The head of the attack had fallen, and for a time the movements of the Confederates were paralyzed. Lee came forward and directed the dispositions for a new attack, but the change of commanders after the fall of Longstreet, and the resumption of the thread of operations, occasioned a delay of several hours, and then the tide had turned, and we received only hard knocks instead of victory. When at 4 o’clock an attack was made upon the Federal line along the Brock road, it was found strongly fortified and stubbornly defended. The log breastworks had taken fire during the battle, and at one point separated the combatants by a wall of fire and smoke which neither could pass. Part of Field’s division captured the works in their front, but were forced to relinquish them for want of support. Meanwhile Burnside’s corps, which had reënforced Hancock during the day, made a vigorous attack on the north of the Orange Plank road. Law’s (Alabama) and Perry’s (Florida) brigades were being forced back, when, Heth’s division coming to their assistance, they assumed the offensive, driving Burnside’s troops beyond the extensive line of breastworks constructed previous to their advance.
The battles fought by Ewell on the Old turnpike and by A. P. Hill on the Plank road, on the 5th of May, were entirely distinct, no connected line existing between them. Connection was established with Ewell’s right by Wilcox’s division, after it had been relieved by Longstreet’s troops on the morning of the 6th. While the battle was in progress on the Orange Plank road, on the 6th, an unsuccessful attempt was made to turn Ewell’s left next the river, and heavy assaults were made upon the line of Early’s division. So persistent were these attacks on the front of Pegram’s brigade, that other troops were brought up to its support, but the men rejected the offer of assistance.
BREASTWORKS OF HANCOCK’S CORPS ON THE BROOK ROAD—MORNING OF MAY 7. FROM A SKETCH MADE AT THE TIME.
Late in the day General Ewell ordered a movement against the Federal right wing, similar to that by which Longstreet had “doubled up” Hancock’s left in the morning. Two brigades, under General John B. Gordon, moved out of their works at sunset, and lapping the right of Sedgwick’s corps [the Sixth] made a sudden and determined attack upon it.3 Taken by surprise, the Federals were driven from a large portion of their works with the loss of six hundred prisoners,—among them Generals Seymour and Shaler. Night closed the contest, and with it the battle of the Wilderness.
When Lee’s army appeared on the flank of the Federal line of march on the 5th of May, General Grant had at once faced his adversary and endeavored to push him out of the way. Grant’s strongest efforts had been directed to forcing back the Confederate advance on the Orange Plank road, which, if successful, would have enabled him to complete his plan of “swinging past” that army and placing himself between it and Richmond. On the other hand, Lee’s principal effort had been to strike the head of Grant’s column a crushing blow where it crossed the Plank road, in order to force it from its route and throw it in confusion back into the Wilderness. Both attempts had failed. What advantages had been gained by the two days’ fighting remained with the Confederates. They held a position nearer the Federal line of march than when the battle began, and had inflicted losses incomparably heavier than they had themselves sustained. Both sides were now strongly intrenched, and neither could well afford to attack. And so the 7th of May was spent in skirmishing, each waiting to see what the other would do. That night the race for Spotsylvania began. General Lee had been informed by “Jeb” Stuart of the movement of the Federal trains southward during the afternoon. After dark the noise of moving columns along the Brock road could be heard, and it was at once responded to by a similar movement on the part of Lee. The armies moved in parallel columns separated only by a short interval. Longstreet’s corps (now commanded by R. H. Anderson) marched all night and arrived at Spotsylvania at 8 o’clock on the morning of the 8th, where the ball was already in motion. Stuart had thrown his cavalry across the Brock road to check the Federal advance, and as the Federal cavalry had failed to dislodge him, Warren’s corps had been pushed forward to clear the way. Kershaw’s, Humphreys’s, and Law’s brigades were at once sent to Stuart’s assistance. The head of Warren’s column was forced back and immediately commenced intrenching. Spotsylvania Court House was found occupied by Federal cavalry and artillery, which retired without a fight. The Confederates had won the race.
The troops on both sides were now rapidly arriving. Sedgwick’s corps joined Warren’s, and in the afternoon was thrown heavily against Anderson’s right wing, which, assisted by the timely arrival of Ewell’s corps, repulsed the attack with great slaughter. Hill’s corps (now under command of General Early) did not arrive until the next morning, May 9th. General Lee’s line now covered Spotsylvania Court House, with its left (Longstreet’s corps) resting on the Po River, a small stream which flows on the south-west; Ewell’s corps in the center, north of the Court House; and Hill’s on the right, crossing the Fredericksburg road. These positions were generally maintained during the battles that followed, though brigades and divisions were often detached from their proper commands and sent to other parts of the field to meet pressing emergencies.
No engagement of importance took place on the 9th, which was spent in intrenching the lines and preparing places of refuge from the impending storm. But the 10th was “a field-day.” Early in the morning it was found that Hancock’s corps had crossed the Po above the point where the Confederate left rested, had reached the Shady Grove road, and was threatening our rear, as well as the trains which were in that direction on the Old Court House road leading to Louisa Court House. General Early was ordered from the right with Mahone’s and Heth’s divisions, and, moving rapidly to the threatened quarter, attacked Hancock’s rear division as it was about to recross the Po—driving it, with severe loss, through the burning woods in its rear, back across the river.
Meanwhile General Grant was not idle elsewhere. He had commenced his efforts to break through the lines confronting him. The first assault was made upon Field’s division of Longstreet’s corps and met with a complete and bloody repulse. Again at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the blue columns pressed forward to the attack, and were sent back torn and bleeding, leaving the ground covered with their dead and wounded. Anticipating a renewal of the assaults, many of our men went out in front of their breastworks, and, gathering up the muskets and cartridge-boxes of the dead and wounded, brought them in and distributed them along the line. If they did not have repeating-rifles, they had a very good substitute—several loaded ones to each man. They had no reserves, and knew that if they could not sufficiently reduce the number of their assailants to equalize matters somewhat before they reached the works, these might become untenable against such heavy and determined attacks.
A lull of several hours succeeded the failure of the second attack, but it was only a breathing spell preparatory to the culminating effort of the day. Near sunset our skirmishers were driven in and the heavy, dark lines of attack came into view, one after another, first in quick time, then in a trot, and then with a rush toward the works. The front lines dissolved before the pitiless storm that met them, but those in the rear pressed forward, and over their dead and dying comrades reached that portion of the works held by the Texas brigade. These gallant fellows, now reduced to a mere handful by their losses in the Wilderness, stood manfully to their work. Their line was bent backward by the pressure, but they continued the fight in rear of the works with bayonets and clubbed muskets. Fortunately for them, Anderson’s brigade had cleared its own front, and a portion of it turned upon the flank of their assailants, who were driven out, leaving many dead and wounded inside the works.
While this attack was in progress on Field’s line, another, quite as determined, was made farther to the right, in front of Rodes’s division of Ewell’s corps. Doles’s brigade was broken and swept out of its works with the loss of three hundred prisoners. But as the attacking force poured through the gap thus made, Daniel’s brigade on one side and Steuart’s on the other drew ba
ck from their lines and fell upon its flanks, while Battle’s and Johnston’s brigades were hurried up from the left and thrown across its front. Assailed on three sides at once, the Federals were forced back to the works, and over them, whereupon they broke in disorderly retreat to their own lines.
The next day was rainy and disagreeable, and no serious fighting took place. There were movements, however, along the Federal lines during the day that indicated a withdrawal from the front of Longstreet’s corps. Late in the afternoon, under the impression that General Grant had actually begun another flanking movement, General Lee ordered that all the artillery on the left and center that was “difficult of access” should be withdrawn from the lines, and that everything should be in readiness to move during the night if necessary. Under this order, General Long, Ewell’s chief of artillery, removed all but two batteries from the line of General Edward Johnson’s division, for the reason given, that they were “difficult of access.” Johnson’s division held an elevated point somewhat advanced from the general line, and known as “the salient” [or “Bloody Angle”; see map], the breastworks there making a considerable angle, with its point toward the enemy. This point had been held because it was a good position for artillery, and if occupied by the enemy would command portions of our line. Such projections on a defensive line are always dangerous if held by infantry alone, as an attack upon the point of the angle can only be met by a diverging fire; or if attacked on either face, the troops holding the other face, unless protected by traverses or by works in rear (as were some of the Confederates), are more exposed than those on the side attacked. But with sufficient artillery, so posted as to sweep the sides of the angle, such a position may be very strong. To provide against contingencies, a second line had been laid off and partly constructed a short distance in rear, so as to cut off this salient.
After the artillery had been withdrawn on the night of the 11th, General Johnson discovered that the enemy was concentrating in his front, and, convinced that he would be attacked in the morning, requested the immediate return of the artillery that had been taken away. The men in the trenches were kept on the alert all night and were ready for the attack, when at dawn on the morning of the 12th a dense column emerged from the pines half a mile in the front of the salient and rushed to the attack. They came on, to use General Johnson’s words, “in great disorder, with a narrow front, but extending back as far as I could see.” Page’s battalion of artillery, which had been ordered back to the trenches at 4 o’clock in the morning, was just arriving and was not in position to fire upon the attacking column, which offered so fair a mark for artillery. The guns came only in time to be captured. The infantry in the salient fought as long as fighting was of any use; but deprived of the assistance of the artillery, which constituted the chief strength of the position, they could do little to check the onward rush of the Federal column, which soon overran the salient, capturing General Johnson himself, 20 pieces of artillery, and 2800 men—almost his entire division. The whole thing happened so quickly that the extent of the disaster could not be realized at once. Hancock’s troops, who made the assault, had recovered their formation, and, extending their lines across the works on both sides of the salient, had resumed their advance, when Lane’s brigade of Hill’s corps, which was immediately on the right of the captured works, rapidly drew back to the unfinished line in rear, and poured a galling fire upon Hancock’s left wing, which checked its advance and threw it back with severe loss. General Gordon, whose division (Early’s) was in reserve and under orders to support any part of the line about the salient, hastened to throw it in front of the advancing Federal column. As the division was about to charge, General Lee rode up and joined General Gordon, evidently intending to go forward with him. Gordon remonstrated, and the men, seeing his intention, cried out, “General Lee to the rear!” which was taken up all along the line. One of the men respectfully but firmly took hold of the general’s bridle and led his horse to the rear, and the charge went on. The two moving lines met in the rear of the captured works, and after a fierce struggle in the woods the Federals were forced back to the base of the salient. But Gordon’s division did not cover their whole front. On the left of the salient, where Rodes’s division had connected with Johnson’s, the attack was still pressed with great determination. General Rodes drew out Ramseur’s brigade from the left of his line (a portion of Kershaw’s division taking its place), and sent it to relieve the pressure on his right and restore the line between himself and Gordon. Ramseur swept the trenches the whole length of his brigade, but did not fill the gap, and his right was exposed to a terrible fire from the works still held by the enemy. Three brigades from Hill’s corps were ordered up. Perrin’s, which was the first to arrive, rushed forward through a fearful fire and recovered a part of the line on Gordon’s left. General Perrin fell dead from his horse just as he reached the works. General Daniel had been killed, and Ramseur painfully wounded, though remaining in the trenches with his men. Rodes’s right being still hard pressed, Harris’s (Mississippi) and McGowan’s (South Carolina) brigades were ordered forward and rushed through the blinding storm into the works on Ramseur’s right. The Federals still held the greater part of the salient, and though the Confederates were unable to drive them out, the Federals could get no farther. Hancock’s corps, which had made the attack, had been reënforced by Russell’s and Wheaton’s divisions of the Sixth Corps and one-half of Warren’s corps, as the battle progressed. Artillery had been brought up on both sides, the Confederates using every piece that could be made available upon the salient. Before 10 o’clock General Lee had put in every man that could be spared for the restoration of his broken center. It then became a matter of endurance with the men themselves. All day long and until far into the night the battle raged with unceasing fury, in the space covered by the salient and the adjacent works. Every attempt to advance on either side was met and repelled from the other. The hostile battle-flags waved over different portions of the same works, while the men fought like fiends for their possession. [See “Hand-to-Hand Fighting at Spotsylvania,” to follow.]
[TOP] SPOTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. [BOTTOM] SPOTSYLVANIA TAVERN, NEAR THE COURT HOUSE.
BOTH FROM WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPHS.
During the day diversions were made on both sides, to relieve the pressure in the center. An attack upon Anderson’s (Longstreet’s) corps by Wright’s Sixth Corps (Sedgwick having been killed on the 9th) was severely repulsed, while, on the other side of the salient, General Early, who was moving with a part of Hill’s corps to strike the flank of the Federal force engaged there, met and defeated Burnside’s corps, which was advancing at the same time to attack Early’s works.
VIEWS OF CONFEDERATE INTRENCHMENTS AT SPOTSYLVANIA. FROM WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPHS.
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While the battle was raging at the salient, a portion of Gordon’s division was busily engaged in constructing in rear of the old line of intrenchments a new and shorter one, to which Ewell’s corps retired before daylight on the 13th. Never was respite more welcome than the five days of comparative rest that followed the terrible battle of the 12th to our wearied men, who had been marching and fighting almost without intermission since the 4th of May. Their comfort was materially enhanced, too, by the supply of coffee, sugar, and other luxuries to which they had long been strangers, obtained from the haversacks of the Federal dead. It was astonishing into what close places a hungry Confederate would go to get something to eat. Men would sometimes go out under a severe fire, in the hope of finding a full haversack. It may seem a small matter to the readers of war history; but to the makers of it who were in the trenches, or on the march, or engaged in battle night and day for weeks without intermission, the supply of the one article of coffee, furnished by the Army of the Potomac to the Army of Northern Virginia, was not a small matter, but did as much as any other material agency to sustain the spirits and bodily energies of the men, in a campaign that taxed both to their utmost limit. Old haversacks gav
e place to better ones, and tin cups now dangled from the accouterments of the Confederates, who at every rest on the march or interval of quiet on the lines could be seen gathered around small fires, preparing the coveted beverage.
In the interval from the 12th to the 18th our army was gradually moving east to meet corresponding movements on the other side. Longstreet’s corps was shifted from the left to the extreme right, beyond the Fredericksburg road. Ewell’s corps still held the works in rear of the famous salient, when on the morning of the 18th a last effort was made to force the lines of Spotsylvania at the only point where previous efforts had met with even partial success. This was destined to a more signal failure than any of the others. Under the fire of thirty pieces of artillery, which swept all the approaches to Ewell’s line, the attacking force4 was broken and driven back in disorder before it came well within reach of the muskets of the infantry. After the failure of this attack, the “sidling” movement, as the men expressed it, again began, and on the afternoon of the 19th Ewell’s corps was thrown round the Federal left wing to ascertain the extent of this movement. After a severe engagement, which lasted until night, Ewell withdrew, having lost about nine hundred men in the action. This seemed a heavy price to pay for information that might have been otherwise obtained, but the enemy had suffered more severely, and General Grant was delayed in his turning movement for twenty-four hours. He however got the start in the race for the North Anna; Hancock’s corps, leading off on the night of the 20th, was followed rapidly by the remainder of his army.
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