The original letters from which the foregoing extract were made are now in my possession.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

GEO. A. McCALL,

Brigadier-General, Commanding Division.

Brigadier General S. WILLIAMS,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

Numbers 155. Report of Brigadier General Truman Seymour,

U. S. Army, commanding Third Division, of the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Glendale, or Nelson's Farm)Frazier's Farm), and Malvern Hill.

HDQRS. SEYMOUR'S (LATE McCALL'S) DIVISION,
Harrison's Landing, July 15, 1862.

CAPTAIN: Being the only general officer left with this division, it devolves upon me to reports its history during the recent battles, those of June 26 and 27 at the Beaver Dam Creek, near Mechanicsville; at Gaines' Mill on the afternoon of the 27th; at Charles City road near New Market on June 30, and at Malvern on July 1:

Early in June the division had been transferred from the Rappahannock to the Army of the Potomac, and by the 15th instant had reached Dispatch Station, near the Chickahominy. On the 18th, having been assigned to Porter's corps, it moved to the right of the line, near Mechanicsville. The First Brigade, Brigadier-General Reynolds, consisted of the First, Colonel Roberts; Fifth, Colonel Simmons; Second, Colonel McCandless, and Eighth, Colonel Hays, with a battalion composed of the First Rifles and of two companies of Berdan Sharpshooters, under Major Stone. The Second Brigade, Brigadier-General Meade, consisted of the Third, Colonel Sickel; Fourth, Colonel Magilton; Seventh, Colonel Harvey,and Eleventh, Colonel Gallagher. The Third Brigade, Brigadier-General Seymour, consisted of the Ninth, Colonel Jackson; Tenth, Colonel Kirk, and Twelfth, Colonel Taggart, the Sixth, Colonel Sinclair, having been left at Tunstall's Station. Four squadrons of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Colonel Childs, belonged to the command. The artillery force, under Captain De Hart, chief of artillery, consisted of his battery, C, Fifth Artillery, six light 12-pounder; of Easton's battery, A, four light 12-pounders; Cooper's battery, B, six 12-pounder Parrotts, and Kerns' battery, G, six 10-pounder howitzers, these three batteries all of the Pennsylvania Artillery.

On the 19th the First and Third Brigades, with De Hart's and Cooper's batteries, were ordered to occupy the line of the Beaver Dam, the Second Brigade being held in reserve near Gaines', about 2 miles to the rear. The position can best be understood by reference to the diagrams that accompany this report.* The Beaver Dam is a stream of small size, and would everywhere be passable but for its marshy edges, and, in its lower course, for a mill-race and deep ditches. The banks, which are abrupt, are covered with thick brush and woods, behind which extend broad fields. On the Mechanicsville side the crest of the slope somewhat commands, with artillery especially, the eastern side, occupied by our troops. From the village, which is on the main route from Rich-

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* Not found.

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