USA > New York > History of the One hundred and twenty-fourth regiment, N. Y. S. V. > Part 10
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umn, and after crossing to the opposite side of the road, hurried forward through the woods for several miles and rejoined our divi- sion, which was in the act of forming line of battle, under the immediate direction of General Sickles, on the left of Birney's men, who were already in position ; having just before our arrival overtaken the rear of Jackson's line, and captured about five hundred of his men; the most of them belonging to the 23d Georgia. The enemy's rear was now uncovered, and Sickles was forming for an attack in force, in hopes of at least capturing a wagon train, which was moving in plain sight. Other Confed- erate troops were hurrying back to confront us, and before the line was fairly formed, brisk skirmishing began in front of Bir- ney's division. At this juncture the 124th was again detached, and ordered to hasten to a thickly wooded hill some three hun- dred yards to the right, and support some troops there posted.
We soon reached the hill designated, but did not find the troops we were to support. We were, however, hailed by an aide from General Sickles, with orders to remain there until another aide should arrive to conduct us. The next moment the sound of heavy musketry firing came from the woods in front, and Ellis hurried us forward up the hill; from the crest of which we saw, in the valley beyond, a portion of our division actively engaged with, and apparently giving way before a small force of the enemy. Under such circumstances, Ellis was not the man to wait for orders. Hurriedly forming line of battle and placing himself in front of the colors, he ordered a charge ; and with a shout which made the woods ring again, we rushed through the dwarf pines down the slope. As we reached the level ground General Whipple, in person, ordered us to halt, and informed Colo- nel Eilis that our division was falling back, and directed that the 124th retire with it. Meantime the booming of cannon and crack- ling of musketry came from the direction of Hooker's main line.
We could not have fallen back more than a mile, when panic-stricken fugitives brought tidings of terrible disaster; and a few moments later we learned the enemy had actually turned the Federal right, routed the Eleventh corps, and was even then
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between us and head-quarters. We, however, kept on feeling our way cautiously back, and just after dark emerged from the woods not far from where Birney's 'division had that morning held position in the main line. There Sickles, in the gathering gloom, as fast as his regiments came in out of the dense woods, hurried them in line of battle. He had now nearly all his artillery with him, and was soon joined by General Pleasanton, with sev- eral hundred cavalry.
The rattle of musketry was now close by, and the enemy's lines sweeping everything before them, were advancing rapidly through the darkness right against us; and one of Pleasanton's regiments-the Sth Pennsylvania, about one hundred strong- was ordered to charge through the woods and check them at all hazards, that Sickles might have time to complete his line. The charge was made in gallant style and the Confederates brought to a stand; but in a few moments this little band of horsemen were swept away, their gallant leader, Major Keenan, falling among the foremost ; and the elated foe pushed on again. But the check he had received afforded Sickles and Pleasanton time to get their batteries in position, and when the enemy's heavy lines came in sight, over thirty guns opened on them with ter- rific fury. For a time they withstood our shot and shell, grape and shrapnel, making several desperate, but unsuccessful efforts to reach our guns ; but at length gave up the impossible task, and fell rapidly back out of the deadly range. Then Siekles, advancing through the woods, recovered a portion of the line from which the Eleventh corps had been driven, and presently came to another cleared farm, on which he halted, and then drew in and massed a portion of his command. Our brigade, however, moved on across the open space and took position in the edge of the woods beyond.
The right of the 124th now rested on a road which ran at right angles with their line, into the woods in front of them. This "road was the Fredericksburg Turnpike, or Orange Plank Road, for at that point the two are merged. The clearing behind us was the Van Wert farm. We were facing the west, and somewhere
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in the woods in front lay the enemy. How far he had recoiled was not known, and shortly after our arrival, I was ordered to reconnoitre this road and see what I could find.
Selecting Sergeant Campbell and ten of my best men, I moved with them into the forest. The moon was shedding a dim light, the air had a sulphurous taste, the road was narrow, the trees were tall and stood close together, and the gloom was intense. Quietly and cautiously we crept on along one side of the road in the edge of the woods, stopping at every sound, and peering through the gloom at every shadow. Presently I heard a groan, and a few steps further on, came upon the prostrate form of a poor mangled fellow. Putting my hand on his shoulder I whis- pered, " What can I do for you ?" In answer he mumbled something in German I did not understand. Sending two of my men back with him, we moved on, but were soon again halted by an ominous click. It was not the coeking of a rifle, for it was fol- lowed by a peculiar jingling sound. Waving one hand for those immediately behind me to remain where they were, and shading my eyes with the other hand, as if by that act some of the dark- ness could be shut off, I peered through the gloom, and moved on tiptoe toward a dark moving mass-it was a wounded artillery horse kicking his traces, which were fastened to an upturned caisson. Close by stood another caisson and two rifled guns, which had evidently been abandoned by the Eleventh corps in its flight.
I left two more of my men in charge of these guns, and sent two others back to the regiment. Fighting was no part of our business there ; to see all we could, and get back-that was the duty assigned.us, and I found so many a hindrance rather than a help. Directing Sergeant Campbell with two men to move in the edge of the woods, on the opposite side of the road, and keeping the remaining two with me, we once more started forward, stepping ever and anon over a dead body ; while from the woods all about us came piteous moanings and dying groans of wounded men.
There had been desperate work there. Two tornadoes of „fire and iron had just swept through these woods; first from
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Jackson's men driving the Eleventh corps; then from Sickles and Pleasanton, forcing Jackson's men back again. About forty yards beyond the abandoned' artillery, we were again arrested by a clicking sound, but this time it was followed by the dis- charge of a rifle. The next moment Sergeant Campbell hastened across the road, and informed me that one of his men, Private James G. Ciles, having advanced beyond the others, had been mistaken for an enemy and wounded by his comrade. This unlucky shot not only deprived me of one of my bravest men, but warned the enemy of our approach, and made our immediate return an absolute necessity. Picking up poor Ciles, whose leg was broken, and would have to be amputated, we hurried back with him, expecting every moment a shower'of bullets would sweep down the road after us. Ciles insisted, as we carried him back, that he had seen the enemy's battle line just ahead of him, and that the bullet which hit him came from them. I did not attempt to disabuse him as to who fired the fatal shot, and did not at the time credit his story of having seen the enemy's battle line. On reaching the regiment, we committed him to the care of Dr. Montfort, who had not yet been called to the rear; and ordering the right platoon of my company to shoulder arms, I · was about to move back into the woods with them for the pur- pose of bringing in the guns referred to. ' Just then bullets began to whistle over the centre of the regiment, giving us unmistakable evidence that the enemy was not far away, and Colonel Ellis ordered me to remain where I was until he drew in his line of pickets, and gave them " a fitting reply in the shape of a volley of Yankee lead." I of course hurried out one of the men who had been with me to call in the guards I had left with the guns. In the meantime Captain Murray, who had been sent on a similar reconnoissance, down a lane that ran through the woods in a left oblique direction from the left of our regimental line, came in and reported that he had come upon a large body of the enemy, who " were apparently forming line of battle for an advance. A. mo- ment later my attention was drawn to a slight rustling in the road just in front of me, and a horseman rode up and asked, in a .
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tone of authority, " What regiment is this ? " and added, " Colonel, don't fire into your own men," for at that juncture, in reply to another slight shower of bullets which passed over their left, our regiment, without waiting for orders, opened a straggling fire. Colonel Ellis, who at the time stood talking with me, stepped toward the questioner and replied, in a loud voice, " This is the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth New York, and by - we will give them shot for shot, friend or foe." Meantime several other horsemen appeared, and drew rein in the shadow of the trees. At Colonel Ellis' gruff answer, this unknown officer whirled and put spurs to his horse, and the whole party dashed in the woods on the farther, or north side of the road, followed by a ball from Colonel Ellis' revolver and a volley from Company A. Just then a dark body of troops appeared, moving over the plain and slowly and silently marched past our right flank, down this same road, and disappeared in the gloom. It was General J. Hobart Ward's brigade, his regiments massed in col- umn of divisions, pushing a section of light guns ahead of them. They could scarcely have gone as far as I had penetrated, when the sudden opening of musketry, joined by the crashing thunder of artillery, told they had met the foe ; and for half an hour the woods in our front were filled with hideous noises, and down this road it seemed that some terrible monster was beating the gloom with flashing swords of fire; then gradually all became quiet again and the night wore slowly on.
But who was this strange horseman, with followers, that so suddenly rode out of the gloom, and on learning what troops were there, dashed madly back into the dark woods again, fol- lowed by a volley of fifty bullets, just as Ward's brigade, with two pieces of artillery, moved down this road ? Was it Stone- wall Jackson who inquired " What regiment is this," and added, " don't fire into your own men ?"
Southern historians and Jackson's biographers agree that it was in these night attacks of Pleasanton and Sickles, at the very point where these strange horsemen turned in the woods, that Jackson and several of his followers were mortally wounded
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-by the fire of his own men, they say. There was a supersti- tious belief, entertained by the bulk of Jackson's men, growing out of the fact that he had passed through so many battles un- scathed, that he led a charmed life, and no Northern bullet could harm him.
Professor R. L. Dabney, D. D., of the Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, in his work entitled, "Life and Campaigns of Lieutenant-General Thomas J. Jackson," writes, referring to the circumstances attending the wounding of that general, as fol- lows : " Colonel Cobb . . coming to report to him . found General Jackson near the road, busily engaged correcting the partial disorder into which his men had fallen; riding along the line, he was saying, ' Men, get into line, get into line. Whose regiment is this, Colonel, get your men into line.'" Let me repeat here what was said by the strange horseman who visited us : " Whose regiment is this," and then, "Colonel, don't fire into your own men."
A little farther along in his narrative, Professor Dabney continues : " He was almost unattended and a mo- ment after rode along the turnpike toward Chancellorsville. endeavoring to discover the intentions of the enemy. His antici- pations were indeed verified, Hooker was just then advancing a powerful body of fresh troops He was pushing a strong battery along the highway, preceded by infantry skirmishers ; and in front of General Jackson's right, was sending a heavy line of infantry through the woods. After the general and his escort had proceeded down the road a hundred yards, they were surprised by a volley of musketry from the right, which spread toward their front until the bullets began to whistle among them and struck several horses He therefore turned to ride hurriedly back to his own troops ; and to avoid the fire which was thus far limited to the south side of the road, he turned into the woods upon the north side. . . As the party approached to within twenty paces of the Confederate troops ; these evidently taking them for Federal cavalry, stooped and delivered a deadly fire. . Several fell dead upon the spot, and
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more were wounded. Among the latter was General Jackson." And now a few extracts from a work, entitled " Chancellorsville," by Captain Hopkins and Colonel Allen, both members, at the time, of Jackson's staff.
" General Jackson, while waiting for Hill, rode forward to reconnoitre; he was accompanied by a portion of his staff, and by several other officers. When he had ridden some distance beyond his pickets, and was near the Van Wert House; some one remarked, ' General, you should not expose yourself.'
He was now in close proximity to the Federal lines, and on the advance of their pickets he turned and rode, with an escort, toward his own troops. The skirmishers on both sides were firing as Jackson approached his lines ; he with his escort received a volley from the Confederate line of battle. . The Federal line was near by, and advancing. Two pieces of artillery had been advanced on the Plank road, and were going into position not one hundred yards off. The General, having been raised from the ground, was supported a few steps by Captain Leigh, and then placed on a litter. He had been carried but a little way in this manner, when the Federal artillery opened, and a perfect storm swept down this road."
Again I put the question, " Was the officer who rode out of the woods and asked ' What regiment is this,' Stonewall Jack- son ?" Let others answer as they may, in my mind there is not the slightest doubt of it; but as to whether his mortal hurt was caused by one of the bullets the 124th sent after him as he rode away, or by that of one of his own men as he returned to them, is not so clear. This much is certain ; his fall was a blow from which the army of Northern Virginia never recovered.
After this night attack, in which J. Hobart Ward's brigade played so active a part, and which resulted in re-establishing the Union lines, Siekles reported in person to General Hooker at the Chancellor House, and was ordered to cause his command to fall back half a mile nearer head-quarters, where a new right wing was to be formed, mainly of his corps. At carly dawn this move- ment began, but our regiment, which brought up the rear, had
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gone only a few rods. when Ellis, in obedience to orders, directed me to return with Companies A and F, cover the line from which our division had just been withdrawn, and remain there until recalled. Ordering them from the column and hurriedly deploying Company F and a portion of Company A in skirmish line at long intervals, and retaining the remainder of Company A. as a reserve, I returned with them to the edge of the woods.
A few moments later, I heard some one behind me ask, "Captain Weygant, what orders have you ?" and turning around, saw before me, unattended and on foot, our division com- mander, General Whipple. In reply to his inquiry I answered, "Our orders are to remain where we are until withdrawn." "Oh! no! no,!" said he, "check them a little if possible, and then make your escape-if you can. Don't you hear them ; they are already advancing; " and drawing his cloak about him and hurrying to his horse, which I then discovered was being held by an orderly near by, he mounted and rode rapidly away.
He was right! Looking down the road, I discovered that it was filled with . moving artillery, and through the woods could be seen their advance line of infantry. At this juncture my weak line of skirmishers opened fire, but its only perceptible effect was to hasten the approach of. the enemy who, without deigning to return a shot, hastened forward. Company F and the few men of A who were with them, stood their ground- never did a skirmish line behave better, or were muzzle-loading rifles fired more rapidly ; but on came the solid lines of the foe, who, when I ordered my skirmishers to fall back on their re- serve, were not forty yards away. Stray bullets, evidently fired without orders, now began to whistle among us, and just as the enemy emerged from the woods in front and on either side of us, the men of my two little companies, excepting two poor fellows of F who were hit on their way back, came together in battle line, in front of them. Then for the first time I had visions of rebel prisons. There we stood, on the open ground, one hundred facing ten thousand. A single volley would have swept us out of existence. Glancing to the rear I noticed that near at hand,
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a slight ravine ran round a knoll, and whispered the order, " Every man for his life."
Well-I had always contended, and really believed, that I could outrun any man in Company A, or F either, and bounding off' at a tremendous gait attempted to lead, but before I had made ten paces, two-thirds of them were ahead of me ; and before the enemy mistrusted we would attempt to escape, all but two or three of our number were out of their immediate range. But the dreaded volley, when it did come-though the leaden messen- gers passed harmlessly over the heads of the rest of us-caught our hindermost man, W. V. C. Carmer, of F, whose body must have been riddled. Ile was never heard from afterward.
A moment later, Sickles' artillery opened in a most furious manner, and the shells went screeching past us and crashing into the woods beyond. Then the Confederate batteries, hurrying into position, began to reply, and the missiles from their guns passed so near our heads that several of our number were hurled to the ground by the force of the wind which followed them. We were caught between the lines, and the terrible Sunday morning's battle of Chancellorsville burst over us. Turn right or left, grim death stared at us. The heavens above seemed filled with hot-breathed, shrieking demons. Behind us was an advancing sheet of flame, and the hills in front opposed an angry line of fire and smoke. Two or three times we halted and threw ourselves upon the ground, but as the Confederate host drew near, we pushed on again toward Sickles' front, and at length crawled in between his guus ; and with faces once more toward the foe, lay down with loaded rifles to await such further duty as we should be called upon, or it might seem necessary to perform.
Our situation there soon became more terrible than it had been between the lines. The knoll beneath us shook like a thing of life. The air was deadened by the continuous booming of .. guns, which covered the high ground all about us, and ceased not to eject the huge doses of powder and iron which begrimed cannoneers continually rammed down their black, gaping throats. Thick, stifling clouds of smoke rolled back over us, filled with
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fragments of bursting shells which tore up the ground all around and among us, mangling the bodies of the gallant men of the old . Third corps who almost covered it, and whose dying groans min- gled in horrid discord with the piteous whinnyings of wounded beasts and the shrill shouts of those who were conducting the fight. Soon whistling bullets from the desperate foe added new horrors to the scene, and then a bursting caisson lighted up that portion of the field, and turned to blackened corpses nearly a score of men who stood about it. As the thunder of this ex- plosion died away, I heard amid the tumult, in the familiar words and voice of Ellis, the order, "Forward, my tulips," and saw moving away through the smoke, our regimental colors.
At the sound of Ellis' voice, my little band sprang to their feet-but not all ; some of them would rise no more until the last trump should call them. I repeated the order " Forward," and we started off at a double-quick after our flag, reaching the left of the column just as it was changing to a line of battle at the edge of a piece of woods, out of which a Union regiment, larger by far than ours, had just been driven.
As A and F hurried along in rear of the other companies, to their proper position on the right of the line, Colonel Ellis, see- ing us, shouted out, " Good ! good ! Weygant; I was sure you had all gone to kingdom come; " adding, "let the little girls of old Orange hear a good report of this day's work." As he spoke George Weygant, of Company I, threw up his arms and fell dead just ahead of me, and at the same instant one of my own company, John H. Judson, with a shout on his lips was pierced through the brain, and fell backward out of the light of life into the gloom of death. Reaching the right and glancing toward the front as I dressed my men, I saw our adjutant, Will Bron- son, who was several paces in front of us, spring to a stump and wave his sword; but the next instant a little minie ball tum- bled him off, and on one foot he hobbled past me on his way .. to the rear.
Advancing through the woods directly toward us, was the 23d North Carolina, supported by another North Carolina
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regiment; both of which were under command of Colonel David H. Christie of the 23d. Thus far these Carolinians had swept - away everything in front of them, but the terrific opening fire of the 124th, which was poured into their ranks when they were less than fifty yards off, not only brought the men of the 23d to a halt, but caused them to fall with their faces to the ground to escape its withering effect; and the principal part of the immediately answering bullets came from their supporting line, which was but a few yards farther away. In less than ten minutes this second line was brought to the ground, and the men of the first line sprang to their feet again, and poured into our ranks a most wicked volley, which fright- fully decimated, but failed to shake our line-and so the fight went on. Some of our men grew ghostly pale as their eyes fell upon gasping and bullet-pierced faces of fallen comrades. Some cursed the foe as they bit their cartridges, and with single thrust of ramrod " sent them home." And yet others, as they brought down their rifle, and moved their right hand rapidly toward their cartridge-box, for another bullet, turned their eyes heavenward, as if appealing for protection or success to the great I AM.
The battle was now at its height, and the 124th was in the thickest of the fray, but not a son of Orange county was seen to show the white feather, not a man faltered ; deliberately they aimed and rapidly fired ; for not one moment did they cease pour- ing their leaden hail into the enemy's ranks ; neither did that enemy for one moment cease to return his withering, destruc- tive fire. Backward, forward, down, down, our brave men fell ; thinner and yet thinner grew the ranks, but not a foot of ground was yielded. One after another, our file closers, not needed in the rear, stepped forward unordered into the continually widen- ing gaps of the first rank ; and at last the enemy's double line of battle, unable to longer withstand our accurate deadly fire, gave up their desperate efforts to force us from the line and fell back out of range, leaving the ground in front of us strewn with his dead. But the bullets of unseen foes, coming in oblique direc- tions, continued to fall thick and fast among us, and soon another
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Confederate line was seen off at our right, advancing through the woods toward us. Our yet deadly fre was instantly turned toward the new-comers; but our cartridges were running low. On the left of the regimeut, Captain Murray, of B, with great streams of blood oozing from mouth, cars and nose, and appa- rently lifeless, was being borne to the rear on the strong shoul- ders of private George Hlawley; and Company K's newly appointed lieutenant, Jacob E. Denton, lay dead among the fallen sons of Wallkill.
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