USA > New York > New York regiment, 1887-1895 > Part 2
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The next day we were sent to guard a wagon train the rest of the way to Fredericksburg. We arrived there the 2 lth of November ; then we were sent to guard a ford two miles up the Rappahannock River. We stayed there but a short time, when we were sent to guard a ford on the Rappahannock River, ton miles below Fredericksburg. After we had been there a few days the rebel on the other side of the river velled out. " Hello yank !"' He received no answer at first, and he yelled out again: "Yank, come over bere." I replied that if he wished to see me he must come where I was. It was not long before he started to come over. When he was about half way across .. I asked him what he wanted, and told him he conid not play any game on me. He replied. "It is all right, between you and me, I don't want to harm you. I want to trade with yon. Do you want to trade horses?" I said " No" and he replied ". All right, but I would like to trade some tobacco for some cot- for." I told him I would be glad to trade with him.
I saw that he meant no harm to me. so I told him to come up on the bank where I was. When he arriv- ed there the first thing he asked was. " What regi- ment do you belong to?" I told him the 8th N. Y. He said. " I belong to the 2d North Carolina ; do you remember the cavalry tight at Barber's Cross Roads?" I told him I thought I did. Said be. " That was my
21
regiment that you fellows charged. The 8th N. Y. Cavalry was . THE WORST REGIMENT
we ever had any fight with ; they can handle the sabre to perfection. You fellows gave our regiment goudy." We talked a while, and then we traded. I gave him some coffee for a quantity of tobacco, and he re-crossed the river.
The rebel pickets used to trade quite often with our boys, but we were obliged to be shy and not let our officers know it, for it was strictly against orders.
We were guarding the ford on the 13th of Decom- ber the day the great
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG
was fought. We could hear the roar of artillery from where we were. It was boom and crash all day long ; it must have been fearful to match up to those gaas to be mowed down and accomplish nothing. After the battle, the Union Army crossed back over the river again. We were soon relieved. After that we were bobbing around here and there. After a while we went iato camp near Aequia Creek Landing. It was " Hurrah, boys build winter quarters: we are going to stay here." We went to work and built log houses, four men to a house, and we built a corduroy for our horses. We had just settled down when we were or- . dered away. We stayed just about two weeks. That was the last of our building winter quarters that win- ter for we were kept going most of the time. Every- thing was
" QUIET ON THE POTOMAC "
for the present. About the 6th of January, '08, the army attempted to cross the river the second time;
22
or,"Burnside stuck in the mud," as it was called. If' the weather had proved favorable, Burnside would - have been all right: he would have whipped the rebels ont of their boots. On the night of the 5th, about 7 o'clock, the Sth N. Y. had orders to get ready for a march; the night was dark and looked like rain; the boys wondered where we were going; some said one place and some another, but none of them could guess right. About an hon's march brought us opposite of the ford ten miles below Fredericksburg. Some two miles baek from the river, on the hill, we were ordered to halt and seeure our horses; then the order came "to build fires." We scattered all over that hill and commenced to build fires, to make . the rebels think that the army was going to cross the river at that point. It proved to be a great success, for the rebels had seen the fires, and a portion of their army was ordered down to the ford. After we 1 had built fires for two hours, it commenced to rain; we had the hills well illuminated by this time. It rained as hard as it could pour down all the rest of the night; we were wet through in a short time; my tent mate and I came along where a tree had been blown over by the roots, and we built a fire be- hind that and stayed there all night, It was Burn- - side's intention to draw the rebels out of their forti- tied position and then cross the river in front of Fredericksburg, where he did before. The rebels had seen the fires that we had built, and they thought the Yankees were down there sure enough; when day- light came, Burnside and his army were down near the river with his artillery stuck in the mid. No one knows what
2:3
-
VIRGINIA MUD
- nuless they have been there. The rebels saw them and yelled out and asked us if we wanted them to come over and help us ont. The rebels on the other side of the river nailed a board on a post and wrote on it, "Burnside Stuck in the Mud," in letters large enough to be read from where we were. The Union Army marched back into camp again, while the rebels marched back into their fortifications on Mary's Heights. All was quiet again for the present. The Sth N. Y. went into camp near Staf- ford Court House, not to stay long, however, for we were sent to watch the rebel cavalry. When we went out we had only nine companies, the other three companies were raised and sent on to us; they arrived about the Ist of January, '63. We were on the go about all of the time, chasing the rebel caval- ry here and there. On the 50th of February, '63, we were sent on picket at a place called Dumphries. The place was
A WILDERNESS,
grown up with serub oaks and pines. In the northern part of Virginia they have some cold snapsand snow. The 22d of February, '63, there was a snow storm ; it showed some twenty inches deep, but did not last long ; some of our boys froze their feet when they were on pieket. It is tongh business soldiering in cold weather. I was on picket one night when it was so cold that the only way I could keep my feet from freezing was to get off my horse and walk around. Back at the reserve we had a fire ; we had rails laid up to keep us out of the snow, and we would roast one side a while and then turn around and warm the
--
other side. We had it in that way for about a week. THE GUERILLAS
and bushwhackers troubled as a great deal: they would steal up in the day time and shoot men on their posts. They were up to all kinds of tricks ; they would get close enough to the men on picket to hear the countersign, when it was spoken out too lond, so we had to whisper it lower. At one time when the rebels had obtained the countersign. they took a number of men and went around and relieved our pickets just the same as we did. When the rebels were halted by our pickets they had the countersign so it would be all right. The night would be so dark that our pickets could not tell the difference -- not in- til afterwards, when they found themselves prisoners. But the rebels did not catch ns in that way but once. At that time the rebels know just as much about our army as our Generals did. They even know how many men we had in each regiment. the names of the officers, and when we had any new recruits. The rebels knew that we had three new companies in our regiment. We thought it was queer how they knew it, but we found out after a time.
THE OLD MEN.
who were not able to carry arms in the rebel service. were left back. When the union soldiers were around they would pretend to be unlogists would find out . all that was going on, and then they would go in the night and communicate with the rebels. When any of the old companies were on picket everything would be all right. but as soon as any one from the new companies went on picket, and on the same post- the rebels would go for them, and they cap-
25
tured quite a number of them. The next night after the rebels attacked the new company, we were sent out in the same place to see if they would come again. They did not come near; the rebels knew when we made the change, every time; we would do picket duty for a week and then be relieved and would go back into camp again for a week; then we would go back on pieket again. That was about all there was done-picket duty and chasing the rebel cavalry around-until the
. BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE,
May 3d, '63. Then we were sent to watch the rebel cavalry, as usual; we were generally on the right or left flank of the army, and when we could get a whaek at them we would go in. After two days of fighting, General Hooker marched his army back on this side of the river again. It was the same old story; we were going all the time, here and there, guarding fords and chasing the rebel cavalry around, until General Lee commenced to march his army north again. Then we had hot times. On the 8th of June, '63, about seven or eight o'clock in the even- ing, the bugle sounded " boots and saddles," and the 8th N. Y. was soon in line. A scout had come in and reported that twenty-five thousand rebel cavalry were concentrated at Beverly Ford, on the Rappa- hannock River. We marched all night and arrived . at the Ford just before daylight; we were the first regiment to cross the river. The Colonel never waited to see whether any of the other troops had arrived or not, but took the 8th N. Y. Cavalry across the river alone. We were
26
ACROSS THE RIVER
before the rebels hardly knew it. The banks of the river were grown up with bushes and small timber for a number of rods back from the river, then there was a tract of cleared land; the rebels were in there; they had their horses turned loose to eat grass; some of them were cooking breakfast, some were asleep and some were up and partly dressed when we came down on them. Those that were cooking breakfast were preparing pones, as they called them. They are flour or meal mixed up with water; the rebels used to have flour dealt out to them, and had to cook it themselves most of the time. When they could not get flour they had to take up with corn meal. They had no hard-tack, unless it was once in a while when they captured some from our army.
After we erossed the river we captured
THE REBEL PICKETS
without their giving the alarm, it being so foggy that we could not see but a short distance ahead. We were on to them before they knew that we were there. We did not stop for anything, but kept right on un- til we struck the rebel camp. When Colonel Davis found the rebels he did not stop at anything, but went for them heavy. I believe he liked to fight the rebels as well as he liked to eat. He was a daring man and a great fighter. He always went ahead and said
"COME ON BOYS!"
After the regiment went out of Harper's Ferry the Colonel thought we could go any where, and so we could almost. He never placed us in a position from . which he could not get us out, although he came
-1
27
dreadfully near it that day, when we came upon the rebel camp. The Colonel ordered a charge, and away we went down among them heavy. We went through their fires, our horses kicking the rebels' fry- ing pans here and there, and the rebels running in every direction, cursing in a number of different lan- guages, and yelling,
" THE YANKS ARE COMING,"
the rebel officers were yelling "To horse!" and we were entting and slashing with the saber. The rebels were badly frightened, and some had sore heads.
The Colonel kept going, and it was not long before the rebels began to pepper away at us, and our men and horses began to go down on all sides; the rebels were firing from all directions, and it was getting so hot that we were obliged to fall back under cover of the woods. Colonel Davis was swinging his saber and yelling for us to come on. One of the rebels in front of us advanced ahead of their lines and
SHOT THE COLONEL.
The ball struck him in the head, and he lived but a short time. The Aide, who was near the Colonel, shot the rebel before he could get away. We then fell back into a piece of woods and waited for rein- forcements.
Colonel Davis was in the regular service before the war, posted in one of the Southern States. Some of the rebels knew him and swore vengeance on him. They were bound to kill him because he would not fight on their side. The rebel that killed him knew that he could not get away; he gave up his life to take the Colonel's.
1
28
We were soon reinforced by the 8th Olinois and 3d Indiana Cavalry and we went in again. There were too many rebels for us, but we drove them back for a ways and took quite a number of prisoners, but the rebels drove us back again and took some prison- ers from us; we got reinforced and sailed in again. We drove back the rebels and took the prisoners the rebels had taken from us; we had it in that way all day. One of our men said that he was taken and re- taken
FOUR TIMES
that day .. Riley Low, of Co. H, was wounded and taken prisoner in the early part of the day; when the rebels were falling back he escaped, and to keep from being run over, he laid down by the side of a log. He said that the horses from both sides passed over him a number of times that day; he laid there until night before he could get away with safety; the rebels were going to have a review of their cavalry troops that day, but our boys reviewed them. It was a big cavalry fight; it was reported that neither side claimed a victory; all that saved Rebel General Stuart's cavalry was by being reinforced by infantry. We kept them from crossing the river and going where they had a mind to. The rebels took their spite out on the 8th N. Y. that day, they were so mad because we had spoiled their breakfast for them; the rebels would try every way they could to draw us in a trap. The 8th N. Y. fought for
ALL IT WAS WORTH ;
they was bound to avenge the Colonel's death. We lost heavily in that fight, we had been very lucky in
1
29
all the battles before that ; we were called the Incky regiment because when we went into a fight we would lose so few men; it was on account of our being so well drilled, and had an officer that could fight. If Colonel Davis had lived six months longer he would have been up among the highest. Davis was a Brigadier General, at that time, but the boys . used to call him Colonel instead of General, they had got so used to it. He would not leave the Sth N. Y .; he always marched with them. He thought a great deal of that regiment and the boys thought a great deal of him; the boys missed him to lead them after that. It was not long after that that Rebel General started north with his army. Some of the rebel prisoners said that Lee was going to New York, but history tells us how the Union Army met them at Gettysburg, Pa.
THE END.
1
LOSSES OF THE
EIGHTH NEW-YORK
HEAVY ARTILLERY
2D BRIGADE, 2D DIVISION, 2D CORPS.
AUGUST 22, 1862 - JUNE 5, 1865. by W. F. Fox
56556
1
.
LOSSES OF THE EIGHTH NEW-YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY, 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 2d Corps.
Compiled by William F. Fox, Lt .- Col., U. S. V., for " Regimental Losses in the American Civil War": Albany Publishing Company, Albany, N. Y.
[ Printed as a supplement to " Historical Roll of Co.' D, Sth New- York Heavy Artillery," with the author's permission, by James M. Hudnut, 346 Broadway, New-York.]
Killed and Died of Wounds.
Died of Disease, Accident, in Prison, etc.
Total Died.
Total Enrollment.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Field & Staff
3
I
4
4
19
Co. A
I
20
2 1
23
23
44
210
Co. B
I
55
56
26
26
82
237
Co. C
2
37
39
23
23
62
217
Co. D
2
26
28
16
16
44
202
Co. E
34
34
I
28
29
€ 3
224
Co. F
4
18
22
30
30
52
225
Co. G
I
I2
13
I
30
31
44
209
Co. H
32
32
I
19
20
52
215
Co. I
I
2I
22
25
25
47
197
Co. K
I
26
27
26
26
53
204
Co. I.
20
20
I
34
35
55
203
Co. M
3
40
43
18
18
61
213
Totals
19
342
361
4
298
302
663
2575
Died in Confederate Prisons (previously included), 102.
Battles.
K. and M. W.
Battles. M. W.
Spotsylvania, May 19,'64 . . 10
Reams' Station, Aug. 25, '64 . 24
North Anna, May 24, '64 .
.
2 Boydton Road, Oct. 27, '64 . 13
Cold Harbor, June 3, '64 . . 207 Hatcher's Run, Mar. 25, '65 . I
Petersburg, June 16-18
42
Dabney's Mills
2
Weldon Railroad, June 22
34
White Oak Road
2
Siege of Petersburg
16
On Picket, Feb. 8, '65
I
Deep Bottom
4 By Prison Guards
3
Present also at Totopotomoy; High Bridge; Farmville; Appomattox.
RECAPITULATION AND PERCENTAGES.
Killed and died of wounds . . 361 = 14.0 per cent. of enrollment.
Died from disease, .ent, etc.
. 302 = 11.7
Total died, all caus .,
663 = 25.7
66
66
Wounded (not mortode
. 649 = 25.2 66
Killed and wounde
. 1010 = 39.2
66
Died and wounded (no: mortally) 1312 = 50.9
P15198
K. and
Companies.
By. the kindness of the author of " Regimental Losses in the Ameri- can Civil War,"-a book which cost immense labor, and is of absorbing interest, - I am enabled to supplement the " Historical Roll of Com- pany D" with the losses for the whole Regiment, by companies and by battles. Col. Fox says, in a note to the editor :
" On the records at Washington your Regiment is credited with the following loss : killed, officers 10, enlisted men 192,-total, 202; died of wounds, officers 9, enlisted mien 143,-total, 354; died of disease, etc., officers 4, enlisted men 302,-total, 306; total deaths, officers 23, enlisted men 637,-total, 660. I make more killed owing to some who were " wounded and missing in action." I include these with the killed : the War Department does not, unless official and definite information is received as to their fate. There were 20 officers killed; one of them killed before muster."
Col. Fox's book shows that the highest percentage of deaths from battle in any regiment was 19.7 per cent. of total enrollment in the 2d Wisconsin. One hundred regiments had a mortality from battle of over ten per cent. Thirty-five regiments (out of over two thousand) had a higher percentage than our own, and three, the 7th W. Va., 28th Mass., and 37th Wis., had the same percentage. One regiment only-the Ist Maine Heavy Artillery -lost more men, and one only -the same- lost more in any one battle. This Regiment lost 423 men (19.2 per cent. of enrollment, and next to the 2d Wis.), killed or mortally wounded, and lost 210 at Petersburg, June 18, 1864. It also lost 147 at the Freder- icksburg Pike, May 19, 1864, where we were engaged for the first time.
The statistics of losses for the Federal army during the entire war are as follows :
Total number of enlistments reduced to a three years' basis . 2,320,272 Killed (67,058) and mortally wounded (43,012) 110,070
Wounded (not mortally) 275,175
Total killed and wounded 385,245
Died of disease, accidents, etc. 249,458
Total deaths 359,528
Reducing these figures to percentages of total enrollment, and com- paring the casualties of our own Regiment with those of the whole army, we have the following :
8th N. Y. H. A. All.
Killed and died of wounds
14.0 . 4.7
Died of disease, accidents, etc.
II.7 . 10.8
Total died, all causes . . . 25.7 . 15.5
Total wounded (not mortally) 25.2 11.9
Total killed and wounded . · 39.2 . 16.6
Total died and wounded (not mortally) · 50.9 . . 27.4
F&300
HISTORICAL ROLL
OF
COMPANY D, 8TH REGIMENT
NEW-YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
TY:
ORIGINALLY 129TH N. Y. INFANTRY.
EDITED BY
JAMES M. HUDNUT, LATE QUARTERMASTER-SERGEANT.
REVISED EDITION.
NEW-YORK : THE DE VINNE PRESS. 1887.
1.
NOTE .- I have taken for the basis of this roll the muster-out roll of the Company, in the Adjutant-General's office at Albany, adding to it such data as I could obtain from comrades. I have been aided by memoranda kindly furnished by the Pension Office. Some names given by the latter are otherwise unknown to me, and the fate of some comrades has been learned from this source ; these cases I have designated thus [P]. I am indebted to Sergeants Kohler and Spaulding for much valuable data concerning the history of the Company and the fate of comrades. The names of those enlisted for the Company and rejected by Regimental Surgeon have been omitted. J. M. H.
34640
£
LOSSES OF THE
EIGHTH NEW-YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY
2D BRIGADE, 2D DIVISION, 2D CORPS.
AUGUST 22, 1862 - JUNE 5, 1865.
LOSSES OF THE EIGHTH NEW-YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY, 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 2d Corps.
Compiled by William F. Fox, Lt .- Col., U. S. V., for " Regimental Losses in the American Civil War": Albany Publishing Company, Albany, N. Y.
[ Printed as a supplement to " Historical Roll of Co. D, 8th New-York Heavy Artillery," with the author's permission, by James M. Hudnut, 346 Broadway, New-York. ]
Killed and Died of Wounds.
Died of Disease, Accident, in Prison, etc.
Total Died.
Total Enrollment.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Field & Staff
3
I
4
4
19
Co. A
I
20
21
23
23
44
210
Co. B
I
55
56
26
26
82
237
Co. C
2
37
39
23
23
62
217
Co. D
2
26
28
16
16
44
202
Co. E
34
34
I
28
29
€ 3
224
Co. F
4
18
22
30
30
52
225
Co. G
I
12
13
I
30
31
44
209
Co. H
32
32
I
19
20
52
215
Co. I
I
21
22
25
25
47
197
Co. K
I
26
27
26
26
53
204
Co. I.
20
20
I
34
35
55
203
Co. M
3
40
43
18
18
61
21 3
Totals . .
19
342
361
4
298
302
663
2575
Died in Confederate Prisons (previously included), 102.
Battles.
K. and M. W.
Battles. M. W.
Spotsylvania, May 19,'64 . .
IO
Reams' Station, Aug. 25, '64 . 24
North Anna, May 24, '64 .
2
Boydton Road, Oct. 27, '64 . 13
Cold Harbor, June 3, '64 . .
207
Hatcher's Run, Mar. 25, '65 . I
Petersburg, June 16-18
42
Dabney's Mills
2
Weldon Railroad, June 22
34
White Oak Road
2
Siege of Petersburg
16
On Picket, Feb. 8, '65
I
Deep Bottom
4
By Prison Guards
3
Present also at Totopotomoy ; High Bridge; Farmville; Appomattox.
RECAPITULATION AND PERCENTAGES.
Killed and died of wounds . . 361 = 14.0 per cent. of enrollment.
Died from disease, accident, etc . . 302 = 11.7
663 = 25.7
66
Wounded (not mortally)
. 649 = 25.2 66 66
6 . 66
Killed and wounded
, 1010 = 39.2
66
Died and wounded (not mortally) 1312 = 50.9
66
66
Total died, all causes
K. and
Companies.
34640
By the kindness of the author of " Regimental Losses in the Ameri- can Civil War,"-a book which cost immense labor, and is of absorbing interest,- I am enabled to supplement the "Historical Roll of Com- pany D" with the losses for the whole Regiment, by companies and by battles. Col. Fox says, in a note to the editor :
"On the records at Washington your Regiment is credited with the following loss : killed, officers 10, enlisted men 192,-total, 202; died of wounds, officers 9, enlisted mien 143,-total, 354; died of disease, etc., officers 4, enlisted men 302,-total, 306; total deaths, officers 23, enlisted men 637,-total, 660. I make more killed owing to some who were " wounded and missing in action." I include these with the killed : the War Department does not, unless official and definite information is received as to their fate. There were 20 officers killed; one of them killed before muster."
Col. Fox's book shows that the highest percentage of deaths from battle in any regiment was 19.7 per cent. of total enrollment in the 2d Wisconsin. One hundred regiments had a mortality from battle of over ten per cent. Thirty-five regiments (out of over two thousand) had a higher percentage than our own, and three, the 7th W. Va., 28th Mass., and 37th Wis., had the same percentage. One regiment only-the Ist Maine Heavy Artillery-lost more men, and one only -the same- lost more in any one battle. This Regiment lost 423 men (19.2 per cent. of enrollment, and next to the 2d Wis.), killed or mortally wounded, and lost 210 at Petersburg, June 18, 1864. It also lost 147 at the Freder- icksburg Pike, May 19, 1864, where we were engaged for the first time.
The statistics of losses for the Federal army during the entire war are as follows :
Total number of enlistments reduced to a three years' basis . 2,320,272 Killed (67,058) and mortally wounded (+3,012) 110,070
Wounded (not mortally) 275,175
Total killed and wounded 385,245
Died of disease, accidents, etc. 249,458
Total deaths 359,528
Reducing these figures to percentages of total enrollment, and com- paring the casualties of our own Regiment with those of the whole army, we have the following :
8th N. Y. H. A. All.
Killed and died of wounds
. 14.0 . 4.7
Died of disease, accidents, etc.
. 11.7 . 10.8
Total died, all causes . . 25.7 . 15.5
Total wounded (not mortally)
· 25.2 . 11.9
Total killed and wounded . · 39.2 . 16.6
Total died and wounded (not mortally) · 50.9 . 27.4
HISTORICAL ROLL OF COMPANY D,
EIGHTH NEW-YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY. Originally the 129th New -York Infantry.
ORGANIZATION, AUGUST 22, 1862.
Date of Muster into the United States Service.
Captain James Maginnis. First Lieutenant William B. Gardner. Second Lieutenant Morris R. Blodgett.
Sergeants.
John E. Owen, Orderly,
Arthur L. Chase,
William F. Spaulding,
Horace J. McDonald,
Charles V. Lackor.
Corporals.
Almon Van Wagoner, Henry Murray
William A. George,
Alfred B. Wakeman,
Stephen H. Sim,
Hiram Carpenter,
John E. Carrington,
William H. H. Brown.
The Regiment was transferred to Heavy Artillery in December, 1862, while stationed at Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, and the Company was filled up to a full artillery company in February, 1864.
4
HISTORICAL ROLL OF COMPANY D,
ORGANIZATION, MAY 15, 1864.
Date of leaving Baltimore to join Army of the Potomac. Captain James Maginnis. First Lieutenant Morris R. Blodgett.
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