On Sunday, July 5th, part of the regiment was on picket on the Railroad, about two miles from camp, thirty-two men and an officer on each post, while others were taking up the rails and loading them on boats. General Dix ordered General Keyes to vigorously attack the enemy toward Bottoms Bridge, and notified him that if he failed to do so he would be superseded by General Gordon. The men on picket feasted on blackberries, which were very abundant, and which afforded an agreeable change from the salt horse and pork furnished by Uncle Sam; they also opened the ice house of a Confederate, who "left in too much of a hurry to be able to take his ice away with him." That portion of the regiment left in camp had nothing to do but amuse themselves, and the little negro, "Dick," with his brother, furnished an entertainment in the shape of plantation dances which brought them a harvest of small coins.
On July 6th Confederate General Hill informed the Richmond War Office that a considerable battle had been fought on the North Anna, with musketry and artillery, and that a mere skirmish occurred at the Bridge over the South Anna, and that the Federals had retired across the Pamunkey River. The Richmond War Office also notified General Hill that for the purpose of removing the menace to Richmond, it was desirable that the Federals at White House should be dispersed, chastised or captured. But General Hill in reply stated that the streams were all flooded, the roads impassable for artillery, and that no movement against the Federals could be made. He also expressed the opinion that the Federals would probably change their base to Petersburg or Washington.
On Tuesday, July 7th, General Getty returned to White House, having been unable to destroy the bridges over the Annas, but he reported having torn up the track of the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad for several miles. The picket line was evacuated at midnight, and the 127th returned to camp in a heavy rain. After being furnished with rations, at daylight we started on our way back to Yorktown; the rain was still falling, and the roads were in fearful condition, the mud being deep and slimy, while the corduroy road was broken in places, making the marching most trying. Mud was thick enough to take the shoes off your feet, some of the men actually losing them from that cause. The regiment halted one hour at New Kent Court House for breakfast and rest, and then resumed the march through Slatersville, resting near Barhamsville for supper, after which we again took up the march till we arrived at Burnt Ordinary at 9 p.m. While on the march we had one alarm, and were ordered to halt and get our traps, i.e., knapsacks and haversacks, ready to throw off in case we were attacked; but the alarm proved false and the march was continued. General Gordon, who commanded our Division, says that we marched twenty-four miles through deep mud and over broken roads, while Colonel Boughton of the 143d gives the distance as twenty-eight miles through mud six inches deep. But this rapid marching, however difficult, had been necessary to prevent our rear guard being attacked by General Hill. Wood says: 'On this march one of the boys, being in the rear, came across a number of men from another regiment who tauntingly asked 'where is the 127th;' and the reply came 'ten miles ahead and marching like H---- .' "He also states that although the 127th were called "clam diggers" by the 144th, the main portion of the 127th came into bivouac with their colors, while the majority of the men in the other regiments had straggled badly, causing one of the officers to remark "that the 127th could march the 144th to death and then dig clams enough for supper!" It is the writer's impression that the 127th called the 144th "Bark peelers," because many of them had before enlistment worked at gathering bark for tanning leather.
-The History of the 127th New York Volunteers, "Monitors," in
the War for the Preservation of the Union -- September 8th, 1862, June 30th,
1865
by McGrath, Franklin, ed
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