HISTOKY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



121 



forget the horrors of that September day. It was an all- 

 day's contest, and almost a hand-to-hand struggle. Night 

 put an end to the contest, and ninety of those brave men 

 who marched out to meet the enemy in the morning, at 

 night lay upon the field, killed and wounded. This was 

 the lOTth's baptism of fire, and nobly did it pass through 

 the deadly contest. 



Glen. Gordon, in his official report of the battle, bestowed 

 many encomiums of praise upon this regiment for its bravery 

 and soldierly bearing. He says, " The 107th New York 

 Kegiment, Col. Van Valkenburgh, I held in reserve, throw- 

 ing them into the edge of a piece of woods on the left, 

 which, I was informed by an aid of Gen. Hooker, who met 

 me advancing, must be held at all hazards." Again, in the 

 same report, he says, '^ The rebel lines again advancing, I 

 threw forward a portion of my brigade to support those 

 nearly in front, while the 107th New York was directed to 

 support Capt. Cotheran's battery on the left. This fine 

 regiment, but just organized and brought into the field, in 

 this battle for the first time under fire, moved with steadi- 

 ness to its perilous position, and maintained its ground until 

 recalled, though exposed to a front fire from the enemy, 

 and a fire over its head from batteries in its rear." He 

 adds, " I have no word 4 but those of praise for their con- 

 duct." 



Capt. Cotheran, whose battery the regiment supported, 

 pays it the following tribute in his official report: "The 

 107th Regiment, New York Yolunteers, Col. R. B. Van 

 Valkenburgh, is entitled to great credit for both coolness and 

 courage, and the admirable manner in which it supported 

 my battery during the fight. This being the first time this 

 regiment was under fire, I most cheeriully bear testimony 

 to the excellent bearing of both officers and men, while 

 occupying the uncomfortable position of being the recipi- 

 ents of the enemy's fire while they were unable to return 

 it." 



Not one moment elapsed, from the beginning to the 

 close of this sanguinary struggle, that the 107th was not 

 under fire. 



The following vivid summary of this battle, in which the 

 I07th took so conspicuous a position, is given by Gen. 

 Gordon : " From sunrise to sunset the waves of battle ebbed 

 and flowed. Men wrestled with each other in lines of regi- 

 ments, brigades, and divisions, while regiments, brigades, 

 and divisions faded away under a terrible fire, leaving long 

 lines of dead to mark where stood the living. Fields of 

 corn were trampled into shreds, forests were battered and 

 scathed, huge limbs went crashing to earth, sent by shell 

 and round shot. Grape and canister mingled their hissing 

 scream in this hellish carnival ; yet within all this, and 

 throughout it all, the patriots of the North wrestled with 

 hearts strong and unshaken ; wrestled with the rebel horde 

 that thronged and pressed upon them, never yielding, 

 though sometimes halting to gather up their strength, then 

 with one mighty bound, throwing themselves upon their 

 foes, to drive them into their protecting forests beyond. 

 We indeed at night slept upon the bloody field of our vic- 

 tory." The regiment was at this time in the 3d Brigade, 

 1st Division, of the 12th Corps. 



On the day following the battle |)he reginient lay i;pon 

 16 



the field, and on the 19th marchini>; orders were received, 

 and they started in pursuit of the vanquished foe. They 

 moved to Maryland Heights, and went into camp, Septem- 

 ber 23. While here the ranks were greatly decimated by 

 fever, which raged to such an extent that at the review by 

 President Lincoln, October 2, not three hundred men were 

 able to report for duty. The hospitals were filled with vic- 

 tims of the disease, and their camp at Maryland Heights 

 was indeed a sorrowful one, where so many of the brave 

 men, who had passed the fire of battle, sank before this 

 destroyer, and were buried in the winding-sheet, for no 

 coffins, not even of the rudest manufacture, could at one 

 time be obtained. The first death in this camp was that 

 of Corp. Joseph Couse, of Company H, and he was buried 

 in a rough box, made by Sergt. Abram White, q{^ old fence- 

 hoards. 



The 107th remained at Maryland Heights until late in 

 October, when they moved to Antietam Ford. Here they 

 remained a few weeks, and on the 10th of December moved 

 into Virginia, passing through Harper's Ferry, thence across 

 the Shenandoah, and down the Leesburg Valley to Fairfax 

 Station. The regiment halted here for a short time and 

 then proceeded towards Fredericksburg; subsequently went 

 into camp at a place called Hope Landing, on Aquia Creek. 



An official report forwarded to the War Department 

 about this time says, '^ The 107th remained in camp at 

 Fairfax Station, Va., until the morning of the 19th of 

 January, when it broke camp and commenced marching 

 southward towards Stafford Court-House, together with the 

 12th Army Corps (Maj.-Gen. H. W. Slocum). The 

 march was continued IVom day to day for five days during 

 the worst possible storm imaginable, fording the swollen 

 streams and making our way along seemingly impassable 

 roads. The evening of Friday arrived at Stafford Court- 

 House. Here the regiment was paid up to the 31st of 

 October, 1862, which was the first pay received. Re- 

 mained in bivouac near Stafford until Tuesday, January 

 27, when we marched to Hope Landing, on the Aquia 

 Creek ; remained in bivouac there for a few days, and then 

 moved to a camp nearer the creek and commenced building 

 winter quarters for the fourth time. February 13 finds 

 the regiment still here. Sickness is alarmingly on the in- 

 crease, and regimentally matters looked gloomy. Only 

 some four hundred men left for duty, the balance of the 

 ten hundred and nineteen of six months ago dead, wounded, 

 or absent sick." 



Camp life at Hope Landing had been pleasant and duty 

 easy, and but for the sickness that prevailed, caused by the 

 winter, fatigue, and exposure, this camp might have been 

 left with regret. But not so. The regiment had been 

 greatly thinned by disease, and on April 27 they cheerfully 

 broke camp and marched, under the command of gallant, 

 fighting Joe Hooker, towards the Rappahannock. The 

 order of march was gladly hailed, and Gen. Diven re- 

 marked, " Never prisoner left a dungeon more eagerly 

 than we our camp when we marched forth under the 

 proud banner of the 12th Army Corps." 



The spring campaign was active as it was disastrous. 

 Not one week had elapsed after leaving the camp at Hope 

 Landing ere the 107th participated in the terrible battle 



