USA > Pennsylvania > History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, Vol. II > Part 10
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.. do
Mar. 25, '65,
Wagner. Augustus .. do
Mar. 23, '65,
1
Wertz, Robert ..
.do
Oct. 22, '62,
3
Willet, Charles W. .do
Feb. 29. '64,
3
Widdell, John ..
do
Oct. 21, '62, 3
Watts, John .do
Yates, William
.. do
July 9, '62, 3
1
Yohl, Alfred .. .do
Feb. 25, '64,
3
Yearick, Tobias
.do
Private
Not on muster-out roll.
Balliett, John W
.do
Mar. 24, '65, Feb. 11, '64, Feb. 22, '64,
1 3
Not on muster-out roll.
Bate, Joel
3 Not on muster-out roll.
Barthell, Lewis
.. do do
Sept. Aug. 26, '64, 1
Feb. 25, '64, July 29, '64,
3 Not on muster-ont roll.
Collins, John C
do
1 Not on muster-out roll.
Fisher, Samuel
do
Jan. 23, '65, June 4, '64. 3 Not on muster-ont roll.
Fleishhaner, Isaac .. Garrett, James. Hunt, Daniel
do
Jan. 27,"'65, 1 Not on muster-out roll.
Not on muster-out roll.
Hercher, Charles F .. do
Feb. 22, 64, 3 Not on muster-ont roll.
Hummel, James .. ... do
3 Not on mnster-out roll.
Kline, George. .do
Not on muster-ont roll.
Keens, Alfred .do
Feb. 22, '64, Feb. 22, '64, Feb. 2, '64, 3
Not on muster-out roll.
-
Mar. 25, '65, 1 Oct. 15, '64, 1 Mar. 25, '65, 1 Drafted-mustered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Drafted-mustered ont with Co., July 27, 1SG5. Mar. 25, '65, Mar. 3, '65, 1 1 Drafted-mustered ont with Co., July 27, 1865 Drafted-mustered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Mar. 23, '65, 3 3 Nov. 12, '61, 1 3 Nov. 12, '61, Nov. 1, '61, Mustered out. Nov. 12, 1864-expiration of term: Mustered out, Nov. 12. 1864-oxpiration of term. Mnstered out, Nov. 16, 1864-expiration of term. Nov. 12, '61, 3 Jan. 27, '64, 3 Mustered ont, Nov. 12, 1864-expiration of term: Discharged by sen. of G. C. M., Feb. 15, 1865. Sept. 27, '64, 1 Discharged by sen. of G. C. M., Feb. 15, 1865. Feb. 23, '64, 3 Mar. 3, '65. 1 3 3 Drafted-disch. by General Order, June 1, '1865. Discharged by General Or ler, July 15, 1865. Drafted-disch. by General Order, Juno 26, 1865. Feb. 12, '64, Discharged by General Order, June 27, 1865. 3 Feb. 26, '64, Died at Harrisburg, Pa., March 18, 1864. Killed at Wilderness, May 6, 1864-Vet.
Died July, 1864, of wounds received at Peters- burg. Virginia.
Killed at Weldon railroad, August 19, 1864. Transferred to Vet. Res. Corps-date unknown. Mustered out with company, July 27, 1865. Drafted-mustered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Drafted-disch. by General Order, June 1, '65. Not on muster-ont roll.
Vogel, William H. Vancuran, Nathan ..
do
Feb. 25, '64, Feb. 8, '64, 3
.. do
.do Oct. 15, '64,
1 1
Mustered out with company, July 27, '65-Vet. Wounded in action, June 16,'64-ab. at mus. ont. Wd. in action, June 6. '64-ab. at mus. out-Vet. Substitute-mustered out with Co., July 27. '65. Drafted-mustered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Drafted-mnstered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Discharged by General Order, May 22, 1865. Killed at Spottsylvania C. H., May 12, 1864. Died Oct. 26, 1864, of wds. rec. at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864-bu. in Nat. Cem., Arlington, Va. Not on muster-out roll.
Wd. at Antietam, Sept. 17. '62-ab. at mus. ont. Drafted-mustered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Captured-died at Salisbury, N. C., Oct. 26. '64. Discharged on Surgeon's certificate, Oct., 1863.
UNASSIGNED MEN.
Agen, John
Coughan, Patrick. .do Clevenstine, John ... do Corey, Matthew B .. .. do
Mar. 2, 65, 1 Not on muster-ont roll. Not on muster-out roll. 1 3 Not on muster-out roll. Not on muster-out roll.
Cole, Christopher C do
ão
do
Feb. 26, '64, Feb. 19, '64, 3 Deserted-date unknown.
TERM-YEARS.
4
3 3 Mustered out with company, July 27, 1865. Wounded in action, July 16, 1864-mustered out with company, July 27, 1865.
Drafted-mustered out with Co., July 27, 1865. Substitute-mustered out with Co., July 27, '65.
do
Yoder, Seneca .. .do Mar. 25, '65,
46
FIFTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
-
TERM-YEARS.
REMARKS.
1
Learch, William. Lubold, Castor. Ludwick, Jared R.
Private
Jan. 29, '64,
3
Not on muster-out roll.
.. do
Feb. 19, '64,
3
Not on muster-out roll. Not on muster-out roll.
Labor, Alonzo
.do
Jan. 25, '65,
1 Not on muster-out roll.
Nixon, John T.
.do
Jan. 25, '65,
1 Not on muster-out roll.
Nolan, James
ào
Mar. 24, '65,
1 Not on muster-out roll.
Perry, George W ..
do
Feb. 25, '64,
3 Not on muster-out roll.
Simmons, William Troy, John ...
.do
Feb. 25, '64,
3 Not on muster-out roll.
Thompson, John.
.do
April 4, '65,
1
Not on muster-out roll.
Valquette, Leon
do
July 16, '64,
1 Not on muster-out roll.
Van Geezer, Geo. R
.do
Feb. 16, '64,
3 | Not on muster-out roll.
YAME.
RANK.
DATE OF MUSTER INTO SERVICE.
Jan. 30, '65,
3
.. do
.do
April 1, '65,
1 Not on muster-out roll.
.
FIFTY-SECOND, REGIMENT
YTHE Fifty-second Regiment was formed under a call of the President for sixteen regiments, issued in July, 1861. Authority to recruit it was granted by Governor Curtin, on the 1st of August, to John C. Dodge, Jr., who had served as a Captain in the Eleventh Regiment of the three months' service.' The men were principally from the counties of Luzerne, Clintou, Wyoming, Union, Bradford, and Columbia, and rendezvoused by squads and companies at Camp Curtin, where, on the 7th of October, a regimental organization was effected by the selection of the following field officers: John C. Dodge, Jr., of Lycoming county, Colonel ; Henry M. Hoyt, of Luzerne county, Lieutenant Colonel; John B. Conyngham, of Luzerne county, Major. It was chiefly com- posed of young men, well formed and hardy, and accustomed to the use of the rifle. It was accompanied by the Wyoming Cornet Band of Wilkesbarre, con- sisting of sixteen pieces.
On the Sth of November the regiment left Camp Curtin and proceeded to Washington. It was handsomely entertained on the way, at Baltimore, by the Union Relief Association of that city. It went into camp at Kalorama Heights. Here drill and camp duty was prosecuted under a rigid system. "In and about the city," says Colonel Hoyt, "were two hundred thousand troops. The plains and hill-sides in all directions were white with tents. A thousand men was as nothing in the vast concourse there being marshalled. Men were drilling in squads, companies, regiments, brigades, divisions, and corps. The ear was dulled by the roar of artillery, the practice of infantry, and the clank of the cavalryman's sword, and the eye was dazzled by flags and guidons, by the flash of the sabre and the lancer's spear-the pageants of a great army. Forests were levelled, fences consumed, fields trodden down, vast earth-works and forts built-the axe and shovel being thought as well of as the bayonet. Men talked learnedly of parapet and epauliment, casemate and barbette, bas- tion and escarpment, who a few days before had never heard of such terms."
In January, 1862, the regiment went into winter quarters in commodious barracks on Meridian Hill, at Fourteenth street, in the rear of Columbia Col- lege. These barracks were devised by Colonel Davis of the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania, in command of a temporary brigade consisting of the Fifty-second and One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania, Fifty-sixth New York, and the Eleventh Maine, and were built around a plaza, or court-yard, seven hundred feet square, each company hut being eighty feet long by sixteen wide. The ceremony of dress parade was performed by the several regiments at the same time, each in front of its own row of huts, and the exercises in arms were performed in concert to the signal of the bugle blast. The men were in full uniform, the bands played charming music, and the square was usually filled with spectators. Notwithstanding the care taken to prevent it,
48
FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
1862
much sickness prevailed, many being attacked with typhoid fever and small pox, and several died. Through the kindness and benevolent enthusiasm of friends, many of the substantial comforts and delicacies of home were afforded the camp, boxes for the tent, the mess-chest, and the hospital being freely con- tributed. While in barracks the regiment was called on for a detail of ten men for duty in the gunboat service on the western waters. . Volunteers were readily fourd. They never returned to the regiment, most of them having been killed by the explosion of the steamer Mound City, on which they were serving, while in action on the White River, in June, 1862. In the organization of the army for the field, the Fifty-second was assigned to the First Brigade" of the Third Division of the Fourth Corps, Colonel Davis in command, but sub- sequently, on reaching the field, Brigadier General Henry M. Naglee.
Impatient of the monotony of the camp, the men hailed with delight the order to take the field. It came on the 28th of March, and at four o'clock P. M., at the bugle signal from headquarters, the brigade left camp, and crossing Long Bridge, marched to Alexandria, where it embarked upon the steamer Constitution, four thousand two hundred officers and men with their baggage. Soon after getting under way she grounded, and the One Hundred and Fourth was transferred to another boat; near Acquia Creek she again grounded, and remained fast during the night within easy range of the rebel batteries upon the Virginia shore. She arrived in Hampton Roads on the morning of the 1st of April, and the Fifty-second, transferred to a smaller steamer, was landed at . Newport News. During their passage up, the men got their first view of a rebel flag, and their first experience of being shot at, the batteries on Craney Island giving them a passing salute. It was a sixty-pounder, and fell splashing in the water five hundred yards short; but was a good line shot. Remaining in camp a few days awaiting the arrival of its baggage, the brigade, on the 17th of April, advanced and took position in front of the enemy's lines at Lee's Mills, Smith's Division on the right, and Couch's on the left. By judicious use of the Warwick River, which flowed in front of their lines, the rebels had made their works unassailable by direct attack. The main operations of the siege were consequently directed against his fortifications about Yorktown. About the 1st of May, as the great siege guns were about ready to open, it was dis- covered that the enemy was falling back. Early on the morning of Sunday, May 4th, the brigade moved from camp and advancing in line of battle soon reached his deserted works. As the head of the column, the Fifty-second in advance, wound up under the parapet of the fort, the malignity of rebel hate was made manifest. General Naglee and staff, and company A, had passed over it, when a torpedo, which had been skillfully planted in the way, exploded under com- pany F, instantly killing one man and horribly mutilating six others. For an instant the men shrank from the line, but in a moment were re-assured, and pressed forward in the pursuit. As the troops emerged from the valley of the Warwick, upon the high plateau beyond, as far as the eye could reach, were
* Organization of the First Brigade, Brigadier General Henry M. Naglee, Third Division, Brigadier General Silas Casey, Fourth Corps, Major General E. D. Keyes. Fifty-second Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel John C. Dodge, Jr .; One Hundred and Fourth Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel William H. H. Davis; Fifty-sixth Regiment New York Volunteers, Colonel Charles H. Van Wyck; Eleventh Regiment Maine Volunteers, Colo- nel John C. Caldwell; One Hundredth Regiment New York Volunteers, Colonel James M. Brown.
49
1862
RECONNOISSANCE TOWARDS RICHMOND.
seen the national banners horne by cavalry, infantry, and artillery. Meantime Stoneman with his cavalry, having come up with, was engaging the rebel rear guard, and had sent back for reinforcements. The head of Naglee's column was already debonching upon the main road to Williamsburg, when Heintzel- man's troops from the extreme right coming up, the senior officer claimed the advance, and halted Naglee, while Hooker and Kearney passed. At daylight on the following morning the brigade moved forward, and at ten o'clock A. M. was halted at Cheesecake Church, two miles in rear of the ground where Hooker was hetly engaged and calling loudly for help. It was fully four o'clock P. M. before Naglee was ordered forward. He soon reached the field and immediately proceeded at a double-quick, by a detour of two miles, to the support of Hancock, who at the moment of his arrival, made his final charge which swept the enemy from the field. The enemy fled during the night and the army resumed its toilsome march towards Richmond.
On the 20th of May, Keyes' Corps bivonacked upon the left bank of the Chickahominy, opposite Bottom's Bridge. On this day, General Naglee or- ganized a company of sharp-shooters from one hundred picked men, from the Fifty-second, which he placed under command of Captain Greenleaf P. Davis, of company E. These men, who were from the lumber distriets of Pennsylvania, and were skilled marksmen, soon achieved distinction. They were immedi- ately ordered forward on a reconnoissance to the Chickahominy at the railroad and Bottom's Bridges, supported by the brigade, and were pushed across under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery. This foot-hold was maintained, and during the night a number of regiments crossed. On the 23d, the Fifty-second and the One Hundred and Fourth slashed the timber. and threw up a long line of entrenehments about the head of the bridge facing towards Richmond. As yet, no ground had been gained for any distance beyond. From Bottom's Bridge to Richmond is fourteen miles.
On the evening of the same day General Naglee received the following order from General M'Clellan. "Your instructions for the reconnoissance to- day, are as follows: You will, if possible, advance to the Seven Pines, or the forks of the direct road to Richmond, and the road turning to the right into the road leading from New Bridge to Richmond, [Nine Mile Road,] and hold that point if practicable. * *
* You will push the reconnoissanee as far towards Richmond as practicable, without incurring too much danger."
"In obedience to these instructions," says General Naglee in bis official re- port, " on the rainy morning of the 24th, leaving the Eleventh Maine, Fifty- sixth, and One Hundredth New York in camp, the other regiments of my bri- gade, the Fifty-second Pennsylvania, Colonel Dodge, and the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania, Colonel Davis, were in motion at an early hour. At eight o'clock they were joined by battery H, First New York Artillery, and Regan's Seventh Independent New York Battery, under command of Colonel Bailey. Gregg's Cavalry did not report until one o'clock P. M. The column was formed and in motion by nine A. M. Leading out the Williamsburg road, we encountered the first pickets of the enemy at the Creek run, (Boar swamp,) about one and a-half miles from Bottom's Bridge. These retired as our skir- mishers approached, but they increased rapidly as we advanced. About ten o'clock a deserter was taken to the headquarters of General Keyes, and a courier was dispatched for me to return, that I should ascertain that the forces in my front were Hatton's Brigade of five regiments of Tennessee infantry, two 7-VOL. II.
50
FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
1862
batteries and a portion of Stuart's Cavalry, all under command of General Stuart. Returning to my command at twelve M., I deployed the Fifty-second on the right of the Williamsburg road, and extended it across the railroad. The One Hundred and Fourth was deployed to the left of the Williamsburg road without much resistance, and we pressed forward until we came to the wood next beyond Savage Station, where the enemy was prepared to resist our further advance. Regan's Battery was placed in position in the front edge of the timber on the right of the road, and shelled the wood on the left of the road, which was about six hundred yards from the battery; this wood extended about four hundred yards along the road, and terminated in a line perpendicular with it, which line produced across the road was the commencement of the wood on the right of the road parallel to which the Fifty-second had been de- ployed, and toward which it was ordered to advance, until it should be pro- tected by some houses and sheds, and an orchard and a fence, three hundred yards from the wood. This movement of the Fifty-second, with the shelling from Regan's Battery, lessened materially the fire of the enemy on the left, and the One Hundred aud Fourth was ordered forward.
"Our attention was now directed to the wood in front of the Fifty-second, · where the fire was increasing, and, at the same time, to the batteries of the enemy, which some time before had opened, and had been directing their fire upon our batteries and the One Hundred and Fourth. From the front of the wood, now occupied by the One Hundred and Fourth, I discovered that the line of battle of the enemy was formed just within the edge of the wood which crosses the Williamsburg road, about half a mile from the Seven Pines Corner ; that his artillery was in front near the house on the left of the road supported by infantry lying in the hollow, and that the wood in front of the Fifty-second on the right of the road was occupied by a regiment of skirmishers. Bringing the oblique fire of the One Hundred and Fourth to assist the direct fire of the Ffty-second, I pushed forward the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania, along and be- hind the railroad, and ordered the Fifty-second to advance from the fence and buildings directly into the wood in front of it.
"This combined movement forced the enemy to leave precipitately the wood on the right. It was now about half-past four P. M. ; the batteries of the enemy had annoyed us considerably, and it became necessary to drive them from their position. The sharpshooters of the Fifty-second, selected from men that had lived with the rifle constantly by them, in the lumbering counties of Pennsylvania, were ordered forward under Captain Davis; at the same time a section of Mink's Battery was added to Regan's. Having thus advanced our right, we soon corrected the ranges of our artillery, and within half an hour the effects were apparent; the artillery of the enemy conld no longer stand against the fire of our artillery and sharpshooters, and were compelled to with- draw. At the same time I discovered an unsteadiness in the ranks of the ene- my, and I hurried forward Gregg's Cavalry, followed by the remaining two sec- tions of Mink's Battery, which were brought into action within four hundred yards of the enemy's lines, supported by the Eighty-fifth New York, and One Hundred and Fourth ; the Ffty-second being on the right, these movements threw the enemy into disorder, and Gregg was ordered to charge; but after proceeding some two hundred yards, he received a volley from some skirmish- ers that occupied a thicket on the right of the road, and he dismounted his command, fired his carbines, and wheeled into a depression in the ground. I
1862
BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS.
51
·
was preparing to follow with skirmishers and to order a second cavalry charge, when an aid of General Keyes brought orders from him that no further pursuit should be made, lest I should bring on a general engagement.
"The troops slept on the wet ground, for it had rained all day, in the ex- posed position, last above indicated, and the picket guard for the night, which was necessarily a heavy one, was undisturbed. The pickets put out that night on strange ground by the field officers of the Fifty-second, owing to the ex- posure in front and on both flanks, extended six miles. In the meantime, dis- covering none of the enemy in force on either of my flanks, the next day, the 25th, at twelve M., I ordered Captain Davis, Fifty-second, to extend his sharp- shooters between the Williamsburg road and the railroad, and to advance cau- tiously and so slowly, that his advance could hardly be discovered. At four P. M., having gained a mile, and feeling that the enemy would resist in force any further advance, I took the Eleventh Maine, that had joined me, the Fifty- second and One Hundred and Fourth, and two sections of Bailey's Artillery, and moved forward to meet any resistance the enemy might oppose to Captain Davis. We had scarcely started, when a dispatch was received, indicating that the enemy was assembling in front. Hurrying past the Seven Pines, I found Davis' sharpshooters occupying the front of the wood, some five hnn- dred yards beyond the Pines, that their line extended perpendicular to the Williamsburg road, and across to the neighborhood of the Fair Oak Station on the railroad, and that the enemy was forming in the open fields beyond the wood pile. I immediately ordered the artillery to open upon the enemy, ad- vanced the picket line to that of the sharpshooters, and ordered the Eleventh Maine, and One Hundred and Fourth, to show themselves as supporting them. The shells thrown over the wood were most fortunate in their range and di- rection, and the enemy dispersed.
. "On the following day, the 26th of May, by three A. M., the remaining regiments of my brigade were already in position to support the One Hundred and Fourth, and the picket line established by the Eleventh Maine, and Fifty- second. At six A. M. a rebel force of two regiments of infantry, one of cav- alry, and a battery approached, but it avoided my picket line, kept beyond range and soon after disappeared, evidently reconnoitring our position. I then ordered Captain Davis to advance another mile, which he did withont op- position, and which brought our picket line to the distance of about five miles from Richmond, which was as near as I deemed it prudent to go. On the fol- lowing day, with a portion of Davis' sharpshooters, the line on the right was advanced from the road to Michie's to the Nine Mile road and Garnett's field, and thence along Garnett's field to the Chickahominy. In this extended re- connoissance of four days, the troops behaved admirably, and especial thanks are due to Colonels Bailey, Davis, Dodge, Howell, Plaisted and Jordan, and to Captain Davis and his sharpshooters, who contributed more than any others to the successful advance of our lines from Bottom's Bridge, nine miles, to the most advanced line held before Richmond."
The regiment went into camp on the right of the Nine Mile road, a half mile beyond Fair Oaks, as a support to the pickets along Garnett's field. No other regiment encamped so near Richmond, and during the campaign, the picket line extending from White Oak Swamp to the Chickahominy, was never ad- vanced beyond the ground wou by Captain Davis and his sharpshooters. See- ing his isolated position, General Naglee determined to bridge the river on bis
1
52
FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
1862
right and open communication with the headquarters of the General-in-Chief, and the great body of the army on the opposite bank. For this purpose, the whole pioneer corps of his brigade, with heavy details, was sent with minute instructions for its construction. The point selected was, at this time, above, and outside the Union lines, and the troops on the left bank, hearing the work, opened fire on the party, and sent two regiments to drive it away. The bridge thus commenced, and rendered passable on the day of the battle of Fair Oaks, was afterwards chosen by the engineer corps for the great highway between the two wings of the army.
The battle of Fair Oaks was fonght on the 30th of May. The position of the Fifty-second, a half mile to the right, and front of the Seven Pines, brought it into action on a different part of the field from that of the other regiments of the brigade, and at a somewhat later hour. Two companies were on the picket line, and a heavy detail upon the Chickahominy Bridge. It moved from its camp in line of battle towards Seven Pines, and at first held the extreme right. By the time it had become engaged, the enemy had turned the left flank and had broken through on the Williamsburg road. General Naglee, who had been up on this part of the field, in his official report, says: "Returning rapidly to my Fifty- sixth New York, Eleventh Maine, and Fifty-second Pennsylvania, my antici- pations here were realized; being successful in turning our left flank, the ene- my had opened a most destructive cross-fire upon them, from pieces near the redoubt, and this with the fire from their immediate front, was no longer to be endured, and they were withdrawn, marched down the Nine Mile road, and placed in position in rear of this road, about three hundred yards from the Seven Pines, where soon their services were required. In the meantime Colo- nel Neill of the Twenty-third Pennsylvania, had come upon the ground occu- pied by Colonel Dodge, and induced him to advance in front, and to the right of the position that had been assigned to him, whilst he, Colonel Neill, occupied that which the Fifty-second Pennsylvania vacated. But these dispositions . were scarcely made, before the masses of the enemy broke through, and a few minutes sufficed to leave the half of Dodge's command on the ground, and to force Neill precipitately from his position. The remaining portion of the Fifty- second-for it was now reduced to a little over one hundred men-was con- ducted along the Nine Mile road to the Seven Pines, where, finding the rifle pits occupied, they took possession of a fence and some out-houses, and did most effective service. Afterwards they crossed to the left of Couch's position, and advanced two hundred yards into, and along the woods, to the left, and front of the Seven Pines, where they remained actively employed until near dark, when the enemy advancing rapidly in masses to the rear of the Nine Mile road, inclined towards the Williamsburg road, sweeping every thing from the field, onr forces making one general simultaneous movement to the rear, which did not stop until all had arrived at the line of defence. The Fifty-second having their line of retreat cut off, escaped by passing through the woods to the left and rear of the saw-mill at the White Oak Swamp, and thence to the line above referred to, where they re-joined their comrades of the First Bri- gade." General M'Clellan in his report, says: "the official reports of Generals Keyes, Casey and Naglee, show that a very considerable portion of the divi- sion fought well, and that the brigade of Naglee is entitled to credit for its gal- lantry." The companies on the right of the picket line, and the pioneers on the Chickahominy, reported to General Sumner, when he arrived on the ground,
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