. A. Phillips.
Battery D. 1st N. Y. Light, Capt. Geo. B. Winslow. Batteries E and L, Ist N. Y. Light, Lieut. Geo. Breck. Battery H. Ist N. Y. Light. Capt. Charles E. Mink. Battery B. Ist Penn. Light, Capt. James H. Cooper. Battery B, 4th Regulars Light, Capt. James Stewart. Battery D, 5th. Regulars Light, Lieut. B. F. Rittenhouse.
These batteries were all from the old First and from the Fifth Corps. To them were added the 2d Battalion 4th N. Y. Heavy, commanded by Major Wm. Arthur.
The armament of the 8 light batteries was as follows :- Stewart's, Mink's, Winslow's, and Martin's, each six 12 pdr. Napoleons.
Breck's, Cooper's, and Phillips' each six three-inch Rod- man rifles. Rittenhouse's six 10 pdr. Parrott rifles.
In this Brigade the proportions of rifle batteries and Napoleon or 12 pdr. smooth bores were exactly cqual.
The number of 12 pdr. smooth bores had been increased, the conditions not being favorable to long range artillery.
In these eight batteries there were 48 guns, 1, 196 men, and 4 companies of the 4th N. Y. Heavy Artillery.
There were present for duty in the Army of the Potomac 103.785 officers and enlisted men, with 274 pieces of artillery.
General Benjamin F. Butler, with 20,000 men, was to co-operate from the south side of the James River, moving from Fortress Monroe the same day that General Meade moved from Culpeper.
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
The Army, which then occupied a position on the north bank of the Rapidan, was put in motion May 4, 1864, with the object of turning Lee's Right flank, the Fifth Corps taking the advance, followed by the Sixth Corps.
The enemy, well protected by earthworks, occupied the south bank of the Rapidan, their Left flank covered by the Rapidan and the mountains near Orange Court House, their Right flank guarded by a line of fortifications, extend- ing from Mine Run to Morton's Ford.
The Fifth and Sixth Corps were ordered to cross at Germanna Ford, and proceed to the Old Wilderness Tavern on the Orange and Fredericksburg turnpike.
The Second Corps, followed by the Artillery Reserve. were to cross at Ely's Ford and take position at Chancellors- ville. In advance of each column were the cavalry, and cavalry guarded the supply trains, which were to assemble at Richardsville.
General Burnside, in command of the Ninth Corps, was stationed at the crossing of the Rappahannock River on the Orange and Alexandria railroad to guard that road as far north as Bull Run, until he was notified that the crossing of the Rapidan had been accomplished. then he was to move forward promptly, and a Division of the Sixth Corps was to cover the bridge at Germanna Ford until his arrival.
The Fifth Corps, marching in silence, at midnight of May 3d, 1864, moved from the vicinity of Culpeper. Tak- ing the most direct road to the Old Wilderness Tavern, they crossed the Rapidan at Germanna Ford and bivouacked at the junction of the Germanna Ford road with the turnpike. a distance of 20 miles, their line stretching from the turn- pike to the Lacey house, and taking in the old tavern. After crossing the Ford the several batteries were assigned to march with the Divisions, for their better protection, it was said, through the Wilderness. The Third and Fifth Mass.
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HISTORY OF THE
Batteries and Battery D, Ist N. Y., marehed with General Charles Griffin's ( First) Division, Fifth Corps.
Across their line of march led two roads, the Orange turnpike and the Orange and Fredericksburg Plank Road. The enemy had the same designs on our Right flank that we had on theirs, and knowing all about what we were doing, started on the afternoon of May 4th to carry out their plans.
The Army of the Potomac halted and waited in the Wil- derness, where the conditions were much more favorable to the enemy than to them, from 2 o'clock p. m. May 4th until 5 o'clock a. m. of May 5th. It was thought best to halt the Fifth Corps at this place, in order to make the passage of the trains secure, and to rest the troops that they might be fresh to meet the enemy the next day.
The rebel general Lee sent Ewell's Corps by the Orange turnpike, and A. P. Hill by the Orange and Fredericksburg Plank Road. Hill was to be reinforeed by Longstreet's Corps on the Plank Road.
At 5 p. in. of May 4th the last of the supply trains having crossed the Rapidan at Culpeper Ford, with their guard and the Reserve Artillery, the Fifth Corps moved by a farm road to Parker's Store, their right extending to the Old Wilderness Tavern, four miles south of the river, meeting the Divisions of the Sixth Corps not left at Germanna Ford. and having on its left the Second Corps at Shady Grove church. The Army had marehed 20 miles and erossed the river on five bridges of its own building.
On reaching the Plank Road the Fifth Corps met the column of the confederate general Hill advancing from the direction of Parker's Store. The Fifth Corps formed line of battle at the right and left of the turnpike, which was for several miles a perfectly straight road and any movement eould be discerned for the distance of two miles.
General Meade moved his Head Quarters to Old Wilder-
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FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
ness Tavern and General Grant moved his Head Quarters alongside General Meade's.
General Griffin in command of the ist Division. Fifth Corps, moved up the road towards the west, on both sides of the pike. General Samuel W. Crawford with the 3d Division, and General James S. Wadsworth with the 4th Division, moved on a road which led southwest diagonally from the Lacey house to the Plank Road, so that the farther they proceeded the greater distance there was between Griffin's left and Wadsworth's right.
As Griffin moved forward, he came to a valley free from timber, but impeded by underbrush, several acres in extent. Across this valley on the crest of a ridge and in the edge of the woods, the enemy was posted, and opened fire on our advancing troops the moment they reached the cleared space. Here was where the 140th New York was cut up, crossing the valley and attempting a charge on the opposite side, and the 146th New York, both of General Romeyn B. Ayres' Brigade of the ist Division, Fifth Corps. in assisting them.
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