The National tribune., 1884-05-01
SICKLES BRIGADE,
And the Part that IL Played at the Battle O
williamsburg.
the EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE:

q former member of Sickles' brigade, relative
TO the part played by that brigade at the battle
of Williamsburg.
Now, your correspondent may be right in
stating that the I'D New York sd Excelsior)
opened the ball at Williamsburg, but that is
not my understanding of it. Being in the lst
Excelsior Goth New York;, i happened TO be
there, and my impression has always been that
the ball was opened at Williamsburg by the LIST
brigade of Rockers division.
This division consisted of three brigades,
viz: LIST brigade, composed of the 1st and 18th
Massachusetts,, % New Hampshire and 26th
Pennsylvania; Siekles' brigade, composed OF
the 10th, 71st, I'D and I'D New York, consti-
tuted the ID brigade; the third brigade was
composed of the 9th, 9th, 9TH and oth New
jersey regiments.
On Saturday night preceding the evacuation
4 of Yorktown by the rebels, Sickles' brigade
I was on duty in the trenches and such night!
4 Nearly all through the night the rebels kept
/ up an incessant cannonading upon our works.
i Shot and shell came screaming through the air.
/ bursting above US, in front of us, and crashing
through the timber behind us.
Sunday morning we were relieved and
marched back to camp, and scarcely had we
reached there when we heard that Yorktown
was evacuated, and that the 4th Excelsior had
secured the rebel flag that floated over the rebel
/ Tamparts. About noon we received orders to
4 strike tents and prepare to march, and about
an hour afterwards began to move taking the
road leading from Yorktown to Williamsburg.
/ ramor had spread that all the avenues lead
I ing to and from Yorktown were underlaid with
1 torpedoes, and in marching past the rebel works
and through the town we stepped very eau
tiously.
am writing now only of Hooker's division.
/ Quite late in the afternoon we met wounded
| cavalry oficer-Sturgis, think was his name
/ going back in an ambulance towards Yorktown.
Our march was continued until quite late in
4 the gft / thought il must have been about
II o'clock, although it may not have been so
late. 1t was very dark, and when we halted
for the night it was in a wood close by the
road Shortly after, it commenced to rain, and
did not cease during the night nor until late
the following day. The morning of the 9Th of
May, 1862, found our men drenched, weary
and hungry.
While we were preparing our breakfast as
best we could we could hear firing of TO our
right front. This, / should say, was between
: and 6 o'clock in the morning. i take it that
this was the opening Of the ball at Williams
burg, and how the I'D New York could have
opened it, with the lst and Sd brigades nearer
to the enemy than was Sickles' brigade, unless
that regiment had become detached from its
brigade, is not quite clear 10 me.
During the forenoon the booming of cannon
and rattle of musketry told us that the battle
was raging iercely, and as Sickles' brigade had
not yet gone into the action, the troops engaged
must have been the 1st and Sd brigades of
Hooker's division, as there were no other Union
troops in advance of us. While we could hear
the firing very distinctly, and knew that it was
not FAR of, we could see nothing of what was
going on, owing TO the woody nature of the
country. By and by il came to the turn of
Slekles' brigade TO try their hand, and / think
II must have been about p. m when we were
ordered to advance ! am only guessing at the
hour not knowing the precise time. L he road
4 Fra Hp1 nd "a mn
just before we reached the slashing, word was
passed 10 unsling knapsacks. This we did on
the move. throwing them all in pile as we
passed along.
The Smashing" was a body of timber that
the rebels had cut down on the left-hand side
Of the road, where it lay just as it had fallen.
On the right-hand side of the road, and in a
position to command the slashing and also the
open ground in front Of Fort Magruder, was a
Union battery of six brass pieces. Our bril-
gade fled into the slashing, forming line par
alIel with the road, with Fort Magruder to our
right rear, and IN front of US heavy body of
standing timber. The distance from US to the
standing timber was, / should say, between
fifty and one hundred yards. A large body of
men appearing along the edge Of the timber
just as we entered the slashing, some of our
men fred when all at once the cry arose,
" Dont IRE, don't fire; they are our own men. !"
N CLOSE QUARTERS
The firing ceased, and we were still standing
IN line when from the other side came the in
ouiry: Who are you ?" "Sickles' brigade
was the response, and scarcely was it uttered
when we received volley. Although the
enemy were so close TO us. it was impossible to
charge, on account of the fallen trees that lay
between us and them. The men knelt down
behind the fallen timber and kept up steady
FIRE. For about two hours the fight was ter
rible We could not advance, we did not
za-fzf ra4--o al f.a
was giving out. Hooker was there in person,
! covered with mud from head to foot, riding his
! charger. and looking every inch soldier. Gen
eral Siekles having been relieved of command
= just as we were embarking at Lookout Point
for Yorktown. Colonel Nelson Taylor was in
command OF the brigade at Williamsburg; and
| brave officer he was, too.
\ AnxiOusly we looked for endorsements, but
in vain-they did not come. Our cartridges
: were rapidly being exhausted. and the living
! were already using the ammunition of the
: dead. Hooker was everywhere encouraging
I the men, and telling them when their ammu-
+ milton was exhausted 10 rely upon their bayo.
. nets. Our FIRE soon slackened, and in a little
: while 1t was only desultory, which told the
! rebels Of our scarcity Of ammunition. A little
], later our firing ceased for the very good rea.
son that we had nothing TO fire. Just then the
rebels. being strongly REINFORCED, dashed out
from the woods with YELL and we fell back
!. they firing upon us as we retreated. / had
been twice wounded in the engagement and
could not move quite as fast as those who were
unwounded, and, consequently as we passed
the brass battery before mentioned, / wa.
g among those who were in the rear had mo-
n gone fifty yards past the battery when bang
ii bang, bang, went the guns, and i said then
! If that battery is properly manned an6
b well supported, the rebels can never cross thai
u slashing in the world" / remember, as WE
e were falling back, seeing General Heintzel
g man collecting a number of bandmen of the
K various bTlgades, and shouting 10 them, will
u has peculiar voice, to make noise This wa.
81 Just at the edge Of the sashing furtherest from
e Fort Magruder, and at a point where on
y wounded had been collected. ] sat down quit,
e close to where HeintzeIman had collected tn.
e band, and while the poor fellows were BLOWN,
l. TO their utmost and making all the noise they
. possibly could, up dashed General Kearnel
l. splashed all over with mud. While consulting
e. with Heintzelman and Hooker, his men came
Is along, and off be went at their head, and in
e short time the battle was renewed, and at tn
ot Close OF the day victory was ours
7 Williamsburg was the initiatory fight O
y, SIekles brigade, and the annals Of war will b
e searched IN vain to find an occasion where ney
re troops behaved better. The loss of the 70tl
II regiment in that fight, if / remember correctly
At was IN killed and wounded 333 men, twenty
ne two officers. and both colonies: or about ever,
y second man of the regiment engaged IN tn
ut fight. The list New York Colonel Hall
ne regimeDt) was not at williamsburg but was a