Three years in the Army of the Potomac

THEEE YEARS

ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

BY

HENRY N. BLAKE,

\

Late Captain in the Eleventh Regiment Massachusetts
volunteees.

' From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes,
That I have passed ! "

BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD,

(SUCCESSOKS TO PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO.)

18 6 5.

E AEwl^OfH^ j

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by

HENRY N. BLAKE,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massa-
chusetts.

Stekeottped et C. J. Feteks & Son,
^*o. 13 "Washington Street.

Press of Geo. C. Raxd & Avert.

PEEPAGE.

/^^^HE author formed a thousandth part of the
M^ Eleventh Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers,
^f y' and enlisted in April, 1861, and was mustered
out of the service in June, 1864. During this
period, he recorded in a diary every incident of interest
which passed under his observation ; and the request of
many comrades, who saw him take notes upon the march
or on the battle-field, induced him to prepare them for
general reading. In carrying out this design, the author
has most unwillingly omitted to mention by name the
officers and enlisted men of his regiment, although
some of their heroic acts are briefly described.

Rarely venturing to go beyond his limited vision,
adhering most rigidly to fact, able to prove many
strange statements by the testimony of thousands of
soldiers, he has found it necessary to portray certain
generals and other ofiicers in the strongest colors of
shameful cowardice, drunkenness, and military miscon-
duct. The vexations, not the results of litigation, have
cleterred him from furnishino; the names of these ob-
^iloxious persons ; but, to shield honorable men from
"base suspicion by civilians, he states that the generals
'ivho are censured, with the exception of the foreigners
^ iii

.IV PREFACE.

at Fair Oaks and Cliancellorsville, one at Malvern Hill
second, and one at Bull Run second, are mentioned
upon some page of the book. The death of important
witnesses might cause a slight difficulty in proving, by
direct evidence, incidents which were seen by a A-ery
small number of spectators. The author has not at-
tempted to give a history of most of the great engage-
ments in which he bore a humble part; and criticises
only those battles which took place in the open country,
where he could behold the chief movements of the
Union forces.

He has perused many works which have been pub-
lished, upon the present war by quartermasters, chap-
lains, and correspondents of newspapers, — a class of
non-combatants that usually narrate what was .observed
by others. The author considers that the facts which
he has described in the succeeding chapters possess the
advantages of originality and reliability. Although
the author is aware that we are all prone to error, he
has no hesitation in staking his reputation for veracity
upon the truth of the statements of this work, however
improbable they may appear to the reader.

The names of the following generals, under whom
the author was compelled to serve, are not always
mentioned when their conduct is described, — Iewix
McDowell, William B. Franklin, Alfred A.
Humphreys, William H. French, Joseph B. Carr.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Page.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RL-^ 7

CHAPTER n.

THE CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY ... 32

CHAPTER IH.

THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN 62

CHAPTER ly.

THE BATTLE OF WILLIA3ISBURG 68

CHAPTER V.

THE 3IARCH, AND FAIR OAKS 89

CHAPTER YI.

THE BATTLES OF SAVAGE'S STATION, GLENDALE, AND
MALVERN HILL 107

CHAPTER YH.

THE BATTLES OF BRISTOW STATION, THE SECOND BULL
RUN, AND CHANTILLY 120

V

CHAPTER YHI.

THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH, AND THE BATTLE OF FRED-
ERICKSBURG 142

CHAPTER IX.

THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA 159

V

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

Page.
THE BATTLE OF CHalXCELLORSVILLE 169

CHAPTER XI.

THE 3IARCH TO GETTYSBURG 189

CHAPTER XH.

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 205

CHAPTER Xni.

THE MARCH TO WILLIAMSPORT, MANASSAS GAP, AXD
CULPEPER COURT HOUSE 224

CHAPTER XIV.

TO CEXTREVILLE, AXD BACK TO CULPEPER COURT
HOUSE 242

CHAPTER XV.

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUX 252

CHAPTER XVI.

THE WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION 267

CHAPTER XVII.

THE BATTLES OF THE "WILDERNESS AND SPOTTSYL-
VANIA COURT HOUSE 276

CHAPTER XVIH.

THE HOSPITAL, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON THE TREAT-
MENT OF ARMY DISEASES 296

CHAPTER XIX.

GENTERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON ARMY MORALITY AND
DISCIPLINE 309

THREE TEAES

ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,

CHAPTER I.
THE riRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

#N July 16, 1861, the Eleventh Regiment Massa-
chusetts Volunteers formed a part of a brigade com-
manded by Col. Franklin, and a division com-
manded by Col. Heintzelman. In compliance with
orders, the regiment marched from Alexandria at two, p.m.,
and Idft all the diseased and feeble in the camp, under the
charge of a sick captain, to guard the tents and knapsacks
of the men during their absence. The soldiers composing the
expedition displayed the highest emotion of joy ; and those
who were compelled by their physical weakness to remain in
the rear were affected with giief, and some shed tears. Each
person carried his musket and equipments, containing forty
rounds of ammunition ; and bore upon his shoulder a woollen

7

8 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

blanket enclosed in one made of gum or rubber, and a can-
teen and haversack. The latter was filled witb rations for
three days, which consisted of three or four pounds of salt
pork or beef ("junk "), thirty crackers (" hard-tack "), and
a small quantity of sugar and coffee. No one seemed to be
informed concerning the object of the movement ; but it was
generally surmised that a battle was one of the events of the
uncertain future. The column marched over a narrow and
miserable road (one of the chief features of the barbarism of
Virginia) south of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and
formed the left wing of the invading army, which was com-
manded by Gen. JMcDowell. Sixteen horses could not draw a
thirty-two-pound Parrott gun over the rugged course ; and two
companies were detached from the regiment to assist the jaded
animals in performing this labor. The men sustained the
fatigues of their first march during the afternoon and evening
in an excellent manner ; and there were few cases of utter
exhaustion or straggling, although the halts were infrequent.
The houses, or, to speak truly, hovels, upon the road, were
small in number and dimension, and the country was ihickly
"wooded. The population that was visible comprised aged
men, women with their children, and the negroes.

Our progress was extremely slow after sunset ; and the
column for seven hours advanced, at iiTegular intervals of
time, five, twenty, or one hundred feet. No orders to halt
were received during the night from the brigade commander :
the delays of a few seconds or minutes were uncertain in their

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 9

duration ; and the men did not know when they could enjoy
them. As soon as they had broken ranks, and prepared to
rest after a sudden stop, they would be commanded to " fall
in ; " and another pause frequently occurred before the moving
mass had travelled the length of a company. The troops, ex-
pecting to start at once, ^sometimes stood in their places half
of an hour before the march was resumed ; and were fatigued
during this time, as if they had been in motion. The soldiers
were completely exhausted by this severe mode of manoeu-
vring them, for which there was no excuse ; and many fell asleep
upon the roadside. The regiment reached its halting-place
near Pohick Church at 3.45, a.m., on the 17th, and welcomed
repose without seeking any shelter. A single tree formed the
bridge over Pohick Creek, a run which was about twenty-five
feet in width, and too deep to be forded ; and the troops, as-
sisted by a feeble light, crossed upon it in one rank. The
column had been delayed several hours by this obstacle,
which could have been easily removed by the pioneers, who
carried fifty axes, with which they might have felled the trees
that were standing upon the banks of the streamlet, and built
a bridge. The most tedious portion of the march could have
been prevented by the use of the most ordinary judgment by
the brigade commander, who displayed a profound ignorance
of the first lesson in the school of a general, — the art of
marching men : instead of conducting troops a great distance
with a small expenditure of strength, he reversed the rule,
and caused more fatigue in marching the brigade foui'teen

10 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL* RUN.

miles than tbey would have suffered in moving twice this dis-
tance under an intelligent officer.

The troops rested only an hour, and were awakened at four
o'clock, and ordered to resume the march ; during which they
nibbled their rations, for there were no chances to eat a regular
meal. From this early moment until three, p.m., the brigade
was mai'ched in the heedless style that characterized the pre-
vious night ; and no stated halts took place, although there
was an intense heat. Huudi-eds were obliged to leave the
ranks, because they had been deprived of bodily vigor by the
hardships of the two days ; while the brigadier and his staff,
riding upon their horses and suffering no inconvenience, un-
justly reprimanded them for stragghng. These unfortunate
soldiers did not wish to avoid the dangers of a battle : on the
contraiy, the only apprehension which they expressed, was,
that the rebels, following the precedent established at Harper's
Ferry and Alexandria, might evacuate Manassas. No public
road was followed during a portion of the route, which passed
through fields and forests in a thinly settled country. The
forms of one half of the brigade arrived at Sangster's Station
at three o'clock, about two hours after the South-Carolina
troops retreated upon the raiboad from Fairfax Court House ;
and the bridges which they had set on fii-e were burning
when the column halted. Squads of the missing fragment
of the command constantly joined it during the next six
hours, until there were no absentees. Three or four men
were killed on both days by the carelessness of soldiers

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 11

who bore loaded muskets upon their shoulders for the first
tmie.

A drove of pigs, and flock of sheep numbering about one
hundred and fifty, were captured by these men within an hour
after their arrival ; and it was ascertained that they had been
collected for the purpose of feedmg a detachment of the rebel
army which had been stationed at this point. Some were
killed, and roasted upon the camp-fii-es by means of a ram-
mer, or forked tvdg, while the flesh quivered. The brigade
commander issued an order authorizing the officers to shoot
every man who was detected in the act of kilhng these hogs
or sheep, and the soldiers stealthily cooked in the night
what they had slaughtered and concealed ; but the largest
portion of the number was abandoned to nourish the poorly
supplied enemy. A cucular was transmitted by Gen.
IMcDowell, reproaching the volunteers as plunderers, and de-
nouucinoj their conduct in such strons; teiTas of undeserved
censure, that a feehng of indignation pervaded the ranks.
]My facilities for seeing any depredations that might have been
committed were excellent, because the regiment had a position
in the rear of the division ; and the behavior of the troops
towards the people upon the road was unexceptionable. A
house which had been deserted by its owner, who had joined
the forces of Beauregard, was burned during the night by
some men who were exasperated on account of the wearisome
manner in which they were delayed. They rushed to the wells
near some of the dwellings to procui-e fresh water, because

12 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

the officer in eharo;e of the command did not halt and allow
them to fill thcii; canteens, the contents of which had become
too warm for use. Certain mounted officers were very con-
spicuous in using oaths, and driving the troops from these
places which belonged to traitors who were toiling upon the
intrenchments of IManassas. The painful experiences and
stringent orders of the 16th and 17th excited in the minds
of many privates a strong prejudice against some of their su-
periors in rank, and opinions were freely expressed 'regarding
theu' wisdom and loyalty. The soldiers listened for the first
time to the reports of rebel cannon upon the afternoon of the
18th ; and gladly advanced in the direction of the firmg at
five, P.M., and bivouacked near Centreville at midnight.

Stacks of arms, and batteries, surrounded us in the field
near the old road over which Gen. Braddock led his ill-fated
expedition to Fort du Quesne. The army rested two days at
this point, and listened to the whistle of the locomotives that
were bringing to the junction re-enforcements for the rebel
hordes. The soldiers eagerly walked long distances to see
prisoners; and a defiant sergeant told the crowd of spec-
tators that they would "double-quick back to Washington"
within a week ; a prophecy which was fulfilled upon the 21st.
Citizens searching for runaway negroes, or presenting claims
for damages to their property, were protected by Gen.
McDowell, who allowed them to examine every encampment,
and ascertain the number and position of the troops and bat-
teries ; after which they rode to Manassas, and communicated

• THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 13

the valuable information which they had acquired. A private
of the regiment, who was wounded and captured in the battle,
saw a person, that applied for compensation on account of the
injury to his crops^ dressed in the nondescript uniform of the
Southern soldiers. He spoke to him when he was posted
upon guard, and asked, "How much money did you get for
your wheat?" The rebel laughed at the question, but ad-
mitted that he was the spy, ^nd entertained his companions
by narrating the facts. Eations of pork and beef for two
days were boiled on the 20th, and issued to the command
at midnight. The re2;iment was formed in line at one, a.m.,
upon the 21st : the division commeiiced to move into the road
at half-past two, and marched a mile towards the commanding-
heights of Centreville, when it was halted to allow the com-
mands of Tyler and Hunter to file by it. Infantry and ar-
tillery, during the following three hours, occupied the sohtary
avenue over whiclj the entire army passed to the front. The
appearance of this large force inspired all with confidence ;
and the order to advance was awaited with impatience.

The head of the column started at the end of this unforeseen
delay, advanced upon the Warrenton Turnpike through the
little village of Centreville, and crossed the bridge that spans
Cub Run, near which I noticed about twenty barouches and
carriages that contained members of Congress and then-
friends, who had left Washington for the purpose of witness-
ing the approaching conflict. The divisions of Hunter and
Heintzelman debouched from the main road, at a point two

14 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

and a half miles from Centievillo, and, accompanied by a
guide, followed a narrow pathway which was not often used,
and led in its tortuous course through a dry territory that
was well shaded by the forest. An open space of fifteen
acres sometimes intervened ; but it was always enclosed by
dense woods. The day was one of the hottest of the year :
there was no friendly cloud to obstruct the rays of the sun ;
and it was impossible for the ai-my to march a long distance
with unusual speed. Nevertheless, for twelve miles, the men
were pushed forward at an unnatural gait, generally walking
as rapidly as possible, and double-quicking one-fourth of the
time, to keep the diflferent regiments of the column within
supporting distance of each other. Nearly every man
impatiently asked, " How far is it to the Junction ? " when-
ever the loyal citizen residing in the vicinity, who acted as
a guide, rode along the hue. He alwnys answered the
question in a goo'd-natured manner by saying, " Six miles."
The brigade commander never attempted to secure a rest for
the soldiers ; and some of them sank upon the ground, wholly
overcome by faintness, which was produced by the intoler-
able heat and the furious rate at which they wore marched.
There was a very small number, if any, in the Union host,
that wished to evade the unknovra perils of the combat ; and
many, throwing away their blankets and rations to facilitate
their progress, merely retained their muskets and ammunition.
The thirty-two-pound Parrott gun opened its mouth of iron
near the "stone bridge" over Bull Run at G], a. m. ; and the

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 15

artilleiy upon the left continued to fii-e at regular intervals
in the vicinity of the fords, while the right wing was hasten-
ing to turn the left of the rebel line, which was posted in the
rear of the Bull Run. The scarcity of water to allay the
thirst produced by the causes that have been described was
another impediment ; but the cannonading inspu-ed the men
with patriotism, and gave them a physical strength which
they could not have possessed under similar circumstances
in the avocations of a peaceful life.

They occasionally emerged from the woods, and beheld
the long clouds of dust in the south, which showed that the
rebels were moving in the same du-ection ; and it required no
deep knowledge of mathematics to demonstrate that the two
.lines of march, if extended, would soon intersect. The
column arrived at eleven o'clock at a point that was a short
distance fi.'om Sedley's Ford ; and a slight rest was enjoyed
by the brigade while Hunter's division was crossing the run.
The smoke of the exploding shells thrown by the batteries
upon the left could be clistmctly seen. The firing of the
infantry and artillery became very active in front, as soon as
the advance encountered the rebels, and drove them from
their position. While the men were filling their canteens,
an aide-de-ca^np brought an order from Gen. McDowell
to send foi-ward two regiments to prevent the enemy from
flanking the left of the troops that were engaged. The
regiment, and one from Minnesota, led by Gen. Heintzelman,
obeyed the command with alacrity, and double-quicked

16 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

through the fields, and Bull Piun, which was three feet in
depth and twenty yards in width at this ford. The water
was yellow with mud, and flowed between banks of red earth
that showed the abundance of the sandstone in the soil.
The soldiers followed the road over which the foe had been
compelled to retire, and deployed in line upon the ground on
which the rebel battery, which opened the contest, had been
planted. The strange spectacle of dead and wounded men
scattered upon the battle-field affected all with pecuhar
sensations. While the regiment was moving to the front,
Generals Heintzelman and IMcDowell, pointing in the direc-
tion of the firing, exclaimed, "They are running!" "The
day is ours ! " " They are on the retreat ! " and one of them
remarked, " Men, I pledge you my word of honor that there
are not three hundred rebels upon that hill." When they
reached the scene of contest, many were in that state of
fatigue in which it was more natural to sleep than to fight.
The regiment was shielded from the fire of the enemy at this
time by the crest of a hill, upon the slope of which it was
posted. The batteries of Griffin and Kicketts, planted in a
field upon the right, were actively engaged ; and shell and
solid shot were thrown with rapidity. The attention was
excited by the singular shrill whistling that accompanied the
passage of balls and bullets through the air; but no
symptoms of general uneasiness or fear were displayed. The
line advanced to the crest of the hill, and saw the enemies of
the country.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 17

They had been forced to quit the height near the Henry
House ; and the remnant, about fifty in number, was running
in great disorder, and entering the woods, when the regiment
dehvered its volley, and many soldiers, like the author,
discharged the first bullet from their muskets. The foe was
concealed in heavy force upon the left, and quickly returned
the fire, when the order was issued to " lie down and load
again;" and the smoke of rifles held by invisible hands
formed the next target. The hostile batteries were masked
in ravines and dense thickets ; and white, sulphurous clouds,
rising slowly at certain points, and the reports which con-
stantly greeted the ear, were the only indications of their
presence. While the ofiicers were re-forming the lines, which
were sometimes disarranged in the excitement that prevailed.
Gen. McDowell and some members of his staff, together
with other officers that composed a group of twelve or thirteen
persons, rode to this position, and reconnoitred the woods and
hills in front. The soldiers were surprised to witness the
boldness that was thus displayed ; and expected to see them
fall; but were amazed when they retired without recei\'ing a
bullet. When the regiment, inferring that the rebels had
been forced from their last line of defence, advanced to the
same point, a shower of lead welcomed it, and traced little
channels in the ground upon which it stood. The enemy
was again pushed back : the brigade filed to the right, and
held a portion of the Leesburg Road, which ran through the
stream at Sedley's Ford ; and victory seemed to be no longer

18 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

a matter of doubt. The national troops hacl pursued a
retreating army- a mile and a half: the Warrenton "Pike was
in their possession ; and the left wing of Beauregard's force
had been completely turned, so that his line of battle was
formed at right angles with the Bull Pvun, which they had
vainly attempted to defend. A lull in the infantry firing
took place a few minutes after one o'clock, and continued half \
of an horn- ; during which the men that were unoccupied
should hare attacked the rebels, who were enabled by this
blundering delay to re-organize then shattered ranks, and
offer a fii-m resistance when the offensive was assumed.
These were the precious moments when a small fraction of
the large reserve should have been ordered to complete the
triumph that had been abeady won. The commanding
general never submitted an excuse for this omission of duty
that satisfied those who took an active part in the engage-
ment. I had a good opportunity to notice the topography of
this portion of the field, which became the centre of the most
stubborn fighting, while the soldiers were waiting for orders
in the narrow Leesbui-g Road, that had been excavated seven
or ten feet below the surface of the adjoining gi'ound, and
made a fair protection against an assault. There was a
small wooden house, occupied by an infii-m old lady, Mrs.
Henry, who languished upon the bed of sickness during the
contest, and was killed by the troops who fii'ed at the dwell-
ing when it was filled with rebel shaqDshooters. The open
space of ground was very irregular, and located between

THE FIRST BATTLE OP BULL RUN. 19

successive chains of abrupt hills about a quarter of a mile
apart, wlrich varied from one to two hundred feet in height.
Thickets of pine and oak flourished upon the parts of the
field in which the Hues of the enemy were established ; and the
country was adapted by nature for defensive purposes, so that
the rebels, when dislodged from one stronghold, always found
another a short distance in the rear of it. They were con-
cealed in forests which no telescope could penetrate ; but the
formation of the Union divisions took place in the open
ground, and could be easily perceived by the hostile generals
from the summit of a commanding height that overlooked the
scene. The principal portion of the cleared soil was uncul-
tivated, and covered with dry grass, and the black weeds
which thrive upon laud that has been poisoned by the culture
of tobacco. The rain had formed brooks that cut numerous
deep gullies in the slopes of the hills and every section of
the field, and afforded an excellent refuge for the wounded
who could not be carried to the hospitals.

The brigade was near the centre of the line at this time,
and missiles of lead and iron were continually flying over
it. Although the batteries had been placed in the extreme
advance, contrary to" the well-known precepts of military
authors, the success which had hitherto followed our arms
tempted Gen. McDowell to make greater risks. The regular
artillery, which had rendered splendid service, was removed
from a secm-e position, and pushed to the open field in front,
which was destitute of any natural barrier or protection.

20 THE FIRST BxiTTLE OF BULL RUN.

*'Put the battery upon that lull, and the day is ours! "
shouted an officer of high rank. The order was promptly
obeyed, and the nation lost the Aactoiy. Members of the
regiment desti*oyed a portion of the Virginia rail-fence upon
the sides of the road, to allow the cannons to be drawn to
the new point that had been designated. The gunners were
proud of the success which had been achieved ; and one of
them said with truth, as he rode l)y the company, " We made
the secesh battery change position thi-ee times in half an
hour." The regiment was not actively engaged at that mo-
ment ; and most of the men were watching the section of
Griffin's Battery, which was planted near them. A heavy
volley from many rifles ended the silence that had existed
in the infantry-firing, before it had discharged two rounds :
horses, officers, and men were hilled or disabled in the
space of a second ; and, during my subsequent experience in
a score of engagements, I never saw the work of destruction
more sudden or complete. The battery of Rickett, which
was in line of that of Griffin, had been annihilated in the
same decisive manner before the support could be placed in
position. I did not satisfactorily ascertain by whose stupid-
ity this body of rebels was permitted to approach within two
hundred feet of the lines without molestation, until I read
the testimony of Gen. Griffin before the Committee on the
Conduct of the War. I quote his language, because this
disaster was the first check that had occurred in the action,
and the chief cause of the defeat. "Major Barry said, 'I

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 21

know it is the battery support : it is the regiment taken there

by Col. .' I said, ' They are confederates ; as certain as

the work], they are confederates.' He repHed, ' I know they
are your batteiy support.' "

The few cannoneers that survived this fatal volley imme-
diately rushed to the rear : wounded horses, in their agony,
galloped through the ranks of the infantry, and trampled
upon the dead and helpless who were lying upon the field.
Three animals, which were harnessed, and attached to a cais-
son, dashed through the regiment at a furious rate of speed,
and dragged one that was severely injured : a soldier, whose
legs had been shattered by a solid shot, sat upon the carriage,
clinging to it with his hands ; and a stream of blood sprinkled
the earth, and made a trail by which the eouise of the caisson
could be traced. The troops now lost the confidence of vic-
tory which they had hitherto possessed ; while the defeated
and disheartened rebels, who saw eleven pieces of artillery
in an instant placed hors de comhat, at once renewed their
efforts, and their yells of exultation were heard above the din
of the conflict. A squadron of their cavalry attempted to
make a charge ; but many of their saddles were emptied, and
they were easily repulsed by a body of men who belonged to
different regiments. In the mean time, the rebel leaders had
rallied their stragglers and fugitives, and advanced then- lines
to capture the guns which were now powerless to do them
any injury. They were triumphantly driven three times to
the woods, and victory was once more within the gTasp of the

22 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

Union general. The soldiers seized some of the pieces, and
pulled them a few yards to the rear ; but were compelled to
leave them, because the defeat of the enemy required the
presence of every man in the line of battle. The regiment
at one time stood upon the ground which was held by the
foe when the first volley was discharged, and the dead and
wounded were seen upon every side. The Mississippi troops
had sustained a heavy loss at this point ; and one of them,
who was djdng, remarked to the men, " You have fought for
your country, and I have fought for mine." The mangled
artillerists rested beneath the guns, in serving which they had
so bravely fallen.

It was three o'clock, and the soldiers had been engaged
upon the march, or in action, during the long period of thu--
teen hours. A large number, from various causes, had left
their commands and escaped to the rear, or fought without
regard to the rules of discipline ; but the colors of the regi-
ments, and the organizations, with many of the ofiicers and
companies, still remained. The exhausting march, the terri-
ble heat, the lack of water, the horrors of the battle, and,
above all, the loss of the artillery, had affected those who
remained, to such an extent that they became every minute
more unfitted to resist the onset of the enemy, who main-
tained an irregular fire from the forest. Some officers be-
haved in the most cowardly manner ; and certain companies
wore commanded by sergeants, because the captains and lieu-
tenants absented themselves during the engagement. An

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 23

uninjured colonel, who pretended to be severely wounded,
and declared that he was unable to walk, was borne from the
field by four members of his regiment. There was no gen-
eral demoralization in the army, although many of the troops
acted like all novices in the dreadful art of war, and exe-
cuted some movements with great confusion. Two men
placed their hands upon their ears to exclude the noise of
the musketry and artillery, and rushed to the woods in the
rear of the reguuent. A timid Cathohc took his service-book
from his pocket, and read some of the prayers when the
brigade was posted in the road. The shells struck rifles
with such force, that some were twisted into the form of
circles. A cannon-ball severed the arm of a sergeant, and
threw it into the face of a soldier, who supposed, from the
blow and the amount of blood upon his person, that he was
dangerously wounded. One man stumbled over some briers
while the column was ascenduig a hill; and a solid shot
passed over him and killed his file-leader, when he fell upon
the gTOund. The ghastly faces of the dead, and the suffer-
ings of the wounded, who were begging for water, or implor-
ing aid to be carried to the hospital, moved the heai'ts of men
who had not by long experience become callous to the sight
of human agony.

The firing in front was very feeble at four o'clock ; but a
succession of severe volleys was poured from the woods upon
the right flank and rear. The troops were unable to offer
any resistance, and began to retire from the field upon which

24 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

they had maintained, unaided, the long struggle. The fresh
soldiers that arrived at this opportune moment Ijelonged to
Kirby Smith's brigade, and formed a part of the rebel army
of Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley. Generals and
mounted officers, among whom were Burnside, Wadsworth,
and Gov. Sprague^ attempted in every way to form a new
line, and prevent the retreating regiments from leaving the
field; but the position" that was selected had no natural
strength, and could be discerned by the enemy, who fol-
lowed with the energy of conquerors. The colors of some
commands were planted fii-mly ; and every man was ordered
to rally around them, and make one more effort to win the
battle; and officers shouted, " Eally round the old flag!"
or, "Zouaves, remember Ellsworth ! V

When the foe advanced with loud yells, and it was certain
that the thousands who had remained in the reserve at Cen-
tre ville, and rendered no service dimng the protracted con-
test, would not assist the diminished numbers that were formed
upon the field, despair was visible on every face^; and the
regiments fell back about half-past four o'clock. The rebel
artillery opened as I passed the Stone Church, which had
been used as a hospital ; and their cavalry followed at a safe
distance in the rear of the mass of the army, after they had
received a few rounds of canister. The men were overcome
by their thirst ; when they forded the run, and drank copious
quantities of the water, which was constantly disturbed and
filled with particles of mud by the tramp of horses and sol-

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 25

diers through it. The disorder that existed was increased at
this point ; and the sorrowful troops, who had been forced to
show their backs to the enemy, discussed the causes of the
repulse while the shells were bursting in their midst. All
seemed to wish to reach some rallying-point like Centreville, •
so that they would not be taken prisoners ; and some officers
removed their shoulder-straps to conceal their rank, and
rushed to "Washington. The infantry did not attempt to
pursue the retreating columns ; and the cavalry halted for the
night upon the south bank of Cub Eun, which flows into
Bull Run. The disorganized brigades marched upon the
road over which they had passed in the morning ; squads
were scattered in all directions, stopping occasionally to eat
the refreshing blackberries under their feet ; and few bodies
of men were moving with regularity.

The gunners of the Washington Artillery obtained an ex-
cellent range upon the bridge over Cub Eun, and demolished
an army wagon, which was not removed by the teamsters
who blocked up the way in their eagerness to escape. The
stream was not fordable : trains and batteries that had not yet
crossed were abandoned, and one-thu'd of the loss that was
sustained in the munitions of war occurred at this place. The
general that allowed .the wagons to go to the front committed
an inexcusable error : if they had been parked at Centreville
with the reserve, not one of them would have been captured.
The so-called panic, about which so much has been said by
persons that have given a description of the battle, occuri'ed

26 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

at this time. The drivers, finding it impossible to cross the
run with the wagons and artillery, took their horses, and
sometimes cut the traces to expedite their movements ; because
the shells were continually bursting near them, and there were
no troops upon that side of the stream to resist the cavalry
if tliey made a charge. Some government teamsters, who
belonged to no army organization, and were upon the safe
bank, beyond the range of the rebel guns, cowardly deserted
their wagons, and rode, without halting, until they saw the
dome of the Capitol. The foot-soldiers, alarmed by this
strange conduct and the absence of general officers, double-
quicked and run ; and hundreds cast aside muskets, axes, and
equipments, so that their flight could not be retarded. The
appearance of so many full regiments at Centreville, that had
been unemployed during the day, caused much excitement ;
and the troops that had undergone the perils of the fight
were very severe in their comments upon the ability and loy-
alty of the commanding general. " We have been sold,"
was a common remark in their conversation. The last shot
was fired a few minutes before sunset ; and the armies no
longer heard, " in tones of thunder, the diapason of the can-
nonade." The shells and bullets ceased to sing their songs
of death in the forests of Manassas, but rushed in silence,
until they struck the homes of their victims, in the peaceful
villages of the north.

I was obliged to leave the ranks durmg the latter part of
the march, on account of exhaustion produced, in the battle,

THE FIRST BATTLE OP BULL RUN. 27

by a fragment of shell which had inflicted a mere scratch.
I walked in the direction of Centreville, at daybreak, on
the 22d, after a sound sleep in a clump of bushes, and ex-
pected to find the army established upon the heights. In
travelling on the road which led through this town and Fair-
fax Court House, the amount of government property that
was needlessly destroyed, during the retreat, was easily ascer-
tained. There were ten or twelve commissary and ammuni-
tion wagons in the streets of Centreville ; and three had been
abandoned within a mile of the last-named place, when the
rebels were at least ten miles from them. Blankets, rifles,
and equipments of many descriptions, were scattered in the
road, and the woods that bordered upon it ; and some had
been thrown away by men who were near Alexandria.
Crowds of women and negroes, like wreckers in a stranded
ship, were taking flour and provisions from the deserted
wagons ; and the commissary department of the enemy ob-
tained a small number of rations at the expense of the national
treasury.

The houses upon the public way, and especially those of
Centreville, were filled with the wounded who could not walk :
there were no surgeons or nurses to dress and bandage their
injuries ; and they implored all the able-bodied persons to tell
the general to send doctors and ambulances. Squads of
stragglers, and slightly wounded men, with bandaged heads,
arms in slings, and Hmping upon sticks, were walking to over-
take the army, which had marched during the night. A

28 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

steady rain fell daring the day ; and with my musket, and
ecjuipments for companions, I arrived at night at Alexandria,
completely saturated. Upon the line of retreat, the natives,
• comprising old men and the female portion of the communi-
ty, openly expressed their joy at the result of the conflict,
and misled the soldiers by wilfully deceiving them about the
direction of the roads ; while others, and the L'ish settlers
near the railroad, in every way assisted the stragglers.
When I passed through Centreville at half-past seven o'clock
in the morning, a loyal man, without any hat upon his head,
which was adorned with the white hair of age, stood at the
intersection of the streets, pointed out to all that which led to
Fairfax Court House, and earnestly advised them to hm-ry as
much as possible, because the rebel cavalry could cut them
off as soon as they knew that the troops had marched to Alex-
andria. Most of the wagons which had been purposely or
shamefully abandoned were marked " U. S. ; " and I did not
see a regimental team upon the route. There was an impor-
tant distinction between the drivers : those of the first were
hireling civilians, while the last were soldiers detailed for this
duty from the volunteers.

Near Fairfax there was a squad of fifty men, two of whom
had fastened white handkerchiefs to their bayonets to prevent
the rebels from firing upon them. Other gToups marched
together under a commander of their choice, kept in good
order, and avowed an intention to resist the cavalry, which
was momentarily expected. Three men tied their muskets to

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 29

tbe saddle of a horse wbich they had found, and each one
rode a portion of the way. A soldier knocked down an offi-
cer who was mounting his steed, jumped upon the animal,
and, in a few minutes, there was an impassable gulf between
the owner and the thief. Many of the ambulances and wagons,
from which the stores had been removed, instead of conveying
the wounded, were crowded with officers and men who wished
to secure a ride.

The reports of the fighting at Bull Kun were distorted ac-
counts of a single feature of the retreat ; and the journals and
people spoke of nothing except ihe " panic-struck troops "
or a "routed army." Certain general and staff officers
shrewdly and dishonorably availed themselves of this fact,
and threw the cause of the defeat upon the *' disorganized
volunteers," to shield themselves from the share of pul3lic
censure which they justly deserved. Major Barry, with re-
markable assurance, testified concerning " uninstructed,"
" raw," and " green" troops, " panics," " indolent officers,"
and '■* infantry support broken in confusion, and scattered in all
dhections. ' ' The wisdom of Gen. Scott, in opposing the appoint-
ment of Gen. M'Dowell, was fully confii-med ; and the soldiers
that formed his command considered that his incompetency
was the primary reason of the unfortunate defeat. The ef-
fective strength of the anny was diminished by the mode in
which it was manoeuvred and separated. Gen. Runyon was
stationed near Fairfax Court House, which was a day's march
from the battle-field, with seven or ten thousand men, and

80 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

performed no more service for the country than the Queen's
Guard in London. Another body of eleven thousand troops,
tinder Col. Miles, who was intoxicated, and unrelieved when
the fact was reported at headquarters, was posted in the
morning at Centreville, upon the left, and remained there
during the day, without rendering any aid to their comrades
upon the right. A few skirmishers rarely exchanged shots ;
and the artillery quickly dispersed a small rebel force that re-
connoitred the position by firing nine or ten rounds of canis-
ter. Nearly two brigades of the division commanded by Col.
Tyler were halted upon the north bank of Bull Run, and
most unwillingly acted the part of spectators. It will be ob-
served that less than three-eighths of Gen. M'Dowell's force
(about fifteen thousand men) actively participated in the com-
bat ; and the remainder (about twenty-five thousand) did not
fire a cartridge at the enemy. Of forty-nine pieces of artillery
which was attached to the army, only twenty-two were planted
upon the field of strife. This small number of gallant sol-
diers, at times basely deserted by certain brigadiers, overcame
serious obstacles, gained a brilliant success, which was not
followed up, and was finally repulsed by fresh troops. If
the list of casualties is apportioned among those that actually
fought, and it is remembered that the contending troops were
unused to the disturbing events of battle, and could not aim
with the deadly accuracy of veterans, their bravery is vindi-
cated. It is an interesting fact, that, while the so-called gene-
rals of the rebel army suflfered a severe loss, not one wa-s
killed upon the Union side.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 31

Many negi'oes gladly escaped from the lines of the enemy,
and brought valuable information ; but their statements were
unnoticed : and, contrary to every dictate of humanity, they
were forced to return to their masters, and crouch in helpless
agony beneath the cruel lash of fiends. Thus Gen. M'Dow-
ell bhndly rejected the best means of learning important facts,
and gave to the foe some laborers, who worked upon the forts
of Centre ville and Manassas.

The reports of rebel generals and authors, their maps, and
especially that which was " taken by Capt. Samuel P. Mitchell,
First Virginia Regiment," who took part in the battle, concur
with Jefferson Davis in stating that it was " a hard-fought
field." Prisoners always admitted that the arrival of Smith's
brigade saved them from utter defeat. Every general and
civilian that prefers charges of cowardice, or " panic-struck "
flight, against the troops that attacked the foes of the country
in the first action of Bull Kun, is a base slanderer or a cul-
pable ignoramus.

CHAPTER 11.

THE CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S
EERRY.

/ ^l»'HE defeat at Bull Run disheartened the troops ;
^1 and, like most soldiers who have taken part in an
^^Jy engagement, they did not wish to witness another if
it could he honorably avoided. Many who had
approached the field with misgivings about their courage in
the presence of death were happy in the thought that they
had performed their duty without displaying any symptom of
fear. The regiment returned to ils old quarters at Alexan-
dria ; and, with the exception of frequent night-alarms con-
cerning the rumored advance of Johnston and Beauregard to
attack Washington, nothing of interest occurred. The stores
of the city were closed, a regiment composed of its citizens
was in the rebel army, grass was gi'owing in the main streets,
and a perpetual sabbath reigned. Every soldier visited the
Marshall House ; and, at the time I saw it, the stairs and doors
had been wholly cut away by the hatchets and knives of
those that earned away some rehc to " remember Ellsworth."
The hostile opinions which the people entertained towards the
Union forces were expressed by a daughter of a wealthy

32

CAMPS AT BLADEX3BUEG AXD BUDD'S FERRY. 33

traitor, who remarked to the sentinel at the principal entrance
to the camp, " Only niggers and trash come to see you."

The regiment marched upon Aug. 9, and pitched its
tents upon the battle-field of Bladensburg during the follow-
ing day. The famous duelling-ground was within the lines,
and furnished an excellent place for target practice. The
First and Eleventh Massachusetts Volunteers, Second New-
Hampshire Volunteers, and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Vol-
unteers, formed a brigade, and Gen. Hooker was assigned
to the command. Orders relating to the discipline of the
troops were issued ; and the hours for eating, driilhig, and
sleeping, which comprise the chief duties of the military life
in camp, were indicated by the bugle and drum. The re-
veille, which, hke the voice in the colossal statue of rdem-
non, welcomed the rising sun, was the signal for the soldiers
to " fall in for roll-call ; " and those who delayed to obey the
notes of the drum and fife were seized by the strong arm of
"brief authority," in the person of a sergeant or corporal,
and brought into the company street. Gen. Hooker always
inspected the brigade at this early hour, and summoned offi-
cers that were absent, or sleeping in their tents, to drill their
commands. Seven hours were daily occupied in drilling,
and one that preceded "breakfast at seven" was the fii'st that
claimed the attention. Unlike Generals M'Dowell and
Franklin, who always exhibited towards subalterns, and espe-
cially enlisted men, the most supercilious beaiing, the briga-
dier listened to eveiy person — the drummer-boy or the colo-

3

34 CAMPS AT BLADEXSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

nel of a regiment — with sacli candor and sincerity that he
quickly acquired their confidence.

The negroes that hved within fifteen miles of the camp
walked to it upon Sunday, and brought small quantities of
fruit, which was generally carried upon their heads. Al-
though their masters claimed that they were well fed, all the
unconsumed food was given to them by the soldiers, who
watched them with amazement while they devoured enormous
quantities. They collected the clothing that had been cast
aside, and wore the uniforms, but since that date established
their right to them by enlisting in the service. They were
deceived by the whites in regard to the treatment which they
would receive ; and the sight of a musket in the hands of one
of the men caused general terror, and earnest prayers to
spare their lives. They imagined that their shackles would
soon be broken, and manifested their joy by queer songs and
frantic dances.

The command was sometimes under orders to move at a
second's notice ; rations for three days were cooked, and the
cars stood upon the railroad to receive them. The regiment
performed picket-duty in the town, and searched every wagon
that passed over the road to Washington to find contraband
mails and ammunition ; but a few peaches and water-melons
were the only articles that were confiscated. The heat was
so intolerable during the day, that all clothing seemed to be
superfluous ; but the cold chills in the night would be so in-
tense, that overcoats would be required to keep their weaxera

comfortable. Necessity compelled the men to learn many
domestic duties. The little streams near the camps were al-
ways occupied by groups who were washing their clothes or
persons ; and the brook, besides its value on account of the
water, furnished a min-or ; and the bushes that grew upon the
banks were covered with towels and clothing. The bed was
easily made by placing a rubber blanket upon the ground, and
using one of wool, and an overcoat for quilts; while a pair
of shoes and a knapsack formed the pillow. The ventilation
of the tents, it is needless to say, was perfect ; and the effect
of simple food, exercise, and pure air, upon the health of the
troops, was excellent ; and some added thirty pounds of flesh
to their bodies during the first three months of their service.
Although many officers exposed the frauds of government
contractors and inspectors, the army was bountifully supplied
with defective articles of every description. The tents
leaked " like sieves," until the general succeeded in procur-
ing those of another pattern, that were useful when it rained.
Many pants and blouses, which had been worn with ordinary
care, were reduced, at the end of two weeks, to worthless
rags, that no " stitch in time " or sewing-machine could unite
together. The soles of thousands of shoes, if once partially
wet, had the qualities of pasteboard ; and some blankets
were as valuable for comfort as those which Surgeon-Gen.
Hammond purchased for the hospitals. The slight experi-
ence of a month satisfied the troops that the patent drinking
tubes and filters, which adorned their necks when they

marched through cities en route to Washington, were of little
if any use ; and they were cast aside. Havelocks, which, be-
sides other inconveniences, did not avert the rays of the sun,
were torn into shreds, and furnished rags for cleaning guns
and swords.

Earthworks were constructed around Washington ; and de-
tails were daily ordered to dig trenches, and fell the woods
and orchards that interfered with the range of the redoubts
and forts. Drills, fatigue-duty, and a review by the Presi-
dent and Gen. M'Clellan, were the only events that dis-
turbed the usual quietness of the brigade camp. The com-
mand of Gren. Sickles and that of Gen. Hooker consti-
tuted, in the month of October, a division which was placed
in charge of the latter, and broke up its encampment upon
the 24th. I heard a conversation, and observed certain facts
in one regiment of the brigade previous to the march,
and narrate them to show the manner in which some chaplains
discharged their rehgious tasks. Two hundred Bibles and
Testaments, and a package of tracts, had been sent to this offi-
cer for distribution ; but his time had been occupied in acting
as purveyor *and cook for the field and staff, and he had neg-
lected to circulate them. When the marching orders were
received, he was very industrious, and carefully packed his
large stock of crockery, and private property, including a
faded, good-for-nothing umbrella, for transportation, and sold
the floor of his tent, consisting of eight or ten boards, to a
citizen. The colonel said to the chaplain, when the column

CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY. 37

began to move, "Have you sent all your baggage to the
train?" — "Yes," he rejolied; "but what shall I do with
these things? " — " What things? " — "Nothing but some re-
ligious matter," he answered, as he pointed to the Bibles and
tracts which had been scattered upon the ground by the pur-
chaser of the boards. " Why didn't you give them to the
men?" — "They don't want them," the chaplain quietly
remai'ked ; and this gift of Christian friends was left upon
the field. The same person was ordered to preach, three
months after this occurrence ; and obliged to borrow a Bible
of a private in his regiment, because he did not have one
copy in his possession.

The division halted and encamped at a point near Budd's
Ferry, upon the Potomac, after marching fifty-five miles in
four days through a thinly settled section of Maryland that
contained a few hovels which their inmates styled towns and
villages. The troops bivouacked during the nights in the
woods and fields near the road ; and the blazing camp-fires,
made chiefly of rails taken from well-seasoned fences, were
the centres of circles of twenty or thirty feet that belonged to
the sleeping soldiers. The " general " was played in the
morning, to notify the men to prepare for the march ; and the
fifes spoke the words that the veteran musicians ascribed to

them : —

'< Don't you Lear the general say,

* Strike your tents, and march away ' ?
Yes : I hear the general say,

* Strike your tents, and march away.' "

38 CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

The roads, like those of Virginia, were in a miserable state,
and the ai't of building bridges was unknown. The rations
consisted of salt pork, which was usually eaten without the
aid of any culinary process, and the regular quantities- of
coffee and hard bread.

The division encamped at the distance of two miles from
the Potomac ; and the regiments daily furnished details that
performed picket-duty on the banks of the river, and more
than fifteen miles were carefully watched to prevent illicit
trade between Virginia and IMarylaud. The cold winds
might penetrate the frame, snow and sleet might chill the
limbs ; but the vigilance of the Argus-eyed sentinels never
ceased. The rebels had constructed breastworks and forts
in the woods, upon the steep bluffs of the southern shore, on
Cockpit Point and Shipping Point, near Evansport, where
the main channel ran near this bank of the river; and a
blockade for the purposes of general navigation was estab-
lished. Before the trees which concealed the batteries had
been felled, and while the captains were ignorant of the
presence of an enemy, the hostile gunners seized two
schooners and the steamboat " George Page," and anchored
them in Quantico Creek. The regiment guarded the ground
which was in front of the earthworks, and within the range
of the cannons ; and once in ten days the company, for
twenty-four hours, patrolled the northern bank. The traitors'
flag of three bars waved over the forts for three weeks ; when
it was lowered, and never elevated again. A large telescope

CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY. 39

mounted upon a tripod could be seen; but it was soon
removed on account of the dangerous tendencies of the shells
"which the gunboats and a land battery threw into the work.
Heavy siege guns, including some of English manufacture,
had been mounted in the forts ; and from the embrasures,

" Their mouths, ■with hideous orifice,
Gaped on us wide."

The thirty-two-pound Parrott gun, which opened the battle
of Bull Run, and was lost at the Cub-Run Bridge, had been
planted in the lower battery, and was frequently fired by the
rebels at a high elevation, until it burst, and killed and
wounded more in its death than during its life.

Near a house which had been recently vacated by its
owner, an aged lady, Mrs. Budd, the men, under cover of
night, threw up a small earthwork, in which two pieces of
light artillery were placed. The foe, at fii'st, often fired at
the pickets without any serious results, and then attempted to
destroy the httle boats and smacks which sometimes sailed by.
Three men were stationed, at certain intervals, upon every post
near the river, in the vicinity of the hillocks and large trees
which were essential to their protection and comfort ; and the
path that led from the right to the left of the line was torn,
and many holes were excavated by huge shells from the guns
in the " Old Dominion." The guards dug caves, and with
cornstalks, boughs, and mud, constructed shelters and huts,
wliich resembled in style the rude structures of savage tribes.

40 CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD's FERRY.

The fire, fed by the driftwood gathered upon the shore,
enlivened with its warmth, day after day, and month after
month, the pickets that in succession encircled and watched
the cheerful flames like the vestal virgins of Rome, who
nourished the embers that were never extinguished. While
• the dark hours slowly sailed along, and seemed at times
becalmed, thoughts of a cherished home arose in the mind of
the soldier who —

" Sat by his fire, and talked the night away."

When there was no breeze, a person could shout across the
Potomac, which was a mile and a half in width at this point :
the orders of officers drilling their commands, the sound of a
solitary bass drum, and the strokes of axes, were distinctly
heard. The hostile pickets sometimes conversed with each
other, and profane taunts and coarse jokes concerning " blue-
bellied Yankees," and " ragged and shoeless secesh," passed
from one side to the other. If one of oui' cannons was dis-
charged at the batteries, their sentinels immediately yelled,
" Look out ! the Yanks' shell is coming ! " and similar
outcries. The names of regiments and generals were ascer-
tained in these conversations ; and a rebel asked; upon one
occasion, "Is that woman we can see riding upon a horse
Gen. Sickles'swife?"

Vessels loaded with cargoes of wood and hay, to the
number of twenty, sometimes passed up the. river duiing the
night, and rarely attracted the notice of the artillerists. The

41

path of tlie shell through the air could be traced by the sparks
that fell from the ignited fusee, and the deadly flames
removed the obscurity of midnight when it exploded.
Oyster - boats boldly glided along in the daytime ; and
immense amounts of ammunition were burned in the futile
attempt to destroy them. It is very difficult for gunners to
aim with accuracy at a moving object; and not a single
vessel or person was seriously injured dui"ing the blockade,
although at least eight thousand shots were hurled by the
rebel cannons. The sailors concealed themselves in the hold ;
while the craft, urged by the breeze, moved on, and seemed
to be guided by fairies. The batteries, hidden in clouds of
smoke, were active until the cause that excited their fii-e was
beyond their range ; and the pickets on every part were suc-
cessively exposed to the shots that passed over the boats.
Balls and shells, varying in weight from twenty-four to one
hundred and twenty-eight pounds, were often taken from the
earth in which they had been buried. The enemy, in sever-
al instances, ascertained, by some inexplicable means, the
countersign, and shouted it across the river before it had
been communicated to the pickets by the brigade officer of
the day. The action of some citizens who lived in Maryland,
and were suspected on account of their well-known sympathies
for friends in Virginia, was constantly observed. A singular
waving light, which was moved from point to point in a dark
and stormy night, was once seen, and the occupant of the
house near the stream, towai'ds which no gun was ever

42 CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

pomted by the rebel cannoneers, was promptly arrested and
sent to Washington for the serious crime of making signals
to the foe. When the facts were investigated, it appeared
that he had carried a lantern to some outbuildings to awaken
cooks, and procure food for guests who had arrived at a late
hour; and he was released after he took the oath of allegiance.
The Southern winter differed from that of the North in its
essential features : rain fell instead of snow, and the ground
was covered with a thick layer of mud. Details, that occasion-
ally comprised the entire force, labored and corduroyed the
roads, which were often impassable ; and when the horses could
not draw the necessary supplies in the amiy wagons, a barge,
manned by soldiers of nautical experience, conveyed them
in the night, within the range of the batteries, to a point
near the regiment. No orders were received to go into
winter quarters when the cold season advanced ; and applica-
tions for leave of absence were generally refused at army
headquarters in Washington, because the " exigencies of the
service " required the presence of every officer and man with
his command. The balloon ascended to make reconnois-
sances ; and it was supposed, from these facts, that the Gov-
ernment would grant Gen. Hooker's request to attack the
batteries and re-open the Potomac. In this state of uncer-
tainty, many who had anticipated a movement neglected to
build comfortable barracks until a late period. Four men
lived in an A tent, which was fastened to layers of logs about
three feet in height, and heated by means of a chunney

CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY. 43

built of sticks and adhesive mud, and surmounted by a
barrel.

No class of persons follow a life of greater indolence than
soldiers who are living in winter quarters ; and the camp
afforded good opportunities to study human nature, and learn
the motives which actuate many that enlist in the service.
The regiment formed a hollow square in the evening, after
dress parade ; and the chaplains, in compliance with orders,
offered prayers to promote the spuitual welfare of the troops.
Those officers who seldom held any religious services upon
the Sabbath, and employed their time in cooking, and swind-
ling the men and poor negroes, were not hstened to with any
feelings of respect. The author was present upon these oc-
casions in a certain command, and noticed that the appear-
ance of the chaplain, who had acquired the sobriquet of
" good and holy man," on account of the peculiar manner in
which he performed his duties, was greeted with oaths by the
line; and the epithets, "hypocrite," "pies," "rascal,"
" turkeys," and similar words, fell upon the ear. One
colonel sometimes reproved his chaplain by saying to him, in
strong language, " If you don't cook a better dinner than
this to-mori'ow, I will have you tied to the flag-staff next Sun-
day, and make you preach two hours to the regunent."
Threats like these made the offender redouble his eSorts ;
and, in his anxiety to provide a good meal for his mess upon
a certain day, he neglected to attend the funeral of a private ;
and the surgeon read the burial service at the grave.

44 CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

Some of the citizens with treasonable prochvities, who
resided near the camps, demanded large amounts for alleged
damages to their property by the soldiers, when they had no
just claim. A captain in the regiment purchased some
boards in a shed for twenty dollars ; but the owner de-
clined to receive the money when it was tendered, and
remarked that it was " all right," and he did not wish for
any compensation. The officer subsequently ascertained that
the scoundrel presented a bill, amounting to three hundred
dollars, against the Government^ for injuries which he had
sustained by the loss of his lumber. Another party filed
a long account for damages to a saw-mill; and, after his
death, the son and administrator of the estate trebled the
sum. When the premises were examined, it was clearly
proved that the building was tumbling to pieces on account
of its age, and no use had been made of it for years previous
to the arrival of the division.

Negroes continually escaped, and were concealed and shel-
tered in the quarters; and disturbances always occurred
whenever their masters, in compliance with instructions from
army headquarters, appeared to search the camps for the pur-
pose of seizing and carrying them to their old cabins. The
slave-hunters were forced to leave some regiments by the in-
dignant soldiers, who threatened to shoot them if they per-
sisted in entering their lines. Besides this unfortunate race,
refugees and deserters occasionally passed across the Potomac
from Virginia by means of logs, rafts, and " dug-outs."

CAMPS AT BLADENSBUEG AND BUDD's FERRY. 45

The plain rations furnished by the Government did not
tempt the palate ; but the supply largely exceeded the de-
mand : and foreign oj6&cers who visited the camps stated that
another force, of the same number, could be well fed by
issuing to them the food that was wasted. The enhsted men
who had formerly served in European armies often made the
same assertion. An English author, who inherited from his
literary mother a bitter enmity against the United States,
says, " The gi-eat boast of this army was that they ate meat
twice a day, and that their daily supply of bread was more
than they could consume." The wife of an officer, who
noticed with much interest the quality of food which the sol-
diers devoui-ed at then- meals, remarked, in a tone of surprise,
" The privates fare well : they live just as they do at home in
jail." The third brigade, comprising regiments from New
Jersey, joined the division ; and, like all the troops from this
State, their gallant conduct, during the years that the com-
mand existed, rendered invaluable aid to the national cause.

Three companies of the regiment. A, F, and K, under
the commmand of Lieut.-Col. Tileston (who fell in the second
battle of Bull Run), were ordered to march through the
counties of Lower 31aryland, in the latter part of December,
to search for arms, and prevent the passage of recruits, stores,
and mails, from Maryland to Virginia. The detachment was
absent three weeks upon this service ; and the company re-
mained a third of the time at Pmy Point, which was seventy
miles from the camp at Budd's Ferry. The weather and

46 CAMPS AT BLADENSBUEG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

roads were unfavorable for public travel : the troops biv-
ouacked upon different nights in quarters between which
there was a vast contrast ; and occupied, according to cir-
cumstances, court-houses and hotels, or barns and straw-
stacks. A detail demolished at Allen's Fresh a boat which
had frequently crossed the Potomac, although the owner
solemnly declared that it was "as innocent as a new-born
lamb." A squadron of cavalry patrolled the bank of the
river, and watched the numerous inlets and creeks ; and the
people treated the officers with extreme courtesy, and con-
cealed, under a mask of hospitality, their inimical schemes.
A major, who commanded the department, was especially
welcomed by the family of one of the most wealthy and aris-
tocratic citizens, and contracted an engagement to be married
to his daughter. Yielding to the alluring entreaties of his
betrothed, he overcame, by means of his position and represen-
tations, the objections of the loyal inhabitants, and procured
the discharge of her rebel brother and a cousin from Fort
Lafayette, in which they had been justly confined by the Gov-
ernment. As soon as these relatives were released from the
walls of their prison, the artful lady, who, like all traitors,
was destitute of every sentiment of honor, released the officer
from his engagement, and treated hmi with the utmost con-
tempt.

The soldiers passed through the most thickly-settled slave-
holding section of the State, in which, as a natural result, the
mass of the people was ignorant, and attached to the cause

CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY. 47

of the enemy. The country had been settled at an early
period ; and some of Lord Baltimore's landmarks, which in^
dicated the boundaries of his grants, were still standing.
Like the M'Sweyn Family, described by Dr. Johnson, there
was no progress from one generation to the next. " For the
son is exactly formed upon the father : what the father says,
the son says; what the father looks, the son looks." The
stagnation that existed in this locality was adapted for the
man who wished to " immerse himself and his posterity for
ages in barbarism." Many times, when the soldiers were
passing by a dwelling, the song of " My Maryland " was
played upon the piano and sung by the young members of
the household ; and wishes were uttered like the following :
*' I hope you will always be whipped, and have to run away
as you did at Bull Eun." In the church at Leonardtown,
lozenges, upon which treasonable mottoes were printed, were
scattered in the pews that they occupied. One citizen owned
two savage mastiffs, which he had designated by the names
of " Jeff Davis " and " Beauregard," as a tribute of respect
for those rebels.

The negroes were delighted to see the troops, and danced
with joy when the officers placed in arxcst, or examined the
premises of, " massa," who had hitherto swayed the commu-
nity without opposition. They always told falsehoods, and
made answers that they thought would shield them from
brutal punishment if they were questioned in the presence of
any white citizens ; but gave all the information they pos-

48 CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

sessed when assured of protection, and eagerly pointed out
the places in which arms and colors had been concealed ; and,
by this means, an old cannon was discovered in a swamp.
They were celebrating the holidays ; and I observed with sur-
prise, what my experience confirmed, that the majority of the
whites and blacks of both sexes talked alike ; and the pecu-
liar dialect which marks the performance of Ethiopian min-
strels is the common language of some of the best classes.
It was generally impossible to distinguish between the master
and his slave in the night, if the tones and style of the con-
versation formed the sole basis of the judgment. " Who dat
trow de snowball? " was the question asked by a very intelK-
gent citizen of Budd's Ferry, who owned more than a hun-
dred "hands," when a mischievous soldier, by skilfully
throwing this missile, struck his portly back. The mulattoes,
who had lost many of the physical features of the race, were
numerous ; and I saw near Leonardtown two men with sable
complexions and bright auburn "wool." One of them,
without knowing the fact, adopted an old saying, in letter and
spirit, and stated that he did not drink any whiskey or get
drunk until he became a Roman, and did the same as the
Romans. The often-repeated remark, " I'se a Roman," was
the expression which he used to show that he belonged to the
Catholic Church. When the men referred to the peculiar
color of his hair, he said that it " growed dar ; " and he Hked
it because he had seen pictures of God, and " God had red
har." This strange dogma of faith comprised the chief article

CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD's FERRY. 49

of his religion, and was maintained with great fervor by allu-
sions to the sacred paintings, the "pictures of God," upon
the walls of his house of worship.

Large flocks of turkey-buzzards were constantly flying in
I the air ; and a farmer informed me that they disappeared and
flew to the field of carnage after the battle of Bull Kun;
from which they returned to their old haunts, near the bluffs
of the Potomac, after an absence of three months. The ex-
citement and exercise attending the march in the midst of
winter improved the health of the men; and, during the
three weeks that followed the date upon which they rejoined
the regiment, not a single case of sickness occurred in this
command, while the remaining companies had from thirty to
fifty names upon the surgeon's list.

The natural obstacles of the climate, and winter season, pre-
vented the entire army from advancing ; and preparations for
an active campaign were made when the spring approached.
Shelter-tents, that beneficial invention which enables the sol-
dier to transport his house upon his shoulders, and cartridges
containing three buck-shot and a bullet, were issued to the
regiment ; and surplus stores and clothing, which could not be
carried, were sent to Washington and Alexandria for storage.
Upon March 9, 1862, the enemy burned the schooners and
steamer "George Page;" evacuated the earthworks upon
which they had daily labored for six months ; and the Amer-
ican colors were fastened to the rebel flag-staffs in the after-
noon. The reports of explosions in the abandoned forts and

50 CAMPS AT BLADENSBURG AND BUDD'S FERRY.

camps that were located in the interior gradually grew fainter ;
and the sounds were barely perceptible when the retreating
forces were ten miles from the Potomac.

The river was once more free : mariners no longer pre-
ferred darkness to light, or anxiously scanned the forests and
hills of Virginia to discover amidst the beauty of the scenery
the " horrid flash " of the rifles and cannon of a lurking foe ;
and transports in large numbers hourly sailed by the silent
forts. M«st of the siege-guns in the batteries were over-
charged, and burst; and the carriages were burning when
the Union forces took possession. By a fortuitous coinci-
dence, one loaded piece, heated by the fire of the wood-work,
discharged a ball at the moment that a schooner was withm
range ; and this was the last solid shot which was thrown by
rebel ordnance across the Lower Potomac. This unlooked-for
explosion affected the tongues of the few soldiers who were
naturally despondent, and they began to croak, " The rebels
have not gone yet ; " or, " They are still there, and playing a
deep game." When the appearance of the short-lived " Mer-
riraac " alarmed the country, the barges and boats, which had
been collected at Run Point for the purpose of transporting
the division to Virginia to assault the batteries, were loaded
with gravel and stones ; and men were detailed to sink them
in the channel if the iron monster attempted to ascend the
river and bombard Washington.

Upon April 5, 1862, the troops, animated by the victories
which had recently followed the Union arms, cheerfully quit

CAMPS AT BLADENSBUEG AND BUDD'S FERRY. 51

the familiar scenes of Budd's Ferry, bivouacked upon the
banks, and embarked on the sixth upon the steamboat "Em-
peror," which conveyed the regiment during the succeeding
week down the Potomac, and up the York.

CHAPTER in.

THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN.

{^T^ SEVERE storm prevailed during the voyage ; and
71 the vessel was compelled to anchor at Piny Point
y«^\/ and Fortress Monroe, and occupied six days in sail-
^ — ^ iug a distance, which, under ordinary circumstances,
could have been easily made in twenty-four hours. The
"Emperor" towed two schooners that carried artillery-horses,
a number of which died from the effects of exposure to the
weather. The boat was crowded to excess with soldiers and
horses ; the rations were insufficient for the unexpected length
of the time that was consumed ; the distressing pangs of sea-
sickness affected a number ; the fii'st wave which washed the
deck temporarily submerged one hundred and fifty men, who
were sleeping in their blankets ; and general discontent was
produced by these combined causes. A happy disembarka-
tion took place upon April 12, at Ship Point, which was ten
miles from Yorktown ; and the regiment formed at this time
a part of the first brigade, second division, and third corps,
which were respectively commanded by Generals Naglee,
Hooker, and Heintzelman. Strict orders had been issued
that no negi'oes should be taken upon the transports at

62

THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 53

Budd's Ferry ; but many who had escaped from sers^itude,
and labored for officers, mysteriously rejoined the troops at
this place.

The division marched through some abandoned rifle-pits
and redoubts, and encamped in front of the works at York-
town, within the range of rebel cannon. The men were so
compactly massed, that brigades occupied less space than a
regiment in its regular camp. The commands of Generals
Hooker and Kearney pitched their tents upon the ground
that had been the headquarters of TVashington and Lafay-
ette in the Pvevolution ; and the fires of patriotism glowed with
greater intensity when the soldiers beheld the mounds which
their ancestors had built to win success and national inde-
pendence. AYhile they were upon the march from Ship
Point, the provost-guard passed by the column with a squad
of prisoners ; and I saw among them a spy, who had vis-
ited the camps at Budd's Feny, and distributed pious tracts.
The entire country, from the landing-place to Yorktown, was
a vast swamp : the roads, which were unfitted for general
use, had been converted into canals by the frequent rains ;
and it was necessary to corduroy them before the wagon-trains
and heavy artillery could proceed to the front. There were
many stagnant pools upon the surface; the soil was fiUed
with springs ; and the companies obtained good water from
wells which consisted of empty beef and pork barrels, which
were sunk into holes two and three feet in depth.

The soldiers of Gen. Heintzelman's corps were engaged

54 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.

for the ensuing three weeks in fatiguing and incessant labor
upon the works that were constructed under the direction of
the engineers, upon the right of the army ; but some divi-
sions that formed the reserve performed no service. The
men were ordered to fall in quietly in the morning, between
three and four o'clock, to form a line of battle ; and the
ranks shivered in the cold mist that usually covered the
earth, and remained in the rear of their stacks until sunrise.
A majority of the regiment, and sometimes the whole of it,
were daily detailed for fatigue-duty ; and reported with arms
and equipments at corps-headquarters, where every man was
furnished with an axe or spade, and large working-parties
proceeded to the different parts of the line. It was officially
stated that these detachments, furnished by the corps, com-
prised fifteen thousand soldiers, which was more than half of
its effective strength ; and the picket in its front required the
unceasing vigilance of five thousand men. The first parallel
was established near Wormley Creek, a sluggish stream of
an irregular width that flowed between banks which were
covered with a thick growth of timber ; and the siege was
prosecuted with untiring industry. Bridges and roads were
constructed in the ravines for the passage of cannon and am-
munition ; and ditches, revetments, and parapets were built
in the advance. The tract of country between the camps and
the breastworks of the enemy was extremely level ; but for-
ests of pine and hemlock, and the absence of commanding
hills, prevented the rebels from discerning the movements of

THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN. 55

the besieging forces. The balloon, which this state of facts
rendered a necessity, made daily reconnoissances ; and was
stationed in a cavern, which seemed to have been prepared by
Nature for this purpose, when it was not floating in the air.
An intense excitement existed in the army upon the 28th,
when the ropes that were attached to the car parted, and the
balloon, containing Gen. Fitz John Porter, rose rapidly, and
was wafted towards Gloucester Point, until another current
bore it in the opposite direction ; and unfortunately for the
country, and the reputation of this oJ0&cer, it fell inside of the
Union lines. A division of labor was required to complete
the works, and a small number felled and split trees ; but
the main body of the troops was employed in the trenches.
An uninjured saw-mill, that was located a short distance from
Gen. Heintzelman's headquarters, was continually in opera-
tion in the charge of soldiers, and furnished dimension-lumber
to the engineers. After the first parallel had been finished in
the solitude of the forest, regular approaches were made in
the night, when they were invisible, and strengthened during
the day, until the advanced works were erected upon the
plain in front of Yorktown, within three hundred yards of the
enemy, although the batteries and mortars were planted at
points which varied in their distances from the town from
one-half to one and a half miles.

Aided by the darkness, a small force was cautiously de-
ployed in a certain direction, and silently labored with their
shovels, placing the excavated earth upon the side nearest the

56 THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN.

enemy ; and daybreak revealed an extended trench, that was
two or three feet in depth and width. The laborers, knowing
that each shovelful of gravel increased the size of their
shield and made their position more secure, worked with great
diligence. The officers in charge of the fotigne-parties, sur-
rounded by circumstances that excited or confused the mind,
sometimes committed queer mistakes. Upon one occasion,
the gi*avel was placed upon the wrong side of the ditch, and
the regiment, after it reheved the night detail, transferred
the newly made bank to its proper position. The work did
not connect upon the right in another portion of the line ; and
an extent of ground ten yards in breadth was exposed to the
rifles of two rebel sharpshooters, who had climbed up the
large chimney of a burnt house, and made a loophole by
knocking out one of the bricks. The soldiers, keeping close
to the earth, rushed over the dangerous spot in one rank to
the scene of their toil. These narrow trenches were enlarged
until they were ten or twelve feet in width, miles in length,
and four or six feet deep ; and other bodies of troops built
traverses and magazines, and transported the artillery and
necessary supplies to the batteries that were completed. The
technical terms used by the engineers in giving instructions
were remembered by the men, who always listened with con-
fidence and respect to the comments of this superior class of
officers, and in conversation facetiously and glibly — .

" Talked of rampart and ravine,
And trenches fenced with gabion and fascine."

THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN. 57

The hostile gunners and pickets saw the earth when it was
thrown upon the parapet by thousands of revolving spades,
and attempted to obstruct the progress of the siege ; but their
constant efforts and volleys of shells and Minie balls tested
the works, and the small loss that was sustained during their
construction showed that they were properly executed. The
soil, in many places, was composed of minute marine shells ;
and the soldiers exhumed new specimens in widening the
trenches, and faithfully served their country, and, at the same
time, gratified their taste for geological studies. The redoubts
and rifle-pits of the Eevolution, which had diminished until
they were only twenty inches in height, intersected those of
the Union army at several points. A few metallic relics, cor-
roded by the rust of eighty years, were brought forth from
their hiding-places in the earth. The workmen became ac-
customed to the concussion of artillery, and the harmless
results that followed a large proportion of the reports dis-
pelled every emotion of fear; and many amusing incidents
illustrating the good spirits of the troops occurred in the for-
tifications. Questions relating to the claim of two soldiers to
use the same spade often arose ; and, after the usual amount
of reason and profanity had been exhausted, blows were ex-
changed, and several personal encounters took place, while the
missiles of destruction were flying over the combatants. If
a hat and blue overcoat were placed upon the handle of a
spade, and elevated above the bank, bullets always greeted
them ; and sometimes, when the clothing was removed, the

58 THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN.

rebels who perceived the motives of the invisible soldier that
held it fired to enable the men to witness their skill as sharp-
shooters. One of the Union marksmen saw by means of bis
telescopic rifle a man upon the ramparts of Yorktown, who
amused his companions by making significant gestures towards
the lines, and performed queer flourishes with his fingers,
thumbs, and nose. The distance between them was so great,
that the buffoon supposed he was safe ; but the unerring ball
pierced his heart, and he fell inside of the works. The brig-
ade commander called for volunteers to dig a sharpshooter's
pit in a dangerous position in the front, and excused two
men in the regiment who performed the task from fatigue-
duty for the space of three days.

At the end of two weeks, an important advance had been
made from the fii'st parallel ; and the massive breast-works of
the enemy, upon which guns of different calibers had been
mounted, could be examined. When their artillery had a
good range upon an unfinished work, a man was constantly
upon the watch, and shouted, " Lie low ! " or, " Look out for
that shell ! " as soon as the puflf of white smoke darted forth,
and preceded by a few precious seconds the arrival of the
iron messenger. Pick-axes and shovels were instantly cast
upon the ground ; while those that used them jumped into
safe ditches, and promptly resumed their labor when the shot
passed over them, or the sentinel exclaimed, " They filled that
ball the other way." An officer who was once engaged upon
this duty said, "There is a big cloud, and that hundred-

THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 59

pound gun has burst," when one of their most powerful pieces
had been shattered into useless fragments. There was more
danger in returning to the camp after the allotted task for the
day was ended, than in toiling at the front ; because the foe,
who had ascertained the hour at which the ' ' shovel divisions ' '
were generally relieved, opened their batteries, and scattered
shot and shell into every portion of the road over which they
were obliged to march.

The proper discharge of picket-duty at this time requned
soldiers who possessed, in the highest degree, the qualities of
courage and self-possession. The principal part of the regi-
ment rested during the day in a ravine which partially shel-
tered it from the fire of the enemy ; and remained in a state
of readiness to rush, at a second's notice, to the point that
was attacked, whenever those upon posts crouched behind
trees and knolls gave the alarm. The sharpshooters of both
armies, who were concealed in little pits in the extreme front,
were always relieved in the night ; and the person who moved
upon the open plain was a target for deadly rifles. There
was no relief for those that were wounded in these hazardous
positions, until the sun sank beneath the horizon ; and some
of these unfortunate heroes languished and died, while their
comrades were unable to alleviate their sufferings. It was a
difficult task for the officers to restrain the curiosity of restless
men who wished to reconnoitre the rebel works, — which re-
sembled in their appearance the bank of a railroad, — count
the cannons, and recklessly expose themselves for this pur-

60 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.

pose ; but the command, " Get down from there, you fool ! "
or, " Stay by the stack in your places ! " made them return
to the ranks. The chariot of Phcebus travelled slowly
through the skies ; and durijig these weary hours, letters were
written, books were read : but the largest number, exhausted
by unremitting labor upon the forts, slept near their mus-
kets, and were undisturbed by the flight of shells and
bullets.

The companies advanced about two hundred yards from
the reserve after sunset, and deployed upon the field in front
of the ravine, and groups of three men were stationed at fre-
quent intervals. Night had blinded the eyes of the attentive
sharpshooters; but their ears caught every sound, and the
slight crackling of dry twigs and bushes beneath the cautious
feet caused two or three balls to whistle in the vicinity. En-
veloped in a rubber blanket, and resting upon then* breasts
on the earth, two men upon each post stimulated to the ut-
most their powers of observation, while the third — who was
regularly relieved by a comrade — slept as well as the
weather and circumstances would permit. If a light was
seen, it kindled a fire of musketry which extinguished it ;
and although nine-tenths of the soldiers, like ordinary people,
were in the habit of stating that they could not live without
their pipe, tobacco, and a "smoke," the rifles of the rebels
effected a temporary reform in this respect, and there was no
smoking upon picket-duty in the front. It seemed superflu-
ous, but strict orders were issued prohibiting fires : and some-

THE SIEGE OF TORKTOWN. 61

times a reckless man, protected by the trunk of a tree, tied a
match to a stick, and held it up to attract the notice of the
enemy ; and the experiment was always successful. Myi-iads
of the insect termed, in common language, the firefly, gener-
ally filled the air ; and a field-ofiicer, observing one of them
upon a bush in a very dark night, and supposing that it was
the ignited match of an inveterate smoker, said, in a low tone
of voice, " Put out that light ! " The order was unobeyed, and
he again spoke : " Put out that light, you scoundrel ! " and
then moved towards the object that had excited his indigna-
tion, and frightened the fly, which flew away amidst the half-
repressed laughter of the spectators.

The corporal of a post that I relieved the first time the
regiment was upon picket at Yorktown, pointing to a hole
which had been made by the bursting of a shell about twenty
feet from him, jocosely said, " There is a grave already dug,
large enough for three of you." The national forces were
not allowed to build camp-fires in the night, because it was
thought that the rebels would gain, by this means, information
regarding their number and position ; but the enemy exhibited
no such ferr, and the heavens above Yorktown and Glouces-
ter Point reflected the lights that extended four or five miles
in the rear of their works. While the rumbliug of the artil-
lery, and wagons conveying supplies in the distant encamp-
ments of both armies, the sharp stroke of the axe and the
dull ring of the spade upon the intrenchments, and especially
the shrill clatter of the machinery of the saw-mill, confused

62. THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.

the ear with opposing sounds, an unnatural stillness prevailed
in the space of ground between the hostile pickets, who were
so near each other at times, that the rattling of an officer's
sword, and the click of a rifle when it was primed, were dis-
tinctly heard. As the Union officers expected a sortie, and
the commander of the foe anticipated an assault, the tour of
night duty rarely passed away unmarked by heavy firing ; and
volleys of musketry, and charges of grape, swept over the
field, and a decisive battle seemed to be imminent. The mid-
night air chilled the soldiers, who were obliged to remain
quietly upon their posts, trembling with cold ; and there was
so much suffering in the few hours of picket-service, that
they were willing to become disciples of Zoroaster, and wor-
ship Ormuzd when the twilight gladdened their hearts, and
they retired to the ravine.

The bushes and short pines affected by the breeze, and
flickering light of the distant camp-fires, appeared to some
excited eyes like advancing horses, and masses of men ; and
shots were fired at the waving branches. Negroes and small
squads of deserters, and soldiers who lost their way in at-
tempting to pass between the posts, came inside the lines every
night ; and orders were given to the sentinels to allow them
to approach, but to resist a large force. One rebel, who was
taken by the regiment, gave an amusing account of the means
by which he effected his escape. A man challenged, when
he heard the sound of footsteps, and, receiving no answer,
fired, and afterwards boasted that he had killed a " Yank ; "

THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN. 68

but his comrades saw a dead pig in front of his post upon the
next morning. The pickets, deterred by the boundless ridi-
cule which this incident caused in their brigade, were extreme-
ly cautious, and did not discharge their pieces in the night,
unless they were absolutely certain that the enemy menaced
the line ; and this prisoner crept upon his hands and knees
until he had "grunted by the guards."

The troops improved their shelter tents, the ridge-pole of
which was scarcely three feet from the earth, by making doors
and carpets of boughs and strips of bark, which were taken
from the trees by the use of the bayonet. At the head of
the company street were the headquarters of the brigade com-
mander, — a general of great wealth, who carried some pullets
upon the campaign ; and the crowing of the rooster in the
morning gave a domestic character to the camp. Although
the batteries of Magruder hourly opened, our gunners, in
those that were completed, with the exception of that upon
the extreme right, were commanded not to return the fire,
unless attacked ; and the garrison was slightly molested dur-
ing the siege. The bands were silent, and no bugle or drum
sounded the calls, which might disclose to an observing foe the
dispositions of the Union army. The Prince de Joinville,
who says in his pamphlet that he " used to go to the front for
this cannonade, as if it were an entertainment," makes the
following strange statement, which is poetical language and
fiction : " On fine spring evenings, the troops came in gayly,
to the sound of martial music, through the blossoming woods."

64 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.

The soldiers, wlio did not " go " from a place of safety in
tjae rear, but lived at the front, who were present, not
for " entertainment," but to perform the hard labor and
sleepless vigil, will say that the prince's description is as ac-
curate as his painting of the battle of Gaines's Hill.
' The dead and wounded were generally carried to the rear,
upon the Yorktown Road, which ran by the camp ; and the
surgeons of the brigade amputated the arm of one of the en-
gineers, who had been injured by the fragment of a shell
while he was reconnoitring the forts. The operation was high-
ly successful ; and the officer remarked, in the best of spirits,
" I finished ray sketch." He remained at brigade headquar-
ters about two days, and then entered a hospital which was
under the supervision of regular army surgeons. They ex-
pressed the usual contemptuous feelings for volunteers ; called
the work a " botch; ^' removed the old bandages; and need-
lessly experimented upon the limb, until secondary hemorrhage
took place, and within six hours the -person was dead. Great
indignation was expressed by the members of the brigade,
when they learned the facts attending his death ; and those
who were well acquainted with the case asserted that he had
been murdered.

The constant interruption of sleep by the artillery and mus-
ketry ; the formation of the line of battle at all hours of the
day and night ; the continued labor upon the earthworks and
roads ; the exposure and excitement in the camp and upon
pickefc^iuty ; the rain which fell two days in three, and in-

THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 65

creased tenfold the burdens of the troops ; the quality of army
rations, and the absence of medical supplies ; the lack of time
and means to preserve habits of cleanliness ; the swampy
nature of the country, and the character of the climate, — pro-
duced disease, and thousands were aflSicted with fevers. The
list of patients in the hospitals included a number of cowards,
who always disgrace every regiment, and feigned sickness to
escape the dangers of the siege. The contents of two quart
bottles and two pint boxes comprised the medical stores of
many commands, and were administered as a specific for all
complaints. I have seen a surgeon give medicuie from the
same cup for a sore throat and a scalded foot.

An hour before daybreak, upon April 26, two companies
from the regiment, and a detachment from the First Massa-
' chusetts Volunteers, captured and levelled a lunette which was
built in an advanced position and annoyed the working
parties. I was awakened about two hours after midnight by
the stern voice of the captain of an adjoining company, which
he was forming into line with difiiculty, because some of the
men wished to drink the coffee which had been made for this
occasion. He summarily ended this cause of delay by kick-
ing over their cups ; and they marched with sullen steps to the
front, but performed then duty, and received the thanks of
the commander-in-chief.

The preparations for the bombardment were nearly com-
pleted ; and it was stated that one hundred and one cannons and
mortars, some of which were two-hundred-pound Parrott guns,

66 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.

mounted in fourteen batteries, would open upon the enemy
on May 5, and throw into the rebel works a shell in every
second. The cannonading was unusually active during the
afternoon and evening of the third ; shells constantly exploded
in the camps, with few serious results; and a desperate sortie
was considered a sure event. The morning of the 4th was
quiet ; and the pickets discovered that the furious artillery fire
had deceived the general, while Yorktown had been evacuated,
and the national flag was triumphantly placed upon the aban-
doned forts. This was an event that had been wholly unfore-
seen. The fatigue-details labored in the trenches during the
night, and others had been notified to relieve them upon the
following morning. Loud cheers resounded along the line,
from the York River to Warwick Creek, when the result was
officially announced ; and the bands, which had been dumb so
long, again enlivened the soldiers ; and the notes of a thou-
sand drums, fifes, and bugles, filled the woods with a " discord
of melody." The division, led by Gen. Hooker, and forming
the infantry advance of the army, with rations for three days,
and in heavy , marching order, pushed forward at noon upon
the Yorktown Road to support the cavalry which was pursu-
ing the retreating forces. In passing by the tenantless pits
of the sharpshooters upon the plain, the man who had firmly
grasped his rifle, and crept silently from post to post during
the perilous nights of the siege, viewed the harmless works,
and the ruins of the storehouses and wharves which were burn-
ing at this time, with emotions of joy; and —

THE SIEGE OP YORKTOWN. 67

" Full well he bore his knapsack unoppressed,
And marched with soldier-like erected breast."

Thousands of slaves had labored for months upon these
fortifications, which had been designed by skilful engineers,
and had "formidable profiles, eighteen feet thickness of
parapet, and generally ten feet depth of ditch," "with well-
made sod revetments." The peculiar spelling of the inscrip-
tions, and especially the word " dide," caused much amuse-
ment in the ranks when they passed by the graves of some
rebel soldiers.

Before the evacuation, the rebels buried torpedoes in the
vicinity of the springs, hospitals, and other places which they
supposed the soldiers would visit, and for a distance of three
miles in the roads over which the army marched. Some of
those who first entered the works were killed and mangled by
this diabolical means. The newly made earth revealed the
location of these concealed infernal machines ; and pioneers
drove stakes into the ground, and guards were placed near
them to caution the troops and prevent them from walking
upon destruction. Canteens, articles of clothing, and equip-
ments were thrown aside to tempt the unwary relic-seeker ;
but the person who picked them up pulled the wire or cord
which was fastened to the cap of a hidden shell. " Keep to
the right ! " " Go to the left ! " " Don't touch that coat ! "
the sentinels shouted to the column as it moved forward, and
vacillated from one side of the way to the other to avoid the
serious consequences that would follow a misstep.

CHAPTER lY.

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

/^Jfcj»'HE troops continued to march upon the Williams-
/j burg Koacl, after leaving Yorktown, until they
\^_L/ reached the "Half-way House," which was seven
miles from the two places. They were compelled to
halt three hours, because Gen. Smith's division, that had
moved upon another and more direct road, occupied the
highway which Gen. Hooker wished to use. A squad of
a dozen hatless and horseless cavalry brought the news that
the enemy was in line of battle at a point about five miles
distant; and this was joyful inteUigence to regiments that
were impatient to be baptized with the fire of conflict. An
aide shouted in a loud voice, at sunset, "Gen. Smith's
division will take the road to the right, and Gen. Hooker will
move to the left ! " The black clouds that overcast the sky,
and the gloom that pervaded the forest,

"Made that darker
Wliich was dark enough before ; "

and the outcries of many

" A soldier full of strange oaths "

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 69

were the only guides -which were safely followed by the men,
who pursued theu- course over a narrow pathway that led
from Cheesecake Church through a swamp, and frequently
stumbled over logs, or sank into the water and mud. In the
confusion which these circumstances produced, the woods
were filled with soldiers, who were trying to find the way
to the fi-ont; and one corps commander, with a portion of
his staff, was isolated from the troops, and forced to remain
absent until daybreak. Overcome by the fatigues of the
march, the members of the division threw themselves'" upon
the ground a short time before midnight, and rested near the
places in which they stood when the halt was ordered, until a
heavy rain fell, which destroyed sleep, and increased the
weight of knapsacks and clothing.

The lines were quietly formed upon May 8, at daybreak;
and the first brigade advanced, in the midst of the storm,
which still continued, upon the Hampton or Lee's Mill Road,
that had been cut through a dense forest. A small earth-
work, which the enemy held against the attack of the cavalry
upon the previous day, had been abandoned in the night ;
and a large proportion of the command did not imagine that
there would be any fighting until the reports of the skir-
mishers' rifles were heard in the front, and surgeons,
chaplains, commissaries, quartermasters, cooks, and the
horses of officers who dismounted, promptly retu-ed to the
rear. The brigade halted, while preparations were made for
an engagement; and Gen. Hooker, who assigned the regi-

70 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

merits to their posts, ordered the " Eleventh " to file to the
right of the road, and smilingly said to the major, " This is
a strong position, and the devil himself cannot drive you out
of it." — "We are willing that he should try it," the offi-
cer replied. The firing between the skirmishers became
animated : but the cartridges in the muskets had been wet
by the storm, although every exertion had been made to
prevent this result ; and the snapping of percussion-caps was
more frequent than the whistling of bullets. Whenever
there was a cessation in the rain during the remainder of the
day, the men were continually drawing their ruined charges,
and cleaning the guns in the turmoil of the battle.

The topographical features of the scene of conflict, which
was confined to a small extent of ground that bordered upon
the Hampton Road, were similar to those of York town.
Eedoubts which extended across the Peninsula had been
built upon a plain ; and the open space, half a mile in width,
in front of them, in which many pits had been dug for the
sharpshooters, was bounded by the "forest primeval," a
large belt of which had been felled, and formed an abattis
that no organized body of troops could penetrate. The only
means of approaching these works consisted of two roads, the
Hampton and the Yorktown, which were exposed to the
guns of the largest redoubt, called Fort Magruder. The
regiments were deployed upon the right and left of the
Hampton Road : the skirmishers steadily advanced, while
the enemy fell back until the men held a line in the edge of

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 71

the abattis ; and the sharpshooters picked off the gunners in
the work. The thick mist which covered the earth in the
morning confounded the rebels, who could not see the bat-
talions, and did not open their batteries because they did not
know the point to which they could direct their fire with
effect, and occasionally threw a random shot to elicit a reply
from the artillery. A regular battery was unlimbered upon
the plain after a delay caused by the bad condition of the
roads; but the foe, ascertaining its position by the ratthng of
the wheels, immediately concentrated their fire upon it with
such deadly accuracy, that the frightened cannoneers, with a
few conspicuous exceptions, deserted their pieces before a
single shell had been discharged. The officers and men
belonging to a battery composed of volunteers instantly
rushed to the guns, and, with the aid of another body of
artillery, silenced every cannon in Fort Magruder after firing
an hour. When the rain stopped at 5ne time, the skir-
mishers reported that two white flags were visible upon the
rebel parapet ; but they were the colors of war, not peace.

The regiment was ordered to skirmish to the Yorktown
Road at nine o'clock to ascertain the position of the enemy in
its neighborhood ; and no force was encountered, so that the
connection between the front and the main portion of the
"Anny of the Potomac" was unobstructed. The second
and third, the Sickles or Excelsior, and the Jersey brigades
of the division were posted upon the left of the Hampton
Road as soon as they arrived, and the firing at noon became

72 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

a prolonged volley of musketry. The rebel commander,
deceived by the length of the skirmish line and the vigor of
the attack in the morning, supposed that the entire force of
Gen. McClellan confronted him, and remained within the
breastworks, and acted upon the defensive. Gen. Johnston
wished to detain the Union columns at Williamsburg until
night, to enable his trains to escape : -all the retreating divisions
were halted when the skirmishers were driven in by the
brigade ; and some troops that were ten miles beyond the
town countenuarched, and took an active part in the conflict
during the afternoon. Unfortunately for the sacred cause,
no such energy was exhibited by the commander of the
Union forces, who styled himself the " senior officer upon the
field," and declined to advance his brigades and make a feint,
or re-enforce Gen. Hooker upon the Yorktown Road, althougli
he was constantly notified in regard to the dangerous position
which this officer was fighting to maintain.

The regiment remained in its position, near the Yorktown
Road, supporting a battery ; and fixed bayonets when a charge
was expected from the cavalry which had assembled in force.
Re-enforcements were hourly increasing the numbers of the
enemy in front ; and the extended lines of the division, which
was pressed at all points, slowly contracted, while the foe
moved a heavy body in the ravines which ran across the
plain and sheltered it from the infantry fire, and attempted to
turn the left by a vigorous assault upon that flank. To meet
this mass that was advancing to annihilate the second and

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 73

third brigades, tlie first, which was commanded by Gen.
Grover, was withdrawn from the right, and ordered to sup-
port the left, which was yielding gradually, but making a
stubborn defence. As soon as this movement was perceived,
the rebels captured, without opposition, four guns, which were
embedded in the mud, and could not be removed or guarded
by the troops that were required for a more important duty in
another part of the field. The regiment rejoined the division
at the critical moment of the contest ; and, while a new Ime
was established, I witnessed one of the rare exhibitions of the
power of a commanding presence, which great exigencies de-
mand. The remnant -of a brigade, which had resisted with
brilliant valor the onset of superior numbers, discouraged by
its lai-ge losses in officers and men and the absence of re-
enforcements, retreated to escape capture ; and the regiments
mingled together in confusion while they fell back into the
road. The yells of the exulting rebels proclaimed their suc-
cess ; and the gallant soldiers, who had taken the cartridges
from the boxes of dead and wounded comrades when their
ammunition was exhausted, commenced to rush to the rear
in disorder. Gen. Hooker, who was riding along the lines,
at once halted his favorite white horse in the midst of the
medley, and exclaimed, " Men ! what does this mean ? You
must hold your ground ! " The voice that uttered these sim-
ple words had always taught justice and patriotism in the
camps ; the uplifted hand had always returned the salute of
every soldier in his division ; the form had ever been seen

74 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

in the front when the storm of bullets fell and spared not ;
the dress was the uniform of a brigadier-general, who wel-
comed the dangers that belonged to his rank. The recollec-
tion of these exalted qualities flashed through the minds of
all, and the qpmmanding appearance was that of one who
was " every inch " a general. It inspired the timid with
coui'age ; the weak became strong ; and every man stopped in
his place, and faced the enemy.

Smith's New- York Battery of Napoleon guns was literally
planted in the Hampton Road, which the rain and travel had
converted into a bed of mud, in which the wheels and car-
riages were partially buried; and the cannoneers sank to
their knees while they were loading and discharging their
pieces. The abattis was a stumbling-block that impeded the
advance of those who had felled it to check the national
army ; and the enemy was forced to make a long detour to
the left to avoid it. The regiment crossed the road, and
formed a line of battle which was parallel with it, and sup-
ported the battery that was double-charged with canister;
and silently waited for the grand assault, which w^as every
moment anticipated. One captain, who had always been
excessively particular in dressing his company in the camp,
and was privately known as " Right Dress," displayed upon
this trying occasion the most minute care ; and henceforth
there was no complaint about his conduct in this respect.
The ranks in filing into the woods were transposed, so that
the rear rank was in front when they halted ; and some, who

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 75

found themselves in this position in the rear, immediately
forced their way into the rank that was nearest the foe. The
hostile batteries, which had remained silent since nine, a.m.,
re-opened ; and shot and shell swept the roads and woods ;
enfiladed the regimental-line ; and a number were seriously
injured by the falling limbs of trees that had been severed by
them in their flight.

It was impossible to see objects with distinctness through
the underbrush and huge oaks of the forest ; but the ominous
cessation of the rebel musketry and yells at this point indi-
cated the movement of the troops, for which the general had
already prepared with the limited force under his command.
Subsequent events showed that Johnston intended to capture
the battery by deploying two columns, which would subject
the support to a fire upon its flank and front at the same
instant. I perceived, through a slight opening in the woods,
the ranks of the enemy, moving,. within the distance of sixty
feet, in a du-ection that was parallel with the position of the
regiment; but they crouched upon the ground, with their
faces towards me, and carried their rifles at " trail-arms."
IMany of them were arrayed in the blue overcoats that had
been taken from the dead and wounded when they succeeded
in driving the brigades from the first line ; and an earnest
debate ensued^ in which it was insisted that they belonged to
repjiraents which had been fio-htina; in the front ; and ofl&cers
of the highest rank ordered the men to hold their fire.
*' They ai'B rebels !" " They are our own men ! " "Don't

76 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

you see those dirty wLite bats? " " Those are oui* overcoats,
anyhow!" " They are getting into line ! " " They would
not be so near if they were rebels ! " were some of the out-
cries which were spoken upon every side. " I'll fire, orders
or no orders ! " said several soldiers ; but, when they aimed,
their companions, who supposed they were firing upon their
friends, grasped them, and forcibly pointed the muzzles of
the guns towards the skies. These moments of suspense,
when hesitation was death, were agonizing in the extreme.
Casual glimpses through the woods convinced the men of
their real character ; but there was no danger while the enemy
was in motion in their front : and every person in the align-
ment placed his musket against his shoulder, and, taking a
careful aim, anxiously awaited the final order of command,
" Fire ! "

" There is a white flag ; don't shoot now ! " " They are
coming in to give themselves up ! " were the exclamations of
many tongues ; when the color-bearer unfurled a small white
' battle-flag upon which a coat of arms had been formerly
painted, which had faded so that there was a slight stain in
the centre of it, which I noticed from my standpoint ; but it
would be invisible at the usual distance between contending
armies. These colors were borne by the foe to deceive the
soldiers ; and the base purpose was successful in many con-
flicts, in which charges affecting the honor of this mode of
wai'fare could be sustained by the testimony of thousands.
A private in the company upon my left walked about twen^^y

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBUEG. 77

feet towards the color-bearer to '' show them the way to
come in," and extended his hand to receive the white flao;.
A squad instantly discharged their rifles at him, and he fell
upon the ground, pierced by three balls ; and the entire rebel
line faced to the front. Every doubt vanished : and, before
they could cock their pieces, the regiment was a wall of fire ;
and it was easier for the enemy to hew the way with swords
-through the abattis than overleap it. The proximity of the
forces, the accuracy of the aim, and the perfection of the
volley, produced in the rebel ranks a havoc which was seldom,
if ever, surpassed in the history of the war. " Shoot that
officer on horseback!" a sergeant shouted, pointing in the
direction in which he aimed. A section fired : he fell from his
horse; and, after the battle, there were fifteen or twenty
soldiers who were certain that they had discharged the fatal
shot. Many .guns w^ere foul and damp, and the cartridges
-were forced home by striking the rammers against stumps
and trees durinp; the act of loadino;. Not a bullet whistled
from the front at the end of fifteen minutes : the attacking
party fled, leaving mere than half of their number upon the
field; and the large wounds made by the " buck and ball "
in this close action excited general astonishment.

The bullets from the enfilading column, in the mean while,
decimated the regiment ; and another change of its position
was rendered necessary. The cannons of the battery, which
the support had defended with such success, rewarded it by
pouring into this advancing mass incessant chai-ges of canister.

78 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

•which shattered the ranks to such an extent that they eagerly
retreated to the ravine from which they had emerged. Jets
of turbid water followed the recoil of the guns ; and at night
the generals and their commands were besmeared with the
mud in which they were so often mired during the engage-
ment. Gen. Heintzelman, the corps commander, joined Gen.
Hooker at the front : but the first re-enforcements of infantry
consisted of Gen. BeiTy's brigade, which was included in the
division of Gen. Kearney, who had marched twelve miles ;
having left Yorktown in the rear of the army. While other
of&cers bivouacked in the vicinity of the field, and rendered
no assistance to those that bad hitherto performed the fighting,
the troops of Maine and Michigan, imbued with the spirit of
their indomitable commanders, double-quicked through the
slough of the Hampton Eoad ; and no soldiers were ever more
anxious to encounter the inimical forces. " Holla ! men,
holla!" said Gen. Heintzelman, with his pecuhar nasal
twang, to the division which had been relieved, and was
acting in the reserve ; " Richmond is taken ! " and the first
Union cheers during the contest rose. He was not fully
satisfied with the response, and shouted, "Bring up the
bands ! Play Yankee Doodle, or any thing ; but make some
noise." A squad of musicians who belonged to different
regiments was collected together, and the strains of Dixie
and Yankee Doodle mingled in the din of the musketry and
cannonade. The execution of the music in a public assembly,
if it was viewed from an artistic point of view, would be

THE BATTLE OP WILLIAMSBURG. 79

pronounced inferior ; but tbe effect upon the Federal battalions
was equal to the presence of a division or a battery. The
soldiers, exhausted by the hardships of the preceding twenty
four hours, received new strength ; and the loud hurrahs
misled a discomfited enemy, who did not make another
advance after the repulse which Gen. Kearney's gallant
troops had made decisive ; and " the red field was won."

The facts attending the death of two skulkers may be
adduced to show the folly of trying to evade a soldier's duty
in the day of battle. "While one was peeping over a log,
behind which he had concealed himself, a bullet entered his
temple, which was the only part of his person that was
exposed. Another, who had cautiously moved until he was
ten yards in the rear of his company, was pierced by two
balls, which dodged between the legs of his comrades ; and
died after he had lingered in agony for a fortnight. A
captain in the regiment was compelled to quit the serv^ice
because he used his eyes, and consulted a small pocket-
compass, which led him, with a third of his company, towards
Yorktown, when the reports of cannon, if he had pricked his
ears, would have called him to the battle-field in the opposite
direction. However, upon the roll of honor, I saw the
names of three brave men, reported killed, who would have
been discharged by the sm'geons for physical disabihty if they
had not refused to accept the certificates to this effect. The
bodies of some who were shot in the Hampton Road sank
into the mud; and their remains were completely cmshed

80 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

beneath the wheels of the vast trains and heavy cannon that
passed over them during the succeeding week.

The storm continued after the deadly struggle was ended ;
but it was not heeded by those who had battled from morn-
ins: till nio-ht. In these hours of rest for the wearied, the
non-combatants of the army, the members of the supply
departments and ambulance corps, clerks, teamsters, musi-
cians, and stragglers, who remain in the rear in time of
action, visited the field, plundered the dead of both armies,
and rifled the knapsacks of those who had fought while they
were asleep. The sun rose in a cloudless sky upon the
Cth : but the enemy, having saved their trains, had fled ; and
Williamsburg was occupied without opposition. Seven
cannon had been abandoned, because the horses could not
extricate them from the mud ; and shot and shell were scat-
tered in the road. The guns had been spiked ; dishes, pans,
kettles, and Dutch ovens, were demolished in the camps and
redoubts ; and packs of playing-cards had been thrown into
the streets of the town. The soldiers visited every portion of
the field to search for wounded or dead comrades, and
witnessed without emotion scenes which lost their horror on
account of their frequency ; and, in many cases in which the
death had been instantaneous, the attitude of the slain
indicated the last act of their lives. The adjutant of a New-
Jersey regiment was shot while he was resting upon one knee,
and glancing towards the advancing line of the enemy through
a field glass ; but his limbs had not relaxed. Many hands, in

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 81

every motion of loading and firing, clutched mtli the firm
band of death the rammer, gun, or cartridge. I noticed that
a number of the dead of the Union army had been mutilated
by bowie-knives, made of large, coarse files which the rebels
carried in their sheaths ; and gashes disfigured the heads and
faces. The brief experience of a single engagement satisfied
men of the uselessness of revolvers or du'ks for the purposes
of war, and they disappeared from both armies. Nearly one
hundred of the enemy, in one part of the woods, had been
killed while they were lying upon the ground; and the
bullets had penetrated their foreheads. Some, who had lived
a' few hours after they were wounded, grasped photogi-aphs
or letters, upon which their dying eyes rested when the
thoughts of cherished and happy homes banished suflfering.
Some of the cartridges used by the foe contained no bullet,
but consisted of twelve buckshot. The pockets of fi-iend and
enemy had been turned inside out by the aimy thieves men-
tioned in the preceding pages ; and the buttons of the uniforms
of every traitor had been removed. "I wish there was a
battle every week,"- one of those miscreants remarked, in
speaking of the amount he had stolen.

In wandering over the field, a corporal found in the pocket
of a rebel a piece of tobacco upon which the blood had been
coagulated, and the professional army thief had not touched
it ; but he washed the article, took a " chaw," and reserved
the rest for future consumption. Head-boards were erected
over the graves of the Union soldiers by their comi'ades, and

82 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

the corpses of the enemy were buried by fatigue-pai-ties ; and
the spot upon which they died was their last resting-place
upon the eartli. Details interred the horses, large numbers
of which had been killed. The woods and abattis upon the
battle-field were burned for sanitary reasons; and the unex-
ploded shells which had been thrown during the conflict
were continually bursting in the flames. A surgeon ordered
the pioneers to dig the grave for an unconscious and wounded
rebel, who was supposed to be dying ; but the general sent
him to the hospital, and he lived.

Before the regiment had received orders to leave the field
upon the Gth, an incident came under my observation which
illustrates the difference between an oflncer of substance and
one of show, and the wide contrast between a hero and a
shirk. A brigadier-general of artillery, dressed in spotless
apparel and white gloves, who, during the fighting of the
previous day, was standing upon the ramparts of Yorktown,
and watching the ripples that marked the wake of the trans-
ports when they steamed up the York, halted his horse, in
the morning, near a battery which had taken an active part
in the battle ; and, as a matter of course, horses, guns, and
men were covered with mud. He rebuked its commander,
who still suffered from his fatiguing labors, for the dirty ap-
pearance of the artillery, and asked, in that arrogant tone of
authority which characterizes many worthless oflScers, ' ' Is
that battery in a fit condition to move upon the enemy? "

" Yes, it is," he replied.

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 83

** Are you a regular ? Do you say ' Yes ' to me ? "
'* Yes, I said my battery was ready for service."
" Say, ' Yes, sir,' " he rejoined, and placed great emphasis
upon the term " sir."

" Yes, sir," the lieutenant repeated with a salute ; and the
dignitary, with his silver star and glistening gilt buttons, rode
away. He was the type of a large class of regular and staff-
ojficers, who always regarded external show, but never said
any thing about the services of a battalion ; and the omission
to use the word "sir," or a formal salute, was a greater
blemish upon the record of a subaltern than the atrocious
crimes of drunkenness, cowardice, or treason.

The reader has already observed that the inexplicable blun-
der of Gen. McDowell at the first action of Bull Run was
committed upon a grander scale at Williamsburg, and four-
fifths of the Army of the Potomac were non-combatants ; and
the division was saved from destruction by the ability and
commanding presence of Gen. Hooker. In his concise report
of this battle, he justly writes the following sentence : " His-
tory will not be believed when it is told that the noble officers
and men of my division were permitted to carry on this un-
equal struggle from morning until night, unaided, in the pres-
ence of more than 30,000 of their countrymen with arms in
their hands ! Nevertheless, it is true." A few shells, hurled
from guns of a powerful caliber, wounded some of these
soldiers who were near the field ; and one general issued an
address to his brigade after the conflict, and thanked the

84 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

regiments for their courage and patience under fire, although
they had not discharged a cartridge in the fight. This
document was pubhshed in the newspapers of his State to
advance his political interests. The troops that delayed the
regiment upon the Yorktown Eoad, at the Half-way House,
like those that obstructed the Warrenton Turnpike at Centre-
ville, preceded in the order of march, but took no active
part in the action which followed.

The total loss of the division in the battle was 1,575 ; of
which there were 338 killed, 902 wounded, and 335 prison-
ers and missing. TVTien these figures are compared, it will
be seen that the number of wounded was small ; and the fact
shows the deadly proximity of the soldiers to their enemies
upon the field. The total loss of Gen. Hancock's command
was 31. I mention the last item because a disposition has
been shown by certain parties to magnify the action of Gen.
Hancock in this engagement, and deprive Gen. Hooker of
that credit which he had so well merited. Neither Gen.
Hancock, nor the officers and men of his brigade, ever made
any claim of this character, but took the opposite ground, and
refused to accept the meed of praise which they deserved.

The regiment encamped in the suburbs of Williamsburg ;
and the comfort of most of the men was increased by living
in tents which the rebels had been obliged to abandon in their
hasty retreat. The crumbhug statue of Baron de Botetourts,
who bad been " Governor-General of the Colony and Do-
minion of Virginia," was typical of the decay of this portion

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 85

of the State ; for the ancient city had lost its former importance,
and was now celebrated as the seat of the College of William
and Mary, in which some of the most eminent statesmen of
the Unitgd States had been educated. All the desolations
of war, the legitimate results of the RebelKon, were visible
thi^ughout its limits ; and the public buildings, halls, chui'ch-
es, and many dwelling-houses, were filled with the wounded
of both armies. The yellow flags, which indicated the rebel
hospitals (red was the color of the Union hospital-flag), waved
in every district. The recitation-rooms of the college ; the
aisles of the churches, from which the pews had been removed ;
and the marble slabs in the grave-yards that adjoined them, —
were stained with the blood of mangled soldiers. The people,
with few exceptions, were traitors, who had always encouraged
those that murdered the forces that upheld the National Gov-
ernment ; and the closed and empty stores, the absence of
the able-bodied white men, the scowls of the women and
children, and the delighted faces of the negi'oes, were per-
ceived by the most casual observer. When a squad of Fed-
eral prisoners arrived during the afternoon of the battle, the
rejoicing populace loudly cheered over the victory which they
considered won ; and some, who armed themselves with axes
and clubs, expressed an intention to kill the wounded upon
the field as soon as the army retreated to Yorktown. The
falsehoods of Northern and Southern rebels had been accept-
ed by them as facts ; and one-half of the population, fearing
that the troops would commit the grossest outrages, fled to

86 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

Ricbmond as destitute and ten-or-stricken as the settlers upon
tlie frontier -when the torch and scalping-knife of the savage
commenced the work of destruction. No wagons or horses
were seen in the streets or stables of the town ; and the slaves
lived in the mansions of the fugitives, and enjoyed the privi-
leges of freedom. Persons who had refused to flee, and
ignorant women who had been left helpless by their male
relatives in Johnston's army, bolted the doors and closed the
blinds of their domiciles, and shuddered when they thought of
the " monsters of Lincoln," who had a " heart of iron." The
conduct of the Union soldiers, after the occupation of the
place, which was humane and just, as it always has been upon
every occasion, convinced them of the groundlessness of their
apprehensions ; and the shutters were once more opened to
admit the rays of sunlight into their cheerless homes.

They stated, in conversation, that Judge Bowden was the
sole Union man in the town ; and he remarked to the troops
when they took possession of it, " The sound of the first vol-
ley of musketry was music to my ears." This patriotic citi-
zen subsequently represented the loyal people of Virginia in
the Senate of the United States. A detail from the regi-
ment guarded four hundred prisoners, who excitedly discussed
the alleged demerits of their respective States ; and it was
necessary for the sentinels to interpose in several instances to
prevent rencounters between them. The system originated by
Gen. IMcDowell of rigidly protecting rebel property, which
was one of the leading ideas of the commanding general,

THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 87

began at this time ; and the force of Gen. A. Porter, Provost
Marshal of the army, upon the staff of Gen. McClellan, was
constantly employed upon the Peninsula in performing this
odious task. While the soldiers were obliged to obtain passes
to. escape the custody of the patrols, the rebel surgeons and
hospital nurses, who came inside of the lines under a flag
of truce, travelled in every direction unmolested, and were
allowed to use their negro servants as property.

The women, destitute of every trait that constitutes the
lady, who had been so cowardly in the time of imaginary
dangers, took advantage of the uniform courtesy of the " Yan-
kees," whom they despised and hated, and haughtily walked in
the streets with their " niggers," who carried dishes and bas-
kets of luxuries and food for " missus," who distributed them
among the sick and wounded rebels. They compressed their
dresses whenever they met an of&cer or enlisted man, so that
the garment would not touch the persons they passed. They
pulled their hats over their faces to preclude scrutiny : but
these precautions were useless ; for their cadaverous features
and lank forms were sometimes seen ; and all were satisfied
that the Southern beauties, about whom so much has been
written, did not reside iu Williamsburg. They gladly parad-
ed through the mud and filth of the street to avoid a squad
of men upon the sidewalks. When two young rebel females
were walking by some soldiers, one of them suddenly screamed
like an affected boarding-school miss who beholds the hoj^rible
form of a di-eadfully shocking beetle, or an awfully distress-

88 THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.

ing toad. "Oh! oh! What have you done? Your skirt
touched a Yankee ! " A gi'oup of these sympathizers gath-
ered around the bed of a sufferer in the hospital who needed
rest to recover, and persisted in talking together, and striving
to make him more comfortable, until they produced an un-
natural excitement, which was speedily followed by death.
" Dear hero, I must assist you ; " " Noble soldier, what shall
I help you to? " or, " You deserve every thing we can give,"
were the sentiments which they generally expressed, in a the-
atrical style and tone ; and many wretches were thus killed
by the ill-timed conduct of these well-meaning friends.

ff

CHAPTER Y.

THE MAECH, AND FAIR OAKS.

'HE distance from Williamsburg to Richmond is sixty
miles : but the advance of the troops was extremely
slow ; and upon May 30, twenty-five days after the
battle, the division forming the left wing of the army
was encamped at Poplar Hill, near Oak-Bottom Swamp,
which was thirteen miles from the rebel capital. The dates
of the bivouacs during the period would be uninteresting ; and
the minutes from day to day speak continually of storms
and miserable roads, deserted houses and farms, thick forests
and a scanty population : and the only objects that relieved
the monotony of the march were the "White House," and
the church in which Washin2i:on was mamed. A bridf>;e
one hundred and twenty feet in length had been constructed
at Bottom's Bridge, over the Chickahominy, which flowed
through swamps and bottom land, and enlarged its banks in
the season of freshets until it was half a mile in width. The
perusal of signboards might be classed as dry reading ; but
. every regiment in the division was convulsed with laughter
' when it marched by a board nailed to a tree at a fork of the
road, upon which was painted, "Richmond, 17 miles."

90 THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS.

Horses and sheep, houses and forage, in every partof the
country, were heavily guarded by the command of Gen. A.
Porter ; and, so zealous was this officer in the performance of
his duty in this respect, soldiers were put upon property that
was not within the limits of the Union lines, and details from
different regiments were required when his large force was in-
adequate. The wives and daughters of the owners, who were
in Johnston's army, insulted in every way the national troops,
and rewarded those that protected their estates by acting as
spies, and informing the guerillas of the opportune moments
in which they could capture or murder them. Officers and
soldiers were sometimes driven from wells by the sentinels,
and compelled to drink the water they could find in the brooks
and springs in the fields ; and colonels and commanders of
batteries were not allowed to take forage for their suffering
animals when it was impossible to procure it from the depot
of supplies. The spirit of the instructions which the guards
received is exhibited in the lang-uage of an infamous order
which Gen. McDowell issued at Fredericksburg, '* to place- a
sentinel upon every panel of fence," "if it should be neces-
sary," to prevent the men from taking the rails to promote
their comfort. Not a solitary rebel was wilfully injured by
generals who seemed to forget that treason was an offonce,
and that, as Lord Belhaven declared in the Scotch House of
Lords, " patricide is a greater crime than parricide, all the
world over." This cringing forbearance towards the enemies
of the country disheartened the troops ; was viewed with con-

91

tempt by the rebels, and considered a proof of weakness, al-
though they admitted that their property was ^better protected
by the army of Gen. McCIellan than by that of Johnston. The
colonel of one regiment, who was an M.C., often submitted
to his own judgment certain orders that he received, before he
complied with them, and this policy was very oBnoxious to
him. He was once commanded to keep his troops under arms
two hours for a trivial infraction of the rules of discipline in
refusing to report the names of some so-called offenders.

" I sha'n't do it," he remarked to the brigadier-general, as
he walked to and fro, and whistled when he was not smoking.

" Did you understand that this was my order? " inquired
the general.

" I don't care for you : we make fellows like you in Con-
gress," the M.C. colonel replied; and the regiment did not
suffer punishment.

The stupid and inhuman treatment of the negro bondmen
at the first Bull Run was blindly adopted by Gen. Halleck in
the Western Department and by the commander of the army
in Virginia. The slaves possessed the most valuable local in-
formation concerning fords, roads, the divisions of the foe, and
the forts that environed Richmond ; and this could be obtained
by persons with acute minds and a knowledge of human
nature : but the so-called Orleans princes, who had a partial
charge of the secret-service department, were wholly unfit for
this important office. The sad results of regarding the tales
of negroes as valueless, and employing men who imagined

92

that they were born to be kings, are well known. The force
of the enemy was always magnified at lieadc|uarters ; and tlie
army tliat Lee directed during the " Seven-days' Battle " was
asserted to be one hundred and eighty or two hundred thou-
sand soldiers. The generals who expelled slaves from their
lines in public orders, and rejected then* facts, displayed the
same depth of ignorance as the despot who cimeters the
heads of his couriers if they bring the unwelcome news of
reverses. Some extracts from Shakspeare are so apposite,
that I quote them : —

^^JEdile. Tlipre is a slave, whom we have put in prison,

Reports —
Bruius. Go see this rumorer whipped. It cannot be."

The wise advice of Menenius represents the policy of the
present mode of gaining intelligence in fighting the Rebel-
lion : —

" But reason with the fellow,
Before you punish him, where he heard this ;
Lest you shall chance to whip your information,
And beat the messenger who bids beware
Of what is to be dreaded."

On May 30 fell one of the most severe storms of the
year, which inundated the swamps, nearly severed the com-
munications between the forces upon the north and south
banks of the Chickahominy, and washed away a space of the
road that bounded the camp, about twenty feet square, to
the depth of a yai'd. The rain continued at intervals during

THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS. 93

the next day; and at two, p.m., Gen. Hooker marched five
miles to the battle of Fair Oaks with the second and third
brigades; while Gen. Grover's command held the position,
and remained in line in readiness for the onset which was
momentarily expected. " Hold your ground at all haz-
ai'ds ! " were the only orders that were received. Upon this
afternoon, and the morning of June 1, the men listened to
the dull reverberations of the distant conflict with intense
anxiety, which was relieved by the arrival of despatches that
contained accounts of the decisive repulse. The brigade
joined the troops at Fair Oaks upon the 3d ; and Gen.
Casey's division, which had suffered a severe loss in the bat-
tle, and was destitute of tents, clothing, and cooking- utensils,
that had fallen into the hands of the enemy, occupied Poplar
Hill : so that the two commands exchanged their positions in
the line.

The regiment relieved one of the Excelsior Brigade in the
midst of a drenching rain and the darkness of the night of
June 3, and performed its tour of picket-duty for twenty-four
hours. Although the defeat of Johnston had been complete
in this terrible contest, and the authorities in Eichmond ex-
pected an immediate pursuit of their demoralized forces, the
extent of their losses was so slightly understood, that the
pickets were always urged to be vigilant, because an attack
by the enemy was hourly anticipated at this point ; and the
men stood in line of battle before twilight. The field was
yisible in the morning to the eyes of the soldiers, who beheld

94 THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS.

one of the most gliastly spectacles that has ever heen wit-
nessed. Scores of horses, and the swollen and black corpses
of hundreds of rebels, were stretched upon the gi'ound, and
in spots lay in groups, that showed a fearful waste of life ;
and myriads of maggots were feasting upon the putrid forms,
and swarmed upon the earth, so that it was difficult to walk
without crushing them beneath the feet. Many soldiers, in
the obscurity of the night, had slept side by side with the
bodies of the slain, supposing that they were comrades ; and
the loathsome worms entered then: haversacks, and crept
upon then' blankets and overcoats. Some, who had com-
plained about a foot or boot that interfered with their per-
sonal comfort, or the form of a person over whom they had
stumbled when groping the way to then- posts, were amazed
to discover that a corpse had been the subject of their oaths.
Others, who collected wood to cook coffee and build hght
fires, found that they had taken the rude headboards which
the rebels had placed over the graves of those they had
buried. The stench was continually aggravated in its inten-
sity, until an unyielding military necessity was the only power
that made it endurable. The fragments of shells, the debris
of the camps of Gen. Carey's division, and the bivouacs of
the enemy, were scattered upon the battle-field ; but every
article had been ' destroyed. Every object showed the marks
of the great struggle : many camp-kettles had been pierced
by bullets ; and a Sibley tent, that stood in the midst of a
shower of lead, dii^played two hundred and forty-six holes.

95

In the forest, small trees an inch and a half in diameter were
cut in nineteen or twenty places, and limbs upon the large
oaks had been splintered by shells. A cannon-ball, three
inches in diameter, would sever a branch that was five inches
thick; but, when it passed through the massive trunk, the
elastic fibres closed up the aperture, so that I could not insert
my sword to the depth of an inch. A portion of the dead
were buried by the foe during the occupation of the camps
upon May 31 ; while the largest number were plundering knap-
sacks and the tents of the quartermaster and commissary
department, and threw aside their dirty and ragged uniforms,
and wore the comfortable garments and underclothing of the
Federal soldiers. A few barrels of whiskey fell into the hands
and mouths of the victors, and rendered mapy of them unfit
for the conflict which was resumed upon the following morn-
ing. One of these greedy privates, who had succeeded in
arraying himself in three pairs of pants, was killed while he
was putting on another pair which he held in his hands.

The topography of the battle-field, which resembled in its
general features that of Yorktown and Williamsburg, was
a swampy plain covered with woods, with the exception of a
cleared tract of land upon the Williamsburg Road, that was
locally known as "Seven Pines." Fair Oaks, which was
a station upon the York-River Railroad, about half a mile
from this point, was the name given to the battle by the
national forces ; but the Richmond newspapers, and the com-
mander of the enemy, called it " Seven Pines." The mud,

96

whicli forms a leading subject in tLe history of this war, pre-
vented both sides from using their artillery to a vast extent,
and the contest became one between the infantry. Many
generals expressed the opinion that the army could have
taken the beleaguered capital at this time ; and Gen. Hooker
remarked in a very sanguine tone, when speaking of the
matter, ' ' Phil Kearney and I could have gone into Kich-
mond."

The division was encamped upon the field in the rear of
Seven Pines until June 30 ; and, during this period, its
history comprised a record of labor upon breastworks ; and,
once in three days, Grrover's brigade relieved the Jersey
brigade, which reheved that of Sickles, and performed picket-
duty for twenty-four hours. Graves were visible in every
direction, after the horses had been burned and the dead were
buried : and, when the line was advanced, some were seen in
the swamp, standing in the posture in which they were killed ;
and, so rapidly had they decomposed in three weeks, there
was no flesh upon the skulls, which had partially bleached.
Eifle-pits and redoubts were constructed by the division ; and
acres of the forest were felled to obstruct the foe, and allow
the artillery to have a point-blank range upon the advance.
The pickets were stationed in the edge of this abattis, and
supported by the reserve that was posted behind the exten-
sive fortifications. The hostile lines were engaged in an
incessant skirmish at times, and the cannon frequently threw
a few rounds into the woods in which the enemy was con-

97

cealed. The expectation of an attack was so strong, tliat tho
troops were always formed for battle ; and tlie regiment was
called to arms upon one day eleven times. The bugle at
brigade headquarters sounded the order to " fall in," and the
soldiers rushed to their stacks whenever the firing in front
was unusually active. The rebels made a reconnoissance
during a storm, and delivered a volley in a peal of thunder :
but the practised ears of the men were not deceived ; and
they left their tents and double-quicked to the line, upon
which they formed before the call was blown. Shells were
often thrown into the camp ; and one of them, during a can-
nonade, entered one side of a tent in the company while the
inmate was coming out of the entrance. There was much
useless firing upon picket ; aud, while some regiments were
comparatively quiet, others would shoot at random, and keep
the supports and camps in a state of constant alarm and
preparation. An emaciated rebel came into the Imes one
morning, and confessed that he ran away from his regiment
in the battle, hid in the woods, and did not wish to return to
it, because he thought he would be shot. The pickets fired at
him whenever he approached their posts ; and he remained in
his place until he was compelled to escape from death by
starvation, and run the gantlet of the bullets. The enemy
tried to ascertain the position of the sentinels by the use of
dogs and hounds, which rail through the forest, and barked
when they saw any person ; but the sharpshooters always
killed them : and sometimes the dismal howl of a wounded
7

98

cur limping to his master inteiTupted the quietness of tlie
hour. The same causes that existed at Yorktown, again
affected the health of the men ; and the water, which was
tainted by the decomposition of the bodies that had been
interred near the camps, increased the long list of the sick.
A ration of whiskey was daily issued to the troops to avert
the malaria of the swamp ; and this remedy was more ener-
vating than the disease. I noticed, as a singular circum-
stance, that there was not a single case of the " Chickahominy
fever" in the small number of those that refused to obey
this order.

Gen. Stuart made his celebrated raid in the rear of the
army upon the night of the 13th; and, although its mate-
rial results were unimportant, it frightened the sutlers and
non-combatants, and proved the inefficiency of the Union cav-
alry. Here, as at Yorktown, the heavy burdens of war were
placed upon the shoulders of a part, while some performed no
real service ; and there were regiments that had never dis-
charged a musket in battle, or labored upon a fort, or served
a tour of picket-duty in front. When the company was de-
ployed upon the outposts, upon one occasion, there was so
much infantry firing about three miles in the rear of Fair
Oaks, that it was supposed the enemy had made an attack ;
and the pickets were anxious about the result, until the com-
mander of the brigade learned that the regiments of a divis-
ion were drilHng as skirmishers, and using blank cartridges.

The troops that were constantly employed were annoyed by

THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS. 99

noxious vermin, that lived in every resting-place in the front :
generals and privates, however vigilant, were defiled; and
every article of clothing was scrutinized by the men when
they were relieved from picket. Many regiments in the aimy
of the Potomac had been depleted by sickness and desertion
(for the loss in battle had been lunited to a small fraction),
and those which re-enforced it appeared as large as brigades.
All were encouraged by the arrival of these troops, who some-
times mentioned, as a trying hardship, the fact that they had
had " no soft bread for two days." The surgeons in certain
hospitals that were located in the North began a course of con-
duct at this time that was long continued, and placed upon
their sick-rolls the names of deserters and cowards who were
feigning disease when the country requii-ed their services in
the field. There was scarcely a regiment upon the Peninsula
that did not lose at least one hundred able-bodied men by the
connivance of these medical miscreants. Eight soldiers de-
serted from the company at Williamsburg, and were trans-
ported to a notorious hospital in Rhode Island, in which they
were retained and sheltered by the officers, who were repeat-
edly notified that they were skulkers ; and none of them ever
rejoined the regiment, although their term of enlistment did
not expire for two years. One of the number was employed
by some of the surgeons and nurses to repair and manufacture
jewelry, while the rest were engaged in similar avocations;
and none of them were treated as patients. In striking con-
trast with such shameful conduct was the noble action of men

100 THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS.

who returned to their commands before their wounds were
healed, and those who were excused from duty. on account of
sickness, but left their beds, and walked with great difficulty
to the front with their muskets. I have heard officers tell
them that theii- presence was not required ; but the same an-
swer was invariably made: "I could not stay in the rear
when I thought the regiment was fighting."

The supplies were brought from the stations upon the York-
River Raih'oad in wagons which were parked in the rear of
the army at night to avoid the risks of capture. The whis-
tles of the locomotives, and the rumbling of the trains of
cars, blended strangely with the shrieking shells, and sug-
gested thoughts that were as conflicting as war and peace.
A sentinel could discern the steeples of Richmond, which was
six miles from this point, from the top of a tall tree near the
front, called the "lookout." A company of Frenchmen,
that belonged to a regiment which had been inveigled at Wil-
liamsburg by the white color that has been described in the
sketch of that battle, was posted upon the picket-line, and
fired upon a flag of truce which they supposed to be another
artifice of a dishonorable enemy. While a soldier, who had
been sleeping, was walking a short distance, two pieces of
a shell penetrated his blanket which was spread upon the
gTOund; and with the remark, " Did you see that strike? it
was a lucky escape," he slept again in the same place. An
austere colonel of a New-Jersey regiment sat upon a stump
durino; one of the severe storms that often fell : and a drum-

101

mer, who observed that he had no shelter, brought him a
rubber blanket, and said, ''Colonel, take my blanket;
you will get wet."

" Clear out, you scoundrel ! " was the gruff reply.

" It is raining hard, and you will need it."

" Go to your post at once."

No further remarks passed between them , and the conver-
sation, like many others, is quoted to illustrate the eccentri-
cities of the commander ; but a commission as first lieutenant
was given to the musician at the end of a fortnight. Gam-
blers to the number of three hundred, equipped with the im-
plements of then- nefarious work, — dice, props, and cards, —
assembled near the regiment after the army had been " paid
off," and disregarded the balls that sometimes ploughed the
field, until the blast of the bugle summoned them to disperse
and enter the line of battle.

The corps was formed upon June 25 ; and the regiment,
with others, advanced at seven, a.m., through the woods
and swamp, that was one-third of a mile in width, and halted
near the open field, in which a burnt chimney stood. The
pools of stagnant water, the stumps, and the thickets, contin-
ually threw the line into disorder, and, together with the in-
ability to see the force of the enemy that confronted them,
caused a slow movement. Every object that looked like a
rebel received a bullet : the pickets, leaving their rations
and blankets, hastily fled ; and two sharpshooters, perched
in the tops of trees, were captured before they could escape.

102

The regiments upon the right of the brigade met the reserve,
which was rc-enforeecl by a detachment. Their ranks were
shattered ; small squads, which increased in number, began
to leave ; and at length all were flying to iheir works, amidst
the excited cries of the men, who said, " They are run-
ning ! " or, " Look at that fellow tumble ! " and the troops
that double-quicked to the front during the fight fled from it
with greater speed. The regiment remained undisturbed in
its place in the centre of the brigade. The firing was very
active in the afternoon, when Gen. Kearney's division upon
the left was attacked, and the right of Gen. Hooker's divis-
ion was advanced ; but the contest had ended at four one-half
P.M., and the troops held the ground which they had been
ordered to take. The aides could not move through the for-
est upon their horses ; and commands were passed from com-
pany to company along the line by shouting, " Keep a sharp
lookout upon the extreme left I " "Tell Col. -^ to re-
port to the general upon the right ! " and others of a similar
character.

I was placed in charge of the skirmishers who were sta-
tioned in advance of the regiment to prevent surprise, and
heard the conversations of the enemy's pickets, who were
separated from them by a morass that was covered with thick
woods. Two of them had a quarrel about Gen. Kearney,
whom they styled " the one-armed devil : " one swore that it
was the left, and the other was certain that the right limb had
been amputated. The solitary bass drum that was constantly

THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS. 103

beaten in tbe rebel camps during tlie siege was unusually dis-
tinct in its notes ; and an officer in front shouted orders, which
were repeated by three or four voices, for the period of four
hours. ' ' Deploy upon the right of the Williamsburg Road, and
don't get into seven or eight ranks ;" "Advance the skirmish-
ers cautiously up the paths; " " Why don't those men move
forward ? " were commands that excited the vigilance of the sol-
diers. The loud tone in which they were uttered, the absence
of sounds that would be caused by the 'tramp of moving col-
umns, and the subsequent conduct of the foe, proved that it
was a stratagem to mislead the commander, and induce him
to draw re-enforcements from other points ; while a fierce and
unsuccessful attack was made upon Gen. Kearney's division,
which was posted upon the left. The members of the regi-
ment clustered around the roots of trees in the night, and sat
upon clumps of earth, because they were obliged to stand in
water that was knee-deep when the line of battle was formed.
" The endless groan " of the wounded, and the rattling wheels
of the wagons that conveyed them to Richmond, alone dis-
turbed tbe stillness that reigned in the swamp. A regiment
was marching to relieve the troops at the front at midnight :
the shovels, canteens, and equipments which they carried
were constantly clashing together, and the sounds alarmed
the enemy that fired at them, and revealed by the flashes the
positions of the pickets. A flame that lighted up the forest
for an instant darted from the smooth-bore muskets, to which
there was no response ; and a rebel sentinel swore at his com-

104 THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS.

panion, " Don't fire again, you fool ! you will draw upon us
another volley like that." The division returned to the rifle-
pits : the first of the " seven-days' battle " before Richmond
had been fought upon the left with a successful result ; and
the position that had been gained was intrenched.

A regiment composed of different nations, which was well
known on account of its cowardice, was upon outpost-duty,
under the command of a foreign lieutenant-colonel, who ex-
citedly exclaimed to his men, " Cover yourselves mit a
stump ! cover yourselves mit a stump ! " They were in the
rear of the advanced ground which had been conquered : vol-
leys were fii-ed into the woods whenever a bullet, passing from
the front, whistled over their heads ; and many of them fled
from their posts during the night. The whole detachment,
with the commander in the advance, rushed toward the works
on the morning of the 26th ; and the colonel at once deployed
a company to stop the fugitives, and gave this instruction :
* ' Use your bayonets upon the cowardly scoundrels : they are
not worth the powder to blow them to hell ! " The captain
promptly halted the lieutenantrcolonel by the use of physical
force, and ordered him to return to his post of duty.

"I out-rank you, capitain," he said as he displayed his
shoulder-straps, and refused to move to the front.

" I don't care for your rank : you must go back to that
picket-line."

•' My mens run away, and leave me : I no go back."

" You ran away first, and they all followed you. You can't

THE MARCH, AND FAIR OAKS. 105

see one of your regiment in front of you." The determined
conduct of the line, who is now a field-officer in the service,
and the menace of physical violence, intimidated the poltroon,
who sullenly skulked to his command. A month after this
shameful occurrence, I saw with amazement, in a New-York
illustrated paper (it was not Harper's), an engraving, in
which this regiment appeared to bo captuiing a battery, and
driving brigades of the enemy ; while the lieutenant-colonel,
mounted upon his war-horse at the head of it, was cutting
"horrid circles" with his sword. Through the untiring
exertions of certain officers, when Gen. Meade commanded
the Army of the Potomac, he was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general for " gallant conduct upon the field." The
perusers of the foregoing facts can readily imagine the nature
of his valiant services. He is upon detached duty in a North-
ern city at the present time, and inspects the harbor defences,
or acts as pall-bearer at the funerals of officers of high rank
who have died the death of heroes.

The enemy made feints upon the entue line : the division
was posted behind the breastworks, in readiness to meet the
onset ; but the grand assault was made upon Mechanicsville
on the 26th, and Gaines's Mill on the 27th. The troops of
the corps were withdrawn upon the 28th from the position
which had been taken upon the 25th ; the army made pre-
parations for the retreat during the night ; and officers who
had seen the smoke of the burning bridge in the afternoon,
and knew that the communications with the " White House "

106

had been severed, refrained from giving tbis information
to tbeir commands. The balloon had constantly made recon-
noissances ; and one rose for the first and only time above
Richmond upon this day, and remained in the air a few min-
utes. All the stores that could not be transported in the
wagons were destroyed early in the morning of the 29th by
details, who broke rifles, bayoneted canteens and kettles, and
slashed tents and clothing, but burned nothing, because the
fires would excite suspicion. Barrels of sugar, vinegar, and
whiskey irrigated the soil of the camps ; and some soldiers,
who were unable to restrain their appetites, stealthily drank
the intoxicating liquor, were left upon the field, and captured
by the enemy in a state of utter drunkenness. Gen. Hooker
destroyed his personal baggage, and set an example of unself-
ish patriotism, which might have been followed by other com-
manders who encumbered the trains with their private goods,
and cheerfully abandoned the property of the Government
and that of the men and subalterns. The brigade retired
from the scene of its labors after it relieved those upon picket ;
and I never beheld so many faces upon which was depicted
such a deep feeling of gloom.

CHAPTER VI.

THE BATTLES OF SAVAGE'S STATION, GLENDALE,
AND MALVERN HILL.

j^^fcB^HE movements of a vast army are slightly under-
/'l stood by the men who perform the fighting ; and
^^_iy my knowledge of the positions held by the corps
during the retreat was obtained by noticing the re-
ports of cannon when they were engaged with the enemy ;
and I sketch in this chapter some incidents in the action of
a small body of troops. The company was posted, on the
29th, at a house upon a hillock near the railroad ; and a line
of battle, which extended more than a mile towards the right,
had been skilfully formed in the edge of the forest, in the rear
of a cleared space of ground, upon which the batteries were
planted, near Savage's Station. The occasional report of a
sharpshooter's rifle was sometimes heard, and many were
sleeping under the peach and forest trees which shielded them
from the hot rays of the sun. The artillery of the rebels
opened without any warning, at eleven, a.m., from the woods
upon the south side of the railroad, on this position with won-
derful accuracy ; and the first three shells that were fired pene-

107

108 THE BATTLES OF SAVAGE'S STATION,

trated the walls and partitions of the house, and mangled
those who were one-fourth of a mile in the rear, but did not
injure the inmates, comprising women, children, and a squad
of soldiers. Upon a bed, and unable to move, was a sick
woman, whose husband and sons were with those who were
trying to murder her; and the shot and shell were not hurled
into the ranks, but purposely aimed at this dwelling ; and the
cries of the helpless infant and the tears of the distracted
mother were stifled by the explosions and shrill notes of the
flying balls, until theu- batteries were silenced by Union
cannon. An attack was afterwards made upon a brigade,
which was enveloped in the smoke of battle ; and joy filled
every eye when the breg'ze gradually lifted the veil, and
revealed the American flag that waved over the victors, who
were still invisible. The division fell back from its first line
in the afternoon; moved with rapidity; crossed the White-Oak
Swamp ; and at ten, p.m., bivouacked in a field near the Charles-
City Road. Clouds of black smoke rose at certain points
near the raih'oad stations, and immense amounts of clothing,
provisions, and ordnance stores, were destroyed. Although
the troops halted at Savage's Station, and many needed the
garments, guards were posted to prevent the soldiers from
taking a blouse or coat ; because the officer in charge had been
ordered to burn them, and could not account for the property
if it was worn by the men.

The brigade rested near the church at Glendale upon the
30th, and trains of wao'ons and herds of cattle — "beef on the

GLENDALE, AND MALVERN HILL. 109

hoof" — were continually passing over the road during the
forenoon, while an active cannonading in the neifyhborhood
of the bridge at White-Oak Swamp showed that the enemy
was closely following the anny. There was a panic at one
time among the teamsters, who fled from their horses in the
most cowardly manner ; and the cavalry, with then: drawn
sabres, forced them to return to their seats and resume the
reins. The divisions of Hill and Longstreet advanced in the
afternoon upon the NewmarSet Eoad from Richmond ; made
incessant efforts to break through the lines at this point ; and
the brigade double-quicked to support a battery, and formed,
under the fire, as perfect a Hue as it would upon dress-parade.
Gen. McCall's command, the Pennsylvania reserves, that
had sustained the brunt of the attack, was hard pressed ; and
the division ran to its new position upon their left, and turned
the current of the battle, which had commenced to flow
against the Union forces. The regiment followed through
the woods a narrow way which was thronged with the gun-
ners and drivers of the " Dutch battery," who left their pieces
upon the field, and squads of infantry that were flying from
the front. These circumstances did not dishearten the men
who were marching by the left flank ; and some who belonged
to the companies upon the right rushed fi:om their places to
come in contact with the foe before their comrades. The
colonel of one of the regiments that had been fighting dashed
to the rear upon his horse, before his command had been
driven from its post, and excitedly screamed, *'My men are

no

all cut to pieces! " "Hurry, oh! hurry, and save my poor
men!" "There is one of them now, and wounded too!"
and seemed to be demoralized by fear. The troops double-
quicked by him amid general laughter ; and I heard a score
of tongues utter remarks hke these: " Dry up," you old
fool I " — " Tear that eagle off your shoulders ! " — " You
ain't fit to be a private, you coward ! " A number of swords
that had been thrown aside by officers were scattered upon
the ground ; and, although I had recently exchanged my sash
of worsted for one of silk, the quickness of the movement
did not allow me time to equip myself. A company of cav-
alry was deployed in the rear, and the commander trembled
so much that he could not aim his revolver ; and some vaunt-
ingly said, "Hooker's division don't need any cavalry to
keep them in the front;" or, "Our hands don't shake like
that when we are there." An officer, carrying a saddle,
came from the front, and remarked, in a tone of intense satis-
faction, "I have done my share : I lost my horse, but I
vsaved my saddle." These incidents, which may appear tame
in their recital, amused the brigade which occupied with joy-
ous cheers the position that had been assigned to it in the
line.

The din of musketry and the cannonade, the yells of the
rebels when they made a desperate assault, and the hurrahs
of the Union soldiers when they were repulsed, did not cease
until darkness covered the earth. " The deep-throated en-
gines" upon the gunboats in the James River threw their

GLENDALE; AND MALVERN HILL. Ill

monster shells into the ranks of the enemy, upon the left of
the line, at five, p.m. The regiment held a road which the foe
had entered in the afternoon ; and many who had been lost
in the confusion of the battle wandered about in the adjoin-
ing swamp, from which a stream of prisoners was continually
flowing into the ranks. Hundreds were yelling, in the pe-
culiar effeminate voice of the Southerner, the names and
numbers of their commands, — " Thu'd Alabama," " Seventh
Georgia," "Sixth South-Carolina." A few soldiers stationed
themselves in the advance, and sometimes shouted, "Here,
by this oak;" "This way;" and captured a squad, who
denounced the artifice as a "mean Yankee trick." The
regiment took thirty prisoners, most of whom were delirious
from the effects of whiskey, — wholly unable to point out friend
or foe, — and boasted that they had shot " heaps " of Yankees.
This startling fact explains the nature of that foolhardiness
with which they charged upon batteries during the engage-
ment. The rebel clothing (it could not be properly termed a
uniform; for I did not see two persons that were dressed
alike) was always faded to such an extent, that some skir-
mishers who wore shoddy, and necessarily shabby caps, were
mistaken for the enemy, and fired upon by men in the rear.

The troops marched towards Malvern Hill before daybreak,
without the benefit of sleep ; and the pioneers, who had par-
tially cut the trunks of the trees which grew upon the sides
of the road, waited for the column to pass them before they
applied the final strokes. The army concentrated at Malvern

112

Hill upon what the Union forces always seek, and the rebels
avoid, — an open field. The appearance of the divisions, as
they marched through acres of wheat which was ready for
the harvest, and was garnered into the haversacks of famish-
ing men, was inspiriting to soldiers who had been placed, for
a long period, in woods and swamps in which they could not
see the right and left of a regiment. The bands, that had
been dumb during the siege, uttered the notes of patriot-
ism, and revived the despondent; and cheers issued from
the throats of thousands who deployed upon the plain, which
was two miles in length and one in width, and supported
three hundred cannon that defied the enemy. The signal-
flags were disclosing the movements of the foe, and convey-
ing orders from the roofs of houses upon the right and the
decks of the ganboats that protected the left ; while the in-
fantry, posted upon the commanding heights, had the confi-
dence of Stuart, who remarked to a prisoner, " If I had that
hill, no army could drive me from it." The division was
assigned to a position upon the left centre ; and the hostile
batteries debouched from a road at the distance of a mile,
and concentrated their fire, a few minutes after nine, a.m., on
July 1, upon the brigade when it was marching to this
point. Some soldiers had taken the honey from seven bee-
hives near a house : swarms of the exasperated insects stung
the horses in the vicinity, with such serious results, that a
battery, which had fought with valor the enemies of the coun-
try, was compelled to change its post ; and mounted general

113

and staff officers vigorously used their spurs to escape. The
history of the day may be briefly described as a succession
of desperate and reckless onsets upon various parts of the
line, in which Lee was always unsuccessful : and his legions
were slaughtered by the artillery, including the siege-guns
and those upon the monitors ; while the Union loss was small,
because the infantry was rarely engaged in close action.
The incessant firing heated and discolored the pieces; and
some rifled ordnance was rendered useless for accuracy, as it
was constantly double-shotted. Quietness sometimes ruled
during an hour, and no bullets would be discharged; but
this was succeeded by the reverberations of cannon, which
shook the earth in the concussion, although many who were
not fighting, conquered by fatigue, slept upon their muskets,
undisturbed.

Upon July 2, drenched by the storm that always ensues
after a great battle in which the forces of Nature have been
violently discomposed, the array crowded in confusion upon a
single road ; and there was a moving mass of cattle, horses,
and wagons, besides the infantry and batteries which belonged
to different commands. Many excited disputes took place
regarding the right to march in advance of the respective
bodies of troops. The flying artillery of the cavalry threw a
few shells into the bivouac of the brigade at Harrison's Land-
ing; but this force was dispersed. The lines were estab-
lished two days afterwards, and rifle-pits and redoubts were
constructed during the succeeding month. The official state-

114 THE BATTLES OF SAVAGE's STATION,

ments that Loe commanded 180 or 200,000 men, while Gen.
McClellan had only 75,000 ; the failure of the former to
capture the extensive trains of wagons that filled every road,
or penetrate the lines in a single instance, after suffering
enormous losses, — inspired confidence in the general, who had
won the glory of saving the whole force from destruction.
There was also a feeling of disappointment at the result of
the campaign, and giief for the fate of the sick and wounded
who had been abandoned during the retreat. More than one-
half of the prisoners that were taken in this movement after
the battle of Gaines's Mill deserted from their companies,
concealed themselves in the woods, and gladly yielded to the
rebel cavalry ; while others, who threw themselves upon the
ground, and declared that they could not walk an inch
farther on account of exhaustion, marched seventeen miles to
Richmond within the succeeding twelve hours, with such
rapidity that some of the guard fell out of the ranks. When
the company arrived at Harrison's Landing, two men, who had
only two pieces of tent, went to the forest to obtain a shelter
from the storm, and occupied the ground which had been
selected by a brigadier-general for his headquarters.

"What are you doing here? " he asked, when he noticed
them.

" We were going to fasten this canvas to the boughs, but
didn't know that you were here," one of the privates replied,
as they started to walk away.

" You can stay here : this is my place ; but I can move

GLENDALE, AND MALVERN HILL. 115

to the right," he said; and ordered the pioneers to pitch his
tent in another spot. This gallant officer, who recognized
soldiers as human beings, displayed a kindness that was
seldom exhibited by his peers. Four soldiers, who reached
Harrison's Landing before the regiment, crossed the river in a
boat, and were fired upon by some farmers, who held them
as prisoners until a squad of cavalry placed them upon their
saddles behind themselves, and rode through the rebel en-
campments, in which the empty tents were standing to keep
up appearances, while a guard of disabled men protected the
property.

An excessive heat pervaded the camp ; but thousands had
the privilege of bathing in the James, and enjoying habits of
cleanliness, which the experience of Yorktown and Fair Oaks
had taught them to value. Details were daily furnished to
collect and burn the clothing which was cast aside on account
of the vermin. Many officers tendered their resignations,
which were generally disapproved ; others feigned sickness to
escape from the service ; and one captain bribed two persons
to carry him on a stretcher to the hospital-boat, and was

absent from his regiment more than a year. In addition to

if

the Hst of ordinary diseases, soldiers died of the scurvy ; and
anti-scorbutic rations were issued to check this complaint.
The only event that disturbed the quietness of the camp
occurred at. midnight upon Aug. 1, when the foe planted a
battery on the south side of the James Kiver, and opened
upon the shipping and camps ; but their guns were silent in
half an hour.

116 THE BATTLES OF SAYAGE'S STATION,

The division and a brigade of cavalry moved toward Mal-
vern Hill in the night of Aug. 2 ; but the guides misled the
troops, and they returned to their quarters at sunrise. Gen.
Hooker commanded the expedition, and resumed the march
on the 4th, when the line of battle rested at midnight within
a few rods of the hostile pickets. The force was in motion
at daybreak ; entered the road that passed by the church at
Glendale ; ' and attacked the rebels in their rear, at 5|-, a.m.
The artillery opened upon the brigade with spherical case-
shot ; obtained an excellent range ; one shell killing two, cut-
ting off the arm of another, and wounding four men, in one
company of the regiment : the troops pushed forward in four
ranks, and sometimes dodged the balls ; but none quit their
places. A thick mist hmdered a prompt advance ; and, when
the enemy was overpowered, only one hundred were captured,
while the remainder, with the battery, retreated upon the
James-Kiver Road. It was assumed that they could not
escape, because a brigade had been ordered to seize this high-
way, and intercept them before the main body approached ;
but the plan failed in its execution through the base conduct
of its commander, who maintained his reputation as a notorious
drunkard. Gen. Hooker placed the ofl&cer in arrest, and
remarked, in speaking of this action, " More prisoners would
have been taken if that general had not been drunk." He
was the son of a well-known traitor in Philadelphia, and
received no punishment ; and remamed in the army until he
committed suicide in a fit of deluium tremens. His death,

GLENDALE, AND MALVERN HILL. 117

in the language of the newspapers, was produced by an
intense devotion to the service, and exposure in the perform-
ance of his duties. A trembling negro, who was paralyzed
by fear, was shielded by a large oak, through the branches of
which the shells were flying ; and his frantic appeals for aid
excited laughter, not grief, in the spectators who filed by him.
The prisoners, like all that I saw, were extremely ignorant ;
not one in twenty being able to read and write : and their
stolid faces showed a lack of mental capacity which placed
them upon a level with the natives of New Zealand. They
were poorly supplied : some had pieces of carpet, which they
used for blankets; and their bread was composed of flour
mixed with water, which was baked upon a stick or the point
of a bayonet. A woman, who lived near the picket-line, said
that the rebels filled her house and begged for food after
the battle of Malvem Hill ; and they were so apprehensive of
an advance, that Longstreet and Jackson prepared for action
when the salute was fired in honor of the President at Har-
rison's Landing. The owner of the house, which had been the
headquarters of Lee, had posted up a notice that he did not
wish to have any Yankees buried upon his land • and some
soldiers who perused rt applied the torch, and the splendid
edij^ce, with its outbuildings, was completely destroyed. A
squad of stragglers, who rarely render any service, made a
charge with theii' unloaded muskets, captured seven cavalry-
men, and rode upon their horses into camp, while the recent
losers walked.

118 THE BATTLES OF SAVAGE'S STATION,

One of the prisoners, in answer to an inquiry about the
grave of 3Iajor Chandler, pointed out the spot in which a field
officer had been buried ; and the pioneers disinterred the body
of a lieutenant-colonel, and found upon his person one hun-
dred dollars : a strange fact, which amazed all who knew that
the army thieves seldom missed one of the slain. The posi-
tion was evacuated upon the 7th, and the old camp was again
occupied. The exchanged prisoners rejoined their commands
from Belle Island ; and their emaciated frames, and tales of
suffering, had a good influence upon those who were inclined
to prefer captivity to the chances of battle. Many of them
stated, that, when the officer announced that a certain squad
would be paroled on the next day, one hundred and twenty-
one men saw the happiest moment of their lives : the sergeant
who had charge of it accepted bribes during the night, until
the number was increased to one hundred and ninety-eight,
and his haversack contained all the watches and valuables
that the crowd possessed.

The stores and the sick were sent upon transports to For-
tress Monroe : the corps marched from Harrison's Landing
on the 15th, and proceeded via Williamsburg to Yorktown.
The people openly expressed their joy at the failure of the
retreating forces to capture Richmond : no guards were posted
over rebel estates during the movement ; the soldiers of Gen.
Heintzelman's corps made camp-fires of the well-seasoned
fence-rails, and roasted the corn and potatoes which they took
from the fields, without offending any of then: generals. They

GLENDALE, AND MALVERN HILL. 119

embarked on the 21st, and sailed up the Potomac to Wash-
ington In the crowded transports ; and gun-barrels and bayo-
nets glistened in every part of the vessel ; and the bowsprit,
shrouds, and rigging had a picturesque appearance.

CHAPTER Vn.

THE BATTLES OF BEISTOW STATION, THE SECOND
BULL RUN, AND CHANTILLY.

^^^^HE brilliant reputation which Gen. Pope acquired
in the West, and the energetic orders which he issued

i.

upon assuming the command in Virginia, delighted
the armies upon the James and the Potomac ; and
the highest confidence was placed in his military abilities.
The division was packed into cattle-cars, inside and outside,
on the steps and platforms ; and a locomotive with the name
and strength of "Samson" drew the regiment after sunset,
upon Aug. 25, upon the Orange and Alexandria Railroad,
and arrived at Warrenton Junction at midnight. A regular
camp was laid out on the 26th, near this point ; shelter-tents
were pitched ; the blankets were spread upon straw ; and the
men retired to rest with the pleasant thought that they should
soon recuperate, and purge the system of the sores and blotch-
es with which the veterans of the Peninsula were afflicted.
This agreeable dream was broken at four a.m., on the 27th, by
the voice of the orderly, which was always an unwelcome
sound at this early hour, " Captain, captain ! take three
days' rations, fall in your company, and hold your men ready

120

THE BATTLES OF BPJSTOW STATION, 121

to start at a second's notice." A few reports of cannon were
heard in the rear ; and the division commenced to march upon
the line of the raih'oad to search for the ubiquitous Jackson,
who had made a detour round the right of Gen. Pope, while
that officer in his bulletins was driving him across the Rapidan
with his cavalry and light artillery. He burned the bridges
over two runs, and secured trains that extended a mile u|X)n
the track, and were loaded with army-supplies of immense
value. The force of Lee advanced in the mean while, upon
the slopes of the Blue Kidge, to re-enforce this detachment ;
and the ingenious plan of operations, if executed with success,
would have formed what was termed in popular language a
*' bag," which would have enclosed the main portion of the
corps of Generals McDowell, Sigel, and Banks. "While certain
officers with characteristic treachery failed to move promptly
from Alexandria, Generals Hooker and Kearney, whose loy-
alty was as conspicuous as then- courage, pushed forward to
the front ; and the sanguine hopes of the rebels vanished,
when they unexpectedly confronted these troops from the Army
of the Potomac.

The division continued its march ; and the skirmishers ad-
vanced mile after mile beyond Catlett's Station without oppo-
sition, until an aide in the top of a tree reported that the ve-
dettes of the enemy were visible in the woods, and the brigade
marched in line of battle thi'ough an orchard and a field of
corn. The heat of the day and speed of the movement
caused a perspiration which saturated the clothes as completely

122 SECOND BULL RUN, ANT) CHANTILLY.

as the rain. The column was passing by a burning bridge
about two, P.M., and the opinion was generally expressed that
it was another raid, and the rebels were not within ten miles
of their pursuers ; but a shell burst at that moment over the
heads of the debaters, and finished the discussion. The Ex-
celsior and Jersey brigades suffered severely in the fierce con-
flict which ensued ; and the enemy was driven from the shoii;
pines in which the lines were concealed, after fighting an hour,
and fled over the broad plain near Bristow Station, while the
brigade followed. The cavalry afforded no assistance, because
the commanding officer said the horses had no strength ; and
the infantry quickly marched by it. A batteiy which be-
longed to one of Pope's corps was as slow as the cavalry, and
the captain of it acted like a person who did not wish to en-
gage the retreating soldiers ; and the men who had often
witnessed with pride the prompt action of the artillery that
formed a part of the division viewed it with contempt, and
scoffed at the members. The hostile gunners entertained the
same opinion, and did not notice the slothful battery, but di-
rected their shell and shot at the advancing brigade, until they
were compelled to withdraw to another position in the rear.
The skirmishers fired at every suspicious-looking stump or
bush when they ascended the rising gi-ound ; and the most
anxious moments of the day were those which their cautious
steps occupied in approaching the crest which might shelter
the enemy.

The sudden onset by Gen. Hooker had not been foreseen

SECOKD BULL EUN, AND CHANTILLY. 123

by Jackson ; and the appearance of the field showed that it
was a hasty flight. The dead and wounded had been aban-
doned ; knapsacks and equipments were scattered upon the
plain; beeves had been killed; the fires were burning be-
neath the Dutch-^.)vens, which contained baking bread or
roasting meat ; dough was left in the pans, and dinners had
been prepared in the houses for the oflaicers. There were also
two bags of raw peanuts, from which the rebel cooks manu-
factured a substitute for cofiee. The civilians, who never
gave or sold food to Union soldiers, had collected geese,
turkeys, and the "fatted calf," for their friends: and one
woman cooked two barrels of cakes " for family use," so she
said; but they were devoured by the victors. The horses
for the field and staff officers had not been transported from
Yorktown, so that they were compelled to march on foot;
and although they always declared that it was more fatiguing
to ride than walk, and mercilessly shouted to weary men,
" Close up," or, " Double-quick," they -^ere the first per-
sons who left the ranks : and most of the regiments were
commanded by captains during the engagement. The num-
ber of stragglers was very large, — one-fourth of the effective
strength of the force; and squads of skulkers, who were
utterly exhausted by the heat whenever a bullet whistled ^
near them so that they could not creep to the front, ran to
the rear, placed caps upon the nipples of their muskets,
blackened then: faces and mouths with powder to resemble
those who had been engaged, and rejoined their companies

124

after the battle, and explained matters by saying that they
fought in another portion of the field.

Among others at the hospital was a German, who was
mortally wounded, and said that there were two companies
of his countrymen in the rebel regiment who had been forced
to leave their workshops, and enlist in the army. He gasped,
in his broken language, " Oh ! how hard to die, when I have
been in this land only three months ! " The prisoners were
constantly talking about the good qualities of their com-
mander, who had marched them sixty miles in the last two
days ; would seize Washington within a week ; and one of
them exclaimed, "If your generals were as smart as Jack-
son, you would soon conquer us." A house inhabited by an
Irish family was exposed to the shells during this contest ;
and the wife entered the closet, and prayed to the Virgin for
safety, while her husband and children remained in the cellar.
The soldiers took all the clothing they could discover in one
building, from which the general had been fired upon ; and
the owner remarked to one of them, —

'* You have got on my shirt."

" Yes ; and I intend to keep it on."

They also ransacked another house, in which some Federal
uniforms, stained with blood, were found ; and a light-fingered
man stole the spectacles from the nose of an aged citizen, who
pretended to know nothing respecting them, and complained
about the treatment which he had received. Hundreds of
baggage-cars, with their valuable contents, were burning five

SECOND BULL RUN, AND CHANTILLY. 125

miles in our front ; and the skies were darkened in the after-
noon by a dense cloud of smoke, which was a flame of fire at
night that lighted up the heavens.

Jackson retreated to Manassas Junction during the follow-
ing day, and subsequently formed his line of battle upon the
old field of Bull Run. Gen. McDowell was ordered to hold
Thoroughfare Gap, a position of great natural strength in the
Bull-Run mountains ; but Longstreet, in the evening, with a
few puffs of smoke from the rifles of his sharpshooters, easily
gained possession of this outlet; and Lee was allowed to
re-enforce Jackson with his whole army, without the slightest
opposition. A portion of Gen. Pope's troops marched, on
the 28th, by the division, which followed them along the line
of the railroad, halted at night, moved from the bivouac at
two, A.M., of the 29th, and stood upon the heights of Centre-
ville an hour after sunrise. Matches were very scarce upon
this campaign ; and a private who intended to light one gave
public notice to the crowd, who surrounded him with slips of
paper, and pipes in their hands. Some soldiers were in a des-
titute condition, and suffered from blistered feet, as they had
no shoes ; and others required a pair of pants or a blouse :
but all gladly pursued Jackson ; and his capture was consid-
ered a certain event. The column cheered Gen. Pope when
he rode along, accompanied by a vast body-guard, and re-
sponded, " I am glad to see you in such good spirits to-day. '\
Justice obliges me to write, that, after the experience of one
of his mismanaged battles, the silence of deep contempt was

126 THE BATTLES OF BRISTOW STATION,

the sole greeting that he perceived in the faces of these disap-
pointed soldiers. Three miles from the battle-field, the divi-
sion met a squad of five hundred cowards, who had been
paroled because the enemy could not, or would not, issue
rations to them ; and they exultingly boasted that their lives
were safe, as they would not be compelled to go into the pend-
ing conflict. Most of this number had been detailed to guard
the railroad or the trains, and barely surrendered their posts
without firing a musket to alarm their companions or check
the foe. Many of the dastards exchanged suits with the
rebels, and wore the butternut clothing; while the latter
arrayed their spies in the Federal uniform, and gained other
advantages by using them.

The stream was forded, and the graves and bones of the
dead, the nisty fragments of iron, and the weather-beaten
debris of that contest, reminded the men that they were again
in the midst of the familiar' scenes of the first battle of Bull
Eun. The cannonading was brisk at intervals during the
day. Large tracts of the field were black and smoking from
the effect of the burning grass which the shells ignited ; and
a small force was occasionally engaged upon the right : but
there was no general conflict. The brigade took the position
assigned to it, upon the slope of a hill, to support a battery
which was attached to Sigel's corps ; and no infantry was
visible in any direction, although the land was open, and
objects within the distance of half a mile were readily seen.
There was no filing, with the exception of the time when the

127

troops debouched from the road in the morning ; and the sol-
diers rested for hours until foui% p.m. At this moment, the
enemy opened with solid shot upon the batteiy, which did
not discharge one piece in response ; the diivers mounted
their horses; all rushed pell-mell thi'ough the ranks of the
fearless and enraged support, and did not halt within the
range of the artillery from which they had so cowardly fled.
A member of the staff, dressed like an officer of the day,
immediately arrived, and gave a verbal order to the brigade
commander ; after which the regiments were formed and
marched, unmindful of the cannon-balls, towards the right
of the line, and halted in the border of a thick forest, in
which many skirmishes had taken place.

"What does the general want me to do now?" Gen.
Grover asked the aide who again rode up to the brigade.

*' Go into the woods, and charge," was the answer.

*' Where is my support ? " the commander wisely inquired ;
for there were no troops near the position.

"It is coming."

After waiting fifteen minutes for this body to appear, the
ofl&cer returned and said that ' ' the general was much dis-
pleased" because the charge had not been made; and the
order was at once issued, " Fix bayonet." Each man was
inspired by these magical words ; great enthusiasm arose when
this command was "passed" from company to company;
and the soldiers, led by their brave general, advanced upon
a hidden foe, through tangled woods which constantly mter-
fered with the formation of the ranks.

128

" Colonel, do you know what we are going to charge on? "
a private inquired.

'* Yes : a good dinner."

The rebel skirmishers were driven in upon their reserve
behind the bank of an unfinished railroad ; and detachments
from five brigades were massed in three lines under the com-
mand of Ewell to resist the onset of the inferior force that
menaced them. " We will stu* up these fellows with a long
pole in a minute," one of the company said when the bullets
beo;an to sinof ; and he welcomed the fatal shot which cut him
dowiyn his youth. " Victory or death " were the last words
of another humble hero. The awful volleys did not impede
the storming party that pressed on over the bodies of the dead
and dying ; while the thousands of bullets which flew through
the air seemed to create a breeze that made the leaves upon
the trees rustle, and a shower of small boughs and twigs fell
upon the ground. The balls penetrated the barrels and shat-
tered the stocks of many muskets ; but the soldiers who car-
ried them picked up those that had been dropped upon the
gTOund by helpless comrades, and allowed no slight accident
of this character to interrupt them in the noble work. The
railroad bank was gained, and the column with cheers passed
over it, and advanced over the groups of the slain and
mangled rebels who had rolled down the declivity when they
lost then strength. The second line was broken ; both were
scattered through the woods ; and victory appeared to be cer-
tain, until the last support, that had rested upon their breasts

SECOND BULL RUN, AND CHANTILLY. 129

on the ground, suddenly rose up and delivered a destructive
volley, which forced the brigade, that had already lost more
than one third of its number in killed and wounded, to re-
treat. Ewell, suffering fi'om his shattered knee, was borne to
the rear in a blanket, and his leg was amputated. The
horse of Gen. Grover was shot upon the raikoad bank while
he was encouraging the men to go forward ; and he had
barely time to dismount before the animal, mad with pain,
dashed into the ranks of the enemy. The woods always con-
cealed the movements of the troops ; and at one point a portion
of the foe fell back, while the others remained. The forces
sometimes met face to face, and the bayonet and sword — weap-
ons that do not pierce soldiers in nine-tenths of the battles
that are fought — were used with deadly effect in several in-
stances. A corporal exclaimed in the din of this combat, ' ' Dish
ish no place for de mens," and fled to the rear with the speed
of the mythical " flying Dutchman." In one company of the
regiment, a son was killed by the side of his father, who con-
tinued to perform his duty with the firmness of a stoic, and
remarked to his amazed comrades, in a tone which showed
how a strong patriotic ardor can triumph over the deepest
emotion of affection, *' I had rather see him shot dead as he
was, than see him run away."

The victors rallied the fugitives after this repulse, and their
superior force enabled them to assault in front and upon both
flanks the line which had been contracted by the severe losses
in the charge ; and the brigade fell back to the first position

130 THE BATTLES OF BRISTOW STATION,

under a fire of grape and canister whlcli was added to the
musketry. The regunental flag was torn from the staflf by
unfriendly limbs in passing through the forest, and the eagle
that surmounted it was cut oflf in the contest. The com-
mander of the color-company saved these precious emblems, and
earnestly shouted when the lines were re-formed, '* Eleventh,
rally round the pole ! " which was then, if possible, more
honored than when it was bedecked in folds of buntina;.
Gen. Grover, who displayed the gallantry throughout this
action that he had exhibited upon the Peninsula, waved his
hat upon the point of his sword to animate his brigade and
prepare for a renewal of the fight. Many were scarcely
able to speak on account of hoarseness caused by intense
cheering, and some officers blistered the palms of their hands
by waving swords when they charged with their commands.
The support was not present when the soldiers emerged from
the woods, although an hour had elapsed since the aide stated
that it was " coming." Another brigade soon reached the
scene, and made a charge over the ground which had been
recently won and lost ; but was repulsed before the raih'oad
bank was attained. The motives that governed the officer
in command who caused this large destruction of life were
never understood by the fortunate survivors, who agreed
with Gen. Hooker when he protested against the proposed
movement as "a useless slaughter of my men to attempt
to win a position which was of no miHtary value when it was
gained."

SECOND BULL RUN, AND CHANTILLY. 131

The enemy followed the retreating troops after this disaster ;
and the brigade retired so that the next contest would occur
in the open field : but the rebels, who did not wish to leave
their shelter, halted in the fringe of the forest, and formed an
excellent line, while the " stars and bars " that glittered upon
their brilliant crimson flags resembled the vivid hues of the
most venomous serpents. The commander of the mountain
howitzers promptly obeyed the order to " pring up de shack-
asses;" the impatient cannoneers stood by their pieces, and
urged the soldiers who were marching in front to hasten to the
rear, so that they could open ; and the warning, " Get out of
the way, or we'll blow your head off! " developed a new energy
in many weary muscles. The splendid front was broken by
the rounds of canister, and quickly disappeared in the forest,
and left a line of skirmishers, who shot all the wounded that
attempted to crawl from their exposed positions upon the
field to the Union pickets. The men slept with comfort at
night upon straw which had been taken from the same stack
that stood upon the ground in the action of July 21, 1861 ;
and some, who knew that a bullet had penetrated their blan-
kets or great coats, which were tightly rolled and fastened to
the knapsacks, found that one hole became thirty or forty
when they were spread out for use.

The- pickets were unusually quiet : strong re-enforcements
arrived in the morning for both armies, and all expected a
glorious result ; but I was soon convinced that no troops, how-
ever large in number, could contend against Lee with success

132 THE BATTLES OF BRISTOW STATION,

while Generals Pope and McDowell commanded them. K
Gen. Fitz John Porter, who received a lenient punishment
for the crime which he committed, and other officers of high
rank, who merited the same justice for acts equally culpable,
had taken part in this battle, the same causes would have
produced the inevitable defeat. Gen. McDowell was viewed
as a traitor by a large majority of the officers and men, and
was distrusted by officers upon his staff, by members of his
body-guard, and those who were constantly associated with
him; and thousands of soldiers firmly believed that their
lives would be purposely wasted if they obeyed his orders in
the time of conflict. From prisoners I ascertained that the
rebel army entertained the same idea ; and Lee knew that
thirty thousand men of the force in his front were demoralized
on this account : and the battle that followed proved that it
was a melancholy fact. Gen. Pope acted like a dunderpate
durino" the day (the 30th), and scorning the wise advice of
abler generals, like Hooker and Kearney, allowed Gen. Mc-
Dowell to manoeuvre the troops upon the field. I boldly
declare that the task would have been discharged with greater
ability by intelligent sergeants in the regiments ; and the
results were perfect illustrations of those which ensue " when
the blind lead the blind."

The hom's quietly passed away, with the exception of an
occasional firing by the skirmishers, until four, p.m. ; and
many batteries and brigades were marched to the left, to that
plateau near the Henry House which was the scene of the

SECOND BULL RUN, AND CHANTILLY. 133

heaviest fighting in the old engagement. The national forces
were carelessly deployed upon the cleared land, so that Lee,
from a commanding hill, could perceive and inspect the num-
ber and position of every Union regiment and battery ; while
he massed his divisions in the woods, and it was impossible
to see any regular body of them. Thousands of the infantry
rested behind their stacks; and some batteries were never
unlimbered, and rendered no service, although they were
often required to prevent the shameful defeat that followed.
The enemy concentrated his strength upon his right,
made a feint upon the centre with a small force, and sud-
denly overwhelmed the left, which was composed of Gen.
McDowell's corps, brigades of which fled in confusion after
receiving one volley, and did not attempt to re-form, but
shouted defiantly to their commanding officers, " You can't
play it on us ! " and similar cries. The troops comprising
the right wing, which were posted one mile from this point,
stood upon fences and the wheels of gun-carriages, and
watched the struggle with the keenest interest until they
were satisfied that the day was lost.

When the eye excluded the smoke and havoc of the con-
flict, and gazed upon the scenery, — the green belts of the for-
est, the undulations and heights upon the field, the cloudless
skies, and the distant summits of the Bull Eun and Blue
Ridge that formed the back-ground of the view ; and —

" Blue against the bluer heavens

Stood the mountain, calm and still," —

134

the soul was cnclianted wltli the unsurpassed beauty of Na-
ture. In the midst of this lovehness, the scenes of horror
upon the phiin — the mutilated forms of suffering men, the
prolonged roll of musketry, the reverberations of the artil-
lery, the yells of the rebels when they charged and captured
a battery, and the sulphurous smoke that at times enveloped
the combatants — presented a terrible contrast.

Cattle had been killed, and issued to the brigade, and many
were broiling the beef over the fires while the contest was unde-
cided upon the left. The exploding shells continually emitted
globes of smoke ; and the difference in the color showed that
the enemy used the finest quality of powder, which was white,
while the other was black. Pieces of railroad-iron, that
rushed with an irregular motion through the air, indicated a
limited supply of ammunition. Three hours vanished while
the brigade was alternately double-quicking upon the field,
or halting for a brief period to support the artillery, but
steadily approaching the left, and fearing the canister that was
hurled over it from the batteries in the rear more than that
of the enemy in front. The regiment at one time held the
same position upon the Leesburg Road which it had defended
in the first action of Bull Run ; and history narrates few co-
incidences that are stranger than this. The field was aban-
doned while the sun was sinking beneath the horizon ; and the
column marched through the cold water of the runs, and biv-
ouacked near Centre ville at midnight. All were affected
with giief by this disaster, and I noticed officers who restrained

SECOND BULL EUN, AND CHANTILLY. 135

witli difficulty tears of soitow ; and general indignation was
expressed against the two commanders who were responsible
for the useless effusion of such precious blood.

When the brigade had retreated a short distance, it passed
by Gen. McDowell, who sat upon his horse in the road ; and
the most profane oaths were uttered in reference to his con-
duct, and his ears must have often caught the insulting
taunts of thousands of brave and patriotic men. There was
scarcely a moment during the march in which I did not hear
the epithets "villain," "traitor," or "scoundrel," applied
to his name. He wore a hat made in such a peculiar style,
that he could be identified by the ranks of the contending
armies. This strangely fashioned article was not a part of
the Federal uniform; and while Gen. McDowell knew that he
had no right to wear it, and would have roughly censured an
officer, if he had noticed, upon an inspection, any volunteer
who was clothed in this outlandish apparel, the suspicions of
those who doubted his loyalty were increased by this gToss
violation of mihtary regulations. "I would sooner shoot
McDowell than Jackson!" "How guilty he looked with
that basket upon his head ! " " It is an outrage to put men
under that traitor to be mmxlered! " were remarks which were
constantly repeated. " My men went upon- the field as if they
were upon dress parade ; but, in a few minutes, I was left all
alone," Gen. McDowell said to Col. Marston, who com-
manded the Second New-Hampshire Volunteers that marched
in the rear of the regiment.

136 THE BATTLES OF BRISTOW STATION,

Incidents were hourly witnessed that will be remembered
as long as the mind retains its faculties ; and a record of
some of them may interest the reader. Gen. Hooker aston-
ished certain officers of the highest rank in Pope's army by
displaying an example of courage which they should have
followed; and one of them asked, " Who ish dat general mit
a white horse and red face? He cares nothing for bullets."
Untaught by the disastrous results of the battle of last year,
batteries without an adequate support were pushed to the
front in the same heedless manner, and upon the same ground
on which those of Griffin and Kickett were lost ; and Lee
captm'ed them with ease. Many of the officers and cannon-
eers escaped, and their statements added fuel to the flame
that was already consuming the reputation of the person I
have so often named. " Mein Gott, mein Gott, general, the
rebels will have mine every piece ! " one artillery commander
exclaimed ; while another, wringing his hands with anguish,
shouted many times, " All my guns lost, all my guns lost,

throuo-h that infernal McDowell ! " — " Sero-eant," said

a gray-haii-ed brigadier to a non-commissioned officer of the
regiment, who was wounded, and travelling to the hospital,
"how are things going?" — "We hold om- own now; but
McDowell has charge of the left," he replied. " Then God
save the left, if jNIcDowell has charge of it ! " the general an-
swered in a tone of utter despair. A general, who belonged
•to the exceedingly small circle of Gen. McDowell's military
admirers, deserted his men, rushed to one of the hospitals.

137

and yelled, ** Two hundred rebel cavalry are driving my
brigade! Can't you help me ? " His force consisted of three
thousand infantry; and the wounded indignantly insulted
him : "Go back to your command, you coward ! " " Shoot
the skedaddler ! " and he rode still farther to the rear.

Scenes illustrating the extremes in human character oc-
cuiTed; and there were mean subterfuges to evade, and noble
efforts to brave, the dangers of the battle. An artillery of-
ficer was groaning, and seemed to suffer intense pain, until a
shell burst near him ; when he jumped from the stretcher, and
fled so swiftly, that those who were carrying him could not
keep pace with his flying feet. A captain in one regiment
skulked out of the fight, and passed by the provost-guard by
showing his hands, which were covered with blood that had
flowed from the wounds of one of his company. If officers
were shot, or relaxed their vigilance, squads of three or four
soldiers would leave the ranks, and carry a disabled man or
escort an unarmed prisoner to the rear. A corporal, scorning
aid, used his musket as a crutch, and walked to the hospital ;
and one of the company, who was mortally wounded, im-
plored his comrades, who had taken him from the ground
while the brigade was retreating, to escape, as they might be
captured by the enemy, and he did not wish them to suffer
the privations of prisoners. Shoes and articles of clothing
were thrown away by some to enable them to shirk their duty ;
and others, who were actually destitute, di-agged themselves,
upon swollen and blistered feet, to the front. Many soldiers

138 THE BATTLES OF BPJSTOW STATION,

were drunk in Alexandiia while their comrades were dying upon
the field ; and the number that fought, if compared with the
rolls of those who were paid, reveals a lax state of discipline.
In one regiment, only 302 men in 843 were present during
the action ; in another, consisting of 847, only 318 took part ;
in two regiments the ratio was smaller, and 596 were en-
gaged : so that less than three-eighths of a brigade performed
the hazardous duty of fighting. The rebels advanced their
lines, threw shells into the hospitals, and killed soldiers who
were helpless on account of wounds. The frightened sur-
geons and nurses abandoned, in one place, those who required
their care ; while the so-called daughters of two regiments
boldly remained, and loudly denounced the runaways. An
orderly in the regiment found a scabbard which was besmeared
with blood, and a private discovered the sword that was a
shght distance from it ; and, by pitching a copper, both were
won by the sergeant, who was afi;erwards promoted, and wore
them until he was killed at Chancellorsville. The fragments
of exploding shells could be easily discerned in the air, and
I noticed one which shattered the jaw of a bugler as he was
sounding a call. The sufferings of those who were captured
by the enemy cannot be described: the wounded had no
care during five days ; and others were reduced so much by
insufficient food, that, when they were released, they gladly
ate the crumbs of hard bread which had been scattered more
than a week upon the ground at Centreville. The corpses
of three hundred soldiers were placed upon each other, and

SECOND BULL RUN, AND CHANTILLY. 139

buried by tbrowing eartli upon them ; so that they were Hghtly
covered. The number of ambulances was inadequate to con-
vey the wounded that had been paroled ; and two hundred
hacks and carriages were seized in the streets of Washington,
and their diivers were compelled to go to jManassas for this
humane purpose. The rebel prisoners facetiously remarked,
that, upon the campaign, " Jackson did all the praying, while
Ewell did the swearing."

The army rested upon the heights of Centre ville during
two days, and enjoyed the comfort of the barracks which
had been occupied by the force of Johnson in the winter of
1861-2 ; and the enemy showed no inclination to storm the
works which they had constructed for their own protection.
l!ee gained the position which bore the historic name of Chan-
tilly. Gen. Pope discovered that he was flanked, and or-
dered the divisions of Generals Kearney, Hooker, and Reno, to
march to this point. Before the movement was commenced.
Gen. Kearney made a speech of exhortation to his men for
the last time ; and the troops, in the midst of the storm and
darkness, advanced through the forests, and fields of com, in
which a few regiments suiFered severely ; but the brigade was
posted upon the left, and its skumishers were unmolested.
Generals Stevens and Kearney were killed ; but the foe was
speedily driven from the position, and the line of retreat
between Washington and Alexandria was secured. One-
half of the regiment was kept under arms during the night ;
while the remainder, trembling with cold, attempted to sleep

140 THE BATTLES OF BRISTOW STATION,

in the rain and mud. The whole force was in motion at twi-
light, and encamped at Alexandria upon Sept. 3.

The Government acted with decision, and justly deprived
Generals Pope and McDowell of their powerful command;
and the first was banished to the frontier of Minnesota, while
the last was not intrusted with any mihtary power until
Gen. Grant exercised his usual sagacity, and exiled him to
California. These just measures pleased the unfortunate sol-
diers who had been compelled to obey then: orders ; and the
appointment of Gen. Hooker to command the first corps, vice
McDowell reUeved, was received with joyous shouts and
cheers } and the wisdom of those that made this important
change was vindicated by its brilliant conduct at South Moun-
tain and Antietam.

The army mourned the national loss of Major-Gen. Kear-
ney, who was killed at Chantilly ; and_ his memory will be
cherished as long as exalted patriotism, inspiring courage, and
justice towards men, are revered by mankind. Quahfied to
be the head of the army, he accepted the command of a bri-
gade. Leaving the comforts which his large wealth afforded,
he welcomed the most trying hardships of the service. In
another zone, the enemies of his country had taken his arm ;
but his zeal triumphed over the disability, and he fought until
he had sacrificed his life. Placing the reins between his teeth,
and grasping in his single hand the two-edged sword, he led
his men in the charge that was never checked. Humane to
those who were his inferiors, the orderlies were directed to

SECOND BULL EUN, AND CHANTILLY. 141

bring water in canteens to the soldiers when the exigencies of
the hour requu-ed that all should remain in the ranks at the
front. Impetuous in thought and action as the flash of his
fiery eye, he censured with the same vehemence the misconduct
of a private, or the general of the highest rank in the Union
forces. Beloved by his division, the red badge which he
instituted was always worn by the officers and men with the
same proud feeling with which the heroic commander displayed
the cross of the Legion of Honor, which never enrolled a
nobler chevalier. Bravely performing his public tasks, the
death of this pure patriot and consummate soldier was a fitting
conclusion of his eventful life.

CHAPTER Yia.

THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH, AND THE BATTLE
OF FREDERICKSBURG.

/^■^Sifc^'HE division had marched from Warronton Junction
gm with the expectation that it would soon return to the
^^ y camp ; and the guards who had charge of the mu-
nitions of war and private property destroyed them ;
and there was hardly an officer in the command that possessed
any clothing, besides what was upon his person, when it
reached Alexandria. The troops daily labored upon the
earthworks ; and the order that was issued by the President
at this time, prohibiting work npon the Sabbath, was always
disregarded. The privates of the garrisons in the forts were
dressed in better apparel than the officers of the old regi-
ments, viewed with disdain their tattered appearance, and
played cricket and similar games for exercise, while the vete-
rans from the Peninsula used the spade. The engineers who
resided in Washington rode around the works once in three
days in an elegant carriage, and gave directions, according to
their caprices, to the officer in charge of the fatigue-parties to
cut down a few stumps, or remove an inch of gravel from the
crest of a parapet, or increase or diminish the angle of one
142

THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH, ETC. 143

of tbe slopes five degrees. The brigade and division bad lost
their generals by promotion, and picket-duty was performed
under tbe supervision of a coward who never visited a post
if tbe enemy was near it. He inspected tbe lines in places
of safety witb great pomposity, and prohibited tbe use of
lights at night, although those who were thirty miles from
Alexandria had blazing camp-fires.

Inspections, reviews, and similar features of camp-life, con-
stantly took place ; and I was sometimes entertained by tbe
comments of a commanding officer who examined a regiment,
and seemed to be determined to find as much fault as possible.
If the magazines had been supplied with ammunition, he said,
"You coward ! why didn't you fire some cartridges in the
fight? " If they bad not been procured, the men were re-
proved for negligence. If a thin coating of dust was visible
upon the head of a rammer, he remarked, "That gun is a
solid bar of iron ;" " The rust is six inches deep in the bar-
rel ;" or, " You might as well try to shoot with a tree." The
" good and holy man," a chaplain, held religious services
upon Sept. 21, in compliance with orders; and, although no
congi'egation was present, read bis prayers in a loud voice,
and seemed to be satisfied with his endeavors.

The camp was broken up on Nov. 1, when the brigade
bivouaced at Fairfax Court House ; and the command halted
upon tbe 3d at Manassas Junction, near which many bar-
racks of logs, and chimneys and ovens of red sandstone, were
standing. A few guerillas captured a wood-train the day be-

144

fore tbo reglmont arrived ; and a joutli thirteen years of age,
wlio lived near this jDoint and saw tbe affair, spoke with much
frankness about the base conduct of the guard, which was com-
posed of sixty men from a New- York regiment in Gen. Sigel's
corps ; and bis recital of tbe facts was confirmed. ' ' Tbey were
a lot of cowards," he earnestly said ; " and four of them bid
in the culvert, and came out after our cavalry had gone, and
told me and my brother (pointing to a boy about ten years
old) not to kill them, for they were our prisoners : and I told
them to keep still, for the cavalry might bear them, and come
back and get them. The others ran away, and kept up with
the horses ; and, if tbey had run as fast t'other way, tbe cav-
alry wouldn't have got any of them." Tbe brigade bivouacked
at Bristow Station upon the 7tb, in tbe fii-st snow-storm of
the season, and met a portion of tbe division that was retreat-
ing from Warrenton Junction with the news, which their
general had communicated, that tbe rebels bad a large force
at that place, and it was considered foolbardiness for a small
body of troops to attack them. There was no opposition upon
the succeeding day, when the column advanced, and no signs
of a recent occupation by the enemy could bo perceived.
The troops bad not baited an hour before tbe citizens in the
vicinity visited tbe camps to purchase salt, and other arti-
cles of food. Contrabands, carrying small packs of clothing,
were continually passing over the railroad to Alexandria dur-
ing tbe period in which the brigade held this post. The train
that conveyed Gen. Hooker to Warrenton, where the army

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 145

had been concentrated, stopped at the Junction upon the 11th,
and the troops received him with loud cheers. Gen. Halleck,
than whom no officer was more universally detested hj the
soldiers, arrived upon the following day ; but not one voice of
welcome was heard in the laro-e number that knew he was
present. Three hundred rebel prisoners were transported
upon the railroad on the 13th ; and interesting conversations
ensued, in which opinions were expressed about different gen-
erals, and the success of their cause. One of them said, in a
very sarcastic tone, " McDowell is a fine general : why don't you
give him the sole command ? " The absurd suggestion created
shouts of derisive laughter, in which friends and foes heartily
joined. Upon the walls of a building which was the head-
quarters of the brigade commander I read some inscriptions
which had been written by the pickets of the enemy : ' ' Away
goes the Yanks when they see the rebels approach them;"
and, " T. W. Snead will never wear the gallmg yoke of a
Northern Parliament."

The army began to move to Falmouth upon the 16th'. The
troops for two days were passing through this place ; and
general confidence concerning the result was expressed, and
many asserted that Richmond would be captured within a
month. This change of base had not been anticipated;
and workmen, who constructed two water-tanks at Bristow
Station upon the 18th, removed them upon the 19th. The
regiment waded through the Occoquan, at Wolf Ford, upon
the 21st; and the brigade occupied a position of gi-eat natm'al

10

146

strength, which the enemy had fortified when Centreville
was held ; and forts had been built upon the crest of the
hills, while the pines and cedars had been felled upon many
acres to form the abattis. These earthworks were not con-
sidered perfect by the general; and a detail was busily
engaged in throwing up a new redoubt, when the orders to
march were received. The brigade disappeared, and en-
camped in the midst of the short pines of Falmouth upon the
28th. A division general discovered the skins of some sheep
in a field in which his troops had bivouacked, but was unable
to find any mutton or criminals, and arbitrarily deducted a
supply for one day from the rations of his command as a
punishment.

The shameful negligence of certain officials to forward the
pontoons from Washington caused a fatal delay in the move-
ment of the army ; and Lee was enabled to mass his forces
upon the heights in the rear of Fredericksburg, and fortify
these strong positions, while Jackson started from the Valley,
and reached the field the night before his men were required
for action. The northern bank rose abruptly from the
Rappahannock, and completely commanded the city, which
was compactly built upon the opposite side ; and the narrow
stream flowed between the pickets of both annies, who gazed
at each other from day to day without exchanging shots.
Conversations were frequent until they were prohibited by
the officers ; and the following remark was often made :
" Yanks, before you can take Fredericksburg, you will have

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 147

to get up Early, go throiigb a Longstreet, cross a Lee,
jump over a Stonewall, and climb two Hills!" Many wore
the Federal uniform ; and the rebel sentinels sometimes put
on the overcoats of those that they relieved, and the r.eserve
crept into the shelters and caves which had been excavated
in the bank. The streets were filled with vehicles of all
varieties, which were loaded with the baggage of the terror-
stricken inhabitants, who were leaving the city to avoid the
dangers of the battle that was looked for every day. Before
the wharves at Acqnia Creek had been completed, acres of
ground near the stations were covered with army-wagons that
occasionally waited three days for supplies ; and the wheels
were rumbling over the roads at all hours of the day and
night.

Orders were received, in the evening of Dec. 10, to
furnish every man with sixty rounds of ammunition, and
rations for three days ; hospitals were established ; and the
soldiers beheld upon every side the usual preparations for a
general engagement. The reports of two cannons reverber-
ating with a peculiar distinctness in the dai'kness, at 51, a.m.,
upon the 11th, broke the quietness of the camps; and the
same rounds, succeeded by a volley of musketry, were heard
fifteen minutes afterwards. These were the guns that opened
the battle of Fredericksburg. Near the ruins of the railroad
biidge, the engineers had built one of pontoons, which ex-
tended two-thirds of the distance across the river ; but the
canister of the enemy prevented them from finishing it at

148

that time. The division marched at daybreak towards the
point; and one hundred and forty-three pieces of ai-tillerj
were placed in position upon the bluffs of the north bank,
•while most of the infantry was concealed in the woods and
ravines. A dense fog, which prevailed during the morning
'and forenoon, rendered the progress of the general movement
as hazardous as a conflict in the night ; and the delay that
occun-ed in laying the pontoons allowed the foe time to unite
the troops that guarded the fords with the main body. The
fire of the batteries upon the left, and the gallantry of the
forlorn hope upon the right, triumphed over all obstacles;
and the bridges at Deep Run were finished at noon, and those
at Fredericksburg were completed three hours later. One
hundred thousand infantry, and a force of cavahy and
artillery, debouched from these two points of crossing, which
were nearly three miles apart, and formed in line of battle.
There was no fighting during the day between large bodies of
troops ; although the skirmishers were actively engaged, and
the cannonading was sometimes brisk. The most deafening
roar resounded when the guns opened upon the town with
shot and shell; and clouds of smoke arose from burning
edifices in every district. The brick houses protected the
rebel sharpshooters, who frequently attempted to deceive the
Union forces by clothing themselves in the dresses which they
found in the deserted buildings.

The division was held in the reserve upon the 12th; and
from the field it occupied could be discerned the rifle-pits of

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 149

the enemy upon the liclges, the national cokimns moving to
theii' new positions, and the batteries which successfully
silenced those of the foe throughout the battle. The first
cannon was discharged at 9.20, a.m. ; and for half an hour a
vigorous firing continued, in which the siege-guns planted
upon the banks penetrated the innermost line of works, while
they replied at long intervals with shells that could not reach
the superior ordnance. The bivouac in the night aflfected the
raw troops, that were constantly coughing; and new regi-
ments could be quickly pointed out by this means. They
were anxious to go into the fight, and " eager to enter the
fray," in newspaper language; while the veterans, like old
soldiers, did not wish to deploy upon the field unless their
presence was indispensable. The division marched to the
left, and halted for the night ; but the regiment received
orders for special service at 9|-, p.m., and crossed the river
upon a bridge that was composed of sixteen pontoons, which
it was required to guard. There were no fii-es, because there
was no wood ; and the men walked to and fro durmg many
sombre hours to escape the chills that threatened them if they
sought sleep.

A state of stillness which was unnatural, when the proxi-
mity of hostile ai-mies is considered, existed until mid-day of the
10th : but the dispositions preparatory to an attack upon the
enemy had been made ; and the history of that afternoon would ,
be aptly written in the blood of the gallant soldiers who
assaulted impregnable works upon the right, and defied death

150 THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH^ AND

at the stone wall, the heights, and the mill-race. A citizen
said with truth, to some companies that were marching
through the city to the front, " The soldiers upoa those hills
are looking down, and laughing to see you advancing to meet
them." The lines extended from Deep Run a mile and a half
to the left, and deployed upon the plateau that was nearly
two miles from the river ; and the main portion of the army,
comprising eight divisions of infantry, with 60,000 men, 28
batteries containing 116 guns, and the force of cavaby which
was sheltered by the bank in the rear, awaited the orders of
Gen. Franklin. The enemy was hidden in the belt of woods
in front ; but the land was very level : and there were more of
the insurmountable obstacles that blocked the path to victory
uppn the right; and a competent commander with such a large
corps would have easily carried the position, which was de-
fended by troops that were inferior in numbers and resources.
When the opinions and sympathies which this officer enter-
tained upon the vital issues of the Rebellion are publicly
known, and his inglorious military career, from the first Bull
Run to the disgraceful failures of the Sabine Pass and the
Red-River Expedition, is scrutinized, all will be amazed that
Gen. Franklin was intrusted by the Government with any
command in the service. The batteries shelled the forest ; and
at one, p.m., the ceaseless roll of musketry burst forth for the
first time during the movement, and a single division gained a
temporary success : but the inexcusable neglect to support it,
resulted, as a matter of course, in defeat. The troops of one

THE BATTLE OF FEEDERICKSBURG. 151

of tbe largest corps, with the exception of a few sku^mishers,
did not burn a cartridge ; and less than one-fifth of this vast
army upon the left fought in the decisive battle.

The wounded who could travel were continually returning
from the front, and the helpless were carried by the ambu-
lances and stretcher-bearers over the bridge ; and great vigi-
lance was necessary to detect those that feigned sickness or
wounds by tying a bandage stained with blood around their
arms or heads, and prevent them from escaping across the
river. An officer, assisted by two able-bodied men, slowly
moved towards the bridge, until the colonel halted them, and
directed the soldiers, in terms of the deepest kindness, to
rejoin their company, and assured them that their commander
should receive the best treatment.

"My good man, what is the matter with you?" he
blandly asked the lieutenant who had requested that those who
bore him from the field might be allowed to remain and assist
him.

" I am wounded," he replied in a weak voice ; and an ex-
pression of the most acute pain was visible in his face.

" Doctor, will you dress his wound? He is just from the
front."

" I didn't say I was wounded : I am sick, and want to go
over the river to be treated by my own doctor," he said when
he saw the surgeon approach.

** You can go as soon as you have been examined and re-
ported unwell."

152 THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH, AND

It

*'I will go any way," the officer exclaimed, and tried to
rush by the guards who aiTested him. The colonel changed
his soft words into hard oaths, struck him, and ordered the
men to use the bayonet if he resisted them ; and the skulker
ran towards the front without showing any loss of physical
strength. Many scenes hke this occurred during the after-
noon ; and the exact situation of affairs was ascertained from the
disabled, who were always willing to tell the news in answer
to the usual question, " How are things gomg? " When the
facts attending the death of Gen. Bayard were received, the
soldiers publicly uttered the wish that the cruel shell had
missed its noble victim, and pierced Gen. Franklin, who was
standing near him at the time. The prisoners were happy
because they supposed that their lives were safe for a certain
period ; and one of them remarked, when he saw a group of
mounted men riding upon the distant heights, * ' That is Long-
street upon the white horse, and his staff."

The regiment rejoined the division at midnight upon the
plateau, and learned the position of the enemy by watchmg
the lights of the camp-jQi-es, which shone with distinctness in
the darkness. The skirmishers commenced to fire with the
first ray of sunlight upon the 14th : and until one, p.m., the
sharpshooters, who were posted in the woods about a quarter
of a mile from the line, shot at every person and horse that
stood upon the plain, and occasionally wounded a man ; and
soldiers who were aligned three hundred yards in rear of the
regiment were killed by the bullets which whistled over it.

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBUEG. 153

The field had been planted with corn ; and beds were made of
the shucks and stalks, that were collected together, and placed
in little gulleys and ditches which ran through it. The reb-
els had bui'ned a house and barn in the night that interfered
with the range of their artillery. A battery opened on the
brigade at daybreak, but it was promptly silenced by a com-
pany of sharpshooters from the 2d New-Hampshire Yols.; and
a few cannon and officers, drivers and horses, fled in confusion,
and left the guns and caissons. Throughout this contest, the
skirmishers sheltered themselves behind stumps and other
barriers ; and some scooped up a slight q^uantity of earth, and
rested their rifles upon the bodies of dead soldiers that were
frequently mutilated by the balls which were aimed at the
Hving. A lieutenant in the brigade was wounded in the
extreme front, and refused to allow the man to carry him to
the hospital while the filing continued ; and rejoined his regi-
ment within a month, before his injuries were healed, when
there was a prospect of another battle.

"Captain, where shall I bring your dinner?" asked a
servant who was retuing to cook that meal.

" I don't know : in hell, perhaps ! " the officer answered
as he glanced at a shell which burst near the spot at that
moment.

The firing ceased m the afternoon, and a tacit truce ex-
isted, during which the rebels permitted the members of the
ambulance corps to convey the wounded to the rear, and
brought others who were inside of their lines to the edge of

154

the woods -which was neutral gi'ound. A rare spectacle in
war was witnessed when the soldiers of both armies talked
together in the most friendly manner upon this space be-
tween the pickets, while an animated conflict could be distin-
guished at the distance of two miles to the right. They
wished to exchange tobacco for "picture-papers," because
the ordinary news-journals did not interest the large majority,
who were unable to read. They informed the men that Jack-
son commanded the army in front; and said, "In three
days he will drive you into the river, or make you cross it."
A private noticed a rebel officer, who was a native of the
same town, and lived near his home until he emigrated to the
South two years before the Bebellion : but, the instant that he
recognized him, a feeling of utter degradation seemed to over-
come him ; and, without saying a word, he rushed into the
forest to conceal his emotion of shame.

" Good-by, boys ; we will meet you in the fight to-mor-
row," one of the regiment remarked when night approached;
and the crowd dispersed. The rebels easily counted the
guns and troops, which were massed upon the open plain,
and formed the left of the army; and, wisely feai'ing the
results of an advance by these battalions if they were prop-
erly handled, worked after sunset on the 13th, 11th, and
15th, and felled trees and erected breastworks until morn-
ing. One-third of the men in each company were kept under
ai'ms during the night ; and the only sounds that fell upon
the ears of the faithful pickets were the strokes of a thousand

THE BATTLE OF FREDEEICKSBURG. 155

axes, and the crash of the massive oaks when they struck
the earth.

The same good feeling prevailed upon the 18th; and,
although the troops might be exposed to the fire of artillery,
the Union forces dug no extended rifle-pits, the brigade was
never ordered to load, and the foe showed no wish to molest
them. The regiment was relieved for a part of the day, and
remained in the old road, the grade of which was several feet
below 'the surface of the plateau, and reminded one of the
famous sunken road of Waterloo. A flag of truce entered
the lines in the afternoon ; and the gunners, who had fled
from the battery near the burnt chimney at sunrise upon the
14th, attempted to take away the caissons and cannons which
had remained in the same position more than thirty hours.
The watchful captain opened his artillery upon them, and
they again, within a few minutes, deserted their pieces; while
dismounted officers and men and riderless horses scampered
with a speed that caused general laughter. A company from
the regiment was stationed upon picket, and an agreement
was made that there should be no firing; and the enemy
began to labor in the night with unusual industry. The sen-
tinels discovered, by noticing the clanking iron, rumbling
wheels, and similar sounds, that cannon were being mounted
upon the forts to sweep the plateau, which presented no nat-
ural or artificial obstacles which would check the passage of
shells and canister. Dippers were placed, in the haversacks
to prevent the incessant tinklmg which is always made by

156 THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH, AND

marching troops ; tbe force quietly glided from tbe fort a few
minutes before midniglit ; and tbe pontoons creaked beneath
the tread of a discomfited army during the succeeding four
hours. The weather, which is a subject of stale conversation
in peace, but of the gi-eatest importance to soldiers in a cam-
paign, had been pleasant up to this time : the ground was
hard, and the heavy guns rolled over the roads with ease.
Nature now changed its kind aspect to favor the retreat ; over-
cast the skies with black clouds that shut out the light of the
moon, so that the hostile forces could not see; and roughly
waved the branches of the forest over their heads, so that
they were unable to hear ; and the divisions escaped to the
old camps undisturbed by a solitary shot. The Union pickets
did not know the time when the main body marched to the
river, and cautiously crept upon their hands and knees to
the sunken road, when they received orders to fall back.

The Virginia Central Raiboad passed through the rebel
lines, and trains constantly conveyed ammunition and re-enforce-
ments from Richmond, or carried the wounded and prisoners
from the battle-field ; and the smoke that arose from the con-
flict mingled with that of the locomotives. The sutlers, and
storekeepers of Fredericksburg, concealed large quantities of
tobacco ; and the soldiers, among whom there was always a
senseless clamor for a " chaw " or " smoke " (I have seen
fools barter a day's ration of bread for a small piece of the
weed), eagerly obtained a supply from some boxes that were
scattered upon the bottom of the streams. Some of the

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 157

troops tliat bivouacked witliin the limits of the city pillao-ed
the deserted houses of rich rebels who had cheerfully allowed
the sharpshooters to fii-e from the windows and murder their
comrades. MiiTors, JDianos, and gorgeous furniture were de-
stroyed; beautiful paintings and family-portraits upon the
walls were cut ; busts were decapitated ; and elegant silk
dresses and garments were torn into shreds. The bricks
-which fell from the chimneys during the bombardment, and
the partitions of shattered buildings, injured the soldiers who
were deployed in the streets ; while the inhabitants that had
not escaped crouched in cellars, and dreaded alike the balls
that came from friends and foes. A citizen who viewed the
subject from a personal stand-point, in commenting upon the
conduct of the army, said, " All soldiers are the same :
the Confederates robbed me of all I had, and you Yankees
took all I had left."

The rain gushed from the clouds for hours upon the 16th ;
and^ if there had been any delay in recrossing the river, the
cannons and wagons would have been fixed in the adhesive
mud of a Southern winter, and the most disastrous results
would have followed. The forces of the enemy advanced in
line of battle in the morning as soon as the evacuation was
perceived, plundered the dead, and gathered all the clothing
that had been cast aside by the army ; and a battery opened
upon them, and the battle of Fredericksburg was finished.
The repulse caused universal despondency ; and the soldiers
of Lee exultingly told the detail that crossed the river under

158 THE MARCH TO FALMOUTH, ETC.

a flag of truce to bury the dead, that there would he no
more fighting, and the Southern Confederacy would be ac-
knowledged as a nation within two months. The rebel gen-
erals urged their hordes in each conflict to win the victory,
and then they could return to their homes, and enjoy the
rights for which they were contending, and —

" Keap the harvest of perpetual peace
By this one bloody trial of sharp war,"

CHAPTER IX.

THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIEGINIA.

y^VOR three days the army had been under marching
'^BT orders ; and the" division, equipped for battle and
/-^/ commanded by Gen. Sickles, moved two miles at
' one, P.M., upon Jan. 20, 1863; halted until night
in the severe storm, and then returned to quarters. The
troops that belonged to the left grand division, under Gen.
Franklin, filed by the regiment, and muttered bitter curses
against certain officers who exhausted them by moving at an
unnatural rate of speed, and giving no permission to rest, al-
though most of them were eight miles from the starting-point.
These sinister commanders eJBfected their purpose, and filled
the woods that bordered upon the roads with thousands of
strao-Mers who could not sustain the cruel fatio;ue of the
march ; and some reckless men openly insulted them, and
shouted defiantly as they brandished their bayonets, " Shoot
us, if you want to kill us ! " "Ride over me if you dare
to ! " " Get off your horse, and carry this knapsack, and see
how you like it!" while hundreds screamed, "Halt, halt,
halt ! " or, " I'm demoralized ! " Less than one-half of Gen.
Franklin's force that shouldered muskets in the afternoon

159

160 THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

formed a part of the ranks wben the lines were established at
ni^ht. This dishonorable conduct of certain officers of hio;h
rank, who did not cordially support Gen. Burnside, produced
among the soldiers a feeling of distrust regarding the success
of the movement before the river was bridged.

The rain continued hour after hour, while the division
struggled through the mud, upon the 21st, for a distance of
five miles to the right, and halted at a point that was near
the ford at which the troops were to cross the Rappahannock.
The soil of Virginia was a more formidable obstacle than the
legions of Jackson and Longstreet. The animals were con-
stantly mired, and foui* mules were entirely exhausted by
drawing nine hundred pounds of rations from the camps in a
wagon ; while twelve horses attached to a light cannon extri-
cated it with difficulty, although four of them pulled the gun
upon ordinaiy roads. "When they bivouacked, logs were
placed under the wheels of the artillery and teams to prevent
them from sinking into the earth which wished to receive
them ; and most of the pontoon train was firmly planted at
different points. The rebel pickets, who understood the state
of facts in the army, expressed their delight by performing
somersets and other feats of agility, and shouted, ''Why
don't you cross the river? " " Bring up the pontoons, and
we'll lay them for you." " The Yanks are stuck in the mud."
The campaign ("mud-scrape") was necessarily abandoned ;
the soldiers corduroyed the roads during the next two days
with fence-rails and trees, so that the batteries could safely re-

THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA. 161

turn ; and the whole army followed them to the old camps, and
began to erect winter quarters.

The division, enveloped in the flakes of falling snow,
marched to Hartwood Church upon Feb. 5 to guard the fords
upon the river ; while a force of cavalry advanced to Rappa-
hannock Station, and burned the bridge which the enemy had
recently constructed. The brigade and a battery were posted
near Richard's and United-States Fords ; and at the last-
named place the short pines had been felled to put the artil-
ery in position ; telegraph-poles had been erected, and the
way had been cleared for the passage of the troops. The foe
built some redoubts upon the opposite bank, to command the
point of crossing, a few hours before the plan of attack was
made ; and Gen. Burnside was again baffled. The trees had
been marked to guide the cavalry to various positions ; and
many pines in the forest were snapped asunder by the weight
of snow. The regiment passed by the "gold mine," upon
which operations had been suspended since the beginning of
the war ; and a woman, who stood in the doorway of a house,
said, "If I was a man, I should shoulder a musket, and
shoot some of you." A squad of the butternut cavalry was
upon picket ; but the river was not fordable at this time, and
the division rejoined the corps as soon as the force returned
from Rappahannock Station. While serving upon the staflT
dui'ing this expedition, I witnessed an incident which illus-
trates military matters in certain respects. The major of a
squadron of cavalry casually remarked that he was born in
11

162

the State of Rhode Island ; at which a brigade commander
spoke, " One of my best officers came from Rhode Ishmd."
He then introduced to him a chaplain, and added, " And a
d — d good chaplain he is too." The clerical subject of
the conversation with a smile of satisfaction thanked the per-
son that uttered the compliment. The general, who lived in
a comfortable brick mansion that was four miles from a part
of his division and eight miles from the remainder, never
visited the fords which he was ordered to protect ; while the
troops, exposed to the merciless sleet, were stationed at their
posts to resist the attack that was expected. However, he
issued a pompous o^er of thanks to the soldiers that he had
seen upon two occasions when they were marching from and
to the camps, commended in tender words their fortitude in
enduring the storm, and declared that he felt a pride in lead-
ing such brave men to scenes of danger.

The winter season was marked by no unusual features, and
the routine of camp and picket g-uard, and labor upon the
roads, constituted the military duties for four months. -The
enormous quantity o^ wood that was requned for the barracks
and camp-fires rapidly exhausted the forests, and thousands of
acres were covered with stumps. An old resident said to the
pickets that were posted near his house, " After the war there
will be no rails, and no wood to make them." Buildings
were levelled; fences burned; the bricks and stones of
capacious chimneys formed the flues of log huts ; the wagon
trains and batteries cut new thoroughfares across the estates ;

THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA. 163

the feet of men, and boofs of horses and mules, trampled fields
of vegetation into ban-en wastes ; every landmark was de-
stroyed ; and the work of destruction within the lines was com-
plete. The indolence of soldiers dwelling in a permanent
camp, when their eflforts are not stimulated by the presence of
an enemy, is remarkable ; and ten men from a new regiment
will perform as much labor as one hundred veterans, until
they have been corrupted by the bad example of shnking
comrades. Upon March 4th, four hundred and fifty soldiers,
supposed to be working seven hours, corduroyed one hundred
and fifty feet of an old road that was thirteen feet wide, al-
though the logs were cut upon the bank, and covered it with
a slight quantity of earth. There is much more grumbling
and dissension in the camp than on the march : the mind is
active when the body is inert ; and it is a singular fact, that
those whose physical comforts were the least at home make
the loudest complaints about the quality of the rations and
the Government clothing; and the men that earned a livelihood
with the shovel were generally the most unwilling to handle
it in the army.

The soldiers who had fought under Gen. Hooker were de-
lighted when he was appointed to command the army ; but
many ofl&cers of high rank were dissatisfied, and, assisted by
others who had been most justly deprived of their positions,
sought to undermine the confidence of the people and enhsted
men by representhig him as a common drunkard. The cav-
alry, which had hitherto rendered little if any actual service,

164 THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

and was usually detailed for ornamental and escort duty, was
inspired with a new energy when he re-organized this invalua-
ble auxiliary, and ordered the officers to prepare for the severe
jQghting from which they had been so long exempt. A vast
injury had been inflicted upon the country by the department
which followed the erroneous advice of Generals McDowell,
Franklin, and others who entertained the same views, and
prohibited in the first year of the war the formation of the
mounted regiments that were demanded. The following brief
extracts are taken from their testimony under oath before the
Congressional Committee, and show a deep ignorance of the
science of war, which seems astounding when their advan-
tages of education at West Point are considered. Gen.
Franklin said, in different answers, " We have a great deal
more cavahy than any of us need." "I really think that
two thousand cavalry is all that we want for the whole army.
I would not give a snap for more than one-third of what I
have now." He had less than a thousand cavalry with his
division, that exceeded twelve thousand soldiers. " I would
never think of making a cavalry fight or a cavalry charge."
Gen. McDowell remarked in reply to questions, "I think
we might do with less than that " (meaning thereby less than
twelve regiments of cavalry to one hundred and forty-four of
infantry) . " If we were to be organized by corps of three
divisions each, two regiments of cavalry would be perfectly
sufficient for the three divisions " (meaning thereby that a
force of eight thousand cavalry " would be perfectly sufficient "

165

for an aimy of one hundred and forty-four thousand infantry).
The world has long ridiculed Phormio, the civilian, for de-
livering an oration to Hannibal upon the strategy of war ; but
he was wiser than these military teachers who were examined
by the Congressmen searching for knowledge. A private
who should express shallow opinions like the foregoing would
not be reccommended for the rank of corporal in a colored
regiment by a competent board, that ' ' would not give a snap
for more than one third of" such an ignoramus. What dire-
ful results would have ensued if these generals had succeeded
in their aspirations to attain the command of the Army of the
Potomac, and paralyzed that cavalry which has won a glory
as brilliant as that of the divisions that followed the white
plume of INIurat ! A force of cavalry crossed the river at
Kellv's Ford upon March 17 ; defeated the enemy in a desper-
ate fight and charge, which amazed those who " would never
think " of making them; and returned to the camps elated by
their first victory upon the field of battle.

Gen. Kearney, at Fair Oaks, ordered his soldiers to sew
a piece of red flannel to their caps, so that he could recognize
them in the tumult of a battle, and detect those who attempted
to evade the performance of their duty. Gen. Hooker intro-
duced into the whole army the system of badges, which was
of incalculable value; and henceforth the members of the
various divisions in the corps wore, as emblems of honor,
the red, white, or blue circle, the trefoil, the lozenge, the
Maltese and plain cross, and the star. The men inscribed

166 THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

upon them the names of generals whose memories were cher-
ished ; and, disregarding the actual commander, styled them-
selves as soldiers of their " old brigade," or " old division."

Thus month after month passed quietly away. The gi'ass
began to sprout in the sods of the barracks, and the rumors
of an advance daily thickened. No shots were exchanged
between the pickets, who pushed their bayonets into the
ground, and made water-wheels or ornaments of bone and
laurel-wood to occupy the weary hours, and floated across the
river boats and sticks, to which newspapers were fastened for
sails. The brigade guarded the right of the army, and re-
mained three days upon this duty, during which it was usually
commanded by a field-officer, while the general enjoyed the
safety and comfort of his tent in the camp. Upon one
occasion, when Stuart crossed the stream and an attack was
anticipated, a brigadier boldly ordered a colonel, who had
arrived from his home which he had visited with leave, to
proceed at once to the front, and take charge of his troops.
The conduct of this starred poltroon was in striking contrast
with that of commanders like Generals Kearney, Hooker,
Grover, and others, who frequently inspected their picket-
lines, and bivouacked at the front whenever a contest was
imminent. It was a common practice to fish in the Eappa-
hannock, until it was forbidden, because the citizens of
Falmouth were detected in the act of signalizing to the enemy
by means of the poles. The soldiers generously supported a
foe, who was a cripple, and lived with his family near the

THE CAMP AT FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA. 167

outposts ; and every relief shared witli him the rations, split
and carried wood to his hovel, and heaped coals of fire upon
his hearth.

The removal of the surplus stores of private and public
property, and the activity which was visible in every branch
of the service, were the forerunners of another campaign;
and the disappearance of the mud would be the signal for
the forward march. Inspections and reviews were often
witnessed; and the spectators beheld with admiration the
generals, with their gayly dressed staffs, mounted upon richly
caparisoned steeds, as they dashed with great speed along the
extensive lines, and the martial tread and evolutions of the
vast columns comprising 60,000 soldiers upon the cheerless
plains of Falmouth. These occasions were extremely dis-
tasteful to the rank and file, who viewed with indignation
hundreds of showy officers who were non-combatants, and
never faced the rebels upon the battle-field, but lurked in the
rear with the trains of wagons and herds of cattle. I have
frequently seen only four or five aides with the general when
the conflict was raging, while upon the harmless parade the
number increased to a score, who rushed over the ground
with the velocity and importance of a " great god of war," in
a militia sham-fight. Orders were received upon April 13
to march with rations for five days in the knapsacks, besides
the ordinary supply fur three days in the haversacks ; but a
flood checked the movement on the day that was designated,
and the food was consumed in the camps. I quote, in this

168

connection, another strange and inaccurate statement from the
pamphlet of the Prince de Joinville, without further comment:
*' In Europe, our military administration assumes that the
transjDortation-service of an army of one hundred thousand
men can only provision that army for a three-days' march from
its base of operations. In America, this limit must be reduced
to a single day. An American army, therefore, cannot
remove itself more than one day's march from the railway or
"water-coui'se by which it is supplied."

CHAPTEE X.

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESVILLE.

/^l^j^HE divisions of the army, laden with sixty rounds
/'J of cartridges, and rations for eight days, comprising
^^jy five articles, — salt pork, hard bread, salt, sugar, and
coffee, — broke up the encampments upon April 27,
1863, in which they had lived for the period of six months ;
and quit them for the fourth time, with the expectation that
they would never return to Falmouth. The long columns of
infantry, followed by the batteries, the packed mules, and
the ambulances, marched in the afternoon in a tortuous
course behind the hills upon the northern bank of the river
to conceal theu' movements from the eyes of the enemy. At
midnight, three corps, the first, thhd, and sixth, concentrated
at the same point, near Deep Eun, which the regiment held
in December ; while the remaining corps, including a part of
the second, passed by the brigade when it was upon picket,
and moved in the direction of the upper fords of the Eappa-
hannock. The pontoons were placed upon the shoulders of
the men, who transported them to the river, over which they
stealthily glided, and captured the rebel force that was shel-
tered behind two rifle-pits to resist the attempt of any body

169

170 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

of troops to cross. Two divisions were deployed in line of
battle upon tlie opposite bank during the day : the hostile
skirmishers sat upon the plain a few rods apart, without firing
or making any advance ; and, at times, the flashing bayonets
showed that columns of the enemy were marching in the
sunken road. It rained at intervals upon the 29th, but no
changes were observed in the dispositions upon the left ; and
these troops, exposed to cannon and thousands of rifles, which
might open upon them at any instant, stacked their guns,
pitched shelter-tents, cooked their meals, and the officers of
many cpmpanies, upon both sides of the river, were making
the regular muster and pay-rolls. A dense fog obscured the
view during the forenoon of the 30 th ; but the same state of
quietness reigned until the order of Gen. Hooker was read to
the soldiers amidst loud cheers, when they learned that the foe
must " ingloriously fly," or "give us battle on our own
ground, where certain destruction awaits him." The balloon
rose at noon in the south-west, and appeared, from this stand-
point, to be in the rear of the Heights of Fredericksburg,
and removed every doubt regarding the success of the Union
arms. ^ few minutes before twelve, m., the division com-
manded by Gen. Berry, and the thnd corps, under Gen.
Sickles, meandered through valleys and over the slopes of
rising ground ; and no men were allowed to stand or walk
upon the crest : so that they were shielded from observation.
They bivouacked near Hartwood Church at midnight. The
excessive weight which was carried by the troops increased

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 171

the severity of the long march, the line of which could be
traced by glancing at the overcoats and blankets which were
scattered to alleviate suffering, and formed, in many sjDots,
a carpet upon the road.

The corps was in motion at the dawn of May Day ; and
reeled across the stream at the United-States Ford, with the
uncertain steps of the drunkard, upon the pontoon bridge
which swayed to and fro in the rapidly-flowing current. One
hundred squalid prisoners, who were captured at Germania
Ford upon the Rapidan, passed by the column under guard;
and one of them shouted, " You will need three years' rations
before you can get Richmond." Their action in surrendering
to the national forces refuted their constant boasts that they
would fight until the last drop of blood was shed. The regi-
ment rested in an old rebel camp until five, p.m. , when the
cannonading was active : the division was ordered to double-
quick to the front, and formed at sunset a part of the army,
of which the principal portion had been massed at Chancel-
lorsville, with scarcely any loss, by the consummate ability of
its commander. The aristocratic slave-holders of Virginia,
adopting the custom which their ancestors had brought from
England, gave to their estates the name of the family, with
the suffix of a ly, or dale, or ville ; and some of these do-
mains, like Chantilly, had been the scenes of deadly conflict,
and become endeared in many Northern homes. Chancel-
lorsville consisted of a large brick building, built in the style
of the last century, and with the exception of massive pillars

172 THE BATTLE OP CHANCELLORSVILLE.

in its front, that extended from the basement to the roof, was
very plain in its appearance. Negro cabins, cooking-houses,
and other small outbuildings, were upon the grounds near
the dwelling, which was occupied by the Chancellor Family ;
and the garden contained a private cemetery, which was
planted with pines and savins, beneath the branches of which
the kindred of the proprietors slept in their graves. The
regiment loaded the muskets while it was moving upon the
road which led from the United-States Ford ; bivouacked in
the forest, a short distance from the mansion ; and the can-
nonading and picket-firing caused the formation of the lines
for action several times during the night. Three companies
were detailed to guard prisoners and cattle, and those who
had charge of the latter found that it was the most difficult
task.

The sky displayed its clearest blue at day-break upon May
2 ; and from right to left the skirmishers and sharpshooters
of both armies were continually engaged ; and —

"'Twixt host and host but narrow space was left, —
^ A dreadful interval."

In the vicinity of Chancellor House there was a large tract
of open ground, upon which the artillery was posted in large
force ; and the brigade, relieved of its knapsacks and haver-
sacks, which were left in the woods under a small guard,
marched to this point, and supported a battery which was
planted across the plank road that ran from Fredericksburg

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORS VILLE. 173

to Orange Court House. The gunners cheered during a spir-
ited contest with the enemy ; and the huge volume of smoke
which slowly ascended showed that a well-directed shot had
exploded a caisson. The troops, at this time, were in an ex-
cellent state of discipline : there were not six soldiers absent'
without leave from the regiment ; and the few stragglers were
arrested by the provost-guard, and placed with tjae skirmish-
ers in the extreme front; and some received the mortal
wounds which they had tried to shun by dishonorable con-
duct. The first line was resting behind a strong breastwork ;
and the soldiers were cooking coffee — the chief luxury of
the army — upon their fires, as unconcerned as if they were
in camp.

The regiment was detached for a special service at half-
past seven, a.m., and advanced towards the run, with five
companies deployed as skirmishers, upon both sides of the
plank road, in the form of an inverted <1 with the apex
in the centre of it, and forced back the enemy half a mile,
until the muskets commanded the ground ; upon which I saw
a confused mass of dead horses, broken wheels^ and the frag-
ments of the shattered caisson. At three, p.m., the pickets
upon the right heard a few sentences of the speech of an
officer to his command, in which he reminded the soldiers that
the "Yanks" had plenty of rations; and concluded by
asking, —

" Men, will you sleep upon that hill to-night? "
"Yes!" "Yes!" " We will ! " "WewiU!" many

174 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

voices answered. The skirmishers were quickly driven in by
the onset of a brigade that advanced with fixed bayonets
and a terrible yell that defined with accuracy the extent of
^the line of battle, so that the men knew in what direction to
aim, — a fact of vital importance, that could not be ascer-
tained in the forest, which was overgrown with stunted oaks.
The companies that had been stationed upon the outposts
hurriedly formed upon the reserve, which was posted in the
road ; and a battery enfiladed the ranks, while a fierce charge
was made upon them by an infantry force. The enemy was
repulsed at the end of three-quarters of an hour in the most
signal manner ; and the commander expressed his satisfaction
with the glorious result by shouting, —

" Now, my good men, give three cheers for hell ! Three
cheers for hell!" he repeated; and the victors huzzaed.
The skirmishers were promptly deployed ; and the rebels, who
tried to mislead and draw their fire by displaying blankets
and butternut clothing, dodged from tree to tree until the
orio;inal line was ao;ain established.

A professional skulker, who had been unable to elude the
vigilance of his officers when this assault was made, threw
himself upon the ground, groaning and whining, " Oh ! I'm
so sick! — oh! I'm so sick!" — but his disease vanished
when the foe fled. A man who was loading his musket
threw away the cartridge, with a fearful oath about govern-
ment contractors ; and I noticed that the paper was filled with
fine grains of dry earth instead of gunpowder. In the thick-

THE BATTLE OP CHANCELLOESVILLE. 175

est of the firing, an officer seized an excited soldier wlio dis-
charged his piece with trembling hands near the ears and en-
dangered the lives of his comrades, and kicked him into the
centre of the road. Trade prospered throughout the day, and
the United-States sharpshooters were constantly exchanging
their dark-green caps for the regulation-hats which were worn
by the regiment. The captain of one of the companies of
skirmishers was posted near a brook at the base of a slight
ascent upon which the enemy was massed, and there was a
scattering fire of bullets which cautioned all to " lie down."
While he was rectifying the alignment, he perceived with
amazement one of his men, who sat astride a log, and washed
his hands and face, and then cleansed the towel with a piece
of soap which he carried. One sharpshooter shielded himself
behind a blanket, and another concealed himself behind an
empty cracker-box, the sides of which were half an inch in
thickness, exposed his person as little as possible, and felt as
secure as the ostrich with his head buried in the sand.

At five, P.M., the sentinel in the top of a high tree re-
ported that the rebels were forming then- Hnes of battle upon
the left, near the point at which there were three companies,
■which were supported by small details from several regiments
in Gen. Hancock's division of the second corps. Another
force menaced those upon the right at the same tune. The
reserve of the first body of troops held a rifle-pit which had
been built across the plank road ; and the two lines of battle
formed the base and perpendicular of a right-angled triangle,

176 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

SO that the bullets fired by the CDomy at one detachment
would enfilade the other : but a few large oaks and the for-
mation of the gi'ound afforded a slight protection. The omi-
nous silence of the sharpshooters in front was a sure indication
that the main force was approaching ; and a rebel ofiicer upon
the left brought every man into his place in the ranks by ex-
claiming to his command, " Forward, double-quick, march ! "
** Guide left ! " The hideous yells once more disclosed their
position in the dark woods ; but the Yollcys of buck and ball,
and the recollection of the previous repulse, quickly hushed
their outcries, and they were again vanquished. The conflict
upon the left still continued ; and the defeated soldiers began
to re-enforce the troops that were striving by desperate efforts
to pierce the line, until a company swept the road with its fii-e,
and checked the movement ; and only one or two rebels, at
intervals, leaped across the deadly chasm. A demand for
ammunition was now heard, — the most fearful cry of dis-
tress in a battle, — and every man upon the right contrib-
uted a few cartridges, which were carried to the scene of
action in the hats of the donors. The forty rounds which
j&ll the magazines are sufficient for any combat, unless the
troops are protected by earthworks or a natural barrier ; and
the extra cartridges, which must be placed in the pockets and
knapsacks, are seldom used.

Two companies, including the one to which the author was
attached, double-quicked to the rifle-pit ; while those who were
in the road, and not engaged, loudly cheered to deter the

THE BATTLE OP CHANCELLORSYILLE. 177

foe : and tlie men fought behind breastworks for the first time,
although they had performed months of labor upon fortifica-
tions which were never assaulted. It was after sunset ; but
the flashes of the rifles in the darkness were the targets at
which the guns were fired, until the enemy retired at nine,
P.M., and the din of musketry was succeeded by the gi'oans
of the wounded. Fresh troops had been thrown upon this
point : the flying balls drummed a queer discord when they
struck the logs and bank, but the defenders entertained no
thought of retreating; and, when the last bullet had been
discharged, the bayonet was fixed ; and it was a common re-
mark, " When they come near enough, I will use this."
The song of the whippoorwills increased the gloom that per-
vaded the forest ; and the pickets carefully listened to them,
because the hostile skirmishers might signal to each other by
imitating the mournful notes. The rebels gave a yell as soon
as they were beyond the range of Union bullets, and repeated
it in tones which grew more distinct when they had retreated
a gTeat distance and considered themselves safe. The abat-
tis upon the extreme left was set on fire in this prolonged
struggle ; and a gallant sergeant — who fell at Gettysburg
— sprang over the work, and averted the most serious results
by pouring water from the canteens of his comrades until the
flames were extiDguished. The regiment was relieved at
midnight, and returned to the bivouac, where the men grasped
the haversacks which had remained there since the morning,
and eagerly devoured the simple rations with the sauce of
12

178 THE BATTLE OP CHANCELLOESVILLE.

Iiuuger, which the lack of food for eighteen hours, and espe-
cially the excitement and labor of the day, had rendered in-
tense. Gen. Hancock, who belonged to a different corps,
made an honorable mention in his report of their behavior,
with which he was perfectly satisfied ; and addressed a special
letter of thanks to the colonel and the command for their
valuable services.

While this small force had thus valiantly performed its duty,
and repelled the successive assaults of superior numbers, the
musketry resounded two miles to the right ; and a spectacle of
shameful cowardice was witnessed, which can be rarely paral-
leled in the history of civilized warfare. The eleventh corps,
which was the largest, and held the post of honor upon the
right of the army, was stationed behind strong earthworks,
which, according to military treatises, rendered one soldier who
defends equal to at least three that attack. The yells of
Jackson's advancing troops broke these powerful lines a few
minutes after four, p.m. ; and the German regiments that
composed the main portion of the corps basely fled without
receiving a volley, and rushed pell-mell by thousands upon
the road to the ford, wholly demoralized by fear, and made
no attempt to re-form their ranks. Rebel prisoners who were
captured upon the following day assured me that their brigades
reached the works without any opposition ; and the command-
ers were convinced that there must be some artifice, because
no one could conceive any excuse for the sudden evacuation
of rifle-pits of such formidable strength. The officers of other

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 179

corps made themselves speechless by striving to rally the
"flying Dutchman," who was no longer an illusion, but a des-
picable reality ; and the cavalry with their sabres, generals
and staffs with revolvers, and artillerists with whips and ram-
mers, vainly attempted to stop the disgraceful flight, which was
finally checked by the Rappahannock. "Yar ish de pon-
toons?" " Der wash too many mens for us ; " "I ish going
to mine company," they continually exclaimed. A squad of
the fugitives entered the regiment, and repeated the skulker's
stoiy, that their commands were " all cut to pieces;" " We
are aJI that are left ; " and, " They fought until their ammuni-
nition was gone." The colonel, observing that their muskets
were unstained, opened their magazines, and, finding that they
had not used a solitary cartridge, denounced their conduct in
the strongest language, and remarked, " I should detail some
of my good men to shoot you ; but they have no ammunition
to waste upon your worthless carcasses. ' ' A cavalry-man halted
one of the foreign generals who was dashing to the rear ; who
indignantly asked, " What for you stop me ; you a private, and
me a general? " — "I don't care who you are : I should stop
you if you had been the devil," the soldier defiantly replied.

" That d d eleventh corps stole my voice," whispered a

field-officer upon Gen. Hooker's staff on the next morning.

Gen. Howard, who commanded them, performed his duty,
and was cheered by the troops of other corps ; but he was
oppressed by the feeling that his reputation had been ruined,

180 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

and he sadly spoke : " Don't cheer for me; I don't deserve
your cheers." The poet has truly said, —

" What can ennoble . . . cowards ?
Alas I not all the blood of all the Howards."

The Germans sought to escape the censure which the whole'
army justly bestowed upon them by tearing the badges from
their caps, — for the crescent was recognized as the insignia of a
poltroon, — and giving the number of "one of the reliable corps
if they were questioned about the command to which they be-
longed. The few brave American regiments shed tears of
mortification, and earnestly entreated that they might be
transferred to brigades which were composed of their country-
men. Thus a splendid position that had been gained was
lost ; a large body of troops showed that they could not be re-
lied upon if placed in any post of danger ; and the army nar-
rowly avoided the destruction which had been skilfully planned
for the enemy. V

The division formed its line in the woods upon the jDlank
road, and checked the advance of the foe ; and the soldiers
marched by the Chancellor House during the night, noticed
with pride that the headquarters of their old commander bore
the marks of the conflict, and rejoined the brigade which was
posted upon the right of the broad avenue. The first line of
battle built a slight earthwork with a few spades which had
been thrown away by the pioneers of the eleventh corps.
The skirmishers began to exchange shots at daybreak upon

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 181

^lay 3 ; and a bullet penetrated the head of a lieutenant who
was asleep in the adjoining company, and he never moved.
There was a ceaseless roll of musketry : at half-past five, a.m.,
the batteries emitted destructive charges of canister, and most
of the men in the ranks of the support crouched upon the
ground while the balls passed over them. For two hours
the hordes of Jackson, encouraged by their easy victory upon
May 2, screamed like fiends, assailed the troops that defended
the plank road, and succeeded in turning their left, and com-
pelling them to retire through the forest, and re-form their
shattered lines. There was no running : the soldiers fell back
slowly, company after company, and wished for some directing
mind to select a new position. Unfortunately the national
cause had lost Gen. Berry, the brave commander of the
division ; the ranking brigadier. Gen. Mott, was wounded;
another brigadier was an aiTant coward ; and the largest part
of nine regiments were marched three miles to the rear by one
of the generals without any orders. The regiments of the
brigade, under the supervision of their field and line officers,
rallied in the open field near the Chancellor House, which was
the focus upon which Lee concentrated his batteries, until the
shells ignited it ; and the flames consumed some of the wounded
who were helpless ; and three women, that remained in the
cellar for safety, barely escaped from the ruins. The brigade
was aligned upon the road to the United-States ford at nine,
A.M., and the men recovered their knapsacks in the midst of
a heavy cannonading which still continued. No symptoms

182 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

of fear were manifested, altliougli the artillery was planted
upon the left, in the rear and the front, from which point
most of the shells were hurled ; and the force was threatened
with capture. The infantry firing ceased at ten, a.m. ; and *
the rebels that had suffered a large loss and achieved a partial
success fortified their new position, which was parallel with
the plank road, and posted their left in the woods upon the
same ground which the division had been forced to leave.
The corps was massed at eleven, a.m., near the White House,
which was a mile from Chancellors ville ; and the remaining
hours of the day were frequently disturbed by the picket-
firing and an occasional shelling.

The scenes that are always witnessed upon the field of car-
nage were increased by the fires in the extensive forest, which
burned the wounded of both armies, and tortured the just
and the unjust. Some soldiers of the regiment, who felt the
glow of the raging flames that every second came nearer,
and knowing that their comrades were fighting in another
part of the hue, and the ambulance corps was miles in the
real', calculated the number of minutes which they expected
to survive. A small brook of stagnant water, which divided
the company into platoons, in the morning became a river of
life, over which the fire hissed, and vainly darted its deadly
tongues to strike the helpless. A rebel and a member of the
brigade rested together near an oak, and mutually assisted each
other to fight this terrible enemy ; and joyfully clasped their
scorched and aching hands in friendship, when it was quelled.

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 183

Colors were captured, and hundreds of the foe threw down
their arms, and retreated with the Union forces ; and happy
equads without any guard were walking upon the road, and
inquiring the way to the rear. Three batteries lost most of
their horses and a large proportion of their men by the con-
centration of Lee's artillery, and the bullets of the sharp-
shooters, who were specially instructed to pick off the animals
before they shot the gunners. Several pieces, including one
without wheels, which had been demohshed, were drawn from
the field by details from the infantry. Some of those who
were slightly injured returned to their commands after their
wounds had been dressed, and fought again. One cannon-
ball killed a cavalry-man and his horse : and a shell tore the
clothing from an aide, but inflicted no personal hurt ; and he
returned, after a brief absence, to search for his porte-mon-
naie, which he carried in the pocket that had been so sud-
denly wrested from him.

The corps-color was always waving in the front ; and Gen.
Sickles, smoking a cigar, stood a few feet from the regunent,
in the road up which the troops had marched from the Chan-
cellor House ; and aides and orderlies were riding to and fro,
one of whom reported that his steed had been killed. " Cap-
tain, the Government will furnish you with another horse," he
complacently replied. A rebel officer of high rank, who had
been captured, stopped near the general, and sought to open
a conversation, with the following result : —

** General, I have met you in New York."

184 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

** Move forward that battery."

** General, I have seen you before."

*' The brigade must advance to the woods."

" General, don't you remember " —

" Go to the rear, sh' : my troops are now in position."

There were few, if any, stretcher-bearers at the front, and
wounded men that had lost a leg or an arm dragged them-
selves to the field-hospital ; and the surgeons of some regi-
ments which had not been engaged in the battle sat upon a
log in idleness, and refused, with a great display of dignity,
to assist the suffering who were brought to them, because
they did not belong to their commands. This shameful con-
duct, which I .often witnessed, exasperated the officers and
soldiers ; and they compelled the surgeons to discharge their
duty in a number of cases by threatening to shoot them.
The heat was very severe : many cannoneers divested them-
selves of their uniforms while they were working; and a
number of the skiiTnishers, who were posted in the open
field, and obliged to lie low without any shelter, were some-
tunes afilicted by sunstroke. "I will win a star or a coffin
in this battle," remarked a colonel as he was riding to the
scene of conflict, in which a bullet checked his noble military
aspirations. " To take a soldier without ambition is to pull off
his spurs; " "I have got my leave of absence now," gladly
said an officer, whose application had always been refused at
headquarters when he left the regiment to go to the hospital.
The appearance of a rabbit causes an excitement and a chase

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 185

upon all occasions, and one ran in front of the line as the
action commenced ; and the birds were flyhig wildly among
the trees, as if they anticipated a storm; and a soldier
shouted, "Stop him, stop him! I could make a good
meal if I had him." — "This is English neutrality," an
intelligent metal-moulder remarked in examuiing the frag-
ment of a shell, and explaining the process of its manufac-
ture to the company ; while the rebel batteries every minute
added some specimens to his collection. The officials in
Kichmond published at this time an order, directing that the
clothing should be taken from the bodies of their dead, and
issued to the living. They always stripped the dead and the
dying upon every field ; and I noticed that one man who
had been stunned, and afterwards effected his escape, wore
merely a shu:t and hat when he entered the lines. The
regiment changed its position nine times during the day, in
compliance with orders : rifle-pits were erected upon the last
line of defence, and no fires were allowed at night.

Several volleys from the pickets ushered in May 4 ; but
the brigade made no movement, and no advance took place.
An officer who was going the rounds in the night was sur-
prised to find one of his most faithful men who returned no
answer to his inquiries ; and, supposing that he had been
overcome by fatigue, and fallen asleep, grasped his hands to
awaken him : but they were cold with death. The soldier,
killed upon his post of duty, rested in the extreme front, with
his musket by his side, and face towards the enemies of his

186 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESYILLE.

country. Gen. Whipple, the able commander of the thh'd
division of the corps, was mortally wounded by a sharpshooter
who was one-third of a mile from him ; and a priest admin-
istered the last rites of the Koman-Catholic Church upon the
spot where he fell, in the presence of his weeping staff and
soldiers, by whom he was greatly beloved. A brigade made
a reconnoissance in the forest at one, p.m., and captm-ed forty
sharpshooters who were perched upon the limbs of lofty oaks,
and could not descend and escape before this force advanced.
Whenever the picket-firing became active, shelter-tents were
removed from the stacks ; knapsacks were " packed up ; " boil-
ing" coffee was swallowed, or thrown away; and the men stood
in line, and were ready to obey the order to march before
their officers had commanded them to " fall in." Groups of
soldiers were writing letters, sleeping, or playing cards ; and
as one gambler said, " I will bet," an exploding shell inter-
rupted his sentence ; and he added, " A quarter better."
The rebels ascertained the location of the trains upon the
north bank of the Eappahannock ; opened a battery upon
them ; and a squad of three hundred prisoners uttered a ytU
of joy when they saw a cannon-ball enter a large tent which
was crowded with the dying and disabled. The direction of
the fii'ing was changed, and caused utter dismay when some
of the number were killed by the missiles that were hurled
by their comrades in the army of Lee. The pioneers cut
roads through the woods for the passage of the troops and
artillery, and constructed booths of boughs for the field-hos-

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 187

pitals, from wbich the ambulances were hourly conveying the
inmates across the river. The army-wagons were parked
upon the safe bank, and did not encumber the movements of
the 'corps ; and the packed mules, which were generally used for
the fii'st time, transported the ammunition, while the cooks
brought fresh beef to the front by suspending a quarter to a
rail.

A dense fog obscm-ed the river upon the morning of May
5, and clouds which discharged a few drops of rain overcast
the sky. The skirmishers were hotly engaged at certain
points, while the main body was quiet ; and the brigade re-
tired at 10.40, A.M., two hundred yards to the rear of its po-
sition, and quickly formed breastworks by cutting the oaks
down and throwing the earth up. Two sick Germans in the
company (they did not belong to the eleventh corps), who
were excused by the surgeons from perforaiing any military
services, and could not carry their knapsacks or rations for
more than two days, or keep with the ranks of the regiment
upon an ordinary march, participated in all the fighting ; and
no command could produce nobler soldiers. A dismal rain
drenched the men in the night, and swelled the waters of the
RappaliAnnock so suddenly that the pontoons were endangered,
and the communications of the army were seriously menaced ;
and men were placed in the boats to hold the anchors, and one
bridge was taken up to lengthen the others which did not
connect with the banks after the freshet. The brigade, which
was nearly exhausted by standing in line of battle, evacuated

188 THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSYILLE.

the bivouac in the woods at three, a.m., upon the 6th ; waded
through the mud of the road, unmolested by the enemy ; and
reerossed the pontoons at the United-States ford at daybreak.
The Army of the Potomac, baffled, weary, and footsore,
marched in the midst of the storm, which never ceased during
the day, and enlarged pools into lakes, while ruts became
streamlets, and sought rest in the* old camps which they had
so often quit with high hopes that were not realized.

f

CHAPTER XL

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

'HE ordinary labors of the camp were resumed ; the
old lines were again guarded ; and one regiment near
the brigade was drilling upon the plain the day
after it returned to quarters. As a sanitary precau-
tion, the barracks used in the winter were levelled ; the tents
were pitched upon ground that had not been occupied ; and
the blankets of the soldiers were spread upon a network
of branches which was eighteen inches above the surface of
the earth. The camps, in June, presented a gala appear-
ance ; the streets between the companies were adorned with
arches and festoons of evergreen ; and short pines and savins
which had been transplanted from the forest difiused their
genial shade. Although the corps had nc^ly performed its
duty at Chancellorsville, none of its brave members were
allowed to receive furloughs or leaves of absence, because an
inspector-general, one of those contemptible staff-officers that
skulk to the rear in a battle, and display feats of horseman-
ship to the cooks, teamsters, pioneers, and other non-combat-
ants, falsely reported that it' was demoralized. The only
fact upon which this unjust action was based was the neglect

189

190 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

of many soldiers to salute these gayly dressed cowards Tvhom
they despised. Desertions from the enemy were frequent ;
and an Alabamian swam across the river upon June 6, and
brought a gold watch which his captain lent to him to regu-
late the reliefs, with strict orders to be vigilant and keep a
good watch ; an injunction that he followed in letter, if not in
spirit.

The terms of service of many regiments which had en-
listed for nine months or two years daily expired ; and the
army was constantly diminished, while Lee concentrated
from all portions of the South every available regiment, and
prepared for a bold invasion of the North with the most pow-
erful force that the rebels ever organized. Every object
south of the Rappahannock was scanned by many eyes : the
troops were ordered to keep constantly on hand rations for
three days ; and when two divisions of the foe marched upon
June 3 to Culpeper Court House, the movement was dis-
covered; and at 3.10, a.m., on the following morning, the
brigade was notified to "pack up," and be ready to start at
a second's notice. The pontoon-bridge was constructed on
the 6th near Deep Run, upon the left of Fredericksburg:
the soldiers crossed at this point for the third time ; and the
enemy that had been invisible for a few days issued from
the woods, appeared in front, and received a severe fire from
the artillery which was posted upon the bank. The regiment
was on picket, watching with interest the bursting shells, and
discussing the probabilities of a conflict.

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 191

''There's a pretty grape-vine ready to set out," said one
person wbo noticed the beauty of the scenery.

" Take it up, and we'll set it out on your grave to-
moiTOw," lightly remarked one of the group.

Division generals and subalterns seldom know more than
the rank and file about the intentions of the commander of a
large body of men : and the regiment was engaged in making
preparations to celebrate the 13th day of June, which was
the anniversary of its muster into the service ; and many of
the line officers were playing a game of base ball, when the
adjutant arrived with marching orders ; and within half an
hour tents were struck, knapsacks packed, and the column
in motion at IJ, p.m. The general commanding the brigade
pushed forward the troops in the most unmerciful manner,
and great joy was manifested when they bivouacked near the
Hartwood Church.

Hundreds of blankets and overcoats were left upon the
field in the mornino; of the 12th : and the natives and ne2:i'oes
of both sexes collected them as soon as the march was re-
sumed. Caligula and other monsters of antiquity never dis-
played a more diabolical spirit than certain generals in the
corps, who murdered the unfortunate • soldiers that were com-
pelled to obey their orders, by exhausting their strength, and
needlessly exposing them to the rays of the sun, which,
through their cruelty, became as deadly as Minie balls.
There is not more than one in ten officers of high rank that
understands the proper mode of moving divisions ; and the

192 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

fiitiguc that so often results is caused, not by merely travel-
ling a laro^e number of miles, but by the omission to halt
them at re2;ular intervals after marchinu; short distances.
Mounted upon their horses, unencumbered by rations or
clothing, and usually carrying a small flask and a light
sword, it Tvas a pastime for the subordinate generals and
their staffs to ride or race from town to town, and issue strin-
gent orders to court-martial the weary men for what they
termed straggling. The division marched from 5.20, a.m.,
until 9.20, P.M., upon one of the warmest days of the month,
and was always designedly halted in the open fields, while a
general and his staff enjoyed the comfort of the extensive
forests in the vicinity, and, with the hearts of demons, laughed
and uttered jokes about the soldiers who were dying or wi'ith-
ing in the asfonies of sun-stroke. Some sur2;eons and ref>;i-
mental commanders remonstrated against this inhuman
conduct, and told a general that it was killing the men ; but
he sneeringly remarked, "I want to tire them out, so they
can't run away;" " If I can stand it, the men can;" or,
" The sun will dry their shirts, if they are wet with perspira-
tion." I speak in emphatic language, for I recall the forms
of prostrate heroes who had escaped the bullet, the shell, and
the "fiery darts" of the foe in scenes of combat, and fell
fainting by the roadside, to die, or linger in pain from which
they never recovered. Thousands of throats were sometimes
screaming, "Halt, halt!" and there' were universal cries,
" Kick hun out of the house !" " I hope the rebels will, kill

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 193

him !" " Shoot the scoundrel ! " interlarded with the most
prbfane oaths ever uttered, when the command passed by the
mansion selected for headquarters. Some men seized the
general's servant, who had walked a long distance to procure
cool water, and spitefully confiscated the property. Less
than one-third of the division bivouacked at Beverly Ford ; and
the stream of soldiers that had been forced by the foregoing
causes to leave the ranks was continually flowing into the
regiment during the night.

The cavalry had crossed the Kappahannock at Kelly's
Ford and this pomt on the 9th, and fought a successful
battle, which completely fmstrated the plans of Stuart, who
had assembled his force near Brandy Station for the pui-pose
of making a formidable raid. The rebel pickets rested on
their horses in the rifle-pits upon the opposite bank ; and the
presence of the enemy intimidated the general who had been
so eager to place his troops in the open fields upon the march.
The camp-fires were prohibited or kept low, and strong
guards were posted to prevent them from leavmg the woods
in which they were concealed. The river was only one hun-
dred feet in width at the ford, which was protected by a
rude breastwork of rails. "Wounded horses were limping
about on the gi'ound in the vicinity ; the carcasses of dead
animals that had *' fought like men " were scattered in every
dh-ection ; and I saw one floating in the stream, that was fully
equipped, and still bore the rations, blankets, and overcoats
of its absent rider. Redoubts for four guns were erected in

13

194 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

the night of the 13th by details from the brigade. The
newspapers contained, at this time, accounts of the operations
of Gen. Grant, which resulted in the capture of Vicksburg,
and described the scanty wardrobe with which he was fur-
nished upon the campaign ; and the contrast between this
simplicity and the immense quantity of personal baggage
which the general commanding a brigade carried in the
wagons was as striking as their difference in courage and
military ability. Whenever a halt was ordered at the end of
a march, a score of servile pioneers pitched his capacious tent
upon the most pleasant spot of ground, and placed in it a
carpet, camp-chairs, tables, and an iron bedstead, so that he
was probably more comfortable than he would have been at
home.

The brigade was relieved by the cavalry after sunset on the
14th, and marched throughout the night until 7.10, a.m., of
the 15th, to Catlett's Station, where it remained an hour and
a half; and moved again at 8.40, a. m., until it bivouacked
near Manassas Junction after midnight. The division was in
the rear of a train of wagons which constantly obstructed the
road and interrupted the passage of the troops, so that a gen-
eral was obliged to halt when he wished to advance. There
was no enemy in front ; and the quartermasters, commissaries,
and other staff-ofl&cers, who are never seen near the general
in a battle, accompanied him upon the march ; and the number
of his victims was increased by the same infernal conduct that
has been already noticed. The soldiers were forced to halfc

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 195

in the fields, without any shelter from the sun ; and those who
were overcome by the severe fatigue which always follows a
movement in the night, and fell asleep, awoke to suffer from
an intense faintness and pain, which disabled them for years.
There was sometimes a solitary oak or pine that stood upon
the plain like a rock in the desert; and the limits of the
shadow upon the ground enclosed a small squad that crowded
together to enjoy the protection of the enlivening foliage ;
while others slept in the dust of the road, beneath the wagons.
Many a soldier uttered the wish that he might be permitted
to serve out the remaining months of his term of service in
some prison, or be changed into the general's horse, when he
beheld that officer with his staff and their steeds reposing in
the vast forest from which they were excluded. The region
was unusually dry ; and the men, urged by necessity, slackened
to a slight extent their thirst by extracting the moisture from
the lumps of damp earth. Thousands were exhausted, and
sought the woods to recover their strength ; but a general issued
orders to the provost-guard to set the dry leaves on fire, and
thus drive the members of his force into the cleared tracts of
land, and clouds of smoke rolled upwards in the rear of the
column. The combined heat of the rays of the sun and the
burning forest was unendurable ; the breath seemed to be a
flame ; and less than one-fourth of the division rested at tho
bivouac.

No movement was made upon the IGth ; and the troops
fixed bayonets, stuck them into the ground, and put up their

196 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBUEG.

tents bj fastening pieces of slielter to the muskets. In ac-
cordance with orders from the headquarters of the army, the
bands and field music performed the principal portion of the
day to mislead the scouts of the enemy, so that they could not
ascertain the point at which the largest force was concentrated.
In addition to the regular rations which were issued to the
soldiers, they lived upon the resources of the country, and
devoured many highly seasoned dishes of frogs and box-tur-
tles. The lines moved a short distance to the right on the
17th and 18th; and a general, to gi'atify his savage disposi-
tion, placed his staff at the dry crossings near Blackburn's
Ford to force the brigade to wade through the stream ; but tlie
use of the bayonet and musket upon the horses defeated this
design, and the enraged officer remarked, "The men acted
like sheep." The companies were now commanded to attend
roll-calls eight times daily ; the names of absentees were re-
ported for punishment ; and, while the regiment was pitching
its tents upon an established line, marching orders were re-
ceived at two, P.M., and the column bivouacked at the end of
eight hours near Gum Spring. A general who was alarmed
by the dense clouds that darkened the earth deserted his
troops that were moving upon the road, galloped to the village
with his staff, and selected the largest edifice for his head-
quarters, while his command under other officers was posted
on an important picket duty in the midst of one of the most
copious rains which ever fell in the South. A field-officer on
the corps-stajff, who frequently said, "Boy and man, I have

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 107

been in the regular service twenty-five years," and acquired
the sobriquet of " crazy " on account of his lack of common
sense^ flourished a revolver to drive the men from wells on the
march, and acted the part of a useless and harmless non-com-
batant in the time of action.

Gen. Braddock bivouacked his little army at this point
while he was marching upon his ill-starred expedition, and
gave the name to the hamlet, the old inhabitants said, from
the ever-flowing spring, which was celebrated for its purity,
and a gum-tree that was still standing, although many of the
branches wore rotten, and showed marks of its advanced age.
Guards were placed over it to prevent the soldiers from en-*
joying the priceless liquid without a permit in writing from
the general. The drivers, who daily renewed the water in
the kegs which are attached to the ambulances to convey a
fresh supply for the weary, the sick, or the wounded, were
pushed aside at the point of the bayonet, and directed to go to
a turbulent run in which horses and mules were standing or
walking, and the men were washing their persons and clothes.
Twenty members of this corps were performing this labor at the
streamlet ; and I heai'd one of them say (with many oaths, as

a matter of course), " I hope Gen. will be shot, and

live just long enough for me to pour my keg-full of this gravel
down his throat! " a righteous sentiment, which was reiterated
by the score of tongues.

The division, leaving hundreds of sticks, barrels, and boards
which are always seen upon every field in which troops have

198 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

bivouacked, commenced a mareli, wliich, like those I have
described, will never be forgotten for its severity. It was a
ceaseless tramp for eighteen hours, with only one regular .halt,
that occurred in consequence of a misunderstanding regarding
orders. The Potomac was crossed at Edward's Fen-y upon a
pontoon-bridge consisting of sixty-four boats, more than a
quarter of a mile in length, and travelled upon the narrow
towpath to the mouth of the JMonocacy, and bivouacked after
midnight, twenty-nine miles from the point of departure. The
rain in the latter part of the night created new obstacles : men
were continually falling from utter exhaustion, and limbs were
sometimes broken upon the sharp rocks. A few slipped into
the canal ; and some who were always "jolly " under all cir-
cumstances gTceted the ears of their unfortunate comrades,
when they rose to the surface, with the consoling words, "It
will take a month's wages to pay for that musket." The tow-
path, which did not exceed twenty feet in its width, had been
c-onstructed between the Potomac River on one side, and the
Baltimore and Ohio Canal upon the other ; and two generals
chuckled, and said that there could be no straggling in such
a place, and dashed ahead of the column to secure a pleasant
repose for the night. The physical power of the soldiers was
reduced to such an extent, that when the regiment was
halted by its commander, who acted without orders in their
absence, only eighteen muskets were stacked in a line that
should have had 325 arms : two line officers were present, and
the other orfjanizatious of the division were scattered in the

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 199

same manner. A general greeted the appearance of the rem-
nant of his command in the morning with hearty laughter, and
uttered many gibes concerning their weakness, and the condi-
tion of those who were without shoes, and bound handkerchiefs
and towels around their feet, or wore two or three pairs of
socks ; and made this remark about the regiment as it filed
by him : "What regiment is that ? Bring them here, and we
will pray for them."

The column steadily advanced upon the remaining days of
the month of June, and bivouacked upon the 30th at Bridge-
port, after proceeding through Burkettsville, 3Iiddletown,
Frederick City, and Taneytown. The Potomac, that sep-
arated Virginia from this section of Maryland, was the bound-
ary between institutions as conflicting as slavery and freedom,
or ignorance and intelhgence. The soldiers had witnessed
for two years, in the first State, barren lands, a treacherous
and benighted race, children in rags and filth, miserable roads,
the rude cabins of the " poor whites " and African bondmen,
and empty churches ; for the bells were cast into cannon, and
religion and morality were sacrificed to gain Southern inde-
pendence. The scenes were changed so suddenly, that it
seemed like a delightful vision to behold the schoolhouses ;
the noble faces of the people ; the splendid streets of a civil-
ized age; the cultivated farms and orchards; the cottages
ornamented with flowers ; and, above all, the smiles and
words of welcome from loyal men and women who publicly
displayed the American flag, gave refreshing water to the

200 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

soldiers while they were marching, and refused in many
places to accept any compensation for food. A number of
mills were in operation upon Sunday to supply the inhabitants
with flour, because they had exhausted their store in making
bread for the Union army. The brutality of the generals
was almost forgotten ; and weary feet regained their strength
when they touched the soil and moved over mountains ; while
the eye saw, in the magniiicent valleys, communities that re-
sembled their homes in New England. The conduct of the
troops, with the exception of many non-combatants, the army-
thieves, and plunderers of the dead, was unexceptionable ;
and no profane or improper expressions were heard by any
of the citizens. A general placed sentinels upon the houses
in many towns, not to protect the property, but to obtain for
the use of Jiis mess all the luxuries which they contained ;
while the line-officers and enlisted men were driven from the
premises, and not allowed to purchase articles of food. One
general in the division, well known for his cowardice, marched
through the populous districts with much ostentation at the
head of his brigade, and shouted orders in a pompous tone
of authority to attract the notice of the crowd ; while the sol-
diers were saying, " It is perfectly safe to be in front now ; "
"There won't be any fighting while he leads the brigade,"
and similar sentences. This officer had taught dancing
schools of a low character before the war ; and the members
of some companies would " call off "'the various changes, —
"Right and left," " All promenade to the bar," &c., when-

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 201

ever he rode by them, for the purpose of insultiDg him. The
herds of cattle from which the supply of fresh beef was ob-
tained moved upon the roads with the trains, bearing upon
their horns and backs the knapsacks and muskets of the
guard, and followed the leading ox, which was conspicuous
on account of its size. At other points of the march, several
hundred cavalry-men were asleep upon the ground at the
feet of the horses, with the reins in their hands ; and I was
informed that no one was ever injured in this position. The
rebel cavalry committed many outrages in the tracts which
they visited ; demolished brick ovens, and plundered dwell-
ings, lilvc thieves ; but sometimes behaved with moderation ;
and, in one village, riddled with bullets an innkeeper's sign
upon which the American eagle had been painted. The
attention of an officer of high rank was called to the large
number of deaths and casualties from sunstroke and exhaus-
tion in a certain command ; and the generals were compelled
to halt a few minutes in every hour ; and long distances were
thus marched with ease.

The ai-my received the news of the removal of Gen. Hook-
er, and the appointment of Gen. Meade, with amazement, and
refused to believe the fact until the orders were read ; and
the opinion was expressed that he had fallen a victim to the
implacable hatred of Gen. Halleck and the machinations of
Pennsylvania politicians. When we consider that the corps
were marching to encounter the enemy, and daily expected
to fight the decisive battle ; that Gen, ]Meade was unknown to

202 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

the troops, and bad never commanded under a heavy fire
a body of infantry exceeding a division ; that other officers
were superior in rank, capacity, and experience ; and that
Gen. Hooker had made every movement with consummate
ability, — it was an act of the most hazardous character. K
the question is viewed from a military point of view, and it is
remembered that Gen. Halleck, untaught by the surrender
of Harper's Ferry in the previous year, wished to maintain at
that post a large garrison and withhold it from the main force,
the views of Gen. Hooker are so clearly right, that all must
conclude that it was a shallow pretext for the unjust re-
moval of one of the most loyal and gallant soldiers that
the country ever produced. The rebels were delighted with
the change; and, while Lee denies in his report that his
cavalry was defeated in any engagement, he admits that the
dispositions of the army by Gen. Hooker completely baffled
his plans for the capture of Washington, and forced him tc
fight the battle of Gettysburg. The system of his mind was
such, that the succession in commanders caused no delay in
the advance of the different columns.

The division reached Emmettsburg upon July 1, and the
beautiful clouds upon the summits of the mountains seemed
to be within the grasp during the copious rain that ensued.
At ten, A.M., I heard the report of a cannon which was dis-
charged in the State of Pennsylvania when the first conflict
took place between the cavalry and the vanguard of Lee's
gTand ai-my ; and there was a general feeling of relief that the

THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 203

long marches were ended, and tlie foe, that must be fought at
some point, was preparing for the most desperate battle of
the war. A squad of rebel prisoners passed to the rear, and
the usual salutations were exchanged, " How are you, Johnny
Reb ! " **How are you, blue -belly?" The brigades of
the division were posted in Echelon, after manoeuvring two
hours ; sentinels were stationed to guard the lines ; and the
troops, stimulated by the heavy cannonading upon the right,
advanced towards Gettysbui'g at four, p.m. A negro, who
was greatly excited and scarcely able to speak because he
knew that the soldiers were marching in the wrong direction,
earnestly said to a general, "The road is full of 'em, —
heaps of rebels ! " but that ofl&cer avowed his leading princi-
ple to be, " Never believe a nigger; " and the column pushed
on. The regimental band played "Home, sweet Home,"
when the boundary-line was crossed ; and the Twenty-sixth
Pennsylvania Volunteers, which formed a part of the brigade,
and conferred high honor upon its State by bravery upon many
a stubborn-fought field, greeted their native soil with enthu-
siastic cheers. The infantry was forced to wade through
Marsh Creek several hundred yards, and not allowed to pass
over the covered bridge ; while a general and his staff sat
upon their horses, and amused themselves by laughing at
those on foot in the stream. A citizen remarked, "If you
go on, you will have a fight in the night; " and one of the
rebel pickets who was searching for water found himself a
prisoner in the hands of the advance guard at ten, p.m. The

204 THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG.

regiments were at once halted in tlie road, and ordered not to
talk or light matches ; while the mounted officers above de-
scribed, includmg "Crazy," promptly retired to the rear;
and the three long miles which had been uselessly travelled
were retraced in silence. "VVilloughby's Run was forded;
the vedettes of the cavalry were passed within a short dis-
tance of the blazing camp-fires of the enemy ; and the divi-
sion joined the third corps, and bivouacked upon the plains
of Gettysburg at half-past two, a.m., on July 2.

CHAPTER Xn.

THE BATTLE OE GETTYSBURG.

UEING- the night, the picket-firing did not interrupt
the sleep of the soldiers, who were astonished when
the morning came to see the Union skirmishers ad-
vance and receive volleys from the enemy, that occu-
pied the road over which the division had marched five hours
previous. The batteries were pointing in the same direction,
and the first movement which the regiment executed was a
countermarch, so that it faced the foe, that slowly deployed
its columns in line of battle, until the incessant rattling of
the rifles of sharpshooters and those upon the outposts gi'adu-
ally extended from right to left along the vast front. Some
regiments were detailed to leave their stacks and equipments
and demoHsh the rail-fences which had been constructed upon
the large open field, and would be obstacles to the c[uick
movements of the troops or artillery. The unpleasant mist
and the clouds that threatened a storm at daybreak disap-
peared before noon, and both armies were engaged in the
different manoeuvres which always precede a battle. The
principal portion of the inhabitants deserted their houses with
their families, and fled many miles to places of safety ; while

205

206 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

others rendered good service by acting as guides for the cav-
ahy and the national forces.

The pencil of the artist has portrayed the topography of
the scene of conflict and indicated the position of all the
troops with such wonderful accuracy, that no pen can make
its history more complete. The corps advanced in a brilliant
line half a mile at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the
regiment was formed upon the Emmettsburg Road, and par-
tially sheltered by the house and barn of Peter Rogers, upon
the crest of the rising ground. The enemy was concealed in
the forest, and the main force was unusually quiet until the
rebel skirmishers applied the torch to some houses, and the
consuming flames and clouds of smoke excited yells of joy.
The eye beheld, in every direction, battery and brigade ex-
tended from point to point ; the moving columns and gay
banners ; the white marble monuments in the cemetery upon
the right, that contrasted strangely with the glistening can-
non ; the signal-flags that were waving from the craggy sum-
mit of Roundtop Mountain upon the left : but there were no
tragic pictures of human strife, and it appeared to be a peace-
ful review. A herd of thirteen or fourteen cows was quietly
grazing upon the field ; flocks of tame pigeons sat upon the
dovecots and sheds ; and the lady who lived in the cottage
was baking bread, and sold chickens to soldiers in the regi-
ment.

A rebel battery opened^an enfilading fire upon the brigade at
forty-five minutes past three, p.m., with solid shot, which were

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 207

discharged from the pieces at a depressed angle, struck the
earth, bounded into the air, and leaped like a rock skipped upon
the surface of the ocean by the powerful arm of a giant. The
balls penetrated the building within a few minutes, and one shat-
tered the oven ; but the woman was undaunted, and exclaimed,
" I will never leave the house," and retreated to the cellar
at the request of an officer. Her husband, who had been
trembling with fear for hours in his place of refuge, whiningly
said that it was strange that they could not fire over his dwell-
ing, and not through it. The great contest began upon the
extreme left, and soon raged with such intensity that the troops
were enveloped in the smoke of battle ; and it was evident that
Lee was exerting every effort to gain the Round top Heights,
from the summit of which a battery that had been drawn up
the abrupt and stony sides with immense difficulty belched
forth shell and canister into the corps of Longstreet. The
skirmishers in our immediate front reported that the rebels
were massing theii* brigades for an assault upon the position
held by the division ; and the men, without erecting breast-
works, prepared to resist the onset : and every one, knowing
the vital importance of the pending struggle, stood firmly
upon his foot of ground, which he determined that he would
never yield. The batteries and infantry which were posted
on the extreme left were steadily driven towards the centre,
and were rapidly moving half of a mile in the rear of the
division before the yells and buUetg of the enemy showed that
the long-expected line was advancing. Soldiers who had

208 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

been forced to leave tbe ranks upon the exhausting marches
continually rejoined their commands, and some without mus-
kets were waiting to seize and use the arms of those who
should be killed or disabled. A snake that rustled through
the grass at this exciting moment was promptly despatched by
a S(iuad whose minds were not discomposed by the perilous
state of affliirs. The sku-mishers fell back to the main line , which
was calmly resting in the road, and holding its fire until the
rebels should reach and attempt to climb a rail fence in front.
The regular battery, planted upon the left of the regiment,
decimated their ranks with terrible charges of canister, that
swept the field again and again, and caused a cloud of dust ;
and all thought that the repulse might be decisive. When
the musketry riddled the house, a kitten, mewing piteously,
ran from it, jumped upon the shoulders of one of the men, and
remained there a few minutes during the fight.

Before the regiment could deliver its volley, the companies
about-faced in pursuance of the orders of some stupid general,
and executed a right half- wheel under a severe fire, with as
much regularity as if they had been upon parade, and thus
abandoned the advantages of the strong line of defence in
the road. The "stars and bars" of treason were visible
when the infantry could not be seen ; and the column which
had been shattered by the battery appeared in front, and
began to shoot the gunners, who performed their duty with the
utmost fidelity, and retired at last to escape the capture which
seemed to be unavoidable. While the rebel standard-bearers

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 2/09

waved their colors, the oScers beckoned with their drawn
swords, the men with their hands exultingly pointed to the
divisions that were flying from the left; tnd sought by their
shouts and gestures to encourage the timid and quicken the
march of the support, and the soldiers were constantly load-
ing and aiming their rifles at the breasts of the members of the
regiment, orders were duly transmitted from a blockhead,
termed upon the muster-roll a brigadier-general, not to dis-
charge a musket, because they ' ' would fire upon their own
men ; " and the enemy was enabled in this way to cut down
the ranks, and dhninish the effect of the first volley. Candor
compels me to admit that this mistake was excusable upon
this ground, that the officer from his standpoint, which was
far in the rear, could not distinguish one line of battle from
the other. The command was disreg-arded : the foe stood in

o

groups of three or four, and the large number of gaps or in-
tervals which were not closed up revealed the extent of the
slaughter ; and the survivors, always seeking, like Indians,
a hiding-place, entered the road, sought the protection of a
slight ridge, and then- advance was entirely checked.

A heavy mass of infantry appeared upon the right of the
house at this glorious moment, and the new formation of the
regiment exposed the line to an enfilading fire which was very
destructive. The right of the brigade was not within the
supporting distance of the second corps : the left of the di-
vision had been forced to fall back, so that the troops were
subjected in certain positions to volleys from thi'ee distinct

14

210 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

points, and th'^. men slowly retreated, foot by foot ; while tbou-
sands, pierced by the deadly 3Iinie balls, or torn asunder by
the explosion of the infernal shell-bullet, fell, and saturated
the plain with their blood. Aa soon as the bullets began to
whistle, a general said to the orderly who carried the cOiOi' of
his brigade, which he supposed would attract notice and draw
the fire of the enemy upon him, " Take away that flag ; " " Go
to the rear with that flag ; " and the person who obeyed this di-
rection remarked in stating it, " Faith, an' I was as willin' to
run with it to the rear as he was to have me." The most de-
moralizing results would have occurred if the troops had been
new when this event took place ; but they were veterans, and
the shameful misconduct of the officers who commanded them
did not alFact their constancy or firmness. The long distances
over which the rebels marched to make their grand charge, and
the serious losses which they sustained when they gained the
Emmettsburg Eoad, had reduced their numbers and strength,
so that a vigorous attack upon their left flank by the second
corps, the concentration of the batteries that were posted upon
the interior lines, and the resistance of the troops that rallied,
repulsed them at sunset. At this critical time, in obedience
to a universal cry among the soldiers, " Charge on them ! "
"Take our old ground! " the fragment of the brigade, with
the colors of five regiments unfurled within the distance of
one hundred feet, in the absence of its general, and against
the orders of Gen. Humphreys, the division commander^, who
vainly shouted, "Halt, halt! — stop those men!" pursued

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 211

the enemy half of a mile, Cc'ipturecl several hundred prisoners,
retook cannon that had been left upon the field, and assisted
to achieve a conclusive success. Those who suffered from
fatigue in retreating before a victorious foe until they could
barely move recovered their strength when the circumstances
were reversed, and they gladly ran to overtake the defeated
force. Ten thousand of the dead and wounded of both armies
were mingled together upon an open space of ground, less than
three-c[uarters of a mile square ; and it was sometimes almost
impossible to advance without walking upon the form that four
hours before had been strong with life, and animated by its
high hopes. The disabled Union soldiers and some of the
enemy expressed their joy, and uttered many welcomes, when
the troops followed the receding lines ; and there were cries,
" Go in ! " " Go in ! " " Drive them from the field ! " " I don't
care for my wound, if we only whip them." The rebels told
me that their generals and ofiicers said that there was nothing
in their front except a force of militia, which would run away
at the first volley ; but this falsehood was detected as soon as
the fighting commenced. They deceived others, who implored
the national troops not to kill them. I observed one wounded
youth about sixteen years of age, who was crying, and stated
the cause of his grief, that " Gen. Lee always puts the Fifth
Florida in the front."

The batteries of the enemy were very active, and furrowed
the field with shot and shell which mangled the bodies of the
dead and dying ; and those who could move had crawled into

212 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

little gullies, or protected themselves behind the rocks, which
were numerous. When the flying rebels disappeared behind
the crest of the elevation near the Emmettsburg Road, mem-
bers of both armies, who had thrown themselves upon the
ground from exhaustion and other causes, and were stretched
upon the plain apparently lifeless, rose uninjured in every
direction. The enemy had examined the officers, and sent to
the rear as prisoners those on whom they found no wounds.
The Union soldiers immediately inspected every man that
wore the butternut uniform, and discovered many who were
feigning severe bodily injuries by uttering groans and similar
devices. Squads seemed to be terror-stricken, and dodged
-or crouched upon the earth whenever the shells that were
fired by their batteries exploded near them. This reverse
was so unexpected by Lee, that three pieces of artillery upon
. the left of the regiment, which had been abandoned when the
troops that supported them were forced from their position,
had not been removed, and were captured by the troops;
and one was retaken, together with twenty rebels, who had
pushed it about one hundred yards. The prisoners assisted
those who were pulling the cannon from the field, and gladly
rushed with it to the reserve to escape the storm of shot.
The wounded that were not utterly helpless slowly travelled
to the hospital ; and the ambulance corps, with the exception
of a few faithful stretcher-bearers, did not render any aid to
the others.

One of the staff arrived, and stated that a brigadier-general

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 213

had decided to establish a new line of battle abont a mile in
the rear, but was unable to find his regiments, and delivered
an order for the ranks to return at once to that point. The
men were very indignant, because they wished to enjoy that
rest which is so precious to every soldier, — a sleep upon the
field which they had won by their bravery ; and an officer
said, " Tell the general, that, if he will come to the front, he
will find his commands with their colors ; and, if he was not
such a d — d coward, he would be here with them." They
groped their way through the obscurity of the darkness, and
passed by the first line, which was posted half of a mile fi'om
the Eramettsburg Ptoad ; and many of the troops were resting
their rifles upon the rail-fence, and awaited an attack from
the foe that was every minute anticipated ; while the latter
were dreading an onset by the pursuing forces. The halt
was ordered for the night at ten, p.m. ; a quietness that was
rarely broken by the vigilant sharpshooters continued until
morning; but the humble heroes of the day, not satisfied
with their deeds of valor, requested leave from the general to
go upon the field and succor their wounded comrades. The
exigencies of the situation required their presence with the
division : and the members of a small detail from each regi-
ment took the canteens of those who slept, and carried the
precious water, for which there was a universal cry, and bore
the suffermg to the hospitals in blankets and upon muskets.
and rails ; while the chief portion of the ambulance corps was
secluded in safe positions. Squads of rebels, \vho wandered

214 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

over the plain upon a similar mission, strayed inside of the
pickets, who captured them ; but released one man, who said,
" I am your prisoner, if you say so ; but I am giving water
to all that ask for it," and allowed him to continue his philan-
thropic labors. A stretcher-bearer was badly wounded ; and
some surgeons expressed gi-eat surprise, and seemed to speak
in terms of censure, because, unlike the majority of his rank,
he had performed his duty upon the field, and incurred the
dangers which were incident to the same.

Among the few Southern politicians, who fought on the
battle-field for the diabolical treason which they had incul-
cated in the National Congress, was Barksdale of Mississippi,
who led his brigade in the charge, and was mortally wounded
within a short distance of the second line of batteries. He
told the nurses of the regiment who were near him that he
did not wish for any care, because he knew that he must die ;
and spoke of his family and home ; and made only one allu-
sion to the army, when he remarked, " Gen. Lee will clean
you out of this place to-morrow." Major-Gen. Sickles, who
was esteemed for his fearlessness by the corps which he com-
manded, received a severe wound in the leg, which was am-
putated. The officers of high rank, who criticised in such
strong and unqualified language his conduct in advancing t6
the front and fighting the enemy instead of evading the
onset, and sought to injure his reputation with the army and
the people, would have displayed more wisdom and patriotism
if they had adopted his policy in this respect, and remem-

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 215

bered the maxim, that "errors of forwardness are forgiven,
not backwardness." The number of killed and wounded in
this contest was very large : more than one-half of the divi-
sion was disabled ; eight color-bearers of the regiment fell ;
while the flag passed from one to another, and was never
lowered ; and the company to which I was assigned, which
had thirty muskets at the commencement of the action, lost
nineteen men by the bullet, seven of whom died of their
injuries. A part of the line upon the right had been forti-
fied, and breastworks were constructed at other points during
the night.

The rebel artillery opened with the dawn of daybreak, at
half-past three, a.m., -upon July 3, and continued their fire
with unusual accuracy for an hour, at the position which was
held by the left centre. The third shot exploded a caisson
in the battery which was planted upon the left of the regi-
ment; and fragments of wheels, and the woodwork, balls,
and shells, ascended in a cloud of smoke and flame about one
hundred feet into the air, and reminded me of the pictures
which represent the eruption of a volcano. The division
marched to the rear at eight, a.m., and was ordered to
" ground arms " in the forest ; and remained in a state of
readiness to move to any point which might be assailed,
Ptutions were issued, and greedily devoured ; and no one who
perceived the stillness that ruled at ten, a.m., would have
imagined that two large armies confronted each other with
the deadliest weapons of modern warfare in their hands.

216 THE BATTLE OP GETTYSBURG.

The concentrated batteries of the enemy opened at one, p.m.,
and shook the earth for an hour and a half with the terrific
cannonade, —

" Whose roar
Embowelled with outrageous noise the air."

Lee had once more massed his infantry, and determined to
make another desperate effort to pierce the left centre ; and
the division double-quicked to support those who occupied the
earthworks in the front. The adjutant of one regiment, who
noticed that his weak horse could not move as rapidly as the
troops, dismounted, and ran to the scene of action, while he
waved his sword with one hand, and led his steed with the
other. The lines were formed at half-past three, p.m., and
rested upon the ground, about six paces apart, during the
conflict in which the fearful assault was triumphantly re-
pelled; and Pickett's division was actually " cut to pieces"
with spherical case-shot, canister, and lead.

" Grim-visaged war" had suddenly ajDpeared upon the
field in which the division was aligned : the peach-orchards,
flower-gardens, plats of green grass, and the golden harvest,
pleased the eye, while the ear was entertained by the cackling
of hens and chickens, and the squeals of pigs in the neigh-
boring sty. The range of the rebel cannon was deadly ex-
act ; and different shells struck six men who occupied in suc-
cession the same place in the ranks ; and the houses, barns,
cellars, and yards were crowded with the wounded soldiers,
who received accessions to their numbers during every min-

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 217

ute. " Look out for that solid shot ; don't stop it ! " exclaimed
a lieutenant, when the ball was rolling upon the ground
towards the brigade ; and a group of men in each regi-
ment rose up, and left an interval through which it passed ;
but the spherical case-shot, which scattered scores of cast-iron
bullets when it exploded, could not be avoided in this easy
manner, and was very destructive. The Whitworth guns threw
their bolts a long distance ; and the reports, unlike those of
other cannon, could not be heard ; and the pecuhar humming
of the shot would be the first intimation of the discharge.
Two soldiers in front of me were wounded by a piece of
a gun-baiTcl, and others were lacerated by spikes. An ar-
tillerist, who was besmeared with blood, limped to the rear,
and caused much laughter by his original and frightful oaths.
The most amusing spectacle that I witnessed was a frightened
brigadier-general, who sat in a wheelbaiTOw near a fence,
dodged the missiles which did not^ come near him, and
seemed to shrink to about one-third of his natural size.

" Lie down ! " " Lie down ! " was the invariable order for
those who were not engaged with the enemy ; and at one
time, when two rebel caissons burst, Kearney's old division,
which had been invisible, jumped upon their feet in front,
uttered loud cheers, and then disappeared, apparently into
the bowels of the earth. It rose again, when three thousand
prisoners of the assailing horde were captui-ed ; and hundreds
of hands pointed towards them before they were discerned
by the brigade ; and the soldiers turned their backs upon the

218 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

foe in the midst of tlie shelling, as they gazed at the force
which followed the roads to the rear "with their colors. The
black clouds overhung the sky during this fierce encounter ;
but the sun burst forth when the brilliant victory had been
won, and cheered the wounded with its enlivening beams.
The rebels were dispirited by the repulses upon the 2d and
3d; called the plain a "slaughter-pen;" declared that fur-
ther fighting was useless ; and sqme, who considered Jackson
their " very heart of hope," mournfully said, " We have not
got Stonewall with us now." They related the following in-
cident regarding Amistead, who commanded a brigade, and
was killed in the unsuccessful charge. He skulked behind
the trunk of a poplar-tree, in one of the battles before Rich-
mond ; and, as they advanced upon the open plain, several
men who disliked him shouted, " There are no poplar-trees
to get behind now; " and he replied to their taunts by say-
ing, "Before this charge is ended, you will wish that there
were some poplar-trees here." Some fields upon which the
wheat flourished became the centre of conflict ; the spires
were trampled into the earth, and it was impossible to find
one that was standing. Details were employed upon the
forenoon of the 4th in burying the dead, and relieving the
wants of the wounded, many of whom had remained upon
the field nearly forty-eight hours, and were exposed to the
perils of the sanguinary encounter which took place over their
bodies. The rebel sharpshooters fired at all the fatigue-par-
ties, and often shot at those who sought to alleviate their

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBUEG. 219

own comrades, that lan^iished upon the ground within the lim-
its of the Union hnes, and could not be assisted by their friends.
The supply of food, from some unknown cause, was deficient
in the field-hospitals; and an application was made to the
enlisted men in behalf of the wounded, and every soldier
contributed liberally from his scanty store of rations. Expe-
rience in battle soon proved that the weapons manufactured
in the United States were superior to those which were im-
ported from foreign countries ; and one regiment in the bri-
gade, that bivouacked near a stack of several thousand arms
which had been collected upon the field, threw aside their
Belgian rifles, and selected those of the Springfield pattern.
A member of a Pennsylvania regiment, who was at one stage
of the conflict skirmishing upon his father's fainn, near the
house in which be was born, while the enemy held a position
at the barn, refused to be relieved from his post of duty when
the company was ordered to rejoin its command. Little did
he dream that the strong arm and loyal heart which had con-
tended against the foes of his country in the solitudes of
Virginia would one day be required to attack them amidst
the familiar scenes of his youth and home, and battle there
with a courage which could never falter. All knew at noon
that Lee had retreated ; because the bands, clerks, and other
non-combatants, arrived from the rear ; and strains of music,
intermingled with cheers, resounded along the lines from
Wolf Hill to Roundtop.

The citizens, who deserted then- houses when Lee ap-

220 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

proacbed, returned, with tbeir large families of small children,
in haycarts and similar vehicles, which were followed by the •
horses, cattle, and swine which they had wisely taken away
with them, and found in several instances merely a pile of
bricks, and some charred wood in the cellar. Although a
few of the inhabitants manifested a strong sympathy, and
said, " Destroy our property, but drive away the rebels, and
we are satisfied," Gen. Hayes, a gallant Pennsylvanian,
who fell in the Wilderaess, asserted in my hearing, that
' ' the people who live on the border, in the vicinity of
Gettysburg, are as base traitors as can be found in Virginia."
Another officer from the same State remarked to me, " These
Dutch farmers care-for nothing except their cabbages ; and, if
they can make money out of Lee's army, they don't care how
long they stay here." These tight-fisted miscreants, taking
advantage of the necessities of the wounded, obtained a
dollar for a loaf of bread or quart of milk ; named a price for
water and bandages ; and, in the absence of most of the
ambulances, conveyed them in their miserable wagons from
the hospitals to the railroad depot, and demanded the most
exorbitant amounts for their services. The clergymen and
other prominent civilians of Gettysburg published a card in
the newspapers, and boldly denied the truth of statements of
this character ; but I throw into the scales of justice the un-
broken testimony of sixty thousand soldiers of the Army of
the Potomac.

The force of Lee, which had been so recently flushed with

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 221

the thought of Southern indepeiidence and the hopes of
plundering the great cities of the North, retreated upon the
night of the 4th from their earthworks, and abandoned
thousands of the wounded, who were placed in the houses of
the people upon the rbads. The cavalry, led by its gallant
commanders, at once commenced the pursuit; harassed the
flanks and rear-guard of the enemy, and captured the trains
of wagons : but the movement of the infantry was delayed,
and the corps listened to the dim reports of the flying artillery
of Buford, Kilpatrick, and Gregg, but did not march for
three days, although it was under orders "to be ready to
start at a second's notice." The bugle at midnight awoke
the soldiers, who were sleeping upon the huge rocks in the
woods ; and the troops, binding cords and straps around the
legs of the pants to prevent chafing, advanced, and marched
upon the road to Emmettsburg at 2^, a.m., of the 7th. A gen-
eral and certain mounted officers, who always procured govern-
ment animals when a conflict was imminent, rode again upon
their private steeds, which had been brought from the rear ;
but the majority considered that the most valuable horses
were required at such a time, when the gain of a few seconds
might change the history of an engagement. A brigadier
remarked, in alluding to this fact, " I had two horses shot
under me, and lost $1,200 at the battle of Gettysburg ; but,
if I had possessed twenty, that number would have been

needed to keep in their places the cowardly regiment,"

which was composed of ill-disciplined foreigners. The trees

222 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

and houses for some distance bore the scars of the battle :
many breastworks of rails and earth had bee» constnicted
to shelter the rebel lines ; pits had been dug ; and structures
of small stoues had been erected for their sharpshooters ; and
the right flank of Lee's army was protected by a formidable
field-work, which had been ingeniously covered with branches,
bushes, and transplanted savins, to conceal the troops and
batteries, and deceive the distant Federal observer.

When all the facts attending this battle are fully under-
stood, the historian will award the highest praise to the
courage of the rank and file and the skill of the subordinate
officers, and ascribe to Gen. Meade a very small degree of the
honor for this decisive triumph. The conflict of July 1 was
fought during his absence : the first corps captured a large
number of prisoners ; but the death of the accomplished Gen.
Keynolds, and the re-enforcements which arrived for the foe,
enabled Ewell to force the Union troops from their position,
and drive them through the streets of Gettysburg. Gen.
Howard had posted a division of the eleventh corps in reserve
at Cemetery Hill ; and this officer, assisting Gen. Hancock,
who had the sole command, together with Generals Warren,
Buford, and others, who noticed the great natural strength of
the ridge, formed the divisions of the various coi'ps upon the
right and left of it ; and thus the wise selection of the battle-
field, a matter of the highest imjDortance, which requires the
exercise of the finest military judgment, was the result of a
defeat. A part of this line, which these brilliant officers

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 223

established while the commander of the army was several miles
in the rear, was changed upon the 2d by Gen. Sickles, without
any orders ; and the enemy for two days vainly assailed the
gallant forces that held the original ground. During the
gigantic struggle, Gen, Meade neither attacked the rebels, nor
pursued them when they were completely shattered and had
fled in confusion, but acted solely upon the defensive ; and
his able subordinates and their brave soldiers sowed, while
he reaped, the harvest of martial glory which was produced
by their successful labors upon the plains of Gettysburg.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE ^lARCH TO WILLIAMSPORT, MANASSAS GAP,
AND CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.

> "^^ 'HE corps marcbed daily, from tbe seventh until the
twelfth, throuf^h the beautiful scenes which have

'(L

been described, and hourly received the sincere
welcomes of the loyal citizens of Western Maryland.
Severe storms frequently occurred, and affected in certain
places the condition of the roads to such an extent that the
wheels of the artillery and long trains of wagxjns made them
impassable for the infantry that usually moved across the
fields. A general, who sought to shield his acts of cowardice
in the presence of the enemy by a display of arbitrary authori-
ty upon the march, stationed his staff to guard the bridges,
and compelled the men to wade through the streams which
often intersected the pathway, without allowing them any
time to remove shoes or clothing. This, with the exception
of the infernal conduct of a commander who exposed the sol-
diers to the deadly rays of the Southern sun, or marched them
for hours without a halt, is the surest mode of torturing them,
or exhausting their energies; because the feet are quickly
blistered, and a lameness ensues which cannot be healed for

224

THE MARCH TO WILLIAMSPORT, 225

a long period. The Seventh New- York Regiment, which was
encamped at Frederick City, and was the first force of militia
that had been seen -by the troops that performed the fight-
ing, was greeted with derisive shouts by the veterans that
belonged to the same city and State.

Suspended to the limb of a tree which gi-ew near the town
was the body of a spy that had been hung by Gen. Buford,
who acted promptly in this matter, without waiting for orders
from the authorities at Washington. The collectors of
relics had stripped the bark from the trunk, and taken from
his person every rag except the portion of his clothing
which was firmly held around his neck by the tent cord ; and
most of the old soldiers recognized him as one who had sold
newspapers and maps to the army. A captain in the regi-
ment took oflf his shoes, and gave them to a notorious skulker
who had alleged this pretext, and evaded the battle of Gettys-
burg, so that the man would have no similar excuse for his
cowardice in the next conflict. The division marched over
the battle-ground of the South-Mountain Pass upon the ninth,
when —

*' The shades of night were falling fast; "

and the color-bearere, who carried the blue silk flags of the
Excelsior Brigade that formed the advance, reminded one of —

" A youth who bore, 'mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device, —
Excelsior 1 "

** Here Gen. Reno fell," was the simple inscription upon a
15

226

plain rock near the road, which marked the spot on which
America lost one of her greatest ofl&cers ; and it is a melan-
choly fact, that he was killed by the excited members of a new
regiment who delivered a volley in the night.

Upon July 12, the Army of the Potomac confronted Lee,
who had concentrated his troops at Williamsport : the rolls of
the companies were called once in two hours, and the usual
arrangements were made for the battle which was every moment
anticipated. The correspondents of the press misrepresent
the facts nine times in ten when they assert that veterans are
anxious to fight ; but upon this day the soldiers who bore
muskets wished to hear the commands, " Take arms," and
" Charge," because they knew thiin^ what is conceded now,
that it would have captured all the cannon, materiel, and men
from the enemy, and finished the Rebellion without a hard
contest or a large loss of valuable lives. When I recall the
emphatic language that was used by rebel prisoners who
were subsequently taken, refugees, civilians who were seized
and detained to prevent them from communicating this infor-
mation, and Union soldiers who escaped from their lines or
were released and exchanged, I boldly state that nine-tenths
of the officers and men of both armies would assent to this
startling proposition, because I never heard one of them deny
it. Lee had exhausted immense quantities of ammunition in
the terrible combat at Gettysburg ; many of his caissons and
magazines did not contain a cartridge ; and his horde could not
withstand any onset. His men, disheartened by the knowl-

227

edge of this fact and their" heavy losses, wearied by the
anxiety and severity of the hurried march upon the retreat,
and unable to ford the Eappahannock, which separated them
from the base of their supplies, earnestly prayed that they
could touch the soil of Virginia before the victorious Yankees
arrived. The national soldiers, thoroughly equipped and fur-
nished with sufl&cient ammunition ; animated by the glorious
triumphs of Gettysburg, the surrender of Yicksburg, the re-
pulse at Helena, and the success which crowned the cause in
every section of the country ; knowing the perilous circum-
stances of the disorganized mass in their front, and that a battle
fought at this point would prevent an almost endless tramp,
besides numberless " conflicts in the disagreeable wildernesses
of Virginia, — wished with a united voice to be led to the
work of carnage.

The mountains, which the archangel Michael, —

" Of celestial armies prince," —

wielded with such supernatural power when he crushed the
hosts of Satan and Belial, were potent weapons in the all-
powerful hands of Nature to assist the Union columns. The
rain daily surcharged the springs that bubbled in the forests
of oak upon the heights, and sent upwards slender clouds of
vapor to stand in the air like sentinels, and point out to the
national soldiers that were marching in the valleys, the abodes
of their allies ; while a thousand overflowing rivulets rushed
down the steep sides of the lofty hills, enlarged their banks,

228 MANASSAS GAP, CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.

removed the bridges and works of man which attempted to
check the currents, and poured their waters into the Potomac
until they had placed a stronger barrier than redoubts of earth
or forts of stone in the rear of the " armed files " of treason,
who were held day after day upon the fields of Williamsport,
and threatened to ingulf them whenever they fled before the
avenging bayonets and rifled ordnance of the Northern forces.
Gen. Meade, disregarding the wise advice of the heroes of
Gettysburg, the fearless officers of the cavalry, and the gene-
rals that have been mentioned in tenns of praise in the pre-
ceding chapter, read the bombastic address which Lee posted
upon the walls of Hagarstown, listened to the counsels of the
timid and irresolute, was "afraid to strike." The stream sub-
sided, and the golden opportunity was lost forever. The bri-
gade advanced upon the morning of the 14th, and occupied
the breastwork which had been erected by those who were
posted in the extreme front ; while three lines of battle marched
over the bluff without opposition, and resembled in the dis-
tance the waves that roll over the ledges of a " rock-bound
coast." A few slight pits for the infantry and sharpshooters
were encountered, but they had been hastily constructed for
show, and not actual service ; while a number of men of straw
appeared to be guarding the deserted ground. Deep gloom
pervaded the army as soon as it was ascertained that Lee had
been allowed to escape destniction ; and, so eager vi^re the
soldiers to attack the enemy at this point, the reports of Gen.
Kilpatrick's cannon at twelve, m., produced cheers of exulta-

THE MARCH TO WILLIAMSPORT, 229

tion. For a long time the most awful curses were uttered in
connection with the names of Meade and certain generals who
opposetl the assault. Six months after this shameful failure,
I heard the shouts of some men, "Who voted against the

attack at Williamsport ? " "The drunkard ! " " The

traitor ! " and noticed one of these obnoxious corps com-
manders, who was reelicg to and fro upon his horse. Several
hundred lank and careworn prisoners, more than one-half of
wh(5m had no shoes, passed by the bivouac under guard ; and
one of them remarked as he pointed to a negro who was ar-
rayed in the rebel unifonn, " That is a Georgia cotton-pick-
ing nigger who would bring sixteen hundred dollars ; but I will
sell him to you now for a loaf of bread."

The troops in the field diminished rapidly from losses by
battle, exposure, and desertion ; and a division, which was com-
posed of the garrisons of forts at Baltimore, Washington, and
Harper's Ferry, that had never seen a skiimish, contained six
regiments with seven thousand men, while the forty-two regi-
ments of the veteran divisions of Hooker and Kearney pre-
sented for duty about six thousand men. The brigade
marched upon the 15th across the field of Antietam : the soil
which had been fertilized with the blood and bones of the
slain bore bountiful harvests of wheat and corn ; and the peace-
ful yeoman gathered the life-preserving grain upon the spot
where, ten months before, death wielded his terrible sickle.
A portion of the forest, which had been felled upon the crest
of the m.ountain that towered above the battle-fn-ound, formed

230 MANASSAS GAP, CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.

an open space which the people called " McClellan's look-out,"
because that general viewed from this commanding height
the conflict which raged beneath him. Although the foe was
south of the Potomac, and there was no necessity for a forced
movement, the corps was marched for seventeen miles, at the
utmost rate of speed, from seven, a.m., till two, p.m. ; when it
halted for the day in the open field which was enclosed by
pleasant woods that were reserved for the use of the generals
and their staffs and horses. The sun diffused rays of fire ;
many raved in the delirium of its deadly stroke by the road-
side ; and some surgeons rode by the unfortunate victims with-
out proffering their services, because they belonged to another
command.

The brigade reached the ruined structures of Harper's Fer-
ry, which nestled in the midst of the most picturesque and ro-
mantic scenery, and crossed the Potomac at eight, p.m., on the
17th, upon a pontoon bridge that was supported by twenty-
five boats, and the wire bridge that spanned the Shenandoah.
The first woman that I saw upon the southern bank repeated
several times the characteristic wish, " I hope you will all get
bullets in your heads;" which elicited from the soldiers a
general reply, " How natural that sounds in Virginia ! " No
property was protected in the States of IMaryland and Penn-
sylvania, and the loyal citizens never uttered a murmur about
the conduct of the men who conquered the foe at Gettysburg ;
but guards were placed upon the houses of rebels and gueril-
las as soon as the Union forces crossed the river. A vague

THE MARCH TO WILLIAMSPORT, 231

order was issued, allowing the soldiers to " take the top rail ; "
and a liberal construction was put upon this command,
the qualifying word being considered a relative term ; and
each one was seized until the whole fence had disappeared,
and the bottom became the " top rail " of the glowing camp-
fires. The corps held the right, and daily advanced along the
base of the Blue Ridge, which separated the two armies, until
Manassas Gap was occupied upon the 23d. All were inspir-
ed by the beauty of the mountains, the heights that receded
at the gap, the variegated forest which adorned them, and the
exhilarating atmosphere ; but an ugly and degraded race of
Virginians lived upon the slopes, waylaid the stragglers, and
murdered the weary soldier who slept in the cabin in which
he had been insnared by their hypocritical welcomes. The
troops were always stupidly placed in the cleared sections
of the country ; and a citizen of one of the villages said that
the rebel scouts upon the hills easily counted the divisions
and noticed their positions, and repeated some of their state-
ments, which showed an accurate knowledge in these respects.
JMany cripples were seen in the towns, who had lost their
limbs while they were fighting against the national flag ; and
they invariably stated that they had been injured by reaping
or farming machines. The blackberries were abundant ; and ^
the fields which bordered upon the roads were covered with
soldiers searching for them, whenever a halt was ordered.
The people with scarcely an exception were rebels; and, while
money would not tempt them to sell food, a small quantity

232

of coffee overcame every scruple ; and certain commissaries and
similar officers made large profits by illegally selling the gov-
ernment rations, A general gratified his tyrannical disposi-
tion by sending the pioneers in advance of his command to
cut down and destroy all "foot bridges," so that the men
would be compelled to wade through the numerous streams
that intersected the road, and endure the suffering which al-
ways followed ; while the scene highly entertained him and his
staff. A woftian in a village complained that a certain general
treated her worse than the privates of his brigade ; but cheat-
ing ignorant people in making change, or obtaining baskets
and dishes by promising to return them when their contents
had been consumed, were laughed over as splendid jokes at
his headquarters.

The column moved 15 ve hours upon the 23d near the Ma-
nassas-Gap Hailroad, which had been completely destroyed;
and one resident near Piedmont made an ornamental iron
fence of the rails which' had been heated and bent in the
centre. The utter depravity of the Southern slaveholder was
daily revealed : a man who stood at the gate of his house, in
reply to a question, answered, " There have been no rebels in
this place within six months ; " while his wife, who was in the
kitchen, said, " A portion of Lee's army passed the day before
yesterday." While the column was fording a broad stream
that was knee-deep, a general (for whom, viewed as an officer
or man, no one entertained any respect) vainly ordered the
soldiers of his command to march in another place, and shout-

233

ed to an officer as he pointed to a hole in the road where the
water was four feet in depth, " Lieutenant, you go throuo-h
there." No delay would have been allowed; and this lieuten-
ant, knowing that the rations and ammunition of his compa-
ny would be ruined if this useless order was obeyed, did not
deviate from his course, and, by refusing to walk through cold,
soon found himself in hot water, and was placed in arrest. A
court-martial convened three weeks after this event ; and al-
though the general committed perjury, and testified among
other falsehoods that ' ' the brook in the deepest part of it was
not six inches deep," witnesses of inferior rank, but superior
courage, honor, and veracity, contradicted his evidence ; and
his chagrin can be imagined when the subaltern returned to
duty, and received no punishment.

The corps relieved the cavalry at Manassas Gap, and the
rebels held possession of a part of it ; while the rear-guard of
Lee's army, which had marched from Winchester, passed
from the valley to Culpeper Court House. Their skirmish-
ers deployed at four, p.m., upon the crest of a high hill in
front, which was the key of the position, and from which they
were quickly driven, when the Union lines, more than a mile
and a hslf in length, advanced. A number purposely re-
mained to be taken prisoners ; and one of them said, '' I am
all right now." The soldiers in the extreme front moved
forward with their usual coolness, picking and eating berries,
and loading and firing their muskets as they clambered up the
heights. The eyes were dazzled by the loveliness of the- view

234 MANASSAS GAP, CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.

from this point : hill rose above hill ; the mountains changed
their hues from green to the lightest shade of blue, until they
became invisible ; and the fields of wheat, with their rows of
oats, looked like a vast network of gold in the valley through
which the Shenandoah flowed. The trains of the enemy
could be discerned in the distance upon one side of the moun-
tains, while the Anny of the Potomac was marching towards
the gap ; and Gren. Meade said in a tone of confidence, " We
have got them foul now; to-morrow we will attack them."
A corps commander, who was drunk, and scarcely able to re-
tain the seat upon his horse, rode along the lines, accompanied
by most of his staff, including the non-combatants ; and re-
marks like these arose : ' ' There are no rebels here ; ' '
"There won't be any fighting to-night;" and the men felt
perfectly safe while they were present with them.

The soldiers rested upon a bed of rocks during the nighi ;
and the division with a squadron of cavalry and a battery
made a reconnoissance in the morning of the 24th, dis-
covered that the enemy had vanished from their position, and
marched in pursuit to Front Royal, upQp the road which was
easily traced by noticing the newspapers, bags of ammunition,
flour, and half-baked biscuits, which had been cast aside du-
ring the flight. The wounded were uncared for ; the dead
were unburied; and a faithful hound howled in the most
mournful manner over the body of his master in the forest
near Wapping Heights. A battery threw three shells at the
head of the column at nine and a half, a.m. : the brio;ade at

235

once filed to the riglit of the road, formed a line of battle in
the woods, and waited for further orders. A small hill which
rose abruptly in front interfered with the view in that direc-
tion : and, after the skirmishers had advanced, aides and
other officers boldly rode upon the crest, and examined the
ground ; while a general who showed base cowardice upon
every occasion of danger timidly stood upon the slope, so
that his eyes could barely see the position, and, repeating
his ignoble conduct at Gettysburg, told the color-bearer of
his brigade to "goto the rear." When the troops were
ordered to move forward, thi^- eneral was attacked by a dis-
ease which might be truly tenned a case of indisposition ; and
the command devolved upon a lieutenant-colonel, who shouted
the orders in a loud voice which might have been heard by
the entire force of both armies. The first height was passed
without opposition ; and the men expected to receive a volley
from the thick woods that crowned another hill which was
beyond it, until the skirmishers reported that the rebel cavalry
were racing through the streets of Front Royal. "When those
in the rear learned this fact, the general, whose recovery had
been as sudden as his illness, resumed his place amidst a
thousand half-suppressed mutters and curses about the ' ' cow-
ard " and " playing sick."

The column halted at this point an hour ; retraced its steps
at one and a half, p.m. ; bivouacked near Piedmont ; and en-
camped at Beverly Ford upon Aug. 1, after a number of
marches. The rebel generals issued orders forbidding their

236 MANASSAS GAP, CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.

soldiers to ask any questions concerning the towns through
which they passed; and it is stated that Jackson always
halted at the cross-roads at night, so that they would be un-
able to decide which route he would take in the morning.
No such restrictions existed in the Union army ; ' and the in-
habitants were plied with inquiries, ' ' What is the name of the
next place ? " or, " How far is it from here ? " One sagacious
native of Salem, not wishing to be annoyed in this way, ren-
dered a service by holding upon his knees a signboard, upon
which all could read, " Warrenton, 13 miles." The regiment
had marched four hundred and ten miles from June 11 to
Aug. 1, and seldom bivouacked two successive nights upon
the same ground ; and the rest at Beverly Ford was very
desirable. The soldiers carried knapsacks when the gi'and
movement commenced at Falmouth ; but at this time most of
them had a small roll, and did not possess more than one
shirt, which was washed and worn again as soon as it was dry.
The daily routine of camp-duty was resumed ; and the regi-
ment furnished details to picket upon the Rappahannock near
Freeman's Ford, where it was only forty feet in width and
about two feet deep. The people who had transported then:
cattle, hay, and grain to the South to supply the rebel anny,
applied with their usual assurance to the commissary for ra-
tions to save themselves from starvation. They had sent
aWlay the few negroes who had not escaped to the North ; and
the able-bodied whites were fighting under Lee, so that la-
borers could not be procui*ed to take charge of their estates ;

237

and the provost-guard was ordered to protect them. During
the winter they had filled the ice-houses, which are usually
built near the mansions of the wealthy, for the use of the sick
and wounded in the hospitals at Richmond ; and the luxury
was confiscated for the benefit of the Union soldiers. A party
of negroes ran away from Culpeper Court House ; and, within
half of an hour after they had escaped across the Rappahan-
nock, four blood-hounds, following their footsteps, appeared
upon the opposite bank, and were shot by the pickets. Re-
connoissances were frequently made, and several engagements
took place at Brandy Statioji between the cavalry forces of
both armies ; and, upon Aug. 4, the puffs of smoke from the
cannon and exploding shells mingled with the clouds, and the
reports of the artillery clashed with the reverberations of
thunder during a severe storm. _ The Blue Ridge was unob-
scured by its drapery of vapor upon the following day. In
the language of the residents, " The mountain took off its
night-cap," and the rain ceased. An officer of the day di-
rected a captain to examine that part of the river which was
guarded by the division, and ascertain, if possible, the num-
ber of points at which it could be forded. The clothes of the
officer were thoroughly drenched with water when he returned
in the afternoon, and reported that he had waded in the cen-
tre of the stream nearly a mile, narrowly escaped drowning,
and stated the results of his unforeseen method of sounding the
Rappahannock.

The camps witnessed an affecting spectacle upon the 14th.

238 MANASSAS GAP, CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.

The veterans of many honorable battles — the officers and men
of Kearney's and Hooker's divisions of the third corps —
contributed their pay for one day to purchase for Gen. Sic-
kles, their gallant and disabled commander, a carriage, horses,
and harness, as an expression of their respect ; and, when the
wounded returned from the hospitals, they would not be paci-
fied until their names were added to the long list. The good
opinion of these brave soldiers — of one man who bore a mus-
ket, and had seen and admired his conduct at Chancellors-
ville and Gettysburg — was of far greater weight than the
carping of generals who sat in their chairs of ease and safety
at Washington. The cheers of such voices, and especially
thof;e from the ranks, will resound through future centuries,
while the contemptible sneers at Gen. Sickles and the heroes
of Newberne and Lookout Mountain are imperceptible.

A squad of two hundred substitutes (there was not one
conscript among them) was assigned to the regiment after
tattoo on the 23d ; and the utmost vigilance was required to
retain them within the limits of the camp. A more motley
crowd was never inspected. Every nation and occupation
was represented : thieves, organ-grinders, garoters, and New-
York rioters, formed a majority ; and all, with a few excep-
tions, intended to desert at the first opportunity, to obtain
another bounty. Twenty or thirty had been daily tied up by
the thumbs during the voyage ; some had been shot while they
were swimming to the shore ; and others, by a system of
general pillage, accumulated amounts that exceeded two thou-

THE MARCH TO WILLIAMSPORT, 239

sand dollars. Many had deserted from various branches of
the service, and understood the manual of arms and the com-
pany movements. It had been announced that five bounty-
jumpers would be shot in the fifth corps upon the 29th ; and
the day was awaited with the deepest impatience by the offi-
cers, who could not be held responsible for a lax state of dis-
cipline if the villains were pardoned by the President, and by
the substitutes who made preparations to leave if the execu-
tion was postponed. The miserable wretches were marched
to the ground where five graves had been dug two hours be-
fore the fatal moment : each man gazed upon his last resting-
place, and then returned to the prison. The fifth corps was
formed under arms upon the field, besides squads of con-
scripts who were under guard ; and most of the third corps
were present as spectators. The band of the regiment played
the "dead march" while the procession was moving to the
scene ; and each prisoner, with his hands manacled behind
him, walked in the rear of his coffin, which was canied by
four soldiers, and placed in front of the grave. Two were
Jews, and two were Roman Catholics ; and the rabbi and
priest who accompanied them had a dispute about precedence,
and urged their respective claims upon theological tenets ;
but the commander of the provost-guard viewed the subject
in a military light, and decided the novel question by allow-
ing the rabbi to walk first, because his faith was the oldest
and outranked the other. The last solemn rites were cele-

240

bratcd ; each culprit sat upon bis coffin ; their eyes were ban-
daged ; within a second the bullets from fifty muskets pierced
them, and soon five mounds of earth covered their bodies.

The orders to march at sunset upon Sept. 15 were so un-
expected, that a wagon loaded with evergTecn and boughs for
headquarters passed by the camp while the "general" was
beating, and the soldiers were striking tents and packing up
their effects. The column moved at half-past seven, p.m. ;
but a major-general was intoxicated ; great confusion pre-
vailed in consequence of conflicting orders ; and the division
marched in a circle through the woods, hour after hour, until
one, A.M., of the IGth ; and actually halted for the remainder
of the night, at the end of this most tiresome and needless
gyration, within an eighth of a mile of the quarters which
had been abandoned. It was a mile and a half to the ford
at which the crossing should have been made ; and a large
number of officers and men could have pointed out the place
without any difficulty, and avoided this over-exertion. The
troops, at an early hour upon the 16th, forded the Rappahan-
nock, which was knee-deep ; and subsequently Hazel Run,
which was hip-deep ; and Gen. Prince, a most exemplary offi-
cer, who commanded the division, was placed in arrest because
he allowed them to remove their shoes or boots when they
travelled through the water. The enemy retreated south of
the Rapidan ; and the camp of the regiment was located, upon
the 17th, about a mile in the rear of Culpeper Court House.

THE MAECH TO WILLI AMSPORT, ETC. 241

The cold often interraptecl sleep at this season, before the oc-
cupation of the winter barracks ; and the fires would be sur-
rounded by groups of shivering soldiers, two or three hours
before twihght.

16

CHAPTER XIV.

TO CENTKEVILLE, AND BACK TO CULPEPER
COURT HOUSE.

CULPEPER COURT HOUSE consisted of desert-
ed buildings with broken windows ; empty stores ;
a few destitute natives ; a jail, and similar institu-
tions ; and four churches, from which the pews had
been removed to render them fit for occupation by the sick
and wounded soldiers. The commanding heights, the Blue
Ridge, and Cedar Mountain, which is known among the
natives by the common family name of "Slaughter," which the
disgraceful blunders of the battle made very appropriate, rose
in the front, and suiTounded the city. The most stringent
commands were issued to the members of the brigade to
prevent them from taking the fences of a notorious rebel,
an Ex-M.C, upon whose grounds the camp had been estab-
lished : a large force was detailed to guard them, and four
written orders were read to the men upon this subject in the
course of half an houi\ The troops of Lee's army did not
injure the property when they bivouacked in the same field ;
and I f^olved the perplexing problem regarding this singular
conduct, when I ascertained that the wealthy owner was the

242

TO CENTREVILLE, ETC. 243

father-in-law of one of the generals of the Union army. The
quartermasters and teamsters of one division pitched their
tents and parked theii* wagons in a cemetery ; and some of
these unfeeling non-combatants levelled the mounds of earth to
secure a better floor for their shelters. The health of a num-
ber of substitutes in this brief period seemed to be as frail as
theu' reputation for honor ; for some of them were crippled or
unsound in an organ of sense ; one was so blind that he was
always piloted ui the night by seizing the end of a musket,
while a faithful comrade carried the other ; black hair gi-ad-
ually lost its color, and the white head of a person too old for
any service appeared ; and two died of consumption within a
month after their anival.

The military position was unchanged until Oct. 8, when
the division was detailed for special duty, and marched to
James City to support Gen. Kilpatrick during the skirmishes
between the cavalry. The rebel camp-fires burned at night
with their usual brilliancy ; the tents and shelters were not
removed ; the pickets maintained a strong force at the same
fords upon the Rapidan ; while Lee moved his army upon
" circuitous and concealed roads," and intended to pass by
the right flank, and rush to the strong position of Centreville.
The observing eyes of the signal-coii3S, who were posted upon
the summits of the mountains, promptly discovered this inge-
nious design. The infantry acted as a support for the cav-
alry; and general quietness reigned until three, p.m., of the
10th, when a brisk skirmish commenced that did not cease

244 TO CENTREVILLE, AND

until night, and the enemy was completely foiled. In the
mean while, the cars were loaded with stores, and sent to
Alexandria ; the wagon-trains were in motion ; the main body
of the army was already preparing to retreat across the Eap-
pahannock ; and the division began to return before sunset, as
the orders were explicit to avoid bringing on a general en-
gagement. The troops filed into the fields near the road to
bivouac for the night; and had barely fallen asleep before
the march was resumed, and there was no halt until mid-
night. Most of the corps crossed the river upon the 11th,
and every man uttered a yell while he forded it. The rebel
cavahy closely followed the rear to pick up stragglers, while
tlie infantry was attempting to make a grand flank move-
ment : and the contest became a race between the two armies,,
which hastened, upon routes that were nearly parallel, to gain
the same point; and, although the Federal forces were en-
cumbered by the trains, they won the position, and were only
two hours ahead of the advance of the enemy. Some gen-
erals injured the service by placing their sons and relatives
upon their staffs, and sending orderlies to perform their duty,
and carry important commands, when their lives were en-
dangered by the battle ; and the officers of the cavalry
.usually detailed for this 25nrpose the most worthless soldiers
that were mustered upon the rolls. One of this class, who
could not speak English, delivered an order to me when I
commanded the skumishers that covered the brigade as it fell
back from James City; and I was unable to interpret his

BACK TO CULPEPER COURT HOUSE. 245

jargon at a time wben a deviation from the proper path
involved capture and other serious results.

The regiment was stationed at Beverly Ford upon the 12th,
behind the earthworks which they assisted to build, while
on the march to Gettysburg, to prevent the enemy from cross-
ing at this point. The pickets of the rebel cavalry that were
posted in groups upon the opposite bank hastily rode away
as soon as Stuart was forced to retreat to Culpeper Court
House; and their rapid flight was the first result of the
national success. The division marched from sunrise to sun-
set upon the 13th, and was delayed during the night by the
bad state of the road ; and fii-es were built when these irre-
gular halts occurred, and several miles of rail-fence were
destroyed. The column rested at Greenwich only two horns ;
moved at daybreak with great caution : flankers marched
through the woods and fields ; and ^companies held the by-
paths to protect those in the road against a sudden attack.
The lines of battle were formed at two, p.m., upon the heights
of Centreville, where the regiment was aligned for the eighth
time during its various campaigns, which were termed by the
men " forward and back " movements.

" We must pass through the crack of a door," Gen. Prince
remarked in the morning; and the fatigued soldiers were
urged to keep in reserve all their strength, because the safety
of the army depended upon their promptness and power of
endui'ance. These forced marches, which could not be avoid-
ed, caused great exhaustion ; and many substitutes gladly

246 TO CENTREVILLE, AND

straggled from the ranks, and concealed themselves until tbe
rebel cavalry advanced, wlicn they surrendered like willing
prisoners. The natives of this section of Virginia did not
appear to own any of the estates which they occupied ; and
most of the houses displayed a signboard, upon which was
painted, " British property. Safeguard placed by Gen. Si-
gel or Bleade."

The corps constituted the left of the army upon the 15th ;
and the division proceeded to Union Mills, where one com-
pany from each regiment of the brigade was detailed for
picket-duty. The main body was posted at the ford and
bridge that crossed Bull Bun at this point ; and the company
of which I had charge halted at the base of a hill which
commanded the stream, and upon which earthworks had been
constrr.cted by the troops of the right wing of Beauregard's
force at the first battle in 18G1. Three men and a corporal
relieved a squad upon the crest ; and a staff-officer who gave
instructions, and the men that composed the old guard, said
that no rebels ever molested them, and there was no necessity
for unusual vigilance. When I reconnoitred the ground in
the vicinity, and passed through the thin belt of woods which
was two hundred yards in front of the outposts, I saw, at the
distance of half a mile upon the broad plains of Manassas,
a line of advancing skirmishers, which was supported by a
battery and a regiment of Stuart's cavalry. The company and
a few riflemen from the reserve were ordered to re-enforce the
little command of the corporal. The first ball surprised their

BACK TO CULPEPER COURT HOUSE. 247

ears, and was followed by a halt ; after which the principal
portion dismounted ; and every man in the rear held the reins
of four horses that belonged to his comrades, who were re-
pulsed in every effort which they made to surround the pick-
ets; and a scattering fii'e continued for two hours. They
then moved to the right, planted their battery near McLean's
Ford, and surprised the pickets that were compelled to rccross
the river. The four soldiers who had been relieved belon2:ed
to a brigade that had recently arrived from Suffolk ; and one
of them entertained the listeners by describing the number-
less battles in which he had participated upon the Blackwater.
When the bullets whistled over the crest, and I was watching
the movements of the foe, they ran to the rear ; but the story-
teller was seized and thi'ust into the front rank, although he
pleaded most earnestly for his release, and admitted that he
had never seen a fight, and that his brigade had ' ' done
nothing" since it entered the service. A sergeant, wbo in-
effectually kicked a substitute that crouched upon the earth
and refused to rise and discharge his musket, grasped him by
the collar, and held him up : so that he was exposed to the
fii-e of the enemy, until he brought his piece to the shoulder
and pulled the trigger. The storm which arose in the night,
and the tall wet grass, chilled the sentinels, who remained in
the same spot, without any fires. In the morning, a chain
of pickets, who sat upon their horses, extended from this
point more than a mile to the rebel camp.

The subtle plans of Lee had wholly failed, and no wagons

248 TO CENTREVILLE, AND

or organized bodies of infantry were captm-ed ; but he was
leisurely followed when bis forces were -^thdrawn : and the
division was encamped near the Junction, about seven miles
from Bealeton, upon Oct. 30, while the right of the army
extended to Warrenton. The corps commander most unjust-
ly favored the third division, that had never performed any
fighting, by always placing it in safe positions ; while the first
and second, which had fought the enemy again and again,
were exposed to every danger. The roads were so narrow,
that a single team obstructed the passage of those that were
in the rear of it : and government property was summarily
destroyed if it could not be removed ; but the covetous sut-
lers were unwilling to adopt this policy, and often blocked
the trains during the movement. Gen. Meade issued a just
order, which restrained their privileges, and banished them
from the amiy for a certain period. The rebels injured the
Orange and Alexandria Raiboad to the utmost extent ; de-
molished the bridges, water-tanks, and culverts ; and ruined
the ii-ou rails by placing them upon a pile of burning sleep-
ers, the heat of which softened the centre, so that the ends
rested upon the earth; and some were twisted around the
trunks of oaks which gi-ew near the embankment. The track
to Warrenton had not been disturbed ; and the rain inter-
fered, at certain points, with the work of destruction, which
was imperfectly executed. The soldiers were now required
to perform a new species of labor; and large details were
daily furnished to grade the road and fell the trees, and cut

BACK TO CULPEPER COURT HOUSE. 249

sleepers or ties. The Tbuilclings and fences had disappeared ;
and the general barrenness which prevailed was occasionally
relieved by the green spots of ground, in which the gi^ain that
had been scattered by the cavalry had taken root, and sprouted.
Two dead horses, which were respectively branded " C. S."
and "U.S.," were stretched upon the field, near Bristow
Station, with their heads a few feet apart ; and all who wit-
nessed them asked, " Where are the riders ? " A rebel cav-
alry scout captured three unarmed soldiers who were wander-
ing outside the picket, and ordered them to take down a
fence which his horse could not leap ; and each one seized a
rail, dismounted him, and retraced their steps with the pris-
oner.

The army, like all travellers, "took an early breakfast"
upon the morning of Nov. 7, and advanced towards the
Rappahannock in two columns; and the corps marched to
Kelly's Ford, where it arrived at three, p.m. The hill upon the
northern bank commanded the position ; and the third brigade
of the first division waded through the river while the batteries
were briskly engaged, successfully charged upon the rifle-pits,
and took five hundred prisoners. A bridge composed of
eight pontoons was immediately constructed over the stream
which had been many times passed and repassed, guarded
and reguarded, by the Federal army ; and the brigade
crossed at sunset, when the flashes of the rifles revealed the
locahty of every skirmisher, and the cannonading resounded
from Rappahannock Station. A Union captam was killed by

250 TO CENTREVILLE, AND

a sharpshooter while he was in the act of giving some water
to a wounded rebel who was moaning upon the field.

"You have got our winter quarters," exclaimed some of
the prisoners, who stated that they were completely surprised,
because they had often foimed in line of battle to no purpose
when the cavalry was reconnoitring in their front, and ex-
pected no unusual event when their pickets escaped to the
support. ' The vent-hole of a cannon is always closed when
the gunners are loading it, and a thumb-stall is generally
worn to prevent the blisters which would arise if the piece
became heated during an active engagement; and an accidents
seldom occurred. In this contest the person instinctively
removed his thumb, which was unprotected ; and a premature
explosion resulted, by which three men were mangled. The
enemy retreated across the Rapidan in the night ; and the
division marched to Brandy Station without opposition on the
morning of the 8th. Several negro servants that labored for
rebel officers of high rank entered the lines, and brought with
them the horses and overcoats of their masters; and one
carried a large basket which contained the dinner and dishes
of a brigadier.

Lee's army had constructed barracks for occupation during
the winter in the dense forests in the vicinity of Brandy
Station, and collected bushels of acorns for food. The
quartermasters issued clothing without any buttons, which
were cut from the old and discarded garments, and sewed on
the new by the fortunate receivers of the butternut. They

BACK TO CULPEPER COURT HOUSE. 251

had gathered hundreds of empty tin cans, which had been sold
by the sutlers when they were filled with pickles or preserved
meats, and intended to use them as dippers ; and many cor-
respondents at once inferred from the labels that there had
been illicit trade between the North and the South. The
division occupied the camps which had been allotted to some
I brigades in Ewell's corps; and the log structures afforded
comfort to the enemies of the builders.

CHAP TEE XV.
THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

i^^^HE extensive preparations for a decisive battle had
been completed, and the pontoons whicli rumbled

i.

upon Nov. 23 over tbe roads that led to the fords
of the Rapidan were the forerunners of a general
advance. Marching orders were received at the unwelcome
hour of midnight, but countermanded at daybreak when the
regiment was forming its hne"; tents were re-pitched in the
midst of a rain, and the mud held fast many wheels which
must revolve to supply the necessities of the army. Upon the
26th, as the beams of the rising sun touched the wintry frost,
and concealed the crests of the Blue Ridge in the clouds of
its vapor, the corps abandoned their camps ; and the procla-
mation that was printed in the newspapers was the only
evidence which satisfied the soldiers that it was a day set
apart for Thanksgivings Great enthusiasm was produced by
the reading of the despatch of Gren. Grant, announcing his
victory at Chattanooga. The grand force moved forward,
and was soon separated from any base or line of communica-
tions. The cavalry menaced the upper fords to deceive the
enemy, while the infantry advanced in a different direction ;

252

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 253

and the corps (the third) , followed by the sixth, constituted
the right column. The brigade was posted in the advance,
and passed by only four dwellings in marching fourteen miles,
and halted in the woods about half of a mile from the, stream,
at a point which was styled, by the name of the nearest inhab-
itant, Jacobs' Ford. The bluffs of the southern bank rise
very abruptly one hundred or one hundred and fifty feet in
height, and are well adapted for defensive operations.

The passage of a river by a corps, in the face of an enemy,
is considered in military treatises one of the most difficult
movements known in war ; but the Army of the Potomac
has performed this hazardous undertaking with success upon
every occasion, while the rebels never attempted to effect it.
The skirmishers of the brigade deployed from the forest, and
marched to the ford, which is located at a sharp bend : a
battery was planted to protect them ; and the small body of
rebel cavalry that witnessed these dispositions fled without
firing a carbine. The pontoons were transported to the river,
and placed in the water ; and the skirmishers, supported by
four companies of the regiment, immediately embarked in the
boats, and clambered the heights, upon which the brigade-
color waved without opposition. Two incidents which fell
under my observation at this time show the results of the
negligence of some staff or general officers to thoroughly per-
form their duty before the movement commenced. The
width of the narrow stream had been miscalculated, and there
was a deficiency in the number of boats that were required,

254 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

SO that a delay of an hour occuiTod whilo the pioneers were
constructing a support of earth and logs for the southern ex-
tremity of the bridge. The men who had been drilled to
execute this peculiar labor quickly anchored the pontoons at
certain intervals m the swiftly flowing current, arranged and
fastened together the planks of the trestle-work, with the
regularity that characterizes the movements of a machine.
The troops began to cross at three, p.m. ; and discovered
another oversight which was obvious at a glance, that the
slopes were too precipitous for the passage of cannon and
wagons ; which were then sent to another ford that was two
miles from this point, because there was not time to cut a
new road. A severe battle had been anticipated at the fords;
and every eye looked upwards with earnestness during the
most anxious moments of the day, when the skinnishers
slowly approached the crest of the bluff. ' ' Is the foe con-
cealed behind the hills that frown upon us ? Does he crouch
in ambush in the thickets of the Wilderness beyond them ? "
These thoughts flashed through the mind ; and the steps are
slow ; the musket is held with a firmer grasp ; the finger
constantly rests upon the trigger ; and every object is scru-
tinized, because a single mistake might cause death or de-
feat. Thus the Army of the Potomac won its new position
south of the Kapidan, before sunset, without losing a life;
and Lee, who had massed his columns to resist the advance
of the national forces at the points where the cavalry was
making alluring feints, was chagruied to find that he had been

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 255

outgeneralled, and his enemy threatened his rear and right
flank.

Glorious visions of success abeady enlivened the hopes of
the soldiers. Celerity of action, the concentration of the
corps at Robertson's Tavern, which placed them between the
commands of Ewell and Hill, would produce a conflict with a
foe cut in twain, which must insure the victory. The brigade,
enclosed by strong lines of skirmishers and flankers, still
formed the head of the column, and marched in compliance
with instructions upon a narrow pathway which led through
the almost impenetrable Wilderness until the rebel pickets
were encountered. They were speedily driven more than a
mile ; and the yelping of a wounded dog, an animal which
always accompanies them, indicated the course which they had
pursued in the darkness.

' ' Tell the division general that my skirmishers are scalp-
ing the devils like h — 1 ! " was the verbal message which the
colonel commanding the brigade duly transmitted to announce
his triumph.

''^Ve are in the bowels of the enemy," remarked Gen.
Piince, who ascertained that the troops had moved upon the
wrong road, and were advancing to the fortified stronghold at
3IOiton's Ford. He ordered them to countermarch : a tangled
and unbroken forest increased the gloom and weariness of
the three miles which were retraced to a point near the ford,
and the bivouac was established for the night. These pre-
cious hours that had been lost by the faithlessness of a corps

256 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

commander delayed the wliole army ; enabled Lee to unite Lis
dissevered divisions ; and the sacred cause of the country was
frustrated for many months.

The breakfast of coffee and hard bread was devoui'ed before
daybreak upon the 27th ; and the Hues were formed to resist'
any attack which might be made by the enemy that hovered
in the front. The march was resumed in the morning in
compliance with orders from a corps commander ; light skir-
mishes frequently took place with small squads of cavalry ;
and at noon there had been no junction with the main body,
although Gen. IMeade had labored unceasingly to secure this
object. In consequence of the blundermg oversight which
has been noticed, the ammunition trains and the artillery were
not present to assist the infantry ; and the perilous situation
in which the latter was placed can be discerned without a
lengthy explanation. A long arid vexatious delay occurred
because another move had been made in the wrong direction ;
and the men, justly dissatisfied, rested in the road, and pulled
down the fences to build fires, which were extinguished to
prevent the scouts from gaining a knowledge of the brigades
by watching the thin clouds of smoke. A corps general, who
entered the house of Jacobs upon the preceding afternoon,
and remained in the rear while thousands of his victuns were
wandering in an unknown region, arrived ; established his
headquarters in another dwelling; and I did not see hmi
again during the eventful day.

Although this ofiiccr was usually known as the personal

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 257

friend of Gen. Halleck, justice demands that his shameful
conduct should be fally described ; because the failure of this
finely conceived movement, in the opinion of the author and
thousands of his comrades in arms, was caused by one of the
corps commanders, who discarded Mars, and served Silenus.
Habitual drunkenness had covered his face with frightful
blotches, and destroyed his control over some of his muscles ;
the cheeks twitched convulsively, while the eyes and mouth
opened and closed in a comical manner which would have
insured the fortune of a clown. The derisive laugh which
an intoxicated fool always excites greeted his appearance ;
and I extracted from the numberless oaths and jeering
remarks that were uttered at this time the following speci-
mens : " Old blinky has got up at last ! " " His horse is
drunk again to-day ! " "Here comes the old gin barrel ! "
" I should like to tap him ! " "I hope the first cannon-ball
that is fired will knock his head ojff." Discipline under such
a sot is maintained by the ceaseless efforts of the subalterns
and the undying patriotism of the men who mourn the ab-
sence of tlie gallant and noble-minded leaders of other days,
who died amidst the stomis of conflict. However, the cow-
ard, the traitor, and the drunkard of high rank may skulk fi:om
the scene in the decisive hour of the combat ; but the vete-
rans that never quailed are inspired by the dead heroes who
mount again their war-horses, draw from their scabbards the
two-edged swords, and advance in the charge.

The brigade pushed forward in line of battle through the
17

258 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

woods upon both sides of the road, and drove the rebel
pickets, with their supports, two miles, until they reached a
house which stood in an open field. The troops double-
quicked at two and a half, p.m., from this point to Locust or
Orange Grove, in which a sharp contest ensued between the
skirmishers, and steadily forced the enemy to rejoin the prin-
cipal force which was posted in the road that ran to Haccoon
Ford, The regiment, and that upon its left, held a position
upon the slope of a gentle ascent against an attack; and the
rebels, who could, not stand erect and face the shower of lead,
crouched upon the earth, and sought the protection of the
crest. A part of another brigade gave way upon the right,
and exposed that fiank, so that the regiment was obliged to
fall back to the cleared tract, where it re-formed its ranks,
and at once entered the forest and resumed the old ground.
Fourteen or fifteen rebels who belonged to North Caro-
lina concealed themselves between logs, to be sheltered from
the fire of friends and enemies during this last advance ; and
gladly rose up, cast aside their equipments and rifles, and, in
the excess of their joy, actually threw their arms around the
necks of the astonished soldiers. A private who belonged
to a detachment of Union prisoners, and a member of the
guard that accompanied them from Chancellorsville to Rich-
mond, recognized each other, and grasped hands in the most
cordial manner.

" Come in! " " Come in ! " the skirmishers shouted, and a
number comphed with the request : but one boldly yelled.

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 25'9

*' No, I don't ; I'm no such man as that ; " and three bullets
shattered his limbs while he was trying to escape. A rebel
battery opened at sunset, and continued to fire for two hours,
during which the flashes lighted up the forest. The enemy
abandoned the road, when quietness ruled the night.

The substitutes, with a few exceptions which are always
found in a certain number of persons, bravely withstood the
shock of the battle ; and it is a strange circumstance that the
list of killed in the reo-iment consisted of the orio-inal mem-
bers. When the brigade charged across the field near the
house, some frightened hens left their nests in the bushes, and
flew before the men with a shrill cackling which afforded
much amusement in the midst of the hissing balls. A cap-
tain of the skirmishers basely deserted his post, and attempted
to pass through one of the companies, but was halted by a
fiiithful sergeant, who seized liim by the collar, and said, " You
are setting a pretty example to your men : go back, you cow-
ardly scoundrel 1 " and compelled hun to return to the front.
The rebels in one onset rushed with yells, which the first
volley converted into gToans ; and a soldier remarked as ho
elevated his piece, " If I am hit, I hope it will be a finisher ; "
and within the space of a minute a bullet penetrated his eye,
and his wish was gratified.

The corps suffered a loss of ^ve hundred killed, wounded,
and missing, in the valueless engagement : the unpardonable
delay was hourly prolonged ; and an almost impassable chasm
still existed between the right wing and the Army of the

260 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

Potomac. The ignominious result of this conflict produced
intense dissatisfaction among the soldiers, who sadly pictured
the brilliant victory that might have been gained if a sober
and intelligent officer had "wielded the immense power which
had been so heedlessly conferred upon a besotted major-gene-
ral. The happy North Carohnians who were captured by
the regiment most willingly and truthfully said that Johnson's
division of Ewell's corps comprised all the troops that were
posted in tlie Raccoon-ford Road ; and the thin line of skirmish-
ers won a part of this position upon the right, which was
entirely undefended. Six Union divisions confronted one
composed of rebels : a force could easily turn their left flank ;
and they would have been routed by the overwhelming masses
of the tliird and sixth corps, which were aligned near this
point. A division that was termed by the veterans " pets,"
or "lambs," because a corps general bestowed every favor
upon it, was placed within the range of hostile cannon for the
first time ; but it was demoralized by the pernicious example
of this drunkard and the cowardice of its commander, and
tarnished its history with disgrace, which subseq^uent service
under brave leaders removed.

The sixth corps marched at midnight in the proper direc-
tion to Robertson's Tavern : the division retired from its po-
sition at daybreak upon the 28th, and plodded slowly through
the rain, which did not cease until noon, and covered the roads
with mortar-beds of red mud. The corps advanced several
miles upon the broad turnpike that passed through Orange

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 261

Court House, and tlien moved in the rear of the army from
the right to the left ; and the men ascertained the lines that de-
fined the front hy listening to the intermittent volleys of the
skirmishers. The enemy gradually fell back ; and shelters of
small stones which the sharpshooters had occupied were scat-
tered at short intervals in many places. Near one of them
I saw the body of a dead rebel, who carried a haversack which
was filled with his rations, that consisted of nothing except dry
corn. The column bivouacked after sunset, and furnished
details for picket-duty, who were ordered to report to one of
that large class of staff-officers that are always inefficient in
the presence of danger. Those that belonged to the regi-
ment marched two miles in the night, forded runs, leaped
walls and fences, and discovered with amazement upon the
following morning that their companies were only a few paces
in the rear of their posts.

The array had finally concentrated ; and the soldiers arose at
half-past four, a.m., upon the 29th, and prepared for action, not
against a divided and surprised force, but one which was on
the alert, and strong. The dark clouds lowered constantly
during the day, and occasionally parted to remind those upon
the earth of their existence ; while the division upon the left
of the corps made a reconnoissance, and connected in the after-
noon with a laroe flankino; force under the command of Gen.
Warren. ""Where are we?" some of them asked an old
inhabitant.

"Ringe County," he replied.

262 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

The trees were judiciously cut to guide the moving lines ;
but the thickly wooded country and the state of the impassa-
ble roads continually hindered them, and the powers of dark-
ness prohibited an attack, when three signal guns were fired
at half-past five, p.m. A horse, laden with tm-keys and
chickens for the use of a general, passed by the regiment a
few minutes after orders were read to the men to live upon
half-rations, and became the innocent subject of many emphatic
phrases. The division bivouacked at nine, p.m., and thou-
sands of cold and weaiy forms clustered around the low fires
which were allowed ; and commands were frequently issued,
" That fire is too high," " Take off that log at once," wdicn
a desu'e to receive comfort triumphed orer caution.

Nov. 30, 1863, is a day that will be long remembered by
the troops that were massed at Mine Run ; not because a
battle was fought, but for the singular reason that no conflict
took place. The division was under arms at one, a.m. ; in-
structions were repeated in whispers by the officers ; and no
conversation or unnecessary noise was permitted as it marched
upon the famous plank road, from which it debouched to the
left, formed in three lines, and the brigade was placed in the
front and supported by the "Excelsior" and Jersey bri-
gades. Gen. AYarreu commanded six divisions, comprising
twenty-eight thousand men, and extending three miles, that
were aligned in a similar manner for the purpose of storming
the breastworks of the rebels, who had fortified the strong
ridges west of Mine Run. This is an insignificant tributary of

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 263

the Rapidan, tbat varies in depth from three to five feet, and
i^ crossed by the phmk road near old Yerdiersville. The
mathematicians in the ranks amused themselves by multiply-
ing three miles by three lines, and obtaining a product which
they termed a " nine-mile charge." All the dispositions f@r
the assault had been made before daybreak ; many knapsacks
and haversacks had been unslung to relieve the bearers of the
weight; muskets had been stacked; and at eight, a.m., the
signal-gun would resound through the forest from the right ;
the trusty bayonets would be fixed ; the vast columns with
their tattered flags would rush forward with hurrahs ; and the
caps had been removed from the pieces to prevent those that
carried them from discharging a bullet. The night had been
excessively cold ; the blankets and clothing were covered with
frost ; the water in the canteens was condensed into a cake of
ice ; and it is a sad fact that Union soldiers were benumbed
and died upon the picket-posts. The fires were extinguished,
and every one sought physical warmth and excitement by
keeping all the limbs in motion ; and squads were running,
wrestling, or striking hands, for several hours; and some
chmbed up the trees to gather persimmons. Several unlucky
pigs which wandered from the safe woods at this opportune
moment were relentlessly pursued until rations of fresh pork
were secured.

The division awaited the final word of command behind a
hill which protected it ; and most of the ground in its front
was cleared, so that groups examined the works of the en-

264 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

emy, which had been constructed upon another elevation that
rose at the distance of a quarter of a mile, and was parallel
with it ; and Mine Run flowed through the valley between the
heights. The rebels were strengthening their position every
moment by untiring labor, which the necessity for bodily exer-
cise greatly increased ; their lines were defined by the strokes
of axes and the crash of falling trees ; while squads were car- .
lying logs or plying the spade. No shells were fired : the
skirmishers thnist their bayonets into the hard and frozen
soil, and ran to and fro to conquer the cold, and never mo-
lested the thousands who were scanning their rifle-pits and
redoubts. Mounted officers posted the re-enforcements of
infantry and artillery which arrived behind the walls upon
which the rags of treason were conspicuously displayed ; and
many waved the staffs, beckoned with their hands, or threw
their caps into the air, and shouted, in tones of defiance,
" Come on ! " The spectators, including generals and pri-
vates, concurred in the same opinion regarding the under-
taking ; and the heart of the bravest sank within him as he
gazed upon the scene, because a disastrous repulse was the
certain result ; and all calculated the number of steps which
could be taken before the fatal bullet struck the vital part.
I never beheld such a universal expression of gloom and dis-
may : watches and other valuables were deposited with chap-
lains, quartermasters, and other non-combatants; and brief
epistles were written by those who felt like persons upon the
couch of death. The ignoble poltroon skulked to the rear

THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN. 265

when unobserved; but those that remained resolved that
they would not turn back, but advance, unmindful of can-
ister or balls, until their feet touched the frowning crest.
The soldiers watched with impatient eyes the sun, which
seemed to stand still ; but the long-dreaded hour came, and
an active cannonade opened upon the right at eight, a.m.
The ranks were promptly fonned ; the names of the absentees
were recorded ; and all expected to hear the decisive order,
"Forward in hue, guide right!" Gen. Warren, with a
sense of honor which cannot be too highly praised, declined
to sacrifice the lives that had been placed in his charge. Gen.
Meade decided most wisely to abandon the proposed move-
ment ; and the position of the troops was undisturbed until
night, when the elated division joined the corps.

The expediency of attacking the enemy at Williamsport
and Mine Run is determined by examining facts that clash
in every respect ; and it does not appear strange, when the
motives are understood, that the generals who opposed the
first favored the second proposition, and vice versa. When
Lee trembled upon the banks of the Potomac, destitute of
ammunition, disheartened by defeat and heavy losses, sur-
rounded by a loyal people, and victory was sure, they de-
scribed his impregnable position, the unbroken morale of his
army, and the insecurity of Washington if a defeat was sus-
tained. When the circumstances were reversed, and the
rebel chieftain stood in his elaborate field-works at Mine
Run, and invited an assault, furnished with the supplies of

2o6 THE ADVANCE TO MINE RUN.

war, his lino of retreat open, in the midst of friends and
abetters, and disaster was certain, these obtuse military
judges declared in favor of an onset by the Union forces.

Dec. 1 was unmarked by any conflict; and the brigade
was detached for special duty in the afternoon, to report to
Gen. Grregg, to support the cavalry at Parker's Store, where
the rebels had made a desperate effort to gain the road upon
the preceding day. The soldiers burned the barn which be-
longed to a woman who gave information to the enemy con-
cerning the number and position of ij'ae Union troops ; and a
strong guard was posted upon her house to save it from the
same destruction. The bodies of two men (who had been
killed in the action) were found near this position ; and
they had been entirely stripped, and -left in the woods by
Stuart's cavalry. Large fires were built by the reserves to
deceive the watchful line of sentinels ; a volley was delivered
as a signal at two, a.m., of the 2d ;.the pickets withdrew from
the front ; and the main portion of the army marched by the
bivouac during the night. The brigade moved at daybreak ;
and this infantry force actually covered the retreat of the
cavalry, crossed the pontoon bridge, that consisted of eight
boats, at Culpeper "Gold-mine" Ford, and occupied the
old camps at Brandy Station.

CHAPTEK XYI.

THE WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION.

>^^te»^HE army steadily advanced in successive years from
/| river to river, and erected its winter quarters upon
\J_L/ the banks of the Potomac, the Rappahannock, and
the Kapidan. The headquarters were established at
the same point that had been occupied by Lee, and the staff
which he left in his hasty flight was unadorned ; while the
American flag daily ascended and descended the high pole
when the call "to the color" was sounded at sunrise and
sunset. The telegraph-office in the town was occupied by
the same operator for the fifth time in the various changes
that had taken place in the position of the army : the rebels
always possessed it for a similar purpose as soon as it was
abandoned; and both parties used the same table, and several
miles of the same wire. Operations against the enemy, and
drills, were sus;3ended durino- the inclement season ; and de-
tails to guard the trains, the camps, and the picket-lines, and
labor upon the roads, comprised the routine of duty. Courts-
martial assembled frequently to determine the nature and
punishment of military crimes ; and one tribunal, of which
the author was judge-advocate, tried about forty men for mis-

267

268 WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION.

conduct ill skulking from Mine Run ; and a chaplain was
found guilty of stealing a horse, and dismissed from the ser-
vice by order of the President.

The face of the country soon assumed the barren aspect
of Falmouth ; and the pickets of the brigade, for a month,
made their fires of the woodwork of corn-sheUing, threshing,
and the numerous machines with which a large farm was suj>
plied; and ii'on rods, bolts, ploughshares, cranks, and cog-
wheels were sprinkled upon the ground in the vicinity of the
posts. The fifteen hundred inhabitants that lived in Cul-
peper before the Rebellion had been reduced to only eighty
persons, who were chiefly dependent upon the Government
for the means of sustenance. The court-house and slave-pen
had been gutted, and were used as places of confinement for
rebel prisoners. The fences that enclosed the cemeteries
which were attached to the churches had been torn down
and burned; and sinks, booths, stables for horses, and the
fires of the cooks, were scattered in the midst of the grave-
stones and tombs. The state of destitution that prevailed
may be illustrated more clearly by quoting the remark of a
young woman who resided in the place: "My father was
worth $300,000 ; but all his people, except a small boy, ran
away with your folks ; his large house was burned by your
cavalry ; we eat your pork and bread ; and, just think of it I
I haven't had a new dress or bonnet since the war began."
The refugees and their families constantly entered the hues ;
and one of them said that he was assisted by a friend, who gave

WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION. 2G9

liim his horse, and manifested much indignation, and declared
that the animal had been stolen, to mislead the neighbors,
when he received the news of his successful escape. De-
serters exhausted their ingenuity in finding ways to reach the
cavalry vedettes ; and some gladly swam across the Rappa-
hannock in the coldest nights of the year.

The old residents asserted that the ground upon which the
division had encamped was always submerged in winter, and
it would be impossible for the men to remain there until
spring : but the barracks were never swept away by any in-
undation ; and they explained the matter by saying that it
was the driest season that had existed for thirty years. The
results of one severe rain, that deluged the plain, showed
that, if they were often repeated, all persons would perceive
the wisdom of the warning. The river rose and overflowed
the swamp so suddenly, that the members of seven posts
which were located near it were obliged to climb trees to
avoid the unlooked-for danger of drowning; and the brief
tour of picket-duty was extended many hours. Squads that
were not stationed in the forest found themselves upon an
island, and waded through the deep water a long distance ;
and some were compelled to swim to reach the reserve upon
what was the main land. A small stream was enlarged to
the dimensions of a lake, one-fourth of a mile in width ; and
a part of the cavalry provost-camp was submerged, and an
officer discovered that the rushing water was two feet deep
in his tent when he awoke. The weather -wisers always

270 WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION.

glanced at the mountains ; and the voices of experience ut-
tered the following precept, — that there would be rain once
in every two days as long as the snow crowned the crests of
the Blue Ridge.

During this period the enemy did not attempt to make any
movement, although a long line of raih'oad conveyed supplies
from Alexandiia ; and the troops of Lee labored unceasingly,
and constructed miles of earthworks upon the bluffs that had
been fortified by Natui-e; while the Union forces rested in
their camps, and relied for defence upon the strong arm and
loyal heart. A number of false alanns occurred, and the
soldiers were sometimes ordered to be in readiness to march at
a second's notice to resist an advance ; and, upon two occa-
sions, the main body of the infantry co-operated with the cav-
aliy, and made feints to cover the blow that was aimed at
other points. At four, a.m., upon Feb. 6, the troops were
commanded to procure the usual amount of rations and am-
munition for a campaign, and concentrated near the fords for
the ostensible purpose of crossing. The division halted in a
swamp, about a mile from the river, and acted as a support
for the second corps ; one division of which forded the stream,
gained a position upon the opposite bank, and recrossed at
night. No shots were fired on the 7th ; and the army, hav-
inc' attracted the gaze of the foe, withdrew late in the after-
noon, at the time that an expedition was in motion upon the
Peninsula against Eichmond. Another demonstration was
made upon Madison Court House on the 28th to conceal the
raid Oi Gen. Kilpatrick. ^

WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION. 271

The number of officers' wives and other ladies that were
present in the camps was much larger than at any previous
period ; and halls and similar festivities relieved the monotony
of many winter quai-ters. Large details, that sometimes com-
prised a thousand men, were ordered to report at certain
headquarters for the purpose of constructing suitable halls of
logs and the '' sacred soil" of Ynginia. A chapel was built
within the limits of the brigade by the soldiers, who daily la-
bored upon it for thi-ee weeks ; and many of the officers con-
tributed money to purchase whatever appeared to be required
for it. An agent of the Christian Commission furnished a
capacious tent which formed the roof; and religious, temper-
ance, and 3Iasonic meetings were frequently held, until this
apostle, who employed most of his time in writing long letters
for the press, that portrayed in vivid colors the " good work "
which he was accomplishing, removed the canvas because an
innocent social assembly occupied it during one evening.
The enlisted men, who rarely enjoyed the benefit of these
structures which they erected, originated dances of a singular
character. By searching the cabins and houses of the natives,
and borrowing apparel, and a liberal use of pieces of shelter
tent and the hoops of baiTcls, one-half of the soldiers were
an-ayed as women, and filled the places of the seemingly in-
dispensable partners of the gentler sex. The resemblance in
the features of some of these persons was so perfect, that a
stranger would be unable to distinguish between the assumed
and the genuine characters.

272 WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION.

The sewers of recruits and substitutes that had received
enormous bounties, and possessed the same qualities as theii*
predecessors who joined the regiment at Beverly Ford, con-
tinually flowed into, or, to speak with more accm-acy, thi'ough
the army. Those that had served in the rebel ranks were
sent to the north-west to assist Gen. Pope in subduing the
Indians ; others who had been seamen floated into the navy ;
and some entered the hospital : so that, when the spring cam-
paign opened, only a small fraction crossed the Rapidan. A
number that arrived at the camp after sunset escaped before
morning ; so that the officers of the company who had not
seen them could not identify them when they were an-aigned
and tried, for desertion, before a com-t-martial. The thou-
sands of crows rendered more actual service than a majority
of this class of persons, and devoured the entrails of animals
which had been slaughtered by the butchers, and the carcasses
of dead horses and mules. They were never shot, because
the citizens had no guns, and the soldiers would be punished
if they wasted ammunition ; and they grew tame and fat in
opposition to the well-known saying, and propagated so rap-
idly that their immense numbers blackened acres of ground
in the vicinity of the camps. One noticeable event was a fire
which swept over the field of Cedar 3Iountain, and caused
the explosion of shells that had remained there nearly two
years after the battle.

An episode occurred in my military career, which may not
be of general interest ; but an omission to allude to it might

WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION. 273

produce a slight degree of surprise and criticism. I was de-
tailed to act as judge-advocate of a court-martial in the morn-
ing, placed under ai-rest in the afternoon, and transported with
four ofiScers in a wagon which was marked very conspicuously
** Provost Guard," and followed by a detachment of soldiers
to the headquarters of the corps. I was closely confined
three weeks in a log shelter in which there were no windows,
but the rents in the roof admitted light. No friends were
allowed to visit the quarters unless the corps commander
granted permission ; and sentinels constantly paced their
beats at all hours, and watched the prison, because I had
acted as secretary of an orderly meeting of of&cers that
adopted resolutions of the highest loyalty and patriotism,
which were duly transmitted to Gen. Meade and the Chair-
man of the War Committee of Congress. The perjury of three
unscrupulous witnesses complicated the case ; and, while some
were dismissed from the service, a heavy fine was imposed
upon the author, and subsequently remitted by the com-
mander of the corps, who was convinced of its utter injustice.
A field-officer of a 'regiment, who enforced the principle es-
tablished by this decision and sentence, dispersed an assem-
bly of subalterns that had convened for the purpose of tak-
inu; measures to send home the remains of a comrade who
was killed at Mine Eun.

The ordinary preparations for active operations were made
as soon as the roads became dry and hard : the ladies were
notified to leave the camps previous to a specified date ; sur-

18

274 - WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION.

plus baggage resumed its annual visit to tbe storehouses in
the rear ; and reviews, inspections, and target-practice, daily
took place. The ai-my was re-organized, the troops were con-
solidated into three corps, and the division which had always
belonged to the third constituted the fourth division of the
second corps. The brigade, which was one of the oldest in
the volunteer service, was dismembered ; and the needless
separation of regiments that had so long fought side by side
the common enemy resembled the breaking-up of a family.
Gen. Meade displayed a censurable ignorance, or lack of
judgment, when he assigned certain generals to ^heir positions ;
and one division was almost demoralized by the appointment
of a notorious coward, knave, and ignoramus to the command.
A general, who always deserted his brigade whenever the
trials of battle demanded his presence ; who never discharged
the numberless accounts of the sutlers and commissaries for
the food, rations, and liquors which he consumed ; who em-
ployed escaped negroes as servants, and defrauded them of
their just compensation ; who displayed a profound ignorance
upon every subject, which made him the butt of "ridicule for
soldiers of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest ; who had
been originally commissioned as colonel by the influence of a
base pugilist of New York, and who was promoted because he
was a foreigner, — was crowned with honors when he merited
disgrace. Gen. Alexander Hayes of Pennsylvania, a gradu-
ate of West Point, one of the most fearless and honorable
officers in the national forces, whose pre-eminent gallantry

WINTER QUARTERS AT BRANDY STATION. 275

infused confidence upon doubtful fields, was degraded from
the command of a division to elevate this Celtic vagabond.
A meritorious commander, who bore upon his person the scars
which are the soldier's badges of honor, annoyed the head-
quarters of the army by preferring chai-ges of cowardice
against one of these favorite division appointees, and was or-
dered to report for duty in the West. The words and deeds
of Gen. Hancock were narrowly scrutinized, to detect, if pos-
sible, some pretext upon which to base his removal ; and his
official action was continually embarrassed by this contempti-
ble surveillance. Fortunately, Congress revived the grade of
lieutenant-general, and the soldiers rejoiced that the pernicious
influence of Gen. 3Ieade was seriously crippled. All antici-
pated the removal of tliis officer, — a question that had been
often discussed in the newspapers and around the camp-fires ;
but the wise conduct of Gen. Grant, who, unlike his immediate
predecessor, Gen. Halleck, preferred the dangers of the front
to the safety of the rear, fixed his headquarters, not at Wash-
ington, but at Culpeper Court House, and thereby saved the
Army of the Potomac from the annihilation which awaited it
under incompetent commanders.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS AND SPOTT.
SYLVANIA COURT HOUSE.

c:

'HE fifth corps, which had guarded the hne of commu-
nications— the Orange and Alexandria Railroad —
during the winter, and the ninth corps, joined the
main army upon the first and second days of May :
the log huts were destroyed, and the troops bivouacked in the
fields, to prevent delay in marching whenever the orders were
received. At sunset, the commands were issued for the regi-
ments to move at half-past ten, p.m. : all unusual fires were
prohibited ; the tattoo and taps at the stated hours were heard
by many for the last time ; and the long columns and trains
advanced to the fords of the Rapidan at one, p.m., upon the
4th. The veterans, that had made their foot-prints upon
many lengthy and dreary roads, reserved their strength, and
silently followed the file-leaders ; and verdant recruits and sub-
stitutes were the only babblers. The beginning of this cam-
paign was like all those which had preceded it ; and thou-
sands of overcoats and blankets were scattered in the woods
and fields through which the soldiers passed. The cavalry
gained the commanding heights of the Rapidan without a con-

276

THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS, ETC. 277

test ; and tlie regiment crossed the river at Ely's Ford at half-
past twelve, P.M., upon a pontoon bridge that consisted of
nine boats which were anchored twenty-one feet apart. The
felled trees and other obstructions in the roads were removed
by the axes and spades of the pioneers ; and the troops
marched with gTeat rapidity until three, p.m., when the corps
halted, and formed its lines upon the old battle-ground of
Chancellorsville. The numerous breastworks that were
thrown up by both armies to hold their positions, the shat-
tered oaks and splintered limbs, and the fragments of weath-
er-stained clothing and equipments scattered upon the j&eld,
reminded the men of the famihar scenes of that sanguinary
struggle. Many of the Union dead had been exhumed, or
remained unburied ; jaws, arms, and legs were bleaching
upon the soil ; and the wasps and moles made their nests in
some of the skulls. Not a shot was fii*ed during the day ; no
bugle or drum resounded through the forest ; the unnatural
stillness which precedes the dreadful tempest reigned ; and
the brigade bivouacked upon the same spot that it occupied
on the same date of the previous year.

The soldiers were awakened at three, a.m., on the 5th ; the
humble meal termed a breakfast was prepared; and they
marched at five, a.m., to the ruins of the Chancellor House,
from which the corps under the command of Gren. Hancock
pushed forward towards Spottsylvania Court House. The
hordes of Lee emerged from' the fortifications which had been
rendered useless by the passage of the Rapidan ; a halt took

278 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

place near TodJ's Tavern at ten, a.m. ; and the corps was
ordered to change its dkection, and hold the junction of the
Fredericksbui'g Plank Road and that which ran from Ger-
manna Ford. The report of a rifle occasionally indicated the
presence of the enemy; and at twelve, m., the first cannon
sounded the prelude to the battle of the Wilderness. This
chapter, it may be needless to remark, does not narrate the
movements of the entu'e anny, because the character of the
country, and position of the author with the rank and file, lim-
ited his view ; and the incidents of a part of the lines, that
extended five miles, are described. The division hastened to
the vital point, which it reached in the afternoon, and re-
mained in the reserve, rushing from post to post, until 4.10,
P.M., when the musketry in front assumed ^the prolonged roll
that always marks a heavy engagement. There were no com-
manding elevations or open tracts of ground upon which the
artillery could be planted ; and the firing was necessarily re-
stricted to the small-arms, that slay the tens of thousands
while the shells and solid shot destroy the thousands. The
great contest occurred in the midst of an almost impenetrable
jungle of scrub oak, decayed trees, dense underbrush, and
short pines, in which a regiment could not be discerned at the
distance of a hundred feet ; and the proper formation of the
ranks seemed to be an impossibility. It was rarely inter-
sected by public ways over which the infantry could move ;
and the pioneers were continually engaged in felling trees
and cuttins; new roads to facilitate the communications be-

AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 279

tween tbe right and the left. Packed mules, which trans-
ported axes and shovels, were attached to every brigade, and
formed an invaluable auxiliary during the campaign. Breast-
works were hurriedly constructed to defend the Germanna-
Ford Road ; and the dry logs of which they were principally
composed were easily set on fire, so that it was often neees-
! sary to remove a part to save the rest. Sunset came : the
darkness of the night followed, but did not check the din of
the conflict, which continued when the combatants were un-
able to perceive friends or enemies, and suddenly ceased at
eight, P.M. The Union forces did not yield a single position ;
and eveiy attempt which was made by Lee to overpower the
columns that were advancing by the flank was successfully
baffled.

The wounded and d3ring were borne upon stretchers to the
hospitals in the rear; and the usual number of skulkers
sought to escape the perils of the battle by travelling in the
same direction, and eluding by ingenious devices and shams
the vigilance of the provost-guard. The colonel halted this
class of persons whenever they passed through the regiment,
and detained them if he was satisfied that they were neglect-
ing their duties. Many conversations like the following en-
sued between the colonel and the members of these squads ;
and the questions and answere show clearly the rank and in-
tentions of the parties, without any explanation : —

*' My good man, where are you going ? "

" I'm sick, and the captain told me to go to the hospital.'*

280 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

*' Have you got a pass ? "

"No."

" You are very weak, and find it hard to travel ? "

" Yes : I can hardly walk."

*' The hospital is two miles from here ; and you are used
up, and can't go there. Rest here with my brave men ; and
I will take your name, and notify your officers if you are
killed or wounded."

The soldier, knowing he could not extricate himself from
the toils of his pretext, usually pleaded another, which was
equally shallow; and sometimes attempted to run away.
The colonel at once denounced him in language which could
not be strengthened in its style, and concluded by uttering
his customary orders upon similar occasions.

" Captain , detail one of your trusty men to report to

me with a loaded musket."

" Private , you are responsible for this cowardly

skulker. If he tries to get away, blow his brains out ; but, if
we are fighting, crack his skull with the butt of your gun, and
he will never trouble you again."

Thirteen stragglers of this description, and others who pre-
tended to be seaehing for their regiments which they had lost,
were collected during the afternoon by this summary process,
and assigned to different companies in the regiment.

There was little picket-firing in the night ; and the sleep of
those who were not upon the outposts was undisturbed until 4 J,
A.M., of the 6th, when the divisions were massed for a renewal

AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 281

N

of the battle ; and the musketry recommenced in the depth of
the vast forest at 5.10, a.m. Squads of rebel prisoners were
frequently taken to the rear, and many friendly remarks were
interchanged ; and one of them said, " Your fellers went over
our breastworks this morning like rabbits;" and, "In four
rows git, and march endways." The brigade moved forward
at 5.30, A.M., to support the advance, and within a brief period
constituted a part of the front, and a fierce engagement followed.
The men reclined upon the ground, and returned the fii-e of
the enemy until the forty rounds of cartridges were exhausted.
There was a most eai-nest clamor for cartrido-es : and the boxes
of the slain and wounded were opened and emptied, and a
supply of those that were fitted for rifies, but unsuited to the
caliber of the smooth-bore musket, was issued to the regiment
in this distressing emergency by some blundering official.
The proper balls were brought up after a perilous delay, al-
though some of these cartridges consisted of a sohd cake of
powder ; and some exhibited a feeling of discontent because
there were no buck-shot. The bullets beat an unpleasant
discord by striking the trees, which were clipped from the
roots to the top, that was sixty or seventy feet above the
ground. '

The firing indicated at this time, when the brigade was
posted half a mile in front of the Germanna-Ford Road, the
singular formation of the troops that were invisible upon the
right and left. A force which was compelled to leave its
position fled through the regiment, when the soldiers supposed

282 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

^

that tbcy were retreating to the reserve ; and soon a compact
mass of men was enclosed in a cul-de-sac, and the foe pressed
closely upon the front, rear, and left fiank. They made a
detour to the right, crossed the plank road, reached the origi-
nal line of earthworks at mid-day ; and the ground that had
been gained by the corps was lost. The extreme heat of the
day increased the fatigue, and tears were shed by some who
overrated the serious results of the disaster. The slaughter
in many regiments had been large ; and at one point the
bodies of the killed remahied in the places whore they fell,
and defined with a terrible exactness the position held by the
Union troops ; and a long line of rebel corpses was extended in
front of it. Some of the recruits, who joined their commands
about forty-eight hours before the army evacuated its winter
quarters, were slain in this encounter. One of the flag-staffs
of the regiment was severed by a bullet, and each hand of
the bearer grasped a piece of it.

The fighting, like that upon the preceding day, was con-
fined to the infantry, on account of the impracticability of
using the artillery : only three shells were thrown by the
rebel gunners ; and upon the Union side two brass pieces of a
Maine battery swept the plank road with canister. The dis-
lodgement of the advanced force was not sharply followed by
the enemy, and few bullets interrupted the rule of quietness
during the succeeding four hours. Squads which had been
separated from their companies in the confusion attending the
retreat through the bewildering thicket continually re-enforced

AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 283

the ranks. Tho division was posted once more behind the
slight breastwork which had been erected upon the Germanna-
Ford Road ; the skirmishers were deployed in its front at four,
P.M., and the author commanded the detachment from the reoi-
ment. The groups were properly aligned within the next ten
minutes, when the tramp of a heavy force resounded through
the woods. Orders were excitedly repeated, "Forward!"
" Guide right ! " " Close up those intervals ! " and finally
a voice shouted, " Now, men, for the love of God and your
country, forward ! " The legions of Longstreet advanced
without skirmishers ; the veterans trained by the experience
of three years beheld — •

" A horrid front of dreadful length ; "

the muskets of the feeble hne were discharged to alarm the
reserve ; the men upon the outposts rushed to the main body ;
and thousands of ghstening gun-barrels which were resting
upon the works opened, and the fusilade began.

The soldiers crouched upon the ground ; loaded their pieces
with the utmost celerity; rose up, fired, and then reloaded
behind the shelter ; so that the loss was very slight ; while the
enemy suffered severely, as the trees were small in size, and
there was no protection. The only artillery that was used in
the afternoon was planted upon the left of the brigade, and con-
sisted of four cannons, which hurled canister, shell, and solid
shot, until their ammunition was exhausted. Unfortunately,
the dry logs of which the breastwork was formed were partially

284 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

covered with earth ; and the flames, ignited "by the burning
wadding during the conflict, — an enemy that could not be re-
sisted as easily as the myrmidons of Longstreet, — destroyed
them, and every second of time widened the breaches. The
undaunted men crowded together until they formed fouiieen
or sixteen ranks ; and those who were in the front discharged
the guns which were constantly passed to them by their com-
rades that were in the rear and could not aim with accuracy
or safety. The fire triumphed when it flashed along the en-
tire barrier of wood, reduced it to ashes, and forced the de-
fenders, who had withstood to the last its intolerable heat, to
retu-e to the rifle-pits which were a short distance in the rear.
The shattered rebel columns cautiously approached the road ;
but the impartial flames which had caused the discomfiture
of the division became an obstacle that they could not sur-
mount. The same misfortune followed the Union forces, and
no esertions could check the consuming element ; and the
second line was burned like the fii'st. The conflagration in
the road had nearly ceased at this time ; the enemy yelled
with exultation ; the odious colors were distinctly seen when
the smoke slowly disappeared ; a general charge was made,
which resulted in the capture of the original position ; and the
pickets were stationed half of a mile in the advance at sunset
without opposition.

IMany were eating their dinners when the assault com-
menced ; and an officer hurriedly rushed to the works with a
spoon in one hand, and a fork in the other. A panic-stricken

AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 285

skulker created a laugh, in wliich the division general joined,
by crawling upon his hands and knees from the brigade to
the woods during the fighting. An enormous quantity of
fixed ammunition was expended, — most of the soldiers of the
division used sixty or seventy cartridges ; and fingers were
bhstered by the muskets, which became very hot in conse-
quence of the rapid firing. The guards of both armies, in
charge of prisoners, frequently lost their way in the labyrinth
of stunted oaks, and entered the wi'ong lines, where the re-
lations of the parties were transposed. The hurrah which
has always been a characteristic of the national army was
modified, and resembled the yell of the enemy to such an
extent, that it was impossible to detect by this means the
success of loyal or rebel charges; and some were occasionally
disheartened by the joyful shouts of then- friends in the dis-
tance. The division acted with the reserve, but its services
were not required during the day; and an abstract of my
notes shows the slight knowledge that I possessed of the
manoeuvres of the army and the events that transpired.
Musketry filling was often heard upon the right and left;
skirmishing was active at times in the fi-ont ; and columns
moved in different directions, and sometimes passed by each
other upon the road. Lee was at last outgeneralled, and
forced to abandon his position ; and the regiment performed
its duty upon picket without molestation ; while the troops
marched in the night towards Spottsylvania Court House.
The companies retired at eleven, a.m., of the 8th, from their

286 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

posts to tlie road, which was wholly deserted by the infa-ntry ;
and small squads of cavalry patrolled the lines that had been
so recently defended by 130,000 soldiers. In the march
from these scenes which now form a glorious page of the
national history, some of the men were so much exhausted
by the hardships that necessarily followed the great contest,
that they fell asleep if they sat upon then- knapsacks during
a brief halt. Breastworks were built to hold the new position ;
rations were issued ; fires were prohibited during the night ;
and, in the language of those whose terms of service soon
expired, "there was one more day less."

The brigade was mider arms at four, a.m., upon the 9th,
and marched to Todd's Tavern, — the same point which the
corps reached on the 5th, and upon which the cavalry fought
the decisive battle that turned the rebel right and compelled
the retreat of Lee. The column halted near a group of
mounted officers, among whom were Gen. Grant, one of the
greatest, and Gen. Meade, one of the smallest, warriors that
have led an American army. The corps commanders report-
ed at this hour for instructions; and the attentive soldiers
observed, with increased confidence Id the successful result
of the campaign, that Gen. Meade did not give a single
direction, and that Gen. Grant alone was the controlling
mind. " Gen. Meade is nothing but an adjutant for Gen.
Grant ; " " I'm of more account with my musket than he is
now;" "They don't notice him so much as they do the
orderlies," — illustrate the style of the remarks that were fre-

AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 287

quently uttered by the rank and file who were interested
spectators. The ambulances were insufficient for the trans-
portation of the wounded; and the generals, with exalted
philanthropy, tendered their private wagons, which were used
several days for this object. An inexperienced heavy-artillery
regiment, numbering twenty-eight hundred men, performed
picket-duty, and continually discharged volleys at the bushes
and other imaginary enemies ; and a sleepless night followed.
The division, guided by a negro of eminent dignity, marched
at 3.40, A.M., on the 10th; halted in the road at seven,
A.M., about two miles from Spottsylvania Court House; and
the open fields were viewed with delight by those that recalled
the horrors of the Wilderness. The skirmishers were de-
ployed, and drove those of the enemy until they reached the
intrenchments ; and the line of battle was established in an
advanced position ; and a belt of woods, comprising pines of
large growth, intervened between the hostile armies. Labor
upon the breastworks was stimulated by the exploding shells;
rail-fences in the vicinity were speedily demoHshed; the
small stones were collected ; a few outbuildings were torn
to pieces to make the revetment ; the stakes were bound to-
gether with strips of cloth, which the men tore from their
overcoats and blankets ; and gi*een boughs were placed upon
the logs to protect them against the fii'e. The officer in
charge of the packed mules remained in the rear ; and the
soldiers who were unable to procure shovels and axes
scooped up the earth with their dippers and tin plates. The

288 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

news that Johnston had been forced to evacuate Dalton was
officially communicated to the troops at noon, with special
instructions to avoid cheering, because the foe might ascer-
tain the number and position of the troops. The skirmish
fii'e was incessant ; the cannonading was very heavy during the
afternoon ; and the floating clouds of dust and smoke, three
or four miles upon the left, showed the progress of the corps
of Burnside. The division made an unsuccessful charge at
half-past five, p.m., previous to which the officers of the regi-
ment were told that there were probably not more than two
hundred sharpshooters behind their works; but the instant
that the movement commenced, loud yells arose, which showed
the presence of a superior force.

The troops were aroused at 3.25, a.m., on the 11th, in the
midst of a severe skirmish engagement ; and the division was
transferred to a point near the centre. A light shower of
rain, which was the first unpleasant weather that had occurred
since the campaign opened, fell in the morning. Musicians
usually lurk in the rear ; but a band that was sheltered by the
line of breastworks in the front played martial airs at intervals,
and invariably enlivened the soldiers, who loudly cheered.
The watchfiil sharpshooters pierced with their unerring rifles
every -object that might be a human being ; the cannon re-
sounded occasionally ; but there was no serious battle during
the day, although the sixth corps was massed at the right
centre for an extensive movement, and withdrawn at sunset.
The division re-occupied at midnight the earthworks which it

AXD SPOTTSYLVA^^IA COUKT HOUSE. 289

constructed upon the 10th ; and preparations were made for a
grand charge by the corps, the brigades of which were ahgned
and assigned to then- positions in the course of the next three
hours. Nature, that had so often ftivored the national cause,
deployed its powerful forces ; the night was darkened by the
clouds, which sometimes touched the earth ; no camp-fires
glowed within the Union lines, while those of the enemy re-
flected upon the heavens like the northern lights. A dense
cloud of mist, that concealed every moving body of troops,,
filled the air at twilight ; the columns received the final order
to advance at 4.40, a.m., of the 12th ; and thousands of hearts
trembled vv^ith anxiety, as they silently and firmly approached
the unknown dangers of the rebel stronghold. The pickets,
whose vigilance had been lulled by the unfavorable character
of the elements, were surprised before they could awaken their
comrades in the reserve, most of whom were .sleeping behind
a formidable earthwork, which was gained without firing a
shot. While the supports were anticipating a dreadful volley,
a spectacle which seemed like a dream greeted their delighted
eyes. The faded banners of ungodly rebellion ; two chief-
tains,— Johnson upon ahorse, and Stuart on foot ; hundreds of
prisoners of different grades; batteries and artillery-horses
driven by the happy conquerors, — these trophies of Union suc-
cess passed to the rear of the scene of action. A shout of joy
that burst from the lips of the men who were elated by the
triumph alai'med the forces which held the second line, that
was parallel with the first that had been taken ; and rebels

19

290 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

who were subsequently captured stated that their army was
aroused and saved by this cheering.

The enemy opened before all the guns had been removed;
and the woodwork of Ihose neai' a salient angle of the fortifi-
cation, which was .the centre of the ceaseless combat during
the day, was riddled and rendered useless by the thousands
of bullets that were aimed by both annies. The regiment
was temporarily detached to assist the provost-guard at a cer-
tain point ; and all stragglers, without regard to excuses, and
those who bore wounded officers, comrades, and even brothers,
ft'om the works, were halted, and obliged to rejoin then- com-
mands. The situation of the disabled, who were exposed
within the range of shells and cannon balls, was made heart-
rending in the extreme by the absence of the ambulances and
stretcher-bearers who should have carried them from the field
to the hospitals, where their sufferings would be alleviated.
The prisoners were ordered to convey them to the rear, and
gladly hastened to discharge the duty, because theii* lives were
imperilled as long as they remained in the front. The heavy
shower which fell at eight, a.m., ruined the cartridges in some
muskets, but did not stay the work of carnage, which con-
tinued until sunset. x\.t this time the author was detailed by
Gen. Mott, the faithful commander of the division, to recon-
noitre the position of the foe with his company, and report
the strength of the force in front, which was invisible on ac-
count of a slight elevation that arose between the first and
second lines of breastworks. While I was reading at 8.50,

AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. 291

A.M., the inscription upon a large flag, from a point of obser-
vation that had been gained with ease, my right thio-h was
affected by the sensation that follows a sudden blow : the mus-
cles of the leg instantly contracted ; and I was surprised when
I discovered that a bullet had ploughed through the flesh.

My steps to the rear were necessarily slow : the reserves,
the headcjuarters of the corps, the sentinels of the provost-
guard, and squads of non-combatants, were passed ; and more
than two hours elapsed before I ai-rived at the division hospi-
tal, which was two miles from the field. Gen. Hancock was
issuing orders to arrest the cowards who were constantly es-
capmg fi-om the front, and exclaimed, " These skulkers wish
to enjoy the fruits of victory, but are unwilling to share the
dangers to win it." The arrangements for the treatment of
the disabled were most excellent : a board of experienced sur-
geons held a consultation upon every case in which amputation
took place ; and all that medical skill and attention could ef-
fect was readily performed. The Government supplies were
abundant ; nourishment of every description was bestowed ;
and faithful nurses often brought the cold water, which was
Nature's restoring Hniment, and saturated the bandages. A
small strip of white cloth was fastened to the button-hole of '
the coat as soon as the names of the wounded were recorded ;
and the sufferers of every rank and both armies received the
same kind treatment, and reposed upon beds of pine boughs
in the capacious hospital tents. IMore than tlu-ee-fourths of
the number were untroubled by pain ; and one man who had

292 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

*lost a' leg remarked, " I should tMnk that my foot was on, for
I have a queer feeling in the ankle : " another replied to this
as he raised the stump that had once been the right arm, " I
have the same feeling in my wrist which you have in your
ankle." The rebels frankly admitted that their wounds were
better dressed than they would have been if they had not
been taken prisoners ; and many amicable conversations en-
sued between those who had been rendered helpless while
engaged in the deadly combat. Strange as the statement may
appear, the rank and file always expressed the same opinions ;
earnestly wished to see a united country ; indulged in con-
templating visions of its strength ; and portrayed the resistless
power with which the ablest officers. North and South, leading
their commands of veterans in a common cause against the
English in Canada and the British Provinces, and the French
in Mexico, would sweep them into the ocean and the gulf.
Those who belonged to Stuart's brigade evinced a deep hatred
towards him on account of his tyrannical conduct, and hoped
that he would be treated in the harshest manner by the Union
troops. They said, that, when the batteries were hurluig
solid shot against their breastworks upon the 11th, he coolly
shouted, " They have thrown balls enough : I h(^pe they will
send some chains ; and then I can fasten them to the legs of
my men, so that theyjcannot run away."

The correspondents of the newspapers eagerly questioned
the staff-officers to ascertain the details of the battle which they
had not witnessed; and by this means I obtained a knowl-

edge of the origin of mauy imtrutliful items, — that Gen. This
saved the day at one point, and Gen. That at another time
turned defeat into victory. A large number of skulkers con-
cealed themselves in the forests, or bivouacked near the hos-
. pitals, and feigned wounds by binding up their heads and
arms in blood-stained bandages, or limped, vrith the assistance
of a crutch, in apparent pain ; and details of the provost-guard
frequently patrolled the ground to seize these base wretches,
and escort them to the front.

The array thieves, who lurked in the rear and waited for
the cessation of the conflict before they plundered the slain,
grasped with their remorseless hands the valuables, clothing,
and rations of the unwary, wounded soldiers, the flattened
bullets that had been retained as priceless rehcs by those
from whom they were extracted, and the invaluable swords
which officers had borne vdth honor through scenes of car-
nage. In the tent to which, with twenty others, I was as-
signed, a member of the regiment was robbed of every thing,
including an old knife and a diary, while he was unconscious
on account of a ball which entered his head; and another
person was plundered in a similar style before he had recov-
ered from the effect of the ether which had been administered
when his arm was amputated.

The heavy musket-firing, which continued throughout the
night, ceased on the morning of the 13th, and quietness
reigned until half-past eleven, a.m., when the first cannon
id in a slisrht ensraorement. Boughs and leaves were

294 THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS

.placed in the wagons that were proceeding to Acqiiia Creek
for ammunition, forage, and army supphes, to make them
suitable for the transportation of the wounded ; and in the
afternoon the lengthy trains of the ambulances, accompanied
by hundreds on foot who were not severely injured in the
head and upper extremities, moved upon the plank road to
Fredericksburg. The conduct of unscrupulous agents, who
acted in behalf of societies that induced the Grovernment to
allow them to supply the wants of the disabled at this point,
caused a scarcity of food, lack of attendants, and universal
suffering, to such an extent that many clamored to be sent
to the front ; and a shout of joy was heard when the march-
ing orders were received. Nothing could be purchased in
the desolate city, which had remained unaltered since the
bombardment, and consisted of empty storehouses, deserted
buildings, and a small number of scantily clothed and fed
citizens. The chaplain who had been dismissed from the
service for steaHng a horse was very active, and circulated
Bibles and tracts for the Christian Commission among the
wounded. The ambulances were slowly driven through the
fields upon which the army had encamped at Falmouth, and
reached Belle -Plain Landing at midnight on the 15th.
Four thousand rebel prisoners, awaiting transportation, were
confined, near the mouth of the Potomac Creek, in a natural
basin that was enclosed by high hills upon which were posted
guards, and guns loaded with canister. The wounds of all
were examined before they were allowed to enter the trans-

AND SPOTTSYLYANIA COURT HOUSE. 295

port, to detect the cowardly impostors, a large squad of whom
was sent under guard to the detachment of skulkers, which
numbered a thousand. A body of twenty shirking officers,
some of whom were in irons, who had escaped from the
battle of the Wilderness to Washington, marched by the am-
bulance ; and I could not imagine a stronger cause for the
emotion of humiliation and shame which was expressed by
their dejected and averted faces. The steamer that had been
fitted for its use with commendable foresight before the army
crossed the Rapidan was amply supplied by the Government,
with every article that was requii-ed for the shattered frames
of its passengers.

CHAPTER XVin.

THE HOSPITAL, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON THE
TREATMENT OF ARMY DISEASES.

i^^fc^HE strength of the wounded was completely ex-
^1 hausted in Washington by waiting u|X)n pompous
^^Jy and unfeeling officials, who viewed with contempt
the men that performed the fighting in the front
while they flourished in luxurious ease and safety in the rear.
The surgeons in the office of the medical examiner ordered
me to report to the hospital at Annapolis for the purpose of
obtaining a leave of absence, which they said they could not
grant on account of the large number of cases that demanded
their services. A friend who had been crippled in the army
remarked in emphatic terms, when I communicated this fact to
him, " Don't go : it is all made up between them and the
doctors in Annapolis ; tbey lied to me in the same way when
I was sent there." I again reported for instructions, to pre-
vent any mistake ; and they asserted in the most positive lan-
guage to my comrade, a wounded officer of the regiment,
" You will get your leaves as soon as you arrive at An-
napolis." An ex-lieutenaut-colonel, who had served upon
the staff of a commander of the Army of the Potomac, said

296

297

to me -when I left the hotel in the evening, " I am very
sorry that I didn't gee you when you came : I should have

introduced you to , who has the papers put through, and

gets twenty or thirty every day. It would cost you a trifle
for his trouble." The captain of a New- York regiment pro-
cured without delay a leave from Secretary-of-War Stanton, •
through the influence of an M.C. who was a notorious enemy
of the Government ; and an officer from the same State en-
tertained the crowd "by saying, " This was the style when I
applied for my document ; " and then limped with groans,
and a countenance upon which extreme agony was depicted.
"This is the style now that I've got it," he uttered with an
animated laugh, as he danced upon the floor and invited
everybody to walk to the bar.

The brick buildings that had been used by the students
and professors of the Naval Academy had been converted
into hospitals, and I was conducted to a pleasant room or
" ward," from which the eye could gaze at the beautiful
grounds and the Chesapeake Bay. My astonishment may
be imagined when a surgeon informed me that " we never
gi'ant leaves of absence ; and you must remain in this place
*until your term of service expires, because your wound will
not be healed previous to that time.'^ He made another con-
soling assertion : * ' It is useless for anybody to seek to escape,
as Gen. Halleck always disapproves every application which
is not sanctioned by the officials of Annapolis." When this
conversation was repeated, I found that most of the wounded

298 THE IIOSriTAL, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON

patients, comprising fifty or sixty in number, bad been de-
ceiYed by tbe same false promises from the medical authori-
ties of Washington. In reply to a remark which I made to
the nurse, he said that he did not know the proper mode of
applying bandages, because it was the first day that he had
been detailed for this duty ; and the visiting surgeon, a most
excellent and faithful public servant, stated that their attend-
ants were ignorant, for they had been compelled to detach
those who possessed experience for service in the front. Per-
sons who understand the nature of wounds, and the necessity
of the best treatment and watchfulness, can realize the gad
condition in which officers were placed who must linger for
months among heartless strangers when they most ardently
desired to return to their homes. Many indignantly protested
that their conanoment was a punishment for the faithful per-
formance of their duty upon the battle-field. Wines and dif-
ferent kinds of liquors, which were daily prescribed for three
of the most helplesss victims in the ward, were received in
very small quantities about twice a week ; and the nurses
were frequently intoxicated, and disturbed the suffering in-
mates by their boisterous conduct.

" Where were you yesterday? " an officer asked : " there
was no one to wait on us for twenty-four hours."

" I was dnink, and shut up in the guard-house," the man
truthfully replied.

" Where do you all get so much liquor ? "

" It don't cost any thing. It comes from the ," nam-

THE TREATMENT OF ARMY DISEASES. 299

ing, not the Goyernment, but a vast association wliicL is boun-
tifully sustained by the large heart of the patriotic North.

This hospital, like most of those which are located in the
rear, furnished a splendid refuge for skulkers of every rank.
Some had lived within its walls two years in perfect health ;
and I discovered one worthless fellow who had been absent
from the regiment smce the first battle of Bull Kun. A few
officers openly an-ayed themselves in the apparel of civilians,
without receiving a reprimand, — although it was contrary to
explicit orders from the War Department, — and enjoyed the
privileges of the town, which were more agTceable to them
than the display of courage which defies the bullet and rifled
cannon. The most pitiable class of patients consisted of
prisoners that had been recently released from the horrors
of Libby Prison ; and some, whose minds had been tempora-
rily weakened when their frames became emaciated, talked
and played together with the simplicity of youth. The un-
tiring exertions of Hon. Oakes Ames, the representative in
Congress from the district, overcame every obstacle ; and I
succeeded in procuring the much-desired leave of absence
from the Secretary of War upon the 27th, after a vexatious
controversy with the chief surgeon ; and no Gen. Halleck or
medical director could withhold it. Another surgeon, to
whom the " almighty dollar " per day was paid for board,
stated that an ambulance would be furnished to convey me
and my comrade to the railroad depot ; but none was sup-
plied, although there were ten or twelve which were parked

300 THE HOSPITAL, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON

in the stables. The evening train was thus lost ; a delay of
twelve hours was caused by this broken promise ; and upon
the morning of the 28th I gladly quitted the scenes in which
my brief sojourn had been so gloomy and unpleasant.

The result of the experience and personal observation of
the author, and the unbroken testimony of those who had been
disabled in the service, support the disgraceful facts which
are recorded in this paragi-aph. The convalescent and parole
camps and ihe permanent hospitals that were established in
the vicinity of the cities of the loyal States, with a few honor-
able exceptions I trust, have been the centres around which
deeds of iniquity revolved ; and a majority of the surgeons con-
nected with them have been base vampires, that exhausted the
vitality of the Union armies in the darkest hours of this strug-
gle. Their lists of able-bodied soldiers whom they falsely
reported upon the sick-rolls grew larger and larger ; while the
regiments in the front, in the same ratio, became smaller and
smaller. More than two-thirds of the hirelings styled nurses
and servants, that were employed in these institutions, were
cowards and skulkers of the vilest order, who ran away from
their comrades in the day of battle, and gained the favor of
their medical officers by the most abject servility. When
the infamous system began upon the Peninsula, the company
commanders refused to forward the papers which the surgeons
demanded to enable them to defraud the Government by
receiving the pay that is due to soldiers ; and Secretary Stan-
ton vainly menaced them, "by order of the Secretary of

THE TREATMENT OF ARMY DISEASES. 301

"War," with threats of dismissal from the service for neglect
of duty. That boud of wickedness, the "partial descriptive
list," was then framed and issued by the departments, by
means of which millions of the national treasury have been
regularly paid to thousands of deserters, who were sheltered
from arrest by the medical directors, who were sustained by
the powerful authority of tlie Secretary of Yv'^ar. Hundreds
of cunnino; malino;erers lurked in these secure retreats ; and
noble men who had been wounded were not allowed to return
to the front when they had recovered, although they sometimes
applied eight or ten times for permission, and at last rejoined
their commands by eluding the vigilance of the guards. Sol-
diers of the last honorable description could be found in
every company of the regiment ; and the officers always com-
mended theu' conduct, and tore into shreds, or cast into the
fire, notices stating that they were deserters from the so-called
hospitals. Delicacies and all that satisSed the appetites of the
body, which had been abundantly supphed by the philanthropy
of the American people, were usually stolen by these miscre-
ants ; although I admit that they never withheld or retained
for their private use the tracts and Bibles which had been
presented as food for the soul. The author most cheerfully
excepts from this severe criticism the female nurses, who
performed their tasks, in the few places from which the ma-
lignity of unscrupulous surgeons could not exclude them, with
a tenderness and honesty fhat secured for them the esteem of
every person who was the fortunate subject of their attentions.

302 THE HOSPITAL, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON

The substitution of these high-minded attendants of the gen-
tler sex for the diabolical wretches who should be transported
to the front would re-enforce the army, and encoui-age those
that meet the enemy upon the field of conflict.

The policy thus accurately described was so generally car-
ried into execution, that it was a maxim among officers and
men, that no soldier who entered a hospital in the rear ever
shouldered again his musket with his comrades in the ranks.
Discharges from the service were often issued to those that
were able-bodied ; and, upon one occasion, the passenger-car "in
which I sat was filled with these knaves, who uncorked their
bottles of stolen liquors as soon as the train started from Wash-
ington, and publicly boasted that they had never seen a fight,
but "beat the Government " one or two yeai'S, and bought their
final papers for certain amounts of money. A brief career of
dissipation exhausted their funds, and many of them rejoined
the army within a month after they had left it. A member
of the company skulked from Williamsburg, and joined a
hospital ; which alarmed his wife, who supposed that he was
seriously ill, and wrote letters of anxious inquiry to the regi-
ment : but he informed her that he was feio-ninsj sickness to
escape the dangers of battle, and pacified her by the pleasant
suggestion that he could not be killed. The surgeons aided
the shhk in every way, and applied about once in two months
for his descriptive list during the ensuing two years, although
they were continually notified rc!:^arding his real character ;
and finally granted him an honoi le discharge. The topic

THE TREATMENT OP ARMY DISEASES. 303

of malingering is endless ; and many incidents migbt be nar-
rated to illustrate tlie various " dodges," or means of " play-
ing it." The tricks of European soldiers were revived by
foreigners fi-om the Continent; and the regimental surgeon
detected the copper which produced a frightful sore upon the
knee of one of the company by noticing the impression of
the American cent. Others pretended to be afflicted with
every disease that troubles the human system ; but the fre-
quent prescription of the most nauseous doses sometimes
checked their complaints. A private was excused fi-om per-
forming any duty for three months on account of rheumatism ;
and always walked with great difficulty by the aid of a cane,
and daily expected to receive a discharge for disability. Un-
fortunately for his well-laid scheme, he foolishly became
intoxicated, and appeared upon the parade-ground without any
artificial means of support, and ejaculated to the astonished
crowd, " I ain't lame ; " " I'm playing it ; " "I don't need
any stick." He was detailed for guard upon the following
morning ; subsequently deserted from the regiment at Fair
Oaks; and, like thousands of similar rascals, obtained an
honorable discharge from the hospitals. "That's the way I
got it," he remarked as he chuckled, and slapped his hands
upon his pocket in a significant manner. Fingers were some-
times shot off, and other wounds were self-mflicted, to attain
this object ; and in two instances a serious miscalculation re-
sulted in the loss of a foot and an arm. A substitute of the
adjoining regiment persisted in carrying a cane upon the

301

marches, reviews, and inspections which- he was obliged to
attend, and declared that he could not walk without using it ;
but at Locust Grove the bullets frightened him, and he ran
from the woods with a speed that was seldom excelled.

The uniform of the invalid corps, which was wisely de-
signed for the most exalted purposes by its authors, is dis-
graced by a majority of the skulkers that wear it ; and the
number of the disabled in its ranks who could

" Count the dates of battles by bis scars "

is very limited, A multitude of worthless officers and men,
enfeebled by the " cannon-fever," rushed into its regiments,
which in physical vigor were often superior to those that
labored in the trenches or fought the enemies of the country.
The surgeons once more decimated the national forces by or-
dering the names of those who were asking for permission to
return to their old commands to be enrolled as members of
this corps. Its reputation was so seriously impaired by these
practices, that soldiers of honor and principle, who had been
crippled in the service, refused to enlist in it, because they
knew that their military fame would bo tarnished by the in-
glorious action of their associates.

The ambulance system, and the means provided by the
Government for the speedy removal of the wounded, were
most excellent ; but the evasion and the negligence of the
agents to whom they were usnally intrusted, rendered them,
at times, valueless. Officers and men of doubtful courage

THE TREATMENT OF ARMY DISEASES. 305

used every exertion to be detailed for this service, because
they considered it a safe position; and, with rare ex-
ceptions, remained in the rear while the wounded were
stretched upon the field and praying for assistance. The
regimental commander, upon one occasion, issued the follow-
ing order to the company officers when he received a notice
to detail ten soldiers for duty in the ambulance corps : —

" Take the most worthless cowards and stragglers that you
have got : I won't insult my good and brave men by sending
them to such a lot of scalawags,"

There was scarcely a day upon which the wagons were not
used for some foreign purpose ; and, upon the march to
Gettysburg, a general in the corps appropriated three of them
which conveyed sumptuous stores of iuxmies and liquors,
and retained them when the Dutch farmers were filching
money from the helpless whom they transported a short dis-
tance. When the drivers bivouacked upon the road to Fal-
mouth, they compelled the sick to leave the ambulances in
the midst of a pitiless storm ; and commanded them to go to
their regiments, which were five miles from that point, because
they wished to sleep in them during the night. One victim
of this heartless cruelty, unable to walk, and overcome by
the state of despair that enveloped him, finished his life
with the musket that he had so often aimed at the ranks of
the enemy. A formal complaint, which recited these facts,
was forwarded to headquarters by the regimental surgeon ;
but the only notice that was taken of it was the extraordinary

20

306 THE HOSPITAL, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON

answer, tliat such conduct wiis customary, and in accordance
with standing orders. The appointment of brave officers and
men for this department, throughout the army, would save
many valuable lives, and silence the objections that have been
publicly urged against the corps.

The hospitals in the front, without many of the external
conveniences, rank high above those in the rear, because they
were usually managed for the best interests of the service ; al-
though some of the abuses that always follow the employment
of non-combatants in the field were occasionally developed.
The presence of comrades who made frequent visits to assist
the suffering, the superior care of friendly attendants who did
not wish to pilfer, and the bands which were detailed to play
upon certain days, bad a beneficial efiect. Gen. Hooker en-
tered every ward at Falmouth after the battle of Chancellors-
ville ; remedied all the defects that were visible ; conversed
with the wounded ; and wrote a pass for the mother of a sol-
dier who had hastened to Washington, but, unsupported by
influence, was unable to reach the couch of her dying son.
Every means were used thiit conduced to preserve a cheerful
and contented disposition, which decided the issue in doubtful
cases in favor of life ; for what is termed homesickness has
caused the death of many soldiers. Mangled men played
games of cards or checkers ; those without a leg proposed to
dance or race ; others, without an arm, challenged a comrade
equally helpless to box or wrestle ; incidents of the battle
were described while the tobacco in the pipe was uncon-

THE TREATMENT OF ARMY DISEASES. 307

sumed ; grotesque and useful articles were ingeniously made ;
and the soldiers sometimes carved into ornaments the bones
which had once formed a part of their bodies.

The effect of wounds upon different constitutions, in the
excitement of the conflict, was very striking; and those
with the slightest injuries frequently exhibited the utmost
distress. An olBcer who bivouacked with the regiment
at Gettysburg, and was certain that he had not been struck,
and walked unassisted to the hospital, because his "side
felt so sore," was not more amazed when the surgeon
mformed him that a bullet had barely missed his lung,
than a colonel whose uniform had been perforated by
balls, and who was borne upon a stretcher from the field,
after exhorting his men to boldly face the foe, when he was
told that there was not a scratch upon his person. The most
heart-rending scenes that I ever witnessed in my eventful
experience were those in which the helpless vainly and
piteously implored their comrades to shoot them, and end
their excruciating agonies. Careful habits proaioted the
health of the soldiers ; and the rules of army mortality were
reversed in many of the regiments (including the 11th)
that performed severe fighting; and four or five men died
by the casualties of battle to one that perished by disease.
The roar of artillery, and the sudden shock of conflict,
occasionally produced deafness or speechlessness; and the
concussion of a shell sometimes killed a man, or fractured a
limb, without inflicting a wound. The bullets rarely travelled

308 THE HOSPITAL, AND OBSERVATIONS, ETC.

in the same grooves through the air ; but an officer was struck
in the same place in his jaw at Fair Oaks and Fredericks-
burg, and one soldier received four wounds in the left arm in
different battles. Anxiety and responsibility, which were sus-
pended over the head like the sword of the ancient emperor,
produced premature old age : many generals soon lost their
youthful looks ; and it was not uncommon to see gray-haii-ed
veterans who had not lived twenty-five years. The proximity
of battle always affected the health of certain soldiers ; and
there were persons of high rank that were sick upon such
occasions, and never exposed themselves within the range
of rebel cannon. There is a class of generals that are
never attacked by disease whenever they are engaged upon
court-martial, provost-guard, and similar duty at Washington,
or the safe places of the North ; but an order to re])ort to the
front is always succeeded by prostration and weakness.

Statements that "only forty men are left in a regiment
that once numbered a thousand," and the exciting and ex-
aggerated accounts about the havoc of battle, have led many
to largely over-estimate the number of those that die in the
service. The long list of the deserters, the discharged, and
the non-combatants, that some'-iraes include one-fourth of the
aggregate strength, explains the nature of this apparent waste;
and there were few of the three-years' regiments which lost
more than ten ofScers, or two hundred and fifty men, by
death from all causes.

CHAPTER XIX.

GENEEAL OBSERVATIONS UPON ARMY MORALITY
AND DISCIPLINE.

ANY facts which have been narrated in the
foregoing chapters might be classed under this
head ; but a separate discussion of the subject
has been deemed of importance. The religious
belief of the army was simple, and consisted of two articles of
faith: first, that "a man will die when his time comes;"
and secondly, that "a soldier who is slain in the service of
his country is sure to enter the gales of heaven." The
arguments of books and the sermons of divines could not
undermine these ideas, in the sincere profession of which
thousands fought and died upon the battle-field. The chap-
lains of the army, those that should be the types of its purity,
were commissioned without regard to their moral qualifica-
tions ; and, as a class, exerted a debasing influence upon the
soldiers : so that it was generally impossible to perceive any
distinction between the man of God and the man of sin.
The ofBcers of some regiments, from which they had been
dismissed for military offences, voted that it was inexpedient
to procure another spiritual adviser, because they considered

3G9

310 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON

that his example would be as pernicious as that of his prede-
cessor and brethren in the service. Tracts upon the wicked-
ness of dancing, attending theatres, sleeping in church,
extravagance in dress, and similar matters, were extensively
circulated among the troops; and it was evident that the
dealers had shrewdly cleared their shelves of the unsalable
rubbish which had been accumulating for years. The letters
that were frequently published in the religious papers por-
trayed the marvellous results which ensued when they were
distributed, perverted the facts, and deceived those well-
meaning philanthropists that contributed them. Less than
five soldiers in the regiment perused them with a conscientious
interest ; and this small number of readers was not largely
exceeded in other commands that passed within the range of
the author's notice. I have often witnessed the following inci-
dents when a certain chaplain appeared in the company streets
to give away the tracts which had been consigned to him. A
squad of men, jostling each other, and using many oaths, sur-
rounded him, and shouted, " I don't want them little things :
give rae some of those big papers with the flag on them. I am
going on picket, and want some to put my rations in." "Those
tracts are just what I want to light my pipe with." " Give
me some too : they are first-rate to kindle fires." The chap-
lain gratified the request of each person ; had a jocose answer
for all; and said, with many repetitions, " Use them for any
purpose you see fit. It is my business to get rid of them ;
and it is nothmg to me what you do with them." If they

ARMY MORALITY AND DISCIPLINE. 311

asked for some flashy novel, he replied, " I have not got it
now, but will let you have it if it is sent to me."

The week that succeeded pay-day was noticeable, because
groups of men assembled in the vicinity of the regiment, and
gambled hour after hour with cards, dice, and props, and rubber
blankets, upon which certain sq^uares and digits had been rudely
sketched. The number of players gradually diminished ; and
the few winners, who had acquired the stakes which had been
lost by the majority, contended for heavy amounts, and one
hundred dollars were frequently placed upon the board. Some
gained by this means large sums ; and a soldier at Culpeper
Court House accumulated one thousand dollars in the course
of twenty-four hours. It was usually prohibited by officers,
and guards sometimes patrolled the camps to enforce the order ;
but others did not interfere ; and the brigade commander
remarked to the division general when they inspected the
grounds which the gamblers occupied, " God Almighty never
made a better place than these woods for men to gamble in."
The passion displayed itself upon every favorable opportunity ;
and the implements of the various games were actively used
upon the march, the picket-reserve, and the battle-field. A
chaplain, who acted the part of a spectator, innocently in-
quired, " How does this man take that man's money ? " The
problem was quickly solved ; and whenever he was invited to
join, or " take a hand," he declined, not by uttering stern
reproof, but some facetious remarks, " I have two hands now,
and don't want another : " or, " I am afraid that I should lose

312 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON

my money if I played with such sldlful experts." Th.e
" lucky ones " generally rolled their greenbacks together like
a twist of natural leaf-tobacco, and forwarded them home ;
although some honorable chaplains refused to assist any gam-
bler in saving his gains, and delivered strong addresses against

the allurinir vice. The conduct which has been censured re-

o

lates wholly to a class that comprised about one-tenth of the
enlisted men in a regiment ; and, with the exception of a soli-
tary occurrence in. another brigade, I never observed an in-
discriminate medley of oflBcers and soldiers in the crowd of
players.

Profanity, which was' unchecked by the presence of the re-
straining influences of home and a civilized community, was
a habit that e"kisted in every rank and grade ; and the old
saying, "to swear like a trooper," was hourly confirmed.
The language generally used in the sunnnons to surrender, by
the members of both armies ; the actual terms employed by
officers of high rank in giving orders ; the exclamations of
the wounded, and the last words of dying heroes, — seldom
appear in the volumes of the historian. It was an interesting
study to observe that foreign recruits, who were unacquainted
with the English tongue when they entered the regiment,
quickly acquired a proficiency in the use of the, strongest
oaths before they had mastered the rudiments of their adopted
language. This discreditable feature of the army always
struck the attention of visitors by its publicity ; and many
tboughtlessl}^ uttered another ancient maxim, " The worse

ARMY MORALITY AND DISCIPLINE. 313

the man, tbo better the soldier." A brief mihtary experi-
ence will satisfy all concerning the falsity of this remark.
The worthless bully and idler in the abodes of peace invari-
ably form the most useless parts of the engine of war ; while
the quiet and industrious civilians constitute the motive power
and essential portions. A lofty principle of action, not physi-
cal brutality, is the basis of that courage and heroism w^hich are
absolutely necessary to insure the success of the subtlest
planned campaign. I have seen the pugihst who feared no an-
tagonist in the wrangles and scuffles of a mob tremble with
fright, and flee, upon the field of carnage ; while a youth ani-
mated by pure patriotism, who timidly shrank from the quai*-
rels of the street, was the foremost in the charge of victory,
and the most steadfast in the severe trial of defeat.

" I was brought up on a bottle, and never saw any harm in
it, " was the observation of a drunken chaplain, that furnishes a
text for this paragraph. The enforcement of stringent orders
prevented the sale of liquor to the rank and file, so that a
compulsory sobriety existed ; and the number of intemperate
soldiers who bore muskets with their commands was extreme-
ly small. Some, who foolishly supposed that this stimulant
was indispensable, admitted their mistake when they were
compelled to perform fatiguing labor without it ; and the
array in this way aided a great reform. Venal officers, sutlers,
and commissaries, made enormous profits by covertly selling
the forbidden beverage ; and privates sometimes willingly paid
the hard-earned wages of a month to procure a canteen of

314 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON

whiskey which cost the vender twenty cents. The course
of the Government and charitable, associations in issuing it as
a ration, in certain circumstances, to the enlisted men, pro-
duced evils that are boundless in their extent. The well-
known demoralization and inefficiency in battle of many Ger-
man regiments, especially those that " triuks mit everybody
and runs mit Howard," were caused not by the Teutonic but
the lager-beer blood that pervaded their systems. I exjiess
in print what has been said many times in conversation by
officers, that the total prohibition of the use of intoxicating
liquor for any purpose by any class of persons in the army
would have preseiTcd the lives of thousands, and shortened
the duration of this war at least one year. The careful reader
has noticed that the shameful drunkenness of a corps com-
mander became the stumbhng-block in the path to victory,
when Gen. Meade was foiled in the movement which termi-
nated at Mine Run.

A broad distinction was established ; and it is a sad fact,
that, with rare exceptions, the commissioned officers were not
only unhindered, but even aided, to obtain the ardent spirits
which they desired ; and every brigade commissary was sup-
plied by the Government with barrels of whiskey for this
purpose. It was a sharp device, at one time, for privates to
put on shoulder-straps, and purchase liquor, which was deliv-
ered to them upon the supposition that they were officers.
The tents of many generals and subalterns presented the
appearance of the glittering and highly-colored glasses and

ARMY MORALITY AND DISCIPLINE. 315

bottles of a bar-room ; and the presence of one of them, ujK)n
a visit or special duty, was the signal for the production of
*' something to take." From the first battle of Bull Run, at
which Miles was allowed by Gen. IMcDowell to disgrace him-
self and the nation with uupunity, to Spottsylvania Court
House, where I counted, a few minutes before I was wound-
ed, twenty-siK general and staff officers that rode upon their
horses with great difficulty on account of intoxication, my
minutes contain notices of drunkenness upon every scene of
conflict in which I was engaged. To avert unjust suspicion,
I desire to state, that none of the officers with the regiment
were rendered inefficient by this cause, in such important cri-
ses. The practice existed to such an alarming extent, that,
when certain persons fell in the time of action, it was a sub-
ject of doubt, with the distant spectators, whether the cause
was a bullet or the contents of a flask. " I need three can-
teens a day now," a staflT- officer remarked during the last
campaign. The rebel prisoners with whom I conversed ad-
mitted that the same state of facts prevailed in their army,
and mentioned the names of some of their commanders who
were notorious drunkards. The rights of subordinates were
disregarded to pamper to this debasing appetite ; and a gen-
eral seized the mail-wagon of the division upon a long march,
and retained it more than two weeks (during which time the
soldiers received no letters) , in order that his stock of lirjuors
might be transported, — a fair quantity of which he openly
imbibed upon the battle-field. I was stationed upon picket

316 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON

•when the ambulances returned from Chancellorsville, which
they had visited by means of a flag of truce ; and men of
veracity, who belonged to the regiment, assured me that
many of the surgeons were "tight;." and they preferred to
keep on their bandages of shelter-tent, which were black with
clotted blood, and allow their wounds to remain undressed,
because they did not wish to submit to the care of such mis-
creants.

Deserters formed the largest class of criminals in the army ;
and nearly every regiment that has been posted in the front
lost more men from this cause than the aggregate of all the
others. The wholesale villany of the bounty-jumpers has
doubled the names that are recorded upon the rolls of dis-
honor. The friends of the rebel conspiracy in Alexandria,
Washington, and other cities, afforded all the assistance in
their power to men that wished to escape from the service ;
and furnished money, suits of clothing, and forged passes,
discharges, furloughs, and similar documents, whenever the
necessities of the case required them.

The subject of crime naturally leads to a consideration of
military discipline, and the punishment inflicted for the com-
raission of oflfences of diflferent degrees. The constant inter-
ference l^y generals of high rank, and intermeddling officials
in Washington, have often seriously impaired the efficiency
of the troops, by preventing the impartial administration of
justice, and the expiation of penalties which should follow a
just sentence by a court-martial. The first abuse could be

ARMY MORALITY AND DISCIPLINE. 317

easily remedied by a revision of the articles of the military
code which relate to the measures that precede the trial of
the prisoner ; but the second cannot be corrected. Charges of
a serious character must be approved by a general officer, who
may deliberately suppress them without any regard to the
just interests of the service, if the culprit is one of his fiiends,
or can repay him for his sinful kindness. Specifications that
were filed against the brother of a division commander for
habitual drunkenness never emerged from their hiding-place
when they reached his headquarters. A medical director
issued an order that an officer should be arraigned for fbio-ninoj
partial blindness to procure a discharge ; and although he had
been fined by a court-mar :;ial for cowardice, and a complaint for
drunkenness had also been preferred, they were promptly
cast aside, because he perjured himself at the trial of some
parties who had incurred the displeasure of the general.
■Charges of cowai'dice which were submitted by one division
commander against another were repeatedly suppressed be-
cause the guilty person was a personal admirer and flatterer
of the head of the army ; while the subalterns, who said that
they could prove them in any court, were summarily dis-
missed from the service for the use of disrespectful language.
Generals who were inebriates, poltroons, or traitors, were sel-
dom if ever punished, but promoted, to demoralize, by their
ignoble conduct, the unfortunate brigade, division, and corps
commands which were obliged to serve under them. Rec-
ommendations from officers of equal or higher rank triumphed

318 GENEEAL OBSERVATIONS UPON

over the just objections of subalterns and enlisted men, and
gained a confirmation by the Senate.

The enforcement of the death-penalty against every deserter
would have retained thousands in the army, and had an ex-
cellent effect upon its discipline ; while the clemency that was
shown towards them actually encouraged soldiers to commit
this infamous crime. Many of the vilest substitutes, who
enlisted with the intention to escape from the lines, were
pardoned by the authority of Washington dignitaries, al-
though then- officers reported that there were no mitigating
cu'cumstances in their cases. One of them openly declared
to his comrades that he should desert, and no power could

injure him, because Senator of Wisconsin and his

father were intimate friends. He ran away at the end of a
fortnight ; was apprehended, and sentenced to be shot by the
unanimous vote of the members of the coui't-martial, who
noticed the utter depravity that was visible in his face and
demeanor when he boldly said, ' ' I suppose I deserted to
swindle the Government." The commander of the company,
in answer to inquiries from the Wai- Department, replied that
he was the worst soldier that he had ever seen ; but the sen-
tence was remitted in compliance with the request of Senator

of Wisconsin. A thousand facts like these which have

been recited affected the authority of officers by rendermg
the enlisted men defiant, and at times nearly destroyed that
discipline, without which an army becomes a mere assembly
of citizens equipped for military duties. The state of perfec-

ARMY MORALITY AND DISCIPLINE. 319

tion wbicli existed in many of the batteries tbat belonged to
the regular service exhibited the beneficial results of an
implicit obedience to orders. An inflexible command, that
was never modified by superiors, moulded the best artillerists
in the world from a nucleus of fifteen or twenty members ;
while the main portion was composed of the most useless and
refractory soldiers that could be found in the guard-houses
and prisons of the regiments from which they were detailed.

THE EXD.

NEW AND F OP V LAB BOOKS

EECENTLV ISSUED BT

LEE ife SHEPARD,

149 Washington St., Boston.

THE GOLD HUNTER'S ADVENTURES;

OE,

LIFE IN AUSTRALIA.

By W. H. Thomes (a Returned Australian).

1 vol. 12mo. 556 2^P- Illustrated. Price $2.

" Xo one has excelled Mr. Thomes in describing the strange life
of that Australian world which the gold discovery brought into such
prominence. He tells us what he saw ; and tells it, too, in a man-
ner that caiTies his readers along with him from the beginning to
the end of these extraordinary Adventures. No Avork of its class
has more attractions, or affords more gratification to those who
peruse it." — Boston Traveller.

" Gold Hunters. — This is a compact volume of 5G4 pp. solid,
but attractive to the eye. giving a returned Australian's narrative
of his experiences in making a little fortune in the mines, and of
the wild company in which he was thrown ; and is surcharged .vith
romantic adventures, which are related in so lively and natural a
manner, that the reader cannot fail to be greatly interested, and in-
structed as well, in all that actually relates to life in Austraha." —
iSalem Gazette.

n.

TALKS ON WOMEN'S TOPICS.

By Jennie June.
1 vol. 12mo, gilt top. Price $1 .75.

" Sparkling, piquant, sententious, and full of sterling common
sense and practical observations of life and manners. It is not
simply smart and amusing, but sound, suggestive, and instiiicting ;
and no woman of any mind or heart can read it without being
wiser and better for it."

The New- York Tribune, in noticing the new volume, remarks,
" Her book is full of excellent counsels benignly expressed. It is
the overflow of a wide-awake common sense, a keen perception of
the ridiculous in character and action, and a lively appreciation of
the nobler aspects of life, in spite of her exuberant love of fun and
ridicule.'*

ARMY AMD ISTAVY STORIES,
By Oliveb, Optic.

THE SOLDIER BOY;

OR,

tom: soid:ERs in the ^rivly.

1 vol. 16wio. Illustrated hy Champney. Price $1.50.

THE SAILOR BOY;

OR,

JwA^CK SOIMERS IN THE Nj^VY.

1 vol. 16nio. Illustrated hy Champney. Price $1.50.

THE YOUNG LIEUTENANT;

OR, THE

-AJDVEISTTTIR-ES OE J^'N JLRMTS: OEEICER.

A SEQUEL TO "THE SOLDIER BOY."
(Ready soon.)

THE YANKEE MIDDY;

OR, THE

AX> VEJN TTJRES OE .A. N^VAX. OFEICER.

A SEQUEL TO " THE SAILOE BOY."
(Ready soon.)

Rich in incidents of personal daring as this war has been, there
is nothing on record that will exceed in interest the stories of these
noble lads, who, actuated solely by patriotism, went forth to fight
the battles of their country, one in the field, the other on the sea.
Twin sons of a patriotic mother, equally devoted to the cause of
freedom, each selects that branfh of the service most to his taste ;
and while oi^ " follows the drum " in the Army of the Potomac,
the other "swmgs his hammock" on board one of those noble ships
whose brave deeds have marked the American Xavy as the first in
the world, and made memorable the waters of the Mississippi and
the Gulf. As noble examples for imitation by the young, " The
Soldier Boy" and "The Sailor Boy" cannot be excelled.

These four volumes will form a series, to be called, when com-
pleted, ARr^iT AND Navt Stories ; and will make a truthful and
entertaining history of the Rebellion, fur the young.

LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers,

149 Washington St., Boston.

-^\ >^^^^^^^ .

^-"^fibrw-

RICH AND HUMBLE ; OR, THE MISSION OF BERTHA GRANT.

BT OLIVEK OPTIC.

Illustrated by Champxet.

" One of Oliver Optic's best stories."

I^ee <fc Sliepard., I»ixT3lisliers, Boston.

^.

:^

-.fm

TVILLIS THE PILOT; OR, SEQUEL TO THE STISS FAillLY IIOBKSON.
One volume. 16mo. Illustrated.

I^ee <fc Sliepard., I»iil>lisliLei's, Boston.

/