USA > New York > The Ninth regiment, New York volunteers (Hawkins' zouaves); being a history of the regiment and veteran association from 1860 to 1900 > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
"At daylight, the enemy discovering our posi- tion, we were fired upon by sharpshooters and briskly shelled by a battery on the opposite side of creek.
"By order of General Rodman we left this exposed position under a heavy fire, having 36 men wounded, and took position to the left and rear, up the gorge of the mountain. After
323
COLONEL FAIRCHILD'S REPORT.
resting two hours we were ordered to advance and form line of battle on the crest of the hill to the left of the position vacated in the morn- ing. The 9th battery was ordered to the left and commenced shelling the road and woods on the opposite side of creek driving the enemy from their position. The enemy then ad- vanced their skirmishers, but were forced to retire by the timely execution of this battery.
" The brigade then moved by the left flank down to the ford, crossing the creek and form- ing in the woods, advanced and took a position opposite the bridge and formed line of battle in rear of a battery, remaining in position under a heavy fire of shell for nearly an hour until ordered to advance. General Rodman then ordered us to advance to the support of Stur- gis' command.
"We advanced to the opposite hill up steep embankments under a very severe fire from the enemy's batteries. Arriving near a stone fence the enemy (a brigade of South Carolina and Georgia troops) opened on us with mus- ketry. After returning their fire I immediately ordered a charge, which the whole brigade re- sponded to, moving with alacrity and steadi- ness.
" Arriving at the fence behind which the enemy were awaiting us, receiving their fire
326 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
and losing large numbers of men, we charged over the fence dislodging them and driving them from their position down the hill toward the village.
"A stand of rebel colors of a South Carolina regiment was here captured by private Thomas Hare, Company D, 89th New York, who was afterward killed.
"We continued to pursue down the hill, when finding the enemy massing fresh troops on our left, I went back and requested General Rodman to bring up rapidly the second brigade to our support, which he did, they engaging the enemy, he soon after falling badly wounded. The enemy were then discovered moving up from the cornfield on our left to flank us, and I ordered the brigade to retire about two hun- dred and fifty yards to the rear of the position we now held, which movement was executed in good order and without confusion.
"The large force advancing on our left flank compelled us to retire from the position, which we could have held had we been properly supported. We remained in this position until we were positively ordered from the field, the officers and men regretting such a necessity. Great praise is due Lieutenant-Colonel Kimball commanding the 9th, Major Jardine com- manding the 89th, and Major Ringgold com-
327
LOSSES IN THE BATTLE.
manding the 103d regiment, for their coolness, gallantry, and bravery on the field ; also to the line officers of the several regiments and the steadiness of the men."
H. I. FAIRCHILD, Colonel 89th New York,
Commanding Ist Brigade.
The dead bodies of 54 of their comrades lying on the field, with nearly 200 wounded, proved how nobly and faithfully the Zouaves fulfilled their vows to guard and protect their regimental colors with their lives.
Their regiment went into action with eight companies numbering 373 men, the loss being 54 killed, 158 wounded, and 28 missing, amounting to a loss of 64.5 per cent., exceeded by only ten regiments out of the more than 2,000 regiments enlisted on the Union side during the "War of the Rebellion," and sur- passed by but one regiment from the Empire State, which State furnished 445,959 men dur- ing that war.
To appreciate the magnitude of these figures we quote from "Fox's Book of Regimental Losses," a statement of the average loss of life in battle :
" Mr. Kirkley, the statistician of the War Department, states the death from battles dur-
328 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
ing the Civil War at 110,070, of which 67,058 are classified as killed in action, and 43,012 as having died of wounds."
From this it appears that on the average the mortally wounded are equal to 64 per cent. of the killed.
The proportion of wounded to killed, where the mortally wounded are included with the wounded, is a fraction over 4 to 1. Where they are included with the killed, the proportion is something over 2 wounded to I killed. The first represents the common form used in stat- ing the casualties at the close of an action, the second the same loss, after the number who died of wounds has been ascertained from the muster-out rolls and added to the killed out- right, which generallyincreased the number of killed over 50 per cent.
It should be remembered that the greater part of the loss of the Ninth occurred in the space of about fifteen minutes, as Mcclellan mentions in his report of sending orders at three o'clock to Burnside to push forward with vigor and carry the enemy's position on the heights.
General Longstreet, in his book "From Manassas to Appomattox," says, page 240 :
" But the sanguinary character of this battle is most strikingly exhibited by a comparison of
ANTIETAM COMPARED WITH OTHER BATTLES. 329
the accurate figures of the Federal losses re- turned specifically for the day. These show a total killed and wounded of 11,657 (or, in- cluding the captured and missing, 12,410) as contrasted with 17,567 killed and wounded in three days at Gettysburg, 16,141 in eight days at Spottssylvania, and 14,283 in the three days at the Wilderness, while the three and two days' fighting respectively at Chancellorsville and Chickamauga were actually productive of less loss than this battle of one day.
" The exceeding losses of this battle are further shown by the fact that of the 11,657 Federals stricken on the field, the great number of 2,108 were actually slain-more than two- thirds of the number killed in three days at Gettysburg (3,070). And this tremendous tumult of carnage was entirely compassed in the brief hours from dawn to four o'clock in the afternoon."
The brigade to which the Ninth was at- tached (Fairchild's) had a total loss of 455 in killed, wounded and missing, the 9th regiment losing 240, or 53 per cent. of the brigade loss, the regimental loss being 64.5 per cent.
CHAPTER XI.
RETREAT OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA-APA- THY OF FIFTH CORPS-CAMPING ON THE ANTIETAM - RECRUITS FOR THE NINTH-THEIR RECEPTION AND TREATMENT BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL KIM- BALL AND HIS TRIBUTE TO THE OLD REGIMENT- CAPTAIN WHITING - VISIT FROM PRESIDENT LIN- COLN - THE LOAVES AND THE GOOD ZOUAVES - HOSPITAL ARRANGEMENTS - THE BAND PLAYS " ANNIE LAURIE" FOR THE SICK MEN-PROMOTION OF SURGEON HUMPHREYS - ACROSS ELK RIDGE TO PLEASANT VALLEY - "TENTING ON THE OLD CAMP GROUND."
N the following morning it was seen that the army of Northern Virginia was still in position with its front well covered with skir- mishers who were at times quite aggressive. The remnant of the Ninth was ordered on the skirmish line and were several times during the day quite sharply engaged. The regiment continued to act in this capacity until about three o'clock in the afternoon when it was with- drawn and went into bivouac.
The activity on the part of the enemy's skir- mishers was thought by many of the men in
331
RETREAT OF LEE'S ARMY.
the Union army to be for the purpose of con- cealing important movements in their main body, and it was learned later that they were busily preparing for their withdrawal from their position and across the Potomac, which move- ment was successfully accomplished that same night notwithstanding the presence of the eighty or ninety thousand men of Mcclellan's army.
Among the troops, on the left of the Federal line at least, it was a matter of wonder why they remained so comparatively inactive, only resisting the aggressive action of the enemy's skirmishers, instead of "going in" and renew- ing the battle in earnest. It was a matter quite generally discussed among officers and enlisted men, and it was the almost unanimous opinion among them that Lee's army could be com- pletely destroyed if active operations were re- sumed at once and carried out with spirit and determination, and at a loss that would be in- significant as compared with that of the day before. Now, after the lapse of years, and with the knowledge we possess concerning the con- dition of each army, it is incomprehensible why the Army of the Potomac was not pushed for- ward vigorously and Lee's army utterly de- stroyed or captured.
The whole fifth army corps had been held in reserve all day on the 17th. They had not
332 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
been engaged with the enemy, nor does it ap- pear that they had been used for any military purpose whatever either during or after the battle. To the ordinary citizen soldier, not especially educated and trained for the profes- sion of arms, it seemed that troops held in reserve should be so held for a purpose and with, specific objects in view. That after the enemy had been shattered and weakened by successive, and more or less successful attacks, the reserves should be pushed forward and the destruction of the enemy's line, already wavering, be completed and the victory made sure; or that, in the event of disaster and re- pulse, it should be used to cover the retreat of the rest of the army. This latter contingency was not present on the Union side at any time during the battle of Antietam, and in regard to the former, this splendid fifth corps, the admira- tion of every West Pointer in the army, which comprised within its ranks all the regular troops in the army of the Potomac, did not pull a trigger all that day. Lee's army had been so broken and beaten that day that Longstreet afterwards described its condition at the con- clusion of the fight as being " torn into tatters." Still the opposing commanders permitted an army in that condition to retire and cross a difficult river without molesting it. The corps
333
NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES.
to which the Zouaves belonged, the Ninth, is said to have numbered about fifteen thousand men of all arms. Some of its brigades had sustained comparatively little loss-not enough to seriously impair their effectiveness-and most of them were certainly in a condition to be pushed forward at the critical moment. That moment arrived on their part of the field when Fairchild's brigade broke the enemy's right and drove his scattered soldiers into the village of Sharpsburg. Hill's attack on the flank of Fair- child's advancing brigade, and on the left of the line, would have amounted to even less than it did had a fresh brigade of infantry been thrown forward to oppose him when it was first made. It is now known that he had only about twenty-five hundred men left in his com- mand after the forced march from Harper's Ferry, while there was force enough unengaged in the Ninth corps alone to brush him off the field with very little trouble.
This is not the place, however, nor is it the intention of the writer of this chronicle of the Ninth Regiment to enter into any extended criticism of military movements and operations, or to attempt to record anything that does not pertain particularly to the regiment and is ne- cessary to describe its services while in the field.
On the 19th the regiment moved about six
334 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
miles and established a camp on the bank of the Antietam where the regular routine of army life, drills, parades, etc., was again resumed.
At about this date a large body of recruits, that had been specially enlisted for the regiment, was received from New York. The exact num- ber cannot now be given, but there were enough of them to double at least the then effective strength of the command. Lieutenant-Colonel Kimball's reception and treatment of them was decidedly original. To simply say that he was proud of the regiment, especially after the way the men had behaved in the late battle, the unflinching courage they had shown even after their number had been reduced by the fire of the enemy to less than a hundred men, does not fully describe his feelings toward them.
The newly arrived recruits were regularly assigned to the various companies and they began to receive instructions in their duties and practice in the drill and manual as was usual, but Kimball would not at first permit theni to parade in the ranks with the other men upon occasions of ceremony. He did not con- sider it proper to permit raw recruits to become at once fully privileged members of such a regiment as the Ninth. On two or three occa- sions after the evening parades had been resumed (which was some days after the battle)
335
HOW' KIMBALL RECEIVED THE RECRUITS.
he caused them to be separated from the other men and formed in a battalion and drawn up in a position from which there was a good view of the dress-parade and where they easily could see the various details of the ceremony and observe the general appearance of the men, and the style of the regiment. He explained to them that it would be out of place to permit new and untried men to parade with, and at once become part of, such a regiment, and that he wished to give them the opportunity to study the command to which they had been assigned. He informed them that they must consider themselves very fortunate in getting into the best regiment in the service and in sharing the honor that regiment had already gained. He also directed them to look at the boys and to remember that they were the remnant of a gallant organization that had, in obedience to orders, advanced against a greatly superior force of infantry supported by three batteries of artillery, and that they had con- tinued unhesitatingly and unflinchingly to "obey the orders of the officers appointed over them," which orders on that occasion had been simply "forward," and this while being constantly decimated by the enemy's fire, and that after having left sixty-five per cent. of their number dead and wounded on the ground, they had
·
336 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
dislodged a brigade of the enemy from a strong position which they then occupied and had held the ground until positively ordered away by superior authority. He assured the recruits that they had honor reflected upon them by simply belonging to such a regiment, and that it was a privilege which they should not under- estimate to be in a position to claim these men as comrades. Continuing, he said he was not sure that he would be justified in permitting new and untried men to take their places, just yet, in the ranks of a regiment with such an ex- ceptionally honorable record, where they (the recruits) would be mistaken by the ordinary ob- server, for the men who had participated in the "Charge of the Ninth New York at Antietam." Their future conduct, he said, would determine his course in reference to that. He hoped they would soon have an opportunity to show what kind of soldiers they would make and when the time did come, whether soon or late, he hoped and almost believed that they would prove they were not unworthy of standing in the ranks with the old men of the Ninth Regiment.
Of course some of the old boys heard this . harangue and all of them sooner or later heard about it. It pleased them greatly to learn that the "old man" had such a good opinion of them, and was so proud of their behavior in the
.
337
A RUDE AWAKENING.
recent battle. There is not the slightest doubt that the incident had a very beneficial and ele- vating effect on both veteran and recruit. There can be very little doubt that the object he had in view was to strengthen the esprit de corps among the older men and to inspire the new ones with a desire to show themselves worthy of any regiment or of any cause, and, as on another occasion, when the regiment was going into action at Roanoke Island, where his remarks to the men were somewhat differently worded, but with the same end in view, there is no doubt his object was attained.
The world contains men of all kinds and characters. Their diversity was as great among the Zouaves as elsewhere under similar condi- tions. Some of a certain kind thought they saw in the Lieutenant-Colonel's remarks to the re- cruits indications of an approaching change in his manner of governing the regiment. Prob- ably some of them even went so far as to im- agine that hereafter the " old man" would fra- ternize with them, and would be likely to call a meeting of the regiment and put it to a vote to determine the advisability of executing an order or performing a military duty -to simulate a sort of town meeting. But they were woefully mistaken, for on the first sign of carelessness or inattention to the slightest detail of duty, they
338 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
were rudely and suddenly awakened to a rea- lization that they had been dreaming, that the old rule of discipline - constant and rigid dis- cipline -- under all conditions and at all times still prevailed.
While the regiment was encamped at this place Colonel Hawkins returned from leave of absence. Upon reporting for duty he was as- signed to the command of the division, which was the 3d Division of the 9th Corps. The command of a division is, under ordinary cir- cumstances, that of a major-general, but the scarcity of officers just then, due principally to the exceptionally large number killed and wounded during the battle of the 17th, made it necessary to assign the surviving officers to a much larger command than their grade would entitle them to under ordinary conditions.
Colonel Hawkins ranked as colonel from the 4th of May, 1861, which in all probability made him at that time and subsequently until the muster-out of the regiment, the ranking colonel in the Army of the Potomac.
From the date of the occupation of Hatteras by the regiment until the expiration of its term of service, the Colonel always commanded a larger sub-division of the army than a regiment. The only exception to this was during the Roanoke Island campaign, when the Ninth was
339
CHANGES AMONG THE OFFICERS.
attached to the brigade of General Parke, Colo- nel Hawkins being in command of his own regiment. In the absence of the colonel as brigade division or post commander, the senior field officer present with the regiment was the commanding officer. Lieutenant-Colonel Betts performed this duty until his resignation, when he was succeeded by Kimball, first as major, and afterwards as lieutenant-colonel. This will serve to explain why the name of Kim- ball so often appears as the commanding offi- cer. He was so in fact.
About this time Captain Whiting, of Com- pany K, resigned his commission. His loss was much regretted by nearly every one in the regiment, especially by the men of his own company. He had always shown himself to be a good officer. He was a strict disciplinarian, but kind and considerate toward his men, while his conduct in battle left nothing to be desired.
Lieutenant Richard Morris, of the same com- pany, was promoted to the vacancy and became captain of the company. He had developed an extraordinary aptitude in the handling of bat- teries, proving himself a natural artillerist. His skill attracted the notice of his superior officers and he became well known throughout the whole corps as a marvelously accurate shot, either with a field-piece or a siege gun.
340 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
On the 23d of the month Company K was, by order of General Burnside, detached from the regiment and directed to report to the com- manding officer at Harper's Ferry, when it was. assigned to a position on Bolivar Heights.
On the 26th the camp of the regiment was moved about six miles' to a location near the Antietam Iron Works. It was a much better place for a permanent camp than the former one. There was an abundance of good water for all purposes, and in addition other advan- tages, such as convenience to transportation facilities, etc., which the old camp did not possess. Rations began to be issued here in quantities somewhat approaching the regular army allowance. Fresh meat and fresh vegeta- bles were included in the issues, and the men of the regiment had the first opportunity to fully satisfy their hunger that they had enjoyed since the advance guard' of the army first struck the enemy's rear east of Monocacy Ridge on the 9th or 10th of September.
President Lincoln visited the army while the Ninth was in camp here. On the 3d of October the regiment had the honor of being reviewed by him. The men were very proud of it, and each one did his very best to aid the regiment in making the best appearance possible before the chief magistrate. The President seemed
341
PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN CAMP.
very much pleased with what he saw, and was quite complimentary-almost flattering-in his comments on the regiment, on its proficiency in drill, on its general style, its movements and its marchings. This was extremely gratifying to both officers and men, especially as his remarks were made to, or in the presence and hearing of a number of prominent personages, generals included, who had attended him at the review. It is well known that commendation is to a soldier, as indeed it is to nearly every- one, the very breath of life. Honorable men- tion in an order or a report, the simple saying of "well done " by a superior, repays him for any risks run or any task attempted.
It may be interesting to relate an incident which occurred here in the presence of Mr. Lincoln which will show to the reader how the varied experiences of soldiers in camp and field taught them to be prompt to act and resourceful in expedient at all times and under all circumstances.
As a mild apology for what follows the writer desires to explain that ever since the manœu- vring and fighting which led up to the battles of South Mountain and Antietam began, food had been so scarce that the men had continued in a state of ravenous hunger. While every road in the territory over which two armies are
342 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
marching, manoeuvring and skirmishing pre- paratory to engaging in a great battle is for days fully occupied by the moving troops, or reserved to be used for the rapid transfer of regiments and batteries to critical points as they may be needed, the quartermaster's trains are compelled to hover on the fringe of the army. Occasionally some quartermaster will push in in the night with one or more wagons, and if fortunate enough to find his command, will replenish the empty haversacks with more or less hardtack. But they seldom succeed in their efforts to do this. Generally there is con- siderable suffering from hunger. This condi- tion still continues for some days after the battle has been fought. Then every energy is exerted in caring for the wounded and in bringing up ammunition to fill the empty ammu-
nition chests and cartridge boxes.
This last
takes precedence of everything. The battle may be renewed at any moment, and without a sufficient supply of cartridges the army is lost. It is a very difficult matter to get anything to eat at such times. The living-if the opportu- nity offers-empty the haversacks of the dead and the neighboring fields are scoured in search of corn, potatoes or anything that can be cooked for food.
As soon as the beaten army retreats and it
343
AN UNWELCOME INTERRUPTION.
becomes comparatively safe to move about again, the commercial spirit suddenly awakes and the wagons of the sutler fill the land. Not alone the army sutler, but men from near and far --- and women also at times - appear in the various camps offering eatables for sale, bread being the staple. ·
One morning, during the time the President was on his visit to the army, several of the Zouaves found themselves part of a crowd of soldiers surrounding a wagon loaded with bread which was being peddled along the road. Some of the soldiers in the crowd had money and bought, but, alas, some of them had none, and still they wanted the bread. To want and to have are sometimes very closely allied in the army, so a linch-pin was slipped out, a wheel removed, and the whole load upset in the road. A general scramble was made for the scattered loaves and when the tumult was at its height General Burnside's carriage, in which he was escorting the President on a visit to one of the camps in the vicinity, suddenly appeared in the midst of it. The occupants of the carriage were instantly recognized and as a result the raiders scattered in every direction, each man, however, clinging tightly to his stolen loaf and endeavoring to put as much ground between himself and the carriage in as
344 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
short a period of time as possible, in the hope that the letters and numbers denoting his com- pany, regiment, and State would not be noted. Each of the Zouaves instead of taking to flight like guilty things upon recognizing the occu- pants of the vehicle, as if moved by a common impulse, released the loaf which had been hid- den under his blouse, permitted it to fall to the ground at his feet, and assuming as uncon- cerned an expression of countenance as was possible under the circumstances, drew himself up and assuming the most approved "position of a soldier" received the distinguished, but nevertheless at that time unwelcome, visitors with a profound military salute.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.