USA > Maine > History of the First Maine cavalry, 1861-1865, V. 2 > Part 6
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410
FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
During the remainder of the day the regiment took up various positions and marched in various directions, over good roads and poor roads, through woods, across creeks, and over no roads at all, - seeming to be the sport of contrary commands, - get- ting no rest, no meals, and apparently doing nothing of good. About dark the regiment got started in one direction, and after marching an hour or two, drew up into line and was ordered to go into camp for the night. Tents were pitched. coffee set to cooking, part of the men had "turned in," and were enjoying the rest and sleep, and the remainder were getting ready, - were cooking, eating, smoking, making up beds, etc., - when orders came to " saddle and pack and be ready to move out at once." Then there was some hearty growling, some deep cursing, some hard swearing, but all to no use ; there was the order, and every man knew there was no other way than to obey; but it was easier to obey after a hearty cursing of the order, always.
In a short time they were in the saddle and on the road again, and as cross a set of men as are seldom seen. A rather slow march of two or three hours, and at one o'clock they again drew up in line in a field, but got no orders to go into camp. - simply to halt. They stood by their horses a very short time when the men lay down in front of the horses, and soon the regiment was fast asleep, the horses being hitched only by the bridles in the hands of their riders. Short naps this time, also, for at three o'clock they were again in the saddle and marching onward. The roads grew better, -- it was easier marching, -not so many troops had been over them. The boys managed during the forenoon to forage a little fodder for their horses and some food for themselves. They learned from various sources that the Confederate government and the Con- federate forces had been driven out of Richmond, and that Gen. Lee's army was marching in haste on a road running parallel to the one they were on, in the direction of Danville. They saw Sheridan's famous scouts going and coming in vari- ous directions, - doing excellent duty, as usual. By noon . they reached the Danville Railroad at a place down on the map as Jennings' Ordinary, where there was a halt of two or
411
FAME'S CROSS-ROADS.
three hours, which was spent in cooking, eating, and sleeping. and then the regiment started again, this time moving along parallel with the railroad and in the direction of Richmond and the road it was understood Lee's army was on.
About six o'clock in the afternoon the regiment reached Jettersville, and was at once ordered to the skirmish line in a hurry; it could not seem to move fast enough to suit the anxiety of the staff officers. What did it mean? There had been no firing. Sheridan's flag, which floated within a short distance, told the men that he was with them, and they accepted the situation, feeling sure that he, at least, knew what he was about. In a short time the boys had up a breast- work of rails, and had settled down to wait till an enemy came before fighting. Till after dark they remained there without a shot. when they were relieved, and after two battalions of the regiment were detailed for picket, the remainder of the brigade went back a short distance and bivouacked for the night.
Upon arriving at Jettersville Gen. Sheridan, as he says in his official report, learned that Gen. Lee was at Amelia Court House, and at once intrenched himself and awaited the arrival of Gen. Meade, who reached there the next day.
Wednesday, April fifth, the regiment remained where it was till about noon, the men of one battalion doing nothing but rest- ing, and the other two battalions still on picket, while the First and Second brigades of the division (Gens. Davies and Gregg) were sent out on a reconnoissance. Various rumors of the sue- cess and defeat of these two brigades were heard during the forenoon, and finally the rumors settled down into a well authenticated report that they had attacked Lee's retreating army and captured five pieces of artillery, with prisoners. wagons, etc., almost without number. The infantry had ar- rived on the ground and were in line all around. Soon the Third brigade was ordered to "move out," and it was learned it was thought all the time that this brigade had gone with the other two on the reconnaissance, and it was now ordered to move to their support as fast as possible. As the brigade passed the pickets, one of the battalions of this regiment on duty there was ordered to fall into line, and thus two bat-
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
talions of the regiment went with the brigade, leaving one still on picket. After marching two or three miles at a trot the command reached the other brigades near Paineville, or Fame's cross-roads, and immediately went to their support. They had been fighting heavily, -at one time were almost surrounded and captured. but were doing well then, and had done excellent services, the rumors that had been heard being confirmed.1 The different regiments in the brigade were posted in the best positions possible, two of the regiments charged the enemy and captured a battle-flag, and the other two brigades started back, leaving the Third to bring up the rear. The column marched slowly back without molestation, nearly to the starting-place of the morning, where the First New Jersey Cavalry was doing picket duty, dismounted, and the First Maine relieved them. Before the New Jersey boys got out of the way the enemy came down on them, and the First Maine boys got hard work, being obliged to run round on foot all the afternoon, changing position every few moments, running backward and forward, with very little firing, - nothing to speak of. The enemy was near, and occasionally the singing of a bullet told the Maine men he knew where they were. At one time the regiment was nearly surrounded and cut off from the rest of the command, but the boys used their legs as nimbly as if infantry men, and got out of the scrape. Along toward night the regiment got settled down behind a line of breastworks near the line it was on the night before, and remained there quietly till perhaps nine o'clock, when it again went into camp on the ground of the previous night, leaving three companies on the line for pickets, tired enough to ensure sound sleep, at least, if not troubled by orders from head- quarters.
1 It seems that an officer of Gen. Crooke's staff rode to Gen. Smith's headquarter- in the morning, with word that Gen. Crooke wished to see him, as Gen. Smith understood the order. Gen. Smith, thinking the message was a personal one, rode over to Gen. Crooke's headquarters at his leisure, and, to his surprise, found everything had gone. Thinking the general wanted. his brigade, but that the messenger misunderstood him, Gen. Smith rode back to his command and ordered " boots and saddles" sounded, and the men were ready to mount when Maj. Taylor, division inspector, rode up with orders to move out as soon as possible. This order was obeyed, and the brigade reached the front just in time. The Second brigade was being hard pressed, and the enemy was endeavoring to dank them, which the Third brigade prevented.
413
LEE'S ARMY IN FULL RETREAT.
While the regiment was off on this expedition, the battalion left on picket, in command of Capt. Myrick, was attacked by the enemy, but succeeded in driving him away and in holding the position until the return of the division. One man was wounded in the regiment during the movements of the day.
The situation now began to grow exciting. From the various rumors afloat, the men gathered enough that bore the stamp of truth to believe that Lee's army was in full retreat. Having been pushed from Petersburg and Richmond. he attempted to reach Danville. but Sheridan's cavalry got the Danville road before Lee had got by, and he was compelled to change his course for Lynchburg.
The morning of the sixth the men awoke in fine spirits. Never before during their three years and more of service had there been any prospeet of the end. All the hard marching and fighting of three summer campaigns, and the long hours on picket and in dull winter quarters, had been with no such en- couragement as they now had - had been of no apparent effect upon the quelching of the rebellion - had not even started the enemy toward the last ditch. Now this was changed; Rich- mond was captured - the stronghold of the rebellion was in possession of Union soldiers - the goal for which they had marched and fought, and for which so many brave boys had died, was reached- the backbone of the rebellion, which news- paper correspondents had broken so many times, had now been broken by the boys in blue, and was beyond healing. It now remained to capture Lee and his army. or to whip them till they knew they were whipped. It was fast becoming a race for very life on the part of the Confederacy, and on the part of the Union troops a chase for final vietory and triumph. It was exciting to even think of the situation, that spring morning, as the regi- ment remained quietly on the hill behind Jettersville, the men watching the various infantry commands moving in different directions. What was the programme for the day they knew not -as long as " Little Phil " was in command it was not worth while for the men to bother about plans or intentions. Gen. Smith remarked that morning. as the command moved out : " To-day will see something big in the crushing of the rebellion." And the men had no inclination to doubt it.
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
By eight o'clock the men were in the saddle, marching down the railroad, over the road they marched up two nights before, instead of onward. This strange movement caused some sur- prise, which only the consciousness of the presence of Sheridan could reconcile with being just right. Only a short distance back, however, when the command crossed the railroad and started in a direction at right angles with it, marching, it seemed to the men, in a direction parallel with that of Lee's army. Fine marching that morning, - the roads in good condi- tion, the air fresh and invigorating, the trees just beginning to put on their green, -and all enjoyed it. At times, as the men rode over high ground, they could see, away off to the right. through the gaps in the woods, portions of Lee's train moving along by the side of the Union forces, apparently not a great distance away, and that distance growing less as they marched on.
After a few miles' march the regiment, with the Second and Third brigades, suddenly turns short to the right and marches direct for the enemy's trains, then near Deatonsville. Soon . there are evidences that a fight is about to commence. First. the regiment marches by the pack trains of the different regi- ments, drawn up by the side of the road, and leaves its own there ; then the worn-out horses and colored servants of offi- cers, also waiting by the roadside, and headquarter wagons and paraphernalia, drawn up out of the way, and all with the evi- dent intention of waiting for the present. In fine, nothing but fighting men and material pass this point. Soon the men see brigade headquarters a short distance ahead, by the side of a small piece of woods, halted in the road. The regiment in advance is turned off to the left of the road for duty. As the . head of the First Maine draws near, Gen. Smith sends a staff officer to Col. Cilley with the orders : " Turn in to the right. charge through the woods, and get to the train, if possible." This is about half-past eleven o'clock. The colonel gives a command, and in an instant, almost, the regiment has left the road and is hurrying into the woods by fours. Charge through those woods! that certainly is a command the regiment does not promptly obey. No sooner do the men get into the woods than
415
CHARGE ON LEE'S TRAIN.
they find themselves in a swamp; their horses sinking into the ground to their knees at every step, and can get through at all only at one or two points - one at a time, instead of in line. The first through keep on towards a hill in front. After riding a short distance the colonel looks round to see his command. and finds, instead of his regiment, scarcely a platoon with him. With an impatient gesture and in an angry tone he says to the sergeant major : "Sergeant. go back to the woods and hurry the men along, and have them form in line just this side of the woods." A look into the woods at the horses floundering round, now and then one on his side, with his rider endeavor- ing at the same time to help the horse up and prevent himself sinking into the soft earth, and the sergeant concludes there is no hurrying them - they are doing their best. Before half the regiment gets through, the colonel, seeing no time is to be lost, orders a charge. On they go, over the hill, close up to a fence they cannot get over, and for a moment halt and keep up a lively fire, many of them dismounting for that purpose, while the enemy is giving them full as good as they send, and has the advantage of being out of sight in the woods. But a moment does the command stand that, when it turns half right and again starts on the charge, the remainder of the regiment having got through the woods and joined it. It is lively, exciting work for a few moments, and they are obliged to retire. Across a ravine is posted, what compared with this regiment, is a large force of the enemy, behind trees or what- ever else they can get for shelter, and they receive the regi- ment with a shower of bullets which kills Capt. John A. Heald. Co. E, and two men, and wounds Adjt. Little and Capt. Freese. and a dozen men. It is a mere waste of life to remain, and the regiment goes back over the hill. out of range, and waits a while. The enemy shows no disposition to attack - he is now acting only on the defensive.
As Co. E emerged from the thicket about fifty yards from the road occupied by the enemy's train, they were confronted by a heavy line of infantry and a deep water cut. which could not be crossed with horses. Here they halted and exchanged several rapid volleys with the enemy at short range. Capt.
416
FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
Heald (always cool under fire), seeing it was impossible to advance, and that a portion of the regiment had taken up a new line about one hundred yards in rear of the position then occupied by Co. E, ordered his company to retire to position in the regiment. This was his last command. for at that moment he fell, shot through the head. Lieut. Benjamin A Osborne. upon whom the command of Co. E then devolved, after placing his company in the new line of the regiment, assisted by two men, under a galling fire, dashed up to within about seventy- five yards of the enemy's line of battle and rescued First Sergt. Charles M. Bailey (who was mortally wounded) and the body of Capt. Heald. In this charge Co. E. lost one officer and seven men.
The regiment remained in that vicinity perhaps an hour. changing positions various times, and finally withdrew alto- gether, taking up the line of march with the division where it turned from it to attack the train, and was again marching alongside of Lee's retreating army. In the meantime another division of the cavalry corps had gone down the next cross- road to make a second attack on the train. and Gen. Custer's division had taken the third cross-road for the same purpose. The guns of these divisions could be heard by the men of the Second division. which marched by these cross-roads, and along in the afternoon was ordered to take position on the' left of Custer's division, then near Sailor's Creek, where he was making merry music with his artillery. After taking various positions the regiment was dismounted and advanced a short distance to a piece of woods, leaving the rest of the brigade a little to the rear on the right. and still mounted. As this regi- ment arrived at this position they found, almost alone. Col. Robinson, then commanding the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, which regiment the men had hardly seen for half a year. As Col. Robinson saw Col. Cilley, his face lighted up and he eagerly approached him. saying: "Col. Cilley. I am glad to see you : I have been trying to get my men to stay in the woods there. but I cannot do it; they have been in there twice, but they will not stay, the fire is so sharp from yon skirmish line : they do not run, but they will not stay where I want them to. I
417
SAILOR'S CREEK.
am glad to see you." At the same time one of his men stepped up to a First Maine man and asked : " What regiment is that ?" " First Maine." was the reply. With a yell he fairly jumped with joy, and sang out at the top of his voice : "Come on, boys ; here is the old First Maine." The effect was like magic, and into the woods the Sixteenth went, before Col. Cilley had a chance to reply to Col. Robinson. They never came back through those woods. but went through Lee's train and beyond.
The regiment was now behind a triangular piece of woods. the right of the regiment at the small end, and at the right of that was an open field, while but a short distance in front the enemy was posted behind temporary breastworks. The line was hardly satisfactorily formed when the command " CHARGE!" rang along the line. and with a hearty cheer the whole line started. The enemy opened a heavy fire and fought bravely, but they failed to check the charging line, and in a moment they were scattering over the hills in confusion, and the boys in blue were at their works, over them, and beyond, -still charging, yelling like fiends. wild with excitement, still onward. On and on. for more than a mile, reaching and passing the train, - which the rebels had fired when they saw capture was inevitable, to prevent its falling into Federal hands in a service- able condition. - going beyond the road, passing hundreds of the enemy whom they had no time to capture, - leaving that for those to do who had no more exciting work.
Lieut. Poor, who was detailed as adjutant when Adjt. Little was wounded. was wounded while the line was forming for this charge. The result of the day's fighting, in which it should be said the infantry of the old Sixth corps took a prominent part. was the capture of several general officers, thousands of prisoners, and a large portion of the enemy's train, which was destroyed. - a glorious day's work. The losses in the regiment during the day were one officer killed and three wounded, and three men killed, thirteen wounded, and four missing.
After driving the enemy away from their train. scattering them in every direction. the line was halted and marched back towards the starting-point, meeting the led horses on the way.
418
FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
The regiment was then mounted and sent on after the retreat- ing enemy, to capture as many as possible. For more than a mile it advanced, over hills and ravines, through woods and fields, finding men and munitions of war in all conceivable hiding-places, till about dark. when the men discovered a barn well filled with corn, and loaded themselves with a couple of feeds, at least, for their horses. Then back to near where they dismounted to enter the fight, and into camp for the night. passing on their way back a force of infantry which had marched up and gone into camp on the road on which Gen. Lee had been trying to escape. The horses had a good supper. but most of the men went hungry -there were men in the regiment who were never known, under any circumstances, to go hungry ; they always had something to eat - got somehow. But hungry or not, all were happy that night. The repulse of the morning was more than balanced by the glorious affair of the afternoon, and with small loss, and all hearts beat high in thinking over what had been done. "A big day in the crushing of the rebellion," surely, though perhaps not to so full an extent as intimated by Gen. Smith in his remark of the morning.
A few hours of sound, refreshing sleep, and at half-past six o'clock on the morning of Friday, the seventh, the men were again in the saddle and on the chase, taking the road Lee had been driven from the night before. The infantry were already on the move, singing. laughing, joking, and apparently happy as they marched along, though a little inclined to growl at being obliged to let the cavalry have the road, while they took the rougher, harder-to-march-over ground at the side. Along the road were evidences of the rapid retreat of the enemy, -all sorts of munitions of war laying around in loose profusion, - a dead rebel soldier lving in the road where he halted his last time, with every appear- ance of having died from hunger and exhaustion. - dead horses, the "infallible army guide-boards, lying where they dropped, and others abandoned because unable longer to carry their riders, -all informed the men that the troops ahead of them were in a great hurry, and had an exhilarating effect upon their spirits.
419
BRIERY CREEK AND FARMVILLE.
About eight o'clock the regiment reached Briery Creek. across which the enemy had made a stand, hoping to check the pursuers there, or at least to delay them as much as pos- sible, while a short distance to the right they had fired the bridge across the Appomattox known as High bridge, which a force of Union infantry was now endeavoring to save. The battalion, armed with the sixteen shooters, - Capt. Chase, - was dismounted and sent into the woods and advanced to the creek, where they commenced a lively skirmish fire, and in a short time the remainder of the regiment, and finally the whole brigade, had forded the creek. - passing on the shore a wounded or crazy rebel, who had considerable to say, - and was drawn up on the other side behind a hill. Near the top of the hill was a thin line of Union sharp-shooters skirmishing, lying flat on the ground, protecting themselves by using the hill as breastworks, showing their heads to the enemy only long enough to take aim and fire. and then dropping behind the hill again. The enemy the Maine men could not see, but that they were there they knew from the hearty sound of their bullets as they sang over their heads. - sounding louder in the absence of the usual noise and confusion of battle. A few moments they remained quietly there, during which time Capt. Chase's battalion rejoined the regiment, and then moved to the right a short distance, and then over the hill at a charge. the enemy leaving them in possession, and scattering over the hills and through the woods in front of them. . The brigade pushed on after the fleeing enemy, marching as fast as con- venient over the rough ground-in one place being obliged to dismount and lead the horses down an almost perpendicular hill -for three or four miles. when the enemy made another stand. The rest of the brigade, with the artillery, was soon engaged, while this regiment remained inactive in the road. on the left of the brigade, waiting till wanted. - that most uncom- fortable position to a soldier. - expecting every moment to be sent into he knows not what kind of a place.
Soon Gen. Smith rode to Col. Cilley and said: " We have driven the enemy out of the town; charge in there at once. and capture what prisoners you ean." Hardly were the words
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FIRST MAINE CAVALRY.
spoken, when Col. Cilley had given the order "Forward!" and the regiment was in motion. A moment and it was at the top of a hill, while a hundred rods away, nestled in among the hills, as cosily as any New England village, was the town of Farmville. A glance and a look of surprise at the size and appearance of the town. and as "CHARGE!" rang from the lips of Col. Cilley, away they went, - men shouting, cheering. - sabres rattling, - horses straining every nerve to go faster. seeming to feel. as well as the riders, the importance of the occasion, - and both horses and riders wild with excitement. "Excitement " does not half express the feeling of a trooper during a charge.
As the regiment started, a rebel battery, posted out of sight at the right of the town, a mile or so away, opened on it. their shells crossing the charging column in a diagonal direc- tion. The first shell came screaming over their heads, causing a yell of derision on the part of the boys, tearing up the ground beyond, and hurting no one, and a second fell as much short. causing not the least hesitation in the onward charge. As the regiment neared the town, this battery carefully refrained from firing. not caring to endanger the inhabitants. On reaching the town. Col. Cilley reined out and halted till one battalion had gone by. and taking the next battalion. passed to the right a short distance and into the town by the next street, both columns still at a charge. Another battalion, which had been scouting further to the left. also joined in the charge, entering the town by a third street. Through the town was but the work of a moment, at that rapid pace, and as the heads of the columns arrived at the other edge of the town, a force of infantry which was posted in a road leading over the hill beyond opened with a smart volley, which, as the whole was aimed directly at the heads of the columns, caused such a whizzing of bullets over the heads of the men as was never known before. An officer who had been in dozens of fights afterwards said : " That was the only place I was ever in where I thought I could not help being hit." But most of the bullets went over. One of the advance horses was killed, in his last bound throwing his rider over his head ; and the rider immedi-
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