USA > Maryland > History and roster of Maryland volunteers, war of 1861-5 > Part 42
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For two or three months, or until the arrival of General Grant, the history of the Army of the Potomac is one of mere drill and routine. Early in February there was a cavalry reconnoissance across the Rapidan, and the whole first corps marched down to Raccoon Ford in support. The detail of this movement was but a repetition of previous experiences-the same picket firing in front, the same interesting prospect of immediate battle, the same lying out in the rain and tramping back in the mud to the same old quarters.
Army Routine.
The Seventh Regiment had long since found itself a comparatively insignificant unit in a vast and complex organism. Tied in meshes of red tape, it was subject at every turn to the innumerable minute and rigid exactions which could alone secure the symmetry of the colossal system. It will be found suggestive to glance over the musty files in some regimental headquarter's desk-that of the Seventh, for instance. Here are, to begin with, orders-no end of orders; orders from the War Department, from army headquarters, from corps headquarters, from division, brigade and regi- mental headquarters; here are infinite reports, returns, requisitions, receipts, abstracts, vouchers, blanks in duplicate, triplicate and quadruplicate; here are applications "ap- proved and respectfully forwarded," applications returned with disapproval and endorse- ments of all sorts; here are details for courts-martial, courts of inquiry and military commissions; here are endless details for guard, for picket, for police, for the pioneer corps, for the ambulance corps, for the quartermasters', commissary and ordnance departments, details as orderlies, guards and provost-guards at the several headquarters,
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details for fatigue and working parties ; an occasional detail for recruiting service (a rare and soft thing ) ; leaves of absence and furloughs granted, ditto refused; here are circulars, certificates, discharges, descriptive lists of recruits, descriptive lists of deserters, inventories of the effects of deceased soldiers, abstracts of unserviceable ord- nance stores, boards to assess value of officers' private horses, pay rolls, muster rolls, muster in and muster out rolls; and here are inspection reports, criticising one regiment for unsanitary condition, another for neglect of military courtesy in saluting, a third for want of schools of tactical instruction. And so on through the whole tedious catalogue, and all this mechanism requiring the consumption of tons of stationery, acres of printed blanks, the tugging this way and that of many thousands of braying mules, and the incessant galloping to and fro of staff officers, mounted orderlies and couriers, always with an intense air of the utmost importance.
Regimental Routine.
This was about the life of the army in brief, looking at it as an organism. Taking a nearer view, the history of one regiment was about that of every other regiment, and the history of one day pretty much the same as that of every day. Reveille at daylight, police call fifteen minutes after, surgeons' call, breakfast, guard-mount, drill, recall, dinner, drill again, recall again, first call for parade and company inspection, second call and dress parade with retreat at sunset, tattoo about nine P. M., with taps twenty minutes later ; so began, continued and ended the soldier's day. On Saturdays there was a special inspection of quarters, and the coverings of the tents, weather permitting, were removed. On Sundays drills were omitted, regimental inspections preceded guard- mount, and the men were assembled for divine service, for which, unfortunately, the Seventh was compelled to depend upon the chaplains of other commands. On the last day of the month was inspection and muster, and muster for pay when the paymaster came.
Drill.
The afternoon was devoted to battalion and the morning to company drill. Brigade and division drill, and evolutions of the line were specially appointed. The evenings were all supposed to be devoted by the officers to "recitations in tactics and revised army regulations," either at regimental or brigade headquarters, and the hours appointed for drill were, by express order, "to be employed in exercise and not in resting." Particular attention was required to the skirmish drill, and target practice. The penalty for inat- tention and blundering in drill was the "awkward squad," whose " balance step," "goose step," "shanghai step," and other gymnastic eccentricities, sometimes with loaded knapsacks, never failed to cause sufficient diversion to outsiders.
In the Seventh, it was the invariable practice to close every battalion drill with the "rally on the colors." Ranks were broken, the companies mixed, and as much confu- sion and disorder made as possible. While this was going on, the colors were advanced or retired over the rise of a neighboring hill, as much out of view as practicable, and markers posted. At the drum signal, the color-guard loudly cheered, and the men raced, with a great shout, to find their places in line or in column, according to the position of the markers. The men greatly enjoyed this exercise, and its value was soon practically illustrated in the Wilderness campaign.
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Discipline.
There was never much trouble in the discipline of the Seventh. So far as the men were concerned, ordinary guard-house discipline sufficed for the common run of petty offenses. The few deserters who were caught and brought back were, of course, turned over to general court-martial for more serious punishment. There had not been a single officer court-martialed down to this period of its history, although one had resigned on request, and two were marked as deserters, with whom it would have fared badly if they had been caught. Neither of these three could be said properly to have belonged to the regiment, in the sense of being identified with the society from which it came. At the time the regiment crossed the Rapidan in May, two of its officers marched in the rear under arrest and charges, one of them, by express order from the War Department, for some technical breach, but at the first heavy firing in the Wilderness they were both ordered to resume their swords and expect no other trial than that which awaited them in the woods.
Gen. Grant-Consolidation.
So matters went on, or rather stood still, until the last week in March, when the Army of the Potomac was struck as if by lightning. In the general reorganization ordered on the 23d of March, the old First Corps was "consolidated" out of existence, its 3d division was broken up, and the Maryland brigade was assigned to Warren's Fifth Corps and became the 3d brigade of its 2d division, under Gen. John C. Robinson, a regular army officer of distinction. The brigade was allowed to wear its old badges. Gen. Kenly, in taking leave of his command, was greeted with a hearty expression of good will and regret. Lieutenant-General Grant was at Culpeper, and the saying among the men was that they were being "lieutenant-generalized."
Twice they were ordered out to be reviewed by him, and each time came back with- out that satisfaction, the men calling him "Un Seen Grant." At last, on the 29th of March, Grant himself, assisted by Meade and Warren, did actually review the 2d and 4th divisions of the 5th Corps, comprising the consolidated three divisions of the old First,
It is now admitted that this consolidation, the reason for which was the reduced strength of infantry regiments, was an unfortunate move to be made at the outset of a sharp campaign. Among the organizations whose prized record and associations were thus ignored, and whose cherished identity was lost, there was naturally at first some soreness and wounded esprit de corps. (Humphrey's Va. Campaign, 3.)
The ceremony was like all others of the kind, except that the marching past in re- view was dispensed with. There was no cheering as the conqueror of Donaldson and Vicksburg uncovered before each stand of regimental colors. He rode slowly, in a business like, quiet manner, along the front of the massed battalions, looking critically as he passed. not at the buttons, but at the faces, which, in turn, looked critically at him. The men agreed that they saw nothing at all striking about him or his outfit; nothing for effect, no self-consciousness, further than a sort of shy, half embarrassed, half-bored look, on the surface, and behind it a certain depth of expression, as of reserve force, grit, pluck, will power, energy, and masterful grasp.
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Camp Talk.
The following, from a letter from camp written at about the same time, throws some light upon the topics then engaging the attention of the men :
"For some time past rumors have been afloat that our brigade is to be ordered home to vote on the 6th of April. Of course, the men who have failed to obtain furloughs are in ecstacies at the idea. One report goes so far as that we are to be permanently detached from this army. It would not be honest to deny that this prospect is also immensely popular. The discipline is severe, the marching heavy, duty tough and quarters rough, and, whatever the newspapers may say, all men are not spoiling for a fight all the time. No furloughs, no frenches, no hen-roosts, no whiskey, not a pig. They look back wist- fully upon the good old days of the upper Potomac and West Virginia, and think they left there the flesh pots of Egypt to come and perish in this wilderness, where the quails are regulation salt pork, and the manna mouldy hard tack. There are some of us, how- ever, who would, if the choice were presented to us, decide to take our chances with this army. On the eve of the fourth campaign of the Civil War, we have hopes that it will be the decisive one. There are battles to be fought, and our ranks will be thinned, but if we fall, it will be no more than we bargained for when we volunteered, and if we survive there will be satisfaction, glory and promotion-perhaps. The steadiest, oftenest tried, best disciplined and most unfortunate army in the world is about being led by the ablest and most successful general of the war. We feel a faith that it will at last be led to victory. And to have participated in a victorious and conclusive campaign of the Army of the Potomac would be an experience and a record that we would not exchange for milk and maple sugar."
Furlough.
The brigade was not ordered home to vote, but the Seventh was fortunate enough to have a friend "at court," and, after failing in his efforts in behalf of the whole brigade, Col. Webster at length succeeded in obtaining for his old regiment a furlough from the 1st to the 8th of April, with transportation to Baltimore. Upon arriving there the regiment was practically disbanded, and the men went home. The confidence thus reposed was not abused, except in a very few instances. Promptly, upon the day named, the regiment reassembled in Baltimore. There was no loss by desertion, but, on the contrary, the handsome acquisition was made of 144 first-class recruits from Baltimore, almost enough to make up all the losses which the regiment had ever sustained. These men had all served their time in the 10th Maryland, a six months' organization, and had re-enlisted for the war for that regiment, which failed to reach the required strength; and upon application made by them through their officers, the War Department ordered that the re-enlisted portion thereof, composed of one company of eighty-seven men with their officers, and a squad of fifty-seven men with one officer, be transferred and assigned to the Seventh Maryland.
With this cheering reinforcement, the Seventh resumed its old quarters, where times had continued as dull and quiet as ever.
Stripping for Fight.
Soon, however, every sign began to indicate that the great army was at last stripping for fight. Transportation was being reduced, surplus baggage was packed off to the
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rear, and, as if the work was not going on fast enough, on the afternoon of the 2d of May, a tornado struck the camp, tore off all the tent roofs, demolished many of the cabins, blew down many trees and covered everything with red dust. The Seventh was out on battalion drill at the time ; field and staff had to dismount ; men were actually lifted off their feet. On the whole, it was a pretty strong hint to leave
The camps of a cavalry division now made their appearance in front near the base of Mount Pony, and one of their preliminary movements was a raid upon the private horses of the Seventh, and the capture, while innocently grazing, of a valuable horse belonging to the Adjutant, and a spare horse of the Colonel's. The latter was seen a few days later crossing the Rapidan on a pontoon bridge; no time then for swapping horses, or claiming stolen ones.
Behind camp, and between it and Culpeper, glittered the bright pieces of Wain- wright's artillery brigade of our corps. On the crest of a ridge back of this, a red line of earthworks was being industriously thrown up, in full view of the enemy's signal station on Clark's Mountain. What those banks were made for, just on the eve of an advance, was one of those mysteries that still remain unexplained, unless for the purpose of delud- ing the enemy into the belief that we intended to stay behind them for "three years or the war," or run back to them after defeat.
The Rapidan Crossed.
Heavy weights thrown off, weather not unfavorable, roads as good as ever they were likely to be, all are waiting for the word "go," when, on Tuesday, 3d of May (1864), the general officer of the day goes out to order in the picket line, and advanced copies of Meade's printed address to the army, dated 4th May, are handed around and read at dress parade. Following that came the order to be ready to move at midnight, with a caution against making unusual fires.
The rolls of the Seventh at this time show an aggregate of 794, and its effective fighting strength, on the morning of the first battle in the Wilderness, was 556, in- cluding 26 officers, with Colonel Phelps in command.
Early on the morning of May 4 the Fifth Corps had pulled out, and at noon crossed the Rapidan at Germanna Ford. Flankers were thrown out on the right, and, after a cautious progress of some five miles or more, the Maryland brigade bivouacked for the night in a piny old field near the old Wilderness tavern.
Wilderness -- First Day.
At daylight of the 5th the Maryland brigade ( Colonel Denison ), now acting separately, took position on the high clearing near the Lacy House, from which were seen heavy columns of troops disappearing in the thicket, and the skirmishing fire playing around the unseen heads of these columns as they deployed. After some marching and counter-marching, as if prospecting for a good location, the brigade deployed along an edge of small timber facing west or northwest, in what might be called the right center of the general position, and advanced in line, brigade front, through the woods, brush and undergrowth. After some 500 yards or more of such scrambling, the ragged line suddenly stumbled upon another line of somebody else's skirmishers, waiting for something to turn up. It was then discovered that these were the skirmishers of the "Iron Brigade" of western regiments, which had the right of way,
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soon came up from the rear, passed through intervals formed for the purpose, swept forward, through the woods, skirmishers ahead, and in a few minutes became liotly engaged. Their battle for some time prospered, hundreds of prisoners were sent to the rear, with several colors, and considerable ground was gained. Then the tide turned, the first symptoms being the suspicious numbers of supernumerary attendants upon the wounded, soon followed by stragglers with the usual discouraging reports. An aid, galloping from the front, wanted to know who commanded these troops, and was referred to Colonel Denison. He said he had no time to go to him; "tell him the rebels are driving our right, and there is no support on that flank." This message was promptly commu- nicated to Denison, who remarked with great composure that he had just received an exactly similar report about the left. The Seventh held the left of the brigade, its left emerging from the woods into a clearing of the Hagerson farm, south of the Orange Pike. Near the edge of this clearing a venerable mounted officer, unattended, said to be General Wadsworth, his white locks streaming, was shouting, "Where is my second line? Bring up my second line !"
Before any response could have been given, the crisis came ; the Iron brigade had fairly broken to the rear, the enemy close upon their heels, charging after colors, pick- ing up prisoners, until they rushed impetuously up to the very muzzles of the leveled pieces of the Maryland brigade (at some points of the line), our men having held their fire to the very last minute so as not to injure our retreating friends. Then followed a hot and bloody duel at close range, which lasted nobody knew exactly how many min- utes, but long enough, at all events, to clear the front of the Seventh, at least, from every sign of a live Confederate. The fire slackened on both sides, but it appeared at a glance that this was but a lull in the storm. All that now remained of the brigade was the Seventh and a fraction of the Eighth on its right. The entire right wing of the brigade, formed of the Fourth and First, with most of the Eighth, had been flanked and "fell back, rather irregularly, about a mile." (Camper and Kirkeley, page 128.)
It should be noted that only a small battalion of the 1st Maryland is here referred to; the majority of that regiment, having lately re-enlisted, were on "veteran furlough," under Colonel Dushane.
There was nothing now in front of the Confederate force but the small command of Phelps, just referred to, which found itself isolated, left flank "in the air," right flank in the bush. When the attack was shortly after renewed, there was also a mischievous fire from fugitives who had rallied some distance back in the thicket, and who doubtless supposed, in good faith, that everything had fallen back when they did. Under these discouraging circumstances some of the rank and file began to grow un- steady, and the utmost exertions of the officers were required to keep the line firmly in place, seconded by the dauntless bearing of the color guard. By a hot and well-directed file fire the position was stubbornly maintained, until at last Denison rode up and ordered Phelps to "fall back steadily." The movement was executed by word of com- mand as if on drill, the men reloading while marching by the rear rank, then halting, facing front and firing at short intervals. Some men, it is true, were lost at each halt, but, from the difficult character of the ground, nothing else could have been expected. The same difficulties equally obstructed the rapid advance of the enemy in anything like good order, and the deliberate and steady punishment they were getting warned them of
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the inconvenience of approaching in bad order. At all events, they did not deem it pru- dent to follow up their cautious pursuit for more than one or two hundred yards, and, as soon as the command reached a small stream where a good defensive position was found, they were effectually checked, and the men were given a halt to blow and cool off by its side in the heart of the Wilderness.
After a short rest, the command was visited by an aid and conducted still further to the rear, and occupied a line of breastworks near the Lacy House, connecting with Crawford's Division. It was about noon when the battle opened, and about 3.30 P. M. when the breastworks were occupied. They had been hastily thrown together of logs. The dry leaves had taken fire from the burning cartridge papers, and the flames had caught the works. After putting out this fire, a field return was taken, showing but 278 of the Seventh present. These, with about one company of the Eighth, included all that was left of the Maryland brigade, until the missing regiments and men came up from the rear later in the evening, surprised to find their comrades alive. There being no space for them in the line as formed, they were placed in a second line.
Loss.
The loss of the Seventh Regiment on the first day of the Wilderness (5th May, 1864) was eleven killed, two officers and forty-one men wounded, and seventeen missing. The missing included men killed or wounded, but not heard from, and a few prisoners taken. The officers wounded were Capt. David T. Bennett and Adjutant George L. Tyler. Sergeant Noble H. Creager, afterwards first lieutenant, was twice wounded before retiring. These three were all from Frederick County. Colonel Phelps had several bullets through clothing and horse killed under him. Captain Bennett, for conspicuous gallantry in this action, was promoted lieutenant-colonel. He was shot in the face while engaged in a revolver duel with a Confederate officer, both in advance of their lines, and refused to leave the field until ordered to the rear by the colonel. The loss of the entire Maryland brigade ( including the 7th) was two officers and eighteen men killed, six officers and ninety-three men wounded, and one officer and sixty men missing. The brigade went into action about 1300 strong.
Wilderness-Second Day.
Before daylight of the 6th of May, the Maryland brigade was relieved in the works by the Pennsylvania Reserves, and stacked arms in close column by regiment (Seventh, as usual, by wing) on the Lacy clearing, near Grant's headquarters.
About 7 A. M. a New York regiment, the 14th Brooklyn, came up from guard duty in the rear, and by order reported to the Maryland brigade, its Colonel (Fowler), by seni- ority, taking command. He commanded the brigade for that day only, his regiment being then ordered elsewhere. It was thought at the time to be an extraordinary per- formance-in the midst of a great pitched battle, to place an entire stranger, with a strange staff, in command of troops, who had been ably handled the day before by their own commander (Denison), who had shown himself brave, self-possessed, cool-headed and judicious. It was an error, and in direct consequence of it, later in the day, the com- mand narrowly escaped a great disaster, as will shortly appear.
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In Support of Hancock.
After several changes of position and reinforcing the troops engaged on the Orange Pike on the right, about 3 P. M. the Maryland brigade was hurried over to the left to sup- port Hancock on the Brock road, and was formed by General Robinson in two lines in rear of his first brigade to right of Birney's division. In this position the Fourth, First and Eighth formed a second line, and the Fourteenth Brooklyn and Seventh Maryland a third, the left of the Eighth and Seventh being both projected into a swamp. The young timber here was dense and choked with undergrowth. The third line was some 25 yards in rear of the entrenchments along the Brock road, a short distance north of its intersection with the Orange plank road, about midway between it and Germanna plank road.
Very soon after the brigade got into position, the fight on this part of the field reached its climax. The log breastworks along Hancock's front took fire from the burn- ing leaves, the direction of the wind favored the enemy, Hancock's first line was driven out of the works, the fight to regain them was going on. While this was taking place on our near left, not within sight, because nothing could be seen through the thicket, the Maryland brigade, the Seventh regiment in particular, was going through a very extraordinary experience.
Scarcely had the brigade got fairly into position, when the din of battle upon the left rapidly drew nearer. Not only so, but it soon appeared to pass beyond our left, to get behind that flank into our left rear. As before stated, the Seventh held the left of the third line, and so dense was the brush that but a few files could be seen at once. The firing increased in volume, individual exclamations could be distinctly heard, the screaming and exploding of shell in quick succession rose above the continuous crash of musketry, stragglers and fugitives were seen to burst through the bushes. Every sign indicated the necessity for a prompt change of front to meet the impending attack upon the rear. General Robinson, at the right of the line, was notified, and erroneously explain- ed that the line made a sharp angle on the left. The officer who had communicated this information was on his way back, when he met General Birney, riding hastily from Han- cock's front to General Robinson with precisely the same information, followed by an orderly, who was at that moment shot from his horse and killed. Immediately after Birney communicated with Robinson, the second and third lines were faced to the rear.
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