Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-04-26
FIRST EDITION.
DELAWARE SOLDIERS.
THE FOURTH REGIMENT DELAWARE vots
sketch of it's servIees.--Ii-t. of the officer.

The Fourth Delaware Regiment was organized
| and mustered into the service of the United
States, early in 1869, by Arthur II. Grimshaw
its Colonel In the Fall of the same year. it ef
Wilmington for the Seat of War, but after re-
| naming about six weeks in the neighborhood OF
| Washington, drilling and performing picket duty
| it was sent to Yorktown, Va, where it remained
| comparatively inactive until the Spring of 1868
wheH it participated in the demonstration against
| Richmond, from the Peninsula. 1t was occupied
| in this movement, until Immediately after the
| Battle OF Gettysburg, when it was transferred to
washington. ID. @; thence to Fairfax Station
and Court House, guarding the line of the
Orange IL Alexandria r. r.. and the approaches
to the Capital. In the Spring of 1864, il was or.
| dered TO the army of the Potomac, and on the
18th OF June OF that year, it was brigaded in the
| 9th Army Corps.
At this time the army was engaged in execr-
| ting Grants historical hank movement to. the
| left, by which the enemy was forced to weaken
his front in order to protect his right and rear.
On the following day, June I'd. the Regiment oc-
| cupied the pivotal position on the right of our
army,upon which the hanki movement
| OF the Ninth Corps wassmaIe. About O'Clock
| in the afternoon this movement was
arrested before Bethesda church, by sudden
and impetuous attack of the enemy in large
| force. Three successive assaults were gallantiy
led by the Confederates against this position but
| although temporarily successful. they were
eventually repulsed with heavy loss. Nearly the
whole OF the 9th corps and portion of the 9th
lost in the struggle one officer, It. II. H. Webb
killed, and upwards of 40 men killed and woun-
ded, The personal thanks Of the Brgadier
General commanding were rendered. and honor
able mention IN orders made, for the stead-
| ness, eoolness and gallantry displayed by the
Regiment on that occasion.
On the Sd and 4th of the month the Regiment
participated in the memorable and decisive ac-
tion OF Cold Harbor. On the evening of the 9th
the Regiment pulled out and with its
Brigade made forced march last
ing the whole night, and by morning,
It was well Swung round to the left" The
Regiment was then ordered on outpost duty, on
the banks of the Chickahominy, at Bottoms
Bridge. This place was reached with but trhng
opposition Oh the part of the enemy; entrenoh-
ments were rapidly and expeditiousy thrown up,
and the regiment ut once went on duty on the
islands and shore of the river, just above the
bridge.
On the 14th the Regiment was relieved, and
by rapid march, crossing the Chckahominy
near its mouth by pontoon bridges, made
Charles City Cross Roads for the purpose of
joining the movement on the South side OF the
James. On the 10th the Regiment crossed the
James river by steamer, and by forced march
protracted until O'Clock, of the morning of the
18th. were placed in support of the Pennsylvania
"Bucktals, then engaged in night assault
oil the enenys works before Petersburg. Early
on the morning of the 17th, the Regiment stook
possession, under fire OF tho enemy, and threw
up Temporary breastwoIks during which several
men were killed and wouuied. Shortly after
sunrise ou the 18th, the whole Division, with 8
companies of the Regiment in line, and prOce-
ded by heavy line of slIirmshers, advanced in
beautiful order to the assault of tho enemy's
works. The first two lines of entertainments.
having been abandoned by the enemy during the
night, were occupied without resistance, and af-
ter pause to re-align tho ranks, the Brigade
dashed forward with fixed bayonetsto the charge.
At this moment, the enemy having reserved
himself for the crisis, delivered his lire both of
OF artillery and infantry very effectively and not
wthstandng the encOuragements of the Off
GERS, and the ste adiness,of the troops, the at
tacking body was thrown into confusion The
line however, advanced with great stesdiness,
until the losses had become SO great there was
no cohesion left. At this point it became APP
parent that the attack was failure, but whore
every one behaved 80 nobly and the only emu
lation seemed to be, in the struggle to get 'for-
ward" it is no diecredit to the rep
utation of the Regiment to make the
acknowledgement. OF the 280 men, the
Regiment took into the action, upwards Of 120,
nearly one half, were either killed or wound-
ed, in less than half hour. or the officers
Col. Grimshaw, Lieut. Col. LaMotte, Major
Gist and Lieut.. Giwthrop were wounded and
Capt Reynolds killed.
Immediately su ceeding the failure of tho
effort, the work of throwing up entrench lents
and redOubts began, and for the forty-three fol-
lowing days or until the 1st of August, the reg
iment was under an incessant fire from the ene-
mys artillery and sharpshooters, and lost du-
-----N~ N-N
ed.
Preparations for the blowing up of one of the
enemys forts, about one-fourth of mile to
the right of uur position by means of - Burn
sides Mine, Having been carried to a successful
conclusion, the torch was applied TO the train,
shortly after o'clock, 'on the morning of the
3lst of July. A terrific explosion resulted,
completely demolishing the Fort. This was in
stantly followed by furious cannonadiHg by the
aiege guns, mortars and field pieces of the whole
army. which was continued without intermissIon
for about forty minutes. At the cessation OF
the firing the colored divisions OF the 9th Corps,
Immediately on the right of the Fourth Reg-
ment's Brigade spTang to the assault and gal
lantlY carried the first line of the enemys
works. After short pause in re-orsaniziug tllp
forces, the Enomy's second line on Cemotefy
Hill was attacked, but from want of concert
among the assaulting forces the attack was re-
pulsed Two successive assaults were attempt-
ed, with the same lack of SUCCESS, and resulted
in heavy loss
In this attack the Fourth Delaware with the
whole 9th Corps, supported the movement,
while the End Corps which had undergone
fatguing forced march from Deep Bottom ON the
right, for this purpose, was massed in reserve.
Thus ended this Inflated and much censured
plan to take Petersburg by direct attack in
front, i'll which the enormous losses were chiefly
born by the unfortunate OH Corps.
On the 18TH of August, the Regiment took
part i'll the battles OF the Weldon Railroad, which
lasted until the 21st, when the Rebels were final
ly repulsed with severe losses, and the possess
sion OF this important railroad was left in the
hands of the Union forces. In the last OF the
above mentioned actlons(on the 2lst) Hoffmans
Brigade, I'm which were tue Bird and 4th Dela-
ware) very handsomely repulsed the charge OF
Mahones Division OF Longstreets Corps.
Late in September, the Regiment and Brigade
participated in the movements against the enc
my's position at Poplar Spring church. and Flow
er's House, and took part in the action OF these
names, with but slight loss. On the 8th of 0cto-
ber, the Regiment numbering about 100 mus
kets, with exception of the color company which
was not permitted to go,) volunteered to burn
the W. W. Davis house which was situated with
in the enemy's skirmish line, and infested with
sharpshooters. This duty successfully ac-
compllshed, with loss Of 10 men killed and
wounded, Lieut.. Challenger having been
wounded early in the day on the skirmish line.
In November the Regiment and Brigade took
part inthe movement against the South Side Il,
H. which resulted in the action at PEBBLES Farm.
In this engagement, our forces were not sue
cessful, and the army moved back within their
entertainments. In December Of the same year
the Regiment took part in the raid on the South
Side Railroad cutting loose from the Army
and moving as far South as Hicksford, near the
North Carolina border. On this expedition, about
twenty-five miles of the Railroad were torn up,
and the ties and rails DESTROYED, severing COM
munication between North Carolina and Virginia,
except by way of Danve.
Early in February, 1865, the Regiment broke
up its winter quarters, lin front of
Petersburg and with its Brigade, participated in
the operations against the enemy's position on