Unknown, December 23, 1862

CAPTAIN:

I beg leave respectfully to report that, pursuant to a memorandum order, received from division headquarters at 10 p. m., December 10, I] moved, with the brigade under my command, from the camp near White Oak Church at 6 o’clock the following morning (Thursday, December 11). The men were in heavy marching order, and had been supplied with three days’ cooked rations. The baggage and supply trains had been previously packed, and were left in camp, in charge of the brigade and regimental quartermasters, with a guard composed of the convalescents of the brigade. I arrivedat the Rappahannock River at 9 a. m., and, pursuant to orders received through Captain Wood, assistant adjutant-general, massed the brigade in a grove of small timber, and stacked arms to await the completion of the pontoon bridges. Iremained in this position during the bombardment of the city of Fredericksburg.

At 5.30 p. m., pursuant to orders received through Captain Lee, acting inspector-general, I called the brigade to attention, in readiness to cross the river, but soon afterward, the order being countermanded, I took distance by the head of column and bivouacked for the night.

At 11 p.m. I received definite orders from General Gibbon in person, and at 6 o’clock the following morning (Friday December 12) marched to the river bank and halted, to await the crossing of a portion of the Sixth Army Corps. )

At 12 m., during the prevalence of a dense fog, I crossed the river on the pontoon bridge, and, pursuant to orders received through Captain Wood, assistant adjutant-general, massed the brigade in column, by battalions in line, in rear and within supporting distance of the Second and the Third Brigades, which had been deployed in two par-

*Nominal list, omitted, shows 2 enlisted men wounded, 2 horses killed, 1 wheel destroyed, and 1 gun-carriage uxle broken.

allel lines to the left, at right angles with the river. The prevailing fog slowly cleared away, and at 4 p. m., pursuant to orders received through Lieutenant Moale, aide-de-camp, I moved the brigade forward a distance of 300 yards, and changed front to the right, conforming to a similar movement of the first and the second lines of the division. At this time Meade’s division passed my brigade and took position upon its left. The brigade lay upon its arms during the night.

At 10 o’clock the following morning (Saturday, December 13), pursuant to orders received through Captain Wood, assistant adjutantgeneral, I moved the brigade to the left about 400 yards, and then, changing direction to the right, advanced to the front, across a deep, wooded ravine and over an adjacent elevation of ground, to the Bowling Green turnpike. In effecting this movement the brigade was exposed to a severe tire of shell from the enemy’s batteries, planted upon the wooded heights to the front, and, in order to avoid this fire, I made a considerable detour to the left, and succeeded in reaching the position assigned me with the loss of but 3 men wounded. I then deployed the One hundred and seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel McCoy, and the One hundred and Fifth Regiment New York Volunteers, Major Sharp commanding, in two parallel lines in a plowed field, between the turnpike and the heights to the front, supporting Hall’s battery and the left of the first and second lines of the division. I deployed the Sixteenth Regiment Maine Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Tilden commanding; the Ninety-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers, Major Kress commanding, and the One hundred and fourth New York Volunteers, Colonel Prey, in three parallel lines, to the right and rear of Hall’s battery. The men were ordered to lie down, and for several hours the brigade remained without loss under a severe and constant fire from the enemy’s batteries.

At 1.30 p. m. the brigades of General Taylor and Colonel Lyle, comprising the first and second lines of the division, advanced in succession to the front, and opened a fire of musketry upon the enemy’s position, in the wood skirting the base of the heights.

At 1.45 p. m. I received an order from General Gibbon in person to charge to the front with my brigade, storm the enemy’s breastwork, and occupy his position. I at once deployed the One hundred and seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, the One hundred and fifth New York Volunteers, and the Sixteenth Maine Volunteers in line of battle, at doublequick, to the right of Hall’s battery, and strengthened this line by deploying the Ninety-fourth New York Volunteers and One hundred and fourth New York Volunteers in its rear in two parallel lines, with intervals of 15 paces. Having unslung knapsacks and fixed bayonets, the brigade advanced to the front under a severe fire of the enemy’s artilJery and musketry, moving steadily across the plowed field and passing through the broken lines of the Second and Third Brigades, which, with the exception of the Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteers, Second Brigade, and the Kighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers and Ninetyseventh New York Volunteers, Third Brigade, were retiring to the rear in confusion. On approaching the wood the enemy’s position was first fully developed to my brigade, and consisted of the embankment and ditches of the Richmond railway, the approaches being rendered extremely difficult by several parallel ditches, or rifle-pits, and its rear protected by thick wood, sheltering infantry supports.

As the brigade arrived upon the ground previously occupied by the Second and Third Brigades, the fire of the enemy became so incessant and galling, and so many of my men fell killed or wounded, that the front line of the brigade slackened its pace, and the men, without orders, commenced firing. A halt seemed imminent, and a halt in the face of the terrific fire to which the brigade was exposed would have been death; or, worse, a disastrous repulse. At this moment Brigadier-General Taylor came up in person, and rendered me timely assistance in encouraging the brigade to advance, and Colonel Bates, Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteers, whose ammunition had been exhausted, pranptly complied with my request that his regiment might unite with my brigade in a bayonet charge. By the strenuous exertions of the regimental commanders and other officers, the firing was nearly discontinued. The brigade resumed its advance, and as the men recognized the enemy their movement increased in rapidity until, with a shout and a run, the brigade leaped the ditches, charged across the railway, and occupied the wood beyond, driving the enemy from their position, killing a number with the bayonet, and capturing upward of 200 prisoners. These prisoners belonged principally to the Thirty-third North Carolina Regiment, including its lieutenant-colonel and several line officers, and were at once sent to the rear under a small guard. In charging over the railway, the brigade had necessarily become somewhat broken, especially as the Ninety-fourth and One hundred and fourth New York Volunteers had, in their eagerness to engage the enemy, broken through the first line of the brigade.

Leaving my aides, Lieutenants Scoville and Small, and the regimental commanders to reform the lines, { rode rapidly to General Gibbon, reported the success of the charge, and asked for further instructions. General Gibbon directed me to go on. On returning to the wood, I found that the enemy had rallied in superior force, and were vigorously pressing the front and flank of my brigade. I again rode to General Gibbon and requested support, to enable me to retain my position, and was informed that re-enforcements would shortly arrive. I applied also to Colonel Lyle, commanding the Second Brigade, and entreated him to return with his men to the assistance of my brigade, but could not persuade him to do so. While urging detached parties of men back to the wood, I was informed that General Gibbon had been wounded, and had left the field. General Taylor, of the Third Brigade, being the next senior officer, I reported to him the situation of the brigade, and was directed to withdraw it from the wood whenever its safety demanded it. Returning to the railway, I found that the enemy, in an attempt to turn the flanks of my brigade, were emerging from the wood in defiance of the shells with which Hall’s battery, to the left and rear, and Thompson’s battery, to the right and rear, were endeavoring to protect my flanks. In short, the position, which, with supporting brigade, would have been perfectly tenable, was, by the absence of any infantry support whatever, rendered simply murderous to my command. It was with real pain that I gave the order for the brigade to fall back. The officers and men received it with surprise and grief, and retired so reluctantly that the enemy was enabled to close upon the rear of the brigade and inflict a loss exceeding that incurred during the charge – itself.

As the brigade retired, most of the wounded were brought from the wood and field, but the dead were left where they fell. On again arriving at the Bowling Green turnpike, I halted the brigade, faced it about, and reformed it in line of battle, and deployed the Ninety-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers, Major Kress commanding, as skirmishers, 40 rods to the front. The enemy, however, did not endeavor to pursue the brig ide.

During the evening I sent out several parties and secured the arms, equipments, and ammunition of many of the killed and wounded, and issued to the brigade three days’ additional rations, which had been received from the supply train at camp.

At 3 o’clock the following morning (Sunday, December 14),

by order