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

1862 SECOND BULL RUN. 917
field, which gradually ascended to another wood filled with rebels, encountered
a murderous fire, by which its ranks were fearfully thinned, and its progress
arrested. Two of Bohlen's regiments were ordered up to its support; but before
they could arrive, Stahl's Brigade had recoiled, understanding, as is alleged,
that it was to give place to Bohlen's men. Two companies, I and K, which
had been detached to support of Weidrick's Battery, returned at nine o'clock
A. M., and fought with determined bravery.
The regiment retired with the army, after the battle, to Mount Jackson.
On the 16th companies B and E, with a company of Fremont's body-guard,
and two mountain howitzers, were sent in pursuit of guerrillas. The party
succeeded in destroying the building where the band had rendezvoused, and
returned, by a forced march of thirty-two miles, to camp.
General Blenker was.here succeeded in command of the divisionby General
Carl Schurz, and soon after General Fremont, at his own request, was relieved
and General Franz Sigel directed to assume command of the Department. In
the re-organization of the army which followed, the Seventy-fifth was assigned
to the Second Brigade,* Third Division, First Corps of the Army of Virginia.
Having previously marched to Middletown, near Winchester, on the 6th of
July, the Seventy-fifth proceeded to Sperryville, via Front Royal and Luray,
crossing the Blue Ridge through Thornton's Gap. Here it remained until the
8th of August, when it resumed the march to Culpepper Court House, on the
occasion of the battle at Cedar Mountain. Late in the evening, too late to
participate, the corps of Sigel arrived.
On the field, where both parties claimed the victory, the weary troops rested.
The command now moved to the Rapidan, on the right of Pope's army. As
Lee advanced Pope retreated, via Culpepper to the Rtappahannock. On the
20th Lieutenant Colonel Mahler was promoted to Colonel, Major Alvin Von
Matzdorff to Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain August Ledig to Major. At
Freeman's Ford, on the 22d of August, the enemy was encountered, and a brisk
skirmish ensued, in which Brigadier General Henry Bohlen was killed.
Sigel, supported by Banks and Reno, marched up the left bank of the Cappahannock, and on the 24th occupied Sulphur Springs and Waterloo. On the
29th the regiment advanced, at five A. Mo, with the division, and at seven the
engagement became desperate. Steadily it gained ground, under a most destructive fire, until Jackson was reinforced, and its supply of ammunition was
nearly exhausted, when it was relieved while holding, against superior numbers, a position near the railroad cut.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 30th it withdrew from its advanced
position to one in rear of the division of General Schenck, on an open space
near Dogan's Farm, where it remained until four o'clock, P. M. The command
then advanced and occupied a position immediately in rear of the brigade of
General Stahel, which soon became engaged. The Second Brigade, Colonel
Kryzanowski, was ordered to its support, and occupied an elevation to the left.
It moved forward in fine style, the Seventy-fifth gallantly charging the rebel
column, repulsing it with heavy loss, and gaining the crest of the hill. From
Organization of the Second Brigade, Colonel W. Kryzanowski, Third Division, Brigadier
General Carl Schurz, First Corps, Major General Franz Sigel, Army of Virginia, Major General John Pope. Seventy-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieutenant Colonel F.
Mahler; Fifty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers, Colonel Eugene A. Kozlay; Fiftyeighth Regiment New York Volunteers, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Gellman.