USA > Maryland > The Maryland line in the Confederate Army, 1861-1865 > Part 8
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On the Ioth of June, 1863, orders were received to move from Fisher's Hill and encamp at Cedar Creek. It was evident that the campaign was about to open, but the destination of the handful of Marylanders, who were assembled at this point, could not, of course, be even conjectured. The infantry, cavalry and artillery had been together longer than ever before, and it was hoped the Maryland Line would for some time longer, at least, remain intact, and all anxiously awaited the arrival of Colonel Johnson, in whom the Maryland troops placed great confidence.
On the afternoon of the 12th a dispatch was received by General Jenkins from General Ewell that immediately changed the whole aspect of affairs. To everyone's surprise, General Ewell, with his command, was near Front Royal, when he was supposed to be on the Rappahannock with General Lee. General Jenkins was ordered to report at once to General Ewell, and late that night Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert received orders to move the Maryland Line next morning to the vicinity of Newtown and await the arrival of General J. A. Early. The command consisted of the Second Maryland Infantry, the Baltimore Light Artillery and Company A, First Maryland Cavalry. The men were in high
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spirits and eager to encounter the enemy, who were believed to be in their immediate front. Beyond Newtown a body of Federal cavalry was observed at some distance on the turnpike. Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert ordered Captain Griffin to bring up a piece of his artillery, and, masked by a half dozen horsemen, it was deliberately sighted and fired. The shot was a good one, whether it did any execution or not, and had a magical effect, for the cavalry disappeared like the mist. The enemy was evidently taken by surprise, for the Maryland troops were then not more than five miles from Winchester, and still had met with no opposition. How long it would be, though, before a large force would present Itself to confront this handful of men was becoming a serious problem, when, much to their relief, a cloud of dust in the distance heralded the approach of General Early with his division. But the enemy by this time had become thor- oughly alarmed, and before General Early could come up Carlin's Federal battery, posted on Pritchard's Hill, was raining shell upon the little Maryland command. But the gallant Griffin, of the Baltimore Lights, soon got to work, and then occurred one of the prettiest artillery duels of the war.
Upon the arrival of General Early, he immediately ordered Lieutenant- Colonel Herbert to throw forward three companies of the Second Maryland, under Major W. W. Goldsborough, as skirmishers and develop the enemy's infantry. This movement was beautifully executed, and on the outskirts of Kernstown the skirmish line of the Second encountered that of the enemy, who were quickly driven back. But Carlin's battery still paid attention to them, and for half an hour they were compelled to remain under a heavy fire of artillery. In the midst of this pandemonium the glorious Early put in an appearance, when Major Goldsborough pointed out the fact that he had accomplished what he had been sent out to do, and as the enemy had an accurate range, he asked permis- sion to withdraw his men a short distance to the rear, as he did not wish to sacrifice them needlessly. General Early said :
" You have done your work thoroughly. You have a splendid body of men in your Maryland command, and I wish there were more of them. I have just placed Gordon in position, and he will drive the enemy into Winchester. When you hear them 'yell' you will be relieved, but remain where you are until then."
The " yell " soon came, and the Maryland skirmishers were relieved from their perilous position.
That evening the skirmishers were moved forward to Hollingsworth's Mill, on the outskirts of Winchester. The rain had begun to fall in torrents, and the darkness was impenetrable. To shelter his men from the pitiless elements Major Goldsborongh called them in and placed them under shelter of a deserted barn. Before morning the rain ceased, and at daylight the men were in position, and
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pushed forward until they had penetrated into the streets of Winchester. Here the fighting was spirited, until the troops were ordered out of the town by General Early. But they went no farther than the outskirts, and during the day kept in check the Fifth Maryland Federal Regiment with its supports.
On this day Major Goldsborough's orders were to keep the enemy engaged, but not to press forward. The object was to amuse him and distract his attention from the real points of attack.
After a reconnoissance of the enemy's position by Generals Ewell and Early, it was determined to move Hays', Hoke's and Smith's Brigades and the rest of Jones' and Brown's battalions of artillery to the left, across the Romney road, about three miles from Winchester. After crossing the Romney road General Early soon reached a good position for posting his artillery within easy range of the enemy's works on the hill overlooking his main fort. Colonel Jones, in command of the artillery, placed his guns in position as quietly and quickly as possible. The artillery was divided so as to put twelve pieces in an orchard and eight pieces on the edge of a cornfield north of a woods. Hays' splendid Louisiana Brigade had been selected to make the assault upon the fort.
About an hour before sundown Jones brought his artillery by hand over the crest into position, and opened with the whole of his twenty pieces before the enemy was aware of his proximity, so much was he absorbed in the skirmishing so vigorously pressed by the Second Maryland Infantry on the opposite side of the town.
So rapid and destructive was the fire from Jones' batteries that in half an hour the enemy's guns in his fortifications were silenced, when General Harry Hays was ordered to make the assault. With a yell, the gallant Louisianians dashed forward, over abatis of brushwood, over every obstacle, and swarmed into the fort, taking six pieces of artillery, and at once turned them upon the columns of the enemy that were being formed to recapture the fort.
In the meantime the skirmishers of the Second Maryland Infantry had not been idle, and their vigorous and persistent attack upon the enemy posted in the cemetery had not only diverted his attention from the real point of attack, but had kept a large force from co-operating with the main body. When night set in they held the position they had been ordered to in the morning by General Early, and had successfully repulsed two assaults of the enemy, in one of which Lieutenant Joseph P. Quinn, of Company E, was captured through his own indiscretion.
Late in the evening of the 14th Major Harry Gilmor brought an order from General Ewell to Major Goldsborough to press on into Winchester at the break of day, and if possible ascertain at intervals during the night what the enemy was doing. From reports made by several of his most reliable men who were
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sent into the town, Major Goldsborough became convinced that the forts were being evacuated, and so reported to General Ewell.
At daybreak of the 15th Major Goldsborough put his skirmishers in motion and proceeded cautiously through the streets of Winchester without encoun- tering the enemy. At the Taylor Hotel Captain William I. Raisin, of the First Maryland Cavalry, was found. He had been severely wounded and captured three or four days before in an ambuscade near Newtown. At this moment the roar of artillery was heard some three miles out on the Martinsburg road. It proved to proceed from an encounter of General Edward Johnson's Division with the retreating enemy. This division had been thrown around from the right during the night for the purpose of intercepting Milroy's retreat. The battle was fierce and bloody, but the enemy lost heavily in killed, wounded and prisoners. The Second Maryland skirmishers, with the exception of that portion of Company A under command of Lieutenant George Thomas, immediately took possession of the Star Fort, capturing some two hundred prisoners. Lieutenant Thomas, proceeding alone, pretending not to have heard the command to halt, ran into a large body of the enemy's cavalry, dismounted them and mounted his own command, and marched his prisoners in triumph into town. It was so comical a sight that Major Goldsborough administered but a mild reprimand to the gallant young officer for his disobedience of orders.
The Star Fort for the day was made a receptacle for prisoners and garri- soned by Company G, under command of Captain Thomas R. Stewart, whilst the remainder of the Second Maryland were detailed for provost duty. In the evening the battalion was relieved by the Thirteenth Virginia, under Colonel Terrill, and was temporarily attached to Steuart's Brigade, Edward Johnson's Division, Ewell's Corps, composed of the First and Third North Carolina, Tenth, Twenty-third and Thirty-seventh Virginia Regiments.
The Confederate victory at Winchester had been complete. Milroy lost the greater part of his army, and his artillery, wagon train and a vast amount of stores fell into the hands of the victors.
Of the part the Second Maryland Infantry took in the engagement, General Early, in his official report, makes the following complimentary mention :
Having received the instructions of the Lieutenant-General commanding, the wagon-, excepting the ambulances and regimental ordnance and medical wagons, were left at Cedarville, and I diverged from the Winchester and Front Royal turnpike at Ninevah and reached the Valley turnpike at Newtown, and thence advancing toward Winchester I found Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert, of the Maryland Line, with his battalion of infantry, Baltimore Light Artillery, and a portion of the First Maryland Cavalry, occupying the ridge between Bartonsville and Kernstown, and engaged in occasional skirmishing with a
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portion of the enemy which had taken position near Kernstown Herbert was ordered to take position with his battalion of infantry on the right of Gordon. When Hays' and Gordon's skirmishiers had advanced to Bowers' Hill, Major W. W. Golds- borough, of the Maryland battalion, with the skirmishers from that battalion, had advanced into the outskirts of the town of Winchester, but fearing that the enemy would shell the town from their main fort, I ordered him back . All the arrangements of Colonel Jones and the conduct of himself and his artillery were admirable. I must also commend the gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert and Major Goldsborough, of the Maryland Line, and their troops.
The casualties in the Second Maryland were as follows :
COMPANY A .- CAPTAIN WILLIAM H. MURRAY.
WOUNDED-Sergeant E. S. Dorsey, severely ; Privates Sommerville Sollers, slightly ; John Wilson, slightly.
COMPANY B .- CAPTAIN J. P. CRANE.
WOUNDED-Privates J. E. Joy, mortally : H. Corry, slightly ; William Herbert, slightly.
COMPANY C .- CAPTAIN FERDINAND DUVALL.
WOUNDED-Captain Ferdinand Duvall, severely.
COMPANY D .- CAPTAIN JOSEPH L. MCALEER.
WOUNDED-Private John Devries, mortally.
COMPANY E .- CAPTAIN JOHN W. TORSCHL.
WOUNDED-Lieutenant W. R. Byus, slightly. CAPTURED-Lieutenant Joseph P. Quinn.
TOTAL-Nine wounded and one captured.
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CHAPTER II.
On the morning of the 16th, Steuart's Brigade took up its line of march in the direction of Smithfield, where it arrived about dusk, and went into camp for the night.
The next morning the march was resumed and led in the direction of the Potomac, much to the joy of the exiled sons of Maryland, who at last began to entertain the belief that they would soon once more tread the soil of their native State. Nor were they deceived or disappointed. The column crossed the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Kerneysville, and in the afternoon went into camp within three miles of Shepherdstown, pretty well used up from the effects of the heat.
The camp of the Second Maryland was not far from the beautiful residence of the Honorable Alexander H. Boteler, and during their first evening several of the command visited this estimable family, and spent a few delightful hours. Mr. Boteler was from home in the service of his country, and Mrs. Boteler and her family had been subjected to many indignities at the hands of the Federal vandals who had infested the neighborhood for some time prior to the arrival of the Confederates, as had also the family of Honorable Edmund J. Lee, a near neighbor, and a relative of the great chicftain who was now about to invade the enemy's country. Alas ! it was not many weeks after that both these beautiful homes were burned to the ground with all their contents by General Hunter. In retaliation for these deeds of vandalism, and some others equally as atrocious, General Early destroyed the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during the following summer.
On the afternoon of June 18 the troops were once more put in motion, and took the road leading to Shepherdstown, through which beautiful town they passed amid the joyous shouts of its inhabitants. About two miles below Shepherdstown Boteler's ford of the Potomac was reached, and the men plunged into the water, nearly waist deep, and made for the Maryland shore. It was an indescribable scene, as thousands struggled through the water, singing and shouting in the excess of their joy. Poor fellows, very many of them were never to return. When the men of the Second Maryland once more stood upon their native soil they could not restrain their feelings, and many were moved to tears, whilst others aeted as though they had lost their reason. As for General Steuart, Quartermaster John E. Howard afterward declared he turned seventeen double somersaults before he ceased, and then stood on his head for five minutes, all the while whistling " Maryland, My Maryland."
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That night the troops encamped on the river bank, and the next morning the division passed through Sharpsburg and camped upon that bloody field of the year before. Three days were consumed here, when the division once more got in motion and passed through Hagerstown, where the Maryland boys were most hospitably received by those friendly to the cause, and the delightful family of Doctor McGill were particularly cordial in their attentions to them.
Greencastle, Pennsylvania, was reached next day. At last the enemy's country was invaded, and if its inhabitants expected no mercy at the hands of the invading army, never were a people more agreeably surprised.
On June 21 General Lee issued the following order :
HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, June 21, 1863.
General Orders No. 72.
While in the enemy's country, the following regulations for procuring supplies will be strictly observed, and any violation promptly and vigorously punished.
No. I. No private property shall be injured or destroyed by any person belonging to or connected with the army, or taken, except by the officers hereinafter designated.
No. 2. The chiefs of the commissary, quartermaster, ordnance and medical departments of the army will make requisitions upon the local authorities or inhabitants for the necessary supplies for their respective departments, designating the places and times of delivery. All persons complying with such requisitions shall be paid the market price for the articles furnished, if they so desire, and the officer making such payments shall take duplicate receipts for the same, specifying the name of the person paid, and the quantity, kind and price of the property, one of which receipts shall be at once forwarded to the chief of the depart- ment to which such officer is attached.
No. 3. Should the authorities or inhabitants neglect or refuse to comply to such requisitions, the supplies required will be taken from the nearest inhabitant so refusing, by the order and under the directions of the respective chiefs of the department named.
No. 4. When any command is detached from the main body, the chiefs of the several departments of such command will procure supplies for the same, and such other stores as they may be ordered to provide, in the manner and subject to the provisions herein prescribed, reporting their action to the heads of their respective departments, to which they will forward duplicates of all vouchers given or received.
No. 5. All persons who shall decline to receive payment for property furnished on requisitions, and all from whom it shall be necessary to take stores and supplies, shall be furnished by the officer receiving or taking the same with a receipt specifying the kind and quantity of the property received or taken, as the case may be. the name of the person from whom it was received or taken, the command for the use of which it was intended, and the
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market price. A duplicate of aid receipt shall be at once forwarded to the chief of the department to which the officer by whom it is executed is attached.
No. 6. If any person shall remove or conceal property necessary for the use of the army, or attempt to do so, the officers hereinbefore mentioned will cause such property, and all other property belonging to such person that may be required by the army, to be seized, and the officer seizing the same will forthwith report to the chief of this department the kind, quantity and market price of the property so seized, and the name of the owner.
BY COMMAND OF GENERAL R. E. LEE.
R. H. CHILTON, A. A. and I. G.
Lieutenant-General R. S. Ewell, Commanding Second Army Corps.
On June 27 General Lee issued his second order, and it is certainly in great contrast with anything that had ever emanated from a Federal General in Virginia or any other one of the invaded Southern States :
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, CHAMBERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, June 27. 1863.
General Orders No. 73.
The commanding General has observed with satisfaction the conduct of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipated results commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested. No troops could have displayed greater fortitude, or better performed the arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other respects has, with few excep- tions, been in keeping with their character as soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise.
There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness on the part of some that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than in our own. The commanding General considers that no greater disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages, upon the innocent and defenceless, and the wanton destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country. Such proceedings not only disgrace the perpetrators and all connected with them, but are subversive of the discipline and efficiency of the army and destructive of the ends of our present movement. It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemy, and offending against Him to Whom vengeance belongeth, without Whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain.
The commanding General, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain with most scrupulous care from unnecessary or wanton injury to private property ; and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against the orders on this subject. R. E. LEE. General.
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At Greencastle Steuart's Brigade was detached from the division and ordered to proceed to Chambersburg by way of Mercersburg and McConnels- burg. The object was to collect through that region necessary supplies of every description for the use of the army. At Mercersburg a goodly quantity of shoes were obtained for the barefoot soldiers, which were paid for in Confederate money, agreeably to General Lee's order.
In passing over the mountain from Mercersburg to McConnelsburg various barriers across the road were encountered, which had been erected by the State militia, and two or three times the troops were fired upon, but no serious opposition was met with, and an occasional shell from one of Steuart's batteries cleared the way.
After a stay of a day at McConnelsburg, Steuart's Brigade united with the division at Chambersburg, and on the 27th the command passed through that thriving town, not many months after to be consigned to the flames, and took the turnpike leading to Carlisle, and on the afternoon of June 28 the wearied troops went into camp about three miles from that place.
It now became evident that the objective point of a portion of the great army of invasion was Harrisburg, the Capital of the State of Pennsylvania, and there were few who did not believe that Philadelphia would soon be in posses- sion of the invaders. The idea of defeat never occurred to Lee's veterans, for they were fully aware of the fact that such an army had never before been marshaled under the flag of the Confederacy, and believed themselves to be invincible.
Late in the afternoon of the following day orders were received to move, and great was the surprise of the officers and men of the division when they found themselves countermarching over the road they had traveled the day before.
Trifling as this may seem, here occurred the second great mistake of the campaing. Stuart's Cavalry raid around Washington, in which the eyes of the army were lost, by reason of his being cut off from the army during its march into Pennsylvania, was the first. Johnson's Division was now but thirty miles from Gettysburg, yet by order of General Ewell it was marched by circuitous roads fifty miles or more to reach that point, whilst the remainder of the corps took the direct road.
Some two or three years after the war the author met General Ewell at Capon Springs, in Virginia, and in the course of conversation asked him why Johnson's Division had not been taken the direct road to Gettysburg. General Ewell answered :
" At the time, of course, I did not know of the proximity of the Federal Army, and did not wish to crowd the one road to Gettysburg. I had no reason to believe that there was any occasion to make haste. It was unfortunate. IIad Johnson's fine division been with me on the ist of July there would have been no
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second day's battle at Gettysburg ; that would have been fought somewhere else, possibly upon ground of our own choosing, and certainly with a better prospect of success."
The second evening after the division left the vicinity of Carlisle the troops went into camp near Fayetteville, more than twenty miles from Gettysburg, and on the morning of July I the march was resumed in the direction of that place.
A short distance beyond Fayetteville the men of Longstreet's Corps were passed in camp, and the heart of every man in the Second Maryland was made to beat with pride, as five hundred strong and drums beating, the battalion marched by these veterans of many battles and heard their unsparing praise of the fine appearance and soldierly bearing of the boys from Maryland.
The weary miles were slowly unreeled that hot July day, for the road was blocked by a long train of wagons ; but finally that obstruction was passed, and the marching became easier.
And now more than one-half the distance between Fayetteville and Gettys- burg had been traversed when a sound ahead as of distant thunder was wafted to the ears of the tired infantrymen. The veteran knew too well what that meant ; the novice scarcely noticed it, or was uncertain as to its meaning. A commotion was soon observed ahead, and presently staff officers were dashing furiously along the column. Louder, more distinct, the thunder became, and it was apparent to all that a furious battle was in progress. The command, " Close up, men ; close up !" was heard on every hand, and faster grew the pace, and thus, sometimes at a double-quick, eight miles were gone over, and Johnson's Division was fast nearing the field of strife, and as it did so a shocking sight met the gaze of the men, for hundreds of mutilated and dying soldiers filled the roadside. Thousands were indifferent to the sight, for they had witnessed it many times before, but most of the men of the Second Maryland had never seen it, and while it made many a face pale, the compressed lips showed the firm determination to willingly undergo the same suffering, the same death, for the cause of their beloved South as had the heroes around them.
But as still nearer the division approached the field the sound of artillery almost ceased, until only an occasional gun was heard. The battle was over - for that day at least.
Passing on, over heaps of dead and dying of both armies, the division entered the streets of Gettysburg, and halted to rest. The battle of that day had, indeed, been long and bloody, but the enemy had been driven to the heights on the other side of the town, shattered and demoralized, thousands of their mumber having been captured in the streets. Even then it was not too late to administer a crushing defeat, for Early with his splendid division was there. and had not been heavily engaged, and Johnson was there, his men eager to be
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