Читать книгу Civil War Live - Charles Carleton Coffin - Страница 26

Table of Contents

On the old turnpike which leads from the Chain Bridge above Georgetown to Leesburg there is a hamlet of a half-dozen houses, called Dranesville. The great road to Alexandria joins the turnpike there, also a road which leads to Centreville. Near the junction of the roads, on the west side of the turnpike, there is a large brick house, a fine old Virginia mansion, owned by Mr. Thornton, surrounded by old trees. Just beyond Mr. Thornton's, as we go toward Leesburg, is Mr. Coleman's store, and a small church. Doctor Day's house is opposite the store. There are other small, white-washed houses scattered along the roadside, and years ago, before the Alexandria and Leesburg railroad was built, before Virginia gave up the cultivation of corn and wheat for the raising of negroes for the South, it was a great highway. Stage-coaches filled with passengers rumbled over the road, and long lines of canvas-covered wagons, like a moving caravan.

It is a rich and fertile country. The fields of Loudon are ever verdant; there are no hillsides more sunny or valleys more pleasant. Wheat and corn and cattle are raised in great abundance.

On the 20th of December, 1861, General McCall, whose division of Union troops was at Lewinsville, sent General Ord with a brigade and a large number of wagons to Dranesville to gather forage. On the same morning the Rebel General Stuart started from Centreville with a brigade bound on the same errand.

General Ord had the Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, and Twelfth Regiments of Pennsylvania Reserves, with four guns of Easton's battery, and a company of cavalry. One of the regiments wore bucktails in their caps instead of plumes. The soldiers of that regiment were excellent marksmen. They were from the Alleghany Mountains, and often had the valleys and forests and hillsides rung with the crack of their rifles. They had hunted the deer, the squirrels, and partridges, and could bring down a squirrel from the tallest tree by their unerring aim.

General Stuart had the First Kentucky, Sixth South Carolina, Tenth Alabama, Eleventh Virginia, with the First South Carolina Battery, commanded by Captain Cutts, also a company of cavalry. The two forces were nearly equal.

General Ord started early in the morning. The ground was frozen, the air was clear, there was a beautiful sunshine, and the men marched cheerily along the road, thinking of the chickens and turkeys which might fall into their hands, and would be very acceptable for Christmas dinners. They reached Difficult Creek at noon where the troops halted, kindled their fires, cooked their coffee, ate their beef and bread, and then pushed on towards Dranesville.

An officer of the cavalry came back in haste from the advance, and reported having seen a rebel cavalryman.

"Keep a sharp lookout," was the order. The column moved on; but General Ord was prudent and threw out companies of flankers, who threaded their way through the woods, keeping a sharp eye for Rebels, for they had heard that the enemy was near at hand.

On reaching Dranesville, General Ord sent a company down the Centreville road to reconnoitre. It was not long before they reported that the woods were full of Rebels. General Ord formed his men on both sides of the Centreville road. He sent the Ninth and Twelfth west of Mr. Thornton's house, into the woods, posted the Bucktails in front of the house, put three of Easton's guns into position on a hill east of it, put the Tenth Regiment and the cavalry in rear of the battery on the Chain Bridge road, sent one cannon down the Chain Bridge road a short distance to open a flank fire, and directed the Sixth Regiment to take position west of the Centreville road, to support the Bucktails, and detached one company of the Tenth to move down the Alexandria road to cover the flanking cannon.

Standing by Thornton's house, and looking south, we see the Rebels on a hill, about half a mile distant. General Stuart plants his six guns on both sides of the road, to fire toward the Bucktails. The Eleventh Virginia and Tenth Alabama are deployed on the right of the road, and the Sixth South Carolina and the First Kentucky are sent to the left. The cavalry is drawn up behind the battery.

Having defeated the Yankees at Manassas and Ball's Bluff, the rebel soldiers were confident that they would win an easy victory. As soon as General Stuart formed his line, Cutt's Battery opened fire, sending shells down the road towards the Bucktails. The guns were not well aimed and did no damage. Easton's battery was hurried up from the turnpike. So eager were the artillerymen to get into position, that one gun was upset, and the men were obliged to lift it from the ground. But General Ord told the men where to place the guns. He jumped from his horse and sighted them so accurately, that they threw their shells with great precision into the Rebel ranks. The cannonade went on for a half-hour, Easton's shells tearing the Rebel ranks, while those fired by the Rebels did no damage whatever. One of Easton's shells went through a Rebel caisson, which exploded and killed several men and horses. So severe was his fire, that, although the Rebels had two more guns than he, they were obliged to retreat.

Meanwhile General Ord's infantry advanced. The Ninth came upon the First Kentucky in the woods. The pines were very dense, shutting out completely the rays of the winter sun, then low down in the western horizon. At the same time the Bucktails were advancing directly south. The men of the Ninth, when they discovered the Rebels, thought they were the Bucktails.

"Don't fire on us, — we are your friends!" shouted a Rebel.

"Are you the Bucktails?" asked one of the Ninth.

"Yes!" was the reply, followed by a terrific volley from the Rebel line.

The Ninth, though deceived, were not thrown into confusion. They gave an answering volley. The Bucktails hearing the firing advanced, while the Twelfth followed, the Ninth supporting them.

Upon the other side of the road a body of Rebels had taken shelter in a house. "Let them fellows have some shells," was the order to the gunners.

Crash! crash! went the shells into and through the house, smashing in the sides, knocking two rooms into one, strewing the floor with laths and plaster, and making the house smoke with dust. The Rebels came out in a hurry, and took shelter behind the fences, trees, and outbuildings.

"Colonel, I wish you to advance and drive back those fellows," said General Ord to the commander of the Sixth Regiment.

Captain Easton ordered his gunners to cease firing, for fear of injuring the advancing troops. The Sixth moved rapidly across the field, firing as they advanced. The Rebels behind the fences fired a volley, but so wild was their aim that nearly all the bullets passed over the heads of the Sixth. In the field and in the woods there was a constant rattle of musketry. The men on both sides sheltered themselves behind trees and fences, or crept like Indians through the almost impenetrable thickets.

The Bucktails were accustomed to creeping through the forests, and taking partridges and pigeons on the wing. Their fire was very destructive to the enemy. Stuart's lines began to waver before them. The South Carolinians fell back a little, and then a little more, as the Bucktails kept edging on. The fire of the skilled mountaineers was constant and steady. It was too severe for the Rebels to withstand. They gave way suddenly on all sides, and fled in wild confusion down the Centreville road, throwing away their guns, clothing, knapsacks, and cartridge-boxes, leaving one caisson and limber of their artillery behind in their haste to get away. Nearly all of their severely wounded were left on the field. The Union loss was seven killed and sixty-one wounded, while so destructive was the fire of the Pennsylvanians that the Rebel loss was two hundred and thirty.4

The affair, though short, was decisive. The effect was thrilling throughout the army. The Union troops, — held in contempt by the Rebels, — defeated at Manassas, Ball's Bluff, and at Bethel, by superior forces, had met an equal number of the enemy, and in a fair fight had won a signal victory. It was a proud day to the brave men who had thus shown their ability to conquer a foe equal in numbers. They returned from Dranesville in high spirits, and were received with cheers, long and loud, by their comrades, who had heard the distant firing, and who had been informed of their victory.

Christmas came. The men were in winter quarters, and merry times they had, — dinners of roast turkey, plum-pudding and mince-pies, sent by their friends at home. After dinner they had games, sports, and dances, chasing a greased pig, climbing a greasy pole, running in a meal-bag, playing ball, pitching quoits, playing leap-frog, singing and dancing, around the camp-fires through the long Christmas evening.

The winter passed away without any event to break the monotony of camp-life.

Officers and soldiers alike became disaffected at the long delay of General McClellan. The President and the people also were dissatisfied. President Lincoln, being commander-in-chief, selected the 22d of February, the birthday of Washington, on which all the armies of the Union were to make an advance upon the enemy; but it was midwinter, the roads were deep with mud, and the order was withdrawn. General Grant all the while was winning victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and General Sherman and the navy had taken Port Royal, while the great Army of the Potomac, on which the country had lavished its means, and granted all that its commander asked for, was doing nothing.

The President, in March, issued an order to General McClellan to complete the organization of the army into corps, with such promptness and despatch as not to delay the commencement of the operations which he had already directed to be undertaken by the Army of the Potomac. General McClellan complied with the order.

The First Corps was composed of Franklin's, McCall's, and King's Divisions, and was commanded by Major-General McDowell.

The Second Corps was composed of Richardson's, Blenker's, and Sedgwick's Divisions, and was commanded by Major-General Sumner.

The Third Corps was commanded by Major-General Heintzelman, and was composed of Fitz-John Porter's, Hooker's, and Hamilton's Divisions.

The Fourth Corps was commanded by Major-General Keyes, and was composed of Couch's, Smith's, and Casey's Divisions.

The Fifth Corps was composed of Shields's and Williams's Divisions, and was commanded by Major-General Banks.

It was a long, dull winter to the soldiers. They waited impatiently for action. Camp-life was not all song-singing and dancing. There were days and weeks of stormy weather, when there could be no drills. The mud was deep, and the soldiers had little to do but doze by the camp-fires through the long winter days and nights. Thousands who had led correct lives at home fell into habits of dissipation and vice. Their wives and children haunted their dreams at night. A sorrow settled upon them, — a longing for home, which became a disease, and sent thousands to the hospital, and finally to the grave. The army early in the winter began to suffer for want of something to do.

Some of the colonels and chaplains saw that it was of the utmost importance that something should be done to take up the minds of the men and turn their thoughts from the scenes of home. Lyceums, debating-societies, schools, in which Latin, German, arithmetic, reading, and writing were taught, were established. The chaplains, — those who were true, earnest men, established Sunday schools, and organized churches, and held prayer-meetings. God blessed their efforts, and hundreds of soldiers became sincere Christians, attesting their faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men by living correct lives and breaking off their evil habits. Under the influence of the religious teachings there was a great reform in the army. The men became sober. They no longer gambled away their money. They became quiet and orderly, obeyed the commands of their officers in doing unpleasant duties with alacrity. Some who had been drunkards for years signed the temperance pledge. They became cheerful. They took new views of their duties and obligations to their country and their God, and looked through the gloom and darkness to the better life beyond the grave. Several of the chaplains organized churches. One noble chaplain says of the church in his regiment: —

"I received into its communion one hundred and seventy members, about sixty of whom for the first time confessed Christ. At the commencement of the services I baptized six young soldiers. They kneeled before me, and I consecrated them to God for life and for death, — the majority of them baptized, as it proved, for death. I then read the form of covenant, the system of faith, to which all gave their assent. I then read the names of those who wished to enter this fold in the Wilderness; those who had made a profession of religion at home, and came to us as members of Christian churches, and those who now came as disciples of the Redeemer.

"Then followed the communion service. This was one of the most affecting and impressive seasons of my life. The powers of the world to come rested on all minds. The shadow of the great events so soon to follow was creeping over us, giving earnestness and impressive solemnity to all hearts. It was a day never to be forgotten as a commencement of a new era in the life of many. It was a scene on which angels might look down with unmingled pleasure, for here the weary found rest, the burdened the peace of forgiveness, the broken in heart, beauty for ashes.

"Our position increased in a high degree the interest of the occasion. We were far from our churches and homes. Yet we found here the sacred emblems of our religion, and looking into the future, which we knew was full of danger, sickness, and death to many, we have girded ourselves for the conflict. It much resembled the solemn communion of Christians in the time of persecution. Our friends who were present from a distance, of whom there were several, rejoiced greatly that there was such a scene in the army. General Jameson was deeply moved and afterwards said it was the most solemn and interesting scene of his life.

"Again, on Sabbath, March 9th, the religious interest continuing, we held another communion. At this time twenty-eight were received into the church. Seven young men were baptized. The interest was greater than at the former communion, and it gives me the greatest satisfaction to know that this season, which gave to many the highest enjoyment ever known on earth, when the cup of thanksgiving was mingled with tears of gratitude, prepared for the sacrifice that was to follow. Many who were there never again partook of the wine of promise until they drank it new in the kingdom of God, and sat down at the marriage supper of the Lamb."5