HISTORY OF THE NINTH VIRGINIA CAVALRY
IN
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
Chapter III.
In
the Van of Stonewall Jackson's Troops -- The Battle of Cold Harbor --
Bringing in Prisoners -- Capture of the White House -- Expedition to
New Kent Courthouse -- Marching Under a Mistake -- Malvern Hill --
Picketing on the James -- Resting in Hanover.
On
Wednesday, the 25th of June, rations were cooked, and that night
the regiment marched, taking the road leading to Ashland. We had, along
with
other regiments, a few days previously received the Confederate
battle-flag. At
a late hour of the night, after breaking our camp, we came in sight of
the
camp-fires of Major-General T. J. Jackson's command. They were
surrounded by men
busily engaged in cooking rations.
At
early dawn next morning we advanced upon the road running towards
Mechanicsville, and as we progressed the line of march deflected to the
left. In
the afternoon the sound of heavy volleys of small arms, accompanied by
the roar
of artillery on our right-front, told of the general advance of our
lines, and
the terrible conflict at hand. Later in the afternoon our movement was
very much
impeded by broken bridges and trees felled across the road, which told
us the
enemy was retreating. A few sutler's carts were the only captures we
saw. It was
soon understood that General "Stonewall" Jackson commanded in person
the force of which our cavalry was the van.
We lay
at night upon the road, bridles in hand, near Pole Green
meeting-house, a few miles east of Mechanicsville. The firing upon our
right-front was resumed in the morning, and, from the sound, seemed to
be
crossing our front to the left. We moved forward at an early hour. Upon
reaching
the stage-road east of Mechanicsville our march was down that road in
the
direction of Old Church to a mill, where we halted, fed our horses, and
ate our
dinner. On leaving the mill our line of march diverged from the main
road along
by-roads to the south. We halted about three o'clock P. M. in the
immediate
vicinity of Cold Harbor. We had encountered no enemy, and, after
leaving the
stage-road, had not seen our infantry.
At
thirty minutes past three o'clock the fight commenced with
deafening volleys of musketry, so continuous that the intervals were
scarcely
perceptible. The artillery fire was heavy, but seemed light compared
with the
sound of the small arms. We could see only the clouds of smoke, though
shells
continually shrieked and exploded over our heads. We were ordered by
General
Jackson late in the evening to move to a position less exposed. A
squadron under
Captain Thomas WaIler was placed in position to charge a battery, but,
for some
cause, was ordered back. The battle lasted without the slightest
abatement in
the fire of small arms for four hours. When it ceased we marched
rapidly on the
road leading to the White House, but, finding the enemy was not
retreating in
that direction, returned and bivouacked on the edge of the field of
battle.
This
fight was among the hardest of the war, and upon no other field
in Virginia, perhaps, was the continuous fire of musketry so long
sustained. The
enemy was routed at all points, and, driven from his
entrenchment’s, retired
during the night across the Chickahominy, leaving the air in places
sickening
with the smell of blood and large numbers of his dead upon the field.
We were
in the saddle by light next morning. Captain WaIler was
detached, with orders to report with his squadron to General Ewell.
Before we
left Cold Harbor Waller sent in over one hundred prisoners.
Our
march led us to Dispatch Station, on the York-River railroad, very
near the bridge over the Chickahominy. We passed near a large hospital
filled
with sick and wounded men. On approaching the station we saw a squad of
the
enemy's cavalry. They fled as soon as we were seen. After a long halt
we
followed the line of the railroad in the direction of the Pamunkey.
Beyond
Tunstall's Station the enemy seemed prepared to dispute our passage
across a run
on the road leading to the White House. We were ordered, in company
with the
command of Colonel T. R. R. Cobb, to support a North Carolina regiment
in its
charge. In order to get the proper interval it was necessary to move
the
regiment back, and the order was given to wheel about. Just at that
moment the
rear squadron, which was on the crest of the hill, saw the Carolina
regiment
and, supposing them to be the enemy, wheeled and retreated in
double-quick time.
They were soon halted and good order restored. No charge was made;
whether
because of this sudden panic or not, we never knew. The men were
dismounted and
lay in the road while a section of artillery under Captain John Pelham,
from an
elevated point on our left, cannonaded the enemy until night. In moving
off to
bivouac the accidental discharge of a comrade's gun inflicted a serious
flesh-wound upon young Robert J. Washington, of Company C.
At
early morn the march was resumed to the White House, the private
property and home of our Colonel. On reaching the run behind which the
enemy was
posted on the previous evening, we discovered the sills of the bridge
had been
so weakened that any charging party, must have broken them in
attempting to
cross. The night's delay seemed to have lost us the opportunity to
capture a
very large quantity of commissary supplies and sutlers' stores. The
great mass
of them had been set on fire the night before, and the place hastily
evacuated.
Gunboats lying in the river fired a few shots, and the enemy's cavalry
retreated
on the road to New Kent Courthouse. To the latter place our regiment
was sent in
pursuit, and, returning in the evening, we joined the command at the
White
House.
The
evidence of the immense resources of the United States Government
was displayed at this point. The accumulation of commissary supplies
seemed
endless. We saw a small lake of vinegar, which, bursting from huge
piles of
barrels, had extinguished the fire, and covered the ground for some
feet beyond
the charred mass of staves and hoops. The houghs of hams and shoulders
were
still discernable over a surface of a thousand feet of charred bacon
and
smouldering ashes. Eggs packed in salt were here - some raw, some
partly cooked,
some cooked hard, and some burnt - in numbers larger than we had ever
seen
before. Many barrels of salted fish remained unscathed by the fire.
The
sutlers' encampment, the canvas of which only had burned, showed
evidences of a hurried evacuation. Cheeses, crackers, lard, butter,
cakes,
oranges, lemons, raisins, dry goods (embracing even hooped skirts),
stationery,
tobacco, and, in a few instances, trunks containing money, watches, and
jewelry,
fell into the hands of our troopers. Riding in early twilight among the
blackened poles of the tents, the writer of this account saw many
chickens
roosting and our troopers gently lifting them from their roosts, and,
following
their example, he bore away two, to furnish him the first meal for that
day.
Immense piles of muskets we found burned, and many wagons had been
backed over
the bank into the river. Many also remained as they stood before the
evacuation.
The hospital tents remained intact, and in the distance resembled a
village of
painted cottages. The embalming office, a small, neat, wooden
structure, was
located in a ravine, which made into the river above the bridge. A sign
giving
the embalmer's name, painted in large letters upon a piece of cotton
duck,
attracted the writer's attention. Dismounting, he entered the small
room, and
found in a costly coffin of walnut the lifeless body of a man, noble in
features, of manly form, and covered with a winding-sheet, its sole
tenant. A
ball from a rifle or bursting shell had penetrated the forehead near
the hair,
and freed the spirit once animating this body. The approach of our
forces had
frightened the embalmer away, and denied to his relatives the mournful
satisfaction of a farewell look upon that noble brow of the sleeping
warrior.
Nothing was left to indicate his name.
The
encampment here was extremely uncleanly; indeed, vermin might be
seen crawling on the ground, a result probably of the crowds of negroes
who had
sought its shelter.
Having
remained at the White House during the night, we marched next
morning to Forge Bridge on the Chickahominy. Beyond the river the enemy
had an
outpost, sustained by a few pieces of artillery. Captain Pelham,
galloping with
several of his pieces down to the river's side, by his bold and
effective
gunnery dispersed them, with considerable loss, and we lost the
opportunity to
charge. Camping near the bridge, a squadron under Lieutenant John W.
Hungerford
was sent to picket the road about New Kent Courthouse. The night was
very dark,
and near the Courthouse this squadron encountered the enemy's pickets
and drove
them back. It joined us early in the morning in time to make a forced
march to
Gaines’ Mill to witness, as we were informed, the surrender
of McClellan's
army. We were mistaken, and, retracing our steps
wearily back to Forge
Bridge, we crossed it, and directed our line of march towards Malvern
Hill, and
halted at a late hour, and slept in the falling rain by the roadside.
It seemed
a singular fact that as we marched this evening we could see plainly
the flashes
of light from the guns at Malvern Hill, but heard no sound of artillery
from the
terrible conflict enacted there. Early in the morning we reached the
scene of
the fight, and were drawn up in line, and remained so until near night,
the rain
falling heavily all day. About nightfall we bivouacked with the trees
for our
shelter. Being without rations, an officer with a detail of men was
sent out to
scour the country and purchase beeves. Proceeding a short distance,
this detail
found seven fine bullocks left by the enemy, and, having driven them to
camp,
the men were soon busily engaged in butchering them and cutting off
steaks,
which they cooked on sticks set in the ground in front of the fires.
The
great battles around Richmond were over, and McClellan’s
shattered army lay toilworn and beaten upon the James, resting under
shelter of
the guns of the fleet. The losses upon our side had been great. The
private
soldier saw that the plan of our commander had been marred in its
execution, and
the fights and losses of the first and last of these bloody fields were
fearful
blunders. A demonstration in front of Mechanicsville on Thursday whilst
Jackson
was reaching the rear was all that needed to be done at the time. And
the
occupation on Sunday of the roads leading to the James by the right
wing of our
troops would have saved us the disastrous battle of Malvern Hill, and
cost the
United States their splendid army. At least, thus we thought at the
time,
drawing our conclusions from the limited range of facts within our
observation.
The
infantry had won a full measure of glory, the artillery had
achieved its laurels, while the cavalry in its flank marches, its
scouting
parties, its lonely picket posts, had not attracted any special
attention, or
gained any new reputation. A feeling not wholly exempt from contempt
was
entertained by many towards the trooper. Evils, too, were now
developed, from
which this arm of the service was never afterwards wholly free. No
adequate
supply of rations for man or horse was provided. The trooper rode his
own horse,
and if lost, he alone had to replace it. The quartermaster rarely had
funds to
pay the valuation. The trooper’s roving for food for his
horse, and his
trespass upon private property were put upon that universal scapegrace
Necessity, and winked at.
The
regiment remained near Malvern Hill for about two weeks picketing
the country on the James river below the enemy; and supporting
artillery, which
was sometimes ambushed near the banks of the river, and fired at
transports
going up. Whilst thus employed a very gallant act was performed by four
young
men from Company C - Privates Beale, Turner, Wheelwright, and Wright.
Our picket
was posted behind a barricade across the main road leading down the
river. The
enemy advanced a column of infantry upon this road, preceded by a few
cavalry in
the fields as skirmishers. Leaving the barricade, these four youths
formed in
the field to the right, then full of shocks of wheat recently cut, and
boldly
advanced to meet a squad of the mounted men. Their fire was reserved
till within
good range, and then so well delivered as to cause the mounted men to
retreat
precipitately. Their retreat was followed by that of the infantry.
Company
H rejoined us here. Captain B. B. Douglas had been promoted as
major, and assigned to the Fifth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, commanded
by
Colonel T. L. Rosser, and Lieutenant Thomas W. Haynes became captain of
Company
H.
About
the middle of July the regiment was moved up and camped near
Atlee's Station on the Central railroad, where we remained several
weeks, taking
our tours of picket duty near our old ground at Malvern Hill. A
squadron under
Major Lewis was engaged in a skirmish while on picket, and a private of
Company
A was killed, and the squadron complimented in orders for gallantry.
Colonels
Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton, commanding the First Virginia
and the Hampton Legion Cavalry, were promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general,
and the regiments formed into brigades. One of these, composed of the
First,
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth regiments, was commanded by General
Fitz. Lee.
Our camp was now moved to the banks of the Pamunkey, near Hanover
Courthouse.
Here we had regular daily drills, and some progress was made in
learning
regimental evolutions. Private W. Schley, of Company D, a good
musician, who had
been detailed for the purpose, instructed the buglers in the use of
their
instruments, and familiarized the men with the various calls. While at
this camp
Captain J. R. Jeffries, threatened with blindness, resigned, and
Lieutenant R.
H. Pratt succeeded him in the captaincy of Company K.
