MILITARY ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION
OF
THE UNITED STATES, MOLLUS
By: Gregg A. Mierka,
State Commander, RI MOLLUS (2003-2007)
and National MOLLUS Internet Committee Chair (2009)
READ BEFORE
THE RHODE ISLAND SOLDIERS
AND
SAILORS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Volume No. 3
1st & 2nd Regiment
Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry.
Published By
N. BANGS WILLIAMS & COMPANY. 1883.
Copyright by N. BANGS WILLIAMS. 1882.
All rights reserved MOLLUS
Through the Rhode Island Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society
 Ambrose Everett Burnside |
 Regimental Chaplin ~ Historian |
 Ambrose Everett Burnside |
AMBROSE EVEBETT BURNSIDE was born in Lib¬erty, Indiana, May 23, 1824, and died in Bristol, Rhode Island, September 13, 1881. The interval between these two dates was filled with the events of a busy and useful life. It was also a life which attracted an unwonted measure of honor, esteem and affection. In public, it was spent in patriotic service. In private, it was the object of a devoted and fervent love. It exhibited and illustrated some of the best qualities of manhood. It is very fitting that it should be set forth before those who shared the perils of its career, and who, in the spirit of a generous comradeship, have rejoiced in the honors which marked its course. It is also fitting that we should close this day of commemoration by reviewing the life of him who holds a chief place in our memory, because he was always willing to be¬come the servant of all. I have been invited to per¬form this grateful duty, and while I address myself to this labor of love, I ask, as I know I shall re¬ceive, your respectful and patient attention.
T he youth of Burnside, before entering the mili¬tary academy at West Point, was spent in the little western town where his father, Edghill Burnside, had fixed his residence, upon his removal to the north¬west from his native state of South Carolina. His great-grandfather had come to this country from Scot¬land. His grandfather, during the .Revolution, was a loyalist, and after the war of independence, was obliged to leave the country—settling in Jamaica for a time, but subsequently returning to South Caro¬lina. His father took part in (he emigration' to the northwest, escaping' from the evil of slave-holding by freeing the slaves whom he had inherited, and following what was then called the "Quaker trail," though not himself belonging to the Society of Friends. Among the South Carolina families that removed to Indiana was Miss Pamelia Brown, whom Mr. Burnside married. Nine children were born to them, of whom Ambrose was the fourth. He was named for the family physician, Dr. Everts, but, on his appointment to the military academy at West Point, changed his second name to Everett, re¬taining it afterwards through his life-time. There is a story, that the boy at one time tried to learn the trade of a tailor, and that he was found by friends who became interested in him, conning a book of tactics, while working at the board. He was care¬fully brought lip, and taught as well as ho could lie in the elementary schools of the time. It is known that he was of an ardent and adventurous character, with an active and sanguine temperament, which was hardly suited to a quiet occupation. His father, who held the office of associate judge of the county court, desired to give him a military education, and it is a pleasing proof of the esteem in which Mr. Burnside was held, that the young man received the almost, if not entirely, unanimous recommendation of the legislature of Indiana for an appointment to I the national military academy. The Hon. Caleb B. Smith—afterwards Secretary of the Interior under Lincoln—was the member of congress holding the gift of appointment. But as Mr. Smith was not in full accord with the existing administration of John Tyler, the good offices of his father's friend, Judge C. H. Test, were brought into requisition, and by his influence the place was secured. At the begin¬ning of the academic year, 1843, young Burnside was admitted a cadet at West Point. Among his classmates were Orlando B. Wilcox, Ambrose P. Hill, Romeyn B. Ayers, Charles Griffin and Henry Heth. In the other classes appear the names of Ulysses S. Grant, Fitz-John Porter, Barnard E. Bee, George B. McClellan, Thomas J. Jackson, John G. Foster, Darius N. Couch, John G. Parke, and Jesse L. Reno.
Burnside was graduated in 1847, in the artillery—eighteenth in a class of thirty-eight. He was im¬mediately appointed brevet second lieutenant, and was promoted to a full second lieutenancy, September 8, 1847, and was assigned to the Third Artillery. He was at once ordered to Vera Cruz to take part in active service in the war with Mexico, which was then drawing near its end. Put in charge of a baggage train, ho was sent into the interior -along a line of communication threatened by guerrillas at different points. He won the praise of his superior officers for his successful performance of this duty. The chief battles of the war had, however, been al¬ready fought before his arrival at the front, and there was consequently no opportunity for winning distinction in the field. Upon the proclamation of peace and the return of the army, Lieutenant Burn/¬side was ordered to Fort Adams, in our own state, where lie soon made many dear and life-long friends.
In the early part of 1849, he was transferred from Fort Adams to New Mexico, and assigned to Bragg's Battery. He arrived at his new post on the 1st of August. The command was organized as cavalry, and was employed as escort to the United States mails upon the plains. On the 21st of August, while in command of a detachment of twenty-nine men, he came in contact with a body of sixty or more Apache warriors, who disputed his passage through a ravine near Las Vegas. Burnside immediately attacked and routed his savage foe—killing eighteen, capturing nine prisoners, forty horses and all the supplies of the band. Captain Judd, in command of the post, warmly praised his subordinate, and recommended his promotion to first lieutenant. In the spring of 1851, Lieutenant Burnside was quartermaster of the Mexican Boundary Commis¬sion, under the direction of the Honorable John R. Bartlett. In September, 1851, ho was sent from Gila River to Washington with important dispatches which it was necessary to forward with utmost speed. His route lay through a hostile territory, and he had to run a gauntlet of twelve hundred miles. With an escort of three men and his faithful colored servant, Robert Holloway, he safely made his way, meeting with many hair-breadth escapes, and within three weeks the dispatches were in the hands of the proper authorities at the capitol. His promotion in December was a deserved reward for his daring, vigilance and faithfulness. At the end of his service as quartermaster, in March, 1852, he was ordered to return to his former post at Fort Adams. There he remained until November 1st, 1853, when he resigned his commission in the army. His residence at Fort Adams was naturally a very happy experience for the young officer. Perhaps it was the happiest of his life. He was of a jovial, gay and light-hearted nature. He was intelligent and active in mind, handsome in person, of a tall, com¬manding stature, agreeable in manners, with a posi¬tion and name in the army which gave him an en¬trance into the best social circles in Newport, and he soon became an acknowledged favorite. In an address which he delivered at Newport a few years ago, he alludes to what he calls "the follies and frail¬ties of his youth." But he was glad to say that not¬withstanding these, he had always been met with uniform kindness and confidence. The reason is ob¬vious to us. For we know that those "follies and frailties," whatever they may have been, were mostly upon the surface of his life. They had no power to spoil or even taint the inner purity and generosity of his spirit. Doubtless it was a time of danger and temptation. But it is certain that he passed safely through the ordeal. While at Fort Adams, he was married, on the 27th of April, 1852, to Miss Mary Richmond Bishop, of Providence—and the union proved to be in all respects of the great¬est satisfaction and benefit. The strength and solid¬ity of Mrs. Burnside's character were an admirable balance and counterpart to the lighter qualities of her husband, and she became in after years his best counselor and his firmest support.
But the young officer was not wholly engrossed with the gayeties of social life. While in service on the plains, he saw that the carbine with which our mounted troops were armed was not adequate to its purpose. He studied the matter thoroughly, and the result of his studies was the invention of a breech-loading rifle, which was in every way supe¬rior to the arms then in use. It could be easily loaded, discharged and cleansed; it was accurate in aim and long in range. For more than ten years it held a high place in his estimation of military men as one of the most serviceable weapons of its kind. Although it has since been superseded by better and more effective arms, it was yet a very creditable evi¬dence of the originality and facility of the young man's powers of mind.
Sanguine of success in the manufacture of this weapon, and encouraged to believe that the govern¬ment would give him a profitable contract, Burnside, as I have said, resigned his commission. He imme¬diately removed to Bristol, built a factory and began the work. He had the assistance of some of our leading capitalists, but the negotiations at Washing¬ton failed of completion and the enterprise ended ill disaster. In the early years of our civil war the manufacture of the arm became profitable, but it was too late to be of any pecuniary advantage to the inventor. At the time of its first inception, it was accompanied by many discouragements und disap¬pointments. Later on, while the Buchanan admin¬istration was in power, there were too many adverse influences at work to prevent the introduction of the rifle into the service of the army, and the end was a complete failure. Burnside sold his uniform and sword, gave up all to his creditors, and sought occupation elsewhere. He found a position in the Land Office of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, at Chicago, and removed thither in the latter-part of April, 1858. In June, 1860, he was promoted to be treasurer of the company, and removed to New York, whore the opening of the war for the Union found him quietly engaged—like thousands of others —-in the occupations of a contented and peaceful life.
There are some, who, with a certain show of jus¬tice, say—and the matter may at this point be ap¬propriately discussed—that Burnside did not possess the qualities which are thought necessary to success in business. While all must acknowledge his ad¬ministrative and executive ability and his sense of responsibility, he yet did not have that measure of caution in dealing with other men which seems to be required in the transactions of trade. He lacked the element of distrust. He took too much for granted. He regarded a verbal promise as binding as a written one. He believed that others under¬stood his plans as clearly as they were marked out; in his own mind. He trusted when he should have watched. Never knowing by experience the nature of intrigue or double-dealing, he could not be made, to see that there was anything in others which justi¬fied any suspicion of their motives, or any thought of their untruthfulness. He could not understand how any man could work against him or become his enemy, or even his rival. His own heart never had an ungenerous feeling, and he could not conceive it; how any other heart could cherish it. We can readily see how open he was to deception by those who had an interest in deceiving him, and how liable he was to be injured through an excess of generosity I and trustfulness. This complete confidence in others is both an amiable and in many respects an admirable feature in human character. Some of the best and loveliest qualities grow out of it. Without it, I am quite sure, Burnside could not have attracted the affectionate esteem which we are all glad to give to him. But in the rough conflicts of the world, and in the great variety of human forces, with which the generous and chivalrous soul as to deal, it does not answer—if one wishes to achieve I what generally goes by the name of success—to place entirely out of sight the painful fact of human falsehood, wickedness and sin. It is a grand elevation, at which the high and honorable man stands, from which human baseness and meanness retire from view—as when one stands upon a mountaintop, from which the unsightly and low things in the valley arc hidden, or, in the distance, become even picturesque. Yet the baseness and the meanness and the lowness are still there! It was certainly creditable to Burnside that he could overlook them all, or, still recognizing their existence, could hold fast his faith in human nature and never let it go.
The war for the Union did not find him unpre¬pared. The country had educated him, and he felt it as a patriotic obligation and duty to enter its ser¬vice. He had foreseen somewhat of the trouble that was coming. While in New Orleans, during the autumn of 1861, he frankly told his Southern friends that they were mistaking the temper of the North if they supposed that secession could be peaceably accomplished. Men of all parties would unite to save the Union from disruption and the gov¬ernment from ruin. He was a member of the Dem¬ocratic party then, and had been honored by its confidence in Rhode Island. But this was a question about party and could not be decided without blood¬shed. There could be but one issue to the war. The Union would be preserved and the South would be reduced to poverty. Such were his opinions then, and his confidence in the success of the gov¬ernment never wavered even in the darkest days of the struggle that ensued.
When Governor Sprague decided to send a regi¬ment of infantry and a battery of artillery to Washing¬ton immediately after the attack upon Fort Sumter, no one but Burnside was thought of for the com¬mand. He at once responded to the summons to come to Rhode Island and organize the regiment. He shut his desk in New York, took the first con¬veyance to Providence, and immediately began the work. By the end of the week the battery had been sent forward and half the regiment—five hundred men—started for the capital. The other half fol¬lowed in a few days. One or two regiments reached Washington in advance of the First Rhode Island. But I venture to say that no troops were better or¬ganized and prepared for immediate active service than those from our own state. They could have taken the field at once. Burnside had the entire confidence and willing aid of the Governor, and was ably seconded by Pitman and Slocum—good soldiers both, who had been tried and proved in the Mexican war—by Balch, Goddard, Merriman, Tompkins (John), of the battery, and the company officers. But the good equipment, the careful training and the effi¬ciency for every duty of the campaign, which were shown by the regiment, were mainly due to the in¬telligence, energy and ability of its colonel.
I do not intend to give an account of that first campaign of the war, ending as it did in the defeat at Bull Run. It is sufficient to say that the First Rhode Island had an experience of every kind of service during its term of three months and a half. It had its garrison duty, its camp, its bivouac, and its picket service. It made long marches, it fought a bloody battle. It helped to win the success with which the day 1st Bull Run began. It was in the roar guard in the humiliating retreat at evening. "Let us go with the Rhode Islanders !" shouted the Sixty-ninth New York, "we shall be all right there I" For, through the day, the valor of the Rhode Island regiments—the First and Second—had been conspicuous to all along the line. Burnside was in command of a brigade consisting of his own regiment and the Second with its battery, the Sev¬enty-first New York and the Second New Hamp¬shire. It was a brigade which did its whole duty on that trying day, and did it faithfully and well. It lost such gallant officers as Slocum, Ballou, Tower, Smith and Prescott. But to those who came off safely from the field, no shame attaches that they survived the battle. They did what they were ordered to do as well and faithfully as they could, and at the word of command they retired from the contest. The opinion which their fellow citizens held of the manlier in which they had per¬formed their duty was well expressed in the very cordial welcome which the First regiment received on its return to Providence. In the warmth of that welcome it was very fitting that the colonel should have the first place and the chief part. It was nat¬ural that he should suffer from the chagrin and dis¬appointment which accompanied the defeat, and from the grief which touched all hearts in the thought of those who had fallen. But the heartiness of the re¬ception when the regiment returned, proved that even an unsuccessful heroism could not fail of appreciation and reward. The first volunteers were employed for only three months. But their term of service was a very important period, and they per¬formed a very important duty. They saved the cap¬ital from what had almost become a state of siege, and their presence at Washington, besides affording an immense relief to the President and his advisers, gave renewed confidence to the country. It proved that the North was fully alive to the danger which threatened the national life, and was also fully pre¬pared to meet and avert it. The assurance was am¬ply given that the people were moved by a deep-seated principle of patriotism, and that in the asser¬tion of that principle, they were ready to make any sacrifice and perform any duty which the government might demand. The First Rhode Island was a type of that kind of manhood which is always prepared both to defend and to maintain the institutions of freedom. It answered the call to duty with promptitude. It did its work with faithfulness. It would have overstayed its time if that had been thought needful. Many of its officers and men went back to the strife and gave up their lives a willing sacrifice to their country's good.
Burnside received a merited approval in his appointment as brigadier general, August 6, 1861. His first duty was to his friend, McClellan, in reor¬ganizing the Army of the Potomac. Then it was proposed to send him upon a coast-wise expedition along the western shores of Chesapeake Bay. Fi¬nally it was decided that, with a sufficient force of infantry and in co-operation with the navy, he should make a descent upon the coast of North Carolina. It would appear from Burnside's own narrative that the proposition came mainly from himself. McClellan was preparing for an advance, and the object of Burnside's movement was to co-operate with his chief. But the enemy was bold, even to audacity, and, pressing forward his outposts, flaunted the flag of the rebellion within sight of the dome of the capitol. The Army of the Potomac was kept in winter quarters on the south side of the river and around Washington until the opening of the spring. On the 10th of March advance was made upon Centreville and Manassas, to find those posts evacuated by the rebels and their ramparts mounted with harmless Quaker guns. McClellan, returning to the neighborhood of Washington, began to embark his troops for Fortress Monroe on the 17th of March and opened his Peninsular campaign.
Meanwhile, Burnside was hastening on his prepa¬rations for the expedition to North Carolina. His headquarters were established in New York, and the months of November and December were occupied in making the necessary arrangements. On the 19th of December headquarters were transferred to Annapolis, and on the 5th of January, 1862, the embarkation of the troops began. By the morn¬ing of the 8th, all were on board the transports, which immediately got under way. The army numbered 12,000 men, among whom were the Fourth Rhode Island, a battalion of the Fifth Rhode Island and Battery F, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. Eleven steamers and thirty-five sailing vessels furnished transportation. Accompanying, were nine gunboats and five floating batteries, armed with forty-seven guns as an army division; and twenty gunboats and batteries carrying fifty-five guns as a naval division. All the forces rendezvoused in Hampton Roads, from which the entire expedition, with sealed orders, went to sea on the night of the 11th and the morning of the 12th of January, 1862.
For ten days nothing was beard of the fleet, but on the 23rd, tidings came of storm and trouble. Cape Hatteras is not an inviting place in the best of weather, and Hatteras Inlet is hardly more than a swash-channel of varying depth. The tem¬pest came down upon the fleet while it was at¬tempting to make an entrance by this doubtful pas¬sage into Pamlico Sound, and the transports were fearfully knocked about. There were croakers at the North and even in Rhode Island who prophesied disaster and failure. Happily, their predictions were falsified. The channel was finally passed with the loss of two steamers, one gunboat, one floating battery and one or two supply schooners. Six men and two officers were drowned. On the 25th the storm broke, and the vessels of the expedi¬tion floated securely on the calm waters of Pamlico Sound. Throughout this trying time the bearing and conduct of officers and men were all that could be desired. Burnside himself seemed ubiquitous.
The correspondent of the London News speaks of him in warmest terms. He notices a feature of his character already familiar to the men of the First Rhode Island. "He has performed all the duties of harbor master, "says the writer, "narrowly escaping being swamped on more than one occasion, and there is not a grade in his army that he has not filled during the last fortnight, so anxious is he for the well-being and comfort of his troops." Roanoke Island, lying between the passages from Pamlico to Albemarle Sound, was occupied by the enemy with a garrison of four thousand men, holding five earthworks, mounting thirty-two guns. Before descending upon the main land it was necessary to occupy this important position. On the 7th of February, the gunboats under Flag Officer Goldsborough, engaged the shore batteries. During the fol¬lowing night the troops were landed, and on the 8th a battle was fought which ended in the capture of the enemy's entire force, and of all 'his material of war. It was a brilliant achievement. As it was the first important success of the Eastern armies since Bull Run, its announcement at the North excited great enthusiasm. The President and the War and Navy departments sent letters of thanks to Burnside and Goldsborough. The mayor of New York issued a proclamation of congratulation. The legislatures of Ohio, Massachusetts and Rhode Island voted their thanks for the service—our own legislature supple¬menting its action by the gift of a sword. Salutes were fired in the principal northern cities. Demon¬strations of the, public joy throughout our loyal com¬munities were to be witnessed on every side.
The next step was to secure a foot-hold on the main land. The troops were embarked on the 6th of March and the two following days, and on the 9th the fleet slowly proceeded to Hatteras Inlet. On the 12th the gunboats got under way, and, proceeding across the sound and up the Neuse River, came to anchor about twelve miles below New Berne. Here the troops were landed on the 13th and began their march up the right bank of the river. Bivouacking at night about a mile below the enemy's defenses they made ready for the coming fray. On the 14th, in the midst of a dense fog, the at¬tack was made upon a line of earth-works defended by sixty-six guns and about 8,000 men. In the course of a few hours the position was carried, the enemy re¬treating across the bridge which spanned the river Trent—burning a portion of it behind him—and through the city of New Berne, which he left to its fate. Burnside immediately ferried his army across and took possession of the place.
For the next three months and more, New Berne became his headquarters and the centre of expedi¬tions to different towns along the coast. Fort Macon was attacked and captured by General Parke on the 26th of April. For all these services the administration at Washington was profusely grateful. Burnside received the thanks of the Pres¬ident and Secretary of War, and was promoted to the rank of major-general, his commission dating March 18th. His brigade commanders, Foster, Reno and Parke, were also promoted to the same rank, dating April 26th. Colonel Rodman, of our own state, who had highly distinguished himself at the battle of New Berne, in command of the Fourth Rhode Island, was made a brigadier-general, dat¬ing from April 28th. The naval officers, Goldsborough and Rowan, received the thanks of congress and a deserved promotion.
These operations on the North Carolina coast would have had an appropriate ending in the fall of Wilmington. But it was not permitted to Burnside to add this to his list of captures. His instructions I did not contemplate a movement to that point. Why it was not ordered has never been explained. At the time, the place was not formidably defended, and it could have been captured with a slight in¬crease of the force at Burnside's command. It proved to be during most of the war a harbor of refuge for the vessels that ran the blockade mid furnished supplies to the rebel camps. But by some power Burnside was stopped at New Berne, and the three following month were a period of compara¬tive inaction. But enough had been done to show the quality of his generalship and to attract the at¬tention of his countrymen. The expedition to .North Carolina, the manner in which it had been conducted, and the successes which had attended it, had I secured his lasting fame. It is no matter of surprise that he should then have been looked upon as one of our most active, trustworthy and patriotic generals. The opening of his career had in it the promise of a brilliant progress.
The presence of Burnside in North Carolina was unquestionably a help to McClellan in his operations on the Peninsula. The Army of the Potomac wound its slow length along through the spring and early summer, laid siege to Richmond, and was finally, dur¬ing the last days of June and the first of July, forced from its position and obliged to change, its base from the Chickahominy to the James, with headquarters at Harrison's Landing. General Burnside was or¬dered to reinforce McClellan without delay. On the 5th of July, 8,000 men were dispatched from New Berne, and on the 8th were landed at New¬port News. A short time afterwards, about 4,000 more from Hilton Head, under command of General Isaac I. Stevens, were added to the force. General Foster was left in command in North Carolina with a force sufficient to hold the places already occupied.
Burnside retained a nominal authority there as com¬mander of the department, but on the 26th of August he relinquished this, and all connection with the scene of his earliest successes was thus severed Burnside was now at Newport News with a com¬mand numbering about 12,000 men. His next step was to organize this force into the .Ninth Army Corps. Obtaining authority for this purpose on the 18th of July, he issued his orders on the 22d, appointing his staff and organizing his corps—form¬ing three divisions under command of Generals Parke, Reno and Stevens. It had been determined by the authorities at Washington to evacuate the Peninsula. Burnside was offered but declined the command of the Army of the Potomac. He could not supersede his old comrade and friend, but ho could give him an effi¬cient support. The Ninth Corps was moved to Fredericksburg by way of Aquia Creek, on the 2d and 3d of August. General Reno, with the greater part of the command, was immediately sent up the Rappahannock to aid General Pope, now sorely be¬set by the enemy on the north bank of the Rapidan, in the neighborhood of Warrenton, and around Manassas Junction. Burnside, after returning to the Peninsula to aid McClellan in his movement, was stationed at Fredericksburg, with a brigade or two under General Rodman. The remainder of the Army of the Potomac was moved from its positions on the Peninsula to Alexandria, from the l6th to the 28th of August. The enemy, now under command of General Lee, after forcing Pope back upon Wash¬ington, with sanguinary fighting around Manassas, at Bull Run and Chantilly—where the brave General Stevens lost his life—made for the upper waters of the Potomac, and crossed into Maryland in the early days of September. Meanwhile, McClellan concen¬trated his forces around Washington. Burnside was withdrawn from Fredericksburg, was again offered and again declined the command of the Army of the Potomac. That army was now organized in six corps, of which the First and Ninth formed the right wing, under Burnside, who was thus given the ad¬vance. He marched upon Frederick, entering the town on the 12th of September—the rear-guard of the enemy leaving the town as our advance marched in—the two bodies having a smart skirmish in the streets. Burnside was received with joyful acclama¬tions and a warm and demonstrative enthusiasm. The Ninth Corps had now four divisions, under Generals Willcox, who had succeeded Stevens, Sturgis, who had succeeded to Reno's division when that gallant officer took command of the corps, Rodman, who had taken Parke's division, as Parke himself had been made chief of Burnside's staff, and Cox, who had brought to the corps the "Kanawha Divis¬ion" of Pope's army—in which Rutherford B. Hayes was lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-third Ohio.
The enemy, on his retreat, made a stand at Tur¬ner's Gap, in the South mountain, and here, in the forenoon of the 14th of September, Cox's and Willcox's divisions came in contact with the rebel troops strongly posted. General Hooker, with the First Corps, arrived about noon and was sent up to at¬tack the enemy's left. General Reno, with the re¬mainder of the Ninth, pushed rapidly through the Gap. In the latter part of the day General McClellan arrived upon the scene, and Burnside's com¬mand, advancing on all points, cleared the mountain passes of every obstruction. It was a well-fought battle, under Burnside's eye and immediate direc¬tion, and he certainly deserves the credit of having efficiently and successfully carried the mountain passes. McClellan approved his plans and the manner of their execution, and confirmed the order al¬ready given for Reno's final advance. In the last hour of the day, Reno was shot dead. He was one of the most gallant and skillful officers in our army, and his death is mourned to this day as one of the severest losses of the war.
On the 17th was fought the battle of Antietam. The Ninth Corps in advance—General Cox succeed¬ing to the command—pushed on towards Sharpsburg, and now formed the left wing of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker, with the First Corps, was now posted on the right, and came under the com¬mand of General Sumner, who had direction of that part of the army. He was moved across Antietam Creek on the evening of the 16th and opened the battle early in the morning of the following day. McClellan states that his plan was "to attack the en¬emy's left, and as soon as matters looked favorably there, to move the corps of General Burnside against the enemy's extreme right, upon the ridge running to the south and rear of Sharpsburg." In front of Burnside's position and between him and the objec¬tive point of his attack, was a stone bridge with low parapets, which it was necessary to carry in order to cross his command. At ten o'clock in the forenoon, Burnside received orders to attack. The troops were immediately put in motion and the attack was made. Twice were the regiments selected for the task driven back. The third attempt was success¬ful, and by one o'clock in the afternoon the bridge was carried, and three divisions were promptly thrown across—Rodman, meanwhile, crossing his division at a ford below. The corps gallantly as¬cended and occupied the ridge, and, pressing for¬ward, advanced to the outskirts of the town of Sharpsburg. The success of this movement de¬pended somewhat upon the favorable result of the attack delivered from the right of our line. But that attack had been very strongly met, and at three o'clock in the afternoon had almost entirely ceased. The left wing, which had really occupied the most advanced position of the day, was now pressed back¬ward, and, retiring to the ridge on the other side of the creek, held it firmly and could not be dislodged. The night shut down upon a bloody battlefield. The losses on both sides were large. In Burnside's command, General Rodman, of our own state, fell, mortally wounded, while gallantly leading his di¬vision in the final struggle of the day, beyond the bridge. Twelve days of pain and suffering, fol¬lowed, and on the 30th of September he died, leaving the memory of a brave, faithful and Christian man to be long and faithfully cherished by all who knew his worth.
The result of the battle of Antietam, although not a decisive victory, was yet of such a nature as to compel General Lee to withdraw his army across the, Potomac. Burnside wished to renew the battle on the morning of the 18th, but McClellan was not prepared to do so until the morning of the 19th, when it was discovered that there was no enemy in front, except about two thousand wounded men who could not be moved, and as many more un-buried dead. General Lee had returned to Vir¬ginia. For the next few weeks the two armies lay inactive on opposite sides of the Potomac. McClellan was desirous of wintering in the neighborhood for the purpose of re-fitting and re-organizing his command. The President was desirous of striking another blow upon the enemy before the winter set in. Early in October he ordered McClellan to take his army across the Potomac. But it was not till the 1st of November that the entire command was finally transferred to Virginia. It then advanced with celerity—General Lee retiring up the valley of the Shenandoah, our own army making its way along upon the eastern side of the Blue Ridge. On the 7th of November headquarters were at Warrenton, and there, on the evening of that day, a special mes¬senger arrived from Washington, bearing on or¬der from the War Department, relieving General McClellan and appointing General Burnside to the command of the Army of the Potomac. The order was dated on the 5th, and on the 9th, after much se¬rious and even prayerful thought, Burnside assumed command. "With diffidence for myself," were the closing words of the general order, "but with a proud confidence in the unswerving loyalty and de¬termination of the gallant army now entrusted to my care, I accept its control with the steadfast assur¬ance that the just cause will prevail." . |
Ambrose E. Burnside, Page II, By Rev. Augustus Woodbury, is continued on the next page (RI MOLLUS War Paper No. Six; Volume No. Three) of these Publications. |
THE RHODE ISLAND SOLDIERS AND SAILORS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE
{ Return To The Top of This Page }
MOLLUS Internet Published War Papers
| ________________________________
Source:
Copyright© 2009, Gregg A. Mierka, Rhode Island Commandery, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
|
Get your own Free Home Page