Chapter XV

BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN.--GALLANTRY OF THE REGIMENT, AND TERRIBLE LOSS.

After a few days' rest at Luray, the regiment marched to Front Royal, and soon after left for Alexandria, where it arrived on the 27th of June. It went into camp on a beautiful hill, just outside the fortifications.

Remaining in this camp for a month, the regiment was ordered to join the forces under McDowell, at Warrenton. It arrived there on the morning of June 26th, and soon after reported to General Banks, at Little Washington.

General Tyler had now been relieved from duty with the Third brigade, and General Geary placed in command.

As early as the 16th of July, the advance of Jackson's forces was at Gordonsville; and by the 1st of August reached the vicinity of the Rapidan River. To meet this movement, General Pope, commanding the Army of Virginia, ordered forward the corps of General Banks; and on the 8th of August ordered General Sigel's corps to Culpepper to co-operate with Banks' forces; but Sigel, instead of moving promptly forward, sent a courier to know what road he should take, when in fact there was but one. This delayed the movement of his corps for several hours, so that it was impossible to get it in position in time to render any assistance to the forces under Banks.

On the 7th day of August, Crawford's brigade, of Banks' corps, had been pushed forward in the direction of Slaughter Mountain, to support General Bayard, whose brigade of cavalry was being driven back in that direction by the enemy; and on the 9th, to support this movement of Crawford, Banks was directed to take up a strong position a short distance in his rear. Rickett's division, of McDowell's corps, was posted three miles in rear of Banks' position, and within easy supporting distance.

Desultory artillery firing was kept up all day on the 9th; yet General Banks, apparently, did not think the enemy were in force, for, during the afternoon, he left the strong position which he had taken, by order of General Pope, and advanced to assault the enemy, believing that he could crush his advance before the main body came up.

The enemy was strongly posted, and sheltered by woods and ridges; while Banks had to pass over an open field, which was swept by the fire of the enemy thus concealed.

The intention of Jackson, in this advance, was to crush a detachment of Pope's army before the balance could come to its support. Banks, in thus advancing to the assault, aided him in his design, which otherwise would have been an entire failure.

Cedar Mountain, the position occupied by Jackson, is thus described: "The mountain is one of remarkable beauty. At a distance of four or five miles from its base it seems to rise like a perfect cone from the plain below, and from its base to its summit scarcely a deflection is to be observed in its outline form--a perfectly straight line, as if nature had formed it in the same manner that school-boys form sand-hills. The sides of the mountain are covered with a heavy growth of timber: its summit is reached by a poor road. The height of the summit is, perhaps, eight hundred feet above Cedar Creek."

Early in the day of the 9th, General Geary's brigade was sent to hold Telegraph Hill, from which our signal-officers had been driven. To approach this hill was sure slaughter; but the veteran brigade moved on, through a storm of shot and shell, and occupied the position.

Thirty pieces of cannon on our side, and as many on the side of the enemy, were belching forth their fire. There was no part of the Federal lines but that was swept by this fire.

A little after three o'clock the Seventh Regiment was ordered over the crest of the hill, into a cornfield beyond. While advancing to this position, a most terrific cannonade was directed against it. It seemed as if every cannon was being directed against this band of heroes; but it never faltered in this march of death, moving coolly on, regardless of the missiles that were tearing through its bleeding ranks. Comrades were falling, and brothers dying; the mangled, bleeding victims of the fury and violence of war were left thick, making the ground sacred on which they fell; but the line wavered not. Reaching a low place, the regiment halted, and the boys threw themselves upon the ground; and thus for a long hour they lay, in an open field, exposed to a hot sun, with a hail-storm of grape, canister, and shell falling thick and fast around them. Men gave up their lives so gently, that it was almost impossible to tell the living from the dead. The fatal missile struck its victim, leaving the lifeless clay in the same attitude which the living body but just before occupied. During that fatal period death assumed a real character, while life seemed but a dream.

The engagement had now become general. The brigade of General Prince had advanced on the left of Geary, occupying the prolongation of the line. Artillery replied to artillery, musketry to musketry, bayonet to bayonet, in this deadly strife. Daring warmed into rashness, and bravery into recklessness.

About four o'clock the regiment was ordered into a meadow, which position it promptly occupied, although the fire had not slackened, and carnage marked its advance. After dressing the lines, the regiment opened fire; and there it stood without a support, facing, in a death-struggle, three times its number. The fiery Creighton received a wound which compelled him to leave the field. The noble Crane was disabled; and the brave Molyneaux, for the moment, took command. Seeing the regiment nearly surrounded, and exposed to an enfilading fire, which was fast thinning the ranks, he ordered it to retreat; but heroic young Clarkey, mistaking it for an order to charge, dashed gallantly forward, at the head of his command. After understanding the order, he had barely time to fall back before the wings of the rebel host closed in.

Slowly and sadly the remaining few of the regiment fell back, keeping their faces to the foe. Only one hundred and sixteen, out of three hundred and seven, returned to the rear unhurt; and many of these were disabled from service by severe exposure to the intense heat of the sun, and lack of water. The regiment retired to a hill, and was not again brought into action during the afternoon. At night, however, it was ordered out on picket. After advancing to Cedar Creek it was challenged, and no one answering, it received a terrible volley from the front and both flanks. It fell back to the cover of a piece of woods, and finally to the rear, about a mile, where it bivouacked.

As night settled upon this field of carnage, Banks' entire corps withdrew to the position it occupied early in the day; but the artillery kept up an intermittent fire until near midnight. General Jackson, from his mountain-top, could see every movement of troops, and was enabled to calculate just how long it would take to re-enforce General Banks. Had he not been so imprudent as to come down from his mountain fastness, and attack the Federal forces after night, his loss would have been comparatively little. But as Banks retired, he moved twelve thousand men on to the battle-field, and kept them there during the night; at the same time advancing one battery through the woods into the open field beyond the battle-ground. From this position it opened on the division of Union troops occupying the advance. As soon as the first flash of his guns was seen, Major Davis, chief of artillery in McDowell's corps, ordered two batteries into position, and opened on the enemy. These batteries, being very close, and getting good range, did fearful havoc among the rebels. It is said that General Hartsuff sighted one of the guns that did the most execution. After the battery had retired, Major Davis' guns shelled the battle-field. The enemy being massed in small space, this fire told fearfully on their ranks. After firing about one hundred shells, and the enemy not responding, Major Davis ordered his guns silenced, little dreaming that he had left more dead rebels on the field than all the random artillery firing of the afternoon.

Many deeds of daring were performed at this battle. Captain Ash, of General Pope's staff, riding up to a battery with an order from the general to stop firing, saw that it was a rebel battery; he, however, had sufficient presence of mind to give the order, and ride off. It was obeyed; the battery ceased to fire, and soon after moved off. Captain Ball, of McDowell's staff, did the same thing, and with a like result.

The following incident is from the pen of a correspondent of an Eastern paper:

"Just after the firing of musketry became interesting, I noticed a private soldier coming off the field, and thinking perhaps he was running away to avoid danger, I rode up to him, when I found he had two fingers of his left hand shot away, and a third dreadfully lacerated. I saw at once that he had at least a hand in the fight. I assisted him to dress his wound as well as my limited knowledge of surgery would permit, he, in the mean time, propping up my pluck by his quaint remarks. Said he: 'I don't care a darn for that third finger, for it warn't of no account, no how; but the 'pinter,' and t'other one, were right good 'uns, and I hate to lose 'em. I shouldn't have come to the rear, if I had been able to load my gun; but I wasn't.' After I had dressed his hand, he looked over in the direction of the firing, and stood a moment. Turning to me, he said: 'Stranger, I wish you would just load up my shooting-iron for me; I want to have a little satisfaction out of them cusses for spilling my fore paw.' I loaded his gun for him, and he started back for the top of the hill at a double-quick, in quest of satisfaction. His name is Lapham, of the Ohio Seventh."

During the action, General Banks was leaning against a tree, when a cannon-ball struck it about eighteen inches above his head, passing entirely through. It has been his singular fortune to meet with many narrow escapes. While riding through Winchester, on his retreat before Jackson, a rebel, from a window above, took deliberate aim at him, but was shot by a private of a Massachusetts regiment before he could fire.

The loss to the regiment in this engagement was very heavy, and shows with what determination it maintained the contest. It went into the engagement with three hundred and seven, rank and file, and came out with a loss in killed and wounded of one hundred and ninety-one,--a loss of more than sixty-two per cent.

The following is the list:

_Killed._--Lieutenants, James P. Brisbine, Joseph Ross, Frank Johnson; sergeants, C. P. Bowler, Moses Martin; corporals, J. J. Evans, D. W. Wright; privates, Joseph T. Blackwell, William Adams, Edward Burnet, E. S. Shepherd, Charles G. Hettinger, Charles Masters, Benjamin F. Gill, H. F. Dinger, H. Hight, John J. Hensher, Henry C. Case, M. Eckenroad, N. H. McClurg, C. C. Miller, G. B. Swisher, E. Fox, James Stephenson, Alvin H. Benton, John Manning, Michael Waldof, James Ray, Frank Miller, John Weeland.

_Wounded._--Colonel William R. Creighton, Lieut.-Colonel O. J. Crane, Adjutant J. B. Molyneaux, Captain William R. Sterling; lieutenants, Henry B. Eaton, W. D. Braden, S. S. Reed, Marcus Hopkins; sergeants, Z. P. Davie, J. S. Cooper, J. C. Jones, A. S. Allen, Arvin Billings, George W. Barnette, E. M. Lazarus, James R. Carter, E. G. Taylor, G. W. Moore, Charles A. Brooks; corporals, M. D. Holmes, Henry J. Brown, L. Wilson, Joseph Trotier, William E. Smith, Thomas C. Brown, Frank J. Ware, Clark Wilson, C. H. Buxton, Norman L. Norris, F. A. Davis, Albert A. Smith, James Alexander, Benjamin Gridley, W. T. Callors, Robert M. Brisk, A. C. Trimmer, Christopher Nesper, James Grobe; privates, A. M. Clinton, Thomas Sherwood, Edward St. Lawrence, Arthur Laffin, Leonard Walker, Jacob C. Gaycly, F. N. Brund, Abraham Ginter, John G. Parsons, Henry Hatfield, Andrew J. Crippin, Charles E. Preble, John H. Galvin, F. Creque, Philip Kelley, T. Hammond, E. Lown, William Cammel, John Boyle, James Dixon, Samuel E. Garden, Jacob E. Hine, Benjamin Hasfield, Frank Henrickle, P. E. Hill, William L. Latch, Jacob Marks, Thomas C. Riddle, John Stone, Ernest Zincker, Franklin Gaskill, N. Badger, George Carrathurs, T. P. Dixon, Henry Fairchild, J. M. Rofflige, M. Richmond, Theodore Wilder, Oliver Wise, A. Colwell, William Gardner, John Frank, S. E. Hendrickson, N. R. Holcomb, E. Hobday, W. Lapham, F. Manley, John McAdams, H. H. Rhodes, J. Harnner, Joseph L. Clark, James Kelley, William W. Mecker, Charles Himpson, John Wickham, J. Roberts, J. R. Green, Edward E. Day, Lewis Owens, S. A. Fuller, D. G. Burthroff, J. M. Holcomb, Frank Strong, E. G. Meekins, H. Wallace, M. S. Gibbons, J. Donthit, S. Reed, Arthur Adams, Ezra Brown, Ira M. Barlow, George M. Caldwell, George W. Carter, John Downer, Thomas Ely, Sherman Collinger, Stephen H. Hopkins, Daniel Jones, Perrin D. Loomis, David C. Nunemaker, J. L. Oviatt, G. Russell, N. Twitchell, Ralph Winzenried, John C. Fox, A. Inskeep, James Kincaid, John Lentz, R. D. Murray, John Pollock, E. S. Mathews, A. Shaffer, C. Glendenning, Alfred Jackson, Hiram Deeds, Ira S. Ray, Richard Freeman, Samuel Knap, John Fishcun, James A. Tell, William Kelley, T. D. Williams, Charles Smith, George A. Earl, Maskell Bispham, Frederick Michael, Henry Schmid, John Hammond, William Pfahl, John Pike, George Sahl, George Zipp; George Rogers, musician.