Today in History:

113 Series I Volume XLII-I Serial 87 - Richmond-Fort Fisher Part I

Page 113 Chapter LIV. THE RICHMOND CAMPAIGN.

First Brigade, First Division, Department of West Virginia (attached).

December 19.-Left Opequon Crossing, Va., by cars, at 12 m., en route for Washington.

December 20.-Took transports at Washington in the morning.

December 23.-Arrived at City Point, Va., at 6 p.m.

December 24.-Formed camp here by order of Brigadier-General Terry, and temporarily attached to the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, Army of the James.

Second Brigade, First Division, Department of West Virginia (attached).

December 19.-The Fourth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry was permanently detached from this brigade, and the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and Twenty-third Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry added to it, all by order of Major-General Crook, commanding Department of West Virginia. The same day the brigade moved via Washington, D. C., to the camp of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, Army of the James.

Distance traveled, 260 miles.

Third Brigade, First Division, Department of West Virginia (attached).

December 1.-The command-comprising the Tenth, Eleventh, and Fifteenth West Virginia Volunteers, Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and Twenty-third Illinois Veteran Volunteers-was encamped at Camp Russell, Va., in the Army of the Shenandoah, until the morning of the 19th.

December 19.-Broke camp and took up line of march via Winchester to Stephenson's Depot, on the Harper's Ferry and Winchester Railroad. Before embarking on the cars the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania and Twenty-third Illinois Volunteers were transferred from this brigade to the Second Brigade of the division. The command then proceeded by rail via Summit Point, Charlestown, and arrived at Harper's Ferry at night; from thence via Sandy Hook, Monocacy, and Relay House, arriving in Washington on the morning of the 20th.

December 20.-Embarked on board transports at Washington and left the city at night, proceeding down the Potomac; the weather very cold and rainy, subjecting the men to some exposure. After crossing a portion of the Chesapeake Bay the command proceeded up the James River.

December 23.-Arrived at Bermuda Hundred in the morning, a portion of the command not arriving. The same day Colonel Milton Wells, Fifteenth West Virginia Volunteers, then in command, reported with that portion of his command which had arrived to General Ferrero.

December 24.-The remainder of the command arrived, when we went into camp and commenced building winter quarters. Remained until the end of the month.

Distance traveled during the month, 480 miles.

TWENTY-FIFTH ARMY CORPS.*

[December.]-The Twenty-fifth Army Corps was organized per General Orders, No. 297, War Department, dated December 3, 1864.

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*Organized by General Orders, No. 297, War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, December 3, 1864, and composed of the colored troops of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina; commanded by Major General Godfrey Weitzel.

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8 R R-VOL XLII, PT I


Page 113 Chapter LIV. THE RICHMOND CAMPAIGN.