Chapter VIII: By E. C. Strouss

Back Again in Our Old Camp--Cavalry Battle at Brandy Station--The
March to Gettysburg--Hooker's Request for Troops at Harper's
Ferry--Asks to be Relieved from the Command of the Army--We Arrive
at Gettysburg--Battle of July 2d--Strength of the Fifty-Seventh--Its
Losses--General Graham Wounded and Captured--Wounding of General
Sickles--Battle of July 3d--July 4th--The Confederates
Retreat--General Sickles Asks for a Court of Inquiry--President
Lincoln to Sickles--A Visit to the Battlefield Twenty-five Years
Later.

Although some of our men had destroyed their huts, when we started on the recent campaign, there were on account of our losses, enough still standing to shelter what was left of the regiment. It was sad to look around at the vacant huts, and to realize that their former occupants would never rejoin us. The 141st Pennsylvania, whose camp adjoined ours, had met with severe losses in the late battle and the large number of unoccupied huts in their camp had a depressing effect on the spectator.

After a few days' rest the same old routine of drill, inspection, guard and picket duty was resumed, relieved occasionally by a division or corps review. The paymaster arrived on May 11th and paid the regiment, each man receiving four months' pay, which to the private soldier meant $52.00.

About the last week in May we abandoned our old camp for a new location near Belle Plain landing, which was a depot of supplies on the Potomac. The camp was soon laid out, and the weather having become quite warm we needed only our little shelter tents to protect us from the sun or rain. The camp of the regiment was near a road leading to the landing, which was constantly occupied by teams going to, or coming from there, which raised great clouds of dust, to our great annoyance.

Our cavalry had quite a battle with the enemy at Brandy Station, which ended favorably for us, and also made it obvious that the rebels were moving northward, thus taking the initiative in what became known as the "Gettysburg Campaign."

On June 11th, about noon, we were ordered to strike tents, and were soon on the march, over the hills, and through the ravines of Stafford county, which were no longer to be used by us as camping grounds. The day was very warm and there was considerable straggling, but the men all got up by night, when we camped at Hartwood church. On the 12th we marched to near Bealeton station, on the old Orange & Alexandria railroad, where we halted for the night, and next day marched for a few miles toward Rappanhannock station. On the 14th we started in the evening and marched northward to Catlett station, where we arrived about midnight. On the 15th we moved to Manassas Junction. This was one of the hottest days of the season, and some forty men of our division were prostrated by sunstroke. On the 16th, which was another hot and dusty day, we marched to Bull Run and encamped at Mitchell's ford. On the 17th we continued our march to Centerville, where we remained until the evening of the 19th, when we started for Gum Springs. After we had gone about two miles a violent storm of rain set in. This was one of the worst night marches we ever made. The night was dark as pitch, only an occasional flash of lightning to show us the way. When we halted for the night we were drenched to the skin and as our matches were all damp we had hard work to start our campfires. When we had got our fires started we found that the regiment must move a mile further on to go on picket. This was very discomforting, but it had to be done, for such is the life of a soldier.

In the meantime the enemy had been moving northward on the west side of the Blue Ridge mountains. A Union force under General Milroy of about seven thousand men was attacked by the rebel General Ewell, who captured many of them and drove the rest across the Potomac. This occurred on the 13th and 14th of June.

On June 25th, the 57th with the rest of the 3d corps moved from Gum Springs and crossed the Potomac at Edwards ferry into Maryland and moved up the river to the mouth of the Monocacy river.

The corps of Hill and Longstreet of Lee's army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport and Sheppardstown and moved toward Pennsylvania. They were preceded for several days by Ewell, who was now in that state and threatening Harrisburg.

On June 26th we left our camp at the mouth of the Monocacy and moved to Point of Rocks, on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. The next day we marched by way of Jefferson to Middletown, Md., and on the 28th to Woodsborough. There we learned that General Hooker had been relieved from command of the army and had been succeeded by Gen. George G. Meade. Hooker had asked Halleck, the general-in-chief of the army, for the forces at Harpers Ferry and Baltimore which were refused him, whereupon he asked to be relieved from command. A few days later Meade asked for the same troops, some thirteen thousand in number, and his request was complied with. The change of commanders on the eve of battle was a questionable thing, but as we were successful in the coming conflict, not much was said about it.

Hooker's army had been depleted after Chancellorsville, by the muster out of about thirty thousand two years or nine months men. He was perfectly right in asking for the troops at Harpers Ferry, which were doing no good there, but on account of an ill feeling existing between Halleck and Hooker they were refused him, although they were given to Meade. To a great many old soldiers it was always a puzzle what Halleck was kept at Washington for anyway.

It now became evident to the men of the 57th that we would soon be called to fight a battle on the soil of our native state, but where the battle ground would be was as yet a matter of conjecture.

On June 29th we marched from Woodborough to Taneytown and encamped in a fine grove near the town. Many of the citizens of the town, including a goodly lot of ladies visited our camp in the evening and watched with interest the men putting up their tents, and cooking their coffee. The next day we marched but a few miles, and encamped at Bridgeport, a small hamlet about half way between Taneytown and Emmitsburg, Md.

At 2 o'clock p. m. of July 1st we were hurriedly ordered to "fall in," when we took the Emmitsburg pike and rapidly marched toward Gettysburg, twelve miles distant. The day was very warm and sultry, but after a fatiguing march we arrived near the town about 8 p. m., and bivouacked for the night on the Trostle farm, which is located about two miles south of Gettysburg. There had been severe fighting going on north and west of the town from 10 a. m. until dark. The 1st and 11th corps had been engaged with overpowering numbers of the enemy, and although they fought valorously, and met with heavy losses, they were obliged to fall back through the town and take up a stronger position on Cemetery hill. General Reynolds, who commanded the Union forces engaged, was killed early in the fight. His loss was deeply regretted, as he was one of the best generals in our army. During the night all the other corps of our army came up with the exception of the 6th corps, which having the greatest distance to march did not arrive until 2 p. m. of the 2d. The men of the 57th were up by daylight on the 2d and preparing their breakfast and otherwise getting ready for the conflict which all knew would open sooner or later during the day.

Unlike the battlefields of Virginia where we usually fought in the woods or thickets, we were now on a field where we had an unobstructed view, and could see something of the movements of other troops, besides our own regiment or brigade.

At this time the 3d corps consisted of two divisions commanded by Generals Birney and Humphreys. The right of the latter division joined the left of Hancock's 2d corps on the southern slope of Cemetery hill. Birney to the left was to extend his line on the same prolongation to the base of Little Roundtop. But this line was commanded by the high ground ground along the Emmitsburg road and at the peach orchard. General Sickles, after having repeatedly informed General Meade that the line was a weak one, assumed the responsibility of changing it. He therefore posted Birney's division as follows: Graham's brigade on the right, its right resting a few rods north of the Sherfy house on the Emmitsburg road. At the peach orchard, which is a part of the Sherfy farm, an angle was formed in our brigade line, part of it facing west, and part to the south. On Graham's left was De Trobriand's brigade which in part occupied the wheatfield. Ward's brigade held the left of the division passing through the rocky ground called Devil's Den, with his left resting at the western base of Little Roundtop.

A great part of the day was spent by the maneuvering of both armies. General Meade's opinion was that Lee would attack his right, while that general was moving his troops behind Seminary ridge for the purpose of attacking Meade's left. The key point on this part of the line was Little Roundtop, but strange to tell, it was not occupied by our troops until after the battle began and then just in the nick of time. A few minutes later the enemy would have gained the crest and Gettysburg would have been lost. The occupation of the hill is due to the energy of General Warren, chief of engineers, who succeeded in getting troops there just as the enemy was beginning to ascend the western base of the hill.

In the meantime our regiment was lying in a field a few rods in the rear of the Sherfy house, which stood on the opposite side of the road. The 105th Pennsylvania was on our right, and the 114th on our left. For two hours we lay here under the hottest fire of artillery we had as yet been subjected to. The enemy had some thirty pieces of artillery planted on the ridge to the south and west of us, hurling their missiles toward us as fast as they could work their guns. Fortunately most of them were aimed too high to do us injury, but to stay there so long under that howling, shrieking storm of shot and shell, was more trying to the nerves than to be engaged in close action with the enemy.

Finally this long cannonade ceased and the enemy began to advance his infantry to attack our part of the line. The 57th and the 114th were ordered across the road, where we beheld the enemy, which proved to be Barksdale's Mississippi brigade, advancing through the fields toward us. Our regiment at once took advantage of the cover that the house, outbuildings and trees afforded and opened fire on the enemy, who were within easy range, and did not reply to our fire until they reached a rail fence about a hundred yards in our front. There were then no rebels to the right of those engaged with us, and for a while we had the best of the fight owing to our sheltered position. The men of the 57th who were in the house kept up a steady fire from the west windows of the house. The writer had posted himself by a large cherry tree against which some fenceposts were leaning, on the north side of the house. Before the fight closed this cherry tree was struck with a twelve pound solid shot from one of our guns. When the monument of the regiment was dedicated in July, twenty-five years later, the tree with the cannon ball embedded in it was still standing.

Although the angle of the peach orchard was long and bravely defended by our troops there, they were at last compelled to yield ground, and by so doing the regiments along the Emmittsburg road were enfiladed and obliged to fall back also. When we found the enemy coming up the road in our rear, Captain Nelson, who was in command of the regiment, tried to notify those in the house, and order them to fall back, but amid the noise and confusion it was impossible to make then understand the situation, and they kept on firing from the windows after the rest of the men fell back, and they were summoned to surrender by the rebels who came up the stairs in their rear.

Those of us who got out of this tight place were soon after formed with the rest of our division, on a ridge in the rear of the position we had occupied in the morning. Reenforcements from the 5th, 2d and 12th corps were sent in to reestablish the line which our division had held, but they were unable to do so when darkness put an end to the conflict.

The 57th entered the battle with 18 officers and 187 enlisted men. Our losses were 2 officers and 9 men killed, 9 officers and 37 men wounded, and 4 officers and 55 men captured, a total of 116, over half of the number carried into action. Lieutenant Henry Mitchell, of Company E, and Lieutenant John F. Cox, of Company I, were killed, and Colonel Sides was among the officers wounded. Of the 55 enlisted men captured only 11 returned to the regiment. The remaining 44 died in prison at Belle Isle, or at Andersonville. Major Neeper was captured, as were also Lieutenants Hines, Burns and Crossley.

General Graham was wounded and taken prisoner in the peach orchard. General Sickles lost a leg near the Trostle house about 6 p. m. General Birney then assumed command of the corps. Col. A. H. Tippon, of the 68th Pennsylvania, succeeded General Graham in command of the brigade.

Early in the morning of the 3d our division was ordered to the front, which was now considerably in rear of the position we occupied the day before. The enemy occupied the Emmitsburg road and the peach orchard, and fields to the south. On the left near the Roundtops their line was farther back than the position they gained the evening before. From the position of our regiment we could plainly see the Sherfy house, which was about three-fourths of a mile to our front and left.

When General Geary, with part of his division, on the 2d left his position on the right of the Union line at Culp's hill to reenforce the 3d corps, he left behind him to hold his works the brigade of General Greene. The enemy in the evening in strong force attacked this position and succeeded in capturing a part of the line of works, but they were recaptured by General Geary early next morning.

In front of the 57th everything was quiet and the men were enjoying a much needed rest under the trees in the little grove in which they were stationed. Rations were distributed and we also received a good ration of commissary whiskey, which at that time was duly appreciated. It was quiet during the forenoon and many of our men, pillowed on their knapsacks, were asleep when the tremendous artillery fire began which was the prelude to the charge of Pickett's division on Hancock's position on Cemetery hill. Their fire was soon responded to by our artillery and for about two hours the earth fairly shook with the thunder of these guns and the bursting of shells. All this noise was going on about a mile to the right of us and as we were "not in it" we were anxiously wondering what the result would be.

After this cannonading had been going on for some time we were ordered to fall in quickly. About eighty of the 57th were left to respond to the call. These were soon in line and with the rest of the brigade we moved rapidly to the right in the direction of the firing. Moving in double quick for about a mile we were halted and took a position a few rods in rear of several batteries which were heavily engaged. They had just repulsed a charge of Wilcox's rebel brigade, which was supporting Pickett on his right, and whose retreat was being covered by the rebel artillery. We did not become engaged while here, but were exposed to the enemy's fire, which, however, did us no harm. After the firing ceased and the smoke had lifted, we learned of the repulse of Pickett's men and that our army had for once gained an important victory.

That night the regiment was sent on picket duty about half a mile to our front on ground that had been fought over on the afternoon of the 2d, and as the bodies of dead men and horses strewed the ground, the hot sun had decomposed them, causing an odor that was extremely disagreeable.

At daylight we moved back and rejoined the brigade. It was the 4th of July, the eighty-seventh anniversary of American Independence, and here we were on a field strewn with the bodies of our comrades, who had died for the great principles which our fathers had maintained in 1776. With the exception of a little picket firing there was no fighting on the 4th, and that night the enemy began their retreat back to Virginia.

General Sickles has been blamed in some quarters for taking the advanced position he did at Gettysburg on July 2d, but he is also sustained by many prominent military men, among them Gen. U. S. Grant, who visited the battlefield after the war.

The enemy having retreated, the 6th corps and cavalry were sent in pursuit. Our corps did not leave until the 7th. On the afternoon of the 6th the writer took a stroll out to the Sherfy house to look at the ground there. At the house the brick walls on the south and west sides were scarred by the enemy's bullets and the roof had a number of holes made by fragments of shell. The bursting of shells had set fire to the large barn and destroyed it, burning at the same time a number of wounded soldiers who had sought refuge in it. The dead had all been buried, but where our batteries had stood were heaps of dead horses. It was then I discovered the cannon ball in the cherry tree, mentioned above, by which I had been standing during the fight on the 2d. The ball was from our own guns, and no doubt struck the tree during the fighting of July 3d, or on the afternoon of the 2d after our men had abandoned the house.

While visiting the battlefields in 1888 Mrs. Sherfy informed me that nothing worth mentioning had been taken from the house or destroyed. An eight-day clock, which had been wound up before the family left the house when a battle was imminent, was still ticking away when they returned after the fight was over. She also stated that a limber chest containing a lot of ammunition was found in the field opposite the house. The men of the family were afraid to handle the ammunition, so to dispose of it, they dug a hole beside the chest, and tumbled it in, contents and all, and covered it up, and it had not been disturbed since. The chest no doubt belonged to Randolph's battery, as a section of it was in action at the point indicated by Mrs. Sherfy.