Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

376
Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
musketry. . . . The whole line seemed to wilt down under the fearful fire. . . . A
few of our men fired their pieces—this was against orders, as we were to charge
with fixed bayonets, without firing a shot. This led others to fire too, and then they
stopped to load again[;] this was just what we tried to avoid, for it was death to
us to halt in that place. I shouted to my men to push forward without loading, but
my voice could not be heard. The line was growing to[o] weak and thin to make
an assault. It began to waver and fall back. I did not leave till I found not a man on
my part of the line to back me and then I retreated too.
It may be that the Confederates weakened neighboring parts of their line in
order to withstand this attack, for as it was going on some veteran regiments of the
division, on Paine’s right, were able to seize the enemy trenches in front of them
while suffering fifty-seven killed, wounded, and missing. 83
The next brigade in Paine’s column was Draper’s, three regiments that fielded
about 1,375 officers and men. Paine allowed an hour to pass before he sent Draper
into action at 8:00 a.m. “When we received the order we were lying . . . in a deep
ravine,” wrote Lieutenant Scroggs of the 5th USCI. Along with the 36th and 38th
USCIs, the 5th moved forward in a column two companies wide and five deep, to
within five hundred yards of the Confederate trenches.
At the word “Charge” we moved forward at a double quick in good order: a
thick jungle on our way deranged our ranks slightly . . . but [the men] pressed
forward. . . . The color bearer was killed on one side of me and my orderly Sergt.
wounded on the other, two of my Sergts killed and my company seemingly annihilated,
yet on we went through the double line of abatis, and over their works.
. . . The rebels retreated rapidly and we secured but few prisoners. We continued
the pursuit a short distance then halted to reform the battalion. On getting my
Co. (H) together I found I had lost 18 in killed and wounded . . . out of 50 the
number I started with in the morning. 84
Instead of advancing with both his brigades or using one in close support,
Paine had put them in sequentially, each seemingly without reference to the other.
Shaw’s brigade stayed in reserve most of the morning. “I thought at first we were
to assault the works we knew must be in front of us,” Lieutenant Brown wrote, “but
we stacked arms & lay down to rest.” Later in the morning, the brigade moved forward
to the Confederate position that Paine’s division had just stormed. “Here we
rested, filled our canteens & as soon [as] the road was cleared for us moved around
to the breastworks,” Brown continued. “Here we again rested till the Artillery &
Cavalry might pass.” So Shaw’s brigade spent the morning. 85
Having taken the heights, the X Corps moved northwest in the direction of Richmond.
By midafternoon, advanced regiments in one division of the X Corps were
able to set eyes on the city itself, only three miles distant. There they halted for the
83 OR, ser. 1, vol. 42, pt. 1, pp. 133, 708, 713; J. H. Wickes to My dear Father, 4 Oct 1864, Wickes
Papers.
84 Scroggs Diary, 29 Sep 1864; Field Return, 28 Sep 1864, Entry 1659, pt. 2, RG 393, NA.
85 Brown to Dear Friends at Home, 5 Oct 1864.