USA > Pennsylvania > Our Campaigns: or, The marches, bivouacs, battles, incidents of camp life and history of our regiment during its three years term of service > Part 11
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The battle was now raging with terrific fury, a perfect storm of shot and shell passing harmlessly over our heads. As the gallant Seymour sat unmoved upon his horse in our rear, and saw the restiveness of the boys to advance, he said to them, "lay down Second, lay down and go to sleep, I will wake you up when I want you." "Come and take a nap with us, General," replied the boys. The foe being heavily reinforced, were steadily adavncing, and the regiments that had driven them back with such gallantry had become somewhat disordered by the very impetuosity of the charge, and had not time fully to reform, and they in their turn were forced back, passing to our right. The Fifth and Eighth in the mean time had joined us on the right, and when the foe had arrived within fifty yards of us, Seymour cried out, "Up and at them," and rising we poured in a murderous fire that caused them to stagger and reel. With loud cheers we rushed upon them with the bay- onet, and one of those desperate hand-to-hand struggles ensued that are seldom witnessed in war. The two hostile flags were surging over the struggling mass a few feet from each other, and around them was poured out the best blood of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The struggle was a short but desperate one. Already had Major Woodward, Captains Smith and Neide, and Lieu- tenants Fletcher and Nightingale, and many other
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gallant spirits fallen, and the ground was crimsoned with their blood. In vain the wounded boys, who laid thick and near, urged on their comrades, but the enemy in crushing masses poured in around us, and with impet- uous fury charged, to wrench from our hands the glori- ous banner that flaunted over our heads.
Overpowered, but with our banner and our honor unsullied, we were swept from the field. General Meade was borne off wounded, the heroic Simmons, who com- manded our brigade, and Biddle, the Adjutant-general of the division, were mortally wounded, and a host of brave officers and men of the brigade laid around them. As we retreated across the plain before us and up through the woods, the fire of hell was let loose upon us, the shells and canister tearing up the ground in deep furrows, or rushing, shrieking and hissing through the air, rending the very vault of heaven.
On the plateau in the rear of the woods, the "Buck- tails," Second, Fifth and Tenth regiments were rallied by their respective commanders, and formed in line to the right of Sumner, and with the artillery that was playing over their heads succeeded in checking the further pro- gress of the foe, and advancing, drove them back and recovered the ground lost. Meanwhile a portion of the Twelfth regiment, with detachments of the Fifth, Eighth and Tenth, who were carrying prisoners to the rear, retreated to the left on a by-road between Sumner and Hooker, followed closely by the enemy, who suddenly and unexpectedly coming upon these fresh troops, for neither had hitherto been engaged, soon recoiled, and were driven over upon our centre.
While this was going on on the left, the centre and right of the Reserve were also hotly engaged, and so graphically is the operations of these portions of the line described by General McCall, in his official report of the battle, that we copy it verbatim.
"It must not be imagined that the enemy was inactive along the centre and right of my line during all this
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time. Cooper's and Kern's batteries, in front of the centre, were boldly charged upon, each time a regiment dashing up to within forty or fifty yards. They were then hurled back by a storm of canister and the delibe- rate fire of the First regiment, Colonel Roberts, whom I had placed immediately in the rear of Kern's, and the Ninth regiment, Colonel Jackson, in the rear of Cooper's. The contest was severe, and put the steadiness of these regiments to the test ; both suffered heavy loss, but par- ticularly the First regiment, whose gallant Lieutenant- colonel (McIntire) was severely wounded.
"Some time after this, the most determined charge of the day was made upon Randall's battery, by a full brigade, advancing in wedge-shape, without order, but with a wild recklessness that I never saw equalled. Somewhat similar charges had, as I have stated, been previously made on Cooper's and on Kern's batteries by single regiments without success, the Confederates hav- ing been driven back with heavy loss. A like result appears to have been anticipated by Randall's company ; and the Fourth regiment (as was subsequently reported to me) was requested not to advance between the guns as I had ordered, as it interfered with the cannoniers, but to let the battery deal with them. Its gallant com- mander did not doubt, I am satisfied, his ability to repel the attack, and his guns fairly opened lanes in the ad- vancing host. These gaps were, however, immediately closed, and the enemy came on, with arms trailed, at a run, to the very muzzles of his guns, where they pistoled or bayoneted the cannoniers. Two guns were limbered, and were in the act of wheeling to the rear when the horses were shot, the guns were both overturned, and presented one confused heap of men, horses and car- riages. Over all these the men of the Eleventh Ala- bama regiment dashed in, a perfect torrent of men, and I am sorry to say, the greater part of the Fourth regi- ment gave way. The left company (Captain Conrad) of that regimet, however, stood its ground, and with some
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fifty or eighty men of other companies met the Ala- bamians.
7 "I had ridden into the regiment and endeavored to check them; but, as is seen, with only partial success. It was here, however, my fortune to witness between those of my men who stood their ground and the Rebels who advanced, one of the fiercest bayonet fights that per- haps ever occurred on this continent. Bayonets were crossed and locked in the struggle; bayonet wounds were freely given and received. I saw skulls crushed by the heavy blow of the butt of the musket, and, in short, the desperate thrusts and parries of a life and death encounter, proving indeed that Greek had met Greek when the Alabama boys fell upon the sons of Pennsylvania.
"My last reserve regiment I had previously sent to support Cooper, and I had not now a man to bring for- ward. My men were bodily borne off the ground by superior numbers. A thick wood was immediately in the rear, and the Confederates did not follow my men into the thicket. It was at this moment, on witnessing the scene I have described that I bitterly felt that my division ought to have been reinforced.
"My force had been reduced, by the battles of the 26th and 27th, to less than six thousand, and on this occasion I had to contend with the divisions of Long- street and A. P. Hill, estimated among the strongest and best of the Confederate army, and numbering that day from eighteen to twenty thousand.
"The centre was at this time still engaged and I could not withdraw any troops from it.
"The Alabama troops did not attempt to enfilade my line, and leaving the guns on the ground, (the horses having, during the fight, been either killed or dispersed ) they retired to the woods on my right.
"It was now near sunset and the heat of battle had greatly subsided. I now rode to the rear to rally and collect the stragglers. At a short distance I came upon
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two regiments of Kearney's division. I requested them to move forward, but was informed their orders were to await the arrival of General Kearney. I moved on and set some officers at work to form the stragglers of my own regiments into line. On my return I found General Kearney. He put his regiments in motion and moved to the front and on the right of my line.
"As he rode away he said to me, 'If you can bring forward another line in a few minutes we can stop them.' By this time the sun had set, and the desultory firing was confined to the extreme right.
"In a short time Lieutenant-colonel Thompson, Third regiment, came up and reported to me that he had col- lected about five hundred men, with whom he was then advancing. I rode on with him at the head of the column in a direction to bring this force up on Kearney's left.
" On arriving near the ground where Randall's battery stood, I halted Thompson's command, wishing to ascer- tain whether any of my men were still in front of me. I had left Captain Conrad's company about one hundred yards in advance, but it was now so dark I could scarcely distinguish a man at ten paces. The battle, in fact, was now over; the firing on the left and centre had ceased, and there was only a desultory firing between Kearney's men and the enemy, some distance to the right. I rode forward to look for Conrad, and on the ground where I left him I rode into the enemy's picket, the Forty-seventh Virginia, Colonel Mayo, resting under some trees, and before I knew in whose presence I was, I was taken prisoner. Unfortunately for myself I had no staff officer with me, or I should have sent him forward to examine the ground, instead of going myseli; but my Adjutant- general, the valiant Captain Henry J. Biddle, had been mortally wounded; Lieutenant Scheetz had his horse killed, and was injured by the fall; my Chief of Ord- nance, the gallant Beatty, had been severely wounded at my sille, and only left me when I had insisted on his doing so; my excellent Orderly, Sergeant Simeon Dunn,
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Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, was also fatally wounded at my side, and out of my escort of a captain and twenty men of the Fourth Cavalry, but one corporal (the brave King) and one private remained with me; these two men were made prisoners with myself. About the time I was taken prisoner the desultory firing on my right died away."
The Reserves remained on the field during the night, and the rear guard withdrew from it about three o'clock the next morning, rejoining Mcclellan at Malvern Hill, after every gun and wagon of the Army of the Potomac had passed safely to the river .*
The loss of the division in killed, wounded and pris- oners, in the three battles of the 26th; 27th and 30th of June, was three thousand one hundred and eighty, out of about seven thousand who went into the battle of Mechanicsville. The trophies of the day were three stands of colors captured and nearly three hundred pris- oners.
The command of the division now devolved upon General Seymour, and of our brigade upon Colonel Hays, of the Eighth Reserve.
. In regard to this battle, justice and truth requires that notice be taken of the report of General Hooker, of the part taken by his division in it, as published in " Wilkes' Spirit of the Times," of November 1st, 1862. In this re- port that officer states, "the whole of McCall's division was completely routed," &c. This sweeping assertion has always been regarded by every officer and man of the division as exhibiting a misapprehension of facts that was perfectly incomprehensible, and evidence has since been produced to show that it was not in accordance with facts.
Besides the official report of General McCall, which is a sufficient refutation of the charge, we have his testi- mony before "the Joint Committee of the Conduct on the War," in which he states :
* See Appendix A.
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"I have no desire to treat lightly the reverses on both flanks of my division in this hard-fought field; they were the almost inevitable results of greatly superior numbers, impelled on those points with great impetu- osity; but the Pennsylvania Reserves as a division, although terribly shattered, were never "routed"; they maintained their ground with these exceptions, for three hours against thrice their numbers, in, I believe, the hardest fought and bloodiest battle in which they ever have been engaged, and in this opinion I am sustained by most of those officers, if not all, with whom I have conversed on the subject.
Had my division been routed, the march of the Fed- eral army would certainly have been seriously interrupted by Lee forcing his masses into the interval. (See General Porter's statement herewith.) When I was surrounded and taken prisoner, I was conducted at once to Lee's headquarters. Here Longstreet told me they had seventy thousand men bearing on that point, all of whom would arrive before midnight; and had he succeeded in forcing McClellan's column of march, they would have been thrust in between the right and left wings of the Federal army. Now, under this very probable contingency had I not held my position (see General Porter's report here- with) the state of affairs in the left wing of Mcclellan's army would have been critical indeed; but Lee was checked (as Longstreet admitted ) by my division (see Surgeon Marsh's report herewith), and the divisions in the rear, together with the Pennsylvania Reserves and others, moved on during the night, and joined McClellan at Malvern Hill before daylight. What share my divi- sior had in effecting this happy result let the country judge."
General Porter writing to General McCall from Wash- ington, October 20th, 1862, says: "Had not McCall held his place on New Market road, June 20th, that line of march of the (Federal) army would have been cut by the enemy."
TESTIMONY. 145.
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General Meade, to the same, from camp, near Warren- ton, Virginia, under date of November 7th, 1862, writes: * * "It was only the stubborn resistance offered by our division ( the Pennsylvania Reserves), prolong- ing the contest till after dark, and checking till that time the advance of the enemy, that enabled the concentra- tion, during the night, of the whole army on James river, which saved it."
Colonel Roy Stone, one hundred and forty-ninth regi- ment, Pennsylvania volunteers, who commanded the "Bucktails," at New Market crossroads, . writes :
" Meantime the enemy (recoiling from Sumner and Hooker) turned to the left and was repulsed by your centre. About sunset I was ordered to the right, and went directly to the ground occupied by me when the action commenced, and I can bear witness that the ground held by the centre of your division when the battle opened, was held by your troops in the face of a large force of the enemy long after dark; and so far as my observation extended, the only regiments that broke in the early part of the fight were those that had become disordered by their own charge into the enemy's line."
Colonel Hays, Eighth Reserves, writes: * * *
"I ordered the line to advance and take a position in a field immediately in front of where General Seymour had been in the commencement of the action. We lay till four o'clock, the next morning, and so near the enemy that we could hear the voices of officers giving orders."
Lieutenant-colonel Warner, commanding Tenth Re- serves, writes : * * * "The enemy being checked in these woods, the regiment again formed in line, with others of the Reserves who were rallied at this point, and moved forward to within a hundred yards of the ground it held at the beginning of the battle. Here it remained in line of battle, till 11 o'clock at. night, when it was ordered to move to Malvern Hill."
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Surgeon N. F. Marsh, Fourth Pennsylvania cavalry, writes :
" WASHINGTON, November 25th, 1862 .- General :- After the battle of the 30th of June, I remained at 'Willis' Church, with a large number of our wounded. The next morning I was directed by General Jackson (Stonewall) to report to General Lee. I found General Lee in company with General Longstreet, Magruder and Hill, on the New Market road. I addressed General Lee and informed him that I was a Federal surgeon, and had remained to care for our wounded, and wished protection and supplies for our men. He promised supplies, and directed General Longstreet to write the necessary per- mit. At the time I approached they were discussing the. battle of the previous day, being then on the ground. General Longstreet asked me if I was present. I re- plied I was. He asked what troops were engaged. I replied I only knew the division I was connected with- McCall's-which fought just where we then were. Gen- eral Longstreet said, ' Well, McCall is safe in Richmond; but if his division had not offered the stubborn resistance it did on this road, we would have captured your whole army. Never mind, we'll do it yet.'
"On Thursday, 3d July, General Roger A. Pryor came into the Church (hospital,) and we had a long conversa- tion. He repeated in substance what General Longstreet said, and spoke in the highest terms of the ‘pluck dis played by McCall's Pennsylvania troops.'
" The interest I felt in the Reserve Corps made me care- ful to remember these acknowledgments of the rebel generals."
Surgeon James R. Riley, of the One hundred and twenty-seventh Penna. Vols. writes:
" Washington, January 16, 1864 .- General :- On the 18th of December, 1862, I was engaged dressing the stump, having previously amputated the leg of Captain - - (name not recollected,) of the Twelfth Mississippi regiment, who had been wounded at the battle of Fred-
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ericksburg, when he asked me what corps I belonged to, I replied the Pennsylvania Reserves. He said he had been in seventeen battles, and in all those on the Penin- sula; that if the Pennsylvania Reserves had not fought so well at Mechanicsville, where they had their best troops, and again at New Market cross-roads, the Con- federates would have captured Mcclellan's army."
It is not necessary to dwell longer upon this subject, as the above adduced testimony sets at rest the matter beyond all controversy.
While the battle of Charles City cross-roads was pro- gressing, the enemy were attempting to force a passage of White Oak swamp which was held by General Franklin. Between twelve and one o'clock they opened a fierce cannonade upon the divisions of Smith and Richardson, and Naglee's brigades at this bridge. This artillery fire was continued by the enemy through the day, and he crossed some infantry below our position. Richardson's division suffered severely. Captain Ayres directed the artillery with great effect. Captain Hazzard's battery, after losing many cannoniers, and the Captain being mortally wounded, was compelled to retire. It was replaced by Pettit's battery, which partially silenced the enemy's guns.
General Franklin held his position until after dark, repeatedly driving back the enemy in their attempts to cross the White Oak swamp.
The rear of the supply trains and the reserve artillery of the army reached Malvern Hill about four o'clock that afternoon. About this time the enemy began to appear in General Porter's front, which was posted on the left, holding the river road to Richmond, and at five o'clock advanced in large force against his left flank, posting artillery under cover of a skirt of timber, with a view to engage our force on Malvern Hill, while with his infantry and some artillery he attacked Colonel . Warren's brigade. A concentrated fire of about thirty guns was brought to bear on the enemy, which, with the
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infantry fire of Colonel Warren's command, compelled him to retreat, leaving two guns in the hands of Colonel Warren. The gunboats rendered most efficient aid during the attack.
CHAPTER XV.
BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL. MARCH TO HARRISON'S LANDING. CRUELTY TO OUR WOUNDED. HUNTING GREYBACKS. WHITE GLOVES AND RAGGED CLOTHES. VISIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL, JULY 1ST .-- At Malvern Hill was collected the whole Army of the Potomac with all its artillery, to give battle once more to the vigilant foe, who, though defeated in every battle of the seven days' fight except one, (Gaines' Mills,) were victorious in the campaign. Flushed with the knowledge of our retreating, the sight of our dead, the capture of many of our wounded, and the spoils of the field, they in spite of their terrible losses, almost looked upon it as a triumph- ant march, and believing they had driven us to the water's edge, they considered our capture or annihilation as certain, and so confident were they of this, that Jef- ferson Davis, accompanied by the officials of his Gov- ernment, visited the army to receive the sword of McClellan.
Malvern Hill is an elevated plateau, about a mile and a half by three-fourths of a mile in area, mostly clear of timber, and with several converging roads crossing it. In front were numerous ravines, and the ground sloped gradually towards the north and east to a heavy woods, giving clear range for artillery in those directions. To- wards the northwest the plateau falls off more abruptly into a ravine, which extends to James river. Upon this hill the left and centre of our line rested, while the right
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curved backwards through a wooded country towards a point below Haxall's on the James river.
The left of the line was held by the Fifth Corps, Gen- eral Porter, consisting of the divisions of Sykes and Morell, of Warren's, Buchanan's and Chapman's brigades, and Griffin's, Martindale's and Butterfield's brigades. The artillery of the two divisions was advantageously posted, and the artillery of the reserve so disposed on the high ground that a concentrated fire of some sixty guns could be brought to bear on any point in its front or left. Colonel Tyler had also succeeded in getting ten of his siege guns in position on the highest point of the hill. Couch's division was placed on the right of Porter; next came Kearney and Hooker; next Sedgwick and Richardson ; next Smith and Slocum; then the remain- der of Keyes' corps, extended by a backward curve nearly to the river. The Pennsylvania Reserves were held in reserve, and stationed behind Porter's and Couch's position. One brigade of Porter's was thrown to the left on the low ground to protect that flank from any movement direct from the Richmond road. The line was very strong along the whole front of the open plateau, but from thence to the extreme right, the troops were more deployed. This formation was imperative, as from the position of the enemy his most obvious line of attack would come from the direction of Richmond and White Oak swamp, and would almost necessarily strike upon the left wing. Commodore Rogers, commanding the flotilla on James river, placed his gunboats so as to protect this flank, and to command the approaches from Richmond. The right wing was rendered as secure as possible by slashing the timber and by barricading the roads. There was posted upon different parts of the field, and in some places tier above tier, about two hun- dred and fifty pieces of artillery.
About ten o'clock A. M., the enemy emerged from the woods on the opposite side of the plain and commenced feeling along the whole left wing, with his artillery and
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skirmishers, which was promptly responded to by our artillery, and in about one hour the firing on both sides nearly ceased. An ominous stillness, indicating the manœuvring and placing in position of troops, now followed, preparatory to the terrific struggle that was soon to take place. About two o'clock a column of the enemy was observed moving towards our right, within the skirt of woods in front beyond the range of our artil- lery. Although the column was long, occupying more than two hours in passing, it disappeared, and was not again heard of. It probably returned by the rear, and participated in the attack afterwards made on the left.
During this long silence, our troops lay quietly upon the field, eating their scanty rations, and enjoying the rest they had not known for so long. Thus the day wore on with but little animation until about three o'clock, when a heavy fire of artillery was opened on Kearney's left and Couch's division, near the centre of the line, followed by a brisk attack of infantry on Couch's front. This was immediately responded to by our artillery, but Couch's infantry remained lying on the ground until the enemy had advanced within musketry range, when they sprang to their feet and poured in a deadly volley that broke and drove them back with considerable slaughter. They were followed for nearly half a mile, where our line halted and occupied a much stronger position, resting upon a thick clump of trees.
This affair occupied about one hour, when the fire ceased over the whole field, and the enemy evinced neither a disposition to attack or withdraw. About six o'clock, the enemy suddenly opened upon Couch and Porter with the whole strength of his artillery, and at once began pushing forward his columns of attack to carry the hill. Now opened one of the most desperate and sanguinary battles ever fought upon this continent. Brigade after brigade, formed under cover of the woods, started at a run to cross the open space and charge our batteries, but the heavy fire of our guns, with the cool and steady vol-
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leys of the infantry, in every case sent them reeling back to shelter, and covered the ground with their dead and wounded. But fresh lines were again hurled forward with a desperation and recklessness seldom witnessed before. No troops ever acted with more desperate courage than the enemy did upon that occasion, but like the storm-lashed ocean, madly dashing its billows against a rock-bound shore, they were hurled back broken and confused, but to unite and return again to the assault. From batteries upon batteries were vomited forth sheets of flame and smoke, whose storms of grape and canister mowed down the columns of advancing valor, leaving vast gaps, that were filled up by the mad and infuriated masses. To add to the terror of the slaughter, the gun- boats in the river opened with their 11-inch guns throw- ing their elongated shells into the woods which were densely packed with the enemy, tearing into splinters . the largest trees, and destroying whole companies at once.
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