USA > Pennsylvania > History of the twenty third Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, Birney's zouaves 1861-1865; comp. by the secretary > Part 23
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campaign the conduct of the officers and men of our Brigade was every- thing that could be desired ; and it was through no fault of theirs or any other part of the Sixth Corps, that Hooker's first campaign came to such an inglorious end.
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville had so improved the morale of the rebel army which had been reinforced by two of Longstreet's divisions from the James River and a large number of conscripts from Richmond, that Lee determined upon an invasion of the North. This threw the Army of the Poto- mac on the defensive. So, on the 13th of June, Hooker broke up his camp on the Rappahannock and moved northwards. The Sixth Corps had on the 6th of that month again crossed the river at the Ber- nard House, and for a week ob- served the movements of the rebels who occupied the defences of SAMUEL C. DUSWALD, Corporal Co. G. Fredericksburg Heights, but re- crossed and followed the main army on the 14th by forced marches until the vicinity of Washington was reached. The Potomac River was crossed at Edward's Ferry on the 26th of June, and the march of the army directed on Frederick City. About this time differences arose between General Halleck at Washington, and General Hooker, in relation chiefly to the disposition of the forces at Harper's Ferry, and General Hooker asked to be re- lieved. General George G. Meade, then commanding the Fifth Corps, was immediately placed in command of the army.
From Frederick City our Corps marched to Manchester, which would have been the extreme right of the army if Meade's line of battle had been formed along Pipe Creek, as some suppose he had intended. But events occurred which determined Gettysburg to be the ground upon which was to be fought the mightiest and most sanguinary battle of modern times. The operations of the First and Eleventh Corps on Seminary Ridge, where Reynolds lost his life on the Ist of July, were important, in that they prevented the rebels from occupying the favorable ground upon which our army was subsequently formed for battle.
On the night of the Ist of July our Corps was at Manchester, thirty-six miles away. At 9 o'clock in the evening we started for Gettysburg and did not halt for any length of time until we reached
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Rock Creek, which crosses the Baltimore Pike about a mile from here. There we rested and made coffee. Resuming the march we moved on to the base of Little Round Top, where the Fifth Corps was stemming the rebel current which had forced back portions of the Third Corps. Two of our brigades were immediately thrown forward to the relief of the Fifth Corps, while the rest were placed in line of reserve. Before leav- ing Manchester, our Division Commander, General Newton, took leave of us and went immediately to the front to assume command of the First Corps in the place of General Reynolds, who had been killed that morning, and General Wheaton, by virtue of his rank, assumed com- mand of the Division.
This march of the Sixth Corps, of thirty-six miles in seventeen hours, on a sultry summer night and morning, is probably the most memorable one of the war. When we consider the load which a soldier carries on the march, even in light marching order, the absence in the field of all comforts which he enjoyed at home, and the peril to life and limb which constantly surrounds him, we cannot but admire the pluck and courage with which he undertakes the most difficult and perilous tasks and honor him for the sacrifices he makes.
About sunrise on the morning of the 3d, our Brigade was ordered to Culp's Hill to aid General Geary, of the Twelfth Corps, in retaking the works on the extreme right, occupied by the enemy during the previous night. The seriousness of Longstreet's attack upon our left induced General Meade to order reinforcements from Gen- eral Slocum, commanding on this part of the field, which necessi- tated the evacuation of a part of the line before established. These works were seized by the wily enemy, and at daylight our troops undertook to dislodge him and drive him back.
Upon reporting to General Geary, our Brigade was formed in the open field, just in rear of JOHN G. JOHNSON, Co. H. the line of defenses, in a column of battalions deployed. After a personal reconnaissance by General Geary and the Brigade Commander, the One Hundred and Twenty-second New York, Colonel Titus commanding, was directed to relieve the One Hun- dred and Eleventh Pennsylvania, then occupying a position in the front line. This position they held for two hours and a half, under a very
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· severe fire, losing many in killed and wounded, and were then relieved by the Eighty-second Pennsylvania, Colonel Bassett. At 9. 20 A. M., the Twenty-third Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel Glenn commanding, was placed in position to support the front line. Three hours later, five companies of this regiment, under a galling fire of musketry, were ad- vanced into the breastworks, and, after silencing the enemy's fire, sent out a line of skirmishers, which, however, were promptly recalled, the enemy still being in the line of battle in close proximity to our works. At 11 A. M., the Sixty-seventh New York, Colonel Cross, marched
"RIGHT AND REAR OF LITTLE ROUND TOP."
This was the first position of Shaler's Brigade occupied from the time of arrival on the field, about 2 P. M. of July 2d, in support of the advanced line of the 6th Corps, until the morning of July 3d, when ordered to Culp's Hill to assist Geary of the 12th Corps in driving Johnson's Confederates out of the works. The view repre- sents to the rear and left of where General Sedgwick's head- quarters was established.
into the breastworks, from which the enemy were then fleeing, and succeeded in capturing about twenty prisoners. At 11. 15 A. M., the Chasseur regiment (Sixty-fifth New York), Colonel Hamblin, occupied a position in support of the Twenty-third Pennsylvania. About 3 P. M., all of our regiments were relieved by others belonging to the Twelfth Corps.
Longstreet's attack upon our left, and Ewell's attack upon our · right had both failed; and now a desperate attempt to pierce our cen-
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tre was to be made. As a prelude to the grand assault of Pickett's Division, 115 pieces of artillery opened their murderous fire upon our lines, and were responded to by about 80 of our own guns. With the order and steadiness of troops on parade, Pickett's lines moved out in view and commenced to advance across the open field to a point just south of the Cemetery grounds marked by a clump of trees. No sooner was the point of his attack made manifest, than every available Union battery was trained upon his columns. The carnage which en- sued was terrible ; but on they came, alternately wavering, stagger- ing, rallying and pressing forward, until the rebel, General Armistead, found himself pierced by a rifle shot within our own lines, followed by a few hundred of the most fortunate and courageous of his men who became prisoners of war. It was while this was being enacted, that our brigade was called from this position on the right, to traverse the field and report to General Newton, commanding the Ist Corps, at the left centre, near the point of Pickett's assault. After the repulse of this infantry charge, the rebel batteries kept up a tantalizing, but irregular fire; and one of the last shots fired, lost to the Twenty-third regiment one of its most promising young officers, Lieutenant Garsed. A solid shot literally tore him to pieces. Before darkness had shrouded the field, the roar of artillery and the rattling of musketry had ceased. The great battle of the war had been fought. The stillness of the night was broken only by the groans of the wounded and dying, and the rumbling of ammunition and commissary wagons. The losses in both armies amounted to about 50,000 men, equal to one-third of the whole number engaged.
The rebel army was now compelled to abandon all the hopes which its scheme of invasion had inspired ; and bitter as the alternative was, its retreat was imperative. So, after spending the fourth day in bury- ing the dead and caring for the wounded, it silently and sullenly retired from our front on the morning of the fifth, and the Sixth Corps was sent out on the Fairfield road in pursuit. Lee's rear guard was over- taken in a pass of the South Mountain range, but was not pursued beyond it, General Meade having determined to keep his army on the east side of that range. It crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and Berlin, July 17th and 18th, and moved along the east of Blue Ridge, while Lee retreated up the Shenandoah Valley, west of Blue Ridge, and finally encamped in the vicinity of Culpeper Court House. The Army of the Potomac went into camp about Warrenton, Virginia.
In an address which I had the honor of delivering upon these grounds, two years ago, on the occasion of the unveiling of the monu- ment of the Twenty-third Pennsylvania regiment. I took occasion to refer to an injustice which had been unintentionally done us, in the report of the battle by the Army Commander. As the remarks I then made
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in reference to the Twenty-third Regiment are applicable to each and all the regiments of our Brigade, I quote them verbatim. After speaking a word of praise in behalf of General Doubleday, of the First Corps, and General Sickles, of the Third Corps, for the services they rendered on the first and second days respectively, I say, "And while claiming this special recognition for them, I have a less pleasing, but to you a more important duty to perform, and that is, to demand an official recognition of the services, in this battle, of the Brigade to which you were attached. The student who in future years peruses the official reports and records in the War Department, will there find recorded,
"CULP'S HILL."
This was the second position of Shaler's Brigade. On its arrival here General Geary of the 12th Corps placed it in the ravine immediately in rear of this position. During the morning the regiments of the brigade were engaged in the breastworks, which will be observed running along just below the brow of the hill towards a large boulder in the works. It remained here as relieving regiments, until ordered to left centre, in support of Ist Corps during repulse of Pickett's charge.
over the signature of the commander of the Army of the Potomac, that in the battle of Gettysburg, Wheaton's Brigade was ordered to the right, to aid in driving back the enemy and in retaking the works. In other words the troops of Wheaton's Brigade were credited, in the official report of the battle, with the service performed by your Brigade. Upon learning of this error, I spoke to General Meade about it, at an army reunion, held in Boston nine years after the battle, and he promised to have his report corrected. I spoke also to General Wheaton of the credit he had received at another's expense,
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and of the injustice done the regiments of the First Brigade. He promised that he would write to General Meade upon the subject, but I am not informed that either of the promises were fulfilled. As our great lamented President (Lincoln) said, in commenting upon the battle, 'There was glory enough for all.' No excuse, therefore, can be given for withholding from any of the troops engaged the full measure of credit due them, much less should one organization be glorified at the expense of another. In justice to the memory of those brave men whose heroic services you this day commemorate, and in justice to you who have been permitted to survive them, and to per- form this act of soldierly love and friendship, I protest against the wrong which has been done. I may be answered that it matters little, so far as the Brigade is concerned, since the survivors have erected tablets upon one of the grounds they occupied in this battle. Is it of no consequence to the relatives and friends of those who have died for their country, to their comrades who have survived them, to the officers who commanded them, that the official reports are silent as to the services of the organization with which they fought and died ? Nay, more ; that such reports should actually give to another organiza- tion credit for services which cost them so many lives ? For years and perhaps ages to come, the archives of the war will be perused and studied by historians and military students in search of material with which to compile history or solve military problems ; and must it be said to them, that the records are unreliable-that to ascertain the services of any particular organization of the army, a visit must be made to the battle-fields, and the monuments and tablets consulted ? Such a confession would be humiliating, but it must be made, so far as it relates to the services of the First Brigade, Third Division, Sixth Corps, in the battle of Gettysburg. And, if I am correctly informed, in reference to other organizations also. A greater value attaches, therefore, to the testimonials you this day dedicate, than you probably anticipated, for it corrects the record ; more than that, it stands alone as the only record accessible to all, that our Brigade fought and suf- fered in this part of the field in the greatest battle of the war."
On the 7th of November following, an advance movement was ordered, and the right wing of the army, composed of the Fifth and Sixth Corps, under the command of General Sedgwick, was moved to a point on the river called Rappahannock Station, at which point the enemy occupied a series of earthworks on the north side of the river, consisting of two or three redoubts and a long line of rifle-pits or trenches. The approach to these works was over an open field, which could be swept by the enemy's guns for a considerable distance in every direction ; and as the head of our columns debouched from the woods to deploy in line of battle, they furnished a splendid target for
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the rebel gunners' practice. The scene was grand beyond descrip- tion. When the speaker entered the open field, the Fifth and part of the Sixth Corps were already in line of battle, with flags flying and bayonets glistening in the sunlight of a beautiful autumn day, having the appearance of troops on dress parade rather than formed. for deadly conflict. Like Humphreys' tactical movements of his Division on the field of Gettysburg, our Brigade was closed up, and without halting advanced and deployed in the position assigned it, having only the sound of the enemy's guns to keep step with. Without delay our Brigade was ordered to drive in the rebel sharpshooters and secure the possession of a knoll on the right and front, for the occupation of
"REAR OF LEFT CENTRE."
This was the third position of Shaler's Brigade. On the ridge in the distance were the lines of the Ist Corps, the brigade arriving about the time of the repulse of Pickett's charge, and went into posi- tion in the field beyond the Taneytown Road, to the left of Meade's Headquarters, where it remained until the morning of the 5th, when moved off with the 6th Corps in pursuit of Lee.
a battery. This was quickly done, and soon after the battery was established, a column of attack was formed from the Sixth Corps and put in command of General Russell. Colonel Upton led the column with his regiment, and made one of the most brilliant and successful charges ever made upon any held. He not only captured the whole line of works, but with it, some sixteen hundred prisoners, six battle- flags, and many pieces of artillery and small arms. His attacking column numbered only fifteen hundred. The services of our Brigade as well as those of Upton's troops, were made the subject of a com- pfimentary order from Corps Headquarters.
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The next move of importance was Meade's effort to interpose his army between the two wings of Lee's army, and for that purpose directed the various Corps to cross the Rapidan at different points, the Sixth at Jacob's Mill ford, which they did on the 27th of November. Our Division was ordered to report to General Warren, to aid him in outflanking, if possible, the enemy's right.
Sunday, November 29th, found us in what was then considered a favorable position from which to attack, and orders were issued for Warren to do so at 8 o'clock next morning. But when morning came things were changed. Lee had entrenched himself in our front and planted batteries on our left. The flankers were outflanked, and Warren's heart failed him. As he told the speaker afterwards "he had not the courage to attack." But he had the courage to sacrifice himself rather than his men. He assumed the responsibility of suspending the attack, and General Meade subsequently justified him. Thus ended the brief winter campaign of Mine Run, and we returned to our old camps.
During December, 1863, while in camp at Brandy Station, the government called upon the three year men, two years of service having expired, to re-enlist for three years from that date or the war. This call was responded to by the men of our regiments, with remark- able unanimity and promptitude, nearly two-thirds in the aggregate, voluntarily offering to continue their services until the last rebel laid down his arms.
In January, 1864, our Brigade was ordered to Sandusky, Ohio, to prevent an anticipated attempt to liberate the rebel officers confined on Johnson's Island, Sandusky Bay, and remained there until the 12th of April, 1864, when Brigade Headquarters and three regiments (the 65th, 67th and 122d New York) proceeded to rejoin the army at Brandy Station. During our absence from the army, the old 3d Divi- sion was disbanded, and we were assigned to the Ist Division com- manded by General H. G. Wright, constituting the 4th Brigade of that Division.
Grant's overland campaign to Richmond began at midnight, the 3d of May. Our Brigade, or rather the three regiments of it in camp crossed the Rapidan on the 4th, in charge of an ammunition train which was parked a short distance in rear of the line of battle formed by the 5th and 6th Corps in the Wilderness, and at midnight on the 5th, moved forward and reported to our Division Commander. He assigned us to a position on the extreme right in support of General Seymour, who commanded the troops at that point. An advance of the line about S o'clock in the morning of the 6th, so shortened it that in order to retain possession of a prominence on our flank, our regiments had to be placed in the front line, thus presenting to the enemy a
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. single attenuated line where a strong, well supported one should have been. Early in the day we were called upon to send a regiment a little to the left, to the aid of General Neill's Brigade which was being hard pressed.
The 67th New York was sent in, and returned in, about an hour, having lost about 100 men in that short time. Much anxiety was felt throughout the day for the safety of this flank which was practically in the air, guarded only by a skirmish line thrown around to the rear, and subsequent events justified that anxiety. The attention of Corps Headquarters was repeatedly called to its weakness, but for reasons unknown to the speaker no troops were sent to us, and it was an easy mat- ter, therefore, when a Brigade of Ewell's Corps under General Gordon about 6 o'clock in the evening, drove in our skirmishers, to double up our single line of infantry. A few officers and men of each of our three regiments were captured, and many killed and wounded. The able bodied who escaped capture, reformed a line along the wood road, which crossed our line of battle perpendicularly, a few yards to the left.
The Brigade Commander in reconnoitering on the borders of this road, with more zeal than caution, rode into the enemy's lines and was captured. This terminated his services with the Brigade in which he had served since the organization of the army, and to which he had become dearly attached. The command of the Brigade devolved upon Colonel Nelson Cross, of the 67th New York.
In the successful assaults at Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, and the defense of North Anna, which followed the battle of the Wilderness, its reputation was fully sustained. Throughout the trials encountered in the change of base to the South side of the James, and the besieging of Petersburg. its patience and its power of endurance was manifest ; and when a detached column under General Early, early in July, again threatened the National Capitol, the confidence of the Army Com- mander in its prowess, and its devotion to the cause, secured the trans- fer of the Sixth Corps to the point of danger. The old residents of Washington will never forget with what celerity the rebel General was made to retire from the front of the Capitol and subsequently beat an inglorious retreat up the Shenandoah Valley, before the war-scarred veterans of the Sixth Corps, which by the celerity of its movements, had become known as Sedgwick's Cavalry.
After this short campaign we find the Brigade back again among its veteran comrades of the army, hammering away at the defenses of Petersburg, until on Sunday morning, April 2d, the final charge upon the works is made. The signal success of the Sixth Corps in this charge, not only carrying the line of defense in their front, but sweep- ing to the left and capturing a long line, thousands of prisoners and many guns, and subsequently turning to the right again, driving every-
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thing before it, until the enemy was encircled within their last cordon of defenses, was the first of the series of staggering blows which ulti- mately determined the fate of the Confederacy. The parallel race with Lee's army, which soon followed, gave another proof of its marching qualities. But it was at Sailor's Creek a few days later, where the for- tunes of war gave to the Sixth Corps the final opportunity to make still more brilliant its record by crushing forever and utterly destroying its ancient antagonist. It is not a little remarkable, but the fact is without dispute, that the Sixth Corps was confronted, in its four years of battling, oftener by Ewell's Corps than by any other in the rebel army. There seemed, therefore, a Providential dispensation in the cir- cumstances which placed it in the power of the Sixth Corps at Sailor's Creek, Virginia, on the 6th of April, 1865, to compel General Ewell and all that remained of his Corps, to lay down their arms and become prisoners of war. The crowning glory of a brilliant record.
During the period of its services, the integrity of our brigade was preserved from beginning to end. While, by reorganizations of the army, and the necessities of the service, whole corps and divisions were broken up and disbanded, our brigade organization continued intact. Regiments were added to it and taken from it, indeed, to such an extent that but one of the original regiments retained its identity in the brigade, until the disbandment of the corps and final muster out. The Twen- ty-third Pennsylvania was mustered out at the close of the Valley cam- paign, its re-enlisted men being transferred to the Eighty-second regi- ment. The Thirty-first Pennsylvania became the Eighty-second Penn- sylvania. The Sixty-seventh New York was mustered out at the end of three years, and the re-enlisted men were transferred to the Sixty- fifth New York. The One-hundred-and-twenty-second New York was not an original member, but joined in the Summer of 1862, and was transferred to Bidwell's Brigade of the Second Division, Sixth Corps, in the Summer of 1864. The Sixty-first Pennsylvania was taken to make up a Light Brigade, and never returned to us. The Sixty-fifth New York (First United States Chasseurs, as it was called), was, there- fore, the only one of all the original members, which retained its identity through four long years of war, and until final disbandment of the army and muster out. It is said that this was the last regiment of the Army of the Potomac mustered out.
Upon the muster out of the Sixty-seventh New York, Colonel Cross retired from the service, and the command of the brigade devolved upon Colonel Joe. E. Hamblin, of the Sixty-fifth New York, than whom a more gallant and faithful officer could not be found in the service.
In this hastily prepared and imperfect record of the services of our brigade, it may be considered not improper to speak of the qualities of some of the Colonels of the regiments which composed it. It is a mat-
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· ter of historical record, which may be alluded to here, without dispar- agement to others. Most of them showed a capacity and talent for military service which sooner or later, secured for them deserved pro- motion. Colonel David B. Birney, of the Twenty-third Pennsylvania was made a Brigadier-General and Major-General of Volunteers. Colonel Thomas H. Neill, of the same regiment, was made Brigadier- General and Brevet Major-General. Colonel John Ely, also of the same regiment, was made a Brigadier-General. Colonel Nelson Cross, of the Sixty-seventh New York, was made a Brigadier-General and Brevet Major-General. Colonel John Cochrane, of the Sixty-fifth New York, was made a Brigadier-General. Colonel Alexander Shaler and Colonel Joe. E. Hamblin, of the same regiment, were both made Brigadier-Generals and Brevet Major-Generals of Volunteers.
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