prepared for them in five minutes, but they fell back again. General Banks soon appeared on the field with his whole force, some seven regiments of infantry and sixteen guns, supported by our five companies of First Michigan Cavalry, the rest of the cavalry being on the other side of the town, two thousand strong, and very odd it seems to all of us, why they were not in the field. If you hear of any other cavalry being on the field at that battle, don't believe it. Our cavalry was the only cavalry there. The average number of men to each of our infantry regiments was 500, while our signal officers counted twenty-eight rebel regimental standards, with thirty or forty guns. The battle lasted but a short time, as we could not remain on the field; they flanked us on both sides, as their lines were three times the length of ours. The greatest danger was on our right, where the rebels had moved a whole brigade at right angles to our force. The First Michigan Cavalry (five companies) were ordered by General Williams to try and keep them in check until we could draw off our infantry. Marching up a high hill until within twenty rods, we formed in front of the rebels, and for ten minutes stood the fire and saved the 49th Pennsylvania regiment from being taken entire, and at the same time supported one of our batteries while it poured in charges of grape and canister, actually mowing down the rebels. Our cavalry then fell back at the command 'Left about, wheel! but had to jump a stone wall, throwing them into some confusion, but the companies soon formed and left the field in good order. This battle was fought by General Banks to save the train, and did it. Our loss was about thirty killed, wounded and missing. Lieutenant Brevoort is the only officer lost, having his horse shot and receiving a wound himself. The rebels were so close upon us that we could not get off our wounded." * * For the purpose of refuting a most violent slauder perpetrated in an historical work on the war by the rebel General Dick Taylor upon the Union cavalry serving in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862, a portion of which was the First Michigan cavalry, the following is inserted: To the Adjutant General of the State of Michigan: NEWPORT, R. I., July 17, 1879. GENERAL, I have the honor to enclose herewith an article by me, published in the July 10, 1879, number of "The Nation." As you will see upon reading it, it concerns the military character and record of the First Michigan Cavalry. You will greatly oblige me by filing this with the records of that regiment, that it may be within reach of the future historian. I am, General, very respectfully, your ob't serv't, "To the Editor of The Nation: 66 J. A. JUDSON, SIR,-Under ordinary circumstances the recent death of an author should, perhaps, in a measure shield him from severe criticism, but when a man puts on record and calls history such wild and reckless statements as the late General Richard Taylor has uttered, his writings should not be suffered to pass unchallenged. "Except to the readers of that magazine it is not generally known, probably, that General Taylor preceded his recent extraordinary book (which has been so justly rebuked at all hands) by a series of articles on war subjects in the North American Review. These were, most of them, characterized by the same spirit that pervades his book, and seem to have been fired off as 'range-finders,' as it were, before opening fire with all his guns. It is one of these to which attention is invited in this note. "In the March-April, 1878, number of the magazine referred to, on page 238 et seq., is the third of his papers, entitled Stonewall Jackson, and the Valley Campaign.' The article pretends to give the history of the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, and particularly that part of it covered by the retreat of the small command of General N. P. Banks before the largely superior force of the rebel army under General Thomas J. Jackson, familiarly known by the sobriquet of Stonewall. "While by no means endorsing General Taylor's account of this affair, I do not propose now to enter into any general criticism. Facts alone are what I intend to handle, not opinions or beliefs. He says (p. 243): "Jackson had struck the Valley pike at Middletown-twelve miles south of Winchester-along which a large body of Federal cavalry, with many wagons, was hastening north. He attacked at once with his handful of men, overwhelmed resistance, and captured prisoners and wagons.' "In general terms this is not a proper, nor even a true, statement of the result of the engagement at Middletown; but let that pass. * "He then goes on to say: * * "The cavalry was from New England-a section in which horsemanship was an unknown art-and some of these centaurs were strapped to their steeds. Ordered to dismount, they explained their condition, and were given time to unbuckle. Many breastplates and other protective devices were seen here, and later at Winchester. We did not know whether the Federals had organized cuirassiers, or were recurring to the customs of Gustavus Adolphus. I saw a poor fellow lying dead on the pike, pierced through breastplate and body by a rifle-ball.' "All this I pronounce absolutely false, even when General Taylor asserts, as he does, that these things are what he himself saw. "There was no one, officer or man, in the cavalry of Banks' army, or in any part of Banks's army, who wore at that time or any other time' breastplates and other protective devices,' or anything that could, by the remotest probability, possibly give the most careless observer the impression that any such thing was worn or thought of. When General Taylor says he saw a poor fellow lying dead on the pike, pierced through breastplate and body by a rifle-ball,' he states what he knew to be a deliberate falsehood. 6 "I am quite well aware this is strong language, but so is General Taylor's, and this is a case deserving heroic treatment. That it may be seen I was in position to know I may say at once that I was present and on duty through this whole campaign as the Adjutant General of Hatch's brigade of cavalry, which comprised all the cavalry in Banks' army. It would have been impossible for a single man to have worn a breastplate or anything that looked like a breastplate without my knowledge. The officers and men wore the ordinary uniform which all the rest of the United States forces wore, first and last; and nothing more, nothing less. The troopers of my brigade wore either the ordinary loose blouse or the cavalry jacket of coarse, dark-blue cloth, trimmed around the edges and collar with narrow, yellow worsted lace, light blue pantaloons, and light blue army overcoats, and black rubber talmas or ponchos when the weather required. Every man was armed with an ordinary sabre and one Colt's revolver (cal. .44), and some of the command (I don't think all) had breech-loading carbines of the Sharp's or Burnside pattern in addition, nor had they any protective devices' whatever against the bullets of the enemy but these arms and their own gallantry and valor. "General Taylor says: * "The cavalry was from New England-a section in which horsemanship was an unknown art and some of these centaurs were strapped to their steeds. Ordered to dismount, they explained their condition, and were given time to unbuckle.' 66 Except that three of the nine regiments composing our unusually large brigade were from New England, every word of this is absolute falsehood, without shadow of foundation, and was cut' by General Taylor' out of whole cloth.' No officer or man, no bugler boy even, in the whole command was ever strapped to his steed,' at any time, for any purpose whatever. Every man sat and rode in his saddle, and mounted and dismounted as occasion required, much as other people do, and quite as well, no doubt, as did General Taylor or any of the other numerous rebels in arms, who to this day have very lively recollections of 'Hatch's Cavalry. Any man to-day who served in 1862 in the cavalry opposed to us, commanded by that gallant rebel leader, Colonel Ashby (who was himself killed in a fight with our brigade), will agree with me in saying that the sharp chases we sometimes gave them, as they, in turn, gave us, were not made by men to whom 'horsemanship was an unknown art." It is undeniable that our cavalry in 1862 was not so effective as that arm of service afterward proved itself (nor was any other part of the army for that matter), but defective horsemanship was no part of our deficiencies. People in the North certainly do not ride horseback as universally as they do South, and for the good reason that as we here are half a century in advance of most of that region in civilization, as a consequence among other things we have good carriage roads everywhere where we haven't steam transportation, so that horseback riding, save as a recreation, is unnecessary. Still, out of the cities, and particularly among the farmers, the men and boys are all familiar with horses, and as much at home on their backs as any Southerner. All the regiments of our cavalry brigade but one were country organizations, and the whole command had been well drilled in riding as well as in other matters before taking the field at all. The single city regiment, the Fifth New York Cavalry, was singularly enough, an exceptionally fine and effective cavalry regiment. Nor am I sure that all of the troopers were city men. My impression is that several of the companies were from the country round about New York city. "To show what utter nonsense this is of General Taylor's, at the risk of tediousness I give the list of the organizations composing our brigade, by which any one may judge, from whence the men came, whether they were people likely to be found 'strapped to their steeds': "Fifth New York Cavalry, commanded by Colonel O. DeForest; First Vermont Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Chas. H. Tompkins; First Michigan Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Brodhead; First Maine Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Doty; First Rhode Island Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Lawton; First Virginia Cavalry, commanded by and composed of loyal West Virginians; First Maryland Cavalry, commanded by and composed of loyal Marylanders; First Battalion 'Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry,' recruited along the banks of the Potomac, besides the Eighth New York Cavalry, which at that time had not received its mount, and hence took no part in the campaign. "The whole was commanded by Brigadier General John P. Hatch, United States Volunteers, at that time a captain in the Mounted Rifles (now the Third United States Cavalry), and at present the Lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth United States Cavalry, who since 1845 has been a distinguished cavalry officer in the regular army of the United States. "Colonel Brodhead was killed at the head of his regiment at the second battle of Bull Run; Colonel Lawton and Colonel DeForest have died since the war; Colonel Doty, I understand, is still living, and Colonel Tompkins is now a Lieutenant Colonel and one of the deputy quartermaster generals of the army. The other colonels I have forgotten entirely, even their very names, it is so long ago, but these surviving commanders of the troops, together with General Hatch, will, I have no doubt, corroborate all I have said. "I look upon this matter as an unwarranted attack upon the soldierly honor and military character of this gallant brigade, and I have taken the trouble to write this not for the purpose, in turn, of assailing the memory of General Taylor, but rather because duty to my comrades requires that truth should be substituted on the record for what I cannot but regard as malicious and silly falsehood. Others may not attach to this the importance I do, or would, at least, pass it by in contempt. But the exposure of these falsehoods of General Taylor's at this late day is in one sense timely, since it serves to brand with suspicion every statement he makes in his recent astonishing book entitled 'Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal experiences of the Late War.' "It is to be presumed, were General Taylor still living, he would attempt proof of the statements quoted, since he was at such pains to give them utterance. It would, however, be interesting to know if any of his fellow-rebels now living who were with him in the Valley campaign of 1862 also saw any Yankee cavalrymen, dead or alive, in breastplates or other protective devices, or any Yankee cavalrymen 'strapped to their steeds.' "In common with other reasonable people I entertain the highest respect personally for all the gallant soldiers of the South who sternly followed what they believed to be the right. As a rule they have, like true soldiers, accepted their defeat, conquered though not convinced. General Taylor would also have proved himself a true soldier had he quietly followed the meritorious example of his comrades-in-arms. Respectfully yours, J. A. JUDSON, Late Capt. and Asst. Adjt. Gen. U. S. Vols. NEWPORT, R. I., June 24, 1879. The regiment remained at Williamsport until June 12th, when it again entered Virginia, moving via Martinsburg to Front Royal, reaching there on the 16th. It soon entered upon General Pope's Virginia campaign, joining that portion of Pope's army under Banks. It was engaged with the enemy at Orange Court House, July 16th, and again at Cedar Mountain on the 9th of August following, where an engagement took place between Banks' forces and those under the rebel Generals Jackson, Ewell, and A. P. Hill. The enemy having a superior force of over two to one, Banks was defeated with heavy loss. Greeley says: "Pope, under instructions to preserve his communications with General King at Fredericksburg, ordered a concentration of his infantry and artillery upon Culpepper, his headquarters, and pushed forward Crawford's brigade toward Cedar (or rather Slaughter's) Mountain, an eminence commanding a wide prospect to the south and east, and which should have been occupied and fortified by our forces some days before. 66 Banks, by order, advanced promptly from Hazel Run to Culpepper. But Sigel, still at Perryville, instead of moving at once, sent to ascertain by which route he should come, thus losing several hours, and arriving too late to be of use. General Banks, by order, moved forward next morning toward Cedar Mountain, supporting, with the rest of his corps, the advance of General Crawford, under verbal orders from Pope, which were reduced to writing by his Adjutant, in these words: "'CULPEPPER, August 9th, 9:45 A. M. "From Col. Lewis Marshall: General Banks will move to the front immediately, assume command of all the forces in the front, deploy his skirmishers if the enemy approaches, and attack him immediately as soon as he approaches, and be reinforced from here.' 66 Calling on Pope as he left Culpepper, Banks asked if there were further orders, and was referred to Gen. Roberts, Pope's chief of staff, who was to accompany him and indicate the line he was to occupy, which he took; Roberts saying to him repeatedly before he left, 'There must be no backing out this day;' words needing no interpretation, and hardly such as should be addressed by a Brigadier to a Major General commanding a corps. "Stonewall Jackson, with his own division, following Ewell's, had reached Gordonsville July 19th, and, sending thence for reinforcements, had received A. P. Hill's division, increasing his force to some 25,000 men, with which he advanced, driving back our cavalry and reaching Slaughter's or Cedar Mountain this day. From the splendid outlook afforded by this mountain, he saw his opportunity, and resolved to profit by it. Pushing forward Ewell's division on the Culpepper road, and thence to the right along the western slope of the mountain, but keeping it thoroughly covered by woods which concealed its numbers, he advanced four guns to the front, and opened fire upon Crawford's batteries; his own division, under Winder, being thrown out to the left as it arrived, still under cover of the woods. Ewell's batteries were successfully posted at the foot of the mountain, some 200 feet above the valley, whence their fire was far more effective than ours. Meantime Hill's division was arriving, and being sent in to the support of whatever portion of the rebel line was weakest, until not less than 20,000 veterans, with every advantage of position and shelter, formed the rebel line of battle; against which Banks' 6,000 or 8,000 advanced, at 5 P. M., across open fields and up gentle acclivities, thoroughly swept by the rebel cannon and musketry. "Had victory been possible, they would have won it. Early's brigade of Ewell's division held the road, and was so desperately charged in front and on its right flank that it held its ground only by the opportune arrival of Thomas' brigade of Hill's division; while the left of Jackson's division, under Taliaferro, was so assailed in flank and rear that one brigade was routed and the whole flank gave way, as did also Early's. But the odds were too heavy; and, though our men proved themselves heroes, they could not defeat three times their number, holding the foot of a mountain and covered by woods. The best blood of the Union was poured out like water, but in vain. Gen. Geary, who, with five Ohio regiments and the 28th Pennsylvania, made the most desperate charge of the day, was himself wounded, with most of his officers. Gen. Crawford's brigade came out of the fight a more skeleton. The 109th Pennsylvania, 102d New York, and several other regiments left half their number dead or wounded on that fatal field. Generals Augur and Carroll were severely wounded, as were Colonels Donnelly, 46th Pa., Creighton, 7th Ohio, and Majors Savage, 2d Mass., Armstrong, 5th Ohio, and Pelouze, Banks' Adjutant. Gen. Prince was taken prisoner after dark by accident, while passing from one part of his command to another. Our loss in killed and wounded could hardly have been less than 2,000 men. We were not so much beaten as fairly crowded off the field; where Jackson claims to have taken 400 prisoners, one gun and 5,302 small arms, with a loss on his part of 223 killed, including Gen. C. S. Winder, two Lieutenant Colonels and a Major, with 1,060 wounded, among them Colonels Williams and Sheffield, three Majors, and 31 missing; total, 1,314. "Gen. Pope had remained throughout the day at Culpepper, neither desiring nor expecting a serious engagement, and assured from time to time that only skirmishing was going on at the front, until the continuous roar of cannon assured him, soon after 5 o'clock, that the matter was grave. Ordering forward Rickett's division, he arrived with it on the field just before dark, and directed Banks to draw in his right wing upon his center, so as to give room for Rickett's to come into the fight; but the rebels, though victorious, advanced with great caution, and finding themselves confronted by fresh batteries, recoiled, after a sharp artillery duel, and took shelter in the woods. Rickett's guns continued vocal until midnight, but of course to little purpose. Meantime Sigel's corps began to arrive, and was sent to the front abreast of Rickett's, Banks' corps being withdrawn two miles to the rear to rest and reorganize. "But there was no more fighting. Jackson clung to the mountain and his woods till the night of the 11th, when, aware that King's division had just come up from Fredericksburg, and that Pope was about to strike at his communications and thus compel him to fight on equal terms, he, leaving a part of his dead unburied, retreated rapidly across the Rapidan. Our cavalry pursued him to that stream, picking up a number of stragglers." Lossing says: "Against these odds Banks moved at five o'clock across the open fields and up gentle slopes, in the face of a fearful storm from artillery and infantry, and fell almost simultaneously upon Early on Jackson's right, and upon his left, commanded by General Taliaferro. The attacking force was composed of the divisions of Gen. Augur, the advance led by Gen. Geary, and the division of Gen. Williams, of Michigan, of which Crawford's gallant brigade was a part. The battle at once became general, and for an hour and a half a fierce struggle was carried on, in which uncommon deeds of valor were performed by the respective combatants. 'I have witnessed many battles during this war,' wrote a newspaper correspondent, but I have seen none where the tenacious obstinacy of the American character was so fully displayed.' The Nationals, outnumbered by more than two to one, and failing to receive reinforcements in time, were forced back by overwelming weight, after incurring and inflicting a terrible loss of human life. At dusk, Rickett's division of McDowell's corps arrived on the field, and took position to relieve Banks and check_the pursuit of the Confederates, and artillery firing was kept up until midnight. Late in the evening Sigel's corps began to arrive. "So ended the battle of Cedar Mountain, or of Cedar Run, as the Confederates call it. None was more desperately fought during the war. A part of the sanguinarystruggle was fought hand to hand, under the dark pall of smoke that obscured the moon.' The regiment also became heavily engaged in the great and most disastrous battle of Bull Run, August 30th, where it lost 7 killed, 13 wounded, 7 prisoners and 106 missing in action, Colonel Brodhead being among the mortally wounded, and who died on the 5th September following. The following is from a report of Major C. H. Town, commanding regiment: "Colonel Thornton F. Brodhead was mortally wounded at Bull Run, Va., while gallantly leading his men to the charge. 66 · * * * * * While on his death-bed, on the field, almost the last words to his attending surgeon were, The Old Flag will triumph yet.' In his last letter to his wife he writes, I fought manfully and now die fearlessly." "Is't death to fall for Freedom's right? A noble cause!" The following is from a correspondent: "We had a terrible fight the first day, and lost many men. The dead in some places lay in piles. On the second day a masked battery opened fire on our right and shelled us for about four miles. We had just formed again, when the whole left wing of the army came rushing by us, followed by the rebel cavalry and artillery, Our brave little Gen. Buford called out, Boys, save our army, cover their retreat.' He was answered by three hearty cheers. At this time the rebel artillery opened fire on our infantry, as they hurried along the road to Centerville. The order came, By fours front into line! The men came up in fine style, and then came the order, 'By platoons, right about wheel! Draw sabres!' The rebel battery and cavalry were in front of us. I held my breath for a moment, for this was our first charge. I thought of home and friends. The bugle sounded the charge, and away we went, the lines crashed together, and men and horses went down and rolled over in the dust. We broke and routed the rebel cavalry and the battery pulled up and left. "Soon the rebel cavalry formed again, and again we charged and routed them as before, but this time we followed them to the edge of the woods, where a battery opened fire on us from the left with grape, canister, shell and railroad iron. At about the same time a brigade of infantry opened on the right. It was too hot and we wheeled in good order, and retreated, and I have the pleasure to say that our regiment was the only regiment that rallied again that night. We lost our brave |