The
Fate of the Characters
20th Mass. officer Henry Abbott's
account:
"In about an hour we let up on the firing
along the line, the smoke partially cleared, & we
saw the rebels charging from the woods to take Rickets' battery, which, by the way, did admirably.
Instantly there went up a tremendous shout along the
line & the biggest volley of the battle sent the rebels yelping into the woods. Then our whole line charged,
the first halfthe distance in quick time, without cheering, except from
old Sumner, who cheered us as we passed, the second
half the way taking the double-quick with the loudest
cheers we could get up [...]
Over the fence we went...It was now dark.
We lay on our arms, on marshy ground; without blankets, officers being obliged to sit up, every body wet
through as to his feet and trousers, & we had
brought our blankets, but gave them all up to the wounded prisoners, of whom our regiment took a large
number....My company took 10 unwounded, & 11
wounded rebels prisoner in the woods. Among the former, 5 of the celebrated Hampton Legion of South
Carolina, & one Tennessee, two North Carolinans,
a Georgia & a Louisiana Tiger.
Among the wounded, Brig. Gen. Pettigrew
of SC & Lt. Col. Bull of the 35th Georgians.
Pettigrew had given up all his side arms to some of his people before they ran away, in anticipation of being taken
prisoner, & had only his watch, which of course I
returned to him. Pettigrew will get well. Bull had
his side arms, of which I allowed Corp. Summerhayes, his captor, to
keep his pistol, an ordinary affair, while I kept his
sword, an ordinary US infantry sword, which I
intended to send as a present to you, but the Col., knowing [p.129] his family's address, wants me to send it to
them, & as the poor fellow is dead, of course I
can't hesitate to do any thing which would comfort
his family. His scabbard, however, I found very convenient, as mine
got broken in the battle and I threw it away. I am going
to send you, instead, a short rifle which I took from
a H[ampton's] Legion fellow, who were all around with
them & the sword bayonet. The rest of the rifles we of course turned over to the col., as in duty bound, except one
revolving Colt's rifle, 5 barrels, worth $60 or $70
apiece...which one of my men took from a dying
officer, & which I let him keep as a reward of
valor."
---Robert Garth Scott, ed., Fallen
Leaves: The Civil War Letters of Major Henry Livermore Abbott
(Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1991) pp.
128-129.
20th Mass. Corporal John W.
Summerhayes' account:
"Lieutenant Abbott ordered me into the
woods, with a file of men, to bring out all the
wounded, and rebels, that could be found. As I started, seven came out, belonging to the Hampton Legion, SC, the finest
brigade in the rebel service. After coming in with
them, I advanced into the woods, and hearing a
groaning, walked up and there found Lieut. Col. Bull of the 34th Georgia [sic]. I took his sword and revolver, and sent him
in. After taking several more, I fell in with one, whom I knew, although
his side arms were gone, was of some high rank, and
so he proved to be. Although he would not give me any
answers, the Colonel was more fortunate, for he found out that it was Brigadier General Pettigrew, of the State of South
Carolina."
--Richard F. Miller and Robert F. Mooney,
The Civil War: The Nantucket Experience (Nantucket: Wesco
Publishing, 1994) pp. 187.
20th Mass. Lt. Henry Ropes'
account:
"[...] On Saturday last, May 31st, we had not the
slightest idea of danger being near till about noon when very heavy
firing broke out from the woods West of us and at one time approached
very near. ... At about 4 o'cl. orders came to fall in with one day's
rations and
we marched from Camp, and crossed the Chickahominy on
the log bridge built by the Mich. Regimt. We came out on a low meadow
where our Artillery was stuck in the mud. The 19th Mass. was on picket
behind us, the Tammany we left here, and the 7th Mich. and we pushed on
alone. After passing the meadow we ascended a small hill, and found the
country dry and hilly in front. Soon we halted, loaded and primed and
then marched on again. In a few minutes we heard guns ahead, and we
pushed on rapidly, crossed a stream knee deep and took the double quick,
for musketry and artillery were now heard in front,
rapidly increasing. We drove forward out of breath and
very hot, saw the smoke rising over the trees, and soon the road turned
from along the edge of the woods, and we saw at the farther end of a
large field our Artillery firing with the greatest rapidity, the
Infantry forming, all hid in smoke. We again took the double quick step
and ran through deep mud and pools of water toward the battle. The whole
field in the rear of the line of firing was covered with dead; and
wounded men were coming in in great numbers, some walking, some limping,
some carried on stretchers and blankets, many with shattered limbs
exposed and dripping with blood. In a moment we entered the fire. The
noise was terrific, the balls whistled by us and the shells exploded
over us and by our side; the whole scene dark with smoke and lit up by
the streams of fire from our battery and from our Infantry in line on
each side. We were carried to the left and formed in line, and then
marched by the left flank and advanced to the front and opened fire. Our
men behaved with the greatest steadiness and stood up and fired and did
exactly what they were told. The necessary confusion was very great, and
it was as much as all the Officers could do to give the commands and see
to the men. We changed position 2 or 3 times under a hot fire. Donnelly
and Chase of my company fell not 2 feet from me. The shell and balls
seemed all round us, and yet few seemed to fall. We kept up this heavy
firing for some time, when the enemy came out of the woods in front and
made a grand attack on the battery. They were met by grape and canister
and a tremendous fire of the Infantry. They faltered and fell back. Some
Regiment charged on them; the whole Rebel line was now in front of us,
and Genl Sumner ordered our whole line to advance. We rushed on with
tremendous cheers, the whole together at a charge. The Rebels did not
wait for the bayonets but broke and fled. Our Regiment came over a newly
ploughed field and sank to the knee. We drove them to the edge of the
woods and opened a tremendous fire for a few moments, and
then..
....We fired into the woods and then charged and drove
them before us. We were then ordered back, and by the left flank and
again charged the Rebels in a field on the left where they had rallied.
We drove them and halted in the middle of the field and gave a few final
volleys. It was then dark. We staid there that night. Ground covered
with their killed and wounded. We took many prisoners.
[...] All Officers well and unhurt. [...] Our total loss
30.
B
My Company suffered most in the battle.
Henry."
--From the Letters of Lt. Henry Ropes, 20th MA (ms,
Boston, 1888)
Rare Books and Manuscripts Dept., Boston Public
Library
Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public
Library
Oliver Wendell Holmes'
Account
...May 31st We heard heavy firing from
Casey's Div and soon our Div was under arms & marched 4 miles I sh'ld think-the last
part through a stream above our knees and then double quick through mud a foot deep on
the field of battle [....] Soon we filed round and formed under fire in 2nd posit. left of a
N.Y. Regt. (34th New York) and opened fire on the Reb line wh. was visible--Our fire was
soon stopped (by order) and we could see in the field (where our 3d position was later)
Rebs moving by twos and threes-apparently broken up[....] When we got to the road the R.
Wing entered the woods firing hard and the left wing advancing more slowly to avoid
getting fired into by our own men- A Co. of Rebs trying to pass out of the woods was
knocked to pieces-and thus we took the final position of the 1st day.. Here we blazed away left
oblique into the woods till we were ordered to cease firing & remained masters of
the field....Well we licked 'em and this time there was the maneurvering of a battle to be
seen-splendid and awful to behold...It is singular what indifference one gets to look on the dead
bodies in gray clothes which lie all around... As you go through the woods you
stumble...perhaps tread on the swollen bodies, already fly blown and decaying, of men shot in the
head back or bowels-Many of the wounds are terrible to look at.. [...]
Source- Anthony J. Milano, "Letters from
the Harvard Regiments: The Story of the 2nd and 20th Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry Regiments from 1861 through 1863 as told by the
letters of their Officers" (Civil War: The Magazine of the Civil War
Society, Vol. XIII, pp. 23-24)
THE FATE OF THE
CHARACTERS
