maryland Heights, September 21, 1862.
Dear Father, — . . . We left Frederick on the 14th instant,
marched that day and the next to Boonsborough, passing through a gap in the
mountain where Burnside had had a fight the day before. On the 16th our corps,
then commanded by General Mansfield, took up a position in rear of Sumner's,
and lay there all day. The Massachusetts cavalry was very near us. I went over
and spent the evening with them, and had a long talk with Forbes about home and
friends there We lay on his blanket before the fire until nearly ten o'clock,
and then I left him, little realizing what a day the next was to be, though a
battle was expected; and I thought, as I rode off, that perhaps we shouldn't
see each other again. Fortunately, we have both got through safely so far. At
about eleven, P. M., Mansfield's corps was moved two or three miles to the
right. At one in the morning of the 17th we rested in a wheat-field. Our
pickets were firing all night, and at daylight we were waked up by the
artillery; we were moved forward immediately, and went into action in about
fifteen minutes. The Second Massachusetts was on the right of Gordon's brigade,
and the Third Wisconsin next; the latter was in a very exposed position, and lost
as many as two hundred killed and wounded in a short time. We were posted in a
little orchard, and Colonel Andrews got a cross-fire on that part of the
enemy's line, which, as we soon discovered, did a great deal of execution, and
saved the Third Wisconsin from being completely used up. It was the prettiest
thing we have ever done, and our loss was small at that time; in half an hour
the brigade advanced through a corn-field in front, which until then had been
occupied by the enemy; it was full of their dead and wounded, and one of our
sergeants took a regimental color there, belonging to the Eleventh Mississippi.
Beyond the corn-field was a large open field, and such a mass of dead and
wounded men, mostly Rebels, as were lying there, I never saw before; it was a
terrible sight, and our men had to be very careful to avoid treading on them;
many were mangled and torn to pieces by artillery, but most of them had been
wounded by musketry fire. We halted right among them, and the men did
everything they could for their comfort, giving them water from their canteens,
and trying to place them in easy positions. There are so many young boys and
old men among the Rebels, that it seems hardly possible that they can have come
of their own accord to fight us; and it makes you pity them all the more, as
they lie moaning on the field.
The Second Massachusetts came to close quarters, i. e.
within musket range, twice during the day; but we had several men wounded by
shell, which were flying about loosely all day. It was the greatest fight of
the war, and I wish I could give you a satisfactory account of everything I saw.
. . .
At last, night came on, and, with the exception of an
occasional shot from the outposts, all was quiet. The crickets chirped, and the
frogs croaked, just as if nothing unusual had happened all day long; and
presently the stars came out bright, and we lay down among the dead, and slept
soundly until daylight. There were twenty dead bodies within a rod of me. The
next day, much to our surprise, all was quiet, and the burying and hospital
parties worked hard, caring for the dead and wounded
I never felt before the excitement which makes a man want to
rush into the fight, but I did that day. Every battle makes me wish more and
more that the war was over. It seems almost as if nothing could justify a
battle like that of the 17th, and the horrors inseparable from it.
SOURCE: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Editor, Harvard
Memorial Biographies, Volume 2, p. 199-200
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