Matthew B. Cheney at Gettysburg

Matthew B. Cheney, May 20,1839-July 5, 1915

One of the treasures at the Museum of the High Plains in downtown McCook is the desk of Nebraska State Sen. Matthew Cheney, donated to the museum by members of the Cheney family.

Matthew's son, Luke was a prominent attorney in McCook for many years. Luke had two sons, Wendell and Newel, and the family is still represented in McCook by Newel's daughter, Carol Lashley.

To say that the Cheneys were a pioneer Nebraska family is putting it mildly. They were also among the very early settlers in America, before the Revolutionary War. Matthew's family came to Massachusetts from England in 1634. His grandfather was with the Green Mountain Boys at the Battle of Ticonderoga, in 1775, during the Revolutionary War.

Matthew was born in 1839, the son of a well-to do-farmer and lumberman in Chautauqua County, New York. After a common school education he attended the Randolph Academy. At 16 years of age he set out for California and the Pacific Coast to seek his fortune. When the Civil War began he was at the prime age of 21, and could not wait to get into the fray. But first he needed to return to New York to marry his school sweetheart, Lucy Stanley. Their courtship was non-existent. They married and the next day he was off to serve in Mr. Lincoln's Army.

Matthew enlisted as a private with the 112th New York Volunteers. He soon was made Orderly Sergeant of his unit, and it was not long before he was appointed Captain in the 154th New York Volunteers. As an officer of this unit he participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, and the Battle of Gettysburg, in July of that year.

Thirty years after the Battle of Gettysburg, when Mr. Cheney was a prominent citizen, and already a former state senator of Nebraska, he responded to a request for an account of his participation in the battle of Gettysburg.

On June 30, 1863, the night before the battle, Capt. Cheney was camped with his unit at Emmitsburg, just over the state line in Maryland, only about 10 miles from Gettysburg. Next morning, after a rain, his unit made a rather hot and sultry march, rarely stopping until they reached Cemetery Hill (the site of the Gettysburg Address) about 10 a.m.

Their orders were to move through the town beyond the railroad, across a small stream via a stone bridge, an important objective during the next three days, to check the "rebs," so that the 1st Corps could withdraw and fall back through the town.

They had barely gotten into position "when the rebs hove into sight." The Yanks opened fire on the enemy at once. Capt. Cheney remembered the order he gave -- an order such is not found in "Casey's Tactics". "There they come, boys -- give 'um hell!" -- the only order he could think of under the circumstances.

Afterwards, Capt. Cheney was contrite. "Under ordinary circumstances, I claim to be a gentleman and a Christian, but at that stage of the game, the circumstances were extraordinar -- hence the swear words."

Immediately, musketry roar was so loud that you could not hear anything. Bullets were as thick as hail in the air. The other units, on either side of Cheney's company, began to fall back.

Capt. Cheney and his men did the same. All went well until they came to the alley onto the street that they had come down. Here they found the rebel forces in full possession.

"We were massed in around the gate leading to that street -- Union men and rebels, as thick as could be possible." Rushing through that gate would be rushing into the arms of the enemy, and to stand still meant surrender -- and a long hot march to Richmond, the rebel capital.

One rebel, on horseback was within 10 feet of where Matthew stood. He drew his sword, saying "Surrender, you damn Yankee." Something had to be done, and that right quickly. Just to Matthew's left was a small gate opening into a garden. Matthew sprang through that gate, on through the garden, and over the fence, into a small pasture. He crossed a dry creek bed, and on the other side, on the grass lay two beautiful silk flags -- the colors of the 154th N.Y. Volunteers, Cheney's old unit.

He looked about for the standard bearer, but saw no one. Matthew was sure that bearer of those colors must be dead or wounded -- he would never voluntarily surrender those colors. In an instant Matthew had those colors on his shoulder and dashed on.

He started to spring back over the fence and onto the road. When on top of the fence a Union soldier rushed past him. Matthew heard the rifle ball rush past him -- zip -- splat -- the bullet had missed him, but he saw that poor fellow fall dead in his tracks.

In an instant Matthew jumped the fence, right over the fallen soldier, and rushed onto the road, with those colors flying -- those colors for which he had risked his life to save..

Just as he reached the railroad, a rebel bullet struck him in the left hip, near his back-bone. Matthew was never more surprised in his life -- when he swung his left leg forward, and did not fall. The bullet had pierced his haver-sack, through three days rations of hard tack and bacon, through a cup, which smashed to a thousand pieces, through his jacket, pants, and shirt -- and barely broke the skin near his hip bone -- "Great God! -- But how it did hurt!" The bullet left an angry black spot on his hip, which stuck to him for months.

But he had kept the 154th colors. Near the railroad track he took relative refuge. He knew he had been spotted by the enemy because he could hear the rebels shouting, "Shoot that Damn Yankee with the colors"

When he finally left the shelter of the railroad he was greeted with "a perfect shower of bullets." But he kept his head down and, clinging to the precious colors, made the best time he could to the next street, where he fell in with the 61st Ohio who were falling back through the town. Along the way a mounted Union Colonel invited him to grab his leg for support until he could catch his second wind. (Later a sergeant in Cheney's company, told of watching Cheney's daring escape. He said that there were at least a hundred men shooting at him as he went down the railroad track. He said that he expected to see Captain Cheney fall at any moment.)

At Cemetery Hill Matthew unrolled the colors he had risked his life to save. "They were the colors of the 134th ! -- instead of the 154th. "I can never express my disappointment. There, I had risked my life a hundred times, and then to find out they were not our colors!!!" Cheney had clung to those colors like a mother would her child, and then to find out that they were not the colors of his own unit. It was almost too much for him to bear.

Shortly, a Captain of the 134th came by and Matthew thrust out the colors, glad to be rid of them. At first the Captain was skeptical that they were the colors of the 134th. Convinced that they were indeed his unit's colors, he wanted Matthew to accompany him to the 134th Company Headquarters, to thank him in person for saving their colors, but Matthew was paralyzed and could not walk. Instead he was taken by ambulance to the field hospital in the rear. "One day in the hospital cured me of that. Give me the picket line every time over a hospital!"

The morning of the 3rd day of battle, Cheney, with the help of a cane, returned to the front at Cemetery Hill, rather than stay in the hospital. He was on hand to witness "the magnificent charge of Pickett's Division of Virginia Infantry -- and I saw our artillery swoop them down by the thousands!" (Pickett's charge is commemorated in a magnificent painting, "The Battle of Gettysburg" at The Gettysburg Visitors Center.)

The real colors of the 154th were later rescued from the battlefield by Orderly Sergeant Dick McCadden, of the 154th NY Volunteers. However, the National colors of that unit were lost in that battle and never were found.

Source: A letter written by Mr. Cheney to a Mr. Northrop.