USA > New York > History of the one hundred and twenty-eighth regiment : New York volunteers (U.S. infantry) ; in the late civil war > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
56
HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
should hold the position then occupied, which we did. The advance lasted about half an hour. The firing was kept up by the skirmishers until dark, when some of the killed and wounded were carried to the rear. Some, however, who had advanced the nearest to the enemy's works, could not be carried off even at night, because of the constant watchfulness and firing of the enemy whenever an attempt was made. The untold suffering of these wounded men cannot be imagined as they lay on the ground through the long hours of that night or until death came to their release. Of the 128th, Captain George W. Van Slyck of Company " E," and Adjutant J. P. Wilkinson, and nineteen men were wounded. One man of Company " C," Robert P. Churchill, was killed about 8 o'clock, by a piece of shell, while the Company was lying near the crossing of the roads close by General Dwight's headquarters, and which was hotly shelled as our forces were approach- ing in that direction. With their bayonets, his comrades dug his grave and buried him where he fell while the battle was progressing. "The small loss on this day," says Colonel Smith in his Resume, "can be attributed only to a strict compliance with orders, the efficiency which the Regiment had attained and the manner in which the movements were executed." The loss of the brigade was 135.
Under Grover the chief assault was intended to be made. Paine's division was selected to take the advance, and Paine decided to lead the attack himself. The approach of the column was made very near the parapet when an attempt was made to spring forward and capture this line of defense. Some of the men gained the ditch, and a few climbed the breastworks. These in the advance were made prisoners, and the whole line met such a deadly volley from the con- federates that it recoiled, and retreating to the crest of the hill, covered themselves until nightfall, when they could safely retire. Paine fell severely wounded at the first discharge. The hot June sun made the sufferings of the wounded on this part of the field al- most intolerable as they lay exposed to it until nightfall.
Weitzel had moved his troops in the early morning through the ravine toward the north face of the Priestcap. With a rush and a cheer they had gone forward, but were met by such a storin of hail from the enemy that few got beyond the crest. Here they were obliged to remain until the darkness allowed them to retreat in safety.
Augur, according to the part assigned him, had made a feigned attack in good order and without much loss. The total loss of the Union Army .on this day was 21 officers and IS2 men killed, 72
1
ROBERT F. WILKINSON, Major of 128th when Mustered Out. First Commissioned as Capt. of Company I. Photograph taken in 1590.
1
AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
officers and 1,245 men wounded, 6 officers and 180 men missing; besides these, 13 were reported as killed, 84 wounded and two miss- ing ; without distinguishing between officers and men, making an aggregate of 1,805.
The assault of the day was a total failure except a slight ad- vance in the besieging lines. The only real advantage, as summed up by Colonel Irwin, is ascribed to Dwight's movement on the left, and which was accomplished so largely by the 128th and associate Regiments of our brigade. "Indirectly it was the means of gaining, and at a small cost, the greatest, if not the only real advantage achieved, for it gave Dwight possession of the rough hill, the true value of which was then for the first time perceived, and on the com- manding position of its northern slope was presently mounted the powerful array of siege artillery, that overlooked and controlled the land and water batteries on the lower flank of the confederate de- fences." The cause of the failure of this assault and the great Union loss is attributed by the same authority to the cannonading, which preceded the advance, and by which the sleeping enemy were fully aroused and put on their guard. The usual plan of attack
followed by the commanding General seemed to commence with a general and heavy firing on the part of the artillery, thus giving full warning to the rebels. This, in the language of school boys, would be : "get ready and have a square fight," forgetting that the enemy was sheltered behind his earthworks, largely concealed by bushes and trees, and separated by almost impassable ravines and abatis. Some other system of tactics must have been studied by him than that found in American history. The red men of our forests had obliged the early invaders to make their attacks in a stealthy manner. This lesson was so fully learned by Washington as to largely make this the key to his victories over the British Generals. The ad- vantage to an attacking party of a surprise had also been deeply impressed in many ways during the present war. All these lessons were apparently forgotten or laid aside for the sake of some con- ceived theory of honor, or a worse theory of an attempt to strike ter- ror to the heart of the foe by mere noise.
On the morning of the 15th Banks sent a flag of truce, asking leave to send in medical and hospital supplies for the comfort of the wounded of both armies. To this Gardner promptly assented, and in his reply called attention to the dead and wounded before the breast- works. Not until the evening of the 16th did Banks ask for a cessa-
60
HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
tion of hostilities in order to bring relief to his own suffering men who had been lying too near the enemy's works to be rescued, and to bury the dead. During this long delay there had been some most hereoic efforts put forth in the darkness by comrades in rescu- ing those known to be wounded and enduring the agony of hunger and thirst in addition to the pain from mangled limbs.
THE STORMING COLUMN.
On the night of the 14th our brigade established its line in the advanced position gained by the column during the day. The sharpshooters from the 128th fell back and the Regiment took its position on this line, and held the same until the place surrendered. This was within musket range of the enemy's parapet and always a place of danger. The men sheltered themselves behind the trees, fences and rifle-pits. The cooks of Company "C." on the morning of the 15th, in carrying a pail of coffee across an exposed place, were astonished in having an enemy's bullet penetrate the coffee kettle and recklessly waste a part of the company's breakfast. Picket duty at such close range was now exceedingly dangerous and unpleasant to the men of each side, The necessity of being sheltered every moment, and often to lie close within the rifle-pit, and in the hot sun caused our men to accept of a proposition made by the "Johnnies " not to fire at each other when on the picket line without due notice. This cessation of picket hostility led to more open displays of regard for brave men even when calling each other enemies. Hasty meet- ings were planned of a few pickets of the Union and rebel lines where would take place an exchange of rations and banter.
1
61
1
AND TWENTY - EIGHTH REGIMENT.
SECTION VIII.
THE FORLORN HOPE STORMING COLUMN.
On the evening of June 15th the following order was read to the Regiment :
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, ) 19TH ARMY CORPS, BEFORE PORT HUDSON, LA .; June 15th, 1863. )
General Order No. 49.
The Commanding General congratulates the troops before Port Hudson, upon the steady advance made upon the enemy's works, and is confident of an immediate and triumphant issue of the con- test. We are at all points upon the threshold of his fortifications. One more advance and they are ours.
For the last duty that victory imposes, the Commanding General summons the bold men of the Corps, to the organization of a storm- ing column of a thousand men, to vindicate the Flag of the Union, and the memory of defenders who have fallen !
Let them come forward !
Officers who lead the Column of Victory in this last assault may be assured of a just recognition of their services by promotion, and every officer and soldier who shares its perils and its glories shall receive a medal fit to commemorate the first grand success of the campaign of 1863 for the freedom of the Mississippi. His name shall be placed in General Orders on the roll of honor.
Division Commanders will at once report the names of the officers and men who may volunteer for this service, in order that the organization of the column may be completed without delay.
By command of MAJOR GENERAL BANKS.
RICHARD B. IRWIN, Asst. Adjt. General.
The men were given until the following morning to consider the matter. On the morning of the 16th the answers were given by thirty-six of the 128th volunteering their services under the com- mand of (then) Captain F. S. Keese, of Company "C." (For full list of names see Appendix A).
62
HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
When the fact is taken in consideration that from some of the Regiments noted for their heroic service there were but from one to a dozen men who volunteered, the enthusiasm and patriotic spirit of the 128th will be apparent.
On Sunday, the 21st, these volunteers left the regimental line and marched to General Augur's headquarters, and then to the right of the besieging lines and bivouacked on the edge of a cane brake in a corn field.
Colonel Henry W. Birge, of the 13th Connecticut, volunteered to lead the stormers. The whole movement was opposed by many officers and men in the corps on the ground that it was unnecessary and also because it implied a reflection upon the brave men who had previously been engaged in the battles about the place. The men who reported for this duty were So officers and 956 enlisted men. Of these, 17 officers and 226 men belonged to the 13th Connecticut. On the 25th of June, the column was divided into two battalions. The first battalion consisted of ten companies, of about 50 men each, and was placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Van Petten, of the 160th New York. The second battalion of eight com- panies, had as commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Bickmore, of the 14th Maine. Mr. Irwin states that General Birge's roll of men was captured by the confederates, and that the records now made up may not be complete. The list printed in The Nineteenth Army Corps contains a total of 1,228 names. Capt. Keese was given command of the third company of the first battalion, with the men of the 128th under him. Lieutenant Seigmund Sternberg, of the 17th New York, and Lieutenant Edward J. O'Donnell, of the 16th New Hampshire, acted as Lieutenants under him.
Everything was done for these men to impress them with the dangerous yet important undertaking for which they had volunteered. Brief drills were held to get the men used to each other and to expected movements. Different bands came from the various Regi- ments to play at dress-parade, and many visitors from the neigh- boring camps looked upon the movements of these battalions with intense interest. Religious services were held nearly every evening. On the 30th of June General Banks reviewed the battalions and then made an address to the men drawn up in a square about him. From that address may be quoted the following extracts which were written in a diary at the time : ". I feel it a privilege to speak to you, fellow soldiers, after a
63
AND TWENTY- EIGHTH REGIMENT.
continuation of successes in the department. People in civil life are called to various positions, some to serve, some to rule. So it is in war. We hold the honorable position of soldiers and brave men. The torn flags before us are evidences of the trying times through which we are passing. We are in the most important department of the Army. The opening of the Mississippi will be breaking the back- bone of the rebellion. Within three days the attempt will be made for the gaining of Port Hudson. Before the 4th of July the Stars and Stripes shall float between New Orleans and Vicksburg. The rebels have again invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania and are threatening Indiana and Ohio, but even with this sad prospect, the capture of Port Hudson, and from here moving on to the taking of Vicksburg, will resound through the North and push back the invading foe. History will record every battle, every achievement in this place, and hand down our names as the achievers of these victories. Our mothers with pride will relate that her son was in the battle of Port Hudson. Our parents, our sisters, the government, the world, all are, with longing eyes, watching us.' Then addressing the ranks of the Storming Battalion especially, he declared that the advance was the safest. We wished to give the enemy a close hug. We ' wished to get them under our arms. Safety and success depended upon our bravery. He told us that there was danger, that there was suffering, but all great objects of life were gained by suffering and danger. The achievements of warriors, the life of Christ, were ac- complished in this way. He told us that he had full confidence in us from our stalwart forms, sun-browned faces and eager eyes. He knew that we should conquer, for it was the cause of liberty, of justice, of Almighty God." Cheers accompanied the General-in-chief as he rode away with the music of the band. A deep impression was certainly made upon the minds of the men that no light under- taking was before them. Messages were committed to comrades by many to be sent to friends if death should overtake them.
Meanwhile a zig-zag trench was being dug by means of which the Storming Party was to approach very near the parapet of the enemy, and then by rushing from the end of this make a charge upon the works. This was to be but the advance which was to be supported by a forward, and, if necessary, a desperate movement of the whole army. This expected attack, as promised by Banks to be made within three days, never took place, because of the change in the plans of the Commander. The men of this Storming Column.
64
HISTORY OF THIE ONE HUNDRED
being relieved from picket duty, meanwhile kept up their preparation for an attack, which was expected to be made daily, until the time of the surrender of the place.
When on the 9th of July, the Union Army marched within the defences of Port Hudson, which had been surrendered, the honor of leading the column was given to the Storming Party. But the honor ended here, as is well said by Colonel James Smith in his Resume : " Without thanks or compliments, the men were ordered to return to their respective Regiments. " It is true that no "officers led the column of victory in a last assault" and no " officers and soldiers shared in any peril and its glory " in such a hazardous attempt, but the devotion of the officers and men to the call of duty was no less manifest in volunteering for this attempt than it would have been if victoriously made at the time expected.
Various attempts have been made during these thirty years to have Congress fulfill the promise made by Banks of giving the medals as specified in the General Order calling for the formation of this Last Resort. Thus far these efforts have failed. An organization called the " Port Hudson Forlorn Hope" has been formed within the last few years. This organization was represented in the lines of the G. A. R. procession in Boston in 1890. Though bridging this space of thirty years we take this liberty in order to condense the account of this Forlorn Hope and of bringing these facts together.
We quote from an editorial in the Boston Journal of June 25th, 1890. " It is a strong appeal that the Port Hudson Forlorn Associa- tion makes to Congress for its promised medals, and the words of President Muzzy in another column will be read with interest. These men volunteered to make a desperate attack upon the enemy ; they took their lives in hand ; they knew the disastrous results of the two previous attacks, they made their personal preparations for the death that seemed inevitable to the greater portion of the party, and they expected nothing else than wounds or death, save that they might serve the army to which they belonged, and the country for which they were fighting. It was not for a medal that these men prepared to die, but after that medal was explicitly promised them, it is assuredly due that the memorial should be given. The fact that they were not called upon to make the attack should have little weight, since the bravery that deserves the medal was as finely shown in the volunteering as it would have been in the action.
65
AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
Precedent has no place for consideration in this matter. The promise was made. It should be redeemed. And it deserves to be redeemed. "
The article of Col. D. P. Muzzy, referred to in the above editorial, states that the bill to award the medal to these men has passed the Senate at three different sessions, but has thus far failed to secure the support of the House. The ground of opposition to the bill, as stated, is that no actual assault was made, and also, that, if the medals were granted, Congress would be flooded with applica- tions for medals for other brave soldiers. "Happily, however," says Mr. Muzzy, " it can be said that in no other instance does a grateful country shut the door in the face of her soldiers who offered their lives under a printed call from the commanding General, and in an instance, too, where the General himself pleads with the committee to report in favor of these merited medals of honor. "
Up to the present time no action has been taken by the House, and the men still living are waiting to see whether the government will sustain the promise made by one of the department Generals at a time of the country's greatest need.
66
HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
SECTION IX.
THE SURRENDER.
After the 14th of June the siege work was carried steadily for- ward. At four points a system of approaches was begun and work carried on ceaselessly night and day. One led from Duryea's Bat- tery toward the Priestcap and by various windings to within about twenty yards of the parapet. Two hundred yards to the right of the last was another sap. From the ravine near Slaughter's house ran a third, in the form of a zigzag, and which led to the battery where were posted the ten guns of Rawle's and Bain's, distant about four hundred yards from the parapet, and on which the 128th had worked previous to its removal to the extreme left of the works. It was with the fourth on the extreme left that our Regiment was now more immediately associated in our work. It is described by Irwin as fol- lows : " From the extreme left, after the northern slope of Mount Pleasant had been gained, a main approach was extended from the flank of Roy's Battery of 20-pound Parrots, almost directly toward the river, until the trench cut the edge of the bluff, forming, mean- while, a covered way that connected all the batteries looking north from the left flank. . One of these was the seventeen-gun battery, in- cluding two 9-inch Dahlgrens removed from the navel battery of the right wing, aud commanded by Ensign Swann * * From the
river bank the sap ran with five stretches of fifty or sixty yards, forming four sharp elbows, to the foot and well up the slope of the steep hill on the opposite side of the ravine, where the confederates had constructed the strong work known to both combatants as the Citadel. From the head of the sap to the nearest point of the con- federate works the distance was about ninety-five yards."
The chief work of the 128th was, during this period, to serve on picket duty at this close range. The labor on the breastworks of both sides was carried on openly and within this speaking distance of each other, as there was the tacit understanding that proper notice should be given before renewing the firing. There was a strange sensation in the minds of the soldiers as day after day they thus labored to make their protection the stronger, and also increased the power of their destructive engines with the expectation of entering
1
67
AND TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
upon a final and most deadly encounter in which many of them- selves must fall. It must be admitted that a siege continued through weeks, with all the slow movements of building breastworks, digging trenches and mines, advancing picket lines, daily sharp- shooting and constant vigilance, gives time for reflection, and tests all the heroism and cool bravery of the participants.
On the 15th of June, Logan made a dash with his mounted rebel force upon the camp of the 14th New York Cavalry and upon the guard of the hospital at the Carter House. Finding Grierson promptly upon him, he retreated again, carrying with him nearly one hundred disabled prisoners. On the 30th of June he made another raid upon the house where Brigadier General Dow had taken up his quarters during his recovery from his wound. Dow hearing some loud talking outside the building seemingly was annoyed by it. Putting his head out of the window, he ordered less noise. A voice came from without, "Who are you ?" The unsuspecting Union officer boldly replied : "I am General Neal Dow." More quickly came the answer : "Just the man I want," and soon the doughty General was a prisoner, and on his way to Richmond. Chaplain McCabe tells the story of the reception given Dow, by the Union prisoners in Libby Prison, as being the same tendered to each new comer. As soon as the new form was seen at the door, the cry of " Fresh Fish " went up from the many within. Dow already had an established reputation throughout the South, as well as in the North, of being a vigorous fighter for the prohibitory law in his own State of Maine. This reputation served General Dow a good turn while a prisoner, as he was invited to make a trip down in Georgia, in order to make some temperance speeches-that being a topic upon which some of the Southern gentlemen were quite radical. Accepting the invitation he spent six weeks away from the privations of the Libby hotel and down in Georgia, during which time he was entertained in some of the best homes of that Southern State. It was a subject of wonderment to the other prisoners of that far famed Richmond headquarters, how a man could pass from their vermin stocked floors, to the clean beds of the Georgia chivalry. After returning to Libby, Dow made a speech to the Union men within, on what he had seen during his vacation tour. In the midst of his description, the speaker warmed up to his subject, and, much enthused by his patriotism, was just exclaiming : " The confederacy is a shell," when a guard's head popped up the stairway. It would
68
HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED
never do to be known as a spy while he had been out on this friendly visit. Instantly the General changed his subject upon the appear- ance of the rebel guard's head, and went on to say : "Gentlemen, as I was saying, intemperance is the greatest evil of this land." The guard went out and reported that that old temperance crank, Dow, was making a temperance speech and that no harm would come from it.
For the third time, on the 2nd of July, Logan harassed the rear of the Union Army at Port Hudson, and captured a wagon train of supplies at Springfield Landing, burning a full supply of clothing, and camp and garrison equipment for about 1,000 men. None of these raids in the rear interrupted the onward work of the besiegers, and, with the exception of becoming a topic of camp gossip, had little effect upon the men engaged in the front.
The mining process went steadily on. The mine on the left was finished about the 2nd or 3d of July, and was charged with fifteen hundred pounds of powder and tamped. During the 7th the shaft for the mine under the Priestcap was completed, and the chamber charged with some hundred pounds of powder. Daybreak on the 9th of July was now determined upon as the hour for the simultaneous explosion of the mines, and this to be followed by a rush of the army through the gaps, and over the breastworks along the whole line. But other events were transpiring which would render all these efforts useless, except as they had helped to inspire the Union forces, and caused the confederates to realize their help- less condition.
Early on Tuesday morning, the 7th of July, the gun-boat. General Price, came down the river bringing the welcome news that Vicksburg had surrendered to General Grant on the 4th of July. The first to receive the news was Commodore Palmer, on board the Hartford. The signal communication, for some reason, was obstructed between this vessel and Bank's headquarters. It was a quarter before eleven when Colonel Kilby Smith, of Grant's staff, delivered the cheering news to the Commanding General. Almost instantly a messenger was dispatched to the General of the trenches with the brief, but glad announcement, "Vicksburg surrendered on the 4th of July." This note, written upon the thin manifold paper of the field order-books, the General of the trenches was directed to wrap securely around a clod of clay -- the closest approach to a stone to be found in all the lowlands of Louisiana-and toss it over into
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.