THE ARTILLERY AT HAZEL GROVE.
188
Tlie enemy were as thick as bees, and we appearedto be among thousands of them in an instant.
After we reached the Plank road we were incolumns of fours and on the dead run, and whenwe struck the enemy there occurred a “ jam ” ofliving and dead men, friends and enemies, andhorses, and the weight of the rear of our squadronbroke us into utter confusion, so that at the mo-ment every man was for himself.
The third squadron, which Captain P. L. Goddardcommanded, was in our rear, and came thunderingalong after us, but as to the balance of the regi-ment I do not know how they came in or got out.
The enemy were as much surprised as we were,and thought, no doubt, as they now say, that thewhole cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomacwas charging them. I distinctly remember hearinga number of them call out, “ I surrender, I sur-render.” We did not stop to take any prisonersfor fear of being captured ourselves,— I had been
caught once and was just out of Libby prison anddid not want to be captured again,— but made f° rour lines as best we could.
The whole affair was accidental. We were onour way to report to General Howard , some thre emiles from where we were encamped, and thecountry that General Howard ’s staff-officer hadjust passed over in quest of the cavalry had in themeantime been crossed by Stonewall Jackson stroops, and in following the same track we natu-rally ran into them. The officers who were at thehead of our column, seeing tho situation, had onlyan instant to determine wliat was to be done. ^®could not turn around and get out in the face oIthe enemy, and the only thing left for us was to S°through them, “ sink or swim.”
Can any man who was a soldier for one momentimagine an officer deliberately planning a chargeby a regiment of cavalry, strung out by twos in acolumn half a mile long in a thick wood ?
THE ARTILLERY AT HAZEL GROVE, ft
W HEN Jackson’s advance struck the EleventhCorps, four batteries had been for sometime waiting orders in the extensive clearingknown as Hazel Grove. Of these, “II,” 1st OhioLight Artillery, and the 10th and 11th New YorkIndependent Batteries belonged to Whipple’s di-vision of the Third Corps. They were left therewhen that division passed through cn route to jointhe force operating under General Sickles near theFurnace. Later, Martin’s horse battery, withDevin’s cavalry brigade, arrived and took groundon the opposite or south side of the field. Whenthe sound of battle indicated that the enemy weredriving in the right of the army, and were ap-proaching Hazel Grove, the batteries of Whipple’sdivision were brought into position under mydirection, as acting chief of artillery. Althoughthe movement was delayed by causes beyond mycontrol until its execution had become exceedinglydifficult, our eighteen guns were established inbattery, ready to open before the enemy fireda shot or were in a position to do so. GeneralPleasonton seems to be unaware of that fact, orhe would hardly have failed to allude to it. It is,
ft In reply to statements contained in General Pleas-onton’s paper, p. 170.— Editors.
j General Sickles says in Ids official report: “ I con-fided to Pleasonton tile direction of tlie artillery — threebatteries of my reserve — Clark’s, Lewis’s I lot li NewYork, of Huntington ’s command] and Turnbull's, and hisown liorse-hattery. . . . The fugitives of the EloventhCorps swarmed from the woods and swept franticallyover the cleared fields in which my artillery was parked.. . . Tho enemy showing himself on the plain, Pleas-onton met the attack at short range with the well-directed fire of twenty-two pieces doubic-sliottod withcanister.” According to this one of Huntington ’s three
therefore, fair to presume that his attentionengrossed by the supervision of Martin’s batter})as detailed in his paper. General Sickles, on bi®arrival, soon after the firing ceased, sent t° lme and warmly expressed his approbation of tb®manner in wliicli my command had held tb®ground. J
Nothing on wheels from the Eleventh CorP"passed through Hazel Grove. The vehicles tba^stampeded through my lines while in process 0formation were forges, battery-wagons, amb®lances, etc., belonging to the Third Corps, left Jbthe cross-road leading to the Plank road, wh®®that corps wont out to the Furnace to attackson’s column. So whatever else may have form®the components of the remarkable tumulus ® ^scribed by General Ploasonton, it certainly did ncontain the ddbris of the Eloventh Corps. As tthe tumulus itself, it escaped my observation wb®
I crossed the bog ho refers to on Sunday morn 1 ’ 1 ”with my battery, or what there was left of it, at 1pressing solicitation of Archer’s Confederate br 1gado.
batteries (Lewis's 10th New York ) was placed 1111Plcasonton’s cont rol. Probably this battory, with T 1 ’ }hull’s, Clark’s, and Martin’s, made up tho twenty” 1guns mentioned by both Hicklcs and Pleasonton. " ,,oral Hunt, tho ohiof of art,illory of the army, says: “ ”the Eleventh Corps was broken up and routed on2d, . . . General Pleasonton collected some battmbelonging to different corps (Martin’s Horse Artiu®iitli New York , six :i-tncli guns, Clark’s B, 1stJersey, six lO-pounders; Lewis’s loth New York -light 12-pounders; Turnbull’s F and K, ad U. S. , sl * 0 fpoundors), and with them formed a large batterytwenty-four guns.”— Editors.