THE TWENTY-FIRST AT PETERSBURG. 283 around. Our ammunition was entirely exhausted. Repeated requests were sent for supplies or for relief; but none came to our aid. Immediately a rebel charge was made. Nothing was there with which to resist the charge; and the whole division fell back in confusion, and the lines so gallantly taken were again lost. The next morning came; but the rebel army had withdrawn, and we advanced without opposition to works we had conquered and lost the day before. From this time to the 23d of June, the duty of the regiment was severe. Firing was kept up continually, both from infantry and artillery. On the morning of July 3, the mine was exploded, and the first division led the attack on the works of the enemy, near Petersburg. The colored division was thrown out; and by lot, among three others, the fate came to the first division. This was on the evening of the 29th. They were got into position with some difficulty. Heavy artillery was in the front lines. The mine exploded about daylight. The first line, somewhat startled, fell back, but soon rallied; and, about five minutes later, the division advanced. After alluding to the confusion which followed, the loss of time, and the enemy's" withering" fire, driving back the disorganized mass, the officer adds, It was certainly the most sorrowful and discouraging battle in which the Twenty-first was ever engaged. They fell back from their advanced position later in the day, and soon were brought out entirely. In the press of the crowd, the bearer of the State colors, unable to detach his flag-staff from the earth, tore the colors from it as well as possible, and brought them in. Troops coming in afterwards brought the staff, which gave rise to the rumor that the Twenty-first had lost their colors. But it was soon found that the regiment had the silken rags, and the error was explained. It would be well to say that there was another regiment with the Twenty-first in the narrow works, and all were lying down on account of the fire from the enemy; and the staff was thus pressed down under many, when our regiment was ordered out under fire. The color-bearer did his duty. The regiment lost, killed, First Sergeant Horace E. Gardner, and Corporal William Harrington; mortally wounded, Capt. William H. Clark. On the 18th of August, it was decided that the regiment was not a veteran regiment, because, of the three-fourths that had re-enlisted, fifty-six had been rejected for various reasons; and it was ordered that the organization be broken up, and the officers and non-re-enlisted men proceed home to be mustered out. Capts. C. W. Davis, Orange S. Sampson, and Edward E. Howe, First Lieuts. Jonas R. Davis, Felix M'Dermott, and William H. Sawyer, were selected to remain in command of the re-enlisted. The regiment left City Point on the 19th of August in a steamer for Washington. That day the remnant left was again engaged, and Capt. Sampson fell. He was a brave and faithful officer; had served in the Eighth Massachusetts three months, and three years in the Twenty-first, and always with honor. He enlisted as a private, and has been mentioned for bravery more than once in this history. Sergeant Simon May and Private Hugh Murphy were killed in the same action. The regiment had for duty on the morning of May 6, 1864, two hundred and nine enlisted men. The re-enlisted of the Twenty-first were organized with the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts soon after the departure of their own organization, and their subsequent history will be found in that of the Thirty-sixth. The organization which left on the 19th arrived in Boston the evening of the 22d, and were furnished transportation home. They assembled in Worcester Aug. 30. The troops were mustered out of the service, and paid off in Boston, Sept. 20. The expenses to and fro at muster-out and at pay-day came out of the men's own pockets. Capt. Clark, who was mortally wounded at Petersburg, lived to see his home again before he died. He also had served three months in the Eighth as private before entering the Twenty-first. He had been wounded once before, at Chantilly, it was then thought, fatally; and fell into rebel hands. He never recovered fully, but still was ever with the regiment, and always at his post. He was very cool in action, brave, and beloved by all. CHAPTER XIV. TWENTY-SECOND, TWENTY-THIRD, AND TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENTS. The Twenty-second recruited and commanded by Senator Wilson. vice. Island. - He resigns.. The Gallant Gove:- Completed SerThe March of the Twenty-third from Lynnfield to the Front. Roanoke Movements till joined to the Potomac Army, May 29. - Its Latest Col. Raymond's Testimony. - The Regiment of the lamented StevenThe Twenty-fourth. On Roanoke Island; at Fort Wagner, Charleston, and Richmond. The Welcome Home. Work. son. THE - HE Twenty-second Regiment was organized by Hon. Henry Wilson, September, 1861, and went into camp at Lynnfield. Oct. 8, it left for the seat of war under the command of Col. Henry Wilson. Names of the field and staff officers were as follow: Brilliant receptions greeted the arrival of the regiment in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. In each of these cities, great enthusiasm was manifested by the crowds that thronged the streets. Arriving in Washington on the 11th, on the 13th it proceeded to Hall's Hill, Va., and encamped. The Senate of the United States demanding Col. Wilson's wise counsels and earnest speech, he resigned his command, Oct. 19, 1861; and was succeeded by Col. Jesse A. Gove, formerly a captain in the Fourth United-States Infantry. Col. Gove assumed command Nov. 14; and, under his instruction, the regiment attained a high degree of efficiency. He was killed near Gaines's Mills, Hanover County, Va., June 27, 1862; and was succeeded by Lieut. Charles E. Griswold, who resigned, on account of ill health, in October following. The regiment was under command of Gen. Fitz-John Porter, whose corps Gen. McClellan pronounced the best disciplined and most efficient corps in the army; and this regiment was behind no other, but rather if we may judge by the fact of its being often selected for difficult and important duties—it was considered to be among the best. In the first considerable battle at Gaines's Mills, Major William S. Tilton had the command; and he testifies to the unswerving bravery of all the men. The regiment did not give way until forced to do so by the danger of being outflanked: as it was, ninety-three were taken prisoners, including seven officers. Col. Gove, having command of one of the two parts into which the large brigade was divided, was on the spot, and advised much to the advantage of the Twenty-second. The following is a record of the marches and engagements of this regiment from March, 1862, to November of the same year: It moved from Hall's Hill, March 10, to Alexandria, where it did provost-duty. Thence it sailed to Fortress Monroe, and, after a reconnoissance to Big Bethel, was in the engagement with the enemy at Yorktown. It was the first regiment to enter the abandoned works of the enemy there, May 4, and to raise the American flag. Marches followed, some of the waymarks of which were West Point, Va.; White-house Landing; Gaines's Mills; Hanover Court House, from which point a reconnoissance towards Richmond was made; Mechanicsville, where the regiment shared in the battle that took place, losing thirty-one men killed, and forty wounded; Malvern Hill, where eleven more men fell in death, and fortyeight were wounded; Newport News; Falmouth; Warrenton Junction; Centreville; Chain Bridge; Hall's Hill again; Arlington Heights; and at Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, where the regiment formed a part of Gen. Porter's reserve. It also performed picketduty, and went on a reconnoissance across the Potomac, Harper's Ferry, Snickersville, Middlebury, White Plains, New Baltimore, and Warrenton. About this time, Gen. Burnside took command of the army, and the advance upon Fredericksburg commenced. The Twentysecond, upon reaching Falmouth, spent three weeks in Smoky Camp; a suggestive name for army-quarters. Of the events which followed, an officer wrote: THE TWENTY-SECOND AT GETTYSBURG. 287 On the 11th of December, the army commenced its attack upon Freder icksburg. On the 13th, the regiment crossed into the city, and immediately moved forward upon the rebel intrenchments. The regiment then, as at present, constituted a part of the first brigade, first division, Fifth Corps; Gen. Barnes, of Massachusetts, commanding the brigade. Shortly after mid-day, the line was formed, and immediately moved forward at double-quick; a terrible shower of shells and bullets falling upon the ranks. Gaining a slight elevation, a brisk musketry-fire was opened against the enemy, strongly intrenched upon Mary's Heights. The fight continued until dark, when, all the ammunition being expended, the line was relieved by fresh troops. Sunday, the 14th, the regiment lay under the enemy's fire, occasional shots being exchanged. Sunday night, it retired to the city, and, Monday night, recrossed the river. Soon after this, in a new location, an excellent camp was made, and named in memory of our late honored and lamented commander Camp Gove." The regiment occupied this camp until the latter part of April; the quiet being interrupted only by a reconnoissance to Ellis's Ford, made by the brigade early in January, and by the movement of the army, called the "mud march," Jan. 20 and 24, 1863. During the early part of May, the Twenty-second was engaged in the Chancellorsville campaign. On the 13th of June, it marched, by way of Manassas Junction, to Aldie Gap. The regiment took part in the reconnoissance through the gap and Loudon Valley, supporting a battery during a brilliant cavalry engagement on that occasion. Col. Tilton was in command of the brigade, Lieut.-Col. Sherwin leading the regiment. About the 25th of June, it crossed the Potomac into Maryland. During the movement into Pennsylvania, the Twenty-second was required to perform long and wearisome marches, starting each day before light, and arriving in camp oftentimes not until late at night. At midnight on the 1st of July, the column halted within a few miles of Gettysburg, in the direction of which place cannonading had been heard throughout the day. But a few hours were allowed for sleep, and at sunrise the march was resumed. Early in the forenoon of the 2d of July, the column arrived near the right of the position chosen by Gen. Meade for his line of battle. Soon after, the regiment moved towards the left, crossing the Emmettsburg Road, and again formed line. Here the soldiers, exhausted by their constant and rapid marches, fell asleep. At three, P.M., the order was given to move forward, and the regi |