h 
 
 . LiS 
 
Macalester College Contributions: 
 
 Department of History, Literature and 
 Political Science. 
 
 SECOND SERIES — NUMBER NINE. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF FAIR OAKS AND MALVERN HILL BATTLES. 
 
 (Read May io, 1892, before Minnesota Commandery of the 
 
 Loyal Legion.) 
 
 By Edward D: Neill, D. D. 
 
 St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 No one can notice the movements of all the troops while 
 a battle is raging. The historian, therefore, is compelled 
 to make a mosaic for future reference, by takino-, "here a 
 little and there a little," from the reports of officers of the 
 cavalry, artillery and infantry branches of the service, and 
 sometimes the observations of one holding an insignificant 
 position helps to fill up a gap, as a very small stone is 
 useful in giving completeness to Florentine work. Not 
 without hope that it may excite some interest, a paper has 
 been prepared of Incidents of Fair Oaks and Malvern 
 Hill Battles. 
 
200 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 Sedgwick's Division of Sumner's Corps of the Army of 
 the Potomac in the spring of 1862 was near Wynne's 
 Mill, on the old road between Yorktown, Va., and War- 
 wick Court House. 
 
 On Sunday, the fourth of May, while it was yet dark, the 
 booming of the enemy's cannon, which had continued at in- 
 tervals during Saturday night, suddenly ceased, tents were 
 folded, and they silently stole away. By sunrise, Gorman's 
 Brigade, to which the First Minnesota Regiment belonged, 
 had clambered over the earthworks, and during the day 
 amused themselves in picking up letters and other memen- 
 toes which the soldiers of the insurgent army had left. On 
 Monday night, in a soaking rain, the regiment stood on 
 the historic fields where Lord Cornwallis, in 1781, had sur- 
 rendered to the allied French and American forces. The 
 next afternoon the brigade was transported in steamboats 
 up the York river, and on Wednesday, the seventh of 
 May, reached the mouth of the Pamunkey river, and 
 formed a portion of the division opposed to some Con- 
 federate reeiments, fallino- back from Williamsburo-. Be- 
 fore I could leave the transport on which I was, three can- 
 nons on an eminence pointed their muzzles thereat, and 
 with balls stirred the mud in the river, but in a little while 
 United States gunboats steamed up, and with their heavy 
 ordnance soon silenced the battery. 
 
 From West Point, the terminus of the Richmond and 
 York River Railroad, Sedgwick's Division, by slow marches, 
 moved toward Richmond. One morning the First Minne- 
 sota Resfiment halted at a brick church more than a hundred 
 and fifty years old, — St. Peter's by name, — before whose 
 rector, George Washington, in January, 1759, did take 
 Martha Custis by the right hand, and reverently say, "I, 
 George, take thee, Martha, to my wedded wife, to have and 
 
MARCH TO GRAPEVINE BRIDGE. 20I 
 
 to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for 
 richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and 
 to cherish till death do us part." The soldiers entered, and 
 in quietness and thoughtfulness examined the venerable 
 structure. 
 
 By the twenty-third of May, the First Minnesota Regi- 
 ment was encamped at Goodly Hole Creek, and during the 
 week was engaged in cutting down trees, and building a 
 bridge across the Chickahominy. It was called Grapevine 
 Bridge, because grapevines had been used as binding cords 
 in the absence of ropes. There were constant rains, and 
 on Friday night, the thirtieth of May, the windows of the 
 clouds were wide open, and torrents of water poured out. 
 Lightnings, like zigzag arrows of fire, darted to the earth, 
 followed by long rolls of thunder. The superstitious might 
 have supposed that there was war in Heaven. 
 
 On Saturday, the last day of May, the sun appeared, the 
 skies were blue, and the laurel, peach and magnolia were 
 in blossom. As the midday meal in Gorman's Brigade was 
 about finished, officers and soldiers were startled by the 
 quick fire of musketry and discharge of artillery on the 
 Williamsburg road toward Richmond. Not long after, 
 while conversing at General Gorman's headquarters, I saw 
 a horse dash by, spurred by his rider. Sumner writes in 
 his official report that it was one o'clock in the afternoon 
 when he received an order to move at a moment's notice. 
 A few minutes after the rider passed, staff officers and 
 mounted orderlies began to hurry to and fro. Soon Gor- 
 man's Brigade, with the First Minnesota Regiment in ad- 
 vance, was on the march to Grapevine Bridge. There 
 were no laggards. Every soldier seemed eager to act well 
 his part, but the troops were forced to hasten slowly, and 
 often, like Tantalus of the Greek mythology, stand in a 
 
202 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 pool. As the bridge was approached, it was seen to be 
 surrounded by swift water. The soldiers waded up to their 
 waists, reached it and crossed. Then followed Kirby's Bat- 
 tery, the drivers lashing their horses, the nozzles of the 
 guns immersed, and as they plunged on the log bridge it 
 trembled, undulated, and was ready to float away. 
 
 After crossing the Chickahominy there was a brief halt 
 on an elevation, where was the residence of a Doctor Trent. 
 Noticing a lad, about sixteen years of age, sitting on a fence, 
 I asked him if he knew anything about the battle. He was 
 quite excited, and, pointing toward Fair Oaks station, said 
 that he had heard a blowing, like a gust of wind, in that 
 direction. It was an expressive description of the zip-zip 
 sound of minie-balls, and the sighing and screeching of 
 shells heard at a distance. As the regiment was marching 
 from thence to the scene of conflict, while riding by the side 
 of Major Morgan of the First Minnesota, I saw an officer 
 on foot approach, and exclaiming, "General Gorman ! " seize 
 him by the hand. To me his presence was a great surprise. 
 In 1854 he had been a plasterer in St. Paul, and had rough- 
 cast my house on Summit Avenue, the first built between 
 Dayton and Laurel avenues, the site of which is now occu- 
 pied by the costly, extensive and massive brown stone resi- 
 dence of James J. Hill. In 1858 he was appointed chief of 
 police of the city. In consequence of the death of his wife, 
 before the war, he returned with his children to Philadelphia, 
 and was now Capt. John W. Crosby, of the Sixty-first Penn- 
 sylvania Regiment, slightly disabled. 
 
 The Richmond and York River Railroad and the Williams- 
 burg country road are parallel, and at little distance from 
 each other. The so-called "Nine Mile Road" from Rich- 
 mond runs diagonally from a point called the "Old Tavern" 
 and crosses the railway at "Fair Oaks" station and reaches 
 
PERILOUS POSITION OF COUCH S DIVISION. 
 
 203 
 
 the Williamsburg road at "Seven Pines." Early on Satur- 
 day afternoon, General Abercrombie's Brigade of Couch's 
 Division of Keyes' Fourth Army Corps was in this vicinity. 
 A Philadelphia regiment, the Twenty-third Pennsylvania, 
 commanded by an officer of the regular army, Col. Thomas 
 H. Neill, was posted on the "Nine Mile Road" between 
 "Seven Pines" and "Fair Oaks," and the Sixty-first Penn- 
 sylvania, Colonel Rippey, was on the same road, leading 
 from "Fair Oaks" to the Trent house. 
 
 BATTLE FIELDS AROUND RICHMOND. 
 
 Colonel Rippey was killed ; all of his field officers and a 
 number of captains wounded. General Abercrombie, in 
 the crisis, made a stand near the Courtenay house. Gen- 
 eral Couch in his report wrote that "he [Couch] became 
 separated from the main body of his division, and that, 
 with General Abercrombie, four regiments, and Brady's 
 Battery, made off toward the Grapevine Bridge, and took 
 a position facing Fair Oaks. Soon Captain Van Ness 
 brought me word that General Sumner was at hand. This 
 
204 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 noble soldier came on rapidly with Sedgwick's Division, 
 and when the head of his column was seen, half a mile 
 distant, I felt that God was with us and victory ours." 
 
 As the First Minnesota, Col. Alfred Sully, reached the 
 critical position, he was directed to the right of General 
 Abercrombie. Colonel Sully rode into a field near the 
 Courtenay house with his staff, and dismounted to make 
 observations. Stooping down, and looking into the belt of 
 woods in front, instantly with expletives forcible but not at 
 all polite, I heard him call out to Adjutant Chase, "Hurry 
 the regiment into line ! " Standing by my horse, holding the 
 bridle, I noticed that his ears were bent back, and that he 
 was very restless. He was not like his rider, slow to hear. 
 It was evident that somethinof was comingf. There was a 
 chicken-coop in front, made of very frail slats, and, foolish 
 fellow as I was, I wondered if it would be expedient to lie 
 behind it. Deliberation on the subject was stopped by a 
 swift blowing, and leaves falling from the adjoining trees. 
 The enemy had aimed too high, and no one was injured. 
 
 It was not very long before the whole of Gorman's Brigade 
 came up. The right of the First Minnesota rested upon 
 the Courtenay house, and the left upon a piece of wood- 
 land. The other three regiments, Thirty-fourth New York, 
 Fifteenth Massachusetts and Eighty-second New York, 
 were upon the left of Abercrombie's Brigade. A battery 
 of the First United States Artillery, commanded by Lieut. 
 Edward Kirby, the same battery which, under Ricketts, the 
 First Minnesota Regiment had followed into action at the 
 battle of Bull Run, was on an elevation in front of a peach 
 orchard, near the angle of the woods. The rapidity of the 
 loading and firing of Kirby's guns sounded like the inces- 
 sant pounding in some great steam-boiler shop and excited 
 the attention and admiration of General Sumner and the 
 
BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. 205 
 
 division commanders. The rebel troops, under Gen. Gus- 
 tavus W. Smith, concealed by the woods, were equally 
 annoyed by the death-dealing shot, and Gen. Wade Hamp- 
 ton of South Carolina was ordered with his brigade to 
 emerge and take the battery. They appeared in the field 
 to the right but were quickly driven back. 
 
 About seven o'clock in the evening, Johnston, the gen- 
 eral-in-chief of the Confederates, was severely wounded, 
 and then the command devolved upon Gen. G, W. Smith. 
 The latter in his official report wrote: "Very seldom, if 
 ever, did any troops in their first battle go so close to a 
 covered line under so strong a fire, and remain within such 
 short distance, so long a time. Various attempts were 
 made to charge, but without that concert of action almost 
 absolutely necessary to success, and the gallant spirits who 
 attempted it were very many of them shot down." 
 
 Toward seven o'clock I noticed a Union officer of high 
 rank on horseback come out of the woods. He was with- 
 out a hat and seemed "all forlorn," as the horse was being 
 led by a staff officer to a place of security. It was General 
 Abercrombie, from whom Fort Abercrombie in Minnesota 
 derived its name. He had entered the woods with his adju- 
 tant, Capt. Samuel Appleton, now a member of the Minne- 
 sota Commandery of the Loyal Legion, to learn the situa- 
 tion of the enemy, and was fired upon. A ball passed 
 through and carried away his cap, scraped his scalp, and 
 frightened his horse, who threw him to the ground and ran 
 away. Chaplain Oliver, who had voluntered as one of his 
 aids, perceiving the situation, rode in, lifted him upon the 
 saddle of his own horse, and led him out in a dazed condi- 
 tion. 
 
 The battle did not cease until the shades of night had 
 fallen. Then the woods seemed to be alive with hugfe \io;ht- 
 
2o6 
 
 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 ning bugs; but they were the soldiers of the blue and gray, 
 with lanterns, searching for dead comrades, and, observing 
 the amenities of humanity, did not molest each other while 
 engaged in their sad work. That night the soldiers of the 
 First Minnesota were kept busy in building an intrench- 
 ment in front of the Courtenay house made of felled trees 
 covered with earth, and on fair days the flag of the regi- 
 
 THE COURTENAY HOUSE. 
 
 ment was displayed therefrom. Gen. J. E. Johnston in 
 his report wrote: "About sunset, being struck from my 
 horse, severely wounded by a fragment of a shell, I was 
 carried from the field and Maj. Gen. G. W. Smith suc- 
 ceeded to the command. He was prevented from renew- 
 ing his attack the next morning by the discovery of stro7ig 
 intre7ichments not seen on the previous evening!' He did not 
 see them on Saturday before sunset because they had not 
 then been constructed. 
 
 The floor of the Courtenay house on Saturday night 
 was a sleeping place for several Union officers, and there 
 was also brought to the one-story annex a wounded soldier 
 of Hampton's Brigade. He was a tall, dark-haired and fine 
 
A SOUTH CAROLINA PRISONER. 207 
 
 looking- man. Kneeling by his side, I asked if his wounds 
 were serious, and learned that they were not. He said 
 that he was a small South Carolina planter from the Edge- 
 field district, and that just as he was about to pull the 
 trigger of his musket, felt dizzy, then a weakness of the 
 legs, sunk to the ground wounded, and was picked up and 
 brought in by our soldiers. He remarked "that since 
 he had been lying on the floor he realized that he had 
 been deluded. Under the heated denunciations of political 
 orators he had come to look upon Yankees as a species of 
 incarnate demons, and imagined that death would be pref- 
 erable to capture. To-night, my mental vision is cleared, 
 and I find that my captors are of the same English race as 
 a little thought should have before taught me, bravely con- 
 tending for the union of the states, which they believe is 
 essential to liberty." 
 
 The First Minnesota Regiment was not actively engaged 
 on Saturday after Kirby's Battery opened fire. By order 
 of Colonel Sully, it sat behind a fence, and while in this 
 position, Nicholas Hammer, a \vorthy Dane, of Company 
 F, was killed by a ricochet shot, and I buried him the next 
 morning in the yard of the Courtenay house. After Gor- 
 man's Brigade had been lighting some time, Adjutant Chase 
 of the First Minnesota rode up, and with well meant kind- 
 ness but poor judgment, informed me that my brother 
 Colonel Neill of Abercrombie's Brigade, had been killed' 
 At the batde of Bull Run, having heard many wild rumors 
 that failed to be confirmed, I did not feel that his death 
 was certain, although the announcement in the midst of the 
 conflict was not soothing. 
 
 Early Sunday morning, with the consent of General 
 Sedgwick, I walked over the field to see if I could find 
 out where my brother was, and if he were dead or alive. 
 
208 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 About seven o'clock I came to the limber of an artillery 
 carriage, upon which was sitting General Sumner, with 
 General Couch by his side, to whom he introduced me. 
 Mentioning my errand, the latter said, "I do not know 
 where he is. Yesterday afternoon I was separated from 
 his regiment, closely pressed by the enemy, as my coat, 
 torn by bullets, will show." While speaking, the battle 
 again commenced, the generals hurried to their duties, 
 and I was left a lonely non-combatant. Noticing some 
 ambulances hurrying to the point where the troops were 
 engaged, I moved toward them, but had not gone far 
 when I came to a wounded officer on the ground, whose 
 eye indicated recognition of me. Stooping down, I in- 
 quired who he was, and the reply was, "Adjutant of the 
 Seventh Michigan," He appeared to be severely injured, 
 and as I could be of no service reluctantly left him. Soon 
 I met Surgeon Liddell of General Burns' Brigade, and he 
 asked me to hold his case of instruments while he per- 
 formed minor operations. Passing a small outhouse, which 
 had a blanket suspended in place of a door, he told me 
 that Gen. O. O. Howard was therein, with a wound in the 
 arm, and as the day was very hot, with his assent, it was 
 proposed to amputate the limb in the afternoon. After 
 General Howard was disabled, the command of his brigade 
 devolved upon Col. Edward E. Cross of the Fifth New 
 Hampshire, and in less than an hour he was carried by, 
 sitting up on a stretcher, sucking a lemon, and in good 
 spirits. He told us that he hoped in a few weeks to be 
 again in active service. 
 
 The surgeon's operating table was a novelty. It was a 
 barrel on its side, placed against a tree, in front of a farm 
 house. I was expected to keep the barrel steady by plac- 
 ing one of my feet under it, and then held the patient 
 
AN UNPLEASANT RUMOR DISSIPATED. 209 
 
 against the tree with one hand, while the surgeon used the 
 knife. After working two hours or more, Dr. Liddell said 
 he needed rest, and I returned to the Courtenay house. 
 About midday an orderly rode up and gave me the follow- 
 ing note : 
 
 "I have the pleasure to inform you that Colonel Neill is 
 alive and uninjured. Very respectfully, your ob't serv't, 
 
 Francis A. Walker, 
 A. A. G., Gen. Couch's Division." 
 
 Thus was the rumor of the day before happily dissipated. 
 
 The writer of the note was then only twenty-two years 
 old. At the close of the war he was a brevet bricradier 
 general. Since then he has been distinguished as a writer 
 on political economy, and is now president of the Massa- 
 chusetts School of Technology. 
 
 I had desired to know if the adjutant of the Seventh 
 Michigan had survived. About ten years ago I was stand- 
 ing at the Jackson street landing in St. Paul, when a steam- 
 boat approached. A Rev. Mr. Landon, then a Minneapolis 
 pastor, came up and told me that he was expecting a brother. 
 When the passengers came ashore I was introduced to the 
 relative, a physician. When he heard my name, he said: 
 " I knew a clergyman of your name in the Army of the 
 Potomac, when I was a member of the Seventh Michigan." 
 To the question, "Can you tell me if your adjutant who 
 was severely wounded at Fair Oaks survived?" he smil- 
 ingly replied, "I am the person." 
 
 By noon of Sunday, the tenth of June, the Confederate 
 army had been fully checked, but the Union troops could 
 make no advance. Heavy showers again commenced. The 
 roads were impassable for artillery and the mules of the 
 commissary wagons could draw but half loads. The mud 
 was a thick paste, and soldiers floundered in it like tod- 
 
2IO MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 dlino- children. Briorade commanders during- the forced in- 
 action arranged their headquarters and surgeons were 
 occupied in sending the wounded to the hospitals in the 
 rear. Colonel Sully had possession of the Courtenay house. 
 He occupied the north room on the first floor, and the 
 chaplain of the regiment the room directly above, who, 
 when he laid on the floor to sleep, was always comforted 
 by the thought that there was a thick brick chimney be- 
 tween him and the enemy's artillery. Among the prisoners 
 brought within the lines of the First Minnesota was a Con- 
 federate colonel whose face had been bruised by the ex- 
 plosion of a shell. He had been placed at first in an out- 
 house, but Surgeon Hand, the day after the battle, thought it 
 would be better to remove him to a room in the Courtenay 
 house. He ordered hospital attendants to take a door from 
 its hinges for the purpose. Thereon he was carefully placed, 
 and slowly carried, with bruised and bloated face, and eyes 
 closed with suppuration. Before the house was reached 
 his hand was imploringly extended as if he thought they 
 were taking him to a burial place. When within the house 
 he was sponged with tepid water and the matter wiped 
 from his eyes, so that he was soon able to see, and to 
 smile about the impression he had gained, in his blind weak- 
 ness, that he was on a march to the grave. 
 
 On the third of June, Gen, J. G. Barnard, chief engineer 
 of the army, visited Sumner's Corps for observation, and 
 during his stay slept at the Courtenay house, in a vacant 
 room on the same floor with me, but on the side toward the 
 foe. One morning, as day was breaking, shells began to 
 fly near the house. The general was deaf like myself, but 
 not so deaf that he could not hear the whizzing overhead. 
 Quickly rising, he drew on his boots, and went down stairs. 
 Although I was not an engineer officer, I followed in his 
 footsteps. 
 
VISIT OF MARSHAL PRIM OF SPAIN. 211 
 
 A tall tree near the house appeared to be a target for 
 the Confederates. A cannon ball struck a tree not far from 
 the house, in front of General Gorman's tent, and cut it in 
 two. The members of the First Minnesota Band made a 
 hut for themselves. Three feet of it was below the ground, 
 and about five feet, of logs, was above the surface. Once 
 I was suddenly summoned thither, and as I entered saw the 
 nephew of W. H. Nobles, a citizen of St. Paul, leaning 
 against the side toward the enemy. His face was placid, 
 and there was no discoloration, but his heart did not beat. 
 A round shot had struck the log where his head was, and 
 although it did not penetrate, the concussion was sufficient 
 to snap the thread of life. 
 
 The eighth of June was a bright, balmy Sunday. Birds 
 in black, orange and scarlet plumage flitted among the 
 branches of the trees, and sang clearly and sweetly, filled 
 with "mad joy" in leaving their secret nests. The cannons 
 of the enemy seemed ashamed to make a noise, and after 
 the morning meal soldiers basked, and thought of "home, 
 sweet home." 
 
 My attention, about nine o'clock, was attracted by the 
 riding of the pleasant, young French princes, volunteer aids 
 of General McClellan, toward Sedgwick's quarters. It was 
 not long before the whole of Sumner's Corps was ordered 
 to appear as on dress parade. There came down the line 
 a number of officers wearing rich, silver-embroidered uni- 
 forms. In front rode a black-haired, dark-visaged, deter- 
 mined looking man, hat in hand, and graciously bowing as 
 regiment after regiment presented arms. He was Mar- 
 shal Prim, on his way from Mexico to Spain, subsequently 
 known as the friend of the Republican Castelar, active in 
 the deposition of Queen Isabella, and virtually the dictator 
 of his native land. 
 
2 12 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 On the afternoon of the twelfth of June, Medical Director 
 Hammond suggested that I should visit a hospital on the 
 north side of the Chickahominy, which stream I crossed at 
 Bottom Bridge. NiMit came on before I could return, and 
 I Stopped at the plantation of a Doctor Mayo. The family 
 mansion was closed, but at the negro quarters I found some 
 slaves who permitted me to sleep at the house. Upon the 
 promise of ample pay, they prepared for me the best meal 
 I had for several months tasted in Virginia. The Mayo 
 family had left their cows, and I enjoyed the milk, butter 
 and biscuits. Upon leaving the next morning, I purchased 
 some butter, which the negroes, for the want of something 
 better, placed in an empty asafetida can, which they found 
 in the doctor's office. As I passed the camp of the Twenty- 
 third Pennsylvania, which was then quite near to the Courte- 
 nay house, I left the butter for the use of Colonel Neill and 
 staff. That evening I called at the colonel's tent, and pro- 
 fuse was the praise of die butter and its very rich flavor. 
 There was a willingness to heap blessings upon me, to call 
 upon Leigh Hunt's angel of Abou Ben Adhem, to "write 
 me, as one that loved his fellow men." The praise was too 
 great to be borne, and I had to confess that confinement in 
 the asafetida can had added to the fragrance so much ad- 
 mired. 
 
 General McClellan seems to have contemplated a change 
 of base about the middle of June. On the eighteenth the 
 chief commissary of subsistence, by his order, had ves- 
 sels sent from Yorktown to City Point, on the James river, 
 with 800,000 rations. On the twenty-fifth, Wednesday, the 
 chief quartermaster. General Van Vliet, telegraphed to 
 Colonel Ingalls, at the White house, on the Pamunkey, 
 "Have your whole command in readiness to start at any 
 moment. Please consult with Lieutenant Nicholson of the 
 
BATTLES OF MECHANICSVILLE AND GAINES' MILL. 213 
 
 navy to have his vessels placed in such a position that 
 he can protect our depot. There will be no attempt to 
 turn our flank for a day or two, but from all the infor- 
 mation we have, it is supposed that Jackson will be com- 
 ing down soon." The very next day, Thursday, Jackson 
 and Hill of the Confederates attacked, near Mechanics- 
 ville, General Porter's Corps. On Friday was the battle 
 of Gaines' Mill, and those of Sumner's Corps, near the 
 Courtenay house, were made to feel that the conflict was 
 desperate when, about five o'clock in the afternoon, they 
 saw the brig-ades of Generals French and Meag^her hur- 
 rying to the relief of the hard-pressed troops of Porter. 
 That night I slept in Surgeon Hand's tent, and before 
 sunrise I rose, on Saturday, the twenty-eighth, and walked 
 toward the Courtenay house, and found General Sedg- 
 wick and Colonel Sully in silence, sitting on a rude bench 
 in the yard — the former, as usual, modest and quiet, with 
 none of the insignia of rank, without a coat, wearing only 
 a simple blue flannel shirt. To the remark that the morn- 
 ing was sultry, Sully said, ''Yesterday afternoon was bad 
 for our troops." About six o'clock in the evening. Sur- 
 geon Hand told me that Medical Director Hammond had 
 been ordered to send off the sick and wounded, in am- 
 bulances, toward the James river, and asked me if I would 
 accompany the train. It was not long before the proces- 
 sion of sufferers was moving. As I rode toward Fair 
 Oaks station, I noticed soldiers unscrewing the lids of 
 cartridge boxes and throwing- the contents into the vat 
 of a tannery. At the railway crossing a pile of cases of 
 pilot bread, twenty or thirty feet high, had been set on 
 fire. There was no confusion. The only frightened per- 
 son was a sutler who had hastened to be rich, and now 
 was packing his wares in order that he might save his 
 chattels and hasten out of danger. 
 
214 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 The forest through White Oak swamp was packed with 
 wagon trains. The dark night and muddy road compelled 
 them to go "at a snail's pace." Toward morning I reached 
 White Oak creek; found some confusion among the wag- 
 oners, and a flashing of many lanterns. An officer riding 
 by recognized me. It was Capt. William G. Le Due of 
 Hastings, Minn., assistant quartermaster of Dana's Bri- 
 gade, afterward chief quartermaster of Hooker's Corps, 
 and at the close of the war made brevet brigadier gen- 
 eral. He said, "Hold my horse's bridle. We have been 
 waitino- for axes, which have arrived. If we do not widen 
 the road, so that four or five wagons can move abreast, 
 we may lose a part of the train." Jumping from his 
 saddle, he took an axe and went to work with the men 
 in cuttinof down trees, 
 
 Sunday's sun arose, and its rays were very warm. 
 About seven o'clock Le Due rode up to me and pointed 
 to a waeon in the creek sunk in mud to its axles, laden 
 with oats, from which the mules had been taken, and told 
 me to ride in, with my penknife cut a hole in a bag, and 
 allow my horse to feed. As I sat in the saddle, a gen- 
 tleman dressed as a civilian, and very dust}^ rode up, and 
 inquired if his horse could have some oats, and, by per- 
 mission of the quartermaster, he went to the other end 
 of the bag. In a few minutes my horse caught his by 
 the nose and showed so much ill-will that I rode away. 
 The selfishness of man I had often witnessed in the army ; 
 it was the first time I had observed the selfishness of the 
 horse. The gentleman by my side was the Prince de 
 Joinville [De-Zhwan-vel], the third son of Louis Phillippe, 
 late king of France. When a young naval officer, he was 
 intrusted with the removal of the remains of Napoleon 
 from St. Helena to Paris. Since 1848 he had been an 
 
CHICKAHOMINY BRIDGE BLOWN UP. 215 
 
 exile, and was now on a visit to his nephews, the young 
 princes on General McClellan's staff. 
 
 The saddest sight that day was sick soldiers, exhausted 
 by the march, lying with closed eyes in the shade of trees, 
 or tottering along with the aid of sticks. During the 
 afternoon I found General Gorman sick on the porch of 
 a farm house on an elevation overlooking White Oak 
 swamp. As I sat by him, a cloud of white smoke arose 
 in the direction of the railroad, and at a great height 
 stood for a time. I thought of the pillar of cloud that 
 by day preceded the army of Moses. It was caused by 
 the blowing up of the bridge over the Chickahominy, the 
 destruction of locomotives, and other war material. 
 
 Early on Monday, the twentieth of June, the First Min- 
 nesota, that had been engaged the afternoon before in 
 the batde of Savage Station, crossed the creek, and I 
 was glad again to be with my regiment. After marching 
 about two miles, there was a halt, and I rode ahead, to 
 find a shady place where I could write to the governor 
 of Minnesota a report of Sunday's battle, in which color- 
 bearer Burgess, a noble fellow, had been killed. I dis- 
 mounted at the Willis Methodist church, and enjoyed 
 rest, in a shady grove. Between two and three o'clock 
 in the afternoon the woods behind me were suddenly 
 filled with the ratde of musketry. Moundng my horse, 
 I rode back to join the regiment, but increasing rever- 
 berations showed that a fierce batde had begun. It 
 proved to be the Confederate onslaught upon General 
 McCall's troops. A proverb is said to be the quintes- 
 sence of wisdom, and remembering that "discretion is the 
 better part of valor," I turned back, and, passing the 
 Willis church, came to a wide plain gradually ascending 
 toward the James river, known as Malvern Hill, which 
 seemed to be made for a batdefield. 
 
2l6 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 As I rode across it, I met General Couch, with a por- 
 tion of his division, and the colonel of the Twenty-third 
 Pennsylvania opened his line that I might pass through, 
 when I checked my horse and watched the various move- 
 ments. 
 
 The last of the great wagon trains was passing down 
 to Haxall's Landing, on the James river. The drivers 
 were excited by the battle raging at Glendale, or Nel- 
 son's Farm, but whenever they showed a disposition to 
 drive furiously cavalrymen would ride up and compel 
 them to go at a moderate pace, and thus prevented a 
 panic. Never in the history of any war was a supply 
 train moved with so little loss. The bellowing of cannon 
 would be met by the response of bellowing animals. A 
 herd of five hundred beef cattle crossed White Oak 
 swamp and reached pasturage in the meadows of James 
 river without the loss of a single beast. 
 
 During the latter part of this afternoon immense shells 
 from the gunboats passed over our heads into the woods, 
 where the enemy was. A Confederate soldier is reported 
 to have said that his regiment was doing very well until 
 great cooking stoves began to fly through the air and 
 break into pieces in their midst. When night came, I 
 slept on a sofa in the West house. The person who 
 seemed to be the head of the household was a gentle- 
 manly man, but greatly worried by the irruption of an 
 invading army, trampling down his crops. Before the 
 morning of Tuesday, the first of July, Sumner's Corps 
 reached Malvern Hill from Glendale, and was posted on 
 the right of the Union army. About eight o'clock. Con- 
 federate artillery took position in a wheat field, on the 
 Poindexter farm, and opened fire, the shells bursting near 
 the West house. The family, with some of their neigh- 
 
GENERALS MEAGHER AND KEARNEY. 217 
 
 bors, in consternation fled into the cellar, to which there 
 was access by a large outside door. The head of the 
 house in great distress inquired, "What shall I do?" 
 There was a dressing table draped with red cloth, and I 
 suggested that it be torn off and fastened on a long pole 
 over the house, in the hope that it might alter the range 
 of the shots. It was distressing to hear the moans and 
 see the tears of the women in the cellar, and as General 
 Meagher was riding by I directed his attention to them. 
 With the impulsiveness of a kind Irishman, he drove up 
 to the cellar door, and, looking down, assured the fright- 
 ened ones that they would soon be relieved; but in what 
 way I did not see. An old woman who once acted as 
 guide for me at one of the historic spots of Ireland told 
 some marvelous stories, and I asked her if she always 
 told the truth. She said she did, but sometimes magni- 
 fied the truth to make it pleasant. General Meagher, I 
 fear, magnified the truth that morning to comfort tearful 
 women. 
 
 There was the tent of a general pitched near the house, 
 and one of his staff said that the flap was fastened down be- 
 cause the officer was washing and putting on clean clothes. 
 Before long he emerged, carefully dressed, his sash thrown 
 over his shoulders, and although having but one arm, the 
 other having been left in Mexico during the war with that 
 country, he gracefully vaulted into his saddle and rode 
 away to duty. It was the rash, brave and dashing Phil. 
 Kearney. 
 
 Gorman's Brigade was kept in a sitting position while ex- 
 posed to the artillery fire, and during the morning a can- 
 non ball bounded over the field and struck a worthy officer, 
 Maj. Charles L. Brown of the Thirty-fourth New York, 
 from the effects of which he died, 
 
2l8 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 During the afternoon, while standing- by General Sedg- 
 wick, I noticed a general approaching on horseback. As 
 he passed along the right wing, with great enthusiasm, the 
 soldiers tossed up their caps. It was McClellan. After 
 he had conferred with Sedgwick I stepped up, and he ex- 
 tended his hand, which I remember on that warm day was 
 covered with a gauntleted glove. His pressure was ear- 
 nest, but he said not a word, and kept his eye toward the 
 troops who were animated by his presence. His attitude 
 was that of a cool, brave man, equal to his great responsi- 
 bility. It was the last time I was near him, and there was 
 reason why I looked upon him with some interest. He was 
 born in the same city as myself Our fathers were physi- 
 cians. We were prepared for college by the same teachers. 
 Before the war he had successfully wooed a graceful, deli- 
 cate daughter of an army officer, living with her parents on 
 Summit avenue in St. Paul, and she and her mother were 
 communicants of the church to which I ministered. While 
 his headquarters were in Washington I had been called 
 from the field to his house, and in the presence of a few 
 relatives and some of his staff officers had officiated at the 
 dedication of his firstborn, and offered a prayer that the in- 
 fant should become "Christ's faithful soldier." 
 
 Informed that there was need of surgeons, and that 
 Brigade Surgeon Hand lay sick of a fever at Haxall's 
 Landing, I rode by way of Turkey Bridge and found him, 
 with his black servant acting as nurse. When he heard of 
 the situation, he said that, although weak, if I would wait he 
 would accompany me. It was about five o'clock when we 
 reached Malvern Hill, and the two armies were fighting as 
 when "Greek met Greek." For several hours there was 
 an incessant cannonade. After dark it was an awful sight 
 to see bursting shells, like angry, fiery meteors, rushing 
 through the air. 
 
ARRIVAL AT HARRISONS LANDING. 219 
 
 About midnight, while lying on the grass under the crest of 
 the hill, I found a movement of the army to the banks of 
 the James river had commenced, and I mounted my horse and 
 followed. Before daylight it began to rain, and at dawn I 
 met two soldiers with straps over their shoulders carrying 
 a stretcher, upon which was Lieut. A. J. Pemberton of the 
 Twenty-third Pennsylvania. Unstrapping my shelter tent 
 from the saddle, I threw it over him and passed on. He 
 was a brother of Confederate Major General John C. 
 Pemberton, who, the next year, surrendered Vicksburg to 
 General Grant. 
 
 Although a digression, it is well to mention that about 
 three years ago a nephew of General Pemberton came to 
 see me. He said that his uncle was dead, and that during 
 the last years of his life rejoiced in his own defeat, con- 
 vinced of the error into which he had fallen, and believing 
 that if independence had been obtained by the late slave 
 states they would only have secured a Pandora box, from 
 which would soon have emerged the demons of bitter inter- 
 nal strife and negro insurrections. 
 
 Before noon on the second of July the whole army had 
 reached the James river, near the house in which Benjamin 
 Harrison, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
 was born, whose son. Gen. William H. Harrison, was presi- 
 dent of the United States of America, and whose great 
 grandson, Benjamin, now occupies the same exalted posi- 
 tion. 
 
 That afternoon a driving rain began which continued 
 until noon of the next day. The advancing army in the 
 morning saw a land of plenty and beauty. Hundreds of 
 acres of grain stood ready for the harvesters, and as the 
 golden spears of wheat nodded in the breeze, one thought 
 of the glittering lances of the knights who stood thick 
 
220 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 around Henry the Eighth of England and Francis the First 
 of France, on the "field of the cloth of gold." In twenty- 
 four hours not a stalk stood erect. Under the heels of 
 thousands of soldiers every green thing had been trampled, 
 and with the aid of the rain, a mud mingled with straw had 
 been formed which the old Egyptian brick-makers would 
 have prized. 
 
 General Keyes, in ''Reminiscences of his Life," alluding 
 to General McClellan, writes: "If I were to estimate his 
 qualifications by his conduct during the change of base to 
 the James river, I should assign to him a rank as distin- 
 guished as any military leader." 
 
 On the fourth of July President Lincoln sent these cheer- 
 ing words: "Be assured the heroism and skill of yourself, 
 officers and men are, and forever will be, appreciated." 
 
 The next day, Stanton, secretary of war, wrote: "Be as- 
 sured you shall have the support of the department and 
 the government as cordially and faithfully as was ever ren- 
 dered by man to man, and if we should ever live to see each 
 other face to face, you will be satisfied that you never had 
 from me anything but the most confiding integrity. There 
 is no cause in my heart or conduct for the cloud that wicked 
 men have raised between us for their own base and selfish 
 purposes. No man ever had a truer friend than I have 
 been to you, and shall continue to be. You are seldom 
 absent from my thoughts, and I am ready to make any sac- 
 rifice to aid you." Notwithstanding these cordial words, 
 Welles, secretary of the navy at that time, asserts, in a pub- 
 lished book, that for months before, the secretary of war 
 had manifested hostility to General McClellan. 
 
 On an occasion like this, which calls us together to-night, 
 it is not expedient to point out which secretary falsely 
 wrote. 
 
ARMY WITHDRAWN FROM HARRISONS LANDING. 221 
 
 General McClellan was firm in the conviction that Rich- 
 mond could be invested from the south side of the James 
 river. On the seventh of July he sent these words to the 
 president: "My men in splendid spirits and anxious to try 
 it again. Alarm yourself as little as possible about me, 
 and don't lose confidence in this army." On the twelfth 
 the following was also transmitted: "I am more and more 
 convinced that this army ought not to be withdrawn from 
 here, but promptly re-enforced and thrown again upon Rich- 
 mond. If we have a little more than half a chance we can 
 take it. I dread the effects of the retreat upon the morale 
 of the men." On the third of August General Halleck 
 telegraphed: "It is determined to withdraw your army 
 from the peninsula."^ On the fourteenth he wrote to his 
 wife: "We are going not to Richmond, but to Fort Mon- 
 roe, I am ashamed to say. It is a terrible blow to me, but 
 I have done all that could be done to prevent it, without 
 success, so I must submit as best I can and carry it out." 
 
 ^ General McClellan the next day replied: 
 
 "Your telegram of last evening is received. I must confess that it has 
 caused me the greatest pain I ever experienced, for I am convinced that 
 the order to withdraw this army to Acquia creek will prove disastrous to 
 our cause." 
 
 As the army approached Fort Monroe, near midnight on August eigh- 
 teenth, the following telegram was sent to Washington: 
 
 "Headquarters Army of the Potomac, 
 
 "Aug. i8, 1862, II p. M. 
 "Please say a kind word to my army that I can repeat to them in 
 general orders in regard to their conduct at Yorktown, Williamsburg, West 
 Point, Hanover Court House, and on the Chickahominy, as well as in regard 
 to the Seven Days and the recent retreat. 
 
 "No one has ever said anything to cheer them but myself. Say nothing 
 about me. Merely give my men and officers credit for what they have 
 done. It will do you much good, and will strengthen you much with them, if 
 you issue a handsome order to them in regard to what they have accom- 
 plished. They deserve it. "G. B. McClellan, 
 
 ''''Major General. 
 ''''Major General Halleck, IVashington, D. C." 
 
 No notice was taken of this request. 
 
222 MACALESTER COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 It would be presumption in me, who, like "one Michael 
 Cassio, a Florentine," in Shakespeare's Othello — 
 
 "Never set a squadron in the field, 
 Nor the division of a battle knows 
 More than a spinster," 
 
 to enter into any military criticism ; nor would it be proper 
 to censure public men at Washington who appeared willing 
 to prolong a civil war, to gratify personal ambition, or obtain 
 the success of their political party. 
 
 While others may differ, I shall always remember the 
 general-in-chief at Fair Oaks and Malvern Hill as a friend, 
 a Christian gentleman, a commander who had the entire 
 confidence of his soldiers. 
 
 "Did pluck allegiance from men's hearts. 
 Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths." 
 
 Correction. — Page 205, line 3, equally should read greatly. 
 
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