Saturday P. M., May 31. A tremendous thunder storm came up yesterday and prevented my finishing my letter. The rain fell in torrents and the lighting was very sharp. A flash struck the quartermaster’s tent in the Forty-fourth, about five rods from me, instantly killing him, and stunning twenty others. The bright steel bayonets made excellent lightning rods and a great many in all the camps around were sensibly affected by it.
To go on with my story about the battle. About two miles south of Hanover Court House the Seventeenth New York, which was in front, came upon a North Carolina regiment in the woods. They immediately formed in line of battle in a wheat field and the battery just behind came up and commenced throwing grape into the woods. We followed the battery into the field and took position in time to support it. The rebels retreated and Companies A and B were thrown out as skirmishers and we followed them half a mile through the woods and halted just in the further edge with our skirmishers in front in the field. This was a large clover field three-quarters of a mile across and on the further side we saw two regiments of rebels with three pieces of artillery. They shelled us as well as they could, but only one man was hurt. Our skirmishers kept picking off the stragglers and our battery soon came out and drove them again. We came out and followed across the field (or fields, for it was cut up by numerous gullies) and in them we took several prisoners. Company K took the first two. They were skirmishing under the bushes, and, as I jumped over the fence, I almost stumbled on them. They were instantly disarmed.
