Summary:
Bvt. Maj. Gen. Romeyn B. Ayres commanded the Second Division of the Army of the
Potomac which included the 210th Pa. Infantry. Gen. Ayres reports on his
division's advance.
Colonel
February 14, 1865.
COL
I have the honor to report that this division marched from camp on Sunday morning, 5th instant. Resistance was offered by a detachment of rebels (who had destroyed the bridge) at the crossing of the Rowanty (Hatcher's Run). The place was quickly carried by the Third Brigade, and a portion of the defenders captured. The division proceeded and took up a position on the Quaker road. Marched that night on the Vaughan road to the crossing of Hatcher's Run. The First Brigade was sent out next morning along the road to support the cavalry. Later I received an order to support the Third Division in a reconnaissance to Dabney's Mill. I sent an order to withdraw the First Brigade in time for it to take its place in the column, but the enemy having advanced along the Vaughan road, that brigade became briskly engaged to my left and could not be withdrawn. Having received notice from Gen. Crawford that his left was hard pressed, I was pushing forward rapidly with two brigades, marching in two lines by a flank in the thick underbrush ascending a ridge, when a quantity of our cavalry, riding rapidly, came on to my ranks suddenly. A portion of my troops were swept away, but I pushed rapidly on with what I had, soon engaged the enemy, and quickly retook the mill site, which I held, re-enforced by three regiments of the First Division, till the troops on my right were pressed back by overwhelming numbers. My troops then fell back to the open ground and were subsequently withdrawn to the position held previous. I refer you to the reports of the brigade commanders for further particulars of their operations. Those officers-Brevet Brig.-Gen. Winthrop, Brevet Brig.-Gen. Gwyn, and Col. Bowerman, Eighth [Fourth] Maryland Volunteers-seconded me with zeal and energy. Gen. Winthrop handsomely repulsed the enemy's attack on the Vaughan road. I must bear testimony in this connection to the zeal, intelligence, and good conduct of my staff-Bvt. Col. C. E. LaMotte, Fourth Delaware Volunteers, acting assistant inspector-general; Bvt. Maj. W. W. Swan, Seventeenth U. S. Infantry, acting assistant adjutant-general; First Lieut. R. P. Warren, One hundred and forty-sixth New York Volunteers, aide-de-camp; First Lieut. John J. Diehl, Fifteenth New York Heavy Artillery, aide-de-camp.
The courage and fidelity of my mounted messengers under trying circumstances entitles them to be named in this report. They are: Henry Bonnet, Company D, Fifteenth New York Heavy Artillery, standard-bearer and acting corporal; John T. Thomson, Company I, Eighth Maryland Volunteers; William H. Yingling, Company I, Eighth Maryland Volunteers; John T. Bratt, Company H, Eighth Maryland Volunteers; Munroe Fowler, Company H, Eighth Maryland Volunteers; John T. Mackison, Company H, Eighth Maryland Volunteers, severely wounded.
Tabular and nominal lists of casualties will be forwarded as soon as completed.
Brevet Brig.-Gen. Pearson, commanding the re-enforcements from the First Division, bore himself with gallantry.
I am, Col., very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. B. AYRES,
Bvt. Maj. Gen., Cmdg. Second Division, Fifth Army
Corps.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I., Volume 46. Part I, Reports. , Serial No. 95, Pages 277, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
