CHAPTER VII.

 

PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN-NEW MARKET CROSS ROADS.

 

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Designs of the enemy--Trent's farm-Movement to Savage station­--Army trains--The reserve artillery; its value to the army ;entrusted to McCall’s division--Arrival of McCall at Savage station--Interview with McClellan--Proposition to destroy the trains--The Hero of Mechanics­ville prefers to fight--Spirit of the troops--Scenes at Savage station­--sorrowful partings--Rev. Junius Marks--Distress of the wounded--­Battle of Allen's farm--Gallantry of the Fifty-third Pennsylvania regi­ment--Battle of Savage station--March to New Market road--A restless night--Battle of New Market cross roads*--Treachery of a negro guide --The brunt of the attack sustained by the Reserves--The Third regi­ment begins the battle--Charge of the Seventh--Confusion on the left--Charge of the First brigade--Death of Colonel Simmons--Cooper's and Kern's batteries--Capture and re-capture of Cooper's battery--­Charge of the Irish Brigade--Terrible struggle for Randall's battery­--General Meade wounded--General McCall captured--Colonel Roberts in command--Return of General Seymour--Artillery abandoned by the army--Colonel Simmons--Captain Biddle--False reports--Honor of the Reserves vindicated.

 

Two sanguinary battles had been fought, in which the Confederate general had thrown his whole force against the right wing of McClellan's army, in desperate efforts to crush it. After two days of battle, the Army of the Potomac was concentrated on the south. bank of the Chickahominy, and the enemy had gained no decided advantage. General Lee believed that the army was flee­ing in frantic disorder to its base of supplies at White

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* This battle has been variously designated as the battle of " Charles City crossroads,"" Glendale" and" Nelson's farm." General Me Call, whose division fought the battle, is, by military usage, the proper officer to name the battle. He names it, in his report, the II Battle of New Market cross roads." This designation has therefore been adopted by the author.

 

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House, or down the Peninsula towards Yorktown. Having failed to overwhelm and capture the troops on the north bank of the river, he pushed his army down the roads between the Pamunkey and the Chickahominy, expecting thus to intercept McClellan's retreat. The shattered divisions of the right wing of the National army withdrew from the terrible field at Gaines' mill, during the night of the 27th of June, and on Saturday morning, the 28th, reformed their broken ranks on Trent's farm, on the bank of the river opposite the battle-field. General McClellan had removed his headquarters from Dr. Trent's house to Savage station. The immense trains, numbering over five thousand wagons, the seige train, a herd of twenty-five hundred cattle, and all the materiel of the army were put in motion towards Savage station. The powerful corps of reserve artillery, comprising eighteen splendid batteries of, one hundred guns of the most approved pattern, the choice in finish and equipment in the United States army, was still at Trent's farm. This park of artillery, commanded by General Hunt, was the most valuable property on the Peninsula; without it the army of the Potomac would be helpless; with it, posted in position like that at Malvern Hill, the retreating army could bid defiance to the whole armed force of the Confederacy. General McClellan did not undervalue this arm of his command; he knew that upon its safe transfer to the James river, depended the safety of his army. There was but one narrow road, leading through a deep swamp, available for the passage of trains and troops from Savage station to Malvern Hill. Through this swamp, over a single road, the army was pouring day and night. Baggage trains, supply trains, even siege trains might be destroyed in an emergency, to keep them from the hands of the enemy, but the reserve artillery must be guarded beyond peradventure, and placed in position south of White Oak swamp. General McClellan nervously, and in deep anxiety, called to mind his ablest generals and his trustiest troops. General McCall and his division of Pennsylvania

 

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Reserves had been intrusted with the defence of the right wing at Mechanicsville; they had fully justified the con­fidence reposed in them by the commanding general. At Gaines' Mill, too, they had put to shame the regulars, and paid a terrible price in blood for their valor. There were other divisions which had rested while the Reserves had been fighting and marching, without sleep and without rations. But McClellan would take no risks in a labor so mo­mentous. General McCall was therefore ordered to guard Hunt's artillery and conduct it in safety from Trent's farm to the Quaker road south of White Oak swamp.

The guns, caissons, forges, battery wagons and ammunition trains, numbered about three hundred vehicles, and when added to McCall's artillery and transportation, made a train seven miles in length. General McCall accepted the post of honor and of responsibility, with a full comprehension of the arduous duties it imposed on his men. The brigade commanders were ordered to distribute the regiments throughout the train at proportionate intervals, and to keep flanking parties out to the right and left. The night of the 28th was dark and rainy. At nine o'clock McCall's division, having in charge the artillery, stretched out in the road from Trent's farm towards Savage station; the road was narrow; other divisions and trains were moving over other roads, and some were following McCall's train. Near the middle of the night, an officer rode up to General McCall in the thick darkness, and informed him that he was on the wrong road, and that his train must be turned back. The general replied, he was on the right road, and would continue forward. An hour later the officer again appeared on the road, and informed General McCall that it was the order of General McClellan that he should counter­march his division to another road and allow another com­mand to pass over the road he was then on. General McCall replied to the officer: "Give General McClellan my compliments, and say to him, that General McCall says, the road he is on is narrow, the night is very dark, his

 

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train is long and heavy, and that it is impracticable to reverse his march; moreover, the men are much fatigued from excessive duties, and must not be subjected to unne­cessary hardships. He must, therefore, be permitted to move forward on this road." No further orders were received by General McCall, and the division spared the confusion and toil of a countermarch of six miles in mud and darkness, advanced on the direct road to Savage sta­tion. At one o'clock on Sunday morning, General McCall arrived at McClellan's headquarters at Savage station. He found the commanding general surrounded by his corps and some of his division commanders, standing around a fire, discussing the situation of the army. When General McCall arrived, General McClellan stepped forward and said: "Here is General McCall, the hero of Mechanicsville." General McCall bowed, and, without further ceremony, in­formed McClellan of the order received to move on another road, and repeated his reasons for continuing his march. General McClellan approved his course, and leading him aside, said in a low tone of voice: "General McCall, it is my desire to reach the James river before I am attacked by the enemy; if I destroy all the trains including the private baggage, we can reach James river in twenty-four hours; but if I attempt to take the trains with me, it will take us forty-eight hours to gain the river. What do you advise me to do?" Now, it must be remembered, that 'McCall's division had done more fighting, and had been subjected to greater hardships during the three days that had just passed, than any other troops in the army; also, that at that very hour of rain and darkness, his gallant Reserves were toiling through the mud guarding a numerous train of artil­lery; that General McCall, like his troops, had been three days and three nights without rest or sleep, and almost without food. All this the major-general commanding well knew, and knowing, perhaps, expected General McCall would gladly clear the road for his artillery by destroying the trains in his front. But never was man more mistaken.

 

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Shaking the rain from his water-proof coat, and removing his cap from his head, General McCall stood erect, and looking down on McClellan's half upturned face, said " General McClellan, I don't know that I sufficiently under­stand the situation of the army to advise you; but from what I do know, I would fight over every inch of the ground from here to the James, before I would destroy a wagon. The moment you destroy your trains, you demor­alize the army." To these heroic words McClellan made no reply, but the two generals in silence returned to the company around the fire. Greater compliments could not have been paid to men in arms than were that night awarded to the Pennsylvania Reserves. The Major-general commanding had entrusted to them the casket of his army, indeed, of the nation; the general commanding the division reposed such high confidence in his troops, that he was bold, without hesitation, to deliver a reply to General McClellan, regarding the destruction of the trains, that in itself did much towards saving the Army of the Potomac. He believed his men were able to march to the James with their baggage, and if necessary, fight the enemy at every step. Meanwhile the troops toiled through the deep forests, in darkness and rain, marching by the side of the artillery, resolved to defend it against the, enemy, or to die in the road. On Sunday morning, wet and covered with mud, hungry, and exhausted by the terrible night march, the men reached Savage station.

Here everything was in disorder; the fields were crowded with trains, the woods filled with wounded men. Since Friday evening, all had been hurry and confusion. The hurrying to and fro of officers in hot haste, carrying, and coming for orders to and from every part of the army; the arrival of the long trains of ambulances filled with wounded soldiers, and the almost endless line of stretcher-bearers with their wounded companions on their shoulders, poured in continuous streams into the open space about the station. The grounds around the houses, the floors of the barns,

 

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stables, and out-houses were covered with vast multitudes of bleeding, groaning, and dying men. The uncertainty with regard to future movements, the hurling together of the immense trains of the army of the Potomac, and the rumor that Jackson was marching against the communica­tions of the army with the White House, added to the con­fusion and consternation that already palsied the stoutest heart. The railroad trains had been employed to the last moment to carry the wounded to White House. At ten o'clock on Saturday morning, the 28th of June, the telegraph wires connecting Savage station with White House, suddenly ceased working, and it was evident the enemy had posses­sion of the railroad. A train of cars filled with five hundred wounded men was at the station ready to move, when the telegraph operator announced that his communication was cut. The train moved cautiously down the road three or four miles, to learn if possible the condition of things towards White House; it soon returned to the station, and all were satisfied that the forces of the enemy had reached the rail­road. The poor broken and wounded men, whose brave hearts had borne them up to endure all hardships, still waited on the cars, hoping against hope, and rejected the offers of their friends to remove them to beds on the ground. Between two and three thousand sick and wounded were in the houses and tents, and under the trees at Savage station. Deep gloom and sore distress fell upon all; there were a thousand rumors of things most im­probable, but the despondency of the men prepared them to believe the most extravagant stories, and the confusion that surrounded them increased their consternation.

When, therefore, on Sunday morning, the Reserves halted at the station, the men left the ranks, and amid the army of wounded, sought out their companions, and administered for their wants; for such as could walk they made canes and crutches; they bound up the wounds of some, and aided many to follow their regiments in the retreat across the swamp ; to others who could not follow them, they gave

 

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water, and rations of bread, meat, sugar and coffee, and each noble patriot, placed in the pocket of his wounded com­panion all the money he had in his possession. The parting of brave men, companions in arms, is rarely witnessed under more distressing circumstances. The strongest heart was melted in sorrow; many a manly cheek was wet with tears as the soldiers bade farewell to each other, expecting never to meet again. Fathers dragged themselves away from the couches of their sons, son forsook father, and brother parted from brother. Both were patriotic and brave; one, well, ro­bust and strong; the other, all bleeding, maimed and dying. They parted like brave men. Those who went, to die gloriously in battle, or, to survive with the vindicated honor of their country; those who remained, doomed to the most terrible hardships that befall men, who in war become the prisoners of a vengeful foe. Without physician, nurse or attendant, many, died beneath the trees where their com­panions had left them; others, carried towards Richmond, either died on the way and were buried in the swamps, or taken to the Confederate prisons, died of neglect, filth, and abuse.

Reverend Junius J. Marks, D. D., chaplain of the Sixty­-third regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers, one of the most faithful christian ministers in this country, remained at Savage station to take charge of the wounded. This noble follower of his Divine Teacher, ,had for many clays and nights of watchfulness and toil, labored for the alleviation of the pains and hardships of the disabled patriots on the Peninsula, and now, in the hour of severest trial and greatest need, he would not forsake them. When it was apparent that the wounded would be left behind, Doctor Marks, feel­ing that he was subject to the orders of Colonel Hays, com­manding the Sixty-third regiment, or of General Kearney in whose command the regiment was brigaded, and know­ing that these officers had already marched away towards James river, called on General Heintzelman and stated to him the situation of the wounded at the station, and asked

 

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the general, what, under the circumstances, he would advise him to do. General Heintzelman replied: "I cannot advise you. If you remain, you will become a prisoner, no man can tell you what you may have to endure; you will lose all. You have no commands holding you here, and if you please to go with the army, no one ought to blame you."

Doctor Marks had hoped that General Heintzelman would order him to remain, for, feeling that to leave the men who were then under his charge, would be both dishonorable and cruel, he had determined to stay with them, live or die ; lie wished however to be defended in his conduct by the order or advice of a general officer. He nevertheless re­mained with his sick and wounded countrymen, and on the 30th of June, became a prisoner of war.

At three o'clock on Sunday afternoon, General Heintzelman and staff' mounted their horses and galloped away from the station. Up to that time the disabled soldiers had not known that they were to be left behind to fall into the hands of the enemy. Doctor Marks says: " When it became manifest that such was to be their fate, the scenes of distress could not be pictured by human language. Some of the wounded men, who were left in their tents, struggled forth through the grounds, exclaiming, they `would rather die than fall into the hands of the rebels;’ I heard one man cry out ‘0 my God! is this the reward I deserve for all the sacri­fices I have made, the battles I have fought, and the agony I have endured from my wounds.’ Some of the younger soldiers wept like children; others turned pale, and some fainted. Poor fellows ! they thought this was the last drop in the cup of bitterness, but there were yet many to be added."

After having made a short halt, the Reserves moved on from Savage station, and early in the afternoon crossed White Oak swamp creek. General McCall had received orders to park the artillery train on the first firm ground south of the swamp, and to place his troops in a position to repel an attack from the direction of Richmond. The division remained in line of battle on the border of the

 

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swamp until five o'clock in the afternoon. It was then relieved of the charge of the artillery, which was out of danger, and was ordered to move forward on the road lead­ing to Turkey Island bend on the James river.

General Porter, to whose corps the Reserves were attached, had orders to move forward. with his command on the Quaker road to the James. When the head of the column reached the New Market road, it turned to the right, and marched westward towards Richmond. The guide, having inquired of the inhabitants for the Quaker road, was informed that it entered the New Market road about five miles west­ward from the intersection of the White Oak swamp road. At the point indicated by the citizens, there is an old abandoned road leading through the woods to the river, which the inhabitants called the Quaker road, but on the military maps used by General McClellan, this road was not laid down, but a road three miles further east was desig­nated as the Quaker road. When the command had fol­lowed for some distance, the lead of the guide, accompanied by an officer on General Porter's staff; General Meade, who was in the advance, insisted that they were on the wrong road, and that the Quaker road had already been passed. He halted his brigade, and riding forward with the guide, turned into the Old Quaker road, and discovered that it was overgrown, crossed by ditches and fences, and was therefore impassable. It was now about midnight, and so dark that it was impossible to make an examination of the country, General Meade reported the situation to General McCall, who despatched a messenger to General Porter. General Porter rode forward, and insisted that they were on the right road, but directed General McCall to encamp his divi­sion by the side of the road until morning. The other divi­sions of Porter's Corps, Sykes' and Morrell's, continued forward on the road, and after a fruitless attempt to enter the Old Quaker road, countermarched, and moving back marched by McCall's camp, reached the Quaker road of the military maps, by a private road through the woods, and

 

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continued his march to the river; he, however, neglected to withdraw the Reserves, or to send General McCall any orders as to the disposition of his division. General Porter has since explained his conduct by saying that, " he no longer considered McCall's troops as attached to his com­mand." Yet no order had been issued detaching them from the Fifth Corps. McCall and his gallant men; who had done more severe fighting, .tedious marching and hard labor, since the morning of the 26th of June, than any, other troops in the Army of the Potomac, were again, by the blunder of the commander of the Fifth Corps, placed in the front, and indeed almost within the camps of the enemy.

While the advance guard was pushing forward towards the James, the rear guard was holding the pursuing enemy at bay. During the night of the 28th, Generals Sumner's and Heint­zelman's corps, and Smith's division were ordered to an interior line, the left resting on Keyes's old intrenchments, and curving to the right, so as to cover Savage station. These troops were ordered to hold this position until dark of the 29th, in order to cover the withdrawal of the trains, and then to fall back across the swamp and unite with the remainder of the army.

General Sumner vacated his works at Fair Oaks on the 29th of June, at daylight, and marched his command to Or­chard station, halting at Allen's farm, between Orchard and Savage station. The enemy who had been greatly per­plexed by the movement of the Army of the Potomac on Saturday, now discovered that General McClellan had abandoned his base at the White House, and was moving towards the James river. The rebel forces were immedi­ately sent in pursuit of the retreating army. When Gene­ral Sumner and General Heintzelman discovered that the enemy was hanging on their rear, they formed their corps in line of battle on Allen's farm, determined to punish their pursuers, and at the same time ensure the safe withdrawal of the trains from Savage station. General Heintzelman

 

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formed his corps south of the railroad, facing towards Rich­mond; Richardson's and Sedgwick's divisions were formed on the right of the railroad, and General Slocum's division was sent forward to Savage station.

At nine o'clock in the forenoon, the rebels approached this line of battle, and immediately commenced a furious attack on the right of Sedgwick's division, but were quickly repulsed. The enemy next attacked the left of Richard­son's division, making desperate efforts to carry a position held by Captain Hazzard's battery and the Fifty-third Pennsylvania regiment, commanded by Colonel Brooks. The valiant Pennsylvanians, however, had taken shelter behind a log house, and kept up a steady fire on the advanc­ing enemy, who three times charged the position, but were as often repulsed, and finally compelled to retire in dis­order. At the close of this spirited engagement, called the battle of Allen's farm, General Heintzelman withdrew his corps from the defensive works on the Williamsburg road, and crossed White Oak swamp at Brackett's ford; General Sumner retired to Savage station. Opposite the station, between the railroad and the Williamsburg road, is a large plain, comprising an area of several hundred acres. The ground gradually ascends from the station towards the road. On this plain General Sumner, who commanded the rear guard of the grand army, drew up his troops in line of battle. Sumner had his own corps, Franklin's and part of Heintzelman's. Like a great wall thrown across the path of a powerful army, these lines of armed men stood for hours in the open field, many of them motion­less as statues, waiting the approach of the enemy. Long and numerous trains of artillery, wagons and funeral ambu­lances, on various avenues, approached, and passing behind this living wall, poured in a continuous stream through the narrow pass of White Oak swamp. The van guard had passed the swamp and risen to a position on firm ground, flanked by the impassable morass, where part of the trains could rest. General Keyes had already established commu-

 

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nication with the gunboats in the James, and General Por­ter's corps stretched from the swamp to the right wing of Keyes' command. But the fate of the army was still in the hands of the rear guard standing in battle array on the plain at Savage station. Never were soldiers called to the discharge of more important duties! Never were troops snore prepared for the sacrifice !

At five o'clock a great cloud of dust was seen rising from the fields towards the Chickahominy. The enemy had rapidly concentrated his forces on the south bank of the river, and was now marching to battle, confident of victory and spoils. The veteran hero, commanding the rear guard of the national army, sat calmly on his horse, and from the rising clouds of dust, ever varying, ever increasing, keenly conjectured the numbers and the designs of the enemy. The artillery was trained on the approaches through which the enemy would come. Orderlies, aids de camp, and com­manding officers were hurrying along the line from centre to right and left; the men were in position, each with heroic resolution determined to resist the enemy till victory or death closed the contest.

The rebels approached through a dense woods which concealed their movements until they were within a short distance of the National lines. They then emerged from their concealment, pushed forward their artillery to commanding positions, and opened a furious fire of shot and shell. Sum­ner's batteries replied vigorously, and the guns on both sides were handled with great skill. For an hour, not a musket was fired. The lines of the army remained motionless, while the roar and crash of artillery filled the air with hideous sounds, and shook the earth with its fearful concussion. Suddenly a wild yell pierced the air; the whole mass of the enemy's troops sprung forward from the forest, and rushed into the open field in front of the National forces. Sheets of flame burst simultaneously from both lines, and the roar of musketry vied with the thunder of artillery. The enemy was hurled back to the railroad, but advanced again and

 

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again to the close contest, each time replacing with fresh troops their broken ranks. Sumner and his troops well knew their situation. To retire was death; to stand firm could be no more. The mortal combat raged with fearful carnage till dark. At one time the enemy had almost succeeded in outflanking Sumner's position; a hostile brigade emerged from the woods and rushed towards the rear of the left flank, but suddenly a battery opened on it with grape and canister, tearing through its columns with such accurate range, that the enemy fled in disorder, and relinquished his purpose. The pall of battle and the shades of night brought no relief. The roar of cannon and the shriller sound of musketry were incessant. The contending regiments, at times, stood face to face, and at the distance of only a few yards delivered volley after volley into each other's ranks. The enemy in his most furious efforts failed to overwhelm the rear guard, and drive its broken regiments into the swamp. Sumner not only successfully resisted the attack, but had sent death in such terrible measures through the enemy's masses, that, becoming confused, the rebel regiments com­menced firing on each other and were easily forced from the field.

When General McClellan, beyond the White Oak swamp heard that Sumner had repulsed the enemy, he ordered him to retire across the swamp. But the Old Hero had his blood up, and asked for reinforcements that he might renew the battle in the morning. That, however, was contrary to the plans of the commanding general, and "Bull Sumner was choked off." He therefore retired during the night, and on Monday morning joined the right wing of the army south of the swamp.

The killed and wounded in the battle of Savage station, like those in the battles at Gaines' mill, and Allen's faun, were left on the field, to receive the harshest treatment a bitter foe could inflict. Many of these noble defenders of the Union died from neglect, others from abuse, and some, dis­tressed and broken in spirit, found a happy relief is death.

 

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The lines of troops, and the immense trains marched in a continuous column through the swamp, and over White Oak creek. The roar of battle in the Tear urged them to a quicker pace; all day and all night long the living stream rolled onward. By midnight all the troops were on the road, and at five o'clock on Monday morning General French's brigade, which formed the rear guard to Sumner's corps, crossed White Oak creek, and destroyed the bridge.

The labor of Monday, June 30, was the safe transfer of the trains to the bank of the James, under the protection of the gunboats. For this purpose the troops were placed in lines of battle on the roads leading from Richmond down the Peninsula. Generals Keyes and Porter were in position at Turkey bend on James river. General Franklin guarded the passes of White Oak swamp. Early in the morning General Heintzelman destroyed the bridge at Bracketf s ford, and felled trees across the Charles City road. He then withdrew his corps to the point where the New Market road crosses the Charles City road. Kearny's division was formed in front of the Charles City road with its left joining the right of McCall's division, which was formed across the New Market road, facing towards Richmond ; Hooker's division as formed to the left and rear of McCall's posi­tion. Part of Sumner's corps was with General Franklin at White Oak swamp, and the remainder formed in the rear of Heintzelman's left.

The enemy had been so severely punished by General Sumner at Savage station, that he was slow to pursue the retreating rear guard. It was not until after twelve o'clock on the 30th of June, that he appeared opposite Franklin's position on White Oak creek. The enemy pushed forward several pieces of artillery, and opened a vigorous fire on the divisions of Smith and Richardson, and Naglee's bri­gade, at White Oak swamp bridge. This artillery fire was continued throughout the day. Richardson's division suf­fered severely; Captain Hazzard's battery, after losing many connoniers, and Captain Hazzard being mortally

 

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wounded; was compelled to retire. It was replaced by ]Pettit's battery, which partially silenced the enemy's guns.

General Franklin held his position until after dark, repeatedly driving back the enemy in their attempts to cross the creek.

Finding it impossible to force the passage of White Oak creek in the face of the rear-guard,. General Zee detached a powerful force to cross further up the swamp, and ordered the general in command to seize the intersection of the Charles City and New Market roads, and thus cut the line of retreat of the army o£ the Potomac. The enemy had already occupied the New Market road, in front of McCall's division, and waited for reinforcements before beginning an attack.

On the night of the 29th, General McCall had thrown forward the First brigade, commanded by Colonel Simmons, as an out-post to watch the movements of the enemy. The -night was intensely dark, so that the men were unable to .distinguish objects a few feet from them. Advancing about a, mile from camp, Colonel Simmons formed his troops on a private road at right angles with the New Market road; he directed his men to lie down in order, by the roadside, -ready to spring into line at a moment's notice. A line of pickets was formed fifty paces in front of the brigade, and special countersigns were devised by which the pickets and the men from the different regiments could recognize each other. During the night several alarms occurred. At one time a number of battery horses broke loose, and rushed down the road with the fierceness of a cavalry charge; after midnight brisk firing was heard in the rear, caused, (as was afterwards learned) by a false alarm; again, a soldier sleep­ing a nervous, restless sleep, holding his gun in his hands ready to meet the foe, dreamed that the enemy was charging upon the brigade, and in a deep sepulchral voice, called out to his comrades, " fall in ! fall in ! " Numerous dogs at the farm houses in the vicinity kept up a continual barking, and thus not only aided to drive away sleep by their noise,

 

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but also apprised the officers and men of the approach of the enemy. The frequent alarms made sleep impossible, and

the command passed one of those nights of silent excitement, that preys so terribly on the energies of the soldier, and more unnerves the body than the severest shock of battle.

On Monday morning the brigade was withdrawn, and the division camped in an open field, where the men prepared breakfast from the scanty remnants in their haversacks. Surrounding the field occupied by the Reserves, was a plain densely covered with a forest of sedge pines; General McCall taking advantage of the grounds skillfully posted his troops on both sides of the New Market road. He knew full well, that by the neglect of his superior officers, his division had again been placed at the point of greatest danger. He there­fore formed his brigades in line of battle, feeling that the fate of the army once more rested on the arms of the Pennsyl­vania Reserves. Days of fierce battle, and nights of toilsome marches, had sadly worn upon the strength of the regiments. Most of the men were fitter subjects for the hospital than for

the battle-field. Officers and men, however, felt that once more, tremendous efforts and terrible sacrifices must be

made, to save the army of the Potomac from destruction, and the National arms from disgrace. Worn and weary, but

with undaunted spirit the battle-scarred soldiers again stood in serried ranks; their faces straight to the foe; the artil­lery with their pieces well to the front, and the infantry grasping tightly their arms, each man resolved to resist till death, the rebel hordes that were swarming in the forests before them.

General McCall had formed his line of battle across the open plain; the Second brigade, commanded by General Meade, forming the right wing, crossed the New Market road; the Third brigade, commanded by General Seymour,

was on the, left, and extended to a marshy woods south of the field; the First brigade, commanded by Colonel Sim­mons, was held in reserve, and was protected by a wooded hill in the rear of the centre of the line. The grounds were

 

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well chosen, and made an advantageous battle-field, but the Reserve corps was too small to fully occupy it. Its thinned ranks, and contracted lines no longer stretched in massive columns across extensive fields, with unbroken front to the foe. Still, what was left of the noble corps, a heroic band, formed in line, and occupied the ground. Randall's regular battery that supplied the place of De Hart's, which had been demolished at Gaines' mill, was posted on the 'right; Cooper's and Kern's took positions in the centre ; two New York German batteries from Porter's corps, which had become detached from their division, were placed in position on the left. Colonel Roberts With the First regiment, and Colonel Jackson with the Ninth, were ordered to support the batteries in the centre. The Fourth regiment Colonel Magilton, and the Seventh commanded by Colonel Harvey, were on the extreme Tight with Randall's battery. The two remaining companies of the Eleventh regiment, commanded by Captain Porter, were temporarily attached to the Seventh. The Tenth regiment commanded by Colonel Kirk, and the Twelfth, Colonel Taggart, supported the German batteries on the left.

When, on the morning of the 3oth of June, General McCall received the order from General McClellan to form his division on the New Market road, and to hold the enemy in check until the trains had passed the cross roads in his rear, he supposed other divisions of the army would be formed on the right and left of his position to protect his flanks. The general-in-chief, however, was not present on the field, either to form the line or to superintend the battle, and the corps, and divisions, being without a com­mon leader, took positions, and fought independently. The only instructions given from headquarters were, that the ` several commands should resist the enemy, until the immense army, trains, moving towards the James had passed all the cross roads, and arrived in camps on the bank of the river. Of these disjointed and independent divisions, McCall held the centre, resting on the principal

 

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road from Richmond. The main body of the Confederate force advanced on this road, it being Lee's object to break through the lines of the National army at New Market and Charles City cross roads. Had he succeeded in this move­ment, he would have seized the only approaches to the James river, would have divided. McClellan's army, and utterly destroyed the two fragments in detail. From the disposition of General Lee's forces, it necessarily followed, that the brunt of the attack would fall on McCall's position. Gene­ral Lee had sent forward his most powerful divisions with orders to seize the Quaker road. One of these, commanded by General A. P. Hill, had assailed McCall's troops at Mechanicsville in a battle, in which the Confederate gene­rals acknowledged that "they were repulsed at every point with unparalleled loss." Now, again, these same troops, reinforced by Longstreet's division, making a force of nearly twenty thousand men, were to be hurled against the remnant of the Reserves, numbering less than seven thou­sand effective soldiers.

The sound of artillery had been heard from nine o'clock in the morning, pounding incessantly, far away towards White Oak swamp; gradually it drew nearer convincing the soldiers, that the tide of battle was rolling towards the centre. General McCall, believing that the enemy would approach his position by moving down the New Market road, had thrown forward a squadron of the Fourth Pennsylvania cavalry to serve as pickets and videttes ; and when the enemy drew nearer, lie sent forward the First regiment commanded by Colonel Roberts, and the Third commanded by Colonel Sickel to support the cavalry. As Colonel Roberts was about moving out with his regiment, a negro guide was sent to him who professed to be familiar with the country. After following the colored man for some dis­tance, Colonel Roberts ordered Lieutenant-Colonel McIntire to station the companies, and form the line of pickets. The regiment marched on over a by-road through the thickets, and the companies, one after the other, were dropped from

 

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the column and expanded into picket lines; just as the last company had reached its destination, Colonel Roberts dis­covered that the guide had acted falsely, and had led the regiment into the lines of the enemy. The company imme. diately countermarched at double-quick along the line, and gathering up the several companies, the regiment reformed and withdrew to the New Market road just in time to escape capture.

Before three o'clock on Monday afternoon, the enemy appeared in force in front of the deployed lines of the First and Third regiments. Colonel Roberts made several efforts to draw the enemy from the woods, and to open the engage­ment, the rebels, however, obstinately refused to advance, but kept up an irregular fire from their concealed position. General Meade, hearing the firing in his front, rode forward to ascertain its nature and cause. Having reached the posi­tion occupied by the First regiment, he inquired of Colonel Roberts, why he did not engage the enemy, and ascertain his strength. Colonel Roberts replied he had sent out his skirmishers to draw the rebels from the woods, but they refused to accept battle; that he had himself, with a squad of cavalry, galloped along the front beyond his skirmish line, and had drawn a brisk fire from the enemy in the wood, and had also seen that the woods were occupied by a heavy force. About the same time sharp firing was heard on the left, and it was evident that Colonel Sickel had en­countered the enemy in force. Colonel Roberts was then ordered to retire to the line of battle and resume his posi­tion in support of Cooper's battery.

As soon as the rebel troops arrived in front of Colonel Sickel, who was in the wood south of the New Market road, a skirmish immediately commenced; the enemy at first made only a weak demonstration in front, to attract the attention of the regiment, and at the same time pushed forward flanking columns for the purpose of cutting off and capturing it. Colonel Sickel discovered the manoeuvres of the enemy, and at once engaged his advancing columns.

 

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A terrific encounter ensued, during which the Third regi­ment repulsed the enemy, and then retired in order on the line of battle in the field. The enemy now opened an artil­lery fire along the entire front of McCall's line, and under cover of a shower of shot and shell, sent forward a regiment against the right centre. The rebels came front the woods and advanced boldly into the field, delivering their fire as they came; Colonel Harvey, commanding the Seventh regi­ment, and two companies of the Eleventh, was ordered to meet the hostile regiment with the bayonet. The men sprung from behind the battery, and darting forward with the most reckless daring, drove the enemy from the field; to cover the return of the regiment, Randall's battery opened with grape and canister, which unfortunately, to a small extent, struck the men of the Seventh, and created temporary confusion, but the men were too well drilled in battle to be thrown into disorder, and hence immediately reformed in their original position behind the battery.

General McCall now discovered that the enemy was about to make an effort to carry away his left wing; the general rode forward with the Bucktails, and directed Major Stone to form his battalion in a narrow slip of woods on the left, in front of the line. Almost immediately a heavy column of rebel troops were discovered moving through the woods threatening the left flank. The New York battery men, with­out attempting to train their guns on the advancing rebels fired a few rounds high over their heads, and then cutting their harness, rushed to the rear with the horses, breaking through and deranging the lines of infantry. The enemy talking advantage of the temporary confusion, charged with hideous yells in overwhelming force upon the broken lines. The Twelfth regiment, which had been divided by order of General Seymour, and posted on the extreme left was crushed by the power of the enemy, and six companies were cut off from the division and driven back towards the left and rear on General Hooker's division. General McCall, with the true genius of a soldier, had discovered the move-

 

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ments, and quickly understood the designs of the enemy he ordered the remaining regiments of the left wing to change front, and sent forward the gallant Simmons with the Fifth regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Fisher, and the Eighth, commanded by Colonel Hays, to support Colonel Jackson and Colonel Kirk, of the Ninth and Tenth. Colonel Simmons faced his regiments to the left, and ordered them to charge. The dense masses of the enemy were rushing with screams and yells from the forest, and were dashing across the field, confident of an easy vic­tory; the more confident, because of the disorder on the extreme left. The four regiments, led by Colonel Sim­mons, were formed in line to stem this tide of death; to hurl back the exultant foe, to snatch victory from victorious arms, or, to be crushed beneath the weight of overwhelming numbers, was the dread alternative to which these patriot troops were called. No soldier on that field, in that awful moment, more fully appreciated the duties and the terrors of the hour than did the heroic Simmons. He was ordered to charge diagonally to the left. For an instant be turned his face back, fixing his eyes upon the commanding general to reassure himself that he was right; then again to the head of his column, his great heart swelling with patriotic devotion, the voice of the soldier, in commanding tones, heard above the tumult of battle, rang out clear and loud along the serried lines, "BRIGADE ! FORWARD !CHARGE !" With eyes fixed on the enemy, and rifles firmly grasped, forward rushed the men to meet in a death struggle the advancing foe. The full, round cheer of the patriots, rising high over their ranks, drowned the screech and yell of the rebels; the thunder of artillery and roar of musketry rose to their most furious might; bayonet clashed with bayonet in fearful thrust and parry; the impetuosity of the charge brought both columns to a halt. Now was the ter­rible moment, hanging in the balance, equipoised, was the fate of the day, the life of the Reserve Corps, the existence of the army. FORWARD ! rang out from the head of the

 

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column, and rolled along the line in tones that at once struck terror to the hearts of the enemy, and fired the patriot troops with victorious zeal. The rebel masses bro­ken and confused were pushed back to the forests. The left wing was saved; the power of the enemy was broken; nearly three hundred rebel prisoners were sent to the rear; the day was half won. But the noble Simmons fell mor­tally wounded. Multitudes of dead and wounded patriots covered the field. The lines of the charging column, when it entered the woods, necessarily, became broken. Unable to reform under the murderous fire from the enemy's artil­lery and infantry, the regiments fell back to the woods behind their original position, where they reformed the line behind the Second regiment and the Bucktails, and held their ground till dark, when the enemy withdrew from the contest.

The Second regiment, commanded by Colonel McCandless, had been ordered to follow the Bucktails to the extreme left, but before they had reached their designated position, the four regiments that had so gallantly repulsed the rebels were broken and driven back closely followed by the enemy. The Second and the Bucktails immediately faced to the front, laid down and allowed the retiring regiments to pass over them, and then springing to their feet, met the advancing rebels with a fierce charge that checked their progress, and gave time for the other regiments to form in the edge of the woods. Four companies of the Twelfth regiment also formed in line and joined the Second. Six companies of the Twelfth had been cut off and driven to the rear, where they were formed by Major Baldy, and sub­sequently under command of Colonel Taggart, fought bravely by the side of a Massachusetts regiment in Hooker's division.

When the German batterymen and the detached compa­nies of the Twelfth regiment, together with the squads in charge of the prisoners, came upon General Hooker's lines, he supposed McCall's division had been routed. A body

 

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of rebel troops that had pursued these detachments were vigorously attacked by General Hooker's troops and rolled back on the centre of the Reserve Corps. The enemy then attacked with great fury that portion of McCall's line, by charging with heavy columns on Cooper's and Kern's bat­teries. Colonel Roberts, commanding the First regiment, had, with a counter charge, met the enemy who was advancing against Cooper's battery, at the same instant that Colonel Simmons had led the charge to the left. Three companies of Colonel Robert's regiment under the immediate command of Major Todd, moved to the left oblique with the Fifth regiment, and partook of the glory and death of that tremendous onslaught; the other companies repulsed the enemy in front of the battery and then resumed their original position. The enemy made a second attempt to capture the batteries, and Colonel Roberts again, in a most desperate contest, drove him back into the woods. A third attempt to drive the men from their guns, resulted only in repeated slaughter to the charging columns. The batterymen had passed through the ordeal of fire and death at Mechanicsville and Gaines' mill, and were now prepared for the worst. The regiments that supported them were ordered to use only the bayonet against the enemy. In front of the batteries for eight hundred yards was an open field, over which the enemy advanced against the most ter­rific storm of grape and canister, that ever whirled in death-torrents across fields of fiercest battle. The foe coming from the dense forests, rushed upon the guns with a recklessness and contempt for death that surpassed the desperation of all other fields. In an hour like that, when men in dense masses, maddened with the excitement of battle, rush upon the fiery ordnance that at every round for a distance of a thousand yards, at point blank range, with charges of double shotted grape and canister, plows a horrible furrow of flesh and gore through the living field, artillerymen, like demons incarnate, revel amid blood, groans, destruction, death, mangled forms, and fumes of

 

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hell, forgetful of danger, and glorying in the consciousness of superior strength. At each charge on Cooper's and Kern's batteries, the artillery cleared, its front of living men, and filled it with the dead and dying. The supporting regi­ments, inspired by the success of the batteries, each time the enemy advanced fell upon the right and left of the

charging column, while the artillery broke the centre and hurled it back in confusion across the fields, into the forest.

For more than two hours of fearful sacrifice, the enemy attempted to capture or drive from the field these two batteries, but were unsuccessful. A terrible crisis was now reached. General Seymour had ordered the caissons of Kern's battery to be taken to the rear. Captain Kern had nearly exhausted the ammunition in his limbers; two officers had already been despatched in search of the caissons, but had failed to find them. Captain Kern reported to General McCall that in a few minutes his ammunition would be expended, and his caissons could not be found. The battery was therefore ordered to move to the rear. Captain Kern fired his last charge, and then, with a heart full of sorrow, and eyes swimming in tears, ordered his battery from the field. It was about this time, that the regiments on the left had been forced back, after their charge. The enemy seeing the battery wheeling from its position, charged with great force from the right, on the artillery, but was again repulsed by the vigorous counter charge of Colonel Roberts' regiment. As the regiment pursued the enemy towards the woods, a fresh column of rebel troops, charging from the left, flanked it, and forced it from the field; then rushing furiously on Captain Cooper's gunners, drove them from their pieces and captured their battery. Just at this moment the Ninth regiment returned from the left to its original position near Cooper's battery; the men were told that Cooper's battery was lost; in one voice they demanded to be led to the charge, to recapture it. Parts of other regiments formed in line with the Ninth, and rushed from the woods upon the battery at the instant the enemy

 

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was turning the guns upon them, a tremendous cheer and an irresistible charge, and immediately the undaunted Penn- sylvanians were in the very midst of the foe. A terrific contest ensued. Bayonets thrust and parried; muskets were clubbed; pistols, daggers, and bowie knives were freely used as the hostile currents surged in the turmoil of death, around and among the guns and caissons; the Reserves had now determined the battery should be recaptured; the Confederates were equally bent on not relinquishing their possession. Never did men fight with more death-courting fury. On the right, Randall's battery was belching forth its terrible charges of grape and canister; the enemy could spare no reinforcements from that quarter; at the price of life the gallant Simmons had broken the power of the enemy on the left, the centre now struggled alone. Too severe the storm, too fruitful of death the conflict, for mortal to endure ! The rebels broke and run; with shouts of victory and insa­tiate wrath, the men pursued them; across the field, through the woods, and into the road, " going straight to Richmond," shooting them, bayoneting them, clubbing them and run­ning them down, till the officers, seizing the color-bearers, forced the victorious heroes to return to their original line; but not until William J. Gallagher, a private in Company F, who killed the rebel color-bearer, had seized the standard of the Tenth Alabama regiment, and carried it from the field. The regiment was met by General McCall and congratulated for its brilliant achievement. The gen­eral received from private Gallagher the rebel colors and sent them to the rear.

The centre had nobly sustained itself; the troops had repulsed the enemy at every charge, and had finally cleared their front of hostile regiments.

After the rebel troops had disappeared from the field in front of Cooper's battery, Colonel Roberts dressed his line, and directed the officers near him to keep their men well in hand, to meet another charge, in case the enemy renewed the conflict. It was after ,sunset ; the men knew the battle

 

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could not be continued much longer, and hence prepared for a final struggle. Just then a great noise was heard oil the left and rear ; all eyes were instantly turned in that direction. Horror seized the hearts of the wearied soldiers, and men stood fixed as statues. A brigade of troops was pouring from the woods, marching under a banner of strange device, which in the dusk of the evening could not be dis­tinguished. " My God," exclaimed Colonel Roberts, “ what is that?" The next moment the stars and stripes emerged from the wood, and the answering shout went up: "It is the Irish brigade !" An officer came dashing forward to Colonel Roberts, and said he had come to relieve his troops. The First and Ninth, and portions of other regiments then retired to the wood and General Meagher moved forward his brigade.

The enemy suddenly opened a most terrific fire of shell, and grape and canister from the woods beyond the field. General Meagher ordered his brigade to charge. "Save yourselves, men," said an officer of the Reserves. " No!" replied Meagher, "rout the enemy! We fight for God! America! and Old Ireland !" The "fighting Irishmen" threw aside their hats and coats, rolled up their sleeves, gave a tremendous cheer, and then following their gallant commander, charged across the field against the murderous fire of artillery, that slew them by hundreds. But, braving death, on went the Irish brigade, over the field and into the woods beyond; so completely routed the enemy, that he did not again renew the conflict on that portion of the field.

During all the time of the severe contest on the left, and the fierce battle in the centre, the right wing, com­manded by General Meade, had been vigorously engaged, and had succeeded in repulsing the enemy at every charge. Thwarted in every attempt to turn the left, and repulsed in their charge upon the centre, the columns of the enemy were now massed for a final desperate effort to crush the regi­ments on the right, and sweep their fragments from the field. The shades of evening were fast closing on the scene;

 

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the roar of battle had diminished into a desultory fire, On the centre and left were the debris of exploded caissons and broken batteries, the carcasses of horses, and the bodies of dead men, inextricably mixed. In front, an ominous silence reigned. That the enemy was about to renew his favorite tactics, and hurl the whole weight of his powerful masses against a selected point of the line, General McCall well knew, nor was he deceived in expecting that the attack would be made on the right wing. The keen eye of Gene­ral Meade bad already detected the movements of the enemy, and instantly his lines were strengthened, and every man and every gun was in position. The Fourth and the Seventh regiments, and Captain Porter's and Lieutenant Sloan's companies of the Eleventh, lay in the woods behind Randall's battery. In a few moments a brigade of the enemy, coming out from the forest on the right of the field, six hundred yards from the battery, came forward at a full run, trailing their arms, and in irregular masses rushed into the fight. Captain Randall and his regulars, envying the laurels won by the volunteer. batteries on their left, strained to their utmost power to sweep from the field the hordes of rebel troops, swarming on their front. Showers of shot and shell, from rebel batteries, pouring over. the heads of their charging column, tore and crashed through the trees around the battery and among the infantry, doing but slight damage, to the Reserves. On came the infantry; the grape and canis­ter from Randall's guns at each round swept a channel of death through the mass of men, from the front line to the borders of the forest, but on they came, screaming and yell­ing like savages; closing up the terrible gaps as often as the death-path revealed the dreadful carnage. The head of the column came within thirty-yards of the cannon's mouth, but the fire was too terrible to endure, the brigade broke and scattered, but a second brigade in supporting distance pushed boldly forward, it too reeled beneath the fire, and was hurled back to, the woods by the charge of the Fourth regiment, A third and more powerful brigade rushed.upon

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the regiment, and drove it behind the battery. Certain of victory, and maddened by the destruction in their ranks, the infuriated rebels pressed onward, through the lake of fire, and the atmosphere of death. They rushed upon the gun­ners with bayonet and knife; the Seventh regiment and part of the Fourth and Eleventh fired a volley into the front of the foe, at such short range, that the flames struck their faces. Regardless of resistance, the rebels drove the can­noniers from their guns, and forced the infantry from the field. General McCall and General Meade, who were on the ground, rallied the men to the contest. Many of Cap­tain Randall's men seized muskets and joined the infantry. A heroic band was rallied to retake the battery. The men charged from the woods, and fell upon the rebels just as one of the guns had been reversed, and its contents fired into the National troops. A struggle for the possession of the bat­tery immediately commenced. Around the cannon, and over the dead bodies of horses and fallen comrades, the fierce conflict rolled and raged with unparalleled fury. Few shots were fired. Bayonet crossed bayonet, and sabre and knife flashed fire from their clashing edges; single combatants stood breathless, face to face, and foot to foot, with locked bayonets, which each feared to release lest the other should gain the advantage. A supernatural frenzy fired the spirits of the men. The shouts of command, the shrieks and yells of the enemy, the cheers of the Reserves, the flash of the sabre, the thrust and parry of the bayonet, the crash of the clubbed musket, the spouting blood, the death cry, the rush­ing of masses, the surging of the conflict, pressing back into the forest, and forward again to the fragments of the broken battery, officers mounted on the guns cheering on their men, the momentary lulls, the rally and the fierce renewal of the fight, made the scene a maelstrom of fury with its currents of blood, wounds, and death, unparalleled in the history of the rebellion.

General McCall had already put his last man into the fight, and was therefore unable to reinforce the troops strug-

 

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gling in a death-grapple for Randall's battery. Fresh regi­ments reinforced the enemy's column, and the Reserves. were borne from the field, and carried back into the woods by sheer force of numbers. The rebels, however, had been too severely punished to pursue. They did not even attempt to hold the battery, but abandoning all they had won, hastily fell back to the woods, beyond the field; and hearing the cheers of a brigade of New Jersey troops which was marching along the rear of McCall's position, to rein­force General Kearney's line, the enemy did not venture to renew the conflict. The sun had already set, and as the dark shadows drew close around the evening's twilight, the roar of battle grew gradually more dim, and like the expiring day, glimmered and went out in the gloom of night.

In the last terrible conflict that closed the battle of this day, an officer leading a Georgia regiment appeared most conspicuous, cheering on his men. He was a giant in form and strength; he wore a plain black coat, bearing no insignia of rank, and was armed with a musket and bayonet, which he used with ferocious power to clear his way, bayoneting right and left as he advanced. He was, however, soon confronted by Sergeant H. C. Howard, of the Eleventh Reserves, a young man of undaunted courage and of great muscular strength. Howard had already, during the day, despatched three men with his bayonet, and would not now shrink from the most powerful enemy. The Georgian thrust at him with his bloody bayonet, but Howard dexterously parried his stroke and caught the hostile weapon on the shank of his own. A desperate trial of skill and strength ensued; the two giants wrestled in the embrace of death, regardless of the fury of battle that surrounded them. Neither combatant would release the other's weapon to hazard a thrust at his antagonist, and both bayonets were finally brought to the ground. The two giants stood face to face, eyes glaring in stubborn defiance at each other, fixed as statues. At this moment

 

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one of Howard's companions coming up to him, clubbed his musket, and struck the Georgian on the head a blow that stretched him lifeless on the ground. Sergeant Howard then turned to General McCall, near whom the contest had occurred, smiled and nodded his head emphatically to one side, and again dashed away into the fight.

General Meade, who had done valiant service, and who had been General McCall's chief reliance during the day,

was wounded late in the evening, while cheering on his regiments to the last desperate conflict. He was struck simultaneously by two balls, one entering his arm, and the other, penetrating the body just above the hip joint, passed out near the spine. He attempted to remain on the field,

but becoming exhausted from loss of blood, rode to the rear alone, and was received at the hospital by Surgeon Collins, who bound up his wounds, and sent him to the James river in an ambulance.

As soon as the enemy had left the field, General McCall

commenced the work of collecting his regiments, for the purpose of re-forming his line. He labored under great disadvantages. He had lost all of his brigade commanders;

and in addition to this, in the course of the day all the members of his staff had been killed, wounded, or put hors du combat; his faithful orderly had been mortally wounded

at his side, and his personal escort, a captain and twenty men of the Fourth cavalry, had been killed, wounded or

dispersed, two only excepted, and the general himself bad all day been under the hottest fire, encouraging his men.

After the enemy had fallen back from the left and centre, and hurled their forces against the right, the fragments of six regiments on the left, joined themselves together under

their ranking officers, formed an independent brigade, and moved to the front. There was 'now no general officer on

the field to command them. General Meade was wounded, Colonel Simmons, who commanded the First brigade, was killed, and General Seymour, commanding the Third brigade, had become separated from his troops and had left

 

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the field. When, therefore, the battle raged with terrible fury on the right, these troops, with one accord, moved towards that part of the field, where General McCall was in the midst of the carnage, superintending the fight. Before the troops reached the scene of the final struggle, the battle had ended. When they gained their original position in the border of the field, Major Stone rode forward to recon­noitre the ground in front; when he reached the wrecks of the batteries on the crest of the hill, he was joined by General McCall, who was attended by a corporal and a private of the Fourth Pennsylvania cavalry. They rode forward a short distance, when they were suddenly con­fronted by the levelled muskets of a column of rebel infan­try, and commanded to halt and dismount. General McCall and the two cavalrymen, who were in front of Major Stone, were captured. Two volleys were fired at the major, but, it being now quite dark, he escaped, slightly wounded.

The several regiments had now collected on the road near the right of the line; the commanders of the regiments, unable to learn of the fate of the general officers, and being without orders, collected their troops for such resistance as it was possible for them to make. Colonel Roberts, who was the ranking officer on the field, assumed command, and directed the men to form on the road and await his orders. About ten o'clock, General Seymour, coming up the road from the rear, arrived on the field, and relieving Colonel Roberts , took command of the shattered columns of the Reserves. The enemy had fallen back half a mile from the battle-field, which became neutral, or, at least, unoccupied ground, until late in the night, the enemy moved up a division of fresh troops to hold the field.

The Reserves remained in position on the right and centre, on a line about one hundred yards in rear of the original line of battle, until eleven o'clock in the night, when they were ordered to withdraw and follow the other divisions of the army to Malvern hill. Before leaving the field, tha artillery officers asked permission to procure

 

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horses and men to bring away their batteries, which were in front of the infantry, having been left there in the even­ing, because the horses had been killed and the men were unable to draw them fror4 the field. General Heintzelman, however, refused to allow the artillerymen to attempt to remove the guns, lest it would bring on a renewal of the battle; and General McClellan had directed General Heint­zelman to avoid a general engagement until the army reached a position on the James river, where it could be; aided by the gunboats. The artillery with McCall's division was therefore abandoned by the Army of the Potomac; it was not captured; but, on the morning of the 1st of July, was found on the field by the enemy's pickets.

Among the noble dead left on this field of blood, was Colonel Seneca G. Simmons. In the death of this officer, the Reserves lost an able and an experienced man, of the highest military attainments, and universally acknowledged soldierly qualifications. His education was altogether mili­tary. He left Vermont, his native State, at the age of four­teen, and became a pupil of Captain Partrige's school, then located in Connecticut, and., removed from thence, with a

branch of that institution to Georgetown, D. C. While there, he formed that love of military life which decided his fate. Going alone, and unaided, to President Jackson, he asked, and received from him, the appointment of cadet, to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1834, and was assigned to the Seventh regiment of infantry in the United States Army. He had been almost constantly on duty. Previous to the war, every inducement had been urged in order to secure his services to the Con­federate cause, but he scorned alike offers of place or high rank, where there might lurk even a suspicion of treason to his beloved flag, and turned a deaf ear to all persuasions of old companions in arms, though endeared by ties of long friendship, cemented by the hardships and dangers of the camp, or the more quiet enjoyments of garrison life. He served in the campaigns of Florida and Mexico, and by

 

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gallant conduct won the rank of captain, but his life had been spent chiefly on frontier duty, remote from the influ­ences of luxury, political intrigue or its aspiration, and he therefore brought to the aid of. the Union cause, all the enthusiasm and loyalty which had animated his youth. When the darkening ; “shadows of coming events," told us the dread storm of war was inevitable, and the thunder of the traitors' cannon broke on Sumter, Captain Simmons, was with his family in Harrisburg, and rendered important service, during the organization of the first troops, that responded to the call of their Government. He identified himself with the Pennsylvania Reserves, from their earliest formation, was elected colonel of the Fifth infantry, and assisted with all his powers, to bring that portion of the army to the efficiency of veteran troops. In personal appear­ance N. P. Willis, who saw him during a review in a storm, thus describes him: " Of a most warlike caste of feature, his profuse, and slightly grizzled beard, was impearled with glistening drops, and with horse and accoutrements all drip­ping, he rode calmly through the heavy rain, like a Triton, taking, his leisure in his native element. It was the finest  of countenances, and the best of figures, for a horseman. He looked indomitable in spirit, and unsubject to the com­mon inconveniences of humanity, as handsome and. brave, when tired and wet, as he would when happy and dry." He adds, “I was quite captivated -with the picture of such a man, and did not wonder at the comment appended to the reply of a subaltern officer of whom I enquired his name: ‘General Simmons,' said he, 'a man who everybody would be glad to serve under."' The man mistook his rank, although frequently acting as brigadier, he did not receive the appoint­ment, though no braver man ever drew sword in any cause, and no purer libation of love, and loyalty, was ever poured upon the altar of his country, then flowed from the heart of Colonel Seneca G. Simmons.

Captain Henry J. Biddle, Assistant Adjutant-General on General McCall's staff; was severely wounded in the charge

 

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led by Colonel Simmons. When the army moved to the James, he, with many others who could not be removed, fell into the hands of the enemy; he was taken to Richmond, where he died on the 20th of July, 1862. Captain Biddle lead received a military education at West Point, and had

for several years been a civil engineer on the railroads in the State of Pennsylvania, and afterwards became one of the firm of Thomas Biddle & Co., bankers and brokers in Phila­delphia. When the war began in 1861, he was appointed

au assistant adjutant-general with the rank of captain, and assigned for duty to the Reserve corps. His thorough knowledge of military, duties rendered him a most valuable officer in the work of organizing the division. After the troops entered the field, and engaged in active campaigns, Captain Biddle rose to distinction for meritorious and gallant conduct in the most desperate battles of the war.

Near the close of the engagement Colonel Hays, com­manding the Eighth regiment, was leading his men to a

charge on the right, when his horse was struck by a shell, and torn to pieces under him. Colonel Hays received a severe bruise, and was saved, snatched from the jaws of death by Wilson Cooper, a private in the regiment, who extricated him from the fragment's of his horse, and carried him to the rear, but he was so seriously injured by the fall, that he did not recover for many months, and was unable again to enter the service.

The horses attached to one of the caissons of Randall's battery, maddened by a volley of musketry, which struck them and killed their driver, dashed through the lines of the Seventh regiment, and inflicted severe injuries on many of the men. The caisson passed over Colonel Harvey and bruised him so severely that he was carried from the field.

During the day, many officers of lower rank were killed and many more were wounded. Companies were without

captains, some without a commissioned officer to command them; regiments were without colonels, and at the close of

 

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the battle the division was left without a general officer to lead it.

An officer in the Confederate army reporting the battles of the Peninsula, says of the battle of New Market cross­roads:

"General McClellan had taken his position on the New Market road which formed his centre. This point he had strengthened with nineteen pieces of heavy artillery, had collected his best troops there, and firmly and coolly awaited our attack. We had, at all hazards, to drive the enemy from the neighborhood of our Capital, or succumb ourselves. No other choice remained for us. During the four days of massacre that had already passed, our troops had been trans­formed into wild beasts, and hardly had they caught sight of the enemy, drawn up in order, ere they rushed upon them with horrible yells. Yet calmly, as on the parade ground, the latter delivered their fire. The batteries in the centre discharged their murderous volleys on our men, and great disorder ensued among the storming masses. General Lee sent all his disposable troops to the rescue, but McClellan opened upon these newly formed storming columns so hellish a fire that even the coldest blooded veteran lost his self­-possession. Whole ranks of our men were hurled to the ground. The thunder of the cannon, the crackling of the musketry from a hundred thousand combatants, mingled with the screams of the wounded and the dying, were terrific to the ear and the imagination. Thus raged the conflict within a comparatively narrow space seven long hours, and yet not a foot of ground was won. All our reserves had been led into the fight, and the brigade of Wilcox was annihilated. At length the corning of night compelled a truce, and, utterly overcome by fatigue, the soldier sank upon the ground at his post, thoughtless of even the friend torn from his side, and engrossed only with the instinct of self-preservation. Put "water! water !'; was the cry from the parched lips on all sides. The empty flasks contained not a drop, alas! and at length sleep overcame each worn-

 

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out warrior, and even thirst and hunger were forgotten. Gloomy and out of humor, General Lee rode through the camping ground of the decimated regiments, attended by his staff, and then, with a dry, harsh voice, ordered up the divisions of Wise and Magruder to bury the dead. With a brief remark, he next indicated to General Longstreet his position for the next day, and rode off with his aids to visit other portions of the line.''

The battle of New Market cross-roads was reported by the enemy, as having been one of the most remarkable long contested, and gallant fights, that had yet occurred on their lines. "General Longstreet’s and General Hill's troops were

in such a condition of prostration from their long and toil­some fight, and suffering in killed and wounded, that they were unable to occupy the battlefield. When., therefore, at eleven o'clock in the night, General Magruder arrived, his troops were sent forward to hold the grounds in front."

General McCall thus reports the battle to General Porter

 

On Friday evening, Tune 27th, after the battle of Gaines' mills, my division crossed the Chickahominy at Trent's hill, where it remained on picket duty till eight o'clock, P. ll., on the 28th. At that hour I received your orders to move in the direction of White Oak creek, and to take with me Hunt's reserve artillery, consisting of thirteen batteries. As this would extend my column many miles in length, and as my flank would constantly be exposed to attack, I placed the whole of the Third brigade, by regiments, between the batteries, to afford them support. This movement, owing to narrow and bad roads, was neces­sarily slow, and my division, after being all night on the march, did not reach the crossing of White Oak creek until near noon on the 29th. Having crossed the creek, I was ordered by the general-in-chief to put nay division in position to repel any attack by the enemy from the direc­tion of Richmond. This I did, and I remained in position till five o'clock, P. M. At that hour the march was resumed and continued by my command till I reached the Quaker road crossing of the New Market road, at midnight. My orders were to take a position here to repel an attack from Richmond. Having selected my position and established the First and Second brigades, and sent to the front a regi­ment of infantry and a battery, and a strong picket in advance of them, I kept the Third brigade in reserve, and awaited the result till near daylight, when I was ordered to return. I marched back, left in front, and reached the point where the Turkey bridge road turns off from the

 

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was ordered to halt till the whole of the immense supply trains of the Army of the Potomac, then slowly advancing from white Oak creek, had passed toward the James river, and to repel any attack that the enemy might make on it. At nine o'clock, commenced the heavy can­nonade, caused by the enemy attempting to force the passage of the creek, and it continued with little interruption till noon.

It was a determined artillery duel, but as I did not apprehend their ability to effect a passage, I at once came, to the conclusion that any attack on myself must come from the direction of Richmond, on my right flank. I had thrown out a cavalry picket in that direction, and on afterward detecting indications of an advance of the enemy, moved out a regiment of infantry to strengthen the picket.

Having examined the country around me, I made the disposition of my troops, facing to the right flank, as follows : Meade 's brigade on the right, Seymour's on the left, and held Reynolds' brigade, non' com­manded by Colonel Seneca G. Simmons, of the Fifth, in reserve. The artillery I established in front of the line, Randall's (regular) battery on the right, Cooper's and Kern's opposite the centre, and two German batteries, (accidentally with my division,) of four twenty-pound Par­rott guns each, commanded by Captains Dietrich and Kennerheim, on the left of the infantry line.

The Fourth regiment Pennsylvania cavalry, Colonel Childs, was drawn up on the left and rear, but not being called into action, was subsequently ordered to fall back.

The country on my new front was open, embracing a large farm, intersected toward the right by the New Market road and a small strip of timber parallel to it; the open front was eight hundred yards, its depth at least one thousand yards. It was a beautiful battle-field, but too large for my force, the lands on either flank being open. My disposition having been made, I calmly awaited the approach of the enemy.

About half-past two o'clock, P. M., my picket8, after skirmishing, were driven in by a strong advance, but without loss on our side. At three o'clock, the enemy sent forward a regiment on my left centre, and immediately afterward another on my right centre, to feel for a weak point. They were under cover of a shower of shell, and advanced boldly, but were both driven back, the former by the Third regiment, Colonel Sickel, and the latter by the Seventh regiment, Colonel Harvey. After this, I rode forward with the First Rifles, a0d placed them in a narrow skirt of timber on the left and in front. Soon after this, a very heavy column moved to the left of my line, and tL3reatened to take me in flank. I at once changed front on that flank, sending Colonel Sim­mons with two regiments of the First brigade to reinforce that quarter. This movement was promptly executed, but not a moment too soon, for a furious attack with artillery and infantry was almost immediately made on that flank. I, at the same time, directed Captain Biddle,

 

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assistant adjutant-general, to ride to the left and change the direction of fire of the two German batteries from the front to the left. This order was gallantly executed, but it is with deep grief that I have to state that this brave and valuable officer fell here mortally wounded.

For nearly two hours the battle raged fiercely, the enemy throwing in a perfect storm of shot and shell, and making several attempts to force my position. Always checked by the steadiness of my brave Reserves, he at last retired for a time, driven back by the well-directed fire of musketry. During this attack, the gallant and lamented Colonel Simmons fell, also mortally wounded.

It must not be imagined that the enemy was inactive along the centre and right of my line during all this time. Cooper's and Kern's batteries, in front of the centre, were boldly charged upon, each time a regiment dashing up to within fifty or forty yards. They were then hurled back by a storm of canister and the deliberate fire of the First regiment, Colonel Roberts, whom I had placed immediately in rear of Bern's, and the Ninth regiment, Colonel Jackson, in rear of Cooper's. The contest was severe, and put the steadiness of these regiments to the test;

both suffered heavy loss, but particularly the First regiment, whose gallant lieutenant-colonel (McIntyre) was severely wounded.

Some time after this, the most determined charge of the day was made upon Randall's battery, by a full brigade, advancing in wedge shape, without order, but with a wild recklessness that I never saw equalled. Somewhat similar charges had, as I have stated, been pre­viously made on Cooper's and on Kern's batteries, by single regiments,

without success, the Confederates having been driven back with heavy loss. A like result appears to have been anticipated by Randall's com­pany; and the Fourth regiment (as was subsequently reported to me) was requested not to advance between the guns, as I had ordered, as it interfered with the cannoniers, but to let the battery deal with them. Its gallant commander did not doubt, I am satisfied, his ability to repel the attack, and his guns fairly opened lanes in the advancing host. These gaps were, however, immediately closed, and the enemy came on, with arms trailed, at a run, to the very muzzles of his guns, where they pistoled or bayoneted the cannoniers. Two guns were limbered, and were in the act of wheeling to the rear when the horses were shot, the guns were both overturned, and presented one confused heap of men, horses and carriages. Over all these the men of the Eleventh Alabama regiment dashed in, a perfect torrent of men, and I am sorry to say the greater part of the Fourth regiment gave way. The left company, Captain Conrad, of that regiment, however, stood its ground, and with some fifty or eighty men of other companies met the Ala­bamians.

I had ridden into the regiment and endeavored to check them; but, as is Seen, with only partial success. It was here, however, my fortune to witness between those of my men who stood their ground and the

 

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rebels who advanced, one of the fiercest bayonet fights that perhaps ever occurred on this continent. Bayonets were crossed and locked in the. struggle; bayonet wounds were freely given and received. I saw skulls crushed by the heavy blow of the butt of the musket, and, in short, the desperate thrusts and parries of a life-and-death encounter, proving, indeed, that Greek had met Greek when the Alabama boys fell upon the sons of Pennsylvania.

My last reserve regiment I had previously sent to support Cooper, and I had not now a man to bring forward. My men were bodily home off the ground by superior numbers. A thick wood was immediately in rear, and the Confederates did not follow my men into the thicket. It was at this moment, on witnessing the scene I have described, that I bitterly felt that my division ought to have been reinforced.

My force had been reduced, by the battles of the 26th and 27th, to less than six thousand, and on this occasion I had to contend with the divisions of Longstreet anal A. P. Hill, estimated amongst the strongest and best of the Confederate army, and numbering that day from eighteen to twenty thousand.

The centre was at this time still engaged and I could not withdraw any troops from it.

The Alabama troops did not attempt to enfilade my line, and leaving the guns on the ground, (the horses having, during the fight, been either killed or dispersed,) they retired to the woods on my right.

It was now near sunset, and the heat of battle had greatly subsided. I now rode to the rear to rally and collect the stragglers. At a short distance I came upon two regiments of Kearny's division. I requested them to move forward, but was informed their orders were to await the arrival of General Kearny. I moved on and set some officers at work to form the stragglers of my own regiments into line. On my return I found General Kearny. Ile put his regiments in motion and moved to the front and on the right of my line.

As he rode away, he said to me: " If you can bring forward another line in a few minutes, we can stop them." By this time the sun had set, and the desultory firing was confined to the extreme right.

In a short time Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, Third regiment, came up and reported to me that he had collected about five hundred men, with whom he was then advancing. I rode on with him at the head of the column, in a direction to bring this force up on Kearny's left.

On arriving near the ground where Randall's battery stood, I halted Thompson's command, wishing to ascertain whether any of my men were still in front of me. I had left Captain Conrad’s company about one hundred yards in advance, but it was now so dark I could scarcely distinguish a man at ten paces. The battle, in fact, was now over; the firing on the left and centre had ceased, and there was only a desultory firing between Kearny's men and the enemy, some distance to my right. I rode forward to look for Conrad, and on the ground where I left him

 

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I rode into the enemy's picket, the Forty-seventh Virginia, Colonel Mayo, resting under some trees, and before I knew in whose presence I was, I was taken prisoner. Unfortunately for myself, I had no staff officer with me, or I should have sent him forward to examine the ground, instead of going myself; but my adjutant-general, the valiant Captain Henry J. Biddle, had been mortally wounded; Lieutenant Sheetz had his horse killed, and was injured by the fall; my chief of ordnance, the gallant Beatty, had been severely wounded at my side, and only left me when I had insisted on his doing so; my excellent orderly, Sergeant Simeon Dunn, Fourth Pennsylvania cavalry, was also fatally wounded.at my side, and out of my escort of a captain and twenty men of the Fourth cavalry, but one corporal (the brave King) and one private remained with me; these two men were made prisoners with myself. About the time I was taken prisoner, the desultory firing on my right died away.

The conduct of the Pennsylvania Reserves on this hard fought field is worthy of all praise, as is fully attested by their stubborn resistance and their heavy loss in killed and wounded. Besides the officers I have already named, I am greatly indebted to the gallant commander of the Second brigade, General George G. Meade, who rendered me efficient aid until his wounds compelled him to leave the field. My thanks are likewise due to Colonel Roberts, commanding First regiment; Colonel Sickel, commanding Third regiment; Colonel Hays, commanding Eighth regiment; Colonel Jackson and Captain Cuthbertson, of the Ninth regiment, and other brave officers not commanding regiments, of whom Lieutenant-Colonel McIntyre, Major George A. Woodward and Major Woolworth are among the many wounded. I must also name as entitled to. favorable notice, Acting Division Surgeon Stocker, who accompanied me in the early part of the day, and assisted in commu­nicating my orders until slightly wounded in the wrist by the fragment of a shell. Indeed, to all are my best thanks and praises due for bravely contributing to the important results, namely, the defence of the im­mense supply train while passing that point, and the holding the enemy in check upon the New Market road, where he strove desperately to cut in two the retiring column of the Army of the Potomac.

The trophies of the day were three stands of colors captured, and about two hundred prisoners.

The loss of the division in killed, wounded, and prisoners, in the three battles of the 26th, 27th and 30th of June, was three thousand one hun­dred and eighty, the killed and wounded amounting to one thousand six hundred and fifty, out of about seven thousand who went into battle at Mechanicsville on the 26th of June.

I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

GEORGE A. McCALL.