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 47
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: Colonel Wyndham's order, upon assuming command, was as follows : " HEADQUARTERS FIRST NEW JERSEY CAVALRY, I February 9, 15622.
[" Regimental Order, No. 1.]
"I, Sir Percy Wyndham, Colonel-Brigadier of the Italian Army, having been recom- mended by Major-General MeClellan, and duly commissioned as Colonel of the First Regiment of New Jersey Cavalry, by the Governor of the State of New Jersey, do hereby assume command of this regiment, which from this day is known and recog- nized by the Governor of the State of New Jersey as the First Regiment of New Jersey Cavalry. The monthly allowance made by the State to the families of her vol- unteers, will be hereafter paid to the relatives of the patriotie sons of New Jersey who are in the ranks of this regiment. The regiment is now well armed and splendidly mounted, and all that is needed to put it in the most efficient state is strict obedience to orders, and thorough military discipline; and the Colonel commanding desires the assistance of all officers and men to attain this end-the well-being of the regiment being the first. "SIR P. WYNDHAM,
" Colonel Commanding."
Colonel Sir Percy Wyndham was born September 22, 1833, in the "Downs," on board the ship "Arab." He was a son of Captain Charles Wyndham, Fifth Light Cavalry, of the English army. At the age of fifteen, he entered as a volunteer in the " Students' Corps" at Paris, on the 28th day of February, 1848, and took part in the campaign of the French Revolution in 1848. On the 11th of July, in the same year, he
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frosty weather. Everybody was released from arrest, and the spirit of the regiment brightened with the sky. "Halsted's Horse" became the First New Jersey Cavalry ; and with the change of name, there came a change of character.
II-IN THE FIELD.
During the winter and early spring, the regiment was employed in picket-duty and scouting along the left of the line. In this duty, Lieutenant Hugh H. Janeway, having at one time ridden in ad- vance of his company, accompanied by a single orderly, was wounded and left for dead by the enemy. With great fortitude, he rose and walked back to his command, and, though wounded in seven or eight places, was fit for duty again within a month. On the 18th of April, 1862, the regiment was ordered to Fredericks- . burg to join General McDowell, arriving late on the following even- ing, after a march of great severity. On the afternoon of the 20th, it again started on a scout, proceeding towards the lower extremity of the Northern Neck. Bivouacking that night at King George Court House, headquarters were on the following morning transferred to the country-house of Edward Tayloe, near which, according to tradition, the father of Pocahontas had often
was transferred to the navy, and promoted to be Ensign of Marines. On the 7th of April, 1850, he resigned his position in the French Navy, and entered as a volunteer in the English Artillery, on the 19th of June, 1851. He resigned this position on the 1st of October, 1852, and having passed a very creditable examination, entered the Eighth Austrian Lancers, as Sceond Lieutenant, on the 3d of the following December. He served two years as Second Lieutenant, and was promoted, on the 15th of April. 1854, to be First Lieutenant, and soon after that was promoted to be Squadron Com- mander. This position lic resigned on the 1st of May, 1860, and on the 26th of May. 1860, he entered the Italian army as a Captain. On the 20th of July following, he w ... promoted to Major for conspicuous gallantry on the field of battle before Miloger. and plaecd in command of his regiment. Again for conspicuous gallantry, he was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel on the field of battle before Capua, on the 1st of October, 1860, and was placed in command of a brigade by General Garibaldi in person. He cominanded this brigade with great credit up to the Sthi of October, 1861, when. filled with military ardor, and having no opportunity in Italy to further distingui -!: himself, he obtained leave of absence for twelve months and came to the United State -.
While in Europe, Colonel Sir Perey Wyndham took part in the following memorable campaigns: Campaign of 1848 and 1849, French Revolution; campaign of the Russian War, 1855-6; campaign of 1859, in the north of Italy ; campaign in the south of Italy and Sieily; the battle of Polemo, Nuloggo, Rager and Capua. He was knighted by King Victor Emanuel on the field and made Chevalier of the Military Order of Savoy. and upon the establishment of peace received a medal commemorative of the Itali .: s. war .- Reminiscences of First New Jersey Cavalry, by Colonel Beaumont.
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THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT-(FIRST CAVALRY).
gathered his court-in honor of whom the place was called Pow- hatan Hill. From this point, a party of twenty men, under Lieu- tenant Walter R. Robbins, of Company G, was sent to the extrem- ity of the Neck, accomplishing their difficult expedition without loss, and returning with some two hundred negroes and a number of horses. The slaves also came in from other points in great numbers, and one of them bringing intelligence of a party of rebel cavalry placed as a courier post some twelve miles distant on the other side of the river, Captain Broderick, with a party of dis- mounted men, marched by night through rain and mud to the designated point, completely surprising the party, killing one, mor- tally wounding another, and bringing five with their horses into camp. On the following Saturday and Sunday, the regiment made a reconnoissance across the country to the Potomac, and on the 28th, returned in good condition to camp near Falmouth, where it was brigaded with the First Pennsylvania Cavalry, under command of Brigadier-General George D. Bayard. Here the regiment remained, engaged in picket-duty, until the 25th of May, when the brigade moved across the river, and advanced on the plank road as far as Salem Church-thence pushing on to the front of the army, within hearing of the guns at the battle of Hanover Court House. Here the brigade suddenly received orders to march into the Valley of Virginia to oppose Stonewall Jackson, and on the 28th, the com- mand turned in that direction. With many of the horses unshod, over stony roads and through heavy mire, often along hillsides, giving up the road to others, the brigade pushed steadily on, passing all other forces, and five days after reaching Strasburg, where about one hundred and fifty rebel stragglers were captured. The second battalion of the First Jersey, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Karge, at once pushed forward in pursuit of the retreating enemy, and coming up with his rear-guard, opened upon them, adding to the number of our prisoners. At length, covered by a little stream whose bridge had been hastily destroyed, a line of cavalry appeared drawn up across the road. At this moment Wyndham brought up the rest of the regiment at a gallop, and without a pause the three battalions in different columns were thrown across the stream
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
against the enemy. The fourth squadron, Companies D and F, covering their advance in a deep ravine, struck the road close to the enemy, and in close column of fours wheeled into it to charge. Just as they debouched upon it, a deep voice from the tall wheat of the adjacent field, called out, "Ready, aim !" and a regiment of rebel infantry rose up from their concealment. "Down on your saddles, every man," shouted Captain Boyd, as the order to fire issued from the rebel commander. Each man stooped to his horse's neck, and the whole volley whistled harmlessly over the heads of our troops, riddling the fence behind. Simultaneously with the fire of the infantry, the rebel cavalry in the road opened right and left, uncovering a section of artillery in position. "Right about wheel, march ! trot! gallop !" shouted Boyd, with an energy proportioned to the emergency. As the column dashed round the bend of the road, a few scattering shots from the infantry were sent after it, killing the blacksmith of Company D, while just as its rear got out of range, the canister of the artillery tore along the causeway, too late, however, to hurt them. The rebel battery continuing its fire, the first battalion (Beaumont's) took a wider sweep, and now came towards the road in its rear, while a portion of the third, under Haines and Janeway, strove to take it more in front. As our men, advancing, set up their wild cheer, the supporting rebel cavalry broke and retreated in disorder, leaving the guns without protec. tion, and causing the artillerists and drivers to waver. But by each gun sat the officer of the piece with his pistol in hand, holding the men sternly to their places. Deserted by their supports, our men still pressing on, and their pistol shots whistling on, these gal- lant fellows forced their gunners to limber up as accurately as if on drill ; and then at a gallop the pieces were whirled along to the rear. Major Beaumont and Captains Bristol and Kester, with Ser- geant Fowler, of Company E, and half a dozen men, dashed forward in pursuit through the field by the side. of the road, firing their pistols as rapidly as the chambers would revolve, but the severe marches of the past week, and the desperate speed of the morning's chase, told now exhaustingly upon the horses. In spite of all their efforts, they were left behind, though Fowler, one of the Corporals.
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THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT-(FIRST CAVALRY).
and a private named Gaskill found their animals so crazy with ex- citement as to be unmanageable. After the flying battery they raced with headlong speed, plunging at last right into the ranks of the rebels, who were obliged in self-defense to fire at those who were thus riding them down. Within a few yards of the rebel General Ashby himself, Fowler was shot dead, the Corporal wounded and Gaskill unhorsed and taken prisoner.
By this time the First Maine Battery had come up, and the fight became one exclusively of artillery, the shells falling thickly among our troopers-a few men being slightly wounded, and one or two horses killed.3 Soon the night began to close in, and the infantry of Fremont came, panting with their rapid march, upon the field of battle. But it was too late for further action, and pursuit was evi- dently impossible. Ashby, without loss, drew off his men, and our exhausted cavalrymen bivouacked on their first field of battle.
Promptly on the morrow the march was renewed, the brigade moving through the town of Woodstock, pressing upon the rear of Jackson. Fording the river at Edinburg and ascending the hills above Mount Jackson, a long line of rebel wagons came into view in the distance, with the army drawn up to protect their passage. Between them and our forces rolled the swollen waters of a branch of the Shenandoah, and this-the bridge having been fired-it was found impossible to cross. Our guns, indeed, opening an angry fire upon the enemy, compelled him to retire out of range, but he did it with an air of triumph, which enhanced the mortification of the pursuers, who at length baffled and disappointed, camped by the river's side, watching its constantly-increasing volume and soaked by the incessant rains. Here, vainly endeavoring mean-
3 Chaplain Pyne, in his notes, says :
"One of the enemy's missiles struck beneath the Lieutenant-Colonel's horse, as he stood in his place in line. The explosion threw horse and man into the air, tearing the animal to pieces, but the rider came down unhurt, and emerged from the cloud of smoke with no blood upon him but that of the slaughtered animal.
"A strange instance of poetic justice occurred during this fire. Two women living among the hills, leaving the safe retreat of their homes, came down into the Valley to see Stonewall Jackson defeat the Yankees. As they sat in a room looking towards the scene of action, a shell from the enemy's battery strnek the building and exploded, tearing off a leg from one and seriously injuring the other. Crippled for life by their friends, they had to depend upon the surgery of the hated foe for their rescue from immediate death."
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
while to bridge the stream, the command remained during the whole of the following day, and until the afternoon of the 2d, when, after great difficulty, a crossing was effected and the march con- tinued to Newmarket.
About ncon of Friday, the 6th of June, the army arrived upon the hills near Harrisonburg. Broderick, with his company in the advance, dashed through the streets of the town, chasing some mounted men who had lingered there for observation. As he emerged into the open road, a body of infantry, lining the stone walls on either side, rose and fired into his men. Broderick drew up, and coolly scanned the numbers of the enemy. Then, seeing that the force was too great for him to charge, he wheeled and retired, with a deliberation that, as was afterwards learned, was the object of high admiration among the enemy. Then, in column of four, Wyndham trotted through the town and took up a position beyond it, sending out skirmishers through the roads in front. About three o'clock, after a colloquy with one of General Fremont's scouts, the regiment, accompanied by a battalion of the New York Mounted Rifles, advanced at a fast trot on the road to Port Re- public. The regiment, which had left Fredericksburg about eight hundred strong, was now reduced to less than half that number : but those who remained were as full of daring as was their gallant leader. As Shelmire, with the leading squadron, passed the line of Sawyer's skirmishers, the latter called out to him to take care. for the enemy was in force in the wood beyond. The Captain answered in his resolute way, "I have been ordered to charge any force that I may meet, and it is my duty to try and do it," and with these words he continued on. Past the remains of a burning ambulance, Wyndham carried his whole force forward, with drawn sabers, all of them wild with the excitement of the race. The narrow road, fenced in on each side, and with the bordering fields. also enclosed by strong worm fences, dipped into a hollow through which ran a streamlet with swampy banks; and rising with a gradual ascent, entered a wood that crowned the summit of the hill. On the left, the wood was diminished to a thin belt hiding an open field, strongly fenced in by posts and rails, while the front
1
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THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT-(FIRST CAVALRY).
of the wood was there also lined by an irregular worm fence. Beneath the shadow of the trees, a small body of rebel cavalry was drawn up across the road. " Form platoons !" shouted the Colonel, catching, with moistened hand, a firmer grasp of his saber. While the men were still hurrying their wearied horses into the fresh formation, he gave the orders, "Gallop ! Charge!" and the whole body, half-arrayed, plunged forward to the attack. The head of the first battalion entered the wood by the road, driving in the squadron of the enemy. The second, diverging to the left, com- menced to tear down the fence, Wyndham and Karge both dis- mounting to assist in the operation; while the third battalion moved still further to the left, to force an entrance there. Shel- mire led the first squadron in until he met a heavy column of cav- alry blocking up the road as far as he could see it; and at the same moment a force of infantry, lying hidden in the wood, poured a tremendous volley into his flank. Two men, Charles Parry and William Traughan, fell dead at that discharge, and a lad, named Jonathan Jones, reeled, mortally wounded, from his horse. Simul- taneously with this discharge, two regiments of rebel infantry, from behind the post and rail-fence, opened a steady fire upon the remainder of the regiment. Even under these disadvantages, the high spirit of the men sustained them. The first squadron, the only one that could see an enemy, deliberately returned saber, and, drawing their pistols, commenced a reply to the bullets that were sweeping through their ranks ; and at the same moment the heads of the other two battalions forced themselves into the wood, from which issued a steady stream of fire.
Fortunately for our men, the weapons of the enemy threw too high, thus preventing an immediate annihilation of the command ; but even when our columns had entered the wood, they found the enemy perfectly protected from assault. There was nothing for it but to fall back into the field, and endeavor to form line again even beneath the fire. As the rest of the regiment formed, Shel- mire, seeing the cavalry of the enemy sweeping around his flank, was forced out of the wood, and his men, pressed by the rebels upon one side, were driven against the right of the line that was
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