USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1893 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 30
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All agree that five regiments and a four-gun battery were there. It is said that four squadrons were on picket duty and were not in the fight. Deducting eight companies from fifty, the number in five regiments, there would remain forty-two. Eight hundred men in forty-two troops would mean nineteen men only to each troop. On other occasions not remote from this period, these organizations were found to contain forty and fifty men per troop. In his Chancellorsville address, referring to the battle of Chancellorsville, Gen. Fitz Lee states that his brigade, which was composed of these same organizations, num- bered fifteen hundred meu. This information was obtained from his monthly return for March 31, 1863, fourteen days after Kelly's Ford. (See also note on page 225 of Maj. Mcclellan's book.) Subtracting the losses at Kelly's Ford from the sup- posed " less than eight hundred "-one hundred and thirty-three officers and men and one hundred and seventy horses-we per- ceive that there must have been an unusual recruitment in these few days. In the light of the above, before the numbers given by Stuart can be received as even approximately correct, some explanation of this extraordinary condition of numerical demor- alization should certainly be given. The four squadrons on
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picket are the only absentees which Fitz Lee pretends to accol. for.
There are many statements in the account given by Maj. M Clellan of this fight, which are not corroborated by the rece lections of others who were there, and these others are pot confined solely to the men who rode under the National color that day. On page 207 he gives prominence to Fitz Lec' statement that there were but eleven or twelve men in the rille- pits at the fording during the contest for it, and, later on, on page 217, he admits that twenty-five men were captured there. These men were all taken while running from the pits to their horses in rear, and were captured by mounted men, who sa many others escaping.
For the following letter from the confederate officer who com manded there that morning, I am indebted to Licut. J. B. Cook's little brochure on Kelly's Ford, published by the Soldiers an l Sailors' Historical Society of Rhode Island, at Providence. R I. It is in reply to a letter addressed to him by Capt. Bij ... First Rhode Island Cavalry, asking for his recollections abot .: the matter. In view of the statements made therein, Gun. Averell's estimate in his official report of the battle -eighty sharpshooters-is a very modest one, and harmonizes well with the truthful and unpretending character of that whole document which, to be fully appreciated, should be compared with the rhetorical and flamboyant efforts of his antagonists of that day :
BUCKINGHAM COURTHOUSE, VA., June 220, 1550.
MY DEAR CAPTAIN: Your letter of the twentieth instant is just receive lot! hasten to reply. As I stated to you some time ago, I am dependent almost entrel. on memory as to occurrences which took place during the war, having lost all is papers about the time of the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. My menu 5; non is that I carried with me to Kelly's Ford, on the morning of the seventeenth of M. r.l. 1863, about ninety men: that I left as a guard with the horses in the edge of il . wood, about one-half mile back from the ford, on the road to Brandy Statin. . men, taking with me eighty-five to the rifle-pits near the ford. Capt. Bre kin. was already in position, giving me no opportunity to find out his force, and I dit remember what force he officially reported, but am sure he must have had sixty :: . with him, making in all one hundred and forty-five men. Capt. Breckintis before the Court of Inquiry that he did not fire, being short of ammunition, .... ' execution that was done was due to me. I have often wondered how it was ti could have missed the gray horse (referring to Lieut. Brown's), as I fired at tit
FIRST CAVALRY BATTLE AT KELLY'S FORD, YA. 17
than at his rider, feeling sure that if I brought him down the river would be help le si besides, the rider had challenged my a limitation by his couragenns bearing under the trying circumstances. * * * The charge on your port wine a gillet in , for few regiments would have undertaken it under the heavy fire that was poured upon them that cold morning. Very truly your friend, WM. A. Moss, Captain Co. K, 4th Va. Ca .. To CAPT. GEORGE N. BLISS, Providence, R. I.
This letter speaks for itself, and may be useful in establishing facts, inferentially at least, which seem hard to get at in a man- ner more direct. Let us see ; this officer was a captain, and the record of the day shows that there were field officers with that regiment. He therefore most probably had a captain's com- mand only, which, at most, would have been a squadron of two troops, and these, it seems, he " carried " with him to the for ! and got eighty-five of them in the rifle-pits, finding, on his arrival there, another cominand consisting of not less than sixty men. If horseholders from this squadron had been left in rear, in the manner prescribed in the drill-book, as is intimated on page two hundred and seven of Maj. McClellan's book, then this squadron had eighty men in it. Here we have two squad- rons of eighty and ninety men respectively, forty and forty-five men to the troop, which is about the average number found present for duty mounted, except at the end of severe cam- paigns. Let us be generous and assume that there were but forty men (average) to the troop throughout the brigade, and we have forty times forty-two, which equals sixteen hundred and eighty men. This comports with the estimates that day made by the most conservative of Gen. Averell's officers. If Gen. Lee's command was so abnormally reduced on this occa- sion, it is remarkable that he should have made no mention of it in a report which bears the marks of carefulness in its prop- aration. This is especially so when we consider that it would have been the very best excuse he could have made to his chief for the ground he lost that day, and for his failure to attempt the punishment of his assailants when he ceased his pursuit of him and withdrew across the river.
Page two hundred and ten: "The regiment (Third Virginia) swept down the line of stone fence which separated them from
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the enemy in the wood beyond, delivering the fire of thi pistols. The enemy's line wavered throughout its length as the utmost exertions of the federal officers were required : keep their men from flight. But no outlet through the sto: fence could be found, and the regiment turned across the Me to its left and moved down toward Wheatley's ice-house." 1: hoped its reception here was as cool as it had been warm when going in the opposite direction. No officer in that column lund. at that time, or has had since, a suspicion of this "wavering or attempt at " flight." If the major is not laboring under a misapprehension about this, it strikes ine that this would have been a good time for his regiment to have stopped its sweeping by halting and pouring its pistol-fire across the fence.
A line which is " wavering throughout" is easily assisted to flight. But we are led to presume, throughout this account. that it was not the Yankee horsemen who gave Maj. Mcclellan's friends any uneasiness that day. It was the fences, stone and other, with which the Union commander persistently kept him- self surrounded. Had he not at this moment had his fence with him we may presume that there would not have been loft enough of the " certainly not less than three thousand horsemen with a battery " (see Fitz Lee's Report, Volume twenty-five. page sixty, Official Records) for the remainder of this terrible eight hundred to have made a light lunch of. A few moments later the First Rhode Island and Sixth Ohio moved through a wide opening in this same fence into the field through which Maj. McClellan's friends had been wildly cavorting, and, forr :- ing line, proceeded to charge and rout another column whi. l. came from the same direction as did the last. The major's friends may have been so preoccupied in looking for thi " wavering " which did not materialize, that they could not per- ceive the broken wall which was certainly there.
The last we " Yanks" saw of them they were not engaged looking for a hole in that wall. It seemed to us to be a ca -. similar to that of the young bear hunter, who gave as an excost for quitting the trail he had been following, that it was getting. too fresh. Of this charge Lieut. J. B. Cook, previously quand
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FIRST CAVALRY BATTLE, AT KELLY'S FORD, VA.
from, says: "The First Rhode Island Cavalry went at them with a will, led by Capt. Could. They retreated in disorder, hardly waiting to feel the saber, pursued by the First Rhode Island with great spirit, which took many prisoners, among them being Maj. Breckinridge, a cousin of the ex-vice president of the United States, who was captured by Lieut. Fales."
Page two hundred and twelve; "It should not be forgotten that all this fighting occurred in the vicinity of Kelly's Ford." Though Maj. McClellan may not have intended it, this is mis- leading. The map opposite page two hundred and seven in his own book shows by the scale that Lee's last position was fully three miles from where the fighting commenced, and his artillery was still half a mile further back.
Page two hundred and thirteen. He says, after describing a charge of Lee's whole line, the last charge he made. in which he states no reserve was kept to rally on: "A year later in the war Lec would hardly have ventured on such a charge." This is perhaps true, and he might have added that a year later he and Stuart would hardly have ventured to make just such reports as they did of this little battle. In his criticisms of the Union general's conduct of this affair, there is a hostility and temper shown, the cause of which is difficult to comprehend. Our author becomes absolutely spiteful at times, and presents the singular anomaly of one of the parties to a " difficulty," retiring from the arena whipped, but muttering imprecations on the successful party for not beating him more thoroughly.
Listen to him: "We cannot excuse Gen. Averell's conduct. He ought to have gone to Culpepper Courthouse; " and again, " Now, indeed, there was a chance for Gen. Averell to rout or destroy Fitz Lee's brigade;" and, " He had a large force in reserve, and two fresh regiments, one on either side of the road, could have swept that field beyond the hope of recovery." Wherefore? It was already beyond that. It was not recovered. It was presented to them. Averell had no further use for it, and when he went home he left it there.
The difficulties with which information of the strength and position of the enemy in a community where all residents are
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FIRST MAINE BUGIE.
his friends, is obtained, has been previously remarked, and statement has been made that for such information we ha! rely almost wholly on personal observations. Military op tions are based on the best obtainable information. Ti often misleading. When the scouts and pickets of an cesjel tion into the enemy's country-they are the general's eyes ears -- report that drums have been heard beating, there are En most probable inferences for him to draw: One, that infiel is in the vicinity ; the other, that the information is false. W! u the night patrols or pickets report that large campfires have been seen where the general knew that no camps existed but day or two previous, the report is worthy of consideration, An! suggests the possibility of increased strength. That the eren should have had a brigade or more of infantry at Culpeper, D: on the railroad between that and the bridge over the Rapide hannock, would not have been wonderful.
If such an impression had taken possession of Gen. Avenire mind, in view of the reports that had been made to him, h would have been blameless. Whatever his opinion on this -the ject may have been, it did not affect his action that day. a has been seen that he accomplished satisfactorily the only pl- pose he had in view. Gen. Stuart's reports and orders of th occasion, and Maj. McClellan's description of the affair ! one to suppose that they thought Averell's purpose to ler been to crush the entire rebellion and put an end to the 1. That is a mistake ; he only meant to defeat Fitz Lee if he can't and that he did. The running of cars on the railroad was Ie wi by many, and Gen. Lee has said since that it was done by lo order to create the impression that help was coming to his ... It is more than hinted that he may have deemed this quite As necessary to cheer his own men as to demoralize Averell s.
Maj. Mcclellan's experience as a staff oficer during a ww which engrossed the attention of the civilized world for two than four years must have familiarized him with the uncertainty of information obtained on a battlefield. In the vicinity of th chiefs the air is laden with rumors. Every particle of infor t. tion gathered on any part of the lines, or by patrols or :200
FIRST CAVALRY BATTLE AT KELLY'S FORD, VA. 21
in the neighborhood, is hurried to these points. To quickly sift the grains of truth from the chaff of rumor and exaggera- tion is the most difficult task for the generals and their advisors. To do this without error always, to draw rapid conclusions, formulate and give the proper orders is not possible for even the greatest.
Maj. McClellan therefore does himself injustice when on page two hundred and sixteen, referring to Gen. Averell's report, he rings all the changes in startling italics on "imaginary drumis beating retreat and tattoo. Imaginary earthworks and rifle-pits which could not be easily turned. Imaginary infantry seen at a distance to my right moving towards my rear. Imaginary cars heard running on the roud in rear of the enemy, probably bringing up reinforcements," ctc.
Hostile criticisms on military operations in the light of sub- sequently-obtained information, or under the glare of that which could not possibly have been in the possession of the com- mander criticised are not, as a rule, damaging. It is rare in war that the commander of the attacking forces knows all that would be interesting to him about the defense, and vice versa. Even at this Jate day I fail to perceive what good purpose could have been gained by further pursuit. Lee's horses were quite as fresh as Averell's, and he could have kept out of the way indefinitely.
NOTE .- Since writing the above, a letter received from the secretary of the First Rhode Island Cavalry Veteran Associa- tion informs me of the death of the gallant Browne, who led his platoon across the river in the face of the terrible fire from the confederate rifle-pits. He was wounded in the night attack on his regiment at Middleburg, Va., seventeenth of June, that year, so severely that he never fully recovered. He has been " mustered in " to the army of the great majority, where, accord- ing to the beautiful conceit of the old Northmen, as given to us by John Hay
" A chosen corps, they are marching on; In a wider field than ours These bright battalions still fall The scheme of the heavenly powers.
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And high, brave thoughts float down to us In the echoes of that far byht, Like the flash of a distant picket's gun; Through the shades of the severing night. No fear for them ! in our lower field Let us toil with arms unstained, That at last we be worthy to stand with them On the shining heights they've gaine J. We shall meet and greet in closing ranks In Time's declining sun, When the bugles of God shall sound recall And the battle of Life be won."
John P. Kelly. BY REV. F. DENISON.
(During the war, Rev. Frederic Denison, Chaplain First Rhode Island Cans. was brought in contact, officially, with John P. Kelly, owner of the land aljecenter Kelly's Ford, and thus tells the story of the visit in verse .-- I.L .. )
How fact than fancy is more strange Is often shown in history's range; That human expectations fail And brighter laws than man's prevail.
In Pope's campaign we held the van From Bull Run to the Rapidan; Our sabers bright and drawn en route, Prepared for onset or pursuit.
WVe found a planter at the Ford Who ranked as a Virginian lord; Once holding eighty slaves; a claim Which gave him envied southern fame.
Lord of plantations rich and large Along the Rappahannock's marge; With mills for weaving negro cloth Too tough for tooth of meanest moth. Ile numbered one and eighty years And so outlived his lordly peers; And ah ! how changed was all to him Now sick at heart and lame of limb.
The war had trod down his estate And left him poor and desolate; Twice through his lands confederate arns Had swept with ruin and alarms.
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JOHN P. KELLY.
His looms they had to Richmond borne, And rifled all his cribs of corn; But what was worse, his negroes fled And left the old man nearly dead.
We found him groaning in his home Awaiting his impending doom; And, talking of his former years, He broke into a flood of tears;
And prayed that we would interpose To shield him from all further woes, That he, at last, full shrived, might die And quiet 'neath the daisies lie.
His mansior, nigh the river bank, Still bore the marks of former rank, When hospitality and pride Were with the lordty roof allied.
That Ford became a battle-scene
Of hot and sanguinary mien, When forward charged the Union Stars And backward fell Rebellion's Bars.
Six times his lands, by armies trod, Bore proof of plunder and of blood; And all the country wailed, too late, Secession's just and humbling fate.
The old man lived to woeful reap What he had sown, and bitter weep The ponderous, swift and fated stroke That he, once proud, had helped provoke.
He found that wrong changed not to right However for it men might fight; And learned that God had made decree For brotherhood and liberty.
In him what analogue we sce Of Slavery's confederacy, That built its fortunes upon slaves And found its destiny in graves.
Ye lords of proud Virginia Who aimed our nation's life to mar, Of treason's fate ye proved the types; Ye saw law's Stars and felt her Stripes.
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The Country For Which You Fought. SCENES AND INCIDENTS OF A TRIP TO THE PACIFIC COMEL BY THE EDITOR.
VI .- THROUGH NEVADA, UTAH, AND COLORADO
On the morning of Wednesday, June 15th, Ed and Hadof in a sleeper on the Southern Pacific Railroad, near Truck (-) in the mountains-and had a fine ride in the early morning amidst the ever-varying mountain scenery, with abundance of vegetation all around, until we reached Reno. Then we see !! down in the expectation of a long, dull, dreary ride, for well" been kindly warned, at Riverside and elsewhere, by those who had been over the road, that there was " nothing to see ! tween Reno and Ogden," and that the ride would be van tedious. We did not find it so, however, To be sure, the mountains were not so grand, the peaks were not so ly the valleys were not so fertile, and really there was not so bir.i. to see, as on some portions of the trip, but all was new po' strange, and we did not get lonesome even there. We woun: around hills all day, with a goodly variety of scenery-so: o- desert and some fertile land, and with no dearth of incident of chat with fellow travellers. So we enjoyed this ride, bes 1 found the same difficulty that I had experienced on the top ward trip, viz. : a lack of guide book or companion who con answer the many questions which came into mind in through even this so-called uninteresting portion of our y ... country. Simple questions they may have been, would! ha. been to the experienced traveller, but the answers thereto yo ..!! have made my ride that day more enjoyable. At Battle Mom tain, along in the afternoon, we had an experience of which 1. had often read but never before realized. As the trainst pp a tramp crawled out from under the car, where he had ' riding-stealing a ride-since morning. He said he got off at
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CLIFF DWELLERS.
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THE COUNTRY FOR WHICH YOU FOUGHT.
Reno, and that he meant to go to Ogden, and on that train. As we glanced under the car, and saw where he had to crawl and in what cramped quarters he had to ride, I concluded that if he had the nerve to ride there he ought to go through to Ogden, and many of our party evidently thought so too, for there was a quite general desire to encourage and even to help him. Money was given him with which to get a lunch and many kind words were said to him. How much of this was due to his pluck, and how much to the feeling that we were assisting sonic one to beat a railroad company, every one must judge for him- self-there is human nature in either theory. I did not see him get under the car again but as we left the station he was no- where to be seen, and I have not yet recovered from the hope that he did get through. We could see snow on the mountains in the distance all day, and in the afternoon, when we came nearer, the snow looked more like snow and less like white rocks. In the afternoon, also, we had a fine ride along the Humboldt river, where we saw some good grazing country. We got sight of a few scraggly-looking Indians during the day --- much less noble-looking than their brothers in New Mexico and Arizona, if that were possible -- certainly the poorest speci- mens of humanity we saw anywhere. We had also a forcible reminder of the wild life in that part of Uncle Sam's domain, at Carlin, where were posted, by the road side, just before reaching and just after leaving the station, signs bearing the writing. "Vigilence Committee at Carlin, so Beware." Then in the af- ternoon we had some of the "unprecedented weather" in the shape of rain, which was most welcome, and later in the day saw signs of heavy rain, the river being very high and the ground very wet.
SALT LAKE CITY.
Thursday morning we reached Ogden, where we bade good- bye to the Southern Pacific Railroad, with thanks for our safe transportation and with the pleasantest memories of our miles of travel over that road, and took the train on the Rio Grande Western Railroad for Salt Lake City, where we arrived after an
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hour's ride. Here we spent the day, and an interesting day !! was. Salt Lake City was a disappointment and a revelation Six years before I had visited this city, and at that tune I thought it was the most beautiful, most restful city I had seen. With its wide streets, clean and well-kept, with the running brook. of clean water in every street, with its cozy, white dwellings, green lawns, gardens and orchards, with the evidences of thrift everywhere, with that sense of completeness which everything seemed to have, and with the look of peace and quiet over all the city was a cordial invitation to stop and rest awhile. There were no public improvements in process, no streets were torn up for sewer, water, or other pipes or for railroad tracks, no buildings were in process of construction, but everything seen ed to be finished, and the city completed for all time. It was bedu- tiful everywhere, with a promise of always remaining so. There were no street cars, none of the fussy, so-called " modern in :- provements " but all was quiet-refreshingly quiet after a scason of travel. Aside from its many points of interest, it was one of the pleasantest places to visit and to stop in. At that time the city was under Mormon control, and improvements were out of the question. At this last visit things had changed-wonder- fully changed-and hence the disappointment. The Gentiles had obtained control of the city, and the spirit of modern pro- gress was visible on every hand. Large business blocks had been erected and others were in process of erection ; more than three-score miles of electric railways had been constructed and were in operation; extensive city and county buildings were partially finished; there were hurry and bustle everywhere : and the quaint, quiet, finished town had become a hustling, growing "booming" city. As an instance of its rapid growth, it is stated that the assessed value of property sprang from sixteen million dollars in 1889 to fifty-four million dollars in 1890; that seven banks were founded in 1890; and that six million dollars were in- vested in new buildings and additions to old ones in that same year. This tells its own story-the story of Gentile controi. The city is" booming" wonderfully, but has lost its old-time rest fulness and quiet ; hence the disappointment and the revelation.
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THE COUNTRY FOR WIIICII YOU FOUGHT
MORMON POINTS.
But we found much to occupy our attention and interest dur- ing this visit. We looked with a feeling akin to awe, at the fa- mous Mormon Temple, as we thought of the thirty- seven years of labor which had been given to it -- of the patience and relig ious energy of the builders-of the bringing of the greater por- tion of its snow-white granite from the quarry, fourteen miles away, with ox team, cach team carrying one stone and being two days on the journey each way in accordance with the Bildli- cal day's journey -- of the faith which had kept this labor con- tinuing for so many years. This temple has since been finished and dedicated, but when we were there a year ago still needed some inside finish. Unfortunately for us, the work of taking down the staging had begun, so we were prevented from climb- ing to the top and from there obtaining a view of the surround- ing country. We visited the Tabernacle, one of the architectu !- ral curiosities of the world-a building capable of seating thii - teen thousand people under a singe arch without a supporting pillar or post --- the largest arch roof in the world with a single ex- ception. We found there a kindly-disposed Mormon in charge, who pleasantly answered our questions, told us much about the building, and showed enough of the Gentile spirit to try to sell us photographs of Mormon buildings and books of Mormon doctrine. At his suggestion we went to the further end of the immense room, more than two hundred feet away, where we could distinctly hear his lightest whisper, and he heard and answered our whispers, and where we could hear a pin drop. such are the marvellous acoustic properties of this building. We looked with interest at Brigham Young's residence, or rather the residences of his extensive family, and paid a visit to his private graveyard. Perhaps neither of us dropped a tear over his grave, but we gazed at it respectfully, as we did also at the graves of six of his wives, who are buried near him. We found here a Mormon whose speech proclaimed his German ancestry, who took pleasure in answering our many questions. some of which may have seemed to him to be lightly asked, though we tried not to be disrespectful, as we were endeavoring
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