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 16
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
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THE REPULSE OF LONGSTREET.
cent and Hazlitt were both killed, with hundreds of their brave fellows, and the ammunition of the infantry was exhausted. Colonel J. L. Chamberlain's brave regiment-the Twentieth Maine-had extended its thin line till the men stood in single rank, then when their guns were empty bayonets were leveled and they rushed upon the foe. Maine met Texas, and New England won. ·
Meantime in the peach orchard a terrible conflict ensued. The enemy penetrated farther and farther the disrupted Union line, breaking off fragment after fragment and sending it bleeding and helpless to the rear. Reinforcements came in striving to regain the lost ground, fought desperately for a short time and gave way in turn. Cross, Zook and Willard commanding brigades were killed or mortally wounded; General Sickles suffered the loss of a leg, the command of the corps devolving upon General Birney. Steadily the terrible wave of fire rolled up toward the line of Cemetery Ridge till the Fifth Corps was fully enveloped From the Second, First and Twelfth Corps detachments came hurrying up to strengthen the line which was now assuming permanence and solidity, while the attack, so long continued and so desperate, was becoming spasmodic and weak. The Con- federates, too, had lost heavily in men and officers. General Barksdale was fatally wounded, and Longstreet, riding to the front to examine the work still before his decimated legions, saw with dismay the firm ranks of undaunted blue.
It was at this time that the Sixth Corps-never more welcome -began to reach the scene. Nevin's brigade (lately Wheaton's), which had led the corps in that memorable march, swept over the hill, pushed the Confederates back and held the ground. Close in their wake Eustis's Brigade was in line of battle ready to test its mettle, but it was not needed. The Union line was now strong enough to defy any earthly foe, both the Round Tops were securely occupied, the flank and rear beyond them were held by the cavalry supported by the veteran Vermont Brigade and Torbert's New Jerseyans, and as dusk closed in on the long summer's day the sounds of strife gradually ceased and the demoralized assailants withdrew. Both sides regarded the
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THE TURN OF THE TIDE.
result with satisfaction. The Confederates had fought desper. ately and had gained considerable ground, but they had securei no important advantage. Their assaults had finally been re- pulsed and their advance driven back. Said a wounded Federal officer as he was borne through the line of the Thirty-sevent !! that night to suffer the amputation of a terribly shattered ley: "I don't begrudge it a bit ! We drove the graybacks a mile and a half, and it was worth a leg to see them go!" This spirit was manifest everywhere among the Union soldiers. They were on Freedom's soil, fighting her decisive battle, and no matter what the cost, victory must be won. " Boys, we have come herr to stay!" said brave Colonel Stone to his brigade as they took position in front of the enemy in the first day's fight. That pregnant sentence was caught up and became the watchword o: the loyal army.
The battle of the afternoon was not confined to the scene of the conflict just sketched. More or less fiercely it raged all alone the line. Hill menaced the Union position in his front an! Ewell attacked savagely with Early's and Johnson's division ... The former advanced against Cemetery Hill, but was repulsed. though the batteries on East Cemetery Hill were penetrated bs Hays's brigade, the artillerists fighting desperately with club -. sticks and stones, over their beloved guns. Then reinforer. ments came to aid the imperiled gunners, the Louisianians were driven back into the fire of converging batteries where they suf- fered terrible loss, the " Tigers" as reported taking back only 150 of the 1,750 who joined in the charge.
Johnson's division directed its efforts against the northe !! face of Culp's Hill, and there the greatest Confederate sneces was won. The Twelfth Corps having been drawn upon to su[" port Sickles before danger in that part of the field was antici- pated, the determined attack pushed the defenders out of the .: earthworks, and though fighting continued far into the night. the Confederates maintained the lodgment thus made.
That night a council was held at the head-quarters of the Union commander and it was decided to continue the fight. though the loss on the Federal side had been at least 20,000 mes
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185
THE BURSTING OF A DEATH STORMI.
already. The first work of the morning, therefore, was the recovery of the lost ground on Culp's Hill, and there, both sides reinforcing their troops already in position, a stubborn contest raged till nearly noon. Shaler's brigade of Wheaton's division was doing its best in conjunction with the Twelfth Corps, but Johnson held on doggedly, and a request was sent to General Meade for another brigade. "Send Eustis," was the order, and the brigade, which with scarcely a change of position had all the morning lain listening to the roar of cannon and the rattling fire of skirmishers in front, moved briskly away toward the - right, the Thirty-seventh in advance. Again they were not needed. Johnson had retired while the orders were in trans- mission, so the brigade was halted for a time in a grove near Cemetery Hill, whence it presently started back toward the point from which it came. A terrible and wholly unexpected trial was in store for the Thirty-seventh. In going over, as in coming back, the Taneytown road had been followed part of the way. This road diverges from the Emmettsburg road at the outskirts of the village at the base of Cemetery Hill, winds around the hill and crosses the ridge a little distance south of the cemetery, running directly in the rear of the Round Tops. At the point where the Thirty-seventh entered the road the ridge to the westward sinks to a scarcely perceptible elevation, so that the movement of the column was fully exposed for a short distance to the Confederate artillery on Seminary Ridge, a mile away. Suddenly, with no more warning than a preliminary shell or two that went so far overhead as to scarcely attract an upward glance of the eye, a murderous fire burst from the distant batter- ies, striking the regiment in the flank with wonderful precision and doing frightful execution. It was the opening of Lee's furi- ous cannonade preceding his last desperate assault, and whether the missiles were aimed at Eustis's command or at the formid- able array of Federal batteries just over the slope to the front is uncertain. Shells burst in the faces of the men. tore terrible, bleeding gaps through the ranks, crashed in resonant fury against the stone-wall and rocks bordering the road, rent the old board fence at the left into hurtling fragments,-there could have been
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THE TURN OF THE TIDE.
no severer test of human courage, and there could have been no nobler response than was made by the Thirty-seventh regiment. Not a man faltered. "Steady, Thirty-seventh ! Forward, double-quick !" rang forth from the lips of Colonel Edwards. and straight through that horrible tempest of death the regi- ment went with the steadiness of a battalion drill. It was only a few rods till shelter was reached-a rocky piece of woods slop- ing toward the east, and here the regiment halted. As it did so a staff officer rode to the side of the colonel and. said in tones heard by all the members : "Colonel Edwards, I am directed by Colonel Eustis to express to you his compliments for the splendid conduct of your regiment under the most terrible artil- lery fire he ever, witnessed." It was a prompt, unqualified and gratifying compliment, but it had been earned at a sad cost. Six men were killed or mortally hurt, while 25 others were wounded, an unusually large proportion of them having received disabling injuries. Never was the perfect organization of the medical corps better illustrated. Scarcely had the regiment come to a halt and the injured who had been able to keep their feet till a place of shelter was reached been conducted to the rear. where their wounds received such hasty treatment as was possi- ble, when the stretcher-bearers began to arrive with their bleed- ing burdens. One after another was brought in and tenderly deposited upon the leafy ground. "We can find no more ; are they all here ?" is the report. A hasty consultation-then the name of a missing one is uttered. Back again over the shell- swept field the undaunted stretcher-men go. bending low to (s- cape, if possible, the flying missiles, looking everywhere in the vain hope of finding the absent comrade. He is at the rendez- vous before them. Struck in the head with a fragment of shel! and stunned, he had recovered consciousness to find himself ex- posed to further wounds or death at any moment. Struggling to his feet and groping around till his gun is found, the unfortu- nate fellow staggers along the course taken by his uninjured comrades till he reaches the regiment, presenting a most ghastly spectacle, face. clothing and hands covered with blood, his ap- pearance horrifying, though in fact his wound is not serious.
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THE LIST OF CASUALTIES.
Suddenly a cry of horror breaks from the group of wounded and finds quick echo from their friends. A wounded horse at a mad gallop comes tearing straight toward them. His iron-clad hoofs strike the ground with a force which seems to shake the entire hill, and apart from the danger of being crushed beneath their terrible blows the sight presented by the poor wounded brute is a horrible one. A cannon-shot has torn through his lower jaw, leaving it hanging only by a few shreds. With head thrown high in air, uttering frenzied cries of pain, the severed jaw swinging and whirling at every stroke of the hoofs, his mag- nificent white breast covered with the spouting blood, he plunges straight toward the score or more of mangled human beings. "Shoot him ! shoot him !" goes up from many a lip suddenly grown pale, but no shot can be fired without endangering life, nor is there time for deliberate aim till he has swerved somewhat from his course and goes harmlessly past through the forest.
While the ambulances are on their way to the spot to take the wounded back to the division field hospital, which has been es- tablished near Rock Creek, there is time to survey the group of sufferers. In Company A, Thomas B. Jenks, Josiah T. Hunt and George W. Truell were wounded. In Company B the wounded were : Enos Besoncon (mortally), Almon Cadwell, George T. Carter, Calvin Goodbo and Charles A. Taggart. From Company C, Corporal John A. Hall, John Kelley, Frederick S. Shephard, James Ferry and John M. Taylor were wounded. The severest loss was borne by Company E, in which James H. Perkins was killed and Charles Gurney fatally wounded, with Sergeant Dar- win R. Fields, James L. Bowen, James M. Fletcher, Daniel Lewis and Edwin E. Phelps wounded. Elihu Coville of Com- pany F was mortally wounded. Lieutenant Andrew L. Bush of Company HI received a severe wound in the thigh from a fragment of shell, and in his company Charles N. Clark, Horace C. Ramsdell and Alonzo F. Turner were wounded, as was Wil- lard Armstrong of Company I. In Company K, Patrick Hussey was killed and James Crampton mortally wounded. *
*I: is thought that a few others, whose names cannot be ascertained were wounded. No care- ful returns of casualties in the regiment seem to have been made till the campaigns of the follow- ing year were entered upon.
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THE TURN OF THE TIDE.
The escapes from death or severe wounds were especially num- erous. Color-Sergeant C. S. Bardwell was knocked down by a fragment of shell which struck his pistol, bending the barrel and bruising the wearer, but doing no further harm. "Cap'n, I can't do much with sich a gun as that !" says a sturdy young Irishman, holding up his musket, through the breech of which a shell had made its way without knocking it from his hand .: The coat collar of another was torn from the garment without damage to the wearer and without his knowledge.
While the wounded were lying in the ambulances ready to set forth for the hospital the Thirty-seventh was again summoned toward the right, but as before, the crisis passed without the necessity for its assistance, and again it moved back. The su- preme effort of the Confederates had been made-and had failed. It was a mad attempt. General Lee seems to have been rendered desperate by the situation, especially after his lodg- ment on the right had been driven out in the morning. Against the judgment of his ablest officers he resolved upon a direct at- tack against the Federal left center. Prefacing the charge by a terrible cannonade of an hour and a half from 150 pieces of his artillery, to which SO guns on the Union side made undaunted response, he finally at about 3 o'clock launched Pickett's division of Longstreet's corps across the wide plain against the Second Corps, located to the southward of the cemetery. The attack- ing division was composed principally of the flower of Virginia troops, had been the last to reach the field, and had not before been engaged. They were supported by Pettigrew's division and Wilcox's brigade of Hill's corps, while a co-operative demon- stration was made by other troops from Longstreet's command farther toward the Union left. The latter was promptly frus- trated by a very gallant attack on the charging lines by the eav- alry command of General Kilpatrick, which made so valiant an assault as to completely check that part of the rebel programme, though at a loss of the brave General Farnsworth and the se- vere handling of his brigade. .
The story of the war presents no grander example of devoted bravery than the charge of Pickett's command,-nor any wore
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189
THE REPULSE OF PICKETT'S CHARGE.
unjustifiable waste of human life by a commander. Moving unfalteringly across the wide expanse under a most terrible artillery fire, it swept on up the slope, struck and penetrated the thin line of Hancock's corps. For a moment its banners waved in a sort of triumph, then the lines of blue closed around and enfolded the wedge of gray till it was utterly crushed and de- stroyed. Pettigrew's supporting line had gone to pieces some time before, demoralized by the discovery that they were not operating against Pennsylvania militia, as they had been led to suppose, but their old enemy, the Army of the Potomac. Hays's division of the Second Corps gathered in from this mass of fugitives 2,000 prisoners and 15 battle flags. Wilcox's brigade having reached the shelter of the Emmettsburg road waited there for the storm to cease, and thus when Pickett's command reached Cemetery Ridge both its flanks were exposed. A part of Stannard's Vermont Brigade was moved promptly against the Confederate right flank where it poured in a terribly demoraliz- ing fire. Entire regiments dropped to the ground and threw up their hands in token of surrender, while Pickett, unharmed though nearly every other officer in his division had been struck down, seeing the madness of further effort to pierce the Union lines, sadly gave the command to retreat. Of his three brigade commanders, Garnett was killed, Armistead mortally wounded after penetrating the Union lines, and Kemper severely so. Twelve colors and 2,500 prisoners from the division remained in the hands of the victors, while the remnant of those who had escaped death or wounds fled wildly back across the plain, again exposed to a terrible artillery fire. Wilcox now moved forward his brigade, with what object it would be hard to say, and it very. speedily shared the fate of Pettigrew's command, being torn to pieces by the hot fire poured upon it and several hundred of its men made prisoners by two regiments of Stannard's brigade.
The last mighty shock of the battle of Gettysburg had been felt, and through that night and the following day the remnants of the Confederate army gazed sadly forth from their position on Seminary Ridge at the Union lines massed in firm array along the blood-stained hights from Culp's Hill to Round Top. Any
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THE TURN OF THE TIDE.
further attack on Lee's part was utterly out of the question, and his preparations were at once made for a retreat to Virginia with whatever he could rescue from the disaster, though it was not till near daylight of the 5th that his picket lines were withdrawn. Blame has sometimes been attached to General Meade that he did not make the defeat of Lee more complete by a strong counter attack after the failure of Pickett's assault; but it should be borne in mind that he had only a few fresh brigades, that the Army of the Potomac had already lost 30 per cent of its num- bers, including many of its most valuable officers-Hancock and Gibbon having been severely wounded in repulsing the final at- tack. Under such circumstances to abandon an impregnable defensive position to accept the chances of offensive warfare when it was not a matter of necessity would certainly not have been wisc.
Even the reserve brigades were in no condition for severe duty. The Thirty-seventh, which had made so brave a record on the march to the field, was sadly exhausted before the close of that weary 3d of July. Back and forth in the rear of the line it had hastened from point to point wherever the danger was greatest, often at double-quick, through the terrible heat till many of its members were prostrated by sun-stroke, among the number being both the colonel and the lieutenant-colonel. The Second Bri- gade was soon after the repulse advanced to the front, taking position near the foot of the ridge and just to the northward of the scene of the terrific struggle of the day before. Late in the afternoon Crawford's division of the Fifth Corps, lying to the left of Eustis, charged forward over a portion of the ground wrested from Sickles, capturing a battery and driving the Con- federates pell-mell back to their main line.
The night which succeeded was one of the saddest. Every- where the field was covered with the dead and wounded, and after dark the soldiers of the two armies mingled freely on the ground between the skirmish lines; looking for fallen comrades or actuated by the promptings of a common humanity in seek- ing to allay the terrible suffering which no imagination could realize. A severe rain-storm during the night proved a blessing
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BEGINNING THE PURSUIT OF LEE.
to many who were suffering from thirst, though under the cir- cumstances it was a source of great discomfort to others.
The 4th passed with little of interest. About noon the Thirty- seventh were retired somewhat from their advanced position and ordered to intrench without delay, it being understood that ar- tillery fire was shortly to be resumed. The men had only their bayonets and their hands for intrenching tools, but the former loosened the earth, while the latter, assisted in many cases by the owner's tin plate or cup, piled it up in a defensive form. Rails were gathered from the fences, and even dead horses utilized, till in a short time they had constructed a creditable line of breast- works behind which the regiment settled as comfortably as pos- sible considering the nearly incessant rain. Lee during the day retired from in front of Culp's Hill and withdrew his forces from the village of Gettysburg, taking up a strong position along Seminary Ridge, where he seemed to be awaiting attack. The village was occupied by Howard's forces about noon, but no further demonstration was made upon either side.
Daylight of Sunday, the 5th, failed to bring the usual scatter- ing fire from the picket lines, and the suspicion was at once awakened, which investigation confirmed, that the enemy had gone. The skirmishers were pushed forward till the fact was es- tablished and then the Sixth Corps was organized for the pursuit. Moving out by the Emmettsburg road through the center of the battle-field, a horrible spectacle was witnessed by the soldiers. Everywhere the sad debris of the conflict met the eye. The wounded had all been gathered into the vast field hospitals, but the dead were still unburied on every hand, though large details from the Second Corps were then at work on that sad duty, marking the resting place of each comrade with a piece of board which had recently formed part of a cracker box, bearing so far as it was possible to decide the facts the name, rank, company and regiment of the fallen hero. Great numbers of the Con- federate dead still lay exposed to the elements, scores of horses were strewn around as they had fallen, weapons and equipments of every kind were scattered in every direction. As Gettysburg was left behind and the regiment pushed along the Fairfield road
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THE TURN OF THE TIDE.
in the pursuit additional evidences of the terrible losses of the enemy constantly multiplied. Every building was filled with their wounded ; in sheltered spots in the corners of fences, wher- ever an approach to comfort could be found, the unfortunate men had been left to the tender mercies of the victors-mercies, be it recorded, which never failed to succor and care for the mis- guided men as tenderly as though they had fallen in defense of the Stars and Stripes. Yet Lee's long wagon trains had been- packed to their utmost capacity with wounded, whom he was at- tempting to transport back to Virginia.
The day's march was short, not more than seven or eight miles being covered. The roads were muddy and very tedious, and early in the afternoon the advance came so close npon the rebel rear that it was necessary to proceed with caution. Evening showed the enemy's rear guard strongly disposed to dispute the passage of the pursuers through the South Mountains, which had now been reached, and a halt for the night was ordered. Many had been the demonstrations of delight along the route by the loyal people, some of whom came from miles away to look upon the valiant veterans who had freed them from the presence of the hateful foe. There was everywhere the realization of a crushing defeat sustained by the invaders, their own wounded and prison- ers frankly admitting for the first time that they had been worsted by the Yankees in fair fight, but charging it all to the mistaken policy of leaving the defensive in Virginia and assum- ing the offensive on Northern soil.
The corps were early astir next morning, with many anticipa- tions as to what the day might have in store for them, and pres- ently moved forward toward the mountains. An inconsiderable advance was made, then a halt for an hour or two ; after which the regiment retraced its steps nearly to the starting point of the morning and deployed as skirmishers, in which position it re- mained till nearly evening. Then the march was resumed, but it was no longer in direct pursuit of the retreating foe. General Mende had changed his plan, if the purpose of a close. sharp pur- suit had ever been entertained. Lee had taken the most direct route for the Potomac on leaving Gettysburg, the distance to
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A NIGIIT MARCH TO EMMETTSBURG.
Williamsport by way of Fairfield being about 40 miles ; but in- stead of following over the same route and pressing the retiring columns, the Union commander decided upon a circuitous route to the eastward, fully twice as long. Leaving a small force, principally cavalry, to watch the Confederate rear, the pursuing column proper was turned in the new direction, and the Thirty- seventh, having covered the withdrawal of the rest of the corps, followed it toward Emmettsburg. Passing through Fairfield, another halt was made till after dark, when the journey was taken up in earnest.
And such a night's march ! None who had part in it can ever forget that terrible tramp. The men were hungry at the start, having received but a very limited supply of rations at Gettys- burg. The road was narrow and rough, evidently but little traveled, and was literally a bed of mud resting on a foundation of small sharp stones. The soft mud soaked the men's shoes, all of which had seen much wear, and the flinty stones cut them to pieces till many a poor fellow was forced to plod along barefooted or with only his stockings to protect the blistered and bleeding flesh. Unhappy the naturally tender-footed ! The long marches of the recent past had reduced all such to a condition of inces- sant suffering. Long after midnight the groaning column plod- ded on, passing through a dark piece of woods where the intense gloom seemed to add to the roughness and the muddiness, and where files and companies mingled in an inextricable mass. Officers sought in vain for their commands, or maintained bear- ings only by the familiar tones of some light-hearted private whose spirits no hardship could subdne. Finally they staggered rather than walked through Emmettsburg and half a mile be- yond, halting in an open field at 3 o'clock and sinking down wherever it might chance to sleep during the few hours that re- mained before the bugles would again sound the advance.
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