The Black Phalanx Part 45

"'Upon looking about us after getting into the ditch we found there was but one face where the enemy could not touch us, so all the survivors rallied at that face. Then commenced a scene which will always be very fresh in my memory.

"'Capt. Weiss gave orders to raise men upon the parapet, which was done by two men a.s.sisting one to climb. Capt.

Weiss, having from thirty to forty men up, attempted to gain the inside of the fort, but he with all of his storming party were knocked back, either killed or wounded, into the ditch. A second attempt was made with the same result, Lieut. Ferguson being wounded by a bullet across the top of his head. A third attempt was made with no better success.

"'The enemy during this time had been rolling sh.e.l.l upon us, and calling upon us to surrender, which was answered by some of the men in the words, 'we will show you how to surrender,' at the same time rising and firing into the fort. One of these men I remember to have been Perry Wallace, Company D.

"'Upon a consultation of the officers who were in the ditch, it was decided to surrender what was left of the command. I was still upon the face of the parapet, when Lieut. Sherman pa.s.sed me a handkerchief which I raised upon the point of my sword. But the rebels, fearing it was only done to gain a foothold, would not take notice of it, but called upon me to come in, which I did, and met with a warm reception at their hands, being plucked of all they could lay hands upon. An adjutant of an Alabama regiment coming up, ordered his men to return to me what they had taken, but this was not done, however. I stated that our men had disarmed themselves and were ready to give up the hopeless struggle. Still they would not believe me, but made me mount the parapet first, when they had the courage to do so themselves, when the remnant of the four companies marched into the fort.

"'The march to Richmond was one continued insult from the troops that were hurrying to the front; one man being determined to kill Capt. Weiss, whom he thought was not humble enough. The female portion of the inhabitants were also very insolent.

"'Upon arriving at Libby Prison the officer in charge asked the commander of our guard if the 'n.i.g.g.e.rs' would fight. His answer was, 'by G--d! if you had been there you would have thought so. They marched up just as if they were on drill, not firing a shot.'

"'After being lodged in Libby, Salisbury and Danville prisons, we were returned to Richmond about February 17th, paroled on the 21st, and reached our lines on the 22d.'

"An article in the New York _Herald_ of November 4th, 1864, copied from a rebel newspaper, arguing for the arming of slaves, has in it the following pa.s.sage:

"'But A. B. says that negroes will not fight. We have before us a letter from a distinguished general (we wish we were at liberty to use his name and influence) who says 'Fort Gilmer proved the other day that they would fight. They raised each other on the parapet to be shot as they appeared above.'

"The officer referred to was understood to be Gen. Lee.

"After the four companies had disappeared in the ditch of the fort, Capt. Pratt, with Company F, was ordered to move forward as near the work as he could get and keep down its fire and cover their retreat. Capt. Smith and Lieut. Prime came back, both severely wounded. Later in the day companies A, B, E and I, under Capt. Spaulding, moved to the left and relieved the four companies of the Eighth, who were out of ammunition. Co. F lost two men killed and twenty-three wounded, and the four companies under Capt. Spaulding had eleven men killed and wounded. Lieut. Teeple, commanding Company I, was wounded in the arm, but remained in command of his company during the day.

"Four companies annihilated, 70 killed, 110 wounded and 129 missing tells the story of Fort Gilmer.

"The regiment, or what was left of it, remained at the front until 9 o'clock P. M., when the wounded were gathered together and it moved half a mile to the rear and slept on its arms.

"This day proved the most unfortunate one in the history of the regiment. The storming of a strong field-work, whose garrison was on the alert, with a thin skirmish line without supports, resulted as could easily have been foreseen.

First, the Ninth was sent unsupported to charge a work to the left of Fort Gilmer, across an open field where its line was enfiladed by the enemy's fire, and was repulsed; then four companies of the Eighth, as skirmishers, were sent against the same work, with no better success, and after this bitter experience, four companies of the Seventh were sent to their destruction on an errand equally hopeless. Had the brigade been sent together, instead of its three regiments in detail, the rebel line would have been carried and the road to Richmond opened to us. This is no conjecture. The testimony of a rebel staff-officer on duty at Fort Gilmer, and that of our own officers who were captured, fully substantiate the statement.

"About noon on the following day, the 30th, the regiment moved a mile to the left and went into the rifle-pits to the left of Fort Harrison. Soon after, the rebel Maj.-Gen.

Field, who had commanded the Ft. Gilmer line the day previous, made a determined a.s.sault on Fort Harrison from one side, while Hoke's division attacked on the other; but the attack was not made simultaneously and was repulsed with heavy loss. While this charge was being made, Col. Shaw was struck on the head by a rifle bullet, but was uninjured. The next morning the rebels opened their batteries on our line.

During the cannonade, Lieut. Bjornmark was wounded in the foot by the fragment of a sh.e.l.l.

"The following is the report of Capt. Weiss to the commanding officer of the regiment, announcing his arrival in Richmond:

"'LIBBY PRISON, RICHMOND, VA., September 30, 1864.

"'_Sir_:--I respectfully inform you that the following officers of the Seventh U. S. C. T. are here, prisoners: Capts. Weiss and McCarty, Lieuts. Mack, Sherman, Eler, Ferguson and Spinney. Lieut. Ferguson and myself are wounded in the head, but doing well.

"'Please inform our friends of the above, and oblige,

"'Yours, on the part of my a.s.sociates,

"'JULIUS A. WEISS,

"'_Capt. Seventh U. S. C. T._"

"On the 5th of October, the regiment was relieved from duty in the trenches by the Eight, and moving a short distance to the rear, went into camp near division headquarters.

"On the 6th, Gen. Birney divided the regiments of his command into two brigades. The First Brigade, composed of the Seventh, Ninth and One Hundred and Twenty-seventh, was placed under command of Col. Voris, of the Sixty-seventh Ohio, although each regiment had a colonel serving with it; and the Second, composed of the Eighth, Twenty-ninth and Forty-fifth, under Lieut.-Col. Armstrong, of the Ninth.

Capt. Rice returned from sick-leave the same day and was a.s.signed to the command of Company A, his own company (K) having disappeared in the _melee_ of the 29th of September.

"During the forenoon of the 7th, the enemy attacked in force on the right, driving in Kautz's cavalry and capturing Elder's battery of the First United States Artillery, but was checked and driven back by the First Division of the Tenth Corps. The regiment was moved to the right, and after changing positions several times, went into the trenches near the New Market road.

"On the afternoon of the 12th, orders came for the regiment to be ready to move in light marching order, and later it moved out about half of a mile to the front and right, and deployed two companies as skirmishers. Shortly after dark it was withdrawn to the position it held earlier in the day. A cold rain was falling, and as the men were without overcoats, they suffered considerably.

"About 3 o'clock on the morning of the 13th, our own division (Third), together with the First, moved out of camp and marched to the right until it reached the Darbytown road. Here it formed line, and advancing through the thick undergrowth finally lay down in front of the enemy's works to await developments. At 10 o'clock the First Division, which, with the cavalry, had gone to the right, charged the enemy's line, but failed to break it and had to withdraw with considerable loss. About noon the regiment relieved the Eighth on the skirmish line. Capt. d.i.c.key, of the Eighth, was killed during the movement. Here it remained until about 4 o'clock, when, the remainder of the division having been withdrawn, it fell back covering the movement of the corps and returned to its old camp on the New Market road. * * *

"The regiment remained in camp until the 26th, furnishing in the meantime a large picket detail, together with details for fatigue, employed in the construction of earthworks, abattis, etc. On this date Col. Voris was relieved from command of the brigade by Col. Shaw, Lieut.-Col. Haskell taking command of the regiment.

"On the evening of this day orders were received for the regiment to be ready to move on the following morning, with three days' cooked rations, and in light marching order. At 5 A. M. we moved out of camp and took the road toward the right. The Eighteenth, as well as our own corps, was in motion. The orders were for the Tenth Corps to threaten the enemy's line near the Darbytown road, while the Eighteenth moving by the rear to the right, was to strike their left flank. If they weakened their line in its front, the Tenth Corps was to advance. The whole movement being made to cover the advance of the Army of the Potomoc against the rebel lines covering Hatcher's run and the Boydtown plank-road.

"Marching about two miles to the right we struck the Darbytown road, when line of battle was formed to the left, and moved forward through the woods, and, in places, almost impa.s.sable undergrowth--the Seventh having the left of the division as well of the line. Our ears were soon greeted with the scattering fire of our skirmish line, interspersed by the crashing of an occasional sh.e.l.l through the tree-tops. After an advance of half a mile the division halted to await the result of the attack on the right. The irregular skirmish fire soon swelled out into long, heavy volleys, deepened by the hoa.r.s.er notes of the artillery.

From 8 A. M. until 8 P. M. we lay and listened to this concert of diabolical sounds, momentarily expecting the order would be pa.s.sed along the line to advance. About 11 A.

M. it began to rain, which continued until far into the night. At 8 P. M. we fell back out of the woods, behind an old line of rebel rifle-pits, and bivouacked for the night near Kell's House.

"At 3 o'clock the following morning we were ordered in to relieve the Twenty-ninth on the picket-line. The clouds had cleared away and the air was keen and cold. We felt our way through the dense, dripping undergrowth to the musical accompaniment of rebel bullets singing above our heads. By daybreak we were in position along the edge of a belt of woods, something less than a quarter of a mile from the rebel works. Their skirmishers kept up a lively fire all through the forenoon, and as a consequence we lost some thirty odd men, killed and wounded, from their fire. About 3 P. M. orders were given to fall back, but through some misunderstanding, the two companies holding the extreme left of the line failed to receive the order, and held their ground until their retreat was nearly cut off by the rebel advance, when they fell back without orders, meeting on their way the remainder of the brigade coming to their rescue. The same evening the troops returned to their camps.

"Here ended our fighting for the fall. * * *

"On the 28th, Gen. Birney returned and relieved Gen. Hawley in command of the division, which he had held during the absence of the former in Philadelphia, where he had gone about the 21st to attend the funeral of his brother, Maj.-Gen. D. B. Birney. Col. Shaw was placed permanently in command of the First Brigade, and Col. Wright, Tenth U. S.

C. T., of the Second.

"About the 30th, a general order was received from Gen.

Butler thanking Capt. Weiss and the officers under him for their gallant conduct on the 29th, and saying that their absence in prison alone prevented their promotion.

"On the 1st of November, the division was reviewed by Gen.

Birney, and the proclamation of the Governor of Maryland, announcing the adoption of the const.i.tutional amendment abolishing slavery in that State, was read to the command.

This paper, which conveyed to the men the knowledge that their wives and children were no longer slaves, produced an effect more easily imagined than described.

"On the 5th, Capt. Cheney and Lieut. Teeple, with companies H and I, were detached from the regiment to garrison Fort 'No. 3,' at Spring Hill--a work on the right flank of the Army of the James--where they remained until the 6th of December.

"On the 1st of December, the reorganization of the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps was determined upon. The white troops of the two corps were consolidated and formed the Twenty-fourth Corps, under Gen. Foster; and the colored troops of the Ninth, Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, with other colored troops not a.s.signed, formed the Twenty-fifth Corps, under Gen. Weitzel. Its three divisions were commanded by Gens. Wild, Birney and Paine, respectively. The First Brigade of Birney's division was made up of the Seventh, One Hundred and Ninth, One Hundred and Sixteenth and One hundred and Seventeenth, under Col. Shaw. The Forty-first Forty-fifth and One Hundred and Twenty-seventh had at different times been attached to the brigade--_to learn our ways_, as they said at headquarters. Eventually, however, the One Hundred and Fifteenth was subst.i.tuted for the One Hundred and Seventeenth in the brigade.

"On the 4th, a general re-a.s.signment of positions was made.

The Seventh moved from the New Market road to Fort Burnham (Harrison), which was garrisoned by the First Brigade. The Second Brigade, under Doubleday, was on our right, and the Third on our left. The Second Brigade joined the Twenty-fourth Corps, near the New Market road, and Paine's division was on our left and extended to the river. The other division was in reserve to the rear. The Seventh was under command of Lieut.-Col. Pratt, and so remained during the remainder of our stay in Virginia."

The prolonged but decisive struggle began to draw near. General Grant had pushed the troops nearer and closer, at every opportunity, to the beleaguered cities, until they were well-nigh completely invested.

General Sherman's splendid victories influenced the veteran corps lying before these places, and filled them with the spirit of sure success.

The intrepid commander, having reached North Carolina, visited Grant at the latter's headquarters at City Point, where he also found President Lincoln, and received their congratulations for his successful march to the sea, which achievement had not been surpa.s.sed by any of the undertakings of either Hannibal or Bonaparte in point of daring and strategy. An important conference then took place, and on the 28th of March Sherman returned to his command.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOVRNT. BLACKSMITHS' SHOP]

Grant throughout the winter had been preparing for the spring campaign.

The Phalanx regiments heretofore in the 9th, 10th and 18th Corps had been consolidated, and formed the 25th Corps, under the command of Major-General G.o.dfrey Weitzel, who at New Orleans refused to command negro troops. The Corps was divided into three divisions, with Brigadier-Generals Wilde, Birney and Paine as commanders. Major-General Ord had succeeded to the command of the Army of the James, then numbering about 28,000 effective men, and was to take part with three divisions of his command in the onward movement to commence on the 29th of March, while Weitzel was to command the remainder of the troops north of the James and at Bermuda Hundreds.

Lee, as though he had knowledge of Grant's intention and meant to frustrate his plans by taking the initiative, attacked the 9th Corps at Fort Steadman on the 25th, with signal success. He was finally repulsed, however, and Grant began moving the Union troops. On the morning of the 29th, General Birney with the 2nd Division of the 25th Corps was near Hatcher's Run, with General Ord's command. The division consisted of three brigades of Phalanx Infantry, commanded by Colonels James Shaw, Jr., Ulysses Doubleday and William W. Woodward. A brigade of artillery commanded by Captain Louis L. Langdon was attached to the Corps; but, owing to the country being wooded, it was of little use, and most of it was left on the north side with General Weitzel.