Frederick Phisterer

“ When the left reformed after leaving the cedars, Major Townsend, when on the rise took the colors and rode along the new line for all to see that and where the stand was to be made. Capt. Douglass, of the 18th, described the rebel artillery fire in the open field, as if a blacksmith shop full of rotten iron was being thrown at the command. When the brigade was reformed near its battery, there was a large pile of knapsacks back of it, and many men rested against it from time to time ”

“ The Battalion Quartermasters, with the teamsters, servants, cooks and sick, defended their trains against the charges of rebel cavalry repeatedly, repulsing the enemy every time, and saving and preserving their trains. ”

“ On the morning of the 2d of January, before breakfast, the brigade advanced under heavy artillery fire to the support of the left wing, remaining as its support in different positions during the day and night; the battery, being in action off and on during the day, assisted in the enemy’s repulse by the left wing in the afternoon of the day. ”

“ The Regular Brigade with its battery moved by the right flank into the dense wood of cedars, alluded to above; when near Sheridan the head of the brigade changed direction to the right, and line of battle was formed in the cedars facing west. Meanwhile it had become evident that on this ground no use could be made of the battery, and that no [Pg 6] good position could be obtained for the infantry; the advance was therefore discontinued and the battery with the brigade ordered by General Rousseau to the open field between the cedars and the turnpike, near where it started from. ”

“ The general front of the line, which in the morning was south by east, was now west by south; the new line formed about noon ran along the railroad and turnpike, and in front of it were open fields from Hazen’s left to a point about one-eighth of a mile southeast of General Rosecrans’ headquarters from which point the now re-organized right wing was posted in the forest in a semicircle facing south and west, with the right, refused, facing north by west and resting near the turnpike. ”

“ While in this position, the line facing southwest, the brigade, the battalions of the 18th, and the battery especially, were exposed to an enfilading artillery fire, and Captain Denison, of the 2d Battalion, was mortally wounded, and Sergeant White, of Co. F. 3d Battalion, 18th infantry, was killed by a solid shot. The brigade was not long in position when Sheridan’s troops began to come out of the woods, followed shortly after by the enemy, whose further advance was resisted by it. ”

“ For a while it was a pastime to watch the solid shot coming through the air, and one ball was especially noticed, going apparently straight toward a man crossing the large open field to the rear, coming from the hospital probably ”

“ Of course, the above computations can be applied only in a general way, inasmuch as after 1861 the actual number of men in the United States service, on an average, was, in round numbers, only about 850,000 per year. ”