The National tribune., 1910-04-07
REANrS STATION.
The Veterans of the 61st y. Y. Defend
ThensclNCs and Gen MiIcs

iby body of men who We're eye-wit
nesses of and participants in the event.
in question. to an attack made by Maj
James +. Larkin, of the 5th \. H., upor
Lieut.-Gen. Nelson A. Miles and tn,
part that he and the 61st \. y. took il
the battle of Ream's Station, tough
Aug. 25, 1864. This was an attack bit.
ter in spirit untrue in statement anC
false in representation, made in the
public press of Boston and in The Ma.
tonal Tribune, published in Washing
ton, ID. c., the latter publication being
the recognized official organ of the G
A. r.
The statements contained in Mai
Larkin's communication addressed to
Gen. Miles, thru the public press, to
which the members of the 61st n. Y
entered formal and vigorous protest and
refutations, is contained in the follow
| ing quotations.:
In the introduction of his letter to
| The National Tribune he says: I'm
your issue of Dec. 81, 1908. giving an
account of the battle of Ream's Sta
ton, you say Gen. Miles rallied the 61st
Y. Y, and, striking the enemy in flank
retook one of the batteries and q por-
| ton of the works. 1t is false" =
After stating that he had also seen this
statement in the History of the Second
Corps, by Gen. Walker, and that he had
was made, and being told that Gen.
Walker was an eyewitness of the event,
he continues: That also is false. The
| facts are that Gen.. Walker was a pris-
oner in. the hands of the enemy at that
| time
The statement made by Gen. Walker,
who was an officer on Gen. Hancock S
staff, in his history of the Second Corps,
which Maj. Larkin declares false, is as
| follows a
old regiment, the 61st n. Y, which still
remained firm, Miles threw il across the
breastworks at right angles. and COM
menced to fight his way back, leading
the regiment in person. He
made ground step by step until he had
| retaken Douchey's Battery. three of
whose guns were subsequently brought
off the field, and recaptured a consider
able portion of the line, actually driving
the enemy into the railroad cut
Continuing, Maj. Larkin says in this
letter to Gen. Miles, published in The
National Tribune: Il told YOU then. as
l tell you now, and you know it as well
as l, that report is untrue (referring to
Gen. Walkers report, just quoted). You
or the 61st had no part whatever in the
recapture of those guns or their re-
mOval from the field. Now, General,
will tell you the true story of the recap
ture of those three guns" Maj. Larkin
now proceeds TO instruct Gen. Miles and
the world for the first time, after a
period of "A years, of how he, Maj. Lar
kin, in command of the 5th y. H, at
that moment ran after his colors until
he overlook the 5th n. H, snatched the
colors from the hand of his color-bear-
er, rallied some 20 men, and. with a
yell, charged back and recaptured the
battery. He acknowledges that there
was not shot fired at him from those
who were supposed to be defending the
battery, and that he nor his men fired
a single shot in the recapture. He says
that he remained where the guns were
until Capt. Kicker, of the 5th n. H.,
who was serving on staff duty as an
Aid, came up and said: What are you
fellows here for?"
Mai. Larkin waits A years until
nearly all who took an active part in
that battle are dead, and then trumps
up a claim of having recaptured bat
terry that had already been recaptured /
by other troops who had driven the
enemy back from the guns at least one
half a mile and held them there until
darkness ended the fighting and the
troops were withdrawn, thus attempt |
ing to deprive gallant troops of credit |
to which they were entitled and insult |
ing the living and robbing the dead of |
what was their due. A suitable answer
to this fictitious claim of Mai Larkin
was made by the survivors of the 61st
N Y. at a Reunion of the regiment
some months following this fictitious
claim, when, on motion and after full
discussion, the following resolutions
were unanimously adopted and the
Secretary of the Association instructed |
to furnish copies for publication and to
secure all other testimonies of the eye
witnesses and participants in that bat
tie, whether of the 61st or any other
regiment.
The Veterans Declaration.
Resolved, That the members of this
in Annual Reunion, who
were eye-witnesses to and participants
in the engagement at Ream's Station, |
pronounce the statement of Maj James
E. Larkin. 9TH ". H.. published in The
National Tribune of Jan. 81, 1909, as
unjust and absolutely
false, so far as statements that the
51st regiment Joined in the retreat and
did not, under the personal leadership
of Gen. Miles, its former Colonel make
a countercharge, driving the enemy
back and recapturing the guns of Nc
knights Battery and holding back the
enemy at a distance of at least one
half mile or at the railroad cut until
darkness ended the battle and the regi |
ment was withdrawn by order of Gen. |
Gen. Walker, could not have witnessed |
the recapture of Meningitis Battery is ]
without foundation, as Gen. |
Walker was not captured until several |
hours after the battle, when in the !
darkness he rode past the flank of the |
61st y. Y. into the enemy's lines. Gen. !
Walker testifies to this fact and to being /
an eyewitness of the countercharge of
the 6Ist " Y. under the personal lead
of Gen. Miles, and their recapture of
Meningitis Battery at about o'clock
in the afternoon.
Resolved, That the spirit which man. |
ifests itself all thru this letter of falsi- |
fication is malicious, and the language |
which Maj. Larkin employs to express
his sentiments and claim is unjust, dis |
courteous and insulting to Gen. Miles, |
his commanding officer, and to the |
members of the 61st y. Y, a comrade |
regiment that fought side by side with |
the 5th y. II. for four years, and his |
whole action in the matter is unbecom-
ing an officer and a gentleman.
Resolved, That the following are
facts concerning the battle of Ream's |
The line of earthworks behind |
which the Union troops were fighting |
was in the shape of an imperfect horse |
shoe. with the Weldon Railroad, in the
destruction of which the troops had |
been engaged previous to the battle, |
running thru the toe of the horseshoe |
This very faulty construction of the |
line into which the First and Second |
Divisions of the Second Corps had been |
forced brought the right of the First |
Division, occupied by the 6lst \. Y, at |
the right heel of the horseshoe and the