USA > New York > Cayuga County > History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22
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tion and working of batteries covered by the ene- my's guns. They performed much valiant and efficient work.
On the Ioth of July, the attack on Morris Is- land was made, in which about fifty guns were brought to bear upon the enemy's works. The batteries had been so quietly placed and so thor- oughly covered that their position and force were a surprise to the enemy, who soon replied vigor- ously. The iron-clad fleet, consisting of five monitors, steamed up and so effectively seconded the land batteries that, after a contest of three hours, the rebel works were assaulted and car- ried by the infantry, capturing nine cannon, two mortars, a variety of stores, and many prisoners. The victory was promptly won and with trifling loss, placing our forces within six hundred yards of Fort Wagner. In the attack, Batteries Band F were distinguished for their rapid and accurate firing.
On the following day an attempt was made to storm Fort Wagner by the brigade under com- mand of General Strong. It was resolutely and bravely made, but repulsed with the loss of 150 in killed, wounded and prisoners. The work was found to be stronger than was anticipated, and Gen. Gilmore resolved to silence it by heavy bom- bardment and then assail it with an overwhelm- ing force. Seven days were spent in the erec- tion and mounting of batteries, and on the 18th of July the fleet in the harbor and the batteries on the island opened upon the fort a furious can- nonade, which had few parallels during the war. This was continued for twelve hours, when, at evening our troops gathered on the beach for the terrible assault. It was made in force, pushed with fruitless bravery and failed ; the assailants, in their approach to the fort were exposed to a terrific fire and the enemy came out of their strong bomb-proofs, uninjured by the heavy bom- bardment. For three terrible hours the assail- ing column persevered in the desperate work and was finally compelled to retire with a loss in killed, wounded and missing of 1,530.
A siege followed ; twenty-nine days and nights were spent in incessant toil, and formidable bat- teries were completed. Batteries B and F of the 3d .Artillery occupied the right of the line. The wall of Fort Sumter facing our batteries was strengthened by sand bags to the height of forty- five feet, and fifteen feet thick, which, with the
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BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER.
brick wall made a total thickness of thirty-six feet. The fort was in range of our batteries over two miles distant, and the purpose of our prep- arations was thought by the enemy to be a proba- ble attack upon it, and they judged rightly ; on the 16th of August experimental shots were dis- charged at the fort, and an effective range secured. The iron-clad fleet joined in the bombardment of Sumter. The batteries for seven days, gave their undivided attention to the rear wall, which was pierced and crumbled into ruins, and the fort practically disabled. Its surrender and that of the works on Morris Island were demanded and refused, and notice given that the bombardment of the city of Charleston would speedily follow, which, although five miles distant, was found to be within effective range of Gilmore's heaviest guns, the mis- siles from which reached the heart of the city.
Coincident with the preparations for the bom- bardment of Sumter, General Gilmore had vig- orously prosecuted the work of his approaches to Fort Wagner, on which he was employed from the 18th of July to the 6th of September, when the long and difficult work was completed and orders given for the assault on the following morn- ing. The enemy, however, evacuated both Wag- ner and Gregg during the night, leaving in our hands nineteen heavy guns, a large supply of ammunition and seventy prisoners. This placed the city and harbor of Charleston directly within the sweep of our guns.
The fame of the 3d Artillery had become so noted, that it was the great rallying point for recruits. It had upon its rolls in June, 1,700 and in October, 2,500 men and 1 I full batteries, forty guns and 1,000 horses.
In October the dreaded and fatal typhus fever prevailed to an alarming extent and several offi- cers of the 3d Artillery were attacked and two died, Lieut .- Colonel Stone and Lieut. Hilles, and also. sixty men. The death of Colonel Stone was deeply lamented and was a serious loss to the regiment. He was a very active and efficient officer and his many excellent qualities of head and heart, greatly endeared him to his comrades in the army, and his friends at home.
Various and relatively unimportant details from the 3d Artillery were sent out during Decem- ber and January, whose contests and captures were mainly with and of pigs and poultry, which we cannot take the space to chronicle.
Battery F, Captain Day, had been sent on September 5th, with an expedition to Jackson- ville, Florida, where it remained over two months. Captain Day, in October, returned home on a furlough, when the command of the Battery de- volved upon Lieutenant Titus, who, with Cap- tain Messereau of Battery B, was ordered to join, under General Foster, an expedition intended to cooperate with General Sherman in his great march to the sea. The final point of destination was Grahamsville, ten miles inland from Boyd's Neck, where General Foster's forces were landed. The object was to blockade the railroad there. The force comprised 5,000 men, largely composed of colored troops. A brisk skirmish with the enemy took place within a few miles of Grahams- ville, in which both of the Batteries actively par- ticipated, and in which Lieutenant Wildt of Bat- tery B was killed. The Confederates fell back to Honey Hill, where strong fortifications had been erected. They were here attacked, and, for the rest of the day a desperate and bloody battle was maintained with great bravery and at a fearful sacrifice of life by our troops. The two Batteries, B and F, were engaged in the fight and were more exposed to the fire of the infantry and sharp-shooters than is usual with artillery, and suffered correspondingly. Lieut. Crocker was wounded in the right eye, but kept his place for a full hour after receiving his wound; many of the men were also wounded, but none killed. Our efforts to open the way to Grahamsville failed. The rebels held the Hill, and our army, sadly depleted, fell back toward the Landing, having lost in killed and wounded 746 men.
On the 6th of December a new and successful attempt was made to reach the railroad at another point, this time from Devaux's Neck, whither they proceeded in gun-boats. The. rail- road was ten miles distant from the Landing. The advance of the army was resisted by a strong force of the enemy, and on the 7th a four hours' engagement was maintained, in which we lost 80 killed and wounded, Battery F, one wounded. The railroad was reached and carefully guarded, preventing the passage of trains.
Here news was received that General Sher- man had reached Savannah, and General Foster opened communication with him by sea, strongly fortifying the railroad with heavy guns to pre- vent the rebel General Hardy from escaping
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CAYUGA COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
over it from Savannah ; but he fled the city in another direction. Sherman's and Foster's forces now took the necessary rest and made preparations for further movements. Savannah was placed under the command of General Fos- ter, who was also to cooperate in the movement upon Charleston, while General Sherman was to continue his triumphal march until its final close at Spottsylvania Court House.
General Foster's movements began on the Ist of February, with four army corps, and with them were the fighting Batteries, B and F. But they had little else to do than march, watch the move- ments of the enemy, stop, or advance, as the general events of the campaign required. The fall of Savannah on the 21st of December, and the combined movements of Sherman and Fos- ter, led also to the fall of Charleston on the 18th of February, after as gallant, successful and pro- tracted resistance against the mightiest enginery of modern warfare, as was ever made by a belea- guered town.
Little else now remained for the army in this quarter to do, except to " hold, occupy and pos- sess the places and the property belonging to the Government," and this it proceeded to do. Bat- teries B and F, after their long and arduous ser- vice, accepted with gladness the order "to help occupy, hold and possess," the city of Charles- ton, where they remained until the conclusion of peace.
While Batteries B and F, and those at New Berne, had been employed as we have related, other portions of the 3rd Artillery had been em- ployed in other and equally important fields of duty, for the several batteries composing the regi- ment were, as necessity demanded, detached on special service. Battery H, Captain Riggs, and Battery M, Captain Howell, were, in October, 1863, ordered to Fortress Monroe, in which vi- cinity they were chiefly employed in guard duty, until General Butler's plan of proceeding to Richmond had been matured. In April, 1864, those batteries were attached to Butler's forces in the attempt to capture the rebel city, as were also two other batteries drawn from New Berne, Battery E, Captain Ashby, and Battery K, Cap- tain Angel. The four batteries were under com- mand of Major Schenck.
Battery E proceeded to Bermuda Hundreds and participated in the bloody battles at Drury's
Bluff on May 13th and 14th, and was in the hot- test of the fight. Captain Ashby displayed great coolness and bravery under the most trying circumstances, his battery contributing largely to the escape of our army from capture in the battles of the 14th. By some blunder his bat- tery was left without infantry supports, and the enemy charged upon it. Two charges were re- pulsed by the rapid volleys of the artillery, pro- tected by the obscurity of a dense fog, which prevented the contestants from seeing the posi- tion or judging the number of their foes.
At the third and most furious assault, the bat- tery was overcome and three of its guns cap- tured, the horses being shot. Captain Ashby and Lieutenant Fuller were wounded and one of his men was killed and several wounded. Under the circumstances, the small number of casualties was a marvel. Our losses in these terrible bat- tles were 4,000 killed, wounded and prisoners ; and the rebel loss was 3,000. Battery E, during the battle, fired 419 rounds. For the next two weeks there were almost daily battles between Butler's forces and the enemy. While Battery E had been winning laurels in the Peninsula, Battery M had been in garrison at Fort Powhat- tan, resisting rebel attacks; in an expedition to Spring Hill, resulting in the capture of the place ; at Wilson's Landing, repulsing a desperate rebel charge ; after which they came to the front and shared in the toils, conflicts and dangers of the long and bloody siege of Petersburg. Battery K joined in the siege on May 16th, building, gar- risoning and defending a fort at Spring Hill, from repeated rebel attacks. The battery participated in the attack upon Petersburg June 14, 1864, opening the first fire upon the enemy's line of defenses, resulting in its capture, including its material, and 300 prisoners. But the city was not captured ; like Richmond and Charleston, it was destined to be one of the " last ditches " wherein the rebellion was to die, and for ten long and fearfully tragic months it successfully resisted all our efforts to capture it, and surrendered only on the collapse of the rebellion.
We have not the space to chronicle in detail the varied services of Batteries B, K, M and H, in the numerous and important parts borne by them in that long siege. The thorough experi- ence of both the officers and men, their expert- ness in handling and firing their batteries, and
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THE MARCH TO GOLDSBORO, N. C.
their coolness and good judgment under the most trying circumstances, were so well known and so highly appreciated in the army that they were actively engaged in responsible positions during nearly the whole progress of the siege, attended by almost daily battles, suspended only during the inclement winter weather. On the night of April 2d, both Richmond and Petersburg were evacuated, and the several batteries of the 3rd Artillery, which so long had lain before and about the latter city, proceeded to and occupied Richmond, whence they were ordered home for final muster out.
It now only remains for us to trace the opera- tions of Batteries A, Captain Russell ; C, Cap- tain Mercer ; D, Captain Van Heusen ; G, Captain William H. Kelsey ; and I, Lieutenant Richardson, each having about 180 men. These several Batteries on March 3d, 1865, ac- companied an expedition from New Berne, 6,000 strong, under the command of General Cox, destined for Goldsboro, which place in the then condition of our military affairs, it was important to take and hold ; and this expedition was but a cooperative force acting in concert with Major- General Schofield, then commandant of the de- partment, having under his command an aggre- gate force of 21,000 men.
Colonel Stewart had been so fortunate, as to have found a map of the region over which they were to go, carefully drawn by rebel engineers from accurate surveys, and so minute in its data that he could and did prepare, in advance, suita- ble bridges for the several streams over which they were to pass, in anticipation of their destruc- tion. This enabled the army to advance with less delay at the streams, though the roads were blocked by fallen trees. At a tributary of the Neuse, its passage was on the 7th, strongly con- tested, both by infantry and artillery, holding a fortified position. After feeling the position of the enemy, and believing it to be a strong one, General Cox decided to entrench and await re- inforcements, which were soon to arrive. The position was in a heavy and dense wood, and the entire night was industriously and, events showed, very wisely spent in perfecting defensive works by felling the trees, lopping the branches and throwing up breast-works of earth and timber.
In the morning, the enemy appearing quiet, a reconnaissance was made by two regiments of
infantry, a squad of cavalry and a section of Bat- tery I, Lieutenant Seymour. The artillery opened on the enemy, and eliciting no response the firing was kept up at intervals for nearly three hours without any reply, when they sud- denly found themselves flanked and enveloped by three rebel brigades, that had made a wide detour. Our force was overpowered and one of its guns and seven hundred prisoners captured ; including five from Battery I. One man from the latter was killed.
General Hoke, commanding the rebels, then attacked our position with great violence; but the men had so thoroughly protected themselves by fallen trees and earthworks that they held their ground and kept the enemy at bay, though they outnumbered us two to one. Pending the fight, General Ruger arrived from New Berne with a division of infantry, and, joining in the battle, quickly drove the enemy from our front. Our men were so well protected that notwith- standing the large force of the enemy and the fury and persistence of the attack, our losses in killed and wounded were small. The 3d Artil- lery lost but one man killed, William A. Foster, of Battery I, and five wounded. Batteries C and D did very effective work in this engagement, and though much exposed, they fired their dis- charges so rapidly upon the assailing columns as to check and repel them. Batteries G and I were also briskly engaged in the work of repel- ling the eager assaults of the enemy ..
The next day it rained incessantly and it was spent in comparative quiet ; the enemy had been reinforced and occupied a carefully entrenched position, which we did not care at that time to assail, as we were waiting the arrival of. General Couch with reinforcements. On the morning of the 10th, Hoke, relying on his superior numbers, threw a heavy force suddenly upon our rear, but he found us prepared to receive him. Here the batteries again displayed their effective skill and, united to the destructive infantry fire, after a short, but to the enemy a very destructive con- test, they fled in disorder. After a short inter- val, heavy masses of men were again rushing upon our works determined to take them, this time entering the heavy abatis by which our po- sition was defended, but it was useless, they only came into the " jaws of death," and after a half- hour's effort, retired. Our loss was less than two
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CAYUGA COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
hundred ; that of the Confederates, over two thousand; four hundred of their dead and wounded were found in the abatis after the fight. As il- lustrating the comparative safety of artillerists in action, it may be stated that the 3rd Artillery had but two men wounded in this hotly contested battle.
On the 11th General Couch arrived, swelling Schofield's army 20,000 men. When Hoke de- camped to reinforce Johnston in his final strug- gles with Grant and Sherman, Schofield was in communication with the latter, and they were to combine their forces at or near Goldsboro. Scho- field proceeded by the way of Kinston, leaving a brigade and Batteries A and B, 3rd New York Artillery, to hold the town, he proceeded with the balance of his forces, including Batteries C, D and I, on his way to Goldsboro, living upon the country, as Sherman's policy was : " If any- body must suffer let the rebels suffer." The army made the first day eighteen miles, more than half the distance to Goldsboro. The next day, March 21st, heavy skirmishing was maintain- ed and a large force of negroes employed in repair- ing roads and bridges ; but Goldsboro was reached and the army commenced entrenchment at once. Signal guns were fired by Battery I to advise Sherman of their arrival, until responses were received, when a courier was sent to Sher- man. The latter reached Goldsboro on the. 23d of March, and was received with a Major-Gen- eral's salute from Battery I. He proceeded on the 25th, to City Point, and held a conference with General Grant, returning on the 30th to Golds- boro.
On the 22d, the army of the Ohio had been reinforced. General Schofield appointed Lieu- tenant-Colonel Kennedy his chief of artillery, comprising thirteen batteries. General Sher- man's army, after its terribly exhausting march of over six hundred miles perpetually harrassed by the enemy, sadly needed rest and refitting. Most of the men had worn out their shoes, were barefooted, and their clothing tattered. To rest and refit this army, the time from the Ist to the 10th of April, was spent. On the latter day, the whole army, 70,000 strong, set out for Smith- field, in pursuit of Johnston, who had about 35,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Smithfield was en- tered on the 11th, and here the news was re- ceived of Lee's surrender, and especial efforts
were to be made to arrest the further retreat of Johnston ; but that officer had also received the news, and seeing the folly of any further effusion of blood, made overtures of surrender. Terms were finally agreed upon, ending the great rebel- lion and the toils and sacrifices, not only of the 3rd Artillery, but of all our soldiers in the field.
FINAL REVIEW .- The light batteries encamped at Raleigh until early in June. Here the whole army was reviewed, and the splendid artillery brigade, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Ken- nedy, especially attracted the attention of the commanding General, and the 3rd New York Artillery received his particular commendation. In the latter part of June they were paid off, mustered out, and returned to their several homes.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE THIRD ARTILLERY .- When mustered out the 3rd Artillery numbered 2,200 men. The lowest number at any time had been 600 men, and its highest, 2,550, and it had connected with it in the aggregate, at different times, 4,408 men.
LOSSES .- The losses by disease were 247, in battle, 15, in rebel prisons, 70, wounded, 233, by desertion, 347 ; ten guns were lost in action. The number killed and wounded was, therefore, less than one in ten of the average number of the regiment, while the number that died of dis- ease, independent of the prisoners, was nearly equal to the killed and wounded.
When we know that the regiment engaged in sixty-four battles, sieges and skirmishes, the fore- going list of casualties seems surprisingly small. It is, however, due to causes that fully explain the reason. Artillery generally engages its enemy at long range, and its guns and gunners are usually protected by natural or artificial hills, or works of their own erection. Unlike infantry, they occupy a small space ; to shell a position successfully, test shots are required and a change of position prevents the enemy from obtaining an accurate range. It is with artillery the same as with general officers ; it occupies positions re- mote from the center of conflict and, except when flanked, surprised, or in the confusion of defeat, is much less exposed than infantry, as the very instructive experience of the 3d Artillery repeatedly and abundantly proved. For the most part they had an excellent equipment; they had been most thoroughly drilled by officers who
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THE 75TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS-SANTA ROSA ISLAND.
knew and conscientiously performed their duty, and the men therefore knew how to handle their guns with telling effect ; and when a body of grays came within the sweep of their guns, they suddenly bit the dust or retired before them. Their exceptional freedom from casualties was, therefore, due to their less exposure, to the skill and efficiency of the officers and men of the reg- iment, and to the further fact, that on very few occasions, were they engaged where our forces were defeated, and where, in the confusion of re- treat and the swoop of cavalry, artillerymen often greatly suffered.
CHAPTER XX.
CAYUGA IN THE REBELLION, (CONTINUED.)
THE 75TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS-ORGANI- ZATION-SERVICE ON SANTA ROSA ISLAND- IN NEW ORLEANS-LA FOURCHE EXPEDI- TION - ATTAKAPAS EXPEDITION - SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON-EXPEDITION TO TEXAS-ITS VARIOUS MILITARY SERVICES IN THE SOUTH- WEST - ORDERED TO WASHINGTON-IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY-MUSTERED OUT.
T `HE organization of this regiment has been given in a previous chapter ; its camp and field operations were as follows : The regiment was destined for the defense of Fort Pickens, Florida, where they arrived on the 14th of De- cember, 1861, and encamped on Santa Rosa Is- land, in "Camp Seward."
Opposite to their camp, across the channel, and a little over a mile distant, stood Fort Mc Rae, which, with the navy yard and all the other gov- ernment property in that vicinity excepting Fort Pickens, had been seized by the rebels. Thc latter fort had been defended and held by a loyal and brave officer, Lieutenant Slemmer, until reinforced in July by the 6th New York regi- ment, the Billy Wilson Zouaves. Colonel Harvey Brown, of the regular army, at this time com- manded the post.
This position of the 75th was, in many respects, a very trying one. The island on which they encamped was composed of barren sand, without
any vegetation whatever. From its white sur- face the glaring rays of the sun were reflected as from a field of snow, and the ocean winds which swept over it, would carry its fine sharp particles into the nostrils and eyes and cover the bodies of the men. Its loose and yielding particles made the traveling through it very laborious and it was besides the abode of innumerable and very large fleas hungering and thirsting for Yankee blood, which they drew as eagerly as the hot- headed rebels themselves. Water could be obtained only by sinking barrels a few feet in the sand, when the sea water that filtered in, could be used for a few days, when it would. become brackish and new pits were sunk.
In the vicinity, occupying Fort Mc Rae, in and on the adjacent mainland, lay General Bragg, with a force more than double our own. While, therefore, we had a strong fortress for our protection we could only act on the de- fensive, and keep ourselves in close proximity thereto. The health of the regiment suf- fered greatly from the change of climate and of habits, giving the surgeons active employment in attentions to the sick, and many deaths occurred.
The command lay quietly in the camp for about two weeks, when a rebel flag on a passing steamer, presented a too tempting target not to be fired upon, and a salute from battery Lincoln was given it and a shot thrown into the navy yard. This provoked a return fire both upon the fort and the camp. One of the earliest shots had struck so closely to the head-quarters of the 75th as to compel the removal of the regiment farther back. The two forts and all the batteries, on both sides, kept up an artillery duel until 4 o'clock A. M. of the next day. Fort Mc Rae was seriously damaged by our fire, and several buildings in the navy yard set on fire. Very little injury was inflicted on Fort Pickens, and but one man seriously hurt. The abandoned camp even remained uninjured. The night following the "long roll " was sounded and the line quickly formed, but it was a false alarm. The regiments were called out repeatedly in that way, and kept in constant preparation to resist night attacks which were feared from the superior force of the enemy lying near. Frequent reconnoissances were made up the island to be assured that all was right, and great vigilance was maintained.
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