Spottsylvania

The Battle as seen from the Ranks of the 126th Ohio.

Published in the "The National Tribune", October 20, 1887, pg. 3.

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: On the 7th of May, 1864, the 126th Ohio lay in line of battle a short distance to the left of where it suffered so severely the day previously in the Battle of the Wilderness. The regiment crossed the Rapidan three days before with 23 officers and 555 men - all strong and able for duty. But now its number was reduced nearly one-half in slain, wounded and missing. But little was done on this day, either by the entire army or the regiment, except to fortify and act on the defensive. Desultry firing was kept up on the skirmish line by both armies. In the evening the rebels cheered vociferously and made demonstrations as if they were going to make a charge, but for some reason they gave it up.

Shortly after nightfall the regiment, with its division - Third Division, Sixth Corps, withdrew quietly from the rebel front and began its march with the entire army in the direction of Spottsylvania Court-house, on what is known as the Brock Road. The regiment was on the go all night. When not marching, the men were standing on their feet

IMPATIENTLY WAITING
which was as tiresome and fatiguing as the marching, as they were not allowed in any way to relieve themselves of their burden. This slow and tiresome march was kept up till nearly evening of the next day - Sunday.

When the Fifth Corps, under Gen. Warren, which led the advance of the infantry of the Union army, arrived in the vicinity of Spottsylvania, it was confronted by Longstreet's Corps, which had been ordered there by Gen Lee in expectation of Grant's movements. After arriving in front of the rebels the regiment was soon formed in line of battle awaiting the enemy, and a general engagement seemed impending, but a conflict only occurred in front of the Fifth Corps. There it was sharp and spirited, but on other parts of the line, especially in front of the 126th Ohio, there was only occasional firing. As the men lay in line of battle along a rail fence, just enough musket-balls reached them to annoy and make them feel uncomfortable.

The regiment lay in line of battle till about 11 o'clock that night, and then commenced moving again. It continued marching until 1 o'clock on the morning of the 9th, when the men were permitted to lie down, exceedingly

TIRED AND WORN OUT,
having had no rest for five successive days. On the 9th the men were either busily fortifying or fighting all day. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, from the musketry and heavy cannonading the combatants appeared to be busy all along the line.

About 6 o'clock, in the evening on this day a detail of three officers and 100 men from the 126th was sent out in front to increase the skirmish-line and advance to ascertain the strength of the enemy. The result was that the detail deployed and advanced under cover of darkness, unperceived, to within a short distance of the rebel works and brought on a severe skirmish. The angry,

FLASHING AND GLEAMING
of musketry in the darkness of the night was terrible for a short time. Two of the men were killed and eight were wounded. The fearless Capt. Lampton, being the senior officer, led the detachment. He was mortally wounded and died the next day.

As the 9th was a day of entrenching, skirmishing and reconnoitering, in order to ascertain the strength of the opposing forces, the 10th was a day of hard and severe fighting. It was a day of awful carnage on both sides. Death was busy all day. The roar of the musketry, the thundering tones of artillery, and the yells of the combatants as they surged back and forth were beyond description. It seemed that it was impossible for anyone on either side to survive the desperate and sanguinary struggle.

The regiment lay in line of battle near the artillery all day and all night, and until 6 o'clock on the evening of the 11th, when it was moved a short distance to the left, where it was ordered to lie down in line of battle behind the breastworks, on the damp ground. The heavy rains all afternoon made it very disagreeable.

BUT FEW CASUALTIES
occurred in the regiment on the 10th and 11th, and those men were from rebel sharpshooters and random shots from the skirmish-line; but the deafing roar of the artillery was very trying to the men as they lay in such close proximity.

Co. A of the regiment was detailed to go on the skirmish-line today, and occupied a very exposed position until the evening of the 12th. Capt. Weyand had charge of the company, and by getting his command into "gopher-holes" it was tolerably secure from the sharpshooters that were hid in the trees within the rebel lines.

On the 12th desperate fighting began on the left of the line at 5 o'clock in the morning by [General] Hancock, who had transferred his corps from the right to the left the evening before. The struggle was fierce and terrific all day, in order to get possession of an elevated position held by the rebels for the purpose of using artillery. The roar of the musketry was awful as volley after volley was hurled back and forth and the terrific noise of the artillery was beyond

ANYTHING BEFORE EXPERIENCED.
As the artillery belched forth its deadly missiles the earth appeared to be lifted from its foundations and shook as if it were in a balance.

All day long and far into the night the struggle raged with unceasing fury. If there was a lull in the storm of battle it only proved to be a breathing spell, preparatory to a more desperate onset. The sun even refused to witness such a sight, and hid his face all day behind a thick cloud of vapor and smoke. At about 11 o'clock that day the 126th Ohio, with its division, was ordered to the left of the line, where both armies appeared to be concentrating. After arriving and forming line of battle, the regiment was detached from its brigade and sent past several lines of battle to the front line, within 100 yards of the enemy's breastworks at what was known as

THE "BLOODY ANGLE"
-so called from the sanguinary struggle that took place at this salient in the rebel works - and formed a line of battle while the rebels were pouring volley after volley and thinning its ranks. Having no protection save a few small pines six or eight inches in diameter, the men lay down. They loaded lying; then rising to their knees, took deliberate aim at the heads of the rebels above the parapet and fired. Although the men were being stricken down at a fearful rate, they were cool and calm and kept up such a constant fire on the rebels as to nearly stop theirs by times, as it was almost sure death for them to show their heads. There was no standing up and cheering or yelling, except by a few individuals, and they were soon hushed in death, as they were targets for the enemy. The men were inspired with more than usual fearlessness and firmly held their position until each man had exhausted
FIFTY ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION,
and then he took cartridges from the boxes of their slain comrades in order to keep up the fire.

This was continued for nearly two hours, and when the rebels discovered that the firing had ceased, they came out of their rifle pits and began advancing toward the regiment. The men of the 126th fixed bayonets and held the ground for a short time, and only fell back in rear of the next line of battle when in imminent danger of being annihilated, as already every other man was either killed or wounded, including the brave and faithful commander, Lieut.-Col. Ebright, who was wounded early in the engagement. After getting a supply of ammunition the men returned and lay all night in line of battle a short distance in rear of the bullet-swept ground where they fought so bravely during the day.

Now the regiment was very small, only a remnant

NOT ENOUGH FOR A COMPANY
of minimum size, and a sense of loneliness seemed to come over the men that night as they lay in line of battle thinking of so many comrades sleeping the sleep of death only a short distance from them. The was also a discouraging feature in the struggle during the day, as the effect of the firing on the rebels from the regiment was not known, and it seemed that the rebels were inflicting losses on the regiment incomparably heavier than they themselves were sustaining.

The battle continued through the night and until 3 o'clock the next morning, when Lee withdrew his shattered columns to new works that he had erected nearly a mile in rear. At daylight the Union advanced and took possession

OF THE REBEL WORKS.
In front of where the 126th fought the day before, what a horrifying sight in the advanced rifle-pits! Lee, in retiring, had left his dead and wounded, and here they were piled by the hundreds. Such a night will never be forgotten by those who saw it. Bloated corpses and men in the agonies of death ; the dead and dying lay piled upon each other, the ditch red with human gore; trees in rear of the rifle pits were actually hacked down by bullets and had fallen on the slain and wounded as they lay all around. Language fails to describe the scene, and I drop the curtain. The regiment, with the entire army, remained in the vicinity of Spottsylvania till the evening of the 21st, when all commenced moving in the direction of the North Anna River. There was heavy skirmishing all the time. Both armies closely watched each other day and night, and contended for every inch of ground.

John E. Peck, Captain, 126th Ohio, Jewett, O.
126th OVI Home
Return to letters from the 126th OVI, published in the Steubenville Weekly Herald
Go to the B. F. Junkin Civil War Journal, 100th PVI