1863: Chancellorsville, then Home

Source

Chère maman,

How I long for home and hearth now, I am heartily sick of the army. Our boys have once again been led to defeat and ruin by the generals.

Near the end of April we were encamped with Reynolds' I Corps to the south of Fredericksburg. Then on May the 1st, Joe Hooker got himself into a mess in a place the locals call "The Wilderness." And pretty wild it is, lots of underbrush, hilly and heavily forested. Rather like back home up in the mountains.

He ran into Stonewall himself in that tangled mess and rather than fight it out, he pulled back, leaving the place to Jackson, thinking to stand on the defensive rather than attack.

So on the 2nd, Reynolds' Corps (with us in it) was ordered north, around Fredericksburg and to a place where we could ford the Rappahannock and get stuck in to the secesh. Of course, we got flung across the river and then waited.

In the meantime Howard's Germans got themselves run out of the wilderness, leaving a big mess behind.

We guarded the ford whilst everyone else was fighting. Until it was time for everyone to re-cross the Rappahannock, we were the rear guard and lost ten men keeping the Johnnies at bay.

I swear, all this army does is stumble from one mess to another.

Votre fils, Joseph

"Frenchie!"

Joseph heard his name called and he turned to see his friend Thomas, he had found hot coffee and had somehow managed to come away with the whole pot.

"Where'd you get that, Thomas?"

"Officers were having a brew but they got called away for an orders group. I suspect we'll be moving one way or t'other and soon."

All day the men had listened to the thunder of cannon and the rattle of musketry in the near distance.

Thomas Dignan poured them both a cup, took a sip, then spoke.

"I heard tell that Sickles and his boys are damned near surrounded at a crossroads called Chancellorsville, while the rest of the army sits in The Wilderness waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Cap'n just came through while you were on picket duty, said that Sickles and Couch managed to pull back into The Wilderness but that the damned Germans ran away again. Also heard that old Thomas Jackson is dead.¹ Shot by his own pickets!"

Thomas just sat there for a moment, "Stonewall? Dead?"

"That's what they're saying."

"Well, I'll be damned." Thomas shook his head as he said that. Oddly enough, he felt bad for the man himself, though not the cause he served.

"Steady lads, steady."

The 22nd New York stood in line, waiting while the bulk of the army crossed back to the Union-held side of the Rappahannock. Marse Lee had managed to drive the Yankees again. Joseph wondered if the Rebs fought better on their own turf. Lord knows, they fought hard in Maryland, near Sharpsburg, last year, but to no avail.

In Virginia they fought like wildcats.

The regiment had received a number of replacements over the winter and was now at a strength of near three hundred. Many of the new recruits had proven unsuited for army life and had been sent home. What remained was solid.

"Hear they come boys! Hold until I give the command!" Colonel Phelps sat his horse and watched as the Confederate skirmishers broke out of the far tree line.

Joseph saw the puffs of smoke long before he heard the familiar "zip" of Minié balls whipping overhead. The first shots were always too high.

"Steady! Steady!"

A man beside him grunted, clutched his belly then fell to the ground. Joseph waited for the command. He could see the secesh forming up across the way, but not making any move to advance.

"Looks like they're content to see us back across the river, eh Frenchie?"

Joseph smiled as Thomas said that, he sure hoped there wasn't going to be a general fight here by the ford.

And there wasn't, the Johnnies were content to take long range shots at the departing columns of Union troops. The regiment suffered ten wounded, one or two serious, but no one was killed outright and they were able to take the injured men across when it was their turn.

As the last cavalry pickets forded back to the northern side of the Rappahannock, Joseph prayed that he'd seen his last action. In a month the regiment would return to Albany to be mustered out. He'd done his time, he had had enough.

More than enough.

Newspaper clipping from 1863 -

Sunday night, before starting for their homes, the Regiment was highly complimented in an address by Gen. WADSWORTH, for their bravery and discipline. In every action they have been in, they have indeed covered themselves with glory.

The sanitary condition of the Regiment has been remarkably good, having lost but twenty by natural causes. In officers, they have lost eleven killed and one died a natural death; men, fifty-seven killed and nineteen a natural death; missing and never heard from, eight; wounded, about one hundred and sixty-five.

They left this city about 825 strong, and have received in the neighborhood of 300 recruits, many of whom, however, were discharged as unfit for service. Their aggregate now is 505 men, 419 with the regiment, and the rest in the hospital and elsewhere.

 

After dinner at the Delavan, the Regiment proceeded to the Capitol, where they were welcomed by Gov. SEYMOUR, Col. PHELPS responding in a few brief and appropriate remarks. The Regiment then proceeded to the Barracks. Source

The 22nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment's war was over.

¹ In reality, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by one of his own men. He was evacuated and had his left arm amputated. However, he caught pneumonia and died after the battle, on the 10th of May, 1863.