Freedom by the Sword - US Army Center Of Military History

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Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862–1867
4th USCI and those companies of the 6th that were not lost in the woods. “Cut up
badly. Regt broke and retreated,” Sergeant Major Fleetwood wrote in his diary.
Before the left of the Union line could recover itself, Col. Joseph B. Kiddoo on
the right seized the opportunity to lead the 22d USCI forward, followed by the 5th
USCI, while the enemy gunners’ attention was elsewhere. While these two regiments
crossed the three or four hundred yards between the edge of the woods and
the Confederate position, the gunners finally noticed their approach and rode off
with all but one of their twelve-pounders. Men of the 22d turned the remaining gun
around and sent a few shots after them. 28
By the time the entire division assembled, the hour was 9:00 a.m. Caught at
the edge of the woods between the Confederate artillery in front and the 5th Massachusetts
Cavalry in rear, the 4th USCI had lost one hundred twenty officers and
men killed and wounded. The column moved on. Hinks put the 5th USCI in the
lead as skirmishers, the men advancing in pairs to cover each other, one always
having his rifle loaded. An hour’s march brought them in sight of the enemy again.
In front lay the eastern end of Petersburg’s defenses, a ring of fifty-five artillery positions.
Those directly in front of the skirmishers appeared as Batteries 7 through
11 on Union maps. Fire from their guns kept Hinks’ two batteries from taking a
position from which they could shell the Confederate line. About 1:00 p.m., Hinks
relieved the 5th USCIs from the advance and moved the 4th, 22d, and 1st USCIs
forward five hundred yards across a field to where a low crest offered partial protection
from enemy fire. There they lay for five hours. “The situation was anything
28 OR, ser. 1, vol. 40, pt. 1, pp. 721 (Hinks estimated the distance as 400 yards), 724; vol. 51, pt. 1,
pp. 265 (Duncan, 300 yards), 266. Fleetwood Diary, 15 Jun 1864; James M. Paradis, Strike the Blow
for Freedom: The 6th United States Colored Infantry in the Civil War (Shippensburg, Pa.: White
Mane Press, 1998), pp. 52–53. Sgt. Maj. C. A. Fleetwood, of the 4th USCI, which received the fire of
the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, agreed with Col. S. A. Duncan that the dismounted cavalrymen fired
into the troops ahead of them. Anglo-African, 9 July 1864. So did Chaplain H. M. Turner, of the 1st
USCI, which was in line next to the cavalrymen. Anglo-African, 23 July 1864.