A Journal of the American Civil War: V1-3

Theodore P. Savas, David A. Woodbury, Theodore P. Savas, David A. Woodbury

• Editore: Savas Publishing
• Anno: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781954547179
• Argomento: Storia
• Categoria: Storia della guerra civile americana

Balanced and in-depth military coverage (all theaters, North and South) in a non-partisan format with detailed notes, offering meaty, in-depth articles, original maps, photos, columns, book reviews, and indexes. Confederate Surgeon at Fort Donelson – Pennsylvania Bucktail's life on the skirmish line – 22nd VA Infantry – Preservation of Chattahoochee River Line

MANY A HARD FOUGHT FIELD:

The 22nd Battalion Virginia Infantry

Tom Brooks1

At daybreak on October 1, 1864 Major General Henry Heth’s Confederate Division marched down the Squirrel Level Road south of Petersburg. Heth’s objective was to find and turn the right flank of a Union force which had penetrated Lee’s outer defenses near Peeble’s Farm on the previous day. The Confederates deployed into line of battle on both sides of the road and advanced upon the strongly entrenched enemy. The lines became intermingled as the bullets began to fly, the proposed flank attack degenerating into a headlong assault. As confusion spread across the field, the 22nd Virginia Battalion of James Archer’s Consolidated Brigade apparently refused to attack the entrenchments, despite repeated attempts to drive the men forward. The attack sputtered out against the fortifications, leaving behind a line of corpses and broken men in the cold and wet Virginia clay. The veteran 22nd, which had fought with steady courage from the Peninsula Campaign well into the Siege of Petersburg, had had enough.2

* * *

More than 53 regiments of Virginia militia were placed into active service in 1861, their terms of service not to exceed six months duration. Among the units called in July of that year were the 9th regiment from King and Queen County, and the 87th regiment from King William County. These units were assigned to serve with the 14th Brigade, in the 4th Division, all under the command of Major General William Booth Taliaferro. In December 1861, the 9th and the 87th regiments each contributed two companies into a consolidated battalion organization under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas R. Gresham. This under-strength battalion maintained a precarious existence until February 1862, when, at the end of their six month service, the militiamen were discharged.3

The 2nd Regiment Virginia Artillery was organized as a ten-company volunteer unit at the end of January 1862 under the command of Colonel Robert Tansill. The disbanding militiamen were encouraged to join this newly organized twelve-month regiment. Twenty-two men from the 9th regiment enlisted in Company G of the 2nd Regiment Virginia Artillery, and twenty-one men from the 87th regiment did likewise. Throughout the spring months of 1861, while the newly-minted artillery regiment served in the Richmond and Fredericksburg areas, it continued to recruit new members who passed through Camp Winder, a camp of instruction. Although the unit suffered no battle casualties during this period, over sixty recruits died from disease without ever hearing a shot fired in anger.4

By May of 1862, the 2nd Virginia Regiment Artillery had a grossly inflated nominal roll. Company A, for instance, the largest of the companies, had a nominal list of 215 names. With the proclamation of the Conscription Act on May 23, 1862, the regiment, after less than four months of existence, was disbanded.5

It was at this time that a large number of discharges from military service were granted. Coupled with resignations and transfers, the deletions from the rolls numbered into the hundreds. An interesting example was Company F’s Captain Samuel Hawthorne, a civilian doctor who resigned after a few months service. There was at that time a scarcity of physicians in the country, and the folks at home petitioned the government for Hawthorne’s release.6

Based on the available evidence, the two most common types of transfers were either to the navy, or to the rudimentary hospital corps. From Company G, 1st Corporal William B. Slaughter and 3rd Corporal George T. Douglas were detailed to work on the gunboats on the York River. They were joined by others, including Private Daniel B. Burton from Company H and Private William E. Goodwyn of Company A. Among those detailed for hospital work was Private Elbert R. Bagby, of Company B, who went to the hospital at Buckner’s Farm. He was joined by John A. Baugh of the same company. A third Company B man, George T. Clark, was detailed to the hospital at Farmville, Virginia.7

The 22nd Battalion Virginia Infantry was created on May 23, 1862, from what remained of the 2nd Regiment Virginia Artillery. Six companies from this former artillery unit, A, B, D, E, G, and H became infantry. Forty-one men from company I of the artillery regiment were transferred into Company G, of the new infantry formation. Company A of the new unit was reinforced by a transfer of thirty-three men from the former Company K.

Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James C. Johnson, formerly captain of Co. G, the 22nd Battalion prepared to “see the elephant” as Robert E. Lee’s newly-christened Army of Northern Virginia prepared to lash out and destroy the Union army positioned before Richmond. The battalion was part of Brigadier General Charles Field’s Virginia Brigade, A.P. Hill’s “Light Division,” serving in James Longstreet’s Corps (or Wing). Besides the 22nd, the brigade was composed of the 40th, 47th, 55th, and 60th Virginia regiments.8

The battalion was held in reserve during A.P. Hill’s precipitous attack against the Union right at Mechanicsville on June 26th, although it suffered from long range artillery fire. According to the battalion’s adjutant, the neophyte soldiers “acted coolly” under this barrage, suffering 2 killed and 11 wounded. On the following day, Hill’s Division massed for an attack upon the center of Fitz John Porter’s Corps, strongly entrenched in a semi-circle on the crest of a plateau behind Boatswain’s Swamp. The 22nd went into action about 2:00 p.m. with the rest of Field’s regiments in support of J.R. Anderson’s Brigade. The Virginians formed a line of battle in thick woods directly behind Anderson’s Georgians and charged the enemy. Union artillery rimming the plateau ripped apart the Confederate lines, stopping the assault cold some 100 yards short of the Union lines. As the Georgians wavered and began falling back through Field’s ranks, Anderson seized the colors of one of his regiments and exhorted his men to stand firm, to little avail.9

Willing to brave the fiery hell a second time, Field’s men surged forth again, this time in company with Archer’s Brigade aligned on his right. According to Field’s report, the brigades gained the crest of a hill, but “were stopped by an infantry fire that nothing could live under.” The men dropped to the ground instead of retreating and continued the unequal contest. At 7:00 p.m. that evening, Field was ordered to the attack yet again. Lee’s Confederates moved against the entire length of Porter’s line, smashing it in several places and forcing a widespread retreat. The attacks had been costly for the Confederates in general and the 22nd in particular, which lost 8 men killed and 20 wounded in the bloody affair.10

Two days of relative calm followed before the 22nd was again called upon to engage the enemy, this time near Glendale, or Frayser’s Farm. On June 30, A.P. Hill’s men marched down the Darbytown Road to Long Bridge Road, halting less than a mile behind Longstreet’s engaged men. Hill ordered his brigadiers to align their brigades and prepare for the advance. Field deployed his regiments on either side of the road with the 22nd Battalion anchoring his left center, and gave the command to cheer heartily and charge. The Virginia regiments swept forward so quickly they outstripped their supports, engaging the enemy with clubbed muskets and bayonets. Darkness brought an end to the fighting and the 22nd’s role in the Seven Days’ Battles. Battalion losses at Glendale were 2 killed and 24 wounded. Among the former was Company D’s Lieutenant R.A. Jackson, one of the unit’s best commanders.11

The 22nd had fought well and suffered grievous casualties as a result. Based on incomplete records, it would appear that Company A realized an undue proportion of the battalion’s estimated 67 casualties, although no company escaped unscathed. According to the 22nd’s adjutant, Thomas Smith, the battalion “acted as well as might have been expected, being without a battle-flag during all the engagement.” The records do not reveal when the 22nd received her colors.12

On July 9, 1862 the battalion returned to the vicinity of Richmond, where for three weeks it rested and refitted. During this period, a few of those injured at Gaines’ Mill, such as William Crow, Co. D, and Henry E. Dance, Co. E, succumbed to their wounds. Crow died in Richmond on July 10; Dance followed two days later.13

On July 29th, the battalion boarded trains for Gordonsville. At Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, the battalion, along with the 40th Virginia Regiment, assisted in the narrow Confederate success over Union elements of John Pope’s Army of Virginia. Field’s Brigade brought up “the rear of the whole army,” arriving in time to support Willie Peagram’s unequal artillery duel around Cedar Run Church. The brigade suffered only 13 casualties, seven of which were in the 22nd Battalion. Oddly enough, all seven were killed or mortally wounded.14

In an attempt to destroy John Pope’s army, Lee split his own, sending Jackson’s Corps with J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry on a wide, strategic envelopment around Pope’s flank to sever his communications, followed by Longstreet’s Corps a day later. Jackson’s “Foot Cavalry” left the line of the Rappahannock on the morning of August 25th with three day’s rations and fell on Pope’s massive supply depot at Manassas Junction on the 27th. After much looting and revelry amidst the mountains of captured supplies, the remaining stores were put to the torch.15

After the bitter stand-up fight at Groveton on August 28th, Jackson positioned his corps along a ridge a mile north of the Warrenton-Centreville Road. His anchor was an unfinished railroad bed, which provided a strong, natural position from which to repel enemy assaults. Hill’s “Light Division” was given “the post of greatest danger,” that of defending Jackson’s vulnerable left flank. Field’s Brigade held the right of Hill’s divisional line.16

Very few sources exist which describe the role played by Johnson’s 22nd Battalion that day. The men spent the morning and early afternoon hours engaged in prolonged and brisk skirmishing. At around 3:00 p.m., Pope hurled his army forward against Hill’s front with a horrible and unabating fury, and a...