THE REGIMENT.
We take pleasure in mentioning the patriotism, energy and great activity of the Supervisory Committee who had in charge the recruiting and organizing of colored troops at Philadelphia, during the war. Their success in the undertaking, resulted not only complimentary to themselves, but it was also most opportune to the Government, by adding to our armies an important element to aid in obtaining the complete victory; and according to another view of the case, by introducing the stone that had been so long rejected, or preserved only as a stumbling stone, but which the builders would then take up in establishing and cementing a stronger and better Union.
The First Battalion of the 43rd Regt. U.S.C.T., composed of Companies A, B, C, D, E and F, was recruited and organized, March, 1864, at Camp William Penn, Philadelphia, and left Camp, April 18th, under command of Lieut. Col., now Brevet Col., H. Seymour Hall. It proceeded by railroad and steamer to Annapolis, Md., and there joined the 9th Corps, under command of General Burnside. It was associated with the 1st Brig. of the 4th Div. of this Corps, commanded by General Ferrero. The Corps took up its march April 23d, to join the Army of the Potomac. On their way through Washington they were reviewed by President Lincoln, in the presence of many other public officers, and a large assembly of citizens. As these were the first colored troops destined to the Potomac Army, their soldierly appearance and movements were closely scanned. In passing in Review they saluted gracefully with their Colors and by loud hurrahs that Great Emancipator of their race. This, as President Lincoln afterwards expressed himself, was most gratifying to him, and riveted the confidence he had in the devotion of the Freedmen, and their efficiency to do a full share in the struggle. According to the public press, also, the occasion inspired the hearts of the large assembly who witnessed it, with a great degree of favor and interest. On that same day they crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia, and camped near Alexandria. They had now returned under the Starry Flag to the soil of their oppressors, ready by great achievements in the field and with their lives, to express their sincere gratitude to "Massa Lincoln," and seal their devotion to the Union. Much as the so-called Confederacy and its emissaries in the North feigned contempt and ridicule in the case of employing this troop, the true sequel is that they regarded its advent with no flattering prospects for the success of the Rebellion, but rather, as it was, a stunning blow. Going from Alexandria by way of Fairfax C.H., and Centerville, they arrived at Manassas Junction, and were immediately stationed to do guard duty on the railroad. Afterwards they were quickly marched by Rappahannock Station and over the Rapidan to reinforce the right of the army, which had been partially broken on that day. During the celebrated Wilderness Campaign, and up to Cold Harbor and Old Church, their position was on the right flank of the army. In these engagements they manifested great steadiness and intrepidity under severe fire, and immediately proved themselves a reliable troop. Their losses in these actions were comparatively light. Company G, under command of Capt. A. D. Wright, joined the First Battalion of the Regiment, June 6th, near Old Church, Va. June 12th, they marched by White House Landing and New Kent C.H., crossing the Chickahominy at Jones' Bridge, to the James River, where they took up a position protecting the crossing of the army. They passed over the James on the 17th, and next day marched to the front before Petersburg. Here they were employed by working parties in the trenches and on fortifications, under the almost constant fire of the enemy. The field works and the "Covered Way," leading to the front line were mostly constructed by the colored troops.
Preparatory to the battle of July 30th, this Battalion of the 43rd Regiment, with the addition of Co. G, moved up through the "covered way" to the ravine at the mouth of the Mine, and there awaited the explosion and the order to charge. Under command of the brave Brevet Col. Hall, at that time Lieut. Col., they advanced nobly to the charge, behaving with great coolness and gallantry, taking the works which the enemy stubbornly tried to retain, and capturing prisoners and colors. The lack of an ultimate and permanent triumph on that day, was, by no means or measure, the fault of this troop, but on account of other failures and neglects, as was afterwards reported by the Investigating Committee. In this battle it would be difficult to enumerate particular cases of great bravery, where all seem to vie with each other in the brilliancy and gallantry of their achievements. Colored non-commissioned officers fearlessly took command after their commandants (white commissioned officers) were killed, or borne severely wounded from the field, and led on the attack to the close. As each brave color bearer was shot down, another and another would immediately grasp the National emblem, all riddled with balls, and plant it further on the enemies line. In this terrific engagement, this Battalion, of the 43rd, had its Colors almost entirely cut up by the fire, and the Color Staffs splintered and broken. Its casualties were, one officer killed, ten severely wounded, including the gallant Col. Hall, who sustained the loss of his right arm, and two taken prisoner; and twenty-eight men killed, ninety-four wounded and twelve missing. It was afterwards discovered that the missing were men rendered helpless by reason of severe wounds, and whom the Rebels deliberately put to death on the field, by bayoneting them. The following is an extract from the official report of the Brigade commander, relative to that battle. "The 43d Regt. U.S.C.T. charged over the crest of the Crater, and right upon the enemies works, carrying them, capturing a number of prisoners, a Rebel battle flag, and re-capturing a stand of National colors. Lieut. Col. H. Seymour Hall, commanding 43rd Regt. U.S.C.T., lost his right arm while bravely leading his Regiment." Here on this, as on many other fields during this war, for the sacred cause of our Republican Liberties, Free Institutions and Union, the blood of the Anglo-Saxon and the African mingled very freely in the full measure of a devoted offering.
Companies H, I, and K, of this Regiment, left Camp William Penn, Philadelphia, under orders, July 11th, 1864, in a Provisional Battalion commanded by Lieut. Col. Wagner, 88th Pa. Vols., and proceeded by railroad to Havre-de-grace, Md. At this point Company I, was detached, and sent to Gunpowder Bridge. The remainder of the Battalion passed on, by transport, to Fort McHenry, and marched through Baltimore, taking a position near Birney Barracks, in the defences of the city, which was threatened by a bold and extensive Rebel raid. These Companies again joined at Camp Casey, Va., and under command of Maj. Horace Bumstead, embarked on the steamer "Highland Light," for City Point. They arrived before Petersburg, Aug. 3rd, when Maj. Bumstead took command of the Regiment entire. After the fight of July 30th, and until the advance on the Weldon Railroad, this Regiment served industriously with the spade, working in the trenches and on almost every part of the extensive line before Petersburg; and the impregnability of the position afterward, was, to a great measure, the result of their toil. In the engagements of the Weldon Railroad, Aug. 19th and 20th, and Poplar Grove Church, Sept. 29th and 30th, its losses were comparatively few. In the battle of Hatchie's Run, Oct. 27th and 28th, it held the position of skirmishers on the advance of the 9th Corps line of battle, and most gallantly assisted in repulsing the repeated charges of Hill's Corps. In face of a severe fire it hastily constructed two lines of breast works. Its losses in this action were, one officer killed and four wounded, and seven men killed, eighteen wounded and one taken prisoner.
After portions of Longstreet's Corps had made a favorable attack on the Union position, on the Bermuda Front, and succeeded in capturing a part of the line, from the one year Regiments of white troops, lately stationed there to defend it, with a number also of these troops as prisoners, this Regiment with some others, were detached from the army of the Potomac on the left of the line, and sent by forced marching, across the Appomattox, to regain, if possible, the lost position. It moved on to the line Sunday, P.M., and was instantly welcomed by Longstreet's bravadoes, exulting yet in their recent victory, with a storm of balls and shells, and the significant appellation of "Smoked Yankees." But when these brave "Smoked Yankees" replied, as they did at once, by a most brilliant charge, that made them masters of the situation, driving Longstreet's bravadoes to their old kennels and recovering the lost ground, the Rebel hilarity ceased. Their stratagems afterward, massing of troops and charges, accompanied with terrific firing, and which was persevered in almost daily and nightly for a month; resulted only in their bitter loss, and was a conclusive proof to them that their so-called "Smoked Yankees" were of a species whom they could neither drive nor dismay. They continued to hold the line against all odds, and ministered to Longstreet's hordes the most severe castigation for their insolence it was ever their good fortune to obtain. In an almost incredible short time the "Smoked Yankee" became a very desirable companion, whose friendly acquaintance the Rebel Picket would seek to cultivate, at the same time entreating him that a mutual agreement for the better security of life and limb might be established. The "Smoked Yankee" soldier invariably answered him: "I obeys de orders ob de obicers. When de orders be to fire, I fires on you, and when de orders be to charge, I charges on you, you must den get out, Johnnie Reb."
The Regiment was now associated with the 3rd Brig. 1st Div. 25th Corps, and was commanded by Col., now Brevet Brig. Gen., S. B. Yeoman, who relieved Maj. Bumstead. On the night of December 10th, it was temporally detached, and hurriedly marched, as a reinforcement, to the North side of the James, at a point of the line near the New Market Road. The enemy had contemplated a combined attack on the right wing of our army, with the intention of turning it. They were, however, not successful in their purpose, and abandoned it; and this Regiment was remanded to its former place on the Bermuda Hundred. It remained there until Dec. 31st, when the whole Brigade again crossed the James, and took up a position near Fort Harrison, before Richmond.
Jan. 25th, 1865 when the Rebel Gun-boats proceeded down the River, and engaged the Union fleet from a point in the bend, just below the upper end of Dutch Gap Canal, intending to oblige the fleet to retire and then capture City Point, our base of supplies, this Regiment occupied the river bank from Cox's Landing to Dutch Gap, with a detachment also across the Canal, that skirmished through Farra's Island, to within a short distance of the Howlett House Battery. They also kept up such a continuous hail of their small arms upon the enemy's Gun-boats, as to prevent them from opening their port-holes, and consequently entirely silenced their guns. This must be recorded as an instance where, much to chagrin of the chivalry, our unshod infantry effectually silenced their iron-clads.
From this time the Regiment was intimately identified with all the movements occurring on the line, and in all the advances and charges on the Rebel strongholds, until April 3rd, 1865, with the whole of General Weitzel's forces, it entered triumphantly the great Babylon of treason. "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," written in the deserted public palaces and on the charred timbers of its smoking buildings, was now explicable, but the Belshazzar of the so-called Confederacy had left his throne, a hasty fugitive, and his hosts were in a precipitate retreat. The Union, with its Free Institutions, must and shall be preserved, rang out all over the land, many who had once been manacled slaves caught up these notes with a sacred joy, as they marched victorious Freedmen in the Capitol of their Oppressors. General Weitzel dispatched, April 3rd, A.M., "We took Richmond at 8.15, this morning."
"'Twas three o'clock of a Sabbath day,
And in St. Paul's Chapel, old and gray,
With his sad-robed wife, and others too,
The traitor sat in his cushioned pew,
List'ning the service halfway through,
And praying the Lord his soul to shrive,
On the second of April, 'Sixty-five.
Three o'clock by the old church dial—
Past the Sexton and up the aisle
Walked a trooper with trembling knee,
Holding a letter from R. E. Lee
to Jefferson Davis, P.S.C.
"Up," it said, "out of Richmond drive
Ere the third of April, 'Sixty-five."
Twelve at night, and the crashing shell
Drown the tone of the steeple bells,
Scared at the thickening thunder peals,
Hurrying feet and whirling wheels,
Flee at the fleeing traitor's heels,
And none to stay them are left alive
By the third of April, 'Sixty-five'.
Six in the morning, sunrise red,
Showed long rows of the Rebel dead,
Tired Battalion and torn Brigade
Quivered to Weitzel's cannonade;
And, half in fury and half afraid,
Swore for their City still to strive
On the third of April 'Sixty-five.'
Eight o'clock, and the battle call
Sounds at the inmost bulwark wall.
Hoarser the Rebels' shouts reply—
Their guns are empty, their lips are dry,
And hundreds who vowed to win or die
Sullenly yield themselves alive
On the third of April 'Sixty-five.
Eight and a quarter the strife is o'er,
Blind with powder and red with gore,
Richmond's garrison, surly and dumb,
Stand, while by them with bugle and drum
General Weitzel's Freedmen come;
And through their streets the cavalry drive
On the third of April 'Sixty-five.
And forth from gateway, alley and lane,
Glad slaves run trooping, a swarthy train,
And martyrs from Libby's Prison hole
Laugh and cheer for their long "parole,"
And a myriad of welcomes heavenward roll,
As our host in the Rebel-hold arrive
On the third of April 'Sixty-five.
Shout, ye millions of brave and free,
O'er flying Davis, and fallen Lee,
Honor to Weitzel and Sheridan;
Honor to Grant, who laid the plan;
Glory to God, who helpeth man,
For under his might our cause did thrive
On the third of April 'Sixty-five."
The importunate cry of the nation,—"On to Richmond," being answered so successfully by Freedmen clad in blue, must and will appear as a significant fact in the history of the war.
After the surrender of Lee, and in anticipation of the expedition southward, this Regiment marched back to Camp Lincoln, near City Point. May 30th it embarked on the steamer "Atlanta," and proceeding by the Ocean and Gulf routes, arrived at Brazos Santiago, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico, June 23rd. During this expedition it lost, by death, one man, whose body was committed to the great deep. On its march thence to Brownsville, it passed over Taylor's battle grounds of the Mexican war, Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. These preserve some marks of the conflict, but the achievement of our arms then, has been greatly surpassed, by victories on fields recently obtained. It camped, finally, on the bank of the Rio Grande River, opposite the city of Matamoras, Mexico. The flourishing blockade trade conducted by the adherents of Maximilian, on the one hand, according to the French version of neutrality, and by the so-called Confederacy on the other, was now interrupted by the presence of United States Troops. His Majesty, in his plea for imperial recognition by the United States, will not forget to importune by reason of his friendly services during the war.
The Regiment was ordered North, for final discharge, and returning as far as New Orleans, after waiting there for transportation, it embarked Nov. 9th on the steamer Merrimac, having other passengers besides. After a considerable distance at sea, this vessel sprung a leak. The water gained so rapidly, as, in a very short time, to put out the fires, and stop the engine. She now depended entirely on her sails for motive power. The case was a most critical one. Horses had to be thrown overboard, as well as a large amount of goods. The pumps of the main engine were useless, and the other pumps on deck were discovered, certainly by a criminal neglect, to be out of order. Buckets, pails, kettles and barrels were all mustered for bailing, which was conducted through two of the hatchways, fore and aft of the engine, and for the management of which the Regiment was divided into two reliefs. This systematized work was continued day and night for sixty-five hours successively, barely keeping even with the water, until the steamer was run upon the bar, at the mouth of the Mississippi. For the credit of the brave men, and in behalf of the endurance of the race, it ought to be recorded, that they worked cheerfully and well, during all those weary and anxious hours. The Regiment was landed again at New Orleans. After a gratuitous issue of clothing by order of Gen. Sheridan, to supply, in part, the loss incident to this perilous trip, it embarked in the steamer "Costa Rica," arrived at New York, Nov. 26th, and was finally discharged at Philadelphia, Nov. 30th, 1865. Its casualties in service were, officers killed three, wounded eleven, and three discharged by reason of wounds; and men killed, died of wounds and disease, three hundred and six, and missing one hundred and ninety-six.