Storming Rocky Face with the 154th New York

     After serving the better part of two years with the 27th Pennsylvania and fighting alongside them at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, Major Lewis D. Warner of the 154th New York was hardly surprised at the Pennsylvania Germans’ faltering performance when ordered to storm Rocky Face Ridge on May 8, 1864.

          “As we neared the summit, the fire from above became more fatal, and the 27th Pennsylvania halted and utterly refused to advance,” he wrote. “This regiment claimed that their time had expired and were bold in declaring that they would not fight. I will here state that the failure of the 27th to come to time enabled the enemy to turn his whole attention to us, and the 154th was exposed to a deadly fire, not only from its front, but from the right flank. The 27th Pennsylvania should not have been ordered in where anything depended upon them, as they (never very reliable) are now very much disaffected and will not stand under fire.”

Warner’s regiment lost 14 killed and 42 wounded, more than a quarter of the men who went into action. His letter appears courtesy of the New York State Military Museum and Veterans’ Research Center.

 

This 1864 depiction of the Federal attack at Rocky Face Ridge perhaps overdramatizes the heights involved there but Major Warner points out "the face of the hill is very steep and covered with loose rolling stones, none of them large enough to afford shelter to the men who toiled up its rugged sides. Along the crest runs a ledge of rocks with a perpendicular face of from five to ten feet, affording a most excellent shelter to the enemy, who, without exposing themselves, could deliberately fire upon our men as they ascended from the vale beneath."

Camp near Cassville, Georgia

May 21, 1864

FRIEND FAY:

After 17 days constant marching or fighting, we have at length halted to take breath and recover our exhausted energies, preparatory to a fresh effort, to finish what has been so gloriously commenced, by driving the foe within the entrenchments of Atlanta, or compelling him to offer battle before he reaches that important stronghold.

The 20th Army Corps left Lookout Valley on the 4th of the present month, except Butterfield's division, which preceded the rest by several days. We moved to the right of the enemy's positions at Tunnel Hill, Dalton, &c. On the eve of the 7th, our division encamped about ten miles west of Dalton from which we were separated by high range of hills, (the same in which Buzzard Roost Gap is situated.) A road crosses these hills at a point about four miles south of the last named gap and the crest where the road crosses was in possession of the enemy. About 11 a. m. of the 8th,  we were ordered to march on a reconnaissance in the direction of this ridge, which here bears the local name of Rocky Faced Mountain. Arriving at about 1-1/2 miles from this point, we were halted, and our brigade was formed in line of battle, with skirmishers in front, and were ordered to advance and storm the hill, in front of which was two ranges of foothills steep and heavily wooded.

The march over these hills in line of battle was very fatiguing to the men, and by the time they arrived at the foot of the main ridge they were well-nigh exhausted. The face of the hill is very steep and covered with loose rolling stones, none of them large enough to afford shelter to the men who toiled up its rugged sides. Along the crest runs a ledge of rocks with a perpendicular face of from five to ten feet, affording a most excellent shelter to the enemy, who, without exposing themselves, could deliberately fire upon our men as they ascended from the vale beneath. After resting for a few moments, the order to advance was given, and under a galling and deathly fire from the crest, our brave boys advanced (many of them never to return) to the charge, cheering lustily as they climbed the almost perpendicular ascent.

As they neared the summit, the fire from above became more fatal, and the 27th Pennsylvania halted and utterly refused to advance; the 73rd Pennsylvania which was on our left, (the 27th being on our right) did some better, but they could not be induced to advance to the foot of the ledge of rocks. The 154th New York, although losing men every moment, advanced steadily to the foot of the glacis, where they were partially protected from the fire of the foe and halted for a moment to rest ere they made the desperate attempt to mount to the summit. I will here state that the failure of the 27th to come to time enabled the enemy to turn his whole attention to us, and the 154th was exposed to a deadly fire, not only from its front, but from the right flank, (which last was the more deadly of the two). This regiment claimed that their time had expired and were bold in declaring that they would not fight.

20th Army Corps badge belonging to the 28th Pennsylvania


At length Colonel Jones gave the command to rise up and forward, and what were left of 200 men mounted the ramparts, and our colors were planted on the mountain's crest! To maintain the position, unsupported as they were, was impossible. After a short conflict they were compelled by superior numbers to fall back, and re­treat to the foot of the hill, with a loss of 14 killed and 42 wounded, making an aggregate of 56, besides many who were much injured by the loose rolling stones with which the face of the mountain was covered. Colonel Jones, who had for several days been suffering from indisposition, but mounted the hill at the head of his regiment, was thrown from the rocks at the summit, and so severely injured that he was the next day obliged to return to Chattanooga for treatment.

Our color-bearer, George Bishop, (brother of Lewis Bishop, who  lost his life in endeavoring to save our glorious banner at Gettysburg) was shot dead just as he had planted our flag fairly upon the crest, and three  others were successively stricken down in the endeavor to bring them off, which was done by Corporal Alexander Williams, of Co. D. Thus ended the part taken by the 154th in this unsuccessful attack upon an almost impregnable position, defended by numbers, according to Rebel accounts, superior to the assailants. The attempt to carry the heights was made at other points, all were alike unsuccessful. The 154th was the only regiment which gained a footing upon the crest, and had they been properly supported, they would have maintained their position. The object of the demonstration seems to have been to draw the enemy's attention to this point, while McPherson passed through Snake Creek Gap, in the same range, nearly opposite Resaca, which he successfully accomplished, and thus gained a position in the enemy's rear.

The 154th New York served in the division of hard-fighting General John W. Geary during the Atlanta campaign. At Rocky Face Ridge, the regiment was part of Colonel Adolphus Buschbeck's Second Brigade which consisted of the 33rd New Jersey, 119th, 134th, and 154th New York regiments, along with the 27th, 73rd, and 109th Pennsylvania regiments. The 27th Pennsylvania was at the end of its term of service and left the front to return home on May 25th along with Colonel Buschbeck. As Major Warner noted in his account, the soldiers of the 27th stated that their three-year term of service was up and "were bold in stating they would not fight." At Rocky Face Ridge, they proved it. 


The whole loss sustained by our forces on the 8th, was something over 200, the 154th sustaining far the heaviest, being nearly 30% of our whole force. After dark we retired to the open ground near where we first formed our lines, near which place we remained until the 12th, when we marched for Snake Creek Gap, through which we passed, and until the Rebs evacuated we were engaged in the series of maneuvers and fights which ended in Johnson's evacuation and our pursuit.

Our boys are in good spirits, although they feel that they have been again sacrificed by being joined with troops on whom no reliance can be placed. The 27th Pennsylvania should not have been ordered in where anything depended upon them, as they (never very reliable) are now very much disaffected and will not stand under fire. We have now 140 guns, hardly enough to be called a regiment, but as good for our numbers as any in the army. Of the transactions around Resaca, so far as we are concerned, I will probably inform you as soon as I get a little rested, unless we should hear the advance (onward to Atlanta) sounded ere the opportunity occurs. They have had harder fighting in Virginia than here, although we have done something in that line, and should have done more, had Johnston not showed a good pair of heels, and been aided by the railroad in running off his stores. Our folks are putting the railroad in repair very rapidly, and last evening the trains ran into Kingston. 

 

Yours,

WARNER.

 

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