The Tale of Two Fifths: The 5th North Carolina and 5th Wisconsin Meet at Williamsburg

On the 5th of May, 1862 at Williamsburg, Virginia the 5th North Carolina met the 5th Wisconsin upon the battlefield for the first time. At (you guessed it) 5 o'clock that evening, the Wisconsin troops, part of General Winfield Scott Hancock’s brigade, fought a stubborn delaying action against a daring counterattack staged by the 5th North Carolina and 24th Virginia under the command of General Jubal Early. 

In the ensuing struggle in which Hancock said of his opponents, "they should have immortality inscribed on their banners,” the two Confederate regiments nearly broke the Federal line and suffered heavily; the 5th North Carolina lost more than 300 men including its colors while the 24th Virginia lost more than 180. General Early was also wounded in this assault.

Today’s post features a pair of eyewitness accounts of this engagement- one from Private Thomas Wagener of Co. A of the 5th Wisconsin and a second written primarily by Captain James MacRae of the 5th North Carolina who at the time of the engagement was serving as regimental adjutant. Wagener’s letter, written to his brother-in-law William Henry of Two Rivers, Wisconsin just three days after the battle, first saw publication in the May 30, 1862, edition of the Manitowoc Pilot. Captain MacRae’s account was published in Walter Clark’s 1901 compendium Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, Volume I.

 

This detailed view from a postwar Kurz & Allison print depicts the 5th Wisconsin's counterattack at Williamsburg. The troops are shown wearing havelocks, a type of headwear that enjoyed a brief period of popularity before the troops discovered that while the hats kept the sun off their necks, it also stifled airflow around their head and made them sweat all the more. 

“Give Them a Cheer with Your Fire!” 

~ General Winfield Scott Hancock

 

Williamsburg, Virginia

May 8, 1862

Dear Henry,

          I have not written to you for a long time because I heard you were with father and so I though the letter I wrote him would answer for you, too. The last I wrote him was dated May 1st and you had better learn its contents to understand this.

          I commence with the words of Caesar: “We came, saw, and conquered.” On the night of May 3rd, our regiment was on picket guard before the fort I mentioned in father’s letter, the Rebel pickets firing at us all night pretty lively which was promptly replied to by us. Between 3 and 4 o’clock, a bullet passed so near my nose that I involuntarily felt to ascertain if that precious member was really in its place. Fancy our surprise when we received soon after the intelligence that the enemy had left and presently, we heard the cheers and yells of the 6th Maine boys who were already in possession of the fort. The 5th Wisconsin crossed over about 9 o’clock, but as my legs were sore, I could not follow until about noon.

          I had no idea of their stronghold. The fortifications extended from the York to the James Rivers (7 miles) and are 3 miles wide; one breastwork succeeds another intermingled with ditches, riflemen’s pits, all situated in a dismal swamp. If we had to have taken it at the point of the bayonet, it would have cost us dearly. Our shells made terrible work in it; there was not a single tree within reach of our guns which was not torn to pieces and large spots of blood here and there evinced that the Rebels had lost a considerable number of men. There was such an odious smell around that I was glad to get out of the place.

          The whole peninsula is, literally speaking, covered with rifle pits and breastworks. All the inhabitants have fled and in such haste that in some houses the kitchen fires were still burning when we passed. That afternoon, our cavalry came up with the rear of the enemy and charged on a fort but were repulsed. Judging from the empty saddles I saw, we must have lost about 50 killed and wounded and took 20 prisoners; we also lost one cannon.

          I reached the regiment about 6 o’clock and our company was immediately ordered to advance as skirmishers. It was pretty dark in the woods by this time and we were on to the Rebel pickets before we knew it and as Arnold [his brother] mounted a stump to get a better view, we received a brisk fire but nobody was hurt. The right wing of the company got lost in the woods and had to stay there till morning.

The next morning our brigade made a flank movement to get in the rear of the enemy while another brigade stormed the fort before mentioned [Fort Magruder]. We took two forts on the road without firing a gun, always moving at the double quick and up to our knees in mud. Just as we had taken the second fort, we discovered another short distance in advance of us another fort, this one manned. We did not know whether they were friends or foes but as our company again moved forward, a shower of balls poured into us from the fort, killing one of our men. We started again on the double quick to reach a fence about 100 yards in front and nearly 500 feet from the enemy where we lay flat on the ground, the bullets flying around as thick as hail. We had hardly got in that position when our second lieutenant said he was shot, but on examination we found that the ball had only penetrated his blanket.


General Winfield Scott Hancock

But now the Rebel artillery commenced throwing shells, the fourth one hitting poor Cochems, throwing him fully 10 feet backwards, killing him instantly. [Corporal Jacob Cochems] I carried him back to the fort which was then in our possession [Redoubt #14] ; he looked as if he was asleep, not a single expression of pain marked his face. We buried him yesterday. I took $5 and his watch from him which I shall deliver to his father who is in the hospital suffering from rheumatism and is, as yet, ignorant of his son’s fate. [Jacob’s father John Cochems would be discharged for disability on June 25, 1862.] All the boys mourn for him as he was liked by the whole company.

I had a fence rail thrown in my face by a ball and when a shell exploded it smeared me all over with mud. Such incidents were continually occurring until 5 o’clock when we were fired upon on our right. “We are flanked!” I shouted to our first lieutenant who lay on my right. “Never mind,” he replied, though he was quite pale, “we shall wait till we receive orders to retreat.” Accordingly, not a man moved though the Rebels came in flocks out of the fort in front of us and six regiments came out of the woods to our right. When the latter were within 100 yards of us, we got orders to retreat which we at first tried to do on a run. But our gallant lieutenant told us to go slowly and return the fire; this we did and had the satisfaction of seeing the Rebels drop at every fire.

I was too weak to fire much; in fact, I dropped down several times and was obliged to leave my knapsack on the field for lack of strength to carry it. Arnold acted during the whole engagement as if he was made of ice. At one time when his gun misfired, he sat coolly down in the open field, amidst the shower of bullets, and fixed it. He afterwards told me he saw five of the enemy drop before his gun.

This map from the American Battlefield Trust depicts the fight between the two Fifths at the Battle of Williamsburg on the afternoon of May 5, 1862. Advancing through a swamp, Hancock's 5 regiments passed Redoubt #11 and deployed a skirmish line which became heavily engaged with the Confederate pickets. Early then launched his two regiment attack which drove the Federal skirmishers back and nearly broke the Federal line. Private Wagener recalls General Hancock personally rallying the 5th Wisconsin and sending them forward in a counterattack. 

At first, our regiment was in disorder as more companies had been sent out to skirmish and now came in from several directions. General [Winfield Scott] Hancock ordered a retreat in order to get the enemy from the woods into the open field, but when they were far enough he shouted, “Now 5th Wisconsin, now is your time! Give it to them! Give them hell! Stand your ground or I am ruined!” When he saw our company retreating so slowly, almost checking the overwhelming force, he clapped his hands in delight and cried out to one of his aides, “Oh, see the bloody Fifth fight! Just see the devils fight!” At one time, our regiment was almost surrounded, and he said, “Goodbye Fifth, you are lost!” But we gained our ground again; then in came in front of us and shouted, “God damn it, boys, just given them a cheer with your fire!” The whole regiment have one glad “Hurrah” and ran in rapid pace at the foe. This was too much for them and they took to their heels.

As one of the prisoners since said, the Rebels imagined that hell was opened and the devils in human shape were let loose upon them. Though receiving the whole fire of the enemy in front and in flank, we had only 12 killed, 3 of whom were in our company. We also lost about 50 wounded including Charles Hartung of Two Rivers, but he will recover. The enemy lost over 400 killed and wounded and over 200 prisoners. The woods are still full of the dead and the roads covered with arms which the Rebels threw away. The 5th North Carolina regiment was cut to pieces; they had not 25 men left unhurt. Among their killed were three of their field officers and the general in whose command they belonged; their colors were also captured. 

          Yesterday evening on parade, General George McClellan with his staff rode in front of the regiment and addressed it thus: “My lads- I have come to thank you for the bravery and discipline which you displayed the other day. On that day you won laurels of which you may well be proud- not only you, but the army, the state, and the country to which you belong. Through you we won the day and ‘Williamsburg’ shall be inscribed on your banner. I cannot thank you too much and I am sure the reputation your gallantry has already received will always be maintained.”

          I have got to stop writing now as we are ordered to march on. Tell father to make Mrs. Cochems acquainted with Jacob’s fate as best he can.

Your affectionate brother,

Thomas Wagener

 

"They should have immortality inscribed on their banners." 

~ General Winfield Scott Hancock

 

Adjutant (later Captain) James Cameron MacRae, 5th North Carolina Infantry was among the survivors of Williamsburg, the regiment having lost upwards of 360 men in its assault.  

Captain James MacRae and Sergeant Major Charles M. Busbee of the 5th North Carolina submitted the following account of Williamsburg which was included in Walter Clark’s Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War of 1861-65, Volume I.

The battle on the right of the Confederates, below Williamsburg, was very severe during the day, and the enemy was not only held in check but driven back with great slaughter. In the afternoon it was found that the Federal troops had taken possession of an old, abandoned redoubt on the extreme left, and somewhat in advance of the other works, which had been erected for the defense of Williamsburg, and was seriously annoying our troops by an enfilading fire from its batteries. Brig. Gen. Jubal Early's and Brig. Gen. Robert E. Rodes' Brigades, under command of Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill (NC), were sent to the left of the Confederate line with orders to retake this redoubt and silence its batteries.

Under the immediate direction of Maj. Gen. Hill, four regiments of Early's Brigade marched to the left and disencumbered of all impedimenta in the open ground, which was separated from this redoubt by thick woods. Of the four regiments to compose the attacking party the 24th Virginia, Col. William R. Terry, led by Brig. Gen. Jubal Early in person, was on the left and covered by woods, immediately opposite the redoubt. The 5th North Carolina Regiment was on the right and opposite an open field about 800 yards from the redoubt to be attacked.


General Jubal Early

At the word of command, the brigade in line of battle passed into the intervening woods, from which this regiment soon emerged in a field of heavy plowed ground, in full view of the enemy, who immediately opened upon it with artillery. In the face of apparent destruction, but in obedience to direct orders from the Major-General commanding, this regiment began the advance. It was at once necessary to change front forward on the left company, and the movement was made with precision under a heavy artillery fire.

On account of the continued advance of the left company and the heavy condition of the soil the right of the line, though at a double-quick, was delayed in reaching its alignment; the left companies were halted to give time for the balance of the regiment to reach the line, when the whole command halted, dressed upon the left, and at the word of command pressed forward to the attack, marching as on dress parade, without firing a gun. In front of the redoubt were 5 regiments of infantry, supporting a battery of 10 pieces of artillery, with clouds of skirmishers in their advance. The charge of the 5th North Carolina Regiment on this occasion has rarely been surpassed in the history of war for its heroism and gallantry. Pressing on from the first in the face of the battery, entering into the plunging fire of the infantry, wading into a storm of balls, which first struck the men in the feet and rose upon their nearer approach, it steadily pressed on.

The 5th North Carolina received a banner similar to the one depicted above in this Don Troiani print. Reportedly, the 5th North Carolina's flag was the first Confederate battle flag captured in Virginia. 

The 24th Virginia had now emerged from the woods at a point on the left and nearer the enemy, driving the skirmishers before it. From the thickness of the woods in their front, the center regiments not having come up, the 5th North Carolina Regiment obliqued to the left to touch its comrade, the 24th Virginia, when all pressed forward, driving the enemy before them. Not until within close range was the command "Commence firing" given, when it began to fire and load as it advanced. The enemy's skirmishers retired, the battery retreated into the redoubt, with the infantry behind it, and opened fire again from the entrenchments.

Instances of individual heroism would fill a volume. The members of the color-guard were shot down one by one, and as each man fell the battle flag was passed to the successor. When the last sergeant fell, Capt. Benjamin Robinson, of Company A, took it and bore it at the head of his company until the staff was shot to pieces. The officers and men were falling rapidly under the withering fire of grape and canister and musketry. Lt. Col. John C. Badham was shot in the forehead and fell dead; Maj. Peter J. Sinclair's horse was killed and he was disabled; Capt. Henry Mullins, of Company C, received his mortal wound and fell upon the field; Capt. Thomas M. Garrett, Capt. John W. Lea, and Capt. Hamilton C. Jones were all shot down, as were many of the subalterns, among them Lt. Thomas Snow, of Halifax (who was killed far in advance of his company, cheering on his men); Lt. William S. Boswell, of Company A; Lt. John P. Clark, of Company G; Lt. Joseph G. Hayes of Company F.

In 50 yards of the redoubt this regiment, or what was left of it, reached a small fence and ditch with a slight embankment next to the enemy. Here it took cover, continuing to fire, the 24th Virginia on its left. Victory was in its grasp, the enemy had been driven to his entrenchment; one fresh regiment was all that was needed to go over the works, but none ever came; instead thereof an order to retreat. Too few in number to continue the attack (at the beginning of the fight these two regiments did not number a thousand men), in obedience to orders, the regiment retired to the cover of the woods on its left, leaving a large majority of the officers and men dead and wounded on the field.

It would extend this sketch too much to mention the gallant boys who here, at the threshold of the conflict, laid down their lives. Four hundred and fifteen (415) men were counted as they went into action; seventy-five (75) answered to the roll-call in the morning, and nearly all of the missing were either killed or wounded. Brig. Gen. William S. Hancock, who commanded the Federals in their front, said of the 5th North Carolina and 24th Virginia: "They should have immortality inscribed on their banners." 

To learn more about the Battle of Williamsburg, please check out these other posts: 

A Sharpshooter at Williamsburg (1st U.S. Sharpshooters) 

Strong Men Fainted in the Ranks at the Sight: At Williamsburg with the 7th New Jersey

Sources:

Letter from Private Thomas Wagener, Co. A, 5th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Manitowoc Pilot (Wisconsin), May 30, 1862, pg. 1

Clark, Walter, editor. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, Volume I. E.M. Uzzell, 1901.


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