We expected to be relieved at night, having had no sleep for forty-eight hours; but, after waiting two hours for a fresh brigade to arrive, we received orders that no relief could be furnished, and that we must hold the line.
At daylight our videttes reported that the enemy had retired or was lying low for an attack. They cautiously advanced and found the works deserted, and a strong reconnoitring party, under Captain Ames, was sent out to discover their whereabouts. No trace of the enemy could be discovered; but they had left many dead unburied, and several wounded on the field, together with much artillery, ammunition, and several hundred muskets. From the wounded we learned that we had fought Cook's brigade (five North Carolina regiments), of Heth's Division, A. P. Hill's corps, and that the regiment opposed to us was the North Carolina Tigers. Their losses had been more severe than ours. Our fire had been very destructive, judging from the new-made graves and the dead found upon the ground. Large numbers of dead horses were found near the position occupied by their artillery, and the vain endeavor to drag off the guns must have been very costly to the enemy.
In the afternoon the brigade was withdrawn to the left, and relieved a portion of Birney's division of the Second Corps, near the Tucker house. On that day the German detachment of the Forty-sixth New York, which had been connected with the Thirty-sixth since March 19th, rejoined their regiment, which had returned to the corps, leaving the effective strength of our regiment six commissioned officers and one hundred and sixty-eight enlisted men.
On the evening of the 5th the brigade line was changed. The right was drawn back and extended, holding the ground near Tucker's. The regiment worked all night, and by daylight had built a strong breastwork. The enemy opened a furious artillery fire in the morning from the two batteries near the Tucker house, but the loss was slight, considering the range and rapidity of the firing. Among the wounded in this fire was Solon Carter, of Company A, whose foot was torn off by a shell. He was one of the coolest and bravest men in the regiment, and bore his terrible wound with wonderful calmness. A heavy attack was made on the extended picket line, and the pickets were driven out; but toward night Captain Holmes went out with a reinforcement and restored the line, after a sharp skirmish, in which he captured four prisoners belonging to a North Carolina regiment.
The operations of the 7th were a repetition of those of the 6th on a more extended scale. The division was exposed to a most furious shelling from the batteries on the hill, which, however, caused no loss in our regiment. Captain Smith was brigade officer of the day, and while out in the afternoon with a large working-party was suddenly attacked by a strong force of the enemy, who drove in the skirmish line with a rush. They advanced a line of battle, broke our line, and captured a portion of the working party, consisting of details from the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts. Captain Smith narrowly escaped capture. In the attack Aaron Edmister, of Company B, was mortally wounded. The enemy did not advance beyond the skirmish line, and at six o'clock the line was reinforced, and ordered forward, and General Potter detailed our regiment to support the attack, and went out with us to retake the hill. We were exposed to a severe fire, but took shelter behind a rise of ground in our front as we lay in reserve, and suffered no loss. As we advanced the enemy fell back. At sunset a truce of two hours prevailed along the contending lines, excepting on our front, for the purpose of burying the dead. A white flag was sent out from our brigade head-quarters; but the bearer met with such a hot fire that he was obliged to return. After the truce the firing became general along the line.
The regiment remained in line of battle outside our works all night, and in the morning advanced to support the attack of our skirmish line. The rebel skirmishers were driven out of the pits, and across a field, over the top of the hill, into the woods beyond. The hill was then fortified and held, the entire brigade moving out and going into position. Later in the day the brigade was moved to the right, and after several halts went into line on the extreme right of the division, at nearly a right angle with the line of battle, facing a wide, open plain, the right resting on an impenetrable swamp. At night the fire was very sharp and close, and the men were under arms several times; but, with the exception of the burning of three houses in front of the lines, nothing unusual occurred.
For four days the regiment occupied this line. Being but little exposed to the enemy's fire we enjoyed a season of comparative rest and quiet, when not detailed for duty in the skirmish line. The country around us was traversed with intrenchments and field-works of every description, extending in all directions. The duty in the picket pits was severe. The enemy evidently expected another assault, and were extremely hostile, narrowly watching every movement within our lines, and constantly on the alert to detect any changes in our position. During these days the company had been gradually moved to the left, and concentrated behind strong intrenchments, until at length preparations had been completed for another change of base.
On Sunday, the 12th, indications of a general movement prevailed throughout the corps. Baggage was packed, teams were loaded, rations issued and cooked. The long, hot summer day passed wearily, and at dusk Captain Smith was detailed as division officer of the day, and placed in charge of the picket line, with orders to hold it until midnight and then withdraw. At half-past eight o'clock the brigade silently withdrew to the rear, and was soon on the march. The night was excessively hot, the roads dusty, and the halts were so brief and at such long intervals that many of the men fell out exhausted. The road was crowded with troops. The Ninth and Eighteenth Corps marched side by side,—the latter destined for White House Landing, to embark for City Point, on James river. About two o'clock in the morning the regiment lost the right of the brigade, and became merged with the troops of the Eighteenth Corps, and kept on with them until daylight found us near White House. At half-past five, after an hour's search, we rejoined the brigade near Tunstall's Station.
We rested during the forenoon while the corps was concentrating, and were joined by Captain Smith, and the picket detail. At one o'clock that afternoon we resumed our march in a southerly direction, through forest and swamps and across bottom lands. The march was very rapid and well conducted. We halted at seven o'clock for supper, resumed the march at eight, and bivouacked at half-past twelve about three miles from the Chickahominy. Early on the 14th the command was in motion. At nine o'clock we crossed the Chickahominy, at Jones' bridge, twenty miles from Richmond. We halted on its banks until noon, when the march southward was resumed, through a splendid farming country. The elegant mansions and well-tilled lands presented a beautiful contrast to the battle-scarred and fortified fields of Cold Harbor. The noble forests had not yielded to the axes of the engineers, and the blight and desolation of war were nowhere visible. We marched by way of Charles City cross-roads and court-house, and halted for supper on the splendid plantation once the home of ex-President Tyler.
At sunset we were again on the road. At half-past eight we passed the camps of the Sixth Corps, and the first and third divisions of the Ninth. The men were gathered in groups around piles of blazing rails, busily cooking their evening meal; the bands were discoursing patriotic music, and the whole scene was one of the most striking and magnificent of war. At half-past nine we went into bivouac on the bank of the historic James, at a point about three miles below Wilcox's wharf, having made a laborious and painful, yet most successful, march of fifty-five miles in less than forty-eight hours.