Pennsylvania Civil War
Company 211th Regiment
History
The information on the 211 Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers
has been transcribed and provided by: Bill Byers at: bbyers@utah-inter.net
History of the Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers
Company A of this regiment was recruited in Crawford county, B in
Jefferson, C in M'Kean and Jefferson, D in Mercer, F in Erie, G in Warren,
and E, H, I and K in Westmoreland. The companies rendezvoused at Camp
Reynolds, near Pittsburg, where, on the 16th of September, 1864, a
regimental organization was effected with the following field officers:
James H. Trimble, Colonel; Levi A. Dodd, Lieutenant Colonel; Augustus A.
Mechling, Major. Soon after its organization, it moved for the front, and
on the 20th, was placed in the intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred, where it
was incorporated with a provisional brigade in the Army of the James. It
had scarcely reached its position, when it was ordered to mount the
parapets, in full view of, and in point blank range of the enemy's guns.
The sudden appearance of the long lines of men upon the sand-bags, of which
the works were constructed, attracted his attention, and he immediately
opened upon them with his batteries. Two men of company F, were instantly
killed by a single shell. The object of thus exposing the command, was to
divert attention from the storming party which was about to move upon Fort
Harrison, and which gallantly carried that work. The picket line, which
the regiment was required to hold, extended to the James River on the
right, opposite Dutch Gap, through a dense pine wood to an open space,
where was the regimental encampment. This space, a fourth of a mile in
width, had been cleared of timber, by converting it into an impenetrable
slashing, over which an unobstructed view of the enemy was given. The line
after leaving the river was nearly straight until it reached this slashing,
where it made an abrupt bend, leaving the apex of the angle close to the
enemy's line. At this point, many rebel deserters came in to the Union
lines. So common had this practice become, that is was proving a serious
drain upon the rebel strength; so much so, that General Pickett, who was in
command, determined to stop it. The most friendly relations has subsisted
between the opposing picket lines, the men frequently meeting for social
conference and banter. But on the night of the 17th of November, quietly
massing a picked body of men, the rebel leader suddenly burst upon the
Union pickets, and before they could rally, or supports could come to their
aid, captured fifty-four of their number, seizing this projecting angle,
and before morning, had built a redoubt, and so strengthened his lines,
that General Grant, after a careful survey of the ground, deemed it
expedient to attempt to retake it. This was the end of the truce on the
part of the pickets, hostilities never ceasing afterwards for an instant,
and so long as the regiment remained on that line, the men were obliged to
hug the breastworks, or lie close in the bomb-proofs.
On the 27th of November, the Two Hundred and Eleventh, with other
Pennsylvania regiments whith which it had been brigaded, was relieved by a
brigade of colored troops, and was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac,
on the south side of the Appomattox. These regiments were subsequently
organized into a division, which became the Third of the Ninth Corps, to
the command of which General Hartranft was assigned, the Two Hundred and
Eleventh, Two Hundred and Fifth, and Two Hundred and Seventh, under command
of Colonel Matthews, forming the Second Brigade. During the winter, the
regiment was thoroughly drilled, and made occasional expeditions with the
troops of other corps, but without becoming engaged, though a considerable
amount of fortifying was done in the movement upon Hatcher's Run, and the
troops were there held in momentary expectation of bloody work.
Before the opening of the spring campaign, Colonel Trimble resigned, and
was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Dodd. The camp of the regiment was
located midway between Fort Howard and Fort Alexander Hayes, on the Army
Line Railroad, to the extreme left of the division, which was posted in
rear of, and acted as a support to the Ninth Corps line. At the moment
when this line was broken at Fort Steadman, at early dawn, on the morning
of the 25th of March, 1865, and the fort and a considerable portion of the
line was captured, the Two Hundred and Eleventh was resting in its camp,
nearly four miles away. The Colonel and Major were absent, and the
Lieutenant Colonel was sick in hospital. The command consequently devolved
on Captain William A. Coulter. It was quickly summoned to the scene of
disaster, and marching rapidly, reached division headquarters at half-past
six A.M. With little delay it was led by order of General Hartranft, to
the high open ground about Meade Station, just in rear of Fort Steadman,
where it was formed and awaited the order to charge. The other regiments
of the division, which were all nearer the scene of disaster than this, had
been gathered in, and having checked the enemy's advance, were holding him
at bay. A strong line had been drawn around the fatal break, and the best
possible disposition of the division for strength and efficiency, had been
made. General Hartranft felt satisfied that the enemy could make no
further advance, and that by a united assault, his division could re-take
the captured works. His plan of attck was most ingenious. He already had
five of his regiments posted in the immediate front, advantageously formed
for a dash upon the enemy, who was swarming upon the fort, the covered
ways, and bomb-proofs. The Two Hundred and Eleventh wa a mile away, but on
high open ground. It was a large regiment, and if put in motion, drawn out
in line, would instantly attract the attention of the foe, and, as he
believed, would draw the fire of his artillery upon it. His other
regiments, thus relieved from peril, could rush upon, and overpower him.
He accordingly sent word to their commanders to hold themselves in
readiness to charge in fifteen minutes, and the signal to start, should be
the forward movement of the Two Hundred and Eleventh, which was in full
view of them all. General Hartranft determined to lead this regiment in
person, and though he expected that it would be sacrificed by the fire
which the enemy could bring to bear upon it, he was ready to share its
peril, in order that his division might be victorious. The regiment was
accordingly formed, with nearly six hundred muskets in line, and put in
motion. In the most perfect order, and in the most gallant manner, it
moved forward; but contrary to the expectation of General Hartranft, the
enemy, at the sight of the advance of so fine a body of men, instead of
turning all his guns upon it, as was in his power to do, began to waiver,
and when the combined forces of the division rushed on with unflinching
determination, he had little heart to offer opposition, and the fort, guns,
small arms, and many prisoners were speedily taken. At the moment when all
the plans had been perfected, and the columns were upon the point of
moving, General Hartranft received and order from General Parke, in command
of the corps, not to attempt to re-take the fort, until reinforcements from
the Sixth Corps, which were on the way to his support, should arrive. But
the order to move had already gone forth, and it could not be safely
re-called. He accordingly decided that it was better to disregard, that to
obey orders, and when the moment came, dashed forward with his men, winning
a brilliant and most signal victory. The captures made by the division,
were fully shared by the regiment. Fortunately, the loss was but slight,
being one killed and ten wounded.
Great activity all along the Union lines was soon after inaugurated, and on
the night of the 30th, preparations were made by the division to assault.
It was, however, deferred until the morning of the 2d of April. At a
little before midnight on the 1st, the regiment moved to the camp of the
Two Hundred and Seventh, where it remained until half-past three of the
following morning. It then moved to he front, passing around the right of
Fort Sedgwick, and was formed with the brigade, in column by regiments, the
left resting on the Jerusalem Plank Road, the First Brigade standing in
like formation, just in its rear. A strong force of pioneers was detailed
from the leading brigade, well provided with axes and spades, all under
command of Lieutenant Albert Alexander, of the Two Hundred and Eleventh, to
open the way for the movement of the column. When all was in readiness,
the word to advance was given. The pioneers, closely followed by the
division in close column, and joined on right and left by other troops of
the corps, went forward, and in an instant the heavy blows of the axe-men
upon the well adjusted abatis and chevaux-de-frise, were heard. The work
of destruction was scarcely begun, when a fearful discharge of grape and
canister was brought to bear upon them, before which the stoutest might
well quail. But closing up where their ranks were swept away, they soon
broke the obstructions, and, assisted by the ready hands of the troops
which followed, had ample opening for the advance of the column. With a
rush, the ground in front of the rebel works was cleared, and pushind up
the steep and slippery of the forts, the troops were soon in complete
possession, the enemy either captives or in full retreat, and the rebel
main line of works, from a short distance beyond the Jerusalem Plank Road
on the left, to a point four hundred yards to its right, was triumphantly
carried and held by the division. The guns were immediately turned upon
the foe, and with his own ammunition, death and destruction was dealt upon
him. Not without a fierce struggle was the ground held, for the enemy,
intent on re-gaining his lost ground, made repeated charges. But hastily
throwing up lunets, for the protection of the gunners, and rifle-pits for
the infantry, the division succeeded in repulsing every assault. But this
signal victory was not gained without signal loss. Of the Two Hundred and
Eleventh, four officers and seventeen enlisted men were killed, four
officers and eighty-nine men wounded, and twenty-one missing, an aggregate
of one hundred and thirty-five. Lieutenant Charles M'Lain, and Lieutenants
Andrew J. Sparks, Albert Alexander, and John P. Tarr, were killed, and
Major Elias B. Lee, and Lieutenant John M. Pelton, mortally wounded.
Captain James D. Gourlay, and Lieutenant Thomas C. Gilson, were severely
wounded. Few more desperate assaults, and none more successful, were
delivered during the war, than this.
During the following night, the enemy quietly withdrew from the front, and
evacuating the city under cover of darkness, retreated rapidly. The
division entered on the following morning, with little opposition. The Two
Hundred and Eleventh was immediately ordered forward to the Appomattox, to
picket the river bank. The railroad bridge and foot bridge, were both
found on fire. By vigorous efforts the former was saved, and part of the
latter. Towards noon, the regiment marched back to camp. The remainder of
its history is quickly told, for hostile operations were now at an end. It
followed along the South Side Railroad, in charge of trains, until it
reached Nottoway Court House, where news of the surrender of Lee was
received, and where it remained until the 20th, and then proceeded via City
Point to Alexandria. Here it encamped, and here, on the 2d of June, it was
mustered out of service.
