In Perfect Order

Lieutenant Charles Hazlett

After the Battle of Antietam, Henry Hunt the new Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac directed that an inspection be conducted of every artillery battery in the army.  Hunt’s papers in the Library of Congress contain detailed records of that first inspection.[1]   Included are reports from some 33 artillery batteries from every army corps but the Sixth.[2]

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Wainwright himself newly appointed to the same post in the First Corps conducted inspections for that command and reported his findings on October 6^th.  Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing at the time on Sumner’s staff as the topographical engineer inspected Second and Twelfth Corps artillery units.  He submitted his report on October 8^th.  Lieutenant Samuel Benjamin who commanded a 20-pound Parrott battery in the Ninth Corps completed reports for is corps on October 23^rd. Finally Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Webb, inspector general of the Fifth Corps reviewed the artillery batteries of Porter’s corps and submitted his report the next day.  Webb’s reports are the most comprehensive of the group.    

These officers evaluated the condition of the guns, limbers and caissons. Did the company possess the basic load of 250 rounds per gun and was it properly and safely packed?  Inspectors carefully checked the health and care of artillery horses.  Was there a proper supply of forage and hay?  Were harnesses properly cared for?  Were there enough artillery implements and tools for the guns? Were there enough tents?  Did the brigade and/or division quartermasters and commissary officers attend to the needs of the company?

They looked at the condition and cleanliness of the men.  Were they all equipped and effective for combat? How was their military bearing?  Was new clothing available?  Did they have their knapsacks?  Were officers and men receiving daily recitations of Army Regulations and tactics? How many times a day did the officers and sergeants conduct calls, drill and guard mount?

Did the commander accurately account for all company property?  Were his company books and returns accurate and complete?  Was his camp laid out correctly and properly policed?  Where was the nearest hospital tent?  Finally was the commander effectively in charge?  The inspector ended each inspection with a sentence to the effect that the battery was or was not “efficient.” 

Though the report narrative for each category is very brief, sometimes just one or two words, the reports are surprisingly comprehensive.  They draw a fascinating picture of the condition of the Union artillery immediately following the Battle of Antietam.

Generally the guns and accouterments were very well maintained and most batteries had their basic load of 250 rounds per gun.  One exception was Monroe’s Rhode Island Battery which was about 70 rounds short for each gun though the battery had stashed a larger than authorized amount of canister.  It was no wonder considering what Monroe had been through in the past 60 days.   His battery was nearly overrun at Second Manassas and there had been some dicey moments at Antietam too.

The biggest problem was the number and condition of the horses.  Many of the batteries did not have enough horses.  The army was in the process of condemning unfit horses.  They were in short supply and “smallish.”  In the Ninth Corps, the horses were coming down with what Lieutenant Benjamin called greasy heel. This was a bacterial disease caused by insufficient diet, exposure to dampness, and rough riding conditions.[3]  Benjamin reported that many batteries in his corps were short of horseshoes.  Overall, there were many reports that the supply of hay was inadequate. 

Many batteries were in need of clothing for the men. In the weeks after the battle McClellan and the Union quartermaster general Montgomery Meigs were engaged in a barrage of telegrams on the logistics situation.  Meigs maintained that adequate stocks had been shipped to the army.  McClellan and his quartermaster Rufus Ingalls disagreed.  Whatever the case, new clothing was not reaching some of the artillery batteries. 

The regular batteries were generally rated the most military in bearing and drill.  Several of them only had one officer on hand.  Charles Hazlett was the only officer in Battery D, Fifth Artillery. James Stewart in Battery B, Fourth Artillery was another case in point. Wainwright pointedly noted also that Battery B was comprised almost entirely of volunteers.  Of the 140 enlisted men, 123 or 93% were of volunteers.  Ransom’s regular battery lost all of their books (company records) at Second Bull Run.  In the Second Corps, Evan Thomas’ Battery A, Fourth Artillery had moved out of Washington so quickly at the beginning of the Maryland Campaign that they left their knapsacks containing all their personal clothing on barge at Georgetown.  The men had essentially been in the same clothes for six weeks. 

A good volunteer battery was Matthew’s Battery F, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery. This fine outfit stood firm in the Cornfield along with Ransom and Stewart and was instrumental in halting the Confederate attacks there.  Wainwright found discipline excellent, a rating hard to earn from that very finicky officer. 

Then there was Company L, First Ohio Light Artillery.  This was a new battery that arrived after Antietam to add an artillery complement to Humphrey’s Third Division of the Fifth Corps.  It had not seen a lot of action.  It was with Shield’s division in the Department of the Rappahannock and for most of the summer and fall had been in the Washington defenses.  Its commander was Lieutenant Frederick Dorries.  Lieutenant Colonel Webb found the battery “decidedly unmilitary on parade…the command was overall inefficient, officers were not well acquainted with their duties…the Orderly Sergeant does not wear chevrons and lives with commissioned officers; he does not know duties, property is not accounted for, no training offered, files not complete, This battery is in miserable condition owing to the inefficiency of the officers.” It was left to be seen whether this battery would be ready for action before the next campaign.

While Dorries’ battery had a lot of work to do to meet Henry Hunt’s standards, there was one battery that stood out.  This battery was organized by Charles Griffin, an artillery instructor at United States Military Academy at the start of the war and was comprised of West Point artillery soldiers, and such graduates of the Class of 1861 as Henry Kingsbury, Adelbert Ames and Charles Hazlett.  From this pedigree, it became known as the West Point Battery. Battery D, Fifth U.S. Artillery made its first appearance at First Bull Run under Griffin where it lost its guns in the climactic struggle on Henry Hill.  When Griffin took command of an infantry brigade in Morell’s division, his gunners found a place as the regular army battery assigned to that command. The battery did well under Henry Kingsbury at Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill.  Kingsbury would credit the battery’s success to “Hazlett’s unwearied exertions of preparation.”[4]   While Ames and Kingsbury eventually accepted volunteer commissions to command the 20^th Maine and 11th Connecticut Infantry respectively, Hazlett remained with the artillery.   The young Ohioan led his gunners at Second Manassas firing over 1,000 rounds of ammunition and barely escaping capture while supporting Gouveneur Warren’s Fifth New York Infantry as it was nearly destroyed by rampaging Confederates.[5]  At Antietam the battery was part of Henry Hunt’s line of guns of position and remained east of the creek during the battle.  Hazlett and his men were deeply saddened to learn the news of the death of Kingsbury who fell leading his regiment at the Burnside Bridge. On September 19^th and 20^th the Battery D participated in the artillery duel during Battle of Shepherdstown where the men were overjoyed to learn that Griffin’s infantry recaptured one of their lost Bull Run guns.

Webb a graduate of West Point in 1855 was a Second Artillery officer before the war and aide to former Chief of Artillery William Barry.  He was thoroughly qualified to inspect the artillery batteries of the Fifth Corps.  As he began the inspection of Hazlett’s battery, he noted several times in his report that the lieutenant was the only officer present.[6]  Despite this he found the battery’s six 10-pound Parrots in good condition, the ammunition in perfect order, horses and caissons in very good condition, the men well supplied with clothing and the command overall very efficient and orderly. Company records were all in hand and well kept and the camp was “in admirable police; the neatest in the artillery of the corps.”  The only problems were not in the battery itself but with the Quartermaster Department in that the wants of the battery are not normally anticipated. Overall Webb pronounced the battery is in admirable condition but pointedly indicated that it needed five officers.

Hazlett’s “unwearied exertions of preparation” continued to maintain the West Point Battery as one of the finest in the Army of the Potomac.

In nine months Alexander Webb would lead the Philadelphia Brigade to immortality at the Copse of Trees at Gettysburg on July 3^rd 1863.  He would live another 48 years, honored and respected for his key role in the Union victory at that important battle.  Charles Hazlett would not fare so well. The day before Pickett’s charge, a rebel sharpshooter killed Hazlett on Little Round Top.  While leaning close to catch the dying words of his friend and fellow artilleryman Stephen Weed, Hazlett was struck by a bullet in the forehead and died instantly.  He was 24 years old.

The findings of Hunt’s artillery inspectors should not always be completely regarded as a bad reflection on the battery commanders.  Like their Confederate counterparts, the artillerymen of the Army of the Potomac had been marching and fighting continuously since the end of May.  The Second, Fifth and Sixth Corps had seen hard fighting on the Peninsula.  The First, and Twelfth were veterans of the tough fights at Cedar Mountain and at earlier battles with Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Army in the spring.  The First, Fifth, Ninth and Twelfth fought hard at Second Manassas.  The continuous marching, and fighting stretched the logistic network to its limit.  Men, horses and equipment were worn out.  Hunt’s series of inspections gave him and his officers a snapshot on the overall condition of the command and a place to start from in the rebuilding of the artillery corps of the Army of the Potomac.

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[1] Henry Hunt Papers, Library of Congress Box 7 Folder 6 (October – December 1862)

[2] 1^st Corps 10 batteries, 5^th Corps 9 batteries, 9^th Corps 7 batteries, 2^nd & 12^th Corps 7 batteries

[3] Collea, Joseph The First Vermont Cavalry in the Civil War: A History Jefferson NC: Jefferson McFarland and Company 2010, page 92

[4] OR 11:2 page 286 Report of Lieut. Henry W. Kingsbury, Battery D, Fifth U.S. Artillery, of the battles of Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill

[5] OR 12:2 page 468 Reports of Lieut. Charles E. Hazlett, Battery D, Fifth U.S. Artillery, of the battles of Groveton and Bull Run

[6] Of the other officers, Captain Griffin was commanding the brigade in Morell’s division, Lieutenants Harrison and Bolles were sick, Lieutenant Reed was on recruiting duty and Lieutenant Hascall was on detached service with the Quartermaster Department. Source:  October 1862 Monthly Return

The Little Things…

It turns out that artillery companies leave a lot of stuff on the battlefield after an engagement.[i]  For most units, commanders report soldiers killed and wounded.  In artillery companies they also report their losses of horses.  This is logical as artillery horses are the prime movers for an artillery battery.  But the artillery even goes beyond that.  We get a good idea of the kinds of equipment necessary to keep the artillery running from the reports of two Federal artillery commanders at Antietam.

Captain William Montrose Graham

William Graham had been a soldier for seven years.  Unlike most ante-bellum regular army officers, he was not a West Point graduate.  There is some evidence that he applied to the Academy but for reasons unknown to me never got the appointment.  He certainly had an impeccable pedigree.  Both his father and uncle were graduates of the West Point Class of 1817.  His father James a noted explorer and surveyor was a Major in the Topographical Engineers when his son received his appointment as a lieutenant in the First Artillery in 1855.  His uncle William a hero of the Mexican War fell while leading his regiment at Molino Del Rey.  Graham followed the typical career path of a young officer in the pre-war army with duty at isolated posts in Florida and Texas.  William Graham must have been a very capable artillery officer.  In October 1861 when William French[ii], then captain of Light Company “K” was promoted to major, 27 year old William Graham was appointed to this coveted command and promoted to captain. Light Company K was one of the eight “light” artillery companies in the regular military establishment.  Selection for promotion to command a light company was not based on seniority, but on merit. [iii] It says a lot for William Graham that he got the appointment

On September 17^th, 1862, Graham’s company was attached to the Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Potomac.  Around noon “K” was sent forward to support Israel Richardson’s Second Corps’ division advancing on the Sunken Road.  In the severe fighting there, Graham lost four soldiers killed and five wounded.  Seventeen horses were killed, and six wounded severely. So hot was the fire that General Richardson was mortally wounded by a shell fragment while standing in the battery. 

Graham’s full report is in Henry Hunt’s papers at the Library of Congress.  It contains information on the materiel losses of the battery that is not included in the report in OR 19:1.  Graham writes [in the full report] that “My loss in materiel was 192 rounds of ammunition expended, 2 trail hand spikes (1 broken), 5 wheel traces broken, 1 prolonge, 1 breech sight, 3 whips (drivers) two sabers and belts, 4 sets lead harnesses (single), 5 halters and straps, 5 nose bags, 2 pair spurs and straps.”

James “Jock” Stewart also followed an unlikely career path to command of a light artillery company.  At the start of the Civil War, Stewart, a ten-year army veteran was First Sergeant of Light Company B, 4^th U.S. Artillery.  During his tenure, the immigrant from Leith Scotland saw hard frontier service in Texas and Utah.  “B” was another one of the “Elite 8.”[iv] John Gibbon who commanded the battery called Stewart “the best 1^st Sergeant I ever saw in the service.”[v]  Elevation of an enlisted man to commissioned rank in the regular army was extremely rare before the Civil War.[vi]  Things had certainly changed by October 1861.  The establishment of the new Fifth U.S. Artillery Regiment created many new officer vacancies.  Additionally, the departure of many officers through resignation, or promotion to higher ranking volunteer and staff positions added many more openings. Due in some measure to Gibbon’s efforts, Stewart was appointed a second lieutenant in Gibbon’s battery in November 1861.  About that time, Gibbon accepted a volunteer commission to command a brigade of western soldiers. He was perhaps instrumental in keeping his old battery attached to his new command in what eventually became known first as the Black Hat Brigade, and later as the Iron Brigade of the West.  The brigade was part of Abner Doubleday’s division of Joseph Hooker’s First Corps during the Maryland Campaign.   It supported the infantry attack down the Hagerstown Pike in the early stages of the battle.  Joseph Campbell a 24-year-old graduate of the West Point Class of June 1861 who succeeded Gibbon was seriously wounded at the height of the Confederate counterattack at the Cornfield.   At 36 years of age, Stewart, the old man of the company and last remaining officer assumed command.   He not only led the company for the remainder of the battle but for virtually the rest of the war.[vii]  Light Company “B” suffered some of the highest casualties of any artillery unit in the Civil War. In addition to Captain Campbell who never returned to active command, “B” lost nine soldiers killed, and 30 wounded. 

A partial list of equipment

As a former first sergeant, Stewart was used to keeping detailed records.   Unlike William Graham who reported his losses on his official report, Stewart listed them in his monthly return for September 1862.   After detailing the movements of the battery for the month and the losses of men and horses, Stewart continues:  “All axle strips of battery more or less broken occasioned by rapid firing and the uneven nature of the ground not having cannoneers sufficient to run the guns to more favorable positions.  One limber disabled by cannon shot; 24 horses killed and 12 wounded; Required for use in the battery: 46 horses and 12 water buckets, 2 tar buckets, 1 sponge bucket, 60 blankets 50 curry combs, 50 horse brushes, 3 spare poles, 1 spare wheel and 6 to be exchanged; 6 picks and [illegible] 6 shovels, caisson, 4 hand spikes, trail, 4 sets lead harnesses, artillery, 2 near & 2 off; 15 wheel traces, 24 whips, 6 saddler's awls, and handlers, [illegible] lbs. square and flat iron, 25 head stalls and 4 bridles.”

The force of war knocks loose and breaks a lot of equipment. While the equipment listed above does not seem that important, these implements together contribute to the combat readiness of the company.  Some of these “little things” are needed for the care of the horses.  [The image from 1864 Field Artillery Tactics book lists some of this equipment.]  The rest are for servicing guns and ammunition.  An artillery company could not function without these seemingly little things.  In addition to all the other duties that company officers and NCOs performed after a battle, there was the lengthy painstaking inventory of lost, damaged and destroyed equipment. The Quartermaster Department demanded a thorough accounting of all equipment, big and little, before they would replace anything.  Graham and Stewart who were very good at their jobs give us an interesting perspective on this aspect of an artillery company. 

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[i] Throughout this article, I refer to artillery units as companies.  For the First through Fourth Artillery at this time of the war, company was the term most frequently used.  The term battery at this time meant the horses and guns that are added to “mount” a foot artillery company.  However in the new Fifth U.S. Artillery, the units are referred to as batteries in their organizational orders.  As the war progressed the term battery became more frequently used even in the old legacy artillery companies.

[ii] This is the same William French who under his volunteer commission as a brigadier general commanded a Second Corps division in the Sunken Road at Antietam.

[iii] General Order Number 12, March 1, 1849: Vacancies occurring in Companies of Artillery designated by the President to be organized and equipped as Light Artillery, will be filled by selection.  If the vacancy happens to be in the grade of Captain, it will be filled by order of the Secretary of War, on the recommendation of the Colonel, who will name the Captain best qualified for the service.”

[iv] In 1860, the eight light artilleries in the regular army were Light Companies I and K of the First Artillery, A and M of the Second Artillery, C and E of the Third Artillery, and B and G of the Fourth Artillery.  In these eight companies, selection for command was based on merit and not seniority.  Selection for command in all other the other 40 (foot) artillery companies was based on seniority.

[v] Personal Recollections of the Civil War by John Gibbon. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1928 page 13

[vi] In December 1860 only eight of 219 serving artillery officers (under 4%) were former non-commissioned officers.  Two years later 29 officers were former sergeants.

[vii] Stewart remained in command of Light Company B until December 1864 when he was promoted to First Lieutenant and transferred to Company A.  He replaced Alonzo Cushing in that company who was killed at Gettysburg.

“A Remarkable Artillerist”

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Getting our bearings

This Sunday, Jim Buchanan and I had the opportunity to visit the Greenbriar Farm located on the east bank of the Antietam north of Route 34. Owner Ann Corcoran was gracious enough to give us a brief history of the farm before we began our walk along the heights overlooking the creek.  As the area is teeming with hunters this time of year, Jim and I donned orange vests and cautiously proceeded south from the farm buildings along the ridge. I hoped I wouldn’t need to use my military skills of employing cover and concealment.

Carmen 0730 map.  Batteries center at bottom

On the Carmen maps, the property is known as the Ecker Farm.  The farm is located on a ridge up to 190 feet above the creek. It affords dominating positions for artillery and their shells ranged deep into the Confederate lines across the stream. Henry Hunt and his Artillery Reserve chief William Hays positioned four batteries on this high ground overlooking the creek. The were:

Commander	Unit	Assigned To	#	Armament
Capt Elijah D. Taft	5th Battery, New York Light Artillery	Artillery Reserve	4	20-lb Parrots
Lt. Alfred von Kleiser	Btry B, 1st Battalion New York Light Artillery	Artillery Reserve	4	20-lb Parrots
Capt Stephen H, Weed	Btry I, 5th U.S. Artillery	V Corps, 2nd Div	4	3-in Ordnance Rifles
Capt George W. Durell	Btry D Pennsylvania Light Artillery	IX Corps 2nd Div	6	10-lb Parrots

                                                                                                                                                               [1]

Stonewall Jackson accurately described the Union artillery, much of it coming from this position as inflicting “a severe and damaging fire.”[2]

The left: Miller's Sawmill Road

With most of the foliage off the trees, the views were stunning.  Behind us to the east, Red Hill loomed.  In front, looking west toward the battlefield, we could see the Tidball artillery position, the Observation Tower on the Sunken Road, and the Visitor Center (and the West Woods and Dunker Church behind it).  At the correct angle of view, the Philadelphia Brigade monument was directly behind the New York Monument.  The Hagerstown Pike south of the Visitor’s Center was clearly visible along with the Reel Ridge to the west.  Closer in, we could see the Boonsboro Pike. To the left of the road, we could plainly see the National Cemetery and the flag proudly flying over the graves of the fallen.  As we walked south and the views changed, the water tower in Sharpsburg emerged and to our great surprise, we saw the intersection of Branch Avenue and the Harpers Ferry Road and Miller’s Sawmill Road. 

The Right:  Sunken Road Tower and Visitor's Center

In the Civil War, the light artillery batteries employed by both sides were essentially limited to aiming and hitting targets that they could see.  Granted, shells fell short and others flew over intended targets out of view.  But under the stern tutelage of Henry Hunt, his Union artillerists were going to aim and shoot only at what they could see. Given the ranges of the guns on this ridge, everything that we could see, from the Sunken Road on the right to the final attack approach by A.P. Hill on the left was visible, within range and under the guns of the Union artillery. 

I couldn’t help but think as I viewed this position, of the story so well recorded by James Longstreet in his book From Manassas to Appomattox about one particular cannon shot fired from this position by Captain Stephen H. Weed.  Joseph Harsh in Sounding the Shallows puts the time of the shot at around 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning and the target as Cemetery Hill “twenty or so feet either north or south of the Boonsboro Pike.”[3]  Jim and I could plainly see the target. 

Lets follow Longstreet’s narrative which D.H. Hill subsequently described as “entirely accurate”:

"There is a shot for General Hill"

“During the lull after the reencounter of Walker’s Hill’s and Hood’s divisions against Mansfield’s last fight, General Lee and myself, riding together under the crest of General D.H. Hill’s part of the line, were joined by the latter.  We were presently called to the crest to observe the movements going on in the Union lines.  The two former dismounted and walked to the crest; General Hill, a little out of strength and thinking a single horseman not likely to draw the enemy’s fire, rode. As we reached the crest I asked him to ride a little apart, as he would likely draw fire upon the group. While viewing the field a puff of white smoke was seen to burst from a cannon’s mouth about a mile off.  I remarked, “There is a shot for General Hill,” and, looking towards him, saw his horse drop on his knees.  The dropping forward of the poor animal so elevated his croup that it was not an easy matter for one not an expert horseman to dismount a’la militaire.  To add to the dilemma, there was a rubber coat with other wraps strapped to the cantle of the saddle.  Failing in his attempt to dismount, I suggested that he throw his leg forward over the pommel.  This gave him easy and graceful dismount. This was the third horse shot under him during the day and the shot was one of the best I ever witnessed.”[4]

Longstreet goes on to record the statement of Union surgeon Major Alfred A. Woodhull who witnessed the shot from Weed’s position.

“On the 17^th of September, 1862, I was standing in Weed’s battery, whose position is correctly shown in the map, when a man on, I think, a gray horse, appeared about a mile in front of us, and footmen were recognized near.  Captain Weed, who was a remarkable artillerist, himself sighted and fired the gun at the horse, which was struck. “[5]

The National Cemetery

Stephen H. Weed was indeed a remarkable artillerist.  The native of Potsdam New York graduated from West Point with the outstanding class of 1854.  A cadet at the academy while Robert E. Lee was superintendent, Weed’s classmates included Lee’s son Custis, Oliver O. Howard, J.E.B. Stuart, Stephen D. Lee, Dorsey Pender, Grimes Davis, and a host of other men who contributed significantly to the war effort for both sides.  Weed was commissioned in the 4^th U.S. Artillery. The Fourth at the time was employed largely as part of the frontier constabulary.  Weed fought with his company in the Third Seminole War, and helped quell the Kansas disturbances. He was part of the expedition to Utah and along the way was engaged in skirmishes against the Indians.  A First Lieutenant since November 16, 1856, he was assigned with Battery K to Fort Ridgely Minnesota at the start of the Civil War.  A seasoned young veteran, Lieutenant Weed received a coveted battery command and promotion to captain in the new Fifth Artillery Regiment on May 14, 1861. Light Battery I and its commander fought with Fitz-John Porter’s Fifth Corps on the Peninsula, and at Second Manassas before the Maryland Campaign.  Weed’s star continued to rise after Antietam.  He commanded the Fifth Corps artillery with distinction at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.  Promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on June 6, 1863, Stephen Weed, age 30, was be killed instantly at Gettysburg defending Little Round Top on July 2, 1863.

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[1] Johnson, Curt and Richard C. Anderson. Artillery Hell The Employment of Artillery at Antietam. College Station Texas: Texas A&M University Press 1995, pages 36-37.

[2] War of the Rebellion Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Series I, Volume 19, Part 1, page 956.

[3] Harsh, Joseph H. Sounding the Shallows. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2000. page 203

[4] Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomttox. New York: Barnes and Noble. Originally published 1896. Page 208

[5] Ibid, 208