USA > Maryland > The Maryland line in the Confederate Army, 1861-1865 > Part 18
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Thus ended one of the most remarkable episodes of the war. It had failed in the main object of the expedition, which was to release the prisoners at Point Lookout. The audacity of this movement was its safety, and no higher military skill was displayed on either side during the war than that shown by General Early in his daring attempt to surprise the Capital of the enemy with so small a force, and which was only averted by the energy and foresight of one man - John W. Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He had foreseen when Early crossed the Potomac that his objective point was Washington, and at once began to assemble all the means of transportation possible on his road at Locust Point, and had himself hurried to Washington on a special train to inform the authorities of his suspicions, and urged that reinforcements be sent for from Grant's army. They came, means of transportation were at hand, and the Capital was saved by, oh, how narrow a margin !
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CHAPTER IX.
For some time prior to General Early's return from his invasion of Maryland the wanton destruction of private residences by General David Hunter in Virginia had aroused the indignation of the people of the South and the Confederate Government had been appealed to to resort to retaliatory measures to put a stop to it, but as yet no steps had been taken in that direction, and General Early determined to take the matter into his own hands, and have the responsibility rest upon his shoulders.
Accordingly, General Early, on the twenty-ninth day of July, started the cavalry brigades of Generals McCausland and Bradley T. Johnson across the Potomac above Williamsport with directions to proceed to Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, and demand an indemnity of $100,000 in gold from its citizens, otherwise the town would be burned. The people of Chambersburg, as were the people of the towns passed through by General Lee's army of invasion the year before, had been treated with so much consideration that they not only refused to raise the money, but laughed at the threat to burn their town, whereupon General McCausland proceeded to execute General Early's orders, and the greater part of Chambersburg was laid in ashes.
But of this expedition let General Early speak for himself, as he does in his " Memoirs of the Last Year of the War for Independence " :
On the 26th of July, we moved to Martinsburg, the cavalry going to the Potomac. The 27th and 28th were employed in destroying the railroad, it having been repaired since we passed over it at the beginning of the month. While at Martinsburg it was ascertained, beyond all doubt, that Hunter had been again indulging in his favorite mode of warfare, and that, after his return to the Valley, while we were near Washington, among other outrages, the private residences of Mr. Andrew Hunter, a member of the Virginia Senate, Mr. Alexander R. Boteler, an ex-member of the Confederate Congress, as well as of the United States Congress, and Edmund J. Lee, a distant relative of General Lee, all in Jefferson County, with their contents, had been burned by his orders, only time enough being given for the ladies to get out of the houses. A number of towns in the South, as well as private country houses, had been burned by the Federal troops, and the accounts had been heralded forth in some of the Northern papers in terms of exultation, and gloated over by their readers, while they were received with apathy by others.
I now came to the conclusion that we had stood this mode of warfare long enough, and that it was time to open the eyes of the people of the North to its enormity by an example in the way of retaliation. I did not select the cases mentioned as having more merit or greater
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cartes for retalrthon than others. but because they had occurred within the limits of the uolintry Covered by my command, and were brought more immediately to my attention.
The town of Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, was selected as the one on which retal- auon should be made, and McCausland was ordered to proceed with his brigade and that of Johnson, and a battery of artillery, to that place and demand of the municipal authorities the sum of $100,000 in gold, or $500,000 in United States currency, as a compensation for the destruction of the houses named and their contents, and, in default of payment, to lay the town in ashes, in retaliation for the burning of those houses and others in Virginia, as well as for the towns which had been burned in other Southern States. A written demand to that effect was sent to the municipal authorities, and they were informed what would be the result ni a failure or refusal to comply with it.
I desired to give the people of Chambersburg an opportunity of saving their town by making compensation for part of the injury done, and hoped that the payment of such a sum would have the desired effect, and open the eyes of the people of other towns at the North pa the necessity of urging upon their Government the adoption of a different policy.
McCausland was also directed to proceed from Chambersburg towards Cumberland, Maryland, and levy contributions in money upon that and other towns able to bear them, mal if possible destroy the machinery at the coal pits near Cumberland, and the machine Shops, depots and bridges on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, as far as practicable.
On the 29th McCausland crossed the Potomac, near Clear Spring, above Williams- port, and I moved with Rode's and Ramseur's divisions and Vaughn's cavalry to the latter place, while Imboden demonstrated with his and Jackson's cavalry towards Harper's Ferry, in order to withdraw attention from McCausland. Breckinridge remained at Martinsburg, and continued the destruction of the railroad. Vaughn drove a force of cavalry from Williamsport, and went into Hagerstown, where he captured and destroyed a train of cars loaded with supplies. One of Rode's brigades was crossed over at Williamsport, and subsequently withdrawn.
On the 30th McCausland being well under way, I moved back to Martinsburg ; and out the 31st the whole infantry force was moved to Bunker Hill, where we remained on the Ist, 2d and 3d of August.
On the 4th, in order to enable McCausland to retire from Pennsylvania and Maryland, hud to keep Hunter, who had been reinforced by the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, and had barn oscillating between Harper's Ferry and Monocacy Junction, in a state of uncertainty, 1 acum moved to the Potomac, with the infantry and Vaughn's and Jackson's cavalry, while Tmboden demonstrated towards Harper's Ferry.
On the 5th Rode's and Ramseur's division crossed itt Williamsport, and took position mid1 St James' College, and Vaughn's cavalry went into Hagerstown. Breckinridge, with Me command, and Jackson's cavalry crossed at Shepherdstown, and took position at Sharps- blog. This position is in full view from Maryland Heights, and a cavalry force was sent out La to cocoy tour connoitre, which, after skirmishing with Jackson's cavalry, was driven off os 0% Sharp-hobters of Gordon's division.
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On the 6th the whole force recrossed the Potomac at Williamsport, and moved towards Martinsburg ; and on the 7th we returned to Bunker Hill.
On the 30th of July McCausland reached Chambersburg, and made the demand as directed, reading to such of the authorities as presented themselves the paper sent by me. The demand was not complied with, the people stating that they were not afraid of having their town burned, and that a Federal force was approaching. The policy pursued by our army on former occasions had been so lenient that they did not suppose the threat was in earnest this time, and they hoped for speedy relief. McCausland, however, proceeded to carry out his orders, and the greater part of the town was laid in ashes.
For this act I alone am responsible, as the officers engaged in it were simply executing my orders, and had no discretion left them. Notwithstanding the lapse of time which has occurred and the result of the war, I am perfectly satisfied with my conduct on this occasion, and see no reason to regret it.
McCausland then moved in the direction of Cumberland, but on approaching that town he found it defended by a force under Kelly too strong for him to attack, and he withdrew towards Hampshire County, in Virginia, and crossed the Potomac near the mouth of the South Branch, capturing the garrison at that place, and partially destroying the railroad bridge. He then invested the post on the railroad at New Creek, but finding it too strongly fortified to take by assault he moved to Moorefield, in Hardy County, near which place he halted to rest and recruit his men and horses, as the command was now considered safe from pursuit. Averill, however, had been pursuing from Chambersburg with a body of cavalry, and Johnson's Brigade was surprised in camp, before day, on the morning of the 7th of August, and routed by Averill's force. This resulted also in the rout of McCausland's Brigade, and the loss of the artillery (four pieces) and about three hundred prisoners from the whole command. The balance of the command made its way to Mount Jackson in great disorder, and much weakened. This affair had a very damaging effect upon my cavalry for the rest of the campaign.
The First Maryland Cavalry in this expedition was united with the battalion of Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Gilmor, and was under that officer's command. They were the first to enter Chambersburg, but met with slight resistance.
The work of destruction accomplished, it behooved McCausland to move expeditiously, as he had many obstacles to overcome before getting back to Virginia. General Averill, with a large force, was rapidly approaching, and as McCausland had several bodies of troops in his front he could not afford to have Averill too close on his heels.
Accordingly, at noon of the same day of the burning, the return march was begun, and that night the command went into camp at McConnellsburg. Next morning the march was resumed and at noon Hancock, Maryland, was reached. Here General McCausland ordered a levy of $50,000 upon the people. For some
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time there had been considerable friction between Generals McCausland and Johnson, and when the former made this preposterous demand upon a people who had been notoriously loyal to the Southern cause, this friction became intensified, and General Johnson denounced McCausland's demand in no mild language. In this he was sustained by Colonel Harry Gilmor, and for a time there threatened a revolt. General McCausland insisted, however, that if the money was not forth- coming within a given time he would burn the town, upon which, upon consulta- tion with Colonel Gilmor, General Johnson ordered that officer to inove his two battalions into Hancock and protect the people at all hazards. Here was a direct issue between two general officers, and it might have ended in bloodshed had not Averill put in an appearance and vigorously attacked McCausland's outposts. To repel this attack, and hold the enemy in check while the main body of the troops moved off, Colonel Gilmor with the two Maryland battalions was assigned. This duty he performed in his usual gallant style, and his little command constituted the rear guard in the retreat toward Cumberland, the vicinity of which was reached, after a forced night march, in the forenoon of the following day.
At Cumberland General Kelly was found with a large force strongly entrenched. With Kelly in his front and Averill in his rear, McCausland very wisely decided to move on, which he did after making a slight demonstration upon the enemy's outposts.
After a night march McCausland's command reached Oldtown, Gilmor's two battalions in the advance, where a considerable body of the enemy was found occupying a strong position in a block house, and also having an iron-clad battery attached to an engine on the railroad. This block house commanded the ford by which McCausland was to reach the Virginia side of the river, and as no time was to be lost it was imperative that this place should be reduced. An attack was accordingly made, but it was repulsed with considerable loss. Things were growing desperate when under a galling fire Lieutenant McNulty, of the Baltimore Light Artillery, brought one of his pieces into play, with his best gunner, McElwee, to sight it. The first shell went through the boiler of the engine and the second entered the porthole of the iron-clad, which was filled with troops, and exploding created a panic, and the battery was deserted. But it was impossible to bring the artillery to bear upon the block house, and an attack was ordered, which was repulsed. In this desperate strait someone suggested that a flag of truce be sent to the block house, and a demand made for its surrender. Captain Booth, with WeCanll and Kid, two of Johnson's scouts, carried the flag and this demand. Great was the surprise of all when this demand was complied with.
It is not necessary to follow the movements of McCausland any farther, as General Early describes that up to the disastrous surprise of Johnson's Brigade at Moorefield. Of course. McCausland endeavored to throw the responsibility upon
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General Johnson, and that General demanded an investigation, which exonerated him from all blame. But someone was to blame for placing the brigade in so hazardous a position, and if it was not Johnson it must have been McCausland, who was Johnson's superior officer. It has been more than once asserted that McCausland's dislike for General Johnson had much to do with bringing about the disaster, and, indeed, it has been hinted, that he was purposely sacrificed. It was certainly McCausland's place to know whether he was " safe from pursuit " or not ; and, failing in this, he showed shameful negligence, to say the least.
In this disastrous surprise Gilmor's battalion lost fifty men in killed, wounded and prisoners, and the First Maryland lost still more heavily.
Soon after the Moorefield affair Early moved to Fisher's Hill, when Gilmor was ordered to scout in his front with the two Maryland battalions. Shortly after Sheridan retreated to Winchester, and beyond this place Early pursued him. A series of desperate encounters ensued with the enemy's cavalry in the vicinity of Winchester, Martinsburg, Bunker Hill, Leetown and Charlestown, in which the First Maryland took a prominent part, and lost heavily.
One of the severest of these fights, which was but a repetition of them all, and will serve as an illustration, took place near Bunker Hill on the 13th of August, 1864. On that morning a brigade of Lomax's command, to which the First Maryland was attached, had advanced and driven in the enemy's pickets, and pushed back his cavalry several miles below Bunker Hill, where they halted for awhile, and then turned to retrace their steps. The enemy in the meanwhile had been heavily reinforced, and pressed hard upon the retreating column, of which the First Maryland formed the rear. The enemy became more and more pressing as they advanced, until a charge was ordered by Colonel Gilmor, which had the effect of checking them, and his vastly superior force only saved him from rout.
These charges had to be repeated again and again, the First Maryland retiring in excellent order at a walk. When the stream which crosses the pike at Bunker Hill was reached Gilmor, who had been much delayed in making these charges, found himself entirely unsupported, all the other regiments of the brigade having retired to the shelter of the infantry, which was formed in line about a mile distant.
At this juncture the head of the enemy's column, immediately in the rear of the First Maryland, had entered the stream before the rear of the battalion had reached the opposite bank, two other of his columns meanwhile moving unopposed parallel to the pike, and were some distance in the rear of the little band battling with ten times their number. At this most critical moment, right in the midst of the stream, the battalion wheeled, and again charged, meeting the enemy midway. when a most desperate hand-to-hand fight ensued, the blood of both intermingling with its current.
For some minutes they held the enemy in check, expecting reinforcements.
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but indie were available, and under the desperate nature of the circumstances General Lomax ordered a battery near the line of battle which the infantry was forming, to open on the struggling mass. The artillery officer remonstrated, as he was satisfied he would damage friend as well as foe ; but the order was repeated. l'he first few shots fell in the ranks of the enemy, and rendered material aid to the handful of brave men in such imminent peril, but unfortunately a shell at last struck right in their midst, when, of course, the battalion broke.
The fire of a foe in front and a friend in rear was more than human nature could withstand ; but even then they did not leave the field, but retired stubbornly contesting every foot of ground until they reached a house standing in a field near the pike, and midway between Bunker Hill and the infantry line, where some of the command formed on both sides, which they were obliged to do to confront the now rapidly advancing enemy. Here a stand was made, and the fight continued for some time. On the side of the house next the pike was the color-bearer of the First Maryland, Colonel Gilmor, Captain Ditty, Captain Rasin and some fifteen officers and men, and, it becoming evident that they could no longer hold the enemy at bay. Colonel Gilmor turned to this handful and exclaimed : " Well, go at them again !" but had not gone five steps, the battalion, or rather what was left of it, at lis heels, when Colonel Gilmor dropped his pistol and wheeled around, the blood streaming from his neck, and galloped off, saying as he did so, "I'm shot !" Seeing the folly of remaining longer, the command retired upon the infantry, which easily repulsed the enemy's cavalry.
In this desperate fight the gallant Lieutenant Henry C. Blackiston, of Company B, was killed. Lieutenant Blackiston was much beloved by his comrades, with whom he had engaged the enemy in a hundred battles.
After this affair, the battalion being much reduced, General Early ordered that it be consolidated with Gilmor's battalion. Not wishing to lose its identity, and for other reasons as well, this met with great opposition, and an earnest protest was sent to the War Department at Richmond, and the order was revoked.
Some time during the month of August, 1864, in obedience to an order from the War Department, Company K. First Virginia Cavalry, was transferred to the First Maryland. This company had been raised by Captain George R. Gaither in May, 1861, and soon after attached to the First Virginia Cavalry, then commanded by Colonel J. E. B. Stuart. It was composed entirely of Marylanders, and at the time of its transfer to the First Maryland was commanded by Captain Gustavus W. Dorsey, a most gallant soldier.
After the order of General Early had been revoked, and the First Maryland returned to its original status, Captain G. W. Dorsey was assigned to the command, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the lamented Ridgely Brown. This vacancy had existed for some time, and was
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only filled when it had become apparent that Major R. C. Smith, who had been wounded at Greenland Gap, was permanently disabled.
After Colonel Dorsey's accession to the command, the campaign was constantly active, and the enemy being nearly as strong in cavalry alone as General Early was in troops of all arms, his cavalry was compelled to contend with great odds. Fights and skirmishes of a greater or less magnitude were of daily and almost hourly occurrence, and with the picket duty to be performed men and horses were employed to the utmost limit of endurance.
In most of these engagements the Confederates were successful, but in one of them, at Fisher's Hill, on the 22d of September, the enemy gained considerable advantage by suddenly throwing a heavy force, consisting of two or three divisions, which he had moved up under cover of North Mountains on Early's left, upon the line of dismounted cavalry, which was all that General could spare to cover that point. Here, after they had broken the Confederate line, Colonel Dorsey ordered the First Maryland to charge, with the view to check the enemy, if possible, and gain time to bring up reinforcements, but the charge only availed to release some prisoners and to get the horses of the dismounted men out of the way. In the face of such odds Dorsey was forced back with some loss, and, although severely wounded himself, extricated his command and made an orderly retreat.
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CHAPTER X.
The campaign of 1864 in the Valley of Virginia was marked with acts of barbarism and savage cruelty on the part of the enemy such as history scarcely parallels. In years long past the American heart was wont to burn with righteous indignation at the recital of the wrongs of Poland and Hungary, but then Russia and Austria were but in their rudiments, and it was reserved for the American Government to reduce barbarity to a science. to substitute the torch for the sword, murder for honorable warfare, and to elevate the incendiary's crime to the dignity of national policy.
Having failed to subdue the men of the South in the field, the soldiers of the Federal Army, with such vast odds in their favor of numbers and resources, and the whole world open to them and contributing immensely both of men and means - the Federal soldier, with all these advantages, descended to make mean war upon women and children and dumb brutes, seeking in the sufferings of these helpless victims the victory elsewhere denied them.
General Grant ordered that the Valley should be so devastated " that a crow flying over it should be obliged to carry its rations." And faithful and vigorous were the efforts made to carry out that policy. Acting under these orders from official headquarters, Sheridan's army in the Valley of Virginia obscured the light of day and illuminated the darkness of night with the smoke and flames of the conflagration that devoured alike the dwelling and the stable, the barn and the mill, stored with hay and grain, and the yet ungathered crops standing on the ground. For two weeks and more did their fires fiercely burn while the brave officers commanding this corps of incendiaries made report of their noble achieve- ments, and the nation applauded.
The beautiful residence of Edmund J. Lee, a near relative of the great Southern chieftain, was invaded before daylight one morning by a Captain Martindale, who ruthlessly turned the family, consisting of three or four females, out of the house and set fire to it. In vain Mr. Lee's young and beautiful daughter pleaded with Martindale to save her piano, and when, at the risk of her life, the house all in tlames, she rushed into it to secure some necessary clothing, as she reached the door on her return the little she had saved was ruthlessly torn from her by Martindale's order and cast back into the burning building. And so was served the homes of the Honorable Alexander R. Boteler and Andrew Hunter and hundreds of others Ww Hunter's and Sheridan's orders, and still the Northern people held up their hands in horror when Chambersburg was burned in just retaliation.
General Hunter, whose chief monument was the smoke from the Virginia
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Military Institute and the private dwellings burned by his order, had the honor to inaugurate this system of warfare in the Valley, which was afterward so fully adopted by his Government.
All these brutal wrongs the First Maryland Cavalry witnessed, and where powerless to prevent did not forget to avenge where opportunity offered.
Other wrongs they had to remember and avenge, such as their whole prior experience had never known - the cold-blooded murder of their comrades.
In October, 1864, Churchill Crittenden and John Hartigan, privates of Company C, were detailed to procure provisions for their company, which could only be obtained from the neighboring farm-houses. The battalion was lying then in Page County, and as the country between the two armies had not been foraged so closely of its supplies, because of its being a middle ground, those two young men, so detailed, sought the required rations between the two lines. Whilst getting their supplies at a farm-house a large scouting party of the enemy came suddenly upon them. They attempted to escape, and a running fight ensued, which resulted in the death of two or three of the enemy and the wounding of Crittenden severely, and the capture of both himself and Hartigan.
The prisoners were taken back two or three miles, and there, by order of General Powell, then commanding Averill's old brigade, shot in cold blood, denying them the poor privilege of writing to their friends, though Hartigan, particularly, who had a young wife, earnestly entreated with his last breath to be allowed to send her a message.
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