Stuart’s Horse Artillery (Part 5): Crowd ‘em with Artillery

The author John Esten Cooke, on the staff of Major General (MG) J.E.B. Stuart, tells us that Lieutenant General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson’s counterattack kicked off at dusk on 13 December 1862, around 4:30 PM by some accounts.  General Stuart’s efforts to “Crowd ‘em with Artillery” are bound together with Jackson’s counterattack. This was done because of an order from Jackson that “he was going to advance and attack the enemy precisely at sunset, and General Stuart was desired to advance his artillery and fire as rapidly as possible, taking care not to injure the [confederate] troops as they attacked”.

In the late afternoon of December 13, 1862, Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson planned and initiated, but quickly aborted, a large counterattack against Union General John Reynold’s 1st Corps. Jackson ordered Major General J.E.B. Stuart, located to his south, to unleash an artillery offensive at the same time as his counter-offensive. Stuart was told to ‘Crowd ‘em with Artillery’. Stuart continued this offensive even after Jackson stopped. This lasted until late into the night while everyone else stayed inactive and silent.

The lateness of Jackson’s counter-offensive was designed to take advantage of the fading light. He wanted his troops to get amongst the union artillery and infantry before they could damage his assault wave. This would then cause the Union heavy artillery, located across the Rappahannock River, to cease firing.

Jackson’s attack was short lived, while Stuart’s actions continued well into the night. Because I’m dealing primarily with Stuart and the artillery he controlled, I will leave a discussion of Jackson’s aborted attack for another time. It is too large a topic and would otherwise obscure my focus on Stuart.

Having said that, let’s pause momentarily and consider the amount of light available to the combatants at this point in the battle. Sunset, the point at which the sun goes below the horizon, was approximately 5PM. The first half hour after sunset is called Civil Twilight. The next half hour, termed Nautical Twilight, 5:30 to 6 PM, is that period where trees seem to lose their depth, becoming simply black outlines against subdued and fast waning light in the sky. Here the absence of shadows, with a faint amount of sunlight, is a favorite amongst photographers and painters. It is not good for coordinated movement of troops and equipment such as artillery. Visual control of ground operations is lost when Nautical Twilight ends. Outdoor activity is curtailed without artificial illumination. Imagine, if you will, a time when you took a late evening walk. You started out as evening shadows were lengthening. Soon the trees became dim in the fading light. It is time to return home, and unless you have a flashlight, it will be very hard to navigate in the disappearing light. This fading light plays an important part of the accounts of the battle as we shall see. Look for how each participant describes it.

This pictograph displays the amount of daylight or night available to the combatants on December 13th. In the northern hemisphere, December has the shortest days and longest nights. Using light information from 2022, we can get a sense of the amount of light that was available in 1862. Jackson’s and Stuart’s evening battles were timed to begin at sunset. This begins the period we call Twilight. Only Civil Twilight which lasts for 29 minutes on December 13th, was usable for major military operations. During the next 30 minutes, termed Nautical Twilight, military operations become increasingly more difficult to control due to dwindling light. By the end of Nautical Twilight, an hour past sunset, no coordinated ground movement was possible without illumination. The total amount of usable twilight is only 62 minutes.

Participants in the Civil War wrote of what they experienced. Some accounts took the form of official reports by unit commanders. These are generally composed and submitted immediately following a battle. Others come to us from letters written and sent home to loved ones. Still others are reminiscences written after the fact as unit histories, books, or speeches at reunions.  In the telling, the writer placed emphasis on a theme, however, this leads to conscious or unconscious editing, or the lack of emphasis on some points, which in turn gives interesting interpretations of the same events. This is true of the twilight/night attack by General Stuart and the artillery he managed with his Artillery Chief, Major John Pelham. Unfortunately, neither Stuart nor Pelham submitted a report, so we rely upon others.

Confederate point of view:

Vivian Minor Fleming of the 2^nd Richmond Howitzers described his experience. “…About night fall… Stuart rode up and seeing the gun standing near [us]… said, ‘Mount up, mount up’. Doing the thing, which was never before known, … that was charging artillery with artillery… Stuart wanted to limber up charge, or drive up into the face of the enemy, unlimber, fire and move up again and again, they bringing them fully in range of our fire, which they were in the early part of the day, but we were pushing them [the Federal artillery and infantry] back upon the river and they getting out of the range of our pieces.. hence the move of Stuart to bring to firing range again…”

Willie Lee, a member of a Parrott rifle gun crew, whom I introduced in my last blog (read here) tells us, “…General Rosser and Major Pelham, who had watched the fight about a hundred yards to our left, had gotten to shelter ahead of us. The enemy’s sharp shooters advanced to the gun, but a few dismounted cavalry of Rosser’s in the sunken road, drove them back. After this we got our detachments together, and brought the gun off by hand, placing it in the sunken road [Bowling Green Road]. We again went into action and fired till late at night. … We pressed the attack hard at night…”

From the Staunton Spectator newspaper dateline Guinea Station December 23rd, 1862. “…parts of three batteries, Graber, Caskie, Lusk, incl 2 guns from Staunton all under the immediate command of General Stuart… Tis true those batteries were not involved in the battle in the first part of the day, but from about half an hour before sundown till 9 PM that night. This brilliant engagement wound up by our boys running their guns within 300 yards of the enemies batteries and throwing load after load of cannister which had the effect of making the Yankees skedaddle — leaving our men masters of the field. When our men ceased firing, they were within 600 yards of the river.”

John Esten Cooke went on to say that “…General Stuart’s voice in the darkness ordered a new advance toward the Bowling Green road, no response could be elicited from their (Federal) guns, and the confederates remained masters of the field.”

Union point of view:

The Union army saw it somewhat differently, as one might expect. As night drew in, Doubleday altered some of his brigade positions and alignment.

Brigadier General (BG) David B. Birney, Commander of 1^st Division of 3^rd Corps, sets the stage for us in his report. “…At 4.30 PM the enemy, uncovering ten guns on the hill [Prospect Hill] opposite my left, opened a constant fire on Doubleday’s division. My Chief of Artillery directed the fire of the two division batteries upon them, and, aided by Leppien’s battery on my left, silenced the guns in twenty minutes.”

Colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1^st Corps Chief of Artillery adds, “…About sundown the enemy’s batteries on the crest and on our left again opened fire and ours replied. The firing was quite brisk on both sides until it had become dark, when we both ceased. At a later hour Reynolds’ and Gerrish’s batteries were withdrawn from their position on the left, and posted acting along the Bowling Green Road, on Stewart’s [Battery B/4^th US] right.”

This is a portion of a panorama drawn by Henri Lovie on the day of the Battle of Fredericksburg. I include it because he noted the 4:30 PM bombardment. German born Lovie immigrated to the US setting himself up in the Cincinnati, Ohio area as an illustrator and painter of portraits and landscapes. By 1860, he joined Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper as a “special artist”. For this panorama, Lovie set himself up on the east side of the Rappahannock River on a hillside near Franklin’s Crossing. His arc of vision, covering approximately 160 degrees, ran from the town of Fredericksburg to the north and terminated below Smithfield Plantation in the south. This section is the very left side of the panorama. The view is almost directly south. The plantation main building, called Smithfield, was surrounded by 20 outbuildings made up of slave quarters, barns, stables etc. This became the location of the 1st Corps hospital. Note the large number of soldiers amongst its buildings. It survived the Civil War and is the home of the Fredericksburg Country Club today. In the foreground is the bluff below which is the river. Across the middle distance runs the cedar lined Bowling Green Road. I’ve called out the possible locations of Union and Confederate artillery. Prospect Hill, the object of the Union attack, is found on the extreme right side and is on the next section of the panorama (not shown). I am indebted to NPS historian Noel Harrison for his work with this drawing. It is housed at The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library.

BG Abner Doubleday reported in part, “…The persistent efforts being made to break through my center, and the advance of the several batteries to within canister range of that point, induced me to strengthen it in every possible way. …There was no danger, however, of the center giving way; the men stood as firmly as if rooted to the spot, and, although suffering severely from the canister, they did not yield an inch of ground. It now became very dark, and the enemy’s guns gradually ceased to fire.”

In BG Solomon Meredith’s Iron Brigade, Colonel Lucius Fairchild, Commander of the 2nd Wisconsin, reported, “At various times we were under artillery and musketry fire, which was not very destructive. At dark the regiment was put in position in rear of the wood (Piece of Woods – read here). Soon afterward it was changed to the Bowling Green Road, where a severe fire of canister was encountered, killing one and wounding several. Later in the night we were ordered to our original position, near the wood, where we rested on our arms all night.”

In an Iron Brigade sister regiment, the 6^th Wisconsin, we have a letter from Private Rollin Converse to his niece on 8 January 1863. “…about dark we were ordered to move up & support a battery in the forx [fork] of the road the Rebels thought that we were agoing to storm their battery & they pored the grape shot into us wasn’t slow. I tell you that this what tryes a mans nerve, when you can here a thousand of those fellows stinging around you and not be able to see them or know wither they are agoing to it you or not, but I got through all right but expected every shot was agoing to hit me in the old wound…”

Meanwhile, Colonel Walter Phelps, Commander of Doubleday’s 1st Brigade, reported, “My lines remained in this position until 5 PM, when I moved them to the left and rear, supporting the batteries and forming them obliquely to the Bowling Green Road.”

“At 4.30 PM the enemy’s batteries opened a terrific fire upon our lines, which continued until 5.30 PM. Our batteries promptly replied. At 6.45 PM they reopened upon us at short range with canister, wounding a number of my men. The regiments, however, retained their position during the night.”

One of his soldiers, Private Albert E. Hingley, of the 22^nd New York, wrote a letter to his father on 16 December 1862, “…At dark that night the brigade [Phelps] was formed on the left of our principal battery where we lay all night and it was by all odds the worst night I ever put in. The enemy pickets were within forty rods (220 yards, or 201 meters) of us and fearing an attack we did not dare to unroll our blankets. To add to our dis[comfort] the rebs commenced throwing canister which dropped in among us pretty flush. Several men were struck but the range was so long that the wounds were slight….”

Another soldier in the same unit, private Frederick E. Rangers sent a letter to ‘Darling Wife’ on Wednesday 17 December 1862. “…after dark we moved cleared to the extreme left as still as death & lay down in the mud but the rebs heard us & run up a section of artillery & gave us 20 or 30 rounds of grape and canister & their skirmishers trying to pick us off with their rifles…”

Other soldiers in Phelps’ brigade, the 84^th New York reported, “…Under cover of darkness the companies which had been on the skirmish line were withdrawn and the men rested on their arms, exposed to a fire of grape and canister far into the night. The voices of the Confederate officers giving orders to the gunners could be plainly heard at times.”

During the night of 13/14 December 1862, General Doubleday realigned his division pivoting on Stewart’s Battery B, 4th US Artillery on his right. His brigades extended to the Piece of Woods on the Rappahannock River on the left. These new positions, especially on the left, were a mystery to the Confederate forces at night. Early in the morning Doubleday eased back into his previous positions. The precise locations are a matter of guesswork for both sides, based upon the scant written records. Most referred to “the Sunken Road”, meaning the Bowling Green Road, but are unspecific where along the road. In the darkness, and under combat conditions, it was the best an individual could remember.

Colonel William Rogers, Commander of 3^rd Brigade, reported, “…After dark, the brigade was drawn back to a fence running at right angles with the Bowling Green Road, the batteries also retiring to the rear of the line. The enemy continued to play upon us with its artillery, throwing heavy charges of shrapnel and canister, which fell around us like hail.”

Colonel Hardenbergh, Commander of the 80th New York in Rogers Brigade also moved position. He reported, “…At dark the regiment took up a position about 100 yards (91 meters) to the right and rear, and remained there during the night, being treated in the early evening to a copious discharge of grape and canister.”

In Doubleday’s 2^nd Brigade, the 76^th New York experienced much the same thing. Abram Smith in the unit history recalled, “Scarcely had these regiments [76^th NY and 2 WI] stumbled through the darkness to their position as supports, when the heavens were lighted up, and the grape, canister and solid shot fell like hail about them. The enemy had several small pieces, which they would load, run up near our lines in the darkness, discharge the volley, then retreat hastily to repeat the movement. This was kept up for about half an hour, our men only protecting themselves by falling flat upon the ground, and even then, quite a number were wounded.”

Lieutenant James Stewart, Commander of the hotly contested Battery B, 4^th US Artillery reported that, “…From that time until about 9 p. m. I was under the fire of the enemy’s masked batteries from different points, one of them firing canister, but evidently at a high elevation.”

You can see from the foregoing accounts that the late afternoon and night were very active on Doubleday’s front. Unbeknownst to the Confederate gunners, Doubleday realigned his division during the night. The perceived ‘Skedaddle’ had been a purposeful realignment of Union infantry and artillery to nighttime positions. Essentially, the confederate gunners were flying blind. They knew where the Union troops and guns had been, but that was all. In the early morning Doubleday redeployed his units to their original positions.

Overall, Doubleday’s Division incurred relatively light casualties (214) when compared with MG George Gordon Meade’s (1,853) and BG John Gibbon’s (1,253) Divisions that launched the main attack on the 13^th. It is also why historians seem to dismiss Doubleday’s Division at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Concurrently, Stuart’s and Pelham’s efforts are minimized when looking at the larger picture of the battle.

My next blog will explore the original road alignment on Prospect Hill and how this alters our perception of Confederate deployment to and on that terrain.

Sources:

Letters:

Willie Lee letter on file at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FRSP) bound volume 138. P2

Books and Manuscripts:

Cooke, John Esten, Stonewall Jackson: A Military Biography, New York, D. Appleton, 1866. Pp 374-5. Stonewall Jackson: a military biography : Cooke, John Esten, 1830-1886 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. (Washington D.C., 1890-1901. Series 1. Volume 21, Serial No. 31. http://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records.

No. 146. Report of Brigadier General David B. Birney, U. S. Army, commanding First Division. THIRD ARMY CORPS, December 17, 1862

No. 208. Report of Major General John F. Reynolds, U. S. Army, commanding First Army Corps. December 21, 1862. P 455.

No. 209. Report of Colonel C. S. Wainwright, First New York Light Artillery, Chief of Artillery, December 22, 1862. P 457-61.

No. 210. Report of Brigadier General Abner Doubleday, U. S. Army, commanding First Division. December 22, 1862. P 463.

No. 213. Report of Second Lieutenant James Stewart, Battery B, Fourth U. S. Artillery. December __, 1862. P 468.

No. 214. Report of Colonel Walter Phelps, Jr., Twenty-second New York Infantry, commanding First Brigade. December 18, 1862. P 470.

No. 217. Report of Colonel William F. Rogers, Twenty-first New York Infantry, commanding Third Brigade.  December 19, 1862. P 474.

No. 218. Report of Lieutenant Colonel Jacob B. Hardenbergh, Eightieth New York Infantry. December 15, 1862. P475.

No. 221. Report of Colonel Lucius Fairchild, Second Wisconsin Infantry, December 17, 1862. P 479.

The history of the fighting Fourteenth: published in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the muster of the regiment into the United States service, May 23, 1861

By Marquis, D. R; Tevis, C. V, 1911 P 57. The history of the fighting Fourteenth : published in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the muster of the regiment into the United States service, May 23, 1861 : Marquis, D. R : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

History of  History of the Seventy-sixth regiment New York volunteers; what it endured and accomplished; containing descriptions of its twenty-five battles; its marches; its camp and bivouac scenes; with biographical sketches of fifty-three officers and a complete record of the enlisted men : Smith, A. P. (Abram P.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive P 191.

Fleming, Vivian Minor Reminiscences, on file Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP (FRSP), Pp 10-11.

Lee, Willie, 2nd Richmond Howitzers, Brown’s Bn, CWTI collection, MHI, Reserve Arty folder, memoirs, date unknown. P 2.

Divers, Jr. Robert J., The 1^st and 2^nd Rockbridge Artillery, Virginia Regimental Historical Series.

History of the Fighting Fourteenth, p 57. (84^th NY) The history of the fighting Fourteenth : published in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the muster of the regiment into the United States service, May 23, 1861 : Marquis, D. R : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hq DA, Field Manual 34-130, Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield, 24 July 1994, 1-70, 1-71, Glossary – 5. FM 34 130 Intelligence Preparation Of The Battlefield : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hq DA, Field Manual 1-02, Operational Terms and Graphics, Sept 2004, 1-193. FM 1-02 Operational Terms and Graphics SEP 2004 CH1 – FM 1-02 (FM 101-5-1) MCRP 5-12A Change No. 1 Headquarters Department of the Army Washington, DC, 2 | Course Hero

Newspaper:

Staunton, VA, Spectator, 2/17/1863

Artwork:

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862,” (Leslie’s office-stamp at lower left corner). New York Public Library Digital Collections, at http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6eaed3cc-75d6-1df6-e040-e00a18065bf1 

Maps:

National Park Service, Battle of Fredericksburg Map 5, 3 PM to 5 PM.

1931 USGS Topographical Map of Fredericksburg Vicinity, showing battlefields. Topographic map of Fredericksburg and vicinity, Virginia, showing battlefields | Library of Congress (loc.gov)

Photographs:

Internet:

Henri Lovie (1829-1875) · The Becker Collection (bc.edu)

A Rarely Seen Panorama of Fredericksburg, and the Pictorial Legacy of Henri Lovie | Mysteries & Conundrums (wordpress.com)

Definitions of Twilight (weather.gov)

End of evening nautical twilight (US DoD Definition) (militaryfactory.com)