USA > Maine > The story of one regiment; the Eleventh Maine infantry volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 25
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steadily decreasing. This led to an investigation, and it was found that the men had sent a bit of the pasteboard north, and procured sheets of pasteboard of the same color and quality, which they had cut into checks to trade with the unsuspecting cook for dishes of his savory cornstarch pudding. The doctor laughs now at the trick, appreciating it more and more as time rolls on. He punningly says that at the time he thought it a very scurvy performance.
The tour of duty in the main line, although affording a liberty of movement that was very agreeable after twenty-four hours of picket duty, was a dangerous one, especially for those stationed in front of the " Elliott" salient of the Confederate line. It was under this salient that the mine had been exploded in the early hours of a July morning. From its protruding point hundreds of men had been hurled from sleep into eternity, and for its possession hundreds more had died. From this grim salient. the hillside before it rough with hillocks of bare earth and ragged with yawning chasms, the results of the explosion, both the enemy and ourselves kept up a sharp and almost continuons night fire, for it was so close to our line that pickets were not thrown out before it by either side. And on dark nights the artillery at this point of the line would open fire frequently, to throw a flashing light over the rough ground between the lines of works.
Our heavy artillery was not averse to trying its weight with the Confederates at any time. General Humphreys praises the profi- cieney attained by the gunners of this branch of artillery service in silencing the fire of the batteries of the enemy. They had an especial fancy for every now and then opening just at sunrise with every gun they had, a roaring, shrieking salute to his rising majesty. Sometimes they did it for practice, sometimes to dis- concert and aların the enemy, sometimes to jubilate over some advantage some one of our armies had somewhere gained. On the morning of September 21st, Sheridan's victory at Winchester was celebrated by a sunrise salute of shotted guns, cach gun on our line throwing ten shots into the rebel works. A small de- tachment of the regiment was in the little horseshoe-shaped outwork before "Fort Hell." At daylight a messenger came along the line to make it known that at sunrise all oar heavy guns would open. I was awake and in charge of a line of guards stationed along the parapet in skirmish order. The rest of the
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men, stationed in the little outwork, tired with a sleepless night watch, were dozing and napping here and there, crouching, lying, leaning, in all possible positions but an erect one, every man with his rifle clutched by a hand. It was my duty to awaken them and acquaint them with the coming bombardment, but I thought it would be a good joke to let the roar of the guns do the awaken- ing. In a few minutes it came, a sudden roaring of batteries and the shrieking and bursting of shells just as the first ray of sunlight flashed from the east. The men not awake awoke promptly, every man after his nature, some plunging for the bomb-proof, some springing for the parapet, and some just jumping to their feet and whirling around and around in desperate bewilderment. The men who leaped to the parapet to repel any coming enemy thought it a very good joke indeed, the momentarily bewildered ones had seen better jokes, but the ones that plunged for the bomb-proof were loud in expressing their indignation at the severest joke of their experience.
At midnight of September 24th a similar salute, although on a larger scale, was fired by the batteries in honor of Sherman's occupation of Atlanta. Major Camp of the Tenth Connecticut wrote home at the time this lively sketch of the midnight scene : "We lay down early, and slept quietly until midnight. Then suddenly broke forth such a cannonade as we had heard only once before in all our experience, the evening of the attack on Wagner. We rose, and looked all around ; our whole line was lit up by the flash of the guns, and the roar was incessant. The rebels answered, though with a fire of by no means equal intensity ; and the sight was a magnificent one-the blazing shells cutting the sky in every direction, bursting sometimes at the very summit of their curve, and flashing the red glare of their explosion on all beneath. Impressive pyrotechny ! . Thirty-six midnight guns from each battery, and, not to waste ammunition, the guns were shotted, and Petersburg and its fortifications given the bene- fit. During the whole time the bands were playing national airs, the music, of course, adding materially to the effect."
Major Camp. also records a narrow escape that Colonel Plaisted had when on the front line. The Major was standing beside Colonel Plaisted, who was looking over the parapet in observation of the rebel line, when a sharpshooter drew a bead on the Colonel,
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the bullet striking the top of the parapet just before him, throw- ing a spray of dust over the two officers.
On the 12th of September an informal election was taken in our regiment on the Governorship of Maine. Governor Cony received 159 votes, and his opponent, Howard, 23. The only vote cast for Howard in D company was by stout old Private Maddox. When rallied on his "disloyal" choice, as many incautious patriots called it, Maddox wrathfully shouted : " My grandfather was a Democrat, my father was a Democrat, and, by -, I'll not go back on either of them." If his argument did not con- vince his tormentors of the soundness of his logic, his blazing eyes and stalwart form gave it respectful consideration.
In the evening of September 24th the Tenth Corps was relieved. by the Second. Corps. During the night we retired ont of the line of tire, and bivouacked on a plain in the rear of General Birney's headquarters. And for the first night in a month we lay down and slept with a feeling of safety, without fear of shell or bullet. We did not realize until we were out of the danger how wearing had been the continual anxiety. On Morris Island the camps were out of the line of artillery fire, and rifle bullets were unknown. Here for a month we had been day and night under a fire of shells and bullets. Sergeant-Major Morton noted, while at the front, " Musket balls are flying through the camp at all hours of the day and night"; and his diary bristles with such entries as these : " Quite a brisk shelling from half-past six in the after- noon until nine o'clock." " Troops turned out last night in expec- tation of an attack." " Ileavy shelling last night." "Rebels shelled camp." " Camp shelled this afternoon." "Quite a brisk shelling this afternoon, many shells falling into the camp." " Bar- ied Sergeant Bassett amid the booming of cannon and the whis- tling of bullets." But this was now over, and we were not again subjected to such conditions.
The casualties of the month spent in the Petersburg trenches were as follows :
September 9th. .
Company A .- Wounded, Corporal Samuel Frye, during a heavy shelling of our camp at night.
September 10th.
Company F .- Killed, Corporal Lewis H. Wing, by a sharp- shooter on the picket line.
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September 12th.
Company A .- Killed, Corporal Thomas D. Tainter, by a bullet in head while asleep on the grass in rear of the main line.
September 15th.
Company D .- Killed, First Sergeant Abner F. Bassett, on picket line.
September 18th.
Company I .- Killed, Private Asa A. Arthurs, by a bullet while lying in his tent.
September 22d.
Company I .- Wounded, Private Edward Butler, in the head, by a bullet while lying in his tent in the carly morning.
Killed, 4 ; wounded, 2-total, 6.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
THE NORTH SIDE OF THE JAMES.
Colonel Plaisted's Care of the Regiment-Drills once More-Marching Orders --- A Night March to Deep Bottom-" Who Stole the Butter ? " -The Object of the Expedition-Capture of Works before Deep Bottom-General Ord Captures Fort Harrison and Other Works- Ord Wounded and Heckman Assumed Command- Fails to Carry the Works-We March on Richmond --- See its Spires and Roofs-Forced to Fall Back-Intrenching-Movements-Skirmishing -- Kautz Loses his Position -- We Face the Victors-Their Assault and Defeat- -- Casualties --- A Reconnoissance in Force and its Casualties-Gen- eral Birney's Death-The Cavalry Driven in, and we Move out and Retake their Lost Position -- The Last Engagement of the War on the North Side of the James-The Breaking up of the Old Organization ---- Reduced to a Battalion-Lieutenant Maxfield in Command-Go to New York to Keep the Peace-Return to Chapin's Farm-The Return of Hill and Baldwin-A Regiment once More-Losses of the Campaign.
ON the day succeeding the night during which we fell back, we proceeded to lay out a camp. I remember that Colonel Plaisted appeared with a tapeline, and, ordering myself and a couple of men to accompany him, we measured out the lines of a camp for our regiment. The colonel abhorred dirt and disorder. From the day he took command of our regiment on the Peninsula its camps were model ones, both in form and as to cleanliness-the envy of the officers of other regiments, and the joy of inspecting officers. So now, although brigade commander, remembering that we were without a field officer, he was so solicitous for the well-being of his regiment that he came to us, tapeline in hand, and once more we had company streets, a parade ground, and all the arrangements of a well-ordered camp.
Then orders came to drill. We had not drilled for months now, our latest recruits having fought, bled, and many of them died, on the battlefield without over having gone through the intricacies of company or regimental maneuvers. But those yet
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with us were not to finish the campaign without receiving a touch of military discipline. For September 26th, there was company drill from 4 until 5.30 P.M. The 27th there was guard-mounting at 8 A. M., company drill from 8.30 to 10 A.M., battalion drill, with knapsacks, from 3.30 to 4 P.M .- and unlimited disgust among both men and officers from reveille to taps.
But we were not destined to give the martinets all the oppor- tunity they were anxious to have to display their skill as drill- masters, for the General-in-Chief had other work for us to do.
On the 28th of September we received orders to be ready to march at three o'clock in the afternoon, with two days' rations. And at the hour named we took up our line of march for Deep Bottom. The First Maryland Cavalry, which had been serving with our brigade as infantry, now went to City Point to receive their horses and to be assigned to a command of their own arm of the service.
We reached Deep Bottom at one o'clock in the morning of Sep- tember 29th. The march of our brigade was free from the dis- tressing circumstances of that from Decp Bottom to Petersburg. The road was dry, and the night clear ; but still, it was a weary force of men that crossed the ponton bridge, and, climbing the familiar height, crossed the works they had built three months before, and camped down in line of battle on the wet grass in the field before the works.
Night marches are always wearying ones, The monotony of plodding through silent darkness, hour after hour, is as wearying to the men as is the distance. It is rarely that a gleam of enjoy- ment illumines the dullness of such a march ; but this was an exceptional night, for, as we plodded along through its semi-dark- ness and were passing a half-slumbering camp-the fires were low and the lights were few-a voice rang out with, " What regiment is that ?" At the answer, ". The Eleventh Maine," a wild yell came from the quiet camp, dark forms rising in groups and com- panies to shout, in stentorian volleys, " Who stole the butter ?" It was the camp of the Ninety-eighth New York, the regiment that in December, 1862, sailed in the steamer New York from Yorktown to Fortress Monroe with a wing of our regiment, ou which cruise the sutier of the Ninety-eighth lost certain tubs of butter, and the question now waking the echoes was the one to which even a drumhead court-martial had failed to find an answer.
4
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The force we were a part of was intended to surprise the Con- federate works on the north side of the river, where they were known to be thinly held. It was hoped that an unexpected on- slaught would not only force their covering lines, such as the works before Deep Bottom and along Bailey's Creek, and the works centering on Fort Harrison, near Chapin's Bluff, but would enable us to get possession of Fort Gilmer, a prominent point of the Confederate main line, really the key to the position of Chapin's Bluff.
General Ord, now commanding the Eighteenth Corps, was in immediate command of the troops of the expedition, which con- sisted of all of the Tenth, with such of the Eighteenth Corps as could be sparedt from the Bermuda Hundred lines, and of Kautz's cavalry division. Ord, with the troops of the Eighteenth Corps, was to cross the river from his Bermuda Hundred front, crossing by a ponton bridge laid down at Aiken's, was to gain the Varina road-here abutting on the river-move sharply in the early morning and assail the enemy, taking such works as he could ; at all events, was to prevent the enemy from crossing troops by the ponton bridge between Drury's and Chapin's Bluffs to attack the Tenth Corps. The Tenth Corps was to cross the river at Deep Bottom in the early morning-Kautz's cavalry following- gain the Newmarket and Darbytown roads, lying beyond the Varina road in the order named and running parallel with it, the infantry to move along the Newmarket road, with Kautz's cavalry moving on their flank by the Darbytown road, the line to overrun the Confederate outworks before Deep Bottom, and sweep forward towards the flank of Fort Gilmer, while Ord attacked its front.
At daybreak we were in line, and quickly moved forward through the familiar woods before Deep Bottom. The colored brigade that had relieved us and had since held the Deep Bottom works had the advance, and struck the enemy beyond the Grover House. The rebels had been warned of the formidable nature of the movement, and, fearing being cut off by Ord's breaking through near the river, fell back and to the right from before our front, which was the extreme right of the Union line of attack. We moved across their works, and swinging to the left advanced along the line of Four Mile Creek, driving bodies of the enemy before us until all the fortifications before Deep Bottom and on Newmarket Heights had been overrun by our brigade, and we
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were not stayed in our victorious course until we were before the formidable line of works reaching out from Chapin's Bluff.
Ord had followed the river road and had attacked so strongly with Burnham's brigade as to carry all before him, capturing Fort Harrison with sixteen guns and a large number of prisoners. General Burnham, of Maine, was killed in the assault. General Ord then moved his forces to the right and left of Fort Harrison, capturing two batteries of three guns cach. He then endeavored to sweep down from the captured intrenchments and take the works on the river bank that covered the enemy's ponton bridge, but, the Confederate gunboats opening, the attempt was unsuc- cessful. General Ord was severely wounded in directing this movement, and General Heckman took command of the troops of the Eighteenth Corps. He scattered his brigades in the woods so that he could not concentrate them on Fort Gilmer until it had been so heavily reenforced that he was repulsed with a heavy loss. This repulse was a severe disappointment to General Grant, for the capture of Fort Harrison only gave possession of an advanced line, while that of Fort Gilmer would have carried all the Chapin's Bluff works with it.
The Tenth Corps now moved forward and occupied the enemy's works lying across the Newmarket and Darbytown roads, works covering the Confederate main line, which was a little over a mile beyond them. General Grant was now on the ground. Sending our division over to the Darbytown road, about a mile across from the Newmarket one, to support Kautz, he directed Birney to move forward with his other brigades. Ames's division and Briga- dier - General William Birney's colored brigade moved on Fort Gilmer by the Newmarket road, but they were forced back by grape and musketry when so close to the works that some of the colored brigade jumped into the ditch and tried to climb to the parapet of the fort over each other's shoulders.
We of Terry's division were now pushing through the captured works. Kautz on the right, all moving under a heavy fire, and in momentary expectation that the assault on Gilmer would be suc- cessful. when we proposed to force our way into Richmond. So vigorously did we move forward that, when the announcement of the failure of the assault reached us, we were actually less than four miles from Richmond, and it required a rapid movement to get out of the precarious position our sanguine advance had placed
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our inadequate force in. Chaplain Trumbull says that the head of our column reached a point from which the roofs and spires of Richmond were in full view. We rejoined our corps and spent the night in throwing up light works.
The morning of the 30th of September we moved into a line of the captured rebel works, which we proceeded to reverse and strengthen, in expectation of an attack. The day was one of heavy skirmishing only, until in the afternoon, when a heavy force of the enemy, under the direction of General Lee, assaulted Fort Harrison, and were beaten back three times before abandoning the attempt to recapture it. General Stannard, who so gallantly held the fort for us, lost his arm in the second assault.
While these north-side operations were going on, General Meade was moving on the left, partly to keep Confederate reinforcements from being sent to the north side, where so much was hoped for, and partly to try to gain ground on that flank. The results of his movements were desultory, although rather in his favor.
On the Ist of October General Terry moved out on the right, with a brigade, to make a reconnoissance. The regiments of our brigade remained in the works (except the Tenth Connecticut), lengthening their line to cover the position the regiments on the reconnoissance had held. The Tenth Connecticut was sent to the front to make a threatening demonstration to prevent reinforce- ments being sent against Terry. At night Terry returned, and. the Tenth fell back to its old position, having been engaged the whole day in opposing a superior force.
It had begun to rain during September 30th, and the officers and men were without shelter, except for the blanket cach man carried. The night of the 30th was a cold, comfortless one, the meu lying down in the mud to be pelted all night by a pitiless storm ; and in the morning it still beat down, so that the only change from the night was, according to Chaplain Trumbull, to rise and " take the rain perpendicularly instead of horizontally." It cleared away during the day.
We spent a few days in strengthening intrenchments, and in making demonstrations calculated to keep the other side from attacking. On-the 2d of October the rebels advanced, and for a time it seemed, from the volume of fire on the picket line, that they were determined to assault. During the 4th, 5th. and 6th these demonstrations continued. The rebels, as the result proved, were 18
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reconnoitering our line with a view to turning it. The baggage now came up and shelter tents were pitched, the men got their knapsacks, and the officers were given an opportunity to see their baggage and get the change of clothes all sadly needed.
During the 6th deserters from the enemy reported that an attack was impending, and that it would be launched on the morn- ing of the 7th. The night of the 6th was an anxious one, but it passed with only picket fighting, and the morning broke without the anticipated attack. The troops had been in line since day- light to meet one. Then, just as we were congratulating our- selves on the falsity of our information and preparing to break ranks, the roar of guns and the crash of musketry far to our right told us that the games of the day had begun.
The right flank of our force-our brigade held the extreme infantry position on that flank-was covered by Kautz's cavalry. His position was on the Darbytown road at the Confederate line of intrenchments we had captured on the 29th of September, and between us stretched a swamp. Ile had 1,700 men and two bat- teries. So threatening was his position that the larger part of two Confederate divisions, Field's and Hoke's, with a cavalry force, moved out on the night of October 6th, and at sunrise of the 7th attacked Kantz on his front and right flank. He could not stand up against the attack, and in falling back through the swamp, by the narrow road crossing it, found the rebel cavalry there before him. Leaving thom his eight guns, his men made desperate attempts to get under the wing of our division, scouring the woods in flying groups. And about as soon as the roar of the enemy's sudden attack on Kautz came to our ears, the advance of his broken cavalry squadrons came dashing through the woods on our flank, riding recklessly through branches and copses. Almost immediately our division left its intrenchments at the double quick for a position at about a right angle to the one we had held.
Colonel Plaisted says that his brigade was moved down the New- market road in the direction of Deep Bottom for a mile and a half, when he formed line of battle near the junction of the New- market and Varina roads, and had moved his force forward a hundred yards or so, when we were fired on by the enemy. Our brigade was now in a position at right angles to that we had left, Hawley's brigade on our left. Skirmishers were thrown out-Com- panies Band H of our regiment on our front, with Lieutenant
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Dunbar in command-and they were quickly and fiercely engaged. Heavy artillery firing was now heard on the line we had hurried from, and musketry firing came rolling down the line towards us as the enemy's skirmishers pressed along it to find the extreme right of our line, which was held by our brigade. Having located it, the rebel commander prepared his assaulting column under cover of a strong skirmish attack. His line of skirmishers pressed forward closely to ours, and the rebel battalions formed for attack close to their skirmish line, in order to lessen the distance their rush must be made over. Thick woods were all around us, but for some distance in our front was clear of underbrush. Sud- denly the sharp fire of skirmishers on our front rose to a roar that told us that they could see the rebel brigades in motion. Then the skirmishers carne flying back through the woods, and a yoll broke out beyond them. Scarcely waiting for our men to get in- indeed, many of them had to throw themselves on the ground, and lie there during the engagement-we opened a furious fire on the rebels as they broke cover, and swept forward with their fierce battle yell. Instantly the volleys opened on them, and amid a cloud of smoke they pressed on, their battle flags flaunting and their officers urging them forward. Then on our left broke forth the roar of the seven-shooters of Hawley's brigade. Seven volleys in one ! Flesh and blood could not stand such a cyclone of lead, and the rebels stopped, broke, and fell back to cover, leaving the woods piled with their dead and dying.
But they did not give up the attack. Once in shelter, they turned and opened a fierce fire on us, their showers of bullets tear- ing through the woods in a whistling storm. The One Hundredth New York, holding the extreme right, had broken and fallen to the rear during the enemy's assault, leaving the flank entirely exposed. Colonel Plaisted made no effort to stop their retrogade movement, wasting no time on them, simply calling on the Tenth Connecti- cut, now on the flank and on our immediate right, to swing its right alittle to the rear and face the rebel line, that was now seck- ing to move round our right flank. On the Tenth Connecticut, the Eleventh Maine, and the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts now rested the fate of the day. The blood of the men was up. They had the enemy outside his intrenchments, man to man, for once ; and, although the three regiments were so sadly reduced by the casualties of the campaign that they could not have had more
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than six hundred men in their brigade line, they were strong in courage and ardor, and had no thought of giving way. Speaking for the brigade, Major Camp, of the Tenth Connecticut, wrote home of this engagement as follows : "The men needed little in the line of instruction and orders -- they knew just what to do, and did it. At the first fire the regiment on our right turned and ran. Our men saw it, knew that the flank was now exposed, nothing there to hinder the immediate advance of the enemy. Nothing is so apt to shake men into panic. Our men paid no other attention to it than to give a rousing cheer, just to show the enemy that they had no thought of giving ground, then turned steadily to their work. Each man stood fast. Where a comrade fell they gave him room to lie, no more. There was no random firing in the air, but rapid loading, cool aim, and shots that told. It was good to sec such fighting. Those whom we met were no raw recruits. They fought well. For a while, though unable to advance, they stood their ground. Broken once, they rallied again at the urging of their officers, and once more tried to move forward through the fire that mowed them down. It was of no use ; again thrown into con- fusion, they fell back, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. The three New England regiments of our brigade are as good men as ever fought."
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