 | Memoirs of the war of secession |  |
The Seventh Battalion.
Lieutenant-Colonel Nelson, commanding this battalion, had
commenced the war as brigadier-general of State troops at the
reduction of Sumter, and General Hagood, then Colonel of the
First South Carolina, had been attached to his command. When,
shortly afterward, the State troops were transferred to Confederate
service, the general officers lost their commissions, Nelson
returned home and raised this battalion "for the war." He was a
planter, a gentleman of high culture and fine presence, and an
excellent officer. Major Rion had commenced the war as colonel
of the Sixth South Carolina, had lost his commission in the
re-election consequent upon taking Confederate service; had
raised a company and joined Nelson. He was a leading lawyer
of Fairfield District, both before and after the war. The subordinate
officers were, with scarce an exception, good and some
superior, and the men of excellent material. This battalion came
nearer to Regulars in discipline and uniform efficiency at all
times and under all circumstances than any volunteer troops the
writer met with during the war; and this was largely due to the
zeal and ability of Major Rion.
The battalion had served with distinction at Pocotaligo,
arriving on a railroad train in time by a vigorous assault to
decide the day. It had also borne honorable part in the existing
siege of Charleston. It was drawn from the central districts of
the State.
Such, briefly, was the character of the regiments now organized
and known afterward as "Hagood's Brigade," as it appeared
to one who knew them intimately, and who appreciated, as
one appreciates a well-tried blade, that exalted heroism and
unflinching devotion which marked their subsequent career as a
body, but who had no respect for individuals in such a corps who
fell short of its high standard—men bearing commissions in the
clad in rags, often infested with vermin, who went into action,
or endured the hardships of the march and the trench, as if they
bore a marshal's baton.
The following anecdote will show the estimate in which the
regiments were held by one of the higher rank, who knew them
well. On the lines before Bermuda Hundreds in May, '64, General
Bragg, then holding staff position at Richmond, asked
General Hagood in presence of General Beauregard what sort
of a brigade he had. General Beauregard replied by narrating
the incident mentioned in the Memoirs of the Second Military
District (Vol. I, page 112) of Hagood's disappointment in going
with the brigade sent to Vicksburg, and said: "I told him, then,
that when opportunity served I would give him a good brigade
with which to take the field; and I gave him the best troops I
had, sir."
At the date of the order organizing the brigade, most of the
regiments composing it were on James Island, constituting chiefly
the infantry supports of the battalion of the east lines—a subdivision
then commanded by General Hagood. The others were
concentrated under his command in this position as soon as
circumstances permitted. Gilmore's active operations had ceased,
as before narrated, with the boat attack on Sumter, and the siege
had subsided into a matter of long range fire. This state of
affairs chiefly occupied the artillery, and afforded opportunity
of bringing the brigade into a high state of efficiency, which was
eagerly embraced.
The following circular was issued, and its directions enforced:
1 December, 1863.
Circular.
I. A course of instruction in drill will be instituted by the several commandants
of regiments of the brigade as follows: The six (6) lessons in
the battalion drill (Hardee's 2 Vol.) will be gone through with on successive
days; and then three successive days will be devoted to the skirmish drill
including the deployment of the battalion.[2]
These duties will be had in
will have caused his officers to recite on the lessons of the day—
blackboards or some substitute being used.
II. Special attention will be given in this course to the guides, and
commandants of the regiments are required to reduce to the ranks any noncommissioned
officer, who, after reasonable instruction, fails to become
master of his duty. The "advance in line" must be practised until the
troops are perfect in its execution and its principles thoroughly understood.
The troops must also be accustomed to manœuver as well by the rear rank
as by the front, by inversion as by direction.
The "formation against cavalry," the "instructions for skirmishers," the
"advance in line" and the "march in column" are of chief importance in
the drill; and their relative importance is in the inverse order in which
they are here enumerated. The points to be looked to in the march of a
column, whatever the breadth of its front, are (1) that the depth of the
column never exceeds the width the troops are to occupy in line of battle.
(2) That meeting an obstacle in the march, the men do not improperly
break into files to pass it. (3) That no man, upon any pretense whatever,
falls out of the ranks without the permission first obtained of his captain.
The first two rules are to prevent fatigue to the men in closing up from
time to time, and to prevent delay in the march of an army. A single
battalion may lose but ten minutes on a march in thus improperly breaking
into file, that will delay a brigade near an hour, and a division five hours,
in which time a battle may be lost or won. The third rule is to prevent
the evil of straggling, and all these rules will be enforced in this brigade
on all marches, however distant from the enemy—whether going to or returning
from duty, or upon any other occasion. Discipline is the result of
habit, and careless habits in this particular must not be formed, or, if
formed, must be broken. Officers must use such means, amounting to severity
if necessary, as will enforce these rules, and they alone will be held
responsible for any departure from them.
III. Commanding officers will notify these headquarters of the hours
in the afternoon each may select for the drills ordered to the end that the
brigadier-general may when practical be present.
By command Brigadier-General Hagood.
I never saw a battalion deployed as skirmishers in actual battle. The Confederate
practice was for each company to furnish men enough to cover its own front
and one or more officers were detailed from the regiment. A field officer was
generally detailed for the occasion to command all the skirmishers from the brigade.
In some brigades these details became more or less permanent.—J. H.
At a later day, when the brigade was in the field, a standing
order, of which the following is an extract, prescribed minutely
the details necessary to secure the proper conduct of marches,
and regimental commandants were held directly responsible to
the brigade commander for their proper observance:
"On all marches the officers second in rank present for duty
with each regiment, together with the assistant surgeon, or in his
absence the surgeon, will follow the regiment and be accompanied
regimental rear-guard. The last regiment will, however, have
instead a company as brigade rear-guard, and will be accompanied
by the brigade surgeon and the surgeons who may not be
immediately in rear of their regiments, filling the places of absent
assistant surgeons. The ambulances will follow immediately
thereafter and be succeeded by the ordnance wagons; and then
the quartermaster's train, when the latter marches with the
brigade. The commanding officer of the regiment will habitually
march at its head, but he will frequently stop and let it march
past him, to see that it marches properly. He will always do this
upon encountering a rivulet or other obstruction which the men
may be inclined to break their ranks in passing. This is most
positively forbidden; all such places must be passed in proper
order, and the regimental commander will immediately arrest
and report any captain who fails to bring his company properly
through such places. No discretion is allowed the regimental
commander in such cases. An officer or man unable from any
reason to keep up with the march will obtain from his immediate
commander verbal permission to fall out. The regimental rear-guard
will examine him, and if properly out of the ranks the
assistant surgeon will give him written permission to fall to the
rear, when the brigade surgeon will take such action as the case,
in his opinion, requires. The brigade surgeon will be careful to
allow no one to ride in the ambulances except in case of necessity.
The files will be kept closed in marching and dressed,
though the precision of the drill is not required. File closers will
be held responsible for this by their company commanders. Cases
of unauthorized straggling will be made by regimental commanders
the subject of severe and summary discipline; it is the
highest military offense, next to desertion.
"When in line of battle, the horses of those who do not ride in
action[3]
will be kept in the neighborhood of the field infirmary.
The brigade quartermaster will see that they are supplied with
forage at this point; and he will cause a light forage wagon to
follow the brigade when the general quartermaster's train does
not march in the column. A mounted quartermaster's man will
with the column.
"Regimental commanders will hold their assistant quartermasters
responsible for the regular supply of properly cooked
food for their men. Any irregularity in this matter is prima
facie the fault of these officers for which they must account."
The brigade inspector also habitually marched with the rear-guard,
which, when he was present, took its orders from him.
In traveling by rail, other standing orders directed the company
formation to be retained as far as practicable and company
officers were required to ride with their men. A guard was kept
in each car. In marches, which he could control, General Hagood
always ten minutes after the march commenced halted for ten
minutes to allow the men to adjust their packs and attend to the
calls of nature. Afterwards he halted ten minutes in every hour.
He always, too, after one of these halts, gave a preliminary signal
to prepare to march. The writer has seen much unnecessary
fatigue to the men and much discreditable lengthening of column
by the absence of method in conducting a march. The practice
in the Army of Northern Virginia was to have halts at no regular
time, and, after a temporary halt, for the head of the column to
move off without a general signal given, and each regiment arose
in succession from the roadside where the men were resting and
followed the march only from seeing the regiment ahead of it
move. Thus the extra fatigue of hurrying up to close the column
did away with the benefit of the rest. The march of the Confederate
armies was habitually in "column of fours."
But to return to James Island. Subsequently to the course of
regimental instruction, a school for field officers was opened at
brigade headquarters with daily recitations and drills in evolutions
of the line. Before this course was completed, each field
officer was qualified and required to drill the brigade. The
clothing, transportation and equipment of the brigade was at
the same time inspected and renewed and completed, through the
medium of proper requisitions. The ordnance was specially put
upon an excellent footing. The long Enfield rifle, with accoutrements
complete, was obtained for the whole command, except
Gantt's regiment, and a small corps of artisans (selected from
the ranks) was organized with traveling forges, etc., to render
remained armed with the smooth-bore musket until the
victory of Drury's Bluff, when it armed itself upon the field with
Enfields, and thenceforward the brigade was relieved from the
inconvenience of having two calibres among its arms, and was in
effectiveness of weapon upon a footing with the troops it
encountered.
The following circular organized a Pioneer Corps and completed
the preparation for the expected field service of the
ensuing campaign:
James Island, 19 February, 1864.
Circular.
I. A Pioneer Corps will be organized for this brigade, and Major Gooding,
Eleventh South Carolina, is assigned to its command.
II. Captains of companies under the supervision of regimental commanders
will at once indicate from their respective companies each two
men, having regard solely to their fitness from previous occupation for this
purpose. The regimental commanders will each select a lieutenant of
energetic and practical habits and report his name, rank, etc., together with
the names of the men selected from their respective commands, to these
headquarters.
III. The brigade quartermaster will issue, upon the requisition of Major
Gooding, the necessary axes, spades and picks, together with the necessary
slings for carrying them.
IV. The brigade ordnance officer will furnish to the Pioneer Corps the
short Enfield rifle instead of the long Enfield, which the men now have,
and see that they are supplied with proper slings for carrying them.
V. It is intended upon ordinary occasions that the officers and men of
this corps shall remain and do duty, as usual, with their respective commands.
In all marches, however, of the regiment, its Pioneers will be
detached under its lieutenant and precede it. When the brigade moves the
whole corps will precede the column under command of its field officer, the
packs of the men being carried upon the baggage wagons. Upon marches,
the corps will be excused from camp guard and picket duty. In action, the
men and officers will return to their respective commands. Should this,
under the circumstances, be impracticable, the corps will take its place in
line of battle as a separate battalion.
VI. Upon all inspections and reviews, the Pioneers will appear united
under their officers. The men will be held as strictly responsible for the
condition of their implements as for their arms and accoutrements. Company
commanders are charged with this and are held responsible that the
implements are not used for ordinary camp purposes. The senior officer
of the corps will inspect it once a month by regiments, and report its condition
Pioneers upon the request of this officer.
VII. Major Gooding will keep rolls and rosters, and take all necessary
steps to make his corps efficient in the spirit of this order.
By command Brigadier-General Hagood.
Major Lartigue, the brigade quartermaster, took special interest
in equipping this corps, and devised very complete slings for
carrying the implements with ease to the men even at a double
quick.
As thus organized, the corps was continued and did good
service until the fall of '64, though, after the brigade was assigned
to Hoke's Division, it was generally (under a lieutenant) a part
of the Division Pioneer Corps. In October, 1864, General Lee, in
an effort to increase the fighting strength of his attenuated army,
ordered all such corps broken up and the men returned to the
ranks. Instead, he directed one man from each company to be
selected and known as "Pioneer," who, as such, was exempted
from guard and picket duty, but in all other respects was considered
a soldier in the ranks. In like manner commissioned and
non-commissioned officers were selected who were to be put in
charge when these pioneers were called together.
The fact was, that this campaign had been so much one continued
siege, and the men were by this time so thoroughly
indoctrinated with notions of the value of breastworks and rifle
pits, that the entrenching tools with which each company had
been supplied, or had supplied itself, were carried as its most
valuable property. Peculations of these cherished implements
were not uncommon, and on the march it was not an unusual sight
to see a company officer carrying a cherished spade or pick, after
it had successively passed through the hands of some half dozen
wearied soldiers of his command, each of whom had borne it in
addition to his arms. A special corps supplied with such implements
was, therefore, no longer important.
In the general organization of the Confederate armies, at first
there were brigade and regimental commissaries—all commissioned.
At the date of which we are now writing, the regimental
commissaries had been discontinued, and their duties assigned to
the regimental assistant quartermasters, aided by regimental
quartermasters were discontinued, and the organization was a
commissary and a quartermaster to the brigade, each ranking as
major, and each with an assistant, ranking as captain. There
remained throughout a commissary sergeant and a quartermaster
sergeant to each regiment.
The medical corps consisted, during the whole war, of a surgeon
and an assistant surgeon to each regiment, and when
brigaded, the senior surgeon assumed control and was known as
the brigade surgeon.
These various staff officers in the beginning were all nominated
by the line officer to whose corps they were attached. Afterwards
they were transferred and assigned from corps to corps by the
chief of their respective bureaus at Richmond without consulting
the line officer commanding, and often to his chagrin and disgust.
The same general remarks as to organization, appointment
and assignment apply to the adjutants, inspectors and ordnance
officers. Major-generals, lieutenant-generals and generals had
each their staff officers of each department for their respective
commands, and a bureau chief of each department of the staff was
located at Richmond.
There were also post quartermasters, and post commissaries,
whose duties never led them into the field, and who were too often
corrupt speculators upon the necessities of their suffering country.
It was the shortcomings of this class that brought the very name
of commissary and quartermaster into odium and contempt. Of
those officers of these departments who served with the armies in
the field, the writer deems it but justice to say that there was as
much high tone and devotion to the cause among those whom he
met as among any other class of officers in the service. He
desires here to record his appreciation of the gentlemen who filled
these offices in his command. They yielded to no members of his
staff in patriotism, high honor and personal gallantry. Their
names will not as often occur in these memoirs as others, for the
discharge of their necessary duties oftenest kept them in the rear,
but they were always ready, when these permitted, to come to him
as volunteers in action—and on these occasions did always well.
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