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 6
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We, the undersigned, do solemnly swear that we will bear true allegiance to the United States; that we will not take up arms against said Government, or hold any communication with its enemies, or aid or comfort its enemies in any way whatever; that we will give to the commander of Fort Clark any information we may obtain or receive of the approach of the enemy; and in case we are called upon, we will assist the commandant of said fort in his defense thereof against any and all of the enemies of the United States; and we will also, under any and all circumstances, support the Constitution of the United States.
Practically every male inhabitant of that portion of the "banks" which came within the jurisdiction of the United States officers sub- scribed to this oath and the relations between them and the soldiers were soon established on a friendly basis. Nothing occurred while the Ninth remained . in the vicinity to excite a
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HATTERAS BANKS IN IS61.
suspicion that they were other than loyal Unionists.
Hatteras Banks, on which the regiment now found itself established, is a section of that series of long narrow islands which stretch like a barrier reef along the Atlantic coast from Cape May to the southern point of Florida. At Hatteras Inlet it is said to be distant from the main land of North Carolina, Pamlico Sound intervening, fully forty miles. This
storm-beaten and desolate strip of sand, so far out to sea, would seem to be as uninviting and inhospitable a spot as human beings could well choose for abiding places. Yet within the territory controlled by the troops whose head- quarters were at the Inlet, some scores of fami- lies had voluntarily, it must be presumed, located themselves and made their homes.
The island varied greatly in width. At some places it was several miles between sea and sound, while at other points less than a quarter of a mile separated them. Some portions were simply a wilderness of desolate sand dunes, some of which, however, nearly reached the dignity of hills in size, with here and there, in the lower places, a few stunted live oaks scat- tered about singly or in little bunches of thicket. In the wider parts of the "banks" where the land was not so much at sea as it were, there
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were forests of considerable extent of good - sized pines with occasionally trees of other va- rieties. Here and there where a little soil had formed from the fallen leaves of many seasons and from the decayed wood of the fallen trees, the natives had located and built their houses. The little enclosures of fertile soil nearby they called "The Plantation." The houses of the inhabitants were generally of good size, well built and comfortable, and compared favorably with the average southern farm house as found in more favored localities.
At several points within the limits of occupa- tion there were level plains of sand which ex- tended from the sea to the sound, varying in width from two or three hundred yards to a half mile or more, with neither tree, shrub nor hillock to break the general level, and elevated only a few feet above the reach of the tides. These were known to the inhabitants, and soon to the soldiers also, as "bald beaches." Their origin or cause was the source of considerable speculation among such of the boys as cared to waste their gray matter in attempts to solve such questions. The conclusion arrived at was that they had been caused by the passage of sand hills which, at a more or less remote period, had moved across the island, probably from the side toward the ocean, and had finally buried themselves in the waters of the sound.
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THE MOVING SAND HILLS.
In more than one locality in the vicinity of the camps this action, or phenomena, was still apparent. The sand cast up by the action of the sea dried in the sun and breeze and drifting before the prevailing wind, being sheltered from counter-currents by the thick foliage of the pines, formed drifts which constantly grew in breadth and height by the ceaseless moving of the dry surface sand up the windward slope of the growing hill. The eddy formed between the crest of the drift and the opposing wall of trees prevented any forward movement of the mass until the heighth gained by it was equal to that of the woods in front, when, there being no longer an eddy in the wind to retard the forward movement, the advance began. This was slow but irresistible. Everything in its track was overwhelmed. Houses, trees, culti- vated land, all disappeared before the onward march of this silent enemy. After it had passed its tract was desolation, and this was the "bald beach."
On September 16th a detachment of the Union Coast Guard, under command of Lieutenants Rowe and Patten, with part of the crew of the "Pawnee," embarked on the steamer "Fanny," and sailed for Beacon Island, where they dis- covered a large battery mounting twenty-two guns, four of which had been removed the pre-
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vious day to Newberne. The guns were de- stroyed, bomb-proofs demolished, woodwork of battery and large piles of lumber burned. A lightship towed from its moorings by the rebels was also destroyed by fire, and a quantity of ammunition secured, some eighty shells being carried away from the island.
On the Ioth of September five companies of the regiment left Newport News with Lieuten- ant Colonel Betts, landing at Hatteras the next day, when he was directed by Colonel Hawkins to camp about two miles up the island on the shore of Pamlico Sound. The location was named Camp Wool.
These men brought a story of a naval fight in the James River, between the fleet, near the camp at Newport News, and a rebel gunboat which came out of Norfolk Harbor one day. This boat was armed with a gun of such a long range that she was able to keep outside of the range of the guns of the Union fleet and pepper them at her leisure. As a matter of fact the little rebel gunboat, with only one gun in action held the fleet at her mercy. It was only a question of marksmanship how soon she would sink one or more of them.
While the soldiers were watching the firing, a boat arrived from one of the naval vessels. The officer in charge requested the first man he met,
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NAVAL FIGHT AT NEWPORT NEWS.
Jerry Donovan, of Company A of the Ninth, to conduct him to General Phelps' headquarters. They found the General watching the one-sided fight from his quarters. The naval officer ex- plained the situation. Their guns did not have range enough to reach the enemy and they were in danger of being sunk at their moorings. He requested the General to try the range of the big 6-inch "James" rifle, which was mounted in a little battery of its own on the bluff.
At the time of this attack there happened to be no regular artillerists in camp. As a matter of fact the James rifle had no crew. The gun was not considered a part of the armament of the place. It had been brought there and mounted by the inventor and maker at his own expense, in his desire to have it tested and adopted by the Government. It was one of the forerunners of the modern high-power guns, and a remarkably efficient one, as it had re- peatedly thrown shells across the James to Pigs Point, a distance of four miles.
After the Hatteras expedition sailed General Phelps began to drill detachments of the Zouaves at this big rifle. They learned readily and were soon very proficient. Therefore, when the naval officer suggested that the big gun be used, the General replied, "I was just thinking about that myself." Donovan was di-
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rected to call together enough men to man the gun. He soon returned with three of his comrades and they, with General Phelps as one of the crew, manned the big gun, and in a few moments had opened fire on the enemy. The General sighted and fired the gun himself, getting the range of the rebel gunboat after a few shots, which obliged her to beat a hasty retreat to the shelter of Craney Island. The boys of the "scratch" gun crew were very proud of the fact that they had been in action with a brigadier-general as a side partner.
This was another illustration of the fore- thought and thoroughness of General Phelps in everything pertaining to his duty.
Two companies still remained at Newport News (B and K) under command of Major Kimball, who was chafing with impatience at being kept from more active service in the field.
Intelligence was received at the Inlet in the latter part of September that the enemy were being largely reinforced at Roanoke Island, and were fortifying it extensively. Colonel Hawkins deemed it prudent to establish a camp at Chi- comocomico, about thirty-six miles north of the Inlet, as a point of observation, and seven com- panies of the 20th Indiana, which 'had recently arrived at the post, were ordered there for that
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CAPTURE OF THE " FANNY."
purpose. Communication was maintained and supplies forwarded by means of a small steamer, the "Fanny," on which was mounted one or two boat howitzers. She was commanded by the Sergeant-Major of the Ninth, who had been a sailor, and was manned by a crew detailed from the regiment. On one of the trips while engaged in discharging cargo into small boats, about four miles off shore, in the shallow water opposite the camp at Chicomocomico, she was surprised and captured by three rebel vessels which suddenly appeared, and were disposed in such a manner as to cut off her retreat. No attempt was made to destroy the vessel or cargo and everything fell into the hands of the enemy. This included Sergeant-Major Pea- cock and nine enlisted men of the Ninth, twenty men of the 20th Indiana, and all the commissary and quartermaster's stores with which the vessel was loaded. All the new overcoats for the 20th were among the stores lost. No doubt they were appreciated by the rebels into whose hands they fell, more espec- ially as the season was already well advanced toward the time when cold weather might be looked for. About daybreak on October 4th, only a few days after the above unfortunate occurrence, the camp at Chicomocomico was attacked by an overwhelming force of the
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enemy, who appeared so suddenly in several vessels on the sound, as to almost effect a surprise, landing both opposite to and below the camp in an attempt to cut off the escape of the Indiana men. At the first alarm, and when Colonel Brown, who was in command of the 20th, realized his position, he dis- patched a messenger to notify Colonel Haw- kins of his plight and fell hastily back out of the trap set for him. When the messenger dispatched by Colonel Brown reached Colonel Hawkins, the latter at once hurried Captain Jardine toward Chicomocomico with instruc- tions, and to render what assistance he could pending the arrival of reinforcements. Mean- while Colonel Hawkins notified the command- ant of the naval forces at the Inlet of the situa- ation and of his intended action in connection therewith, and at once started with eight com- panies of his regiment to the assistance of Colonel Brown. This march was the most severe and trying one which the regiment had up to that time been called upon to make. The start was made about five o'clock in the evening and was a forced march in the full meaning of the term. The men pushed on hour after hour through the deep yielding sand at their utmost speed. The night was dark and the ground over which the regiment moved
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FORCED MARCH TO CHICOMOCOMICO.
was rough. In some places the loose sand was more than shoe deep, and as a consequence the shoes of the men filled with sand, which made marching extremely painful and difficult, and they had to be removed and emptied at frequent intervals. Some of the Zouaves tried to im- prove matters by removing their shoes and marching barefoot. They soon learned that this was impossible as it was found that in many places the ground was thickly strewn with small round sharp-pointed burrs which stuck in the flesh and made marching barefooted out of the question.
Some time during the night the regiment arrived at a point within supporting distance of the 20th, when they heard the welcome com- mands " halt" and "rest," and where they bivouacked for the night. In the morning they started on the return march in company with the 20th Indiana, and reached their camp some hours after dark the same night, in a worse condition, from fatigue and exhaustion, than they had been in at any time up to that period of their service.
General Mansfield arrived at the Inlet about this time and assumed command. He re- mained only a few days, however, as he soon departed leaving Colonel Hawkins again in command.
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96 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
On October 8th Gen. Thomas Williams was ordered to Hatteras Inlet to fill the place left vacant by General Mansfield, and to assume command of all the Union troops in North Carolina, and was especially directed when establishing posts not to separate the forces at too great a distance from each other.
General Williams was a regular army officer from the artillery branch of the service, and proved himself an able, and later, a gallant soldier, as well as a painstaking and conscien- tious commander. Still there appeared to be much of the inconsiderate martinet in his char- acter. He managed affairs on Hatteras in a vigorous manner by issuing a series of orders which completely changed previous conditions. He moved the different detachments of the " Ninth" hither and thither according to his whims apparently, establishing and breaking up camps, seemingly keeping everything and every- body in a constant turmoil.
He caused a battery to be erected on the beach facing the ocean, which to the unpro- fessional eyes of officers and men seemed to be of no advantage. One night during a heavy storm a portion of the Atlantic Ocean came up and took it away and it was never rebuilt.
Another fort on a larger and more preten- tious scale was started on the "bald beach "
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" WILLIAMS FOLLY."
nearest to the camp, and which extended from ocean to sound, as has been described above. This work was designed by regular engineers, and every enlisted man in the command worked upon it daily, except when on guard duty. The fatigue details were at times so large as to include nearly the entire force not on guard, and for many consecutive days at a time there were no drills. The men named this work "Williams' Folly."
Day after day the engineer officers planned, the men brought sand in wheelbarrows, and carried sod, but their best efforts could not elevate the fort above the level of the beach. As the work progressed the drifting sand was carried forward like snow on a wintry blast, swirling and lodging in and around it, con- stantly raising the surface of the ground and keeping pace with the work as it grew in height. Had it been built as high as the Tower of Babel the sand would probably have risen to the same height, and it would have always remained a sloping hill, its base con- stantly enlarging and its grade becoming more gradual.
General Williams was one who in no way spared himself, either in hard work or un- pleasant duties; he was always on active duty. Day or night he was a familiar figure. That
98 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
his treatment of the "Ninth " was severe cannot be denied. From the first he and the regiment were antagonistic. The men entertained a feeling of resentment against an officer, who, although of superior rank, had superseded their colonel in an important command. They did not try to conceal their feelings, but were wise enough to avoid committing any overt act, and in a military sense were not insubordinate. Still they were sullen and unsoldierly in their manner toward the General and he, being human, retaliated by proposing to "take it out of them." This, combined with the hard man- ual labor the men were forced to perform in the work which the General doubtless consid- ered necessary for the safety of the post, but which a majority of the men looked upon as rank tyranny, caused relations which diplo- mats would call " strained."
Some of the more reckless of the men con- structed pitfalls in the sand in the immediate vicinity of the new fort for the purpose of entrapping the General. They succeeded at last, and when one morning he tumbled into one of them, they exhibited great glee, although somewhat suppressed, and considered them- selves well paid for the extra labor expended in digging it.
Another matter which added to the discom-
99
SIMULATING DEFENSE.
fort of the troops while General Williams was . in command was the simulating a defense against surprise each morning two hours before daylight.
His theory, which was doubtless correct, was that if the enemy attempted a surprise he would be likely to make the attempt just before day- break, consequently to properly guard against it the troops should be in the defenses or in line of battle previous to that hour. Inasmuch as the camps were at one end of an island which was situated forty miles from the main land, and in some parts not over one-fourth of a mile wide, with detachments of troops en- camped along the narrow island many miles from the main camp, and with outlying pickets as well, the chances of such an attempt being made were deemed too remote to justify turn- ing the men out of their more or less warm blankets between three and four o'clock on cold winter mornings to perform an hour or two of hard drill in simulating a defense. All this produced a feeling of dislike on one side and distrust on the other. The following will serve to illustrate.
There were stationed at one of the outlying camps three companies of the "Ninth," among them Company K. From the time of taking the field no issue of fresh meat had been made
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100 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
to the regiment, and none had reached the men with the exception of what little had been pro- cured in ways it is unnecessary to explain, but which would have been frowned upon by the good people at home. Consequently the men were, as they expressed it, "meat hungry." A certain member of one of Company K's squads became possessed of the knowledge that one of Caleb Stowe's hogs had escaped from its pen and was wandering far from home midst the brush and swamps, and was liable to come to harm. An expedition was organized for its capture. Tom Stapleton, "Blackie" Farley, "Buffer" Johnson, and several others started from camp to capture the prize.
It was necessary to move secretly and quietly, for if anyone outside the squad to which these energetic and resourceful young soldiers be- longed had learned that "fresh pork" was wandering loose in the woods the entire com- mand would soon have known it also, and then all chance of its capture would have been destroyed. To shoot the porker was out of the question, for at that time to discharge a cartridge, except at the enemy, would have brought swift and condign punishment upon the rash offender. The game must be secured either by fleetness of foot or by strategy. They first attempted to run it down, without reckoning on the speed
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THE ATTEMPT AT ASSASSINATION.
and endurance of a "razor-back" hog. How- ever, by judicious relays of pursuers they so succeeded in tiring it that it sought cover in a little thicket by the side of a sandy road, which made a sharp turn here at the edge of the woods. The men were creeping stealthily forward to surround their prey, and were well closed in on its hiding place, when General Williams, who was on his way to the camp for his accustomed visit, rode rapidly, and on ac- count of the soft sand in the road, noiselessly out of the woods. The men were so eager and intent on the business before them that not one of them was aware of his presence. The rush of the horse startled the hog, which at once broke cover. One man, referring to the animal, shouted: "There goes the -! Give it to
him !" To the General, it was plainly an ambush with an attempt at assassination, and driving the spurs into his horse, and lying low on the animal's neck, he was off like a bird, and galloping direct to camp ordered the "long roll " to be at once beaten. The foragers com- prehended the situation in the twinkling of an eye. Lack of acute perception and prompt de- cision could not be charged among their short- comings. Dashing across the swamp by a short cut they secured their arms and were in their places in line when the companies were formed.
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The roll was called and all the men were found to be present or accounted for. The General was puzzled, and it is needless to add that the culprits were never discovered. Had they been, in all probability they would have been severely dealt with, probably have been shot, as the evidence would have been strongly against them. The story was too rich to be kept a secret and finally leaked out, but not until after the regiment had been assigned to another command.
General Williams was killed at the battle of Baton Rouge, La., while gallantly leading an Iowa regiment in a charge on the enemy. His untimely death was regretted by both the offi- cers and men of Hawkins' Zouaves, as notwith- standing his faults he proved himself a gallant soldier.
As they became more experienced in army life they learned that eccentricity was not an uncommon characteristic of elderly army offi- cers, and that the General's harshness and severity was due very largely to their own unpleasant habit of not only thinking but of sometimes expressing their thoughts in words, while he was simply carrying out his own idea of what was proper to be done and perform- ing his duty as he thought it should be per- formed.
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MAJ. KIMBALL WITH COS. R & K, ARRIVE.
Soon after the appointment of General Wil- liams to the command at Hatteras Inlet, Gen- eral Mansfield sent a report to General Wool, of which the following is an extract :
"The command of Col. W. L. Brown being but seven companies-say 500 strong-and the enemy supposed to be at least 2,000 strong, Col. Brown inimediately, by orders received from Colonel Hawkins at that moment, took up his line of march on the east beach for Hatteras light- house, where he was met by Colonel Hawkins with his command, and finally the whole command fell back to this station-Hatteras Inlet- with a loss on the part of Colonel Brown of three sergeants, two cor- porals, and twenty-four men stragglers.
"He sent back a party to burn and destroy his camp, which was supposed to be partially done, and they fell into the hands of the enemy."
On the 7th of October, Companies B and K, which had remained at Newport News under command of Major Kimball, arrived at Hatteras. All the companies were thus once more assem- bled at the same post or station, but they were not reunited by any means. The whole regi- ment was not encamped together at any one time during their occupation of Hatteras. During all the time Colonel Hawkins was in command of the post his headquarters continued to be at Fort Hatteras, with at times one, two or perhaps three companies of the regiment encamped in the immediate vicinity, under com- mand of one of the senior captains, while the remainder of the battalion present was located at Camp Wool, about two miles above the fort, with Lieutenant-Colonel Betts in command.
104 VINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
The Lieutenant-Colonel was an officer of very superior talents and attainments, an excellent tactician and possessed of marked executive ability. He also enjoyed the respect and con- fidence of every one in the regiment. He was the happy possessor of a faculty which few officers, either regular or volunteer, could claim --- of being able to make a battalion drill interest- ing to those engaged in it. His clear and concise explanations of the way to perform in- tricate evolutions were listened to with interest, if not with pleasure. Another thing which is remembered distinctly by the survivors of the regiment, is the regularity and smoothness with which everything pertaining to the daily routine of camp life progressed when under his com- mand. It is remembered that there was an almost total absence of jar or friction in camp when he was the commanding officer.
There were officers in the regiment toward whom more affection may have been felt by the men but none of them were more highly es- teemed by them than Lieutenant-Colonel Betts.
When Major Kimball arrived from Newport News,' with the two remaining companies, another camp was established still farther up the island, to the command of which he was assigned.
After General Williams arrived at the post
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COMPANY K, BECOMES A BATTERY.
camps were changed and commands readjusted so frequently that it would be monotonous to chronicle them in detail.
When Colonel Hawkins was placed in arrest and sent to Fortress Monroe accompanied by charges of insubordination-the result of his re- fusal to assign Captain Bernard to a company when ordered to do so by General Williams, an account of which will be found in another chapter-the command of the regiment devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel Betts. His headquar- ters were always at or near Camp Wool, but the greater portion of the regiment was nearly always distributed among the other outlying camps, Winfield, Trent and others, and Major Kimball was always in command of the largest battalion, as befitted his rank.
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