USA > Massachusetts > History of the Thirty-sixth regiment Massachusetts volunteers. 1862-1865 > Part 20
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THE SIEGE CONTINUED.
243
1864.
August 1st. A truce of several hours' duration prevailed along our front, and the dead between the lines were buried and all the wounded were removed. The regimental sutler arrived with a large stock of goods. Lieutenant Davidson was mustered as Captain and assigned to Company G. The weather continued intensely hot.
August 2d. The heavy siege guns were removed from the batteries to-day. The firing continued incessantly on the front line. A thunder-shower tempered the heat.
August 3d. We were aroused at three o'clock, and waited a long time in line, ready to move at a moment's warning. A rebel attack was anticipated, but their line did not advance. By way of exercise we had a battalion drill in the open field from eight to nine, and found it hot work. To-day all the vacancies in non-commissioned officers were filled by appointment and the warrants were issued. At eight o'clock the regiment went to the trenches. The firing all night was unusually severe, the enemy being more hostile than ever since the explosion of the mine.
August 4th. A day of fasting and prayer throughout the northern States, by proclamation of the President. By order of General Meade all unnecessary work was suspended. But the work of death was not suspended. Private Thomas Oakes, of Company A, was shot through the head while on duty at a loop-hole, and died in a few moments. He was a brave soldier, and always at his post.
August 5th. The intense heat continued, and the last day has recalled vividly the hot temperature of Mississippi, which we were enduring one year ago. In the afternoon one of our mortar shells exploded a magazine in the enemy's fort near the railroad, causing great commotion in Rebeldom. They immediately opened with musketry and artillery, making a great noise, which continued for a long time, but their firing gradually settled down into an ordinary picket fire. The regiment was relieved at night.
August 6th and 7th. Regiment in the woods. The troops
244
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
August,
electrified with the news of Farragut's great victory in Mobile Bay. Heavy artillery, and mortar firing.
August 8th. Regiment on duty in the trenches. Major Barker division officer of the trenches. Our head-quarter baggage was sent to City Point. Private Henry Russell. Company D, was mortally wounded by a shot in the head while at his post of duty. Our artillery practice to-day was very effective, and a great fire was seen inside the rebel lines near sundown, caused probably by the explosion of some of our shells. The Seventh Maine Battery is now used as a mortar battery, and its practice is very effective. The rebel picket fire during the entire night was uncomfortably hot.
August 9th. On duty in the trenches. Seventeen boxes of good things arrived from home, for men in our regiment. At half-past seven P. M. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper arrived in camp, and upon the return of the regiment from the picket- line assumed command. He had been absent since May 6th. and had recovered from the severe wound received that day in the first charge in the Wilderness. He received a soldier's welcome from the remnant of the gallant regiment he that day commanded. A smart thunder-shower at night cooled the heated atmosphere, and afforded great relief. Rumors are afloat that we are soon to be relieved in this position by another corps. Private Henry E. Graves, of Company K. while on duty at a loop-hole, was badly wounded in the eye by the explosion of his musket.
August 10th. Our effective strength this morning was twelve commissioned officers, one hundred and sixty-two en- listed men ; total, one hundred and seventy-four, with twenty siek in hospital. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper and Major Barker were mustered in on their new commissions. A court of in- quiry is to investigate the circumstances attending the disaster of July 30th, and we shall probably get the " facts." Cor- poral Fred L. Perry, of Company E, was dangerously shot in the right arm, and narrowly escaped bleeding to death. Ile will have to suffer amputation at the shoulder.
245
THE SIEGE CONTINUED.
1864.
August 11th. The victories of Admiral Farragut at Mobile confirmed, and the intelligence was passed to the enemy in a double-shotted salute. The regiment went to the front at night. Large fatigue parties at work, constructing new and powerful works on the hill between the woods and the pieket. Great quantities of lumber, gabions, poles, and building material, were hauled up at night, and the work was pushed rapidly. The enemy's rifles command this crest, and they made music all night.
August 12th. On duty in the trenches. The enemy opened from a new battery on Cemetery Hill, the shells from which reach corps head-quarters. Much artillery was moved from the works on our left to the rear, and aided to put in circulation a rumor of a new movement toward Richmond.
August 13th. Very heavy cannonading was heard on the right, from General Butler's front, across the James. The Second Corps went over last night, and there are indications of a heavy movement. Our men were underarms and ready. It was a happy day in our camp, on account of the arrival of the paymaster with four months' pay.
August 14th. On duty in the trenches. For the past fortnight the weather has been intensely hot and dry, and to- day is no exception. Charles H. Wheeler, of Company I, wounded in the shoulder. Exposed to severe thunder- showers in the afternoon. General Burnside relinquished the command of the Ninth Corps, and with his personal staff left for Washington, leaving General Willcox in command.1 The corps under orders to be ready to move at a moment's notice. At half-past nine our line was relieved by troops of the Eighteenth Corps, and the regiment moved back to the woods in the midst of a pouring rain. At half-past eleven the regiment was aroused and under arms, and at one o'clock on the morning of Monday, August 15th, we left our camp in the woods and moved to the rear. Upon reaching
1 General Willcox was soon relieved by Major-General John G. Parke, who was assigned to the command of the corps.
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216
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
August,
the open plain we marched toward the left, and it was re- ported that we were to support an assault to be made by the Fifth Corps. The night was black as ink, and as we floun- dered about in the darkness among the stumps we soon lo-t all traces of the road, and continued moving to the left and rear until daylight revealed our position. We then counter- marched to General Warren's head-quarters. The Fifth Corps was quietly withdrawn soon after daylight, and their lines occupied by our corps.
Our brigade relieved the Third Brigade, First Division. Fifth Corps, and our regiment took possession of the splendid line of works occupied by the One hundred and eighteenth Pennsylvania. The works were bomb-proof, and the camp regular and perfectly clean, reminding us of the camp of the Seventeenth regulars, at Catlett's Station. The enemy wa- found to be comparatively peaceful here. There was no firing whatever during the day, and our pickets were relieved by daylight without any molestation. The "Johnnies" were plainly seen walking about within their lines with impunity. and the regiment we relieved informed us that the utmost harmony and good-feeling prevailed on the picket line. To us who for sixty days had been exposed to an incessant and hostile fire it was a great relief to be able to stand upright without the certainty of being shot. The enemy, however. had frequently opened upon the main line with artillery. and to resist the fire the main works had been strengthened and elaborated to the perfection of field fortifications. During the afternoon and evening the rain came down in a deluge. filling the bomb-proofs and trenches, inundating the camp. and making everybody generally miserable. The Fifth Corp -. after being relieved, concentrated for a movement to the left. to be supported by the First and Third Divisions of our corp-, which were in reserve.
Our little regiment, which could ill afford depletion, had lost while in the trenches on the right, from the 20th of June to the 14th of August, seven men killed or mortally wounded,
247
THE SIEGE CONTINUED.
1864.
and eighteen wounded ; a total of twenty-five, - a slow but sure wasting of some of the most valuable material of which the regiment could boast.
August 16th. The weather continued rainy and uncomfort- able. Not a shot was fired on our line. Dr. Bryant to-day received a fully earned and well-deserved promotion, and was commissioned Surgeon of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Vol- unteers. There is, however, some doubt as to his being able to muster in on account of the greatly reduced numbers of that regiment, it being below the minimum, and having two assistant surgeons. It will be a calamity to lose the services of Dr. Bryant. During the entire campaign he has been at his post, and his duties have been very arduous and unremit- ting, from the fact that he has been the only medical officer with the regiment. He has remained constantly with the regiment, always in close proximity during an advance, and ready and willing to perform any duty in the camp or on the field.1
August 17th. A day of frequent heavy showers, settling at night into a cold storm, making the ground soft and miry. It was a day of comparative quiet, but we had a heavy force on picket. A vigorous movement is in progress on the right, and the cannonading throughout the day was severe. Gen- eral Hancock has crossed the James with the Second and Tenth Corps, and a division of cavalry, and has had a spir- ited engagement.
August 18th. The day was quiet within the lines, with rain at short intervals and heavy showers at times. The trenches and bomb-proof's were very uncomfortable, and re- quired much baling out to keep the water down. General Lee having sent a considerable force from his lines to resist General Hancock's advance north of the James, advantage was taken of his movement to send General Warren and
" For the reason given above Dr. Bryant was not able to muster in on his commis- sjon as Surgeon of the Fifty-eighth, and remained w
he Thirty-sixth until the close of the war.
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248
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
August,
the Fifth Corps to the left, to extend that flank across the Weldon Railroad, about three or four miles distant. General Warren reached the railroad early in the forenoon, and while moving toward Petersburg was met by the enemy, and a fierce battle ensued, attended with considerable loss to the Fifth Corps ; but the railroad was secured and held, and at nightfall General Warren established his line across it.
About nine o'clock that evening we were ordered to prepare three days' cooked rations, and be ready to move at daylight. The meaning of that order was well understood. During the night the enemy seemed to be aware of some unusual move- ment in our lines, and subjected us to a very severe artillery fire, which was general along the entire line.
At ten o'clock on the 19th we were relieved by Mott's di- vision of the Second Corps, which had just reerossed the James, and the division moved to the left, following the other two divisions of our corps, which had been ordered to re- inforce General Warren. We were exposed to a hot fire while leaving the pits, but none in the Thirty-sixth were injured. The rain poured in torrents nearly all day, and the men were thoroughly drenched. The route was circuitous, and we marched nearly six miles over very bad roads. As we neared the lines, the artillery and musketry fire of the troops in our front indicated that a heavy battle was in progress. The division of the enemy which General Warren encountered yesterday had been heavily reinforced, and had broken through the skirmish line, extending from the right of the Fifth Corps toward the left of the main line of works in front of Peters- burg, with a heavy column, and turned Warren's right flank. causing great confusion and heavy loss, especially in prison- crs. In the midst of this exciting battle the First and Third Divisions of our corps reached the ground at a most critical moment, and, forming hastily on General Warren's right. pushed rapidly forward with the troops of the Fifth Corps. and drove the enemy in great confusion to his intrenchments. The fighting was desperate and bloody. The rebel troops
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249
THE SIEGE CONTINUED.
1864.
consisted, among others, of Mahone's division of A. P. Hill's corps.
In the rapid advance of our lines a gap was created between the Ninth and Fifth Corps, and our division was at once deployed to fill it. We formed in a clearing and pushed forward into the woods for about a quarter of a mile, and went into position across a wood road. In less than ten minutes we had a good protection of logs; but were not allowed to remain long in possession, the brigade being ordered to deploy as skirmishers. The Thirty-sixth first formed on the left of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, but were soon filed to the extreme right. when, by General Potter's order, we were at once returned to our original position on the left of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, near the wood road. Captain Raymond, of the brigade staff, was sent by General Potter down this road to reconnoitre. In a few moments he rode into a large party of the enemy's skirmishers, and narrowly escaped capture. His orderly was killed, and as he attempted to return to the line the pursuit was so close that several of the enemy were captured. It was an exciting event, and proved that the enemy was in force in our front. Owing to the marching and countermarching in deploying, it was nearly dusk before the line was fairly established. General Potter ordered an advance, but upon moving forward it was discovered that we had broken connection with the First Division on our left, and were obliged to extend in that direction. Accordingly the Fifty-first New York was de- ployed between us and the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania. Owing to the storm, the darkness, and the low, dense undergrowth, we were unable to advance beyond a short distance, and remained through the night in this position, widely deployed in the dense wood, without intrenchments or fires. The storm was quite severe. the rain fell in torrents. and the ground was soaked with water. It proved to be one of those cheerless. dismal nights, of which we had experienced so many during the eventful campaign, - nights the recol-
250
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
August,
lection of which causes a shudder, even after the flight of years.
The first glimmer of daylight found the line of battle ready to advance ; but no trace of the enemy could be discovered. Company D. the Color Guard, and Pioneers were formed as a reserve under charge of the Adjutant, and ordered to support the centre and keep well up to the skirmish line in the advance. At half-past eight o'clock the order was given "Forward ! Guide Left !" The dense undergrowth rendered it very difficult to maintain a good line, as the regiment covered considerable ground. After advancing about three hundred yards we reached a cornfield about one hundred yards wide, with woods beyond. We moved across this field and halted in the edge of the forest, and connected our left with the right of the First Division. We were then ordered to build a line of breastworks. We had just com- pleted a fine line of works, and were eating our dinner of roasted corn, gathered from the cornfield, when we were ordered to the left to reinforce that portion of the line, as an attack was anticipated. We accordingly moved a distance of about a hundred yards to the left, to that portion of the line which had been held by the Second New York Rifles, which had moved further down. Although they had occu- pied the position two hours, not a tree had been cut. and no protection whatever had been secured. Our men went to work with a will and soon had a good line of breastworks. We had just nicely settled down for the second time when the Adjutant-General came up at a gallop to order the regiment to extend to the right, as the enemy was threatening the extreme right. and it had been found necessary to extend in that direction. We moved back to the first line of breastworks we had built, not a little angry at being obliged to build intrenchments for the Second New York.
The portion of line we now occupied was the scene of the fearful struggle the previous day, when the charging enemy, under Mahone, encountered the advance of our troops under
251
THE SIEGE CONTINUED.
1864.
General Willcox. Both lines were charging and met at short range, when a desperate fight ensued, in which the enemy was obliged to retire. His dead lay thickly all about us, and the ground bore evidence of the heavy loss. sustained by the enemy at this point.
The men were under arms all the afternoon, expecting an attack. There was sharp musketry both on our right and left, but no unusual disturbance along our front. During the evening Lieutenant-Colonel Draper was temporarily in com- mand of the brigade, in consequence of the absence of Colo- nel Bliss. At nightfall Captain Hodgkins, acting Adjutant, was detailed upon the staff of General Ferrero, and Lieuten- ant Haskell, of Company B, was assigned to duty as Adjutant and entered at once upon this service. The tri-monthly report of this date showed the effective strength to be thirteen com- missioned officers and one hundred and seventy-six enlisted men ; total, one hundred and eighty-nine, with four commis- sioned officers and ninety-five enlisted men on extra or special duty with the corps.
The movement for the possession of the Weldon Railroad, although attended with heavy losses, had thus far been suc- cessful. General Warren's line was now firmly across the railroad, and the position strongly fortified. Our corps was on his right flank, covering much ground between him and the main line of works : a large cavalry force guarded the flanks, and artillery had been put in position to repel any attack the enemy might be disposed to make. It was felt that another attempt would be made by the rebels to drive out or break our line. The night shut in cold, dark, and rainy. The men were under arms, prepared for any emer- gency.
Early the next morning there were indications of another attack, and the enemy soon renewed his efforts to regain the railroad. AA heavy canonading from thirty pieces of artil- lery, which crossed their fire over Warren's position, was kept up for an hour, when a desperate assault was made by Hay-
252
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
August,
good's South Carolina brigade, on the extreme left, with the intention of turning that flank while a heavy attack was made in front. The charge was made with great vigor, but was handsomely repulsed, with heavy loss in killed and wounded. Five hundred prisoners and three battle-flags were captured, with comparatively little loss to the Fifth Corps. The at- tempt was not renewed, but the enemy retired to his works, and our line was so strengthened as to render any further attack a matter of little probability.
253
IN THE PINES
1864.
CHAPTER XXII.
IN THE PINES.
THE excitement and activity caused by the successful oper- ations at the Weldon Railroad subsided in a great degree by the 22d, the enemy having abandoned the futile task of striv- ing to regain his lost ground, and we were left in quiet and complete possession of this important line of communication. The regiment was leisurely employed during the day in strengthening the intrenchments, and skirmishers were ad- vaneed for half a mile or more into the wooded swamp in its front, but without developing the rebel position.
On the 23d the whole division line was drawn back a short distance, and works of a more permanent character than those first thrown up were begun.
The camp sheltered by these defences became known as that " In the Pines," and deserves more than passing notice. The Ninth Corps now held that part of the line which extended from the right of the Fifth Corps on the Weldon Railroad to the left of the Second Corps, near the JJerusalem Plank road, - a distance of about four miles. At the point occupied by the regiment the line ran along the edge of a belt of pine timber fronting an open field of varying width, which separated it from a deep, swampy forest, the trees in the bor- der of which were felled at random, forming with their pros- trate trunks and interlacing branches that formidable barrier known as a "slashing." Through this maze were narrow winding paths for the passage of the pickets who were posted in the standing timber beyond. The breastworks were higher than was customary, the earth being thrown up from
254
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
September,
the front, leaving a ditch, just outside of which was planted a bristling abatis. Well-built earthworks for artillery were thrown up at available points. the open ground in front of the regiment being swept by an entilading fire from two. An observer standing upon the works in front of the tents of the Thirty-sixth commanded a far-reaching view of the defences, which, as they stretched away on either hand until hidden by the trees, presented one of the best specimens of entrenehment to be seen on that wonderful line, which ex- tended for more than thirty miles, and which, with the oppos- ing works of the enemy, nearly as long, made the greatest achievement in field fortification the world ever saw.
This position was held by the regiment from August 23d until September 25th : and relieved from the harassing duty in the trenches to which we had been so long subjected, and confident in the security of our defences, we joyfully improved a period of needed and grateful rest.
The regimental camp was laid out in an orderly manner, the absence of underbrush and large size of the pine growth giving it the appearance of a picnic grove, and was in strik- ing contrast to the dusty and sun-scorched quarters it had frequently been our lot to occupy.
The weather, although cool at times, was generally de- lightful, and the duties were light. Beyond the regular de- tails for pieket and police, and an occasional bloodless recon- noissance, there was little call for service, and the men at their leisure washed and mended their war-worn garments, and dealt out long-deferred vengeance to predatory vermin ; guns were cleaned, and brasses polished ; barbers' chairs of marvellous construction. attended by thrifty veterans, were well patronized; long-absent sutlers returned with their wagons groaning beneath heavy burdens ; in short, we were once more " in camp."
The terrible losses sustained by the Ninth Corps during the bloody campaign of the summer had sadly thinned its once crowded ranks. Regiments, that in April marched from
F
255
IN THE PINES.
1864.
Annapolis in all the pride and confidence which strength in- spires, now mustered around their tattered colors meagre and skeleton battalions. The loss in commissioned officers was especially large, and the need of a reorganization of the corps was painfully apparent. In furtherance of this object General White, commanding the First Division, was relieved, by orders dated September 1, and the regiments composing that division were transferred to the Second and Third Divi- sions. On the 13th of September the designation of the sev- eral divisions of the corps was changed as follows : the Third to be First, under command of Brigadier-General O. B. Will- cox ; the Second to remain unchanged, under command of Brigadier-General R. B. Potter; the Fourth (colored) to be the Third, under command of Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero. The corps was under the command of Major-Gen- eral John G. Parke.
This change strengthened our brigade by the addition of the Twenty-first ( now a battalion ) and Thirty-fifth Regiments Massachusetts Volunteers.
The following is a list of the regiments composing the brigade after the reorganization, with the number (commis- sioned officers and enlisted men) present for duty in the latter part of September : -
Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers
217
Seventh Rhode Island
165
Forty-eighth Pennsylvania "
491
Forty-fifth Pennsylvania
291
Fifty-first New York
368
Thirty-sixth Massachsetts "
228
Fifty-eighth Massachusetts "
123
Thirty-fifth Massachusetts "
514
Twenty-first Massachusetts"
102
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Soon after its arrival at the pines the Thirty-fifth Massachu- setts received over three hundred and fifty recruits, entirely
256
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
September,
made up of substitutes from Germany. The camp of these ex- iles was near that of the Thirty-sixth, and their ignorance of the language and queer foreign manners caused an amused interest in them ; but when at night, as became their eustom, they gathered around the camp-fires, and. in an isolation almost pathetie, sung the songs of Fuderland, the effect was strik- ing, and we could not but listen with feelings of sympathy and sadness as the grand old chorals resounded through the solemn pines.
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