Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-03-19
FRIDAY, MARCH 1ss6TWE

led by the yells that always sounded the
rebel charge. The noise of conflict drew
nearer. AS yet nothing could be seen,
save perhaps from the highest point in
the grove. The artilerymen took the
alarm, and two squadrons of theSth Penn
sylvania cavalry were ordered to mount
by Mai. Keenan,, the senior officer at the
time on the spot At this point the only
sworn testimony on the subject comes III,
the evidence. namely, of Gen. Pleasanton
before the Congressional committee on
the conduct of the war. 81 saw" he
saws, chat the moment was critical, ana
! called on Maj. keenan, of Sth Pennsyl-
vania and gave him his orders. said TO
him Major, you must charge IN those
woods with your regiment and hold the
rebels until can get some of these guns
into position Says |, you must do it all
COST | mentioned the major because
knew his character so well that he was
man for the occasion. He replied to me
with smile on LIS lace, though IL was al,
most certain death, General, will do it..
He started in with his who'll regiment and
made one of the most gallant charges in
the war. He was killed at the head of
his regiment, but he alarmed the rebels
so much that gained about ten minutes
on the enemy. MAJ. keenan, had only
from 400 to 800 men. ! Immediately ran
up this battery of mine at II gallop, put it
into position, ordered it numbered and
double shotted with canister, and directed
the men to aim at the ground line of the
parapet that the llth corps had thrown
up about POO yards off. Our artillery, as
rule, overshoots, and | ordered them to
fire low because the shot would ricochet.
then set to work with two squadrons of
the remaining regiment to clear this field
of fugitives, and to stop what cannon and
ammunition we could and put them in posi-
ton, and | managed to get % guns loaded,
double shotted, and aiming on this space
in nf No "a "A n
mile, when the whole woods appeared
alive with large bodies of men. This was
Just mt dusk. | was going to give the
word fire. | had ordered those pieces
not to fire unless | gave the word, because
wanted the effect of an immense shock.
There was an immense body of men, and
| wanted the whole weight of metal to
check them. / was about to give the
word fire. when one Of the soldiers at a
piece said General, that is our flag
81 said to one Of my aids. Mr.. Thomp-
son, Ride forward there at once and let
went to within about 100 yards, and
those people cried out, Come on, we are
friends He started to move on, when
the whole line of woods blazed with mus
kerry, and they commenced leaping over
the parapet and charged on the guns; and
at about the same time | saw from eight
to ten rebel battle flags run up along the
whole line. | Immediately gave the order
fire, and the fire actually swept the men
away it seemed to blow those men in
front clear over the parapet.t
"From the simple fact that saw that if
somebody did not save that field at once
it was not going to be saved at that point,
| considered it my duty to go in and do
whatever could. and that we were all up
and would be driven into the river If did
not do it, When | came to count the ar
tillery found that had the artillery of
three corps in that line. took it by the
force of circumstances and necessity.
assumed command (of the artillery by
virtue of being a general, and fought it
as general of artillery. Some of the
cannon | stopped from the flying column !;
put it into line, too. jackson had $4,000
81 infantry, and knew that nothing but
an immense shock of artillery, without a
corresponding force of infantry, was the
only thing to stop him. That was my only
chance, and had to do it instantly, and
had to sacrifice my regiment of cavalry to
do it, Circumstances achieved the result :;
and the officer who commanded that cav
airy aided me more than anything else.
1t was Just the same as saying to him,
You must be killed. when ordered him
| to make that charge. He said, with u
smile on his face, General, will do It. |
knew when gave the order that he would
Go it. felt confident of it, and | selected
! him for that purpose"
This testimony has been severely criti-
cised and its accuracy questioned. 1t has
| been alleged that Pleasanton merely call
ed upon Keenan, to ride into the woods
and.check the fugitives. 1t has been de
MED that he (PleasantOn) got the artillery
into position at all. 1t has been denied
that any charge was contemplated until
the cavalry column found itself in the
face of .Jackson's line too late to retreat
and lastly it has been alleged that Keenan,
did not lead the charge at all, but that
Maj Pennock Huey, his senior in rank
was In command and at the head of the
column, and deserves whatever credit Ii
due for the exploit
The writer of this paper is strongly IN
clined to credit the story as he first heart
it from the lips of surviving trooper o
Keenan's command, Rudolph by name
The veteran limped rs he walked from
bullet wound in the leg, and we sat dow
together on pile of iron torgings, Will
with a bit of stick he drew a plan of posi-
ton in the cinders on the grounding ha
gone back to engineering since he hun'
J up his saber,
Here" said he, 1--WE We're resting whel
we heard the firing and the Major (keen
a am called us to mount. Gen. Pleasantol
/ rode up and spoke to Keenan,. | couldn'
/ bear what he said, but the Major gave tn
> order, 'Fours right Head of column left
I March, and we went down into the wood
at Il trot. Into narrow road runnln
T. mere away hetlltll leu llc COlullll an
a gave the order to draw sabers and charge
!, and wasn't more than 90 feet benin
Il him when we rode through the Rebs an
;. | saw him throw his hands up in the a
# and fall over, and then got hit mysel
and that's all remember about it.
+ "Oh, he was fine man Maj. Keena
IS was, and splendid officer. 1t was a pit
r ture I'll never forget-him with his Ion
/, beard streaming, and throwing his sabt
# aloft as he went down."
# Sifted, so far as possible, of all doubtfl
'. matter, the uuadorned facts are that
q the head of 400 men Maj Keenan, roc
II through panic stricken mass of fup
Al tives-no easy thing to do and keep one
II courage up to the fighting point--th
4. when bullets began to whistle he ordert
= carbines advanced, but seeing in anoth
IL moment that the rebel line of battle WI
re upon him he changed the order to "saberi
X and Charge" himself setting gala
4 example Following his lead the tv
r. souadrons spurred forward and impet