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 24
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Later in the day Sedgwick's lines, creeping through the brush. came in contact with the foe and a serious engagement resulted. Colonel Upton's brigade, forming the left of the Sixth Corps line, reached a part of the field which had already been fought
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THE ARMIES AT CLOSE QUARTERS.
over, where the dead and wounded of both armies were still lying on the ground and the woods in his front were on fire, so that his further advance was checked. The rest of Wright's division, however, struck the enemy a well-directed blow, rout- ing two brigades, killing General Stafford, the commander of one, and capturing many prisoners. With this achievement the day closed on the Union right.
General Getty with his three brigades had moved promptly to the junction of the plank and Brock roads, and with a strong skirmish line in front advanced along the former for some dis- tance until he confronted the enemy in so strong force that he felt the hopelessness of attempting to do more than hold the ground till Hancock should come up. Wheaton's brigade was formed on the right of the road, Grant's Vermonters on the left, with Eustis's Brigade in support, the Thirty-seventh on the right and the Tenth on the left of its front line, with the Seventh and the Second in their rear. Hancock's troops soon began to arrive and went into position to the left of Getty, and as soon as the line was reasonably well formed the order to advance was given. Obedience was not so easy. Both sides had intrenched as much as circumstances would permit during the pause, and when Wheaton's and Grant's veterans attempted to advance they were met by a terrible musketry fire which they returned with interest. For a long time the two lines at close quarters poured a deadly fire into each other without wavering on either side. Hancock's strong lines were pushed forward but without avail. A stream of wounded men poured to the rear, and the Thirty- seventh, though not engaged, began to lose men from the drop- ping musket shots. The first man killed was Corporal Theodore A. Church of Company G, who had volunteered to join an ob- servation detail from the regiment sent out near the skirmish line to watch the progress of events in front, and while thus en- gaged he was shot through the head. Captain J. L. Hayden of Company H received a musket ball in the thigh inflicting a sc- vere wound, from the results of which he was a few months afterward obliged to resign the service, and 11 enlisted men were wounded.
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NINE DAYS OF CARNAGE.
Thus far the battle had taken the character of two indepen- dent engagements, General Warren with the assistance of Sede- wick doing the best he could in the vicinity of the turnpike. and Hancock with Getty's three brigades doing likewise on the plank road. Late in the afternoon it was attempted to insure connection and some degree of co-operation between the scat- tered Union forces by directing General Wadsworth to move his division of the Fifth Corps through the forest toward the plank road and strike Hill's command on the flank in concert with Hancock's attack. The movement was accomplished with great difficulty, and it was dark before the designated position was reached. Finding himself in the vicinity of the enemy, Get- eral Wadsworth halted his command for the night, the two line- being so close together that representatives of each looking fo: water in the darkness wandered into the other and were made prisoners.
There was little movement during the night. Troops simp !: could not be handled in that abominable jungle in the darkness; but General Burnside with the Ninth Corps was ordered up in fill the gap between Hancock and Warren, and the order to ea .... corps commander was simply to attack along the entire line at : o'clock next morning. Yet the decisive energy embodied in the. simple direction was fully matched in that of the Confedera: commander. Just before the appointed hour, as General Sed .- wick was making his final dispositions for the advance, Ewell': divisions came streaming through the forest and dashed again .: the firm lines of the Sixth Corps. It was as though a wavei .: had struck a rock. The recoil threw the charging columns bacs in disorder, and the Union right, guided and controlled by tis calm power of General Sedgwick, drove back the demoraliz foe and established its lines several hundred yards in advance. Then the intrenched position of the enemy was reached, at ... human valor could carry men no farther. So it proved in tl .. case of Warren. Along his front the Confederate position in . been made so strong that a direct attack-the only one possible - resulted in no advantage to the Union arms, although valiant; delivered and repeated with fearful persistency all the mornin-
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BATTLING ON THE PLANK ROAD.
Burnside, either because his troops were not in position or for some other reason, did not attack at the appointed time, nor in fact till afternoon. Not so with Ilancock. At the appointed moment his troops were launched against the foe, though his line at the left was hampered and held back by the expectation that Longstreet or a portion of his command might come up the Broek road to strike the Federal left flank. Pivoting upon the left, therefore, the Second Corps with the other commands which had been attached to it swung forward its right, covering the important plank road. Here General Birney of the Third Division, Second Corps, was in command, his own division, sup- ported by Getty's three brigades (now commanded by General Neill, Getty having been wounded the previous afternoon), moving along both sides of the plank road. In the advance of the morning Eustis's brigade formed the third or fourth line, the Thirty-seventh supported by the Seventh on the right of the road with the Tenth and Second on the left. After stubborn re- sistance the Confederate lines gave way everywhere in Birney's front and a considerable advance was made and held, though his left was pressed back from its farthest point. At the same time General Wadsworth's division, coming in upon the Confederate flank forced its way across to the plank road, faced in the line of the general advance and drove the enemy still further back. It was the critical moment of the battle. If the Federal move- ment could have continued it must have torn Hill's entire corps to pieces, but owing to the nature of the ground it became nec- essary to make a complete readjustment of the lines. The men were scattered and mingled in almost inextricable confusion; officers were without command, detached knots and groups strug- gled here and there, the whole expanse swarmed with fugitives pressing not from but toward the enemy. It was no trifling task to gather commands, form lines, establish connections and put the forces in condition for effective work, and while this was being done Longstreet's two fresh divisions came up on the Con- federate side. Their presence was unknown till Hancock, strengthened by Stevenson's division of the Ninth Corps, which with Wadsworth's was now placed formally under his command,
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attempted a further advance. By this time Longstreet was in position, and though Birney, Mott and Wadsworth fought their divisions gallantly they were held in check by the firm lines which they encountered. While the battle was still raging fiercely and when the Federal troops had nearly expended their ammunition they were taken in the flank by five brigades which Longstreet had moved around to the unfinished railroad and thence nearly due north, striking Mott's thin lines, which crumbled at the shock. Before Wadsworth's brigades were pre- pared for this new trial the wave swept over upon them and they too, unable to hold their ground, rushed back in confusion toward the Brock road, throwing other troops into disorder.
Eustis's Brigade was coming up in column of regiments at this moment, when General Wadsworth, seeking for some force to stay the disaster, rode to the Thirty-seventh, which was in front. and directed a charge against the exultant Confederates. Col- onel Edwards received the order and moved his regiment by the right flank till it stood full in the path of the victorious legions; then facing the terrible work before it the frail line heard un- dismayed the order to charge ten times its own number, and with a cheer and a dash as one man the gallant battalion threw itself against the advancing line. The remainder of the brigade halted.
It was like a charge through the wildest regions of Dante's "Inferno"! The forests which once covered the entire region with a magnificent growth had been cut over repeatedly to fur- nish fuel for the mines which had been worked in the vicinity since the early days of Virginia, and instead of the natural growth there had sprung up everywhere a dense thicket of scrub pine, oak and walnut saplings, hazel and other bushes and briers so dense that it was next to impossible to force one's way through them without tearing flesh and clothing. Interspersed with rocky tracts on which only a gymnast could maintain his footing were marshes even more impassable. But over the swamps, be- tween the saplings, through the bushes and briers the men forced themselves, firing as they went, clearing the human opposition away with the bayonet, catching a gleam now and then of the
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"INTO THE MOUTH OF HELL."
loved colors-Massachusetts and the nation side by side-as they steadily pressed through the wilderness, driving back the enemy, line after line in disorder, inflicting serious loss, but marking the path of the advance with brave men fallen along the way.
Still onward sweeps the line! Only the Thirty-seventh Mass- achusetts regiment is fighting Hill's and Longstreet's corps. It was a charge of Six Hundred; not as on the famous field of Balakla- va a swift cavalry dash, but a forlorn hope of infantry, throwing itself unsupported into the face of twice ten thousand foeman. Ilotter and hotter comes the fire! Ah! the colors-the Stars and Stripes-sway and seem to fall; but before they touch the earth they are held erect again, though in other hands. Color Ser- geant John W. Field of Hatfield, wearing his white Greek cross as bravely as knight of old ever bore the Christian eross against the Infidel, falls dead. shot through the head, but his flag is caught and borne still forward in triumph.
"You have made a splendid charge!" said the noble, white haired General Wadsworth to Colonel Edwards. "Your reg- iment alone has done all that I wished and more than I hoped. I will go now to reform my lines and you must fight your way back as best you can." They were the hero's last known words. Hiding to the left of the regiment in search of his scattered div- ision, he came under fire of the enemy, was mortally wounded in the head, fell into their hands and died within their lines.
The regiment had advanced some 900 yards, the left resting on the road and the right "in the air," when there was a momentary halt. A little break in the tangle in front showed some kind of earthworks. "We must go at those with a rush!" suggested Lieutenant-Colonel Montague to Colonel Edwards: bat just at that moment Captain Lincoln came in from the right with news that the rebels seemed to be getting around that fank. "Refuse your right and hold your position." was the rommand; but as it became evident that the regiment was being "veloped the order to fall back was given. The charge had Fren a magnificent one -- the men had responded to the sacrifice Armanded with unsurpassed devotion and courage. The return exhibited still higher qualities of heroism.
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With wonderful coolness one-half of the regiment marched some 25 paces to the rear, loading as they did so, when they faced to the front delivering a steady fire till the others fell back. Thus in alternate movement, with an unbroken front to the foe, with a persistent courage that refused to be hurried into a double- quick, those who were left, in sadly shortened line, rejoined the brigade and at once set to work in the construction of a line of rifle-pits on either side of the plank road. Before the task of intrenching had proceeded far, however, new dispositions were made and the brigade advanced to the crest of a hill some distance to the right and rear of the scene of the recent attack. Here under a severe fire which was returned with energy the pos- ition was held while Hancock's lines were established in the vicin- ity of the Brock road, to which it had been decided to fall back. The Second Corps being finally in position the brigade withdrew to the main line, forming Hancock's right, and while awaiting the . expected renewal of the Confederate attack there was time to note the extent of the loss already suffered. This was serious enough, as the terrible shortening of the regimental line had proclaimed. In addition to the loss of the previous afternoon. 34 enlisted men had been killed and over a hundred officers and men wounded.
Among the killed were many of the bravest and best beloved of the regiment, the full list being as follows: Company A- Sergeant Sylvanus Muller, Oliver C. Hooker. B-Edward W. Coope, Gordon Dunn, George King, Eugene Murphy, George F. Phinney, James B. Rudd. C-John W. Newton, Egbert Pexley, John Walcott. D-George C. Clark, John S. Hyde, John D. Smith, George M. Wolcott. E-Sergeant John M. Partridge, Urbane H. Crittenden, Richard Fulton, Joseph Rivet. Francis Sherman. F-Color Sergeant John W. Field, Corporal John M. Dunbar, Orange Bardwell, Joseph J. Rogers. G- Sergeant William M. Knapp, Joseph Bushman, Maurice Moore. Henry D. Temple. William Whitney. H-Arthur T. Merritt. Sumner Warner, Sidney P. Wood. I-John Wilcox. K- Timothy MeNamara.
The wounded officers comprised Major Moody, slightly in the
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THE WANING OF THE BATTLE.
head; Captain Lincoln in the side, and First Lieutenant Chal- mers in the hand, producing disability from which he was sub- sequently discharged. It was at the beginning of the retrograde movement that Major Moody was wounded, and at first the hurt seemed to be a severe one. But the plucky major not only did not leave the field, but rendered invaluable service in preserving a firm front against the enemy. With hat off and the blood stream- ing over his face and breast, he skillfully maneuvered the left wing, worthily exemplifying in his own bearing the unflinching persistency and courage of the regiment of which he was a mod- est and worthy officer. Lieutenant Chalmers had during the winter preceding been one of the foremost in the athletic sports of the regiment, as was recalled by the unwavering tones of the brave Scotchman when, extending the mangled member toward the lieutenant-colonel near by he sang out, "No more base-ball for me, Colonel!" (The full list of wounded, accurate as it can be made by diligent research, will be found in the Appendix.)
The expected onset by Longstreet's corps was delayed on ac- count of the severe wounding of that chieftain by his own men almost in precisely the manner in which a year before Stonewall Jackson had received his mortal hurt, though Longstreet was shot down in broad daylight while riding in front of his com- mand arranging for the attack on Hancock. General Lee at once took personal direction of the preparations, but it was sev- vral hours before he was ready to order the advance. In the mean time Leasure's brigade of Burnside's corps charged across in front of Hancock's position, encountering little opposition; and as it seemed possible that the enemy might have given up the idea of a further struggle Hancock and Burnside were ordered to attack in force at 6 o'clock.
At 4 o'clock, however, the Confederate onset came, their lines advancing within a short distance of the Union breastworks and giving and receiving a heavy fire for a long time, the assailants in their exposed position suffering most severely. A singular circumstance, as it chanced. gave the latter a temporary advan- tage near the close of the engagement. In front of the Union lines, where the ground had been fought over several times, a
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fire had been burning since early in the day, and had communi- cated to the logs forming the breastworks. Fanned by the breeze it spread rapidly for hundreds of yards, the smoke and flame carried back into the faces of the defenders checking their fire and finally driving them out of position. The assailants discov- ering this fact pushed forward a brigade or two and made a temporary lodgement in the works, sending a part of the Fed- eral soldiers to the rear in disorder; but a determined attack by a portion of Colonel Carrol's brigade regained the lost ground and the entire Confederate line withdrew from the hopeless contest. Hancock's men having nearly exhausted their ammu- nition were in no condition to deliver a counter attack, and the fighting on that part of the line ceased, not to be renewed.
But Lee, with his usual determination, had not given up the idea of inflicting further damage on his antagonist, and soon after the conflict ceased on the Union left it broke out at the extreme right. By skillful effort Ewell succeeded in massing Gordon's Georgia brigade and Johnston's North Carolinians in strong force on Sedgwick's flank. The lines of the Sixth Corps had been weakened to strengthen those further to the left, and Shaler's brigade were assiduously building breastworks near sun- set when they were surprised by a vigorous onset and gave way in some confusion owing to the suddenness of the attack. Shaler himself was made prisoner, as was General Seymour. whose brigade was likewise broken, and for a time a critical state of affairs existed. The entire Sixth Corps' front was attacked vigorously, and as the troops present consisted of but four bri- gades in addition to the broken ones on the right there was dan- ger that the impetus of the blow might force a further giving way. Fortunately for the Union arms, the jungle prevented the effect- ive moving of troops by the enemy, and in the opening of the engagement the Confederate forces became scarcely less broken than the brigades receiving the shock, so that there was every danger of the temporary success turning into a disaster if fresh " Federal troops should come upon the scene. The officers on each side, therefore, set themselves at once to reorganize their com- mands. General Wright held his remaining brigades firmly to
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"THE HONOR OF THE SIXTH CORPS."
their work, while General Sedgwick never displayed his qual- ities as a popular officer better than in bringing order out of the threatening chaos. Riding in the path of the fugitives and in- terposing the power of his presence like an insurmountable wall, he called upon the demoralized ones to " Remember the honor of the Sixth Corps." The appeal, uttered in those warm-hearted. manly tones which no battle tempest ever disconcerted, was the most potent that could be made. The men, ashamed of their temporary demoralization, halted, faced about and under the personal superintendence of their beloved commander, in hastily formed lines, went steadily back to regain the ground they had lost. This done, in the early darkness a new and stronger line, somewhat to the rear and better adapted to the occupation of the diminished force that was to hold it, was selected, fortified and occupied later in the night.
The danger of thus weakening the Union right being forcibly shown to General Meade, the five brigades which had been de- tached were ordered to rejoin their corps, and with the rest Enstis's Brigade, which had been relieved from the front to ob- tain a little rest, was roused and marched for a time in the di- rection of the right wing, halting at length till daylight the better to find its way through the maze.
Early next morning-the tth-the brigade in two lines took position on the left of the corps, and through the forenoon waited in constant expectation of a fresh outpouring of blood: but the morning passed in comparative quiet. The Union skir- mishers were pushed forward to feel the foe, but everywhere the report was practically the same,-Lee had withdrawn his forces to their strongly intrenched lines some three-quarters of a mile from those of the Union army, and having secured the advan- tages of some openings where artillery could be placed was awaiting the Federal attack. This it was decided not to make. For two days the contestants had grappled with stubborn fury, rach gaining at some time certain advantages, to be quickly off- set by equal disadvantages. No great contest could with more propriety be called a drawn battle. While Grant had taken the initiative, his movement had not contemplated or intended a
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NINE DAYS OF CARNAGE.
battle where it had taken place. Lee had forced the encounter, had inflicted upon the Union army severe loss, but had himself received the first of the crushing blows which were to be contin- ued with the merciless persistence of remorseless warfare till the military power of the Confederacy should crumble in ruins. Having engaged for two days in a deadly struggle in a region where common humanity-if considerations of humanity ever entered the councils of military commanders-should have for- bidden the joining of battle, each side was now quite ready to se- lect and to accept some other location for the continuation of the strife. The men of both commands were utterly exhausted by the arduous experiences of the past few days, yet as neither knew the purposes of the other it was necessary that every man who could be spared for the purpose should be engaged with pick and spade in fortifying so that no sudden attack should bring disas- ter at an unprotected point.
Thenceforth, indeed, so far as Lee's army was concerned, spades were to take the place of bayonets. While there were occasional sorties and dashes, the steadfast principle governing the tactics of the Confederate chieftain was to plant his army in the path of the enemy, intrench heavily and maintain the best possible positions of defense. This course made the prosecution of the war on the part of the Army of the Potomac bloody and at times disheartening, but it was at the same time so practical a confession of weakness on the Southern side as to proclaim to the whole unprejudiced world that the beginning of the end had come.
About noon Enstis's Brigade was relieved from its position at the left of the corps, but instead of falling to the rear as the men fondly hoped for rest and relief from the constant appre- hension of the front, it moved over to the extreme right, where it formed in a single line and remained till near dark, when it was set to work constructing a line of earthworks, built of logs, and whatever could afford protection from hostile bullets. This work was naturally very difficult in such a country. The soil was filled with roots and stones interlaced in an impenetrable net work: and to all other considerations must be added the ex-
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STARTING FOR SPOTTSYLVANIA.
hausted condition of the men. Yet the works were built and manned, and the defenders sank behind them in the hope of a night's unbroken rest.
Never was hope more vain, General Grant had decided, as soon as it became evident that Lee had settled into the de- fensive, to push on to the southward and interpose between . the Confederate army and Richmond. Already were his trains in motion and the orders issued directing the movements of the various corps. According to these instructions, as soon as dark- ness made the movement practicable the Fifth Corps was to move by the Brock road and Todd's Tavern to Spottsylvania Court House, a march of some 15 miles, followed by General Hancock's command to Todd's Tavern, about half way from the recent battle-field. The Sixth Corps was to move by way of the pike and plank road to Chancellorsville, whence taking the cross roads by Aldrich's and Piney Branch Church it was to come in upon the Spottsylvania road between the Fifth and Second Corps, forming the center of the army. The trains of the Fifth and Sixth Corps were to follow the latter during the march, being previously parked at Chancellorsville. All move- ments, as well as the withdrawal of the army from its position in front of the enemy, were to be protected by cavalry outposts and skirmishers.
Such was the plan in pursuance of which the Thirty-seventh were placed under marching orders about dusk and soon after- ward drew quietly to the rear, taking up the march which with more or less interruption continued all night. Daylight found the regiment near Chancellorsville, and for some distance the march was continued in the direction of Fredericksburg along the plank road. Then the main road was quitted and the col- umn turned sharply southward. The march, which was steadily kept up till afternoon, proved one of intolerable severity. In addition to the worn condition of the men, consequent upon the Wrissant tax on nerve and body during the previous few days. the weather was most trying. The heat had now become intense and enervating, the roads were dry as tinder, and the dust rose in stifling clouds which hung with torturing persisteney close to
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