USA > Pennsylvania > History of the One hundred & sixth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, 2d brigade, 2d division, 2d corps, 1861-1865 > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
I am requested by the Commission to speak only of the part taken by the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment in this battle, and therefore shall have nothing to say regarding the stubborn fighting of the First Corps on July 1, 1863, which gained for it such a well-deserved reputation.
The booming of the first gun on Reynolds' front found the One Hundred and Sixth at Taneytown, thirteen miles away. Soon came the news of the death of that gallant son of Pennsylvania and that our own glorious Hancock, the prince of soldiers, was hurrying to the front, leaving his corps to follow as rapidly as possible. That night the Philadelphia Brigade bivouacked on the
399
DEDICATION OF MONUMENTS
slope of Little Round Top, and by a calm and peaceful sleep re- freshed itself for the stirring scenes of the next two days in which it was destined to bear such an important part.
Early in the morning of July 2, the Philadelphia Brigade was marched some distance north on the Taneytown road and form- ed to the right of that road facing east towards Culp's Hill, it being at that time General Meade's idea that Lee would attempt to turn his right flank and that the Second Corps should be sent to occupy Wolf's Hill.
Between 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning, General Meade having ascertained that the country beyond Rock creek was not favorable for manœuvering, ordered the Second Corps to face to the rear and move on to the ridge facing west, forming with Hays' Third Division on the right, Gibbon's Second Division in the center and Caldwell's First Division extending the line towards the Round Tops on the left. The Philadelphia Brigade was formed on this ground in position to defend that clump of trees which was destin- ed to attain such prominence in the history of the Nation as to be called the "High Water Mark of the Rebellion".
The Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania was in line of battle behind yonder fence, a position which it held with stubborn gallantry during the whole of the battle of the 2d and 3d of July.
The Seventy-First, Seventy-Second and One Hundred and Sixth were held in reserve behind this crest ready to be moved where they should be most needed.
At the time this formation was effected Companies A and B of the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania, under command of Captains John J. Sperry and James C. Lynch, and Companies A and I of the Seventy-Second Pennsylvania, under Captains Cook and Suplee, were thrown to the front beyond the Emmitsburg road to act as skirmishers and watch the movements of the enemy ; and shortly afterwards Company B of the One Hundred and Sixth was, by personal direction of General Meade, entrusted with the imporant duty of ascertaining whether the enemy was in force on Seminary Ridge. The skirmish line of the enemy was strong- ly posted in a sunken road and barred the passage to the ridge, but the men of Company B obeyed the orders of their officers with such cheerful alacrity and displayed so much dash and elan in
400
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT
the advance that the opposing skirmish line was dislodged, the enemy's line of battle was disclosed, and having accomplished what was desired and shown the commanding general what he was most anxious to know, the company cooly retired to the posi- tion, as reserve to the skirmish line, from which it started; and, strange to relate, did not lose a man either in advancing or retiring.
In order to understand the importance of the movements of the One Hundred and Sixth on the afternoon of the 2d, it will be necessary to briefly refer to the fighting of that day on the left.
General Lee's plan of attack was to move forward his right bri- gade to assail General Meade's left flank and each of his brigades was to follow the movement of the brigade on its right moving in echelon; and in pursuance of this plan the whole of Hood's and McLaws' Divisions and Wright's Brigade of Anderson's Division had in turn advanced and become heavily engaged. Wright's Georgians performed their duty well crossing the Emmitsburg road, charging almost to the lines held by the Sixty- Ninth Pennsylvania and capturing three guns of Brown's Battery which had been advanced to a rocky knoll to the left and front of the Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania.
At this juncture the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania was moved forward from behind the crest and ordered to attack the exposed left flank of Wright's Brigade. Promptly and well was the movement executed-a few well-directed volleys served to check Wright's advance-when Lieutenant-Colonel Curry ordered bayonets fixed and a charge to be made which sent the enemy in full retreat. The One Hundred and Sixth pursued them to the Emmitsburg road, capturing Colonel Gibson of the Forty-eighth Georgia and two hunrded and fifty officers and men, all of whom surrendered to the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania and were taken charge of by Captain Ford of Company I and sent to the rear ; the three guns of Brown's Battery were also recaptured and sent to the rear. There being no connecting troops on the left of the One Hundred and Sixth and none on the right except a small detachment of the Eighty-Second New York-Colonel Curry halted the regiment-deployed skirmishers to the front under Captain Ford, and on reporting the situation, and applying
--
-
Bronze Tablet on the Monument Erected by the State of Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg, Pa.
Representing the charge of the Regiment upon the Codori House on the Emmittsburg Road, at Gettysburg, Pa., where they captured the Colonel, 5 Captains, 15 Lieutenants and 250 men of the 48th Georgia Regiment, on the afternoon of July 2, 1863.
401
DEDICATION OF MONUMENTS
to General Webb for orders, he was directed to withdraw the regiment, which he proceeded to do, leaving Captain Ford and Lieutenant Irwin and a detail of fifty men on the skirmish line. Ten minutes later came a cry for help from General Howard, whose Eleventh Corps was hard pressed and whose infantry had given way, leaving the gunners to engage in a hand-to-hand fight with rammers and hand-spikes against the infantry of Ewell. The One Hundred and Sixth arrived just in the nick of time and was placed in position by General Howard himself, who rode along the line speaking to the men and expressing his confidence in them and that he now considered his position secure. Turning to his chief of artillery he said "Major, your batteries can be withdrawn when that regiment runs away." He had seen the One Hundred and Sixth at Antietam and Fredericksburg and knew its steadfast quality. What more flattering encomium could he have bestowed ?
The main body of the regiment remained with the Eleventh Corps until the morning of July 5, when it rejoined the Brigade.
But while eight companies of the regiment were rendering such valuable service in checking Wright's charge the other two com- panies were performing, one equally as important in preventing the advance of Posey's Brigade which according to General Lee's order, should have moved forward immediately after Wright's and whose charge in pursuance of Lee's plan would have taken the One Hundred and Sixth in flank and prevented the capture of the Forty-eighth Georgia.
I have said that Company A of the One Hundred and Sixth was deployed as skirmishers with Company B in support.
The right of Company A connected with the skirmish line of the Third Division, Second Corps consisting of the First Del- aware, the greater part of which occupied the Bliss House and barn which were on the line of Posey's advance. As Posey came forward he drove out the First Delaware, which retired except one company commanded by Captain Sparks, who gallantly held his ground to the left of the Bliss House and fought with the skirmishers of the Philadelphia Brigade. But the fire from the Bliss House and barn when occupied by Posey's Mississippians became very destructive to Company A of the One Hundred and
402
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT
Sixth, and Lieutenants Swartz and Casey, being both wounded, the company began to give way. At this juncture Company B of the One Hundred and Sixth was ordered to charge and take the Bliss House. The attempt was gallantly made and was at first unsuccessful, but General Hays sent out four companies of the Twelfth New Jersey under Captain Jobes who joined Company B of the One Hundred and Sixth in another charge which re- sulted in the capture of the Bliss House and barn and over one hundred prisoners. The result of this comparatively small affair was that Posey's Brigade made no further advance and therefore Mahone's Brigade on its left did not move, and the attack as planned by General Lee was virtually suspended. What might have been the result if the movement in echelon had been kept up, God only can tell. One thing is certain, Carroll's Brigade of the Third Division and the Seventy-First and One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania of the Philadelphia Brigade could not have been spared to rescue Howard.
Some doubt having been expressed about the part taken by Company B of the One Hundred and Sixth in the assault on the Bliss buildings, I here state that the matter was fully investigated on the occasion of the dedication of the Twelfth New Jersey monument, and that Company B was given full credit by Captain Jobes' command for its participation with them in the charge, and Major William E. Potter, the orator of the day, made a feel- ing and complimentary allusion to it.
On the morning of July 3, 1863, the main body of the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania was on Cemetery Hill under Lieutenant-Colonel Curry, but Captain Ford and his detail of fifty men remained on picket in front of the Philadelphia Brigade and Companies A and B were in reserve to the rear of this crest, mak- ing altogether two-fifths of the regiment which participated in the repulse of Pickett's charge.
The Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania still occupied its position of the day before, but, as its ranks had been depleted by killed and wounded and by a detail for picket, two companies from the left of the Seventy-First were brought forward and placed on the right of the Sixty-Ninth. The Seventy-First Pennsylvania (ex- cept said two companies) was placed behind yonder stone wall,
403
DEDICATION OF MONUMENTS
forming a connection with the left of the Third Division, Second Army Corps.
The Seventy-Second Pennsylvania was kept in reserve to the rear of the crest.
During the morning the picket detail of the Sixty-Ninth made a most gallant charge, driving back the enemy's skirmishers and regaining the position occupied by the brigade skirmish line on the preceding day. About I o'clock General Lee opened one hundred and thirty-eight guns upon the position occupied by the Philadelphia Brigade and an hour or more later advanced a force of infantry which is conceded by Colonel Long, military secretary to General Lee, in his life of that commander, to have numbered 15,000 men, the command of which was entrusted to Major- General George E. Pickett, an officer of high reputation-trusted by his officers and idolized by his soldiers.
When formed for the charge, the front of the attacking lines was over a mile long, the center being held by Pickett's splendid division, supported on the flanks and rear by Pender's, Pettigrew's and three brigades of Anderson's Divisions. The objective point of attack was that historic clump of trees which, as seen from the Confederate lines, rose prominently from the rear of the position held by the Sixty-Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and as the rebel lines came forward they seemed to shorten and converge towards the center until, after passing the Emmitsburg road, they formed a mass covering a front no greater that that of the Philadelphia Brigade. Each gray-coated veteran seemed bent on reaching that clump of trees as though to pluck therefrom a leaf as an evi- dence to his commander that his orders had been obeyed.
It is folly to contend that any one regiment or brigade is en- titled to the sole credit of repulsing this determined effort made by fifteen thousand gallant veteran soldiers, flushed with the victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and of the pre- vious two days, and having confidence in themselves and faith in their leaders.
The infantry engaged on the Union side consisted of seven bri- gades, of which five had already suffered heavy losses on the pre- ceding day. The Philadelphia Brigade with about eight hundred men in line held the center, supported by Hays' Division of three
404
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT
small brigades on its right, and Hall's Harrow's and Stannard's Brigades on its left-not over eight thousand men all told. There was no second line. The Seventy-Second Pennsylvania, two com- panies of the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania, Nineteenth Massachusetts and Forty-Second New York, were the only troops of Gibbon's Division in reserve. They were supporting the bat- teries of Cushing, Rorty and Brown.
It is not my purpose to tire you by a description of the artil- lery fire or of Pickett's charge. Yon have frequently heard them portrayed in more graphic language than is at my command, but I cannot refrain from crediting the skirmish line composed of details from the Sixty-Ninth, Seventy-Second and One Hundred and Sixth Regiments with holding its ground with a tenacity which caused many of the onlookers to blame its officers for needlessly sacrificing men's lives. They but carried out the in- structions of General Webb to their commander, Captain James C. Lynch, in contesting every inch of ground and holding on to the Emmitsburg road as long as possible. The men obeyed orders and when possible to no longer retard the enemy's advance they hastened to rejoin their several regiments and fought in the line of battle.
Steadfast and faithful-the name of each of that gallant band, whether from the Green Isle of Erin, or "native and to the manor born" deserves to be registered on fame's enduring tablet.
Captain Ford and his detail formed on the left of Companies A and B in rear of the crest.
Meanwhile the enemy had advanced to the fence occupied by the Sixty-Ninth and left of the Seventy-first, and, passing to the right of the latter, had taken it in flank and captured or forced back the right of the Sixty-Ninth and two connecting companies of the Seventy-First. General Armistead, with hat on sword, leaps the fence followed by six color bearers with their flags and about one hundred and fifty to two hundred men. At this junc- ture General Webb calls on his reserve (the Seventy-Second and the detachment of the One Hundred and Sixth) and leads them forward in person to close the gap in the line through which Armistead and his followers are pouring. Glorious leader ! His handsome, manly form towered for a moment a central figure
405
DEDICATION OF MONUMENTS
between the two lines, as with sword in one hand and hat in the other his order of "forward to the wall!" rang out cheerily and strong above the noise of battle. If he should fall, Gettysburg is lost. Wounded, he still keeps his feet. His indomitable spirit is communicated to and inspiries the men of the Seventy-Second and One Hundred and Sixth. They sweep forward to the fence over Armistead's prostrate body-treading under foot the rebel standards, whose bearers have fallen beside their leader-the thousands who have reached the fence throw down their arms, and Gettysburg is won!
Captains Sperry and Ford fell almost at the moment the One Hundred and Sixth reached the crest, and the men dropped like ten-pins before the bowler, but there was no wavering among the survivors, and after the action General Webb praised the remnant of the One Hundred and Sixth in no stinted terms for their promptness and gallantry.
Colonel Hampton S. Thomas informs me that when the fighting was the fiercest he was directed to take a squadron of cavalry from Meade's headquarters to the rear of Webb's Brigade to drive up the stragglers. The commanding officer on returning reported that there were no stragglers to drive up and that his cavalry could not live there. All of the able men of the Philadelphia Bri- gade were in the line of battle determined to conquer or die there. None but the wounded retired behind this crest while the fight was on.
It has been claimed that the Nineteenth Massachusetts passed through the lines of the Philadelphia Brigade, and Devereaux in- geniously asked how his command could capture colors unless by doing so. When the One Hundred and Sixth and Seventy- Second charged forward to the fence, six color bearers who had crossed that fence lay dead or disabled with their flags on the ground beside them. There was still at the fence an armed enemy, flaunting other flags in our faces. Our duty was to conquer that foe, and no brave man would at that moment have stayed his on- ward course to pick up a flag. I stepped on one which doubtless was "captured" by some one who followed me and who now enjoys the medal which was granted by Congress to him whose name was turned in with the trophy.
406
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT
The reveille roll-call of July 4, found but eight men present for duty with Company B and Company A, and Captain Ford's detail had suffered almost as heavily.
Twelve of that gallant band should never again answer the roll- call of life's duties-they had joined that numerous army which sleeps in unmarked graves south of the Potomac, "in memoriam" of whom we here to-day dedicate this bronze and granite shaft. And oh, my friends, when the mighty tocsin of war, with its terrible vibrations echoed and re-echoed through the length and breadth of this mighty land, the roll-call found many brave young hearts wildly beating, fairly bursting with a soldier's love of fame or a boy's longing for adventure, while in the home roll-call there was one missing. Did you ever pause to think of this-life's roll- call? From the first feeble cry of infancy, the roll-call answered by mother love, to the day when the bright uniform was donned- whether of the blue or gray-with the gorgeous glittering of epaulettes and bright encircling saber sash, or the plainer garb of the private-and the soldier fledgling answered in high spirits with all his manly pride, anticipating the day, when, risen from the ranks, the roll-call should sound his name in a higher note. Ah! but the home-nest roll-call where the mother sat in dread expecta- tion, not knowing what moment would sound for her the roll-call of sorrow, and, saddest of all, when only "missing" told of its horrible tale, enveloping her heart with its bewildering questioning uncertainty. The roll-call of duty, the roll-call of sorrow, the roll-call of fame, the roll-call of honor-life from the cradle to the grave is one succession of roll-calls. The one we are here answering to-day is the most sacred honor to the dead-unknown. The very word itself, conveys a world of pathos. It is for them first we answer the roll-call of honor ! and our comrades, the mad- caps whose joyous spirits made us forget the pangs of hunger, the hardships of camp life. The ne'er-do-wells, whose blunder- ing forgetfulness enlivened the frugal meal, the tender, thoughtful ones always ready with the helping hand, and we go down into the dark aisles of memory's catacombs to find their names lovingly engraven, and even bright, despite the mist of years, as when we sat side by side around the camp fire, under the stars or, in the darker pages of the soldier's record, we stood shoulder to shoulder,
407
DEDICATION OF MONUMENTS
and they whom we honor to-day, heard the last dread reveille, death's roll-call, with no pitying hand to soothe its terrors, no tender words to comfort its gloom, all alone to pass into the dark shadows of the mystical unseen.
Methinks from out the mist which encircled Spottsylvania's heights, emerges the stalwart form of Curry, his eagle eye burn- ing with the fire of unquenched patriotism, and as he steps to the front of his old command, his voice rings sharp and clear as he answers, here! Ah, colonel, the boys well know you are present with us, sharing our glory as you ever did our toils and dangers, the bravest among the brave, your name shall be lovingly and proudly spoken until the last member of the One Hundred and Sixth shall answer death's roll-call.
And following the gallant Curry come the shades of Pleis, and Sperry, and Swartz, and Hickman, and Smith, and James, and Sloanaker, and Hickok, and Gage, and Townsend, and Clark, and Breitenbach, and Rice, and Ford, and Wessels, and Frost, and the rest of the all too numerous band of our dead heroes. To them, the known and loved, we answer the roll-call of memory's loving tribute. To the living-all welcome; those who have shared the perils of "all this gorgeous panoply of war", whether in the garb of the victorious blue or chastened gray. The dawn and twi- light's tints mingled into a day so terrible; but the slumberous night of peace came and brought forgetfulness. So we are here gathered, answering the roll-call of fraternity, faith, truth and honor. Ah! and here, both among the living and the dead, what heroes are enrolled on fame's enduring tablet. How many who never left the ranks, yet whose chivalrous deeds are ofttimes rehearsed where old comrades gather, and, like the unknown dead, the unrecorded heroes, have found well-burnished niches, con- secrated by grateful tears, in the dim recesses of memory's halls. Sacred to valor; 'tis to these we will first pay tribute. The brilliant pages of history, recording the known heroes, are a nation's pride that such men sprang from her soil. Their names, not only from the page of history, but from the pure white marble, emblem of purest patriotism, that love consecrated to her dead, bask in the warm sunlight, slumber in the calm moonlight, or if the heavens shed their pitying tears, it too wears the insignia of
408
THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTH REGIMENT
woe. The very sod in consecrated. Its memories of those dark days that made a nation's history, enrolled its heroes, blended in awful terror and mad havoc the blue and gray, yet stands out now in grateful contrast, and we feel
"'Tis best it never backward turns, Till love its sweetest lesson learns."
And we have learned the lesson. The chasm from that Dies irae has been bridged by yearly links; from the steely one of partisan bitterness, they have merged brighter and brighter with each succeeding year, till now we forge this golden one, binding the living and the dead ; in loving memory we consecrate this tomb on sod already consecrated. It is true, that here, to-day, only those wearing the blue garb of victory are commemorated, but none the less do we offer tribute to the gallant gray.
"Her generous troops Whose pay was glory."
and whose achievements made a history of which every Ameri- can may well be proud.
The terrible desolation and devastation of those years that
"Let loose the dogs of war."
on their beautiful cities and verdant valleys, yet bear the sad fruits of poverty, inseparable and unrecovered from. In the years that form the connecting links, loving prosperity rears its stately marble effigies. Loving poverty kneels with prayerful soul and plants pure white flowers whose perfume, like incense, rises in mute supplication. Yet how generously they have answered the roll-call and joined hands in this our "In Memoriam". Throbbing hearts realize that even in every unknown grave, "Somebody's darling lies buried", and death's roll-call sounded in no measured cadence, but gathered in its insatiate greed
"The tenderest and fairest, The best and the dearest."
409
DEDICATION OF MONUMENTS
In answerings it seems, even the recording angel would stay his hand and weep such tears as blot out forever the horrible reckonings.
"Time is indeed a precious boon, But with the boon a task is given. The heart must learn its duty well, To man on earth, to God in heaven."
Answering this roll-call, we discharge a sacred duty to those on whom "Fame's meteor beam", glanced but to slay in its electric power, laying low in manhood's prime the brave one whose soul was filled with high aspirations and mighty courage. Yet, how many think you fell with the mute question of his own heart stilled forever : Will I live or die through this? Aye, dead to home, to mother, to those who loved him; but living in his country's re- cords, living here in our memory, and in this vast bivouac of the dead, we consecrate this our monument, first, to the unknown dead, then to the known. Mayhap, in the long ago, it was he who shared the pleasures of our childhood, the boyish struggles of our school days, the hardships of camp life, the dangers in the day of battle. When the dread emissary of death sped on its cruel mission, mercifully sparing us, but laying low the old friend, the cheering companion, whose talks of home so often had consoled and brightened the tedium of dark days and home longings. And so, my friends, the soldier's roll-call not only enters into his life, but into that of each and every one. And while, for our comrades, whose light of life went down in the very dawn of manly pride, high hopes and youthful ambition, death's roll-call ended a career perhaps in mercy; this, the last roll-call, still triumphs in its blighting thunderings, its eternal vibrations from the very throne of God himself is still as insatiable as in the days of battle array. Others, we may, in our frail humanity, seek to evade ; but this call in its mighty equalization, its scorn of rank, its contempt of power, aye, comes,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.