USA > New York > Camp and field life of the Fifth New York volunteer infantry. (Duryee zouaves.) > Part 17
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It appears, from Confederate reports, that Col. Marshall, who commanded the Ist Rifles, was ordered to charge the battery we were supporting. He says :
" Before giving the order to advance, I called upon the regi- ment to remember the State from whence they came, to put their trust in God, and acquit themselves like men. At this awful mo- ment there was not a quiver or a pallid cheek. . . There was a calmness, a settled determination on the part of every man to do or die in the attempt. I gave the command, 'Double-quick, march !' and, as soon as we had gained the old field, 'Charge bayonets,' at the same time deploying six companies to the left,
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supporting the entire line of skirmishers. As soon as we emerged from the pines, we were met by a most destructive fire from the enemy in front and on our left, and as soon as we had cleared about 100 yards of the old field, two heavy batteries, on our left, about 600 yards off, poured into our ranks a deadly fire of grape and canister. Here it was that my Adjutant, J. B. Sloan, was shot down by my side, while gallantly aiding me and urging on the charge of the regiment. Here, also, fell Capt. R. A. Haw- thorne, gallantly leading his company. A few paces further fell Capt. Henagen, another noble spirit, leading his company : close by his side fell his gallant Lieutenant (Brown), and farther fell the gallant and patriotic Lieut. Samuel McFall, and near him fell Sergt .- Major McGhee, nobly cheering the men on to the charge. My men, although now under three cross-fires, and falling thick and fast from one end of the line to the other, never once fal- tered. Finding no battery, they dashed on to the woods in front," etc. "Here my men got the first chance to exchange shots." etc.
" While this successful movement was going on, the left wing of my regiment was about being outflanked by about 500 New York Zouaves, who came down upon my left in a desperate charge. . . . .
" I ordered my regiment to fall back . . . . to the edge of the wood, where we entered, and then filing to the right, conducted them in safety down a road, where I formed the remnant under cover of the hill in front of the Zouaves. Just as I was forming, a North Carolina regiment came up, and assisted us in giving a complete check to any further movement to the enemy in this quarter. Thus ended one of the most desperate charges 1 ever witnessed ; and I feel thankful to a kind Providence that so many of us escaped to witness the most complete triumph of our arms in the hardest contested battle before Richmond, and the one which decided the fate of the Yankee army."
Among the losses Colonel Marshall mentions, in addition to those already noticed, Major J. W. Livingston, wounded in the side severely ; Captains J. J. Norton and F. E. Har- [ison, wounded ; Captain Miller, wounded, and thirteen men of his company killed ; Captain G. W. Cox, wounded, and
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sixteen men killed ; Lieutenants William C. Davis and Lati- mer, wounded, the latter mortally.
The Fifth now occupied the ground beyond, where the nu- merous dead and wounded Confederates lay, facing and near the wood. It was now their turn to suffer severely ; they received a volley from the second and stronger line of the enemy, who were drawn up in the edge of the wood. The whole regiment was actively engaged, firing very rapidly, and aiming low, two of the companies, I and E, being armed with Sharp's rifles, the others using a patent cartridge, which did not require to be torn open by the teeth, as usual, hence saved time, consequently their fire was continuous and rapid. But the fire from the enemy was also incessant and well sustained. and the battle raged fiercely, but the men of the Fifth obstinately held their own and fought desperately. At times they were forced back and obliged to give ground, but it would be for only a moment, as they immediately re-formed and charged forward again and recovered their former posi- tion at the point of the bayonet, which tended to demoralize their opponents, and saved loss to themselves. But flesh and blood could not stand such a fire much longer without one side or the other giving way. Yet the Fifth had no idea of being the first, as long as there was anybody left to fire a shot. They, however, beheld, with dismay, the long line of their own killed and wounded, and their rapidly decreasing numbers, while there was no slackening of the heavy fire from the pines, which seemed to increase instead of diminish, and there were no signs of any direct relief coming. It was a critical moment, when Sergt. John H. Berian, who carried the regimental colors, strode firmly thirty paces in front of the regiment, planted the staff in the ground, and looked de- fiantly about him .* He was immediately joined by Sergt. Allison, who bore the United States flig.
* John H. Berrian enlisted as a private May o, 1861, and rose to be Color-Sergeant in charge of the regimental colors. In the severe action of Gaines' Mill, he showed
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The Colonel and officers shouted to them to come back, fearing that the enemy might make a sudden onslaught from the wood, and capture the flags; but they were idle fears ; they could only have been taken over the bodies of scores of brave nien, who would have fought with the bayonet to the last to preserve them. When the men of the Fifth saw the bravery of this action, they gave a terrific yell-" a yell never heard off the battle-field, so demoniac and horrid that men in peaceful times can not imitate it"-and without orders, of one accord rushed like demons into the wood with the bayonet, and never paused until they saw the enemy's line completely broken and shattered, and flying to the rear, some of them being bayoneted in the retreat, their officers trying in vain to rally their commands. Some of them had even thrown away their arms, and our men made the best of their time in picking them off as fast as they could. On our right the 12th regular infantry had become engaged, and the Sixth moved up to our support, and were placed in position by Colonel Warren. . .
It was now after 4 P.M. ; the recall was sounded, but some of the Fifth did not come out of the wood for some time. The enemy, in the meantime, had taken refuge in and be- yond the ravine. A long line of the Pennsylvania Reserves were advancing in line of battle, and had nearly reached the wood, and were about to open fire, when the Zouaves that remained behind were obliged to go through their lines to get to the rear. As they returned through the wood and
such coolness and bravery, that he received a commission as Second Lieutenant, but being stricken with the malarial fever, he reluctantly sent in his resignation, at the earnest solicitation of his parents, who had two other sons in the regiment, one of whom was killed in action, and the other subsequently enlisted again in the Second battalion, and was also killed. Lieutenant Berrian (the survivor), for thirteen years h & been a futhfil guardian of the peace, and for some years has been speci.illy e 'trusted to watch over and gaard the treasures of a very large Savings Bank, and from his distinguished record as a soldier, it is needless to say that those whose treasures he watches over could not have selected a better or more faithful guardian of such a trust.
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over the open field, they were surprised at the carnage, for it had been an obstinate fight on both sides, of over two hours ; a long row of red uniforms marked the place where they first charged, besides little knots of them lying here and there, while just beyond in groups, and in the wood, lay the delud- ed, but gallant sons of the South.
The correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial thus describes the conflict on this portion of the line :
"Again he gathered his columns, supported them by fresh troops, again advanced, extending his lines as if to flank our right, and renewed the attack with greater ferocity than ever, to be again repulsed with terrible slaughter. Sykes' Regulars and Warren's brigade, in which are the Duryee Zouaves and Bendix's 10th New York regiment, played a brilliant part in this portion of the engagement, the Zouaves especially fighting with a des- peration and tenacity only to be expected from such superior men."*
* Compte de Paris (2d V., p. 96) : " Hill was repulsed by the right of Morell's di- vision, and by the brigade of the young ard valiant Warren."
D. J. Lossing (Ist V., p. 421) : " A. P. Hill attacked at 2 P.M. The brunt of the attack fell first upon Sykes' division, who threw the assailants back in great confu- sion and heavy loss."
A. H. Guernsey : " It was past 2 P.M. when Hill was directed to begin the a -- sauh. For two hours the battle raged with equal obstinacy on both sides. The Federal troops gained ground, and from being assailed became the assailants. Hill was defeated, crushed, and almost routed. Some of his regiments stood their ground ; others threw themselves flat on the earth to escape ; others rushed from the field in disorder." He says: " The defeat at this point is fully shown in the Confederate report," as follows :
" L.ce (Report 8), and Hill (ibid. 176), affirms it in generl terms."
" Archer (ibid. 256), says : ' My troops fell hack before the irresistible fire of ar- tillery and rifles. Had they not fallen back, I would myself have ordered it.'
" Pender says (ibid. 253) : ' My men were rallied and pushed forward again, but did not advance far before they fell back. The enemy were continually bringing up fresh troops, and succeeded in driving us from the road.'
" Whiting, of Jackson's command, who came to the relief of these troops, says ('bid. 154) : ' Men were leaving the field in every direction, and in great disorder ; two regiments, one from South Carolina and one from Louisiana, were actually marching back from the fire,' etc. 'Near the crest in front of us, and lying dow: . appeared the fragments of a brigade,' etc. 'Still further on our extreme right, nur troops appeared to be falling back. The troops on our immediate left I do not know, and I am glad I don't,' etc., etc."
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The now thinned ranks of the Fifth marched a short distance to the rear, and rested after their long fight, in the meantime supporting a twenty-pound battery, the fire of which was doing great execution in the ranks of the enemy, and there seemed to be a slight lull in the din of battle, but it soon commenced again and raged as fierce as ever. The spent balls flying around them thickly, many of the men received stinging blows from them. All the troops were now engaged. The Confederates generally advanced in three lines, the first firing a volley and dropping flat, the next line firing over their heads, while the first line reloaded. "The din and noise of the contending forces was terrific, and amid the roar of one hundred and twenty guns, and the crash of ninety thousand muskets, could be heard the shouts of the Union forces mingled with the rebel yell."*
Guernsey says : " Whiting does great injustice to the troops of Hill. They were indeed defeated and broken, but it was after two hours of desperate fighting under every disadvantage of position, against a force quite equal to them, as the record of their losses shows. Thus, the regiment from South Carolina which was actually marching back under fire, must have been the Ist Rifles, South Carolina Volunteers. Of this regiment its Colonel, Marshall, reports (ibid. 502) : 'In that charge we sustained a loss of 76 killed, 221 wounded, and 53 missing. Early on the morning after the battle, I made a detail from each company to bury their dead, and so se- vere was the work of death in some of the companies that it took the detail all day to bury their dead, and of those missing in the morning, all but four rejoined their regiment.'"
"Hill, after acknowledging the repulse. says (ibid. 176): 'My division was en- gaged full two hours before assistance was received. We failed to carry the enemy's lines, but we paved the way for the successful attack afterward, and in which attack it was necessary to employ the whole of our army that side of the Chickahominy. About 4 P.M. reinforcements came up on my right from General Longstreet, and later, Jackson's men on my left and center, and my division was relieved of the . weight of the contest.' "!
* Guernsey says : " Jackson now arrived upon the scene, D. H. Hill on the ex- treme Union right, Ewell and Whiting on his left, with Lawton (4,000) a little in the rear, and a general advance was ordered. Porter's line was so severely pressed at every point, that he was obliged to divide Slocum's division (9,000), which arrived about half-past four o'clock, sending parts of it, even single regiments, to the points most threatened."
General MeClellan's Report (p. 248) : " On the left the contest was for the strip nf woods running almost at right angles to the Chickahominy in front of Adams' House, or betwee i that and Gaines' House. The enemy several times charged up to this wood, but were each time driven back with heavy loss. The regulars of Sykes' division, on the right, also repulsed several strong attacks."
" The enemy attacked again in great force at 6 P.M., but failed to break our lines, though our loss was very heavy."
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Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry.
Soon the sound of the musketry approached nearer and nearer, and the men knew that our forces were being - driven. The regiment had not rested long apparently (for in a battle it is difficult to judge of the flight of time), the men every moment expecting further orders, when Colonel Warren came dashing up, and cried out : " Fall in, men ! Fall in !" " Fall in !" was repeated by Lieutenant-Colonel H. Duryea and the other officers ; the men jumped up with alacrity, and were hurriedly marched off by the flank to the right, through volleys of canister shot that raked the field, after some minor movements, and the regiment "told off," and the companies equalized under a heavy fire, faced in line of battle, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hiram Duryea gave the order, " Forward, guide center, march !" In a moment the regiment found themselves on a ridge of ground facing a long line of the advancing enemy. They opened a vigorous fire by file upon them, and brought them to a halt. Upon re- ceiving our fire the enemy called out, "Don't fire on your own men ; " at the same time they did not return the fire, but waved what resembled, as seen through the smoke, the " American colors." At this admonition from supposed friends, the majority ceased their fire, thinking that possibly they might be friends. But it was only a Confederate trick. Just then Colonel Warren dashed up, and cried out : " Blaze away ! blaze away, men ! If they are our men, they have no business there." At the same time a terrible volley, fired by our supposed friends, swept over and through the ranks, dealing out death and wounds. Again our rifles flashed, and the Confederate colors fell. A battery of six Napoleon guns (Platt's United States), concealed behind the ridge, and which was unobserved by the enemy, opened with double- shotted guns on their column, now advancing again on a charge, and they were repulsed with great slaughter.
The sight from the ridge was appalling ; the view extended . over the hard-fought field, which was enveloped in smoke ;
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on the far left the troops were falling doggedly back, fight- ing for every foot of ground, pressed back by overwhelming numbers of fresh Confederates, and there were no reserves on the Union side to put against them ; every available man had been, or was, fighting, and the trying hour had come in which the steadiness and discipline of Sykes' division, now much reduced in numbers, but the most reliable in the service, was to be taxed to its utmost. The salvation of our shattered army on the left bank of the Chickahominy de- pended upon its efforts, until reinforcements or night should come to their relief, to stay the advance of the Confederate columns which were pressing on to drive our forces into the swamps of the river.
The battalions of regulars had been, and were, fighting desperately to the right, as had also the Eleventh in- fintry on our left. They stood as firm as a rock, meeting and foiling the desperate onsets of Ewell's, D. H. Hill's, and Jackson's troops to outflank and crush the right.
A battery of Parrott guns on the right of our line near McGee's house, had been creating terrible havoc in the enemy's ranks ; two regiments charged and took it, one of them, the 20th North Carolina, losing their Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel and more than one-half of their men in the attempt ; but it was retaken again.
Up to this time the Confederates on this part of the line were held at bay. Lawton now appeared on the scene, and pressed forward through the broken ranks of the Confeder- ates in one continuous line of 3,500 men, armed with Enfield rifles. General Ewell seeing this strong body of fresh troops coming to his assistance, waved his sword over his head and cried out, " Hurrah for Georgia !" The temporary Toppage of the fire of the battery on the right was taken Vantage of, and General Winder pressed forward with sirven regiments, the Hampton legion, Ist Maryland, 12th Alabama, 52d Virginia, 38th Georgia, and the 2d, 5th, 33d,
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Fifth New York Volunteer Infantry.
27th, 14th Virginia, with the Irish battalion, and attacked the regulars on their flank and rear ; and they were compelled to fall back. When the Confederates had approached to within two hundred feet, the battery was withdrawn, leaving two of the guns in the hands of the enemy, the horses being all shot down. The regulars fell back about three hundred yards, fighting for every foot of ground. Colonel Allen and Major Jones, of the ad Virginia Confederate regiment, both fell mortally wounded. While this was transpiring on the right, the Fifth was to the right of the left of the division supporting Platt's battery .*
Men separated from their regiments, lost, stragglers, and wounded, were continually passing to the rear ; there was nothing left in front but Stonewall Jackson's legions, every available man of them pressing on with the bayonet to be in at the death. The masses of our broken organizations were thronging toward the bridges that crossed the Chickahominy in the rear. Officers drew swords and revolvers and placed themselves in front of their retreating troops and soon rallied them. The men of the Fifth intelligently made the most of their position, which was an advantageous one, or otherwise they would soon have been too much decimated by the flying bullets to maintain it. Some of them lay down
* Guernsey says : " It was now half-past six, an hour before sunset. The whole Confederate force on this side of the Chickahominy was brought into action. Jack- son, Longstreet, and the two Hills, with the exception of Kemper's brigade of ' 1,433 muskets,' of Longstreet's division, which was held in reserve ; opposed to them was only Porter's (two divisions), and McCall and Slocum's divisions. Making allowances for losses on each side up to this time, the Confederate force on the field numbered about 56,00> ; Union, 33,002." [This estimate does not allow for stragglers on both sides, which were numerous .- A. D.]
Lossing : " At six o'clock, brigade after brigade burled against the line in rapid succession, hoping to break it. For a long time it stood firm, but weakened by car- naze," etc., etc.
Swinton (p. 152) : " The right hell its ground with much stubbornness, repuls- ing every attack. The left, too, fought stoutly, but was at length broken by a determined charge led by Hood's Texan troops." [They captured fourteen guns ; the horses all being shot, they could not be removed in time, but Hood, according to his own accounts, lo. t 1,000 men, killed and wounded, in the charge].
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behind the ridge, others were partially shielded behind trees, and were firing at the enemy with steady aim and deadly effect, some of them making the colors of the regiments the focus of their fire. During this part of the engagement three times the Confederate colors were seen to fall. There were only about two hundred of the Fifth together at this time supporting the battery, which was doing its best. A few of the roth New York were also there under the com- mand of Colonel Bendix. The Confederates were advanc- ing, as seen indistinctly through the smoke, in line after line, but their fire was not very destructive, as, according to their own reports, many of their regiments were out of ammunition, and their heavy force was pressing on with the bayonet ; some of our men who had faced the worst up to this time drew out. The majority of the Zou- aves had stripped off their knapsacks, expecting a hand to hand conflict, to save the battery, or to keep from a rebel prison-a fate worse than death. There were some there who were determined never to be taken prisoners, unless too much disabled to defend themselves ; a fact which can be verified by men now living.
The double-shotted guns of Platt's and Griffin's batteries were pouring deadly discharges of canister into the masses of the enemy : the regulars and the 16th New York, of Slocum's division, were delivering terrible volleys to check their onsets, and the remnants of the Fifth and Tenth added their fire. Sykes' division was indeed doing its hard work, and its war-worn and indomitable chief was with it, cool and steadfast in its time of peril, standing like a lion at bay .* The Commander-in-Chief of all our forces on that bloody day, General Fitz John Porter, was there. It was during
* General Sykes graduated from the United States Military Academy. We-t Point, and was commissioned Brevet Second Lieutenant in the regular army July 1. 1642. He served with distinction in the Mexican war, and has been on active duty ever since. General Sykes is a man of few words, but when hard work is required he is the man to do it.
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their charges on this part of the battle-field that so many Confederate officers fell while animating their exhausted men and bearing the colors of their regiments in their hands.
We were now passing through some awful moments ; sud- denly we heard the shouts of men in the distance toward the rear, which at first threw us into a fearful state of excite- ment, but was somewhat allayed when it was ascertained that instead of an enemy, the shouts came from friends. We answered them lustily, and knew that relief was com- ing, but it was yet far away, and the minutes were test- ing our ability to stand until succor should arrive. The Duke of Wellington did not long for Blucher to appear, with more agony, than did those present on that ridge for the coming up of French, and Meagher with his fighting sons of Ireland. Colonel Warren moved about regardless of the missiles of death ; word came to him that the ammuni- tion of the battery was nearly expended, and on'y two or three rounds remained ; he answered, "Let them fire all they have ; I will stand by them." It seemed at this moment as if the sun stood still, but he was slowly creeping below the horizon, veiled by thick clouds of sulphurons smoke ; the glories of his crimson hues were paled, as if he shrank, with averted face, from the sight of the gory field.
Colonel Hiram Duryea stood by our little band, cool, but anxious; said he, " I wish to God we had help !" and it was time. In a few moments, if we did not fall back, we must either cross bayonets with overwhelming numbers, or be surrendered as prisoners of war.
It was now sundown, and the battery fired its last round, and, as current rumor has it, rammers and all, almost into the faces of the Confederates, and moved off down the ridge with every gun. The Fifth, worn and tired, filed off by the flank in its rear, missing many a familiar face. Just as they passed down the road a rebel farewell, in the shape
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of a shell, came hissing over their heads, and burst in the side of a barn, not twenty feet away, tearing a great gap in its side ; and as we marched and disappeared in the gloom of the woods, in the fading twilight, the air was rent with the shrill rebel yells as they swarmed over the vacated ridge .*
"No battery was lost, or any part of it near our regiment (5th New York) at Gaines' Mill, nor did the enemy break our line (Sykes' division) from where we were on the left of it to the right of it. We were on the field till dark, and then were withdrawn without molestation by the enemy."+
It was now quite dark ; after marching a short distance. the Irish brigade were met, which, with that of French's, came up on a double-quick, and cheering loudly. These fresh troops charged the skirt of the field, and their opportune arrival had the moral effect of checking the further advance of the enemy, who were much exhausted by the long con- test.
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