USA > Massachusetts > History of the Thirty-sixth regiment Massachusetts volunteers. 1862-1865 > Part 21
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September 14th, First Lieutenant Henry S. Burrage, who was wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, returned to the regiment, and was mustered in as Captain of Company D.
During this peaceful month the ornamental duties of a sol- dier assumed prominence. and the frequent sharp command " Fall in !" became more suggestive of a drill and dress-parade than of hurried march or wearisome watch in the trenches. On the 15th the regiment paraded for brigade inspection. and on the 21st participated in a review of the brigade by Gen- eral Potter, presenting on both occasions a steady and sol- dierly appearance that cast no diseredit on its past record.
Lieutenant-Colonel Draper, as President. and Captain Smith, as Judge-Advocate, of a court martial convened at division head-quarters, gave attention to the trial of deserters, most of the eases being those of either ignorant foreign sub- stitutes or unscrupulous bounty-jumpers.
On the morning of the 16th the prevailing quiet was broken by the unusual sound of firing in our front. followed by the hasty falling back of a portion of the picket line. The breast- works were hurriedly manned in anticipation of an assault ; but after some desultory firing the enemy prudently with- drew, evidently satisfied as to the strength of our position, for no further attempt was made to disturb the line at this point. In the forenoon of September 25th the Third Division was reviewed, and a large number of interested spectators from our regiment were in attendance. criticising with vet- eran keenness the military bearing of the " colored troops."
257
IN THE PINES.
1864.
But the easy life in which the luxury of idleness was broken only by the routine of camp duty was to be rudely ended ; the friendly shelter which for a while we had en- joyed was to be exchanged for the deadly exposure of the battlefield. It was our last day " in the Pines."
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V
258
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
September,
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.
ON the afternoon of September 25th, about five o'clock. orders to move were suddenly received, and immediately the quiet camp became a scene of bustling activity. Tents were hastily stripped from their poles, knapsaeks packed in a hurry, and in half an hour, having been relieved by the Fifth Corps, we left our camp. After moving some four miles to the right a halt, was ordered about nine o'clock, and the regi- ment bivouacked in the woods in the rear of the Second Corps.
On the following day tents were pitched, and the men re- mained idle in camp, the air thick with rumors, until the morning of the 28th, when the brigade marched to the "Gurley House." half a mile from " Yellow Tavern," "in such a manner that the enemy would notice the movement." to quote from the order received from regimental head- quarters.
The 29th was passed in feverish uncertainty, a move being expected at any moment. Staff officers and orderlies were riding to and fro, and cavalry in force moved toward the left ; but the regiment did not leave its position. At night the excitement was heightened by the reading of a despatch from General Grant, announcing that the railroad between Petersburg and Richmond had been taken by General Ord. and that General Birney had defeated the enemy north of he James.
The morning of September 30th dawned upon a day of
259
THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.
1864.
perfect antumnal beauty ; but the balmy air, fragrant with the scent of the pines, the clear sunlight, and cloudless sky left little impress of their loveliness upon the minds of men who, after the broken slumbers of the night, were carly astir pre- paring for battle.
The expected advance began about nine o'clock, the troops passing over the works of the Fifth Corps on the ex- treme left, and into the debatable land beyond. The column consisted of Aver's and Griffin's divisions of the Fifth Corps, followed by Potter's and Willcox's divisions of the Ninth Corps. We followed the road through woods for about a mile, when a small country meeting-house, known as Pop- lar Spring Church, was reached. There our brigade line of battle formed at right angles to the road. Meanwhile the advance of the Fifth Corps had developed near the Peebles house, an outlying fortification of the enemy, consisting of a redoubt and flanking rifle-pits, upon which an assault was made, about ten o'clock, by Griffin's division, and easily carried, with trifling loss. The enemy. not having sufficient strength to resist after the loss of his entrenchments, promptly retreated to his main line, leaving about fifty prisoners and a piece of artillery in our hands.
The divisions of the Ninth Corps were now ordered to the front, and immediately advanced, passing the troops of the Fifth Corps, who were quietly resting with stacked arms near the captured redoubt.
The regiment moved forward in brigade line of battle in excellent form, and a rapid advance on the enemy's main line was anticipated ; but, soon after passing the Peebles house, a halt was ordered, and the movement came to a complete stand-still.
For three or four hours this fatal and inexplicable delay continued, although it was evident that the advantage of a surprise was thus being thrown away, as the enemy must necessarily have been warned of our presence by the men who had withdrawn from the redoubt. At last, about the
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260
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
September,
middle of the afternoon, the impatient and well-nigh di --- gusted soldiers were again ordered forward.
Our regiment moved by the flank toward the Boisseau house, - an abandoned dwelling that became prominent dur- ing the operations of the ensuing days, - gathering, in wayside gossip with adventurous sharp-shooters who had been look- ing after an opportunity for fancy shooting at the front, the cheering news that the rebel works, toward which we were advancing, had been strongly reinforced during our long halt. About five o'clock the Second Brigade, General Griffin, which was pushing forward on our right, slightly in advance, became engaged with the enemy's skirmish line, and General Curtin was ordered to make connection with that command. This was immediately done, our brigade forming in two lines of battle, as follows : Thirty-fifth Massachusetts. Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, Fifty-eighth Mas- sachusetts, and Fifty-first New York, in the first line; Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, Twenty-first Massachusetts, and Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, in the second, though extending further to the left than the first line. The Seventh Rhode Island were in the rear with entrenching tools, and the Fourth Rhode Island acted as provost guard, their term of service having nearly expired.
By this formation the Thirty-sixth came into position on the extreme lett of the brigade, and halted for a few moments near the Boisseau house, at a fence running along a sorghum field. Captain Burrage, with the skirmishers of the regiment. covered the front and left of the regiment. the line extending from the woods to the Boisseau house. The firing on our right now increased as the Second Brigade became hotly engaged, and our line was ordered over the fence, which was hastily crossed, and an advance of a few yards made into an open field, which extended a long distance to the right. exposing to view a large part of the brigade line of battle, while the enemy was concealed in the wood- beyond. Here the regiment first met the whizzing rebel
261
THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.
1861.
bullets, which became so troublesome as to cause the men to lie down ; and, although the prostrate attitude was emi- nently adapted to the situation, the recumbent warriors may have been shamed, and were certainly encouraged, by the example of General Curtin, who at this juncture reached the front, and, followed by a single orderly, rode along the line of his brigade, as coolly as if on review. His horse was soon after shot under him. and a valuable saddle, sent as a present from his friends in Pennsylvania, fell into the hands of the enemy.
We momentarily expected an order to charge, but found that the situation was changing on the right, to which attention was drawn from the fact that at that point the line seemed to be falling back, which soon proved to be the case. Our regimental line stood inactive, no special pressure being brought to bear by the enemy in our front, until the retro- grade movement became communicated to the regiment on our right, when we realized that the rebels, tired perhaps of waiting for our assault, had boldly sallied from their works and, sheltered by the surrounding wood, had successfully flanked our line.
As the whole force covering our right vanished, the regiment was subjected to a galling fire from that direction as well as the front. Colonel Draper then ordered a change of front, but seeing that the enemy's movement threatened to cut us off from our forees in the rear he changed the order to a movement by the left flank in the same direction.
The sorghum before mentioned gave us a slight shelter, and we hurriedly made our way through it, the vicious " zip" of the rebel bullets giving us an incentive to haste. Reaching the ravine between the Boissean house and the sorghum field we found remnants of several regiments of the First Divi- sion. which had fallen into disorder. still gallantly holding their ground, gathered in little groups around their colors. Here a stubborn stand was made, and the chief conflict of the day on the part of our regiment was fought. Many acts
262
THIRTY-SIXTHI REGIMENT.
September,
of individual gallautry might be mentioned, the officers, and in some noticeable instances the enlisted men, doing brave and serviceable work in rallying the scattered squads and endeavoring to check the advance of the enemy. But the force was unequal to the task, the Thirty-sixth being the only regiment that retained its organization ; and the position soon became extremely critical.
A line of the enemy's skirmishers now appeared at the mouth of the ravine, on our left flank, and coolly picked off our men without opposition, our fire being mainly directed at the greater body of the rebel force, which had meanwhile pressed well around to our right, having cut off and captured a part of our brigade and driven back the remainder. The regiment could hold its ground but a short time under the demoralizing effect of a sharp fire from three sides, and Lieu- tenant-Colonel Draper, seeing that further resistance would be useless sacrifice, seized the colors, against the protest of Color- Sergeant Rawson, and gave the order to retire.
A lively scattering over the fences and through the ground- of the Boisseau house ensued, each man doing his level best to preserve a life for future usefulness to his country, and little breath was taken until the shelter of a reserve line and a section of Roemer's battery was secured. Here General Potter was found sitting gloomily on his horse, to whom Colo- nel Draper reported with fifty-two men of our regiment and twenty men of the Fifty-sixth Massachusetts as "the remains of his division." The men of the Fifth Corps and that part of the Ninth held in reserve had by this time been so disposed as to check any further advance of the enemy, and the battle ceased as darkness came on. The remnant of our regiment proceeded to the new line, which was found with difficulty in the dark, and remained for a short time in position at the edge of a piece of woods, picking up occasional straggler -.
During the evening we were ordered back to the line of works taken by the Fifth Corps in the morning, where we were soon joined by a detachment of about sixty men, under
263
THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.
1864.
Captains Ames and Morse, which became separated from the colors in the retreat. As each party had for a time good reason for supposing the other to be in the hands of the enemy, the reunion was a joyful one. At roll-call the regi- ment mustered one hundred and forty-three men, the largest number by far of any regiment in the division, although some had three times that number in the ranks before going into action. The casualties in the Thirty-sixth were four killed, sixteen wounded, and sixteen missing, - a surprisingly small number in view of the perilous position in which the regiment was placed. The killed were Corporal Robert F. Webb, Company A, Privates Lyman H. Gilbert, Company E, Rufus H. Carter, Company I. and Belthezar Margenot, Company K. - the last two being transferred men from the Twenty-first Regiment. Sergeant Lucius L. Merrick, Com- pany E, who rejoined the regiment the night before, was mor- tally wounded and died ten days later. Merrick was known throughout the regiment, and respected by all for his manly Christian character. He was a graduate of Amherst College, and at the time of his enlistment was preparing for the ministry. HIe had been twice wounded, at Knoxville and in the Wil- derness, and was about to receive a commission in a regiment of colored troops. He was one of the best soldiers in the regiment, and his death caused sincere grief. Sergeant Charles Underwood, of Company D, was wounded in the knee near the Boisseau house, and fell into the hands of the enemy. His leg was amputated, and in a short time he was sent through to our lines. 1 second and third amputation followed a year or two later, and he died. Sergeant-Major Washburn was shot through the face, receiving a very severe wound, and Captain J. B. Smith, serving on the state of General Potter, was shot in the hand, and suffered amputa- tion of a finger.
Of the four divisions engaged the loss fell chiefly on ours, the number of missing being very large. The official report of casualties in the division was, - killed fifty-one ; wounded
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264
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
September,
two hundred and eighty ; missing, one thousand three hun- dred and thirteen. A large proportion of the missing were from the First Brigade, as the regiments in its first line were cut off by the enemy's flank movement, and nearly all of the Fifty-first New York, and a large number of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts were captured.
The Second Brigade of our division first received the shock of the evening's charge, and when it was seen that it could not withstand it, the Seventh Rhode Island, in reserve. was ordered to form a new line near the Pegram house, and an order which, unfortunately, was not received by him, was despatched to General Curtin to fall back to the line thus es- tablished. If this movement had been made it is probable that the heavy loss in the brigade would have been avoided. Speculation as to the causes which occasioned this disaster to our corps is, perhaps, unprofitable, and can afford but little consolation ; but one fact seems clear, that the delays and blunders of general officers, rather than cowardice or misconduct of the men fighting at the front, brought about the mortifying result. The vexations and apparently needless halt after the first success of the Fifth Corps in the morning has been alluded to. This gave the enemy time to reinforce his threatened line, and the rebel commanders, thoroughly famil- iar with the ground, had their customary advantage of being able to direct their movements understandingly.1
During the night a storm began, and the day following wa- one of the most dismal and uncomfortable ever experienced by the regiment. No movement was attempted, but detail- were employed in reversing the works behind which we were bivouacked, so they might afford protection in case of an ad- vance by the enemy. The work was very difficult, as the constant rain gave the freshly turned earth the consistency
1 This action is called by the Confederates the battle of Jones' Farm. Lane'. North Carolina brigade formed the enemy's right ; one of Wilcox's brigades the I ?. with MeRae's North Carolina brigade as a support. The latter, however, "rusle i forward to participate in the fight." See History of Lane's North Carolina Brigast . in Southern Historical Society Papers, 1881, pp. 354-356.
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1804.
THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.
265
of mud. The aspect of the men, as they painfully prodded the moist ground with sticky shovels or crouched around smoky and sputtering fires, was lugubrious in the extreme, and their feelings corresponded with their looks. Occasional shots were exchanged by the pickets, and one man of the regiment, while sitting near a fire, was wounded by a stray bullet.
THE
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266
THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
October,
CHAPTER XXIV.
AGAIN IN THE TRENCHES.
THE morning of October 2d was bright and clear, and the lines were soon formed for an advance. We moved forward about a quarter of a mile, to a point not far distant from the Boisseau house. where we fell to in earnest and began the construction of a line of works which were destined to be our protection for many weeks.
We were greatly annoyed during the forenoon by a sharp- shooter, evidently posted in a tree, and by the raking fire of a battery, also screened by trees, which occasionally caused a lively scattering by sending a shell whizzing diagonally across our line. One of these burst in the ranks of Company K, wounding three men and killing two; one of the killed being Sergeant Daniel A. Burton. The fire from the battery slackened in the afternoon, but the "reb " sharpshooter kept at work so persistently that it seemed extremely desirable to put a stop to his fun. Accordingly, Colonel Draper detailed James Knowlton, of Company E, and Corpo- ral Frank Bell. of Company F, two good shots, to relieve u- from this annoyance if possible.
They crept out some distance beyond the picket line. found cover, and waited for indications. They had not long to wait, for soon the erack of a rifle was heard, and from a tree in the edge of the woods back of the enemy's pieket line rose a telltale puff of smoke. Both took careful aim. fired. and to their delight saw a gray-clad Johnny come tumbling heels over head out of the tree. The next morning the rebel pickets told ours that the man shot was a lieutenant of sharp-
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267
1861.
AGAIN IN THE TRENCHES.
shooters. After this successful shot the work in the trenches was pursued with more safety and peace of mind, and by nightfall a strong rifle-pit stood between us and the enemy, behind which we pitched our tents and sought repose with a pleasant consciousness of being once more " in camp."
The day had been full of work and interest. The part of the new line built by the Thirty-sixth was on open ground, while the rebel position was masked by thick woods, and the fire from unseen batteries and sharp-shooters was harassing in the extreme. During the morning General Meade, ac- companied by a brilliant staff. passed along the line and halted in the rear of the regiment, probably furnishing an additional inducement to the rebel gunners to serve their pieces well. In the evening Major Barker, Captain Fairbank. Captain Burrage, and some of the men, went over the ground in front of our lines, under cover of the darkness, and buried our dead, whom the enemy had stripped of their clothing and left where they fell.
October 3d passed more quietly. Shots were occasionally fired on the picket line, but no hindrance was experienced in the work of strengthening the fortifications, which was the principal business of the day. Engineers were engaged in laying out forts, two of which. named Fort Fisher and Fort Welch, were in time completed, and formed a prominent feature of the defences, as the line here made an angle, the works to the left of these forts being the protection for the extreme left of the army of the Potomac.
October 4th. Comparative quiet prevailed umtil the after- noon, when there was a lively breeze on the picket line. In our immediate front, and held by our pickets, was a deserted house. to which reference has already been made, lately occu- pied by Dr. Boisseau. As this house stood on rising ground, and commanded a view of the enemy's line, it was surmised that it might be made the object of an attack. In anticipa- tion of such an event, Captain Morse. with his company. was, on the Bd instant, detailed as a reserve picket force, and
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THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
October.
took up a position in a small rifle-pit near the house a short distance to the rear of the picket line. The rebels had during the day kept up a desultory fire, which made the position of the few men stationed in the building somewhat uncomfortable : but nothing unusual was noted until about four o'clock, when the enemy attacked the picket line of . the Second New York, of our brigade. The capture of this line let the enemy into the rear of the picket pits of the Thirty- Sixth, and those adjacent to the house were precipitately evacuated ; but the reserve force held its ground until convinced that the enemy was present in superior number-, when it fell back, leaving the house and a few men in his possession. Our loss was four men captured, -Corporals Charles Bottomley and George H. Mills, of Company C, and privates Reuben Jackson and Lyman MeDowell, of Com- pany E. Mills and Bottomley were shortly afterwards paroled ; but Jackson and McDowell were fated to swell the ranks of that mighty army the story of which is sadly tokl by the words, "Died in rebel prisons. " The picket line wa- at once reinforced, and the captured posts were retaken. A second attack of the enemy was unsuccessful. After dark. in accordance with orders, Captain Burrage, who was brigade officer of the day, gave directions for the burning of the building. It was soon a mass of flame, and presented : brilliant spectacle, the weird effect being heightened by the sharp crack of the rifles as the outposts on both sides blazed away at random, each desirous to show to his antagonist that he was not to be caught napping. At daylight on the morn- ing of the 5th the disputed property was a heap of ruin -. and our piekets who had been drawn back, on account of the fire, took possession of their old pits without opposition.
We were now for several days kept busy in the construc- tion of earthworks, and the regimental camp was twice moved ; but by the 7th instant we were well settled, and were made happy by the ever-welcome appearance of the pay- master.
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AGAIN IN THE TRENCHES.
1864.
This day was also marked by the arrival of a new stand of colors. The old flags, which in the wanderings of over two years of active service had been borne in ten States of the Union, and in both victory and defeat had been zealously guarded as the emblems of our organization, State and Na- tional, were now returned to the care of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts. Stained by the elements and blood, and torn by shot and shell, with both staves shattered by rebel bullets, they gave silent but faithful testimony to the vicissitudes through which the men who followed them had passed.
During this month an unexpected loss befell the regiment, caused by the retirement from the service of Lieutenant- Colonel Draper and Captain Morse, who left for home Octo- ber 13th, to the great regret of their comrades of the Thirty- sixth, whether officers or enlisted men. Although young men, both were veteran officers of tried courage and recognized ability, and we would gladly have retained them ; but their term of service had now expired. both having served in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts before entering the Thirty-sixth. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper was soon after brevetted Colonel and Brigadier-General " for gallant and meritorious service."
Major Barker succeeded to the command of the regiment, and soon after received a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel, dating from October 12th, 1864. The command of Company C devolved upon First Lieutenant P. G. Woodward.
On the 14th inst. the regiment was for the first time in its history ordered out to witness a military execution. The condemned was a private of the Second Maryland, named Merlin, who by the division court-martial, of which Lienten- ant-Colonel Draper was president, had been found guilty of an attempt to desert to the enemy. The division was formed in an open field on three sides of a square. in the centre of which the doomed man was seated, blindfold, on a coffin placed at the side of an open grave. Familiar with death as the spectators were, it was an impressive scene as the firing de-
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THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
October,
tail silently drew up before the criminal, and at a preconcerted signal (the dropping of a handkerchief) discharged a volley which sent the soul of the deserter to its final account.
With the exception of the removal of the camp to a point nearer the breastworks there was continued quiet until the 25th when rumors of a movement became rife, and toward night orders were received to pack up and be ready to march at dusk. We were soon in readiness, but the night passed without the arrival of the expected order. The next day brought additional indications of a contemplated movement of considerable magnitude, and at one o'clock P.M. tents were struck, and the regiment marched to a large field near by, where. after participating in a brigade drill. it bivouacked for the night. The time allowed for rest was brief, however, as the sleeping soldiers were aroused at two o'clock on the morning of the 27th. While we awaited in the darkness the momentarily expected order to " Fall in," a mail arrived and was distributed by the flickering light of the army candle. and many a man as he read the welcome message from home felt, as he thought of the morrow, that it might be for him the last.
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