The Battle
August 8th, 1862
The 2nd Massachusetts left Little Washington, VA, on the 8th of August. They were forced to wait until Augur's baggage trains cleared the road, which meant that the regiment then had to march at the hottest time of the day. It was a brutal march. Said General Gordon, "there was not a breath of air, and the road was like a furnace." Capt. Thomas Robeson had to drive his men along, "often till they drop," and at the end of the day reported only 18 out of his 60 men had not fallen out along the way. Capt. Samuel Quincy felt particularly sorry for the regiment's 42 new recruits, who made the journey with knapsacks "heavy with five times what they really needed."
The regiment arrived at Culpeper late that night, tired and hungry, after making the 8 mile march in 8 hours. Boston aristocats Quincy and Stephen Perkins sat together in an open field and cracked open the former's provisions box. As usual, their converstation spaned a wide variety of literary and philosophical subjects. Then, on the last night of his life, Perkins said quietly, "Sam, we shall see more fighting soon. I feel it; there is a battle in the air."
August 9th--Onward to Battle--What WERE Banks's Orders?
As the Confederates advanced, four regiments of Union cavalry under George Bayard stationed at Barnett's Ford on the Rapidan (about 15 miles from Culpeper), began to fall back. With his forces still scattered between Culpeper and Warrenton, Pope had only Banks and his two divisions at hand to meet the threat. This meant that after A.P. Hill arrived on the field, Banks would be outnumbered 20,000-8,000.
There has been a great deal of controversy over who ordered what before the battle. According to Pope, Banks was to deploy skirmishers and if attacked, block the enemy's advance until re-inforcements could arrive. He was not to seek a battle. Of course, Banks recalled the order quite differently. He later claimed that one of Pope's aides gave him verbal instructions to "attack immediately" should the enemy approach. When, after the battle, Gordon, with his characteristic bluntness, snapped at Pope that "this battle should not have been fought!," Pope retorted, "I never ordered it fought, sir." To their heated exchange, Gordon noted that Banks "made no reply, no retort or remonstrance, though he was standing by Pope's side. This was proof enough for Gordon where the responsibility lay. Banks, it seemed was eager to redeem himself from the humiliation at Winchester in May, he felt that this time he had the manpower to give Jackson a thrashing. This, according to Gen. Gordon (whose entire brigade consisted of less than 1,500) was a pipe dream. In his opinion, Banks had no idea of the size of his own force, as the consolidated report of the corps made several days prior to the battle listed an effective force of over 14,000!!
Pope ordered the brigade of Gen. Samuel Crawford forward to Bayard's support. At about 10 a.m., Williams led his division toward the front. About 2 miles out from Culpeper, the 2nd Massachusetts passed by Rickett's Division of McDowell's Corps lounging by the side of the road, where it would remain, uncalled for, while the battle at Cedar Mountain raged.
Gordon led his brigade over the shadeless and waterless road at a quick pace. One man from Company F--37 year old Thomas Carey of Irlenad, a recruit who had been with the regiment only two days--died from heat-stroke and was quickly buried along the side of the road.
All was quiet when Gordon arrived around noon. Off to the right of the road he spied a strong position on the crest of a hill and received permission to occupy it. There stood a little cottage, occpupied only by women and children. Said Gordon, "Nervously they asked me what they should do...and when told to move away, paid no heed to my words." From atop the hill, Gordon could see Cedar Mountain looming about 1 1/2 miles due south, in front of which and around the Rebels were massed. Closer he saw Cedar Creek and beyond this a patch of woods about 1/8 of a mile thick. Crawford's Division was at the south end of the wood. Beyond Crawford was an open field 200 yards across standing between the Federals and another wood occupied by the enemy.
Gordon knew his position to be a strong one (the rebels would come close but never take it later in the day), but doubted that Banks appreciated its capabilities for defense. "He did not think the right of his line of sufficient importance to visit it, either before or during the battle. I am sure he did not know where we were."
Gordon provided an accounting of the Federal battle line:
"The Federal line of battle was formed with Augur's division...on the left of the road leading to Orange Court House, and Williams's division on the right, and in the following order from right to left: Gordon's brigade on the right consisted of the 2d Massachusetts, Zouaves d'Afrique (Collis Company), 27th Indiana, 3d Wisconsin, and Cothran's (NY) Battery; next came Crawford's brigade, with the 5th Connecticut, 10th Maine, 28th New York, and 46th Pennsylvania, Roemer's battery of six 3" rifled guns, two sections of Knapp's battery of 10-pounder Parrotts, and Muhlenberg's battery. In Augur's division, Geary's brigade, with its right resting on the left of the road, was made up of the 5th, 7th, 29th, and 66th Ohio Volunteers, and Knapp's Battery,--total enlisted men, 1,121; Price's brigade consisted of a battalion of the 8th and 12th Regulars, 102d New York Volunteers, 109th and 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 3d Maryland Volunteers, and Robinson's battery, 4th Maine,-- total enlisted men 1,435; and Greene's brigade, which consisted of the 78th New York Volunteers and McGilvery's 6th Maine battery,--total enlisted men, 457; making the total for Augur's division actually on the field, 3,013. Greene's brigade reduced by detachments was thrown back on the extreme left, and held in support of a battery."
The Battle of Cedar Mountain
The men of the 2nd Massachusetts rested and lunched. At about 3:30 p.m., an artillery cannonade began. The lady of the house, a Mrs. Brown, who had remained despite Gordon's warnings, now placed herself between her sleeping infant and the guns, "as though her body could shelter him."
From where he stood, Lt. Charles Morse could see the left of the battle line become engaged. "It was a sight that I shall never forget, to see two lines of infantry gredually approach each other across an almost level plain, both under a heavy artillery fire. As they drew near enough, we could see them exchange volley after volley of musketry; then everything became enveloped in smoke and we could see only whether our line advanced or retreated by watching the colors."
Crawford's brigade moved forward at about 5 p.m. The smoke and terrain shrouded the action but "the firing of musketry now became tremendous," recalled Lt. Charles Morse. Sitting on the grass, Captain Edward Abbott noted the lateness of the day and expressed to Sam Quincy his doubts that they would get into the fight. Shortly thereafter, an orderly galloped up to Gordon. It was the first indication to Quincy that "something had gone wrong."
A great deal had gone wrong. After initial success, including a rout of the famed "Stonewall Brigade," Jackson was able to rally his troops. Then the sudden unfusion of manpower in the form of A.P. Hill's 12,000-man division, turned the tide of the battle, crushing Crawford's thinned ranks, inflicting a staggering 50% casualties. Generals Augur, Carroll and Geary all fell wounded, as did every one of Crawford's regimental commanders.
The time had come for Banks to cut his losses and withdraw. He had gambled and lost. Instead, he ordered his only reserve--Gordon's little brigade--into the fray, far to late to any good but be destroyed in its turn. As he led his men forward a little before 6:00, Gordon did not even have all of his troops at hand. Crawford had earlier ordered six companies of the 3rd Wisconsin to accompany him during his advance, an action Gordon called a "violation of military law and etiquette."
As he double-quicked down the hill, across a field, over Cedar Run and up an incline into the wood, Charles Morse stumbled over what he described as "the hardest kind of swampy and wooded ground." Gordon kept up the pace. Among those having difficulty keeping up were Lt. Stephen Perkins and Captains Choate, Cary and Goodwin, none of whom were fit for duty. Goodwin, in fact, could only move forward with the assitance of his servant.
Gordon looked in vain for Crawford's regiments, but all he could find were the survivors of his own 3rd Wisconsin. After the battle, he declared proudly, "I know of no other regiment in Bank's entire corps that twice on that day...stood so unflinchingly before numbers and fire so devestating." But the 10th Maine of Crawford's command must have still be in the area, because its Major recorded witnessing the arrival of the 2nd Massachusetts coming up on the run, followed by the rest of the brigade. On the Union left, Augur's division had been obliged to fall back to its original position and was disengaged.
In short, Gordon had arrived to support a battle line that no longer existed. His AAG, Capt. Henry Scott, came across "a great many stragglers" from Crawford's command. Only a few did he "drive with my sabre" back into the fight. Gordon spied Crawford himself "sitting quietly on his horse, with a musket across his saddle," but as soon as the firing upon Gordon's line began, Crawford disappeared with the remnants of the 10th Maine, "thus making the last appearance of Crawford and his brigade simultaneous with our first movement upon the scene."
When it reached the edge of the woods, the regiment came under fire. A position was taken up behind a low rail fence and the men were ordered to lay down. Most of the officers remained on their feet. This was the last time Lt. Robert Gould Shaw would see his cousin, Henry Sturgis Russell, who was "pulling his mustache and looking over the field," for some months. "He was perfectly quiet but looked pretty fierce," Shaw recalled.
Gordon formed his brigade with the 2nd MA on the left, the 27th IN in the center, and the 3rd WS on the right. Across the wheatfield, not more than 400 yards distant, were 5 enemy brigades. The 27th Indiana and 3d Wisconsin opened fire. Col. Andrews patiently waited until the the Rebels advanced to within 200-300 yards then gave the order to open fire. "The effect was tremendous," said Charles Morse. "We actually tore great gaps through their ranks, and their whole right was wavering; if we could have had any support at the time, we might have charged and driven their line like sheep." But there was no support. It was sitting placidly 8 miles away at Culpeper where Pope could hear the firing, but did nothing to hurry troops to the scene of the battle.
The enemy began to inch around Gordon's right flank. He ordered Col. Colgrove to fire into them, but the commander of the 27th IN insisted they were friendly troops. "To convince him of his error I rode forward to the right of his regiment, up to the fence that skirted the brushwood, and was received with a fire that settled the matter." According to Gordon, the Indiana regiment soon broke under the fire of the Rebels, rallied and moved back to the right of the 2nd MA, but with the enemy firing practically into its rear, was forced to retire.
On the extreme right of the 2nd MA line, Richard Goodwin's company was shredded by the storm of bullets. Goodwin fell dead along with 20 of his men. To Henry Scott, the air around him was filled with "whistling bullets" which snapped off twigs and branches around him. "Take a hundred boxes of fire crackers, set them all off at once and make each one as loud as a musket and you will have some idea of the firing," he explanied afterwards. To Charles Morse, the roar of musketry was like a "gale of wind."
The casualties mounted. Maj. James Savage went down with three wounds: one broke his right arm near the shoulder, another broke his right leg, and the third bruised his hip. The scholarly Lt. Stephen Perkins was killed instantly, pierced by three bullets. "Give it to that flag!" were the last words of Capt. Edward Abbott before he fell. Capt. Richard Cary went down with a mortal wound. Capt. Samuel Quincy was shot in the right leg and through the left foot. Unable to leave the field, he fell into enemy hands. Also among the wounded were Tom Robeson (wrist); James Grafton (forehead); Daniel Oakey (hip); Adam Miller (lost an eye), and George Browning (thigh). All but Miller escaped capture. Lt. Harry Russell was among the missing. For a tense 24 hours, Robert Shaw could only ponder his cousin's fate. Even Dr. Francis Leland, the only surgeon the regiment had on hand was wounded during the fight.
Charles Morse took two bullets through his trousers but was gratefully unscathed. His acting 1st Sgt., George H. Willis, was shot in the head and fell back into the officer's arms and died. "I laid him gently beside me and had hardly done so when [Corp. Hiram J. Pierson], who was touching me on the left, was shot almost in the same place, but not killed."
To remain any longer was suicide. Col. Andrews gave the order to fall back. What was left of the 2nd MA re-formed back at its orginial position near Mrs. Brown's house. In 30 minutes of fighting, the regiment lost 35% of its strength. The slaughter might have been greater had not so many Confederate bullets sailed high over their intended targets. Of 474 enlisted men who went into action, Lt. Robert Shaw reported over 120 killed, wounded or missing. Of the 22 officers, a staggering 14 were counted as losses. 7 Captains had gone in; only George Bangs--whose commisssion has arrived only days before--was left.
Gordon had gone into the action with about 1,500 men. Of these, 466 had been killed, wounded or missing. He was infuriated "at the crime, the blunder, of the battle." His disposition was not smoothed by Gen. Pope's assurances of the arrival of 20,000 fresh troops in the morning "all of whom had been available to give us victory,--at least, to save us from defeat."
At Pope's inquiry, Gordon informed him that he did not have more than 400 men fit for duty in his entire brigade. He was given the assingment of supporting a battery. As Gordon rode back towards his brigade, he percieved that enemy pickets had "greatly advanced towards the woods north of the creek on the Culpeper road," and that the Federal pickets were drawing back. He stopped to speak with General Williams. Suddenly, "a hot fire, from what sounded like a regiment, was poured into our midst." One of Gordon's orderlies was killed, but the party managed to escape the ambush. Moving rearward, Gordon next came across the 12th Massachusetts and while speaking to its commmander, another volley was fired in their direction, killing a captain of the 12th.
In the darkness, Gordon had a difficult time finding his command. He finally came across the 2nd MA and 27th IN, but could not locate the 3rd WS. "While groping around to find it, the enemy advanced his batteries to the position we had just vacated, and sent a shower of shot and shell at short range that shook our ears and the earth itself with the noise." To add to the confusion, a Federal battery in the rear then opened, with "such malevolent satisfaction that its shells for a few moments threatened to destroy what little life the enemy's gun had left in our bodies." Some ambitious artilleryman seemed bent, "like the Irishman at Donnybrook Fair, to hit the first head he saw," but was finally stopped by one of Pope's staff, "before he had destroyed the commanding general of the Army of Virginia."
And as for the commanding general, who had initailly pooh-poohed Gordon's reports of the close proximity of the enemy in the woods, Gordon last saw him, as the bullets whistled through the bushes and "sparkled in the darkness as they struck the flinty road," mounting his horse in haste and heading for the rear, first at a trot, "which soon broke into a gallop."
August 10th
Hostilities were not resumed on the day after the battle. It was a Sunday, and Jackson frowned upon violating the Sabbath Day. Instead of the sounds of battle, an eerie silence prevailed.
Late that night, Chaplain Quint learned from a wounded soldier who had crept off the wheat-field that there were many other wounded Federals lying unattended by the Rebels. Quint and Lt. Fletcher Abbott, who wanted dearly to retrieve his older brother's body, took a party to do what they could, but were prevented from entering the field by MG Franz Sigel, who was afraid to risk losing the party.
August 11th
Without waiting for official permission, Quint approached the battle site. It would be, he swore after the war, his only breach of military discipline in his three years of service. "Rebel sentries were in the open field. I waved a handkerchief and pointed to the wounded. The Rebel nearest waved his cap and nodded."
Both wounded and rescuers, said Quint, "cried for joy" at being reunited. Quint expressed his gratitude towards those of the enemy who had taken the trouble to build crude shelters for the wounded, but was saddened that all of the dead and many of the wounded "had been stripped of everything valuable, even to outer clothing."
Charles Morse found the scene "too awful to describe." Robert Gould Shaw took a lock of hair from each of the dead officers to send home to friends or loved ones. Together they went over to the Rebel lines under a flag of truce to seek word of Harry Russell. There they met "some very pleasant rebel officers who were very gentlemanly and kind, and found out from them and other sources that Russell was unhurt and a prisoner, Quincy and Miller wounded and prisoners; we managed to get some money to Savage and Russell."
Shaw came away from the encounter feeling assured that the injured and captured would be treated well by the enemy officers and soldiers, "for those I have met seem to have no bitter feeling toward us. We can't help getting a feeling of respect for each other, after such a fight..."
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