USA > Massachusetts > History of the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Mass., Volunteers, in the civil war of 1861-1865, with a comprehensive sketch of the doings of Massachusetts as a state, and of the principal campaigns of the war > Part 12
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THE ARMY UNDER HOOKER.
the village of Fairfax Court House with a small force, captured several prisoners, among them Colonel Stoughton, the com- mander of the Vermont nine-months' brigade which was doing duty in that vicinity, and escaped without loss, the affair occur- ring at the dead of night and Colonel Stoughton being taken from his bed. At Kelly's Ford on the 17th occurred the first purely cavalry fight in the history of the Army of the Potomar, a force under General Averell encountering the brigade of Fitz HIugh Lee, with whom a sharp but not decisive engagement occurred.
Meantime the events transpiring in and about Camp Edwards convinced its occupants that they must soon expect again to meet the enemy. The early part of March, following the occu- pation of the new quarters, was especially stormy and disagree- able, but toward the close of the month the skies brightened and the mud gradually gave place to firm earth. Nearly every day was marked by the occurrence of inspection, review or brigade drill. On the 2d of April, which was Fast day in Massachu- setts, the division was reviewed by General Sedgwick, and on the following day by General Hooker; the memorable review of the army by President Lincoln taking place on the Sth. The latter occasion was one of much interest to those who then for the first time saw the President. The Thirty-seventh regiment was on the right of the massive line, and the reviewing party rode down almost in front of its colors, Mr. Lincoln uncovering his head as its flags drooped low, the artillery thundered and the bands at the right began to play. Great was the contrast be- tween that plain, modest man,-almost awkward in his move- ments, his naturally furrowed face more deeply worn by the load of care which he had so long borne .- and his magnificent escort of richly dressed officers, the embodiment of military pom!' and splendor. Many a man in the ranks noted that contrast as the cavalcade moved down the line, and it is not too much to say that from that momentary glimpse many a heart beat more warmly and kindly toward "Honest Abe."
The division was called out again on the 11th for review by a visiting Swiss general, and on the 14th the expected marching
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139
FAREWELL TO GENERAL DEVENS.
orders came. The campaign had begun, a cavalry force being pushed across the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford to feel the way for the infantry, but that night a severe rain-storm set in and the movement was postponed, the furious storm raising the river so rapidly that the cavalry with some difficulty recrossed to the northern side.
One sad experience was still in store for the brigade before it should again meet the enemy. General Devens had been as- signed. to the command of the First Division of the Eleventh Corps, and on the afternoon of April 21 a brigade dress parade was held at which the honored commander in affecting words took leave of his command. From the opening days of the peninsular campaign the present relation had existed, with but temporary interruption in the previous autumn when General Devens had commanded the division; and as the speaker referred to the faithful services of his command in whatever position it had been placed, and the sincere regret he felt in leaving them, with an expression of his confidence that in the future they would render equally faithful service to the cause of Union, those who heard felt that he spoke no perfunctory words .*
That evening the detachment of the Fiftieth New York reg- iment of Engineers which had been encamped just south of the Thirty-seventh in charge of a ponton train broke camp and dis- appeared in the direction of the river, and an invitation to fol-
*General Devens was severely wonnded in the foot at Chancellorsville, May 2, and after the draft riots of the following July, not being able to return to active duty in the field, he was as- signed to command the Massachusetts draft rendezvous in Boston harbor, where he remained t:11 the following spring when he rejoined the army in the field, taking a command in the Eighteenth Corps at the special request of General W. F. Smith, its commander, having part in the engage- ments at Port Walthal, Arrowfield Church, etc., under General Butler, then operating from Her- muda Hundred. When, a little later, three divisions were sent under General Smith to join the Army of the Potomac, General Devens commanded one of them-a provisional division of three brigades from the Tenth Corps. With this he fought bravely at Cold Harbor, but was soon after prostrated by rheumatic fever, serving during convalescence as president of a military commission for the trial of various classes of offenders and when recovered was assigned by General Ord to the command of the First Division of the Eighteenth Corps. At the reorganization of the Army of the James he took command of the Third Division of the Twenty-fourth Corps, which was the first command to enter the city of Richmond. l'or gallantry and good conduct at this time he was at request of General Grant brevetted maior-general. remaining in command of the division till the corps was mustered out of service. He was then appointed to the command of the North- east military district of Virginia, and at the end of August was ordered to the command of the military district of Charleston, embracing the eastern section of South Carolina. where he re- mained till ile spring of IS, when he was mussered out, after almost five years of very honora- ble service. In April, ISog, he was appointed a judge of the superior court of Massachusetts, and promoted in October, 173, to the bench of the supreme judicial court of the state. Resigning this position to serve as attorney general of the United States in P'resident Hayes's cabinet, he was on the expiration of his term re-appointed a judge of the supreme judicial court of Massachu- setts, which position he holds at this writing (185+).
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THE ARMY UNDER HOOKER.
low them was hourly expected. That afternoon the regiment was sent on picket duty for three days, during which time it rained almost without cessation, so that on the return to camp no further changes had taken place. The paymaster made a welcome visit on the 25th, paying the regiment for four months' service to March 1, and on the 27th the brigade was drilled and had a dress parade under its new commander, Colonel W. H. Browne. Final orders were received at the same time to be ready to move early in the morning.
It was not till 3 o'clock of the following afternoon, however, that the order to march was heard. Then, by a cirenitous route, through a drizzling rain, a few miles were made and the regi- ment halted for the night on the north slope of the Stafford hills, out of sight of the Confederates across the stream but within easy distance of the Rappahannock. It was not quite comfortable for the men to lie down in their wet garments with- out the privilege of making fires to boil a cup of coffee, but every one submitted cheerfully and slept well till early morning, when rapid firing in the direction of the river brought every sleeper to his feet. Presently the brigade marched down to the vicinity of the river, halting very near the spot where in December they had waited for orders to cross. But this time a lodgment had already been made on the opposite bank. During the night ponton bridges had been quietly laid at Franklin's crossing of the previous battle and at Pollock's Mills, a mile below. Small parties had been pushed over in boats, capturing the enemy's pickets at each point and saving the engineers from the annoyance of their musketry. Bridges being hastily laid, Brooks's division of the Sixth Corps crossed at the upper and Wadsworth's division of the First at the lower, and established their lines on the Spottsylvania side. The enemy showing no disposition to dispute the occupancy of the historic plain, the Third Corps, which had been detached to support the movement, marched rapidly up the river to United States Ford, to co- operate in the main movement directed by Hooker in person. During that night and the following day everything remained quiet in Sedgwick's command, those of his troops on the left
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141
ONCE MORE ACROSS THE RIVER.
bank of the river pitching their shelter tents and experiencing no further excitement than an occasional artillery duel and the sounds of distant skirmishing as the detachments across the river felt the position of the enemy in their front. On the evening of the 30th the Thirty-seventh were detailed to accom- pany a ponton train up the river, some of the bridges having been taken up. The journey was made to the vicinity of Banks's Ford, and it was 8 o'clock next morning when the thoroughly weary regiment returned to its place in the brigade, and the men slept most of the day, falling in near night to march around the base of the hill and up over its crest, thence down to the plain, repeating the operation till darkness shut the perform- ance from the sight of the enemy for whose benefit it was under- taken, to give the impression of a movement in force at that point. In fact the left was being weakened, for the First Corps was now ordered to the right to assist in Hooker's main attack, leaving Sedgwick with but his own corps and Gibbon's division of the Second. Let us now sketch the fortunes of the main army.
According to the programme, during the night of April 2S, the Fifth, Eleventh and Twelfth Corps crossed the Rappahan- nock at Kelly's Ford, and the following night forded the Rapidan-the Fifth at Ely's Ford and the others at Germanna. The Second Corps moved by way of United States Ford, a short distance below the junction of the two rivers, and as soon as the Rapidan was passed above they also crossed and pushed forward, the four corps on the night of the 30th bivouacking at Chancel- lorsville, a point on the Orange turnpike ten miles southwest of Fredericksburg, marked by a single brick house, which Hooker made his head-quarters. The Third Corps now moved up from the left, crossed at United States Ford and hastened to the sup- port of those in advance. The general commanding was greatly clated by the success which had thus far attended his move- ments. Although the operations of the cavalry had been de- laved by high water, so that Stoneman failed to render the efficient service that had been counted on, the column was now on its way toward Richmond, while more than 50,000 infantry under the immediate command of their valiant chieftain had
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THE ARMY UNDER HOOKER.
reached a position of his selection directly in rear of the Con- federate intrenched line. There was a substantial foundation for the congratulatory order issued by Hooker and read to every regiment in his army, in which he said : " It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the commanding general announces to the army that the operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground, where cer- tain destruction awaits him."
The enemy had no thought of flying, though even so able a general as Lee might well shrink from the peril of his position. His army was at once disposed to meet the changed situation. Leaving what seemed an adequate force under General Early to hold the hights in front of Sedgwick, Lee with all his available troops prepared to dispute the Federal advance. Hooker, finding the ground about Chancellorsville unfavorable to military oper- ations, pushed forward his left, composed of the Fifth Corps, within view of Banks's Ford, while the Twelfth Corps advanced along the plank road till it encountered Stonewall Jackson's troops, when, after a brisk engagement, it was decided to con- centrate and intrench near Chancellorsville and await the rebel attack, if one was intended. The position of the Union army on the 2d of May may be briefly stated. The First Corps had crossed the Rappahannock at United States Ford and was held in reserve near there; the left of Hooker's main line was formed by the Fifth Corps, which extended from the sharp bend in the Rappahannock where Mineral Spring Run empties into the parent stream. Its line of battle faced in a southeasterly direc- tion and was joined and prolonged by the Second Corps. Then the line bent around so as to face due south in front of the Chancellor house, where the Twelfth Corps was posted, and on the right of this the Third Corps began to face to the southwest. The curve in this direction was still more pronounced at the extreme right, formed by the Eleventh Corps. This flank was the weak point in the Federal position, being "in the air "- that is. having no protection against the attack of an enemy on the flank or rear. True there seemed very slight probability of
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'143
JACKSON STRIKES HIS LAST BLOW.
any such attack, as the weak flank might be considered safely swung around behind the main line,-but that proved exactly what the Confederates were to successfully attempt. A direct attack could hardly be thought of, and the shrewd Jackson pro- posed to execute his favorite movement, and passing entirely around the Federal army, strike one of his characteristic blows, swift and terrible, on the flank which from the position of the army could not but be weak.
It was impossible to entirely conceal the movement of his column, as it passed over an elevation some distance to the south of the Union lines, but its purpose was wholly mistaken, being construed by the enthusiastic Hooker into an attempt to retreat. General Sickles with his Third Corps moved forward to attack it, and achieved some success, but in doing so left a great gap between the threatened Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, which came near sacrificing the entire army. Gaining his cov- eted position with no suspicion on the Federal side of his destination, Jackson, late in the afternoon, hastily formed his lines and swept down upon the fated corps. Devens's division of two brigades, on the extreme right, was the first to receive the shock. The men with stacked arms were idling about or cooking their suppers when the Confederate lines came crashing through the thicket. Not more than a round or two could be fired before the great waves of gray swept over and around the slight defenses and through the camps which a moment before had seemed established in the midst of profound peace. Almost at the opening of the attack General Devens, while trying to rally and hold his command against the onset, was severely wounded, and every colonel and general in the. division was either disabled or captured. The broken division rolled back upon that of Schurz, next to it, and the latter crumbled away almost without a blow, but Steinwehr's division, the Second, formed a line in the face of the triumphant foe and momentarily checked his progress. Yet the two brigades, strengthened by a few of the fugitives from the rest of the corps, could not long withstand the triumphant fury of the attack, and presently the entire Eleventh Corps was driven to the rear, a panic-stricken
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THE ARMY UNDER HOOKER.
mass of fugitives. A scene of the most terrible excitement and confusion followed, during which, amidst the general rout. occurred some of the grandest instances of heroism known to history. A handful of men here and there opposed the relent- less advance, laying their lives down with a smile in order that time might be gained for bringing fresh batteries into position and forming new lines in the rear.
By superhuman exertions a respectable opposition was at last made to the Confederate advance, and there came a lull in the storm of battle. Jackson's attack had thus far been made by the divisions of Rodes and Colston, and as these were much dis- organized, the troops commanded by A. P. Hill were placed in front, and though it was now dark, Jackson contemplated a continuance of the fight. Before his arrangements were con- pleted he was fired upon by his own men and received wounds from which he died a week later, depriving the Confederacy of one of its ablest chieftains. Hill received a disabling wound shortly after, and General J. E. B. Stuart, who took temporary command of Jackson's corps, decided not to fight any more that night. Morning witnessed a renewal of the struggle, and till noon it raged incessantly. General Hooker was stunned by a shell striking a pillar against which he was leaning, seriously compromising the safety of his entire army, the center of which was steadily pushed back, in spite of the most desperate fighting. till the divided wings of the Confederate army were reunited and orders were issued for a combined advance along the whole line to complete the victory. It was at this time that news came to the Southern commander of Sedgwick's movements, which caused him to pause, and the battle of the main armies was not again renewed with earnestness. Among the Federal officers killed on the 3d, were Generals Berry and Whipple, command- ing the Second and Third Divisions of the Fifth Corps.
We come now to the part taken by the Sixth Corps and the Thirty-seventh regiment as an integral part thereof. During Saturday, the 2dl of May, there was more or less of what seemed a purposeless activity. Several times the command was placed under arms, perhaps moved a short distance, after which the
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145
"FORWARD, THE SIXTH CORPS!"
muskets would be stacked and a period of suspense follow. A.s night approached there were evidences of skirmishing across the river, and about 9 o'clock the regiment moved quietly across the bridges, took its position with the other troops whose long lines could be dimly seen stretching away in the darkness, and the command was whispered to " Load at will." Then another rest. About 11 o'clock the expected summons from Hooker came, ordering General Sedgwick to move at once by way of Freder- icksburg, seize the hights, crush whatever force might oppose him, take the plank road and form a junction with Hooker by daybreak. It is not the purpose of this narrative to criticise; but it is surely not amiss to call attention to the magnitude of the task thus outlined. The distance to be covered was from 12 to 14 miles, or more than the corps could have accomplished by an unimpeded march during the time named. At the very outset were to be encountered the terrible hights against which in the former battle half the army had dashed in vain, and which the present commanding general had at that time pronounced im- pregnable to direct assault. During the winter, and especially in the few previous days, in anticipation of an immediate attack, the works had been strengthened, and were now held by six brigades of choice Confederate troops under Early, with artillery support, making a force equal in strength to that actually engaged on the Confederate side in the repulse of Burnside.
But the stout-hearted commander of the Sixth Corps, though ordered to undertake a prima facie impossibility, promptly obeyed the spirit, if he could not meet the letter, of his instruc- tions. As rapidly as his skirmishers could push back those of the enemy the column moved toward Fredericksburg, and finally halted in the streets. A skirmisher who had fallen at the very entrance of the town and was dying from a terrible wound in the chest, faintly encouraged his comrades as they passed. " God bless you, boys," he said, " I believe you are going to capture Richmond now, and it is my only regret that I cannot go with you to the end." Brave in death as in life, he was a type of that vast army of martyrs who gave their lives willing sacrifices on the altar of their country.
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THE ARMY UNDER HOOKER.
To advance further in the darkness was out of the question. as a demonstration proved, and the men dropped upon the side- walks, in the streets, anywhere, for a few moments' sleep. With the first light of day all were astir, and the men of the Thirty- seventh, who trod the streets of the famous city for the first time, were beginning to take note of their surroundings, when the artillery on the hights opened and the frightful crashing of the missiles through the buildings dissipated all emotions of mere curiosity. Moving rapidly out of the city toward the hights the regiment for a time took shelter in a railroad cut, where it was effectually protected from the enemy's fire. The posi- tion, though safe, was not one to induce reflections of a pleasing nature. The memory of that terrible 13th of December would intrude. There were the same hights which had then defied the Union army; at their base was the deadly stone-wall before which the charging lines had been swept away in ruin. That experi- ment was to be repeated-would the result be different? There was no alternative to a direct assault. With the first light Gib- bon's division of the Second Corps had laid bridges from Fal- mouth and crossed the river, taking position on the Federal right, between the city and the river. Newton's division occu- pied the city front, and to the left, beyond Hazel Run, was Howe, with Brooks's First Division protecting the bridges at the crossing below. Gibbon, to whose assistance the Tenth Massa- chusetts and Second Rhode Island had been detached, felt for an opening in the Confederate left, but his advance was checked by the canal and a railroad cut. Howe on the left of Newton had advanced and been driven back. "We must depend upon the bayonet alone!" said Sedgwick, and proceeded to form a storming party to charge the entire crest. Somewhere the wedge must be driven through. Directly in front of Newton's division rose Marye's hill, with a fine brick mansion near the crest, distant about a thousand yards from the Federal lines. For two-thirds of the distance the ground slopes gently upward. then rises quite sharply till the summit is gained. From the principal street of the city, straight up and over the hill, runs the plauk road which Sedgwick is ordered to take. At the foot
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THE STORMING OF MARYE'S HIGHTS.
of the hill proper is a toll-house and to the south of this along the base of the hill runs the sunken Telegraph road and the fatal stone-wall. Behind the wall lies Barksdale's brigade of Missis- sippians: in front of it, sheltered by a swell of the ground, Col- onel Burnham holds four regiments of his Light Division. They have attacked and been repulsed, but await the moment for a more determined advance. On the plank road a column of four regiments was formed under Colonel Spear of the Sixty- first Pennsylvania, consisting of his own regiment and the Forty-third New York, supported by the Sixty-seventh New York and Eighty-second Pennsylvania. Between Spear's com- mand and that of Burnham the Seventh Massachusetts and Thirty-sixth New York under the command of Colonel Johns of the Seventh are formed to move parallel to Spear's advance up the plank road, the men leaving knapsacks, haversacks- everything that can impede their movements. Beyond Burn- ham to the left Howe's division is also in waiting. It is 11 o'clock, and at length everything is ready. The Union batteries have been playing with dreadful energy upon the Confederate entrenchments, but the Washington artillery on the hights holds on defiantly. Suddenly Spear's column emerges on the plank road, moving straight forward at the double-quick with fixed bayonets. The two regiments from Browne's Brigade are beside it, also pushing forward by the right flank in column of fours. As they approach the toll-gate a terrible artillery fire tears through the head of each column, and Barksdale's men from behind the stone-wall send a hot musketry fire into their flank. The regiments in advance are sadly shattered. Colonel Spear is mortally and Colonel Johns seriously wounded, and the com- mands falter, but they hear the cheers of the sturdy lines on their left and press on once more. Barksdale had almost for- gotten the line in his front in his anxiety to demolish the columns on his left, when Burnham's men spring forward with a bound, scatter the Mississippians with their bayonets, capture half the brigade and send the rest flying helter-skelter along the Telegraph road. Then on up the hill they go with a sweep. breaking through the intrenched line, the flag of the Sixth
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THE ARMY UNDER HOOKER.
Maine being the first to wave from the rebel stronghold. Howe's three brigades were pressing up the slope to the left, and Gibbon, although unable to reach the enemy, was holding his attention at the right. Lieutenant-Colonel Harlow of the Seventh is wounded but not disabled, and with a few files of his regiment cuts through the Confederates and effects a lodgment with a cool bravery never surpassed. The shattered residue of the reg- iment catch the spirit of their heroic commander and rally to his assistance, swarming over the works and driving the astound- ed chivalry before them. It had been asked if the Thirty-sixth New York would stand such desperate service, for in a few days more their term of enlistment would have expired. Never was doubt more bravely dissipated. Straight up to and over the hostile works goes their tall color-sergeant and his flag, which he plants proudly on a captured gun, while the shortened line springs over the breastworks and the men with clubbed muskets dash the panic-stricken defenders to the earth and receive their surrender with a cheer which is answered from the plains below as the reserve lines come rushing up to complete the occupation. The remnants of Spear's column nerve themselves for one more effort and they, too, make a lodgment in the fortifications. HIowe has carried the hights in his front, and the broken Con- federate line is crumbling away, hurrying squads here and there trying to reach the Telegraph road or fleeing over the plank road in advance of the pursuers.
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