Summary:
Lieutenant Colonel Horace P. Rugg commands the First Brigade of the Army of the
Potomac which includes the 184th Pennsylvania Infantry. Rugg reports that the
brigade was engaged all day and was driven back until reenforcements
arrived.
Lieut. WILLIAM H. GILDER, Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
October 28, 1864.
SIR
I have the honor to submit the following report of operations of this command from the 26th to 28th instant:
At 2 p.m. on the afternoon of the 26th we left camp, in the rear of Fort Bross, and moved to the Vaughan house, on the Weldon railroad, where we bivouacked for the night. The next morning, at 3.30 o'clock we moved out in the direction of the Boydton plank road, first meeting the enemy at Hatcher's Run, but as they were driven from this position by the Third Brigade, the First Brigade was not engaged. From this point we took the advance, driving the enemy to the Boydton plank road. At this point we formed line of battle across the road, but before getting into position we were opened upon from a battery of the enemy, which was soon after silenced by Beck's battery (C and I), Fifth U. S. Artillery. From this point we advanced in line of battle and took up a position on the left of the plank road, extending from the Burgess house, connecting with the Second Brigade on the right, to a ravine on the left, which was not connected but was protected by the First Minnesota Battalion and Seventh Michigan Volunteers, which I deployed to cover our flank and rear. While in this position the enemy opened upon us from the left with a battery of rifle guns, which enfiladed our lines, and continued firing from them during the remainder of the day, killing and wounding many of our men. Our skirmish line in front was continually engaged with the enemy's lines and at one time was driven by him. We held this position until after the assault by the enemy was made. While in this position the enemy succeeded in obtaining possession of the plank road in our rear, severing for the time our communications, when Maj. Mitchell, of Gen. Hancock's staff, charged down the road with the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Regiment, capturing many prisoners and one color, as is shown by the special report, accompanying this, of Capt. Fisk, commanding Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Regt. Maj. Mitchell desired me to move my whole brigade in this charge, but I did not do it, for the following reasons: First, I had just received orders, by a staff officer from Gen. Egan, to hold the position I was then in at all hazards; second, the enemy were continually threatening our left flank and front; third, the enemy on the road was not in force, but a disorganized body, and I considered that one good-sized regiment, charging down the road in line, would be as effectual as the whole brigade.
About 5 p.m. the brigade was moved to the extreme left of the second line, facing to the right and rear, and shortly afterward was again moved to the right and in rear of Col. McAllister's brigade of the Third Division. When moving from our position on the left of the plank road I left the First Minnesota and Seventh Michigan Volunteers in their position in the wood on our left and rear, as they were continually picking up prisoners. After dark the command was moved down and formed in the plank road, connecting on the right with the Third Division, and on the left with Col. McAllister's brigade, throwing out vedettes in front and rear. About 11 p.m. we left this position and moved off with the rest of the column, forming the rear guard. Halting the next morning about 4 o'clock in rear of the Second Division of the Fifth Corps, I received orders from in line of battle, connecting with the Second Brigade on the right and extending to the left. That brigade did not form line, but moved to the rear of the Fifth Corps. As they were the directing brigade I followed them and conformed myself to their movements. Shortly after daylight we took up the line of march (at the head of the division) for our present camp, which were reached about 4 p.m. The First Minnesota and Seventh Michigan Volunteers were left on the skirmish line, as they had changed their position and could not be found when the balance of the brigade left. They remained on the field until the next morning (October 28), when they left at 9.30 o'clock and reached camp at 9 o'clock this morning (October 29). I inclose report of Capt. Farwell.
Our loss during the operations was 1 officer and 9 enlisted men killed, 34 enlisted men wounded, and 95 enlisted men missing; making a total of 1 officer and 138 enlisted men.+ The number missing will probably be reduced by the return of stragglers. The officer killed was Capt. Musson, commanding One hundred and fifty-second New York Volunteers, a brave and able officer. The troops of the command behaved gallantly. Two colors and upward of 400 prisoners were captured, besides a color captured by a man of the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Volunteers, which was afterward taken from him. I beg leave to mention for especial gallantry my acting staff, Capt. George W. Ryerson, Fifty-ninth New York Veteran Volunteers, acting assistant adjutant-general; Lieut. Ansel L. White, Nineteenth Maine Volunteers, acting aide-de-camp; W. Stone, Nineteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, acting aide-de-camp (each of these officers had his horse shot under him while carrying orders, and my own horse was wounded while rallying one of the brigades of the Third Division); and also Capts. J. C. Farwell, First Minnesota Battalion, and George W. La Point, Seventh Michigan Volunteers, for fighting their way through the enemy's cavalry on the morning of the 28th; Sergt. Alonzo Smith,++ Company C, Seventh Michigan Volunteers, for capturing the colors of the Twenty-Sixth North Carolina (rebel) Regiment, and Sergt. Daniel J. Murphy,++ Nineteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, for capturing the colors of the Forty-seventh North Carolina (rebel) Regt.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HORACE P. RUGG, Lieut. Col. Fifty-ninth New York Volunteers, Cmdg. Brigade.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I., Volume 42. Part I, Reports, Serial No. 87, Pages 303, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
