HISTORY OF THE 13TH PA CAVALRY CONTINUED...

FOUR HUNDRED UNION PRISONERS ON THEIR WAY TO RICHMOND, WERE RELEASED. AT HAWES' SHOP, ON THE 28TH, WHILE STRETCHED OUT UPON THE MARCH, THE UNION COLUMN, WAS SUDDENLY ATTACKED IN FLANK BY THE ENEMY'S CAVALRY AND INFANTRY UNDER STUART. GREGG'S DIVISION SOON BECAME HOTLY ENGAGED, EACH SIDE DETERMINED TO HOLD ITS GROUND. FINALLY, AFTER SEVEN HOURS OF CONTINUOUS FIGHTING, THE ENEMY WAS ROUTED, AND DRIVEN THREE MILES, THE TRACK OF HIS ROUTED COLUMNS BEING STREWN WITH HIS DEAD AND WOUNDED. CAPTAIN JOHN KLINE WAS KILLED IN THIS ENGAGEMENT, AND CAPTAIN PATRICK KANE MORTALLY WOUNDED. THE ENTIRE LOSS WAS TEN KILLED, AND THIRTY-FIVE WOUNDED AND MISSING.
      SOON AFTER HIS RETURN FROM THE RICHMOND RAID, SHERIDAN  AGAIN LED HIS CAVALRY TOWARDS LYCHBURG, WITH THE DESIGN OF BREAKING UP ONE OF THE ENEMY'S MAIN LINES OF SUPPLY. AT TREVILIAN STATION THE ENEMY'S INFANTRY IN FORCE WAS MET. A SEVERE ENGAGEMENT  ENSUED, IN  WHICH SOME ADVANTAGES WERE GAINED, AND THE RAILROAD TRACK TORN UP FOR A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE; BUT THE ENEMY HAVING CONCENTRATED HIS FORCES, PROVED TOO STRONG FOR A FURTHER ADVANCE, AND SHERIDAN WITHDREW AND RETURNED TO WHITE HOUSE.
    WITH THE ARMY TRAINS WHICH HAD ASSEMBLED HERE, SHERIDAN STARTED ON THE 22ND OF JUNE FOR THE JAMES. CROSSING THE CHICKAHOMINY AT JONES' BRIDGE, ON THE 23RD, THE DIVISION ENCAMPED AT NIGHT AT CHARLES CITY. DURING THE NIGHT, THE FIRST DIVISION PASSED IN ITS REAR WITH THE TRAINS. ON THE MORNING OF THE 24TH GREGG MOVED UPON A ROAD RUNNING AT RIGHT ANGLES WITH THE CHARLES CITY ROAD, PARALLEL WITH THE CHICKAHOMINY, AND ABOUT FOUR MILES FROM IT. WHEN THREE MILES OUT, THE SECOND BRIGADE, WHICH WAS IN ADVANCE, MET THE ENEMY'S PICKETS, AND PUSHED THEM BACK UPON HIS MAIN LINE, IN STRONG POSITION NEAR ST. MARY'S CHURCH. LINE OF BATTLE WAS IMMEDIATELY FORMED, THE SECOND BRIGADE IN AN OPEN FIELD, ITS RIGHT EXTENDING ACROSS THE ROAD, AND ITS LEFT CONNECTING WITH THE FIRST BRIGADE, A PART OF WHICH WAS FORMED SO AS TO EXTEND THE PARALLEL WITH THE ROAD, A HALF MILE TO THE REAR, TO PROTECT THE FLANK. WITH SLIGHT SKIRMISHING, WHICH OCCASIONALLY INCREASED TO A SHARP ENCOUNTER, THE DAY PASSED UNTIL HALF-PAST FOUR, WHEN THE ENEMY HAVING FELT THE LINES, AND BEING WELL INFORMED OF THE STRENGTH OF THE DIVISION, ATTACKED ALONG THE ENTIRE FRONT WITH HIS CAVALRY CORPS, SUPPORTED BY A BRIGADE OF DISMOUNTED MEN. THOUGH OUTNUMBERED AND HARD PRESSED ON ALL SIDES, THE DIVISION HELD ITS GROUND FOR TWO HOURS, DISPLAYING A STEADINESS AND COURAGE RARELY EXCELLED. FINALLY, BEING OUT-FLANKED AND SORELY PRESSED, THE ORDER TO RETIRE WAS GIVEN. AS IT BEGAN TO FALL BACK, THE ENEMY RE-DOUBLED HIS EFFORTS TO BREAK THROUGH AND CAPTURE THE GUNS: BUT IN ALL HIS ATTEMPTS HE WAS SUCCESSFULLY FOILED, AND NOT A GUN NOR A CAISSON WAS LOST. IN THIS ENGAGEMENT THE EGIMENT LOST THREE OFFICERS AND THIRTY MEN IN KILLED, WOUNDED, AND MISSING.
    ON THE 30TH, THE REGIMENT CROSSED THE JAMES, AND MARCHED UP TO THE PROCTOR HOUSE, AND ON THE 1ST OF JULY, MOVED TO SUPPORT OF WILSON'S CAVALRY DIVISION, HEMMED IN BY THE ENEMY, AS IT WAS  RETURNING FROM A RAID UPON THE DANVILLE RAILROAD. TWO WEEKS LATER IT WAS ENGAGED WITH THE DIVISION IN ITS DESCENT ON THE JERUSALEM PLANK ROAD, AND ON THE 26TH, JOINED IN THE DEMONSTRATION ACROSS THE JAMES, MEETING THE ENEMY AT MALVERN HILL, AND AT LEE'S MILLS. IN THE MEANTIME, CAPTAIN H. H. GREGG, WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN, WHO HAD BEEN DETACHED FROM THE REGIMENT, AND ASSIGNED TO DUTY AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMISSARY OF SUBSISTENCE, WHILE IN CHARGE OF THE CATTLE HERD, NUMBERING BETWEEN TWO AND THREE THOU

NEXT            BACK                       MAIN