USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 1 > Part 20
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The following. also from Frank Moore's "Rebellion Record," is the Richmond Despatch account. and is interesting as giving the other side of the story. There will be noticed some dis- crepancies between the accounts of the two sides, but the fact that it was a severe cavalry fight and bravely contested on both sides, remains the same : ---
ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA. July 18. 1863.
The heavy cannonading heard in the direction of Shepardstown Thurs- day, originated from a severe cavalry fight, of which you have been advised by telegraph. I will now furnish you the particulars as they have been
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ascertained. After the return of Gen. Lee's army to Virginia, the enemy, evidently too much crippled for immediate pursuit, and desirous of ascer- taining our movements and feeling our position, despatched a large body of cavalry down the river to accomplish this object, if possible. They crossed at Harper's Ferry, where pontoon bridges were thrown across for the pur- pose, and proceeded up the river as far as Shepardstown, where they arrived , on Wednesday: then coming down the Leetown and Winchester road to the distance of about five miles. halted. Meantime Fitz Hugh Lee, who was in the vicinity, hearing of their whereabouts, proceeded up the Shepardstown road, for the purpose of checking the enemy's advance. He arrived in sight of the Yankees Thursday morning, which brought on desultory skirmishing and cannonading, which continued throughout the day until about four o'clock P. M. Then dismounting his men and advancing, the fight became general along both lines, the enemy having also dismounted. A charge was ordered, and our men rushed upon the enemy, who was driven back two or three miles, where they sought the protection of a stone wall extending to the right and left of the road, their right and left flank stretching some dis- tance beyond either extremity of the wall. Here the fight raged for some time, our men frequently charging up to the enemy's front, and delivering their fire with telling effect, but exposed to an incessant fire of shot, shell, and small arms from the enemy, who had availed themselves of the pro- tection of the stone wall and every rock, tree. and stump that afforded the least shelter. While our men were in dangerous proximity, without the slightest shelter to cover their movements, bodies of the enemy's cavalry would frequently charge up to the stone wall. file to the right and left. rap- idly deliver their fire, and gallop into a wood that skirted the wall on either side. Later in the afternoon, when the fight had progressed some time. the Fourteenth. Sixteenth, Seventeenth. and Thirty-sixth battalions of Jenkins' brigade came up from near Martinsburg and re-enforced Gen. Lee, taking a position on the left of the road toward Shepardstown. During the remainder of the day they rendered gallant and efficient service with their long-range guns, and participated with their comrades previously on the field in the subsequent charges on the enemy's position. The enemy was repulsed and driven back on the right and left. but so effectual was their protection behind the wall, they were enabled to hold that position until night. Our line of battle extended about the distance of a mile and a half to the right and left of the road, the enemy's about the same distance. with reserves in supporting distance. We had three pieces of artillery, and the enemy, it is believed, about the same number, planted in an admirable posi- tion on the right of the stone wall and in front of the woods, commanding the whole field in front. During the entire engagement our officers and men displayed the utmost gallantry. Gen. Jenkins being absent, by reason of a wound in the head received at Gettysburg, his men were led by Col. Ferguson, the whole under command of Fitz Hugh Lee. Our loss, not yet definitely known, is unofficially reported at from seventy-five to one hundred. from all causes. We lost no prisoners. The loss of the enemy is estimated at from one hundred and fifty to two hundred. Night having drawn her sable curtain over the scene, the enemy fell back from this position behind the stone wall, leaving their dead and wounded in our hands, and our ment
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PERSONAL INCIDENTS.
in possession of the field. They retreated down the river toward Harper's Ferry, and it is reported have since gone to the other side of the river.
Col. Smith was ordered to send out details from Shepards- town for forage, but feeling in some way that a detail would not be safe, he started with his whole regiment. And the suc- cess of the day is no doubt very largely due to Col. Smith's forethought in taking the whole regiment with him, in the first place, and in taking the advanced position at once.
There were the usual number of personal incidents in this engagement, as in all, of which a few have been preserved. During the hottest of the fight, Private George Kitchen, of Co. E, one of the wildest boys in the regiment, as brave as he was wild, and as full of fun as of bravery, and known by all as a harum-scarum genius, said to a comrade : "Do you see that tall, lank-looking reb with a straw hat on?" "Yes," was the reply, to which Kitchen responded, as he raised his carbine : " Now keep your eye on him and see him jump." He fired, and as the smoke rose he leaped into the air, exclaiming : "By thunder ! the wrong man jumped that time." He was carried from the field cursing that lean "reb that stood edgewise."
At one time while the boys were dismounted they suffered severely from thirst, and Sergt. Little, of Co. G, was sent to the rear to get water for his comrades. Gathering up the canteens, he mounted his horse and rode off. He succeeded in getting the canteens filled, and on his return was riding along the line, dropping the full canteens among his comrades, when a bullet struck him just in front of the cantle of the saddle. passing through him. He was not at all particular about the rest of the. canteens, but throwing them down, he rode off the field, heaping anathemas upon the fate that had sent the bullet that hit him in that particular portion of the body.
Private Charles H. Bell, Jr., of Co. D, received a similar wound. He and George P. Andrews, of the same company, were on the skirmish line together, and were seeking partial shelter behind a low ridge. They would flatten themselves upon the ground while loading their pieces, then raise them- selves upon their knees, with side to the enemy, and fire over
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the crest of the ridge. While Private Bell was thus shooting. an unfortunate shot from the enemy struck him in the other end of his prone body, and inflicted a severe wound. His manly pride, however, was superior to the pain of the wound, and in tones of despair, clapping his hand upon the wound. he exclaimed : " Oh, George! just my luck, -shot where I can never speak of it!"
Private Horton Maloon, of Co. G, was mortally wounded. dying in a short time, and his brother, Bugler William Maloon, Jr., remained with him and was taken prisoner.
Sergt. L. M. Robinson, of Co. G, as brave and good a man as the regiment contained, while lying on the skirmish line was struck by a bullet in the shoulder by the side of the neck, which passed through both lungs, struck the back bone, and left the body just above the hip on the opposite side, literally going through the whole length of the body, diagonally. He was taken to the improvised hospital that night, and examined by a surgeon, who shook his head discouragingly. Soon after another surgeon commenced to examine his wounds, when surgeon number one spoke to number two, saying : "Let that poor man alone ; he's got to die, anyhow, and there's no use in putting him in unnecessary pain." Surgeon number two left him, but the sergeant, who had heard this remark, muttered to himself: "I can't see that "; and making up his mind that he would not die, he did not, though left in a church for five weeks, with only the care, attention and food that could be given him by the Union ladies residing there. More than that. he recovered so entirely that he re-enlisted the next winter, put in a year's noble service, and was killed at Deep Bottom, August. 1864.
Bugler Eben F. Brier, of Co. B, mounted the stone wall and sounded the charge, when he was shot, receiving a wound from which he died in a few days.
The brigade moved back to near Harper's Ferry after leaving the field at midnight. arriving there about eight o'clock the next morning, and remained in camp there till the twentieth. when the line of march was again taken up. reaching Lovetts- ville that night. Manassas the next, and on the twenty-second
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- MARCHING AND PICKETING.
going into camp about noon at Bristow Station, the regiment doing pieket duty toward Greenwich. The Army of the Po- tomac was now again on the advance southward. On the twenty-fourth Cos. K and I, under Capt. Chadbourne, joined the Eighth Pennsylvania regiment on a reconnoissance to Greenwich, New Baltimore, and Warrenton Junction, captur- ing a number of prisoners. On the twenty-fifth the regiment marched to Manassas Junction, bivouacking that night near the bridge, and on the twenty-sixth moved to Bealton Station again, remaining there, picketing toward Morrisville, till the twenty-ninth, when it went with the brigade to Warrenton and vamped on the Waterloo pike. The regiment went to Amisville next day, where it remained picketing to Gaines' cross-roads, till August seventh, when it crossed the river opposite Sulphur Springs, and went into camp there, picketing toward Amisville and Oakshades; remained there till the fifteenth (receiving two months' welcome pay on the ninth), and then moved, with the whole division, back to Catlett's Station, and camped "at will." Changed camp next day, and on the seventeenth the First Maine and Sixteenth Pennsylvania, under command of Col. Smith, started at five o'clock in the afternoon on a reconnoissance, moving through Greenwich, and bivouacking at nine o'clock in the evening near Haymarket. Next morning the march was resumed early, the command crossing the moun- tains through Thoroughfare Gap, and proceeding to near White Plains. Here a halt of a couple of hours was made and scout- ing parties sent out; but seeing nothing of the enemy the command set out to return, reaching camp that night. What withe hanging camp, picketing, scouting, etc., the days wore on till the thirteenth of September. and it must be confessed the time hung somewhat heavily. in contradistinction to the active service of June and July.
Sergt. Winsor B. Smith, of Co. K, at the reunion at Old Orchard, 1877, told this story of picket duty : -
The remark often made at these reunions is, that there are too few of the members who will relate those little incidents and accidents that came to their view and knowledge during their service. I think I can explain the
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difficulty. A man in action only sees what takes place in quite a small cirele, and being himself the centre of that circle, must of a necessity be the hero of his own story. Now the well-known modesty of the members of the First Maine Cavalry is the excuse for the lack of stories. To illus- trate, I will tell you an incident (asking your pardon for appearing as the hero of it). I returned to the regiment, after doing duty as orderly in the First division. First corps. for eight months. and found them at Sulphur Springs, where they were doing picket duty around Amisville, Jefferson, and the Hazel River, and learned for the first time that I had actually been doing duty as a private for nearly two months, when I was entitled to the full rank and pay of a corporal. Now I had not been on picket for months. and the boys told me the rebs had a habit in that part of the country of stealing men off their posts in the night and cutting the advance guard off from the heads of columns, and all such ungentlemanly tricks, which made me feel rather nervous. Soon came the order for Co. K to go on picket. I had got my stripes on, and could not tell whether it was good to be in the line of promotion or not. When we relieved the other company, we found our numbers were so small that for night duty the corporal would have to stand post. Oh, how I dreaded for the night to come ! I was a corporal. and had been happy in the thought that I should not have to stand post. I had lost my horse at Gettysburg, and had one that was furnished me by an infantry quartermaster; and I feared that he had not been on picket, though I knew he was not a corporal, for I never could go near him without his stepping on my feet. His name was Bludgeon. Night came all too soon. and the sergeant, with a wicked look. left me on what he said was the most dangerous post, and that I was put there because I was a corporal. The post was in a cross-road, a long way from the reserve, and a good half mile from the next picket; I had my carbine advanced. and was bracing myself up to meet what might come, when Bludgeon threw up his head, and gave a yell, and started on the run after the relief; I hauled him up and got back under the roadside tree again. well knowing it was no use to hide now. Bludgeon had never been on picket, and he felt as I did; he did not want to be left alone. It was one of those still, moonlight, cloudy nights. when with a good imagination such as I had. the shadows would form whatever object you were most dreading to see.
On my left were thick oak woods, and as I looked in that direction to get my bearings. I heard a rustle in the dry leaves as of a cautious step from tree to tree: the horse heard it too, and again bolted for the rear. Again I got him back, and persuaded him to stop, by dropping the barrel of my carbine. not gently, between his ears, every time he threw up his head to yell: this would cause him to kneel down, and while he was recovering his senses. I would look at the woods and listen. I could hear the steps coming nearer and nearer: the horse also heard, and we both trembled. Then just as I was about to call out " Halt!" there walked out into the moonlight. with a grunt of astonishment, one of those slab-sided Virginia hogs! My strained nerves and muscles relaxed, the carbine fell from my hand, and the horse ran half way to the reserve before I could get strength to stop him. Back again to the past we went, the horse more frightened than I had been: my carbine was now in the socket, and with both hands and feet I tried to keep
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SECOND BRIGADE, SECOND DIVISION.
that horse there and keep him still; then I got off and put one of my legs over the reins under his neck, to keep his head down. so that he couldn't yell. After a while he got quiet a little, and I mounted him to get a look at the other side of the road. I found a corn-field next to me, and looking over the corn. I could see the top of a chimney of a house that stood in the valley beyond; and just as I discovered this, I heard the barking of several dogs, and there was a rush through the corn as if several persons and dogs were running towards me.
The horse began to dance again, and I wished that I had never been a corporal; I thought if I was a private, I could discharge my carbine and run for the reserve; but being a corporal, I must stick to my post or die. Find- ing I could not keep still enough to shoot, and that I was a good mark on that high horse (who never seemed so high before). I dismounted, and tak- ing the bridle on my arm, crept up to the fence, and looking through. I saw coming slowly up towards me, between the rows of corn, a man with a gun on his shoulder. I let him come a little nearer, and taking good aim, I called, "Halt! who goes there?" The dogs had stopped barking; every- thing was still but the horse, who was pulling hard at the reins on my arm. No answer from the man. I called again. " Speak, or I fire! " No answer. I was making sure of my aim and pressing the trigger, when the moon sailed out from behind a cloud, and I saw an old butternut suit of clothes stuck up on stakes and stuffed with straw, to keep the crows out of the corn: and I realized that even a corporal will sometimes get excited and act foolish. The next day I swapped horses with Peter Como; and the next night, as I sat on my post, I could hear the familiar voice of Bludgeon, as Pete tried to keep him on that hill. under a tree, at the corner of that lonesome old graveyard, that many of you remember.
Up to the engagement at Shepardstown the First Maine had been in the Third brigade, Second division, commanded by Col. J. Irwin Gregg; but soon after that the division was reorganized and made into two brigades, when Col. Gregg's brigade became the Second, the First Maine still remaining in it. From this time for more than a year -and a year filled to the brim with service -the First Maine was a part of the Second brigade, Second division, Cavalry corps, Army of the Potomac-a matter of pride, always.
On the thirteenth of September the division advanced toward Culpepper, meeting the enemy and driving them through the town, and beyond, capturing nine pieces of artillery and two hundred prisoners. This regiment was under fire during this running fight, but was not actively engaged. The next day the advance was continued, with severe fighting. and that night the regiment stood picket near the Rapidan, and remained there
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till the seventeenth, when it was relieved from picket, and moving back a short distance from the river, went into camp near Cedar Mountain battle-field.
On the crest of Telegraph Mountain the enemy had a signal station, which Maj. Brown, with one hundred and fifty men from Cos. A, H, I, K and L, was sent to capture. The enemy, however, seeing boys in blue climbing up one side of the moun- tain, quietly withdrew down the other side, and the capture was an easy one. It is, perhaps, needless to say that the position was used as a signal station for the Union army, as long as it remained in that vicinity.
On the nineteenth one battalion was sent to Thoroughfare Mountain, remaining there till the next afternoon, when, being relieved by the Sixteenth Pennsylvania regiment, it returned to camp. On the twenty-fourth the regiment moved back to the Rappahannock River, where it remained on the south side for a few days, picketing toward the rear, on the lookout for gueril- las, and then moved to Bealton (which by this time began to seem almost like home to the boys, so many times had they visited it). Here it remained, picketing and drilling, until the tenth of October.
Gen. Meade's army had occupied the northern bank of the Rapidan during the last week in September and the first week in October, with headquarters near Culpepper, and Gen. Lee's army was on the other side of the river, around Gordonsville. ยท twenty miles away. Lee, finding that Meade, after nearly three months of inactivity. was not going to attack, commenced to put plans of his own into operation, with the design of bringing on an engagement. His army crossed the Rapidan on the ninth of October. moving by way of Madison Court House and reach- ing Culpepper on the eleventh, where, according to his official report. he found the "enemy had retreated toward the Rappa- hannock, destroying his stores." On the twelfth his army marched in two columns. with the design of reaching the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and interrupting the retreat of Gen. Meade's army. This movement, it seems, was under- stood by Gen. Meade, who prepared to defeat it.
The morning of the tenth the regiment started at sunrise and
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LITTLE WASHINGTON RECONNAISSANCE.
marched in the direction of Culpepper. Upon arriving there the sounds of guns in the direction of Fox Mountain, six miles west, were heard, and thither the column marched, only to reach the vicinity of the fighting at dark. It proved to be Gen. Kilpatrick, engaged with the advance of the enemy. That night the regiment bivouacked in an open field, and next morning the boys were in the saddle at three o'clock, and on the way to Culpepper. Here they found that the whole army was making tracks for the Rappahannock, and that they were in for that most disagreeable of all jobs, covering the retreat and left flank. The division was given the protection of the left flank, and about noon, after the last vestige of the Army of the Potomac had been removed from the town, the line of march was taken up on a road left of, and nearly parallel with, the railroad, along which the infantry was marching, and not yet out of sight. Nothing was seen of the enemy during the whole day, save a few scouts who hung upon the flanks, gathering what informa- tion they could of the movements of the Union army, and provoking the men by their impudent audacity. That night, at ten o'clock, the regiment reached the old camp-ground at Sul- phur Springs, and very luckily found everything as they left it. some of the officers sleeping that night in the very bunks they had occupied two months before.
The next morning, twelfth, the regiment started on the famous reconnoissance to Little Washington, one of the promi- hent and most important expeditions in the history of the regi- ment, which is best told in Col. Smith's own words : -
October twelfth. long before daylight. I was summoned to report to brigade headquarters, where I received orders to proceed with my regiment to the Blue ridge at Gaines' cross-roads (Chester Gap), thence along the Blue ridge rid Little Washington to Sperryville (Thornton Gap), to observe any movement the enemy might make in that direction, and report promptly whatever of the enemy I might discover. The important character of the reconnaissance that I was ordered to make was impressed upon me by Col. Gregg. the brigade commander. He authorized me to pick up and take along with my command a detachment of another regiment which was on picket, and which I would have to pass through.
The regiment broke camp and started before sunrise, and proceeded to Gaines' cross-roads without halting. Small parties of Moseby's, White's. or Gilmore's men were seen in different places, but they caused us no delay.
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They were on the alert. however, and probably knew a great deal about the purpose of that grand movement of those two great armies which was already begun. At Gaines' cross-roads. the entrance to Chester Gap, I detached and left Capt. Paul Chadbourne with his company. I. to observe and report to me whatever of importance might happen. I. then proceeded to Little Washington. On the way there I detached and posted a second observing party. On arriving at Little Washington I selected a detachment of one hundred of the strongest horses, and pushed it forward under a field officer (two field officers went, Lieut. Col. Boothby and Maj. Brown), to. Sperryville, the entrance to Thornton Gap. with orders to return as soon as practicable. At the same time I sent Lieut. Harris, of Co. F, with an escort of twelve men. back to Sulphur Springs with a report to the brigade commander of our progress and all that I had done, and also that I should return to Sulphur Springs as soon as the detachment returned from Sperryville.
That detachment returned a little before sunset, with nothing of special interest to report. I assigned to it one hour in which to unsaddle, groom. feed, and make coffee. At the end of the hour we started homeward, just a little before dark. On our way we picked up the last party that we left on the outward march, and made no other halt till we reached Gaines' cross- roads. Capt. Chadbourne had seen Lieut. Harris and party pass that point on their way in. He had nothing else of importance to report. I then decided to send Capt. Chadbourne, with a detachment that had had most rest during the day. to Sulphur Springs at once with another report, and put the rest of the tired command into camp near Amisville to rest till morning.
Capt. Chadbourne and his detachment therefore took the lead, and the rest of the command followed. It was some five miles to the proposed camping-place. As we drew quite near to it and to the town of Amisville, Capt. Chadbourne's advance guard was briskly fired upon. and some of the men came back to the head of the column. where I was riding. in confusion. I supposed that the attack had been made by a party of guerillas who might have observed our going out. and were waiting in ambush for our return. In a few moments, however, Capt. Chadbourne came back and reported to me that a large force was in our front; that he was on higher ground, and could see their camp-fires far and wide. There were two dwellings near by. one on each side of the road, in which some poor white folks continued to live. Inquiries were made at those houses as to the troops in camp. ami information was obtained that " A. P. Hill's corps has been going into camp about Ami-ville since three o'clock."
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