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. 2 > Part 29
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1 A correspondent of the Philadelphia Enquirer, said of the battery and its action : "This battery was organized by Captain C. Woerner, at Hoboken, New Jersey, in August, 1863. The Captain was previously Lieutenant of the First New Jersey Artil- lery, with which rank he served through the Peninsula campaign, and showed him- self a brave and competent officer. In the engagement at Ream's Station the Third New Jersey Battery was posted to the right of the Third Division, but subsequently occupied a position on the left. In the general assault at half-past four oclock, p. m., the line was pressed back and the Union batteries captured and turned on the Third New Jersey Battery. At this critical moment Captain Woerner's command displayed conspicuous bravery. The men stood to their guns resolutely. They received shell and shot from the right, left and centre, but remained firm, and only fell back at the command of a staff-officer, who complimented the men on the spot for their gallantry. All the pieces were brought off in good order, and also the pieces of the Twelfth New York Battery. The boys are anxious for another trial of skill and courage with the rebels.
"The number of casualties was small considering the battery's exposed position. Killed-Mahon, Young, Falk and Dike. Wounded-Kies, Thomas, Fry, Relarins, Sergeant Koer and W. Shulz, of Nazareth, New Jersey."
A correspondent of the New York Herald, said :
" Woerner's Third New Jersey Battery occupied several positions about the center of the circle, and fired in different directions, wherever the enemy appeared. All the officers and men are Germans. Lientenants Bargfeld and Trebel were in charge of the sections. This battery lost five men killed and seven men wounded. Hancock said,
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BATTERY C-(THIRD ARTILLERY).
ascribing the very highest credit to the battery, and the government promptly recognized the efficiency of the commandant by making him Major by brevet for "gallant and distinguished services" on this cccasion.
Returning to the Artillery Brigade before Petersburg, the battery remained in position before Fort Hell and elsewhere, until the 1st of October, when it was posted in front of Battery Number Sixteen. Two weeks later it was placed in Fort Alexander Hays, and dur- ing the remainder of the fall and winter was stationed as follows : From November 1st to November 22d, in Fort Alexander Hays; from the 23d of November to the end of January, 1865, in Fort Haskell ; during February and March, two guns in Fort Sedgwick and four in Fort Haskell. During this time the battery was fre- quently engaged, but never seriously. On the 25th of March, however, it was again called to exhibit its high soldierly efficiency. At that time the situation of the enemy was every day growing more critical, and it had become necessary that he should, if possi- ble, shake off the tightening grasp of our army upon his position. Accordingly, selecting a point of attack on the extreme right of our lines on the south side of the Appomattox, where the slope of the ground afforded excellent facilities for rapidly intrenching in case of success, General Lee quietly concentrated his best troops and a large number of guns in proportion, for an assault, meaning, if he could, to obtain command of the line of our military railroad, and possibly render our whole position untenable, at the same time releasing Petersburg from our clutch and Richmond from its pre- carious situation. Early on the morning of the 25th, having massed a heavy force on that part of our front commencing at the south bank of the Appomattox, and extending about one mile south, the enemy suddenly advanced, and capturing a part of our picket line, at once charged with two brigades upon our main line.
'that battery fought splendidly; it fired every way.' Captain A. J. Clark, acting com- mandant of artillery in the absence of Major Hazzard, was slightly wounded in the face. Thus the artillery performed important service in the battle yesterday, and con- tributed much to cover the ground in front of our works with the masses of killed and wounded which the enemy left upon the field."
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
The attack was so skilfully planned and promptly executed, that before our troops could be got ready, the assailants were within our works, compelling us to abandon Fort Steadman with scarcely an effort at resistance. Once in the fort, the rebels seized upon the . guns and turned them upon our men. Batteries Ten and Eleven, two small redoubts close to Fort Steadman, on either side, had to be abandoned as soon as the fort was taken, as had also the lines of works connecting them. Our men were hardly out of these posi- tions when the rebel gunners took possession and opened fire upon the retiring lines. They next made a dash at Fort Haskell, a large work further to the left, but here they met a welcome other than they expected. Major Woerner was in command of the garrison in this work, and through his vigilance, the intruders were promptly brought to a dubious pause. The One Hundredth New York, which was in the fort with the Third Jersey Artillery, instantly mounted the parapets and poured upon the shrinking column a murderous shower of bullets, compelling it to immedi- ately retire towards Fort Steadman. On perceiving this repulse, the rebel gunners in the latter fort turned three guns upon Fort Haskell, and for half an hour poured shot and shell into it as rapidly as the pieces could be worked. The gallant Woerner was not to be outdone in compliments of this character, but replied with equal rapidity and remarkable accuracy, and the garrison nobly kept the rebel assaulting column at bay with their volleys of mus- ketry, aided occasionally by a discharge of canister into the ene my's midst. Meanwhile another rebel column had filed through the breach at Fort Steadman, and, turning to the right, was moving towards the Friend House, General Wilcox's headquarters. Still another formed into line of battle, and were driving our skirmish- ers slowly back immediately to the rear of the place of entrance. Presently, however, the Eleventh Massachusetts Battery, and Companies C and I, of the Fifth United States Artillery, suc- ceeded in getting their guns ready, and opened upon the jubilant enemy, who was apparently having everything his own way, except the seizure of Fort Haskell. The interruption occasioned by this increased cannonading to the onward movements of the rebels,
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BATTERY C-(THIRD ARTILLERY).
fortunately allowed our skirmishers a breathing spell, while also enabling the troops who had been driven from their tents to form and assist them, but our position was still far from secure. Soon, however, a fresh Division was advanced against the foe, and after a desperate contest, in which all the batteries within reach participated, the enemy began to waver, then to break, and finally sought shelter in Fort Steadman and the two redoubts on its flank, whence, however, he was speedily driven with immense loss, the men being followed with a pitiless fire until they gained the shelter of their own embankments. Our victory was complete, the enemy losing some two thousand and three hundred in prisoners, over four hundred of whom were wounded; and to no command was the success more largely due than to the Third Battery. Its casual- ties amounted to one man killed, and two commissioned officers and five men wounded.
On the 29th of March the rebels again assailed Forts Steadman and Haskell, but the battery sustained no casualties, though actively engaged. During the final struggle, from the 1st to the 4th of April, it was stationed in Fort Haskell, moving on the 5th into Petersburg, and thence moving with the army in pursuit of the foe, reaching Ford's Station on the 7th, where it remained until the 14th. Then proceeding to Wilson's Station, it remained until the 20th, when it commenced the return march, on the 22d reach- ing City Point, whence it departed on the 30th for Washington. The battery was mustered out June 19, 1865. During its term of service, Major Woerner was frequently complimented by his supe- riors and the State authorities upon the efficiency of his command, and its distinguished services on critical fields fully justified the high eulogiums bestowed upon it.
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CHAPTER XXXVIII.
BATTERY D-(Fourth Artillery).
THIS battery, which achieved a high reputation by its distin- guished services, was recruited principally in Essex, Mercer and Monmouth Counties. The first detachment of recruits went into quarters at Camp Perrine, at Trenton, under charge of Sergeant John Otto, about the middle of August, 1863-just after the terri- ble battle of Gettysburg, when the whole country, awakened to a fresh appreciation of the necessity of energetic action, was address- ing itself with enthusiasm to the work of supplying three hundred thousand additional volunteers, as called for by the President. The quota of New Jersey under this call included three batteries of light artillery, in addition to two previously furnished by the State. This branch of the service having always been the favorite with recruits and veterans alike, little difficulty was experienced in filling the ranks of the artillery, notwithstanding several regiments of infantry and one of cavalry were at the same time in process of formation.1
1 The following were the officers of Battery D, from the muster in to the muster out of the organization :
Captain, George T. Woodbury, of Newark. Served as Second Lieutenant in the First Regiment New Jersey Militia, during the first three months' campaign. Commissioned Second Lieutenant of Beam's Battery (B), September 3, 1861; after Captain Beamn was killed at Malvern Hill, was promoted (in August, 1862) to First Lieutenant. In August 1863, he was commissioned Captain of Battery D, which position he held until he was injured by a fall from his horse at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, which, together with the debilitating effect of the climate, rendered it necessary for him to resign his com- mission, in August, 1864. He was soon after appointed Inspector in the United States Ordnance Department, and stationed at Springfield, Massachusetts. In this capacity he served until the close of the war.
Captain Charles R. Doane, of Spottswood, New Jersey. Served in the New York Marine Artillery, during the first year of the war, as Second Lieutenant_ First Lieu- tenant and Captain, in North Carolina. Resigned in June, 1863; and accepted the commission of First Lieutenant in Battery D, which position he held until the resigna-
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BATTERY D-(FOURTH ARTILLERI).
Batteries C, D and E went into camp at Camp Perrine, and left for Washington, almost simultaneously. Battery D, taking its name from its commandant, was at that time more familiarly known as "Woodbury's Battery," and subsequently as the "Fourth New Jersey Battery," being so reported at the War Department and
tion of Captain Woodbury, when he became Captain of the battery. Was mustercd as such at Chapin's Farm, in front of Richmond, in October, 1864.
First Lieutenant James B. Morris, of Freehold, New Jersey. Enlisted as a private in Beam's Battery (B), September 3, 1861; remained with the battery up to the time of the seven days' battles in front of Richimond, on the Peninsula, under Mcclellan; was taken prisoner at Malvern Hills during the battle, and rescued with about two hundred others, on the field, by a cavalry charge of a Pennsylvania regiment on the Confederate guard. Reached James river, at Harrison's Landing, on the 3d of July, having eaten nothing during five days and nights of marching and fighting, except two cakes of "hard tack." Was sent north on a hospital boat, very ill, and entirely exhausted. Upon his final recovery, was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Battery D. Took command of Camp Perrine about 25th of August, 1863, and continued in command until relieved by superior officers a few weeks afterward. Commissioned First Lieu- tenant in December, 1863, which position he held until the muster out of the battery.
First Lieutenant Reuben V. King, of Olean, New York. Enlisted as a private in the Eighty-fifth New York Volunteers, afterward received the commissions successively of Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Captain and Major, in the same regiment; com- manded the regiment, with the rank of Major, seventeen months. Served through Mcclellan's Peninsula campaign, was wounded at Fair Oaks, and resigned his commis- sion of Major, after participating in the battles on the Blackwater river, in Virginia, and Kingston and Goldsboro, in North Carolina. Enlisted as a private in Battery D, in September, 1863; was appointed Corporal ; afterwards Sergeant, Sergeant-Major of the post, Second Lieutenant and First Lieutenant, which rank he held on the mus - ter out of the battery.
Second Lieutenant Thompson B. Pollard, of Newark. Enlisted as a private in Beam's Battery (B), September 3, 1861; and was appointed Corporal, which position he held until November, 1863, participating in all the campaigns in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged during that time, when he was promoted to be Second Lieu- tenant of Battery D. Resigned his commission at Washington, in February, 1864.
Second Lieutenant Jolin II. George, of Newark. Enlisted as a private in Beam's Battery (B), September 3, 1861. Appointed Corporal, January, 1862. Appointed Ser- geant after the Peninsula campaign. Commissioned Second Lieutenant of Battery D, December, 1863. Declined further promotion, which was offered him, and resigned his commission at Chapin's Farm, in front of Richmond, Virginia, December, 1864.
Second Lieutenant David A. Pollard, of Newark. Enlisted as a private in Battery D; appointed Quartermaster's Sergeant, which position he held until January, 1865, when he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, and held that rank until the muster . out of the battery.
Second Lieutenant Morris C. Cole, of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Served in the New York Marine Artillery as private, Corporal and Sergeant ; afterwards appointed Hospi- tal Steward and Assistant-Surgeon to the fleet at Newbern, North Carolina. Enlisted in Battery D on its organization, as a private; was appointed First Sergeant, which position he held until he received an appointment in the War Department. Commis- sioned Second Lieutenant of Battery D, January, 1865. Attached temporarily for duty to Battery D, First United States Artillery. Accompanied that battery to Texas, and was mustered out of service at New Orleans, Louisiana, in June, 1865.
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
carried on its rolls. Reaching Washington on the 30th of Sep- tember, 1863, the battery, after a night's rest proceeded to Camp Barry, the artillery camp of instruction, about a mile northeast of the Capitol, on the Bladensburg road, where, upon reporting to the commandant of the post, quarters were assigned for the officers and men. The month of October was occupied in dismounted drills ; a battery of six twelve-pounder bronze Napoleon guns, with horses, harness and equipments complete, was then issued to the command from the Washington Arsenal, and the men entered upon the more direct work of preparing for the campaign of the coming summer- the entire winter being diligently employed in active drill. At one time during the winter, thirty-three batteries were gathered at Camp Barry, and the weekly reviews and parades were very attractive and interesting. Members of Congress and of the Cabi- net were frequently present on these occasions, and expressed their satisfaction, not only at the grandeur of the display, but also with the perfection to which this most important arm of the service had been brought .? Indeed, at this time, all the troops around Wash- ington had been brought, under the vigorous command of General Grant, into an admirable state of discipline, and were prepared as they had never been before for service in the field.
On the 16th of April, orders were issued for three of the batte- ries-Fourth New Jersey, Captain Woodbury, Fifth New Jersey, Captain Warren, and the Thirty-third New York, Captain Wheeler -to hold themselves in readiness to march at an hour's notice. Every arrangement was immediately made to comply with the order, but it was not until the night of the 22d that positive orders were received. On the following morning the battery left camp, and with the bugles sounding a farewell march, moved out to the work before it.
Embarking on a waiting steamer, the battery proceeded down the Potomac, and on Sunday morning, the 24th, reached Fortress Monroe, where directions were received from General Butler to
: General Barry, after an inspection of the camp on the Sth of October, said he " had not seen a more soldierly or better looking body of men, since the beginning of the war, than the Third, Fourth and Fifth New Jersey Batteries."
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BATTERY D-(FOURTH ARTILLERY).
report at Yorktown for orders. During the afternoon, the battery was disembarked at Gloucester Point, and went into camp on the bluff, that point having been designated as the rendezvous of the Tenth Army Corps, to which the Fourth and Fifth Batteries were assigned. The greater part of the corps was brought up from the vicinity of James and Morris Islands, and Newbern, North Caro- lina. The Eighteenth Army Corps was in rendezvous on the opposite side of the James River. The two corps were destined to operate in unison, though this fact was not then generally anticipa- ted. On the 3d of May the troops of the Tenth were all embarked on transports, and at daybreak on the morning of the 4th, the entire fleet was in motion. It was a magnificent sight. The weather was clear and fine, the air balmy and full of the pleasant odors of spring, and the Roads covered with craft of every description-transports loaded down with troops and batteries, floating docks, pontoons, gunboats and monitors, all with flags flying and bands playing, presented a spectacle which inspired all beholders with animation and pleasure.
It was generally supposed that, since it would be impossible to entirely deceive the enemy, the expedition would, at least after passing up the river some fifty miles, encounter opposition ; and as the fleet advanced, the interest and speculation of the troops became .almost painfully intense. About three o'clock in the afternoon, Fort Powhatan, or "Fort Nonsense," as it was called in army parlance, was reached, but although an excellent position for a stubborn resistance, not a shot was fired. A regiment was quickly landed below, and another above the fort, and by a rapid flank movement to the rear of the works, three hundred rebels, huddled within the fort, were taken prisoners without offering the slightest resistance. The gunboats as they advanced, presently commenced to shell the woods on either side of the river, in some places set- ting the timber on fire and causing serious damage. Soon after leaving Fort Powhatan, rebel scouts were discovered, lurking here and there among the trees and undergrowth along the banks. A few miles further on, Harrison's Landing was reached. Here a post was established and a body of troops landed. Five miles further
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
up, City Point was quietly occupied, the National ensign being lifted to the breeze in the place of a rebel flag which the troops, upon landing, found defiantly flying.
City Point is situated on the east bank of the Appomattox river, at its junction with the James, and before the war was a vil- lage of some pretentions. It was the terminus of a railroad from Petersburg, and large amounts of cotton and tobacco had been shipped from its wharves. A few regiments only were landed here, the main portion of the troops being disembarked at Bermuda Hundred, on the west side of the Appomattox, and further up the James. The steamer Eagle, which carried the horses and a portion of the men of the Fourth Battery, was one of the first to reach the temporary dock (which the Ninth New Jersey Infantry had assis- ted to construct), and by five o'clock the battery was disembarked --- the men of the Fourth being thus the first artillerymen on shore.
It was expected that an immediate movement would be made towards Richmond, which was only twelve miles distant, and was garrisoned by only one thousand reserve militia, as was satisfacto- rily ascertained to be the fact. The Ninth New Jersey and several other regiments were sent out as skirmishers, and advanced for about eight miles without encountering any opposition, the rebels being taken completely by surprise. Recovering, however, from their surprise, they forwarded as speedily as possible all the avail- able troops in Richmond and Petersburg, and a severe engagement took place along the line of the railroad, many being killed and wounded on both sides. During the battle of Drury's Bluff, the Fourth New Jersey was in reserve.
The first action in which the Fourth New Jersey was engaged, occurred on the 10th of May. The battery was stationed behind temporary breastworks, having occupied that position during the whole of the previous night. An order being received from head- quarters to send a section of the battery to the front, Captain Woodbury detailed Lieutenant George for that duty, and about three o'clock in the morning that officer reported, with his section, to Major Butler for out-post duty. A point on the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike was designated. Here the guns were placed
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1
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BATTERY D-(FOURTH ARTILLERY).
"in battery," bearing directly upon the road, and were supported by two companies of the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth New York Volunteers. Everything remained comparatively quiet until after daybreak, when the enemy, appreciating the importance of the position, suddenly made a dash from the thick undergrowth on the guns, in overwhelming numbers, from both flanks and front. It was a most critical moment, but Lieutenant George was fully equal to the emergency. The numbers of the enemy were too great to be resisted, and the cannoneers were literally forced away from their guns by the mass of assailants who swarmed in upon them. The pieces were worked as rapidly as possible, but nevertheless the enemy obtained possession of one of the guns. But they paid dearly for the prize. The Lieutenant and his men, with double- shotted charges of canister and shrapnel, piled up the dead in heaps within a few yards of the muzzles of the guns. The wounded in this affair were Lieutenant John H. George, arm, thigh and leg; Sergeant John W. Penn, arm ; Corporal William Cairnes, breast ; Private Cavalier, arm ; Willett, arm; Bush, thigh ; Collins, foot ; Akers, hand. No one was killed. Five horses were shot, which prevented the removal of the gun captured by the enemy. At this most important moment the lanyards were broken, or carried off by the wounded men, when Lieutenant George seized a piece of telegraph wire, fortunately lying close by, bent it on one end to form a hook, and used it with decided effect. Lieutenant George retired finally with his remaining gun, and afterwards, with the assistance of the Seventh Connecticut Infantry, succeeded in retaking the lost piece, and returned to the intrench- ments about four o'clock, p. m., where his men were welcomed with hearty cheers by the remainder of the battery. Jefferson Yaudle, a cannoneer of the captured gun, aged only seventeen years, after his piece was lost, picked up a Spencer rifle, fell in with the infantry, and fought with them for more than an hour, until opportunity offered for the capture of the lost gun, when he joined in the charge that recovered it.
The whole army now proceeded to intrench itself in the position which it had occupied. Circumstances pointed very plainly to
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
the fact that, as the armies of Grant and Lee were working their way southward, the locality of Bermuda Hundred would become the scene of more active hostilities. Bermuda Hundred is a peninsula formed by the junction of the James and Appomattox Rivers, and was one of the best military positions, as a base, on the continent. Both flanks and the rear were protected by the navy, but the army had about four miles of intrenchments to build across the immediate front, to complete the defenses of the position. The forts, which were numbered from the right of the line, commencing at the James River, opposite Dutch Gap, and extending across to Point of Rocks, on the Appomattox, were connected by high breastworks for the infantry. In front of the main line, at intervals, was a disconnected chain of redoubts, which served to strengthen the main line.
Battery Number Four, afterwards named Battery Marshall (in honor of Colonel Marshall, of New York, who fell at Cold Har- bor), was located at about an equal distance between the two rivers, and at a salient angle with the main line. In front of this position was a clear, level field; the only level ground along the whole line. The surface of the ground on both flanks of this field was cut up by ravines and hills and tangled woods, so that the enemy saw at once that Battery Marshall was the key to our position, and deter- mined accordingly to possess themselves of it, if possible. At that time the Fourth Battery was attached to the First Brigade, Second Division of the Tenth Corps. Colonel Barton, of the Forty-eighth New York, commanded the brigade, General Turner the division and General Gilmore the corps. It was ordered that the "best batteries" should be placed in Battery Marshall, and the Fourth New Jersey and Battery M, First United States Artillery, were assigned to that position. The Fourth remained there over three months, but Battery M was withdrawn, after a few days, and Bat- tery E, Third United States Artillery, substituted.
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