USA > New York > Services of the Tenth New York Volunteers (National Zouaves,) in the War of the Rebellion > Part 17
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Gen. Warren, however, eventually concluded that the attack had been delayed too long, giving time to the enemy which they had busily occupied in strengthening their lines with men and guns, making their position
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seemingly impregnable, and although signal guns for the general movement were heard, immediately followed by cannonading on the right, he determined to desist from Iris intended advance. The expectation of our soldiers had arisen to fever heat, when the order to stack arms and rest was heard; and, when additional directions were afterwards given, to build fires and cook coffee, no more welcome orders were ever obeyed by any troops-received as they were by hungry, tired and half-frozen divisions.
It was the writer's experience, during four years of service, to participate in many attacks upon strong positions, and to experience anxious hours awaiting orders to engage the enemy; but the strain upon the mind was never so intense and prolonged as upon this occasion. Gen. Haves' division had a good opportunity to view the ground over which they expected to advance, by mounting the embankment of a partly graded rail- road which helped to conceal our troops from the enemy, and each man seemed to be estimating how near he could approach to the enemy's works before the storm of shell, grape and canister would take full effect upon his regiment. The orders were to advance at "right shoulder," with no halting to load and fire -the lines thus to be kept unbroken. The soldiers of our battalion followed the example of a majority of the division, and pinned slips of paper to their blankets with their names inscribed, so that, if killed, identifi- eation might follow ; and many of them improved the time, while awaiting the final order. to write short let- ters home, intrusting them to each other or to the guards who were to be left with the knap acks at the rear.
Warren's divisions were soon afterwards withdrawn
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RETURN TO CAMP.
a short distance further back, where position was main- tained until the next night, Dec. Ist. The breastworks were then quietly evacuated, and, after a swift and fatiguing night march, the Second Corps recrossed the Rapidan at nine, A. M., of the next day. Soon after, the soldiers of the Tenth were again occupying the camp which they had not expected to again see when they evacuated it a week previous. The log houses were still standing, and only needed the shelter tent roofs to make them again inhabitable.
With the return to camp ended the active campaign- ing of 1863. The experience of the year had been arduous, and most varied, and our battalion had, in com- mon with the whole army, been subjected to toilsome marches and severe duties. Its work as provost guard had been, as a rule, ably performed, winning praise from both division and corps headquarters; and although the casualties in battle had been comparatively few, the strain upon the endurance of both officers and men had been as severe as though line duty had been performed. The position of the battalion in action, always directly in rear of its division, subjected it to damage from artillery, which the main line often escaped; while its duties upon the march, as has been before remarked, were far from agreeable. Instances had also occurred, as upon the withdrawal from Mine Run, while acting as extreme rear guard, when it became a matter of care to elude the enemy's cavalry hovering on the flanks and rear, and at the same time force our tired and straggling soldiers forward, in order to prevent their certain cap- ture by the enemy.
Very few drafted men had been assigned to the battalion, and the number present for duty had dimin-
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ished to less than one hundred, owing to casualties and sickness. It was therefore determined to take ad- vantage of the enlistments which were being made by the thousand in New York city, and recruit the com- mand to as near the proportions of a regiment as pos- sible. Numbers of the veterans, whose terms of service had expired during the past year, were again enlisting, and the opportunity was ripe for obtaining recruits inured to military life and fully prepared for active service. Maj. Hopper had returned to his command by the middle of January, and, on the 19th, he again received orders to proceed to New York city, with Capts. Field and Angell, and recruit for the Tenth- Capt. Dewey still remaining in command of the bat- talion.
A week after, an order was issued by Gen. Hayes, relieving the Tenth from its duties as Provost Guard, and assigning it to the Second Brigade (Col. Thomas 1. Smyth's), which was then doing outpost duty at Morton's Ford, on the Rapidan River, about four miles from Stevensburgh. The prospect of a change of duty seemed to please all in the battalion. The unpleasant features of provost duty had been but poorly offset by the so-called independence and freedom from drills and picket duty, and a determination was manifested by the majority to make this date the commencement of a new era for the Tenth. The change of camp was made on the 26th of January, ground being selected at the foot of "Stony Mountain," a small eminence near the Rapidan ; the rest of the brigade being on the opposite side of the hill. The battalion immediately erected log huts and was soon comfortably housed.
The order providing for " veteran furloughs" was at
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MORTON'S FORD.
this time exercising the minds of those concerned and causing a hegira northward. A leave of absence of thirty days was offered by the War Department to those offi- cers and men whose terms of service expired within a few months, and who were willing to re-enlist now for the remainder of the war. Thousands throughout the Army of the Potomac took advantage of the order. among them several members of the Tenth who had en- listed in the summer of 1861. The promulgation of this order was a wise stroke of policy on the part of the Government, and secured the services of an army of veterans for future campaigns.
PERIOD II.
MORTON'S FORD-REORGANIZATION-THE ARMY CROSSES THE RAPIDAN-THE WILDERNESS-SPOTT- SYLVANIA-COLD HARBOR.
Early in February it was understood that most of the troops in the vicinity of Richmond had been sent to reinforce the Rebel army under Gen. Pickett, then in North Carolina, and it was proposed to send a heavy force of cavalry and mounted infantry up the Peninsula and endeavor to strike the comparatively defenceless Confederate capital. This movement was put in opera- tion by Gen. Butler, in command of that department, but amounted to nothing-the force withdrawing upon meeting resistance at Bottom's Bridge, on the Chicka- hominy. To distract attention from these operations, however, and in order to cause Gen. Lee to draw all
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his reserves from Richmond, reconnoissances in foree were ordered by Gen. Meade across the fords of the Rapidan, with both cavalry and infantry.
At an early hour on the morning of the 6th of Feb- rnary, the Second Brigade moved out upon the road and met the balance of the Third Division heading towards Morton's Ford, but a mile or so from "Stony Mountain." The Third Brigade held the advance, and was ordered to cross the river, upon the opposite side of which the Rebel pickets were posted. Gen. Hayes led the skirmishers in person, and in less time than could well be imagined the Third Brigade-then the Second -- then the First-had forded the rapid river, captured the Rebel pickets, and were double-quicking towards several knolls of ground about half a mile from the river, which, once gained, would afford good shelter, a view of the enemy's strongly fortified lines, and yet command the ford-which latter precaution, it will here- after be seen, was necessary for the preservation of the troops that had crossed. Heavy eannonading was now commenced from the Rebel works; but the division gained the desired position, and advanced its skirmish- ers-a battery of guns soon opening from the opposite side of the river in reply to the Rebel artillery. Rain had been falling since daylight, and all hands were very uneomfortable from the cold drizzling.
During the day, advances were made by our skir- mishers, and considerable ground gained; but nothing of consequence transpired from either of the lines until towards dark, when a strong column was pushed from the enemy's left, and an endeavor made to turn the right of Gen. Hayes' position and gain the ford-thus entting the division off from its only means of recrossing
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MORTON'S FORD.
the river at this point. This movement was covered by a heavy cannonading from the enemy's works and an advance by their skirmishers on all sides, but the bold attempt was completely frustrated. Col. Carroll's bri- gade, the First, composed of Western troops, with the 14th Connecticut Volunteers, hastened to the right and met the enemy's flanking column, driving it pell- mell back to its intrenchments, with but comparatively slight loss on our part. Col. Powers, of the 105th New York Volunteers, in command of the Second Brigade. ordered an advance at the same time, and the 10th and 108th New York were ordered to capture a house about a quarter of a mile to the front, within which the enemy's sharpshooters had been enseoneed. This was done with a will, though the rapidly approaching dark- ness made the movement difficult. The command of the assault devolved upon Capt. Dewey, and. while charging into the grounds surrounding the house, his horse was shot under him. The two regiments were soon after ordered to withdraw to the main line, and during the night the division recrossed the river with the wounded and most of the bodies of those killed. In this engagement our battalion had two or three men wounded. Six commissioned officers and about seventy- five men were engaged.
The 14th Connecticut Volunteers, of the Second Bri- gade, suffered quite heavily in killed and wounded dur- ing the day while upon the skirmish line, and in the movement against the flanking column-a majority of the casualties in the entire Third Division being sus- tained by this regiment. Capt. Tait, of the Tenth, had several days before been ordered to assume command of the 1st Delaware Volunteers, the main part of that regi-
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ment, with most of its officers, having left the army upon the re-enlistment or "veteran" furlough, and he held this command during the action of the 6th. The stubborn advance and fighting of the Third Division, with the skirmishing at other fords of the river, had the effect intended by Gen. Meade, for Gen. Lee immedi- ately ordered his remaining reserves at Richmond to hurry to the Rapidan, expecting that the fine weather had induced the Army of the Potomac to again attempt a general advance.
From the summit of Stony Mountain, around which the Second Brigade was encamped, a view of the field of operations was easily had, and the spot was occupied during the day by an anxious and interested party, among whom were several ladies whose relatives were engaged in action on the opposite side of the river. These ladies afterwards rendered effective service in the hospital tents, attending the wounded who were brought from the field.
An order had been issued permitting the wives of officers to visit the army, and our rather monotonous existence was materially enlivened by their presence. The camp of the Tenth was brightened by the young and versatile wife of Capt. Tait-Surg. Gesner also in- trodneing his wife, whom he had recently married, and these ladies lent a charm to camp life which was felt by all in the battalion. The presence of so many of the gentler sex throughout the army naturally fostered a desire for entertainment suitable for their enjoyment, and impromptu card parties and dances at night, and horseback rides to points of interest during the day. were very frequently indulged in. The officers of the Second Corps, under the inspiration of their fair guests,
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REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.
conceived the project of a ball upon a grand scale, and accordingly a huge barnlike hall was erected, near corps headquarters ; all arrangements made for a grand affair, including invitations to military and civic officers, both in Washington and throughout the army, and, on the night of February 22d, the ball took place with consider- able eclat, each regiment of the Second Corps being represented by officers, accompanied in many instances by ladies. The decorations were appropriate and upon a lavish scale, including stacks of rifles, brass howitzers. shelter tents and many tattered and torn regimental flags and guidons. It was a successful experiment, and one long remembered by those who enjoyed the unwonted and therefore more highly appreciated opportunity of thus varying the sameness of life in winter quarters.
During the next few weeks great changes were insti- tuted throughout the army. Lient .- Gen. Grant, imme- diately after being invested with his new rank, was placed by the President in command of the armies of the United States, and he announced that his headquar- ters would be with the Army of the Potomac until further orders. Later, a thorough reorganization of the army was put into execution. Two corps (the First and Third) were dissolved and merged into the remaining three, the Second, Fifth and Sixth, commanded respec- tively by Gens. Hancock, Warren and Sedgwick. The brigades and divisions in these remaining corps were also reorganized and consolidated, adding materially to the efficiency of the army .*
* " The three corps commanders," says Swinton, " were men of a high order of ability, though of very diverse types of character. Hancock may be character- ized as the ideal of a soldier. Gifted with a magnetic presence, and a superh per- sonal gallantry, he was one of those lordly leaders who, upon the actual field of
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
In the Second Corps the order direeting the reorgani- zation transferred the old " blue trefoil" division bodily to the Second Division, and the Third Division and a new Fourth Division were organized with the regiments of the Third Corps, which, however, adhered generally thereafter to their own distinctive and memorable " dia- mond patch." Gen. Alexander Hayes was transferred to the command of a brigade in one of the new divisions, and, in a farewell order to his old command, he referred with pathos to its services during the nine months he had been at its head. The following is an extract :
"It is trying upon the soldier to part with the badge associated with his long service, and to see furled the banner under which there was always victory,-but it is a sacrifice exacted by your country. It is my sincere hope and expectation that, within a brief period of time, 'the old division ' will be reorganized, and the blue trefoil will once more wave over you. Until then your banner will be sacredly preserved and restored to you, or otherwise it will be deposited where it will be a memento to the nation of your tri- umphs and sacrifices."
The Tenth New York Volunteers became a part of the Third Brigade, Second Division, Second Corps, and Col. S. S. Carroll, of the 4th Ohio Volunteers, assumed command of the brigade, which had been formed by the consolidation of the former First and Second Brigades. The remarkable complexion of this command (it being composed of regiments from seven different States), added to the daring of its two noted leaders and its own
battle, rule the hearts of troops with a potent and irresistible mastery. Warren, young in the command of a corps, owed his promotion to the signal proofs he had given, first as brigadier, then as chief engineer, and latterly as the temporary com- mander of the Second Corps. Sedgwick, long the honored chief of the Sixth Corps, was the exemplar of soldierly obedience to duty."
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PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
iron qualities, afterwards gave it a reputation second to none in the army .*
Recruits were meanwhile arriving from New York for the Tenth, and two additional companies were formed, making six in all. The new arrivals came to the field in the regulation fatigue dress, and as money, time and trouble were necessary to obtain a new supply of the zouave uniforms, it was judged best to abandon the destinetive mark of the old regiment and adopt regula- tion clothing. Some of the veterans, however, clung to fez or jacket until the last days of their service. The officers still retained the red cap and light blue trousers with red stripe, for extra occasions.
The following appointments and promotions of com- missioned officers took place in the battalion :
To lieutenant-colonel : Maj. Geo. F. Hopper.
To major : Anthony S. Woods.t
To captains : First-Lieut. O. F. Angell ; Joseph La Fiurat and Peter Henry.t
To first-lieutenants : Second-Lieuts. Frank M. Clark, and E. D. Van Winkle and William H. Monk.t
To second-lieutenant : Sergt. George Hackett, of Company B.
* The regiments of the brigade were the 10th and 108th New York, 14th Con- necticut, rath New Jersey, Ist Delaware, 7th West Virginia, 14th Indiana and 4th and 8th Ohio.
* The officers whose names are marked with a cross (+) were appointed from civil iife. Capt. La Fiura, however, had served as captain in the ad New York Volunteers, and Maj. Woods had been a member of the 8th New York Militia regi- ment for sixteen years, commanding a company of that regiment in the summer campaigns of 1861-2-3. For his gall.intry in the first battle of Bull Run, Gen, Wads- worth, of Gen. McDowell's staff, wrote him an unsolicited testimonial, in which he said : "I witnessed the manner in which you rallied such of your regiment as you could induce to follow you, and led them into action under a terribly severe fire. 1 saw no officer more freely expose himself in front of his men."
16
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
A majority of the men received as recruits were veterans, a number having served in the original Tenth, and it was easy to find able non-commissioned officers among them. A rigid system of drill and discipline was put into operation, the results soon becoming apparent. On the occasion of a review by the division commander, he paid an especial compliment to Capt. Dewey, in the presence of the field and staff of the brigade, for the ex- cellent appearance and steady marching of his command. Since the return of the battalion to line duty, Capt. Dewey, ably assisted by the veteran officers, had labored faithfully to insure discipline and all soldierly attain- ments, and, at a meeting of the officers, shortly after the reorganization of the brigade, they tendered him a vote of thanks for his efforts in behalf of the battalion and his uniform courtesy to the officers and men.
Adjt. Cowtan had volunteered to act as regimental quartermaster upon the capture of Lieut. Wilcox in the preceding fall, and he served in that capacity, in addi- tion to his other duties, until the latter part of 1864. Corp. Underhill J. Covert was appointed sergeant-major soon after the battalion was relieved from provost duty, and George F. Brown was promoted to the position of quartermaster-sergeant.
The camp at Stony Mountain was associated with ineidents which indelibly impressed themselves upon the minds of the soldiers of the Tenth. The balmy Vir- ginia spring brought odorous and health-giving breezes, infusing life and energy into the bodies of all, and gave nights which were enjoyable. Fronting the headquarter tents was a smooth level of grass, and this was the scene of occasional impromptu dances and moonlight collations, many of the officers and men of the brigade joining the
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THE FOURTEENTHI CONNECTICUT.
Tenth in these pleasant little episodes. As a rule, friend- ships formed in the field were lasting. The traits of a man's character, whether good or bad, were certain to discover themselves in camp life and intercourse ; and, if there was an atom of occult selfishness in a soldier's composition, it was quick to make itself apparent-thus affording an insight into one's characteristics which was hardly attainable elsewhere. To this fact may partly be attributed the firmness of the links which have bound comrades of army experience to each other for years after resuming civil life. The brotherhood formed at this camp between the Tenth and other regiments of the brigade, notably the 14th Connecticut, outlived the stormy period of war, and still exists to a considerable extent. The 14th and 10th became almost as one com- mand in their intercourse in camp and on the march, and the heavy losses sustained by the gallant New England regiment were felt almost as keenly by our battalion as though we ourselves had suffered.
Grand reviews of the various corps were ordered dur- ing the spring, and, with their respective trains of artil- lery, wagons and ambulances, they were successively inspected, showing an army magnificent in material, splendidly equipped and approximating to ninety thous- and men. Meanwhile Gen. Grant's plan of a combined movement against Richmond had been well perfected. As part of his general programme, he intended to march the Army of the Potomac past the strong positions held by Gen. Lee along the Rapidan and Mine Run, and turn his right flank-thus compelling the Rebel army to leave both its strong intrenehments, and the unfavorable fight- ing ground known as the " Wilderness." Instructions comprehending or looking to this result were given to
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
the various corps commanders ; but, as events proved, the Rebel general concluded to resist the progress of our army past his front, and this brought on the bloody battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. Gen. Grant being unexpectedly assailed at the outset had no alternative but to fight. The advantages in these fieree battles, aside from numbers, unquestionably rested with the Rebels, owing both to their knowledge of the intri- cate wood roads through this sparsely inhabited section, and their ability to occupy easily defended positions when circumstances demanded.
On May 3d, orders were promulgated throughout the Army of the Potomac, directing each corps to prepare to march. Most of the extra baggage, &c., had before this been sent to the depots for removal, and the wagon trains reduced to the lowest minimum ; each regiment was restricted to one wagon, when possible, in which offi- cers' baggage and the headquarter tents were to be ear- ried-the wagons forming one long train in the rear of each corps when upon the march. The Tenth New York Volunteers received the final order while on parade, and preparations were immediately made for the movement. Tents were struck, and the battalion moved out upon the road about eleven, p. M., joining the rest of the bri- gade, with orders to meet the division near Stevensburgh. The strength of the Tenth, under arms, was now 13 offi- cers and about 250 enlisted men .*
* May 3d, the Second Corps numbered between 29,000 and 30,000 officers and men for duty-embracing 84 regiments of infantry, in 11 brigades and 4 divisions. With this force was a brigade of artillery, consisting of 9 batterie .. Gen. Burnside with his Ninth Corps had, A few days previous to the movement, joined the Ariny of the Potomac, but the formal incorporation therewith was postponed till after the passage of the Kapidan. This accession raised the fighting strength of the army to considerably more than 100,000 men.
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CROSSING THE RAPIDAN.
The events of this march towards the Rebel lines- forerunner of the most arduous and protracted campaign recorded by any of our armies-need not be dwelt upon at length. The crossing of the Rapidan was effected without resistance on the 4th of May, and that night the Second Corps bivonacked on the battlefield of Chancel- lorsville. Companies A and D, of the Tenth, commanded by Lieut. F. M. Clark and Capt. O. F. Angell, were or- dered upon pieket duty and passed the night in watch- ful vigilance among the half-covered skeletons of those who had fallen a year before in the bloody struggle fought under Gen. Hooker.
On the 5th, after marching to the neighborhood of Todd's Tavern, on the road to Shady Grove Church, the corps was hurried back in the afternoon to a position on the Brock Road, at its intersection with the Orange plank . road, in order to connect with the Fifth Corps, which, with the Sixth, had been desperately assailed by the enemy. Here Gen. Birney's division (Third) was engaged ere the bloody work of the day was ended, attacking the enemy in conjunction with Getty's division of the Sixth Corps.
Gen. Alexander Hayes, at the head of one of Birney's brigades, was instantly killed while directing affairs on the skirmish line during the evening. The news of his death was received with sorrow by the officers and men of the Tenth, its veterans having learned to love him for his dashing impetuosity and chivalrie example while in command of the old Third Division. He died as he probably most desired, "in harness," but too soon to witness, as he seemed to anticipate, the blue trefoil again floating over his old soldiers. *
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