USA > Texas > A comprehensive history of Texas, 1685-1897 > Part 32
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General Jones's advance immediately opened fire, and, pressing vigorously on, he drove them before him from the slope and gap, and led his men to the other side. The whole line quickly followed, passed through, and bivouacked on the field beyond. About one hundred of the enemy were killed and captured in this en-
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counter, with but few casualties on the rebel side, while General Jackson's cannon were distinctly heard in the direction of Manassas.
Next day the Texas Brigade was thrown to the front, and Lieutenant-Colonel Upton, of the Fifth Regiment, was placed in command of a picked force of about one hundred and fifty skirmishers, directed to act as advance-guard and drive the enemy before them. This gallant officer and his brave marksmen pushed the Fed- erals so rapidly as to be frequently under the necessity of halting for their own troops to come up. Early in the day they came upon the main body of the Fed- erals upon the plain of Manassas, having pursued the retreating guard eight miles.
Forming line of battle they awaited orders, as General Jackson was engaged upon the left in deadly combat. The division was formed across the pike, Hood's brigade posted on the right and McLaw's on the left. Between Hood's left and Jackson's right, which rested about one mile south of Groveton, there was a gap of several hundred yards. Here were planted the Washington Artillery, of New Orleans, and several other batteries, commanding the ground over which General Pope was advancing. He threw forward a heavy column, making a desperate effort to divide the line. The artillery opened fire, and the advance was repulsed. Again an advance was made, again driven back, the fight becoming general along the entire line of Jackson.
General Lee discovered reinforcements were coming to aid the discomfited Federals. General Hood was ordered by General Longstreet to make a demon- stration on the enemy's left. Instantly the order was given, theflash of fire belched forth along the line, the din became horrible,-artillery thundering and infantry firing continuously. The advancing column wavered, fell back, took another position, advanced again, but were again driven back. Thus on and on they retreated until night put an end to the progress of troops and gave shelter to a vanquished army. About nine o'clock it was discovered that the Federals and Confederates were mixed up curiously. General Hood discovered the state of affairs, informed Gen- eral Lee, and asked permission to call of his men, which was given, and at two o'clock in the morning they were withdrawn from the immediate presence of the enemy.
August 30 found the two armies lying close together. The Federals had moved up and occupied the ground Hood had abandoned for want of support. Picket firing and artillery duelling began at an early hour.
"Our line of battle was an obtuse crescent in shape and five miles long." The Federal line of battle conformed itself to the Confederate, and took also a crescent form.
Hood's brigade belonged to Longstreet's corps, and occupied a place on the extreme left. During the morning the fighting did not amount to more than an artillery duel. At one o'clock the Federals commenced a series of invitations to compel the Confederates to bring on the general fight by advancing both upon the right and left, but were promptly repulsed. Suddenly, at four o'clock, our bat- teries " belched forth a volley that seemed to shake the earth." A column of in- fantry had moved out to attack Jackson. A second and third column made their appearance, moving boldly forward until within range of small-arms. These troops were the crack corps of the Federals, under General Sykes and Morell. "As the
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fight progressed, General Lee moved his batteries to the left and opened fire, only four hundred yards distant. The column broke, the men fell back to the rear. Jackson's men now went into the charge upon the scattering crowd, left without a leader." In the severe action Jackson's left advanced more rapidly than his right, and the line of battle became changed. Longstreet, who had hitherto not been engaged, took the golden opportunity to attack the left flank of the enemy in his front.
Hood's brigade, being on the left, charged the turnpike. Here occurred another brilliant achievement of these men, crowning Hood's Texans again with the laurels of a just renown for intrepid courage. Sickles's Excelsior Brigade of Zouaves had been for several days anxious to come in contact with the Texans. During the charge, while the men were steadily advancing upon the zouaves, who occupied an eminence with their batteries in the rear upon the brow of the hill, General Longstreet sent rapidly for General Hood. He had instructed Hood not to allow the division temporarily commanded by him to move so far forward as to throw itself beyond the prompt support of the troops he had ordered to the front.
General Hood, on leaving his men to receive his superior's instructions, gave the order to "press the enemy back to the bank, and then halt under the shelter of the hill." The temptation was too strong for them to halt, and they moved right on, up the hill to the battery of five pieces frowning down upon them and scattering destruction in their midst. The Texans advanced, and under the deadly fire suc- ceeded in driving the zouaves beyond their guns.
When General Hood returned he found the brigade was not where he had ordered them to halt, but had run over the battery and were in the valley beyond, "pouring their deadly fire into those splendid troops which Mcclellan had eulogized so highly before Richmond." When he came up with them he said : "Boys, you don't know how proud I am of you ! You have behaved gallantly ! You have done nobly ! You have fought like heroes !"
The day ended with victory for the Confederates on the plain of Manassas, thus twice baptized in the blood of heroes. The loss on both sides was severe. Lieutenant-Colonel Upton. of the Fifth Texas, was left dead upon the field, and Colonel Robertson, of the Fifth, was wounded while heading his men far out upon the front of the most advanced position.
Rev. Nicholas Davis says of the mien engaged : "Colonel Wofford, of the Eighteenth Georgia ( Hood's brigade ), Lieutenant-Colonel Gary, of Hampton Le- gion, Lieutenant-Colonel Carter, commanding the Fourth Texas, and Major Town- send particularly distinguished themselves, as also did Captains Hunter, C. M. Winkler, E. A. Cunningham, Barrett, Mertin, Darden, Blanton, Barziza, and others. General Hood said of all engaged with him that day : 'As to their gallantry and unflinching courage, they stand unsurpassed in the history of the world.'"
The Texans captured during this engagement six stands of colors and five pieces of artillery. From all reliable sources it appears that General Lee had from one hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and forty thousand to contend with on this occasion, and according to Dr. Jones (his biographer), the whole Confederate force in Northern Virginia was only sixty-nine thousand five hundred and fifty-nine men able for active duty.
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Our loss amounted to six thousand, while that of the Federals approximated thirty thousand. General Lee paroled seven hundred prisoners on the battle-field. When the roll was called in the Texas Brigade after this battle it was found to be reduced fully half its numbers,-killed, wounded, and missing. The wounded and dead Texans were scattered over a distance of two miles. Field hospitals were im- provised, and many were taken to neighboring farm-houses and cared for by the ladies, many sent to hospitals at Warrenton, Gordonsville, and Charlottesville. After the dead were buried and the wounded cared for the march was continued, and General Lee manifested his plan of crossing the Potomac into Maryland.
Some time during the second battle of Manassas Hood's brigade captured some Federal ambulances. Major-General Evans, of South Carolina, ordered General Hood to turn them over to his men. This General Hood refused to do, saying he would cheerfully obey if he had been ordered to turn the captured prop- erty over to General Lee's quartermaster, but considered his men had a better right to them than troops from another State. General Evans was his superior in con- mand, and ordered General Hood to be placed under arrest, On the march to Maryland he was ordered by General Longstreet to proceed to the rear at Culpeper Court-House and there await the assembly of a court-martial. General Lee became apprised of the matter, and sent instructions that he should remain with his com- mand, but continue under arrest.
General Lee crossed the Potomac into Maryland on September 4. Longstreet's corps, to which was attached Hood's brigade, was finally massed at Hagerstown, after destroying the railroad bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Road over the Monocacy River, which was effected by the Texans. From thence they moved through Frederick City and Boonsboro' to Hagerstown.
On the morning of the 14th they were ordered back to South Mountain to meet the advance of Mcclellan, who was endeavoring to "break through Boons- boro' Gap, divide our lines, and defeat our armies in detail, as General Jackson had gone with his troops to Harper's Ferry."
The Texans had grown very indignant at the injustice to General Hood, and were now ordered into line of battle just before reaching the gap. This was obeyed. Next came the command to ford the river. This was not obeyed. Gen- eral Evans wanted to know the reason. "Give us Hood," they replied. "We will fight under no other !" General Evans became angry and threatened to turn a brigade upon them. This did not frighten them, so he sent to General Lee the message that the Texas Brigade had mutinied.
When the cause was explained. General Lee sent General Hood back to his men. When he was seen approaching, the brigade opened ranks and allowed him to pass through, and as he passed along the line hats flew up and cheer after cheer rent the air, notwithstanding they were in the face of the enemy. After reaching the head of the column the clear sounding "forward !" rang out and the men will- ingly obeyed.
General Lee said to him. in a voice betraying his emotion : " I will suspend your arrest until the impending battle is decided." He knew well the valuable services rendered by General Hood and his Texans, and could ill afford to sacrifice military etiquette to the danger confronting the army at this critical moment.
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General D. H. Hill's division was already in and around Boonsboro' Gap, and the battle began at daylight. Longstreet arrived at four o'clock at the pass, and his men were rapidly sent into the mountains. The fortunes of the day were becoming desperate, when Longstreet's reinforcements arrived. "Evans was assigned to the extreme left, Drayton to the right, and Hood and his ragged Texans occupied the centre."
The Federals advanced over the rugged way, cheering at their success. General Hood was ordered to the right, as the troops on that side were giving away. He ordered the brigades under his command to fix bayonets ; then, when the enemy came within one hundred yards, to charge. They obeyed with a genuine Confederate yell, and the Federals were driven back in confusion over and beyond the mountains. The ground lost was regained, and reinforcements were prevented from being sent against General Jackson, who was confronting General Miles at Harper's Ferry.
General Lee evidently had not expected to fight at Boonsboro', as General Hill had only been left there to watch the enemy while General Jackson went to Harper's Ferry and General Longstreet to Hagerstown. General MeClellan had only decided to mass his troops after a despatch to General Hill fell into his hands, and by a masterly effort defeat the Confederates by preventing concert of action ; hence this engagement.
After a long debate, Generals I.ee. Longstreet, and Hill decided to fall back towards Sharpsburg, and accordingly the troops crossed the Antietam to Sharps- burg, where they took position on the morning of September 14. General Jackson, with the remaining divisions of Lee's army, after a forced march, reached the vicinity of Sharpsburg on the morning of September 16.
The Federals crossed the Antietam above the position of the Confederates. Having obtained possession of Compton's Gap on the direct road from Frederick City to Sharpsburg, they were pressing the Confederates and seemed determined upon a decisive battle. On the march to Sharpsburg General Hood's two brigades and Frobel's cavalry acted as rear-guard. The men had received no meat for several days, subsisting principally upon green corn and apples, but they were cheerful and defiant,-eager to meet the Federals again. During the afternoon of the 16th. Hood was ordered to take position in an open field near the Hagerstown Pike. This position of General Hood was intended to meet the advance of Federals who had crossed the Antietam beyond the ranges of the Confederate batteries. General Jackson was on Ifood's left. During the same afternoon the enemy made an attack upon Hood, but his men repulsed them gallantly, driving them back some distance. Night put an end to the contest, leaving the two lines in such close quarters that the men were able to hear distinctly the orders of their commanding officers.
General Hood went in search of General Lee to request that his brigade be relieved from the presence of the enemy, as the men were suffering with hunger and fatigue. General Lee sent the brigades of Lawton, Trimble, and Hayes, of Ewell's division, to their relief, but exacted the promise that they should return to their former position at a moment's notice if necessary.
Now commenced a hunt for the supply-wagons. It was nearly morning before
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the men had their food cooked,-many only preparing the meal when the message came, "General Lawton presents his compliments, with the request that you come at once to his support," and the brigade was at once ordered back to the relief of Lawton's troops. The Federals had commenced firing along General Lawton's front at three o'clock. As the Texans marched back to their position of the previous evening, a courier brought the tidings that General Lawton was wounded, and General Hood must take command. As they crossed the pike and filed through a gap in the fence, Lawton was borne in a litter past the men. To show the perilous position to which General Hood was now required to take his men we quote from General Jackson's official report :-
"General Lawton, commanding division, General Walker, commanding Law- ton's brigade, were severely wounded. More than half of the brigades of Lawton and Hayes were killed or wounded, and more than a third of Trimble's, and all the regimental commanders in those brigades except two were either killed or wounded. Exhausted of their ammunition, thinned in their ranks, Jackson's division and the brigades of Trimble, Lawton, and Hayes retired to the rear, and Hood, of Long- street's corps, again took the position from which he had been relieved."
The sun had just risen, and in Hood's front were drawn up in battle array heavy columns of Federal infantry, not less than two corps, says General Hood, and to oppose them General Hood had about two thousand effective men. With Lawson in command of one brigade and Wofford, of the Eighteenth Georgia, in command of the other, they marched forward to the assault.
The reader asks why a division and three brigades were removed and only two brigades sent to take their place at this critical moment. General McLaws had been ordered to move forward at the same time as General Hood, but he was behind.
The odds were greatly against them, yet they went gallantly into the fight, driving the enemy from the wood and cornfield upon his reserves, and forcing him to abandon his guns upon the left. General Hood, realizing his terrible position, sent to General Hill for troops to assist in holding the left of his line. Each time the courier returned with the answer, " No troops to spare."
Every man who withstood the carnage that day at Sharpsburg agrees that to Hood's brigade that was the most terrible day of the four years' service. The bat- tle raged along the line for five miles, but the leaders did not realize that in front of Hood's men the enemy had massed his strength, did not know of McLaws's tardiness, and were abashed when they learned how Hood's Texans had withstood the hottest fire of the day. General Hood says in his official report :--
" Here I witnessed the most terrible clash of arms by far that occurred during the war. The two little giant brigades of my command wrestled with the mighty force, and. although they lost hundreds of their officers and men, they drove them from their position and forced them to abandon their guns on our left. One of these brigades numbered only eight hundred and fifty-four men."
The First Texas lost in the cornfield fully two-thirds of their number, and whole ranks of brave men were mowed down like grass. The enemy began an enfilading fire, as the Confederate line was in a right angle, and. the division was compelled to move to the left and rear to close up the unoccupied space to Jackson's
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right, that general having moved his troops, leaving their left entirely exposed. The most deadly combat waged until every round of ammunition was exhausted. General McLaws arrived at half-past ten A. M., when General Hood, with colors flying, moved to the wood in the rear. The men supplied themselves with ammu- nition and returned to the wood, which ground was held till a late hour in the afternoon, when they moved to the right and bivouacked for the night.
A correspondent of the New York Herald said of this part of the engage- ment : " That those ragged, filthy wretches, sick, hungry, and in all ways miserable, should prove such heroes in the fight is past explanation. Men never fought better. There was one regiment that stood up before the fire of two or three of our long- range batteries and regiments of infantry, and though the air was vocal with the whistle of bullets and the scream of shells, there they stood and delivered their fire in perfect order."
This regiment was Hood's brigade. They had passed through so many engagements their ranks had been thinned to the proportion of a regiment.
With regard to failure of reinforcements, General Hood remarked that "he was thoroughly of the opinion that the victory of that day would have been as thorough, quick, and complete as on the plains of Manassas if General MeLaws had reached the field, even as early as nine o'clock."
Next day the two armies were confronting each other with no disposition to renew the attack. The Federals report that where General Hooker engaged the enemy's left (in front of Hood) there were twelve hundred and fifty wounded. The Confederate loss was heavy, -estimated at from five to nine thousand.
MeClellan was in command, and said in his official report : "The next morning I found our loss had been so great and there was so much disorganization, I did not consider it proper to renew the attack, especially as I was sure of the arrival that day of two fresh divisions, amounting to about fourteen thousand men."
During the 18th, General Lee waited for General MeClellan's advance, but as none was made, he withdrew his army to the south bank of the Potomac, cross- ing at Shepherdstown. No attempt was made to prevent the evacuation of Mary- land. General Mcclellan's official report shows that he had in action at Sharps- burg eighty-seven thousand one hundred and sixty-four men. Official reports also show that General Ece's whole strength at Sharpsburg was only thirty-five thousand and fifty-four.
The New York Tribune indignantly summed up the situation : "General Lee leaves us the debris of his late camps, two disabled pieces of artillery, a few hundred stragglers, perhaps two thousand of his wounded, and as many of his unburied dead. He takes with him the supplies gathered in Maryland and the rich spoils of Harper's Ferry. The failure of Maryland to rise was the only defeat Lee sustained. His retreat over the Potomac was a masterpiece, and the manner in which he had combined Hill and Jackson for the envelopment of Harper's Ferry, while he checked the Federal column at Hagerstown and the gap, was probably the grandest achieve- ment of the war."
The Texas Brigade marched to a point near Winchester, where they rested after their exhausting labors. General Lee was so much pleased with their record that he wrote to Senator Wigfall on the 21st urging him to secure more regiments from
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Texas : "I rely upon those we have in all tight places, and fear I have to call upon them too often. With a few more such regiments as Hood now has, as an example of daring and bravery, I could feel more confident of the campaign."
On September 28, General Hood delivered an address to his men congratu- lating them upon their success and bravery. His arrest, which General Lee had suspended at Boonsboro' Gap, was never reconsidered ; in lieu thereof he soon re- ceived the promotion to be major-general. During the reorganization of the army which followed, placing regiments of States together, the Texas Brigade lost the Eighteenth Georgia, which up to this time had stood shoulder to shoulder with them in every conflict. The men regretted the change, but gained the Third Arkansas Regiment, thus throwing all the regiments from the Trans-Mississippi together in the Texas Brigade.
"The loss sustained by the division of two brigades after leaving Richmond was two hundred and fifty-three killed upon the field, sixteen hundred and twenty- one wounded, and one hundred missing, making in all one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four."
While at Winchester, Generals Longstreet and Hood reviewed the troops. Regiment after regiment passed until there came one bearing a flag filled with holes. The ensign who bore it walked with a manly tread, proud of his colors. It was a Lone Star flag and belonged to the Fifth Regiment, had been pierced fifty-seven times, and seven ensigns had fallen under it. Another passed, made by Miss Loula Wigfall and presented to General Hood while commander of the Fourth Regiment. Nine ensigns had fallen under its folds on the field. It had gone through eight battles which had occupied eleven days, and brought off the battle-scars of sixty-seven balls and shot, besides the marks of three shells. This was the flag Colonel Warwick, of the Fourth, planted on the breastworks at Gaines's Farm and still clasped as he fell mortally wounded in the moment of victory.
The First Regiment carried its old flag through every battle until at Sharps- burg, when the ensign was shot down unobserved in the cornfield while changing position to prevent being flanked, and it fell into the hands of the enemy. They mounted it on a band-wagon, proud of their trophy, and carried it in triumph to General Mcclellan's head-quarters.
About the 26tl:, Longstreet's corps was again on the march, moving with the rest of the army, greatly improved by rest and discipline. The brigade halted at Culpeper Court-House, and here, November 1, Colonel J. B. Robertson, of the Fifth Regiment, by the recommendation of General Hood, received his appoint- ment as brigadier-general, and entered at once upon his duties.
Here also came the intelligence that Mcclellan had been sacrificed to popular clamor, and that General Ambrose Burnside, of Rhode Island, was appointed to the command of the Federal army. He concentrated his force on the north bank of the Rappahannock. General Lee crossed to the south bank of the Rapidan, and by the latter part of November the Federal and Confederate armies were confront- ing each other at Fredericksburg.
When General Robertson was appointed to the command of the Texas Brigade he appointed Major J. H. Littlefield quartermister. He found that through the
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immense demands upon the quartermaster's department there was little prospect for obtaining sufficient clothing to protect the men from suffering through the winter. They were too far from home to find relief from that source. The matter coming to the knowledge of Mr. Davis, chaplain of the Fourth Regiment, he let their wants be 7 known through the papers, and the ladies of Rich- mond and the Young Men's Christian Association nobly contributed to their necessities in the way of shoes, clothing, etc.
GENERAL J. R. ROBERTSON.
When General Burnside was placed in su- preme command of the Federal army, he began active preparations for another attempt to capture the Confederate capital. General Lee had moved to the south bank of the Rappahannock, where his line stretched along the river some thirty miles, guarding the different crossings. General Burnside planted upon Stafford Heights, just opposite Fred- ericksburg, an immense armament of heavy artillery, -fully one hundred guns,-commanding the river- bank opposite and the plain upon which the city stands, and giving shelter to his men while they constructed pontoon bridges for the army to cross.
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