Charles F. Morse, an officer in the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, wrote a long letter to his wife after the battle at Gettysburg. In it, he mentions an incident on the evening of the second day’s action – a groping, moonlight encounter with the 23rd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
The incident was definitely a ‘strange compound of odds and ends‘.
In the early evening of July 2, Morse and several companies of the regiment were ordered to leave their breastworks in McAllister’s Woods, just south of Culp’s Hill near Spangler’s Spring and march to reinforce the Union left-center that was struggling against an assault by Generals Barksdale and Wilcox.
It turned out to be just a three-mile hike.
By the time they arrived, the enemy had been driven back, and forty-five minutes later – between 8 and 9 p.m. – they were ordered to return to their old position on the Union right. Culp’s Hill had been hit hard by Jackson’s old division, now under the command of General Edward Johnson. The line held but, as Morse put it, “Mr. Johnny Reb had come with a strong force and got our breastworks“.
By the time the 2nd Massachusetts arrived, however, it was dark and the fighting had stopped. They were ordered to advance cautiously. Captain Morse and Company B were sent forward as skirmishers.
We crept quietly along; not a word was spoken nor an unnecessary noise made . . . We were just marching out of the woods into a little open meadow in the clear moonlight, when our skirmishers brought in a rebel prisoner: this showed our proximity to the enemy . . . The skirmishers were reinforced and again advanced. In five minutes we had captured a captain and twenty-two other prisoners; still not a shot was fired . . . We began to think that, after all, perhaps there was no force in front of us; so the regiment was again ordered to advance . . . the meadow was narrow, and we soon entered the woods again, where it was quite dark. We crawled along cautiously and quietly, till we began to hear a confused sound of talking in front of us. We now halted. Not daring to do anything more without being certain what troops they were . . .
At that point, Morse was in a command conundrum – shoot, retreat, attack, what? Sometimes, however, a simple solution is the best choice: “I ordered two men to go forward and ask them,” he wrote.
‘Boys, what regiment do you belong to?’
The reply was, ‘Twenty-third.’
‘Twenty-third what?’
‘Twenty-third Virginia.’
Then some one cried out, “Why, they are Yanks.” and seized one of my men; the other bolted back to me and escaped.
However, the Confederates didn’t attack the 2nd Massachusetts at that point. “The behavior of the rebels puzzled me,” Morse explained to his wife. “I couldn’t make out what they were up to . . . they seemed in confusion . . . and showed no inclination to fire or advance upon us.” [*]
“I now resolved on a bold stroke.” He ordered Company B to advance – again – in the darkness, but instead of stealth, he told them to do it ‘with some noise‘. A response from the rebels was immediate, but instead of a heavy fusillade, one of them yelled: “Who comes there?” The officer leading the skirmish line, called out the answer he’d been ordered to deliver: “Surrender ! Come into our lines.”
Morse wrote:
The impudence of this request must have struck the rebel commander, for his answer was, in a loud voice, “Battalion, ready, aim, fire!” A heavy volley was fired, but luckily the ground where we were was low and the men scattered at intervals, so that not much damage was done, only three men being wounded.
At that point, the Confederates did counter-attack, but Captain Morse of the 2nd Massachusetts had decided by that time that perhaps discretion was, indeed, the better part of valor.
They followed this up by a rush, and we ran for it; they followed only a short distance, but I made up my mind that we had had enough skylarking for one night, and returned therefore with all the men to the regiment . . . It was now between twelve and one; we lay down with arms in our hands, to get a little rest.
The next day – July 3rd – the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was ordered to attack their old position at the base of Culp’s Hill. That time, the 23rd Virginia didn’t hesitate in their response. The Second suffered 137 casualties in the assault, including their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Mudge .
Captain Morse of Company B survived the assault, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He commanded the 2nd Massachusetts for the remainder of the war.
There are millions of stories from the Irrepressible Conflict. This was just one of them.
Mac
Works Cited
[*] What Morse either didn’t know or didn’t remember was that the 23rd Virginia was part of Stonewall Jackson’s old division, and they were at Chancellorsville the night Jackson was mortally wounded by friendly fire from his division. Two months later – at Gettysburg – the 23rd found themselves in the same situation – in the woods at night, in a fluid position, during a multi-day engagement, with their forces scattered and movement going on all around them. Their behavior was not only understandable, it was predictable.
[1] Morse, Charles F. (1898) Letters Written During the Civil War (1861-1865). Published by the author.
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