Isaac O. Best, History of the 121st New York State Infantry

[123] that the colonel was shot in the head, and a prisoner. As I came out of the woods a little way, I saw a line of battle was formed and the men as they came up joined it. I loaded my gun which I had fired only once during the affair. The men I had seen as I came back must have been Rebs hurrying to their lines. In this affair Matteson, Proctor, Tieny, Young, Conklin and Beals were taken prisoners, and were sent to Andersonville. They were not exchanged for months and did not return to the regiment until after Lee's surrender. Shortly after we had formed in the field by the batteries, we were moved back into a line of entrenchments. About 10 o'clock the same night we marched back to the road, and following it some distance to the rear, moved off it again and went into line of battle near Wilderness Tavern, and threw up entrenchments. The same morning we marched to Piney Branch Church, and were given time to get breakfast. Here it was found that something like a hundred of our regiment were missing, and one-half of them were dead or wounded. Quite a number of the missing turned up that day and the next. I thanked my stars that I had escaped from capture, and pitied the fellows who were caught, especially Dewey and Reynolds, whom I knew to be wounded.

The responsibility for the exposure of the right of the 6th Corps on this occasion, without scout, picket or vidette was never ascertained. Probably it was never investigated for the guilty officer was probably among the killed or captured. It was one of the usual misfortunes of the 3d Corps following it into the 6th. But it is certain that it was never repeated, and the like had never occurred before.