In advancing to take our position in the line of battle each man seized a rail of a convenient fence that stood in the way, and when halted, out of these constructed an improvised shelter, behind which we crouched to meet and repel the enemy's desperate onslaughts. From that hour until darkness covered the scene, the battle raged furiously and almost incessantly. Charge after charge was made upon our lines, often coming so near that faces were clearly discernible through the smoke of battle, so determined was the enemy to break our lines and reach the road in our rear, over which our wagon trains and unengaged forces were pressing toward the James river.
Perhaps in no battle of the war was there so long and continuous fighting by the same troops as in this engagement. It was all important that the army should be safely guarded past this most vulnerable point, and posted on the river bluffs and under the protection of our gunboats. The enemy, as well, seemed to realize the need of breaking our lines or lose the fruits of their victory purchased at such fearful cost, and therefore pressed our line hard and continuously, so that if disposed to do so, there was little time given to relieve us by the substitution of other troops.
In this engagement Major Simonton was wounded in the shoulder about 6 o'clock in the evening. Lieutenant Colonel Woods was absent on sick leave, and the command of the regiment devolved upon Captain Ralph Maxwell, of Company F. Before midnight the troops were withdrawn from the line of battle and were on the march to Malvern Hill, the place of rendezvous of the army, near the James river. As we moved quietly along in the darkness General Kearny rode up and asked Captain Maxwell what regiment we were. When informed, he complimented us very highly for the part we had taken in the recent battle, then ordered him to return us to our old position and hold it until daylight, when he would have us relieved. We "about faced" and were soon back in our old place as nearly as could be determined in the darkness. The supposition was that the whole brigade was with us and we did not discover differently until an hour or more later. Of this occurrence Captain Maxwell says: "I thought along toward midnight I would go and have a talk with whoever commanded the 105th. I went to the right of the 57th, but could find no one; all was vacancy. I immediately retraced my steps and, passing to the left, found the 63d gone also. Nobody there but one poor, little, lone regiment! It then came to me that we were placed there to be sacrificed for the safety of the rest of the army. I knew the penalty for violating General Kearny's orders, but at the same time I could not think of sacrificing these men to certain capture and imprisonment. I did not like to break orders and I could not do the other. Soon after we heard the trundle of artillery, and the tread of the marching men to our front, and then lights gleaming to our front. Evidently this was the enemy. I made up my mind I would try and save the regiment, orders or no orders, and let them court-martial me and be d—d. I ordered the regiment to form silently in two ranks, then gave the order to march and file right. They did so and all filed past me and got on the road. I then ran along the line to the head of the regiment and gave the order to double quick, and we went down that road on the run, and none too soon. Five minutes more and we would have been prisoners! We caught up to the main body of the army and took our usual position in the brigade. I was afraid to ask any questions and never heard anything about our disobedience of orders. But one thing is certain, I am glad I did what I did that night!"
In this engagement our regiment lost seven killed and fifty-six wounded, a number of whom subsequently died.
The next morning found the regiment in line on Malvern Hill. This position was almost impregnable. On the south side flowed the James river on which floated the Union fleet of gunboats. On the north side was an impenetrable swamp. To attack, the Confederates had to charge from the west and in our front over long stretches of open ground in the face of our batteries posted along the hill side, their right flank enfiladed by the fire from our gunboats. General Porter, speaking of the strength of this position, says that when by inspections he realized its natural advantages, and had seen his division properly posted, he returned to the Malvern House, where he had established his headquarters, and, lying down on a cot, dropped at once into so sound a sleep, that although the battle following surged up to the front yard of the house, he was not awakened, although at any other time during the campaign the snap of a cap would rouse him instantly, so great was his sense of the security of his position. Notwithstanding these natural advantages, the elated, but weary forces of Jackson, Longstreet, and Hill, reinforced by the fresh troops of Magruder and Hugar, charged and recharged our lines with desperate persistence deserving of a better cause, but each time were repulsed with fearful slaughter. The losses of the 57th in this engagement were two killed and eight wounded, Lieutenant Charles O. Etz and the orderly sergeant of Company D being the two fatal casualties. The death of Lieutenant Etz and his companion occurred under peculiarly sad circumstances. Wearied with the battle of the preceding afternoon and the night vigil following, these two comrades had lain down together, the sergeant's head resting on the lieutenant's breast, and were snatching a moment's sleep. A shot from one of the enemy's batteries struck the two sleepers, killing them instantly. Thus, all unconscious of their danger, they were swept by one swift stroke into that sleep that knows no waking.
The battle over and the enemy severely chastised, the grand Army of the Potomac, with thinned and broken ranks, a mere shadow of its former greatness, continued the retreat, Harrison's Landing, a place of historic importance in that the line of its occupants has given to our country two chief executives, lying a few miles below Malvern Hill on the James, being the place selected for final rendezvous. During the night following the battle the 57th was again on outpost duty, but early the following morning was quietly withdrawn and in a drenching rain that continued throughout the day, again took up its wearisome march, arriving in the vicinity of the landing toward evening, weary, wet and worn!
The Harrison mansion, a substantial structure of brick, reared in colonial days, stood on an eminence overlooking the broad sweep of the James river. Between the mansion and the river was a stretch of grass-covered field gently sloping to the water's edge. Adjoining this to the west, or northwest, was a large wheat field. A greater part of the standing grain had been cut and was in shock. These golden sheaves were quickly appropriated by our troops and spread upon the water-sodden ground, whereon to rest their weary bodies. A few brief hours sufficed to obliterate every trace of this harvest scene, and where the husbandman had so recently been reaping in peace the fruits of his field, batteries were now thickly packed and soldiers' tents, not white, but wet and earth soiled, stood in long ranks.
CHAPTER IV.
BY J. M. MARTIN.
Camp Life at Harrison's Landing—Major Birney Assigned to the Command of the Regiment—Transferred to General Birney's Brigade—Evacuation of Harrison's Landing and the Peninsula—The Army of the Potomac is Sent to Reenforce General Pope.