USA > New Hampshire > A history of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, Volunteer Infantry in the rebellion war, 1861-1865, pt 1 > Part 26
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" As we rode wearily by the side of the disconsolate column of sad captives, we were attracted by the tower- ing height (six feet, two inches) of General Harriman, and by that indescribable and noble air which marks the man who rises above the crowd, morally and mentally. Noticing his jaded walk, and that he had passed the prime of life, while I was a mere youth, I called him to the side of the column, dismounted, and had him take my saddle. I cannot now, after the lapse of twenty-one years, recall all the conversation that passed between us on the dusty miles along the old plank road on that sultry May afternoon ; but the recol- lection of his steady and defiant convictions of the tri- umph of the Union cause and the downfall of the Con- federacy is very vivid to-day. I thought it strange at the time that he. the captive, should be'so triumphant, instead of despondent, as would have been natural to his age and under his surroundings. I suggested some- thing of the kind, with the additional remark that we had at least foiled Grant, if not beaten him, and, with the further assurance of youth, that the latter was but a mat- ter of a few days. Rising to his full length in the short stirrups (his knees had been drawn up, much as the Eng- lish ride) for a moment, he seemed to think he was again in front of his regiment on the eve of assault, and while his eye flashed. and his hand clutched nervously toward the sabre side, he cried out, -. Never ! Your success is only ephemeral. God Almighty is back of our army "
" That remark placed General Harriman at once in
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my mind as one of those whom we of the South at that day, with our loose go-as-you-please, devil-may-care cavalier notions, styled fanatical Puritans. The Puritan saw God's hand wherever the battle raged for human rights, no matter how weak his force, or how strong the opposing power of error or guilty wrong. General Har- riman, though a Democrat at one time, was too much of a Puritan to be blinded to the fact that his party. shorn of its strength by its dalliance with the Delilah of slavery, was utterly impotent to grapple with the hideous evil. His Puritanism-if you choose to call it that. but we would say principle-undoubtedly the outcome of Puritan teaching and nurture, was stronger than his politics. Is New England breeding any of this stock now? Such men are needed."
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CAPTAIN SHEPARD'S ACCOUNT.
Captain George N. Shepard of Company A, contrib- utes the following most vivid sketch of the fight, of which he was in the heaviest part :
" About midday the Eleventh New Hampshire, with other regiments of the brigade commanded by General S. G. Griffin, is within short musket range of the enemy. Colonel Harriman is with his regiment, commanding and leading with conspicuous bravery, his tall form a fair mark for the enemy's riflemen, who shoot from extem- porized .breastworks of logs. The lamented Collins, lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, falls mortally wound- ed by a musket ball through the head ; Captain Clark is disabled by a gunshot wound in the arm ; Lieutenant Currier receives a severe wound in the face ; scores of men hobble to the rear. Presently the command . For- ward !' is passed along the lines. We deliver our fire
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and rush with a shout toward the enemy. Many of them run for their lives ; others raise handkerchiefs on ramrods for flags of truce. . Cease firing "' shouts our colonel. Scores of graybacks surrender and are sent to the rear. Enthusiasm runs high, and we rush on in pursuit of the flying foe. The lines of the opposing armies extend for miles through the dense forest, but only that in our im- mediate front is visible to ourselves : it is all of the battle to us. We drive the enemy from a second line, captur- ing a part. We pause and examine our position, and find ourselves far in advance of the general line of battle. Colonel Harriman sends back for instructions. 'Tell the General,' says he to the messenger, ' that we are driving the enemy before us, but our flanks are exposed. Ask if we shall hold our position until the main line comes up, or shall we push farther. We can do either.' While waiting to receive orders we are giving time for the enemy to rally.
"Soon we perceive a long line of gray-clad men emerging from the thick undergrowth on our left, and swinging around our flank. Not a monent is to be lost. ' To the rear and form a new line fronting the foe !' We reach the old rebel line of log breastworks. ' Halt here, men,' shouts our colonel, swinging his sword; 'we can hold them here ; form in line here !' But before the line is half formed, our pursuers pour in their fire. Every experienced man knows the difficulty of reforming a line under fire.
" The efforts of our colonel and his subordinates are of no avail. To the rear again we go. So hard are we pressed, and such the difficulties in the way of our rapid flight, that some are killed and others captured, among the latter our colonel ; while Captain Tilton and others barely escape the rebel clutches. I have related facts of which I was cognizant as an eye-witness."
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The woods in the Wilderness extended some ten to fifteen miles, and in places they were very dense. These woods were on fire on the second day's fight, and the smoke was at times blinding, and the air was sickening with the effluvia arising from the burning of dead bodies. At one point there were one hundred dead bodies close about the Eleventh. The fighting was almost entirely by musketry, as but little artillery could be used.
COLONEL HARRIMAN'S STATEMENT.
" Wednesday, May 4, broke camp at Bristoe station and bivouacked that night at Bealton station. Thursday, took up the line of march, crossed the Rappahannock at Rappahannock station, thence down on the south-west- erly side of that river, crossed the Rapidan at Germania ford and camped that night near the latter river, or rather rested on our arms there till I o'clock in the night. As we arrived upon this ground near the night of the 5th of May, the thunders of the first day's Battle of the Wil- derness were clearly heard continuing into the evening. Our orders were to pitch no tents. and to be in constant readiness to march.
" At 2 o'clock at night, or. in other words. at 2 o'clock in the morning of Friday, May 6, 1864, we formed a line and moved towards the battle-field. At daylight the great battle commenced. The Eleventh Regiment was under fire through the whole day. At about I o'clock p. m. our brigade charged the enemy's lines. The Eleventh Regiment moved up gallantly, and fought with deter- mined spirit and bravery. No troops ever made an as- sault in finer style. .
"We were in an oak wilderness at the right of a plank road leading from Fredericksburg to Orange Court
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House. We carried two successive lines of the enemy's works by charging desperately upon them. We drove them from all their works in our front, and had we known how completely the rebel lines were destroyed and dis- persed, our army could have marched on unimpeded, capturing any quantity of prisoners and of public prop- erty.
" While the Eleventh was gallantly fighting its way under the fiercest musketry fire that this war has known, our connections both to the right and left became broken, and we found ourselves without support, isolated from the rest of the division, and far in advance. A fresh brigade charged upon our left flank. The regiment retreated, and I was taken prisoner.
" May Io, Lynchburg, Va. I now write from Lynch- burg, Va., and, from the best information I can get in this rebel country, I am led to believe that the Battle of the Wilderness was the fiercest, bloodiest battle of the whole war ;- more men were killed, more wounded, and more taken prisoners than in any other battle. To think now of the fighting, of the field covered with the dead and dying of that terrible day, May 6, makes my blood almost curdle : I cannot describe it."
GENERAL GRIFFIN'S PLEASURE AT THE APPEARANCE OF HIS BRIGADE.
We filed to the left about midday through the woods, by order of General Burnside. General Griffin reported to General Potter, commanding the division, who was with General Burnside. General Griffin formed his line of battle by brigade form. Two brigades of the Third Di- vision of the Ninth Corps were lying on the ground in his front ; these were commanded respectively by Colo-
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nels Hartranft and Christ. These men hesitated to ad- vance, the fire was so murderous. Seeing that General Griffin had a good line, and knowing that both his bri- gade and its commander could be depended upon, Burn- side said to Potter, "Let Griffin attack." General Potter transmitted the order to General Griffin verbally, and he gave the order to advance. And General Griffin says,- " It was one of the grandest sights I ever saw ; that bri- gade of six large regiments in bright, new uniforms, well aligned in order of battle, advancing with a steady step and colors flying ;- it was so inspiring that each bri- gade of troops lying down, as we passed over them, rose to their feet with a shout and pressed on with us, ming- ling with our troops and causing me to lose in some measure the control of my line. All our regiments did splendidly."
But the troops on our left did not advance with us. The enemy attacked us on that flank, and made a coun- ter charge on our front. so we were compelled to fall back nearly to the point whence we started. There the ground was held. The woods were so thick and the ground so rough, and the smoke was so dense at times, that Gen- eral Griffin was the only person mounted. When the line began its advance he dismounted, handed the reins to Lieutenant Hutchins of his staff, and went on foot. Lieutenant Hutchins and the horse were shortly after- wards killed. General Griffin had several bullet holes through his clothes.
CAPTAIN TILTON'S ACCOUNT.
Colonel Harriman. not finding his adjutant at hand, sent Captain Tilton to report to General Griffin, giving him the message mentioned in Captain Shepard's account.
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and ordered him to hurry back. and find Griffin and report the situation. Captain Tilton started at once, and soon met Captain Edgerly of the brigade staff, who vol- unteered to go and show him where General Griffin was. They had gone but a short distance, when they were ordered to halt. Looking up they saw four rebels stand- ing behind the roots of an upturned tree with their guns levelled on them. Captain Tilton immediately turned and ran back in the direction of the regiment he had just left, which was then falling back to prevent capture. Captain Tilton had no opportunity to report to the colo- nel, for he did not see him again.
The colonel was captured by a squad of rebels, and after his capture, as he was being taken to the rear, he passed the dead body of Captain Edgerly. He had been killed by the same rebels behind the roots of the tree, who had ordered himself and Captain Tilton to halt. Lieu- tenant Frost, who was also dispatched by Colonel Harri- man to report to General Griffin, came near being cap- tured, so far were the enemy on our flank at that early time. Fully two thirds of the ground over which the Eleventh Regiment had made its bold and daring advance, was, at the very time the regiment commenced to fall back, in the hands of the enemy, and the wonder is, that not only Colonel Harriman and many others were captured, but that a single man of the regiment in the ranks when that charge was made should ever have escaped.
Rev. E. P. Roe, in " Found yet Lost," says of the Wilderness, --
" Lonely and uninhabited in its normal condition, this forbidding wilderness had become peopled with thousands of men. The Army of the Potomac was penetrating and seeking to pass through it. Vigilant General Lee had 23
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observed the movement, and, with characteristic bold- ness and skill, ordered his troops from their strong intrenchments on Mine Run, towards the Union flank. On this memorable morning the van of his columns waked from their repose at only a short distance from the Federal bivouac. Both parties were unconscious of their nearness, for, with the exception of a few clearings, the dense growth restricted vision to a narrow range.
" The Union forces were directed in their movements by the compass, as if they were sailors on a fog-enshroud- ed sea, but they well knew they were seeking their old antagonist, the Army of Northern Virginia, and that the stubborn tug of war might begin at any moment.
"A few minutes later the birds fled to the closest cover, startled by the innumerable bugles sounding the note of preparation. Soon the different corps, divisions, and brigades were upon their prescribed lines of march.
"No movement could be made without revealing the close proximity of the enemy. Rifle reports from the skirmish lines and reconnoitering parties speedily fol- lowed. A Confederate force was developed on the turn- pike leading south-west from the old Wilderness tavern, and the fighting began at about eight o'clock. Grant and Meade came up and made their head-quarters beneath some pine trees near the tavern.
"General Grant could scarcely believe, at first, that Lee had left his strong intrenchments to give battle in a region little better than a jungle, but he soon had ample and awful proof of the fact. Practically unseen by each other. the two armies grappled like giants in the dark. So thick were the trees and undergrowth, that a soldier on a battle line could rarely see a thousand men on either side of him, yet nearly two hundred thousand men matched their deadly strength that day ; hundreds fell, died, and were hidden forever from human eyes."
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Lieutenant Gresham of the Nineteenth Alabama, was a prisoner in our hands immediately after the capture of Colonel Harriman, and said to me, " We captured your colonel, I think, a large, tall man whose name was Harra- something." "Harriman," I suggested ; and he said, " Yes that's the name : he is a brave man. When cap- tured, he said. 'Take good care of me, boys : I know you will. I am terribly wounded ;' and he was, but he was tenderly cared for." The men of the Seventeenth Michigan, on our right, as we made the charge, sprang up every man of them, and went in with us, saying, " Bully for the old Eleventh New Hampshire '-that's the way to do it ;- we could have done so if we had had any offi- cers good for anything ;"-and they did valiant service with the Eleventh. The ground was covered with the dead and dying.
When the Eleventh fell back, every man caring for himself, the writer came upon the colors of the regiment planted near the first line of works captured from the rebels that day, and by them were some half a dozen men, feeling proud that the colors of the old Eleventh New Hampshire were the nearest the enemy of any in the Ninth Corps; at this moment General Potter came dashing through the smoke from the rear, and seeing the Eleventh's colors, and their squad of defenders, said, " Bully for the Eleventh New Hampshire ! Remain where you are, halt every man who comes this way, and I will send you reinforcements ;" and, turning about, disappeared in the smoke again. The men of the regiment began to rally around their colors, and in two hours' time about 130 had joined the regimental line.
Shortly after dark an order came detailing the regi- ment on the picket at the left, in a wood near the enemy, under orders to see that every man was at his post ; no sleep or loud talking was to be allowed, and no matches
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were to be lighted. The night was one of great anxiety at Grant's head-quarters, which were in communication with the regiment half hourly during the night, fearing the enemy would attempt its old tactics of doubling up the army and sending it back over the Rapidan.
LETTER OF ADJUTANT MORRISON.
The following letter of Adjutant C. R. Morrison, written on the battle-field of The Wilderness to his brother, will be read with much interest :.
IN LINE OF BATTLE, May 7, 1864.
Yesterday morning we were ordered to be in readiness at half past one to move without noise, and were in motion soon after that time. We marched about four or five miles, and by daylight arrived at the scene of the previous day's engagement : we were immediately sent to the front. The battle had already commenced on our right. The Second Brigade. Colonel Griffin, composed of the 6th, 9th, and IIth New Hampshire, 31st Maine and 17th Vermont (the 9th New Hampshire being absent ), was marched by the front in two lines of battle through a thick close growth of pines, and then across an open field about three fourths of a mile, without discovering any enemy. Then, again by the left flink into another thick undergrowth on our left, the length of the brigade, then by the post in the thick woods. We soon found ourselves directly opposite a rebel battery, which opened upon us, doing but little harm, as they could not depress their guns enough to reach us, sheltered as we were under the hill on which the battery was placed. There we lay several hours, till noon, the day being very hot ; occasionally the balls whistling past, whilst the shelling was kept up, the shells passing over our heads and exploding some distance beyond. One or two were wounded here.
At noon we were again taken by the left flank through the woods, to the left of the place where we entered in the morning in two lines of battle. in the first front, and went into the woods half a mile to the left of the place where we entered in the morning. When a short distance in the woods, the 17th Vermont formed on our right, the 6th New Hampshire on our left, and we continued to advance over several
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lines of battle till we reached the front, and the firing immediately com- menced. Still farther on the left, in the first line of battle, were other regiments,-I think from the First Brigade, Second Division. In our rear was a second line of battle, and behind that two others, and after a spirited contest of a few minutes, the order was given to " Advance, advance, advance!" and on we went, fighting as we went, the supports in our rear following up. Coming to a halt, the contest was kept up for some little time. At this point Lieutenant-Colonel Collins of our regiment was shot through the head. I was within a few feet of him at the time, and probably at this halt Lieutenant Hutchins was killed, although he was not found until this morning. He must have been killed on the spot, shot through the neck, also in the leg. I gave but a passing look at Lieutenant-Colonel Collins's face : he was insensible. The order had been given to advance, and I succeeded with some diffi- culty in breaking the knot that had gathered about him (telling them it was plain they could do nothing for him), and in starting them forward. The fire became hotter ; "Advance, advance" was the word, and a portion of the right wing of our regiment started back, but Colonel Harriman, with pistol in hand, endeavored to stop them .. I did all 1 could to assist him, and succeeded in stopping quite a number, but the time lost in the attempt to avert the retreat gave the second line an opportunity to come up, for it had started quickly, and followed closely upon us. I put a portion of its men into this line and then into the third, which was there in a minute, and went along with that a considerable distance, urging on the men just as if they had belonged to my own regiment. This line having been somewhat broken, the command came to a halt. I immediately reported to the colonel of the regiment, told him I had been separated from my regiment, and should be happy to render him any service in my power. He asked me if I had been hard at work for an hour past; I said Yes, but not so but that I could perform any service he wished (I didn't tell him how I had been hard at work all day thus far). He said if I were willing, he should like to have me take six good men and go to the front, and find any of his men and bring them back to the line he was forming anew ; and I told him to furnish the men, and with them I started. The Sergeant-major volunteered to go with us (I had told the colonel I wat> adjutant ), and off we went in a hurry, inquiring for the 109th New York, and I also for the Eleventh New Hampshire, and, having learned the direction it had taken, marched that way. We had gone 100 or 150 ronds. I should judge, when to our left and a little in advance I saw a regiment coming back in hot haste by the Hank, and immediately to
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the right of them a promiscuous crowd of fugitives were running as fast as their legs could carry them, and it was evident that our front had all given way. On looking back, I saw that my company were all on the move; and beyond, the supporting line which I had left was nowhere to be seen. After coming some little distance, I saw some little efforts by officers before me to rally the fugitives on a new line, and I stopped and tried to help, but it was of no use, for the tide swept on ; but still farther a new line was partly formed, and seeing it I looked for the Eleventh New Hampshire. Scarcely a man was to be found; I found the colors, the color-sergeant with them. I looked in vain for the men : they had been scattered like the leaves of autumn. Officers could be found, but no men ; but after awhile the men began to gather about the " old flag," and in the course of two hours we had 130 guns.
We were again put into line of battle at the front. where we have since remained. At the time of my writing, we have 265 guns for duty. Our field return shows two officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Collins and Lieutenant Hutchins, killed; one a prisoner, Colonel Harriman ; three wounded, Captains H. O. Dudley, Company C, slightly; J. B. ยท Clark, Company H, severely ; J. C. Currier. in the face ; J. W. Taylor, Sergeant-Major, severely; and thirty enlisted men wounded and forty missing and reported prisoners. It is not easy to account satisfactorily for the stampede. The line intrusted to me in the eagerness of the advance drove the rebels over two lines of breastworks, the Eleventh going as far as any of them, and then the rebels began a flank move- ment upon the left of the regiment. The regiment upon our extreme left, instead of swinging around to meet it, withdrew to the rear by the order of its commander; the rest of the line, seeing they were flanked, came off in a hurry. Colonel Harriman was taken, probably, near the first line of breastworks, by a company of the 19th Alabama : Lieutenant Gresham of that company, who was wounded by us-I don't mean our regiment-in a subsequent attack upon our lines, so informed us.
I felt a little unpleasant that I did not go as far as the regiment : the satisfactory view of the matter is, that I was separated from it in the performance of duty, and at once rendered what service I could elsewhere, committing all my interests to Him who is over all. I can say truly, that throughout the day, by His favor, I did my whole duty in the way that seemed to be best, and without fear. Upon the retreat, indeed, a sense of shame came over me lest I should be wounded in the back, where mother told me not to be. It should be stated that about one third of our number were new recruits of the sort which New
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Hampshire has furnished of late. Although constantly exposed from the beginning to the termination of the attack, by the protection of Heaven I have been kept from all harm, and to His name be the praise.
The day was very warm, the men were started off at two o'clock a. m., without coffee in all the weary day, and were loaded down with their heavy packs. The day before the right wing marched twenty miles, under a hot sun, and the left wing twenty-one or twenty-two miles.
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CHAPTER XII.
BATTLES OF SPOTTSYLVANIA, NORTHI ANNA, AND COLD HARBOR- CROSSING THE JAMES-THE ASSAULT AT THE SHAND HOUSE- LIEUTENANT DIMICK'S CAPTURE, IMPRISONMENT, AND ESCAPE- REMINISCENCES.
So ended the two days of terrific fighting in the Wil- derness. The most careful estimates give the loss of the Union forces in this conflict as 18,000 in round num- bers, of whom 6,000 were prisoners. The rebel loss was 11,000.
Lee had met his equal in strategy, and his superior in pluck and perseverance for fighting in the open field. The rebel general was satisfied that he could not main- tain a contest with Grant upon the line he had chosen, " so he withdrew his forces and placed them behind his intrenchments, putting himself upon the defensive. Grant, undismayed by the losses of the previous two days, determined to renew his march southward towards Richmond at once, and therefore proceeded to place his army between Lee and the latter place. Warren, with his Fifth Corps, was ordered to lead in the movement by the flank, along the Brock road, by way of Todd's tavern. Hancock followed him with the Second Corps, while Sedgwick with the Sixth Corps, and Burnside with the Ninth Corps, moved by way of Chancellorsville.
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