USA > New York > To sacrifice, to suffer, and if need be, to die : a history of the thirty-fourth New York Regiment > Part 8
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*Lieutenant H. W. Sanford of Company E, has given us the following account of the bat- tle, as it appeared from his standpoint, from the time the regiment issued from the East Woods: "Rushed forward at the top of their speed in broken order, one company in rear of the other, out of breath and almost fainting, Company E was brought to the very summit of the ground, to the left of the lane leading to the "Dunkard Church." From this point could be seen the shining bayonets of the enemy then forming on the east of the pike and south of the church. This was evidently unheeded by the officers in command, as the order, forward run, was still repeated by aid and staff of the commanding general. The enemy was not in large force, protected by a ledge of rocks, west of the pike and in rear of the Dunkard Church. In less than five minutes after the regimental line had been formed, five of Company E lay dead or dying, almost within touch of each other. The haste with which this ad- vanced position was taken, opened a space of about one-half mile between the left of this line and the next line of Federal troops. This fatal error had no sooner been committed than it was taken advantage of by the Confederates, by moving through that open space and to the rear of our line. Thus it was, when we had altogether the worst of the position, and were en- gaged by those in our front at short range, we found ourselves flanked and enfiladed by a vastly superior force. Surrender or death seemed to be the only thing in sight. To secure liberty the "cornfield" must be recrossed, over the bodies of the dead and dying, not in the route we had come, but by a circuitous course, in the face of a destructive fire of musketry at short range. It is a mystery that will never be solved, how it was possible for any one to pass through such a death-trap and live to record the fact. Many of the men fell front exhaustion, and were swept beneath the wave, like the undertow of the ocean beach. The writer of this sketch fell but a rod or two in front of our battery, and within about the same distance from the charging foe. Our artillerymen were waiting, with cannon charged with grate and canister, to uncover the enemy so that they might not slaughter their friends. Shot after shot was fired in Quick succession full in the face of the foe, opening wide gaps, at every discharge, and sending fragments of men into the air, in all direc- tions, adding rivers of gore to a field already deeply dyed by the blood of both armies. Probably there was never a time known in the history of modern warfare where so many men were slain as upon that con- secrated ground on that 17th day of September, 1862. Surely, the demon of death must have been fully satiated. Company E lost more than half its men present for duty. While several were within the enemy's lines, and were prisoners, only one remained and was taken to Richmond."
LIEUT. HENRY W. SANFORD-1902 (Afterward Captain)
65
THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
The following is a list of those killed in this battle. For purposes of condensation we have counted those who subsequently died of wounds, as among the killed :
Adle, John H .- C.
Hawley, George A .- E. Hayes, Dennis-D.
Allen, William-G.
Armour, David-C.
Helmer, Sergt. Aaron-G.
Ashley, Sergt. Jacob J .- C.
Hill, Second Lieut. Clarence E .- H.
Bailey, Henry-C.
Hicks, Lawrence-G.
Beardsley, John-G.
Hubbell, Henry-D.
Bramley, Henry-D.
Jolly, Peter-D. Lewis, William-K.
Buck, Martin-A.
Ladew, Warren C .- B.
Carey, Corp. David-A.
Lyon, First Sergt. Henry C .- I.
Cool, Stephen-B.
Mead, Sergt. Garland W .- G.
Coon, James-E.
Murphy, John-A.
Coonan, Patrick-D.
Mycue, John-D. O'Keef, Corp. Arthur-B.
Dickson, John-F.
Orcutt, Alvin-E.
Donohoe, James-A.
Easterbrook, Albert G .- G.
Rubbins, William-G.
Eldridge, William E .- G.
Salisbury, William A .- C.
Gadban, Lewis-D.
Sashagra, Anthony-D.
Gillman, Henry-A.
Walby, Ralph-B.
Greek, Ezra-I.
White, Daniel-E.
Hartley, Robert H .- A. Total 43
The following are the names of those wounded in this battle :
Ambrecht, Cæsar-K.
Green. Jacob-B.
Andrews, Sergt. Joseph-A.
Green, John-D.
Aunuck, James M .- E.
Hanna, Alexander A .-
Ballard, William H .- B.
Harris, William H .- I.
Barton, Color Sergt. Charles B .- C.
Harthouse, Augustus-B.
Beers, George W .- H.
Hayden, Frank-A.
Benchley, Willett H .- G.
Hayden, Oscar E .- C.
Bigelow, Orville C .- H.
Heenan, Timothy-A.
Blanchard, Zelotus-D.
Heidel, Christopher-C.
Bogardus, Sergt. Henry-E.
Hemmitt, Benjamin A .- H.
Boh, Martin-C. Brennan, John-B.
Hovenden, Adam-H. Hutton, Henry T .- I.
Lamountain, John-G.
Lewis, William H .- F.
Little, Corp. Marshall-C.
Lorman, Henry-A.
McDonald, Michael-I.
Mclaughlin, John-K. Medcalf, Corp. Theodore-B.
Mills, Henry-C.
Davison, Edward-B.
Delaney, Franklin B .- I.
Moore, John-G. Morgan, John-F.
Morse, Corp. Amos .- C.
Northridge, George-D.
Powers, Seth D .- G. Rathbone, Corp. Charles A .-- C Regan, Owen-B.
Roosevelt, Cornelius-F.
Rounds, First Sergt. Armineas S -G. Ryan, Michael Butler-R.
Dugan, James-A. Fenn, Corp. George H .- H. Fort, Jesse R. - B. Frasher, Peter N .- F. Freindenthall, Henry-I. Gorman, Martin-A.
Gough, Eli-C. Green, Charles J -H.
Hovey, Corp. Charles W .- I.
Cameron, Donald-A. Campion, Corp. John-B.
Carey, John-G.
Carter, Webster-D. Carto, Jerome M .- D. Chamberlain, Orlando R .- E
Colgrove, William R .- E. Comstock, Orrin-K. Crist, First Sergt. James B .- F.
Rhodes, Color Sergt. Chester S .- H.
Crouch, Corp. David-F.
Bullock, Milford N .- K.
VIEW OF HAGERSTOWN PIKE SOUTH FROM DUNKARD CHURCH
VIEW OF "OUR FIELD" FROM OUR MONUMENT, DUNKARD CHURCH ON RIGHT NOT IN SIGHT ( William Brashears who built the Foundation of Our Monument.)
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THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
Sawyer, Loren-H.
Traver, William-A.
Scott, George-D.
Waldron, Sergt. George W .- H.
Sherwood, Corp. Joshua-C.
Wells, Hamilton-B.
Slawson, John H .- F.
Willoughby, Charles A .- C.
Straight, Martin-F.
Young, Corp. Edward-E.
Taff, Labien-E.
Traver, Sergt. Henry-K.
Total-74.
The country in this vicinity has changed very much since the great battle. Fields of wheat and corn, orchards of apple and peach, have taken the place of the old woods. The soil is said to be very rich, and it would not be difficult to explain why. Human lives are the richest of phosphates. When the farmers sought to cut down these woods, they found the task well-nigh impossible, so full were the oaks of bullets and shell. Every square rod of this land has yielded many relics since that day, and even now one has to walk but a little way to find bullets on the plowed ground. There was an effort made to gather all the dead buried on these fields into the National Cemetery ; but of the forty-three men from the Thirty-fourth, killed and buried here, only eleven sleep in identified graves. These are: John H. Adle, Company C; Henry Bailey, Company D; John Beardsley, Company G; James Donohoe, Company A; Henry Gilman, Company A; Peter Jolly, Com- pany D; W. H. Lewis, Company K; Alvin Orcutt, Company E; Chester S. Rhodes, Company H; William Rubbins, Company G; William A. Salisbury, Company C.
Along the roads leading through the extensive battlefield there are iron tablets erected to tell the story of Antietam. On a number of these tablets are references to the Thirty-fourth. One of the many standing in front of the old church contains the following inscription :
U. S. A. SECOND ARMY CORPS. MAJOR GENERAL E. V. SUMNER, COMMANDING. (SEPTEMBER 17, 1862)
At daybreak of the 17th the three divisions of the 2d corps were east of the Antietam; Sedgwick's and French's near Army Headquarters, Richardson's in advance behind the bluff, overlooking the Antietam. At 7:30 A. M., Sedg- wick's Division moved, crossed the Antietam at Pry's Ford and, advancing through the east woods and Miller's cornfield and the fields to the South, in column of brigades, crossed the Hagerstown Pike about a third of a mile north of this, entered the west woods, and the right and center had reached the open ground beyond, when its advance was checked by Jackson's command and the artillery of Stuart's Cavalry division.
Gorman's Brigade was in first line, its left regiment, the 34th New York, a few yards west of the Dunkard Church and separated from the brigade by an interval of 460 yards, the brigade line running in a general direction north- west, its right 940 yards from this and 610 yards west of the Hagerstown Pike. Dana's and Howard's Brigades were in second and third lines respectively, their left flanks in the ravine and on the roll of ground 200 to 250 yards north- west of this and 260 to 300 yards west of the Pike. In this position the left flank of the division was attacked and turned by McLaws' and Walker's divisions and it was obliged to retreat northward to the fields and woods beyond D. R. Miller's.
The little old Dunkard Church, which, through all the battle, stood exposed to the fierce fire from both armies, to-day shows few marks
69
THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
of the ordeal through which it passed. Great care has no doubt been taken to preserve it. The society, we are told, now holds services in the church but once a month, having another church in Sharpsburg village, which is the accustomed place of worship. There is a provision in the original deed of the gift from Mr. Mumma, whereby the lot re- verts to the original heirs, in case it is ever used for any other than re- ligious purposes. On the front of the building by the door, there is a bronze tablet, on which is the following legend :
THE DUNKARD CHURCH. ERECTED A. D., 1853, BY THE GERMAN BAPTIST BRETHREN. DURING THE BATTLE THE WOUNDED OF BOTH ARMIES SOUGHT AND FOUND SANCTUARY WITHIN ITS WALLS. THE CHURCH WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED BY THE
FIRE OF THE UNION BATTERIES ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1862. THE BUILDING WAS REPAIRED, AND DIVINE WORSHIP WAS RESUMED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1864.
The following incident of the battle was related by the writer at the dedication : Milford N. Bullock, of Company K, was found dead on the field after the battle. The position in which he was lying indi- cated the painful circumstances of his death. He was lying on his back, his rifle by his side. The ramrod of his gun was in his hand, the lower end against the trigger of the gun, and the muzzle of the gun at his head. It appeared at the time that the wound he had received had not been sufficient to cause instant death ; but, being in mortal agony, he had contrived to end his sufferings by taking his own life. He had placed the gun by his side, the muzzle at his head, and by means of the ramrod had succeeded in discharging it. The circumstances were all so pain- ful, that his comrades, at the suggestion of Captain Northup, agreed that they would not mention them in their letters home. But now, after forty years, there is no harm in referring to them. Young Bullock was from Stratford, Herkimer County, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His courage, his fidelity to duty were always unquestioned. His grave is not at home among his kindred, but far away, like that of so many others. He sleeps among the many unknown dead, in the great National Cemetery at Antietam ; but we have never walked down those beautiful shaded aisles without feeling that we were again very near to our beloved comrade of those far-off days.
In all the writing of this little history, which, at times, has proved to be a somewhat arduous task, nothing has given the author so much encouragement and comfort as the feeling that by his labors he was
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT
calling the attention of the world to the loyalty, the courage, the devo- tion, and the ultimate sacrifice of their all by these, the world's "just common men." Other men have had the privilege of living on, and planning and completing their life work. But these men were cut off in the flower of their youth. But who shall say that, in their death, they did not, perhaps, accomplish more for others and more for their coun- try, than many who survived them? If, as we say, life is not measured by years, but by deeds, surely these men by their supreme sacrifice, have rendered their names worthy to be remembered by a grateful coun- try, for all coming time.
While the Army of the Potomac was marching in pursuit of the enemy, there was great discouragement felt all through the north, which had not a single victory to its credit anywhere in sight. The campaign on the peninsula had proved a failure; Pope had been de- feated, and Lee's army was pushing north. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, who was at that time in France, in his reminiscences just published, quotes the following from our ambassador to that country, Hon. Wm. L. Dayton, in regard to the state of public sentiment in that country :
Dayton said: "Our prospects are dark enough. All the monarchs and aristo- crats are against us; all the cotton and commercial interests are against us. Emperor Louis Napoleon is a sphinx, but he would like to help to acknowledge the Southern Confederacy. If he does so, Belgium and other powers will join him; they will break the blockade; they will supply the Confederates with arms, and then we must fight Europe as well as the Southern States. Our only real friends are men like John Bright, and those who believe that we are fighting for freedom, as well as for our National Union. Mr. Lincoln must declare for emanci- pation, and unless he does it within thirty days, I have written to Mr. Seward that our cause is lost."
Dr. Cuyler adds :
"I returned to London with a heavy heart; all of our friends there with whom I conversed echoed the sentiments of Mr. Dayton. One of them said to me, 'Earl Russell has no special love for your Union, but he abominates negro slavery, and is very reluctant to acknowledge a new slave-owning government. Prince Albert and the Queen are friendly to you, but you must emancipate the slaves.' On Sunday evening, Sept. 7, after my return home, I addressed a vast crowd in my own Lafayette Avenue Church, and told them frankly, that our only hope was in a proclamation for freedom by President Lincoln. Henry Ward Beecher invited me to repeat my address on the next Sunday evening in Plymouth Church. I did so, and the house was packed clear out to the sidewalk. On the Wednesday of that very week the Battle of Antietam was fought, and on the Friday morning we opened our papers, and read President Lincoln's first Procla- mation of Emancipation. The great deed was done; the night was over; the morning had dawned."
Just forty years after the events we have described, a little handful of men, almost the sole survivors of the great regiment, alighted from a train at the little town of Keedysville, the same little Keedysville as of old, and near unto the same great spring, and proceeded by almost the identical route they had taken on the morning of September 17, 1862, to the same quaint old Dunkard Church, where, with loving hands, they dedicated a noble monument, erected to the memory of the com- rades who had fallen on that historic field.
CHAPTER X
FROM ANTIETAM TO FREDERICKSBURG
S EPTEMBER 22, the Thirty-fourth left the vicinity of Antietam field, marched through the little town of Sharpsburg, which, in all these years, seems hardly to have lost or gained a single house, and took its course down the Potomac, crossed the river at the famous Harper's Ferry, which it reached at three o'clock in the afternoon, ascended the familiar Bolivar Heights, and pitched its tents once more on the same ground it had oc- cupied the previous spring. It was noticed that the regiment required fewer tents to house it now than then. On every side were the evidences of the struggle that had taken place just before. The ground was thickly strewn with cannon-ball and shell, the detritus of the Miles surrender. Here it was the brigade was strengthened by the increment of a new regiment, the Nineteenth Maine. These new men were a fine and sturdy lot of fellows ; but as yet pretty green in the ways of military life. We began by calling them the Nineteenth Maniacs.
BURNSIDE'S BRIDGE, ANTIETAM-1902
72
HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT
On the first night after their arrival some of the men collected some of the scattered shells, making a little fireplace, and proceeded to cook their coffee. In a little while there was a terrific explosion. Fortu- nately nobody was hurt. That is how and why we came to call them the Nineteenth Maniacs. Afterward, however, the regiment won for itself such a splendid record that no man ever dared doubt its sanity. As it was likely we should remain on the Heights for some time, orders were given for the erection of a bake oven. Some ingenious men in the regiment had devised a sort of portable oven made of brick, which could easily be taken down, and moved about. Thus, you may discover, we could occasionally be treated to fresh bread, an enemy some people flee from ; but not the soldiers. But alas, in this instance, no sooner had we the oven erected than orders came to forward march, and we saw no fresh bread. Here again, the men were paid off, receiving four-months' pay; likewise the men received allowances of fresh clothing, sorely needed. At this time the writer of this history wrote to his home paper, September 24 :
"Captain Sponable, wounded at Fair Oaks, arrived last night with six new recruits, all of whom will probably join Company K. The captain looks as if he had suffered a good deal, but is in his usual good spirits. Company B, his old
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HARPER'S FERRY, VA .- A RECENT PICTURE
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FROM ANTIETAM TO FREDERICKSBURG
company, numbers at this time but six men. Lieutenant-Colonel Laflin, Cap- tain Baldwin, Company E; Lieutenant Walton, and Lieutenant Clark have all returned to the regiment again. Captain Riley has gone home on a short fur- lough to get another set of teeth, he having worn out no less than three sets during the late campaign, eating hard bread, the doctor having recommended new teeth as the only alternative to starvation. Persons contemplating enlisting should provide themselves with several extra sets of teeth, as they are a great convenience in the army, and hard to get down here." We also wrote this on the same date: "The painful intelligence of the death of Major Beverly's wife at home has cast a deep gloom over the spirit of the regiment, augmented by the stern necessity which forbade his departure for home upon the reception of the news. Trouble never comes alone; and the major has just returned from a visit back to Antietam, whither he went to see a brother in the Ninety-seventh Regi- ment, who was wounded in the battle and has just had a limb amputated." Lieutenant Clark also went along, to try and recover the remains of his brother, who was killed in the battle, in which effort he was successful. On the 3Ist we wrote: "Captain Riley has returned to the regiment again, and the familiar countenance of Lieutenant Joe Shoemaker, resigned, has also been visible lately."
On October 30 the army left the old camp on Bolivar, crossed the Shenandoah, which empties into the Potomac at this point, on a pon- toon bridge, swung around the base of Loudon Heights, and took its way up the beautiful valley, which lies along the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That night we camped in a splendid wood, called Hill Grove. November I we occupy Gregory's Gap in the moun- tains. November 3 sees us at Snicker's Gap, and November 4 we move through the little town of Paris, and occupy Ashby's Gap. All this time we are known to be not far from the enemy, and our progress is slow. We feel our way with the fingers of the pickets. The enemy is slowly receding before us, and after threatening a battle moves on, and lets us have the Gap. The country seems abandoned by the male inhabitants ; probably they are all in the army ; but there is poultry to be had and it is not scorned; and "there is hogs " and they are not despised. We always have hogs in barrels ; but these are the real thing, and we have no Hebrew prejudices. It seems no sooner had we left the little dirty town of Paris, than the sutlers, who thronged the army, began trading with the inhabitants, when they were gobbled up by a band of rebel cavalry that swooped down upon them. November 6 we quit camp at Ashby, the brigade acting as rear guard to the rest of the army. Now we begin to get a touch of winter. The wind is raw and gusty, and the air is full of snow. A far more northern clime could not beat this for wintry weather. Toward night we halted, and would have been glad to rest, but the deadly picket demand was on us. It was our turn. Night of suffering. The next day the weather con- tinued unreformed.
The writer records with interest an incident which occurred at this stage of the forward march. If his memory serves him, it was on the night of the 8th. We had been marching all day, and until very late at night, and were completely beat out. As soon as we came to a halt, and arms were stacked, the men sank in their tracks, and in a moment were asleep. The writer remembers waking after daylight the next
QUARTERMASTER NATHAN EASTERBROOK, JR .- 1902
75
FROM ANTIETAM TO FREDERICKSBURG
QUARTERMASTER EASTERBROOK-1863
morning, and finding himself under a heavy cover- let of snow, fully four inches thick. He raised on his elbow, and took a look around. The sight that met his eyes was very interesting. The sleeping men were all under snow; and as they had lain down in rows, same as they marched, the appear- ance was that of a cemetery, the graves all in rows, according to the fashion we are all familiar with. The sight was weird enough. Soon a second grave was opened, and another body arose. There was a shout, and then a general resurrection. The Fifteenth Massachusetts called this "Camp Snow- storm," and it was well named.
On that 8th day of November we passed through the little town of Rectorsville. All this time, it must be remembered, we were constantly in the presence of the enemy, and skirmishes were of daily occurrence ; while the weather was of a character not fit to be mentioned in decent society. W. J. Coulter of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, of our brigade. put it in pretty correct style writing home at this time: "You can imagine how agreeable it is to be out in a raging snowstorm night and day, without any shelter more than would be afforded by a sheet spread over the fence, with four corners pinned to the ground." And he might have added that this sheet was always escaping its fastenings, and taking to itself the wings of the wind. However, it is evident that some of us at least have lived to laugh at the storms of those ancient times. After a brief rest, on we go, pushing through night and storm, till two o'clock in the morning, when we find ourselves pretty well banged up with the hard marching, the storm and exposure, but still in good spirits.
Monday morning, November 10, is an important date in the his- tory of the Army of the Potomac. On that day the great army loses its young commander, General George B. McClellan, a man this country will probably never get tired debating.
The Second Corps, consisting now of three divisions, was drawn up on the left side of the Centerville turnpike while General McClellan, riding with General Burnside, his successor, and each attended by a great staff retinue, swept along the road, amid the greatest shouting, and other demonstrations from the men. No Fourth of July parade about a great military turnout like this ; it was the real thing. Gold lace, brass buttons, dangling swords, prancing steeds, salvos of ar- tillery, fluttering of a thousand flags, and the shoutings of a host. No make believe about a show like that. McClellan was always popular with the rank and file. But all the sober heads could always see how, as at Fair Oaks, and Malvern Hill, and Antietam, when a hard, quick blow needed to be struck on a beaten foe-it wasn't.
But now it is Burnside's day, and we shall see what we shall see. It is also the day of another man. General Willis A. Gorman, com- mander of the brigade, takes his leave about this time, having been
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT
assigned to the command of the District of Arkansas, under General Curtis. He is succeeded by Colonel Alfred Sully, until now in coin- mand of the First Minnesota of the brigade. Gorman was a singular man in some respects. When in action he never gave his commands in an ordinary tone ; but roared them out, like a bull of Bashan. Before the battle of Fair Oaks he was known to speak of the Thirty-fourth as " that New York Mob "; a designation that never had an atom of well- founded truth in it. But after Fair Oaks he was unstinted in his praise of the courage and fortitude of the regiment. On the other hand, some undevout romancers in the regi- ment, in the early days, had been known to speak of the brigade com- mander as "Old Gorman;" but, in fact, each came to think better of the other as time went on. Gorman resigned his new command in 1864 on account of ill health; and died in May, 1876.
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