Chapter XII: By E. C. Strouss

Disbanding of Companies A and E--Regiment Organized Into a Battalion
of Six Companies--Consolidation of the Eighty-Fourth with the
Fifty-Seventh Pennsylvania--Necessity for Changing the Letter of
Some of the Companies--Confusion in Company Rolls Growing Out of
It--Officers of the Consolidated Regiment--Another Move Across
Hatcher's Run--The Regiment Again Engaged with the Enemy--Great
Length of the Line in Front of Petersburg--A Lively Picket
Skirmish--Battle Near Watkin's House--Enemy's Picket Line and Many
Prisoners Captured.

The arduous campaign of 1864, with its numerous terrific battles, had greatly reduced the strength of all the old regiments that went out in 1861. These, together with the men who had not reenlisted--some seventy-five in number--had so thinned the ranks of the 57th that two of its companies were ordered to be disbanded and the men to be assigned to other companies. The following is a copy of the order which brought about this state of affairs:

HEADQUARTERS 57TH P. V. V.

January 11, 1865.

SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 3.

I. As directed by S. O. No. 8, War Dept. A. G. O., Jan. 6th, '65,
this regiment will be consolidated into a battalion to consist of
six companies of equal strength.

II. Companies A and E will be broken up, and distributed with the
six companies thus formed, so as to equalize them in strength.

Supernumerary non-commissioned officers to be mustered out under the
supervision of the division mustering officer.

By command of LIEUT.-COL. L. D. BUMPUS.

Attest: R. I. CAMPBELL, Lieut. and Actg. Adjt.

Under the same order from the War Department the 84th Pennsylvania volunteers, which consisted of ten small companies, was consolidated into four, and these were then joined to our regiment, making a new organization to be designated the "57th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers." In order to avoid having two companies of the same letter, it became necessary to change the letter of three of the companies of the old 57th, viz: Company H was changed to Company A, I to D, and K to E. With but few exceptions, the companies whose letters were changed retained the same officers and non-commissioned officers, and their organizations remained the same. Companies B, C, and F retained their old letters. The four companies of the old 84th formed the left of the regiment and were lettered G, H, I and K.

The order for consolidation was received with considerable dissatisfaction by both officers and men. The 84th, like the 57th, was an old regiment, and had served faithfully and gallantly since the spring of 1862, and each had an honorable record. The 84th had seen its first fighting at Winchester, Va., on March 23, 1862, and then in Bank's campaign in the Shenandoah valley, Pope's campaign, and had joined the 3d corps of the Army of the Potomac in September, 1862. It was assigned to Birney's division of the 2d corps in May and remained in the division until the close of the war. It was a great injustice to break up a regiment with such an honorable record and deprive it of its number.

In the fall of 1864 the State of Pennsylvania sent to the front a dozen or more new regiments to serve for one year. These men should have been sent to the old regiments already in the field, who had upheld their country's honor in many a bloody battle, and who were proud of their official distinction.

One of the evil results of all this consolidation, changing of regimental numbers, and company letters, can be seen in a work published by the State of Pennsylvania, after the war, entitled "Bates' History of Pennsylvania Volunteers." The names of many worthy soldiers, some of whom died for their country, are omitted on the rolls as published in the work above mentioned. It was not the fault, however, of Dr. S. P. Bates and his assistants, for the rolls at Harrisburg, from which they procured their information, were very incomplete. This is particularly so as regards the 57th Pennsylvania. When the muster-out rolls of the regiment were prepared in June, 1865, the company commanders were required to make out two rolls, each to contain the name of every man, living or dead, who had ever belonged to the company, and the manner in which he left the service to be stated. These rolls never reached Harrisburg, but remained at Washington, D. C. The writer is informed that Dr. Bates tried to have access to these rolls for preparing his history, but was refused the privilege of using them by the authorities at Washington.

While fortune had thrown together the 57th and 84th Pennsylvania, they served side by side in perfect concord and amity, no quarrelling between them ever manifesting itself.

At the time of the consolidation and for some months previous, Lieut. Col. L. D. Bumpus was in command of the regiment. He was then honorably discharged and mustered out. He entered the service, a mere boy of 17, as a private in Company I of the 57th, and for meritorious conduct was successively promoted to sergeant, first sergeant, first lieutenant, captain and lieutenant colonel. He was a brave soldier and was always with his men whether in the camp or in front of the enemy.

The officers of the new organization were as follows:

Colonel--George Zinn.
Lieutenant-Colonel--George W. Perkins.
Major--Samuel Bryan.
Adjutant--Thomas E. Merchant.
Quartermaster--John W. Parks.
Surgeon--H. G. Chritzman.
Assistant Surgeon--J. K. Cassell.
Chaplain--William T. McAdam.
Company A, Capt. D. W. Gore.
Company B, First Lieut. Daniel Comstock.
Company C, Capt. M. W. Houser.
Company D, Capt. J. D. Moore.
Company E, Capt. E. C. Strouss.
Company F, Capt. E. C. Bierce.
Company G, First Lieut. David Larrish.
Company H, Second Lieut. William A. Wilson.
Company I, Capt. John R. Ross.
Company K, Capt. R. C. Lamberton.

The non-commissioned staff were:

Sergeant Major--William McCaslin.
Quartermaster Sergeant--John H. Rodgers.
Commissary Sergeant--Charles Coburn.
Hospital Steward--Cary A. Slayton.
Principal Musician--Daniel Fisher.
Drum Major--J. N. McDonald.

Our new colonel, George Zinn, of Harrisburg, was a man of undoubted courage and a strict disciplinarian. He was absent at the time of the consolidation on account of severe wounds received in action while in command of the 84th. He returned for duty and took command of the regiment on March 18.

Lieut.-Col. George W. Perkins, of Bradford county, Pa., entered the service as a sergeant of Company H, 57th, in 1861. He was for a time adjutant of the regiment, and was then promoted as captain of Company B. For some time previous to his promotion to lieutenant-colonel he had served on the staff of General Mott, our division commander.

Maj. Samuel Bryan, of Lycoming county, Pa., entered the service as first lieutenant of Company B, 84th Pennsylvania, in 1861. He was not much of a tactician, but as brave as a lion, and if there was a chance to get up a row with the enemy's pickets, while he had charge of a detail, he was sure to do it. His "staying qualities" in a fight endeared him to all the men, to whom he was always kind and fatherly.

On February 5th another move was made for the purpose of extending our lines to the left. At 7 a. m., with the division, we broke camp and marched to the Vaughn road crossing of Hatcher's run. Skirmishers from our 1st brigade and the cavalry having effected the crossing, our brigade--temporarily commanded by Colonel West, of the 17th Maine--crossed over and began to throw up a slight breastwork, forming the arc of a circle, the right of the 1st, and the left of the 2d brigade resting on the run. Our brigade (the 2d) remained in this position till about 5 p. m., when it was hurriedly moved to the right to support McAllister (3d brigade), who was being fiercely attacked by the enemy on the north side of the run. We started off on the double quick for a mile or more--the 57th leading--and reaching McAllister's position the 57th Pennsylvania and the 5th Michigan formed line on his left and charged the enemy, who would have driven back McAllister without our assistance. Company E, of the 57th, was not with the regiment in this fight, having been sent on picket duty before the brigade was ordered to the right. The regiment had two men wounded in this affair. The rest of the fighting during this expedition was confined to the 5th corps and the cavalry, who were on our left.

The 7th was a very disagreeable day, as it began to snow and continued to do so all day. On the 9th we were supplied with axes and began to slash the timber in front of our new line of works.

Our army now held a line extending from Armstrong's mill on Hatcher's run on the left to the Appomattox river below Petersburg on the right, a distance of about sixteen miles. This line with the natural and artificial obstructions in its front, was almost impregnable, and could be held by a small portion of our troops, leaving the main body of our army free for operations elsewhere.

On March 10th the regiment proceeded to lay out a new camp, which proved to be the last one among the many we occupied along the Petersburg lines, From this time until March 25th we lay quiet in our camp with the exceptions of drill, camp and picket duty.

A heavy detail for picket duty in our front was sent out on the morning of March 24th. It was a beautiful spring day and everything remained quiet along our part of the line, until an hour or so before daylight on the 25th, when a prolonged and heavy artillery fire was heard far away on our right. About 7 a. m. a staff officer of our division rode out to our picket line, with orders to advance our line and feel of the enemy. After crossing a narrow swamp in our front we advanced through the woods and were soon exchanging shots with the enemy's pickets. We were ordered to cease advancing, so we remained quiet until the relief came out and took our places at 9 o'clock. During our advance Lieut. R. I. Campbell, of Company C, and several of our men, were slightly wounded.

On our arrival in camp we learned that the heavy artillery fire on our right which we heard in the morning, was caused by an attack on our lines by the enemy, under Gen. J. B. Gordon, at Fort Steadman. The enemy was temporarily successful, but were finally driven back with heavy loss by the 9th corps under General Parke. Many of the enemy were killed and wounded in trying to get back to their own lines; 1,949 prisoners, including 71 officers and nine stands of colors, fell into General Parke's hands.

About 3 p. m. of the same day our whole division was sent to the front for the purpose of driving back the enemy's picket line near the Watkins house. Arriving near the ground to be contested, General Pierce placed Colonel Pulford, of the 5th Michigan, in charge of the right wing near the Watkins house, and Colonel Zinn of the left wing, consisting of the 57th, 105th and 141st Pennsylvania. As soon as Colonel Zinn's line was formed, he sent out details from each regiment to connect the enemy's rifle-pits which had been captured in the morning. While these details were at work, a brigade of rebels charged them and drove them back to the main line. Colonel Zinn at once ordered a countercharge of the regiments under his command, when they went forward with a cheer, and retook the pits and captured six commissioned officers and 167 enlisted men. In this charge Corporal Wolford Case, of Company E, 57th, ordered a rebel lieutenant to give up his sword. The rebel refused to do so at first, but, on seeing the state of affairs, yielded without further comment.

Our regiment lost in this engagement 1 officer and 5 men wounded. The brigade loss was 4 enlisted men killed and 1 officer and 29 men wounded.

Gen. A. A. Humphreys, in his book entitled "The Virginia Campaign of 1864-5," says of this engagement: "It was this capture of the entrenched picket line of the enemy that made it practicable for General Wright to carry the enemy's main line of entrenchments by assault on the morning of the 2d of April."

We remained on the ground wrested from the enemy until after dark, when other troops relieved us and we returned to our camps.

On the morning of the 27th the whole regiment was ordered once more to the front to support the picket line, some distance to the left of the point where we were engaged on the 25th. We threw up a strong breastwork of logs and earth, which we held until dark, when without difficulty we advanced our line to within one hundred yards of the enemy's pickets. On our return to camp next day we found that the whole division was under orders to move at 6 o'clock the next morning.