Another account of Gaines' Mill (with an account of Malvern Hill as well) by a member of the 18 GA:
[p. 234] “Chimborazo Hospital Richmond Virginia
July 20th 1862
Dear Sister
….. On the 26th of June our men attacked the enemy in their entrenchments near Mechanicsville and succeeded in routing them, after an obstinate resistance of about three hours. Our regiment was not in the engagement, though we were in supporting distance and could distinctly hear the roar of the musketry and see the flash of the cannon as they belched forth their deadly missiles. ….. [p. 235] On Friday the 27th was our turn to be engaged, accordingly about 3 O’clock P.M. we found the enemy in large numbers, secured behind breastworks of felled timber, a brisk cannonade commenced from each side, louder and fiercer it grew, until it really seemed as if heaven and earth were coming together, the whole air appeared filled with whistling balls and bursting shells, still onward we pressed, as yet we had received no injury, we were now within half a mile of the enemies line, here we were ordered to lay down, which order we gladly obeyed, for we were then partially screened from the iron hail which was passing over us, while in this position, many of our regiment were passing to and fro, taking positions and making preparations for the desperate conflict. We were now ordered up and started off at a double quick. I did not go far before I became exhausted and was forced to stop, one of my officers told me to get back out of danger and take care of myself as best I could, this I did as soon as I felt able, for I was very weak, having been sick for several days. My comrades pressed on and soon the rattle of musketry told that they had got within close contact with the enemy, the battle raged with great firing until dark when the Yanks retreated, leaving thousands of their dead and wounded in our hands, also a great many prisoners, besides all of their camp equipage, a great number of knapsacks, clothing, blankets, commissary story and camp tools of all description. Our regiment charged and captured a battery of nine heavy pieces of Artillery.
On Saturday morning I rejoined my regiment on the battle field, where the men had slept on Friday night. The spectacle was indeed one of horror, the ground was strewn with the dead and wounded of both parties. Heavy details were made from the several regiments to bury the dead and take the wounded to Hospitals. ….. The burying of soldiers who fall upon the battle field is the most impressive sight that I have ever looked upon, a narrow hole is dug, the soldier is rolled in his blanket, and placed therein, a small portion of dirt is throwed upon him and he is left to moulder away, no stone is reared to mark his resting place… ….. On sunday we prepared rations for three days and on monday morning we set our again in pursuit of the retiring foe, he having been attacked both on sunday and monday, his progress was slow so that late on monday evening we overtook and had a skirmish with his rear guard, but owing to the lateness of the day a general attack was postponed until Tuesday, while we were skirmishing on monday evening, another division of our army attacked and routed the Yanks on our right. During the night of monday, the enemy moved off from the position which he had selected in front of our division so that it was midday on Tuesday, before we overtook him. About 12 noon our advanced guard came in with information that the enemy had halted and formed to receive us, about one mile to our front, scarcely had we received this news, when we were greeted by the whistling of a dozen shell[s], after a little preparation, we moved forward until within less than ½ a mile of the foe, we were now in the woods just on the edge of a large plantation, in the centre of which, [p. 236] on a high elevation, the enemy were posted, we could plainly see the dark mouth of a dozen cannon, behind these was posted infantry without end. We were ordered into the field, scarcely had we cleared the fence, when the Yanks discovered us, they immediately commenced a furious attack upon us, with shell, grape and canister, we moved on under this galling fire, about four hundred yards, and were ordered to lie down, just before I threw myself on the ground I was struck by a piece of shell… I was struck on the head just above the right temple, by a piece of bomb shell, the shell exploded within a few inches of my face, the explosion of which shocked me severely, and the powder scorched my face considerably, fortunately only a small piece of the shell struck me. I suffered very much for several days with pain in the head, but I think … I will be able to return to my regiment for duty again in a few days. The same shell which wounded me, also wounded four others of my company and killed my bosom friend, T. J. Bennett, of Marietta. This happened on the first day of July…
Respectfully Yours,
W. W. White”
Source: Georgia Division United Daughters of the Confederacy, eds., Confederate Reminiscences and Letters 1861-1865, Volume XVI. Atlanta: Privately Published, 2001, 261 pp. Pagination is from that source. He was a member of A/18 GA. This letter is also published in Mills Lane, ed., “Dear Mother: Don’t Grieve About Me. If I Get Killed, I’ll Only Be Dead.” Letters from Georgia Soldiers in the Civil War. Savannah: Beehive Press, 1977, 353 pp, appearing on pp. 168-173.