Harper's Round Table, January 12, 1897

FAMOUS CAVALRY CHARGES.

BY RICHARD BARRY.

COOKE'S CAVALRY AT GAINES'S MILL.

It was a strange fact that those in authority at Washington and those in charge of the immediate conduct of the Union armies in the field did not early in the war recognize the immense importance of a well-organized cavalry.

The idea that cavalry should be used merely as an auxiliary arm of the service was held by General Scott, and those who immediately followed him in command seem to have held the same opinion.

The small bodies of troopers of both the regular and volunteer branches of the mounted service were attached to various isolated army corps. Their duties consisted mainly in taking the places of orderly messengers, doing patrol duty, and acting as advance outposts. Their duties were onerous, and were not calculated to bring them much chance for glory or advancement. The cavalry Captains and leaders demurred greatly against this false position, and it may be said that the lesson that the Union Generals learned in regard to the uses of mounted troops was gained from the experience of battle, when they had arrayed against them the quickly moving, impetuous horsemen of Stuart and the younger Lees.

But even before the North had developed the magnificent and well-ordered brigades that figured so conspicuously in the latter years of the war, there occurred not a few instances where the trooper with his pistol and sabre distinguished himself before the enemy and under the eyes of his countrymen. The first charge of any importance that took place before the reform was inaugurated that gave the men in the saddles a worthy position was at the battle of Gaines's Mill, on the 27th of June, 1862.

About the part that the cavalry played in this affair much bitter controversy has arisen. Men whose names are well known, whose intrepid bravery and worth have long been recognized, have taken stands upon this question. It is not the place of an article so short as this to go into this in detail. We have but to tell of the brave actions which occurred that day, and to relate the facts and important happenings on the left of the line of battle, where the small detachments of cavalry that made the charge were placed.

All day long the Union batteries and the Confederate batteries had been replying to one another. General Fitz John Porter had estimated that the forces under his command were greatly overmatched. Early in the day he had determined upon a battle of resistance, and made up his mind to hold the enemy in check if possible. A long line of infantry that stretched along the swampy bottom-lands and woody ravines were hardly enough to guard and support the artillery which had been placed in positions more or less exposed on the crests of the hills and the vantage spots south of the Chickahominy. This river divided the Union army, making it almost impossible to send re-enforcements to the right wing or to gather it together on the right bank.

On June 14 the Confederate General Stuart had made a dashing raid around McClellan's army. The slow-moving infantry had not had time to cut them off.

General Porter had posted his batteries of artillery, and had been employed all the morning in forming his lines to await the enemy's attack. General P. St. George Cooke had been instructed to take his position with the small body of cavalry at his disposal under the hills in the valley of the Chickahominy. It was expected of him to support the artillery stationed there and to guard the left flank of the long line. The whole attitude of the Union forces, as we have said, was one of defence. The battle opened on the left in the morning, and by two o'clock in the afternoon had spread along the entire front. It was a strange fact that all of the severe battles of the seven days' fight before Richmond began after noonday.

From one o'clock until six Cooke's cavalry, consisting of two and one-half squadrons of the Fifth Cavalry, belonging to the First Brigade; three squadrons of volunteer lancers from Pennsylvania, under Colonel Rush, belonging to the Second Brigade; and two skeleton squadrons of the First United States Cavalry, under Colonel Blake, to which were added the provost-guard under Lieutenant-Colonel Grier--had stood inactive in a sheltered position a little to the rear of the artillery, that had not begun firing until quite late in the afternoon.

A few minutes past six General Cooke observed that the infantry on the left wing in front of him was giving way, and at this moment three reserve batteries that had been silent the whole day opened fire upon the enemy advancing through the underbrush at the bottom of the slope. General Cooke ordered the Fifth and First Cavalry to the front, and deployed them a little to the rear of and just filling the intervals of the two right batteries. The Confederates had opened a hot fire of musketry, and shells were falling all about as the men took up their positions. Turning to Captain Whiting of the Fifth, General Cooke said, "Captain, as soon as you see the advance-line of the enemy rising the crest of the hill, charge at once without any further orders, to enable the artillery to bring off their guns."

Then he instructed Colonel Blake to support the Fifth, and charge when necessary. The three squadrons of lancers were placed on the right of the third battery just at the moment that it was limbering up preparing to retreat, as it was wholly unsupported. Upon the arrival of the cavalry the artillerymen loaded their guns again and opened fire.

No sooner had General Cooke left the line of men in their short jackets with yellow trimmings, who were sitting on their horses and sustaining without any return the galling fire that was being poured in upon them, than Captain Whiting rode ahead, and wheeling his horse, cried:

"Cavalry, attention! Draw sabres!"

The metallic clash of the blades ran along the eager line.

"Boys, we must charge in five minutes," said the Captain, over his shoulder, as he stroked the neck of his big brown horse. But almost before he had stopped speaking the bayonets of the advancing Confederates were seen just beyond the cannon that were blazing away in front. They were hardly fifty rods distant. Turning in the saddle, Captain Whiting gave the order:

"Trot, march!" and as soon as the whole line had started, he shouted "Charge!" at top voice. At once, with a wild cheer, in solid column, the cavalry broke forward. It was the first big Union charge of the war. There was not a man but what was determined to save those guns if possible, and to emulate the bravery of the artillerists, who had won for themselves long before this the names of heroes, in the North. As they swept past the guns it was necessary for the line to deploy right and left. As they ranged up, it was seen that at one of the pieces every man had been shot down, and one of the troopers as he rode by noticed a wounded man struggling by the aid of the spokes of the wheel of the gun to gain his feet and pull the lanyard. "I'll bet he'll fire that gun," said the trooper to himself, and kept off to the right. That gun was fired, and if it had not been for this trooper's quick thought it would have swept him down as the charge cut a gap through the advance-line of the enemy.

But now they were within striking-distance, charging an army. The sound of the sabre strokes was heard on every hand; the smoke from the volley that had been poured into them, mingled with the dust, in the fading light, rendered everything obscure. Men fought through the lines and fought back again; but the rebel onslaught was stayed, and just then, not being able to tell friend from foe in the gloom, the Union artillery opened up from the rear with shrapnel and canister. It fell amongst the intermingled fighting crowd, bearing down the Union horsemen as well as the advancing men of Hood's brave Southerners.

The remnant of the Fifth Cavalry crawled back, shattered and broken, to the protection of the batteries on the left. It was a small and much-misreported incident; but of the 250 men who were in action only about 100 returned from that bloody field. Not a few were captured, but the greatest number fell in the first few minutes of that terrible charge. They had done their duty.

The third battery of the Second Artillery, which had been saved from premature retreat by the appearance of the lancers, kept up its fire for some few minutes, and then, under command of General Cooke, fell back toward the rear, the lancers guarding it as it limbered up and retreated. As they reached a place of safety it was found that the enemy's advance had been stopped again at the crest of the hill, and on looking back it was seen that a brave handful of not more than one hundred infantrymen who had stood their ground--they were part of the Ninth Massachusetts--were fighting there so desperately that many times their numbers had been checked. At once the lancers and the First Cavalry were ordered to take up the position on the left of this little band; but unfortunately, by some misunderstanding of the orders, they advanced close upon their rear. Just as they disappeared in the smoke, a single squadron of the Fourth Pennsylvania, under Colonel Childs, reported to General Cooke. Immediately they were sent to the front, and "with a precision and bravery that would have honored veterans," the volunteers went down the hill under a hot fire of infantry. The advance of the enemy was checked now on the left flank of the line of battle; but the bravely fighting infantry and the new-comers suffered from the fire of their friends as the Fifth Cavalry had done, and turning, they retreated in good order. The infantry retreated at the same time, and both formed in the hollow, safe from the volleys of the enemy and the misdirected fire of the batteries on the enshrouded hill-side.

The Pennsylvania lancers, under Colonel Rush, lost 9 officers killed, wounded, and missing, 92 rank and file, and 128 horses. The Fifth Cavalry lost all their officers but one.

AN ANGLING THOUGHT.

BY JIMMIEBOY.

Each day I go a-fishing For bull-head or for trout; As long as I catch something I'm not at all put out.

It may be perch or blue-fish, It may be mackerel, It may be cod or halibut-- I like 'em all full well.

I may not land a fish, sir, Save minnow or sardine; If I get one I'm happy As any boy has been.

But I will tell a secret Quite close unto my soul: When I have gone a-fishing I've always had one goal,

And that's some day to hook one On river, lake, or sea, To make a fight if I catch him, Or if he catches me!

THE BROTHER OF STEFANOS.

BY G. B. BURGIN.

He was a lad of fifteen, sinewy, lithe as a greyhound, with dancing blue eyes and immensely strong shoulders. Under one arm he carried a long gun, a game-bag slung beneath the other; his legs were encased in yellow gaiters, and his slouch hat, with a peacock feather in the band, shaded bronzed resolute features. "Permit me to make known myselfs," he said, with an amiable smile, as he raised the slouch hat and disclosed a head crisped over with short dark curls. "I am Oscar Van Heidsteyn. And you are the good Smithsons of Constantinople, is it not so?"