Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1888-07-06
SOLDIERS DEPARTMENT.
: IN THE WILDERNESS.
Vivid Description OF the Turning of tho
Right Wing of the Union Army.


Army of tho Potomac May 6, 1864, in
the Wilderness, l will try and give
you history of what passed nndor my
observation. Our regiment (he Sixth
Maryland) belonged to the Second Bri-
gadc, Third Division, Sixth Corps, and
was engaged with thc rest of the bri-
gado in rcpulsing charge of the one-
my during the forenoon of the 9th oi
May. About the middle of the day we
were all moved toward the right of the
army, our division being the right OF
the army, except General Shalcr's Bri-
gadc, of the First Division, which was
on the extreme right, with the flank re-
fused. Our regiment was assigned to
this brigade for duty during the late
afternoon, near the center of the bril-
gade and just to the left of the One
Hundred and Twenty-sccond New York.
All the regiments to our left had fair
line of works thrown up in their front.
We had not been there long before the
shovel and pick were passed to those
regiments on our right, and they had
finished their works, leaving our i'm
mediate front unprotected. AS soon as
yo had rot an tho limo ~, donIovod +,
heavy skirmish line and had very
vorn ti,no all tbe oftornoon and bnd
lost n number or killed and wounded
AS the evening approached / sat down
to make out detail from the regiment
to relieve our skirmishers, when the
Nou, yorl, bo,,s an nm. Iof, co,po to mo
md said thov would helm to fortifv the
snnco in front of orr repimcnt and had
dono all on tbe loft of n ravire that ran
Mt ripbt anples across our line TO the
renr. md were inst in tbe act of possinp
tbe tools over the ravine 10 tbo bows on
the right whom oll of n sudden the ..rcb-
ri volln broke ,,pon our enrs Colonel
l. w Horne of our regiment. had n
severe billions smell and wos suffering
from the headache. and WIS living be-
tween our works and tbc sl,irmisb-line
He was at once on his feet. and asked
me what was M, But before | had
time IN roplv th, rebcls berun to break
over the refused line and TO swarm
around the nnnl, of Shnler's Briundc. A
short time before this occurred General
Sevmour. General Shnler and Colonel
Smith. ofthe One Hundred and Twenty
sixth Ohio. had passed TO the rirht. and
when thev renched the rayine before
named, had hitched their horses to the
limbs overhead. md when the rebels
advanced thev were caurht in the over
lap of their line and Generals Sew
mour and Shaler were captured, Colon
cl Smith escapinr. and as he rode M
in the rear of our line there was vol
lev after yolley fired after them, Dur
ing this time they had also advanced in
our immediate front and had artillery
on what had been our skirmish-line n
few minutes before, and as we were
driven back bv the flank movement
they advancing in three lines and firing
as they came on, the artillery opened
with crane and canister, but fortunate
ly our Temporary work compelled them
to fire so high that the grape passed
over our heads and went tearing
and crashing through the leaves. many
barely clearing our heads. Major Prem
tice. Lieutenant Hawkins and myself
tried to rally our skirmish-line, and
could hold the men for a while; but a vol
lev would kill some and wound more. and
tho line would give and fall back, and
again would n stand be made, but we
could not stand before the three advanc-
ING lines. About this time that grand
old hero. Uncle John Sedgwicli. appear
ed upon the stage of action. and was
standing upon n log. and for one instant
begging the men for Gods sake to rally.
and the next moment. ms some demoral-
lied soldier came by. he would swear
that unless he stopped he would cut his
head off, and with drawn blade he would
90 through the motion. tarried with
him n moment and tried to assist him.
but we found il useless. I
then told him of the capture of
Seymour and Shaler. and he concluded
he had better get back a little further
and rally them, then parted with him.
and soon reached an open field of n few
acres. where or Colonel had preceeded
me. and Ms soon as he saw me he or
dered me to assist him in making n
stand. and not far frc.n rs stood n color
sergeant with n stand of colors of the
lO2d Pa, of the Second Division of our
corps. and as prnsped the staff he
asked me what wanted. told him 7
wanted his colors 10 rally on. With n
determined lool, and n flourish he drove
the staff into the Ground. and said;
"Bv i III rally with you." and he
did and tbo line formed unon those
colors STAYED the Confederate advance;
and such n line as that was never form
ed but few times upon any field. Ms the
men fell into position regardless OF COM
pany and regiment. and not only re-
pulsed the rebel advance. but made n
forward movement and occupied our
own line. and could have held it if so