The Black Hole of Calcutta resembled it well;
But by whatever name or title you call it,
Its smoky old memories we cannot dispel.
And now far removed from that lone habitation,
The tear of regret will intrusively swell,
As fancy reverts to that Southern plantation,
And that dingy old Smoke House we all knew so well.
On the 7th of February cannonading was heard on our left in the direction of the position occupied by the Second Corps, and we understand that the Fifth and Second Corps with Gregg’s cavalry on the fifth of this month moved out from our left to Reams’s Station, and thence to Dinwiddie Court House, the Fifth Corps being directed to turn the enemy’s right, while the Second assailed it in front. The two corps then took position on the rebel flank, Smythe’s division, and McAllister’s brigade of Mott’s (of the Second Corps) gallantly repulsed the enemy’s attempt to turn the right of the former. The Confederates then sent a strong force around our left to strike it in flank and rear. Gregg’s cavalry was the first assailed and pushed back to Hatcher’s Run; Ayres’s division, which was hurrying up to the support of Crawford’s (both of the Fifth Corps), was next stricken in flank while marching, and pushed back, when the blow fell on Crawford with heavy loss. Following up their success the Confederates then attacked Humphrey’s (Second) Corps, which had had time to intrench, and which promptly sent them to the right about. The ground taken by the Second Corps was held, and our left thus permanently extended to Hatcher’s Run. These movements to the left involved the transfer of the Sixth and Ninth Corps to new positions. General Wheaton’s division of the Sixth Corps was engaged on the 7th, losing seventeen men wounded and about fifty prisoners. The engagement resulted in a prolongation of our line for a few miles and its intrenchment for a future point of departure. Lieut. Anthony B. Morton, with the left section of our battery, accompanied the Sixth Corps in this movement.
February 21st, a salute was fired in honor of the capture and occupation of Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina, by the army of Sherman, which had just completed its famous “march to the sea,” and was then moving through that state toward Goldsboro, North Carolina. That evening expecting an attack from the rebels, we remained by our guns all night, but no enemy appeared.
On the 22d, this being the birthday of the “Father of his Country,” we were hoping that the trite saying of “all quiet along the lines” might be our experience, and that we be allowed to celebrate it in a becoming manner, but we were doomed to disappointment, as the boom of cannon on our right, where the Ninth Corps was located, was a sure indication that the rebels were about to commence a celebration on their own account. At eight P. M. long roll sounded and our cannoneers repaired to their posts at the guns on the double-quick. The Fifth Corps, which was stationed in our rear, hastened to the assistance of the Ninth Corps. The Confederates had driven in our pickets and their reserves, and captured Batteries Nine, Ten and Eleven, near Yellow House, on the Welden Railroad, holding them for a short time. Our troops soon recovered from the attack, and in turn poured a heavy flanking fire on the Confederates, causing them to evacuate our batteries and retire in haste to their own lines.