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| Captain William Saxton, Company C, 157th Regiment, New York Volunteers. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Friday, July 3, 1903.
WAR REMINISCENCES.
By Captain Saxton of the 157th Regiment, N. Y. Vols.
MORE ABOUT CHANCELLORSVILLE.
Hooker Leaves a Door Wide Open—Union Army Wholly Unprepared for Attack on the Flank—Washing and Cooking in Progress When Confederates Came Out of the Wood—Union Army Retreats.
CHAPTER 25.
To the Editor of The Standard:
Sir—Some time in the forenoon after Gen. Birney had reported the moving column passing in his front, Gen. Sickles took ą battery and some infantry supports, and went south to the higher ground of Hazel grove and shelled the Confederates off the Furnace road farther south. The only effect it had on Jackson's column was to cause it to deflect still farther to the south on parallel roads, but it kept moving on west. Some prisoners were captured and Sickles reported to Hooker that the Confederate army was in full retreat toward Gordonsville. In the afternoon Gen. Sickles persuaded Hooker to let him take Gen. Birney's and Whipple's divisions of the Third Corps and Gen. Williams' [division] of the Twelfth Corps and go south to the Furnace and capture some prisoners. Hooker granted permission with instructions to reconnoiter only and not bring on a general engagement. Sickles was delayed by having to bridge some small streams and corduroy some swampy roads, but he moved Birney's division to the Furnace and reported the Confederates were in full retreat. He then asked Hooker to allow him to go still farther south and strike a great blow and cut the retreating column in two. He also asked for Barlow's reserve brigade of Steinwehr's division of the Eleventh Corps. This Hooker allowed him to have and now instructed him to attack vigorously. Sickles moved Birney south to the unfinished railroad at Wolfort's farm and capture the Twenty-third Georgia regiment, Jackson's ammunition train and wagon guard, but it was too late to strike Jackson. He had passed by and at this very moment was massing on the right and rear of Howard's depleted Eleventh Corps.
The Door Stood Open.
The position of Sickles at 5 p. m. with his 20,000 men was this: Birney's division extended south from the Furnace to Wolfort's farm. Whipple's was extended north from the Furnace to the road leading from Hazel grove to Furnace. Williams extended from the east of this road to the east of Hazel grove, while Barlow's brigade was in the woods a mile west of Birney, vainly striving to connect with him. Hooker bad sent Gen. Pleasanton with his cavalry, also Maj. J. F. Huntington, division chief of artillery, with his cannons to occupy the high ground of Hazel grove as a support to Sickles. From Wolfort's, the flank of Birney's division to Chancellorsville is at least 3 miles.
Sickles' unfortunate move was like the swinging open of a great barn door. He had with him about 20,000 men. It left a gap in Hooker's main line between the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps of nearly a mile, and there were no reserve troops now on the east of the diminished Eleventh Corps till you came to Berry's reserve division of Sickles' Corps north of the Chancellor house in rear of Couch's Second Corps facing east 3 miles from the right of the Eleventh Corps.
The Enemy's Position.
I want you to get these facts thoroughly fixed in your mind because momentous events are about to occur on the right of the isolated Eleventh Corps, diminished to about 10,000 men.
Jackson had marched clear across the right front of the Union army nearly to the Wilderness tavern on the turnpike that runs from Germania ford through Chancellorsville to Fredericksburg. He then turned north and arranged his seventy regiments in three lines of battle on both sides of the pike, west of Lucket's farm and moved east about a mile in the thick woods. (Lucket's farm is a mile west of Talley's.)
His first line was commanded by Gen. Rodes, whose frontage was about 2 miles long and consisted of some twenty regiments that extended more than a mile north of the pike to the right and rear of the Eleventh Corps. His second line was commanded by Gen. Colston, about one hundred yards in the rear of Rodes' and extended farther north. Colston also had about twenty regiments.
Jackson's third line was commanded by Gen. A. P. Hill and had twenty-eight regiments and was arranged in the rear, part in line and part on the pike, ready to be used as circumstances might require. The whole force was advanced so that Rodes' first line was within half a mile of Von Gilsa's right and had arrived as early as 3 p. m., and had two good long hours for rest. Most of Jackson's artillery was massed along the turnpike or on Lucket's farm. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry was arranged across the Plank road south that comes into the pike at Dowdall's within a mile of Gen. Howard's headquarters. This was supported by Paxton's brigade of infantry. Detachment of Confederate cavalry had all the forenoon and later as the move progressed, kept between Jackson's line of march and the Union army. They were continually coming out of the woods, within range of the pickets as Jackson moved west. At 3 p. m. Jackson sent this dispatch to Lee: "The enemy has made a stand at Chancellor's (Melzi Chancellor's, Dowdall's), about 2 miles west of Chancellorsville. I hope to attack as soon as possible. P. S. The leading division is up and the next two appear well closed."
Union Army Unprepared.
So early at noon, Jackson himself had arrived at the Burton farm on the Plank road about 2 miles south of Talley's. There he met Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who took him to the top of a knoll, which gave him a pretty good view of the Eleventh Corps at Talley's, Dowdall's and Hawkins' farms except Von Gilsa's brigade on the right in the woods. This brigade was subsequently discovered by some enterprising cavalry.
Fitzhugh Lee says when he first climbed this hill: "What a sight presented itself before me! Below but a few hundred yards distant, ran the Federal line of battle. I was in the rear of Howard's right. There were long lines of stacked arms, the soldiers were in groups in the rear, laughing, chatting, smoking, feeling perfectly safe and confident awaiting orders. In the rear of them were other parties of men driving and butchering beeves. I rode rapidly back and met Jackson and brought him there to view the scene."
Jackson first intended to attack the Eleventh Corps from the plank road and strike it at Dowdall's, but changed his mind after the inspection. He marched farther west to the turnpike, and arranged his forces as before described.
His troops had marched some 15 miles, but they had a rest from one to three hours. Along the Confederate front they threw out chosen skirmishers and all rested for the signal for the attack to come.
The Eleventh Corps.
Let us see what we were doing in our part of the Eleventh Corps. In the first place we were all facing south except the two extreme right regiments. The guns were stacked and the men strolling around or lying down in the rear within easy call, some were getting supper, seemingly as secure as though there were no enemy in many miles. Some of our boys were upon a knoll by the pike looking in the direction of Hazel grove.
Captain Place Out Washing.
I remember that Captain Place had brought some red wool shirts with him when he came back from leave of absence, and as we lay by a little brook, had improved the opportunity to wash one. He had it hung on the bushes to dry; others had washed different articles, and the bushes presented a mottled array of soldiers' clothes. When the crash came there was not time to collect these things, and some Johnny Reb was made correspondingly happy.
Some beeves had been killed and Comrade William Chappel had been taking observations and secured a nice steak. This he was frying in his little frying pan over a small fire. When the enemy struck us he could not think of abandoning his prize, so he caught up the frying pan from the fire and thrust it and all its contents into his haversack and fell in with the rest of the company.
He has since told me that he never had anything taste so good to him as did that bit of fresh meat the next day as he hobbled back toward U. S. ford wounded.
The two right regiments of Von Gilsa's that were facing west, the One Hundred and Fifty-third Pa. (nine months' men) and the Fifty-fourth N. Y., were small regiments, both together not numbering over 700 or 800 men. The One Hundred and Fifty-third Pa. was a little in advance of the Fifty-fourth N. Y., which last was extended in one line obliquely to the right and rear of the One Hundred and Fifty-third, the men being three or four feet apart. They had slashed some brush around and in front of them. Their nearest support was a quarter of a mile away in double column facing south. There were no pickets at all on the north. The other regiments extended along the pike east looking south with no works worth speaking of. The whole attention seemed taken up with Sickles' move south to the Furnace and Wolfort's.
The Confederate Attack.
"Are you ready, General Rodes?" said Gen. Jackson, as they sat on their horses at the Lucket farm at 5 o'clock on the eventful day of Saturday, May 2, 1863. "Yes sir," said Rodes, impatient for the advance. "You can go forward then," said Jackson. The headquarters bugle sounded out long and clear and before its echoes had died away the sound was taken up all along the lines. The skirmishers sprang to their feet refreshed by their long rest and started forward followed by the long lines. They were halted as though to get their breath. At 5:15 they started again and the woods rang out with the yell, the rebel yell, from 30,000 throats. The Confederate line was formed obliquely across the pike so their left extended to the rear of the Union army.
Union Army Surprised.
The pickets in front of the One Hundred and Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth New York fell back firing as they went. A part of Stuart's horse artillery galloped down the pike to the skirmish line and fired, raking it, some of the balls reaching to the Talley house, where Division Gen. Devans was lying down resting from a hurt he had received the day before by his horse jamming him against a tree. Brigade Gen. McLean had his headquarters here also. Gen. Devans had been in command of the divisions only eight days. The division had been formerly under the command of Gen. McLean, and Col. Lee of the Fifty-fifth Ohio had commanded the brigade. A day or two before we started on the campaign, Gen. Howard had chosen Devans for the place and had ordered him to take command, sending McLean back to his brigade and Col. Lee to his regiment. Col. Lee of the Fifty-fifth Ohio of McLean's brigade, afterwards the lieutenant-governor of that state, had his regiment drawn up in line on the pike just west of the Talley house connecting with Von Gilsa's two regiments. He rode to Von Gilsa and found him ready to cover the attack from the front, not anticipating one from the rear. He then rode rapidly back to the Talley house and found Devans and McLean mounted, but undecided what to do. He asked them for permission to change the front of his regiment to the west. Devans did not answer. "Not yet," was the reply from McLean, and he returned to his post.
Von Gilsa's two regiments on the pike facing south, finding themselves raked in the rear by artillery and musketry, began falling back down the pike. About 300 of them rushed across to the north side and formed in rear of the One Hundred and Fifty-third Pennsylvania and Fifty-fourth New York, and with this small force of perhaps 1,000 men, Von Gilsa presented the only front to meet Jackson's rapidly advancing army.
Union Guns Abandoned.
Col. Lee again rode to Devans and again asked permission to change the front of his regiment, as they were suffering from the fire in their rear. To this request no reply was given, but he was dismissed with a wave of the hand. Von Gilsa had two pieces of artillery up the pike on his front as picket. After firing a few times their horses were shot down by the Confederates and the guns were abandoned. Von Gilsa's small line fired three volleys, checking Rode's first line in their front, inflicting some punishment. The second line coming up poured in a volley, and Von Gilsa was forced to retire. While Von Gilsa was holding in check the center of the enemy, the flanks kept moving around him, their lines assuming the form of an irregular half circle; the left hook swinging around to Von Gilsa's rear, and he being enveloped from three sides, gave the order to fall back, losing his two staff officers, shot down while he was giving the command.
Von Gilsa's brigade lost in twenty minutes 133 killed and wounded.
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