History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5; prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature, by Samuel P. Bates.

10 FIFTY-FIRST REGIMENT. 1864
contest was waged with no hope of victory, but only to save the army and its
material. Accordingly successive lines of battle were taken up in advantageous positions, and each was held until forced from it, when the troops retired
behind fresh troops that had occupied the next. In this way the enemy was
held at bay until dark, when he rested, and Burnside's columns, under cover
of darkness, were all brought off safely into Knoxville.
Here the troops were immediately put to fortifying. Ferrero, with the First
Division, held the left of the line with the river upon his flank, and Fort Sanders, an earthwork mounted with Benjamin's guns, in the centre. Hartranft
held the right, his line crossing the principal road leading from Cumberland
Gap to Knoxville. Upon his right was a mill fed by a small stream. Across
this, a heavy dam was built which flooded the ground for a considerable distance around. Upon this lake the right of the line rested securely. For many
days the work of fortifying was prosecuted without cessation. Fortunately
Longstreet delayed his attack until the works were completed, and the army
was secure. But the troops were exposed to a danger more imperious and fatal
than rebel bullets. It was hunger. During all the hardships of the siege the
men had been compelled to subsist on meagre rations of a quality hardly capable of sustaining life. The days were counted when even these would fail.
Fortunately before they were numbered, Grant, having relieved the army at
Chattanooga from its toils, sent a powerful force under Sherman, to the support
of Burnside, and the siege was raised.
Trains soon after arrived with provisions, and pursuit of the enemy was at
once commenced. In this the Fifty-first joined, and came up with the rebel
rear guard at Rutledge, in the valley of the Holsten, where skirmishing ensued
Here the pursuit was stayed and the regiment retired to the neighborhood of
Blaine's cross-roads, where it went into winter quarters. Still only meagre
supplies of food and clothing were received, and the troops suffered much. On
the 5th of January the regiment re-enlisted for an additional term of three
years, and received orders to commence the homeward march. Poorly clad
and short of rations, the men braved the perils of a wintery march across the
mountains of East Tennessee, and after enduring untold sufferings and hardships by the way, finally arrived at Camp Nelson, where abundant supplies ot
food and clothing were received. Pausing a few days at Cincinnati for the
preparation of the company rolls, the regiment proceeded to Harrisburg, where
it received a veteran furlough. Upon his arrival at Norristown, Colonel Hartranft, and the five companies from Montgomery county, received a flattering
ovation, in which the speaker upon the occasion, Mr. B. E. Chain, said: "' It is
to you, Colonel, that the regiment owes the character it bears. Your discipline
in the camp, your foresight on the march, your coolness, bravery, and judgment on the battle-field, have won the confidence and love of your men, and
made them heroes in the fight. They knew that you never ordered where you
did not lead."
So popular was the regiment at home that it was soon recruited to more than
the maximum strength, and upon the expiration of the veteran furlough ren.
dezvoused at Annapolis, Maryland, where the Ninth Corps was assembling.
It was here assigned to the First Brigade of the First Division, consisting of
the Fifty-first Pennsylvania, the One Hundred and Ninth New York, and the
Second, Eighth, Seventeenth, and Twenty-seventh Michigan, Colonel Hartranft in command, Lieutenant Colonel Schall leading the regiment.