Part 41

The Confederate army occupied about its original position near Manassas until March, 1862, when it was transferred, under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston, to the Peninsula to meet McClellan's "On to Richmond" from that direction. As the Federals advanced the Confederates retired upon Richmond, taking position on the south side of the Chickahominy, and from two to five miles on the east and north of the city. In the last week in May two Federal corps, Keyes' and Heintzelman's, crossed that stream and entrenched themselves across the Williamsburg stage road, near Seven Pines. General Johnston ordered the attack of the 31st May on the enemy's left. General Keyes, in his report of the battle, says: "The left of my line was all protected by white oak swamps, but the right was on ground so favorable to the approach of the enemy and so far from the Chickahominy that if Johnston had attacked an hour or two earlier than he did I could have made but a feeble defense, comparatively, and every man of us would have been killed, captured or driven into the swamps or river before assistance could have reached us." Owing to misunderstandings and jealousies between the Confederate general officers only five brigades of the twenty-three which were ordered for the attack on the enemy's left were used in that attack, and some of them fought knee and waist deep in mud and water in a white oak swamp trying to get at an enemy entrenched on high ground. There was great gallantry on the part of the Confederates, and the carnage was dreadful. General D. H. Hill, who made the morning attack with his division, after numerous repulses in and around the swamp finally carried the enemy's position from the front--Couch's Division of Keyes' Corps falling back northward to and beyond Fair Oaks, a station on the Richmond and York River Railroad. From a point just outside Fair Oaks, on the north, there is an intersection at right angles of the Nine-Mile Road to Richmond and a road from Grape Vine Bridge on the Chickahominy to the station. On the Grape Vine Bridge road, about a thousand yards from Fair Oaks, Couch's Division halted and formed a line facing toward the south, information having been received that Sumner's Corps had crossed the river at Grape Vine Bridge and was advancing to the assistance of the Union troops. About 5 o'clock in the afternoon Colonel Pender, with his Sixth Regiment, arrived at Fair Oaks from toward Richmond, on the Nine-Mile road, in advance of Whiting's Brigade. Line of battle having been instantly formed facing to the south, the regiment, without support and under direct orders from either General Whiting or General G. W. Smith, went rapidly forward. After an advance of probably a third of a mile without coming up with the enemy, Colonel Pender discovered a large force of Federals in the act of forming a line from column by companies, near the Grape Vine Bridge road and well to his left and rear. They had seen him in his perilous position, and were preparing to capture or destroy him. There really seemed no chance of escape; but as quick as lightning, and with coolness equaling his bravery, the order "By the left flank, file left, double quick!" rang out in as clear and musical a voice as ever was heard on battlefield. The old regiment, the best drilled and disciplined in the army of Northern Virginia, moved as if on parade, and before the enemy had completed their formation it was upon them, pouring volley after volley into their very faces; and under the suddenness and fury of the attack the foe staggered and reeled, while the glorious soldier withdrew his men and rejoined his brigade, which was just coming up. Our hero was here like Jackson in quickness of comprehension and promptness of decision; he was like Soult in his tactical skill; he was like Junot in his fiery onslaught. There never was a more courageous and skillful movement made on any field. In the attack by Whiting's Brigade, which almost immediately followed upon Colonel Pender's affair, the brigade was repulsed and the troops retired in great disorder. Colonel Froebel, of General Whiting's staff, who was present, in his report of the battle says that Colonel Pender reformed the broken regiments and restored the line by his courage and coolness. Mr. Davis was present and witnessed Colonel Pender's behavior, and said to him on the field, "_General_ Pender, I salute you!" General Stephen D. Lee thus writes: "I was on the battlefield of Fair Oaks; saw him (General Pender) and conversed with him before and after the battle. He expressed his great satisfaction to me that he was literally made a general on the field of battle for gallant and meritorious conduct just performed, and said that it reminded him of such cases in European armies, where such recognitions of soldierly conduct were made."

Three days afterwards he was put in command of Pettigrew's Brigade (Pettigrew having been wounded and captured), which he led through the Seven Days' fight around Richmond. His commission as brigadier-general was handed to him July 22, 1862, to date from June 3. His brigade was composed of North Carolinians, the Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Twenty-second, Thirty-fourth, and Thirty-eighth Regiments, and General Pender commanded it until he was promoted.

General Johnston having been severely wounded in the battle of the 31st, the command of the army was given to General Lee. Within less than a month he concentrated around Richmond the largest army the Confederacy ever had in the field, composed of the very pick and flower of the South. There was little discipline in that army, but there were the highest personal courage and the greatest individuality of character among the men. Its antagonist, the Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan, though possibly a little inferior in numbers, was thoroughly organized, drilled, and equipped. On the 23d of June General Jackson arrived at General Lee's headquarters, having left his troops on the route from the Valley to join General Lee in a contemplated attack upon McClellan's right. It was agreed between the two generals that at sunrise on the morning of the 26th Jackson's forces should attack the rear of the Federal position at Mechanicsville and Beaver Dam, while a part of Lee's army should make the attack there in front. On the 25th, the divisions of the two Hills moved out, A. P. Hill's down the Meadow Bridge and D. H. Hill's on the Mechanicsville road. Jackson was waited for until about 3 o'clock of the afternoon of the 26th, when, not being heard from, A. P. Hill impetuously began the attack from the front, General Pender with his brigade being the first to engage. He brushed back the enemy's advanced line to their main one just behind and along Beaver Dam creek. The position was entrenched and fortified with siege-guns, as well as light artillery, while the creek just in front was made hopelessly impassable by all manner of obstructions placed there for that purpose. The approach was over an exposed plain about three-quarters of a mile wide and down the slope to the creek, with no cover or protection. General Pender and his brave North Carolinians swept over the plain and down the bottom under a murderous fire of artillery and musketry to the brink of the creek; nothing could live under that fire. The line wavered and staggered back. Mr. Davis, who was on the field, seeing the charge and the terrible repulse, ordered General D. H. Hill to send one of his brigades to his assistance, and Ripley was sent. About dark, Pender's lines having been reformed and joined by Ripley, a second advance was made. Though General Pender and his brave Carolinians knew what was before them, and had seen with their eyes that the position could not be carried, yet they went forward with a yell, many to their deaths, and many more to suffer from their bloody wounds and broken limbs. There was no chance for Pender to show his skill here, it was simply a forlorn undertaking. He obeyed orders. General D. H. Hill, in his article, "Lee's Attack North of the Chickahominy," in _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, writing of Pender's attack on Beaver Dam, uses the following language: "The result was as might have been foreseen, a bloody and disastrous repulse. None of us knew of the formidable character of the works on Beaver Dam. Our engineers seemed to know little of the country and nothing of the fortifications on the creek. The maps furnished the division commanders were worthless. The lack of knowledge of the topography was inexcusable. They had plenty of time. The Federals had been preparing for the movement all the winter, and McClellan's movements up the Peninsula indicated what position he would take up. The blood shed by the Southern troops was wasted in vain. They could have been halted at Mechanicsville until Jackson had turned the works on the creek, and all that waste of blood could have been avoided. Ripley's Brigade was sent by me to the assistance of Pender by the direct order of both Mr. Davis and General Lee. The attack on the Beaver Dam entrenchments or the heights of Malvern Hill and Gettysburg were all grand, but of exactly the kind of grandeur the South could not afford."

The next morning only a line of skirmishers occupied the works on Beaver Dam, the scene of yesterday's slaughter, the main line, upon discovering Jackson's near presence on the night of the 26th, having retreated to another strongly entrenched position extending from Gaines's Mill to near Cold Harbor. The Confederates followed, Pender hugging the Chickahominy, and then turning off by the mill to one-half mile beyond Cold Harbor. Here Porter's Corps, being well entrenched and supported by two other divisions sent to his assistance, made one of the finest battles of the war, repulsing the Confederates many times, holding Longstreet and the two Hills and Jackson at bay until about night, when the lines were broken. A. P. Hill's Corps was the first to attack. General Pender and his brave soldiers did their full part there on that day, forgetting their terrible experience of the day before. He was also at Frazier's Farm--Glendale--on the 30th.

From Beaver Dam to Malvern Hill, inclusive, these battles were one continuous series of Confederate assaults upon entrenched Union positions with unparalleled slaughter of the attacking columns. The Southerners lost, in killed and wounded, nearly twenty thousand men, the Federals not much more than half that number. General Longstreet, in _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, writes: "General Lee's plans in the seven days' fight were excellent, but very poorly executed." General E. P. Alexander, Chief of Artillery of Longstreet's Corps, in an article in the _Southern Historical Society Papers_ on the battle of Frazier's Farm, writes: "As no one can go through the details of this action without surprise at the fatal want of concert of action which characterized the many gallant and bloody assaults of the Confederates, it is best to say beforehand that it was but the persistent mishap of every offensive battlefield which the army of Northern Virginia ever fought, and that its causes were not peculiar to any one."

General Pender in his official report of these battles, while paying full tribute to the memory of the dead, did not fail to confer honor on the meritorious survivors. He says of one of our townsmen, now a distinguished lawyer, "Lieutenant Hinsdale, my acting Assistant Adjutant-General, deserves the highest praise."

Lee's shattered brigades, somewhat gotten together after the fights around Richmond, commenced the Maryland campaign. It was begun to get rid of McClellan around Richmond, and also to strike General Pope, who was advancing from Washington with another army by way of Culpeper, before he and McClellan could unite.

Jackson moved off first, and finding the enemy at Cedar Run, or Slaughter Station, on the Rapidan, he attacked at once. He had his hands full, and for a time the battle seemed to be lost. At the supreme moment Pender came on the scene, and, by a beautiful flank movement, skillfully and energetically made, reanimated the wavering Confederate line, and in a general advance the enemy was beaten off the field. General Pender, in his official report of this battle, makes mention of a young soldier, then serving with him, who is now the accomplished editor of the _News and Observer_, in terms most complimentary: "Captain Ashe, my Assistant Adjutant-General, deserves notice for his conduct, being found almost at every point almost at the same time, cheering on the men."

At second Manassas, a few days afterwards, Jackson's Corps received every attack of nearly the whole of the Federal army without yielding. The fire was delivered very often during that day at not more than ten paces. There General Pender was like Ney. The all-importance of holding the line until Longstreet should arrive was appreciated by him. He exposed himself here almost recklessly. At Ox Hill, or Chantilly, where General Phil. Kearney was killed, General Pender again led the movement. He was wounded here again. On these fields his superior generalship was conspicuously displayed. From these battles his reputation was established as a skillful leader. At Winchester, Harper's Ferry, and Sharpsburg he was a commanding figure, always in place, with his troops well in hand on the march and in battle. His superiors in rank in every movement confided in his skill as well as in his courage.

The battle of Fredericksburg ended the campaign of 1862. In this battle General Pender received the highest encomiums for the steady and cool bravery with which he held his brigade under a protracted fire from artillery, the most deadly of the war. It was a great triumph of discipline, skill, and valor. He was again wounded here.

General Longstreet spent the winter of 1862-'63 with two divisions of his corps at and near Suffolk, Virginia, procuring supplies in eastern North Carolina. Before he returned to General Lee at Fredericksburg, Hooker, who was in charge of the Army of the Potomac, more than one hundred and twenty thousand strong, crossed the Rapidan and took position on Lee's left flank near Chancellorsville. The Confederate army numbered about fifty-five thousand of all arms. Instead of promptly pressing his advantage, Hooker delayed, and Lee and Jackson acted. This battle was perfect in both strategy and tactics, and advanced Generals Lee and Jackson to the forefront of military commanders. The Confederate soldiers could not add to their laurels already won. In this battle of Chancellorsville General Pender and his brigade made a name which will last as long as the fame of the battle itself. All of us are familiar with the first day's battle. Howard's Corps was routed by D. H. Hill's old division, commanded by General Rodes. The tangled growth of the wilderness and the darkness necessarily threw into great confusion the Confederate troops which had made the attack. While they were being reformed and reduced to order, and some of the brigades relieved by fresh men, the enemy, with great numbers, who had not been engaged, arrived, and, placing their artillery at short range, opened fire with fatal effect. Everything which had been gained seemed to be lost; and, when it was thought that the Confederate line could not be held, General Jackson, after he had received his death wound, recognizing in the darkness General Pender, who had relieved one of Rodes' brigades, said to him: "You must hold your ground, General Pender, you must hold your ground, sir!" and he held his ground. This was General Jackson's last command.

On the next morning early the handful of Confederates saw three times their numbers in a wilderness country, thoroughly entrenched, waiting to receive their attack. The assault _had_ to be made. Sedgwick, with his corps, was in rear and flank at Fredericksburg, opposed by Early, who was too weak to cope with him, and Hooker's main force was between Lee and Richmond. It was a terrible day--that Sunday, the 3d of May, 1863. General Heth, in his official report of the battle, says that Pender and Thomas, the left of A. P. Hill's Division, opened the battle. They were repulsed in the first assault with great loss, but in the second charge they carried the day. Pender won more glory in this charge than any other of the heroic souls who took part in it.

General Lee, in his official report of this battle, said: "General Pender led his brigade to the attack under a destructive fire, bearing the colors of a regiment in his own hands up to and over the entrenchments with the most distinguished gallantry."

After the wounding of General A. P. Hill on that day, General Pender was put in command of that officer's division and was wounded late that afternoon. His own official report of this action proves the modesty and magnanimity of his great and lofty nature. He said: "I can truly say that my brigade fought May 3d with unsurpassed courage and determination. I never knew them to act universally so well. I noticed no skulking, and they never showed any hesitation in following their colors. My list in killed and wounded will show how manfully they fought on that glorious day. After having witnessed the fighting of nearly all the troops that fought on the left of the road, I am satisfied with my own, but by no means claim any superiority. All that I saw behaved as heroes."

No wonder everybody loved and admired General Pender!

The greatness of General Lee as a commander of armies is nowhere more certainly seen than in the reorganization and enlargement of his army after the battles of Chancellorsville. Within a month after those battles he had organized the most effective and best disciplined army he ever had. Longstreet had returned, other reenforcements had arrived, and when the movement of his army towards the North was begun, on June 3, 1863, he probably had seventy-five thousand of all arms. In the reorganization of the army A. P. Hill had been decided on as a corps commander, and a major-general to command his division was wanted. On the 20th of May, two weeks after Chancellorsville, General Lee wrote to Mr. Davis: "If A. P. Hill is promoted a major-general will be wanted for his division. Pender is an excellent officer, attentive, industrious, and brave; has been conspicuous in every battle, and, I believe, wounded in almost all of them." For a division commander of A. P. Hill's celebrated "Light Division," no two, or three, or more, are recommended for the President to choose from, but one, and that one W. D. Pender. He was appointed Major-General on the 27th May, 1863, and assigned to that division composed of the brigades of Scales, Lane, Thomas, and McGowan, one week later. He was the youngest major-general in the Confederate army, being only twenty-nine years old.

Longstreet and Ewell left their camps during the first week in June, and arrived with Stuart and all the cavalry at Culpeper on the 8th. Ewell pushed on, and A. P. Hill, leaving Fredericksburg on the 13th, where the Federals had remained up to this time, passed Longstreet and moved on to the Valley of Virginia, Longstreet protecting Hill's flank by moving himself along the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, with Stuart and his whole cavalry force in his front to watch the enemy.

"General Stuart was left to observe the movements of the enemy, and to impede him as much as possible, should he attempt to cross the Potomac. In that event, he was directed to move into Maryland, on right of our column as it advanced." (General Lee's report.) He, claiming the discretion, went off on a raid toward Washington, and thereby the enemy was enabled to interpose himself between the Confederate infantry and cavalry. Ewell, with his corps, advanced as far as Carlisle, and Longstreet and Hill were at Chambersburg on the 27th June. General Lee, in his official report of the Pennsylvania campaign, says: "It was expected that as soon as the Federal army should cross the Potomac General Stuart would give notice of its movements, and nothing having been heard from him since our entrance into Maryland, it was inferred that the enemy had not yet left Virginia. Orders were therefore issued (June 27th) to move on Harrisburg.

"On the night of the 28th news came through a scout that the Federal army had crossed the Potomac and the head of the column was at South Mountain, and this arrested the movement to Harrisburg."

This advance of the enemy threatened General Lee's communications with Virginia, and he determined to concentrate his army on the east of the mountains. On the 29th Hill was ordered to Gettysburg, and Longstreet was to follow next day. Ewell was ordered to Cashtown or Gettysburg, as circumstances might require. These movements towards Gettysburg were not so quickly made as they would have been had the movements of the enemy been known. Pettigrew's Brigade went to Gettysburg on the morning of the 30th to get provision, but finding it in the possession of the Federals, returned to Cashtown, where he rejoined Heth's and united with Pender's Division. Next morning the divisions of Pender and Heth and two battalions of artillery advanced to ascertain the strength of the enemy. Heth, in the lead, found the enemy's videttes three miles from the town, they having advanced on the Chambersburg road; he drove them, but was in turn driven back by a superior force. Pender coming up at this time, the two divisions advanced and engaged the enemy. Rodes arrived afterwards, about 2:30 P. M., on the Middleburg road, formed on Pender's left, at right angles, and Early coming up on the Heidlersburg road, formed quickly on Rodes' left, when a general advance was made, and the enemy gave way everywhere. The success was complete. Of General Pender's part in this battle another extract from the letter of General Lewis will be used: "While we were being placed in line on a hill to join on Pender's left, his division drove the enemy from the woods on Seminary Ridge and across the open field about one-third of a mile wide and three-quarters long. The enemy then reformed behind Seminary Ridge and, with unlimited artillery, made a gallant stand, but Pender's 'Light Division,' with unbroken ranks, drove them from this strong position just as we advanced to his assistance. General Pender deserves the entire credit of the victory of the battle of the first day at Gettysburg."

On the morning of the 2d of July Longstreet, with his corps, except Pickett, who had not arrived, was on the Confederate right, with the Federals on Round Top and the adjacent hills in front; Ewell with his corps in front of Culp's Hill and the north front of Cemetery Hill, and A. P. Hill in the center, along the western front of Cemetery Hill. Anderson's Division was the right of Hill's line, Pender's the left, and Heth's a little in rear, in reserve. At about 5 o'clock in the afternoon Longstreet attacked the Federal left on Round Top. Hill and Ewell were ordered to make feints to prevent Federal troops from being withdrawn from their fronts to reinforce the left, but to attack, if opportunity offered. It was during this attack of Longstreet that General Pender received the wound which resulted in his death. Anderson's Division was ordered in to support Longstreet. Just before the advance was begun, General Pender and his Adjutant-General, Major Joseph A. Engelhard, and General W. G. Lewis, who was then Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-third North Carolina Regiment, were on the extreme left of Pender's line, engaged in a friendly talk, sitting on a large granite boulder, when suddenly the enemy's artillery opened upon our right. Immediately General Pender turned to Major Engelhard, and said: "Major, this indicates an assault, and we will ride down our line."