Talk:54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment/Archives/2018/December

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Battle of Honey Hill

Add Battle of Honey Hill. The Battle of Honey Hill was the third battle of Sherman's March to the Sea, fought November 30, 1864, during the American Civil War. It did not involve Major General William T. Sherman's main force, marching from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, but was a failed Union Army expedition under Brig. Gen. John P. Hatch that attempted to cut off the Charleston and Savannah Railroad in support of Sherman's projected arrival in Savannah. Hatch's expeditionary force left Hilton Head, South Carolina, for Boyd’s Neck (above Beaufort) on November 28. It consisted of 5,000 men—two brigades of the Coast Division of the Department of the South, one naval brigade, and portions of three batteries of light artillery. They steamed up the Broad River in transports to cut the Charleston and Savannah Railroad near Pocotaligo. Due to a heavy fog the troops were not disembarked from the transports until late the following afternoon, and Hatch immediately started forward to cut the railroad near Grahamville.[3]

However, the expedition maps and guides proved worthless and Hatch was unable to proceed on the right road until the morning of November 30. At Honey Hill, a few miles from Grahamville, he encountered a Confederate force of regulars and militia, under Col. Charles J. Colcock, with a battery of seven guns across the road. Determined attacks were launched by U.S. Colored Troops including a brigade led by Alfred S. Hartwell that included the 54th Massachusetts and 55th Massachusetts.[4] The position of the Federal force was such that only one section of artillery could be used at a time, and the Confederates were too well entrenched to be dislodged. Fighting kept up until dark when Hatch, realizing the impossibility of successfully attacking or turning the flank of the enemy, withdrew to his transports at Boyd’s Neck, having lost 89 men killed, 629 wounded, and 28 missing. The Confederate casualties amounted to eight killed and 39 wounded.[5]

Captains George E. Gouraud[6] and Thomas F. Ellsworth[7] as well as First Lt. Orson W. Bennett[8] were awarded the Medal of Honor. In 2001 another medal was awarded posthumously to then Corporal Andrew J. Smith.[9] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.127.210.2 (talk) 18:54, 6 December 2018 (UTC)

Battle of Boykin's Mills

Add Battle of Boykin's Mills. Brigadier General Edward E. Potter took command of the two Northern brigades—2700 men—recently landed at Georgetown. Colonel Edward N. Hallowell, former commander of the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment and wounded at Fort Wagner, led one of the brigades including his former unit now consisting of over 700 men. Under orders to disable railroads in South Carolina, Potter's brigades were forced to contend with Kentucky's "Orphan Brigade" of mounted infantry from April 9 at Dingle's Mill through 18 April.

On April 18, 1865, Potter's troops met again with the Kentuckians in the quiet town of Boykin, South Carolina. The Confederates held a strong defensive position in an abandoned fort. Sergeant Major Joseph Thomas Wilson later wrote about this fort:[1] "No better position could be found for a defense, as the only approach to it, was by a narrow embankment about 200 yards long, where only one could walk at a time."[2] The 54th Massachusetts was given the job and sustained two killed and thirteen wounded before Confederate troops, heavily outnumbered, ran from the field. The dead men were Private James P. Johnson of Company F, a barber 21 years of age from Owego, NY, and First Lieutenant E.L. Stevens, the latter being the last Federal officer killed in action during the war.[3] Edwards was killed by 14-year-old Burrell H. Boykin, a member of the Confederate Home Guard whose family owned the land the Union troops were moving through.[4]

Union troops pursued the fleeing Southerners unsuccessfully, and the mill was burned to the ground according to Major General William T. Sherman's "Scorched Earth" policy. The engagement proved to be the bloodiest battle of the campaign for the 54th which had had the highest casualty rate of the operation. However, the two opposing units (Potter's and the Kentuckians) continued to skirmish through April 19 at Dinkin's Mill where they fought the last major conflict of the Eastern Theater. The preliminary cessation of hostilities was announced to both sides two days later though Confederate General Johnston did not officially surrender until 26 April. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.127.210.2 (talk) 18:53, 6 December 2018 (UTC)