Fertile and fair are the farms of Culpepper, as beautiful as any in the Old Dominion. They are watered by swiftly running streams. Their slopes are verdant and sunny, sheltered by the Blue Ridge from wintry blasts. Beyond the town of Culpepper, towards the south, there is a hillock, called Cedar Mountain, which rises abruptly, and in shape like a sugar-loaf. Near the Mountain is the house of Rev. Mr. Slaughter. Robinson's Creek winds through his farm, south of the Mountain, on its course to the Rapidan. North of the Mountain is the residence of Mrs. Crittenden. The house is shaded by overhanging trees. It stands on the west side of the highway leading from Culpepper to Madison. Standing there and looking towards the Mountain, we see fields of corn and wheat, groves and woods, bordering the field.
General Crawford's brigade of Banks's corps, in the advance from Culpepper to the Rapidan, on the 8th of August, encountered Jackson's pickets at the base of the Mountain, upon the farm of Mr. Slaughter.
On Saturday morning, the 9th instant, General Williams's division joined Crawford. As the troops approached the farm of Mrs. Crittenden, the base and summit of the Mountain seemingly became volcanic. There was an outburst of flame and smoke, a screaming in the air, and the deep reverberation of the cannonade.
Williams's batteries were soon in position, and replied with shot and shells.
General Banks arrived. He formed a line ofbattle, placing Williams's division west of the Madison road, near Mrs. Crittenden's house, and Augur's division east of it, nearer the Mountain. On the right of the line west of the house was Gordon's brigade, next Crawford, Geary, Greene, and Prince.
Jackson, from his lookout on the Mountain, could see all the movements of General Banks. He threw out a line of skirmishers. Banks did the same. They met midway the armies, and began the contest. An hour passed of rapid artillery firing. Then the infantry became engaged, Jackson throwing his brigades upon Prince, turning his flank, and pushing him back. At the same time there was a furious attack upon Crawford. His men stood it awhile, then charged the Rebel lines, but were repulsed. Gordon moved in to take his place. The left of the line, Prince and Geary and Greene, was swinging back. Jackson was moving fresh brigades upon the center, but Gordon held them in check. His men dropped rapidly, but so destructive were his volleys that the Rebel line wavered and then retreated. But other brigades were thrown upon Gordon's right flank. They swept him with an enfilading fire, and he, too, was compelled to retreat or be cut off. He retired past Mrs. Crittenden's, across Cedar Creek. There Banks formed again, planted his artillery, and waited the advance of the enemy.
Ricketts's division came up from McDowell's corps, ready to receive Jackson, but the Rebel general was content with what he had already accomplished.
During the night there was an artillery duel, and a skirmish among the pickets.
In the morning, a white flag was displayed on the field, and the wounded were gathered, and the dead buried. Officers from both armies met and conversed freely of the war. General Hartsuff, and the Rebel General Stuart, who were old acquaintances, shook hands upon the ground where the contest had been so fierce.
General Jackson withdrew his forces after the battle towards Gordonsville, to wait the advance of the main army, under Lee, while General Pope pushed south to the Rapidan.
On the 16th, General Pope's cavalry captured a Rebel courier, who was bearing a letter from Lee to Jackson, from which it was ascertained that the whole of Lee's army was moving north from Richmond, to crush Pope before McClellan could join him. General Pope was prompt to act upon this information. He retreated to the north bank of the Rappahannock, planted his artillery to cover the fords, hoping to hold Lee in check till he was reinforced.
Lee followed rapidly with his whole army. He reached the Rappahannock on the 21st, attempted to cross, but was foiled in all his movements.
Suddenly, on the night of the 22d, General Stuart fell upon the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Catlett's Station, in General Pope's rear. It was a dark, rainy night. Many army wagons were there, and some were burned. All the horses were taken. General Pope lost his personal baggage.
In the morning, General Pope understood that it was Lee's intention to gain his rear, and cut him off from Washington. Jackson was moving along the base of the Blue Ridge by swift marches.
The mountains, which at Leesburg are called the Catoctin Range, farther south are called the Bull Run Mountains. There is a gap at Aldie, and another one at the head of Broad Run, called Thoroughfare Gap. There the mountain is cut down sharp and square. There is room for the railroad, the turnpike, and the creek. A hundred men might hold it against a thousand. That part of the mountain south of the gap is about ten miles long.
One day I climbed the ridge to take a look at the surrounding country. Northward I could see the gap. A mile or two east of it, on the Manassas Gap Railroad, was the little village of Gainsville. Directly east was the cluster of houses called Greenwich, on the Warrenton and Centreville Turnpike. Ten miles distant, a little south of east, was Manassas Junction. Bristow's Station is south; Catlett's, southwest. Warrenton, one of the prettiest towns in Virginia, lies at the foot of the mountain, southwest, with roads radiating in all directions, as if it were the body of a spider, and the highways were legs. Westward is the Blue Ridge, looming dark and high, like an ocean billow ready to break over all the surrounding plains. In the northwest are the Cobble Mountains,—hillocks which lie between Bull Run and the Blue Ridge. Upon the railroad which winds towards Manassas Gap is the town of Salem.
If I had stood there on the 26th of August, I should have seen a body of Rebel troops moving across from the base of the Blue Ridge, through fields, through forests, and along the highways, towards Salem with great rapidity,—the menfootsore, weary,—many of them barefoot, few of them decently dressed,—but urged on by their officers. It is Jackson's corps pushing for Thoroughfare Gap.
At Warrenton, General McDowell is breaking camp, and moving east over the Centreville turnpike to reach Gainsville. General Sigel follows him. General Reno, with Burnside's troops, is marching for Greenwich. General Kearny's and General Hooker's men, who have fought at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Glendale, and Malvern, have joined Pope, and are moving along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. General Porter is at Warrenton Junction. General Banks is coming up near the Rappahannock to join Porter.
On the 26th, General Ewell's division, having passed through Thoroughfare Gap, fell upon Manassas Junction, burnt the depot, an immense amount of stores, a railroad train, and the bridge across Bull Run.
General Taylor's brigade, of Franklin's corps, reached the spot, but were obliged to fall back towards Fairfax, their commander mortally wounded.
Lee was following Pope. He hoped to crush him,—to grind him to powder between his own and Jackson's force then in Pope's rear.
West of Manassas Junction is Kettle Run. General Ewell formed his line on the eastern bank, and waited Pope's advance. Hooker fell upon him on the afternoon of the 27th, and defeated him. Ewell fell back upon Jackson and A. P. Hill.
Hooker was out of ammunition. Pope orderedPorter to join him, but he did not obey the order.
Jackson was in a dangerous place. He was not strong enough to advance and give battle to Pope, who was now pressing him. He must retreat and gain time,—delay an engagement till Lee could come up. He fell back before Pope from Manassas to Centreville, then turned west over the Warrenton turnpike, along which McDowell's army marched in the first battle of Bull Run, the 21st of July, 1861.
At this moment McDowell was moving east on the same turnpike.
At six o'clock King's division of McDowell's corps, which was in advance, came in collision with Jackson at Groveton, on the western edge of the old battle-field. Gibbon's and Doubleday's brigades were engaged a short time, but darkness put an end to the conflict.
Pope, with Hooker, Kearny, and Reno, had reached Centreville; Porter was at Manassas Junction; Banks, south of it; while Sigel and McDowell were southwest of Jackson, towards Warrenton. Jackson was in danger of being crushed. Pope, instead of being ground to powder, had maneuvered so admirably that he felt almost sure that Jackson would be utterly routed.
He lost no time in sending out orders. "Hold your ground at all hazards," was his despatch to General King. "Push on at one o'clock to-night," was the word sent to Kearny, who was to move west over Warrenton turnpike and attack Jackson's rear. "Assault vigorously at daylight," he added, "for Hooker and Reno will be on hand to help you."
"Move on Centreville at the earliest dawn," was the order sent to Porter at Manassas.
General Pope was sure that he could crumble Jackson before Longstreet, who, he knew, was rapidly advancing towards Thoroughfare Gap, could arrive. Ricketts's division was thrown north, to hold the gap.
But General King's troops were exhausted. Instead of holding the ground, he fell back towards the junction.
General Ricketts sent a small force up to the gap, but Longstreet, who had reached Salem, sent a part of his troops over the mountains north, gained their rear, forced them back, and thus opened the gate for the advance of his corps. Ricketts joined McDowell at the junction.
All this made it necessary for General Pope to issue new orders. He sent out his aides.
"Attack at once," was the word to Sigel.
"Push down the turnpike, as soon as possible, towards any heavy firing you may hear," was the despatch to Kearny and Hooker, also to Reno, commanding a division of Burnside's corps.
"Be on the field at daybreak," was the message to Porter.
"Send your train to Manassas and Centreville. Repair the railroad to Bull Run. Work night and day," were the instructions to Banks, who was guarding the trains.
It was of the utmost importance that the attack should be made instantly, before Longstreet arrived; and to that end General Pope directed all his energies.
Themorning of the 29th dawned calm, clear, and beautiful. Sigel obeyed orders. He was on the northwest corner of the old battle-field, near Dogan's house. Jackson was north of the turnpike, his right resting on Bull Run, at Sudley Springs, and his left on the turnpike near Groveton, along the line of an unfinished railway.
Schurz was on the right in Sigel's corps, Milroy in the center, Schenck on the left, with Steinwehr in reserve. For an hour there was the deep roll of artillery.
Then the line advanced. There was a sharp contest,—Sigel occupying the ground which Jackson held in the first fight on that memorable field, and Jackson upon the ground, where Burnside, Howard, and Hunter formed their lines. Milroy was driven, but Schurz and Schenck held their position. Hooker and Kearny were astir at daylight. They crossed the stream at the Stone Bridge, swung out into the fields, and moved north towards Sudley Springs, forcing Jackson back on Longstreet, who was resting after his hard march, his men eating a hearty meal from the stores captured at Manassas. He was in no condition to fight at that early hour.
Time slipped away—precious hours! McDowell had not come. Porter had not been heard from. "Longstreet is getting ready," was the report from the scouts.
Noon passed. One o'clock came round. "Longstreet is joining Jackson," was the word from the pickets. The attack must be made at once if ever.
It began at two o'clock by Hooker and Kearny on the right, pushing through the woods and across the fields between Dogan's house and Sudley Church.50
The veterans of the Peninsula move upon an enemy whom they have met before. Jackson has made the line of a half-finished railroad his defense, and his men are behind the embankments and in the excavations. It is a long, desperate conflict. There are charges upon the enemy's lines and repulses. Three,—four,—five o'clock, and Porter has not come. McDowell, who should have marched northwest to Groveton to meet Longstreet, has, through some mistake, marched east of that place, and joined the line where Kearny and Hooker are driving Jackson.
At this hour, sunset, on August 29th, Kearny, Hooker, and Reno are pushing west, north of the turnpike, close upon the heels of Jackson. King's division of McDowell's corps is moving west along the turnpike past Dogan's house, to attack what has been Jackson's right center, but which is now the left center of the united forces of Jackson and Longstreet. Sigel's brigades have been shattered, and are merely holding their ground south of the turnpike. O, if Porter with his twelve thousand fresh troops was only there to fall on Jackson's right flank! But he is not in sight. Nothing has been heard from him. He has had all day to march five miles over an unobstructed road. He has had his imperative orders,—has heard theroar of battle. He is an officer in the Regular service, and knows that it is the first requisite of an officer or a soldier to obey orders.
Battle of Groveton.1 Hooker.2 Kearny.3 Reno.4 Porter.5 McDowell.6 Sigel.A Rebel left wing, commanded by Jackson.B Rebel right wing, commanded by Longstreet.C Stone Bridge.D Dogan's House.RR Unfinished Railroad.
Battle of Groveton.
1 Hooker.
2 Kearny.
3 Reno.
4 Porter.
5 McDowell.
6 Sigel.
A Rebel left wing, commanded by Jackson.
B Rebel right wing, commanded by Longstreet.
C Stone Bridge.
D Dogan's House.
RR Unfinished Railroad.
Longstreet is too late upon the ground to make an attack with his whole force. The sun goes down and darkness comes on. The contest for the day is over. Jackson has been driven on his right, and Heintzelman's corps holds the ground. Both armies sleep on their arms.
The auspicious moment for crushing Jacksonhad passed. The most that Pope could hope for was to hold his ground till Franklin and Sumner, who had landed at Alexandria, could join him. Thus far the battle had been in his favor. He wished to save his wagons which were at Manassas. If he retreated across Bull Run and made that his line of defense, he must abandon his trains at Manassas. If he did this, Banks would be cut off. He hoped, with Porter's magnificent corps holding his left flank, to defeat Lee.
The morning of the 30th dawned. The pickets of the two armies were within a hundred yards of each other. The air was calm, the sky clear, and the morning as bright and beautiful as that Sabbath when the first great battle of the war was fought.
The Rebel line was crescent-shaped. Its left under Jackson reached from Sudley Springs to a point near the turnpike, about a mile and a half west of Groveton. Longstreet commanded the right wing, which extended from Jackson's command far to the southwest, stretching beyond the Manassas Gap Railroad.
This point was the center of the Rebel line. It was a high knoll or ridge of land which commanded two thirds of Lee's front. Here were forty-eight pieces of artillery. It was a very strong position. From this knoll eastward, the Rebel artillerymen looked down a long slope broken by undulations, the ground partitioned by fences, dividing it into fields, pastures, and wooded hills and hollows.
Pope had about forty thousand men, who stood face to face with the army which had drivenMcClellan from the Chickahominy, and which met him a few days later at Antietam.
The troops which had come from the Army of the Potomac were worn and dispirited. Hooker's and Kearny's divisions had been in nearly all the battles of the Peninsula. Almost alone they had fought the battle of Williamsburg. They were at Seven Pines, in skirmish after skirmish on the Chickahominy, and at Glendale and Malvern. Hooker on this morning of the 30th had but two thousand four hundred and forty-one men—so sadly had disease and battle thinned the ranks.
Porter came up tardily. He had twelve thousand men, but they did not like General Pope. They believed that General McClellan had been cruelly sacrificed by the government. There was no hearty co-operation by the officers of Porter's command with General Pope. Griffin's and Piatt's brigades took the road to Centreville, either by mistake or otherwise, and were not in the battle.51Instead of twelve thousand, Porter brought but seven thousand to the field. Sigel's troops were mainly Germans, wanting in discipline, vigor, energy, and endurance. Pope's army was a conglomeration, wanting coherence. He had, besides the troops from the Army of the Potomac, McDowell's, who had been an army by themselves; Sigel's, who had served under Fremont, whom they idolized; Reno's, who looked upon Burnside as the only commander who had achieved victories. General Pope was from the West. He was unacquainted with his troops, and they with him. He had issued an orderpermitting them to forage at will, which had produced laxity of discipline and demoralization. Yet with all these things against him, he felt it to be his duty to offer battle to Lee.
Porter arrived with his seven thousand about nine o'clock, more than twenty-four hours late. He came into position in front of Sigel on the turnpike. Pope's line was thus complete. Hooker on the right at Sudley; Kearny and Reno next reaching to the turnpike; Porter next, with Sigel in rear; and McDowell commanding Reynolds's, King's, and Ricketts's divisions on the left, near the ground where the Rebels made their last stand in the first battle of Manassas.
Had General Pope awaited an attack, the battle might have had a different ending, but his provisions were exhausted, and he could not wait. He must fight at once and win a victory or retreat.
He had sent to Alexandria for provisions. General McClellan was there. The Army of the Potomac, when it arrived there, was in the department commanded by General Pope, and was therefore subject to his orders, which left McClellan without a command. Franklin and Sumner, with thirty thousand men, were moving out and could guard the trains. At daylight, while General Pope was forming his lines, endeavoring to hold at bay the army before which McClellan had retired from the Chickahominy, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern, General McClellan informed General Pope that the supplies would be loaded into cars and wagons as soon as Pope would send in a cavalry escort, to guard the trains!
"Such a letter," says General Pope, "whenwe were fighting the enemy, and Alexandria swarming with troops, needs no comment. Bad as was the situation of the cavalry, I was in no situation to spare troops from the front, nor could they have gone to Alexandria and returned within a time by which we must have had provisions or have fallen back in the direction of Washington. Nor do I see what service cavalry could give in guarding railroad trains. It was not till I received this letter, that I began to feel discouraged and nearly hopeless of anysuccessful issue to the operations with which I was charged."52
The battle at that moment was beginning; the reveille of the cannonade at that early hour was waking thousands to engage in their last day's work in the service of their country. Through the forenoon there was a lively picket firing, accompanying an artillery duel.
"The enemy is making a movement to turn our left," was Sigel's message to Pope a little past noon. Lee's division, as they passed down from Thoroughfare Gap, marched towards Manassas Junction, and came into line beyond McDowell.
General Reynolds, who was south of the turnpike, advanced to feel of Longstreet's position. He found the enemy sheltered in the woods. The musketry began. Porter, southwest of Dogan's house, moved into the forest, where the battle had raged the night before. He was received with sharp volleys. His men fought but a short time and retreated.
"Why are you retreating so soon?" General Sigel asked of the men.
"We are out of ammunition."53
They passed on to Sigel's rear.
Suddenly there were thundering volleys on the left. Lee was attacking with great vigor. At the same moment, Hooker, Kearny, and Reno were driving Jackson towards Sudley, swinging him back from his advanced position.
The battle line was swinging like a gate pivoted on its center. The Rebels followed Porter, cheering and shouting. Grover's brigade of Hooker's division, which had been facing west, changed its line of march to the south, came down past Dogan's house, to the line of unfinished railroad which Lee had taken for his defense.
Milroy's brigade of Sigel's corps was lying in the road which leads from Groveton towards the south.
The Rebels were advancing upon him. Schurz, who was still farther south, was retiring before the mass of Rebel troops, who came within reach of Milroy's guns, which thinned their ranks at every discharge. But the Rebels were on Milroy's left flank, which was bending like a bruised reed before their advance. Grover came down with those men who had never failed to do their whole duty.
"We stood in three lines," said a wounded Rebel officer to me at Warrington, two months after the battle. "They fell upon us like a thunderbolt. They paid no attention to our volleys. We mowed them down, but they went right through our first line, through our second, and advanced to the railroad embankment, and there we stopped them. They did it so splendidly thatwe couldn't help cheering them. It made me feel bad to fire on such brave fellows."
They had charged into the thickest of the enemy's columns, but could not hold the position, and were forced back.
Lee formed his lines for the decisive onset. Making the point on the turnpike, where Longstreet's command joined Jackson's, he swung his right against McDowell, Sigel, and Porter.
Hood was on the left of the charging column, nearest the turnpike; then Pickett, Jenkins, Toombs, and Kemper. Evans and Anderson were in reserve.
It was impossible to withstand this force; yet it was a furious, obstinate, bloody fight.
"It had been a task of almost superhuman labor," writes Pollard, the Southern historian, "to drive the enemy from his strong points, defended as they were by the best artillery and infantry in the Federal army, but in less than four hours from the commencement of the battle, our indomitable energy had accomplished everything. The arrival of Anderson with his reserves, proved a timely acquisition, and the handsome manner in which he brought his troops into position showed the cool and skilful general. Our generals, Lee, Longstreet, Hood, Kemper, Evans, Jones, Jenkins, and others, all shared the dangers to which they exposed their men."54
Night put an end to the conflict. When darkness came on, Lee found that he was still confronted by men in line, with cannon well posted on the eminences towards Stone Bridge. He hadgained the battle-ground, but had not routed the Union army.
The retreat was conducted in good order across Bull Run. General Stahl's brigade was the last to cross Stone Bridge, which was accomplished at midnight, without molestation from Lee, who was too much exhausted to make the attempt to rout the forty thousand men, who had resisted the attack of all his troops,—the same army which had compelled General McClellan, commanding an army of a hundred thousand, to move from the Chickahominy to the James.
General Pope states his own force to have been not over forty thousand. If the whole of Porter's corps had been engaged, and if Banks had been available, he would have had about fifty thousand men. The force against him numbered not less than eighty thousand. In the subsequent battle of Antietam, Lee had the same army which fought this battle, estimated by General McClellan to number ninety-seven thousand men,55with the exception of those lost him at South Mountain and Harper's Ferry.
The battle of Groveton was therefore one of the most bravely fought and obstinate contests of the war,—fought by General Pope under adverse circumstances,—great inferiority of numbers, with a subordinate commander who disobeyed orders; with other officers who manifested no hearty co-operation. It will be for the future historian to do full justice to the brave men who made so noble a fight, who, had they been supported as they should have been, would doubtless have won a glorious victory.
General Sumner and General Franklin joined General Pope at Centreville. But the army was disorganized. The defeat, the want of co-operation on the part of some of the officers of the Army of the Potomac, had a demoralizing influence.
General McClellan was at Alexandria. On the 29th, while Pope was trying to crush Jackson before the arrival of Longstreet, waiting anxiously for the appearance of Porter, who had disobeyed the order given him, the President, solicitous to hear from the army, inquired by telegram of him: "What's the news from Manassas?"
"Stragglers report," was the reply, "that the enemy are evacuating Centreville, and retiring through Thoroughfare Gap. I am clear that one of two courses should be adopted: first, to concentrate all our available force, to open communication with Pope; second, to leave Pope to get out of his scrape, and at once use all our means to make the capital safe."56
General Pope had opened his communications unaided by General McClellan. He had moved to the Rapidan, to enable General McClellan to withdraw from the Peninsula; had held his ground till the Rebel cavalry cut the railroad at Manassas; then with great rapidity he had moved to crush Jackson, and had failed only through the deliberate disobedience of orders by General Porter.
Lee, on the second day after the battle of Groveton, made another flank movement north of Centreville, to cut off the Union army from Washington. There was a fight at Chantilly, where the brave and impetuous Kearny was killed, and the enemy fell back behind the intrenchments in front of Washington, and passed from the hands of General Pope into the hands of General McClellan.
It will be for the future historian to determine the measure of blame or praise upon him,—the causes of disaster to the Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula, and to the Army of Virginia at Manassas. A military tribunal, composed of the peers of General Porter, has pronounced its verdict upon him. He has been cashiered,—lost his place and his good name forever.
"Weare going to liberate Maryland," said a Rebel officer to a friend of mine who was taken prisoner at Catlett's Station. Throughout the South it was believed that the people of Maryland were down-trodden and oppressed, that the soldiers of President Lincoln prevented them from expressing their sympathy with the rebellion. In every Southern home and in the Rebel army, there was one song more popular than all others, entitled "Maryland."
"The despot's heel is on thy shore,Maryland!His touch is at the temple door,Maryland!Avenge the patriotic goreThat flecked the streets of Baltimore,And be the battle queen of yore,Maryland! My Maryland!Dear mother! burst the tyrant's chain,Maryland!Virginia should not call in vain,Maryland!She meets her sisters on the plain;"Sic semper!" 'tis the fond refrainThat baffles millions back amain,Maryland! My Maryland!I hear the distant thunder hum,Maryland!The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum.Maryland!She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb.Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum.Shebreathes,—she burns,—she'll come! she'll come!Maryland! My Maryland!"
"The despot's heel is on thy shore,Maryland!His touch is at the temple door,Maryland!Avenge the patriotic goreThat flecked the streets of Baltimore,And be the battle queen of yore,Maryland! My Maryland!Dear mother! burst the tyrant's chain,Maryland!Virginia should not call in vain,Maryland!She meets her sisters on the plain;"Sic semper!" 'tis the fond refrainThat baffles millions back amain,Maryland! My Maryland!I hear the distant thunder hum,Maryland!The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum.Maryland!She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb.Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum.Shebreathes,—she burns,—she'll come! she'll come!Maryland! My Maryland!"
"The despot's heel is on thy shore,Maryland!His touch is at the temple door,Maryland!Avenge the patriotic goreThat flecked the streets of Baltimore,And be the battle queen of yore,Maryland! My Maryland!
Dear mother! burst the tyrant's chain,Maryland!Virginia should not call in vain,Maryland!She meets her sisters on the plain;"Sic semper!" 'tis the fond refrainThat baffles millions back amain,Maryland! My Maryland!
I hear the distant thunder hum,Maryland!The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum.Maryland!She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb.Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum.Shebreathes,—she burns,—she'll come! she'll come!Maryland! My Maryland!"
General Lee had no intention of attacking Washington. It was his plan to raise the standard of revolt in Maryland, bring about a second uprising of the people of Baltimore, and transfer the war to the North. He issued strict orders that all private property in Maryland should be respected, that everything should be paid for.
On the 5th of September, he crossed the Potomac at Noland's Ford, near Point of Rocks. Jackson led the column. When he reached the middle of the stream he halted his men, pulled off his cap, while the bands struck up "My Maryland," which was sung by the whole army with great enthusiasm.57
Lee moved towards Frederick, a quiet old town, between the mountains and the Monocacy. It was the harvest season. The orchards were loaded with fruit; the barns were filled with hay; the granaries with wheat; and there were thousands of acres of corn rustling in the autumn winds.
At ten o'clock on the morning of the 6th, General Stuart's cavalry entered the city. There were some Marylanders in the Rebel army, who were warmly welcomed by their friends. A few ladies waved their handkerchiefs, but the majority of the people of the city had made up their minds to stand by the old flag, and manifested no demonstrations of joy. Many of them, however, took down the stars and stripes, when they saw the Rebels advancing; but over one house it waved proudly in the morning breeze, as General Jackson rode into town. His soldiers dashed forward to tear it down.
What followed has been beautifully told by Whittier.
"Up from the meadows rich with corn,Clear in the cool September morn,The clustered spires of Frederick stand,Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.Round about them orchards sweep,Apple and peach-tree fruited deep,Fair as the garden of the LordTo the eyes of the famished Rebel horde,On that pleasant morn of the early fall,When Lee marched over the mountain-wall.Over the mountain winding down,Horse and foot, into Frederick town.Forty flags with their silver stars,Forty flags with their crimson bars,Flapped in the morning wind: the sunOf noon looked down and saw not one.Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,Bowed with her four score years and ten;Bravest of all in Frederick town,She took up the flag the men hauled down;In her attic window the staff she set,To show that one heart was loyal yet.Up the street came the Rebel tread,Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.Under his slouched hat left and rightHe glanced, the Old Flag met his sight.'Halt!' the dust brown ranks stood fast.'Fire!' out blazed the rifle blast.It shivered the window, pane, and sash.It rent the banner with seam and gash.Quick as it fell from the broken staff,Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.She leaned far out on the window-sill,And shook it forth with a royal will.'Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,But spare your country's flag,' she said.A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,Over the face of the leader came.The nobler nature within him stirredTo life, at that woman's deed and word.'Who touches a hair of yon gray headDies like a dog! March on!' he said.All day long through Frederick streetSounded the tread of marching feet.All day long that free flag tostOver the heads of the Rebel host.Ever its torn folds rose and fellOn the loyal winds that loved it well,And through the hill-gap sunset lightShone over it with a warm good night.Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er;And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.Honor to her! And let a tearFall for her sake on Stonewall's bier,Over Barbara Frietchie's grave,Flag of freedom and union wave!Peace, and order, and beauty drawRound thy symbol of light and law.And ever the stars above look downOn the stars below in Frederick town."
"Up from the meadows rich with corn,Clear in the cool September morn,The clustered spires of Frederick stand,Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.Round about them orchards sweep,Apple and peach-tree fruited deep,Fair as the garden of the LordTo the eyes of the famished Rebel horde,On that pleasant morn of the early fall,When Lee marched over the mountain-wall.Over the mountain winding down,Horse and foot, into Frederick town.Forty flags with their silver stars,Forty flags with their crimson bars,Flapped in the morning wind: the sunOf noon looked down and saw not one.Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,Bowed with her four score years and ten;Bravest of all in Frederick town,She took up the flag the men hauled down;In her attic window the staff she set,To show that one heart was loyal yet.Up the street came the Rebel tread,Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.Under his slouched hat left and rightHe glanced, the Old Flag met his sight.'Halt!' the dust brown ranks stood fast.'Fire!' out blazed the rifle blast.It shivered the window, pane, and sash.It rent the banner with seam and gash.Quick as it fell from the broken staff,Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.She leaned far out on the window-sill,And shook it forth with a royal will.'Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,But spare your country's flag,' she said.A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,Over the face of the leader came.The nobler nature within him stirredTo life, at that woman's deed and word.'Who touches a hair of yon gray headDies like a dog! March on!' he said.All day long through Frederick streetSounded the tread of marching feet.All day long that free flag tostOver the heads of the Rebel host.Ever its torn folds rose and fellOn the loyal winds that loved it well,And through the hill-gap sunset lightShone over it with a warm good night.Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er;And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.Honor to her! And let a tearFall for her sake on Stonewall's bier,Over Barbara Frietchie's grave,Flag of freedom and union wave!Peace, and order, and beauty drawRound thy symbol of light and law.And ever the stars above look downOn the stars below in Frederick town."
General Lee had a plan to execute other than the liberation of Maryland,—the invasion of Pennsylvania.
"We treat the people of Maryland well, for they are our brothers, but we intend to make the North howl," one of the officers said.
"Lee will cut his way to Philadelphia, and dictate terms of peace in Independence Square. He will stand with torch in hand and demand Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and peace, or he will lay that city in ashes," said another.
But before he could venture on an invasion of Pennsylvania he must have an open communication with Richmond. There were eleven thousand men under Colonel Mills at Harper's Ferry, who were strongly fortified. It would not do toleave them in his rear. If that place were captured he could move north.
The geographical features of the country were favorable to the execution of his plans.
Ten miles west of Frederick the South Mountain rises above the surrounding country, dark, steep, rocky, and clothed with forests. Its most northern spur is near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. There are two gaps in the range west of Frederick. If Lee could hold these with a portion of his force, he could surround Harper's Ferry, situated on the Potomac, where that winding and impetuous river leaps through the rocky gorge.
If successful in capturing it, he could still hold the mountain gates, and pour the great bulk of his army north through the rich Cumberland valley. If McClellan was held at bay in his efforts to take the passes, and should move north, and come down the valley, then, pointing his guns in the passes westward upon McClellan, Lee could spring like a tiger on Baltimore and Washington.
The first thing to be done after resting his army was to seize Harper's Ferry.
The people of Frederick and the farmers round the city had a chance to sell all their goods,—their boots, shoes, clothes, flour, bacon, pigs, cattle, and horses, but they were paid in Confederate money, which was worth so many rags.
Lee's army was very dirty and filthy. It had made hard marches. The men had no tents. They had slept on the ground, had lived some of the time on green corn and apples, had fought battles, had been for weeks exposed to storms, sunshine, rain, mud, and dust, with no change of clothing. They had thrown all their strength intothis one grand invasion of the North, and had shown a wonderful vigor. The rest and repose, the good living which they found, were very acceptable. They obeyed General Lee's orders, and behaved well.
General Lee issued an address to the people of Maryland.
"The people of the South have seen with profound indignation their sister State deprived of every right and reduced to the condition of a conquered province.
"Believing that the people of Maryland possessed a spirit too lofty to submit to such a government, the people of the South have long wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign yoke, to enable you again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen," read the address.
But the people were not conscious of living under a foreign yoke, neither that they were a conquered province, and therefore did not respond to the call to rise in rebellion against the old flag.
It was time for Lee to proceed to the execution of his plans. The Army of the Potomac was approaching Frederick. Lee directed Jackson to move on the 10th of September directly west, cross South Mountain at Boonsboro' Gap, move through the town of Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac, and fall upon Martinsburg, where Colonel White, with a brigade of Union troops, was guarding a large amount of stores. General McLaw's and Anderson's divisions were to occupy Maryland Heights—the termination of the South Mountain range in Maryland—while General Walker was sent across the river into Virginia tooccupy Loudon Heights. Thus approaching from the north, east, south, and west, Colonel Miles would have no chance to escape. Longstreet was to move to Hagerstown to be ready for a sudden spring into Pennsylvania. Howell Cobb was to hold Crampton's Pass, and D. H. Hill the Boonsboro' Gap.
"The commands of General Jackson, McLaw, and Walker, after having accomplished the objects for which they have been detached, will join the main body of the army at Boonsboro' or Hagerstown," read the order.
On the 11th, the last regiment of Rebels departed from Frederick, and soon after the advance of the Army of the Potomac entered the place. The inhabitants shouted, waved their flags once more, and hailed McClellan as their deliverer.
Early in the forenoon of Sunday, the 14th of September, General Burnside, leading the Union army, ascended a high hill, a few miles west of Frederick, and looked down upon one of the loveliest valleys in the world. At his feet was the village of Middletown; beyond it, in the bottom of the valley, the Catoctin Creek winds through ever verdant meadows, past old mansions, surrounded with well-filled barns. North and south, far as the eye can reach, are wheat and clover fields, and acres of corn putting on its russet hues. Beyond the creek, the road winds along the mountain side, past the little hamlet called Bolivar. There are ledges, loose stones, groves of oak,and thickets of mountain shrubs. There is a house on the summit,—once a tavern, where the teamsters and stagemen of former days watered their tired horses, and drank their ale, and ate a lunch. It is old and dilapidated now. But standing there and looking east, it seems as if a strong armed man might cast a stone upon Middletown, hundreds of feet below. Twelve miles away to the east are the spires of Frederick, gleaming in the sun. Westward from this mountain gate we many behold at our feet Boonsboro' and Keedysville, and the crooked Antietam; and still farther westward, the Potomac, making its great northern sweep to Williamsport. In the northwest, twelve miles distant, is Hagerstown, at the head of the Cumberland valley. Longstreet is there on this Sunday morning, sending his cavalry up to the Pennsylvania lines, gathering cattle, horses, and pigs.
General D. H. Hill beholds the Union army spread out upon the plains before him, reaching all the way to Frederick city,—dark-blue masses moving towards him along the road, through the fields, with banners waving, their bright arms reflecting the morning sunshine.
He is confident that he can hold the place,—so narrow,—the mountain sides so steep, and one Southerner equal to five Yankees. He hates the men of the north. He is a native of South Carolina, and was educated by the government at West Point. He was teacher of the North Carolina Military School. Before the war, he did what he could to stir up the people of the South to rebel. He told them that the South won nearly all the battles of the Revolution, but thatthe Northern historians had given the credit to the North, which was a "Yankee trick." He published an Algebra in 1857, which Stonewall Jackson pronounced superior to all others, in which his inveterate hatred appears. His problems are expressive of hatred and contempt.
"A Yankee," he states, "mixes a certain number of wooden nutmegs, which cost him one fourth of a cent apiece, with real nutmegs worth four cents apiece, and sells the whole assortment for $44, and gains $3.75 by the fraud. How many wooden nutmegs are there?"
"At the Woman's Rights Convention, held at Syracuse, New York, composed of one hundred and fifty delegates, the old maids, childless wives, and bedlamites were to each other as the numbers 5, 7, and 3. How many were there of each class?"
"The field of Buena Vista is six and a half miles from Saltillo. Two Indiana volunteers ran away from the field of battle at the same time; one ran half a mile per hour faster than the other, and reached Saltillo five minutes and fifty four and six elevenths seconds sooner than the other. Required their respective rates of travel."58
On this bright morning, the men of the Nineteenth Indiana, troops from Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine,—from nearly all the loyal States,—are preparing to climb the mountain to meet the man who has violated his oath, and who hates the government that gave him an education.
The line of battle is formed by General Burnside along the Catoctin Creek. The Ninth corps, with General Cox's division in advance, is thrown south of the turnpike, and directed to move alonga narrow road which unites with the turnpike in the gap.
It is seven o'clock in the morning when Scammon's brigade of Ohio troops moves into position. Robertson's battery is south of the turnpike in a field, throwing shells up the mountain into the woods where Hill's men are lying sheltered from sight by the foliage.
There is a reply from the gap. Solid shot and shells fly from the mountain to the valley. Hayne's battery joins with Robertson's, Simmons opens with his twenty-pounders, and McMullin with four heavy guns, and while church-bells far away are tolling the hour of worship, these cannon in the valley and on the mountain side wake the slumbering echoes, and play the prelude to the approaching strife.
Scammon's brigade leads the way by the old Sharpsburg road, the men toiling slowly up the hill,—through the fields and pastures, over fences and walls, sometimes losing foothold, and falling headlong, or sliding downward.
The brigade was preceded by a line of skirmishers, and was followed by Crook's brigade.
The woods were full of Rebels, but the men moved on, driving back Hill's skirmishers, working up step by step, pushing them and the line supporting them toward the gap. A battery opened with canister, but the shot flew wild and high over their heads, and they pressed on. McMullin sent up two guns, but the gunners were picked off by the Rebel sharpshooters. The Twelfth Ohio charged up the hill, through a pasture, with a hurrah. Louder, deeper, longer was the cheer which rose from the valley far below,where Sturgis, and Wilcox, and Rodman were forming into line. On,—into the fire,—close up to the stonewall, where the Rebels were lying,—they charged, routing them from their shelter, and holding the ground. There were places on the hillside, where the green grass became crimson,—where brave men had stood a moment before full of life and vigor and devotion to their country, but motionless and silent now,—their part in the great struggle faithfully performed, their work done.
Hill rallied his men. They dashed down the mountain to regain the ground. But having obtained it through costly sacrifice, the men from Ohio were not willing to yield it.
There was a lull in the battle at noon. Hill, finding that the chances were against him, sent to Hagerstown for Longstreet.
Burnside, on the other hand, waited for Hooker to arrive, who was next in the column. He commanded the First corps, composed of Ricketts's and King's divisions, and the Pennsylvania Reserves. He filed north of the turnpike, threw Ricketts's upon the extreme right, with the Reserves in the center, and King on the left. King was on the turnpike. There is a deep gorge between the turnpike and the old road south of it, which made a gap between Reno and Hooker.
The afternoon wore away before the troops were ready. Longstreet's men were panting up the mountain on the western side, Hood's division in advance. They were thrown upon the hillside south of the old tavern in the gap. It was past four o'clock when the order to advance was given. Wilcox's division led upon the extreme left.
It is a movement which will be decisive, for victory or defeat. The artillery—all the batteries which can be brought into position—send their shells up the mountain. Steadily onward moves the long line across the fields at the foot, up the pasture lands of the slope into the woods.
There is a rattling of musketry,—then heavy rolls, peal on peal, wave on wave, and a steady, constant roar; giving not an inch, but advancing slowly, or holding their ground, the veterans of the Peninsula continue their fire. The mountain is white with the rising battle-cloud. The line of fire goes up the mountain. The Rebels are falling back, fighting bravely, but yielding. There are shouts, yells, outcries, mingling with the thunder of the artillery, echoing and reverberating along the valleys.
Right and left and center are pushing on. Thousands on the plains below behold it, and wish that they were there to aid their brothers in arms. The day wanes, the shadows begin to deepen, revealing the flashes from cannon and musket. There is no giving back of Burnside's men, neither of Hooker's, but nearer to the crest, nearer the clouds, moves the starry banner.
"Please open upon that house with your battery," was the order of Colonel Meredith, of the Nineteenth Indiana, commanding a brigade in King's division, to Lieutenant Stewart of the Fourth United States Artillery. The house was filled with sharpshooters. Lieutenant Stewart sights his guns. The second shell crashes through the side as if it were paper, tears through the rooms. The Rebels swarm out from doors andwindows in hasty flight. The men from Indiana give a lusty cheer, and move nearer the enemy.
In vain the efforts of Hill and Longstreet and Hood to stop the fiery tide, rising higher, rolling nearer, overflowing the mountain, threatening to sweep them into the western valley. The lines surge on. It is like the sweep of a great tidal wave. There is a rush, a short, desperate, decisive struggle. The Rebel line gives way. The men from Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts, pour into the gap, shouting their victorious hurrahs.
General Hill has lost the battle. He has despised those men. He tried to injure their fair fame before the world in time of peace; he intimated that Northern men were arrant cowards; but after this battle at South Mountain he can issue an Algebra with a new statement of the wooden nutmeg and Buena Vista problems.
Lee was successful in what he had undertaken at Harper's Ferry. While Burnside was winning this victory, Colonel Miles was yielding that important post. He abandoned the strong position on Maryland Heights, tumbled the cannon down the mountain, when he might have kept McLaw and Anderson from gaining possession of the place. Jackson kept up a furious bombardment. Miles hung out the white flag, and was killed immediately after by a shell.
His troops were indignant at the surrender. Some shed tears.
"We have no country now," said one officer,wiping the tears from his face. If Miles had held out a little longer, he would have been relieved, for Franklin was driving General Cobb from Crampton's Pass, and would have been upon the rear of McLaw and Anderson.
The cavalry made their escape under cover of the night. They followed winding forest-paths through the woods, at dead of night, avoiding the roads till they were north of Sharpsburg. While crossing the Williamsport and Hagerstown road they came upon Longstreet's ammunition train.
"Hold!" said the officer commanding the cavalry to the forward driver, "you are on the wrong road. That is the way."
The driver turned towards the north as directed, not knowing that the officer was a Yankee.
"Hold on there! you are on the wrong road. Who told you to turn off here, I should like to know?" shouted the Rebel officer in charge of the train, dashing up on his horse.
"I gave the order, sir."
"Who are you, and what right have you to interfere with my train, sir," said the officer, coming up in the darkness.
"I am colonel of the Eighth New York cavalry, and you are my prisoner," said the Union officer, presenting his pistol.
The Rebel officer was astounded. He swore bad words, and said it was a mean Yankee trick.
One hundred wagons and seventy-four men were thus quietly cut out from the Rebel trains.
I saw the prisoners as they entered Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. There were several negroes among them.
"As soon as I heard dat we was in de hands of de Yankees, I was mighty glad, sir, 'cause we darkees want to get to de Norf," he said.
"Why do you want to get to the North?"
"'Cause we be free up here. We don't get much to eat in the Souf," he said.
At the head of this company of prisoners marched a man with downcast eyes, sunburned, dusty, dressed in gray, with a black feather in his hat. His name was Fitz Hugh Miller. He was a Pennsylvanian. It was he who arrested Cook, one of John Brown's accomplices, and delivered him over to Governor Wise. Cook was tried, found guilty, and hung. When the war broke out, Miller went South, and was a captain in Lee's army. The people of Chambersburg knew him. He was a traitor.
"Hang him!" they shouted. "A rope!" "Get a rope!" There was a rush of men and women towards him. They were greatly excited. Some picked up stones to hurl at him, some shook their fists in his face, but the guards closed round him, and hurried the pale and trembling wretch off to prison as quickly as possible, and saved him from a violent death.
General Lee had been successful in taking Harper's Ferry, but he was not in position to spring upon the North. The eastern gates were wide open. Burnside had pushed D. H. Hill and Longstreet down the Mountain, and the whole Yankee army which he intended to keep out of the Antietam and Cumberland valleys was pouring upon him. He had been successful in most of his battles. He had driven McClellan from Richmond to the gunboats, had defeated Pope atGroveton, had taken eleven thousand prisoners and immense supplies at Harper's Ferry. All that he had to do now was to defeat the new Army of the Potomac in a great pitched battle; then he could move on to Philadelphia and dictate terms of peace.
He resolved to concentrate his army, choose his ground, and give battle to McClellan. He must do that before he could move on. The advance of the Rebel army towards Pennsylvania roused the citizens of that Commonwealth to take active measures for its defense.
There were glorious exhibitions of pure patriotism. Governor Curtin called upon the people to organize at once; and fifty thousand men hastened to the various places of rendezvous. The old Revolutionary flame was rekindled. Disaster had not dispirited the people. The ministers from their pulpits urged their congregations to go, and themselves set the example. Judges, members of Congress, presidents of colleges, and professors took place in the ranks, and became soldiers. In every town the pulses of the people beat to the exigencies of the hour. Telegrams and letters poured in upon the Governor. "We are ready," "We shall march to-morrow," "Give us guns," they said.
Mothers, wives, and daughters said, "Go!"
There were tearful eyes and swelling bosoms, but brave hearts. Old men, gray-haired, weak, weary with the weight of years, encouraged the young and strong, and bestowed their blessings on those departing for the battle-field.