USA > New York > Services of the Tenth New York Volunteers (National Zouaves,) in the War of the Rebellion > Part 23
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* The names of the wounded, as far as known, appear in the Appendix.
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
Lieut .- Col. Hopper, in his report of the participation of the Tenth in the battle, said : "Under direction of Maj. A. S. Woods, and other officers of this command, one gun and three limbers were extricated from their positions, where they had been abandoned, and brought safely to the rear."
The enemy's forces withdrew at about the same time as ours. On the morning following the battle, surgeons of the Second Corps visited the field and assisted the injured .*
This battle has been stamped by critical military writers as one of the most obstinately fought engage- ments of the war. The demoralization of the portions of Miles' and Gibbon's divisions which joined at the apex of the triangular-shaped lines, and were thus each taken in reverse and enfiladed by both infantry and artillery, could hardly have been prevented had the regiments been wholly veterans, instead of bodies of recruits, as was the case to a great extent. The whole afternoon's action was a series of tests to which soldiers were seldom subjected in the history of the Rebellion. The heavy numbers of the enemy enabled them to almost envelop our contracted lines, and yet a few isolated charges upon the captured works, such as the one in which our own battalion participated, caused the Rebels to halt in their
* Swinton's "Army of the Potomac," p. 338: " Gen. Hancock, in a letter to the author, detailing the substance of a conversation had with Gen. Heth, who com- manded a division in the battle, says: ' Heth would not say positively how many troops they had at Rem's Station, but acknowledges to a very heavy force of in- fantry and cavalry. He was surprised at learning the smallnew of our force. After they had been repulsed in the third charge upon our works. tien. Hill sent for Heth and told him that he must carry the position, which they certainly did very hand- somely by a fourth assault. He admits their losses to have been very severe in killed and wounded.
315
COL. SMYTH'S REPORT.
advance, and ultimately to withdraw from the field al- most simultaneously with our own divisions.
Our losses had been nearly 3000, of whom many were prisoners .* Nine eannon and several standards had been captured by the enemy, who must have suffered a loss of at least 1500 in killed and wounded. The Second Corps had indeed experienced the bitterness of defeat, and the fact that its two engaged divisions had fought against heavy odds did not altogether assuage the sor- row of its veteran soldiers.t
. The following is Col. Smyth's report of the part taken by the Third Brigade in the battle :
August 24th, at three, A. M., took up our line of march for Ream's Station, and formed line on the left of the First Division. At half-past seven o'clock, I occupied the works of the First Divi- sion and posted my pickets. At dark, I clo-ed to the right to give way to that division. Ordered to march at half-past five, A. M., to guard the working party.
August 25th I received orders to march out to the railroad. The enemy appeared in force in our front on the road. I received orders to deploy one of my regiments as skirmishers-1st Dela- ware-and support it by the 12th New Jersey. I moved forward about half a mile, driving in the enemy's cavalry videttes. My right flankers reported the enemy on my right. I had the Tenth New York deployed to protect my flank ; advanced about a mile. driving the enemy to their works, but found it impossible to cross in their front. Fell back a short distance, taking position behind a rail fence, when the enemy charged me, but was handsomely re- pulsed by my line of skirmishers. I soon after received an order
*Junkins' ". Life of Hancock " states, that the losses of Gibbon's and Miles' divi- sions amounted, in the aggregate, (0 2198 killed and wounded.
+ At eleven. p. M., of the asth. Gen. Meade sent a dispatch to Hanchek, in which he said : " I am satisfied you and your command have done all in your power, and, theugh you have met with a reverse, the honor and escutcheon of the old Se- cond are as bright as ever, and will, on some future occasion, prove that it is only when enormous odds are brought against them that they can be swerved."
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
from Gen. Gibbon to make another attack and find out what was in my front. Deployed the 7th Virginia and 14th Connecticut, supported on the left flank by the 12th New Jersey, 69th Pennsyl- vania in the rear, and Tenth New York on the right. I charged again to the swamp, and found it impossible to cross under the heavy fire. I fell back to the fence, where I remained until I re- ceived orders from Maj .- Gen. Gibbon to bring my command back to the works. By this time I was very nearly surrounded ; but succeeded in finding a gap, and brought the brigade in safe. I was posted by Maj .- Gen. Gibbon on the left of the Second Brigade, where I erected a work. The enemy made three charges on the First Division and were repulsed.
They then opened a most destructive fire of artillery, which took my line right in the rear, followed by a charge on the First Division, and struck a regiment of "heavies," who broke, giving up the work to the Rebels. I faced my brigade about and charged through the cornfield and up the hill to the other side ; but the men being so much exhausted by the operations of the morning, they fell out on the way. By the time I got to the hill. I had so few left that I was repulsed. I fell back to my old works.
The enemy having captured twelve pieces of artillery, the 12th New Jersey, 14th Connecticut and 10th New York recaptured three of them. About half-past six o'clock they attacked the Se- cond Brigade, on my right; they fell back along my rear, carrying the greater portion of my men with them; the balance of my com- mand I forined in the edge of the woods in the rear of the First Divi-ion. I took the 69th Pennsylvania to the front, to bring off the three guns; but, on the way, I found they were being brought off by some of the men on the left of the First Division. I posted the 69th Pennsylvania to protect the left flank of the three regi- ments I had on the First Division left.
The three regiments last noted were the Tenth New York, 12th New Jersey and 14th Connecticut, who re- mained on the extreme left until the last moment of withdrawal. They brought off the recaptured guns and limbers.
Miles' and Gibbon's divisions, upon reaching the main
317
ARRIVAL OF RECRUITS.
line of our army on the morning of the 26th, went into camp near the locality from whence they marched on the 23d.
August 30th, the Second Division took position in the line of works in the vicinity of Fort Morton, remaining there six days, when the command was again moved back and employed in the completion of the rear line of works, which now extended from the left of the main line back towards City Point. This series of works was as strongly built as the front line, with forts, redoubts and connecting breastworks covered by ditches and heavy abattis; and, although never manned, it could have been, in case of a rear attack, quickly filled with troops. The various brigades worked in turn, felling trees, loading and unloading the timber and building corduroy roads.
While in camp in this location, a body of nearly two hundred recruits was received by the Tenth from New York, having been assigned to the battalion by State authority. They were fine looking men, and many had seen service before. This addition to the battalion, with the return of several men who had been wounded in the Wilderness campaign, raised its numbers to considerably over three hundred. The recruits were soon initiated, the days of comparative quiet giving an opportunity for drill which would not have presented itself had the men arrived two or three weeks later. A few days after we were thus reinforced, the Third Brigade was ordered to Prince George Court House (about four or five miles to the rear) to reinforce the cavalry posted at that point, remaining until September 21th, when the division again relieved a portion of the troops in the main line of works fronting Petersburg.
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
The Army of the Potomac had now been besieging the city for more than three months, and the works which had originally been thrown up near the Appo- mattox, during the first days of fighting in June, had grown in length and increased in formidable proportions until, at this date, a chain of strong forts and redoubts extended to and beyond the Weldon Road, a distance of several miles, connected by breastworks of heavy logs and earth, and protected by a pieket line which was it- self a series of irregular earthworks nearly as strong as the main line. Neither time nor labor had been spared in the erection and gradual completion of these works, and the forts themselves, with their smaller brethren, the mortar batteries or redoubts, displayed an elaborate- ness of construction which was alike creditable to the engineers who planned them and the soldiers who wielded the piek and shovel. Equally strong, though perhaps not quite so elaborate, were the enemy's fortifications encircling the city, and each day witnessed the inter- change of iron compliments between the two lines, which were in some places hardly two hundred yards apart.
The orthodox and monotonous firing between the piekets of the two armies had grown less constant as time had elapsed, until now it was heard only in ex- ceptional cases. The close proximity of the lines, how- ever, admitted of no relaxation of watchfulness-one or two shots from either line at night, or perhaps the move- ment of troops along the picket front, being often the occasion of a volley of musketry, followed by the guns from the forts nearest the point of engagement. In case of a long continued tiring of the picket line, other forts along the opposing lines would open with artillery, and at such times the continuous roll and reverberation of
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319
LIFE IN THE TRENCHIES.
hundreds of heavy guns upon the night air, with the bursting of countless shells, accompanied by the inces- sant flashes, and the comet-like course of the ignited mis- siles as they chased each other in multitudinous direc- tions, afforded a pandemonium of sound and pyrotech- nies unequaled under any other circumstances. If it had been possible to forget the deadly intent of the iron spheres which were hurled through the air, one could have easily admired their trail against the starlit heavens, as they described beautiful shining curves in their rise and fall from one fortified line to the other.
The constant use of mortars on either side, ranging in calibre from six to thirteen inches, rendered it abso- lutely necessary to protect the lines from above as well as from the front, and bomb-proofs were therefore com- mon along the line, particularly where the headquarters of a division, brigade or regiment were located. These unique structures, built of heavy logs, and banked over and around with earth, afforded a safe shelter, except when a " Whitworth" shell directed at point blank range, or a ten-inch mortar projectile, would impinge upon the side or roof, in which case logs and earth proved as brittle as cardboard. Directly along the line of breastworks, the shelters generally assumed the form of excavations in the ground, or, in army parlance, "go- phers," being roofed in bomb-proof style with logs and earth, and into these friendly caverns the soldiers were swift to plunge when the easily distinguished report of a mortar was heard opposite their particular portion of the line.
From long acquaintance with this peenliar existence in the trenches, our men grew to take everything in a natural and, one might almost say, an easy way, if it
320
THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
could be so called when each nerve was constantly on the qui vive and every sense alert. Death was an almost hourly companion, and it may be said that we were fight- ing a constant battle, in which the killing or wounding of a comrade was too common for especial comment. The reports of the various engines of warfare, and the peculiar noises caused by their projectiles, were each well known and distinguished from the others, whether mortars, smooth-bore or rifled guns-Whitworths, Par- rotts, or Rodmans ; and along the line the men could generally tell what particular gun had just spoken, and whether it was necessary to dodge. Occasionally a queer whirring, whistling sound was heard in the air, and two or three soldiers would perhaps sing out, "There goes his rammer." Somebody had either inserted a spare ram- mer in the muzzle of his piece and shot it in the air to- wards the Rebel line, in imitation of a bomb, or had by accident shot off his own in the act of loading. These rather strange missiles occasionally came also from the "Johnnies'" lines, and, as experience had shown that they were murderous, they were given a wide berth.
Many were the grim adventures and sports which the opposing pickets indulged in during the months before Petersburg. Sometimes several of the crack shots would pelt for an hour at a Rebel figure, which " would not down," only to discover at last that it was a man of straw, rigged in butternut coat and hat. These jokes were generally paid in kind, however. A sudden fusil- ade from the Rebel line would develop the fact that one of our boys was energetically raising and lowering a ram- mer, on the end of which he had fastened his cap ; thus drawing the fire of sharpshooters, but making it ex- tremely uncomfortable for those in his vicinity.
321
"FORT HELL."
Desertions from our side were sometimes followed on the next morning by a loud request from the "Rebs," to " Send over Col. and the colors"-giving the name of the colonel of the deserters' regiment. A re- quest of this kind, made to our own battalion after cer- tain desertions (mentioned hereafter), rather nettled the writer and other officers, and we improvised a plan to capture a section of the "horse-rake" abattis in front of the Rebel lines on the following night, and display it upon our pieket works the next morning. It was in- tended that two or three officers and a few men-volun- teers-should undertake the job, furnished with rope, &c .; but Gen. Smyth fortunately, or unfortunately, vetoed the project while the preliminaries were being arranged.
During the occupation of the main works by the Se- cond Corps, following the 24th of September, our batta- lion was successively assigned to Fort Davis, on the left of the Jerusalem plank road: Fort Sedgwick,* or "Fort Hell," as it was significantly named, on its right ; and the works on the left of Fort Morton, still further to the
* " Fort Hell," built on a bare knoll opposite Fort Jackson, a Rebel work about 650 yards distant, was a notoriously fatal spot, and it was ** a furlough " for a man to leave the immediate protection of its earthworks. It became well known throughout the army, on account of the nom de plume and the number of casual- ties happening there. The redoubt on its right was equally exposed, and, although officially known by its regular number, it was profanely called by the troops " Fort Damnation." The origin of the name of the larger fortification is thus explained by a writer (although we do not indorse the story as entirely veracious) : " Old Gen. Barnard, Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac, claimed, as his espe- cial privilege, the naming of all the forts and batteries along the line of works, and one day, when the fort was nearly completed and he paused to inspect the works. he was shocked to see that some presumptuous person had dared to post a sign at the entrance. He could scarcely believe his eyes, and, wiping his spectacles, he read aloud. ' Fort Scott :' and then indignantly exclaimed : 'Fort Scott? Fort Hell !' That afternoon the old sign was removed, and up went the new name. ' Fort Hell,' which every one acknowledged to be much the more appropriate."
21
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
right, holding this last position until October 26th. While here, Col. Smyth, the esteemed brigade com- mander, received his commission as brigadier-general, his command receiving the news with real joy, and with the heartiest kind of cheers, which gradually extended along the whole division line. Afterwards, on the 22d, he was the recipient of a handsome gift from the officers of the brigade, consisting of a saddle and equipments, with sword, sash, belt and shoulder straps, all of exquisite workmanship, and costing nearly $1,200. His own regi- ment, the 1st Delaware, presented him with a fine horse, and he also received a powerful horse from the non-com- missioned officers and privates of the 63d New York Vo- lunteers, of the Irish Brigade. These incidents proved the regard entertained for the brave and courteous gene- ral by all who knew him.
Several casualties occurred in our battalion during this term of duty in the works. The killed or mortally wounded were : George Wright, of Company A; An- son Moore, of Company D ; and James Shanahan and William Phyfe, of Company E. The recruits were well used to the sound of arms and smell of powder before orders were received for another movement. These or- ders came on the 26th of October, and that night the Se- cond and Third Divisions vacated the works and marched to the extreme left of the line-there taking the Vaughan Road, and, at daylight, reaching Hatcher's Run, about ten miles distance in all.
Gen. Grant had again struck out on his left, this time in the direction of the Southside Railroad, which con- neeted Petersburg with the Danville Road, running from Richmond south, and portions of three corps (the Se- cond, Fifth and Ninth) were in motion against this ob-
323
SKIRMISH AT HATCHER'S RUN.
jective point. The enemy hield works along the south bank of Hatcher's Run, and soon after the two divisions of the Second Corps (the Second and Third) reached the stream, our Third Brigade was ordered by Gen. T. W. Egan, temporarily commanding the division, to force its passage and capture the earthworks opposite.
Doubts may have been entertained by Gen. Smyth as to the efficiency of the Tenth, owing to the number of its recruits who had not as yet met the enemy in actual battle ; but, if such doubts existed, they were quickly dispelled. The battalion, which was in the front line, crossed the run, up to the armpits-the soldiers holding their guns and cartridge-boxes clear of the water-and charged up to and over the enemy's breastworks, Color- Sergt. Sam. Minnes reaching the works, with the adju- tant and several men, in advance even of the gallant Smyth himself, who had seized the flag of the 69th Penn- sylvania, on the left of the Tenth, and borne it straight to the intrenchments. Some twenty prisoners were cap- tured, and the remainder of the force, which seemed to be cavalry, escaped. The bearer of the Tenth's State color, a brave, dare-devil Frenchman, with the rather paradoxical name of John Bull, was firmly imbedded in the mud for two or three minutes while crossing the run. and his cries of rage, interspersed largely with French oaths hurled at the Rebels, afforded considerable amuse- ment, in spite of the bullets which whistled through the air from the works above .*
The two divisions then marched several miles towards the Boydton plank road, Gen. Egan taking the Dabney's
* Junkin's " Life of Hancock," p. 255: " Egan advanced so energetically that. by daylight, he was ready to attempt the crossing of Hatcher's Run. Smyth's bri- gale was deployed, and advanced in fine style, carrying the works at a run."
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THE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
Mill Road through the thick woods which covered the country hereabouts. This road intersected the Boydton Road south of Burgess' Tavern-a house at the junction of the White Oak Road, which led in the direction of the Southside Railroad. Burgess' Mill was at the cross- ing of Hatcher's Run, on the Boydton Road, and be- tween the mill and tavern the enemy had posted a bat- tery, which opened upon our advance. This fire was speedily silenced by Beck's Battery. Gen. Hancock con- sidered it imprudent to continue his march across the country towards the railroad while the enemy remained south of the stream, and therefore ordered Gen. Egan to move towards the bridge and drive them over it.
About this juncture, according to Junkin's "Life of Hancock," Gen. Hancock received an order from Gen. Meade, in person, to halt at the plank road, Gens. Grant and Meade having then arrived on the field. The latter informed Gen. Hancock that Crawford's division, Fifth Corps, was working its way up the run, and requested Hancock to extend his line to the right, in order to make the desired connection with Crawford's troops. The change of orders was owing to the Fifth and Ninth Corps not having broken through the enemy's lines, as originally designed in the programme laid out for the movement. Gen. Grant determined to end this opera- tion there.
The deployment of Egan's division then began, and Gen. Sinyth, with portions of his brigade, charged to the stream, driving the enemy across the run and holding the captured works for some time, subject to a severe fire. In this charge the Ist Delaware was actively en- gaged and especially notable, led by Gen. Smyth in per-
325
BOYDTON ROAD.
son, who "dashed into the ereek, waving his hat in his hand, and cheering the men on by his example."*
Meanwhile our own battalion, by direction of Gen. Smyth, had been deployed by Lieut .- Col. Hopper, under a rather searching fire of artillery from the Rebel guns now stationed on the extreme left and rear; the right company (D) being headed by Maj. Woods, with orders to unite, if possible, with the expected Fifth Corps. While thus moving through the woods the leading files suddenly discovered the glimmer of steel ahead, and the movement of the line was arrested. Maj. Woods and Adjt. Cowtan now advanced some rods with a squad of men, and discovered a strong column of the enemy marching quickly along a wood road directly towards the rear of Gen. Egan's position. The adjutant quickly reported to Gens. Egan and Smyth-the first named general requesting that a further reconnoissance be made by some officer, in order to discover, if possible, some- thing more definite concerning this rather unexpected appearance of the enemy. The adjutant thereupon took Orderly-Sergt. Dugald Gilkison, of Company D, and the two crossed the road on which the enemy had been marching and penetrated their lines. They were inspect- ing the locality when a squad of Rebels approached, and it was now a question of escape or death, for prison life in the South had no charms for either. They immedi- ately took to their legs, and headed towards their own lines, their heavy overcoats and equipments, with clothes still wet from the effects of fording the stream in the morning, materially impeding their progress. Uufor- tunately they ran plump into a group of Rebel soldiers, who were busily engaged rifling the knapsaeks of some
* Dr. Maull's " Memoir of Gen. T. A. Smyth."
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TIIE NATIONAL ZOUAVES.
captured soldiers, and were ordered to surrender. A quick turn to the right, however, was made by the two scouts, and, although bullets whistled around them, they escaped and reached the line of the 12th New Jersey Regiment. A hurried report was made by the adjutant to Gen. Egan ; but, even while the report was being de- livered, the rattling volleys which broke upon our rear told that the enemy had once more flanked the Second Corps, and was endeavoring to repeat the manœuvre which had resulted so disastrously to us on the 22d of June. Mahone's strong division, of Hill's corps * (the magnificent body of Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia troops which was fated so often to meet the Second Corps), burst suddenly npon two advance regi- ments of Pierce's brigade and overran them by sheer weight, driving them back to the plank road and sweep- ing off several hundred prisoners with a section of Beck's Battery. Gen. Egan immediately changed front with his available brigades (Smyth's and Willett's), and to- gether with McAllister's brigade, of Mott's Division, made an irresistible charge upon the enemy's flank, driv- ing them in confusion from the field and capturing two colors and nearly one thousand prisoners-besides retak- ing the guns of Beck's Battery and many of the men captured by the Rebels in the first attack.
Owing to the deployment of the Tenth as skirmishers on the right flank, they were not actively engaged with the balance of the brigade in the counter-charge upon the Rebel force. During the heat of the action they were assembled and brought up as reserve, but the battle was so quickly decided that their assistance was not
* Junkin's " Life of Hancock " asserts that the entire force sent against Han- cock was under the immediate command of Gen. Heth.
327
BOYDTON ROAD.
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