No. 236. Report of Captain George H. Hill, Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania Infantry.1
HDQRS. FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT PENNSYLVANIA VOLS.,
In the Field, Va., April 13, 1865.
CAPTAIN: I have the honor to submit the following report of operations of this regiment since leaving Deep Bottom, Va., as required by circular from headquarters Fourth Brigade, dated April 12, 1865.
March 27, took up the line of march from brigade headquarters, Deep Bottom, Va., at 8 p. m.; crossed the James and Appomattox Rivers, and continued the march in the direction of Humphreys’ Station, Va., where we arrived at 10 a. m. March 29, and went into camp. March 30, Captain Hammer, in charge of our picket-line advanced it through an open field and under a heavy fire, establishing himself on a new line close to the enemy’s rifle-pits. Two men from this regiment killed and 1 officer and 14 men wounded. March 31, Captain More took charge of our forces on picket-line and and advanced his line, capturing the enemy’s rifle-pits and all his picket force on our front, about 150 men, including two commissioned officers. Three men of this regiment wounded.
April 2, Lieutenant Sorber, in charge of our picket-line, advanced in connection with the balance of the line, driving the enemy from their works and capturing from them a stand of colors; advanced inside the enemy’s main works toward Petersburg, and rejoined the regiment (which had advanced in the same direction) near Fort Baldwin. The regiment then supported the assault upon Forts Gregg and Baldwin, which were taken, when we occupied Fort Baldwin. One officer from this regiment killed and 1 officer and 4 men wounded. April 3, took up the line of march toward Lynchburg, Va.; marched thirteen miles. April 4, marched fourteen miles along South Side Railroad toward Lynchburg. April 5, marched till noon in same direction; stopped two hours and a half at Backs and Whites Station, to guard forks of roads, until General Birney came up. Relieved by a portion of his command and resumed the march; arrived at Burkeville that night, having marched twenty-seven miles. April 6, marched seven miles, during five of which this regiment was on duty as skirmishers and flankers; met the enemy near Rice’s Station and engaged him until dark, having nine men wounded. April 7, marched ten miles to Farmville and bivouacked to wait for rations. April 8, marched twenty-eighth miles still in the same direction, toward Lynchburg; halted at 12 o’clock at night. April 9, resumed the march at 3 a. m.; marched two miles, halted, and took our position in line of battle. At 7 a. m. moved forward one mile and formed a new line of battle. Skirmished with and drove the enemy one mile and a half through woods most of the way; bivouacked in front of him while negotiations were pending. At 4 p. m. received the intelligence that General Lee had surrendered, and went into camp near Appomattox Court-House, where we still remain.
The following is the list of casualties in this regiment.*
I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GEO. H. HILL,
Captain, Commanding Fifty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Captain S. C. ROOF,
Actg. Asst. Adjt. General, 4th Brigadier, 1st Div., 24th Army Corps.
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*Nominal list (omitted) shows 1 officer and 4 men killed and 2 officers and 29 men wounded.
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Source:
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 1 (Serial Number 95), p. 1210 ↩
To whom it may concern:
Capt. William Graff Moore is my 2x great grandfather. I have been doing extensive research about him and my family. I have discovered about his amazing life after the Civil War, but am trying diligently to trace his war time heroics and to my amazement have just discovered this amazing account of his capture of 150 confederate soldiers on March 31, 1865 detailed in “The Appomattox Report #236 of Capt. George H. Hill, Fifty Fifth Infantry, “The Siege of Petersburg Online.” My question is whether I can be emailed a list of direct advice of exact places to visit that may give me access to actual tangible documents or photos of the many battles I might be able to see first hand? Any information and direction would be greatly appreciated!
Mr. Moore,
I’m glad you’ve found evidence of your ancestors exploits. I’m sure you were thrilled to see this report. It came from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 46, Part 1. All of the reports from January 1, 1865 to April 9, 1865 for the armies under U. S. Grant are located in this volume. MY page for the 55th Pennsylvania is located here:
http://www.beyondthecrater.com/resources/units/union-u/union-inf/pa-inf/055th-pennsylvania-infantry/
As you can see, the 55th PA was in the following engagements:
Before Petersburg June 15-18.
Siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865.
Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30, 1864 (Support).
Battle of Chaffin’s Farm, New Market Heights, north of James River September 28-30.
Duty in trenches before Richmond until March, 1865.
Signal Hill December 10, 1864.
Appomattox Campaign March 26-April 9.
Hatcher’s and Gravelly Runs March 29-30.
Capture of Forts Gregg and Baldwin and fall of Petersburg April 2.
Pursuit of Lee April 3-9.
Rice’s Station April 6.
Appomattox C. H. April 9.
Surrender of Lee and his army.
At Appomattox C. H. until April 17, and at Richmond until July.
I’d recommend you try to find any regimental histories of the 55th Pennsylvania. There may be other mentions of your ancestor in such a book.
Brett
Thank Brett,
I have not responded as I have just returned from a long hiatus to Mexico. Captain Hill account of my 2X great grandfather’s capture of 150 confederate soldiers is incredible. I lived in Virginia for 2 years and had no idea that he fought in those heroic battles. It would have given me a hugely different emotional feeling visiting and standing on the battle in Manassas. My goodness, I was doing soil analysis in Chantilly in 1986. Blows my mind!
Thank you for your fine work and as I do further research will be asking questions.
Chris Moore
Chris,
Sounds good! I’ll be happy to help. If you want to chat via email, just use the Contact Page at the top of the site.
Brett