118 



HISTORY OF. STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



should judge from his looks that his absence has not diminished his 



ambition or courao^e. 



" I remain yours, etc., 



" D. F. Brown.' 



" In the Field, near Spottsylvania Court-House, Va., 



"May 10, 1864. 

 " Dear Sir, — May 6, the battle opened at an early hour in the 

 morning, and was continued with great fury during the day. The 

 86th bore well their part in the engagement, making frequent charges 

 on the enemy's works. Capt. J. G. Copely, Co. E, is wounded in the 

 arm and leg; Capt. Robert Barton, Co. C, is wounded in the side; 

 Capt. N". S. Baker, Co. G, is wounded in the face; Lieut. W. W. Card 

 is wounded in the thigh; Lieut. H. C. Thurber, Co. F, in the foot; 

 others of the killed and wounded in the regiment, whose names I 

 have not yet learned. 



" May 7, fighting commenced at an early hour, and our regiment 

 was engaged all day. The officers mentioned as wounded yesterday 

 are doing well : none are considered dangerous. In addition to the 

 above, H. Haliett, of Co. G, Calvin Adams, of Co. B, Henry Willick, 

 of Co. I, Henry Tenbrook, of Co. H, and Charles Bailey, of Co. I, are 

 among the killed. The wounded are as follows : 



'' Company A. — Sergt. Gilbert Haynes, arm; Corp. John Feistner, 

 arm; J. Smith, thigh; and Geo. Mazen, leg. 



" Company B. — Sergt. Dennis Talbert, shoulder; Corp. John Ami- 

 don, face; John Hillion, William Batchee, shoulder. 



" Company C. — Sergt. Geo. M. Clute, arm ; John Houghtaling, 

 hand; Philip Svvick, abdomen; W. Dawley, arm. 



''Company I). — Sergt. A. C. Rogers, arm; Milo Tucker, hand; J. 

 E.Baker, hip; Francis Hurlburt, foot; T.Campbell, leg; L. Duel, 

 thigh ; Henry O'Connor, thigh ; Peter Spencer, arm ; Isaac Trow- 

 bridge, thigh. 



'' Company £".— Sergt. E. D. Kemps, leg; Corp. H. H. Cole, foot; 

 W. E. Cilley, head; H. Hewitt, shoulder; R. R. Sweet, hand. 



^' Comptany F. — L. E. Warren, side; B. F. Alexander, hand; M. 

 Enchard, leg. 



" Company G. — Sergt. Vallison, leg; C. Boughton, leg; J. Wright, 

 foot. 



'^ Company H. — Sergt. W. Bartle, shoulder; Corp. D. S. Cook, 

 hand; E. Potter, arm; Jesse K. Barton, hand; John Bastle, hand; 

 A. Slater, hand. 



'^ Company I. — W. A. Crout, thigh; Thomas McTigue, arm; G. 

 Feredenburgh, back. 



" Comjmny A".— Sergt. G. Merring, leg; T. F. Ferrand, leg; J. W. 

 Barber, head; W. Lanning, hand; L. Medbury, hand. 



" The above are all the killed and wounded in the regiment at this 

 time. Lieut.-Col. Lansing was hit on the leg by a spent ball, and a 

 ball passed through Major Stafford's hat, producing no injury to 

 either. 



'^ May 9, the 86th was on skirmish-line, having been sent out the 

 night previous. They came in at twelve m. Capts. Todd, Harrower, 

 Stone, Phinney, and Wood have been in command of their companies 

 during this protracted battle, and are well. Lieut. Jerry Ryan com- 

 manded Co. A. 



"May 10, sharp fighting all day in the vicinity of the court- 

 house. The 86th was engaged towards night. Have not heard of 

 any casualties in our regiment. Just before dark a charge was made 

 on the enemy's works, and our forces carried them. The musketry 

 was the heaviest I ever heard. All so far goes finely. 



" Yours, in our country's cause, 



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



"In the Field, May 12, 1864. 



"Dear Sir, — I wrote you on the 10th inst., and gave you a list of 

 casualties in the 86th up to that time. There was a severe engage- 

 ment on the 10th, in which our regiment participated. The battle 

 continued all day, and a little before dark a charge was made on the 

 enemy's works. The 86th Regiment led the charge, having a hand-to- 

 hand fight. The following are the names of the killed and wounded, 

 so far as I have been able to ascertain : 



" Company A, Syracuse. — William Fuller, back; Sergt. Sam. Ing- 

 ham, arm; George Lawson, shoulder; James White, thigh; Dan. 

 Palmer, leg; John Brown. 



*' Company B, Addison. — Charles B. Jordan, chest; Sergt. N. 

 Reynolds, thigh. 



" Company C, Corning. — Henry Lanning, leg ; Charles Comfort, 

 arm and abdomen; Sergt. W. Mcintosh, knee; Edwin Harridan, 

 shoulder; Samuel Stevens, killed; Corp. Sam. Merring, killed ; Mar- 

 tin Mahr, killed ; Corp. F. E. Clark, hand ; Jacob Rarrick, both legs ; 

 Cyrus A. Hurd, missing; Asa Car»ner, missing; Perry Washburn, 

 missing. 



"Company D, Hornellsville. — Capt. N. H. Vincent, arm and thigh, 

 severe; Samuel Banta, shoulder, severe ; Sergt. John Mcintosh, foot ; 

 L. Hazeltine, arm and thigh; Chas. Hough, slight; A. Silsbee, ab- 

 domen, severe. 



" Company E, Elmira. — Charles Hart, arm ; Sergt. W. H. Andrews, 

 leg; Thos. Weaver, finger; Jacob Hanick, thigh. 



"Company F, Lindley. — Joshua Vankuran, arm; Lewis Clark, 

 hand; Oscar Monroe, missing; Sergt. J. J. Talbot, missing. 



" Company G, Canisteo. — Corp. G. Delat, slight ; Luther Mattison, 

 arm ; John Fulton, pelvis, severe. 



" Company H, Troupsburg. — Capt. Samuel F. Stone, killed ; J. C. 

 Fairbanks, finger; Sergt. Philip Bartle, face; Corp. Jerry Williams, 

 finger; Geo. Cummings, arm; Alphonzo Rowley, arm ; W.Stevens, 

 arm ; John Fletcher. 



"Company 7, Cooper's Plains. — Color Sergt. Daniel Carson, knee, 

 severe; William Bettis, chest; Corp. Clark Spicer, head; Charles 

 Cobb, back ; J. D. Thompson, leg. 



" Company K, Woodhull. — Charles Fisk, thigh ; Ben. Miller, finger; 

 Capt. John Phinney, leg and arm ; Hugh Clark, killed ; Sergt. James 

 Crowl, killed; Lieut. J. B. Spencer, wounded. 



"The above are all I have been able to find. There are doubtless 

 others wounded on the 10th. We lost in the charge one hundred and 

 sixteen in killed and wounded and missing. Capt. Stone was in- 

 stantly killed by a shell, and Capt. Vincent severely wounded by the 

 same shell. They were both excellent officers, and their loss, WMth that 

 of Capt. Phinney, will be severely felt. Lieut. James Cherry, adjutant, 

 was severely wounded in the thigh. 



" Col. Lansing, Maj. Stafford, Capt. Harrower, Capt. Todd and Wood 

 are not hurt. The men are in good spirits. All looks favorable. 



"Yours, etc., 



" D. F. Brow N, Q.-M." 



"In the Field near Petersburg, Va., June 27, 1864. 



"Dear Sir, — I suppose you have heard through Maj. Stafford of 

 the casualties in the regiment since the battle of the North Anna on 

 the 12th. We left our lines at Cold Harbor, and on the 15th we 

 crossed the Chickahominy, and on the 16th crossed the James at Wil- 

 cox Landing, near Powhatan. It was a mjignificent spectacle to 

 witness the crossing of the James River by our army. A large num- 

 ber of steamboats, and numerous other water-craft, rendered the scene 

 the gayest and liveliest of anything you can imagine, and as each 

 boat moved from the shore laden with its living freight, cheer after 

 cheer from thousands of brave hearts rang out upon the air, remind- 

 ing one of a picnic on a grand scale. The constant booming of can- 

 non, however, in the direction of Petersburg, broke the enchantment 

 of the scene, and reminded us that we were making no pleasure trip, 

 but would soon be grappling with the huge monster of secession on 

 another bloody field. On the afternoon of the 16th, while our divi- 

 sion was massed behind one of the earthworks just taken from the 

 enemy, Lieut. A. B. Stanton was hit by a piece of shell, and died a 

 short time after. Lieut. Stanton came out with the regiment, and had 

 been in every engagement through which it had passed. His last 

 words were, ' I have served my country faithfully. I must now die 

 for it.' On the same day, G. Blackman, Co. E, was wounded in the 

 shoulder; Henry McFall, wounded in shoulder. 



"June 18, our regiment made if'charge, and after a sharp contest 

 was repulsed. The loss was as follows : Lieut. Charles S. Carr, Co.'I, 

 wounded in w^rist; Sergt. Steven Chase, color-bearer, Co. H, head; 

 Edward Schofield, Co. F, hand; E. Allington, Co. F, wounded in ab- 

 domen, since died; Oliver Campbell, Co. G, arm; Milo Tucker, Co. D, 

 hand. 



" June 22, 1864, the veterans of the 70th Regiment, N. Y. Vols., 

 one hundred and thirty in all, were transferred to the 86th. The 

 regiment now numbers two hundred and forty men present. 



"June 27, Maj. Stafford still unhurt, and is in command of the 

 regiment. 



" Yours in the cause of liberty, 



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



