150 Series I Volume XI-I Serial 12 - Peninsular Campaign Part I
| Page 150 | THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN, VA. Chapter XXIII. |
good approach to the stream at about dark. The following sketch shows the character of the spot selected as it then appeared:
MAP
A represents the road leading to the approach.
B a point of land opposite, apparently the main-land,
C appeared to be a small swale, which at that time could have been crossed by one or two trestles or corduroy.
D represents land partially covered by water and filled with brush or trees.
H, a ditch running parallel with the road.
As I had but 120 feet of bridge, I concluded to place it in the direction of A, B, and, in my opinion, had the water remained at the same height as at the time I made the reconnaissance, the bridge could have been laid with little difficulty. I received your order to construct the bridge at about 11 o'clock, and proceeding with the train to the spot, I found the stream somewhat swollen and rising rapidly. After cutting away the brush at the side of the stream I commenced laying the bridge three feet above the level of the water. The water continued rising very fast, and the current became so swift as to render the work extremely difficult.
At about 4.30 o'clock I had succeeded in placing three lengths of trestles, when I was relieved by Captain Ketchum, Fifteenth Regiment New York Volunteers, and returned with my men to camp. At that time water had risen so as nearly to submerge the bridge.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WESLEY BRAINERD,
Captain Company C, Fifteenth Regiment New York Volunteers.
General D. P. WOODBURY, Commanding Engineer Brigade.
[Inclosure Numbers 2.]
DETACHMENT FIFTEENTH NEW YORK ENGINEERS,
Near New Bridge, Va., June 2, 1862.
GENERAL: Agreeably to your instructions I proceeded to the bridge below New Bridge, arriving there at about 7 o'clock in the morning of yesterday. My instructions were to relieve Captain Brainerd and his command, and then to make an examination to determine at what point the direction then being pursued would strike the opposite bank, the nature of the soil at such point, and the length of brigade required, and,if
| Page 150 | THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN, VA. Chapter XXIII. |
- Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls for March 27 to be a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer.
- Following the Underground Railroad Route By Bicycle
- March is Women's History Month! Read the fascinating accounts of women spies hiding coded messages in women's hair, conductors of the Underground Railroad, soldiers disguised as men, surgeons, and advisors to the President!
- Teachers tackle race, economic disparity and history
- The President's Hymn: 'Give Thanks All Ye People'
- Thanksgiving Day during the Civil War
- Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation in a divided time: ‘one heart and one voice by the whole American People’
- What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
- Civil War stories on display at Lincoln Highway museum in Unity
- Who was Henry Benning, for whom Fort Benning in Columbus was named?
- Fort Gordon Army Base: Who was John Brown Gordon?
- From the Civil War to the football field, we have been celebrating the wrong values
- History and Healing: Removing Controversial Artifacts from the Civic Landscape
- How to Reframe the Civil War in the Classroom
- Man scores Abraham Lincoln autograph in box of trading cards
- Native Americans' role in the Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln Healed a Divided Nation. We Should Heed His Words Today.
- An escaped slave was the 'Florence Nightingale’ of Indiana's Civil War regiment
- A Southern Democrat survived impeachment trap and came to be in charge of Reconstruction
- New Statue Unveiled In Response To Richmond's Confederate Monuments