USA > New Hampshire > History of the Second Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers: its camps, marches and battles > Part 5
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While this was being performed a rebel regiment crossed the farther end of the field to our front, in gallant style, at a double - quick step, and entered the bushes near where one of the Jersey regiments was stationed. The Jersey boys, lying flat upon the ground, waited until the rebels were close upon them, when they delivered a volley which for terrible effect hardly had its parallel during the war, according to reports in the Richmond papers of the time. But a very small portion of those who went so bravely upon the field retraced their steps in that helter- skelter flight, and as they came within reach of our rifles we gave them a cross fire which dropped many of those the Jersey boys had spared.
Sharpshooting now became the order of the day, and
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bullets were continually spinning across the field in every direction. As a protection against the rebel riflemen our men built a breastwork about two feet high, of rails, logs, and anything convenient, which doubtless saved many lives. The lone chimney about midway across the field was taken possession of by riflemen from the Second, and more than one rebel received his death wound from this advanced post. Rebels with stretchers appeared, pick- ing up their wounded who lay upon the field, but their office was a full guarantee of safety, and not a bullet was directed towards them. Two pieces of our artillery were with great labor hauled through the brush, and brought to bear upon the rebels, who in return brought out a couple of pieces and kept up a lively exchange of shell until our battery, having used up all its ammunition, returned to the works.
Night closed over the scene, but still the riflemen kept steadily popping away, and crouching on the ground we could hear loud orders repeated in the depths of the woods to our front, as if rebel officers were there moving heavy bodies of troops into position.
At midnight we were relieved by a portion of Gen. COUCH's Division. The rebels hearing the unusual noise occasioned by the moving troops, opened a brisk fire, when both of our lines faced to the front and poured in one deafening, stunning volley. This was our " good night" to the rebels and a sad one too, judging from the cries of the wounded, the shouts of officers rallying their fleeing men, and the calls for stretchers which ensued.
The loss of the Second this day was not less than seventy men, and other regiments suffered in the same proportion. Yet the position which it had cost so many
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IN THIE CHICKAHOMINY SWAMP.
lives to gain was abandoned that very night by the troops who relieved us, who came running back towards the for- tifications in terrified squads. They had been so long on duty in the rear that they couldn't get the hang of picket- ing in the face of the enemy. Let this be an excuse for their cowardly conduct, and also the fact that many officers of high rank were not backward in the movement. A few companies were deployed in front of the works, and if the skulkers were not driven back to the picket line they were allowed to go no farther to the rear, and they received cursings enough to satisfy them as to the opinion JOE HOOKER's fighting division entertained of their courage.
CHAPTER IX.
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THE RETREAT FROM FAIR OAKS.
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HURSDAY and Friday, June twenty - sixth and twenty - seventh, 1862, were fought the battles of Mechanicsville and Gaines Mills, which resulted in the with- drawal of PORTER's Corps from the north to the south side of the Chickahominy, and the retreat of the entire army to Harrison's Landing, on the James. In camp at Fair Oaks, we heard the deep " thrum" of PORTER's siege guns, and at night we were told that "PORTER had whipped them on the right," which ever after was the common expression among the men whenever at- tempts were made to deceive them as to the true con- dition of affairs.
Early on the morning of the eighth we were under arms, and commenced the retreat from Fair Oaks. Every arti- che of property which could not be carried was destroyed. Tents were slashed until they were in shreds, barrels of
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THE RETREAT FROM FAIR OAKS.
coffee, sugar, and other commissary articles opened and the contents scattered in the mud of the swamp, gun-bar- rels were twisted around trees, while their stocks were broken into splinters, and sutlers, with unexampled gener- osity opened their tents and told the men to help them- selves to what they wanted. Our brigade relieved the troops in the works, who marched to the rear down the Williamsburg road, and in a short time we followed and Fair Oaks was abandoned to the rebel pickets, who almost immediately advanced and occupied the field.
About three miles from Fair Oaks we were drawn up in line of battle, connecting with SUMNER upon the right, to cover the passage of our trains across White Oak Swamp. The position of the Second Regiment was such that we had a view of the railroad in the direction of Fair Oaks Station. The smoke of burning camps and Quarter- masters' stores hung over all like a thick pall, but it was not long before we could see the forms of the rebels cross- ing and recrossing the railroad. The pioneers cleared a place in front of the regiment, upon which a battery was placed in a position to rake the railroad. We lay in line full two hours without molestation, when the rebels sud- denly opened a battery to the right of our division, one shot from which struck a man lying upon the ground asleep and nearly tore his arm from his body. One of our bat- teries immediately went into position and silenced the rebel guns. Then a heavy attack was made upon a por- tion of SUMNER's line, and for a short time the infantry firing was brisk until the rebels were handsomely repulsed. The object of the halt being accomplished the long line of battle melted away from the sight of the rebels, regiment after regiment filing to the rear and marching rapidly down
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the road which led to Poplar Hill. The Second Regiment and the Twenty - Sixth Pennsylvania made a blunder which for a time raised serious apprehensions in our minds. The leading regiments marched so rapidly that they gained a considerable distance upon us, and at length coming to a place where two roads branched off the preceding regi- ments not being in sight we were obliged to guess at which one to take. The left one was chosen, and we had marched rapidly on it for full an hour when we became aware that we were on the wrong track. To go back and take the right road was out of the question, as the rebels were doubtless by that time in possession of the fork, so we kept on with all possible speed, not knowing but what we were marching directly into the rebel lines ; but at length we had the pleasure of coming out at Poplar Hill with the rest of the brigade. That night the whole army was safely across White Oak Swamp and the bridge by which it had crossed White Oak Creek torn up to prevent pursuit.
Monday morning the line of our army was formed in a huge semi-circle, extending from White Oak Swamp to Charles City Cross Roads, or Glendale. At the latter place HOOKER's Division lay in the thick woods by the roadside, with pickets thrown out in the direction of Richmond, while the great wagon train of the army was continually rumbling by towards Harrison's Landing. During the forenoon the right of the line was actively engaged with the rebels across White Oak Creek, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon a brisk firing commenced on the picket line to our front. The men knew instinctively that a battle was to ensue and those who were lying upon the ground in the grateful shade of the forest trees, without
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THE RETREAT FROM FAIR OAKS.
waiting for orders rose from their beds of moss and leaves and prepared for action. The divisions of HILL and LONGSTREET, composing the attacking force, rushed so furiously upon our lines, that the Pennsylvania Reserves were forced from the rude entrenchments in which they were stationed, but HOOKER immediately brought his di- vision into action, quickly regaining the position which had been lost by McCALL.
The Second Regiment was detached from the brigade for awhile, and double - quicked full three - quarters of a mile down the dusty road toward the right of the position. We formed in line across a road which led through an open pine forest, but in a short time orders came for us to re- join the rest of the division. As we retraced our steps the battle was at its height. Forty pieces of artillery, sta- tioned in the field to our right, were showering their deadly missiles upon the woods through which the rebels were advancing, while the infantry were pouring in volley upon volley of musketry. As we reached the broad lane down which the division had marched into the fight, an aide of Gen. HOOKER met us, who swung his hat aloft and shouted exultantly, "Gen. HOOKER has whipped the en- emy handsomely ; and he wants you to join the division," upon which we cheered lustily and marched with lighter hearts than we had before felt since leaving Fair Oaks, to join our brave comrades. We filed in the field and formed our line to the rear of the Massachusetts Sixteenth, which lay behind a rail fence upon the brow of a little ridge facing the woods through which the rebels had advanced. The rebels once repulsed, soon reformed and returned to the fight. At their first volley Col. WYMAN of the Six- teenth fell dead from his horse, and several of the regi-
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ment were killed or wounded. The regiment rose to their feet and returned one scattering volley ; then came a mo- ment of that halting and indecision which to an expe- rienced eye is evidence that a line is about to give way, and the Sixteenth broke and rushed to the rear, with the exception of a few sturdy heroes who stood up unflinch- ingly and returned the rebel fire. The Second leaped to their feet and its bayonets formed a bristling wall which neither friend nor foe could scale. The Sixteenth boys soon recovered from their momentary panie, and returned to the fence, and ever after they were ready to thank us that we checked them when they would have tarnished their proud regimental fame, and perhaps brought disaster to the Union cause.
The rebels were again repulsed, whereupon an immedi- ate advance was made by the brigade. The Twenty- Sixth Pennsylvania, upon the left of the Sixteenth, leaped the fence, and charged down into the woods, making a " right half-wheel," which spread the regiment out until it looked like a huge fan ; the Sixteenth and Second moved to the right and advanced. The First Massachusetts ran into a terrible snare. Two rebel regiments, formed like a large V, with the open part towards our lines, lay concealed in thick underbrush, into which the First unwittingly rushed. Major CHANDLER and scores of brave men fell before the fire which poured in upon both sides. "Get out of this the best way. you can," shouted Gen. Grover, not standing at such a time upon military forms, and the order was promptly obeyed ; but it was a sad fragment of the gallant regiment which emerged from the fatal snare.
At nightfall we were moved still farther to the right in support of a New York regiment. The Colonel came to
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THE RETREAT FROM FAIR OAKS.
Col. MARSTON and inquired "Colonel, can I rely upon your regiment to stand by me in case of an attack?" "Yes, sir," exclaimed MARSTON, proudly, " there wont a man of my regiment run away, sir; not a man!" "What regiment is yours?" "The New Hampshire Second !" " Good! I have heard of you before;" and immediately afterwards we heard him exhorting his regiment to do their duty, telling them that one of HOOKER's regiments was supporting them, and " a bully one, too." No attack was made upon our lines after this, although shots were con- stantly exchanged by the skirmishers. A regiment of " Zouaves" a short distance to our right, - one which fig- ured largely in the illustrated papers of the times, -re- ceived a few scattering shots, upon which they broke and ran in confusion. Gen. GROVER and other officers dashed in among them and managed to rally a portion, who were led back to their old position.
Night came, and the noise of battle gradually died away; the firing grew less frequent, and the men, lying in line of battle, hardly uttered a word, as they listened anxiously for the sounds which should herald the expected attack. But as the other sounds died away, the most terrible ones a soldier can hear, those best calculated to unnerve him, the shrieks and groans of the wounded rose painfully sharp and clear upon the night air. Hundreds of wounded, nearly all rebels, lay between the two lines, where neither friend or foc could help them, and the chorus of agonized cries which swelled up from the woods was a commentary upon the cruelty of war which could not but appeal to the hardest of hearts.
Before daybreak of the next morning we marched from the field of battle, upon which we had not been able to
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snatch a moment's sleep, and with the utmost haste pressed on toward the goal of our desires, the James river. It was but little after sunrise when we reached Malvern Hill, where the entire army was placed in position for the last great battle of the retreat. Malvern Hill, though very steep and precipitous upon the north and west sides, ex- tends to the cast in broad swells, over which the divisions and corps of the great army marched and countermarched to their respective positions, forming one of the grandest military pageants ever seen.
The enemy was close upon our heels, and soon his cavalry and skirmishers appeared upon the field at the point where we had entered it. We watched every move- ment with breathless interest, the cavalry riding furiously from one point to another, and the infantry skirmishers deploying along the edge of the woods. A rebel light battery suddenly went into position a few hundred yards distant, and saluted us with its iron compliments. The batteries of the division were immediately placed in posi- tion, and such a shower of shot and shell poured among the rebel gunners that they limbered up their guns and dashed to the rear with the utmost dispatch, the drivers lashing their horses furiously, and the cannoniers scatter- ing in every direction to escape the concentrated fire of HOOKER's batteries.
The position of HEINTZELMAN's Corps in the line that day was the left centre. No sooner was the line estab- lished than the men went to work with a will throwing up breastworks. The Second Regiment, posted in a dense wood, was soon sheltered by a bullet - proof wall, built of the decaying trunks and limbs of trees which were scattered about; and so secure did we feel behind
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THE RETREAT FROM FAIR OAKS.
our rude breastwork, so confident that no force of rebels whatever could drive us from it, that the crack of rebel rifles in our immediate front would have been the most welcome sounds which could have greeted us. Col. MARS- TON walked down the line inspecting the work with a sat- isfied air, accompanied by a volunteer surgeon, whom the pressing want of medical attendance in the army had called temporarily from private life. The fighting had commenced in good carnest to our left, and the men of the regiment, expecting every moment to be attacked, were carefully priming their pieces, spreading bunches of cartridges where they could be readily seized when needed, filling the chinks of the breastwork with sods and sticks, and making the other numberless little preparations which should insure a successful defence of the position. " Your men have got a good position," exclaimed the sur- gcon, whose eyes were constantly peering into the depths of the woods to our front. "Yes; my boys are great on entrenchments," replied the Colonel. "Do you think you will be attacked?" "Well, we may be; they are at it pretty brisk on the right." "How many men would it take to drive you out of here?" "How many? Well, six thousand might, possibly, but five thousand would get killed doing it." The pluck of the boys would have made good the Colonel's words, had there been occasion to display it, but though the battle raged furiously at other parts of the line, we were not disturbed.
The battle of Malvern Hill is recorded in history as a series of the bloodiest repulses ever inflicted upon any army. The rebels, maddened by the whisky which had been freely dealt out to them, advanced again and again to break the Union lines, but were each time flung back, 4
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with their columns crushed, bleeding and disorganized. Three hundred pieces of artillery, worked by as good gunners and brave as ever any army could boast. poured shell, grape and case - shot into their ranks with merciless profusion. The huge siege guns which had been brought along with the army were posted upon the crest of the hill, to the rear of the light batteries, while the gunboats upon the James hurled their ponderous eleven - inch shells into the dense masses of rebels upon the left. The ground fairly shook beneath this terrible cannonade, which has no parallel in the history of warfare. Never did the world witness more desperate and determined efforts than were put forth by the rebels to gain possession of Mal- vern Hill; and had their efforts been crowned with suc- cess, that day would have been a sad one in American history. The Army of the Potomac would there have ceased to exist as an army, for it would have been driven into the James or forced to surrender; and who can esti- mate the disasters to the Union cause which would have followed the loss of the great army upon which the loyal North had founded so many hopes? But such disasters were averted by the heroism of the army which, though fearfully outnumbered and retreating before an exultant foc, yet turned day after day and wrested from him victo- ries which will ever be named as proud monuments of northern valor and endurance.
At one time the rebels pressed so fiercely upon the lines that the Excelsior Brigade was withdrawn from our support and hurried to the point of attack, where they arrived in season to give a good account of themselves, making a splendid bayonet charge, and capturing two pieces of artillery.
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THE RETREAT FROM FAIR OAKS.
The day passed with the alternate periods of deafening uproar which attended each attack, and of comparative quiet which followed each bloody repulse, and until late in the night the fiery globes circled through the air; but one by one the guns ceased to work, until the quiet of utter exhaustion reigned over Malvern, and shrouded the two hostile armies, the victors and the vanquished.
CHAPTER X.
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HARRISON'S LANDING.
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HE "change of base" was effected on the second day of July, the day after the battle of Malvern Hill. A heavy rain set in which soon converted the roads into beds of mud, adding much to the difficulty of moving the wagon trains and artillery, and especially the siege train of huge, unwieldly guns. At Harrison's Landing nearly the whole army was as- sembled upon the broad fields which bordered the river. Where the road en- tered the plain, aides from each division were stationed to direct the stragglers to their respective commands, and in many regiments this class composed by far the larger por- tion of the men. The field, under the tread of thousands of feet, was converted into one great sheet of mud, upon which the men were to pitch their tents and make them- selves as comfortable as possible. The boughs of trees were laid in the mud and over these, bundles of grain col-
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HARRISON'S LANDING.
lected from the adjacent fields were spread by the men, that they might enjoy the luxury of a dry and comfortable bed for a short time at least.
The rebels could not let us alone even, then for the day after our arrival they opened with a light battery and threw several shells into the bivouac of our division. A force was immediately sent out from camp which came up in the rear of the obnoxious battery and took charge of the guns, to the infinite disgust of the rebels.
In a few days our lines were established, when we went to work with a will to fortify the position; and it was not long before we were ready to bid defiance to the combined armies of the Confederacy. A line of works of the most elaborate character was constructed, from which hundreds of pieces of artillery commanded every avenue of ap- proach by the front, and the gunboats upon the James formed an equally formidable barrier in that direction. As soon as our works were completed we were allowed a pe- riod of rest to prepare ourselves for the struggles yet to come. Besides an occasional review or tour at picket duty there was little to be performed, and the time was passed in erecting bough houses to screen us from the blazing sun, in visiting the various points of interest within our lines, or in bathing in a large mill-pond near the camp of the brigade.
The antiquarians found plenty to interest them. The old house of the HARRISON family, in which President HARRISON was born, was one of the most prominent ob- jects within the lines, and was used as the headquarters of the Signal Corps. Nearer the river stood the mansion of the lords of " Westover," which plantation is mentioned as the second one settled in Virginia. The house was built
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more than one hundred and thirty years ago by Col. WIL- LIAM BYRD, and was a most expensive affair, being built of brick brought from England. One mantle - shelf is re- ported to have cost twenty - eight hundred dollars, and all the other appurtenances were in keeping. The lawn, ex- tending to the river bank, was inclosed by a brick wall with massive iron gates. In the family burial - ground near the house the lords of the manor were sleeping, with long lists of titles and shining virtues carved upon the crum- bling marble. One of these ancient stones recorded the name of "Capt. WILLIAM PERRY," a companion of Capt. JOHN SMITH. Eight miles above " Westover" was " Shir- ley," another of the old plantations of Virginia. The buildings made of English brick were very extensive, and were built by a man named HILL, whose tombstone re- cords that he died in 1700.
Nothing, however, amused us more than the news we received of our movements and condition, through the medium of the northern papers, and the stories which were freely circulated concerning our food, deserve partic- ular mention. These papers represented us as feasting upon all the heart could desire, esculent vegetables and the best quality of meat and bread, when, in reality, the meat was generally the worst description of "smoked sides," oily and unpalatable, which might have passed muster in the rebel army, but was a bitter dose to the beef- cating Yankees ; the "vegetables" were of that kind known as " desiccated vegetables," a villainous compound, about as palatable as so many chips, and the man who invented the new way of desiccating vegetables was de- servedly unpopular with the Army of the Potomac.
Under the long inaction in which we were held the men
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HARRISON'S LANDING.
began to chafe and long for active service of some kind to relieve the dull monotony of camp life. Gen. HOOKER seems to have partaken of this feeling, for he devised a plan for the capture of Malvern Hill, then held by a rebel force of several hundred men, with artillery, which plan was approved by Gen. MCCLELLAN, and our fighting gen- eral ordered to carry it out. On the afternoon of the second day of August the division marched from the en- trenched camp to execute the movement, but being misled by a guide, it returned the same night. On the fourth, however, we again set out, and this time there was no misleading or taking wrong roads. The division followed a circuitous route which led to Charles City Cross Roads, the scene of the great battle on the thirtieth of June. In light marching order, and with the cool invigorating night air in our favor, we marched rapidly, passing through mile after mile of pine forest and Virginia clearings, and it was late in the night when we approached Charles City Cross Roads, which was held by rebel pickets. As the success of the movement depended much upon its secrecy, the utmost silence was enjoined upon the men. The inhabit- ants along the line of our march had all been placed under guard, that they might not carry news of the move- ment to the rebels, and in the bivouac that night where thousands of men lay upon their arms within pistol shot of the enemy's pickets, not a loud or incautious word was spoken, by which the rebels might gain a clue to the move- ment, but silently the men munched their hardtack, washed it down with a drink of water from their canteens, and stretched themselves upon the ground with their trusty rifles by their sides.
With the first beams of approaching day we were
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roused from our slumbers. Col. MARSTON busied himself with waking the sleepers, giving to this one a poke with his foot, to the next one a punch in the ribs with his sword scabbard, and so on. Coming to a surly fellow who was snoring away at a furious rate and showing no signs of waking, he gave him a vigorous punch and an order to rout out. The sleeper went on with his snoring and gave not a sign of obeying orders, when the colonel gave him a still rougher poke, upon which the half-roused man gave his tormentor a gruff invitation to go to the father of iniquity, adding that he had better let him alone for he "didn't belong to his company." "You don't, do you ! I'll learn you whose company you belong to, you rascal," exclaimed the colonel, and he gave the irate soldier a few vigorous blows with the flat of his sword, which brought him to his feet instanter, perfectly satisfied when he dis- covered that it was "OLD GIL" who had been pounding him instead of some lieutenant or captain.
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