USA > New Jersey > New Jersey troops in the Gettysburg campaign from June 5 to July 31, 1863 > Part 2
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7
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
on scores of battle-fields for their bravery, endurance and fighting qualities.
The defeat of General Pope at the second battle of Bull Run filled the people of the North with dismay, and the authorities at Washington with fear for the safety of the Capital. On the 4th of August, 1862, the President issued a call for three hundred thousand men for nine months' service, a draft being ordered to take place on September Ist ensuing, if the number required were not sooner furnished by volunteers. The quota for New Jersey under this call was placed at ten thou- sand four hundred and seventy-eight, and orders were at once issued to proceed with the recruiting of this number. At the same time the State was engaged in filling its quota under the previous call of July 7th for three year troops, and in order to meet this extra emergency, city, township and county officials, offered liberal inducements for men to take service in these commands, and thus avoid the draft so imperatively ordered. On the third day of September the Adjutant- General announced the formation of eleven regiments for nine months' service, with an aggregate of ten thou- sand seven hundred and fourteen men, all volunteers, and being an excess of two hundred and thirty-six over the number called for. These regiments were num- bered, officered and assigned to duty as follows :
Twenty-first Regiment-Colonel, Gillian Van Hou- ten ; assigned to Third Brigade, Second Division, Sixth Army Corps.
8
NEW JERSEY TROOPS
Twenty-second Regiment-Colonel, Cornelius For- net ; assigned to duty in the Defences of Washington, and afterward to the Third Brigade, First Division, First Army Corps.
Twenty-third Regiment-Colonel, John S. Cox; assigned to the First New Jersey Brigade, First Divis- ion, Sixth Army Corps.
Twenty - fourth Regiment- Colonel, William B. Robertson ; assigned to duty first in the Defences of Washington, and afterward with Kimball's Brigade, French's Division, Couch's (Second) Corps.
Twenty-fifth Regiment-Colonel, Andrew Derrom ; assigned to Second Brigade of Casey's Division, and afterward to First Brigade, Third Division, Ninth Army Corps.
Twenty-sixth Regiment-Colonel, A. J. Morrison ; assigned first to Briggs' Brigade, Sumner's Corps, and next to the First Vermont Brigade (General Brooks), Second Division, Sixth Army Corps.
Twenty-seventh Regiment-Colonel, George W. Mindil; assigned to Casey's Division and next to Second Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps.
Twenty-eighth Regiment-Colonel, Moses N. Wise- well ; assigned to First Brigade, Third Division, Sec- ond Army Corps.
Twenty-ninth Regiment-Colonel, Edwin F. Apple- gate ; assigned to various duties around Washington, and finally to Third Brigade, First Division, First Army Corps.
Thirtieth Regiment-Colonel, Alexander E. Donald.
9
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
son, and Thirty-first Regiment, Colonel A. P. Berthoud, brigaded with the Twenty-second and Twenty-ninth Regiments, as part of the Third Brigade, First Divis- ion, First Army Corps.
With the addition of these troops the number of men contributed to the Government reached the very respectable figure of twenty-five thousand two hun- dred and fifty-seven, all volunteers, of whom twenty- three thousand one hundred and sixteen were accred- ited to the Army of the Potomac.
These new regiments, put right into the field with veterans who had served under McClellan on the Pen- insula campaign and at Antietam, rendered valuable and efficient service under Burnside at the dreadful slaughter of Fredericksburg, with Hooker at the ill-fated battle of Chancellorsville, and with Sedgewick at Marye's Heights and Salem Church. They passed through all the rugged and trying experiences to be found in active campaigning in the immediate presence of the enemy, and had just become fully inured to the hard- ships and trials of a soldier's life when their term of service expired. At about the same time the terms of service of a large number of two years troops also expired, and with this large depletion, after the battle of Chancellorsville, the Army of the Potomac was weak- ened to a considerable extent. The casualties which the older three year regiments had sustained during their severe service, reduced some of them to mere skeletons, not a regiment of the original eight in both New Jersey brigades numbering more than four hun-
IO
NEW JERSEY TROOPS
dred men after the battle of Chancellorsville, while the average for all would not be greater than three hundred each. The official returns are not accessible for a veri- fication of this statement, but the reports of the several New Jersey regiments made on the 30th day of June, 1863, just before the battle of Gettysburg opened, are sufficient for the purpose of comparison. The follow- ing data, taken from the original rolls at the War Department, Washington, and on file at the Adjutant- General's office, of this State, at Trenton, shows the strength of each New Jersey regiment and battery to have been on the date named :
NUMBER OF MEN OF EACH NEW JERSEY BATTERY AND REGIMENT, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, PRES- ENT FOR DUTY JUNE 30, 1863.
ORGANIZATIONS.
OFFIC'RS.
MEN.
TOTAL.
First Regiment Cavalry
I8
216
234
First Regiment Artillery Battery A
4
II2
II6
First Regiment Artillery Battery B
4
I39
I43
First Regiment Infantry
26
266
292
Second Regiment Infantry
28
377
405
Third Regiment Infantry_
26
299
325
Fourth Regiment Infantry (Train Guard)
20
274
294
Fourth Reg't Infantry (Ist Div. 6th Corps)
4
88
92
Fifth Regiment Infantry
I5
206
22I
Sixth Regiment Infantry
I3
233
246
Seventh Regiment Infantry.
22
309
33I
Eighth Regiment Infantry
I3
185
198
Eleventh Regiment Infantry
25
507
532
Thirteenth Regiment Infantry
28
332
360
Fifteenth Regiment Infantry
21
420
44I
Total
267
3,963
4,505
275
Twelfth Regiment Infantry
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IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
The total strength of these commands as it appears by the preceding table, compared with the number of men furnished by the original muster of each regi- ment, will show the great depletion to which they had been subjected in their past service. The First and Second Brigades had suffered greatly from sick- ness brought on by exposure during the Peninsula campaign, and when to the casualties thus occasioned is added the losses by death, and those killed in action or dying from wounds received in battle, with the discharges made necessary by disability of vari- ous kinds, the percentage of waste during the pre- vious two years' experience will be found very large.
To show the relative condition of the New Jersey troops at the beginning of the battle of Gettysburg with their entry into the service, the original figures of these fifteen commands are here reproduced :
ORIGINAL MUSTER.
ORGANIZATIONS.
OFFICERS.
MEN.
TOTAL.
First Regiment Cavalry
44
998
1,042
First Regiment Artillery, Battery A_
5
I5I
I56
First Regiment Artillery, Battery B_
5
I59
164
First Regiment Infantry
38
996
1,034
Second Regiment Infantry
38
1,006
1,044
Third Regiment Infantry
38
1,013
1,05I
Fourth Regiment Infantry
38
871
909
Fifth Regiment Infantry
38
823
86I
Sixth Regiment Infantry
38
860
898
Seventh Regiment Infantry
38
882
920
Eighth Regiment Infantry
38
85I
889
Eleventh Regiment Infantry
39
940
979
Twelfth Regiment Infantry
39
953
992
Thirteenth Regiment Infantry
38
899
937
Fifteenth Regiment Infantry
38
909
947
436
10,503
10,939
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NEW JERSEY TROOPS
Out of these ten thousand nine hundred and thirty- nine officers and men of New Jersey in the Army of the Potomac, mustered into the service at various times in 1861-62 to serve for three years or during the war, there were reported "Present for duty " on June 30th, 1863, but four thousand five hundred and five, a loss of about sixty per cent. The number of men on special service, and those "Absent without leave " during that period, would account for only a small fraction of this percentage, and the record of all these organizations will bear the closest scrutiny for trying and exhaustive service in campaigning and in actual conflict with the enemy. It had not been the policy of the State authorities to recruit men to fill up the losses in the old regiments, and they were continually being weakened by various causes.
The men who went to the war in 1861 and 1862, were governed by love of country and hatred of the heresy of Secession. They were the representatives of a principle, and embodied in their service the patriotic sentiment of the time. No danger was too great, no trial too severe, but found them ready and willing to undertake its performance, and in the case of hundreds of these patriotic men, when their term of service expired they reënlisted for the whole war. This was the class of men who confronted Lee's army on the heights of Gettysburg. They had become used to defeat, but they could not be dismayed. Their faith in the ultimate success of the cause they espoused never wavered, though the rebel army was devastating the
MAJOR-GENERAL JOSEPH HOOKER, Commander Army of the Potomac. Resigned, June 27, 1863.
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IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
loyal State of Pennsylvania. Each report that came to their ears of the destructive march of Lee's army through the North only nerved these men to a higher sense of the responsibilities which devolved upon them, and in spite of all the discouragements of the past the Army of the Potomac never felt itself better able to cope with its old antagonist than on those fateful days of July, 1863.
CHAPTER II.
RESUME OF HISTORICAL FACTS -- PUBLIC FEELING IN THE SOUTH -TEMPER OF THE REBEL ARMY - POSITION OF BOTH ARMIES IN JUNE, 1863-THE FIGHT AT FRANKLIN'S CROSSING ON THE RAPPA- HANNOCK-GALLANT CHARGE BY THE TWENTY- SIXTH NEW JERSEY.
T HE battle of Waterloo put an end to the ambitious career of Napoleon the First. Gettysburg de- stroyed the hopes of the South for the establish- ment of a Confederacy of States. And the South was full of hope in 1863. From the commencement of hostilities, two years before, the prestige of success-or rather that which amounted to the same thing, the failure of the National Government to crush out the rebellion in the East-was with General Lee and his army. The fortunate arrival of reinforcements at the first battle of Bull Run stemmed the tide of retreat in the southern army, and the advance of these fresh arrivals upon the demoralized Federals, turned their retreat into a rout and gave the victory to the Con- federates. The Peninsula campaign resulted in fresh laurels for the southern troops, and General Lee's audacious advance through the valley, and the mar- shalling of his forces on the field of Manassas, a second
I7
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
time at Bull Run driving the Union army within the defences of Washington, gave added lustre to his grow- ing fame. What feeling of opposition had existed in the South toward the schemes of the political leaders who had raised the standard of revolt against the National authority had been silenced by the victorious progress of the Army of Northern Virginia, and when the Maryland campaign was inaugurated it received the sanction of the Confederate authorities and the plaudits of the southern people. There was a general belief in the South that Lee's army once in the State of Maryland, thousands of sympathizers would flock to swell the ranks of the southern forces, and with this host of enthusiastic adherents an army of invasion could be formed which would compel the Government to recognize the Southern Confederacy and treat with it for a cessation of hostilities.
The sorest defeat for the South was not the loss of Antietam, it was the knowlege, dearly gained, that the people of Maryland were not so demonstratively sym- pathetic with the cause of the Confederacy as the leaders of public opinion in the South had supposed. The successful retreat of General Lee, with his whole army, into Virginia, was additional evidence of his military ability, and while " Maryland, my Maryland," was lost forever to the South, General Lee's army never admitted that Antietam was otherwise a sore defeat. It was practically a drawn battle, with the advantage, if any, on the side of the Army of the Potomac. Lee's defence of Fredericksburg Heights in
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NEW JERSEY TROOPS
the December which followed, and the defeat of the Union army with great loss-followed in May, 1863, with his remarkable victory at Chancellorsville-stimu- lated the war feeling of the South and awakened an enthusiasm such as had never before been witnessed there. So intense was the feeling, so confident the leaders, that the invasion of the North by the Con- federate army was demanded by the press of the South and by public opinion. It was known that the term of service of many regiments in the Union army was about to expire, and the crushing defeats that had recently been sustained by the Army of the Potomac were not conducive to reenlistment. Besides this, a feeling of despondency had settled over the North, the faction that had been opposing the war were growing bolder in their utterances, and an invasion of the North, it was believed, would so excite the fears of these peo- ple that extraordinary efforts to arouse public opinion in favor of peace at any price would result. With a divided public opinion in the North, the southern army safely entrenched on northern territory, the actual transfer of the seat of war to northern soil must re- sult, it was believed, in a settlement of the conflict, and on terms satisfactory to the South. The invasion of Pennsylvania was not for the purpose of receiving accessions to the southern army, but to conquer a peace. The movement had the sanction of military precedent, was cordially indorsed by the Confederate authorities, aroused the enthusiasm of the soldiery, and stimulated the overweening confidence of the southern
19
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
people to a firm belief in its ultimate success. Armed reinforcements and recruits eagerly joined the forces of General Lee, and buoyant with hope, exultant and confident, the Confederate army left their camps on the Rappahannock, while the prayers and fervent hopes of a united South bid them God-speed in their mission.
The temper of the southern army at this time is thus tersely expressed by Alfriend: "The Army of Northern Virginia, a compact and puissant force, seventy thousand strong, which had never yet known defeat, instinctively expected the order for advance into the enemy's country. Never was the morale of the army so high, never had it such confidence in its own prowess, and in the resources of its great com- mander, and never was entrusted to its valor a mission so grateful to its desires as that tendered by President Davis 'to force the enemy to fight for their own Capital and homes.'"
The Union army on the first of June was posted on the north bank of the Rappahannock river, while the rebel army was on the south side, mainly concen- trated about Fredericksburg. As preliminary to the general movement Lee, with strategic skill, began the massing of his forces at Culpepper, leaving A. P. Hill's division at Fredericksburg to mask the move- ment. General Hooker was wary and suspicious, and from the nature of the reports brought to him by his scouts, he was confident an important move- ment was contemplated by Lee. He ordered a
20
NEW JERSEY TROOPS
reconnoissance in force by the Sixth Army Corps, Howe's division of which was to cross the Rappa- hannock June 5th, while Wright's and Newton's divis- ions were to take position on the north bank of the river, in support.
This was to be the initial movement of the Gettys- burg campaign on the part of the Union forces, and by it the valor of New Jersey troops was once more to be tested. The Twenty-sixth Regiment, which formed part of Grant's brigade of Howe's division, had been mustered into the service on the 18th of September, 1862, and its term of service, nine months, was about expiring. It had taken part in the two previous engagements at Fredericksburg on December 13th and 14th, 1862, under Burnside, and May 3rd, 1863, under Hooker, and also in the engagement at Salem Church on May 4th, 1863, in which last battle the command sustained a loss of 124-killed, wounded and missing.
The point at which the crossing of the Rappa- hannock was to be made was known as "Franklin's Crossing," three miles below the town of Fredericks- burg. General A. P. Hill, the Confederate com- mander, had constructed a line of earth-works along the south bank of the river which were occupied by a strong force, and when Howe's division reached the stream the engineer corps were preparing to lay the pontoons over which the command was to cross. It was five o'clock in the evening when the column reached the river bank, and artillery was at once
2I
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
posted in a commanding position to sweep the open plain between the enemy's works and the woods beyond. While these preparations were being made on the north side of the river, the enemy sent forth a strong reinforcement to the rifle-pits. As they deployed out of the woods and moved across the plain to the works near the river bank, the Union artillery opened fiercely upon them, but without repelling their advance. The fire from their works was fierce and accurate, and it soon became evident that noth- ing short of a direct assault could force them from their position. The efforts of the engineer corps to launch their boats were futile, and General Howe organized a storming column, consisting of the Fifth Vermont and Twenty-sixth New Jersey regiments, with instructions to cross the river in boats and drive the enemy from the rifle-pits. General Howe sent for Lieutenant-Colonel Martindale, then in com- mand of the Twenty-sixth, and as he gave him the instructions he was to follow complimented him and his command very highly, saying, "In a few days your term of service will be over and you will return home to your friends with an untarnished reputation for gallantry and covered with glory." The column formed within seventy-five yards of the river bank, the Fifth Vermont on the right, the Twenty-sixth on the left, and under a severe fire from the enemy. The artillery ceased firing, the advance was begun, the Fifth Vermont moved rapidly down a narrow gulch to the river bank, while the Twenty-
22
NEW JERSEY TROOPS
sixth went down a road cut parallel with the river and fully exposed to the enemy's fire. The Twenty- sixth rushed gallantly down, crossed the narrow margin of the flats that bordered the river, where they found that the engineers had launched but seven of the boats. The regiment was now in
a perilous position. Crowded together in a small space at the river bank, they were exposed to a galling and murderous fire, and as the engineers boldly rushed to the river to aid in launching the rest of the boats several of their number were killed and wounded. To remain inactive now was suicide. Captain Samuel U. Dodd, of Company H, being on the right of the line, sprang into the first boat, followed by Lieutenant Dodd and as many of his men as could find room in it, and pushed out in the stream. Ordering his men to protect them- selves below the gunwales of the boat, Captain Dodd directed its course to the opposite bank. He was a man of large stature, a conspicuous mark for the enemy's fire, and as the boat reached the middle of the river he received a mortal wound, dying the next day. Immediately following came a boat with the Major of the Fifth Vermont and a detachment from that regiment, next in order being Captain Stephen C. Fordham and Captain Peter F. Rogers with several men of the Twenty-sixth. Major William W. Morris, with men from several companies, filled another boat, and Captain Samuel H. Pemberton, in charge of the fourth boat, followed by three other
ADVANCE OF THE 26TH REGIMENT N. J. VOLS. ACROSS THE RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER, JUNE 5, 1863.
25
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
boats filled with men of the Twenty-sixth, moved boldly to the opposite side. Lieutenant-Colonel Martindale superintended the launching of the other boats, and the men of Captains Hunkele, McIntee, Harrison, Sears and Pearson's companies did herculean work in dragging the immense frames to the river. It was nearly seven o'clock when the boats reached the opposite bank and, without waiting for the whole command to get over, a movement upon the works was at once begun. There was an eager rivalry between the Vermonters and Jerseymen as to which should gain the rifle-pits first. Major Morris, with a portion of the Twenty-sixth, charged rapidly up to the enemy's lines, as did the Fifth Vermont. The rebels saw that retreat across the plain was hopeless. The Sixth Corps artillery commanded the whole posi- tion between them and the woods beyond, and they surrendered. Major Morris, without waiting to note how many prisoners were captured, at once deployed his men as skirmishers along the Bowling Green road. Lieutenant-Colonel Martindale brought the rest of the regiment up as soon as they had crossed over and they were posted as pickets for the rest of the night. The action was spirited, brave and gallant, and to the Twenty-sixth is undoubtedly due the honor of being first in the enemy's works, though the report of Colonel Grant seeks to give that credit to the Fifth Vermont, who turned in to him all the prisoners taken. The casualties in the Twenty-sixth were 2 killed and 17 wounded, as follows :
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NEW JERSEY TROOPS
Killed. Company H-Captain, Samuel U. Dodd. I-Private, Joseph H. Ainsworth.
Wounded.
Company B-Corporal, William H. Brown; Privates, William Small, William Delaney, Martin V. B. Sandford, Dwight Stent, Henry L. Johnson.
66 C-Robert Wallace.
D-William Davis, David Mintonge.
66 E-Henry Berner.
6: F-Corporal, William Egbertson.
66 G-Sergeant, George S. Force.
66 H-David F. Horton.
I-Joseph De Camp, George W.
Griffin, Horace Goble.
K-Aaron G. Mead.
The following is the official report of Lieutenant- Colonel Martindale, concerning the action of the regi- ment :
HEADQUARTERS 26TH NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS, In the Field near Fredericksburg, Va., June 8th, 1863. - Lieutenant C. H. Forbes, Assistant Adjutant-General :
SIR-Of the part taken by this regiment in the recent operations across the Rappahannock, a report of which I am desired to forward, I have the honor to state as follows :
27
IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
On the afternoon of the 5th instant the regiment was ordered to march from its camp near White Oak Church and move with the brigade toward Fredericks- burg. Arriving near the old crossing point (Frank- lin's), next below the town, it was formed in line of battle under fire of the enemy's riflemen, who were posted in earth-works near the south bank. Here we suffered our first loss in killed and wounded. Imme- diately afterward the order was given to charge down the road to the river, under cover of a heavy fire from our artillery, push across the pontoons and carry the line of rifle-pits occupied by the enemy. This order was executed at once, in a spirited manner, under a galling fire from the enemy's earth-works. This regi- ment and the Fifth Vermont had been ordered to cross the river together, but the right of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey having reached the river bank a little in advance, its first two companies were the first to enter the boats, cross over and charge up the opposite bank. A portion of our right company (H) was the first of our regiment to enter the enemy's intrenchments, which they did at the same moment with the Fifth Vermont, capturing a considerable number of prisoners. A line of skirmishers was immediately pushed out to the front, and the whole regiment was deployed in and beyond the Bowling Green road until the morning of the 6th instant, when it was relieved, placed in line of battle, resting upon Deep Run, and so continued until the evening of the 7th, when the regiment was ordered back to the left bank of the Rappahannock. Our
28
NEW JERSEY TROOPS
casualties were 2 killed and 17 wounded. Among the killed I am deeply grieved to be compelled to mention Captain Samuel U. Dodd, of Company H, who fell a sacrifice to his gallant and conscientious devotion to duty while bravely leading his company in the first boat across the river. The loss to his company and regiment is irreparable, but the good influence of his noble example and character will endure for all time.
It gives me particular pleasure to call your attention to the fidelity and good conduct of Major Morris, in every requirement of duty, both in crossing and form- ing upon the opposite bank, and particularly upon the trying and exhausting duty of the skirmish line.
Of the line officers, while many are justly entitled to great praise for meritorious conduct, I desire to call your particular attention to the conspicuous gallantry and spirited conduct of Captain Stephen C. Fordham, of Company A, who distinguished himself both in the attack upon the enemy's intrenchments and the advance to the extreme front of the line of skirmishers. Also to that of Lieutenant John Dodd, of Company H, who distinguished himself in like manner, and was the first man of either regiment to plant his foot upon shore in crossing the river.
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