The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-11-20

force Tor assault. some OF them ran into
the pit for cover, others crouched behind
the breastwOrks and log huts, and for the
moment it looked as though the division
that had been especially prepared for the
attack was to meet with speedy ruin"
Still further on Mr.. Kilmer continues:
"Mahone's Division, supported by por-
tons of Johnson's, met the ColOred Di-
vision when they made the farthest ad-
vance, and broke the force of their at
tack, sending them back in confusion up
ON the white troops in the captured in
trenchments. This carried back part of
Gen. Potter's Division of the Ninth Corps
and Turner's of the Eighteenth Corps,
and the Union advance was frustrated"
The foregoing extracts seem to show
that the generally accepted belief is that
the Fourth Division received especial drill
and instructions relative to a certain bat
tie in contemplation. My recollection is
very different, and l was ON duty with
my company and regiment every day from
the 22d day of June until after the battle
of the Mine on the Both day of July.
1864. / am prepared to say from actual
knowledge derived from personal expert
ence with the Fourth Division that the
only duty assigned to the said division
for more than a month before the battle
of the Mine was work upon our trenches
and Notifications. The Fourth Division
during all that time was drilled especially
in the use of pick and shovel, and in no
other manner. OF this fact do not COM
plain. My complaint is, that while the
Fourth Division worked ceaselessly, hero
ically, day and night, on the tre1ches to
the neglect of every solderly preparation
for the battle, it has been falsely and
persistently reported to have received
special preparation for a particular bat
tie.
The Corps historian of the Ninth Corps
probably did not belong to the Fourth
Division, and his statement is incorrect.
Gen. Potter commanded the First Di-
the purpOrt of the orders received by him
self than of those received by Gen. Fer
zero, and he speaks of matter of which
he had no personal knowledge. AS to Mr.
kilmer, he probably gives these statements
as he heard them or gathered them from
unreliable sources. At all events, his
statements are untrue from beginning to
end, so far as they relate to the Fourth
Division.
From the 22d day of June until the af-
ternoOn of July %, Gen. Ferrero never
once had the Fourth Division together, let
alone having a division drill of any kind
and during all that time / never once
caught even a glance of Gen. FerrerO.
During the same period we had but one
brigade drill of the Second Brigade, which
lasted about three or four hours, and con-
sisted Of the most common and simple
Of brigade movements. Our whole time
was employed, day and night, in work.
About July 90 the regiment received
a number Of recruits, 10 or II of whom
were assigned to my company. These
men were dressed in new, clean uniforms.
and their arms and accoutrements We're
isl hrtu ~
two Col. Campbell. who commanded the
23d regiment, and had slight attack of
swell-head had them all on duty at his
headquarters, where he kept them until
the afternoon before the battle. Believ-
ing that battle was imminent, and that
these recruits would be in poor condition
to render efficient service without some
instruction and preparation, / went per-
sonally to the Colonel and requested him
to return them to their company, that
might give them such instruction; which
request the Colonel refused to grant, on
the ground, as he stated it. that the men
| would receive more and better instruc-
ton by doing guard duty at his headquar-
tiers than / could possibly give them in the
trenches with pick and shovel; so these
men loaded their pieces for the first time
on the morning of July 70. and went into
the battle with us. With this incident
indelibly stamped upon my memory, how
is it possible for me to be mistaken with
regard to our entire lack of drill and
preparation for the battle of July 80?
Mr.. Kilmer's statement that "rhese
troops had never been under fire" is in
keeping with his knowledge of the Fourth
Division. Probably every regiment of the
Division at one time or another had been
under fire before we reached Petersburg.
and it is safe to say that from the list to
the Both Of July not day passed but
some portion Of the division was under
fire. Work on the mine, according to
Gen. Grants Memoirs, began on the 25th
of June, and from that date until July 81
it WAS exceedingly lively all along the
front Of the Ninth Corps, and to say that
division Of troops worked all that time
on the trenches and Notifications and was
never under fire" is the worst kind Of
nonsense.
The fact that Gen. Burnside selected
the Colored Division to lead the assault
is not proof that the "wllite troops were
more ignorant of what was expected of
them" than the colored troops were. Re