The Washington herald., 1914-05-16
s asss s1s THE WASHINGTON HERALD a Dsss
THE WAR DAY BY DAY
Fifty Years Ago.

written Expressly for The Herald

u Fl
pike to Richmond. and ordered his cav
airy, under Gen. A. V. Kautx. on raid
against the railroads south and west of
Petersburg.
, On May Is Gen. Smith. on the right of
| the Federal line. advanced to the en-
emy's works and reported them too
strong to be assaulted II held In force.
Gen. Gilmore. on the left. made an at
| tack on the works in his front. without
success. second attack resulted in the
| enemy retiring from his advanced line
to stronger second line.
| On May II the Federals occupied the
abandoned lines, and by skirmishing
learned the character Of the second line.
This they found to be very strong. par
ticulariy' near Drewry's Bluf. where
there was ian angle or salient, crowned
| by bastion, which completely command
ed the position taken up by the Federal
division of Gen. Godfrey weitzel. on the
right of the line.
Gen. Weitzel at once built log breast
/, works. and at Gen. Smiths suggestion
put entanglements Of telegraph wire In
front There was not enough wire. how
ever, to cover the position held by Gen
Charles A. Heckman's brigade, which
| was on the extreme right The Federal
lines did not extend TO the James River
by nearly a mile. Both weitsel and
Smith reported to Gen. Butler that the
position here was dangerous
Gen. Butler ordered an assault on the
Confederate works for May Is, but this
was abandoned for want of available
troops. There was confusion in the han
ding Of the Federal troops, resulting In
part from the lack Of harmony among
the higher ofi1cera
Gen. Smith on May Is reported that his
line was long and thin. and might be
turned on his right
Battle Begins In Fss.
While the ,Federah were Strengthening
their lines and preparing for an assault
on May 1s, Gen. Beauregard was perfect |
ing plans for an attack upon them. These |
he had submitted to jefferson Davis, who |
had come to Drewry's Blur to look over |
the field. |
Gen. Beauregard had at his disposal in |
front Of Gen. Butler three divisions of |
infantry. with forty-eisht field guns. and
three regiments Of cavalry. At Peters |
burg were two brlsades Of 400 infantry, |
with sixteen guns, and 1000 cavalry. /
While he attacked in front he proposed /
that the Petersburg force, under Gen. |
w. H. c. Whiting, march to Port Wal
thal Junction, against the rear of But
ler's position, and engage force under /
Gen. Adelbert Ames, that had been post
ed there by Gen. Butler.
on the, morning of May 1s A sudden
change In the weather now projected |
into the problem most unusual condi-
tons In the early morning . dense fog |
settled over the opposing lines, 20 that /
man on horseback could not be dis
tinguished at q dozen PAGES. e
The AConfederates were the first to
move. the division Of Gen. Robert Ran
som, tr., attacking Gen. Heckman's posi-
ton. the extreme Federal right, at 5
a. m. Gen. Heckman's men were not sur
prised. as they had been on the alert all 1
night. They could not see the enemy.
however. as he approached. After an
hours hard fighting the brigade was
driven in confusion from its position,
with the loss Of 1--WE stands Of colors.
Gen. Hickman and several hundred of
was composed Of the Ninth New Jersey.
and Twenty-third. Twenty-ifth, and
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts, regi-
ments. -
This was a critical situation for the
Federals. But success had thrown Gen.
Ransom's command into confusion. and
he halted for a considerable time to re-
form his lines.
When Gen. Smith saw the formidable
character Of the attack upon him. he
ordered his batteries. which were well
advanced, to be withdrawn The SER
geant bearing this order was killed. anc
owing to the delay resulting, and con-
fusion caused by the fog. five Of the guns
were lost.
Federais Withdraw.
The whole of the Confederate battle
line had not moved at the same time
The divisions of Gen. Robert F. Hoket
and Gen. Alfred II. Colquitt, which were
facing Gen. Gillmore's Corps. delivered
an attack upon Gilmore at $50 a. m.
Gen. Gilmore had been ordered by Gen.
Butler to carry the enemy's line, but l.,
had sent back word that II was too
strong to be assaulted.
With the attack on Gilmore, the bat
tie became general. Gen Smith repealed
all attacks on his front. and when Ran
som was attacked again on his flank,