HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



117 



loss of Capt. Angle and Capt. Ellsworth will be severely felt by the 

 regiment. 



"After the death of Col. Chapin, the command of the regiment 

 devolved upon Capt. J. H. Lansing, who discharged the duties of his 

 new position with great coolness and bravery. On several occasions 

 with his men, he charged on the rebel batteries and drove them 

 from their works. Tuesday the whole army fell back to the place 

 occupied before the advance. I>. F. Brown." 



"In the Field, Gettysburg, July 4, 1863. 



"Dear Sir, — Two months have elapsed since I have communicated 

 with you : they have been eventful months. On the Oth of June last, 

 our brigade broke camp at Falmouth, and moved up the river about 

 twenty-three miles, to Beverly Ford, where, on the 11th, we encoun- 

 tered the enemy. Our regiment was at that time commanded by Maj. 

 J. H. Lansing, he having assumed the command on the memorable field 

 of Chancellorsville. Lieut.-Col. Iliggins had not sufficiently recovered 

 from the wounds received at Chancellorsville to enable him to take the 

 field, but hearing that the army was in motion, he hastened to join his 

 command, which he accomplished two days after the battle. The 

 engagement at the Ford was mostly between cavalry, and it was a 

 sharp and severe contest. The loss in our regiment was about thirty 

 in killed and wounded. The enemy was handsomely repulsed, and 

 driven back about five miles. The officers and men of the 86th nobly 

 sustained their well-earned reputation, and added another proof of 

 their courage and their devotion to the cause of our common country. 



'• On the 14th of June the whole army was in motion. Our direction 

 was northward. We passe i Manassas, Bull Run, and Centreville. 

 Oh, what associations are connected with these names! How many 

 homes have been darkened by the war-cloud that burst with such 

 maddening fury on these memorable fields ! . How many hearts have 

 been wrung with anguish by the loss of fathers, brothers, sons, and 

 friends, who poure 1 out their blood and laid down their lives upon 

 the?3 huge, rosk-buiit altars of their country ! We crossed the Poto- 

 mac on the 26th, at Edwards' Ferry, and on the 1st day of July our 

 corps reached the battle-field of Gettysburg. 



"On the 2d instant the battle besarae general. The 3d Corps was 

 on our left wing, against which the enemy massed his forces, and made 

 a desperate charge for the purpose of breaking it. The contest was 

 the most desperate and deadly of the war. Lieut.-Col. Higgins clearly 

 demonstrated his ability to command. He received a wound in his 

 side from a rifle-ball, and was taken from the field. The command 

 then devolved upon Maj. Lansing, who added another proof to his 

 well-earned reputation for coolness and courage. I will here mention 

 an incident. While the 86th and the 124th New York Volunteers were 

 making a charg(3 upon the enemy, Gen. Ward sat on his horse watch- 

 ing the movement, and as they fell back in perfect order, after ac- 

 complishing their object, the general rode up to Maj. Lansing and re- 

 marked, ' I never saw men behave better. Major, your men have 

 nobly won the red diamrjnd, the Kearney badge.' The major replied, 

 ' We feel proud of the blue badge, but if you wish it we will adopt the 

 red.' The blue badge was the one used by the 3d Division, which is 

 broken up, but we still wore the badge. . . . 



" Capt. J. N. Warner, Co. K, was killed instantly. He was a brave 

 and able officer. Lieut. Hammond, Co. A, lost a leg j Lieut. Blanch- 

 ard, Co. B, was wounded in the hand ; Lieut. Packer, Co. E, wounded 

 in hand; Lieut. Seeley, Co. K, acting adjutant, was present dur- 

 ing the engagement, but afterwards went on the field to look after 

 the body of Capt. Warner, and he has not been heard from since. 

 The following is a list of the killed and wounded not heretofore men- 

 tioned : 



" Killed.— Co. A, Sergt. J. Boies, John Hart; Co. B, L. Piatt, J. 

 Taylor: Co. D, Calvin L. Stearns; Co. F, George Tremain, John 

 Topple; Co. H, Jeremiah Everitt ; Co. I, A. C. Palmer, J. M. Black- 

 man ; Co. K, Hyman Hazeltine. 



" WoundecL—Co. A, Jeremiah Fisher, Francis Keller, Gilbert 

 Rogers, Corp. R. Smith, W. S. Chafee, James W. Cliafee; Co. B, 

 Sergt. A. Shauger, Corp. A. Amidon, J. W. Rose, C. L. Odell, L. R. 

 Root; Co. C, J. Beard; Co. D, J. Bovier, G. Powell, W. E. Stewart; 

 Co. E, R. Washburn; Co. F, Allen W. Beeman, J. E. Brown, Sergt. 

 S. Tremain; Co. G, E. E. Thompson, S. Hall, J. Hadley, Jr., L. 

 Maddison, F. Gregory, W. Thomas, Corp. V. Allison; Co. H, Sergt. 

 James Moidt, Corp. J. W. Ostrander, H. Dawley, W. S. Miller, P. 

 Pierce, H. Cook ; Co. I, F. J. Horton, J. Smith, J. Carrigan, Sergt. 

 A. J. Northrup: Co. K, Corp. W. Owen, Corp. N. W. Winship, since 



dead; J. K. Fisk, since dead; Robert Laning, since dead; W. E. 

 Stewart, A. Simpson. 



" The Union loss was heavy, but nothing compared with the 

 enemy's. His dead are unburied, and the ground is literally cov- 

 ered; in places they lay in ridges. Our victory is complete. This is 

 our nation's birthday. Oh, what hallowed memories cluster around 

 it! Thought travels back to the sanguinary fields of the Revolution, 

 when liberty perched upon the banner of the triumphant free. Here 

 the enemy of the same principle lies prostrate at her feet. This day 

 is commemorated here by the warm blood of slaughtered thousands, 

 palpitating on the soil of our noble Keystone State. 



"Yours in the cause of liberty, 



" D. F. Brown, Q.-M.'' 



"In the Field, Brandy Station, Va., Dec. 6, 1863. 



"Dear Sir, — I have unavoidably delayed giving to the numerous 

 friends of our regiment in old Steuben the result of the recent en- 

 gagement beyond the Rapidan, as I have hardly had a moment to 

 devote to the matter. 



"At a late hour on the night of the 25th ultimo the bugle sounded 

 the interesting call to 'pack up.' Every man was busy in his arrange- 

 ments for a march until the prompt command of Col. Higgins was 

 given to fall in. The river was crossed on the 26th at Jacob's Mill. 

 On the 27th an engagement took place. The 3d Corps became en- 

 gaged about ten o'clock a.m. At two o'clock p.m. the 1st Division 

 was ordered up to meet the enemy. Our brigade, commanded by 

 Gen. Ward, was selected to make the charge, and the 86th and 124th 

 New York Volunteers was selected as the storming-party. A short 

 time previous to the charge Col. Higgins was borne from the field, a 

 musket-ball having taken off a finger and passed through both thighs. 

 Maj. Stafford then took command, and led the 86th in one of the 

 most desperate conflicts that it ever experienced. Our regiment and 

 the 124th alone regained the ground that had been lost by the 3d 

 Division, and by sundown had driven the enemy sixty rods farther 

 than any portion of our line had extended, and they held the ground 

 during the entire night. You can form some idea of the severity of 

 the engagement, when I assure you the two regiments engaged ex- 

 pended sixteen thousand rounds of cartridges. Maj. Stafford went 

 back several times for ammunition. Capts. Harrower and Baker 

 were appointed acting field-officers to assist Maj. Stafford during 

 the engagement, and Lieut. Packer was acting adjutant. The com- 

 panies of the 86th were commanded as follows : Lieut. Holms, Co. 

 A; Lieut. Booth, Co. B; Capt Robert Barton, Co. C; Capt. N. H. 

 Vincent, Co. D ; Lieut. J. G. Copley, Co. E ; Lieut. Henry Thurber, 

 Co. F; Lieut. A. B. Stanton, Co. G; Lieut. Stone, Co. H; Lieut. 

 Wood, Co. I: Capt. Phinney, Co. K. 



" Gen. Ward paid a flattering compliment to the officers and men, 

 and said he was proud of them. The general at first supposed that 

 the regiment had been cut off and taken prisoners, and when he 

 learned what they had accomplished he remarked to the major, in a 

 playful manner, that he took his men out to find more comfortable 

 lodo-inors with Gen. Lee. 



"The killed in our regiment in this engagement were Russel T.ay- 

 lor. First Sergeant, Co. G; John Baxter, Sergeant, Co. C; George 

 Wright, Co. C ; George H. W. Celover, Co. H. 



"The wounded were as follows: 1st Sergt. J. Ryon, Corp. Nicholas 

 Longnot, Jacob Horb, James White, Lewis Hart, James Chaffee, 

 David Hoyt, all of Co. A; 1st Sergt. F. D. Loomis, Daniel Alden, 

 Nathan Phenix, of Co. B ; Lieut. Henry Thurber, George Babcock, 

 George Murdock, of Co. F; Corp. A. Allen, Franklin Hallock, Asel 

 Wilson, John Wallace, Lafayette Taylor, Foster Gregory, of Co. G ; 

 Corp. Jesse Barton, D. L. Rowley, of Co. II; Wesley Simons, of Co. 

 I; Corp. David Countruman, Corp. H. Hillrun, J. C. Sabin, Charles 

 Wood, Thomas Fanand, Asa Cross, of Co. K. 



"Most of the wounds were slight. While inarching to the Rapidan, 

 on the 26th, Albertus Russell, of Co. E, was killed, and W. S. Kelley, 

 of Co. D, was wounded, by the accidental discharge of a gun. 



" The intelligence of the death of John Baxter will fall with op- 

 pressive weight upon his family and friends, but they can be assured 

 that he died while nobly battling in the defense of his country. He 

 lost none of his moral principles by his associations in the army. He 

 was regarded by his officers, and all who knew him, as a brave soldier. 



" To-day Lieut.-Col. Lansing arrived, and was heartily greeted by 

 the whole regiment. The command will now devolve on him, and I 



