USA > New York > Oswego County > History of Oswego County, New York, with illustrations and Biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 25
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The country was mostly grown up to a dense thicket of second growth of yellow pine. In the afternoon of the 19th the Fifth corps advanced a strong skirmish-line towards Petersburg, before connecting the line on the right, leaving the gap unclosed. Rebel General Mahone, the bête noir of the Fifth corps, marched through the gap with a large force, in the rear of the skirmish-line, and captured nearly the entire force-nearly three thousand men-without firing a shot. They were all armed with Spencer rifles. One brigade, commanded by Colonel Wheelock, faced about, and fought its way back. The enemy came upon the Federal line of battle without warning. The centre of the line, being sur- prised, gave way, and fled in confusion. The disaster for a time seemed irreparable. The Second brigade, Colonel Hof-
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mann commanding, occupied the extreme left of the line in an open field, and was cut off. It was ordered to fall back. The officer on Colonel Hofmann's staff had to pass over a long space swept by the enemy's bullets to give the order. He reached the regiment on the right, and gave the order, and told the colonel of the regiment to pass it down the line, and then returned. The order was not promulgated to the other regiments. The regiment that received the order fell back, leaving the remainder of the brigade on the field. General Warren, seeing from a distance the three regiments of the brigade, supposing them to be the enemy, ordered a battery to open upon them. The brigade was successfully repelling the enemy when the battery sent a shower of shells into its midst. They were receiving a fire from friend and foe, and were for a while obliged to dodge from one side of the breastworks to the other for protection. The mistake was soon discovered, and the captain of the battery was ordered to desist firing. The brigade held to its position, and repulsed the enemy in its front. About this time the Fifth corps was reinforced by a division of the Ninth corps under General Wilcox, and the enemy were driven back.
The possession of the railroad was maintained in conse- quence of the failure of the staff officer to give the order to the whole brigade to retire, and the determined bravery of the brigade in holding to its position when receiving a fire from the front and rear. Lieutenant-Colonel Harney was slightly wounded by a fragment of one of our shells. Sev- eral of the men of the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment were killed and wounded by the shells from our battery. General Warren, fearing another attack from the enemy, in order to drive him from the railroad, as the road was almost a vital necessity to them, immediately com- menced to re-arrange and strengthen his lines. He was a very able engineer officer. He superintended the construc- tion of the works in person, at times using the spade to en- courage the men. The corps worked day and night to prepare for another attack. August 21 the enemy made another attack. They expected, from the knowledge gained of our position in the previous attack, to win an easy vie- tory, but in the mean time the position of the works had been materially altered and strengthened. They were easily repulsed, this time with terrible slaughter, and with slight loss to the Fifth corps. The attack fell almost wholly on the First division.
An incident occurred during this battle illustrating the reckless daring of some of our officers. The attack in front had been terribly repulsed, and all fighting had ceased, when a rebel brigade emerged from some woods on the left flank and rear of the First division, within short range of our troops. They had arrived on the field too late. Cap- tain Daily, on General Cutler's staff, took in the situation, and rode alone down in the midst of them, snatched away the brigade colors from the color-bearer, and demanded a surrender of the brigade. General Haywood, the rebel commander, being dismounted at the time, walked up to Captain Daily and shot him through the lung. As Captain Daily fell from the saddle, General Haywood leaped into it, and ordered his brigade to face about and retreat. Up to this time there had been no firing from either side. The
division, seeing Captain Daily with the colors, supposed the brigade had surrendered.
When General Haywood shot Captain Daily the division opened upon them a destructive fire. One-half of the brigade was killed or wounded. Captain Daily was found behind a stump, where he had crept for shelter from our bullets. His horse was found wounded. General Ilaywood had got off wounded. A Charleston paper soon after contained an account of a personal encounter of General Haywood with a Yankee officer in this battle, in which General Hay- wood by his prowess had slain the officer and come off victorious.
The dead and wounded of the enemy lay thick before our breastworks; many battle-flags and other trophies were picked up on the field. Our hospitals were filled with their wounded, many of them riddled with bullets, showing the destructiveness of our fire. The men were greatly elated and inspirited over this easy vietory. The conditions of the fight had been reversed. Since the battle of the Wil- derness the enemy had acted on the defensive, and had fought mostly behind breastworks, aud had our army to a great advantage.
In the Wisconsin brigade there were several wild Indians from the plains; many of them could not speak English. They served an excellent purpose as irregular troops, as scouts and skirmishers. The nature of the country afforded an excellent field for their mode of warfare. With character- istie cunning, they would creep upon the enemy's picket- or skirmish-line like a snake, or ascend trees, and conceal themselves among the branches. In one of the engage- ments many of them were wounded, and taken to hospital. They silently, with frightened looks, watched the surgeons as they placed the wounded ou the operating-table, made them insensible with chloroform, and probed and examined their wounds or cut off their limbs.
When it came to their turn to be examined, they were seized with a great fear lest they should be dismembered of their limbs. Their untutored minds could not be persuaded that it was for their good, and the surgeons meant them no harm. They looked upon it all as a species of torture. Many of them who were seriously wounded had to be left to nature, unaided, to cure their wounds.
One time Lieutenant-Colonel Harney had command of the skirmish-line when a rebel was captured. Lieutenant- Colonel Harney gave him in charge of one of these Indians, and instructed him to take the prisoner to the rear, and deliver him to the provost-guard. In a very short time the Indian returned to the front. Lieutenant-Colonel Harney asked him what he had done with his prisoner, and was hor- rified at hearing the reply, "Oh, me shoot him." He had taken him a short distance in the thicket and shot him. He could not understand why so much pains should be taken with a prisoner, after incurring so much trouble and danger in capturing him.
In a few days after the battle the lines were strongly fortified, and extended beyond the Weldon railroad. The siege of Petersburg was slowly progressing; every foot of ground gained was so strengthened as to be defended with a small foree. In September, another feint was made across the James river, and the Fifth corps made an attack on the
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enemy's line, half a mile to the left, capturing by surprise two strong forts newly built. Towards nightfall the enemy returned. The Second brigade, under Colonel Hof- mann, was marched about half a mile in front, through a belt of timber, and encamped for the night. At early dawn the next morning the enemy discovered the exposed position of the brigade, and opened an enfilading fire upon it. Before the brigade could get under arms and gain a defensive position it was thrown into disorder, notwith- standing the coolness of Colonel Hofmann, whose voice rang clear and distinct above the din of the bursting shells and the roar of musketry. The brigade retired in some dis- order behind the forts captured on the day previous. The remainder of the corps was waiting to receive them, and the enemy were quickly repulsed. The brigade was sent for- ward for a decoy to draw the enemy into the works,-a foolish and needless sacrifice of men. This was called the battle of Peeble's Farm. Again several weeks were spent in fortifying and extending the lines, gradually closing in upon the enemy. About the middle of October, another see-saw movement was made. Three corps, the Second, Fifth, and Ninth, advanced three miles to the left, to get possession of the South Side railroad, the last line of communication leading to Petersburg, excepting the railroad connecting Petersburg with Richmond. The Fifth and Ninth corps marched to the right and formed on Hatcher's run, the Ninth corps to the right, the Fifth corps to the left of the run. The Second corps took a detour to the left and was to join the Fifth corps on its left. The Second corps met with considerable opposition from the enemy in endeavoring to get into position, and did not succeed in forming a junction with the Fifth corps, there being an interval of nearly a mile between them. The country was grown up to a dense thicket, the surface was uneven, and as difficult to manœuvre an army in as the Wilderness.
The maps which were used by our generals as guides were imperfect and misleading. Hatcher's run is a very tortnous stream. General Warren was ordered to keep his right on the stream. The two corps, Fifth and Ninth, formed into line of battle, without waiting for the Second corps to come up and join the Fifth corps on the left. The One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment was detailed to act as flankers on the left, to gnard the Fifth corps against surprise. The duty of flankers is to march by the flank, or in column, within sight of the main army, to guard it against surprise. The thicket was so dense that objects but a short distance off could not be seen. The direction of the line of battle of the Fifth corps was soon deflected to the right, in order to follow the turning of the stream. The One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment soon lost sight of the main line, and continned its march in a straight course into the gap between the Second and Fifth corps, diverging more and more from the line of battle as it marched ; it soon become lost. After a while a staff-officer, after a long search, came with an order to Lieutenant- Colonel Harney, directing him to advance with the regi- ment and find the right of the Second corps, and picket the interspace between the two corps. Lieutenant-Colonel Harney, ever cautions to guard against surprise or sudden disaster, rode in front with an orderly, to examine the
ground ; when the regiment came up halted it until he examined farther on. The regiment kept on in this way until the left of the Fifth corps was found. Lientenant- Colonel Harney then rode off to find the right of the Second corps. Soon after, a deafening roar of musketry was heard from the direction towards which he had but a few minutes before disappeared.
The enemy soon poured into the gap. They attacked the Second corps in front and on the flank at the same time, overwhelming it and forcing it back. The One Hun- dred and Forty-seventh Regiment made a hasty retreat and got off without loss, save the great one of losing Lieu- tenant-Colonel Harney. He was not again seen by the regiment until it was on its return from Appomattox Court-House after General Lee surrendered. He had saved the regiment from capture, and probably from a great loss in killed and wounded, by his timely cantion. It was not known during many months whether he was killed or captured, and his loss was mourned by the regiment more than all of its previous misfortunes. The whole army fell back when the Second corps was forced to retire, and en- camped near Hatcher's Run. Early the next morning it resumed its retreat and returned to its old quarters in the intrenched camp.
Many incidents occurred of an amusing nature during the stay in the dense woods.
Rebel General Mahone, the bugbear of the Fifth corps, found, as was his wont, the weak point in our line, and it was his division which came into the gap. In the attack on the Second corps his troops became much broken up into squads, which became lost in the woods. They wan- dered aimlessly around, and often met similar squads of our own troops lost in the same manner. They would demand of each other a surrender, a brief parley would be had, and it was decided that the weaker in numbers should surrender to the stronger, upon the democratic principle that the stronger should rule. At length they would run upon another squad, there would be another counting of noses, and perhaps a reconsideration of the former vote, the stronger always carrying the day. But in the retreat the gap was closed by the two corps uniting, and all the lost squads of the enemy were captured and brought out as prisoners. There were between seven and eight hundred of them. No new move was made until December.
It was discovered that the enemy had established a line of communications connecting the Weldon railroad, about twenty miles below or south of onr lines, with the same railroad within the enemy's lines, near Petersburg, by the Boynton plank-road. The fifth corps was ordered on a raid down to the North Carolina line, to destroy the Weldon railroad and break up the communication. The corps crossed the Nottoway river, about twenty miles south of Petersburg, and there ent loose from all communications. The weather was very warm for the season. It seemed very much like setting out on a pleasure excursion. The rights of property with the inhabitants were scrupulously respected. The first day the troops marched till late in the night. The moon shone with unusual splendor ; there was not a fleck of a clond to be seen. The weather was so warm and the air so balmy that the officers did not have
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their tents put up, but laid them on the ground to sleep on. Late in the night there came a sudden down-pour; the officers awoke with the rushing of waters under them, which nearly floated them off. The next day, about noon, there came a dash of the enemy's cavalry, throwing the head of the column into temporary confusion. The division was then commanded by General Crawford, and had the advance.
The troops were as soon as possible deploycd across the road and in adjoining fields to repel the cavalry, on account of the suddenness of the attack. There were conflicting orders, and the enemy's cavalry got off without much loss. As soon as they saw that they were charging upon a line of infantry they turned and fled. General Warren, hasty and passionate, upbraided some of his officers for allow- ing them to escape. The Federal cavalry were supposed to be in advance. The inhabitants in the country had stored in their cellars plenty of cider-brandy, or apple-jack. Our cavalry had on the road stopped at the houses and partaken freely of the fiery beverage, and were nearly all lying intoxicated along the road,
Towards evening the Weldon railroad was reached; then commenced its destruction. A brigade was marched along the side of the railroad track and halted. A break was made in the track at one end of the brigade. The track was then pried up at that end with ties, and turned nearly over bodily. After once started, the process of lifting one side of the track from the bed and turning it over became a very easy matter. Miles of track, with its ties attached intact, were, in a very short time, turned over from the bed, leaving the ties on top of the rails. It was then an easy matter to wrench the ties from the rails and pile them up into heaps and set fire to them. The rails were placed across the burning piles of ties, which soon became heated in the middle, and the weight of the ends bent them in the shape of a bow. A rail of railroad iron, when once sub- jected to this process, can never again be restored. By the evening of the next day nearly twenty-five miles of the Weldon railroad was completely destroyed.
At Hicksford, on the Meherrin river, the enemy con- fronted the Fifth corps with a superior force. A sharp skirmish was had at that place, and the corps set out on its return, the object of the expedition having been accom- plished. In the night of the commencement of the retreat there came up a sleety storm ; in the morning the branches of the trees were crusted over with ice. Then set in a cold, drizzling rain. The enemy pursued, and their cavalry an- noyed the rear exceedingly. 'The Federal cavalry, that should have protected the retreat, were demoralized and fled, mixing in with the infantry along the column. Gene- ral Crawford, ambitious for the post of honor, had the rear division, and the Second brigade was perpetually pestered by sudden eruptions of the enemy's cavalry from by-paths or openings in the woods. They were easily driven off, but kept the men in a state of irritation and alarm.
Whenever there was a good defensive position the army halted and awaited attack from the enemy ; but the enemy was wary, and was not to be induced to attack when the advantage of position was in our favor ; they contented them- selves by throwing a few shells after us, which did us no
harm. In the evening of the second day of the retreat, weary from a long and toilsome march through deep mud, and drenched by a cold, drizzling rain, the men were in- spirited by an opportunity to get even with the enemy's cavalry, which had been annoying and pestering the rear throughout the day.
A trap was set for them. General Wheelock's brigade had the rear. Passing a ravine and through a deep cut in the hill opposite, which the rains had washed out, and left high banks on each side of the road, overgrown with dense thicket, the general arranged his plan. Placing a regiment on each side, on the brows of the cut, he instructed them that when the enemy were in the cut, to close in upon them and capture them without firing upon them if they could. After arranging the men out of sight of the enemy, he in- structed the pioneers to pretend to be busy in tearing up the bridge across the stream, and when the enemy came in sight to retreat hastily through the cut, and entice them into the trap.
The enemy's cavalry came and made a dash at the pioneers, who hastily retreated. When the enemy's cavalry dashed into the cut, both regiments rose up and poured a volley into them, killed and wounded many of them, and captured the remainder. The men could not be restrained from firing, they were so much incensed and irritated by the annoyance they had suffered all that day. In their eagerness, some of them overshot the mark, and wounded two or three of their own men on the opposite banks, by their own fire. The enemy pursued no farther. The next day the corps recrossed the Nottoway river and encamped on the north bank of the stream, in the woods; the weather had become very cold and the wind blew a gale; the wood was saturated by recent rains, and there the men remained through the night, shivering over the smoky, smouldering fires. The next day the cold increased in severity. The men were exhausted by previous hardships and benumbed with cold. Many a poor soldier had fallen by the way and had to be urged on by the provost guard, occasionally at the point of the bayonet, to prevent his falling behind and being captured by the enemy. At the Nottoway, going down, the corps had ent loose from all communications. On its return it met a friendly force sent down to meet it, but there was no occasion, as the corps had got safely back. It had accomplished its object with a slight loss; but its hardships were great,-more from the inclement weather than from the encounters with the enemy. On the way down rights of property of the inhabitants were serupu- lously respected. On the way back, every house, barn, church, and corn-crib was burned.
The retreat of the army could be traced for miles by the smoke rising from the burning buildings. Families of helpless women and children were turned out in the cold at the commencement of winter. The able-bodied male popu- lation was all in the rebel army. The writer went into a house that seemed to be deserted at first by its inmates. It was filled with Union soldiers, who were ransacking the house. The brave General Wheelock was there, endeavoring to restrain them, but without much avail.
Passing into a back room, there was found a poor woman with four or five small children cowering around her, eling-
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ing to her skirts; she with mute appeal looked imploringly for protection. The soldiers were driven out of the house, but upon looking back after the march was resumed, the flames were seen bursting out of the house. The occasion for this vandalism was that on the way down several of the Union men gave out on the way, or had straggled; on their way back they were found dead, stripped naked, and horribly mutilated.
Upon the return the regiment went into winter encamp- ment, and but little was done, save strengthening the lines, until February 6, 1865.
The following promotions took place during the last year of the war: James Coey was promoted to the lieutenant- colonelcy, November 15, 1864; Alexander Penfield was promoted to the majority, November 15, 1864.
The following were made captains : William J. Gillett, Byron Parkhurst, Henry H. Hubbard, William A. Wy- bourn, Alexander Ring. Alfred N. Beadle was made quar- termaster.
The following were made first lieutenants: Patrick J. Brown, James W. Kingsley, Richard Esmond, John N. Beadle, Frank P. Benks, A. Judson Dickison, Lansing Bristol, Samuel S. Conde, Edward M. Sperry.
The following were made second lieutenants : John S. McCoy, William Sullivan, William Boyce, Joseph W. Emblem, and Sidney G. Cook.
During the fall and winter of 1864-65, General Grant, with grim humor, often greeted the enemy with shotted salutes upon the receipt of the news of important victories, such as the battle of Cedar Creek, the capture of Fort Fisher, and General Sherman's successes in the south. The time chosen was generally about dusk, when all was quiet along the lines. Suddenly the heavens were lighted up by the discharge of hundreds of cannon, and the course of the projectiles could be traced, followed by the explosion of shells as they descended into the enemy's lines. The enemy would spitefully return the salute by the time ours was over. The enemy were not long in discovering its object. Their papers complained bitterly, giving General Grant all sorts of hard names for what they pretended to consider his " brutal humor." It had a very demoralizing effect upon the enemy, as they soon learned that each salnte was occa- sioned by some fresh disaster to their cause.
There were signs of demoralization and breaking up of the Confederacy ; deserters were constantly coming in from their lines ; but our ranks had been largely filled with mer- cenaries, or bounty-jumpers, who availed themselves of every opportunity to escape, and often, in battle, would lie down and submit to capture without resistance. To these General Lee issued a proclamation offering them safe-con- duct by blockade-runners, or through distant parts of the lines, home.
The Fifth corps broke camp February 5, and marched to near Dinwiddie Court-House, and encamped for the night. About dark a heavy cannonading was heard in the rear, and an order came for the corps to get into marching order. The corps was marched back a short distance, and halted in an open field ; the wind was blowing a gale, and the weather cold. The men were told that they might lie down and get some sleep. It remained there a few hours,
and then resumed the march; at sunrise the corps was halted at the crossing of Hatcher's Run. The Second corps was busy throwing up breastworks. The corps remained until about four P.M. ; then it was formed into line of battle, and advanced upon the enemy. The Second brigade was com- manded by General Morrow, formerly colonel of the Twenty- fourth Michigan Regiment. The Second brigade drove the enemy, and gained a position in advance of the line. It held it against several assaults of the enemy until out of ammu- nition. The regiment had protected itself by placing in front an abatis of tree-tops and limbs. When out of ammunition, General Morrow still strove to maintain the place, hoping relief would come soon. The enemy had come up and were removing the abatis before a retreat was ordered. The brigade was driven back, and lost all it had gained.
The loss of the regiment in this battle was great. Lieu- tenant-Colonel Coey, commanding the regiment, was shot through the face, and it was supposed he had received a mortal wound. Lientenant Wybourn was shot through the ankle, and had his leg amputated ; Lieutenant Bristol was killed ; Lieutenant Berry was captured ; Captain Joseph Dempsey was wounded in the arm ; General Morrow was shot in the side.
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