No. 56. Report of Captain George W. Ryerson, Fifty-ninth New York Infantry, of operations August 25.1
HDQRS. FIFTY-NINTH NEW YORK VETERAN VOLUNTEERS, August 27, 1864.
SIR: I have the honor to make the following report of the part taken by this command in the action of the 25th instant:
In the morning I was sent out on the extreme left with my regiment, as skirmishers, and remained there until ordered late in the afternoon to take position in rear of the railroad embankment on the extreme left, which place I occupied until I found that the center had been broken and that the enemy was in possession of the railroad at that place, when I withdrew my men into the woods in my rear, and from there proceeded to join the brigade. I lost 1 commissioned officer and 3 enlisted men wounded and 10 enlisted men missing as far as I can positively ascertain at this date. Twenty-seven others (enlisted men) are missing, but it is not known whether they were taken by the enemy or are still on the road straggling. If they are prisoners the total casualties will be as follows: Wounded – commissioned officers,1; enlisted men, 3; total,4. Missing – enlisted men, 37. Grand total, 41.
I have the honor to be, sir very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. W. RYERSON,
Captain, Commanding Fifty-ninth New York Veteran Volunteers.
Captain J. E. CURTISS,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
Source:
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLII, Part 1 (Serial Number 87), page 312 ↩