During the fight we were somewhat amused by a characteristic instance of coolness in one of our Tallmadge boys, George C. Monks. In the hottest of the fight he noticed a fellow, who too much of coward to come up to the scratch like a man, had laid down a few feet in the rear and was firing past George's head, thus endangering his life, as he might dodge in front of the gun. George laid down his gun and ordered the fellow away; he refused to go; George threatened to break his ramrod over his head, still the fellow refused. George then picked up his gun and leveled it at him saying: if he did not leave he would shoot him. The coward begged him not to shoot, and slunk away. George was always brave and fearless upon the field of battle, prompt to do every duty whether in camp or in the field, always cheerful and social, courteous and obliging to his comrads, unimated by the loftiest patriotism and livin a true Christian life, in his early death we have lost one of our most loved, respected and promising young men. I fired one hundred and fifteen shots during this engagement. The next morning the rebels were piled up in heaps one on top of another, and in front of our regiment they had 300 killed and wounded. The next day we marched forward over the rebel works, which they had abandoned in the night, crossed an oatfield and went into the woods. About noon we left the woods and crossed another oatfield, in the face of a hot fire, on the double quick, and lay down behind the bank of a ravine and staid till dark, when we were relieved and sent to the rear and rested two days. We were sent on the morning of the 27th to relieve part of the 2nd corps in works 40 rods from the rebels. Their sharp shooters killed two men of our regiment the first day. We remained here two days, and then moved further to the left, and stayed in our place thirty four days without being relieved, every day having one or more killed by sharp shooters. Finally we were relieved and we rested two days, then sent to the extreme left to do scout duty. We did this kind of duty two days, and then returned in the night to the rear of our old position. On the morning of the 30th of July before daylight we were ordered to pile up all our baggage except our canteens and haversacks and were then marched down a covered way and halted. In about half an hour the rebel fort in front of Petersburg, was blown up and our forces opened on them with over 200 pieces of artillery, keeping an incessant roar for half an hour. No one who has merely heard our 4th of July cannons can form any adequate conception of the roar of artillery, which almost deafened us. As the fireing slackened we went forward and lay down, and instead of being ordered forward to take the works which the rebels had abandoned, fearing that the other forts would be blown up, we lay still for two hours, untill they got over their fright and returned to their works. Then on brigade of our division, charged and took the Fort. Then the negroes charged and took two lines of the works, but they were finally repulsed with heavy loss. The rebels regained all they had lost, and captured a Brigadier and his staff, and part of his brigade. Our brigade then charged and were repulsed, and the day was lost much to our chagrin. I conversed with a rebel the next day who was blown up in the fort and was taken prisoner by us, and he said: that the garrison were nearly all asleep and were taken completely by surprise and that if we had immediately charged we could have taken Petersburg easily. He asked me if I would not like a rebel trophy, and he gave me his Meerschaum which I now have. The next day the ground between the two lines looked black with dead and wounded men. And there they had to lie exposed to the burning sun by day, with no covering during the night for two days and three nights. It was one of the most terrible scenes of horrors of war that I ever witnessed. Some crying madly for help and for water, others crazed by their sufferings, shouting and throwing up their arms in wild delirium, was a sight to make the heart sick. None of us could carry them water, or in any way seek to alleviate their pains for fear of the rebel sharp shooters. Two days after the fight a flag of truce was sent out from our lines, with a request from Gen Grant for leave to relieve our wounded between the lines, and bury the dead. At first the flag was not accepted, but after a great deal of parleying the commanding officer consented to send the dispatch to Gen Lee. In the meantime they gave us permission to carry water to our wounded, which was done. The next morning we received permission from Gen Lee, to bury our dead and care for our wounded, and a twelve hours truce was agreed upon.

We buiried nearly 300 dead, and carried off the field nearly 200 wounded, many of whom afterwards died of their wounds. We staid on these works seven days, and one third of the men were obliged to be at the works armed and equipped, watching the rebels day and night, two hours on and four off guard. The 7th of August we were releived and sent to the rear, where we staid ten days, and were paid off the eleventh.

The 17th we went forward to our old position on the works opposite the fort. Here we remained doing duty as sharp shooters two days, and early on the morning of the third day, Aug. 19th we started for the Weldon Railroad, where we arrived at noon. The 2nd Corps had got possession of the road a couple of days before, and the rebels were trying to regain it. About 2 o'clock they charged on the lines, driving the 2nd Corps back and also the first brigade of our division. Our brigade (the 2nd) then charged and retook the works, capturing a good many prisoners and two flags, one of which was captured by a man in our regiment. We also killed and wounded many of their men. Our company had five men severely wounded, and two of them afterwards died of their wounds. The next day was spent in strengthening our position. The next day what was left of our company with the exception of myself and four or five others who had been sent back to take care of our rations, were out at the front as skirmishers when the rebels crept up close to them, and rising charged with loud yells, and drove them back, and captured five men from our company and the lieut, commanding. And they took between 60 and 70 of our regiment prisoners. Our men rallied and charged them furiously, driving them back with heavy loss, and taking a large number of prisoners. The regiment remained in this vicinity untill the 9th of Sept. I had for several weeks been troubled with a very sore foot, and from the effects of this and the chronic diarrhea I became so weak that I was sent to the field hospital. I ought to have been there two or three weeks sooner, but our surgeon who was a mere boy, either did not know anything or was wilfully perverse, and cared nothing for the welfare of those under his charge, and he would not give me leave to go there. From here I was sent to City Point, the 12th of Sept, and from City Point after staying a day or two, I was sent to Fort Schuyler in New York Harbor, where I arrived on the 17th of Sept. I was so weak when I arrived that I could barely walk and weighed about 80 pounds. I rapidly recovered while I was here. My father came to the hospital for me on the 29th of Sept, he after considerable difficulty, succeeded in getting me a furlough for thirty days. Father immediately started home with me, where I arrived on the 4th of Oct, after an absence of about nine months.

P.S. There are many little incidents constantly happening that I have not mentioned, incidents of no importance in themselves, but perhaps of some interest, as showing some of the different phases of a soldiers life. At one time, three or four days after the battle of Spottsylvania, when we were expecting another attack from the rebels, we were drawn up in line of battle a little distance in front of our works, and I saw the only revolting enough to give me bad dreams. This was the bodies of some dead rebels, which had been lying there since the fight. They were black as negroes, and the scene was too revolting for description. For a few days I could see those faces, especially in the night wherever I looked. Another incident showing how we lived when provisions were scarce, it happened while marching from Spottsylvania to the North Ann River. George Monks and myself, as we were marching on together, happened to spy a house about half a mile off, and as our stomachs and haversacks were both empty, he proposed that we go there and confiscate a breakfast. So we started. When we go to the yard, we were met by an old man; and asked for something to eat. But he persisted in saying they had nothing. He was a very fat man, and George remarked to him ironically that he looked as if he was half starved. But we had not time to stop; so I told him that [if] he had nothing we would take nothing, but he must excuse us for looking for ourselves. So we went into the house but could find nothing. At last as we were about to leave the house, I heard a chicken cackle under us. So we went out and I looked through the cellar windows and saw a lot of poultry. We knocked out the windows with the buts of our guns, and I jumped in and handed out a couple of chickens, a duck and a turkey. We then went to the Negroes quarters and found some corn meal and got one of the Negro women to make us a hoe cake, which we ate, and then took what meal we wanted to carry with us. That night we did not halt untill about eleven o'clock and we had no supper. I laid down and slept untill about one o'clock and then got up, and went to the woods and got some leaves and sticks, made a fire, cooked part of my chicken, and made some mush in a tin cup, and had a very good supper, which I ate, and then went back to where our company was and slept till morning. I expected to have written more, but was ordered to the front, and will not be able to write more at present.
Oct. 1864 C. C. Carruthers

The above was written by request of C. C. Bronson, and read before the T.H.S. June 11th, 1865, by his brother E. P. Carruthers. He was 34 days under a continuous fire almost day and night without intermission, he was honorably discharged in 1865 and accidentally shot with a pistol May 12th, 1871, aged 23 years.

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