USA > Maine > History of the Fourth Maine battery, light artillery, in the civil war, 1861-65; containing a brief account of its services compiled from diaries of its members and other sources. Also personal sketches of many of its members and an account of its reunions from 1882 to 1905 > Part 7
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The 6th Corps had been pushed forward to Hancock's sup- port and our position was a short distance in rear of the front line, but where we could not be of any service with our guns. We could only watch and wait, and for us it was a most uncon- fortable day, as we were in a position where the shells directed at the front line were constantly passing just over our heads or dropping in our midst, and in addition the stray bullets were
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zipping along too frequently for one to feel at all comfortable. Some of the brigades that had been engaged in the morning fell back and reformed in the woods to the rear of us and again advanced with sadly thinned ranks. Many of the regiments were under the command of a Captain or Lieutenant, and with a less number of men than would constitute a full company.
It was near this time that General Grant sent the famous dis- patch that he "proposed to fight it out on this line if it took all summer." On former campaigns there had been much growl- ing about so much marching, but now we found that we were getting all the fighting that we wanted. Moderate firing was continued through the night, but at ten o'clock we were allowed to unharness and try to make ourselves comfortable for the night. It had been raining almost constantly for thirty-six hours and when darkness came, it seemed to have got a new hold and to have started in earnest. Our clothing and blankets were completely soaked through and the mud was not a very inviting bed. Completely tired and chilled through, we lay down in the dryest places we could find, hoping to get a little sleep or at least rest. At midnight we were aroused with orders to hitch up immediately, when we started towards the left, and with two or three hours of wading through the mud in the rain and darkness, we made about two miles and were again allowed to unharness and rest until six o'clock, when we again hitched up ready for a move. Moderate firing at the front con- tinued during the day. About noon we moved back to the right two miles, where we remained until io o'clock, when we moved to the left with the corps and were on the road nearly all night, and at 10 o'clock on the 14th halted and went into park on the Fredericksburg and Orange Court House road. Towards night there was quite heavy fighting in front of us and we moved some two miles to the left, and went into park at eight o'clock on the plantation of John Anderson, half a mile from the Ny River.
This was the first time since leaving Brandy Station on the 4th that we had a whole night in camp. For the eleven days we had been almost constantly on the march, in line of battle. or standing ready to move at a moment's notice, and sleeping as we could get a chance an hour or two at a time.
Our horses had been in harness almost constantly, and from
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the constant marching night and day over the bad roads, with only about half a ration of grain and no hay, many of them had given out. During this time we had not been out of the sound of firing for an hour. Owing to the heavy rains the roads had become almost impassable, and from the 14th to the 18th any general movement of the army was suspended, although the troops were constantly changing positions on the line and we made short moves each day. At this time whiskey rations were served to all who cared for them. On the 17th, owing to the broken-down condition of the horses, and there being more artillery than was needed, two guns from each battery were sent back to Belle Plains. This left us a four-gun battery and the men from the two detachments forming the left section were divided among the other four detachments. The first of a large number of reinforcements began to arrive to make good the loss caused by regiments whose term of service had expired, and the great losses in killed and wounded. These new troops were largely heavy artillery regiments from the defences of Wash- ington, where they had been doing garrison duty, and as they marched to the front with full ranks, neat and tidy uniforms, and well-filled knapsacks, they had to take a great deal of chaffing from the dirty, ragged old soldiers of the Army of the Potomac who lined up along the sides of the road to see the new regiments pass. Many were the inquiries made of them as to their paper collars, having their boots blacked, and in regard to their knapsacks, which did not seem to be very well received, and more than one was ready to drop his knapsack and equip- ments and fight it out individually with their tormentors. Later these new troops proved themselves to be of as good metal as any in the army. Among the new arrivals was the Ist Maine Heavy Artillery, and two days after joining the army they lost in less than an hour, in killed and wounded, 524 men, it being about a third of their number.
During the night of the 17th the 6th Corps with the 2d Corps were moved to the right and massed for an attack on the enemy's line in rear of the "Bloody Angle." The Battery marched at eight o'clock and was on the march most of the night. At 4.30 on the morning of the 18th the attack was gal- Iantly led by the ad Corps, followed by the 6th. The enemy's position, however, had been strongly strengthened at this point
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and they had in position, and completely covering the ground, thirty pieces of artillery. In spite of the destructive fire of artillery and musketry, desperate efforts were made to carry the works, but without success. At noon we started toward the left again, and about four o'clock were back at the place we had left the night before. On the 19th we moved in the afternoon with a large number of other batteries across the Po River and at evening went into camp. That afternoon we received the first mail that had reached us since we leit Brandy Station on the 4th. Over two weeks without hearing from home seemed a long time to us boys. On the afternoon of the 19th Ewell's Corps made a strong attack on our right and after a severe struggle was driven back with great loss.
On the 20th it was comparatively quiet along the lines and at night another "sidling" movement to the left was commenced by the 5th and ed Corps ( Warren and Hancock), the 6th and 9th Corps ( Wright and Burnside) being left at Spottsylvania. During the night all the troops were busily engaged throwing up works, and forty men from our Battery were detailed to join in the work. Besides the bringing of logs and building of works as a protection, holes were dug, in which to place the guns and ammunition chests so as to be under protection. The Battery had as support the 2d New York Heavy Artillery and the 5th Maine Regiments. Everything looked like desperate work, but it proved to be only measures of precaution against an attack. About seven o'clock Hill's Corps of the enemy made a sharp attack, but under fire of four of our batteries, in which the ath Maine took part, they soon fell back.
The weather after about ten days of constant rain had become fine and the roads were getting good, and on the night of the 21st the race for the North Anna commenced. We started at one o'clock, moving slowly until eight o'clock on the morning of the 22d, when a halt was made long enough to feed and water the horses. The march was then resumed at a rapid pace and continued with very few halts until ten o'clock at night.
On the morning of the 23d we were called at three o'clock and stood until nine o'clock in readiness to move, when we joined the column and moved rapidly until noon, when a halt was made to feed. Then the march was resumed and continued
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until 9.30, when we went into camp near Jericho Mills on the North Anna.
On the 24th we were called at four o'clock and stood ready for a move until nearly five o'clock in the afternoon, when we crossed to the south side of the river. Warren's 5th Corps had crossed on the 23d and the 6th joined him, and both armies were now south of the river. On the morning of the 25th we were called again at four o'clock, and at eight o'clock moved forward a short distance, crossing the Virginia Central railroad as well as the field where Warren had been engaged with Hill's Corps on the evening of the 23d, and went into position south of the railroad. The troops were busily engaged in tearing up the tracks, building fires with the ties and after heating the rails, bending and twisting them, so as to make them useless. During the day Captain White returned to the Battery and assutmed command, after an absence of eight months.
During the afternoon the artillery firing on the left of the line was quite heavy but we had no part in it. As soon as dark came on, all hands were set at work building breastworks. To provide material a neighboring tobacco house was torn down, and the boys had a good chance to stock up with tobacco. After working nearly all night on our breastworks, it was found that they were not as they should be. so they were torn down and rebuilt. This kept us busy until nearly noon and gave us a good appetite for our dinner of hardtack and salt pork. During the afternoon of the 26th we lay quietly in our works and improved the time in trying to make up a little lost sleep.
The enemy were in sight but were not disposed to interfere with us, and we made no attempt to start an argument.
When dark came, another of those moves by the left flank was commenced and, with orders for not a man to speak or make any noise, we quietly stole away, and were soon recrossing the North Anna at Jericho Mills and heading towards Rich- mond. In this movement the 6th Corps had the advance. During the afternoon we had had a heavy shower and the roads were a sea of mud. For several miles the mud was nearly knee-deep. a little thicker than soup, and the horses, weak from their hard service and lack of forage, were constantly stumbling and falling and required the assistance of the men to get them up. As we were moving along about ten o'clock, Tom
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Nutting and another of the boys were observed sitting on the fenice by the side of the road, laughing heartily. When asked as to the cause of their merriment, Tom pointed to a place in the road a few fect away and said, "There is a hole there about four feet deep, and every few minutes some one walks into it and goes all under, and it is great fun to see them crawl out of the mud." It seems that Tom narrowly escaped getting into the hole himself.
At one o'clock we made a halt until daylight, but the time was pretty well occupied in caring for our horses and drawing three days' rations, so that we did not get much rest. At day- light on the 27th we were again on the move and only halted to feed and water the horses, until late in the evening, having been on the march constantly for twenty-four hours. The weather was intensely hot and both men and horses were pretty well played out.
On the morning of the 28th we were ordered out again at six o'clock, and about noon crossed the Pamunky River at Hanovertown and soon after went into line of battle, where we rested for the night. On the 20th we were called at four o'clock but made no move until afternoon, when we started with a por- tion of the corps on a reconnoissance towards Hanover Court House, but did not come in contact with the enemy. On the 30th the army moved to the Totopotomoy Creek and took up a position in line of battle with the 6th Corps on the right, near the Virgina Central railroad. During the day there was con- siderable skirmishing along the front and the troops were busily engaged destroying the railroad. Towards evening we with- drew from the line of battle and moved to the left, and at eight o'clock went into camp, where we remained over night and thoroughly enjoyed a whole night's sleep. Since we left Brandy Station four weeks before, there had been only three or four nights that we had not been on the march or engaged building earthworks.
On the 31st we had a day of comparative rest and remained in park all day listening to the heavy cannonading at the front. During the day Sheridan with the cavalry had pashed out on the left towards Richmond, and, after a hard fight. ha i obtained possession of Coll Harbor, nine miles from Richmond. When the news of this unexpected success was received by Meade. late
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in the evening. the 6th Corps was immediately started on a forced march to his assistance. We were called at one o'clock and joined with the corps on an all-night march. We arrived at Cold Harbor about noon on June ist, and halted a mile in the rear of Cold Harbor Tavern. While the infantry werc passing by and taking up position to relieve the cavalry, which had been stubbornly holding the ground, we improved the chance to water and feed our horses.
' It was nearly four o'clock when we were ordered to the front and, leaving the battery wagon, forge, spare horses, etc., in the rear, the Battery passed rapidly up the road to Old Cold Harbor Tavern, and turning to the left under a heavy artillery fire, went into position about one-fourth of a mile to the left of the tavern. on the same ground that had been occupied two years before at the battle of Gaines Mills by Bondurant's Alabama Battery of D. H. Hill's division. As we moved to the front a portion of the cavalry which had been relieved by our corps was passing to the rear. As an evidence of the severe conflict that had raged on the ground two years before and of Sheridan's stubborn fight the day before, Comrade Chapin has this record in his diary : "The ground around here is covered pretty thick with old rub- bish, sabre sheaths, gun barrels, solid shot, pieces of saddles, blankets, overcoats, old knapsacks, and any quantity of dead horses." From our position the enemy were at rather short range and were partially concealed by bushes, while our position was by the side of the road in an open field. Their fire was not extremely heavy. but still it was hot enough to make it interesting for us, and we were kept actively engaged until nearly dark. Towards night the enemy had gained a position and placed a battery on our left, which put us under a severe cross fire, and we were obliged to throw back our left pieces and change front so as to meet their fire. Fortunately our only loss of men in this engagement was that of William Berry, who was severely wounded in the hip by a ball from a case shot. Com- rade Chapin states in his diary that the right piece fired ninety- eight shot and used two-second fuse. Doubtless this was a fair average of the ether pieces, and shows pretty hot work and at a distance from the energy's batteries of less than 800 vards. We had in this engagement two recruits who had not been in any severe engagement before. One of them was missed after
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we were in position, and all inquiries as to his whereabouts werc fruitless until dark, when he came to his detachment. His Ser- geant in rather a severe tone asked him where he had been all day, and his reply was: "I'll tell you the truth, Sergeant. I started up with the Battery and was all right until I came to that little drummer boy lying near the tavern, who had been torn to pieces by a shell; and so help me God, I could not get any fur- ther, but have been lying in that ditch over there all day. My knees would not hold me up when I tried to walk." Perhaps he was equally brave but did not have the nerve of the other recruit spoken of. After being in action some time the gun began to get pretty hot, and the Sergeant said, "Sullivan, go and get a bucket of water to sponge the gim with." Sullivan started and half an hour later returning, came to the Ser- geant and said : "If you send me for water again you had better send a man with me to bring the bucket back. I was standing in line waiting my turn to get water when a shell came along and took the man's head off that was in front of me, and I was afraid that you would lose your bucket." Neither of the poor fellows over saw home again, both dying in the hospital a few weeks later from fever and diarrhea. When darkness came firing on both sides ceased and picks aul shovels were called into use to throw up earthworks for our protection the next day. This kept us busy most of the night, and it was not until near morning that we were permitted to lie down by our guns for a little rest. In the morning we were up early, and after caring for our horses and having our coffee and hardtack, put a few finishing touches to our earthworks and then quietly waited for the renewal of the engagement. The day was spent in moving the corps into position for an assault on the enemy's lines, but late in the day the attack was postponed until the morning of the 3d. and at five o'clock we were gratified by the appearance of another battery to relieve us, when we quickly limbered up and moved out in the rear of a pine grove a few hundred feet back of Cold Harbor Tavern, where we remained until the 12th. At this place we were protected from any firing from directly at the front, but at some distance to the right the enemy had a battery that constantly annoyed us by a cross fire. On the 3d a shell passed through the Battery and killed two horses just in rear of us and then struck an ambulance. In the afternoon
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J.IGHT ARTILLERY, 1861-65.
a sheil struck a caisson of a New York battery lying to the right of us, and the caisson exploded, killing two men and wounding four others. Two or three days later a shell passed through the Battery, taking off a horse's leg, and then rolled along the ground and against Marion Mills, who was lying in his tent. Hle did not like his bedfellow and promptly moved. On the night of the 7th we were shelled pretty hotly and all hands turned out to watch and dodge the shells, which we could see by the burning fuse. During the ten days we remained here we were called at an early hour each morning, so as to be ready for an attack or any movement, and stood constantly harnessed up. On the morning of the 3d. at 4.30, the 20, 6th and 18th Corps (Smith's) made a most desperate and bloody attack on the enemy's lines, but without success and with a very heavy loss in killed and wounded. Smith's 18th Corps from the Army of the James had joined the Army of the Potomac on the Ist, and during this assault was on the right of the 6th Corps and the 2d Corps ( Hancock's) on the left. During the evening the firing all along the lines, both of artillery and musketry, was very heavy, gradually dying out about midnight. Both armies were strongly entrenched and it was not safe at any time for 3 man to show his head above the works. A little event, per- haps worthy of note, which occurred while lying here, was A. B. Wright's experience with a shell, which fortunately did not terminate seriously. Alden was cooking for his detachment. and as we had not had an opportunity to have any baked beans Suce leaving Brandy Station, Alden decided to give the boys a treat. Getting his beans ready, he built a good fire, but wood being scarce, thought that he would supplement it by heating old shells to place in the bean hole, around the kettle. Gather- ing up several that were lying around, he took them to the creek and soaked them to wet any powder that might be in them, and then placed them in the fire to heat under the kettle of beans he was parboiling.
While he was standing by the fire, watching the beans, one of the shells exploded, sending the kettle skywards and filling Alden's eyes and month with ashes. Probably a more asion- ished and frightened man never was seen, and it was some time before he calmed down sufficiently to be able to speak. A piece of the shell came down in the battery lying across the road from
6
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us, and one of the boys attempted to pick it up, which caused him to use some very strong language against the Johnnies for firing hot shot. A few years ago Alden went to Texas to live, and some one was mean enough to write and ask him if he was down there looking for his bean kettle.
As early as the 6th of June General Grant had decided to make another of those "left flank" movements to which we were getting so accustomed, and this time to place the army south of the James River. Active preparations were carried forward for the movement and we were considerably mystified at he arrival of a large number of pontoon trains. The army had now been constantly marching and fighting for five weeks, with- out an hour's let-up, and each move had brought us nearer Richmond, the goal to which we had all been looking for three years.
During the thirty-eight days from May 4th when we crossed the Rapidan, until June 12th when we left Cold Harbor, the Army of the Potomac had lost in killed 7600, in wounded 38.3.42, and in missing and prisoners 8967, making a total loss of 54.928. Meade's army, with Burnside's Corps, numbered $18,000 when it crossed the Rapidan, to which had been added reinforcements at Spottsylvania, of heavy artillery and other regiments, per- haps 20,000, making a total of 140,000, which shows a loss of considerably more than one-third. The enemy's losses had doubtless been fully as heavy as ours in proportion to their numbers. Notwithstanding the appalling losses, the spirit of the army was never so good. We felt that each move made. something was gained, no backward steps were being taken. and a spirit of confidence prevailed that had not been known before.
CHAPTER VII.
COLD HARBOR TO PETERSBURG -- FORT MCGILVERY -- REAM'S STATION -- TO BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON -- PETERSBURG MINE.
Towards night on the 12th the Battery was ordered to the front and placed in position not far from the one occupied by us on the ist. Work was at once commenced in building breast- works and kept up until midnight, when we joined our corps in the march to the James, and made no halt except to water and feed the horses until six o'clock in the evening.
After caring for our horses and getting our supper, it did not require much coaxing to get us to go to sleep. At two o'clock in the morning ( 14th) we were again on the move, and soon after starting crossed the Chickahominy on a pontoon at Jones' Bridge, continuing our march through a beautiful coun. try towards the James, and at night arrived near Charles City Court House and went into camp in a clover field. On thic morning of the 15th we moved at two o'clock, but the roads were so crowded with troops that we did not reach the river, a dis- tance of three miles, until about six o'clock. Here quite a halt was made, which was improved by many of the boys taking a morning bath in the James River. ( The improvement was in the boys, not the river. ) The James at this point is about half a mile wide, and pontoon bridges ( 130 boats ) had been placed. which were guarded by gunboats. Towards noon we crossed! and took the road in the direction of City Point. On the IG.' we moved at dark and after a twenty-four hours' march arrive l in front of Petersburg on the evening of the 17th and went into position inside of works that had been captured from the enemy and near the Hare house. ( Fort Steadman was afterwards near this place. ) The night was spent in throwing up carthworks and on the 18th the Battery was engaged in shelling the enemy's lines and works. A house inside their lines, occupied by sharp-
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shooters, was set fire and burned, and shells were thrown in the direction of the city. A Petersburg paper stated that the first shell thrown into the city was on this date and at the hour the Battery was engaged, so it is only fair to consider that we were the guilty party.
On the roth the Battery remained in position, but the firing was very light until towards evening, when quite a lively brush was engaged in. A letter written at this date by one of the comrades, states that there had not been a day since leaving Brandy Station but that the battery had been harnessed up, and only one night that a full night's rest had been enjoyed, and during this time we had seldom been out of the sound of firing. In the evening the Battery was withdrawn from the front line and went into park, but not out of range of the enemy's guns, as we found out the next morning, when for a while we found ourselves under a sharp artillery fire.
After dark on the 20th the Battery was again placed further to the front and right, where Fort McGilvery (named for Cap- tain McGilvery of the 6th Maine Battery) was afterwards located.
Again it was to work all night on earthworks. We were now getting quite proficient in this kind of work and by morn- ing had quite respectable works thrown up, which proved to be of the greatest value during the day. The enemy occupied a Very strong and well fortified position and the two lines were very close together. The infantry had been busy during the night in digging trenches and throwing the dirt on the side towards the enemy, so they were quite well protected. Business commenced very briskly early in the morning, by our Battery opening on a train of cars on the Richmond and Petersburg railroad, and at times during the day it was pretty hot. The enemy had three batteries bearing on us, one of them on the right having a cross fire, which made it very uncomfortable. The sharpshooters of the enemy were strictly attending to busi- ness all day and it was not safe for a man to show his head above the works. In the afternoon a shell from the battery on the right passed between Captain White and Lientenant Kim- ball, who were sitting close together. and passing through a traverse, exploded as it struck Corporal Jere Keene and hor- sibly mangling him. He was taken to the rear and died in a
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