USA > Massachusetts > Wearing the blue in the Twenty-fifth Mass. volunteer infantry, with Burnside's coast division, 18th army corps, and Army of the James > Part 25
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DUST AND DEAD ANIMALS.
The first of June, "1864, will be remembered by all who made the march of twenty-five miles from New Castle ferry
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-to Cold Harbor. The day was extremely hot and clouds of dust enveloped the troops : in this respect the march of June 1st was like the march of the Greeks on Troy, so eloquently described by Homer : ----
"And round him one can only see as far As one can hurl a stone-such was the cloud Of dust, that from the warriors' trampling feet Rose round their rapid march and filled the air."
But, added to the intense heat, and the clouds of dust which dressed the soldiers in the grey uniforms of our foe and smutched the face so that one would not know his own brother if he chanced to meet him on the march -- added to this was the terrible effluvia arising from the hundreds of dead and decaying horses and mules, the debris of the recent cavalry raid along the route our corps was marching. The stench arising from these putrified animals was intoler- able. While upon this forced march under the burning sun, enveloped in clouds of dust and physically demoralized by the stench of Kilpatrick's dead horses and mules, we go to the Army of the Potomac and bring it down to where we are to join at Cold Harbor.
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CHAPTER XV.
GENERAL PLAN OF OPERATIONS - ARMY OF THE POTOMAC - THE " HAMMERING " COMMENCED - EIGHTEENTH CORPS REACH COLD HARBOR.
HEN describing the movement upon Bottom's bridge in a previous chapter, we found the Army of the Potomac in winter quarters between the Rapidan and the Rappahannock, where we again find it on the 3rd day of May [186-4].
On the 10th of March, an order of President Lincoln, as we have already noted, assigned to Lieutenant-General Grant the command of all the armies in the field, and two days after, Major-General Halleck was relieved as General-in-Chief. In making his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Grant indiented the important part that army was to play in wiping out Lee's army of Northern Virginia. Major-General Sher- man was in command of another large army between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi river, which was to operate against the enemy under Johnston.
The first point to settle, was the general plan of operations, whether it should be by a direct march against Richmond from the north, or by a movement south of the James river, cutting the enemy's communications, and rendering his position at or north of Richmond untenable. If there was any advantage in a north-side movement upon Richmond, it consisted in the fact that it covered our National Capital, but, in any movement south of the James which might have been contemplated, a
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sufficient garrison in the works about Washington would protect it from any force the enemy could send against it. The plan of sending a large army to the seaboard, thence to act against the Southern communications of Richmond, was discussed, and it may be asserted that if this plan had been adopted, thousands of lives would have been saved, and the war terminated in 1864 instead of 1865. However opinions may have been divided, it was finally determined to make a north-side movement against Richmond, or Lee's army, which was one and the same thing.
The Army of the Potomac was composed of three army corps, the Second Corps commanded by Hancock, the Fifth by Warren and the Sixth by Sedgwick.
The Second Corps had four divisions commanded respec- tively in numerical order, by Barlow, Gibbon, Birney and Carr.
The brigade commanders were Generals Webb, Owen, Ward, Hayes and Mott, and Colonels N. A. Miles, Smythe, Frank, Brooke, Carroll and Brewster.
The Fifth Corps had four divisions, commanded by Griffin, Robinson, Crawford and Wadsworth.
The brigade commanders were Generals Jos. Barnes, J. J. Bartlett, Ayres, Baxter, Cutter, J. C. Rice, and Colonels Leonard, Dennison, McCandless, Fisher and Roy Stone.
The Sixth Corps had three divisions, commanded respec- tively by Generals Wright, Getty and Prince.
The brigade commanders were Generals Torbert, Shaler, Wheaton, T. H. Neill, Eustis, Russell, and Colonels E. Upton, Burnham and L. A. Grant.
Sheridan was placed in command of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, and Kilpatrick assigned to command the cavalry of Sherman's army.
To this force was added [April 23rd] the Ninth Army Corps, commanded by Burnside, which, after its return from East Tennessee, was recruited at Annapolis.
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With these four army corps, and the cavalry and artillery, Grant had an active force of one hundred and forty thousand men, while Lee had, present for duty, fifty-two thousand six hundred and twenty-six men.
The fact that the enemy as a general rule, moved upon much shorter lines of operation, and were compelled to detach no troops to hold positions, or guard their rear or base of supplies, permitted them to carry on a defensive campaign effectively, with a much less number of men than was required by the Union army. General Grant, in his final report covering the general movement in May, said : -
"The resources of the enemy, and his numerical strength, were far inferior to ours ; but, as an offset to this, we had a vast territory, with a population hostile to the government, to garrison, and long lines of river and railroad communication to protect; * * it was a question whether our numerical strength and resources were not more than balanced by these disadvantages and the enemy's superior position."
On the 3rd day of May, these two great armies of Meade and Lee, confronted each other, one on the south, the other on the north bank of the Rapidan. That night the Army of the Potomac crossed the river at Germanna and Ely's fords, and Lee did not dispute the passage. He waited with silent guns, which, by noon of May 5th, began to speak.
Grant did not intend to fight a battle in the dismal region known as the Wilderness, but it was there that Lee struck Warren's Corps, and finally compelled the Army of the Potomac to fight for its life, upon the ground where he [Lee] ordained a battle.
From noon of May 5th until late on the 6th, the terrible combat continued, and when the morning of May 7th dawned upon that ragged field, strewn with the dead and wounded of both armies, red with the blood of friend and foc, both stood at bay- both exhausted, like two prize fighters when brought up to take their last round in the ring.
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It was the first opportunity that the Lieutenant-General had found to put in practice his second proposition regarding the manner he would operate -- "to hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his resources until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common country to the Constitution and laws of the land." In the battle of the Wilderness, Wadsworth, commanding a division in the Fifth Corps, was killed, and fell into the hands of the enemy. Longstreet was wounded and disabled for several months. Our loss was twenty-nine thousand four hundred and ten men, the killed being three thousand two hundred and seventy-eight, while six thousand were prisoners in the hands of the enemy. The enemy's loss was over eleven thousand. May 9th General Sedgwick was killed, and the command of the Sixth Corps devolved upon H. G. Wright.
On the 10th of May the first battle of Spottsylvania Court House was fought. The Union loss was nine thousand, and the Confederate loss eight thousand. Among our killed were Generals Thos. G. Stevenson (formerly Colonel of the Twenty- fourth Massachusetts Volunteers) and J. C. Rice.
It was on the day after this battle, that Grant sent the dis- patch to Washington giving a cheerful account of affairs, and closing with these words -- " I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." Exactly what line the Lieutenant- General had in his mind at the time of sending the message, is not known. If he meant the line of operations he was then pursuing, he certainly did not continue on that line after the battle of the 3rd of June.
On May 12th there was another struggle between the con- tending armies. Lee assaulted our lines with very great force, but was every time repulsed. It was bloody work all day and up to midnight. Hancock captured from thirty to forty guns and over three thousand prisoners, among whom were Confed- erate Generals Johnson and Geo. H. Stewart.
WALTER S. CLARK-
JOLLY B. MOULTON.
Serg't JOSEPH BILLINGS.
OTIS D. COOPER
CLARENCE W. PUTNAM.
COMPANY K.
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On May 19th Grant commenced his flank movement. Lee suspected what was going on, and attacked Meade's right. The latter succeeded in getting all his army away, and then commenced a race for the North Anna river, in which Lee's army had the best of it, so that when our army came to its destination, it found a considerable part of Lec's army on the south side of the river, watching for its approach. . The Confederates were intrenched and very near the Virginia Central railroad. There was much fighting and skirmishing May 24th, and the position of our army was such as to cause great anxiety for the result. On the night of May 26th, Grant commenced another flank movement, his objective point this time, being the Pamunky river. This would bring our base of supplies at the White House. Lee was again compelled to fall back.
Sheridan in the meantime was out with his cavalry, and at Hawes' store met the rebel cavalry under Hampton and E. H. Lee, and had a desperate fight, resulting in Sheridan's holding the junction of roads needed for the passage of the army. The enemy lost eight hundred men, and the Union army about four hundred. Lee as a result of several reconnoissances, was found to be behind the Chick- ahominy, having his pickets extended to Bethesda church.
Wright's Corps crossed the Pamunky at Hanovertown, fifteen miles from Richmond, others followed, and by May 28th, (Sunday) the Army of the Potomac was south of the river.
A brigade of Crawford's Division of the Fifth Corps was sent to cover the Mechanicsville pike, and reaching the vicinity of Bethesda church, was assailed by Rodes' Division of Ewells' Corps. The brigade fell back to the Shady Grove road, pursued by the Confederates. Other troops coming up, they were held, and at night the left was extended to cover the Mechanicsville pike. This was on May 29th, and Lee was found to be in strong position behind the Chickahominy.
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Grant determined to attempt the forcing of the Chicka- hominy at Cold Harbor, which was considered of the highest importance as a strategic point, because from this place many roads converged, roads leading not only to Richmond, but also to White House. On the night of May 31st, the Sixth Corps was ordered from the extreme right of Meade's army, to march on Cold Harbor. As we have seen, orders had been sent to General W. F. Smith, to move forward and aid the army at Cold Harbor, but, by the mistake already noted, the Eighteenth Corps was sent entirely out of position to be of any service when the Sixth Corps should arrive at its desti- nation. It so happened that Wright's Corps had no sooner marched from the right, than Lee, who was always watchful, detected the movement and understood its object. He there- fore detached Longstreet's Corps from his left, and hastened it to Cold Harbor to cover the crossing of the Chickahominy at that place, by doing which, he checkmated Wright. The corps of Longstreet was in position in a thick wood, from which opened a wide cleared field, over which troops must pass to reach the Confederate lines. Wright with the Sixth Corps awaited the arrival of the Eighteenth Corps.
THE EIGHTEENTH CORPS REACH COLD HARBOR.
It was about four o'clock, P. M., of June 1st, that the first advance of the Eighteenth Corps reached Cold Harbor, fatigued with a severe march in a burning sun, hungry and thirsty, and so covered with dust that the color of their faces or uniforms could not be detected. The corps marched. up solid to the music of Wright's guns that had already commenced playing havoc among the enemy. The morale of the Eighteenth Corps was excellent. General Smith had the most perfect confidence in the officers and men, and they never betrayed that confidence for a moment. While he well understood that the corps was in no condition to go into battle, yet, coming from another field,
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and seeing at a glance that the Sixth Corps was contending against odds-that Grant expected his immediate cooperation, he placed the divisions and brigades under fire as fast as they arrived, forming line of battle on the right of the Sixth Corps. Martindale's Division on the right, Brooks in the centre and Devens on the left. During the whole day, Sheridan with his cavalry had been engaged in trying to hold the roads that here converged. He had contended desperately, Hokes' Division having made several furious assaults to drive him off. When Wright came up, Sheridan's troopers that had fought so tena- ciously were nearly exhausted, and by the time Smith arrived with his overtasked men, Wright, though he had gallantly driven the enemy from a part of his first line, was yet in . great danger of being flanked. .
Professor Coppee, in his historical work -"Grant and his Campaigns" -in speaking of the opportune arrival of the Eighteenth Corps, says-" It was uow past three o'clock, when Smith brought up his corps. Unimpaired by the fatigues of the march, these splendid follows rushed at once upon the enemy in their front, crossing an open space and a small fringe of woods, and burst upon the cnemy's rifle-pits, capturing five hundred prisoners."
Without intending to disparage the gallantry of the Sixth Corps, which deserved all the encomiums made upon it, the fortunes of the day were undoubtedly saved by the Eighteenth Corps, which went into the fight with an impetuosity that was rare, even with the fighting divisions of the Army of the Potomac. The combat was continued until late at night, resulting in holding Cold Harbor, but with a loss of two thousand men, about equally divided between the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps. The enemy's first line of works was carried, but an attempt to carry the second line was not considered practicable, and therefore the troops rested upon their arms. That night, the men of the Twenty-fifth Massa- chusetts, covered with the dust of the march and too weary
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.- to attempt to clean up or even to eat a supper, threw them- selves down upon the ground and slept the balance of the night.
On the 2nd of June, the army was in line as follows : Hancock's Second Corps on the left, then Wright's Sixth, next, the Eighteenth Corps, then Warren's Fifth, with Burn- side's Ninth Corps on the right. Sheridan covered the Chick- ahominy crossings on our left, and cavalry under Wilson covered the right flank.
Our front covered an extent of six miles.
On the 2nd day of June, General Grant issued orders for a general assault of the enemy's lines and for a special effort to break the lines of the enemy in front of the Eighteenth Corps.
The writer learned of the intended attack in the evening, and sont necessary orders for disposition of division guards, while our mess-mate, Dr. Suckley, the medical director, be- stirred himself in forwarding orders concerning the care of the wounded. At dark, rations and ammunition were distributed to the troops in front.
That evening, late, we wrote in our diary : -
"Our loss yesterday was comparatively small, but to-morrow-how I dread to think about it, and can only do so with great forebodings of loss. Many a poor fellow is taking his last earthly sleep - we know not how many of us may sleep above the ground on the night of the morrow. So to-night we sit before the fire, for it is damp and chilly, and calculate the chances for to-morrow. Shall we get to Richmond via Gaines' mill? Most of us think it is folly to move in this direc- tion -vs means our little household of to-night, several staff' officers and two New York reporters. We have reason to think General Smith does not look favorably upon a movement on this line. He is a Southside advocate. * *
There was more or less firing during all day of June 2nd. It was a damp, cheerless day and towards evening the rain fell.
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The enemy made many attempts to force back our lines, but always in vain. Just at dusk, however, a position on the right of our brigade was attacked and the Union pickets were driven back. Stannard saw this movement and ordered a company of the Twenty-fifth sent out to help hold that position. Captain Tucker was directed to go over with his company (C.) The company hurried over, and Tucker put his men into action, and the advance of the enemy's pickets was not only checked, but they were driven back to their holes and compelled to remain there. Accomplishing this work, Tucker returned with his company to the regiment.
CHAPTER XVI.
BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR-THE CHARGE-THE "STAR" BRIGADE HEROISM -- RESCUE OF DALY - -- OFFICERS WOUNDED - CAPTAIN O'NEILL-KILLED WOUNDED AND CAPTURED.
ONG before daylight of June 3rd, [1864] General Smith and his staff were mounted and prepared for the great events of the day that was soon to dawn. About five o'clock, the opening guns booming along from the left of Hancock's Corps, indicated that the moment for battle had come. Men sprang to their feet, tightly grasping their muskets-officers gave their orders in whispers-the move- ment of infantry commenced, while cannon roared about them. Forward moved the divisions. With loud cheers they rushed on and saw lines of impregnable works-cannon to the left of them, to their right and in their front, and over the carthworks, men standing ready to receive them with the bayonet. As they advanced, they saw dead men behind them, dead men to the right and left-wounded men creeping to the rear or trying to find shelter from other wounds. The loud-mouthed cannon roared, musketry in the hands of fifty thousand foemen joined the volume of sound that swelled the note of death. With this was heard sometimes above the din of battle, the voices of officers giving the orders, the cries of distress, and the yells of those who looked out from impregnable positions.
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As we have already said, Hancock's Corps was on the left. The left of that corps was held by Barlow's Division, its right by Gibbon's Division. These divisions assaulted. The former advanced in two lines and dislodged the enemy from a road in front of his works, taking several hundred prisoners, a regi- mental color and three guns. . The second line failed in doing its part, and the division was finally forced back and held a position some sixty yards in advance of the one they had left. Gibbon's Division advanced close to the enemy's works, but was repulsed. Brigadier-General Tyler and six colonels were killed in this assault. Hancock's loss was more than three thousand.
Behind the road where Hancock's left Division dislodged the enemy, as we have stated, was an elevation known as Watt's hill, and on that ridge the Confederate works formed a salient. At the time of the general assault, that position was held by a very small force of the enemy, and, by massing a body of troops there, the point could have been carried, and its occupation by our troops would have compelled the enemy to refuse his right and to abandon his line on the Chickahominy. The advantage of the position was seen too late.
The Sixth Corps advanced without success-every assault being repulsed. The Fifth Corps, with a thin, extended line, attempted nothing, succeeded, and thus accomplished more than any other corps, because they did what they attempted.
The Ninth Corps made no move at the time designated, but about noon had posted one brigade covering the Shady Grove road, which was soon engaged with the enemy. Sometime in the afternoon, Burnside was ready to assault the enemy's left, but by that time the general engagement had ceased. In fact, the real action did not last much over ten minutes. It requires but a very few minutes after an assaulting column is well up to the enemy's works, to decide whether they go over the parapets or return to a safe position beyond the range of guns. "The troops went forward as far as the example of officers could
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carry them," [Hancock's report] " nor was it possible to urge them beyond ; for there they knew lay only death, without even the chance of victory." [Swinton, p. 487.]
While the Eighteenth Corps as a body, made an advance in order to engage the enemy all along his line in front of the corps, the principal work to be accomplished, was a special effort to carry one of the strongest positions on the enemy's line. To Heckman's Brigade was assigned the duty of attempting an impossibility, for as well might an Erie Canal-boat with a single bow-gun, try to capture Gibraltar, as attempt to take by the assault of one small brigade, the position against which Heckman's "Star" soldiers were to be hurled.
When Smith received orders to assault this position, he was directed to put in his " best brigade." None other would do, and, as the General said, in remarking upon it before the battle, it was simply an order to slaughter his best troops. There was no discretion left with him.
The brigade was considerably to the right of the position to be assaulted. The regiments formed by divisions and marched left obliquely, until reaching about the point of attack. The regiments, or at least the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts which was in advance, passed tlic rear of a wooded elevation into a small ravine, through which extended a ditch about eighteen inches wide, and of equal depth. Reaching about the termination of the elevation of land between the enemy's works and the regi- ment, an oblique movement to the right was made, followed immediately by a charge of the brigade. Colonel Pickett at the head of the battalion moving up under a severe fire, sup- ported by Moulton and Attwood, and the line officers in their places, as soon as the oblique was completed, swung his sword and gave the order-" Forward ! double-quick ! charge !" The charge was impetuous-there was no holding back-no faltering, every man moved forward-forward to attain the victory, but in vain-vainly as the ocean billow, wave upon
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wave, pushes madly before the storm-wind and dashes against New England's rock-bound coast-desperately as Napoleon stormed the bridge of Lodi, moved forward the Star Brigade of the Eighteenth Corps.
Tennyson portrayed the charge of the gallant six hundred at Balaclava, in words to live as long as the English language survives. Two stanzas, so appropriate in application to the gallant six hundred of Heckman's Brigade, (for no more than that number joined the charge at Cold Harbor,) we transfer with a trifling change of words, to this page :-
" Forward the Star Brigade ! Was there a man dismay'd ? Not tho' the soldier knew Some one had blundered :
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die, Into the Valley of Death Charged the six hundred.
"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley'd and thundered ;
Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they charged and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Charged the six hundred."
Heckman's Star Brigade as it moved to the charge at Cold Harbor, composed only a small body of troops, some of the battalions, as for instance, the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, being mere skeletons of regiments, and the Ninth New Jersey Volunteers, absent on board of a transport in the river, did not arrive in season to participate. The battalions engaged were as follows: Twenty-fifth Massachu- setts Volunteers, Colonel Pickett ; Twenty-third Massachusetts
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Volunteers, Colonel . Elwell; Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, Major Walker, and the Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, Captain Nesbett.
The failure of the attempt made with the utmost gallantry -- a gallantry that received the warmest applause of the com- manding General, is only an additional evidence of the folly which assigns the duty of carrying by assault, the most impregnable position of the enemy, to a single brigade [not as large as a full regiment] without support. It may be the most valiant brigade of the army, and none exceeded Heckman's Brigade in discipline or prowess-it was the " best" of the Eighteenth Corps -but, was it much less than slaughter to put the best or the poorest into such a position without support ? In all assaults, we find the supreme moment when by the impetuous onslaught of a second and a third column of attack, victory might be won. Napoleon at Waterloo, acted upon this principle when he assaulted the British left, holding his Guard in reserve to give the crowning shock of arms. Lord Raglan at Sebastopol, never attacked fortified lines without abundant supports -mass upon mass held in reserve to be turned upon the works, until the besieged became exhausted or demoralized. At Fredericksburg, Meade's Division, in its splendid attack, was defeated, not by Greggs' Brigade that met the first onslaught, but by Early's Division that formed Jackson's second line.
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