Summary:
In June, 1864, the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry left Staunton to join the
Union advance on Lexington and Lynchburg. In this dispatch, Major Enoch D. Yutzy
reports on the role his regiment played in the campaign.
Col. J. M. CAMPBELL,
Cmdg. Third Brigade, Second
Division.
Camp Piatt, W. Va.,
July 2, 1864.
COL.:
I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in the late raid through Virginia since joining your brigade at Staunton, Va., on the 9th ultimo, including the engagements near Lynchburg, Va., on the 17th and 18th of June, 1864:
The regiment was annexed to the Third Brigade, Second Infantry Division, on the 9th of June, 1864, by Special Orders, No. 112, headquarters Department of West Virginia, and left Staunton, Va., on the 10th ultimo, at 4 o'clock in the morning, in company with the rest of the brigade and division, and arrived at Lexington about noon next day, a distance of thirty-six miles.
Encamped until the morning of the 14th, when we marched to Buchanan, arriving at 6 p. m.; distance of twenty-four miles.
Left Buchanan on the morning of the 15th; crossed the Blue Ridge, my regiment leading the advance and skirmishing with the enemy, losing 1 man wounded.
Passed through Liberty on the 16th, at 11 a. m., and encamped on Otter Creek, eight miles from Liberty, until the morning of the 17th, 5 o'clock (marching thirty miles on the 15th and 16th), when we marched within about three miles of Lynchburg, where we were confronted by the enemy in force.
BATTLE OF LYNCHBURG.
Immediately upon the arrival of the regiment in front of the enemy, within three miles of Lynchburg, and after a march of eleven miles without rest, I was ordered to form the regiment on the left, of, and at right angle with, the turnpike road leading to Lynchburg, the regiment occupying the extreme left of the brigade, Company B, of the regiment, being deployed as skirmishers on our left. We advanced in this order until we gained the crest of the hill, the first line of the enemy's barricade, a distance of about half a mile. Here, by your direction, I took a position with the regiment still farther to the left to cover the left flank of the line, and again advanced down over the hill through the woods, steadily driving the enemy before us, until we reached the foot of the hill. Night overtaking us, the advance was discontinued, and the action closed for the day, the regiment resting in line for about an hour, when our brigade was relieved by a brigade of the First Infantry Division, and we took a position, by your direction, about one-quarter of a mile to the rear of the line, and rested upon our arms until daylight next morning, when we accompanied the brigade in a reconnaissance of the enemy's extreme left, marching a distance of about four miles. We returned at about 11 a. m. and formed in line near the ground on which we rested the previous night, my regiment occupying the extreme left, doubled by wing. Immediately upon the formation of the line I received your order to move forward, and we advanced over the crest of the hill (some 300 yards to the left of our line of direction the evening before) and down through an open field, the regiment being exposed to a heavy artillery fire of shell, grape, and canister, for a distance of about 800 yards. At the foot of the hill I found the enemy strongly posted in a deep ditch, concealed by thick weeds and underbrush, lining both banks. Upon this discovery, we immediately charged the enemy and drove him in confusion from his position. Having now gained a line somewhat sheltered from the enemy's fire by the rising ground in our front, in order to reform the line, which had become somewhat broken in consequence of crossing a deep ditch running diagonally through the field, over which we had charged, as well as to give the men a moment's rest before making the final assault, I halted the regiment for about three minutes, after which I ordered another charge upon the enemy, who had taken shelter behind a stone wall, rail breast-works, and an old dwelling-house, stable, and ice-house, about 200 yards in our front. Simultaneously with the order, both the officers and men gallantly rushed forward with a shout, and drove the enemy from their shelter in utter confusion. Here we received the hottest musketry fire of the day, and it was here that most of our comrades fell. Both officers and men behaved with their usual gallantry and bravery. No hesitating or faltering in the face of the enemy's fire; all discharged their duty faithfully and cheerfully. I took 420 men into the engagement. Previous battles, sickness, hard marching, and exposure had materially reduced the strength of the regiment. Capt. John Cole, Company B, was the only officer severely wounded. The regiment lost 11 killed, 37 wounded who were not sent to the hospital, among them 3 officers.
The entire line having come to a halt, we held our position until we were ordered to reform on the ground from which we had made the last charge, and rested there unmolested, except by an occasional shot from the enemy's sharpshooters, until about 9 p. m., when we were ordered to withdraw, and by 10 o'clock took up the line of march with the entire column, and continued a long and fatiguing march for ten days, passing through Liberty, Salem, Rocky Gap, New Castle, Sweet Sulphur Springs, White Sulphur Springs, Meadow Bluff, Lewisburg, Hawk's Nest, Loup Creek, and Gauley Bridge, arriving here in the afternoon of the 28th, having marched a distance of 215 miles since leaving Lynchburg.
Depending entirely upon the country over which we marched for supplies, a great portion of our line of march being but sparsely settled and supplies scarce, and what little they had, shipped to the mountains on hearing of our approach; in consequence of which, to our suffering from hard, fatiguing marches, loss of sleep, and a burning sun, was added a fair prospect of starvation. During the last four or five days many of my best men dropped out of the ranks, completely exhausted by hunger and fatigue; but supplies having been sent out to meet them, the most of them have since come into camp. Notwithstanding the many hardships endured and the terrible suffering of the men, there is a general expression of satisfaction of the work that was performed during this important expedition.
Since going into camp much sickness prevails among both officers and men, the sanitary condition of the regiment being worse now than I ever knew it to be since entering the service, more than one-quarter of the regiment being unfit for duty.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
E. D. YUTZY,
Maj., Cmdg. Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Vol. Infty.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 37, Serial No. 70, Pages 131-133, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
