"The Irish Ninth in Bivouac and Battle"
by Michael H. Macnamara
CHAPTER XXI.
The Regiment is presented with a new Flag. -- We leave Falmouth. -- Kelley's Ford. -- Ellis' Ford. -- The Battle of Chancellorsville. -- The Plank Road. -- A wrong Turn. -- How the Doctors were routed. -- Ellis' Ford. -- Sketch of Mr. Ellis. -- To Brandy Station. -- Encounter with the Enemy. -- Tough Marching. -- Bad Luck to this Marching.
WHILE at this camp we were highly honored by the presentation to our regiment of a splendid green flag, by the Irish brigade. The names of all the battles we had passed through were inscribed on the face of it in letters of gold, while, on the reverse, a large gold harp was embroidered of exquisite beauty and workmanship.
This gratifying presentation took place in the centre of a square formed by our regiment, and the flag was turned over to Colonel P. R. Guiney by General Meagher, in one of those magnificent rhetorical efforts for which he is distinguished, and appropriately responded to by Colonel Guiney in the name of the regiment.
The remainder of the winter months soon passed away. General Burnside, having resigned his command, was succeeded by General Hooker, and preparations were then made for a spring campaign, which culminated in the battle of Chancellorsville.
On the 27th of April, our army, under the command of General Hooker, moved from Falmouth in the direction of Kelley's Ford, on the Rappahannock, which we crossed, surprising the enemy and driving him back upon the formidable works in his rear. The army then crossed the Rapidan, at Ellis' Ford, and marched to a place called Chancellorsville, in Orange County, Virginia. Here we halted, and soon our forces were in position, and prepared to give battle to General Lee. The engagement was commenced by the artillery of the Union troops, which kept up a continuous fire throughout the day. The Fifth Corps, under the command of General Sykes, commenced the conflict, and succeeded in driving the rebel force from its position. A large number of the Zouaves, a fine regiment from New York, were killed and wounded. They fought magnificently that day, and succeeded in maintaining the position they had so bravely won. The Ninth, upon the extreme left of the right wing, had thrown up strong breastworks facing the enemy's centre, which they had been instructed to maintain to the death.
The columns of Jackson, escaping the clutch of Sedgwick, at Fredericksburg, changed the face of affairs, however, making it necessary for our division to leave their works, and march on the plank road to intercept Jackson, and keep him from the field until the forces of Lee, in the front, were beaten by General Hooker. By some mistake upon the part of subordinate commanders, a wrong route was taken, and Jackson, in full possession of the plank road, marched without interruption to the support of Lee, and succeeded in repulsing the main force of Hooker, compelling him to take a new position on the fields in front of Chancellorsville House, where a portion of our artillery was posted, and about a quarter of a mile in the rear of our original line. The fine fighting of our troops, however, preserved all our original advantage of position, and the general feeling among them was, that Lee would be defeated. The movements of General Hooker were characterized by celerity and decision, and the troops had the fullest confidence in his ability; and, being in the best of spirits, the defeat of the rebels was anticipated. From prisoners that were captured we learned that the rapid movements of Hooker had taken Lee completely by surprise; and many of them further remarked that we had "taken the right was to master Lee;" in fact, they all seemed to believe that Chancellorsville was the beginning of the last days of the Confederacy.
Our regiment was engaged a great part of the time in supporting Griffin's battery and doing picket duty. Two of the companies of our regiment, while on picket, were engaged with the enemy, and handsomely repulsed him. The battle of Chancellorsville occupied about three days, when General Hooker found it necessary to fall back, the army crossing safely at the United States Ford on the morning of May 5, having marched all night without being harassed by Lee's forces, to whom our retreat was entirely unexpected.
The battle cost a great many lives, and following as it did upon the heels of Fredericksburg, seemed to leave our army in a very bewildered state. They could scarcely understand how these consecutive defeats had occurred, after all the splendid fighting they had done and the extraordinary marches they had performed. We are reminded of an incident of that battle which may be worth relating. We were engaged on the provost guard, of the First Division, Fifth Army Corps, and we had charge of a number of rebel prisoners who had been taken in the first day's fighting. When this division moved in the direction of the plank road, so called, one of the prisoners remarked to us, "You are going to intercept Jackson; you have missed him, however; while you are marching this way he is coming down the plank road, beyond those hills," pointing to a range about a quarter of a mile distant, "and will form a junction with Lee's main body before you can turn back and catch him." It proved to be very true; the junction was formed, and the army of the Potomac was repulsed.
An amusing incident came under our notice during the progress of the engagement at Chancellorsville, which may prove interesting. A large number of wounded had been brought in from the front upon stretchers, and carried to the hospital tents about a quarter of a mile in the rear. These tents were pitched in the woods, and were supposed to be out of reach of the enemy's fire. About noon, however, of the second day's fight, the heavy guns of the enemy opened fire, and threw their shells right into the wood and surrounding places.
It was a curious sight to see the wounded men, who, a moment before, seemed unable to rise up, scramble from their stretchers, and hobble farther to the rear; to see the surgeons display extraordinary agility in packing up their murderous-looking instruments, strike their tents, and follow their astonished patients to a place of greater security.
It was, "Take up thy bed and walk" most comically illustrated. The poor, wounded fellows no doubt thought that it was enough to get struck in action, without waiting to be demolished in their beds; and they were right. No one was hit, however, and they succeeded in making their retreat in good order, the soldier with his "kit," and the surgeons with their implements of torture.
On the evening of the 6th of May, the whole army, after a tiresome march over rough, muddy roads, found themselves back in their old camps, anxiously speculating as to who would be the next commander of the army of the Potomac; for, in the terse and expressive language of the Ninth, general Hooker was "certainly gone up."
On the 28th of the same month, our army was again on the move: as usual, the roads were very bad: after a march of ten miles our regiment encamped at Harwood Church. Early the next morning the march was resumed, and, after bivouacking one or two nights, we arrived at Ellis' Ford, on the Rappahannock, and established ourselves in camp in the woods, close to the river. We then sent two companies of ours out on picket to guard the ford, and men were detained from the remainder of the regiment to throw up breastworks along the edge of the river. The enemy, who were posted on the summit of the bluff on the opposite side, opened fire upon our working party with musketry, and afterwards brought up a piece of artillery, and fired two charges of grape and canister. Fortunately no one was hit, and our work proceeded.
The following description, from the note-book of an officer,* of Ellis, of Ellis' Ford, may be found interesting: --
"I have not stated anything of our stay at old Ellis', at the ford, and the friendly converse maintained with him, and the inexpressible pleasure I enjoyed in sleeping on his comfortable sofa, and occasionally reclining even on his soft and downy bed. The old man, somewhat of a cripple, did not like the idea of remaining in his chamber during the night, lest an engagement might take place between the opposing forces, and an accidental shot might send him, not prematurely, to the dominions of Pluto; he would find himself between two fires, and the situation might not be considered enviable. He was, therefore, careful to vacate the premises each evening and hobble to the rear, where he found rest, and imagined he found security in the house of one of his employees. Before leaving, he would regularly hand over the key of his chamber, which was just inside the piazza, to the officer in command of the post, with liberty to enjoy the comforts of his bed or sofa. These were a rich treat to the soldier long accustomed to nothing but the greensward or hard boards; however, I always remarked I slept better on the hard boards outside on the platform of the piazza, or on the green grass, than on the old man's luxurious couch. Old Mr. Ellis is a perfect Crœsus -- rich in land, money, and negroes. But I think he suffers from a want of the necessaries of life, as his supplies are, to a great extent, cut off by the occupation of his territory by the conflicting forces. He was never married. All the female society he at present enjoys is confined to two smutty, corpulent, dirty, aged colored women, whom I, at least, would not suffer in sight. I wonder how it is that any man of respectability, feeling of decency, can bear to be a slaveholder, while he is surrounded by such pictures of degradation and misery as many of the southern plantations present, and which should appeal to the finer feelings of his nature."
Ellis' house was situated within a few yards of the river bank, along which our forces had thrown up rifle-pits. The ford was about thirty feet wide, and the rebel picket on the other side was within speaking distance. During the daytime, no shots would be exchanged, though at night the stillness would sometimes be broken by a few straggling rifle-shots, and sometimes by a volley when the rebels apprehended an attack from our side. Nothing of interest ot importance took place while we were there, the general position of the opposing forces being still the same as when we first moved down to the ford. We left that place about the 5th of June, and moved to Kelley's Ford, and remained there for three or four days, engaged in duties similar to those at Ellis'. On the morning of the 9th we crossed the Rappahannock via Kelley's Ford, to support our cavalry, which had crossed the river in great force under Generals Gregg and Kilpatrick. They encountered the enemy near Brandy Station, some ten or fifteen thousand strong, and a fierce fight took place. The Ninth and Thirty-second Regiments were ordered farther to the front, in support of our cavalry, and we passed on for about five miles. The First Michigan followed, and protected the road over which we had passed to prevent our retreat from being cut off. The cavalry engagement was commenced by a heavy artillery fire. About four o'clock the former became engaged, fighting until dark, when the enemy fell back badly beaten. Several wounded men of both sides were carried to the rear, where we were held in reserve, and they represented the fight as the greatest cavalry engagement that ever took place on this continent. The number of sabre cuts on heads and arms proclaimed the severity of the contest and the close proximity of the combatants. We returned the same night to Kelley's Ford, and marched shortly afterwards to Morrisville. From there we pushed on, and marched day after day, with irregular intervals of rest, via Warrenton, Manassas, and Centreville to Gum Springs, Aldie, Virginia. During these marches the heat was unusually oppressive; many poor fellows dropped down exhausted by the road-side. Many men died, overcome by the intolerable heat, and the weight of their knapsacks and other habiliments of a soldier. While we marched in the direction of Bull Run, a remark reached us from one of "our" comical characters. On leaving Catlett's Station it became evident where we were bound.
"Where's the grand army going now, Pat?" queried one of the other.
"O, then, don't you know," was the reply, "we are going to Bull Run to get our annual batin'?"
At another time, as we were crossing the Rappahannock, a tall, strapping fellow of "ours" stopped, and suddenly laid down his gun.
"What are you doing now, Jim?" asked a companion.
"O, the divil ! I'm stoppin' to reorganize !" at the same time shifting his knapsack more comfortably and securely on his shoulders.
When he was "reorganized" he resumed his march, humming, --
*Notes by an officer of the regiment."Bad luck to this marching,
Pipe-claying and starching:
How neat one must be to be killed by the French !
I'm sick of parading,
Through wet and cold wading,
Or standing all night to be shot in a trench."
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