Page:Journal history of the Twenty-ninth Ohio veteran volunteers, 1861-1865.djvu/69

 in a small boat capable of carrying but one company at a time. The regiment deployed as skirmishers, holding the enemy back until the division had all crossed when we bivouacked for the night. The next morning we marched at 5:30, the Twenty-ninth regiment in advance; passed through a low, level country, with heavy timber; halted at 12 for dinner at a fine residence on a large plantation; fell in at 1:30 and moved in an easterly direction, reaching the Rapidan river late in the afternoon. The bridge had been destroyed, so that a crossing was not effected until in the evening, after which the Twenty-ninth camped for the night. 29th instant,—marched at 7:30 on the direct road to Chancellorsville. About 10 o'clock General Slocum came up and orders were received for the Twenty-ninth regiment to send out a line of skirmishers on the right of the road, which was done, the regiment passing through an open field and entering the timber, forcing the enemy back; marched on the flank through the woods and thick undergrowth for several miles, were then ordered to join the brigade. We reached Chancellorsville late in the afternoon of April 30th, where we found a small force of Confederate soldiers who were engaged in throwing up earthworks near the Chancellor house, at a point where the roads crossed, one leading to the United States ford, and the other to Fredericksburg. The Twenty-ninth regiment, with its brigade and division, were the first Union soldiers to enter the place. A number of prisoners were taken, and late in the evening the Twenty-ninth moved a short distance southwest from the main road and the Chancellor house into a piece of timber and bivouacked for the night.