Summary:
Union General Charles Yates reports on the role New York State National Guard
troops played in the defense of Pennsylvania during the June and July, 1863,
Gettysburg campaign, including service in the Chambersburg area.
Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sandford,
Comdg. First Division,
New York State Militia.
Hdqrs. 2d Brig., New York State National Guards,
New
York,
September 30, 1863.
Gen.:
Herewith I transmit the reports of the several commandants of regiments of this brigade, detailing the duties assigned to them while in the service of the United States in June and July last:
On the 18th of June, I ordered Maj. Gardiner, of my staff, to repair immediately to Harrisburg, to attend to the several regiments on their arrival there. On the 20th of June, I arrived at Harrisburg with my staff, and reported immediately to Maj.-Gen. Couch, pursuant to your orders. The Fifth, Twelfth, and Fourth Regt.'s arrived there at about the same time. The day following our arrival, the Fourth was placed on detached service at Camp Curtin and elsewhere, and was not under my command during any portion of the residue of the term of service.
The Sixth and Eighty-fourth Regt.'s were ordered to report at Baltimore, and the Seventy-first, assigned by your orders to my brigade, was, on its arrival at Harrisburg, also placed on detached service in another command. The reports of the commandants of the above-named regiments will show the fidelity with which they discharged the duties assigned to them.
The staff organization of my brigade was as follows: Maj. Charles Trumbull White, assistant adjutant-general; Maj. Henry D. Gardiner, brigade quartermaster; Capt. Henry C. Landon, commissary; Capt. J. Hobart Herrick, ordnance officer; Capt. Reginald H. Anthon, aide. Capt. Anthon, having been taken ill in consequence of severe exposure in the discharge of his duties, obtained leave of absence, and Capt. Benjamin S. Church, of the Twelfth Regt., was assigned to his post during the residue of our term of service.
On the 21st of June, I was directed to proceed with the Fifth and Twelfth Regt.'s, numbering together about 1,000 men, early the next day, to Marysville and Fenwick, at the junction of the Dauphin and Susquehanna Valleys, about 6 miles above Harrisburg, to guard two railroad bridges crossing the Susquehanna at that point. The Dauphin Valley runs parallel with the Cumberland Valley, being connected with it by several mountain gaps, the farthest of which is Sterrett's Gap, through which the road to Carlisle passes.
The enemy being then advancing toward Harrisburg, it was supposed he might make a diversion to the left, pass down the Dauphin Valley, and cross the Susquehanna. Our position, therefore, assumed a very important character, and required very great diligence in checking a movement of that kind. On arriving at the Dauphin Valley, the only force we found there consisted of about 50 or 60 men of the Invalid Corps, stationed at block-houses near the bridges. We immediately commenced constructing such earthworks in front and flank as were deemed necessary, and selected a position to make a determined stand, the left flank of our contemplated line being protected by an obstruction of felled woods, and the narrow pass along the Susquehanna being guarded by such force as could be spared for that purpose.
Various detachments from time to time were sent with ax-men, to obstruct and guard the mountain gaps. During their service there they were exposed to almost incessant rains, having only their shelter tents to protect them from the inclemency of the weather. These detachments performed the duty assigned to them with alacrity and fidelity. During a portion of the term of service in the Dauphin Valley, we were very materially aided by the Thirteenth and Twenty-eighth New York National Guard, under the command of Brig. Gen. Philip S. Crooke, and three companies of the Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Militia, under the command of Maj. Jessup. Gen. Crooke and Maj. Jessup, with their officers and men, diligently cooperated with me in the performance of the several duties assigned to them.
On the 7th of July, we proceeded by rail, with the Fifth and Twelfth Regt.'s, to Carlisle; thence on the 8th and 9th, by march, by way of the turnpike, to Shippensburg. At this place, the Twentieth, Thirty-fifth, and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Militia were attached to my brigade, then denominated the First Brigade of the Second Division of the Department of the Susquehanna, under the command of Maj.-Gen. Dana, to whom I reported for duty. Under his orders, the brigade was marched to a point 1 mile beyond Chambersburg,where it was further re-enforced by the Twenty-sixth Regt. Pennsylvania Militia and a battery of United States artillery. It then comprised the Fifth and Twelfth New York National Guard and the Twentieth, Twenty-sixth, Thirty-fifth, and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania Militia, and Battery --, Fifth U.S. Artillery, and numbered nearly 4,300 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men.
From Chambersburg our brigade and the other brigades of the Second Division were marched to Greencastle. The whole division comprised about 12,000 men. On the arrival of the division at Greencastle, we learned that Gen. Lee had crossed the Potomac, with the whole rebel army. In consequence of this, and the near expiration of our term of service, I received orders to proceed the next day with the Fifth and Twelfth Regt.'s by march to Shippensburg, and thence by rail to New York, and report to Maj.-Gen. Wool, commanding the Department of the East. We arrived at New York on the evening and night of the 18th, and reported accordingly. The regiments did duty at New York until they were mustered out of service.
The members of the brigade staff were unremitting in the discharge of the duties of their several departments, and performed them with very great regularity. To them as well as to Col. Burger, commanding the Fifth, and Col. Ward, commanding the Twelfth, and their officers and men, and to the officers and men of the several commands attached to my brigade, my acknowledgments are due for the faithful discharge of the several duties assigned to them.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
CHAS. YATES,
Brig. Gen., Comdg. 2d Brig., New York State National
Guard.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 27, Serial No. 44, Pages 229-231, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
