USA > New York > History of the Ninth Regiment N.Y.S.M. -- N.G.S.N.Y. (Eighty-third N. Y. Volunteers.) 1845-1888 > Part 30
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Whenever the weather permitted the troops were drilled, and practiced in firing at targets. It was drill, drill, almost continuously, and the men were glad when sent out on picket duty, for then they escaped the worriment of tactical movements.
The Ninth corps -- which left the Army of the Potomac in Febuary, 1863, and had assisted Grant at the siege of Vicks- burg, Sherman at the capture of Jackson, Miss., and then again under General Burnside-marched through Kentucky, into Tennessee, where, aided by the Twenty-third corps, it success- fully defended Knoxville against Longstreet, returned cast in February ; was quartered at Annapolis, where it was reorgan- ized and recruited, ready for whatever field of action should be assigned it. It was given out -- un-officially -- that the corps, then some twenty thousand strong, would operate at some point on the Atlantic coast, but Grant had other work in store for it, and during the last week in April it was ordered into Virginia.
On the last day of the month, President Lincoln, whose
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LINCOLN TO GRANT.
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noble and sympathetic character is shown better in his per- sonal and private correspondence than in his public utterances, addressed General Grant the following letter :
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 30th, 1864.
Lieutenant-General GRANT
Not expecting to see you again before the Spring campaign opens, I wish to express, in this way, my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, so far as I understand it. The particulars of your plans I neither know, or seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and pleased, with this, I wish not to obtrude any con- straints or restraints upon you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster, or the capture of our men in great numbers, shall be avoided, I know these points are less likely to escape your attention than they would be mine. If there is anything wanting which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it.
And now with a brave army, and a just cause, may God sustain you.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Sunday, May Ist, was a clear, warm day. At the various headquarters, staff officers were active, and the busy hum of preparation warned observers that soon the forward move- ment would begin. After tattoo, in the evening of the 3rd, orders to " pack up and be ready to march at ten o'clock " made the camps a scene of bustling activity. The men were to destroy what they could not carry with them, but no bon- fires were allowed to warn the enemy of the contemplated movement. Eight days' rations had been crowded into the men's haversacks and knapsacks, their cartridge boxes each held forty rounds of ammunition, while ten extra rounds were stored away among crackers or clothing. It looked very much like " business."
At half-past eleven, the NINTH, five hundred and fifteen strong, took its place in the brigade and the march began. The infantry marched, regardless of roads, pushing through fields and woods, fording streams and wading through swamps. Daylight of the 4th found the column passing through the village of Stevensburg, and marching along the plank road towards Germanna Ford. A short distance beyond the town the troops halted an hour for breakfast, after which the march was resumed, few halts being made until the Rapidan was
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
reached. It was found that Wilson's division of cavalry had laid a pontoon early in the morning, and, crossing over, had driven the enemy back a mile or more from the river. At this point, the river, at its ordinary stage, is only about two hundred feet wide, but, by reason of the late rains, it was now much wider, the water too deep to ford, and the current run- ning swiftly. The engineer corps, assisted by details from other regiments, were soon at work, and by noon another pontoon bridge was thrown across. On the southern bank the enemy had occupied a line of rifle pits, which they had abandoned as soon as they saw the formidable demonstration made by the Union troops.
There had been no opposition made to the crossing, and, preceded by Wilson's cavalry, the Fifth corps led the advance of the Army of the Potomac upon a campaign, which did not end until the rebellion was crushed and the remnants of Lee's army surrendered at Appomattox.
The Sixth corps followed in the footsteps of the Fifth, while the Second crossed at Ely's Ford, a few miles further down the stream. The Sixth corps was to form the right, the Fifth the center, and the Second the left of the line of battle. General Grant had anticipated some opposition in the cross- ing ; referring to the matter in his Memoirs, he says :
"This I regard as a great success, and it removed from my mind the most serious apprehensions I had entertained, that of crossing the river in the face of an active, large, well- appointed, and ably-commanded army."
By one o'clock in the afternoon, the infantry were crossing on the bridges. A strong line of flankers guarded either side of the marching column, Company C performing that duty on the part of the NINTH. About four o'clock, the corps reached the vicinity of the Wilderness Tavern, at the intersection of the Germanna and Orange Court House turnpikes. Line of battle was formed facing southwest, and the interminable underbrush reminded the men of their experience at Chan- cellorsville the year before. The line now formed was about
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three miles west of the position occupied by the First corps at that time.
Exclusive of the Fourth division of the Ninth corps, which was composed entirely of colored troops, who were not put into action at this time, Grant had under his command about one hundred and eighteen thousand men, while the Confeder- ates had about sixty-one thousand. On the night of the 4th, Wilson's cavalry had reached Parker's Store, five miles south of the Tavern ; the Sixth corps was on the right of the Fifth, while the Second was on the old battle-field of Chancellors- ville. The Ninth corps was still north of the river. Grant had crossed over and established his headquarters near Ger- manna Ford, and Meade was close by. As soon as Lee became aware of Grant's movements, he put his army in motion to check the Union advance, and at dark the opposing lines of infantry were but five miles apart, while the cavalry outposts were almost within speaking distance.
Before daylight of the 5th the men were aroused from their bivouac behind their stacks of muskets, and after a hurried breakfast of crackers and coffee, stepped into their places in line of battle. At five o'clock the corps was ordered to move by the left flank towards Parker's Store. Company H, of the NINTH, were out as flankers for the regiment. At eight o'clock the column was halted, Crawford's division, in the lead, having encountered the advance of A. P. Hill's corps near the Chew- ing Farm, while Griffin and Wadsworth struck Ewell about the same time. Infantry and artillery were soon engaged, the sound of the heavy guns bringing Generals Grant and Meade galloping to the scene of action. After a hurried view of the situation the troops were formed in line, Crawford's, Wads- worth's and Griffin's divisions forming the first line, with Robinson's in support. The line was formed across the turn- pike, about a mile beyond the Tavern, with Griffin on the right of the corps. Wright's division of the Sixth corps was sent to Warren's right, while Getty's division of the same corps was ordered into position on Warren's left and rear, at the inter-
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
section of the Plank and Brock Roads, the most important strategic position in the Wilderness.
Badeau tells us that, in an order sent to Meade at half-past eight, Grant said: " If any opportunity presents itself for pitching into a part of Lee's army, do so, without giving time for dispositions."
Hancock, then at Todd's Tavern, on the Brock Road, was ordered to form a junction with the left of Getty's division. It was near noon before the engagement became general, Griffin's and Wadsworth's divisions attacking, and driving the enemy for some distance. Owing to the dense woods and underbrush, however, that portion of the Sixth corps on the right of Griffin was not able to advance and cooperate in the attack, and Griffin was finally compelled to fall back. Wads- worth and Crawford were also compelled to retire. The NINTH had been ordered to the support of a battery at the beginning of the battle, but as the Union troops advanced, the guns were compelled to suspend firing, for fear of injuring friends as well as foes, and the regiment was then withdrawn to a hollow, where it remained without being exposed to the fire of the enemy.
At about half-past four Wadsworth's division and Baxter's brigade of Robinson's, were ordered to support Hancock's line, which was then hotly engaged with the enemy under A. P. Hill, just west of the Brock Road. The difficulty of march- ing troops through the Wilderness, except by the roads, was so great, that Wadsworth, who was obliged to make his way through the brush, found darkness closing about him before he reached the position assigned him. But the enemy were pushed back a mile or more before the battle ceased, Baxter's brigade being in the second line and in rear of the left of Getty. The NixTi suffered no loss, but the Twelfth Massa- chusetts, occupying a more exposed position, added some fifty- seven to their already large roll of killed and wounded. Dur- ing the night, the opposing lines were so near each other, that a number of men, searching for water, wandered into each other's lines and were captured.
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The corps commanders were ordered to be ready to renew the attack at five o'clock the next morning.
During the night the buik of the Ninth corps reached the field, and Burnside was ordered into position on Warren's left. It was known, too, that Longstreet, who had not been engaged the day before, was hurrying along the Orange plank road to the assistance of Hill's corps, and Grant was anxious that the Union Army should take the initiative before Longstreet's arrival, On the other hand Lee was as anxious to attack, and, in order to gain time for Longstreet's arrival, he ordered an assault on the Union right, held by the Sixth corps. The enemy fired the first guns, and the battle soon swung around from the right to the left flank of the Union Army. It was next to impossible to preserve a continuous line of battle, for when the men were ordered forward, the difficulty of penetrat- ing the brush in line, compelled them to break up into squads and march by the flank; regiments would thus become sepa- rated from brigades, and brigades from divisions, and, when the attempt was made to reestablish a line, numerous gaps existed.
At about five o'clock Wadsworth's division and Baxter's brigade-north of the plank road, and two divisions of the Second corps and Getty's division of the Sixth on the road and south of it -- advanced. The Twelfth Massachusetts were deployed on the skirmish line in front of the brigade. The assault was gallantly made and the enemy driven nearly two miles; but the NINTH suffered heavily, losing, among the killed, their brave leader, Colonel Moesch. While this move- ment was being executed, a portion of Longstreet's corps was reported as moving along the unfinished railroad, which runs paraliel with the plank road, and was threatening Hancock's left and rear. This caused a halt in the forward movement. Gibbon's division, which formed the extreme left of Hancock's line and which had been watching Longstreet's movements, was ordered forward ; the Confederate First corps was checked, and Hancock's line repaired, but no decisive advantage gained. Warren, with the other three divisions of the Fifth
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corps, Sedgwick with the Sixth and Burnside with a portion of the Ninth, had each obtained some advantage, but nothing · decisive.
At a few minutes before nine Birney's and Mott's divisions of the Second corps, together with Wadsworth's command and Baxter's brigade, again attacked the enemy on the line of the Plank Road. Gibbon came in on the left shortly after the bat- tle was renewed, and for half an hour there was some desper- ate fighting. At length, Cutler's brigade, of Wadsworth's division, was forced back, and this caused the whole line to give ground; but Birney's division gallantly advanced and the enemy was checked for a moment; the contest was soon renewed, and about eleven o'clock a continuous roar of mus- ketry attested the sanguinary character of the battle. But lit- tle artillery could be used ; there were few elevations where it could be placed, and the dense woods prevented the gunners from properly directing their fire. The enemy had a battery planted in a clearing near the Widow Tapp's house, just north of the Plank Road, whose fire was, for a time, directed at Bax- ter's brigade, but with little damage. At noon the Union line fell back nearer to the Brock Road for the purpose of guard- ing the left flank from Longstreet's movement, and the NINTH, at one o'clock, found itself almost in the same position it occu- pied before the forward movement in the morning.
At two o'clock, General Robinson, bringing with him Lyle's brigade of his division, and two regiments of heavy artillery, reported to Hancock. At half-past four Long- street's troops advanced against Hancock's left front, one col- umn marching along the Catharpen Road, to take the Second corps in flank and rear, while another column advanced by way of the unfinished railroad grade; their advance was cov- ered by the dense woods; they attacked with great spirit, and Wadsworth's division was driven back in some confusion ; this necessitated the falling back of other portions of the line, Han- cock finally rallying the men behind the intrenchments along the Brock Road, which had been thrown up the night before. Wadsworth was killed while endeavoring to stem the tide and
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Baxter was wounded. The enemy pushed on, up to the intrenchments, capturing-momentarily-part of the line on the left, but Carroll's brigade, of Gibbon's division, charged and drove them out.
In his report of the battle, General Hancock says of the field :
It was covered by a dense forest, almost impenetrable by troops in line of battle, where maneuvering was an operation of extreme difficulty and uncertainty. The undergrowth was so heavy that it was scarcely possible to see more than one hundred paces in any direction. The movements of the enemy could not be observed until the lines were almost in collision. Only the roar of the musketry disclosed the position of the combatants to those who were at any distance, and my knowledge of what was transpiring on the field, except in my immediate presence, was limited, and was neces- sarily derived from reports of subordinate commanders.
The NINTH lost seventy in killed and wounded and fourteen prisoners during the day's battle. Colonel Moesch's body had been carried to the division hospital, where a rude coffin was hastily constructed, and the remains buried, under the direc- tion of Chaplain Roe, in the burial grounds of Ellwood Place, on the plantation of Major J. Hovell Lacy, near the Wilderness Tavern .* The Colonel had entered the service as a Sergeant in Company B, and in January, 1862, was elected Captain. After the wounding of Major Hendrickson, at Fredericksburg, he commanded the regiment, leading it also at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. His loss was deeply felt by all in the regiment. He was a good soldier ; brave, almost to rashness ; a quality that endeared him to the men in the ranks.
General Baxter's wound was so severe as to necessitate his leaving the field, and the brigade lost a most efficient com- mander.
To add to the horrors of the battle-field, the fire, which had caught in the breastworks late in the afternoon, spread over the ground on which lay the dead and wounded of both armies, and before the rescuing parties could reach them many poor
* For an account of the subsequent recovery of the remains and their reinterment ir. the National Cemetery at Fredericksburg, see the chapter for 1887.
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May
THE NINTH NEW YORK.
sufferers were literally roasted to death. The battle of the 6th practically closed the heavy fighting in the Wilderness.
The casualties had been very severe on both sides, the Union loss being, as reported, 2,265 killed, 10,220 wounded. 2,902 missing ; total, 15,387. The total Confederate loss was about 12,000.
The cavalry under General Sheridan had been active dur- ing the three days the army had been on the south side of the Rapidan, and reports received during the night of the 6th decided General Grant to move by the left flank towards Spottsylvania Court House, and endeavor to gain that strategic point, and thereby turn Lee's right flark. The move ment was to begin on the following afternoon.
At three o'clock, on the morning of the 7th, the NINTH were aroused from their rough bivouac behind the rude breastworks, and marched nearly three miles to the right of the line of battle, where another crude intrenchment was hastily thrown up. Here it remained till about four in the after- noon. Some artillery firing at long range and an intercharge of shots on the picket line was all that occurred in front of this part of the line during the day. Colonel Coulter, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania, was again in command of the brigade, and at half-past six orders were received to prepare for a night march. About the middle of the afternoon the wagon trains began to move off, and at dark the infantry followed. It was after nine o'clock before the brigade moved, preceded by some cavalry, as the advance of the Fifth corps. The column passed along the Brock Road in rear of the Second corps. which still remained in their intrenchments. When the men realized that this was not a march in retreat-a second Chan- cellorsville-but a movement nearer the enemy, their confi- dence in General Grant increased. It was a new experience for the Army of the Potomac, and the troops relied on Grant's ability as much as he did upon their fighting qualities. The confidence was mutual and was well deserved.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
LAUREL HILL-SPOTTSYLVANIA AND COLD HARBOR.
Sheridan Encountered in the Woods .-- Alsop's Farm .- Battle at Laurel Hill .- Heavy Loss in the NINTH .- Division Reorganized .- Movement Towards Spottsylvania .- Battle of Spottsylvania .- The NINTH again Lose Heavily .- By the Left Flank, Across the Ny River .- A Reconnaissance .- The Heavy Artillery Reinforcements .- Badeau's Tribute to the Volunteer Soldiers .- Movement to Guinea Station .- The North Anna .- Battle There .- The Ninth Corps .- Advance to the Pamunkey .- Operations of the Cavalry .- Battles at Bethesda Church and Cold Harbor .-- List of the Killed and Wounded in the NINTH During the Cam- paign .- Close of Three Years' Service.
BETWEEN three and four o'clock the next morning, Sun- day, the 8th, the head of the infantry column halted for a short rest, within a mile of Todd's Tavern. The night had been very dark, the roads narrow and poor, and the men were much fatigued. At half-past five the march was resumed and soon the cavalry were overtaken. The Twelfth Massachusetts was the advance regiment of the brigade, and Colonel Cook, in his history of that regiment, thus describes the scene :
The Twelfth was in the advance, Adjutant Chas. C. Wehrum riding ahead. Sud- denly " a solitary horseman " rode out from the forest, and reined his horse in front of our adjutant.
" What regiment is this ?"
"The Twelfth Massachusetts."
" Order them to deploy on the left of the road. What regiment comes next ?"
" The NINTH New York."
" Order them to deploy on the right of the road."
" By whose order ? "
The figure raised the flapping brim of his felt hat, and answered with the singk. word, "Sheridan."
Colonel Bates (of the Twelfth) and Colonel Coulter rode up. The latter received the orders direct from Sheridan, every sentence being bitten off with a " Quick! Quick!"
From Todd's Tavern the Brock Road runs southeast, and, following that, the two leading regiments, in line of battle, struggling through the dense brush, pushed on for a mile or
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so, emerging from the woods, where the cavalry of Merritt was met. The enemy had felled trees across the road and wood paths, and it was half-past seven before the clearing was come to. Here a narrow wood road branches off to the right from the Brock Road, runs parallel with it for about a mile, and then turns again into the main road close to the Alsop's Farm, distant two miles from Spottsylvania Court House. When the fork was reached General Robinson, with Lyle's brigade in the lead, followed by Coulter's, kept on the main road, while Denison's brigade took the narrow road to the right. Upon reaching the farm of Alsop the division again united, the brigades formed in column of regiments and, pre- ceded by skirmishers, advanced to within eight hundred yards of the heavy woods beyond the clearing. Here they were met by a heavy fire of artillery and, on approaching closer, by musketry from the Confederate infantry. A charge being ordered, the NINTH, with the other regiments, gallantly advanced under a most destructive fire, only to find the enemy so strongly posted behind intrenchments, that it was impossi- ble to dislodge him. General Robinson was severely wounded in the leg while cheering on the men, and was carried from the field, Colonel Coulter assuming command of the division, and Colonel Bates of the brigade. The men were compelled to fall back in order to re-form. General Warren now came up with the other three divisions, Griffin's, Crawford's, and Wads- worth's, the latter commanded by General Cutler, and suc- ceeded in establishing a line within short musket range of the enemy.
Thus the attempt to capture the Court House had failed, and owing, too, to a rather curious incident. Longstreet's corps-now under command of General R. H. Anderson-had been ordered, on the night of the 7th, to bivouac on the battle- field of the 6th, and then march to Spottsylvania the next morning, but the woods being on fire, he assumed the respon- sibility of continuing the march during the night, and having the inside track, his advance division reached the junction of the Brock and Shady Grove roads in time to interpose between
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Warren and his objective. The balance of Anderson's corps came up just as Robinson's assault was repulsed.
It was a little after noon before Warren's line was estab- lished, and the battle, known as Laurel Hill, had cost the NINTHI heavily-one hundred and forty killed and wounded.
The Sixth corps, in the meanwhile, had arrived and taken position on the the right of the Fifth, and towards evening advanced against the enemy. part of the Fifth corps moving to its support. The NINTH, with the brigade, marched a couple of miles towards the firing, but was not called into action, and was soon withdrawn to enable the men to fill their cartridge boxes for the next battle. The Second corps had reached Todd's Tavern about the middle of the forenoon, where it intrenched itself to hold the right of the line, while the Ninth corps was moving off by way of Piney Branch Church, and fol- lowing down the north bank of the Ny River, in order to extend the left of the line and strike the Spottsylvania Fredericksburg turnpike.
Morning reports the next day, showed that, since the cross- ing of the Rapidan, Robinson's division had lost its com- mander and all the brigade commanders, as well as many of the regimental commanders, and not less than two thou- sand in killed and wounded ; it was therefore decided to break up the command, and distribute the brigades among the other divisions. In the assignment the brigade, under com- mand of Colonel Coulter, was sent to General Crawford's division. Nothing of importance occurred to the NINTH dur- ing the day, the regiment remaining behind the breastworks, listening to the sound of the artillery and occasional discharge of small arms on both their right and left.
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