Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SIXTH AT General Bratton's Own Fight, in Which His a Conspic1 The following address was deliver ed by Gen. John Bratton on the battle eld of Seven Pines, Va., on 6th Au gusty 1885, to the survivors of the 6 i-egiment, S. C. V., C. S. R. A.: About the 26th May, 1862, we moved up to camp nearer Richmond, not far tom where the Confederate Cemetery j. located. At daybreak on the 01st we moved out in accordance with or ers' to the Williamsburg road, were talted near a farm or fruit-nursery. (]ame of owner forgotten.) It was tere that I learned that the Yankees :e a short distance down the road, am3 were expected to attack in a few sibutes We waited there, however, for four hours, and it was certainly as late as 1 o'c]ock P. M. when we poved on slowly through the mud and xb4sh, and soon evidences of conflict were apparent. We heard that "D. H. Hill was .driving them down the -road," and ordered to push on. This w4 did as brislly as the condition of the road wou'd. allow, passing for same distance through a thicky wooded section of scrubby growth, when we reached a field of consider able extent on the left of the road. Nhen the -head of the 6th, the rear -regiment of Anderson's Brigade reach. ed the opening, I was ordered to form "mn the right by file into line" on tle Teft of the road and follow the regi ments. While my regiment was -fdrming, -a glance at the field showed - line of works on the other side of if, extending across' the road and across the field into the woods on the left. The view on the right was inited, being shut off- by the woods, wIlic.h continued on the right of the road further down and nearer to th3 works. The regiments of our bri gade were moving down one after the other to this line, which was evident ly occupied by our troops. There was a. redoubt near the road.. from which artillery was slowly firing. I was told that D. H. Hill.had taken that line and was himself at that moment in the redoubt. As we moved down on the track of the regiments pre ceding us, they, apparently in close column of regiments near the works, moved by the left flank along the line tdwaids where it passed through the woods. On aproaching the woods they received a volley, which was undoubt edly a surprise, and for the moment ceated some confusion in the heads of -tEese columns. I at once ordered a change of direction to the left. (It was tEere that the memorable amendment to. Har4lee's versiqn was made. which seemed ever to be' remembered against me and doubtless many now present can. recall "Big left wheel.") We were in the act of changing direction suffi ciently to he present a direct front to the fire of the enemy when I received an order from Gen. Anderson "to sweep the enemy out of those woods."~ Without halting, the order was given to fix bayonets. and we mnoved on to an abattis that was made of slash ings, in the edge of the woods. As we were about to enter the abattis. I halted the line for a momnt to in vestigate a line of men wvith white rags in their hats, found lyiing dicwn on our side of the abattis to the left of where we were going in. The~y proved to be the 27th Georgia regi ment, (Col. Zachary.) of D. H. Hill's command. I told the colonel what my orders were and he proposed to join us. Replying that we would be glad to have him do so we were about to advance when he informed me 'that a regiment of our friends (South Carolinians. he thought), were . eoming up on his left, and requeste-l qzs to wait for them. I at first ac ,ceded to this request, but after wait ing for a few minutes, told the comn -mander of Georgians that I was: :afraid my orders would not .iustify . me in waiting. I would, therefore, ucntinue my advance, feeling strengtn 'ened by the assurance of his support, 4nd at once erdered the regiment for ward. As we entered the abettis tte enemy poured in their volley, but 'our line maove-1 on W Rhout halt ,r check and :!:'ove them through the woods into 'and throagh :t.tar.e amlp; so lirge that th;e regsimenat did iIot cov er h'alf of it, and were pressing them, ;oited and i'1 f:1ll fiightr. boyand. when a fire on my right an I re'ar fronm the ~position of the camp. iuntouth-dJ by s in the adv.mee, admonisie-. me: to 9.alt long enou;;h to take uur te.ar 'eng, and at least see it was neces sary t.o turn i:poai those still in caml'p -pefore proceeding farther. On look 'u back I saw a :egimi'at commng up from the rear, and finding it to be the tb. South Caroli.1a -.ol. Gilesi d& Vected its char.e throuh the j,cition ~of the camp siill ';c'-upie-l b.y tx'e eemy. Wittho t :sing any supm.ra 'tives in regard to this noble regiment, '1 need only to say to you, comrades of the Sixth, who were associated with them on so m:0.- battleflinis, that t-hey nut in this. their fi..t workt:-,. SEVEN PINES. Account of the Great Regiment Took Such mous Part. der my eye in that not merely gallani but effective styi.! which character ized their condr.t '.hrou-1houc the war They made a -lean sweep of the caml and pressed on, coming up on oui right in good order. 'Ve we-re in fihE act of moving on 1ft. t-e Ilying ene my when I received an order froo Col. Jenkins to nalt unt-; hs oud join us with h;s regiment, Lh(. Pal metto Sharpsho:;ei On lookin. back I saw the r-iment coming u: from the rear, on ti left oi the cam: through which I had passed and to wards my left. Anxious t-o press for ward so as to pass through a formi dable abattis immudia:eiy in our front as nearly as possiMe with the iouted enemy, and thus -rev.7t their forma tion on the other side, I sent a request urging him to move 'ip as we were 'losing precious time, and postcd my self between my regiLrent and the Fifth, that I might give the signal to Giles to advance as soon as Jenkins arrived on ou-r line. He halted, how ever, thirty or forty paces in rear of our line and sent an order to align ourselves- on his right, whose front was directed considerably to ihe left of ours, while oirrs fronted on ite di rect line of the flight of the enemy. Just then Gen. Andersoa rode up and, conducting him a few paces to the front, I pointed 'out the situation; the abattis or slashings on slightly de clining ground much wider and more faCmidable than the first, with thick growth cf scrubby trees on the other edge, screening completely whac might be there. By this time not an enemy was in sight, not a gun was being ied in my front. Gen. Anderson quietly said, "Move your regiiment across the abattis and take position on that crest beyond," pointing tow ards it, and added. -unless you jumip the game on the way." Feeling sure that it would be jumped on the other edge of the slashings, I asked, "What then?"' He answered, "Press them. 1 told him that embarrassment as to my flank and rear had prevented me from crossing the abattis pretty nich with them, at least in close pu.s-it, and asked if I should succed again, will you look to flanks and rear? His answer was, "press them." We at once entered the abattis, the 5th reg iment, Col. Giles. .-moving with us on our right. I did not see where the sharpshooters went. When about half way across a.- granud volley- was potIred upon us',from thec thicket be yond, and although noiaody; cried, "Lie down," the entire rNimnt squiatted involunta'rily in the brush. As- the rash of the volley died away 1 shouted "Forward,' but none r,eeme~d to hear it save our color-beare: and before it could be repeated the i-oar and rattle of the reguial batt'e-fire opened upon us and dro~wned human utterances. He advancedI o'i and over the obstructions, as he could not mnove under even the highest v:itnout low ering his .colors. alone, with a stride unnaturally steady,. consider'ing the character of his footing. None v:he saw it can ever forget the splendid picture presented by our- ilorious and handsome boy. John Rabio on this oc casion. Never were coTT.:: bor1nc' with a loftier devotion to ]:y or a mit er disdain of danger. Heic adivanced. thus alone, nearly half wvay to the ene my, and it looked as though our col ors would be handed over to them, when our entire regimens. seemed sim ultaneously to take. in the situation and made a desperate rush to over take them. Our line pourcd like a wave over and under and through the obstructions, and coming up) with the colors, continued th3 inmpetuous advance untl we swept over theirs. They retired hastily beyond the crest not far distant. We consequent ly did'not kill' many of them here. bLit captured a few p)risoners. Emerging from the thicket from which they were driven, and hastily readjusting our ranks we pushed on towards the crest, and soon encountered the most formidable line, and became engaged in the fiercest fight of the day. The ground over which we p)assed 'was thinly studded with sapling pine growth, affording no obstruction to speak 'of either to the bullets or to the view of either side, and it was the same, though apparently more broken, for a long distance to our right; to our left, woods of thick growth seem ed not more than a hundred yards or so distant. As we appproaced the crest, their line could be seen extend Ing froni the woods on our left, across our front and to the Tight for several hundred yards as far as I could see on both sides. They opened upon us a terrible fire, direct from the front and oblique from both, sides, but we continued steadily to advance, until within thirty or forty yards of them, when our line was staggered, chec'k ed, and finally borne down byth weight of this converging fire. The borne by force when they w!she:I to proceed. were nevertheless unhacked, and opened a fierce and rapid fire on the enemy fn front. Not knowing at the time why the 5th had not come out of the abattis with us, (their gallant colonel was killed by the volume we met there, and they were embarrassed and delayed by his fall,) and I looked anxiously for them to come up and relieve us from a portion of the fire. Ibut neither they nor any other help were in sight. I was unwiling to un dertake a retreat over such ground as was in our rear, and determined to make another effort to break through the enemy's line. Amid. the roar of that fierce storm no human voice could have been heard by eveni a company, and to secure that unity of action which the emergency d manded, it was necessary to convey to the commanders of com ,"fnies nstructions to tiotify their men and have them prepa.ed o rise np ..t a concerted signal, and Dush through the line in front. This cou sumed time and held our men and--: this destructive fire longer than was desirable, but it could not be helped. As soon as possible the signal was.: given. All, except the dead and dy ing, (who unhappily for us were num erous enough to mar} our line front : one end to the other after we left I..) I rose and moved, though crouching as:: they breasted the pelting storm, vead-: ily and unfaltering forward witnout firing a gun. ,until the enemy gave way, when we poured in our volley of buck and ball at close range and I with telling effect. Although their line was broken and sheltered, they yielded the ground with great -reluctance. They for ome I time made strenuous efforts to -:e form close in our front, and repeated- I ly gathered groups about their colors and around their officers, w.o made - heroic efforts to rally them, only ,o be piled in heaps by the shot and ball belched from our old smooth-bores.; These efforts they stubbornly eciltin ued until there seemed not a standar-d left, not an officef- to rally - them. . While we were pressing this, the . most valiant foe that we had yet met, being appprehensive of attack fr3m the enemy on either the right or,( left of the point of their line pene trated by us, or on both, which promptly made, would certainly and! easily -have crushed us before our sl)ports. could come up, I was anx iously looking to both. and it was with mich satisfaction that I saw our right five columns with five stands.C of colors double-quicking to the rear in beautiful order. They disappeared I across the Williamspurg road .in the direction of White Oak Swamp. I: could not see for the woods what those on the left were doing. but those regiments on the right, acting evi dently under the implression that the that the Confederates were in force on their right flank, sug'gested the i dea that those on the left were under: a similar imlpression as to their left flank. It was with a great sense of relief that I again gave my entire attention to the brief, but' explicit and satis- E factory, or-der- of our general, "Pr-ess them." When, however. the gallant foemen in our front gave up all hope. ceased their stubborn, futile. effor-ts ~ at resis:ance. and incontinently fled, ~ the regiment for the first time inat ~ day lost its order and the men broke away in a wild chase after them. Un- E able to stop the foremost, the ni 0 *way to keep them at all together was by urging the hindmost forward. We ~ struck the Williamsburg road oblique-t ly, our right touching it near Seven e Pines House, when a regiment posted c in the edge of the road, their line be ing parallel to the road. opened fire 0 on our right flank. About two com panies on' our right were stopped by 0 it, and forming in the road engaged this new enemy. The balance of the c regiment rushed on in pursuit into the woods, down the road, making: a wide interval between them and the r companies on their right. I sent Sergt.-31ajor Beverly .Means, who was at hand. to catch our wild boys -on the I left, and order them to form on the two comp)anies in the road, and urged. dispatch, as I feared that the enemy might charge us in that condition. To p)revent this our- men who stopp)ede near- the house wer-e formed in the road and ordered to keep up as br-isk a fire as possible. :aly brave men in dividually, as they got the orders. ran promptly back to the road, into and unidetr fire at less than one hundr-ed yar-ds, formed as it were by file on our men fighting ther-e, and thus by their individual pluck and devrotion to duty enabled us to meet the emer gency and avert the danger in the~ shortest and, of course, the best way. If we had taken the usual course un der such circumstances . and fallen back to reform, we would hav.e lost. ground. lost time and have affectedI less at a perhaps greater cost of life. While this formation in the. very front of the battle and in the teeth of the enemy was going on, I was looking with anxiety for the Fifth regiment to come up, still not know-. ing the cause of its delay-the fall of its heroic colonel--when I saw a reg iment moving up from the r-ear and [ sent an urgent request that it mo up promptly. It proved to be the Ps metto Sharpshooters, and Col. Jenki replied that he would be with me in noment. When in about two hundr rards of the road, however, he chan ad front forward on the 12th cor pany, and although the balls fired is, forming and fighting on the roa lipped into them with destructive e fect, it was done in a style rare qualled on the drill field. This w .ollowed by & change of front on tl 1st company, executed In the same a mirable manner In view and und Ire of the enemy, which brought the [n position to form on our left. B ore these two evolutions were cor Yleted our sergeant-major report( hat all of our men were in line c he road, but some of them were ni tt their proper places, or even heir companies, and wanted to kne I that would do. Glancing along t! ine I saw every man who was out )lace looking back towards me. ar tnswered the question by a motion ( ny 'hand, waving them down whe: :hey were, saying, although th( ,ould not hear me: "We are all rigI iow, lie down where you are." 01 argeant-major exclaimed with su: )ressed enthusiasm: "Isn't that glo ous? The old regiment is sure nore than filling her measure today lis countenance was all aglow wil hat peculiar light often seen in tb .aces of brave men in' battle, at vhich is so inspiring to the beholde ordered him to lie down behind th ine, as I wanted everybody as muc inder shelter as possible, while w vere waiting for Jenkins to come t m our left. A moment afterward he fatal bullet pierced his breast. vas thus that Beverly Mians, who. I ieace. was as gentle and modest as roman; met death. It was about th ime that I found that the shells an annon balls that had been whirrin ver us and lAunging amongst us du: ng our disorderly pursuit, and noi nfilading our line on the road, wer oming from the direction of the ba ery talken by D. H. Hill. I sent aessenger to stop its fire on us, bi te probably never reached it, as ontinued to fire as long as I remaine in the field. As soon as Col. Jenkins arrived o he line with his regiment he gav ie the order. "Advance your regimen nd I will support you." Remember ag that I had been notified before w eached the battlefield that he was i onimand of the brigade I promptl beyed his order. Looking along m ine, battered now about half its orio nal length, with half of its captain :n'ocked out, I had reason to be am ous lest some irregularity of movt eat might place the regiment at dis .dv-antage. To. prevent this and er tre uni'y and'order in their advant 'walked across the road to the fror nd waving my cap to attract the a1 ention of all, officers and men, orde-: d the line forward. -Rising from tb oad in which they had been lyin hey advanced deliberately, steadil nd firmly. closing gaps promptly ur ji the enemy broke, when they pIOUI d in their volley and rushed on then weping thenm from the field. Thi 'as perhaps the fairest fight we ha bat day: there was no great disparit t numbers between their regimer nid duars: they seemed to be abot qutal: but we had the advantage i be immediate piresence of shari~ bicoters. Our disadivantages wer ur battered condition, loss of officer nd- mcen in previous fights, our lyin o long under their fire, a part of th me not returning it that they reco1 rerl from the excitement c the fire nset and directed their fir'e with etter aim. Most of their balls wer ni a line with us. fewer of them pass d over our heads than in any prey us attack. We met. this line of fir then we rose up) in the road, and: ontinued withot abatement, aide y the shot and shell plunging int ad about us from the battery on tb ight. until we were within twenty ve yards of them. when 1 was sho o steady was their fire and unshake beir line that the result even the -as doubtful, and those near me, wh atu rally came to my assistance. wer erenmptorily ordered to .the fron 'here every bayonet was needed. 31 yeisight failed, a premonition of th iinting that followed, and I could n< ee you, my comrades, but I heard th olley which you delivered as yo assed over me. and the "yell," r'ecet 2g from me as you advanced,- relies d the anxiety which was intensifie y my condition, and gave assurant hat you had again swept the field. When my sight returned you wer een in line with the sharpshootEr s the edge of the woods onl the let ronting down the road. When lae een by me the whole line seemed1 e moving by the left flank across tb oad. And here the story of yov )ovements and conduct on this fiell s seen and known by me, necessar'i ads. I learn from others that tii egiment, led by its lieutenant-co nel, the truly good and brave Stea< nan, had still another engagemet ~ith the enemy before the battle clo: d. with the result to which it wt ow becoming accustomed, and, cril led and torn as I was, added ne re By the movement to the left allw 1- ed to a moment ago the field of m is last conflict was left uncovered in ou a front and in the direction taken by tI d five regiments of the enemy that g- had seen retiring rapidly but in goG a- order 'across the Williamsburg roa( at and it was still being probed- by tb d, fire of the artillery up the road whic f- I concluded from its -continuance afte ly I had sent to have it stopped, wa Is from a battery of the enemy. 0 ie seems, however, that it was in fac :- D. H. Hill's battery.) The wounde er left on the field gathered around m( m the noble fellows. striving to assis e- me, when they needed assistanc i- themselves. Knowing that there wa d nothing to prevent it, I expected th n five regiments alluded to to retur A and retake the field. To avoid thei n capture and also danger from the ar w tillery fire, I ordered all who coul4 possibly do so to go to the rear ani not wait for litter-bearers or ambul d ance. All who could obeyed the orde > except Boyce Simonton, of Compan: -e G. and Gandy, of Company E. The: y mutinied,and refused to leave me, say it ing that those who had gone to thi ir rear were to send for us all, I madi >- the effort to go at least far enough t r- the rear to save these brav'e boys f rou y capture. Gandy had with him a pris oner, Capt. John D. McFarland, 102< h Pennsylvania regiment. e (Filiding that we could not spar d guards for the prisoners taken, tie] were sent to the rear sometimes wita e out them, but generally in charge o: h our wounded, who were able to g e back. Some of them escaped througi p the gap between us in our advanceL s and constantly advancing positiou [t and ou.r supports.) The only m;embei n of our party capable of helping an a other was this prisoner. He rend-, ed every assistance in his power. d Our progress was interrupted and g delayed by fainting spells, and fron the same cause, perhaps, we were di V verted from our course to the right e towards the railroad (our left as WE went in.) At any rate, -my first con a sciousness after a faint was of some t one tugging at me, and the next was t hearing the voice of our prisoner cap d tain saying: "Handle him tenderly, boys, he was kind to me, and is badly t wounded." The two boys, if my mema e ory is correct, belonged to a New t liampshire regimeit, and were detail eq as a hospital guard. They said 6 that hospital was not far offj but it a was being moved, and they and our Pennsylvania captain, although ap prehensive of capture themselves, helped and urged us to reach the hos sital before the surgeon left. But we made slow progress. until they sawv -their chaplain and called to him for - .assistance. He quickrly brought a -litter, on which they took me to the Sos piial, wtia was prec4ided over by t Dr. Gesner, of New York. I shall .never forget the kindness and tender -attention of this surgeon and the chap elain. I here lgarned how seriously Sinmonton was *ounded. After mak ing us as comfortable as the state of - the case would per-nit of, Dr. Gesre.l - left, informing me that I was behind . ur own lines and that he had to gc s before the gal) through which he had move:i his hospital was closed. Lace - mn the night. I think after midnight, t Gen. Birney came in and I learned t from him that they had been heavily rreirforced from the other side of the -(hickahominy. and were reoccupymul e the positions from which they had been driven3. This excited my alarm for you, for without knowing exactly a; where I was, there could be no doubt -in my mind that you were some dis tance in advance of wvhere these re enforcenients were being posted. Nor e was I relieved until sent to the rear - where 1 had access to their newspa - pers. in these I saw nothing in re e lation to you, but glowing accounts t .of the resistless advance of the 6th i regiment and Palmetto Sharpshooters * giving their specific n'ames. Your e. prowess on this field won for your - colonel, a prisoner in their hands, the .considcration of those who encoun * tered you here. Gen. Birney took suf ficient interest to have his surgeon, K Dr. Pancoast. examine my wound, e and he decided that I-would not die before morning, as we all had ex l)pected before the examination, and e they both exhibited the kindest pleas ture over the discovery. To say noth e ing of the innumerable attentions paid by officers and men of a large camp -near which 1 was lying the next day, and among them were some who had been captured by us; and escaped awhile going to the rear, I was the re eipient of the most generous and a. courteous consideration from the s, knightly Gen. Phil Kearney. On learning that my wound was not fa ttal, as at first reported to him, he o took the trouble to send a special e 'messenger to the rear to see that I r w'as p)roperly cared for. All of these ,distinguished attentions and generous courtesies were extended to the cob e onel of the 6th South Carolina regi. Iment. They did not even know my name. tWhen in the midst of raging battle -trophies were brought to me. (I sremember three regimental stand. .ards were brought to me almost simi yultaneously.) I leaned theni againsi have no time for these baubles now.' y But these attentions to a wounded. helpless prisoner, who was only known by the prowess of his regiment I in the fight, were the knightly cour d tesies of a gallant enemy, and were accepted as such with feelings of pro e foundest gratification and pride. They L are indeed the noblest trophies of war, r as they can be won only from a brave s and worthy foe. 4 t 'My old comrades, in the perform t ance of this duty, which ha4 been. so d long deferred, I have confined myself to a plain, simple statement of what t you did under my own eyes. So far e from attempting, I have avoided.high S ly drawn pictures of gallantry dis e played in this action. If I have suc i ceeded in making that statement in r telligible your deeds, more than any - expression of admiration on my part I of your conduct, are relied on for that I justice which has so long been your - due. To sum .then up in brief, you r advanced over three lines of the ert r emy, two of them i* position behind obstructions of felled timber or slash ings, and all of them superior in num bers to you. Although checked .and borne down by - the weight of fire of > the third, without falling back, you 1 rose and continued the advance to a - successful result, the only InstAAe of I the kind that I know of. . When, after the third conflict, your line was bro ken, it was done by your own -eager and wild pursuit of the enemy, after a terrific contest, and- after the loss of one-half of your captains. While in the condition of an advancing, wild, yelling mob, an unexpected vol ley was poured into your'right flank, which had only the happy elect of re calling those on that flanlk to their senses, for t1tey at once, became heed ful of orders, and . with wonderful promptness presented -a solid front to this fresh foe, and held them at bay until the balance formed on them and in a short time charged and swept him from the field. All this without once falling back to reform 1 your lines or yieldiig at any time'an inch of the ground gained. This advance of more than .a mile from where you met their first vol ley, over four lines of the enemy, was effected in less thai; two hours. The extraordinary progress-of the 2nd bri gade (Anderson's) excited on this field at the time -comment in best in formed army circles and was discuss ed by our trained and :experienced regular officers in terms of highest praise and admiration. Yours was the leading regiment in this famous advance of Anderson's Brigade. The fight made by - the 6th S. C. regiment on this field was,. in the - opinion expressed~ by -Gen. Anderson himself, after the close of thi- war "unsurpassed." I concur-ir -that opin ion. Considering tale difncanles 'en countered, it was the most rapid in - achieving results, and the 'best and most effective, fair, square, open-field fighting that I ever saw. We had nothing to do with -the general plan of battle; knew nothing of it, and. are not responsible for general re suits. Our orders gave us our part to do. Never were orders executed more energetically, -prcmptly or thor *oughly. - -To all who have followed the story it must -be appirent that such work could not have been accomplished without the most energetic courage -- and devotion to .duty on the part of all the officers and -men of the regi m nent. Of course there were varia tions, and grades of skill and -courage displayed in the performance of their duty; but I must refrain from special I mention of any, where all deserve honor, for with scarce a.n exception the - officers, from Lieut.-Col. Stead man down through the field and staff and the line, displayed that high courage which is shown by earnest, undlivided attention to duty, without regard to the danger attending it. And how can I express my grateful commendation of the brave men whose devotion to duty enabled them, in or der and out of order, to meet, with prompt and bold alacrity every emergency of their notable advance? The cost to us of this .glorious work is the sad part of the story. We 'car ried into the battle 521 officers and men. Of these SS were lelled, 164 wounded and 17 missIng. The miss ing were killed or wounded with one exception. A little boy, Josey Powell, 15 years of age, remained on the geld with his brother, who, in a moment of victory, just after the last line that I charged was broken, was me:.tally Iwounded by a shell from that battery up the road (D. H. Hill's.) The little fellow was captured and was not -wounded. He was permitted -by his guard to join me on the road to the hz-spital, and by the authorities there to remain with me during our -captiv ity. Our loss in killed and wounded in this action was "eally 268 out of the 521, officers and men carried into the -battle. Of this large number time will not. :allow a detailed statement. Among the killed were those noble heroes, Capts. Phinney, Lyles, Walker and Gaston. Among the wounded were you.r colonel and those gallant offi cars, Capt. White and Lileuts, McFad- ~