The Wilderness

On the morning of May 3, 1864, the men were given three days' rations for their haversacks, and five days' rations were strapped on the limber chests. By 5 p.m., tents were struck and packed, and the Battery was hitched up to await orders. That night, the Battery receive two new officers; First Lieutenant James E. Chace, recently promoted and transferred from Battery G and Second Lieutenant Gideon Spencer, recently promoted from Sergeant of Battery D. As a result Battery B began the Wilderness campaign fully officered. Lieutenant Chace was in command of the third or left section and Second Lieutenant Spencer was in command of the battery train consisting of battery wagon, forge, army wagons (for baggage and forage), and spare horses. The total number of men present and on detached service at this time was 174, all well clothed and equipped for the coming campaign.

It was generally known that this campaign would be against General Lee's Army and not “On to Richmond,” as had usually been the cry when the Army of the Potomac was about to move. To each the field of operation, the Second Corps had by far the longest distance to travel and would make a crossing at Ely's Ford, and then move in the direction of the Confederate Army. At 7:30 in the evening, the order was given: “Forward, march!” and the boys went marching on all in good spirits and eager for the fray. At 8 p.m., Battery B broke camp, and moving with the First Division passed corps headquarters and turning to the left, marched all night. A halt was made at sunrise, and Captain Brown received orders to park on the right of the road. The horses were fed, and ample time was given for the men to make coffee. At 7 a.m. on the 4 th , the Battery resumed the march to the river, and at 8 a.m., crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford. The road was so crowded by troops and trains the Battery was forced to halt. The boys arrived at Chancellorsville by noon, where they were ordered into position in Battery with the First Division, which had been formed in line of battle to await the rest of the corps.

The position occupied by the Battery was the ame ground held by the Fifth Maine Battery on May 3, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsvile. The ground was still strewn with torn knapsacks, haversacks, battered canteens and broken muskets. It was on this field that Battery B camped for the night.

On the morning of the 5 th the Battery was on the road by sunrise and moving south. Lieutenant Perrin was in command the first section with the fourth brigade, acted as rear guard. The Battery was ordered into position at a crossroads called Three Furnaces. After an hour, Captain Brown was ordered to advance further to the front. He ordered the Battery to limber to the front and he led the men along a very narrow road to the vicinity of Todd's Tavern and halted. Upon arriving, firing was heard back to the right, and the Division received orders to turn back and support those engaged. The Battery, in countermarching, moved very slowly along the narrow road until the Brock Road was reached. By 5 p.m. the Battery took position on a ridge to the left of the road in the rear of the main line of battle. Orders were immediately given to prepare for action. The Battery shelled the woods in the front for about half an hour. Captain Brown received orders to advance the Battery still further to the left and front and take position in the midst of some small scrub pines. The guns were placed in Battery and the men fired a few round of shot in the direction of the enemy's lines, which were located within the woods. The Battery remained in position all night, and the men bivouacked beside the pieces. This place was rightly named “The Wilderness.” It consisted of uneven ground and heavily wooded ravines and ridges, which together with its tangle of thickets of pines, cedars, and scrub oaks, greatly hindered the movement of artillery. Nevertheless, a number of batteries, including Battery B, were placed in good positions and did excellent service. The noise of the battle was constantly heard. At times, when the battery men were firing, they could not see the array of the enemy's lines less than fifty yards distant. One of the fiercest battles in history had begun amid dense woods where the combatants could not see one another. Both armies thus suddenly brought into collision fought a desperate battle until night came and forced a halt in the action. Neither side had gained any decided advantage, though the enemy (Hill's Corps) had been driven some distance back, and hundreds on either side had fallen. Many of those surviving had not yet seen the enemy.

Five battery men were wounded on May 5 th . Three horses were disabled from further use. Early in the morning of the 6 th , the battery was further advanced to the right and front overlooking an unfinished railroad bed. At intervals throughout the morning, the woods to the right and front were shelled. In the afternoon the firing was extended up to the left and by 4 p.m., it broke out with renewed vigor. Captain Brown ordered the right half of the battery to change front and it was turned to the west at right angles with the main line. The enemy advanced in force along the Orange Plank Road, while the Second Corps troops were being replenished with ammunition. This caused part of the line to fall back. This was a critical moment, due to the strained condition of the troops, rather than the actual number of the enemy. Carroll's Brigade, who were in reserve at the right of the Plank Road, were sent forward. General Carroll charged forward, meeting the Confederates, who were forced to retire to the woods, and firing soon died down along the left of the line.

Battery B lobbed a few shells into the woods at the retreating foe, and though the tangled forest had been alive with flying missiles and the whistling of the bullets through the air had been incessant, there were no casualties. Many of the wounded were still lying between the lines in the woods, which to the horror of the men had caught fire in many places in front of the Brock Road, and as a result, no relief could be given to many who perished in the flames.

At dusk the battery bivouacked in the breastworks, but the men got little sleep due to the picket firing and being woken several times to prepare for action, although they were not engaged.

All day on the 7 th , the men remained quietly in position, although at intervals there was heavy skirmish firing on the battery's front. By sunset the battery was withdrawn from the front and went into park on the north side of the Brock Road, bivouacking for the night, while the horses remained in harness. The noise made by the Fifth Corps marching down to the left on a flank movement was so great that the men got little or no sleep.

By 8 a.m. on May 8 th , the battery marched to Todd's Tavern and halted to feed the horses, but before they could eat their grain, the men were ordered to the front in line of battle. The spot was covered with pine trees that had to be cut down before the pieces could be placed in position. Once in battery, the guns opened fire on the enemy line with shot and shell at a distance of 1,300 yards. A rebel battery answered sending shell all around the men, which cut off the tops of trees to the front, giving the men better view of the enemy line. Although rebel shot and shell came remarkably close, no one was wounded. The men fortified their position and bivouacked for the night. By dusk the teamsters came up with forage and rations, which were issued to the battery. The Second Corps was engaged by holding the Catharpin Road, which was a supply line for General Grant.

By early dawn on the 9 th , the battery was ordered to the rear, where the horses were fed and groomed while the men made coffee and ate a hearty breakfast of fried salt pork, hard tack, and hot coffee. Soon after, Captain Brown received orders to move to the front again and send a section with the bearer of the order. Lieutenant Spencer took the center section and went with the staff officer. The other sections were ordered to hitch up and were sent to the right and front, where they were placed in position until noon.

The center section under Lieutenant Spencer was taken to a deep ravine, at the head of which the pieces were placed until noon when they were withdrawn and ordered down to the left. The battery left the breastworks, and pulling out into the road, where the second section soon joined it, followed the division marching south to and beyond the position occupied by the Second Division under General Gibbon the day before. Three divisions of the Second Corps were drawn up in line on the high ground overlooking the Po River.