USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1893 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 20
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From the beginning the cavalry service there was very pop- ular. Conditions in the Southern States had been such as to produce good riders and good horses. Virginia, North Caro- lina and Kentucky produced the best of the latter suitable for
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saddle work. For all who had the opportunity to indulge in it. riding was the favorite pastime, and the young men of the rural districts spent much of their time in the saddle; most of their work on the plantations was superintended while in it.
The knight and the horse are associated in our minds as almost akin. Among these people chivalric traditions, fostered through many generations, but knitted this kinship closer, and a Virginian, especially, who was not a lover of the horse and a good rider was indeed very rare. These States, too, abound d in horses of aristocratic blood. The sons and daughters of such noble racers as Sir Archie, Boston, Eclipse, Timolen, Diomede, Exchequer, Red Eye, Glencoc, Sir Charles, Bertrand, Wagner, Grey Eagle, Woodpecker, and many others more or less famous in turf annals, were scattered all over them.
In addition to being accustomed to horses, these young men were also skilled in the use of firearms, and to shoot well with a pistol from the saddle was an accomplishment not rare. Shooting and fox-hunting were the favorite manly pastimes, and almost all were good wing shots with the shotgun, which weapon played no inconsiderable part in the great civil war. Recruit- ing for the cavalry among men who had grown up with this environment was not difficult. Sons of the best families in these States who did not care for commissions in other arms, or who could not obtain them, became non-commissioned officers and privates in the cavalry, and took with them to the field their own thoroughbred chargers. All they had to learn was the simple lessons of the drill-ground, being already masters of the art of equitation, and the use of the saber, a weapon never much relied upon by them, as their familiarity with the deadly pistol made it, for their use, a better weapon. From the very beginning the Southern cavalry may be said to have been at its best for the purpose for which it was used. The knowledge possessed by these men of the topography of the country, its highways and byways, its forests and swamps, streams, fords and bridges made their daring raids and sudden dashes on the unsuspecting picket, scouting parties, patrols and trains of their enemy possible and comparatively easy.
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FIRST CAVALRY BATTLE AT KELLY'S FORD, VA.
Let us now take a glance at the volunteer cavalry of the Union army. The men we find who composed it came largely from the shops, mines and manufacturing establishments. They knew nothing about the care of horses, or if they did, rarely anything about riding. A contemporary writer remarks on this subject: " It seems that the qualifications of a recruit for the cavalry might be summed up in this : he neither knows how to groom, feed, water or ride his horse, and is afraid of him."
The horse throughout the Northern and Western States had come to be used as a draft animal or roadster only. Those procured for cavalry mounts were as unfamiliar with work under the saddle as their riders were with work in it. Not only werc trained saddle-horses scarce among us, but the horses bred here were unsuited for that work, and the hastily-formed cav- alry regiments were mounted on horses as fresh from the plow, the dray and light or heavy wagons as were their riders from the farm and workshop. Few out of hundreds could be forced to attempt a narrow ditch or low fence. Not until they had been thrown into the one or over the other did they learn that jumping was easier than falling and much more dignified for a horse who had any dignity to maintain.
The troop to which the writer was attached came from a large city, and most of the men had not been astride a horse until they were mustered into the United States service. The ludi- crous scenes witnessed while they were being taught the mys- teries of the riding-school will never be forgotten. Many of them showed much more fear of their horses than they ever did afterward of the enemy. The wild fumbling after manc or saddle-strap, the terror depicted on some faces when the com- mands " trot" or " gallop " were given, are a lasting source of amusement. Many of these timids, however, turned out to be fine soldiers and daring riders, to whom the " four-foot wall" of Lever's " man from Galway " was but a pleasure. But at this period, by the cruel machinations of their riding-master, they were thrown from their saddles more than once, in order that they might learn the most serious result of such a calamity was the hearty laugh with which the exploit was greeted by their
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comrades. The few in the North who cared to indulge in the luxury of saddle-horses had relied for them on the States of Virginia and Kentucky. These sources of supply were no longer available. This was wholly true of Virginia and largely so of Kentucky. Is it wonderful, then that the cavalry of the Confederacy should have early asserted its superiority and maintained it during the first year of the war?
Fortunately for the regiment to which belonged the troop before alluded to, it fell into proper hands. Lieut. W. W. Averell, of the mounted Rifles, afterward Gen. Averell of cavalry fame, was made its colonel. He was an excellent drill-master, with proper views of what constituted real discipline. Instruc- tion in a systematic manner, with a view of preparing these men for the service expected of them, was commenced and persistently followed in the most industrious and painstaking manner. From two to four drills a day was the order, and from earliest dawn till darkness fell, the embryo trooper knew no rest. Squad drill, troop drill, squadron drill, battalion drill followed cach other in such rapid succession as to make his head swim, and a detail for a scout or a tour of picket duty in the presence of an active and industrious enemy was hailed as a " sweet day of rest." The duties of pickets, patrols, advance- guards, rear-guards, scouting parties, flanking parties and con- voys were taught. The camp being not far from those of the enemy, facilities were at hand for the practical illustration of some of these lessons, and many minor skirmishes occurred, in which men learned more in a day than could otherwise have been taught in months.
All of the regiments of cavalry organized in the summer and fall of 1861 which served in the Army of the Potomac, turned out well. This was most especially so of those which were commanded by officers of experience, and from memory I will enumerate the First ( Bayard ), the Third ( Averell), the Sixth (Rush), the Eighth (D. McM. Gregg), all from Pennsylvania; the First Massachusetts ( Williams), First Rhode Island (Duffic ). First New Jersey ( Kilpatrick). They had part of the summer the autumn of '61 and the winter of '61 and '62 for preparation.
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FIRST CAVALRY BATTLE AT KELLY'S FORD, VA. 7
In the Peninsular campaign of '61 the cavalry played a very important part, doing the routine work of that corps in small detachments, serving with infantry in the field, and for this work it received a large share of praise from the commanding gen- eral. For a truthful and graphic description of the duties performed by the cavalry in this campaign, see a paper, " With the Cavalry on the Peninsular," by Gen. Averell, published by the Century Company, pp. 429 to 434, Vol. II, " Battles and Leaders." The daring expeditionary work, for which American cavalry afterward became noted throughout the world, and an example for others to follow, was undertaken later.
With the very best system of instruction, and under the best instructors, I think it was found that cavalry fit in any respect for the field could not be produced from our material in less time than one year. Therefore I have said it was an error on the part of the government to refuse the material offered in the spring of 1861. The colonel should have been selected by the commander of the army or by the War Department, from the officers of the regular army who had shown an aptitude for that arm of the service, and no difficulty would have been encountered in finding the company officers and enlisted men, by simply making requisitions on the governors of the loyal States for battalions and companies. The cavalry events of the early part of 1863 go to show that a great change had taken place in the relation towards each other of the cavalry of the two armies. The vastly superior excellence of that of the Confederates no longer existed. Not that theirs had deteriorated, but that ours had improved. An improvement also came in the cavalry
administration. Unification commenced, regiments were con- solidated into brigades, brigades into divisions, and finally came the Cavalry Corps and with this was banished from the troop- er's mind the thought that he was dependent on the infantryman to help him out of his little difficulty with the enemy.
The first purely cavalry fight of the war, where more than one battalion was engaged on both sides, occurring anywhere in the cast, was that of Kelly's Ford, March 17, 1863, and while the list of casualties was not enormous its results were fraught
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with more importance for this arm of the service than were many battles where the losses on each side were ten or twenty times greater. As has before been intimated, the cavalry had hitherto acted in small bodies, and it may be truthfully stated that no officer present in this affair had ever before seen more than a squadron or two engaged at a time. What cavalry could do acting in larger masses was the lesson to be taught by this engagement.
During the winter of '62 and '63, after the reorganization of our cavalry, it had been made a part of its duty to protect a very extended front from Acquia Creek above its junction with the Potomac, to and along the upper Rappahannock river. Much of this line was through a densely wooded country. These forests had once been cultivated land, but had been aban- doned as such, and were now thickly studded with a dense growth of small pines, the foliage of which was so dense as to prevent one from seeing for more than a rod or two through them and they were threaded by innumerable paths. The enemy's cavalry was on the opposite bank of the Rappahannock --- right bank -- which in the low stages of the water could be forded in many places. From these camps it was an easy mat- ter for him to detach commands of from two to five hundred men, send them across the river at various places, and by the hidden roads which his men knew so well, concentrate on any given point on the line, and drive in or capture our pickets. These forays were numerous during the winter, and very annoy- ing to our people. Every inhabitant in this country was in fall sympathy with the enemy, and no matter how frequently the posts of our videttes were changed and the reserves moved, it was but a short time until the precise location was known at the headquarters on the other side of the river. Women and chil- dren as well as the men took a patriotic pride in giving infor- mation as to our movements, and vied with each other in schemes and ruses by which to discover and convey to the enemy facts which we strove to conceal. On the other hand, information of the enemy's position and intentions could be procured by us only by personal observation, and for this purpose frequent
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reconnaissances were made in considerable force, before which he always gave way, retiring to his own side of the river.
Averell, who had risen to the rank of brigadier-general and commanded a division, added much to its efficiency by promptly dismissing from the army the officers who commanded one of these surprised advance posts, that of Hattwood Church, Nov. 28. 1862. Enlisted men were frequently court-martialed for abandoning their posts without making proper and noisy resist- ance when attacked. Altogether the responsibilities of the cavalry service were assuming a graver aspect. This was the last perfectly-successful surprise of any considerable body of our cavalry.
Fitz-Hugh Lee, who commanded a brigade composed of the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Virginia Cavalry, with a horse battery (Brethed's), had been at West Point three years while Gen. Averell was there, and they had been warm personal" friends. War, however found them commanding opposing forces, and each brought with his service all of the skill taught by his alma mater, reinforced, fortified and ennobled by the enthusiastic loyalty with which each espoused a cause that he deemed the grandest for which man ever contended, and against which the warm personal friendships of a lifetime weighed as but a feather. In one of the forays in which Lee himself com- manded, and in which he had been partially successful in effect- ing a surprise, though at the cost to his command finally of a very considerable loss in killed and wounded, he left with a sur- geon whom he detailed to remain within our lines to care for his wounded, a note, of which the following is a copy :
DEAR AVERELL :
Please let this surgeon assist in taking care of my wounded. I ride a pretty fast horse, but I think yours can beat mine. I wish you'd quit shooting and get out of my State and go home. Send me over a bag of coffee.
Good by, FITZ.
Gen. Averell had long been considering the project of an advance, into that portion of the country guarded by Lee's cavalry, with the purpose of measuring strength on a fair field with the men who, in small scouting parties led by civilian par-
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tisans, had so successfully stolen, by paths known only to them, through the pines to points in rear of our pickets, from which places outposts had been silently captured and the way made clear for their larger bodies to dash down on the unsuspecting reserve posts. He had an abiding faith in the results of the painstaking instruction imparted to his own regiment, and the better morale which was everywhere showing itself in all the regiments of his division -- in short, he desired a fight for the fight's sake. He wished the officers and men of his command to meet and measure strength with those of the enemy, that they might practically demonstrate to their own satisfaction their superiority as cavalry, thus reaping the reward of the hard service and many privations endured through the era of prep- aration. He sought and obtained permission from the com- manding general of the army to take a portion of his command across the river with this purpose in view, promising good results. Accordingly on the 16th of March, 1863, about three thousand men of his command, including a battery of horse artillery, left their camps near Potomac Creek and marched to the vicinity of the ford ( Kelly's) at which it was intended that he should cross, and bivouacked for the night. Some of these troops, notably the battery, made a march of 32 miles on the 16th, and, owing to the bad condition of the roads, did not arrive at Morrisville, the rendezvous, until I1 o'clock at night.
The enemy's pickets were met before arrival at this point, and pushed back and pickets of his own command were placed well down toward the ford, in order to mask the intended move- ment of the morrow. A force of nine hundred men were here detached, with orders to move on the roads westward, leading to or near the river or points much farther up, with instructions to drive the enemy all across the river and take up a position some miles westward, with a view of protecting the flank of the main body, which was to move southerly toward and across Kelly's Ford.
These two commands started very early in the morning, and by six o'clock the ford had been reached. An advance guard for the main body had been selected, with a view to carrying
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FIRST CAVALRY BATTLE AT KELLY'S FORD, VA.
the crossing by a dash, if it was found to be defended. The enemy, through his scouts, either civilian or military, had been appraised of our approach, and the guard at the fording had been increased, and they were on the lookout for us. Here occurred a very stubborn resistance on the part of the rebels, who were posted behind an intrenchment which commanded thoroughly the fording and its approaches. The stream was swollen by recent rains until it was four or five feet deep at the fording and much deeper both above and below, so there was no possibility of getting over except at the fording. A dash was made at the crossing by the advance guard but it was repulsed. Maj. (afterward colonel) Chamberlain, First Massa- chusetts Cavalry, Acting Chief-of-Staff to Gen. Averell, had been placed in charge by him of the advance. Organizing from the troops in support of the advance guard a charging party, and placing himself at its head, Chamberlain made a charge for the fording ; but as he was about entering the water he was wounded and many of his horses were shot down. This attack also failed. These troops were from a regiment which had been badly handled, and did not speak or understand English very well, and who bore an unenviable reputation. Seeing their leaders shot down and floundering in the rapid current, they recoiled suddenly. Chamberlain, while trying to rally and force them into the fording, received another and very dangerous wound, the ball entering his face and passing out of the side of his neck, the shock throwing him from his horse. He sat up on the ground, and, though partially blinded by the blood, with indomitable pluck, fired, it is said, first at his own retreating troopers, and then emptied his revolver at the enemy on the opposite side of the river.
While this was going on Gen. Averell had placed himself on a little knoll to the left of the head of his column, and from this point overlooked and directed all subsequent operations. He perceived that the enemy had dismounted a large number of his men and thrown them into a well-constructed rifle-pit which thoroughly commanded the ford. The river at this point, at this stage of water, is about three hundred feet wide. In addi-
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tion to the riffe-pits the enemy had thrown trees into the road on both sides, and on the river bank had driven stakes into the ground, intrenching them with brush in such a manner as to prevent horses from getting out of the ford at all. The left bank of the river is traversed for a short distance by a sunken road, having been worn away to the depth of about three feet by long usage. Into this Gen. Averell directed the placing of one hundred men, dismounted, with orders to keep up a còn- stant fire on the rifle-pits opposite, with a view to preventing the men therein from rising to take aim when they fired. Of course the battery which had now come up would have made short work of the defenses behind which the enemy crouched, but the general wished to exhaust all other means in efforts to cross before using it, as the sound from his guns would have appraised Lee in his camps of the precise place at which the crossing was being made, as well as of the magnitude of the expedition, of both of which he was ignorant until the whole command had passed over.
The pioneers (axmen) of the brigade were now ordered for- ward to clear the way of obstructions on one side of the river, under the command of Lieut. D. M. Gilmore, Third Pennsyl- vania Cavalry. At this time volunteers were called for by the general to carry the crossing. The opportunity to volunteer for this duty was given to the regiment nearest him (the First Rhode Island), and was responded to by the whole regiment moving to the front. The nearest platoon, that commanded by Lieut. Simon A. Brown, was selected and made ready for the dash. The fire from the sunken road was now keeping down that from the pits, and under its protection the axmen partially succeeded in making an opening to the ford. The remainder of the Rhode Island regiment was moved up to Brown's sup- port, the word was given and away he went. The axmen, hav- ing left their carbines behind them, had their sabres fastened to their saddles, the better to facilitate mounting and dismounting. As they dashed forward in the rear of, and, indeed, intermingling with Brown's men, swinging their axcs above their heads, the scene was a picturesque one, and suggested thoughts of the ancient Roman and his battle-av.
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As soon as Brown's men and the pioneers began to approach the opposite shore the fire from the sunken road had to be sus- pended, and this gave the enemy an opportunity to increase his. The axmen obliqued to the right slightly, going up stream, after passing its middle point, some of the horses swimming, and emerging above the road went at the obstruction with a will. Of the eighteen men of Brown's platoon who entered the ford with him, but three came out on the enemy's side; all the rest having been either killed or wounded or had their horses dis- abled. The horse of one of the three ( Private Parker, Troop G, First Rhode Island), was killed in the water, and he swam and waded ashore. Brown's horse was shot in many places, but being as courageous as his rider, bore up under him bravely. The lieutenant rode up the bank and looking down on the men in the pit fired a shot among them, and it is claimed killed one of the enemy. Turning, he waved his sword to the balance of his regiment, and called on them to come on. This they were already doing, and a few of the leading files arriving, they broke through or over the obstructions. In the meantime the enemy, perceiving their inability to longer hold their position, com- menced retiring toward their horses, which were some distance in the rear. They were pursued by the mounted men and twenty-five of them made prisoners. This crossing was a very conspicuous act of gallantry on the part of Lieut. Brown and his men, and in almost any service than our own would have been rewarded by some substantial or sentimental recognition. His clothing was cut in many places, and his horse, a very con- spicuous gray, had five or six wounds, and the officer's escape seems miraculous, as will be seen by the letter of Capt. Moss, to be quoted hereafter. The remainder of this brigade pushed rapidly across the river, the regiments forming promptly on the south side. The ammunition for the battery was carried over by the cavalrymen in their noose-bags, the water being so deep as to flood the ammunition-chests. Some delay was occasioned here, as it was necessary to water the horses, and only those occupying the fording could be watered at one time. While this was going on the remainder of the division was moving in-
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to the position assigned, the General galloped to the front with a detachment, and made a hasty examination of the field. Sat- isfying himself that the proper place for the expected battle was farther from the river, the whole command was moved for- ward on the road to Culpepper Courthouse via Brandy Station on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad.
The division, properly protected by skirmishers, moved in "order of battle" as nearly as the conformation of the ground would permit, McIntosh having the right and Duffie the left, while Reno commanded the reserves, composed of the detach- ments from the Regular cavalry. With him was the battery. After moving about three-fourths of a mile from the fording. the advance of the enemy was discovered coming rapidly from the direction of the railroad. This was what Gen. Averell had antici- pated, he tells us in his report. By his order McIntosh deployed his small brigade, with the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Cavalay on his right, the Third Pennsylvania next, advancing the meanwhile toward the Wheatly house, which was in front of the right of Gen. Averell's line. These two regiments were now a consider- able distance to the right of the road. Immediately to the right of the road the Fourth New York was formed, and on its left the Fourth Pennsylvania. One section --- two guns-of the battery was advanced and went into position between the left of the Third Pennsylvania and the right of the Fourth New York a little retired, while Reno, in support of the two regiments on the right and rear of the latter.
The enemy was now advancing rapidly in line, preceded by a heavy line of mounted skirmishers, whose fire became very an- noying to the two regiments near the road, and to which they were now ordered to reply, while the section in position also opened. Under this severe fire from the Confederate sharp- shooters, now at a halt, these two regiments, Gen. Averell states in his report, (page 49, Vol. 25, Part I, Official Records, ) ex- hibited a little unsteadiness, requiring some personal exertion, on the part of himself and staff to correct. It was but momen- tary, however, as they regained their steadiness quickly, and opened with effect from their carbines. This was the only ex-
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