A. R. Wright to S. S. Anderson, July 8, 1862

COLONEL:

I beg leave herewith to inclose to you a report of the action of my brigade i in the battle of King’s Sano House on the 25th ultimo, which was the beginning of the ereat battles of Richmond :

About daylight on the morning of Wednesday, June 25, the enemy advanced in considerable force upon our pickets on the right of the Williamsburg road, and after a sharp fire succeeded in driving them back to the skirt of woods immediately in front of, and about. half a mile distant from, our lines. The Fourth Georgia Regiment, Col. George Doles, was on picket duty on the right of the road, and his regiment, numbering less than 400 men, occupied a line of 1,200 yards. He had instructions to give me immediate information in case the enemy made any demonstration against him, and failing to receive any communication from Colonel Doles, I was not apprised of the success of the enemy in driving back our pickets until I saw them coming out of the woods. In justice to Colonel Doles it is proper to state that as soon as he discovered the intention of the enemy he dispatched a mounted courier to give me the preper notice. The courier took to his heels, failed to bring me the report, and has not been heard of since.

As soon as I became apprised of the condition of affairs I ordered out the First Louisiana and Twenty-second Georgia Regiments, and with them immediately proceeded to the scene of action. The First Louisiana Regiment, Lieut. Col. W. R. Shivers commanding, was ordered to adv: ance upon the right of the Williamsburg road, its left resting upon the road, and the Twenty. second Georgia ‘Regiment, Col. kh. H. Jones, was ordered into position on the right of the First Louisiana. These dispositions being made, the order was given to charge upon the enemy, then about emerging from the woods, and drive them back to their intrenched works. The order was obeyed with alacrity, the troops springing forward with loud cheers, and, advancing through a terrific fire of musketry, routed the enemy and drove them before them for more than a quarter of amile. Here their farther advance lay over an open field, behind which, under cover of heavy forest timber and dense underbrush, the retreating foe had taken shelter. With a gallantry and impetuosity which has rarely been equaled and certainly never excelled since the war began, these brave and daring Louisianians and Georgians charged through this open field and actually drove from their cover the whole brigade, supposed at the time to be Sickles’.

Our loss in the charge was heavy, including Lieutenant-Colonel Shivers, who was wounded in the arm; and the enemy, being re-enforced by the addition of Berry’s brigade, our force was compelled to retire for a short-distance, which was accomplished in good order.

During this time a strong force of the enemy, afterward ascertained to be Meagher’s brigade, was pushed forward on the left and near the Williamsburg road, and moving rapidly upon soon drove our pickets back from our lines. At this important juncture Colonel [Henry M.] Rutledge’s North Carolina Regiment came up to our assistance, having been ordered up by Brigadier-General Ransom in compliance with my request for support. Colonel Rutledge was ordered to move down on the left of the road, supported by the Third Georgia Regiment, Maj. J. ht. Sturges commanding, engage the enemy, and, if possible, to drive him out of the woods. This movement was executed in handsome style and with complete success. – The enemy now having been driven on both sides of the road to the position which they occupied when the fight commenced, except for a few rods in our center and our extreme right, where their immense force had succeeded in maintaining the advantage won from usin the morning, a strong effort was made to dislodge us on the immediate right and left of the road, and a battery of heavy guns, strongly supported by infantry, was moved down the road to within a short distance of our lines. his movement was unobserved, owing to the dense woods on both sides of the road; the road itself at this point turning suddenly to the right secured them an wnobserved advance, and the movement was not detected until they opened upon our thinned ranks a murderous fire of shell, grape, and canister. On the immediate right of the road the Iirst Louisiana and Twenty-second Georgia were still posted, supported by Colonels [William J.] Clarke’s and [S. D.] Ramseur’s regiments of North Carolina troops, ordered up by General Ransom, and bravely maintained their position. On the left of the road the enemy made a vigorous attack, and under cover of their battery a heavy force of infantry was advanced upon Colonel Rutledge’s command, who received their fire with great coolness and obstinately disputed their farther approach.

As soon as the enemy’s battery opened upon us I ordered Capt. Frank Huger, with a section of his battery, to advance upon the left of the road, and under cover of a point of woods to bring his guns into action at a point about 800 yards distant from the enemy’s battery. This movement was executed with great celerity, and, suddenly unmasking his guns from behind the point of weods, Captain Huger opened a well-directed fire upon the enemy’s battery, which in a very few minutes disabled their guns and drove them from the field. Captain Huger advanced his battery, upon the retreat of the enemy, to within a few rods of the position recently occupied by the enemy’s guns, and poured a heavy fire upon their infantry, then concealed in the thick woods on both sides of the road.

Colonel Rutledge, with his own and Major Sturges’ (‘Third Georgia) regiment, had not only maintained his position on the left of the road, but had with these two small regiments actually advanced upon and driven the enemy. at least 3,000 strong, back to the line of their abatis, in the rear of Schurm’s burnt house.

On our extreme right the enemy still maintained their position in the heavy woods about 400 yards in advance of King’s School-House and not more than 1,000 yards in advance of our line of rifle pits. Colonel Doles, Fourth Georgia Regiment, supported by Colonel Hill’s North Carolina regiment, was ordered to advance, engage the enemy, and, if possible, dislodge him from his advanced position in the woods and drive him back beyond the lines occupied by our pickets in the morning. This order was promptly obeyed by Colonel Doles, who, with his small command, now worn-out and completely exhausted by the fatigue and want of rest on the night before and the constant fight during the whole day, rushed forward and soon found themselves confronted by Sickles’ brigade, strongly posted in a thick growth of pines. The fire here for twenty minutes was furious and terrific beyond anything I have ever witnessed. But the gallant Fourth pressed on amid a deadly fire and soon the foe began to fall back.

Seizing the opportune moment a charge was ordered, and our men rushed forward, and at the point of the bayonet drove the enemy in great disorder and confusion through the woods to King’s School-House, where they were temporarily rallied for a few minutes; but another deadly volley from the Fourth Georgia, followed by a dashing charge, and the enemy fled from their position, leaving us masters of the field and in possession of a great number of prisoners, besides most of their killed and a few of their wounded.

While this last movement was progressing I had ordered the First Louisiana Regiment, now commanded by Capt. M. Nolan (LieutenantCoionel Shivers having been disabled by a wound in the right arm, received in the morning while charging across the field before alluded to), and the Twenty-second Georgia, supported by Colonels Clarke’s and Ramseur’s North Carolina troops, to advance and regain the center of our picket line, from which we had been forced to retire by an overwhelming force concentrated against us there about the middle of the day. These regiments, now sadly thinned by their severe losses of the morning, again moved up in good order, and after a feeble resistance by the enemy again took possession of our old picket lines. The day had now closed and the fight ceased, leaving us masters of the battlefield and in the identical position our pickets occupied when the enemy made the first attack in the morning.

Our troops during the whole day’s fight acted with the greatest coolness and courage, and in the morning, when we were more than once compelled to fall back, the movement was always conducted in good order and without the slightest confusion.

The operations of the enemy were conducted by General McClellan in person, and the troops engaged embraced all of Kearny’s division and a part of Hooker’s, numbering in all not less than 8,000 or 10,000. To oppose this heavy force I had my own brigade, numbering about 2,000 men, and two regiments (Colonels Rutledge’s and Hill’s) of General Ransom’s brigade, about 1,000 men, making my whole force engaged not more than 3,000 men.

The object of the enemy was to drive us back from our picket line, occupy it himself, and thereby enable him to advance his works several hundred yards nearer our lines. In this he completely failed, and although General McClellan at night telegraphed over his own signature to the War Office at Washington that he had accomplished his object, had driven me back for more than a mile, had silenced my bat- teries and occupied our camps, there is not one word of truth in the whole statement. When the fight ceased at dark I occupied the very line my pickets had been driven from in the morning, and which I continued to hold until the total rout of the Federal Army on the 29th ultimo.

In this severe and long-contested battle all our troops behaved well without exception. But without disparaging the merit of others I beg leave to bring to your notice the gallant conduct of the First Louisiana Regiment in their charge across the field early in the morning, and the very creditable manner in which Colonel Rutledge met and repulsed a whole brigade with his own and Colonel Sturgis’ (Third Georgia) regiment. The conduct of Colonel Doles’ (Fourth Georgia) regiment challenges our warmest admiration and thanks for the gallant manner in which it rallied late in the evening and drove from their stronghold the famous Excelsior Brigade.

I beg leave to suggest that in justice to these two regiments, the First Louisiana and Fourth Georgia, an order be issued authorizing them to inscribe upon their banners ” King’s School-House.”

I was greatly assisted throughout the entire day’s fight by my assistant adjutant-general, Capt. V. J. B. Girardey, whose coolness, courage, and daring intrepidity throughout the hottest of the fight entitle him to receive the warmest commendations of the Department.

I regret to add that my volunteer aide, Capt. Charles L. Whitehead, was taken prisoner late in the evening while taking an order from me to Colonel Doles, of the Fourth Georgia Regiment. The conduct of this young officer after he came upon the field in the afternoon was in an eminent degree brave, chivalric, and daring.

Our total loss in the whole day’s fight amounted to 39 killed, 223 wounded, and 11 missing. This does not mclude the loss in Rutledge’s and Hill’s regiments, which was slight, no report being made to me by them. The enemy’s loss was very severe, amounting to at least 1,200 men.

On the morning after the fight a flag of truce was sent by one Colonel [William L.] Brown, of the Twentieth Indiana Regiment, asking permission to relieve his wounded and bury his dead. I had already ordered a detail to do this, and as I did not recognize him as the proper party to send a flag, the whole matter was referred to Major-General Huger for proper action.

I herewith send you a detailed list of the killed, wounded, and missing of each regiment in this brigade.*

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,