USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Reunions of the Nineteenth Maine Regiment Association, at Portland, Bath, Belfast, Augusta and Richmond > Part 2
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USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Bath > Reunions of the Nineteenth Maine Regiment Association, at Portland, Bath, Belfast, Augusta and Richmond > Part 2
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Richmond > Reunions of the Nineteenth Maine Regiment Association, at Portland, Bath, Belfast, Augusta and Richmond > Part 2
USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > Reunions of the Nineteenth Maine Regiment Association, at Portland, Bath, Belfast, Augusta and Richmond > Part 2
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the pigs out of the garden?" That was a very simple and sensible explan- ation which I could understand. and now I know that the members of any other regiment whose operations I did not witness, and therefore cannot describe, will not take offense at anything I may say in praise of my own regiment.
That night, July 2d. we bivouacked on the field. Though we were victorious I felt sad, and dreaded the next day. I would keep thinking of home and wishing I were there. And as I lay on the ground, wrapped in my blanket, I thought to myself that perhaps those same stars that were looking down upon me, were shining as brighty over my own home down in Maine, and the home of her I had left behind me, for to be frank there was such an one, who was as often in my mind as my own mother. And I thought, it may be that she is at this moment looking at the same stars, whose peculiar brightness is but the reflection of the luster of her eyes. And when a moment later I saw what I thought was a roguish twinkle in one of them, I was satisfied that I was right, and I was happy and went to sleep.
The next day. July 3d. I was early on my legs, and what I saw and heard on that day remains as if painted before my eye. No engagement took place on our part of the line, which was the left center, during the whole forenoon. Four companies of our regiment under command of Capt. Fogler, were deployed as skirmishers in front of our Division. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the enemy opened upon our line the most territie fire of a large number of guns, estimated from 125 to 150, and con- tinued it for one hour and forty-five minutes. Gen. Meade and the corps commanders. in their testimony before the Congressional Committee on the conduct of the war. call it, considering the number of guns employed and the time consumed, the most terrific cannonading they ever witnessed, if not the heaviest ever known. Our guns to the number of 70 pieces. replied. None of us. not even the oldest soldier, had ever seen or heard anything like this before. We knew the rebel General Lee, one of the greatest of soldiers, meant that day to win. He recognized. as did our gallant commander, that this was to be one of the decisive battles of the war. But he nor any one for a moment thought of the individual suffer- ing that battle would cause.
We lay flat on our faces between these two lines of artillery, with two hundred guns firing and two hundred shells exploding over our heads almost every minute. It seemed as though. had a knitting-needle stood on end it would have been shot off' a dozen times in so many minutes. and yet we had nothing to do but lay there and reflect upon the contingencies of being sent into eternity the next minute. Is it to be wondered then. that every minute of that hour and three-quarters seemed an age? 1 thought then. that if men who are elamorous for war upon the slightest pretext could but exchange places with us for five minutes, their conver- sion would be complete.
It was a positive relief when the infantry of the enemy advanced upon us. which they did at the expiration of the time I have mentioned. with a
-
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force estimated from 18.000 to 25,000 men. Gen. Hancock says of this assault. in his testimony before the Congressional Committee: They attacked with wonderful spirit; nothing could have been more spirited. The shock of the assault fell upon the 2d and 3d divisions of the 2d corps, and those were the troops, assisted by a small brigade of Vermont troops. that really met the assault. No doubt there were other troops that fired a little, but those were the troops (six small brigades) that withstood the shock of the assault and repulsed it after a terrific contest at very close quarters. in which our troops took about 30 or 40 colors, some 4,000 or 5.000 prisoners, with great loss to the enemy in killed and wounded.
It must be remembered. that Gen. Hancock had command of the whole line from Cemetery Hill to Round Top, consisting of the 1st, 2d and 3d corps ; and I have given the substance of his testimony in relation to that assault, believing it must be in accordance with the exact facts, and to show how it happened that we became so hotly engaged in that conflict, for ours was one of those six small brigades. I only knew what I saw myself. When the rebel infantry came within range, we up and at 'em. Though I could see men falling thick and fast around me, I knew our guns were making worse havoc in their ranks. But still they moved on. deter- mined to conquer-brave men every one. And that you may have some idea of their number. suppose every man, woman and child in this city of Bath was a strong. able-bodied man. fully armed, then double that force and you would not reach the number engaged in that assault of our enemy. And on, on, on they came. crossing our works a few rods to the right of us, doubling back. by the mere force of avoirdupois, our single line of infantry there posted. Our line rolled back to the point where I was standing, very inneh the same as a piece of birch bark when one end is placed in the fire. Then such a scene as followed. We were all loading and firing and yelling and pushing towards the gap now filled with the exultant rebels. Company, regimental and brigade organizations were lost, and we were a great crowd. We would load, run to the front and fire. then others would jump in front of us and fire. and the color bearers, always at the front, would toss their colors up and down to show the enemy that we were not going to give it up. and to encourage us on. I got a cartridge in wrong end first, and the only man of my regiment I could see fired off his rammer. He and I kept together. The ground was covered with arms of every description, and we had no difficulty in sup- plying ourselves. And so we kept on and on-then suddenly I found my- -elf rushing with all our crowd upon the enemy with an impetuosity that was irresistible. and the day was ours. Many of the rebels fled ; but thou- -and -- I had no idea at the time how many-were captured.
That practically ended the fight. Then I was hungry. I had eaten nothing since morning, and that was the last in my haversack, and made but half a meal. The rebel dead were thickly strewn in our midst. Their haversacks were full. One poor fellow by my side was breathing in faint utterances his last prayer to God to care for his wife and child-noble to the last. though erring, forgetting self and thinking only of the loved
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ones. I recollect that as I should a dream. though I could not at the time appreciate the solenmity of the moment. I waited a few minutes till he was dead, then I removed his haversack and canteen, and feasted upon some fresh buiscuit and honey that I found there, which showed to me that he had that morning been foraging upon the neighboring farms. It was not until late at night or the next morning, that the survivors in our regiment had collected so that returns could be made out and our loss ascertained. Then we found that of the 440 officers and men who went into battle, 12 officers and 220 men were among the killed and wounded. That night, and part of the next day, the rain fell in torrents, and we hadn't even our shelter tents to protect ns. The next day. July 5. squads were detailed to bury the dead. And what disgusting. and at the same time heart-rending sights they were. Piled several deep in places and thickly scattered over the whole ground. One need be buried to forget such dreadful sights.
Now let us take breath while the regiment marebes; and in the mean- time I will refresh my recollection of the details of one other engagement in which the regiment participated, which will be all we shall have time to consider now. But those who are to follow me in future years can fill in the missing links. re-wash the old ones, and in that way if no other we may in time obtain a partial history of the 19th Maine Regiment.
We participated in every fight. skirmish and march of the 2d corps that summer, fall and winter. Our camp during the winter was located be- tween the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, near Steveusburg. The next summer's campaign opened May 3d. We marched at 12 o'clock that night and crossed the Rapidan river with our corps at Ely's Ford. just after day- break on the morning of the 4th. and reached Chancellorsville at noon, and remained there till next morning, awaiting the arrival of two other corps that had crossed at another ford and lost their way, causing a vexa- tious delay and irreparable damage to the success of the campaign.
We marched at 5 o'clock in the morning of the 5th, as far as Todd's Tavern. where we remained for some time in support of the skirmishers. That evening we marched back on to the Brock Road. to the Wilderness. We began to see now that a big fight was in store for us. I had by this time such experience and knowledge of an engagement. that no tongue can tell how much I dreaded to go into another battle. Talk about valo". gallantry, pluck. heroism. at such a time and after the experience we had acquired ! It sounds well; but to tell the truth, it was nothing but cow- ardice that kept me in the ranks now. I hadn't courage enough to say that I was a coward, or to act like one. and for that very reason I did what I could. It is true that when ouce engaged. such thoughts and feel- ing's would leave me, and for the time being I could only think of causing the greatest possible damage to the enemy, and winning the day. That always made us feel well. and we would manifest our joy as only soldiers can. But. oh. who can ever forget the emotions that would swell within the bosom when hourly expecting to go into a big battle. How many times that night I wished myself at home-that the war had ended-that
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some other way could be contrived to settle this difficulty, and the shed- ding of blood be stopped.
We were lying in line of battle with the third brigade. in front of the Brock Road and to the right of the Plauk Road, in a thick wood. You must know, that we had works thrown up along the Brock Road, which run nearly parallel with the line of battle, and that the Plank Road ran through the Wilderness at nearly right angles with the Brock Road. The artillery could only fire up and down the Plank Road, and was little used during the battle.
The next morning we were carly on our feet, and took our coffee and hard bread before daylight, any the non-combatants prepared to leave us. How envious I was of them. How much I would have given to have exchanged places with one of them at that moment. But it was too late. I ought to have thought of that before I enlisted. They had enlisted for that purpose and their duties were as important and useful, and as faith- fully performed, if not at all times as dangerous, as mine.
Early atter daylight the order was received to advance, and was im- mediately obeyed. Moving forward in line of battle we kept continually obliquing to the left, and crossed the Plank Road. Although in the third line .when we started, we soon took position on the extreme left, or rather with no connection on our left, on ground just vacated by another regi- ment, and quickly became engaged with an unseen foe. In front of us was a position that would enable us to perform more effective service, and Col. Connor jumped to the front, with the command to us to follow, and with a dash we secured the position in the teeth of the enemy. though we rarely could see one of them so dense was the forest. The Colonel immediately sent a report of the position we occupied, and requested a force to protect our left flank, which never came. There we stood loading and firing as fast as we could. Not a word spoken except the low com- mands. "fire low." "give it to them." ". we'll soon start them out." " keep cool." "fire low, " and we were all springing to it like tigers. Our men fell rapidly, the enemy's fire being low and very fatal. One comrade, Charles Rowe, at my right hand. fell with a bullet through his heart, from which his life blood gurgled up through his blonse. At the same moment I was struck in the arm with such force as to swing me round and hurt severely. It felt like a blow from a rock. A glance showed me it had passed through my clothing, and the pain convinced me that I had a genuine wound. I was happy. But further examination disclosed no blood. Then I knew it was only a blow from a spent ball and would not take me to the rear. How fresh and clear all those things appear before my mind now. But soon our sixty rounds of ammunition was nearly exhausted and we began to look anxiously for the promised support. Just about that time rebel bullets came flying lengthwise of our line, and we found a strong force of the enemy on our left flank, working to our rear. That was a signal for us to get out of that, and we did it, not that we were whipped or disheartened, but because it was the best and only thing we could do. And when leaving a position of that kind it is always
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good policy to make good time for the first few rods, and my recollection is that we did there.
We re-formed on the Plank Road, replenished our ammunition and almost immediately moved forward on the right of the road and again attacked. connecting on our right with the 9th Army Corps. We again became hotly engaged with an invisible foe, and this position we held till our ammunition was exhausted and we were relieved by another regiment. We were lying flat on our faces, We would roll over on our backs and load. then on our faces and fire, each man as fast as he could. without ref- erence to anybody else. The regiment relieving us came up on the run, and dropped : then we jumped to our feet and ran back. How exceed- ingly tame it sounds to tell of these things in comparison to what it was to participate. We took position on the Plank Road, where we thought we were to have a little rest. Thus far during the day our arms on the. whole had been successful. And though we had lost heavily in killed and wounded, yet we felt well. Everything is working well, we said.
Now let us rest for a while, and in the meantime I will read from an article which appeared in the papers of our State a few years since, which was written by a member of the regiment,* who saw what he describes, entitled " Hor Gen. Connor Got His Crutches." I do not read this out of com- pliment to Gen. Connor, for he has already received all the honor and glory which one poor mortal ought to expect. in a fifteen line biographi- cal sketch in the official reports of the military department of our State. I read it because it describes so much better than I can, the services per- formed by the regiment.
"It was now near mid-day ; the conflict had been incessant since day be- gan .-- both armies had surged furiously to and fro,-each had been driven by the other. At this moment the rebels were at bay all along the line. On the left of the road, the Federal colman had for the second or third time nearly reached the enemy's works, and it paused involuntarily for a moment. as if to take breath and gather strength for a final desperate attempt to penetrate them.
"The pause was fatal to victory ; that it did not bring defeat to the Union army, let us be thankful. The enemy, quick to take advantage of a weak- ness. suddenly. in a column, struck obliquely our left flank, and with musketry poured directly from their front. threw into consternation aud disorder the Federal column, which comprised nearly au entire division. The demoralization was complete; Lee himself could not have wished it more so. Six thousand or more panic-stricken men endeavored to rush baek. pell-mell, through the donse. ballet-scarred forest thicket. huddling in great groups like terrified sheep, flags and banners trailing or aban- doned, representatives of fifty regiments in a single squad, conscious of naught save utter helplessness-officers, and many of them of national reputation, in the delirium of despair at the futility of their efforts to restore order and power of resistance from chaos !
* Capt. Charles E. Nash, of Augusta.
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" Back. I say. pell-mell,-as useless for instant battle as a flock of sheep -- towards the Brock Road and the open air, through the difficult debris and bullet-lopped trees-back into the Plank Road, only the rebel cannon make that 'an uncomfortable bowling alley just now,-back toward the breastworks got together last night, back toward the batteries, toward anything or anywhere, if so they can be got out of the Pandemonium .- back, perchance, to the Rapidan! For the rebels are pressing the bleed- ing. helpless mob as relentlessly as ever maddened foe pursued its victim. On. on. on. steadily, with uubroken ranks they come, yells and jeers and crash of musketry indicating their progress through the darksome wood ; the prize of perfect victory seems to them at hand. Confidently they press forward, thinking to gain the Brock Road with unbroken ranks and unspent ammunition, before their foe can possibly rally from his bad con- dition. It was indeed a dark moment for the Stars and Stripes; the tide of battle for ten minutes or more had been setting most fearfully against them. What could save the day? Surely, to all human appearances only something providential.
"Col. Connor's remnant of a regiment was replenishing itself with am- munition. at the moment the reverse began. The fact that our main attacking column was precipitously retreating, hotly pursued by the enemy, was at once known to the forces north of the road. yet to abandon their own position and go to the rescue would invite still worse, if not universal disaster. The catastrophe had come so suddenly, and the wiemy were advancing so rapidly. that there was little time for delibera- tion. The dispirited column, broken into fragments. pressing feverishly toward the rear, presently came dimly in view across the road, followed by the rebel column. The Brock Road had been nearly reached by - pursued and pursuers. In five minutes more the confederate phalanx would have attained it ! And then ?
. Suddenly Col. Connor wheeled his command parallel to the Plank Road, and deliberately delivered volley after volley in rapid succession, directly into the flank of the rebel division! Never did section of a line of battle change front more opportunely. and seldom, if ever. was a volley erider and of more telling effect. The enemy faltered. half dismayed at the ambush which they supposed for the time they had been coaxed into ; half panic-stricken, it was with difficulty that their officers could keep them from fleeing.
"They instantly perceived they were encountering an organized resist- aner-its magnitude they could only guess by the slaughter in their ranks. They instinctively felt that their enemy had been playing a base trick upon them by retiring so steadily before them. They were not to be devoyed, not they,' and would advance no farther! The check was complete. At least fifteen minutes elapsed before they recovered from the shock, and during that interval the disorganized mass of troops they huet been pursning, gained the Broek Road and the entrenchment along I. Once out of the dim, half-impenetrable forest, the work of speedily re-forming scattered battalions and reducing something like order was 2
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possible, and comparatively easy. Never was a point of time more precious to the Union cause, or more providentially gained. Indeed, the enemy did not, for about three hours venture beyond the point where the flank volleys were poured into them.
" I say, never was a brief period of time more valuable to the Union forces. yet a handful of men, less than three hundred, with fatally directed volleys, were instrumental in obtaining it; what seemed like imminent defeat was warded off by the resolute standing, amid the wildest disorder, of a small body of troops under the lead of an intelligent, brave and beloved officer. And it was not without cost. As soon as the enemy began to recover from their surprise. they proceeded to change front, and open fire upon their assailants. Col. Connor sprang forward into the road to beckon a charge upon the foe,-alinost instantly he was struck by a bullet and fell helpless to the ground. His fall was taken by his troops as their signal to retire; the enemy were hovering close on their flanks. and they fell back to the Broek Road, their wounded leader being borne from the field, a cripple for life. and narrowly escaping capture."
I saw all this with my own eyes, though I did not know at the time what valuable and important services the regiment there performed. The writer of that article cited numerous authorities, * which conclusively show that the 19th Maine, under the orders and lead of our Gen, Connor, saved our army from a great defeat on that day.
The enemy designed to enter the Brock Road with our retreating forces. and once there in the rear of our works, in the midst of a defeated army. they would have everything pretty much their own way. But as we have seen, their designs were frustrated, and their advance checked by the 19th Maine.
If we had known at the tine what great service we had rendered, we should have felt better. But as it was, after taking a circuitous ronte through the thick woods. on the clean run, in order to seek safety in the rear of our works on the Brock Road .- for a part of the enemy had got between us and our works there-we thought that we had been whipped. There was but a handful of us left with the colors. Our losses had been fearful; I don't know now how large. but I remember my own company went into the fight in the morning umabering thirty-one. Of these six were killed and eleven wounded. more than half. and the other companies
* Gen. Webb, who commanded our brigade then, afterwards Gen. Meade's chief of staff, in a letter to Gen. Connor, in April, 1865, said: "Your stopping your regiment where you did was a most important thing to the troops, crowded in flight down the Plank Read. It prevented Longstreet determining the state of confusion they were in. Wilcox (rebel general) told me that they lost twenty minutes following as there, and lost their chance to go in (to the Broek Road) with us."
The Rebellion Record, vol. 11, p. 143; Headley's History, vol. 2, p. 353; Deming's Lits of Grant, p. 357; Greeley's American Conflict, vol. 2, p. 569; Coppee's Grant and bis Campaigns, p. 298; Richardson Personal History of Grant, p. 399 ;- all speak of this fortunate check to the enemy. Yet all the acknowledged historians fail to tell how it happened, or who caused it.
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I think averaged as large a loss. With such a loss, and without knowing at the time whether we had inflicted any damage to the enemy, it is not surprising that we were very low in spirits.
We went back a few rods from the road, into a flat. low ground, where we found some muddy water, and there we ate our dinners. This must hare been three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Then we started to- wards the left. to find the rest of the brigade. Although it was but a short distance -- perhaps a mile-yet we were so wearied by the excite- ment and labors of the day, it was with great difficulty we could get along. How much I would have given to have got out of that -- a leg or an arm would have been but a small price-and how I envied my friend Dave, who had received a painful wound in the arm.
I own up to these things now, because I think the truth should be told. and I am a little curious to know whether all who have been in battle felt a> I did, and this may induce some to speak. I will not deny, though. That I have a secret purpose-I have heard so many times in my life that honesty is the best policy, I thought I would like to test it once, and see what would come out of it.
This little digression was necessary to relieve my mind from the ex- treme pain it receives in dwelling too long at a time upon the memories of the 6th of May. 1863.
After dark we drank some coffee. then. wrapped in our rubber blankets, we lay down by the side of the Broek Road to rest. and if possible to deep. Our bodies too weary to rest, our minds flitted away through the forests in our front. ond fought the battles of the day over again and again until late at night.
Troops were continually marching and counter-marching in the road: aud as they passed us they would ask, " What regiment?" and we would reply. " 19th Maine;" and it must have been past midnight when we answered for a hundredth time to the question of a passing regiment. " 19th Maine." Then one of them as quick as thought called out. " How about that frying-pan?" alluding to the incident in our early history which I have narrated. At that we all laughed. That made us feel better. then we went to sleep.
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