The first action that Private John H. Waltz experienced was during the Peninsula Campaign from April to May 1862. The campaign was the first large scale operation of the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major General George B. McClellan to capture the Confederate capital in Richmond, Virginia forcing an early end to the war. The armies met at Williamsburg, Virginia on the morning of 5 May 1862. The men reached the field about 2 PM. Three of regiments of the Waltz’s brigade formed a battle line moving into position about 2:30 PM when they fired a single volley at the advancing Confederates. For ninety minutes Colonel Rowley (in charge), held their position and fought off several enemy counterattacks. By late afternoon the three regiments had nearly spent their ammunition supply and were relieved by the remaining two regiments of the brigade the 62nd New York, and the 93rd Pennsylvania with Private John H. Waltz marching in line with his regiment.
Private John H. Waltz expected to return to Virginia with the Army of the Potomac to finish the fighting begun in the summer. On 18 August 1862 Private John H. Waltz was listed below as being present with his Company in the field near Richmond, Virginia (see figure 4).
The Confederate forces now commanded by General Robert E. Lee (who replaced General Joseph E. Johnson) opposed Waltz and his fellow comrades. Lee who took charge of the newly formed Army of Northern Virginia and felt the moment was right to mount an invasion, forcing the Union aggressors to pursue taking the war out of Virginia, with Lee marching his army north towards Maryland. Lee’s campaign came to a stop at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland, on 17 September 1862. The 93rd Pennsylvania along with Waltz was held in reserve at Downsville, Maryland (about nine miles north of Sharpsburg, Maryland), and didn’t participate in the fighting. Lee’s army was forced to withdraw on 18 September 1862, back to Virginia, which caused President Abraham Lincoln to relieve General McClellan of command placing the Army of the Potomac under the new leadership of Major General Ambrose Burnside.
During the pause in fighting after Antietam John H. Waltz took the opportunity to have his photograph taken. Sutlers followed the armies and offered for sale to the men anything from small wares, identification discs, to photographs of the men taken in the field. The image shows him wearing his standard issue four button sack coat. His kepi looked different now displaying the regiment number “93” on the face of the cap. In one year, now eighteen years old, his appearance changed, showing an expression of commitment to the cause of his enlistment (see figure 5).
Private John H. Waltz (figure 5)
After the humiliating opportunity lost to destroy the enemy at Antietam, General Burnside pledged to capture Richmond, Virginia. Determined to move with all haste, Burnside marched south in early December to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where the Confederate army was entrenched behind defensive positions on Mayre’s Heights beyond town.
On 12 December 1862, Waltz marching with Company A, crossed the river moving through Fredericksburg to the heights. Over the next two days, Waltz was with his unit during the apex of the battle. The men were fortunate and not sent to assault Marye’s Heights being held in reserve. On 15 December 1862, after two days of brutal fighting, Burnside realized his position was hopeless, and ordered the army to retreat back across the Rappahannock River to the safety of Stafford Heights where both armies settled into winter quarters for the last few weeks of 1862.
For Part III with John H. Waltz in the third year of the war click here.