Lawton's Brigade at Gaines Mill

[lelliott19]

...recent publications in the Savannah paper, tending to do injustice to this fine body of men, render it proper and perhaps necessary, that some one who was on the field during every part of the engagements they were in, should state a few facts connected with their action, particularly on the 27th ult. In a recent issue of your paper, I see a statement, made by Mr. [Charles C.] Cevor, the balloonist, which is not true. He says he saw Lawton's Brigade charge gallantly upon a battery, but fail to take it, and the Texas Brigade succeeded in capturing it. If Mr. Cevor had been suspended in the air above the battle field, the smoke and dust would have rendered it utterly impossible for him to distinguish one brigade from another. His pretension to know the circumstances from observation in his balloon is simply ridiculous.

Alexander Robert Lawton (4 November 1818 – 2 July 1896) was a graduate of West Point (Class of 1839) and later, in 1842, a graduate of Harvard Law School. Lawton was initially commissioned a Colonel in the Confederate Army, commanding the 1st Georgia Volunteers. He was in command of the Savannah troops that captured Fort Pulaski. Soon after the attack on Fort Sumter, Lawton was commissioned a Brigadier General. At Gaines Mill, Lawton's brigade included the 13th, 26th, 31st, 38th, 60th and 61st Georgia regiments.

Brig Gen Alex Lawton's brother, Edward Payson Lawton (b. 1832), was a Captain and served as a staff officer to his older brother. After the Battle of Gaines Mill, Edward intended to set the record straight with regard to the involvement of Lawton's brigade. He sent a letter, dated "Four Miles from Richmond, Georgia Brigade, 14th July, 1862." Edward's letter continues from above:

The facts connected with the brigade on that day [June 27, 1862] are, in a few words, as follows: When General Lawton received orders to bring his troops into action, they came forward handsomely and in fine order, and their conduct at the beginning of the fight, and through the whole engagement, was such as to call forth the hearty commendations of his superior officers on more than one occasion.​

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From an utter ignorance of the ground we were to pass over, which was broken with hills and ravines, and the unusual length of our line of battle - our brigade consisting of six large regiments - the two regiments on the left, the 31st and 38th, became separated from the rest of the brigade early in the action. I was sent after these regiments, but we never succeeded in joining the General till the battle was over. We fought in another part of the field, and I can bear testimony to the gallantry and steady courage of the men of both regiments. Neither regiment yielded one foot of ground from the moment we entered the battle till we laid down to rest on the field, which they had wrested from the enemy; but steadily advanced during the whole engagement. The loss in these two regiments was 315 in killed and wounded. <to be continued>​

Source: The Savannah Republican. (Savannah, Ga.), July 19, 1862, page 1.

 

[lelliott19]

<continued from OP>
Capt. Edward P Lawton, AAG of A R Lawton's brigade continues:

The portion of the brigade with Gen. Lawton - four regiments - made no charges and attempted none - the enemy gave them no opportunity. The only charges made by any portion of the brigade, were by the 38th [Georgia] Regiment - the first, between sunset and dark - in connection with the Fifth Virginia and First Maryland, the latter a mere fragment of a regiment, though a gallant one, was on three regiments of Regular Infantry. It was perfectly successful. We drove them from the field, and have never heard of them since, except the prisoners we took. The second charge was with the same regiments, after dark, on a battery, which we took. No Texans were there, either. The Texas Brigade was in another part of the field, where they behaved with great gallantry, driving the enemy and taking several batteries, I am told, under the leadership of their skillful and brave commander, General Hood....​

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The Savannah Republican. (Savannah, Ga.), July 19, 1862, page 1.

 

[lelliott19]

Apparently, after Lt Col. Lewis J Parr and Major James D Mathews were wounded, command of the 38th Georgia devolved to Capt. William H. Battey (Company G, 38th Georgia) on June 27, 1862. Battey also felt the need to respond to the article in question and sent his own letter to the Savannah Republican dated "Camp Lawton, Near Richmond, VA., July 13, 1862."

Editor Savannah Republican:

As there has been a mis-statement in regard to the Thirty-Eighth regiment in your paper, of the fight at Coal Harbor, on Friday, 27th June, I think it nothing but justice to them to state the facts as to their position and what they did in that engagement.

I did not see the article in your paper, but others informed me that you had published that we made a gallant charge on the batteries and failed; but a Texas regiment came up and took them. Such is not the fact. After receiving the fire of six regiments of regulars, for nearly two hours, at a distance of one hundred and eighty yards, in an open old field, and the enemy behind a fence, with some protection from the depth of the road in the lane, we were ordered to charge by Capt. [Edward P] Lawton, which we did with a Maryland regiment and the Fifth Virginia. We captured the batteries and put the enemy to flight. We never moved from the position we occupied in line of battle, until we were ordered to charge, and we never wavered, but accomplished all that could be done -- put the enemy to flight and slept on the ground that night. Col. [Lewis J] Parr and Major [James D] Mathews were wounded early in the engagement, and the command devolved on me, and with Capt. Lawton's and Capt. [William L] McLeod's assistance our work was well done. You may judge how severe the conflict was, for out of six hundred who went into the fight, one hundred and fifty-six were killed or wounded.

Two regiments had occupied the same ground that we did, but had to retire, and, I presume one of them was taken for the 38th, and your correspondent made the mistake in that way. I know you are too proud of Georgia to do injustice to her sons.

Yours respectfully,
Wm. H. Battey
Capt. Comd'g 38th Reg't G.V.

[The Savannah Republican. (Savannah, Ga.), July 19, 1862, page 1.]

@TSCLowe I forgot to "tag" you in the OP - it includes brief mention of Confederate balloonist Charles C Cevor that may be of interest to you.

 

[TSCLowe]

@lelliott19 Thank you for sharing. Lawton is correct in stating observation above a battlefield filled with cannon and rifle smoke is challenging at best, and as the Gazelle made it's first ascent over Richmond only 3 days prior with E.P. Alexander in the basket as the observer, I would also argue they were all still learning the nuances related to operating a balloon in a battlefield environment.

During the same battle Ceavor made his contested reports, Thaddeus Lowe, experienced in observing and reporting above a smoke filled battlefield, made multiple ascents and descents making reports every 15 minutes to help recover Porter's and Heintelman's Brigades who were separated from the rest of the Union Army by a flooded Chickahominy River. Lowe released the precious hydrogen with every descent and soon the Intrepid did not have enough gas to take him aloft again.

This is where and when one of Matthew Brady (or one of his team) took this well known picture of the Union balloons Intrepid and Constitution. Lowe and his crew returned to the Gaines Farm to find the Constitution in the middle of the inflation process. There wasn't enough gas in either balloon to make an ascent so Lowe ordered someone to cut the bottom off of a cook pot and connected the mouth's of the two balloons together. In this picture you'll see soldiers surrounding the base of the Constitution pushing it's hydrogen into the Intrepid. Once filled the Lowe was able to get back in the air and make successful reports successfully directing the Brigades back across the flooded river.

As Paul Harvey used to say . . . . and that my friends is the rest of the story!

Respectfully Submitted,

TSC Lowe, Aeronaut
Civil War Balloon Corps Living History