Press enter after choosing selection

The Fifth Michigan Cavalry

The Fifth Michigan Cavalry image
Parent Issue
Day
20
Month
November
Year
1863
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The following letter írom a memDer of Co. K, Fifth Michigan Cavalry, to one of our citizens, will be read with interest by our readers : In Camp, near Gaines' Station, Va. ) Tuesday, Oct., 27tl), 1863. $ FlUEND MOSE : "We have cleaned and watered our horses - all of which has to be done by the bugle - and Brooke and myself have cooked and eaten our breakfast ; it consisted of fried fresh beef, coffee, and hard tack. I bad filled my pipe and seated myself by a fence-rail fire, and had forgotten the unoomfortable realities of niy present position, in pleasant thoughts of old Ann Arbor, and friends left behind, when it ocourred to me that no doubt Mose would like to hear from the boys of the "fighting fifih ;" or, at least, quite confident that the undersigned would be happy to hear througb. bim, of the Ann Arbor boys, and how they are prospering; consequeutly I hasteued to finish my pipe, and proceed to address you. We are now encamped in a pretty piece of woods, near the above named station, on the Orange aud Alesandria railroad, and bavo been hero since our fight at Bucklands' Mills, whieh transpirod the 19th of this month. We have been taking it quite easy for us, since that time, with the exception of two days picket duty, in a cold, soaking rain. - How long we may stay here it is hard to teil; perhaps days, aud porhaps only moments. The eneiny nre in our front and we have to be ever on the alert. - Yesterday there was heavy ü:iug and this morniiig it has commenced agaiu. Boom, boom, boom, I would not wonder if it resulted in a general engagement, and that very soon. I will relate a few particulars of the fight at Buckland, as cur Regiment lost more men in this engagement than in any previous one. The day of the I8th, and for two days prior, we had been pieketing in front of the eneuiy, on the onee bloody, and uow dismal aud ghastly old Buil Run battle field. I say ghastly, because turn in any direction and you see only evideuces of the wicked and bloody strifo that once raged here between unnatural foes of the same happy land. Uuexplodcd shell and round shot are to ho sean most anywhere, and the fragments of shell are as if sown far and wide over the vast field. The tops of the trees in some places are all cut off by the shell, and in one place in particular at the edge of a piece of woods, the trees are alinost girdled by bullets; in mauy of the trees not a foot through, I have counted fourteen bullet holes, none of them reaehing much higher than a man's head ; not a tree has eacaped uuscathed ; what then must have been the iate of the poor soldiers who sought shelter here. A glance farther in the woods and all is evident The graves, if such they can be called, are as plentiful as in a church yard, and the unburied bones of many upou many lie bleaching here and there for miles around. The graves of about all are so shallow and hastily made that they exposé some portion of their poor victims; here an arm and hand is stretchcd out, and agaiu a foot is exposed with shoe and stocking on, and still again you see-the blue or gray uniforms half uucovered. It was the night of the I8th ,and amid these scènes, that I stood alone on picket post, for ten consecutive hours, in a cold drenching rain; the tnouotony of the thing being occasionally reüeved by the report oí a rifle or revolver, as some picket saw, or some firightened one imagined he saw the enemy ; two shots whistled past me that night in rather close proximity, but they only have the effect now of mak ing one a little more watchful. Wel], as morning dawned we were called in, and without any breakfast eommenced our march, a wet, half frozen and hungry set of mortals, or iron clads on horse back, as Col. Kellogg named us tho other day. We had not gone far, however, before we carne to the enemy camp fires, still buruing, and soon after skirinishing eommenced. We drive them as far as Buckland, when they stand and open a battery, upon us ; our battery is soon brought into position, and replies sharply four to tboir one. Our Regiment and a number of others are dismounted to fight on foot and deploy as skirmishers ; soon the sharp crack of our rifles are to be heard, and after about an hours' hard fighting our men drive the rebs out of Buckland; the firing ceases, and the column moves on over Broad Run (Creek) by a narrow bridge and t-ikes possession of the place. We stopped here n! cookd oor brotkfaet as it wards proved, right ia sightof the euemy for no sooner did we begin our advance, than sosoon oponed tbe fight again, with reuewed vigor, and niucb. to our astonisthmeut, Our regiment was orderod to hold the maiü road, and our battallion under Major John E. Clark was dismounted to fight on foot. In this oase every fourth man remains mounted and hülda the other tbree horses. 1 was left with the horses. We had gone but a little way when we could see tho rebs driving in our left, (our Regiment being ont he right and still holding tbeir owu not knowing what a trap they were getting in,) and upon sight of this they made extra exertions to cut us off from tho bridge ; tben the race began, and you can bet I was not bebind the re8t. I think I was the third oue with led horses to cross the bridge, which we crossed amid showers of bullets' many being killed and wounded ; those in tho rear with the horsea saw this and changed their course up the stream where tbey fortunately found a fording place, and got across all safe, - Brooke was with the latter crowd. It was plain to us uow that tho Major and bis men werc cut off, and on the other side of the stream, dismounted ai that, and must be taken prisoners : which has proved to be the case with a few exceptions. Our battory, as soon as it got over the stream took position, and opened upon the Rebels at short range, holding them in check. The second Army corps had come up in the meantime, so we feil back and went into camp, it being almost dnrk. Our battalion lost 47 men, most of thom prisoners, Major Clark, Capt. Lee, the Adjt. of the Regiment, and some others are with them, and we have every rcason to believe are uniujured. - Our Compauy was minus eleven men but, four have reported, since having swam the stream aud concealed themselves in the woods. October 28th. Our Regiment was out yesterday on general inspection and numbered just one huudred and sixty men for duty, a '' big tbing" out of eleven hundred and fifty wlicn wo left Washington a year ago. Now about the Ann Arbor boys. - Brooke enjoys this kind of life first rate, at least is always gay aa a cricket, and is growing fatter and fatter every dy. - Torn Kearus is our blacksmith, and has proved himself a good soldier. Christ. Brcisch s with the company again, he iè tbo Captain's Orderly, and is lookiüg well as ever. Sergt. Eggleston and Oorpl. Sam. Gregory are detailod and on duty at dismounted camp ueai' Washington, aud have not been with the regiment for months. Ed. Suraner is as hearty as a buck ; the boys havo just bought a new pack of cards and Ed. is teaching them a new game of Frenoh seven up. Sergt. Chambers, if you know him, is a prisoner with the othcr boys. Young Markly has absented himself without leave, aud they say he is now at dismounted camp. Your Friend, p. S. - Our Compauy numbers 14 men fit for duty, all told.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus