USA > New York > History of the Twenty-second regiment of the National guard of the state of New York; from its organization to 1895, pt 1 > Part 18
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The stay of the Twenty-second in Carlisle was pleasant-very pleasant,-for, in addition to the hos- pitable treatment its members received as individuals, the regiment was honored by the presentation of a flag from the ladies of the city, which has since been known and valued as the "Carlisle Flag." Later these same ladies presented Gen. " Baldy" Smith with a silver urn.
Some reconnoitering parties were pushed out to the front, and a few of the men made individual reconnais- sances. The enemy's cavalry were found in force a few miles out. One of the patrois got far enough out to witness a lively cavalry skirmish between some of our cavalry and the Confederates. Sergt. Charles G. Dobbs (F Co.) secured a sabre dropped in the contest, which he managed, some way, to bring home, and which con- stitutes at the present time one of his most cherished possessions.
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CHAPTER XXI.
MOVING TO INTERCEPT LEE'S ARMY.
T HE rest of the troops and the much-needed sup- plies having arrived, the following orders were issued :
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SUSQUEHANNA, HARRISBURG, July 3, 1863.
General Orders No. 10.
This command will march to-morrow morning at daylight, reveille to be sounded at 3 A. M. Gen. Knipe, with his com- mand, will have the advance, Col. Brisbane second and Gen. Ewen in the rear. Capt. Landis' Battery will march at the head of the column, with Gen. Knipe, Capt. Miller's Battery, behind Col. Brisbane's command. A rear-guard will be de- tailed from each brigade to pick up stragglers and will not allow any men from the command in front to fall to the rear.
By order of
BRIG. - GEN. WM. F. SMITH, SAMUEL CAREY, A. A. General.
Accordingly, at six o'clock on the glorious Fourth of July, without seeing as much as a single fire-cracker, or hearing an allusion to the American Eagle, or the flag of our Union, the regiment turned its back on civiliz- ation and marched towards Gettysburg, where, although unknown to the command, the greatest battle of the War was raging. Gen. Smith having previously detailed
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the Twenty-second to remain as a guard for the city, it came very near being ingloriously left behind. But, at the urgent request of Col. Aspinwall, and to the infinite gratification of its members, it was permitted to accom- pany the column to the front.
The Twenty-second now formed a portion of the First Division Department of the Susquehanna, com- manded by Gen. W. F. (Baldy) Smith, which was com- posed as follows :
FIRST BRIGADE.
Brig .- Gen. Joseph F. Knipe, an experienced volun- teer officer.
Eighth N. G. S. N. Y., Col. J. G. Varian, New York City.
Seventy-First N. G. S. N. Y., Col. Benj. F. Traf- ford, New York City.
SECOND BRIGADE.
Brig -Gen. P. St. George Crooke, Brooklyn, N. G.
Thirteenth N. G. S. N. Y., Brooklyn, Col. John B. Woodward.
Twenty-eighth N. G. S. N. Y., Col. David A. Bokee.
THIRD BRIGADE.
Brig .- Gen. Jesse C. Smith, Brooklyn N. G.
Twenty-third N. G. S. N. Y., Brooklyn, Col. Wm. Everdell.
Fifty-second N. G. S. N. Y., Brooklyn, Col. Wm. Cole.
Fifty-sixth N. G. S. N. Y., Brooklyn, Col. John Q. Adams.
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history of the twenty: Second Regiment
CAVALRY.
Pennsylvania Cavalry (two companies).
Regular Cavalry from Carlisle Barracks.
ARTILLERY.
Pennsylvania (First Philadelphia Light) Battery, Capt. Henry D. Landis, 6 guns.
Pennsylvania Battery, Capt. E. Spencer Miller, 4 howitzers.
FOURTH BRIGADE.
Brig .- Gen. John Ewen, New York N. G.
Eleventh N. G. S. N. Y., New York City, Col. Joachim Maidoff.
Twenty-second N. G. S. N. Y., New York City, Col. Lloyd Aspinwall.
Thirty-seventh N. G. S. N. Y., New York City, Col. Chas. Roome.
FIFTH BRIGADE.
Col. Wm. Brisbane, Pennsylvania N. G.
Sixty-eighth N. G. S. N. Y., Fredonia, Col. David S. Forbes.
Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Militia, Gray Reserves, Col. James Chamberlain.
Thirty-second Pennsylvania Militia, Col. Chas. S. Smith, Reserves.
Thirty-third Pennsylvania Militia, Col. W. W. Taylor, Reserves.
SIXTH BRIGADE.
Col. Jacob G. Frick, Pennsylvania N. G.
Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania Militia, Col. Jacob G. Frick.
Thirty-first Pennsylvania Militia, Col. John New- kumer.
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From this time until their return, the adventures of the Twenty-second became identical with those of the remainder of the division.
It has often been a subject of comment as to why, when the fortune of the Union was trembling in the balance at Gettysburg, this Division of 9,000 troops had been allowed to remain doing nothing at or near Carlisle and but twenty miles from the battlefield, from the second to the fourth of July.
If the battle was lost and Lee pushed northward, they could do nothing to stop his victorious army. On the other hand, if pushed forward, they would have constituted a valuable reënforcement to the hard pressed Army of the Potomac, and, coming up, as they would have done, on the rear or flank of the Confederates, might have turned their defeat into a rout. Still, until Meade had caught up with Lee's army, Couch had a tremendous problem to hold the line of the Susquehan- na, as he was expected to do. Meade's communications with Couch were unreliable, and he did not pretend to interfere with him. Couch was "nervous," and not with- out reason, in regard to letting his forces, most of which were undisciplined, venture too far from his fortified lines. Meade states in his report to Gen. Hallock of June 29 (Vol. 27, Rebellion Records, p. 67) :
If Lee is crossing the Susquehanna, I shall rely upon Gen. Couch with his force holding him until I can fall upon his rear and give him battle, which I shall endeavor to do. Telegraphic communications have been cut off. I can at present give no orders to Gen. Schenck's Department in Baltimore, or the Potomac in my rear, and, on account of the great distance of Couch, exercise any influence by advice or otherwise concerning the operations of that force. These cir-
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cumstances are beyond my control. On June 30, he tele- graphed Gen. Couch *
* "we shall push to your relief or the engagement of the enemy, as circumstances and the in- formation we receive during the day and on the march may indi- cate. I am anxious to hear from you."*
On July 3, Gen. Smith telegraphed to Gen. Couch from Carlisle :
I do not think it possible to march at 12, and with these troops it would be no saving. I need only what I have sent for, and two or three wagons. I think some, which you have fur- nished me, have deserted. As you send militia here, I shall leave no regiment here unless you so direct.
My ammunition has not yet come up, and I don't know if my ordnance officer knows enough to bring it. If Reno has returned and would like to come, please send for him.
In the meantime the authorities at Washington were restive under the delay, as they had reason to be.
At I P. M., on July 3, 1863, Gen. Hallock telegraphed to Gen. Couch:
As Lee is concentrating his forces near Gettysburg, against Meade, all your available forces should be thrown forward to the assistance of our main army.
Probably this assistance can be best rendered by moving rapidly on Lee's left flank, compelling him to make detachments.
Gen. Couch telegraphed to Gen. Smith, July 3 :
Hallock is anxious for me to send a force to operate by rapid marches on Lee's flank, in order to distract them, etc. Your movement in the direction spoken of will, of course, be just the thing. Keep me advised as to the road, and about your supplies, your line of march, etc. My opinion is, if you go far, you will have to live on what the rebels have left, and in case you are cut off, strike for the mountains or some of the fords.
Please let me know, if you can, your force in number.
· See page 273 post.
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history of the Twenty Second Regiment
On July 3, Gen. Thomas telegraphed to Secretary Stanton from Harrisburg :
Have sent the telegram to Gen. Meade to Gen. Hallock. To-night or early to-morrow, Gen. Smith moves from Carlisle, with force increased to 9,000, toward Cashtown.
Secretary Stanton, however, was far from pleased, and on July 4, 1863, telegraphed Gen. Thomas :
The delay of Gen. Couch in not pushing Smith forward with more promptness to co-operate with Meade, has occasioned some disappointment here. I hope it is susceptible of satis- factory explanation.
Gen. Smith states in his report that on July 3 :
The troops were waiting for provisions, the supply trains having been prevented from arriving by the occupation of the road by the enemy on the first and second of July. The attempt to procure provisions from the citizens was only partially successful. Supplies arrived by railroad on the even- ing of the third.
It would certainly seem that these supplies might have been pushed forward the day before, or gotten somewhere else, even if they had to be taken from the people, and that, under the circumstances, the troops should have been pushed forward and lived on the country as they afterwards were obliged to do so.
It is true that the country beyond Harrisburg was swept clear of the few horses that had not been "run off " over the Susquehanna, and had been stripped of supplies by the enemy. Vet at Harrisburg horses were a drug in the market. There it would seem as if a little energy could have organized some kind of a wagon- train, particularly after it was known that the division was going to a region where it could not find supplies.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE MOUNTAIN PASSES.
T HE division marched directly south by the Gettys- burg pike towards Mount Holly, a pass in the South Mountain, thirteen miles from Gettysburg, the leading brigade starting at daylight.
The day was clear and beautiful, the roads good, and as the Twenty-second reached the mountains, the scenery became magnificent. Five miles out the command ob- tained a view of the range with which it was soon to become familiar. It stretched across its path, a few miles ahead, like an enormous and apparently impassable barrier. At its base was Papertown, composed of a large mill and a few houses, the inhabitants of which cheered the troops enthusiastically. Stuart's Cavalry had preceded them but two days, and the road was marked by the hoof-prints of their horses. Gen. Smith himself directed the progress, and everything seemed propitious. By noon, the regiment had accomplished twelve miles, almost without fatigue, and took its noon- day rest (for, being under Gen. Smith's direct supervis- ion, the proper rests were enforced), in the shade of the woods which fringed one of the mountain passes, where the steep sides were within one hundred feet of each
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other at the base, part of which was occupied by a brook and the remainder by the road. Here the command eagerly sought information about the battle (which they now learned was in progress) from a few venturesome countrymen who had pushed out to see it, and reported the most terrible carnage-" the dead lying in heaps." Soon information was had from authentic sources. Ade- tachment of two thousand paroled prisoners (principally of the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac), cap- tured in the first day's fight at Gettysburg, among whom were Capt. Dougherty, of Gen. Smith's staff, and a number of stragglers from Smith's division who had been picked up by Gen. Stuart on the Carlisle road, here encountered the column, having been sent in under a flag of truce. Gen. Smith was forced to halt to accept them, as he did not wish their escort to learn the strength of his command. This, however, not only in- volved a delay of two hours, but gave a clue to his peril- ous movement, which was extremely disagreeable.
In a telegram sent by Gen. Couch to Gen. Meade from Harrisburg, on July 4, 1863, he states :
Gen. (W. F.) Smith's advance in the mountain passes beyond Mount Holly met 2.000 paroled prisoners from your army, under escort. Smith, being discovered, received the prisoners. I will send them to camp at West Chester.
From the First Corps men it was learned that the division was but a short day's march from the battle- field, and would probably be able to turn the scale of victory if it arrived in time. The prisoners from Get- tysburg all reported that Gen. McClellan was again in command of the Army of the Potomac. This now seems singular. Yet it is unquestioned that the popularity at
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History of the twenty: Second Regiment
that time of " Little Mac " in the Army of the Potomac caused some of those in authority, to give out on the eve of the battle, that he had been reinstated to encour- age their men. The Twenty-second did not learn for several days that their real commander was Meade, and then did not know who he was.
So eagerly were the members of the regiment en- gaged in discussing the chances of the battle, and seek- ing to reconcile the different accounts received, that no one noticed a change in the weather until the rapid drift of black clouds overhead and the dull sighing of the trees warned all that rain was close at hand. In the midst of hurried preparations, it came-not a rain, but a deluge. The lightning was blinding, the thunder deafening .* Hour after hour, in steady perpendicular sheets, the rain descended, so that at times the sides of the gap were invisible. Water flowed down the moun- tain slopes in sheets. In a short time the brook was a torrent and the road through the gap two feet deep in water. In vain were all the ingenious shelters devised by the men. All were soon penetrated, and officers and men were soaked to the skin. In front, bridges rendered insecure and fords impassable, showed the effect the can- nonading at Gettysburg had on the weather. The exchange of prisoners having been completed, the divis- ion left the main road and moved by a country road in the midst of the rain to Laurel Forge, except the Thirty- seventh, which remained to watch the Gettysburg and Carlisle turnpikes. The advance pushed on and crossed the ford over the Yellow Breeches Creek, known on
* Gen. Smith states in his report, " A most furious rain-storm set in which raised the creeks, carried away the bridges and made the march toilsome in the extreme."
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history of the Twenty: Second Regiment
the maps as " Mountain Brook." But by the time the Twenty-second reached it, which was about dusk, the creek was no longer fordable, and the regiment was obliged to wait for some time before it was safe to at- tempt to cross. The infantry and artillery eventually succeeded, but the baggage-wagons, few as they were, were unable to cross, and stayed behind ; thereby acquir- ing a habit of doing so, which subsequently interfered very seriously with the comfort of the command. Lieut. Woodruff Jones, of Landis' Battery, states in his report :
The battery was immediately preceded by the Gray Reserves and followed by the Twenty-third Brooklyn regiment. About one-half of this latter regiment had gotten across a bridge when it was carried away by the flood and two of the men swept down the mountain and were with difficulty rescued from drowning. The regiment was thus divided until the next morn- ing. A baggage-wagon belonging to Company D, Gray Reserves, was also carried away, the horses drowned, the wagon broken up and the contents lost. The baggage-wagon of the battery, loaded with ammunition and extra rations, cooking utensils, etc., broke down, owing to the pole snapping. A new pole was obtained the next morning and assistance was sent back, but the horses having in the meantime died from exposure and fatigue, we were obliged to abandon it and contents on the mountain.
After long waiting, the waters subsided a little, and the regiment, drenched to the skin, but glad enough to get anywhere, if it was only away from those woods, pushed rapidly forward, over flooded roads, gullied by the rain, and reached what was called " the ford."
The popular idea of a " ford" is a clear, shallow sheet of water, more or less broad-at least they ex-
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history of the twenty Second Regiment
pected to . see something of the kind. The actual " ford " they marched up to was a thick wood, filled with tangled thickets, logs, and the nameless floating things of a freshet, through which a mountain torrent, a hundred yards wide, tore and plunged like a mad thing. An hour before, it would have been madness to cross; but now, by felling a few trees across the deepest holes, it had been rendered possible, though exceed- ingly difficult, to get over. With trousers rolled up as high as they could be coaxed (an unnecessary perform- ance, as they were already soaking wet), and cartridge- boxes and guns held aloft, the troops plunged in, and pushed across as best they could.
This involved climbing over the stumps, balancing along the slippery and unsteady logs which bridged the holes where the current was too swift and deep to be waded, creeping gingerly, with bare legs, through thorny thickets, and anon struggling, waist-deep, through the turbid stream, whose rapid current was filled with float- ing logs, which inflicted most grievous whacks on the nether extremities of the forders, besides rendering it almost impossible to stand without assistance.
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history of the twenty- Second Regiment
Notwithstanding the unpleasantness of the opera- tion, the frequent duckings, and the no less frequent bruises from stumps and floating timber, the sight was so supremely ridiculous that the misery was forgotten in the fun. Roars of laughter greeted those unfortunates -and their name was legion-who, in their endeavor to keep piece, cartridge-box, coat-tails and other "impedi- ments" out of the water, forgot about their footing, until they were reminded by a plunge from a slippery log head over ears, into the depths of the stream, that if that was lost everything went with it. Part way over the ford the head of a drowned horse and a projecting wagon-tongue marked where a commissary wagon had come to grief, and warned the men to be careful.
A short distance from the ford a halt was ordered, to collect the men as they struggled over, each company building huge fires, and trying to render themselves a little less uncomfortable. Vain thought ! Scarcely had the fires begun to throw a cheerful light on the scene, when " Brigade, forward !" was heard from the front; and, turning their backs on the comforts they had hoped for, the command squattered up the road. "Squat- tered " is rather a singular word, but it is the only one available to describe the manner of progression up this mountain road in that storm. But from henceforth the brigade was to become familiar with the unfrequented and sparsely-settled roads and passes of the Blue Ridge And such a road as this one was! Considered a bad road in fine weather, in a region where there are no good roads, the most vivid imagination fails to depict its present condition. It wound along half-way up the side of a mountain. The steady pour of the rain
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history of the twenty Second Regiment
had filled up every gulley, and made a mud-lake of every hole. In addition, every once in a while a torrent came rushing down from the woods above, cutting the roads into all sorts of hollows and trenches as it swept across, and plunging off upon the other side into the valley be- neath. It consequently presented every combination of evils which could appall a weary traveller. Along this road, mill-race, slough, stone-bed-for it was all of these by turns-the Twenty-second pushed forward ; but the pen fails in the endeavor to describe that march. Many things they have suffered and been jolly over, but it is unanimously voted that "for good, square misery," the night of the fourth of July, 1863, has been equalled by few and excelled by none in the annals of the regiment or the experiences of its members.
" Poor fellows," said Col. Aspinwall, as he rode by, his horse jaded so that it could hardly struggle through the mud, " I am sorry for you, but we must push for- ward."
As a pitchy blackness rendered everything invisible, a lantern was carried at the head of the column to pre- vent those in the rear from being lost. Every few minutes the men would find themselves plunged into a mountain stream running across the road, and which could be heard falling an indefinite distance down the other side. Wading across this, they would be strug. gling knee-deep in mud of an unequalled tenacity; and their efforts to extricate themselves often resulted in getting tripped up by projecting roots and stumps. As those in front reached an obstacle, they passed the word down the line, "Stump !" " Ford !" " Stones !" " Mud- hole !" Frequently this latter cry became altered to
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history of the twenty Second Regiment
" Man in a mud-hole!" " Two men in a mud-hole- look out sharp !" The road was a stiff clay, lower than the banks, and held the water that did not run over the side, so that it was churned up into a pasty mass almost knee-deep, in which many lost their shoes.
The only way in which it was possible to move was by following exactly one's file-leader. If he was lost sight of, one was helpless. Yet, amid all these difficul- ties, the regiment continued its march with a calm de- spair that was prepared for anything.
At 11 o'clock at night the head of the regiment halted per force-stuck in the mud. Even the officers' horses were too tired to go another step. The brigade itself was lost, scattered for the last three miles, wherever a turn or twist in the road had hid the guiding lamp. Less than two companies were in the column, and many of their number had been left in the various mud " wal- lows " on the way. All were perfectly exhausted, so the two leading companies camped where they stood. Such camping-ground is seldom selected, but it was Hobson's choice-that or nonc.
Imagine a swampy, water-soaked, spongy compound of moss and mud, where the foot sank ankle-deep, cov- ering a bank some twenty feet in width, which extended from the dense woods to the muddy road; no fence, no house for miles; every bit of wood and brush so soaked that one might as well have tried to start a fire with paving stones; an idea may be formed of the cheerful place in which the men lay down, tired, hungry, muddy and wet as water could make them, to enjoy (?) a little sleep. At about I o'clock it commenced to rain -heavens, how it did rain! It takes considerable to
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arouse men as tired and worn out as those that lay around in that swamp, but one by one they got up with the melancholy confession that " the rain was once more too many for them." By dint of patient industry a fire had been made, whose ruddy blaze seemed to cheer up the scene a little, and, clustering around it, the awakened sleepers sought a little comfort ; but it was all in vain. Another sheet of rain descended, and the fire, a moment previous blazing breast-high, was a mass of water-soaked embers, around which huddled, for the remainder of the night, as disconsolate and miserable a set of bipeds as ever was seen. During the whole night but one solitary laugh broke the gloomy silence. A poor unfortunate corporal of Company A had been crouching all night on the end of a log, wrapped up in a rubber blanket. Falling asleep in the vain en- deavor to extract a little warmth from the embers of the extinguished fire, he lost his balance while nodding to and fro, and rolled backward, heels over head, into the foot of mud and water which composed the road, whence he emerged such a pale, drab-colored and pro- fane apparition as would have drawn a smile from the very Genius of Despair. In this general misery, rank was forgotten. Even Gen. Ewen shared the common lot, and slept in the mud like the lowest private, with no covering but a rubber blanket. The artillery had the advantage of being at the head of the column, but it suffered like the rest. Its experiences are stated by Lieut. Woodruff Jones as follows :
The country became quite hilly, and the horses, being con- siderably exhausted after the fatiguing march (15 miles), would balk on almost every hill that presented any difficulties. Many
STATE HISTÓRIAN'S OFFICE, ALBANY, N. Y.
Lift Itrong K Sander " Ist Mutuaulftion Battery Sight Catalinay.
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