Chapter 14: from Malvern Hill to Harrison's Landing.
As the columns descended the hill, a heavy rain set in. The roads were given over to the artillery, cavalry and wagon trains while the infantry marched through the woods at the side. The march from Malvern Hill to Harrison's Landing was one of the worst the regiment ever experienced. The men pulled and struggled along through the mud in the darkness, drenched to the skin by the rain which continued to fall until well into the next day. Scattered by the roadside were many burning wagons which it had been necessary to abandon. When daylight appeared, it revealed hundreds of men by the roadside who had become exhausted and left behind by their regiments.During the day the troops passed the siege train, the first time the men of the Nineteenth had seen the heavy guns. They were drawn by twelve mules, and were what McClellan was going ‘to reduce Richmond’ with. The gaunt remains of the heroic regiment reached the mecca of their hopes, Harrison's Landing, just before night, and in the distance could be seen the James River. ‘Safety Here’ was the unexpressed feeling of the men as they halted, wet, tired, dirty and hungry, having been marching nearly 24 hours through rain and mud. There was an immense wheatfield, well trodden down, and staff officers were stationed to point out to the straggling troops the positions they were to occupy. Arms were stacked in a portion of this field, but in all directions there was a sea of mud, at least four inches deep. There was a rail fence in sight, but how quickly it vanished and in less than 30 minutes there was nothing for a mile around to show that there had ever been a fence, but in every company there was a good supply of fuel and a roaring fire.
As soon as the ranks were broken, some of the men started [103] for rails, others for something for a bed and some to find water. Great armfuls of the unthreshed wheat were secured for bedding, the coffee was soon made and the men were fairly comfortable, despite the mud and their generally parboiled condition. Then they lay down and slept. They had been in four engagements, marched 25 miles and lost 176 men.
And so ended the Seven Days Retreat.
List of casualities in the Nineteenth regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteers, in the engagement
at Fair Oaks, Va., and during the ‘change
of base’ from Fair Oaks to Harrison's
Landing, June 25-July 1, 1862.
casualities, June 25, 1862.
killed or died of wounds received in action:
Co. H. | Second Lieut. Charles B. Warner. |
Co. B. | Private Moses Short. |
Co. C. | Private John Hull. |
Private Luke Murphy. | |
Co. G. | Corporal John McMorrow. |
Private Joseph Baldwin. | |
Private John Carpenter. | |
Co. K. | Private Samuel E. Collins. |
Co. F. | —Kelly. |
wounded:
Adjutant John C. Chadwick, wrist. | |
Quartermaster Sergeant Levi Shaw, wrist. | |
Co. A. | Corporal James W. Hollister, hand. |
Private Daniel W. Carlton, left leg, severely. | |
Private Leroy A. Nelson, side. | |
Private Augustus Grant, | |
Co. B. | Corporal John N. Thompson, hip. |
Private Angelo Chiconi, left arm. | |
Private David B. Ash, right arm, amputated (Died in New York hospital.) |
[104]
missing:
Co. K. | Private Edwin B. Pratt. |
Private John Hogan. | |
Private Jacob Grau. |
[105]
casualities, June 28, 1862.
wounded:
Co. B. | Private John Jordan. |
Private William Delaney. |
casualities, June 29, 1862.
Second Lieutenant Lysander J. Hume, of Company K, sick on march, captured by enemy. Reported ‘Missing in Action.’
Private Benjamin A. Stone, Company H, died of disease on the march from Fair Oaks.
casualities, June 30, 1862—Glendale.
killed in action or died of wounds:
[106]
wounded:
[107]
[108]
Private Albert S. Lillie, lost two fingers. | |
Private Frank B. Leach, leg. |
killed, July 1ST, 1862—Malvern Hill.
Co. E. | Corporal Timothy Callahan. |
Co. I. | Private Phillip R. Guinan. |
wounded and missing, according to the Monthly
return for July, 1862.
Edwin P. Stanley (reported for duty in May, ‘63, at Falmouth, Va.)
summary
wounded | ||||||||
killed | wounded | missing | and missing | |||||
OFFICERS | MEN | OFFICERS | MEN | OFFICERS | MEN | OFFICERS | MEN | |
June 25. | 1 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 3 | 2 | ||
June 28. | 2 | |||||||
June 29. | 1 | |||||||
June 30. | 2 | 19 | 3 | 73 | ||||
July 1. | 2 | |||||||
Date not known. | 13 | |||||||
3 | 28 | 6 | 112 | 1 | 3 | 15 |