History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 28

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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The 154th went into camp about one mile from the river and one and a half miles above Falmouth. It was now thought almost certain that they would winter here; but the hope died out when it became apparent that Burnside was preparing to attempt another advance by crossing the river at a point higher up. On the 13th of January the regiment received orders to prepare for moving, and on the following morning, at three o'clock, the men fell in and marched away in the darkness on the road to United States Ford, which vicinity they reached early in the day. The object for which they were moved to this point was the building of corduroy roads for the passage of pontoon trains and troops to the place of the intended crossing. At this they labored during the greater part of the following day, but late in the afternoon marched back to the camp near Falmouth. In the afternoon of the 17th, however, they again marched to the camp at the ford, and during the next two days worked at widening the corduroy so as to admit the passage of three columns abreast. On the 20th they marched back to the pontoon train for the purpose of es- corting it to the river. At about dark it was started, but then the rain began to fall in torrents, and the roads grew worse until they became impassable, and at about eleven P.M. they were hopelessly mud-bound and could proceed no farther. Another mile was made towards the river in the following day, but the rain fell unceasingly, the roads be- came practically bottomless, and the projected forward movement was rendered impossible and was abandoned. The army then moved back to its previous encampments, and the 154th Regiment reoccupied the camp-ground near Falmouth. This movement has since been known as Burn- side's " mud march."

There now seemed little reason to doubt that the regiment

would remain stationary here until the opening of spring, and accordingly, on the 23d, the men commenced the erec- tion of a winter camp similar to that which they had been compelled to vacate at Fairfax Court-House. But once more they were doomed to disappointment, for on the 5th of February orders were received for the corps to break camp and march. The 154th halted for the night at Poto- mac Creek, and resuming the march on the following day, advanced to a camping-ground within one mile of the vil- lage of Stafford Court-House. The camp was pitched in a pine forest, which offered an abundance of straight and shapely trees exactly adapted for the purpose of building log houses. Under this inducement, the men disregarded the lessons of disappointment which they had learned at Fairfax and Falmouth, and at once commenced the con- struction of winter quarters. The work was performed with so much alacrity that the camp was finished and oc- cupied on the 9th of February.

On the 16th of March this camp was christened, amid a scene of unbounded conviviality which is still fresh in the memory of every living officer and soldier who participated. The regimental order naming the camp was as follows :

HEADQUARTERS 154TH REGIMENT N. Y. VOLS., NEAR STAFFORD COURT-HOUSE, VA., March 16, 1863. Regimental Orders, No. 37.

Hereafter this regimental camp will be known and designated as "Camp John Manley." in recognition of the friendly services of Mr. Manley to the members of this regiment. By order of H. C. LOOMIS, Lieut-Col. 154th N. Y. V., Com'd'g Reg't. SAM'L C. NOYES, JR., Adjutant 154th N. Y. V.

HEADQUARTERS IST BRIGADE, 2D DIVISION, 11TH ARMY CORPS, March 16, 1863.

Approved. P. H. JONES, Col. 154th N. Y. V., Commanding Brigade.

Mr. Manley had arrived at the camp in the early part of the day, bringing with him an immense number of boxes and packages, filled with creature comforts for the members of the regiment, and his arrival, and the reading of the order at dress-parade, were welcomed by prolonged bursts of the wildest enthusiasm. The gentleman receiving the com- pliment responded :

" Colonel, Officers, and Soldiers,-I gratefully acknowl- edge the compliment which you have been pleased to confer, in giving the camp of the 154th Regiment New York Vol- unteers my name. . .

" I have witnessed the attention to duty of your officers, the fine drill of your soldiers, the neatness of their person- nel, and their correct deportment, with great satisfaction. The beauty and cleanliness of this camp compares favorably with those of the army, while your light sick-list is a source of the highest congratulation. In the coming campaign, with the heroic examples of the war before you, there can be no doubt that your gallant conduct will merit the plaud- its of your friends and kindred on the far-off hills of Catta- raugus and Chautauqua."

" When Mr. Manley closed," wrote the lamented Adjt. Noyes, " the men, with a will, gave three rousing cheers for 'John Manley, the soldiers' friend.'"

At the opening of the spring of 1863, the new com- mander of the army, Gen. Hooker, awaited ouly the coming

* It was thought by many, and indeed openly asserted, that the march of the corps was purposely delayed by its commander from motives of prudence if not of timidity.

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of good weather, and the permanent settling of the roads, to put in execution his perfected plan of forcing the enemy to evacuate his strong position, by throwing the Army of the Potomac across the river a few miles above Fredericks- burg. The movement of troops, preliminary to the ex- ecution of this plan, was commenced early in April. The President of the United States had visited the army, review- ing the several corps to note their condition of efficiency, and to inspire enthusiasm among the men. His review of the 11th Corps took place on the 4th of the month. Nine days later the 154th left camp at eight A.M., and marched with the brigade towards the Rappahannock. They biv- ouacked for the night at Berea Church, twelve miles from the point of starting. A distance of ten miles was made on the 14th, and at two P.M. the regiment encamped near Kelly's Ford, the point of destination. Here they remained for about two weeks, without any experience more stirring than the picketing of the river line, and frequent foraging excursions for pigs and chickens.

On the 26th there was an aların, growing out of a report that the enemy was preparing to cross to the left bank of the river. As a result the brigade was formed in line of battle, and stood in that formation nearly all night. The brigade commander, Col. Buschbeck, was one of those " veterans who had seen service in the Prussian army,"- a class which was then much too numerous in the Union army for the good of the service, as was soon after shown on the field of Chancellorsville. On this occasion he bravely rode along the line, in order that the raw troops might be inspired with confidence by the presence and advice of one who had smelled powder on the fields of Europe. When he reached the line of the 154th (whose men had become so renowned by reason of their many and successful forays on roosts and barn-yards that they were somewhat widely known through the corps as the "chicken- shooters") he cautioned them to receive the expected onset with steady coolness, and, at the same time, delicately com- plimented their peculiar skill as marksmen, in nearly these words : " Now, poys, ven de enemy make de attack, you pe not afraid, but joost shtand prave und cool, und shoot 'em town joost like shickens." But this sanguinary order was not carried into effect, for the reason that no enemy appeared.

The remainder of the 11th and also 5th and 12th Corps moved up on the 27th, and preparations were made to com- mence the passage of the river. At about sunset on the 28th the regiment left camp and marched to the river, which the men crossed in pontoon boats at dusk. They then deployed as skirmishers and advanced across the river- bottom, then held the position while the pontonniers laid the bridge. Then more troops of the 2d Brigade crossed and took position in advance, when the 154th moved back to the river, and as soon as the bridge was clear of troops (which was not until nearly three hours later) they re- crossed to the left bank, and reached camp at about one A.M. At nine o'clock in the morning of the 29th the regiment again crossed to the south side of the Rappa- hannock.

There is still in existence a private journal, kept in the field by a prominent officer of the 154th, and covering

nearly the entire period of the regiment's service. Access to this journal has been courteously permitted in the prep- aration of this narrative, and brief quotations from it will be occasionally introduced in the succeeding pages. They will be found peculiarly interesting, as having been written by an intelligent participator in the events described, and at or near the places of their occurrence ; and for the same reason their accuracy of statement is unquestionable. The entry in this diary for April 29, after mentioning the crossing of the pontoon bridge by the regiment, proceeds : " After marching about a half-mile, we halted and stacked arms. The stream of infantry, cavalry, and artillery continued to flow uninterruptedly during last night and to-day. At least sixty-five thousand men must have crossed at this place. The 5th, 11th, and 12th Army Corps, at least fifteen thou- sand cavalry, and some twelve batteries of artillery, have made up the tide of living beings, which, since the putting down of the bridge, has continued to flow. What is the destination of this vast body is, of course, only conjecture with us who are not of the council. That it means work is certain, and God speed the ball ! The long-looked-for move has at length commenced, and now the ' On to Rich- mond,' I hope and trust, is not to be a meaningless boast, but a living reality."

The ford where the troops crossed the Rappahannock re- ceived its name from a Mr. Kelly, the proprietor of a very large plantation, embracing all the good land in sight on both sides of the river. He was very wealthy, a bitter secessionist, and had furnished a large amount of supplies for the Confederate army. On his plantation, in the even- ing of the 28th of April, were several large fields of grow- ing wheat, an extensive flour-mill, well filled with flour and meal, a large out-house containing abundant store of hams and bacon sides, a store, and a mansion-house filled with the comforts of life and many luxuries. But ten thousand half-famished cavalry horses made short work with the wheat, and the hungry soldiers appropriated the flour and bacon with equal rapidity. There were among the men of the 154th Regiment many remarkable cases of individuals who suffered from perpetual hunger, but even these experi- enced partial relief on that day from the stores drawn from Kelly's mill and meat-house. The store and the dwelling suffered as well, and a great variety of merchandise, includ- ing the old-fashioned " side-combs," and other articles of female gear, were seen on the persons of soldiers as they marched away. So sweeping were the ravages on the Kelly plantation, resulting from the passage of the army, that " what was a thriving farm and appurtenances in the morning was a desert waste in the evening. So much for secession !"

April 30, the 154th, with its companion regiments, marched before sunrise and moved towards Germania Mills, where they crossed the Rapidan River at a little be- fore two o'clock P.M., and, after a short halt, moved again towards the southeast, and at about midnight arrived at Chancellorsville, which was not a village, as many have sup- posed, but merely a decaying tavern-stand at a cross-roads, -an establishment which at some early day was a Virginian residence of more or less pretensions.

The soldiers of the 154th woke in the morning of May

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first, footsore, stiffened, and exhausted by the journey of the previous day ; but, as the weather was bright and beautiful, and as no movement was made by them except a mareh of half a mile towards Fredericksburg and then a return to the place they had started from, they were enabled to enjoy a season of comparative rest. " The indications now are that whatever force the rebels may have at Fredericksburg is pretty well hemmed in. There are now at least four army corps on this side of the river above Fredericksburg, and two or more below ; and if, as they say, we have the railroad in their rear, it is difficult to see how they are to escape. But time will show." And time did show ! The following twelve hours wrought a wild change in the situation as regarded the question of " escape."

At about five o'clock in the afternoon of the 1st the enemy made a brisk feint attack on the Union line, nearly in front of the position of the 2d Brigade. During this affair there was considerable artillery firing between the op- posing forces, and several of the enemy's shells came scream- ing over the 154th Regiment. Few of the men had ever heard the rush of a hostile missile before, and the experience was to them strange and startling. But it was not long after, that such sounds became familiar to their ears.

All through the following night working-parties were engaged in the construction of defenses, and in the morning of the 2d of May a line of rifle-pits and breastworks ex- tended along the entire front facing Fredericksburg. The position to which the regiment was ordered was a line of rifle-pits facing towards the southeast, and on the south side of the Orange plank-road. "During the morning Gen. Hooker rode along the line past our position, and the cheers he received must have plainly told him that he had the con- fidence of the 11th Corps at least. We remained in the pits until near night, when we were relieved by others. During the day it was rumored that Stonewall Jackson, with a heavy force, was advancing on our rear. Not much preparation, however, appears to have been made to receive him in our vicinity, except to place one or two batteries in position.

" One division of our corps was in advance of ours about one mile, and one about the same distance in our rear. About three P.M., the 2d Brigade of our division was sent off some three or four miles on a scout, leaving the 1st Brigade alone with about eighteen hundred men. About five P.M., a furious attack was made upon our advance division with artillery and infantry ; against which the division seems to have offered but slight resistance, but fell back in confusion upon our position, which they passed without any attempt to rally. [The division whose dis- graceful conduct, as here mentioned, covered the field of Chancellorsville with disaster to the Union arms, was com- manded by another of the ' accomplished' German officers, from whom so much was expected, and so little except failure realized.] Our little brigade was at once ordered under arms and into line, and we took our position as well as we could behind the embankments of the rifle-pits, which, however, as they were built facing the other way [never dreaming of Jackson's masterly movement to the rear], formed but slight shelter. To make matters still worse, two regiments of our brigade whose time is nearly out, and

who consequently are not disposed to run much of a risk, broke and fled at the commencement of the attack, leaving the 154th and the 73d Pennsylvania to meet the shock alone. And nobly did the 154th respond to the call of duty, and bravely did she sustain the credit of old Catta- raugus. Not a man flinched under the most withering fire of shell, canister, and musket-balls, while their deadly rifles made terrible havoc in the ranks of the advancing enemy. But numbers could not but prevail. Their ranks. were filled as fast as they fell, and they were fast turning our flanks. At last prudence became the better part of valor, and our colonel ordered a retreat. We now had an open field of about fifty rods to cross, to reach a wood in our rear, and this crossing under the tremendous fire was terrific. Many a poor fellow of the 154th failed to reach the wood." All this occupied less than a half-hour of time, but in that short space two hundred and eighty-two of the regiment were killed or wounded ; among whom was Col. Jones, wounded, and a prisoner, and the brave adjutant, S. C. Noyes, Jr., killed. Their national colors had been perforated in twenty-three places during those few minutes of action. Truly the initiation of the 154th had been a wild one !

The retreat was kept up about three miles, when the rebel advance was checked, and both sides lay on their arms waiting for the coming of morning to renew the conflict.

Early in the morning of the 3d the shattered regiment and brigade was marched towards United States Ford, and placed in position behind works which had been constructed to defend the road from the field to the river. Here they remained, and were not called on to take part in the furious conflict which commenced about sunrise, and raged un- abated through nearly the entire day.

In the confusion of the retreat and the gathering dark- ness of the evening of the first day's fight, Capt. Cheney's company (G), of the 154th, became separated from the main body of the regiment. A number of stragglers, who had also lost the regiment, fell in with this company, and all were temporarily attached to Geary's Division of the 12th Corps. With this command they were actively en- gaged in the fierce battle at Hooker's headquarters, on the second day; but later in the afternoon, having ascertained the location of the regiment, they rejoined it at its position on the river-road.

The regiment did no more fighting on that field. On the 4th and 5th they lay in the rifle-pits, drenched to the skin in the torrents of rain which fell during the night of the 5th, flooding the field and the roads, and making each rill a rushing stream.

The battle of Chancellorsville had ended in disaster. In the morning of the 6th it became evident to officers and men that a retreat had been determined on, and that the advance columns of the army were already in motion to recross the river. " On the necessity," says the journal, " I shall venture no opinion. It probably took thousands by surprise, as it did me." There were probably very few in the army who, up to that time, had any doubt of ulti- mate victory.

At an early hour the 154th with its companion regiments fell into marching line and faced northward. The day was dis-

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agreeable, the roads almost impassable, and the spirits of offi- cers and men were at the lowest ; but at length the swollen Rappahannock was reached and crossed upon the pontoon bridges, and before noon the regiment had made a distance of ten miles, and camped about two miles east of Berea Church. At ten o'clock in the morning, on the 7th, they arrived at Camp John Manley, " our old camp which we had left, never expecting to see it again. We shall probably not remain here long, as we already have marching orders. . . . Thus ends the campaign of Chancellorsville !" But if marching orders had been received they appear to have been counter- manded, for the regiment remained in this camp and its vicinity for more than a month, in picket, drill, and ordi- nary routine duty. Camp and garrison equipage and clothing were drawn to replace the losses incurred at Chan- cellorsville; on the 11th and 12th the regiment was paid, and on the 28th moved to a new camp not far distant. This was named " Camp Noyes," in memory of Adjutant Noyes, killed at Chancellorsville, Sunday, May 31. The chaplain preached on the subject of "those who fell at Chancellorsville." On the 1st of June Lieut .- Col. Loomis left the regiment by resignation, transferring the temporary command to Capt. Warner, of Company C. Major Allen returned to duty on the 10th, and assumed command, and on the 11th and 12th the men and officers were again paid.

Marching was resumed on the 12th of June, the desti- nation being Maryland and Pennsylvania, though then unknown, and the subject of many conjectures. The camp of the first night was made at Hartwood Church ; that of the evening of the 13th was in a beautiful meadow near Catlett's Station, of the Orange and Alexandria Rail- road ; the distance marched in the two days being about thirty-five miles. During this time the weather had been most oppressively hot and sultry, and the men had been for thirty consecutive hours without rest, marching and on picket duty.

June 14 the march was continued along the railroad, the plain of Manassas was passed, and at ten P.M. the weary men rested in camp, on the north bank of Bull Run Creek, having accomplished a distance of eighteen miles. On the 15th they reached Centreville, and remained there during the following day. On the morning of the 17th the march was resumed at four o'clock, and that night they found a delightful camp, on Goose Creek, four miles from Leesburg, and the same distance from the Potomac River. No rain had fallen since the 8th of May,-a period of forty days,- and, as a result, the springs and rivulets were wellnigh dried up, and the road had become parched and dusty in the extreme; and it is not hard to imagine the delighted eagerness with which the dusty and wayworn soldiers availed themselves of the excellent bathing facilities which they found in this Virginian creek with the unpoetic name. Six days were spent here with very little change of loca- tion. On the 20th and 21st, particularly, heavy and con- stant cannonading was heard in the direction of Snicker's and Ashley's" gaps, and close and vigilant picketing was maintained. The diary mentions, too, that in this neigh- hood they found "high living on mutton, eggs, honey, milk, warm biscuit, cherries, etc., with which this country

abounds. We are now in a section of country which has not as yet been been overrun by hostile armies,* and the inhabitants are good livers."

A move was made June 24, and the 154th encamped with other regiments at Edwards' Ferry, on the Potomac. They crossed this river on the 25th, passed through Pool- ville, Md., at ten A.M., halted for dinner at the base of Sugar-Loaf Mountain, crossed Monocacy Creek on the canal aqueduct, also crossed the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and late in the day " entered a mountain defile, through which we marched, or rather ran, for some eight miles through the rain, and encamped near the village of Jeffer- son, about eight miles from Harper's Ferry and seven from Frederick. We have marched this day fully twenty-five miles, and the boys are jaded and tired, with a wet, uncom- fortable night before them." Evidently their corps and division commanders had been apprised of the necessity for haste, and they were pressing on with all possible dispatch towards the scene of the mighty conflict which awaited them only a few days in the future. The march of the 26th June lay through Middletown and on towards Boons- borough. On entering the mountain district, Companies C and H, with a part of K, of the 154th, were detached and sent in advance of the column. The regiment biv- ouacked at the summit, forming the advance picket. They remained here during the following day, and on the 28th marched to a halting-place, near Frederick City, Md. The camp of the evening of the 29th was pitched near the vil- lage of Emmettsburg, and it was moved but a short distance on the 30th.

Early in the morning of July 1, a detachment of one hundred men, under Capt. Warner, of Company C, was out on a reconnoissance, and soon after the main body of the regiment marched with the corps towards Gettysburg, leaving knapsacks and baggage at Emmettsburg. On the way, Gen. Howard received an order from Gen. Reynolds, directing him to press forward with all possible speed to his assistance, as the rebel corps of Gen. A. P. Hill was approaching on the Cashtown road, and was being only partially checked by the cavalry of Buford. In consequence of this order, the corps was put to the utmost speed which it was possible to sustain,-the 154th, as well as other regi- ments, moving over a considerable portion of the distance at the double-quick. Arrived at Gettysburg, Howard as- sumed the commandt made vacant by the death of Rey- nolds, who had fallen almost at the commencement of his engagement with Hill. To relieve the troops already en- gaged, and hard pressed, the 11th Corps hurried forward through and beyond the town. Advancing too vigorously and too far, a portion of the command (the 154th and 134th New York, and 27th Pennsylvania) was flanked by a rebel division, by which the greater part of this regiment, as well as of the 134th, were either killed, wounded, or cap- tured. The 154th had gone in about 350 strong, of whom only three officers and fifteen men escaped, though a num- ber who had been scattered in the fight afterwards reported.

# The section of country had, however, been occupied by the Con- federate forces in the autumn of 1861,-the campaign of Ball's Bluff. t Hle was soon afterwards relieved by Gen. Hancock, whom Gen. Meade hurried forward when he heard of Reynolds' death.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 28

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: