Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
July 31, 1897



26th Wisconsin
Chapter 7

The conduct of the Ozaukee boys, as well as of all of the Twenty-sixth, was so gallant as to earn high commendation and reflect great credit on the Badger state. Let the reader of history who may have believed the early reports of the battle of Chancellorsville, and the falsehoods about the cowardice of the Eleventh Corps, read the facts in regard to the whole affair, carefully scan the lists of killed and wounded in the different corps of the Union army on the 2nd of May, 1863, and be undeceived and enlightened. The battle of Chancellorsville holds a peculiar place in history; and will be known as a battle in which there was much gallant fighting and many memorable blunders. Hooker was the greatest failure as an army commander that the Civil War produced; and Howard's conduct on that field plainly showed his incompetency as a corps commander. Even after the defeat of the second day, there was no good cause for Hooker's retreat across the Rappahannock. His losses, though heavy, were not 4,000 greater than Lee's and he had still a large and powerful army; which if properly commanded, could easily annihilate that of Lee; but the commander's nerve had fled and the army was ordered to follow it.

Gen. Sedgwick's corps of 25,000 men had crossed the Rappahannock on May 2nd, and on the 3rd, carried the famous Marye's Heighths in a brilliant assault. That evening, he was in Lee's rear with his whole force, but on the next day, May 4th, Hooker held his great army in its trenches, while Lee turned upon Sedgwick who experienced much difficulty in fighting his way back to the river and getting the survivors of his little army safely across.

At midnight on the night of May 5th, the Eleventh Corps left its trenches near Chancellorsville, and joined the army in the retreat. Shortly after daylight, it reached the Rappahannock at the United States Ford, where the army was crossing on two pontoon bridges laid side by side, the troops crossing four abreast and the teams as closely as they could walk. Continuing the retreat after crossing the river, the army marched on through a pouring rain until it reached and reoccupied the camps it had vacated when the unfortunate campaign began.

Of course, the rank and file of Hooker's army were greatly dejected over the results of the campaign, while charges and counter charges flew back and forth among their leaders; and on the whole, it proved to be a very trying time for the care-worn disappointed and sorrowing Lincoln. The Copperheads were in their glory, and beamed their most dazzling "didn't-I-tell-you-so" smiles upon their loyal neighbors, while they prophesied the early ending of the war and the triumph of the South. It was a very gloomy period for the cause of the Union, but it proved to be the darkness just before dawn.

Lee's army had been too badly crippled at Chancellorsville to follow up the advantages gained there, and Hooker's army was allowed to retreat across the Rappahannock unmolested, Lee being well satisfied with the movement. Hooker left all of his killed and badly wounded, fourteen of his cannon, 20,000 stand of small arms, and a large amount of camp equipage in the enemy's hands; but he still had a large and powerful army of about 85,000 men left, while Lee's had been reduced to about one half that number. The Union army had been defeated but not disheartened, and it was very soon ready to take the field again. On the other hand, Lee's army, while remaining victors on the battlefield, had gained its triumph at such a ruinous cost in life, that when the conflict had ended and the enemy had fled, it was unable to even harass the retreating foe. While the whole South was exulting over the victory, a goodly part of it donned mourning for lives sacrificed, and Lee and other leaders were greatly depressed. The resources of the rebel government in men and means were limited, and Lee soon decided that he must choose one of two plans of campaign; either to fall back to Richmond and fortify it, or by a bold movement, invade the North and "carry the war into Africa."

The situation in the west was then becoming very alarming to Jeff Davis and his followers. The "Silent Commander" had undertaken the task of opening the lower Mississippi to the free passage of steamers bearing the old flag, and was even then tightening his grasp on the "Gibraltar of the West." The fall of Vicksburg and a retreat by Lee's army upon Richmond would greatly dampen the fire of patriotism (?) then warming so many Southern hearts, and there seemed to be no other alternative, so Lee determined to invade the North. And there was another matter which might have had a strong bearing upon Lee's decision. The so-called Confederacy was then striving hard to gain recognition from some of the European powers, and its leaders believed that an invasion of the North might hasten the desired aid from either England or France, or from both. These reasons would have been quite sufficient in themselves to induce Lee to enter upon this campaign, but he himself adds another one. He hoped by invading Maryland and Pennsylvania to draw Hooker into a pitched battle where he could strike him a decisive blow, and thus insure the permanent triumph of the so-called Confederacy. He claimed that he was weary of all this marching, campaigning and bloodshed, and wanted to settle the matter as quickly as possible. This shows how little the famous leader knew about the people with whom he was contending. had he fought the battle and gained the victory as he desired, scattering the remnants of Hookers army to every point of the compass, another great army would have quickly taken its place, and no matter whether England or France or both, recognized the rebel government, the men of the North would have pressed on without faltering until none but the old flag waved within the boundaries of the United States, even if the war had been protracted to ten years duration instead of four.

On the 31st of May, 1863, Lee's army numbering, according to rebel statements, nearly 90,000 men, of which 70,000 were present for duty, started upon its march toward the Maryland border. The conscription had been rigidly enforced in the South, and arrivals of recruits were frequent and large. Lee's army had scarcely begun the movement when Hooker became aware of the fact that his enemy was in motion, but was in the dark as to his destination. Throwing a division of infantry across the river at Fredericksburg to feel the enemy, Hooker ordered Gen. Pleasanton to make a reconnoissance, with all the cavalry of his army towards Culpepper to ascertain if possible whether Lee was concentrating his forces at that point. Should this prove to be the case, it is said Hooker's plan was to cross the Rappahannock, cut off Lee's communications with Richmond, and force him into a battle at a disadvantage. Hooker, at the same time, requested that all the bodies of Union troops with the theatre of the intended invasion should be placed under his command. The authorities at Washington, under the advice of "Grandmother" Halleck, then in command, refused this request and disapproved of the plan to throw the Union army between Lee and Richmond, fearing that Lee would, in that event, make a descent upon Washington. Hooker thereupon determined to resign the command of his army.

Pleasanton started upon his reconnoissance on the 8th of June, and early on the 9th, cross the Rappahannock at Beverly and Kelly's fords, and soon after crossing, encaptured Stuartsí rebel cavalry and twenty pieces of artillery. A battle known in history as the battle of Brandy Station was fought by the two cavalry forces supported by small forces of infantry and artillery on either side, in which the losses were quite heavy on both sides. Stuart claimed that he drove the Union force back to and across the river, but Pleasanton claimed that, having secured the desired information, he ordered the retreat. It is stated on good authority that the results of the battle of Brandy Station forced Lee to go north via the Shenandoah Valley instead of the shorter route along the eastern base of the Blue Ridge.

The advance of Lee's army, Ewell's corps, passed down the Shenandoah Valley without hindrance until it reached Winchester, where Gen. Milroy was entrenched with a force of about 7,000 Union troops. On Sunday, June 14, Ewell assaulted the position but was repulsed. Knowing that if he remained there until the following day, his whole force would be surrounded and captured, Milroy attempted to escape that night, but was intercepted by a large rebel division and over 2,000 of his force were killed, wounded and captured. This disaster was not without compensation, as it clearly exposed Lee's whereabouts and plans to the Government at Washington, and gave it and the Governors of the loyal states threatened, time to make some needful preparations to resist the invasion.

In the meantime, Hooker was watching the enemy's movements and on the 13th, started his army toward Washington. That night, the Eleventh Corps accompanying the movement of the left wing of the army, which had been placed under the command of Gen. Reynolds by Hooker, reached Catlett's station, it having left its camp on the morning of the 12th. On the 14th, it passed through Manassas Junction, cross Bull Run at Blackburn's Ford and bivouacked at Centreville, the march 23 miles being dusty, hot and very severe on the troops. With aching limbs and sore feet, the boys resumed the march on the following morning, but after going a few miles, they were halted and bivouacked there until the morning of the 17th, when the column again strung out. It was a very warm day and as the march continued without interruption or rest, hundreds dropped by the wayside from fatigue, and the road was lined with cast-off knapsacks, blankets, etc. That night, the corps bivouacked on Goose Creek, in which nearly all, officers and men, took a refreshing bath. This bivouac was not far from Schnicker's Gap, between Leesburg and Aldie, the Twelfth Corps being at Leesburg, and the Fifth Corps at Aldie. Here they remained until Lee's advance was across the Potomac and marching into Pennsylvania. Then, on the morning of the 24th, Hooker's army was again in motion, and in the middle of the afternoon, the Eleventh Corps reached Edward's Ferry on the Potomac.

Early on the 25th, the corps crossed the river on a pontoon bridge, and pressed on steadily through the fertile fields of Maryland, crossing the Monocacy river at noon on the the great Monocacy aqueduct, and a little later crossed the Baltimore and Ohio railroad near the Point of Rock. After a march of 28 miles, the corps bivouacked near the village of Jefferson. At noon the next day, they were again on the march, and passed through the village where Old Glory was waved from a number of doors and windows, and the smiling faces of the inhabitants were a treat to the poor boys who had for several months been greeted by the scowling faces of the Virginia Secesh. Passing through Middletown that afternoon, the corps bivouacked a mile or more beyond the town. At Middletown, they were given a loyal greeting, the old flag being displayed on nearly every house, while in nearly every window and door, were smiling faces and waving handkerchiefs.

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