The Alabama in the Civil War Message Board

5th Alabama Infantry Regiment - The Wilderness

After months of relaxation and quiet, the first major battle of 1864 was fast approaching. It would take place just west of the Chancellorsville Battlefield of a year earlier, at a place known as the Wilderness. In early May, Union forces moved south from the Rapidan River. Lee army rushed to meet them.

On May 4, 1864, the men of the 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment were up before dawn, as reveille beat before daybreak. Everybody busily prepared to leave winter quarters and begin the campaign. They took up the line of march at about sun up, leaving their camp near Morton’s Ford and made their way to Raccoon Ford, which was about five miles in a north easterly direction. The men arrived there at about eleven o’clock in the morning and rested for a little more than an hour. The men were never in better spirits, but they did not present a very martial or soldierly appearance as no two were dressed alike, their haversacks were empty, but with bright and well kept guns ready to do the deadly work ahead of them. After continuing on beyond Mine Run, camp was made in a grove of trees on the right side of the road, not far from Locust Grove.

On May 5, 1864, the men were up early as they all knew that they were in for a fight. They left camp at about nine or ten o’clock in the morning and moved slowly along, halting every two or three miles. The upcoming engagement was to be the first for the new regiment of the Brigade, the 61st Alabama Infantry. It was made up of men over forty-five and boys less than eighteen years of age. They were a replacement regiment for the 26th Alabama Infantry, which was sent south to recruit while guarding a newly built prison, Andersonville. The veterans of the 5th Alabama Infantry ridiculed the men of the 61st as they passed. “They presented quite a ludicrous appearance as they marched along with old quilts strapped across their shoulders, and little old fashioned canteens, etc., while the old regiments were well supplied with good blankets, etc., which they had taken from the dead Yankees on the battle fields. Consequently, the old soldiers made a great deal of sport of them, and would “guy” them by calling out: “Lie down 61st, I am going to pop a cap”, “what have you got that mattress on your back for?” In forming the brigade for line of march on the 5th day of May, the 61st regiment was put in the wrong place, and when we halted during the day it was moved, and on passing our regiment we began to guy them in a more serious way by telling them that they had better begin to make their final arrangements, for they would be dead before sunset. They took it all good-naturedly, and replied that “they would show the old regiments that they could do some fighting too.”

Major Blackford’s Sharpshooters were moved out front and to the attack at about eleven o’clock that morning. They were about three miles from Locust Grove, when Blackford’s Sharpshooters came in contact with the enemy’s pickets, which they drove back. The rest of the Brigade, upon arriving at the Fredericksburg Turnpike at Mine Run, began to form in line of battle behind their old entrenchments there. The Sharpshooters well in advance of the main body, continued to hold off the Union advance through Saunders Field. Although suffering heavy casualties, they allowed time for their Division to deploy. Once formed, the Confederate battle line moved slowly forward along the Orange Turnpike, feeling for the foe. At about noon, the men of the 5th Alabama heard firing in front of them and the orders quickly came down the line to: “Close up men!” “Move up men!” The line was immediately closed at the foot of a range of hills perpendicular to the road, while under a heavy fire. The order of battle was as follows from right to left: 5th Alabama under Colonel Hall; 3rd Alabama under Colonel Forsyth; 6th Alabama under Colonel Lightfoot; 61st Alabama under Colonel Swanson; and the 12th Alabama under Colonel Perkins. The 5th and 3rd Alabama occupied the right of the road behind a small stream; and the 6th, 61st, and 12th on the left of the road. General Jones’ Virginia Brigade formed the first line and was soon heavily engaged, two hundred yards in front of where General Battle had formed his line. General Gordon’s Georgia Brigade had formed the third line two hundred yards behind them.

The left of the 5th Alabama Infantry rested on the Orange Turnpike, and Company “D”, being the left Company of the Regiment, was placed initially outside of the road. General Ewell, the Corps Commander, and General Rodes, the Division Commander, were just behind Company “D”, talking with General Battle. Captain Jonathan Williams of Company D overheard them say, “If Jones gives way, move up your Brigade and retake the ridge, but do not move any farther for the present.”

Suddenly a heavy skirmish fire opened on the front, swiftly followed by volleys along the line. Orders were given for regimental commanders to move up rapidly to the crest of the hill and hold it at all hazards in case Jones’ Brigade gave way. The woods in front were so thick that it was impossible to see more than twenty steps from the line, and all thought that General Jones held the crest of the hill. The enemy soon hurled a heavy column against Jones’ Brigade, but they quickly repulsed two charge. The Federals began sweeping down on his flank and it became evident that they were pressing the Confederates back.

There was a steady stream of stragglers and wounded men coming out of a dense pine thicket in front of Battle’s Brigade, where the fighting was raging. At this juncture, General Battle, thinking that the stragglers were Jones’ Virginians giving way, ordered his brigade forward. They went forward at the double quick, in a perfect line. As they were moving forward, they came across an unfortunate Yankee who was wounded in the bowels and was suffering intensely. He begged to be killed, as there was no chance that he would live. Private Henry Childress of Company D, stepped out of line and offered him his canteen. This was a noble and unselfish act, as he did not know whether he would be in the same condition in a few minutes. When the line reached a point where they could see the Virginia Brigade, instead of finding them on the hill, they found them scarcely thirty steps beyond the stream. The men continued forward up to Jones’ Brigade, however, while crossing the branch the line became broken and scattered. The men were ordered to lie down, but this seemed to have a demoralizing effect on the Virginians in front because suddenly the line broke. It’s likely that they thought Battle’s Brigade was there to relieve them. The cry from the front of "fall back," "surrounded," "cut off" caused such confusion in both lines that the 3rd and 5th Alabama became entangled in the confused mass of Jones’ Brigade. In the confusion, one of Jones’ officers cried out, “Fall back to Mine Run.” Colonel Charles Forsyth, of the 3rd Alabama Infantry, shouted, “Is that a general order?” The response came, “Yes, the army falls back to Mine Run.” While attempting to realign his command, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Hobson of the 5th Alabama, asked the same question, and received the same answer. Erroneously assuming that General Ewell had decided against holding the line, Battle’s 3rd Alabama and a portion of the 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment began retiring. Captain John W. Williams and Private Edward Hutchison of Company D, were left accidentally left behind amongst the wounded. They had been on the ground with their faces in the dirt, when they looked up to find the regiment was gone! Private Hutchison who had only joined the regiment a year earlier and had gained the respect and admiration of his comrades at Chancellorsville, now lamented, “I never would have joined the 5th Alabama if I had known they were going to disgrace themselves by running.” They too made good their escape; however, the other three regiments of the Brigade were not affected and remained in place left of the Orange Turnpike.

The Union troops raced forward for about three-quarters of a mile, where they were ordered to halt. Their formations had disintegrated, and the units were hopelessly snarled. Time was needed to regroup. Just where Generals Ewell and Rodes had conferred earlier, Captain Williams and Private Hutchison found General Jones trying to rally about fifty men. He was saying, I will die before I go back another inch.” While hotly engaged with the enemy on their front, the line of skirmishers that had been protecting the right flank of Jones’ Brigade, were confronted by a heavy line of infantry which came up under cover of the woods. Volleys tore into Jones’ outflanked brigade. Brigadier General Jones and another staff member were killed immediately. Overpowered, Jones’ leaderless Confederates dropped slowly to the rear, firing as they went.

Recognizing what had happened on the south side of the Orange Turnpike; General Battle deftly wheeled the remaining regiments of the Brigade and smashed into the flank of the advancing Federals. Holding the right of the advancing Federals and closest to Battles’ line, was the 20th Maine. Their regimental commander ordered his color-bearer into a little clearing so that his men could rally around the regimental flag. Unexpectedly, a volley slammed into the men. The firing was coming from the right and rear, over where a Union supporting brigade should have been. As the deadly volleys continued, it soon became apparent that they were coming from Confederates. General Gordon’s Georgian Brigade was now closing in on the fragmented Union troops with the balance of Battles Brigade firing on the Union flanks. The Brigade Sharpshooters under Major Eugene Blackford had initially fallen back about one hundred yards, but they reformed and advanced to the front taking up position approximately where Jones’ Brigade had been. Blackford established his men “snugly behind logs” and awaited the advance of a Union Brigade. “I passed the word to wait the signal, and let them come quite close ere I said a word, then shouting out ‘commence firing’ the whole line blazed away at 75 yards distance. Every shot told, I believe, and such that did not run into the ditch for shelter, took to their heels as hard as they could go, pursued by the bullets to the last. Those in the ditch our men fired at until the last came out and surrendered.”

The Confederates drove the Federals back in great confusion, capturing many prisoners and arms. By 3:30 that afternoon, the fighting had all but finished in Saunders Field and the men spent the rest of the day strengthening their works. That night, some of the men of the 5th Alabama went back to see what had become of the poor Yankee they had passed earlier during the battle. Soldiers often filed teeth of a case knife and made little saws. This poor Yankee had one, and when they found him, he was dead. He had sawed his throat until he had cut the large artery, and he had bled to death. He held the saw in his hand and the teeth of it were covered with flesh. General Rodes had him buried and pine straw strewed over the grave for fear the enemy might find the grave and think that our soldiers had killed him in such a way.

During one of the counterattacks by Battle’s Brigade, two 24-pound howitzers, brought up the pike by the Federals to within 800 yards of the Confederate works, were captured by the 61st Alabama Infantry Regiment. It was a glorious moment, for the men of the 61st Alabama had won the respect of all that day, having stood their ground under a fierce attack by the enemy and ultimately capturing the two cannon, two caissons, all the horses and a large number of prisoners. The 5th Alabama Infantry was to be found rallied further in the rear. The men of the regiment had a great laugh over it and tried to explain to one another how it had happened. The men with Major Blackford and the sharpshooters had certainly performed much better.

The Confederate lines were withdrawn a few hundred yards that night from the enemy's immediate front for the purpose of improving their position. The men worked like Trojans, getting up any and everything they could find to fill up the breastworks. Just at this spot was where the 61st Alabama Regiment fought, and there was a good many guns and knapsacks the Yankees had thrown away. These were all picked up and thrown in to fill up the works. However, they were not attacked. After dark the lines were re-adjusted, and in doing so, they were thrown south of the Plank Road in exactly the spot they had ran from earlier in the day. The men went to work, and by one o’clock they had a fine line of works. In throwing up works one half of a Company would work, while the other half retained their guns ready to fight. After they finished, only one half of the Company was allowed to rest, while the other half were on guard. Firing commenced before sun up the next morning and the battle soon became general, particularly on the right and left flanks. Rodes’ Brigade was not engaged up to twelve o'clock, when the firing ceased. General Grant’s men had advanced with heavy forces that morning at about half past ten, but soon discovered that the Confederate troops were too well entrenched. The sharpshooters checked their advance and the Federals withdrew. A Confederate later remarked, “He was driven back with ease, and now at sunset is cowering behind his entrenchments in the Wilderness.” The Union Army had sustained about 18,000 casualties, the Confederates approximately 11,000. The 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment had ten killed, twenty-four wounded, with fifty-five captured.