The National tribune., 1908-04-09
officer. Col. James s Robinson. of the

officer. Col James S. Robinson, OF the
SGD Ohio regiment
''All of these regiments excepting the
73d, then detached with Barlow, were
in the fight. and attempted TO do their
duty, and did do it, at terrible sacri- |
flee of their men for which adequate
praise has not been given. 1t would be
difficult to find six trustier regiments In
all the armies of the United States than
these. The 61st Ohio was commanded
by that sterling Irishman, Col. Stephen
McGroarty, and his regiment seemed to
be largely of Irishmen or men of irish
descent, so strong was the individuality
of the commander. No one ever ques-
toned McGroarty's courage or ability.
and at the close of the war he could
have exclaimed with Marius. 'Myl
wounds are the proof of my nobility
The report of this gallant officer is not
to be found, and its absence is serious
loss to the history of the fight around
Dowdall's Tavern and at the church.
II is certain, however, that the brave
officer, who held his regiment as rear
guard until midnight on the deserted
field of the Second Bull Run. did all
that one man could do in arresting dis
aster in the face of ruin or what ap-|
peared to be ruin.
'~rhe 61st was drawn up in line fac
ing the west, waiting for the enemy,
W men the NltChS VI btNGhSS i1ANASiOiirl
rushing down the road to escape the
whitening fire of Jackson's men. over
ran them and destroyed their forma-
ton. and carried a part of it away with
them in the crowd, which continued on
towards the Chancellor House Parts
of the broken regiment Joined the lin.
by the church, and later on fell back to
the Buschbeck line and fought there
Two of the companies attached them
selves to Dilger's Battery, and stuck toI
him in the retreat, and followed him to
his position in the line of artillery at
Fairvew, where they remained until
morning.
''The 41st n. Y. known as the De
Kalb regiment, was reduced by fighting
and hardship to about 200 men. 1t was
formed by Won elisa. and it was said te
have contained at first several hundred
soldiers who had served with Won elisa
in the PruSsian army and were we'll
instructed men, The 45th y. Y. was
also veteran regiment under Col. Won
Arnsberg, and aitho much reduced ir
numbers by campaigning, it contained
few more men than the 41st. These
two regiments of about 700 men were
placed in the road behind the two guns,
on picket, and were attacked by the
enemy in flank and rear, and were justi
fed in retreating as they did. AS til,
reports of this brigade are all missing
and the commanders are dead. it is diff
cult to ascertain how much fighting
these soldiers really did; but there is no
doubt, from the personnel of these reg
determined resistance if they had been
in a proper position, and had had an.
chance whatever to fight.
The 73d Ia. was organized at Phil
adelphia in June, 1851, by Col. John y.
Koites, who was a gallant German sol
dier of distinction, who had served in
the Mexican War and had also been a
soldier ir the Regular Army. He was a
citizen of this country, and employed
in the U. S. Mint at the time of the civil
war. His regiment vas considered an
excellent one, but at the time of Chan
cellorsville 1t had become much reduced
in numbers, as it had suffered severely
at the Second Bull Run, where it lost
both Koltes, who acted as brigade COM
mander. and Bruenecker, who COM
manded the regiment in that sanguinary
contest.
''The 18th Pa, veteran regiment
but greatly reduced in numbers by two
years of honorable service, was placed
on picket south of the Dowdall Farm,
and there it remained until it was too
late to join the brigade at the Hawkins
Farm"
Jaekson's Arrival.
Gen. Stonewall Jackson reached the
Orange Plank road at 3 p. M, May 2,
and held the head of his column to re-
connoiter. He found that F'itzhugh
Lees cavalry had been skirmishing
along the Union front, and ascertained
the exact position of the various bodies
of troops. Jackson found himself on a
hill which commanded full view of a
large portion of the Union line, and he
studied very carefully every popularity
of the ground and location of the troops
in view, and the probabilities as to 9TH
ers that he could not see. He saw that
the line reached further than he had
expected, and consequently the move
ment he was making would bring him
upon the front instead of the flank of
the corps. Therefore, he turned his
troops still more to the left, until they
reached the Germanna Ford road, lead
ing to Orange Court House, little east
of the old Wilderness Tavern. Then
they moved a half mile or more on this
road in the direction of Charlottesville
until the open ground at Luckett's was
reached. when Jackson began the form
alton of three lines of battle nearly at
right angles to the Plank road. All this
was done with extreme caution, with
the troops prohibited from cheering,
and all orders delivered in a subdued
tone. The men were allowed to lie down
for a couple of hours rest after their
long, hard march on the warm May
day over such difficult roads. The ar
tillery was brought up and placed in |
position. and the time of rest was en-
ployed in bringing up the stragglers
and the regiments which had been de- |
layed in perfecting their formation and
in giving minute, final directions to the |
officers as to the part each was to play. |
(To be continued.)
Tia 1RaI. III 81 Isf.xx LILA