FROM THE RICHMOND FRONT.

An intelligent member of the Washington New Orleans Artillery, who left Bottoms Bridge yesterday [June 13, 1864] at twelve o’clock, brings us some interesting information from that now somewhat famous locality. It was discovered at an early hour yesterday [June 13, 1864] morning, that the great Human Butcher, U. S. Grant, had made another of those sand-fiddler movements, and this time the main bulk of his forces turned up at the Long Bridges in Charles City county, about six miles below Bottoms Bridge. Here one or two regiments crossed, but Fitz Lee’s cavalry drove them back with ease. His earthworks on our left [at Cold Harbor] were found to be occupied by only a few skirmishers, who were captured. He has now abandoned all his positions near Gaines’ Mill, Cold Harbor and Turkey Hill, and is desperately striving to reach James river. His parallels within fifty yards of Gen Lee’s lines, were mere feints to cover this crawfish movement, and the hot work which our boys anticipated “immediately, if not sooner,” may be deferred for a day or two—perhaps altogether. After all, Grant may be striving to reach James river on the east bank of the Chickahominy, where he can embark his troops for the South side. This movement of the Yankee commander necessitates a similar movement on the part of Gen. Lee, and our troops are before this, in a position to confront Grant should he persist in attempting to cross at the Long Bridges.—We thought the destruction of the York River Railroad, a strange proceeding, which our scouts reported a day or two since, if the enemy intended to persevere in his efforts to reach Richmond by the McClellan route. Grant’s army, which a correspondent of the New York Herald represented a few days since as being within seven miles of Richmond by an air line, is now distant at least twenty-five miles, with a much deeper and wider stream between him and the coveted prize. The nearer he now approaches the mouth of the Chickahominy, the more difficult will it be to cross.¹

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Regular readers will have noticed a regular cadence of articles from the Richmond Examiner these past few Fridays.  My goal is to continue to publish articles from this paper through the end of the Siege of Petersburg in April 1865.

Today I published three advertisements from the July 18, 1864 Examiner:

• An ad offering a $50 reward for a deserter from the Richmond Parker VA Arty

• An ad offering a $30 reward for any of five deserters from the 10th Virginia Heavy Artillery Battalion

• An ad from the commander of the 42nd North Carolina, making known his intentions to serve as a politician if his constituents back home wanted him

You’re probably wondering why I’m posting advertisements here at The Siege of Petersburg Online.  Let’s go back to the beginnings of this site to help me explain.  I’ve been collecting newspaper articles about the Siege of Petersburg for over 10 years, and the amount you see transcribed here on the site is a drop in the bucket of the total collection.  I’ll freely admit I’ve ignored the ad sections of all of the papers I’ve posted, up until early 2020.  I incorrectly assumed that there wasn’t any worthwhile information about the Siege of Petersburg, and boy was I wrong.

Happily for me, an ad caught my eye in the July 18, 1864 Richmond Examiner.  It was the ad from Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Bradshaw of the 42nd North Carolina listed third in the bulleted list above.  I realized with excitement that I could glean the fact that Bradshaw was present with his regiment, and commanding that regiment, on July 13, 1864, the date he wrote the advertisement as a sort of open letter to the folks back home in Davidson County, NC.  A minute of scanning the other ads led to the discovery of two other similar open letters, both rewards for the return of deserters.  In each of those cases, not only was I able to find the names of the commanding officers, but ALSO their specific locations at specific dates in time!

Anyone who has tried to study the locations of Confederate artillery at the Siege of Petersburg knows how difficult it is to place a unit at a specific place on a specific date.  My hope is that with this sort of diligent collecting and publishing of newspaper articles, and correlated publishing of that information on the various unit pages at my site, I will be able to tease out quite a bit of information on Confederate units that very few people have really studied in any detail before. This sort of thing reminds me quite a but of how the late, great Dr. Richard Sommers found information on units during the Fifth Offensive of the Siege of Petersburg for his book Richmond Redeemed. I hadn’t realized until I read that book the level of detail you can find if you are diligent, patient, and know where to look. I’m not claiming any sort of expertise even remotely close to Dr. Sommers, only a kinship of thought in how to go about the research.

So in the future, don’t be surprised if you see a lot of advertisements in the newspapers used this way on this site.  And if you have similar examples, not only from newspapers, but also letters, reports, and other unpublished information which contain signatures of men commanding units or headings showing specific places on specific dates, please Contact Us and point us in their direction. My goal, as always, is to eventually have the most complete orders of battle ever compiled for the nine offensives against Petersburg and Richmond.

HEADQUARTERS CO. C, TENTH VA. BATTALION ARTILLERY,
Darbytown Road, July 16th, 1864.

THIRTY DOLLARS REWARD. The following named privates of company C, Tenth Virginia [Heavy] battalion artillery, having deserted, the above reward will be paid if delivered to me at Intermediate line, Darbytown road, or confined in Castle Thunder, Richmond.

Henry Salgee, twenty years of age, gray eyes, dark hair, dark complexion; five feet nine inches high. Resides in Richmond, Virginia.

Elijah Butler, seventeen years old, blue eyes, dark hair, dark complexion; five feet eight inches high. Resides at or near Hungary Station, Henrico county.

Thomas M. Ford, eighteen years old, blue eyes, sandy hair, florid complexion; five feet seven and a half inches high.—Resides at not near Hungary Station, Henrico county.

Joseph M. Melton, thirty-one years old, dark eyes, dark hair, dark complexion; six feet one inch high. Resides near Hungary Station, Henrico county; was seen about one week since at David Melton’s, near the Hanover line, and supposed to be lurking about that neighborhood.

THOMAS P. WILKINSON,
Captain commanding company C,
Tenth Virginia battalion [Heavy] artillery.¹

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$50 REWARD. Deserted, on or about the 2d instant [July 2, 1864], BENJAMIN F. ROACH, of Parker’s [VA] Battery, stationed near the “Howlett House,” Chesterfield.—Roach is nineteen years old; quite small; dark skin; light hair and eyes. He is from Charles City county, but is to live in Caroline, near Milford depot. The above reward will be paid if he is lodged in Castle Thunder, subject to my order.

WILLIAM W. PARKER, Captain Artillery.¹

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CAMP NEAR PETERSBURG VIRGINIA,
July 13th, 1864.

To the voters of Davidson county North Carolina, under arms and at home.–Having learned lately through friends from home, that my name has been presented in the papers as a candidate to represent the county of Davidson in the House of Commons of the next Legislature of North Carolina, would say to my fellow-citizens and fellow-soldiers, that if I am their choice in the coming election I shall endeavor to serve them as faithfully in the Legislature as I have and expect to do in the army. Striving constantly to appreciate their every interest as citizens and soldiers to the very best of my ability,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

C[HARLES]. W. BRADSHAW,
Lieutenant Colonel commanding,
Forty-second North Carolina troops.¹

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THE STANDING OF COLORED TROOPS.

The Army Appropriation bill, which has just been adopted by Congress [on June 15, 1864], is interesting, because it disposes of the vexed question of the status of the colored troops¹.  From the synopsis of the bill, which has been published, we draw the following conclusions:

First.  That all colored men who have volunteered under the call of October 17, 1863, for three hundred thousand volunteers, are to receive the same amounts of bounty, pay and allowances as white volunteers, provided they were actually enrolled and subject to draft.  If they were not enrolled they get the full pay and allowances, but no bounty.  They must also have volunteered in the State in which they were subject to be drafted.  If they have volunteered to fill up the quotas of other States, they lose the bounty.  So also if they have gone as substitutes for others, in which case they are not to be considered volunteers.

Second.  All colored men who were free on the 19^th of April, 1861, who have since been mustered into the service of the United States, are entitled to the pay, bounty and clothing allowed to such colored persons by the laws existing at the time of their enlistment.  What privileges these laws extended to them, seems to be uncertain, and the Attorney-General of the United States is to determine all questions of law arising under this provision of the new act of Congress.  If the colored persons to whom this part of the act refers have already received pay, bounty, and clothing, the Attorney-General is to decide whether they are to receive more, and if so, how much.

Third.  All colored persons not embraced in the classes mentioned above, who were mustered into the service of the United States before January 1, 1864, are to receive the same clothing, rations, equipments, allowances, and pay, as white soldiers, but no bounty.

Fourth.  All colored persons mustered into service since January 1, 1864, or hereafter to be mustered into service, are to receive full pay and allowances, and such bounty as the President may offer in the different States and parts of the United States, not exceeding one hundred dollars to each man.  Under this provision, we should suppose that the President might discriminate between the bounties to be paid to colored men in the free States and in the slave States, and between the sums promised to freemen, and those who before the proclamation of emancipation, were slaves.

These provisions, so far as they relate to future recruits, will give satisfaction², but they leave the question of the bounty to be paid, or whether any is due to the early colored volunteers still unsettled.  The Attorney-General will no doubt give a calm and earnest consideration to the question, and decide it without reference to expediency or personal hardship.³

SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.

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SOPO Editor’s Note: Captain Henry F. Young of the 7th Wisconsin wrote twenty letters while at the Siege of Petersburg from June to December 1864. Researcher Roy Gustrowsky transcribed this letter from the original at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin.  He is currently in the process of writing a regimental history of the 7th Wisconsin. “Delia” was Henry F. Young’s wife, and “Father” was his Father-in-Law Jared Warner, a prominent businessman of Grant County, Wisconsin. Gustrowsky has magnanimously made these transcriptions available to the Siege of Petersburg Online for publication, and we thank him for his generosity.

UPDATE: I recently learned that a new book has been published by the University of Wisconsin Press, entitled Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, and edited by Micheal Larson and John David Smith. If you want to read all of Henry’s letters throughout the war, purchase the book!

Camp 7th Wis[consin] Vet[eran] Vol[unteer]s
Near Weldon R[ail] Road Va
Oct 6th 1864

Dear Delia

Here am I in the Same place I was when I wrote My last letter but we have not been here all the time we have been over west of the R[ail] Road for the last week. We were not engaged with the enemy So that luckily I have no casualities to report in our Regt but our advance on the West Side was quite Successful but not So Much as it would have been had it not rained continually for two days and nights Making it almost impossible to move Artillery in level clayey country. We Still hold the position we gained at Poplar Grove church which commands the South Side R[ail] Road.¹

I am glad to hear Eva has been Making you a visit and that you have had a good time. You talk of your poor pen that you are in, that gives me more uneasiness than anything else for it wont do for you to winter in Such a place as that, you and the children would catch your death of colds.

But I Still think we will finish this Rebellion as Soon as the Presidential Election is over. At all events I dont think you will object to my Staying till that time to See what will turn up.

I sent Pa $200 the other day but I dont want you to Spend Much on the house you are in for you must not Stay there this Winter. I am verry Sorry to hear Jared is Such a naughty boy to run away from home in the way you Speak of tell him there are thousands of little boys like him in this Southren country that have no homes nor nothing to eat and if he dont be a good boy his papa wont care about Seeing him.

I see that the Majorship Still Sticks in the Mind of the little Woman I tell you I wont except a promotion that will fasten me for another three years without your consent dont that Satisfy you for the present. There is Some talk of consolidation again if they do consolidate I will Make tracks for Wisconsin in a hurry for there then will be a Surplus of officers. Every one speaks of dull hard times in Wis I am Sorry to hear it and yet I expected it. I look for a crash Soon that will carry most of the Speculators with it. I have come to the conclusion that After I leave the Service I will always raise two or three acres of potatoes for My own use for it appears we cant get enough of them here, we had a mess for dinner at the round rate of $4 per gine.

My love to Jared Laura & May and accept the Same for your own dear Self.

Ever Yours
Henry²

***

Letters of Henry W. Young:

• LT: June 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: June 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 26, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: July 29, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 4, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: August 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 2, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 15, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 19, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: September 27, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 6, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 21, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 22, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: October 30, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 5, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 7, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 10, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 13, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 20, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)
• LT: November 23, 1864 Henry F. Young (7th Wisconsin)

PETERSBURG.

The Raleigh [NC] Progress, of Saturday [June 11, 1864], says:

The Yankees made a bold attempt to sack the “Cockade City” on Thursday [June 9, 1864], but the gallantry of the militia and the vigilance of General [Pierre G. T.] Beauregard, thwarted their plans and sent them howling back towards the James river. We have not yet the particulars of the fight, but the loss sustained by the city militia—six killed and thirty wounded—attest the fact that the struggle was sharp and desperate, and that these Reserves acquitted themselves admirably. The skirmishing was on the outskirts of the city, and our small force that first encountered the enemy was pressed back by overwhelming numbers, but reinforcements came up in time to prevent the vandals from entering the city.

The force that made the effort to dash into Petersburg on Thursday consisted of cavalry, we suppose, and was thought to be three or four thousand strong.¹

—

The Goldsboro [NC] State Journal [of June 11, 1864?] says:

THE ATTEMPT ON PETERSBURG.

The telegraph night before last and yesterday [probably June 9 and 10, 1864] furnishes all the intelligence we have been able to collect in reference to the daring attempt of the Yankees to capture Petersburg. We may have further details before we go to press. While we give the gallant militia of Petersburg full credit for the heroic manner in which they met the vandals and checked them, we feel by no means like complimenting the military authorities of that immediate neighborhood in allowing themselves to be surprised by a force of five thousand men. What would be said if Gen. Whiting had been there, or if Gen. Bragg “had been on guard.”—More vigilance is needed.

—

Our co[n]temporary is mistaken as to the surprise of the military. Under the circumstances, the military did all that men could do, and did it promptly. At a more appropriate season, we will establish the fact to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced mind. The criticism of our co[n]temporary affords us an opportunity to state, however, and we do it very cheerfully, that such reinforcements have now arrived and such dispositions have been made, as to offer the enemy a resistance worthy of any effort he may make, should he come again. We can assure him that another attempt will meet with not a more gallant resistance than was offered Thursday [June 9, 1864]—for that were impossible—but it will be much more formidable as regards numbers.²

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THE WAR NEWS.

As on previous days the invasion of Maryland was the subject mostly engaging publick attention and interest on Saturday and yesterday [July 16 and 17, 1864].  Saturday evening Washington papers were received announcing that our forces had withdrawn from before Washington and were presumed to be retreating into Virginia by way of Edward’s ferry, near Leesburg.  Extracts from these papers will be found in another part of this journal.  From these it will be seen that it was not certain that our forces had retreated further than Rocksville, which is in Montgomery county, Maryland, sixteen miles northwest of Washington.  It will also be observed that the Yankees, up to the last moment, were in a state of the most perplexing ignorance as to the strength of our army of invasion.

From a gentleman who left Washington last Monday [July 11, 1864] we learn that the troops mentioned by us on Saturday [July 16, 1864] as going up the Potomac in twenty-four transports, were Warren’s corps, estimated at between ten and twelve thousand men.¹

GENERAL FRANKLIN’S ESCAPE.

From the Baltimore AMERICAN of the evening of the 14^th [of July, 1864] received here yesterday, we are assured that General Franklin had been permitted to escape from our forces.  The paper publishes General Franklin’s statement of the manner of his escape.  He says he was consigned to the charge of a Confederate captain and two men, who took him into a barn yard, where they all laid down and compelled him to do the same.  Very soon his guard fell asleep.  At first he could not credit that they were really asleep, but believed that they desired him to attempt to escape that they might have an excuse for shooting him.  In order to try them he arose walked about the barn yard and coughed repeatedly, when, finding that they gave no signs of arousing, he walked out of the barn yard and took to the bushes.

The criminal carelessness of these men has allowed to escape a prize for whom the Yankees would willingly have returned us General Edward Johnson, or any other of our Generals, now exposed to fire at Charleston.

YANKEE TRANSPORTS SUNK—GRANT REPORTED KILLED.

Through a trustworthy correspondent we learned yesterday that, on Saturday evening [July 16, 1864], Major [Alexander W.] Starke [sic, Stark] went down with some artillery² to Wilcox’s landing, ten miles below Westover, and opened on seven Yankee transports loaded with troops, which were going down the river.  He succeeded in sinking two of the vessels, and obliged the remaining five to put back in haste.³

The report was brought over from Petersburg Saturday evening [July 16, 1864] that Grant had that morning been struck by one of our shells and killed.  The report was treated as a joke until yesterday [July 17, 1864], when rumours to the same effect, coming in from different quarters along our lines, seemed to give it some colour of truth.  A deserter who came in yesterday said that Grant was certainly dead, and gave the particulars of his death.  His account was that Grant, while reconnoitreing in person on Saturday morning, has his left arm shattered near the shoulder by one of our shells, and that he died while the limb was being amputated.  Several Yankee prisoners captured yesterday said there was a piece of good news in store for us which we would hear in the course of the next day or two, but which they were unwilling to disclose.  On the other hand, an army officer of intelligence, writing from Chester yesterday, characterizes the report of Grant’s death as “ridiculous.”  We have given the report for the amusement of the reader, reminding him, if disposed to be credulous, that of all the many commanders the army of Potomac has had, Hooker is the only one who, to our certain knowledge, ever exposed himself to fire.⁴

FROM NORTH MISSISSIPPI.

As will be seen from the following official despatch, General S. D. Lee hurt the enemy worse at Tupelo than he had any idea of at the time of his last despatch, which we published on Saturday.  In that, it will be remembered, he claimed only a “drawn battle.”  However, it may be truly said that to an invader, especially a raider, a drawn battle, being a check, is essentially a defeat.  The following is the official despatch:

“TUPELO, July 15, 1864.
“TO GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG:

“The enemy are in retreat towards Ripley.—General Forrest is in close pursuit. *   *  *  *Will send details.  The raid from Vicksburg is retreating.      (Signed)                                                                 S. D. LEE.”

A press despatch on this subject will be found under the telegraphic head.

FROM GEORGIA.

From the press despatch, in another column, it will be seen that a temporary quiet prevails in military affairs in Northern Georgia.  General Johnston holds a strong position east of the Chattahoochee river, his right resting on a creek which flows by a southwesterly course into the river a mile or two above the railroad bridge.  The bulk of Sherman’s army is on the left bank of the river, though he has thrown across a corps, believed to be Hooker’s, which has fortified and holds a position north of the creek and above its confluence with the Chattahoochee.

CITIZENS OF RICHMOND AT POINT LOOKOUT—CAPTAIN STURDIVANT SAFE.

From Mr. James D. Mitchel, a citizen recently released from Fortress Monroe, we learn that Captain N[athaniel]. A. Sturdivant, of Richmond, [commander of the Albemarle Virginia Artillery] who was believed to have been murdered by Burnside’s negro troops after being taken prisoner near Petersburg [on June 16, 1864], is safe at Point Lookout.  During his detention by the Yankees Mr. Mitchel was confined in a room with Captain Sturdivant and Messrs. E. Warren, Winston, Edsha Lowry, L. Throckmartin, John Henry Freeman, Charles Darrscott, Frank Terrell and Walter Luck.

OUR RECENT VICTORY ON JOHN’S ISLAND.

We published last Tuesday General Samuel Jones’ despatch from Charleston, announcing General Beverly H. Robertson’s successful attack upon the enemy on John’s island, in front of Charleston, but owing to the protracted interruption of mail communication we have only now come into possession of some of the particulars of the affair.

John’s island, which is almost due south of Charleston, is separated from James island on the North and West by the Stono river.  Nine regiments of the enemy, numbering about three thousand men, under the command of Generals Saxton, Brown and Hatch, after a skirmish with our troops on the 8^th, had strongly intrenched themselves, anticipating an attack on the 9^th.  About daylight on the 9^th General Robertson, with the First Georgia Regulars, the Thirty second and Forty-seventh Georgia regiments, Bonnean’s Georgia battalion, part of the Fourth Georgia cavalry, and the Marion and Washington artillery, moved forward to the attack.  In the face of a heavy fire of artillery and musketry our troops stormed the enemy’s position, when a short but desperate hand to hand conflict took place within the enemy’s intrenchments.  Notwithstanding that the enemy were reinforced by two regiments of infantry during this fight, they were finally driven back along the whole line, and retreated towards their gunboats on the south end of the island.  That night the enemy embarked and left the island.  This assault and fight lasted until nine o’clock, A. M.  Our loss was seventeen killed and ninety-three wounded.  Many of our men were struck whilst scaling the enemy’s works.  The enemy’s loss was double our own, but the exact figure has not been ascertained.

On Sunday night the enemy made an attack on battery Simpkins in barges, but were driven back by our artillery and musketry.

FROM PETERSBURG.

Passengers by the Petersburg train last night [July 17, 1864] reported that Northern papers of the 15^th had been received in camp, which stated our “army of invasion” had not retreated from Maryland.⁵

SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Jackie Martin.

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