USA > Maine > The story of the Maine Fifteenth; being a brief narrative of the more important events in the history of the Fifteenth Maine regiment; together with a complete roster of the regiment , embracing the name of every officer and enlisted man serving > Part 15
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It is but just to add, in closing, that while the average judgment of the country insists upon a verdict of " failure " as to the Red River Expedition --- and for the quite sufficient reason that a great and costly ex- pedition, fitted out and organized for a special purpose, had signally failed to accomplish its object --- the disaster was rather in the matter of prestige and sentiment than in reality. In every battle of the campaign save one our arms were victorious. We inflicted upon the enemy much greater loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, than he upon us. In the matter of ar- tillery and small arms captured the account is pretty evenly balanced. We lost a large number of wagons an an immense amount of property in the form of forage, rations, horses and mules, etc., but in the value of cotton captured and turned over to the government --- to say nothing of the rebel impoverishment on account of the destruction of vast quantities of this staple upon which the confederate authorities so much relied to provide the " sinews of war" -- the balance is very largely in our favor. However. the decidedly impertinent rebel prisoner who pencilled upon the wall of his guard-house at Alexandria the extremely tantalizing inquiry-
" Who skedladdied from Grand Ecore ? With Smith behind and Banks before --- As mven never skedad lled before ?" etc.,
undoubtedly voiced the average judgment of the country at the time ; and the participants, with bowed heads and suffused checks, must gracefully submit to what may have been, after all. an unrighteous verdict.
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As to the really brilliant services of the Division in which the Fif- teenth served in the Expedition, no special commendation is required, since its heroic achievements are indelibly written upon the historic page. Ner- ertheless, the annexed congratulatory address is worthy of preservation ; GENERAL ORDERS> HEADQUARTERS NINETEENTH ARMY CORPS, )
No. 48. 1 SEMMESPORT, LA., MAY ISTH, 1864. 1
Soldiers of the First and Second Divisions Nineteenth Army Corps :-- It is my duty to express to you my high appreciation of your uniform good conduct throughout the late event- ful campaign. This duty is rendered the more imperative by the false reports of your opera- tions which have met you at this point.
On the Sth of April, at the first notice that our troops in front were engaged, the First Division, the only troops of the Nineteenth Corps then present, marched in double-quick time seven miles to the front, formed line of battle under fire of the enemy, checked him, and drove him back, under circunstances the most trying that could befall troops. The whole advance, composed of eight or ten thousand troops, were thrown back upon you in utter disorder and confusion, pell-mell, with the enemy. You formed line of battle under his fire, and amidst this frightful disorder, with the regularity of forming for parade, you drove the enemy from before you, and held the ground until ordered to fall back.
The next day, at Pleasant Hill, you of the First Division bore the brunt of the enemy's furious attack ; and only one brigade -- that on the left -- gave way, because its left was unsup. ported, but this soon rallied and joined in the final charge which drove the enemy from the field.
On the 23d, at Cane River, you, supported by the Thirteenth Army Corps, found the enemy strongly posted to dispute the crossing of the river. Led by the Third Brigade of the First Division, you turned his flank and drove him at the point of the bayonet from the hill he occupied.
At Alexandria, you contributed your labor, by day and night, for seventeen days, under the engineering skill of Lieut. - Col. Bailey, to the great work which relieved the fleet from its perilous situation above the falls, and restored it to the country.
At Mansura, on the Ist of May, you met the enemy on an open plain, and, supported on your right by the Sixteenth Army Corps, drove him from the field.
This, in brief, is a summary of your services for the last two months, and I know, when it becomes known to the country, the judgment will be that you, at least, have done your duty faithfully. (Signed. ) WM. H. EMORY, Brig. - General, Commanding.
Official : DUNCAN S. WALKER, Asst. Adjt. General.
CHAPTER
XXV.
ON THE MISSISSIPPI AND ON THE OCEAN WAVE ON THE WAY TO THE POTOMAC AND THE JAMES.
AT MORGANZIA BRND. - A FEW WEEKS OF QUIET REST IN CAMP. - DOWN THE RIVER TO ALGIERS. -- ANOTHER OCEAN VOYAGE AND A LONG FAREWELL TO THE CRESCENT CITY .- WE SAIL NORTHWARD AND IN DUE TIME JOIN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC AND LATER THE ARMY OF THE SHENANDOAH. -- THE FIFTEENTH'S " RIGHT WING " WITH BUTLER, AT BERMUDA HUNDREDS, AND ITS " LEFT WING" CHASING EARLY UP THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH.
OON after reaching the Mississippi the Nineteenth Corps went into camp at a point near the intersection of Red River with the Missis- sippi known as " Morganzia Bend," upon the banks of the river and within full view of the steamers and shipping constantly passing to and fro over that great commercial thoroughfare. It was a new experience
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to again find ourselves comparatively idle and we were very glad to settle down to the monotonous routine of camp-life. As our soldiers again found themselves within reach of the broad Mississippi, permitted to drink "at will" of its refreshing waters --- in pleasing contrast with the yellow, slimy, malaria-impregnated compound with which we had vainly endeavored to quench the thirst during the campaign in Western Louisiana-they were not slow to appreciate the very gratifying change. The transition seemed a return to " God's country," after weary wandering's in a wilderness with- in the dominions of some other potentate.
The troops were for awhile commanded by Gen. J. J. Reynolds, but hardly made his acquaintance. Our brigade, at Morganzia, comprised the 18th and 15th Me., 47th Pa., 12th Com., and Sth Vt .- Col. Harry Rust, 13th Me., acting brigadier. Gen. McMillan commanded the division and Gen. Emory the corps. There were a number of notable reviews, includ- ing one before Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. A number of reconnoitering parties were also sent out, furnishing the boys some excitement and exercise, with- out encountering much in the way of a hostile force. One of these, in which the Fifteenth participated, made a two days' march to the "Old Mississippi " region, Gen. Frank S. Nickerson being the detachment com- mander. An expedition which went out on the Atchafalaya road encoun- tered a party of rebels running a saw-mill, and there was quite a lively little skirmish, resulting in the loss on our side of one officer killed and several enlisted men wounded.
While at Morganzia the Fifteenth boys were glad to welcome Maj. F. M. Drew and party, on their return from a nine months' tour of duty on detached service in Maine. Assistant Surgeon Higgins and others also joined us from their enforced absence at Pleasant Hill ; while Licut. John B. Nickels. Adjutant Clark, Lieut. Coates, and others, prisoners of war on parole, made us a flying visit, on the way to the parole camp at New Orleans. Lieut. Nickels contracted small-pox on the steamer upon which he made the passage from Grand Ecore to Alexandria, and was left at the latter place, in hospital, when the army evacuated the Red River region. The Paymaster also smiled upon us here, with the greenback-rations represent- ing six months' pay and an instalment of government bounty. A number of our officers and soldiers made the trip to New Orleans, also, on business or pleasure, during the sojourn here. Many of our men were sick in the hospital in that city, and this fact, and various business matters, necessitated as frequent communication as practicable.
Bat about the first week in July " sailing orders" were received for the entire Nineteenth Corps, and the various regiments embarked on steam- ers for New Orleans as rapidly as transportation could be provided ; drop- ping down river, one after another, as ready, and disembarking on the Al-
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giers side of the river. The Fifteenth, with Gen. McMillan's headquarters, the 165th N. Y., and a detachment of the 17th Pa., took passage on the St. Marys, sailing July 3d and reaching Algiers the same afternoon. Most of the troops of Emory's Division arrived within three or four days. We were destined to remain here but a brief period; a sufficient time, only, to perfect arrangements for a more prolonged sca-voyage-as to the objective point of which, however, all were in ignorance. Mobile was yet in the hands of the rebels, and, very naturally, that was surmised to be the scene of the pending campaign. Steamers in considerable numbers were being rapidly assembled ; ten days' rations for men and horses were provided ; and the preparatory work of the contemplated voyage was being briskly pushed in all departments. Nevertheless the soldiers who were permitted to visit New Orleans, call upon the sick comrades in hospital, and inspect their treasures stored with surplus baggage in the government warehouses, little realized that they were so soon to take a final leave of the Gulf Depart- ment. In the period of two and a half years that we had radiated about the Cresent City it had become a very familiar haunt, and, as the chief commercial centre of that region, was ever visited with pleasure by the officers and soldiers of all the older regiments, and here many pleasant ac- quaintances had been formed. Herc, also, all of the surplus baggage had been stored at the commencement of the Texas campaign, an additional canse of anxiety and interest.
The troops commenced to embark for the voyage July 5th. The Fifteenth was so unfortunate as to be divided into two detachments-regi- mental headquarters, with Companies A, C, D, F, G and K, Col. Dyer commanding, taking a small, awkward, incommodious low-pressure steamer named the Exact ; while Companies B, E, H and I, Lieut .- Col. Murray commanding, found more comfortable quarters on the fine Morgan steamer St. Marys. Major Drew and Assistant Surgeon Higgins were with Lieut .- Col. Murray's detachment ; the Surgeon, Adjutant, Quartermaster, etc., being on the Exact. Both vessels sailed July 6th. The vessels were all under sealed orders, endorsed .. Not to be opened until after discharging pilot at the mouth of the Mississippi." When well out from the Passes and the pilot had gone ashore, the " seal" on the documents was eagerly broken and our " destiny " ascertained. The order read : " You will pro- ceed direct to Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Va., reporting on your arrival to Brig .- Gen. Emory, commanding detachment 19th army corps!" Indeed ! And New Orleans, with its many associations, pleasant and oth- erwise, our sick in hospital, surplus baggage and stores, etc., far in the rear ! For the moment there were murmurings and keen regret ; and yet the consciousness that the veterans of the old Nineteenth Corps were hence- forth to share the glories of eventful campaigns with the grand old Army
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of the Potomac, served somewhat to counterbalance the score and induce a praiseworthy degree of satisfaction with an order of exercises which seemed to be imperative. But, alas! how many of the poor fellows who with us had ascended the Mississippi in the spring of 1862 had been left behind, sad mementoes of the ravages of disease and death in the malaria- infected region of Louisiana !
The passage across the Gulf and along the Atlantic coast to Chesa- peake Bay-speaking from the stand-point of the Exact, upon which the writer had taken passage-occupied some ten days, and was quite monot- onous and uneventful. We were now becoming quite familiar with sea- faring life and acclimated to the eccentricities of ocean air and the sea's ceaseless motion ; nevertheless, the dread scourge of sea-sickness was not entirely unknown among us, and many of our passenger list were compelled to seek the seclusion of state-room or bunk frequently during the voyage. Indeed, heroic and plucky upon other fields, our confmanding officer's ex- ample in this respect was not entirely free from criticism! The Exact sighted the northern coast of Cuba the third day out ; skirted the upper extremity of the Florida shore the day following ; and soou espied the glistening sand-banks of the Carolina coast, where all became eagerly ab- sorbed in noting the objects of interest along shore. Here were the Edisto lights ; the famous federal batteries on Morris Island; and, most interest- ing of all, a mass of battered and blackened masonry, lonely and isolated, flying no ensign and yet feebly responding to the incessant cannonade con- centrated upon it from hundreds of guns on war-ships and batteries-none other than Fort Sumter, the " cradle of the rebellion." Running suffi- ciently near the coast to enable us to view the fortress through field-glasses, a very interesting spectacle was afforded. The large blockading squadron, too --- some of the vessels running out to exchange compliments with what some of the naval officers took to be a blockade-rummer -- rendered the scene quite lively and entertaining. When off Hatteras -- on the 14th-the Ex- act encountered a violent gale, which continued to hold high carnival two days and nights. The tempestuous waves dashed about the vessel furious- ly, swooping over the deeks, and creating considerable consternation. The steamer had no chart, was short of coal, and for awhile was really in a perilous situation. Happily the gale abated somewhat on the afternoon of the 16th ; and, by the liberal expenditure of a number of whole barrels of salt pork, as a substitute for coal, in spurring the engine of the steamer to more energetic endeavor, we succeeded in gallantly rounding Cape Hen- ry before dark. By 9 o'clock we had entered Chesapeake Bay ; and at midnight the Exact dropped anchor off Fortress Monroe.
Upon reporting, next morning, Col. Dyer learned that the Exact was some four days behind the St. Marys and other steamers leaving New
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Orleans at about the same time ; and furthermore, that these steamers had all been ordered to Washington, with their troops, to defend the national capital against an impending rebel raid. Gen. Emory was of the party ordered to Washington ; and we were directed to report for orders to the Lieut .- General commanding, at City Point. Accordingly, after taking coal and looking about Fortress Monroe and other objects of interest, we leisurely steamed to the point designated, where Col. Dyer went ashore to pay his respects to the noted little man whom some of us had seen thrown from his spirited charger at Carrolton a year previous, but who had not only recov- ered from his bruises but within the year had made such rapid strides as a military commander as to have reached the summit of position and honor --- U. S. Grant, Lieut .- General, commanding the armies of the United States. The General's headquarters were in full view -- a row of unpre- tentious wall-tents, utterly destitute of ostentation, surrounded on all sides by immense piles of commissary and ordnance stores, and in the offing, a large fleet of vessels of all descriptions, indicating that the base of supplies of the great army now besieging Richmond and Petersburg, is a place of importance as well as of ceaseless activity. The Exact, it was found, con- tained the advance-guard of the Nineteenth Corps detachment to arrive at army headquarters, and we were directed to proceed to Bermuda Hundreds, reporting to a well-remembered commander of two years before-Gen. B. F. Butler, commanding the right wing of Grant's army, on the James River. Here we were glad to find a resting place upon terra firma, disembarking and going into camp on the afternoon of July 18th, having passed thirteen weary days upon the little steamer. Two days later the third brigade of our division arrived, followed soon after by other troops from New Orleans and some of those which had been ordered to Washington. By the 25th of July a considerable proportion of both divisions of our corps was en- camped at Bermuda Hundreds.
Our four left-wing companies-B, E, H and I-found the St. Marys a very rapid. sailing craft and eminently sea-worthy. Leaving New Or- leans at 7 p. m. of July 5th and steering clear of the Hatteras gales which the Exact had encountered, she reached Fortress Monroe on the afternoon of the 12th-some four days in advance of that vessel. Besides the four companies of the Fifteenth the St. Marys transported the 8th Vermont, Col. Thomas commanding. At Fortress Monroe the vessel was intercepted by orders to proceed at once to Washington for the defense of the national capital. The steamer sailed for that place the same evening ; and on the morning of the 13th the troops found themselves coursing up the historic and beautiful Potomac River and noting with eagerness the objects of in- terest along shore. Mount Vernon, the tomb of him who was " first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymeu,"-in the remote
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age in which he lived, at all events,-was very appropriately signalized by tolling bells, as a sacred spot only to be passed with reverence by patriotic Americans. The St. Marys reached Washington at noon of the 13th- the day following Early's attack in front of Fort Stevens-the troops at once disembarking at the foot of Seventh street; and, as may well be imagined, finding the city in a state of intense excitement, owing to the close proximity of the rebel forces to the national seat of government.
CHAPTER
XXVI.
THE FIFTEENTH WITH THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC AND CHASING EARLY UP THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.
A BRIEF GLANCE AT THE MILITARY SITUATION ALONG THE POTOMAC AND THE JAMES AND ALSO IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. - THE JUBAL EARLY RAID UPON WASHINGTON. - THE FIFTEENTH'S LEFT WING TAKES A HAND AND JOINS IN THE CHASE. - AN EXCITING AND ADVENTUROUS CAMPAIGN. --- THE RIGHT WING PRO- CEEDS TO WASHINGTON AND THE REGIMENT IS RE-UNITED, AT MONOCACY, MD.
B UT in giving an intelligible narrative of the Fifteenth's career after its arrival in Virginia, it seems proper to place upon record a brief statement of the military situation in that region at the date of our arrival-the middle of July, 1864.
Lieut .- Gen. Grant had then commanded all the armies of the Uni- ted States for a period of about five months, and was most energetically pushing his campaigns in various quarters, with the determined purpose of depleting the rebel armies and exhausting their resources through bis favor- ite method of incessant "hammering away " at the military power of the rebellion, wherever concentrated. With this object constantly in view he had made his plans carefully and deliberately, called about him the lieu- tenants most fully sharing his confidence, gathered an army numbering not less than one hundred thousand men in front of the principal armies of the confederacy ; and, carly in May, had " started in " with the avowed pur- pose of "fighting it out on this line if it takes all summer!" Gen. Grant commenced manœuvering for position the first week in May, when the Rapidan was successfully crossed. Being attacked he was compelled im- mediately to fight the fearfully disastrous series of battles, covering an en- tire week, known in history as the battles of " The Wilderness," in which no less than fifteen thousand brave men were butchered on each side.
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THE STORY OF THE MAINE FIFTEENTH.
These battles were followed in quick succession by the series of bloody contests of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, the North Anna, on the banks of the James, about the Chickahominy, etc., frightfully disastrous, yet so far successful as to secure the establishment of a federal line of battle sub- stantially encircling on three sides the rebel strongholds of Richmond and Petersburg, about which, strongly intrenched. were gathered the principal armies of the confederacy, commanded by its ablest military chieftain. The right of Grant's line, commanded by Butler, rested upon the north side of the James River, with connections, under other commanders, ex -. tending to the left fully fifteen miles, strongly fortified the entire distance, and at several points running so close to the rebel works as to be within speaking distance, and very near the limits of the city of Petersburg on the extreme left. In the successive battles which had resulted in the oc- cupation of the position now held, no less than seventy thousand men had been sacrificed on our side alone in two months of incessant fighting; nev- ertheless every day of this period witnessed the tightening of Grant's tena- cious grip upon the throat of Lee's army, with not the slighest indication of relaxation, whatever the cost. While our frightful losses were being made good by the constant arrival of reinforcements, the enemy's casualties, if not so numerous, were far more serious, since his recruiting ground was much more circumscribed than ours; hence the advantage was clearly with the Union cause. The campaign could only end in the gradual melting away of one or the other of the confronting armies, and it was very easy to discern which of the commanders must soonest yield to the inevitable. And so, all through that eventful summer, there occurred the continuous assaults, daring and destructive cavalry raids, subterranean mine explosions, constant artillery bombardment, and incessant fighting all along the line, by the pickets, sharpshooters, and infantry. Just now the extreme right of the line was being reinforced for a contemplated movement from the banks of the James, at Deep Bottom, and to aid in this campaign the Nineteenth Corps had been ordered to Bermuda Hundreds, and brigade after brigade was being placed in position as they arrived, disembarked, and had gathered up the fragments of the regiments and brigades which had become so widely scattered during the sea-voyage.
But there was still another section of the vast chain of shotted guns which Grant was so adroitly weaving about the armies of the confederacy. Not only were the commanders in the South and West dispatched upon important missions, designed to occupy the attention of the rebel troops in those sections, but Grant was taking very great pains to prevent the escape of Lee's army northward through any liuk of the chain which might be- come broken through undue pressure at any given point. The section of this environment represented by the Shenandoah Valley avenue of approach
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THE STORY OF THE MAINE FIFTEENTH.
to Lynchburg, Petersburg and Richmond, on the one end, and Baltimore, Washington, and fertile regions in Maryland and Pennsylvania, at the oth- er extreme, was a source of constant anxiety to the Union commander as well as to the Washington anthorities, since the ever-threatened rebel raids through the Valley were mischievous and disastrous in many respects. Accordingly, when Grant pushed across the Rapidan he organized a num- ber of expeditions for campaigning up the Valley, over various routes, with the view of effectually covering the mountain passes, and also of co- operating with the armies besieging Lee on the other side of the circle. For some time previously the Union and Confederate forces had been racing up and down the Valley without substantial results, the honors being about equally divided. About the middle of June Gen. Hunter, the Union com- mander, had worked his way very near to the rear of Lynchburg, but was so suddenly pounced upon by rebel troops hurriedly concentrated by rail from Petersburg, that he was soon overpowered, and forced to retreat in disorder by a route other than the one over which he had approached, leav- ing uncovered an important thoroughfare to Maryland and Pennsylvania. Lee was very ready to seize upon the opportunity to work mischief, and. promptly moving Gen. Jubal Early into the "king's row"-to use the nomenclature of the checker-player -- with a large force, he dispatched him upon a destructive raid through the Valley. northward, hoping thereby not only to " despoil the (Northern) Egyptians " and obtain much-needed sup- plies for his starving soldiers and horses, but, more important than all, to compel Grant to turn his attention in the direction of the national capital, to the abandonment of the Richmond-Petersburg siege. Early moved rapidly down the Valley the first week in July, crossing the Potomac, and audaciously levying contributions of money, cattle, forage, etc., upon Mary- land and Pennsylvania villages, inflicting much damage and creating a flutter of consternation in Washington and throughout the North. Gen. Lew. Wallace, with a small force of Union troops, was able to move ont from Baltimore and give battle to a portion of Early's troops at Monocacy Junction, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but at a loss of nearly fifteen hundred men in killed, wounded and prisoners. The rebel cavalry swooped down upon Maryland and Pennsylvania towns, stopped and robbed railroad trains, burned villages. railroad bridges, ete., while the main column headed directly for Washington. Early's infantry advance pushed within six or seven miles of the outer defenses of Washington July 11th, and on the 12th actually menaced that city. A column of one-hundred days' men, home-guards, etc., under Gen. Augur, left the fortifications and heroically marched out to repel the invaders, giving battle, and losing, in the very brisk little engagement, some two hundred and eighty in killed and wound- ed, almost within rifle-range of the national capitol. But Early, learning
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