Bound Volumes

July 25, 2024.

160 YEARS AGO

Lieutenant F.W. Foote of the 121st Regiment, reported killed, is alive and prisoner in Libby Prison, Richmond. He was wounded in an engagement on the 10th of May, captured, and was obliged to have a leg amputated above the knee. In a letter to his Mother he says: “I passed through everything safely until the 10th when about sunset, eight picked regiments selected from our corps were detached to charge a position of the enemy’s works consisting of strong rifle pits with a battery of 12-pound howitzers. We formed under cover of the woods without being observed. The 5th Maine and 121st N.Y. formed the first line of battle. Between us and the enemy was an open plain 300 yards across. We broke from the woods with one cheer and then advanced with a steady double-quick without firing or cheering until close to the works, when we fired a volley and went over them with a yell. It was nobly done and we did not stop here, but carried a second range of rifle pits and captured their battery. By this time our little force was considerably scattered and broken up; we were without supports; the enemy advanced on us with fresh troops and we were forced back. Just before we started I received a Minnie ball through my thigh, which brought me down. The next day I was carried to one of the enemy’s hospitals; the bone was found to be shattered and my leg was amputated. At the end of a week I was removed here where we have comfortable quarters with all that is necessary to keep us from suffering.”

July 29, 1864