they marched, proceeding by way of Owen' Ford and Crawfish springs, and arrived on the field of Chickamauga on the 19th, taking position early in the morning on the left of Colonel Wilder's brigade, at the Cross Roads.

At ten o'clock they were ordered to move in support of the First and Third brigades. On coming up with a portion of the Third, they were ordered to change their direction and proceed to the left, relieving a portion of General Brannan's division, which was then out of ammunition. On taking the place assigned, they were assailed by a severe fire on the front and right, and had scarcely effected a corresponding change of position, when they were attacked by heavy column of the enemy and forced to retire a short distance to the rear, leaving two guns. At this moment the enemy was attacked on the flank and rear by other portions of our troops, thrown into disorder and driven from the field, leaving the guns untouched. The batteries were at once re-arranged, and the Second brigade, closing on the First and Third, took position in the second line of battle, supporting General Johnson's division on the left of his command: This position they held until evening, when they were ordered forward, and took position in the first line, relieving the troops in their front, whose ammunition was exhausted. By the time the movement was completed, darkness set in and the positions could only be known by the flashing of the musketry and artillery of the first line. Under these circumstances our troops in their vicinity, mistaking them for the enemy, poured in a terrible fire, and thus assaulted at once on front, right and rear, there was no alternative save that of retirement in confusion and disorder. Line was immediately reformed at the foot of a ridge to the east of their former position, where they remained until our lines were withdrawn, when they moved back in good order, going into bivouac in an open field on the left of General Johnson's ammunition train.

Moving thence at three in the morning of the 20th, they took position on a ridge, forming in two lines, with the right of the brigade resting upon General Johnson's division. At this place they felled trees, forming two barricades to obstruct the advance of the enemy and cover the further retreat of our forces. This position was retained during the

1

day under repeated attacks by the enemy in heavy columns, supported by artillery, until evening, when they were ordered to retire to Chattanooga. On arriving within a mile 39] of that place, the order was countermanded, and they again marched to the front, and remained in position until the morning of the 23d, when, with their front division, they covered the retreat of the army on Chattanooga, going into bivouac at that place. In these battles the First sustained a loss of twenty-five killed, ninety-one wounded, and eightyfour missing. The Twenty-first lost two killed, thirty-six wounded and seventy-six missing. Of the missing, the greater number were prisoners in the hands of the enemy.1 The First and Twenty-first regiments, attached to the Third brigade, First division, Fourteenth army corps, were subsequently stationed at Chattanooga, Tennessee, employed in picket duty and labor on the fortifications, until the 23d of November. At this date they left the fortifications, participating on the 25th in the celebrated assault upon Mission Ridge, during which they acted as a reserve to the First division, sustaining no loss. On the 30th, they accompanied the movement of the brigade, which was ordered to effect a reconnoissance, on the crest of Lookout Mountain, and having proceeded as far as Cooper's Gap, they returned on the 3d of December to camp at Chattanooga, without having encountered the enemy. On the following day, the Twenty-first Wisconsin, with another regiment of the brigade, marched to and encamped on the summit of Lookout Mountain, three miles from Chattanooga, where they were stationed in the performance of outpost and picket duty, until the opening of the spring campaign.

The First regiment, with the exception of Company "F," which had been detached, on the 14th of November, to take charge of a steamer on the Tennessee River, remained at Chattanooga, engaged in picket duty and labor on the fortifications, until the 22nd of February, 1864. At this date, they left Chattanooga, accompanying the movement of the Four

1 Chickamauga, Ga., Battle Sept. 19, 20, 1863. Report of Brig. Gen. John C. Starkweather, 50 Rebellion Records 299-302. The Chickamauga Campaign. Aug. 16-Sept. 22, 1863. 50 Ibid 27–1071. 51 Ibid 5-543, Confederate reports. 51 Ibid 40, 171, 271, 303–308.

FIRST INFANTRY-DALTON, GA.

41

teenth corps towards Dalton, near which place they remained in camp until the 22nd, when camp was removed to Tyner's Station, nine miles from Chattanooga, on the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad, whence they marched on the 19th of March, encamping at Graysville, Ga. At this place, they were employed in drill and guard duty until the 2nd of May, when. they rejoined the division, the movements of which they accompanied during the Atlanta campaign.

Of their actions during this campaign, the rolls and returns of the regiment, on file in this office, furnish no information, and I am therefore compelled to refer to the record of the Twenty-first, attached to the same division, for a general idea of their service.

For the information which follows relative to the subsequent movements of the "Old First," I am indebted to Mr. H. F. Stone, formerly Sergeant-Major of the regiment.

On the 16th of September, orders were received from the War Department, assigning the First Wisconsin, whose term of service was about to expire, to the Fourth division of the Twentieth corps, and at the same time directing the transfer 40]. of all veterans, drafted men and recruits, to the Twentyfirst regiment, thereby augmenting the numbers of the latter to nine hundred and forty-one. The transfer of these men, numbering three hundred and sixty-eight, having been completed on the 21st, the First regiment left Atlanta on that day, en route to join their new division, which was then at Tullahoma, Tenn. They arrived on the 24th at Bridgeport, Ala., where orders were received directing the regiment to report at Stevenson, Ala., from which place they moved immediately by rail, arriving on the following day at Nashville, Tenn., where they went into camp.

The term of service of the regiment having expired, they left Nashville on the 6th of October, and proceeding thence by rail, arrived on the 8th at Milwaukee. Here the necessary rolls were completed, and the muster out of service of the last company effected at Camp Washburn, on the 21st of October. The field and staff officers were mustered out on the 18th of November, to date from the 13th of October, at which time the first company was discharged.

The list of the dead pp. 40-46 is published in full in volume three,

The Second regiment, like the First, was originally enrolled under the President's call for 75,000 three months' volunteers. The various companies were ordered to rendezvous at Camp Randall during the first week of May, 1861, where the regimental organization was effected under the supervision of Colonel S. Park Coon, of Milwaukee. Meanwhile the General Government had decided to accept no more troops for this short term of scr47] vice, and accordingly on the 16th of May, the regiment was called upon to re-enlist "for three years or during the war. The men complied enthusiastically, with the exception of one company, which was immediately disbanded, its place in the regiment being supplied by the "Wisconsin Rifles," of Milwaukee, under command of Captain A. J. Langworthy. On the 11th of June, the Second regiment, thus organized, was mustered into the United States service for "three years or during the war," being the first Wisconsin organization so mustered.

Having been completely uniformed and equipped by the state. with the exception of arms, they left Madison for service in the field, on the 20th of June1, and proceeding by way of Chicago Pittsburg and Baltimore, arrived on the 25th at Washington, the first regiment of three years' men to appear in the capital, encamping in the suburbs of the city, whence they marched on the 2nd of July, by the Georgetown Aqueduct, to a point two miles west of Fort Corcoran, on the Fairfax road. In this camp the regiment was brigaded with three New York regiments, under command of Colonel (now Major General) W. T. Sherman, Colonel Coon being detached for staff duty. ·

The movement upon Manassas began on the 16th of July, General Tyler's division, to which they were attached, moving by way of Falls Church, Vienna and Germantown, a distance of twenty-three miles, to Centreville, at which place they bivouacked on the 18th. About noon, the regiment was ordered up to support the remainder of the division, which had come up with, and engaged the enemy at Blackburn's Ford2 on Bull Run.

1122 Rebellion Records, 272, 289, 880.

2 Blackburn's Ford, Va., July 18, 1861, The Bull Run Campaign-2 Rebellion Records 300-574.

SECOND INFANTRY-BULL RUN,

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Advancing on the double quick upwards of three miles, they deployed under heavy artillery fire in the second line of battle, but without becoming actively engaged. In the evening they retired to Centreville, taking position one mile from that place, on the Warrenton turnpike.

At an early hour on the 21st Tyler's division moved down the Warrenton road to occupy and hold a position near the Stone Bridge, while Hunter's division flanked the enemy's left by way of Sudley's Ford. The latter movement proving successful, Tyler's division, filing to the right, forded Bull Run a short distance above Stone Bridge, and joined in the pursuit of the enemy towards Manassas. On a range of hills a little south of the Warrenton pike, at right angles with the Sudley road, the enemy made a stand; his batteries being advantageously posted, and his infantry supports concealed and protected by the heavy growth of timber. Being ordered to assault one of the batteries on the east side of the Sudley road, the Second moved up under a terrific enfilading fire of shell and canister from other batteries, formed in line at the foot of the hill and charged up, driving back the enemy's infantry, which had emerged from cover in pursuit of a body of our troops, just repulsed in a similar assault, and almost reaching the guns. At this critical moment, 48] the absence of their two field officers led to a confusion of orders which caused the two wings to be separated and eventually threw them into disorder. But the spirit of the men was unbroken and they remained on the field, fighting in squads, under the direction of company officers, for nearly an hour longer, when the rebels being reinforced by the arrival of Johnson's troops from the Shenandoah, they were attacked on their right flank and subjected to a cross fire which compelled them to fall back in disorder, having suffered a loss of thirty killed, one hundred and five wounded and sixty-five missing; most of whom, with a number of the wounded, were taken prisoners.1

By noon of the following day, the regiment had assembled at Fort Corcoran, and on the morning of the 23rd they went into camp close to the left of the fort, where they remained, perfecting their discipline and engaged in the performance of outpost

1 Bull Run, Va., Battle July 21, 1861. Report Gen. W. T. Sherman, 2 Rer bellion Records, 368-369; 208, 210. Sherman's Memoirs.

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