MAY 31- JUNE 1, 1862-- Battle of Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines, Va.

No. 115.—Report of Col. John B. Gordon, Sixth Alabama Infantry, commanding Rodes’ Brigade.

Although Brigadier-General Rodes did not retire from the field in one hour and a half after he was wounded, and not until the firing had entirely ceased, he was compelled from exhaustion to turn over the command of the brigade. Notified that I was placed in command, I reported to Major-General Hill for orders. Under his direction I moved the brigade about half a mile to the rear, and ordered them to encamp on either side of the Williamsburg road, spending nearly the entire night with large details from the brigade in nursing the wounded whom the surgeons had been unable to remove. I was ordered soon after the firing began Sunday morning to move the brigade forward to support the troops then engaging the enemy on the left of the Williamsburg road and to prevent the enemy from retaking his earthworks. Moving down by the right flank, we met fragments of a regiment which had been routed by the enemy retreating, officers and men, at a rapid pace and in great confusion. Every effort was made to rally them by appealing to their pride and patriotism and pointing to the example then being set by the men who had borne the burden of the day before. Rebuked by Major-General Hill, who was passing at the time, a few of them formed in rear and followed the brigade to the position designated by General Hill. Forming a line around the front of the abatis, on the left of the road, this position was held, in constant expectation of being called into action, until we were relieved by the brigade of General Colston. Among the articles captured by this brigade was a flag, since turned over to the proper authorities; the order-book of Colonel Bailey, First New York Artillery, and the orders and correspondence of General Casey. Among the latter was a letter to Secretary Stanton in reference to the means to be adopted to hold the Confederate States in subjection when conquered. This letter has since been published.

I inclose herewith a list of the casualties of each command of the brigade. I am, very respectfully, major, your obedient servant, J. B. GORDON, Col., Comdg. Third Brig., Third Div., Army of Northern Virginia.

MAY 31- JUNE 1, 1862-- Battle of Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines, Va.

Near Richmond, Va., June 7, 1862.

MAJOR: In accordance with orders from brigade headquarters I have to report that on the morning of the 31^st ultimo I moved my regiment across to the Williamsburg road by the left flank, and having reminded them of the proclamation of the infamous Butler and of the fate which awaited us if defeated, deployed them as skirmishers in front of the brigade, with the left resting on the road. They were moved forward as the skirmishers from the brigade of General Garland, deployed on the left of the road, approached my left flank. This forward movement was difficult and fatiguing in the extreme, and can only be appreciated by a knowledge of the fact that the guide, in order to move with General Garland’s skirmishers, was thrown necessarily on the left, where the woods impeded the march much less than on the right and center. Passing through swamps and dense underbrush, these portions of the line came not unfrequently in contact with hedges of briers so tall and dense as to render it necessary for the skirmishers to file around them and retake their places in line by the double-quick. The enemy’s advanced posts were first reached and attacked by General Garland’s skirmishers, then by my left, then by my center, and finally by my right, demonstrating that the enemy’s line did not extend across the Williamsburg road at right angles, but nearly parallel to the general course of the Chickahominy River. As my skirmishers entered the open field in which the enemy had erected his earthworks a regiment was moved up in line of battle covering my left wing. Upon this regiment I ordered a forward movement under their fire, in order to get within easy range for my rifles. A few rounds were exchanged and they retired to their intrenchments. From the woods in front of my right and center and on the left of the enemy’s works he had by this time thrown forward one or two regiments, protected by a heavy rail fence. My skirmishers were immediately ordered forward until within easy range, and then, lying down behind stumps and logs, they poured a most deadly fire for some minutes into the solid ranks of the enemy, when, re-enforced and assisted by the Twelfth Alabama Regiment, this line of the enemy was also driven under cover of the woods. Under this fire from the enemy some of my best officers and many men fell. Captain Fox, Company E, no less brave than accomplished, was killed; Capt. A.M. Gordon, Company D, seriously wounded. The brigade was now being formed in line of battle just in rear of my line of skirmishers, when, upon application to General Rodes, I was ordered to form my regiment on the right of the brigade and charge with it the enemy’s earthworks. These were soon occupied by the brigade. Here the troops on my left halted, but the order not having reached me, my regiment moved on into the enemy s camps and captured a stand of colors. Here an incident occurred which, though insignificant in itself, is worthy of record, as evincing the spirit of the brave men under my command. Ordered back to form on the brigade, I moved by the right-about until I reached my position, when, anxious to screen my men as soon as possible, I ordered them to lie down. A charge on the abatis and swamp was soon ordered. The command was given, "Forward (and pausing for the men to rise), march." The entire regiment rose promptly and began the march to the rear under their conception of the order. Impressed with the importance of arresting the movement at once I galloped about equidistant between my line and that of the enemy, and called to my men by word and gesture to move on the enemy. Promptly facing about, and exclaiming from one end of the line to the other that the order was misunderstood, they moved at double-quick with such impetuosity that the enemy fled from his hiding places before us. Falling back, however, upon a second line, he poured a most terrific fire upon my ranks.

In this charge my fearless and efficient field officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Willingham and Major Nesmith, fell, nobly doing their whole duty. To me their loss at this trying hour was great indeed—to the regiment it is almost irreparable. Having had my horse killed just as I neared the abatis work, I was forced to discharge my subsequent duties on foot. Entering the swamp, covered in water 2 or 3 feet deep, in which the vines, briers, and felled timber made an almost impassable barrier, we were driving the enemy steadily before us, when he suddenly moved upon my right flank a strong force bearing Confederate battle-flags and enfiladed my entire line. My adjutant was ordered immediately off to ask for support, but was shot down. Messenger after messenger was then dispatched to urge the troops in rear of my right to move down to my support. This brigade, although within sight and but a few hundred yards distant, failed to give me any assistance whatever. Prompt succor would have enabled us to have driven the enemy, already fleeing in my front, entirely from the abatis, and have saved to the service one-half of my fallen. But to protect my right and rear it now became necessary to change the front of my right company (A), under the command of Capt. Thomas H. Bell, than whom a more gallant officer never gave his life for love of country. In a sheet of fire and within a few rods of overwhelming numbers this company stood until the last officer and non-commissioned officer, except 1 corporal and 44 of the 56 men carried into action, had fallen. Yet when General Rodes gave the order for this regiment to fall back the few survivors were loading and firing, all undaunted, amid their fallen comrades. In my judgment history does not record an instance of greater courage and more steadiness of nerve than was exhibited by this entire regiment. Contending from the first with superior numbers, flanked on the right and unsupported by reserves, officers and men falling thick and fast, if not killed possibly to drown in the water in which they stood, there was no sign of wavering in any portion of the line.

Two field officers had fallen, three companies had not an officer spared, four others had but one, and more than half of these brave men had fallen, when, under orders, they retired to the enemy’s intrenchments in the rear. It is impossible in a report of this kind to mention the many instances of individual heroism exhibited during the day. Of Captains Flournoy and McCarty, of each man and officer who fell, I can say he died at his post.

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