The Black Phalanx Part 40

"While I will not prolong this already extended report by recording individual acts of good conduct, and the names of many brave officers and men who deserve mention, but will respectfully refer you for these to the reports of division and brigade commanders, yet I cannot refrain from expressing my high appreciation of the valuable services rendered by that excellent and das.h.i.+ng officer, Col. Joseph Karge, of the 2nd New Jersey Vols., in his reconnoissance to Corinth and his subsequent management of the rear-guard, during a part of the retreat, fighting and defending the rear during one whole afternoon and throughout the entire night following.

"To the officers of my staff,--Lieut.-Col. J. C. Hess, 19th Pa. Cavalry, commanding escort, Capt. W. C. Rawolle, A. D.

C. and A. A. A. G.; Capt. W. C. Belden, 2nd Iowa Cavalry, A.

D. C.; Lieut. E. Caulkins 7th Indiana Cavalry, A. D. C.; Lieut. Samuel (name illegible) 19th Penn. Cavalry, A. D. C.; Lieut. Dement, A. A. Q. M.; Lieut. W. H. Stratton, 7th Ills.

Cavalry, A. A. C. S.,--whose names appear in no other report, I am especially grateful, for the promptness and zeal with which my orders were executed at all times and often under trying and hazardous circ.u.mstances.

"I am, major, very respectfully your obedient servant,

S. D. STURGIS, MAJ. W. H. MORGAN, A. A. G., _Brig.-Gen. Commanding._ Hdqrs. Dist. West Tenn., Memphis, Tenn.

"Amid these scenes we noted the arrival of 95 more men; those who had belonged to a _raid_ sent from Memphis, Tenn., under command of General Sturgis, and were attacked and badly defeated by the rebel General Forrest, at a place in Mississippi. General Sturgis is said to have been _intoxicated_ during the engagement, and that just as soon as he saw things were likely to go against him, he turned away with a portion of his cavalry, and _sought to save himself from capture_.--'_Life and Death in Rebel Prisons._'"

Notwithstanding the arrangements usually and speedily entered into by two belligerent powers for the exchange of prisoners of war, it proved a most difficult task for the Federal Government to consummate an arrangement with the confederates, and much suffering was caused among the prisoners in the hands of the latter while negotiations were in progress. The agreement entered into by the commissioners, after a long delay, did not antic.i.p.ate there being any black soldiers to exchange; nor would the confederate authorities thereafter allow the terms of the cartel to apply to the blacks, because Jefferson Davis and the confederate Congress regarded it as an outrage against humanity, and the rules of civilized warfare to arm the negroes against their masters.

It was a year after the black soldiers had become a part of the Union forces before even a _quasi_ acknowledgment of their rights as prisoners was noted in Richmond. The grounds upon which the greatest difficulty lingered was the refusal of the Federal government at first to accord belligerent rights to the confederates but this difficulty was finally overcome in July, 1862, and the exchange of prisoners proceeded with until the confederate authorities refused to count the black soldiers captured in the interpretation of the cartel. But the time arrived when Grant a.s.sumed command of the armies, when it was no longer an open question, for the confederate Congress began devising plans for arming the slaves.

However, the inhuman treatment did not cease with "irresponsible parties," whose conduct was doubtless approved by the rebel authorities, Jefferson Davis having declared General Butler an outlaw, and committed him and his officers and black soldiers to the mercy of a chivalry which affected to regard them as mercenaries. With this spirit infused in the confederate army, what else than barbarity could be expected?

[Ill.u.s.tration: PHALANX REGIMENT RECEIVING ITS FLAGS.

Presentation of colors to the 20th United States Colored Infantry, Col.

Bertram, in N. Y., March 5th, 1864.]

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Among the captured rebel flags now in the War Department, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., are several Black Flags. No. 205 was captured near North Mountain, Md., Aug. 1st, 1864. Another Captured from General Pillow's men at Fort Donelson, is also among the rebel archives in that Department. Several of them were destroyed by the troops capturing them, as at Pascagoula, Miss., and near Grand Gulf on the Mississippi.

[29] General Brisbin, in his account of the expedition which, in the Winter of 1864, left Bean Station, Tenn., under command of General Stoneman, for the purpose of destroying the confederate Salt Works in West Virginia, says the confederates after capturing some of the soldiers of the Sixth Phalanx Cavalry Regiment, butchered them. His statement is as follows:

"For the last two days a force of Confederate cavalry, under Witcher, had been following our command picking up stragglers and worn-out horses in our rear. Part of our troops were composed of negroes and these the Confederates killed as fast as they caught them, laying the dead bodies by the roadside with pieces of paper pinned to their clothing, on which were written such warnings as the following: 'This is the way we treat all n.i.g.g.e.r soldiers,' and, 'This is the fate of n.i.g.g.e.r soldiers who fight against the South.' We did not know what had been going on in our rear until we turned about to go back from Wytheville, when we found the dead colored soldiers along the road as above described. General Burbridge was very angry and wanted to shoot a Confederate prisoner for every one of his colored soldiers he found murdered, and would undoubtedly have done so had he not been restrained. As it was, the whole corps was terribly excited by the atrocious murders committed by Witcher's men, and if Witcher had been caught he would have been shot."

This gallant soldier,(?) twenty years after the close of the war, writes about the incidents and happenings during the march of the army to Saltville, and says:

"Before we reached Marion we encountered Breckenridge's advance and charged it vigorously driving it back in confusion along the Marion and Saltville road for several miles. In one of these charges (for there were several of them and a sort of running fight for several miles) one of Witcher's men was captured and brought in. He was reported to me and I asked him what his name was and to what command he belonged. He gave me his name and said 'Witcher's command.' Hardly were the words out of his mouth before a negro soldier standing near raised his carbine and aimed at the Confederate soldier's breast. I called out and sprang forward, but was too late to catch the gun. The negro fired and the poor soldier fell badly wounded. Instantly the negro was knocked down by our white soldiers, disarmed and tied. I drew my revolver to blow his brains out for his terrible crime, but the black man never flinched. All he said was, pointing to the Confederate soldier, 'He killed my comrades; I have killed him.' The negro was taken away and put among the prisoners.

The Provost Marshal had foolishly changed the white guard over the prisoners and placed them under some colored troops. An officer came galloping furiously to the front and said the negroes were shooting the prisoners. General Burbridge told me to go back quickly and do whatever I pleased in his name to restore order. It was a lively ride, as the prisoners were more than four miles back, being forced along the road as rapidly as possible toward Marion. All the prisoners, except a few wounded men, were on foot, and of course they could not keep up with the cavalry. I soon reached them and never shall I forget that sight while I live. Men with sabres were driving the poor creatures along the road like beasts. I halted the motley crew and scolded the officer for his inhumanity. He said he had orders to keep the prisoners up with the column and he was simply trying to obey his orders. As I was General Burbridge's chief of staff and all orders were supposed to emanate from my office, I thought I had better not continue the conversation. As it was, I said such orders were at an end and I would myself take charge of the prisoners."

[30] "When the successful attempt was made, by tunneling, to escape from Libby Prison in 1862, many of the fugitives were honorably harbored by this unfortunate cla.s.s till a more quiet opportunity occurred for leaving the city. This I have from one of the escaped officers."

CHAPTER XI.

THE PHALANX IN VIRGINIA.

The laurels won by the Phalanx in the Southern States, notwithstanding the "no quarter" policy, was proof of its devotion to the cause of liberty and the old flag, which latter, until within a short period had been but a symbol of oppression to the black man; Cailloux had reddened it with his life's blood, and Carney, in a seething fire had planted it on the ramparts of Wagner. The audacious bravery of the Phalanx had wrung from Generals Banks and Gillmore congratulatory orders, while the loyal people of the nation poured out unstinted praises. Not a breach of discipline marred the negro soldier's record; not one cowardly act tarnished their fame. Grant p.r.o.nounced them gallant and reliable, and Weitzel was willing to command them.

In New York City, where negroes had been hung to lamp posts, and where a colored orphan asylum had been sacked and burned, crowds gathered in Broadway and cheered Phalanx regiments on their way to the front.

General Logan, author of the Illinois Black Code, greeted them as comrades, and Jefferson Davis finally accorded to them the rights due captured soldiers as prisoners of war. Congress at last took up the question of pay, and placed the black on an equal footing with the white soldiers. Their valor, excelled by no troops in the field, had finally won full recognition from every quarter, and henceforth they were to share the full glory as well as the toils of their white comrades-in-arms. Not until those just rights and attentions were attained, was the Phalanx allowed, to any great extent, to show its efficiency and prowess in the manoeuvres in Virginia and vicinity, where that magnificent "Army of Northern Virginia," the hope and the pride of the Confederacy, was operating against the Federal government.

But when General Grant came to direct the movements of the Eastern armies of the United States, there was a change. He had learned from his experience at Vicksburg and other places in his western campaigns, that the negro soldiers were valuable; that they could be fully relied upon in critical times, and their patriotic zeal had made a deep impression upon him. Therefore, as before stated, there were changes, and quite a good many Phalanx regiments--numbering about 20,000 men--were taken from Southern and Western armies and transferred to the different armies in Virginia.

The 19th Army Corps sent one brigade. General Gillmore brought a brigade from the Tenth Army Corps. At least ten thousand of them were veterans, and had driven many confederates out of their breastworks.

The world never saw such a spectacle as America presented in the winter and early spring of 1864. The attempt to capture Richmond and Petersburg had failed. The Army of the Potomac lay like a weary lion under cover, watching its opponent. Bruised, but spirited and defiant, it had driven, and in turn had been driven time and again, by its equally valient foe.

It had advanced and retreated until the soldiers were foot-sore from marching and counter-marching, crossing and re-crossing the now historic streams of the Old Dominion. Of all this, the loyal people were tired and demanded of the Administration a change. The causes of the failures to take the confederate capitol were not so much the fault of the commanders of the brave army as that of the authorities at Was.h.i.+ngton, whose indecision and interference had entailed almost a disgrace upon McClellan, Hooker, Burnside and Meade. But finally the people saw the greatest of the difficulties, and demanded its removal, which the Administration signified its willingness to do. Then began an activity at the North, East and West, such as was never before witnessed. The loyal heart was again aroused by the President's call for troops, and all realized the necessity of a more sagacious policy, and the importance of bringing the war to a close. The lion of the South must be bearded in his lair, and forced to surrender Richmond, the Confederate Capitol, that had already cost the Government millions of dollars, and the North thousands of lives. The c.o.c.kade city,--Petersburg,--like the Gibralter of the Mississippi, should haul down the confederate banner from her breastworks; in fact, Lee must be vanquished. That was the demand of the loyal nation, and right well did they enter into preparations to consummate it; placing brave and skillful officers in command.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PARADE OF THE 20TH REGT. U. S. C. T. IN NEW YORK.]

The whole North became a recruiting station. Sumner, Wilson, Stevens and Sherman, in Congress, and Greeley, Beecher, Philips and Curtis, with the press, had succeeded in placing the fight upon the highest plane of civilization, and linked _freedom_ to the cause of the Union thus making the success of one the success of the other,--"Liberty and Union, one and inseparable." What patriotism should fail in accomplis.h.i.+ng, bounties--National, State, county, city and towns.h.i.+p--were to induce and effect. The depleted ranks of the army were filled to its maximum, and with a hitherto victorious and gallant leader would be hurled against the fortifications of the Confederacy with new energy and determination.

Early in January, General Burnside was ordered again to take command of the Ninth Army Corps, and to recruit its strength to fifty thousand effective men, which he immediately began to do. General Butler, then in command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, began the organization of the Army of the James, collecting at Norfolk, Portsmouth and on the Peninsula, the forces scattered throughout his Department, and to recruit Phalanx regiments. In March, General Grant was called to Was.h.i.+ngton, and received the appointment of Lieutenant General, and placed in command of the armies of the Republic. He immediately began their reorganization, as a preliminary to attacking Lee's veteran army of northern Virginia.

As has before been stated, the negro had, up to this time, taken no very active part in the battles fought in Virginia. The seed of prejudice sown by Generals McDowell and McClellan at the beginning of hostilities, had ripened into productive fruit. The Army of the Potomac being early engaged in apprehending and returning runaway slaves to their presumed owners, had imbibed a bitter, unrelenting hatred for the poor, but ever loyal, negro. To this bitterness the Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation gave a zest, through the pro-slavery press at the North, which taunted the soldiers with "_fighting to free the negroes_." This feeling had served to practically keep the negro, as a soldier, out of the Army of the Potomac.

General Burnside, upon a.s.suming his command, asked for and obtained permission from the War Department to raise and unite a division of Negro troops to the 9th Army Corps. Annapolis, Md., was selected as the "depot and rendezvous," and very soon Camp Stanton had received its allowance of Phalanx regiments for the Corps. Early in April, the camp was broken, and the line of march taken for Was.h.i.+ngton. It was rumored throughout the city that the 9th Corps would pa.s.s through there, and that about 6,000 Phalanx men would be among the troops. The citizens were on the _qui vive_; members of Congress and the President were eager to witness the pa.s.sage of the Corps.

At nine o'clock on the morning of the 25th of April, the head of the column entered the city, and at eleven the troops were marching down New York Avenue. Halting a short distance from the corner of 14th street, the column closed up, and prepared to pay the President a marching salute, who, with General Burnside and a few friends, was awaiting their coming. Mr. Lincoln and his party occupied a balcony over the entrance of Willard's Hotel. The scene was one of great beauty and animation.

The day was superbly clear; the soft atmosphere of the early spring was made additionally pleasant by a cool breeze; rain had fallen the previous night, and there was no dust to cause discomfort to the soldiers or spectators. The troops marched and appeared well; their soiled and battered flags bearing inscriptions of battles of six States.

The corps had achieved almost the first success of the war in North Carolina; it had hastened to the Potomac in time to aid in rescuing the Capitol, when Lee made his first Northern invasion; it won glory at South Mountain, and made the narrow bridge at Antietam, forever historic; it had likewise reached Kentucky in time to aid in driving the confederates from that State. Now it appeared with recruited ranks, and new regiments of as good blood as ever was poured out in the cause of right; and with a new element--those whom they had helped set free from the thraldom of slavery--whom they were proud to claim as comrades.

Their banners were silent, effective witnesses of their valor and their sacrifices; Bull's Run, Ball's Bluff, Roanoke, Newburn, Gaines' Mills, Mechanicsville, Seven Pines, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, South Mountain, Knoxville, Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Gettysburg, were emblazoned in letters of gold. The firm and soldierly bearing of the veterans, the eager and expectant countenances of the men and officers of the new regiments, the gay trappings of the cavalry, the thorough equipment and fine condition of the artillery, the clattering of hoofs, the clanking of sabres, the drum-beat, the bugle call, and the music of the bands were all subjects of interest. The President beheld the scene. Pavement, sidewalks, windows and roofs were crowded with people. A division of veterans pa.s.sed, saluting the President and their commander with cheers. And then, with full ranks--platoons extending from sidewalk to sidewalk--brigades which had never been in battle, for the first time shouldered arms for their country; they who even then were disfranchised and were not American citizens, yet they were going out to fight for the flag. Their country was given them by the tall, pale, benevolent hearted man standing upon the balcony. For the first time, they beheld their benefactor. They were darker hued than their veteran comrades, but they cheered as l.u.s.tily, "hurrah, hurrah, hurrah for Ma.s.sa Linkun! Three cheers for the President!" They swung their caps, clapped their hands and shouted their joy. Long, loud and jubilant were the rejoicings of these redeemed sons of Africa. Regiment after regiment of stalwart men,--slaves once, but freemen now,--with steady step and even ranks, pa.s.sed down the street, moving on to the Old Dominion. It was the first review of the negro troops by the President. Mr. Lincoln himself seemed greatly pleased, and acknowledged the plaudits and cheers of the Phalanx soldiers with a dignified kindness and courtesy. It was a spectacle which made many eyes grow moist, and left a life-long impression. Thus the corps that had never lost a flag or a gun, marched through the National Capitol, crossed long bridge and went into camp near Alexandria, where it remained until the 4th of May.

The Phalanx regiments composing the 4th division were the 19th, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 39th and 43rd, commanded by General E.

Ferrero.

The Army of the James, under General Butler, which was to act in conjunction with the Army of the Potomac, under Meade, was composed of the 10th and 18th Corps. The 10th Corps had two brigades of the Phalanx, consisting of the 7th, 9th, 29th, 16th, 8th, 41st, 45th and 127th Regiments, commanded by Colonels James Shaw, Jr., and Ulysses Doubleday, and const.i.tuted the 3rd division of that Corps commanded by Brigadier-General Wm. Birney.

The 3rd division of the 18th Corps, commanded by Brigadier-General Charles G. Paine, was composed of the 1st, 22nd, 37th, 5th, 36th, 38th, 4th, 6th, 10th, 107th, 117th, 118th and 2nd Cavalry, with Colonels Elias Wright, Alonzo G. Draper, John W. Ames and E. Martindale as brigade commanders of the four brigades. A cavalry force numbering about two thousand, comprising the 1st and 2nd, was under command of Colonel West,[31] making not less than 20,000 of the Phalanx troops, including the 4th Division with the Ninth Corps, and augmenting Butler's force to 47,000, concentrated at Yorktown and Gloucester Point.

On the 28th of April, Butler received his final orders, and on the night of the 4th of May embarked his troops on transports, descended the York river, pa.s.sed Fortress Monroe and ascended the James River. Convoyed by a fleet of armored war vessels and gunboats, his transports reached Bermuda Hundreds on the afternoon of the 5th. General Wilde, with a brigade of the Phalanx, occupied Fort Powhatan, on the south bank of the river, and Wilson's Wharf, about five miles below on the north side of the James, with the remainder of his division of 5,000 of the Phalanx.

General Hinks landed at City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox. The next morning the troops advanced to Trent's, with their left resting on the Appomattox, near Walthall, and the right on the James, and intrenched. In the meantime, Butler telegraphed Grant:

"OFF CITY POINT, VA., May 5th.

"LIEUT. GEN. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.:

"We have seized Wilson's Wharf Landing; a brigade of Wilde's colored troops are there; at Fort Powhatan landing two regiments of the same brigade have landed. At City Point, Hinks' division, with the remaining troops and battery, have landed. The remainder of both the 18th and 10th Army Corps are being landed at Bermuda Hundreds, above Appomattox. No opposition experienced thus far, the movement was comparatively a complete surprise. Both army corps left Yorktown during last night. The monitors are all over the bar at Harrison's landing and above City Point. The operations of the fleet have been conducted to-day with energy and success. Gens. Smith and Gillmore are pus.h.i.+ng the landing of the men. Gen. Graham with the army gunboats, lead the advance during the night, capturing the signal station of the rebels. Colonel West, with 1800 cavalry, made several demonstrations from Williamsburg yesterday morning. Gen.

Rantz left Suffolk this morning with his cavalry, for the service indicated during the conference with the Lieut.-General. The New York flag-of-truce boat was found lying at the wharf with four hundred prisoners, whom she had not time to deliver. She went up yesterday morning. We are landing troops during the night, a hazardous service in the face of the enemy.

"BENJ. F. BUTLER,

"A. F. PUFFER, Capt. and A. D. C. _Maj.-Gen. Commanding._"

About two miles in front of their line ran the Richmond & Petersburg Railroad, near which the enemy was encountered. Butler's movements being in concert with that of the Army of the Potomac and the 9th Corps,--the latter as yet an independent organization.

General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, numbering 120,000 effective men, crossed the Rapidan _en route_ for the Wilderness, each soldier carrying fifty rounds of ammunition and three days rations. The supply trains were loaded with ten days forage and subsistence. The advance was in two columns, General Warren being on the right and General Hanc.o.c.k on the left. Sedgwick followed closely upon Warren and crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford. The Ninth Corps received its orders on the 4th, whereupon General Burnside immediately put the Corps in motion toward the front. Bivouacking at midnight, the line of march was again taken up at daylight, and at night the Rapidan was crossed at Germania Ford. The corps marched on a road parallel to that of its old antagonist, General Longstreet's army, which was hastening to a.s.sist Lee, who had met the Army of the Potomac in the entanglements of the wilderness, where a stubborn and sanguinary fight raged for two days. General Ferrero's division, composed of the Phalanx regiments, reached Germania Ford on the morning of the 6th, with the cavalry, and reported to General Sedgwick, of the 6th Corps, who had the care of the trains. The enemy was projecting an attack upon the rear of the advancing columns. Gen.

Ferrero was ordered to guard with his Phalanx division, the bridges, roads and trains near and at the Rapidan river. That night the confederates attacked Sedgwick in force; wisely the immense supply trains had been committed to the care of the Phalanx, and the enemy was driven back before daylight, while the trains were securely moved up closer to the advance. General Grant, finding that the confederates were not disposed to continue the battle, began the movement toward Spottsylvania Court House on the night of the 7th. The 9th Corps brought up the rear, with the Phalanx division and cavalry covering the trains.