april eighth, the twenty-seventh participated in the grand review of the army of the potomac by president lincoln, preparatory to opening the spring campaign. fifty or sixty thousand men were in line, and probably the army was never in better condition than at that time.
one week later, orders were received to supply the men with eight days’ rations, five to be carried in their knapsacks, and three in their haversacks. overcoats, dress coats, and everything which could possibly be dispensed with, were to be turned in to the quartermaster. each day company inspections were held, to see that the men were prepared as the orders directed. about this time the regiment was transferred to the fourth brigade, under the command of colonel j. r. brooke, of the fifty-third pennsylvania. a storm of two days’ duration postponed the forward movement a short time, but by the twenty-seventh of the month the weather became tolerably settled, and now began a campaign which it was fondly hoped would result in the capture of richmond. in the morning we sent out an additional picket of over three hundred men,
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leaving hardly a corporal’s guard in camp. all day artillery and cavalry, pack-mules and wagon-trains, were passing camp, on their way to the right. late in the evening, orders came to strike tents, pack up as quietly as possible, and report on the division parade at daybreak. our pickets returned at two o’clock the next morning. the camp was now full of bustling preparation. the huts all illuminated; the eager hum of voices; men hurrying to and fro; the decided tones of command, combined to form a scene of excitement nowhere found but in the army. at daybreak the regiment fell in, and bade farewell to the dismantled camp, to enter upon an experience none of us had ever contemplated as likely to fall to our lot.
camp near falmouth will linger vividly in memory, when other more startling scenes of army life have faded into oblivion. our four months’ residence witnessed a complete change in the face of the country. a few stumps, or a solitary tree, were all that was left of the forests which, four months before, waved over a hundred square miles of territory. here and there a house, tenantless, fenceless, and dingy, or a blackened ruin, with only a bare chimney standing, loomed above the naked landscape, a picture of complete desolation.
the division having assembled near general hancock’s headquarters, began the march for united states ford, at seven in the morning. we passed many deserted encampments, whose late occupants, like ourselves, were on the move. instead of following the direct course of the river up to the ford, which was only ten miles above falmouth, we pursued a very circuitous route, and, after an easy march, halted in a strip of woods, where we encamped for the night. the next day, at
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evening, we had just pitched our tents and built fires, and were in the act of making coffee, and frying a bit of pork or beef, when the order came for the twenty-seventh to fall in with all possible dispatch. suppers were thrust into haversacks, without much regard to order, and in a few moments the regiment marched off about a mile, to picket in the woods. this duty occupied us until the next afternoon, when we were relieved, and hastened on to overtake the rest of the brigade, which had already broken camp. during the night previous a light fall of rain took place, just enough, however, to put the roads in bad condition. all along the route, pioneers were thrown out in advance, to corduroy the worst places for the passage of the trains. as far as the eye could reach, a continuous line of army wagons filled the road, urging their way forward with the greatest difficulty. the woods on either hand rang with the sharp crack of the teamsters’ whips, and simultaneously a chorus of wild shouts burst from the driver and the men pushing at the wheels, while high above the din rose shrill cries, resembling the notes of the screech-owl. then, with a quick, jerking jump, the nimble mules landed the team in the next rut, to await the reception of the same magical sounds.
advancing to within a short distance of the ford, the corps halted to await the completion of the preparations for crossing. the sun now burst forth from the canopy of clouds as if in glad sympathy with the exhilaration which pervaded all hearts in consequence of the encouraging news from the front. a dispatch from general hooker announced that the success of the fifth, eleventh, and twelfth corps was all that could be desired, and that the rebels were retiring. these corps
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broke camp early on monday morning, april twenty-seventh, and took the route to kelly’s ford, twenty-five miles above fredericksburg. the pontoons were laid and a crossing effected on the following day, with very little opposition, and the troops pushed forward rapidly to germania ford, on the rapidan, for the purpose of concentrating at chancellorsville. general stoneman, with his cavalry, crossed on wednesday, to enter upon the grand raid which the richmond examiner characterized as the “most audacious enterprise of the war.” the diversion from germania caused the rebels to evacuate their works in front of the united states ford, so that no molestation was offered when the pontoons were laid for the passage of the second corps. late in the afternoon of april thirtieth, we moved rapidly down the abrupt, woody bank, and once more, set foot on the south side of the rappahannock. a line of well-constructed rifle-pits, with more elaborate works for cannon, at intervals of several hundred yards, commanded the crossing. in their hasty retreat the rebels left behind two pieces of artillery spiked. only a few miles now separated us from the scene of operations, and after marching through woods, and over muddy roads, rendered infinitely worse by the constant passage of troops, we bivouacked for the night a short distance from the chancellor house, a large brick mansion, so called from its occupant, v. chancellor. this residence was situated about five miles from united states ford, and about ten miles southwest of fredericksburg, at the junction of the plank road to gordonsville and the orange county turnpike. a shapeless mass of ruins is all that now remains of what gave name to one of the most remarkable battles of the war.
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save an occasional discharge of cannon, the forenoon of may first was spent in comparative quiet, neither party seeming disposed to inaugurate the conflict. movements, however, were in progress with a view to ascertain the enemy’s position. in the afternoon the twenty-seventh participated in a reconnoissance for this purpose, which came very near proving an affair of no little importance. leaving our bivouack in the woods, we advanced down the road by the chancellor house, and ascending a gentle elevation, turned aside into an open lot on the left, near a small dwelling, afterward occupied by general lee as his headquarters. here a section of artillery was exchanging compliments in a lively manner with a rebel battery, a short distance up the road. several companies were immediately deployed as skirmishers, with the remainder as a support, and advanced through the woods to feel the enemy’s position, and develop his strength. suddenly the artillery limbered up, the skirmishers were called in, and the reconnoitering force retired to the rear at double-quick. this movement was rendered necessary by an advance of the enemy, seriously threatening our right flank; but they were foiled in the attempt, and fell back before a stubborn fire of musketry and artillery. for a few moments we remained in line of battle in the open ground near the chancellor house, then, moving down the road a short distance, deployed through the thick and tangled woods on the left. appearances indicated that the rebels were about to charge down from the ridge from which we had just retired, but they contented themselves with shelling us furiously with their batteries. long before the cannonade ceased, the mellow twilight of a may evening had passed into the darkness of night, adding
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to the fearful sublimity of the scene, as the rebel guns woke the sleeping forest echoes, and shells careered wildly through the air, and crashed among the trees. quietly resting on the ground, we wait for the iron storm to pass. no sooner has the last shell swept over our heads and burst into numberless fragments, than we enter upon the night’s work, of intrenching our position against the anticipated attack of the morrow. the rebels were apparently engaged in similar work just across the ravine. it was a busy and exciting scene along the lines of the army that night. the rapid strokes of axemen, followed by the dull sound of falling trees, rang through the woods in every direction. details of men were at hand to put the logs in position, while others dug a trench in the rear, and heaped the soil upon them. for some distance in front of the breastworks, trees were cut down for the purpose of obstructing the enemy’s advance. after the completion of our intrenchments, we rested under arms, and at daybreak, may second, as silently as possible, marched out into the road, and past the chancellor house, and took a new position in hooker’s line of battle. the rebels soon entered the place we had just left, which, however, was of very little value to them, and could easily be reöccupied when circumstances required. we spent the forenoon in building breastworks, while on the other parts of the line there was much skirmishing, and several sharp fights. at intervals during the day the enemy opened upon us with shot and shell, discovering our position by the smoke curling above the trees from the camp fires. at noon, when rations were being dealt out to the companies, the rebel gunners, doubtless tantalized by the
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display, seemed determined to involve commissaries and rations in one common ruin.
several days had now passed in the usual preliminaries to a battle. hooker had succeeded in drawing the main force of the rebels from their works in the rear of fredericksburg, and was himself well intrenched in the dense woods skirting the plank road, and most appropriately called the wilderness. the line of battle of the union forces formed a broad wedge, whose base rested on the rappahannock, the apex terminating at the extreme front beyond the chancellor house. the eleventh corps held the extreme right, and next in order were the third, twelfth, and second, while the fifth occupied the left.
lee is said to have issued orders to his troops to break this line, at all hazards. a brief calm followed the desultory movements of the day. the men stood in their places behind the breastworks, gazing into the woods in front, eagerly listening to hear the first sound which should tell where the rebel blow would strike. at four o’clock in the afternoon, the enemy advanced in heavy force down the plank road, and began the attack in the neighborhood of the intrenchments we had thrown up the night before. the rapid fire of musketry on our right indicated a serious attempt to pierce the centre of the union line. under cover of this movement, the indomitable jackson advanced his hordes through the woods, and hurled their solid array on hooker’s right wing, directly in rear of our present position. let the eleventh corps stand firm, and victory will rest on our banners ere the close of day. the current history of the hour tells us how the crisis was met. but more expressive than history itself was the wild shout of triumph
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that burst from one end of the rebel line to the other, as it swept over the earthworks, and saw the panic-stricken corps dashing madly to the rear. who can describe the almost breathless interest with which we listened to the fluctuations of the conflict? now the avalanche of the enemy is stayed a moment in its course; then nearer and nearer approaches the sound of battle, and it seems as if the next instant the foe will dash in upon our rear. a portion of the second corps hurries away to the scene of strife, and general hancock, every nerve strung to the highest pitch of excitement, rides up to inform the colonel that probably we should not be called into action, but were to hold our position, and that in case of necessity we could fight on either side of our breastworks, plainly pointing to the possibility that the enemy may attack in the rear. through the woods behind us we can see batteries of artillery rushing into position near hooker’s headquarters, and in a few moments the forest trembles with the terrific cannonade, vying with the thunders of heaven in the compass of its sound. in the distance the deep, prolonged boom of a hundred-pounder swells the bass notes of the chorus. double-shotted with grape and canister, the field-pieces sweep the rebel line with murderous effect. at length darkness put an end to this sublime exhibition of human power. the frightened whippoorwills ceased their plaintive cries; the quiet moon rose over the bloody field, and nature sank into a silence fairly oppressive. we remained under arms most of the night, frequently changing our position as the emergency required.
at eleven o’clock occurred one of those episodes of warfare which, in startling grandeur and terrible magnificence, well-nigh border on the supernatural. the
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forces of hooker and lee were resting on their arms, renewing their energies with an hour of broken slumber, and ready to rush to battle at the first flash of dawn. the air was perfectly still and serene, transmitting the rays of the moon with unusual brilliancy. scarcely a sound disturbed the painful silence of the almost interminable woods. all at once the artillery, massed on the ridge hardly half a mile behind us, with one tremendous crash poured in its fire upon the enemy’s position, covering the charge of a division of infantry. the thunder of musketry and artillery reverberated through the forest with an effect inconceivably grand.
at the earliest moment on sabbath morning, may third, the battle was renewed, but apparently with less vigor than on the preceding day, and yet, as brigade after brigade became engaged, and the almost unexampled roar of musketry rolled along the line, it was evident that the enemy were about to follow up, with even greater desperation, the advantage already gained. immediately after breakfast, the twenty-seventh, with the exception of two companies—d and f, engaged in other duty—was ordered down into the intrenchments we had thrown up, near the apex of the wedge, the friday night previous. these works now formed a part of the picket-line of the army, and from the nature of the position and its relation to the movements of the enemy, a large force was required in order to hold it. as is usual in such cases, when a picket in force is ordered, the colors did not accompany the column. as the regiment advanced, at double-quick, down the hill into the ravine, it was met by a heavy fire of musketry. a number were wounded, and several shot through the head, just as they entered the breastworks. one or two regiments whose ammunition
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was exhausted, were gradually drawn off in small squads. not succeeding in their first attempt, the rebels made no further attack in force upon our part of the line, but, concealed in the thick woods, continually annoyed us with a scattering fire. the men replied as they had opportunity, and with considerable effect, as the rebels themselves afterward acknowledged. colonel bostwick was particularly noticeable for the almost reckless exposure of himself to the enemy’s fire, while attending to his duties at different points in the line. lieutenant-colonel merwin reminded him several times of the great danger he incurred, as he stood on a slightly rising ground to the rear of the rifle-pits, a conspicuous object for some rebel bullet.
while the conflict was culminating in other parts of the field, the enemy in our immediate front were not so idle as appearances indicated. looking through the woods, we could indistinctly see a large body of infantry making a wide circuit to the right, seemingly with a view to attack some remote part of the line. a similar movement took place also to the left. “look out on the right!” “look out on the left!” passed up and down the line, and every man was on the alert, ready to meet them should they attempt to carry our intrenchments.
suddenly, from unseen batteries behind us, comes a deep roar, and the next moment shell after shell shrieks through the trees and bursts almost in the rifle-pits. the thought flashes upon us that the rebels are in our rear, but is dismissed with the reflection that it is only a union battery firing too low, and will soon correct its false range. meanwhile our little band had been reduced to less than four hundred men, embracing two hundred and seventy of the twenty-seventh, with small portions of
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the one hundred and forty-fifth pennsylvania and second delaware; and this force being entirely inadequate to hold the extended line, colonel bostwick dispatched major coburn to general hancock for reënforcements. in a few moments the shelling ceased, and far up the road in front appeared a rebel officer waving a flag of truce, and slowly advancing, waiting for a recognition. the men stopped firing in the immediate vicinity of the road, while for a moment the musketry became more brisk on the left flank. at length the rebel officer arrived within a few paces of the works, where he was halted, to await the presence of colonel morris, of the sixty-sixth new-york, commanding the whole line. this officer was not to be found, and the responsibility of receiving the communication from the flag of truce devolved upon colonel bostwick, of the twenty-seventh. the rebel—a tall, rough specimen, and yet with the manner of a gentleman—announced himself as lieutenant bailey, of a georgia regiment; that he had been sent to inform us that we were entirely surrounded; that there was no possible avenue of escape, and therefore he summoned us to surrender, and thus avoid the loss of life which would inevitably follow any resistance to the overwhelming force in front and rear. the colonel replied that he did not “see” it, and proceeded to investigate the actual state of affairs. meanwhile lieutenant-colonel merwin went up through the woods in the rear only to find it too true that the rebels were posted in strong force, to bar any escape in that direction. masses of the enemy pouring in on the right and left, revealed at once the desperate position in which we were placed, while the singing bullets from the woods behind as well as in front, indicated that the foe were closing in upon us. the first
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impulse among officers and men was to attempt to force our way through. but it was evident that such a course would result in the destruction of more than half our number, while the remainder would inevitably fall into the hands of the enemy. after a hurried consultation among the officers, a surrender was agreed upon, and the formality had hardly been completed, when a heavy line of rebel skirmishers swept out of the woods behind. only five minutes before, the men stood at their posts undisturbed by even a doubt of their security; now, astonished at the sudden denouement, we found ourselves about to enter upon the terrible uncertainties of rebel captivity. and this surprise and mortification was increased by the conviction that serious disaster must have overtaken the union army. the history of the day establishes the fact, that saturday’s misfortune, and the subsequent operations of sunday morning, compelled the formation of a new line of battle. the surging conflict had gradually crowded hooker back, and late in the afternoon the army retired, by his order, to a position some distance in rear of the chancellor house. as general hancock afterward stated, orders were sent down to the twenty-seventh to fall back at the same time, but they failed to reach us; and while the rest of the army had retreated to the new line, the twenty-seventh still remained at the extreme front of the old, entirely unconscious of this change of position. our situation in a ravine, surrounded by dense woods, rendered it impossible to observe the movements going on in other parts of the extended field. the enemy, already aware of hooker’s withdrawal, immediately planted a battery behind us, supported, as one of the rebels afterward said, by two brigades of infantry.
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the experience of major coburn immediately after the shelling, while en route to deliver the colonel’s request to general hancock, more than confirms this statement. on his way to the rear he was accompanied by one of our sergeants, severely wounded in the early part of the action. they had passed hardly half a mile through the woods when they were taken prisoners, and the major was conducted into the road, where he found a large part of stonewall jackson’s corps, under command of major-general anderson. already they had formed their skirmish line and were crowding forward with all possible speed, certain of their prey. outnumbered on every hand, and with batteries in front and rear, it would have been madness to have attempted to force our way through in the face of such odds. the gallant brooke, with characteristic bravery, when he heard the firing, volunteered to charge down with his brigade to our relief, but general hancock refused permission, for fear of bringing on a general engagement while the army was changing its position.
