On the 10th of May, 1864, whilst encamped at Wickham’s Park, the battery was ordered by General J. E. B. Stuart, to move up along the Rivanna, and join the forces there awaiting to intercept Sheridan, who was advancing towards Richmond. Reluctantly Colonel Johnson suffered it to go, for during the winter and spring he had reorganized and equipped it with much care; but the exigency of the occasion compelled him to acquiesce, General Stuart assuring him he would “borrow” it for but a few days, and “return it in good condition.”
On the 11th the battery took position at Yellow Tavern, and noon after the enemy made his appearancein force. A heavy encounter ensued, when the battery was retired about half a mile. For a time there was a lull in the fighting; but upon the arrival of General Stuart it was again ordered forward supported by the cavalry, and took position to the left of the Brook turnpike, directly in Sheridan’s front. The battle was then renewed with great fury. Sheridan brought three batteries to bear on Griffin at a range of not over eight hundred yards, and the rain of shot and shrapnel became terrific, but the brave fellows never flinched, and served their guns with great effect. Hour after hour this savage fight was waged, but no man faltered at his post, though the groans of the wounded and dying, and the shrieks of maimed and disemboweled horses, were enough to appall the stoutest heart. But General Stuart was there, watching with an anxious eye that little command, upon which so much depended, and they fought on, undismayed, despite the frightful scenes around them. At length the enemy massed a heavy body of cavalry, determined, at any sacrifice, to capture the guns that were making such dreadful havoc in their ranks. A charge was made upon him, when Griffin resorted to grape and canister. At every discharge whole companies melted away, and the enemy fell back in confusion. But again they advanced, and the Confederate cavalry giving away at the instant, the battery was left at the mercy of the enemy, who dashed upon it; but there the bravemen continued to stay, determined to remain at their post to the last, for all knew the vital importance of the position; and as the enemy pressed on they were met with that never ceasing hail of canister, until they reached the guns and rode over the men, and sabred and captured them at their pieces. Stuart had witnessed it all whilst rallying his broken cavalry, when seizing the colors of the First Virginia, he rode forward, exclaiming, “Charge, Virginians, and save those brave Marylanders!” Alas, it was his last command on the field of battle, for at the instant he received a pistol shot, and was conveyed mortally wounded from the field, when his men precipitately retreated.
Nevertheless, in the confusion and excitement of the moment, Lieutenant McNulty, with some of the gallant fellows, actually drove two pieces off in triumph, despite the efforts of the enemy to prevent them.
In this desperate battle at Yellow Tavern, the battery suffered the loss of many men and horses, and two guns, and its brave commander was a prisoner in the enemy’s hands.
Many were the acts of individual heroism displayed whilst the battle lasted, one of which I will narrate:
During the hottest of the fight private John Hayden was struck by a piece of shell, and dreadfully mangled, and would have bled to death in a few minutes had not the Surgeon of the battery,Dr. Wortham, carried him on his back into the woods and staunched the hemorrhage. In a short time the enemy had possession of the field, but carefully concealing himself and his charge until they had passed on, he that night carried Hayden to a place of safety, where he eventually recovered.
With the two guns saved from the wreck of the battery, Lieutenant McNulty crossed the Chickahominy, closely pursued, and took position on the right of the road, commanding the bridge, where, by a vigorous fire, he checked the enemy’s advance and covered the retreat. McNulty then pushed on to Old Church and joined the main body, which had been there reassembled.
On the 13th he was ordered to Hanover Junction, where he joined the army of General Lee, with which he remained until after the battle of Cold Harbor, when he was ordered to Early’s command in the Valley of Virginia.
After a march of six days, the battery reached Waynesboro’, where four days after it joined Early,en routefor the Lower Valley. Here the battery (now under the command of Lieutenant W. B. Bean, who had been for some time absent) was attached to General Bradley T. Johnson’s brigade of cavalry, which had the advance.
On the morning of the 4th of July, Johnson approached Martinsburg, when he was charged by about six hundred of the enemy’s cavalry, which for a moment created some confusion in his ranks;but a few well directed discharges of spherical-case from Bean caused them to beat a precipitate retreat.
The command then pushed on and entered Martinsburg, when they came suddenly upon a battalion of women, dressed in their holiday attire, drawn up on the sidewalks, as though bent on preventing Johnson from taking possession of the town, or at least their wagon train, ladened with ice cream, confectionery, &c.; for the fair and unfair dames, damsels and sweethearts of the troopers were about to celebrate their great national holiday by a picnic, when surprised by the naughty rebel Johnson, upon whom they at once opened such a fusillade of invectives in bad and not very choice English as to compel him and his command to retire in disgust, leaving them masters of the field.
From Martinsburg Johnson moved to Shepherdstown, and crossed the Potomac into Maryland, and took position on Catoctin Mountain, where he encountered a force of the enemy with artillery, but Bean soon drove them off, when they retired to Frederick city, closely pursued by Johnson’s cavalry. Here, being reinforced, they made a stand within the confines of the city, and opened fire from their battery, protected by the houses. The fire was not returned for some time, as Johnson was loth to open his guns upon defenceless women and children, but finally forbearance ceasing to be a virtue, he opened his battery, and a sharp artillery fight continued until night, when Johnson retired to the mountain to await Early’s arrival.
Early having at length come up, Johnson with his cavalry, and a section of the artillery under command of Lieutenant J. McNulty, proceeded to destroy the railroad bridges at Cockeysville, and this accomplished, he made a rapid move around Baltimore, and struck the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Beltsville, where a large body of the enemy’s cavalry was met, which, after a few shots from the battery and a charge from the cavalry, broke and fled towards Washington in the utmost confusion.
The battery, with Johnson’s cavalry, covered Early’s retreat from Washington, though it was but seldom brought into requisition until the army reached Poolsville, where the enemy made a vigorous attack, but were kept in check by Johnson’s cavalry and artillery until the whole army had crossed in safety.
On the 29th of July General Johnson was ordered by General Early to accompany McCausland into Pennsylvania and exact a stipulated sum of money from the citizens of Chambersburg, or in case of their not complying with that demand to burn the town. The Baltimore Light Artillery was attached to the brigade, and the whole crossed at McCoy’s Ferry and proceeded on their way. Before day on the morning of the 30th the advance approached Chambersburg, and after feeling the place with a few shells, and finding no enemy, the town was entered and burned.
Retracing his steps to Virginia by way of Cumberland, McCausland arrived at that place late in the afternoon of the next day, and found his situation a critical one. Kelly with a large force was in his front, strongly posted behind breastworks, and Averill was rapidly coming up in rear, and to avoid the former he was compelled to move to the left and take a different road from the one he had intended; but as there was not a man in his command who knew the country, this was not to be easily accomplished. After some delay, Col. Harry Gilmor settled the question by seizing a Union man who was familiar with the different roads and fords, and with a cocked revolver at his head compelled him to pilot the way. In the night, four miles from Cumberland, McCausland’s advance encountered the enemy, who were, after a brisk skirmish, driven back, when McCausland determined to await the morning to ascertain his position.
At the dawn of day the enemy was discovered in line behind the crest of a range of hills between the canal and river, when McNulty was ordered to post his guns, and open the fight, whilst the cavalry dismounted and crossed the canal on a bridge hastily constructed by Captain Welsh of the First Maryland Cavalry, when the enemy retired. But a more formidable obstacle then presented itself in the shape of an iron-clad battery mounted on an engine upon the railroad, whilst the cars to which it was attached were loop-holed for musketry, and the banks of therailroad, which formed an excellent breastwork, was lined with infantry. A very strong block house that commanded every approach to the ford, was also found strongly garrisoned.
Colonel Harry Gilmor was at once ordered to carry the ford, which he attempted in most gallant style, but was unable to reach the opposite bank owing to the dreadful enfilading fire opened upon him.
Lieutenant McNulty was then directed to take position with his pieces, and open on the iron-clad. Quickly moving his guns to an open field, and but two hundred yards from the enemy, he unlimbered at this much exposed point, and called upon his best gunner, Geo. McElwee, to bring his piece to bear upon the formidable looking mass of iron before him. The brave fellow despite the shower of bullets to which he was exposed, coolly sighted his piece and fired, and when the smoke cleared away McNulty had the satisfaction of seeing the huge monster enveloped in steam, for the shot directed by the unerring aim of McElwee had pierced the boiler, and it lay a helpless wreck upon the track. His next shot was as effective, and entered one of the portholes, dismounting the guns and scattering death and destruction around, when the enemy along the bank broke and fled.
But there was yet the block house to dispose of before the command could resume its retreat, and minutes were becoming precious. An hour wasconsumed in discussing the matter before anything definite was determined upon, when General Johnson suggested that an attempt be made to get a piece of the artillery across the river. The suggestion was instantly adopted, and under cover of the bank, though subjected to a severe fire, the piece was started over in a full run, and unlimbered in the river, and taken to its bank by hand, when, at the instant, a demand for the surrender of the block house was complied with, and McCausland was safe.
At Moorefield, soon after, McCausland was surprised in camp by Averill, when thirteen men of the Baltimore Light Artillery were sabred and captured at their guns in endeavoring to load them, and two pieces were lost.
After this affair the remnant of the battery was ordered to the vicinity of New Market, in the Valley of Virginia, to be reorganized and equipped. Here the number of the battery was considerably increased by the transfer of Marylanders who had served three years in Fort Sumter, and also by men from Major Brethod’s old battery. Horses and guns were furnished from the reserve artillery, and in a short time Lieutenant McNulty (who had succeeded to the command) found himself in a condition to take the field.
Sheridan was about this time rapidly advancing towards Staunton, and Early, with a small force, had fallen back to Brown’s Gap, in the Blue Ridge. McNulty was at once ordered to join him at Port Republic, which he was enabled to do, by making adetour, on the 27th of September. From Port Republic Early moved towards Waynesboro’, where the head of his column met that of Sheridan, and after a desperate fight drove him back up the Valley, Early pursuing.
The scenes which these brave men were compelled to witness as they pressed on after the brutal Sheridan and his band of incendiaries were appalling, indeed. Hundreds of poor, helpless women and children were encountered on the road, fleeing to a place of refuge, but knew not where to find it, for other homes as well as their own had been plied with the incendiaries’ torch. Pitiously they plead for protection and a morsel of food from the rough soldiers, but, alas, it was not within their power to afford them either. Night after night the heavens were illumined by the light of burning farmhouses, barns, mills, &c., and day after day was made dark by the dense smoke that filled the heavens. Surely, Grant and his minion Sheridan will be long remembered by the people of the Valley of Virginia, and their names associated by them and their posterity with all that is bad, brutal and vindictive.
Slight skirmishing ensued between the pursued and pursuers until the former reached Fisher’s Hill, where they met their infantry, when Lomax, in command of the cavalry, retired to the vicinity of Woodstock. At daylight next morning, the 8th of October, Lomax and Rosser moved to attack the enemy who had advanced to Maurytown. Rosserwas ordered to attack on the left, and Lomax took the right, forming his troops on both sides of the Valley pike. The Baltimore Light Artillery, under Lieutenant McNulty, was stationed on an eminence north of the town. The fight soon began with great fury, Lomax and Rosser attacking simultaneously, and the enemy were driven back some distance. Heavy reinforcements coming to the support of the enemy, he reformed his broken columns, and the fight was waged with redoubled fury. Towards noon Rosser, on the left, was overwhelmed, and soon after the heavy columns massed in front of Lomax, attacked furiously, and drove that General back in the utmost confusion.
During this time the gallant McNulty and his brave command were hurling death and destruction into the ranks of the enemy, but to no avail. With the retreat of the cavalry under Lomax, McNulty limbered up and sullenly fell back, unlimbering at every available point, and opening his fire upon the pursuing foe, thus enabling the cavalry to escape. In this manner the village of Woodstock was reached. Still through its streets he continued to pour into the faces of the advancing enemy destructive discharges of grape and canister. But the gallant little battery is doomed, for the enemy press upon them in overwhelming numbers, and still they disdain to abandon their pieces. Beyond the town they make one more effort to stay the dense masses now almost enveloping them, but even as the gunnersare ramming home the last double charge of canister, they are captured and cut down in the act.
Twenty-three men and the four guns fell into the hands of the enemy. Lieutenant McNulty who had had his horse killed under him, with the balance of his men fought their way through, and escaped.
For his gallantry upon this occasion, McNulty was placed in command of a battalion of artillery, and the command of the Baltimore Light Artillery devolved upon Lieutenant John W. Goodman, Junior Second Lieutenant.
Soon after the disastrous fight at Maurytown, Goodman was ordered to Fishersville, where the little left of Early’s artillery were preparing their winter quarters. Whilst here every effort was made to procure guns, horses, &c, for the battery, to replace those lost in their last fight, but without success, for the Confederate Government had none to spare. But the brave fellows were ready for any duty that might be assigned them, and when Sheridan, in March, threatened Lynchburg, they gladly obeyed the summons to repair to that place and assist in its defence in any capacity. But their services were not required, and they were in a few days after ordered to Petersburg, to help man the fortifications there.
When the great crash came, and the little army under General Lee was forced to retreat before Grant’s overwhelming masses, along with the restwas to be found the remnant of the Baltimore Light Artillery—one day fighting as infantry, and the next as cavalry, or assisting some battery in trouble. Noble fellows, like their comrades of the Maryland Line, they were true to the cause they had espoused to the last, and, like the Infantry and Cavalry, were determined to fight on whilst a ray of hope remained. Alas! that last ray disappeared with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, and when told they were disarmed, and no more to be led against the enemy, these veterans, who had unhesitatingly faced death in all its dreadful shapes on so many bloody fields, wept like children. Surely Maryland should be proud of her “Young Line” in the Confederate States Army, as she was of her “Old” in the days of the Revolution.
END OF THE “MARYLAND LINE.”
END OF THE “MARYLAND LINE.”
END OF THE “MARYLAND LINE.”