USA > New York > History of the one hundred and twenty-eighth regiment : New York volunteers (U.S. infantry) ; in the late civil war > Part 5
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The strength of the enemy was thus brought to bear against the advance of Sherman's division. The fighting was against too fearful odds. About seventy-five yards from the breastworks a . terrific storm of canister, shrapnel and musketry burst with such appalling force, as to leave the dead and wounded in heaps. The 128th behaved like old veterans as they moved forward, and making heroic efforts to enter the works. They ceased only after their officers were disabled, and more than every fourth man had fallen. The cool and indomitable courage shown by men under this galling fire, can be explained only upon the high ground of a lofty patriot- ism. Advancing as we were against men whom we had never seen, and toward whom we had no personal enmity, and who had done no personal injury, but simply as the misguided citizens of our land, who threatened to overthrow our national liber- ties and national existence, and who would yield to no argument but that of might. It was not even with the feelings of the southern men, who did largely look upon us as the invaders of their territory and of their homes. These men might be supposed to fight with the energy of Leonidas and his Spartan band at Ther- mopylae, when they saw the wave of near two millions of Persians rolling toward their firesides, and which could be turned back only by the mountain peaks and the dam of brave men at the pass. It was to us with none of the feelings of the red man of the American wilds, who usually was pushed on by the spirit of vengeance incul- cated by the blood-revenge traditions of his religion. Nor were we inspired by the ambition to exalt our rulers, and to subject other men, as did the French under Napolean, and the Greeks under Alexander.
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HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
Not even did we share the feelings of the Colonists under Washing- ton, who had in a bold declaration set forth their grievances against a tyrannical king. It was with the broader and loftier views of a nation's welfare and a nation's existence, and with the conviction that no other means were possible to avert still greater calamities and deeper wretchedness. Amid all the excitement and enthusiasm produced by numbers and noise, thoughts flash rapidly through the mind when comrades are falling mangled at our sides and dead men must be thrust aside in our advance to a still more perilous position, and strong motives alone can keep the heart inspired with the deter- mination to be a participator in this work of human destruction. The pile of dead men on the other side of the breastwork may not be as great, but our rifles flash the bullets with which we intend to pierce some hearts and lay low our fellow men. It must be remem- bered that for the first time our ranks were put in this position. and for the first time circumstances made real these thoughts of horror. Yet every fallen comrade more deeply impressed us with the idea that we were the chosen instruments to compel deluded men to submit to the higher and divine laws of right and justice. Long since had the act of consecrating all we had to our country taken place, and the altar now flowing with the blood of comrades, loath- some and gory as it seemed, caused no slackening of the feet of the victims moving onward to the slaughter.
" The proper place for man to die Is where he dies for man."
The want of confidence in being sustained if the enemy's lines were gained, the lack of definite orders and of a definite plan being carried out, now alone caused the men to halt. To retire was about as dangerous as to advance. Nickerson's men lay down behind the fallen trees and held their ground until dark. Dow's, being on the open held and meeting the more deadly raking fire, fell to the ground, and by degrees and more singly retreated slowly for a distance and sheltered themselves behind fallen trees and the fence rails. Here they continued a scattering fire until night. To the right of the 128th was a deep ravine, distant some forty yards, and running parallel to the line of advance and directly up to the enemy's works. This was deep and broken by many gullies, and filled with a dense growth of bushes and thorns. Some of the men succeeded in getting to this ravine and made their way through this to the rear,
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AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
but found it a terrible ordeal as it was completely commanded by the rebel artillery which continually swept it with shells, making it a . valley of death.
General Andrews took command of the division in the afternoon in accordance with his orders received from Banks in the morning. The army, after dusk, was drawn back to the edge of the woods and arranged in line of battle for the night. The loss in the 128th reported officially was, two officers and twenty-one enlisted men killed and three officers and ninety-seven men wounded, with one officer and five men missing, a total loss of 129. Among the killed was Sergeant Van Slyck of Company "E.," for whom a commission appointing him a lieutenant was received shortly after. He acted in this capacity during the engagement. Captain De Wint, of Company "F" was wounded. "Many of those wounded died shortly after, either from excessive loss of blood, amputation or from unusual exposure."
The total loss of the whole army on this disastrous day was reported as 15 officers and 278 men killed, 90 officers and 1,455 men wounded, 2 officers and 155 men missing, making the aggregate 1,995. Of the missing many were unquestionably dead. "Worse than all " says Irwin, "if possible, the confidence that but a few hours before had run so high, was rudely shaken. It was long indeed before the men felt the same faith in themselves, and it is but the plain truth to say that their reliance on the department commander never quite returned "
The confederate losses are not known. It is evident that they were not near as large as the Union loss as their men were more pro- tected by their breastworks. The attempt must be regarded as a failure, except in giving information to the Union officers as to the nature of the ground over which the contest must be further waged and in more closely drawing the lines of the siege. It is only justice to Banks to say that a great pressure of circumstances urged him to hasty action. The part of the confederate forces which had so lately left Port Hudson, might turn back and strike him in the rear. The scattered troops of West Louisiana might concentrate at this point. . The thickly wooded ground in front of the enemy could not be scanned through a glass, and must be understood only by a forward move and by driving the confederate pickets before them. All the precedents of the war also urged to hasty move- ments. The hesitation of Mcclellan before the Quaker guns of
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HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
the Peninsula, had removed the name of that General from the roll of honor while "Stonewall " Jackson had gained great triumphs for the rebels in the Shenandoah by his hasty and impetuous strokes.
AFTER THE BATTLE.
On the 28th of May, the skirmishers and batteries began firing at daybreak and continued until 8 o'clock, when an armistice was effected to last until 2 P. M., during which permission was offered to carry off the wounded and to bury the dead. For the first time to the men of our Regiment were unfolded the horrors of a battlefield after the excitement of the engagement was over. Amid the roar of artillery and the rattling musketry, a part of which is made by our- selves, with the inspiration of the waving flags and shouts of officers and at times the cheers of men, with the shielding clouds of smoke, there can be but a small space and small results seen on an advance. But to have the hush of a truce, deepened by the mournful sense of "the loss of many friends, come over the mind, and then traverse the field in search of the fallen, is to open the eyes to all the sick- ening scenes, and with the increasing and broadening views as we advance, make us think of being at the mouth of pandemonium, where has waged the conflict of fiends. Here are bodies torn beyond recognition by the bursting shell, and then heaps of the dead, where the scythe of the enemy cut the swath through the color guard, while the ground in broad areas is flecked with those smitten by the musket balls. As we move forward, the death angel seems to have been roused to greater activity as the winrows of the dead increase in size, and the mutilation is more ghastly. The furthest line of advance is clearly marked, for here is where men nerved themselves for a last assault, and only after the wall of fire and lead seemed impenetrable did they reluctantly acknowledge to themselves that they were frustrated, and fall to the ground to think what next could be done. But time to think means to endure the scorching flames as they belch from the engines of death which are within the near enclosure of the enemy. Over the broad field are now to be seen the scores of human faces blackening in the hot summer's sun, and we know this slaughter house extends for miles. We renew our search and think these bodies are not those of wild beasts, but of men,-men made to work for each others good. Here we are stopped in thought as we turn over the face of one fallen and find it that of a comrade who has shared our trials on
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AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
the march, our pleasures at the table, and our joys in social life. We gather more than the score of our own Regiment who gave their lives in our cause and perform for them the last services. We bury them on the battle-field. Where else would a soldier prefer to make his last resting place ? Never before standing at that trench did we realize the awful crime of thrusting upon this nation the necessity of going to the extremes of a civil and fratricidal war in order to preserve our national existence.
The attack was not renewed during the day. Brig .- General William Dwight was now assigned to the command of the Second Division, and Colonel Thomas S. Clark, of the 6th Michigan, to the First Brigade, in which was the 128th.
SHARPSHOOTING.
The Union line of defense was for the most part under the cover of the woods with the pickets thrown out far in the advance, and behind the fallen trees. The change of pickets and sharp- shooters was made in the night. Almost a continuous firing was kept up by our sharpshooters along the greater part of the line, so " that the enemy scarce dared show a head above the breastworks. They, however, took advantage of the trees within their lines, and by placing sharpshooters within these, often made our pickets closely confine themselves behind logs and stumps for whole days. Behind the stump of a tree, exposed to a hot Louisiana June sun, and trying to keep out of the way of two sharpshooter's rifle balls, when they had a cross-fire on you, was anything but a comfortable position from daylight to dark. "Arkansas Joe," dressed in his red shirt, was a good marksman, and always kept in front of our Regiment. He became a good mark for our men, yet evaded our shots until following us to the left of the works, after June 14th, he was picked from a tree, in which he had his platform, by one of the men of Company " C."
The Union mortar and gun-boats which were stationed below the batteries of Port Hudson, and which had done much firing on the 27th, kept the enemy molested by pouring in the place many shell and hot shot every night. It became an interesting sight for the pickets to watch the ascent of a ball of fire at night, and then the descent into the village, often followed by an explosion or a fire which had been ignited. The confederates, in return, retaliated by occasionally pitching a bomb within the sleeping camp of the
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HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
Northern men, and obliging them to retreat in the night to a greater distance for safety. This annoyance continued until some of our long range guns caused the rebels to change their tactics. Relays of men were also kept busy every night in throwing up advance lines of riffe-pits for sharpshooters and breastworks for the batteries. There was only occasional firing by our batteries to show the enemy that we were ready for them, and when they attempted to annoy us. It will be recalled with pleasure by the men of the 128th Regiment how the First Vermont Gray Horse Battery, Capt. Hibbard, dismounted a rebel gun which had been annoying them at the rear of Slaughter's grounds, and afterward broke the same gun so as to entirely disable it, by a few nicely directed shots. It was by no means a period of rest when we were obliged to be on picket one night, and on the next, to spend the most of the hours in digging rifle-pits. The night of June 7th, Sunday, was spent in throwing up earthworks and planting some guns behind them nearer the enemy.
A FEINT.
On the 9th, a little after midnight orders came for the 128th to move forward and support a battery along the picket line. When advancing quite a general and sharp firing took place between the pickets of the opposing armies. A few of the con- federates attempted to come outside their parapet, but soon thought it the better part of valor to retreat again. We remained on the advance line until 9 A. M., when we were recalled to our sleeping grounds. On both the 8th and 9th, details from the Regi- ment were engaged in digging rifle-pits near the batteries for the better protection of the infantry in support. Not long after 12 o'clock on the morning of the uith, a feint was made upon the enemy. Several companies of the Regiment were already digging entrenchments. Fifty other men, taken by detail from the coni- panies not at work, were led across some deep ravines and over fallen trees. When beyond the picket line some distance, we waited for the signal of three rockets. Not seeing these we were ordered to commence firing. We soon received a reply in the shape of whizzing bullets and several charges of grape. Our batteries near by opened in return and fired quite rapidly. After an hour of this firing, we gradually ceased and began a retreat. One man of Com- pany " H." had a leg broken by a grape shot. A heavy thunder
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AND TWENTY- EIGHTH REGIMENT.
shower came on when we were returning. A feigned attack had been ordered by Banks along the whole front to harrass the enemy and cause him to bring forward and expose his artillery.
BUILDING A BREASTWORK.
On the night of the 12th the Regiment participated in one of the most daring exploits that occurred during the siege, which is described as follows by comrade Benson : "It had been deter- mined to construct an earth works for a battery of guns directly in our front, on the open plain and within 400 yards of the rebel works. The night was very dark. About II P. M., the Regiment formed in line, everything that could make a noise and thus arouse the enemy, being left in camp. Every third man carried a rifle, the others having picks and shovels, and a detail rolling cotton bales ahead of them, to be used in the construction of the work, two men being to each bale. When all was in readiness, the order was passed along in a whisper for the line to advance out on the open plain, and over the ground where so many of our comrades had fallen. We groped our way so silently, not a man being allowed to speak, that the stillness was oppressive. Each bale of cotton was being turned as carefully as though it contained eggs. The min- utes seemed hours, until we reached the line of operations, which was done without discovery. Now came the critical moment. We lay prostrate on the ground directly in front of the enemy's guns, while the engineers traced out, in the darkness, with sticks, the line of the projected work. We could hear the enemy talk within their lines, and had we been discovered at this moment we would surely have been destroyed. But thus far, all was well, and soon each man and officer was engaged in work. How carefully each sod was loosened and laid quietly between ourselves and the enemy, and with equal care each shovelfull of earth was placed beside it !
And so the work continued until 2 A. M., when we had the main work almost completed. But the trenches or curtains, which ex- tended on each flank a half-mile or more to the wood in our rear, had only been dug about two feet, when at the time above mentioned the suspicions of the enemy were aroused, and they set fire to an old building inside their works, the glare from which lighted up the en- tire plain, revealing our position to the astonished rebs, who opened on us a furious fire of artillery and musketry. Silence was no longer golden, and the shouts of the officers urging on the men to deepen
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HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
the trenches could be heard all along the line. Every one took a hand at pick and shovel, as it was a case of self-preservation, to say the least. As I glanced over the plain where all had been so quiet before, and saw by the light cast upon it, each figure brought out so distinctly, I thought it the most weird and impressive scene I had ever beheld, and while life lasts, it will be indelibly fixed upon memory's gliding panorama as one of the most striking events of my experience during the war. A sharp return fire from our men with their rifles showed the enemy we were not unarmed, nor to be easily frightened away. Seeing that we intended no further advance in the night, they ceased firing after a little while and waited until day- light for further observations. The work was successfully completed.
The next morning the guns were run into it, in daylight, a number of horses being killed by the shots of the enemy before the cover of the work could be reached.
BOMBARDING THE PLACE.
At II A. M. of the 13th, a part of the 12Sth and one other Regiment moved out in the open space to the rear of the new breastwork and made a number of movements for some time. Our batteries near by opened fire upon the enemy, and our skirmish line advanced quite near the confederate parapet. This also was intended as a general movement along the whole line. Banks had ordered all the guns to open fire. At 11:45 A. M., every gun and mortar of the army and navy that could be brought to bear upon the defenses opened on Port Hudson, and for one hour kept up this furious bombardment. The defenders had three heavy guns dismounted during the day, but suffered little loss in men, as these had taken refuge within their underground retreats. This skirmish by the Infantry was kept up until after 2 P. M., when a flag of truce was sent by Banks demand- ing the surrender of the garrison, which was as firmly refused. The truce lasted some three hours, during which time the men on both sides kept at work on their earthworks. Several men were killed and wounded in this skirmish, though none from the 128th. At 6:30 the firing was renewed along the picket lines.
Work similar to this had been carried on along the whole line of the Union Army from May 27th. On the 2Sth Banks fixed his headquarters in tents at Youngs, in rear of the centre. Arnold was ordered to bring up the siege train, which was manned by the ist Indiana Heavy Artillery. This siege artillery consisted of forty pieces,
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AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
of which six were 8-inch sea-coast howitzers on siege carriages, eight 24-pounders, seven 30-pound Parrotts, four 6-inch rifles, four 9-inch Dahlgren guns, four 8-inch mortars, three Io-inch mortars and four 13-inch mortars. To these were added twelve light batteries of sixty pieces.
The eight Regiments which had been left on the Teche and the Atchafalaya were brought to Port Hudson within a few days and distributed among the different divisions. The cavalry were massed under Grierson and assigned to guarding the rear, and the communi- cations against the attacks of the confederate cavalry under Logan known to be operating between Port Hudson'and Clinton, and sup- posed to be from 1,500 to 2,000 strong. Grierson had about 1,700 men.
ENTRENCHING OURSELVES.
Entrenching tools and siege materials were ordered, and under Arnold and Houston, siege batteries were planted at various places along the whole line, and rifle-pits thrown upito connect the batteries.
On the 3rd of June Grierson in making incursion in the country to find out the strength of Logan's force, suddenly came upon the main body strongly posted on Pretty Creek, and after a three-hours' engagement was obliged to retire with a loss of eight killed, 28 wounded and 15 missing.
So accurate and destructive was the fire of the Union Artillery during the first week after May 27th, that twelve of the confederate heavy guns were disabled. The enemy evidently felt the necessity of reserving his ammunition. This necessity, with the danger at- tending the firing, caused almost a silence on the part of their sharp- shooters and artillery after the Ist of June. The navy had also done much damage to the enemy's heavy batteries along the river front.
1
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HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
SECTION VII.
JUNE 14TH.
On the evening of June 13th a council of the division Generals was held at headquarters. Only a little before midnight a general assault was decided upon for the following morning, disregarding the lessons of our American history that Sunday battles are disastrous to the attacking party. The following plan, as given by Irwin, in The Nineteenth Army Corps, was adopted : "At a quarter before three, Augur was to open a heavy fire of artillery on his front, fol- lowing it up half an hour later by a feigned attack of skirmishers. Dwight was to take two Regiments, and, with a pair of suborned de- serters for guides, was to try to find an entrance on the extreme left of the works near the river. But the main attack was to be made by Grover on the Priestcap, the approach being from the cover of a winding ravine. The artillery cross-fire at this point was to begin at . three o'clock, and was to cease at a signal from Grover. At half- past three the skirmishers were to attack. The general formation of each of the two columns of attack had been settled in orders issued from headquarters on the morning of the 11th. Each column, assumed to consist of about 2,000 men, was to be preceded and covered by 300 skirmishers ; immediately behind the skirmishers were to be seventy pioneers, carrying thirty-five axes, eighteen shovels, ten pickaxes, two hand-saws and two hatchets ; next was to come the forlorn hope, or storming party, of 300 men, each carrying a bag stuffed with cotton ; following the stormers, thirty-four men were to carry the balks and chesses to form a bridge over the ditch, in order to facilitate the passage of the artillery, as well as of the men. The main assaulting column was to follow, marching in lines-of-battle, a.s far as the nature of the ground would permit, which, as it happened. was not far. The field-artillery was to go with the assaulting column, each battery having its own pioneers."
Here, as on the 27th of May, there was not sufficient time al- lowed for the communication of the orders and the moving of troops over the difficult roads to their proper positions. It was one o'clock before the last orders were in the hands of the troops that were to execute them.
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AND TWENTY . EIGHTH REGIMENT.
It was a little after 12 A. M. of the 14th of June, when the orders reached the 128th to be ready to move. Coffee and rations of whiskey were issued to the men. The appearance of some of the division staff before the close of the day showed that some of the officers must have received larger rations of the Louisiana fire-water than did the rank and file. At 2 o'clock our brigade started on a march toward the left and reached the junction of the Mount Pleasant Landing road about sunrise, and were drawn up in line of battle. A heavy fog hung over the land. A depressed feeling per- vaded the minds of the men, which found expression on the part of some in words, because an assault was to be made on the Sabbath.
Punctually at the hour fixed, and not long after our start on the march, the batteries of the Union line opened fire, which was partici- pated in by the fleet and mortar flotilla. "It was intended, if practicable, after this firing, to make the first attack with cavalry, and the 128th was at the same time ordered to form column and be prepared to follow the cavalry at a double quick." The nature of the ground made this mode of attack impossible. A detail of 150 men from the 15th New Hampshire and the 26th Connecticut . was placed under the command of Captain R. F. Wilkinson, of the 128th, and ordered to deploy as skirmishers, in order to feel the enemy and drive in the rebel sharpshooters, who up to this time had kept out- side their breastworks on this extreme left, and being the only part of their line where they could do this. The 128th Regiment, with the exception of Company "C," the color guards, was deployed and directed to follow the skirmishers as a support. " Hardly had the command to advance been given before a terrific fire of shell, shot and minnie balls was opened on the skirmishers, which continued to grow worse as the remainder of the brigade in column began to ad- vance. The main body of the troops, after the deployment of the 128th, came up in good order until they arrived at a deep ravine which had been renderech almost impassable by fallen trees and a dense growth of chaparral. The enemy had also planted a battery, which kept up a raking and destructive fire upon our forces while they were endeavoring to cross it. Orders were issued that our men should use every means in their power to go forward under such cover as the bushes and trees afforded. The enemy's sharpshooters had thrown bags of sand upon the parapet in such a manner as to permit of their picking off our men without exposing themselves- Orders came after the advance had arrived in the ravine, that we
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