Numbers 14. Report of Colonel Daniel D. Johnson, Fourteenth West Virginia Infantry, of engagement at Lynchburg.

HDQRS. FOURTEENTH WEST VIRGINIA VOL. INFTY.,
Camp Piatt, W. Va., July 3, 1864.

LIEUTENANT: I have the honor to report that in the engagement of the 17th and 18th days of June, 1864, near Lynchburg, Va., the officers and men almost without exception displayed great courage and heroism. The Fourteenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry formed the right of the second line of battle of the Second Brigade and advanced in good order and with a great deal of enthusiasm in support of the first line of battle, each officer performing his duty with great credit, with the single exception of First Lieutenant William H. Gillespie, adjutant of the regiment. On the 17th day of June as we were advancing, when the first line opened fire upon the enemy, Lieutenant Gillespie exhibited great cowardice, by dodging behind trees, stumps, &c. The regiment had advanced but a few hundred yards when Lieutenant Gillespie fell entirely behind and did not rejoin the regiment until after dark, when the firing had ceased. On the 18th when the rebel batteries opened upon our brigade he again abandoned his regiment, went to the rear, and did not rejoin his command until the next morning, several miles from the battle-field. Summary dismissal, I think, would be an adequate punishment for this offense.

The loss of the regiment during the two days' fighting and on the retreat which followed is as follows: Killed, 1; wounded, 8; missing during the retreat, 4; total in killed, wounded, and missing, 13.

Very respectfully, &c.,

D. D. JOHNSON,

Colonel.

Lieutenant WILLIAM B. NESBITT,

A. A. A. G., Second Brigadier, Second Div., Dept. of W. Va.

Numbers 15. Report of Colonel Jacob M. Campbell, Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, commanding Third Brigade.

HDQRS. 3rd Brigadier, 2nd INFTY. DIV., DEPT. OF W. VA.,
Camp Piatt, W. Va., July 2, 1864.

CAPTAIN: I would most respectfully submit the following report of the part taken by the Third Brigade in the recent operations of the division on the march from Staunton to Lynchburg, and from Lynchburg to this place:

On the 9th day of June I was ordered to the command of the brigade, and on the following morning the command left Staunton, by way of Middlebrook and Brownsburg, for Lexington, skirmishing with the enemy the greater part of the way.

We arrived in the immediate vicinity of Lexington on the 11th about noon, where the enemy made a stand, but were soon driven from the town, which was immediately occupied by our troops.

9 R-VOL XXXVII, PT I