USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > History of the Twenty-fourth Michigan of the Iron brigade, known as the Detroit and Wayne county regiment > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
The recruits and drafted men had not so fine a time escaping as before the Twenty-fourth Michigan arrived. Prior to their arrival, 1,600 had jumped the guard and escaped ; but now, they found it far more difficult to jump the bounty or the fence. Large sums as bribes were offered our men to allow these bounty substitutes and drafted men to escape, but to the honor of the Twenty-fourth, every member proved incorruptible. The insufficiency of the guards had compelled a veteran regiment to be brought from the front whose members were not afraid to shoot, and some of the guarded men learned this to their sorrow. One fellow had his fingers blown off by one of our guards while trying to escape from the cars on the way to the front.
About the middle of March, eight Sergeants went to Michigan to obtain recruits to fill the ranks of the regiment to its maximum. A few days only elapsed when this was accomplished, on the 29th of March, 1865, and the complement of ten Second Lieutenants was soon after allowed. Thus the regiment was again with full ranks, ready to help wind up the rebellion. But this privilege was denied it, for in eleven days more an event occurred which startled the world and brought the terrible four years of bloodshed to a close. Had this not been so, the Twenty-fourth would have returned to the theater of war and it was no fault of its own that it had no part in the closing struggle. But its history was already rounded up in full measure with a most heroic and honorable record which was in no wise diminished by its absence from the scenes of final victory. It had other duties as important and sacred. We will leave the regiment at Camp Butler
298
HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
for a time and return to an acount of the final days of the rebellion, in the field.
After the capture of Savannah, General Sherman allowed his army a month's rest and then proceeded northward through the Carolinas towards Virginia, writing on the bosom of the country, as when he went through Georgia, in letters forty miles long, the penalties of treason and rebellion. Desolation marked his route, and by the middle of March, 1865, his army was resting near Goldsboro, N. C.
The omens of defeat were plainly written against the Confederacy. Its armies were gradually diminishing from disease and desertion with no hope of recruitment except from the slaves whose freedom, however, was denied for such proposed service. Then too, the people of the South had begun to separate themselves from the war policy of their leaders, knowing that failure must eventually attend the cause for which they had already sacrificed so much.
The scattered forces of the Confederate armies along the seaboard were gathered to oppose Sherman, and placed under the command of the deposed General Joseph E. Johnston. And thus, while Sherman was resting and holding in his front the main insurgent army aside from Lee's troops, Grant was free to take the offensive against the forces about Petersburg and Richmond, which he did during the last days of March. Already had Fort Fisher been captured, and Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Columbia and the chief cities of the South fallen into Union hands. And still the Confederate authorities insisted upon holding out which could only result in a further useless effusion of blood. Lee could see no hope in remaining at Richmond and Petersburg, and sought to break through the National lines and unite with Johnston's army. Fort Steadman was situated not more than one hundred yards from the Confederate intrenchments near the extreme right of Grant's army, and this was the point selected to capture and open a door for escape. On March 24, Lee massed 20,000 men for the attack. They captured the fort and turned its guns upon the Union lines, but the fort was immediately retaken with a severe loss to the enemy.
BATTLE OF WHITE OAK ROAD.
All being in readiness for the grand move forward, already inaugurated by Lee's attack, several hours before daylight on the morning of March 29, the Fifth Corps troops left their trenches and
.
299
CLOSING MONTHS OF THE WAR.
camps and marched away to Reams' Station and thence to Monk's Neck Bridge over the Rowanty. After a halt to let the cavalry pass, it moved by the right flank up the Quaker Road. The Corps was under its cautious and skillful commander General G. K. Warren who
GENERAL GOVERNOUR G. K. WARREN.
had no superior as a corps commander since the death of General Reynolds. This corps, which was the old First, was again, as often before, put at the front. It was a difficult march owing to a prevailing rainstorm. Soon after crossing Rowanty Creek (which is formed by the junction of Hatcher's Run and the Gravelly Run), General Warren encountered the enemy and had a sharp brush with them, his corps losing three hundred and seventy men.
After the departure of the Twenty-fourth Michigan for the North, the Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade returned to their old camp in this corps and were placed under the command of Colonel Kellogg, of the Sixth Wisconsin. On March 5, the Ninety- First New York Heavy Artillery were added to it, and altogether now
300
HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
with the new recruits numbered about 3,000 men. It contained the veteranized members of the old regiments and was once more a strong factor. It was officially known as the "First Provisional Brigade," but the name "Iron Brigade" the men still clung to, and it was so called at all times except on the records. On this day it moved with the Fifth Corps to near the Boydton Plank Road, and formed the first line of battle in front of the Second Brigade. The enemy having been driven from his position the Seventh Wisconsin was placed on the road and the rest of the Brigade a short distance in the rear in line with the Fifth Corps in front of the Confederate works.
During the night Lee strongly reinforced this part of his line along the Boydton Plank. Thus strengthened, on the 30th, Lee struck the Fifth Corps a stunning blow, and it recoiled for a time, but recovering itself with the aid of Miles' Division of the Second Corps, forced the enemy behind his intrenched position in front of the White Oak Road west of Burgess' Mills. The Iron Brigade during the day threw up breastworks. On the 3Ist a very severe engagement occurred for the possession of the enemy's works along the White Oak Road. In this affair, the Iron Brigade moved from their breast- works in a northwest direction across Gravelly Run, where it was massed in column of regiments for a time when the Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin were ordered to arrest the men falling back in confusion. They closed the interval, formed line of battle and opened fire on the enemy until the latter turned both their flanks when the brigade retired across Gravelly Run being compelled to fight their way back. They were formed in line next to the creek and moved forward again onto the battle-field.
The Fifth Corps, led by General Warren, sustained a loss of nearly 1,500 in the fighting of this day but was very successful. Alone and at a disadvantage, by the superior skill of Warren and the never failing intrepidity of the Fifth Corps, it had driven the enemy back from their works and possessed them, making the victory of the following day an easy matter. General Sheridan had advanced from Dinwiddie Court House to Five Forks, but when the enemy were driven back in front of the Fifth Corps, they fell back on Five Forks compelling Sheridan to return to Dinwiddie Court House. Attempts have been made for reasons that will appear further on in this narrative, to ignore this day's battle and its very name-but the pen of history is a great adjuster, and will insist that its name and the General who successfully directed the Corps that fought it, shall be accorded the honor and credit of the victory. It was General Warren
301
CLOSING MONTHS OF THE WAR.
and the Fifth Corps who won the battle of WHITE OAK ROAD. For three days had this corps been fighting and paved the way for the sweeping victory the next day at Five Forks.
BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS.
Somewhat farther down on the White Oak Road is a place called Five Forks, situated in the woods, and so named from the fact that five roads diverge from this point as a center. In its vicinity was the Confederate right, to turn which was the object of this campaign, and cut off Lee from the Southside Railroad, thus compelling the evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg. During the three preceding days, March 29, 30 and 31, while Warren had been operating successfully in his front, Sheridan had less success about Dinwiddie Court House with his cavalry. The next day, April 1, Warren was ordered to go to the support of Sheridan, who seemed to expect quite as much speed from infantry as cavalry, at this time. The Fifth Corps was delayed to admit the building of a bridge over an unfordable stream and did not get up as soon as Sheridan expected or desired, ostensibly. Upon its arrival, Sheridan, as senior officer, assumed command of the whole. Such disposition of all the troops were made that with the very opening of the battle at 4 P. M., the Confederate route began, and by 7 o'clock the battle had become history with 5,000 Confederates as prisoners.
During this day the Iron Brigade moved in a westerly direction to Gravelly Run Church. In the afternoon the Seventh Wisconsin occupied the advance line on the left of the Brigade with the Sixth Wisconsin on the right. Advancing in line, with two companies of the Seventh as skirmishers, the enemy's advance was driven through the woods to their intrenchments at Five Forks. Colonel Richardson of the Seventh was ordered to move over the enemy's works, and the gallant Colonel obeyed. Wheeling to the right, the enemy was charged through the open field, through some woods and a second open field. At night the Brigade fell back and took position behind the breastworks captured from the enemy.
At night, after the battle had been won, partly that day by the efforts of the Fifth Corps, in which General Warren led the van of the charging column, and whose horse was fatally shot under him but a few feet from the enemy's breastworks, the latter officer received a note from Sheridan relieving him of his command. The latter had beome impatient at Warren's seeming but unavoidable delay in
302
HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
the morning, in getting his Corps onto the field, and also professed that he did not skillfully handle his troops. Now, while Sheridan did much for his country, which will weave for him its choicest garlands, still we firmly believe that in this instance he acted impetuously, a belief shared by the entire Fifth Corps. Warren's Corps had been marching and fighting for three days and nights and their speed could not approach to that of cavalry. Again the easy victory of this day had already been secured by Warren's Corps, of whom and of whose success, Sheridan evinced a jealousy in merging the four days' fighting under the one name of Five Forks, claiming the whole honor himself, after dishonoring the General who did far more than himself to obtain this victory. In subsequent years a Court of Inquiry completely exonerated Warren from all blame on this occasion, which action speaks more emphatically of Warren's good name and fame, than any language we can employ here. But the ill-treatment of his superior undoubtedly was the cause of his premature death.
RICHMOND EVACUATED-SURRENDER OF LEE.
On Sunday, April 2, the Confederate lines about Petersburg were cannonaded and the enemy driven into their inner works. At the same time the Southside Railroad was cut and then for the first time was the insurgent "President " made aware of the "Crack of doom" for the Confederacy. During divine service, an Aide from General Lee passed up the Church aisle, in Richmond, to the pew of Jefferson Davis and handed him a message, stating that the results of the , morning's fighting would compel the evacuation of Petersburg and the Confederate Capital that night. His pale face, as he slowly arose and left the church, plainly disclosed the import of the dispatch. The services were prematurely closed and pandemonium reigned in that Southern Babylon, as when Cyrus marched his army by night, into that amazed city, by the bed of the diverted Euphrates.
That night Lee withdrew his forces toward the west, the only outlet left to him, hoping to unite with Johnston's army in North Carolina and thus prolong the war. The Federal army was close in pursuit. On Sunday morning the 2d, the Iron Brigade advanced to the Southside Railroad to find the enemy's position abandoned. This was thirteen miles west of Petersburg. The Brigade advanced rapidly in a westerly direction and found the enemy intrenched on the Burkesville road. The Brigade was deployed to the right of the road
303
CLOSING MONTHS OF THE WAR.
as skirmishers. After dark the enemy opened fire on their lines which was replied to and the command advanced and halted within a few rods of their breastworks where they lay on their arms for the night. During the night the enemy withdrew and were pursued but not overtaken. The Iron Brigade went into bivouac. On the morning of the 4th the pursuit was resumed to Jettersville on the Danville Railroad, where the Brigade was formed in line of battle, the men weary and footsore, after travelling all day and throwing up breastworks all night. Here they rested until the 6th when it was found that the enemy had again taken flight. Pursuit was renewed. during the 6th and 7th on the west side of the Appomattox. They reached High Railroad Bridge when the enemy had fired the bridge. Another chase on the 8th proved a long and wearisome march after the fleeing insurgents. On Sunday morning the pursuit was resumed until the enemy was reached, completely hemmed in. Sheridan's cavalry had got around him and lay squarely across his path, at Appomattox Court House. Cut off from escape in every direction, Lee assented, at the proposal of Grant, to a surrender of his entire army. The terms were the most liberal. The men were permitted to take their horses and the officers their side arms ; all to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority as long as they respected their paroles and obeyed the laws in force where they resided. Lee's sword was neither asked for nor tendered, as the terms of the capitulation allowed him to keep it and preserved him from arrest for trial and punishment. Whatever perfidy should attach to his name, after having been educated by his government and having taken an oath to defend it, then to violate his oath, turn traitor to his country and help deluge the land in blood, would not excuse the United States Government in violating its terms of capitulation offered Lee and his troops by its representative, General Grant.
So soon as the surrender was made known, salvos of Union artillery began to reverberate through the hills in exultation of the event, but an Aide from Grant at once ordered the firing to cease, as the surrendered forces were to be treated as equals in a Republic and not as conquered foes with rights abridged. The men of the two armies mingled together, and all were fed from the Union commissary, glad that the terrible struggle of four long years was ended. It was not unlike the scene at the close of a Roman civil war in centuries agone, when the soldiers of the opposing armies bound up each other's wounds and friendship prevailed around common camp fires, care
(20)
304
HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
being taken not to offend the valor that had won their admiration on many a field. General rejoicing prevailed throughout the North. Bells were rung, cannon fired, and illuminations lighted the skies in town and village.
ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN .- CLOSE OF THE WAR.
Scarcely had the loud acclaim ceased ere the nation was plunged into the deepest grief and the world startled by the crime of ages- the wicked assassination of Abraham Lincoln, at once the most abused and best loved President the nation ever had, on the night of April 14, 1865. Long did the people refuse to be comforted, though sympathetic messages came from every country and the isles of the
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
sea. They had learned to confide in his candor and wisdom, and to regard him as a safe master to pilot them out of the stormy tempest of war. His honest and wise statesmanship illustrates history with the choicest gems, and the wisdom he displayed was as wonderful as
305
CLOSING MONTHS OF THE WAR.
Solomon's in his day. As the secret chapters of the sad war days are unfolded, they discover a wisdom in his direction of the affairs with which he had to do, that indicates a more than human foresight. Confessedly he was the man for the hour and occasion-God's instrument for the annihilation of the cause of the war, African Slavery. Grace sufficient he had, of native or divine power, to break the chains of bondage and let the slaves go free. In his death the South, which had made his election the occasion for secession and war, lost its best friend and the grief manifested there was Lincoln's proudest triumph. His memory with his last inaugural message to the Nation, " With malice towards none and charity for all," will go down the ages with that of Washington and William The Silent, only to grow brighter with advancing time.
Appropriate ceremonies were held in every locality. The body of the martyred President was conveyed amid general mourning to his home at Springfield, Ill., from whence he had departed four years before with such a sad heart. We may well recall his prophetic words on that occasion. To his neighbors, who had assembled at the depot to bid him good-bye, from the platform of his car he spoke as follows:
My Friends: No one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived over a quarter of a century. Here my children were born and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon me which is perhaps greater than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and in the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.
On May 4th, the mortal remains of the nation's martyred chief were borne to the grave amid the profound sorrow of his friends to whom he had addressed the above words which, like his Gettysburg speech, seemed to have been the gift of that Divine guidance on which he relied. The solemn duty of performing the martial rites at his funeral devolved upon the Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry which formed his funeral escort.
CLOSE OF THE WAR.
The surrender of Lee's army was but the prelude for the remaining armies of the defunct Confederacy to lay down their arms on the best obtainable terms, which however, were very similar to
306
HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
those granted to Lee and his troops. In the course of a few weeks, every insurgent gun and munition of war was in possession of the national government, and the soldiers composing the Confederate armies had peaceably disbanded to their homes. But Jefferson Davis and a few followers escaped from Richmond and were determined to prolong the hopeless struggle. His capture a month later by the Fourth Michigan Cavalry in the ridiculous attire of a female, was a retributive ending of the "Lost cause," and a fitting disgrace to this prisoner-starving traitor. The national flag was again triumphant through all the land and the war was closed.
HOME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
CHAPTER XV.
THE ARMIES DISBANDED.
LETTER OF GENERAL MORROW.
Y ERY soon after the surrender of the insurgent forces, both the armies of Grant and Sherman were headed for Washington. General Henry A. Morrow, by order, left the Twenty-fourth Michigan at Springfield the day that Lincoln was assassinated, to assume command of the Iron Brigade. The following letter from him, written soon after to Adjutant Chamberlin is expressive of occurring events in those days :
HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, THIRD DIVISION, FIFTH CORPS, ¿ NEAR ARLINGTON, VA., May 19, 1865.
My Dear Adjutant :
I have not forgotten my promise to write you, but since I rejoined the Army of the Potomac we have been constantly on the march until within the last few days, and there has been no opportunity for writing. You will be interested, I think, in a slight description of the homeward march of the victorious army and I will attempt to give you some idea of it. You know of course, that I have been assigned to the command of the "Iron Brigade." I was well received by both officers and men, and soon felt as much at home as though I had been in the bosom of the Twenty-fourth. God bless you !
When I rejoined the Brigade, it was at Black and White's Station, on the Southside Railroad, about sixty miles from Petersburg. Army headquarters were at Burksville, thirteen miles beyond. You remember that, to the mind of the soldier, Burksville was a famous place. It contains a tavern, a grocery, a blacksmith shop and a half dozen dilapidated buildings besides. The station has been destroyed. Black and White exists only in name. Nothing but the ruins remained to show that any human habitation had ever been there.
On the Ist of May, orders were received to take up the homeward march via Petersburg, Richmond, Hanover Court House, Bowling Green and Fredericksburg. The country around Black and White is very beautiful. Though early spring at the North, here the roses were in full bloom, and the fruit such as apples, peaches, etc., were as large as peas.
Our march was one of triumph. The Grand Old Army of the Potomac felt, every man of them, that they were heroes, and every step was firm and elastic as became the soldiers of a hundred battles. The Iron Brigade, especially, felt glorious and your humble servant as he marched through Petersburg with banners flying and music playing, felt proud of his country and its deeds. I marched the Brigade
(307)
308
HISTORY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.
through the city by platoon front, closed en masse, at a right shoulder shift. It was conceded that our Brigade made a grand appearance. The sidewalks were lined with people but they were generally Northern men.
On the 4th the corps encamped at Manchester, which is a small place on the James River opposite Richmond. The bridges had been destroyed, but a pontoon bridge connected the two places. From our camp the city of Richmond was in full view, especially the Capitol which stands on the highest of the seven hills upon which the city is built. The American flag, our own stars and stripes, floated from the flag-staff from which but a few days before the rebel banner floated triumphantly in the sunset air of heaven. Every eye was strained to catch the first view of Richmond, so long the object of our hopes ; of Libby Prison, Castle Thunder, the Capitol, the residence of the late Jefferson Davis and the Spottswood House. The Libby Prison was visited by thousands of our troops. The notorious Major Dick Turner, the infamous Rebel jailor, was confined in the cell in which he so often confined our officers.
Libby is a large tobacco warehouse and, unless it was crowded, would by no means be an unpleasant prison. It was crowded, and facilities for keeping clean not being afforded, the condition of its inmates was no doubt wretched enough, as the condition of all prisoners is, beyond question. Turner was the only prisoner now in this once famous prison. As we walked through the rooms, our footsteps resounding through the now empty building, one could not but contrast in mind, the difference between this and former scenes which had been enacted here. A Union soldier stood guard over the former Rebel jailor. Union officers and soldiers with clanking spurs and sabres, now walked in freedom where a few weeks since hundreds of Union officers mourned in spirit for the freedom which it seemed to them would never come.
Castle Thunder is an ordinary building and was used for a prison. The Capitol is not a grand building, but it is full of historical associations. The equestrian statue of Washington in the Capitol grounds, is a noble work of art .- A . statue of Henry Clay is also a fine one.
The Spottswood House is a finer building perhaps than any hotel in Detroit. It was filled with officers of both the Union and Confederate armies, for you must know that Richmond is filled with paroled Rebel officers and soldiers. They wear their uniforms and strut about the hotels as big as you please. You find them in the warm afternoons, sitting under the trees in the Capitol grounds and drinking their juleps at ' the bars.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.