Saw Mack Sample,
Will Stone and several of our company to-day that have been prisoners since the
battle of Gettysburg. We get two meals a day.
SOURCE: Louis
Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 63
Saw Mack Sample,
Will Stone and several of our company to-day that have been prisoners since the
battle of Gettysburg. We get two meals a day.
SOURCE: Louis
Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 63
WASHINGTON, D. C., [July 1, 1866].
MY DEAR ONE:— We missed you so much at Gettysburg [June 28-30]. It was cool, fine weather. The company good. "All things lovely." The battle-field must be one of the finest in the world. We had for guide and chaperon a gentleman who has made it a study for a long while, and I now feel that I know the battle as if I had seen it. There was nothing more in the generalship than I had supposed, but the stubbornness and good conduct of the army, of men and officers generally, was worthy of the cause. The Rebel attack was a very brilliant but rash thing.
Pick a cool day to go to Fremont. Every week or two, even in this weather, there is a little cool spell.
I shall not come home until the end of the session, now supposed to be on the 16th. - Love to all.
In a recent letter
I promised to write you more about our campaign in Pennsylvania.
On the night of the
29th of June we camped on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where they
extend into Pennsylvania. On the morning of the next day (30th) we renewed our
march. Shortly after starting it began raining, but the road was hard and well
macadamized and the rain made the march rather agreeable than otherwise. On
this same morning we passed where a splendid iron factory had been burned by
General Early, of Ewell's Corps. It belonged to a very celebrated lawyer and
politician of Pennsylvania by the name of Thaddeus Stevens, who is noted for
his extreme abolition views and his intense hatred for slave-holders. The works
are said to have been worth more than one hundred thousand dollars. The burning
had thrown a great many operatives out of employment, and they seemed to be
much distressed.
During the day we
wended our way up the mountains. The scene around us was very different from
what we had just passed through. Instead of the enticing field and lovely
landscape, we had now around us that which was rugged, grand and towering. In
the afternoon about one or two o'clock we halted and bivouacked among the
mountains. Our stopping-place was in a basin of the mountains, which was very
fertile and contained a few very excellent and highly cultivated farms. Awhile
after we stopped I started off to one of these farmhouses for the purpose of
getting my dinner, as I was quite hungry, and wanted something different from
what I had been accustomed to most of the time on the march. On going to the
house a very nice, smiling young girl met me at the door, and, upon my making
known my wishes, she very pleasantly said she "guessed” so; but said they
already had agreed to accommodate a good many, and that they would do the best
they could by us all if I would return at four o'clock.
This I did, and
found Adjutant Reedy of the Fourteenth Regiment and several others of my
acquaintance. Reedy, being quite a young man, talked a good deal to the girl. I
was hungry as a wolf, but when I came to the table and viewed what was upon it
my hunger was aggravated more than ever. It seemed that there was no end to
everything that was good. We had nice fried ham, stewed chicken, excellent
biscuit, lightbread, butter, buckwheat cakes that were most delicious,
molasses, four or five different kinds of preserves and several other dishes.
We also had plenty of good coffee and cold, rich milk to drink. None but a
soldier who has experienced a hard campaign can conceive of how a gang of
hungry men could appreciate such a meal. I must say that this late dinner was a
perfect Godsend.
After we had
finished eating I felt ashamed to offer them Confederate money, but could do no
better, and offered it with an apology. They very readily accepted it, and when
I insisted that they should take a dollar they refused and would have only
fifty cents. This house was guarded to prevent our men committing depredations
such as they had been doing, and which was having a demoralizing effect upon
the army. Soldiers must be made to behave or they will not fight.
Upon returning to
camp I found that an order had been received during my absence to cook one
day's rations and have it in haversacks and be ready to march at five o'clock
next morning. This at once aroused our suspicions, for we concluded that we
were about to meet the enemy. Next morning about five o'clock we began moving.
We had not gone more than a mile and a half before our suspicions of the
evening previous were fully verified and our expectations realized by the
booming of cannon ahead of us in the direction of Gettysburg. Upon looking
around I at once noticed in the countenance of all an expression of intense
seriousness and solemnity, which I have always perceived in the faces of men
who are about to face death and the awful shock of battle. As we advanced the
cannonading increased in fury. It was Heth's Division, ahead of ours, fighting.
At last we arrived upon a hill where, upon another hill in front of us and
about a half mile distant, we could see Heth's cannon arranged and booming away
at the Yankees, who were replying with considerable briskness, and we could
also see the infantry of Heth's Division advancing in line of battle. It was
really a magnificent sight. The country was almost destitute of forest and was
so open that it was easy to see all that was going on. Our division (Pender's)
continued to keep within about half a mile of Heth's. McGowan's Brigade was at
the right of the division and the Thirteenth Regiment at the right of the
brigade. This being the case, I could see from one end of the division to the
other as it moved forward in line of battle. It was nearly a mile in length.
The scene was certainly grand, taking all the surroundings into consideration.
After Heth had driven the enemy some distance, it became necessary for our
division to go to his support. McGowan's South Carolina and Scales's North
Carolina brigades were the first to relieve Heth. The hardest fighting did not
begin until McGowan's and Scales's divisions went into it. Then such a rattle
of musketry I never heard surpassed. It lasted for about two hours and a half
without cessation; and how many brave fellows went down in death in this short
period of time! Officers who have been in all the fights tell me that they
never saw our brigade act so gallantly before. When the order was given to
charge upon the enemy, who were lying behind stone fences and other places of
concealment, our men rushed forward with a perfect fury, yelling and driving
them, though with great slaughter to themselves as well as to the Yankees. Most
of the casualties of our brigade occurred this day (July 1). As the enemy were
concealed, they killed a great many of our men before we could get at them.
There were a good many dwellings in our path, to which the Yankees would also
resort for protection, and they would shoot from the doors and windows. As soon
as our troops would drive them out, they would rush in, turn out the families
and set the houses on fire. I think this was wrong, because the families could
not prevent the Yankees seeking shelter in their houses. I saw some of the poor
women who had been thus treated. They were greatly distressed, and it excited
my sympathy very much. These people would have left their houses, but the
battle came on so unexpectedly to them, as is often the case, that they had not
time. I passed through a house from which everyone had fled except an extremely
old man. A churn of excellent buttermilk had been left, and I with some other
doctors helped ourselves. Someone near by shot at us as we came out and barely
missed us.
The fighting on the
first day ceased about night, and when our brigade was relieved by Lane's North
Carolina Brigade it was nearly dark. I returned to the hospital, and on my way
back came to Anderson's Division of our corps (Hill's) lying in line of battle
at least two miles in rear of where the advance column was. Pender's Division
and Heth's had been fighting all day, and they were exhausted, besides being
terribly "cut up”; and when they drove the Yankees to the long high range
of hills, which the Yankees held throughout the fight, they should have been
immediately reinforced by Anderson with his fresh troops. Then the strong
position last occupied by the enemy could have been taken, and the next
day when Ewell and Longstreet came up the victory completely won. If "Old
Stonewall” had been alive and there, it no doubt would have been done. Hill was
a good division commander, but he is not a superior corps commander. He lacks
the mind and sagacity of Jackson.
When I arrived at
the hospital my ears were greeted as usual at such time with the moans and
cries of the wounded. I went to work and did not pretend to rest until next
morning after daylight. I found that Longstreet had come and that McLaw's
Division of his (Longstreet's) corps was encamped near the hospital. Kershaw's
Brigade was almost in the hospital grounds. On looking around I discovered many
old friends from Laurens whom I had not seen since the war began. They all
seemed surprised and glad to see me; but I had work to do and they had
fighting, so we could not remain long together. They were all lively and
jocose. Milton Bossardt was in a gay humor and left me as one going on some
pleasant excursion, but before two o'clock of the same day he was a corpse. He
was shocked to death by the bursting of a shell. Captain Langston and a
number of others in the Third Regiment who were my acquaintances were killed.
On the second day
of the battle the fighting did not begin until about twelve or one o'clock,
from which time until night it raged with great fury. The reason it began so
late in the day was because it required some time for Ewell and Longstreet to
get their forces in position. Longstreet was on the right, Ewell on the left,
and Hill in the center.
On the third day
the fighting began early in the morning and continued with the greatest
imaginable fury all day; at one time, about three o'clock in the afternoon,
with such a cannonading I never heard before. About 150 pieces of cannon on our
side and as many or more on the side of the enemy kept up one incessant fire
for several hours. It was truly terrifying and was like heavy skirmishing in
the rapidity with which the volleys succeeded one another. The roar of the
artillery, the rattle of the musketry and the wild terrific scream of the
shells as they whizzed through the air was really the most appalling situation
that could possibly be produced. Our troops (Pickett's Division) charged the
enemy's strong position, which they had now entrenched, but with no avail,
although we slaughtered thousands of them.
On the night of the
3d General Lee withdrew the army nearly to its original position, hoping, I
suppose, that the enemy would attack him; but they didn't dare come out of
their strongholds, for well they knew what their fate would be if they met the
Confederate Army of Virginia upon equal grounds. On the 4th our army remained
in line of battle, earnestly desiring the advance of the Yankees, but they did
not come. During this day the rain fell in torrents, completely drenching the
troops. Awhile after dark we began to leave, but took a different and nearer
route to the Potomac than the one we had just passed over. Though nearer, it
was very rough and not macadamized, and the passing of wagons and artillery
over it cut it up horribly and made it almost impassable. Yet over this road
our large army had to pass. I was lucky enough to get into a medical wagon and
rode until next morning. It rained nearly all night, and such a sight as our
troops were next day! They were all wet and many of them muddy all over from
having fallen down during the night. Billie looked as if he had been wallowing
in a mud hole, but was in a perfectly good humor.
On this day (July
5) we recrossed the Blue Ridge Mountains. Climbing the mountains was very
tedious after so much toil, excitement and loss of sleep, but we met with no
obstacle until we came to Hagerstown, Md., where we stopped on account of the
Potomac's being too high to ford. While here the Yankees came up and our army
was placed in line to meet them, but they did not dare to attack. In this
situation we remained for several days with them in sight of us.
After a pontoon
bridge was finished at Falling Waters and the river was sufficiently down to
ford at Williamsport, we left the vicinity of Hagerstown. It was just after
dark when we began leaving. It was a desperately dark night and such a rain I
thought I never before knew to fall. I did not meet with such luck as the night
we left Gettysburg, Pa., but had to walk all night, and such a road I think
troops never before traveled over. It appeared to me that at least half of the
road was a quagmire, coming in places nearly to the knees.
Hill's Corps went
by Falling Waters and Longstreet's and Ewell's by Williamsport, where they had
to wade the river, which was still very deep, coming up nearly to the shoulders.
The pontoon bridge was at Falling Waters, where we crossed. Our division was in
the rear at this place, and when we got within about a mile and a half of the
river we halted to enable the wagons ahead to get out of the way. Being very
tired, we all lay down and nearly everyone fell asleep, when suddenly the
Yankee cavalry rushed upon us, firing and yelling at a furious rate. None of
our guns were loaded and they were also in a bad fix from the wet of the
previous night. They attacked General Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigade first.
Our brigade was lying down about fifty yards behind his. I was lying down
between the two brigades near a spring. General Pettigrew was killed here. I
was close to him when he was killed. It was a serious loss to the service. We
fought them for some time, when General Hill sent an order to fall back across
the river, and it was done in good order. The attack was a complete surprise
and is disgraceful either to General Hill or General Heth. One is certainly to
blame. The Yankees threw shells at the bridge and came very near hitting it
just as I was about to cross; but, after we were close enough to the river not
to be hurt by our own shells, our cannon on this side opened upon them,
which soon made them "skedaddle" away.
We feel the loss of
General Pender in our division. He died in Staunton, Va., from wounds received
at Gettysburg. He was a very superior little man, though a very strict
disciplinarian.
You will see by this
letter that we have gotten back into “Old Virginia" again. It seems that
our invasion of the North did not prove successful. We fought a dreadful battle
at Gettysburg, Pa. It was the greatest battle of the war. We drove the Yankees
three miles from the battlefield to a long range of high hills, from which it
was impossible to dislodge them. General Lee had to fall back to keep them from
getting the advantage. My brother was not hurt in the battle. Milton Bossard,
Captain Cromer, Buford Wallace, Mr. Daniel's two sons and many others from
Newberry were killed; but it is better for us all to be killed than conquered.
We have had some
very disagreeable marching, as it has rained so much, but I have gotten hold of
an old horse, which helps me along very much.
We have plenty of
beef and bread to eat. We gathered up thousands of beeves in
Pennsylvania-enough to feed our army until cold weather. This is a great
consideration.
My servant got lost
in Maryland. I do not think it was his intention to leave, but he was negligent
about keeping up and got in rear of the army and found it too late to cross the
river.
One of your letters
came to me in Pennsylvania, and three since we left there.
We hear that
Vicksburg has fallen. That is unfortunate, but I do not feel at all
discouraged. Countries have been overrun, and then not conquered.
When we get settled
down in camp again I will try to write you a longer and better arranged letter.
We don't know what minute we may move, and under such circumstances I never can
write with any satisfaction. I have George's picture yet. It is a wonder I did
not lose it.
We left camp at 6 A.M., passed through Heidelsburg and Middleton. At the latter place we heard firing in the direction of Gettysburg. We were pushed forward after letting the wagon trains get in our rear. We got to Gettysburg at 1 P.M., 15 miles. We were drawn up in line of battle about one mile south of town, and a little to the left of the Lutheran Seminary. We then advanced to the enemy's line of battle in double quick time. We had not gotten more than 50 paces when Norman of our company fell dead by my side. Katz was going to pick him up. I stopped him, as it is strictly forbidden for anyone to help take the dead or wounded off the field except the ambulance corps. We then crossed over a rail fence, where our Lieutenant McMatthews and Lieutenant Alexander were both wounded. That left us with a captain and one lieutenant. After this we got into battle in earnest, and lost in our company very heavily, both killed and wounded. This fight lasted four hours and a half, when at last we drove them clear out of town, and took at least 3,000 prisoners. They also lost very heavily in killed and wounded, which all fell into our hands. After the fight our company was ordered to pick up all straggling Yankees in town, and bring them together to be brought to the rear as prisoners. One fellow I took up could not speak one word of English, and the first thing he asked me in German was "Will I get my pay in prison?" After we had them all put up in a pen we went to our regiment and rested. Major Iredell, of our regiment, came to me and shook my hand, and also complimented me for action in the fight. At dusk I was about going to hunt up my brother Morris, when he came to me. Thank God, we are both safe as yet. We laid all night among the dead Yankees, but they did not disturb our peaceful slumbers.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 34-5
Our division was in reserve until dark, but our regiment was supporting a battery all day. We lost several killed and wounded, although we had no chance to fire-only lay by a battery of artillery and be shot at. The caisson of the battery we were supporting was blown up and we got a big good sprinkling of the wood from it. Just at dark we were sent to the front under terrible cannonading. Still, it was certainly a beautiful sight. It being dark, we could see the cannon vomit forth fire. Our company had to cross a rail fence. It gave way and several of our boys were hurt by others walking over them. We laid down here a short time, in fact no longer than 10 minutes, when I positively fell asleep. The cannonading did not disturb me. One of the boys shook me and told me Katz was wounded by a piece of a shell striking him on the side, and he was sent to the rear. We went on to the Baltimore Turnpike until 3 in the morning of the 3d.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 35
When under a very heavy fire, we were ordered on Culps Hill, to the support of Gen. A. Johnson. Here we stayed all day—no, here, I may say, we melted away. We were on the brow of one hill, the enemy on the brow of another. We charged on them several times, but of course, running down our hill, and then to get to them was impossible, and every time we attempted it we came back leaving some of our comrades behind. Here our Lieutenant Belt lost his arm. We have now in our company a captain. All of our lieutenants are wounded. We fought here until 7 P.M., when what was left of us was withdrawn and taken to the first day's battlefield. At the commencement of this fight our Brigade was the strongest in our division, but she is not now. We lost the most men, for we were in the fight all the time, and I have it from Colonel Owens that our regiment lost the most in the Brigade. I know that our company went in the fight with 60 men. When we left Culps Hill there were 16 of us that answered to the roll call. The balance were all killed and wounded. There were 12 sharpshooters in our company and now John Cochran and myself are the only ones that are left. This day none will forget, that participated in the fight. It was truly awful how fast, how very fast, did our poor boys fall by our sides—almost as fast as the leaves that fell as cannon and musket balls hit them, as they flew on their deadly errand. You could see one with his head shot off, others cut in two, then one with his brain oozing out, one with his leg off, others shot through the heart. Then you would hear some poor friend or foe crying for water, or for "God's sake" to kill him. You would see some of your comrades, shot through the leg, lying between the lines, asking his friends to take him out, but no one could get to his relief, and you would have to leave him there, perhaps to die, or, at best, to become a prisoner. Our brigade was the only one that was sent to Culps Hill to support General Johnson. In our rapid firing today my gun became so hot that the ramrod would not come out, so I shot it at the Yankees, and picked up a gun from the ground, a gun that some poor comrade dropped after being shot. I wonder if it hit a Yankee; if so, I pity him. Our regiment was in a very exposed position at one time to-day, and our General Daniels ordered a courier of his to bring us from the hill. He was killed before he got to us. The General sent another. He was also killed before he reached us. Then General Daniels would not order any one, but called for volunteers. Capt. Ed. Stitt, of Charlotte, one of his aides, responded, and he took us out of the exposed position.
SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 35-7
DEAR GENERAL:
Dispatches just received from General Banks announces the good news of the
surrender of Port Hudson, with 5,000 prisoners and all the armament of the
place. News came from the East of the defeat of Lee and his precipitate
retreat, with Meade in full pursuit. I have nothing definite from you since the
morning of the 9th, but, not hearing, suppose all is right. Is there any
probability that Johnston may be receiving re-enforcements and intends
standing? I have just learned from Yazoo City that all the steamers from above
have just come down there, and that Johnston sent orders to press all the
negroes that can be got, to prosecute the work of fortifying with all vigor.
More than 1,000 negroes are said to be at work now. I immediately ordered a division
from here to break them up. The well prisoners have been paroled and about out
of town. The number reached near 25,000. There are still those in hospital,
near 6,000, yet to parole, besides many escaped without paroling.
Hoping to hear of
your giving Johnston a good thrashing and driving him beyond Pearl River, with
the loss of artillery, transportation, and munitions of war, I remain, yours
truly,
U.S. GRANT.
By late January of 1863, the 9th Massachusetts Battery of Light Artillery has been stationed within the Washington, D.C. defenses the entirety of its five-month existence. The soldiers are badly demoralized, inadequately trained and poorly disciplined. When the inept captain of the battery believes that he’s about to be fired, he hastily resigns, and the governor of Massachusetts promptly selects a twenty-three-year-old artillery officer with battlefield experience to take command.
Captain John Bigelow institutes strict discipline and rigorous training which causes the men, including Chief Bugler Charles Wellington Reed, to consider him to be a heartless tyrant. However, Captain Bigelow’s methods rapidly improve their capabilities and Reed reluctantly gains respect for the new captain. Nevertheless, subtle conflict between captain and bugler remains in a manner only constrained by military protocol.
In late June of 1863 the battery is collected by the Army of the Potomac as it passes the Washington defenses to thwart an invasion by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. After days of hard marching, Bigelow’s Battery arrives on the Gettysburg battlefield in the forenoon of July 2, 1863. Within hours they are immersed in violent combat during which the officers and men of the battery fight like veterans against the Confederates. Unbeknownst to Charlie, he will twice disobey a direct order from Captain Bigelow before the day is out.
When furious fighting reaches a crescendo, the inexperienced light artillery battery is ordered to hold its position at all hazards, meaning until it’s overrun. Without hesitation the batterymen stand to their guns and sacrifice their life’s blood to gain the time necessary for a second line of artillery to be formed behind them, thus helping to prevent a disastrous defeat for the Federal Army on Northern soil. Charlie saves his captain’s life and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
About the Author
David H. Jones is author of the award-winning novel Two Brothers: One North, One South. He is a former U.S. Navy officer and business executive, born in West Virginia and always engrossed in the study of American history.
ISBN 978-1636240602, Casemate, © 2021, Paperback, 272 pages. $22.95. To purchase this book click HERE.
Horses are one of the many unsung heroes of the American Civil War. These majestic animals were impressed into service, trained, prepared for battle, and turned into expendable implements of war.
There is more to this story, however. When an army’s means and survival is predicated upon an animal whose instincts are to flee rather than fight, a bond of mutual trust and respect between handler and horse must be forged. Ultimately, the Battle of Gettysburg resulted in thousands of horses killed and wounded. Their story deserves telling, from a time not so far removed.
About the Author
Chris Bagley hails from Canton, Ohio, where he resides with his wife Becky. Chris has been a Registered Nurse for 31 years and currently works as a surgical nurse. He became a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park in 2016. He always had a love and fascination of horses from childhood which continues to this day.
ISBN 978-0999304969, Gettysburg Publishing, © 2021, Paperback, 224 pages, Photographs, Illustrations, Maps, Appendix: Order of Battle, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $26.95. To purchase this book click HERE.
The terrible battle of Gettysburg brings to Canandaigua sad news of our soldier boys of the 126th Regiment. Colonel Sherrill was instantly killed, also Captains Wheeler and Herendeen, Henry Willson and Henry P. Cook. Captain Richardson was wounded.
SOURCE: Caroline Cowles Richards, Village Life in America, 1852-1872, p. 152-3
Charlie Wheeler was buried with military honors from the Congregational church to-day. Two companies of the 54th New York State National Guard attended the funeral, and the church was packed, galleries and all. It was the saddest funeral and the only one of a soldier that I ever attended. I hope it will be the last. He was killed at Gettysburg, July 3, by a sharpshooter's bullet. He was a very bright young man, graduate of Yale college and was practising law. He was captain of Company K, 126th N. Y. Volunteers. I have copied an extract from Mr. Morse's lecture, “You and I”: “And who has forgotten that gifted youth, who fell on the memorable field of Gettysburg? To win a noble name, to save a beloved country, he took his place beneath the dear old flag, and while cannon thundered and sabers clashed and the stars of the old Union shone above his head he went down in the shock of battle and left us desolate, a name to love and a glory to endure. And as we solemnly know, as by the old charter of liberty we most sacredly swear, he was truly and faithfully and religiously
These were patriots, these were our jewels. When shall we see their like again? And of every soldier who has fallen in this war his friends may write just as lovingly as you and I may do of those to whom I pay my feeble tribute.”
SOURCE: Caroline Cowles Richards, Village Life in America, 1852-1872, p. 153-5
Command.
|
Killed.
|
Wounded.
|
Missing.
|
Total.
|
8th Illinois Cavalry
|
2
|
17
|
....
|
19
|
3d Indiana Cavalry
|
....
|
4
|
1
|
5
|
12th Illinois Cavalry (Captain Brown wounded)
|
2
|
14
|
4
|
20
|
Total
|
4
|
35
|
5
|
44
|
Locality.
|
Date.
|
Killed.
|
Wounded.
|
Missing.
|
Gettysburg, Pa(*)
|
July 1, 1863
|
16
|
80
|
29
|
Williamsport, Md.
|
July 6, 1863
|
3
|
....
|
1
|
Boonsborough, Md.
|
July 8, 1863
|
2
|
14
|
1
|
Funkstown, Md.
|
July 10, 1863
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
Failing Waters, Md.
|
July 14, 1863
|
....
|
5
|
....
|
Chester Gap, Va.
|
July 21, 22, 1863
|
1
|
8
|
16
|
Total
|
|
25
|
110
|
48
|