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
given to fall back with most of the line. . . . We occupied a line of rebel gopher
holes farther back in the woods until about 3 o’ck when the order came to
prepare to fall back. We waited a long while . . . for the order but none came—
Soon we discovered that the entire line had fallen back leaving us alone. I
advised falling back . . . for the John[n]ies were evidently advancing their
lines. [1st Lt. Charles G.] Teeple opposed it until it became evident that we
should have to fall back without orders or go to Richmond. . . . We fell back
& after we had got inside our cavalry picket line we met Gen. Birney with the
remainder of the brigade going out to fight us in if necessary.
During more than ten hours in its advanced position, Califf’s party of twentyfive
accounted for seven of the regiment’s thirty-two casualties. This rate of
casualties, between one-quarter and one-third of the men engaged, was nearly
as great as the 29th Connecticut had suffered the day before. 45
The XVIII Corps left its camp near the James River at 5:00 a.m. on 27
October and marched about eight miles north to Fair Oaks, the site of a battle
during McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign of 1862. By midafternoon, both divisions
of white troops were in action and soon learned that the Confederate line
was too stoutly defended to be captured by anything less than an all-out attack.
While this was going on, Maj. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel, the corps commander,
ordered Col. John H. Holman’s brigade of Draper’s division to take position on
the extreme right of the Union line, a few hundred yards north of the Williamsburg
Road. The fifteen hundred officers and men of the brigade were to attack
west toward Richmond along the line of the York River Railroad. 46
The 37th USCI crossed the tracks to guard the right flank. South of the
rail line, the 1st USCI advanced with the 22d USCI on its left. After the two
regiments had moved forward about a mile, they saw Confederate cavalry.
Two enemy twelve-pounders unlimbered and opened fire. Holman ordered
a charge. The 1st USCI advanced across cleared space close to the railroad
tracks, reached the guns, and spiked them. The 22d USCI had to make its way
through woods and never came close to the enemy. Two different stories of its
misadventure began to circulate at once. 47
According to Colonel Draper’s account, a misunderstood order caused
confusion. Only one company of the 22d USCI heard it properly and managed
to execute the maneuver. The regiment’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Ira C.
Terry, was more explicit:
Had the regiment left its recruits behind I think we could have gone in. They
kept firing their muskets while advancing, and in the midst of the excitement
broke and ran, causing the worst of confusion. I will say on behalf of these
recruits that they did well so far as they knew how, never having any drill of
45 OR, ser. 1, vol. 42, pt. 1, pp. 149–50; Califf Diary, 28 Oct 1864.
46 OR, ser. 1, vol. 42, pt. 1, pp. 795–97, 802–03, 807–08; Field Return, 27 Oct 1864, Entry 1659,
pt. 2, RG 393, NA.
47 OR, ser. 1, vol. 42, pt. 1, pp. 814–17.