112 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



York Volunteers and the 122d Pennsj^lvania Volunteers, 

 were sent up and through Manassas Gap to support the 

 cavalry under Gen. W. W. Averill. They met the enemy 

 and drove them through Front Royal, joining the army 

 after an absence of two days, and iSnding that Gen. Mc- 

 Clellan had been relieved by Gen. Burnside. The regi- 

 ment participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, and then 

 moved to Falmouth, on the opposite side of the river, going 

 into winter quarters. Nothing transpired while here, with 

 the exception of the Burnside mud march, until Gen. 

 Hooker's move on Chancellorsville. The regiment was 

 now and had been connected with the old 3d Army Corps 

 since the battle of Bull Run, and had been most of the 

 time commanded by Lieut.-Col. Chapin, Col. Bailey being 

 disqualified for duty on account of age and the exposure 

 incident to the Bull Run campaign. About this time 

 Major Rhinevault resigned, and Capt. Higgins, of Company 

 A, was commissioned major. The brigade consisted of the 

 86th and 124th New York and the 122d Pennsylvania, 

 under Gen. A. S. Piatt. The division was commanded by 

 Gen. Whipple, and the corps by Gen. Sickles. 



On the 28th of April, 1863, marching orders were re- 

 ceived, and the regiment bade adieu to their four months' 

 winter quarters, moving in an easterly direction until mid- 

 night, when it bivouacked near Belle Plain, on the Rappa- 

 hannock, the men in heavy marching order, with eighty 

 rounds of ammunition. April 30 countermarched past 

 their old quarters, and reached the United States Ford on 

 the morning of May 1, crossing the pontoons laid there for 

 that purpose. After crossing they soon struck the enemy. 

 Those acquainted with the history of the battle of Chancel- 

 lorsville know that the 3d Corps did most of the fighting. 

 The 86th came in for their full share, as the list of casual- 

 ties given in the correspondence appended to this chapter 

 will show. 



On Saturday afternoon, when the 11th Corps broke, the 

 3d was sent to their assistance, and stayed the rout. Sun- 

 day is one of the days ever to be remembered by those who 

 now survive, and were with the regiment on that day. 

 At first phiced in support of batteries, a short time after 

 the whole division made a charge to the right of the Chan- 

 cellor House, the 86th on the left of the line, next the 

 plank-road — and such a charge ! — the 86th losing fully one- 

 third of their men, most of whom were left on the field 

 when the regiment retired. The loss of officers was very 

 large. Lieut.-Col. Chapin was killed and carried from the 

 field; Major Higgins was badly wounded; Acting Adj. 

 Stafford wounded in the hip ; Capt. Angle, of Co. B, and 

 Capt. Ellsworth, of Co. D, killed (the last two named offi- 

 cers were carried into the Chancellor House, and are sup- 

 posed to have been burned with the building) ; Lieut. 

 Woodward, of Co. I, was fatally wounded, and several 

 others slightly. After the charge the regiment was put to 

 work building rifle-pits for their own protection, Capt. 

 Lansing in command as senior officer. On Monday Gen. 

 Whipple, division commander, was fatally wounded. On 

 Tuesday the regiment recrossed the river, and were soon at 

 their old quarters at Falmouth, and remained there until 

 the 6th of June, 1863, when an order was received for the 

 86th and the 124th to accompany a large body of cavalry 



on a secret expedition. They started that day in a heavy 

 rain, in light marching order, with five days' rations. Major 

 Lansing in command, he having been promoted since the 

 battle of Chancellorsville. The regiment arrived at Beverly 

 Ford, on the Rappahannock, on the evening of the 8th, 

 and bivouacked for the night. Early the next morning they 

 waded the river, the water reaching the waists of the men ; 

 they were hurried forward, and soon struck the enemy in 

 a thick wood, a short distance from the ford. They drove 

 the enemy through and from the wood, the latter charging 

 several times to retake it without success. Late in the day 

 the regiment advanced within eight miles of Brandy Sta- 

 tion, and then retired to the position they occupied in the 

 morning. This was mostly a cavalry fight, the infantry 

 acting as support. The 86th suffered to the extent of 

 thirteen killed and wounded ; the enemy's loss must have 

 been greater. Many were left within our lines, among 

 them a major and a lieutenant. 



The regiment expected to be ordered back to Falmouth, 

 but instead was placed on duty guarding the fords and 

 Rappahannock Bridge, until the advance brigade of the 

 Army of the Potomac joined them on the 12th. 



Whipple's Division having ceased to exist, on account of 

 the terrible loss it sustained at Chancellorsville, and the 

 muster-out of several regiments immediately after, the 

 86th and 124th New York Volunteers, together with Ber- 

 dan's Sharpshooters, were attached to the brigade of Gen. 

 J. H. Hobart W^ard, in Birney's Division of the 3d Army 

 Corps. At this place Lieut.-Col. Higgins returned and 

 assumed command of the 86th Regiment. 



On the morning of the 14th the 3d Corps started from 

 Bealton Station, hurrying back towards Washington, and 

 bivouacked for the night at Catlett's Station. They moved 

 the next morning, passing through Bristoe Station and 

 Manassas eJunction. This was a terrible march, on account 

 of the heat. Very many were sun-struck. They reached 

 the old Bull Run battle-field on the 16th, continued the 

 march on the 17th, and camped at Gum Springs on the 

 night of the 19th. This was a very dark night, so dark 

 that a person could not possibly see an object two feet from 

 him ; and the only way to get the different regiments into 

 position was by sound. They moved again on the 23d, 

 crossed the Potomac, on pontoons, at Edwards' Ferry, 

 reached Emmettsburg on the evening of the 30th, passing 

 Poolesville, Middletown, and Frederick City. At this place 

 orders were received informing the command that Gen. 

 Hooker had been relieved, and Gen. George G. Meade, of 

 the 5th Corps, placed in command of the Army of the 

 Potomac. 



On the 1st of July moved through Emmettsburg, march- 

 ing at quick time for Gettysburg ; could hear firing in that 

 direction, and felt sure the battle had commenced. For- 

 ward was the cry, and on they pushed. They slept that 

 night on the field, with guns beside them. The next 

 morning Gen. Ward led his brigade to the position assigned 

 it. The 86th numbered about three hundred rank and file, 

 and was placed on the right of the 124th, near Little 

 Round Top, in a piece of wood, with the 20th Indiana on 

 its right. Early in the afternoon the rebel artillery opened 

 a furious cannonade upon our lines, and about three o'clock 



