Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., rector of Latimer parish, Lexington, Virginia; brigadier-general c.s.a.; chief of artillery, army of northern Virginia. |
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| XXIV. | CHAPTER XXIV. |
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 | CHAPTER XXIV. Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., |  |
CHAPTER XXIV.
COLONEL OF ARTILLERY—FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS.
Captain Pendleton had been three years at West Point with
Generals Johnston and Lee, and two years with Mr. Jefferson
Davis, and the kindly relations of their youth had never been forgotten.
That he had retained the skill as an artillerist acquired
at the Military Academy was shown by the facility with which
his men handled their guns and the excellent discipline of his
company, while his readiness in supplying deficiencies in the
equipment of the artillery pointed him out as one to be relied on
in emergency.[1]
General Johnston, therefore, took the first opportunity
ability. Mr. Davis, writing to General Johnston, July 13, 1861,
says,—
"I recollect Captain Pendleton well, and when we were all
younger esteemed him highly as a soldier and a gentleman. I
some days since directed that he should have rank as a colonel
and be put in command of the batteries of your army."[2]
On the receipt of this promotion Colonel Pendleton was appointed
chief of artillery by General Johnston, and thus brought
into frequent and intimate intercourse with him. The cordial
terms existing between them is shown by the fact that the notes
and special directions to Colonel Pendleton are almost always
written by General Johnston's own hand.
Little leisure was given for Colonel Pendleton to become
familiar with the duties of his new and enlarged sphere. The
advance of the Federal troops upon Manassas caused the War
Department in Richmond to summon General Johnston and his
force with all haste to the assistance of General Beauregard, commanding
there. The retrograde movements from Harper's Ferry
and Martinsburg had occasioned much dissatisfaction among the
raw and undisciplined troops. To prevent discouragement now,
the necessity for getting to Manassas with all speed was communicated
to them in the following spirited order from General
Johnston:
"The commanding general directs the regiments to be informed,
immediately after they have left the city, that General
Beauregard is being attacked by overwhelming forces. He has
been ordered by the government to his assistance, and is now
marching across the Blue Ridge upon the enemy.
"General Patterson and his command have gone out of the
way to Harper's Ferry, and are not in reach. Every moment
now is precious, and the general hopes that his soldiers will step
country.
"By command. General Johnston.
"Adjutant and Inspector-General".
Excited by the prospect of an impending battle, the Army of
the Shenandoah responded to their general's call and pressed
eagerly forward on the toilsome way, undaunted by the rocky
road, the Shenandoah to be forded, and the Blue Ridge to be
climbed before they reached the long stretch of rough country
between the mountains and the plains of Manassas. Of this
march Colonel Pendleton wrote, a few months later, to a confidential
friend:
"The Army of the Shenandoah, on the 18th of July, left Winchester
under imperative orders to reach Manassas in the shortest
possible time. General Johnston directed the captains of the
several batteries to report to me as they arrived at Piedmont,—
the station on the Manassas Gap Railroad where the infantry were
to take the cars,—that under my command they might march to
join General Beauregard, By nightfall of the 19th only three
out of five had reached Piedmont, and two of those I had myself
conducted—about eleven P.M., when it was very dark—through
the Shenandoah. Meantime messengers from Manassas reached
General Johnston, which induced him to start me immediately
with the three batteries,—Captain Stanard's, Captain Alburtis's,
and my own. The darkness was intense, the road scarcely practicable
for four-wheeled carriages, and the weather very bad.
Men and horses were greatly fagged. Yet I procured guides,
encouraged all, and pressed on. Other messengers from Manassas
brought me despatches after midnight begging me to hasten.
By judicious rest for teams and men, not exceeding two hours
in all, I reached Manassas, with all safe and in good condition,
about two o'clock P.M., Saturday, 2Oth instant. This, I may say
without vanity, was a most important performance, requiring as
much energy and judgment as any single service of the entire
campaign."
Colonel Pendleton's letter to his wife, two days after the great
battle of the 21st of July, was read to pieces within the weeks
following the battle. The loss of its graphic description, especially
of the part taken by his command, is much to be regretted.
General Johnston in his report, speaking of his own hasty ride to
the left of the field, says, "On the way I instructed my chief of
artillery, Colonel Pendleton, to follow with his own and Alburtis's
batteries." Pressing forward in the direction indicated,
Colonel Pendleton with his eight guns emerged from a growth
of scrubby pines to find themselves close upon Jackson's infantry,
with a large force of the enemy in their front. With an exclamation
of pleasure, Jackson galloped to meet the welcome batteries,
and pointed out the place for them, on the crest of the
ridge opposite the Henry house.
A second captain had not yet been appointed to succeed
Colonel Pendleton in command of the Rockbridge battery, and
he continued for some weeks to act in that capacity. Accordingly,
he now took the battery into action, posting its guns and
giving directions for the cutting of fuses and aiming of pieces,[3]
besides exercising general supervision over all the artillery present
belonging to the Army of the Shenandoah. To what good purpose
the guns were served during the long hours of that bloody
day the official accounts will tell. General Johnston's report
says,—
"The efficiency of our infantry and cavalry might have been
expected from a patriotic people accustomed, like ours, to the
management of arms and horses, but that of the artillery was
little less than wonderful. They were opposed to batteries far
superior in the number, range, and equipment of their guns, with
educated officers and thoroughly-instructed soldiers. We had
but one educated artillerist, Colonel Pendleton,—that model of a
Christian soldier,—yet they exhibited as much superiority to the
enemy in skill as in courage. Their fire was superior both in
rapidity and precision." And again, "Every regiment and battery
performed their part well."
"Pendleton, of the artillery," is also enumerated among the
officers especially distinguished.
General Beauregard says of the Confederate artillery,—
"The ground occupied by our guns—on a level with that held
by the batteries of the enemy—was an open space of limited
extent, behind a low undulation just at the eastern verge of the
plateau, some five or six hundred yards from the Henry house.
Here, as before said, thirteen pieces, mostly six-pounders, were
maintained in action; the several batteries of Imboden, Stanard,
Pendleton (Rockbridge Artillery), and Alburtis, of the Army of
the Shenandoah, and five guns of Walton's, and Heaton's section
of Rogers's battery of the Army of the Potomac, alternating to
some extent with each other, and taking part as needed, all from
the outset displaying that marvellous capacity of our people as
artillerists which has made them, it would appear, at once the
terror and the admiration of the enemy."[4]
In the letter to a friend, quoted just above, Colonel Pendleton
says,—
"Of the part performed by these three batteries[5]
under my
command the memorable 21st of July I need not speak. The
papers, without my cognizance of any writer, have told quite
enough,—not too much that I know of."
The Richmond Whig, among others, had said that "Colonel
Pendleton's guns were handled with a skill and effect which
extorted admiration from all beholders."
Sandie Pendleton's letter of the battle contained some interesting
particulars. Part of it is therefore given:
". . . Ere this reaches you you will, of course, have heard of
our great victory on Sunday. But whether you will have heard
that none of yours were killed or hurt is another matter. It is true
Jackson's finger was broken. The only injury I sustained was a
slight wound in the leg while in a charge of Colonel Cummings's
regiment on a battery of rifled guns, which it took.
"The battle was begun by the enemy opening a heavy fire of
artillery on our right, in order to divert our attention while they
came in force around our left flank, crossing Bull Run, and
attacking us in the rear. But their object was perceived and
troops moved up to meet them. There is a ridge of hills running
nearly north and south, and the enemy's aim was to gain them;
but we succeeded in getting possession of them, and, as they commanded
all in front, they gained the day for us. General Bee's
command was on the right and first attacked by the enemy, and
fell back, fighting gallantly. Then General Jackson moved up
our brigade to support them and drive back the enemy, which it
did in gallant style. Colonel Harper's regiment, from Augusta,
was on the right of our brigade. Then Colonel Preston's, having
the Rifles and College company in it;[6]
next, on the left, Colonel
Echol's, and then Colonel Allen's and Colonel Cummings's. The
order was given to fire and charge when the enemy was within
fifty yards, coming up the hill. My horse was killed under me
early in the day, and I had to go on foot. I attached myself
then to Colonel Cummings's regiment, and, as they charged a
battery of rifled cannon, went right into the front. They ran the
Fire Zouaves clear off the field, killing some hundred of them.
The battery came up on the left of the regiment, supported by
the regiment (Ellsworth's) of Fire Zouaves. Colonel Thomas,
of Maryland, bringing up some men to support Colonel Cummings,
was shot dead by my side. I helped him from his horse,
and helped lay him out. This was when I was struck by a ball
on my left thigh, merely grazing it. . . . I heard that papa was
killed, and put out for him; reached his battery just as the battle
was over and found him unharmed,—having had his horse shot,
and one ball having grazed his ear and another spent one struck
him in the back. . . . In a charge by Colonel Preston's regiment
one fellow ran a bayonet through Bronson Gwynn's clothes, when
he put his gun to his head and blew it literally to pieces."
No need to tell here of the rout of the Federal army. How,
panic-stricken, it ran and ran until it poured into Washington a
terrified mob. Of the men who had driven it back thus demoralized
and defeated General Johnston says,—
"The admirable character of our troops is incontestably proved
by the result of this battle, especially when it is remembered that
little more than six thousand men of the Army of the Shenandoah,"
—his own, brought from the valley,—"with sixteen guns,
and less than two thousand of that of the Potomac, with six
guns, for full five hours successfully resisted thirty-five thousand
United States troops, with a powerful artillery and a superior
force of regular cavalry. . . . The brunt of this hard-fought engagement
fell upon the troops who held their ground so long with
such heroic resolution. The unfading honor which they won
was dearly bought with the blood of our best and bravest."[7]
In his "Narrative" he further says,—
". . . Great were the odds against which the Southern volunteers
contended in the early stages of this action; their numbers
engaged, gradually increasing, amounted at its close to about
thirteen thousand men of all arms. . . . It may reasonably be
inferred that the three Federal divisions on the field were about
two to one compared with the Confederates at four o'clock, and
four to one at noon; at eleven o'clock the disparity of numbers
was much greater.
"Twenty-eight pieces of artillery, four thousand five hundred
muskets, almost half a million of cartridges, a garrison
flag and ten regimental colors were taken on the field, or near it
in the pursuit, besides sixty-four artillery horses, with their harness,
twenty-six wagons, and camp equipage, clothing, and other
military property."[8]
The news of this total and unexpected defeat was received with
a howl of shame, rage, and revenge at the North. In the South
a psalm of thanksgiving for their wonderful deliverance and success
was mingled with tears for the loss of their gallant dead.
war ended. Whole companies which had enlisted "for the war"
prepared to return home, and some actually did so. The first
days after the fight were spent in burying first our own and then
the Yankee dead, and in resting from the fatigue and excitement
of the great struggle. The Confederate Congress passed resolutions,
the day after the battle, inviting the people to unite with
them in returning thanks to Almighty God on the 28th, the
day week of the engagement, and General Johnston issued an
order forbidding any military exercises in his camp, so that all
the troops might have opportunity for joining in the appointed
services.
As Colonel Pendleton was riding through a piece of woods
towards a part of the camp where he was to preach, on the
morning of the 28th, he came upon a party of four negro camp-servants
who were engrossed in a game of cards. Getting close
up to them without being observed, he asked, "Boys, do you
think that is a good way for you to be spending Sunday?"
Looking up, one of them answered, with the promptness of repartee
common among his race, "Master, 'tain't half so bad as
what you done last Sunday."[9]
List of "Artillery and equipments captured and received by
Colonel W. N. Pendleton, July 23, 1861:
30-pounder Parrott rifled gun.
10-pounder Parrott rifled guns.
12-pounder brass rifled guns.
12-pounder brass howitzers.
12-pounder boat-howitzers.
6-pounder brass smooth-bore guns.
caissons (many of them in parts, but the portions capable of being put together
so as to make this number complete).battery wagons.
battery forges.
horses.
sets harness and a mass of pieces."
1
9
9
3
2
3
34
4
6
24
34
Made out by Colonel Pendleton at the time.
The artillery force engaged in the battle of Manassas, July 21,
1861, is thus stated in the second volume of the Official Records
in the War Office in Washington:
CONFEDERATE ARTILLERY.
Army of the Shenandoah,—Batteries of Colonel Pendleton, Imboden, Alburtis,
Stanard, Beckham, p. 569.
Army under Beauregard,—Kemper's, Latham's, Loudoun (Rogers's), and Washington
Artillery, Louisiana, p. 568.
Mostly 6-pounders, p. 494.
FEDERAL ARTILLERY.
Ricketts's, Griffin's, Arnold's, Hunt's, Carlisle's, Ayres's, and Edward's batteries of
United States regulars, the Rhode Island and Seventy-first New York Regiment volunteers,
—all fully horsed and equipped, except two "boat-howitzers" of the Seventy-first
New York. Twenty-eight of these guns were rifled 10-, 13-, and 20-pounders,
one 30-pounder, eight were 6-pounders, and the remainder 12-pounder howitzers—Report
of Major W. F. Bang, Chief of Artillery to General McDowell, Official Records,
vol. ii., series i., p. 345. Of these, Ricketts's and Arnold's entire batteries were captured;
all of Griffin's except one gun, five of the Rhode Island rifled 13-pounders,
the big 30-pounder, and others here and there.—Report of James B. Fry, Assistant
Adjutant-General to General McDowell, Official Records, vol. ii., series i.
| CHAPTER XXIV. Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., | |