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

45:'4 SIXTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 1862
advance of the main line of battle. This being discovered by the enemy, he
at once launched his forces upon their flank, and by a grievous enfilading fire
forced them to withdraw. PIe-forming in the open field on the right of the woods,
the men were scarcely in position, the battle still raging furiously, when General
Seymour rode up to Lieutenant Colonel Sweitzer and hurriedly inquired if the
regiment had ammunition. He was informed that it had been heavily engaged
during the entire afternoon, and that the ammunition was completely exhausted.
He at once directed the cartridge boxes to be filled, and ordered Lieutenant
Colonel Sweitzer to proceed with the regiment to the extreme left of the line, to
check the fiery onset of the enemy in that direction. Marching at double quick
over swampy ground, towards the Chickahominy, to the point indicated, the
regiment with ranks sadly thinned was formed, and boldly charged up the hill,
and into the wood, receiving, as it entered it, a heavy volley of musketry. The
fire was at once returned, and the battle, which was now raging along the entire
line, became more furious than at any previous stage of the fight. Soon the
line upon the right gave way, overborne by vastly superior numbers, and the
enemy charging upon a battery on the flank of the regiment, forced it to retire,
and with the entire Union line was carried back towards the river. In this last
struggle, Lieutenant Colonel Sweitzer, who was determined to contest the
ground to the last, was captured, and sent to Richmond where he was incarcerated in Libby Prison.
The army now fell back, fighting its way towards the James, the Sixtysecond arriving at Malvern Hill on the night of the 30th of June. In the fierce
battle of the following day, the regiment, without field officers, was led by Captain James C. Hull of company A, and early in the engagement was sent to
the support of Battery D, of the Fifth United States Artillery. This battery
became a special target for the rebel guns massed in its front, and when they
failed to silence it, his infantry charged upon it with determined bravery, but
were signally repulsed. In this fiery ordeal the regiment suffered severely.
Lieutenant John D. Elder was among the killed. In the confusion incident to
charging and counter-charging, the color-bearer, Sergeant Smith, was cut off
with others from the regiment, and was near being captured; but with remarkable presence of mind, he secreted the flag upon his person and hid himself in a stable near by. Favored by the charge of a Union Brigade, he made
his escape and brought off the flag in safety. For his gallantry on this occasion, he was commissioned a lieutenant.
On the following day the army fell back to Harrison's Landing, where the
regiment went into camp. On the 31st of July in the engagement of Harrison's
Bar, it was again exposed, but suffered little. The entire loss in the series of
engagements upon the Peninsula was two hundred and ninety-eight in killed,
wounded, and missing. Lieutenant Colonel Sweitzer, upon his release from
prison, re-joined his command and was promoted to Colonel; Captain Hull was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Major Patterson having resigned, and William
G. Lowry was appointed Major.
In leaving the Peninsula Porter's Corps was the first to march, breaking
camp on the 14th of August. Crossing the Chickahominy near its mouth, it
proceeded by Williamsburg, and Yorktown, and reached Newport News on the
18th, a march of sixty miles in three days. Immediately embarking, it proceeded by transports to Acquia Creek, and thence by rail to Fredericksburg.
After its arrival, the regiment was ordered to duty in guarding the fords of the