Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan on the Front Line of a Nation Divided by W Hunter Lesser Page A
Authors: W Hunter Lesser
Ads: Link
Creek headquarters, McClellan grew restless. By 9 A.M., he sent a mounted courier after Rosecrans—reportedly to call off the attack until a better plan was devised. But the galloping courier blundered into Confederate pickets, was shot from his horse, and was taken in for questioning. From him, Lt. Col. Pegram learned of the flank attack, if not its direction. Pegram believed his flanks were unapproachable. To play it safe, however, he sent Captain Julius DeLagnel, Garnett's chief of artillery, with a cannon and reinforcements to the picket station on top of Rich Mountain. 246
The 310 Confederates on the summit that day consisted of members of the Twentieth and Twenty-fifth Virginia Regiments, adetachment of the Churchville Cavalry, and the crew of a bronze six-pounder gun led by Lt. Charles Statham of the Lee Battery. The Virginians fashioned crude log breastworks in a gap along the turnpike opposite the two-story Hart farmhouse. Captain DeLagnel, a fourteen-year veteran of the U.S. Army, commanded the post. His orders were to defend it “to the last extremity.” 247
While Rosecrans's brigade marched around the Confederate left flank, Lt. Col. Pegram imagined they were circling his right flank instead. He notified General Garnett at Laurel Hill and sent a messenger to hurry up Colonel William C. Scott's Forty-fourth Virginia Infantry, just in from Staunton. Scott was ordered to guard the Merritt Road, an obscure track intersecting the turnpike from the north, one and a half miles west of Beverly. 248
The Federals under General Rosecrans clambered up Rich Mountain from the south . Their route proved nearly impassible for horses, just as young Hart had claimed. Pausing above a steep gorge at 11 A.M., Rosecrans sent a dispatch to McClellan stating that he would send no more messengers until there was “something of importance to communicate.” It was the last word between the two generals that day.
Following a brief rest near the summit, the brigade turned north. Rosecrans was badly off schedule—his three-hour march had stretched to nearly ten. At 2:30 P.M., on the crest of the mountain less than a mile from Hart's, skirmishers of the Tenth Indiana Regiment were fired on by Confederate pickets. Captain Christopher Miller and two other members of the Tenth fell before the Rebels were driven to flight. David Hart had already dropped back into the main Federal column, fearing for his safety. Now he was accused of treachery. “Gentlemen,” David replied, “go where I take you and you will not be beaten.” 249
As gunfire echoed from the south, startled Confederates at the Hart house rolled their cannon around and leapt behind logs and boulders in the stable yard. Peering up the mountainside, they watched Federal skirmishers emerge from the woods at a range of three hundred fifty yards. Almost on cue, a heavy rainstormerupted. The lone Confederate cannon opened with a roar. Lieutenant Statham, commander of the gun, watched his case shot bursting in the midst of the enemy. Urgent cries of Union officers to “close up ranks” spurred him on. Statham poured on the fire at a rate of nearly four shots per minute.
The Tenth Indiana, in advance, was ordered to “lie down” as cannonballs sheared off the treetops. Limbs crashed to the ground. Exploding shrapnel filled the air. David Hart hugged the wet slope for dear life, certain the Rebels had twenty-five or thirty cannon.
Stalled by nature's fury and Statham's artillery, General Rosecrans called up his troops. The Eighth Indiana joined the Tenth in line of battle on his right and center. The Thirteenth Indiana formed on the left, with the Nineteenth Ohio in reserve. From the Confederate works, Captain David Curry of the Rockbridge Guards watched the drama unfold: “As Regt. after Regt. of the enemy came into view, our small force saw it had heavy work before it.…We knew we had no chance to defeat so much superior force, but we believed
The 310 Confederates on the summit that day consisted of members of the Twentieth and Twenty-fifth Virginia Regiments, adetachment of the Churchville Cavalry, and the crew of a bronze six-pounder gun led by Lt. Charles Statham of the Lee Battery. The Virginians fashioned crude log breastworks in a gap along the turnpike opposite the two-story Hart farmhouse. Captain DeLagnel, a fourteen-year veteran of the U.S. Army, commanded the post. His orders were to defend it “to the last extremity.” 247
While Rosecrans's brigade marched around the Confederate left flank, Lt. Col. Pegram imagined they were circling his right flank instead. He notified General Garnett at Laurel Hill and sent a messenger to hurry up Colonel William C. Scott's Forty-fourth Virginia Infantry, just in from Staunton. Scott was ordered to guard the Merritt Road, an obscure track intersecting the turnpike from the north, one and a half miles west of Beverly. 248
The Federals under General Rosecrans clambered up Rich Mountain from the south . Their route proved nearly impassible for horses, just as young Hart had claimed. Pausing above a steep gorge at 11 A.M., Rosecrans sent a dispatch to McClellan stating that he would send no more messengers until there was “something of importance to communicate.” It was the last word between the two generals that day.
Following a brief rest near the summit, the brigade turned north. Rosecrans was badly off schedule—his three-hour march had stretched to nearly ten. At 2:30 P.M., on the crest of the mountain less than a mile from Hart's, skirmishers of the Tenth Indiana Regiment were fired on by Confederate pickets. Captain Christopher Miller and two other members of the Tenth fell before the Rebels were driven to flight. David Hart had already dropped back into the main Federal column, fearing for his safety. Now he was accused of treachery. “Gentlemen,” David replied, “go where I take you and you will not be beaten.” 249
As gunfire echoed from the south, startled Confederates at the Hart house rolled their cannon around and leapt behind logs and boulders in the stable yard. Peering up the mountainside, they watched Federal skirmishers emerge from the woods at a range of three hundred fifty yards. Almost on cue, a heavy rainstormerupted. The lone Confederate cannon opened with a roar. Lieutenant Statham, commander of the gun, watched his case shot bursting in the midst of the enemy. Urgent cries of Union officers to “close up ranks” spurred him on. Statham poured on the fire at a rate of nearly four shots per minute.
The Tenth Indiana, in advance, was ordered to “lie down” as cannonballs sheared off the treetops. Limbs crashed to the ground. Exploding shrapnel filled the air. David Hart hugged the wet slope for dear life, certain the Rebels had twenty-five or thirty cannon.
Stalled by nature's fury and Statham's artillery, General Rosecrans called up his troops. The Eighth Indiana joined the Tenth in line of battle on his right and center. The Thirteenth Indiana formed on the left, with the Nineteenth Ohio in reserve. From the Confederate works, Captain David Curry of the Rockbridge Guards watched the drama unfold: “As Regt. after Regt. of the enemy came into view, our small force saw it had heavy work before it.…We knew we had no chance to defeat so much superior force, but we believed
Similar Books
