USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 1 > Part 16
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witness. But the boys could not stop to enjoy this grand, moving panorama of war. On they went, amid a perfect tan- gle of sights and sounds, filled with such rare, whole-souled excitement as seldom falls to the lot of man to experience; and thoughts of danger were for the time furthest from their minds. Even the horses seemed to enter into the spirit of the occa- sion, and strained every nerve to do their full duty in the day's strange deeds, obeying the least motion of rein or spur with unusual promptness, as if feeling the superiority of their riders in this terrible commotion.
A railroad cut breaks the formation somewhat, and for a moment checks the advance ; but that is soon crossed, and the regiment re-forms with no loss of time, and is again on the charge. Nearly in front is the Harris Light Cavalry, charging upon the battery, while swooping down upon them is a rebel force, coming across the field from the woods in a diagonal direction. For a moment the result is in doubt, and then the Harris Light breaks, and the men scatter and flee. The force that drove them keeps on its way, now coming directly for the First Maine. The First Maine falters not, but keeps on its course. A shell from the battery on the right comes screaming with harsh voice along the line, apparently directly over the heads of the men, and seeming so near as to make it impos- sible, almost, for the left of the regiment to escape its effects, and bursts a quarter of a mile away. Some of the men cannot help dodging a bit as this goes by, and the others try to laugh at them, but make poor work of it, as they thoroughly appre- ciate the feeling which prompts such a movement. This is followed by another and another, in quick succession. On they go. And see! the rebel force that a moment before has driven the Harris Light now breaks and is in full retreat, and the charge has turned to a chase. Now goes up a cheer and a yell that must startle the very stones, as the excited boys ride over them. One defiant rebel, scorning to run from the " cowardly Yankees," remains firm in his position as the regiment reaches him, turning neither to the right nor to the left, breaking through the ranks of two companies in their headlong speed. and nearly escaping recognition and capture in the excitement.
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At one time two rebel troopers are riding along in the ranks of the First Maine, as coolly as though they belonged there; and no one who sees them thinks of capturing them. On goes the regiment, driving the enemy from the battery, and passing by the lonely and now quiet guns that a moment before were so loudly talking. On they go, faster and faster, if that were possible, over fences and ditches, driving the enemy a mile or more. Oh, it was grand! and many a man who was in that charge has at times fancied that if he were allowed to choose, he would say, "Let me bid this world good-by amid the supreme excitement of a grand, exultant, successful cavalry charge like this!"
The regiment at last halts ; the companies are re-formed and counted off, and are ready for another race. A portion dis- mount and open fire with their carbines, while the enemy's bullets make lively music about their ears. Lieut. Col. Smith now finds himself the senior officer (Col. Douty being in another portion of the field), and assumes command. He finds himself with a small command, alone. The enemy is in his rear, and no other Union troops are near. His command has been scattered somewhat, but the men are coming up and join- ing him fast. As soon as he has force enough to make the attempt to return, he wheels the command, gives the order "Forward!" and again the regiment starts, going back over the same ground it has just driven the enemy from. It appears that when the gunners left the battery, as the regiment swept upon it, they simply stepped into the woods at the right, where they remained till the regiment had passed, when they returned and again took possession of their guns, and turned them upon the regiment, and were joined by a large force of their cavalry who had taken refuge in the same woods, as well as by some from the other parts of the field. The regiment had passed on and left the guns alone, supposing, if any thought was taken of the matter at all. that the remaining regiments of the brigade would come to its support, and could take care of the battery after it had been tamed.
The regiment, which was now between two fires, kept well together, and rode straight for the battery as if to attempt to
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recapture it, and then, just as the gunners were going to fire, Col. Smith suddenly changed direction to the right. In a moment the regiment was out of the line of fire, while the grape and cannister which was intended for the little force passed harmlessly by in the rear, tearing up the ground where the Maine boys had just been ; and before the guns could be reloaded and brought to bear upon them again, the boys had cut their way out. Never was the fact more clearly demonstrated, that in a battle it is the safest, as well as the best, for each indi- vidual soldier to stick to his command, than it was here; for those who remained together got off the field with small loss, while of those who scattered, many were taken prisoners, some were obliged to cut their way through small bodies of the enemy, some met their death in this endeavor, some escaped by taking a series of Putnam leaps down the terraces in front of Gen. Stuart's headquarters ; and all took great risks.
Gen. Smith thus writes, in 1885, concerning the halt and the return from this charge :-
Just as we stopped from this charge I saw a sergeant coming in from the direction of our right and rear, with a flag of some kind. If it was not the colors it must have been a guidon; of course I knew at the time, but am not sure now, though I think it was the colors. Well, a body of rebs dashed out from the woods to capture him. The sergeant dashed from them, and when they found themselves in the presence of so many Yanks, they quickly put back.
I did not know that Co. G lost so many men that day (ten). It looked like the most solid company on the field when we re-formed to return. The gray horses may have given it that appearance. I remember Capt. Virgin's presence well. His bearing was excellent. Maj. Boothby was there, too; he generally was there. We halted just beyond a little ridge that we had charged over. At the time we halted we were all broken to pieces, but our men came to us from both flanks and the rear very fast. so we were able to re-form quite a force. We re-formed under cover of the ridge, and a smaller number of rebs assembled on the opposite side to contest our return. They did not organize, but only huddled. Our men re-formed hastily. but quite orderly. I watched the enemy with intense emotions. Seconds seemed like minutes. The moment our men got into tolerable shape I ordered the advance. I think Capt. Virgin was in front. I started on the left flank of the head of the column. The enemy did not stand, but broke to right and left, into the woods. Whether we should charge back over the guns, or evade them. as we did, was the next problem. Either course was practicable. Which was best, was the question. The argument went through my mind
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distinctly, as if I had considered it a day. I saw the advantage of the rapid descent and the safety in getting under the hill, and directed the head of the column accordingly. I watched in fearful suspense for the first discharge of the guns, and was relieved to discover that the execution was weak.
So much for the part this regiment bore in the fight at Brandy Station. It was afterwards learned that Gen. Buford, with his brigade, and a small force of infantry, crossed at Beverly ford early in the morning, and made an attack in Gen. Stuart's front, where he fought gallantly, and gained some advantage; but discovering that the enemy had much the strongest force, he contented himself with holding his own, and waited to hear from Gen. Gregg. While Gen. Stuart's attention was turned in this direction, the Second brigade of Gregg's division (Col. Perey Wyndham) struck him in his rear, and almost in his camp, surprising him entirely, dealing him some heavy blows, and nearly capturing the rebel cavalry leader himself, who was then at his headquarters, in consultation with his generals. But Stuart's command was a large one (there was a review of fifteen thousand cavalry on that field but a day or two before, so pris- oners affirmed), and he was enabled to send such a force upon the Second brigade, supported by a battery of six guns, and by infantry, as to drive them back, with three brigades in full pur- suit. Just at this time Col. Kilpatrick arrived upon the field. and sent in the two advance regiments of his brigade (Harris Light and Tenth New York ) to the relief of the Second brigade ; but they were met by two heavy columns, and driven back. At this critical juncture, when the day seemed to be lost, the First Maine's charging column arrived, and drove the rebel line as stated. Gen. Kilpatrick writes down this charge of the First Maine as " one of the best charges that ever was made," and at a meeting of the officers of the brigade at his headquarters the next night, he declared that they all owed their thanks to the First Maine for saving not only the brigade, but the whole divi- sion in this action. This, the first charge of the First Maine. was perfectly irresistible - there was no withstanding it. With the force of its own momentum the regiment went on and on and on, driving everything before it, and only stopped when it was simply impossible to go further.
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Later in the day, the object of the reconnoissance being accomplished, the forces were withdrawn, the enemy showing no disposition to follow, and the regiment camped at Rappahannock Station that night.
This, the first real cavalry fight of the war on a large scale, which is known to Gregg's division as the "Brandy Station Fight," and is so borne on the First Maine battle-flag, by order of the War Department, but which is known to Buford's force and to the rebel cavalry as the fight at Beverly ford, was a severe blow to the south; and from that time their cavalry never regained or claimed the proud position it had so long been supposed to occupy. The southern papers fairly acknowl- edged a defeat, and were filled with mortification and humilia- tion. The severest censure was applied to Gen. Stuart, and one paper suggested his removal, for allowing Yankee schoolmasters and shoemakers, awkwardly astride of horses and holding on to the pommels of the saddles, to out-ride, out-fight, and out-gen- eral their own graceful cavaliers, horsemen from birth, almost ; and the strangers from the north to become better acquainted with the country, its roads, creeks, rivers and fords, than they were themselves, and to surprise and ride down a superior force of them at their own homesteads. Rebel officers did not hesi- tate to say that "Pleasanton out-generaled Stuart, and if he had had half as many men, he would have whipped him." And from the part the First Maine took in the fight, is it too much to claim that it did its full share in wresting from the southern cavalry its boasted superiority, and placing the Union cavalry where it ever afterwards stood, second to no other branch of the service, or to that of no other army ?
Capt. Willard Glazier, of the Harris Light Cavalry, in his "Three Years in the Federal Cavalry," thus speaks of Brandy Station : -
At a critical moment, when the formidable and ever increasing hosts of the enemy were driving our forces from a desirable position we sought to gain, and when it seemed as though disaster to our arms would be fatal. Kilpatrick's battle-flag was seen advancing, followed by the tried squadrons of the Harris Light. the Tenth New York, and the First Maine. In echelons of squadrons his brigade was quickly formed, and he advanced like a storm
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cloud upon the rebel cavalry, which filled the field before him. The Tenth New York received the first shock of the rebel charge, but was hurled back, ; though not in confusion. The Harris Light met with no better success: and, notwithstanding their prestige and power, they were repulsed under the very eye of their chief, whose excitement at the same was well-nigh un- controllable. His flashing eye now turned to the First Maine, a regiment composed mostly of heavy, sturdy men, who had not been engaged as yet during the day: and riding to the head of the column. he shouted: " Men of Maine, you must save the day ! Follow me !" With one simultaneous war-cry these giants of the north moved forward in one solid mass upon the flank of the rebel columns. The shock was overwhelming, and the opposing lines crumbled like a "bowing wall" before this wild rush of prancing horses, gleaming sabres and rattling balls.
On rode Kilpatrick with the men of Maine; and on meeting the two regi- ments of his brigade which had been repulsed, and were returning from the front. the general's voice rang out like clarion notes above the din of battle : "Back, the Harris Light! Back. the Tenth New York! Re-form your squad- rons and charge!" With magical alacrity the order was obeyed, and the two regiments, which had been so humbled by their first reverse, now rushed into the fight with a spirit and success which redeemed them from censure, and accounted them worthy of their gallant leader. The commanding posi- tion was won; a battery lost in a previous charge was recaptured, and an effectual blow was given to the enemy which greatly facilitated the move- ments which followed.
Gen. Smith, in his address at Pittsfield, thus speaks of the Brandy Station fight : -
It at last became apparent to those who had power to apply a remedy. that our cavalry force in the Army of the Potomac was not being used with advantage; that its strength was being frittered away. Consequently, in the spring of 1863, it was organized into brigades, divisions, and a cavalry corps. But even after it was thus organized, it had to wait some time for an opportunity to assert itself. . The great battle of Chancellorsville was fought. Stoneman's raid was projected as a part of that battle, but its exe- cution consisted of marching, rather than fighting. Detachments met the enemy in hand to hand encounters, but at no time did the cavalry corps, as such, make itself felt in action. That grand event was reserved for Brandy Station, June 9. 1863. On that day, in order to ascertain the plans of the enemy, it was decided to send the cavalry corps, supported by infantry, across the Rappahannock into the enemy's camp. The forces crossed in three columns. - at Beverly. Rappahannock. and Kelly's fords. Our division crossed at Kelly's, and therefore had the left, and my remarks here will be restricted to what occurred on that part of the field. The Second brigade had the advance. Ours followed in the following order: Tenth New York. Harris Light. First Maine. Much of the march was through woods, and we had to keep the road in column. The location of the enemy was known, and our business was to reach his camps as soon as possible.
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Ilis pickets caused hardly a pause in our advance. Much of the way we rode at a gallop. Only the head of the column could strike the enemy, but the different regiments gave successive blows as they arrived. The Second brigade had become broken and defeated when the First got in. The Tenth New York made a gallant charge. Its colonel went down and was captured. The gallant Harris Light, by some mistaken order, failed for the first time, perhaps, in its history, to do what was expected of it. It broke. and the rebels were charging it from the field. Our regiment had debouched from the woods and formed companies at the gallop. The artillery of the enemy was immediately turned loose upon us. How the regiment made a slight detour to the right, struck the enemy in flank, crushed and scattered his forces, charged directly up the slope, over his guns and far beyond them. are all too well known to be further described by me. With broken ranks we returned to the plain. Our victory had been complete. We had broken through all opposition and routed the last organized foe. That charge dis- tinguished the First Maine Cavalry. It became known throughout the cavalry corps. Brigade and division commanders were lavish with their personal praises of it, and emphatic in their official reports in commenda- tion of it.
But a higher value attaches to Brandy Station as affecting the regiment than has ever been sounded in praises. It was, in fact, the christening bat- tle of the regiment, -the first time it was ever solidly engaged, and the first time it had ever tasted, in any satisfactory manner, the fruit of victory. The battle aroused its latent powers and awoke it, as it were, to a new career. It became self-reliant, and began to comprehend its own possibilities. It became inspired with an invincible spirit that never again forsook it. These remarks might be extended to the effect of that day's work upon our cav- alry generally. The rebel cavalry had been in the ascendency. It had twice marched entirely around our army. It had certainly been very impudent. but Brandy Station broke its spirit. It lost its prestige there and never regained it afterwards, and history will show that it was never able to sue- cessfully cope with our cavalry thereafter. So much for Brandy Station as it affected the cavalry. But a still higher importance attaches to it. It was the beginning of the end of the war. It was the opening of that grand campaign that culminated a few weeks later at Gettysburg, in that greatest and most distinguished battle that so clearly marks the turning point of the war.
Gen. Judson Kilpatrick also made an address at the Pittsfield reunion, in which he said : -
Comrades of the First Maine Cavalry, a word to you and I have done. During all these long years since I. with a sad heart. bade you farewell upon the plains of Virginia. I have wished to meet with you in reunion like this. And while I honor and respect from the bottom of my heart every citizen who spoke a word, every soldier who struck a blow for my country, there is an indescribably tender feeling that gathers around my heart when I look down into the faces of men who rode with me beneath the old banner of the
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Union. How well I remember the old First Maine Cavalry! It was down at Belle Plain Landing, when the general in command of the army and the government did me the high honor to give me a brigade, - a young colonel twenty-two years old. I was given the Tenth New York, the First Maine and the Harris Light Cavalry. Oh how proud I felt. as we rode forth for the grand battie upon the plains of Brandy Station! You have heard it described here to-night by your colonel. How we moved across the river and down through the woods, and came out upon the broad plain, and saw Wyndham. with his brigade, go in and come out defeated, and saw gathering forces of the enemy troop up from out the woods, five, ten times our numbers. As I looked back upon that magnificent line, nearly twenty-six hundred strong. and as I saw the Tenth New York go in and come out, and my own regi- ment, the Harris Light. and float off like feathers on the wind, I looked back with my heart swelling in my throat, sad for that day, feeling that we were defeated; and I saw the First Maine moving down at a trot in double col- umn, the battle-flag in front; and as I rode down I said to them: " Men of Maine, you must save the day!" And as you made that grand, magnificent cirele and cut the enemy in two, driving him back from in front of the other two regiments, sweeping round behind headquarters of their general, captur- ing two pieces of artillery, a staff officer, a battle-flag, and all the reports and private papers of that general. how my heart swelled with pride! And I say here to-night, before all this goodly company, to the First Maine Cavalry I owe the silver star I won that day upon the field of battle.
The loss of the regiment in this engagement was between thirty and forty killed, wounded and missing,1 by far the greater portion being prisoners, while it captured seventy-six prisoners and a battle-flag. Many were the deeds worthy of record during this fight, of which these have been preserved. Corp. Ansel Drew, of Co. A, brought the battle-flag of Hampton's Legion off the field. Lieut. Taylor, of Co. M, captured a dis- mounted rebel, and as the enemy was after him, he made his prisoner run before his horse, and when the prisoner grew tired he made him take hold of his horse's tail, and come along with that help. He brought his man in. A private of the same company captured one of the enemy who was fully armed, by presenting an unloaded pistol at his head. One of the buglers who was captured managed to make his escape, and rejoined the regiment during the night, and Private J. B. Peakes, of Co. K, who was captured managed to escape and rejoin his com- pany before it left the field. Private Peter Como, also of Co. K. noticed a rebel coming down upon Lieut. Col. Boothby, and.
" The details of the losses in the several engagements will be found in the Appendix.
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raising himself in his stirrups, he shot the rebel dead, just as the latter was about to shoot the lieutenant colonel, and that at a distance of more than a hundred yards, and while his horse was at full speed. Sergt. Loud, of the same company, rode up to the battery after the enemy had regained possession, and in his peculiar manner exclaimed, waving his sword, "I'll t-t-take command of this b-b-battery, if you pl-pl-please !" He was greeted with orders to surrender, in terms more emphatic than polite, which he obeyed, under protest. Sergt. Joel Wilson, of Co. F, in the excitement of the charge, noticed that his horse seemed, by the dull thud of a bullet, to be hit. The horse did not fall, and, on looking over each side and seeing no blood, he supposed he was mistaken. After the fight, upon reaching the Rappahannock, he noticed that while other horses were very thirsty, his own would not drink. This, though strange, he attributed to the animal's nervousness. After fording the river the sergeant dismounted, when the horse at once lay down. Then he discovered a little blood on the horse's flank, and on removing the saddle found that a bullet had entered the flank, passed diagonally through the body, and come out against the saddle girth on the other side; and yet the horse had carried him two hours after being riddled by a bullet, and only suc- cumbed when he dismounted to give it a rest.
Chaplain Merrill, in "Campaigns of the First Maine and First D. C. Cavalry," relates this incident : -
During one of these desperate charges Capt. Tucker, of Co. B. became sep- arated from his men and was surrounded. captured, disarmed, and ordered to the rear, in charge of three mounted men. One rode on his right. another on his left, and the third in front. The guard on his left carried his sabre rather carelessly. Tucker watched his opportunity, grasped the weapon by the hilt. wrenched it from the man, by a sudden thrust rendered him hors de combat, and then by a powerful back stroke disposed of the guard on his right. The man in front had just time to wheel his horse when the sabre was at his breast. and he was ordered to surrender. A little fellow of Co. I, of about a hundred pounds' weight, rode up to a dismounted rebel of herculean proportions, and ordered him to surrender. The man looked upon him very much as Goliath of Gath seems to have looked upon David. and then coolly taking him by the foot, suddenly lifted him up and pitched him from his horse on the other side. An instant more and the horse had passed from between the parties, the giant waiting, as he thought. to pocket the stripling; but he was too late; a ball from the little Yankee's revolver
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tore his scalp, and stretched him stunned and bleeding upon the ground; stunned, though, but for a moment. The next instant, as consciousness returned, the plucky little Yankee stood beside his fallen antagonist, with revolver at his head, exclaiming, "How are you, Uncle Johnny ? Will you surrender now ?"
On the tenth the regiment marched to Warrenton Junction, remaining there till the fifteenth. While here, the men had a visit from the ever-welcome but seldom seen paymaster, and from him received two months' pay, and Col. Kilpatrick issued this congratulatory address : -
HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, THIRD CAVALRY DIVISION, June 12, 1863.
Officers and Soldiers of the First Brigade : -
I congratulate you upon the name and reputation you have won as cav- alry soldiers. Not only have you received the thanks of your division commander, but also of your cavalry chief. Continue to be what your com- manding officers believe you now are, brave and true men, ever keeping in view the great principles for which we are contending, - Freedom and Nationality. If your division commander is proud of his division, thrice proud am I of my gallant brigade.
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