Union Forces
Battle of Darbytown Road
13 October 18641
X Corps: Major General D.B.Birney
1st Division: Bvt. Major General A.H.Terry
1st Brigade: Colonel F.B.Pond
39th Illinois Infantry Regiment
62nd Ohio Infantry Regiment
67th Ohio Infantry Regiment
85th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
2nd Brigade: Colonel J.C.Abbott
7th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
3rd New Hampshire Infantry Regiment
l6th New York Heavy Artillery (7 cos)
3rd Brigade: Colonel H.M.Plaisted
10th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
11th Maine Infantry Regiment
24th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
3rd Division: Brigadier General W.Birney
1st Brigade: Colonel A.C.Voris
7th U.S.Colored Troops
9th U.S.Colored Troops
2nd Brigade: Colonel U. Doubleday
29th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
8th U.S.Colored Troops
45th U.S.Colored Troops
Cavalry Division: Brigadier General A.V.Kautz
1st Brigade: Colonel R.M.West
3rd New York Cavalry Regiment
5th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment
2nd Brigade: Colonel S.P.Spear
1st District of Columbia Cavalry Regiment
11th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment
3rd Brigade: Colonel A.W.Evans
1st Maryland Cavalry Regiment
1st New York Mounted Rifle Regiment
Artillery: Lt. D.L.Noggel
Wisconsin Light Artillery, 4th Battery (1 section)
(Order of Battle From the George Nafziger Collection)2
Source:
- U.S. War Department, The War of the Succession, A Compilation of
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Government
Printing Office; Washington D.C. 1880-1901 ↩ - George Nafziger Order of Battle Collection ↩
The Greenwich Library & Greenwich Historical Society have a great volume of transcribed letters of Silas Edward Mead, a teenage private in Company I, 10th Connecticut Infantry. When I was in high school, I used to spend hours in the library every week, pouring over his accounts of the war (yes, I was that much of a nerd). Perhaps the most moving thing I read was his description of the Battle of Darbytown Road. The 10th had only about 90 men (due to casualties and the recent end of many 3-year enlistment terms) when they were ordered to charge a well-fortified Confederate position. According to Mead, the soldiers and officers knew the attack would be suicidal, but Terry refused to rescind his order. They went in knowing they would fail, and half of them were killed or wounded before they were forced to fall back. Sgt. Caleb Holmes, in command of Company I (and Mead’s good friend), was among those killed. At the end of his letter, Mead, who was undoubtedly both devastated by the loss and enraged at the generals who ordered the charge, concluded, “Some men must die for others to get glory.”
I hope the Historical Society one day digitizes the Mead letters, as they are an incredible source.