The Sword and Gun: A History of the 37th Wis. Volunteer Infantry

by R. C. Eden

The rebels had, by this time, however, recovered from their first panic, which had led them to hastily and precipitately abandon the works on each side the fort, and were forming in line of battle for the purpose of recapturing the ruins of the works, and, to cover the attack, were pouring in a tremendous enfilading fire from the two forts on the right and left. Reinforcements were sent into the crater from time to time, but no orders being given for an attack on either of the flanking works, the crater had, by this time, become densely packed with troops, and the explosion having completely leveled the parapet, they were left almost entirely without protection, and the whole place soon become a perfect slaughter house. The position was held, however, till about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when, the rebels having advanced near enough to plant their colors on the outside of the works, and our men being unable to accomplish anything or to hold the works without immense loss of life, orders were given for them to fall back to our main line, which was accordingly done.

In this engagement, out of two hundred and fifty men who went into action in the morning, only 95 remained to answer their names at roll-call that evening. Capt. A. A. Burnett, of company K, received a wound in the head, from the effects of which he died on the 18th of August; Capt. Frank A. Cole, received a severe wound in the hip, which necessitated an operation which proved fatal; Lieuts. Atwell, G; L. U. Beal, E, and George D. McDill, K, also received wounds which incapacitated them from further service, and Lieuts. Munger, D, and Holmes, G, were taken prisoners.

On the evening of the battle, the regiment was relieved from the front line and allowed to withdraw to the rear, where it remained, doing fatigue duty, till the 19th of August.

On the night of the 19th, the whole regiment was sent out on fatigue, the work in which they were engaged being the erection of a large fort, afterwards named Fort Schenckl, on the Jerusalem Plankroad.

On returning to camp at daylight, next morning, orders were found awaiting us, "to strike tents and get ready to march at once." This was no very welcome order for men who had been hard at work all night, part of the time exposed to a rather brisk artillery fire; but there was no help for it, the rest of the brigade had already started, and so after a hasty cup of coffee and a half hour's nap we started out to overtake the command. After a long and tedious march through rain and mud, made at a rapid rate, we caught up with the remainder of the brigade, which had moved out before daylight, near the Yellow Tavern, and after a short rest were ordered into action to repel an attack of the enemy on our front line. The rebels fell back as we advanced, being driven by us through the woods, till, gaining an open place and receiving reinforcements, they once more made a stand, and the 37th was ordered to take up a new position further to the left, which they did, and held the same till dark, having lost ten killed and wounded during the battle. During the night of the 19th and throughout the whole of the 20th, the regiment was moved, from point to point, as the enemy massed his troops in different positions, in attempting to regain possession of the Weldon road.

At an early hour on the 21st of August, the regiment was set to work building a line of entrenchments across the Weldon railroad, facing towards the rear of our main line of works. The works were hardly completed before a determined and combined attack was made by the enemy on three different points, simultaneously, for the purpose of regaining possession of the railroad. The 37th was ordered up to support the 19th New York battery, which was in position on the extreme left of our line, and which was suffering severely from the effects of a rapid and well directed fire which was being directed against them from a rebel battery in their rear and to the left. In performing this duty the 37th suffered severely, losing 10 killed and 25 wounded, but succeeding in finally compelling the enemy to withdraw his guns.

Till the 25th the men wore kept hard at work doing picket and guard duty, and building breastworks and fortifications commanding the Weldon railroad and its approaches. On that day, however, we were once more ordered to march, our destination being Reams' Station, where the 2d Corps was engaged and in need of support. On approaching the scene of action we soon found strong presumptive evidence of the truth of this position, the road, for several miles, being thickly lined with stragglers wearing the clover leaf, the distinguishing badge of the 2d Corps, and showing that an active retrograde move was in progression. A part of our brigade was kept to do provost guard duty and stop and re-assemble the stragglers as best they might, while the rest, including the 37th, pushed on and covered the retreat of the 2d Corps, holding the enemy in check till dark, when we fell back within our lines and slept on our arms that night.

On the 27th a new line of works was constructed and a new camp formed near Blick Station, where the time was passed till the 24th of September in guard and picket duty. On the 29th the regiment moved to the neighborhood of the Yellow Tavern, where Colonel Harriman assumed command of the brigade, now 1st Brig. 1st Div. 9th A. C., and Major Kershaw, who had partially recovered from the effects of the wounds he received on the 17th of June, and had rejoined the regiment, took command of the same. The brigade marched to the neighborhood of Poplar Grove Church where it was formed as reserve to the second brigade, which was about to assault the enemy's works defending the South Side Railroad and which were distant about a mile and a half.

In the charge, the 2d brigade was repulsed and, retiring in disorder, threw part of the 1st brigade into confusion; a battery also which had been sent up to check the advance of the enemy, retreated rapidly to the rear, as the enemy advanced from out of the wood, thus materially adding to the confusion. The 37th fell back to where the temporary shelter of a fence enabled them to reform their line of battle, and by a heavy and well sustained fire, repulsed several attacks of the enemy, and held the position till reinforcements arrived and the imminent defeat was thus rendered a victory. The same night the regiment went into camp on the Pegram farm where they constructed a heavy line of works strongly protected by forts and a line of abattis. The losses of the regiment in this successive series of battles amounted in all to 25 killed and 75 wounded, and gained it a reputation which it has maintained untarnished to the end. We remained in camp on the Pegram farm and in that vicinity, occupied in picket and fatigue duty till the 28th of October, when we took part in the reconnaissance in force made in the direction of Thatcher's Run. Our loss in this affair was very trifling, only two men being wounded, one very slightly. We advanced about three miles, meeting little or no opposition, and having entrenched and remained one night in the immediate presence of the enemy, we fell back to our former position on the morning of the 29th. During this movement Adjt. C. T. Miltimore was wounded whilst on the picket line.

In the latter part of November, the 9th corps was moved from the extreme left to the extreme right of the Army of the Potomac, its left resting on the Weldon R. R. and its right on the Appomattox; this brought the 1st Brigade back to their old station in front of the Mine or Crater Fort, with the 37th Wis. and 109th N. Y. in reserve in the woods, in the rear of the main line.