Fighting
At the Battle of Hanover Courthouse on May 27, 1862, the regiment played only a minor role. However, they fought in a more major role in the Seven Days Battles.
As McClellan moved his base to the James River on June 27, 1862, the regiment fought against the Confederate soldiers under Gregg’s South Carolina brigade. In a counterattack, the regiment defeated the initial Rebel attack.
In August 1862, the regiment fell under the control of General John Pope. At the Second Battle of Manassas (also known as the Second Battle of Bull Run), the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry regiment was forced to withstand the advancing forces of General James Longstreet. In underestimating the size of the Confederate army, Pope ordered the regiment to support Hazlett’s Battery. Longstreet’s soldiers easily outnumbered the small regiment, and the Texas Brigade quickly inflicted over 330 casualties in the regiment. One hundred twenty Zouaves were killed within eight minutes, the greatest single battle fatality of all Federal volunteer infantry regiments in the entire Civil War. The entire Color Guard was killed, except for one man. The only officer to survive the battle was Captain Winslow.
Later, at the Battle of Antietam, September 17, the unit was held in reserve. On December 15, the unit fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg, covering the Union retreat. At the Battle of Chancellorsville under Joseph Hooker, the unit saw its final combat.
Read more about this topic: 5th New York Volunteer Infantry
Famous quotes containing the word fighting:
“I want to keep fighting because it is the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don’t fight, I’ll eat this planet.”
—George Foreman (b. 1948)
“The current flows fast and furious. It issues in a spate of words from the loudspeakers and the politicians. Every day they tell us that we are a free people fighting to defend freedom. That is the current that has whirled the young airman up into the sky and keeps him circulating there among the clouds. Down here, with a roof to cover us and a gasmask handy, it is our business to puncture gasbags and discover the seeds of truth.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“Every good cause gained a victory when the Union troops were triumphant. Our final victory was the triumph of religion, of virtue, of knowledge.... During those four years, whatever our motives, whatever our lives, we were fighting on God’s side. We were doing His work. What would this country have been if we had failed?”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)