USA > New York > Services of the Tenth New York Volunteers (National Zouaves,) in the War of the Rebellion > Part 21
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
the men of the Tenth to see more than a few feet in front of their works, and Lieut .- Col. Hopper ordered them not to fire until the assailants could be discerned, and then to give them a solid volley. We stood with ready pieces and strained eyes, but the assaulting lines did not ap- proach near enough, and not a shot was fired by the bat- talion, although the smooth-bores in the hands of the 12th New Jersey Volunteers, on the right, rattled stead- ily for half an hour or more, and both solid shot and bullets came thickly from the front. The attack was repulsed and the Rebels fell back to their works with considerable loss, leaving their dead and wounded upon the same ground where hundreds of our own men were still lying, either killed or disabled. During the night a great many of the wounded and some of the dead were brought in by volunteering parties from the various regi- ments. If the writer's memory serves him, the bodies of Privates Pembroke and Samota were recovered from the extreme front and properly buried.
The position occupied by the Tenth was perilous to life, both on account of its exposure and the fact that a New Jersey battery, posted directly in the rear, was it- self a constant target for artillery and sharpshooters. The battalion remained here eight days. The duties performed and the perils encountered by the soldiers in the trenches at Cold Harbor, during this memorable period, have passed into the life history of those con- cerned, if not into lasting National record. Our own ex- perience was sovere. Under constant fire. without the chance of raising one's head above or leaving the work -. except under cover of night. with the continual watch- ing for expected attacks and repelling them when made, all caused a heavy strain upon our soldiers. Owing to
287
A PERILOUS POSITION.
the close proximity of the Rebel lines, pickets were at first deemed an impossibility in front of the left of the Third Brigade, except at night, when videttes were stealthily advanced by each regiment with orders to come in at daylight. After the lapse of two or three days, however, trenches were dug leading out from the re- spective regiments, and connecting the vidette rifle pits. and these pits were thereafter occupied during the day by the most practised shots, who returned with interest the compliments which the sharpshooters of the enemy had been paying our line since the 3d. A large tree, just in the rear of the right of the Tenth, was an especial mark for both the artillery and rifles of the enemy. Seve- ral large limbs were broken off, the trunk was indented and torn by shell and shot, and nearly every remaining twig bore the traces of bullets. This patriarch of the forest was made historical by its grim marks of war, and if it was not the identical tree of which parts were after- wards preserved in the War Department at Washington, it certainly should have been.
As has been mentioned, the battery stationed behind the battalion served to draw a hot fire of both artillery and small arms to its particular location, and caused us an amount of discomfort which the rest of the brigade could not experience. On the 4th, a defective shell from this battery instantly killed First-Sergt. George P. Chase. of Company C. He had risen in the works to take a careful sight and shot at a Rebel sharpshooter, when the shell exploded upon leaving the gun, carrying away a portion of the brave sergeant's head. Another fragment of shell killed Corp. George W. Reynolds, of the same company, while he and the adjutant were lying upon the same rubber blanket. Both of these soldiers thus killed
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
were veterans of the old regiment and trustworthy non- commissioned offieers. After these last-mentioned cas- ualties the fault was partly remedied by the captain of the battery, who had been slow to believe the testimony of Lieut .- Col. Hopper or the adjutant, and who was only at last really eonvineed of the injury done by his ammu- nition when a fragment from a prematurely exploding shell nearly ended his life while he was arguing the mat- ter with those officers. It was deemed best, however, to throw up an embankment in our rear to protect ourselves as much as possible from further danger in that quarter, and the ditch thus formed proved of service for another reason. The enemy soon began to favor us with missiles . from several mortars, which they had brought into position opposite Hancock's line, and the trench was resorted to as a shield against the bombs thrown by these disagree- able engines of warfare.
On the afternoon of the 7th a truce was agreed upon, to enable both armies to succor their wounded and bury the dead lying between the lines, and streteher bearers and fatigue parties issued from both lines, soon becom- ing intermingled in their work. Within a few minutes the forees on both sides had mounted their breastworks. and a picture was presented not often seen, even during this strange and eventful war. Standing on the works occupied by the Tenth, a line of blue could be traced on the right and left for a long distance, zigzagging as the works conformed to the nature of the ground, and hid- den occasionally by the woods. Opposite, a gray line marked the Rebel intrenchments quite as distinctly, and gave one an insight into the difficulties which had ren- dered the charge on the morning of the 3d so terribly unsuccessful. Occasional soldiers began jumping from
289
A TRUCE TO BURY THE DEAD.
the Union works to meet their antagonists of an hour previous, both sides being eager to commence trading in coffee, sugar and tobacco. This promiscuous mingling, however, became obviously perilous, and may possibly have put a premature ending to the truce ; the almost unnatural-because unwonted-quiet, which had reigned for perhaps two hours, with the relaxation of the intense strain upon the nerves, being suddenly terminated by a shot from a battery towards the left of the Second Corps, which acted much the same as a magician's wand, caus- ing the soldiers between the lines to scurry like rabbits to their respective works, and, in the twinkling of an eye, transforming the blue and gray lines into gloomy and apparently deserted intrenchments. In a moment or two the sharpshooters began their deadly work and artillery resumed its play. The truce was ended and ap- parently forgotten by the main portion of the armies concerned.
First-Lieut. Harvey Y. Russell, of Company C, of the Tenth, was wounded on the 5th, while assisting to bury one of the battalion, just in rear of the works. The to- tal loss of the command, in killed and wounded, in the operations at Cold Harbor was twenty-six-an unusually large proportion of the number being killed instantly or mortally injured. Following is a list of those killed and who died of wounds :
Company A : Privates David T. Doremus, Elias HI. Banks and William Dillon.
Company B : Private William J. Elliot.
Company C : Sergt. George P. Chase, Corp. W. Rey- nolds, Private Patrick Durkin.
Company E : Private Thomas Felix.
19
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
Company F : Privates James Pembroke, Franz Whe- lan, Alsondra Samota, John G. Rempis.
Total, 12 .*
Privates Joseph W. Kay and William J. Elliot, of Company B, were wounded while acting as mounted or- derlies for the brigade commander. Young Elliot died of his injury. Both were mere boys and were conspicu- ously courageous in action.t
The following is a portion of Col. Smyth's report of the operations of his brigade from June 3d to 7th, inclu- sive :
At half-past four, A. M., June 3d, I was ordered to attack the enemy. I formed my brigade in line of battle and charged the enemy's works. When the command arrived at from sixty to one hundred yards from the enemy's works, the ranks had become so thinned, and the fire from the enemy's artillery and musketry was so destructive, that the men were compelled to halt and seek such shelter as presented itself. In this position the command soon erected a rude breastwork. At nine, A. M., Berdan's Sharpshooters and a battalion of the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery reported
to me.
*
*
*
At four, P. M., the 164th New York and
the remaining battalion of the 1st Massachusetts reported to me, which regiments I formed on the opposite side of the ravine, on my extreme right. My line strengthened their works, and was ar- ranged, from right to left, as follows: 1st Massachusetts, 164th New York, 14th Connecticut, 8th Ohio, 4th Ohio, 7th Virginia, 12th New Jersey, 10th New York, 1st Delaware, 14th Indiana.
About eight, P. M., the enemy opened upon us a terrible artil- lery fire, which lasted about thirty minutes, after which he charged along my whole line. He was repulsed with considerable loss.
* The Appendix contains a complete list of the wounded.
+ The Second Corps received an almost mortal blow at Cold Harbor. A writer says : "A story way current in the army about this time that Gen. Hancock, upon being asked where the Second Corps was, replied that ' it lay buried between the Rapidan and James.' This reply might have been made without any great exagger- ation, for it had lost in battle the flower of its strength. The average loss, for a period of about thirty days, was over 400 men daily."
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EVACUATING COLD HARBOR.
During the night, one-half of the command were kept awake and under arms. In this action Lieut. Benjamin Y. Draper, A. A. D. C., on my staff, a brave and gallant young officer, was killed. At half- past ten, A. M., June 4th, the enemy opened on us a heavy artillery fire, which continued until thirty-five minutes past eleven, doing but little injury. Sharp skirmishing was kept up all day. At forty minutes past eight, P. M., the brisk skirmish changed to a very heavy musketry fire on both sides, followed by a short artillery duel, which did no damage to my brigade, except wounding one of my staff orderlies, Private Kay, Tenth New York.
June 5th, in the afternoon, my standard bearer, Private Elliot, Tenth New York, was mortally wounded whilst carrying an order. At half-past eight, P. M., the enemy commeneed a vigorous attack with artillery and musketry, which lasted twenty-four minutes, without doing injury. Heavy skirmishing continued during June 6th, and until four, P. M., June ith, when a cessation of hostilities was ordered, to give an opportunity to bury the dead.
The position of the Rebel army seemed to grow in strength daily, and although Gen. Grant extended his left to the Chickahominy, the enemy still confronted him in force. He at length decided to pass the river consider- ably beyond Lee's right, and, moving thence to the James, to cross that stream and threaten Richmond's connections with the South. Col. Smyth's brigade was relieved from duty in the trenches on the 10th, and, on the 12th, at dark, marched with the rest of the Second Corps to the left, crossing the Chickahominy at Long Bridge. The march was continued with intervals of rest until the night of the 13th, when Wilcox's Landing, on the James River, was reached. The Fifth Corps took the same ronte. On the night of the 11th, Hancock crossed the river by means of transports, the troops land- ing at Windmill Point about daylight .*
* A portion of the army, with most of the trains, crossed afterwards by means of a pontoon bridge. This bridge was an achievement in engineering of consider-
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
After a rest of three or four hours, Gibbon's division pushed on towards Petersburg, followed by the balance of the corps. The day was exceedingly hot and the roads as heavy and dusty as Virginia roads ever are in dry summer weather. From disuse they had ceased to have the appearance of highways. Very few white inhabit- ants remained in the region, they having fled at the ap- proach of our army. The maps furnished to Gen. Han- cock appear to have been faulty, and negro guides had to be consulted as to the best roads by which to reach the position, near Petersburg, to which the Second Corps was ordered by Gen. Meade. Heavy firing was occa- sionally heard ahead, growing nearer and louder as each mile was covered. Late in the afternoon the Tenth was detached, with the 12th New Jersey, to guard two diverg- ing roads at a point about seven miles from the city, un- til the ammunition trains in the rear should pass. The two commands rejoined their brigade about midnight, a halt having been made near the line of heavy forts pro- tecting Petersburg. Our men thus lost what little sleep the balance of the brigade had enjoyed, and of which they were sadly in need after the wakeful experience of the previous night on the transports; for, after rations were hurriedly issued, Gibbon's and Birney's divisions were quickly marched to the fortifications, which had been captured by the troops of the Tenth and Eighteenth' Corps the afternoon previous, relieving the divisions of those corps then in the works. Very severe fighting had taken place in and around the earthwork fort which our battalion now occupied, and several dead soldiers of
able note, being over two thousand feet in length, with the channel boats anchored in thirteen fathoms of water. It was begun during the forenoon of the 14th and compicted by midnight.
293
GRANT BEFORE PETERSBURG.
Gen. Hincks' colored regiments were lying within and around the work. A picket detail was sent ont from the battalion, and then all endeavored to snatch what sleep they could obtain, before the dawn, which was already heralded in the eastern horizon, should usher in another day.
PERIOD III.
IN THE TRENCHES BEFORE PETERSBURG-STRAWBERRY PLAINS-REAM'S STATION-DEEP BOTTOM- BOYDTON ROAD-HATCHER'S RUN.
Gen. Grant's entire force operating against Richmond, composed of the Armies of the Potomac and the James, was now either en route towards Petersburg or already environing the city. The movement of the Army of the Potomac across the Chickahominy and James had been made with dispatch and without the loss of a wagon or piece of artillery, while the Eighteenth Corps had been transported up the James River with equal success. Gen. Meade's army was now united with that of Gen. But- ler .* In the conduct of the grand campaign, thus far,
* The movements of the Army of the Potomac, since cutting loose from Brandy Station, May 3d, had devolved a prodigious amount of work upon that wonderful machine. the " Quartermaster's Department." No sooner was Fredericksburg oc- cupied than the road to Acquia Creek was opened, and a bridge across Potomac Creek, 422 ft. long and 82 ft. high, together with wharves, were immediately built. This road was operated for a few weeks ondy, when the army left Fredericksburg and the base of supplies was shifted to Port Royal, on the Rappahannock. A very few days sufficed for that route, and then the base was transferred to White House, on the Pamunkey. Scarrely twenty-four hours after our advance reached the Chick- ahominy, locomotives were whistling on the White House Railroad. Then came the crossing of the James and the shifting of supplies to City Point, on that river. Our army had abundant reason to thank the much-abused Quartermaster's Depart - ment for its generalship.
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
Grant had faithfully endeavored to carry out his inten- tion of approaching Richmond overland, never losing sight, however, of his theory that Lee's army was the true objective point. The marching had been rapid and the fighting bloody, while the changes of position to meet emergencies were conceived with promptness and exe- cuted with the utmost celerity. But Gen. Lee had kept a stronger army, numerically, in the front of the Army of the Potomac than it had been supposed he could, and, since the first days of the Wilderness campaign, he had been exceedingly careful in selecting strong and defen- sible positions, and in never risking battle on an open field. His army had lost heavily, of course, but was yet sufficiently strong, with the reinforcements it had re- cently received, to maintain its ground firmly on inner and defensive lines, and, united with the strong force hitherto opposing Gen. Butler on the James, it was ca- pable of a long and protracted resistance.
Had the movement of the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, on the 15th of June, been better planned strate- gically, and the attacks upon the works properly sup- ported and followed up, Petersburg would undoubtedly have been taken-its defensive works being in reality but feebly manned ; but, before the Second Corps could ar- rive, the fighting had ended with the capture-by the colored troops and their white comrades-of 16 guns and 300 prisoners.
The rattle of musketry startled the soldiers of the Tenth from sleep early on the 16th. It proved to be an advance of the brigade picket line across a small run in their front, the main incentive having been a rather di- lapidated looking house, occupied by the enemy's vi- dettes, and which some of the 2th Virginia Regiment
295
HANCOCK'S ATTACK.
imagined might possibly contain provender of some sort. A few wild soldiers of that command made a sudden ad- vance upon the house, and the entire picket line of the Third Brigade rushed across the little stream and routed the Rebel videttes, thoroughly cleaning out the place and holding the ground gained. The spoils consisted of several prisoners, with two or three hams and a quantity of other eatables-no loss being sustained by our men that the author can recollect. Sergt. William Early, of Company A, of the Tenth, brought in an officer and two men whom he had been instrumental in capturing.
Gen. Hancock had been instructed, in the temporary absence of Gens. Grant and Meade, to take command of all the troops in front of Petersburg this morning (16th), and to push forward a reconnoissance to determine a suitable place for an assault which it was proposed to make at six, r. M. Birney's division, on Gibbon's left, made the reconnoissance. Barlow's division was formed on Birney's left, and the Ninth Corps was massed on the left of the Second. An animated musketry and artillery fire ensued, and continued until the time of the general assault. Gen. Meade had then arrived and the divisions of Barlow and Birney attacked the enemy's positions, as- sisted by a portion of Gibbon's command, and supported by two brigades each of the Ninth and Eighteenth Corps. The enemy had been busily engaged during the night in replacing the militia in the defences with veteran troops, and the Second Corps again met its old antagonists .*
For the first time since the crossing of the Rapidan,
* Swinton, p. 506, says: " In the morning it was found that a new line of work. had been thrown up around the town, defended by a large forve already present, which was constantly reinforced by the rapidly arriving Confederate corps. It was soon manifest that the ' Cockade City,' which the day before was the open prize of the first captor, would demand for Its possession a battle or a siege."
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
six weeks previous, the Third Brigade was actually upon the reserve. Holding the captured line of Rebel works, situated upon a high elevation, the scene of conflict lay before us, although the movements of the troops were obscured to some extent by the forest. The ground be- tween the opposing lines was broken and rugged, with here and there cultivated fields. Crests of ground were carried and the outer works of the enemy captured in several instances; but, at the end of the day's contest, it was doubtful if the capture of a redoubt and other small advantages gained had compensated us for the loss of between 1500 and 2000 men.
Next morning (17th) the Third Brigade was hurried to the left of the corps, in support of the First Division. Here the command remained during the day, at times under heavy artillery fire. At one time during the after- noon a charge at double-quick time was made to the front, where assistance was needed in consequence of an advance of the enemy upon our lines. The Tenth lost here four men killed and wounded. About eight, r. M., the brigade was marched a short distance to the right to fill a gap between the First and Third Divisions, and by some blunder the Tenth, with other portions of the bri- gade, was left in an advanced position, with no orders and without exact knowledge of the situation. After an hour or two had passed, an order to withdraw, from some source, was obeyed, though not without considerable finesse and the loss of several men from the brigade. The total loss of the Tenth this day was eight killed and wounded and one prisoner. the latter being Sergt. Early. of Company A, who had the preceding day signalized himself by capturing several Rebel skirmishers. Privates Charles Jolinson and William Smith, of Company F.
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CONTINUED ASSAULTS.
were killed, and Private John Egan, of Company E, was mortally wounded .* These losses were severely felt at this time when our numbers were so reduced, each regi- ment having generally to perform an equal share of picket and other duties, regardless of the number of offi- cers and men present for duty. The steady marching and fighting through the campaign had told upon the strength of those of the battalion who had escaped bul- lets-sickness causing many to seek the hospital.
Before daylight of the next morning, or rather of the same morning-for it was midnight before the battalion dropped down to rest-our brigade rejoined its own di- vision, and at four, A. M., advanced upon the enemy's lines, discovering that they had abandoned their works immediately in front for an inner series of defences about half a mile back. New combinations now became neces- sary, and at noon and throughout the remainder of the day, desperate attacks were made on the Confederate lines by the Second Corps, in conjunction with the other corps in position on its right and left. Gen. Hancock had on the night previous temporarily relinquished con- mand of his corps on account of his old wound, Gen. Birney succeeding him. The last charge on the Second Corps front was made in the afternoon, from the Hare House, by Mott's division, with two columns formed in columns of regiments. The Third Brigade (temporarily under command of Lieut .- Col. Hopper, the ranking offi- cer present.) supported the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, about 1000 strong, in a gallant advance against the ene- my's works. The new regiment, not yet disheartened by unsnecessful assaults, charged gallantly across an open field, but failed in its attempt, leaving more than 600 in
* The names of the wounded appear in the Appendix.
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
killed and wounded upon the field. Our own brigade was not called upon to press the attack, but a brigade of Mott's division, lying in the road where the charging regiment had formed, failed to go forward, although the officers made strong efforts to spur their veteran regi- ments to a continuance of the bloody charge. In the words of a brave general officer, the veterans "had seen the wolf and bore his scars."
The advantages gained by our army during the day were trifling, really, the new main line of the enemy around the city not being penetrated. Our line, how- ever, was well established across the Norfolk Railroad on the left, and the enemy's position developed. Sergt. Edward Smith, of Company D, of the Tenth, was wounded in the day's mandenvering and fighting.
The vicissitudes and experiences of the long cam. paign had by this time taught our soldiers how to take advantage of fences, stone walls, trees and inequalities of ground, to shield themselves from danger when ex- posure was not actually necessary ; and they had be- come adepts, to a certain extent, in this business. It may have been a natural result of the breastwork style of fighting so much practiced of late. The men had also become tacticians and strategists by virtue of their experi- ence, and, by glancing over intervening ground, could generally tell whether it was possible for them to storm and carry a certain position. In more than one instance they had acted according to their judgment, and refused to peril their lives where that judgment told them suc- cess would not crown their efforts. This was certainly recklessness in regard to results ; for under other circum- stances it would, probably, have been considered muti- nous conduct ; but the campaign had made all reckless,
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THE MORALE OF THE ARMY.
in a measure, and if a regiment of men had been sen- tenced to be shot to death for the disobedience, they would possibly have acquiesced, with the argument that it was as well to be shot in one way as another. Such feel- ing was at this time not uncommon throughout the army, particularly amongst the veterans, and it took weeks of rest to eradicate it. If the Army of the Potomac had been composed of automatic soldiers, reared to arms and accustomed to blind obedience, perhaps the case might have been different ; but there were thinking, calculat- ing, intelligent men in each company of each regiment, and they weighed chances, studied the " whys and where- fores," and considered results to be attained, and so were not always implicitly to be relied upon as a machine to be run into certain death. As a rule, brave men are not fearless. Those who, fearless and without cause, rush to death, are generally either foolish or unduly excited. The bravest men of the rank and file enter into action with steady front, although their cheeks may blanch at impending risk. Their sense of manhood and scorn of shirking impel them to show example to others less brave. Yet even these men of conscience and principle have be- come stubborn and intractable when daily faced by, and ordered to assail, lines apparently impregnable .*
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