SECTION III.

Movements to and operations on the North Anna River, May 21 to May 27, 1864.

All the seriously sick and wounded had been sent to Fredericksburg, and the field hospital trains were packed and in park near the Anderson house on the morning of the 21st, in readiness to move in the rear of the artillery of their respective corps. During the movement to the North Anna, on the 21st and 22nd, fifteen ambulances moved in the rear of each division for the purpose of picking up such men as might fall out of ranks on account of sickness or exhaustion, while the remaining ambulances, collecting into a corps train, moved with the hospital train, and carried the slightly sick and wounded, who were not judged to be fit cases to be sent to Fredericksburg. A special detail of medical officers and attendants, furnished with all necessary supplies, moved with the latter train.

The roads were in good condition, the surface of the country level, and the weather warm and dry. The number of stragglers, especially on the 22nd, was large, and all the ambulances were soon filled.

No engagement took place during the movement, with the exception of a slight cavalry skirmish near Milford, in which 15 men were wounded. These men were cared for in the hospital of the Second Corps, which was located on the right bank of the Mattapony, in anticipation of a battle near that point. No action occurred, however, and when the corps moved off, these wounded, with 135 sick, were placed in the houses at Milford, medical officers, rations, and supplies being left with them.

They remained at that point until the 25th, and were then sent to Port Royal. During the afternoon of the 23d, the crossing of the North Anna having been effected and the enemy met with, field hospitals were promptly established on the north bank of the river, those of the Fifth Corps in an open space near some excellent springs, one-half mile north of Jericho Ford, and those of the Second Corps on the Chesterfield Ford road, 1 mile south of Mount Carmel Church.

The banks of the river at Jericho Ford were very high and precipitous, and the road down either side was very rough, being partly new corduroy, and in part a series of rocky steps and shelves caused by the irregular wearing away of the road by a small stream which flowed down its center. All the more severely wounded were, therefore, carried across the river on stretchers, after having been brought from front to the south bank by the ambulances. As the Fifth Corps not only held its ground, but advanced some distance, all the wounded were speedily and easily collected, the total number being 225.

One hundred and thirty-one were received into the hospitals of the Second Corps.

The supplies in all the hospitals were complete; ice, lemons, and clothing were abundant. As the Sixth Corps had not crossed the river no hospitals were established for it. The ambulance and hospital train was kept in park near the Fifth Corps hospitals, ready for any emergency. No general engagement took place from this time until the 27th, but skirmishing and artillery duels were