USA > Maryland > The Maryland line in the Confederate Army, 1861-1865 > Part 10
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Sharpsburg, however, General Lee hoped to bring on an engagement. The position he chose was not really a strong one, nothing like so strong as that held by Meade at Gettysburg, but General Lee - and so did his army - felt confident of administering a crushing defeat to Meade could he be induced to attack.
General Lee here issued the following order, which set the army wild with enthusiasm :
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, July II, 1863.
General Orders No. 16.
After long and trying marches, endured with the fortitude that has ever characterized the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, you have penetrated to the country of our enemies, and recalled to the defenses of their own soil those who were engaged in the invasion of ours. You have fought a fierce and sanguinary battle, which, if not attended with the success that has hitherto crowned your efforts, was marked by the same heroic spirit that has commanded the respect of your enemies, the gratitude of your country, and the admiration of mankind.
Once more you are called upon to meet the enemy from whom you have won, on so many fields, names that will never die. Once more the eyes of your countrymen are turned upon you, and again do wives and sisters, fathers and mothers, and helpless children. leaf for defense on your strong arms and brave hearts. Let every soldier remember that on his courage and fidelity depend all that makes life worth having, the freedom of his country. the honor of his people, and the security of his home. Let each heart grow strong in the remembrance of our glorious past, and in the thought of the inestimable blessings for which we contend ; and, invoking the assistance of that benign Power which has so signally blessed our former efforts, let us go forth in confidence to secure the peace and safety of our country. Soldiers, your old enemy is before you. Win from him honor worthy of your right cause, worthy of your comrades dead on so many illustrious fields.
R. E. LEE, General Commanding.
For three days General Lee held his army in line of battle, and during these three days he resorted to every means in his power to bring on a general engage- ment, but in vain. General Meade had had enough, and contented himself with watching and waiting for Lee to move on, when he, too, would resume the monotonous march to the Potomac and slowly follow the Confederate Army into Virginia.
At length, on the evening of the 13th, disgusted with Meade's timidity, General Lee left his position, and on the 14th recrossed the Potomac.
On the 18th of the previous month ( June) the Second Maryland Infantry had crossed this same river under vastly different circumstances, and the fact was remarked more than once during the passage across. Then it was a battalion five
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hundred strong ; now it was a skeleton of its former self, three hundred of those composing it then having been left behind in an inhospitable country, dead, wounded and prisoners ; then it crossed amid joyous shouts and joyous songs, now not a word is spoken, for all are too busily thinking, and wondering whether the events of the past few days are not the imaginations of a disordered brain. But such are the fortunes of war.
On July 15th, the battalion, in conjunction with the rest of the brigade, proceeded in the direction of Martinsburg, and thence to Darksville, where it remained until the 20th, when it was ordered to tear up the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks in the vicinity of Martinsburg, which work was pretty thoroughly accomplished for a considerable distance. Thence the brigade marched to Winchester on its way to Orange Court House, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains through Thornton's Gap.
Reaching Orange Court House on the Ist of August Steuart's Brigade proceeded to take the rest they so much required after the hardships of the two months that had passed, and soon the Maryland boys had recovered their old spirits and longed to be avenged for the disappointment they had suffered in not having been permitted to spend the summer, at least, among their friends across the Potomac.
The camp near Orange Court House was pleasant enough. It is true, there were drills, guard mounts, and policing, but the Maryland boys did not shirk either. The members of the old First who were in the Second knew too well General Steuart's peculiar ideas about the latter duty, and the other members of the battalion who had not before had the opportunity to see "Big Injun " in his element were not long in discovering the fact that a slovenly man or a dirty street incurred his displeasure for all time. The result was that in the Second, as in the First, the men heartily seconded General Steuart's efforts in their behalf. It was not only his love for a clean camp, but a desire to promote the health and comfort of his men that made him unyielding in the enforcement of sanitary rules. You might influence him in some things, but never in this.
About August 23 an inspection was held preparatory to a grand review by Generals Lee and Ewell. The inspection was very rigid, and greatly were the members of the Second Maryland pleased when, after it was over, it was officially announced that they had carried off the first honors in the division.
The grand reviewy by Generals Ice and Ewell took place a few days later, on which occasion General Edward Johnson remarked to General Lee, as the battalion passed, in beautiful line, division front, with Mike Quinn's drum corps at its head : "General, they were as steady as that at Gettysburg." General Lee also honored the battalion by taking off his hat as its right got within saluting distance, and remained uncovered until it had passed. He was proud of the little
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command, and he more than once expressed himself to that effect. He felt for them in their exile, for they were not citizens of a seceded State, and their self- sacrifice won his admiration and excited his sympathy.
The latter end of August, 1864. the strength of the battalion was augmented by the arrival of Company H, commanded by a Captain Callan. This company had been enlisted for the cavalry, but was for some reason assigned to the Second Maryland Infantry, because Callan and his men claimed to be Marylanders. This was not a fact. There were few of them who had ever been in the State, and with some exceptions they were a bad lot. But the battalion soon got rid of Captain Callan and his Lieutenants, and for awhile the company was commanded by Sergeant Thomas O'Brien, an old United States soldier, and a good man. By the time Hanover Junction was reached later in the season the undesirable element had taken their departure, and what remained did good service. In February of the following year Lieutenant J. Thomas Bussey, of Company D, was elected to the command of the company.
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CHAPTER IV.
The weeks had now rolled around in this pleasant camp near Orange Court House, and. the army was rested and in fine condition to take the field, and the men longed once more to measure strength with the enemy. The ranks of the different regiments liad been recruited by the return of absentees and convalescent wounded and sick, and the army again bore a strong resemblance to that which had marched so proudly into the enemy's country earlier in the year. Their old foe, with whom they had parted at Williamsport, were not far off, and it secmed to be but a little while when the two armies would again be brought face to face.
On the 14th of September the troops were startled by hearing the long-roll beat. The enemy were reported to be advancing in force beyond Orange Court House, but after marching two or three miles in that direction it was discovered that the alarm was occasioned by the enemy making a cavalry reconnoissance in force, but they were easily driven back by the Confederate cavalry which they encountered.
After this incident, which had served to do a little " limbering up," Johnson took up a position on the Rapidan, and covered Merton's Ford ; and here the brigade remained until October 8.
In the meantime Longstreet's Corps had been sent to Tennessee, leaving those of Ewell and Hill to confront Meade. General Lee had planned an attack upon that General somewhat similar to that brilliant movement against Pope at the second Manassas, but unfortunately he had not a Jackson to carry out his daring conception, and it failed.
To accomplish successfully this well-conceived plan to administer to the enemy a crushing blow, Ewell was to make a detour of some seventy miles so as to get in the enemy's rear, whilst Hill was to attack him in front, having but fifteen miles to march. Ewell moved slowly in the direction of Culpeper Court House, and leaving that place to the right he crossed Hazel River and struck the Warrenton turnpike at Jeffersontown, and thence moved to the Rappahannock. where a portion of his forces had a slight skirmish. The corps then moved along the Warrenton pike, through Warrenton, until it had reached within five miles of the old battle-field of Manassas. Thence Johnson's Division marched to Bristow Station, where a sharp fight ensued, but without material results. The enemy had taken the alarm and retreated within his strong fortifications at Centreville.
For the failure of this short campaign General A. P. Hill was much blamed, and narrowly escaped a court-martial. Upon this occasion, at least, General Hill
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moved too cautiously, and neither did General Ewell perform the task allotted to him with that vigor essential to insure success. Some severe fighting ensued, however, and about three thousand prisoners were taken, and much of the Manassas Gap Railroad destroyed, but otherwise little was accomplished where a great victory was within the grasp of the Army of Northern Virginia. General Lee was much disappointed at the result.
Johnson remained in the vicinity of Bristow Station for two days, busily „, engaged in destroying the railroad, when he fell back to Brandy Station and went into camp.
Here, on October 22d, the long-looked-for order was received detaching the Second Maryland from Steuart's Brigade, and transferring it to the command of Colonel Bradley T. Johnson, who had been ordered by General Lee to assemble the Maryland Line, and picket the line on his flank from the White House to Kent Court House, and protect his communications with Richmond, with his headquarters at Hanover Junction, where the bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers were of vital importance to him.
On the 2d of November the battalion took the cars at Brandy Station, and arrived at the Junction next day.
Although the men had suffered great privations in the long and arduous campaign of the summer, they left the front with many regrets ; but they still earnestly hoped to see the Maryland Line assume respectable proportions, and they now believed the time had come when it would.
On arriving at Hanover Junction the battalion was at once set to work build- ing winter quarters, and in a short time a well-arranged and beautifully-located camp for infantry, artillery and cavalry was completed, and for the first time since leaving the Valley of Virginia the different arms of the Maryland Line were united and camped together.
In addition, also, to the Second Maryland Infantry, First Maryland Cavalry and Baltimore Light Artillery, the strength of the Line was here augmented by the assignment of the First Maryland Artillery, Captain William F. Dement, and the Fourth Maryland (Chesapeake) Artillery, Captain W. Scott Chew.
The field and staff of the Maryland Line as now organized was as follows : Colonel commanding, Bradley T. Johnson ; Captain George W. Booth, A. A. G .; Captain Wilson C. Nicholas, Assistant Inspector-General ; Major Charles R. Harding, A. Q. M .; Major George E. Kyle, A. C. S .; Surgeon Richard P. Johnson, Medical Director ; Lieutenant A. C. Trippe, Ordnance Officer ; the Reverend Mr. Duncan, Chaplain.
The strength of the different commands also began to increase by the return of convalescents and by reason of the order granting the privilege to Marylanders in other commands to be transferred to the Maryland Line. Of the latter, unfor-
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tunately, there were few, and in the effects of this order there was a disappointment, but there were nevertheless some transfers, and of very superior men, as a general thing.
Having located and thoroughly cleared and policed the site for their camp, the men of the Second Maryland next turned ,their attention to the building of their cabins, and by the Ist of December this work was completed.
But there was something else to be done. A chapel for religious worship was to be built, and in this work Mrs. Bradley T. Johnson and her sister, Miss Saunders, took the liveliest interest. And what would not the boys of the Second Maryland do for the ladies, and for Mrs. Johnson in particular, whom they all loved so well ? They might have built a chapel, for they were God-fearing men, but it would have been a rude affair compared to the neat little structure built under the supervision of these ladies.
Episcopal services were held in the chapel for the first time on the 17th of January by the Chaplain, Reverend Mr. Duncan, and on the 31st Reverend Mr. Peterkin came up from Richmond and entertained the boys with an impres- sive sermon, taking for his text : "What Shall I Do to Be Saved ?"
It was here at Hanover Junction, on the 20th of January, that it was determined to call the battalion the Second Maryland Infantry, as it had been known up to that time as the First Maryland Battalion, although the reader will observe that the author has persisted in speaking of it as the Second Maryland Infantry throughout this work.
The winter was delightfully passed at Hanover Junction. Various were the methods resorted to by the boys to pass the time. Several parties, balls and concerts were given, and one of the latter, for the purchase of a library, netted five hundred dollars.
As considerable snow fell during the winter, snowball battles frequently took place between the infantry and cavalry, in one of which a flanking party of the infantry carried off the colors of the cavalry - the first instance on record where infantry outflanked cavalry.
But spring was growing apace, and all knew that another active summer's campaign would soon be inaugurated. It, therefore, behooved theni to recruit their ranks as much as possible. Captain John W. Torsch was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, in hopes of inducing many of the Marylanders there in South Carolina regiments to consent to a transfer, but every obstacle was thrown in his way to prevent it, though, indeed, but few of the men themselves seemed to desire to be transferred, as they were satisfied where they were. General Beauregard and his chief of staff, General Jordan, violently opposed these transfers, saying that the Marylanders in the service of the State of South Carolina were too valuable to part with. Under these discouraging circumstances, Captain Torsch returned to the command without having accomplished much.
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Soon after the return of Captain Torschi from his unsuccessful mission to South Carolina it was proposed by Colonel Bradley T. Johnson to mount the Second Infantry, and Lieutenant Zollinger and William Smith ran the blockade and went to Baltimore to raise the necessary funds for that purpose. They soon secured $25,000 from the patriotic citizens of Baltimore, and they then started to return to their command by different routes. Lieutenant Zollinger returned in safety, but Smith, who had the money, was captured and came near being hanged as a spy. Thus this scheme came to naught.
On the Ist of May, 1864, what with recruiting, transfers and return of wounded and prisoners, the Second Maryland numbered 325 men present for duty. The command was in fine condition, and ready and anxious to take the field at a moment's notice.
The enemy was becoming restless, and the batteries of Dement and Chew were sent to the front, and never again seen with the other commands of the Maryland Line, after a sojourn with them of nearly a month. Indeed, it was but a few days when these, too, were widely separated, and never again brought together, from which time the Maryland Line existed only in name.
To all who followed the fortunes of the constituent parts of the old Line in the subsequent campaigns, and observed how magnificent a spirit of bravery, and dash, and fortitude they displayed in the battles which followed each other in such quick succession it will always be a matter of profound regret that their scattered rays of glory could not have been gathered to one focus. The war covered a wide area, and was waged by armies of such magnitude that the deeds of small bodies, however meritorious, could not affect the general result sufficiently to engross the public attention. The multiplicity of details in the formation of an army like the Army of Northern Virginia fatigues the mind, and one finally fixes his attention only upon the larger units - divisions or brigades, at least: The smaller bodies, regiments, battalions and companies, upon whose individual efforts the character of the whole depends, are sure to be neglected, and thus the smaller units are robbed of the credit due them. It was from a knowledge of this fact that the promoters of the Maryland Line urged the expediency of assembling all the Marylanders in the Confederate service in one body : but as this failed it became the duty of all who had the honor of their State at heart to make the best of the situation and endeavor to reflect all the credit possible upon the old and honored State of Maryland through the small commands sent across the border. The unprejudiced historian will say that in this Maryland's sons were successful to a degree certainly gratifying to those at home who followed them throughout the long and bloody struggle with the keenest interest.
On the 8th of May the Second Maryland broke camp at Hanover Junction, around which lingered so many pleasant memories, and took position to cover
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the bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers, and thus keep open General Lee's communication with the South, from which he received most of his supplies. Colonel Johnson had before gone off with the cavalry, and was closely watching that of the enemy.
A few days after, General John C. Breckinridge moved up with his division, when the Second Maryland was assigned to his command, but remained an independent command, being attached to no brigade. General Breckinridge established his line along the Virginia Central Railroad, his left at Hanover Junction and his right extending toward Hanover Court House.
General Breckinridge seemed much pleased at having the little battalion assigned to his command, and complimented them highly upon their neat and soldierly appearance, thanks again to the good offices of Mrs. Bradley T. Johnson.
About the 20th of May General Lee had fallen back on the line of the South Anna, and at the same time the enemy advanced a corps across the North Anna, occupying position on the plantation of Major Thomas Doswell.
Here they were attacked and driven back with heavy loss. During the time they remained there, however, a Federal Maryland regiment on picket called to some of Hays' Louisianians, who were in front of them, that they would like very much to meet the Second Maryland Confederate Regiment. This coming to the ears of the boys they sent a committee of officers to wait upon General Breckin- ridge with the request that they take the place of the Louisiana regiment and be allowed to give the Federal Maryland regiment a little brush. This request the General refused to grant.
Soon after General Breckinridge moved his command toward Hanover Court House, passing through and going into camp a few miles from that point on both sides of the railroad leading to Richmond.
And here the boys were for awhile, until their identity was discovered, subjected to a good deal of ridicule, for as the old Army of Northern Virginia came along the neat and cleanly uniforms they wore attracted the attention of the veterans : "Go home, you nice little soldiers ; we're here now !" " Oh ! don't he look purty !" " Nice little Richmond soldiers, wear good clothes, don't you !" "Go home, boys, and tell Mammy Mars Bob's boys are right down here, and they won't let you git hurt, son," etc.
But presently their jibes were turned to cheers of welcome. "Hold on, thar, boys ; them ain't melish, them's the Murlanders : how are you, old Murland ?" and another, " Hurra for old Murland ; " " Have you j'ined us again ? Sure 'nuif ; come along ; Mars Bob's waitinf for you." So from being unmercifully ridiculed the boys were wildly cheered by these heroes of the old Army of Northern Virginia, with whom they were soon once more to unite in the bloody battles of the campaign already opened.
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As the Army of Northern Virginia gradually fell back in the direction of the old battle-field of Gaines' Mill, or Cold Harbor, the battalion was daily under fire, and a number of the men were wounded, but none seriously.
On the evening of the 2d of June General Lee had formed his line of battle upon the historic field of two years before. It was here the First Maryland won fame, and it was here that the Second was to prove itself a worthy successor of the First. The battle fought in June, 1862, was one of the most desperate of the war, and the one in June, 1864, was no less bloody, but in the latter the loss of the enemy was appalling, whilst that of the Confederates was insignificant. In the first the Confederates assumed the offensive, in the latter it was the Federals. As a distinguished Southern officer said soon after the battle : "Cold Harbor was not war : it was murder ; " and was it a wonder, then, that Grant's troops, after repeated repulses, in which they saw their comrades slain by thousands, refused finally to renew the unequal contest ? The indomitable Grant well said it was the only battle he ever fought that he regretted having made. In this, as in all the battles that he fought with Grant, General Lee's superior genius was apparent. From the time he crossed the Rapidan with an army so overwhelming in numbers that a speedy termination of the war seemed imminent, Grant had been foiled in his every attempt to march direct upon Richmond, and his repulses had been repeated and bloody.
In this engagement the Second Maryland was assigned a position in reserve some three hundred yards in rear of a salient held by Edgar's battalion of Echols' Virginia Brigade of Breckinridge's Division.
It was midnight of the 2d of June when, after much countermarching, the battalion halted and the men were ordered to lay upon their arms to await any emergency. They were tired, for they had marched many weary miles in the past few days, and the strain to which they had been subjected had been fearful. No wonder, then, they slept soundly, and their awakening was rude and rather unexpected. From where they lay wrapped in their blankets they were sheltered somewhat from the direct fire of the enemy owing to a rise in the ground in their front, but not so from a flank fire on their left, where a body of Federal troops held a position on higher ground. Between the Second Maryland and the salient held by Echols' troops was a dweiling and outhouses which somewhat obscured their view of the salient, where eight pieces of artillery were in position. In the rear of the Marylanders, some three or four hundred yards was Finnigan's Brigade of Floridians, which had been engaged in throwing up a reserve line of works, to be used in case any disaster should occur at the first.
It will thus be seen that the position assigned the Second Maryland was a most responsible one, and one well calculated to put them to their mettle should anything befall Echols. And that very same came to pass, and proved that
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General Breckinridge was not in error when on placing them where he did he should observe : "This is a most important position, and I feel I can intrust it to that battalion." And how well he was justified in that confidence daylight of that morning proved.
Captain J. Parran Crane was at this time in command of the battalion and Captain John W. Torsch was next in command. Captain Crane gave his immediate attention to the right, while Captain Torsch looked after the left.
Before daylight on the morning of the 3d the enemy began a skirmish fire, but this did not arouse the sleeping men. A few arose and folded their blankets, but the majority of them slept on. But what did these few early risers see ? Through the dim mist they saw what appeared to be a heavy skirmish line of Echols' command running back on their left front. Then a body of men came forward and halted and clustered around the dwelling and outhouses already referred to and then opened fire upon the Marylanders still in their blankets, and many of them were thus shot while they slept. Who were these men who had so suddenly aroused them from their slumbers ? Certainly they could not be of the enemy, for was not Echols in their front. By this time the men were in line, ready to obey any command ; but there was the dread uncertainty as to whether the early morning visitors were friend or foe, and no order was given. Private Charles H. Weems, of Company A, familiarly known as "Buck " Weems, and who was conspicuous for the big straw hat he wore that day, suddenly exclaimed : " I see the gridiron, boys ; let's charge 'em," and at the same moment Captain John W. Torsch, down on the left, called out : "It is the enemy - Charge !" but even before he gave the command the men were in motion ; Weems on the right had started them, and without an instant's hesitation they dashed forward upon the enemy. The dwelling and outhouses between them and the salient were soon reached and here was found a swarm of Federals, who had broken through the salient by a sudden attack and advanced as far as the buildings. Although in overwhelming numbers, these were quickly driven back, with heavy loss, by the furious onset of the Marylanders. Onward the gallant battalion rushed until they reached the salient, there also to find a large force of the enemy who had manned the guns, double-shotted, and who were about to turn them upon their assailants. The conflict was brief, but terrible ; it was hand to hand : the artil- lery was wrested from the Federals, and they were driven out of the salient at the point of the bayonet. Lieutenant Charles B. Wise, of Company B, called for volunteers to man two of the guns. In an instant men drilled in the artillery service during the winter at Hanover Junction had them in charge, and they were belching forth canister into the mass of fleeing men who but a few minutes before were exulting in their successful assault upon the Confederate lines. Then, and not until then, had Finnigan been able to get up, when the works were once more
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