This
diary of John Hammond was provided by Susan Board.
John Hammond, is an ancestor who rose to the rank of Colonel and the
command of his regiment and received the brevet of Brigadier General.
Smithburg,
Md.
July 5,
1863
My Dear
wife,
I
improve a moment to write to you I am very well, but very tired after four day's
bloody fighting at Gettysburg. The
rebels are severely whipped and commenced retreating on the night of the 3rd.
We fought them on their right flank; and on the 2nd, by making a night
march, we passed clear around their left flank and fought a large division of
them. The vigorous attack of our
cavalry had great effect in winning the day.
Our division lost about two
hundred
men. Brig. Gen. Farnsworth was
killed or missing. Last night we
captured a part of their wagon train, which was in full retreat for Virginia.
The rebels held the gap in the South Mountain, but we flogged them out of
it, and captured a train about four miles long, And one thousand seven hundred
prisoners.
July 8,
1863
We had
a terrible fight yesterday with our division against one brigade of infantry and
one of rebel cavalry. This morning
I find I have but about one hundred and sixty men left.
Captains Penfield and Lucas, Lieuts. Dimmick, Bryant and Merriman are
missing. I think James is a
prisoner or killed, as he had his horse shot out from under him. Lieut. Dimmick, when last seen, was wounded in the arm.
Kilpatrick's division must have lost three hundred or
four
hundred men. Buford's division,
which was fighting at Williamsport, lost eight officers and three hundred men.
We have now had a fight every day for the last six.
Boonesboro,
July 9, 1863
Our
cavalry had another battle yesterday between the town and Hagerstown, which
commenced at nine A.M., and continued until dark.
We were attacked by nine thousand rebel cavalry. They drove us about half
a mile and fate of the day was quite uncertain until about five P.M. when we
charged them the whole length of our line and drove them until after dark.
Our line of battle was about two miles long.
Our loss is light, while theirs is considerable.
A portion of the Eleventh Corps arrived here about dark, and others are
pouring through the gaps in the
South Mountain. We expect a
decisive battle in the next few days. It
may commence today, yet I hardly expect it.
I wrote you in my last letter of our fight at Hagerstown. j I then hoped
that some of our officers would turn up, but they have not.
I enclose you an account of our fight at Hanover.
i believe that I have had the honor, with the 5th, of leading the first
charge and fighting the first battle on free soil since this war commenced.
We suffer a good deal from want of food,
as our trains are all behind. This
is the third day since our men are out of rations, and as their money is pretty
much gone, it leaves them in a hungry condition.
The officers are still worse off than the men, as we draw no rations,
having to forage for our grub. For
two days I had nothing except two pieces of hardtack, except for a breakfast we
got at a farmhouse, which consisted entirely of coffee, lettuce and radishes.
When we went out yesterday my whole command was but 144 men, the first
Virginia 120. We have a great many
men dismounted. The Army is in
excellent spirits and confident of glorious success.
Harpers
Ferry, July 17, 1863
I have
a a moment to write you a few lines. We
crossed to this point last night on pontoon bridges, and this morning crossed
the Shenandoah into Loudon County, in pursuit of Jeff's ragamuffins.
We are worn and jaded down. The
cavalry has done all the work and fighting since Gettysburg.
We charged into Hagerstown, Pa., on Sunday last, and held the place for
two days against a large body of infantry and cavalry, hoping General Meade
would attack them; but no, he waited one week from the time the advance of the
rebels came into Hagerstown, which was the Monday we fought them. The result is that they have all re-crossed into Virginia.
We all felt that we had them and should have
annihilated them. The
cavalry followed them to Falling Waters and Williamsport, and charged them
behind their entrenchments. We have
taken in all six to eight thousand prisoners in the last week.
We recaptured Lieuts. Bryant, Merriman and Dimmick. Captains Lucas and Penfield have, without doubt, been carried
across the river. We have lost the
best opportunity we ever had for wiping out the army of Virginia.
We leave for Loudon County in a few moments in a heavy rain.
Head
Quarters, Fifth New York Cav., Purcelville,
My dear
Children - as we are resting our weary selves and horses today, and having just
been looking at your mother's miniature and yours, I thought I would write you
as a source of pleasure to myself and you.
Imagine in your minds yourself sitting under a tree to shield me from the
rays of the sun; bivouacked about me a whole corps of cavalry, not less than ten
thousand men and horses. The men
are this morning all firing off their pistols and cleaning them, as the weather
has been very wet, and many of their pistols are in bad condition.
The men are, in addition, also resting themselves as best they can; some
are washing their shirts, some caring for their poor jaded horses.
We have had a great many horses killed, but more have given out by forced
marches and want of food.