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THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER
MULHOLLAND

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The American Volunteer
THE MOST HEROIC SOLDIER THE
WORLD HAS EVER
KNOWN
Letters Written to the "Public Ledger" by
ST. CLAIR A. MULHOLLAND
Formerly Colonel 116th Pa. Infantry
Brevet Major-General U. S. V.
PHILADELPHIA
TOWN PRINTING COMPANY
1909
10-$
I
PREFACE.
The most astonishing thing connected with the history of
the War of 1861 to 1865 was the heroism displayed by the Amer-
ican Volunteer. We have reason to expect deeds of valor
from the standing armies of the world, from men whose sole
duty is to drill and spend their whole lives in preparation to
fight; men trained to arms and supposed to be ever ready to
die in defense of their country, but the records of all the bravery
and self sacrifice of all nations of the earth pale and become
as nothing when compared with the heroism of the volunteer
armies of 1861 to 1865. Not in the history of the world is there
a record of any regiment or battery losing 50 per cent. in killed
and wounded in a single battle until our War of the Rebellion,
and we must remember this fact when recalling the gallantry
of our own people. The armies of England did great deeds
during the centuries past; the veterans of Napoleon left the
memory of their splendid fighting on many gory fields, but the
volunteers of America, both in individual heroism and the
gallantry displayed by them as an organization, have excelled
every army that ever marched on earth. The farmer who, in
1861, left his plow in the furrow; the merchant who closed his
store; the clerk who threw down the pen; the workman who
left the mill, and the schoolboy his books, forming regiments
and batteries to go to the front, proved better, nobler and more
heroic soldiers than any others known in history.
357390
PREFACE.
I have said that no command of any nation in any war ever
lost 50 per cent. killed and wounded in a single engagement
except our own army, and there we find dozens of regiments
that suffered that loss and more.
The writer has contributed since the close of the Civil War
to "The Philadelphia Public Ledger" several articles treating
on the subject.
The articles in question were much sought after, and, as
copies of the paper cannot now be obtained, I have had them
printed in pamphlet form, together with a brief statement of
the battles in which the commands spoken of were engaged;
and this is the apology for printing this little book and I offer
it as a tribute to my comrades. "The American Volunteer,”
the most heroic soldiers the world has ever known.
In preparing these articles for the paper I regret that I found
it impossible to procure data of a similar character in regard
to the heroism of the Southern soldiers as well, for they were
just as brave and just as heroic as their brothers of the North.
Were they not so the losses of the Nothern army would not
have been so terrible; and now, as Americans, while we can-
not endorse their cause, we must admire their soldierly quali-
ties and their heroism. In the words of Mr. McKinley, "The
bitterness of the war belongs to the past. Its glories are the
common heritage of us all. What was won in the great con-
flict belongs just as sacredly to those who lost as to those who
triumphed.
ST. CLAIR A. MULHOLLAND.
PHILADELPHIA, January 29, 1909
HEROISM
OF THE
AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
EXTRACTS FROM PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC LEDGER
FREDERICKSBURG.
General George B. McClellan fought and won the battle of
Antietam September 16 and 17, 1862. Then, resting with the
army at Harper's Ferry until October 26th, on the evening of
that day broke camp and moving down the Lowden Valley,
marched to assume the offensive. On the evening of November
7th he had concentrated the army of the Potomac at Warren-
ton. Arriving at that point, he was relieved of the command
of the army by order of the President, and General Ambrose
Burnside took his place.
Burnside at once resumed the march towards the south, the
objective point the Confederate capital, Richmond. On the
evening of November 17th the head of the column arrived on
the banks of the Rappahannock River at the old town of Fal-
mouth, nearly opposite the ancient city of Fredericksburg.
The town was occupied at that time by Colonel Ball, with the
15th Virginia Cavalry, four companies of Mississippi infantry
and Lewis's Battery. Pettit's Battery of our army was rushed
to the front by General Sumner, and exchanged a few shots
with the Confederates on the opposite bank, but, as we had no
pontoons with the army (by some blundering they had not
arrived), it was impossible for our forces to cross, and so our
army went into camp.
The days and weeks slipped by, giving the army of Northern
Virginia, under command of General Robert E. Lee, ample
6
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
time to concentrate in our front and fortify the long range of
hills in the rear of the town. In the early days of December,
General Burnside resolved to cross and give battle. His first
idea was a flank movement by way of Skenker's Neck, twelve
miles below the city, but was abandoned almost as soon as
thought of. Then Burnside resolved to throw pontoons across
the river opposite the city, and cross and give battle there,
and so, on the evening of the 11th of December, 1862, pon-
tooniers commenced building the bridges, which were completed
by noon of the 12th with great difficulty. Then the Army of
the Potomac, more than one hundred thousand men, crossed
and found themselves on historic ground.
It was near the Falls of the Rappahannock, now within the
limits of the City of Fredericksburg, that Capt. John Smith
anchored his little vessel and fought the Indians in 1608.
Near Fredericksburg was opened the first iron mine ever
worked in America, from the products of which were made the
cannon balls and cannon that served the Sons of the Revolu-
tion in their battles for freedom.
Near this city, also, Virginia's famous Governor, Spotswood,
whose name is still green in the annals of America, had his
home. Near Fredericksburg, also, George Washington was
born, and in that city spent his boyhood days with his mother,
growing into the man who was to make the greatest civil and
military record in history.
From that historic town he went to join the army under Brad-
dock, and began the career that made him the foremost Amer-
ican of all times. It was in that city that his mother was vis-
ited by Lafayette and other famous patriots and statesmen;
and it was there, too, this noble woman died and was buried.
That venerable city appears, therefore, to be closely connected
with the revolutionary and pre-revolutionary history of this
country.
Fredericksburg is the most historic spot of the most historic
State of the Union. Almost within sight of its towers were
born some of the foremost and greatest men of the country.
Washington, Monroe, Jefferson, Madison and Lee were all from
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
7
the section of the country in which that city and the battlefields
named are situated. In Virginia the war of secession began
and ended.
The battle of Fredericksburg began on the morning of De-
cember 13th by the advance of the Pennsylvania Reserves,
under command of General George Gordon Meade, the in-
tention to attack and turn the right flank of the Confederate
army, that rested on the heights near Captain Hamilton's.
No sooner had Meade's Division become engaged than our
whole left wing, under command of General William B. Frank-
lin, became involved and the battle raged. While the severe
fighting was taking place on the extreme left of our line, French
and Hancock's Divisions of the 2nd Corps were ordered to
storm Marye's Heights in the rear of the town. Marching out
Hanover street, under a heavy fire of solid shot and shell, they
gained the fields, deployed and moved forward in line. By
the time they reached the base of Marye's Heights, forty per
cent. of the force had been killed or wounded-no hope or
chance of breaking through the Confederate centre, or carrying
their strong line of works, and what was left of those commands
began falling back.
On the left the battle had gone against our forces, and that
portion of our line was also driven back, and the battle of Fred-
ericksburg was practically ended.
At sundown Burnside resolved to make another attempt to
carry Marye's Heights, and ordered out Hooker with his gal
lant command. At sundown Hooker's men debouched from
the town, deployed in the fields, and passing over the ground
strewn with the dead of French and Hancock's divisions, the
dark mass hurled themselves against the Confederate position
but were driven back with great slaughter. On the evening
of the 14th, all the troops were withdrawn to the northern bank
of the river, and the autumn campaign closed.
CHANCELLORSVILLE.
Shortly after the battle of Fredericksburg General Burnside
was relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac,
8
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
and was succeeded by General Joseph Hooker. General Hooker
after reorganizing the army, prepared to assume the offensive.
Instead of repeating the blunder of General Burnside in cross-
ing to attack in the enemy's front, Hooker resolved on a flank
movement, and, marching the army up the banks of the river
crossed at Kelly's and United States Fords, and began march-
ing down the south bank of the river to get in rear of the Con-
federate position at Fredericksburg. The movement began
on April 27, 1863, and by the evening of the 30th nearly all the
army was across the river and marching down towards Freder-
icksburg. General Ropert E. Lee, who commanded the Con-
federate army of Northern Virginia, having discovered Hooker
on his flank, promptly moved out of his works in rear of Fred-
ericksburg and marched to meet him, leaving a small force,
however, to hold the line of works at Fredericksburg. The
two armies met at a place called Chancellorsville, about nine
miles from Fredericksburg, and the battle commenced May 2,
raged on the 2d, 3d and 4th, when our army was once more
defeated, and during the night of the 5th, fell back and recrossed
the river.
The Battle of SALEM CHURCH, or SALEM HEIGHTS, as it
is sometimes called.
When General Hooker moved with the army to fight the
battle of Chancellorsville, he left behind General Sedgwick
with our Sixth corps with orders to cross at Fredericksburg as
soon as Lee vacated the position, carry the heights, and get
in the rear of the Confederate army as they marched to meet
our forces. Sedgwick threw pontoons across, occupied the
city of Fredericksburg, and, after a very sharp fight (and this
is generally known as the second battle of Fredericksburg)
with the force that Lee had left behind he succeeded in carry-
ing the heights, and then began his march to get in Lee's rear
at Chancellorsville. Lee, discovering the movement, promptly
detached one of his corps to meet Sedgwick. These forces met
at Salem Church, or Salem Heights, between Fredericksburg
and Chancellorsville, and a very severe engagement took place,
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
9
but without practical results, Sedgwick being without help,
was compelled also to recross the river. The two armies,
shortly after these battles marched and fought the battle of
Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. After Gettysburg both armies
once more returned to Virginia, and through the succeeding
autumn and winter marched and counter-marched, fighting
at Rappahannock Station, at the different gaps of the Blue
Ridge, Mine Run and Bristow Station, Auburn, Catlett's Sta-
tion, Bealeton Station and other points.
In the early spring of 1864, General Grant being in command
of all the armies, with his headquarters with the Army of the
Potomac, and General George Gordon Meade being in immediate
command of the Army of the Potomac, the campaign of the
Wilderness and succeeding battles was inaugurated.
THE WILDERNESS.
The
On the evening of May 3, 1864, the Army of the Potomac
quietly withdrew from the camp, crossed the Rapidan by the
different fords, and struck the enemy along the Brock Road
within a few miles of the battlefield of Chancellorsville.
battle opened at noon of May 5th, raged the entire day and
long into the night, was promptly renewed at daybreak on the
morning of the 6th, continuing all day. On the evening of that
day General Grant resolved to move the army by the left flank,
and try to pierce the enemy's lines at another point, striking
him first at Todd's Tavern on the 7th and 8th; still moving by
the flank, attacking at Laurel Hill and Alsop's Farm on the
9th, and on this day General Grant sent to the President the
famous message that he would "fight it out on this line if it
took all summer." On the 10th was fought the battle of Po
River; on the 12th was fought the deadly battle of Spottsyl-
vania, where Hancock captured the Confederate General,
Stewart, and four thousand prisoners. On the 13th the battle
continued nearly all day, the firing close and deadly. The
three days following were marked by heavy picket firing and
severe losses on both sides-almost one continuous battle. On
the 18th occurred the battle of Spottsylvania Court House
10
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
about two or three miles to the left of where the battle of Spott-
sylvania proper was fought. On the evening of the 19th Ewell's
Corps of the Confederate Army made a fierce attack on our
Second Corps on the old Fredericksburg Road, but was beaten
off. On the 21st a portion of our army fought at Milford Sta-
tion. On the 24th and 25th was fought the battle of the North
Anna. On the 27th fought at the Pamunkey River. On the
28th, Sheridan's Cavalry fought the battle of Haw's Shop, a
very severe engagement. On May 30th and 31st was fought
the battle of Tolopotomy Creek. June 3rd the bloody battle
of Cold Harbor, ending the first month's campaign of 1864,
with continuous fighting almost day and night. Grant, finding
it impossible to crush the enemy in his front and so capture the
Confederate capital by direct attack, abandoned the effort at
Cold Harbor in front of Richmond, marched across country,
crossing the James River and laying siege to the city of Peters-
burg, about twenty miles to the south of Richmond, the fight-
ing commencing there June 15th and continuing night and day
without intermission until the 9th of April following, 1865,
when victory crowned our efforts, and the Union was saved.
THE BLOODIEST SPOT ON EARTH.
FREDERICKSBURG, CHANCELLORSVILLE, SALEM CHURCH, THE
WILDERNESS, SPOTTSYLVANIA, SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT
HOUSE, TODD'S TAVERN, PO RIVER, BANK'S FORD.
Fifty miles south of the capital of our country there is an
old Virginia city, quiet, quaint and beautiful-Fredericksburg
on the Rappahannock. There is a peculiar charm about the
ancient town, and it is replete with historic interest. Mary,
the venerable mother of Washington, lived and died at Freder-
icksburg, and there the Father of his Country would often
come to visit her. It was before the days of steam and train,
and at least a day and a half from Mt. Vernon by coach and
four was necessary when Washington made a call of affection
on the old lady. It is not at all likely that Mary Washington
ever saw her son after he became President, as she died in Octo-
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
11
ber, 1789, Washington having been inaugurated in New York
on April 30 of the same year, the distance separating son and
mother being very great in those days of stage coaches. She
had, however, the satisfaction of knowing of the final success
of the Revolution and of the great honors paid to her distin-
guished son.
The old homestead of Mary Washington is still standing,
and just in the rear, with only the garden separating, is "Kin-
more," the house of her son-in-law, Colonel Fielding Lewis,
another old-time colonial mansion, and very interesting it is.
The Hessians, after the surrender of Cornwallis, were camped
for some time on the plantation, and there were artists among
them who decorated the interior of "Kinmore" with plastic
ornaments of much merit. Colonel Lewis was married to Betty,
the sister of Washington, and the mother loved to stroll through
the flowers of the back garden and over to "Kinmore" to spend
the evening and take tea with Betty Lewis.
Mary Washington was buried in the field just outside of
the town. Her monument stood in full view of the Union and
Confederate lines during the battle, and was smashed and
shattered by the shells of both armies, the fragments still lying
scattered on the ground. After the war the ladies of the south
raised a more costly and stately memorial by the grave, and
because of their love for the memory of the mother of Wash-
ington, we say: "God bless the ladies of the South!"
About twelve miles south from Fredericksburg is Spottsyl-
vania Court House, and about the same distance west, perhaps
a little more, is the Wilderness Tavern. Draw a line from
each of these points to the others-from Fredericksburg to
Spottsylvania, thence to the Wilderness Tavern, and back to
Fredericksburg-and you have a triangle in which were fought
several of the greatest battles of the War of the Rebellion.
Or, perhaps better still, draw a circle-say, twelve miles, or a
little more, in diameter-with Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania
and the Wilderness Tavern on the outer edge, and inside that
circle were fought the battles of the first and second Fredericks-
burg, Chancellorsville, Salem Heights, the Wilderness, Po
12
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
River, Todd's Tavern, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, Spottsylva-
nia Court House, Mine Run and several minor fights and en-
gagements.
Within the circle more men have, perhaps, been killed and
wounded than on any ground of equal area on earth. Forty
years have made but little change in the appearance of the
country. Signs of war are still strongly in evidence, the whole
land torn, seamed and crossed in all directions by earthworks
and revetements. Here and there are a few scattered farms,
where the plowshare oftentimes turns up human bones, and
where little children run out to the roadside to offer to the pass-
ing stranger relics of war, rusted bayonets, burst shells and mould-
ering rifles, on which years of exposure have left their marks.
The Wilderness is as of yore, and but little changed. Woods
solemn and lonely; primeval forests, where the wild turkey
finds a home, where the piping quail greets the morning and
the whooping owl and melancholy whip-poor-will make evening
sad; their song, harmonizing with the wind sobbing through
the templed trees, sounds an eternal requiem over ground
forever consecrated by martyr blood. Intervals there are
where the undergrowth is rich and luxuriant, but dead trunks
of massive trees, charred and blackened by fire, mark spots
where flames swept over the fighting line, burning up alike
the dead and the wounded.
The same remarkable and appalling percentage of killed
and wounded in individual commands in single engagements
that has made the world's record for heroism was repeated
time and again on every battlefield within the circle of fire and
blood. Let us recall some of the organizations that lost 50
per cent., or more, on this ground, keeping in mind that there
is no record of any European regiment that ever lost so great
a percentage in battle.
THE FIRST FREDERICKSBURG, DECEMBER 13, 1862,
was redolent with heroic deeds. The fact that the battle
was a mistake and a blunder, and the sacrifice useless, detracts
not from the honor that is rendered to brave men; but
when we recognize the fact that the troops marched to death,
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
13
knowing how hopeless the struggle, we must acknowledge the
fact but adds to their glory.
The Twentieth Massachusetts was a great regiment, and
lost at Fredericksburg 68.4 per cent. killed and wounded. It
was in Norman Hall's Brigade of the Second Corps. The fire
of Barksdale's Brigade of Mississippians was so deadly that it
was found impossible to construct the pontoon bridge opposite
the city, and the engineers were forced to give up the job. The
fire of one hundred and fifty guns was concentrated on the
river front, but even that failed to drive back the Confederate
riflemen. Their fire was still sufficiently effective to prevent
the completion of the bridge. It was then that the brigade
of Norman Hall took up the work. The Seventh Michigan
and Nineteenth Maine, manning the boats, rowed across under
the terrific fire, and leaped ashore to attack the enemy. The
Twentieth Massachusetts was one of the first regiments to cross,
and to it was assigned the task of clearing the streets of the
town. In column of companies, led by Captain George N.
Macy, the command forced its way literally inch by inch, met
by a severe and deadly musketry fire from housetops and win-
dows, but finally succeeded in reaching the main street, the
Confederates giving up the struggle and retiring to the heights
beyond the city. It was a gallant fight and cost the Twentieth
just 68.4 per cent. in killed and wounded and not one missing.
The command had fought on the Peninsula, at Antietam, and
on every battlefield from the very beginning, and after Freder-
icksburg there was but little left of it. Four months afterwards
it fought at Chancellorsville, and seven months afterwards
went into action at Gettysburg with 230 officers and men and
lost 124 of them killed and wounded. The regiment had a
remarkable fatality in field and staff officers-the noble Colonel
Paul Revere killed at Gettysburg; Lieutenant Colonel Ferdi-
nand Dreher killed at Fredericksburg; Major Henry L. Abbott
killed at the Wilderness; Major Henry L. Patton killed at Deep
Bottom; Surgeon Edward H. Revere killed at Antietam; and
Adjutant Henry M. Bond killed in the Wilderness. This regi-
ment had, all told, eighteen commissioned officers killed in
14
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
battle. Captain George N. Macy was the senior captain-but
a very young man--and, as acting major, commanded the
regiment in the battle. When General Howard asked Colonel
Hall who was to command the leading regiment and he pointed
to Macy, Howard exclaimed, "What, that boy!" Colonel
Hall replied, "Yes, that boy is all right and will lead it, and
the regiment will follow anywhere you wish." The "boy"
afterwards lost an arm at Gettysburg, and at the close of the
war was a Brigadier-General and Brevet Major-General.
Meade's advance on the left, where, with the Pennsylvania
Reserves, he struck the right of the Confederate line at Hamil-
ton Heights, was a wonderful and brilliant charge. Looking
over the plain where the charge was made, and remembering
that it was swept by the enemy's artillery, one is astonished
to think that the Reserves ever reached the Confederate line,
but they did, and drove it in and back through the timber,
and, in a hand-to-hand fight, Sergeant Charles C. Upjohn, of
the Second Reserves, tore from the hands of the color-bearer
the flag of the Nineteenth Georgia Regiment, the only flag
captured in the battle. Had Meade been left to his fate and
not promptly supported, the Pennsylvania Reserve division
that he so nobly led would have been annihiliated; but General
B. Franklin, seeing the trouble, promptly put in nearly the
whole of the Left Grand Division, and the Reserves were saved
but not until after having met with appalling loss. Gibbon's
Division of the First Corps went into action on the right of the
Reserves, and two regiments of that command were distin-
guished, not only because of the great loss, but of the splendid
fight they made, the Sixteenth Maine losing 54 per cent. killed
and wounded, and the Twenty-sixth New York 56 per cent.
The Sixteenth Maine was not exactly a new regiment, but
had never been under fire until the morning of Fredericksburg.
On that day it proved itself one of the finest regiments that
ever left the Pine Tree State, and Colonel Charles W. Tilden
made a name for himself in the half hour that the command
was under fire. Seeing that he was losing many of his men
while holding a position to which he had been assigned, he led
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
15
a remarkably successful charge on the works in his front, cap-
turing several hundred prisoners, and in the hand-to-hand
fight the bayonet was not only used freely, but relied upon al-
most entirely. The regiment advanced unsupported and alone,
and, after taking the line of works, pushed into the woods and
struck an overwhelming force of the enemy. Colonel Tilden
was compelled to order a retreat, but not until he had left just
54 per cent. of his command dead and wounded on the ground.
The first one struck was the youngest soldier in the regiment.
As the line was moving forward, Benny Worth, a boy of 15,
was struck in the head by a piece of shell. For a moment he
was stunned and dazed, but, quickly recovering himself and
pushing the blood back out of his eyes, he laughed and said,
"All right, this is what I came for." He was ordered to go to
the rear;
but no-he quietly picked up his musket and went on,
never giving up until the last shot was fired. Charley and
Monroe Lyford were marching side by side, they were brothers,
and Charley was one of the brightest and handsomest boys in
the regiment. He fell dead, and Monroe, as he saw him fall,
became frenzied with anger, and, leaping over the works with
the fury of a madman and with lightning speed, began bayonet-
ing right and left, screaming, "You have killed my brother;
curse you!"
The horrors of the battle are never so great as to prevent a
smile, and a veritable laugh passed through the ranks when a
piece of shell struck one of the boy's knapsacks, tore it open
and lifted a pack of cards high in the air, intact, when they
suddenly spread out and came down like a shower of autumn
leaves.
The Twenty-sixth New York was in the brigade, commanded
by Colonel Peter Lyle. The regiment went into action com-
manded by Colonel Gilbert S. Jennings. He fell wounded
early in the day, and Major Ezra T. Wetmore commanded.
The regiment fought side by side with the Nineteenth Penn-
sylvania Infantry, from this city, and the two commands were
placed in position by Colonel Peter Lyle. I regret that I can-
not give particulars of the fight of the Twenty-sixth. No
16
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
history of the regiment has been published and no data obtain-
able, but the fact of losing 56 per cent. killed and wounded in
one morning's fight is sufficient to embalm the organization
in glory.
The charge of Hancock's Division on Marye's Heights, in
the rear of the town, was truly a superb exhibition of American
heroism. Going into an utterly hopeless struggle, simply to
death and slaughter, in silence and without enthusiasm, was a
supreme act of self-sacrifice at the call of duty and obedience.
It was a tragic blunder, but a splendid effort. "C'est mag-
nifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." Marching on the deserted
streets that were raked by fire, the only living thing in sight
a solitary pussy cat sitting on a gatepost, mewing dolefully;
passing out of the town, debauching into the fields and forming
a line as perfect as on dress parade; then the advance of 1700
yards under a blizzard of shell and musketry, men falling at
every step, singly and in groups, without any chance to strike
back or even return the fire, only to march forward to be crushed
and hurled back in defeat. It took great courage to advance
under the circumstances, yet the division line did go forward
without a break, the colors flying, and the gaps knocked in the
ranks closing up as quickly as the rain of iron made them. And
then the few minutes' firing at the base of Marye's Heights
while the sheet of fire leaped from stone wall by the sunken
road, the order to fall back, and all was over.
Of the gallant division that Hancock led forward exactly
40.2 per cent. were dead and wounded on the frozen ground.
The First Brigade, General Caldwell, had lost 50 per cent.
killed and wounded, and six of the seventeen regiments that
composed the division had each lost 50 per cent. or over. None
were missing, and no prisoners were left in the hands of the
enemy. The heaviest loss in killed and wounded was in the
Eighty-first Pennsylvania Infantry, 67.4 per cent. The next
was in the Fifth New Hampshire, 60 per cent. Then
the Sixty-ninth New York, with 53 per cent.; then the Fifty-
third Pennsylvania, Seventh New York and Eighty-eighth
New York, each with 50 per cent. killed and wounded. The
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
17
Fifty-third Pennsylvania Regiment was commanded by Colonel
John R. Brooke, now a Major-General of the regular army.
Hancock said of him: "Being unhurt, he was enabled to per-
form the highest service to his country, and added to the laurels
he and his gallant regiment had already won on many fields.'
The Eighty-first Pennsylvania was commanded in the battle
by Colonel H. Boyd McKeen, a noble young officer, who was
wounded at Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
and killed at Cold Harbor.
The Fifth New Hampshire was led into the fight by Colonel
Edward E. Cross, who, six months afterwards, was killed at
Gettysburg. He fell early in the action with five wounds.
Major Edward E. Sturtevant then took command, and was
almost instantly killed. Captains Perry, Murray and Moore
and Lieutenants Ballon, Nettleton and Little fell dead in quick
succession. The color sergeant and all the color guards went
down almost in a heap. Nineteen officers went in with the
regiment, and seventeen of them were killed or wounded.
The Irish and the Germans fought nobly side by side for the
land of their adoption, and both nationalities were distinguished.
The Sixty-ninth New York (Irish) was commanded by Colonel
Robert Nugent, who fell badly wounded. Nineteen commis-
sioned officers went into the fight with him, and sixteen of them
were killed and wounded.
The Seventh New York (German) was commanded by Colo-
nel George von Schack, and went in with twenty-five officers,
of whom eighteen were killed and wounded. Colonel von
Schack was a handsome and accomplished officer. He was a
captain of cavalry in the army of Prussia. Securing three
years' leave of absence, he came out here and commanded the
New York regiment. He was as brave as he was handsome.
After the close of the war he resigned his commission in the
service of the King of Prussia, and settled in New York. Be-
lieving that to be an Amefican citizen was better than to be a
German officer, he took out his papers and became a full-
fledged American, showing that he was as sensible as he was
gallant and brave.
18
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
It is difficult to say just what regiment went furthest, or
what colors were carried nearest to the celebrated stone wall,
and it is of little moment, as they all were close, and it is a
question of a few yards, but there seems to be but little doubt
of the fact that the bodies found nearest to the mouth of the
Confederate guns were those of Major Horgan and Adjutant
Young, of the Eighty-eighth New York.
.
The casualties among the officers were unusually great. The
field officers were ordered to dismount and go in on foot, and
regimental commanders walked in front of the colors. This
would account in a manner for the severe loss, as the colors
were conspicuous marks for the enemy. Many of the regiments
had three or four commanders during the day. The Fifth
New Hampshire had five commanders, the first four being
killed or wounded. The Sixty-ninth New York was brought
off the field by the fourth commander, the first three being
killed or wounded. Colonel Nelson A. Miles commanded his
own regiment, Sixty-first New York, and also the Sixty-fourth
of that State. The third commander brought the two regi-
ments from the field. Hancock says of Miles:
"He was
severely wounded, and conducted himself in the most admirable
and chivalrous manner, and his command behaved with a stead-
iness unsurpassed by any other troops." While Miles was
badly wounded, he recovered quickly enough to be present at
Chancellorsville, less than five months afterwards, to be ter-
ribly wounded once again, distinguish himself still more and
gain a Congress Medal of Honor. The Chancellorsville wound
was pronounced by the surgeons mortal, the ball passing
through the bowels and fracturing the pelvic bone. The doc-
tors said that he had no right to live, and declared that he could
not, and for the honor of the faculty he should certainly have
died, but he still lives. Miles is a hard man to kill, anyhow.
The One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania had two
commanding officers, Colonel H. L. Brown, of Erie, being
wounded. The One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania
was brought from the field by the fourth commander, the
three field officers being wounded. The Second Delaware had
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
19
three commanding officers, the first two being wounded. The
Eighty-first Pennsylvania had four commanding officers, the
first three being shot down. The Fifty-seventh New York
had three commanders. The Sixty-third New York had three
commanders. The Sixty-sixth New York had four. During
the battle Colonel James J. Bull and Captain Julius Wehle
were killed, and another officer wounded, while in command.
The color sergeants and color guards of the different commands
suffered equally with the officers, many being killed under the
flags, but never did the colors fall, but gallant souls rushed
forward to raise them. Not a color was lost. The color ser-
geant and all the color guard of the Sixty-ninth New York were
shot down close to the enemy's guns, and when the regiment
fell back the colors were missing. Two days after, when the
detail went back to bury the dead, the color staff was found;
near it lay the color sergeant, cold in death. When they were
about to lay the body in the shallow grave the flag was found
tucked into his blouse. In his dying agony he had stripped
it from the staff and placed it near his heart.
CHANCELLORSVILLE.
While the fighting at Chancellorsville, May 2d and 3d, was
severe and the losses in both armies very great, yet there was
but one regiment on record that lost in that battle 50 per cent.
in killed and wounded. It was the One Hundred and Forty-
first Pennsylvania Infantry, recruited in Bradford, Susque-
hanna and Wayne counties, of this State, by Colonel Henry J
Madill. The regiment was heavily engaged during the evening
of the 2d, and was on the picket line and under fire during the
entire night of that day. On the morning of the 3d it charged
the enemy's line and fought with the greatest persistence and
courage. Lieutenant-Colonel Guy H. Watkins was twice
wounded, but refused to leave the field, and was finally shot
through the breast and taken prisoner by the enemy. He was
shortly afterwards exchanged, and was killed in front of Peters-
burg, June 18, 1864. Captains Abrams J. Swart and James
L. Mumford and Lieutenant Logan O. Tyler were killed, and
20
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
Captain Tyler and Lieutenants Ball, Hurst and Atkinson were
wounded. The color sergeant fell, and Captain Swart seized
the flag, raised it and fell dead. Twelve of the officers of the
regiment were killed and wounded, and, notwithstanding the
fearful loss at Chancellorsville, this magnificent regiment, just
three months afterwards, lost at Gettysburg 63 per cent. of
those present, killed and wounded.
At one time during the heaviest firing the men seemed for
a moment to waver. Human nature was exhausted and could
stand no more-incessant marching and fighting and want of
sleep; the men were becoming dazed, and when half the com-
mand was down, dead or wounded, there came a time when it
would seem that the brave line would give way. Colonel
Henry J. Madill quietly took the flag from the hands of the
Color-bearer, and, planting the staff in the ground, with his
hand on the bunting, he burst into song with:
"Rally round the flag, boys,
Rally round the flag,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom."
The men took up the refrain, new life animated the tired
souls. Without another word the line braced up, and many
a man fell with the song on his lips.
The fighting at the second battle of Fredericksburg was
severe, and heroic actions were numerous, but as no regiment
lost 50 per cent. killed and wounded, we shall pass it over.
However, a day or two afterwards, at Salem Heights, there
were several commands that met with the losses mentioned.
The Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania had every second officer and
man killed or wounded. This splendid Philadelphia regiment
held an advanced position, where the fighting was desperate
and severe. The losses among the officers were extremely
heavy. All the field and staff were killed or wounded. Colo-
nel Gustavus W. Town, Lieutenant-Colonel Elisha Hall, Ad-
jutant Eugene D. Dunton, Captain D. G. Chapman and Lieu-
tenant David T. Hailer were killed, and Major Thomas J.
Town, Captains H. Oscar Roberts and George Weest, and Lieu-
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
21
tenants Samuel H. Town, Frank Stewart, Samuel H. Jones,
Samuel Topham and William J. Gelson were wounded. The
Ninety-fifth ranks with the Twentieth Massachusetts in having
the largest number of field and staff officers of any regiment
killed in battle, each having six. Of the Ninety-fifth, Colonel
John M. Gosline and Major William B. Hubbs were killed at
Gaine's Mill, Colonel Town, Lieutenant-Colonel Hall and Ad-
jutant Dunton at Salem Heights, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Edward Carroll fell in the Wilderness.
The three Town boys were brothers, and the fact of all three
falling in the same battle, the Colonel being killed and the
Major and Lieutenant badly wounded, was one of those coin
cidences that go to show the severity of the fighting.
In the battle of Salem Heights the One Hundred and Twenty-
first New York made a great record and a noble fight. The
regiment was recruited in Oswego and Herkimer counties, in
New York State. The original Colonel was Richard Franchot.
He resigned early in the war to take his seat in Congress, and a
young graduate of West Point, Emory Upton, succeeded him.
The organization was afterwards called "Upton's Regulars."
The regiment made a sweeping charge in this battle, and burst
through the lines of Confederates. The loss in killed and
wounded was 62 per cent., and the fight did not last more than
twenty minutes. Captains Nelson O. Wendell and Thomas S.
Arnold and Lieutenants Ford, Upton, Doubleday and Bates
were killed, and almost every other officer was wounded. Just
one year afterwards Upton led the regiment in a cyclonic charge
at Spottsylvania, in which the command again suffered a fear-
ful loss. Captains Butt and Fish and Lieutenants Pierce and
Pettengill were killed. The regiment captured four Confed-
erate flags at Rappahannock Station and two at Sailor's Creek.
During its term of service it had fifteen officers killed in battle
and four died of disease, and twenty-seven officers were wounded,
and only two regiments from New York, the Fortieth and Sixty-
ninth, had more men killed in battle.
In the WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN promotion was rapid. An
officer who remained with his command was sure to be quickly
}
22
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
advanced or surely killed. The brigade to which the writer
was attached began the Wilderness campaign May 5th with
ten field officers present for duty. Within six weeks six of the
ten were dead, killed in battle, and the other four were in the
hospital badly wounded, and the brigade was commanded by
a captain. The nine brigades of the Second Corps had thirty-
seven commanders during the first six weeks of that campaign.
An average of three to each brigade had been killed or wounded.
The Ninety-third New York Infantry was recruited in Wash-
ington county of that State, and on the first day of the Wilder-
ness made the sanguinary record of 60 per cent. killed and
wounded. The regiment fought in the forest, in front of the
Brock Road, just to the right of the Orange plank road. It
was in Hay's brigade of the Second Corps, and was placed in
position by General Hancock himself. It held the extreme
right of the corps, and as the head of the column arrived near
the point of attack Hancock ordered Colonel Crocker to form
line quickly and move into the woods. Unsupported and alone,
the brave regiment advanced through a dense thicket of bushes,
briars and bramples, and within five minutes was hotly en-
gaged. The command had met the head of Heth's division of
Hill's corps. The regiment made a glorious fight, holding the
line with unflinching courage, although outnumbered and
outflanked. Half an hour passed, with no supports or assist-
ance coming, and the reason then became apparent. General
Hays, the brigade commander, had been killed; and hence
confusion. Colonel Crocker, finding himself in command of
the brigade, hastened to bring up the other regiments, and not
a moment too soon. The brave boys of the Ninety-third were
still on the line, but 60 per cent. of them were dead and wounded.
After the sun went down and the darkness fell, the survivors,
after sending the wounded to the rear, gathered picks and
spades and reverently buried the dead on the line they had held
so nobly. "Ah," said one of them, "tenderly and with sad
hearts we buried our dead comrades. Parting with them in
the dark forest was a sad thing to do. We had long been
friends tried and true friends; we had messed together, shared
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
23
with them our store of rations; drank from the same canteen;
slept under the same blanket in all kinds of weather, whether
the stars were shining or the storms were beating upon us. In
danger, shoulder to shoulder; in sickness, hands, rough but
tender, soothing the fevered brow; and so at midnight we had
them buried; then, exhausted, we sank to sleep by their new
made graves until the morning, when the thunder of cannon
and rattle of musketry awoke us to another day of strife.”
Four officers were among the dead and thirteen others were
sent to the rear wounded.
The State of New Jersey gave to the Union many noble
regiments, but none superior to the Fifteenth Infantry. It
fought at Fredericksburg, and at Salem Heights lost heavily.
When the Wilderness campaign opened it had been reduced in
numbers to fifteen officers and four hundred and twenty-nine
muskets, and it crossed the Rapidan with Grant with this num-
ber. Of the four hundred and forty-four total, three hundred
fell at Spottsylvania, one hundred and sixteen of them being
killed. Within two weeks the command was reduced to four
officers and one hundred and thirty-six muskets, and the color
sergeant and all the color guard, save one, had been killed and
wounded. Corporal Joseph G. Runkle, of the color guard,
had seized the flag when the color sergeant fell.
utes afterwards he, too, was mortally wounded.
shot in the right arm, and it fell paralyzed by his side. He
then raised the colors in his left hand, and insisted upon carry-
ing them until the end of the fight, and then he lay down and
died. The remnant of the regiment fought under Sheridan in
the Shenannoah Valley, and sustained another terrible per-
centage of loss at Cedar Creek, where Major Lambert Boeman
was killed.
A few min-
He was first
Among the regiments with records of having lost 50 per
cent. killed and wounded in single engagements, those from
our own State hold a distinguished place. The Forty-ninth
Pennsylvania Infantry, was one of the regiments of Hancock's
original brigade, and with that command won distinction at
Williamsburg, where, by its excellent work, it contributed
24
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
greatly to the victory. The command formed one of the twelve
picked regiments that, led by Colonel Emory Upton, made a
charge on the enemy's works at Spottsylvania on the evening
of May 9, 1864. The regiment crossed the Rapidan with five
hundred and thirty officers and men, and within six days, at
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, three hundred and seven-
teen of them were killed and wounded. In the charge of May
9th the loss was 57 per cent. On the evening of that day the
regiment, emerging from the woods where it had formed, was
met by a sheet of fire from the enemy's rifle pits, but, never
faltering for a moment, it rushed on, capturing the works, guns
and many prisoners. The enemy rallying in great force, the
Forty-ninth was compelled to abandon its captures. The
return was more terrible than the advance, the enemy swarm-
ing on the flanks, and the whole plain over which the regiment
crossed being swept by fire. Colonel Thomas M. Hulings,
Lieutenant-Colonel John B. Miles, Captain Robert C. Barr and
Lieutenant Decatur G. Lytel fell dead, and Captain Stuart
and Lieutenants Thompson, Irvin, Russell, Downing and
Hylands were wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Miles at the
moment of starting, feeling that he was going to be killed,
made the Adjutant promise to have his body sent home. The
dead, however, were left in the hands of the enemy, and the
spot where Colonel Hulings and Lieutenant-Colonel Miles are
buried is unknown. So they sleep where they fell-no better
or more honorable sepulchre for a soldier.
Within the circle we are writing about, more than half a
million of men fought in the different battles, and nineteen
general officers were killed-ten Union and nine Confederate.
The Union Major-Generals were John Sedgwick, Hiram · G.
Berry and Amiel W. Whipple, Brevet Major-Generals James
S. Wadsworth and Alexander Hays, Brigadier-Generals George
D. Bayard, Conrad F. Jackson, Edmund Kirby, James C. Rice
and Thomas G. Stevenson. The Confederates were Lieuten-
ant-General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, Brigadier Generals
Thomas R. R. Cobb, Junius Daniel, Abner Perrin, Maxey Gregg,
F. Paxton, J. M. Jones, Leroy A. Stafford and Micah Jenkins.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
25
Sixteen thousand five hundred Union soldiers are buried
in the National Cemetery, and many thousands in that dedi-
cated to the Confederates, but this is but a part of the dead.
The whole ground is a vast cemetery. Chaplain Hains, of the
Fifteenth New Jersey, notes in his diary: "We halted in the
evening for a short time. Private Berry died, and we buried
him at midnight in an orchard, rolling him up in a shelter tent
and covering him with green boughs, and then hurried on."
Again he writes: "We tried to bury our dead comrades, and
succeeded in laying Captains Shimer and Walker, Lieutenant
Justice and eight others into shallow graves, and then we were
summoned to follow the regiment, and we had to leave Lieuten-
ant Vancoy and some forty others of the regiment unburied."
Yes, in the gardens and orchards, in the deep woods and
by murmuring streams, everywhere throughout the region, the
men of both armies lie singly and in platoons, and where the
forest fires swept through the fighting ranks their sacred dust
rests among the fallen leaves. Brave men from every state in
the Union met and fought here.
The splendid fighting and the supreme heroism displayed
by the citizen-soldiers of both North and South on this ground,
and on every battlefield of the Civil War, have never been
equaled by any army that ever marched on earth, and will
never be excelled while time endures.
GETTYSBURG.
JULY 1st, 2nd AND 3rd, 1863.
The fighting of both armies at Gettysburg was severe, and
to understand truly and to estimate properly the fighting
qualities of the men and the organizations of those armies, one
must take the cold figures of the percentage of losses in killed
and wounded and compare them with similar results in other
wars and by troops of other nations. When reading the fol-
lowing article, let us not fail to remember the record of the
bravest troops in Europe. The Third Westphalian, at Mars
La Tour, lost 49.4 per cent., killed and wounded; the Garde-
26
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
wars.
Schutzen, at Metz., lost 46.1 per cent.; the Light Brigade, at
Balaklava, lost 36.7 per cent. Reader, this is a story of brave
men and splendid organizations and, if I mistake not, tells of
the greatest loss on record in single engagements in European
Not one of them lost 50 per cent. in killed and wounded
in single engagements. Without fear of contradiction, I as-
sert that in the Union army alone at least sixty-three regiments
lost more than 50 per cent. killed and wounded in single en-
gagements, and more than one hundred and twenty regiments
lost more than 36 per cent. under like circumstances. I am
asked to write the particulars of these bloody encounters; to
do so would be a greater task than I have time for, and the
glowing story would fill volumes. On the soil of our own State,
there were at least twenty-three regiments that lost more than
50 per cent. in killed and wounded during the three sanguinary
days of the battle, and nine of these were Pennsylvania organ-
izations. Eight other Northern States-New Jersey, New
Hampshire, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minne-
sota and Massachusetts-were also included in this splendid
around." Let us recall the story of these commands, the or-
ganizations only that lost 50 per cent. or more at Gettysburg,
and we can speak of them without in any way detracting from
the honor of the other commands that may not have met with
such terrible losses, yet did their whole duty and all that was
demanded of them.
The battle on the first day was remarkable, not only for the
acts of great personal courage, but also for the most heroic
fighting on the part of organizations. The One Hundred and
Forty-seventh New York was the first regiment to make the
great record at Gettysburg. Going into position at the right
of Cutler's Brigade, and becoming hotly engaged in the very
start of the fight, Lieutenant-Colonel F. C. Miller, its commander
fell almost at the first fire, shot in the head. Major George
Harney then commanded. The regiment fought the Forty-
second Mississippi, and when the position became untenable
and the brigade was ordered to the rear, the command to re-
treat was not received by the One Hundred and Forty-seventh
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
27
until the other regiments of the brigade had gone. The One
Hundred and Forty-seventh then stood alone, and not only
fought the regiment in its front, but was exposed to the fire
of the Second Mississippi and Fifty-fifth North Carolina on
the right flank. The fight was close and deadly, but Harney
and his men stood up to the work until the orders reached
them to retreat, which they did in good order, with colors
flying. The loss of officers and men was appalling, but hardly
had the splendid organization reached the new position than it
became engaged in resisting the attack of Ewell's Corps and
assisted in capturing a part of Iverson's Brigade. But the
One Hundred and Forty-seventh was not yet ready to rest;
on the evening of the second day it was rushed over to Culp's
Hill to reinforce Green's Brigade, and until long after dark
fought in the dense woods among rocks and fallen timber,
locating the enemy by the tongues of fire that leaped from
their muskets. This regiment was recruited in Oswego County,
New York, and it left the great record on Gettysburg's field of
60 per cent. killed and wounded, more than 20 per cent. being
killed outright.
As the One Hundred and Forty-seventh was making its
glorious record, the Iron Brigade swept forward and entered
the woods just as Reynolds was being carried to the rear, dead.
The West had in that line its noblest sons, there to defend and
to crimson the soil of our State with their blood, and what a
fight they made on that July morning! Of this brigade the
Twenty-fourth Michigan lost 64 per cent. killed and wounded
and, in addition, 83 missing; the Nineteenth Indiana lost 56
per cent. and 50 missing; the Second Wisconsin 59 per cent.
and 51 missing; the Sixth Wisconsin 59 per cent. and 51 missing;
the Sixth Wisconsin 43 per cent. and 20 missing; the Seventh
Wisconsin 41 per cent. and 43 missing. This regiment had 10
officers and 271 men killed in battle during its term of service.
Taking the five regiments of the Iron Brigade as a whole, we
find the killed and wounded to have been 49.5 per cent., with
249 missing, many of whom were among the dead.
Reader, when you visit the field of the first day's fight, and
28
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
you walk past the spot where Reynolds fell, and enter the
woods where every knarled tree is torn by shot and shell, you
will see a line of monuments crossing your path. Pause when
you reach them, stand for a time by the stone that marks the
center of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Regiment and recall
the day of the battle. You will then be standing near the
center of the Iron Brigade. On the right of that organization
was the brigade of Roy Stone, and on the left that of Colonel
Chapman Biddle. Walk the line of these brigades from right
to left-ah, yes, you may walk the line of the whole First Corps
-and you cannot step without treading upon ground every
inch of which was saturated and made sacred by the blood of
heroes.
And how did the Twenty-fourth Michigan fight? They
charged into the woods without taking time to load and, with
bayonet, driving the enemy across the Willoughby Run, cap-
tured the Confederate General Archer and many of his men.
There the well-dressed line waited in the forest during the long
afternoon, repulsing every attack of the enemy. General
Sol Meredith, the brigade commander; Colonel Henry A. Mor-
row, Lieutenant-Colonel Flanagan, the adjutant, and almost
every officer who was not killed outright was severely wounded,
twenty-two being killed and wounded out of twenty-eight
Captains Speed and O'Donnell and Lieutenants Wallace, Saf-
ford, Grace, Humphreyville, Dickey and Shattuck were dead
upon the field. Seven color bearers were shot down under the
flag, four of them, Abel Pack, Charles Ballou, August Ernest
and William Kelly, lying dead almost side by side, while every
one of the color guard was dead or wounded. When Corporal
Andrew Wagner was severely wounded and the colors fell,
Colonel Morrow raised them, Kelly ran up and seized the staff,
saying: "The Colonel of the Twenty-fourth shall never carry
the flag while I am alive." He was killed instantly. Still
another brave soul raised the flag, only to fall. Again Colonel
Morrow grasped the "starry banner" and, while waving it
aloft, he, too, fell terribly wounded. No falling back was
thought of until ordered to retreat. and then the dead was,
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
29
dragged by force from the hands of a mortally wounded soldier
who, with a last expiring effort, tried to raise it from the ground,
but fell back only to die. Splendid Michigan; your sons have
done you great honor.
The Nineteenth Indiana, Colonel S. J. Williams commanding
went into action in line with the Twenty-fourth Michigan Reg-
iment, crossing Willoughby Run in the first rush and charge
of the day, and flanking Archer's Confederates, doing its full
share in the capture of that command. In the afternoon it
held the left flank of the Iron Brigade, meeting and repelling
charge after charge of the enemy. The fire of the regiment
was so deadly that for one hour after the line of the enemy had
advanced to the attack not a live Confederate succeeded in
crossing the stream. When the command was finally with-
drawn with the remainder of the brigade, 56 per cent. of those
who had held the line were dead or wounded.
About eleven o'clock the head of Roy Stone's brigade ar-
rived on the field, and was placed by General Doubleday on
the left of the Chambersburg pike, the left of the line resting
near the right of the Iron Brigade. Shells were flying as the
Pennsylvanians moved into position, and it was a hot place to
form. Stripping for the fray and unslinging knapsacks, the
men called out, "We have come to stay." When evening
came fully 50 per cent. of the gallant brigade remained on the
fatal ridge. Stone's Brigade held the key to the first day's
fight, and every man seemed to realize the importance of hold-
ing out to the last. Although some two hours elapsed from
the time the brigade arrived until the first serious attack of
the Confederate infantry, it was anything but an interval of
peace. Exposed and in full view of the enemy, the line was
pounded by batteries from the distant hills, both north and
west, and many were the casualties. Then the whole valley
of Willoughby Run and the country beyond was in clear view,
and every man saw for himself what was coming-the Confed-
erates, in a continuous double line of deployed battalions, with
other battalions en masse in reserve. To meet this tremendous
onslaught stood one thin line, and not a man in reserve.
It
30
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
required courage of a high order to quietly await the attack,
but Stone's men were equal to the occasion.
As Colonel Huidekoper and Major Chamberlain were chat-
ting, while awaiting the attack, a unique, antique and most
picturesque figure approached. It was citizen John Burns,
of Gettysburg. Tall and bony of frame, with deliberate step,
he came to the front, carrying in his right hand a rifle at a
"trail." He wore a blue swallow-tail coat, with brass buttons,
dark trousers and a high hat, from which the nap had long
since disappeared. Although three-score years and ten, and
bent with age, he said: "Can I fight with your Regiment?"
Just then Colonel Wister came up and in his bluff manner
asked: "Well, old man, what do you want?" "I want a
chance to fight with your Regiment?" "You do? Well,
where is your ammunition?" "Right here," said the old
hero, slapping his trousers pocket, which was bulging out with
cartridges. "Good," replied Wister, "I wish there were more
like you," advising the old man to go into the woods and fight
where he would be more sheltered. But Burns was not the
kind that looked for shelter, and he fought during the day not
only in the open, but in the very front. When evening fell
he was still there, but badly wounded. At half-past one o'clock
the whole line of the enemy was seen advancing, and for more
than two hours the devoted brigade of Roy Stone-One Hun-
dred and Forty-third, One Hundred and Forty-ninth and One
Hundred and Fiftieth Pennsylvania Regiments-met and
checked the exulting foe.
Never in the history of wars did men stand up under like
conditions and make such a defence. There they were, one
thin line, without a man in reserve, meeting charge after
charge, and seeing beyond, as far as the eye could reach, other
lines of fresh troops, ready to take the places of those repulsed.
Every field officer in the brigade, save one, was shot, and many
of them several times. In the One Hundred and Forty-third
60 per cent. were killed and wounded, and 91 missing, many
of these being numbered among the dead; the One Hundred
and Forty-ninth lost 50 per cent. killed and wounded, and 111
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
31
missing; the One Hundred and Fiftieth lost 50 per cent. killed
and wounded and 77 missing, 25 of whom were afterward
found to be dead or wounded. Glorious brigade of the Key-
stone State! When will your glory fade? Officers and men
alike will live in story. Can we ever forget Roy Stone falling
away out in front of his line; or Langhorne Wister clinging to
his command with mouth so full of blood that speech was an
impossibility; of Huidekoper remaining in command of his
regiment with shattered arm and a ball through his leg; or
Color Sergeant Benjamin H. Crippen, of the One Hundred and
Forty-second, lingering, as his regiment walked to the rear,
to shake his fist at the advancing foe, until he was shot dead;
or Color Sergeant Samuel Phifer, of the One Hundred and
Fiftieth, advancing with the colors and flaunting them in the
face of the victorious foe until he fell dead, with all the color
guard dead or wounded around him? Surely it was a great
brigade and a noble fight, but more yet was demanded, for on
the evening of the second day the One Hundred and Forty-
ninth and the One Hundred and Fiftieth charged upon the Con-
federate lines, and recaptured two guns that had been lost that
afternoon. Likewise, on the third day of the battle the three
regiments were again under fire, being in line to meet the charge
of Pickett's men, and to meet the storm of the artillery fire that
for two long hours preceded that attack.
To the left of the Iron Brigade, the brigade commanded
by Colonel Chapman Biddle held the line. The organization
consisted of one New York and three Pennsylvania regiments,
and its record is very similar to that of the two brigades on
the right. The Eightieth New York (Twentieth Militia),
called the "Ulster Guard," Colonel Theodore B. Gates com-
manding, had 50 per cent. killed and wounded, 24 missing.
The One Hundred and Twenty-first Pennsylvania, Lieutenant
Colonel Alexander Biddle, had 39 per cent. killed and wounded.
and 61 missing. The One Hundred and Forty-second Penn-
sylvania, Colonel Robert P. Cummings, had 39 per cent. killed
and wounded, and 70 missing. The One Hundred and Fifty-
first Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Colonel George F. McFarland
32
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
had 56 per cent. killed and wounded and 100 missing. Not
only did the brigade make the splendid fight on the first day's
battle, but on the second and third day all the regiments were
engaged, and in the last grand scene of the drama the Eightieth
New York and the One Hundred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania,
led by Colonel Gates, rushed in, side by side with Stannard's
Vermonters, to strike the flank of Pickett's line. The One
Hundred and Forty-second Pennsylvania lost some of its best
officers and men. Colonel Cummings, Captain Flagg and Lieu-
tenants Tucker and Hurst were killed instantly, and Captains
Grim, Evans, Dushane and Hasson, and Lieutenants Powell,
Walter, Swank, Heffley, Huston, Hoffman and Wilson were
wounded.
Lieutenant Colonel George F. McFarland, who commanded
the One Hundred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania on the first day's
fight, was the principal of the McAlister Academy, in Juniata
county, of our State. He was an exceedingly calm, brave
man, and while awaiting the infantry attack quietly sat on
the ground taking notes, while the shells were flying in all
directions. He was terribly wounded and lost a leg. The
Regiment was unique in many particulars: McFarland, a
school principal, in command, with one hundred school teach-
ers marching and fighting in the ranks. The whole of Com-
pany D was composed of scholars and schoolboys from McFar-
land's Academy. The Regiment fought the Twenty-sixth
North Carolina.
TWENTY-SIXTH NORTH CAROLINA.
All the heroism of the American Volunteer was not by any
means concentrated in the Northern Army, the Southern
troops were Americans also and fought quiet as bravely and
as well as those of the North; the terrible losses of the heroic
men of the North would never have been made had they not had
equally heroic men to meet. The heroism of both is the com-
mon heritage and honor of all Americans. The Twenty-sixth
North Carolina Infantry that inflicted the 56 per cent. killed
and wounded on the One Hundred Fifty-first Pennsylvania
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
33
Volunteers was not behind their opponents in bravery. That
Regiment went into action with 820 men and had 86 killed,
502 wounded. Total 588 and more than one hundred missing,
many of whom were undoubtedly among the killed and wounded
but without taking account of the missing we have a record
of 71 7-10 per cent. loss; 34 of the 39 officers of the Regiment
was killed or wounded. Colonel Harry K. Burgoyne, two
captains and three Lieutenants being killed. Some of the
companies were more unfortunate than others, one company
lost every man in the two day's battle, Private James Moore
being the 85th man shot in the Company. Company A went
into the fight with 92 men into action and lost 88; Company
E lost 80 out of 82. Every man of the Color Guard was killed
or wounded then Captain McCleary took the flag and fell dead.
Colonel Burgoyne raised the flag and fell mortally wounded,
then Private Harry Cutte seized the flag staff and dead hands
raised it once more and fell severely wounded. When Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Lane was wounded he was carried into a brick
house, used as a field hospital and while lying there among
the dead and dying a wounded officer from Georgia lying beside
him and delirious, all the night of July 1st, but on the morning
of the 2nd he became quiet and for a time silent and Colonel
Lane heard him say in a perfectly rational tone of voice.
"There now, Vicksburg has fallen, General Lee is retreating
and the south is whipped." A few moments afterwards he
died. Vicksburg surrendered Forty-eight hours afterwards
and Lee retreated the next evening. The Twenty-sixth North
Carolina was organized by Colonel Zebuloun B. Vance after
being in the field for one year, he was elected Governor of his
State and was known as the War Governor, after the close of
the war he was elected three successive times to the United
States Senate. Colonel Burgoyne was one of the most youth-
ful officers of the war, being but 19 years and 10 months old
when he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, and when
killed at Gettysburg was only 22. He had received a military
education at the Virginia Military Institute where he was a
student when the war commenced.
·34
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
"""
The One Hundred and Fifty-first had 14 officers killed and
wounded, and was the last regiment to leave the line when
retreat was ordered. The Confederate General, Heth, said
that "the dead of the One Hundred and Fifty-first marked
the line of battle with the accuracy of a 'dress parade. On
that day Pennsylvania's teachers and schoolboys left a rich
legacy to others who come after them. Much history has
been written, and any amount of criticism indulged in, in re-
lation to the fight of the First Corps on the first day of the bat-
tle, but the more we learn of it the more we must acknowledge
that it was a great contest, a wonderful defence against over-
whelming odds.
All the severe fighting of the first day was not confined to
the line of the First Corps. The Eleventh Corps, coming upon
the field later in the day, also fought against great odds, and
made a splendid fight. One regiment, at least, kept up with
the best record of any one of the First Corps. The Seventy-
fifth Pennsylvania fought to the north of the town, near the
Carlisle road, losing 56 per cent. killed and wounded. This
regiment was originally recruited by General Henry Bohlen,
who was killed at Freeman's Ford, August 22, 1862.
It was
commanded at Gettysburg by Colonel Francis Mahler, who
was killed there. Colonel Francis Mahler was badly wounded
early in action, but refused to leave, and continued in com-
mand until he was killed. The regiment was composed en-
tirely of Germans, who here fought better for the land of their
adoption than any son of Germany ever fought in defence of
his native land.
July 2, 1863.—The second day at Gettysburg was quite as
prolific in the piling up of great losses as the first day-noble
deeds and splendid fighting on every part of the field. No
sooner had Longstreet swept down on the Third Corps than
regiment after regiment began rolling up the wonderful record
of more than 50 per cent. killed and wounded. When the
strong line of the Confederates struck the Emmitsburg road
and peach orchard, they found the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania
in line. This regiment held the extreme right of the Third
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
35
Corps, and was commanded on that day by Captain George
W. Tomlinson. The command had been in every battle from
the beginning, and was reduced to the numbers of a small bat-
talion. Three hundred and eighty-two officers and men stood
in line when the fight began, and within an hour 224 of them
had been killed or wounded-56 per cent. Of 18 officers, 4
were killed and 7 wounded, 5 of them being crippled for life.
All the color guard were down, and three color sergeants fell
dead, one after the other. The One Hundred and Forty-first
Pennsylvania Infantry was also in line there to meet the rush
of the Confederate attack, another very small command, and
at a most critical moment was called upon to meet an over-
whelming force. Bravely the men stood to the work, pouring
in a steady fire, and holding the enemy back until the batteries
of their division could be rescued and the guns hauled off by
hand, all the horses being killed. The commander, Major
Israel Spaulding, was killed. The only Captain left at the
close of the fight was Captain Joseph H. Horton, a most gal-
lant young officer, who greatly distinguished himself and
brought the remnant of the regiment from the field. Their
record-63 per cent. killed and wounded-placed another
Pennsylvania regiment on the roll of the brave.
The Eleventh New Jersey, Colonel Robert M. McAlister, a
truly grand hero, commanding, fought along the Emmitsburg
road to the right of the peach orchard. This regiment fought
Wilcox on its right and Barksdale on its left. Fifty-one per
cent. killed and wounded is the record of these Jerseymen.
Colonel McAlister soon fell, shot through the leg, with his foot
smashed by a shell. Major Philip J. Kearney then took com-
mand and fell dead. Captain Luther Martin then took com-
mand and fell dead. Captain Doramus B. Logan then took
command and fell dead. Captain Andrew H. Ackerman took
command, and was instantly killed. Captain Lloyd took
command, and fell terribly wounded. Lieutenants Provost,
Fassett, Layton, Volk, Good and Axtell were lying on the
ground, wounded and bleeding, but still the Eleventh New
Jersey held on until the order to retreat was received, when
36
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
the Adjutant, John Schoonover, suffering with two wounds'
led it from the field. On the same line with the Eleventh New
Jersey the Twentieth Indiana made a heroic fight. In the First
Division of the Third Corps-Birney's division—the Indiana
boys were commanded that day by Colonel J. K. Wheeler, who
fell dead at their head. The number of killed and wounded-
54 per cent.-tells the story of their valor.
As the battle rolled back from the peach orchard, the fighting
became terrific on the left, the wheat field having been already
covered with the dead and dying. At this juncture the divis-
ion of the regulars went in to emulate the best fighting of the
volunteers. While they could not excel the latter, they could
at least equal them, and they did, the Seventeenth United
States, commanded by Colonel Durell Green, losing 65 per cent.
in killed and wounded. As yet no monuments mark the line
of the regular troops, but let us hope that Congress may see to
it, and that at an early day those splendid regiments may not
be forgotten or unhonored. And then that magnificent regi-
ment, the Fifth New Hampshire, was in the wheat field, also.
It had gone to the left that afternoon, with Caldwell's division
of the Second Corps. In the short, sharp encounter, Colonel
Cross was killed, and the regiment lost, in killed and wounded,
exactly 50 per cent. This regiment, during the war, had 18
officers and 277 men killed in battle. Colonel Edward E. Cross
was a model officer, and was in command of the brigade when
killed. When passing, as his command formed for the fight,
General Hancock said to him, "Cross, this is the last day you
will fight as a Colonel; you will have your commission as Briga-
dier-General in a few days." Cross replied, as he rode away,
"Too late, too late; I will die to-day." He lived for a few
hours, after being shot through the body, and although suffer-
ing great pain, talked cheerfully to the end. Said he, "I did
hope to live to see peace restored to our distressed country. I
think the boys will miss me; say good-bye to them all.”
"Peace to his ashes; heaven rest his soul," was the prayer that
went up
in every part of the Second Corps as, in the calm still-
ness of the midnight hour, he slept to wake no more.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
37
The forcing back of Humphrey's division of the Third Corps
exposed to an overwhelming attack the Fifteenth Massachu-
setts and the Eighty-second New York, which, with a section.
of Brown's Rhode Island Battery, had been thrown forward
to the Codori House. The Eighty-second New York was
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Huston, and Colonel George
H. Ward commanded the detachment. The two little regi-
ments made a most gallant stand, and held on the advanced
position until Colonel Ward had been killed. His regiment,
the Fifteenth Massachusetts, left dead on the field Captains
Murkland and Jorgeson and Lieutenant Buss. Nearly every
officer was wounded, and the record of the afternoon was 50
per cent. killed and wounded. The Eighty-second New York
suffered quite as seriously, losing exactly 50 per cent. killed
and wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel James Huston, Captain
Jonah C. Hoyt and Lieutenants John Cranston and John G.
McDonald being killed and nine officers wounded. The Eighty-
second captured, during the afternoon of the second, the colors
of the Forty-eighth Georgia, and on the third day captured
the colors of the First and Seventh Virginia Regiments. Dur-
ing a crisis that afternoon, Hancock led into action the brigade
consisting of the One Hundred and Eleventh New York, Colo-
nel Clinton McDougal; the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth
New York, Colonel George L. Willard; and the One Hundred
and Twenty-sixth New York, Colonel Eliakin Shirrell. The
force charged through the bushy swale at Plum Run and struck
the Thirteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Mississippi Reg-
iments. Willard, commanding the brigade, was killed.
rell, of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth, was killed, and
McDougal, of the One Hundred and Eleventh, was wounded.
The latter regiment lost 71 per cent. in killed and wounded.
The One Hundred and Twenty-sixth lost not only their Colonel
but also Captains Skinner, Herenden and Wheeler, and Lieu-
tenants Hunton, Sherman and Holmes, and nine other officers
were wounded. The record at Gettysburg was 55 per cent.
killed and wounded. This regiment captured three stands
of colors in the battle. Including those killed in this fight, the
38
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
regiment had sixteen officers shot dead in action during the
war. Glory to the Empire State!
And now let us recall the grandest of all. It was getting
towards evening, and the battle had raged along the Emmits-
burg road and out by the peach orchard. In vain had our
brave troops fought and died. The Third Corps had been
rolled back, crushed and almost annihilated; the wheat field
had been swept by line after line of battle; Little Round Top
had been saved, and Hood's Texans were being gradually
driven down the crest; the gallant Sickles had been carried to
the rear from where he had fallen, crushed and bleeding. Still
the battle raged along the whole line; a crucial moment had
arrived. A great gap existed on the left of the Second Corps,
and the victorious and exulting foe was moving forward to
push through the threatened point, but were still far off. Han-
cock, seeing a large force emerging from the timber, and think-
ing it was some of our own forces, galloped to meet them, only
to discover a division of the enemy. He was met by a volley
in which was wounded the only aide he had with him, Captain
W. D. W. Miller, a very noble young officer.
The danger to the Union line was imminent; but one small
regiment-the First Minnesota-was anywhere near. Han-
cock quickly rode toward it, and called out, "What regiment
is this?" "The First Minnesota," came the answer. Then
pointing to the Confederate columns about to seize the unoccu-
pied heights of Cemetery Ridge (and should they succeed dis-
aster to the Union Army would surely result, though reinforce-
ments were hurrying to advance), the General said: "Colonel
Colville, charge that line." At this moment the scene was one
of appalling grandeur; Little Round Top wreathed in smoke
the crash of artillery was re-echoing from all the woods, lines
of battle were charging back and forth over the valley of death,
and the whole crest of Cemetery Ridge was a blaze of fire. The
men of the First Minnesota instantly knew what Hancock's
order meant—death or wounds for every man in the ranks,
sacrifice of the entire command in order to gain a few minutes'
time, and thus save the position and probably the battlefield.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
39
Every man saw and accepted the sacrifice. Responding to
Colville's rapid orders, the command, in perfect line, with arms
at a "right shoulder shift," went sweeping down the slope
directly upon the enemy's center. No hesitation, no stopping
to fire, silently at a "double quick," then at a "run," then at
the utmost speed, they went for the only hope of being able
to reach the enemy through the storm of fire that met them
was by speed-"Charge," screamed Colville, as the regiment
neared the advancing lines of the enemy. Then in a rush with
leveled bayonets, the First Minnesota, with momentum and
desperation, went crashing through the first line. Then a
volley and the center of the enemy broke and was for a few
minutes thrown into confusion. The very ferocity of the
onset seemed for a time to paralyze them. The object was
accomplished; time, short as it was, was gained, and before the
long lines of the Confederates could be straightened out the
reserves were on the ground and the position was saved.
But what a sacrifice! Colville and every other officer, ex-
cept two, were weltering in their blood, killed or wounded.
Then the few survivors fell back, leaving dead and wounded
82 per cent. of the gallant men that charged ten minutes before.
The annals of war contain no such record of true heroism, valor
and self-sacrifice. Neither was it in vain, for the execution of
the movement was complete and successful and the object
gained, and it was necessary. "There is no more gallant deed
in history," said Hancock, but he added: "I saw the necessity
of gaining five minutes, and I would have ordered them in if
I had been sure that every man would have been killed." The
second day, however, was not the last of the battle for the First
Minnesota. On the afternoon of the third day the remnant
of that noble command was again in the very front, and when
Pickett's men reached Cemetery Ridge the First was there to
receive them. Corporal Dehn, the last of the color guard, was
shot and the flagstaff cut in two. Corporal O'Brien ran up and
raised the colors on the piece of staff that was left, dashing
forward toward the enemy. He fell, with two wounds, and
Corporal W. N. Irvin, of Company D, grasped it. The whole
40
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
command rushed in, following the flag. It was hand-to-hand
fight for a few minutes; no time to load and fire, bayonets and
clubbed muskets and great stones snatched from the wall were
used; but the struggle, close, desperate and deadly as it was,
was soon over, and the Confederates threw down their arms
and surrendered, Marshall Sherman, of Company C, capturing
the colors of the Twenty-eighth Virginia. Great Minnesota-
"Etoile du Nord!" The sacrifice of your sons was your glory.
Never forget them. Keep their memory green. Tell the
children of the glorious deeds, and teach them to rejoice in
the heroism of their fathers.
But Gettysburg was not to end without one more regiment
making the great record of 50 per cent. killed and wounded.
The Sixty-ninth (Irish) Pennsylvania stood, when the battle
raged fiercest, out in advance of the line where the great attack
of Pickett's 18,000 concentrated in largest numbers, surrounded,
overwhelmed and literally swallowed up in the surging masses
of the Confederates. The Irishmen stood immovable, uncon-
querable, fearless and splendid in their valor, the green flag
waving side by side with the colors of their adopted country,
both held aloft by the stone wall until the victory was assured
and the hosts of the enemy crushed. But Colonel Denis O'Kane
and Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Tschudy lay dead. Major
Duffy and almost every other officer was down wounded, while
another regiment had taken its place in the list of those that
had, in single engagements, lost 50 per cent. killed and wounded.
Truly, Gettysburg was a field resplendent with great and
heroic deeds. The "Congress Medal of Honor" was originated
for the purpose of rewarding brave actions out of the ordinary
line of duty. An average of less than one to each Union regi-
ment has been given by the Government. I think the entire
number granted for all the war might have been distributed
for this battle alone and not one of them misplaced. And yet,
how few of our people know of the heroism of our army in the
Civil War. In justice to the men who composed those armies,
in justice to their children, should not most recognition be
given to the glowing history? What a page of our country's
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
41
history it is, but few have read it. Our school books are silent
on the subject, and our children never hear it mentioned.
What a story for the children of Minnesota would be "The
First at Gettysburg," or for those of Michigan, the thrilling
tale of the Twenty-fourth. How the coming generations in our
own State would delight to read of Roy Stone's Brigade, or
the One Hundred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania, with its one
hundred school teachers and their young scholars, and the
fight they made. But they never hear of these things. I
question whether there are a dozen school children in Minne-
sota who ever heard of their fathers at Gettysburg. It is
doubtful if there is a line in any text book of the public schools
of any State keeping alive these memories. Our children come
home and tell us wonderful tales of heroism in the history of
old Greece and Rome, and of campaigns in Europe. They
speak of Thermopylae and Marathon, and then have "The
Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaklava on the end of their
tongues, but of their own fathers, who made a record for hero-
ism never equalled and one that will never be excelled, they
are strangely ignorant. Let us hope that in the readers of
the future our children may learn the story of "American
heroism" at least as well as that of other ages and of other
nations.
The wonderful heroism displayed by the armies of the Civil
War was not the only remarkable fact connected with the great
struggle. The youth of the soldiers was equally so. A Phila-
delphia regiment, marching down Broad street on the way to
the station and to the front was ridiculed by a Southern sym-
pathizer who, viewing the passing columns from the sidewalk,
remarked that the Southern men would soon make short work
of that crowd. "Why", said he, "they are only schoolboys."
True, the regiment was composed in a great measure of school-
boys, but, during the following four years, it made a record
for splendid fighting never equaled by the finest regiment that
ever marched in any of the armies of Europe.
We might truthfully say that our army was composed of
schoolboys. Hundreds of thousands of them threw down
42
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
their books and filled the ranks, and tens of thousands were
laid in soldiers' graves and never returned to school again,
while other thousands served during the entire war, returning
home veterans of many battles, to once more take up their
books and, going back to school, finish their education.
An eminent writer of English history states as a remarkable
fact that one of the divisions of the army of Charles I was
commanded by a general only 30 years of age. At the close of
our war in 1865 it was rare to find a brigade or division com-
mander who had attained that age. In the Second Corps,
Miles' commanded the First Division, while John R. Brookes,
James A. Beaver, George N. Macy and the writer commanded
the brigades comprising that command, and each had hardly
reached the mature age of 25 years. I personally recall some
of the schoolboys, and, when I remember young faces beaming
with intelligence, enthusiasm and heroic loyalty, I feel like
recording their virtues, and it may be that the boys of our own
time, if ever called upon, will profit by their example and dis-
play the like noble qualities.
The youngest brigade commander that I remember is now
an eminent citizen of our State and vice president of the Lake
Erie and Pittsburg Railroad, Colonel James M. Shoonmaker.
He was born June 30, 1842, and was assigned to the command
of the Second Brigade Cavalry Division, Army of West Virginia,
January 1, 1864, when 21 years and six months old. The brig-
ade consisted of the First Virginia Cavalry, Fourteenth Penn-
sylvania Cavalry, Twenty-second Pennsylvania Cavalry and
Gibson's Battery.
YOUNGEST BRIGADE COMMANDER.
Although only 21 years and 6 months old at the time he
issued this order, yet he was a veteran and a seasoned soldier;
at the front from the very first hour of trouble, a private sol-
dier in the First Maryland Cavalry, then promoted through
every non-commissioned grade, to Second Lieutenant July 16,
1862, and finally mustered in as Colonel of the Fourteenth
Pennsylvania Cavalry November 24, 1862, aged 20 years and
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
43
4 months. I have been told that when he reported to Harris-
burg to take command of the Fourteenth Cavalry, Governor
Curtin gazed at the young fellow with curiosity and astonish-
ment and, for a moment, seemed to doubt the wisdom of grant-
ing so important a commission to one so young. Even then
he did not look his age. But the commission was issued and
the Governor soon learned that he had made no mistake, the
regiment being one of the best and most ably commanded of
any that left our State.
THIRTY-ONE DAYS UNDER FIRE.
After commanding for 6 months the brigade in the army of
West Virginia, he was, on August 3, 1864, assigned to the com-
mand of the First Brigade in Averill's cavalry division, Army
of the Shenandoah, and led that brigade in all the battles and
engagements between Sheridan and Early in the whirlwind
campaign that marked months of the last year of the war.
During the many fights of this period his brigade was almost
continually under fire and, in one of those months, from the
day of the battle of Opequan Creek, September 19, until Cedar
Creek, October 19, the brigade was under fire every one of the
31 days. Not only was the boy brigade commander continu-
ally praised by his superiors because of his efficiency as an officer,
but his personal bravery and heroism were recognized by the
conferring upon him of the highest honor granted to a soldier
of the Union, for he was given a Congress Medal of Honor for
"most distinguished services at Winchester, September 19,
1864, when at a critical moment of the battle, Colonel Schoon-
maker gallantly led a cavalry charge against the left of the
enemy's line of battle, which was protected by earthworks,
drove the enemy out of the works and captured many prison-
ers."
But why try to enlarge further on his merits? The fact of
his commanding a brigade in the valley campaign under Sheri-
dan is the strongest proof that he not only filled the position
well, but brilliantly.
44
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
HEROES WERE CHILDREN.
While the youth of the commanders was surprising, that of
the heroes who won the Congress Medal of Honor was more so.
So young in many cases that they might in truth be called
children, they exhibited not only valor but intelligence of a
high order. A gentleman calls to see me now and then and I
recall him as a mere child of long ago.
Robinson B. Murphy was born May 11, 1849. He enlisted
as musician at the beginning of the war and the official state-
ment of the action for which he gained his Congress Medal
reads: "At Atlanta, Ga., July 28, 1864, being orderly to the
brigade commander, he voluntarily led two regiments as rein-
forcements into line of battle, where he had his horse shot from
under him." He enlisted in the War of the Rebellion August
6, 1862, at the age of 13 years 2 months and 24 days in the
One Hundred Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
and was made orderly to the Colonel of the regiment. In Jan-
uary, 1864, he was made orderly to General J. A. J. Lightburn,
and participated in several hard-fought battles. In the army
he was known as "Bob." When he performed the wonderful
feat that gained him the medal he was only 15 years old. The
circumstances under which young Murphy led two regiments
into battle were as follows:
BOY LED TWO REGIMENTS.
The division in which General Lightburn commanded was
that day on the extreme right of the army, which was being
flanked by the enemy. Young Murphy was sent to the right
by his General to find out the situation, and finding that the
enemy had flanked the right wing and was driving them, he
rode on his pony down the line and met General Logan, who
commanded the Army of Tennessee that day, and begged him
with tears in his eyes for reinforcements, telling him they were
cutting our right all to pieces. The General replied: "I have
ordered reinforcements from the left and here they come now,
and if you know where they are needed, Bob, show them in.'
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
45
And that is how he came to lead the two regiments that day.
General Lightburn wrote regarding Bob that he was "not only
brave and faithful, but displayed remarkable judgment for
one of his age, as I soon found out I could depend on him under
any circumstances that might rise."
ENLISTED AT THIRTEEN.
In 1862, at a war meeting held in the court house at Oswego,
Wright Murphy, being called upon for a speech, wound up by
saying: "I have asked a great many men to enlist, and, now
I propose to enlist myself." At this Bob jumped up and going
forward, wanted to enlist also, but his father would not allow
him to do so on account of being the only son and also of his
youth. After arguing the matter for two weeks, his father
trying in every way possible to dissuade him, Bob simply say-
ing, "Papa, if you do not consent to let me go with you I will
run away, as I am determined to go to the war." His father,
not wishing to back out himself, finally gave his consent and
Bob became a soldier with his father, whose age at enlistment
was 51 years and that of Bob 13, Bob took his father home to
die in September, 1864, but he returned after 60 days and was
made orderly on the staff of General Webster, who was chief of
staff to General Sherman, and was mustered out as such at the
close of the war, in June, 1865, at Washington, D. C., after
participating in the grand review of the armies at Washington.
"MORE CARTRIDGES CALIBRE 54."
And here is another very little chap who gained his medal,
Orion P. Howe, born December 29, 1848. He enlisted early
in the war and was wounded at Vicksburg and three times at
Dallas, Ga. His record is a brilliant one, and General Sherman
tells the story in a letter of August 8, 1863:
*
46
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
Headquarters 15th Army Corps, Camp on Black River, August
8, 1863.
HON. E. STANTON, Secretary of War.
Sir: I take the liberty of asking, through you, that some-
thing be done for a lad named Orion P. Howe, of Waukegan,
Ill., who belongs to the Fifty-fifth Illinois, but at present at
home wounded. I think he is too young for West Point, but
would be the very thing for a midshipman. When the assault
of Vicksburg was at its height, on the 19th of May, and I was
in front near the road, which formed my line of attack, this
young lad came up to me, wounded and bleeding with a good,
healthy boy's cry, 'General Sherman, send some cartridges to
Colonel Malmburg; the men are nearly all out,' 'What's the
matter, my boy?" "They shot me in the leg, sir, but I can go to
the hospital. Send the cartridges right away.' Even where
he stood the shot fell thick, and I told him to go to the rear
at once, I would attend to the cartridges; and off he limped.
Just before he disappeared on the hill, he turned, and called
as loud as he could, 'Calibre 54." I have not seen the lad since,
and his Colonel (Malmburg) on inquiry gives me the address
above, and says he is a bright, intelligent boy, with a fair pre-
liminary education. What arrested my attention then was-
and what renewed my memory of the fact now is-that one
so young, carrying a musket-ball through his leg, should have
found his way to me on that fatal spot, and delivered his mes-
sage, not forgetting the very important part of the calibre of
his musket .54, which you know is an unusual one.
I'll war-
rant that the boy has in him the elements of a man, and I com-
mend him to the Government as one worth the fostering care
of one of the national institutions. I am, with respect,
Your obedient servant,
W. T. SHERMAN.
Major General Commanding.
When the poet, George H. Boker, learned of the episode of
young Howe, he put the story in verse.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
47
CHILD SERVED A GUN.
John Cook, too, gained a Medal of Honor when a mere child.
He was born in Ohio, August 10, 1847, and enlisted in Battery
B, Fourth United States Artillery, at the breaking out of the
war. He was serving as bugler at Antietam, and certainly
did enough to merit his medal. The boy distinguished him-
self at Antietam and in every fight in which the command was
engaged. At Antietam the battery was knocked to pieces
losing about 50 per cent. of the men, killed or wounded. Cap-
tain Campbell fell, severely wounded, and young Cook assisted
him to the rear, quickly returning to the firing line, where,
seeing nearly all the men down and not enough left to man
the guns, the little fellow unstrapped a pouch of ammunition
from the body of a dead gunner who was lying near one of the
caissons, ran forward with it and acted as gunner until the end
of the fight. The enemy at one time reached within 15 feet of
the battery, and General John Gibbon, seeing the condition of
things, threw himself from his horse and served as a gunner
side by side with young Cook. It was certainly a strange
combination, the full brigadier general and a boy of 14 working
a gun together. Young Cook afterward gained great praise
for his conduct at Gettysburg, where he acted as a mounted
orderly.
J. C. Julius Langbein was a very small boy, indeed, when
at the battle of Camden, North Carolina, April 15, 1862, he
won his Congress Medal. The official record states that when
a drummer boy, he voluntarily and under a heavy fire went to
the aid of a wounded officer, procured medical aid for him and
aided in carrying him to a place of safety." After the battle
he was granted a short leave of absence to visit his parents, and
what a thrill of happiness the boy must have felt when he
handed his mother a commendatory letter from his company
commander.
Comrade Langbein was born in Germany, but came to the
United States when two years of age. Two weeks after Sum-
ter was fired upon he enlisted in the Ninth New York Infantry
48
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
as drummer.
So childish in appearance was he that his com
rades named him "Jennie," and as such he was known during
the term of his service.
The letter above quoted is in the possession of his aged
mother, which she treasures to this day. It is but fair to add,
and I take great pleasure in doing so, that since the war "Jen-
nie" has won as honorable a name in civil life as he did during
the war.
Who has not heard of ex-Assemblyman and ex-
Judge Langbein? His friends are legion, and they are proud
of his record. In 1877, and again in 1879, the people of his
district sent him to the legislative hall at Albany, where he was
noted for his frankness, independence and fearlessness. In the
fall of the latter year he was elected Justice of the Seventh
Judicial District Court, over which he presided with a fairness
and ability worthy of a higher station. With his brother, ex-
Senator George H. Langbein, he is the author of "Langbein's
District Court Practice," a work well and favorably known
among the bench and bar of the city of New York.
And here is another boy who wears the Congress Medal of
Honor, nobly won: George D. Sidman, a schoolboy from
Michigan a mere child in years when he made his great record
and won the medal for "distinguished bravery in battle at
Gaines Mills, June 27, 1862." This battle, the second of the
"Seven Days Battles," before Richmond, was one of the most
disastrous battles of the Civil War, wherein Fitz John Porter's
Fifth Army Corps was pitted against the three army corps of
Generals Longstreet, Hill and "Stonewall Jackson.
Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield's brigade, composed of
the Twelfth, Seventeenth and Forty-fourth New York, Eighty-
third Pennsylvania and Sixteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Regiments, that day occupied the left of the battle in the form
of a curve, with the Sixteenth and Eighty-third on the extreme
left and resting on the border of Chickahominy Swamp. Here
the brigade was called upon to resist several desperate charges
of the enemy during the day, which, in every instance, resulted
in defeat of the attacking forces.
It was in this "forlorn hope" rally that Companion Sidman,
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
49
then a youth of 17, serving in the ranks of Company C, Six-
teenth Michigan, as a private, but borne on the rolls of his
company as a drummer boy, distinguished himself by waving
his gun and calling upon his comrades to rally on the colors as
he had done, thus setting an example that was speedily fol-
lowed by a number of others, and winning the approbation of
Major Welch, of his regiment who was a witness of the heroic
act. He was in the front rank of the charge upon the
enemy, and in the almost hand-to-hand conflict that followed
• fell severely wounded through the left hip by a minnie ball.
On the morning of December 13, 1862, while the Fifth Corps
was drawn up in line of battle on Stafford Heights waiting for
orders to cross the Rappahannock River and enter Fredericks-
burg, Colonel Stockton, commanding the Third Brigade, First
Division, called upon the Sixteenth Michigan for a volunteer
to carry the new brigade flag that had just reached the com-
mand. Sidman, but now partially recovered from his wound,
sprang from the ranks and begged for this duty. His patriot-
ism and fidelity to duty, well known to Major Welch, now
commanding the regiment, won for him the coveted prize,
much to the chagrin of several other comrades who valiantly
offered their services. Leading his brigade on its famous
charge up Marye's Heights, in that terrible slaughter under
Burnside, he was again wounded, but not so severely as to
prevent him from planting his colors within 150 yards of the
enemy's line, where they remained for 30 hours. Three days
later he proudly bore his flag back across the Rappahannock,
marked by a broken shaft and several holes, caused by the
enemy's missiles during the charge.
It was in this battle, Sunday, December 14, 1862, while the
brigade lay all day hugging the ground behind the slight eleva-
tion a few yards in front of the enemy, momentarily expecting
an attack, that Companion Sidman, with a comrade of his own
company, displayed humanity as well as remarkable valor by
running the gauntlet through a railroad cut for canteens of
water for sick and wounded comrades who could not be re-
moved from the lines; this at a time, too, when the enemy's
50
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
sharpshooters were so stationed as to command the ground
a considerable distance in the rear of the brigade lines. It was
this distinguished service of humanity at Fredericksburg, in
the face of a vigilant enemy and with almost certain death
staring him in the face, that prompted his officers in recom-
mending him for the Medal of Honor. The War Department,
however, with a full record knowledge of his service from Gaines
Mills to Fredericksburg, and for reasons best known to itself,
decided that the medal was earned at the first-named battle,
with continuing merit to the end of his military service.
SCOUTS AND SPIES.
Perhaps the most dangerous duty a soldier can be engaged
in is that of scout. In a book published after the war, and
called "Hampton and His Cavalry," the following definition
of a scout is given: "The scouts of the army did not constitute
a distinct organization, but suitable men volunteering for this
duty were detailed from the different commands. The posi-
tion required not only coolness, courage, zeal and intelligence,
but special faculties born in some few men.”
The line of demarcation between a scout and a spy was at
times very ill-defined, for, as the scouts were usually dressed
in the enemy's uniforms which they had captured, they were
by strict military laws subject to the penalty of spies if taken
within the enemy's lines, and they were not without pleasant
experiences of that sort.
Undoubtedly one of the most distinguished of this class was
Archibald Hamilton Rowand, Jr., who received the medal
because of the indorsement of General Sheridan, who knew
and appreciated his great services to the cause.
SHERIDAN SCOUT.
Companion Rowand was born March 6, 1845, in Philadelphia,
Pa.; and enlisted July 17, 1862, in Company K, First West
Virginia Cavalry, and served until August 17, 1865. His
services were not only remarkable, but most valuable to the
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
51
cause. He was one of the most daring and most trusted of
Sheridan's scouts. That general refers to him in his memoirs
as having succeeded in passing through the Confederate army
in March, 1865, when he carried dispatches from Sheridan at
Columbia, Va., west of Richmond, to Grant at City Point on
the James River.
Once, while scouting for Averill he was captured, but told
such a plausible story to the Confederate officers about being
a Confederate scout with verbal orders from one distant gen-
eral to another that he was allowed to depart. The first time
he was detailed on scout duty his two companions were shot
and killed. On his next trip his comrade and his own horse
were killed when they were 18 miles inside of the Confederate
lines, but Rowand managed to dodge the enemy's bullets and
get back alive, vowing at every jump never to go on scout duty
again. He soon recovered from his fright however, and started
out on another trip. While with Sheridan he was asked to
locate the notorious partisan leader, Major Harry Gilmore
and, if possible, effect his capture.
CAPTURE OF MAJOR GILMORE.
After several days, hard work, he found Gilmore stopping in
a large country mansion near Moorfield, West Virginia.
This he reported to Sheridan, who sent with him about fifteen
scouts under Colonel Young. They dressed in Confederate
uniforms, and, followed by 300 Federal cavalry at a distance
of several miles, to be of assistance if the true character of the
scouts was discovered, they arrived near Gilmore's command
about day break and Rowand went forward alone and single
handed captured the vidette with out a shot being fired. The
scouts then entered the family mansion and took Gilmore out
of bed and back to Sheridan's headquarters. Rowand's most
notable exploit was when, in company with James A. Campbell,
he carried important dispatches from Sheridan to Grant.
Sheridan had been ordered to pass around to the west of
Richmond and effect a junction with Sherman in North Caro-
lina, but, owing to heavy rains and swollen streams, he had been
52
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
delayed until the Confederates had time to throw a heavy force
in his front and prevent his advance. It was necessary to in-
form Grant of the state of affairs, and Rowand and Campbell
agreed to perform the perilous journey. They dressed as Con-
federates, entered the enemy's lines and passed within eight
miles of Richmond. They had been in the saddle continuously
for 48 hours and within two miles of the Chickahominy River
when some Confederate scouts recognized them, although they
had previously held a conversation with Lee's chief of scouts
and gotten away undetected. By hard riding they reached
the river ahead of their pursuers, and Rowand plunged in and
seized a skiff, which was floating in the stream. They aban-
doned their horses and reached the other side of the river, just
as the Confederates came up. They were fired at and ordered
to halt, but this only stimulated them to greater exertions.
After running ten miles they reached the Union line. Here a
new difficulty confronted them.
The Lieutenant in charge of the pickets refused to believe
their story that they were Sheridan's scouts and was inclined
to hang them as Confederate spies. They finally induced him
to conduct them to the Colonel, who immediately forwarded
them to General Grant's headquarters. While sitting at
Grant's desk waiting for him to come, Rowand and Campbell
both fell asleep, the first time in over two days. General Grant
awakened young Rowand by tapping him on the shoulder,
and, after reading the dispatches which were written on tissue
paper rolled in tinfoil, and which Sheridan had charged them
to eat before being hanged if captured. General Grant ordered
that every attention should be given them. They were taken
in charge by several officers and were presented to Mrs. Grant
and a number of officers' wives who were there at the time.
While they were at headquarters the two daring scouts, who
had come through the confederate army, were feasted on the
delicacies of the season, and had a bottle of champaign at every
meal and a few between times.
After the fighting ceased, and when the war closed, General
Sheridan took Companion Rowand with him to Louisiana and
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
53
then in August, 1865, he was honorably discharged and returned
home. Companion Rowand is by profession a lawyer and
holds a high position as a member of the Pittsburg bar.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF A BOY.
A boy from Montgomery County of our own State, Henry
Irwin Yohn, had a remarkable experience. When the war
began he was too young to enlist, but, in August, 1863, having
reached the mature age of 14 years, he left school, bade good-
by to the mother whom he was never to see again, as she died
before his return, and enlisted in Company G, First United
States Cavalry, for five years. While the war had been in
progress for more than two years, he was not too late to have
a good share of the fighting and, under Pleasanton, Buford,
Torbert, Merritt and Sheridan, was in all the cavalry fights
from White Sulphur Springs to Appomattox, 34 battles in all;
Barnett's Ford, Todd's Tavern, Spottsylvania, Beaver Dam,
Yellow Meadow Bridge, Mechanicsville, Hanover Junction,
Haw's Shop, Old Church, Cold Harbor, Trevillian Station.
White House Landing, Deep Bottom, Petersburg, Berryville,
Cedarville, Winchester, Kearneysville, Smithfield, Opequan
(Winchester), Fisher's Hill, Waynesboro, Mt. Crawford, Tom's
Brook, Cedar Creek, Middletown, Gordonsville, Waynesboro,
1865, Dinwiddie Courthouse, Five Forks, Sutherland's Station,
Sailor's Creek, Appomattox.
CAVALRYMAN AT FOURTEEN.
Young Yohn was not a musician, but a regular cavalryman,
doing the whole duty of a man in the ranks; a strong, healthy
and judging from his present appearance, handsome boy.
When the Civil War closed he had still more than two years to
serve, and was sent with his regiment to the Southwest to fight
the Indians, and there was severe and heavy fighting and
plenty of it at that time. Two years' splendid service in south-
ern Arizona, fighting old Cochise and his human tigers, "The
Chiricauhan Apaches," under General Thomas L. Crittenden,
54
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
and these two years full of the most exciting adventures and
heroism on the part of the boy; not a day or hour but was taken
up in marching or fighting, and because of his gallantry and
intelligence, he won the stripes of a sergeant, finally ending
his term of service and receiving from his commanding general
the following strong and unusual indorsement on his discharge:
"A faithful and brave soldier and intelligent non-commis-
sioned officer." Then follows on the document the long list
of the battles and engagements in which the young soldier had
participated.
While there were large numbers of boys of 14 in the volunteer
service and particularly in the infantry, I question if there was
another so young doing a man's full duty in the regular cavalry
or with such a splendid and enviable record.
PENNSYLVANIA'S PROUD DEEDS.
At Gettysburg: While almost every State can claim to
have had regiments on that field which fought until they had
made the glorious record of more than 50 per cent. killed and
wounded, our own State was not behind in the wonderful fight-
ing.
The 141st Pennsylvania Infantry lost
The 26th Pennsylvania Infantry lost....
The 149th Pennsylvania Infantry lost...
The 150th Pennsylvania Infantry lost...
The 151st Pennsylvania Infantry lost
The 75th Pennsylvania Infantry lost...
.. 64.6%
56.9%
50 %
. 50 %
56 0%
56 %
New York has several regiments on this Roll of Honor at
Gettysburg:
The 111th New York lost
..71 %
The 80th New York lost
50.9%
The 126th New York lost
55 %
The 147th New York lost
The 82d New York lost
60 %
•
.50 %
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
55
New Jersey at Gettysburg had the Eleventh Infantry with
a loss of 54 per cent.; Michigan was there with the Twenty-
fourth Infantry, losing 64 per cent.; Indiana, with the Nine-
teenth and Twentieth Infantry, losing 56 and 54 per cent., re-
spectively; Wisconsin, with the Second Infantry, losing 59
per cent.: New Hampshire, with the Fifth Infantry, losing 50
per cent.; Massachusetts, with the Fifteenth Infantry, losing
50 per cent.; and, finally, Minnesota, with the First Infantry,
losing 82 per cent.
Not alone at Gettysburg, but on other fields we find the same
glorious record of heroism.
HEROISM AND VALOR.
At Manassas the One Hundred and First New York lost 64.6
per cent.; Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania, at Fort Harrison, lost
56.5 per cent.; Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, at Cold Harbor,
lost 61.9 per cent.; Thirty-sixth Wisconsin, at Bethesda Church,
lost 53.3 per cent.; Twentieth Massachusetts, at Fredericksburg,
lost 68.4 per cent.; Eighth Vermont, at Cedar Creek, lost 53.2
per cent.; Eighty-first Pennsylvania, at Fredericksburg, lost
59.7 per cent.; Twelfth Massachusetts, at Antietam, lost 61.4
per cent.; First Maine, at Petersburg, lost 63.6 per cent.; Ninth
Louisiana (colored), at Milliken's Bridge, lost 64 per cent.;
Fifth New Hampshire, at Fredericksburg, lost 57.2 per cent.;
Ninth Illinois, at Shiloh, lost 62.4 per cent.; Ninth New York,
at Antietam, lost 59.2 per cent.; Fifteenth New Jersey, at Spott-
sylvania, lost 54.2 per cent.; Sixty-ninth New York, at Antie-
tam, lost 61.8 per cent.; Fifty-first Illinois, at Chickamauga,
lost 52.6 per cent.; Fifth New York, at second Bull Run, lost
76 per cent.; Ninety-third New York, at Wilderness, lost 58.9
per cent.; Fifteenth Indiana, at Missionary Ridge, lost 59.5
per cent.; Seventh Ohio, at Cedar Mountain, lost 58.6 per cent.;
Sixty-third New York, at Antietam, lost 58.7 per cent.; Third
Wisconsin, at Antietam, lost 58.8 per cent.; One Hundred Forty-
first New York, at Opequan, lost 58.7 per cent.; Fifty-ninth
New York, at Antietam, lost 52.8 per cent.; Second Wisconsin,
at Manassas, lost 52.1 per cent.; Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, at
56
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
Cold Harbor, lost 50.5 per cent.; Sixth United States (colored),
at Chapin's Farm, lost 54.8 per cent.; Fifteenth Massachusetts,
at Antietam, lost 52.8 per cent.; Fourth United States (colored),
at Chapin's Farm, lost 56 per cent.; Twenty-sixth New York,
at Fredericksburg, lost 53 per cent.; Fourteenth Indiana, at
Antietam, lost 56.2 per cent.; Twelfth New Hampshire, at Cold
Harbor, lost 50.5 per cent.
What a tale of death and blood, heroism and valor, devotion
and love of country these figures tell!
Colonel Sidney Burbank's Brigade, of United States Infantry
at Gettysburg lost exactly 50 per cent. of all the officers; the
Seventh United States Infantry lost 51 per cent.; fighting over
the wheatfield, Seventeenth Infantry lost 53 per cent.; Tenth
United States Infantry lost 52 per cent.
These are some of the commands that beat the world's record
for heroic fighting, and these figures speak of the killed and
wounded only. Many were the missing in each of these com-
mands, with the exception of the First Minnesota, and, undoubt-
edly, many of those were among the dead, but I speak only of
those who were known to have been killed or wounded, and those
alone are counted in this paper.
GREAT RECORD AT FORT HARRISON.
The Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry made its great rec-
ord at Fort Harrison, September 29, 1864. The attack on
Fort Harrison was made to either enable our troops to capture
Richmond by the north bank of the James or to cause the Con-
federate commander to withdraw forces from his right, and thus
materially assist General Grant in his movement of our extreme
left at Petersburg. The attack was made by the First Division
of the Eighteenth Corps, and General Stannard, who com-
manded the division, lost his arm in the fight. The regiment
was compelled to march over open ground for full three-quarters
of a mile before reaching the fort, every moment exposed to
the fire of the enemy without an opportunity of returning it.
By the time the Fifty-eighth reached the ditch in front of the
works, eight color bearers had fallen in succession, and nearly
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
57
50 per cent. of the men, but, without a moment's hesitation,
the others leaped into the open trench and began climbing the
works. Captain Cecil Clay, of Company K, seizing the flag of
the One Hundred Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania, drove his sword
into the bank, and, placing his foot on the handle, used it as a
step. One of his men, seizing him by the leg, threw him up
on to the top of the works. As he reached the crest of the
banquette two privates, Johnston and Copeland, got there at
the same moment. Johnston fell wounded and Copeland fell
dead. The right arm of Captain Clay was shot off, but he
seized the colors in his left and waved them aloft. The men
of the Fifty-eighth crowded each other in their efforts to climb
the works, and after a terrific hand-to-hand struggle the fort
was taken. The Adjutant, Joseph E. Johnson, of the Fifty-
eighth, was perhaps the first man of the regiment to enter the
fort. He was wounded twice before reaching the works, and
was shot the third time after entering the fort. Congress
Medals of Honor were awarded to Captain Clay, Adjutant
Johnson and Lieutenant Nathaniel McKeown, of the Fifty-
eighth, and for the same fight medals were awarded to Captain
William S. Hubbell, of the Twenty-first Connecticut Infantry,
and Private William L. Graul, of the One Hundred Eighty-
eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, and Captain Samuel B. Horne,
of the Eleventh Connecticut Infantry.
The Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry was recruited in
Warren, McKean, Cameron, Clinton, Northumberland, Luzerne
and Potter Counties, in our State. The first Colonel, J. Rich-
ter Jones, was killed at Bachelor's Creek, N. C., May 23, 1863.
At Fort Harrison the loss was 56 per cent. killed and wounded.
Among the killed were Captains Theodore Blakeley and Daniel
F. Linn, and Lieutenants Joseph E. Johnston, Thomas Bir-
mingham, Robert Hedian and Captain Cecil Clay were among
these severely wounded.
CHAPIN'S FARM, OR NEW MARKET HEIGHTS.
The battle known by this name was fought at the same time
as the successful assault on Fort Harrison, and was, in fact,
58
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
but a part of the same action, being an extension of our line
to the right. In this battle the colored troops sustained re-
markable losses and performed a most conspicuous part.
Their heroism was great and their fighting superb. The
Fourth United States Colored Infantry lost 56 per cent., killed
and wounded, and of the 12 of the color guard, 11 were killed
and wounded, and Sergeant Major Christian A. Fleetwood
gained a Congress Medal of Honor for saving the flag of his
regiment. This gallant regiment was recruited at Baltimore,
in July and August, 1863.
The Sixth United States (colored) made also a remarkable
fight at New Market Heights, losing nearly 55 per cent. killed
and wounded and not one missing or unaccounted for. Captain
McMurray's company lost 87 per cent., the greatest of any
organization during the whole war.
At my request one of the survivors writes me the following
account of the day:
"To understand clearly the battle of September 29, 1864, at
Chapin's Farm, Va., and the heavy losses sustained by the
Sixth United States Colored Infantry in that action, it is neces-
sary for us to understand something of the position of the two
opposing forces and of the conditions under which the attack
was delivered.
"The Eighteenth Corps, consisting of three divisions of three
brigades each, under Major General Birney, was massed on
the north side of the James River, near Deep Bottom The whole
command was under orders to march at daybreak on the morn-
ing of the 29th for an attack on Fort Harrison. The command
was to move by the left, which threw the Third Brigade of the
Third Division in front.
"This brigade was made up of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Regiments of U. S. C. I., under command of Colonel Samuel
A. Duncan, of the Fourth. Our formation was in brigade line
of battle, with the Fourth on the right; then the Fifth and, of
course, the Sixth on the left, and in this formation we were to
move.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
59
RUSHING TO DEATH.
The first position of the enemy on the road toward Fort
Harrison was some two miles from our camp, in a northwesterly
direction, and consisted of earthworks strengthened by a good
abattis, and further guarded by a sluggish stream, swampy in
places, about three or four yards wide, with slimy banks and
cozy, sticky bottom. This stream ran nearly parallel to that
side of the earthworks which we attacked and was some 60 to
80 yards distant from it. This face of the works formed one
of the adjacent sides of a re-entrant angle, from the other side
of which an enfilading fire could be poured over the entire
inner bank of the stream. And it was across this stream and
into this angle and against this abattis that it was the fate of
the Sixth to charge.
"We formed line of battle, as stated above, in the earliest
dawn of the 29th, and, according to order, as soon as we could
see to take aim, we began our march. Captain Weinman, of
the Sixth, in command of the brigade sharpshooters, covered
our front and was followed by A and K companies of the Sixth,
in command of Captain R. B. Beath, deployed as skirmishers.
"Our orders were that as soon as the enemy was found, to
strike and drive him as rapidly as possible,' and we were as-
sured that the whole command would be at our backs to sustain
STORMED WITH BULLETS.
"Our route was through a fairly open wood, up the slope of a
hill; then along its crest, finally dipping gently toward cleared
or partly cleared land. We had barely reached the crest of the
hill when firing began between the sharpshooters and the enemy.
In a few moments the firing was increased by volleys from their
picket reserves, and then a scattering and receding fire told us
that our men had them on the run. Striking a double quick,
we followed down the slope and soon were in the thick of it
ourselves and getting it hot. For the Sixth had come squarely
on that re-entrant angle and upon that muddy stream, too wide
60
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
to be jumped over and too miry to be waded through, but
which, nevertheless, had to be passed over. To hesitate was
to die on the outer side of the stream. So officers and men
plunged in and struggled through as best they might and
climbed the opposite bank. But they had no sooner gained
their feet than they were swept off them again by a storm of
bullets from the left, delivered with great accuracy and in terrific
volume. The Color Guard went down to a man, and York,
Sheldon and Landon and Meyer-in fact, almost every line
officer of the regiment went down before it, either in the stream
or on this inner bank. Captain York fell while taking the
regimental colors from the dying color bearer, and Lieutenant
Meyer, in trying to carry them forward after York had fallen.
The national flag went down time and again and finally reached
the front in the hands of Sergeant Kelly, of Company F, who
was fortunate enough to carry it and live. The regimental
flag was taken from the dead hands of Lieutenant Meyer by
the Adjutant of the Regiment, N. H. Edgerton, who started
forward with it, but went down within two paces of Meyer,
struck by a ball which shot his hand at the wrist and cut the
staff of the flag in two; but, finding that only his hand was
gone, he sheathed his sword, took the flag in his other hand and
carried it to the front of the abattis. Colonel Ames, already
wounded in the fleshy part of his leg, and less than a score of
the rank and file were there, waiting to make a further advance
if men enough could be got together to make it possible. But
when he learned that all who had crossed the stream were with
him, he said: "Well, boys, we can't break through this line
with half a dozen men. Fall back behind the stream.”
"This was accomplished with little further loss, although
some firing was still kept up, for the powder smoke was now so
dense that it was impossible for the enemy to see us, and the
firing was done at random.
"So ended a happening that for percentage of casualties
stands almost unequaled. And of these casualties almost all
were either in the creek or in that slaughter pen between it and
the abattis.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
61
"Captain Beath, who commanded the skirmishers, and Lieu-
tenant Colonel Royce were, I think, the only exceptions among
the officers, both of them being shot, if I remember correctly,
before we reached the stream."
EXTRAORDINARY DARING
Captain John McMurray, that splendid officer whose com-
pany lost the wonderful percentage of 87 killed and wounded,
also tells me the story of the awful day:
"Those who are familiar with the movements of the troops
under Grant during the siege of Petersburg will remember that
on September 29, 1864, General Warren was pushed out on
the extreme left of our line in an attempt to capture the Weldon
Railroad, while at the same time the Tenth Corps, commanded
by Birney, and the Eighteenth Corps, under General Ord, were
thrown against the defenses of Richmond, on our extreme right.
"In this movement we formed part of the Eighteenth Corps.
Early on the morning of September 29 we were astir, and before
sunrise were on the march directly toward the Confederate,
entrenchments at the foot of Spring Hill, or New Market
Heights.
"In contemplating now the results of that day I have been
led to see the wisdom of God in concealing from man what is
before him as I never saw it before. Had I known when I
arose that morning what was in store for my company or my
regiment within the next two or three hours I would have been
entirely unfitted for the duties of the day. In mercy and
kindness I was allowed to see only what each moment revealed,
and, seeing that and only that, I went forward, trying to do
the best I could and hoping for the best results.
FACING THE RIFLE PITS.
"As I remember the distance now the line of Confederate
works toward which we were moving was somewhere between
a mile and a half and two miles from the river at the point
where we left the steamer. About half of this distance we
marched by the flank, or 'endwise,' as Isaac Tuller said. Then
62
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
we formed in line of battle, our regiment on the left of the line
and the Fourth next on our right. Soon after forming thus we
emerged from a wood into an open field, on the top of a little
hill. Just as we reached this field we could see the first rays
of sunlight glinting from the treetops and a score or two of
Confederates scampering across the field before us, turning
once in a while to shoot back at us. They were the men who
had been on the picket line, and were falling back before us to
their line of entrenchments.
"The field through which we were passing was nearly 40
rods in width, as I remember it now. From the edge of the
wood the ground descended slightly toward the Confederate
rifle pits. Between the far edge of the field and this line of
rifle pits had been a strip of woods 10 or 12 rods wide, through
which ran a little stream parallel with the works. All the
timber in this piece of woods had been cut down, forming a
slashing in front of their line, very difficult to pass through
the trunks and limbs of the trees impeding our progress at
every step. Our brigade was marched across this open field
and halted at the far side, just at the edge of the slashing.
There we were formed in line with as much accuracy and care
as though we had been on parade. Every man and every
officer was in his place. Every captain or company commander
was in the front rank, his first sergeant was directly behind
him in the rear rank and the lieutenants and sergeants stood
a step or two behind the rear ranks of their companies in their
places as file closers. Back of these a few paces stood the field
officers of each regiment, and still back of them were the brigade
commander and his staff officers.
FORWARD AS ONE MAN.
"During the time we were straightening and adjusting our
line, and while we stood there after it was all arranged, not
a Confederate bullet was fired at us. I have no doubt that the
Confederates looked on with great interest, thinking no doubt
what a lot of fools we were. I know there was a big lot of
thinking done by us as we stood there. We knew there was
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
63
a strong line of Confederates behind the rifle pits across the
slashing from us. We knew that, as soon as we would move
forward, they would open fire on us.
"We knew the order to go forward would soon be given.
But beyond that, what? Would it be death, or wound, or
capture? Would it be victory or defeat? How the scenes and
deeds of the past came rushing in on the mind like a mighty
flood! That was perhaps the most trying five minutes we
endured in all our army life. It would take the pen of the
brightest angel that ever stood before the throne of God to
write the thoughts of the men who stood in that line that bright
September morning. My heart almost stands still now as I
write these lines and try to recall some of the thoughts that
came to me then.
"Finally we heard the voice of Colonel Duncan, our brigade
commander, saying, 'Forward!' and as one man we plunged
into the slashing. And I want to say for the honor of the regi-
ment, and the whole brigade, that I believe not a man turned
his back to the enemy.
"The point where we attacked the Confederate line was
about a mile and a half to our right, and the Confederate left,
of Fort Harrison. Why we were directed to attack there I do
not think an officer in our brigade knew. And I think they
were equally ignorant of what was taking place at other points,
We learned afterward that near the time of our attack, perhaps
a little later, General Ord with the larger portion of the Eigh-
teenth Corps assaulted Fort Harrison, on the Chapin Farm, one
of the outer defenses of Richmond, and our attack at New
Market Heights was merely to prevent the Confederate troops
there from being sent to strengthen the line at and near Fort
Harrison.
RANKS GROWING THINNER.
"At the command 'Forward!' our line advanced immediately
plunging at once into the slashing I have already described.
Just as the command was given Lieutenant Johnson, of my
company, in an excited way, began to swing his sword over
64
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
his head, describing with it a series of circles. He had not
completed more than three or four of these when a Confederate
bullet struck him on the wrist, and the sword, flying off at a
tangent, struck the ground 18 or 20 feet away. He was taken
to the rear and then to hospital at Fort Monroe, and I did not
see him again for several months.
"But the rest of us pressed on toward the Confederate line,
picking our way through the slashing as best we could. It
was slow work, and every step of our advance exposed us to
the murderous fire of the enemy. We had little chance for
firing and might almost as well have had no muskets. Some-
times and in some places they were absolute hindrance to us.
As we urged our way onward we were utterly unable to protect
ourselves in any way. As we advanced I noticed our ranks
getting thinner and thinner and wondered what had become
of the men. I saw fewer and fewer of my own men, and won-
dered if any of them had turned back. Then I passed my first
sergeant, Miles Parker, shot through the leg. He was sitting
down and greeted me cheerfully as I passed by saying, 'Never
mind me, captain, I'll get along all right.' And as I pressed
on as best I could, urging the men forward, I passed others
of my company, some killed and some wounded. I saw that
my company was suffering heavy losses, but thought of little
else than pressing forward and keeping the men moving on.
When about half way through the slashing I came to a large
oak tree that had been felled. At the same moment three or
four members of the color guard came to the same spot. We
were close by the stump of the tree, and the way forward seemed
to be through an opening between the trunk of the tree and its
stump, less than three feet wide. Involuntarily, almost, I
paused to let the colors go ahead of me. I followed close after,
and just when the last of the men carrying one of our flags (we
had three) was right in the opening between the stump and the
tree trunk he was shot through the breast and fell back against
me, almost knocking me over. The loss of his life there abso-
lutely saved mine.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
65
GOING BACK WAS WORSE.
"We pressed on until we got through the slashing, into an
open space before the Confederate rifle pits. Just then Colonel
Ames and I happened to come together, the first time we had
met in the fight. He was as cool, apparently, as though there
was not a Confederate within miles of us. Our line seemed to
be very thin. I noticed Lieutenant Meyer, of whom I wrote a
while back, as he stood a rod or two in advance of us. As I
looked at him he was shot through the body--I think through
the heart. When hit he was standing directly in front of a brush
pile, about two feet high and four or five feet across. When
he turned he sprang right over this, falling dead on the other
side.
"As we stood there, and just as Lieutenant Meyer was killed,
Colonel Ames said: 'Captain, don't you think we had better
fall back? We haven't force enough to take this line, and if
we remain here we will probably all be killed.' I answered
frankly that I thought the best thing we could do was to fall
back. Then he said: "Take the men back as quickly as you
can, but keep them well in hand, and don't let them get demor-
alized.' And then we started back. And the going back was
worse than the coming up, because to be shot at with your
back to the enemy is always more annoying. You feel then as
if utterly helpless.
6
"Finally we got through the slashing and back to the open
field, passing on the way several dead and some wounded men.
As
soon as we reached the open field each officer began to gather
his men together so as to reform the regiment. The very best
I could do I could only find three of my company, and I won-
dered where all the others were. I had not yet learned what
my loss was. When I learned it fully I admit I felt sick and
discouraged.
"In the field, some 10 or 15 rods from the edge of the slashing,
we came to where Colonel Royce was sitting or lying, seemingly
exhausted. His feet were in a hole in the ground made by a
Confederate shell. As he was going back, just as he reached
66
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
that spot, a shell struck the ground under him, making quite
a hole, into which he dropped. His first feeling was that both
legs had been shot off, but we soon convinced him they were
not. His legs were all right, and he walked back with us. He
had been wounded earlier in the fight.
GREAT COMPANY LOSS.
"We fell back until we passed a rise in the ground where we
would be protected from Confederate shells. There we halted
and formed what was left of our regiment. When we had
gathered up all our men, and ascertained in one way or another
who were killed and who were wounded, we found our loss to
be nearly 55 per cent. And all the fighting was done with
musketry. But very few shots were fired from the artillery,
and none of them harmed us. And all this loss was in eight
companies, save the two killed and three or four wounded in
Company A. The loss in my company was 11 men killed, one
officer and 15 men wounded and one man captured. I entered
the fight with 30 enlisted men, one officer and myself—32 all
told-and came out with three enlisted men and myself. My
loss was seven out of eight, or 87 per cent. And I was the only
officer left in three companies in the centre of the regiment.
Over one-third of my men were killed and seven-eighths of
them were killed and wounded.
Captain Robert B. Beath lost his leg, but, refusing to be
retired, was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the regiment,
and since the close of the war filled the honorable position of
Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and
is a loved and respected citizen of Philadelphia.
AT SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN.
It is a pity that more detail is not known of all and every
one of those great commands that lost so greatly and made
such a world record for heroism. The war closed, the surviv-
ors were mustered out and went back to their homes; the farmer
to the plow, the merchant to his store, the schoolboy to college
and the mechanic to the workshop and became the best and
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
67
most law-abiding citizens of the Republic, not one of them
thinking of the splendid heroism displayed or that they had
done anything more than their duty.
So the days passed and no one thought of writing the glorious
history. Of many of these regiments there is no written record,
and while the poet laureate sounds in glowing language the
praise of the "Six Hundred at Balaklava," with their 37 per
cent. loss, our noble commands, with twice the loss, are being
forgotten, their praises unrecorded and unsung.
The regiment that, next to the First Minnesota at Gettysburg,
lost the largest percentage of all was the Fifth New York Infan-
try at the Second Battle of Bull Run-76 per cent. killed and
wounded and not one missing or unaccounted for—and, com-
paratively speaking, very little is known of the history or detail
of the fight made by that command. It was another of the
regiments that made a world-wide record in heroism. At the
Second Battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862, the regiment went
into action with 462 officers and men; in less than ten minutes
136 lay dead or mortally wounded, 203 wounded and 17 missing
who were afterward found to have died in the enemy's hands-
a total of 76 per cent. The only command showing a greater
percentage of loss was the First Minnesota, at Gettysburg.
The Fifth New York was commanded in the battle by Colo-
nel G. K. Warren, that gallant soldier who afterward com-
manded the Fifth Corps. Warren, seeing an exposed point
in our line of battle and the paramount necessity of holding it.
placed there the command that so heroically defended the
position. Longstreet's Confederate Corps lay in front and,
preceded by a terrific artillery fire, advanced to the attack,
Hood's brigade in advance, with the First, Fourth and Fifth
Texas, Eighteenth Georgia and the Hampton Legion. Less
than half a regiment was there to meet the onslaught; truly
a forlorn hope! But the brave Zouaves never faltered. They
returned the fire promptly and effectively, while the rifles of
the enemy played mercilessly the song of death. A few min-
utes and all was over. Almost annihilated, but neither con-
quered nor disgraced, the men slowly retired, carrying with
68
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
them their flags and some of the wounded. One gallant soldier,
James W. Webb, of Company F, received a Congress Medal of
Honor for the part he took in the fight.
BATTERY THAT HAS GREATEST RECORD.
The battery that made the greatest record for square, stand-
up fighting and remarkable loss during the war was the Eleventh
Ohio, at Iuka, Miss., September 19, 1862. I have previously
remarked that it is a pity that not more detailed information
is in existence regarding these brave commands, but fortunately
my esteemed friend and comrade, Colonel Cyrus Sears, who
commanded the battery on that occasion, is still living and
sends me a copy of a letter written by him three days after the
fight. It is a wonderful story, a vivid recalling of a terrible
day of war, blood and heroism.
"DEAR BROTHER:
"IUKA, MISS., September 22, 1862
"Our long-continued marching orders (which we had then
had for 16 successive mornings) came to an end in the midst
of a heavy rainstorm at 4 o'clock of the morning of the 18th,
when the Army of the Mississippi finally did start in quest of
General Price and Company, then supposed to be prowling in
this vicinity. It seems to have been the arrangement that
several thousands of Grant's army, under General Ord, were to
have taken a northerly road and come in on the enemy's rear,
when Rosecrans should attack in front
"The Army of the Mississippi, on the 18th, marched about
10 miles-nothing of importance but rain and mud occurring
to us.
From our bivouac by the roadside we resumed our
march and quest at daybreak next morning-the Fifth Iowa
Regiment in advance, and the Eleventh Ohio Battery imme-
diately following.
“Skirmishing with the enemy's pickets commenced at about
10 o'clock, and thence continued all along the way, several
having been killed and wounded on both sides before the real
battle commenced. When within about five miles of this
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
69
place we supposed we had found the enemy in force, and
formed our lines of battle accordingly. Soon we discovered
our mistake, and moved forward with greatly increasing skir-
mishing, until, arriving within about a mile and a half of this
place, a volley from the enemy's artillery and infantry hastened
us into line on the double quick. Our front (First Brigade)
was now in the form of a much spread A-the Eleventh Ohio
Battery occupying the square-toed point, the Fifth Iowa its
right arm and the Forty-eighth Indiana and Fourth Minnesota
its left, with the Twenty-sixth Missouri close in rear of the
right of the battery and extending to the right, with the Six-
teenth Iowa a little further to the rear of the left and extending
to the left, and both now protected by the ridge.
"The battery's position was on the brow of a ridge covered
with young timber too thick to admit the manoeuvre of artil-
lery, had there been time or occasion for it.
LOSS UNPARALLELED.
'Before we had time to form in battery two divisions of the
enemy commenced charging us. We soon reciprocated, in
our kind, as fast as possible, and-was to pay in less than no
time. The enemy seemed to concentrate upon the battery,
which, accordingly, suffered most severely.
"The total casualties in the battery are 16 killed and 38
wounded, out of 103 (as near as I can ascertain), including
officers, engaged. The action did not seem to last more than
10 to 20 minutes; but it is doubtful whether the history of war
furnishes a parallel in destruction of, or by, a single battery
in one engagement. The men of the battery, as a whole, ex-
hibited the most obstinate and, perhaps, even foolhardy brav-
ery.
"Of our first line of battle, the battery seemed to be the first
to commence business and the last to quit, before the reserve
(from Second Brigade) came to the rescue just at dark, when the
men of the battery able to do so fell back; the guns being tem-
porarily abandoned, between the opposing belligerents-neither
of which dared to take them away. Instances of personal
70
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
bravery never surpassed were exhibited at almost every piece,
a few of which I will mention.
"Acting Corporal Buckley alone fired two or three shots from
his piece after every other cannoneer of his squad was killed or
disabled.
"David W. Montgomery, carrier of ammunition, continued
at his post until the last, when, knowing there was a load in his
piece, he seized the lanyard and discharged it right in to the
bellies of the enemy. As he did so he was throttled by a big
'Secesh,' who raised his gun to brain him. 'Davy' got rid of
this part of the rebellion by cracking it over the head with a
canister and sending it to grass, then dodged under the limber
into the brush and saved so much of the Union.
"Henry McLaughlin made a full hand, after being wounded
four times, once severely. Several others did the same with
one or more wounds.
"John Ettle, after being mortally wounded by a shot through
his body, passed me for ammunition. As he did so he pulled
his shirt back, showing me the wound, from which the blood
was freely flowing, and remarked, while smiling as though it
were only a joke: 'Well, Lieutenant, I guess I've got h-1, see!
But I'm going to try to help give 'em a few rounds yet.' Suit-
ing his actions to his words, he continued at his post until he
fell—where he died in a very few minutes. And there was a
dead hero if God ever made one. Several of the wounded are
severely hurt; two or three of them probably mortally.
"Although the battery was thus severely handled, it fully
reciprocated. It fired about 150 rounds-mostly canister,
and much of this double canister-right into the eyes of the
enemy, doing terrible execution.
HORSES OUT OF SERVICE.
"Our first line was now overpowered and borne back, leaving
the pieces temporarily between the combatants. Forty-two
of our horses were killed on the spot and nearly all the rest dis-
abled. Every commissioned and non-commissioned officer's
horse shared a similar fate. I have no definite idea of the total
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
71
killed or wounded on either side in the battle, but know it was
comparatively large on both. Next to the battery, the Fifth
Iowa suffered most severely. So far as I can learn, the action
of the battery was not only satisfactory to all, but it has elicited
the highest praise. Colonel Lothrop, Rosecrans's chief of ar-
tillery, told me the morning after the fight that he did not be-
lieve there was a case on record where a battery had been so
badly slaughtered or where the men and officers exhibited more
bravery during an engagement.
"The able for duty of Rosecrans's army have gone in pursuit
of the enemy. What is left of the battery is here to be repaired
and recruited as soon as possible.
"You will perceive that, finally, the Eleventh Ohio Battery
has experienced the 'novelty' and 'fun' of a fight; and, though
I trust that what are left would exhibit the same gallantry again
if called upon to do so under similar circumstances, I don't
think many of us will 'spoil' for another dose like that of the
19th. The men not disabled buried their 16 dead comrades
together in one grave-hole-under the shadiest tree conve-
nient on the battlefield on the morning of the 20th. Riding
past from our bivouac in the woods to this place I was able to
witness the rite briefly. It was crude, but very sad. No
shrouds, coffins, songs or audible prayer; yet, I believe, with
as much real respect and genuine sorrow as in the most pom-
pous and circumstantial funerals in peace. And I feel sure these
dead patriots will sleep and dream as sweetly in their common
crude grave as any mausoleumed king; and that Gabriel's last
trump-if in discriminating hands-will find them as quickly
and as well prepared as any, though most of those boys did in-
advertently let slip a few 'cuss words' occasionally when the
amenities of the situation seemed to call for them. There was
Ettie, king among heroes, though uncrowned save by gallant
deeds richer and more glorifying than any gold or jewels. The
wounded, including myself, are quartered in rebel houses turned
into hospitals in this place, and receive as good care as circum-
stances seem to permit. When able to write myself I may
give you further particulars.
CYRUS SEARS.
(Dictated.)
"Per William H. Doxon."
72
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
TEAMSTER'S HEROISM.
Of the 103 men of this battery in this action 54 were can-
noneers. Of these 48 were killed or wounded-over 88 per
cent.—leaving an average of but one cannoneer able for duty
for each gun. The drivers were considerably protected by the
ridge where the guns were and did not suffer much. But of
these there was at least one dead hero-John Dean. Just as
the guns were being abandoned and all the able-bodied were
trying to save themselves Dean was seen by a comrade holding
his team right where it stopped after his piece had been taken
into battery. Dean's team was the leading one to the limber.
Two or three horses of the six to this limber were then dead or
dying, and the rebels were close and very "hot." This com-
rade asked Dean why he did not save himself as others were
doing. Dean replied "My sergeant ordered me to hold this
team right here, and by G-d, I'm going to do it or die till I
get proper orders to do something else. Next morning he
was found still holding his team right there with a death grip
on his bridles-Dean stretched, dead-all those six horses
dead, but still hitched to the limber. He sleeps under the tree
with the rest.
""
The Confederate reports of the battle pay the highest com-
pliment to the battery. In his official report of this battle
Confederate General Price, in specially complimenting his
Third Louisiana and Third Texas Regiment for their prowess
in charging this battery at Iuka, after noting their previous
glorious record, says: "In this, the hardest fought fight which
I have ever witnessed, they well sustained their bloodily won
reputation, as the accompanying report of killed and wounded
will testify."
CONFEDERATE COMPLIMENTS.
And here is what the Confederate Colonel Whitfield says
about it in his report: On the afternoon of Friday, September
19, we formed in line of battle about one mile south of Iuka on
the Bay Springs road, the enemy appearing in large force.
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
73
Soon after getting in position I was ordered to move my com-
mand in the direction of the enemy, which was then about 300
yards off. After having advanced about 100 paces the enemy
opened a very heavy fire with grape and canister from their
artillery, besides a shower from their small arms. Under this
galling fire my command moved on, and, when within about.
150 yards of the enemy, I discovered that unless the battery,
was immediately silenced the result might be most disastrous,
and gave the command to charge, which was responded to by
loud cheers from my command and the Third Texas Cavalry—
being then dismounted-and at a double quick they moved up
and captured the six-gun battery, which I am informed by one
of the lieutenants, had been charged eight times before in differ-
ent fights unsuccessfully."
Mark the balance of Colonel Whitfield's report, to wit: "In
this short but hotly contested charge I sustained a loss of 106
officers and men, most of whom fell at or immediately about
the battery." As we shall see presently the loss in this charge
of the Third Texas dismounted cavalry is not included in this
106, for a Confederate correspondent writing to the Confeder-
ate Mississippian under date of September 24, 1862, says of
Price's Third Brigade in this fight: "They charged and took
the battery which was doing so much damage after a desperate
struggle, piling the ground with the dead. The Third Louisiana
Regiment of this brigade entered the fight with 238 men and
lost 108 in killed and wounded. The Third Texas fared about
as badly." And, as we shall show, we had repelled two charges
before this was made in which, doubtless, we "had done the
State some service.
This from the report of General Rosecrans, commanding
the Army of the Mississippi:
"The enemy's line of infantry now moved forward on the
battery coming up from the woods on our right on the Fifth
Iowa, while a brigade showed itself on our left and attempted
to cross the road toward Colonel Purczel. The battle became
furious. Our battery poured in a deadly fire upon the enemy's
column advancing up the road, while the musketry concen-
74
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
trated upon it, soon killing or wounding most of the horses.
When within 100 yards they received a volley from our entire
line and from that time the battle raged furiously. The enemy
penetrated the battery, were repulsed, again returned, were
again repulsed, and finally bore down upon it with a column
of three regiments (doubtless the Colonel Whitfield charge)
and this time carried the battery. The cannoneers were,
many of them, bayonetted at their pieces. Three of the guns
were spiked. In this last charge the brigade of Texans, which
had attempted to turn our left, having been repulsed by Pur-
czell turned upon the battery and co-operated in the charge.
The Forty-eighth Indiana, which lay in its track, was obliged
to yield about 100 yards, where it was supported by the Fourth
Minnesota.
"Sand's Eleventh Ohio Battery, under Lieutenant Sears,
was served with unequaled bravery, under circumstances of
danger and exposure such as rarely, perhaps never, has fallen
to the lot of one single battery during the war.'
HONORED BY CONGRESS.
The Eleventh Ohio was organized in Cincinnati in 1861 from
recruits gathered in Athens, Butler, Hamilton, Vinton and
Wyandotte Counties. The men were specially equipped and
made a fine appearance in camp parades.
""
"Mrs. General Fremont presented the company with a silk
guidon when it reported for duty at army headquarters in St.
Louis. Such incidents were common in those days, and cer-
tainly no one supposed that that little banner would sometime
float over the bloodiest single field battery contest on record.'
For the magnificent fight that Lieutenant Sears made with
his guns he was awarded the Congress Medal of Honor; every
man of the battery should have had a Medal of Honor and not
one medal would have been misplaced. The Medal of Honor
was not the only reward conferred upon Lieutenant Sears.
He was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Forty-ninth
United States Colored Troops, and, with that gallant regiment
fought until the close of the war, making another splendid
HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER.
75
record for the valor displayed by that regiment at Milliken's
Bend, where the losses were almost as great as that of his bat-
tery at Iuka, and finally, at the close of the war, was recom-
mended for brevet brigadier general. Colonel Sears is now a
banker at Harpster, Ohio, and no one would imagine that the
quiet, unassuming citizen, whom every one loves and honors,
could ever have been the stern soldier and heroic commander
of the Eleventh Ohio Battery at Iuka.
The battle of Iuka was fought September 19, 1862, General
Rosecrans commanding the Union troops and General Price
the Confederate. It ended in a Union victory, although the
enemy had a much larger force. And so the writer rejoices in
recording the heroism of the commands herein named, "The
American Volunteer," whose equal as a soldier has never yet
appeared on earth.
AUG 25 1020
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 01675 6135