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

698 SIXTY-NINTH REGIMENT. 1861
vision of Colonel Owen, by which the command was soon brought to a high
degree of efficiency, and discipline. It was assigned to a brigades commanded
by Colonel E. D. Baker, which constituted a part of the force under Major
General Banks. Brigade and regimental drill were daily practiced under
Colonel Baker, who succeeded in infusing into officers and men his own indomitable energy. A spirit of rivalry in attaining perfection in drill was created
among the several regiments, which resulted in making the Philadelphia Brigade, by which designation it was ever known, conspicuous for good soldierly
qualities.
On the 20th of October orders were received from General Stone, division
commander, to be ready to march at daylight on the following morning. The
order to move was not given until two in the afternoon, when it proceeded to
Conrad's Ferry, crossed the canal, and marched to a point opposite Harrison's
Island, and Balls Bluff. On its arrival it was ordered by Colonel Baker, who
had already crossed and was hotly engaged, to follow the Forty-second New
York over the river to his support. A single flat boat carrying about fifteen
men to the island, and another carrying twenty-five from the island to the Virginia shore, were all the means of transportation at hand. Before all of the
Forty-second had crossed Colonel Baker was killed, his forces driven back to
the river bank, and further movements of the Sixty-ninth were countermanded.
Soon after the death of Colonel Baker, General W. W. Burns was assigned
to the command of the brigade, and General Sedgwick superceded General
Stone. Two companies of Zouaves, raising the number to twelve, had been attached to the regiment while in Virginia, which acted as flanking companies.
They had been acting as independent commands, and were known as the Baker Guards. On the 22d of February, the brigade broke camp, and moved by
Harper's Ferry to Berryville, Virginia, in support of the column under General
Banks. Here the regiment was presented with a green flag, the gift of citizens of Philadelphia. The advance of Banks' command having occupied Winchester without opposition, Burns' Brigade was ordered back to Harperfs Ferry, where it remained until the 24th of March. It then proceeded by transport
to the Peninsula, and for a month was put to hard service in the trenches in
front of Yorktown. Night and day the labor on the siege works was pushed
forward, the entire regiment at times being out in support of the details at
work upon the front. The pickets were constantly annoyed by the enemy's
sharp-shooters, and its camps were frequently shelled by his guns. On the 3d
of May the rebels withdrew from their fortifications and retreated up the Peninsula. The regiment then moved to the west of Yorktown near the James
River. The loss in the operations of the siege was one killed and two wounded.
One man was killed by a torpedo which the enemy had planted in the way.
In the organization of the army which had been effected, the brigade was designated the Second, of the Second Division, General Sedgwick, Second Corps,
General Sumner.
On the 7th of May the regiment moved by transport up the York River to
*Organization of Philadelphia Brigade, Colonel E. D. Baker, Division commanded by
Brigadier General Charles P. Stone, army of General Banks. Seventy-first (California) Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel E. D. Baker; Seventy-second (Fire Zouaves) Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel De Witt C. Baxter; Sixty-ninth Regiment Pensylvania Volunteers, Colonel Joshua T. Owen; One Hundred and Sixth Regiment Pennsylvania
Volunteers, Colonel Turner G. Morehead.