USA > Pennsylvania > History of the One hundred & sixth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, 2d brigade, 2d division, 2d corps, 1861-1865 > Part 13
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Quite a number of the other inhabitants remained in their houses, and also sought shelter in their cellars or crowded in those lower stories formed by the steep bank of the river. Many made very narrow escapes by the crashing through the walls of shot or shell, while others less fortunate were more or less injured by the explosion of an occasional shell or the falling of some portion of the house, though I did not see or hear of any lives being lost, the fire of our batteries being chiefly directed at those houses along and near the river front, to dislodge the sharpshooters. A num- ber of the houses had caught fire from the cannonading, and others were carelessly set on fire; so that many buildings were destroyed. Among them was the Bank of Virginia. Our men at once set to work to extinguish the flames, but only succeeded in preventing their spreading. This was very much enjoyed by
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the members of the Seventy-Second Regiment, composed almost exclusively of members of the Volunteer Fire Companies of Phil- adelphia, who almost imagined they were "fighting the elements" at home, only they did not have their favorite "machine". But the "Fairmount", "Good Will", "Philadelphia", "States", "In- dependence" and "Moya" boys turned in together, and did good work.
Now followed a general ransacking of the town; houses and stores were broken into, and their contents appropriated or de- stroyed ; quantities of valuables as well as necessities were found, left by the citizens in their haste to leave the city. Among them were large quantities of tobacco and liquors ; men were seen carry- ing whole boxes of tobacco, and canteens were filled with wines and other liquors ; provisions taken from groceries, clothes from clothiers, jewelry from jewelers, and even money from the bank. Two or three men I saw with their haversacks full of Confederate notes, that were afterwards used to buy many a chicken, pie, or loaf of bread during our subsequent marches through Virginia. Private dwellings were entered, and at first groups would be seen examining the furniture, books, pictures, etc., others amus- ing themselves playing the piano, to be followed by others to carry off such things as struck their fancy, only to be dropped at the next house for something else, and finally to destroy what they could not take away. My heart was saddened by the destruc- tion I witnessed. In one large mansion, from which the large furniture had not been removed, I saw a large handsome piano with the lid torn off and broken to pieces on the floor, and the strings ripped loose from the frame, costly vases swept from the mantels and dashed to pieces on the floor, bayonets thrust through pictures and family portraits, mirrors smashed with butt of musket, and, as the night wore on, those coming after, finding nothing else to destroy, the beds were ripped open and the rooms filled with feathers and hair; trunks were rifled, dishes broken, and even the gas fixtures and window sashes broken. Many things were thrown into the street to be carried off by the next comer, to be dropped at the next place for something else. Many secured valuables worth possessing, among them were eighteen gold and sixteen silver watches, a diamond ring, silver ice cream
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knife, forks and spoons, handsomely bound books, and some got our own money, one man getting about $400 in specie and an- other abut $200; these, with the many little articles that could be conveniently carried, were packed in the knapsacks, taken to camp as trophies of war and subsequently sent home. Others se- cured eatables, and men would be seen with a jar of pickles in one hand and preserves in the other. No effort seemed to be made to arrest this wholesale destruction until the destroyers seemed tired of their own wantonness.
This unfortunate necessity, or calamity, that generally follows the occupation of a besieged town by the victors, was, no doubt, hastened and continued, first by the absence of the owners, as in no case did I see or hear of any forced entrance being made into occupied premises, and secondly by the effect of liquor found, of which there seemed to be no scarcity for those who sought it ; one large wholesale store that was broken into contained the customary number of large casks, arranged on each side, with fine polished spigots and hoops; the spigots were turned on, and the floor flooded two or three inches deep with the many kinds of liquors and wines that the casks contained, and flowed out into the street ; men drank what they wanted, filled their canteens for subsequent use and hurried on for other sights, or to assist in the destruction of that which they had no use for. A large drug store was similarly treated; the large vials were swept from the shelves and broken to pieces on the floor, and their contents mixed without any regard to proportions, or chemical affinity or action, covering the floor with a homogeneous mass that would be hard to describe.
I am happy to record, as I have previously stated, that so far as my observation went or I could learn from others, none of the houses that were at all occupied were in any manner molested, nor any of the citizens insulted or maltreated. Even those citizens that had remained in the town, and the negroes, seemed to join in appropriating their neighbors' property, increasing their own possessions at the expense of their neighbors. What the result would be upon the return of the rightful owners would be hard to conjecture. There was also a ludicrous side ; men dressed in the apparel of both sexes paraded around singly or in groups,
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partly under the influence of liquor, forgetful of the danger through which they had just passed, or that which awaited them on the morrow ; they gave themselves up to the enjoyment of the present, and well did they seem to enjoy themselves and give amusement to others.
The writer secured a price list in one of the stores, which is copied here, to show even at that date, the end of the first year of the war, how very high the provisions were: tea, $30 per pound ; coffee, $5.00 ; sugar, $1.50 ; candles, $1.00 ; rice, $1.25 ; salt, $1.75; fresh pork, 75 cts .; chickens, $5.00 per pair; beans, $3.00 per bushel ; molasses, $7.00 per gallon ; flour, $25.00 per barrel ; calico, $1.25 and $1.50 per yard, and scarce ; potatoes, $6.00 per bushel, if any could be found.
Our Division was the only troops that crossed that night and remained in line along the river bank, which, being steep, afforded ample protection. The skirmishers or pickets were thrown for- ward to the other side of the city. Early on the morning of the 12th the line was advanced and formed on the second street from, and running parallel with the river, called Caroline street, and the pickets were advanced to and beyond the built-up portion of the city, but not without meeting with considerableresistance. All day long additional troops were crossing, until Sumner's entire Grand Division and one Corps, the Fifth, of Hooker's Grand Division. The Third Corps, and one Division of the Fifth Corps having joined General Franklin, crossed with him on the left below the city. The enemy made little effort to interfere, except to oc- casionally drop a shell into the troops as they were approaching the bridge, especially into one of the new regiments that marched down to the bridge with their band playing "Yankee Doodle". But one or two shells dropped among them suddenly brought that tune to an end, sent the band flying in every direction, and told with fatal effect upon some of the members of the Regiment. There were no other bands that ventured to play as they came over that hill down to the river. The firing of the artillery at inter- vals during the day was all the fighting that was done that day.
Early on Saturday morning, December 13th, the battle of Fredericksburg began by the advance of General Franklin's forces on the left. General Meade's Division was pushed forward until
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they reached the new military road that General Lee had con- structed for better communication with the different wings of his army, driving the enemy before them and capturing about two hundred prisoners and several colors. Here they met a much larger force, and their artillery on the left opened a flank fire. Meade was forced back with heavy loss. General Gibbon ad- vanced his Division to Meade's assistance on his right and a bri- gade of Birney's Division on the left; but these combined forces were not able to stand that artillery fire and the heavy infantry force thrown against them, and were driven back in more or less con- fusion, sustaining heavy loss. The balance of Birney's Division was thrown into the breach, and succeeded in checking the ad- vance of the enemy and holding their ground. So the morning passed, and no advantage gained.
The attempt to carry the heights on the right and in rear of the town was then to be made. About eleven o'clock General Sumner was ordered to advance, getting his instructions from the following order, which he received in the morning :
The General commanding directs that you extend the left of your command to Deep Run, connecting with General Franklin, extending your right as far as your judgment may dictate. He also directs that you push a column of a division or more along the plank and telegraph roads, with a view to seizing the heights in rear of the town. The latter movement should be well covered with skirmishers, and supported so as to keep its line of retreat well open. Copy of instructions given to General Franklin will be sent to you very soon. You will please await them at your pre- sent headquarters, where he (the General commanding) will meet you. Great care should be taken to prevent a collision of our own forces during the fog. The watchword for the day will be "Scott". The column for a movement up the telegraph and plank roads will be got in readiness to move, but will not move till the General commanding communicates with you.
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French's Division of the Second Corps was the Division "to push along the plank and telegraph roads" and the first to charge the heights immediately back of the city, know as Marye's Heights, which, as has been stated, the enemy had strongly forti- fied, in addition to the natural defence presented by nature, and had a large force defending them, a stone-wall at the base of the
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hill serving as rifle pits for their first line, and about half way up the heights earthworks were thrown up for their second line, which completely commanded the first line should they be driven from it. Against all this our attack was to be made, and to reach them we would be compelled to pass over open ground, with no protection whatever from their numerous guns planted on the heights above. French, with a strong line of skirmishers, ad- vanced out the telegraph and plank roads, crossing the canal on the two small bridges by which these two roads cross, and formed his line and charged. As soon as they passed from the cover of the town they were met with a terrific fire of shot and shell from the enemy's artillery, and, as they approached their first line, with volley after volley from the men behind the stone-wall. This they could not stand, and fell back. Hancock's Division, which was supporting French, and following him closely, was hurried forward. Meagher's Irish Brigade was first quickly formed, and charged almost to the stone-wall, stood that terrible fire for a few minutes, then retired, and with them came all of French's and Hancock's troops, and were withdrawn to a ravine just in rear of the battlefield. Then came Howard's turn, with the Sec- ond Division. He met General Miles, of Hancock's Division, being carried to the rear, badly wounded ; he told Howard where he thought he could best put in his division. Advancing from the town, left in front, our Brigade in advance led by our new com- mander, but old friend, General Owen, whose bravery and daring none dared to question, and all knew if it were at all possible he would lead his Brigade into their works, the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment on the lead. Advancing rapidly from the town out the telegraph road, crossing the canal on the bridge, he formed his line, brigade front to the right, the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment on the right, Sixty-Ninth in the centre, and the Seventy- Second on the left (the Seventy-First Regiment having been detached from the Brigade and sent to hold an important position on the right of the town), all amid that terrible fire, that only ceased, upon the retreat of Hancock's Division, to gather fresh fury, and now poured into our line until it seemed impossible for men to stand before it ; yet on they went up that steep hill, passing the line reached by French and Hancock, until within one hundred
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yards of their first line, but could go no further ; halted, and im- mediately obeyed the order "to lie down and hold that position", and there they lay, our position being immediately in front of Marye's Mansion, about one hundred yards from the stone-wall, with the right of the Brigade resting on the turnpike road. There were no troops of either French's or Hancock's command on the ground occupied by our Brigade, or over which they charged, ex- cept their dead and dying, nor had we any support, as the rest of the division that went in on our left were also withdrawn.
Two other attempts were made to capture the works, and the lines advanced only about the same distance, to be forced back and compelled to retire in confusion, carrying some of our men with them. Towards evening the final charge was made, this time by Tyler's Brigade of Humphreys' Division of Butterfield's Corps, led by Humphreys himself ; with bayonets fixed, starting with cheers, on they came, passing over our Brigade, many of whom rose to their feet to see the result; on they went towards the works, confident of success, when there blazed forth from be- hind the stone-wall such a deadly fire, that could only be described as a sheet of flame, and a storm of bullets, that staggered Hum- phreys' men ; they stop, and back they came, unable to stand that fire, and although a few got near the works and fired a few ran- dom shots, they met the same fate as those who had preceded them and were compelled to retire, leaving behind them about 1,700 of their 4,000 men, notwithstanding the Herculean efforts of their leaders to urge them forward. In passing through our lines to the front, General Humphreys, supposing our men to be skulkers, accused us of cowardice in no very flattering terms, and ordered us to join his command in their advance; this General Owen refused to do, knowing from experience what the result would be, as he felt confident that these works could not be taken by direct assault, and this advance would be repulsed as. all the other attempts had been, and should the enemy then take the offensive there would be nothing to keep them from entering the town in force and driving our men into the river, as there was no place to reform the line if quickly followed by a large force of the enemy, and a panic once started would be hard to check in a town, as the narrow streets would but add to the panic; then, if
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Humphreys were successful to really carry the first line, it would be at such fearful loss that he would need immediate support to hold it, and Owen could at once advance his Brigade; so that when he was repulsed and came back in confusion through our lines, our men retaliated for his abuse of us by compelling large numbers of his command to remain with us, thus strengthening our line.
This ended the attempt to capture their works, and through it all our little band lay there exposed to that continual and fearful fire of artillery and infantry, without the privilege or the op- portunity to return the fire, with no shelter or protection what- ever, each charge only drawing fresh fire on us and sadly increas- ing our loss, which was also increased by the misdirected fire of our artillery that had been hastily run into position at the edge of the town, and the premature explosion of their shells in their attempt to fire over our heads; add to these that slower but more fatal fire of their sharpshooters, many of whom were concealed in the large mansion, from which they took deliberate aim and picked off our men one by one, especially directing their fire at our officers, easily distinguished by their uniforms at that short distance, besides being trampled upon at each charge and rout. Certainly nothing tested the courage of men more than to be plac- ed in such a position, with shot and shell from both directions, in front and in rear, screaming and tearing over our heads or plowing up the ground in our midst, killing and mangling men at our side, the terrible showers of bullets from the many men that filled their two lines of works, and then trampled under foot by each charge that was made, especially upon their return, their haste preventing them using any care, so that many of our men were thus injured, a few very seriously. Yet there we stayed, compelled to remain inactive, lying flat on the cold ground, on that cold December day, with no chance to move sufficiently to circulate the blood enough to keep warm, as the slightest move- ment but brought on the deadly fire of their sharpshooters ; many were killed or wounded by just raising their head from the ground. All that long afternoon did we lie there so exposed, until night drew her sable mantle around us and protected us from further slaughter.
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Colonel Palfrey, in his account of this battle, as written in his "Antietam and Fredericksburg", makes no mention whatever of the charge of the Philadelphia Brigade and the position they held during the entire day, but writes as follows:
French's division, preceded by a strong body of skirmishers, moved out of the town by the two parallel streets above mention- ed. * * * * The skirmishers worked their way forward, follow- ed by French's division, and Hancock pressed on and came up with French, and joined in the advance. Hancock estimated that the distance the troops had to march-first by the flank through the streets of the town and across the bridges, then by the flank in line parallel to the Confederate works, and finally in line to the hostile front-was probably seventeen hundred yards, all the way under a most murderous fire. The troops were delayed also by the fact that the planking of one of the bridges was partially taken up, which made it necessary for the men to cross on the stringers. By the time French and Hancock were within assaulting distance, their columns were too much reduced for the work.
At one P. M., Couch, commanding the Second Corps, ordered Hancock and French to carry the enemy's works by storm. Seeing, shortly, this could not be done, the men falling by hundreds, he directed Howard, who commanded his remaining division, to move to the right and turn the enemy's left, but the order was immediately revoked by him, and Howard was ordered to support Hancock. The three divisions got well forward, Hall's Brigade of Howard's division and some of Hancock's men apparently doing the best work that was done, but the difficulties to be overcome were too great, and the assault failed.
The neglect to mention the noble work of the Philadelphia Brigade, which would certainly rank it as good as any that was done if not the "best", is due perhaps that he was not so informed, or saw no mention made of it, as he states that "At about IO A. M. of the 17th", (Sept.) at Antietam, "he received a severe wound from a canister shot fired by one of Stuart's Batteries"; so it is not probable that he had sufficiently recovered from that wound to be present with his Regiment (one of Hall's Brigade) at Frede- ricksburg, and therefore makes up his report of the battle from the reports of others. It was not until after French and Hancock had retired that Howard went in, and when he speaks of "Hall's Brigade and some of Hancock's men", he must mean Owen's men or the Philadelphia Brigade, as none of Hancock's men re-
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mained on that field in front of the ravine, just beyond the canal, except his dead and wounded, who had not been brought off.
And all that Swinton says of Howard's advance, without even mentioning the Brigade, as he does in Hancock's and French's Divisions, is :
To relieve Hancock's and French's hard-pressed battalions, How- ard's Division now came up, and Sturgis' and Getty's Divisions of the Ninth Corps advanced on Couch's left, and made several attacks in support of the brave troops of the Second Corps, who could not advance and would not retire.
It was the Philadelphia Brigade, commanded by General Owen, that "would not retire", and there were no battalions of either Han- cock or French to relieve, as they had been driven back before Howard advanced, and Owen's Brigade were the only troops that remained where they advanced.
Of Humphreys' charge, Palfrey says :
He led his second Brigade, Allabach's, rapidly forward to the position occupied by Couch's men, whom he found in great numbers sheltering themselves by lying on the ground behind a slight rise, about one hundred and fifty yards from the stone-wall. The con- tinued presence of these men proved a serious obstacle to his success. Allabach's men followed their example in lying down, and opened fire.
After stating that Humphreys was satisfied that firing could do no good, and that the bayonet must be used, he continues :
With difficulty he stopped the firing of his men, and the charge was then made, but the deadly fire of artillery and musketry broke it after an advance of fifty yards.
It was our Brigade that was in position and alluded to as Couch's men, and Allabach's men did not lie down and commence firing until after the charge was made, and they found they could go no further unless it was on the left of our line, and they were compelled to retire in haste back to the ravine from whence they started, except those that our men kept with them. Then re- ferring to the final charge, that of Tyler's Brigade, he says:
He (Humphreys) directed them to disregard these men entirely, and to pass over them. He ordered the officers to the front, and
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(Humphreys' own words) with a hurrah, the Brigade, led by General Tyler and myself, advanced gallantly over the ground, under the heaviest fire yet opened, which poured upon it from the moment it rose from the ravine. As the Brigades reached the masses of men referred to, every effort was made by the latter to prevent our advance. They called to our men not to go forward, and some attempted to prevent by force their doing so. The effect upon my command was what I apprehended; the line was somewhat disordered, and in part forced to form into a column, but still advanced rapidly. The fire of the enemy's musketry and artillery, furious as it was before, now became still hotter. The stone-wall was a sheet of flame that enveloped the head and flanks of the column. Officers and men were falling rapidly, and the head of the column was at length brought to a stand when close to the wall. Up to this time not a shot had been fired by the column, but now some firing began. It lasted but a minute, when, in spite of all our efforts, the column turned and began to retire slowly. I attempted to rally the Brigade, but could not arrest the retiring mass.
It is evident that General Humphreys did not know that it was a brigade in position fulfilling orders "to hold that position", or he would not have referred to them as "masses of men concealed behind a natural embankment", and it was only when he and some of his officers were so unkind as to address them as "cowards and skulkers", and tried to force them into his line, that our men objected, and told them they would not go much further, and it was as they came back that they used the force to keep them there. Had General Owen received the orders to follow Humphreys or advance with him, the men would gladly have done so in the hopes of getting out of that uncomfortable place, but our men took their orders from General Owen and not from General Humphreys, and they remained there long after all of Humphreys' men had retired; it was not their choice, but it was obeying orders that kept them there. They were soldiers and not skulkers, and there- fore obeyed those orders, and stayed there.
The following is a graphic account of the valuable services of the Philadelphia Brigade as published in the Philadelphia Inquirer a few days after the battle.
General Howard's Division having been the first to cross the river Rappahannock, and to take and hold possession of the city, was assigned to the extreme right of Sumner's right grand
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