Sunday, May 8, 1864
The Thirteenth New Hampshire departed from their camp at Yorktown on Wednesday, May 4. At 4:00 PM the Thirteenth boarded the steamer "S. R. Spaulding" and sailed to Fortress Monroe. The next morning, at 7:00 A.M. on May 5, they entered the James River, arriving at Bermuda Hundred by early evening. After nightfall the Thirteenth New Hampshire disembarked and bivouacked at Bermuda Hundred. At 6:00 A.M. on May 6 the Thirteenth marched six miles to a spot near Petersburg, making evening camp three miles from Port Walthall and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. The next morning the Thirteenth New Hampshire exchanged fire with a South Carolina brigade led by Confederate General Johnson Hagood near Port Walthall. The Thirteenth lost only one man during the encounter. Today the Thirteenth rested while the army remained on alert. At 4:00 P.M. the Thirteenth received orders to march in the morning with three days rations.1
References:
1S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 255-62.
Showing posts with label Yorktown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yorktown. Show all posts
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Grant Organizes His Armies
Sunday, May 1, 1864
The Thirteenth New Hampshire remained in camp at Yorktown all week. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant has reorganized the Union Army into three major wings: Grant's former command, the Army of the Southwest; the Army of the James, under Major General Benjamin Butler; and the Army of the Potomac, under Major General George Meade. The Thirteenth New Hampshire was in the Second Brigade of the First Division of the Eighteenth Corps of the Army of the James, under the command of Brigadier General Hiram Burnham. The Eighteenth Corps was commanded by Major General William Farrar Smith. The capture of Richmond was the objective of the Army of the James and the Army of the Potomac in Grant's Overland Campaign. Today the usual regimen of inspection and dress parade was suspended. At 5:00 P.M. the Thirteenth received orders for four days cooked rations and 100 rounds of ammunition per man, indicating an imminent departure for battle. Baggage for officers was reduced to one valise per two officers.1
References:
1S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 252-55.
The Thirteenth New Hampshire remained in camp at Yorktown all week. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant has reorganized the Union Army into three major wings: Grant's former command, the Army of the Southwest; the Army of the James, under Major General Benjamin Butler; and the Army of the Potomac, under Major General George Meade. The Thirteenth New Hampshire was in the Second Brigade of the First Division of the Eighteenth Corps of the Army of the James, under the command of Brigadier General Hiram Burnham. The Eighteenth Corps was commanded by Major General William Farrar Smith. The capture of Richmond was the objective of the Army of the James and the Army of the Potomac in Grant's Overland Campaign. Today the usual regimen of inspection and dress parade was suspended. At 5:00 P.M. the Thirteenth received orders for four days cooked rations and 100 rounds of ammunition per man, indicating an imminent departure for battle. Baggage for officers was reduced to one valise per two officers.1
References:
1S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 252-55.
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