MILITARY: One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Second Regiment, Bucktail Brigade, Chapter 20 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by JRB & JP Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm Table of contents for the book with graphics, may be found at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/military/cw/150-bucktails/150-bucktails.htm ________________________________________________ HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH REGIMENT PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, SECOND REGIMENT, BUCKTAIL BRIGADE. BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL THOMAS CHAMBERLIN, HISTORIAN OF THE SURVIVORS ASSOCIATION. REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, WITH COMPLETE ROSTER. PHILADELPHIA: F. McMANUS, JR. & CO., PRINTERS, 1905. 224 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH CHAPTER XX. LAUREL HILL - SPOTTSYLVANIA. ON the 7th of May reconnoissances revealed the fact that Lee, in spite of the success which he claimed in the two days' fighting, had withdrawn his troops to fortified lines a mile and a half from the Union front, doubtless in the hope of receiving an attack where he would have all the advantage of position. In Grant's opinion, however, the rebel army was preparing to retire rapidly on Richmond for the purpose of crushing Butler, who had established himself on the James River at City Point. General Grant accordingly gave orders for a flank movement that night to Spottsylvania Court-House. His able antagonist, flattering himself that he had so seriously crippled the federal forces that they would in all probability fall back on Fredericksburg, ordered Anderson, who succeeded to the command of Longstreet's corps after the wounding of that general, to march rapidly to Spottsylvania on the morning of the 8th, with instructions to strike Grant's flank, if his supposition proved correct. Thus each of these great leaders was in error as to the real condition and intentions of the other - a state of things not uncommon in the course of the war. On account of the forest fires, Anderson started on the evening of the 7th, and was in a fortified position ready to engage Warren when the head of the latter's column, leading the Union advance, reached his front on the morning of the 8th. Warren's corps also started soon after nightfall of the 7th, moving eastwardly; but the road was none of the best, besides being more or less encumbered with artillery and supply trains, and the progress of the column was slow and jerky, with halt PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 225 upon halt, until after midnight, when the way seemed to open in front and the troops stepped out with more freedom. Indeed, during the latter part of the night and well into the morning, the march was as trying on account of its rapidity as it had before been annoying by its excessive interruptions. About eight o'clock the regiment was halted in an open field long enough to take breakfast, after which the march was resumed, to be quickened this time by the boom of cannon some distance ahead. Soon the unmistakable evidences of a cavalry encounter, at an earlier hour, were visible, dead bodies of men and horses lying in numbers on and near the road. Warren, at the first show of resistance to his column, attacked with his second division, supposing, as intimated by General Grant, that he had to do with a force of the enemy's cavalry. Naturally his assault failed. A second effort was more successful. "This time", says General Grant, "he succeeded in gaining a position immediately in the enemy's front, where he intrenched. His right and left divisions - the former Crawford's, the latter Wadsworth's, now commanded by Cutler - drove the enemy back some distance". While the second division was being badly punished by Anderson's (late Longstreet's) troops in the first encounter, the rest of Warren's command was nearing the scene of action. In his "Reminiscences" Sergeant Frey says: "Soon we emerge from the woods, through which we have been moving, into an open field. No sooner have we cleared the woods than one of the enemy's batteries opens upon us, throwing case-shot; but we form in battle order and advance straight in the direction of the battery. Our brigade is deployed in two lines, the 150th being in the second, and the Iron Brigade constituting a third line. In this formation we advanced towards the offending guns, which are being served very rapidly; but before reaching them the front line swings off towards the woods on our right, turning its back on the battery, and opens fire in 226 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH that direction. We join it on the right and enter the edge of the woods, the Iron Brigade at the same time closing in on our right. There is how heavy musketry along the whole front. Sergeant Edward Austin, of Company A, and myself are in a kneeling position, loading and firing as fast as we can, and paying no attention to what is going on around us. Presently I hear the sickening thud of a bullet, and Austin with a low moan fell back alongside of me - dead. The ball entered immediately below his left eye." About this time a mild panic seems to have seized a considerable portion of the line, and hundreds of men sought the rear in a more or less demoralized condition; but they were speedily rallied by their officers, and turned back to renew the contest at the points which they had just left. Frey continues: "The firing soon ceased and our lines were re-formed, the enemy having retreated to his defensive works. It was a hot place to be in. For a time we were exposed to a fire from front and rear, and a battery shelled us with great fury "At the close of the engagement, on readjusting our ranks, the man who always stood at the head of the company (D) was missing - Corporal William Donachy lay at the foot of a pine tree, cold and dead, with a bullet-hole in his left temple. While our regiment was taking its place in the general line just established, I again heard the impact of a ball, and two of our color-guard went down, - one shot through the head; the other, Corporal Albert Foster, of my own company, being struck in the face by the same missile, which, breaking his upper jaw, lodged in the joint of the jaws, where it remained for several years." Rifle-pits were dug in the afternoon and evening, the men working with their heads very close to the ground, as the enemy's pickets kept up an almost continuous fire. In the night there were many alarms and many useless volleys, with possibilities of very serious disorder in places, caused by the PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 227 nervous tension to which not merely the pickets but all of the troops were wrought up. On the morning of the 9th the 150th was withdrawn from the front and moved back a short distance into a strip of timber, where it remained during the day, obtaining much-needed rest. A number of men from the hospitals here rejoined the command, which had been sadly reduced in the last few days, Company F having but twelve present for duty, as noted by Sergeant Edward B. Fowler, in his pocket diary. The sergeant also states: "We have now been on the front line of battle ever since the fight began, and have had no sleep for three days and two nights, until this morning, when we were relieved by the second line, whose position we took. About six o'clock this evening the rebels advanced on our works, and tried until dark to drive us, but it was no go". Bates, in his brief history of the 150th, preceding its muster-roll, says, "On the morning of the 8th the brigade again charged the enemy at Laurel Hill, driving him into his works, and establishing a line of defence under severe fire". It may be well to state that while the fighting in the neighborhood of Spottsylvania Court-House, which lasted several days, is known by the general name of the "Battle of Spottsylvania", the actions of the Fifth Corps on the 8th and 9th of May are better known to the troops of that corps as the "Battle of Laurel Hill". "At two P. M. of the 9th", continues Bates, "a charge was made by the entire division ( Cutler's) upon the enemy's in-trenched line. The woods through which the charge was made had been fired, and the men were subjected to the double torment of the blazing fagots and the enemy's missiles. The assault was fruitless, and many of the dying were left to perish in the flames." Sergeant James H. Moore, of Company B, had charge of the colors of the regiment from the time of leaving Culpeper, and 228 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH bore them through the exhausting struggles of the Wilderness and in the first day's encounters at Laurel Hill with commendable gallantry. In the engagement of the 8th he received two disabling wounds, and was succeeded as color-bearer by Sergeant Henry Wendler, of Company E, nicknamed the "Little Dutchman". The latter, in the several charges at Laurel Hill and Spottsylvania, greatly distinguished himself by his personal daring, drawing upon himself the favorable notice not only of his own regimental chief, but also of officers of other commands. On one occasion the colonel of a New York regiment, which fought on the right of the 150th, called the attention of his color-sergeant to the admirable conduct of the Bucktail standard-bearer, and urged him to imitate his example; but he only elicited the reply, "The d - d fool doesn't know any better!" During the forenoon of the 10th the ground in front of the several corps was thoroughly reconnoitred, and about four o'clock P. M. a general assault was ordered, in which the 150th participated. Warren's troops, in advancing, were obliged to traverse a ravine thickly covered with heavy timber on the sides, and with a tangle of underbrush at the bottom which proved well-nigh impenetrable. Necessarily the ranks were much disordered in forcing their way through. To mount the farther slope through the dense forest and dislodge an enemy numerous and well posted, with protecting breastworks, was no holiday task. The attack failed, as might have been foreseen, and Warren recoiled with heavy loss. Still later, another assault was made, Hancock uniting his forces with Wright's and Warren's, for the purpose of relieving Upton, who in the previous advance had gained a foothold on the enemy's line and clung tenaciously to it; and such was the impetuosity of the movement that portions of the works were speedily carried though a counter-pressure on the part of the enemy as speedily compelled their abandonment. Upton, however, was freed MAJOR-GENERAL G. K. WARREN. [portrait] PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 229 from his isolated position, and the retiring troops were not pursued. Soon after the charge, Major Jones, who had been sitting on the ground with his back resting against a sapling, rose to his feet just as Captain Sigler approached, when the latter remarked, "That's a good place", and seated himself on the same spot. The next instant a ricocheting solid shot struck the captain on the elbow, injuring him severely and relegating him to the hospital for a long term of treatment. This 10th of May was a most trying day, racking alike to soul and body. In his brief diary, Sergeant Fowler makes the entry: "Heavy skirmishing commenced at daybreak. At noon we advanced on the enemy's earthworks in five lines of battle. As usual we were on the front line. We fought until dark, but could not carry the intrenchments. Our regiment lost very heavily. Half an hour after dark we withdrew to our own defences (Nine o'clock, evening). The regiment has been detailed for picket". Sergeant Frey, in his unpublished narrative, gives a very full account of the day's doings, replete with incident and abounding in word-pictures that convey to the mind a lively sense of the strain that was put upon all who participated in the action. He says: "We remained at this place during the forenoon of the 10th. After dinner we were moved forward to the works, and the troops occupying them were ordered out into the woods in front. Picket firing had been kept up pretty regularly, but now it became general along the line, and a battery off on our left, with an enfilading range, began throwing shells which did great execution. It seemed to me as if our left pivoted on that battery, and the right, in swinging forward, gave it a chance for a raking fire all the time. The works behind which we lay were no protection, as the shells passed lengthwise of them, flying over us in a continual stream. At last a long cone-shaped shell came bounding along the top of the intrenchments, 230 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH and striking a short distance to the left of our regiment, came down among us, hitting Captain George W. Sigler (Company I) on the left arm, and then, dropping to the ground, lay within ten feet of me. Every man kept his place in the ranks, but hugged the earth closely, expecting the missile to explode at any moment. It seemed almost certain death to stay there, yet no one felt like getting up in such close proximity to a shell which might burst before he could get away. I took one glance at the grim messenger of death which rested so near; then, flattening myself to mother earth, awaited the issue. My next sensation was that of sudden changes from hot to cold, accompanied by the wish that the ground would open and let me down. After enduring this unpleasant feeling for several minutes, which seemed like so many hours, and no explosion having taken place, I began to feel more comfortable, and finally ventured to raise my head high enough to take a peep at the shell. There it lay, as dangerous-looking as ever, but with no sign of a burning fuse about it. If it was that kind of a shell, the fuse had gone out; but I am inclined to think it was of the percussion variety, in which case it was perfectly harmless as long as left alone. "Captain Sigler was pretty badly hurt, but the force of the shell was about spent when it struck him, or he would have been torn to pieces. In two months he was back with the regiment fit for duty. "Our second brigade was out in front, but the firing became too severe for it, and part of the line fell back to the breastworks, soon to be ordered forward again. After it was reformed, General Rice, the commanding officer, came riding towards us, and, meeting an officer in front of our regiment, requested him to tell General Cutler, division commander, that there was a gap between his brigade and the one on his right, and he desired him to send a regiment forward to close it. All this while that battery on our left was keeping up a constant PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 231 fire, some of its shells bursting uncomfortably close. Although I was intensely interested in the battery, and kept wishing it was a hundred miles away, at the same time there was something about General Rice that attracted my attention. I do not know whether it was the form of the man - for he was a splendid-looking officer - or the beautiful charger that he rode, or the tone of voice in which he delivered his message, that impressed me most, causing me for a time to forget the battery; or whether after events caused me to remember the last time I saw the general alive. The tone in which he spoke had not the firm ring which one is accustomed to hear in battle and on the march; but rather that of a man who asks another for a favor. He seemed depressed, as if he had a premonition that he was going into his last fight. After delivering his message, he turned his horse and rode in the direction of his brigade, soon disappearing in the forest. A few minutes later I saw, at some distance to our left, four men running with a man in a blanket, while behind them trotted the black horse belonging to General Rice, without any one leading him. The spectacle of that riderless horse told plainer than words the fate of his owner, and it was a touching sight to see him follow his wounded master from the field. The general, who had been struck in the knee by a bullet or grapeshot, was taken to the field hospital; where, having been put under the influence of chloroform, his shattered limb was amputated; but I was told he never returned to consciousness. "But the command is 'Forward! Third brigade', and out over the works we go. No sooner do we start than that battery opens with redoubled fury. Our right is thrown forward as if making a wheel to the left, but the enfilading fire from those guns continues. For some distance we have open ground to pass over; then we enter the wood. After our lines are formed firing begins in our front. We are now close up to the enemy's works. Dead are falling, and wounded go streaming 232 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH to the rear in every direction. Lieutenant Harter is struck in the face by a buckshot, but says he does not know what became of the bullet. The fight was kept up during the afternoon. A ball cut through my blouse on top of my shoulder; another went through a blanket which was rolled up and hung over my shoulder, while still another struck the trigger-guard of my rifle, breaking the guard and bending the trigger, but not badly enough to make it useless. I carried it during the rest of the afternoon, fired a goodly number of shots out of it, and would not have parted with it for anything. Strange to say, it was stolen on the following night, and though I examined all the stacks of guns belonging to the division, I never saw it again. Some may ask: 'Did not every man have a gun ?' Yes, he had, providing he did not throw it away while running out of a fight, in which case it became necessary to steal one in order to escape payment for the one abandoned. "The afternoon was drawing towards a close, and we all wished that we might be ordered back to our line of works, seeing no advantage in being kept out in that exposed position and having so many men sacrificed, while we in turn could inflict but little loss on the enemy, who was well protected by his intrenchments. We were now moved a little further to the right, and a line of battle was formed in front of us, we constituting a second line, with a third and fourth at short intervals in our rear. The meaning of this was not clear to us; but to tell the truth I did not like the looks of things, and the massing of so many men at this point naturally suggested that some desperate work was before us. "After the troops were all formed, a staff-officer passed down the line and gave an order to the brigade commanders, who in turn gave it to the commanders of regiments. The order was something like this: 'You are to charge the works in front of you. Second, third and fourth lines uncap your guns and fix bayonets. First and second lines will lead the charge, PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 233 closely followed by the third and fourth, and all will rush right on and over the works. Twelve pieces of artillery fired in the rear will be the signal to advance to the charge. The time will be six o'clock. "That order rang in our ears like the reading of a death sentence. "We were now commanded to lie down. No one spoke; none felt like speaking; every man was busy with his own thoughts. Musketry firing had ceased, but it seemed that that infernal battery off on the left knew exactly where we lay. How it knew, I cannot say, as we were in a wood, hid from sight. It opened fire, one of its shells striking in the first line - I think in the 149th regiment - wounding several men, one of whom had his leg torn off. The next one that came along passed perhaps a foot above my head, and striking in our company rolled three men around, but - strange to say - only one of them, Sergeant S. H. Himmelreich, was wounded. Oh! how I inwardly cursed that battery, and, at the same time, our own guns for not silencing it. I imagined that our artillery was lying in the rear, out of danger, not caring whether we were all killed or not; but was told afterwards that it could find no position from which it could reach this particular battery. "I now lay with my face close to the ground and closed my eyes. While resting in this attitude, I fancied I heard the twelve cannon-shots in the rear which were to be the signal for us to start. The troops rose to their feet and moved forward, first with a regular step, until one half of the distance had been passed over and the enemy had opened on us with musketry and artillery; then on a run, with men dropping out in great numbers, killed or wounded. We press on until two-thirds of the space separating the opposing forces has been traversed, when a black line appears before me. I could not picture myself going beyond that line. I could not imagine the possibility of ever getting back. Then the thought sudden- 234 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ly occurred to me: this is death! May the gathering years of all future time ever blot from my memory the anguish of mind and soul that I suffered during the next twenty minutes, expecting every moment to hear the signal to advance to the charge, and to meet what seemed to me certain death." Sergeant Frey goes on to say that he was not the only one in the line of battle upon whom weighed this overpowering sense of depression. The same feeling extended to all the men of the Fifth and Sixth Corps, marshalled there in the shadowy woods, to be hurled against the enemy's strong works, surely to be broken to pieces in a vain effort to capture them. The battery on the left, whose enfilading fire had been so annoying previous to the last advance, continued to send a stream of shells along the Union ranks, its stock of ammunition being apparently inexhaustible. Of this battery Frey says: "Twenty-two years (his reminiscences were penned in 1886) have rolled around since then, but no doubt some of the men across the line who manned those guns are still living. To these I will say: 'that as time has mellowed the facts and I am still alive, I bear no towards any one connected with the battery; but on that afternoon I wished a caisson would explode and blow men, guns and horses so fine that the pieces could never be found". He continues: "At last, when all hope seemed dead, a staff-officer passed down the line and delivered this message: 'The charge will not be made this evening. General Warren says the loss of life would be too great to risk it'. "Oh, what a load was lifted from my heart as those words were borne to my ears! 'The charge will not be made tonight!' Faces already blanched assumed their natural color. Men who had not spoken a word for the last half-hour began to talk with one another, and a general good feeling seemed to prevail. PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 235 "The sun had gone down and the shades of evening came creeping through the wood. We now expected to be withdrawn, when suddenly the enemy opened with musketry in our front, and in an instant the battery was at its work again sending shells along our lines like so many thunderbolts. I have often wondered whether the men who manned those guns had any idea of how very unpleasant they made it for us; and I doubt whether any one battery during the war came so very near demoralizing so many troops as the one to which I allude. Men can stand shelling when it comes from the front, but not when exposed to an enfilading fire, as we were that whole afternoon. In a moment, after the last attack was made, the four lines of battle were broken into fragments, and the men seeking safety in headlong flight. They wanted to be out of that place, and they got out quicker than any officer could have moved them out, although they did not follow the strict military tactics of 'changing front to rear', as laid down by Hardee. But not quite all got out. The 150th stood its ground, and as a reward for its bravery had the pleasure of remaining out all night, on picket. "I have often been asked the question by the generation that has grown up since the war, and by those who lived during the war, but were not in it, what was the narrowest escape I ever made. To such I would say: 'I do not know how many bullets passed within a few inches of my body, or how many hundreds passed within a few feet of me; but this much I do know - I can never go nearer the jaws of death and come out unscathed than I did on the 10th day of May, 1864, at Laurel Hill, Virginia'". On the 11th, beyond sustaining a searching artillery fire, the 150th was not engaged. A heavy rain set in which continued throughout that and the following two days. Sergeant Fowler records in his diary: "Since the fight began (May 5th) 236 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH our corps (the Fifth) has lost 9500 men, killed, wounded and missing". On the 12th, when Hancock's successful attack on the salient (known as the "Bloody Angle") took place, in which Johnson's rebel division was captured, both Wright and Warren joined in the movement, the latter without result. In his official report Warren says, "I also again assailed the enemy's intrenchments, suffering heavy loss, but failed to get in. The enemy's direct and flank fire was too destructive. Lost very heavily. The enemy continuing to fire on the Second and Sixth Corps, I was compelled to withdraw Griffin's and Cutler's divisions and send them to the left to their support, where they again became engaged." Bates makes no note of Warren's futile attack, but remarks, "On the 12th of May the brigade moved to the support of the Sixth Corps, in front of that part of the enemy's line known as the 'Bloody Angle', and lay at the front, exposed to a severe fire until the morning of the 13th, when, the enemy having retired, it returned to its former position". The regiment made up for its inaction on the 11th by its exhausting activity on the 12th. Sergeant Fowler notes in his diary; "(12 o'clock, noon). We have just made a charge on the rebel earthworks and have been repulsed with great slaughter. They have splendid defences, and I think Grant cannot take them by charging on them. (Dusk). After the charge, this morning, our corps was moved to the left to support the Second Corps. We are now in line of battle, and the sharpshooters are picking our men off very fast. This morning the Second Corps captured four thousand prisoners and thirty guns. It has been raining for two days very hard". Sergeant Frey describes the doings of the day more fully: "On the morning of the 12th we were again moved into the woods in front of our works, where we were formed in three lines of battle and ordered to charge the enemy's forti- PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 237 fications. This time the order was not countermanded. We advanced to the charge with the Iron Brigade in front. All nervousness had left us, and as we saw the first line move forward our brigade broke into cheers, and the men shouted: 'Follow the Iron Brigade!' Follow it we did. We move down the slope in solid ranks into the ravine, and begin to ascend the hill on which the enemy's works are located, when suddenly the foremost line comes to a halt. It has reached the slashed timber in front of the enemy's stronghold. The trees had all been cut down over a belt of fifty or seventy-five yards, and the ends of the limbs dressed with the axe so as to present a bristling array of sharp points in our direction. It was plain that no body of troops could pick its way through such a formidable obstruction as long as the works beyond were properly manned. The enemy now opened a terrible fire of musketry, with grape and canister added; but the Iron Brigade held its ground with great gallantry, pouring volley upon volley into the breastworks and their well-protected defenders. Our brigade, crowding after, forced its way up until the two lines of battle were fused into one, loading and firing as fast as possible. Officers stormed back and forth in a useless effort to make the troops advance further. Two men of the 24th Michigan had gone a little beyond the main line, and from the shelter of a tree were firing, - the one from the right shoulder, the other from the left - doing as good work as could have been done from any point. At the time, lead and iron were flying so thick that you could have 'cut them with a knife'. An officer, seeing the two men behind the tree, ran up to them and pushed them out on either side. No sooner were they deprived of their shelter than one went down with a bullet through his head, and the other was struck on his belt-plate, the ball not penetrating, but hurting him badly enough to compel his retirement from the field. 238 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH "In less than fifteen minutes after we became engaged the ravine lay full of dead men, while hundreds of wounded were on their way to the hospital. Three of my own company, of the twelve or fifteen left, were wounded - Fillman, Prutzman and Eberhart - the last-named being shot through the thigh. As he was unable to walk, and no stretcher-bearers were near to care for him, Samuel Ruhl and myself helped him from the field. Taking him back about a hundred yards, we left him, and returned to where the slaughter was going on in the ravine. Soon after reaching the front, the order was given to fall back. The ranks were fast disappearing, and to hold men to such an unequal contest was only a useless sacrifice of life. The order was promptly obeyed, and the lines fell sullenly back - not in confusion, but with steady step, as though moving into camp after a hard day's drill." Cutler's division, in which was the 150th, halted a short distance in rear of the Fifth Corps' line of works, but after abrief rest was sent to the left to reinforce the troops holding the portion of the enemy's defences which had been captured by Hancock's corps in the early morning. Major Jones relates that, while the regiment lay in front of the salient that night, the officers kept guard, as did those of the entire brigade, in order to give the men a little rest. The musketry fire continued intermittently throughout the night, the balls flying over the sleeping forms of the men, but one of whom was killed, though several received injuries. Before quitting the position the major was invited by Lieutenant Rorer, of Company B, to look upon a spectacle so weird and startling that, by his own confession, nothing in his whole experience as a soldier could approach it in impressiveness and ghastliness of detail. Not far from the point in the angle where the enemy made his most persistent efforts to undo the hold of the Union troops on his works, and where a tree nearly a foot and a half in diameter had been cut down by musket- PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 239 balls, stood a caisson of a Sixth Corps battery, facing the fortifications, and perhaps not more than a hundred yards away, with its six horses still attached, but sunk to the earth, dead; the three drivers still in the saddle, likewise lifeless; while on the boxes rested six cannoneers, back to back, perforated with bullets, their inanimate bodies supporting one another almost in the attitude of duty. So natural was the position and appearance of these latter that the major could convince himself that they were not alive only by reaching up and touching them. Nothing could give a more realizing idea of the terrible storm of lead which swept this portion of the field than this statuesque group of the slain, and nothing more truly symbolize the perfection of discipline which prevailed in the artillery arm of the service. It is unnecessary to ask by what adventure, or misadventure, they came to be exposed to the sudden whirlwind of rebel volleys: it was one of the accidents of war, met with sublime courage, every man dying at his post. From the 5th of May the fighting had been almost continuous and of the most desperate character, and many officers as well as men, unequal to the long physical strain, from time to time gave evidence of demoralization, dropping back from their commands as opportunity offered, and trying by various pretexts to get into the hospitals. These were relentlessly gathered up by the provost guard, and returned to their regiments to be dealt with as their commanders might deem best for the service. The discipline and standing of the 150th are brought into high relief by the fact that several line-officers from other organizations, whose valor had been badly shaken by repeated conflicts, were sent, stripped of the insignia of their rank, by sentence of drum-head court-martial, and provided with the arms and accoutrements of private soldiers, to share the fortunes of the regiment and redeem, if possible, their clouded reputations. Major Jones was quietly instructed to 240 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH keep them in the "fore-front of battle" and maintain a close watch upon their conduct, as upon his report, after a given time, would depend their dismissal from the army or their restoration to their former places. This unique squad joined the 150th on the 13th of May, and was known as "Company Q." It is a pleasure to state that in subsequent engagements all of these delinquents acquitted themselves so creditably that they were eventually permitted to return to their old commands. On the night of May 13th the Fifth and Sixth Corps, Warren leading, moved to the extreme left and crossed the river Ny, encountering many difficulties owing to the intense darkness and almost impassable condition of the roads. On the morning of the 14th, Wright's troops had severe fighting in working up into position on Burnside's left. Lee changed his lines so as to confront Warren and Wright, and Hancock, having no longer an enemy facing him, moved in rear of the centre of the new line. At dawn of the 18th, Hancock and Wright, who in the night had returned to their old positions on Burnside's right, attacked Lee's left flank in the hope of dislodging it; but Lee seems to have anticipated the undertaking, and they encountered the enemy in such strength that the assault failed. This practically ended operations at Spottsylvania. The Union army, although in no large measure successful, was everywhere the aggressor, and Lee stood strictly on the defensive. This in itself was a great gain to Grant's forces, filling them with a confidence which never afterwards deserted them, and which was sure to culminate some day in victory. Again referring to Hospital Steward Kieffer's invaluable weekly reports, it will be seen that the 150th shared in the hardest of the fighting from the 8th to the 14th of May, and took credit on the rolls for a long list of casualties. On the latter date the mean strength of the regiment, which one week before was two hundred and seventy-six, had been reduced to Portrait Page FIRST SERGEANT WM. S. McGINLEY. [portrait] Company E. FIRST SERGEANT GEORGE H. CRAGER. [portrait] Company E. EDWARD GHARET. [portrait] Company D. GARRETT C. KEAN. [portrait] Company F. JOHN S. WEBER. [portrait] Company F. JAMES STEVENSON. [portrait] Company F. PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS 241 ninety-three. As only an insignificant number had been "laid off" by sickness, and comparatively few fell into the hands of the enemy, death and wounds were the main factors in this notable reduction. Colonel Fox, in "Regimental Losses," fixes the number of the killed and mortally wounded of the 150th, in this period of six days, at fifteen, - viz., May 8th, five; on the 10th, six; on the 12th, four. These figures are doubtless correct. The following lists of casualties at Laurel Hill and Spottsylvania are probably as complete as they can be made at this late day: KILLED OR MORTALLY WOUNDED. Company A. Sergeant Edward Austin, killed May 8. Sergeant Gabriel B. Thompson, wounded May 10; died May 18. Private Joseph Fowler, killed May 10. Company B. Private Jacob M. Wartenby, wounded May 8; died May 13. Company D. Corporal William Donachy, killed May 8. Company E. Corporal Isaac Doan, killed May 12. Company F. Private William A. Garrett, mortally wounded May 10. Company G. Private Luther M. Adams, wounded May 10; died May 20. Private Philetus Southwick, killed May 10. Company H. Private John Bickerstaff, wounded May 12; died May 13. Private Harlan P. Fields, killed May 8. Private Andrew Lee, killed May 12. Company I. Private Henry B. Lathrop, mortally wounded May 10. Private Alexander McFarland, wounded May 8; died June 7. WOUNDED. Company A. Corporal Thomas McCombs, May 10. Private Isaiah B. Dewees, May 10. Private George A. Dixon, May 12.