To sacrifice, to suffer, and if need be, to die : a history of the thirty-fourth New York Regiment, Part 6

Author: Chapin, L. N. (Louis N.)
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Little Falls, NY : Galpin CWRT
Number of Pages: 218


USA > New York > To sacrifice, to suffer, and if need be, to die : a history of the thirty-fourth New York Regiment > Part 6


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


FAIR OAKS, THE ADAMS HOUSE AND "OUR FIELD" ON RIGHT-1902


FAIR OAKS. THE WILLIAMSBURG ROAD-1902 We charged across the Field on the Left, into the Woods on the Right.


43


THE BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS


through the swamp had been uplifted from the mud, and now floated loosely on the shallow water, but although even Sumner feared that the attempt would result in terrible disaster, Sedgwick's Division, (to which the Thirty-fourth belonged,) marched upon the swaying bridge. The weight of the moving column steadied it." Colonel Suiter, of the Thirty-fourth, in his official report of the battle, says: "In advancing to Fair Oaks, from the Tyler House, the men had, some of the way, to march through water and mud waist deep." And Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Kimball, commanding the Fifteenth Massachusetts, a com- panion regiment to the Thirty-fourth, in his official report, says : " The water, in some places coming up to the waists of the men." And one of the privates of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, in a letter written home after the battle, says : "After leaving the bridge, we waded through mud and water, nearly waist deep, before we reached hard ground, so called." It therefore seems pretty well established that the Thirty-fourth did some wading, in its advance to Fair Oaks.


As soon as we were over the swollen river we were rushed for- ward. It appears that the Third and Fourth Corps had been pretty roughly handled in the fight thus far, losing heavily in men and guns. But at the moment when the situation was the most desperate Sedg- wick's Division was coming to the front. In the center of a large, open field stood the historic Adams House, facing west. To the left of this house we are quickly hustled, the Eighty-second New York, of our brigade in our rear, and the Fifteenth Massachusetts in the rear of that ; at the right of the house is Kirby's Battery, and troops to the right of that. In about the time it takes to tell it, the Fifteenth moves to our right, completing the line to the house; and the Eighty-second to the right of the house, supporting the battery. To our left was the Twentieth Massachusetts. At some distance in front, filling the woods, are the enemy, flushed with unbroken victory. And then the fun began.


A regiment, in its first fight, knows not the sentiment of fear. The dangers are all present, but the men are unconscious of them. The psychic life of a man, so to speak, has never traversed this ordeal before. Next time the men will be afraid; but not this time. And so it was. There was no interval of waiting. The firing runs along the line, at the enemy, now clearly seen advancing out of the woods. At once, the men began to drop ; but no man was afraid, though his turn might come next. The firing is as hot as the men can make it. We can see the men on the other side falling too. They are making a fierce attempt to get possession of Kirby's Battery. They surge up toward the old house, but are literally crowded back by our lines, which are steadily pushing forward. We stand them off in handsome style. Every officer who rides a horse, and all the officers on foot, are moving back and forth, close up against our ranks, urging on the men, who need no urging. Gray-haired Sumner is there, and Gorman, roaring louder than ever. Finally, at what seems the supreme moment, the order is given to charge, and the men respond with the greatest alacrity. The field in front is swept clear ; the rebels are completely routed. It is a


44


HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT


great victory. The rebels are driven back across the old Williamsburg road, and into the woods beyond. Night closes upon the scene.


Speaking of the charge which the Thirty-fourth made on that occasion, General Gorman, in his official report, says :


"Muskets were promptly brought down to a charge, and the men threw themselves at double quick headlong upon the enemy, the Thirty-fourth New York somewhat in advance on the left, and in perfect line, the Eighty-second New York and the Fifteenth Massachusetts supporting the center. The enemy on the right and center gave way, but a South Carolina regiment before the Thirty-fourth New York, brought their bayonets to a charge, and stood until that regiment was within ten or fifteen paces of them. I halted the Eighty- second New York and Fifteenth Massachusetts a little before they entered the woods; but the Thirty-fourth New York plunged into the thicket some fifty paces before I could halt them. A further advance would have imperiled their left and flank."


This Adams House and the sheds around it were soon filled with wounded men, and the surgeons had their hands full. Colonel Suiter, in his official report, says that the Thirty-fourth had 19 killed, 76 wounded, and 3 missing, and that 3 have since died. But in the lists which we give below, are the names of 31 men killed in this battle. We have tried to make the list as complete as possible. By the official reports, published since, the loss of the Thirty-fourth was three times that of any other regiment in the brigade. In the open field the ground was literally covered with the dead and dying. We slept that night among them, and many a live man snuggled up to a dead one, and didn't know it until the morning broke.


That next morning, which was Sunday, and the Ist of June, the battle opened over on our left, and we stood in line, ready to go in, but now the other division of our corps, Richardson's, and Hooker's of the Third Corps, which had not been engaged heretofore, went to the front. and had their innings. The battle broke out early in the morning ; but it appears to have been an accident, rather than the result of any deliberate purpose on either side.


While waiting in line, and expecting to go in, we wrote these lines, speaking on the battle of the night before, to the home paper which, after forty-one years, we have no disposition to modify :


"The Thirty-fourth has won for itself a name which will long be treasured. Gen- erals Sumner, Sedgwick and Gorman. were all on the field, and riding up before our regiment broke out in such exclamations as, 'God bless the gallant Thirty-fourth,' 'You have covered yourselves all over with glory, every man of you,' 'Noble men, I hope I shall die praising you.' General Sedgwick said that he had been in service a great many years, but had never in his life seen such a bayonet charge as we made across that open field and into those woods. Said he, 'If money will buy it the Thirty-fourth shall have one of the handsomest banners in the whole army, and upon it shall be inscribed, in letters of gold, 'Fair Oaks.'"'


Many were the touching scenes witnessed on the field and in. the hospitals after the fight. But none were more touching than the one described by Captain Clark at the dedication of our monument. We refer the reader to the account of the dedication for the incident.


The story of little Jesse Van Hagen is almost equally touching. He was killed by a shot through the body. His younger brother, a


TUCKER'S SPRING, FAIR OAKS-1902


SPRING AT KEEDYSVILLE, MD .- 1902


46


HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT


mere lad, had enlisted in Captain Beverly's company, to go as drum- mer. With a tender regard for the brother William, he had himself enlisted, to go along with, and care for, the young fellow. The younger man was subsequently discharged for disability, not being able to stand the hardships of a soldier's life. At the time of this battle, Jesse, being naturally of a delicate constitution, was a very sick man ; but he would let nothing keep him from his post of duty ; so he crawled from his tent, joined his company, and fought till he fell, as brave as any man could be. All the members of the regiment seemed animated by the same spirit. Captain Sponable here received a bullet, which he carries yet, and which has never since let him enjoy a moment's peace.


The following are the names of those killed in this battle of Fair Oaks. For purposes of condensation we have included those who died of wounds immediately after the battle as killed in the battle. For further information see the General Roster.


Brewer, Milton-D.


Loomis, John-B.


Buck, John R .- E.


Mclaughlin, Corp. Robert-K.


Ballard, Stephen Andrew-B.


Middlebrook, First Sergt. Allen G .- K.


Carlton, Henry-D.


Myers, John-F.


Clark, Solomon B .- I.


Norris, Enoch-G.


Corbyn, Jr., Daniel S .- B.


Peck, William-K.


Dillon, James-D.


Petrie, Hayden J .- C.


Gordon, James W .- G.


Sixby, Nicholas-K.


Hill, Sergt. Major Luther A .- A.


Taft, Jesse-E.


Jacobus, Jesse-I.


Terry, Corp. Albert-B.


Kellogg, Herbert-I.


Terry, Victor-B.


Kennedy, Corp. Matthew-B. Kirk, Robert-G.


Thrasher, William B .- C.


Van Hagan, Jesse-K.


Lackey, Benjamin-E.


White, William-C.


Lamb, Clinton-K. Laughlin, Barney-G.


Williams, Corp. John-K. Total, 31.


Following the battle the Thirty-fourth occupied a camp on the front line in which it almost daily received fire from the rebel batteries posted on the farther side of a large wheat field on Garnet's Farm. It was seldom that anybody was hurt by this fire, however. For nearly a month we were on arduous picket duty. There was not a day that did not have its exciting incidents. The tension was very acute. There was no comity between the forces to prevent constant snipping. But there was one spot between the two lines which both sides agreed should be neutral and friendly ground. This was Tucker's Spring, and the picture we give of it shows how it looks at the present day. It is a beautiful spot and a picnic ground for parties from Richmond. The spring itself is a noble one, of the purest water, which we believe has been sold in various markets.


The keeper of the National Cemetery at Fair Oaks writes that he has been over all his records very carefully, but cannot find a single name of a Thirty-fourth comrade buried there. All our dead sleep in unknown graves. Only one of our dead could be found in the Na- tional Cemetery at Fredericksburg. He was a Co. D man, who died of disease elsewhere. See Roster.


47


THE BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS


The following are the names of those wounded at Fair Oaks. This list has grown steadily since we first began to work on it, and it is very probable that it is not yet complete :


Adle, Henry-G.


Benchley, Willett H .- G.


Brundage, Corp. Azariah C .- I.


Oathout, William-K.


Pabodie, George A .- E.


Perry, Jacob C .- B.


Doud, John-C.


Porter, Joseph-C. Rathbone, Orsemus-E.


Eastman, Gilbert L .- G.


Reynor, Joseph-D.


Egeler, John-F.


Rosa, Corp. John W .- K.


Egleston, William-I.


Rogers, Dennis-K.


Ferrill, Thomas-B.


Scanlan, Daniel-C.


Fynn, Martin-K.


Scott, First Lieut. John O .- D.


Franklin, Henry-E.


Shepherd, Peter-C.


Gorey, William-F. Guild, Winfield Scott-B.


Smith, Horace H .- B.


Haight, Lewis-G.


Sponable, Capt. Wells-B.


Hill, Sergt. William L .- D.


Stewart, John-B.


Hobby, George-F.


Van Etten, John-B.


Hurley, James Peter-B.


Van Court, Daniel P .- G.


Van Valkenburgh, First Sergt. Wm. S -F Wait, Francis-H.


Warner, William N .- C.


Lamphere, Warren-K.


Weber, Richard-I.


Loomis, Merritt B .- D.


Webster, William R .- D.


White, Thomas-F.


Will, Philip-F.


Walton, Second Lieut. William S .- K.


Total, 58.


Loyd, Simon-C. Marshall, Syrall-E.


Manning, Owen-F. Mills, William-C. Moore, John-G.


McMinez, Ezra-E. Miller, George-H. Orcutt, Alvin-E.


Cady, Loren E .- G. Carlton, Stephen-D. Clark, First Lieut. Irving D .- B. Deland, Lyman-E.


King, Capt. William H. - I. Twice wounded. Kirby, Edwin-G. Lewis, William J .- F.


Sisco, Franklin-E.


CHAPTER VII


THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES


O N the 26th of June heavy cannonading off to the north indicated that the fierce Seven Days' Battles had begun. Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill and Golding's Farm quickly following. In none of these engagements did the Thirty-fourth take part. But the air was full of ominous forebodings. We didn't worry; we knew our time would come. Stonewall Jackson had struck the extended Union line on the right and from his point of view was rolling it back dis- astrously. From the Federal point of view, however, that was not exactly the case. The troops were falling back in accordance with a pre-arranged plan on the part of McClellan to shift his base of operation from the Pamunky to the James River. On Sunday, June 29, it came our time to move, and we quickly moved to Savage Sta- tion, some miles to the south. The rebels, however, had been on the alert, and began to press us from the moment we broke camp at Fair Oaks. Savage Station, ever since a historic place, is a little bit of a railroad station, and nothing but a station. It has high ground to the south and was skirted by forests then as now. Very soon the rebels made their appearance in the edge of the woods and began to shell us. One would scarcely believe that so many shells could be thrown among thousands of men, and so few hurt. When this can- nonading had been kept up for some time, and had become tiresome, the Irish Brigade, commanded ordinarily by General Thomas Francis Meagher, but on this occasion by Colonel Vernon, was ordered to charge and clear the woods, which it did in handsome style. In fact, this charge was one of the most dramatic episodes of the war. This great body of men swept over the plateau with such huzzas as only a body of Irishmen can give.


From this time on we found ourselves crowded together in roads and woods with marching men, cavalry, artillery, and moving trains, and the progress was slow and difficult.


June 30th occurred what is commonly known in the annals of the Thirty-fourth as the Battle of White Oak Swamp. It would take a moving picture to properly describe it; for it extended over what was known as White Oak Swamp, Nelson's Farm, Glendale, all lying along the same road. The lists of our killed and wounded are mentioned in the official reports as having been shot at White Oak Swamp; but Colonel Suiter, who was in command of the brigade a portion of that day, has thought best to call it the Battle of Glendale, and it is so men- tioned on our Antietam monument. The day was insufferably hot, and the roads were unspeakably dusty. We were thrown back and forth from one point to another as danger threatened, and it took almost supreme endurance to stand it. But the men knew that sooner or later we would have to fight, and no one wanted to be absent when the time


49


THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES


came. Along in the afternoon came orders from Sumner himself for the men to throw off everything but guns and cartridge boxes, and the orders were quickly obeyed. A soldier hates to throw away his knap- sack. It contains everything he cherishes ; letters from home, pictures of loved ones, keepsakes that he has treasured all the way, besides all that he has in the way of extra clothing, needles and thread, and all the rest. It was evident that all the other regiments had been compelled to do the same; for the hot ground was everywhere littered with them. At one point we noticed where a brass band had thrown away all its instruments in the long run, and these had subsequently been run over by heavy artillery. The spectacle was not a pleasant one. Finally. near the close of the day, we brought up in front of a woods, inside of which terrific firing was going on ; and we knew that the great Day of the Lord had come.


In reply to our request to give us some of his recollections con- cerning this battle, Colonel Suiter very kindly sent the writer a full account, from which we make a number of extracts :


"General Richardson, commander of the first division of our corps, became engaged in our rear, and the Thirty-fourth was ordered to go to his support at a double quick. We executed the order and relieved Richardson, when we received an order to return at a double quick to support General Sedgwick, who had become engaged at the Nelson Farm. On reaching Sedgwick, we were sent to the support of General Kearny, at Glendale. In this battle we lost very heavily in a very short space of time. Night caught us fighting. At about nine o'clock in the evening the fighting ceased on both sides without an order. We picked up our wounded, and carried them to a safe place, and all they required was water. I sent Adjutant Thompson to find some water; and during his absence it appeared that a thousand at least, of the enemy, black and white, appeared upon the field in front, with torchlights, picking up their wounded. My adjutant returned, after a long search, with water, which I gave to the wounded, and relieved their wants. I immediately sent the adjutant back to ask General Sumner or Sedgwick to send me supports. I then went to the front and laid down to hear, if possible, what those torchlight fellows had to say. After some time General Kearny, who had lost an arm in the Mexican war. arrived. After the compliments of the night, the general said: 'Colonel, those fellows may, under the pretext of humanity, form a line of battle across your front; and if they come so near that you think they are going to attack, fire one volley, and then charge.' My reply was: 'General, I think I shall fire the volley and perhaps move them on; but when I charge it will be by the rear rank.' After a long wait Adjutant Thompson made his appearance with an order that I should as quietly and expeditiously as possible, withdraw my regiment. This was done; and when I got out it was daylight, and the entire army was on the move for Malvern Hill."


We can only add to what Colonel Suiter has so graphically described by saying that the scene throughout the early part of the night, when we lay in the edge of the woods, with the open field in our front, was weird and ghastly in the extreme. Men with flaming torches were wandering about this open field, calling, calling, to find their wounded comrades, hoping to render them some aid. Sometimes we could hear a feeble response as the names were called out, saying : " Here I am, boys," but more frequently there was no response. Our losses in this battle were not numerically great; but it is a wonder that


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HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT


half the regiment wasn't killed by the preliminary operations. Our lists show only 6 men killed and II wounded. Late in the night word was passed along the line to fall back, but to make no noise. Lieutenant Northup of Company K, who had been severely wounded, was put on a stretcher, and four of his men carried the suffer- ing officer along with the regiment all the way to Malvern Hill and safety. In all this step- by-step movement, this all-day fighting and all- night running, our forces were uniformly vic- torious. And it is a wonder that General McClel- lan did not turn and strike at his antagonist on some of these occasions. Our generals hated to give up the advantages they had won, and resume the retreat, but General McClellan didn't seem to De like-minded. McClellan was a great man on a retreat.


LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN BEVERLY-1862


The following are the names of the killed in this engagement. So many had been prostrated by the heat and dust and heavy marching preceding the battle that the number engaged was numerically small :


Barnes, Loren-I.


Cassily, Daniel-A.


Nichols, John W .- K. Sixby, John S .- K.


Gordon, Corp. Daniel R .- E.


Kibbie, Eugene-K.


Total, 6.


The following are the names of the wounded :


Burns, First Sergt. William-K.


Mooers, Wolford-D.


Campbell, Isaac G .- G.


Northup, Lieut. Emerson S .- K.


Carroll, Edward-F.


Owins, John-B. Also captured.


Degnan, Michael-B.


Petrie, Chauncy-B.


Greenly, Hiram B .- K.


Le Page, Lewis-D.


Walton, Lieut. William S .- K. Total, II.


Tuesday, July Ist, finds us at Malvern Hill. This ground should be an ideal spot for a general fighting on the defensive. It is high ground, free and clear on every side. Once an army is in possession of this ground, it can hardly be surprised; for any enemy approaching must emerge from the woods at a sufficient distance to make a good target for cannon and rifle. General McClellan found it so, and the approaching enemy found it so. Also on this occasion the Union army was under protection of gunboats on the James River, and they did royal service. We had no sooner got well settled on this splendid ground, than the enemy with his usual alertness found us, and with great daring made the assault. The Thirty-fourth was under hot fire here a portion of the time, but didn't suffer severely. But here Major Charles L. Brown of the regiment, and Sergeant George Morse, the sharpshooter, to whom we referred in a previous chapter, met their death. It appears that Morse, though he was handy with a rifle, could not stand off a whole army, and the bullets found him, to his mortal


LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN BEVERLY-1900


52


HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT


hurt .* No sooner had darkness fallen, than the rearward movement began again.


The death of Major Brown was a most dramatic incident of this Malvern Hill battle. We give the story as told by an eye witness :


" One circumstance frequently comes back to me over those forty years. Did you witness the wounding of Major Brown at Malvern Hill? I think you may not have seen the actual thing itself. I stood alongside of him. He lay upon his right side, leaning on his elbow, the bridle of his horse in his left hand, as it lay upon his hip. His ankles were crossed. The shell came bounding over the ground, as a ball might do. It bounded over the stacked arms, falling directly on his ankles, and going on its way. He fell over on his back, but raised himself in a sitting position, took his leg in his hands, and lifted it up, and his foot hung by the piece of boot-leg, not entirely cut off. Both feet were the same.


"I have seen the expression on his pale face hundreds of times, in memory, since he lifted that foot and saw his condition. He did a very careless thing. We had a right to be brave, but not to thus show our indifference, especially under shell fire. At least one comrade remained with the Major, as we resumed our retreat, and he died in Confederate hands.'


And now the rains, which had held off for a long time, began to fall; and so it happened that the march from Malvern Hill to Harrison's Landing on the James was not much of a show in the way of a nicely executed military movement. It wasn't a rout, but it looked like it. The road was narrow, and under the falling rains it was deep; and what with the passage of countless teams hauling the army wagons, the passage of the artillery and the cavalry, and 90,000 men on foot, it could hardly be expected that the road would be in prime condition. The quartermaster-general of the Army of the Potomac says that "if the enemy had known at this time the predicament in which the Army of the Potomac found itself, a very small body of them could have inflicted a deal of mischief." Army wagons, artillery, and cavalry were in many places crowded together in inextricable confusion. There was a good deal of what you might call profanity among various kinds of


*It appears that some fellow, who must have been a fraud, was admitted to the Soldier's Home, at Bath, N. Y., September 23, 1801, giving as his name and record, "George Moss, alias Michael Governor, formerly of Company K, Thirty-fourth Regiment." He died there November 16, 1897. We are informed that he was known in the Home as George Morse. Hearing of this at the time of the dedication, of course an honest doubt was raised as to his identity with our old comrade, whom we believed to have died of a wound received at Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; and so we have had to do some investigating. There seems to be no doubt that the man who died at Bath was a fraud, who traded on the names of two most deserving comrades. We appealed to Quartermaster Easterbrook, who in turn appealed to an old friend of his, James H. Wild, who was a member of the Walton, (Adirondack), Club, and knew Morse well. Wild replied to Easterbrook's inquiry, under date of November 28, 1902, as follows:


"FRIEND EASTERBROOK: You wished to know if I was acquainted with George Morse. He was one of the guides of the Walton Club, and George Dawson, and General Francis E. Spinner employed him as their guide, until Morse went to the war. He was wounded at Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 1862, and sent to the hospital in Washington, and died there. The club raised $500, and gave it to his widow; and the secretary (Mr. Schofield) of the club, got up a subscription for a monument, and went to Washington to have it put up at his grave. I do not know what cemetery it was. The members of the club understood it was in Washington, as I have always told my friends he was buried there. The club (Walton) had a membership of seventy-five, and I cannot name any member that is living. I took two friends from New York with me in '65, to the camp on the Third Fulton Lake, for a two-weeks' trip. That was the last time I took a trip to the Wild Camp. I remain yours, etc., JAMES H. WILD."


As for Comrade Michael Governor, there is really no such man. The Adjutant-General spelled the name that way once; but it was a mistake. The true name is Michael McGovern, whom we all remember, and who is still living in Little Falls, and prepared to defend his title against all comers. Mike, shake.




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