USA > New York > History of the One hundred and twenty-fourth regiment, N. Y. S. V. > Part 14
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The strength of Hooker's army in the meantime had been, very materially reduced. Since the battle of Chancellorsville fifty odd regiments had been mustered out of the service because of the expiration of the terms for which they had enlisted. General Hooker, in a letter written to President Lincoln just as his army was leaving Falmouth, says, " My marching infantry force is cut down to about eighty thousand men." General Pleas- onton, in his report dated May 27th, gives the effective force of the cavalry branch of Hooker's army at "four thousand six hundred and seventy-seven horse." For once it was acknowl- - edged by the Confederates that the opposing armies were about equal in numbers.
On the 2Sth of May General Hooker telegraphed to Sec- retary Stanton as follows : "You may rest assured that impor- tant movements are being made. . . I am in doubt as to the direction he ( Lee) will take, but probably the one of last year, however desperate it may appear." Hooker now determined to learn, if possible, just what Lee was doing. The following extract from an account of the crossing of the Rappahannock below Fredericksburgh on the 5th of June, which I find recorded in Moore's Rebellion Record, explains the thundering of artillery the day before we left Falmouth.
" Yesterday morning-June 5th,-the Engineer brigade was ordered to proceed to the river with a pontoon train sufficient for two bridges. Howe's splendid fighting division of the Sixth corps was selected for the work of crossing, and the point for .. laying the bridges was just below the mouth of Deep Run.
Our infantry and artillery, as well as the engineers, began to debouch on the open plain opposite the crossing soon after noon, but, for some reason, active operations were not commenced
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until about five o'clock. During the afternoon the pickets of the enemy lounged on the opposite bank. Save this picket of the enemy, no force was visible and the impression was strong that the enemy had left. About five o'clock the engineers drove their teams down to the river-bank and commenced unloading. The rebels at once betook themselves to the rifle-pits and com- menced firing. Their rifle-pit here is a very strong one, and our men were within very close range. Quite a number of the Engi- neers were soon wounded, and it was evident that the old and suc- cessful method of pushing men across in boats would have to be adopted. General Howe at once ordered the 26th New Jersey, Colonel Morrison, to man the boats and push over and storm the rifle-pits. Six of the batteries of the Sixth corps were placed in position on the plain, and for nearly two hours shelled the rifle- pits. The rebels stuck to their position until the gallant Jersey- men set foot on the south side of the river. . when they fled before the rapid charge of our men. Some sixty or seventy prisoners were soon brought in, being the main part of the force which had occupied the rifle-pit. By dark our skirmishers had advanced nearly to the timber beyond the Bowling Green road, without having met the enemy in force."
Early the following morning General Howe continued his advance, but was speedily brought to a stand by a portion of General A. P. Hill's corps, which yet remained in and about Fredericksburgh and gave the impression that the bulk of Lee's army was yet there.
A dispatch from General Hooker to General Hallock, dated June 6th, contains the following, which will explain the nature and object of the movement, in which the 124th had been called to play a part. " As the accumulation of the heavy rebel force of cavalry about Culpepper may mean mischief, I am determined to break it up in its incipiency. I shall send all my cavalry .. against them stiffened by about three thousand infantry."
The cavalry corps of the army of the Potomac was now com- manded by General Pleasonton, and consisted of two divisions under Generals Gregg and Buford. The infantry selected to
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accompany and " stiffen " the cavalry on the expedition referred to, consisted of ten small veteran, regiments, the 124th being the youngest among them. Six weeks before we had been classed among the untried recruits ; but since our bloody baptism at Chancellorsville the name of the 124th New York Volunteers had been transferred to the roll of "First class, tried and to be trusted, Veteran Battalions."
Five of these infantry regiments and a light battery were placed under command of General Russell, and accompanied General Gregg's division, which, on the morning of the 9th, crossed the river at Kelley's Ford, six miles below Beverley's. The 86th and 124th, with three other regiments and a battery, were commanded by General Ames, and operated with Buford's division, which crossed at Beverley's Ford before daylight on the morning of the 9th, and favored by a slight mist succeeded, without loss, in capturing the enemy's pickets there posted. General Pleasanton accompanied Buford, and as soon as the divis- ion reached the southern shore, ordered an advance in force. They had moved but a short distance when they came upon and engaged a brigade of cavalry, under command of the Confederate General Jones, which was speedily forced back some two miles, when a portion of the charging Federal line tumbled headlong into a blind ditch-the same, I presume, in which the dismounted Confederate cavalry so suddenly disappeared from in front of Companies A and F of the 124th, an hour or two later.
While the Federal cavalry were floundering in this ditch, Jones was reinforced by the brigades of Generals W. H. F. Lee and Wade Hampton, and Buford's advance was checked. In the meantime the five regiments of infantry under General Ames had crossed the river, taken possession of, and formed in battle lines at intervals, in the edge of a piece of woods about one and a quarter miles in extent. Before Buford's men could be got to- gether after their tumble into the ditch, the brigades of Lee and Hampton were upon them ; and being thrown upon the defen- sive, they were formed in the open fields on the flanks of the wooded center held by the infantry. After this disposition of
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the Union forces at that point, considerable skirmishing and a number of charges and countercharges were made, without any material advantage to either side.
General Gregg's division, with the five regiments of infantry under General Russell, had crossed the river at Kelley's Ford, between the hours of six and nine A. M., without meeting any opposition except such as could be given by a rebel picket force, composed of one officer and twenty men. As soon as his entire force had reached the southern shore, Gregg formed it in four columns and took up a line of march toward Brandy Station, at which place he expected to form a junction with Buford's division. Gregg however soon became engaged' with a Confederate force of cavalry under General Robertson, which, after considerable fighting, he succeeded in driving before him; and about one P. M. connected with the left of Buford's line. After this the battle dwindled to a mere skirmish fight. During the afternoon large columns of infantry were discovered moving to the support of the enemy's cavalry and at four P. M. General Pleasanton decided to withdraw to the northern shore of the Rappahannock.
The total loss during the day was about cight hundred on each side. Mr. Crounse, of the New York Times, in his admira- ble report of the battle, says, "The infantry force selected chal- lenged particular admiration. The regiments were small, but they were reliable-such for instance as the. . 86th and 124th New York."
The Richmond Sentinel's account says, "The fighting fluc -. tuated throughout the day, lasting from five to five-twelve long hours. It was doubtless the severest and most extensive cavalry fight of the war. The scene lay chiefly on the farm owned by the late John S. Barbour, sen. The enemy made much use of their sharp-shooters, who, from the shelter of the adjacent timber, did us considerable damage."
The Richmond Examiner of June 12th comments as follows :
" The more the circumstances of the late affair at Braudy Sta- tion are considered, the less pleasant do they appear. . The country pays dearly for the blunders which encourage the enemy
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to overrun and devastate the land with a cavalry which is daily learning to despise the mounted troops of the Confederacy. It is high time this branch of the service should be reformed. The surprise on this occasion was the most complete that has occurred. The Confederate cavalry was carelessly strewn over the country . and they were surprised, caught at breakfast, made prisoners on foot with guns empty and horses grazing. Although the loss was insignificant, the events of the morning were among the least creditable that have occurred. Later some of the best officers sacrificed their lives to redeem the day. A very fierce fight ensued, in which, it is said, for the first time in this war, a considerable number of sabre wounds were given and received. In the end the enemy retired or was driven, it is not yet clearly known which, across the river. Nor is it certainly known whethre the fortunate result was achieved by the cavalry alone, or with the assistance of the Confederate infantry in the neighborhood. As the Southern troops remained masters of the field, and as they are believed to have taken at least as many prisoners toward the close of the day as they lost in the morning, they may be considered victors. But it is a victory over which few will exult." This is rather severe on the guerilla chief, Jones, as well as on the gallant Stuart, " whose only weakness was military foppery and an inordinate desire of female admiration."
There was captured during this engagement-which Northern historians term the battle of Beverley's Ford, but which the majority of Southern writers call the battle of Fleetwood-certain Confederate correspondence which at once revealed the presence of a large portion of Lee's army at Culpepper, and made known his design of invasion. This information was immediately for- warded to General Hooker at Falmouth, who forthwith set his army in motion, and at four p. M. on the 12th the advance brigade of our corps appeared, and encamped near Bealton Station, in the vicinity of which the S6th and 124th had been resting since recrossing the river on the evening of the 9th.
About six P. M. on the 12th the 124th was ordered back to the river, and placed on picket for the night near the station at Rap-
160 HISTORY OF THE 124TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
pahannock R. R. bridge. We saw small squads of the enemy's cavalry on the opposite shore, but no infantry. The night passed quietly. The next morning we were withdrawn from the picket line and moved back a few rods to a piece of woods where, after cooking our coffee and lying around for an hour or two, we were set to work throwing up a line of rifle-pits. As soon as these were completed we lay down behind them, and without further molestation from friends or foes spent the remainder of the day and following night.
Early Sunday morning, June 14th, we moved back to and bivouacked in the same piece of woods where we had spent the previous Sunday night. That afternoon we learned that the old Whipple division had ceased to exist. Its terrible losses at Chancellorsville, and the muster out of several regiments imme- diately after, had reduced it to a mere skeleton-five small regi- ments, numbering, all told for duty, on the 10th of June, the day it was ordered broken up, less than twelve hundred men. Ber- dan's sharp-shooters and the 86th and 124th New York were assigned to General J. H. Hobart Ward's brigade of Major Gen- eral D. B. Birney's division.
Our new brigadier was a dark complexioned, stern-looking man, about fifty years of age, stood six feet three, weighed about two hundred and forty pounds, and when mounted on his iron grey charger looked a very giant. Instead of any personal remarks concerning his military experience, character, and stand- ing in the army at the time, I will insert several extracts from published letters and official reports concerning him :
"General Ward served with me in the campaign between Vera Cruz and the capital of Mexico, with great zeal, activity, and distinction.
"WINFIELD SCOTT."
. From the official accounts of the battle of Williamsburgh-" I report .. as having conspicuously distinguished himself, Colonel J. H. Hobart Ward, 38th New York Volunteers.
"P. KEARNEY, Brigadier General Comdg. 1st Division 3rd Corps."
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From his report of battle of Fair Oaks-" My warmest thanks are also tendered to Colonel Ward for the promptness with which his brigade was brought into action, and the gallant manner in which he fought it.
" JOSEPH HOOKER, Brigadier General, Comdg. 2nd Division 3d Corps."
"September 4th, 1852.
"I have the honor to call the attention of the General commanding to the gallant conduct of Colonel J. H. Hobart Ward, 38th Regiment New York Volunteers, during the movements of this command on the Penin- sula, and before Washington.
" D. B. BIRNEY, Brigadier General."
"October 4th, 1862.
" There has been no Colonel in my command who has rendered more efficient and gallant services during the recent campaign on the Peninsula, both as a Colonel, and when temporarily in command of a brigade.
"P. HEINTZLEMAN, Major General, Comdg. 3d Corps."
General Ward had received his brigadier's commission about the 4th of October, 1862, and been assigned to the command of Kearney's old brigade, with the remnant of which we had now been consolidated.
Our new division commander, D. B. Birney, though lacking in that fatherly kindness and solicitude for the welfare of those under him, which characterized the lamented Whipple, had served with great distinction in nearly every battle fought by the army of the Potomac, up to that time, and was regarded, with reference to his fighting qualities, as second to no division commander then in the field.
Our brave Ellis had returned to the immediate command of his regiment, and notwithstanding the fact that our old brigade and division had been broken up, it was very plain to all of us that we would be called upon to play no trivial part in the next great battle, for were we not to enter the field under fighting "commanders, and stand or fall by the side of the army's oldest and as yet most famous battalions.
The Third Corps was now assembled about Bealton Station. At three o'clock Sunday afternoon the buglers at the various
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headquarters sounded the attention, and we were soon on the march again-not pushing forward toward Richmond but hurry- ing back toward Washington. At eleven P. M. we had made about twelve miles, and bivouacked for the night at Catlett's Station.
At six o'clock on the morning of the 15th we were off again -moved through or past Brentsville, Bristow Station, and Ma- nassas Junction, and when darkness set in, lay down to rest on Manassas Plains. This was a very severe march. The dis- tance traveled was but sixteen miles and the roads were good, but the heat of the sun was terrible. A large number were obliged to fall out, and about fifty of the corps were sun-struck. At noon we halted for a short rest at Bristow Station, where we found encamped the 15th Vermont. They had just drawn a ration of soft bread, and were boiling their coffee. As our almost exhausted men who had been obliged to leave the ranks, but were trying to keep up with the column, came staggering in, these Green Mountain boys distributed to them their entire ration of soft bread and the hot coffee they had just prepared for their own dinner. And when our ambulances with the victims of sun-stroke came up, they voluntarily turned their camp into a temporary hospital, and themselves into nurses-vacated their tents as far as they were needed, brought water, and did every- thing else in their power to alleviate the sufferings and preserve the lives of the unfortunates. When after a half hour's halt our men were ordered to fall in, and the column started on again, some one proposed three cheers for the big-hearted sons of Ver- mont, and they were given with a will.
On the 16th we were up with the sun, and after breakfast moved on about three miles and stacked arms behind an old rifle pit, on the battle-ground of first Bull Run. Colonel Ellis, Lieu- tenants Wood and Grier, and a considerable number of our enlisted men, who had participated in that engagement, said the country round about looked very familiar, and called to mind many of the ludicrous scenes of that appropriately-named engagement, which was in reality but a series of military blunders that ter-
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minated in a general stampede. We spent twenty-four hours at that point, during which time all hands bathed in the famous but insignificant stream from which two battles had derived a name. There had not been a pound of soap issued to our regi- ment since its departure from Falmouth, and this opportunity to bathe was most welcome. During the afternoon nearly all those who had fallen out on the march the day before came up, and all awoke on the following morning refreshed and ready for the work that was before them.
On the 17th, after a slow and easy march of about five miles, we bivouacked near Centreville. The next afternoon the sky clouded, and anticipating a storm, the men one after another, without orders, put up their tents, and dug small trenches around them to keep the water out. Just before dark, a heavy shower came up, and the rain continued to fall at intervals until ten o'clock the following morning.
At two P. M. on the 19th we struck tents and an hour later were under way again. As evening approached, a drizzling rain storm set in, and the last five hours of our march-which did not end until after midnight-was made in almost total darkness, through heavy mud, and slush from three to ten inches deep. We had passed by Gum Springs, and were pushing forward on a road which led toward Leesburgh. Several white horses were mov- ing in rear of the regiment which preceded us, and I tried to keep the head of our column from ten to fifteen paces away, but every now and then we would get past Colonel Ellis and run into them, or receive notice of our too near approach, by being slashed in the face with their muddy tails. Occasionally one of our number would tumble into a hole filled with water which came up to his knees, and then another would trip or stumble over something, and fall head foremost in the mud
At last the orders " Halt your regiment, file in the field to your right, and bivouac until morning," came from an unseen ยท
officer who, I judged, from the sound of his voice, sat on his horse by the side of the road, not ten feet away from me. But the field was worse than the road, the men sank half way to their
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knees, and the horses floundered so that their riders were either thrown or obliged to dismount. 'And as they plunged about in the black darkness, several of our men were injured by being trodden upon. Colonel Ellis tumbled with his horse into a ditch, but fortunately escaped with no greater injury than an extra coating of Virginia mud.
Presently, by hallooing to one another, the regiment was formed in a supposed line, and Ellis shouted at the top of his voice, partly, I have no doubt, for the benefit of his new brigade and division commanders-whose headquarters he supposed to be within hearing distance-the rather unique military order, " Squat, my bullfrogs." We were in a swampy meadow, the rain continued and the damp night air chilled us. Very few of our number had blankets, but we made the best of our unavoidably uncomfortable situation, and squatting or lying down with our shelter tents about or under us, nearly all managed to get a little sleep.
It is needless to state that we awoke the following morning wet, stiff and sore ; and as to dirt-well, I wish some of the fair daughters of Old Orange could have beheld their " gay and dash- ing soldier boys " just then-perhaps they would have rushed to the mud covered arms of the " brave fellows" for a loving embrace, gently removed the particles of clay which clung to the jaunty goatee or mustache, and with their taper fingers have dusted the dirt from the glossy, curly hair, who knows ?
At day-break we moved a quarter of a mile to higher ground, borrowed all the loose fence rails in the vicinity which had not already been loaned to other regiments, and soon had fires burn- ing and coffee boiling. Just after breakfast the sun came out, and the men were soon hard at work cleaning their guns and traps and whipping the dirt from their clothing.
Just before starting out on this campaign, I had bought of our sutler a seamless felt overcoat, which I carried in place of a blanket. I had purposely selected an extra large one, which came almost to my feet, and could easily have been buttoned around a person of double my size. But early that morning I
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awoke dreaming that some one was tying my arms behind me, and as I sprang to my feet every button flew off of it, and behold ! the skirt did not extend three inches below my waist !
On the morning of the 21st the attention was sounded from General Ward's headquarters, and our brigade was moved about half a mile where, after being dressed in a continuous line, the various regiments were caused to form column at full distance, and ordered to pitch tents. No objection was made to this movement.
During the afternoon we heard heavy firing in the direction of Winchester, and in the evening it was reported that Pleasan- ton and Stuart had rencountered near Middleburgh, and that after a short and spirited engagement, Stuart's forces had been routed with a loss of two pieces of artillery, sixty prisoners, and at least a hundred killed and wounded.
On the afternoon of the 22nd, companies A, F, I, K, G, and B, were detailed for picket, marched off some five miles, and remained out three days. During this picket tour considerable foraging was done. Fresh beef, veal and poultry abounded. Lieutenant J. O. Denniston, of Company G, who was decidedly the most accomplished forager and best liver in the regiment, managed somehow to get hold of a fat goose. Now Denniston was a good cook, as well as forager, and when at length he had succeeded in getting his goose roasted to his entire satisfaction, several of his brother officers who had been looking on from a distance, concluded to make him a social call-expecting, of course, to get an invitation to stay to dinner. We chatted and laughed, joked and told stories; the time slipped by, dinner hour passed, the goose got cold and so did Denniston, but not a word was said about dinner.
Lieutenant Denniston is now a Presbyterian minister, and I don't want to be understood as implying that either he or his men stole that goose. He, like the rest of us, usually foraged with money. And just here I will record, that in my judgment, there was not in the entire army a regiment which committed as few depredations, or interfered as little with the enemy's prop-
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erty, as the 124th New York Volunteers. At this particular time, however, Lee's entire army was on a grand foraging raid. For several days his vanguards had been operating in loyal Pennsylvania, pillaging the stores and granaries of the towns and country along the border; while his main army was reach- ing out in all directions from the heart of Maryland for the win- ter stores and stock and goods of the liberty-loving people of that really loyal State. Beside all this, our picket line stretched across the broad acres of a notorious traitor who was even then on duty in General Lee's army. With these facts in view, the most conscientious will not, I am sure, think the less of any one concerned because of any suspicious circumstances connected with what I am about to relate.
When, having failed to receive an invitation to partake of Lieutenant Denniston's fat goose, I returned to my tent, there was hanging from the roof pole in front of it, a fine quarter of fresh veal; while my cook had ready to fry a large tender looking beef- steak, neither of which I had furnished money to pay for. After partaking of a hearty meal I asked him where it came from, and he replied unhesitatingly that, though he did not really know, he guessed the chaplain or surgeon Montfort, or some of " them fel- lers " over at headquarters, had been out and bought it of an old farmer-who lived just through a piece of woods a short distance to the left of our grand reserve-and having more than they could well carry back, concluded to leave me some. " For, do you know," he added, " meat is awful cheap out here."
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