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Our record left the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Vols. at Julian's Creek, Va., where, at eleven, A.M., April 26, 1864, it received marching orders, with instructions to forward unnecessary baggage north, and to store their camp equipage at Portsmouth, Va. At five o'clock in the afternoon the regiment embarked upon the steamer "Escort," an old-time friend in North Carolina. We left Portsmouth at five o'clock the morning of the 27th, and arrived at Yorktown about noon. Here we received our first issue of sheltertents, in preparation for the summer campaign. After marching and countermarching to deceive the enemy, we embarked upon the steamer "Winona" at Yorktown, Va., with sealed orders. For the purport of these orders, and the manner of execution, we refer to the following special report for this work, from the commander of the Brigade.

Brig.-Gen'l C. A. Heckman's Report; or The Army of the James.

Its Mismanaged Movement on the James River, and How it Ended in Disaster.

On the morning of the 26th of April, 1864, the Army of the James, composed of the Tenth Corps, Gen'l Q. A. Gillmore, and the Eighteenth Corps, Gen'l W. F. Smith, under command of Gen'l B. F. Butler, commenced moving to co-operate in the reduction of Richmond, in accordance with orders from Gen'l Grant. The fleet sailed up the York River to Yorktown. The Star Brigade,

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composed of the Ninth New Jersey and Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Seventh Mass. was sent up the peninsula near to Williamsburg, a large number of transports meanwhile sailing further up the river. This movement being designed only as a feint, the troops suddenly counter-marched and re-embarked, the whole fleet returning during the night of May 4th, to Fortress Monroe. On the morning of the 5th, the fleet sailed up the James River, the ironclads in advance, and in the evening the Star Brigade debarked at Bermuda Hundreds and marched inland one mile, to cover the landing of our army. Next morning took possession of Cobb's Hill without opposition. It is at the neck of the narrow strip of land known as Bermuda Hundreds, around which the river bends, so that our army rested both its wings on it, though they were many miles apart by water. A line of works across this neck, with its flanks covered by gunboats in the river, made it a most defensible position, and one also in which an aimless force could easily be rendered neutral by an inferior one. About 1 P.M., under orders from Gen'l Butler to "ascertain, if possible, the numbers and position of the enemy, but be sure to avoid bringing on a general engagement," my brigade moved forward to Port Walthall Junction, on the Petersburg and Richmond Railroad. We found the enemy well posted behind the railroad embankment. Our skirmishers drove their pickets back upon their main line, and the order in which they retired proved them to be regular troops. To develop their strength, a section of three-inch rifled guns opened a brisk and most accurate fire upon them, dropping its shells in the midst of their infantry, en masse. After a couple of hours manœuvring, the enemy failing to respond with artillery to our annoying practice, I was assured the force on our front was a small one (two or three regiments), and from information obtained from deserters that it was the only body of regular troops in the neighborhood, and returned to camp and reported accordingly. "The brigade being (by its orders) restricted in its movements, I put in practice a manœuvre, on which I felt considerable anxiety; viz., how it would be effected in retiring from the enemy under fire. In double line of battle they marched steadily forward until within half-musket range, then charged on the double quick to the enemy's breastwork, when the recall sounding brought them right about.

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They retired about one hundred yards, faced to the front, sent a volley into the Johnnies, again faced to the rear and steadily marching out of range, faced to the front, the rebs keeping up a steady fire, but not venturing from behind their breastwork. The movement was admirably executed, and drew expressions of admiration from the members of Gen'l Smith's staff that were present." If an immediate advance on Petersburg by one of our corps, and simultaneous with that movement an attack on Drewry's Bluff by the other corps had been made, we would have carried both points with comparatively small loss. But the great opportunity for a decisive strike was thrown away. The landing on the south side of the James had been a complete surprise; but that night the "Cockade City" slept secure, with only one small South Carolina brigade, the Washington Artillery (unserviceable for want of horses), the militia (Bates' battalion of boys, "for local defence,") and a regiment of Clingman's brigade -- a ridiculously inadequate force -- to defend it, and Butler's army of thirty-five thousand veterans in sight of its church steeples. As it was afterward ascertained, Kautz's Cavalry, who had moved (via Suffolk) simultaneously with the Army of the James, had been partially successful in cutting "the Weldon road," and the small force engaged at Port Walthall was all of Beauregard's troops, coming hurriedly up from South Carolina, that had been able to pass the break in the railroad. On the 7th a meaningless movement was made on Port Walthall, and a useless battle fought. Weitzel, it is true, destroyed several miles of railroad, but the enemy repaired it the following day, while our army remained supinely in camp. Wise, Hoke and Kemper now arrived, and formed line on Swift Creek. Beauregard arrived, and to him Gen'l Pickett turned over the command, which he had held for so many anxious days and nights. Monday, the 9th, our two corps made their first combined or even concerted movement, the operations of days before having been carried on by detached brigades and divisions. A small force of rebel infantry, with a section of Whitworth guns, was encountered at Swift Creek, three miles from Petersburg. The Star Brigade was deployed in two lines of battle on the right and left of the road. They fired a round over our heads, fell back to the next hill, and so continued to fire and fall back until we had arrived

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within three hundred yards of Arrowfield Church. Here they appeared in strong force, and assumed a vigorous offensive. I was about to relieve my front line with the second, but, instead, closed up, instructing my colonels to fire at a given signal. The Confederates came on in splendid style with the peculiar "rebel yell" till within forty yards of our line, when our crushing volley swept them over the brow of the hill and across the creek into the arms of their comrades who were holding a redoubt which covered the ford. It was a gallant charge and a bloody repulse. Capt. Leroy Hammond, mortally wounded, and a prisoner in our hands, when told that the troops who were opposed to the Confederates were the "Star Brigade" composed of the Ninth New Jersey, and Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regts., remarked "that it was a striking coincidence that two regiments of the attacking force, the Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Seventh South Carolina, should have met two regiments of the same numbers from her most inveterate enemy -- Massachusetts." "The attack would not have been made," he said, "but for the idea that our troops were ninety days' emergency men, and certainly the timorous movements of our army since the landing gave some reason for such an opinion." On no other hypothesis could the enemy account for our failure to advance. For the next four or five days, while our enemy was marching hither and thither in the open county, the time was improved by Beauregard in hurrying up troops and getting them well in hand. From Drewry's Bluff he suggested to Gen'l Bragg "that Gen'l Lee should fall back to the defensive line of the Chickahominy, or even to the immediate lines of Richmond, sending temporarily to this place fifteen thousand of his troops. Immediately on this accession to my present force I would take the offensive and attack Butler's army vigorously. Such a move would throw me directly upon Butler's communications, and, as he now stands, on his right flank, well towards the rear. Gen'l Whiting should also move simultaneously. Butler must then necessarily be crushed or captured, and the stores of that army would fall into our hands." This was written on the 14th. Let us now see how well the plan was carried out. Our army at this time was facing north, and operating more immediately against Fort Darling, having, on the

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very day that Beauregard's dispatch is dated, driven the enemy within his works. The enemy held a strong line of works, extending from Fort Darling on our right to the Appomattox on our left, and threatening us, instead of our threatening them -- we being in an essentially false position. The Star Brigade held the extreme right of our line, "at the base of Drewry's Bluff and within half musket range of their outer earthwork," with an unoccupied space of one and a quarter miles between it and the river. This was the most important part of our line, as it covered the shortest route to our base and supplies on the James. On the morning of the 15th there was a scattered musketry fire, with an occasional volley. In the afternoon it was perfectly calm. The unusual quietness of an enterprising enemy was suspicious, and having learned that he had been reinforced by Anderson's corps of Lee's army, it became apparent that Beauregard meant to attack us while our faulty position offered such an excellent opportunity for an effective stroke. With our glasses we saw President Davis, Beauregard and other general officers, reconnoitring our position, and from deserters we learned that a plan of attack was being made, the troops selected for the assault even being named. This state of affairs I in person reported at division and army headquarters, with a request for reinforcements to occupy the all-important space between my right and the river. "After reporting to Gen'l Weitzel, at his request I started, Capt. Belger accompanying me," for Gen'l Smith's quarters, but being wrongly directed I rode into Gen'l Butler's, and, before I was able to beat a retreat, Maj. Kensel appeared at the door and said that Gen'l Butler wished to see me. With my verbal report, I gave to the General a rough diagram of the position of both forces in my end of the line. He seemed to be impressed with the importance of my request, and I expected the needed reinforcements. Just at this moment Gen'l Smith came in, and Gen'l Butler gave him the substance of my report. I was impressed with the thought that my irregular transmission of information had more effect upon him than the information itself. He, however, visited my line, and seemed to realize that there was solid ground for my apprehension. Later in the afternoon two sections of Columbiads and one section of twenty-inch rifled guns, under command of Capt. Belger, were sent to

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cover the gap, and subsequently withdrawn, for safety. "They were captured the next day." Afterward a squadron of the Eleventh Penn. Cavalry were sent to guard the space on my right that should have been occupied by a brigade of infantry with artillery. Being thus denied the reinforcements so sorely needed, and unable to procure wire for the protection of my front, "but with which the whole line to my left was amply supplied," preparations were at once made to meet the attack we were assured would be made before the rising of another sun. A breastwork of such material as could be gathered was quietly and hastily thrown up, so that the position, so essential to the safety of our army, should be defended to the last. On my right and well thrown forward was posted a strong picket line, the men grouped in fours in gopher holes, with the right resting on a farm-house, fully one mile on our right front, under command of Capt. Lawrence of the Ninth New Jersey, who was instructed to give a vigorous resistance to any force coming against him. At midnight the rebs moved out from their works, massing strongly on our extreme right, and just before daylight, having obtained position, rushed with great impetuosity on our pickets, but after a desperate struggle were forced back by the gallant Capt. Lawrence, and day broke (thanks to the vigilance and gallantry of the Star Brigade) with our lines still unbroken. Shortly after dawn a dense fog suddenly enveloped us, completely concealing the enemy from our view. Five picked brigades in column debouched from the enemy's works, and, rapidly advancing, drove in our pickets, pressing up on a run to our main line. Hearing their approach, my brigade swept instantly into line, and steadily awaited their coming. When only five paces intervened between the rebel bayonets and our inflexible line a simultaneous scorching volley swept into the faces of the exultant foe, smiting hundreds to the earth and hurling the whole column back in confusion. Five times, encouraged and rallied by their officers, that magnificent rebel infantry advanced to the attack, but only to meet and be driven back by those relentless volleys of musketry. Finding it impossible to succeed by a direct attack they now changed front, and attempted to crush my right, held by the Ninth New Jersey, but here, too, the right wing having been reserved, they were met by a galling

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fire, and again for a moment faltered. But soon they once more advanced in column by brigade, and the Star Brigade, being without artillery and withal vastly outnumbered, was, for the first time in its history, compelled to fall back and take up a new position. While this movement was being executed, -- the Ninth already in position, -- my staff being engaged in other parts of the field, I passed along to the left of the Ninth to a point I supposed to be occupied by the Twenty-Third, but found instead an approaching line of battle. Taking it to be reinforcements, I ordered them to wheel to the right and charge, and at the next moment discovered that they were "graybacks," and at nine A. M. of the 16th, I was a guest at the Hotel de Libby. I never at any other time experienced such musketry fire as on that day. It was one incessant volley, and its terrible fatality may be judged from the fact that the enemy acknowledged a loss of four thousand five hundred on my front alone; and I lost nearly all my field and line officers, either killed or wounded. Many others joined me at Drewry's Bluff and accompanied me up the river to Richmond. The result of the campaign which culminated in this battle was a source of great congratulation to the enemy. Not only was the threatened danger to Petersburg and Richmond averted, but the pressure on their lines of communication was relieved; and Butler, besides suffering a terrible loss, was shut up and held inactive by a comparatively small force. Had Gen'l Whiting moved out of Petersburg with his ten thousand men as directed, the Army of the James could not have escaped destruction. The ultimate results: The spoiling of Grant's plan of campaign, the transfer of the Army of the Potomac to the south of Richmond; the siege of Petersburg; the bloody struggle for the Weldon road, all these, with their enormous losses of life and property, are the sadder to think of when it is remembered that it was all caused by the incompetent handling of the Army of the James, composed of two veteran corps, the equal of any in the United States armies. Gen'l Grant laid the onus of the failure on Gen'l Butler in a caustic paragraph of his official reports; the press and the histories of the war blame him, with the severest language, and even now the nation at large call him "bottled-up Butler."

It would hardly be satisfactory to the Twenty-Seventh or

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its friends to neglect to mention their part in these important movements narrated by Gen'l Heckman, even at the risk of repetition. After reaching Bermuda Hundreds, landing was effected without opposition, the Twenty-Seventh advancing a mile, and bivouacking in a wheat-field. At six A.M., Friday, May 6th, the regiment started for Cobb's Hill, seven miles distant. The morning was cloudless, and the winding, sandy road was soon strewn with blankets, coats and shoes, which the heat and toil of the way made unendurable. No enemy was discovered, and by noon we halted at Cobb's Hill, near a deserted signal-tower. Our forces at once commenced the construction of a line of fortifications from "Point of Rocks" to "Dutch Gap Bend," four miles distant, leaving a large, irregular peninsula in our rear, capable of easy defence, and every way suitable as a basis for intended operations. The Army of the James consisted of the

Eighteenth Army Corps, Maj. Gen'l W. F. (Baldy) Smith commanding.

First Division, Maj. Gen'l ---- Brooks.

Second Division, Maj. Gen'l Godfrey Weitzel.

Third Division, Brig. Gen'l Edward W. Hincks.

The Tenth Army Corps, Maj. Gen'l Q. A. Gillmore commanding, with three divisions under command of Gen'ls Ames, Terry, and Turner. The whole force numbered about thirty-four thousand men, under command of Maj. Gen'l B. F. Butler. The Twenty-Seventh was of the Second Division, Eighteenth Corps, and, as previously stated, under command of Brig. Gen'l C. A. Heckman.

At four P.M., Gen'l Heckman, under orders to develop the enemy's force and position, advanced his brigade, with Companies A and H of the Twenty-Seventh as skirmishers, supported by the regiment in close column. Passing through light timber-land, and over a ravine beyond an old mill,

[image: (map) Map Bermuda Hundreds and Vicinity. For the History of the Twenty-Seventh MAss. Regt.]

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they encountered and followed the enemy's pickets, emerging into an open field known as the "Mary Dunn Farm," in full view of the junction of the Richmond and Petersburg, and Port Walthall branch railroads. The skirmish line advanced so rapidly the column had difficulty in keeping supporting distance, the Ninth New Jersey jocosely remarking, "The Twenty-Seventh skirmishers must be trying to connect with the "Richmond Express." As the main column emerged from the woods, a train of cars arrived loaded with rebel troops, who, dismounting, advanced a line of skirmishers towards our position. The main body of the enemy attempted to show their coolness by going through the manual of arms upon the field. Seeing this, Capt. Sandford with Company H, pressed forward at double-quick, followed by Capt. Dwight with Company A as a "reserve for skirmishers." Slowly and regularly the opposing skirmishers gave way to Capt. Sandford's impetuous advance, showing by their regular movements we were contending with veterans. After crossing a ravine, our skirmishers encountered a severe fire, the enemy using the banks and fences skirting the railroad as parapets. Capt. Dwight with Company A advanced to their relief, and by courage and coolness enabled the skirmishers to retire to the ravine without material loss.

The Twenty-Seventh advanced in line of battle across the field to the ravine in support of the skirmishers, where the regiment opened fire. The remainder of the brigade formed en echelon, the Twenty-Fifth Mass. supporting the Twenth-Seventh Regiment, with the Ninth New Jersey and Twenty-Third Mass. to the right and left. Howard's Fourth U. S. Battery opened with shell upon the enemy, but were replied to with musketry only, one ball taking off a part of Gen'l Heckman's little finger, and killing his horse. An "Aid" dismounted, offering the general his horse, with which he returned to his position, amid the cheers of his

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brigade. For an hour a sheet of fire crowned the summit of the railroad and fence, sweeping our position, while the fire of the Twenty-Seventh covered the field with a dense cloud. The brigade moved forward, the Ninth New Jersey and Twenty-Third Mass. opening fire near the foot of the hill, while the gallant old Twenty-Fifth stood in reserve, receiving unanswered the galling fire. The sun had long been below the horizon, when Gen'l Heckman, satisfied that the enemy was present in small force and that without artillery, ordered the recall.

It was a keen disappointment to his veteran troops, and to retreat in order under such a fire, tested, as no other movement could, the courage and discipline of the brigade. Being farthest to the front, the Twenty-Seventh was now the rear guard, and facing to the rear, loaded as they retired with measured steps; then faced to the front and fired, repeating the movement until beyond range of the enemy. This was witnessed by members of Gen'l Smith's staff, and drew from them and the commanding general expressions of unqualified praise. The astonished enemy made no attempt to follow. Our force reached Cobb's Hill about ten o'clock P.M. The Union loss was eight killed and sixty wounded, and that of the Confederates, as reported by the rebel general, Hagood, two killed and thirty-one wounded. Gen'l Hagood also says this force consisted of the Twenty-First and Twenty-Fifth South Carolina Regiments under command of Col. Graham of the Twenty-First.

It is worthy of record that this engagement is immortalized in Confederate record as a victory, Jefferson Davis, in his "Rise and Fall of the Confederacy," saying, "We compelled them to withdraw to the shelter of their gunboats," while some Confederate poet has enshrined in verse the "Victory of Walthall."

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The loss of the Twenty-Seventh was:--

George Stevens, Company A, Williamsburg, killed.
Sergt. Alfred L. Mantor, Company B, Hawley, killed.

Wounded.
Maj. William A. Walker, right foot, slight.
Lafayette Smith, Company A, Enfield, right shoulder, fatal.
George A. Hill, Company A, Easthampton, leg, slight.
Corp. William B. Bliss, Company B, New Salem, right leg.
Alonzo J. Thomas, Company B, Shutesbury, left side.
George A. Draper, Company D, Amherst, abdomen, fatal.
Peter McGowan, Company D, Springfield, left thigh, slight.
Henry McCoomb, Company E, Pittsfield, both thigh and groin, severe.
Charles L. Nye, Company E, Lee, right shoulder.
A. Gilmore, Company F, Otis, right leg, severe.
Henry J. Pulsifer, Company G, Chicopee, right thigh, severe.
Leverett Clark, Company H, Newburyport, right arm, flesh.
John O. Erwin, Company H, Adams, groin, severe.
George McGue, Company H, Adams, left arm.
Corp. Newton Wallace, Company I, Holland, face, flesh wound.
Dorr R. Bruce, Company K, Longmeadow, abdomen, fatal.

Total: Two killed and sixteen wounded,

Comrade Stevens of Company A was on temporary service with the ordnance officer, and, in a moment of leisure, was permitted to take the officer's horse, to visit the front. He unfortunately ran into an ambush, and the horse returned a few moments later without a rider. His body was not recovered.

May 7th an advance was made by our forces to destroy the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. Burnham's Brigade of Brooks's Division, occupied the centre, with Heckman's Brigade supporting its left by way of Walthall Junction, and two brigades of the Tenth Corps supporting its right flank by the Chesterfield turnpike. The Twenty-Seventh again

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took the advance by the route of the night previous, reaching the Dunn farm about nine A.M. without opposition. The enemy were present with increased force, Hunton's, Barton's, and Gracie's rebel brigades, with artillery and cavalry, resisting our advance. Our artillery was placed in front of the "Mary Dunn house," while the brigade rested in double column half distance at its rear. An artillery duel was maintained the entire day, with a loss to our brigade of nine wounded, of which five were from the Twenty-Seventh Mass. The following was our list of wounded:--

Capt. Charles D. Sandford, North Adams; thigh; slight.
John Richards, Company C, Hatfield; face and chest; slight.
Charles Walker, Company C, Easthampton; finger; slight.
Malachi Horner, Company F, Southwick; back; slight.
Elijah W. Knight, Company H, Springfield; back; slight.

The heat of the sun was intense, and, with the suffocating, sulphurous clouds, taxed our endurance to the utmost, fifty of our regiment suffering from sunstroke. At our right, Gen'l Brooks was heavily engaged, and succeeded in reaching and destroying a mile of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad during the day, after which the column retired once more to camp at Cobb's Hill.

It is hard to say why these repeated warnings were given the enemy, or why opportunity was afforded them for concentration and defence. A surprise could not have been more perfect, or promised more glorious results. The available forces of Richmond had been hastened to oppose the "Army of the Potomac" -- which had crossed the Rapidan, May 4th; Gen'l Beauregard had delayed departure from Charleston, S. C., not knowing the destination of the Tenth Corps, while all of Gen'l Pickett's available force was two hundred miles distant, before the fortifications of New Berne, when the Army of the James first landed at Bermuda Hundreds. Not a man could be spared from

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the conflict with Gen'l Grant; Gen'l Pickett's forces, leaving New Berne at noon, the 6th, could not have reached Petersburg before the night of the 8th, had sufficient transportation been at their command; and Gen'l Beauregard, with his distance and the devastating work of Gen'l Kautz, at Stony Creek, must have been considerable later. The movements of the 6th and 7th gave satisfactory evidence of the great weakness of the enemy still the Army of the James, with its thirty-four thousand men and able commanders, were ordered, for ten days, to dally with insignificant forces, till, gathering strength from distant fields, the enemy availed themselves of the delay, and "bottled up" our entire force within the prisons of Richmond, or the narrow confines of Bermuda Hundreds.

We append so much of Gen'l Grant's instructions as bear upon the movements of the Army of the James, for the information of our readers.

Fortress Monroe, Va., April 2, 1864.

General:-- . . . You will collect all the forces from your command that can be spared from garrison duty -- I should say not less than twenty thousand effective men -- to operate on the south side of the James River, Richmond being your objective point. To the force you already have, will be added ten thousand men from South Carolina, under Maj. Gen'l Gillmore, who will command them in person. Maj. Gen'l W. F. Smith is ordered to report to you, to command the troops sent into the field from your own department.

Gen'l Gillmore will be ordered to report to you at Fortress Monroe, with all the troops on transports, by the 18th instant, or as soon thereafter as practicable. Should you not receive notice by that time to move, you will make such disposition of them and your other forces, as you may deem best calculated to deceive the enemy as to the real move to be made.

When you are notified to move, take City Point with as much force as possible. Fortify, or, rather, intrench, at once, and concentrate all your troops for the field as rapidly as you can. From

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City Point directions cannot be given, at this time, for your further movements.

The fact that has already been stated -- that is, that Richmond is to be your objective point, and that there is to be co-operation between your force and the "Army of the Potomac" -- must be your guide. This indicates the necessity of your holding close to the south bank of the James River as you advance. Then should the enemy be forced into his intrenchments, in Richmond, the Army of the Potomac would follow, and, by means of transports, the two armies would become a unit.

All the minor details of your advance are left entirely to your direction. . . . .

U. S. Grant, Lieut. Gen'l.
Maj. Gen'l B. F. Butler.

Sunday, May 8th, the regiment rested in camp, funeral services being held for our slain, by Chaplain Woodworth. On the 9th a general movement was made, the Twenty-Seventh again in advance, with Companies E and I as skirmishers. On reaching the battle-field, Surgeon Fish discovered a member of the Forty-Eighth New York Regiment who had been wounded severely, the 7th inst., and who, being left by his comrades, had succeeded in hiding himself in the underbrush. Here he had remained two days without food or water, unable to move, surrounded by the enemy and by forest fires which had burned close to his hiding place. When once more in the hands of friends, the poor fellow's joy knew no bounds. It was a keen pleasure to relieve his wants and attend him to the ambulance.

Beauregard had now taken command of the rebel forces, consisting of six brigades from North Carolina, four brigades from Charleston, S. C., and the garrisons and reserves of the Richmond and Petersburg fortifications. The demands on Gen'l Beauregard required the division of his force for the protection of Richmond, on the north, and Petersburg, on the south; our position cutting his communication, and affording opportunity of defeating each army in detail. The turnpike

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before us crossed the railroad and ran due south through a wooded, undulating country, and crossed Bakehouse, Swift and Oldtown Creeks, before reaching Petersburg, six miles distant.

After a short rest our skirmishers moved down this turnpike, cutting their way through tangled underwood, behind which the enemy, with skirmishers and artillery, contested our advance. The Twenty-Seventh moved forward in column by companies, till within a short distance of Arrowfield Church, when the stubborn resistance to our skirmishers necessitated the deploying of Company B for their assistance. Col. Lee now formed the Twenty-Seventh upon the right of the road, with orders to advance as rapidly as possible, in doing which, the enemy were developed in considerable force near Arrowfield Church, and a hard fight at once began. Gen. Heckman ordered the Twenty-Fifth Mass. to the left of the road, supported by the Twenty-Third Mass. and the Ninth New Jersey, to the support of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment, when we again attempted to advance, but were met with a galling fire of canister and musketry. Howard's U. S. Battery was brought into position upon the turnpike and a second line of battle formed in our rear. An earthwork of the enemy across Swift Creek soon placed Howard's Battery hors de combat, and, as it rushed to the rear, caused the second line to waver, supposing Heckman's Brigade had been defeated. Volley upon volley came in quick succession from the front, and cheer upon cheer through the thickets of brush, as the contest waged nearer, each assuring them that Heckman's Brigade was invincible still.

We were face to face with Beauregard's veteran troops, with the inspiration of his presence, and the advantage of position, and (as we afterward found) with a liberal supply of liquor to incite them to combat. Strange that the enemy were so long in learning that men steeped in liquor

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could not cope with courage inspired by a cool head and well-balanced mind. New Berne gave evidence of the same inordinate use of liquor previous to and during the engagement. It is stated on good authority that the enemy often mixed gunpowder with the liquor to increase the intoxication to frenzied madness.

For an hour the tide of battle swept the field, our force slowly closing upon the enemy's position. Our line stood somewhat like a V across the turnpike, the right of the Twenty-Seventh well advanced in a scattering growth of pine, while the left of the Twenty-Fifth was also advanced and mostly concealed in a thicket of bushes. Suddenly "a rebel yell" rose above the din of conflict, and from the east of the road, four columns deep, came Hagood's South Carolina Brigade, at double quick, charging directly upon us. It was a grand spectacle, that line of gray-clad soldiers in solid column charging against our merciless fire. Yelling like demons, onward they came with a courage worthy a nobler cause, and deserving a better fate. If Massachusetts has reason to cherish the memory of her victorious sons upon that field, no less has South Carolina to revere the self-sacrifice and daring of her defeated troops.

These moments, fraught with momentous consequences, found the Star Brigade firm and reliant. "Steady, men! Steady! Cease firing until ordered!" rang along our line; and as a grim and silent wall of adamant we awaited the shock. At twenty yards the order, "Fire!" was given, and a zigzag flame swept along the line upon the foe, and with the second volley, the charging column melted into a disorganized mass in precipitate retreat. The Ninth New Jersey in our rear cheered lustily over the enemy's defeat, and started to charge; which Lieut. Col. Bartholomew's willing spirit construed into a general order, and, with the left wing of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment, charged upon the enemy, driving them from the field. The entire force

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now advanced, and as Gen'l Heckman came up to Col. Bartholomew he good-naturedly exclaimed, "Colonel, what are you doing here?" During the battle, the firing of the Twenty-Seventh had been so rapid that Gen'l Heckman expressed a fear we were wasting ammunition, and Col. Bartholomew now replied, "General, what do you think now about the Twenty-Seventh wasting ammunition?" Gen'l Heckman replied -- patting the colonel and a private on the shoulder -- "You've done well! You've done well!"

The whole field was strewn with the dead and dying, forty-nine dead lying on a space sixty by one hundred and fifty feet, while one company of the Twenty-Seventh South Carolina Regiment left forty-two of its number upon the field. Hagood's Brigade consisted of the Seventh, Eleventh, Twenty-First, Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Seventh South Carolina regiments, and the last two were pitted against the same numbers from Massachusetts, in which the former were ingloriously defeated. Mudsills versus chivalry! Hunt's Battery D, Fourth U. S. Artillery, was brought into position, covering a redoubt across Swift Creek, from which the enemy were shelling the ambulances under Surgeon Fish. The duel lasted till sundown, when the enemy's battery was silenced, and our forces were left in victorious possession of the field. The sad work of ministering to the wounded and dead was continued far into the night, Arrowfield Church being used as a hospital. Capt. Leroy Hammond of the Twenty-Seventh South Carolina Regiment lay mortally wounded upon the field. Finding with whom he had contended, he exclaimed, "That's strange! South Carolina has met and been defeated by her most hated foe;" adding, "We were assured there was nothing but raw recruits from Massachusetts in front; had we known you were veteran troops, we should not have charged; it was like retribution."

We shall not soon forget the surprise with which the

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enemy received the comforts our scanty supplies afforded, even the cup of cold water to assuage the thirst of ebbing life. As Col. Lee stooped over a dying man, and bestowed such attention as was possible, the man, with an effort, said, "Our -- officers -- wouldn't -- do -- that; Colonels -- don't -- care -- for their -- men." The night was cold and chill, the church and grounds resounding with the groans of the wounded and dying, while the sturdy men of Heckman's Brigade were busy gathering and relieving a foe, who but two days previous, on another field, had neglected our comrades and permitted their bodies to be mutilated by hogs. The loss of the Twenty-Seventh in this engagement was:

Killed.

Company B. -- Corp. Nathaniel B. Twitchell, Athol, shot through the head; Charles W. Wheeler, Jr., Greenfield, shot in the breast; Nelson G. Wood, Athol, shot in both lungs and abdomen.

Company G. -- Corp. Richard Curry, Fall River, shot in the breast.

Company H. -- Levi Holden, Haverhill.

Wounded.

Company A. -- Frederick Klisner, Hatfield, back, slight; John M. North, Northampton, head, fatal.

Company B. -- Sergt. Daniel W. Larned, Athol, foot, slight; Corp. Horatio W. McClellan, Athol, thigh, fatal; Joseph Briggs, Leverett, arm, flesh wound; George Britton, Erving, lost finger; Alvin King, Orange, hand.

Company C. -- Corp. John Shoals, Amherst, groin; Aaron A. Terry, Orange, fatal.

Company D. -- Sergt. Franklin Elwell, Hadley, right thigh, severe; Corp. George A. Griffin, Pelham, shoulder, flesh wound; Eugene P. Hervey, Amherst, face; William J. Hopkins, Amherst, a bullet in right eye, destroying the eye; Maxon G. Healey, Braintree.

Company E. -- John G. Bickley, Lee, face and foot; Egbert Garfield, Monterey, abdomen.

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Company F. -- Lieut. Pliny Wood, Westfield, left thigh, fatal; Bennett Aldrich, Southwick, leg, flesh wound; Lester D. Hanchett, Westfield, thigh; Edwin D. Jones, Blandford, foot; Edwin Stevens, Southwick, thigh fractured.

Company G. -- John W. Whitcomb, Blandford.

Company H. -- Willard A. Thompson, Bernardston, Vt., groin.

Company I. -- Seth Brown, Palmer, leg, slight; Solomon Rhodes, Belchertown, arm, slight.

Company K. -- Sergt. John Lambert, Springfield, shoulder, slight; Corp. Charles Geckler, Springfield, chest, flesh wound; Maurice Bishop, Plainfield, knee and abdomen, fatal; Hervey H. Converse, Stockbridge, leg, flesh wound; James Dimpsey, Ware, left leg, flesh wound; William W. Loomis, Chester, shoulder; Jonathan D. Miller, Springfield, right lung, fatal.

Total loss five killed and thirty-two wounded.

At the close of the engagement Gen'l Heckman retired for instructions, leaving the brigade under command of Col. H. C. Lee. The night passed quietly along our front, but with a sharp engagement some distance to the right. At ten o'clock the 10th, orders were received to retire and we reached Cobb's Hill late in the afternoon without incident. A body of the enemy massed on the extreme left of the Tenth Corps, as they retired, resulting in a sharp engagement, lasting several hours. At the close of this engagement, Gen'l Bushrod Johnson appeared with a "flag of truce," asking for permission "to bury their dead;" for an exchange of wounded; and for a general exchange of prisoners. To this Gen'l Butler replied: "We have buried your dead, and we willingly assent to an exchange of the wounded, but we cannot agree to exchange others, until you consent to acknowledge colored soldiers as prisoners of war." To this the rebel emissary would not submit. Insolence and barbarity had been heaped upon the unfortunate black captured in Union uniform or with arms. Many had been reduced to slavery, or with "ball and chain" forced to work on the

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enemy's fortifications, and punished with instant death if they refused. In a time of grave emergency, their fortunes and resources had been freely offered the United States government as active allies against or within the rebel lines, and anything short of this decision would have been the basest ingratitude. Hard as it bore upon white prisoners in rebel hands, and terrible as its consequences were to our own regiment, there was no other honorable course open to a humane government in behalf of those who wore its uniform.

Of those who fell at Arrowsfield Church there was one who deserved a passing notice.

Lieut. Pliny Wood.

Uncle Pliny, as he was best known, enlisted from Westfield as first sergeant of Company F. He was promoted to second lieutenant Jan. 2, 1862, and first lieutenant May 2, 1863. Upon the organization of the Tenth Mass. Regt. he was chosen as first lieutenant by the Westfield company, and went with them to camp. Governor Andrew, however, commissioned another, much to the disgust of the company, many of whom refused to muster for service. The town of Westfield justified her volunteers in this protest, and held an indignation meeting over the failure to commission Lieutenant Wood.

He was a man of courage, tact and good humor, and seemed best satisfied when engaged in active service. He was wounded severely at Roanoke Island, but returned to service, running the enemy's batteries that he might join his regiment then under siege at Washington, N. C. With twenty men he captured an equal number of rebel cavalry, with their horses, arms and equipment, above Plymouth, N. C., and measured strength with one of the enemy at Gun Swamp, bringing his foe from his hiding place a captive. At the time he received his fatal wound, he was with his

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men in the thickest of the fray, and, as he fell, said calmly to Capt. Moore, "They've got me, Captain!" The ball pierced his left thigh, requiring a socket amputation, which proved fatal May 31st. "Uncle Pliny's" commission was no bar to intimacy and sympathy with his command, for he often stood between the shortcomings of his men and their just deserts. Many of their pranks were sworn secrets with him, and were in safe-keeping so long as the record of the guilty ones was otherwise unexceptionable. He holds a warm place in the memory of all his comrades.

May 11th the regiment remained in camp at Cobb's Hill and Gen'l Heckman improved the opportunity to issue the following congratulatory order:--

Headquarters 1st Brigade 2d Division 18th Army Corps.
In the Field, May 11, 1864.
General Order, No. 24.

The General commanding takes great pleasure in returning to the gallant officers and men of his command his thanks for the noble manner in which they have discharged their duties since the opening of the present campaign. The enviable reputation which they had attained has been sustained in a noble and creditable manner; and the commanding general would not only do great injustice to his feelings, but to the officers and men of his command, did he fail to notice it. The fatigue and privation suffered without a murmur are but characteristic of the brigade; and the punishment inflicted upon the rebels is one of the many lessons that will ever cause them to remember and fear the Star Brigade.

By command of
Brig. Gen'l C. A. Heckman.
W. H. Abels, A. A. G.

During the day Ezra Baker of Company D, Amherst, received a severe wound in the knee from the accidental discharge of a musket.

At sunrise the 12th, the entire army was placed in motion, this time on the direct line to Richmond. An hour after, the

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rain began to fall in torrents, continuing almost unremittingly till the night of the 15th. The Twenty-Seventh Regiment advanced in line of battle, reaching the Richmond turnpike about nine o'clock, when the enemy opened upon our advance for half an hour. After halting until one o'clock, P.M., we marched some distance to the right, and, advancing a mile, skirmished sharply with the enemy until night, when they disappeared. Drenched to the skin, we bivouacked in the woods with such shelter from the rain as could be devised, our position commanding a view of the surrounding country. Before us was a marshy, densely-timbered region, through which flowed Proctor's and Kingsland's Creeks, and, high above the forests, was the rebel flag at Drewry's Bluff, three miles distant.

At two P.M., the 13th, the regiment moved to the left and advanced into the dripping forests, in a direct line for Drewry's Bluff. Our skirmishers sharply engaged the enemy, closely supported by the regiment in line of battle, through an undulating country, interspersed with fine plantations, swales, and thickets, until late in the evening, when in a bewildering darkness, Companies C and F, under Capt. Moore, were advanced as pickets. Early the 14th these companies, as sharpshooters, with sixty rounds of ammunition, advanced, driving the enemy through the woods into a field covered with abattis, to within three hundred yards of Fort Stevens, where, with such defences as the abattis afforded, they commenced the work of the next two days. The regiment moved to their support under a sharp artillery fire, taking position under cover of a low terrace or elevation, near the edge of the timber. As often as the sharpshooters exhausted their ammunition, they were relieved, bringing their wounded with them. The 14th and 15th were days of intense excitement and of ingenious devices to decoy the enemy's sharpshooters, who, like ourselves, were lying behind logs or stumps, watching for some luckless head

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to peer from its hiding place. A shout as of a charge or order to advance is given, and the Johnnies' heads come up to see the expected advance, when a scattering fire lays many of them low. So effectual was the work of our sharpshooters that the enemy at Fort Stevens found great difficulty in using their guns. Hats and coats were raised and mules driven upon the parapets to draw our fire, when the gunners would attempt to load their pieces, but, like the donkey, would generally perish in the venture.

Drewry's Bluff rises abruptly some two hundred feet from the James River, which here runs due east, but changes sharply to the south at Chapin's Bluff, two miles below. On the land side it slopes gradually to the south with a broken, undulating surface; the forest before it had been felled, forming an almost insurmountable abattis against approach, but allowing unobstructed range for defence. On the eastern extremity of the bluff was Fort Darling, a formidable earthwork, commanding the river and eastern approach, and supplied with the most approved munitions of war. Contiguous to this, and along the crest of the bluff, were two other strong works, guarded by a deep dry ditch, which was swept by converging guns. Between our position and Fort Darling, three lines of rifle-pits and redoubts skirted the bluff; and northerly from the fort, along the river, the woods remained standing, affording protection and secrecy for movements by the enemy. The whole formed a Gibraltar, against which the ponderous guns of our navy had vainly contended and which was destined to withstand any attack of the army.

Gen'l Butler established his headquarters at Charles Friend's house, some distance to the rear, but convenient of access to the army. After three days of skirmishing and sharpshooting, measured in part by the expending of eighty thousand cartridges by the Twenty-Seventh, and a loss to us of twenty-seven wounded, orders came, Sunday afternoon,

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the 15th, relieving and ordering us to the extreme right of the Army of the James, ostensibly for rest. Exposure and constant service at the head of the column, had told severely on the effective strength of the regiment and brigade. It was therefore with no surprise we received this order, with the assurance that it was to a less exposed position, and to less arduous service. With lightened hearts we moved to the extreme right of the Army of the James, at half musket-range from the enemy's outworks, the right of the brigade resting across the Osborn Pike, which led directly up the bluff, and its left connecting with Wistar's Brigade of Weitzel's Division.

The Star Brigade was stationed in Gregory's Woods, with the Ninth New Jersey upon the right, followed in order by the Twenty-Third, Twenty-Seventh and Twenty-Fifth Massachusetts Regiments. The Twenty-Third Massachusetts, with a portion of the Twenty-Seventh, held position along a cartpath just in the edge of the woods; while, at the left of the Twenty-Seventh and the Twenty-Fifth, the road fell to the rear, and their line followed a slight ravine. Fort Darling, on our front, was a mile and a quarter distant, while an emptied ice-pond lay just before us, and an unoccupied space of a mile and a half between our brigade and the James River. As soon as our alignment had been formed, Gen'l Heckman realized the exposed position assigned to us, and, after a careful survey, reported his fears, and received the assurance that the space between us and the James should be properly occupied. Col. Drake, at Point of Rocks, received orders during the following night to occupy this position, and immediately started with the Ninth Maine and the One Hundred and Twelfth New York Regiments, but arrived too late to avert the impending disaster. Nor was our brigade commander alone in his apprehensions of danger; every man, to the lowest private, realized it, and, with cups, plates and bayonets for spades, commenced the construction

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of defences. At the right of the Twenty-Third Regiment, and some five hundred yards in advance, and to the north of the road, was the "R. A. Willis House," which Capt. Lawrence of the Ninth New Jersey Regiment captured, and occupied as a picket station.

Late in the evening, Capt. Bailey, with Company D, of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., reported to Lieut. Col. Stewart, of the Ninth New Jersey, in command of the picket line, and was ordered to take position on the right of the "Willis House," and to extend his line to a given distance, pressing as near to the enemy as possible. In doing this three men were severely wounded by a previously established line of the Eighth Maine, at the rear. After some difficulty, Capt. Bailey reached the maine regiment, and explained who he was, and by whose orders there; but about midnight a volley from the rebels in front aroused their suspicions, leading the Maine boys to again fire upon our company. During the night, the felling of trees and movement of artillery along the James River, was plainly heard; but an incessant rattle of musketry prevented any intelligent knowledge of the enemy's movements.

The space from our right to the river, was picketed by the Eighth Maine and a squadron of Cole's negro cavalry, all of whom had been on duty forty-eight hours without relief. To entangle and delay the enemy in case of assault, Gen'l Smith suggested that wire from the telegraph lines along the turnpike be interlaced among the trees on his front. The supply of wire had been exhausted before the Star Brigade reached its new position, and hence they were without what proved to other parts of the line a valuable means of defence. Thus situated, the midnight hour ushered in our "dies iræ," a day of gloom, disaster and death for many of our regiment.

We append so much of Beauregard's official report as to show his plan and the movements made against our position.

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[Extract from P. T. Beauregard's Official Report.]

"Swift Creek, Va., June 10, 1864.

. . . "I determined . . . that our left wing, turning and hurled upon Butler's weak right, should, with crushing force, double it back upon its centre, thus interposing an easterly barrier between Butler and his base; that our right wing should simultaneously with its skirmishers, and afterward in force, as soon as the left became fully engaged, advance, and occupy the enemy, to prevent his reinforcing his right, and thus check him in front, without, however, prematurely seeking to force him far back, before our left could completely outflank him, and our Petersburg column close up on his rear; finally, that the Petersburg column, marching to the sound of heaviest firing, should impose a southern barrier to his retreat.

"Butler thus surrounded by three lines of fire, could have with his defeated troops no resource against capture or destruction except in an attempt at partial and hazardous escape westward, away from his base, his train and supplies.

"Two difficulties . . . . might impede, . . . . one was a stubborn and effective resistance, . . . . another . . . . the rapid handling of a fragmentary army. . . . . On the other hand, I reckoned on the advantage of being all in readiness at day-break, with short distances on which to operate; a long day before me in which to manœuvre; direct routes; and simplicity in the movements to be executed. . . . .

"Ransom moved at 4.45 A. M. . . . . His division consisted of the following brigades, in the order named, commencing from the left: Gracie's, Kemper's (commanded by Col. Terry), Barton's (under Col. Fry), and Col. Lewis (Hoke's old brigade). He was soon engaged . . . . capturing five stands of colors and some five hundred prisoners. The brigades most heavily engaged were Gracie's and Kemper's, opposed to the enemy's right, the former turning his flank. Gen'l Ransom then halted, to form, reported his loss heavy and troops scattered by the fog, his ammunition short, and asked for a brigade from the reserve, . . . . and re-formed his lines in the old position, near the lines he had stormed. Here his infantry rested the greater part of the day, Donorant's cavalry, dismounted, being thrown forward as skirmishers towards a small

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ridge on the edge of George Gregory's woods, north of Proctor's Creek." . . . .

The rain had ceased, and with the dawn came a dense fog, rendering objects a few feet distant undiscernible. Several times during the night, the Twenty-Seventh had been aroused by the sharp contests of our pickets in front. About half-past four, the morning of the 16th, while Lieut. Col. Bartholomew was inspecting the line, the air was suddenly rent with belching guns, and the field illuminated with a glare of flame, while shrieking, crashing messengers of death gave warning that our hour of trial had come.

Capt. Bailey, with Company D, retired before the enemy's attack, expecting, by falling to the rear of the brigade, to be able to join his regiment. His attention was attracted by hearing an unusual commotion as he neared the road, and, halting his men, he heard an order given in Confederate dialect. This revealed to him the character of the force before him; but, by making a detour towards the James River, and crossing Proctor's Creek some distance to the rear, he succeeded in eluding them and in saving his company, except Samuel A. Chapin, who was killed by a shell. From Proctor's Creek the company escorted a body of prisoners to Bermuda Hundreds, and reached camp at Cobb's Hill early in the evening.

Meantime, the enemy, in accordance with their plan, had massed Gracie's, Kemper's, Hokes and Barton's Brigades on our front, and had charged with impetuosity, but were driven back by the merciless fire of the Star Brigade. The fog materially interfered with our defence, and facilitated the enemy's movements, by permitting them to approach at close range unobserved. Three times the foe charged our position, but the fire from our lines drove them back to their intrenchments. The rebel yells, the thunderings of the artillery, the crashing of shells, and falling of limbs about us, filled the air with wildest confusion; but the answer of Heckman's

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Brigade was an incessant roll of musketry. Not a man thus far had yielded an inch, but, firm and resolute, awaited the assault, without fear of defeat; for, not a regiment in that "iron brigade" had ever turned their backs to the enemy, but had wrested victory from every field of contest.

The turning of our right, by a part of Gracie's Brigade, necessitated the changing of front by the Ninth New Jersey Regiment; but the officer who was dispatched to inform us of the movement was unfortunately killed en route. Being ignorant of any disaster to our column, and having been the third regiment in line from the right, the Twenty-Seventh Mass. had little cause to fear a rear or flank attack, without timely warning. Just as we were giving our attention to another charge against our position from the front, we were startled by a volley from the rear, with the enemy close upon us, yelling: "Lay down your arms, lay down your arms, you Yankee devils!"

It was a moment of intense anxiety for men who had never suffered a defeat; but, with cold steel, and smoking rifles front and rear, there was little encouragement to resist. When our defeat became evident, it was impossible to control the rank and file. Some, in anger and chagrin, struck their rifles across trees and stumps, bending and otherwise rendering them unserviceable to the enemy. Col. Lee was beset by a burly foe, but refused to surrender, until persuaded by a revolver at his head, in the hand of a rebel adjutant. Lieut. Col. Bartholomew when last seen by our men who escaped, was firing his revolver at the line advancing from the rear. Lieut. F. C. Wright, of Northampton, barely escaped; a musket ball spraining his ankle and tearing the heel from his boot. Before our color guards were aware of special danger, the ruthless hands of rebels had grasped the standards. Colorbearer A. A. Gage, of Monson, sought to save the "Ladies' Flag" by tearing it from the standard, when a rebel officer

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put his revolver to his head, saying: "Tear another thread, and I'll blow your brains out." Manning was decidedly belligerent over a demand for the State colors he held, while Sergt. Dickinson clung to the United States flag until it was wrested from him. At such a time there are thousands of acts of personal bravery of which we cannot speak; suffice it to say, many of our men were repeatedly captured in attempts at escape, while some turned the tables by leading their captors as captives into the Union lines. Humbling as defeats always are, there was nothing in this affecting our honor. The Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. were ordered to hold this position, and, in doing so, presented an unbroken, immovable front to the enemy, yielding nothing except as compelled by inexorable fate. Companies F, E and K were, in the order named, on the left flank of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment; and, seeing the enemy closing upon their rear, rushed to the left and gave the alarm to the Twenty-Fifth Mass. Capt. John W. Moore, the senior officer of our regiment present, assumed command of these companies, and, with Lieuts. Wright, Newell, and Harrington, rallied such other members as had escaped, and was engaged during the day, as flankers, skirmishers, and in support of our artillery. By uniting with the Twenty-Fifth Regiment, and making a determined fight, these companies aided in repelling the advance of the victorious foe, thus saving the Army of the James from a worse defeat. At five o'clock, after thirteen hours of contest, these companies were relieved, and wearily dragged their way to Cobb's Hill, where they arrived an hour before midnight. Col. Pickett, of the Twenty-Fifth Mass. Regt., assumed command of the Star Brigade after its discomfiture, and we append so much of his report as relates to our escaped companies:--

. . . "At this juncture, while marching my regiment through the woods to the rear, I was informed by Capt. W. H. Abels, Act'g Adjt. Gen'l of the brigade, that Gen'l Heckman and Col. Lee were

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both reported missing. Being senior officer, I was ordered by Gen'l Weitzel to assume command, collect the remnants of the regiments, and form the brigade in line of battle, in the open field, in the rear of the woods. The brigade was then ordered by Gen'l Smith to an elevated piece of ground on the right, in order to check the further advance of the enemy on our right flank. Remaining there about an hour, the brigade was ordered by Lieut. Graves, of Gen'l Weitzel's Staff, to move at double-quick to a turnpike, a short distance in the rear of which we supported a battery. . . . About five o'clock P. M. orders were received to withdraw the brigade, reaching camp about nine o'clock P. M. . . . The total loss of the brigade in killed, wounded and missing, from the 12th to the 16th, is six hundred and ninety-three. . . .

"J. Pickett,
Col. Twenty-Fifth Mass. Vols., Commanding Brigade.
Capt. W. H. Abels,
A. A. G., Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps."

Of the nine hundred and eighty men captured that day, six hundred were from the Star Brigade, and two hundred and forty-nine from the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. In two ranks, with a heavy guard, and a stalwart rebel, bearing our three flags, leading the column, our captured men marched over fields strewn thick with dead. Over the clash of arms was heard the agonizing wail of the wounded and dying; and when the prisoners reached the bluff, the long rows of dead and wounded lying near the fort, made it clear that the victory over our slender column had been secured at a terrible cost. The captives were marched down the steep embankment of the bluff to a steamer, and by nine o'clock were in Richmond, the butt of jests, and a gazing-stock to the curious. They were immediately marched to Libby Prison, where the officers were confined in the third, and the men in the second story of that famous gaol.

With a single attenuated line, the Union forces had enveloped those of the enemy. The advantage of position, with short distances, and direct routes, were entirely in our enemy's

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favor, while it is probable their effective strength was nearly equal to that of the Union forces present upon the field. Our line was not unlike that at Cemetery Ridge, at Gettysburg, with the armies reversed, of which Gen'l Doubleday says: "History furnishes few instances in which forces assailing such a position are not disastrously defeated unless supported by a large preponderating force." The Star Brigade, with a prophetic knowledge of the enemy's plan, had warned the commanding general of the exposed condition of our right. To remedy this defect, two regiments were ordered to occupy a front which would have required a division to hold it, and these regiments failed to arrive until after the disaster had fallen upon our men.

The enemy's attack was made substantially as planned in Beauregard's report, but failed in realizing his sanguine expectation at a point where the execution of the plan would have proved his ruin. Ransom's forces were so demoralized by their attack upon our brigade as to have been useless for the rest of the day, as admitted by Beauregard's report. As to this contest, C. T. Locher, of the First Virginia (Kemper's Brigade) writes: "I do not think it was an easy victory. The fire of the Twenty-Seventh Mass., in response to the first call to surrender, killed eight of the First Virginia. Terry's (Kemper's) Brigade, next to Gracie's, lost three hundred and fourteen killed and wounded, out of one thousand men in the assault, and Barton's Brigade, next to Terry, lost nearly as many."

The First and Seventh Virginia Regiments of Kemper's Brigade, had attacked us in the rear, while the Forty-Third and Fifty-Ninth Alabama Regiments of Gracie's Brigade, and the Twenty-Fourth and Eleventh Virginia Regiments of Kemper's Brigade, were assailing us in front. The colonel of the Forty-Third Alabama, and lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-Fourth Virginia Regiments, were killed; and the colonel of the Twenty-Fourth Virginia, and colonel and adjutant

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of the Fifty-Ninth Alabama Regiments, with the lieutenant-colonel colonel of the Sixtieth Alabama, were severely wounded. The Forty-Third and Fifty-Ninth Alabama Regiments were completely demoralized by the terrific fire, as were also the Eleventh and Twenty-Fourth Virginia Regiments. Terry's (Kemper's), Barton's and Lewis' (Hoke's) Brigades, made up Pickett's Division when they made that famous charge at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Lieut. Col. Cabell, of the Thirty-Eighth Virginia, was the only field officer of that Division who walked off that fatal field, and he fell dead this morning, as Barton's Brigade moved upon the Union line. Mr. Locher, historian of Kemper's Brigade, gives their loss that morning as fifty-five killed and two hundred and fifty-nine wounded; and adds, that of Gracie's and Barton's Brigades, must have been equally great. As these facts are all obtained from Confederate sources, they may be considered reliable, and show most vividly the desperate fight made by our men to defend their position.

As to this conflict, we present the opinion of some of those present during the day. Brig. Gen'l Weitzel, Chief Engineer of the Army of the James, said, "I never knew a better officer, or a better fighter than Heckman, either in the regular or volunteer service." The "New York Herald's" correspondent, under date of May 19, 1864, wrote, "The brigade maintained its splendid reputation, and for an hour resisted the enemy on all sides, and covered the field with dead and wounded rebels. The enemy charged upon them in over-powering numbers, and the iron men who had stood the brunt of battle for ten days, were driven from the field." The "New York Tribune" correspondent, detailing the action, mentions the rumor of our capture, but adds, "We very much doubt the truthfulness of this rumor, as Heckman's fighting brigade has always proved itself more than a match for the enemy." The correspondent of the Eighteenth Corps

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wrote: "It was a great mistake to have put men jaded by constant service, in that position, and especially Heckman's Brigade, which has been in constant service, and always in the advance, from the very moment of landing, up to the time of the attack." Capt. E. K. Wilcox of Company I, who was aide-de-camp on Gen'l Weitzel's staff, wrote: "The hardest fight I ever was in happened yesterday." Two deserters from the Eighteenth Georgia Regiment, said, "We could walk on bodies from our works to your position after the wounded were removed." Charles Weed, of Company E, Twenty-Seventh Mass., who was wounded and lay upon the field until noon, says: "When I was carried through the field to the rebel works, the wounded had been removed and laid in long winrows around the fort, while the field was covered with their dead."

C. T. Locher, the historian of Kemper's (rebel) Brigade (composed of the First, Third, Seventh, Eleventh and Twenty-Fourth Virginia Regiments), writes, under date of Sept. 28, 1882:--

"The First Virginia carried your lines where the stage road enters. After passing about one hundred yards down this road, finding nothing in our front, and hearing the firing to our right and rear, we turned towards that direction, coming across where the coffee was temptingly boiling. We stopped awhile and took some. That it was good I can testify. It was a rare treat to us. After leaving the coffee-pots we struck a line of men marked A (see sketch of field of Drewry's Bluff), who, after some talk, dropped their guns without firing. Meanwhile, the left of our regiment drew the attention of those further in their front, and lower down, marked B, who called, What regiment is that? Our reply, The First Virginia! was answered by a shotted salute, killing eight and wounding scores of our men. J. B. Angle, one of our men, saw Gen'l Heckman surrender to Col. Flouree of the Seventh Virginia."

This letter is corroborated by Col. Sandford and Lieut. Col. Troy of the Sixtieth Alabama, and Adjutant Hall of the

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Fifty-Ninth Alabama, of Gracie's Brigade. Cols. Sandford and Troy say, "They came up with many misgivings because they thought there was a battery there," as there was (Belger's) the night before. The firing at four o'clock, the 15th of May, was to feel out our lines, and they found out where they ended, then; but as our brigade moved farther towards the James during the night, where Beauregard counted on nothing, he found something.

Thus closed the day upon the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., but its shattered ranks returned to camp, "Not like the quarry slave at night, scourged to his dungeon," for they had done all that courage and manhood could do. Still, misfortune has its cruel thrusts, and the deserted quarters of our comrades were forcible reminders of the loss we had sustained. We report in detail the losses of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. at Drewry's Bluff.

Killed.
Capt. Charles D. Sandford, North Adams; shot through head.
Samuel A. Chapin, Company D, Granby; shell; head.
William M. Tymeson, Company E, Monterey.
Sergt. Joseph W. Roberts, Company F, Granville.
Joseph Doyle, Company F, Springfield.
Franklin M. Hibbert, Company F, Tolland.
Luther P. Vaille, Company F, Tolland.
Charles H. Searle, Company F, Southampton.
Robert H. Macauley, Company H, Becket.
Richard Campbell, Company K, Springfield; through breast.

Wounded.

Lieut. Frederick C. Wright, Northampton; heel.
Lieut. Sherman P. Cooley, Granville, left arm and side.

Company A.

James Adams, Williamsburg; finger amputated. Hiram A. Beach, Huntington; thumb and ankle. Edward L. Lewis, Northampton; fingers.

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Company B.

Milton N. Jillson, Athol; neck and right shoulder. Aaron Oliver, Athol; bayonet wound, foot. Ebenezer Winslow, Wendell; right foot.

Company C.

Sergt. Francis D. Avery, Charlemont; left arm and side. James J. P. Davis, Sandisfield; thigh, amputated. Orrin Jones, Deerfield; left foot. Jesse D. Comstock, Commington, right thigh. Henry H. Johnson, Northfield; left lung, fatal.

Company D.

James W. Spear, Amherst; left thigh, amputated, fatal. Nathaniel F. Manley, Springfield; both legs, fatal. Charles B. Spaulding, Amherst; left arm. Lucius D. Smith, Hadley; right knee. Josiah Wood, New Bedford; arm, amputated. Charles R. Collins, Chicopee; slight.

Company E.

Sergt. Charles H. Bligh, Pittsfield; right shoulder. Samuel S. Chapman, Lee; left knee, amputated. Daniel F. Andrews, Great Barrington; head. Joseph Dwyer, Hinsdale; hand. Benjamin W. F. Smith, Great Barrington; ear. Dennis O'Connor, Pittsfield; slight. Lewis Tatro, Douglas; knee amputated. Charles Weed, Pittsfield; both legs and groin. James Williams, Pittsfield; side, fatal. Jonas Scott, Great Barrington; fatal.

Company F.

Sergt. Chauncey Holcomb, Westfield; fatal. Sergt. George W. Cone, Westfield; arm, slight. Corp. Nathan B. Pomeroy, Westfield; breast, left arm, amputated. Hiram H. Weiser, Westfield; face, left side. Howard E. Cornwell, Southwick; right arm. Walter R. Madison, Westfield; right arm. Reuben A. Richards, Springfield; right thumb. Vernon D. Austin, Southampton; right hand. Frank W. Chamberlin, Westfield; slight. George E. Clark, Springfield; left arm, contusion. Patrick Coughlin, Chester; thigh. John Dorflin, Westfield; fatal. William A. Moody, Westfield; leg. Henry W. Soule, Tolland; slight. Henry H. Underwood, Sandisfield; right side, contusion. Peter Wilson, Southwick; slight.

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Company H.

Sergt. Francis E. Weil; right lung, fatal. Corp. Horace A. Loomis; right foot. Charles A. Odell; finger. Charles W. Coon; left foot. Nelson A. Randall; finger. Casper J. Heisler; fatal.

Company I.

Lucian J. Erwin, Brimfield.

Company K.

Jerome E. Smith, Groton; left arm, flesh wound. John Woodward, Springfield; right thigh, slight.

Prisoners.

Col. H. C. Lee.

Lieut. Col. W. G. Bartholemew.

Capt. R. Ripley Swift.

Lieuts. Joseph H. Nutting, P. W. McManus, J. Leander Skinner, John H. Judd, Justus Lyman, William G. Davis. Total, 9.

Company A.

Sergts. Henry Dickinson, Abel C. Kenney.

Corpls. Alvin W. Clark, Edmund T. Drake, Sylvester S. Hooper, Nelson H. Kingsley, Frederick Frey.

Privates Lyman B. Abbott, Richard B. Abbott, Frank Alvord, Henry Anthony, William H. Bartlett, Thomas Bolton, Thomas C. Brady, Henry Braman, Edgar C. Brewster, John Buchanan, Oliver A. Clark, John Donovan, Calvin C. Hosford, Frederick Klisner, Ed. L. Lewis, John McCaffrey, Albert Meir, Patrick Murphy, Richard Raftis, Rufus C. Robinson, Francis G. Russell, Warren E. Russell, Andrew J. Shaw, Thomas F. Smith, Charles A. Spencer, Ezra O. Spooner, Morris Stark, Frederick P. Stone, James F. Thayer, Emerson W. Torrey, Caleb F. Tufts. Total, 38.

Company B.

Sergts. Mark Rankin, Levi Bosworth, Henry H. Bush, Charles Gray.

Corpls. John Bolles, William P. Huntoon, William H. Pierce, John W. Brizzee.

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Privates James H. Allen, David Blair, Hiram Blair, John T. Bliss, Joseph Bracewell, Jr., James L. Bragdon, Charles Davis, William N. Dexter, George S. Dresser, John M. Dodge, Theo. E. Galer, Grosvenor Hollenbeck, John W. Howe, Reuben Huntoon, Norris B. Meacham, James Miller, Sylvanus E. Oliver, James H. Richardson, Samuel Rich, Asa Tilden, Charles E. Wright, Wesley A. Woodward. Total, 30.

Company C.

Sergts. Alfred D. Burdeck, Bartholomew O'Connell.

Corpls. Francis A. Loveland, John Manning, Levi Brizzee, Elijah Carter, Samuel Woffenden.

Privates Oscar C. Britt, Daniel E. Ball, George W. Bradburn, Joseph W. Blair, John Callighan, Lewis A. Drury, Chauncey L. Emmons, William R. Elder, John Fitzgerald, William Farrell, Charles W. Harvey, George Hunter, James C. Hitchcock, William Hazard, Charles T. Howard, Martin L. Jones, Frank W. Jones, Peter Le Clair, Oscar M. Loomis, Hart E. Mowry, Patrick Murphy, Mahlon M. Merritt, Joseph Nadeaux, James H. Pratt, Merrick A. Packard, Mayhew M. Phipps, Brigham S. Ripley, Joseph Richards, Isaac Spooner, Gilbert D. Streeter, John W. Woffenden, Andrew M. Witherell, Merritt E. Wright, George W. Taylor. Total, 41.

Company D.

Corp. Josiah Wood *

Privates Charles R. Collins, Ezra Kelsey, Charles A. Smith. Total, 4.

Company E.

Sergts. William H. Monnier, Otto L. Stamm.

Corp. Eldad E. Moore.

Privates Hugh Dolan, Dennis O'Connor,* Jonas Scott,* Lewis Tatro,* Charles Weed,* James Williams.* Total, 9.

Company F.

Sergt. Chauncey Holcomb.*

Privates Martin Arrenz, Milo H. Cooley, Frank W. Chamberlin,* John Dorflin,* John W. Gibbs, Chauncey P. Howe, Seth Liswell, William A. Moody,* Charles W. Roberts. Total, 10.

  [Right]    H,  A,  I,  C,  B,  G,  K,  E,  F. [Left]
[Prisoners]  28  38  47  41  30  17  15   9  10

This view of their position, in connection with the narrative, will show why certain companies lost so largely in prisoners. Our total casualties for ten days since landing at Bermuda Hundreds, was sixteen killed, one hundred and nine wounded, and two hundred and forty-eight prisoners, an aggregate loss of three hundred and sixty-one men. The effective strength of the regiment had been farther reduced since landing by detaching upwards of one hundred men, for pioneer, ambulance and other special duty; while large numbers had broken down under the severe strain, and were sick at camp or in the hospitals.

Were it possible, we would gladly record the courage and sacrifices of all who fell on that fatal morning, but we must intrust their memories to a grateful people.

There was one who fell whom we must mention, for not to do so would rob the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. of the record of one of its bravest and most accomplished officers.

Capt. Charles D. Sandford.

Charles Durand Sandford, son of our first chaplain, Rev. Miles Sandford, was born in Pontiac, Mich., March 20, 1840, from which place he moved successively to Detroit, Chicago,

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Boston and North Adams. He was fitted for college by his mother, and graduated at Williams College in 1858, at eighteen years of age, and three years later from Albany Law University. Fired by the national insult at Fort Sumter, he returned to North Adams, and enlisted a company, his name heading the list. He was commissioned first lieutenant Oct. 16, 1861, and promoted captain Dec. 7, 1861, in Company H. From first to last he was intrepid, zealous, intelligent and discreet, and his acts a heritage of lustre and fame to the regiment. Capt. Sandford was present in every action of the regiment until his death, save the siege of Little Washington, at which time he was at Plymouth. He had several engagements with the enemy with forces under his special command, notably: Gum Swamp, June 28, 1862; Core Creek, Sept. 30, 1862; and Rocky Hock Creek, March 23, 1863,--in all of which engagements he signally defeated the enemy. He was judge advocate during the summer and fall of 1862, and provost marshal of New Berne from June to November, 1863, when, by his own request, he was relieved, that he might share with his men their hardships, dangers and victories.

On account of our exposed situation, Capt. Sandford was accorded the position of honor at the right of the regiment, before Drewry's Bluff, May 15, 1864, and during the attack of the 16th magnetized his men with his invincible spirit. For an hour he stood with them, using his revolver, until, as the enemy charged the last time, he shouted, "Stand to the rack, boys; don't flinch!" when a Minie ball pierced his forehead, traversed his brain, and escaped near the centre of the back of his head. He fell across the rifle of one of his men just in the act of firing, and came heavily to the ground upon his face. He was a worthy son of his Alma Mater, of indomitable energy, finished and comprehensive scholarship, manliness and docility of character, magnanimity and sympathy of heart. With a wonderful

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memory, his knowledge of fact and detail made him an encyclopedia of reference, rarely in error. His whole-hearted consecration to his country only increased his love for literature, which was insatiable. Capt. Sandford was a Christian, too, of unostentatious, retiring piety, yet of such firm convictions as to give him decision of character and purpose. The North Adams Post No. 79, Grand Army of the Republic, has the honor to bear his name.

Of the movements of the Army of the James, Gen'l Butler writes the author, under date of June 26, 1882:--

. . . . "The plan of the campaign was agreed upon between Gen'l Grant and myself at Fortress Monroe, substantially, that with my forces organized as the Army of the James, I was to move on City Point, and take possession of Bermuda Hundreds, and fortify it so as to be able to hold it in case of disaster, and then march upon and throw my forces around Richmond on the south bank of the river, forming a junction with the Army of the Potomac, which was to drive Lee into Richmond, and thus scoop Lee and Richmond out of the Confederacy. My march to City Point was to be a surprise, and it was a surprise. When I got to City Point, I conferred with the general officers commanding the several corps, and desired that they should march on Richmond, one of them with ten thousand men, being sure that there were but few troops there, and they (the general officers) strongly opposed any such deviation from the general plan. . . . I was to take possession of the outer line of fortifications of Richmond, part of which was done the 15th of May, on which day I was to meet Gen'l Grant there, and of his movements I was to be informed. . . . On the 15th of May, when we were lying around Fort Darling, I was informed by the arrival of Gen'l Sheridan, that Gen'l Grant had altered his line of march after the battle of the Wilderness, and was moving on Cold Harbor and City Point by the left flank, instead of the right flank, as he had expected to do; and, therefore, I had nothing to do but perfect my fortifications at Bermuda Hundreds, to afford him a base of supplies.

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"The Walthall Junction movement . . . was . . . First, to impress upon the enemy that my objective point was Petersburg, and the destruction of the southern railroad system; and, second, to destroy the railroad so as to impede the march of troops and the conveyance of supplies into Richmond. There was neither the intention or expectation of taking Petersburg when the demonstration near Swift Creek was made. On the contrary, when I did think of taking Petersburg, I went on the other side of the Appomattox. The cause of the delay from May 9th to May 12th, was that I had agreed to be there on the 15th, and it was necessary to get the fortifications across the throat of the peninsula at Bermuda Hundreds in proper condition, to be able to withstand any attack.

"At the time we were attacking the fortifications around Richmond (at Drewry's Bluff), I had so heavy a force stationed near Petersburg, that, although attacked by the whole Confederate force in Petersburg (see page 270), trying to get thence to Richmond, no effect was produced on our lines. And so far as our army was concerned, we could have stayed with safety around Richmond three or four days longer. . . . . My business was done there. If General Grant could not join me there, I had nothing to do there. . . . All details were left to my judgment.

"I was sorry to learn at the time of the loss of the Twenty-Seventh, which you recall to my mind. They were good men and true, so far as I know; but it was the want of proper picket system in front of the brigade to which they were attached, and the not putting up of some defences before the line of that brigade, that caused the severe loss. It is hardly the fault of the commanding general that a brigade gets surprised (!) in a fog, especially if the precautions which he has directed have not been taken by that brigade."

At a personal interview with General Butler at the Executive Chamber, the author asked an explanation of the closing part of this letter, and received the following reply:--

Boston, March 17, 1883.

You ask an explanation as to what I refer to as defective picket system in front of Heckman's Brigade, a part of which your regiment

[image: (map) Battle-Field of Drewry's Bluff. May 1_ 1864]

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was on the morning of the 16th of May. I do not mean to say, for I do not know, that pickets were not thrown out, and perhaps they had covered themselves; of that I do not know. But I do know that in front of the line that was not surprised, and the part of the line where the surprise was repulsed, there was telegraph wire stretched about the height of a man's knee, far enough in front to entirely disorder the enemy as in the fog they tumbled over it. And the same precaution was ordered in front of Heckman's Brigade, but there no telegraph wire was stretched, and so far as I know, no impediment thrown in its place. To that I then attributed, and now upon further information I do attribute, the misfortune that happened to that brigade that morning in the fog.

Yours truly,
(Signed) Benj. F. Butler.

As Gen'l A. A. Humphrey's volume entitled "The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865," seemingly corroborates these letters, it is only necessary to say that that account is largely from reports and dispatches from Gen'l Butler, since Gen'l Humphrey was, at the time under consideration, serving with the Army of the Potomac. We have, therefore, only Gen'l Butler to reply to.

In matters pertaining to the civil war and his individual record therein, Gen'l Butler has been so accustomed to go to his imagination for his facts, and to self-interest for their confirmation, that it is hardly a source of wonder that after so terrible a defeat, he seeks to throw the odium from the commander upon the command. As to how unreliable these statements of Gen'l Butler's are, and how little he was prepared for, or has ever understood, the plan of Beauregard against him, we ask the readers to re-read Gen'l Beauregard's official report on page 270, and refer them to the sketch of the battle-field of Drewry's Bluff; appending letters from the officers commanding the right of the Army of the James, viz.: Maj. Gen'l W. F. Smith, commanding Eighteenth Army Corps; Maj. Gen'l Godfrey Weitzel, commanding

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the First Division, Eighteenth Army Corps; and Brig. Gen'l C. A. Heckman, commanding the First (Star) Brigade, First Division, Eighteenth Corps; with statements of regimental commanders.

Gen'l W. F. Smith writes under date of Feb. 7, 1883:--

"With reference to Gen'l Butler's assertion of the position taken by Gen'l Gillmore and myself as to his march upon Richmond, we have both denied it in the public prints. The denial was unanswered. Gen'l Butler was however the commanding general, and it is rather pleading the baby act, to lay claim, after the war, unsupported by one jot of evidence, for a brilliant idea which he did not carry out because his two subordinates did not see it. The brilliant ideas which are carried out by commanding generals, though in opposition to the advice of subordinates, show the military leader. Gen'l Butler, from his own showing, belongs to a different grade of military men. I was opposed to the campaign on the James River from its inception. Only one person ever knew of it. I did my duty as an honest soldier to carry out the plan, and when it failed, I told Gen'l Butler what I thought should be done."

New York, March 30, 1883.

. . . "The inherent trouble was in the position we held, and there is no blame to be attached to any one save the higher (military) powers. We had one thin line with a mile or more of country between our right and the James River. I had called attention to it, and even asked for a small body of cavalry to put in there for pickets, but could not get it. I was excessively anxious about our position, and reported that I had no reserves. I was told there were two regiments back at the "half-way house." The night before the attack, I had been out, and personally established a strong picket in a house on our right -- probably Willis' in your sketch -- and was there until midnight, thinking probable any movement the enemy would make would be against the house first. . . . I was quite prepared to lose that force if they made a fight and gave the alarm.

"When I went back to headquarters, it was beautifully clear with brilliant moonlight, which I thought favorable to us. When I was

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awakened by the firing in the morning, I had hard work to find my way to the turnpike where I made headquarters, and remained till all was over. The faulty disposition of our lines made any form of serious attack on our right a good plan, which would have occurred to any one with the slightest military experience. The whole thing, so far as the manœuvres and position were concerned, were of that character to free the troops from all responsibility in the matter. . . . As I have said before, my anxieties were very great, and two or three days before the fight I happened to observe the wire on the poles, and sent to Gen'l Brooks to take the wire down, and string it from the stumps in his front. Gen'l Brooks did not attach any importance to the wire. After the fight he came to me, rubbing his hands, saying the wire was a great thing, and that his men shot the enemy down like partridges. That was all there was in that matter. I do not think I ever reported it to Gen'l Butler. I know the idea never came from him. . . .

"Faithfully yours,
(Signed) Wm. F. Smith."

It is to be noticed Gen'l Smith's instructions regarding the wire were only to Gen'l Brooks' Division. He says nothing of Weitzel's Division.

"Phila., Pa., May 2, 1883.

. . . "Wire entanglements were used by most of my division in front of its log entrenchments. I think no order was given for its use, but it was suggested and, the wire was taken from the telegraph poles on the Richmond and Petersburg Turnpike. I believe Heckman's Brigade did not use any.

"Our defeat on the morning of the 16th of May, 1864, at Drewry's Bluff, was due to the fact that my right was in the open air with nothing but a thin skirmish-line of cavalry between my right and the James River, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile; and that all my troops were in line, and I had none to place in reserve. Beauregard observed this, and made a heavy attack upon my right brigade (Heckman's), and by sheer force of numbers rolled back that brigade, although the enemy suffered terrifically in doing it. . . . The whole of Heckman's Brigade fought most gallantly,

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and no blame attaches to it for the reverse on that morning. The enemy's force hurled against it, outnumbered it by four to one as near as I can remember. All of the above is written from memory.

Very truly yours,
(Signed) G. Weitzel,
Lieut. Col. of Engineers,
Brevet Major Gen'l, U. S. Army."

"Phila., Pa., May 11, 1883.

. . . "Heckman's and Wistar's Brigades were all of my division engaged. My other brigade, Hincks', was the garrison of City Point. I had not a single man in reserve. Every one of my men was in the front line, and utterly unsupported, until Gen'l Turner gave me the One Hundred and Twelfth New York and Ninth Maine . . . I was not surprised (at the attack) on that morning. I had myself awakened at four o'clock, and was drinking my coffee, when the first firing began. Lieut. Wheeler of Heckman's Brigade was the first staff officer I ordered to go the right, and report to me. He was brought back soon after, in a blanket, mortally wounded.

"Very truly and sincerely yours,
(Signed) G. Weitzel,
Lieut. Col. of Engineers,
Brevet Major Gen'l, U. S. Army."

"Phillipsburg, N. J., March 23, 1883.

. . . "The last attempt (of Gen'l Butler) to palliate a criminal blunder is as imbecile as those preceding it. I have no recolection of any order for the use of wire, but I do remember that on the morning of the 15th I made an unsuccessful attempt to procure wire, the possession of which would have helped to strengthen our front. Gen'l Butler should remember that Gen'l Beauregard's direct attacks were repulsed with fearful slaughter, and that it was not until the enemy stole in upon our rear that the Star Brigade suffered defeat. If a line officer of military prestige (success under fire with troops) had been in command of the Army of the James during those days of halting and doubting, the enemy would have been driven from Petersburg, Richmond per force occupied by the Army of the Potomac, and subsequent disasters averted.

"I am truly yours,
(Signed) C. A. Heckman."

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Gen'l Joshua Pickett, then colonel in command of the Twenty-Fifth Mass. Regt., and, after Gen'l Heckman's capture, in command of the Star Brigade, with Gen'l H. C. Lee, at the time colonel commanding the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., unite in the following statement: --

"We received no order for the use of wire. Our picket line was fully established and under the competent command of Lieut. Col. Stewart of the Ninth New Jersey Regt. We had made such a disposition of our commands as to be ready for any assault. Such fortifications had been thrown up as the time and the exhausted condition of our command would permit, and the men were lying upon their arms at the works. Three times during the night we were in line to repel attack, and when at length assaulted, we three times repulsed and hurled back the hostile force. Our surprise was only in that which was allowed to befall us from the rear."

We have only to add that if Gen'l Butler uses the term surprised, as relating to his ignorance of the enemy's purpose or his lack of preparation for what occurred, we do not care to question it, but if it is used as indicating heedlessness or a lack of vigilance on the part of the troops forming Heckman's Brigade, we reply that that matter was fully investigated at the time, and it was proved that so far as the troops were concerned, they were on the alert, and were constantly reporting during the night the condition of matters on their front.

From this point, the history of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. must be narrated under the following heads: the regiment in active service; the officers in prison; and the rank and file at Andersonville. The night of May 15th, after taking our new position, Maj. William A. Walker, received permission to return to camp at Cobb's Hill, expecting to rejoin the regiment the following morning. Before his return, the disaster had occurred, and on him devolved the difficult task of re-organizing our shattered ranks. With

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the three escaped companies as a nucleus, the regiment was formed into three "divisions" (right, left and centre), the escaped and convalescent of other companies being united in these commands. Capt. John W. Moore commanded the right (B, F, I and H), Capt. P. S. Bailey the left (A, D, G), and Lieut. F. C. Wright the centre (C, E and K). Brig. Gen'l George J. Stannard, who had been ordered to report to Gen'l Butler for duty previous to the battle, was assigned to the command of the Star Brigade, and the Fifty-Fifth Pennsylvania Vol. Regt. added to the command. Also, Brig. Gen'l J. H. Martindale relieved Maj. Gen'l Weitzel from the command of the Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps.

Sunday, May 22d, was a sad day, as with depleted ranks we gathered for divine service, and reviewed the terrible experiences of the previous week. Fervent prayer was offered, that God would shield those who had fallen into the enemy's power, and temper the winds to the bereaved at home. While we were engaged in this service, Maj. Gen'l Martindale arrived, and, dismounting, remained with uncovered head until the close, joining tears with us over lessons drawn from the lives of comrades slain. The enemy having forced Gen'l Butler's army into his fortifications at Bermuda Hundreds, now established opposing works in close proximity to the Union lines. An ever-deafening roar of strife hung upon the ear, sounding more like a continuous battle than the skirmishing of our advance. The crash of heavy guns from our navy at either flank, was like spasms of volcanic eruptions, which came with a power that seemed to unshackle every nerve. It is not to be wondered that under the whirl of brain and crushing headaches consequent upon this roar, some poor mortals "wished they would touch off those big guns a leetle easier."

May 23d, fifty-five men of the Twenty-Seventh Mass., and a portion of the Ninth New Jersey, with a section of

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artillery and a squad of cavalry, made a reconnoissance, but, finding the enemy in strong force near Bakehouse Creek, retired with a loss of Joseph Goddett of Pittsfield, Company F, Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., wounded mortally in the thigh. Our service for the most part consisted of picket duty, and the strengthening of our works, with frequent alarms and hasty movements to threatened points. During one of these engagements, a Gatling gun was used upon the enemy, a prisoner inquiring as he passed it, "What kind a gun is that? Do you load it Sunday and fire it all the week?" May 26th, Brooks' and Martindale's Divisions of the Eighteenth Corps, and Devens' Division of the Tenth Corps, were detached from the Army of the James, and under command of Maj. Gen'l W. F. Smith, were ordered to report at City Point. The effective strength of this command was about thirteen thousand men. At ten o'clock the 27th inst., with blankets, tents and luggage slung on our backs, and two days' rations in haversacks, we crossed the Appomattox on pontons, arriving within a mile of City Point about midnight of the 28th. At noon the 29th, we embarked upon the steamer "Vidette" and barge "Pratt," the former an old acquaintance of the Burnside Expedition. It is worthy of note that this march was in a drenching rain, and our embarkation, which followed, occurred on Sunday, both of which were common occurrences in the movements of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt.