Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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???? I ll i ? ? - ' ( fj* 4? 4* *h 4* 4? 4* *r 4* 4* 4* 1 /? ^ The "Bloo< \ $f * 4*4*4<4*4*4*4*^4*4 w Some Fticts Pe rta! ni n / [j] Worthy of I> * ?j? ?j? *i* ?i* ??? *?? *i ??? ?I? 4* 4* 4* Tho following address, tull of facts pertaining io hist orv. was de livered by Col. J. N. Brown nt, tho ieee ni reunion of orr's Regiment held ni Relton. The address is well worth careful rending und preserva tion: "The Bloody Angle." Veterans of orr's Regiment and Comrades: lt is with pleasure ' meei with you at this annual reunion. lt makes mo feel glad lo see the faces Of the men with whom l^iavo so often been In hattie. From Caines' Mill, .lune L'7. 1SIJ2, ?to the full Of Petersburg, April 2, IM'..">. WO have been joined together in all the prin cipal battles Of the Army of North ern Virginia. Wo have crossed tho Potomac six times in the long marches of Lee and Jackson. Many of you men were my schoolmates in my boyhood, and many of them were my kinsmen. But 1 shall con fine myself largely to one object in this address, lt is thc battle of the "Bloody Anule'' at Spottsylvanla, May 12, 18(14. 1 do this hecauso since we last tuet, the lighting of this battle has been claimed by other commands, and I now propose to show that we fought in that Bloody Angle, and In addition lo our assertions will prove i: by the records. These records will forever perpetuate your heron deeds, in doing so l deslr ' ^ elim inate myself, and my I'MUU. arc tor the pulp?se of doing justice tc the brave men. the private soldiers who fought the battle. When I was promoted to the cont maud of i he I 11 li Regiment. ii 'i^c>:;. tho Veterans in the rank! knew about as well how to lluht ; barth as the officers. When we pu our men in line of butilo und ga Vi tho word, "forward!" tho men wi tl rite guns did tho rest. When (lank ed they knew thai they must fal back and then change lo the front Rut in all else when fating the ene my, front to front, unless outflank ed they knew not hine, bul lo stun their ground or drive tho onom> Such you wore on the i*_'ih of Mn> 1 St! I. We had hoon on the f?rin line a week, and all sense of feai where any existed, had (lisa pp ea 1*01 On that morning McGowan's Br gade of live regiments, Orr's Ri (lei First, Twelfth. Thirteenth and l'on. loon th, were in front of Spottsylvr nia Court House. Cen. Ewell's corps was on our lei or west of us. We heard Brill along Cen. Ewell's lines, Indlcathi that he was being driven back. Oct Harris's Mississippi Brigade of foil regiments of our corps (A. I Hill's), formerly Stonewall Jacl son's, was ordered io move in tin direction. Soon after o'clock Mi Cowan's Brigade, about IO o'cloc. same direction. lt developed th: Hen. Edward Johnson's divisioi '..i? lt Its commander, had boen ca; lured. The angle in our line an the kev lo the position of our arm '.villi over 2,000 prisoners, were lo to us. ii w;is lo retake this aug thal Marris's and McGowan's hr gados were >ont forward. Tho on my in capturing so many prisone und sending them ti, tho rear, ai ill their pursuit, had partially lo their tot niation and wer. disorga i sod, M> that they had ??eon driv? back, and sought refuge in Hie cn Mired works. A portion of Hie works had boen recaptured befo we entered upon t ho s . ne. Tl angle then was lo our right. (Jo Rnmseur, with his brigade, was a deadly struggle nearest the ung when Hen. Harris arrived. Ge Harris then retook Ibo works Hen. Ramsen r's righi. Inn still <i not roath to Ibo Anule. Iben M Cowan's Brigade was ordered int a. m., was pill in lo take the Aug The Hiing by the enemy ai this pol was lorrille. The enemy had t east lace of Ibo Angle as well stone distance on the west, where WOl'O lo enter, and Ibo Hiing fr? the casi fi. was near enough reach across the Anglo :<> Gen. Hi ris w hen we went in. H was so tl pernio thal staff olHcers would i go near enough lo point out win wo must enter. Therefore we w< where the firing was heaviest, doini; so. moving toward our rig we partly covered Hen. Harris'* P gado, the Angle and part of west face, still held by the onoi Tho Angle was nil obtuse ono a somewhat, curved. The west, fa running woslwnrdly, beginning Gie Angle, bad tra vcr.-es ala I weh o Ol' llfteen feet long rutllll backward, forming three sides, lng open In the rear, forming pe the sides to protect tho Hanks. Hont facing north. We found ll ris's Brigade in a fearful conflict >J? ?J? ?J? ?J?, ?{. ?J? ?J? ?J? *J? ?J? ?J? rJ? iy Angle." I ? ?i? \' ?j? \-?*? ?j . .i* ^ to History that Arc ^ reservation? . * * * * 4. * * * * * 4. 4. front and Hank, which relieved tho pressure on Bamseur's. There was so ino arllllory Hiing, but ii soon censed. Tho linos wore run too (dose together for artillery and en dangered friend as well ns foe. The lines of tho Federals oil the righi face of the Angle continued nearly a straight line after they passed the Angle and thus the gap west of the Angle widened and Hie distante be tween the forces increased, so Illili Cen. Harris's left was some distance then from them in front, and so far from Hen. kamseur that alter we went in his brigade was not en gaged. Capt. J. F. .1. Caldwell, of the First Regiment, wrote the history of the brigade, (which h.* now otu of print ). from which I quote: "We advanced at the double quick, cheering loudly, and entered the inner works. Whether hy or ders or tacit understanding, we halted there, except the .Twelfth Regiment, which was the right ol the brigade. That moved at once to the oilier line, and threw itself willi its wonted Impetuosity into Hu heart of tho battle." To resume: "The brigade advanced upon tin works. About the lime we reached tho inner line Gen. McGowan was wounded hy a minie hall in the righi arm and forced to quit Hie Held Col. Brockman, senior general, wa: also wounded, and Co!. Joseph X Brown, of the Fourteenth Regi meut, assumed command then or ; little later. * * + "Soon the order was given t() ad vance to the outer line. Thi Twelfth- had already passed ll. \V< did so With a cheer ai a double quick, through mud knee-deep, am gel tinr, in as best we could. lier lay Harris's Mississippi Brigade, \V were ordered to close to the righi Wo moved by 1 he Hank up 1 li i works, under the fatally accural ' fi:>' of the onetny, and ranged otu selves along the entrenchment; i The trenches dug mi the inner sid wore almost Ulled with water. * * Abandoned knapsacks, gillis and a< ..ou t remen t s wore scattered a ! around. In lite rear disabled caisson ?stood and limbers of guns. Th I rain poured heavily, and nil ince: i saul Uro was kept upon us. front nil ! Hank. The enemy si ill held t li j works Oil tho right of the Angl' and bred across he traverses. * * "lt was plainly a question of bra' cry and endurance now. We ei lerod upon tho task with uti <n might. Some Hied at tho line lyln in front on tho edge of tho ridge others kept down lin- enemy lodg? in the traverses on the right, / places Confederales and Federa were only separated foy the work and the latter not a few timi reached their guns over and liri ..ghi down upon the beads of tl former. So continued the pa I ll fi: unvarying battle for about tvi hours. Al tho end of thal tillie j rumor arose that the enemy we j desirous to come in and surrende Col. Brown gives Mu- following a count ol' ii iii bis official report: " 'About 2 o'clock p. m, the li lng (eased along the line, and I 0 served rho enemy standing up in o |front. their colors Hying and ari I pointing upward. I called upi , 1 hem lo lay down their arms ni j conic in. All officer answered th j he was awaiting our surrende Ililli we bad raised a white Hf whereupon ho had ceased (Iring, replied i hat I commanded here, a il any Mag was raised it was wi thu authority, and unless be came Hiing would lie resumed. He begg a conference, which was granti and a subordinate officer advanc near Ibo luca 1 works and Inform me tha.t a while Mag was living my right. He was informed tl unless his commander surrender! the Hiing would be continued, started back to bis lines, and fnlll 10 exhibit bis Hag ol' truce, was si down midway between the lin w liich were not more t han 1 wei yards apart al ibis point. 'I 11 ri :i g again comtnonced w ? li 11 bated fury.' " Capt. Caldwell continues: . "Burlier on tho left of tho 1 gado where nothing was known .this conference, Ibero was au o| lon t hal T ho light colored Hag ( 1 of Connecticut, I believe), (lispln; by tho enemy was intended for trine. A babel of tongues sueco od, officers ordering the rcsumpl ; of Hie Hi ing, men calling ?-int to Federal line, questioning, iinplor for tho tiring to bo held, and enemy allowed lo come In. * So the two lines stood, bawling,) tlculntlng, arguing and what 1 Al length a gun was fired, peril I ? ' . 11 11 tlie one Col. Brown montions. AU ol' both lines joined in and the roar 0? battle renewed. * . * Men just across tho works would, in places, thrust over their pieces and dis charge them in theil* laces. Some times they would have to give way to the toft, bul they always rallied and fought at tho nearest fooling. The (Iring was astonishingly accu rate all along the line. No man could raise his shoulders above the works without danger Of immediate death. "Lieut. Col. Hunt and Lieut. .1. \V. Carlisle, of the Thirteenth Regi ment, and others had interviews willi Federals during tho negotia tions for surrender, "We lay five or six deep, clojliig constantly lo the right, and Hms losing all distinct organization. Every now and then a regular vol ley would be hurled at us from what we supposed was a fresh line of Federals. "A hickory tree about eight in ches in diameter was shot in two and foll In our lines before night, and an oak eighteen Inches in diameter was also cut down with lille balls and fell about ten o (dock al night. wounding some of our men. The stump of it is in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, H. H. ".lust bo fore daylight we were or dered in a whisper, which was passed along the lim", to rei ?re slowly and noiselessly from Hie works. We did so after a stubborn resistance or eighteen hours. A second line of works had been thrown up 500 yards in our rear, and in ibis, as we passed over, we found troops of Longstreet's corps r? .. . for the enemy." 1 have thus drawn largely from Capt. Caldwell's history, as a wit less of the terrible character of the battle, and will add to it olinda! re ports of both Confederate and fed eral authorities. l will add to Capt. Caldwell's account a descrip tion ol' one ol' tho terrible assaults on our lines: Major Nathan Church, ol' 20lh Michigan Volunteers, who led this assault, in his official report, (Rec ords of Hi'' Rebellion, No. :'?.'>. Series I. Pa ri 1. Ha ge :'? 72.) report s : "The enemy having retaken the works on the r?ghi nearly io tho Angle, we were ordered lo thal point and crept along on Hie out side ol' the works until our line overlapped Hie enemy's halt the length ol' ibo regiment, our right resting near the point where the large oak tree was cut down by mus ket halls. We foil gb I for hall" an hour over the breast works, losing a large number in killed and wound ed, when they made signs of sur rendering, waving handkerchiefs on their rammers." (This is tho epi sode of tin- mutual supposed surren der already related.) "We ceased bring, and called lc them to come In, when the whole lino for Tn or sn yards rose up and started io come in. when the sane moment a fresh line of sup po ri cane up to Ilium on the other side, and giving a (dicer. rushed tor Hu works, when most ol' them turned and jumped into tho entrenchment* again." Hen. Cordon, in his reminiscences in most emphatic language, page* .js:; to "JSt;, (daims to have tonghi this terrille battle in lids Blood) Angle. from this report, and till note appended, it would appear t< be tho same battle fought by us. ll described the fighting all day am all night, but makes no reference H tho hickory and oak trees cut dowi with rille balls, nor to Hu- inciden of the supposed surrender. Cen Cordon mus! have got his mind con fused with some of bis oilier bra vi ((gilling, He makes no such dalli in ins officiai report in I8G-I. in Vol nine 30, pages 1070 io 1070. I wa not aware of his claim until seolni Iiis book after bis death. I taki pride and pleasure in saying tba Cen. Cordon's exalted character, ii war and lu peace, as a soldici statesman and Christian, places bin far above the charge or knowing! depriving another command ol' hon ors won by thom, Ile was porhap a second Stonewall Jackson I Ewell's corps by bis wonderful SIM cesses. He needed no claim of otl: ors' battles to add to his lanie. Cen. Ewell, who was Cen. Coi don's commanding general in lb battles, in his report, pages IOU0 I I UT?, reports: ''Hen. Cordon was heavily Cllgnf ed- OIK.' brigade broken, its con mander wounded but he held hi ground, drove out Ibo enemy in hi Immediate front by a strong (dfoi and regained a portion ol' on works U> the right of the Ballon Their main effort was evldontl against Rhodos's position to ll left of the Angle, and here the Ugh i II K was of ibo most desperate (dui i aider. Daniels' right was unpri tocted, a- d Rnmsour was sent. I i there. Ile took tho works to Dal bds' right, hut tho Salient was sti hold by the enemy, and a most deai ly fire poured on lils right. lian! Harris's Brigade, which came to n assistance about 9 a. Ul., was sent to : Kainscur's right, but it still tailed ' to lill the trenches. McGowan's South Carolina Brigade, which ar rived an hour later, was ordered to the same point. In spite of the ter rible Hank lires lo which they were exposed, the brave troops ol' these three brigades hold their ground un til 3 -a. m. ol' May 13, when ordered buclfeto a new line." Extracts from den. Wilcox's re ports: .'Among the wounded was Its chivalric commander, Hrig. den. Mc Gowan, and the further command of the brigade devolved upon Col. Jo seph X. Drown, Nth S. C. Regi ment, lu 'rout ol' McGowan was a ravine ami pine woods. This was occupied by the enemy in very strong force. The brigade was partly In termingled with Harris's and held the position without support or re lief iii! i o'clock next morning, on parts ol' Hie line the opposing forces were separated only by a parapet. The muskets of the men would of ten touch, and frequently the aim of i he l ille would be checked by a blow front the butt or a punch ol' an opposing gun from the other side of tlx- breastworks. There is no paral lel to this light in the history of this war not any thal I know recorded since the Introduction of fire-arms." Swinton, in his History of tho Army of the Potomac, states: "Ol' all. the struggles of the war ! this was perhaps tho fiercest and \ most deadly. The fearful slaughtei < iuit inned till the ground was li?i' la 11 y covered with pill's ol' the dead and the woods in front ol' tho Sal ient were an hideous Golgotha." Hen. Horace Porter. of Hen Grant's staff, writes: "The battle near the Angle wa. probably the most desperate en ! gngomenl in modern warfare. * * ' j Hank after rank was riddled by sbo 'and sholl and bayonet thrusts, lilli i lina I ly sank a mass ol' torn and mu j (Mated corpses. Trees over a foo ; and a half in diameter were rut ii two hy musketry. We not only sbo down an army, but also a forest. * * The dead were piled Upon cac other in Home places four layer deep. Skulls were crushed wit clubbed muskets, and men wer stabbed to death with swords an bayonets thrust between thc logs o I Hie parapi I which separately tb I combatants. * * * Even tho dari I ness failed to slop Ibe deice coi test, and tho deadly strife did m cease till after midnight. . * * Tit dead were piled upon each other I some places four layers deep." Hen. Porter visited the place ne: day. 13th .May. (SIM? Gen. Cordon bool<, |iage "JSi!, and notes.) At jiages :!i)(l-:tti ol' Records, n port ol' Hen. Meade: "Fighting continued unceasing! and desperate over the capture works. The oil em y made despera efforts to regain them, throwing the strength upon Ibo Salient held I tho Second and Sixth corps. Ot force at that point was excelling strong, three or lour lines deep some places. * * * During Ibo nig tho enemy withdrew into a secoi line or works. * * * At R.30 a. n 13th, Hen. Hitchcock dispatche 'Our sharpshooters have ndvnilCi 800 yards into the enemy's lin without Unding any one except ii one prisoner, who states that t enemy had gone.' " Some Virginians (daim lo ha fought in the "Bloody Anglo." Tb were in Gen. Johnson's Divisic which was captured in the eai morning, including tho celebra! "Stonewall Brigade." Virginia accorded overwhelming honors wit out claiming any in this. None her soldiers were I here from 10 m., on the 12th, lo I a. m. on I 13th. Not a single official report any one of ber officers claims it.. Other proofs to sustain our cia! I are abundant, hill these are enoilj j My official report was made the n day. after a few hours' rest. All Incidents were (hon fresh In my nu orv. While I give all credit to brave mon who fought so nobly : so long in those bloody Irenchoi take pardonable pride in hav commanded tho brigade during i trying ordeal. The mon in lino w so compact, and the line so sh thal they lost all distinct organ Hon and fought as a unit. We m lacked for men or courage to li tho most desperate and almost o whelming assaults. I would Ilk give tho names of some who did role deeds, bul il would do llljtl? to others whom 1 did not see. Ri mau in my view was a hero. A fighting all day.until past midn in that dark, rainy night, in the < of tho moon, with only tho flashc Ibo guns to give light, the men pealed so exhausted it became parent thal by daylight, no hu frame could hold out longer, ai fresh body of the enemy could li probability pick them up with fr resistance. When the Finierais retook works, more than an hour aftei j left, they took as a trophy one This same shoe in our "Auto graph ' ' brand. $2.50-f 3.00. is Goodyear Well sewed: in our College Wom an'swat ki ne Shoe. $3.00 $3.50-$<i.00. it equals the best custom make. Look for thc Red Dell on toe box Sou $2.00 owes its re to the fini comfort ai You ne snappier s greater co Shoe will j you'll say wearing qi your town CRAE 1 lary prisoner, ll?' was probably slumbering whoo wo loft. Those mon with tin- guns did their duty nobly. They could have lett the trendies lu the darkness ol' the night, and not a niau was known to have left. Our long list of missing comprised only a lew who were captured. Nearly all were killed during the night, and were never heard ol' again. They '.ad to light eighteen hours without a moment's relief, while thc enemy were being continually relieved by fresh troops. The mon in the ranks were much more exposed than the ollicers aller entering the works. They were killed when actually fir ing. KM ... man fought with bis own lille, and no om* in the rear ranks loaded bis lille and handed it to his comrade in front, and then changed guns and reloaded for bim, as re ported by (?en. Cordon. In fact, when the lille would get clogged from the rain, the owner was loath to exchange it for one that was denn, of which there were plenty around him. Ile was attached lo his gun. The Federal losses were Immense. Assistant Secretary of War C. A. Dana, on the loth, wired to (?en. Stanton, "Our loss in killed and wounded in yesterday's fight will not. vary much from ti,OOo." Later In the day be placed it at 7,.",00. lt is estimated that not less than forty were put in during night against this thousand men the day and "Bloody Angle." Our brigade never got Ils full credit for this hard-fought, battle. We fought away from our own divis ion in one which had met with disas ter. Cen. Rhodes, who was so fa miliar with the battle, was soon af ter killed, and his official report was lost lo ns. After the battle we bad only a rem na Ul of the ollicers and men in the ranks who were with us at the beginning on the alli of .May. When Gen. Grant uncovered our front at. this place by bis dank movenuuit about a week afterwards I saw the place again, examined the stumps of the two trees, and the An gle and surroundings. About three icres of woods were nearly destroy ed. There are three facts clearly es tablished: First, the terrible chai'ac or of the battle for eighteen hours; secondly, that McGowan's Brigade CROSSE' "MAKES LIFE S tie Right iibinatlon mufacturer of shoes knows an play up any one feature :ares to in producing a shoe ell. He can make it stylish :omfortable, or he can turn a shoe so heavy and stocky s ill never wear out. He also knows that a nicely balanced combination of these three shoe virtues is about the hardest problem in shoe making. f> Thc them Girl -Shoe-$2.50 ?putation and its many friends ; sense of proportion of style, id durability, each to each. vcr saw better style-a neater, ?hoe. Your foot never knew mfort than The Southern Girl ^ive. Once you've worn a pair you never got better value in .tality. Look up our dealer in and let him show you the line. IDOCK-TERRY CO. Ly?????Ioura, Va. fought al tin- Anglo with a courage never excelled on any battle-field; thirdly, that neither Cen. Cordon nor tho Virginians nor any other com mand foughl in there from IO o'clock a. m.. 12th May, till I o'clock a. m., the Lilli, except that small part of Harris's llrignde. When our lines at and near tho Angle became so thinned out hy cas ualties, the right of Cen. Harris's closed jp with us cud assisted us later in the day. They were as brave soldiers as ever went on the field of bailie, and at the fall of Peters burg held Kort Crogg nulli they Aver . nearly all killed, lt is remark able how many men of (?thor com mands now claim to have fought un der the old oak tree that was cut down with balls. The Intermingling o'" Harris's and MeOowan's Brigades reported hy (?en. McGowan, was when we Ural went in and when the general was wounded. After that wa? moved by the Hank to the right of Cen. Harris ami fought alone at tho Angle. Capt. Caldwell, In closing, says: "We assembled at a short dist ance from this inner line, and tinder command of Col. Brown, of the I J tli, went into bivouac about half a mlle west of Spotlsylvnnla ('oort House. * * * The brigade was commanded by Brig. Cen. McGowan, and after his wounding, by Col. .1. X. Brown, or the Nih Regiment. The 1st Reg iment, commanded by Col. C. W. McCrenry; lL'ih Regiment, Major T, H. Clyburn; 13th by Col. B. T. Brockman; Mt h by Col, J. X. Brown; Orr's Hilles, Col. Mci). Mil ler." This was at the opening of tho battle. Comrades, Hu' sands of time aro fas! running out with -ts. Tho times which once knew us will soon know tis no more forever. Jt behooves us in these last days lo be faithful to our Creal Teacher, and spend our few remaining days in preparation for I hal life which is to come. DONT OCT Ht X DOWN, Wonk and Miis'iahlc lt yu have Kidney or madder ir.nii.lc, titi 11 head pains, dizziness, nerv ousness, pains tn the hack, ami t'col tired All OVIT, net a package of Mother Olav'* AUS TRA TJA N - b r, A1 .', the pleasant heil, euro, lt never tails. We have many testimonials from giatchil people who have used Mils wonderful remedy. As a reculator it has no equal. Auk for Mother dray's AOKTHALIAX-LKAI' at drug gists or sent hy mail for Me. Sainplo KBKB. Address Alli n s Olmsted, Le Moy, X. V. hnn't , aeeepl any siihxtltiito. "\yell-that feels better". liver say that when you ts?ke off your shoes at night? lt's a had sign-means there's Something wrong with your shoes. Next time you feel like say ing that, just nsk yourself "what is that shoe they say ' Makes Life's Walk Easy?"' Next morning look for thc 1 Crossctt dealer. Ile will sell FT SHOE WALK EASY " you shoes you can wear all day and be sorry to part.com pany with at night. ^ $4 to $6 everywhere. LEWIS A. CROS9ETT, Ino., Mnk?T? North Abington - . Mass.