HEADQUARTERS FIRST VERMONT BRIGADE,
August 30, 1864.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following statement of the operations of this brigade near Spotsylvania Court-House:

We arrived at Chancellorsville late the morning of May 8, having been on the road all night without sleep. From this point the brigade was detailed to guard the train of the Sixth Corps, and soon became separated from the corps. The train went into park about 4 p. m., and the brigade halted, took dinner, and lay down to rest. Shortly afterward we were ordered forward to join the command, which was about 4 miles distant, as it was intended to attack the enemy that evening. Pursuant to orders, the brigade made a forced march to the scene of action, where it arrived in the midst of battle just before dark. Striking the lines of battle near the right of the corps, we were ordered to the extreme left. As the brigade passed along the lines to its designated position on the left it was greeted with hearty and repeated cheers from the other brigades of the corps. We were conducted by a staff officer through thick brush, a deep ravine, and up a steep hill covered with a thick growth of small pines to get, as it was said, upon the enemy's flank. It soon became so dark that all operations were impracticable, and in that dense forest it was almost impossible to move at all. In that condition we were left quite in advance of the regular lines of battle, in advance even of the skirmish line, and without any knowledge as to the position and force of the enemy. It was certain that the enemy had some force in that vicinity, and there were also a few regiments of Union troops there, but friend and foe were strangely mixed. Shots were fired in front, on the flank, and in the rear, and it was impossible to tell from what forces they came. Small parties went out to reconnoiter, and many were the reports of Union men and rebels coming together in the darkness of that night. Doubtless many of these reports were exaggerated, but the position of affairs was so uncertain and unsatisfactory that I resolved to take the brigade out of that to some other position, where we could at least have the assurance that the enemy was in our front. To find our way out was no slight task, but after several hours of wanderings and searchings the brigade was quietly withdrawn to a position in rear of the skirmish line, and when morning dawned it was found that the other regiments had done the same, and that fortunately we then held almost the exact position that Major-General Sedgwick, commanding the corps, desired us to hold. Major Pratt, of the Fourth Regiment, was sent out with his regiment to skirmish with the enemy in front, while the remainder of the brigade fortified its position. The enemy opened upon us with artillery and musketry at long range, but the regiments completed their works with only slight loss. The Fourth Regiment lost several men upon the skirmish line, among whom was Sergt. William Cunningham, Company D, killed. He is spoken of by his regimental commander as "one of the most brave and zealous men of the regiment."

May 10, the brigade still occupied its fortified position, and the Fourth Regiment held the skirmish line until afternoon. Our skirmish line was advanced and the enemy's driven back to his line of works. In this skirmish the Fourth Regiment received high commendation. In the afternoon the Fourth Regiment was relieved by four companies of the Third Regiment, under Captain Kenesson. An attack upon the enemy's works in our front was planned and the