Deadly Day for the Excelsior Brigade

Deadly Day for the Excelsior Brigade. Bristoe Station. Taylor's front line regiments traded blistering volleys with the Louisianans in their front here while his two reserve regiments moved toward the railroad., The 71st New York lost 103 of the 250 men engaged, including their commander, Lt. Col. Henry Potter, who was wounded. The regiment's second in command, Maj. James Webb, was wounded twice, including by a bullet that struck his left side and lodged "in a heavy cased silver watch, which I had bought just before the fight, and which probably saved my life," wrote Webb., The adjacent 73rd New York lost 53 of the 107 men it took into the fight. Included in this number was regimental commander Capt. Alfred Donalds, whose leg wound required amputation. The operation took the captain's life., In the 74th New York on Taylor's left, 8 officers and more than 60 men fell in this field. Twenty-year-old Pvt. John Robertson's "right hand was badly shot to pieces and a ball also passed through his hips," which disabled him from serving in the army. He survived his wounds and lived until 1927., In seventy minutes, these three units collectively lost more than 25% of their men in this firefight with Forno's Louisiana soldiers. ,

"We came on an open field in front of a belt of woods to the left of the railroad near Bristoe Station, where we discovered the enemy. They opened fire on us, to which our men smartly and ably responded. The conduct of the officers and men on this occasion was truly excellent... they stood up to the fire like men" , Capt. Owen Murphy, 71st New York Infantry