USA > New Hampshire > History of the Twelfth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 21
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Emotional by nature and credulous from ignorance, it is not strange that their religious ideas were considerably mixed up with superstition, and reached much farther into the mystic regions of the wonderful and miraculous than would be thought reasonably necessary and proper among them to-day.
One Sabbath afternoon Lieutenants Prescott and Bartlett attended one of their meetings, held in the chapel-tent of their encampment. Some fifty or more of men, women, and children were present, and all except the visitors took an act- ive part in the exercises. These consisted of preaching or exhorting (perhaps the latter is the more appropriate word), praying, singing, shouting, moaning. groaning, and weeping, all timed, emphasized, and intensified by shaking hands, stamping the feet. nodding the head, swinging the body, and other strange and erratic motions and gesticulations, repeated over and over until they would work themselves up to the highest pitch of frenzy. Some of them would drop uncon- scious upon the floor as if dead, while others would go into hysterical fits, as it appeared to their Gentile listeners, and then it would be lively work for the broth- ers and sisters to manage them. It was, of course, a strange sight for the officers, and so different from anything of the kind ever seen before that it made a lasting impression upon their minds.
One large. fat woman who was " taken wid de power." as they called it, was so violently demonstrative in the corporeal expression of her spiritual ecstasy that it took three or four strong sisters to so far match her new-born strength, as to keep her within the bounds of personal safety, to say nothing about church propriety. While intently watching the operation of the " power" upon the
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woman, a tall young man, standing just in front of where the visitors were sitting, fell back prostrate upon the benches as if dead, and then the shout went up: " Thank de Lord, another sinner down !" But he had only been struck by the " power" which instead of producing death was the first outward sign, as they believed, of everlasting life.
Their sacred hymns, like their plantation songs, were nearly all chorus, being little more than the repetition of one or two lines of the same measure, with now and then the variation of a new word or line. One of these as sung by them on this occasion was worded as follows :
Come, all ye folks, come along wid me, For I's goin' to jine wid dat army ; Goin' to jine de army of de Lord. For I's goin' to jine wid dat army.
Come, brother, come, come along wid me, ( Chorus. ) Come, sister, come, come along wid me. ( Chorus. ) Come, sinner, come, come along wid me, ( Chorus. )
And so the verses would be continued and the words repeated until it seemed as if there was to be no end.
In singing this and other similar songs, as many as could (probably all had there been room) would form in a ring, join hands, and keep time by the swing. ing of their arms up and down like a pump-handle hand shake, and giving the downward beat vehemence enough to sway the body and jerk the head in so forei- ble and vigorous a manner that, but for their strange and amusing appearance, would have been almost as painfully tiresome to observe as to perform. This they would prolong, accompanied by the stamping of feet, at every swing of the arms until quite exhausted. Then they would fall upon their knees, and, as soon as sufficient breath was recovered, some one would lead in prayer to be fol- lowed by others too full of the spirit to withhold until the first one had got through, and then came a test trial of lung power in praying, as there had already been in singing.
And yet, with all here written, and much more there witnessed, there was in every word and act such a serious earnestness, and fervent spirit of reverence and devotion that what, under other circumstances, would have been a most amusing free exhibition of the oddities and follies of an ignorant and superstitious race, was at this time and place too seriously impressive to admit of either ridicule or criticism.
Whatever may have been the effect of this meeting upon those who partici- pated in the exercises, one, at least, of those who only saw and heard, learned a lesson that he has never forgotten. And he questions not that many aristocratie members of our rich and fashionable churches in the great college-honored cities of the North, and perhaps some of the ministers, might learn a lesson of Christian humility, and be brought to a keener sense of their own moral responsibility, could they attend one of these meetings, and listen to some of the simple-worded, but fervently eloquent and soul-touching prayers, so sincerely and earnestly offered up by these poor, illiterate worshippers.
CHAPTER IX.
FROM POINT LOOKOUT TO DRURY'S BLUFF.
At noon on the 11th of April, 1864, the steamer .. Thomas A. Morgan." already loaded with the Twelfth, leaves her moorings at Point Lookout and steams down the Chesapeake towards Yorktown, where she drops anchor about 8 o'clock in the evening. Although it seemed almost like leaving home, after eight months so pleasantly passed in contrast with active field service, yet, to the new members at least, it was like the son's first leaving the paternal roof-sad to leave, but glad to be away. In the hearts of many of the recruits, however, there was no feeling of sadness, for they now saw some prospect of finding what they had so long been waiting for-a good chance to desert - which they soon began to improve.
During the afternoon a regiment of colored troops were met, on their way to take the place of the Fifth Regiment, then under marching orders. The Second was already at Yorktown, having left the Point four days before.
As soon as light the next morning the regiment disembarked and lav outside of the old fortifications until 7 A. M .. when it marched to Williams- burg, a distance of twelve miles, and stacked arms for encampment near the old battle ground, where, nearly a year before, the brave fol- lowers of Hooker and Kearney, directed by General Heintzleman, so stubbornly held the field against a large portion of the rebel army. To the old members of the Second every thing was familiar. and called up afresh the sad memory of many a brave comrade who fell on that sanguinary field.
The Second and Twelfth. with the One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Volunteers, were united at Yorktown, forming with the Eleventh Connecticut, that soon after joined, the Second Brigade in the Second Division of the Eighteenth Army Corps, commanded respectively by Generals Wistar, Weitzel. and Smith. At Williamsburg " A" tents were drawn. and from the care and pains taken in laying out and fixing up the encampment, there seemed some ground for believing the other- wise very improbable camp story, that the brigade was expected to remain here for several months. This was told, of course, as a mere blind to the rebel citizen spies, who were ever ready to watch and report to their generals every movement of our troops.
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From the 12th to the 24th the men were kept busy in company, bat- talion, and skirmish drills, target shooting, and picket duty. There were, sometimes, four drills a day, which the old members felt as another burden brought upon them by the new recruits.
On the 24th orders came to send all surplus baggage to Yorktown, and exchange " A" tents for shelters. This had a business look to it that could not be mistaken : and now the "subs." several of whom had already deserted since leaving Point Lookout, began to sift out faster than ever. It was evident that something must be done, or the roll of recruits in the Twelfth would diminish pro rata with the Second, from which over a hundred had deserted in three days. A general court martial was instituted by order of General Wistar, of which Lieutenant Bartlett of the Twelfth was appointed judge advocate, and several of the apprehended deserters were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot, subject to the approval of the President. Two had already been shot in the Second, and two more apprehended at the same time were executed on the 29th in the presence of the brigade at Williamsburg. This was the first time that the Twelfth had ever witnessed an execution of the extreme penalty of military law, and the scene is still quite vivid in the minds of some who saw it.
The spot having been selected and two graves dug, the regiments of the brigade are marched out at the hour appointed and formed into three sides of a hollow square, facing inward, with the newly-dug graves in the middle of the open side. Soon the . mark time" beat of the muffled drum is heard, and the condemned men. riding on their rough-made coffins, and guarded by twelve soldiers, selected from the Second Regi- ment. as executioners. slowly approach the square, and entering at one end of the open side, are driven round the whole distance of the other three sides, close in front of the lines. As they pass along, their countenances are closely scanned by every soldier, eager to read therefrom the emotions of the soul within. One of them, with downcast. sorrowful gaze. looks as if he realizes his situation, and that the woeful sorrow for the past, that has brought him here, is nearly equal to the dread of the terrible present that is now before him. The other acts more like one riding to a circus than his own grave. A brutish grin is on his face, accom- panied with an indifference of demeanor that seems half real and half affected. The teams are halted in front of the graves, beside which the coffins are placed. and the victims, dismounting from the cart, remain standing while the provost martial reads the death warrant and a prayer is made by the chaplain. They are next seated upon their coffins, their caps removed (the heedless one, bound to die game, taking his off him- self and throwing it for some distance), their eyes bandaged with hand- kerchiefs. and now the dreadful moment of death-waiting suspense has arrived. The provost steps to one side a few paces, raises his hand, and twelve muskets instantly come to a "ready"; a little higher the hand.
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and the muskets are aimed and waiting: his hand drops, and Owen McDonald and James Scott fall over their coffins into eternity.
Some days. when going out on picket, the detail passed through the city of Williamsburg. This is one of the oldest places in the country, the seat of the once celebrated William and Mary College. and for more than three quarters of a century the capitol of the Old Dominion, " the mother of presidents." And what a picture lesson for the intelligent New England soldier to study ! The college. the oldest except Harvard. and once the richest in the country, had long existed only in a building and a name: and now. with only a part still standing as a solemn mockery of its former greatness. the main building being burned the year before, with dilapidation painfully visible on every side and Ichabod written too plainly over all. the question would constantly arise in the mind, what is the cause of this great change, while Cambridge. Dart- mouth. and Yale, where the rich slave holders had for years sent their sons to be educated. are in the full measure of their usefulness? To this inquiry responsive Reason could give but one reply : It was the blighting institution of human slavery.
On the morning of May 4. orders were received to march at noon. with four days' rations : and while camp-fires blazed high with every combus- tible thing left in camp. the regiment right faces into column and is soon moving past Fort Magruder toward Yorktown. After marching about two miles to the Whittaker House. General Wistar's headquarters, where the rest of the brigade, now including the Eleventh Connecticut, was in wait- ing, a halt was ordered : and no further move was made until dark. The command then turned to the right into the woods, and marched silently and swiftly to Grove Landing on the James river, and about 10 o'clock went aboard transports and lay at anchor for the night. After leaving the Whittaker House great caution was required to make no noise, and the men were not allowed to build fire enough to boil their usual dipper of coffee before embarking.
This movement of the brigade was made under special instructions from General Smith to General Wistar, dated May 3. as follows :
" Your command will march so as to arrive at Grove Landing when it is fairly dark to-morrow evening, at which time you will commence to embark. You will make your men comfortable. Show no lights, and permit no noise. About 2.30 A. M .- 5th instant -you will move out into the stream so as to fall in rear of Heckman's brigade when it comes. Some signal will be designated to you by telegraph, by which you will know his rear boat."
It will be seen by this order in connection with the break-camp bonfire. previously alluded to, that Butler and his generals had much less fear that the enemy should know that some of their troops were leaving. than that he should find out where the most of them were going. But how General Smith expected his brigade commander to make his men " com-
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fortable," without a spark of fire to cook or warm by, is not quite so easy to understand.
The next morning was clear and pleasant, and as soon as light, boats of all kinds, from a freight barge to an ironclad ram or a double-turreted monitor, were seen coming up the river, increasing with the hours, until when at 8 o'clock. the "Ocean Wave." loaded with the Twelfth, swung into line, the river was filled with the fleet of General Butler, the iron- clads and other war vessels, including the captured rebel ram " At- lanta." under the command of Admiral Lee, taking the lead. In the meantime a small force had been sent by transports up the York and Pamunkey rivers to White House Landing to attract the attention of the , enemy in that direction, while two flanking forces of cavalry, commanded by Colonel West and General Kautz. moved out from Williamsburg and Suffolk and advanced up the north and south sides of the James. The destination and purpose of Butler's expedition, to march quickly into Richmond by the back door, while Lee was busy keeping Grant out of the front one. was now apparent to his followers, who hitherto had been as much in the dark as the rebels. The plan, suggested by General But- ler and approved of by Grant. was a good one : but whether to succeed or not depended, like all other military moves of the kind, almost entirely upon the celerity of its execution.
The fleet came to anchor about 9 o'clock in the evening at Bermuda Hundred and City Point, near the confluence of the Appomatox river with the James ; and about three hours later, during which time the pioneer corps were busy constructing a temporary wharf, the Ocean Wave " moves up to the landing, and the regiment is soon again upon terra firma. where, after marching about a mile, the men were glad to find a chance to sleep. But their rest was short and sweet, for at half past three the next morning they were aroused from their slumbers, and by six were on the road toward Chester Station on the Petersburg & Richmond railroad. After marching about four miles Heckman's brig- ade, in the advance, forms a line of battle in the woods in front, and soon the familiar sound of " popping corn" is heard, telling that his skirmish line has found the enemy. During the afternoon a part of the Second Brigade was brought up in line of battle on the left and two companies of the Twelfth sent out as skirmishers. Toward night there was quite heavy firing on the advance right, and the remainder of Wistar's hrig- ade, including the Twelfth, was aligned for action, and held in reserve : but the enemy fell back and the first day toward Richmond ended with but little results. That it had been a complete surprise, however, to the rebel authorities there was ample evidence. Houses were found vacated, with every indication of having just been left by their occupants. the dishes and victuals on the table, in one or two of them, showing that their breakfast had not been finished.
A large mansion pleasantly situated on a high plateau near the
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New Hampshire Volunteers.
Appomatox, was owned and occupied by a rich planter by the name of Cobb. The engineers, having fixed upon this spot as the best place for a redoubt, ordered the house demolished, which was done mainly by a detail from the Second Regiment, encamped near by, and the well filled up with bricks. A negro hut left standing, was used, for a while, as a signal station, messages being sent and received from a small platform built across the ridge-pole. Later, a small fort was thrown up where the house had stood, and close by a signal tower, one hundred and thirty feet high, was erected, from the top of which Petersburg was in plain view, and the steeples of Richmond could be distinctly seen in a clear day without the aid of a glass. This was known as " Cobb Hill Station" or " Butler's Tower," and was the chief point of attraction to all visitors from Washington and the North until the close of the war. It was used both as an observing and transmitting station, and was for some time in charge of a signal officer detached from the Twelfth, and especially instructed for that service .*
Some of the negroes, having more love for the Yankees than their masters, managed, in the hurry and confusion of the escape of the whites, to hide away or linger behind until they were out of sight. and then come into our lines. One who had been a slave on the Cobb plantation, was noticed by his owner, or one of his family, just as they were leaving the premises to the fate of war, quietly sitting down beneath a tree, and making no effort to get away. And when admonished to leave at once or the ". Yanks" would have him, replied : .. No use to run, Marsa, for 'pears 'o they 're go'n' all o'er creation, and will have us all, soon'r later, anyhow." There was both wisdom and wit in this rejoinder, which showed, moreover, that Tom - for that was his name - understood the situation full as well, if not better than his master. He afterward acted as cook and groom for the signal officer above mentioned, and proved himself as true and faithful as a servant as he had doubtless been as a slave. But when his master ran away from him, instead of he from his master, he felt himself under no obligation to follow after, and turn his back upon the long-wished-for opportunity for gaining his freedom that was now present for his embrace.
Another, who came in from Petersburg the next day, reported conster- nation there among the inhabitants, as they expected an immediate attack by our forces, while the city was in an almost defenseless condition, there being nothing but an improvised force of citizens and a few soldiers to defend it. He also said that General Beauregard had just arrived in the city.t Here then was a golden opportunity fast slipping away. An hour's delay, now. meant a year more of agony and desolation to the Nation, and another holocaust of death, already commenced in the terrible struggle of the Wilderness. The key was in Butler's hands, and had he
* Sec picture, description, incidents, etc., under the head of "Signal Service in the Army."
t Beauregard did not arrive until the 10th.
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quickly turned it the right way the country and the world would long ago have placed his name with Grant's, Sherman's, and Sheridan's. That night a portion of his army should, as it doubtless could, have slept inside of the fortifications of Petersburg. But delays are dangerous, and never more so than in an attempt to surprise a vigilant and powerful foe acting on the defensive in his own country.
The next day occurred the skirmish fight, known as the battle of Ber- muda Hundred, in which Brooks's division drove back the thin lines of the enemy, and took possession and tore up two or three miles of the Richmond & Petersburg railroad. Although the Twelfth was in line of battle to support the attack, if needed. it was not engaged. General Ransom, in command of the rebels. having managed to get two or three batteries down from Richmond the night before to use until an infantry force could be collected, there being then only about twelve hundred men to confront our whole army, it was thought, judging by the artillery fire. that quite a heavy force was ready to resist our advance : and most of the day was spent in entrenching. to prevent being pushed back by an imaginary foe. instead of pushing forward and capturing the real one. Brigadiers and their staff's were riding in every direction, and commands of infantry and artillery hurried to the front, as if on the eve of a great and decisive battle. The next day was Sunday, but how different from that peaceful. quiet day at home ! About half of the regiment were sent out on picket, and the rest were employed in assisting the pioneers and on fatigue duty. There was a vigorous attack now made upon the woods, and the sound of axes and falling trees. heard on every side. reminded one of the mus- ketry and artillery of battle. The wounded of the day before were carried by to the rear early in the morning, and the morrow would doubt- less increase the number, for at 6 o'clock p. M., there was an order to move by light the next day, with one day's rations and in light marching order. General Butler, impatient of longer delay, had determined at last to throw forward his whole force, and effect, if possible. more decisive results.
"General Smith was to endeavor to reach the railroad bridge over Swift Creek, supported by General Gillmore on the left, toward Chester Station."
Petersburg, it seems, was then the objective point. Gillmore reached and destroyed several miles of the railroad during the afternoon. while Smith engaged the enemy at Swift Creek.
The plan was " to pass Swift Creek, reach the Appomatox, and destroy the bridges across it : while General Hinks. with his colored troops, was to move on the south side of the river upon Petersburg itself, and create a diversion, if he could not take the city, while the enemy was defending the line of the Creek."
The Twelfth moved with the rest of the division at daylight: and.
* General Butler's account.
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New Hampshire Volunteers.
preceded by Brooks's division, marched down the turnpike, as soon as reached. toward Petersburg.
The day was much too warm for comfort. even in the shade, and there was an uninviting prospect of having warmer work than marching for the boys to do before night. Several were more or less seriously affected by the heat. among whom was Major Langley. who was taken sick just as the regiment was going into action ; and Captain Barker took command as the next ranking officer. Although the former now and then assumed command after that. wben the regiment was on the march or in camp, he never was present with it in any battle after the first day at Gettysburg, the danger and responsibility always devolving upon Captain Barker.
After marching six or seven miles, General Brooks found himself con- fronted by the enemy, who immediately opened fire with his artillery, supported by quite a large force of infantry. General Weitzel at once moved forward and deployed Heckman's brigade of his division, with its centre on the turnpike, where he posted one section of Follet's battery. Wistar's brigade was ordered up in support of Heckman, but not yet deployed. The division moved forward in this way until it came up with Marston's brigade of Brooks's division, and while his command was getting into position, General Heckman advanced his skirmishers, and opened fire with his artillery. The fire of the enemy increasing. our brigade (Wistar's) moved forward and deployed on the right of Heck- man's : and the veterans of the Twelfth soon found themselves exposed to lead as well as iron once more, while to the recruits it was a new experience that blanched the faces of some of them.
The regiment now advanced into a narrow strip of woods, through which the roar of battle came with frightful intensity.
There was heavy musketry in the immediate front, and spiteful Minies were hissing all around : but the most of them passed harmlessly over- head or buried themselves in the pine trees. The Twelfth was near the extreme right of the actual battle line, and was preceded by the Eleventh Connecticut, which received the first fire of the enemy, and must have suffered considerable loss. It soon fell back in some confusion, and the Twelfth advanced and took its place.
At about this time there was a charge of some South Carolina troops against our centre. upon and near the turnpike, which was repulsed by Heckman's brigade. assisted by Wistar's : and the enemy was then driven back in confusion to some distance beyond the church, leaving the ground covered, in places, with their dead and severely wounded.
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