USA > New York > The Ninth New York heavy artillery : a history of its organization, services in the defe battles, and muster-out, with accounts of life in a rebel prison, personal experiences, names and addresses of surviving members, personal sketches and a complete roster, pt 1 > Part 14
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For three days the regiment camps. The grounds are policed and tents pitched. The neighboring country richly supplements army rations. for green corn, apples and all kinds of meat may be had by very little exertion. Wheat-flour can be secured from a mill near by, and the new luxury of honey is brought into camp in great quantities, for the bees of the valley appear to be very numerous and more than proverbially busy. Sol- diers of inquisitive or scientific disposition-the terms are near- ly synonymous-have much satisfaction in exploring a large cave near Cedar creek, a curiosity by no means rare in this lime- stone region.
But we are not here merely for a summer outing. and in the evening of the 16th* we pack up and retrace our steps towards Winchester, along that
"Good, broad highway leading down,"
whose every inch we were fated to know ere the snows of winter settled its dust. It is an all-night march, and the sun is an hour high before we halt for breakfast. That finished. we proceed, passing through Winchester and out on the Berry- ville pike about four miles, crossing the Opequon creek and camp.
Middletown is twelve or more miles from Winchester on the
*On this day a brisk cavalry engagement was fought at Cedarville on the Front Royal pike between General Merritt and Fitz Lee, and though ending successfully for the Union side, it may have caused Sheridan's withdrawal, he preferring to choose his own battlefield.
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
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THE VALLEY AND WINCHESTER.
main turnpike, and from it a road leads up the Luray valley, since the projection of the Massanuttan mountain here divides the Shenandoah valley into two divisions. Front Royal lies further to the east and at the-entrance to the Luray. Its location made Middletown a place of unusual importance. Through the Luray valley were approaching Fitz Lee and Kershaw with two divisions just from Petersburg. Moseby was active near Berryville, hence the necessity of the reverse movement. The valley that we were to know so well extended from Harper's Ferry to Staunton, a distance of more than 120 miles. With the former place or Martinsburg, twenty miles further west and even more remote from Winchester as the base of supplies, any one can see that Sheridan's great problem was to keep communications open. The section was terribly hostile, hence the necessity of making the long halts near the foot of the valley, or in proximity to our base.
Rapid cannon and musket firing in the direction of Winches- ter indicates that the enemy has kept near us. The Jersey brigade, 1st Division, with some cavalry had faced about just to see who are following. The vigor of the enemy's attack soon imparted all the knowledge necessary, and in considerable dis- array they continue their retreat. On the 18th we march to Berryville, and then return to our late camping-place, prepare and eat our dinners and then march to the vicinity of Charles- town, camping at or near midnight. The 19th finds us in camp and guarding the turnpike leading from Harper's Ferry to Winchester. Our location is delightful, with most excellent springs. and near by is the extensive farm of a Mr. Davenport, who had some fame as an importer of Alpaca sheep.
All quiet till Sunday, about 10 A. M., when as the men were preparing for inspection, without any warning hostile shells were pitched into the camp, and the whistling of bullets called the soldiers into line. It appeared that Early wanted to find out just where we were. and so stirred up the Vermont brigade of the 2d Division; by the way, a most excellent source of in- formation, and the manner in which he retired from the pres- ence of those Green Mountain boys indicated that his lesson in geography was well learned. The fight was known as the Battle of Charlestown. As for the Ninth, we were repeatedly in line, but as usual there didn't appear to be any place just fitted for us. so there was no end of marching by front and
10
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
flank, right and left facing, battle-line and all sorts of places, and finally we settled down to our old occupation of building breastworks. Here we were quite at home, but again as usual, just as we had them nearly completed, about midnight, we left them and passed rapidly to Bolivar Heights near Harper's Ferry. Old friends in the Sth New York Cavalry are greeted as the regiment passes us.
From the 22d to the 28th of August, we are encamped with only the variation of change of position to right or left, picket experience, and such interest as comes from the knowledge that the enemy is near us. He had dogged our footsteps, but we were accomplishing our mission, viz., keeping him from further northern raids. Cavalry skirmishes and frequent cannonading prevent any great degree of camp ennui, and ingenuity in the cooking line maintains the physical man in good form.
In this period the Confederates had made their last effort to cross the Potomac. It was at Williamsport, but the immediate presence of Custer and his men prevented, and Early fell back, duly followed by Sheridan and his army.
At 8 A. M. on the 28th we once more advance slowly south- ward, passing through Charlestown in the afternoon. and again encamp near the Davenport place. Lieutenant Freeoff, in com- mand of Company M, in a letter home August 29th, says the two battalions of the Ninth in the field number but 214 men; M, the largest, has fifty-three; C, the smallest, just sixteen. He says the bodies of our dead are invariably robbed. in one case to the very last stitch of clothing. Artillery firing near Berryville September 3d attests the near presence of the enemy; we subsequently learn that Kershaw's division, under orders to return to Petersburg, and quite ignorant of our presence, had, in the language of Sheridan. "blundered" into Crook's lines. As the rebels had no desire to stay, it didn't take them long to get away.
In this locality the army remains three weeks, a long halt for us; yet possibly we accomplish just what we were set to do. Of course every regiment and company have their particular inci- dents, but few of them were bloody. Camp-sites were changed oc- casionally, and we were conversant with the country from Smith- field to Berryville. We gnard wagon-trains, pick blackberries and raspberries, with which the fields abound. read the papers, build breastworks. draw rations, have inspections, dress-parade,
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THE VALLEY AND WINCHESTER.
and even get back to an old-fashioned drill. Our quiet, how- ever, is only the lull before the storm. The most noteworthy event of this interval to us was the joining us. on the 16th, of our regimental band with Company Q,* which had been having a good time in the defenses, though on this very day General Grant was having an interview with Sheridan in Charlestown, whose results we were soon to experience. Grant had drawn up a scheme of offense, but he was so well satisfied with Sheridan's fully formed plans that he left him with the single injunction, "Go in." However, with plans, men who carried guns had very little to do. They were intrusted, how- ever, with their execution. All the minutiae of camp life are maintained for the following two days.
We start away at 2 A. M. on the 19th, destined to be a mem- orable day in our lives and in the annals of the nation. In guarded manner we march southward, and before daylight are at the crossing of Opequon creek, from which some name the battle, though it is better known as Sheridan's Battle of Win- chester. In guarded manner, with Company B flanking, we march westward, reaching the Opequon creek before daylight and here pass the head of the 19th Corps. The Berryville pike ran through a deep gorge, and on this the artillery and wagons proceeded, while the infantry marched in two columns, one on each side of the road. It had been Sheridan's design to attack Early's right, and if possible pass to his rear while our cavalry were holding the attention of his left, hoping to thus effect his entire destruction, but delays had admitted of the union of his divisions and we were to assail his entire force.
It should be stated that the day before, in accordance with his chronic disposition to destroy railroads, Early had sent Gordon towards Martinsburg, which, coming to the notice of Sheridan, the latter was quick to recognize as his opportunity to attack the enemy in detail, and his orders were given accord- ingly, but in the telegraph office of Martinsburg, Early had learned of the recent visit of Grant to Sheridan, and at once suspecting that action would follow such an interview, he pro- ceeded to reunite his divided army, or to get its parts within supporting distance of each other.
*By common consent a name given to the many men who linger in hospitals and camps ever ready with reasons why they should not do regular duty.
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
E
VALLEY PIKE
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THE VALLEY AND WINCHESTER.
The battle had begun at 5 o'clock by Wilson's Cavalry driv- ing the enemy's pickets to their first line of defense, and actu- ally leaping their horses over the works, they captured fifty. or more of the foe. Melancholy interest is added to the advance of our corps as we meet wounded men in varying conditions of injury; sometimes they are leading wounded horses; here may lie one receiving the care of comrades, and many, stretched out in death, effectually answered Joe Hooker's bantering question, "Whoever saw a dead cavalryman?" Sheridan him- self, well-nigh ubiquitous, assists in the alignment. The 2d Division of the 6th Corps holds the left of the line, and our 3d is next, with the 1st in reserve back of us. Had the 19th Corps been ready to continue our line to the right, according to Sheri- dan's plans, who can tell how much more effectual the day's work might have been, but there is a delay of more than two hours, occasioned, it is said, by an ammunition train, before the corps is with us. Wilson and his cavalry are looking out for our extreme left. Crook, with his 8th Corps, Averill and Merritt with their cavalry are in reserve, but in time they will give an account of themselves on the extreme right.
It was about 9 o'clock when our corps took its place, and we have waited long. The 2d Brigade, under General J. Warren Keifer, is at the right of the division, and is wholly north of the Berryville pike. It is nearly noon when the 19th Corps moves up and Grover's 2d Division touches our right. Among his regiment is the 75th New York, containing hundreds of our school-mates and relatives, many of whom this day's work will consign, with our immediate comrades, to graves in the Na- tional Cemetery, at a later date to be planted on this very road. between us and the city. The Opequon is fully a mile back of us. while Winchester is in plain view in front. The inter- vening land is generally open, with some pieces of woods with cornfields and meadows with occasional houses, but numerous ravines render it a hard surface on which to maintain align- ment.
Till nearly 12 o'clock, the fighting was confined to the skir- mishers. Then. came the order to advance. Rodes and Ram- seur command the enemy in our immediate front, and on their left Gordon faces Grover. No earthworks have been thrown up on either side, so it is a fair stand-up fight with no favors, but it is a terrible ordeal through which we are compelled to pass. one to appall the stoutest heart.
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
The Ninth is in the second line, having the 122d and 110th Ohio, in that order, at our right, thus bringing us quite near to the pike. so often mentioned, which had been pointed out as the guide for our advance. This road had a southerly trend soon after our starting that must have been overlooked by those giving it as a line of direction. At any rate, adherence to this order soon caused a divergence of the respective courses of the two corps, and General Keifer in his report thus states:
As the lines advanced the interval became greater. The enemy discovering this fact hurled a large body of men towards the interval and threatened to take my right in flank. I at once caused the 138th and 67th Pennsylvania and the 110th Ohio to break their connection with the right of the remainder of my brigade, and to move towards the advancing column of the enemy. These three regiments most gallantly met the overwhelming masses of the enemy and held them in check. The 19th Corps soon came up and encountered a very heavy force of the enemy in a wood to the right of the three regiments named. As soon as the 19th Corps engaged the enemy, the force in my front commenced slowly retiring. I pushed for- ward the three regiments until we came upon two batteries (eight guns). silencing them and compelling the enemy to abandon them. The three regiments had arrived within less than 200 yards of the two batteries when the 19th Corps, after a most gallant resistance, gave way. The enemy at once came upon my right flank in great force. Successful resistance was no longer possible; the three regiments had already suffered heavily, and were obliged to fall back in some disorder. The enemy regained a portion of the ground from which they had been driven. In falling back we lost no prisoners. The broken troops of iny brigade were halted and reformed in a wood behind the reserve, which had come forward to fill up the in- terval. As soon as they were reformed they were moved for- ward again over the same ground they had advanced the first time. While moving this portion of my brigade forward. I re- ceived an order from General Ricketts. commanding the divi- sion, to again unite my brigade near the centre of the corps and to the right of the turnpike near a house. This order was obeyed at once, and my whole brigade was formed in one line. imme- diately confronting the enemy. The four regiments of my brigade that were upon the left kept connection with the 1st Brigade. 3d Division, and fought desperately. in the main driv- ing the enemy. They also captured a considerable number of prisoners in their first advance. Heavy firing was kept up along the whole line till about 4 P. M .. when a general advance took place. The enemy gave way before the impetuosity of our troops and soon were completely routed. This brigade pressed
1
.
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THE VALLEY AND WINCHESTER.
with the advanced line to and into the streets of Winchester. The rout of the enemy was everywhere complete. Night came on, and the pursuit of the enemy was stopped. The troops of my brigade encamped- with the corps on the Strasburg and Front Royal roads south of Winchester.
The divergence of the two corps on account of the trend of the Berryville pike came near proving a fatal mishap to our cause. Indeed, General Early fancied that he had won a vic- tory, and so proclaimed, but he little realized the resources of the Union army. Not only had Ricketts made the sudden turn of his men, but when the enemy came sweeping in upon the 19th Corps, expecting to prove a veritable wedge, driven through the Federal lines, General Russell, with his 1st Divi- sion, till then in reserve, was ready to attack the rebels in flank and to turn upon them the fire of his batteries. The triumph of the foe was short, for he was driven back with terrible loss, but we paid dearly for our victory, since here fell General Russell,* of whom Sheridan said, "I have lost my cap- tain."
Coming back to our own regiment, as we pass through the woods in our front, we encounter the fire of the batteries, noted by General Keifer, and it was thus early in the day that we met our severest losses. Here it was, while passing through a field on the Dinkle farm, that a single volley killed Myron Fish, Samuel Myers and Charles Thomas of Company B. Young Fish had just said to his nearest neighbor, Vernon R. Howell, "Gosh! Vern, they are coming thick," when his head was pierced by a bullet, and he fell dead. Four others were mortally wounded, and the day's losses for the company footed up eleven others wounded, including Lieutenant Fish himself. On the way to the encounter, in the early morn, he had been oppressed with forebodings of ill, and he had asked the1st sergeant, James H. Thatcher, to look after the company accounts if anything should happen to him, for he was in command of the company, but it was the son, not the father, who was to be called. Though
*David A. Russell was born in Salem, N. Y., Dec. 10, 1820; West Point, 1845; classmate of "Baldy" Smith, Fitz John Porter, Gordon Granger, and others; won distinction in the Mexican war; was a captain in the 4th Infantry when the Rebellion began; served in the defenses till he became colonel of the 7th Massachusetts Infantry; was repeat- edly promoted for bravery, and his gallant death made him brevet major general, U. S. A.
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
severely wounded the lieutenant refused to leave the field. His company numbered forty-two at the beginning of the day. Lan- guage is inadequate to express the regret of every survivor of the Ninth Heavy that Major Burgess did not describe in detail the part borne by his command in this great battle. His report simply states what every one knows, viz., that the regiment was in the engagement.
As already noted, the divergence of the lines interrupted an otherwise unbroken advance, and the repulse of the 3d Divi- sion compelled a falling back and a reformation. In one of the ravines, with which the surface abounded, our regiment sought shelter, reformed and awaited orders. When the same came to again advance, to the minds of those present, the air seemed almost solid with lead and iron, and the disposition to respond was not tumultuous; but Color Sergeant John Her- mann, rising, and turning to the color-guard, remarked to James Marvin by his side, "Will you go with me, Jim?" The latter was ready, and these two moving forward were speedily followed by all the rest, and they had their part in the advance that scarcely halted till they had passed through Winchester. There are those who recall the bravery of a mother and daughter who stood in their doorway refusing to fly or hide, and when pressed for a reason, said they were safer there than elsewhere, for no one would fire at them if seen, but if hidden they might be shot by accident. Whether their reasoning was good or not, they escaped unharmed.
Fox in his book of regimental losses makes that of our regi- ment, eight companies, at this battle as twenty-two, not so great as in other encounters, still carrying unending grief into many Northern homes. The death of General Robert E. Rodes+ of Early's army in the fierce charge against Ricketts and Grover might be considered as an offset to that of General Russell of our forces at the same time.
The superb generalship of Sheridan was evident in the man- ner in which the finishing stroke was given to his victory. As before stated, Crook's Sth Corps had been held in reserve,
*Rodes was in command of the rebel right, and was one of the most trusted officers of the Confederate army. Born in Lynchburg, March 29, 1829, he was educated at the Military School of Lexington, and had been a teacher in the same. He entered the Confederate service as the colonel of an Alabama regiment.
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THE VALLEY AND WINCHESTER.
and Torbert, with all the cavalry on the right, had been sent a long distance around, that at the proper moment they might strike the enemy in flank. When the 6th and 19th Corps had effectually performed the tasks allotted them and the foe was slowly but surely retiring, there came loud shouts and heavy firing beyond the right of our already widely extended lines. What did it mean? Then it was that Sheridan came riding down. and was heard to say, "I have put Torbert on the right and told him to give them h-1, and he is doing it. Crook is on the right and giving it to them; press them; I know they'll run." Then followed the fierce onset, and they did run. This closing act of the day, the artist, Thurlstrup, seized for his masterly repre- sentation, calling it "Sheridan's Last Charge at Winchester." Never was there a better place for a cavalry charge, and never was one better made. To thousands the impression was as vivid as that made in "Scotland Forever," at Waterloo. The yellow locks of Custer appear well in advance, but with him ride Lowell, in just one month to fall at Cedar Creek, Roden- bough and Baker of the regular troops.
"Oh, the wild charge they made!"
Boldly they rode, and well. Nothing that Early could oppose was strong enough to stem such a tide, and they swept horse, foot and artillery before them. With flashing sabres they rode. veritable demons of war, crowding multitudes of the flying foe into surrender. They thread the battle-wrecked streets of the city; nothing escapes them till finally they drive Early into his stronghold at Fisher's hill. There was propriety in the mes- sage of Sheridan, "We have just sent them whirling through Winchester."
How strangely all these combats of the Civil War mingled thoughts of the past. This city, thoroughly battle-scarred, was a favorite place with Washington, and to this day are pointed out situations permanently linked with his name. Every acre of this territory had been hunted over by brave old Dan Mor- gan of the Virginia line in the Revolution, and since 1802 his body has been lying in the burial-ground past which our battle sweeps. Our fierce division now is to bring about a closer union in the years to come.
The effect of this fight was far reaching. It not only made Sheridan the idol of his immediate followers, but it convinced
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NINTH NEW YORK HEAVY ARTILLERY.
the North that there was a true leader in the valley. However closely Grant was holding the rebel lines in front of Peters- burg, and however many engagements had been fought from the Rapidan southward. it must be allowed that the best any one could say of them was that they were drawn battles. The country had become anxious for an unqualified victory-one in which a large array of prisoners and captured guns and standards should tell of actual defeat; and here they got it, for five cannon, fifteen flags and 2,000 prisoners attested the success of the day. A hot presidential contest was in progress, and this victory was worth whole tons of campaign literature to the side that was supporting Abraham Lincoln.
How it struck the Confederates themselves appears in the following wail taken from the diary of a wounded prisoner, confined in Winchester: "I never saw troops in such confusion before. Night found Sheridan's hosts in full and exultant possession of much-abused, beloved Winchester. The hotel hos- pital was pretty full of desperately wounded and dying Confed- erates. The entire building was shrouded in darkness during the dreadful night. Sleep was impossible, as the groans, sighs, shrieks, prayers and oaths of the wretched sufferers, combined with my own severe pain, banished all thoughts of rest. ยท Our scattered troops, closely followed by the large array of pursuers, retreated rapidly and in disorder through the city. It was a sad, humiliating sight."
FORD OF THE OPEQUON.
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THE VALLEY AND WINCHESTER.
During the remaining months of the war, the Confederates never saw the lower valley in force again. They were confined, closer and closer, to the ways leading to Richmond. Moseby and his men still harried both friend and foe, but no organized front was again presented north of Middletown.
An early start is made on the 20th, and the rebels are fol- lowed swiftly through the valley towns to the hill just south of Strasburg. So rapid is the pace that men fall out, orders to the contrary notwithstanding. Some companies of the regi- ment are almost nil when in the afternoon we go into camp. The 3d Division is in the advance, so near to the rebel signal- station on Three-top mountain that though out of range of ball or bullet, the enemy can easily see our every movement, count our numbers and almost describe our rations. Having every advantage of position, that Sheridan on the 22d was able to dislodge him was all the more creditable to general and sol- diers. The next day the regiment falls back to Sheridan's headquarters and the hospital. During the day, many men slightly wounded or unarmed come up. Lieutenant Freeoff writes September 21st: "We are lying in this cursed gap (Fisher's). The rebels are in it also, and if an attack is made it will be an awful fight. There are two high hills and only a road ten feet wide between to go through. The rebels, I hear, have never been beaten at this place. Some of the prisoners say they are glad they are with us." Congratulations from Washington and Petersburg were read before every company for the Winchester victory.
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