"Colonel Heintzelman now came up and ordered us promptly forward, and with the promise of another regiment it was my design to turn the enemy's left. The left wing of the 1st Michigan recrossed the field, struck into the woods beyond the Zouaves, succeeded in destroying and capturing a small number of the enemy and pushing back his extreme left out of that part or point of the woods adjacent to the Sudley road.

"Meantime the right wing of the 1st Michigan reformed and advanced in good order. I met it and we pushed on toward the next point of woods. From this point I found the enemy's left discovered us by our fire and we became engaged with their rear rank, their front being occupied by the advancing troops of Franklin's or Sherman's brigade. The officers and men of the 1st Michigan stood up bravely at this critical moment, holding on anxiously for reinforcements. But from all I can learn, the 38th, which was ordered up to me, were directed to the left of the Henry House, (instead of to the right and along the Sudley road,) came in contact with the enemy's centre and never reached me.

"It was now nearly four o'clock. General Beauregard had been gathering new reinforcements; General Kirby Smith had joined him with a portion of Johnston's army. Our scattered troops were contending in fractions against the enemy's army in position and massed on the plateau, with his artillery sweeping every approach. Gen. Johnston was bringing fresh troops to turn our right. The 28th Virginia attacked my own handful from the rear in the woods, and I had the ill fortune to be wounded and a few moments afterward captured. But I was spared witnessing the disaster which further pursued our arms.

"In this report I have only endeavored to supply partly the information that was not known or found in any other report in consequence of my capture. Permit me to add further, that the 38th New York was distinguished for its steadiness in ranks, and for gallantly repelling a charge made upon it by the New Orleans Tigers.' The Zouaves, though broken as a regiment, did good service under my own eyes in the woods, and detachments of them joined various other regiments in the fight. The 1st Michigan deserves the credit of advancing farther into the enemy's lines than any other of our troops, as their dead bodies proved after the battle. I only regret that from the fact of my separation from Arnold's battery, I cannot add any testimony of my own to the well known gallantry with which he and his command conducted themselves."

THE SECOND INFANTRY.

The 2d infantry, under command of Col. J. B. Richardson, by whom it had been organized, with much promptness followed the 1st regiment to the war in Virginia, and was in time to be present in the first engagement, being in the brigade of Richardson, which opened fire upon the rebels at Blackburn's Ford, on the 18th of July, 1861, and which covered the retreat of the army from Bull Run on the 21st following.

The regiment, under command of Col. O. M. Poe, participated in all of the engagements on the Peninsula, first meeting the enemy on that campaign at Williamsburg, on May 5, 1862, where it lost 17 killed, 38 wounded, and 4 missing; at Fair Oaks, on the 27th; at Charles City Cross-roads, on June 30th, and at Malvern Hill July 1st. At Fair Oaks it lost 10 killed and 47 wounded, while its bravery was so marked as to receive the following notice in the published history of the time:

66

Meantime, Heintzelman had sent forward Kearney to recover Casey's

lost ground, and a desperate fight was going on at the extreme left. The enemy had been successfully held in front of Couch's old entrenched camp, until Kearney's division arrived, when he staid the torrent of battle. One after another his gallant regiments pushed forward, and pressed back the fiery rebels with more daring than their own. Here the 55th New York won new laurels, and Poe's 2d Michigan was bathed in blood. Five hundred of them charged across the open field against ten times their number, and stopped them in mid career, losing 17 brave fellows in that one desperate essay."

Immediately following the battles on the Peninsula it entered on the campaign of General Pope, and was engaged with the enemy at Bull Run August 28th, 29th, and 30th, and at Chantilly on the 1st of September.

On the 12th of December following, the regiment, then commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Dillman, participated in the engagement at Fredericksburg with slight loss.

The 2d was transferred early in 1863 to another field of operations with the 9th corps, and served with distinction on the Grant campaign in Mississippi, terminating with the fall of Vicksburg and the defeat and route of Johnston at Jackson. It was also in the campaign of Burnside in East Tennessee, and was actively engaged in the defence of Knoxville against the attacks of Longstreet, and in the various battles with his forces in that vicinity. Although the survivors of this noble regiment can look back upon their campaigns in Virginia and recount with much justifiable pride their numerous battles, yet, Jackson and Knoxville will ever hold prominent places in their memories, as engagements in which the regiment specially distinguished itself and sustained heavy loss.

Immediately following the surrender of Vicksburg, General Sherman with his army, a part of which was the 9th corps, moved in pursuit of General Johnston, who was then in the vicinity of Jackson, and reached there on the 10th of July. The 2d regiment belonged to the 2d brigade, 1st division, and on the 11th of July became engaged with the enemy, making one of the most daring and gallant charges of the war. Col. Humphrey, commanding the regiment, in his report thus details its movements on that occasion:

"At 5 A. M. I was ordered by Col. Leasure, commanding the brigade, to deploy my regiment as skirmishers on the left of the skirmish line of the 1st brigade to keep my connection with it perfect-to be guided in the movements of my line strictly by those of the regiment on my right, and to advance until I drew the fire of the enemy's artillery.

"I at once deployed my regiment as directed, and moved forward, meeting with only slight opposition from the enemy, until about 6 o'clock, when he opened a brisk fire along my whole line. We had come up to the enemy strongly posted in front of my right on a deep water course, and of my left in a heavy woods. For an hour a brisk skirmish was kept up. The enemy made a determined resistance, but was gradually forced back toward his support.

"At 7 A. M. the order came down the line from the right to 'forward! double-quick!' The men at once advanced with a cheer, drove in the enemy's skirmishers through their camps, and intc their reserves, strongly posted in a deep ravine, charged and broke the reserve, and drove it up out of the ravine into its main support, drawn up in line of battle on the top of the south bank of the ravine, charged under a hot fire of musketry and artillery up the steep bank against the main body, broke this line, and drove the enemy within his works.

"We waited now for our support to come up, but on sending for it were surprised to find we had none. The regiment on my right, for some reason unknown to me, advanced but a short distance, then fell back to the line left by it a few moments before. By some mistake the three companies (C, F, and H) on the left did not advance with the rest of the regiment in this charge, which was made with about one hundred and seventy men. Fifty of these, almost one-third, had fallen. The enemy was being reinforced, and we were entirely without support, with no connection on the right and no troops on our left. Thus situated, to hold for any length of time the ground we had so dearly won would be impossible. I therefore put my men under cover of the bank of the ravine, through which we had advanced, within twenty yards of the enemy's works, and held the position until the wounded were carried to the rear, and then following the movement of the regiment on my right, fell back to the line from which we had advanced an hour before."

In this charge the regiment had 9 killed, 39 wounded, among whom were Lieutenants Sheldon, Stevenson, and Montague, and 8 taken as prisoners.

The 2d was also specially distinguished on several occasions during the siege of Knoxville by Longstreet in 1863, and particularly so on the 24th of November, when under command of Major Cornelius Byington (Colonel Humphrey being in command of the brigade) it so gallantly charged a strong force of rebels protected by entrenchments and a house which they occupied, driving them from their position and leveling the house and works to the ground. In the charge the regiment lost in killed and wounded, out of 161 officers and men engaged, 86. Among the killed were Lieutenants William Noble (adjutant) and Charles R. Galpin, and Major Byington and Lieutenant Frank Zoellener mortally wounded. This charge is handed down in the history of the day as among the most brilliant of the war.

Returning with its corps to the Army of the Potomac, on the 5th of May, 1864, it crossed the Rapidan, taking part with that army in the great campaign which had just commenced, sharing in its sufferings, its privations, and its glory. On May 6th, in command of Colonel W. Humphrey, it participated in the battle of the Wilderness, losing 6 killed and 32 wounded and missing. On the 10th, 11th, and 12th it was in the battle at Spottsylvania Court-house, where it lost 2 killed and 9 wounded; among the killed was Captain James Farrand; and on the 3d of June, at the battle of Bethesda Church, where its loss was 2 killed and 36 wounded. From Bethesda Church the regiment marched to Cold Harbor. June 12th it crossed the Chicahominy river, and on the morning of the 14th, and during the night of the 15th, crossed to the south side of the James river. It participated in the engagement before Petersburg on the 17th and 18th of June, losing on the 17th 8 killed, including Captain James Bradley, 74 wounded, and 4 missing; on the 18th, 14 killed, 69 wounded, and 2 missing. During the attack which followed the springing of the mine on the 30th of July, the regiment lost 6 killed, 14 wounded, and 37 missing, Captain John S. Young and Lieutenant John G. Busch being among the killed. Withdrawing from in front of Petersburg, it marched with its corps to the Weldon railroad, and in the action of the 19th of August on this road the regiment lost 1 killed, 2 wounded, and 2 missing. Partici pating in the movement on the right flank of the rebel army, on the 30th of September, in the engagement near Poplar Spring Church, it lost 7 in wounded and 12 missing. The regiment remained in camp from the 30th of September to October 27th, near "Peeble's House." On the latter date, in the advance on the "Boydton Plank Road," it lost 7 wounded and 7

missing. On the 28th it returned to its camping ground near Peeble's House, where it remained on the 31st of October following. On the 25th of March, 1865, the regiment participated in the affair at Fort Steadman, sustaining a heavy loss, and on the 3d of April was engaged in the capture of Petersburg.

The correspondent of the New York Tribune, in writing regarding the stampede from Bull Run, says:

"I was told that a few regiments, beside the three faithful ones of Blenker's brigade, had come in in fair order; and that they were the 2d and 3d Michigan and the Massachusetts 1st, of Richardson's brigade. I should be glad if it were so."

It is to be hoped that the correspondent lived long enough to be made glad, on being fully satisfied of the fact that he had been correctly informed of that well-established truth regarding the conduct of Richardson's brigade referred to, and which was so well understood and made so generally known immediately following the battle, by the issue of a general order by McDowell, in which it was stated that Richardson's brigade were the last troops to leave the field.

The following is the official order relative to the part taken at Williamsburg by Berry's brigade, composed of the 2d, 3d, and 5th Michigan:

HEADQUARTERS 3D BRIGADE, KEARNEY'S DIVISION,

ON WILLIAMSBURG BATTLE-FIELD, May 8, 1862.

Special Orders: The commander of the brigade takes great pleasure in making this official communication to his command: That they, by heroic fortitude, on Monday last, by making a forced march through mud and rain, each vying with the other to see who could most cheerfully stand the hardships the time called for, making thereby a march that others shrank from, coming into a fight at double-quick, made doubtful to our side by the overwhelming mass of the enemy poured upon our centre; by a rapid deploy and quick formation, and by coolness, precision, and energy, beat back the enemy, recapturing our lost position and artillery, and also by a heroic charge, took a stronghold of the enemy, and thereby dislodged him and drove him on the plain below his well-chosen position, have done themselves great honor, have honored the States of Michigan and New York, and have won a name in history that the most ambitious might be proud of. Our loss of brave comrades has indeed been large. We mourn the departed. "Green be the turf above them." They have a place in our heart's memory, and in the history of our common country.

Soldiers! you have won by your bravery the hearts of all your commanders-brigade, division, corps, and even those higher in command. Soldiers, I thank you; my superiors thank you; your country thanks you, and will remember you in history.

Our labors are not yet over; the insolent rebels that have endeavored to destroy, and have laid to ruin and waste portions of the best Government and the finest land of earth, are still in force, and to be conquered in our fights. I have pledged you, men of the 3d brigade, in all future trials. I know my men; they are not pledged in vain.

Commanders of regiments will have this order read at the head of their respective regiments this afternoon..

R. G. BERRY,

Brigadier-General, Commanding 3d Brigade.

Official: EDWIN M. SMITH, A. A. A. G.

Extracts from correspondence of New York Tribune in relation to the battle of Williamsburg:

"The 2d Michigan took into action only sixty men, the rest being left behind, exhausted with the quick march through the mud and rain. Yet they lost one out of every five engaged. The regiment was in the hottest of the fight. By the confessions of prisoners, 800 of Berry's men (mostly Michigan) drove back at the point of the bayonet 1,600 rebels.

"There were four companies of the 2d Michigan heavily engaged at Williamsburg, two in command of Captain William Humphrey and two commanded by Captain W. J. Handy. The other companies of the regiment were partially engaged. The regiment lost in the action 17 killed, 38 wounded, and 4 missing.

"In the rifle-pits in front of the 5th Michigan, sixty-three dead rebels were found, every one of them killed by the bayonet.

"On June 30th the enemy had advanced about noon. The Union troops had fallen back about two miles and taken a position near Charles City Cross-roads or White Oak Swamp. The battle commenced about 1 o'clock. The 2d, in command of Major Dillman, was engaged from half-past 4 P. M. until an hour after dark, being under a continuous fire of musketry during the whole of that time, but having the cover of the woods and of, a temporary breastwork of logs, rails, and sods hastily thrown together, the loss of the regiment was comparatively light. The enemy charged three times in heavy columns on the position held by the division to which the 2d belonged. They advanced under a heavy fire from a long line of infantry and six pieces of artillery, and were most gallantly repulsed each time, being compelled to retire, under a heavy and murderous fire, under cover of the woods on the opposite side of the field, leaving the open space between the two lines literally piled with the dead and wounded.

"Down to the time our troops fell back in the night the enemy were busy, close up to our line, carrying away the dead and wounded. The wounded were continually calling out the number of their regiments and the States from whence they came, in order that they might be found by their friends. In this way it was ascertained that at least twenty-one regiments had been engaged with Kearney's division during the afternoon.

"On July 1st, at 2 A. M., the pickets were ordered in, and the retreat again commenced. At 5 A. M. the regiment reached Maxwell's Landing, on the James river, and was soon after marched, with its brigade, to the right and front of the line then being formed to meet a threatened attack of the enemy. On reaching the position indicated the brigade was placed in position to support our batteries, then playing with terrible effect on the enemy's advancing columns or replying to the fierce fire kept up from his batteries. The 2d remained in this position until 12 M., when it was drawn back under shelter of Malvern Hill. During the whole of that time the shot and shell from the enemy's guns came sweeping through the Union ranks dealing out death in every direction. At midnight the regiment again commenced the march down the river, and reached the encampment near Harrison's Landing next morning at about 9 A. M.

"On the retreat to Harrison's Landing, and in the various engagements occurring on the march, the gallant conduct of Sergeants Sheldon, company C, Tulloch, company H, McGee, company I, Higgins and Delano, company E; Corporals Sannard, company F, Fuller, company D, and Thurlby, company B; Privates Henry H. Harrington, company B, and Philander Walworth, company D, are specially noticed in the report of the commanding officer of the regiment. In the battles of Charles City Cross-roads and