The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-05-11

FIRST SEVERE ENGAGEMENT.
| There was singular coincidence in the
| circumstance that our first severe engage
ment with the enemy began at midnight
| place called the Deserted Farm, situated
| about ten miles northwest of Suffolk. 1t is
| scarcely known in history, and yet more
| men participated in it than were embraced
In the combined British and American
| armies at Saratoga. and Yorktown. The
Confederates numbered some 1900 in
| fantry, with three splendidly equipped
batteries of field artillery, the entire force
| being under the command of General Roger
| A. Pryor, The Union forces, commanded
infantry regiments. Colonel Sam Spears
| Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, Colo
mel Dodge's First New York Mounted
Rifles, and three foqr-gun batteries,
United States Artillery, Captain FoIlett's
and another battery whose name
l do not recall We left camp at
| Suffolk at 10 o'clock in the evening, the
| Thirteenth Indiana having the advance
| Shortly before II o'clock we encountered and
| drove IN the enemy's videttes. the latter
| falling back on the main force stationed at
the deserted farm. The night was intensely
dark, so that the infantry could not be
Unanswered advantageously, aud the battle
| resolved itself almost entirely into an ar
! tillery duel, the equal of which, in severity,
| considering the number engaged, | have
seldom witnessed. One OF the Confederate
| batteries was located SO as to sweep the
| only road by which we could move forward
| to the attack, through a dense forest,
| fianked either side by impaSsa-
Bile swamps The Federal batteries
went forward at a gallop so as to gain
an open field beyond the forest, in
! which they could go into position. The in
fautry followed at double-quick in order
| to get out of range of the battery enfilading
the road. The commanding officer of a
| Pennsylvania regiment was struck and
| killed by a shell while moving up the ILL
fated road at the head OF his men. My own
regiment was directed to support battery
| which had already got to work on the right
Of the Federal line. The Sixth Massachu-
| sets OF Baltimore fame was doing similar
duty for another battery on the left. To
| avoid the shells that came screaming
through the air in rapid succession the men
| were ordered to lie fiat on the ground. We
| Rugged the earth SO closely that our
noses were fairly hidden in the sand.
| As Captain Taylor of my company raised
| up on his elbows to get better view of the
situation in front shell struck him square
| ly in the breast, hurting his mangled body
in the air and landing 1t twenty feet to the
rear Our infantry and cavalry were hud
| died closely together for want of space,
and the moaning of the wounded horses as
they hobbled over the field and the Shrieks
| OF the human sufferers were terrible to hear.
HEROIC DEEDS.
Instances there were of heroic conduct
| that boIdered on the sublime. A cannOneer
! held himself up by his gun and rammed
| home charge of powder and ball after one
| of his legs had been torn to pieces by
shell. The poor fellow died from loss of
blood before the surgeon could get to him.
| One of our caissOns having exploded,
wounded soldier extinguished the burning
tow by stamping on 1t, SO as not to reveal
the location of the battery. The pandemo-
MUM Of the artillery was kept up till nearly
| daybreak, when our infantry charged the
enemy and drove them from the field.
| Pryor's forces, closely pursued by our own,
| retreated across the Blackwater, destroy
| Ing the bridge behind them. The losses on
| both sides Ill killed and wounded appeared
about the same. reaching into the hum
dreds. When returning to camp we
halted at the battlefield to gather up
our dead and place them on the empty am
munition-wagons to be conveyed to town.
| There were three heaped up wagon-lOads.
The pallid. upturned faces of the dead pre-
sented CHASTITY spectacle never to be for
| gotten Most of the dead Confederates left
upon the field straightway turned black in
| the face, which circumstance gave rise to
| the common but probably erroneous i'm
| preston that the rank and file of the en-
envy were piled with whisky and guu-
| powder to stimulate their courage on the
| battlefield.
The long-looked-tor paymaster arrived
| In Suffolk on the eve of the battle and re-
manned in camp till our return. Captain
| Taylor had asked permission to sign the
| payroll before leaving camp, having a pre-
sentiment that he would never return alive
| in which event he requested that his salary
be forwarded to his wife.
We took up our daily routine Of drill, and
AS often as once a month made an expedi-
ton to the Blackwater for the purpose of
beating up" an enemy whom, however
we never found in force. Sometimes we
| brought back forty or fifty prisoners, and
| Oh one occasion recaptured rocket battery
| which Mcclellan had lost ON the Peninsula.
These long iaunts helped to develop our
marching capabilities, which were some
| times put sorely to the test. Once after re-
| turning home on the same day from q con-
tinuous tramp of forty-two miles in the
rain and mud, we staggered into our huts
at midnight without strength enough left
to remove our wet clothing. The next
morning | put my army overcoat on the
scales and found it weighed twenty-five
pounds.
Nearly all of us became adept foragers.
Ihere was one clergyman, however, serv-
ing as private in my company who was
TOO CONSCIENTIOUS to steal, but who would
eat fresh pork with the greatest relish after
some one of his mess had brought it into
camp. de, however, was always among
the foremost on the skiTmiSh line.
A soldier soon got over all squeamish-
ness respecting food aud drink. In the
dark or after an eXhaustiug march he would
drink the sllmlest of water without finch
Ing. Grease and DIRT were looked upon, In
the abstract, as so much animal and
mineral matter. At meal time we cleaned
our knife and fork by jabbing them into
the ground. tin plate was considered
ready for service after being polished off
with piece of brown paper
The officer who stood highest in the esti-
nation of the rank and file, for bravery in
the field, was Colonel Sam Spear of the
Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry. He was
absolutely stranger to fear-a veritable
Paul Jones on land.
Ned Buntline u. n. Judson) served as a
private in the First New York Mounted
Rifles. His army adventures furnished
him with inexnaustible material for his
stories In the New York weekly news
papers.
SUFFOLK BEsIEGED.
In one of his war contributions to the
Century General Longstreet states that at
the tine General Burnside made his unsuc-
cessful attack upon the Confederates at
Fredericksburg his Nongstreet's) corps did
not participate in the battle. he having
taken 1t away to Southeastern Virginia for
the purpose OF collecting supplies. He ne
elects to mention that the principal object
OF his expedition was the capture or dis
persion Of the Federal troops at Suffolk,
which were a constant menace to Peters
burg and the Confederate communications
from the South; and that, although he laid
vigorous siege to the town for period of
ten days, he found it so strongly fortified
and ably defended that after half dozen
unsuccessful assaults he was compelled to
abandon the attempt aud return to the
Rappahannock.
The Federal commander at Suffolk, Major
General Peck, although never making any
reputation for himself as warrior, was
| certainly a good man to conduct Il de-
fensive campaign. He surrounded the
| town on every side for miles with for
| midable line of earthworks, built a half
| dozen forts and mounted them with the
heaviest of guns. We had plenty of ex-
element while the siege lasted. During
the nighttime the COnfederates came out Of
their camps and dug rifle pits within easy
range OF the Notifications and at daybreak
they, would begin sharp fusillade of
musketry, popping away at any one
| showing his head above the ram
parts. Our men behind the works re-
| sponded energetically, the firing being kept
up as long MS daylight lasted.
nd coli nf .a.tr.