"It was Braddock's defeat after the lapse of a century"

From F.W. Little's The Seventh Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers (1896)

      Included in an 1882 book entitled, History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania is a group of brief biographies of prominent county citizens. One of those profiles was for the late Joshua Blackwood Howell, the colonel of the 85th Pennsylvania regiment. Howell was a leading attorney in Uniontown, PA prior to the Civil War. He suffered from a concussion on Morris Island, South Carolina in 1863 while commanding trench operations. The next year, 1864, Howell died as the result of a fall from his horse while stationed in Virginia.
        In Howell's biographical entry from the book about Fayette County is this tantalizing passage concerning Union General Truman Seymour's ill-fated Florida expedition in February of 1864, resulting in the disastrous loss at the Battle of Olustee:

     "He [Howell] was ordered with his brigade to Hilton Head [SC] to relieve Gen. [Truman] Seymour, in command of that district....Seymour had been ordered to Florida in command of that unfortunate expedition which resulted in the disaster of Olustee, upon the occasion of which he publicly remarked, 'This would not have occurred if I had Howell and his gallant boys with me.'"

       The purported Seymour quote heaped praise on Howell's "gallant boys," which probably meant the 85th Pennsylvania and the rest of Howell's brigade that included the 39th Illinois, 62nd Ohio and 67th Ohio. But is it true?
        If correct,  it is also a rather startling admission from Seymour, whose nearly 2,000 casualties and a 34% casualty rate at Olustee was staggering. Could Howell's command really have made a difference in the face of such huge losses?
       Also, one must ask, who or what is source for this comment? The History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania was published eighteen years after the battle. The work was edited by Franklin Ellis, but the author(s) of the individual biographies of the prominent residents is not disclosed.
     Under what circumstance could Seymour have made such a statement? Was it part of an interview?  Was it immediate frustration expressed upon his return to South Carolina?  Perhaps he said it to praise Howell on the occasion of Howell's untimely death later that year (1864).
        If Seymour thought so highly of Howell's men, why was Howell's brigade left on Hilton Head Island for the Florida campaign? The reason is that many men in his brigade had been rewarded with  30-day furloughs to travel back home because they had extended their enlistment past the original three-year commitment.
        Ironically, Howell's own regiment, the 85th Pennsylvania, did not re-enroll enough soldiers to be called a veteran volunteer regiment; the other three regiments in Howell's brigade did earn the distinction. In a subject covered in my book about the 85th Pennsylvania, Such Severe and Hard Service, most men in the 85th PA deplored the leadership style of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Campbell and refused to extend their service.
       The next question is: Did Seymour actually make the "public" statement that he would have been victorious at Olustee if Howell's brigade had been there with him? After an extensive internet search, I could not find this quotation by Seymour. This does not mean that the statement was not made, only that I could not find it. I would like to invite a reader to contact me if he/she finds evidence that Seymour actually made the statement.
     However, the next question is: Could Seymour have made this statement? I believe the answer is yes.
      By the start of 1864, Howell's brigade had established a sturdy reputation. They had been unfairly disparaged by George B. McClellan at Seven Pines (VA) in 1862, but played a key role during the Goldsboro Expedition later that year, and had survived onerous trench digging duties on Morris Island (SC) in 1863, suffering more casualties than any other Union regiment stationed on the island. The other three regiments had all fought well in the west before coming under Howell's command in early 1863.
       The goals of Seymour's Florida expedition were to disrupt Confederate supply lines, search for prospective black troops, and perhaps coax the state away from supporting the Confederacy. After several movements against little opposition, Seymour decided to move inland towards the state capital at Tallahassee. He set out towards the interior of the state with 5,500 men. At Olustee, he met an entrenched Confederate force of 5000 under the command of Irish-born Brigadier General Joseph Finegan.
     One key regiment in  the Union assault was the 7th New Hampshire, a quality regiment that had just added 300 new draftees and enlistees. Their inexperience helped cause them to break and retreat at a key moment in the Olustee fight.
     In his official report five days after the battle to his superior, Quincy Gillmore, Seymour wrote:

General Truman Seymour    LOC

 "The colored troops behaved creditably—the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts and First North Carolina like veterans. It was not in their conduct that can be found the chief cause of failure, but in the unanticipated yielding of a white regiment from which there was every reason to expect noble service, and at a moment when everything depended upon its firmness. The misfortune arose, doubtless, from this regiment having lately been filled with conscripts and substitutes, of a very inferior class. The issue, so finely drawn that the battle was nearly equal to its very close, the enemy's losses as heavy as my own, ground firmly held to the last, the admirable temper of the command all indicate that but for the disparity arising from the causes indicated, this might fairly have been a victory."

         Seymour undoubtedly was referring to the 7th New Hampshire as the "white regiment" that unexpectedly yielded.
          Two weeks after the battle, a letter from an anonymous soldier in the 7th New Hampshire appeared in the Boston Herald (March 4, 1864). The soldier noted that his regiment had earlier been furnished with new Spencer carbine rifles. But prior to the Florida expedition, these weapons were taken away, replaced with damaged muskets that often did not function. Many lacked ramrods; all lacked bayonets. Referring to 300 new additions to his regiment, the soldier noted that many were German and French Canadian substitutes who spoke no English. 

        Seymour made his share of mistakes at Olustee. He advanced inland against Gillmore's orders. He misjudged the size and make-up of his opposition. He fed his regiments into the battle in piecemeal fashion. Nonetheless, he may have thought the more experienced men of Howell's Brigade would have stood and fought, giving him a better chance of emerging victorious. His official report seemed to pin the blame on one regiment, the 7th New Hampshire. So he is on the record suggesting that one regiment or one brigade would have made the difference. Correct or not, I believe he could have made the statement about Howell's "gallant boys." 

  
 NOTE: The quote in the title  of this entry is from Joseph T. Wilson's The Black Phalanx; African American Soldiers In the War of Independence, The War of 1812, And The Civil War. It refers to the disastrous defeat of English General Edward Braddock in 1755 in western Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. 

   

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Eight Close Calls

        

     

   

          The 85th Pennsylvania regiment suffered substantial losses during the Civil War. About 250 men died; about a hundred from battle deaths and 150 from diseases. They lost more than some regiments but not as much as others. 

       As numerous as their losses were, however, it is somewhat amazing that they did not lose more men. Either through fate, divine intervention or luck, there were numerous times in which the regiment was not picked for an assignment that resulted in large if not huge Union losses. 

      Below, I have listed eight times the regiment was fated NOT to take part in such battles or campaigns.

1. Seven Days' Battles

     At the Battle of Seven Pines, VA on May 31, 1862, the 85th Pennsylvania, as part of Silas Casey's

Map by Hal Jespersen   www.cwmaps.com
Keyes Corps (with 85th PA) in the rear

undermanned and inexperienced division, held off a Confederate attack against 2-to-1 odds until Union reinforcements arrived. For this performance, they were unfairly shamed by their leader, General George B. McClellan of the Army of the Potomac, for retreating after several hours of intense fighting when their only other alternative was capture. McClellan's assessment was wrong; but because of his division's perceived poor performance, Casey was sacked, replaced by John J. Peck, and his division was placed in the rear for the Seven Days' Battles during the month of June. Yes, the 85th Pennsylvania suffered greatly in the pestilent and swampy conditions of a hot and humid summer in Virginia during that month. Forty men from the regiment died during June. But their losses would have been even more substantial had McClellan not removed them from the Seven Days Battles (June 25-July 1). Union losses in this series of battles were nearly 16,000 men. The main contribution of Peck's Division main  was guarding the supply trains during McClellan's withdrawal from the Virginia peninsula to Harrison's Landing in early July.

2. Second Bull Run and Antietam

   

Antietam   LOC

 In August of 1862, McClellan underwent a remarkable change of attitude regarding Casey's Division, now led by General Peck. Once scorned as cowards, McClellan, always on the lookout for reinforcements,  now repeatedly asked  Washington to reacquire Peck's Division for the upcoming campaign in northern Virginia and Maryland. General Henry Halleck, head of the army, considered McClellan's request but instead shipped Peck's men to Suffolk, VA to protect the Norfolk Navy Yard for the later half of 1862. The 85th Pennsylvania consequently missed the deadly battles of Second Manassas (August 28-30) and Antietam (September 22). The 85th Pennsylvania lost 21 men, mainly due to diseases, while at Suffolk. They were involved in two skirmishes at the Blackwater River in October where they suffered no casualties. Meanwhile, the combined Union losses at Second Bull Run and Antietam were around 27,000 men.

 
3. South Carolina 

    At the end of their stay in Suffolk, Henry Wessells' Brigade (which included the 85th Pennsylvania)

Andersonville   LOC

took part in the two-week Goldsboro Expedition in North Carolina. In the spring of 1863, Wessells' Brigade was sent to the Albemarle region of the state. His brigade included three regiments with which the 85th Pennsylvania had served during the Goldsboro Expedition: 101st Pennsylvania, 103rd Pennsylvania and 85th New York. The 85th Pennsylvania, however was detached, upon the request of Colonel Joshua Howell, and sent to South Carolina for the campaign against Charleston and Fort Sumter. Howell's request was granted. The regiment suffered many casualties over the next year, mainly due to disease and sickness. Wessells' command, overwhelmed by land forces and the ironclad Albemarle, surrendered the 2500 survivors at Plymouth, NC in the spring of 1864. Many died in the Andersonville POW hellhole.

4. Fort Wagner

   

Storming of Fort Wagner    LOC

In July of 1863, the Union suffered heavy losses in two failed assaults against Fort Wagner. In both cases, the 85th Pennsylvania was to be in the second wave of attackers; but because initial losses were so heavy, the second waves were called off. Not so fortunate were the 62nd Ohio and 67th Ohio, both detached from Howell's Brigade for first wave of the second assault on July 18. The first Union assault on Fort Wagner on July 10 caused 330 Union casualties. The second assault on July 18 also resulted in failure to capture the battery but with much larger casualty numbers. Along with the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment and others, both Ohio regiments suffered heavy losses.

Union losses totaled over 1500 men. For the two Ohio regiments, casualties totaled 277.  After the failure of the second assault, the Union decided to dig a series of parallels approaching Fort Wagner. The 85th Pennsylvania had  68 casualties in this operation, more than any other regiment. But when it was the turn for the 85th Pennsylvania to assault Fort Wagner in early September, it was discovered that the structure had been abandoned the previous night by its Confederate defenders. The 85th Pennsylvania lost just one man to a land mine.

5. Olustee

 

 In January of 1864, General Truman Seymour led a Union assault force against Florida. The Union saw an opportunity to wrest Florida, which they perceived to be lightly defended, from the Confederacy. The 85th

Battle of Olustee         Kurz and Alison Lithograph

Pennsylvania was slated to play a prominent role in Seymour's assault, but because so many of Joshua Howell's Brigade went home on furlough in exchange for extending their enlistments, the 85th Pennsylvania stayed behind. They therefore missed out on a useless Union assault at Olustee, Florida, where Seymour's command suffered huge losses approaching 2000 men. Ironically, Howell's Brigade was held back because many men had reenlisted and had earned a 30-day furlough to their homes. The 85th Pennsylvania had only about a hundred men reenlist, but the other three regiments of the brigade (39th Illinois, 62nd Ohio and 67th Ohio) had larger numbers of men reenlist, making the brigade so reduced that they became ineligible for Seymour's movement.

6. Cold Harbor

   

LOC

In June of 1864, General U.S. Grant launched an ill-fated assault at Cold Harbor, VA at the end of his Overland Campaign. It failed substantially. Grant later said it was his biggest mistake of the war. The 85th Pennsylvania was part of Benjamin Butler's Army of the James below Richmond. The Army of the James consisted of the 10th and 18th Corps. The 85th Pennsylvania was part of the 10th Corps. The 18th Corps was detached from the Bermuda Hundred and sent to fight at Cold Harbor while the 10th Corps stayed behind. Grant suffered over 12000 losses at Cold Harbor; 3000 were members of the 18th Corps.

7. Bermuda Hundred 

    While stationed at the Bermuda Hundred peninsula south of Richmond in May of 1864, eight battles

Bermuda Hundred Reenactment 2014

were fought by Benjamin Butler's Army of the James before the Confederates completed the "Howlett Line"  of entrenchments across to entire peninsula from the Appomattox the James Rives, effectively stopping any plans by Butler to threaten Richmond. Of the eight battles fought in May, the 85th Pennsylvania was engaged just twice, both times at Ware Bottom Church. But over the entire series of battles, the 39th Illinois from their brigade suffered much heavier losses. Finding themselves isolated on May 15 during the battle of Drewry's Bluff, this regiment lost 127 of 550 men who went into battle that day. The 39th Illinois also lost over a hundred men at the two fights at Ware Bottom Church. The 85th Pennsylvania had about 50 men killed and wounded in the same two engagements. 

8. Darbytown Road

     

Colonel Francis B. Pond
62nd Ohio

In mid-October of 1864, a day before most of the regiment was taken off the front lines to await the end of their three-year enlistments, the 85th Pennsylvania as part of Francis Pond's Brigade was ordered to attack a fortified position along Darbytown Road near Richmond. The 85th Pennsylvania was to be in front lines for the obvious suicidal attack, that is obvious to everyone except General Adelbert Ames and cavalry commander August Kautz, who planned the assault. Ames' only concession was to reinforce Pond with two additional regiments. For some reason, Pond reorganized his lineup of regiments. The 10th Connecticut, one of the added regiments that expected to play only a reserve role, was placed up front while the 85th Pennsylvania was sent to the rear. During the assault, the 10th Connecticut lost over half of their regiment. The 85th Pennsylvania, meanwhile, suffered just eight casualties, none fatal. Of Pond's force of 550 men, 228 were killed or wounded. 

The Capture of Captain John E. Michener

       

Whitemarsh Island Assault by Captains George H. Hooker and Robert P. Hughes
February 22, 1864     Map Courtesy of Craig Swain

         The last seven paragraphs of this entry is a lengthy quote from the 1867 book entitled "Prison Life" about the capture of Captain John E. Michener on Whitemarsh Island near Savannah, Georgia in 1864. Michener had spent the first 2 1/2 years of the war as a lieutenant in Company D of the 85th Pennsylvania. In early 1864, he was promoted to be captain of Company K. The Whitemarsh Expedition marked his first field command with his new company.

       I earlier have written about Michener's captivity in an article for Military Images magazine entitled, "Following the Torn and Bloodstained Colors: John Michener's Civil War Odyssey." This article features letters from Michener and his family as well as newspaper accounts of his captivity, courtesy of descendant Margaret Thompson.

         I have also written extensively about the Whitemarsh Island Expedition in my soon to be published Volume II history of the 85th Pennsylvania entitled, "Such Hard and Severe Service: The 85th Pennsylvania in the Civil War, 1864-1865" from by Monongahela Books.

       This author of "Prison Life," T.J. Simpson, offers further details about Michener's role the expedition and the early days of his time as a prisoner of war. Future posts will give additional details about Michener's time in captivity.

         The one-day expedition from Hilton Head to Whitemarsh Island, led by Colonel Joshua B. Howell of the 85th Pennsylvania, was intended to capture around 300 [Simpson said it was 500] contraband workers who were building defenses for the Confederacy. One report, which was accurate, said that some Confederate troops had been sent from Savannah to Florida, leaving Savannah under-defended. This action by the Confederates was meant to deal with Union General Truman's Seymour's Florida campaign that began with landing at Jacksonville and ended with a lopsided Confederate victory at Olustee.

Slaves Building Confederate Earthworks
Mississippi Dept of Archives and History

     The Whitemarsh Expedition was led by Colonel Joshua B. Howell of the 85th Pennsylvania. Accompanying the Howell regiment were elements of the 4th New Hampshire and 67th Ohio.

     The expedition landed successfully on February 22. Confederate pickets on the beachhead quickly fled with Michener and 20 men from his company (K) in hot pursuit. Michener was  under the command of Captain George Hooker, who was tasked with capturing a bridge between Whitemarsh and Oatland Islands and thus prevent the Confederates from sending re-enforcements.

       Michener and his men made it across the bridge but were confronted with an earthwork with a small two-gun battery.

Captain George H. Hooker
85th PA

Guiding the Union mission were several escaped slaves from the area who knew the terrain. But the fugitives did not know of the battery that had been built since their escape.

       Hooker's men halted their attempt to capture the Oatland Bridge. But as Simpson described, Michener and his sergeant from Company K, James C. Bailey, were trapped trying to re-cross the bridge. Near the interior of the island, another member of the 85th Pennsylvania, Private Eli F. ("Frank") Shallenberger of Company C, became separated from his Hughes' team and was also captured. Everyone in the expedition except for these three unfortunate captives were able to safely return to their boats and return to Hilton Head Island.

        This account below, in Michener's words as told to author Simpson,  is somewhat critical of Captain Hooker for not sending expected re-enforcements in a timely manner to help Michener's men escape from the other side of the bridge.

         "On the 21^st of February, 1864, while the Florida campaign [Olustee] was in progress, General Joshua B. Howell, commanding the district [that consisted of] Hilton Head, St. Helena’s Island and Fort Pulaski, embarked from Hilton Head Island, with the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers and Fourth New Hampshire, for a small island about four miles distant from Savannah, Georgia known as White-Marsh Island. Upon this island some five hundred negroes were actively engaged in throwing up breastworks under the protection and supervision of about two hundred rebel troops. This island is about three miles wide and is connected with the main land by a wooden bridge. To destroy the [Oatland] bridge, so as to prevent succor from Savannah; attack and scatter or capture the rebel troops guarding the negroes; destroy the works and bring off these negroes to Hilton Head, were the objects of this expedition.

"Prison Life"
T.J. Simpson  1867

           "The destruction of the bridge, the first and most important object to be accomplished, was assigned to companies B, D, E, H, I and K of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers under the direction of Captain George H. Hooker, acting assistant adjutant general to General Howell. The transports arriving a short distance above Fort Pulaski, dropped anchor and launched the small boats for the above-mentioned detachment. These boats were designed to carry from twenty to thirty men, each but having been lying up in the hot sun for months at Hilton Head, they were wholly unfit for the service. Many of them filled with water as soon as launched, and sunk immediately, while the others were only kept afloat by constant bailing.

           "This detachment was to proceed some three miles up a small sluggish creek and get in the rear of the enemy before the transports landed the remained of the troops at the front approaches to the island. It was long after midnight when the order 'cast off' was given and the tide coming in greatly assisted the strong but muffled paddles and caused the awkward and leaky boats to shoot through the water with astonishing rapidity.

           "The night was calm – the 'wind slept soundly'—while the twinkling stars in the hazy sky relieved the midnight darkness. The moon at length peered above the horizon and shone with a mellow light as she travelled from cloud to cloud. The snake-like stream, stirred by the many muffled oars, sparkled on its winding way, lending a soft attraction to the gloomy marsh. Far along its grassy borders the tall, green seaweed formed beautiful arches, through which the silent moonbeams crept as if to smile upon those daring men as they noiselessly glided along in their frail boats…

             "Arriving at the island, a dash was made for the shore, which was quickly gained without the loss of a man. The rebel picket only fired a single volley and then fled like frightened deer. Captain Hooker directed Captain Michener to deploy his company (K) as skirmishers – pursued the retreating pickets with all possible haste and gain the bridge before the alarm could spread among the enemy.

LOC

"After penetrating the dense timber and undergrowth for nearly a mile, Captain Michener came to a cleared field only a few hundred yards from the bridge. To his astonishment he discovered what appeared to be an earthwork but a few rods distant from the opposite end of the bridge. Halting for a moment, he sent his orderly sergeant back to confer with Captain Hooker and request him to come up. In a few moments this gallant officer arrived in company with Captain [Rolla] Phillips of Company D. they however doubted the fact of the enemy having a fortification there and agreed with the negro-guide (who had only escaped from the rebels a few weeks before) that it was only ‘earth-houses occupied by the colored folks,’ and Captain Hooker ordered Captain Michener to advance upon the bridge. Captain Michener still insisted that it was a battery and having only twenty men of his company with him asked for more men, stating that if he found it to be an earthwork when he arrived at the bridge, he would try and take it. Captain Hooker said it was not necessary, that he would support him.  ‘Yes’ responded Captain Phillips. ‘Michener, we will be at your heels.’ Captain Michener advanced at double-quick and on arriving at the bridge, discovered that his suspicions were correct and that the enemy had a small earthwork with one gun in position and the panic-stricken rebels trying to get up a second one. Believing to retreat would expose him to a close and galling fire and seeing but few rebels in the fort, he resolved to charge it. With a shout the gallant captain and his brave boys dashed towards the bridge, which was soon gained when the rebels opened upon them with one volley of grape, but the gun being too much depressed, the shot fell short and did no other damage other than to splinter a portion of  the bridge, a fragment of which struck Captain Michener, felling him to the ground. Quickly springing to hie feet, he dashed across the bridge with only ten men, the rest stopping short of the bride and seeking shelter from the shower of musketry concentrated upon them. With this immortal ten, Captain Michener pushed fearlessly up to within fifty yards of the earthwork; but finding no support coming up, as had been promised, he at once saw the folly of hurling those few devoted followers against the fort. Seeing a small embankment near the ditch to the left, he quickly deployed his men behind it and lying flat upon the ground, opened a brisk fire upon the enemy, killing one man and two horses. Here this little Spartan band fought bravely for more than an hour, waiting for reinforcements and not permitting a rebel to raise his head above the parapet. What an hour was that! Lying almost under the very shadow of the fort, with two guns and two hundred muskets concentrated upon them, how desperately they fought and how anxiously they looked for the promised supports. A half hour passes, the enemy is still held at bay, and now they listen for the shouts of their comrades rushing to the rescue. They load and fire again, rebels fall from the parapet; another half hour passes; the bloody strife continues, but no supports have arrived; the moment is big with danger; to advance is death, to retreat is almost hopeless, to remain longer in than position was certain destruction. Oh! That relief would come. They read each other’s thoughts in their anxious countenances; death is preferable to surrender, and a soldier’s glory is to fall, if fall he must, with his face to that foe.

Lt. Norman B. Ream
Dickey's History of the 85th PA

       "Lieutenant [Norman B.] Ream of Company H, a brave and gallant officer, had been ordered by Captain Hooker to hasten with his men to the aid of Captain Michener while he was thus being overpowered by the enemy. He had proceeded but a short distance, however, when he fell, severely wounded.  His comrades at once endeavored to carry him back to the boats, but were so hotly pursued by the rebels that the brave lieutenant requested them to lay him down and make their escape, saying it was better for him to fall into the hands of the enemy than for them all to be captured. They persistently refused, however, and finally succeeded in reaching the boats in safety with their noble but suffering leader.

         "At length, despairing of aid and knowing the hopelessness of their condition, they resolved to attempt escape at least by crawling through the marsh to the stream and swimming to the bridge. They gain the bridge; the heroic spirit that had sustained them through the last dreadful hour now yields to excitement. Captain Michener entreats them to be calm and courageous, that they would either escape or die together. He orders them to cross over, one at a time, so as not to

Captain John E. Michener
Courtesy of Ron Coddington

draw the enemy’s fire and resolves himself to bring up the rear. The first crosses, safely, and then the second and the third, but the rebels have discovered the skillful maneuver; they make a flank movement and gain the abutment of the bridge just in time to intercept the captain and his last man, Corporal [James C.] Bailey. The captain might have escaped with the first that crossed the bride if he had consulted his own safety alone, but acting the part of a true soldier and unselfish commander, he determined to see his comrades safely over before fleeing himself from danger, and thus, on the 22^nd day of February, 1864, fell into the hands of the enemy.”

NEXT: The early days of captivity for Michener, Bailey and Shallenberger.