USA > New York > Cayuga in the field : a record of the 19th N. Y. Volunteers, all the batteries of the 3d New York Artillery, and 75th New York Volunteers > Part 27
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Meanwhile the rebel brigades in the woods had made a simul- taneous advance. It can scarcely be called a charge. It was not fast enough. But it came on grand, compact, steady, like a tidal wave. Upon it Battery G, from a knoll in rear of I, now directed its most strenuous fire, seconded by the other guns of I, while the infantry greeted it with a rapid hail of small shot. The rebel line melted under the punishment we
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put upon it, and its men were falling by scores ; but it pressed on with a courage unsurpassed on any of the battle fields of the war until it reached the abattis. It stood here for a while ex- changing rapid and heavy vollies with the Union works. The roar of the battle at this time was terrible. The woods acted with the acoustic force of a mighty sounding board and the varied sounds of the conflict, caught up and reverberated on all sides, made a pandemonium which those who heard it do not particularly long to ever hear again. The defenders of our attacked left flank were reinforced early in the action by several regiments and Battery A from the right of Carter's division. They came into position on the extreme left and added their fire to that to which the rebels were already subjected. As Battery A crossed the turnpike on a double-quick to reach its place in the works, a harmless volley was fired upon it from the woods ; but some of the bullets went over and fell among Gen. Carter and his staff officers who were watching the battle, killing two of their horses. After a stubborn fight of about ten minutes dura- tion the rebel line was repulsed and hurled back to a place of safety in the heart of the woods.
As the butternuts retreated, the boys in blue sprang to their feet and gave tremendous cheers. These jubilant shouts were the means of a second Confederate defeat. Hoke had placed a large body of troops opposite to our center, with instructions to lie in ambush and await the moment when he should signify his victory on our left by cheers. They were to charge. When they heard our men shout these rebels came out of their thicket and made the prescribed assault, which, as we were then at lib- erty to give it all necessary attention, was signally repulsed.
But the battle was not over on the left flank yet. The enemy had reformed his broken lines, and in a few moments charged again, under cover of a heavy fire of sharpshooters. The as- sault was not so resolute as the first, and was repulsed with heavy slaughter.
The rebels rallied once more, however, and now made the most desperate and persistent assault of the day. They charged into the abattis with the most utter recklessness, and then work- ing their way through, they came raging on, until some of them were actually shot down within six feet of our guns. It was the crisis of the battle, and artillery and infantry toiled at their re- spective arms to the utmost stretch of their energy. So rapid was the firing that the sound was one continuous roll of thunder. In this assault the enemy met his heaviest loss. The main body of the charging line was at last again hurled back in complete
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rout, but nearly a thousand of the men, entangled in the abattis, could not escape, and accordingly fell down on the ground and held up their hands. Slackening our fire at this, a regiment of men charged out of the works and captured the whole lot. They were mostly Alabamians.
Cheer after cheer rent the air and made the forest aisles ring at the glorious result, and comrades sought each other out for enthusiastic congratulations on the victory. All instinctively felt that that was the last of Mr. Hoke for some time to come. As that daring leader's horse had dashed riderless into our lines during the fight, some thought it was the last of him forever. It turned out, however, that Hoke was not killed. He had only been unhorsed and defeated.
The fight, in its severity, was but half an hour's duration alto- gether. Our loss scarce exceeded 200. The Confederates lost over 2,000. Four hundred of their dead and wounded were found on the cross-road and in the abattis alone. Owing to the protection of the works, although under galling and incessant fire, the 3d Artillery had few casualties. They were Thomas McHenry and James Thompson, Battery G, wounded. Also a few horses killed and wounded. Our army captured in all at · South West creek about 2,000 prisoners.
Hoke's punishment unfitted him for further aggressiveness after his repulse, and he quietly withdrew to his works.
The snatching of a victory from what at first threatened to be a terrible disaster to our army in this battle, was largely, if not mainly, due to the heroism, steadiness and thorough disci- pline of the 3d New York Artillery. This was never acknowl- edged in official reports, but the army saw it, and knew it, and Schofield's veterans did not withhold their complimentary and cordial expression of it. There was not so much talk about " band-box artillery " after that as there had been.
On the evening of the roth, Gen. Couch reached Beaver Dam, eight miles from Schofield, and communicated with hin. Capt. Russell and some men of Battery A, out on a scout on our left flank, saw his approach, and announced it in camp to the gen- eral satisfaction. Next morning the reinforcements marched in to camp, our men cheering them heartily. Their arrival again consolidated the 23d Corps, which was now swelled by the in- corporation of the troops of the North Carolina department, and Schofield found himself at the head of a brave, victorious and exultant army of 20,000 men.
Simultaneously with Couch's coming up, Hoke decamped. Our lookouts could see rising from the country in every direc-
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tion the smoke of the bridges he burnt behind him. Having rebuilt the bridges, Schofield felt along out to the locality of Kinston bridge on the 13th, and on the 14th advanced in force. At Kinston bridge he encountered two lines of earthworks of the most formidable description, covering all approach. Erected since 1862, they had embrasures for nearly a hundred guns, and were so strong that if well garrisoned they would have resisted 100,000 men. Not a rebel was there to stay our progress, how- ever, and laying a pontoon bridge while the engineers were repairing the half-burnt country bridge, Schofield marched out to it and crossed the river with the division of Gen. Greene (formerly Palmer's.) On the north side there were still heavier works, running in zig-zag lines along the river and out into the country, garnished with bastions and forts, with parapets six feet high and twelve or fifteen through, twelve foot ditches, and covered ways so deep that army trains would be completely hidden in them. These, too, were aban- doned, and Schofield, passing on, entered Kinston without op- position, in one of the hardest rain storms of the season. Throwing his troops out all around the town in line of battle, he ordered them to intrench immediately. The rest of the corps came up on the 15th. By working day and night, in two or three days the corps had a respectable line of fortifications along its entire front, sufficiently strong to be held by a slender garrison.
Strong detachments meanwhile were posted in the captured works on the south side of the Neuse, covering the county bridge, and at the railroad bridge, also. Near the former there were many sights of interest. In dense pine woods, west of the works, there was a cavalry camp concealed, a city of barracks and stables. In the river, above the bridge, there remained a rebel iron clad ram, burnt by the retreating rebels, resting on the bottom. The graves of the dead of December, 1862, were found near the little house by the bridge. The rebels and Union men were each buried in a row. In constructing their works the Confederates had dug down nearly to the bodies of the fallen heroes. The elements had worn away the soil still more, so that now rows of skeletons, white and gleaming, protruded above the surface of the ground. On the north side of the river there was a magazine the rebels had tried to explode on our approach. Pouring out six barrels of powder loosely on the floor, they had placed six enormous shells in the midst of it, and laid a train of powder from it in a little gutter in the ground, to several hundred yards distance. Some of the first of
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our men across the river fortunately saw the train and scraped away the powder, breaking the connection. Gen. Carter ordered Capt. Russell to clear out the magazine. The delicate and dan- gerous duty was performed by Sergt. Willis Watson and a small detail of men. Not knowing but that they might at any moment explode a torpedo (the roads, at least, were full of them,) they explored the work carefully, till they found out what was in it, and then threw the contents into the river.
While at Kinston, Schofield received tidings by courier from Gen. Sherman, who had penetrated the State as far as Fayette- ville. Writing from that place, under date of Sunday, the 12th, Sherman said : "We reached here yesterday, and will be de- layed until Tuesday or Wednesday, putting down pontoons. I will utterly destroy the arsenal and other public property, and I hope to get up some shoes and small stores from Wilmington before we leave. I will then march in compact order straight for the bridge across Neuse river, south of Goldsboro. I expect to make junction with you thereabouts. If I do not find you there, I will feel towards Kinston and Newbern. * Keep your command well concentrated, on the defensive, ad- vancing as fast as the railroad is built ; but reach Goldsboro, if possible, and fortify.
Hoping to meet you in ten days, I am your friend, &c." Sherman had had a toilsome march through the mud of South. Carolina, but had driven Johnston steadily and swiftly before him, living on the fat of the land. He was now in North Carolina, in the very best of spirits, and only resting to clean his columns of contrabands and refugees, by sending them under escort to Wilmington. The order above quoted from contained another piece of in- formation of a great deal of interest to Schofield. It said: "On making junction with you, I want you .to make your com- mand 25,000, and call it the center, thus restoring our old At- lanta organization." The 23d Corps still retained the name of Army of the Ohio, which had distinguished it in the Atlanta campaign, and Schofield contemplated with satisfaction the prospect of being soon united with his old comrades in arms of the 14th, 15th, 17th and 20th Corps, under their beloved com- mander, Sherman.
Skirmishing took place around Kinston for several days, but the Confederates were not present in any force. Hoke had gone to reinforce Johnston. The principal source of apprehen- sion was the turnpike to Goldsboro being full of torpedoes, a fact that was discovered by a detachment of the 12th Cavalry, which was pushed out on that road toward Mosely Hall on a
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scout. These infernal traps were percussion shells set on end in a hole in the ground, covered with a piece of tin and dirt. - Horse, man or cannon wheel pressing on the spot where one of them was concealed was certain to be blown to pieces. A horse and rider were blown up by one of them within sight of our in- trenchments. A New Hampshire man at length cleared the road of these deadly traps by going out alone and ferreting them out.
The grand movement on Goldsboro now approached its crisis. There were now three Union columns in the field, viz : Schofield's, at Kinston, on the line of the Newbern railroad ; Terry's, the roth Corps, on the railroad coming up from Wil- mington ; Sherman's, at Fayetteville. Johnston confronted the latter with 45,000 men, covering Goldsboro and Raleigh. Each of the former had in his front a small force.
Gen. Schofield now received by the hands of a scout a dis- patch from Sherman to advance from Kinston, as follows: "I am now (the 14th) across Cape Fear river, and to-morrow shall draw out ten miles, and next day, if weather is favorable, will begin to maneuvre on Goldsboro. I shall feign strong on Raleigh.
* You must push vigorously towards Golds- boro, with the absolute certainty that I will engage the attention of Joe Jolinston's army to the west and southwest of Goldsboro. Let the railroad construction party push their work. * * * You must now push boldly as possible straight on Goldsboro, and I will do the same. Joe Johnston may try to interpose, in which case we must strike him as near at the same time as possible. * * Consolidate your command at once into an army, the center of this. Gen. Howard has the right wing, Gen. Slocum the left. You can have Terry's troops."
Having partially reorganized his army, Schofield detailed the brigade of Harlan, including Batteries A and G, 3d New York, to remain and guard Kinston and the bridges, and on the 20th broke camp and marched with all the rest of his forces straight towards Goldsboro. Batteries C, D and I, the latter of which had now been reinforced by its other section from Newbern, accompanied the movement. Our line of march lay through a more populous region than that before traversed and there were fine farms all along the route. The men foraged liberally. In a letter to Schofield, Sherman had said, " We can go wherever we can live. We can live wherever the people do, and if any- body has to suffer let them suffer." Hence, no sentimental tenderness towards rebels existed at headquarters of the Army of the Ohio. The men were allowed to forage for provisions as
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freely as they pleased, and they certainly did ransack the region for chickens, fat turkeys, plump calves, pigs and other choice contraband of war with loving and conscientious thoroughness. The 3d New York displayed good searching qualities during the march and a profusion of poultry, hams and other epicurean temptations, dangling from the gun carriages and caissons by night fall, showed that our boys had secured their share. Per- sonal violence to the people, however, received the sternest reprobation, and the sentiment on this subject is fitly shown by the fact that on reaching Goldsboro, by Gen. Schofield's order, a private of the 12th Cavalry was shot to death with musketry for having ravished a woman.
The army camped at night eighteen miles from Kinston, over half-way to Goldsboro.
Next day, March 2Ist, the bugles blew for reveille before day- light. At 6 o'clock, we resumed the march. The railroad builders followed close behind, working an immense force of negroes and others in the repair of the road. Heavy skirmish- ing took place at the head of the army, but Schofield drove everything before him, and in the afternoon entered Goldsboro in triumph. The divisions hurried up as fast as possible and going through the town they formed line of battle and began to fortify at once.
Nothing being heard from Sherman or Terry, Gen. Schofield directed Gen. Carter to post a battery on the river side of the town and signal to Sherman by firing salvos of three guns and single guns at intervals, that we had taken for him the city which was the objective point of his great march. Battery I was ordered out for this purpose. It remained in position, firing signal guns and beautifully executed salvos, nearly all night. Schofield, Carter and other officers of rank set around a camp fire near the battery, listening for a reply, occasionally putting their ears to the ground in the hope of hearing distant cannon- ading, transmission of the sound of which through the air might be interrupted by woods, &c. Towards morning, we got an answer to our firing, which we then soon after discontinued.
An announcement of his arrival was also sent to Sherman by courier. It reached its destination in the morning, and Sher- man wrote to Gens. Howard, Slocum and Kilpatrick, "General Schofield reports this morning from Goldsboro. So our cam- paign is an eminent success."
Joe Johnston did not interpose between Sherman and Scho- field as anticipated ; but defeated by the former on the 21st near Bentonville, retreated towards Smithfield and Raleigh.
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On the 22d, Schofield opened up communication across the river with Terry. He also discovered that "Uncle Billy," as the men loved to call him, was near at hand, by the arrival of straggling parties of those precious fellows -" Sherman's bummers."
Such a looking lot of apparitions never before mingled among men. Sherman, at starting out from Atlanta, had issued an order to the effect that "the army will forage liberally on the country during the march." Every section in the army obeyed the mandate with literal exactness; but there was a class of them. which displayed unusual talent in this line, and wandering away from their commands they ran independent lines of forag- ing of their own, only keeping near enough to the main column to be safe, and often ranging way ahead of it, and these, the bummers par excellence, were the ones who began to come into Goldsboro. Tough as hickory from their 600 mile tramp ; brown as nuts; their uniforms torn, patched, stained with mud, and pieced out with astonishing garments appropriated from planters' wardrobes ; laden with spoils ; some riding on cows ; some in carriages drawn by mule and cow teams,-these men presented an appearance that baffles description.
On the morning of the 23d, Sherman rode into the town with his staff. He was received with the wildest enthusiasm. Battery I fired a Major-General's salute in his honor. During the day, Slocum crossed the river by pontoons and other bridges in the vicinity and went into camp north of the town. The regiments were all full of fire and life, but sadly in need of new clothing. Troops continued to arrive for several days until the whole army of 75.000 men had been concentrated around the place. Sher- man's first solicitude was to reclothe his army. He required an immense amount of supplies therefor ; but these had been col- lected at Newbern in readiness, and now the railroad and wagon roads were taxed to their utmost capacity to bring them to the front. The troops left at Kinston to guard our communica- tions saw trains of from 200 to 500 wagons come down almost daily, and, loading up from the railroad trains and steamers in the river, return with their valued stores.
March 25th, Sherman ran down to Newbern by rail and took thence a boat to City Point to confer with Grant.
A reorganization of the army was now effected at Goldsboro, and Schofield, receiving the troops of Terry, formed the Army of the Ohio anew, and took his place in the center, in accor- dance with the programme suggested by Sherman. On the 22d he announced Lieut .- Col. Kennedy, of the 3d New York, as
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Chief of Artillery in the Field in his command ; that officer having, at his own request, been relieved as Mustering Officer of the Department of North Carolina and assigned to active service. Kennedy had acted as Mustering Officer since April, 1864. There was now placed under him all the batteries in the field in Schofield's command, thirteen in number.
Sherman returned to Goldsboro on the 30th of March, and resumed the study of " the grand and beautiful game of war." He proposed to make his next move to the support of Gen. Grant. April 30th orders were issued to that effect, the army to march on the roth northward on the line of the Weldon Rail- road to the Roanoke. Schofield prepared therefor and brought up Battery G, from Kinston, the day the order was issued. By his direction, the same day, Batteries C, D, G and I, of the 3d New York, were detached from the District of Beaufort, and constituted the reserve artillery brigade of his Army of the Ohio, under the command of the Chief of Artillery in the Field.
Tidings 'of the Union victories at Petersburg changed the programme. Grant telegraphed, "Push Johnston and let us finish up this job at once."
Sherman immediately ordered an advance on Smithfield, where Johnston was encamped in force. The march began on the roth. The Confederates fell back. We occupied Smithfield till the 12th, when, hearing of the surrender of Lee, Sherman made a rush for Raleigh, entering and passing through on the 13th. Johnston still kept out of his way, and fell rapidly back. Our army was rushing eagerly on, on the 14th, extending its flanks to prevent Johnston escaping, when the latter sent in a flag of truce and asked for an armistice. It was granted, and the Union and Confederate armies halted, within striking dis- tance of each other, to permit of negotiations for a surrender. Gen. Schofield encamped at Raleigh. The armistice was pro- tracted till the 26th, Gen. Grant meanwhile coming down to give Sherman his counsel in regard to the situation. On the 26th, the whole army, infantry and artillery, was called under arms for an advance, but Johnston came to terms thereupon at once. The four years' war for the Union was over, and the integrity of the Republic was saved.
There is little further to tell concerning the 3d Artillery's ex- periences in the field with Sherman. Encamping at Raleigh, the four light Batteries remained there till the 2d of June. Dur- ing this time there was a grand review of the whole army, lasting three days. It took a whole day to review Schofield's command
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alone. Col. Stewart came up to attend this. He stood by the side of Sherman, in the principal street of the city, as the artil- lery brigade, commanded by Lieut .- Col. Kennedy, passed, and received the General's warm commendation on the soldierly bearing and splendid appearance of the 3d New York Batteries, ` with their guns gleaming like burnished gold, as they moved by in review. . They were by all odds the handsomest in the whole artillery brigade. The General spoke approvingly of Batteries B and F, which he recollected as having seen at Coosawhatchie and Pocotaligo, having heard of their exploits in that de- partment, and, after the review, alluding to C, D, G, and I again, he told Col. Stewart that he had never seen finer looking volunteer artillery than the 3d New York.
June 2d, Gen. Schofield ordered the 3d New York Batteries to proceed at once to Newbern, by easy marches, turn over their guns and get ready to go home. On the 5th, Lieut .- Col. Ken- nedy was relieved from duty as Chief of Artillery in the Field, and directed to rejoin his regiment.
The light Batteries found Battery A already in Newbern on their arrival. It had been sent thither from Kinston, April 18th.
Gen. Schofield issued the following orders to the troops of the Department of North Carolina, on the 13th of June. He said : "The time has arrived when I must bid farewell to many of my old comrades of the Army of the Ohio, and doubtless the time will soon come when we all must separate. It is a fare- well tinged with no feeling of sadness, save for the loss of our brave comrades who have fallen. Our thoughts at parting are of duty faithfully done, of hardships and dangers bravely met, of battles fought and victories won, of our glorious Union saved from destruction and more firmly re-established on the basis of freedom for all, of dear homes and friends to which we are re- turning, rendered ten-fold more dear by the price it has cost us to preserve them, and of the grateful welcome that awaits us among our friends and countrymen. My comrades, I bid you farewell, and may Almighty God bless and reward you for your patriotism and fidelity in the cause of Liberty and Union."
June 15th, the five Batteries at Newbern, with the field and staff of the regiment, were ordered home for muster out.
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XVI.
MUSTERING OUT-GENERAL STATISTICS.
Muster Out Statistics-The Battles of the Regiment- General Reflections.
With the month of May, 1865, ended the necessity for the ex. istence of the larger part of the Army of the Union. The rebel armies had dispersed. Civil government had been re-estab- lished in the Southern States. Telegraphic orders were accord- ingly issued from time to time during May and June, from the War Department, for the muster out of the various classes of volunteer troops. June 19th, orders were issued for the Bat- teries in the department of North Carolina to go home, and other orders, about the same time, for those in the Military Di- vision of the James and the Department of the South, to do the same. The batteries in Virginia, viz: E, H, K and M, were the first to comply. Their final muster-out rolls having been, at the cost of much overhauling of papers and an immense amount of penmanship, properly made out, they turned over their guns and equipments at Richmond to the United States Quartermas- ter, and received their honorable discharge from the service. Transportation was furnished them by rail via Elmira and Bing- hamton to Syracuse, N. Y., where they were paid off, and then scattered to their homes. Batteries A, C, D, G, I, and L, turned over their guns and equipments in Newbern, which was the designated depot therefor, and, with the field and staff, took boats thence for New York city. They went on to Albany and Syracuse, and were discharged and paid off in the latter place. Batteries B and F left their guns in Charleston, taking receipts
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