Numbers 59. Report of Lieutenant Colonel Alfred B. McCalmont, 142nd Pennsylvania Infantry.

NEAR GETTYSBURG, PA.,
July 4, 1863.

SIR:

I have the honor to submit the following report of the participation of this regiment in the battle of Gettysburg after the close of the operations of July 1: On the night of the 1st, the men under my command, numbering 80 for duty, lay on their arms in the rear of batteries at the cemetery, and under orders to support them in the event of an attack. We remained in the same position until the evening of the 2d, when with the regiment of Colonel Biddle (One hundred and twenty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers), we were required to remove to the opposite side of the road. The men lay on their arms during the night but a few rods from their previous resting-place.

Early in the forenoon of the 3d, my command was formed in line with the One hundred and twenty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers on the western side of the road, about 50 rods to the left of the former position. About 2 p. m. the enemy opened a very severe artillery fire on our front and along the whole line. This was followed by a general advance of their infantry. When the latter movement took place, my regiment, with the approval of General Rowley, was advanced to a rude breastwork of rails on the right of the Second Brigade. Another line of our forces lay in front of us. The advance of the enemy at this point was met so promptly and gallantly by the troops in the first line, that the men of my command had neither occasion nor opportunity to do more than fire an occasional shot at a few sharpshooters, who, from covered positions, were trying to pick off the artillerymen in a battery immediately in our rear. The attacking column was completely destroyed or captured, without having materially disturbed the line of our forces in front of this position, and without having made it necessary for the second line, in which we were placed, to participate in the fight.

We remained in the same position until 9 p. m., when we were relieved by other troops, and the regiment was withdrawn to a point near the road to rest during the night. Although my small command was exposed, in common with the rest of the brigade, to a severe artillery fire during the afternoon of the 3d, in addition to an occasional fire of less intensity during the whole of the previous day, we have no serious casualties to report. Two men only were slightly wounded by the explosion of a shell on the afternoon of the 3d. The fall of Captain C. H. Flagg, of this regiment, who was a member of General Rowley’s staff, and who was killed by a shell on the evening of the 3d, does not come properly within the scope of this report; but I cannot refrain from saying that his loss is deeply deplored by the company which he had long ably led, and by all others who knew him. While it is true that my remnant of a regiment had but little part in the great results of July 2 and 3, I am glad to say that the officers and men exhibited commendable firmness, and were ready cheerfully to undergo greater trials than fell to their lot.

With great respect, I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

ALFRED B. McCALMONT,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding.

Lieutenant W. L. WILSON,
A. A. A. G., First Brig., Third Div., First Corps.

from Official Records, Series 1, Volume 27, Part 1, Pages 325-326