Your letter of April 30 is at hand, and I regret that I can not give definite, and reliable information, of the subject sought: You can easily realize that my position, in the line as 2 Lt. B. Company gave me no unusual advantage of locating myself, or others, but if it will not weary you will tell what I remember of the days in question: On the 19th day of May we took position, on a slight raise of ground having charged to that point. While here to our left lay the 120th OVI. And in fact overlapping us for the Colonel and Adjt of that regt. Were with us. This fact is impressed on me for while in this place, a General Lee, who had command of our Division since the wounding of Gen. Osterhaus at Black River Bridge, was shot in the mouth and the two officers assisted him to a less exposed point in our rear. The ground in our immediate front was grown up with small timber and a little to our company right, and in front of us the General was wounded. We caught glimpses of the confederate earth works but the line of fire coming from there, made them the more conspicuous. We staid here untill night, and went into bivouac in the place where shown in the crude sketch that accompanys this. Our loss in this was slight. No one in my Co. being wounded. In the afternoon of May 21, I was up at the Head Quarters of the

13 A C General John A. McClernand ____ and heard from a friend (Evans by name) that we would charge in tomorrow at ten o'clock. A simultanious discharge of cannon to be the signal for attack, possibly the exact wording of the last part of the order sent to Head Quarters. Now it is remembered not special good thing to enjoy a nights rest on and thought it best not to say anything, and in the morning told Lt John N. Brunner who was in command of B. Co. He simply whistled , and said "keep it to yourself". About eight the regt. fell into line and marched between and on the hills to the point, where the regt is shown to have formed. Here the regt. Was formed in double columns at half distance, left of the Regt. in front this took our comdg officer to center right of column, and myself at the right of B. Co. in center of our column cleared the hill, and then forward at a double quick. Meanwhile our cannon were doing their very best whether our watchful foes had not observed the movement or were screening themselves from our artillery fire, they did not fire untill the 1st column was 150 yds ahead from where it had started, and the bulletts struck throwing up sprays of dirt, not unlike a furious hailstorm in a dusty road. We soon reached the base of the hill shown and here laid down still in columns as we had charged and laid here perhaps half an hour. While here Col. Cradelbaugh of our regt. Was shot, and carried back after a short time. No immediate movement being in sight, the Lt. Told me to (go) back to see after our wounded, and how badly the Col. Was hurt. While enroute came across Lt. Ferguson of E. Company wounded and laying under constant fire from across the earthworks. I picked him up and carried him to the point where we had started from, here was a field hospital. The Lt. I was afterwards told died in an hour. Our Col. Having been sent to Gen. Hospital returned to the command after an absense of an hour. I found them on the crest of the hill fireing at the earthworks. We staid here untill nightfall expecting that were relieved to go to where the ravine is shown, and drew one days rations the first we had drawn since May 1st, noteworthy on that account. I remember while laying in position on the crest of (the) hill that Co. Bennett of the 69th Ind. Inf. Came to the rear of us, and told us that Major Finley of his regt. Was shot through the lungs and we heard his regt. Sing "Rally Round the Flag" and saw a member of the same shot clear through from breast to back and the surgeon in charge of the field hospital was of the same regt. For this is another reason I am reasonably sure that the 69th Ind. was on our immediate right. I did not see them there while we were charging from the point where we formed but they may have been a little to our rear. A lodgement had been effected still further to our right in the ditch of the fort shown. This was said to be 49 Ind. The(y) succeeded in implanting their flag on top of the _____ we watched these colors sweeping the top of the fort with bulletts, and about sundown a Union soldier was seen crawling up the side of the fort. Fireing was out of the question with us. The one seen jumped to his feet and snatched one flag, tossing it to his comrades in the ditch, almost at the same instant a confederate showed up on his side and took the other and threw it his way. A furious rain of bulletts swept the top of the fort, relieved the boys feelings and nothing more. I do not know the name of the regt. on our left. From the crest of the hill where we lay, the ground desended abruptly to almost a ravine, and recollect some pushing their way up the small ravine toward the confederate lines, and three more adventuresome than the others crawled up quite close. They came back one at a time wounded in the head. The last one to return, pointed out to us a tree or trees he said he had been shot from. We soon had the leaves falling from them and a man droped from them, whether disabled or not we could not tell. The confederate had guns mounted on (barbette?) but they could not use them. It was a shade warm for comfort in their vicinity. These guns or at least one of them was about the same distance from us, as the corner of the fort closest to us, and should think not exceed eleven hundred yds. I have a good recollection of this location, for I or we had been at the same point the morning of the 21st, and subsequent days thereafter, but we had gone up through the ravines in small parties with apparently no loss or danger. The hill where the battery is located sloped gradually toward the front but was very steep on the side next our bivouac. This is known to me from the fact that the 1st two guns were taken up on this side by man's strength. The whole ____ were in positions at a later day, but most too far off to be of much service. There was a road to our right not very plain to us from our position but what it was called (I) do not know. I do not think we changed our place of bivouac untill we left for Warrenton. Don't remember much of our way going to the rear, but do remember the raiding (of) some bee hives at a house along the road and the bees were so enraged that they routed us completely and for the matter of a mile, double quick was slow time. To that we made a small trench ten feet wide and three feet deep helped us shake our foes, so we as a regt can not say we never run. I should have been well pleased to have given you more exact data to go from but my life has been a busy one, and one incident crouds out the other, and if I can be of any further assistance to you please call on me. Can you send me a picture of the proposed monument to be erected. There were two companys went from this County and it will greatly interest them.