The Grisiana War of Secession - The Battle of Carentan (3 May, 1861)

 As Brigadier General Daniel Harvey Bragg sat down to breakfast, he heard a commotion outside his headquarters. He heard the familiar voices of his staff officers, and from the muffled sounds they were questioning a recent arrival. He heard Captain Sam Gorree let out a profane exclamation in panic. 

This will not do, even if he is still just a boy, Bragg thought. He's much too excitable. 

He stepped out the door to correct the young Captain on his un-gentlemanly language and was met with startled salutes form his staff officers (among them a knowing Captain Gorree) and a sweat drenched, disheveled Private. He couldn't place the lad's name off hand, but he recognized him from the 5th Grisiana Infantry.

"S-sir," Gorree stammered out, "t-this man is from the picket line. He insisted on reporting direct to you, sir."

"What is it, son?"

"General Bragg, sir, I beg to report that the enemy has been sighted on the way here to Carentan, sir! A full brigade at least, sir, maybe more of 'em! We can't slow 'em down with a scatterin' of muskets, sir. They ought ta be here within the hour!"

Bragg froze, his mind racing to the telegraph he received from General Grouchy the day before:

Departing New Gascony. STOP.

Several days before Carentan. STOP.

Damnation, he murmured, Why can't he have been ordered to concentrate closer?

He snapped out of his ruminations and went to work issuing orders. All pickets were to be recalled to their units, and a stubborn defense of the town was to be effected. The 2nd Grisiana Artillery, posted just north of Carentan Station, was to bombard the enemy columns as they approached the road, to rattle their nerves if not block the road with the bodies of the dead. All infantry were to hold their positions at all hazards!

****

General Richard Thomas rode at the head of the column, a long column of Bleunois finest marching forward, with the 1st through 3rd Bleunois Infantry Regiments in the front, in numerical order, followed by the 1st and 2nd Bleunois Artillery Batteries. Taking up the rear were two of the independent battalions that were raised, the Blauwald Rangers and Bleunois Voltigeurs. He still laughed (at least inside) when he recalled seeing the Voltigeurs for the first time. They were the last unit of his brigade to arrive at the concentration point at Elmer's Junction, their red jackets caked in trail dust, brushing the grey off their shoulders to reveal blue epaulets. Their shakos...SHAKOS!...were the only part of their uniforms that weren't covered in dust. They looked like they belonged more with the Duke of Wellington in 1809 than on the plains of Bleunois over half a century later. Except of course that the good Duke would have compelled them to take on a more...English sounding name. 

He looked through his field glasses towards Carentan itself. A sleepy little village that somehow warranted a railway station. What was that? Fieldworks? On either side of the station?

He rode a little ways off to the side, ordering the infantry forward. A plume of smoke rose from the works to the north of the railroad station. A thud and a splash of dirt, and some of the 1st Infantry go down in heaps and sprays of gore. The NCOs and officers rally the men, urging them onwards. 

The infantry move forward, marching inexorably on towards Carentan town itself and the enemy who is surely dug in. The rattle of artillery limbers passes by, and Thomas motions for the 1st Artillery's commander, Capt. Arthur Blake. The artillery captain gives him a sharp salute. 

"Your orders, sir?"

"Captain Blake, look at those fieldworks on our side of Carentan Station. You see those Rebel guns?"

"Yes, sir," Blake responds after a couple seconds of looking through his field glasses.

"Well, I don't want to!"

"Understood, sir!" Another sharp salute, and the eight guns of the 1st Bleunois Artillery are redirected to a suitable site for counter battery fire. 

Thomas motioned for one of his aides. "Have the 2nd Artillery deploy in such a fashion that they can give some support on our right, help the 6th out. Then go over to Colonel Dozois of the 3rd and have him take his boys on a little flanking march, get around behind those works, if possible. I'll have word passed to the Rangers and the Voltigeurs to follow the 6th."

The young officer gave the affirmative, saluted, and rode off to relay the orders. 

                                                                            *****

As the day wore on, Bragg's position was untenable. He received reports that the artillery duel north of Carentan Station was so severe that they were effectively silenced, the crews totally exhausted and not one man in the battery was left unwounded by the day's dispute.

More immediately, however, was the 6th Grisiana Infantry's dismal performance in protecting the left flank. They held up under initial exchanges of musket fire with enemy infantry, but as soon as solid shot began raining on their fieldworks they fled, leaving the Federals with much more room to maneuver, and a column of blue-clad infantry racing through to exploit the opening. Knowing that no reinforcements were coming and they'd be needed later, Bragg ordered a withdrawal from Carentan. The 6th recovered their composure in time to join the withdrawal, and reports arrived that the artillery was only barely able to escape, those whose wounds were light wearing themselves out limbering the guns back up and getting their equipment safely away from the enemy.

No doubt the invaders would be jubilant tonight....

Union Casualties

1 Bleunois Infantry: 50 killed, 25 lightly wounded, 25 severely wounded

2 Bleunois Infantry: 62 killed, 31 lightly wounded, 32 severely wounded

3 Bleunois Infantry: 13 killed, 7 lightly wounded, 6 severely wounded

1 Bleunois Artillery: 50 killed, 25 lightly wounded, 25 severely wounded

Confederate Casulaties

5 Grisiana Infantry: 75 killed, 37 lightly wounded, 38 captured

6 Grisiana Infantry: 75 killed, 37 lightly wounded, 38 captured

Westerville Guards: 50 killed, 25 lightly wounded, 25 captured

2 Grisiana Artillery: 100 killed, 25 lightly wounded, 25 captured

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