Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-02-26


through the CON. IL Acld was place
Of unparalleled slaughter for both sides.
! Hills division lost over half its mum !
Der, and some brigades were destroyed
Out of 81 field officers were killed aud
II wounded. Colonel Newton and Ma
ior Tracy Of the Sixth were among the
killed, and the regiment lost 1876 in
killed and wounded and 30 missing.
Eight line officers slept on the field Of
glory beside their fallen commanders.
Colquitt's brigade was reorganized
after Antietam and the ranks Of the
depleted regiments filed BY recruiting.
The Sixth had respite from heavy
fighting for time 1t was in the front
of the column which Stonewall jackson
hurled upon Hooker's right flank on
the plank road beyond Charlottesville
May 2, 1868, and also in the thick Of
the fight at the Charlottesville house
on Sunday, May 3. In the two days
battles it lost but so men. When Lee
marched northward TO Gettysburg, the
brigade was sent to North Carolina ana
thence to Charleston, where it took a
conspicuous part in the defense of the
island batteries, especially Fort Wagner.
In resisting the attacks ON Sumter and
Wagner the regiment lost many Of its
best men.
In leaving Virginia the regiment by
no means turned away from the battle.
In the middle of the winter of 1864
when Lees army lay in camp on the
Rapidan, Colquitt's brigade was ordered
to Florida to help check the Federal in
yasion of the interior of that state. The
campaign was settled at one blow by
the battle of Olustee, or Ocean Pond,
Feb. 30. At the beginning Of the battle
the Sixth was detached from the brigade
and sent to the extreme left Of the Con
federate position, where attack was least
expected. But the unexpected happened
and the regiment was heavily engaged
for four hours. The cartridge boxes Of
the fighting men were emptied and those
Of the dead and wounded on the field
rifled for supplies, and the regiment
held its ground until Colquitt brought
up the full brigade to its support. The
Confederates won the day, and after
seeing the country cleared Of Federals
for good the Georgians started north
again. hating for time at Charleston.
The Sixth lost 81 killed and wounded at
Olustee.
When the campaign opened in May,
1864, Colquitt was ordered to Virginia
and reached Richmond just as General
Butler was advancing upon the city
from the south. His command joined
Beauregard for the defense of Drewrys
Bluff on the 10th Of May. Beauregard
took the initiative and attacked Butler
at daylight. The Sixth supported Gen.
eral Ransom S charge, which at a swoop
carried the Federal breastworks, and
came out with loss of 90 killed and
wounded This battle saved Richmond
for a time but the Confederates were
disappointed that Butler was allowed
to escape.
After seeing Butler disposed of Col
quits brigade crossed the James to
help Lee head off Grant, and ON the LIST
of June the Sixth stood ON the same
ground where it had fought two years
before in the battle of Gaines Mill. The
Federal charges of the 1st and Sd were
easily repulsed with no loss to the Con
| federates worth naming. In front of the
Sixth the Eighth New York heavy ar
tillery lost over 500 men killed and
wounded in single charge. A Georgia
officer who was there says: "Our men