USA > New Jersey > New Jersey and the rebellion : a history of the service of the troops and people of New Jersey in aid of the Union cause, Pt. 1 > Part 14
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36 These prisoners were at once sent to the rear by the enemy, and after being stripped of their valuables, were sent to Beaver Dam in charge of a guard. Some days later, just as they were about to take the cars for Richmond, Sheridan's cavalry appeared upon the scene, and disposing of the guard, relieved the prisoners, who thereupon proceeded to Butler's lines, and thence returned to their command.
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reduced to three hundred and six, and every other regiment had suffered correspondingly.
On the 9th, Monday, the entire army concentrated about Spott- sylvania. Colonel Brown was here relieved of the command of the brigade by General Meade, and Colonel Penrose assumed com- mand, which he retained until the campaign in the Shenandoah, some months later. During the 9th, skirmishing was continued, the Fifth and Sixth Corps pressing the enemy, developing his position, and seeking for points of attack for the deadly struggle. The fighting of the First Brigade was mainly on the skirmish line, where it took some prisoners. During the forenoon of the 9th, General Meade ordered two regiments to be advanced across a swamp on the left of the army, with a view of getting possession of a certain road, which it was deemed important to occupy. Colonel Campbell was accordingly detached with the First and Fifteenth Regiments, and, moving across the swamp, pushing the enemy before him, advanced through the woods beyond it until he reached a ridge commanding the road in question, Here he re- mained during the night. [At this time, Hancock had moved up to the right, Warren held the centre, and the Sixth Corps was on the left-the wings being thrown forward to envelope the corps of Hill and Ewell, which had reached the court house, and taken po- sition some distance in front of it. A small creek, a branch of the Ny River, lay between the position of the enemy and that of Warren and Sedgwick, and also separated Hancock from Warren. During the day, General Sedgwick was killed by the bullet of a sharpshooter, and the command of the corps thereupon devolved upon General Wright.] On the morning of the 10th, the Sixth Corps having extended its skirmish line so as to connect with Colonel Campbell, the whole line was ordered to advance. Por- tions of the Second and Fifth Corps promptly assailed the enemy's works, bringing on a general engagement. Two divisions, moving across the branch of the Ny which separated them from the enemy, assaulted his left, but finding it too strong, were obliged to retire, losing one gun, which could not be extricated from the under- growth. A second assault had a similar result, but later in the
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afternoon, Wright's First Division, including those regiments of the Jersey Brigade not with Colonel Campbell, with the Third Division made a charge as a column of assault under Colonel Upton, which, while one of the most gallant of the war, was also at all points fully successful. Heading the advance, the Jerseymen dashed up with headlong courage to the enemy's works, and leap- ing over into the midst of the rebels, took over a thousand prison- ers, together with several guns-only retiring because they were so far in advance as to be beyond the reach of support. In with- drawing, the captured artillery was necessarily abandoned, but the prisoners were brought off. Had the expected supports come up in time, the position, perilous as it was, would no doubt have been held, greatly to our advantage; but even as it was, the First Bri- gade had reason to be proud of its achievement-in all respects one of the grandest of that terrible series of battles.
Meanwhile, Colonel Campbell, with the two regiments under his . command, had not been idle. Advancing from the position held on the night of the 9th, he gradually pushed through a ravine up to a hill beyond, halting on the edge of a strip of woods, with the enemy in front. Here, two assaults having failed, two regiments were sent to him by General Mott, whose division had been or- dered to take position on his left, when, moving out into an open field, with the Fifteenth as skirmishers, he again encountered the enemy. in force, but advanced some distance, until, being opened upon with artillery, and the rebels largely outnumbering his force, he again came to a halt, holding the position until the afternoon, when, as we have seen, a series of assaults were delivered. Camp- bell being ordered to report to General Mott, participated in the general attack-on this occasion only fighting with the Second New Jersey Brigade ; advancing over difficult ground against the enemy. Some of the troops, however, falling into confusion, the assault failed ; but Campbell, again deploying a skirmish line, held the ground, harrassing the enemy without cessation until late in the evening, when, being left alone, he was ordered to withdraw and take position with the rest of the brigade, which he did suc- cessfully.
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Wednesday, the 11th, was passed in manœuvering, reconnoiter- ing and desultory skirmishing. Rain fell during the afternoon, and under cover of the heavy weather, Hancock was shifted from his post in front of Hill to a position between the Sixth and Ninth Corps, with orders to attack early on the morning of the 12th. Meanwhile, Wright was directed to extend his left, to concentrate on that wing, and to be in readiness to assault. Warren and Burnside were also ordered to make diversionary attacks, with a view of keeping the enemy engaged at all points of the line. The morning of the 12th dawned, enveloped in a dense fog. The point against which our attack was to be directed was a salient angle of earthworks, held by Johnson's Division of Ewell's Corps-the same against which Colonel Campbell had operated. Silently the veterans of the Second moved upon the unsuspecting enemy. Sweeping over the rugged and densely-wooded space, with a storm of cheers they rushed up to the rebel works, scaled them in front and flank, surrounding the forces within, and capturing nearly the entire division, with its commander, Edward Johnson, and two brigades of other troops, commanded by General George H. Stuart, together with thirty guns. Still pushing on, Hancock reached and carried the second line of rifle pits. But now the enemy, recov- ered from his surprise, made desperate efforts to repossess himself of the ground he had lost, succeeding at one point of the line, and soon the battle became general. The Sixth Corps, with other troops, was promptly pushed forward; Warren became hotly en- gaged on the right; and so, for fourteen hours, "a battle raged over these entrenchments," to use the language of Pollard, "the intense fury, heroism and horror of which it is impossible to de- scribe." Here, as on every other field, the First Brigade fought with the most heroic endurance. Early in the morning, the bri- gade was massed and moved slowly forward through a pine thicket, in order to give Hancock time to send. back the prisoners he had captured. Meanwhile, the enemy was also receiving reinforce- ments, with fresh supplies of ammunition. Finally, the brigade was massed. for a charge-the First, Fourth and Fifteenth Regi- ments in the first line, and four companies of the Second (six being
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on picket) and Third in the second line-and in this order pushed forward through the woods, with muskets at a trail, until within one hundred yards of the rebel works. Then, with a cheer, the men rushed upon the works, a terrific fire shattering the lines as they advanced. Captain Walker, of the Fifteenth, fell dead early in the action," with other good and true soldiers ; but the lines still surged on, the Fifteenth breaking through the first line of rebel works, and advancing gallantly towards the second. Lieutenant Justice, a brave and valued officer, was killed beyond the first line by a rebel crouching in the works, who was in turn bayonetted on the spot. In this charge, the regiment lost one hundred and sixty- eight men, leaving only one hundred and one. Against these, the enemy at once hurried up reinforcements, and the gallant little band was at length compelled to fall back. Of the thirteen officers of this regiment who went into the fight, only four were left. Other regiments of the brigade suffered no less severely ; and night came down with our clutch upon the coveted position unshaken, indeed, but with thousands of dead and dying attesting the terrible cost of the victory. On the night of the 12th, the Sixth Corps moved towards the right, where it remained during the night. On the 13th, it moved again into position before the " bloody angle," holding the ground until after dusk, when it moved to the ex- treme Jeft of the army. There was no serious fighting on this
37 A member (James Mangan) of the regiment gives the following incident of this engagement :
"Captain Walker fell, piereed with several bullets. About the same time, my right armi was broken below the elbow, and my shoulder pierecd by a bullet that laid me ont in the trench, with nothing but a bank of earth between me and the enemy. I spoke to the Captain, but he was dead. Close by me lay a comrade whose leg was broken. He could load his musket, but could not get at his caps. So I capped bis gun for him several times, and whenever a rebel showed his head he fired at him. We thought we were 'gone' anyhow, and so agreed to sell our lives as dearly as possible. And we kept on in this way until he (my comrade) was killed by a ball through the head."
Mangan was taken prisoner, and subsequently had his arm amputated, after which he remained for ten days and nights in the woods without any shelter whatever, exposed most of the time to a pitiless rain. As soon as he was able, he buried his amputated arm in a grave with a dead soldier, and left it on the bloody field a pledge of his devotion to the good cause. After various experiences, he was taken to Gordons - ville, thence to Lynchburg, and finally to Richmond; where, on the 1st of September, he was exchanged, "getting out once more," in his own words, "under the old Stars and Stripes, and thanking God that brought him through all alive, with only the loss of an arm."
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day, but on the 14th, the First Brigade was again engaged. At this time, Upton's Brigade, with the Second and Tenth Regiments, had possession of a house (known as the "Galt House ") across the Ny River, near the termination of our line of battle-a command- ing and important position. The enemy, suddenly developing a line of battle on our left, burst through the woods, captured some of our pickets, and, after a brief contest, took the house, driving off the occupants. At the time of the assault, Generals Meade and Wright were in the building, and barely had time to mount their horses when the enemy came down like a pack of wolves. Falling back, fighting with stubborn tenacity, through an orchard and down the face of the hill, the men temporarily yielded the position. Later in the day, the brigade, with the rest of the divis- ion, charged up the hill and re-took the house, and held it, at a loss of but a few men in killed, wounded and missing. Among the killed was Lieutenant-Colonel Wiebecke, of the Second Regi- ment, a brave and efficient officer, who went out as a Captain and rose by merit. After the enemy had been driven into his entrench- ments, the body of the dead officer was found lying in an orchard, stripped naked.
The campaign had now been in progress for eleven days, and in that time the First Brigade had sustained the following losses: First Regiment, killed twenty-two, wounded one hundred and fifty- five, missing fifty-two; Second Regiment, killed nine, wounded . fifty-five, missing twenty-nine ; Third Regiment, killed twenty-one, wounded one hundred and two, missing thirty-three ; Fourth Regi- ment, killed twenty-six, wounded one hundred and twenty-six, missing forty-two; Tenth Regiment, killed eighteen, wounded ninety-five, missing thirty-three; Fifteenth Regiment, killed fifty- nine, wounded one hundred and thirty-four, missing thirty-four.
No description could give a better conception of the terrible ex- haustion and severe losses of the Wilderness campaign than is afforded by these ghastly figures. Yet, amid all their losses, all the hardships to which they were exposed, the survivors moved serenely forward in the path of duty, not covetous, indeed, of death, but willing calmly to die, if need be, for the flag and the principles it symbolized to the world.
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From the 14th until the 18th, the fighting was only desultory. On the 19th, Lee threw Ewell against our weakened right, but the assault was repulsed with serious loss to the enemy, and the move- ment of our army to the left, already commenced, was continued without further interruption, except an assault on Russell's Division of the Sixth Corps, on the evening of the 21st, which was hand- somely repelled. In this movement, which resulted in the transfer of our army to a position south of the Pamunkey River, in unob- structed communication with its new base at the White House, the First Brigade did not engage the enemy except in skirmishing along the North Anna and Tolopotomy-the principal fighting being done by other corps than the Sixth. On the 29th of May, the Second Regiment, its time having expired, left the front and proceeded to Washington, whence it was ordered to Trenton for muster out, the whole number of men who returned being three hundred and fifteen. The First and Third Regiments, having fought, as we shall see, at Cold Harbor, also left the front on the 3d of June-the two numbering three hundred and forty men- and reached the State Capital on the night of the 7th. The men . of these regiments who had re-enlisted, and whose terms had not expired, were at first transferred to the Fourth and Fifteenth, but were subsequently consolidated into the First, Second and Third Battalions, and with the Fourth, Tenth and Fifteenth Regiments, from that time forward until February, 1865, constituted the First Brigade-the Fortieth Regiment being added at the latter date.
On the 30th of May, the advance of our army, moving towards Cold Harbor, was violently attacked by the enemy-the assailants, however, being repulsed, and our lines pushed forward-Sheridan on the following day seizing Cold Harbor and holding it until the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps came up and occupied the position. Wright, on coming up, immediately proceeded to attack, deploying his First Division, including the Jersey Brigade, as a skirmish line. Moving into position in four lines of battle, he charged by echelon of brigades, the First Brigade being on the left of the turnpike, and Upton's being on the right. In this assault, the First Regiment was in the first line of battle, the Third, commanded by Captain
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Frank Duboise in the second, the Fifteenth in the third, and the Tenth in the fourth line. The first line soon dissolved before the fire of the enemy, but the Second and Third pressed forward until opened upon by a battery, when the Fifteenth halted and replied by musketry, finally silencing the guns and holding the advanced ground. The Tenth then came up and took possession of a slight line of earthworks, the entire line being held during the night, the enemy in vain making vigorous attacks, and posting batteries enfilading our position. On the day following, the main line of the enemy was again assaulted, but without success. The men, lying down, threw up during the day a frail defence of earthworks, using their bayonets to loosen the earth and their cups to scoop it into the desired position. On the 3d, when a grand assault was made along the whole front, the brigade advanced and got posses- sion of a knoll, which they strengthened as rapidly as possible, clinging to the position with the utmost tenacity. The principal fighting of the day was in front of the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps, and though at some points the opposing works were carried, our troops were afterwards driven out and forced to throw up such de- fences as were possible. In all respects, this was one of the most murderous battles of the war, our total losses amounting to some thirteen thousand; but in its relations to the general campaign, it was by no means a failure as some have contended. The loss of the First Brigade was principally in the Tenth and Fifteenth Regi- ments, the former of which had an unusually large proportion of its men killed and wounded. For three days and nights the men were constantly under fire, and without sleep fought and toiled . with a steadiness and obstinacy which extorted the highest encom- iums from all superiors.
During the 4th and 5th, work upon our entrenchments was continued, but on the 6th, the army commenced to move to the left, being extended, on the 7th, to the Chickahominy, which was crossed a few days after, the whole force marching to the James River. Here the First Brigade (with its division) was left to guard the crossing, and the several corps having moved over, it was then put on transports and carried to Bermuda Hundred, where it was
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thrown into position. Thence it was moved forward to join the corps at Petersburg, which it did. Two or three days subsequently, it was ordered to the left of the line, and pushing up some distance, was engaged for ten days in skirmishing. In all these operations, the brigade suffered some losses; but they were inconsiderable compared with those before experienced. From this time forward to the middle of July, it was not seriously engaged-a brief period for rest and re-organization being considerately allowed by the Commander-in-Chief. (The total loss of the Tenth Regiment up to June 26th, was forty-two killed, one hundred and forty-three wounded, and forty-eight missing.)
Meanwhile, in another part of the field, serious trouble was brewing. On the 16th of June, General Hunter having, with his co-operative column, pushed up the Shenandoah, driving the enemy from Staunton, and at all points destroying the supplies and communications of the enemy, had invested Lynchburg, the reduction of which was important to the success of Grant's general plans. But Hunter's success, which up to this time had been unin- terrupted, here came to a sudden and disastrous pause. Lee, who could not afford to lose a position so important, rapidly poured in reinforcements, and on the 18th, Hunter, whose ammunition had given out, decided to retire, which he did in haste, but by a mistaken course towards the Kanawha, thus leaving the Shenandoah Valley open to the enemy for raids across the frontier into the States of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The rebels were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded. A consider- able force was moved down the valley, with a view of invading the North, and, possibly, obliging Grant to abandon the siege of Petersburg. The latter, realizing the danger, promptly prepared to meet it. Early in July, the Sixth Corps was withdrawn from its position in front of Petersburg and sent to cover Washington-one division under Ricketts going to Baltimore. The Nineteenth Corps, just arrived from the Gulf, was sent after the Sixth. Mean- while, the rebels, rushing down the valley, had pushed into Mary-
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land, sweeping everything before them-on the 8th of July, fight- ing and defeating General Wallace at Monocacy, and thence moving on Washington, their advance being encountered near the Capital on the 12th. But the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps had now arrived, and Early, apprized of the fact, speedily desisted and withdrew -Wright pursuing and overtaking the rebel rear-guard at Snicker's Ferry on the Shenandoah, where a sharp battle ensued, in which the enemy gained some advantage. In this engagement, the First Brigade lost several men. Subsequently, one regiment, (the Fif- teenth,) was detached on special service to discover a ford, proceed- ing some five miles, and performing the service acceptably to the officer in command.
Deceived by advices, that Early was abandoning the valley, Gen- eral Grant ordered the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps by water to Petersburg, and they at once proceeded to Washington. But on the 24th of July, Early, once more concentrating his troops, attacked the forces of Crook and Averill, and flanking them, drove them through Winchester and across the Potomac. This compelled Grant to return the Sixth Corps to Harper's Ferry, whence it ad- vanced to Halltown, remaining there two or three days, and then being ordered to Frederick, Maryland, whence, however, it soon after returned. About the same time, two cavalry divisions were also ordered up from the army of the Potomac, and Hunter's troops having arrived, a formidable force was soon concentrated. On the 6th of August, General Sheridan was placed in command of the entire force, and addressing himself to the task before him, at once pushed out a part of his troops in active demonstrations against the enemy. On the 15th, the First Brigade had a sharp skirmish with the enemy at Strasburg, being at the time engaged on picket duty between that place and Cedar Creek-Early, then lying at Fisher's Hill, sending a force through the town to attack our posi- tion. After resisting the assault as long as practicable, the brigade retired towards Winchester, where, on the 17th, it was again en- gaged, having been placed as a support to Torbert's Cavalry, with instructions to hold three roads. The enemy at this time was posted on a hill partly hidden by forests, and largely outnumbered
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our force; but the Jerseymen, fighting bravely, held the head of Early's entire army in check for six hours, fighting from dusk until after nine o'clock, when Early deployed into regular columns of assault, only to find that three weak regiments had kept his whole army at bay.38 The brigade, in this engagement, was under com- mand of Colonel Penrose, who with Colonels Tay and Campbell, Major Boeman and others, displayed the greatest gallantry. The loss in killed and wounded was ninety-seven, as follows : Fourth Regiment, two killed, twenty-two wounded; Tenth, sixteen wound- ed; Fifteenth, six killed, fifty-one wounded. The Tenth lost heavily in prisoners, being left on the field after the rest of the bri- gade had withdrawn, and so surrounded and exposed to capture in mass. The Third Cavalry also suffered severely.
On the 20th, our army retired to the immediate front of Charles- town, where, on the day following, Early coming up, made a serious attack. At this time, we had only a slender picket line in front, and being struck heavily by the enemy, it was badly shat- tered. Colonel Campbell, however, being sent out to look after affairs, succeeded in promptly getting reinforcements into position, and soon recovered the ground we had lost, re-occupying with his men the outpost position. On the night of the 21st, Sheridan de- siring to lure Early forward, our army fell back to Halltown, where
38 " Our brigade of nine hundred men, and one regiment of cavalry, the Third New Jersey, sustained the shock of an overwhelming force, estimated at five thousand. The enemy attacked with three lines of battle. Our men were deployed as skirmishers, fifteen feet apart. They would lie down behind a wall, waiting the enemy's approach, and fire to check him as much as possible. Then, at the order to retire, they would run to the next place of shelter, whether stone wall, hill or trees, and wait the rebel approach again, give them some deadly volleys, and again retire. This mode of fight- ing was kept up till Winchester was reached and passed. While passing through the town, many of our men were shot down by the citizens, who fired from the windows of the houses. In the darkness it was impossible always to tell friend from foc. Once Colonel Campbell found himself in the midst of a number of men pressing rapidly for- ward, or, as he supposed, hurrying away to the rear. IIe was on the point of halting them and calling them to rally at a point in a little graveyard, when an outery from one of them proved they were rebels. Turning an angle in the wall, where he could be shielded from their fire, he left them in haste. A soldier came among our men and they demanded "Who are you?" to which he answered "I belong to Breckinridge's Division." They said, "Lay down your arms," but the fellow cried "I am a Reb." "Very well," said our boys, "but we are Yanks;" and through all the confusion of the night some held fast to him, and in the morning delivered him up a prisoner of war."-Chaplain Haines' Notes.
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it entrenched. (While here the brigade received a number of recruits.) Early promptly moved down, and some skirmishing was had on the left of the line; he soon after, however, retired, and our troops advanced to the vicinity of Berryville, where they remained until Sheridan was ready to strike.
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