HDQRS. GORMANN'S BRIGADE, SEDGWICK'S DIVISION,
                                Fair Oaks, near Richmond, Va., June 3, 1862.
    On Saturday, the 31st ultimo, I received orders from the general commanding to put my brigade under arms and take up a line of march as rapidly as possible across the Chickahominy in the direction of Fair Oaks Station, on the Richmond and York River Railroad, where heavy firing had been going on for a short time. On arriving at Dr. Trent's farm, and after ascertaining the position of the road leading to the point where our forces were engaged, we filed into the road, the First Minnesota Regiment in the lead, and took up the march in quick and sometimes double-quick time until we arrived at the point where the enemy had been hotly engaged with Generals Couch's and Casey's divisions, near Fair Oaks Station, the latter having been severely repulsed, while the former was holding his position with great determination with a diminished force. I was ordered to form my brigade by regiments in rear of

each other in line of battle, while just previous to this the First Minnesota Regiment, having arrived first, was ordered to take up a position on the right, its right resting upon a farm-house and its left upon a wood, in order to prevent the enemy from flanking us on the right, as he appeared there in great force. My other three regiments, the Thirty-fourth New York Volunteers, Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, and Eighty-second New York Volunteers (Second New York State Militia), being formed upon the left of a portion of General Couch's division and Kirby's battery, occupied the road immediately at the angle of the woods, commanding all approaches from the right, left, and center.
    We had not remained longer than ten minutes in position before heavy columns of the enemy dashed furiously upon us, evidently attempting to take Kirby's battery; whereupon I was ordered to throw three regiments of my brigade upon the enemy's flank and front, then showing themselves in the outskirts of the woods and moving in the open field.
    I immediately ordered the Eighty-second New York Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson commanding, to move forward on the left of Kirby's battery and engage the enemy as quickly as possible, which they did with great promptness and gallantry, they having to march over fences and garden palings, which they tore down before them, and among houses, still preserving their line as well as possible. Upon crossing the last fence they opened a most galling fire upon the enemy at a range of from 50 to 100 yards, causing fearful havoc among them.
    I was then ordered by both Generals Sumner and Sedgwick to move forward the Thirty-fourth New York Volunteers, Colonel Suiter commanding, upon the left of the Eighty-second New York, which was promptly executed, and upon coming into position the Thirty-fourth New York, being first on the ground, opened a most deadly fire upon the enemy and received one in return not less so. I immediately ordered up the Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Kimball commanding, who had been gallantly supporting Kirby's battery, to the support of the left of the Eighty-second New York and the right of the Thirty-fourth New York, when the engagement became general from one end of our line to the other, the enemy pushing forward with the most wonderful determination, while I steadily advanced the brigade from time to time until we came to a distance of 50 yards, when General Sumner (being present with my brigade) directed me to charge the enemy with the bayonet, and gave the order to the Thirty-fourth New York in person, which was quickly repeated by myself and all my staff and by the several field officers. Muskets were promptly brought down to a charge, and the men threw themselves at double-quick headlong upon the enemy, the Thirty-fourth New York somewhat in the advance on the left and in perfect line, the Eighty-second New York on the right, the Fifteenth Massachusetts supporting the center. The enemy on the right and center gave way, but a South Carolina regiment, before the Thirty-fourth New York, brought their bayonets to a charge, and stood until that regiment was within 10 or 15 paces of them. I halted the Eighty-second New York and Fifteenth Massachusetts a little before they entered the woods, but the Thirty-fourth New York plunged into the thicket some 50 paces before I could halt them. A farther advance would have imperiled their left flank.
    About this time General Sedgwick received orders to proceed to the right of our line, and I received my orders thereafter from General Sumner direct. This bayonet charge was made with a yell, which must nave given the fullest evidence to the enemy that our troops were in

earnest and fired with a determination to succeed or die. The enemy were driven from the field in the greatest confusion and seeming consternation, leaving it strewn with their dead, and their wounded mingling their groans with those of our own. A considerable number of prisoners were captured, among them several of rank.
    From 5 o'clock until 7.30 o'clock p.m. my brigade was engaged giving and receiving as severe a fire of musketry as ever was witnessed or heard, perhaps, by the oldest officers of the army, the severest and longest continued part of which was met by the Eighty-second and Thirty-fourth New York Volunteers and Fifteenth Massachusetts, as the lists of their killed and wounded indicate. The First Minnesota, being detached and operating on my right, was under a severe fire, which they received and returned with great coolness and gallantry, for the particulars of which and the good conduct of its officers and men I refer to Colonel Sully's report, herewith respectfully submitted. The rest of the brigade being continually under my own eye, it affords me great pleasure to speak of the gallant conduct of all the field officers of this brigade, and I am also gratified to learn from them of the unusual coolness and good conduct of all the line officers, without exception. The obedience of the men and their unbounded ardor to meet the enemy give the highest assurance to the country that they are to be depended upon in every trying emergency.
    It gives me equal pleasure to commend to your favorable consideration Captain Hebard, my assistant adjutant-general; Lieutenant Raguet, aide-de-camp; Captain Brown, acting assistant commissary of subsistence, and Mr. Sproat, volunteer aide-de-camp, upon my staff. They bore my orders to every part of the line, frequently exposing their lives to the most imminent peril. At the beginning of the engagement Dr. Hand, my brigade surgeon, was on the field, exposing himself to danger, keeping close to the brigade, ready to give his professional attention to the first that should fall. While engaged in his duties he received a slight wound. The assiduous attention to the wounded of Drs. Hand, Sherman, Morton, Bates, Haven, Lewis, and Robinson, of the brigade, merits the highest commendation. The conduct of both officers and men of my brigade and the splendid bayonet charge made by them, having been witnessed by the general commanding the corps, and also by the general commanding the division, relieves me from the necessity of making this report more in detail.
    After the enemy had been driven from their position the brigade advanced into the woods and occupied during the night the ground previously held by the enemy till daylight, when they pressed farther on and took position, the left resting near the railroad and the right reaching toward the Chickahominy. This engagement having ended at dark, left us in complete possession of the field, with quite a number of prisoners and small-arms, while the ground was strewn with their killed, wounded, and dying, showing the fearful havoc our infantry and artillery had made among them. By your orders my command slept upon their arms until 3 o'clock next morning, when they were in line ready to meet or advance upon the enemy.
    About 7.30 a.m. Sunday, the 1st day of June, the enemy advanced in greatly increased numbers, having been largely re-enforced during the evening and night, and opened fire upon the line upon the left, composed chiefly of General Richardson's division. I was ordered then to leave the First Minnesota in position upon our right, the Fifteenth Massachusetts upon our right front, and take two other regiments to the assistance of Richardson's division. I moved the Eighty-second and

Thirty-fourth New York to the front, and sent the Eighty-second New York, Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson commanding, to engage the enemy and, if possible, to fall upon his flank, while General Meagher's Irish brigade and others engaged his center.
    No sooner had they come within 120 yards of the enemy than they became engaged in a most deadly conflict, while the whole line along the railroad for nearly a mile seemed to have become one continuous blaze of musketry--the fighting being frequently at no greater distance than 50 yards, between heavy lines of infantry. This regiment of mine suffered considerably, though protected somewhat by its position in the woods. I sent the Thirty-fourth New York to support them, some 50 yards in the rear.
    Never before have I seen more distinguished courage displayed, nor more determination to conquer or fall on the field, than was shown by all our troops without distinction. The Eighty-second New York, on this day as on the day previous, withstood the shock of the enemy's repeated charges, sustained by the Thirty-fourth New York, and finally, in conjunction with the Irish brigade and others of Richardson's division, had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy abandon the field and precipitately retire upon Richmond, leaving their dead and wounded upon the ground. And here the battle ended, leaving us in possession of the field and with a large number of wounded and other prisoners in our hands. Had the battles of those two days to be fought over again I cannot see where any improvement could be made either in the courage, firmness, and steadiness of the troops or their determination or the dispositions made on the field.
    Just at the close of the action of the 1st instant Captain Russell's company of Minnesota Sharpshooters arrived on the field and I put them in before the enemy, where they used their weapons with effect and rendered good service. Their loss is 1 wounded. My loss amounts in killed and wounded to 201 as near as I can now report; missing, none.* I trust I may be allowed to bear testimony to the efficiency, skill, and cool courage of Lieutenants Kirby, Woodruff, and French, and the men of the artillery, whose battery my brigade supported throughout the entire action. The commanders of the regiments of my brigade desire me to congratulate the commander of the corps and of the division upon this successful achievement, and officers and men feel the highest pride that they are soldiers of the Army of the Potomac.
        I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
                                                       W. A. GORMAN,
                                              Brigadier-General, Commanding.
    Capt. WILLIAM D. SEDGWICK
                        Assistant Adjutant-General.

Source:

United States. War Dept., United States. Record and Pension Office., United States. War Records Office., et al., "Peninsular Campaign," The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Prepared, Under the Direction of the Secretary of War, by Bvt. Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U. S. Artillery. And Published Pursuant to Act of Congress Approved June 16, 1880. Series I-Volume XI-In Three Parts. Part I-Reports. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1884. pp. 798-801.