USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the Second Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry, Chancellorsville : a paper read at the officers' reunion in Boston, May 11, 1880 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Now, McGowan's brigade, with Orr's Rifles and the First Infantry forming the right, which was to strike us, an- nounced their coming in our front with their volleys and yells. As compared with Archer's attack, it seemed like the second gust of a tempest of hail when the wind has suddenly veered. The first had come from the south-west :
* A possible solution of these contradictions is that Archer claimed what he did not capture (a frequent error in battle reports), and that the entilading fire which did Captain Best so much injury was produced by the guns which the Confederate General Stuart placed at Hazel Grove as soon as Archer captured the hill. -
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this was from the north-west. It came with a rush and a shriek, as if it would beat down all before it. But it stopped short before the wall presented by the Second Massachusetts and the Third Wisconsin.
Steadily, the men of the Second stood up and delivered their fire. To the yell went back the cheer, and without in- termission the roar and blaze and smoke of our volleys flew into the darkness of the woods beyond. Straight up in line our men stood, with but little covering save that given by the depression of the ground toward us and the living oaks. Some wavering there always is on such occasions, some trepidation of individuals. The instinct of life is strong, and there is a tremor about the heart of the stoutest as his com- panions plunge forward dead with a groan, or, hit in some sensitive part, cry out irrepressibly under the shock. But, happily, the absorbing duty of loading and firing, or preserv- ing alignment and discipline, deadens personal apprehension. The blow that strikes one down is delivered from the dark without forewarning and without anticipation. And with our men there was little flinching, rather a uniform coolness, under conditions which are the severest trial of manly self- possession. Or. if there was excitement, it tended toward the spirit of daring and adventure which was ready to dash out into the midst of the elements and bring in some tro- phies from the opponents' hands. Our Color Guard was, as I suppose it ever had been from the regiment's first test in battle, a conspicuous centre of firmness and resolution. The standard-bearers dropped, but the flag floated out in the smoke ; and when, as soon happened, the Confederates found it necessary to retreat to get their shattered ranks into order, it was the color company which led the eager pursuit with which we followed the beaten Southerners.
How long we had been loading and firing, it was hard to tell ; but our ammunition was nearly gone, and many of our guns too much clogged with powder to be longer serviceable. With the discomfiture of our assailants there was a general forward movement of the brigade, and down we plunged into
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that mysterious wood, where I, at least, not dull of vision nor particularly lacking in disposition to know what was going on before me, had seen absolutely nothing but smoke and flashes of fire; and indeed my general experience of battles is like that of some other officer whose testimony was re- ported by an English letter-writer, that the only enemy he ever chanced to see in a fight was a dead one. There were dead men plentifully about us, and broken weapons and equipments; and, as we moved, there were signs of the enemy once more, and another exchange of volleys and again an advance, till we were entangled in our old abatis of Friday's construction. There we stopped in suspense, and asked for powder ; for our cartridge-boxes were empty, and part of the last shots had been supplied from the Con- federate equipments under our feet. Nobody had ammuni- tion to give us; and, as it was but a question of a few moments when the enemy would be re-enforced for another attack, we marched deliberately back, occasionally turning as we went, and as soon as our places were filled by other troops we proceeded toward the Chancellorsville House.
Now, we began to feel the effects of Archer's flanking fire. Shells and shot shrieked over our heads as we crossed a little brook at the foot of our fighting hill ; and, when we lay down for a few minutes near the mansion, the pursuing artillery dropped a solid ball into the midst of Company E, fatally wounding two of its men. And apparently, although time is both slow and swift in battle, no sooner had the Third Corps brigade, which had succeeded us, occupied our woods, than they were overwhelmed ; for the Southern yell was com- ing near, and bullets began to patter about us, and fragments of regiments in blue were hurrying out of the woods. In reality, they had a manly, stoutly contested fight over the old breastworks, from which they retreated only when far out- numbered and with ammunition expended.
And how this hot struggle of the last two hours (for so long the spectators tell us we had been at our deadly work) appeared to those with whom we had wrestled is recorded
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in the fair and frank story told by an officer of the First South Carolina Infantry in Caldwell's history of McGowan's brigade. After announcing the reception of orders to make the assault, he continues : "Soon the yell was raised and the pace accelerated,-both mistakes ; for the one discovered us to the enemy when we might have remained concealed, and the other disordered our line. However, we cleared the woods, and came upon a formidable abatis of felled trees. Beyond this, at a distance of perhaps a hundred yards, were the enemy's breastworks of logs .* We were agreeably sur- prised to see no fire open from it upon us. We passed it with a shout, ascended to the crown of the eminence, and saw the enemy. Simultaneously, a fire was opened by the two sides. We were on a pretty steep hill, their main line on the slope of the opposite hill. At the base of these hills, in a ravine, were a few men,- skirmishers, I judge, who had fallen back before us. Some persons insist that the Federal main line was in regular intrenchments ; but my recollection is that they had only some rifle-pits. We could not see much ; for the morning was foggy, and the smoke of both lines soon became so dense that I could not even distinguish the colors of the enemy. The firing waxed furious. The advance was checked, the cheering was hushed. All on both sides addressed themselves to loading and firing as rapidly as possible. The two right regiments were most hotly engaged. Indeed, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth had to fire at right oblique. The slaughter of the Rifles and the First was immense. General McGowan, just behind the colors of the First, huzzahed lustily, seeming to be at the highest enthusiasm. The Federals fired with unusual accu- racy. It was to be expected, for we stood in full relief upon the crest of the hill. The few men they had scattered along the ravine behaved with provoking composure. They delib- erately loaded their pieces behind the trees, stepped out, pickel their men, fired, and returned to the trees to re-load. In the course of time, however, they were discovered, and
* This was the old, abandoned line.
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forced to lie close. Archer's brigade, as I understand it, was to move clear on our right, and at some inclination to us, so as to strike the enemy in flank. The latter must have apprehended something of the sort, for they hugged the fortified hill with singular pertinacity. But now we were at a standstill. The enemy became emboldened, and advanced upon the unprotected right flank of our brigade. . .. At last, he swung forward so as almost to enfilade our line. The Rifles gave way. The First Regiment followed it slowly, and the movement extended gradually to the left of the brigade. But we halted at the line of works about seventy or eighty yards from the last position; and, the enemy continuing to advance, we resumed the battle. Gen- eral McGowan was wounded upon the works. Brigadier- General Colston brought in a fresh line, ... saying they would show us how to clear away a Federal line. But their reckoning was not accurate. They were forced back with us into the works. The firing continued unintermitted, deadly."
The rest of the narrative pertains to the attack made by our Third Corps' successors, who, be it said to the credit of those upon whose earlier conduct there seemed to be a shadow, fought with utmost courage and tenacity. The losses of the two regiments who were our chief assailants are given as follows: In the First South Carolina, twelve killed and eighty wounded ; in the Rifles, twenty killed and ninety-one wounded. Our own loss was twenty-one killed and not far from a hundred wounded, a record which speaks forcibly of the unerring accuracy of our opponents' fire.
Of the bravery of those with whom we had clutched in death-struggle there need be no words of praise. It was Anglo-Saxon stock against scions of the same trunk.
Our stay near head-quarters under heavy fire was short ; and in an hour after we had left the mansion it was in Con- federate hands. In a few hours, it was a pile of rubbish.
It was probably while we were in vain asking for ammuni- tion, or- soon after, that a cannon-ball striking one of the
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portico columns against which Hooker was leaning rendered him senseless, and left the army practically without a head at a most critical moment. Couch took command within an hour or two, but all plan and coherence of defence were at an end. We sauntered through the woods from our last un- tenable halting-place, knowing too well, from the increasing nearness of the musketry and the distinctness of the pecul- iar Southern shout, that the day was going against us, and presuming then, in our ignorance of the facts, that the mis- conduct of some of our troops, notably the Eleventh Corps, combined with the preponderance of the enemy, had been the chief occasions of so disastrous an outcome of so splendid a promise. But, as the reports gradually came to us of the troops upon our side who had not been engaged, and of the active fighting's being confined to the Third and Twelfth Corps who had vainly called for help, of which there was abundance, our wonder grew whether we were really beaten or only gathering for a new and more decisive stroke. That the latter was the truth was the confident expectation and desire of the larger proportion of the general officers, when the army was drawn up in compact lines around the United States Ford. Howard was anxious to retrieve his reputation ; Meade, Reynolds, and Couch had not been tried ; and Sedgwick, after what seems now to have been an excess of caution in carrying Fredericksburg Heights, was, on Mon- day forenoon, well on his way toward Chancellorsville in Lee's rear. It was exasperating for us to lie in our in- trenchments, occupied only with watching the burning of plantation buildings on our picket front, and listening to the booming of artillery out at Salem Church, while not a shot was being fired from Hooker's lines. The entire enemy before us consisted of Heth's, Rodes', and Colston's divi- sions of Jackson's corps, probably less than twenty thou- sand men. Slocum now held the extreme left of the line, resting on the Rappahannock. Across the stream was the park of wagons and ambulances, and in the mist of Monday morning . we were aroused by artillery close upon us. It
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was Major Hardaway, of Anderson's division, amusing him- self, and keeping us in expectation of something more seri- ous by shelling that wagon park. There was dire confusion among the teamsters, and some injury to the hospitals close by ; but soon the trains were whipped out of reach, and all was quiet again. Upon this demonstration, Anderson pro- ceeded to Salem Church to join the masses arrayed against Sedgwick, who, left to himself with his inferior numbers, fell back at night upon Banks Ford, where he crossed by Tuesday morning, as we were gathered for similar intent at the United States Ford. The only explanation of this strange and, under ordinary circumstances, criminal apathy of Hooker is that he was mentally disabled by the shock at the mansion house. All day, he was in a sluggish, bewil- dered state, rousing from a torpor to answer oft-repeated questions, and then lapsing into drowsiness.
Tuesday night was of a sort to make us thoroughly woe- begone. It rained heavily in the afternoon, and filled our trenches and saturated our clothes. Just after dark, we were put under arms in marching order, and thus kept till midnight, when we were ordered back into the trenches, but probably, not being amphibious, we were content to let our men stay as near them as the puddles would permit.
At half-past three in the morning, the irresolution which seemed to be debating whether the army should take the hint given by the swollen river and remain on the south bank to fight the battle out, or go back to its old camps and prepare for another campaign, settled that we should make our way home to Stafford County.
In the morning twilight, we were huddled about the United States Ford, apparently the entire army there,- a huge multitude of men, in orderly array; but anxious and dis- pirited, momentarily expecting to hear the enemy's artillery choose us for its tempting target. But no mishap came, and we were soon safe out of harm's reach, and plunging through mud and the innumerable creeks which crossed our road for twenty odd miles, until, at twilight, cross, tired, and home-
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sick, we crawled into our dismantled huts, covered ourselves with the blankets seasonably brought us by the welcome wagons, and went to sleep, reckless whether we should be prompt at reveille or not.
As we had time to think over the eventful experiences of the past fortnight, there was indeed much to sadden and still more to exasperate us, but nothing which could make us lose heart.
The desolate camp, which we had left forever as we had hoped, was soon made tenantable, if not so inviting as in its fresh days.
The many houses from which one and another brave man had gone upon his last march were presently astir with new occupants, although there were about these houses associa- tions which now and then would bring tears into eyes accus- tomed to sights of death and maiming. The thinned ranks, weakened indeed in elements which would never be restored, but yet strong in the quality which wins battles, drew closer together, and took up the routine of guard and drill as before.
The full numbers, the fine discipline, the courage and en- thusiasm for high exploit with which not we alone, but the greater part of the army, had crossed the Rappahannock, had been made to stand useless before a rare opportunity of pushing the war well toward its end, or had been wasted in disjointed assaults upon columns of the enemy which were always allowed to be numerically heavier than those which attacked; but then it had often been the fate of the noble Army of the Potomac to be sent forth on futile ventures, whose results might shake its confidence in the capacity of its leaders, but never abated its assurance that good fortune would some day settle on its banners. And this was not the first nor would it be the last time in which the Second had had a part in forlorn hopes, in which nothing was gained but honor, but from which it came out still courageous and hopeful for another trial. We had had dis- appointment, but there was no disaster. We were ready and waiting for Gettysburg.
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