and maintained their ground against fearful odds; to Brigadier-General Morrell and his brigade commanders Martindale, Butterfield and Griffin, who yielded their positions in the front, only after their ammunition was expended and their regiments much cut up; to General McCall and his brigade commanders Reynolds, Meade and Seymour, who suc cessfully led their regiments into the thickest of the fight to support and relieve their exhausted commands; to Brigadier-Generals Newton and Taylor who also conducted their regiments to the support of Morrell and McCall; to Colonel Bartlett commanding Brigadier-General Slocum's division, who gallantly assisted Generai Sykes, and repulsed charges of the enemy; to Captain Locke, Assistant-Adjutant General, Captain Kirkland and Mason, Lieutenants Montieth and McQuaid, and Lieutenant Weld members of my staff, the gallantry of all of whom was conspicuous, and whose service in carrying orders conducting reinforcements, directing batteries and rallying troops, were no less valuable than those of the commanders themselves; and to Dr. Lyman, medical director, for his prompt care and attention to the wounded. I beg leave also to express my thanks for the service rendered during part of the engagement, by the aids of the major-general commanding, Lieutenant-Colonel Radoivitz, Major Hammerstein, and Captain Louis Philippe and Robert E. Orleans, whose courage and energy was conspicuous among many brave men on that day's field. I also in this communi. cation express my admiration of the conduct of Captain Hoyt, aid to General Butterfield, who like all the above aids (mine excluded) inspired our men with confidence when rallying them in their retreat and under the fire of the enemy. I cannot further mention individual acts, I give merely those in elevated positions, whose conduct came under my own observation, and as an acknowledgment of the services of each command, many other cases of merit will be left for a more detailed report. In the operations above detailed, it is to be regretted that our losses were necessarily severe, but our object was gained in the unmolested concentration of our army with all its siege guns and material. Among the officers lost to us, I regret being obliged to number Brigadier-General Reynolds, Major Clitz, Captain Whiting, and Lieutenant S. M. Weld, my aid, and Captain Chambliss, who were taken prisoners near the close of the contest. The country will mourn the loss of Gove, of the Twenty-second Massachusetts; McLean of the Eighty-third, and Black of the Sixty-second Pennsylvania, killed in action, genial men and gallant officers who had distinguished themselves on previous occasions; Major N. B. Rossell, Third Infantry, and some others who have not yet been officially reported to me. Detailed reports of commanders will be forwarded as they are received. I am, General, very respectfully, P. S. Since writing the above, I have learned that the call for troops and axes, entrusted to General Barnard early in the day, was not delivered to the commanding-general; axes were again called for but delivered at too late an hour to be used. Two hundred men of the Eleventh Pennsylvania volunteers, delayed to helve, were all of that regiment saved from capture or destruction. The barricades prepared by borrowing the axes of the artillery, caused desperate and prolonged resistance, and had the called for axes first asked for, and the troops been delivered and filled, the fate of the day, and other results of the campaign upon the prolonged contest between the two sections of our country, may have been most materially changed. F. J. PORTER, Major-General. General McClellan reports the battle of Gaines' Mill as a reverse to General Porter's corps, and says: "During the night our thin and exhausted regiments were all withdrawn in safety, and by the following morning all had reached the other side of the stream. The regular infantry formed the rear guard, and about six o'clock on the morning of the 28th, crossed the river, destroying the bridge behind them. "Our loss in this battle in killed, wounded, and missing, was very heavy, especially in officers, many of whom were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners while gallantly leading on their men or rallying them to renewed exertions. "It is impossible to arrive at the exact numbers lost in this desperate engagement, owing to the series of battles. which followed each other in quick succession, and in which the whole army was engaged. No general returns were made until after we had arrived at Harrison's landing, when the losses during the whole seven days were estimated together. 66 Although we were finally forced from our first line after the enemy had been repeatedly driven back, yet the objects. sought for had been obtained. The enemy was held at bay. Our siege guns and material were saved, and the right wing had now joined the main body of the army. "The number of guns captured by the enemy at this battle was twenty-two, three of which were lost by beingrun off the bridge during the final withdrawal." While the battle was in progress, the enemy kept up a vigorous demonstration along the front of the centre and left wing of McClellan's army, in order to prevent the withdrawal of troops from the south bank of the Chickahominy to reinforce Porter's corps. The ruse was successful. Fearing an attack from the direction of Richmond, General McClellan withheld the reinforcements asked for, and necessary to ensure victory at Gaines' Mill. A small body of fresh troops were sent over in the evening to save the corps from overwhelming defeat. The Pennsylvania Reserves lost in killed, wounded, and missing, including the losses in the morning at Beaver Dam Creek, one thousand four hundred men. Including the reinforcements sent from the south side of the Chickahominy, the National forces in the battle of Gaines' Mill numbered about thirty-five thousand troops; the rebels had not less than sixty thousand men in the engagement. By the most desperate fighting and heroic sacrifice, the patriot troops held in check the army of confederates. More could not have been expected. The commanding-general said he intended only this, and that he was thereby enabled to accomplish his purpose, and to secure the change of his base of operations from the Pamunkey to the James river. CHAPTER VII. PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN-NEW MARKET CROSS ROADS. 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 batteryCharge of the Irish Brigade-Terrible struggle for Randall's batteryGeneral 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 flecing in frantic disorder to its base of supplies at White This battle has been variously designated as the battle of "Charles City cross roads," "Glendale" and "Nelson's farm." General McCall, whose division fought the battle, is, by military usage, the proper officer to name the battle. He names it, in his report, the "Battle of New Market cross roads." This designation has therefore been adopted by the author. 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 |