USA > Virginia > Under the stars and bars ; a history of the Surry Light Artillery > Part 11
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At nightfall all hands were set to work filling bags with sand, to raise and strengthen the works, and pre- pare for the sterner fight that was expected on the mor- row. This done, beside the shotted guns, that had
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barely yet cooled to their normal temperature, the can- noneers, each wrapped in his well-worn blanket, laid them down to seek rest and sleep, for nature was well- nigh exhausted, and the men greatly needed repose and recuperation. The physical and mental strain had been great. Twelve hours under continued fire is enough to test the endurance of the strongest and hardiest of men.
During the night, however, the Federal commander made a new disposition of forces, drawing off some of his infantry from our immediate front, and coneen- trating it nearer to Drewry's Bluff, and the battery that had annoyed us so much during the day, as it could not be carried off, was abandoned and fell into our hands. On the 15th, contrary to what we had an- ticipated the enemy, on our part of the lines, made but a feeble fight. They kept us engaged, however, all day, but put forth their strongest effort on the extreme right of the Confederate line, some six or eight miles away, and where our lines were at first forced back, but subsequently recovered and held their ground.
The 15th passed without any casualties worthy of note. The guns were fired leisurely, and the men rested under cover of the works, and talked of their experi- ences of the previous day. General Beauregard came into the Fort during the day. We were all glad to see him here, for we have confidence in his ability to con- duct the fighting successfully.
At night we were drawn out of Fort Stephens, greatly to the satisfaction of most of the men, no doubt, and
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the entire Battalion was moved down the left of the lines, where Beauregard was massing his forces, pre- paratory to the intended attack of the next day. As the men had lost sleep the preceding three nights, they slept well on the 15th. It was not their habit to borrow trouble, by reflecting that it might be the last night on earth for some of them. We all knew of the intended work of the morrow, but we rested well, expecting to be called at an early hour.
Your friend, B.
[The first day's engagement at Fort Stephens, the 14th of May, was not as heavy a fight, altogether, as was the battle at Walthall Junction on the 7th. Y'et, on account of its.continuance through the day, almost without lull or intermission, it tested the endurance of the men even more severely than the fight of the 7th. That continued only about three hours; this of the 14th twelve hours. The losses were about the same on both occasions. On the 7th we had an ammunition box exploded by a shell, and on the 14th the same casualty occurred again. Of the three men severely wounded on the 7th, two of them, Zacheriah Holland and W. E. Wright, subsequently died in hospital. Of the three badly injured on the 14th, one, namely, James Pond, though he had recovered from his wound, and was ex- pecting, in a short time, to receive an honorable dis- charge from service, contracted pneumonia and died in the hospital sometime in June, 1864. His body rests in Oakwood Cemetery.]
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LETTER THIRTY-SIXTH.
The battle of Drewry's Bluff-Charge of Terry's and Gracie's men-Prisoners-Note.
EN BIVOUAC, May 18, 1864.
My Dear Friend :- By early dawn, on Monday morn- ing, May 16th, the Confederate army was in motion, prepared for the work of the day. The atmosphere was cool and bracing, but a dense fog prevailed, hiding everything from view fifty yards away. This circum- stance greatly favored the advanee, and enabled the Confederate infantry to approach very near the enemy's lines before they were observed. The charge was made on our extreme left, near the James river, and but a little way from Drewry's Bluff.
Our infantry struck the Federals just as they were preparing their morning meal, and so sudden and fierce was the onset, that they quickly gave way, and soon our men had them in full retreat. Just as the Federal line had been rolled back by the infantry, Colonel Lightfoot's Artillery Battalion of 16 guns was thrown in on the same ground over which the infantry had just charged, and the guns were speedily unlimbered and brought into action on the retreating Federals.
Very soon, however, on account of the doubling up of a part of the enemy's line by the charging column,
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and partly because of the dense fog, and the rapid change in the position of our own forces, our guns had to cease firing and move forward to another position, where we could fire over the heads of the advancing infantry.
Here we were on the ground where General Heck- man's brigade and other forces, numbering 800 or 900 men, had just yielded to the fiery onset of the Con- federate infantry that was first thrown upon the Federal column. The ground, for some distance around, was literally piled with muskets.
This splendid charge on the extreme left of our line was made by Terry's Virginians and Gracie's Ala- bamians, and it won the day for the Confederate side. So fierce had been the onset here, and so severe was the fire of Lightfoot's artillery, that the Federal columns continued to fall back rapidly for miles, not pausing until they had placed themselves well under the protee- tion of their gunboats in the James.
The result of the battle was. a complete defeat for Butler's army. It retreated in disorder, not to say con- fusion; and I hear that, but for the failure of one of our generals to carry out the orders given him by Gen- eral Beauregard, the larger part, at least, of the Fed- eral army would have been captured. This is unfor- tunate, but such slips will take place.
At one time during the early morning, our Battery had advanced within one hundred yards of the Federal line, with no infantry support near us. It was a critical -
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place for artillery. But our liberal employment of shell and canister doubtless deterred them from doubling back upon us.
During the hour in which the battle lasted on our part of the line, we had several men wounded, most of them but slightly hurt, but one or two severely. John L. Seward, a driver, was slightly hurt in the leg, while limbering up to advance. Julian H. Judkins was shot in the body. And Julian Stewart, a cannoneer, was wounded in the foot, receiving a complicated and dan- gerous hurt that kept him in hospital a long time.
The loss in killed and severely wounded men, of both armies, was heavy for so short an engagement. Dead or disabled men lay on the field in every direction, a large portion of them being Confederates. Of course, most of the wounded Federals made their way back to their own hospitals. The ambulance corps was engaged several hours in removing the wounded men. The doc- tors were out upon the field, attending to the desperate cases first.
The battle of the 16th of May, both in the numbers engaged on both sides, in the casualties occurring, in the issues involved, and in the direct results, ranks as a very important affair. It was a decided Confederate victory, and it insures the safety of Richmond on this side, and also of Petersburg, for some time to come, at least. We congratulate ourselves that Lightfoot's Ar- tillery contributed largely toward this splendid result. The men all stood up to their work bravely, in face of
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the leaden hail that hurtled around thein, working their guns with rapidity and good effect. It seems almost like a special providence that so few of us were struck by the enemy's bullets. Let us thank God and take courage.
Pray for our cause, and for us.
Your friend, B.
[The battle of May 16th, ended the so-called Butler campaign of 1864 in Virginia. The contest had been short and severe. It lasted but ten days-May 6th-16th- and during that time Butler had fought six engage- ments, three of them being pitched battles, in none of which was he successful, and two of which-Walthall Junction and Drewry's Bluff -- were acknowledged de- feats. After the battle of the 16th of May, Butler drew in his lines to a very small area of Chesterfield county, with his headquarters at Bermuda Hundred, his left resting on the Appomattox at Point of Rocks, his right on the James nearly opposite to Curle's Neck farm. The Confederate line confronting his forces was drawn closely up, and the men lost no time in digging en- trenchments, so that when General Lee's army reached the vicinity two weeks later, the men found works al- ready constructed, for them to occupy. Butler's golden opportunity for winning fame as one of the dis- tingnished military chieftains of the age, had passed away forever, and the future historian will have to rank him as one of the incompetents.
F
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Only one thing had Butler done that he was sent to do. He had indeed reached the P. & R. rail, and had torn up and destroyed about one mile of the track. But he had neither captured the city of Petersburg, which he might easily have done on the 6th or 7th inst., or imperiled the safety of Richmond, which lay in his power, if he had promptly assaulted the works at Drewry's Bluff, from both the land and river at the same time.
With 30,000 men-some say 40,000-with his base upon a river, and a fleet to aid him, he allowed a force of 6,000 or 7,000, hastily called together, to defeat him in every engagement, and force him back into a state of harmless inertia, a condition of innocuous desuetude. To this result, the men of the S. L. A. congratulate themselves that they rendered very important and material aid. To this end they contributed freely of their toil and blood.
In connection with the account of the battle of the 16th of May, 1864, I take pleasure in laying before my comrades a page from the, as yet, unpublished "Rem- iniscences" of a gentleman of Floyd county, an ex-Con- federate, who was a member of Kemper's Brigade, and an eye-witness and participant in the fight. It is from the pen of Mr. W. H. Morgan, of Floyd. The 11th and 24th Virginia infantry, of Kemper's Brigade, took the place of two of Gracie's regiments that had fallen back in the charge upon Heckman's forces. These two regiments (the Virginians) suffered severely. It was, says Mr. Morgan, "a hot time." Here is the extract :
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"On the right of Gracie's Brigade, Hankins' Battery of Surry county was taking position. No unnecessary noise was made, no one spoke unless giving orders, and then in low tones. The artillery moved into position slowly, and with as little noise as possible. I remember well the cluck of the iron axles as the guns moved slowly into position as quietly as a funeral procession. When all was ready, and while it was yet quite dark, the Alabamians moved forward up the hill, the artillery keeping pace with them, firing by seetions, each section moving forward after firing.
"Pretty soon the Yankee pickets opened fire on the advancing column, which is returned, the column mov- ing on the while, driving the piekets from their rifle pits near the top of the hill. The artillery halted on the top of the hill, still firing away in the darkness beyond, throwing shot and shell into the woods in front where the enemy is supposed to be. It was a grand spectacle that dark morning, the firing of the battery by sections as it advanced, the roar of the guns, the flames of fire bursting forth in the darkness, though rather awe-inspiring at the time, vet grand neverthe- less. I shall never forget the scene."
It was about this time in the progress of the battle that Kemper's Brigade charged down the hill and as- sisted in doubling in upon the enemy, and capturing a large number of prisoners. The Federal breastworks were soon in possession of our infantry, and the retreat of the enemy so precipitate as speedily to put them out of the range of our guns.]
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LETTER THIRTY-SEVENTH.
Our losses-Company Q ordered to report -- Watching the enemy- Spring's lush sweetness-More vandalism-Verses-Note.
EN BIVOUAC, May 20, 1864.
My Dear Friend :-- Our loss in wounded men since the 7th inst. counts up about 24, of whom one-third were severely hurt and sent to the hospital, the re- mainder too slightly injured to require surgical atten- tion, and did not leave camp. We have several men on the sick list, however, and these, too, have been sent into town, so that our number of effective men is re- duced to a low figure.
In consequence of this depletion of our ranks, orders have been sent up to the old camp-our winter quar- ters-for all of Company Q to report for duty at once. Poor fellows ! they have missed all the fun we have had and now must come and take whatever honors they can get. But we will put them in the front rank in the next fight.
We are now in temporary bivouac, a mile from the James, watching the enemy and resting from the labors, fatigues and battles of the past two weeks. General Gracie's Alabamians are in line in front of us, with Butler penned up on a narrow margin of land along
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the river, where he lies under the cover and security of his war-boats-and the Capital of the Confederacy is still safe.
The forests are fast putting on their lush, green garni- ture of leaves, and fragrant buds and lovely flowers are smiling all around us, in marked contrast to the scenes we have lately beheld. Thousands of little bluets (Houstonia) cover the ground here all around us, and the wild violets and yellow cinguefoil are here in abundance.
"The vernal sunbeams pour around A fairy light, uncertain, pale; The wind blows cool; the scented ground Is yielding odors on the gale."
While we were pushing Butler's army back, on the 16th, to its present position, we had abundant oppor- tunity again to witness more of that peculiar penchant for despoiling and wasting private property, that has characterized the Federal armies from the very outset of this war. Furniture broken up, feather beds carried out into the fields, the ticking ripped open and the feathers seattered abroad-books and pictures torn and thrown around the yards-the poultry and stock killed- vehicles broken and rendered worthless -- doors and windows broken-fences burned-crops destroyed. In one case I saw a piano left out in the barn. In another a fine painting of Patrick Henry thrust through with a bayonet.
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Such is the vandal spirit of our foe. It is bar- barism, savage ferocity, brutal cruelty. If these hordes could fight as well as they destroy, they would soon conquer us. Butler's men are no worse than the rest. Sheridan has an inkling that way. They all try to subdue us by pauperizing our people.
Permit me to give you here a specimen of soldier- boy verse, inspired by the scenes and surroundings in our camp, on the night of the 16th of May-the night following the battle near Drewry's Bluff :
ALONG THE LINES BY OLD BERMUDA.
Night, May 16, 1864.
Along the lines by old Bermuda, The Southern army lay- And men to men were sadly telling How wrath had ruled the day- And comrades true had bravely fallen Amidst the battle dread, Ere back the foe, dismayed and broken, Before our charge had fled.
The stars of night were gently smiling In sweet compassion down- And filmy clouds, like folded mantles, Now pines and willows crown; And down beneath the shelt'ring forest Each weary soldier laid-
Around him drew his thin-worn blanket, And rest and dreams essayed.
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But, hark! as speed the hooded hours, Where Butler holds the dell, Rude guns disturb the midnight silence With spurt of flame and shell; Like phrensied fiends, to wrath on-rushing, They crash athwart the pines -- First hiss and blaze and hurtle fiercely, Then burst above our lines.
Yet little recks the sleeping soldier For hurtling shell, or foe, In dreams his willing feet are turning The halls of Long Ago- The school, the home, the gentle mother, Rise up before his gaze- And now he meets a coy, fair maiden, His friend of other days.
'Tis sweet to dream, when dreams are joyful, Though dangers lower, the while; 'Tis bliss to trace the pathway backward, Where scenes of childhood smile; O, might such dreams forever linger! O, might the moments stay! Why turn the stars so quickly westward ? Why comes so soon the day ?
Ah! blissful dreams are soonest scattered- The fairest rose soon dies- When hearts would fain dream on forever, Storms first disturb the skies; Sharp through the camp calls loud the bugle- The friendly night hath sped- The soldier's sleep in rudely broken, His happy dreams arc fled!
The Battery is ordered to another point, and we march in an hour. Good-by.
Your friend, B.
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[The Federal gunboats, having been strangely silent throughout the whole of the day of the 16th, though they might have annoyed our army very much, after nightfall, kept up a constant shelling of the woods and fields, where they supposed the Confederate lines to be drawn, and, at times, their missiles became trouble- some to the men. It is not pleasant to have a blazing shell crashing through the tree-tops over one's head, and broken limbs falling down, when one is trying to sleep at night. But these were literal realities on this occa- sion. Such are some of the minor dangers of war. Yet men will throw themselves down anywhere and sleep soundly, amidst such surroundings. The verses in the above letter were inspired by having been an eye-witness to these scenes, on the lines before Bermuda, on the night of May 16, 1864.
While Butler had been trying to find a way into Rich- mond and had failed, Grant had been pegging away against Lee to the same end, and he, too, had failed. But the great and bloody battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and others, had been fought, and Grant was slowly mining his way nearer and nearer to the Confederate Capital. His army was approaching the vicinity of Richmond on the northeast, and we had orders to cross over to the northern side of the James. We then began a series of marches and counter-marches, crossing the James at the pontoon bridge, a little above Drewry's Bluff, several times within ten or twelve days. We camped or bivouacked here and there and anywhere,
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sometimes two or three miles from the river, or from other troops, and sometimes under the range of the big shells from the gunboats. After the defeat of Butler's land forces, his war-boats became busy, both day and night, in shelling the country on both sides of the river, as far out as their missiles could reach. They wasted a big lot of ammunition to no purpose, for I never heard or saw of the least damage that any of their shells did anywhere. After the second battle of Cold Harbor, Lightfoot's Battalion was, of course, thrown in Lee's army, and we remained permanently on the north side of the James, and with the left wing of the army during the remainder of the war. But of the battle of Cold Harbor, and our near approach to an encounter with some of Grant's army, see the next letter. ]
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LETTER THIRTY-EIGHTH.
On the march-Condition of the horses-Drewry's Bluff hill- Battle of Cold Harbor-Grant crossing the Chickahominy- Note.
BOTTOM'S BRIDGE, VA., June 14, 1864.
My Dear Friend :- Since my last letter, three weeks ago, we have been on the march nearly all the time, on picket or in bivouac at seven or eight points-all places without name or inhabitant. Generally, we have been in close proximity to the enemy, but have exchanged no shots with them. Their gunboats, however, are con- stantly shelling the country right and left, night and day, and their big explosives oblige us sometimes to move further off.
Since the 6th of May, the Battery horses have been worked so hard, and the supply of forage often short, that the poor creatures are now low in flesh. Besides, in the several engagements, we have lost a number, so that we have not now the usual complement of six horses to a gun, the supply being reduced to four to some of them. It is necessary at times, therefore, for the cannoneers to have to spring to the wheels, and help the cannon out of a mudhole or up a steep hill.
Now, Drewry's Bluff hill, the one leading down to the pontoon from the Fort, is one of the steepest and
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hardest pulls the horses have had to encounter any- where. And as we have been over it a good many times recently, and sometimes in rain, which makes the con- dition of the hill worse, the horses have had a hard time making their way up, with all the help the can- noneers could give them. And, of course, there are some men who complain heavily at having to help the horses. Some of them say, if the Government is going to make horses of them, they want a set of harness. I think the eannoneers will never quite forget that hill at old Drewry's Bluff, and the hard labor they have had there, pushing at the wheels to help the horses along, the wheels, in the meantime, encased in mud, and the clay of the hill made soap-like and slippery from rain. There is danger in it to the men, as well as hard and hand-soiling work.
The fortification of Drewry's Bluff is built upon the aforesaid high hill, the highest point of land, I suppose, on the banks of the James river anywhere below Rich- mond. The hill towers up high over the channel of the river, which here runs very near inshore, and it forms an admirable place for a strong defensive work. The old Galena and the rest of the Federal fleet found it too strong for them, in May, 1862, and the best iron- clads that Butler has here now do not meddle much with the place. It is a strong defensive work, and the gate to the Capital of the Confederacy by water.
Grant, with his grand army of 150,000, all amply equipped for offensive warfare, has been trying his
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highest skill, and best strategie art, to overpower or out- general "Marse" Bob, from the 6th of May to the present, but about all he has been able to do so far, has been to execute a series of wonderful en echelons by the left flank-by the left flank from the wilderness to Cold Harbor and the muddy Chickahominy. A series of battles as terrible as any that have been fought dur- ing the progress of this war have occurred, and, with all his trying to pass Lee's flank, Lee keeps up with him, and his army is still between Grant and Richmond.
The last great battle was that of Cold Harbor, in which it is reported that the Federal army sustained an overwhelming defeat. All day long the noise of the battle-the roll of musketry and the booming of can- non -- was plainly heard at our camp, and we were in constant expectation of orders to proceed in that direc- tion. Since then Grant's army has apparently been taking a rest. But it is thought that Grant is about to change his base of operations, either to the York or to the James. Every crossing-place on the Chickahominy is being guarded by our forces, and Lightfoot's Bat- talion is scattered, by company or by section, at several points. Our Battery is now at Bottom's Bridge, thought to be the lowest fordable place on the upper or swamp-land portion of the river. There is one more crossing-place below us, between this point and Windsor Shade, at the head of tidewater navigation on this river. It is known as the Long Bridge, only no bridge is there now.
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There is a Federal picket on the other side, in front of us here, but they keep very quiet. It is said that Sheridan's cavalry is over there, too. Wade Hampton's cavalry is just above us at the railroad crossing and above that. But all the troops are constantly changing positions. A report has just come up that Grant is crossing the Chickahominy at the Long Bridge. If so, it is strange no fighting has been going on down that way.
This point is fifteen or eighteen miles from the city, the battlefield of Seven Pines lying between us and town. While all the cannoneers are required to stay near by the guns, the drivers are employed most of the time each day in hunting around to find grazing for the horses. General Lee has just passed us here.
May heaven defend you and us.
Your friend, B.
[Grant's "change of base," after the battle of Cold Harbor, to the James river, with City Point as his head- quarters, and the cities of Petersburg and Richmond as his objective points, of course, united General Lee's army and the forces that had been located about the two cities during the summers of '62 and '63, and up to the present time in '64, under one command. All be- caine parts of Lee's army from this time on to the close of the war.
Our command, including the whole of Colonel Light- . foot's Artillery, remained north of the James constantly
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after this, and shortly after this letter was written, the Battalion was ordered into camp within the inner lines near the city, where we remained until going into winter quarters.'
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