[from the diary of Jonathan B. Hager of the 14th U.S. Regulars as copied and annotated by him at a later date]
June 27 A day never to be forgotten. It is impressed
upon my mind by virtue of its heat, its hard
marches, its privations of food & water, its great
dangers. The battle of Mechanicsville the day
before was an attack by Jackson upon McCall
This General during early this morning fell back
& the army took position near Gaines Mill and
Cold Harbor.
We left bivouac before day this morning,
marched back to our old Camp, where the men
got their knapsacks. It was evident to us, that
we were going to vacate the ground, which had
been our home for a month. Our Sutler not
having transportation for all his goods, they
had to be destroyed, and champaign flew
around in unlimited quantities. This with
hard bread constituted our breakfast that
morning. An immense pile of Commissary
stores Bread, Salt, Pork, Beef, Whiskey, Candles,
Soap, Beans were all set on fire. It was a
sad looking sight and indicated a precip-
itate retreat. Early we took up our line of
March by Gaines Mill. Gen Porter seemed to
find it difficult to find a position that
suited him and we marched & countemarched
all over the Country, up hill & down, through
water, mud & dust until we were nearly
exhausted. Finally about 10 a m. we halted
and lay in the hot sun for an hour. Not
the vestige of a shadow and officers not per-
mitted to leave their companies. We made up
our minds to suffer all things this day and
and [sic] could certainly endure this.
About 12 oclock Capt. OConnell gave us the
order to load. The only speech he made was this
“Now Men in the fight we are about to have
all I have to say is to keep closed, fire low
& do not become too much excited” Whatever
may have been our thoughts before, a battle
looked imminent here. And yet we were
in much doubt whether it would come. We
had been called out so often & had returned
without seeing a rebel, that we were almost
faithless. We knew however that rebels were
near now & this certainly the nearest we had
ever been to them. Our position at this time was
at “a” (see diagram). We then moved position to
the road or lane at “K”. Here we awaited the
Enemy. We had not long to wait. about 1 P.M.
he was seen on the hill beyond the apple or-
chard where he had established a battery.
This battery attempted to shell us at our po-
sition “K”. In order to get out of his line of fire
we were ordered to “b” across the cornfield some
several yards. We went across this
field in line of battle in quick time only &
in splendid order, under a heavy shelling.
When about the point marked “e” I saw a shell
coming towards me, being almost in a direct
line. I saw it distinctly. It looked horrible and
tremendous in size. I mad a very quick cal-
culation. I calculated that if I took one more
step that shell would hit me. Prudence indeed
seemed to dictate that I should halt, and
give it the right of way. I did so, all this was
as quick as thought, & had to be–The shell struck
at the feet of the color corporal, the man next
to me but one in the rear rank. I saw him
fall but had not time to see if he was hurt.
I learned afterwards that the shell did not
hit him, but that the concussion threw him
and two or three others to the earth. It did
not burst. If it had this diary would not
perhaps have been written.
The battalion pushed on under this fire
until it reached the position “b” near the edge
of a dense wood and a fence out of the line
of fire from the rebel batteries. We lay here
until nearly 3 P.M. In the interim we sent
pickets through woods in our front to give
us notice of the approach of the enemy from
that direction. We also sent the left company
in the direction and into the apple orchard.
Towards 3 P.M. we could see the skirmishers
of the enemy advancing towards us on the
hill beyond the orchard in handsome style.
It was not long before our skirmishers were
engaged & they fell back to their regiment, not
however without gallantly contesting the ground.
The 14th charged front & advanced to meet them
and took the position marked “c” when the
battle commenced. The rebels were in a grove of
small pines marked “H” & the fire became lively
Almost the first fire my best corporal was
killed. The fight here continued with much of any
for about two hours with an occasional intermission
We not only maintained our ground against
their furious assaults, but drove them twice out
of the woods to the hill beyond where we could
see them running for dear life. These were
interesting moments and if our men had not
been checked by us would have rushed into the
very arms of the whole rebel army.
The rebels, however, as soon as one line was
forced back would send in another to take its
place. Thus we had to fight tow or three sets
of fresh troops. We would have maintained
our position at “c” until night (we had ad-
vanced twice to “d” & fell back to “c”) but the 3rd
Infantry which had been fighting at the point
“p” on the death of Major Russell, Commanding,
fell back without giving us notice when
the rebels then directed their fire upon the 14th.
We were thus between two fires and we were com-
pelled to make a flank movement and take up
our old position at “b”. Our battery drove the
rebels from “H” and they left the woods at “J” for
which we were thankful as we were greatly in
need of rest & water. After laying here awhile
we fell back to point marked “e” under the crest
of a slight rise in the ground where we lay.
Here we sent a couple of men from each Comp-
any with nearly all the canteens, for water.
They were taken prisoners, so we lost our canteens
and didn’t get any water. We lay here some
length of time, I felt perfectly secure suppo-
sing we had skirmishers in the woods in our
front. The rest was grateful though it was in
a ploughed field and under a broiling sun.
I felt thankful I had escaped being hit with
the murderous lead & iron of the enemy though
so many had fallen around me and was
thankful to be any where else. I had not
yet finished my part of the fight.
In the midst of a profound quiet we were
startled by a tremendous volley of musketry
from those very woods in our front not seventy
five yards distant, then came another and
another. The bullets whisteled [sic] in terrific
proximity to our heads as we hugged the furrows.
The time though but a moment seemed an age
Several of our officers & many of our men were
wounded & Killed here. All at once, during a
momentary lull in the firing, came the order
from OConnell to rise & retire stooping. As
we retired the rebels came out from their cover.
We had not gone far when we faced about
and gave them a volley which somewhat
checked their advance: then our battery at
“G” poured into them grape and cannister. They
still advanced in masses under this terrible
fire. We had given them several volleys before
we got back to the lane in the position marked “f”
where we made a stand. Here we fought in the
twilight keeping this force in check when we were
relieved by a volunteer regiment (the 16th N.Y.)
which came into the fight with a tremendous
cheer, nearly breaking our line. They received
about one volley from the enemy when they
retired in great disorder.
It being now dark, the battle was nearly
over. An occasional volley fired on suspicion
and an occasional shell were the only evidences
that the two armies had just been engaged in
deadly conflict. Night with it charitable
mantle covered the horrible scene. Our army
which was composed of about Twenty seven
thousand troops, held in check about Seventy
thousand of the enemy. Our task was well
done. We were selected to interpose between the
rebels & the rest of the Union Army.
Gen. McClellan finding it impossible to per-
suade the Government to let McDowell u-
nite with him on the right, necessarily was
compelled to shorten this line, and as the attack
was made, while the rest of the army with
its immense trains of artillery & supplies
of all kinds crossed the Chickahominy–
That night our portion of the army which had
been fighting all day, also crossed, when the
bridges were blown up & we lay down at
daylight to take some rest.
MSS 9044
