August 14th. On duty in the trenches. For the past fortnight the weather has been intensely hot and dry, and to-day is no exception. Charles H. Wheeler, of Company I, wounded in the shoulder. Exposed to severe thundershowers in the afternoon. General Burnside relinquished the command of the Ninth Corps, and with his personal staff left for Washington, leaving General Willcox in command.[21] The corps under orders to be ready to move at a moment's notice. At half-past nine our line was relieved by troops of the Eighteenth Corps, and the regiment moved back to the woods in the midst of a pouring rain. At half-past eleven the regiment was aroused and under arms, and at one o'clock on the morning of Monday, August 15th, we left our camp in the woods and moved to the rear. Upon reaching the open plain we marched toward the left, and it was reported that we were to support an assault to be made by the Fifth Corps. The night was black as ink, and as we floundered about in the darkness among the stumps we soon lost all traces of the road, and continued moving to the left and rear until daylight revealed our position. We then countermarched to General Warren's head-quarters. The Fifth Corps was quietly withdrawn soon after daylight, and their lines occupied by our corps.
[21] General Willcox was soon relieved by Major-General John G. Parke, who was assigned to the command of the corps.
Our brigade relieved the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, and our regiment took possession of the splendid line of works occupied by the One hundred and eighteenth Pennsylvania. The works were bomb-proof, and the camp regular and perfectly clean, reminding us of the camp of the Seventeenth regulars, at Catlett's Station. The enemy was found to be comparatively peaceful here. There was no firing whatever during the day, and our pickets were relieved by daylight without any molestation. The "Johnnies" were plainly seen walking about within their lines with impunity, and the regiment we relieved informed us that the utmost harmony and good-feeling prevailed on the picket line. To us who for sixty days had been exposed to an incessant and hostile fire it was a great relief to be able to stand upright without the certainty of being shot. The enemy, however, had frequently opened upon the main line with artillery, and to resist the fire the main works had been strengthened and elaborated to the perfection of field fortifications. During the afternoon and evening the rain came down in a deluge, filling the bomb-proofs and trenches, inundating the camp, and making everybody generally miserable. The Fifth Corps, after being relieved, concentrated for a movement to the left, to be supported by the First and Third Divisions of our corps, which were in reserve.
Our little regiment, which could ill afford depletion, had lost while in the trenches on the right, from the 20th of June to the 14th of August, seven men killed or mortally wounded, and eighteen wounded; a total of twenty-five,—a slow but sure wasting of some of the most valuable material of which the regiment could boast.
August 16th. The weather continued rainy and uncomfortable. Not a shot was fired on our line. Dr. Bryant to-day received a fully earned and well-deserved promotion, and was commissioned Surgeon of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteers. There is, however, some doubt as to his being able to muster in on account of the greatly reduced numbers of that regiment, it being below the minimum, and having two assistant surgeons. It will be a calamity to lose the services of Dr. Bryant. During the entire campaign he has been at his post, and his duties have been very arduous and unremitting, from the fact that he has been the only medical officer with the regiment. He has remained constantly with the regiment, always in close proximity during an advance, and ready and willing to perform any duty in the camp or on the field.[22]
[22] For the reason given above Dr. Bryant was not able to muster in on his commission as Surgeon of the Fifty-eighth, and remained with the Thirty-sixth until the close of the war.
August 17th. A day of frequent heavy showers, settling at night into a cold storm, making the ground soft and miry. It was a day of comparative quiet, but we had a heavy force on picket. A vigorous movement is in progress on the right, and the cannonading throughout the day was severe. General Hancock has crossed the James with the Second and Tenth Corps, and a division of cavalry, and has had a spirited engagement.
August 18th. The day was quiet within the lines, with rain at short intervals and heavy showers at times. The trenches and bomb-proofs were very uncomfortable, and required much baling out to keep the water down. General Lee having sent a considerable force from his lines to resist General Hancock's advance north of the James, advantage was taken of his movement to send General Warren and the Fifth Corps to the left, to extend that flank across the Weldon Railroad, about three or four miles distant. General Warren reached the railroad early in the forenoon, and while moving toward Petersburg was met by the enemy, and a fierce battle ensued, attended with considerable loss to the Fifth Corps; but the railroad was secured and held, and at nightfall General Warren established his line across it.
About nine o'clock that evening we were ordered to prepare three days' cooked rations, and be ready to move at daylight. The meaning of that order was well understood. During the night the enemy seemed to be aware of some unusual movement in our lines, and subjected us to a very severe artillery fire, which was general along the entire line.
At ten o'clock on the 19th we were relieved by Mott's division of the Second Corps, which had just recrossed the James, and the division moved to the left, following the other two divisions of our corps, which had been ordered to reinforce General Warren. We were exposed to a hot fire while leaving the pits, but none in the Thirty-sixth were injured. The rain poured in torrents nearly all day, and the men were thoroughly drenched. The route was circuitous, and we marched nearly six miles over very bad roads. As we neared the lines, the artillery and musketry fire of the troops in our front indicated that a heavy battle was in progress. The division of the enemy which General Warren encountered yesterday had been heavily reinforced, and had broken through the skirmish line, extending from the right of the Fifth Corps toward the left of the main line of works in front of Petersburg, with a heavy column, and turned Warren's right flank, causing great confusion and heavy loss, especially in prisoners. In the midst of this exciting battle the First and Third Divisions of our corps reached the ground at a most critical moment, and, forming hastily on General Warren's right, pushed rapidly forward with the troops of the Fifth Corps, and drove the enemy in great confusion to his intrenchments. The fighting was desperate and bloody. The rebel troops consisted, among others, of Mahone's division of A. P. Hill's corps.