Circling the Wagons at Chancellorsville

    Thanks to the Westerns that many of us watched growing up, we are familiar with the idea of “circling the wagons.” In an effort to provide some security overnight, the wagons were formed in a circle, creating an ad hoc fort to ward off attacks. But did such an event occur during the war? According to an officer in the 12^th Alabama, yes it did.

   Forming a defensive formation was not an alien concept. The concept of the infantry square or hollow square went back two millennia and were used by Roman legions. In forming this large box, there would not be an exposed rear for enemy cavalry to slash through. If the fire coming from the soldiers in the square was staggered, then it might present a continuous wall of fire. Plus, the wall of bayonets might deter a rush of mounted men through the formations. Infantry squares had their zenith of popularity during the Napoleonic Wars and were used at battles like Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

   It was a tactic taught to new regiments being formed in the 1860s, both Gray and Blue, but was seldom used. Those handful of times include the Battle of Rowlett’s Station and the battle of Valverde, both in Texas; and the first day at Gettysburg and at Chickamauga.[1]

   Those early training camps were probably where Robert E. Park learned of the formation. Born in Troop County, Georgia, in 1843, Park was a student at the East Alabama Male College (now Auburn University) when he received word that the last twelve-month company being accepted by the Secretary of War was being formed. Park joined that company, the “Macon Confederates,” and was sent to Richmond where the company, joined by other Alabama companies, became the 12^th Alabama Infantry. He was mustered in as a private. When the regiment was reorganized for three years or the war in the spring of 1862, Park was elected second lieutenant of Company F. The 12^th Alabama was in Robert Rodes’ Brigade, and was active in the campaigns at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Seven Days, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the Valley Campaign, and ended the war at Appomattox.[2]

   In January 1863, Park, now a first lieutenant, was assigned to duty as acting quartermaster of the 12^th Alabama. Park was instructed to “report to the wagon yard, take charge of the wagons with the horses and mules, teamsters, and such baggage as I might find.” The role of the “wagon corps” on a regimental level is not one that gets much press, and his descriptions of his duty are fairly significant for the study of history.[3]

   During the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Park was with his regimental wagons at Hamilton’s Crossing when he was told by a member of JEB Stuart’s command that Federal cavalry was approaching (see this post on Stoneman). At this time, they were in O’Neal’s Brigade, Rodes’ Division. The division quartermaster placed Park in command of the division’s wagons, “composed of quartermasters, wagon masters, cooks and stragglers.” Maybe Park’s prior combat experience led to the division quartermaster’s faith in Park’s abilities. Park then armed the band, “about ninety men,” from the ordnance wagon, “and gave them directions how to meet the cavalry when they approached. I had the wagons parked in a square, with the horses and men within the square, and the guns were stacked and ready for use, one man being on guard to each wagon and on the lookout.” To defend themselves against Federal cavalry, Park “circled the wagons.”[4]

   “Fortunately, the cavalry did not attack us,” Park wrote, “as it was very probable my entire crowd . . . would have fled without delay, upon hearing the first gun.” Are there other examples of the wagons forming a square on the approach of a possible cavalry attack? That would be great to know. Following the battle of Chancellorsville, Park transferred back to his company. He was captured at Boonsboro, wounded in the hip at Gettysburg, wounded in the leg at Winchester and captured. Park survived the war and returned to Georgia, becoming the state treasurer. He passed in May 1909 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Bibb County.[5]

   Park’s accounts of his war-time service originally appeared in the Southern Historical Society Papers. They were published in 1906. In 2022, they were reissued by Scuppernong Press and are available at https://www.scuppernongpress.com/

   You can check out additional articles on wagon trains here and here .

 

[1] Nofi, “Form Square! North & South, Vol. 14, No. 1, pg 7-11 (2012).

[2] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 1.

[3] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 36.

[4] Park, Sketch of the Twelfth Alabama Infantry, 38.

[5] The Newnan Herald, May 14, 1909.

William F. Randolph and the wounding of Stonewall Jackson

   Born in Virginia in 1831, William F. Randolph had ties to some of the best families in Virginia.  It probably came as a surprise when the well-traveled Randolph enlisted as a private in the 6^th Virginia Cavalry in May 1862. He was soon appointed as a courier to the staff of Richard S. Ewell. It is not clear if the idea was Randolph’s or Ewell’s, but later that year, Randolph was leading a group known as Ewell’s Body Guard. This group would become the nucleus for the 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. Unofficially, the 39^th Battalion was known as Lee’s Body Guard. The members of the four companies of this battalion were often distributed to various generals to serve as couriers and guides.

   Based upon a post-war account, Randolph was with Jackson’s command during the Chancellorsville campaign. It was Randolph who helped scout the Federal lines on May 1. (It is unclear if this is a different scout than the one undertaken by JEB Stuart.) After the flank march and primary Confederate attack had run out of steam, Jackson, desirous to continue the attack, started deploying the rest of the Light Division, still stacked on the Orange Plank Road. Lane’s brigade was first in line, and deployed on either side of the road, with one regiment moving forward as skirmishers.

   Jackson, Randolph, and a few others passed by Lane’s brigade heading toward the Federal lines. It was dark, and the party, according to Randolph, was walking their horses toward the front when firing broke out nearby.

   “Jackson turned to me and said: ‘Order those men to stop that fire, and tell the officers not to allow another shot fired without orders.’”

   “I rode up and down the line and gave the order to both men and officers, telling them also they were endangering the lives of General Jackson and his escort. But it was in vain; those immediately in front would cease as I gave the order, but the firing would break out above and below me, and instead of ceasing, the shots increasing in frequency. I rode back to Jackson and said: ‘General, it is impossible to stop these men; they seem to be in a kind of panic. I think we had best pass through their lines and get into the woods behind them.’ ‘Very well said,’ was the reply. So making a half wheel to the left . . . our little company commenced the movement to pass through the line, and thus put ourselves beyond the range of the fire. A few more seconds would have placed us in safety . . . but as we turned, looking up and down as far as my eye could reach, I saw that long line of bayonets rise and concentrate upon us. I felt what was coming, and driving spurs into my horse’s flanks . . . he rose high in the air and as we passed over the line the thunder crash from hundreds of rifles burst in full in our very faces. I looked back as my horse made the leap, and everything had gone down like leaves before the blast of a hurricane . . . My own horse was wounded in several places, my clothing and saddle were perforated with bullets, yet I escaped without a wound.”

   “As soon as I could control my horse, rendered frantic by his wounds, I rode among our men who were falling back into the woods and from behind the trees were still continuing that reckless and insane fire, and urged them to form their line and come back to the road, telling them that they had fired not upon the enemy, but upon General Jackson and his escort.”

   “Then sick at heart I dashed back to the road, and there was where the saddest tragedy of the war was revealed in its fullest horror.”

   “I saw the General’s horse . . . standing close to the edge of the road . . . Jumping from my horse I hastened to the spot and saw the General himself lying in the edge of the woods. He seemed to be dead and I wished all the bullets had passed through my own body rather than such a happening as this. I threw myself on the ground by his side and raised his head and shoulders on my arm. He groaned heavily.”

   “’Are you much hurt, General?’ I asked as soon as I could find a voice and utterance.”

   “’Wild fire, that sir, wild fire,’ he replied in his usual way.”

   “This was all he said. I found that the left arm was shattered by a bullet just below the elbow, and his right hand lacerated through the palm. Not a living soul was in sight then, but in a few moments A.P. Hill rode up, and then Lieutenant Smith, one of his aides. General Hill ordered me to mount my horse and bring an ambulance quickly.”[1]

   Randolph’s account, published decades later, contains some differing accounts of events. James I. Robertson, in his biography of Jackson, places Capt. Richard E. Wilbourne and Pvt. William T. Wynn with Jackson. They were the ones who removed Jackson from his horse, and Wynn went to find a surgeon. While Robertson mentioned Randolph as one of the party, only Wilbourne and Wynn are there to take Jackson off of his horse.[2] Likewise, Dabney in his biography of Jackson never mentioned Randolph’s role.[3]

   Randolph was captured at Gettysburg and spent the rest of the war at Johnson’s Island. Was he simply mis-remembering the events of the night of May 2, 1863? It is possible. But there is probably some truth in his story.

   If you would like more information on the 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry, check out my book, Lee’s Body Guards.

[1] Randolph, “With Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville.” Southern Churchman, April 11, 1931, 24-26.

[2] Robertson, Stonewall Jackson, 726, 729-30.

[3] Dabney, Life and Campaigns of Lieut. Gen. T.J. (Stonewall) Jackson, 686-687.