Seven Pines (Continued)

Judson Cheney
Born: May 11, 1838, Hopkinton, St. Lawrence County, New York
Died: September 29, 1864, Chaffin Farm, Virginia
Relation to Author: 2nd Great Grand Uncle

On the morning of May 22nd, Casey's division, including the 98th Regiment, crossed the Chickahominy River. On the 23rd, General McClellan directed General Keyes to chose a group to move to Seven Pines and hold if "practicable".  Keyes and Nagless selected the 98th NY plus four other regiments. They left on the 24th and for breakfast, lunch and dinner had boiled rice and sugar, corned-beef, and hard bread and coffee. Much of their baggage, rations, and tents were behind on the other side of the river.

They marched on the 24th and approached the position of the enemy at Seven Pines. This was the first time the regiment had been under fire. After being given the order to advance, the enemy opened fire on the 98th and a battery unit.

For more than twenty minutes [the confederates] concentrated his heaviest fire. Shells whistled, whizzed, whirred, and whirled before, behind, and over us. They exploded in the air above us; and the fragments flew about our heads... Many were hit and hurt; many hair-breadth escapes occured; but one man only was killed.

This initial fighting cleared the confederate skirmishers from the woods. Then the Union regiments all lined up and attacked the confederate lines. Union batteries and the infantry attack sent the confederates to retreat. By 3pm they occupied the enemy's ground.

It had rained nearly all day, and the regiment was exhausted. But there was an excellent well of fresh water. They encamped on the edge of the woods they captured and built fires under the pines. Sitting on logs the talked the battle over. They talked about all of the near misses from the artillery and how they exploded nearby or cut down close-by trees.

They were then at the front, and as I said, they had a major battle ahead of them, though they didn't know it. Kreutzer says, "We are at the front all the time, and our duty is severe and constant; still we find leisure to make observations and write up our note-book."

In this skirmish, only 23 union soldiers were killed or wounded.

Sources: 
Notes and Observations Made During Four Years of Service with the 98th NY Volunteers in the War of 1861. Kreutzer, William. Grant, Raires & Rogers, Printers. Philadelphia, 1878.