ties of his own, Nadenbusch’s heated
oblique fire was tearing great gaps in the
ranks of the Hoosiers in the meadow. He
later recorded that “with this concentrated
fire the enemy was soon forced to retire in
confusion.” Meanwhile, from his vantage
point in McAllister’s Woods, Colgrove
appraised the futility of leaving his men in
the open and sent word to Fesler to pull
the men out. Dougherty was removing the
flag when Private Alonzo Burger offered
to take it, and the regiment proceeded to
effect the retreat rapidly but in good order.
For the men of the 2nd Massachusetts,
the nightmarish ordeal was not quite over.
The regiment had advanced to within
yards of the Confederate works and found
some cover amidst the outcropping of
boulders. Mudge, who had gone into
action with the color company, was shot
through the neck and killed instantly.Command fell to Major Charles F. Morse,
who noted that his men grappled with the
Confederates “at the shortest range I have
ever seen two lines engaged at.”
Men were dropping on every side in the
toe-to-toe fight, but the Massachusetts
men were inflicting few casualties on the
well-concealed Confederates. Still carrying
the flag, Private Cody mounted a large
boulder, waved it at the enemy, and was
quickly shot dead. Another fellow who
raised the flag went down wounded. While
enemy fire poured in from the front, a
small detachment of Rebels darted from
their works in an attempt to turn the reg-
iment’s right.
Little inclined to further expose his men
to such pointless slaughter, Morse ordered
a withdrawal. Before heading out, one of
the men thought to remove the ever-pre-
sent Episcopal prayer book from Mudge’spocket. Morse then led his men to the left
of their former position and formed
behind a stone wall. “I never saw a finer
sight,” thought one observer, “than to see
that regiment, coming back over that ter-
rible meadow, face about and form in line
as steady as if on parade.”
Ever impetuous, “Extra Billy” Smith
ordered the 49th Virginia, backed up by
the 52nd, into the meadow. The ill-con-
ceived counterthrust was quickly driven
off, and Morse finally received an order
from Colgrove to return the 2nd to its for-
mer position. As the smoke settled, the
tragic cost of the bungled charge became
all too obvious. A full third of the 27th
Indiana had been hit—18 killed, 93
wounded. The 2nd had suffered slightly
higher casualties of 22 killed, 112
wounded. To Morse, “it was a sad thing
calling the rolls.”
Attempting to explain the disaster in his
official report, Alpheus Williams wrote
that Colgrove either “misapprehended the
orders sent him or they were incorrectly
communicated.” Colgrove maintained
that when he received his orders, Snowsaid, “The general directs you to advance
your line immediately.” Snow was equally
adamant that a general attack was to be
mounted only if the Rebels were “not
found in too great force.” Snow said he
“could never quite understand” why the
charge was ordered. Continuing to hash
out the matter was pointless. Ruger ulti-
mately came to the conclusion that it was
impossible to ascertain which man was
responsible for the mistake. His final esti-
mation of the incident was that it was “one
of those unfortunate occurrences that will
happen in the excitement of battle.”
Veterans of the 2nd Massachusetts
recalled the disaster that befell their regi-
ment at Culp’s Hill with surprising equa-
nimity. “Where the mistake was made I
never knew and don’t care to know,”
recorded Lieutenant Fox. “We never had
any hard feeling toward Gen. Colgrove.
He sent his own Regt. in with us, and they
stood as long as brave men could be
expected to.” That was cold comfort for
Charles Mudge, who had foreseen all too
clearly that his orders that morning were,
indeed, “murder”—his own included.Library of CongressABOVE: Spangler’s Meadow, alongside Culp’s Hill, was a popular picnicking location before the war. It was
the site of a misguided and futile charge by the 2nd Massachusetts and 27th Indiana on the third day of
the battle. LEFT: Confederate Brig. Gen. “Extra Billy” Smith, left, and Union Colonel Silas Colgrove.Library of CongressCWQ-EW16 Culp's Hill_Layout 1 10/22/15 1:05 PM Page 47