Monday, May 16th.
The day opened with a dense fog, but it cleared off about 9 o’clock and I visited an old house in our rear belonging to a man named Gaul, or some such name. Quiet all day.
May 2014
by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 16TH.—Warm—sunshine and light showers.
Memorable day—not yet decided at 2 P.M. Early this morning Gen. Beauregard attacked the enemy on the south side of the river, and by 9 A.M. he had sent over to the city Gen. Heckman and 840 prisoners, the entire 27th Massachusetts Regiment. Subsequently it is said 400 were sent over. By 12 M. the firing had receded out of hearing from the city, and messengers report that the enemy were being driven back rapidly. Hon. Geo. Davis, Attorney-General (from North Carolina), told me that Gen. Whiting was coming up from Petersburg, in the enemy’s rear, with 13,000 men. So, at this hour, the prospects are glorious.
Gen. Pickett has been relieved—indisposition. Brig.-Gen. Barton has also been relieved, for some cause arising out of the failure to capture the raiders on this side the river.
Gens. Bragg and Pemberton made an inspection of the position of the enemy, down the river, yesterday, and made rather a cheerless report to the President. They are both supposed to be inimical to Gen. Beauregard, who seems to be achieving such brilliant success.
The President rode over to Beauregard’s headquarters this morning. Some fear he will embarrass the general; others say he is near the field, prepared to fly, if it be lost. In truth, if we were defeated, it might be difficult for him to return to the city.
Gen. Breckenridge has defeated Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley.
Gen. Lee dispatches that he had no fighting Saturday and Sunday. To day Grant is retiring his right wing, but advancing his left east of Spottsylvania Court House, where Lee’s headquarters are still established.
May 16, 1864, 6 p.m.
The old story—the Rebels evacuated last night. They made two or three big feints of attacking during the night, but are all gone this morning. It is said they have taken up a position some five miles ahead. Prisoners and deserters are coming in. At Resaca we captured eight cannon, not more than 100 prisoners, and some provisions; don’t know what we got at Dalton. Some estimate our whole loss up to this time at 2,500 killed and wounded. Everything is getting the road for pursuit. The prisoners say Johnston will make a stand 40 miles south.
Six p.m.—The 16th Corps moved out on the Rome road, and while we are waiting for the 14th Corps to get out of our way word came that the 16th had run against a snag. We were moved out at once at nearly double quick time to help them. Trotted four miles and passed a good many wounded, but we were not needed. We bivouac to-night on the southeast bank of Coosa river. I hear to-night that our loss in the corps is 600 and that no corps has suffered less than ours. Some think the whole will foot over 5,000.
May 15. Sunday. — Marched four miles from south of Salt Sulphur Springs to north of Union — a beautiful grazing country. Salt Sulphur a pleasure resort in good condition; Union a fine village. A bushwhacker killed by [the] Thirty-sixth. Slept last night on the ground; rained all night; roads still worse. Slept well. Greenbrier River reported unfordable. Starvation only to be kept off by energetic and systematic foraging. General Crook anxious; works himself like a Turk.
Four men of Company F, who went out foraging at Blacksburg, reported to have been seen dead on the road. They went out foolishly unarmed. Washed, shirted, and cleaned up.
Memoranda.
1. A better pioneer party.
2. A provost guard to look after stragglers, prevent plundering, etc.
3. A better arrangement for sick and wounded.
4. A guard to feed and keep prisoners.
We have now been fifteen days away from all news except of our own successful movements.
We have here two hundred and fifty Rebel prisoners of [the] Thirty-sixth, Forty-fifth, Sixtieth Virginia, etc. They are well-behaved, civil fellows; have had very little to eat for some days. We are trying to feed them. A good Secesh mother is now feeding some of them.
Colonel Lyon’s Letters.
Stevenson, Ala., Sun., May 15, 1864.—I have had two ragged sheets made into one, and now have a pair of good sheets. I bathed last night and had Jerry wash and dry my single towel before I got up this morning. Jerry does all my room work. The doctor fixed me up some tansy bitters and I worry down a little of the bitter stuff about twice a day.
I spent yesterday and Friday inspecting the railroad defenses in my beat. I stayed Friday night at Anderson, with Captain Noyes. The companies on the railroad are well suited, and are willing to stay there. The whole regiment seems contented.
How glorious the news that comes from General Grant! The heavy fighting of this war, I believe, is nearly over, although the army must be retained some time yet.
General Rousseau has just sent me 125 colored soldiers to work on the fortifications. This relieves the 13th very much.
Everything is perfectly quiet in our vicinity, no force of rebels anywhere near us, but there are guerilla scares nearly every day.
I hope before another year I will be home for good. When I get there, don’t expect me to leave the dooryard, unless I am obliged to, for about three months.
Sunday, 15th—We had regimental inspection this morning at 10 o’clock. Two regiments came out from Clifton as reinforcements for ours. We turned over all our tents, except one for every five men and this evening received orders to be ready to march in the morning at 5 o’clock for Waynesburg, Tennessee. Jason Sparks arrived this evening from Iowa to join our company. He is well and happy.
[Diary] Sunday, May 15.
Went down to church and made arrangements to go home. Wrote to the girls to say that I shall leave here May 30. Harriet Murray will not leave Frogmore. We have invited her up here, now Mrs. M. has gone, but she declines coming. She has got Lizzie Hunn to stay with her at Frogmore. I saw Mr. Sumner, who has been with an excursion party to Florida. We were invited, but did not go. Miss Kellogg went. On the way the Harriet Weed, or the Boston steamer, was following them as nearly as possible when a torpedo exploded and she went to the bottom before the eyes of the other boat. Mr. S. says that Miss Kellogg is not well since the fright. Ellen feels that she must go down to stay with Harriet after I go, since H. will not come up.
Uncle Robert came to the school to borrow a dollar “for buy tobacco.” He says he has cotton to pay me that and the other three he owes me; that he can get no money at all, as he will not work for Mr. Fairfield. In order to force the people to work for him, Mr. Fairfield threatens to turn them out of their houses, or to make them pay four dollars a month for their rent. They appealed to Dr. Brisbane,[1] who finally persuaded them to consent to plant a task each of cotton for Mr. F. This may pay his expenses. If the people had not been induced to do this by a third party, Mr. F. would have been ruined.
[1] One of the Tax Commissioners.
Sunday, 15th.—At 7 A. M., ordered to the new line we left last night, and were fired on very heavy as we were moving in. By 10 A. M., had pretty fair works, by digging with bayonets and throwing out dirt with our hands. Heavy skirmishing all along the lines. Lieutenant Hill, Company C, killed. Shelling and sharp-shooting us heavy. . 3 P. M., assault on the right of our brigade and Brown’s brigade. 3:30 P. M., heavy fighting for some distance along our right front; seems to be a general charge; 5 p. m., Yanks repulsed. Started to charge 39th, but one volley sent them back to their works. Charged Brown’s brigade three times. Corput’s battery of four Napoleon brass guns were ordered forward to support the skirmish line; the Federals drove in the skirmish line and killed so many of the horses that the artillery was abandoned for a few moments, and the Federals took charge of the guns, but before they had time to remove them, Brown’s and Reynolds’ Brigades charged so impetuously on them, that they, in turn, abandoned the guns in double quick time. After a short interval, the Federals advanced again. Brown’s and Reynolds’ Brigades left the artillery and fell back to their main line, and as the Yankees came up to the guns, again poured such a heavy fire into them that they were compelled to retire and leave the guns. Neither party could go to the guns, and no further attempt was made that day to remove them. Loss in 39th heavy to-day. Captain Brady, Company K, killed; also Sergeant Hood of our company. Lieutenant Ruth and two or three others of Company C, mortally wounded. Have been shelled very heavily all day.
Sunday, May 15. — Little more sharpshooting than usual. A man from E Company was killed by a sharpshooter while standing by a line in rear of headquarters. George Barnard and Davis were over here to see me this morning. Heard that we formed the extreme right, the Second Corps having moved to our left. Rained a good part of the day. Threw up traverses.
May 15 — All quiet along the lines to-day except some little skirmish firing to our right.
The Yankees have abandoned their works on the right of their line in our immediate front, and it seems that General Grant is once more changing base by moving to the left. He has entirely abandoned his Richmond trip through Spottsylvania Court House. For ten days General Grant, with an overwhelming force, has been thundering, thumping, and hammering with unabated vehemency at the little barrier of Southern steel that is day after day unwound and unfolded, and opportunely interposed and nicely maneuvered by the master hand of General Lee, between this modern Ulysses with his well equipped host and the heart of Dixie. But the living wall still stands and is as dangerous as ever, and General Grant is still searching and hunting for a weak place whereby he may butt his way through and onward to Richmond.
To-day I wandered over a portion of the battle-field in front of our works where the bloody and sanguinary conflict raged in its wildest frenzy three days ago. Hundreds of the enemy’s dead are still unburied, lying on the field where they fell, and as evidence of the enemy’s desperate and furious assaults to break through General Lee’s line some of their dead are lying within six feet of our breastworks.
At several places I saw where the musketry fire had been so heavy and terrific that all the bushes and underbrush along and in rear of the lines were cut down clean, and there is not a twig on the trees that does not show the nipping bite of a bullet. The trees that stood in the leaden shower are all splintered and shivered, and look as if all the woodpeckers in creation had been at work on them for a month. Some men — and not a few — when they get under a heavy infantry fire become wild with excitement, while others are frenzied with fear, and while in that state they shoot any and everywhere; some of them fire at the moon. I saw large pine trees that stand just in rear of where our infantry line stood, and the trees are full of Yankee bullets from bottom to top; a great many of the bullet marks are fifty feet from the ground. At one place a thick growth of pines covered the ground in rear of General Lee’s breastworks, and in front is a sod field, dipping with a gradual slope toward our works; the pine trees along the line and for a hundred and fifty yards or more were all cut down by a terrible artillery fire from the enemy’s batteries. The trees were from four to eight inches in diameter and were cut off about twelve feet from the ground. In front of that place the enemy made several desperate charges across the open field trying to break our line, but were repulsed every time with fearful slaughter, and to-day the field is still covered with the dead in blue sleeping their last sleep. The whole country around here is covered with breastworks and field fortifications. Damp, rainy day.
