Sgt. James Engle

Sgt. James Engle. Medal of Honor Recipient. , (Preface) Early 1864, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commander of all Federal armies, ordered advances throughout the Confederacy in the spring. On May 5, General Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James landed Bermuda Hundred to begin operations against Richmond, Petersburg, and Confederate lines of supply. Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard countered Union advances against the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad and Drewry's Bluff, and Petersburg. By June 1864, be effectively "bottled up" Butler's army behind fortifications across the Bermuda Hundred peninsula for the rest of the war., (Main Text) During the Civil War, this area was known as Foster's Farm. The trenches here are part of the main Federal line that stretched from the James River to the Appomattox River in 1864. On May 18, 1864, three regiments of Confederate Gen. George S. Pickett's division attacked and drove the 8th Maine Infantry from its advance line about one mile northwest of here. The 97th Pennsylvania Infantry counterattacked and retook the line. That day, the Pennsylvanians defended their position with almost uninterrupted fire, and by afternoon the men were dangerously low on ammunition. Corp. James Engle, Co. I, a member of the color guard, and John Parsons, a musician, volunteered to take ammunition to the front line. They replenished their comrades' ammunition supplies while under heavy fire from nearby Confederate infantry. Parsons was mortally wounded while attempting to return to the rear for more ammunition. Engle remained at the front, distributing rounds under constant fire, for the rest of the day. Later in the war, he was promoted to sergeant. In 1896, members of his regiment recommended that he receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the engagement at Foster's Farm. The medal was awarded on December 17, 1896. The citation reads: "Responded to a call for volunteers to carry ammunition to the regiment on the picket line and under a heavy fire from the enemy assisted in carrying a box of ammunition to the front and remained to distribute the same.", (Postscript) On May 20, 1864, Federal and Confederate forces engaged in a series of attacks and counterattacks in this area. The Confederates tried to seize the Federal picket line in order to establish their own line of earthworks. In what became known as the Battle of Ware Bottom Church, Federal forces were pushed back toward their main line, thus enabling the Confederates to begin the work of digging their own fortifications across the Bermuda Hundred peninsula. This line of earthworks, known as the Howlett Line, blocked the Federal approach to Richmond from Bermuda Hundred for the rest of the war., (Photo Captions), Foster's Farm, Howlett Line, Sgt. James Engle , Courtesy Ed and Fay Max, The Army version of the Medal of Honor.