USA > Massachusetts > History of the Thirty-sixth regiment Massachusetts volunteers. 1862-1865 > Part 12
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April,
return to Massachusetts, receiving leave of absence for fifteen days, leaving the regiment in command of Major Draper.
On the 19th the corps was reorganized. The old First Division, with which we had been identified during all our service, was almost entirely broken up. General Ferrero, our former commander, was assigned to command the new Fourth Division, composed entirely of colored troops, and most of the regiments were assigned to the new Second and Third Divisions. The new First Division was composed chiefly of regiments recently organized, and those not previously con- nected with the corps. The Seventy-ninth New York, One Hundredth Pennsylvania, and Seventeenth Michigan, were sent to the Third Division, commanded by General Willcox. It was a severe disappointment to be thus separated from the brave men with whom we had shared a common danger and won a common glory ; but, as if to compensate us for this trial, and to render the separation less painful, we were not parted from our old, well-proved, and dearly beloved com- rades, -the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania. These two regiments. the Forty-fifth and Thirty-sixth, henceforth to be more closely attached, and more than ever brothers, were assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division. Major-General John G. Parke was announced as Division Commander and Briga- dier-General Robert B. Potter as Commander of the bri- gade, consisting of the Forty-eighth and Forty-fifth Pennsyl- vania, Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, Seventh Rhode Island. Fifty-first New York, and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, - the latter not yet reported, - six regiments, numbering, present for duty, one hundred and seven officers, and two thousand five hundred fifty-one enlisted men. With the exception of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts. all these regiments had served long in the Ninth Corps, and had made enviable records. The Fifty-first New York had been commanded by Generals Fer- rero and Potter as Colonels, and at Antietam Bridge, with the Fifty-first Pennsylvania, had won a reputation for dis-
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tinguished bravery and soldierly bearing second to none in the army. Of our division and brigade commanders we were justly proud. They had been identified with the corps during its entire existence, and both had commanded the corps, reflecting credit upon themselves, the corps, and the ser- vice.
At the date of the reorganization of the division both Generals Parke and Potter were absent, on account of sick- ness ; and that portion of the order relating to commanders in the Second Division was never carried into effect. Colonel S. G. Griffin, Sixth New Hampshire Volunteers, command- ing the Second Brigade, was placed in temporary command of the division, and Colonel Joshua K. Sigfried, of the Forty- eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, assumed command of our brigade. Both these officers were able and distinguished soldiers. Upon his return to duty, at the close of the month, General Potter was placed permanently in command of the division, and General Parke returned to duty to be assigned as chief of the Ninth Corps staff.
Under date of April 21st, Surgeon James P. Prince was assigned to duty as Chief Medical Officer of the Fourth Division ; Captain Raymond as Inspector of First Brigade, Second Division, on the staff of General Potter; and Lieu- tenant Emory as Assistant Commissary of the Fourth Division. On the 23d of April, Captain S. C. Warriner, Company E, and First Lieutenants Samuel A. Goodspeed and John A. Rice, tendered their resignations, which were accepted, and they left for Massachusetts, much to the regret of their commands and their comrades in the regi- ment.
The work of reorganization went forward very rapidly. Although the destination of the corps remained as great a mystery as ever, it was evident that preparations for an important movement were being perfected, and that we might be ordered suddenly to leave. On the evening of the 22d the command was ordered to be in readiness to march, and
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April.
before daylight of the 23d the delightful camp was broken up, and the corps took up its line of march, not toward the harbor, but in the direction of Washington, following the line of the Elk Ridge and Annapolis Railroad. After a march of thirteen miles the corps bivouacked in the fields for the night. Very early on the 24th the march was resumed. In about six hours we reached the Baltimore and Washington turnpike, and at nightfall the corps went into camp near Bladensburg, distant about eight miles from the city of Washington. At four o'clock on the morning of Monday, the 25th, rereille was sounded ; but, owing to a severe shower. the regiment did not march until about eight o'clock. When the march was resumed the corps passed through Bladensburg and continued in the direction of the city. We reached the outskirts of the capital about noon, and halted on New York avenue for the command to close up, as we were to pay a marching salute to the President and General Burnside, who were to review us from a balcony of Willard's Hotel. It soon became known that the corps was to pass through the city, and the streets along the line of march were densely packed. The column was greeted with cheers and applause. Many spirited descriptions of this imposing scene were published at the time in the journals of the day ; but none is more graphic than the following, taken from a Memorial- Day Address, at Beverly, Mass., by Honorable R. S. Rantoul, May 30, 1871, seven years after the scene narrated : -
" On the 25th of April, 1864, I stood, at high noon, on a thronged sidewalk of the city of Washington. Across the street, and raised on a balcony above the surging crowd, a lank, sad man stood gazing wistfully down - his head un- covered - upon the passing scene beneath. An unutterable sadness seemed to have fixed itself upon his face. For the most part he was unnoticed by the long procession, which. hour after hour, with freqnent pauses, but with elastic tread. pushed on through dust and sweat, for Long Bridge, a few
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reds off - then over the Potomac and into Virginia. In dull .Recession, company on company, battalion by battalion, brigade after brigade, wearily yet cheerfully, they tramped in under that Southern sun, sometimes singing, oftener thoughtful, never seemingly regretful. It was one of :hose soft, vernal days, whose very air, as if breathed from groves of oranges and myrtle, seemed able to melt all hearts. Music there was; but strangely, as it seemed, not of that martial strain. associated, in piping times of peace, with the rush of battle. Exquisite music there was from martial bands, but for the hour they seemed to have attuned them- selves to melodies of home and love. Shoulder to shoulder, looking not baek, asking not whither, marched the bronzed veteran of East Tennessee and Carolina, with regiments of raw recruits, -tradesmen and mechanics from the towns, the farmer and frontiersman of the West, the lumberman from his Eastern forest, Indian sharp-shooters attached to Western infantry, favored sons of culture and wealth, the first black division, five or six thousand strong, following the white State flag of Massachusetts, batteries of artillery, squadrons of cavalry ; mingling with these or pressing hard upon them, commissary wagons, ambulances, and quarter- masters' trains, stuffed with the equipage of hospital and camp; and, last of all, as far as the eye could reach, fat breves choked up the dusty way. Solemnly the mighty mass moved forward to confront its fate. Many a brave man felt that day that he was crossing Long Bridge never to return. Little heed paid they that the eye of Lincoln was upon them ; little ardor they caught from sad, sweet music or the cheers and greetings of the thronging streets ! Little was there for them of pride, pomp, or circumstance of glorious war ! Grim resolve and cheerful devotion were the lessons of the hour !
" Ask where you would, you got no clue to their destina- tion, for no one knew it! They had waited long at Ammapolis, expecting to be ordered off by sea. Not a man,
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that day, of all those marching legions, knew whither he was going !
" ' Theirs not to reason why ! Theirs but to do and die !'
Only the lank, sad man, who gazed from his high place upon them, hat in hand, as though with a friend's last look. and the few high officials about him, knew more than that the Ninth Army Corps, twenty-five thousand strong, had been ordered from Annapolis to Alexandria! The veil of the future was not yet lifted."
Chaplain Woodbury says, " It was a spectacle which made many eyes grow moist and dim. And thus the corps that had never lost a flag or a cannon marched through Wash- ington. Crossing Long Bridge the troops went into camp about two miles from Alexandria."
Even then many of the men still cherished the hope that transports would be in readiness for them at Alexandria. But these notions were soon put to flight. To the corps was assigned the duty of guarding the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from the Potomac to the Rapidan ; and reluctantly the fond hopes of a coast expedition and an independent movement were abandoned.
On Wednesday, April 27th, at ten o'clock A. M., the bri- gade left Alexandria to follow the divisions which had been advanced toward the Rappahannock. and after a fatiguing march of sixteen miles encamped at night three miles beyond Fairfax Court-House. The next day the march was con- tinued over the ground made historie in 1861, through Cen- treville, and past the old earthworks at Manassas. At noon we halted an hour for dinner on the Bull Run battle- field. Afterwards we forded the Run. and at six o'clock. having marched eighteen miles, went into eamp at Bristow Station. on the field where the Second Corps achieved a brilliant victory the autumn before.
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At six o'clock the next morning the brigade was in line, but did not move out of camp until half-past nine ; marched then about half a mile, and countermarched, and marched again, until finally, about three o'clock, we went into camp near the railroad, on new ground, which was ordered to be laid out according to army regulations. The corps was being distributed along the line of the railroad in supporting dis- tance, and the progress was very slow.
On the 30th it became necessary to make another change, and our "Regulation Camp " was abandoned to others. We marched at half-past five o'clock in the morning, crossed Kettle Run at noon, and relieved the Seventeenth Regular Infantry, of the Fifth Corps, taking possession of the splen- did camp near Catlett's Station, which they had occupied during the winter. Captain Morse, with Co. C, was sent for- ward to Catlett's, to guard the station and water-tanks, while the remainder of the regiment went into camp. The larger portion of the regiment was accommodated in the barracks of the Seventeenth Regulars, but the three left companies were obliged to occupy their shelter-tents.
Upon reaching this place, it being the last day of the month, the regular monthly return of the regiment was made up and forwarded to head-quarters. As being the in- ventory of the effective strength with which we entered the campaign it may be interesting, for the purpose of comparison, to include a synopsis of the report. At that date we had present for duty fourteen commissioned officers, and four hundred and twenty-six enlisted men, belonging to the regi- ment, including ninety-one men transferred from the Twenty- ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, or four hundred and forty in all. In addition we had fifty-six effective men belonging to the Forty-sixth New York, assigned for duty to our regi- ment, making a total of four hundred and ninety-six, of whom three hundred and thirty-five were members of the Thirty- sixth. In addition there were forty-two enlisted men on extra or daily duty, and thirteen sick in the hospital, making
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April,
a total present with the brigade of five hundred and fifty- one. Three officers and eighty-five enlisted men were on special duty with the corps, and five officers and two hun- dred and ninety-two enlisted men were absent beyond the limits of the department, making the whole number on the regimental rolls, present and absent, twenty-two com- missioned officers, and nine hundred and fourteen enlisted men.
The following officers were present for duty with the regi- ment : Major Draper, Adjutant Hodgkins, Assistant Sur- geon Bryant, Quartermaster Tuttle, Captains Barker, Smith, Buffum, Bailey, Morse, Holmes, and Ames; First Lieutenants Daniels, Fairbank, Burrage, and Marshall, or the average of but one commissioned officer for each com- pany in the line. Company I was commanded by Orderly Sergeant Alonzo A. White, who had received a commission as Second Lieutenant and was awaiting muster-in. Second Lieutenants White, Hancock, Wright, and Davidson had been unable to muster in the grade to which they had been commissioned, their companies being below the minimum, and had already, under date of April 26th, been recon- mended for promotion to fill the vacancies caused by the promotion of First Lieutenant Daniels (who was to succeed Captain Warriner), and the resignations of Lieutenants Cross, Goodspeed, and Rice. The following officers were absent from the regiment : Lieutenant-Colonel Goodell, from disability resulting from wounds ; Surgeon Prince, Captain Raymond, and Lieutenant Emory, on special duty with the .corps ; Captain Smith, Lieutenants Davis and Brigham, on special duty, recruiting; First Lieutenant Robinson, absent by reason of wounds.
The Ninth Corps was now in position, scattered along the line of railroad from Fairfax to the Rappahannock, and had relieved all the troops of the Army of the Potomae which were now concentrated near the Rapidan. The duty of guarding the railroad was not arduous, but it required con-
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tant vigilance, and the troops were continually on the alert It a band of rebel guerillas which infested the region should make a sudden dash, destroy a portion of the road, and thereby seriously interrupt communication with the main army, encamped near Brandy Station. To guard against an incursion of this body, a strong picket force was stationed along the railroad, and a portion of the troops in camp were kept in readiness to repel an attack. The defences consisted of a formidable abatis surrounding the entire camp. The situation was very pleasant, and the daily duties and routine of camp were performed. On the 2d of May a large reconnoitring party was sent out, under command of Cap- tain Holmes ; but no trace of an enemy could be discovered.
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May,
CHAPTER XIII.
IN THE WILDERNESS.
Ox the morning of the 4th all doubts as to our des- tination or the length of our stay at this point were re- moved by the receipt of an order from General Burnside for the corps to concentrate, and move forward to the Rapidan. At ten o'clock that forenoon the tents were struck, the line was formed, and we left our pleasant camp, little realizing the terrible scenes immediately awaiting us. In our march . we followed the line of the railroad, and were joined at Catlett's Station by the command of Captain Morse. At noon a halt was made at Warrenton Junction, where the Second Division concentrated. Our brigade was now com- manded by Colonel Zenas R. Bliss, of the Seventh Rhode Island, as Colonel Sigfried had been assigned to command a brigade of the colored division. The march was continued all the afternoon. and at nightfall we bivouacked at Bealeton Station, having marched thirteen miles.
On that day we received information of the resignation of our esteemed commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Goodell, in consequence of the wound he received at Blue Springs. His ability as a soldier and his reputation as a man were well established in the corps, and recognized by its com- mander, who desired him to remain in the service, and requested the Secretary of War to assign him to special duty. But the nature of his wound prevented him from rendering active service in the field. as he desired, and he was compelled reluctantly to resign.
At daylight of the 5th the command was in motion. At
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nine o'clock we crossed the Rappahannock on a pontoon bridge. Here we saw the monument of wood, bearing the inscription, "Erected in memory of the brave sons of Maine who fell while gallantly charging these heights, November 7th, 1863. Fifth, Sixth, and Twentieth Maine." The monu- ment bore the names of the fallen heroes, among which we read the names of several members of the Twentieth, - our fellow-voyagers of the "Merrimac" in 1862.
As soon as the division had crossed the river the march was resumed over fields, through forests, and along dusty roads. The halts became less frequent, and the steadily in- creasing heat was severely felt. At noon we ate our dinner amid deserted camps, which but a day or two before were occupied by our comrades of the Army of the Potomac ; and we knew that the terrible struggles of the past were soon to be renewed. Indeed, only an hour passed, and the deep booming of artillery was heard beyond the Rapidan. The lag- ging pace was now quiekened. and dull hearts were stimulated to fresh life and courage. "Grant has found his objective !" "Hark ! There it is again !" "They're at it, boys !" Grant's found the Johnnies !" "Go it ! We'll be in to-night !"- these and many like expressions were uttered by the men, excited for a moment at the sound of battle; while the clenched hands and compressed lips proved that the hour of great endeavor -for victory or death - was near. No lagging now ; no more halting for rest; but on -forward ! The sounds of the battle grew louder and nearer, the din of musketry mingling with the roar of artillery. As we neared the conflict the spirits of the men seemed to grow lighter and more elastic and buoyant. The speed of the march was not abated until the Rapidan, at Germanna Ford, was reached. There, in the confusion of trains, artillery, and massing bat- talions, we were allowed a moment's rest. The halt, however. was brief. Soon the order - Forward! was given ; and away we marched over the pontoon bridge, which swayed beneath our tread, with the sound of battle more appalling in front,
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May,
and the apparent confusion more startling in rear. As we crossed that sluggish stream, to many minds recurred the well-known lines : -
" Part of the host have crossed the flood, And part are crossing now !"
The regiment was now south of the Rapidan; and, upon halting, we had an opportunity of looking about, and many and earnest inquiries were made of every one coming from the front. We learned that the entire army had crossed the river the day before, - the Fifth and Sixth Corps at Ger- manna Ford; the Second Corps, and the immense supply train of more than four thousand wagons, at Ely's Ford, six miles below ; and that the whole army had pushed southward on the two available roads leading toward Spottsylvania, - Grant's plan being to avoid the intrenchments of the enemy behind the Rapidan, turn his right, and by a rapid movement get between him and Richmond, and force him to retire, or fight a decisive battle on open and more advantageous ground.
Lee, from his signal-stations, observed the movement, offered no opposition to the passage of the river, but, instead of falling back, put his columns in motion by two parallel roads (the Orange and Fredericksburg Plank Road and Turnpike), to strike the Army of the Potomac at right angles with its line of advance, when it was well on its march through the tangled Wilderness. He moved from his works over roads and cart-tracks perfectly familiar to him, with the intention of assailing Grant's flank, separating the several corps, and then defeating them in detail.
The movement was a bold one, made with great celerity and with Lee's entire army ; and General Grant was forced to accept battle in this unlooked-for place at the very com- mencement of the campaign. He did not expect, or rather did not desire, to be attacked in such a wilderness, and the order of march for this day, if executed, would have carried
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his army beyond the Wilderness into the open country around Spottsylvania Court-House. But with characteristic prompt- ness and resolution Grant faced to meet the enemy ; the lines were pushed into the dense forests, and the terrible battle which will live in history as the " Battle of the Wilderness " now raged around us.
This region, known as the Wilderness, was densely covered by a second growth of low, scraggy pines, scrub-oaks and hazel, - a wild, uneven, tangled thicket, with but few open- ings that would permit the use of artillery, or clearings for formation and movement of troops. It is a region of gloom and the shadow of death. The advantage of position was entirely with the enemy, who were familiar with every ravine and ridge and cow-path throughout the dense jungle. Neither superiority of numbers nor the most skilful general- ship could counterbalance the great advantages of the enemy. "In that horrid thicket lurked two immense armies, and there came out of its depths the crackle and roll of mus- ketry like the noisy boiling of some hell-cauldron that told the story of death."
General Burnside ordered the division forward. We were worn and weary. Nearly twenty-five long miles lay between us and our resting-place of last night. The march had been severe and tedious, and yet with willing feet and hopeful hearts we pushed on, feeling the magic influence of that presence which, at Antietam, Campbell's Station, and Knoxville, had inspired the heroism of the men of the Ninth Corps. The march was continued for two miles over the narrow, dusty road, now crowded with wagons, guns, and troops ; and just at dusk we filed to the right into the woods, and, after receiving orders to be in constant readiness to move, we stacked arms. Soon the groups gathered around little fires, kindled marvellously quick, attested the sharp appetites of the men. Although the march had been forced and exhausting but very few of the men had fallen out. Major Draper's quarters were established on the left flank,
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very near the road, in order that there should be no delay in finding him should the regiment be needed in the night.
The night was passed in a state of anxious suspense. What a night ! The continuous fire of the skirmishers swelled now and then into a crashing volley which extended along the lines, the shouts of teamsters urging on their jaded beasts, the music of bands far in the rear, and the tramp of passing troops, -all blended in one strange, dis- cordant strain. How many of our brave men sat by the smouldering fires, thinking of the loved ones in homes they ยท should never enter again ! How many lay down to catch the last few hours' sleep left for them on earth before closing their eyes in the sleep of death ! Thus the few weary hours of the night dragged on.
Between one and two o'clock we were aroused, and before three o'clock we moved out quietly by the left. Marching along the road in rear of the line of battle, at daybreak we reached a clearing, within which was situated the Old Wil- derness Tavern. Here the brigade was halted, and ordered to load and prepare for action.
The battle was renewed at quarter before five. Grant had ordered an attack along the whole line to be delivered at five o'clock. Lee anticipated him, and was fifteen minutes earlier. The battle soon became general. Far on the left was heard the terrific fire of Hancock's advancing line. On the right Sedgwick was beating back the enemy's fierce attack ; while in our front the fire raged along the Fifth Corps line. Being ordered forward, we continued our march toward the left of the Fifth Corps line, over a road leading in the direction of Parker's store, the Second Brigade having the right of the column. After marching ahout half a mile the men of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania were do- ployed as skirmishers, to cover the flank of our brigade. After moving about half a mile further a line of battle wa- formed, and here the regiment breakfasted. The enemy's skirmishers soon opened fire, but retired before General
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Griffin's advance. In moving forward we crossed a small stream called Wilderness Run, and continued to advance amil we encountered a brisk fire of artillery from a rebel battery, and a sharp musketry fire at close range. The line advanced to the edge of a small clearing, across which the enemy was strongly posted with a battery. The Second Brigade was warmly engaged, the action had become quite brisk, and General Potter was making preparations to charge the battery, when orders were received to withdraw, move farther to the left, and attack on the right of General Hancock's line, near the Plank Road, that portion of the line being then hard pressed.
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