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 8
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Sleep! How often, ah! how often have ye brought sweet and happy dreams on the eve of battle! How often calmed the anxieties for the fortunes of to-morrow.
As morning approached and the unfortunates, who had stood about the fires all night, saw the dying embers deepen from red to black, they began to prowl about in a more desperate search
125
STEALING THE COLONEL'S BED.
for fuel. Many wistful glances were cast at the rails upon which the red covered figure of the Colonel reposed. Until now the information "It is the Colonel," would send the raiders off in another direction, but at last two bold spirits more reckless than their comrades, approached the sleeper, walked stealthily around him, en- acted a short pantomine, and then-whisk! splash !- the Colonel lay in the water while two soldiers and a rail disappeared in the darkness. In an instant the Colonel was in a sitting posi- tion, had thrown the blanket from his head, and quickly realizing what had occurred, remarked : "That was pretty well done!" Then quietly ar- ranging his two remaining rails, again sought slumber. This closed the incident, and the two robbers congratulated themselves on their dex- terity as they toasted their shins beside their replenished fire.
A false alarm was raised just before day- break. Every man of the Ninth sprang to his musket with an alacrity born of long drills and the habit of the thorough soldier. When the uncertainty was over, there was relaxation until dawn, when the troops were formed in line and moved to the front.
General Parke's brigade, to which the Ninth was attached, was held in reserve on the left of the line, and the Ninth was the last regiment to
126 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
leave its bivouac, as also the last to be brought into action. There was but one road on this part of the island, and this ran from Ashby's Landing in a northeasterly direction to a point more than half way across to the other shore, where it turned abruptly to the northwest and led across a swamp about an eighth of a mile wide. A structure known as a "corduroy road" bridged the swamp and at its farther edge on the solid ground, about an eighth of a mile from the turn of the road, was a Confederate fort or earthwork at the foot of which was a moat. The water in the moat was on a level with that in the swamp. The earthwork ex- tended completely across the road and some distance on either side, its flanks being pro- tected by the swamp. It had but one face, being simply an earthwork, not a fort, and mounted three guns. The trees had been care- fully felled in the front of the work from the ditch to the bend in the road, their trunks toward the fort, their sharpened branches toward an advancing foc. This abatis was the full width of the earthwork at the ditch but became gradually wider toward the turn in the road, and through its center ran the corduroy causeway. On each side of the abatis was a veritable jungle of trees, thickets, and twisted vines and other undergrowth, while the swamp
127
GOING INTO ACTION.
itself was a mass of mud and slime, sometimes knee deep, sometimes waist deep, with here and there a hump of tangled grass or the roots of a thicket projecting, the whole bottom covered with several inches of water.
Official reports show that General Foster commenced the attack about 8 o'clock, A. M., with six Dahlgren boat howitzers. These were supported by the 21st Massachusetts, Colonel Upton, which in turn was supported by the 23rd Massachusetts. When the remainder of the brigade reached the field the 23rd and 27th Massachusetts with the roth Connecticut were ordered into the swamp on the right to strike the enemy's left flank. On General Reno's arrival he sent word to Foster that his brigade would penetrate the dense woods on the left and endeavor to turn the right flank of the enemy. This was a most difficult task, owing to the natural obstacles to be overcome, in addition to the resistance offered by the enemy. The action had been progressing some time before Parke's brigade was ordered from its bivouac. Before reaching the bend the road was narrow and bordered by dense thickets and swamps. It was badly cut up and trampled by the march of the preceding troops, and that, and the heavy rain of the preceding night had made it little better than a wide ditch of mud
128 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
and water. Still it was the only means of passage through the thickets, and the soldiers laboriously slipped and struggled on, always hoping for a better road beyond.
Only men who have never been in action before can thoroughly realize the carnage and horrors of a battlefield. While the 9th Regiment had been in the field about eight months, and during that time had seen some active service, still many of the men never saw a wounded man, and they were very naturally horror- stricken when they now saw scores of their comrades carried off the field, many of them in
the agonies of death.
It is far different with
the veteran of many battles, to whom such scenes have become familiar. In the heat and roar of the sanguinary conflict he retains all his coolness, looking upon the terrible scenes around him as a matter of course. He is like the " Old Continental," who, when preparing to charge the enemy, would hum the tune:
" Why soldiers, why, should we be melancholy, boys ? Whose business is to die-let us be jolly, boys !"
But the veterans are apt to forget their own first battle and to become impatient at the evi- dence of fear which so naturally appears among inexperienced troops, many of the most ner- vous of whom, however, become in a short time the very best and bravest of soldiers.
129
DISPIRITING SIGHTS AND SOUNDS.
This was well exemplified in the experience of the men in this regiment. While they were moving along the narrow road toward the point where the battle was being fought - which was the only inlet to the scene of action, as it was the only outlet for the wounded - momentarily expecting to be engaged in the conflict, they met great numbers of wounded men, some being carried on stretchers, some assisting each other as best they could, while others moved along unaided.
This melancholy column which seemed to have no end, contained men with wounds of every character and degree of severity. As the maimed and injured were so very close at hand the nature of their wounds were plainly visible to all. Some poor fellows lay still and death- like on the stretcher. Some with naked breasts showed how hurried had been the surgeon's search to establish the location of a bullet- wound or to staunch a hemorrhage. On many were hastily noted the little round blue hole, with its darker center, the cause of which every soldier, as well as surgeon, knew so well.
This was certainly a ghastly spectacle and of anything but an inspiring character to be wit- nessed by the men. It was a sight intensely trying, and a graphic object lesson, showing viv- idly what they themselves might expect to im-
.
130 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
mediately encounter. Added to this, was the ratling volleys of musketry, occasionally rising into a steady roar, punctuated by the crashing explosions of the big guns of the enemy and the spiteful barking of the boat howitzers op- posed to them. Now and again the deep- chested cheer of the northern soldiers or the shrill rebel yell would be heard as one or the other of the combatants gained a real or im- aginary advantage. No wonder some were unnerved and turned pale at the saddening sights and the nerve-shaking sounds, and it is only fair and honorable to acknowledge that many a face was blanched, and many a good and true man in the ranks would have been glad indeed to have honorably avoided the coming battle.
Major Kimball, whose position in line brought him in more direct contact with the men than any of the other officers, was quick to perceive the effect produced on these boys whom he had hoped to see go into the engagement with a sort of triumphant hurrah. He did his best to counteract the effect which the sights just detailed produced. He tried to raise the spirits of the men by pretending to belittle the spec- tacle, saying it was merely a necessary incident of the battle ; that it did not amount to any- thing any way; that there were not many
131
MAJOR KIMBALL'S EXHORTATION.
wounded as compared with what he had ex- pected to see, judging from the amount of firing and noise at the front; told them how his old regiment had fought in the Mexican War, and related acts of gallantry and heroism performed by its members, which he exhorted them to emulate, and reminded them that they were about being called upon to uphold the honor of their country and their regiment, and to remem- ber that they were American soldiers and to behave accordingly.
This lesson had, without doubt, a good effect on the boys that heard it. The gallant conduct of the regiment that day as a whole, showed that the depressing effect of the sights and sounds, on the fringe of the battle, had only a temporary effect. Their conduct in the fight earned for them the unstinted commendation of their commanding officers, while the soldiers of the other regiments expressed their apprecia- tion of the conduct of the Zouaves by receiving them with cheers whenever one appeared among them, showering words of commendation and congratulation upon them without stint.
When the regiment arrived at the bend in the road where the clearing in front of the rebel battery began, there were no bodies of troops visible other than of their own brigade on the road, and what seemed like a regiment some
132 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
distance towards their right, lying down, al- though between, and among the trees on the left, men could be seen both singly and in squads, and heavy musketry firing could be heard in the woods on both left and right of the road. There was now nothing to obstruct the view between the Ninth and the rebel fort which was in plain sight.
The six Dahlgrens were "in battery" at the bend in the road, but were not at the time in action. They had apparently been silenced. The bodies of several dead sailors lay around them, but no living sailor was in sight save one, an officer, who, with folded arms, was leaning on a howitzer, gazing at the fort.
General Foster with several aids stood in open ground, apparently directing the move- ment of the troops, being concealed from the enemy's view by a small thicket.
As Reno's advance had left the road clear, Parke's brigade was ordered by Foster to move directly forward in support of the 23d and 27th Massachusetts, which were then engaged in turning the enemy's left.
The 4th Rhode Island was in advance, on the right of the brigade. To reach the Massa- chusetts troops it was necessary to leave the road at the turn, which was in the open ground, cross the rest of the cleared strip of swamp in
133
THE ORDER TO CHARGE.
front of the fort, and move into the thick woods beyond. The leading company of the Ninth and part of the second one had left the road and were working their way through the vines and thickets of the swamp when some one halted the regiment. The center and part of the right wing was in the open ground in front of the fort, and could distinctly sce the movement of the men at the guns.
When the halt was made word was passed forward for Colonel Hawkins, who was at the head of the regiment, to come back, but before he had time to do so, Kimball ran to where Foster stood to take any order he had to give. Whatever conversation occurred was quickly over, and Kimball, jerking off his overcoat, threw it from him, and drawing his sword, flourished it around his head and shouted with the full force of his lungs: "Now, boys, follow your old Major-Charge!" When this order was given there was a grand simultaneous rush toward the enemy, and the men who had the best ground to travel on were farthest to the front. There was no possibility of preserving company for- mation in this mad plunge and struggle, through swamps and abatis, over stumps and logs.
To enable the reader to clearly understand the situation of affairs on the battleground at the moment the Ninth New York was halted,
134 NINTH REGIMMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
and the word passed to the front for Colonel Hawkins, as above stated, reference is made to the official map of the battle, issued by authority of the War Department, in which the location of each of the regiments engaged is given, with distances from point to point, nature of the ground, and all other data necessary to give a clear conception of the plan of battle and the disposition of the Union forces.
The map shows the road over which the troops advanced as running in a general north- east direction to the edge of the swamp, where it made a sharp turn - nearly a right angle - towards the northwest and continuing in that direction to the ditch in front of the battery, a distance of about one thousand feet from the bend of the road. The battery had a front of about one hundred and fifty feet, was crescent shaped and mounted three guns. The troops in position on the right of the road, operating against the enemy's left, were in the order named from right to left: the 23d Massachusetts, the 27th Massachusetts, the 51st Pennsylvania, the 10th Connecticut, and in the rear of that regiment the 25th Massachusetts, which had exhaust- ed its amunition and had been relieved by the ioth Connecticut. Some distance in front of the roth Connecticut, very near the bend in the road, was the battery of boat howitzers.
135
DISPOSITION OF THE TROOPS.
On the left of the causeway, operating against the enemy's right, and in the order named from left to right were Companies A, G, D and I of the 5ist New York, then the 21st Massachusetts, and behind it the remaining companies of the 51st New York, while on the right of the 21st Massachusetts was the 9th New Jersey. The general form of the line approached that of the letter V, with the point formed by the 25th Massachusetts and 10th Connecticut somewhat flattened. The road en- tered the V and turned toward the battery between the roth Connecticut and 9th New Jersey. There were detachments of rebel in- fantry on each flank of the battery. The arms of the V were each about twelve hundred feet long and they extended so far toward the front that the head of each reached a point nearly, if not fully, on a line with the battery and distant from its flanks about three hundred and three hundred and fifty fect respectively.
The Ninth had marched into the lower end of the V, which brought the 25th Massachusetts and roth Connecticut on their right hand, and the enemy's battery on their left. The regiment had continued straight ahead when the bend in the road was reached, and conse- quently the head of the column, or right of the regiment, had left it at that point and plunged
136 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
into the swamp, following its leading regiment, the 4th Rhode Island, in obedience to the orders to get on the left flank of the battery. The company on the right and a few files at the head of the one following it, was the only portion of the command that had abandoned the road when the halt was ordered and word passed to the front that Colonel Hawkins was wanted by some one in authority ; presumably General Foster.
The left wing of the regiment had not yet emerged from the woods into the open space in front of the work where the timber had been felled, and which was only little more in width than the face of the battery itself, say, two hun- dred feet, therefore, only a few of the companies were then visible to the rebels or exposed to their fire.
All the other regiments, as above named, ex- cept the 25th Massachusetts, which had been withdrawn, and part of the 10th Connecticut, which was on dry ground, were struggling as best they could through the mire and amidst the dense vegetation of a North Carolina swamp, with the water, mud and ooze in no place less than knee deep, and in many places fully waist deep, with the view, beyond the dis- tance of a few feet, shut off entirely, and all progress rendered almost impossible by nearly
137
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED.
impenetrable thickets of laurel, briers and cling- ing vines and the many other luxuriant growths of an almost semi-tropical jungle. It must be borne in mind that in the limited space into which the attacking force was crowded-several thousand men being obliged to operate and manœuver in an area in which two, or, at the most, three regiments would have been amply sufficient to cover properly-the different com- mands must of necessity have overlapped each other greatly. The regiments, with the ex- ception of the Ninth New York, were all en- tirely new ones. They had only a short time before arrived from Annapolis, where they had been gathered together to form the Burnside Expedition ; had never before seen any active service, in fact most of them had but a very limited knowledge of drill, and they were now, if we except the short sojourn on Hatteras, getting their first experience on the soil of the Southern Confederacy. These men were crowded into the swamp, regiment after regi- ment, until the various organizations were merged in a crowd or mob. From the nature of the surroundings, being unable to see what was going on about them, being deprived of the cx- ample and of the controlling influence of their officers, by reason of being generally hidden from their view by the thick foliage of the
138 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
swamp, the men were obliged to act individ- ually, and as is to be expected under such cir- cumstances, it was only the best men among them, those strongly imbued with the spirit of duty and patriotism - and there were many such - who succeeded in struggling forward to a position from which they could occasionally get a glimpse of the enemy through the inter- vening trees and underbrush, and actually join in the battle.
When the Ninth received the order to charge, the companies which were in the open ground immediately changed direction by the left flank and rushed directly toward the battery, through the abatis and along the corduroy road, the other companies pouring in behind them. The right flank company, which was already among the tangled thickets of the swamp, retracing the few steps necessary to regain the road, and joining in the movement. In an instant the whole width of the cleared space in front of the battery was filled with a mass of rushing Zouaves, and the air resounded with their shouts. The enemy at once opened fire with his artillery, which had been silent for a few minutes, and seemed to redouble that of his musketry. From the manner in which the regiment doubled on itself-if the use of the term may be permitted-when the first rush
139
COLONEL DE MONTEIL KILLED.
was made, the right center becoming the front, and the men toward the right of that front having the advantage of the firm footing of the road and being able to maintain their advanced position throughout, the colors of the regiment had no opportunity to, and did not succeed in getting to the front at any time during the charge, and, therefore, were not with those men who first gained the parapet of the fort.
When the Zouaves had covered about one- half the distance to the works the enemy succeeded in checking their advance for a moment. There was a temporary halt, Kimball had disappeared for an instant, stumbled into a bog-hole it was said, and some of the men began firing. The enemy's musketry fire was sharp and effective. The artillery fire was wild and high however, and the only effect it pro- duced was to shower down leaves and branches from the trees on the heads of the men beneath. A few men fell here-not many, but as they fell and lay they looked to the others like a great many. Lieut .- Colonel DeMonteil was killed here. He was Lieutenant-Colonel of the D'Epaneuil Zouaves, and had marched into the engagement with Colonel Hawkins at the head of the Ninth, as a volunteer carrying a carbine. At the moment of the check in the advance he had leaped on the trunk of a fallen tree and
140 NINTH REGIMMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
striding back and forth, shouted: "Do not dis- charge ze cartridge, my children! Forward wiz ze bayonet! Forward wiz ze bayonet! Charge, mes enfants !" and other exhortations of a like character, when he suddenly plunged forward into the water beneath him, killed as quickly as though struck by lightning.
His reckless courage was most marked and attracted the attention and excited the admira- tion of all who saw him. No man ever died more bravely.
The reports in relation to his identity and antecedents, which at the time and subsequently, gained currency among the soldiers of the Ninth, and which, although not confirmed from any responsible source, there is no reason , to doubt, were to the effect that he was a major in the Marine Service of France and had procured leave of absence, or permission from his govern- ment, to come to the United States for the purpose of entering the military service and taking part in the war. His body was sent north by Colonel Hawkins, consigned to the care of some of his-Colonel H's - friends in New York, who honored it with a soldier's burial in Greenwood Cemetery, and raised a fitting monument over the grave.
Among the men who were hit here about the time Lieut .- Colonel DeMonteil was killed, were
141
A TEMPORARY CHECK.
Snow and Donovan, of Company A, the latter very seriously; Lieut. Geo. W. Debevoise of the same company, who was disabled for duty for several months; Scannel, of Company K, mortally, and others whose names cannot now be recalled. Captain Jardine, of Company G, and Captain Graham of Company A, were both in the front rank, and each seized muskets from the men crouched near them and fired into the middle embrasure of the fort, where the enemy could be seen at work at their guns. Each of the officers named fired two or three shots.
As said before, the check was only momentary. Some one shouted: "What's the matter here? Forward!" and the cry of "Forward the Ninth! Forward, Company - -! " was raised by the officers at the front. The men responded instantly and dashed forward, that is some of them did, those on the road. The others struggled and wallowed in the same direction. Struggled through the abatis and wallowed through the deep swamp mud. Soon after this second rush had fairly begun the fire from the fort began to slacken, and by the time the advance had reached the moat it had ceased altogether. The men swarmed over the para- pet and through the embrasures and the battle of Roanoke Island was won.
From the instant the order to charge was
142 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
given, in fact, from the time the regiment first arrived on the ground, until the men began to pour over the works, not more than five minutes had elapsed.
A small flag of the enemy's, apparently a presentation flag, as it had a deep bullion fringe and was handsomely mounted, was flying inside the works and some of those who first sprang into the fort made a rush to secure it. Private Caster, of Company C, was the successful one and after a struggle tore it from the staff and concealed it inside his blouse. The staff was broken in the melee and the metal plate, bearing a presentation inscription, was secured by an- other of the boys, who cannot now be iden- tified. Caster retained possession of this flag until his death, when it became the property of John Hassall, Caster's friend and intimate associate before and after the war, and his tent- inate and bunkie during the service. He still has the flag in his possession.
The advance of the regiment had barely reached the inside of the works, in fact the main body of the regiment was still pouring in over the parapet, when scattered bodies of troops emerged from the swamp and woods on the right, followed directly by their main body, and entered the works from that direction. Almost at the same instant the soldiers who had been
143
HOW THE TROOPS CAME IN.
operating on the right appeared around the left of the work, and in a moment what might be called a river of men swarmed in from both · directions.
These troops which had been working their way forward against either flank of the enemy were well advanced to positions very near the fort when General Foster ordered the Ninth to charge, and they had seized the proper moment to make the final rush; therefore, they arrived in the battery almost at the same moment and nearly simultaneous with the Ninth, although they came around the flanks of the works-not over the ditch and parapet. As a matter of fact the troops which came toward the right of the battery had their colors at their front when they emerged from the swamp, and planted them on the parapet before the color- bearers of the Ninth, who, from the nature of the ground, and the way in which the regiment doubled on itself when the charge began - which prevented them from getting near the front during its continuance-could pass their's up over the ditch to their comrades on the parapet. The men of the Ninth, who consid- ered themselves veterans as compared with the other regiments, were not slow in according to each of them full credit for their resolute conduct during the battle. They had been exposed for
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