USA > New Jersey > The history of the Ninth New Jersey Veteran Vols. A record of its service from Sept. 13th, 1861, to July 12th, 1865, with a complete official roster, and sketches of prominent members > Part 16
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April 15 .- At seven o'clock the Ninth marched on board the "John Tucker," which had come round to Smithfield, but we did not sail away for a couple of hours, owing to the appearance of a number of Confederates, who put in an appearance on a hill a mile or so away on our right. As there was a suspicion that the enemy were arranging to attack us on our departure, Colonel Stewart and the officers took rifles and repaired to the upper deck of the steamer, where they would be in a position to more effectually resist the Confederates in case they ventured upon any foolhardiness. At nine o'clock the "Tucker" went down the river stern foremost, being unable, on account of the narrowness of the stream to turn around, and at two o'clock it drew up at the wharf at Portsmouth, when the regiment went ashore, and, taking cars was soon at the station. Some of the boys captured a large quantity of excellent tobacco, for which they subsequently found a profit-
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"ON TO RICHMOND."
able sale-"Ed." Vantilburg of Company D, a noted "buminer," realizing handsomely upon his share in the enterprise.
April 18 .- The Ninth was inspected to-day by Captain Wilcox, acting brigade inspector, who was hardly "up to snuff."
April 20 .- Company I joyfully returned to-day from Fort Walker, where it had been doing garrison duty for some time. No company in the Ninth ever hankered after "snaps" of that nature.
April 22 .- A lovely morning. The receipt of orders by officers to send trunks and every unnecessary article to their homes, created a flurry of excitement among the "shoulder straps." In consequence of this, the merchants of Norfolk did a thriving business in disposing of valises, satchels, etc.
April 26 .- Shelter tents issued to the Ninth, which looks like business, especially as the army of the Potomac is now under control of the great fighting chieftain from the victorious armies of the west. Broke camp and left Getty's station at half-past ten o'clock, reaching Portsmouth about midnight. Embarked on steamer "George Leary," and promptly sailed away in the Stygian darkness-we knew not whither.
April 27 .- Awoke early, being anxious to learn something concerning our destination. Found our vessel, in company with many others, ascending the York river. At seven o'clock anchored off Yorktown, and during the day were transferred to ferry-boat "Winnisimit," which landed us at the dock at sunset. Brigade marched two miles beyond what Mcclellan's army had left of the old town, and bivouacked in an open field.
April 29 .- The Ninth, with the rest of the brigade, marched a few miles in the direction of Williamsburg, and as no other troops followed, many of us wondered whether the commanding general had decided to let General Heckman see what he could do in the way of capturing Richmond without other help. But this illusion was dispelled when the column, without having had a glimpse of the enemy, countermarched, and returned late in the afternoon to the camp it had occupied the previous night. The general had merely indulged in this march to give the tuen a little recreation-to oil their joints, as it were.
Cadla
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April 30 .- Colonel Zabriskie returned from courts-martial duty. Ninth was mustered for pay by gallant Lieutenant- Colonel Chambers of the Twenty-third Massachusetts. In the afternoon the troops on the field, which consisted of the Eighteenth army corps, were reviewed by Major-General Butler, who was accompanied by several well-known generals and a large and brilliant staff. The corps felt proud, as it thought itself complete in all its appointments ; and it was a complete organization, except in the matter of. one or two prominent officers who, actuated by jealousy, which was a crime under the circumstances, a few days later, allowed that magnificent army to be slaughtered and defeated. Sixteen days later thousands of the brave young hearts who, on this occasion, felt so much confidence in each other, and who believed them- selves capable of wresting victory from any force that might be opposed to them, lay maimed and bleeding or still in death on a sanguinary battle-field, within plain sight of the Confederate capital-only seven miles away,
May I .- Heavy rain, rendering walking very "sticky." Every man in the Ninth received forty rounds of extra ammunition, which replaced the superfluous baggage. Ordered to keep four days' cooked rations constantly on hand. New clothing was issued to-day to those who needed it. General Heckman issued an order that-" commandants of regiments will see that all men of their commands, now wearing boots, be supplied with regulation shoes ; this precaution is necessary to prevent sore feet while marching, which boots have a tendency to create."
May 3 .- Ordered to be prepared for "instantaneous move."
May 4 .- General Heckman formed his brigade line, con- sisting of the Ninth New Jersey, Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Massachusetts - honest regiments and true-at six o'clock, and marched to the wharf, where it speedily embarked on vessels in waiting. The Ninth was accommodated on the steamer " Nellie Penz," which took the barge "Pilgrim " with the Twenty-third, in tow. General Heckman and staff took passage on the steamer " Wyoming," laden with the Twenty-seventh. At ten o'clock that evening
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A SURPRISED FISHING PARTY.
the fleet, with the entire Eighteenth corps on board, anchored in the James river, stretching from the great fortress to Newport News.
May 5 .- Anchors were weighed together at six o'clock, and preceded by a number of gunboats, the armada proceeded on up the noble river-the men keeping a keen watch on either side for any lurking enemy. Along toward the middle of the day, the gun-boats, especially the monitors, hugged each side the stream, prepared to send their compliments, in the shape of fifteen-inch shells to any who had the temerity to molest them in their progress. It was about three o'clock when the com- panies of the Ninth formed on deck and loaded their rifles, and half an hour later Harrison's landing was passed. From certain movements of the gun-boats and constant signalling between the admiral's ship and General Butler's headquarters boat, the men regarded it as certain that the time for action was drawing nigh, and although no enemy was visible, they awaited with feverish anxiety the order to land. As the men stood motionless upon deck, ready to perform any duty required of them, the good-natured captain of the "Nellie Penz" who, by many acts of kindness, had endeared himself to the boys, went among them taking such of their hands as he could reach and bidding them "farewell," expressed the hope that he would again be permitted to meet them.
At a little after four o'clock the vessels conveying Heckman's Star brigade lay in the mouth of the afterwards historic Appo- mattox river, which empties into the James between City Point and Bermuda Hundred-the gun-boats sailing off in different directions. A steamboat lay at the wharf at City Point awaiting an exchange of prisoners-negotiations for which were at the time in progress. Those upon the vessel and about the wharf looked at us with surprise, which could not well have been feigned, as our fleet had ascended the river without loss of time, and its approach could not possibly have been heralded to the Confederate authorities at Richmond. The fact that the mem- bers of the signal station on the opposite side of the Appomattox river were anchored in a small boat in mid-stream engaged in the pleasant pastime of fishing, did not notice us until too late
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for them to make their escape from a small steamer which sped after them, proved conclusively that the enemy really had no notice of our coming ; if we were to "occupy the land" in that vicinity, we preferred doing so in a quiet manner.
At six o'clock the Ninth New Jersey, followed by the rest of the brigade, landed upon the low meadow-like land of Bermuda Hundred, and advancing some distance established piquets without molestation, the men promptly stretching themselves upon the ground to await the coming of the morrow.
May 6 .- Before daybreak the men of the Ninth were engaged in boiling coffee in tin cups over small fires, and when the order came at six o'clock to move forward they were in perfect readiness, with stomachs amply satisfied with coffee, salt junk, hard tack, etc. The Jerseymen never neglected an opportunity to satisfy their cravings for food, neither did they put off until to-morrow that which they could digest to-day.
This was the first real step in the opening of the great cam- paign around Richmond and Petersburg, which culminated, nearly a year later, in the capture of those strongholds and the surrender of General Lee and his army of heroes, a few miles away from where the Ninth moved on this beautiful May morning. General Grant, at the head of the grand old Army of the Potomac, was at this moment entering the wilderness, and to General Butler had been deputed the task of destroying Lee's communications and cutting off his supplies. Grant confidently hoped to accomplish the destruction of the great Confederate army and end the rebellion. There was a certainty of desperate fighting, needing the sturdiest courage and most robust endurance, and it was but natural that the veterans of the Ninth New Jersey, who had opened many fierce battles, and never turned their faces from the foe, should again have the post of honor, which in an active army, is always the place of danger. Accordingly, Company D, Lieutenant J. Madison Drake, at once deployed as skirmishers, and moved forward with its centre resting upon a hard level road-General Heckman and his staff following quite closely in rear of the thin line, which, however, was well supported by the remainder of the Ninth and the brigade. Occasionally Company D's boys
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PETERSBURG IN SIGHT.
caught a glimpse of a Confederate horseman or two, but the latter managed to keep out of harm's way, having no dispo- sition to tackle the advance of two army corps-the Eighteenth and Tenth-composed of between thirty thousand and forty thousand men-most of whom had been seasoned in battle, and were inured to all the hardships of war.
It was about noon-time, when Orderly-Sergeant Hulsart, who was familiar with that section of country, having repeatedly ascended the James and Appomattox rivers before the war, pointing to several spires, which could be seen above the tops of trees, some distance away, in our front, remarked : "Lieu- tenant-there's Petersburg !"
"Halt at the edge of the timber, yonder, lieutenant," said General Heckman, who stopped as he reached Cobb's plantation, while Company D continued on a few hundred yards to the point designated, where it kept vigilant watch over a deep ravine until the following morning.
For two hours or more regiment after regiment filed in upon the level ground of that plantation and moved to appointed places. Why the Army of the James did not continue on was then, and is to this day, an unfathomable mystery. General Heckman, who had kept his brigade in readiness to move at a moment's notice, and was eager to advance before the Confed- erates could receive reinforcements or erect earthworks, soon grew heart-sick at the masterly state of inactivity which prevailed, and after waiting two hours in idleness, rode over to General Butler's headquarters with a view of ascertaining whether anything further was to be done. General Butler, seeing General Heckman ride up, ordered him to advance his brigade in the direction of Petersburg, with a view of ascer- taining something definite concerning the position and strength of the Confederate forces, but not to bring on a general engagement.
How horrible, yet terribly sublime and magnificent, is the scene of a battle. Yonder in the distance, we behold the out- lines of the enemy, drawn up in array, the bright barrels of their rifles glittering in the sun, while here and there we see the bright or brazen bodies of those terrible instruments of
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death and destruction-the field pieces. The tattered ensigns fluttering in the breeze, the sound of the bugle, the immovable appearance of the soldiery, each produces its effect. Our army is now advancing with measured tread-the men being almost transmuted into demons, as they near the enemy, some to meet certain death. A halt is ordered, and.the engines of death are quickly arranged, sighted, and in another moment will pour their deadly contents into yonder ranks. The crisis has come ! The solemn boom of a cannon announces in unmistakable terms that the battle has commenced. An involuntary prayer escapes the lips of many, however familiar they may be with such scenes. But hardly is this uttered before another boom is heard-then another and another, and finally the dismal rattle of the rifles. The bright picture of a moment ago is now shrouded in smoke and dust, and the fragrant air is filled with a sulphurous stench. The cloud of smoke ascends, the field is strewn with bodies of men, dead and dying, who, but a brief space ago, were sanguine of glory and victory. "Charge, Ninth, charge !" yells the gallant Heckman, and in a moment the bright bayonets flash in the sunlight to drink the heart's blood of those brave souls who have courage to withstand the shock.
At three o'clock the star brigade, with two Napoleon guns, march quietly away-the Ninth leading the van-confident of its ability to render a good account of itself, no matter how perilous its mission. When the brigade returned to the camp at Cobb's hill, or Point of Rocks, three or four hours later, the men wore subdued countenances and were burdened with heavier hearts then they had ever before known.
Upon reaching the ravine on the outskirts of the plantation, Captain Hopper was ordered to deploy his company (E) and advance, and it was. not long before the Confederates were discovered, but as they fell back, Captain Hopper found no necessity of opening fire. This continued for two miles, when the beautiful plantation of Dr. Walthall was reached. Three-fourths of a inile away in front without a single intervening twig, was a line of bushes across the broad open and almost level field. On the left was a piece of woods
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A FRUITLESS CHARGE.
along which the Twenty-third Massachusetts deployed to guard the flank. Captain Hopper continued on across the field-the Confederate skirmishers answering every movement made by his command. If Company E halted, the Confederates did the same, and the moment it moved forward the enemy faced about and marched quietly to the rear-towards the line of bushes, beyond which for a short distance nothing could be plainly seen. The Ninth marched magnificently in battle line, supported by the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Massa-
chusetts regiments-the battery remaining on the road near the house. General Heckman, mounted on "Mustang," rode at the front on a line with the left flank of the Ninth, observing everything. As the day was nearly spent, and the general somewhat disgusted with the action of the enemy, he ordered Captain Hopper to open on the Confederate skirmish line, now within a short distance of the bushes. The fifty brave men of Company E blazed away. Instantly the thin line of Confed- erates dropped to the ground, some actually believing, for the nonce, that it had been swept away by the volley. But this illusion was quickly dispelled, as from behind the prostrate skirmishers arose a brigade, stretched for some distance, which poured a terrible fusilade into the advancing Unionists. Some thirty men in the Ninth fell in their tracks, while General Heckman was also wounded and his horse killed-riddled by thirteen bullets (counted next day.) Captain Hopper fortunately saw the Confederate line of battle in the edge of the bushes, and ordered his men to drop upon the ground, which they did in the nick of time, thus escaping annihilation. The Ninth at this moment had just gained the summit of a slight elevation. "Charge, Ninth, charge!" shouted General Heckman, the moment he had extricated himself from his prostrate horse, but owing to the din of battle, the order was unheard by the entire command, and but a portion of it dashed forward. Tlie Con- federates, posted behind earthworks, with an excellent range, · delivered their fire with terrible effect, the Ninth being in a perfect inaelstrom of danger. The general, satisfied that the force in his front was too strong to be overcome by his brigade, and having orders to avoid bringing on a general engagement,
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sorrowfully gave orders to fall back, which the brigade was reluctantly compelled to do, retiring in good order, and bringing off the wounded, despite the hailstorm which continued to rage around it. The Star brigade had never before left a field in possession of the enemy.
The brigade reformed at Dr. Walthall's house as dusk was setting in, and remained in position some time, hoping the Confederates would venture in that direction, but they did not pursue, being content to remain within the works which had protected them along the railroad. It was while the Ninth was standing at "rest," everything being still as death, that a bullet came singing through the air, and passing through the head of Corporal John Munch of Company E, killing him instantly, struck a man in the rear rank in the breast, causing a mortal wound. It was the last shot fired that day.
The brigade reached camp at nine o'clock-the men, although thoroughly fatigued, vowing vengeance for their mortification and the loss of many good men and true.
May 7 .- The brigade was in readiness to move at seven o'clock. Company D, which had performed piquet duty in front of the army the previous day and night, was ordered to "assemble " and support Company I, which, being deployed as skirmishers, the advance movement began. The brigade was accompanied by a section of two field batteries. The advance was made with caution, but nothing could be seen of the enemy until the skirmishers reached and passed the deserted mansion of Dr. Walthall, on an eminence commanding a some- what extended view of the surrounding country. Confederates were observed dodging about in the woods half a mile away on our left, also from the railroad cut across a wide open field three-fourths of a mile directly in front. Companies I and D halted at the mansion to await the arrival of the brigade, and while doing so, some of the "bummers" of Company D entered the house and helped themselves to such valuables as could be carried along without impediment. The writer has a . distinct recollection of accepting a large and very handsome Marseilles counterpane from "Ed." Vantilburg, which the latter had found on the premises. It might be well to add that
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THE SECOND DAY AT WALTHALL.
the recipient was, at the time, without a blanket, having given his own the previous evening to Private Samuel Gaston of Company K, the first wounded man brought into camp from the battle-field. The counterpane, after the writer's capture, was forwarded to his home in New Jersey, by the company, and did good service for a number of years afterwards.
General Heckman, on coming up, after a cursory view of the situation, ordered Captain Hufty and Lieutenant Drake to advance with their commands to a knoll in the centre of the beautiful and undulating field in front, and there await further dispositions, but not to open fire upon the Confederates unless it became necessary to do so to obtain possession of the summit. The two companies had no sooner crossed the road leading down to the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike, ere a similar force of Confederates leaped over their earthworks and advanced towards the Union line, whose every motion it imitated. If the Ninth's skirmishers halted, the Confederates did likewise, and if they stepped out briskly, the "Johnnies " did the same. At length the Ninth's skirmishers, who had begun to grow a trifle nervous at their proximity to the enemy, reached the coveted spot and halted. The Confederates, now not more than one hundred yards away, followed suit, and in a few minutes were conversing with the Jerseymen-but in a somewhat taunting spirit.
Meanwhile General Heckman had massed his brigade under the brow of a slight rise in an open field on the left of Dr. Walthall's house, where it remained inactive throughout the entire day. The Confederates shortly afterwards brought up a section of light artillery and placed it in the edge of a woods, "almost on a line with the left flank of the Ninth's skirmishers, who were well advanced, and within a few yards of General Heckman's dead horse, which still remained where it had fallen so heroically the previous day. The Confederate battery went into "action front" and sent a number of solid shot into the brigade, with a view of unmasking the Union force, whatever it might be, and ascertaining its strength and intention. As our movement was simply a feint to attract the attention of the enemy in our direction, while General Brooks with a large force
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made a detour around our right to destroy the railroad and telegraph between Richmond and Petersburg, General Heckman ordered no reply for some time, notwithstanding the provocation he had for doing so. It was only when the Con- federate spherical-case shot had killed and wounded a number of the Ninth that forbearance ceased to be a virtue with our commander, who had, like the men, been chafing under the restraint of orders. "Send those fellows away from there," said General Heckman to the commander of his artillery, whereupon the music began. The first shot caused a decided sensation among the Confederates, and when the second shell struck a caisson and exploded the ammunition therein con- tained, the batterymen limbered up and dashed through the woods, kicking up great clouds of dust as it went to the rear, causing joy on the part of the Unionists.
The Ninth's skirmishers, and their waiting opponents in the field, greatly enjoyed the artillery duel, especially as most of them were entirely out of harm's way-Sergeant Redin N. Penn of Company D, being the only man on the line injured by a shell. Along toward the middle of the afternoon a movement of Con- federates was observed a mile away in our front, and directly afterwards musketry firing was heard on their left flank. The Confederates could be plainly seen changing front to meet this apparently unexpected danger, which was no less than the arrival of the division of General Brooks, which had at last reached the railroad, whose destruction had been the object of the attack.
It was very interesting to watch the battle, especially as we were enabled to do so in comparative safety from afar. The Confed- erate skirmishers in our immediate front became very uneasy as' the sounds of the firing increased, and undoubtedly momentarily expected an advance on our part-their anxiety being increased when some of Company D's boys sung out : "Look out, Johnny, we're coming !" As the sun, which had scorched us all day, began to sink behind the tall trees which covered Petersburg from our view, the brigade slowly fell back to the camp it had left at daylight-the skirmishers covering the retreat-no at- tempt being made by the enemy to molest the movement.
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A FRIGHTENED DOCTOR.
It should be stated here that during the day a detail from the Ninth consigned to mother earth the nude, mutilated and terribly decomposed bodies of its members who fell in the con- flict of the day previous. It was a sad duty.
May 8 .- Sunday. As our generals were unable to find any- thing for us to do,-not even a review-or were themselves desirous of obtaining rest, and a change of underwear, there was comparative rest for all. Many of the men, therefore, embraced the opportunity of going down to the river side and indulging in a skin bath, notwithstanding the fact that the natatorial pleasure was attended by some danger, not only from mocassin snakes which hissed at us in the water, as if resisting an invasion of their domain, but from Confederate sharp-shooters on the opposite side of the Appomattox. A shell which came across in the afternoon, striking plump in the camp of the Twenty-third Massachusetts, greatly alarmed a new assistant- surgeon who had just joined the regiment. The doctor ran out of his tent, and, springing upon his horse, attached to a post, sunk his spurs into the rowels of the poor animal, who reared and plunged, but could not get away, owing to his secure · fastening. The dumbfounded "saw-bones" only recovered his self-possession on hearing some of the boys laugh at him, when he dismounted, and treating them to some whisky and. quinine, begged them not to mention the matter to the officers. At sundown one hundred men from each regiment in the Star brigade marched outside the lines to keep watch and ward for the night.
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