USA > Rhode Island > Battery F, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery in the Civil War, 1861-1865 > Part 4
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Battery F was a part of the artillery force which Colonel Heckman writes as having arrived. It im- mediately came into position, opened fire upon the enemy and continued the action until the burning of the bridge took place. During this action First Sergt. Alexander M. Massie was severely and Sergt. Isaac N. Gage and Private Calvin C. Burr slightly wounded. First Sergeant Massie was wounded as he was about to sight a gun. He had just taken a
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field-glass from his eyes when he was struck by a piece of shell which completely shattered the glass, tore off three fingers and half of his right hand, and the flesh from the under side of the arm to the elbow, leaving the index finger and the thumb uninjured.
While the advance were maneuvering for the bridge another force destroyed the railroad for a long distance. The rails were rendered useless by being thrown upon hot fires fed by the sleepers or ties. The object of the expedition accomplished and a large and increasing force of the enemy appearing, the return march was ordered.
On the return march Battery F was assigned to the rear guard. As the troops withdrew from their positions a detachment of the Third New York Cav- alry passed down towards the burning bridge. They were fired upon from the woods, and almost immedi- ately the enemy filed out of the woods to our right and formed line of battle in an open field. The two howitzers of Battery F on the hill overlooking this field seemed their objective point. The enemy advanced in line towards the guns, but not far, for, being in an open field, the guns were worked to the best advantage and made such fearful havoc, ap-
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parently, that they left the field in great haste and appeared to be very much demoralized. This was the first time the battery had been charged upon in an open field, and, being able to see the effect of the shots, the men were naturally much elated over the result.
In reaching the hill occupied by the two howitzers of the battery a small stream was crossed, the water running about ankle deep. When the section re- tired this brook had swollen to a small river about waist deep. . The cause of the sudden increase in the volume of water, as was afterwards learned, was the opening by the enemy of a dam, which they undoubt- edly hoped would cause serious trouble to the troops. No particular disturbance occurred, however, except the annoyance to the men of wet clothing.
As is always the case in an engagement, narrow escapes from wounds or death took place during this expedition, among which might be mentioned, as of the very narrowest, Private Alfred B. Spencer, who at the battle of Whitehall, on the 16th of December, was struck in the stomach by a spent ball which caused him to suddenly "double up," but nothing serious resulted. The next day, at Goldsboro' rail-
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road bridge, a fragment of a shell tore a piece from his trousers under the knee. In neither case was the skin broken.
The battery arrived at its quarters in New Berne at about six o'clock on the afternoon of December 20th without further incident.
The official reports of the Goldsboro' expedition made by General Foster (J. G.), commanding the ex- pedition; Col. J. H. Leslie, chief of artillery ; Col. Thomas G. Stevenson, commanding Second Brigade, First Division, and Col. H. C. Lee, commanding Third Brigade, all mention Belger's Rhode Island Battery in complimentary terms.
While General Foster claimed complete success for the expedition, inasmuch as the object was accont- plished without serious loss, Maj .- Gen. Gustavus WV. Smith, Confederate States Army, reported the enemy beaten and driven back from Kinston, Whitehall Bridge, and Goldsboro', with heavy loss. The report of Brig .- Gen. T. L. Clingman, Confederate States Army, refers particularly to the charge made late in the afternoon by the rebels upon the hill occupied by the two howitzers of Battery F, as follows : "During the evening the regiments of Colonels (J. K.) Mar-
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shall (Fifty-second North Carolina) and (William A.) Allen (Fifty-first North Carolina), by General Evans's order, I have since learned, made a charge against the enemy's position on the hill. They advanced most courageously, but were repulsed by heavy showers of grape and musketry."
Early in the month of January, 1863, orders were received at department headquarters to embark a force to cooperate with the naval forces in an attack upon Wilmington, N. C. Belger's battery was as- signed to this force. The pieces were dismounted and loaded on board a schooner, and thirty-one horses placed on board another schooner. Lieut. William A. Arnold, with a detail from the battery, accom- panied them to Morehead City under sail, at which place the remaining officers and men were to join them on their arrival. On the 25th of January Lieut. Thomas Simpson, with forty men, was ordered to Morehead City by rail, to disembark the battery and return with it to New Berne. The horses were left on board and transferred to a battery of the Third New York Artillery in exchange for an equal number from that command on shore.
The order to "swap " horses with the New York
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battery was considered in Battery F a bad bargain. Much attention had been given to the appearance of the horses, and it was claimed that Belger's battery had the best, taken altogether, of any artillery com- mand in the department. The trade was made, how- ever, without consulting those most interested.
The object of the movement which resulted un- favorably for Battery F, in so far as relates to ani- mals, is thus described by Maj .- Gen. J. G. Foster, in a report to the Committee on the Conduct of War:
" I received orders from Major-General Halleck to co- operate with the naval forces in an attack on Wilming- ton, North Carolina. All the preparations were com- pleted and the troops about being embarked at Beaufort, North Carolina, when the news arrived of the foundering of the Monitor at sea. The loss of this iron-clad, which was the only armored vessel in service of sufficient light draft to enter the new inlet of Cape Fear River and take up position in reverse of the enemy's batteries on Federal Point, caused a change in the destination of the expedi- tion. I was then ordered to take the expedition to South Carolina, and cooperate with Admiral Du Pont in the projected attack on Charleston, South Carolina.
"Accordingly, the fleet having on board about twelve thousand (12,000) men, the best troops in North Caro- lina, sailed from Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina, on
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the 2d of February, 1863. Arriving at Hilton Head, I paid my respects to Major-General Hunter. I then called on Admiral Du Pont to arrange the plan of the joint attack. The admiral explained that he could not be ready in less than two weeks, in consequence of hav- ing to increase the thickness of the decks of the moni- tors. I then decided to profit by the delay in obtaining some one hundred pounder Parrotts for siege guns, and after informing General Hunter of my intention, left for Fortress Monroe for that purpose. After I left General Hunter issued an order breaking up my organization and merging my whole force into the small corps commanded by him. He also ordered my personal staff to leave his department forthwith. Under these circumstances I re- quested and obtained authority from General Halleck to return to North Carolina. The twelve thousand picked men that were thus lost to my command were not used with any effect in conjunction with Admiral Du Pont's attack on Charleston, and the expedition thus failed."
It is foreign to the purpose of this work to discuss differences which occurred between general officers. It is sufficient in this case to observe that the war correspondents took up the matter, setting forth the situation in a sensational manner ; that the affair was treated editorially by the leading daily papers in the North, nearly if not quite all arguing against the course pursued by General Foster; that General
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Hunter issued Special Orders No. 97, ordering that "all the members of the staff of Maj .- Gen. John G. Foster, commanding the Department of North Caro- lina, now within the limits of the Department of the South, shall quit this department by the first steamer going north"; that he also issued General Order No. 13, which incorporated the troops from North Caro- lina as a part of the Tenth Corps, and subsequently, General Order No. 15, paragraph III. of which re- voked so much of General Order No. 13 as assigned the troops from North Carolina to the Tenth Corps, and they remained a part of the Eighteenth Corps.
After the return from Beaufort the battery was oc- cupied in routine duties, varied occasionally by some ceremony of review or parade. On the 27th of Feb- . ruary, 1863, rain fell in torrents, and, unfortunately for the troops at New Berne, that was the day assigned for a formal flag raising at General Foster's head- quarters. As there was no postponement on account of the weather the ceremonies took place according to programme, which included two salutes by Battery F, víz., a national salute early in the exercises, and, later, a major-general's salute, the whole closing with a review by General Foster. Notwithstanding the
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weather every part of the programme was carried out with military precision.
These incidents of flag-raisings, parades, reviews, etc., served a double purpose. They furnished inter- esting military exercises for the troops, whose duties at this time resembled those performed by soldiers in garrison, and, as the post was in the midst of the enemy, also gave evidence to the unfriendly-and there were many in the city-that the United States forces were well drilled, well disciplined, well equipped, and in every way well prepared to defend the Union and the flag which had been assailed.
Early in March, 1863, Major-General Foster, com- manding Eighteenth Army Corps, New Berne, N. C., directed Brig .- Gen. Henry Prince, commanding Fifth Division of the corps, to make a reconnoissance in force to Trenton, Pollocksville, Young's Cross Roads, and Swansborough, closing the letter of instructions with the following : "The object of this expedition is to make a strong reconnoissance in the direction of Wilmington, to ascertain the roads, the crossings of the rivers and creeks, the position of the enemy, etc., and, if possible, to capture or break up two com-
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panies of cavalry supposed to be between the White Oak and New Rivers."
Battery F was assigned to the division and left its quarters early on the morning of March 6, 1863, arriving at Trenton, N. C., at about ten o'clock A. M., March 7th. On arrival at Trenton General Prince
sent the following message to the troops: " The bridges we were ordered to destroy have not been rebuilt since their former destruction ; the enemy's cavalry have been scattered by a charge of ours ; there is no body of the enemy on this side of the Trent, and consequently the column will face about and return to the wagons." (The wagons were left at McDaniels's plantation, about three hours' march from Trenton.) -
The return march commenced at about 10.30 A. M., reaching McDaniels's between one and two o'clock P. M. After an hour's halt, continued the march, ar- riving at Young's Cross Roads at nine o'clock P. M., and went into bivouac. The next morning the right section, under command of First Lieut. Thomas Simpson, was sent with a part of the Third New York Cavalry towards Jacksonville, N. C., marching to within nine miles of that place, then returning to
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the battery at Young's Cross Roads. Battery F re- mained at Young's Cross Roads with a force in com- mand of Col. S. P. Richmond, Third Massachusetts Infantry, guarding the bridge and wagon train, while other portions of the force marched to Swansborough and reconnoitered the country throughout that vicin- ity. At night, March 9th, the whole force assembled at Young's Cross Roads, and, on the morning of the roth, took up the return march to New Berne, where. the battery arrived at about four o'clock in the after- noon, having had no engagements and traveled about- eighty-five miles.
General Prince reports, officially, "The instructions I received have been entirely carried out and the ob- jects of the expedition fully accomplished," closing his report with the following compliment to his troops : "I am satisfied by this march that there is neither corruption of politics nor infamy of peace notions to taint the pure patriotism of the com- mand."
Early in March evidences of activity within the rebel lines were noticed. 3 The Raleigh (N. C.) Progress (rebel), issue of March 1, 1863, contained the following :
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"We are glad to learn that Gen. D. H. Hill passed down on Tuesday to assume the command that has been tendered him in North Carolina, with headquarters at Goldsboro'. We have had vastly too much strategy, too much science, and too much ditching and digging in North Carolina. Had we had less of these and more fighting things might have been different than at present : and as General Hill has established a reputation for being one of the best fighting men in the service, we may ex- pect a change in management, if not a change in base, in North Carolina."
The expectations of the Progress, as above re- corded, partially materialized. General Hill, on the Ioth of March, 1863, directed Brig .- Gen. J. J. Petti- grew to take all the rifled guns in his own and Daniels's brigade and the reserve artillery "and move with your brigade to the neighborhood of Bar- rington Ferry. Get all your guns in position, if pos- sible, without observation, and open a concentrated fire upon the enemy's work at the ferry. It is thought that this can be reduced; if so, push up your guns to it after its fall and open upon the Yankee shipping and barracks. It is important that this bombardment should begin on Thursday."
The probable reason for naming Thursday as the time to begin the bombardment was the fact that
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Thursday, March 12, 1863, which was the particular Thursday referred to, was the first anniversary of the appearance of the Burnside Division in the Neuse River.
The enemy did not, however, succeed in getting into position to open fire until the 13th, and on that day and the next there was considerable excitement in and around New Berne. Battery F was ordered to Deep Gully, on the Trent road, a position near the outpost, arriving early in the evening of the 13th. It remained in position throughout the night and re- turned to the city on the morning of the 14th.
The enemy appeared before New Berne in three columns, viz., by the Trent road, in force, on the evening of the 13th; on the morning of the 14th, with a heavy artillery force, on the opposite bank of the Neuse River, before a small earth-work ; and also a demonstration by the road south of the Trent River, threatening the left of the line. Battery F was held in readiness to move to any point, but did not become engaged. General Foster, reporting offi- cially the affair, uses these words : "The whole af- fair, meant to be effective and strong, was ineffective and weak, inflicting no damage and accomplishing no
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object." General Hill (D. H.), commanding Confed- erate forces, reported : "Our expedition was partly successful. I went with Daniels's brigade on the lower Trent road to New Berne, and sent Robertson around on the upper Trent road to cut the railroad. Pettigrew was to bombard the shipping and barracks from the other side. The result was highly satisfactory on our road." General Pettigrew, Confederate States Army, reports "having failed in accomplishing the hoped for result," and gives reasons.
Thus ended very unexpectedly what promised to be a determined effort to recover New Berne to Confederate control, and to drive the Union troops from the shores of North Carolina.
Events confirmed the prophecy of the Raleigh Progress. Gen. D. H. Hill had inaugurated offensive operations in North Carolina, and the Union forces were placed on the defensive for the time being, al- though the campaign was of short duration. On the 30th of March he invested Washington, N. C. Gen- eral Foster and a garrison of about twelve hundred men were shut in and communication cut off.
Washington, N. C., is situated on the Pamlico River, near the mouth of the Tar River, distant from
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New Berne by land about thirty miles, and by water something over one hundred miles. Several strong batteries on the banks of the Pamlico, below the town, together with a barricade across the channel, effectually prevented the passage of gun-boats or sup- ply vessels to the relief of the little garrison, so it was thought.
Brig .- Gen. Henry Prince, with a force of about twenty-five hundred, of all arms, operated from the Pamlico River at Blount's Bay, April 4th to 6th, with- out success.
April Sth a comparatively small force left New Berne, under command of Brig .- Gen. F. B. Spinola, to march overland to the relief of the garrison at Washington, and by attacking the enemy in the rear raise the siege. Battery F accompanied this com- mand. The column met with little or no resistance until, on the 9th of April, Blount's Creek, a stream sufficiently large to require a bridge for crossing, was reached. Here the enemy was posted with artillery in position to resist further advance. Battery F was ordered to the front and went into battery in the road, there being no other place sufficiently open for artillery. The command given was "Action left," as
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the battery stood in the road. Captain Belger sat on his horse at the right of the battery, with the two buglers and the first sergeant near him. Before a shot had been fired by his battery he was severely wounded in the thigh by a ball from a case shot from the enemy's guns. The shot exploded directly in front of the captain, killing his horse and also two battery horses. This was among the first of the enemy's shots, and should be considered a chance rather than evidence of proficiency on the part of the gunner, for during the hour that the battery was in action no further damage was received from their fire.
Captain Belger was taken to the rear, leaving Lieut. Thomas Simpson in command of the battery. But little effort was made beyond the artillery bombardment, to advance further. General Spinola states :
"I found, however, the enemy's position almost im- pregnable owing to the thickness of the swamp woods on the north side of Blount's Creek, and also to the strong earthworks on the south side of the creek, behind which the enemy were two thousand strong. Owing to the condition of the ground it was impossible to develop a large force against the enemy, and therefore only two
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regiments of infantry, the Seventeenth and Forty-third Massachusetts Volunteers, two sections of Captain Bel- ger's battery, and one section of 32-pounder howitzers,
together with the cavalry above named, were actually engaged."
The return march commenced at about five o'clock P. M., April 9th, and at four o'clock P. M., April 10th, the battery arrived at its quarters in New Berne without further casualty.
The official report of the operations of the battery on this expedition, made by First Lieut. Thomas Simpson, states that during the engagement on the 9th, "three hundred and two (302) rounds of ammu- nition, principally case shot and shell," were ex- pended. Referring to the attempt of General Spinola to reinforce General Foster or raise the siege, there was printed in the New York Tribune on the authority of a "gentleman who came from New Berne, a passenger on board the Mary Sanford, that about fifty men of one of the Rhode Island batteries who were with him, had volunteered to take the rebel battery, and we were about to do it, when one of General Spinola's aids rode up with peremptory orders to retreat." The name of the gentleman is un- known to the writer, and it is impossible to learn
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how he became possessed with such knowledge. In the interest of truth, however, it must be stated that no Rhode Island artillerymen volunteered to per- form such duty, however brave and patriotic such action might have been, and we feel bound to say further that the men of Belger's battery had been taught and drilled to stand by and depend upon the guns, and for that reason principally were unarmed, not even carrying revolvers. It would have been a novelty in warfare for fifty unarmed men to storm an earth-work in broad daylight.
The next movement for the relief of the garrison at Washington occurred on the night of April 12th, when the steam transport Escort with the Fifth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, Col. Henry T. Sisson, on board, and a supply of ammunition and stores, ran the batteries on the river and arrived safely at the wharf in Washington without loss. On the 15th General Foster returned with the same steamer by daylight. The steamer was struck forty times on the return, but no material damage was done. The pilot was killed.
General Foster arrived in New Berne from Wash- ington, N. C., by the steamer Escort on the 15th of
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April, and, on the 17th, with the force that could be collected in and around New Berne, amounting to about ten thousand-men, started to return overland to the relief of the garrison, and to raise the siege. Battery F accompanied the expedition, having been assigned to Heckman's Brigade, which led the ad- vance. Brigadier-General Heckman (Charles A.), in his official report of the march states that they cov- ered but seven miles the first day, 17th, "the road for a great part of the way being of the most horrid character.
" The column not having closed up, I placed Bel- ger's Battery, commanded by Lieutenant Simpson, in position, and my two regiments of infantry and a squadron of cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Beecher, in line to support them. I then ordered the troops to bivouac for the night."
The command marched over the same route as was taken by General Spinola the previous week, which was of course quite familiar to the battery. Early on the morning of the ISth the march was continued and Blount's Creek reached at about 3.30 P. M. The bridge had been destroyed and appearances indicated that the enemy was in full retreat, having abandoned
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the attempt to capture Washington with the small force defending it, as they did the similar attempt upon New Berne the previous month, although a much more determined effort was made at Wash- ington. The bridge over Blount's Creek was soon re- paired sufficiently to allow passage of the troops, when the battery crossed and went into bivouac for the night a short distance beyond. The march was continued on the 19th, the battery arriving at Wash- ington during the afternoon of that day, but remained outside until the 21st, when it entered the town. The enemy's forces retired before the advance of this column, which pushed their rear guard, captured · the battle-flag of the Seventh Confederate Cavalry (Georgia), and some prisoners.
Battery F remained at Washington until April 28th, when it returned to its quarters in New Berne by transport, having been absent twelve days. There were no losses in the battery during this second trip to Washington, and the slight damage inflicted on either side would indicate that the movements of both armies were easily resisted; there was a lack of that persistence which insured success ; and, com- pared with the desperate encounters of the later
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