USA > Tennessee > The military annals of Tennessee. Confederate. First series: embracing a review of military operations, with regimental histories and memorial rolls, V.1 > Part 30
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With our line materially weakened by the loss of those that remained in the road, we pressed on and struck the enemy behind a fence or hastily constructed breastwork, over which the First and about one-half of the Seventh Tennessee regiments passed. The rest of our command who crossed the second fence had not reached the works because of their horseshoe shape, and because the point that they were to have reached was to the rear and left of where we entered. As we encountered the enemy in his works all was excitement. Our men fought with desperation, and succeeded in driving the enemy from his line. It was a hand- to-hand encounter, lasting but a moment; and as victory was about to crown our
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efforts a large body of troops moved resolutely upon our left flank, and our ex- treme right at the same time began to give way, as did cur left. Still we in the center held the works, but finally, being unsupported, we were forced to fall back. Those of the second line who reached the Emmittsburg road never moved beyond that point to our assistance. We fell back to the lane, which was literally strewn with dead and wounded. The roar of artillery continued, and, mingled with the groans of the wounded and dying, intensified the horrid confusion in the lane.
From the time we advanced a few yards the artillery continually lessened our ranks, and especially a battery that almost enfiladed us from the right as we neared the lane -- a battery that seemed not to have been engaged in the first fire. The ar- tillery that followed up our advance attempted ineffectually to silence this engine of destruction, for at least in my part of our line its effects were equally fatal, if not more so, than all the rest of the artillery directed against us. Those who re- gained the lane in retreat here for a moment hesitated, but there was no time for deliberation. The combined fire of small arms and artillery was incessantly rained upon us.
Further retreat was as dangerous as the advance. The first fence was again to be crossed, hundreds of yards of open space in full view and within reach of the fire of all arms was to be passed over before we could regain shelter. The plank or slab fence was splintered and riddled, and the very grass was scorched and with- ered by the heat of shell and bullets. Around me lay forty dead and wounded of the forty-seven of my company that entered the scene of carnage with me. Col. S. G. Shepherd and I and the other survivors hesitated in the lane a moment. It was death or surrender to remain. It seemed almost death to retreat. May be we could regain our artillery in safety. We chose the latter alternative, and on we sped through the open field, expecting every moment to be shot to the ground. Our condition and experience were not dissimilar to those of hundreds of others. We fortunately survived, and I now have before me a letter from Col. Shepherd, dated February 8, 1882, relating to the battle of Gettysburg, in which he says: "I remember very distinctly most of the facts touching the battle of Gettys- burg to which you refer. We came out of the fight together. I remember that when we got back to our artillery we met Gen. Lee, who took me by the hand and said to me: 'Colonel, rally your men and protect our artillery. The fault is mine, but it will all be right in the end.' Whether these were the exact words used by Gen. Lee or not I cannot say, but I can say these are substantially his words." Col. Shepherd, as I remember, repeats the exact words of Gen. Lee. I was standing within a few feet of them, and remember his using the words "the fault is mine" at least twice. At this moment Gen. Pettigrew came up to us with his arm black and shattered by a grape-shot, and Gen. Lee addressed him in about the same if not the identical words he spoke to Col. Shepherd, and further said: "General, I am sorry to see you wounded; go to the rear."
We rallied our shattered ranks around our artillery and awaited now an ad- vance of the enemy, and I believe Gen. Lee looked for it. He seemed to be very much agitated, and remained near the center of his original line-close to the ar- tillery in front of Heth's division-for some minutes anxiously watching, with glass in hand, the enemy's line and exposed to their artillery fire. In a few mno- ments Gen. Lee left us and went in the direction of our right. Before he bad got
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very far he was met by Gen. Longstreet, who came from the opposite direction. After meeting they turned and went in front of our line, and both of them. on their horses, stood motionless, using their field-glasses in observing the enemy. They staid there on the highest eminence between our division and the enemy's line nearly an hour-at least it so seemed to me-exposed to the ceaseless fire of ar- tillery. While gazing upon them I trembled for their and our safety. Every moment I looked for either or both of them to be torn from their horses, and that too at a time when the exposure was needless.
Heth's division went into this charge with about five thousand men, and was able to muster only about eighteen hundred when Lee started to recross the Po- tomac. One company of North Carolina troops in Pettigrew's brigade was eighty- four strong in this charge, and lost every man, officers and privates, not by caut- ure, but in killed and wounded. The above was the aggregate loss of Heth's division, which would have been still greater had they all entered the works on Cemetery Hill. All had reached the lane, and the Tennessee Brigade was the only one in Heth's division that carried their standards into the fortifications on the hill. As to the exact loss of the Tennessee Brigade I now have no means of knowing, but it must have been very great. I am far from being unmindful of the heroism and devotion of other troops in that memorable charge; but in justice to those of Heth's division who fell in the works on Cemetery Hill, in the lane and open field, in the advance or retreat-in justice to those who yet survive, I cannot be indifferent when Gettysburg is painted without Heth's division prominent in the grand charge. Justice is justice, and fact is fact.
Lee had now made his third and last assault, and was not successful. He re- mained in position, anticipating an assault by the Federals, and as this was not at- tempted he began on the night of the 4th to withdraw his shattered army across the Potomac. The retreat occurred as has been repeatedly described. Heth's division, notwithstanding the great loss it sustained in the battles of the first and third days, was intrusted with the safe protection of Lee's rear. We pre- sented a sad contrast in appearance and in spirit when this retreat was undertaken to what we had when we were south of the Rappahannock. Though not sut nel, we were not victorious. We had suffered a terrible punishment, yet we reluctantly fell back; and I believe most of our officers opposed this retrograde, even still con- fident that by acting on the offensive we could render a crushing defeat to the Federals. However, Lee had decided to withdraw, and slowly we worked our way over roads and lanes, in mountain and valley. The sad thought of our great loss ever and anon came to my mind to darken our journey, and the meager pro- vision at hand for the conveyance of our wounded occasioned many terrible sights. Many men who had been severely wounded, and even some with arms am- putated the day before, to avoid being taken prisoners undertook the journey on foot to Virginia.
We daily anticipated an attack from Meade in pursuit, but none of his army put in an appearance -- that is, to fight-until we reached Falling Waters, near the Potomac. On that day Heth's division stopped on the road leading to the Pc- tomac, distant about two and a half miles. We always kept up a line of battle, and on this occasion halted and formed on the left-the west side of the road. In a part of our front was an old breastwork that had been abandoned long ago. Our men had stacked their arms-some were lying on the ground asleep, others
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were collected in groups, all feeling a sense of security, as no enemy had ventured in sight since we had left Hagerstown.
On a small eminence on the front of our line Gens. Heth and Pettigrew and several other officers, including myself, were looking back over the route we had traveled, when we noticed a small body of cavalry emerge from a strip of woods, distant about two hundred and fifty yards. After reaching the open space they halted, and the officer in command rode to the front as if to address the men. We observed them closely, and our group concluded they were Confederates. We saw them unfurl a United States flag, but we thought it was a capture that our friends were to carry to us and make some ado over it. Presently they started toward us at a tolerably rapid pace, and when they got within fifty yards of us they advanced at a gallop with drawn sabers, shouting, "Surrender! surrender!" Gen. Heth exclaimed, "It's the enemy's cavalry!" When opposite, they rushed over our little group, using their sabres and firing their pistols mortally wounding Gen. Pettigrew), and dashed among the infantry, eighteen hundred strong, shout- ing at the top of their voices, "Surrender ! surrender!"
At first the confusion was great, our officers calling upon their inen to form and use the bayonet, at the same time dodging the saber cuts and using their pistols with great effect. Lieut. Baber killed two and Capt. Norris three men. As soon as our men took in the situation, and after they had reached their guns, these dar- ing fellows were quickly dispatched. In the height of the confusion their officer galloped into our midst, and in less time than it takes to relate the circumstance he was riddled with bullets. He was a gallant-looking fellow, riding a magniti- cent dark-colored horse, but he and his force were to a man either killed or wound- ed in this quick and rash undertaking. There were not more than one hundred and twenty-five of them, but I will venture to say they came nearer stampeding or capturing a division than they ever did before. Their horses were nearly all killed or so badly crippled as to make them useless. Only two or three were brought off the field, though they were all captured.
I talked with one of the survivors of the regiment to which this squadron be- longed, and he told me that their officer was promoted only the day before for gallant and meritorious service. My recollection is that it was a part of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry. There was a large body of cavalry a few miles behind this squadron, and we remained at Falling Waters about one hour skirmishing with these. We finally fell back through the woods in line of battle to the river, cross- ing it with the loss of some stragglers and parts of companies that were detached and lost their way in the woods.
The Tennessee Brigade of Heth's division-composed of the First, Seventh, and Fourteenth Tennessee regiments, the Thirteenth Alabama Regiment, and Fifth Alabama Battalion-began the great battle of Gettysburg, and fought the last bat- tle and skirmish in that memorable retreat from Pennsylvania, and the last the Army of Virginia fought north of the Potomac. J. H. M.
THE BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA. From Weekly Philadelphia Times, Nov. 26, 1 82.
The description in The Weekly Times of the 3d of September, by one of the par- ticipants, Thomas T. Roche, late of Co. K. Sixteenth Mississippi Regiment, of the fierce combat at Spettsylvania has attracted the attention of many of my com-
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rades, who fortunately are survivors of that memorable struggle. The violent conflict that seemed to concentrate its fury upon the salient was well calculated to mislead any but a general officer as to the extent of the attack, hence we who were a part of Lee's army, stationed nearly a mile from the Sixteenth Mississippi Regiment, can readily understand how impossible it was for Mr. Roche to realize the fact that far to his right a struggle was going on no less important than the conflict at the salient. I would not attempt to modify or add to the account given by Mr. Roche (and so admirably and accurately written), were it not for the impression his article is calculated to make upon the reader in this wi-e. Ile says: "I attempt to give a correct account of the terrible battle of the 12th of May, 1864, as viewed from the Confederate side." This would seem to im- ply a description of the whole battle, and I imagine the omission of a mate- rial factor in saving the day to the Army of Northern Virginia cannot be ignored. What I propose to write is not a criticism upon Mr. Roche's artich, bnt my purpose and wish are that this may be accepted as an addendum to Mr. Roche's description. I do not apprehend that Mr. Roche intentionally omitted an account of the services rendered by the troops on the right of our arroy, as the chief point in his account of the battle appears to be a description of the contest in the works in the Angle, and hence his location of the different divisions is incomplete.
In addition to Lane on the right, our line extended more than a mile far- ther. Beginning on the extreme right of Wilcox's division, our line ran for some distance until a ridge, very much like the Bloody Angle, jutted out, forming a spur. It was fortified, and so abrupt was the apex that traverses had to be con- structed to protect our men from an enfilading fire. This Angle was occupied by Archer's (known as the Tennessee) brigade, of Heth's division, composed of the First, Seventh, and Fourteenth Tennessee and the Fifth and Thirteenth Ala- bama regiments. Still to the right was another brigade of Heth's division, ond next on a line receding to the rear, and immediately in front of the old court- house, were planted about forty or more pieces of artillery, which were protected by a small body of cavalry, posted in supporting distance, but far to the right and rear. . This completes the disposition of the troops on our right on the morning of the 12th. It would be an unjust disparagement to ignore the services of the troops on the right, as to them belongs a great part of the honor of saving the day at Spottsylvania. Indeed, they indirectly caused the cessation of further attacks on the Bloody Angle. However singular this may seem, I am persuaded that the additional facts, taken in connection with those detailed in the article of the 3d of September, will satisfy the reader, as well as those who participated in that battle. Hardly can I realize that eighteen years have elapsed since that mem- orable day. Yet some of the incidents of that campaign are vividly before me, and notwithstanding the fact that perhaps important events have eluded the grasp of memory, still many have made an impression that can be obliterated only by the hand of death. While I would serupulously abstain from exagger- ating the services of any command, yet I cannot but think that Heth's division. and particularly Archer's brigade, can justly feel aggrieved at an account of the battle of Spottsylvania that ignores their invaluable services.
The Archer for Tennessee) brigade was assigned to the Army of Northern Vir- ginia in the beginning of the war, and from that time to the surrender at Appr-
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mattox shared the fatigues and burdens, the victories and defeats of that army. The memorable battle of Gettysburg was begun on the part of the Confederates by the Tennessee Brigade, and it was the last to recross the Potomac; indeed, the writer, with toro of his comrades, Lieutenants Wilmouth and Baber, were the very last of Lee's army that crossed in view of the pursuing Federals. When we got in sight of the river our men were standing ready with their axes to cut the pon- toons loose. The river was swollen, and we at times had almost lost hope of reaching our command. As we got near and saw the rapidly rising waters we were encouraged at the sight of our commander, Gen. Heth, standing on the op- posite side of the river, hallooing to us to hasten. Our danger was increased by the bursting of shells, but we took new courage and barely reached the pontoons as they were cut loose and swung rapidly around to the opposite shore. Though we three escaped this danger, Lieut. Baber was afterward wounded in the second battle before Richmond. He was shot in the shoulder while standing by my side -- or rather he was leaning against me, with his right shoulder somewhat in front of me, when a bullet passed through his shoulder and grazed my coat, which I felt very perceptibly. His shoulder-joint was resected, and he is yet living, hay- ing evidences of the cruelties of war. Lieut. Wilmouth was killed in the battle of the 12th, while advancing in command of the skirmishers.
On the 5th day of May, 1864, Hetli's division opened the battle of the Wilder- ness, and for at least two hours held Grant's army at bay on the plank-road. On the 10th, two days before the battle of Spottsylvania, when Gen. Hancock led his corps to attack and dank our left, Heth's division was directed to meet him, and succeeded in repulsing him. In this last movement Gen. II. H. Walker, then commander of the Tennessee Brigade, was wounded and lost a leg. The evening of the 11th found Heth's division, weary and fatigued, resting on the right of Lee's army. For days officers and men were unable to take time to re- move or change their scanty clothes; every waking moment brought an impera- tive duty, and now, accustomed to the toil of forced marches by a service of nearly four years, these veterans as by a military instinct could readily detect the significance of every movement. There are times when military maneu- vers, dispositions of troops, and orders executed with the utmost secrecy, impress their aim, purpose, and importance upon the very privates in the ranks. Now, after ten days of constant service, hungry, weary, and unwashed -- for I do not think a single soldier of my command who was fit for duty had time to take his shoes off or wash his face-we might reasonably hope that the time had arrived when we could take some rest. Indeed, our position might justify this hope, as we believed the Federals were concentrating somewhere besides in our front. However, it was apparent that all had forebodings of some great movement go- ing on, and that danger was imminent. Yet there was no trepidation, no ex- citement or hurry; all was quiet and calm, in keeping with the approaching day.
Shrouded in a heavy mist that would soon develop into a rain as day was ap- proaching, cloudy and heavy, a deep stillness pervaded, broken only by the in- cessant and monotonous chirping of the summer beetle. The works occupied by the Tennessee Brigade extended about fifty yards in front of the general direc- tion of our line and terminated in an acute angle. Immediately in our front, for about fifty yards, was an open space, and then there was a pine woods. I was gazing out and musing in a half reverie upon those solemn pines, when, about
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half-past four in the morning, we were aroused by heavy firing on our lett. This was about gray dawn. All were aroused, and we turned our anxious eyes in the direction of our left, as peal after peal of light arms and artillery advised us of the destructive volleys that were belched forth. An ominous sight was pre- sented in the pines that raised their tops like heads. On our left, in the direc- tion of the tiring, issued flocks of small birds and owls. The den-ity of the pines afforded sufficient darkness to those wanderers of the night, but as they reached the open space in our front their flight was rapid, low, and int mning- less, save in their efforts to flee from the source of their disturbance. So inces- sant was the fire that nothing living could apparently survive its destruction.
Hardly had we time to reflect upon the sudden retreat of the birds before a heavy skirmish firing began in our front, and about the same time the Federal artillery opened on us. This skirmish and artillery fire was kept up until about nine in the morning, when the Federal skirmishers were reenforced and our men driven in. At this juncture, as our, skirmishers were being pre-sed back. Lieut. Byrd Wilmouth, supposed to have been the tallest man in the Considerate army, who was in command of the skirmishers, leaped upon our works and ran along as if to get a good view of the action in our front. This act of Lient. Wil- mouth I regarded as reckless in the extreme, and, being within speaking dis- tance, I called to him to get down. I knew he was a gallant soldier, and that he was needlessly periling his life, for the artillery kept up a constant fire upen us and was planted near enough for grape to reach us. As if unmindful of bis great danger, he presently hallooed: "Get ready, boys; there are three lines of codee coming!" Here the enemy appeared, marching in splendid order, in three lines of battle. As if elated by the sight of our skirmishers retreating before them to gain the shelter of our works, they marched steadily and boldly out of the cover of the pines into the open space in front of our works. Undaunted. they ad- vanced in the height of military discipline and received without wavering volley after volley, but at length our well-directed fire told on their ranks. Their stort hearts were appalled, their efforts seemed fruitless, and they retreated to the cover of the pines.
This assault was made while the rain was falling, and in the very midst of the contest the rain descended in torrents; indeed, I hardly think I ever witnessed a harder rain. The fire of the enemy's small arms was assisted by his artillery. In fact, the artillery fire was kept up constantly. After the repulse of the ene- my Gen. J. A. Early rode up with his staff to learn, I suppose, how we received this assault. Under this most deadly fire of grape and canister he scannel the scene of conflict, sitting on his horse with seeming indifference to the bursting shells tearing their way through the standing trees, shattering and breaking of limb after limb. There the old hero remained studying the situation regardless of the danger, while every one else sought as secure a position as cireun-tances would allow. Though the enemy was repulsed with heavy loss, he rallied in the pine woods in our front, and again advanced to renew the attack. No time was lost on either side; every man seemed to be nerved to do his whole duty. The constant fire of the artillery seemed to keep up the excitement of a continuous battle, and all was preparation to meet a second assault. In' a few minutes the enemy advanced to the open space, but did not entirely emerge from the fine woods. He was checked by the fire of our men in the works, who were assisted
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by our skirmishers and sharp-shooters. The enemy retired, and was finally pressed back far into the pine woods by the advance of our division skirmishers and sharp-shooters. This ended the attack -- two assaults-upon the angle held by the Tennessee Brigade. It is true our loss was comparatively small when we consider the number slain in the angle on our left. Nevertheless, the attack on the angle or works held by the Archer brigade was as determined as that made on the Bloody Angle, while the artillery fire was as great and as incessant. Though our own artillery-forty pieces-was not brought to our assistance, yet our loss was less, simply because we had and held our works for protection, and we were pre- pared for the enemy when he made his morning attack upon us. While our less was comparatively small, that of the enemy was terrible, and had there been no Bloody Angle on our left the angle held by the Archer brigade would have been so regarded, as in fact it was by those who assaulted it, as appears from the letter hereinafter quoted.
After the repulse of the second assault our division sharp-shooters, under Lieut. F. S. Harris, and a heavy skirmish force under Lieut. Byrd Wilmouth, advanced on the enemy and continued the contest in the pine woods in our front. Here, in the very skirts of the woods, was the evidence of how terribly destructive was our fire. Though the two assaults had lasted hardly an hour, yet the Federal dead and wounded lay as thick on the ground as if a battle had raged for a day. Here in the pine woods, on the advance of our skirmishers and sharp-shooters, occurred the thrilling and chivalrous scene that occasioned the writing of the fol- lowing letter, which was received by Gen. W. W. Estill, of Nashville:
"LEBANON, Mo., August 25, 1580.
"ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF TENNESSEE.
"Sir: I saw from a St. Louis paper, some weeks since, that a soldier in the Fed- eral army in 1864 found, by writing to you, a friend who saved his life during the war. It was my misfortune to be fearfully wounded at Spottsylvania Court-house, Va., on that terrible 12th of May, 1864, in a charge against a Tennessee brigade in the Confederate army. The Tennessee Brigade occupied what was known aft- erward as the Dead Angle, with a strong line of sharp-shooters about seventy-five yards in front and about the same distance from our line. I could distinctly see the officer in command of the sharp-shooters passing along the line, sending his line. We were ordered to charge about 2 p.M. A terrible battle ensued. The Tennesseans refused to be driven from their position, and after repeated assaults we retired again to our position. But not so with myself. I was left wounded about where the Confederates had their sharp-shooters' line. The battalion was thrown to the front under the same officer who had command before, and it is of him I now wish to inquire. His line behaved splendidly under the galling fire that our brigade poured into them. When the officer reached me I called to him 'in God's name to give me some water.' He dropped to his knees and raised my head with his left arm and put a canteen to my mouth. I had hardly finished the draught when a bullet from our troops passed through my throat, and blood spurted from my mouth in his canteen and left him untouched. He laid my head down gently, saying to himself, . Poor fellow! he has fought his last battle.' I re- member nothing else after he placed his own blanket under my head until I found myself in one of our hospitals. I do not know whether he survived the war. I can say for him that he was the bravest, the coolest, and the kin lest-hearted man 17
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