USA > West Virginia > History of the Twelfth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry > Part 16
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(565) On the 22nd Gen. Turner was assigned to the command of our division, Gen. Harris thereafter to com- mand the Third Brigade. Two days later we received orders to be ready to march at 6 o'clock the next morn- ing, the 25th. We moved out at daylight that day, Sheri- dan, being on his return from the Valley to Grant's Army, and as the evening might, it was supposed, try to inter- cept him, our movement was in aid of him. We went as far as the Chickahominy, passing over a part of McClel- lan's old battlefields ; but we saw nothing of Sheridan, he having crossed farther down the stream. We returned to our camp in the evening. In passing over the ground of the Seven Days' Fight, numerous bones of the fallen brave could be seen. A rather grotesque incident occurred on this march to and from the historic Chickahominy.
(566) Asst. Surgeon Neil of the Twelfth at that time was something of a wag. Moving slowly and cautiously along over the battlefield, as we did, he had ample time to pick up a skull, which he did. There was a round hole in it, just as such a musket ball would make, and it needed no telling that that was what made it. The command coming to a temporary halt, he held up the skull, and assuming an air of solemnity, began a sort of mock lecture somewhat after the manner of a phrenologist. He said in substance about as follows :
(567) "Gentlemen," said he, "examining the bumps upon this cranium hastily, yet as carefully as circum-
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stances will at present permit, assisted by the light of past and passing events, I think that I may say, with a confi- dence amounting to conviction, and that you will be justi- fied in accepting my statement as an assured fact, that the original possessor of this poll was evidently of a more or less combative disposition.' And gentlemen, judging from the light of current history, and the apparent time that this skult has lain where it was picked up, and the patent, convincing, ocular evidence sustaining me in the assertion, I have no doubt that the wearer of this cranium died of a gun shot wound."
(568) The boys within hearing smiled, some audibly, and as the march was resumed their arms and equip- ments felt less heavy on account of this display of wag- gishness.
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CHAPTER XII.
(569) On the afternoon of the 17th, as preparatory to Grant's grand movement against the forces of Lee in front of Richmond and Petersburg, two divisions of the Twenty-fourth Corps, ours and the First, and one division of the Twenty-fifth Corps (colored), crossed the James and the Appommattox, and marched toward the left of our lines, southwest of Petersburg. Our division marched all night, passing in the rear of the lines of the Army of the Potomac, and as we marched along, pretty heavy fir- ing of the pickets close to our right was heard for nearly the whole distance. We halted about daylight in the morning in front of Petersburg and at 10 o'clock a. m. we resumed our march toward the left, followed by the other troops of Gen. Ord's Army of the James, camping within about two miles of Humphrey's Station. The next day, the 29th, the whole army, except enough to hold the intrenchments, moved to the left, our division going that morning to Humphrey's Station. We could hear cannon- ading farther to the left during this day. That night it rained all night.
(570) At daylight, the 30th, our division moved again, the rain still falling. In the afternoon a train of ambu- lances passed to the rear loaded with wounded from the Fifth Corps. Also a lot of prisoners were brought in and sent off on the cars. The next morning at about 8 o'clock the rain ceased, it having rained all the night before. and our division advanced to Hatcher's Run; and the enemy resisting this advance, it had some pretty hard fighting. At this time the Second Corps and the Fifth and Sheri- dan's cavalry were on our left. Before daylight the fol- lowing day, April 1st, the Rebels charged the skirmish line of our division, but were repulsed. In this charge a Rebel soldier, either deceived, or intending to deceive our
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men, came running up to Company E of the Twelfth on the skirmish line, exclaiming: "You are firing on your own men!" Lieut. Hugill of that company walked up to him, took his gun and sent him to the rear a prisoner.
(571) Concerning operations here at this time, Lieut. Col. Holliday of the Fifteenth West Virginia, command- ing a brigade at the time, told of an incident, according to a comrade, about Lieut. E. F. Piggott of Company G, which may be here given. Holliday, with his brigade, undertook to capture a Rebel fort in his front and Lieut. Piggott, being on the skirmish line then at that point, when the brigade charged, co-operated in the charge with his company. The attempt failed. Holliday and Piggott were in front of their men, and the men, giving ground almost before the officers knew of it, they were left be- tween the lines, and, the fire of the enemy being hot, they took cover behind stumps. While they were thus under cover Holliday glanced from behind his stump, and seeing an overcoat in front said that he would like to have it; and Lieut. Piggott coolly and deliberately, said Holliday, got from behind his stump, walked forward, picked up the coat, brought it back and gave it to him. Some few years since Piggott, poor fellow, passed to the Beyond.
(572) All night of the 1st we could hear on our right, toward Petersburg, the deep sounds and see the flashes of light caused by the firing of our siege-guns. At short intervals the whole heavens were made lurid by the dis- charge of the artillery. This day Sheridan, with his cav- alry and the Fifth Corps, had had his victory at Five Forks, southwest of Petersburg. This firing was kept up to prevent, perhaps, the enemy from detaching troops in our front for the purpose of recapturing Five Forks, a vital point to them. As the Rebels lay behind their in- trenchments that night it may be that they regarded this thundering and lightning of Uncle Sam's siege-guns as betokening his vengeful wrath, and their impending doom. Grant gave orders for the Sixth Corps on our
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right and opposite the Rebel center, expecting the enemy to withdraw troops from there to attack the lines in its front as soon as possible in the morning, the 2nd ; and for all the other troops to held themselves in readiness to at- tack. The Twelfth took a position and lay close up to the enemy's lines that night, fully expecting to have to attack his intrenchments in the morning; but fortunately it did not have this to do.
(573) The Sixth Corps, having broken the lines in its front, the Rebels soon thereafter evacuated their works in our front. Our brigade then moved to the right to- ward Petersburg, arriving near the city a little after noon. By this time all the enemy's works southwest of the city had fallen into our hands, except three forts near it, and several thousand prisoners besides. Our brigade partici- pated with great credit that afternoon in the capture of Fort Gregg, and the Twelfth made for itself a proud rec- ord. An incident of a little while previous to the capture is remembered. After our brigade had got within a half mile of the fort, marching along we passed near a few soldiers not on duty. They seemed to regard us seriously, as being new troops to them and the Army of the Poto- mac. One of them looked at us rather dubiously and said in substance: "I wonder if those fellows will stand up to it," implying that they thought there was fighting before us. We, however, had little idea of the serious work just at hand. If those soldiers watched the part we took in the capture of Fort Gregg, they doubtless had their minds disabused of any doubts as to whether we would stand up to it, at least as well as the average soldiers.
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(574) Our brigade was marched up and halted in line on high ground facing toward Fort Gregg to the north. All was quiet as yet, there being no firing. When we reached this ground we could see some of our troops, a part of the First Division of our corps. a little to the right of a direct line from us to the fort, and pretty close up to it. They were in a wavering condition, having failed to
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enter the fort. A little later an aid rode up to Col. Curtis, evidently giving an order. The colonel looked a little pale, but unflinching, and almost before we had time to think, and without any announcement of what we had to do, the order of "Attention, Second Brigade, shoulder arms ; right shoulder shift, arms ; forward double quick march," was given. The boys seemed to know by a common un- derstanding what was wanted, and, giving a yell, a sort of "Rebel yell," they started on the charge, running like mad their very best, seeming to realize that the sooner they got to the fort, the fewer of them would get killed.
(575) The fort was in plain view from the point from which we charged, and as the ground over which we charged was mainly clean and open, and the lay of the land was such that the fort was not lost sight of at any time during the charge. The distance to be charged over was perhaps 500 yards down a slope and up a slope. In the hollow or foot of the slopes, something less than half way to the fort, there was some low swamp brush. When this was reached the enemy opened on our men, apparently with grape or canister. The balls could be heard striking in the mud and clashing through the brush, but, as seemed surprising, few if any were hit just at that place. The men rushed rapidly on their ranks, necessarily much broken by their passing through the low swamp brush, their different capabilities as runners, and their all rushing toward the one point, the fort. And they never stopped or scarcely so, until the bulk of them were in the deep ditch surrounding the fort. All the time after our men had come within close range, the enemy poured into them a hot musketry fire ; but they escaped being hit remarka- bly, owing to the rapidity of our men's movements, and the Rebels' overshooting, aided materially evidently by the troops of the First Division's drawing the Rebels fire, and by their return fire, compelling the Rebels to a considera- ble extent to keep under cover.
(576) When the order to charge was given Private
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J. W. Caldwell of Company D took off his hat and, swing- ing it over his head, shouted : "That's our fort, that's our fort:" but the gallant boy, falling dead upon the field, failed to witness its capture. Gen. Turner, commanding the division, after the brigade had got part of the way to the fort, and was under heavy fire, believing that the birgade was insufficient to take the fort, sent an order to Col. Curtis to halt his men and await reinforcements, but the men rushed on. Col. G. B. Caldwell, who was adju- tant of the Twelfth till the winter of 1864-5, in his eulo- gium upon Col. Curtis at the reunion of the Society of the Army of West Virginia in 1891, says in regard to the order to Col. Curtis to halt his brigade: "But American soldiers are men of intelligence. With one mind they thought they were more certain to be shot down if they turned their backs than if they went on. They rushed forward." So far as this statement implies that the men heard that order, it appears to be a mistake. It is believed that few if any of the rank and file heard the order. It would have taken a dozen or more men of the greyhound type to have carried that order to the men after they got on the go for that fort.
(577) When within 50 yards of the fort Sergt. Eman- uel M. Adams of Company D, color-bearer, fell wounded. The colors were picked up and bravely carried forward by ยท Private Joseph R. Logsden of Company C, as the brigade charged on over the dead and wounded of the First Divi- sion. After our men had got into the ditch surrounding the fort, they remained there perhaps twenty minutes be- fore they made an entrance. In the meantime the Rebels were throwing dirt, stones and various kinds of missiles upon them. At length as a movement toward entering the fort, the gallant Logsden undertook to plant the flag of the Twelfth upon the parapet, and was killed, falling back into the ditch. The colors were then seized by Lieut. Joseph Caldwell of Company A, who leaped upon the parapet, and in attempting to plant the colors there
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was killed, falling also into the ditch. The flag fell inside of the fort. Then the brave boys of the Twelfth rushed to the parapet to recover their flag. They were joined by comrades of the rest of the brigade. Pouring a volley into the Rebels, the boys of the Twelfth leaped into the fort and planted their flag on the parapet-the first colors on the Rebel works. The fort and its brave defenders were soon ours, all the troops present joining in their capture. But the reduction of the fort was at fearful cost to the Union troops, the loss being in killed and wounded 715, as will be seen in Col. Caldwell's address at Hunt- ington, herein given.
(578) After events seem to show conclusively that this great sacrifice was unnecessary, for the fort would have been evacuated the following night without it. But it was here that the Twelfth won its eagle, and Col. Cur- tis his star, and Capt. Bristor won promotion for his gallant conduct. It was here, too, that Lieut. J. M. Cur- tis won a medal of honor, and Andrew O. Apple of Com- pany I and Joseph McCauslin of Company D also won their medals of honor. And to add to the grace and beauty of the distinction, those medals were pinned upon the lapels of the boys' coats by the fair hands of the daughter of Gen. John Gibbon, our corps commander. There are very respectable members of Private George H. Bird's Company (I), it should be added, who believed that he should have had a medal of honor, as he was among the first few who climbed upon the parapet of the fort.
(579) The next morning, the 3rd, after the capture of Fort Gregg, it was found that the enemy had evacuated Richmond and Petersburg, and nearly all the troops be- fore these cities, including our division, started imme- diately in pursuit. And not to prolong the history too much, it will simply be said that we followed the Rebels for several days, there being more or less fighting and captures of prisoners by some part of Grant's forces every day. However, a material matter somewhat closely con-
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nected with the history of the Twelfth regarding this par- ticular time, should not be omitted. On the 6th, the Fifty- fourth Pennsylvania and another regiment of infantry, with a squadron of cavalry were sent out in the direction of Farmville under command of Brig. Gen. Theodore Read to burn a bridge near there in advance of the re- treating Rebels. But they were surrounded by a large force of the enemy, many killed and wounded, including Gen. Read killed, and the rest all captured. The Eighth, two divisions of our corps, the First Division and the Independent, marched all day and until 11 o'clock at night, making in that time, it was said at the time, a distance of 35 miles. We did not then precisely know the object of this forced march. We did not know but that we were following the Rebels, but we found afterward that we were being pushed to cut off their retreat.
(580) An incident concerning a private of Company I, Alexander B. Allison, is perhaps well worth telling here. The boys of the Twelfth, like those of other regiments perhaps, were much given to discussing the probable out- come of any military undertaking. On this forced march the boys struck up a discussion as to the probability of overtaking Lee's army, the likelihood of a battle, and the probable result of it. Finally some of the boys said that they had seen enough of the Johnnys and that they wished that they, the Johnnys, would go on until they should run into the Gulf of Mexico. Fighting the Johnnys was no longer a picnic. The time had passed when the boys were "spoiling for a fight." and as the average man is generally willing to postpone a possibly fatal ordeal, so the most of the boys were doubtless willing to delay an engagement with the enemy. Private Allison, however, then about 19 years of age, spoke up showing the grit to perform a dis- agreeable duty immediately, saying : "Boys, if I have to fight the Rebels at all I am willing to do it right now. I do not desire to follow them for a week or two, and then have to fight them at last."
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(581) We camped this night in a piece of woods to the side of the road not far, as we learned afterward, from the Southside railroad. It happened that the cavalry a short time before had captured a train of cars containing subsistence for Lee's army, and the train was lying not far from our camp. One of the boys of Company I some- how found out that the train was there, and he got by some sort of management a large piece of bacon, as much as he could well carry, and brought it to camp, dividing it among a number of the company. This was a welcome supplement to the rations.
(582) Before daylight on the morning of the ever memorable 9th of April, a day that will stand out as con- spicuously in our history as that of the surrender at York- town, if not more so, we started to cut off and surround the Rebels in their retreat, to engage and vanquish them in their Last Ditch, and give a finishing stroke to the Lost Cause ; and thus to give to the loyal people of the Nation the fruition of their indominatable struggles, through hope through darkness and doubt, for four long and bloody years ; to illuminate the land with joy, and to fill it with a great gladness such as it had not known for generations.
(583) We marched not very far when we were started on the double-quick along the road, just as day was break- ing. We had marched thus rapidly only for a few min- utes, when some cavalry were observed coming out of woods on our right at a rather rapid rate, though in good order. It appeared that the Rebels had been driving them, and that they were withdrawing to uncover the in- fantry. Just as a squadron emerged from the woods op- . posite our regiment, one of the cavalrymen exclaimed : "Here come the Doe boys!" and then he gave us the fur- ther encouragement of assuring us that the Johnnys had up the black flag.
(584) Every soldier who served any considerable time in the late war will bear out the assertion that in no kind of civil life during the same length of time could a man
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hear a tithe of the rumors, startling in purport, that he could hear during the war. So the boys had heard too many rumors to be frightened by this story of the black flag. In a few minutes our regiment was halted, the ranks closed up and formed into line upon the road. This road, it is believed, led north, so as to intersect the road the Rebels were on, a short distance west of Appomattox Court-house. Our part of the line did not extend as far as the intersection of the roads, but doubtless the two divi- sions extended beyond it, so as to completely cut off the retreat of the enemy. We moved in line toward the enemy and at nearly right angle to the road, through some woods in such a menner as to place our regiment in the west line of the closing in lines. Our two divisions from the Army of the James and Sheridan's cavalry were now barring the Rebel retreat. We advanced rather cautiously, mov- ing up a little then, then halting, perhaps waiting on the disposition of other troops. It was not long till shells be- gan to crash through the tree tops above us, from the ene- my's batteries. They did no harm to us, however.
(585) We now halted and remained in line for per- haps two hours, expecting to have a battle that day. The boys of the Twelfth seemed confident. There was no dis- position shown by any to flinch. They no doubt were cheered by the thought that for once, since joining Grant's army, they were about to get a whack at the Rebs without having to fight them behind breast works; when about 9 o'clock a. m., the order came very unexpectedly and to our great gratification and relief, to cease firing until further orders. We did not then know that a flag of truce had been sent by Gen. Lee : but the boys generally seemed, in the phrase of the present time, to "catch on" to the fact that this probably meant the surrender of Lee's army, the main-stay of the Rebellion; and their countenances ac- cordingly lighted up with the thought of the pleasing pros- pect of this glorious consummation, which all felt was devoutly to be wished for, and which had been hoped,
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prayed and fought for through four long years of blood and tears, and tears and blood.
(586) Soldiers hardly ever have knowledge before hand of any great military movement in which they are to engage. Sometimes they are precipitated into a haz- ardous undertaking without a minute's notice. They are even sometimes engaged in important movements with- out knowing definitely what they are doing. A soldier, who was in Mcclellan's army in its retreat from the Chickahominy to the James, once related that he thought that all the time they were fighting and marching they were going toward Richmond instead of retreating. But, as to the matter of the early knowledge of what was about to be done, for once, that 9th of April, the soldiers got ahead of the Commander of the United States Army, for they had at about 9 o'clock a. m. that eventful day a pretty strong intimation of what was about to take place; while Lee's dispatch to Grant agreeing to surrender on Grant's terms did not reach him until half past eleven o'clock a. m., the latter being considerably in the rear of his forces, passing from the right to the left to communicate with Sheridan. He could not be found till then, and conse- quently did not know sooner of Lee's acceptance of his terms.
(587) Perhaps it was shortly after 12 m. that our line moved up toward the Rebel camp into open ground, and soon their camp some half mile distant appeared in view. Not long after this a great volume of cheers, was heard rolling round the lines from right to left. This we soon learned was caused by the announcement of the surrender. The cheering was not precisely continuous, but was rathr somewhat intermittent. It would break out in great roars, then subside, then in a few minutes break out again, all the time coming nearer as the news was carried from or- ganization to organization. Pretty soon our commander, Col. Curtis, rode in front of the regiment and repeated the gladsome news of the surrender, saying that the war
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was virtually over : that we would soon be mustered out, and sent home: that we would get home in time for har- vest. The boys, inspired by the thought of final victory, that the "cruel war" was over, and especially by the thought of home, gave three such rousing heart-felt cheers as doubtless never escaped their lips before.
(588) Such vigorous, frantic and deep-down-from- the-heart cheering was perhaps never before heard on this continent as was heard that day; and the boys need not ever expect to hear the like again. Men acted with the delirium of joy, climbing trees, throwing their hats in the air, jumping on them and doing all sorts of frantic things. They forgot all about the long and weary marches they had made : their suffering from sickness, hunger and cold ; the dangers, battles and scenes of carnage they had passed through. All thoughts of these things were swept away by the great flood of joy that overwhelmed them, because of the glorious victory of the hosts of Union and Liberty over the hosts of Treason.
(589) And now a remarkable feature of this almost closing scene in the great drama of the Civil War should not fail of receiving notice, especially as it has not hitherto been alluded to, so far as has been observed, in any other published account of the surrender. About a half hour after the cheering had ceased on the part of the Union . soldiers, there was almost as vigorous cheering in the Rebel camp. This conduct of the enemy had something of the appearance of rejoicing over their own defeat. However, though no explanation is remembered as ever having been given for this demonstration, the reasonable inference is that they were cheering because they had heard the news that they were to be paroled upon the field and sent home, instead of being sent to prison. Like the Union soldiers they were delighted with the prospect that they should soon "breathe the air again of our (their) own beloved home." Be this as it may, this cheering of Lee's defeated veterans was a most extraordinary occur-
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rence. And it is doubtful if a parallel to it can be found anywhere in all previous history. This was a scene the like of which could occur nowhere else, perhaps, on the earth at this time than in this free, enlightened and humane land of ours.
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