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 2
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).
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
Before Butler's plans were perfected, General Patterson, com- manding the department of Pennsylvania, decided to attempt a passage of loyal troops through Baltimore, and on the 9th of May some 1,200 infantry and artillery under Colonel F. E. Pat- terson, a son of the general, landed near Fort McHenry and marched through the city, not only unopposed but receiving many words of encouragement as they went. During the even-
23
THE FIRST THREE-YEARS' TROOPS CALLED,
ing of the 13th General Butler with about 1,000 men and two field-pieces entered the city by train, the Sixth Massachusetts forming a part of the column. A heavy thunder storm was prevailing and few in the city knew of the presence of Federal soldiers till the morning papers printed a proclamation from the commander, dated at his head-quarters on Federal Hill, where the troops were encamped. The effect of the movement was all that had been counted upon. Considerable quantities of arms intended for the rebels were seized, the state wisely gave its voice for the Union, and General Butler, appointed by the President a major-general, was given command of a district em- bracing Eastern Virginia and the Carolinas, with head-quarters at Fortress Monroe.
It was early apparent that the Federal government was now in the hands of those who would protect the interests which had been confided to them. A week after the fall of Sumter the original telegrams for a year previous, on file in the principal telegraph offices, were seized by the United States marshals, and evidence damaging to many prominent sympathizers with trea- son was obtained. A few of the more active were arrested and committed to military prisons, the keepers of which refused to recognize the writs of habeas corpus which were obtained by their friends. This measure, like many another which the exi- gencies of the struggle necessitated, evoked sharp discussion in the papers and elsewhere, but its lesson was not lost upon the disloyal, while encouraging the loyal.
Already it had become evident that the 75,000 militia which had been called into service for three months would not prove sufficient for the purpose of restoring peace, and on the 3d of May President Lincoln called for 42,000 volunteers for three years, 18,- 000 sailors for the manning of the fast increasing navy, and some 23,000 recruits for the regular army. This call was responded to with alacrity, for the loyal states were full of volunteer organizations anxious to be taken into the service of the nation.
The Capital was swarming with military life; the public build- mys had become vast barracks, and the work of training and dis- ciplining a large army went steadily forward. On the 23d of May,
24
FROM SECESSION TO ANTIETAM.
learning that the Confederates contemplated the occupation and fortification of the hights on the Virginia side of the Potomac which commanded the city, some Union troops were ordered across the river to take possession of Alexandria and guard the approaches to the city. The movement was unopposed by the insurgents, who were gathering in force at Manassas Junction, 30 miles from. Washington, a point giving them direct rail- road communication with the Shenandoah valley, Richmond and the entire Confederate states. But a sad loss was sustained by the Union army in the assassination of Colonel E. E. Ells- worth of the New York Fire Zouaves at Alexandria on the morning of the 24th, by which the country was deprived of the services of one of its most promising young officers.
This loss was speedily followed by another of like nature and even more mortifying in character. General Butler, in com- mand at Fortress Monroe, learning that the rebel Colonel Ma- gruder was in a threatening attitude at the Bethel churches, sent a night expedition of two columns, June 9, to surprise and de- stroy the force. The result was a series of disasters. The two columns fired into each other in the darkness, alarmning the enemy, who had concentrated in a strong position at Big Bethel, where they were attacked without plan or concert, the result being a defeat of the Union troops with a loss of 50 killed and wounded. Among the former were Major Winthrop, of General Butler's staff and his military secretary, and Lieutenant Greble of the artillery,-both very gallant and promising young officers.
A month passed without serious demonstrations on either side, when the loyal heart was gladdened by the sharp and very suc- cessful campaign of General Mcclellan in Western Virginia. Thirty-nine of the Northwestern counties of Virginia had refused to follow the rest of the state in seceding from the Union, and a considerable force of Confederate soldiers was scattered through the region to manufacture publie sentiment favorable to the Southern cause. Under MeClellan's vigorous attack the rebel commander, General Garnett, was killed at Carrick's Ford, his forces captured or dispersed, and the people temporarily freed from the presence of the foe.
.
4
-
25
THE FEDERAL DEFEAT AT BULL RUN.
Mean time the terms of enlistment of the three-months' militia. were about expiring, and it became necessary, not only from that fact but to appease the clamor of the impatient people of the loyal states, that a blow should be struck against the Confed- erate force threatening Washington. On the 1st of June Gen- eral Beauregard, flushed with his conquest of Sumter, arrived at Richmond and took command of what was styled the Depart- ment of Alexandria. His main force was gathered near Man- assas Junetion, with fortified outposts advanced to Centreville and Fairfax Court House.
General McDowell, in command of the Union army, advanced slowly, the enemy readily abandoning their outposts, till on the 18th of July General Tyler's command encountered a force under General Longstreet strongly posted at Blackburn's Ford, and a sharp skirmish convinced the Federal commander that a direet assault was impracticable. It was decided, therefore, to throw the main body of the army well to the right, so as to strike the Confederates on the left flank and gain their rear; but being obliged to wait for supplies it was not till the night of the 20th that McDowell was ready to move. By a strange coin- cidence Beauregard also issued orders on the same day for the advance of his army on the following morning, and he in turn planned to strike his enemy on the left flank. After the issu- ance of this order General J. E. Johnston arrived on the ground from Winchester, where he had been facing the Union force under General Patterson, bringing a portion of his army with inore following. Being the senior officer he took command, approved the plans of Beauregard, and prepared to advance next day.
The attack by McDowell, intended to be delivered at daylight, was several hours late, but it anticipated the Confederate move- ment and served to put Johnston on the defensive. With vary- ing fortunes, but generally favorable to the Union arms, the rohilict raged till near 4 o'clock, when the coming of their fresh Frps from the Shenandoah valley, with reinforcements from cher points, enabled the Confederates to throw a heavy force on The Federal right flank, which broke in some disorder-the
----
-
- -
26
FROM SECESSION TO ANTIETAM.
panic spread rapidly, and soon the day was irreparably lost. The retreat was well covered by the troops that stood firm, and the wreck of the army gathered unmolested within the strong de- fenses in front of the Capital.
On the following day General MeClellan was summoned to Washington and given the command of the Army of the Poto- mac, his recent success in Western Virginia having brought him into deserved prominence. He assumed command on the 27th, and at the same time many other changes took place. General Scott, who up to this time had been general-in-chief, was on ac- count of age and infirmity relieved from active duty: General Patterson, whose term of service had expired, was succeeded by General Banks in the department of the Shenandoah; General John A. Dix took command at Baltimore in place of Banks, and General Rosecrans succeeded to McClellan's former command.
The new commander devoted his wonderful powers as an or- ganizer to the constructing of a new army, the perfecting of the defenses about the seat of government, and bringing order out of chaos generally. The magnitude of the under- taking was now more justly realized, and to the work of prepar- ation the remainder of the summer, the succeeding autumn and winter were given. Gradually an impregnable line of works containing more than 50 forts grew up around the Capital, and within them gathered an army fine in material, admirable in dis- cipline, perfect in equipment and formidable in numbers.
About the middle of October a portion of the Federal army advanced into Virginia as far as Fairfax Court House, the enemy retiring to Centreville, and a few days later a small force with- vut support or means of retreat was thrown across the Potomac near Leesburg, and the result was the terrible disaster of Ball's Bluif, which sent a chill to every loyal heart. The fight was opened by Colonel Devens with the Fifteenth Massachusetts regiment, which had been sent forward on reconnaissance, and Colonel E. D. Baker. United States senator from California, who commanded the brigade, decided to reinforce him and make a stand. In the struggle which followed Colonel Baker lost his life, his troops were driven back toand into the river with sad loss,
....
27
THE FIRST YEAR CLOSES IN SUSPENSE.
many were captured, and Colonel Devens only escaped by swim- ming his horse across the Potomac. With the exception of some 'insignificant skirmishes,-in one of which near Drainsville Gen- cral Ord's brigade quite severely punished the command of the Southern cavalry leader Stuart,-nothing more was done by the Army of the Potomac till the following spring, and in a short time the main force was drawn snugly within its intrenchments about Washington.
The close of 1861 brought mingled hope and fear to the Union heart. Along the entire frontier from Virginia to Missouri rival forces were almost daily coming into conflict, and the Federal arms seemed, on the whole, to be making progress. On the 7th of November was achieved the first great naval suc- cess-the capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Hilton Head, on the South Carolina coast, and on the same day General Grant, by his attack upon the intrenched camp of the Confeder- ates at Belmont, which he occupied and destroyed, successfully cutting his way through an overwhelming force which closed in about his small command, laid the foundation for those great military successes that followed at Forts Henry and Donelson, to he crowned at the decisive, though critical, battle of Shiloh the following April. Of the operations in the great western field it is sufficient for the purposes of this sketch to say that the Union cause steadily advanced, with few defeats and no disasters.
When winter came it found the nation greatly disturbed over the " Trent affair." The Southern commissioners to England and France, Mason and Slidell, had been taken from the British mail steamer Trent, by Captain Wilkes of the United States navy; an act which at once aroused the ire of the offended Brit- ons, and the demand for the return of the captives to the pro- tection of the English flag was accompanied by the most vigorous preparations for war on the part of her majesty's government. As this was a distinct avowal of the " American principle " on which the war of 1812 had been fought. and a complete change ... the British base, the moral victory was considered satisfactory Compensation for the loss of the prisoners, and they were at once surrendered.
-------
1
----
28
FROM SECESSION TO ANTIETAM.
Edwin M. Stanton succeeded Simon Cameron as Secretary of War, January 13, 1862, and early in the following month, while General Grant was in the midst of his successful campaign, General Burnside's expedition, which had sailed nearly a month previous, relieved the popular anxiety by the capture of Roanoke Island, whence a month later his forces moved to victory at Newbern. The close of February also saw General Butler's ex- pedition against New Orleans well on its way to one of the most substantial victories of the war. Thus far the navy, in its opera- tions both at sea and on the rivers, had been remarkably success- ful; but a sad disaster was now in store for it. On the 8th of March the rebel iron-clad Merrimac, constructed from the Federal steam-frigate of that name, which had been captured with the Gosport navy-yard and repaired, came down upon the Union fleet in Hampton Roads, destroying the frigates Cumber- land and Congress, and retiring to her lair at night intending to finish the fleet next day. But when in the early morning she came steaming down to the encounter a new antagonist met her -the original Monitor, then on its trial trip. A desperate en- counter followed, in which the Merrimac, though not disabled, was so much damaged that she steamed away toward Norfolk, and never again ventured forth.
With the opening of spring came the long-looked-for move- ment of General MeClellan's Army of the Potomac. It had been decided to adopt the plan favored by the commander of moving against Richmond by way of Fortress Monroe and the Yorktown peninsula with the main force, leaving in the defenses about the Capital a sufficient force to defend the place from any assault by the Confederates, whose main body still held Manassas and Centreville. On the 8th of March, however, General Johnston evacuated these points and retired toward Richmond. The Union army crossed the Potomac next day, and the cavalry followed the enemy as far as the Rappahannock, but there was no other pursuit, and on the 17th the embarkation of the army at Alex- andria began. The force under MeClellan's immediate command consisted of something over 200,000 men, and had been divided by the President into five army corps, commanded respectively
29
OPENING OF THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
br Generals McDowell, Sumner, Heintzelman, Keyes and Banks- the latter operating with his Fifth Corps in the Shenandoah valley and one division of Sumner's Second Corps being sent to Fremont in the mountain department. The 1st of April found Sumner's two remaining divisions and the Third and Fourth Corps safely landed, though the troops on the transports had nervously looked for the re-appearance of the dreaded Merrimac. McClellan rune the next day, and on the 3d the army moved toward York- town, 24 miles distant. Magruder still held the rebel command on the peninsula, and he had made his position as strong as pos- -ible with the small force available. At Yorktown his principal line of works was encountered, running entirely across the pen- insula along the line of Warwick Creek. The advance thus far bul been through swamps and mud over corduroy roads, and '"fore the apparently formidable intrenchments the 100,000 men halted. A siege of Yorktown, which lasted a month, ensued. In the mean time Franklin's division of McDowell's First Corps arrived on transports, but the remainder of the corps, which Mcclellan expected, was retained for the defense of the Capital. This retention disconcerted the commander's plans for a flank movement on the enemy's position by water, and the siege went 01. On the 16th of April an attempt was made to pierce the Che of defense, and a part of the Vermont Brigade was thrown ross the creek at Lee's Mills, making a lodgment in the works, mt the brave fellows were not supported and were obliged to retire with serious loss.
The preparations for opening fire were all completed, when on the 4th of May it was discovered that the works were deserted, and the Confederates in full retreat up the peninsula. Pursuit sas at once ordered, and Stoneman's cavalry, in the advance, me upon the enemy toward night, in strong force behind Mitrenchments near Williamsburg. Next day the battle of Will- misburg was fought, principally by Hooker's division, which sintained a desperate struggle all through the day, being hard : wed till Hancock's brigade brought them relief by a skillful Moment across a narrow dam and a vigorous attack upon the Confederate flank. Late in the afternoon Mcclellan came up,
٠
30
FROM SECESSION TO ANTIETAM.
and preparations were at once made for a decisive battle on the morrow, but when the morning of the 6th dawned it revealed only abandoned earthworks in front of the Union army.
The skillful tactics of the Southern chieftain, General Joseph E. Johnston, had thus delayed the Federal advance till his own army could be concentrated at its chosen position in front of Richmond, to which all the troops available were summoned. Huger was withdrawn from Norfolk and the dreaded Merrimac blown up, allowing that post to fall into the hands of General Wool's troops, advancing from Fortress Monroe, and the Union gunboats ascended the James river till checked by Fort Darling- at Drewry's Bluff, 12 miles below Richmond; the force in front of Burnside in North Carolina was mostly recalled to the threat- ened Capital, and every preparation made for a desperate defense. McClellan's advance over the miserable roads was slow, so that two weeks were occupied in traversing the 50 miles from Will- iamsburg to the front of Johnston's lines on the Chickahominy.
Something of a reorganization of the Federal army had mean- time been made. General Porter was made commander of a new corps, called the Fifth, composed of his own division of the Third Corps with those of MeCall and Sykes; while the Sixth Corps, composed of the divisions of Smith of the Third Corps and Franklin of the First, was commanded by the latter. The army on the peninsula thus consisted of five corps, generally of two divisions each, and the men present for duty at the time of encountering the enemy seem to have been something over 115,000. The base of supplies was at White House, the head of navigation of the York river, up the right bank of which the army had thus far moved. Between MeClellan and. Richmond flowed the Chickahominy river, a sluggish, swampy stream, and as the army swung into position, Heintzelman and Keyes with their corps were thrown across that water course at Bottom's Bridge, about the 20th of May, the other corps remaining on the left or northern bank.
General MeDowell with some 30,000 men had meantime beer. sent forward in support of the peninsular movement as far as Fred- ericksburg on the Rappahannock, his left being then at Bowling
.
31
THE BATTLES BEFORE RICHMOND.
Green. To establish connection with him, General Porter was instructed to surprise the Confederates at Hanover Court House under General Branch, which he did on the 27th, after a night's march in a heavy rain, thoroughly dispersing the Southern troops. But the defeat of General Banks by "Stonewall " Jackson in the Shenandoah valley recalled McDowell toward Washington, and McClellan was, for the second time, deprived of the assistance expected from him.
General Johnston, anticipating the junction of MeDowell with McClellan, prepared to strike the latter with all his force before the conjunction occurred, and the result was the battle of Fair Oaks, which opened on the 31st of May. Changing the original programme somewhat, Johnston threw the bulk of his army upon the two Federal corps south of the Chickahominy; Casey's division, which received the first blow, was scattered, and although the Union soldiers fought desperately, the assailants steadily gained ground till late in the afternoon. At that time General Sumner, who had succeeded in getting a bridge across the river, brought forward Sedgwick's division of his corps, which met a thanking movement of the Confederates with a sharp attack, when the struggle ceased for the night. Beyond a terrible artil- lery fire, it was not seriously renewed the following day. Both sides had lost heavily, General Johnston being among the severe- Iv wounded, his command being taken by General Robert E. Iwve, who was thenceforward to lead the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to the close of its career at Appomattox, almost three years later. Each army re-possessed its former lines, and almost a month of inaction succeeded.
Finally MeClellan seemed ready for the forward movement, and on the 25th of June Hooker's division, supported by other troops, was advanced a mile on the Richmond road, meeting slight resistance and holding the ground covered. Simul- taneously with this success, the Union commander learned that Jurkson had left the Shenandoah valley and was rapidly moving strike his exposed right flank and ent him off from his base of supplies at White House. Immediate preparations were made for a change of base to the James river, hastened by the prompt
...
32
FROM SECESSION TO ANTIETAM. .
and ponderous blows which attested the energy with which the Confederate plan was to be carried out. Porter's corps alone now held the north bank of the Chickahominy, and the brunt of the battle of Mechanicsville, on the 26th, fell upon McCall's division. These troops, the Pennsylvania Reserves, which did good service on many a hard-fought field, received a resolute attack by D. H. Hill's and Longstreet's forces, which was repulsed with heavy loss to the assailants. But no sooner had night fallen than the victors began to retreat from the field, and the next morning found the corps in a new position at Gaines's Mills, near the crossing of the river. There, on the following day, was fought one of the most stubborn contests of the cam- paign. The Southern troops under Hill, Longstreet and Jackson, impetuously and repeatedly attacked less than half their nun- ber, and the lone Fifth Corps as often held its ground in triumph. Near night the left gave way before the persistent hammering, and had been pressed back for some distance, when the arrival of reinforcements saved the corps from utter rout.
Daylight of the 28th found Porter's command across the river and the bridges destroyed behind it, when the enemy turned their attention to the supplies at White House. To their annoy- ance, most of the stores had been removed and the rest were fired at their approach. Divining now the real purpose of the Federal commander, they bent every energy toward cutting off or over- whehning bis retreating columns. A succession of desperate struggles ensued. Magruder in direct pursuit came upon Sumner. who was protecting the rear at Savage's Station, on the 20th. Magruder attacked, only to be repulsed, and during the night Sumner followed the retreating army, though obliged to abandon his sick and wounded in hospitals. Desperate conflicts marked the 30th at White Oak Swamp and at Glendale. On the former field Franklin held Jackson at bay through the afternoon; at the latter, McCall's division contested manfully the desperate onsets of Longstreet, McCall himself being made prisoner, and his Pennsylvania Reserves suffering sadly, but gaining the neces- sary time. During the night the entire Union army went into position at Malvern Hills, where, in a position of immense natural
33
BEGINNING OF POPE'S CAMPAIGN.
strength, the inevitable afternoon attack was received next day. With comparatively slight loss to the defenders, the assaulting columns were bloodily repulsed as often as they advanced, an when the hopeless nature of the struggle was realized, General Lee withdrew his shattered legions toward Richmond, while McClellan retired his army to Harrison's Landing, and the peninsular campaign was at an end. The incubus of defeat rested upon the Union arms, and the President called for 300,000 additional men to serve for three years.
Scarcely had the thunders of battle ceased on the peninsula when they broke forth between the two capitals. The need of unity in the direction of the minor Federal forces scattered through the northern portion of Virginia induced the Washing- ton authorities to summon General John Pope from the West, to command the forces of Fremont, Banks and McDowell. The former, displeased at the promotion of a junior in rank, resigned his command, and was succeeded by General Sigel. Pope had won signal success in his former field, especially at New Madrid and Island Number Ten, and much was hoped from him in the new position, but it seems unquestionable that his transfer created great jealousy in many of the officers with whom he now rame in contact. He took command of the Army of Virginia on the 28th of June, and two weeks later General Halleck was sum- moned to Washington to assume direction of all the National armies-a position which he retained till early in 1864, when General Grant was made lieutenant-general, thus superseding him.
1
-- : ----
----
General Pope was dirceted to pivot his left upon the Rappa- hannock near Fredericksburg, withdraw his force to the east of the Blue Ridge and swing his right forward, sweeping the country in the direction of Gordonsville. Jackson, having accom- plished his purpose against the Army of the Potomac, was again sent northward to operate against him. The two forces con- fronted each other on the 19th of July, at which time Pope's vivance had passed Orange Court House and was moving toward Gordonsville, when Jackson reached the latter place before 1. 1 ... Preparations for a struggle at once began, Pope con- centrating his army near Culpeper, midway between the Rappa-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.