History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, Vol. II, Part 93

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902. cn
Publication date: 1869
Publisher: Harrisburg, B. Singerly, State Printer
Number of Pages: 1386

USA > Pennsylvania > History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, Vol. II > Part 93

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490

SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

1862

special duties. In the drill of the regiment, which was practiced daily when the weather would permit, especial attention was given to promptness and certainty in all the movements. There were probably few regiments in the service more thoroughly and accurately instructed than this, and to the know- ledge thus acquired is due the good reputation which it subsequently had for drill and discipline.

A detachment of the regiment consisting of one hundred men, under com- * mand of Lieutenant Colonel Morgan, while out upon the picket line beyond the Occoquan, near Pohick Church, on the night of the 5th of March, 1862, was attacked by a party of the enemy. A skirmish ensued in the midst of the dark- ness, in which Captain Charles W. Chapman, of company K, and Quartermaster James M. Lysle, were killed.

After the transfer of the Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula, the Sixty- third, in the movement upon Yorktown, was posted some two miles from the town in a low swampy wood. Heavy picket and fatigue duty followed. A worse camping-ground could hardly have been selected. Much sickness pre- vailed and many died. "Encounters were frequent upon the picket line attended with some loss, but small compared with that from disease. On the night of the 4th of May the enemy evacuated his works, and the Union army moved forward in pursuit, coming up with him securely posted near Williamsburg. The Third Brigade reached the battle-field late on the afternoon of May 5th, and after toilsome marching from point to point along the line, was at length brought into position, but too late to be engaged. On the following morning, the enemy having retired, the Sixty-third, and One Hundred and Fifth were ordered to take the advance, the latter deployed as skirmishers, the former following in column, and were the first troops to enter the town.

A part of the army having crossed the Chickahominy and taken position at, and a little in advance of Fair Oaks, was attacked by the enemy in large force on the 31st of May. It was long after the battle commenced, before the First Division, commanded by General Kearny, received orders to move to the front. The troops had become impatient at the delay, and when the word was given to advance, the brigade moved along the railroad, the greater part of the way at double-quick, arriving at the edge of the woods, through which the enemy was advancing, greatly fatigued and exhausted by the march. Mov- ing to the left of the Williamsburg Road, and hastily deploying as it reached the edge of the cleared ground, the regiment hastened forward through thick underwood and abattis. The One Hundred and Fifth followed closely, the two regiments crossing and covering the Williamsburg Road, down which the enemy was moving in columu, reaching the position and securing possession of this important thoroughfare, only by rapid marching and the most signal enterprise. A moment later and this key point of the line would have been lost. The wood into which the regiment had advanced was filled with masses of the enemy, and every tree along his line covered a sharp-shooter. A heavy fire was at once opened, and until long after nightfall the crash of musketry was unbroken. Many of the bravest fell and the ranks were soon sadly thinned; but with an ob- stinacy rarely paralleled, these two regiments held their position, so vital to the Union left, until darkness intervened. In the meantime the forces on the right had been less fortunate, the enemy having broken through their lines and driven them back. By this disaster the enemy was brought upon the rear of the two regiments, which still held their advanced ground. With ammunition ex-

1862

491

BATTLE OF CHARLES CITY CROSS ROADS.

hausted, flanks exposed, and the way of retreat cut off, their position was peril- ous. Taking advantage of the darkness, and guided by a pocket compass in the hands of Captain Reid, they finally succeeded in escaping the toils into which they had fallen. The loss fell heavily upon the Sixty-third. Lieutenants Henry Hurst, and S. H. Cochran, were among the killed. Lieutenant Colonel Morgan was severely wounded, and for many months his hurt was regarded as mortal.

The regiment after the battle remained in position facing the enemy, and was engaged in occasional skirmishing. On the 21st of June in an affair with the enemy, Captain John G. M'Gonagle, of company F, was killed. Joining in the movement to the James, the regiment was again hotly engaged at Charles City Cross Roads, where the loss was serious, and where, by its gallantry, it won new laurels. General Kearny, in his report, says, "At four P. M. the attack commenced on my line with a determination and vigor, and in such masses as I had never witnessed. Thompson's Battery directed with great skill, literally swept the slightly falling open space with the completest execu- tion, and mowing them down by ranks, would cause the survivors to come to a momentary halt. But almost instantly after, increased masses came up and the wave bore on. These masses coming up with a run, covering the entire breadth of the open ground, some two hundred paces, would alone be checked in their · career by the gaps of the fallen. Still no retreat, and again a fresh mass would carry on the approaching line still nearer. If there was one man in this attack, there must have been ten thousand, and their loss by artillery, although borne with such fortitude, must have been immense. It was by scores, with irrepres- sibility of numbers; on they persisted. The artillery, destructive as it was, ceased to be a calculation. It was then that Colonel Hays, with the Sixty-third Pennsylvania, and half of the Thirty-seventh New York Volunteers, was moved forward to the line of the guns. I have here to call to the attention of my supe- rior chiefs, this most heroic action on the part of Colonel Hays and his regimeut. The Sixty-third has won for Pennsylvania the laurels of fame. That which grape and canister failed in effecting, was accomplished by the determined charge and rapid volleys of this foot. The enemy at the muzzles of our guns, for the first time, retired fighting. Subsequently ground having been gained, the Sixty-third was ordered to "lie low," and the battery once more re-opened its ceaseless work of destruction. This battle saw three renewed onsets with similar vicissitudes." General Berry, in a note to Colonel Hays, says, "I was ordered by General Kearny to have myself and command ready at all times to render aid to the First and Second brigades. This being so, I watched the movements of the enemy and our own men with the most intense interest. You, sir, and your brave men were placed near to and ordered to support Thompson's Battery. Never was task better done or battery better supported, and it is a great pleasure to me to have to say, and it is also my duty to say it, that I have not in my career in military life seen better fighting and work better done. I should fear to try to do better with any troops I have ever seen. 'Tis enough to say, your fight was a perfect success."

On the 1st of July, the army having arrived at Malvern Hill, fought the last great battle of the campaign. In this the Sixty-third had not so promi- nent a part to perform. It reached the ground early in the morning and after resting near Grew's House till nearly noon, it was ordered to the right centre, and posted in a ravine, some distance in rear of the line of batteries, in readi-

492

SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

1862

ness to support them if needed. The only annoyance during the day which the men experienced was shot and shell screaming over, or falling near them. The casualties were few and slight.

Retiring to Harrison's Landing, the regiment remained in camp with the army until ordered to move to the support of Pope upon the Rappahannock. On the 29th of August, the corps arrived upon the second Bull Run battle-field, near Groveton, at ten o'clock, A. M., and advanced in column by division until it came under fire of the enemy's guns. It was then formed in line of battle, and remained in position exposed to shot and shell, without making any hostile demonstration in reply. The Sixty-third was finally ordered to advance with the brigade, now commanded by General Robinson, and the entire division under General Kearny. Upon arriving in fiont of an old railroad embank- ment, behind which the enemy's skirmishers had taken position, the line was halted, and two men from each company were sent forward to cross the road. and drive his sharp-shooters, hidden behind this well formed breast-work, and under shelter of trees. The forces upon the left of the line were already heavily engaged, when General Kearny rode forward to Colonel Hays and ordered him to move the regiment to the left, and charge, adding as he gave the order, "I will support you handsomely." Forming for the desperate work, and fixing bayonets, Colonel Hays moved boldly forward at a rapid pace. As he ap- proached the embankment which served as an entrenchment for the enemy, he was saluted by a murderous fire from the concealed foe, which caused the line to reel and fall back a short distance. Quickly rallying his men, he moved again to the charge, and had approached close to the works, when he was severely wounded. Major Kirkwood immediately assumed command, but had scarcely done so, when he also was wounded, and borne from the field. The Adjutant had his horse killed under, him and was wounded.

Captain James F. Ryan, senior captain, though himself twice wounded, assumed command, and judging it impossible to carry the enemy's position, a third of his men already killed and wounded, fell back with the remnant of his command out of reach of the hostile missiles. With the brigade it remained during the night in a wood near the field of slaughter. After dark a detach- ment of ten men was sent to bring off the dead and severely wounded; but the enemy had possession of the field, admitting no approach. On the following day, the regiment moved to the right to the support of the artillery, where it remained during the day under fire, but not otherwise engaged. At four o'clock it moved with the brigade some distance to the rear and formed in line of battle on an eminence overlooking the field of conflict, and in full view of the enemy advancing, flushed with victory. But he declined to attack, and at dark the Sixty-third was sent out upon the skirmish line, where it remained until the forces had all retired, when it quietly withdrew, and guided by the rumbling sound of the artillery moving on far in advance, it proceeded to Centreville. "The Sixty-third Pennsylvania," says General Kearny in his official report of this battle, "and the Fortieth New York Volunteers under the brave Colonel Egan, suffered the most. The gallant Hays is badly wounded." At Chantilly, on the evening of the 1st of September, Kearny's Division was fiercely engaged. In the midst of a terrific thunder storm the hostile armies fought, and here it was that the hero and patriot, Kearny, fell.

Upon the death of its commander the division was ordered to the defences of Washington, where it remained until after the battle of Antietam. It was

493

BULL RUN AND FREDERICKSBURG.

1862

then moved to Poolsville, Maryland, where it was posted to act as mountain scouts. Subsequently it re-joined the army near Leesburg, and moved with it to Warrenton. For his gallantry in this engagement Colonel Hays was com- missioned a Brigadier General. Lieutenant Colonel Morgan was promoted to Colonel, Major Kirkwood to Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain John A. Danks, of company E, to Major.

On the 12th of December, the regiment under command of Major Danks, broke camp near Falmouth, and marched to the bank of the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, where it bivouacked for the night in a small grove of pine. On the following day it moved down the stream and halted on a hill overlooking the field where the Union forces, which had crossed the river, were engaging the enemy. In the afternoon it passed over, and moved at double- quick under a fire of artillery, in conjunction with the division, now commanded by General Birney, to the support of the Pennsylvania Reserves, who had already gained a decided advantage, and had penetrated the enemy's left centre. Arriving at the front the regiment was formed in line of battle with the One Hundred and Fourteenth Pennsylvania on the right, and a Michigan regiment on the left, and advancing in front of the batteries, opened fire on the advancing foe, checking his advance and soon causing him to retire. The line halted in an open field about three hundred yards from a wood in front, where the enemy with his batteries was posted. The rest of the division was formed in a second and third line of battle in rear. When the firing had ceased and the smoke cleared away, it was discovered, that a considerable number of the enemy, as well as our own men, had taken shelter in a ditch midway be- tween the two lines, friend and foe huddling together. With remarkable daring Captain Ryan rode forward to their shelter and brought in about twenty of the enemy prisoners, escaping unscathed. In this position the regiment remained with occasional infantry firing, and under a constant discharge of artillery from either side. At night two companies were sent out to the ditch in front, and brought in the enemy who still remained there, and some of our own men. The wounded of both armies, exposed to the frosts of a winter night, filled the air with their agonizing cries. But the enemy was vigilant, and no aid could be extended to them. At daylight their groans were drowned by the roar of artillery and the crash of small arms. In the afternoon the dead were buried under flag of truce, and the wounded cared for. On the morning of the 15th, after having been forty-eight hours upon the front line, the Sixty-third was relieved, and late at night fell back, with the entire army, across the river. Captain Fulton was mortally wounded and died a few days after the battle.

Returning to its old camp, the regiment remained in comparative quiet, until the 20th of January, 1863, when the army again moved under General Burnside, who purposed to proceed up the Rappahannock, cross the river, and a second time offer battle. For three days the troops endured unparalleled sufferings from inclement weather, at the end of which the campaign was abandoned and they returned to camp.

The Chancellorsville campaign, unger General Hooker, opened on the 27th of April. "On the evening of Tuesday, April 28th, says Captain Ryan in his official report, "the Sixty-third Regiment, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Kirkwood, moved with the rest of the brigade to a point near the Rap- pahannock, and some four or five miles below Fredericksburg, bivouacking for the night in some small pines. On Wednesday, the 29th, the regiment

494

SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

1863

moved about half a mile up and nearer the river, stopping upon the crest of the line of hills which here skirt the north bank, and remaining in that position until Thursday, April 30th, when, with the rest of the division, we marched to a point near United States Ford. On the morning of May 1st we crossed at the ford and pressed on to the front, some five miles from the river, halting on the plank road near General Howard's headquarters. About five o'clock in the evening we were ordered to move back some distance, where the regiment lay as part of an infantry support to batteries of the division, on the south side of the plank road, during an hour's very sharp practice of artillery, One man of the regiment was injured here. On the morning of May 2d the regiment took a position in some small pines upon a road, at right angles to the plank road, and near General Birney's headquarters. In the afternoon our lines were advanced under very sharp skirmishing, and in the evening with the Twentieth Indiana Volunteers, the Sixty-Third occupied a commanding posi- tion at the extreme right and front, on a hill nearly two miles in advance of where we had been in the morning. In consequence of the Eleventh Corps failing to hold its lines, our position so far in the front was an extremely criti- cal one, but it was maintained until ordered back abont ten o'clock that night.

Returning to our old position of the morning, we assisted in rallying fragments of regiments, which had become demoralized, even at the point of the bayonet. The regiment was afterwards formed in, and along the road, connecting on the right with the Fortieth Regiment New York Volunteers, where some skirmishing occurred. We afterwards formed with the rest of the brigade, in column by battalion, in the open field. * *

* Sunday morning, May 3d, firing from the pickets in our front commenced at an early hour, and at six o'clock, A. M., our skirmishers had been driven in, and the enemy was seen approaching in line of battle from what had been, the previous morning, our rear. As the brigade was formed, the Sixty-third was the ex- treme left of the line, and the first regiment engaged. Our left flank being unprotected, the enemy gained it and poured in a most destructive fire, without our being able to reply effectively. The position was held until a large number had been struck, when, with the rest of the brigade, it fell back. Re-forming in an open field, near the brick house, it opened a heavy fire on the enemy's skir- mishers, and charged his main line. In the progress of the charge, when on the brow of the hill, Lieutenant Colonel Kirkwood was wounded. I then as- sumed command of the regiment which advanced to the breastwork at the foot of the hill, driving the enemy out, killing and capturing several. We main- tained our position in the breastworks until the enemy out-flanked us on the right, and compelled us, reluctantly, to retire. The color sergeant, Fitzgerald, was here wounded, but refused to give up the colors, until again wounded, when they were taken up and carried by Corporal House. We formed again on the brow of the hill in the woods, and kept up a galling fire on the enemy in front until our right was again exposed to a flank fire, when we fell back, with the brigade, behind the intrenchments. After the battle of Sunday the regiment lay behind light breastworks in the rear of General Birney's head- quarters, until a re-crossing of the river was ordered on the morning of the 6th, when it returned to its old camping ground near Potomac Creek bridge." The loss of the regiment in this battle was very heavy. It went into the engage- ment with three hundred and thirty, rank and file. Of these, one hundred and twenty were either killed, wounded, or missing. Colonel Kirkwood was twice

495

CHANCELLORSVILLE AND GETTYSBURG.

1863

hit, and died soon afterwards from the effect of the wounds. Major Danks was taken prisoner. Captains William Smith, and William Thompson, and Lieuten- ants Milo M. Boyle, William M. M'Granahan and William W. Weeks, were either killed or mortally wounded.

On the 11th of June the regiment again broke camp, to enter upon the Gettysburg campaign, and was for a time, with the corps, engaged in watch- ing tbe movements of the enemy. The march was long and wearisome. On the 1st of July the sound of cannon was heard, and soon tidings were re- ceived of the fall of Reynolds. The movement of the corps, now under com- mand of General Sickles, was immediately quickened, and at ten o'clock that night it arrived near the battle-field. It went into bivouac upon the Emmitts- burg Pike; but scarcely had the men laid down to rest, when an order came for the Sixty-third to go upon the picket line, and the men were soon posted along the road, where they passed a sleepless night. On the morning of the 2d, the brigade was brought into position on the pike, to the right of the cross-road leading to Round Top, the Sixty-third being thrown forward upon the skirmish line, which rested at a fence, parallel to the pike, in rear of Joseph Sherfy's house.

Early in the day the pickets were fired on, and a company of sharpshooters were ordered to advance to a piece of wood in front and feel the enemy. The order was promptly obeyed; but upon approaching it they discovered that it was swarming with the enemy. Until three o'clock in the afternoon skir- mishing was kept up between the two lines, the enemy's skirmishers having stealthily approached and taken shelter behind a stone fence, but a short dis- tance in front of the line of the Sixty-third. At that hour the enemy advanced in force and opened a heavy cannonade, one of his batteries being posted a short distance to the left of the regiment. The battle raged upon the left with great fary, and the brigade was obliged to yield. At five o'clock, the ammuni- tion having been exhausted, the regiment was ordered to the rear to replenish it and to rest, after having heen nearly the entire day at the extreme front and uninterruptedly engaged since nine o'clock in the morning. At night the regi- ment was again ordered upon the picket line, and was posted to the right of Little Ronnd Top, where the dead of our army lay thickly strewn about. At ten o'clock on the following morning it was led at double-quick to the support of a battery posted directly in front of General Meade's headquarters, where it remained until the battle closed, and the rebel army withdrew. Its loss, considering its exposed position, was comparatively light.

In the movement of the army back into Virginia, when arrived opposite Manassas Gap, the enemy showing a hostile attitude near Wapping Heights, a force was sent to meet him, and the Sixty-third was ordered to advance as skirmishers. He was soon driven, the regiment sustaining only slight loss. At Culpepper it was re-inforced by three hundred drafted men. Upon the death of Colonel Kirkwood, Major Danks was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, sub- sequently to Colonel, and Captain James F. Ryan, of company I, to Major.

The regiment remained in camp at Culpepper until the opening of the fall campaign, in which it participated, and was engaged at Auburn Mills, losing in the skirmish eighteen wounded. The conscripts were here for the first time under fire, and behaved gallantly. At Kelly's Ford, on the 8th of November, it was again engaged, and here fell Captain Timothy L. Maynard, of company B. He was in the act of giving a drink, from his canteen, to a wounded rebel

496

SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

1864

officer, when he was struck down. During the march to Mine Run it partici- pated in two skirmishes at Locust Grove, but in each sustained only small loss.

Upon the withdrawal of the army, the regiment went into winter quarters near Brandy Station, where it was engaged in heavy guard and picket duty. On the 28th of February it proceeded, with the division, on a reconnaissance to James City, but returned without having found any enemy in force. Upon the consolidation of Army Corps, the Sixty-third was attached to the Second Brigade, General Hays, Third Division, General Birney, Second Corps.

At midnight of May 3d, with six days' rations, the regiment moved, and at evening, of the following day, encamped on the old battle-ground of Chan- cellorsville, the skeletons of the dead in that battle still lying unburied as they fell. At three P. M. of the 5th, Birney's Division advanced to the front, and relieved the Second Division of the Sixth Corps. It was immediately engaged and the battle continued to rage with great fury until after dark. General Hays was killed. Colonel Danks, Captains William M'Intosh, George B. Chalmers, and R. A. Nesbitt, and Lieutenants J. S. Wilson, A. G. Williams, James S. Williams, and David A. Strachan were wounded. Major George W. M'Cullough assumed command. On the following morning the battle was're- newed and the division charged the enemy in his breast-works, routing him and- driving him through woods for three-quarters of a mile, and until it reached an open field. Here he had a heavy force in position, and immediately delivered a counter charge, by which the division was carried back to the ground from which it started. Major M'Cullough was mortally wounded, expiring on the fol- lowing day. The regiment lost in the fighting of the two days one hundred and eighty-six, rank and file, killed and wounded.

Captain Weaver, of company C, assumed command of the regiment, which was temporarily consolidated with the One Hundred and Fifth. At eight . o'clock on the morning of the 7th, the division moved to the left, and, crossing Cole River, arrived at midnight, where the Fifth Corps was heavily engaged. The regiment was here subjected to severe shelling, and on the 11th Captain Weaver, in command, was wounded, Captain William P. Hunker succeeding him. Late at night the division again moved to the left. Hastily forming at daybreak of the following morning, it charged upon long lines of heavy earth- works, and before the astonished rebels had fairly awakened out of their morn- ing slumbers, carried them at the point of the bayonet, capturing five thousand prisoners, including General Ed. Johnson, and sixteen pieces of artillery, be- sides many battle-flags, camp equipage, and small arms. The loss was small, the suddenness of the attack, and the rapidity of the movement giving no time for determined resistance. The works were changed to front in the opposite direction, and occupied. Later in the day the enemy made several ineffectual attempts to re-take them, but were repulsed. Captain Isaac Moorhead, of company G, having returned from detached service, assumed command of the regiment.

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History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, Vol. II, Part 93

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902. cn Publication date: 1869 Publisher: Harrisburg, B. Singerly, State Printer Number of Pages: 1386

Author: Bates, Samuel P. (Samuel Penniman), 1827-1902. cn
Publication date: 1869
Publisher: Harrisburg, B. Singerly, State Printer
Number of Pages: 1386