No. 187.
Report of Capt.
Clarence W. Baker, Fourteenth U.S. Colored Troops,
of operations
December 2, 1864.
CAMP FOURTEENTH U.S.
COLORED INFANTRY,
Nashville, Tenn.,
November [December] —, 1864.
LIEUTENANT: I have herewith the honor to submit a report
concerning the conduct and loss of Companies A and D, Fourteenth U.S. Colored
Infantry, in action at Stockade No. 2, December 2, 1864.
The train was very unexpectedly fired upon by a rebel
battery from a commanding position. The men left the cars hastily, were formed
in line, and moved upon the hill in rear of the stockade, subsequently deployed
as skirmishers, lying exposed to a heavy fire from artillery and musketry from
11 a.m. until about 6 p.m., when the larger part of the command was drawn in,
leaving pickets posted upon the skirmish line held during the day, and throwing
up a rude breast-work, with traverses, on two sides of the stockade. Upon a due
consultation the evacuation of the place was determined upon, whereat the men
were much pleased, expressing themselves as ready to cut through the rebel
lines, or, failing, die in the attempt. Fortunately we succeeded in passing
through the line of rebel pickets without losing a man in killed or wounded.
Our loss was as follows: Company A, Fourteenth U.S. Colored
Infantry—killed, 1 private; wounded, 1 corporal, 2 privates; missing, 1
corporal, 7 privates; total, 2 corporals, 10 privates. Company D, Fourteenth
U.S. Colored Infantry—killed, 1 private; wounded, 1 corporal, 1 private;
missing, 10 privates; total, 1 corporal, 12 privates. One wounded man from A
and 2 wounded from D Company were left in the stockade, unable to be moved.
It is no more than simple justice to say for the men and
officers under my command that they behaved admirably and did credit to the
regiment.
CLARENCE W. BAKER,
Capt., 14th U. S.
Colored Infty., Comdg. Companies A and D. Lieut.
JOHN E. CLELAND,
Forty-fourth U.S. Colored
Infty., Actg. Asst. Adjt. Gen.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 45, Part 1
(Serial No. 93), p. 538
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