General McClellan maneuvered his army to the outskirts of Richmond
and engaged the Rebel Army under the command of General Joe Johnston in a
series of battles that history has dubbed The Seven Days battle which
commenced on June 25. The battle of Mechanicsville took place on the 26th
with the Thirteenth New York held in reserve with Charles Nelson's Company E ordered
forward as skirmishers. Friday June 27 found the regiment moving into
position near a place called Gaines Mill. Once again Robert Pierce of
Company G describes the days events. "We felled some trees for a sort of
breast-work and waited. It was about one o'clock I think when the enemy
first attacked our part of the line."
Upheld by the strength of the patriot hand,
May God save the Union!
Still, still may it stand
"At length they came like an avalanche, massed in solid column, and
seemed to be determined to sweep us from the field. Our fire was so rapid,
precise and so awful that after a while they began to waiver, and seeming
convinced that they could not carry our position, they fell back with a
haste that soon placed them in safety. General Porter says in his account
of the battle; "For nearly two hours the battle raged, extending more or
less, along the whole line to our extreme right. The fierce firing of
artillery and musketry, the crash of the shot, the bursting of shells, and
the whizzing of bullets heard above the roar of artillery and the volleys of
musketry, all combined, was something awful."
Robert Pierce continues, "The slope in front of us was strewn with
dead and wounded Confederates. Their color bearers had been shot, and they
left their battle flag lying on the ground (First Tennessee Regiment(3) ). A
sergeant of Company B went out on the field and brought it in. The firing
had ceased all along the line. Our skirmishers had been sent out in front
to watch the enemy, and an ominous silence reigned over the whole
battlefield. It caused us to speculate upon what the enemy was doing. We
thought that perhaps their troops were being gathered and massed for a more
desperate and overwhelming attack. We knew that Jackson (General Stonewall
Jackson) had joined the enemy with his whole force, and we stood waiting an
attack, which we felt would be more desperate and sanguinary than the first.
It is not possible for any one who has never been in such a place to realize
the feelings and sensations of the men who stood with white drawn faces
waiting that last attack. We knew that it was probable many of us were
looking upon the setting sun for the last time and the only thing was to do
our duty the best we could and trust the rest to providence. As if for a
final effort, as the shades of evening were coming upon us, the enemy again
massed his fresher and reformed regiments, and hurled them with rapid
succession against our weary battalions."
13th New York Volunteer Infantry state flag.
"Our guns were getting foul and we could not load them quickly. The
regiment to the right of us was forced back and that let the enemy through.
I was jamming my ramrod against a tree to force the bullet down. The air
was thick with smoke, and as I looked around I saw the enemy climbing over
our breast-works, and the last of our men hurrying from the field. I
followed them with a precipitation that was born of nothing but fear. The
battle of Gaines Mill had been fought and lost."
In Major Schoeffel's (Commanding Officer of Thirteenth New York) Official report,
he states prisoners taken by the regiment came from the following Rebel
regiments, First, Seventh, Fourteenth Tennessee and Fifth Alabama (all from Archer's Brigade, A. P. Hill's Division of Longstreet's Corps). He also attributed the low
causality rate due to the breastworks the regiment had constructed. He
states his losses as 4 killed, 47 wounded with 29 missing and that the men
did not retire from their position until out of ammunition. While Pvt.
Nelson escaped the hell of Gaines Mill with his life, others in his regiment
were not so lucky. Pvt. Pierce who just related his account of the battle
was captured and sent to Libby Prison. Brig. General John H. Martindale
commanded the First Brigade of the First Division in Brig. General Porter's
Fifth Corps which included the Second Maine, Eigtheenth Massachusetts, Twenty-Second
Massachusetts, First Michigan, Thirteenth New York, Twenty-Fifth New York and the Second
Company of Massachusetts Sharpshooters. Brigade loss was again heavy:
Killed 114, Wounded 443, captured or missing 329 for a total loss of 886
officers and men.
Above is Gen. Porter's Headquarters at Harrison's Landing.
To cement it our fathers ensanguined the sod,
To keep
it we knell to a merciful God.
Retreating from the outskirts of Richmond, the regiment was at
White Oak Swamp and Turkey Bend on June 30. July 1 found Charles Nelson and
surviving members of the "Rochester Rifles" held in reserve at the Battle of Malvern
Hill. The Thirteenth along with the rest of the Union Army camped around
Harrison's Landing until boarding transports to take them back north again
to where they had embarked on their failed campaign against Richmond. This
movement started on August 16 and the last transport arrived with troops on
August 28. The reason for this move, General Robert E. Lee replaced the
wounded General Joe Johnston in command of the Army of Northern Virginia and
was moving his infantry and cavalry north.
August 29, 1862, Charles Nelson's regiment arrived too
late to participate in the first day's Battle of Second Bull Run, but
participate they did on the second day, August 30. Once again Pvt. Pierce
(captured at Gaines Mill but since released) of Company G will
relate his experience during this action.
"The next morning after breakfast we were ordered on the march
again. I do not know how far we marched, two or three miles perhaps, but we
were formed in line of battle and we marched through a piece of woods. As we
got nearly through the woods we passed a line of troops lying down, and we
passed over them. I think our whole brigade was with us at that time. The
enemy was across a cleared field, nearly a half-mile in front of us,
concealed in a railroad cut. As we left the woods the enemy commenced firing
at us from a battery to the right front, and one man dropped out of the
ranks wounded. We kept on as we advanced the enemies fire became more rapid.
The grape shot struck the ground in our front and rear, and men kept falling
out of the ranks, killed or wounded, and as we neared the railroad cut the
rifle balls began to whistle by us and men fell more frequently."
"As we got about two-thirds of the way across the field one company
began to divide, a part of it swinging to the right, and was leaving a gap
in our line. Still forward we marched and I expected any moment to hear the
order fix bayonets, for I could not imagine why we were marching in to such
a place without charging bayonets, but no such order was given and we
marched to within four or five rods of the railroad cut and was halted and
ordered to fire. The captain told us to have courage, for reinforcements
were coming. But they did not come. We could see nothing of the enemy but
their heads, and after a few minutes the smoke was so thick that we could
hardly see anything. Stewart, who stood behind me, was killed. Houghtaling
to the right was wounded; Benjamin to the right of him was killed. Jack on
my left was wounded, Galpin on his left was killed. I was struck by a bullet
and rendered unconscious and that was the way it was all through the
regiment."
"Our color bearers had been shot down and our flag was lying on the
ground. A boy seventeen years old, by the name of Myron H. Ramney , picked it
up and carried it off the field. I did not see this, but it was confirmed by
every other man in the regiment who escaped. No one who was not there can
understand how brave an act it was. The regiment was panic stricken and
nearly annihilated and no one thought of anything except his own safety, yet
he stopped amidst the carnage and rain of bullets, reckless of his own
safety, and carried the flag off the field. We read of no braver act in all
the annals of war."
Above is a Union battle line taken from Battles and Leaders.
May God save the Union! The Red, White and Blue,
Our states keep
united the dreary day through,
Mr. Pierce is a very reliable witness as his account is verified by
Col. Marshall's Official Report. Re-enforcements were to arrive but never
made it and the Col. reports a continuous cross-fire. Brigade loss for this
battle amounted to Killed 103, Wounded 374 and captured or missing 329 for a
total of 576. The Thirteenth loss was: Killed- 3 officers, 27 men, Wounded- 4
officers and 71 men. Missing or captured for the "Rochester Rifles" is not
listed. Pvt. Myron H. Ramney received a wound while saving the regimental colors and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his brave deed. Once again Pvt. Nelson has cheated the odds. So far into this war he
has been present at every monthly muster in for pay and not once is he
listed as being causality.
After the defeat of the Union Army at Second Bull Run, General
Robert E. Lee marches his army into Maryland for an invasion of the North.
The Union army does not have time to lick their wounds and marches north
after the rebel army. Various skirmishes and actions take place until both
armies face each other at a small Maryland town named Sharpsburg. The
Battle of Antietam commences on September 17 and Porter's Corps is held in
reserve. Martindale's Brigade gets a much-needed rest while both armies fight
to a draw. The North will claim victory because the rebel army moves back
south on the night of September 18 with Porter's Fifth Corps in pursuit. The
Thirteenth New York engaged the Rebels south of Sharpsburg at Shepherdstown on the
19th. They sustained 1 officer and 5 enlisted men wounded. Once again the
missing are not reported. The First Brigade suffered 60- Killed, 125- Wounded and
130- Missing. The brigade traveled north back to Sharpsburg and remained
there in camp until October 30 when they left for Falmouth, Va. staying
there until November 19 when they marched for Fredericksburg.
