The National tribune., 1889-07-04
IN THE VALLEY.
Reconnaissance Of the Second DrIslon Sixth Corps.

Reconnaissance OF the seconu DlYSfOns SIKH Corps
EDITOR NATIONAL Tribune: In my diary,
under date of Sept. 49, 1864, 1 find this entry !:
"The Second Division left camp nj sunrise on
reconnaissance; found the enemy about five
or six miles distant Smith, of our company,
and Lieut. Burdell. of Co. A, hit by shell.
Smith lost an arm and leg; Burdell lost leg
and some fingers from one hand"
With the exception of Pond, am not aware
that any historian mentions this affair,
presumably it not being of Importance
enough to justify q mention, though q South
Carolina regiment-the Sth--was captured, in
Guiding the Chaplain. The pickets of the
Johnnies were found before reaching the 0pe-
Quan, when n skirmish-line was sent out a
couple of small regiments of the Second Bri-
gade (tho Vermont) being, ordered to deploy.
The pickets were soon driven across the river,
and an irregular skirmish firing kept up
The day being hot one, the entire division
was halted in small grove, which required q
great deal of crowding to make il accommodate
all, but it was done, including officers horses.
From the grove the ground sloped upward for
considerable distance, where directly in front
was section of u battery posted. From the
battery the ground descended to the river,
across which the pickets were firing from either
side the battery occasionally throwing a shell
among the rebs whenever they became too de-
monstrative. This state of affairs continued
until ] or 2 o'clock in tho afternoon. when
bang bang bum! came eight or 10 shells in
rapid succession from the rebel line, evidently
intended for our battery, rs the men of the di-
vision were out Of their sight, which at once
moved to the left out of range of the camp and
took up position. The first two or three shells
flew high above the tops Of tho trees, but tho
rest mostly dropped in the grove among the men
and horses, one horse having the lower jaw car
ried completely away.
OF course all was hustle and excitement. Or
ders to fall in, take arms, etc; men rushing to
their respective stations keeping one eye at
the same time on horses which were dashng
about. On gum blanket directly in front of
row of stacked arms four men were loungng,
playing cards. These men were in the act Of
getting up from the ground rs Lieut.. Burdel
came hurrying along to tho right OF the regi-
ment where he belonged. when n shell, strik-
ing near the top of a tall pine, cut il off and
plunged through the group alluded to- buryng
itself in the ground and rubbish of dead leaves,
etc, to the depth of six inches. Had IL ex-
ploded this paper would never have been
written. But on the gum blanket were Smith
and the Lieutenant, Smith with leg aud an
arm hurt so as TO make amputation necessary,
tho Lieutenant with q leg and several fingers
gone. How the shell made its way through
the group, as it did without killing anyone, is
as singular as the fact of its destroying four
limbs without exploding The entire loss of
the division did not exceed dozen, and at
DARK, or as soon as the skirmishers could DO
withdrawn, we returned to camp The fruits
of tho reconnaissance were gathered six days
later when Early was sent whirling through
Winchester" &C. PORTER. Co. l., 18th VT, Sec
ond Brigade, Second Division, Sixth Corps,
Grinnell, Iowa.