Orders to March

Friday, July 29, 1864

After remaining primarily in the rear trenches for most of the week the Thirteenth New Hampshire is ordered to march with the Eighteenth Corps at nightfall with two days rations. Their destination is to the rear of the Ninth Corps, about four miles away from their camp.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), 430-431.

Rain and Shelling at Camp

Sunday, July 24, 1864

After heavy rain on Tuesday the Thirteenth New Hampshire returned to the front rifle pits on Wednesday to repair the damage created by the rainfall. Once again the Thirteenth was subjected to heavy artillery and picket fire and returned to camp in the rear lines on Saturday evening. In the earlier hours this morning the camp experienced some of the heaviest shelling received to date. During the day the Thirteenth experienced some relief from the heat with cooler temperatures and rain in the evening. 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), 427-429.

Intensely Hot Weather at the Front

Sunday, July 17, 1864

The Thirteenth New Hampshire Regiment endured another grueling week of blistering temperatures in the front rifle trenches. This evening the Thirteenth received their relief by men of the Third Brigade and retired safely to camp in the rear lines 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), 425-427.

Worn Down in the Trenches

Sunday, July 10, 1864

The Thirteenth New Hampshire Regiment endured another intensely hot and dangerous week mainly in the front rifle trenches along the Appomattox River. In the advanced position on the front the Thirteenth New Hampshire had been subjected to rifle, artillery, and mortar fire, requiring the utmost vigilance. At this time the Thirteenth New Hampshire was able to muster only one-hundred and fifty men that were fit for duty. 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), 423-425.

Report from the Front Lines

Sunday, July 3, 1864

The Thirteenth New Hampshire endured an intensely hot week in the trenches along the Appomattox River. On Thursday the Confederates shelled their position for nearly an hour with forty to fifty rounds of artillery per minute, and the Thirteenth was lucky to report only one minor injury from the barrage. During the week it was noted that the Army of the James had suffered casualties of 6,903 men killed, wounded, and missing since May 4, and that the Army of the Potomac had suffered 61,400 casualties for the same period. Today the Thirteenth moved along the left of the line to a temporary position halfway between Battery Five and Petersburg.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), 419-423.

Entrenched along the Appomattox River

Sunday, June 26, 1864

On Tuesday the Thirteenth New Hampshire Regiment began a march toward Petersburg to a new position on the right flank of General Ulysses Grant's line, abutting the Appomattox River. From this position the men of the Thirteenth viewed the activity at Fortress Monroe and at Hampton Roads. During the week the Thirteenth New Hampshire was hard at work building entrenchments along their line in extremely hot weather. The intense heat resulted in a sharp rise of the death count from gangrene in the camp hospitals.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), 407-419.

Return to Camp at Bermuda Hundred

Sunday, June 19, 1864

On Friday evening the Thirteenth New Hampshire began a march to their camp at Bermuda Hundred, arriving Saturday morning to begin a well-needed rest. The Thirteenth spent a quiet and restful day in camp, reflecting on their capture of Battery Five and of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's movement of forty-thousand men to retake the strategic position.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), 407-408.