From Tell Them I Died Like a Confederate Soldier, by Zack Waters. With the Florida Brigade at Cold Harbor- After this auspicious beginning Finegans Brigade hustled south, arriving at the Confederate position near Cold Harbor in mid-afternoon of June 2, where it was placed in line of battle. The position occupied by the Floridians should have been safe and easy; they remained in reserve, acting as support for Breckinridges Division. Breckinridge, a former vice president of the United States and a battle tested veteran of the Confederacys western army, recently had arrived from the Shenandoah Valley with a small division (consisting of two brigades). The performance of these troops since rejoining Lees army had been poor. On the afternoon of June 2, Breckinridges Division arrived late, leaving a wide gap in the Confederate front line. Lee, expecting a Union attack at any moment, personally had sought out Breckinridge to hurry his troops into line. The Floridians, located 300 to 400 yards behind the breastworks thrown up by Breckinridges Division, immediately began entrenching. The red clay of Virginia made the task of building breastworks difficult, and the lack of shovels and trenching tools increased the difficulty. Private Dorman remembered: We found out there was trouble ahead of us, so we went to work with our bayonets digging up the old Virginia soil, soon striking into red clay. We would throw it up in front of us with tin plates. We worked all night to get us a little breastworks. The work was completed none too soon. Promptly at first light (4:30 a.m.) on June 3, more than 60,000 Union troops rushed the Confederate line. Three Federal corps spearheaded the charge. Major General Winfield S. Hancocks Second Corps (described as probably the [Union] armys best fighters) was on the left, facing Breckinridges Division; Major General Horatio G. Wrights Sixth Corps attacked the center; and Major General W. F. Baldy Smiths Eighteenth Corps attacked on the right. The corps of Major Generals Gouverneur K. Warren and Ambrose Burnside were further to the right, but did not participate in the early morning attack. The attackers made no attempt at surprise. The Union troops charged shouting their distinctive huzzah, and all along the breastworks the Confederates were ready and waiting. For the defenders the attack was like shooting fish in a barrel. Brigadier General Evander M. Law, whose Alabama troops occupied a position near the center of the Confederate breastworks, found his soldiers in fine spirits, laughing and talking as they fired. Laws main concern was that his troops not deplete their ammunition supply. For the attackers, there was no laughter. In less than thirty minutes the Federals suffered more than 7,000 casualties. Even veterans such as Law were shocked by the magnitude of the carnage. It was not war; it was murder, he later wrote. Only in front of Breckinridges line was the question ever in doubt. The attack of Hancocks Second Corps was made by the divisions of Brigadier Generals Francis C. Barlow and John Gibbon. Both Barlow and Gibbon formed their attack in two lines. The attack of Gibbons Division was easily repulsed by the defenders, and his division suffered heavy casualties. Barlows troops came forward with their usual dash and determination and found an unprotected part of the line. That gap of approximately fifty feet, bisected by a sunken road, had been left un guarded when Lee hurried Breckinridges troops into line. Colonel George S. Patton, in command of that portion of Breckinridges line, allowed his tired troops to withdraw to high ground to rest and left only a picket line to man the works. Barlows men hit this soft spot in the Confederate line and plowed over the southern pickets. While a member of Breckinridges Division later described the resistance of the overrun pickets as a furious hand-to-hand fight with pistols and clubbed muskets, the delay to the attackers was only momentary. Barlows first line captured between 200 and 300 prisoners, a stand of colors, and three cannons. Finegan responded quickly to the crisis. The Florida Brigade immediately was formed in line of battle. Dorman recalled: The `Yanks didnt stop, but came right on. By this time it was getting light so we could see them coming. They were about seventy-five to eighty yards from us. The Floridians, led by Colonel Lang, promptly charged the oncoming Federals. They were joined on the right by a superb fighting unit, the Second Maryland Infantry Battalion (CSA), commanded by Colonel Bradley T. Johnson. Artillery support was provided by the First Maryland Battery . Captain Council Bryan, commanding Company C of the Fifth Florida Regiment, reported to his wife: The enemy advanced in five lines of battle against Breckinridge - whose whole line fled panic stricken over our breastworks and far to the rear - hatless, leaving their guns and everything that impeded their flight - as soon as they had passed out of our way our boys rose with a yell - poured two volleys into the advancing droves of yankees then jumped the breastworks and charged them - Five to one but each one a hero. They advanced to within fifty yards of each other[.] The yankees halt waver - and run. One more volley and Breckinridges breastworks so ingloriously lost are ours - the breastworks recaptured the battle is won. The yankee dead and wounded cover the field - while strange to say twenty will cover the loss of the whole Florida force. The new troops fought like `tigers and we feel proud of them. Union losses in the assault and repulse were heavy. Hancock asserted that the slowness of the second line to offer support had prevented exploitation of the break in the Confederate lines. During the retaking of the works, instances of individual heroism by the Floridians were commonplace. For example, the color bearer of the Ninth Florida Regiment was shot in the charge. Lieutenant James Owens (adjutant of the Ninth Florida) grabbed the fallen flag and immediately was killed. Private D. H. Causey then picked up the banner and carried it forward to the breastworks. Barlows Division also acted with great determination and valor. After being driven from the breastworks by the Floridians and Marylanders, the Federals showed a persistency rarely seen, and taking advantage of a slight crest, held a position within 30 to 75 yards of the enemy line; covering themselves in an astonishingly short time by rifle pits. Probably in an effort to cover construction of the rifle pits, the Union troops made a second assault shortly after the initial charge. A Floridian remembered: In about fifteen minutes, the enemy made a charge to recover their lost ground, but they were repulsed by our men with heavy loss. The ground in front was covered with dead and wounded Yankees, and they were glad to retire. The Floridians occupied the original breastworks constructed by Breckinridges troops. The position was in the shape of an inverted U, or, as the soldiers called it, a mule shoe, which jutted away from the Confederate lines toward the Union position. The Federals, in their pits and entrenchments, surrounded the bulge and kept the Floridians in a steady crossfire. Captain James F. Tucker, commanding Company D of the Ninth Florida Regiment, described the situation: In the bloody angle or death trap it was almost as much as a mans life to show his head even for moment. . . . The fire was galling, and came so thick and fast that our colors were riddled, and the flagstaff perforated in a number of places. The feeling was that by holding up an open hand Minie balls could be caught as if hailstones. The exposed position of the Florida Brigade presented substantial dangers. Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander, an artillery officer and member of Lees staff, gave a graphic account of the misery of life in the trenches: Our average ditches did not exceed 3 feet wide & 2 feet deep, with parapet two & a half feet high. They would answer fairly well for the men to kneel on the berm & load & fire from. But when two ranks of men had to occupy them day & night, in rain & shine, for days at a time it is hard to exaggerate the weary discomfort of it. Not only were the trenches crowded and uncomfortable-rendered even more so by the summer heat-but the accurate fire of the Union sharpshooters began to take a frightful toll. Communication with the rest of the army was almost non-existent. Addition- ally, a third Federal attack that might dislodge the Floridians was feared. After several hours in the mule shoe, Finegan sent out a skirmish line to drive off the Federal sharpshooters. Major Pickens Bird, commanding the Ninth Florida Regiment, led the attack force. Company commanders detailed every fifth man for the skirmish line. The men in the trenches realized instinctively that the order was suicidal. A mere skirmish line in plain sight of the Union forces was to make the charge across an open field and into the teeth of the Federal defenses. Even with the battering they had taken earlier in the morning charge, Hancocks corps still had plenty of men to handle a skirmish line. Henry W. Long, one of many Marion countians in the Ninth Florida Regiment, recalled the futile charge: A few moments later the voice of that patriotic soldier, and gallant officer [Major Bird] rang out for the last time, clear and distinct, which was heard above the rattle of musketry, and was of common, `Attention Skirmishers: Forward March. It being self evident that obeying that fool hardy order, by whom issued is not known, would result in the certain death, many of the men detailed refused to respond to the order. Captain Robert D. Harrison, Co. B of the 9th Florida Regiment, when his detail refused to go forward, by way of encouragement to them mounted the breastworks, waiving his sword to enthuse them to obedience, was immediately shot down by a federal bullet, which disabled him for active service for months to come. Major Pickens Bird had advanced perhaps thirty yards, when he was shot down. The gallant officer Captain James Tucker seeing his major shot down, leaped over the breast works, ran to him, and as he rose with the Major in his arms, was himself shot down, his wound disabling him from further service during the war. Lieutenant [Benjamin] Lane of Company A seeing Captain Tucker shot down, leaped over the breast works and ran to these wounded officers, picked up Major Bird, and as he mounted the breastworks with him, was mortally wounded, from which he died. The Major and Captain Tucker lay there the balance of the day in the hot sun in a small trench in front of the breast works. In fact, the rescue of Tucker and Bird began within the hour. As soon as the firing slackened, Sergeant Peter N. Bryan, of Company D of the Ninth Florida Regiment, crawled out to Tucker, who was paralyzed by his wound, and dragged the officer into the trenches. Bird was recovered in a similar manner. There Tucker and Bird lay like so many sardines in a box, without benefit of medical assistance. At about nine oclock that night they began an arduous trip to a Confederate military hospital.38 Later that night, Bird and Tucker, along with some of the other Florida wounded, were forwarded to the Howard Grove Hospital in Richmond. The Floridians in Virginia were fortunate to have a dedicated medical staff at their disposal, which included Dr. Thomas Palmer and Mrs. Mary Martha Reid, the widow of former Florida territorial Governor Robert Raymond Reid. This medical team worked tirelessly to save Bird and Tucker, but despite their best efforts, Bird died four days later. Birds final words were: Tell them I died like a Confederate soldier. To Major Bird, that was the highest possible tribute. A final tragedy yet awaited the Floridians in a day already too full of agony and death. Late in the afternoon verbal orders were issued for Captain C. Seton Fleming to form a skirmish line and again charge the Union rifle pits. A preliminary barrage softened the Union lines, but even the greenest of soldiers could observe that the advance had little chance of success. Seton Fleming, the brother of future Florida Governor Francis P. Fleming, was a bright and courageous young man and apparently well liked by all of his comrades. He was a member of the Second Florida Regiment and had been among the first Florida soldiers to arrive in Virginia. Wounded at Yorktown in 1862, Fleming had participated in most of the subsequent battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. Less than a month before at the Battle of the Wilderness, he had received two slight wounds but then returned to duty for the fight at Cold Harbor. The attempt to drive the Federals from their rifle pits was scheduled for dusk, 6:00 p.m., with an assault force composed of the remnants of Perrys old brigade. Fleming immediately recognized the futility of the attack, but he was determined to obey his orders. Tucker, who observed Fleming from his position in the trenches, stated: Could our brigade commander [Finegan] have seen the situation as we did from our plainer p[o]int of view, he would never have permitted a second sacrifice of so many brave soldiers. I have been told that the order was all a mistake and was not intended. . . . However that may have been, Capt. Fleming made his disposition to obey it. Fleming said farewell to his troops, and at the appointed time leapt over the breastwork followed by his brave comrades. The young captain fell within thirty yards of the breastworks, a martyr to the cause he loved so well. Benjamin L. Reynolds, commanding Company H of the Ninth Florida, also was shot. As with Birds earlier charge, the second assault accomplished nothing save the sacrifice of more brave Floridians. No definitive figures are available regarding the exact losses. Aaron Geiger of the Second Florida Battalion reported casualties among the new troops during the first month in Virginia: The First Florida Battalion lost 75 to 80 killed, wounded and missing. The Second Battalion lost from 85 to 90; and the Sixth Battalion [Ninth Florida Regiment] lost 105.43 Statistics on losses sustained by Perrys old brigade are unavailable, but they must have been substantial. The Army of Northern Virginia slowly was being bled white, and these were losses the southern cause could ill afford. When darkness finally arrived on the night of June 3, the armies began the difficult task of recovering the wounded. During the daylight hours, some of the Florida wounded were re moved from the battlefield, and during the evening more of the Confederate wounded were rescued. The Union forces were equally busy, and the risk was considerably greater for the Federals as they were moving within yards of the Confederate lines. Sixth Corps Chief of Staff Martin T. McMahon explained the Union predicament: When night came on, the groans and moanings of the wounded, all our own, who were lying between the lines, was heartrending. Some were brought in by volunteers from our entrenchments, but many remained for three days uncared for. . . . The men in the works grew impatient, yet it was against orders and almost certain death to go beyond our earthworks. Flemings charge on the evening of June 3 essentially ended fighting in the Battle of Cold Harbor. For the next nine days, the two armies attempted to rest and recover from the previous months bloodletting. Almost nightly, however, the Confederates sortied onto the killing ground, and Lee also ordered frequent artillery barrages to prevent Grant from slipping away unobserved under cover of night. The only major change of position occurred on the evening of June 5, when the Floridians abandoned the mule shoe and fell back to a new defensive line. Long reported: On the early morning of the 5th, the brigade retired to the rear, and took its position as a reserve, and entrenched itself as a safeguard from the Minie balls fired by long range guns. Before abandoning the advanced position, dirt from the earthworks hastily was thrown over the bodies of the dead Floridians. The ground they had fought so hard to recover and hold now became their grave. The new Florida troops, so lightly regarded a few weeks earlier, had fought well at Cold Harbor. By their quick response on the morning of June 3, they won the grudging respect of the Florida veterans and the rest of Mahones Division. D. L. Geer, who earlier had smirked at the appearance of Finegans troops, stated with obvious pride: They [Finegans troops] played their part as good as the oldest veteran in General lees army. . . . If they did have on bed quilts and homespun jackets, they made a reputation that morning that proved that they were as good as the best we had in our army.46 Now regarded as an integral part of Lees shock troops, they continued to fight well in battles such as Reams Station, Weldon Railroad, and Hatchers Run, but the Battle of Cold Harbor proved to be the most notable moment of glory for Finegans Florida Brigade. Finegans performance left a number of unanswered questions. His prompt response to the early morning breakthrough was handled with admirable skill, but the two later attacks by the skirmish lines were not the actions of an experienced, prudent officer. Until his transfer back to Florida in March 1865, Finegan proved to be an adequate, though hardly inspired, brigade commander. In the short term, the results of retaking the southern lines at Cold Harbor were very important. Confederate Brigadier General Bradley Johnson later wrote of the recapture of the works: It was a most brilliant exploit, for it saved Lees line and probably a serious disaster[,] for Grant had massed troops to pour them through the opening made by Hancock.In effect, the Floridians and Marylanders may have saved Richmond. Ultimately, the Florida Brigades heroics served only to prolong the war. The death throes of the dream of southern independence lasted another ten months, but the final outcome already had been decided.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 13:24:26 +0000