Monday, June 30, 1862
Private Oliver Stanton Bates had just experienced a grueling seventy-two hours of service with Company A of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment. On Saturday, June 28, he joined his comrades in Company A during a long day and evening of intense manual labor in pushing ammunition-laden railroad cars three miles to Savage Station. On Sunday, June 29, undoubtedly exhausted from the previous day’s exertion, he was immediately put to work in the destruction of the ammunition stores at Savage Station depot. In the afternoon, he fell into formation with his regiment, prepared for battle at Savage Station. At 10:00 P.M. he was ordered into the woods near Savage Station for picket duty and spent a grueling five hours stumbling through the darkness, hoping to avoid gunfire or capture before rejoining his regiment at 3:00 A.M. near White Oak Swamp Bridge. This morning he endured a grueling retreat through intense heat and smoke to White Oak Swamp Bridge before returning to Glendale in the afternoon to take part in a hellish battle. By the grace of God he endured the trials and challenges of the previous seventy-two hours without injury, and he was undoubtedly grateful and relieved that his life was spared during these tests of faith, endurance, and courage.1
References:
1Compiled service record, Oliver S. Bates, Pvt., Co. A, 20th Massachusetts Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Henry Tremlett, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 2, p. 169-72, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts. George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 110-132. Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 137-52.
Showing posts with label Savage Station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Savage Station. Show all posts
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Dangerous Night Maneuvers at Savage Station
Sunday, June 29, 1862
At approximately 10:00 P.M. two companies of the Twentieth Massachusetts, Companies A and K commanded by Captain Henry Tremlett, were sent into the woods under the cover of darkness for picket duty to protect the Union flank and determine the position of the Confederate army. The woods were covered with the bodies of dead and wounded Confederates from the battle at Savage Station, and they needed to proceed with extreme caution in the inky darkness to avoid revealing their proximity to the Confederates.
At 11:00 P.M. Captain Tremlett crept silently through the dark woods to where the Twentieth Massachusetts was stationed. To his great distress, Tremlett found that his regiment and the Union Army had retreated, leaving his two companies to keep the Confederates at bay. Tremlett silently ordered his men to fall in and march. As they plunged through mud and stumbled over tree stumps in the darkness, they eventually reached the Williamsburg Road and followed it until they found the road to White Oak Bridge. Following that road, they rejoined their regiment around 3:00 A.M.1
The Twentieth Massachusetts Regimental History records the severity of the danger to Companies A and K as follows:
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 118-119. Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 144-45. Henry Tremlett, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 2, p. 169-72, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
2George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 119.
At approximately 10:00 P.M. two companies of the Twentieth Massachusetts, Companies A and K commanded by Captain Henry Tremlett, were sent into the woods under the cover of darkness for picket duty to protect the Union flank and determine the position of the Confederate army. The woods were covered with the bodies of dead and wounded Confederates from the battle at Savage Station, and they needed to proceed with extreme caution in the inky darkness to avoid revealing their proximity to the Confederates.
At 11:00 P.M. Captain Tremlett crept silently through the dark woods to where the Twentieth Massachusetts was stationed. To his great distress, Tremlett found that his regiment and the Union Army had retreated, leaving his two companies to keep the Confederates at bay. Tremlett silently ordered his men to fall in and march. As they plunged through mud and stumbled over tree stumps in the darkness, they eventually reached the Williamsburg Road and followed it until they found the road to White Oak Bridge. Following that road, they rejoined their regiment around 3:00 A.M.1
The Twentieth Massachusetts Regimental History records the severity of the danger to Companies A and K as follows:
It was a most dangerous and disagreeable duty that fell to the lot of these two companies, for they were the very last of the rear guard of the army, and were liable at any moment to be attacked and overwhelmed or cut off and captured.2
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 118-119. Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 144-45. Henry Tremlett, "Letters," Association of Officers of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, Reports, Letters and Papers Appertaining to Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, vol. 2, p. 169-72, Twentieth Massachusetts Special Collection, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
2George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 119.
Seven Days Battles - Day 5 - Battle of Allen's Farm and Savage Station
Sunday, June 29, 1862
Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered Generals John Magruder and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to pursue the retreating Union army, pushing them from the rear and hoping to engage an attack. Lee sent General James Longstreet south to Glendale and General Theophilus Holmes to Malvern Hill in anticipation of the movement of the Union army. Union General George McClellan left only five divisions from three corps, including General Bull Sumner’s Second Corps, General Samuel Heintzelman’s Third Corps, and General William Franklin’s Sixth Corps, to defend the rear of the Union army at the supply depot at Savage Station.
At dawn Brigadier General Napoleon Dana received orders to re-pitch the tents struck around midnight to confuse the Confederates who were rapidly approaching behind their lines and to give his brigade additional time for the ensuing retreat to Savage Station. One half-hour later, after re-pitching their tents and marching into the woods toward Savage Station, the men of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment observed the arrival of the Confederates into their abandoned camp. At approximately 8:00 A.M. the Twentieth Massachusetts arrived at a location about two miles west of Savage Station. General Dana positioned the Twentieth Massachusetts along the Richmond and York Railroad near the woods on Mrs. E. Allen’s Farm. At 9:00 A.M. the Confederates attacked. The battle ensued for two hours, and General Dana’s brigade was not heavily engaged. The Confederate attack was repulsed by 11:00 A.M. The Twentieth suffered no casualties during this encounter.
Shortly after the battle at Allen’s Farm ceased Second Corps Commander Bull Sumner received news that the Confederates had crossed the Chickahominy River with a large force, and Sumner realized the necessity to remove his corps to Savage Station immediately. Although the march to Savage Station was relatively short, the day was exceedingly hot, and many soldiers suffered from heat exhaustion during their progress. The Twentieth reached Savage Station in the early afternoon, and deployed on elevated ground near the hospital tents. The men of the Twentieth who had pushed the railroad cars to Savage Station depot on the previous day were burning and destroying large stores of ammunition. Thick smoke from the destruction marked the location of the Union troops.
Once again General Jackson was late to assist General Magruder, and Magruder decided to attack Sumner’s Corps before Jackson’s arrival. On the Union side, General Heintzelman’s Third Corps, who was ordered to guard the rear flank, did not reinforce Sumner’s Second Corps, but proceeded to join the remainder of the Union army and left Sumner alone to defend the flank. At approximately 5:00 P.M. Magruder approached Savage Station and a battle ensued between the forces of Magruder and Sumner. The Twentieth saw much of the action from their position on high ground, although they were in range of Confederate artillery fire. Sumner’s Pennsylvania regiments saw the heaviest fighting at Savage Station. As nightfall approached and the Twentieth was ordered to relieve the Pennsylvania Fire Zouaves, the Confederates ordered a cessation of the fight because they feared firing on their own men. As darkness descended the Twentieth Massachusetts again escaped the heat of battle, but not for long.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 111-118. Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 139-44.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered Generals John Magruder and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to pursue the retreating Union army, pushing them from the rear and hoping to engage an attack. Lee sent General James Longstreet south to Glendale and General Theophilus Holmes to Malvern Hill in anticipation of the movement of the Union army. Union General George McClellan left only five divisions from three corps, including General Bull Sumner’s Second Corps, General Samuel Heintzelman’s Third Corps, and General William Franklin’s Sixth Corps, to defend the rear of the Union army at the supply depot at Savage Station.
At dawn Brigadier General Napoleon Dana received orders to re-pitch the tents struck around midnight to confuse the Confederates who were rapidly approaching behind their lines and to give his brigade additional time for the ensuing retreat to Savage Station. One half-hour later, after re-pitching their tents and marching into the woods toward Savage Station, the men of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment observed the arrival of the Confederates into their abandoned camp. At approximately 8:00 A.M. the Twentieth Massachusetts arrived at a location about two miles west of Savage Station. General Dana positioned the Twentieth Massachusetts along the Richmond and York Railroad near the woods on Mrs. E. Allen’s Farm. At 9:00 A.M. the Confederates attacked. The battle ensued for two hours, and General Dana’s brigade was not heavily engaged. The Confederate attack was repulsed by 11:00 A.M. The Twentieth suffered no casualties during this encounter.
Shortly after the battle at Allen’s Farm ceased Second Corps Commander Bull Sumner received news that the Confederates had crossed the Chickahominy River with a large force, and Sumner realized the necessity to remove his corps to Savage Station immediately. Although the march to Savage Station was relatively short, the day was exceedingly hot, and many soldiers suffered from heat exhaustion during their progress. The Twentieth reached Savage Station in the early afternoon, and deployed on elevated ground near the hospital tents. The men of the Twentieth who had pushed the railroad cars to Savage Station depot on the previous day were burning and destroying large stores of ammunition. Thick smoke from the destruction marked the location of the Union troops.
Once again General Jackson was late to assist General Magruder, and Magruder decided to attack Sumner’s Corps before Jackson’s arrival. On the Union side, General Heintzelman’s Third Corps, who was ordered to guard the rear flank, did not reinforce Sumner’s Second Corps, but proceeded to join the remainder of the Union army and left Sumner alone to defend the flank. At approximately 5:00 P.M. Magruder approached Savage Station and a battle ensued between the forces of Magruder and Sumner. The Twentieth saw much of the action from their position on high ground, although they were in range of Confederate artillery fire. Sumner’s Pennsylvania regiments saw the heaviest fighting at Savage Station. As nightfall approached and the Twentieth was ordered to relieve the Pennsylvania Fire Zouaves, the Confederates ordered a cessation of the fight because they feared firing on their own men. As darkness descended the Twentieth Massachusetts again escaped the heat of battle, but not for long.1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 111-118. Richard F. Miller, Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2005), 139-44.
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