USA > New York > History of the One hundredth regiment of New York state volunteers > Part 17
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was again detailed, and Lieut. Nichols sent out in command the second time. The Lieutenant had re- mained out of the works when his line was attacked and came in alone, his men having preceded him. He was always cool and brave, and not to be frightened from the performance of duty.
At the instant of the attack a battery of artillery in our rear across a ravine on a height of ground, opened, as supposed, upon the charging rebels. The shells, owing to the want of range, were thrown among the men of the. One Hundredth, ploughing the earth, cutting off the small trees, and killing and wounding them in a fearful manner.
Lieut. Stowits volunteered to go and apprise the commander of the battery of the want of proper range, and back up the ascent of hill through a corn field, keeping between the guns in position, ho warned the lieutenant in command of our peril. But no, he had his orders, and could not stop. He found the chief of artillery, who ordered a suspense till he went and aw himself the effects of his work. It was sad to have our own boys shot and wounded by our own runs. Lamentable as it is, it often occurred. Serg. Scott, in command of Co. " D," in the absence of Lieut. Sandrock, sick, was instantly killed, and the shell wminded three others at the same time. He was a most efficient non-commissioned officer, and his loss Was munich regretted. Here we should mention that in 1. early part of the day, under a flag of truce of two hours, the dead were buried. The Tenth Corps lost
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
two hundred, dead, that were buried on our front. From the heat they were beyond recognition, and their clothing could not retain their swollen bodies. The dead and wounded cared for, preparations were made for falling back and shortening our line. The pickets were relieved, and Col. Dandy ordered Lieut. Stowits in charge of a new detail, and said to him, "that he must hold that line till he was overwhelmed." At 9 P. M. the troops in rear of the works had left and taken up their line of march to the rear. Still, the picket line at midnight was not relieved. So near were the rebel pickets that the videttes trembled at their posts as the sounds of the rebel shovels in their pits reached their ears, causing the fear that the ene- my would be upon us very soon.
After midnight we sent a sergeant to the works at the rear and he reported all gone. We then knew that in the haste of departure we had been forgotten. At 2 A. M. we ordered a sergeant to follow the com- mand and get orders from the officer in charge at the inner line. As he reached the abandoned works, an aid of the brigade commander arrived, saying that we had been forgotten, and that we should withdraw at once. The moon at that hour shone brightly. We feared recognition. Singly the men were ordered to creep over the open space and form in line behind the works. For some time we kept the videttes in posi- tion after the posts were withdrawn. Then they were withdrawn and we waited alone while our men were in position behind the works, to learn, if possible.
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One Hundredth N. F. S. Volunteers.
whether the rebels had suspected that we had left. Only a few rods of bushes were between us. All was silent. Quickly we left the spot, and with our saved pickets moved for the inner line and bivouacked, re- lieved of that oppressive fear which had borne us down during the night. The enemy did not discover our absence for an hour after our departure, when they entered our works.
At the spot where the field hospital had been, we commenced to throw up works for the reserve. With a detail we was ordered to bury the arms and limbs that lay about the amputation boards. It was a sick- ening duty, and fully impressed us with the horrors and ernelty of war.
So ragged, at this time, had the Confederate sol- diery become, that they stripped most of our dead, and clothed themselves in the national blue. As the rebels made no advance, we moved to the right to join the main body. It rained all through the night. Wet and hungry we reached the regiment, cut a few lughs, spread our blankets and lay down, lulled to -leep by the pattering rain upon the leaves, waking not till morn.
The following day was warm. At night the whole command commenced its movement for the James river. In rain and mud, yes, mud, mortar, so deep that when the foot was placed into it, it seemed to be Flood to stay, a part of Virginia real estate. Inn- Ards were falling out. Straggling was getting to be chronic.
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And this was, after all, nothing but a " reconnais- sance in force," a loss to the national army of five tlou- sand in killed, wounded and missing. Of the latter there were but very few. Can the reader form any idea of a reconnoissance in force ? It consisted, in this instance, of more than a corps, with its divisions, bri- gades, regiments and companies ; batteries of artillery and artillery trains, commissary trains, ammunition trains, ambulance corps, the straggling train, train of cooks and the sick train, who are just able to walk. having thrown away their guns or stowed them into some wagon in any train, all formning one long train for miles. As usual the One Hundredth was a part of the rear guard, and through the night, and that red. sticky clay mud, we struggled till we knew that the James river was near, when we lay down on Straw- berry Plains overlooking our camping ground at Deep Bottom, after an absence of a week, which for heat. severity of duty and stubborn fighting, was an expe- rience which the regiment would ever remember. The regiment lost in this movement seventy-three men and officers in killed, wounded and missing.
Capt. John McMann was wounded in the head. Ever at the post of danger he seemed fated for wounds. Capt. Warren Granger was taken prisoner, and Capt. Evert was stricken down with sunstroke. Sergeants Kuhn, Phillips and Scott were killed, and Sergeants Connelly, Storms, White, Ely and Adams wounded. Corporal Hull was killed. Nearly half of the killed and wounded were non-commissioned officers. On
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
the arrival of the regiment in camp it was sent on picket. Dirty, sore of foot and stiff in body, we crawled to the picket line. So very warm had it been during the week of active service that the varnish " fried out" from the butt of my pistol at my back, and it was painful to touch the surface of my rubber blanket with my neck, and so pressed was my underclothing, that in removing it, the skin, in spots, came with it.
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
CHAPTER XLI.
HANCOCK AND GREGG WITHDRAWN FROM THE NORTH SIDE OF JAMES RIVER. - THE ONE HUNDREDTH AGAIN AT DEEP BOTTOM. - ORDERED TO THE TRENCHES BEFORE PETERSBURG. - OCCUPIED THE POSITION HELD BY THE NINTH CORPS. - GENERAL BURNSIDE. - LIFE IN THE. TRENCHES. - COL. DANDY GONE TO BUFFALO. - FEW OFFICERS FOR DUTY.
Though this advance did not promise as well as de- sired on the right, still it was fruitful on the left. Efforts were made to draw the Confederates from out their works. No deception would succeed. Hence Hancock and Gregg were ordered to the lines of Peter -- burg. This was done by the way of Bermuda Hun- dred. As Gen. Lee was obliged, when the right or left of his line was attacked in foree, to send his troop- from one side to the other of the James, Grant, as soon as Lee had weakened the right of his line, to strengthen and oppose Hancock on his left, ordered Warren, with the Fifth Corps, to strike for the Weldon railroad. After various successes and defeats, Warren finally settled upon the road and held it to the discomtiture
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of the rebels, who saw one of their most important lines of communications wrested from them.
The regiment settled down into the usual eamp rou- tine, with but few officers for duty, and not a large number of men. Lieut. Pratt, of Co. "K," had just returned from the hospital, though not fit for duty. Serg. Edward Cook, who had been absent on detached service in the quartermaster's department, since Janu- ary, 1863, had recently been commissioned as second lieutenant, and reported for duty to the regiment, which added one efficient officer.
The paymaster eame, the regiment was paid, and, through the prompt action of Lieut. Barnum, the money of all who desired was expressed North. The regiment was supplied with rations and elothing, and ordered to the south side of the James, across the Ap- pomattox river, and into the trenches of Petersburg, August 29th.
We left Deep Bottom on the evening of the 26th of August. In compliance with orders, we were ready to move the evening of the 25th. We were in line, when we were driven to our deserted tents by one of the most terrific storms of the season. We endured the rain as best we could waiting for the morning. In the afternoon of the 26th, hot, sultry and in heavy marching order, we turned our backs on Deep Bottom, crossed the pontoon bridge, and moved along toward Bermuda Hundred, and across the Appomattox river near Point of Rocks. Dark, the men weary and thirsty, and on a forced march, amid rain, thunder 13*
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
and blinding lightning, through mud, across swollen streams, the men straggling fearfully, so that, what was a regiment at the start seemed only a full sized company. They would move out in squads and lie down, in the darkness, unobserved. The Colonel threatened to court martial any officer allowing strag- gling. Then there would have been no officers for duty till released from arrest. At 2 A. M. we were forced to stop. We had one man in Co. " A " when we halted, but soon they came up, and before morning. the stragglers were mostly on the ground. At day- break we took the position of the Ninth Corps, in front of the works of Petersburg. We held the spot twenty-four hours, when, just as we were ready to oe- cupy sleeping quarters, we were ordered to be in line in fifteen minutes for another position. In the dark- ness we felt our way, and in an hour were nearing the rebel line along a covered way, in the mud and water knee deep, where we were obliged to stand for an hour. Before day we were marched into the trenches and relieved a regiment of negroes, nearly in front of the fort blown up by the explosion of the mine on the 30th of July.
At the last place of duty we lost the services of another officer, Lieut. Hughson. He was standing near the pit in which the regiment was lying, with Capt. Brunek and Lieut. Stowits. A ball from the rebel line passed between Brunck and Stowits, strik- ing Hughson in the neck with a dull, heavy sound, and he fell as though knocked down with a mallet.
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
Hle was taken to the rear, the wound dressed by Dr. Kittenger, and the Lieutenant sent to Fortress Monroe, where subsequently he recovered.
Now we were in front of Petersburg. We held five hundred yards of our brigade front, occupying the position of the Ninth Corps, held by Burnside. The regiment held position over the mine that led to the rebel fort, at our front, which was blown up as men- tioned. Holes were dug in the earth at the rear of the embankment in front, to protect the men from the shot and shell of the enemy, as well as from the pre- mature explosion of our own shells from batteries in the rear. The firing at this spot, and all along the front held by the regiment, was continuous. A head shown above the works would provoke a dozen bullets at once. The boys fired six thousand rounds the first night. It was a new thing and they seemed to feel as though the " Johnnies " were coming every moment. There were no vidette sentinels in front, as the lines were so close together, hence the firing was only a state of constant preparation. Should the rebels advance, they would be obliged to do it under fire, and the reverse. It was a new life to live. In the ravine, along the creek, with secure holes in the bank, the Colonel, Major, Surgeon and camp fol- lowers passed their first tour of duty at the front, in the works of Petersburg.
A volunne could be written from this period of time until the close of the war. The experience of the regiment was so full of incident and constant duty,
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and various movements, that it is difficult to select what shall be unrecorded. The tour of duty was from three to four days in the trenches and two days out. Coffee was made in camp at the rear and brought to the men. A covered way, or ditch, leading from the front to the rear, protected the men from the shot of the enemy ; though often our men were struck while moving or standing in this covered way. Corporal Goffe, of Co. "II," was struck in the arm, badly wounding him, while the regiment was at rest. The camp at the rear was protected in various ways. Bul. lets were flying at all times, and that hissing whistle of the minnie ball through the woods, striking the trees, and sometimes wounding the men as they slept. became very familiar. Tents, bullet proof, were built. A hole in the ground, partly covered with logs, banked with earth, or one side of the tent stockaded and banked as a protection against bullets, with various other methods, were the means employed to save life in that inferno of shot and shell. Now and then a round shot would go ploughing through the camp as a diversion or change in the chapter of fears and horrors.
At this time Col. Dandy was absent on leave for thirty days, and Maj. Nash was the only field officer in charge. It was a critical time in the history of the regiment, and its position was one of danger, though its experience on Morris island was of much advantage. as a preparation to endure this life before Petersburg. Then the terms of enlistment of many were expiring,
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and much labor in making out the necessary papers had to be performed, though regular duties could not he omitted. There were but few officers. The bri- gade was commanded by Col. H. M. Plaisted, of the Eleventh Maine, the senior colonel of the brigade, as Gen. Foster was put in command of division. The casualties in the regiment were quite frequent. Most were shot through the head, while firing through the loop holes, or openings, made in the trench bank. There were many of these along the line. One man could do the duty of two, or twenty, by moving along and firing through each in succession, thus intimating to the enemy that there were ten or twenty men, when the duty was being performed by one.
The men of the regiment had all the experience of fire arms they wished while in the trenches before Petersburg. Batteries were stationed at convenient distances along the line, which would open daily, and fairly plough the banks of the rebel works. Near one of these we lost John Crane, a private of Co. " K," and Henry Coons of the same company, and one of the sergeants of Co. " A " was shot by the premature ex- plosion of a shell from one of our own guns.
During the day the firing would cease often for hours. At such times the soldiers in both pits would end the war, despite the commands of officers. The rebels would rise up as one in their works, extend their arms and move out half way. Our boys would do the -une, and for twenty minutes or more a social time of prace would prevail. An exchange of papers, knives,
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tobacco, and opinions, and in one place, near a spring, they actually played a game of cards, at another a wrestle took place; then, as if by instinct, all would turn to their posts, and soon the old noise would com- mence. Many expedients were indulged in by both armies; holding up caps, handkerchiefs and coats stuffed with grass, to get riddled with bullets. The time of these human beavers became monotonous. The railway from City Point to the Weldon road ran at the rear of our camp. Whenever the train passed, certain batteries from the hill would open. Then the national guns would respond, and the artillery music would echo through the valley between the lines for hours. When not on duty the regiment would be or- dered on fatigue to some other point along the line, as there could be no resting nor sleeping in the trenches before Petersburg. The spires of the churches could be seen, and before the shovel had been used that sec- tion of Virginia must have had much the appearance of "Old England."
A short distance to our left was "Fort Hell," in front of which lay the Second Corps. In the early days of September they jumped into the rebel pits and took one hundred prisoners, at night, which loosened the guns all along the line. At night the sight was always sublime. The streaming fire from the throats of the guns, the bursting shell and echoing sounds through the valley, were sights and sounds long to be remembered. There were not more than six officers at this time for duty. Capt. Leopold Evert was dis-
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
charged Sept. 2d, and the time of three more would expire in a few days, leaving Lieut. Stowits the senior line officer of the regiment.
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
CHAPTER XLII.
WITHDRAWAL OF THE REGIMENT FROM THE TRENCHES OF PETERSBURG. - A FEW DAYS' REST AT THE REAR, PREPARATORY TO ANOTHER MOVE. - MOVED ON THE EVENING OF THE 28TII SEPT. - CROSSED AT DEEP BOTTOM. - TOOK FORT HARRISON, SPRING HILL AND THE ENTIRE LINE OF THE REBEL WORKS. - THE WORKS WERE TURNED, AND WE WERE ASSAULTED 7TH OCT., AND GAVE THE ENEMY A SEVERE AND BLOODY REPULSE. - WITHDREW AND CAMPED A FEW DAYS AT DEEP BOTTOM. - RETURNED TO THE FRONT.
Col. Dandy had gone to Buffalo, on leave, to look after ways and means to fill up the regiment. We were but the remnants of our former proportions. A month's duty having been performed in the trenches with much exposure and fatigue and not a little sickness, the regiment was withdrawn on the evening of Sep- tember 24th to the rear of the works, preparatory to another move somewhere.
Returns, requisitions, and issues of clothing, rations. and the performance of all necessary duties which could not be attended to when in the trenches, all
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were completed, and in the afternoon of September 28th, the Tenth Corps, commanded by Gen. Birney, moved from their temporary encampment and com- menced one of those forced night marches which scat- ter a regiment and brigade, mixing front and rear for miles, till at midnight we crossed the James river to the north side at Deep Bottom, and bivouacked till daylight.
Grant, thinking that only a few troops were hold- ing the lines on the north bank of the James river, ordered Gen. Butler, with the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, commanded by Gens. Birney and Ord, with Kautz's cavalry, to attempt, by a sudden movement, to capture Richmond before Lee could send troops to prevent it. Should Lee send troops to the north side for the purpose of resisting Birney and Ord, then Meade on the south side would move on his right flank at Petersburg. So the plan promised success at one side or the other.
Birney, as stated, crossed at Deep Bottom, and Ord at Aiken's Landing, eight miles above. Both were ready to advance on the morning of the 20th of Sep- tember. Birney was to gain the Newmarket road, and Ord to capture the works near Chapin's Blutf. Ord pushed along the Varina road at dawn, and after a march of three miles, came upon the intrenchments below Chapin's farm, the strongest point of which was Battery Harrison. Ord stormed and carried the work with a long line of intrenchments. It was purchased it a fearful cost. Gen. Burnham was killed, Stan- nandl lost an arm, and Ord was severely wounded.
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One Hundredth N. Y. S. Volunteers.
An assault was ordered at once on Fort Gilmer in advance, but we were repulsed with a loss of three hundred men. In the meantime Birney, at +} A. M .. moved for the Newmarket road. The rebel line was broken, and their works on Spring Hill, of Newmar- ket Heights, taken by a division of three thousand colored troops of the Eighteenth Corps, under Gen. Charles Paine. Gen. Butler massed them in column by division, and they drove in the Confederate pickets and assailed the redoubt on Spring Hill. Through a tangled marsh, across a brook fringed with trees, over two lines of abatis at the point of the bayonet they won the work. It was a fearful destruction of human life. An important work, it was desperately defended, but the black warriors won it at a terrible price. Two hundred of that storming party fell dead before reach- ing the works, and not less than a thousand, or one- third their number, were lost to the army by death, wounds or captivity. Gen. Butler at the close of the war presented a silver medal to the most meritorious actors for their gallantry on that occasion. We were at the spot during the burial of the negroes, and we could have walked on their dead bodies from the outer to the inner side of the abatis without touching soil, so thick were they strewn in that deadly charge. It was firmly, nobly and bravely done.
The doubling and flanking of the rebel line left the Tenth Corps on the right but little to do. The ene- my fled in all directions. The One Hundredth charged over the ground that was passed in August,
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which was familiar, and brought to mind that eventful day when they took the four-gun battery under the eve of Gen. Grant. The regiment moved into their works without the loss of a man. The corps marched within three and a half miles of Richmond. Such was the haste in leaving that ladies left their work and work baskets and fled, on the receipt of the news that the " Yanks" were coming. The successes right and left were more than most expected, though not as much as desired. At dark we were ordered to the right about and retraced our steps to the first line of the enemy's works, and bivouacked in what had been a corn field, with the stacks strewn about, upon which we lay down for the night. In the morning we moved to the left and took position, October 1st, at the works, and began to turn them with abatis in front, and slash - ing. The axe was heard all along the edge of the wood. The picket line was only a few rods in front, while the rebel forts and line could be distinctly seen a few hundred yards in advance.
A desperate attempt was made to retake Battery Harrison, but Gens. Hoke and Field were driven back with a loss of seven battle flags and the almost annihilation of Clingman's North Carolina brigade.
The weather had become cold and rainy. The men did the best they could withont shelter, though their tents were arranged against the work and in all shapes and directions for the six days of rain and cold, waiting fororders. Maj. Nash was still in command, Col. Dandy not having returned. Adjt. Peek and Quartermaster
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Barnum were as active as ever, the one in keeping up the records of the regiment, the other in looking after supplies.
In the meantime Gen. Kautz had approached on the Charles City road within three and a half miles of Richmond to the inner line of their extended works. With his small force he was too near. He was at- tacked and driven back with the loss of nine guns and four hundred prisoners.
The night previous a deserter had informed us that we would be attacked at 42 A. M., and we were in line of battle awaiting the onset. Too true, the enemy were upon us. On came the flying fugitives of Kantz' cavalry. Hatless, stripped of everything that would impede their flight, riderless horses, all came on in one stream of wild confusion. Brigade after brigade was put in motion to the right covering Deep Bot- tom, as it seemed evident the rebels intended to flank us, and thus by a rear movement gain the line of works they lost on the 29th of September. The Third Brigade, Col. Plaisted, to which the One Hundredth was attached, had been marching by the flank along the Newmarket road, when by order, left into line of battle, fronting a thick wood, the brigade was moved with heavy skirmishers covering each regiment.
This was a critical moment for the men and officers of the One Hundredth Regiment. The terms of en- listment of a large number of men and two-thirds of the otheers had expired. It seemed cruel to face death and danger after such eventful years of service. Adjt.
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Peck, whose time had expired three days before, and who had congratulated himself on his safety from wounds and death, and his prospect of an early return home, said to Lient. Stowits, "I shall have to send you and company on the skirmish line," to which the Lieutenant responded, " Certainly, do not expose those unnecessarily whose terms of service have expired." Feeling their way cautiously, the skirmishers soon found the enemy. Capt. F. C. Brunck was in com- mand of the regiment, though Maj. D. D. Nash, suffer- ing from a severe swelling on the side of his neck, kept close to our rear during the advance. The skirmishers of the several regiments were soon hotly engaged. The rebels moved forward in double lines of battle, and pressed our skirmish line so steadily that we were obliged to fight falling gradually upon the main line.
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