New Jersey troops in the Gettysburg Campaign from June 5 to July 31, 1863

Front matter

EMORY UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Purchased from the funds of

The Lewis H. Beck Foundation

Contents

Chapter I. — New Jersey Regiments in the Army of the Potomac from 1861 to June 30, 1863, their assignments to duty and the commands with which they served — Tables showing losses for two years 1

Chapter II. — Resume of historical facts — Public feeling in the South — Temper of the Rebel Army — Position of both armies in June, 1863 — The fight at Franklin's Crossing on the Rappahannock— Gallant charge by the Twenty-sixth New Jersey 16

Chapter III. — Lee's plan of campaign — Disposition of his forces — General Hcoker mystified but not deceived — The cavalry fight at Brandy Station — The First New Jersey Cavalry's brilliant charge 34

Chapter I

NEW JERSEY REGIMENTS IN THE ARMY OF THE POTO- MAC FROM 1 86 1 TO JUNE 30, 1 863, THEIR ASSIGN- MENTS TO DUTY AND THE COMMANDS WITH WHICH THEY SERVED — TABLES SHOWING LOSSES FOR TWO YEARS.

THE patriotism of the citizens of New Jersey during the stormy period of 1861-65, was attested on many occasions, not alone by the valor of her soldiery on scores of battle-fields, but by the promptness with which the people responded to the call of the National Government for troops, and the thorough manner in which the several organizations were armed and equipped before leaving the State. No appeal by the general government was ever made to the State authorities for assistance in vain. Governor Olden cooperated heartilv and cordially with the President and Secretary of War in all their efforts to suppress the rebellion in its infancy, and at the very outbreak of hostilities forwarded to Washington a brigade of four regiments, aggregating three thousand men, for three months' service under command of General Theodore Runyon. This brigade was fully armed and equipped at the expense of the State and was the first completely equipped body of troops to make its appearance at the National Capital, where it was greeted with the utmost gratification by the President. The Secretary of War feelingly appreciated the promptness of the State authorities in so generously and effectively aiding the National Government in its efforts to preserve its own integrity, and in a letter to Governor Olden cordially acknowledged the great service thus rendered, and in the name of the government tendered its sincere thanks to the people of the commonwealth. The theory entertained by the National authorities that the rebellion would be crushed out in three months' time soon proved erroneous. The rebellious states waxed bolder and bolder in their defiance of the National Government and resisted every offer of peace so determinedly, that a call was issued for thirty-nine regiments of infantry and one of cavalry to serve for three years or during the war, the quota for New Jersey being three regiments of infantry. Before another month had expired a second demand was made upon the State, this time for five additional regiments, all to serve for the same period. of time. Under these calls there were promptly raised two bngades of infantry and two batteries of artillery, as follows :

First Regiment-Colonel, William R. Montgomery. Second Regiment-Colonel, George W McLean." Third Regiment-Colonel, George W Taylor

IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

Fourth Regiment — Colonel, James H. Simpson. Battery " A " First New Jersey Artillery — Captain William Hexamer, Commanding.

These regiments formed the First New Jersey Brigade, and were assigned to duty with Franklin's Division. General Philip Kearny was commissioned by Governor Olden and placed in command of the brigade. The Second Brigade was composed of the following :

Fifth Regiment — Colonel, Samuel H. Starr. Sixth Regiment — Colonel, James T Hatfield. Seventh Regiment — Colonel, Joseph W Revere. Eighth Regiment — Colonel, Adolphus J. Johnson. Battery " B " First New Jersey Artillery — Captain John E. Beam, Commanding.

This brigade was assigned to Hooker's Division where it became a great favorite and was eventually known as " Hooker's Old Guard." It formed the Third Brigade of the Second Division, Third Army Corps, and was commanded by Colonel Starr of the Fifth Regiment, the senior officer.

Rapidly as these organizations were formed the opportunities presented for enlistment were not sufficient to satisfy the desires of a great many who were anxious to go to the war. Thousands of Jerseymen enlisted in the regiments of other States, and whole companies left Newark, Elizabeth, Rahway, Orange and other places and were incorporated with

New York and Pennsylvania regiments and credited to those States.

The Ninth Regiment was specially authorized by the War Department as a rifle regiment, and in a short time its ranks were full. Under the command of Colonel Joseph W Allen it proceeded to North Carolina, as part of the Burnside Expedition, gaining immediate renown at the Battle of Roanoke Island.

The War Department also gave direct authority for the raising of an infantry regiment in the State, to be known as the "Olden Legion." The Governor strenuously opposed this movement, and would have nothing whatever to do with it. Finally the State agreed to accept it and the Governor commissioned William R. Murphy its Colonel, and designated it as the Tenth Regiment.

In August 1 86 1, a regiment of cavalry known as " Halstead's Horse " was ordered to be recruited in the State by the direct authority of President Lincoln, and the companies as soon as formed were forwarded to Washington. Like the Tenth Infantry, dissatisfaction, wrangling and vexation ensued, and finally the State authorities were prevailed upon to accept it, when it became the First New Jersey Cavalry with Sir Percy Wyndham as its Colonel.

On July 7th, 1862, a call was issued for three hundred thousand men to serve for three years or during the war, under which the following organizations were formed and sent to Washington :

Eleventh Regiment — Colonel, Robert McAllister. Twelfth Regiment — Colonel, Robert C. Johnson. Thirteenth Regiment — Colonel, Ezra A. Carman. Fourteenth Regiment— Colonel, William S. Truex. Fifteenth Regiment — Colonel, Samuel Fowler.

Instead of brigading these troops together, the exigencies of the service demanded their immediate presence in Washington as soon as possible after their muster-in. The Eleventh Regiment was assigned to Carr's Brigade, Sickles' Division, Third Army Corps ; the Twelfth Regiment to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Second Army Corps ; the Thirteenth Regiment to Gordon's Brigade, Williams' Division, Banks' Corps ; the Fourteenth Regiment to a Provisional Brigade, Middle Division, Eighth Army Corps; and the Fifteenth to the First New Jersey Brigade, First Division, Sixth Army Corps.

The State had shown commendable promptness in forwarding its troops to the seat of war, and the repeated calls upon the people for volunteer soldiers were responded to with alacrity. The total number of three years troops furnished to the Government by New Jersey up to this period amounted to six hundred and twenty -eight officers and fifteen thousand two hundred and seventy-seven enlisted men ; total fifteen thousand nine hundred and five. These figures are from the Adjutant General's report, the original muster of each regiment being as follows:

ORGANIZATION.

First Regiment Cavalry _

First Regiment Artillery Battery A First Regiment Artillery Battery B

First Regiment Infantry...

Second Regiment Infantry...

Third Regiment Infantry

Fourth Regiment Infantry

Fifth Regiment Infantry..

Sixth Regiment Infantry.

Seventh Regiment Infantry .

Eighth Regiment Infantry..

Ninth Regiment Infantry _

Tenth Regiment Infantry

Eleventh Regiment Infantry

Twelfth Regiment Infantry

Thirteenth Regiment Infantry

Fourteenth Regiment Infantry

Fifteenth Regiment Infantry

OFFICERS.

MEN.

1,006

1,013

I,H5

15,277

TOTAL.

1,042 156 164

1,034 1,044 1,051

1,157 918

979 992

937 1,007

947 15,905

With the single exception of the Ninth Regiment these organizations all served, at one time or another, with the Army of the Potomac in the field, and deducting the number represented by the Ninth Regiment, the actual number of men furnished by New Jersey to that Army was five hundred and eighty-six officers and fourteen thousand one hundred and sixty-two enlisted men, a total of fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty-eight. The First and Second New Jersey Brigades followed the fortunes of the Army of the Potomac through all its checkered career from the Peninsula campaign under McClellan to the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, winning imperishable renown

IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

on scores of battle-fields for their bravery, endurance and fighting qualities.

The defeat of General Pope at the second battle of Bull Run filled the people of the North with dismay, and the authorities at Washington with fear for the safety of the Capital. On the 4th of August, 1862, the President issued a call for three hundred thousand men for nine months' service, a draft being ordered to take place on September 1st ensuing, if the number required were not sooner furnished by volunteers. The quota for New Jersey under this call was placed at ten thousand four hundred and seventy-eight, and orders were at once issued to proceed with the recruiting of this number. At the same time the State was engaged in filling its quota under the previous call of July 7th for three year troops, and in order to meet this extra emergency, city, township and county officials, offered liberal inducements for men to take service in these commands, and thus avoid the draft so imperatively ordered. On the third day of September the Adjutant- General announced the formation of eleven regiments for nine months' service, with an aggregate of ten thousand seven hundred and fourteen men, all volunteers, and being an excess of two hundred and thirty-six over the number called for. These regiments were numbered, officered and assigned to duty as follows :

Twenty-first Regiment — Colonel, Gillian Van Houten ; assigned to Third Brigade, Second Division, Sixth Army Corps.

Twenty-second Regiment— Colonel, Cornelius Fornet ; assigned to duty in the Defences of Washington, and afterward to the Third Brigade, First Division, First Army Corps.

Twenty-third Regiment— Colonel, John S. Cox; assigned to the First New Jersey Brigade, First Division, Sixth Army Corps.

Twenty -fourth Regiment — Colonel, William B. Robertson ; assigned to duty first in the Defences of Washington, and afterward with Kimball's Brigade, French's Division, Couch's (Second) Corps.

Twenty-fifth Regiment — Colonel, Andrew Derrom ; assigned to Second Brigade of Casey's Division, and afterward to First Brigade, Third Division, Ninth Army Corps.

Twenty-sixth Regiment — Colonel, A. J. Morrison; assigned first to Briggs' Brigade, Sumner's Corps, and next to the First Vermont Brigade (General Brooks), Second Division, Sixth Army Corps.

Twenty-seventh Regiment — Colonel, George W Mindil; assigned to Casey's Division and next to Second Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps.

Twenty-eighth Regiment— Colonel, Moses N. Wisewell ; assigned to First Brigade, Third Division, Second Army Corps.

Twenty-ninth Regiment— Colonel, Edwin F. Applegate ; assigned to various duties around Washington, and finally to Third Brigade, First Division, First Army Corps.

Thirtieth Regiment— Colonel, Alexander E. Donald.

son, and Thirty-first Regiment, Colonel A. P Berthoud, brigaded with the Twenty-second and Twenty-ninth Regiments, as part of the Third Brigade, First Division, First Army Corps.

With the addition of these troops the number of men contributed to the Government reached the very respectable figure of twenty-five thousand two hundred and fifty-seven, all volunteers, of whom twenty-three thousand one hundred and sixteen were accredited to the Army of the Potomac.

These new regiments, put right into the field with veterans who had served under McClellan on the Peninsula campaign and at Antietam, rendered valuable and efficient service under Burnside at the dreadful slaughter of Fredericksburg, with Hooker at the ill-fated battle of Chancellorsville, and with Sedgewick at Marye's Heights and Salem Church. They passed through all the rugged and trying experiences to be found in active campaigning in the immediate presence of the enemy, and had just become fully inured to the hardships and trials of a soldier's life when their term of service expired. At about the same time the terms of service of a large number of two years troops also expired, and with this large depletion, after the battle of Chancellorsville, the Army of the Potomac was weakened to a considerable extent. The casualties which the older three year regiments had sustained during their severe service, reduced some of them to mere skeletons, not a regiment of the original eight in both New Jersey brigades numbering more than four hun-

IO dred men after the battle of Chancellorsville, while the average for all would not be greater than three hundred each. The official returns are not accessible for a verification of this statement, but the reports of the several New Jersey regiments made on the 30th day of June, 1863, mst before the battle of Gettysburg opened, are sufficient for the purpose of comparison. The following data, taken from the original rolls at the War Department, Washington, and on file at the Adjutant- General's office, of this State, at Trenton, shows the strength of each New Jersey regiment and battery to have been on the date named :

NUMBER OF MEN OF EACH NEW JERSEY BATTERY AND REGIMENT, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, PRES- ENT FOR DUTY JUNE 30, 1863.

ORGANIZATIONS.

First Regiment Cavalry

First Regiment Artillery Battery A

First Regiment Artillery Battery B .

First Regiment Infantry

Second Regiment Infantry ..._

Third Regiment Infantry.

Fourth Regiment Infantry (Train Guard). Fourth Reg't Infantry (ist Div. 6th Corps).

Fifth Regiment Infantry

Sixth Regiment Infantry _

Seventh Regiment Infantry

Eighth Regiment Infantry

Eleventh Regiment Infantry

Twelfth Regiment Infantry

Thirteenth Regiment Infantry

Fifteenth Regiment Infantry

Total.

OFFIC RS,

28 26 20

4 15 13

22 13

25 28 21

139 266

507 332 420

3,963

TOTAL.

143 292 405

325 294

221 246

4,505

IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

II

The total strength of these commands as it appears by the preceding table, compared with the number of men furnished by the original muster of each regiment, will show the great depletion to which they had been subjected in their past service. The First and Second Brigades had suffered greatly from sickness brought on by exposure during the Peninsula campaign, and when to the casualties thus occasioned is added the losses by death, and those killed in action or dying from wounds received in battle, with the discharges made necessary by disability of various kinds, the percentage of waste during the previous two years' experience will be found very large. ^|To show the relative condition of the New Jersey troops at the beginning of the battle of Gettysburg with their entry into the service, the original figures of these fifteen commands are here reproduced :

ORIGINAL MUSTER.

ORGANIZATIONS.

OFFICERS.

MEN.

TOTAL.

First Regiment Cavalry.

First Regiment Artillery, Battery A. First Regiment Artillery, Battery B. First Regiment Infantry

953 899 909

1,042 156 164

1,034

Second Regiment Infantry.

Third Regiment Infantry

Fourth Regiment Infantry _

Fifth Regiment Infantry

1,044

1,051

Sixth Regiment Infantry

Seventh Regiment Infantry , __

Eighth Regiment Infantry

Eleventh Regiment Infantry

Twelfth Regiment Infantry

Thirteenth Regiment Infantry

Fifteenth Regiment Infantry

979 992

937 947

10,503

10,939

Out of these ten thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine officers and men of New Jersey in the Army of the Potomac, mustered into the service at various times in 1861-62 to serve for three years or during the war, there were reported " Present for duty " on June 30th, 1863, but four thousand five hundred and five, a loss of about sixty per cent. The number of men on special service, and those "Absent without leave " during that period, would account for only a small fraction of this percentage, and the record of all these organizations will bear the closest scrutiny for trying and exhaustive service in campaigning and in actual conflict with the enemy. It had not been the policy of the State authorities to recruit men to fill up the losses in the old regiments, and they were continually being weakened by various causes.

The men who went to the war in 1861 and 1862, were governed by love of country and hatred of the heresy of Secession. They were the representatives of a principle, and embodied in their service the patriotic sentiment of the time. No danger was too great, no trial too severe, but found them ready and willing to undertake its performance, and in the case of hundreds of these patriotic men, when their term of service expired they reenlisted for the whole war. This was the class of men who confronted Lee's army on the heights of Gettysburg. They had become used to defeat, but they could not be dismayed. Their faith in the ultimate success of the cause they espoused never wavered, though the rebel army was devastating the

Major-General Joseph Hooker,

Commander Army of the Potomac.

Resigned, June 27, 1863.

IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

loyal State of Pennsylvania. Each report that came to their ears of the destructive march of Lee's army through the North only nerved these men to a higher sense of the responsibilities which devolved upon them, and in spite of all the discouragements of the past the Army of the Potomac never felt itself better able to cope with its old antagonist than on those fateful days of July, 1863.

Chapter II

RESUME OF HISTORICAL FACTS — PUBLIC FEELING IN THE SOUTH — TEMPER OF THE REBEL ARMY — POSITION OF BOTH ARMIES IN JUNE, 1 863— THE FIGHT AT FRANKLIN'S CROSSING ON THE RAPPA- HANNOCK— GALLANT CHARGE BY THE TWENTY- SIXTH NEW JERSEY.

THE battle of Waterloo put an end to the ambitious career of Napoleon the First. Gettysburg destroyed the hopes of the South for the establishment of a Confederacy of States. And the South was full of hope in 1863. From the commencement of hostilities, two years before, the prestige of success — or rather that which amounted to the same thing, the failure of the National Government to crush out the rebellion in the East— was with General Lee and his army. The fortunate arrival of reinforcements at the first battle of Bull Run stemmed the tide of retreat in the southern army, "and the advance of these fresh arrivals upon the demoralized Federals, turned their retreat into a rout and gave the victory to the Confederates. The Peninsula campaign resulte'd in fresh laurels for the southern troops, and General Lee's audacious advance through the valley, and the marshalling of his forces on the field of Manassas, a second

IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

time at Bull Run driving the Union army within the defences of Washington, gave added lustre to his growing fame. What feeling of opposition had existed in the South toward the schemes of the political leaders who had raised the standard of revolt against the National authority had been silenced by the victorious progress of the Army of Northern Virginia, and when the Maryland campaign was inaugurated it received the sanction of the Confederate authorities and the plaudits of the southern people. There was a general belief in the South that Lee's army once in the State of Maryland, thousands of sympathizers would flock to swell the ranks of the southern forces, and with this host of enthusiastic adherents an army of invasion could be formed which would compel the Government to recognize the Southern Confederacy and treat with it for a cessation of hostilities.

The sorest defeat for the South was not the loss of Antietam, it was the knowlege, dearly gained, that the people of Maryland were not so demonstratively sympathetic with the cause of the Confederacy as the leaders of public opinion in the South had supposed. The successful retreat of General Lee, with his whole army, into Virginia, was additional evidence of his military ability, and while " Maryland, my Maryland," was lost forever to the South, General Lee's army never admitted that Antietam was otherwise a sore defeat. It was practically a drawn battle, with the advantage, if any, on the side of the Army of the Potomac. Lee's defence of Fredericksburg Heights in the December which followed, and the defeat of the Union army with great loss — followed in May, 1863, with his remarkable victory at Chancellorsville — stimulated the war feeling of the South and awakened an enthusiasm such as had never before been witnessed there. So intense was the feeling, so confident the leaders, that the invasion of the North by the Confederate army was demanded by the press of the South and by public opinion. It was known that the term of service of many regiments in the Union army was about to expire, and the crushing defeats that had recently been sustained by the Army of the Potomac were not conducive to reenlistment. Besides this, a feeling of despondency had settled over the North, the faction that had been opposing the war were growing bolder in their utterances, and an invasion of the North, it was believed, would so excite the fears of these people that extraordinary efforts to arouse public opinion in favor of peace at any price would result. With a divided public opinion in the North, the southern army safely entrenched on northern territory, the actual transfer of the seat of war to northern soil must result, it was believed, in a settlement of the conflict, and on terms satisfactory to the South. The invasion of Pennsylvania was not for the purpose of receiving accessions to the southern army, but to conquer a peace. The movement had the sanction of military precedent, was cordially indorsed by the Confederate authorities, aroused the enthusiasm of the soldiery, and stimulated the overweening confidence of the southern

IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

IQ people to a firm belief in its ultimate success. Armed reinforcements and recruits eagerly joined the forces of General Lee, and buoyant with hope, exultant and confident, the Confederate army left their camps on the Rappahannock, while the prayers and fervent hopes of a united South bid them God-speed in their mission.

The temper of the southern army at this time is thus tersely expressed by Alfriend : " The Army of Northern Virginia, a compact and puissant force, seventy thousand strong, which had never yet known defeat, instinctively expected the order for advance into the enemy's country. Never was the morale of the army so high, never had it such confidence in its own prowess, and in the resources of its great commander, and never was entrusted to its valor a mission so grateful to its desires as that tendered by President Davis ' to force the enemy to fight for their own Capital and homes.' "

The Union army on the first of June was posted on the north bank of the Rappahannock river, while the rebel army was on the south side, mainly concentrated about Fredericksburg. As preliminary to the general movement Lee, with strategic skill, began the massing of his forces at Culpepper, leaving A. P Hill's division at Fredericksburg to mask the movement. General Hooker was wary and suspicious, and from the nature of the reports brought to him by his scouts, he was confident an important movement was contemplated by Lee. He ordered a reconnoissance in force by the Sixth Army Corps, Howe's division of which was to cross the Rappahannock June 5th, while Wright's and Newton's divisions were to take position on the north bank of the river, in support.

This was to be the initial movement of the Gettysburg- campaign on the part of the Union forces, and by it the valor of New Jersey troops was once more to be tested. The Twenty-sixth Regiment, which formed part of Grant's brigade of Howe's division, had been mustered into the service on the 18th of September, 1862, and its term of service, nine months, was about expiring. It had taken part in the two previous engagements at Fredericksburg on December 13th and 14th, 1862, under Burnside, and May 3rd, 1863, under Hooker, and also in the engagement at Salem Church on May 4th, 1863, in which last battle the command sustained a loss of 124 — killed, wounded and missing.

The point at which the crossing of the Rappahannock was to be made was known as " Franklin's Crossing," three miles below the town of Fredericksburg. General A. P Hill, the Confederate commander, had constructed a line of earth-works along the south bank of the river which were occupied by a strong force, and when Howe's division reached the stream the engineer corps were preparing to lay the pontoons over which the command was to cross. It was five o'clock in the evening when the column reached the river bank, and artillery was at once posted in a commanding position to sweep the open plain between the enemy's works and the woods beyond. While these preparations were being made on the north side of the river, the enemy sent forth a strong reinforcement to the rifle-pits. As they deployed out of the woods and moved across the plain to the works near the river bank, the Union artillery opened fiercely upon them, but without repelling their advance. The fire from their works was fierce and accurate, and it soon became evident that nothing short of a direct assault could force them from their position. The efforts of the engineer corps to launch their boats were futile, and General Howe organized a storming column, consisting of the Fifth Vermont and Twenty-sixth New Jersey regiments, with instructions to cross the river in boats and drive the enemy from the rifle-pits. General Howe sent for Lieutenant-Colonel Martindale, then in command of the Twenty-sixth, and as he gave him the instructions he was to follow complimented him and his command very highly, saying, " In a few days your term of service will be over and you will return home to your friends with an untarnished reputation for gallantry and covered with glory."

The column formed within seventy-five yards of the river bank, the Fifth Vermont on the right, the Twenty-sixth on the left, and under a severe fire from the enemy. The artillery ceased firing, the advance was begun, the Fifth Vermont moved rapidly down a narrow gulch to the river bank, while the Twenty-sixth went down a road cut parallel with the river and fully exposed to the enemy's fire. The Twenty-sixth rushed gallantly down, crossed the narrow margin of the flats that bordered the river, where they found that the engineers had launched but seven of the boats. The regiment was now in a perilous position. Crowded together in a small space at the river bank, they were exposed to a galling and murderous fire, and as the engineers boldly rushed to the river to aid in launching the rest of the boats several of their number were killed and wounded. To remain inactive now was suicide. Captain Samuel U. Dodd, of Company H, being on the right of the line, sprang into the first boat, followed by Lieutenant Dodd and as many of his men as could find room in it, and pushed out in the stream. Ordering his men to protect themselves below the gunwales of the boat, Captain Dodd directed its course to the opposite bank. He was a man of large stature, a conspicuous mark for the enemy's fire, and as the boat reached the middle of the river he received a mortal wound, dying the next day. Immediately following came a boat with the Major of the Fifth Vermont and a detachment from that regiment, next in order being Captain Stephen C.

Fordham and Captain Peter F. Rogers with several men of the Twenty-sixth. Major William W Morris, with men from several companies filled another boat, and Captain Samuel H. Pemberton in charge of the fourth boat, followed by three other boats filled with men of the Twenty-sixth, moved boldly to the opposite side. Lieutenant-Colonel Martindale superintended the launching of the other boats, and the men of Captains Hunkele, Mclntee, Harrison, Sears and Pearson's companies did herculean work in dragging the immense frames to the river. It was nearly seven o'clock when the boats reached the opposite bank and, without waiting for the whole command to get over, a movement upon the works was at once begun. There was an eager rivalry between the Vermonters and Jerseymen as to which should gain the rifle-pits first. Major Morris, with a portion of the Twenty-sixth, charged rapidly up to the enemy's lines, as did the Fifth Vermont. The rebels saw that retreat across the plain was hopeless. The Sixth Corps artillery commanded the whole position between them and the woods beyond, and they surrendered. Major Morris, without waiting to note how many prisoners were captured, at once deployed his men as skirmishers along the Bowling Green road. Lieutenant-Colonel Martindale brought the rest of the regiment up as soon as they had crossed over and they were posted as pickets for the rest of the night. The action was spirited, brave and gallant, and to the Twenty-sixth is undoubtedly due the honor of being first in the enemy's works, though the report of Colonel Grant seeks to give that credit to the Fifth Vermont, who turned in to him all the prisoners taken. The casualties in the Twenty-sixth were 2 killed and 17 wounded, as follows:

Killed.

Company H — Captain, Samuel U. Dodd.

I— Private, Joseph H. Ainsworth.

Wounded.

Company B— Corporal, William H. Brown; Privates, William Small, William Delaney, Martin V B. Sandford, D wight Stent, Henry L. Johnson.

C — Robert Wallace.

D — William Davis, David Mintonge.

E — Henry Berner.

F — Corporal, William Egbertson.

G — Sergeant, George S. Force.

I — Joseph De Camp, George W.

Griffin, Horace Goble.

The following is the official report of Lieutenant- Colonel Martindale, concerning the action of the regiment :

Headquarters 26th New Jersey Volunteers, ) In the Field near Fredericksburg, Va., V

Lieutenant C. H. Forbes, Assistant Adjutant-General :

Sir — Of the part taken by this regiment in the recent operations across the Rappahannock, a report of which I am desired to forward, I have the honor to state as follows :