USA > Pennsylvania > Annals of the Sixth Pennsylvania cavalry > Part 6
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On the 8th, the regiment left its encampment in Wafhington, and reported to General McClellan, and
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BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN.
1862. marched with the army to Frederick, over South Moun- tain, and participated in the engagements of this cam- paign.
When the regiment left Wafhington, Surgeon Mofs remained with the fick and difmounted recruits in Camp on Seventh Street, until having paffed a fatisfactory exam- ination, he was appointed Affiftant Surgeon of United States Volunteers, October 4th, 1862. He refigned his pofition as Surgeon of the. Sixth Pennfylvania Cav- alry, and in December, was promoted Surgeon of United States Volunteers, and affigned to duty as Affiftant Cu- rator at the "United States Army Medical Mufeum," in the City of Wafhington, and placed on a board for the examination of candidates for pofition as Surgeon or Affiftant Surgeon of "United States Volunteers."
On the 7th, Lieutenant Charles L. Leiper was placed in command of Company "A," which he retained until the beginning of October. On the march to Antietam, Sept. 13th. when near Frederick, Maryland, on the 13th of Sep- tember, he came upon a body of difmounted rebel cav- alry in a wood. Although largely outnumbering his fmall force, he drove them in confufion, and made fome prifoners. The enemy were armed with carbines, and though our men had only the lance and their piftols, by one determined charge they fucceeded in diflodging the enemy, who fled in difmay.
Sept. 14th.
On the 14th, we paffed through Frederick, and to the weft, over the Catoctin Mountains. This range feparates the valley of the Monocacy from the Catoctin Valley. In our front was South Mountain, and along its flope we could fee the fmoke from the guns of the
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SOUTH MOUNTAIN.
enemy, and hear the boom of their artillery. We 1862. paffed on through Middletown, and faw evidences of the September. enemy's hatred in the deftruction of the property of Union citizens.
General Pleafanton, with the advanced cavalry, had been fkirmifhing all the morning, and the enemy had at length halted, and gone into pofition at Turner's Gap, in the South Mountain. Here are three roads croffing the mountains, the centre one being the great National Road, leading through Boonfboro, the one to the north, the "Old Hagerftown Road," and that to the fouth, the "Sharpfburg Road." General Hooker was fent up on the right, while General Burnfide was to pafs along the road to the fouth, and General Reno in the centre. The enemy were here in force, under command of General Howell Cobb. Our troops being in pofition, a general advance of our entire line was ordered, and, with great enthufiafm, they preffed up the heights upon the enemy's guns. The attack was met with defperate refiftance, but the enemy were finally forced from their pofition. The Pennfylvania Referves did good fervice on the extreme right. In his official report, General McClellan fays :
"General Meade fpeaks highly of General Seymour's fkill in handling his brigade on the extreme right, fecur- ing, by his manœuvres, the great object of the move- ment, the outflanking of the enemy."
Nearly the whole of the "Cobb Legion" (rebel), were captured by General Newton's brigade of Franklin's
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ANTIETAM.
1862. corps, with their colors, on which is infcribed, "Cobb September. Legion-In the name of the Lord."
The ftony and fteep flope of the hill was ftrewn with the dead. The ftone walls were all held by the enemy, and in driving them from thefe pofitions, we fuffered feverely. Efpecially was this the cafe on the left; and the road leading over the mountain at that point was called "Burnfide's Stonewall Road."
As faft as poffible, the wounded were conveyed to Burkittfville, where every church and private houfe was gladly thrown open to receive them. The Baptift Church was haftily converted into a hofpital, and nearly all the rebel wounded conveyed there, where they re- ceived the fame attention that was given to our own troops.
Our regiment was expofed to the artillery fire of the enemy, though fuffering no lofs. We marched over the field and acrofs the mountain early the next morning, and faw hundreds of Union and rebel dead lying together in all imaginable pofitions. It was a painful fight, in- deed, even to thofe accuftomed to fimilar fcenes. We paffed over the mountain by the Burnfide Road, follow- ing his command. Our troops croffed the mountain on Monday and Tuefday, and went ftreaming down into the valley beyond after the retreating foe. They paffed through Boonfboro, Keedyfville, and Porterftown, on towards Sharpfburg; and having croffed the Antietam, and ftationed artillery on the heights beyond, prepared to meet our advancing lines. The Union forces followed by the fame roads. The Antietam Creek is exceedingly irregular in its courfe, and at this point its banks are
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ANTIETAM.
very high and abrupt. It is croffed by four ftone bridges, 1862. which were covered by the rebel batteries. "The September enemy had the mafs of his troops concealed behind the heights, to the weft of the creek; their left and centre upon and in front of the Sharpfburg and Hagerftown Turnpike, hidden by woods and irregularities of the ground, the line extending from north to fouth."
The enemy's artillery was pofted on every favorable point, and their fupports and referves concealed in the ravines near their line of battle. The face of the coun- try being very rolling, their troops could manœuvre without being obferved.
Burnfide's men having turned to the fouth from the foot of the mountain, came up to the creek, forming the left of our forces in line of battle. Porter had a commanding pofition to his right; Sumner joined him; and on the extreme right, General Hooker's forces ex- tended into the woods towards the road to Williamfport, on the Potomac. The line thus covered was nearly five miles in extent. The rebel lines ran nearly parallel with our own, bending backward on their left to the Potomac; their line extending from the Antietam Creek to the Potomac River, thus having their flanks and rear covered by thefe ftreams.
About daylight of the 16th, the enemy opened fire from their artillery on our forces getting into pofition. They were promptly anfwered by our guns. The firing continued for a fhort time, and was renewed at inter- vals through the entire day. Some of our batteries continued firing until after 9 o'clock at night, and occa- fional fhots were exchanged all through the night by
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1862. the advance pickets, who were within a very fhort dif- Sept. 17th. tance of each other. Some of our advance declared they flept among the rebels. About 2 o'clock on the morn- ing of the 17th, the regiment of Referves, known as the "Bucktails," opened a brifk fire, which was con- tinued until they exhaufted their ammunition, and were relieved by the 2d Pennfylvania Referves at daylight. Shortly after daylight, the entire corps became heavily engaged, and General Hooker then ordered up General Mansfield's corps. Thus was the battle of Antietam opened.
The conteft foon became very fevere, as the enemy threw in heavy reinforcements, and Generals Ricketts, Meade, Williams, Green, Crawford, and King, with their divifions, were heavily engaged.
Hooker pufhed forward his line immediately, directed by General Mansfield, who fell mortally wounded while leading his men, and the command of his corps devolved upon General Williams. The 124th and 127th Penn- fylvania regiments were placed on the turnpike, and extended into the woods on the right, and beyond J. Miller's houfe. Thefe were new regiments, and this their firft engagement, and they behaved moft gallantly. The attack on our part was opened by Knapp's and Hampton's Pennfylvania, and Cochran's New York batteries. Our line advanced over an open field to a ftone fence, continued by breaftwork and rail fence, beyond which was a cornfield. Behind and to the right of this field of high corn, was a denfe woods, in the edge of which, on the turnpike road, ftood a fmall white Dunkard church. The tide of battle rolled and furged
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ANTIETAM.
over thefe fields. The rebels were driven from their 1862. ftrong pofition behind the ftone wall, through the corn- Sept. 17th. field into the woods beyond, when our men firft charged them. In the woods they rallied, and with ftrong rein- forcements, our troops were hurled back to their firft pofition. Our batteries opened deftructively upon the advancing foe, when the Union forces again advanced, driving everything before them, until the woods were reached again, when they were driven back again in turn. Thus the tide ebbed and flowed, until the ftone wall was trampled down, the fence fcattered, the ftand- ing corn lay level with the ground, and hundreds of Union and rebel foldiers covered the field. Four times were our gallant men driven from the field; and it was occupied by the enemy, only to be driven back to their fhelter of the woods at laft, while we were left in poffef- fion of the field. About 9 o'clock, General Sedgwick's divifion came up to the fupport of thefe worn and ex- haufted heroes. After fevere fighting for fome time, the line became very much broken, and a heavy column of the enemy fucceeded in forcing back the troops of Gen- eral Green's divifion, and appeared in the rear of Sedg- wick's left. General Howard faced the third line to the rear preparatory to a change of front, to meet the ad- vancing column, but this line fuffered feverely, and gave way towards the right and rear, and was followed by the firft and fecond lines. General Gorman's brigade, and one of General Dana's, rallied and checked the advance of the enemy. The other lines now formed on Gor- man's left, and poured a deftructive fire upon the foe. At this time our lines were ftrengthened by the arrival
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1862. of Sedgwick's divifion, led by General Sumner. The Sept. 17th. enemy made a very defperate attempt to turn the left of this command, which was unprotected on that flank, in confequence of the confufion on the line that, for a fhort time, fucceeded the killing of General Mansfield.
In his report before the " Committee on the Conduct of the War," General Sumner fays :
"My right divifion faced from the fevere fire of the enemy, and marched at leaft a third of a mile before I could ftop them. They did not break, but marched off in columns from the fire. They were then halted, and placed in a pofition which was held. My other two divifions, under Generals French and Richardfon, drove the enemy a confiderable diftance, and never retreated an inch."
From General Franklin's Report .- "We remained in Pleafant Valley until the morning of Wednefday, when, by direction of General McClellan, I marched to report to him, at the battle-field of Antietam. The advance of my command arrived there about 10 o'clock; and as the right of our army was then in a critical condition, General McClellan ordered me to report at once to General Sumner. General Smith had the advance, and one of his brigades was placed in fupport of fome bat- teries on the right, which were only faved from capture by the timely arrival of this brigade. The fecond bri- gade of General Smith went to affift General French, of Sumner's divifion ; the third brigade was placed near the Dunkard church. The enemy advanced, and were
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charged by General Smith, and a fevere mufketry fight, 1862. of fifteen or twenty minutes, drove them back into the Sept. 17th. woods.
" While this charge was being made, General Slo- cum arrived upon the field. Two brigades were formed in line of battle, in front of the Dunkard church, with the intention of making an attack upon the enemy, now driven to the woods. General Sumner advifed me not to make the attack, for if it failed, the right would be entirely deftroyed. I informed him that I thought it a very neceffary action, and would make the attack, un- lefs he affumed the refponfibility of forbidding it. He affumed the refponfibility, and ordered me not to make it. My whole command remained during the remainder of the day in the pofition I have ftated, under a fevere artillery fire."
Companies "B," "G," and "I," of our regiment, were with General Franklin on this part of the field, and were greatly expofed during all the afternoon.
About the time of General Sedgwick's advance, Gen- eral Hooker was feverely wounded while leading his command. He was taken to the rear, and General Meade affumed command of the corps.
Towards the middle of the afternoon, General McClel- lan found that Sumner, Meade, and Mansfield, had met with ferious loffes, and feveral general officers had been carried from the field, wounded or killed, and orders were given to reinforce this portion of the line with brigades from Porter's corps, and renew the attack; but General Sumner expreffed the moft decided opinion
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1862. againft another attack that day, and the advance was Sept. 17th. abandoned.
The cavalry, under General Pleafanton, were pofted in the centre to the rear, from which pofition they could defcend quickly to any part of the field. Four batteries of horfe artillery were ftationed with the cavalry, and were commanded by Captains Robertfon, Tidball, Gib- fon, and Lieutenant Haines. On a high hill to their rear, and overlooking nearly the entire field, General McClellan eftablifhed his headquarters.
General Burnfide's corps held the left of the line, op- pofite the bridge, on the Rohrerfville and Sharpfburg Road. On the oppofite fide of the creek, the bluffs were very abrupt, and the high hills afforded fplendid pofitions for artillery. The beft pofition of the enemy was on this part of the field, and the moft defperate and determined fighting could alone fecure us any advantage. General Burnfide thus defcribes the action on this part of the field :
"About 10 o'clock, I received an order from General McClellan to make the attack on the bridge, and ac- cordingly directed General Cook's brigade of Cox's di- vifion, to make a direct attack upon the bridge, and fupported him by the divifions of Generals Sturgis and Wilcox. I ordered General Rodman to endeavor to effect a croffing at the ford below with his divifion, fup- ported by Colonel Scammon's brigade of General Cox's divifion. General Cook foon difcovered, from his pofi- tion, that it would be impoffible for him to carry the bridge, and fo reported. I then ordered General Sturgis
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to carry it with his divifion. He ordered one of his 1862. brigades to make the attack, but after two gallant affaults Sept. 17th. they were driven back. I then ordered General Sturgis to put in another brigade, which brigade carried the bridge at once by affault ; about the fame time, Rodman carried the ford below. General Cook fucceeded in finding a croffing-place above the bridge. The bridge was carried about half paft 10 o'clock. Before 4 o'clock, the whole command had croffed with the batteries, and taken pofition on the heights juft above the bridge. This whole movement, even after the bridge was car- ried, had to be performed under a very heavy artillery fire from the enemy. Soon after the command was formed there, I received inftructions to make an attack upon the high ground furrounding the town of Sharpf- burg. General Sturgis was placed in referve, and I or- dered the attack, having General Wilfon's divifion on the extreme right, General Rodman on the extreme left, and General Cox's divifion acting as fupport to thefe two. The attacks were made, and the heights, which would enable us to hold the town of Sharpfburg, carried. But by this time the enemy had brought away from the extreme left of their line, portions of their force, and concentrated them againft us. At the fame time, the light divifion of A. P. Hill came up oppofite my extreme left, and forced it to fall back. I immediately ordered General Sturgis's divifion, though nearly out of ammu- nition, up to its fupport, and they held their pofition until nightfall. In the mean time I had fent to General McClellan for reinforcements, but received a meffage from him that he could not give me any, at the fame
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1862. time directing me to hold the bridge at all hazards. The Sept, 17th. troops accordingly fell back to the firft pofition they had occupied after croffing the bridge, our fkirmifhers being well up to our advanced pofition. This pofition was held by us during the night."
On the advance of the cavalry, the 6th Pennfylvania was fent acrofs the bridge on the Keedyfville and Sharpf- burg road, on the left of our pofition. Colonel Childs, of the 2d Pennfylvania, commanded the brigade, com- pofed of his regiment, which had the advance, the 4th Indiana, and the 6th Pennfylvania cavalry. The croff- ing of the ftone bridge over the Antietam Creek was exceedingly hazardous, as it was perfectly enfiladed by the rebel artillery, which had refifted the croffing of in- fantry for fome hours. We dafhed acrofs at full gallop through a terrible fire, and, affifted by Captain Tidball's battery, drove the rebel batteries from their pofition. Colonel Childs was killed, and twenty men of the com- mand. Our regiment fortunately efcaped with fome flightly wounded, and feveral horfes fhot on the bridge. We took up pofition on the weft bank of the ftream, under the fhelter of the hill to the left of the road, having a ftone barn and mill on our right. Here we remained moft of the day, being held in referve, and guarding the bridge. At night we bivouacked on the battle-field.
The engagement clofed at night, when both armies were thoroughly exhaufted. The pofition of the enemy had been felected with great care, and in natural advan- tages was everything that could be defired by them.
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ANTIETAM.
This ftrong pofition was attacked by our troops early in 1862. the day, and for fourteen hours the battle raged with Sept. 17th. but flight intermiffion. Nearly two hundred thoufand men and five hundred pieces of artillery were engaged. Our lofs was two thoufand and ten killed, nine thoufand four hundred and fixteen wounded, and one thoufand and forty-three miffing: making a total lofs to the army of twelve thoufand four hundred and fixty-nine.
Major Davis, Affiftant Infpector-General, who fuper- intended the burial of the dead, reports three thoufand rebel dead buried upon the field by our own troops. Previous to this, the enemy had buried many of their own men upon the diftant portion of the field which they occupied after the fight, probably at leaft five hun- dred more. Some three thoufand five hundred prifoners fell into our hands. From thefe known facts, we fup- pofe the rebel lofs could not be lefs than twenty-two thoufand.
"It may fafely be concluded," fays General McClel- lan, "that the rebel army loft at leaft thirty thoufand of their beft troops during their brief campaign in Mary- land." "From the time our troops firft encountered the enemy in Maryland, until he was driven back into Virginia, we captured thirteen guns, feven caiffons, nine limbers, two forges, two caiffon bodies, thirty-nine colors, and one fignal flag. We have not loft a fingle gun or color. On the battle-field of Antietam we col- lected fourteen thoufand fmall arms, and hundreds were carried away by citizens, or diftributed to unarmed re- cruits arriving immediately after the battle."
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1862. On the 18th the attack was not renewed, as our Sept. 18th. troops were greatly exhaufted from recent long and rapid marches, and the fevere and protracted battle of the day previous. General McClellan gives the follow- ing as his reafon for not attacking on the 18th :
"I found that our lofs had been fo great, and that there was fo much diforganization in fome of the com- mands, that I did not confider it proper to renew the attack that day, efpecially as I was fure of the arrival that day of two frefh divifions, amounting to about fif- teen thoufand men. As an inftance of the condition of the troops that morning, I happen to recollect the re- turns of the Firft Corps (General Hooker's), made that morning, by which there were three thoufand five hun- dred men reported prefent for duty; four days after that the return of the fame corps fhowed thirteen thoufand five hundred. I had arranged, however, to renew the attack on the 19th, but I learned fome time during the night, or early in the morning, that the enemy had aban- doned his pofition. He moved with great rapidity, and not being encumbered with wagons, was enabled to get his troops acrofs the river before we could do him any ferious injury. I think that, taking into confideration what the troops had gone through, we got as much out of them in this Antietam campaign as human endurance could bear."
The wounded were collected in and around the neigh- boring farm-houfes, barns, fheds, &c., and as rapidly as poffible, conveyed to Hagerftown, Frederick, and other
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ANTIETAM.
towns in the vicinity, where hofpitals had been eftab- 1862. lifhed in all public halls, churches, &c.
Sept. 19th.
On the 19th, General Griffin, with a portion of the Fifth Corps, croffed the river in the evening, and car- ried the enemy's batteries under a heavy fire. He cap- tured feveral guns, caiffons, &c., and drove back the force there ftationed to cover the retreat of the army.
On the fame day, our regiment removed to the little town of Fair Play, where we encamped for ten days, doing picket duty at Dam No. 4, on the Potomac River. The regiment was marched from Fair Play to Fred- erick, Maryland, where we were ordered to refit, and recruit the regiment to twelve companies.
On the morning of the 20th, a reconnoiffance was fent out under General Porter, who croffed the river, and was led into ambufh about one and a half miles be- yond, and fuffered feverely, being driven back to the river in great confufion. It was in this reconnoiffance that the "Corn Exchange Regiment" (118th Pennfyl- vania Volunteers), Colonel Prevoft, one of our own Philadelphia regiments, recently brought into active fer- vice, was fo badly cut up.
CHAPTER EIGHTH.
Position of the Army of the Potomac-Stuart's Raid into Penn- Sylvania-The Sixth Pennsylvania Sent out to Picket the Roads to the North-Scouting Duty-The Rebel Column at Emmettfburg-Report of Colonel Rufh-Captain Cadwala- der and his Company near being Captured-Rebels Escape- Army moves into Virginia-Several Companies rejoin the Army-Fredericksburg.
1862. Sept. 2 1ft.
N the 21ft of September, Franklin's corps marched to Williamfport, to reinforce General Couch. They occupied the town, the enemy retiring on their approach. General Williams's (Banks's) corps occupied Maryland Heights; Sumner's corps marched to the fame point foon after. Burnfide's, Porter's, and Meade's corps lay along the Potomac, the headquarters of the army being near Shepardftown. On the 23d, Sumner's and Williams's corps occupied Harper's Ferry.
The army continued in this vicinity, refitting and re- organizing, until the 8th of October, when the head- quarters of the army were removed to Harper's Ferry, and an advance determined upon, the enemy lying near Winchefter, Virginia.
On the Ioth, the rebel cavalry, under General J. E. B. Stuart, ftarted on a raid, to the rear of our army, into
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STUART'S RAID.
Pennfylvania. He croffed his force, four regiments of 1862. cavalry, with four guns, in all about three thoufand men, at McCoy's Ferry, on the Upper Potomac, where he captured our pickets, and was feveral hours on his march before intelligence reached General McClellan of his croffing. All the cavalry that could be collected to purfue him only amounted to about one thoufand men, in confequence of the abfence of moft of the cavalry near Cumberland, in purfuit of another rebel cavalry force which had made its appearance at the Little Ca- capon, and other points.
General Pleafanton was fent with the remaining fmall force, and a horfe battery, in purfuit. He marched feventy-eight miles in the next twenty-four hours, and did not come up with Stuart until he had reached the Potomac, at the mouth of the Monocacy, where he was then croffing, having made a forced march of ninety miles in twenty-four hours.
About 10 o'clock on the morning of the 10th, a dif- Oct. 10th. patch was received by Colonel Rufh, at our camp near Frederick, from General John Buford, informing us of the approach of Stuart, then near Chamberfburg, and ordering him to fend out patrols on all roads to the north, and report promptly. All the approaches from Gettyfburg and the northweft were carefully watched by forces fent from our camp. Four fmall companies, of about one hundred and fifty men in all, were fent out towards Emmettfburg. They received no information of the enemy between their camp and Emmettfburg, where they arrived near 4 o'clock in the afternoon. They then pufhed on towards Gettyfburg, fcouting well
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STUART'S RAID.
to their left. An hour after paffing Emmettfburg, they received information that the advance-guard of the rebels, about four hundred ftrong, had charged into that place, and held the town. The rebels threw out pickets covering all the roads paffing through or near Emmettfburg, thus cutting off all communication with Frederick.
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