1                      Bucks County Intelligencer, The 104th in Action.  June 3, 1862  Page 3  Col. 1                      1

 

The 104th in Action.—On our first page will be

found a detailed narrative, from a private letter received

in Doylestown; of the participation of the 104th Regiment

in two reconnoisances on the banks of the Chickahominy,

near Richmond.  The first took place on Tuesday, the

20th, when our troops did not cross the bridge, of which

the rebels were then in possession.  The other which hap-

pened on Saturday, extended some distance over the

Chickahominy, in the direction of Richmond.  It was a

perifous service, and proved the courage of the men to be

beyond question.  We find in the correspondence of the

New York Times the following account of the participa-

tion of the 104th in the affair of the 20th :

“ Gen. Casey advanced down the railroad with General

Naglee and two regiments of his brigade—the One Hun-

dred and Fourth Pennsylvania, Col. Van Wyck—and Bates’

and Spratt’s batteries.  Accompanying the party were 150

sharpshooters, old hunters, selected by Gen. Naglee from

among his men.  These were distributed along the creek

from near Bottom’s Bridge to beyond the railroad, sup-

ported by, the two regiments and one company of the

Eleventh Maine, stationed farther in the rear—the One

Hundred and Fourth in the open plain and the fifty-sixth

in the edge of the woods on the heights beyond.  Advan-

cing in echelon through the swamp, the sharpshooters

drove the rebels back and held them in check while the

batteries advanced under support of the Fifty-sixth New

York, and were so placed as to secure the possession of

both brigades and the approach to them.  During the ad-

vance of Gen. Naglee’ sharpshooters, the enemy kept up

a vigorous fire upon them from behind a fence along the

creek, from their rifle-pits, and from two pieces of artillery

commanding Bottom’s Bridge.  At this last point, the

most difficulty was experienced, and it was not until our

artillery was in a position to bear on the rebels at that

point that they were finally silenced and driven back.—

The rebels must have suffered considerable loss in this

affair from our artillery, as well as from the sharpshooters,

who were careful of their shots, picking their men before

firing.  In spite of the vigorous firing from the other side,

but one of our men was wounded, and he only slightly,

from a shot that struck the bayonet scabbard of a comrade,

and glanced off and hit him.  This was from no lack of

exposure on the part of the men, who, as regardless as ig-

norant of what was before them, pressed their way through

the swamp to the edge of the river, and in fact actually

crossed it in one or two instances.  Captain Orem, of Com-

pany B, One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania,; stands

on record as the first man crossing the Chickahominy,

making his way over on a log lying in the stream.  Com-

panies A and F, of the One Hundred and Fourth, waded

in the stream up to their waists, and one man crossed it,

finding the water five feet deep.”

The skirmish on Saturday, the 24th of May, was a spir-

ited affair, and lasted for about five hours.  The 104th and

the 52d Pennsylvania regiments, which were the only

ones actually engaged in the fight, were under a galling

fire a part of the time.  The boys of the 104th came up to

their work bravely, never flinching.  The enemy opened

upon them with musketry, from the edge of a woods, and

for some time sent the balls at them like hail; but luckily,

they generally flew too high.  Companies A, B, D and F,

which were detailed as skirmishers, along with two com-

panies from the 52d regiment, replied to the enemy’s fire

in good earnest, marching boldly up to the “rack.”  The

rebels soon fell back, but opened a battery upon our men,

from which they fired shot, shell and scrap iron.  A bat-

tery attached to Casey’s Division instantly replied, and

soon put the rebels to flight.  After the engagement Gen.

Naglee complimented the men of the 104th for their con-

duct during the action.  The loss sustained on our side

was mainly in the 104th Regiment, but fortunately it was

not heavy:  Private W. H. H. Brown, of Company C,

aged about 22 years, son of Josiah Brown, now of Ohio,

but formerly of Bucks county, was struck on the head by

a cannon ball and killed instantly.  He was a brave and

dutiful soldier, and an exemplary young man.  He vol-

unteered to fight the rebels because his heart was in the

contest.  Lieut. Diller B. Groff, of Reading, who tempo-

rarily commanded Company C, was struck by a spent

ball on the breast and slightly wounded.  Corporal Aaron

Thompson, of Quarkertown, and private Henry Rohr, of

new Britain, both of Company D, and private George

?, of New Hope, of Company C, were also

wounded, being struck by fragments of shells.  They and

a number of others made narrow escapes.  During the

engagement rain fell in torrents at time, and the men

were wet to the skin.  The rebel loss in killed and wounded

must have been considerable.  A shell struck the ground

about three feet to the rear of Lieut. M. Yardley.  For-

tunately he was stooping down at the time, and it passed

over him.  Had he been standing up, it would certainly

have struck his head, and that would have been the last of

him.  It was about two inches in length.  The men were

under arms with knapsacks on continually from 1 o’clock

in the morning till ? in the afternoon.

The 104th Regiment was in the terrible fight on Chick-

ahominy, on Saturday and Sunday last, but it is not

known what loss they sustained.  Lieut. M. Yardley, yes-

terday, telegraphed to his wife in Doylestown, “ Fight

over—all safe.”  Dr. George T. Harvey, of Doylestown,

also telegraphed to his wife that he was safe, as follows :

“ Frank Harvey and I are safe—I was captured, but

escaped.”