The History of the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry / in the Late War of the Rebellion

by William H. Osborne

The enemy now disappeared, the fort was cleared of the prisoners, and word sent to brigade headquarters of the state of affairs at the camp of the Twenty-ninth Regiment. General McLaughlin, commander of the Brigade, soon came up, with the Fifty-ninth Massachusetts Regiment as a re-enforcement, and was greatly surprised at the sight of so large a number of prisoners as he found standing in the rear of the fort. The General gave Major Gould, commanding the Fifty-ninth, imperative orders to assist the Twenty-ninth in holding the fort, and then, with his staff, rode over towards Fort Stedman; he had, probably, not been gone five minutes, before he and all his staff fell into the hands of the enemy. The best possible disposition was now made of what remained of the garrison (for it is true that some had been captured in the first assault and others had been killed and wounded) to resist the attack of the enemy, which he was now preparing to make, having collected his main assaulting column in a ravine in the rear of the battery. Major Gould was offered the command of the forces here, being the ranking officer, but declined; Major Richardson concluded to establish a strong picket line in the rear of the battery, and, with Captain Taylor, went personally to superintend the work. The enemy were already in sight, and firing soon began; on returning to the fort, to their great surprise these officers found the work nearly deserted, and saw in the dim light of the morning the command of Major Gould, and some of their own regiment, moving away down the ditch towards Fort Haskell, which was still held by our troops. During the brief absence of Major Richardson, Major Gould, who had discovered the approach of the enemy in his rear, gave orders to his men to “Leap the breastworks, and retreat between the rebel works and our own to Fort Haskell.”[55] No resistance was now possible; in a few moments the enemy swarmed into the battery, and Major Richardson, Captain Taylor, and a number of their faithful men were captured. This was a cruel fate for these brave soldiers, who had striven so zealously to beat back the enemy; and had their example been followed by others who held equally responsible positions, the little fort would probably have not been lost.

By this time the alarm had spread far and near, and though it was scarcely light, yet the entire corps was under arms and in motion.

The left column of the enemy, passing down the line to Battery No. 9, drove the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts from the works. It next encountered the Second Michigan, and though the regiment was surprised, and some confusion followed, yet it soon rallied, and held its ground against the most determined efforts of the enemy. Re-enforcements arriving at this point, the enemy were repulsed, and fell back towards Fort Stedman, in which their right column was now huddled, having been checked in its further movements by our troops on that part of the line.

The Twenty-ninth rallied about this time, near brigade headquarters, where a regiment of General Hartranft’s command arrived; and the two regiments at once charged and occupied a line of works about one hundred yards in the rear of Battery Eleven, thus completely stopping the opening in that part of the line.

At about seven o’clock, an advance was ordered upon the enemy, in all directions. Battery Eleven was soon retaken by our men, Conrad Homan, the color-bearer of the Twenty-ninth, being the first man who entered the works; and for his distinguished gallantry on this occasion, was promoted to be First Lieutenant, and received one of the medals of honor voted by Congress. The only works now held by the enemy were Fort Stedman and Battery No. 10, which, shortly after eight o’clock, General Hartranft’s division was ordered to attack. The Two Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania, though composed wholly of raw troops, was chosen to lead the assault. A finer display of bravery was never witnessed in the army, than that of these untrained soldiers. With great impetuosity, they rushed upon the fort in the face of a blaze of musketry, and in a few minutes were masters of the situation. At the same instant other troops of the division stormed Battery No. 10, and captured it.

The retreat of the enemy was now cut off by the fire from our other works, and one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine of their number, of whom seventy-one were officers, nine stands of colors, and a large number of small arms, fell into our hands. And thus ended this brilliant and well-conceived movement of the enemy. It was, to a great extent, a fair offset to the mine affair, but the disadvantages under which our troops labored could never have been overcome, except by hard fighting and good generalship, which characterized our movements from the beginning.

The events of this terrible battle were mostly sad and distressing; but the affair was not without its ludicrous features. A soldier of Company C,[56] who was captured in the early morning, made an involuntary exchange of hats with a Confederate officer. The soldier’s hat was nearly new, while that which he received from the officer was exceedingly shabby. The soldier broke away from the guard and ran into our lines, taking a gallant part in the charge just mentioned. While circulating among the captured enemy after the battle, he discovered the identical officer who had taken his hat from him. The soldier, in a very droll manner, approached the officer and said: “Well, Mister, if you please, I’ll take my hat now, and here’s yours back again, just as good, and no better, than when I took it about three hours ago.” The two again exchanged hats, and shaking hands “on it,” indulged in a hearty laugh.

The following-named soldiers of the regiment were killed in this action, which is known as the “Battle of Fort Stedman”: Company B, Edward J. O’Brien (he was terribly bayoneted in the breast and killed by one of the enemy, after he had been badly wounded, and was found in this mutilated condition after the battle); Company C, Sergeant C. Francis Harlow; Company E, First Lieutenant Nathaniel Burgess, Sergeant Orrin D. Holmes, William Klinker, and Ruter Moritz; Company F, Preserved Westgate; Company G, Nelson Cook, George E. Snow, and John Cronin.

Lieutenant Burgess of Plymouth had been promoted for his great bravery on the 17th of June. Orderly Sergeant Harlow was overpowered, and ordered to surrender; he replied with spirit that he would not, fired, and shot his antagonist; but another Confederate, standing near, seized his gun, and shot the courageous Harlow through the head. After the battle, the dead body of Harlow was found in the fort, lying upon that of a dead Confederate officer, from which fact it was inferred that Harlow shot the officer, and upon being himself killed, fell in the position in which he was found. One of the comrades, who witnessed this sad affair, states that the officer was one Captain Gordon, who led the assaulting party. The death of Burgess causes us to remark, inasmuch as he was the last officer in the regiment killed during its term of service, that the first and last officer in the regiment who fell in battle, were citizens of the historic old town of Plymouth.

Note.—The chief facts concerning this battle are somewhat in dispute; two or three distinct and conflicting accounts of it having been published. The version here given, so far as it relates to Battery Eleven, was furnished the writer by Major Chas. T. Richardson of Pawtucket, R. I.; the comments upon that officer, and Captain Taylor, being those of the author, based upon the statements of reliable persons.—Author.]