WAR REMINSCENCES CHAPTER 26

 

Captain William Saxton, Co. C, 157th Regiment, New York Volunteers.

Captain Frank Place, 157th Regiment, New York Volunteers

Cortland Evening Standard, Saturday, July 11, 1903.

WAR REMINISCENCES.

By Captain Saxton of the 157th Regiment, N. Y. Vols.

THE REGIMENT'S FIRST BATTLE.

Complimented by Gen. Schurz and its Officers Publicly Thanked—Deadly Work of the Confederates as they Came Out of the Woods—Union Army Retreats, This Regiment, However, in Good Order.

CHAPTER 26.

   To the Editor of The Standard:

   Sir—Devan's Second brigade, McLean's, was along the pike from west to east, between Von Gilsa and Schurz, all facing south. The Seventy-fifth and Twenty-fifth Ohio reserve, Col. Lee, had been twice refused permission to change front to the west. His regiment and the one next on his left, the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio receiving two volleys in their back, then attempted to cross to the north side of the road and change front to the west without orders from brigade or division generals, but it was too late. Stuart's horse artillery on the pike kept pace with the skirmishers, and swept the road. Von Gilsa's men that were pushed back along the road, together with ambulances and quartermaster's wagons, caused such confusion that they were swept along with the mass. The Seventy-fifth Ohio, in reserve, changed front to the west and attempted to stand along with some remnants of other regiments. They had time to fire only a few volleys and in ten minutes they had to give way, wrecked. The colonel was killed, the adjutant severely wounded and 150 men stricken down.

Thirty Minutes Destructive Work.

   Another stand was made a little farther down the pike. The Twenty-fifth Ohio bad deployed and faced west and the remnants of the Fifty-fifth, One Hundred and Seventh and Seventy-fifth Ohio, together with the Seventeenth Conn. joined it, but in ten minutes more they were brushed away. Jackson, in thirty minutes had wrecked Devan's splendid division of nearly 4,000 men and had the Talley farm in possession.

   Gen. Schurz in the forenoon had become alarmed about his position, and had requested Howard to contract his line, and of his own accord had placed the Twenty-sixth Wis. and the Fifty-eighth N. Y. on the west edge of Hawkins' farm facing west. They were half a mile in the rear of Devan's and when the attack commenced they had time to get in line and be somewhat ready. They were soon reached and the Twenty-sixth Wis. occupying the right of this position, fought with great bravery for twenty minutes and was then compelled to fall back to the Hawkins house, where it was formed with the Fifty-eighth N. Y. and the Eighty-second Ill. on the left. These regiments were soon compelled to retire from this position by overlapping regiments of the enemy. They took up another line in the edge of the woods west of the Hawkins clearing. The Twenty-sixth Wis. lost 158 killed and wounded. The Eighty-second Ill. lost 107.

The One Hundred Fifty-Seventh.

   Between Talley's and Dowdall's  along the pike, where Schurz's division (ours) commenced, a point of woods extended along the pike reaching south to the plank road and east to the junction of the pike and plank at Dowdal's. The First regiment of Schimmelfennig's brigade connecting with Devan's division, was the Seventy-fourth Pa. its right was at the east edge of the Talley clearing and then it extended east along the pike in this point of woods spoken of, then came the Sixty-first Ohio (the Irish regiment) continuing this extension to the edge of the woods east, then came the Sixty-eighth N. Y. at the junction of the pike and plank roads, which last came in here from the southwest, and our regiment, the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh N. Y., was in reserve a fourth of a mile north of the Sixty-first Ohio at the south edge of the Hawkins clearing, a little to the southwest of the Wilderness church.

   As the debris of Devan's division struck the Seventy-fourth Pa. in the woods, with Jackson in hot pursuit in the rear, portions of his regiment, the Sixty-first Ohio and the Sixty-eighth N. Y., were swept along with the mass of fleeing fugitives. The remainder of the regiments moved down the pike into the opening at the junction of the plank road and swung into line extending north and facing west the One Hundred and Nineteenth N. Y. of the next brigade forming with them.

In a Narrow Lane.

   It all occurred in so short a time that Jackson was upon them before the formation of this new line was completed. Gen. Howard was vainly endeavoring to mount his horse when the attack reached Dowdall's. As the first sound of the conflict fell on our ears, the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh fell in, formed line and started at once into that point of woods south toward the pike, but there was such a tangle of underbrush that we were obliged to move by the flank on a little wood road or lane and we ran right into the advancing Confederates, head on. There was not room enough to swing into line and Col. Brown halted the regiment, while the bullets came whizzing through the brush at a lively rate, about faced, marched back into the opening, formed line and opened out on the enemy, coming as fast as they could through the thickets. We gave them only two or three rounds, when we were ordered back across the little opening to the brow of a little hill or knoll just to the west and north of the Wilderness church. Here we about faced and lay down so our battery on still higher ground back and to the east of us could fire over us into the enemy as be debouched from the woods into the little opening we had just left.

   As soon as the Talley farm was cleared of Devan's men—Dilger had been sending his shot and shell over our heads and to the right of us into Jackson's men. He inflicted some punishment but did stop the progress.

   Our regiment was in good shape, every company in its proper place, Company C was on the left of the regiment, and as we lay then facing to the rear, our former front, we were on the right. We had just lain down over the brow of this little hill when the Johnnies came out of the woods.

Pen Picture of the Situation.

   It all comes back to me now as though it happened yesterday. I can see the Johnnies as they came out of those woods that we had just left like a long flock of sheep, without much semblance of a line with their yelping rebel yell. Then Dilger's battery opened on them and the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New York and other infantry regiments did the same with their muskets. I can see the Confederates pitch forward and fall as we reached them, and remember wondering why more did not fall; it seemed as though we ought to have swept them all off the face of the earth, but to the right and left and back of them, they kept pouring out of that piece of woods as if there was no end to them. The great mass did not stop. The advance line, if we may call it a line, in front of us kept right on up to our little knoll, lay down out of sight and began crawling up toward us. The flag of some regiment was raised up and its staff stuck into the ground, and stood there to mock us, with its bearer out of sight. I am speaking now of what occurred on the left (now our right) of Company C.

   While this little halt in our immediate front occurred, the enemy were [sic] lapping our flanks. I looked to the right and the regiment which bad joined us had vanished. The firing from our batteries had mainly ceased and all but Dilger's guns had been retired on the road toward Chancellorsville. As we afterwards learned the position of our regiment was in the new line that was being formed, while we were advancing in the woods, backing out again, getting back to the knoll and lying down. This new line was on the east edge of Dowdall's farm, a quarter of a mile back from the church. This has since been called the Bushbeck line, as Gen. Bushbeck, Steinwehr's remaining brigadier, after Barlow had been sent to Sickles,’ brought his regiments around and faced them west and Schurz's division fell back and joined with them. This was nearly the line suggested by Schurz to Howard in the forenoon when he (Schurz) advised Howard to contract his lines and change the front of the Corps.

An Orderly Retreat.

   This swinging back of our line on the east and the vanishing of our friends on the northwest, left our regiment alone. Gen. Schurz rode up and told us we would have to fall back. (I thought at the time it was Howard, but have since learned it was Schurz.) After rising up and sending our compliments to "our friends" (the enemy), we faced about and retreated, loading and firing as we went. Occasionally we would halt, face to the rear and give them a volley. This was the way we did [fall back] in Company C. I think the other companies did the same. The regiment kept its alignment as well as possible, hindered by brush and trees and uneven ground.

Captain Place was Cool.

   Capt. Place was very cool and constantly admonished the boys to keep in line and to keep connected with the company on the east. Lieut. Coffin took off his cap, placed it on his sword and continually called out "Company C, keep cool, don't get excited, give it to them." The sergeants assisted in keeping the men together and preventing any semblance of a stampede.

   The bullets that the Johnnies had been sending in our direction all this time did not go astray; our own boys of company C and the rest of the regiment were constantly getting hit and dropping out, and we were continually cautioned to be careful and not shoot our own wounded as we fired to the rear. We soon came to where Gen. Schurz in the forenoon had had the Eighty-second Ill. throw up a little dirt. It was a little trench about a foot deep, about like two plowed furrows would be. Here we stopped for a time and gave the Johnnies the best we had and as rapidly as we could hand it out. One man showed me his gun; he had been carrying it in his left hand loading, when a rebel bullet struck the stock below his hand and cut the wood part completely in two, rendering it useless. I told him to throw it way and pick up one from a dead comrade or take one from a wounded man. We did not stay in this last position very long, as we were again flanked.

   A short distance to the north is where connected the Eighty-second Ohio, with the Fifty-eighth N. Y. and Twenty-sixth Wis., where they had fallen back from the Hawkins farm spoken of before. The left of Rodes' and Colson's line had swung across the Hawkins farm here on our right flank and rear. Eleventh Corps historian, Col. T. Hamlin, erroneously places our regiment in this line in reserve.

Night Closes In.

   I know this positively that no troops were between us and the enemy from the time we backed out of those woods west of the Wilderness church until we marched in rear of our line some time after dark and were reunited with the rest of our brigade. The fact is, rather than being in reserve, the line had fallen back and left us alone in front. Clark Pierce of Company K, afterward Lieut. Pierce, now in the U. S. custom house in New York City, (if I remember rightly it was he), told me at that part of the line where Company K was, he came across Col. Hecker of the Eighty-second Ill., wounded, and assisted him, his regiment having already gone. We were alone now, the shades of night were deepening; we moved back again firing as we went. We noticed the firing had moved to the southeast. We perceived we were not followed by a large force; we halted and fixed bayonets, faced the rear, charged and captured a few prisoners. I heard something clink, the bayonet on the gun of one of the men had been struck with a bullet and was broken like a piece of glass. It was now dark, we were in the woods, not knowing exactly where we were; there was occasional firing in the southeast. We halted and marched by the flank and finally came into an opening, where we found Gen. Schurz and Gen. Schimmelfennig reforming the Eighty-second Ill., Eighty-second Ohio, Fifty-eighth N. Y., and Twenty-sixth Wis. Our regiment had kept its formation and all were in their place except the killed and wounded and a few who fell back with other troops nearer the pike.

"Did the Best"

   Gen. Schurz placed us in the line and rode up and down it saying "the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh did the best, the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh did the best," and then publicly thanked the field and company officers for their bravery and good behavior.

   We had done well in this, our first battle, and we knew it. We had seen other regiments go to pieces under the most trying circumstances, while we kept together. From that time on we held an honored position in the brigade, division and Corps. But at what a sacrifice! We had lost a good many choice men and beloved comrades. The One Hundred and Fifty-seventh lost seventy-nine men killed and wounded; the brigade 289; the division 544; the corrected losses of the Corps in killed and wounded amounted to over 1,500; captured or missing, 972; making a total loss of nearly 2,500 out of about 9,000 engaged. (Barlow's brigade being absent with Sickles.) W. S.