USA > New York > Services of the Tenth New York Volunteers (National Zouaves,) in the War of the Rebellion > Part 18
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* The following is a stray extract from a newspaper : " It may he interesting to know the state of Gen. Hayes' thoughts and feelings just before entering upon
246
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
At half-past four, p. M., Carroll's brigade advanced into the woods on the right of the plank road, to the support of Getty's right, and, a few minutes later, Owen's brigade, of Gibbons' division, was ordered into action in support of Gen. Getty, on the right and left of the Orange plank road. The section of Rickett's Bat- tery which moved down the plank road towards Parker's store when Birney and Getty attacked, suffered severely in men and horses. It was captured at one time during the fight, but was retaken by detachments from the 14th Indiana and 8th Ohio Volunteers, of Carroll's brigade, which regiments had been ordered to its relief. Col. Carroll himself was wounded in the arm this afternoon. The main part of the brigade suffered no loss of import- ance, not becoming directly engaged, and, after dark, and upon the cessation of the combat, bivouacked in the thick woods and upon the ground which had been fought over. No fires were allowed-the two opposing lines being almost in contact-and the time was passed restlessly by all, the glimmering dawn bringing relief, although
that desperate conflict in the Wilderness, where he lost his life. In a letter written upon the morning on which the march commenced, he says: 'This morning was beautiful, for
' Lightly and brightly shone the sun, As if the morn was a jocund one.'
"'Although we were anticipating to march at eight o'clock, it might have been an appropriate harbinger of the day of the regeneration of mankind ; but it only brought to remembrance, through the throats of many bugles, that duty enjoined upon each one, perhaps, before the setting sun, to lay down a life for his country."
Swinton, p. 425: "A little past four o'clock, the attack on Hill was opened by Getty's command (of the Sixth Corps). His troops encountered the enemy in a line of battle, not intrenched, about three hundred paces in front of the Brock Road, and immediately became hotly engaged. But, as it was soon manifest that the Confederates were present in heavy force, Hancock advanced his own e rps. The fight at once grew very fierce, the opposing forces being exceedingly close, and the musketry continuous and deadly along the whole line."
247
THE WILDERNESS.
orders had been circulated for a general advance at five o'clock .*
The region of the Wilderness, in which two mighty armies were now bivouacking or assuming positions, in preparation for a struggle on the morrow, was a broken. sterile tract of country, intersected in every direction by gullies and ravines. "The region rests on a belt of min- eral rocks, and, for above a hundred years, extensive mining has been carried on. To feed the mines, the tim- ber of the country, for many miles around, had been cut down, and in its place there had arisen a dense under- growth of low-limbed and scraggy pines, stiff and bristly chinkapins, scrub-oaks and hazel." +
The roads traversing this uncanny section were gene- rally a mere labyrinth of straggling paths, impracticable for wagons, and converted into quagmires by rain. The whole tract was almost without inhabitants ; here and there, at the intersections of the roads, there being a tavern or store, with, perhaps, a few rude dwellings grouped around. Maneuvering of troops was practi- cally impossible, and it was necessary to give directions by a point of the compass. It can readily be seen that neither artillery nor cavalry could be brought into play on this ground, and the veteran batteries of the Army of the Potomac stood grimly silent, only an occasional
* Confederate Gen. Wilcox, in "Annals of the War :" " It seemed alnost im- possible to realize that so fierce a battle had been fought and terminating only two hours before, or that so many armed men were Iving almost within reach, ready to spring forward at early dawn to renew the bloody work. At an early hour of the night, after the battle was over, Col. Baldwin, of the set Massachusetts Regiment. stepped a short distance to the front to get a drink of water from .: stream quite near, and found himself in the midst of ( nfe lerates and a prisoner. Col. David- son. 7th North Carolina Regiment, became a prisoner to the Union forces in the same manner, and near the same place."
+ Swinton.
24S
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
section or piece being used on the roadsides. But for hours, during the two days of battle, there came from these dark woods the steady rattle and roll of musketry, telling the story of the dread scenes enacted by the in- visible armies in the tangled brush, where it was impos- sible for a brigade commander to see his line of battle.
At five, A. M., of the 6th, the Second Corps advanced against the enemy's lines. Gen. Hancock had placed Gen. Birney in command of the right, consisting of the Third and Fourth Divisions and Getty's division of the Sixth Corps, while Gen. Gibbon commanded the left, composed of the First and Second Divisions. Birney moved to the attack, while Carroll's and Owen's bri- gades, of the Second Division, followed in his support. The advance of Carroll's brigade was made in two lines, and through a dense thicket and ravine, greatly disar- ranging the ranks. The Tenth New York was on the right of the advance line, the 12th New Jersey joining it on the left. Just after clearing the thicket, James Langstaff, of Company D, was wounded by a fragment of a shell from the enemy. He was the only man of the battalion known to be injured by artillery tire during the day., The brigade now changed its course to the left until the Orange plank road was crossed, when the order, "By the right flank," was given, and it moved for- ward some distance, still enveloped by thick woods, crossing at intervals rough breastworks from which the enemy had evidently been driven. Then a halt was made. Berdan's Sharpshooters had acted as skirmishers on Birney's front, and several of these were now falling back upon our line, firing as they retreated. Bullets " zipperl" over and past us from the front, and a solitary
---
+
+
PARKER'S STORE
EWELL
SEDGY
+
Javus avourtvy
LONGSTREET
WARREN
PLANK. ROAD TO GERMANIA FORD
+
+
OLD WILDERNESS !. TAVERN
OLD WILDERNES
CULPEPPER MINE FORD
+
+
PUN
RIVER
-
OLD : TURNPIKE
N
INTRENCHED LINES = UNION
REBEL
MILES
RAPIDAN
BROCK ROAD .
0
JELY'S FO
THE WILDERNESS.
1
ORANGE/ PLANK ROAD
BURNSIDE
HIL/L
HANCOCK
249
THE MORNING ATTACK.
round shot ricocheted along the ground, its force al- most spent.
Birney's divisions, with Wadsworth's division of the Fifth Corps on the right of the plank road, had driven the enemy from the positions held in these woods and on the road, and both Heth's and Wilcox's divisions, of Hill's corps, had been broken and forced pell-mell to the rear. According to Swinton, they were driven a great distance through the woods with heavy loss, and back on the trains and artillery and the Confederate headquarters. Swinton says : "I use here no stronger language than that em- ployed by Gen. Longstreet, in a description he gave me of the situation of affairs at the moment of his arrival." Gen. Kirkland, then in command of one of Heth's bri- gades, has used equally emphatic language in describing the rout, while conversing with the writer of this vol- ume. Our lines, which were so close to his as to almost preclude the posting of piekets, suddenly barst upon his brigade while they were throwing up a protecting breast- work of rails and other light stuff, and "walked over them as though they had been twigs," forcing them back in utter confusion. Fortunately for Gen. Lee, Kershaw's division, of Longstreet's corps, came up at the crisis of the retreat and promptly formed .in line, followed by Field's division, making a determined stand against the further advance of Hancock .*
It was this new line that met Carroll's brigade and
*Gen. Wilcox, in "Annals of the War," says, in substance, that his own and Heth's divisions, which had fought stoutly on the 5th, were, during the night, lying in an irregular and broken line or sleeping in the rear without regard to order. ex- pecting to be relieved by Anderson's divisi mand Longstreets corps, and that when. at daylight. pioneers came with aves, spuddles, &c., to construtet works, the enemy were found to be too close to permit their use. The failure to rearrange the line and the delay in the arrival of the reinforcements was near proving fatal to the Confederates.
250
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
checked its forward movement by a counter advance which proved an evident intention of regaining the ground lost if possible. Birney's divisions, in their rapid advance, had left a wide gap east of the plank road. This had apparently attracted the attention of the ene- my and invited an aggressive movement which was un- obstructed, save by skirmishers, until they suddenly came upon the Third Brigade, which had been opportunely thrust into the gap.
At the first warning of attack given by the incoming skirmishers, Capt. Dewey, in command of the Tenth, di- rected the two right companies, A and D, to swing around to protect the right flank-the battalion being uneon- nected with any command in that direction. Lieut. Clark and Capt. Angell obeyed the order, and a volley at that instant rattled from right to left of the battalion into the advancing line of the enemy, immediately an- swered by a return fire which killed and wounded several of the battalion. Company E, Capt. La Fiura, in posi- tion next to the left of the line, was composed mainly of the latest recruits, including a number of Frenchmen, and several of these broke to the rear to reload. History has shown numberless cases where serious panics have occurred among troops from just such trivial causes, and this action of a few recruits, ignorant yet of our lan- guage, cansed a backward movement of the battalion, company by company, similar to the fall of a row of bricks. But Color-Sergt. Edward Harrison rushed in- mediately to the front, accompanied by the color-guard, Capt. Dewey, the adjutant and several other officers, and the effect was electrical. The battalion was again as one man, advanced several rods from its first position and from the rest of the brigade, and engaged in a desperate
251
THE TENTII ENGAGED.
struggle to hold its ground. Probably sixty men fell at this point. Second-Lieut. George Hackett received a wound in his right arm, causing its loss, Capt. Angell and Lieut. Clark were slightly injured, and a majority of the orderly-sergeants were either killed or wounded. Color-Sergt. Harrison received bullets through his uni- form and accoutrements, but escaped unhurt. All of the color-guard were wounded, and the flag itself was per- forated with bullets and stained with the blood of its brave defenders.
Meanwhile our entire brigade had become engaged, and the turmoil, smoke and flame of battle reached from right to left of Col. Carroll's line, while other portions of Hancock's line were evidently also engaged. The density of the woods allowed of elose action and but a few yards intervened between the contestants, although it was seldom that the enemy could be discerned, owing probably to the indistinguishable color of their uniforms amid the trees and thickets. The ranks of our battalion were thinning rapidly, and there was apparently no chance for an advance beyond our present position with the force at the disposal of Col. Carroll. The Tenth gradually drew back to its original place on the right of the brigade, the fire of the enemy seeming to slacken, and their advance having been turned into a mere at- tempt to retain their position.
Although a lull had taken place in the main conflict in front of the Second Corps, firing was sharply con- tinued between our own brigade and the enemy, who seemed to be firmly established in the woods and still anxious to retrieve the defeat of the early morning. AAt times this musketry fire grew savage in its character, and was too severe to allow of bringing in those of the wounded
252
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
who still lay on the line of the battalion's advanced posi- tion. Capts. Dewey and Tait were both severely wounded in this portion of the engagement, and Sergt. John Tur- ner, of Company C, was among the killed. Capt. Angell succeeded to the command of the battalion. Firing soon again grew heavy along portions of the line on our right and left. According to Swinton, Hancock's advance was resumed at about nine, A. M., to meet a bitter opposition, and, although furious fighting took place, he gained nothing. All of Longstreet's and Hill's divisions were now upon the field and facing the Second and Fifth Corps, while Ewell's corps still retained its position fronting the right of our army. Our own bri- gade was meanwhile being supplied with fresh ammuni- tion, in anticipation of a renewal of the struggle for the possession of the forest in which death had already reaped a rich harvest.
The atmosphere of the woods was now thick and heavy with sulphurous smoke. There seemed not wind enough to raise the dense shroud which clung to our lines. Of the struggle along the front of other divisions we really knew nothing. The continuous rack of mus- ketry-the excitement-the cheers of our own brigade- the sometimes sharp and again sullen yells of the ene- my-all this happening in our own immediate vicinity, had deadened our senses to the fact that we were not alone engaged, but that the entire Army of the Potomac was in the throes of combat with its hereditary antago- nist. A glance to the right and rear of our battalion and we could see the dusty plauk road, along which, as far as the eye could reach, moved a procession of wounded, borne on blankets and stretchers-wearing not only the trefoil badge, but the crosses of the Fifth and Sixth Corps.
253
CARROLL'S BRIGADE FALLS BACK.
It was about eleven o'clock, when the rattle of mus- ketry on the left and towards the rear demanded an in- stantaneous change of front to the left, and Col. Carroll disposed his brigade in a position parallel to the plank road to meet the advance of Gen. Longstreet,* who had turned the left flank of the Fourth Division, doubling it up, and driving its regiments towards the rear of our brigade. For nearly an hour the several regimental colors of Col. Carroll, surrounded by groups of officers and men, waved in the faces of the enemy in this new position ; but numbers at length proved superior to unquestioned devo- tion and daring, and the Third Brigade moved sullenly through the woods to the Orange Road, contesting the ground as they retreated.t
A strong line of breastworks had been erected during the night and morning along the Brock Road, which ran at right angles with the plank road leading towards Orange Court House, and these works were now manned by the Second Corps; Carroll's brigade, possibly because of its rough morning's work, being drawn up in reserve, north of the road. Stragglers, and those who had aecom- panied the wounded to the rear, rapidly joined their regi- ments ; fires were built, and the majority indulged in that comfort of the soldier-coffee. Nothing had been eaten of any account since the previous day, and the conflict and horrors experienced in the battle-swept
* He was wounded in this attack.
+ Swinton, P. 433: " The attack first fell on the left of the advanced line. held by the brigade of Frank. This force Longstreet's troops fairly overran, and, brush- ing it away, they struck the left of Mott's division, which was in turn swept back in confusion, and though Hancock endeavored, by swinging back his left and form- ing linealong the plank road, to secure the advanced position still held by his right. it was found impossible to do so, and he had to content himself with rallying and reforming the troops on the original line along the Brock Road, from which they had advanced in the morning."
:
:
254
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
woods had not robbed any one of his appetite. Around every little fire were groups of soldiers, varying the ocenyation of coffee boiling with the narration of inci- dents which had happened during the morning, and ex- pressions of sympathy for those who had fallen.
At about four, P. M., the attack of Longstreet's corps, commanded by Gen. Lee in person, began upon the front of the Second Corps. Advancing over the ground so bloodily contested during the morning, the veterans of half a hundred fields pressed through the thick woods, trampling the bodies of the dead and dying beneath their rapid heels, and, in spite of a continuous fire from parts of the Third and Fourth Divisions behind the breast- works, and the well-directed cannonade from a section of Dow's Battery, posted where the two roads crossed, the Rebel regiments forced the abattis of fallen trees, plant- ing their Southern cross on the heavy works. The crisis bad come; the men in the breast works were but flesh and blood, and could not withstand the tremendous impulse of the Rebel advance. They hesitated, and then sought shelter behind a second and lesser line of works, a few vards to the rear. Gen. Hancock, Gen. Birney and Col. Carroll are at the crossing of the two roads, almost within reaching distance of the foremost of the Rebels, who have gained the intrenchments. Gen. Birney says hur- riedly: "Carroll, you must put your brigade in and drive the enemy back." The sonorous command of the gallant colonel is heard an instant afterwards, and in quick re- sponse the Third Brigade springs to its feet, moves from its position by the left flank at a double-quick step, a hun- dred yards or so, until opposite the contested works, then the order, "By the right thank," is given, and, with a ring- ing cheer, they are over both breastworks, driving the
255
A DASHING CHARGE.
Rebels furiously through the abattis far into the woods beyond, and pouring a hot fire into their fleeing lines. Numbers of the enemy, who had gained the inside of the works, surrendered immediately .* Gen. Hancock compli- mented Col. Carroll and his brigade upon "saving the army from utter annihilation," and afterwards, in his offi- cial report of the battle, said: "He (Carroll) particularly distinguished himself, on the afternoon of the 6th, by the prompt and skillful manner in which he led his brigade against the enemy, when he had broken the line of Mott's and Birney's troops." The praise was deserved and the credit belongs both to the gallant Carroll and the regi- ments he commanded ; for, had the brigade been tardy in its movements, or faltered in its duty, the army might have been severed in twain, and the best divisions of the Confederates firmly wedged between our right
* Swinton's "Army of the Potomac," pp. 436-7: " In front of the left of the line a fire had, during the afternoon, sprung up in the woods, and at the time of the attack this had communicated to the log breastworks on that part of the line. At this critical moment they became a mass of flame, which it was found impossible to subdue, and which extended many hundred yards to the right and left. The in- tense heat and the smoke, which was driven by the wind directly in the faces of the men, prevented them, or portions of the yet uninjured line, from firing over the parapet. The enemy, taking advantage of this, swept forward ; a considerable body of the troops in the first line gave way, * * and the enemy. * pressing into the breastworks, crowned it with their standards. Yet the victory was short lived ; it was only the inore adventurous that had penetrated the breast- works (inside of which, indeed, a few were killed), and these were quickly driven out by a forward rush of Carroll's brigade. Lee then abandoned the attack, in which he had suffered a considerable loss."
Junkin's " Life of Hancock," pp. 143-4: " But, after about thirty minutes of this work had passed, some of our men began to waver, and finally a portion of Mott's division, and part of Ward's brigade, of Birney's division, in the first line. give way in considerable disorder.
* With the promptness which always characterized that officer (Carroll) when ordered against the enemy. he moved his brigade by the left flank across the plank road until opposite the point abandoned by our troops, and then by the right flank in double time, retaking the line with ease, and with the loss of a few men, the enemy falling back, suffering - everely under the withering fire which our troops now poured into their ranks."
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
and left wings, in possession of the important Brock Road and in full command of the artillery and ammunition trains of the army, which were massed in the rear.
Gen. Hancock had received an order to attack the ene- my again at six, p. M. ; but that order was countermanded when Gen. Meade learned of the attack on the Second Corps lines. Darkness was now approaching, and the woods, in which the battle of the morning had raged, having caught fire from the flames on the left, were soon burning furiously-hundreds of the Union and Rebe! dead, and probably some of the wounded, being con- sumed.
Col. Carroll, although suffering from his wound of the previous day, had remained with his brigade from morning until night-his injured arm supported by a sling. Private Joseph W. Kay, of Company B, of the Tenth, narrowly escaped death while acting as mounted orderly for the brigade commander. A bullet struck him and glided half way around his body, leaving a bloody mark. Kay exhibited marked coolness and bravery during the day, and, in spite of his injury, re- mained upon duty. Six of the color guard of the Tenth had been taken from Company B, from which Sergt. Harrison was detached, and these (Corps. Groves, Wil- dey and Boyle, and Privates Snedicor, Golding and Murphy) arranged during the night of the 5th to assist each other in case of wounds being received in the ex- pected battle of the coming day. While the first fierce musketry fire of the morning was raging, each of the six was wounded, and their next place of meeting was the field hospital. They had been unable to render the agreed assistance to each other, owing to the almost simultaneous reception of their wounds. Color-Corps.
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THE KILLED AND WOUNDED.
Peterson and White, of Company A, also received wounds, the former being struek twice.
The tall soldierly form of Orderly-Sergt. Jaek Han- nigan, of Company A, was one of the first to fall. He received a bullet in the heart. Corp. John Meeks, of Company F, dropped dead in the ranks at the first fire from the enemy. Private George W. Bell, of Com- pany E, exhibited courage of the highest order during the morning, and was wounded in the recapture of the works in the afternoon. Private William H. Reese, of Company A, also distinguished himself. He had been an obdurate soldier while in camp, and had repeatedly averred that no officer could conquer his obstinacy; but in battle he had proved himself brave beyond question, and had fully redeemed his character as a soldier. Four days subsequently, at Spottsylvania, he was severely wounded.
Orderly-Sergt. Charley Hunter, of Company F, re- ceived a wound which proved fatal, and Private Jesse W. Chace, Company A, was killed instantly. Both served their two years in the old regiment and had re-enlisted for a second service with their comrades of past cam- paigns. Sergt. Sam. Miunes, of Company F, was a vete- ran of the Ist New York Volunteers. He was wounded, as was thought, mortally ; but in a few days he was walk- ing about the hospital convalescent. His was a case of quick recovery from pure " vim " and strength of will.
The total loss of the Tenth during the day was 96; of whom 15 were killed or died of wounds, 63 were wounded, and 18 were reported missing. Two of the latter, viz .: Privates Wyatt Johnstone, of Company C, and Robert L. Stewart, of Company F', died subsequently
17
t
258
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
while prisoners of war. Others, not heard from after- wards, possibly fell in the woods during the morning's struggle, and perished unnoticed by their comrades.
Names of the killed and mortally wounded :
Company A : First-Sergt. John Hannigan; Private Jesse W. Chace.
Company C : Sergt. John Turner : Corp. Andrew S. Hammett ; Privates Augustus Underhill, John Condon.
Company D : Privates Samuel Johnson, Henry Cro- zier.
Company E: Privates Frederick Bessin, Adelbert Feldman, Thompson Veitch, Walter Woodward.
Company F : First-Sergt. Chas. Hunter; Corp. John Meeks ; Private George Mayer.
Total, 15 .*
According to official reports, the loss of the Second Corps, during the two days of battle in the Wilderness, was 3,762 (besides the casualties of the 14th Indiana, not reported). In the story of the conflict, just told, we have not attempted to show the part taken by other corps. The loss sustained by our army has been placed as high as 20,000, of whom about 5,000 were prisoners. mainly captured in the operations on the right of Gen. Hancock. The proportion of wounded was unusually large, owing to the infrequent use of artillery upon either side. The enemy's loss was probably heavier in propor- tion to their numbers than our own.t
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