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 25
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NINE DAYS OF CARNAGE.
the earth, choking the lungs, the throat, the eyes, and settling in disgusting quantity npon the sweaty flesh wherever it could penetrate.
Added to these physical tortures, there was the constant ex- pectation of a renewal of the battle. The army was simply feeling its way through the wilds of a sparsely populated region. and the growling cannon along the flanks gave oral demonstra- tion that the movement was not being made free from observa- tion. In fact the two armies were moving in almost parallel columns toward the same point, the Confederates being in ad- vance. As was anticipated, the removal of Grant's trains the previons afternoon gave the enemy notice that the Army of the Potomac was to follow suit, and Lee gave Anderson, who had succeeded to the command of Longstreet's corps after that leader was wounded, directions to march in the morning to Spottsyl- vania Court House, to be in readiness to meet the new move- ment if it should prove to be of a hostile nature. As the woods in the Wilderness were on fire in various directions and a favora- ble bivouac could not be found, Anderson marched that evening and early next day planted his corps across the road leading to the Court House, in a position some two miles to the northwest of the village.
In the mean time Warren had been making the best of his way with the Fifth Corps toward Spottsylvania by the Brock road. His task proved by no means an easy one. The cavalry of the two armies had been in conflict there, fighting sharply at Todd's Tavern the previous day ; so that when in obedience to the new programme General Merritt attempted to clear the way for the advance of Warren's infantry he found the road barricaded and Fitz Hugh Lee's horsemen still in force in his path. So persist- ent was the opposition of the rebel cavalry and so difficult the nature of the ground for the operations of mounted men that the task of opening the route was finally turned over to the infantry, and all through the morning Warren's advance strng- gled along. Soon after passing the junction of the Pines Branch Church road, by which Sedgwick was to come with the Sixth: Corps, the ground became more open and favorable, and Robin-
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SEDGWICK BEGINS THE BATTLE.
son's division, which had the advance, attempting to push for- ward promptly through the clearing at " Alsop's " found its progress checked by a furious fire from a strong intrenched line of the enemy. General Robinson himself being severely wound- «, his command, utterly unfitted by the exhausted condition of the men for going into an engagement, fell back in some confu- sion, and Griffin's division, taking up the attack to the right. shared a like fate. At this time General Crawford's division of Pennsylvania Reserves, well tried on many a bloody field and understanding the nature of the work before them, came up and established the Union lines in spite of the vigorous protests of the enemy. General Warren, not feeling strong enough to at- tempt to do more, waited for the coming of General Sedgwick, and that officer on reaching the scene took command of the field. Hancock was still detained at Todd's Furnace where the Cathar- pin road connects the Brock road with the Shady Grove Church road by which the principal Confederate columns moved toward Spottsylvania. At this point it was feared that an attack might be made on the Federal rear, and in fact there was more or less desultory fighting during the early portion of the day; but Lee's entire army was hurrying as rapidly as possible toward Spottsyl- vania, where it was practically all assembled and put in battle array before night.
In Lee's front General Sedgwick was disposing his forces for the opening of battle, but the afternoon was well spent before his arrangements were completed. Then an advance was made by Colonel Brown's New Jersey Brigade of the First Division, Sixth Corps, but it encountered a strong force and was obliged to fall back without having accomplished anything. Near sunset a more successful movement was made by General Crawford's division, supported by Eustis's Brigade, which crossed the open ground, pushed into the woods in front, and coming upon a force of troops from Ewell's corps marching by the flank drove them a considerable distance, capturing quite a number of pris- oners. Falling back to the opening the troops were placed in tuition for the night, the Thirty-seventh in the front line, and profound was the sleep into which the weary men sank the mo-
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ment they were permitted to do so, continuing till the crashing of cannon at morning light called them to a tardy realization of their position.
The day which had dawned, Monday, May 9, 1864, was one never to be forgotten in the history of the Sixth Corps. Early in the morning the skirmish line, composed of a detail from the Thirty-seventh regiment, was ordered to advance, which it did in the most determined manner, driving back the opposing skirmishers for half a mile till the fortified main line of the enemy was encountered. A terrible fire broke forth from the earthworks, the bullets sweeping over the frail array of skirmish- ers as though to destroy every living thing within range, but the men in blue hugged the ground, gave back a fire of defiance as rapidly as they could load their pieces, and waited anxiously for the supporting charge which their own orders had seemed to promise. None came, however, and at length a retreat was re- luctantly ordered. Then a partial quiet settled over the oppos- ing forces, broken now and then by the experimental firing of some battery taking up a new position, or the faint report and sharp hiss of some sharp-shooter's deadly efforts.
It was from the latter that the catastrophe of the day was to come in the death of the beloved Sedgwick. That officer was standing in the rear of the rifle pits occupied by his command, with a few members of his staff, directing the strengthening of his lines, when the group were fired upon by some sharp-shooter; far in front, whose bullets whistled so near as to cause an invol- untary shrinking on the part of the staff officers. "Don't be afraid, boys, they couldn't hit an elephant at that distance!" said Sedgwick, with a glance at the location of the marksmen. Almost as the words left his lips he was struck beneath the eve by a bullet which passed entirely through his head, and without a word, with only a sad smile lighting his noble features, the brave soul which had never known fear or dishonor quitted its earthly tenement. Of the sad scene which ensued when the ter- rible loss was reported at head-quarters Sedgwick's adjutant gen- eral. Martin T. McMahon, says:
Each one in that tent, o'd gray-bearded warriors, burst into tears and
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289
GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK DEAD.
for some minutes sobbed like children mourning a father. They built a bower of evergreen among the pine woods and laid him out upon a rough bier made for him by soldier hands, and all day long there were strong men weeping by this funeral couch. They came from all parts of the army, the old and the young, the well and the wounded, officers and men, to take their last look at the beloved chieftain. Many thousands of brave men who composed that army were familiar with death in all its forms. Not once nor twice had they seen strong men stricken into sudden death. Not once nor twice had they behield men of high rank, in high command, fall amid contending hosts. They had, perhaps, grown hardened and in- different to what was necessarily of frequent occurrence and the common expectation of all. But when the news went that day, like an electric shock, along the lines of the Army of the Potomac that John Sedgwick was dead, a great loneliness fell upon the hearts of all, and men that scarcely ever heard his voice, many that scarcely knew him by sight, wept bitter tears as if they had lost an only friend, and all recalled how on many occasions, hearing on right or left or rear the thunder of hostile guns, all anxiety passed away from the minds of men at the simple re- mark, "It must be all right, Uncle John is there."
No commander in the army, it is safe to say, had a closer hold upon the affections of his subordinates, from the musket bear- ers in the ranks to those officers who commanded his divisions, than the general now dead. The perfect incarnation of human bravery, he was at the same time modest to the point of diti- dence, while his great heart overflowed with tenderness to the men of his command. Their fortunes and their fare were his own. On the march, if not in front he was in their midst, sharing their trials. His last night of life was passed among his faithful soldiers, like them sleeping upon the earth without tent or blanket. Whatever the duty to which his command might be called, they knew that his hand was firmly upon the helm, that his brain was clear and his purpose developed. As was the officer, such were the troops with whose organization he had been so long identified. Where he led they would follow, and their only fear had been that under the pressure to take a higher position he might at length yield, and leave the imme- diate command of the corps. They had never thought of the terrible blow which had now fallen .*
"General Sedgwick was a native of Connecticut, graduated at West Point in 1837 and served with arich distinction in the Mexican war, reaching the rank of major, serving afterward in Texas till 'lt outbreak of the rebellion. In March, Iso1, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Second
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NINE DAYS OF CARNAGE.
In accordance with the known wish of General Sedgwick. General Horatio G. Wright, the able commander of the First Division, was given command of the Sixth Corps, General David A. Russell taking the First Division. From casualties and other causes constant changes were transpiring among commanders of every grade, and at this juncture one in which the Thirty- seventh was peculiarly interested occurred in the transfer of Gen- eral Eustist and the permanent assignment of Colonel Edwards to the command of the brigade. In this promotion to a broader field of usefulness Colonel Edwards received a merited recogni- tion. His qualities were eminently those of a general officer. Quick to discern, prompt in execution, brave to a fault, know- ing intimately the troops with which he had to do, it was morally impossible that Colonel Edwards should fail to win a high measure of success. As a regimental commander he had written the impress of his character firmly on the Thirty-seventh. If in the desire to attain absolute perfection for his loved con- mand he had sometimes been hasty and consequently unjust " his subordinates, he had bitterly regretted that injustice. Th. interests of his regiment had invariably been safe in his hand -. since no commander could have been more jealous of the welfare of those intrusted to him.
In Lieutenant-Colonel Montague the regiment found an abk and acceptable successor to its promoted colonel. The method. of the officers differed essentially. If Edwards was born to command, Montague was intended by nature for a leader. Hi- personal power and influence were unbounded, his military qual- ities admirable, and his perfect knowledge of the regiment in detail assured a worthy record for the future.
These changes had taken place during the 9th, and meanwhile the Army of the Potomac had developed and completed its line-
United States cavalry and in August was given command of a brigade in the Army of the l'". mac and was afterward assigned to conumand the Third Division, Second Corps. doing noble . : vice on the peninsula and with Pope in his disastrous campaign. At Antietam his division im- with desperation, and he was twice wounded, but refused to yield the command till le far : from loss of blood. In January. 180?, be was given command of the Ninth Corps, but the 5th . : February following was assigned to the Sixth.
General lleary L. Eustis was a graduate of West Point in the class with General Pope. ... ing first in his class, and at the outbreak of the war was a professor in the Lawrence Sent : School at Cambridge, Mass. He was at this time temporarily assigned to the command of 1. " Fourth Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps, but resigned the service June 27 following.
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DEADLY CONFLICTS IN VAIN.
facing the Confederate position. The Union right was held by the Second Corps, which had been brought down from Todd's Furnace when it became apparent that there was no real danger in that quarter. The Fifth and Sixth Corps formed the center, with the Ninth on the extreme left. While the front was strongly held a line of earthworks was thrown up just in the rear, to which the troops presently retired to obtain shelter from the in- cessant fire which the enemy's sharp-shooters kept up. During the afternoon General Hancock was directed to move his corps across the Po, which at that point ran between the two lines, the immediate objective being an extensive Confederate wagon train which was seen to be moving toward Spottsylvania. A sharp engagement had begun to result next day when he was called back in order that his troops might be disposed to assist in an attack upon the enemy's center which had been decided on. It was not easy to withdraw troops from the immediate face of the foe with a conflict in progress, but this was done till only two brigades were left to sustain the contest. To complicate their situation, the woods in their rear caught fire, but the gal- lant fellows hurled back the force that was pressing upon them and then extricated themselves, though obliged to abandon their wounded comrades to perish by the flames. On both sides the impression left was that of a Federal defeat.
The attack which followed was unmistakably a disaster, the troops of the Fifth Corps throwing themselves against the enemy's intrenchments repeatedly, and at some points gaining a footing upon them only to be driven back with terrible loss, while com- !aratively little injury was inflicted upon the assailed. A little later in the day-that is, about 6 o'clock-a charge was made by Upton's brigade of the Sixth Corps which was more successful. That officer struck and penetrated the intrenchments of what afterward became so horribly famous as the Angle, captured a large number of prisoners, several flags and guns, making a Ionlyment with his unaided brigade in the second line of works: Lut the expected support did not come and after dark his line sas retired, having inflicted as well as sustained serious loss. Further to the left General Burnside made a strong reconnais-
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NINE DAYS OF CARNAGE.
sance without result, but with the loss of General T. G. Steven- son commanding his First Division killed.
During these disastrous attempts the Thirty-seventh took no active part as an organization, though its men were on the skir- mish lines in liberal detail, doing good service and suffering some loss, as did the men behind the intrenchments, from the constant firing of the Confederate sharp-shooters. Artillery had now come into use on both sides, and the guns of the Sixth Corps in many cases occupied the same works with the infantry. Yet so exhausted were the men from their incessant trials that many of them slept beneath the muzzles of the guns being fired directly above them.
The results thus far had not been very encouraging, but the indomitable energy of General Grant knew no such word as discouragement, and the following morning he sent to Wash- ington a brief summary of his operations, closing with the famous sentence, "I propose to fight it out on this line. if it takes all summer!" Through the 11th there was little fighting. the day being devoted to preparations for the terrible struggle of the 12th. Toward night the Thirty-seventh, with the rest of the Second Division, were relieved from the rifle-pits by the Third Division, moved to the rear and massed in an open field where, despite a steady fall of rain, the exhausted troops slept soundly.
Very early in the morning they were awake, and with the coming of light the terrible crash of battle which seemed to till the air bespoke a renewal of the struggle. In fact the Second Corps under the determined lead of Hancock had undertaken to do what Colonel Upton with his brigade had shown to be prac- ticable-penetrate the Confederate line at the Angle. This Angle consisted of a peculiar formation of the enemy's defenses. located almost directly north of Spottsylvania Court House. Beginning at their left, the general direction of the Confederate front till this point was reached was about due north. Here it turned and faced the east, running irregularly till the right rested on the river Po to the southwest of the Court House. 1: the Angle, however, the formation of the land was such that the
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HANCOCK'S SUCCESSFUL COUP.
line of defense instead of turning sharply in the new direction bent out forming the two sides of a blunt-nosed triangle. Along what would have been the base ran the second line which, like each of the sides may be described as about a mile in length. The ground sloped up to these works from the front, and for some distance before they were reached it was cleared of standing timber, though the approach was more or less obstructed.
As soon as the morning light became sufficient to allow his guides to take the point of direction, Hancock, whose corps was massed near the Landrum house in front of the Angle, ordered the charge. Through the rain and fog of the early morning the Second Corps in two irresistible lines swept up to and over the works. Johnson's division of Ewell's corps held the lines- three brigades of Virginia and one of Louisiana troops, the very flower of the Confederate army. Men could not have fought better than these men did, hand to hand in the trenches; but the enveloping force closed about thein forcing the surrender of over 3,000 soldiers, with 20 cannon and 30 battle flags. John- son himself and Steuart, one of his brigade commanders, were among the captives-both being former army friends of Hancock. So far all was well, and Hancock reported back to Grant, "I have used up Johnson and am now going for Early." But it was not easy to achieve further success. The Second Corps was disor- ganized by its experiences thus far, and when it reached the second line, at the base of the Angle, it was unable to make any further advance. Ilere the enemy was met in force, prepared to recover the ground that had been lost. Despite the gallantry of his men Hancock's advance was checked and thrown back, and it soon became evident that the supporting lines must be relied upon to hold what had been won. This work was to be done by the Sixth Corps.
As already described, Russell's and Neill's divisions of that rorps had been moved to the rear and inassed the previous even- ing. ready either to support Hancock or to attack in their own front. as developments might seem to justify. At half-past 4 the vagles rang out the assembly and an aide from General Wright announced that the brigade first under arms would take the lead.
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NINE DAYS OF CARNAGE.
Edwards's Brigade (as it must henceforth be known) was first in motion, and moving toward the left near the Landrum house. advanced to the edge of the clearing in front of the contested intrenchments where it was formed in a single line, the Tenth, Second and Thirty-seventh from right to left-the Seventh har- ing been left on the skirmish line in front of the Third Division. Moving up the slope to the recently captured works under a deadly fire which swept over the entire regien, the brigade con- nected with the Excelsior Brigade of Mott's division of the Second Corps, taking position against the outer face of the Con- federate intrenchments. These works were built of logs. strengthened with an embankment of dirt, and having a " head- log " at the top to protect the heads of the defenders while deliv- ering their fire through the crevice beneath it. They were thus about equally available for defense in either direction.
Scarcely had the Thirty-seventh taken position when the first of the desperate efforts of the enemy to regain possession of their lost works was made. A division in three lines swept forward magnificently, their approach covered by a ravine till they were within a very short distance. A ripple of fire ran along the line of blue and the battle front of gray melted away into broken fragments which scrambled back into the ravine, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and disabled. But the determi- nation of madness seemed to possess the Southern generals. Again and again were their solid columns pushed into the fatal Angle, only at each renewed effort to be sent back in disorder. leaving more and more of their bravest dead upon the scene till the slain actually lay piled upon each other. All authorities competent to speak from intelligent observation agree that no- where else in the entire war was such slaughter as within this comparatively limited arena.
Finding that the plan of assaulting in heavy columns was a useless waste of life, the Confederates resorted to every device to accomplish their purpose. In some parts of the field lines of skirmishers were rushed across, those that lived to make the passage hugging one side of the works while the Union soldiers occupied the other and fighting obstinately across in that way.
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"ADVANCE THE THIRTY-SEVENTH !"
each thrusting his gun over the crest and firing down into those on the other side; but in front of the Thirty-seventh the fire was too hot and well directed to allow of approach to such nar- row quarters.
It was during this struggle that the Thirty-seventh captured its first battle flag. Following a temporary lull in the conflict a line of battle appeared in its front and swept forward with a slightly diagonal inclination directly toward the crouching regi- ment. "Hold your fire, men ! Not one shot till I give the order !" said the indomitable Montague .. Three hundred dark muzzles looked grimly out from beneath the head-log, each covering its chosen victim. Not till the nearest Confederates were within a few yards was heard the anxiously awaited order to "Fire !" There was a flash, one simultaneous crash, and a cloud of white smoke spread like a curtain before the breastworks. When it dissipated that beautiful line of battle had entirely disappeared, the color-sergeant lay dead in the midst of his guard, and his flag, falling upon his dead body, became the well-earned prize of the Thirty-seventh.
The incessant firing in connection with the prevailing rain- storm soon choked and fouled the heated muskets till they were almost unserviceable, and as the line could not be relieved weapons were exchanged with a regiment which marched up in the rear, and so without a break the merciless fire was kept up. Finally at 4 o'clock, after ten hours of incessant engagement, the regiment was relieved and fell back a few rods behind a sheltering ridge to allow the men to take their first food since the few hasty mouthfuls of the morning and obtain a fresh supply of ammuni- tion. Soon after dark one of the relieving regiments unaccount- ably broke and huddled to the rear, wildly ejaculating, " The rebels are in the works !" The Thirty-seventh, many of the men asleep and entirely out of ammunition, were lying in the mud a few rods away, close by brigade head-quarters. Colonel Edwards and Lieutenant-Colonel Montague sprang to their feet, startled by the rush. Quick as a flash came the orders of the soldierly Edwards, " Advance the Thirty-seventh and hold the line with the bayonet !" At once rang out the clear tones of the lieuten-
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ant-colonel, "Forward, Thirty-seventh to the breast-works ! Fix bayonets !" Guided by his voice, the officers and men of the valiant regiment scrambled to their feet, and, undaunted by the losses of the doubtful day, undismayed by the incipient panie, equal in courage to confront in the darkness an unknown and unseen foe-more trying because unknown and unseen,- they hurriedly but with magnificent spirit pushed through the broken abatis to the unguarded section and crowned the crest with a strong wall of steel. Then a fresh supply of ammunition arrived and through the long night hours till almost morning the ripple and splutter and crack of the musketry fire never abated. About 3 o'clock on the morning of the 13th the fire from the enemy slackened and finally ceased, and a patrol sent out by Colonel Edwards discovered that the enemy had retreated from the immediate front. They had in fact fallen back to the new line at the base of the angle. A skirmish line was promptly advanced which brought in a considerable number of prisoners, and in the morning the brigade was relieved by one from the First Division, retiring to the vicinity of the Landrum house where it stacked arms and bivouacked for the day, the men dropping upon the muddy ground in the drenching rain and falling asleep at once from exhaustion.
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