June 29
Just before daylight next morning, the 29th, the entire corps, under cover of a slight fog, withdrew from the works, and massed just in rear of them. The picket line was left in front, in order to deceive the enemy as long as possible as to our movements, at the risk of its ultimate capture. At sunrise the fog lifted, exposing the abandoned works to the enemy’s view from Gaines’ mill, Franklin, who had occupied the works on our right, moved to the rear, and right, taking a position from the Chickahominy, to Savage’s Station, which protected our rear. As there was nothing to prevent the rebel army from closing in upon us, we prepared for an immediate attack. Summer, surrounded by his staff, sat on horseback from long before daylight, anxiously awaiting the order to retire. Zook, French, and a crowd of staff officers formed another picturesque group, while the men lay down, quietly waiting for orders, apparently unconcerned. About 8 o’clock, the order came to fall back in the direction of Peach Orchard and Savage’s Station, and was promptly obeyed. Near Peach Orchard, the column was halted and dispositions made to hold the ground. Our division had the right of the line, connecting with Franklin; Sedgwick came next, connecting with Heintzleman; and so we formed an immense arc, the right resting on the Chickahominy, the center on Peach Orchard, and the left on White Oak swamp. Our brigade took position in the front line, Caldwell now commanding Howard’s brigade, forming the second line, with Hazzard’s battery posted just in rear. When everything was prepared to resist the advance of the enemy, heavy details were made to destroy the immense accumulation of stores the wagons were unable to carry away. There were thousands of boxes of bread, hundreds of barrels of whiskey, pork, beef, vinegar, molasses, etc., thousands of bags of coffee, piles of every kind of equipment, clothing, and a famous rocket battery, that had excited great hopes. All these things were quickly piled together, the whiskey barrels stove in, and then set on fire. The flames leaped from box to barrel, from base to summit, like a lightning flash, while black wooly looking clouds of dense smoke curled and rolled and spread over the surrounding country, advising the enemy beyond doubt of our intentions. In a few seconds, the fire became a seething furnace of white heat, from which all were obliged to run for their lives. As the fire reached the whiskey barrels, great explosions followed, filling the air with burning debris. It was a magnificent fire, and fully accomplished its end, but a sad sight to see so much valuable property destroyed, in order to keep it out of the hands of the enemy. As soon as the rebel officers saw the smoke and heard the great explosions, they cautiously advanced their line until they came within sight of our dear old works. Finding no one to defend them, they sent up a howling yell, and immediately occupied them. Our picket line had gradually retired as soon as we had taken up the position at Peach Orchard, and were now at the edge of the woods in which we were formed. Towards nine o’clock we saw the enemy forming his columns of attack, and moving towards Sedgwick’s front. Very shortly a number of guns opened upon us, and shelled the woods we were in. Hazzard’s battery replied over our heads, and the whizzing of shells flying both ways, made a great row. In a few moments the enemy’s infantry came up with the utmost confidence, but were met by a tremendous fire from the Fifty-third, Fifty-seventh, and Sixty-sixth regiments, commanded by Zook, French being sick. There was no confusion this time, nor hesitancy; every man stood to his work, and for over an hour, the fight was fast and furious; we holding firmly to our position and three times drove the enemy back with great loss. About ten o’clock Captain Pettit, the beau ideal artillery officer of the army, came on the field with his eight ten-pounder Parrots, and soon silenced the enemy’s guns. They advanced again later on, but hesitatingly. Our men delivered a well directed volley and amid ringing cheers, charged, and drove every thing before them, clearing the ground in front for over a mile. I was acting adjutant general of the brigade, and had a good opportunity of seeing what was going on. The last repulse was enough for the Johnnies for the time being, and they withdrew out of sight. The attack was general, from Franklin on the right, to Heintzleman on the left, everywhere persistent, and in some places impetuous, determined, and well maintained, but everywhere unsuccessful. The Stars and Stripes, fluttering in the breeze in the tangled mazes of the woods, or in the open fields, never sheltered more gallant men, than those who this day defended its sacred folds. There was no skulking, nor hesitancy, but a fearless determination to hold the ground at all hazards. As soon as the rebels were driven out of sight, we gathered up the wounded, and carried them to Savage’s Station, where the immense hospitals containing over twenty-five hundred patients, were established. When this was done, we contracted our lines about Savage’s Station, again taking a defensive position, to protect the retrograde movement. Here we found Slocum’s division just preparing to follow Heintzelman into the great swamp, which began at the declivity of a steep hill, a short distance in rear of the Station. We formed in front of the station, connecting on the right with Smith’s division of Franklin’s corps, which extended to the Chickahominy, and on the left with Sedgwick, who continued the line to the swamp, covering the roads over which the troops were retreating. The enemy had discovered our intention by this time, and were swarming across the Chickahominy by thousands, eager to complete the annihilation of the Union army, which they seemed to think a foregone conclusion. Great bodies of rebels were reported marching down the Charles City, Darbytown, and Long Bridge roads, which intersected our line of march within the dismal swamp, and matters certainly looked very serious, but did not make us in the least despondent. General McClellan took every precaution for guarding these threatened intersections, stopping a full corps at every threatened spot, and only retiring when another had come up, and was ready to take its place. Soon after taking position, we examined the ground in rear, and found in an immense field near to the swamp, a great park of wagons, ambulances and artillery, and several thousand men, in close column, awaiting their turn to move along. We saw at once that it would be necessary for us to hold the ground till long after dark, to enable them to get away, and so we returned to the front, and busied ourselves with strengthening the lines. About three o’clock the enemy appeared in force all along the line; clouds of skirmishers covered the advancing lines of battle, which soon drove in our pickets. We held our fire until they came within easy range, and then poured volley after volley into them, and the artillery, well posted, fired shell and shrapnel with capital effect. The firing easily kept the rebels in check although they formed and broke, and formed again, several times during the afternoon. Their losses were enormous, but they evidently thought it worth the while to risk everything to capture the Grand Army. Just before sunset a heavy line of infantry, under cover of a heavy artillery fire, marched boldly up to within a few hundred yards of our position, delivered a deafening volley, and then, amidst the wildest yells, gallantly charged our whole front. Our men stood like rocks, carefully reserving their fire till the rebels got within a hundred yards of them, then opened such a murderous fire, that half the advancing hosts were placed hors du combat. At once, observing the effect of the fire, our line gave one grand Union cheer, and charged at the point of the bayonet, driving everything before them. The smoke was so dense we could see nothing for a while, which stood the enemy in good stead, and enabled many of them to get away who otherwise would have been captured; as it was, we got many and killed them by the score. The woods in front now being cleared, we fell back to our original position, and awaited orders to retire. The artillery, however, keeping up a steady fire of shells, to let them know we were still on guard. After dark the situation became horrible; everywhere about us the ground was strewn with dead and wounded men and the cries of the latter in the still night air were most distressing. Stern necessity compelled us to leave most of them where they fell, to bleed to death, and to suffer unspeakable anguish in the dark sombre woods, or star lit fields. A great many, near the station, were brought in by parties from the hospitals, but as the hospitals were full, they could only place them on the grounds surrounding the large tents. Still, this was better than lying alone in the distant fields, and all were anxious for even this relief. The numerous parties, searching the fields and woods, with lanterns, gave a weird and melancholy appearance to the surroundings. There must have been several thousand rebel dead and wounded scattered about the fields, most of whom, being furthest away, were entirely neglected. About nine o’clock, the colonel and I rode to the rear, to see how the retreat was progressing, and were glad to find the wagons, ambulances, and artillery all gone; their small deserted camp fires alone indicating the position they had occupied. A column of infantry, moving at a rapid pace down the hill into the black swamp, showed the column was well under way, so we returned to our command, to await orders. On our way back, we rode past the great hospitals, and were astonished to see such a multitude of wounded men. Hundreds of those brought in from Peach Orchard and the evening’s battlefield, lay on the ground about the tents, and hard-working surgeons, lanterns in hand, were going amongst them here and there, saving a gallant life by timely aid. It began to rain as we rode past, which added to the distress of this great multitude of wounded and dying men. Something after nine o’clock, an aide from General Richardson rode up, and informed Zook that his brigade would form the rear guard, assisted by two light twelves from Thomas’s battery, which had been ordered to report to him. We mounted our horses, and impatiently waited the signal to withdraw, which came about ten o’clock. I was ordered to ride in rear of the column and keep the colonel informed as to the situation; and so while the colonel passed to the right I went to the left, notifying regimental commanders to move off by the left flank; as we used no bugles or drums, it was necessary to convey all commands by aide or orderly. We marched out of the woods, past the hospitals, and down the declivity leading into the swamp. I took a position just at the edge of the swamp under the shadow of the huge dark pines, sitting on horseback, entirely alone, watching the troops as they rapidly marched past, occasionally taking in the gloomy prospect above, where thousands of our bravest men were to be deserted, and left to the mercy of the enemy; luckily, not entirely so, as we left nearly five hundred doctors and attendants, besides enormous supplies for their use. From my position, I could see the will-o-the-wisp lanterns of the hospital parties moving about the battle field, still searching for wounded men, and the dying embers of abandoned camp fires, but everything else was shrouded in darkness, not a single star being visible in the heavens.
The column came stretching over the hill, like some great serpent, only occasionally distinguishable by the reflection of a stray camp fire on the bright bayonets, except directly in front, where it formed a solid dark mass, moving rapidly forward, controlled by a single mind. As the last regiment passed by, I detached the rear company and ordered the section of artillery to take its place, the company to follow about two hundred yards in rear. The guns were loaded with cannister in readiness to make it uncomfortable for any one attempting to hurry our movements. Now we opened our haversacks, and as the horses and men stepped out at a rattling pace, ate the first mouthful of food since early dawn, and washed it down with copious supplies of eau de vie. There were no obstructions ahead, and the men marched so rapidly, they crowded the horses all the time. It was amusing to notice the anxiety of the horses to keep up with their companions; they seemed to recognize the necessity for keeping well closed up; and whether their riders were asleep or awake, carefully kept their places in the ranks. There was no straggling, as that meant certain capture; and so it happened that scarcely a word was spoken by any one throughout the night, and the pace never relaxed. We occasionally encountered a broken down wagon, which was summarily pitched into the swamp with its contents, and the column passed along again, making every effort to get across before daylight. Another road, running parallel to this on our right, was used by troops of Franklin’s corps, but was not within sight, or hailing distance. They both emerged from the swamp at the White Oak swamp stream, a deep river, only passable by bridges, separating the swamp from the high rolling ground on the other side. Our object was to get across the swamp, destroy the bridges, and take a defensive position on the high ground on the other side before daylight hold it during the day, and continue the retrograde movement the following night. This allowed for the movement of the trains, and was essential for the safety of the whole army. We found the utmost difficulty in keeping awake, having had no sleep the preceding night; I went off several times, but Billy never lost his place, and did just as well without my guidance. On either side of us the swamp was knee deep in water, and probably three times that depth, in mud, effectually securing our flanks, so that there was no danger from attack except in rear: our whole energy therefore, was confined to moving ahead as fast as possible. It seemed a terribly long night; I thought of Zenophon and his nine hundred and all the other notable retreats I could think of, and wondered whether they were any better soldiers than we, or capable of making greater efforts.
