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diff --git a/23565.txt b/23565.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..76da6c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/23565.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10092 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals, by +William H. Armstrong + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals + As Seen From the Ranks During a Campaign in the Army of the Potomac + +Author: William H. Armstrong + +Release Date: November 20, 2007 [EBook #23565] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RED-TAPE AND PIGEON-HOLE GENERALS *** + + + + +Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + RED-TAPE + + AND + + PIGEON-HOLE GENERALS: + + AS SEEN FROM THE RANKS + + DURING A + + +Campaign in the Army of the Potomac+. + + + BY + + A CITIZEN-SOLDIER. + + "We must be brief when Traitors brave the Field." + + + NEW YORK: + + _Carleton, Publisher, 413 Broadway._ + + M DCCC LXIV. + + + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by + + GEO. W. CARLETON, + + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for + the Southern District of New York. + + + R. CRAIGHEAD, + + Printer, Stereotyper, and Electrotyper + + +Carton Building+, + + _81, 83, and 85 Centre Street_. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +"Greek-fire has shivered the statue of John C. Calhoun in the streets of +the City of Charleston,"--so the papers say. Whether true or not, the +Greek-fire of the righteous indignation of a loyal people is fast +shattering the offspring of his infamous teachings,--the armed treason +of the South, and its more cowardly ally the insidious treachery that +lurks under doubtful cover in the loyal States. In thunder tones do the +masses declare, that now and for ever, they repudiate the Treason and +despise the Traitor. Nobly are the hands of our Honest President +sustained in prosecuting this most righteous war. + +In a day like this, the least that can be expected of any citizen +is--duty. We are all co-partners in our beneficent government. We should +be co-laborers for her defence. Jealous of the interests of her brave +soldiery; for they are our own. Proud of their noble deeds; they +constitute our National Heritage. + +If these campaign sketches, gathered in actual service during 1862-3, +and grouped during the spare hours of convalescence from a camp fever, +correct one of the least of the abuses in our military machinery--if +they lighten the toil of the humblest of our soldiers, or nerve anew the +resolves of loyalty tempted to despair, the writer will have no reason +to complain of labor lost. Great latitude of excuse for the existence of +abuses must be allowed, when we consider the suddenness with which our +volunteers sprang into ranks at the outset of the Rebellion. Now that +the warfare is a system, there is less reason for their continuance. +Reformers must, however, remember, that to keep our citizen-soldiery +effective, they must not make too much of the citizen and too little of +the soldier. Abuses must be corrected under the laws; but to be +corrected at all they must first be exposed. + +Drunkenness, half-heartedness, and senseless routine, have done much to +cripple the patriotic efforts of our people. The patriotism of the man +who at this day doubts the policy of their open reproof can well be +questioned. West Point has, in too many instances, nursed imbecility and +treason; but in our honest contempt for the small men of whom, in common +with other institutions, she has had her share,--we must not ignore +those bright pages of our history adorned with the skill and heroism of +her nobler sons. McClellanism did not follow its chief from Warrenton; +or Burnside's earnestness, Hooker's dash, and Meade's soldierly stand at +Gettysburg, backed as they were by the heroic fighting of the Army of +the Potomac, would have had, as they deserved, more decisive results. + +The Young Men of the Land would the writer address in the following +pages--"because they are strong," and in their strength is the nation's +hope. In certain prospect of victory over the greatest enemy we have yet +had as a nation--the present infamous rebellion--we can well await +patiently the correction of minor evils. + + "Meanwhile we'll sacrifice to liberty, + Remember, O my friends! the laws, the rights, + The generous plan of power delivered down + From age to age by your renowned forefathers, + (So dearly bought, the price of so much blood;) + Oh, let it never perish in your hands! + But piously transmit it to your children. + Do thou, great liberty! inspire our souls, + And make our lives in thy possession happy. + Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence." + +February, 1864. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER I. PAGE + +The Advent of our General of Division--Camp near Frederick City, +Maryland--The Old Revolutionary Barracks at Frederick--An Irish +Corporal's Recollections of the First Regiment of Volunteers from +Pennsylvania--Punishment in the Old First, 9 + +CHAPTER II. + +The Treason at Harper's Ferry--Rebel Occupation of Frederick--Patriotism +of the Ladies of Frederick--A Rebel Guard nonplussed by a Lady--The +Approach to Antietam--Our Brigadier cuts Red-Tape--THE BLUNDER OF THE +DAY AFTER ANTIETAM--The Little Irish Corporal's idea of Strategy, 15 + +CHAPTER III. + +The March to the River--Our Citizen Soldiery--Popularity of Commanders, +how Lost and how Won--The Rebel Dead--How the Rebels repay Courtesy, 27 + +CHAPTER IV. + +A Regimental Baker--Hot Pies--Position of the Baker in line of +Battle--Troubles of the Baker--A Western Virginia Captain on a Whiskey +Scent--The Baker's Story--How to obtain Political Influence--Dancing +Attendance at Washington--What Simon says--Confiscation of Whiskey, 33 + +CHAPTER V. + +The Scene at the Surgeon's Quarters--Our Little Dutch Doctor--Incidents +of his Practice--His Messmate the Chaplain--The Western Virginia +Captain's account of a Western Virginia Chaplain--His Solitary Oath--How +he Preached, how he Prayed, and how he Bush-whacked--His Revenge of +Snowden's Death--How the little Dutch Doctor applied the Captain's +Story, 47 + +CHAPTER VI + +A Day at Division Head-Quarters--The Judge Advocate--The tweedle-dum and +tweedle-dee of Red-Tape as understood by Pigeon-hole Generals--Red Tape +Reveries--French Authorities on Pigeon-hole Investigations--An +Obstreperous Court and Pigeon-hole Strictures--Disgusting Head-Quarter +Profanity, 59 + +CHAPTER VII. + +A Picket-Station on the Upper Potomac--Fitz John's Rail Order--Rails for +Corps Head-Quarters _versus_ Rails for Hospitals--The Western Virginia +Captain--Old Rosy, and How to Silence Secesh Women--The Old Woman's +Fixin's--The Captain's Orderly, 70 + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The Reconnoissance--Shepherdstown--Punch and Patriotism--Private Tom on +West Point and Southern Sympathy--The Little Irish Corporal on John +Mitchell--A Skirmish--Hurried Dismounting of the Dutch Doctor and +Chaplain--Battle of Falling Waters not intended--Story of the Little +Irish Corporal--Patterson's Folly, or Treason, 83 + +CHAPTER IX. + +Reconnoissance concluded--What we Saw and What we didn't See, and what +the Good Public Read--Pigeon-hole Generalship and the Press--The +Preacher Lieutenant and how he Recruited--Comparative Merits of Black +Union Men and White Rebels--A Ground Blast, and its effect upon a +Pigeon-hole General--Staff Officers Striking a Snag in the Western +Virginia Captain--Why the People have a right to expect Active Army +Movements--Red Tape and the Sick List--Pigeon-holing at Division +Head-quarters, 100 + +CHAPTER X. + +Departure from Sharpsburg Camp--The Old Woman of Sandy Hook--Harper's +Ferry--South sewing Dragon's Teeth by shedding Old John's Blood--The +Dutch Doctor and the Boar--Beauties of Tobacco--Camp Life on the +Character--Patrick, Brother to the Little Corporal--General Patterson no +Irishman--Guarding a Potato Patch in Dixie--The Preacher Lieutenant on +Emancipation--Inspection and the Exhorting Colonel--The Scotch Tailor on +Military Matters, 116 + +CHAPTER XI. + +Snicker's Gap--Private Harry on the "Anaconda"--Not inclined to turn +Boot-Black--"Oh! why did you go for a Soldier?"--The +ex-News-Boy--Pigeon-hole Generalship on the March--The Valley of the +Shenandoah--A Flesh Carnival--The Dutch Doctor on a Horse-dicker--An Old +Rebel, and how he parted with his Apple-Brandy--Toasting the +"Union"--Spruce Retreats, 137 + +CHAPTER XII. + +The March to Warrenton--Secesh Sympathy and Quarter-Master's +Receipts--Middle-Borough--The Venerable Uncle Ned and his Story of the +Captain of the Tigers--The Adjutant on Strategy--Red Tapism and +Mac-Napoleonism--Movement Stopped--Division Head-Quarters out of +Whiskey--Stragglers and Marauders--A Summary Proceeding--Persimmons and +Picket-Duty--A Rebellious Pig--McClellanism, 160 + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Camp near Warrenton--Stability of the Republic--Measures, not Men, +regarded by the Public--Removal of McClellan--Division Head-Quarters a +House of Mourning--A Pigeon-hole General and his West Point +Patent-Leather Cartridge-Box--Head-Quarter Murmuring and +Mutterings--Departure of Little Mac and the Prince--Cheering by Word of +Command--The Southern Saratoga--Rebel Regret at McClellan's Departure, 178 + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A Skulker and the Dutch Doctor--A Review of the Corps by Old Joe--A +Change of Base; what it means to the Soldier, and what to the +Public--Our Quarter-Master and General Hooker--The Movement by the Left +Flank--A Division General and Dog driving--The Desolation of Virginia--A +Rebel Land-Owner and the Quarter-Master--"No Hoss, Sir!"--The Poetical +Lieutenant unappreciated--Mutton or Dog?--Desk Drudgery and Senseless +Routine, 193 + +CHAPTER XV. + +Red-Tape and the Soldier's Widow--Pigeon-holing at Head-Quarters and +Weeping at the Family Fireside--A Pigeon-hole General Outwitted--Fishing +for a Discharge--The Little Irish Corporal on Topographical +Engineers--Guard Duty over a Whiskey Barrel, 210 + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The Battle of Fredericksburg--Screwing Courage up to the Sticking +Point--Consolations of a Flask--Pigeon-hole Nervousness--Abandonment of +Knapsacks--Incidents before, during, and after the Fight, 225 + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The Sorrows of the Sutler--The Sutler's Tent--Generals manufactured by +the Dailies--Fighting and Writing--A Glandered +Horse--Courts-martial--Mania of a Pigeon-hole General on the +Subject--Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel in Strait-Jackets, 247 + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Dress Coats _versus_ Blouses--Military Law--Bill the +Cook--Courts-Martial--Important Decision in Military Law--A Man with Two +Blouses on, can be compelled to put a Dress Coat on top--A Colored +French Cook and a Beefy-browed Judge-Advocate--The Mud March--No +Pigeon-holing on a Whiskey Scent--Old Joe in Command--Dissolution of +Partnership between the Dutch Doctor and the Chaplain, 264 + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The Presentation Mania--The Western Virginia Captain in the War +Department--Politeness and Mr. Secretary Stanton--Capture of the Dutch +Doctor--A Genuine Newspaper Sell, 283 + +CHAPTER XX. + +The Army again on the Move--Pack Mules and Wagon Trains--A Negro +Prophetess--The Wilderness--Hooped Skirts and Black Jack--The Five Days' +Fight at Chancellorsville--Terrible Death of an Aged Slave--A +Pigeon-hole General's "Power in Reserve," 295 + +CHAPTER XXI. + +The Pigeon-hole General and his Adjutant, under Charges--The Exhorting +Colonel's Adieu to the Sunday Fight at Chancellorsville; Reasons +thereof--Speech of the Dutch Doctor in Reply to a Peace-Offering from +the Chaplain--The Irish Corporal stumping for Freedom--Black Charlie's +Compliments to his Master--Western Virginia at the Head of a Black +Regiment, 313 + + + + +RED-TAPE + +AND + +PIGEON-HOLE GENERALS. + +CHAPTER I. + +_The Advent of our General of Division--Camp near Frederick City, +Maryland--The Old Revolutionary Barracks at Frederick--An Irish +Corporal's Recollections of the First Regiment of Volunteers from +Pennsylvania--Punishment in the Old First._ + + +"Our new Division-General, boys!" exclaimed a sergeant of the 210th +Pennsylvania Volunteers, whose attention and head were turned at the +clatter of horses' hoofs to the rear. "I heard an officer say that he +would be along to-day, and I recognise his description." + +The men, although weary and route-worn, straightened up, dressed their +ranks, and as the General and Staff rode past, some enthusiastic soldier +proposed cheers for our new Commander. They started with a will, but the +General's doubtful look, as interpreted by the men, gave little or no +encouragement, and the effort ended in a few ragged discordant yells. + +"He is a strange-looking old covey any how," said one of the boys in an +undertone. "Did you notice that red muffler about his neck, and how +pinched up and crooked his hat is, and that odd-looking moustache, and +how savagely he cocks his eyes through his spectacles?" + +"They say," replied the sergeant, "that we are the first troops that he +has commanded. He was a staff officer before in the Topographical Corps. +Didn't you notice the T.C. on his coat buttons?" + +"And is he going to practise upon us?" blurts out a bustling red-faced +little Irish corporal. "Be Jabers, that accounts for the crooked cow +road we have marched through the last day--miles out of the way, and +niver a chance for coffee." + +"You are too fast, Terence," said the sergeant; "if he belongs to the +Topographical Corps, he ought at least to know the roads." + +"And didn't you say not two hours ago that we were entirely out of the +way, and that we had been wandering as crooked as the creek that flows +back of the old town we are from, and nearly runs through itself in a +dozen places?" + +The sergeant admitted that he had said so, but stated that perhaps the +General was not to blame, and added somewhat jocosely: "At any rate the +winding of the creek makes those beautiful walks we have so much enjoyed +in summer evenings." + +"Beautiful winding walks! is it, sergeant! Shure and whin you have your +forty pound wait upon your back, forty rounds of lead and powdher in +your cartridge-box, and twenty more in your pocket, three days' rations +in your haversack, a musket on your shoulder, and army brogans on your +throtters, you are just about the first man that I know of to take +straight cuts." + + * * * * * + +It was a close warm day near the middle of September. The roads were +dusty and the troops exhausted. Two days previously the brigade to which +they belonged had left the pleasantest of camps, called "Camp Whipple" +in honor of their former and favorite Division Commander. Situated in an +orchard on the level brow of a hill that overlooked Washington, the +imposing Capitol, the broad expanse of the Potomac dotted with frequent +craft, the many national buildings, and scenery of historic interest, +the men left it with regret, but carried with them recollections that +often in times of future depression revived their patriotic ardor. + +Over dusty roads, through the muddy aqueduct of the Chesapeake and Ohio +Canal, hurried on over the roughly paved streets of Georgetown, and +through the suburbs of Washington, they finally halted for the night, +and, as it chanced through lack of orders, for the succeeding day also, +near Meridian Hill. Under orders to join the Fifth Army Corps commanded +by Major-General Fitz John Porter, to which the Division had been +previously assigned, the march was resumed on the succeeding day, which +happened to be Sunday, and in the afternoon of which our chapter opens. + +A march of another day brought the Brigade to a recent Rebel camp +ground. Traces of their occupancy were found not only in their +depredations in the neighborhood destructive of railroad bridges, but +also in letters and wall-paper envelopes adorned with the lantern-jawed +phiz of Jefferson Davis. The latter were sought after with avidity as +soon as ranks were broken and tents pitched; the more eagerly perhaps +for the reason that during the greater part of their previous month of +service they had been frequently within sound of rebel cannon, although +but once under their fire. During the previous day, in fact, they had +marched to the music of the artillery of South Mountain. + +That night awakened lively recollections in the mind of Terence McCarty, +our lively little Irish corporal. His duty for the time as corporal of a +relief gave him ample opportunity to indulge them. He had belonged to +the old First Pennsylvania Regiment of three months men, that a little +over a year before, when Maryland was halting between loyalty and +disloyalty, had spent its happiest week of service in the yard of the +revolutionary barracks in the city of Frederick. Terence was but two +short miles from the spot. Brimfull of the memories, he turned to a +comrade, who had also belonged to the First, and who with others chanced +to stand near. + +"I say, Jack! Do you recollect the ould First and Frederick, and do you +know that we are but two miles and short ones at that from the blissed +ould white-washed barracks, full of all kind of quare guns and canteens +looking like barrels cut down; and the Parade Ground where our ould +Colonel used to come his 'Briskly, men! Briskly,' when he'd put us +through the manual, and where so many ladies would come to see our +ivolutions, and where they set the big table for us on the Fourth, and +where--" + +"Hold on, corporal! you can't give that week's history to-night." + +"I was only going to obsarve, Jack, that I feel like a badly used man." + +"How so, Terence?" + +"Why you see nearly ivery officer, commissioned and non-commissioned, of +the ould First has been promoted. The Colonel was too ould for service, +or my head on it, he would have had a star. Just look at the captains +by way of sample--Company A, a Lieutenant-Colonel, expecting and +desarving an eagle ivery day; Company B, a Lieutenant-Colonel; Company +C, our own Lieutenant-Colonel; Company D, a Brigadier for soldierly +looks, daring, and dash; Company E, a Captain in an aisy berth in the +regular service; Company F, a Colonel; Company G, a Major; Company H, a +Lieutenant-Colonel; Company I, I have lost sight of, and the +lion-hearted captain of Company K, doing a lion's share of work at the +head of a regiment in Tennessee. Now, Jack, the under officers and many +privates run pretty much the same way, but not quite as high. Bad luck +to me, I was fifth corporal thin and am eighth now--promoted +crab-fashion. Fortune's wheel gives me many a turn, Jack! but always +stops with me on the lower side." + +"I saw you on the upper side once," retorted Jack roguishly. + +"And whin? may I ask." + +"When, do you say? why, when you took about half a canteen too much, and +that same old colonel had you tied on the upper side of a barrel on the +green in front of the barracks." + +"Bad luck to an ill-natured memory, Jack, for stirring that up," replied +the corporal, breaking in upon the laughter that followed, "but I now +recollect, it was the day before you slipped the guard whin the colonel +gave you a barrel uniform with your head through the end, and kept me +for two mortal long hours in the hot sun, a tickling of you under the +nose with a straw, and daubing molasses on your chaps to plaze the +flies, to the great admiration of a big crowd of ladies and gentlemen." + +Jack subsided, and the hearty laughter at the corporal's ready retort +was broken a few minutes later by a loud call for the corporal of the +guard, which hurried Terence away, dispersed the crowd, and might as +well end this chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_The Treason at Harper's Ferry--Rebel Occupation of +Frederick--Patriotism of the Ladies of Frederick--A Rebel Guard +nonplussed by a Lady--The Approach to Antietam--Our Brigadier cuts Red +Tape--The Blunder of the day after Antietam--The little Irish Corporal's +idea of Strategy._ + + +The Brigade did not rest long in its new camp. The day and a half, +however, passed there had many incidents to be remembered by. Fish were +caught in abundance from the beautiful Monocacy. But the most impressive +scene was the long procession of disarmed, dejected men, who had been +basely surrendered at Harper's Ferry, and were now on their way +homeward, on parole. Many and deep were the curses they uttered against +their late commanders. "Boys, _we've_ been sold! Look out," cried a +comely bright-eyed young officer of eighteen or thereabouts. "That we +have," added a chaplain, who literally bore the cross upon his shoulders +in a pair of elegant straps. When will earnest men cease to be foiled in +this war by treacherous commanders? was an inquiry that pressed itself +anxiously home. + +But the thunders of Antietam were reverberating through that mountainous +region, distinctly heard in all their many echoes, and of course the +all-absorbing topic. At 3 P. M. orders came to move a short distance +beyond Frederick. The division was rapidly formed, and the men marched +joyously along through the streets of Frederick, already crowded with +our own and Rebel wounded, to the sound of lively martial music; but +none more joyously than the members of the old First, whose +recollections were brisk of good living as they recognised in many a +lady a former benefactress. Bradley T. Johnson's race, that commenced +with his infamously prepared and lying handbills, was soon run in +Frederick. No one of the border cities has been more undoubtedly or +devotedly patriotic. Its prominent ministers at an early day took bold +positions. The ladies were not behind, and many a sick and wounded +soldier will bless them to his latest hour. The world has heard of the +well deserved fame of Florence Nightingale. History will hold up to a +nation's gratitude thousands of such ministering angels, who, moving in +humbler circles, perhaps, are none the less entitled to a nation's +praise. "Great will be their reward." + +To show the spirit that emboldened the ladies of Frederick, a notable +instance is related as having occurred during the Rebel occupation of +the city under General Stuart. Many Union ladies had left the place. Not +so, however, with Mrs. D., the lively, witty, and accomplished wife of a +prominent Lutheran minister. The Union sick and wounded that remained +demanded attention, and for their sake, as well as from her own high +spirit, she resolved to stay. Miss Annie C., the beautiful and talented +daughter of Ex-U. S. Senator C., an intimate friend of Mrs. D., through +like devotion, also remained. Rebel officers, gorgeous in grey and gilt +lace, many of them old residents of the place, strutted about the +streets. The ragged privates begged from door to door. Mrs. D., and her +friend had been separated several days--a long period considering their +close intimacy and their present surroundings. Mrs. D. resolved to visit +her, and with her to resolve was to execute. Threading her way through +the crowded streets, heeding not the jeers or insults of the rebel +soldiery, she soon came in front of the Cooper Mansion, to find a rebel +flag floating from an upper window, and a well dressed soldierly looking +greyback, with bayonet fixed, pacing his beat in front. Nothing daunted, +Mrs. D. approached. "Halt," was the short sharp hail of the sentinel, as +he brought his bayonet to the charge. "Who is quartered here?" asked +Mrs. D., gradually nearing the sentry. "Maj.-Gen. Stuart," was the brief +reply, "I want to visit a lady acquaintance in the house." "My orders +are strict, madam, that no one can cross my beat without a pass." "_Pass +or no pass, I must and will go into that house_," and quick as thought +this frail lady dashed aside the bayonet, sprang across the beat, and +entered the hall, while the sentry confused, uncertain whether he should +follow or not, stood a minute or two before resuming his step. From an +upper window Gen. Stuart laughed heartily at the scene, and was loud in +praise of her tact and pluck. + +But all this time our division has been moving through the streets of +Frederick, in fact has reached what was to have been its camping ground +for the night. The reader will excuse me; older heads and more exact +pens have frequently, when ladies intervened, made much longer +digressions. + +The halt was but for a moment. An aide-de-camp, weary-looking, on a +horse covered with foam, dashed up to the division commander, bearing an +order from the commander-in-chief that the division must join its corps +at Antietam without delay. The fight might be renewed in the morning, +and if so, fresh troops were needed. The order was communicated through +the brigade commanders to commanders of regiments, while the subordinate +field officers went from company to company encouraging the men, telling +them that a glorious victory had been gained, that the rebels were +hemmed in by the river on three sides, and our army in front; that there +was but one ford, and that a poor one, and that the rebels must either +take to the river indiscriminately, be cut to pieces, or surrender. In +short, that we had them. + +These statements were received with the most enthusiastic applause. As +the Division proceeded on its march, they were confirmed by reports of +spectators and wounded men in ambulances. What was the most significant +fact to the men who had seen the thousands of stragglers and skulkers +from the second battle of Bull Run, was the entire absence of straggling +or demoralization of any kind. Our troops must have been victorious, was +the ready and natural suggestion. The thought nerved them, and pushing +up their knapsacks, and hitching up their pantaloons, they trudged with +a will up the mountain slope. + +That mountain slope!--it would well repay a visit from one of our large +cities, to descend that mountain a bright summer afternoon. A sudden +turn in the road brings to view the sun-gilded spires of the city of +Frederick, rising as if by enchantment from one of the loveliest of +valleys. Many of the descriptions of foreign scenery pale before the +realities of this view. When will our Hawthornes and our Taylors be just +to the land of their birth? + +Scenery on that misty night could not delay the troops. The mountain-top +was gained. About half way down the northern slope of the mountain the +Division halted to obtain the benefits of a spring fifty yards from the +road. A steep path led to it, and one by one the men filed down to fill +their canteens. The delay was terribly tedious, and entirely +unnecessary, as five minutes' inquiry among the men, many of whom were +familiar with the road, would have informed the Commanding General of +abundance of excellent water, a short mile beyond, and close by the +wayside. Pride, which prevails to an unwarranted extent among too many +regular officers, is frequently the cause of much vexation. Inquiry and +exertion to lighten the labors of our brave volunteers would, with every +earnest officer, be unceasing. A short distance further a halt was +ordered for coffee, that "sublime beverage of Mocha," indispensable in +camp or in the field. Strange to say, our brigadier, who habitually +confined himself closely to cold water, was one of the most particular +of officers in ordering halts for coffee. + +South Mountain was crossed, but in the dusky light little could be seen +of the devastation caused by the late battle. "Yonder," said a wounded +man who chanced to be passing, "our gallant General lost his life." The +brave, accomplished Reno! How dearly our national integrity is +maintained! Brave spirit, in your life you thought it well worth the +cost; your death can never be considered a vain sacrifice! + +Boonsboro' was entered about day-break. The road to Sharpsburg was here +taken, and at 7-1/2 A. M., having marched during that night twenty-eight +miles, the Division stood at arms near the battle-ground along a road +crowded with ammunition trains. Inquiry was made as to the ammunition, +and the number of rounds for each man ordered to be increased +immediately from forty to sixty. + +"Pioneer! hand me that axe," said our brigadier, dismounting. +"Sergeant," addressing the sergeant of the ammunition guard, "hand out +those boxes." "The Division General has given strict orders, if you +please, General, that the boxes must pass regularly through the hands of +the ordnance officer," said the sergeant, saluting. "I am _acting_ +ordnance officer; hand out the boxes!" was the command, that from its +tone and manner brooked no delay. A box was at his feet. In an instant a +clever blow from the muscular arm of the hero of Winchester laid it +open. Another and another, until the orderly sergeant had given the +required number of rounds to every man in the brigade. "Attention! +Column! Shoulder Arms! Right Face! Right Shoulder Shift Arms!" and at a +quickstep the brigade moved towards the field. + +After passing long trains of ambulances and ammunition wagons, the boys +were saluted as they passed through the little town of Keetysville by +exhortations from the wounded, who crowded every house, and forgot their +wounds in their enthusiasm. "Fellows, you've got 'em! Give 'em h--l!" +yelled an artillery sergeant, for whom a flesh wound in the arm was +being dressed at the window by a kind-hearted looking country woman. +"Give it to 'em!" "They're fast!" "This good lady knows every foot of +the ground, and says so." The good lady smiled assent, and was saluted +with cheer upon cheer. Dead horses, a few unburied men, marks of shot in +the buildings, now told of immediate proximity to the field. A short +distance further, and the Division was drawn up in line of battle, +behind one of the singular ridges that mark this memorable ground. +Fragments of shells, haversacks, knapsacks, and the like, told how hotly +the ground had been contested on the previous day. The order to load +was quickly obeyed, and the troops, with the remainder of the Fifth +Corps in their immediate neighborhood, stood to arms. + +A large number of officers lined the crest of the ridge, and thither, +with leave, the Colonel and Lieut.-Colonel of the 210th repaired. The +scene that met their view was grand beyond description. Another somewhat +higher and more uniform ridge, running almost parallel to the ridge or +rather connected series of ridges on one of which the officers stood, +was the strong position held by the rebels on the previous day. Between +the ridges flowed the sluggish Antietam, dammed up for milling purposes. +Beyond, on the crest of the hill, gradually giving way, were the rebel +skirmishers; our own were as gradually creeping up the slope. The +skirmishers were well deployed upon both sides; and the parallel flashes +and continuous rattle of their rifles gave an interest to the scene, +ineffaceable in the minds of spectators. + +"Do you hear that shell, you can see the smoke just this side of +Sharpsburg on our left," said the Colonel, addressing his companion. +"There it bursts," and a puff of white smoke expanded itself in the air +fifty yards above one of our batteries posted on a ridge on the left. +Two pieces gave quick reply. "Officers, to your posts," shouted an +aide-de-camp, and forthwith the officers galloped to their respective +commands. + +"Boys, the ball is about to open, put your best foot foremost," said the +Colonel to his regiment. The men, excited, supposing themselves about to +pass their first ordeal of battle, straightened up, held their pieces +with tightened grips, and nervously awaited the "forward." Beyond the +sharp crack of the rifles, however, no further sound was heard. Hour +after hour passed. At length an aide from the staff of the Division +General cantered to where the Brigadier, conversing with several of his +field officers, stood, and informed him that it was the pleasure of the +Division General that the men should be made comfortable, _as no +immediate attack was apprehended_. "No immediate attack apprehended!" +echoed the Colonel. "Of course not. Why don't we attack them?" + +The aide flushed, said somewhat excitedly: "That was the order I +received, sir." + +"Boys, cook your coffee," said our Brigadier, somewhat mechanically--a +brown study pictured in his face. + +The field officers scattered to relieve their hunger, or rather their +anxiety as to the programme of the day. + +"Charlie," said the Lieut.-Col., addressing a good-humored looking +Contraband, "get our coffee ready." + +The Colonel, with the other field and staff officers, seated themselves +upon knapsacks unslung for their accommodation, silently, each +apparently waiting upon the other to open the conversation. In the +meantime several company officers who had heard of the order gathered +about them. + +"I don't understand this move at all," at length said the Colonel +nervously. "Here we are, with a reserve of thirty thousand men who have +not been in the fight at all, with ammunition untouched, perfectly fresh +and eager for the move. The troops that were engaged yesterday have for +the most part had a good night's rest and are ready and anxious for a +brush to-day. The rebels, hemmed in on three sides by the river--with a +miserable ford, and that only in one place, as every body knows, and as +there is no earthly excuse for our generals not knowing, as this ground +was canvassed often enough in the three months' service. Why don't we +advance?" continued the Colonel, rising. "Their sharpshooters are near +the woods now, and when they reach it, they'll run like Devils. Why +don't we advance? We can drive them into the river, if they like that +better than being shelled; or they can surrender, which they would +prefer to either. And as to force, I'll bet we have one third more." + +The Colonel, an impressive, fine-looking man, six feet clear in his +socks, of thirty-eight or thereabouts, delivered the above with more +than his usual earnestness. + +The Adjutant, of old Berks by birth, rather short in stature, thick-set, +with a mathematically developed head, was the first to rejoin. + +"It can't be for want of ammunition, Colonel! This corps has plenty. An +officer in a corps engaged yesterday told me that they had enough, and +you all saw the hundreds of loaded ammunition wagons that we passed in +the road close at hand--and besides, what excuse can there be? The Rebs +I understand did not get much available ammunition at the ferry. They +are far from their base of supplies, while we are scant fifteen miles +from one railroad, and twenty-eight from another, and good roads to +both." + +"Be easy," said the Major, a fine specimen of manhood, six feet two and +a half clear of his boots, an Irishman by birth, the brogue, however, if +he ever had any, lost by an early residence in this country. "Be easy. +Little Mac is a safe commander. We tried him, Colonel, in the Peninsula, +and I'll wager my pay and allowances, and God knows I need them, that +he'll have his army safe." + +"Yes, and the Rebel army too," snappishly interrupted the Colonel. + +"I have always thought," said the Lieut.-Col., "that the test of a great +commander was his ability to follow up and take advantage of a victory. +One thousand men from the ranks would bear that test triumphantly +to-day. It is a wonder that our Union men stiffened in yesterday's +fight, whose blue jackets we can see from yonder summit in the rear of +our sharpshooters, do not rise from the dead, and curse the halting +imbecility that is making their heroic struggles, and glorious deaths, +seemingly vain sacrifices." + +"Too hard, Colonel, too hard," says the Major. + +"Too hard! when results are developing before our eyes, so that every +servant, even, in the regiment can read them. Mark my word for it, +Major; Lee commenced crossing last evening, and by the time we creep to +the river at five hundred yards a day, if at all, indeed, he will have +his army over, horse, foot, and dragoons, and leave us the muskets on +the field, the dead to bury, farm-houses full of Rebel wounded to take +care of, and the battle-ground to encamp upon--a victory barely worth +the cost. Why not advance, as the Col. says. The worst they can do in +any event is to put us upon the defensive, and they can't drive us from +this ground." + +"If old Rosecranz was only here," sang out a Captain, who had been +itching for his say, and who had seen service in Western Virginia, "he +wouldn't let them pull their pantaloons and shirts off and swim across, +or wade it as if they were going out a bobbing for eels. When I was in +Western Virginia----" + +"If fighting old Joe Hooker could only take his saddle to-day," chimed +in an enthusiastic company officer, completely cutting off the Captain, +"he'd go in on his own hook." + +"And it would be," sang out a beardless and thoughtless Lieutenant-- + + "Old Joe, kicking up ahind and afore + And the Butternuts a caving in, around old Joe." + +The apt old song might have given the Lieutenant a little credit at any +other time, but the matter in hand was too provokingly serious. Coffee +and crackers were announced, the field officers commenced their meal in +silence, and the company officers returned to their respective quarters. + +The troops rested on their arms all that afternoon, at times lounging +close to the stacks. Upon the face of every reflecting officer and +private, deep mortification was depicted. It did not compare, however, +with the chagrin manifested by the Volunteer Regiments who had been +engaged in the fight, and whose thinned ranks and comrades lost made +them closely calculate consequences. Not last among the reflecting class +was our little Irish corporal. + +"Gineral," said he, advancing cap in hand, to our always accessible +Brigadier, as he sat leisurely upon his bay--"Gineral! will you permit a +corporal, and an Irishman at that, to spake a word to ye?" + +"Certainly, corporal!" the fine open countenance of the General relaxing +into a smile. + +"Gineral! didn't we beat the Rebs yesterday?" + +"So they say, corporal." + +"Don't the river surround them, and can they cross at more than one +place, and that a bad one, as an ould woman whose pig I saved to-day +tould me?" + +"The river is on their three sides, and they have only one ford, and +that a bad one, corporal." + +"Thin why the Divil don't we charge?" + +"Corporal!" said the General, laughing, "I am not in command of the +army, and can't say." + +"Bad luck to our stars that ye aren't, Gineral! there would be somebody +hurt to-day thin, and it would be the bluidy Butthernuts, I'm thinking." +The corporal gave this ready compliment as only an Irishman can, and +withdrew. + +At dusk orders were received for the men to sleep by their arms. But +there was no sleep to many an eye until a late hour that night. Never +while life lasts will survivors forget the exciting conversations of +that day and night. "Tired nature," however, claimed her dues, and one +by one, officers and privates at late hours betook themselves to their +blankets. The stars, undisturbed by struggles on this little planet, +were gazed at by many a wakeful eye. Those same stars will look down as +placidly upon the future faithful historian, whose duty it will be to +place first in the list of cold, costly military mistakes, the blunder +of the day after the battle of Antietam. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_The March to the River--Our Citizen Soldiery--Popularity of Commanders +how Lost and how Won--The Rebel Dead--How the Rebels repay Courtesy._ + + +An early call to arms was sounded upon the succeeding morning, and the +Division rapidly formed. The batteries that had been posted at +commanding points upon the series of ridges during the previous day and +night were withdrawn, and the whole Corps moved along a narrow road, +that wound beautifully among the ridges. + +The Volunteer Regiments were unusually quiet; the thoughts of the night +previous evidently lingered with them. The American Volunteer is no mere +machine. Rigorous discipline will give him soldierly +characteristics--teach him that unity of action with his comrades and +implicit obedience of orders are essential to success. But his +independence of thought remains; he never forgets that he is a citizen +soldier; he reads and reflects for himself. Few observant officers of +volunteers but have noticed that affairs of national polity, movements +of military commanders, are not unfrequently discussed by men in +blouses, about camp fires and picket stations, with as much practical +ability and certainly quite as courteously, as in halls where +legislators canvass them at a nation's cost. It has been justly +remarked that in no army in the world is the average standard of +intelligence so high, as in the American volunteer force. The same +observation might be extended to earnestness of purpose and honesty of +intention. The doctrine has long since been exploded that scoundrels +make the best soldiers. Men of no character under discipline will fight, +but they fight mechanically. The determination so necessary to success +is wanting. European serfs trained with the precision of puppets, and +like puppets unthinking, are wanting in the dash that characterizes our +volunteers. That creature of impulse the Frenchman, under all that is +left of the first Napoleon, the shadow of a mighty name, will charge +with desperation, but fails in the cool and quiet courage so essential +in seeming forlorn resistance. In what other nation can you combine the +elements of the American volunteer? It may be said that the British +Volunteer Rifle Corps would prove a force of similar character. In many +respects undoubtedly they would; as yet there is no basis of comparison. +Their soldierly attainments have not been tested by the realities of +war. + +There was ample food for reflection. On the neighboring hills heavy +details of soldiers were gathering the rebel dead in piles preparatory +to committing them to the trenches, at which details equally heavy, +vigorously plied the pick and spade. Our own dead, with few exceptions, +had already been buried; and the long rows of graves marked by head and +foot boards, placed by the kind hands of comrades, attested but too +sadly how heavily we had peopled the ridges. + +While the troops were _en route_, the Commander-in-Chief in his hack and +four, followed by a staff imposing in numbers, passed. The Regulars +cheered vociferously. The applause from the Volunteers was brief, +faint, and a most uncertain sound, and yet many of these same Volunteer +Regiments were rapturous in applause, previous to and during the battle. +Attachment to Commanders so customary among old troops--so desirable in +strengthening the morale of the army--cannot blind the intelligent +soldier to a grave mistake--a mistake that makes individual effort +contemptible. True, a great European Commander has said that soldiers +will become attached to any General; a remark true of the times +perhaps--true of the troops of that day,--but far from being true of +volunteers, who are in the field from what they consider the necessity +of the country, and whose souls are bent upon a speedy, honorable, and +victorious termination of the war. + +A glance at the manner in which our Volunteer Regiments are most +frequently formed, will, perhaps, best illustrate this. A town meeting +is called, speeches made appealing to the patriotic, to respond to the +necessities of the country; lists opened and the names of mechanics, +young attorneys, clerks, merchants, farmers' sons, dry-goods-men and +their clerks, and others of different pursuits, follow each other in +strange succession, but with like earnestness of purpose. An intelligent +soldiery gathered in this way, will not let attachments to men blind +them as to the effects of measures. + +About 10 A. M., our brigade was drawn up in line of battle on a ridge +overlooking the well riddled little town of Sharpsburg. Arms were +stacked, and privilege given many officers and men to examine the +adjacent ground. A cornfield upon our right, along which upon the north +side ran a narrow farm road, that long use had sunk to a level of two +and in most places three feet, below the surface of the fields, had been +contested with unusual fierceness. Blue and grey lay literally with +arms entwined as they fell in hand to hand contest. The fence rails had +been piled upon the north side of the road, and in the rifle pit formed +to their hand with this additional bulwark, they poured the most galling +of fires with comparative impunity upon our troops advancing to the +charge. A Union battery, however, came to the rescue, and an enfilading +fire of but a few moments made havoc unparalleled. Along the whole line +of rebel occupation, their bodies could have been walked upon, so +closely did they lie. Pale-faced, finely featured boys of sixteen, their +delicate hands showing no signs of toil, hurried by a misguided +enthusiasm from fond friends and luxurious family firesides, contrasted +strangely with the long black hair, lank looks of the Louisiana Tiger, +or the rough, bloated, and bearded face of the Backwoodsman of Texas. A +Brigadier, who looked like an honest, substantial planter, lay half over +the rails, upon which he had doubtless stood encouraging his men, while +lying half upon his body were two beardless boys, members of his staff, +and not unlikely of his family. Perhaps all the male members of that +family had been hurried at once from life by that single shell. The +sight was sickening. Who, if privileged, would be willing to fix a limit +to God's retributive justice upon the heads of the infamous, and in many +instances cowardly originators of this Rebellion! + +Cavalry scouting parties brought back the word that the country to the +river was clear of the rebels, and in accordance with what seemed to be +the prevailing policy of the master-mind of the campaign, immediate +orders to move were then issued. The troops marched through that village +of hospitals,--Sharpsburg--and halted within a mile and a half of the +river, in the rear of a brick dwelling, which was then taken and +subsequently used as the Head-Quarters of Major-General Fitz John +Porter. A line of battle was again formed, arms stacked, and an order +issued that the ground would be occupied during the night. + +In the morning the march was again resumed by a road which wound around +the horseshoe-shaped bend in the river. When approaching the river, +firing was heard, apparently as if from the other side, and a short +distance further details were observed carrying wounded men and ranging +them comfortably around the many hay and straw stacks of the +neighborhood. Inquiry revealed that a reconnoitring party, misled by the +apparent quiet of the other side, had crossed, fallen into an ambuscade, +and under the most galling of fires, artillery and musketry, kept up +most unmercifully by the advancing rebels, who thus ungraciously repaid +the courtesy shown them the day after Antietam--had been compelled to +recross that most difficult ford. Our loss was frightful--one new and +most promising regiment was almost entirely destroyed. + +The men thought of the dead earnestness of the rebels, and as they moved +forward around the winding Potomac--deep, full of shelving, sunken +rocks, from the dam a short distance above the ford, that formerly fed +the mill owned by a once favorably known Congressman, A. R. Boteler, to +where it was touched by our line--they reviewed with redoubled force, +the helplessness of the rebels a few days previously, and to say the +least, the carelessness of the leader of the Union army. + +The regimental camp was selected in a fine little valley that narrowed +into a gap between the bluffs, bordering upon the canal, sheltered by +wood, and having every convenience of water. The rebels had used it but +a few days previously, and the necessity was immediate for heavy details +for police duty. And here we passed quite unexpectedly six weeks of days +more pleasant to the men than profitable to the country, and of which +something may be said in our two succeeding chapters. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_A Regimental Baker--Hot Pies--Position of the Baker in line of +Battle--Troubles of the Baker--A Western Virginia Captain on a Whiskey +Scent--The Baker's Story--How to obtain Political Influence--Dancing +Attendance at Washington--What Simon says--Confiscation of Whiskey._ + + +Besides the indispensables of quartermaster and sutler the 210th had +what might be considered a luxury in the shape of a baker, who had +volunteered to accompany the regiment, and furnish hot cakes, bread, and +pies. Tom Hudson was an original in his way, rather short of stature, +far plumper and more savory-looking than one of his pies, with a +pleasing countenance and twinkling black eye, that meant humor or +roguishness as circumstances might demand, and a never-ending supply of +what is always popular, dry humor. He was just the man to manage the +thousand caprices of appetite of a thousand different men. While in +camps accessible to the cities of Washington and Alexandria, matters +moved smoothly enough. His zinc-plated bakery was always kept fired up, +and a constant supply of hot pies dealt out to the long strings of men, +who would stand for hours anxiously awaiting their turn. A movement of +the baker's interpreted differently by himself and the men, at one time +created considerable talk and no little feeling. On several occasions +the trays were lifted out of the oven, and the pies dashed upon the +out-spread expectant hands, with such force as to break the too often +half-baked undercrust. In consequence the juices would ooze out, trickle +scalding hot between the fingers, and compel the helpless man to drop +the pie. One unfortunate fellow lost four pies in succession. As they +cost fifteen cents apiece, the pocket was too much interested to let the +matter escape notice. A non-commissioned officer, who had lost a pie, +savagely returned to the stand, and demanded another pie or his money. +The baker was much too shrewd for that. The precedent, if set, would +well nigh exhaust his stock of pies, and impoverish his cash drawer. + +"I say," said the officer, turning to the men, "it is a trick. He wants +to sell as many pies as he can. He knows well enough that when one falls +in this mud fifteen cents are gone slap." + +"Now, boys," said the baker blandly, "you know me better than that. I'd +scorn to do an act of that kind for fifteen cents. You know how it +is--what a rush there always is here. You want the pies as soon as +baked, and baking makes them hot. Now I want to accommodate you all as +soon as possible, and of course I serve them out as soon as baked. You +had better all get tin-plates or boards." + +"That won't go down, old fellow," retorted the officer. "You know that +there is hardly a tin-plate in camp, and boards are not to be had." + +A wink from the baker took the officer to the private passage in the +rear of his tent. What happened there is known but to the two, but ever +after the officer held his peace. Not so with the men. However, as the +pies were not dealt out as hot in future, the matter gradually passed +from their minds. + +To make himself popular with the men, Tom resorted to a variety of +expedients, one of which was to assure them that in case of an +enterprise that promised danger, he would be with them. He was taken up +quite unexpectedly. An ammunition train on the morning of the second +battle of Bull Run, bound to the field, required a convoy. The regiment +was detailed. Tom's assertions had come to the ears of the regimental +officers, and without being consulted, he was provided with a horse, and +told to keep near the Adjutant. There was a drizzling rain all day long, +but through it came continually the booming of heavy ordnance. + +"Colonel! how far do you suppose that firing is?" "And are they Rebel +cannon?" were frequent inquiries made by Tom during the day. About noon +he asserted that he could positively ride no further. But ride he must +and ride he did. The Regiment halted near Centreville, having passed +Porter's Corps on the way and convoyed the Train to the required point. +After a short halt the homeward route was taken and Tom placed in the +rear. By some accident, frequent when trains take up the road, he became +separated from the Regiment and lost among the teams. The Regiment moved +on, and as it was now growing dark, turned into a wood about half a mile +distant, for the night. Tom had just learned his route, when "ping!" +came a shell from a Rebel battery on a hill to the left, exploded among +some team horses, and created awful confusion. He suddenly forgot his +soreness, and putting spurs to his horse at a John Gilpin speed, rode +by, through and over, as he afterwards said, the teams. The shells flew +rapidly. Tom dodged as if every one was scorching his hair, at the same +time giving a vigorous kick to the rear with both heels. At his speed +he was soon by the teams; in fact did not stop until he was ten Virginia +miles from that scene of terror. But we will meet him again in the +morning. + +The Regiment was soon shelled out of the wood, and compelled to continue +its march. Three miles further they encamped in a meadow, passed a wet +night without shelter, and early next morning were again upon the road. +Thousands of stragglers lined the way, living upon rations plundered +from broken-down baggage wagons--lounging lazily around fires that were +kept in good glow by rails from the fences near which they were built. +The preceding day these stragglers and skulkers were met in squads at +every step of the road. At a point sufficiently remote from danger, +their camps commenced. In one of these camps, situated in a fence +corner, the baker was espied, stretched at full length and fast asleep, +upon two rails placed at a gentle slope at right angles to the fence. +Surrounding him were filthy, mean-looking representatives of +half-a-dozen various regiments--the Zouave more gay than gallant in +flaming red breeches--blouses, dress coats, and even a pair of shoulder +straps, assisted to complete the crowd. Near by was tied his jaded +horse. + +The baker was awakened. To his surprise, as he said, he saw the +regiment, as he had supposed them to be much nearer home than himself. +One of his graceless comrades, however, bluntly contradicted this, and +accused him of being mortally frightened when he halted the night +before, as although they assured him that he was full ten miles from +danger, he insisted that these rifled guns had terribly long range. The +baker remonstrated, and quietly resumed his place by the Adjutant and +Colonel. + +"I have been thinking, Colonel," said he, in the course of a half hour, +riding alongside of the Colonel, and speaking in an undertone, "that I +ran a great risk unnecessarily." + +"Why?" asked the Colonel. + +"You see my exhortations are worth far more to the men than my example. +When they crowd my quarters, as they do every morning, I never fail to +deal out patriotic precepts with my pies." + +"But particularly the pies," retorted the Colonel. + +"That is another branch of my case," slily continued the baker. +"Suppose, if such a calamity can be dwelt upon, that I had been killed, +and there was only one mule between me and death, who would have run my +bakery? who," elevating his voice, "would have furnished hot rolls for +the officers, and warm bread cakes and pies for the men? Riding along +last night, these matters were all duly reflected upon, and I wound up, +by deciding that the regiment could not afford to lose me." + +"But you managed to lose the regiment," replied the Colonel. + +"Pure accident that, I assure you, upon honor. Now in line of battle I +have taken pains to ascertain my true position, but this confounded +marching by the flank puts me out of sorts. In line of battle the +quartermaster says he is four miles in the rear--the sutler says that he +is four miles behind the quartermaster, and as it would look singular +upon paper to shorten the distance for the baker, besides other good +reasons, I suppose I am four miles behind the sutler." + +"Completely out of range for all purposes," observed the Adjutant, who +had slily listened with interest. + +"There is a good reason for that position, it is well chosen, and shows +foresight," continued the baker, dropping his rein, and enforcing his +remarks by apt gestures. "Suppose we are in line of battle, and the +Rebels in line facing us at easy rifle range. Their prisoners say that +they have lived for a month past on roasted corn and green apples. Now +what will equal the daring of a hungry man! These Rebel Commanders are +shrewd in keeping their men hungry; our men have heart for the fight, it +is true, but the rebels have a stomach for it--they hunger for a chance +at the spoils. The quartermaster then with his crackers, as they must +not be needlessly inflamed, must be kept out of sight--the sutler, too, +with his stores, must be kept shady--but above all the baker. Suppose +the baker to be nearer," said he, with increased earnestness, "and a +breeze should spring up towards their lines bearing with it the smell of +warm bread, the rebels would rise instanter on tip-toe, snuff a +minute--concentrate on the bakery, and no two ranks or columns doubled +on the centre, could keep the hungry devils back. Our line pierced, we +might lose the day--lose the day, sir." + +"And the baker," said the Major, joining in the laugh caused by his +argument. + +Shortly after that march, matters went indifferently with the baker. +Camp was changed frequently, and over the rough roads he kept up with +difficulty. + +A week after the battle of Antietam, after satisfying himself fully of +the departure of the Rebels, he arrived in camp. He had picked up by the +way an ill-favored assistant, whose tent stood on the hill side some +little distance from the right flank of the regiment. + +Two nights after his arrival there was a commotion in camp. A tonguey +corporal, slightly under regulation size, in an exuberance of spirits, +had mounted a cracker-box almost immediately in front of the sutler's +tent, and commenced a lively harangue. He told how he had left a +profitable grocery business to serve his country--his pecuniary +sacrifices--but above all, the family he had left behind. + +"And you've blissed them by taking your characther with you," chimed in +the little Irish corporal. + +"Where did you steal your whiskey?" demanded a second. + +The confusion increased, the crowd was dispersed by the guard, all at +the expense of the sutler's credit, as it was rumored that he had +furnished the stimulant. + +The sutler indignantly demanded an investigation, and three officers, +presumed to possess a scent for whiskey above their fellows, were +detailed for the duty. One of these was our friend the Virginia captain. + +Under penalty of losing his stripes, the corporal confessed that he had +obtained the liquor at the baker's. Thither the following evening the +detail repaired. The assistant denied all knowledge of the liquor. He +was confronted with the corporal, and admitted the charge, and that but +three bottles remained. + +"By ----," said our Western Virginia captain, hands in pocket, "I smell +ten more. There are just thirteen bottles or I'll lose my straps." + +The confidence of the captain impressed the detail, and they went to +work with a will--emptying barrels of crackers, probing with a bayonet +sacks of flour, etc. A short search, to the pretended amazement of the +assistant, proved the correctness of the captain's scent. The baker was +sent for, and with indignant manner and hands lifted in holy horror, he +poured volley after volley of invective at the confounded assistant. + +"But, gentlemen," said the baker, dropping his tone, "I've known worse +things than this to happen. I've known even bakers to get tight." + +"And your bacon would have stood a better chance of being saved if you +had got tight, instead of putting a non-commissioned officer in that +condition," said one of the detail. "The Colonel, I am afraid, Tom, will +clear you out." + +"Well," sighed the baker, after a pause of a moment, "talk about Job and +all the other unfortunates since his day, why not one of them had my +variety of suffering. Did you ever hear any of my misfortunes?" + +"We see one." + +"My life has been a series of mishaps. I prosper occasionally in small +things, but totals knock me. God help me if I hadn't a sure port in a +storm--a self-supporting wife. For instance--but I can't commence that +story without relieving my thirst." A bottle was opened, drinks had all +around, and the baker continued-- + +"You see, gentlemen, when Simon was in political power, I waggled +successfully and extensively among the coal mines in Central +Pennsylvania. In those localities voters are kept underground until +election day, and they then appear above often in such unexpected force +as to knock the speculations of unsophisticated politicians. But Simon +was not one of that stripe. He knew his men--the real men of influence; +not men that have big reputations created by active but less widely +known under-workers, but the under-workers themselves. Simon dealt with +these, and he rarely mistook his men. Now I was well known in those +parts--kept on the right side of the boys, and the boys tried to keep on +the right side of me, and Simon knew it. No red tape fettered Simon, as +the boys say it tied our generals the other side of Sharpsburg in order +to let the Rebs have time to cross. If the measures that his shrewd +foresight saw were necessary for the suppression of this Rebellion, at +its outbreak, had been adopted, we would be encamped somewhat lower down +in Dixie than the Upper Potomac--if indeed there would be any necessity +for our being in service at all. + +"He was not a man of old tracks, like a ground mole; indeed like some +military commanders who seem lost outside of them; but of ready +resources and direct routes, gathering influence now by one means and +then by another, and perhaps both novel. Now Simon set me at work in +this wise. + +"'Tom,' one morning, says an old and respected citizen of our place, who +knew my father and my father's father, and me as an unlucky dog from my +cradle, 'Tom, did ever any idea of getting a permanent and profitable +position--say, as you are an excellent penman--as clerk in one of the +departments at Harrisburg or Washington, enter your head?' + +"At this I straightened up, drew up my shirt collar, pulled down my +vest, and said with a sort of hopeful inquiry, 'Why should there?' + +"'Tom, you are wasting your most available talent. Do you know that you +have influence--and political influence at that?' + +"Another hitch at my shirt collar and pull at my vest, as visions of the +Brick Capitol at Harrisburg and the White one at Washington danced +before my eyes. + +"'Did you ever reflect, Tom, upon the source of political power?' +continued the old gentleman, and without waiting for an answer, +fortunately, as I was fast becoming dumbfoundered, 'the people, Tom, the +people; not you and I, so much as that miner,' said he, pointing to a +rough ugly-looking fellow that I had kicked out of my wife's +bar-room--or, rather, got my ostler to do it--two nights before, 'That +man, Tom, is a representative of thousands; we may represent but +ourselves. Now these people are controlled. They neither think nor act +for themselves, as a general rule; somebody does that for them. Now,' as +he spoke, trying to take me by a pulled-out button-hole, 'you might as +well be that somebody as any man I know.' + +"'Why, Lord bless you, Mr. Simpson, I can't do my own thinking, and as +to acting, my wife says I am acting the fool all day long.' + +"'Tom, you don't comprehend me, you know our county sends three members +to the State Legislature, and that they elect a United States Senator.' + +"'Yes.' + +"'Well, now, our county can send Simon C---- to the United States +Senate.' + +"'But our county oughtn't to do it,'--my whig prejudices that I had +imbibed with my mother's milk coming up strong. + +"'Tut, tut, Tom, didn't I stand shoulder to shoulder with your father in +the old Clay Legion? Whiggery has had its day, and Henry Clay would +stand with us now.' + +"'But with Simon's?' + +"'Yes, Simon's principles have undergone a wholesome change.' + +"I couldn't see it, but didn't like to contradict the old man, and he +continued. + +"'Now, Thomas, be a man; you have influence. I know you have it.' Here I +straightened up again. 'Just look at the miners who frequent your hotel, +each of them has influence, and don't you think that you could control +their votes? Should you succeed, Simon's Scotch blood will never let him +forget a friend.' + +"'Or forgive an enemy,' I added. + +"'Tom, don't let your foolish prejudices stand in the way of your +success. Your father would advise as I do.' + +"'Mr. S., I'll try.' + +"'That's the word, Tom,' said the old man, patting me on the shoulder. +'It runs our steam-engines, builds our factories, in short, has made our +country what it is.' + +"I took Mr. S.'s hand, thanked him for his suggestions, with an effort +swallowed my prejudices against the old Chieftain, and resolved to work +as became my new idea of my position. + +"By the way, the recollection of that effort to swallow makes my throat +dry, and it's a long time between drinks." + +Another round at the bottle, and Tom resumed. + +"'Well, work I did, like a beaver; there wasn't a miner in my +neighborhood that I didn't treat, and a miner's baby that I didn't kiss, +and often their wives, as some unprincipled scoundrel one day told Mrs. +Hudson, to the great injury of my ears and shins for almost a week, and +the upshot of the business was, that my township turned a political +somerset. Friends of Simon's, in disguise, went to Harrisburg, were +successful, and I was not among the last to congratulate him. + +"'Mr. Hudson,' said the Prince of politicians, 'how can I repay you for +your services?' + +"Like a fool, as my wife always told me I was, I made no suggestion, but +let the remark pass with the tameness of a sheep--merely muttering that +it was a pleasure to serve him. Simon went to Washington--made no +striking hits on the floor, but was great on committees. + +"Another idea entered my noddle, this clip without the aid of Mr. S. My +penmanship came into play. Days and nights of most laborious work +produced a full length portrait of Simon, that at the distance of ten +feet could not be distinguished from a fine engraving. I seized my +opportunity, found Simon in cozy quarters opposite Willard's, and +presented it in person. He was delighted--his daughter was delighted--a +full-faced heavily bearded Congressman present was delighted, and after +repeated assurances of 'thine to serve,' on the part of the Senator, I +crossed to my hotel--not Willard's--hadn't as yet sufficient elevation +of person and depth of purse for that,--but an humbler one in a back +street. Next day I saw my handiwork in the Rotunda--the admiration of +all but a black long-haired puppy, an M. C. and F. F. V., as I +afterwards learned, who said to a lady at his elbow who had admired it, +'Practice makes some of the poor clerks at the North tolerably good +pensmen.' I could have kicked him, but thought it might interfere with +the little matter in hand. + +"'Tom,' said the senatorial star of my hopes one day, when my purse had +become as lean as a June shad, 'Tom, there is a place of $800 a year, I +have in view. A Senator is interfering, but I think it can be managed. +You must have patience, these things take time. I will write to you as +early as any definite result is attained.' + +"Relying on Simon's management, which in his own case had never failed, +next morning saw me in the cars with light heart and lighter purse, +bound for home and Mrs. H., who I am always proud to think regretted my +absence more than my presence, although she would not admit it. + +"Days passed; months passed; my wife reproached me with lost time--my +picture was gone; I had not heard from Simon; I ventured to write; next +mail brought a letter rich in indefinite promises. + +"Years passed, and Simon was Secretary of War at a time when the office +had influence, position, and patronage, unequalled in its previous +history. 'Now is your time, Tom,' something within whispered--not +conscience--for that did not seem to favor my connection with Simon. + +"I wrote again. Quarter-Masters, Clerks by the thousands, Paymasters--I +was always remarkably ready in disposing of funds--and Heaven only knows +what not were wanted in alarming numbers. Active service was proposed by +Simon; but you know, gentlemen, I am constitutionally disqualified for +that. And after tediously waiting months longer, I succeeded without +Simon's aid in obtaining my present honorable but unfortunate position. + +"And that reminds me of the whiskey, another round, men." It was taken; +Tom's idea was to drink the detail into forgetfulness of their errand. +But he missed his men. He might as well have tried to lessen a sponge by +soaking it. The Virginia Captain announced that the Colonel had ordered +them to confiscate the whiskey for the use of the Hospital, and to the +Surgeon's quarters the detail must next proceed. The Captain gathered up +the bottles. The detail bowed themselves out of the tent, and poor Tom +thought his misfortunes crowned, as he saw them leave laboring under a +load of liquor inside and out. At the Surgeon's tent we will again see +them. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_The Scene at the Surgeon's Quarters--Our Little Dutch Doctor--Incidents +of his Practice.--His Messmate the Chaplain--The Western Virginia +Captain's account of a Western Virginia Chaplain--His Solitary oath--How +he Preached, how he Prayed, and how he Bush-whacked--His revenge of +Snowden's death--How the little Dutch doctor applied the Captain's +Story._ + + +Taps had already been sounded before the detail arrived at the Surgeon's +tent. The only Surgeon present had retired to his blankets. Aroused by +the blustering, he soon lit a candle, and sticking the camp candlestick +into the ground, invited them in. + +And here we must introduce the Assistant-Surgeon, or rather the little +Dutch Doctor as he was familiarly called by the men. Considering his +character and early connexion with the regiment, we are at fault in not +giving him an earlier place in these pages. + +The Doctor was about five feet two in height, hardly less in +circumference about the waist, of an active habit of body and turn of +mind, eyes that winked rapidly when he was excited, and a movable scalp +which threw his forehead into multiform wrinkles as cogitations beneath +it might demand. A Tyrolese by birth, he was fond of his Father-land, +its mountain songs, and the customs of its people. Topics kindred to +these were an unfailing fund of conversation with him. Thoroughly +educated, his conversation in badly-broken English, for he made little +progress in acquiring the language, at once amused and instructed. Among +his fellow surgeons and officers of his acquaintance, he ranked high as +a skilful surgeon on account of superior attainments, acquired partly +through the German Universities and partly in the Austrian service, +during the campaign of Magenta, Solferino, and the siege of Mantua. With +a German's fondness for music, he beguiled the tedium of many a long +winter evening. With his German education he had imbibed radicalism to +its full extent. Thoroughly conversant with the Sacred Scriptures he was +a doubter, if not a positive unbeliever, from the Pentateuch to +Revelation. In addition to this, his flings at the Chaplain, his +messmate, made him unpopular with the religiously inclined of the +regiment. He had besides, the stolidity of the German, and their cool +calculating practicalism. This did not always please the men. They +thought him unfeeling. + +"What for you shrug your shoulders?' said he on one occasion to a man +from whose shoulders he was removing a large fly blister. + +"It hurts." + +"Bah, wait till I cuts your leg off--and you know what hurts." + +"Here, you sick man, here goot place," said he, addressing a man just +taken to the hospital with fever, in charge of an orderly sergeant, at +surgeon's call, "goot place, nice, warm, dead man shust left." Remarks +such as these did not, of course, tend to increase the comfort of the +men; they soon circulated among the regiment, were discussed in +quarters, and as may be supposed greatly exaggerated, and all at the +Doctor's cost. But the Doctor pursued the even tenor of his way, +entirely unmindful of them. + +About the time of which we write, a clever, honest man died of a disease +always sudden in its termination, rheumatic attack upon the heart. The +Doctor had informed him fully of his disease, and that but little could +be done for it. The poor man, however, was punctual in attendance at +Surgeon's Call, and insisted upon some kind of medicine. Bread pills +were furnished. One morning, after great complaint of pain about the +heart, and a few spasms, he died. His comrades, shocked, thought his +death the effect of improper medicine. The Doctor's pride was touched. +He insisted upon calling in other surgeons; the pills found in his +pocket were analyzed, and discovered to be only bread. The corpse was +opened, and the cause of death fully revealed. As the Doctor walked away +in stately triumph, some of the men who had been boisterous against him, +approached by way of excusing their conduct, and said that now they were +perfectly satisfied. "What you know!" was his gruff reply, "you not know +a man's heart from a pig's." + +Many like incidents might be told--but we must not leave these Captains +standing too long at the door of the tent; with the production of the +light in they came, with the remark that they had brought hospital +supplies. In the meantime several officers, field and company, attracted +by the noise and whiskey; came in from regimental head-quarters. + +"Must see if goot," and the Doctor applied the bottle to his lips; it +was not a favorite drink of his, and tasted badly in lieu of Rhine wine +or lager. + +"May be goot whiskey." + +"Let practical whiskey drinkers have a chance," said two or three at +once, and the bottle went its round. + +The test was not considered satisfactory until another and another had +been emptied. + +The increasing confusion aroused the Chaplain, who hitherto had been +snugly ensconced beneath his blankets in the corner opposite the Doctor. + +"Here, Chaplain, your opinion, and don't let us hear anything about +putting the bottle to your neighbor's lips," said a rough voice in the +crowd. The Chaplain politely declined, with the remark that they +appeared too anxious to put the bottle to their own lips to require any +assistance from their neighbors. + +"Chaplain not spiritually minded," muttered the Doctor, "so far but +three preaches, and every preach cost government much as sixty tollar." +The calculation at the Chaplain's expense, amused the crowd, and annoyed +the Chaplain, who resumed his blankets. + +"When I was in Western Virginny, under Rosecrans,"-- + +"The old start and good for a yarn," said an officer. + +"Good for facts," replied the Chief of the Detail. + +"Never mind, Captain, we'll take it as fact," said the Adjutant. + +"We had a chaplain that was a chaplain in every sense of the word." + +"Did he drink and swear?" inquired a member of the Detail. + +"On long marches and in fights he had a canteen filled with what he +called chaplain's cordial, about one part whiskey and three water. I +tasted it, but with little comfort. One day, a member of Rosy's staff +seeing him pulling at it, asked for it, and after a strong pull, told +the chaplain that he was weak in spiritual things. 'Blessed are the poor +in spirit,' was the quick answer of the chaplain. As to swearing, he was +never known to swear but once. + +"I heard an officer tell the Adjutant a day or two ago, that what was +considered the prettiest sentence in the English language, had been +written by a smutty preacher. I don't recollect the words as he repeated +it, but it was about an old officer, who nursed a young one, and some +one told him the young one would die. The old officer excited, said, 'By +G--d, he sha'nt die.' It goes on to say then that an Angel flew up to +heaven, to enter it in the great Book of Accounts, and that the Angel +who made the charge cried over it and blotted it out. That is the +substance anyhow. Well, sir, if the Third Virginny's Chaplain's oath was +ever recorded it is in the same fix." + +"Well, tell us about it, how it happened," exclaimed several. + +"Why you see, Rosy sent over one day for a Major who had lately come +into the Division, and told him that 300 rebels were about six miles to +our left, in the bushes along a creek, and that he should take 300 men, +and kill, capture, or drive them off. The Major was about to make a +statement. 'That's all, Major,' with a wave of his hand for him to +leave, 'I expect a good account.' + +"That was Rosy's style: he told an officer what he wanted, and he +supposed the officer had gumption enough to do it, without bothering +him, as some of our red-tape or pigeon-hole Generals, as the boys call +them, do with long written statements that a memory like a tarred stick +couldn't remember--telling where these ten men must be posted, those +twenty-five, and another thirty, etc. I wonder what such office Generals +think--that the Rebels will be fools enough to attack us when we want +them to, or take ground that we would like to have them make a stand +on." + +"Captain, we talk enough ourselves about that; on with the story." + +"Well, four companies, seventy-five strong each, were detailed to go +with him, and mine among the number, from our regiment. The chaplain got +wind of it, and go he would. By the time the detail was ready, he had +his bullets run, his powder-horn and fixin's on, and long Tom, as he +called his Kentucky rifle, slung across his shoulder." + +"His canteen?" inquired an officer disposed to be a little troublesome. + +"Don't recollect about that," said the Captain, somewhat curtly. + +"On the march he mixed with the men, talked with them about all kinds of +useful matters, and gave them a world of information. + +"We had got about a mile from where we supposed the Rebels were; my +company, in advance as skirmishers, had just cleared a wood, and were +ten yards in the open, when the Butternuts opened fire from a wood ahead +at long rifle range. One man was slightly wounded. We placed him against +a tree with his back to the Rebels, and under cover of the woods were +deciding upon a plan of attack, when up gallops our fat Major with just +breath enough to say, 'My God, what's to be done?' + +"I'll never forget the chaplain's look at that. He had unslung long Tom; +holding it up in his right hand, he fairly yelled out, 'Fight, by G--d! +Boys, follow me.' And we did follow him. Skirting around through +underbrush to our left, concealed from the Rebs, we came to an open +again of about thirty yards. The Rebs had retired about eighty yards in +the wood to where it was thicker. + +"Out sprang the Chaplain, making a worm fence, Indian fashion, for a big +chestnut. We followed in same style. My orderly was behind another +chestnut about ten feet to the Chaplain's left, and slightly to his +rear. There was for a spell considerable random firing, but no one hurt, +and the Rebs again retired a little. We soon saw what the Chaplain was +after. About eighty-five yards in his front was another big chestnut, +and behind it a Rebel officer. They blazed away at each other in fine +style--both good shots, as you could tell by the bark being chipped, now +just where the Chaplain's head was, and now just where the officer's +was. The officer was left-handed. The Chaplain could fire right or left +equally well. By a kind of instinct for fair play and no gouging that +even the Rebs feel at times, the rest on both sides looked at that +fight, and wouldn't mix. My orderly had several chances to bring the +Rebel. Their rifles cracked in quick succession for quite a spell. The +Chaplain, at last, not wanting an all-day affair of it, carefully again +drew a bead on a level with the chip marks on the left of the Rebel +tree. He had barely time to turn his head without deranging the aim, +when a ball passed through the rim of his hat. As he turned his head, he +gave a wink to the orderly, who was quick as lightning in taking a hint. +A pause for nearly a minute. By and by the Rebel pokes his head out to +see what was the matter. Seeing the gun only, and thinking the Chaplain +would give him a chance when he'd take aim, he did not pull it in as +quick as usual. My orderly winked,--a sharp crack, and the Rebel officer +threw up his hands, dropped his rifle, and fell backward, with well nigh +an ounce ball right over his left eye, through and through his head. Our +men cheered for the Chaplain. The Rebs fired in reply, and rushed to +secure the body. That cost them three more men, but they got their +bodies, and fast as legs could carry them, cut to their fort about +three miles to their rear. We of course couldn't attack the fort, and +returned to camp. The boys were loud in praise of the Chaplain. Their +chin music, as they called camp rumors, had it that the officer killed +was a Rebel chaplain. Old Rosy, when he heard of it, laughed, and swore +like a trooper. I hear he has got over swearing now--but it couldn't +have been until after he left Western Virginny. I heard our Chaplain say +that he heard a brother chaplain say, and he believed him to be a +Christian,--that he believed that the Apostle Paul himself would learn +to swear inside of six months, if he entered the service in Western +Virginny. Washington prayed at Trenton, and swore at Monmouth, and I +don't believe that the War Department requires Chaplains to be better +Christians than Washington. Our old Chaplain used to say that there were +many things worse than swearing, and that he didn't believe that men +often swore away their chances of heaven." + +"Comforting gospel for you, captain," said that troublesome officer. + +"He was a bully chaplain," continued the captain, becoming more +animated, probably because the regimental chaplain, turtle-like, had +again protruded his head from between the blankets. "He had no long +tailed words or doctrines that nobody understood, that tire soldiers, +because they don't understand them, and make them think that the +chaplain is talking only to a few officers. That's what so often keeps +men away from religious services. Our chaplain used to say that you +could tell who Paul was talking to by his style of talk. I can't say how +that is from my own reading; but I always heard that Paul was a sensible +man, and if so he certainly would suit himself to the understanding of +his crowd." + +"Our old chaplain talked right at you. No mistake he meant +you--downright, plain, practical, and earnest. He'd tell his crowd of +backwoodsmen, flatboatmen and deck hands--the hardest customers that the +gospel was ever preached to,--'That the war carried on by the Government +was the most righteous of wars; they were doing God's service by +fighting in it. On the part of the rebels it was the most unnatural and +wicked of wars. They called it a second Revolutionary War, the +scoundrels! When my father and your father, Tom Hulzman,' said he, +addressing one of his hearers, 'fought in the Revolution, they fought +against a tyrannical monarchy that was founded upon a landed +aristocracy--that is, rich big feeling people, that owned very big +farms. The Government stands in this war, if any thing, better than our +fathers stood. We fight against what is far worse than a landed +aristocracy, meaner in the sight of God and more hated by honest men, +this accursed slave aristocracy, that will, if they whip us--(Can't do +that, yell the crowd.) No, they can't. If they should, we would be no +better than the poor whites that are permitted to live a dog's life on +some worn-out corner of a nigger-owner's plantation. Would you have your +children, Joe Dixon, insulted, made do the bidding of some long-haired +lank mulatto nabob? (Never, says Joe.) Then, boys, look to your arms, +fire low, and don't hang on the aim. We must fight this good fight out, +and thank God we can do it. If we die, blessed will be our memory in the +hearts of our children. If we live and go to our firesides +battle-scarred, our boys can say, 'See how dad fought, and every scar in +front,' and we'll be honored by a grateful people.' And he'd tell of the +sufferings of their parents, wives, and children, if we didn't succeed, +till the water courses on the dirty faces of his crowd would be as plain +as his preaching. + +"And pray! he'd pray with hands and eyes both open, in such a way that +every one believed it would have immediate attention; that God would +damn the Rebellion; and may be next day he'd have Long Tom doing its +full share in hurrying the rebels themselves to damnation. + +"And kind hearted! why old Tim Larkins, who had a wound on the shin that +wouldn't heal, told me with tears in his eyes that he had been mother, +wife, and child to him. He went about doing good. + +"And now I recollect," and the Captain's eye glistened as he spoke, "how +he acted when young Snowden was wounded. Snowden was a slender, +pale-faced stripling of sixteen, beloved by every body that knew him, +and if ever a perfect Christian walked this earth, he was one, even if +he was in service in Western Virginny. The chaplain was fond of company, +and, as was his duty, mixed with the men. Snowden was reserved, much by +himself, and had little or no chance to learn bad habits; that is the +only way I can account for his goodness. I often heard the chaplain tell +the boys to imitate Snowden, and not himself; 'you'll find a pure mouth +there, boys, because the heart is pure; you'll see no letters of +introduction to the devil,' as the chaplain called cards, 'in his +knapsack.' By the way, he was so hard on cards, that even the boatmen, +who knew them better than their A B C's, were ashamed to play them. He +would say, 'Snowden is brave as man can be; he has a right to be, he is +prepared for every fate. A christian, boys, makes all the better soldier +for his being a Christian,' and he would tell us of Washington, Col. +Gardner, that preacher that suffered, fought and died near Elizabeth, in +the Jerseys, and others. + +"In bravery, none excelled Snowden. We were lying down once, but about +sixty yards from a wood chuck full of rebels, when word was sent that +our troops on the left must be signalled, to charge in a certain way. +Several understood the signs, but Snowden first rose, mounted a stump, +and did not get off although receiving flesh wounds in half-a-dozen +different places, and his clothing cut to ribands, until he saw the +troops moving as directed. How we gritted our teeth as we heard the +bullets whiz by that brave boy. I have the feeling yet. We thought his +goodness saved him. His was goodness! Not that kind that will stare a +preacher full in the face from a cushioned pew on Sunday, and gouge you +over the counter on Monday, but the genuine article. His time was yet to +come. + +"One day we had driven the rebels through a rough country some miles, +skirmishing with their rear-guard; the Chaplain and Snowden with my +company foremost. We neared a small but deep creek the rebels had +crossed, and trying to get across, we were scattered along the bank. I +heard a shot, and as I turned I saw poor Snowden fall, first on his knee +and then on his elbow. I called the Chaplain. They were messmates--he +loved Snowden as his own child, and always called him 'my boy.' He +rushed to him, 'My boy, who fired that shot?' The lad turned to a clump +of bushes about 80 yards distant on the other side of the creek. Long +Tom was in hand, but the rebel was first, and a ball cut the Chaplain's +coat collar. The flash revealed him; in an instant long Tom was in +range, and another instant saw a Butternut belly face the sun. Dropping +his piece, falling upon his knee, he raised Snowden gently up with his +left hand. 'I am dying,' whispered the boy, 'tell my mother I'll meet +her in heaven.' The Chaplain raised his right hand, his eyes swimming +in tears, and in tones that I'll never forget, and that make me a better +man every time I think of them, he said, 'O God, the pure in heart is +before thee, redeem thy promise, and reveal thyself.' A slight gurgle, +and with a pleasant smile playing upon his countenance, the soul of John +Snowden, if there be justice in heaven, went straight up to the God who +gave it." Tears had come to the Captain's eyes, and were glistening in +the eyes of most of the crowd. + +The Dutch doctor alone was unmoved. Stoically he remarked, "Very goot +story, Captain, goot story, do our Chaplain much goot." + +The crowd left quietly--all but the Captain, who, never forgetting +business in the hurry of the moment, drew a receipt for the transfer of +thirteen bottles of whiskey to the hospital department, which the doctor +signed without reading. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_A Day at Division Head-Quarters--The Judge Advocate--The tweedle-dum +and tweedle-dee of Red-Tape as understood by Pigeon-hole +Generals--Red-tape Reveries--French Authorities on Pigeon-hole +Investigations--An Obstreperous Court and Pigeon-hole +Strictures--Disgusting Head-Quarter Profanity._ + + +"The General commanding Division desires to see Lieutenant Colonel ----, +210th Regiment, P. V., Judge Advocate, immediately," were words that met +the eye of the latter officer, as he unfolded a note handed him by an +orderly. It was about nine in the forenoon of a fine day in October. +Buckling on his sword, and ordering his horse, he rode at a lively +canter to the General's Head-Quarters. + +"Colonel," said the General, pulling vigorously at the same time at the +left side of his moustache, as if anxious that his teeth should take +hold of it, "I have sent for you in regard to this Record. Do you know, +sir, that this Record has given me a d----d sight of trouble; why, sir, +I consulted authorities the greater part of last night, French and +American." + +"In regard to what point, General?" + +"In regard to what point? In regard to all the points, sir. There, sir, +is the copy made of that order detailing the Court. It reads, 'Detailed +for the Court,' whereas it should be 'Detail for the Court.' My mind is +not made up fully as to whether the variance vitiates the Record or not. +The authorities appear to be silent upon that point. To say the least, +it is d----d awkward." + +"General, the copy is a faithful one of the order issued from your +Head-Quarters." + +"From my Head-Quarters, sir? By G--d, Colonel, that can't be. If I have +been particular, and have prided myself upon any one thing, it has been +upon having papers drawn strictly according to the Regulations. And I +have tried to impress it upon my clerks. That infernal blunder made at +my Head-Quarters! I'll soon see how that is." And the General, Record in +hand, took long strides, for a little man, towards the Adjutant's tent. + +"Captain," said he, addressing an officer who was best known in the +Division as a relative of a leading commander, and whose only claim to +merit--in fact, it had to counterbalance many habits positively +bad--consisted of his reposing under the shadow of a mighty name, "where +is the original order detailing this Court?" "Here, General," said a +clerk, producing the paper. The General's eye rested for a moment upon +it, then throwing it upon the table, he burst out passionately: +"Captain, this is too G--d d--n bad after all my care and trouble in +giving you full instructions. Is it possible that the simplest order +can't be made out without my supervision, as if, by G--d, it was my +business to stand over your desks all day long, see every paper folded, +endorsement made, and the right pigeon-hole selected? This won't do. I +give full instructions, and expect them carried out. By G--d," continued +the General, striding vehemently across to his marquee, "they must be +carried out." + +"Colonel, I see that you are not accountable for this. If the d----d +fool had only made it 'Detail of the Court,' it might have passed +unnoticed." + +"General," suggested the Colonel, "would not that have been improper? +Would it not have implied an already existing organization of the court? +whereas the phrase in the order is intended merely to indicate who shall +compose the court." + +"It would have looked better, sir," said the General, somewhat sharply. +"Colonel, you are not to blame for this; you can return to quarters, +sir." + +The Colonel bowed himself out, remounted his black horse, and while +riding at a slow walk, could not but wonder if the Government would not +have been the gainer if it had made it the business of the General to +fold and endorse papers, and dust pigeon-holes. It was generally +understood that this occupation had been, previous to his being placed +in command of the Division, the sum-total of the General's military +experience. And how high above him did this red-tapism extend? The +General had been on McClellan's staff, and through his influence, +doubtless, acquired his present position. Were its trifling details +detaining the grand army of the Potomac from an onward movement in this +most favorable weather, to the great detriment of national finances, the +encouragement of the Rebellion, and the depression of patriots +everywhere? Must the earnestness of the patriotic, self-sacrificing +thousands in the field, be fettered by these cobwebs, constructed by men +interested in pay and position? If so, then in its widest sense, is the +utterance of an intelligent Sergeant, made a few days previous, true, +that red-tape was a greater curse to the country than the rebellion. The +loyal earnest masses would soon, if unfettered, have found leaders +equally loyal and earnest--Joshuas born in the crisis of a righteous +cause, whose unceasing blows would not have allowed the rebels breathing +spells. It is not too late; but how much time, blood, to say nothing of +money, have been expended in ascertaining that a great Union military +leader thought the war in its best phase a mere contest for boundaries. + +The black halted at the tent door, was turned over to his attendant, and +the Lieut.-Colonel joined his tent companion the Colonel. + +His stay was brief. In the course of a few minutes an orderly in great +haste handed him the following note: + +"The General commanding Division desires to see Lieut.-Colonel ---- +without delay." + +The saddle, not yet off the black, was readjusted, and again the +Judge-Advocate cantered over the gentle bluffs to Division +Head-Quarters. + +"Colonel," said the General, hardly waiting for his entrance, "these +mistakes multiply so, as I proceed in my duty as Reviewing Officer, that +I am utterly confounded as to what course to pursue." + +"Will you please point them out, General?" + +"Point out the Devil!--will you point to something that is strictly in +accordance with the regulations? Here you have 'Private John W. Holman, +Co. I, 212th Regt. P. V.,' and then not two lines below, it is, John W. +Holman, Private, Co. I, 212th Reg. P. V.' Now, by G--Colonel, one is +certainly wrong, and _that_ blunder did not come from Division +Head-Quarters." + +"Will the General please indicate which is correct?" + +"Indicate! that's the d----l of it, that is the perplexing question; my +French authorities are silent on the subject, and yet, sir, you must +see that one must be wrong." + +"That does not follow, General; it would be considered a mere clerical +error. Records that I have seen have titles preceding and following +both." + +"There is no such thing in military law as a mere clerical error. Every +thing is squared here by the regulations and military law. The General +or Colonel who is unfortunate in consequence of strictly following +these, will not, by military men, regular officers at least, be held +accountable. Do not understand me as combating your knowledge of the +law, Colonel; you may have excused, in your practice, bad records +successfully on the ground of 'clerical errors,' but it will not do in +the army. There's where volunteer officers make their mistakes; they +don't think and act concertedly as regulars do. Individual judgment +steps in too often, and officers' judgments play the D--l in the army. +Now, in France, their rules in regard to this, are unusually strict." + +"They order this matter better in France then," observed the Colonel, +mechanically making use of the hackneyed opening sentence of "The +Sentimental Journey." "And they manage them better, Sir;--Another thing, +Colonel," quickly added the General, "t's must be crossed and i's +carefully dotted. There are several omissions of this kind that might +have sent the Record back. By the way, whose hand-writing is this copy +in?" said the General, looking earnestly at the Colonel. "A clerk's, +sir." "A clerk! Another d----d pretty piece of business," continued the +General, rising. "Colonel, that record is not worth a G--d d--n not a +G--d d--n, Sir! Who ever heard of a clerk being employed? no clerk has a +right to know any thing of the proceedings." + +"I have been informed, General, and have observed from published reports +of proceedings of courts-martial, that clerks are in general use." + +"Can't be! Colonel, can't be! By G--d, there is another perplexing +matter for my already over-taxed time, and yet the senseless people +expect Generals to move large armies, and plan big battles, when their +hands are full of these d----d business details that cannot be neglected +or delayed." + +The General resumed his seat, ran his fingers through his hair with +frightful rapidity, as if gathering disconcerted and scattered ideas, +for a moment or two, and then looking up dismissed the Colonel. + +The black was again in requisition; and again the Colonel's thoughts, +with increased feelings of disgust, were directed to what he could not +but think the trifling details that, as the General admitted, delay the +movements of great armies, and the striking of heavy blows. T's must be +crossed when we ought to be crossing the Potomac; i's dotted when we +ought to be dotting Virginia fields with our tents. And war so +proverbially, so historically uncertain, has its rules, which, if +adhered to, will save commanders from censure--judgment not allowed to +interfere. It would appear so from many movements in the history of the +Army of the Potomac. What would that despiser of senseless details, +defier of rules laid down by inferior men, and cutter of red tape, as +well as master-genius in the art of war, the Great, the First Napoleon, +have said to all this. Shades of Washington, Marion, Morgan, all the +Revolutionary worthies, Jackson, all our Volunteer Officers, of whose +military records we are justly proud-- + + "Of the mighty can it be + That this is all remains of thee!" + +Generals leading armies such as the world never before saw, fettering +movements on the field by the movements of trifling office details at +the desk, which viewed in the best light are the most contemptible of +excuses for delay. + +This time the old black was not unsaddled;--a fortunate thought, as +another request for the immediate presence of the Judge Advocate +compelled him to take his dinner of boiled beans hasty and hot. + +Whatever the reader may think of the General's condition of mind during +the preceding interviews, it was to reach its fever heat in this. The +Colonel saw, as he entered the marquee, that his forced calmness of +demeanor portended a storm. Whether the Colonel thought that a +half-emptied good-sized tumbler of what looked like clear brandy which +stood on the table before him, had anything to do with it, the reader +must judge for himself. + +"Colonel, I had made up my mind to forward that Record with the mistakes +I have already indicated to you, but after all I am pained to state that +the total disregard of duty by the Court, and perhaps by yourself, in +trifling--yes, by G--d--" here the General could keep in no longer, and +rising with hand clinching the Record firmly, continued,--"trifling with +a soldier's duty, the regulations, and the safety of the army will not +allow it. Colonel, you are a lawyer, and is it possible that you can't +see what that d----d Court has done?" + +"I would be happy to be informed in what respect they have erred, +General." + +"Happy to be informed! how they have erred! By G--d, Colonel, you take +this outrageous matter cool. That Record," said the General, holding it +up, and waving it about his head,--the red tape with which the Judge +Advocate had adorned it plentifully, if for no other purpose than to +cover a multitude of mistakes, all the while streaming in the +air,--"that Record is a disgrace to the Division. What does that Record +show?" At this he threw it violently into a corner of the tent. "It +shows, by G--d, that here was an enlisted soldier in the United States +Army, found sleeping on his post in the dead hour of night, in the +presence of the enemy, and yet--" said the General, lifting both hands +clenched, "a pack of d----d volunteer officers detailed as a court let +him off. Yes, I'll be G--d d----d," and his arms came down slapping +against his hips, "let him off, with what? why a reprimand at dress +parade, that isn't worth a d--n as a punishment. Here was a chance to +benefit the Division; yes, sir, a military execution would do this +Division good. It needs it; we'll have a d----d sight now to be +court-martialed. What will General McClellan say with that record before +him? Think of that, Colonel.' + +"I would be much more interested in what Judge Advocate Holt would say, +General, on account of his vastly superior ability in that department; +and as to the death penalty, General, I conscientiously think it would +be little short of, if not quite, murder." The General had resumed his +seat, but now arose as if about to interrupt;--but the Colonel +continued:-- + +"General, that boy is but seventeen, with a look that indicates +unmistakably that he is half an idiot. He has an incurable disease that +tends to increase his imbecility. His memory, if he ever had any, is +completely gone. The Articles of War, or instructions of officers as to +picket duty, would not be remembered by him a minute after utterance, +and not understood when uttered. I have thought since that I should have +entered a plea of insanity for him. He had not previously been upon +duty for a month, and was that day placed on by mistake. The Court, if +it had had the power, would have punished the officer that recruited him +severely. He ought to be discharged; and the Court was informed that his +application for discharge, based upon an all-sufficient surgeon's +certificate, was forwarded to your head-quarters a month ago, and has +not since been heard from. Besides, this was not a picket station, but a +mere inside regimental camp guard." + +The Colonel spoke rapidly, but with coolness;--all the while the +General's eyes, fairly glowing, were gazing down intently upon him. + +"Colonel, if your manner was not respectful, I would think that you +intended insulting me by your d----d provoking coolness. Conscience!" +said the General, sneeringly, "conscience or no conscience, that man +must be duly sentenced. By G--d, I order it. You must reconvene the +Court without delay. It is well seen it is not a detail of Regulars. +Conscience wouldn't trouble them when a d----d miscreant was upon trial. +A boy of seventeen! Seventeen or thirty-seven! By G--d! he is a soldier +in the Army of the United States, and must be tried and punished as a +soldier. An idiot! What need you care about the brains of a soldier? If +he has the army cap on his head, that's all you need require. Plea of +insanity, indeed! We want no lawyer's tricks here. And as to that +discharge, if it is detained at my head-quarters, it is because it was +not properly folded or endorsed--may be will not fit neatly in the +pigeon-hole. Colonel," continued the General, moderating his tone +somewhat, "I must animadvert--by G--d, I must animadvert severely upon +that Record." + +"General," quietly interrupted the Colonel, "you will publish your +animadversion, I trust, so that it can be read at dress parades, and the +Division have the benefit of it." + +"There, Colonel," said the General, twitching his moustache violently, +"there it is again. You appear perfectly courteous--but that remark is +cool contempt. I want you to understand," his tones louder, and +gesticulations violent, "that you must take my strictures, tell the +court that they must impose the sentence I direct, and leave conscience +to me, and no d----d plea of insanity about it." + +"General," observed the Colonel, rising, "I am the counsel of the +prisoner as well as of the United States. I cannot and will not injure +my own conscience, wrong the prisoner, or humiliate the Government by +insisting upon a death penalty." + +"Read my strictures to the court, and do your duty, sir, or I'll +court-martial the whole d----d establishment. Go and re-assemble your +court forthwith." + +As he said this he handed a couple of closely written sheets of large +sized letter-paper, tied with the inevitable red-tape, to the Colonel. +The Colonel bowed himself out, and the chair in front of the +pigeon-holes of the camp desk was again occupied by a living embodiment +of red-tape. + +The court was forthwith notified. It immediately met. The strictures +were read, and in case of many sentences, especially towards the close, +from necessity re-read by the Judge Advocate. After considerable +laughter over the document, and some little indignation at the +unwarranted dictation of "their commanding General," of which title the +General had taken especial pains to remind them at least every third +sentence, the court decided not to change the sentence, and directed the +Judge Advocate to embody their reasons for the character of the +sentence in his report. The reasons, much the same as those stated to +the General by the Judge Advocate, were reduced to writing, and duly +forwarded, with the record signed and attested, to their "commanding +General." That record, like some other court-martial records of the +Division, has not since been heard of as far as the Judge Advocate or +any member of the court is informed. The poor boy a few days afterwards +entered a hospital, not again to rejoin his regiment. His application +for discharge has not been heard of. With no prospect of being fit for +active service--dying by inches in fact,--he is compelled at Government +expense to follow the regiment in an ambulance from camp to camp, and on +all its tedious marches. + +The profanity in the foregoing chapter has doubtless disgusted the +reader quite as much as its utterance did the Judge Advocate. And yet +hundreds of the Division who have heard the General on hundreds of other +occasions, the writer feels confident will certify that it is rather a +mild mood of the General's that has been described. The habit is +disgusting at all times. Many able Generals are addicted to the habit; +but they are able in spite of it. That their influence would be +increased without it, cannot be denied. It has been well said to be +"neither brave, polite, nor wise." But now when the hopes of the nation +centre in the righteousness of their cause, and thousands of prayers +continually ascend for its furtherance from Christians in and out of +uniform, how utterly contemptible! how outrageously wicked! for an +officer of elevated position, to profane the Name under which those +prayers are uttered, and upon which the nation relies as its "bulwark," +"its tower of strength," a very "present help in this its time of +trouble." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_A Picket-Station on the Upper Potomac--Fitz John's Rail Order--Rails +for Corps Head-Quarters_ versus _Rails for Hospitals--The Western +Virginia Captain--Old Rosy, and How to Silence Secesh Women--The Old +Woman's Fixin's--The Captain's Orderly._ + + +Picket duty, while in this camp, was light. Even the little tediousness +connected with it was relieved by the beautifully romantic character of +the scenery. Confined entirely to the river front, the companies +detailed were posted upon the three bluffs that extended the length of +that front, and on the tow-path of the canal below. + +The duty, we have said, was light. It could hardly be considered +necessary, in fact, were it not to discipline the troops. The bluffs +were almost perpendicular, varying between seventy-five and one hundred +feet in height. Immediately at their base was the Chesapeake and Ohio +canal, averaging six feet in depth. A narrow towing-path separated it +from the Potomac, which, in a broad, placid, but deep stream, broken +occasionally by the sharp points of shelving rocks, mostly sunken, that +ran in ridges parallel with the river course, flowed languidly; the +water being dammed below as before mentioned. + +On one of the most inclement nights of the season, the Company +commanded by our Western Virginia captain had been assigned the +towing-path as its station. No enemy was in front, nor likely to be, +from the manner in which that bank of the river was commanded by our +batteries. In consequence, a few fires, screened by the bushes along the +river bank, were allowed. Around these, the reserve and officers not on +duty gathered. + +In a group standing around a smoky fire that struggled for existence +with the steadily falling rain, stood our captain. His unusual silence +attracted the attention of the crowd, and its cause was inquired into. + +"Boys, I'm disgusted; for the first time in my life since I have been in +service; teetotally disgusted with the way things are carried on. I'm no +greenhorn at this business either," continued the captain, assuming, as +he spoke, the position of a soldier, and although somewhat ungainly when +off duty, no man in the corps could take that position more correctly, +or appear to better advantage. "I served five years as an enlisted man +in an artillery regiment in the United States army, and left home in the +night when I wasn't over sixteen, to do it; part of that time was in the +Mexican war. Yes, sir, I saw nearly the whole of that. Since then, I've +been in service nearly ever since this Rebellion broke out, and the +hardest kind of service, and under nearly all kinds of officers, and by +all that's holy, I never saw anything so mean nor was as much disgusted +as I was to-day. Boys! when shoulder-straps with stars on begin to think +that we are not human beings, of flesh and blood, liable to get sick, +and when sick, needing attention like themselves, it's high time those +straps change shoulders. These damp days we, and especially our sick, +ought to be made comfortable. One great and good soldier that I've often +heard tell of, wounded, of high rank, and who lived a long time ago, +across the ocean, refused, although dying for want of drink, to touch +water, until a wounded private near him first had drunk. That's the +spirit. A man that'll do that, is right, one hundred chances to one in +other respects. We have had such Generals, we have them now, and some +may be in this corps, but it don't look like it." + +"Well, Captain, what did you see?" + +"Well, I had sent my Sergeant to get a few rails to keep a poor boy +comfortable who had a high fever, and who could not get into the +hospital for want of room. The wood that was cut from the hill was +green, and the poor fellow had been nearly smoked to death. The Sergeant +went with a couple of men, and was coming back, the men having two rails +apiece, when just as they got the other side of the Toll-gate on the +hill, the Provost-Guard stopped them, told them there was an order +against their using rails, and they must drop them. It did no good to +say that they were for a sick man, that was no go. They thought they had +to do it, and did it. They hadn't come fifty yards toward camp, before +one of those big six-mule corps-teams that have been hauling rails for +the last four days, came along, and the rails were pitched into the +wagon. When I heard of it I was wrothy. I cut a bee-line for the +Adjutant and got the Order, and there it was in black and white, that no +more fences--rebel fences--should be destroyed, and no more rails used. +Now, I knew well that these corps-teams had hauled and hauled until the +whole establishment, from General Porter down to his Darkies, were in +rails up to their eyes, and then, when they had their own fill, this +order comes, and we, poor devils, might whistle. Here were our hospitals +like smoke-houses, not fit for human beings, and especially the sick. It +was a little too d----d mean. I couldn't stand it. The more I thought of +it the madder I got, and I got fighting mad, when I thought how often +that same General in his kid gloves, fancy rig, and cloak thrown back +from his shoulders to show all the buttons and stars, had passed me +without noticing my salute. He never got a second chance, and never +will. I started off, took three more men than the Sergeant had; went to +the first fence I could find, and that was about two miles--for the +corps-teams had made clean work--loaded my men and myself, and started +back. The Provost-Guard was at the old place; I was bound to pass them +squarely. + +"'Captain,' said the Sergeant, 'we have orders to stop all parties +carrying rails.' + +"'By whose orders?' + +"'General Porter's.' + +"'I am one of General Porter's men. I have authority for this, sir,' +said I, looking him full in the eye. + +"'Boys, move on!' and on we did move. When the Lieut. saw us filing left +over the hill towards camp, he sent a squad after us. But it was too +late. The Devil himself couldn't have had the rails in sight of my +company quarters, and I told him so. + +"'I'll report you to the Division General, and have you +court-martialed, sir.' + +"'Very well,' although I knew the General had a mania for +courts-martial. 'I have been court-martialed four times, and cleared +every clip.' + +"'Now let that court-martial come; somebody's meanness will see the +light,' thought I. + +"Old Rosy, boys, was the man. I said I was disgusted, but we mustn't get +discouraged. We have some earnest men--yes, I believe, plenty of them; +but they're not given a fair show. It'll all come right, though, I +believe. Men with hearts in them; and Rosy, let me tell you, is no runt +in that litter. + +"'Captain,' said he to me one day when I had gone to his head-quarters +according to orders, 'I have something that must be done without delay, +and from what I've seen of you, you are just the man for the work. I +passed our hospital a few minutes ago, and I thought it was about to +blaze; the smoke came out of the windows, chimney, doors, and every +little crack so damnably. I turned around and went in, and found that +the smoke had filled it, and that the poor fellows were suffering +terribly. Now, Captain, they have no dry wood, and they must have some +forth with, and I'll tell you where to get it. + +"'The other day I rode by a nest of she-rebels, and found that they had +cord upon cord of the best hickory piled up in the yard, as if cut by +their husbands, before leaving, for use this winter. They have made +provision enough for our hospital too. Now take three army wagons, as +many men as you need, and go about three miles out the Little Gap Road +till you come to a new weather-boarded house at the Forks. Make quick +work, Captain.' + +"I did make quick work in getting there, for that was about ten, and +about half-past eleven the government wagons were in the yard of the +house and my company in front. + +"'We have no chickens,' squalled an old woman from a second-story +window, 'nor pigs, nor anything--all gone. We are lone women.' + +"'Only in the day-time, I reckon,' said my orderly; the same fellow +that winked at the chaplain. He was one of the roughest fellows that +ever kept his breath over night. Long, lank, ill-favored, a white +scrawny beard, stained from the corners of his mouth with tobacco juice; +but for all, I'd pick him out of a thousand for an orderly. He was +always there, and his rifle--he always carried his own--a small bore, +heavy barrel, rough-looking piece, never missed. + +"As the old woman was talking from the window, a troop of women, from +eighteen to forty years old--but I am a better judge of horses' ages +than women's; they slip us up on that pint too often--came rushing out +of the door. They made all kinds of inquiries, but I set my men quietly +to work loading the wood. + +"'Now, Captain, you shan't take that wood,' said a well-developed +little, rather pretty, black-haired woman, but with those peculiar black +eyes, full of the devil, that you only see among the Rebels, and that +the Almighty seems to have set in like lanterns in lighthouses to show +that their bearers are not to be trusted. 'You shan't take that wood!' +raising her voice to a scream. The men worked on quietly, and I +overlooked the work. + +"'You dirty, greasy-looking Yankee,' said another, 'born in some +northern poor-house.' + +"'And both parents died in jail, I'll bet.' + +"'If our Jim was only here, he'd handle the cowardly set in less time +than one of them could pick up that limb.' + +"'You chicken thief, you come by it honestly. Your father was a thief +before you, and your mother--' + +"This last roused me. I could hear nothing bad of her from man or woman. + +"'You she-devil,' said I, turning to her, 'not one word more.' She +turned toward the house. + +"But they annoyed the men, and I concluded to keep them still. + +"'Sergeant,' said I, addressing the orderly, and nearing the house, the +women close at my heels. 'Sergeant, as our regiment will camp near here +to-morrow, we might as well look out for a company hospital. How big is +that house?' + +"'Large enough, Captain; thirty by fifty at least.' + +"'How many rooms?' + +"'About three, I reckon, on first floor, and I guess the upper story is +all in one, from its looks through the window. Plenty of room. Bully +place, and what is more, plenty of ladies to nurse the poor boys. + +"The noses of the women not naturally cocked, became upturned at this +last remark of the sergeant's. But they had become silent, and looked +anxious. + +"'Sergeant, here's paper and pencil, just note down the names of the +sick, and the rooms we'll put them in, so as to avoid confusion.' + +"The sergeant ran the sharp end of the pencil half an inch in his mouth, +and on the palm of his horny hand commenced the list, talking all the +while aloud--slowly, just as if writing--'Let me see. My mem'y isn't +more than an inch long, and there's a blasted lot of 'em. + +"'Jim Smith, Bob Riley, Larry Clark, got small-pox; Larry all broke out +big as old quarters, put 'em in back room down stairs.' The women got +pale, but small-pox had been common in those parts. 'George Johnson, +Bill Davis, got the mumps.' 'The mumps, Sally, the mumps, them's what +killed George, and they're so catchin'--whispered one of the women--and +continued the sergeant, 'Bill Thatcher, George Clifton the +chicken-pox.' 'O Lord, the chicken-pox,' said another woman, 'it killed +my two cousins before they were in the army a week.'--'Put them four,' +said the sergeant, 'in the middle room down stairs. Save the kitchen for +cookin', and up stairs put Jim Williams, Spooky Johnson, Tom Hardy, Dick +Cramer, and the little cook boy; all got the measles.' 'The measles!' +screamed out half-a-dozen together. 'Good-Lord, we'll be killed in a +week.' 'They say,' said another black eye, 'that that crack Mississippi +Brigade took the measles at Harper's Ferry, and died like flies. They +had to gather them from the bushes, and all over. Brother Tom told me. +He said our boys were worked nearly to death digging graves.' + +"'That was a good thing,' observed the sergeant. + +"'You beast!' said the little old woman advancing towards him, and +shaking her fist in his face. + +"'And what will become of us women?' screamed she. + +"'A pretty question for an old lady; we calculate that you ladies will +wait on the sick,' drily remarked the sergeant. + +"At this the women, thinking their case hopeless, with downcast looks +quietly filed into the house. + +"The boys by this time had about done loading the teams. All the while I +had watched the manners of the women closely and the house, and I came +to the conclusion that it would pay to make a visit inside. + +"A guard was placed on the outside, and telling the sergeant and two men +to follow, I entered. It was all quiet below, but we found when we had +reached the top of the steps, and stood in the middle of the big room up +stairs, the women in great confusion, some in a corner of the room, and +a few sitting on the beds. Among the latter, sitting as we boys used to +say on her hunkers, with hands clasped about her knees, was the old +woman. Besides the beds the only furniture in the room was a large, +roughly made, double-doored wardrobe that stood in one corner. + +"We hadn't time to look around before the old woman screeched out-- + +"'You won't disturb my private fixin's, will you?' + +"'I rather think not,' slowly said the sergeant, giving her at the same +time a comical look. + +"Notwithstanding repeated and tearful assurances that there was nothing +there, that the men had taken off all the arms, hadn't left lead enough +to mend a hole in the bottom of the coffee-pot, etc., etc., we began to +search the beds, commencing at one corner. There were two beds between +us and the old woman's, and although we shook ticks and bolsters, and +made otherwise close examination, we discovered nothing beyond the +population usually found in such localities in Western Virginia. + +"The old woman was fidgety. Her face, that at two reflections would have +changed muscatel into crab apple vinegar, was more than usually +wrinkled. 'O Lord, nothing here,' groaned she, as she sat with her back +to the head-board. She did not budge an inch as we commenced at her bed. + +"The sergeant had gone to the head-board, I to the foot. I saw a twinkle +in his eye as he turned over the rough comfort, his hand reached +down--he drew it up gradually, and the old woman slid as gradually from +the lock to the muzzle of a long Kentucky rifle. 'O Lord,' groaned she, +as she keeled over on her right side at the foot of the bed. + +"A glow of admiration overspread the Sergeant's face as he looked at +that rifle. + +"'Well, I swow, old woman, is this what you call a private fixin'?' +said the Sergeant. 'A queer bed-fellow you've got; and just look, +Captain,' said he, trying the ramrod, 'loaded, capped, and half cocked.' + +"The heavy manner in which the old lady fell over satisfied me that we +hadn't all the armory, and I directed her to leave the bed and stand on +the floor. + +"'Can't, can I, Ann?' addressing one of the women. + +"'No, marm can't, she is helpless.' + +"'Got the rheumatics, had 'em a year and better,' groaned the old woman. + +"'Hadn't 'em when you shook your fist under my nose in the yard,' said +the Sergeant. 'Get off the bed;' catching the old woman by the arm, he +helped her off. She straightened up with difficulty, holding her clothes +at the hips with both hands. 'Hold up your hands,' said the Sergeant. He +was about to assist her, when not relishing that, she lifted them up; as +she did so, there was a heavy rattling sound on the floor. The old woman +jumped about a foot from the floor clear out of a well filled pillow +cushion, dancing and yelling like an Indian. Some hardware must have +struck her toe and made her forget her rheumatism. + +"That bag had two Colt's navy size, two pistols English make, with all +the trappings for both kinds, and two dozen boxes of best make English +water proof caps. + +"'Old woman,' said the Sergeant with a chuckle, 'your private fixin's as +you call 'em, are worth hunting for.' + +"But the old woman had reached the side of a bed, and was too much +engaged in holding her toe, to notice the remark. + +"The other beds were searched, but with no success. I had noticed while +the old woman was hopping about a short fat woman getting behind some +taller ones in the corner and arranging her clothing. The old woman's +contrivance made me think the corner worth looking at. + +"The women sulkily and slowly gave way, and another pillow-case was +found on the floor, from which a brace of pistols, one pair of long +cowhide riding boots, three heavy-bladed bowie knives, and some smaller +matters, were obtained. + +"The wardrobe was the only remaining thing, and on it as a centre the +women had doubled their columns. + +"'Oh, Captain, don't,' said several at once beseechingly, 'we're all +single women, and that has our frocks and fixin's in it,' as I touched +the wardrobe. + +"'As far as I've seed there is not much difference between married +women's fixin's and single ones,' coolly said the Sergeant. + +"'There is not one of us married, Captain.' + +"'Sorry for that,' said the Sergeant, leisurely eyeing the women. 'If +you'd take advice from a Yankee, some of you had better hurry up.' + +"The women were indignant, but smothered it, having ascertained that a +passionate policy would not avail. + +"By this time one of the men had succeeded with his bayonet in forcing a +door. The Sergeant had laid his hand on the door, when a pretty face, +lit up with those same devilish black eyes, was looking into his half +winningly, and a pair of small hands were clasping his arm. The +Sergeant's head gradually fell as if to hear what she had to say, when +magnetism, a desire to try experiments, or call it what you will, as +'love,' although said to 'rule the camp,' has little really to do with +the monotony of actual camp scenes, or the horrors of the field +itself,--at any rate the Sergeant's head dropped suddenly,--a loud +smack, followed instantly by the dull sound of a blow,--and the +Sergeant gently rubbed an already blackening eye, while the woman was +engaged in drawing her sleeve across her mouth. Like enough some tobacco +juice went with the sleeve, for the corners of the Sergeant's mouth were +regular sluices for that article. + +"The Sergeant's eye did not prevent him from opening the door, however. + +"'Well, I declare, brother Jim's forgot his clothes and sword,' said one +of the women, manifesting much surprise. + +"'Do you call that brother Jim's clothes?' said the Sergeant, grasping a +petticoat, above which appeared the guard of a cavalry sabre, and +holding both up to view. 'I tell you it's no use goin' on,' said the +Sergeant, somewhat more earnestly, his eye may be smarting a little, +'we're bound to go through it if it takes the hair off.' The women +squatted about on the beds, down-hearted enough. + +"And through it we went, getting five more sabres and belts, and two +Sharp's rifles complete in that side, and a cavalry saddle, holsters +with army pistols, bridles, and a rifled musket, in the other side; all +bran new. There was nothing in the lower story or cellar. + +"When I showed Rosy our plunder--and it hadn't to be taken to his tent +either--when he heard of it, he came out as anxious and pleased as any +of the boys,--he was a General interested in our luck more than his own +pay,--he clapped me on the shoulder right before my men, and all the +officers and men looking on, and said: 'Captain, you're a regular trump. +Three cheers, boys, for the Captain and company.' And as he started them +himself, the boys did give 'em, too. 'Captain, you'll not be +forgotten--be easy on that point.' And I was easy, until a fit of +sickness that I got put my fortune for the time out of Rosy's hands. The +men never forgot that trip. The Sergeant often said though, it was the +only trip he wasn't altogether pleased with, because, I suppose, his +black eye was a standing joke." + +Just then, a sentinel's hail and the reply, "Grand Rounds," "Field +Officer of the day," hurried the Captain off, and the crowd to their +posts. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_The Reconnoissance--Shepherdstown--Punch and Patriotism--Private Tom on +West Point and Southern Sympathy--The Little Irish Corporal on John +Mitchel--A Skirmish--Hurried Dismounting of the Dutch Doctor and +Chaplain--Battle of Falling Waters not intended--Story of the Little +Irish Corporal--Patterson's Folly, or Treason._ + + +An old German writer has said that "six months are sufficient to +accustom an individual to any change in life." As he might fairly be +supposed to have penned this for German readers and with the fixed +habits and feelings of a German, if true at all, it ought to hold good +the world over. As we are more particularly interested in camps at +present, we venture the assertion that six weeks will make a soldier +weary of any camp. With our Sharpsburg camp, however, perhaps this +feeling was assisted by the consciousness so frequently manifested in +the conversation of the men that the army should be on the move. + +Hundreds of relatives and friends had taken advantage of the proximity +of the camp to a railroad station to pay us a visit, and with them of +course came eatables--not in the army rations--and delicacies of all +kinds prepared by thoughtful heads and willing hands at home. Not +unfrequently the marquees of the officers were occupied by their +families, who, in their enjoyment of the novelties of camp life, the +drills, and dress parades of the regiment, treasured up for home +consumption, brilliant recollections of the sunny side of war. All this, +to say nothing of the scenery, the shade of the wood, that from the +peculiar position of the camp, so gratefully from early noon extended +itself, until at the hour for dress parade the regiment could come to +the usual "parade rest" entirely in the shade. But the roads were good, +the weather favorable, the troops effective, and the inactivity was a +"ghost that would not down" in the sight of men daily making sacrifices +for the speedy suppression of the Rebellion. The matter was constantly +recurring for discussion in the shelter tent as well as in the marquees, +in all its various forms. A great nation playing at war when its capital +was threatened, and its existence endangered. A struggle in which inert +power was upon one side, and all the earnestness of deadly hatred and +blind fanaticism upon the other. An enemy vulnerable in many ways, and +no matter how many loyal lives were lost, money expended by the +protraction of the war, but to be assailed in one. But why multiply? Ten +thousand reasons might be assigned why a military leader, without an +aggressive policy of warfare, unwilling to employ fully the resources +committed to him, should not succeed in the suppression of a Rebellion. +The nation suffered much in the treason that used its high position to +cloak the early rebel movement to arms, and delayed our own +preparations; but more in the incapacity or half-heartedness that made +miserable use of the rich materials so spontaneously furnished. + +In the improvement of the Regiment the delay at the Sharpsburg camp was +not lost. The limited ground was well used, and Company and Battalion +drills steadily persevered in, brought the Regiment to a proficiency +rarely noticed in regiments much longer in the field. + +"Three days' cooked rations, sixty rounds of ammunition, and under arms +at four in the morning. How do you like the smack of that, Tom?" + +"It smacks of war," says Tom, "and it's high time." The first speaker +had doffed the gown of the student in his senior year, greatly against +the wishes of parents and friends, to don the livery of Uncle Sam. One +would scarcely have recognised in the rough sunburned countenance, +surmounted by a closely fitting cap, once blue but now almost red, and +not from the blood of any battle-field--in the course slovenly worn blue +blouse pantaloons, unevenly suspended, and wide unblacked army shoes, +the well dressed, graceful accomplished student that commended himself +to almost universal admiration among the young ladies of his +acquaintance. The second speaker, thinking that a more opportune war had +never occurred to demand the silence of the law amid resounding arms, +had left his desk in an attorney's office, shelved his Blackstone, and +with a courage that never flinched in the field of strife or in toilsome +marches where it can perhaps be subjected to a severer test, had +thoroughly shown that the resolution with which he committed himself to +the war was one upon which no backward step would be taken. They were +old friends, and fast messmates. Their little dog-tent, as the shelter +tents were called, had heard from each many an earnest wish that their +letters might smell of powder. + +The feeling then with which George uttered this piece of news, and the +joy of Tom as he heard it, can be appreciated. + +"What authority have you, George?" + +"Old Pigeon-hole's. I heard him, while on duty about his Head-quarters +to-day, tell a Colonel, that the move had been ordered; that the War +Department had been getting uncommonly anxious, and that it interfered +with certain examinations he was making into very important papers." + +"I'll warrant it. I would like to see any move in a forward direction +that would not interfere with some arrangement of his. His moves are on +paper, and a paper General is just about as valuable to the country as a +paper blockade." + +"Is the movement general?" + +"I think it is." + +"Of course then it interferes. George, did you ever hear any patriotism +about those Head-quarters? You have been a great deal about them." + +"No, but I have seen a good deal of punch in that neighborhood." + +"I'll warrant it--more punch than patriotism. A great state of affairs +this. There are too many of these half-hearted Head-quarters in the +army. They ought to be cleaned out, and I believe that before this +campaign is through it will be done. If it is not done, the country is +lost." + +"Country lost! why of course; that is almost admitted about that +establishment. They say we may be able to pen them up, and as they don't +say any more they must think that is about all. I heard a young +officer--a Regular--who seems to be intimate up there say: that there +was no use of talking--that men that fought the way the Southerners--he +didn't use the word Rebels--did, could not be conquered,--that they +were too much for our men, etc., etc. I could have kicked the +shoulder-strapped coward or traitor, may be both, but if I had, old +Pigeon-hole would have had a military execution for the benefit of the +Volunteers in short order. And then he strutted, talking treason and +squirting tobacco juice--and all the while our Government supporting the +scoundrel. West Point was on his outside, but his conversation and +vacant look told me plainly enough that outside of a Government position +the squirt had not brains enough to gain a day's subsistence. But he's +one of Pigey's 'my Regulars,' and to us Volunteers he can put himself on +his dignity with a '_Procul_, _Procul_, _este Profani_.'" + +"George, don't stir me up on that subject any more. I get half mad when +I think that Uncle Sam's worst enemies are those of his own household. +We had better anticipate the Captain's order about this in our +preparations, and not be up half the night." + +"Even so, Tom." + +George was correct; as to a move at least, for early dawn saw the +Division and a detachment from another Division, en route to the river. +There was the usual quiet in the camps along which they passed, showing +that George was mistaken as to the move being general. The troops +marching through a winding and wooded defile, passed the deservedly well +known Brigade of General Meagher. "Here's Ould Ireland Boys," said the +little Irish Corporal, pointing, as his face glowed with pride, to the +flag adorned with "The Harp of Ould Ireland, and the Shamrock so green," +the emblems of the Emerald Isle. + +"Their General is an Irishman thrue to the sod, none of your rinegade +spalpeens like John Mitchel--fighting for slave-holders in Ameriky, and +against the Lords and Dukes in Ould Ireland, and the slave-holders as +Father Mahan tould me the worst of the two, more aristocratic, +big-feeling, and tyrannical than the English nobility. He said, too, +that the blackguard could never visit the ould sod again unless he +landed in the night-time, and hid himself by day in a bog up to his +eyes, and even then the Father said he believed the blissed mimory of +St. Patrick, + + 'Who drove the Frogs into the Bogs, + And banished all the Varmint,' + +would clean him out after the rist of the varmin." + +"Three cheers for the Irish Brigade" greeted the Corporal's remarks. + +The troops crossed with difficulty and delay at the only ford--and +wondered with reason at the activity of the Rebels in having transported +across not only their army and baggage, but hundreds if not thousands of +their dead and wounded. The road winding around the high rocks on the +Virginia side, must have been in more peaceful times a favorite drive +for the gentry of the neighborhood. Shepherdstown itself adorns a most +commanding position. On the occasion of this Union visit its inhabitants +appeared intensely Secesh. Not so in the early history of the rebellion; +when Patterson's column "dragged its slow length along" through the +valley of the Shenandoah. Scouting parties then saw Union flags from +many a window. True, they streamed from dwellings owned by the +merchants, mechanics, and laborers, the real muscle of the country; but +this was true of most of the towns of the Border States, and more early +energetic action in affording these classes protection would have +secured us the aid of their strong hands. As it was, these resources +were in great measure frittered away--gradually drawn by what appeared +an irresistible influence into the vortex of the Rebellion--or scattered +wanderingly through the Loyal States, and worn down and exhausted in the +support of dependent and outcast families. + +Sharpsburg was greatly altered. The yellow Rebel Flag designated almost +every other building as a Hospital. Their surgeons in grey pompously +paraded the streets. As the troops marched through, they were subjected +to almost every description of insult. One interesting group of Rebel +petticoated humanity standing in front of premises that would not have +passed inspection by one of our Pennsylvania Dutch housewives, held +their noses by way of showing contempt. + +"Guess you have to do that, about them diggins. When did you scrub +last?" said a bright-eyed officer's servant, whom a few years' service +as a news-boy had taught considerable shrewdness. + +To annoy others "My Maryland" and "John Brown" were sung by the men. +Around a toll-house at the west end of town, occupied by an old lady +whose husband had been expelled with a large number of other patriotic +residents, had congregated some wives of exiled loyal husbands, who were +not afraid to avow their attachment for the old Union, by words of +encouragement and waving of handkerchiefs. They were backed by a reserve +force of negroes of both sexes, whose generous exhibition of polished +ivories, to say the least, did not represent any great displeasure at +the appearance of the troops. + +"There are the Reserves," said one of the boys, pointing to where the +negroes stood. + +"Yes, and if they were called in the issue of this Rebellion would be +speedy and favorable," said a Captain in musical tones, "and I can't +think but that this costly child's play will drive the nation into their +use much sooner than many expect. Let them understand that they are the +real beneficiaries of this war, and they will not stay their hands. And +why shouldn't we use them? 'They are one of the means that God and +nature have placed in our hands,' and old Virginia can't object to that +doctrine." + +"But, Captain," said his First Lieutenant, "would you fight alongside of +a darkie?" + +"Would you drive a darkie away if he came to assist you in a struggle +for life?" + +"Yes, but we have men enough without their aid." + +"You forget, Lieutenant, that, as matters now are, we have them fighting +against us." + +"How so?" + +"They raise the crops that feed the Rebel army. They are just as much, +perhaps not as directly, but just as really fighting against us as the +founders who cast their cannon. And as to fighting alongside of them, +they may have quite as many prejudices against fighting alongside of us. +There is no necessity of interfering with either. Organize colored +regiments; appoint colored line officers if efficient, and white field +and staff officers, until they attain sufficient proficiency for +command. As to their fighting qualities, military records attest them +abundantly. The shrewd 'nephew of his uncle' has used them for years." + +The earnest argument of the Captain made a deep impression upon the men. +The desperation of our case, depressed finances, heavy hospital lists, +and many other causes, independently of abstract justice, are fast +removing that question beyond the pale of prejudice. + +A halt was ordered, and the men rested on the sward that bordered the +hard pike, and in the immediate neighborhood of the village cemetery. It +was literally crowded with graves, many of them fresh. Large additions +had been made from surrounding fields, and they too were closely taken +up by ridges covering the dead of Antietam. + +The surrounding country had suffered little from the ravages of war. +Visited occasionally by scouting parties--principally cavalry--of both +sides, there had been none of the occupation by large bodies of troops, +which levels fences, destroys crops, and speedily gives the most fertile +of countries the seeming barrenness of the desert. The valley had a +reputation that ran back to an ante-Revolutionary date for magnificence +of scenery and fertility of soil. Washington, with all the enthusiasm of +ardent youth, paid it glowing encomiums in his field-notes of the +Fairfax surveys. In later times, when the destinies of our struggling +colonies rested upon his ample shoulders, the leaders of the faction +opposed to him--for great and good as he was, he had jealous, bitter, +and malignant enemies--settled a few miles beyond Shepherdstown, at what +has since been known as Leetown. The farms, with few exceptions, had +nothing of the slovenly air, dilapidated, worn-out appearance, that +characterized other parts of Virginia. Upon inquiry we found that the +large landowners were in the habit of procuring tenants from the lower +counties of Pennsylvania, and that the thrift and close cultivation were +really imported. In the course of time these tenants, with their +customary acquisitiveness, became landowners themselves, and their farms +were readily distinguishable by the farm buildings, and particularly by +the large substantial red bank barns. + +The troops moved on to a wood, skirting either side of the road, and +were thrown into line of battle. The country was gently rolling, and the +woods in front that crowned the summit of the low ridges were shelled +before advancing. Occasionally Rebel horsemen could be seen rapidly +riding from one wood to another, making observations from some +commanding point. + +In line of battle by Brigade, flanked by skirmishers, the advance was +made. To the troops this, although toilsome, was unusually exciting. +Through woods, fields of corn whose tall tops concealed even the mounted +officers, and made the men, like quails in standing grain, be guided by +the direction of the sound of the command, rather than by the touch of +elbows to the centre,--over the frequent croppings out of ledges of +rock, through the little streams of this plentifully watered country, +the movement slowly progressed. They had not advanced far when a shell +screamed over their heads, uncomfortably close to the Surgeon and +Chaplain, some fifty yards in the rear, and mangled awfully a straggler +at least half a mile further back. As may be supposed, his fate was a +standing warning against straggling for the balance of the campaign. + +Notwithstanding further compliments from the rebels, who appeared to +have our range, a roar of laughter greeted the dexterity with which the +Chaplain and Surgeon ducked and dismounted at the sound of the first +shell. Of about a size, and both small men, they fairly rolled from +their horses. The boys had it that the little Dutch Doctor grabbed at +his horse's ear, or rather where it ought to have been; as the horse was +formerly in the Rebel service, and was picked up by the Doctor after the +battle of Antietam, minus an ear, lost perhaps through a cut from an +awkward sabre, and missing it fell upon his hands and knees in front of +the horse's feet. + +As the shells grew more frequent and direct in range, the men were +ordered to halt and lie down. The field officers dismounted, and were +joined by the Chaplain and Doctor leading their horses. + +"Colonel, I no ride that horse," said the Doctor, sputtering and +brushing the dust off his clothes. + +"Why not, Doctor?" + +"Too high--very big--" touching the top of the shoulder of the bony +beast, and almost on tip-toe to do it, "had much fall, ground struck me +hard," continued he, his eyes snapping all the while. + +"Well, Doctor," remarked one of the other field officers, "we have told +you all along that if you ever got in range with that horse, your life +would hardly be worth talking about." + +"They not know him," anxiously said the Doctor. + +"Of course they know him. He has the best and plainest ear-mark in the +world." + +"Pretty close shoot that, anyhow." + +The result of this conversation was, that in the further movement the +Doctor led his horse during the day. + +The firing ceased with no damage, save the bruises of the Doctor, and +those received by our tonguey little Corporal, who asserted that the +windage of a shell knocked him off a fence. As he fell into a stone +heap, it is more than probable that he had some good reason for the +movement--besides, why cannot Corporals suffer from wounds of that kind, +frequently so fashionable among officers of higher grade? + +The onward movement was resumed. In the course of half an hour the +cannonading again opened, interspersed with occasional volleys of +musketry. The rattling of musketry became incessant. Advancing under +cover of rocky bluffs, the shells passed harmlessly over the Brigade. We +soon ascertained that the Rebels had made a stand at a point where our +advance, from the character of the country, necessarily narrowed into +the compass of a strip of meadow-land. Here a brigade of Rebel infantry +were drawn up in line of battle. Their batteries posted on a neighboring +height, were guided by signals, the country not admitting of extended +observation. The contest was brief. The gleam of the bayonets as they +fell for the charge, broke the Rebel line, and they retired in +considerable confusion to the wood in their rear. Our batteries soon +shelled them from those quarters, and the advance continued--the +skirmishers of both sides keeping up a rattling fire. Some Rebel +earthworks were passed, and late in the afternoon the track of the +Baltimore and Ohio railroad was crossed. The Rebels, before leaving, had +done their utmost to complete the destruction of that much abused road. +At intervals of every one hundred yards, piles of ties surmounted by +rails were upon fire. These were thrown down by our men. About half a +mile beyond the road, in a finely sodded valley, the troops were halted +for the night, pickets posted, and the men prepared their meals closely +in the rear of their stacks. The night was a pleasant one. An open air +encampment upon such a night is one of the finest phases of a soldier's +life. Meals over, the events of the day were discussed, or such matters +as proved of interest to the different groups. + +One group we must not pass unnoticed. The majority lounged lazily upon +the grass, some squatted upon their knapsacks, while a large stone was +given by common consent to a tall, fine-looking Lieutenant, the +principal officer present. + +"Corporal," said he, addressing the little Irish Corporal, "do you know +how near we are to Martinsburg?" + +"Faith I don't, Lieutenant." + +"I do not know the exact distance myself, but we are not over three or +four miles from the road that we took when we guarded the ammunition +train from Martinsburg to Charlestown." + +"Oh, it's the ould First ye are spaking about, is it? Ov coorse I +ricollect Martinsburg, and the markit-house where I guarded the fifty +nagurs that Gineral Patterson had ordered to be arrested for having +stripes on their pantaloons, Uncle Sam's buttons on their caps, and +belts with these big brass U. S. plates on. Oh, but it was a swate +crowd. The poor divils were crowded like cattle on cars, and it was one +of the hot smothering nights. I couldn't help thinkin', that by and by, +if our armies didn't move faster, the nagurs would have little trouble +gettin' into uniforms. They have a nat'ral concate about such things. +One poor fellow rolled the whites of his eyes awfully, and almost cried +when I ordered him out of his red breeches." + +"The day has not come yet, and need not," rejoined the Lieutenant, "if +our generals do their duty. Don't you recollect how we were hurried from +Frederick, and after marching seven miles out of the way, made good time +for all to Williamsport--how bayonets appeared to glisten upon every +road leading into the town; and then our crossing the river, the band +all the while playing 'The Star-spangled Banner,' and the march we made +to Martinsburg, passing over the ground where the battle of Falling +Waters had but a few days before been fought? If that battle had been +followed up as it should have been, Johnson would never have reached +Bull Run." + +"Be jabers! do you know, Lieutenant, that that fight was all a mistake +upon our part? Shure, our ginerals niver intended it." + +A laugh, with the inquiry "how he knew that?" followed. + +"Didn't I hear a Big Gineral, that I was acting as orderly for while in +Martinsburg--for they made orderlies of corporals thim days--tell a +richly-dressed old lady, 'That it was our policy to teach our misguided +Southern brethren, by an imposing show of strength, how hopeless it +would be to fight against the Government.' The lady said, 'That would +save much bloodshed, would become a Christian nation, and would return +them as friends to their old way of thinking. 'Yes, madam!' said the +Gineral, 'there is no bitter feeling in our breasts,' clasping his +breast. 'The masses south will soon see their country surrounded by +volunteers in great numbers, and that the war, if protracted, must +involve them all in ruin. When the war is over, madam, fanatics on both +sides can be hung.' + +"'That was a dreadful affair at Falling Waters, General,' said the lady, +with a strange twinkle in her eyes. + +"'Yes, madam,' replied the General, coloring up to his ears, 'a blunder +of some of our volunteer officers. Ordinary military prudence made us +send forward some force to reconnoitre before crossing the main army. +These troops were to fall back if the enemy appeared in force. Not +understanding their orders, or carried away by the excitement of the +moment, they engaged the enemy with the unfortunate results to which you +allude.' + +"Av it would have been proper for a corporal, I would have asked the +Gineral what Johnny Reb would do while we were taching him all that. +Thim's the Gineral's exact words, for I paid particular attention. I put +them thegither with what I had heard from a Wisconsin boy, and I got the +whole history of that fight." + +"Let's have it," shouted the crowd, now considerably increased, "at +once!" + +"Well, you see, they were sent forward to reconnoitre, as the Gineral +said, and there was a Wisconsin regiment of bear hunters and the like, +and a Pennsylvania regiment of deer hunters and Susquehannah raftsmen +pretty well forward. These Wisconsin chaps, in dead earnest, brought +their rifles along all the way from Wisconsin, and, like the +Susquehannah fellows, they couldn't kape hands off the trigger if there +was any game about. + +"Well, they got to Falling Waters without stirring up anything; you +recollect, Lieutenant, where that rebel officer's house was burned down, +and then the battery that was along with them, seeing some +suspicious-looking Grey Backs dodging in and out of a wood, let them +have a few round of shells just to see whether they were in force or +not, according to orders. The Rebs made tracks for a low piece of ground +behind a ridge, and then formed line of battle. Our men, with a yell, +went forward, and when they saw the Rebs in line, these two Colonels, +thinking they had been sent out to fight, and that their men didn't +carry guns for nothing, ordered them to fire; and then they ordered them +to load again, in order to relave their hips as much as possible from +the load of ammunition; and then they fired again; and then, gittin' +excited, and thinkin' this work too slow, and that it wouldn't do to +take such bright bayonets home, they ordered a charge, and cheering, +yelling, and howling, our boys went at the Rebs. The Rebs didn't stand +to meet them, but fell back behind a barn. The batteries burned +that,--and then they tried to form line again, but no use. As soon as +our fellows gave the yell, they were off like all possessed. They had +prepared to run by tearing the fences down; and then it was trying to +form line, and breaking as soon as our fellows howled a little, all the +way for five long miles to Martinsburg; and the last our boys saw of the +Rebs was their straight coat-tails at the south end of the town. And +that was the whole battle of Falling Waters; and may be Ould Patterson +wouldn't have got to Martinsburg if them Colonels had reported the Rebs +in force, and not got excited. + +"But how did you hear all this? You forget that part of it." + +"And couldn't you let that go? I thought I could concale that. + +"Well, you know, Lieutenant, our ould Colonel boarded at the Brick +Hotel, along the Railroad, above where the long strings of locomotives +were burned, as the Gineral says, by our 'misguided southern friends;' +and I was about there considerably on duty. One afternoon, a +jolly-looking little chap, one of the Wisconsin boys, and one after my +own heart--and he proved it, too, by trating me to several drinks--came +along with a Rebel Artillery officer's coat under his arm. And we looked +at the coat, and talked and drank, and drank and talked, until the +Wisconsin chappy put it on, just to show me how the Rebel officer looked +in it. It was a fine grey, trimmed with gold lace and scarlet, and the +Wisconsin chappy looked gay in it, barring the sleeves were several +inches too long, and the waist buttons came down nearly a foot too far, +and it was too big round the waist. And he showed me after every drink +what he did and what the Officer did,--and, to tell the plain truth, we +got a drop too much,--and the Wisconsin chappy got turning back-hand +springs against the side of the hotel, and I tried to do the same, to +the great sport of the crowd. But it didn't last long. A corporal's +guard took--or rather carried--us to the guard-house, and towards +morning, when we sobered up, he tould me the whole story." + +"Pretty well put together, Terry." + +"And the blissed truth, ivery word of it." + +The night was wearing away--work before them in the morning--and the +group dispersed for their blankets, from which we will not disturb them +until the succeeding chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Reconnoissance concluded. What we Saw and What we didn't See, and what +the Good Public Read--Pigeon-hole Generalship and the Press--The +Preacher Lieutenant and how he Recruited--Comparative Merits of Black +Union Men and White Rebels--A Ground Blast, and its effect upon a +Pigeon-hole General--Staff Officers Striking a Snag in the Western +Virginia Captain--Why the People have a right to expect active Army +Movements--Red Tape and the Sick List--Pigeon-holing at Division +Head-quarters._ + + +In the misty morning arms were taken and the forward resumed. Occasional +Rebel corpses passed showed the work of our sharpshooters. In a short +time the ground again prevented the movement in line of battle, and the +troops marched by the flank over a road well wooded on each side, until +they reached what proved to be the farthest point made by the +reconnoissance--a large open plateau, bounded on the north and west by a +wooded ridge to which it gradually rose, and which was said to border +the Oppequan. On the south, at an average distance of five hundred yards +from the road, was a strip of timber land. Slightly west by south, but +upon the north side of the road, was a rise of ground, in the rear of +which, but upon the south side of the road, were a farmer's house and +out-buildings. The troops pursued their march until the head of the +column arrived opposite the house. Suspicious-looking horsemen were +discovered on the edge of the woods that crowned the ridge. The order +was given that the troops should leave the road and take cover on its +south side, a position not commanded by the ridge. The order was not +executed before a Rebel officer, on a white-tailed dun horse, the tail +particularly conspicuous against the dark background of the wood, was +observed signalling to the extreme right of what was now supposed to be +the Rebel line. Almost instantly some half a dozen pieces of artillery +were placed in position, at various points on the brow of the circular +ridge, completely commanding, in fact flanking our position. Our troops, +however, were not disturbed, although every instant expecting a salute +from the batteries, as the range was easy and direct. While the troops +were being placed in position behind the house the batteries were posted +on the rise. A few hours passed in this position. The Rebel batteries in +plain view, horsemen continually emerging and disappearing in the wood. +Was it the force that we had driven before us? or were the Rebels in +force upon that ridge, making the Oppequan their line of defence? Better +ground upon which to be attacked could not be chosen. The long distance +to be traversed under fire of any number of converging batteries, would +have slaughtered men by the thousands. But again, if the Rebels were in +force, why did they not attack us? Outflanking us was easy. With a +superior force our retreat could easily be intercepted, and if we +escaped at all, it would be with heavy loss. Their batteries threatened, +but no firing. All was quiet, save the noise made by the men in +stripping an orchard in their immediate front, and the commands of their +officers in ordering them back to the ranks. + +The quiet was provoking, and all manner of discussion as to the Rebel +force, movements, etc., was indulged in. Many contended that they were +but threatening--others, that they were in force, that was their line of +defence, and the plateau in front their battle-ground. This decision the +General in command seems to have arrived at, as the flaming telegrams in +the Dailies, in the course of a day or two, announced that the Rebels +were discovered in great force, strongly posted in a most defensible +position. After the lapse of an hour or two, the order for the homeward +march was given, and strange to say, that although marching by the flank +the last man had disappeared from their view, behind the cover of the +wood, before they opened fire. They then commenced shelling the woods +vigorously, and continued firing at a respectful distance, doing no +damage, until night set in. In the course of the afternoon it commenced +raining, and continued steadily throughout the night. The troops +encamped for the night in Egyptian darkness, and what was worse, in a +meadow fairly deluged with water. + +"Well, what does all this mean?" inquired one of a crowd, huddled +together, hooded by blanket and oil-cloth, protecting themselves as best +they could from the falling rain, for sleep was out of question to all +but the fortunate few who can slumber in puddles. + +"What does it all mean, Charlie? Why it means a blind upon Uncle Abraham +and his good people. That's what it means." + +"Well, Lieutenant, I am surprised that a man of your usual reserve and +correct conversation, should talk in that style about our commander." + +"Sergeant, it is high time that not only individuals, whether reserved +or not, but the people at large should denounce this delay that is +wearing out the life of the nation. Weeks have passed since the battle +of Antietam, and after repeated urgings on the part of the President, +and repeated promises on the part of our commander, we have this +beggarly apology for a movement. Yes, sir, apology for a movement. +To-morrow's Dailies will tell in flaming capitals, how the Rebels were +posted in large force in a strong position, and in line of battle upon +the Oppequan, intimating thereby that further delay will be unavoidable +to make our army equal to a movement. Now this humbugging an earnest +people is unfair, unworthy of a great commander, and if he be humbugged +himself again as with the Quaker guns at Manassas, the sooner the +country knows it the better for its credit and safety. How can any +living man tell that the batteries we saw to-day upon the ridge, are not +the batteries we drove before us yesterday? The probability is that they +are." + +The speaker, as intimated by the Sergeant, was a man of reserve, quiet, +and to the last degree inoffensive in his manner. A professing +Christian, consistent in, and not ashamed of his profession, he had the +respect of his command, and a friend in every acquaintance in the +regiment. Educated for the ministry, he threw aside his theological text +books on the outbreak of the Rebellion, and bringing into requisition +some earlier lessons learned at a Military Academy, he opened a +recruiting list with the zeal of a Puritan. It was not circulated, as is +customary, in bar-rooms, but taking it to a rural district, he called a +meeting in the Township Church, and in the faith of a Christian and the +earnestness of a patriot, he eloquently proclaimed his purpose and the +righteousness of the war. Success on a smaller scale, but like that of +Peter the Hermit, followed his endeavor, and his quota of the Company +was soon made up by the enlistment of nearly every able-bodied young man +in the Township. His recruits fairly idolized him, and in their rougher +and more unlettered way, were equally earnest advocates of the +suppression of the Rebellion by any and every means. + +"Your Abolitionism will crop out from time to time, like the ledges of +rock in the country we have just been passing through," said a Junior +Lieutenant. + +"Call it Abolitionism, or what you will," replied his Senior. "I am for +the suppression of the Rebellion by the speediest means possible. I am +for the abolition of everything in the way of its suppression." + +"You would abolish the Constitution, I suppose, if you thought it in the +way." + +"I would certainly amend the Constitution, had I the power, to suit the +exigencies of the times. What is the Constitution worth without a +country for it to control?" + +"There it comes. Anything to ease the nigger." + +"Yes, sir, I thank God that this Rebellion strikes a death-blow at +slavery. That wherever a Federal bayonet gleams in a slave State, we can +see a gleam of eternal truth lighting up the gloom of slavery. The +recent Proclamation of the President was all that was needed to place +our cause wholly upon the rock of God's justice, and on that base the +gates of the hell of slavery and treason combined, shall not prevail +against it." + +"Preaching again, Lieutenant," said our Western Virginia Captain, who +was the Lieutenant's Senior officer, as he strolled leisurely toward the +crowd. "I tell you, Lieutenant, if Old Abe don't make better +preparations to carry out his Proclamation, he had better turn Chinese +General at once." + +"Give him time, Captain. January 1 may bring preparations that we little +dream of. At any rate, it places us in a proper position before the +world. What ground had we to expect sympathy from the anti-slavery +people of Europe, when we made no effort to release the millions +enslaved in the South from bondage?" + +"As far as using the negroes as soldiers is concerned, it seems a day +behind the fair. It should have been issued earlier. Why, we could have +had them by thousands in Western Virginny, and officers in our regiment, +who were with him, tell me that Patterson could have mustered an army of +them. Instead of that they were driven from his lines, and when they +brought him correct information as to the Rebels at Winchester, it was +'don't believe the d----d nigger,' and all this while he dined and wined +with the Rebel nabobs about Charlestown. Boys, we commenced this war +wrong. I'm a Democrat, and always have been one; but I'm not afraid to +say that we've all along been trying our best to make enemies of the +only real friends we have inside of Rebel lines. Now, I don't like the +nigger better than some of my neighbors; but in my opinion, a black +Union man is better than a white Rebel any day. To say nothing of their +fighting, why don't our Generals use them as servants, and why are they +not our teamsters and laborers? Look at our able-bodied men detailed for +servants about Pigeon-hole's Head-quarters." + +"Well, Captain," interrupted the Sergeant, "Pigey has a big +establishment, and see if the papers don't make him out a big General +for this daring reconnoissance." + +"This daring tomfoolery! If he'd come back to old Rosecrans with his +story about a few pieces of artillery posted on a ridge, Rosy would want +to know why the d----l he didn't find out what was behind them." + +"He showed great experience a few weeks ago," continued the Sergeant, +"when the Western fellows let off one of their ground blasts. 'Where did +that shell explode?' inquired Pigey, galloping up with his staff and +orderlies to our Regimental Head-quarters. 'I heard no shell,' says the +Colonel. 'Nor I,' says the Lieut.-Colonel. 'I did hear a ground blast,' +said the Lieut.-Colonel, 'such as the boys in the Regiment below +occasionally make from the rebel cartridges they find.' 'Ground blast! +h--l!' says the General, excitedly, his eyes flashing from under his +crooked cocked hat: 'Don't you think that an officer of my experience +and observation would be able to distinguish the explosion of a shell +from that of a ground blast?' 'No shell exploded, General,' said the +Colonel, 'within the limits of my regiment.' 'The d----l it +didn't--would you have me disbelieve my own ears? Now, I have issued +orders enough about permitting these unexploded shells to lie about, and +I purpose holding the Colonels responsible for all damage. Suppose that +explosion was heard at corps head-quarters, as it doubtless was, and the +inquiry is made from what quarter the rebels threw the shell, what reply +am I, as the commanding General of this division, to make?' + +"'Tell them that it was a ground blast,' said a Second Lieutenant, +politely saluting. 'I have just been down and saw the hole it made.' + +"'You saw the hole! and just below here! The d----l you did! D--n the +ground blasts!' and the General turned his horse's head and started +towards division head-quarters at a full gallop, followed by his +grinning staff." + +"He's not to blame so much, boys," remarked the Captain. "He was a quiet +clerk in the Topographical Department when the war broke out, I've been +told, and I've no doubt he dusted the pigeon-holes in his charge +carefully, and folded the papers neatly. When McClellan looked about for +material to fill up his big staff with, who was so well calculated to +attend to the topography of his battle-fields, considering that he +fought so few, and most of those he had to fight on the Peninsula, the +rebels got next day, as our Division General. Now, as Little Mac is not +particularly noted for close acquaintance with rebel shells, the General +has had small chance of knowing what kind of noise they do make when +they burst. His great blunder, or rather, the Government's, is his +taking command of a division, if it has but two brigades. I heard a +Major say he had greatness thrust upon him. He's a small man in a big +place. West Point has turned out some big men, like Rosecrans, Grant, +Hooker, and many others that are a credit to the country--men of genuine +talent, who have none of those foolish prejudices, that the regulars are +the only soldiers, and that volunteers are a mere make-shift, that can't +be depended upon. And West Point, like all other institutions, has had +its share of small men, that come from it with just brains enough to +carry a load of prejudice against volunteers and the volunteer service, +and a very little knowledge of the ordinary run of military matters. An +officer of real ability will never be a slave to prejudice. These small +men are the Red-Tapists of the army--the Pigeon-Hole-Paper Generals, and +being often elevated and privileged unduly, because they are from West +Point, they play the very devil in their commands. Our corps commander, +who was a teacher there, has brought a full share of the last kind into +the corps. + +"I wander about a good deal among other camps of this corps, pick up +information and make myself acquainted without standing on ceremony. I +never wait for that. I always had a habit of doing it, and I honestly +believe, from what I see and hear, there has been a studied effort, from +some high commander, to teach these young regular officers +treason,--yes, boys, treason,--because when a man tells me that we can't +conquer the Rebels, and that after a while we'll have to make peace, +etc., I set him down for a traitor; he is aiding and abetting the +enemies of his country. If that ain't treason I'd like to know what is." + +"The Captain headed off a lot of young regulars the other evening a +little the prettiest," said the Sergeant. + +"Let's have it!" said a dozen in the crowd, now considerably increased. + +"The Captain," continued the Sergeant, "had asked me to take a walk with +him after dress-parade, and we strolled along the Sharpsburg road +towards Corps Head-quarters. As we got just beyond the house and barn +where the Rebel wounded are, we came upon a crowd of officers, +commissioned and non-commissioned, and some privates. A quite young +officer, with a milk-and-water face and a moustache like mildew on a +damp Hardee, was talking very excitedly about the Administration not +appreciating General McClellan; that there wasn't intellect enough there +to appreciate a really great military genius; that European officers +praised him as our greatest General, and that even the Rebel officers +said that they feared him more than any of our Commanders; and yet all +the while the Abolition Administration tied his hands and fettered his +movements, and all because Little Mac wasn't crazy enough to say that +the Rebels could be subjugated and their armies exterminated, as some +fanatical Regulars and nearly all the Volunteer officers pretend to say. +'Now, I believe,' said the officer, thrusting his thumbs between his +armpits and his vest, and puffing out his breast pompously, 'I believe, +as Little Mac says, 'we can drive them to the wall;' we can lessen the +limits of their country; but, gentlemen, after all, there will have to +be a peace.' + +"I thought," said the Sergeant, "the Captain was going to break in upon +him here. He threw back his cap till the rim was on top of his head, +rammed his hands into his pockets, and edged his way a little further +into the crowd, towards the speaker; but he didn't, and the speaker went +on to say: + +"'There are the people, too, crazy about a forward movement. Why don't +they come down and shoulder muskets themselves?' + +"The Captain could hold in no longer. He drew his hands out of his +pockets, straightened them along his side, like a game rooster +stretching his wings just before a fight, and sidling up to the officer, +looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he burst out-- + +"'Why don't they shoulder muskets themselves? I'll tell you +why,--because we are here to do it for them. They have sent us, they pay +us, and they've a right to talk, and I hope they will talk. Anything +like a decent forward movement of this Corps would have saved the +disgrace of the second Bull Run battle. We all know how the Corps lagged +along the road-side, and the Rebel cannon all the while thundering in +the ears of its Commander.' + +"'A Volunteer officer, I suppose,' said the young officer, somewhat +sneeringly. 'Where have you ever seen service?' + +"'Yes, sir, a Volunteer officer,' said the Captain straightening up, +facing full the officer, and eyeing him until his face grew paler. +'Where have I seen service? In Mexico, as private in the 4th Regular +Artillery, while you were eating pap with a spoon, you puppy! You had +better have stayed at that business; it was an honest one, at any rate, +and Uncle Sam would have been saved some pay that you draw, while, like +a dishonest sneak, you preach treason.' + +"'How dare you insult a Regular officer?' said a gold-striped, dandified +fellow, as he twisted the ends of his moustache into rat-tails. + +"'Who the d----l are you?' said the Captain, turning on him so suddenly +that the officer commenced to back; 'with your gold lace on your +shoulders that may mean anything or nothing. What are you anyhow? +Captain? Lieutenant? Clerk? or Orderly? Those straps are a good come +off, boys.' The crowd laughed. 'I suppose he thinks he's a staff +officer.' + +"'I am, and a Lieutenant in the Regular army,' said the officer angrily, +and giving the word 'Regular' the full benefit of his voice. + +"'Regular and be d----d,' retorted the Captain. 'I want you both to +understand that I am a Captain in the Volunteer service of the United +States; that that service is by Act of Congress on a footing with the +Regular service, and that I'll always talk in this style when I hear +treason. I am the superior officer of you both, and have a right to talk +to you. I've been in service since the Rebellion broke out, and by the +mother of Moses, I never heard treason preached by officers in Uncle +Sam's uniform till I got into this Corps. It makes my blood boil, and I +won't stand it. Pretty doctrine you are trying to teach these soldiers; +but I know by their faces they understand the matter better than you, +and you can't do them any damage.' 'That's so,' sang out several of the +crowd. 'You fellows all talk alike. I have heard dozens of you talk in +the same way, and I believe your ideas are stocked from a higher source. +There is something wrong in the head of this Grand Army of the Potomac. +The way it's managed, grand only in reviews.' + +"'We shall report you, sir,' said the Rat-tailed Moustache, 'for +speaking disrespectfully of your superior officers.' + +"'Report as quick as you please. About that time you'll find another +report at the War Department, against two Regular Lieutenants, for +speaking discouraging and disloyal sentiments.' + +"'A Volunteer officer would stand a big chance at the Department making +a complaint against Regulars,' said the officer, as they both backed out +of the crowd, followed by a couple of non-commissioned officers and +privates. + +"'You d----d butterflies,' roared the Captain after them. 'I'll bet ten +dollars to one that you only stayed in service when the war broke out, +because you thought you could trust greenbacks better than Confederate +scrip.' + +"'You shall hear from us,' replied Rat-tail, as they walked on. + +"'Am ready to hear from both at once now, you cowardly sneaks,' sang out +the Captain. 'Don't believe you ever smelt powder, or ever will, if you +can help it.' + +"'Boys,' said the Captain, who had the sympathies of the crowd that +remained strongly with him. 'These shallow-brained fellows and some +older ones that wear stars, that havn't head enough to cut loose from +the Red-tape prejudice against us Volunteers, are a curse to the Army of +the Potomac. Is it any wonder that this Grand Army, burdened with +squirts of that stripe, is a burlesque and a disgrace to the country for +its inefficiency. In the West, where Regular officers, unprejudiced, go +hand in hand with Volunteers, we make progress. But what's the use of +talking, the body won't move right if the heart's rotten.' + +"'True as preachin',' said one of the men, and the sentiment seemed +approved by the crowd, as we gradually took up the homeward step." + +"Has the Sergeant told 'the whole truth,' and nothing but the truth?" +inquired a Lieutenant, a lawyer at home, of the Captain. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Captain firmly, "and I'll stick by the whole of +it, and a good deal more." + +"Well, I've been slow about believing many statements that I have +heard," continued the Lieutenant; "but to-day I heard some facts from a +Colonel in the Second Brigade that fairly staggered me. His Regiment, +through some Red-tape informality, has been without tents. In +consequence, considerable sickness, principally fever, has prevailed. +Some time ago he made a request to Division Head-quarters, for +permission to clean out and use the white house that stands near his +Regiment, and that, until lately, was full of wounded rebels, as a +hospital. Corps Head-quarters must be heard from. After considerable +delay, the men in the meanwhile sickening and dying, the request was +denied. The sickness, through the rains, increased, and the application +was renewed with like success. The owner, who was a Rebel sympathizer, +was opposed, and other like excuses, that in the urgency of the case +should not have been considered at all, were given. The sickness became +alarming in extent. The Regiment was entirely without shelter, save that +made from the few pine boughs to be had in the neighborhood. The Colonel +took some boards that the rebels had spared from the fence surrounding +the house, and with them endeavored to increase the comfort of the men. +In the course of a day or two, a bill was sent to him from +Head-quarters, with every board charged at its highest value, with the +request to pay, and with notice that in failure of immediate payment the +amount would be charged upon his pay-roll. This treatment disgusted the +Colonel, who is a gentleman of high tone and the kindliest feelings, and +angered by the heartlessness that denied him proper shelter for his +sick, now increased to a number frightfully large, with a heavy share of +mortality, he cut red-tape, sent over a detail to the house, had it +cleansed of Rebel filth, and filled it with the sick. The poor fellows +were hardly comfortable in their new quarters, before an order came from +Division Head-quarters for their immediate removal. + +"'I have no place to take them to; they are sick, and must be under +shelter,' was the Colonel's reply. + +"'The Commanding General of the Division orders their instant removal,' +was the order that followed. + +"'The Commanding General of Division must take the responsibility of +their removal on his own head,' was the spirited reply of the Colonel. + +"That evening towards sunset, the second edition of Old Pigeon, 'Squab,' +as the boys called him, rode up with the air of 'one having authority,' +and in a conceited manner informed the Colonel that the General +commanding the Division had directed him to place him under arrest. Now +these things I know to be facts. I took pains to inform myself." + +The Lieutenant's story elicited many ejaculations of contempt for the +heartlessness of some in high places; but they were cut short by the +Captain's stating that he knew the circumstances to be true, and that +Old Pigeon stated the Colonel should wait for his hospital tents, the +requisition for which had been sent up months before. It was shelved in +some pigeon-hole, and the Colonel was to stand by and see his men sicken +and die, while a rebel farmer's house near by would have saved many of +them. + +"But we're in for it, boys. No use of talking. Obedience is lesson No. 1 +of the soldier, and you know that we must not 'mutter or murmur' against +our Commanding General, which position Old Pigey so often reminds us he +holds. The old fellow half suspects that if he didn't, we'd forget it +from day to day; for Lord knows there is nothing about the man but his +position to make any one remember it. Now I am determined to have some +sleep." + +"Sleep! such a night as this?" said one of the crowd. + +"Of course; we'll need it to-morrow, and an old soldier ought to be able +to sleep anywhere, in any kind of weather." + +The Captain left. There was a partial dispersing of the crowd, but many +a poor fellow shivered in that pelting rain the night long. + +The morning found the enemy at a respectful distance, and the homeward +route was quietly resumed. Late in the afternoon the advance entered +Shepherdstown. At this time the rear was shelled vigorously, and as the +troops continued their passage through the town cavalry charges were +made upon both sides. That only ford was again crossed, and the evening +was well advanced ere the troops regained their camps. + +A day later, and the Dailies, through their respective reporters, told +an astonished public how the brilliant and daring reconnoissance had +discovered qualities of great generalship in a man who but a short time +before had figured as a quiet literary man in the seclusion of an +office. + +"And, be jabers," said our little Irish Corporal, on hearing it read, +"Uncle Sam would have gained by paying him to stay in that office." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Departure from Sharpsburg Camp--The Old Woman of Sandy Hook--Harper's +Ferry--South sewing Dragon's Teeth by shedding Old John's Blood--The +Dutch Doctor and the Boar--Beauties of Tobacco--Camp Life on the +Character--Patrick, Brother to the Little Corporal--General Patterson no +Irishman--Guarding a Potatoe Patch in Dixie--The Preacher Lieutenant on +Emancipation--Inspection and the Exhorting Colonel--The Scotch Tailor on +Military Matters._ + + +October was drawing to a close rapidly, when, at last, after repeated +false alarms, the actual movement of the army commenced. No one, unless +himself an old campaigner, can appreciate the feelings of the soldier at +the breaking up of camp. Anxious for a change of scenery as he may be, +the eye will linger upon each familiar spot, the quarters, the parade +ground, and rocky bluff and wooded knoll, until memory's impress bears +the lasting distinctness of a lifetime. Those leaving could not banish +from their minds, even if disposed, the thought that, although but a +temporary sojourn for them, it had proved to be the last resting-place +of many of their comrades. The hospital, more dreaded than the field, +had contributed its share to the mounds that dotted the hills from the +strife of Antietam. + + "There is not an atom of this earth + But once was living man--" + +was a day dream, doubtless, of the poetic boy of eighteen; but how +suggestive it becomes, when we consider how many thousands and hundreds +of thousands of mounds rising upon every hill in the border States, +attest devotion to the cause of the Union, or treason, in this foulest +of Rebellions. + +The route lay, after passing the village of Sharpsburg, through a narrow +valley, lying cosily between the spurs of two ridges that appeared to +terminate at the Ferry. On either hand the evidences of the occupation +of the country by a large army were abundant. Fences torn down, ground +trampled, and fields destitute of herbage. The road bordering the canal, +along which is built the straggling village of Sandy Hook, was crowded +with the long wagon trains of the different Corps. A soldier could as +readily distinguish the Staff from the Regimental wagons, as the Staff +themselves from Regimental officers. The slick, well fed appearance of +the horses or mules of Staff teams, usually six in number, owing to +abundance of forage and half _loaded_ wagons, were in striking contrast +with the four half fed, hide-bound beasts usually attached to the +overloaded Regimental wagons. Order after order for the reduction of +baggage, that would reduce field officers to a small valise apiece, +while many line officers would be compelled to march without a change of +clothing, did not appear to lessen the length of Staff trains. That the +transportation was unnecessarily extensive, cannot be doubted. That the +heaviest reduction could have been made with Head-quarter trains, is +equally true. + +"Grey coats one day and blue coats the next," said an old woman clad in +homespun grey, who came out of a low frame house as the troops slowly +made their way past the teams through the village of Sandy Hook. + +"Right on this rock is where General Jackson rested hisself," continued +the old woman. + +"Were there many Rebs about?" inquired one of the men. + +"Right smart of them, I reckon;" replied the old woman; "but Lord! what +a lookin' set of critters. Elbows and knees out; many of them hadn't +shoes, and half of them that had had their toes out. You boys are +dandies to them. And tired too, and hungry. Gracious! the poor fellows, +when their officers weren't about, would beg for anything almost to eat. +Why, my daughter Sal saw them at the soap-fat barrel! They said they +were nearly marched and starved to death. And their officers didn't look +much better. Lord! it looks like a pic-nic party to see you blue coats, +with your long strings of wagons, and all your other fixins. You take +good care of your bellies, the way you haul the crackers and bacon. Old +Jackson never waits for wagons. That's the way he gets around you so +often." + +"Look here, old woman," roared out one of the men, "you had better dry +up." + +"Yes, and he'll get around you again," continued the old woman in a +louder key. "You think you're going to bag him, do you. You're some on +baggin'; but he'll give you three days' start and beat you down the +valley. They acted like gentlemen, too, didn't touch a thing without +leave, and you fellows have robbed me of all I have." + +"They were in 'My Maryland,' and wanted to get the people all straight," +suggested one of the boys. + +The old lady did not take the hint, but kept on berating the fresh men +as they passed--taunting them by disparaging comparison with the Rebel +troops. A neighbor, by informing them of the fact of her having two +sons in the Rebel service, imparted the secret of her interest. + + * * * * * + +And there is the Ferry, so often pictured, or attempted to be, by pen +and pencil. Either art has failed, and will fail, to do justice to that +sublimely grand mountain scenery. Not quite three years ago, an iron old +man, who perished with the heroism of a Spartan, or rather, to be just, +the faith of a Christian; but little more than a year in advance of the +dawn of the day of his hope, centred upon this spot the eyes of a +continent. A crazy fanatic, was the cry, but-- + + "Thy scales, Mortality, are just + To all that pass away." + +Time will reveal that it was not the freak of a madman, but rather a +step in the grand progress of universal emancipation, and that Old John +had foundations for his purposed campaign, quite as substantial as those +upon which better starred enterprises have succeeded. + +"Lor, Massa, if Old John had only had these men," said a wench to one of +Patterson's Captains, as he paused for a few moments while drilling his +command at Charlestown, during that fruitless campaign, so formidable in +preparation, and so much more disgraceful than that of Old John in its +termination, for the latter, in his dying heroism, won the admiration of +a world. + +"Why, what could Old John have done with them?" replied the Captain. + +"Golly, Massa," said the wench, with a knowing grin; "he would have +walked right through Virginny, and he'd have had plenty of help too. I +knows, many a nigger about here that didn't say nuthin', would have +jined him." + +"Why didn't they join him?" + +"Lor, Massa, they didn't know it in time. Hadn't any chance. Massa +wanted us to go see him hung; but only the youngsters went. We colored +pussons neber forget Old John. No sah!" + +The men wound their way as best they could beneath the precipitous and +towering rocks of the Maryland Heights, through the teams that blocked +up the road, and a short distance above the Railroad Bridge, filed to +the left, and crossed upon the pontoons. As they passed the Engine +House, the utmost endeavors of the officers could not prevent a bulge to +the right, so great was the anxiety to see the scene of Old John's +heroic but hopeless contest. Denounced by pro-slavery zealots as a +murderer, by the community at large as a fanatic, who fifty years hence +will deny him honorable place in the list of martyrs for the cause of +eternal truth! + +The town itself was almost a mass of ruins; both sides, at various +stages of the war, having endeavored to effect its destruction. Another +pontoon bridge was crossed, bridging the Shenandoah--sparkling on its +rocky bed--the _Dancing Water_, as termed by the Aborigines, with their +customary graceful appropriateness. To one fond of mountain scenery, and +who is not? the winding road that follows the Shenandoah to its +junction, then charmingly bends to the course of the Potomac, is +intensely interesting. But why should an humble writer weary the +reader's patience by expatiating upon scenery, the sight of which +Jefferson declared well worth a visit across the Atlantic, at a day when +such visits were tedious three month affairs, and uncertain at that? War +now adds a bristling horror to the shaggy mountain tops, and from the +hoarse throats of heavy cannon often "leap from rock to rock the +beetling crags among" well executed counterfeits of "live thunder." + +The Potomac is followed but a short distance, the road winding by an +easy ascent up the mountain ridge, and descending as easily into a +narrow and fruitful valley. In this valley, four miles from the Ferry, a +halt was ordered, and the Division rested for the night and succeeding +day, in a large and well sodded field. + +"Gentlemen," said our Brigadier, in a sly, good-humored way, as he rode +up to the field officers of the Regiment, "the field upon which you are +encamped, and all the land, almost as far as you can see, on the left of +yon fence, belong to a Rebel now holding the rank of Major in the Rebel +service. All I need say, I suppose, gentlemen," and the General left to +communicate the important information to the other Regiments of the +Brigade. As a fine flock of sheep, some young cattle, a drove of porkers +that from a rear view gave promise of prime Virginia hams, and sundry +flocks of chickens, had been espied as the men marched into the field, +the General's remarks were eminently practical and suggestive. + +"Charlie, what's the state of the larder?" said the Major, with his +usual thoughtfulness, addressing the cheerful mess cook. + +"Some boiled pork and crackers. Poor show, sir!" Such fare, after a hard +day's march, in sight of a living paradise of beef, mutton, pork, and +poultry, would have been perfectly inexcusable; and forthwith, the +Major, "the little Dutch Doctor," and a short, stoutly-built Lieutenant, +all armed to the teeth, started off to reconnoitre, and ascertain in +what position the Rebel property was posted. As they went they canvassed +the respective merits of beef, mutton, pork and poultry, until a short +grunt from a porker, as he crossed the Doctor's path, ended the +discussion. The Major and Lieutenant cocked their pistols, but withheld +firing, as they saw the Doctor prostrate, holding by both hands the hind +leg of a patriarch of the flock. + +"Oh, Heavens! we don't want that old boar!" cried out at once both the +Major and Lieutenant. + +"Goot meat, make strong, goot for health, very," said the Doctor, +holding on with the grasp of a vice, while the boar fairly dragged him, +face to the ground, "after the manner of all creeping things." The +Doctor was in a fix. Help his companions would not give. He could not +hold the boar by one hand alone. After being considerably bruised, he +was compelled to release his hold, to his intense disgust, which he +evinced as he raised himself up, puffing like a porpoise, by +gesticulating furiously, and muttering a jargon in which the only thing +intelligible was the oft-repeated word, "tam." A well-directed shot from +the Major, shortly afterwards, brought down a royal "Virginia mutton," +as the camp phrase is. Another from the Lieutenant grazed the rear of a +fine young porker's ham; but considerable firing, a long chase, and many +ludicrous falls occurred, before that pig was tightly gripped between +the legs of the Lieutenant. + +The expedition was so successful that the aid of some privates was +called in to help carry to quarters the rich spoils of the chase. As for +the Doctor,--after the refusal of assistance in his struggle, he walked +homeward in stately but offended dignity, and shocked the Chaplain, as +he was occasionally in the habit of doing, by still muttering "tam." + +A person enjoying the comforts of home, testy as to the broiling of a +mutton-chop perhaps, for real, unalloyed enjoyment of appetite should +form one of a camp circle, toasting, at a blazing fire, as the shades +of evening gather round, steaks freshly cut with a camp-knife from flesh +that quivered with remaining life but a moment before, assisting its +digestion by fried hardees, and washing both down by coffee innocent of +cream. That is a feast, as every old campaigner will testify; but to be +properly appreciated a good appetite is all essential. To attain that, +should other resources fail, the writer can confidently recommend a +march, say of about fifteen miles, over rough or dusty roads. + +And then, as the appetites of the men are sated by the hardy provender +of Uncle Sam, varied, as in this instance, by Virginia venison, and they +respectively fall back and take to + + "Sublime Tobacco! glorious in a pipe;" + +what more pleasant than the discussion of the doings of the day, or of +the times, the recital of oft-repeated and ever-gaining yarns, or the +heart-stirring strains of national ballads, while each countenance is +lit with the ever-varying glow of the fire. + +Upon this evening not only Head-quarters but the Regiment was exultant +in the feast upon the fat of a rebellious land. To add to their comfort +several large stacks of hay and straw had been deprived of their fair +proportions, and preparations had been made for the enjoyment of rest +upon beds that kings would envy, could they but have the sleepers' sound +repose. + +The morrow had been set apart as a day of rest--a fact known to the +Regiment, and their fireside enjoyment was accordingly prolonged. + +The camp, more than any other position in life, develops the greatest +inconsistencies in poor human nature. The grumbler of the day's march is +very frequently the joker of the bivouac. The worse, at the expense of +man's better qualities, are rapidly strengthened, and the least particle +of selfishness, however concealed by a generous nature at the period of +enlistment, fearfully increases its power with every day of service. The +writer remembers well a small, slightly-built, bow-legged fellow, who +would murmur without ceasing upon the route, continually torment his +officers for privilege to fall out of ranks to adjust his knapsack, +fasten a belt, or some such like purpose, who, on the halt, would amuse +his comrades for hours in performing gymnastic feats upon out-spread +blankets. Another, who at home flourished deservedly under the sobriquet +of "Clever Billy," became, in a few brief months of service, the most +surly, snappish, and selfish of his mess. + +Pipe in mouth, their troubles are puffed away in the gracefully +ascending smoke. Many a non-user of the weed envies in moody silence the +perfect satisfaction resting upon the features of his comrade thus +engaged. Non-users are becoming rare birds in the army. So universal is +the habit, that the pipe appears to belong to the equipment, and the +tobacco-pouch, suspended from a button-hole of the blouse, is so +generally worn that one would suppose it to have been prescribed by the +President as part of the uniform. + +The crowd gathered about the Head-quarters had largely increased, and +while luxuriating upon the straw, time passed merrily. The Colonel, who +never let an opportunity to improve the discipline of his command pass +unimproved, seized the occasion of the presence of a large number of +officers to impress upon them the necessity of greater control of the +men upon the march. The easy, open, but orderly route-step of the +Regulars was alluded to--their occupying the road alone, and not spread +out and straggling like a drove of cattle. A stranger seeing our +Volunteers upon the march would not give them credit for the soldierly +qualities they really possess. Curiosity, so rampant in the Yankee, +tempts him continually to wander from the ranks to one or other side of +the road. + +"Well, Colonel," said a tall Lieutenant, "the Regulars look prim and +march well, but they have done little fighting, as yet, in this Army of +the Potomac." + +"You forget the Peninsula," replied the Colonel. + +"Oh, there they were caught unexpectedly, and forced into it. In this +Corps they are always in reserve; and that's what their officers +like,--everything in reserve but pay and promotion. It is rather +doubtful whether they will fight." + +"Ov coorse they'll fight," said the little Irish Corporal, half rising +from his straw on the outskirts of the crowd; "Ov coorse they will. +They're nearly all my own countrymen. I know slathers of them; and did +you iver in your born days know an Irishman that wouldn't fight, +anywhere, any time, and for anything, if he had anybody to fight?" + +"And a quart of whiskey in him," interrupts the Adjutant. "As Burns says +of the Scotch-- + + "'Wi' Tippeny they fear nae evil, + Wi' Usquebagh they'll face the Devil.'" + +"Now, don't be comparing an Irishman, if you plaze, Adjutant, to a +scratch-back Scotchman. The raal Irishman has fire enough in his bluid; +but there's no denying a glass of potheen is the stuff to regulate it. +Talk about Rigulars or Volunteers fighting;--it's the officers must do +their duty, and there's no fear thin of the men." + +"What did you enlist for, anyway, Terence?" broke in a Second +Lieutenant. + +"It's aisy seeing that it wasn't for a Lieutenant's pay," retorted +Terence, to the amusement of the crowd, and then, as earnestness +gathered upon his countenance, he continued: "I enlisted for revinge, +and there's little prospect of my seeing a chance for it." + +"For revenge?" said several. + +"Yis, for revinge. I had worked early and late at a liv'ry stable, like +a nagur, to pay the passage money of my only brother to this country. +Faith, he was a broth of a boy, the pride of all the McCarthy's,"--tears +welled in his eyes as he continued,--"just three years younger than +mysilf, a light, ruddy, nately put togither lad as iver left the bogs; +and talk about fightin'!--the divil was niver in him but in a fight, and +thin you'd think he was all divil. That was Patrick's sport, and fight +he would, ivery chance, from the time whin he was a bit of a lad, ten +years ould, and bunged the ould schoolteacher's eyes in the parish +school-house. Will, he got a good berth in a saloon in the Bowery, where +they used Patrick in claning out the customers whin they got noisy, and +he'd do it nately too, to the satisfaction of his employer. He did well +till a recruiting Sergeant--bad luck to him--that knew the McCarthys in +the ould country, found him out, and they drank and talked about ould +times, and the Sergeant tould him that the army was the place for +Irishmen,--that there would be lots of fightin'. The chance of a fight +took Patrick, and nixt day he left the city in a blouse, as Fourth +Corporal in an Irish Rigiment, and a prouder looking chappie, as his own +Captain tould me, niver marched down Broadway. And thin to think he was +murthered by my own Gineral." + +"Who? How was that?" interrupted half a dozen at once. + +"Gineral Patterson, you see, to be shure." + +"Why, Terence," broke in the Lieutenant, "you shouldn't be so hard upon +General Patterson; he's of an Irish family." + +"The Gineral an Irishman! Niver! Of an Irish family! must have been +hundreds of years back, and the bluid spoiled long before it got into +his veins, by bad whiskey or something worse. It takes the raal potheen, +that smacks of the smoke of the still, to keep up the bluid of an +Irishman. Rot-gut would ruin St. Patrick himself if he were alive and +could be got to taste it. Gineral Patterson an Irishman! no, sir; or +there would have been bluidy noses at Bunker's Hill or Winchester, and +that would have saved some at Bull Run." + +"On with your story, Terence," said the crowd. + +"Beggin' your pardon, there's no story about it,--the blissid truth, +ivery word of it. + +"Will, you see, while our ould Colonel, under the Gineral's orders, had +me guarding a pratie patch--" + +"Set an Irishman to guard a potato patch!" laughed the Second +Lieutenant. + +"It wasn't much use," said Terence, smiling, "for they disappeared the +first night, and the slim college student that was Sergeant of that +relief was put under guard for telling the officer of the guard, next +morning, that there had been a heavy dew that night, and it evaporated +so fast that it took the praties along. We lived on praties next day, +but the poor Sergeant had to foot the bill. + +"Well, as I was going on to say, while I was helping guard a pratie +patch, an ice-house, corn-crib, smoke-house, and other such things that +were near our camp ground, and that belonged to a Rebel Colonel under +Johnston;--Johnston himself was staling away with all his army to help +fight the battle of Bull Run. Patrick--pace to his sowl--was in that +battle and fought like a tiger, barrin' that he would have done better, +as his Captain tould me, if he hadn't forgot the balls in his +cartridge-box, and took to his musket like a shelaleh all day long. +Patrick's regiment belonged to a Brigade that was ordered to keep +Johnston in check, and there stood Patrick in line, like a true lad as +he was, clubbing back the Butternuts, striking them right and +left--maybe the fellows belonged to this same Rebel Colonel's +regiment--until a round shot struck him full in the breast, knocking the +heart out of as true an Irishman as iver lived, and killing dead the +flower of the McCarthys. + +"I didn't know it till we got to Baltimore, and thin whin I riflicted +how the poor boy marched up to fight the bluidy Rebels, and how they +killed him, my own brother, while I--I, who would have given my right +hand to save him,--yis," said Terence, rising, and tears streaming from +his eyes, "would have waded through fire and bluid to help the darlin', +the pride of his mother,--I was guarding a Rebel Colonel's property, +whin the whole of us, if we had fought Johnston, as we ought to have +done, might have kept him back and saved our army, and that would have +saved me my brother. And thin whin I remimbered how thick the Gineral +was with the Rebel gentry, and how fine ladies with the divil in their +eyes bowed to him in Charlestown, and spit at and cocked up their noses +at us soldiers, while their husbands were off, maybe, murthering my +brother; and how the Gineral, proud as a paycock on his prancing +chestnut sorrel, tould us in the meadow that Johnston was too strong +for us to attack, but that if he would come out from behind his big guns +the Gineral would lay his body on the sod before he'd lave it, whin he +intended his body to lie on a soft bed the rest of his life, and how he +said and did all this while our men, and my brother among them, were +being murthered by this same Johnston that he was sent to hould back,--I +couldn't keep down my Irish bluid. I cursed him and all his tribe by all +the Saints from St. Peter to St. Patrick, until good ould Father Mahan +tould me, whin I confessed, that he was afraid I would swear my own sowl +away, and keep Patrick in Purgatory; and the Father tould me that I +should lave off cursin' Patterson, for the Americans thimselves would +attend to that, and take to fighting the Rebels for revinge; and he said +by way of incouragement that at the same time I'd be sarving God and my +adopted country. And here I am, under another safe Commander. Four +months and no fight,--nearly up to the ould First, that sarved three +months without sight of a Rebel, barrin' he was a prisoner, or in +citizen dress, like some we have left behind us." + +"Boys, Terence tells the truth about Patterson's movements," said the +tall Lieutenant. "The day before we left we were ordered to be ready to +move in the morning, with three days' cooked rations. We were told that +our Regiment was assigned a place in the advance, and it was +semi-officially rumored that a flank attack would be made upon +Winchester. At this day the whole affair appears ridiculous, as Johnston +had at that very time left Winchester, leaving only a trifling show of +force, and he never, at his best, had a force equal to Patterson's. Half +of his troops were the raw country militia. But we under-officers were +none the wiser. It was rumored that Bill McMullen's Rangers had found +charts that informed the General of the extent and strength of the Rebel +works and muster-rolls, that showed his force to be over 50,000. That +those works had no existence to the extent alleged, and that the +muster-rolls were false, are now well known. But that night it was all +dead earnest with us. Rations were cooked and the most thorough +preparations made for the expected work of the morrow. Sunrise saw the +old First in line, ready for the move. Eight o'clock came; no move, +Nine--Ten, and yet no move. Arms had been stacked, and the men lounged +lazily about the stacks. Eagle eyes scanned the surrounding country to +ascertain what other Brigades were doing. At length troops were seen in +motion, but the head of the column was turned towards the Ferry. 'What +does this mean?' was the inquiry that hastily ran from man to man; and +still they marched towards the Ferry. By and by an aide-de-camp directed +our Brigade to fall into the column, and we then discovered that the +whole army was in line of march for the Ferry, with a formidable +rear-guard to protect it from an enemy then triumphing at Bull Run. + +"Well, Patterson's inertness, to speak of it tenderly, cost the country +much blood, millions of money, and a record of disgrace; but it gave a +Regiment of Massachusetts Yankees opportunity to whittle up for their +home cabinets of curiosities a large pile of walnut timber which had +formed John Brown's scaffold, and to make extensive inroads in prying +with their bayonets from the walls of the jail in which he had been +confined pieces of stone and mortar. Guards were put upon the Court +House in which old John heard his doom with the dignity of a Cato, at an +early date, or it would have been hewn to pieces. A fine crop of corn +in full leaf was growing upon the field of execution, and for a space of +ten feet from the road-side the leaves had been culled for careful +preservation in knapsacks. The boys had the spirit. Their Commander +lacked capacity or will to give it effect. A beggarly excuse was set up +after the campaign was over,--that the time of service of many of the +Regiments was about expiring, and that the men would not reenlist,--not +only beggarly, but false. The great mass volunteered to remain as it +was, with no prospect of service ahead. All would have stayed had the +General shown any disposition for active work, or made them promise of a +fight." + +"Golly," said a tall, raw-boned Darkie, showing his ivories to a crowd +of like color about him, as the fine band of the Fencibles played in +front of the General's Head-quarters. "Dese Union boys beat de +Mississippi fellurs all hollur playing Dixie." + +Hardly a face was to be seen upon the streets, but those of these +friendly blacks. They thronged about the camps, to be repulsed by +stringent orders at all quarters. Property they were, reasoned the +commander, and property must be respected. And it was; even pump handles +were tied down and placed under guard. Oh! that a Ben Butler had then +been in command, to have pronounced this living property contraband of +war, and by that sharp dodge of a pro-slavery Democrat, to have given +Uncle Sam the services of this property. Depend upon it, that would have +ended campaigning in the valley of the Shenandoah, that store-house of +Rebel supplies, as it has turned out to be; supplies too, gathered and +kept up by the negroes that Patterson so carefully excluded from his +lines. + +"And would have saved us this march," says the Colonel, "a goose chase +at any rate." + +"Yes, and had the policy of using the negro been general at the +commencement of this Rebellion, troops would not be in the field at this +day," responded the Lieutenant. + +"Why do they not now, come boldly out and acknowledge that slavery is a +curse to any nation?" said the Preacher Lieutenant. "It caused the +Rebellion, and its downfall would be the Rebellion's certain and speedy +death. Thousands of years ago, the Almighty cursed with plagues a proud +people for refusing to break the bonds of the slave. The day of miracles +is past. But war, desolating war, is the scourge with which He punishes +our country. The curse of blood is upon the land; by blood must it be +expiated. We in the North have been guilty, in common with the whole +country, in tolerating, aiding, and abetting the evil. We must have our +proportion of punishment. Why cannot the whole country meet the issue +boldly as one man, and atone for past offence by unanimity in the +abolition of the evil?" + +"On the nigger again," said his Junior Lieutenant, assuming, as he +spoke, an oratorical attitude. "Why do you not go on and talk about them +working out their own salvation, with muskets on their shoulders and +bayonets by their sides, and with fear and trembling too, I have no +doubt it would be. Carry out your Scripture parallels. Tell how the +walls of Jericho fell by horns taken from the woolly heads of rams; but +now that miracles are no more, how the walls of this Jericho of Rebeldom +are destined to fall before the well-directed butting of the woolly +heads themselves. You don't ride your hobby with a stiff rein to-night, +Lieutenant." + +The taunting air and strained comparison of the Lieutenant enlivened the +crowd, but did not in the least affect the Senior, who calmly replied: + +"If our Government does not arm the negro on the basis of freedom, the +Rebels in their desperation will, and although we have the negro +sympathy, we may lose it through delay and inattention, and in that +event, prepare for years of conflict. The negroes, at the outset of this +Rebellion, were ripe for the contest. Armies of thousands of them might +have been in the field to-day. Now the President's Proclamation finds +them removed within interior Rebel lines, and to furnish them arms, will +first cost severe contests with the Rebels themselves." + +The toil of the day and the drowsiness caused by huge meals, gradually +dispersed the crowd; but the discussion was continued in quarters by the +various messes, until their actual time of retiring. + + * * * * * + +"Inspection! inspection!" said the Adjutant, on the succeeding +afternoon, to the Lieutenant-Colonel for the time being in command of +the Regiment, handing him, at the same time, an order for immediate +inspection. "Six inspections in two weeks before marching," continued +the Adjutant, "and another after a day's march. I wonder whether this +Grand Army of the Potomac wouldn't halt when about going into battle, to +see whether the men had their shoe-strings tied?" + +The Adjutant had barely ceased, when the Inspecting officer, the ranking +Colonel of the Brigade, detailed specially for the duty, made his +appearance. He was a stout, full-faced man of fifty or upwards, with an +odd mixture in his manner of piety and pretension. Report had it that +his previous life had been one of change,--stock-jobber, note-shaver, +temperance lecturer, and exhorter-- + + "All things by turns, and nothing long." + +The latter quality remained with him, and it was a rare chance that he +could pass a crowd of his men without bringing it into play. His +"talks," as the boys called them, were more admired than his tactics, +and from their tone of friendly familiarity, he was called by the +fatherly title of "Pap" by his Regiment, and known by that designation +throughout the Brigade. + +The Regiment was rapidly formed for inspection, and after passing +through the ranks of the first Company, the Colonel pompously presented +himself before its centre, and with sober tones and solemn look, +delivered himself as follows: + +"Boys, have your hearts right," the Colonel clapping, at the same time, +his right hand over his diaphragm. "If your hearts are right your +muskets will be bright." The men stared, the movement not being laid +down in the Regulations, and not exactly understanding the connexion +between the heart and a clean musket; but the Colonel continued, "the +heart is like the mainspring of a watch, if it beats right, the whole +man and all about him will be right. There is no danger of our failing +in this war, boys. We have a good cause to put our hearts in. The Rebels +have a bad cause, and their hearts cannot be right in it. Good hearts +make brave men, brave men win the battles. That's the reason, boys, why +we'll succeed." + +"Can't see it!" sang out some irreverent fellow in the rear rank. + +The Colonel didn't take the hint; but catching at the remark continued, +"You do not need to see it, boys, you can feel whether your heart is +right." This provoked a smile on the faces of the more intelligent of +the officers and men, which the Colonel noticed. "No laughing matter, +boys," he said emphatically, at the same time earnestly gesticulating, +"your lives, your country, and your honor depend upon right hearts." And +thus the old Colonel exhorted each Company previous to its dismissal, +amusing some and mystifying others. The heart was his theme, and time or +place, a court-martial or a review, did not prevent the introduction of +his platitudes. + +Said the Major, after inspection, "The Colonel, in the prominence he +gives the heart in its control of military affairs, rather reverses a +sentiment I once heard advanced by a little Scotch tailor, who had just +been elected a militia colonel." + +"Let's have it, Major," said the Adjutant. + +"The little Scotchman," continued the Major, "had been a notorious +drunkard and profane swearer. Through the efforts of a travelling +Evangelist, he became converted and joined a prominent denomination. His +conversion was a remarkable instance, and gave him rapid promotion and a +prominent position in the church. While at his height, through some +scheme of the devil, I suppose, he was elected colonel of militia. The +elevation overcame him. Treat he must and treat he did, and to satisfy +the admiring crowd in front of the bar drank himself, until reason left, +preceded by piety, and his old vice of profanity returned, with +seven-fold virulence. He was discovered by a brother of the church, +steadying himself by the railing of the bar, and rehearsing, amid +volleys of oaths, the fragments that remained in his memory of an old +Fourth of July speech. 'Brother,' said his fellow church-member, as he +gently nudged his arm. 'Brother!' in a louder key, and with a more +vigorous nudge, 'have you forgotten your sacred obligations to the +church, your position as a--' + +"'The church!' echoed the tailor, all the blood of the MacGregor rising +in his boots, with an oath that shocked the brother out of all +hope--'What's the church to military matters?'" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Snicker's Gap--Private Harry on the "Anaconda"--Not inclined to turn +Boot-Black--"Oh! why did you go for a Soldier?"--The +ex-News-Boy--Pigeon-hole Generalship on the March--The Valley of the +Shenandoah--A Flesh Carnival--The Dutch Doctor on a Horse-dicker--An Old +Rebel, and how he parted with his Apple-Brandy--Toasting the +"Union"--Spruce Retreats._ + + +The movement down the Valley was one of those at that time popular +"bagging" movements, peculiar to the Grand Army of the Potomac, and in +their style of execution, or to speak correctly, intended execution--for +the absence of that quality has rendered them ridiculous--original with +its Commander. Semi-official reports, industriously circulated from the +gold-striped Staff to the blue-striped Field Officer, and by the latter +whispered in confidence in the anxious ears of officers of the line, and +again transferred in increasing volume to the subs, and by them in +knowing confidence to curious privates, had it that the principal rebel +force would be hemmed in, in the Valley of the Shenandoah, by our +obtaining command of the Gaps, and then we would be nearest their +Capital in a direct line--we would compel them to fight us, where, when, +and how we pleased, or else beat them in a race to Richmond, and +then----. The reader must imagine happy results that could not +consistently be expected, while to gain the same destination over +equidistant and equally good roads, Strategy moved by comparatively slow +marches and easy halts, while Desperation strained every nerve, with +rattling batteries and almost running ranks. + +"But, Lieutenant, if that's so," alluding to the purpose of their march, +"why are we halting here?" + +"Our troops block up the roads, I suppose." + +"We could march in the fields," rejoined the anxious private, "by the +road-side; they are open and firm." + +"We'll see, Harry, in a day or two, what it all amounts to. May be the +'Anaconda' that is to smash out the rebellion, is making another turn, +or 'taking in a reef,' as the Colonel says." + +"Well," rejoined the Private, "I have endeavored to book myself up, as +far as my advantages would allow, in our army movements; and the nearest +approach to anything like an anaconda, that I can see or hear of, is +that infernal Red-tape worm that is strangling the soul out of the army. +What inexcusable nonsense to attempt to apply to an immense army in time +of war, such as we have now in the field, the needless, petty +pigeon-hole details that regulated ten thousand men on a peace +establishment. And to carry them out, look how many valuable officers, +or officers who ought to be valuable, from the expense Uncle +Sam has been at to give them educational advantages, are doing +clerkly duty--that civilians, our business men, our accountants, +could as well, if not better, attend to--in the offices of the +Departments at Washington, in the Commissary and Quarter-Master's +Departments,--handling quills and cheese-knives instead of swords, and +never giving 'the villainous smell of saltpetre' the slightest chance +'to come betwixt the wind and their nobility.'" + +Harry, at the time of his volunteering was an associate editor of a well +established and ably conducted country newspaper. He had thrown himself +with successful energy into the formation of the regiment to which he +belonged. A prominent position was proffered him, but he sturdily +refused any place but the ranks, alleging that he had never drilled a +day in his life, and particularly insisting that those who had seen +service and were somewhat skilled in the tactics, although many of them +were far his inferiors in intelligence, should occupy the offices. From +his gentlemanly deportment and ability he was on familiar terms with the +officers, and popular among the men. Withal, he was a finely formed, +soldierly-looking man. In the early part of his service he was reserved +in his comments upon the conduct of the war, and considered, as he was +in fact, conservative,--setting the best possible example of +taciturnity, subordinate to the wisdom of his superiors. + +"Harry, you have been detailed as a clerk about Brigade Head Quarters," +said the Orderly Sergeant of his company, one morning, after he had been +in service about two months. + +Harry did not like the separation from his Company in the least, but +notwithstanding, quietly reported for duty. Several days of desk +drudgery, most laborious to one fresh from out-door exercise, had +passed, when one morning about eight o'clock, a conceited coxcomb of an +aid, in slippers, entered the office-tent, and holding a pair of muddy +boots up, with an air of matter-of-course authority--ordered Harry to +blacken them, telling him at the same time, in a milder and lower tone, +that black Jim the cook had the brush and blackening. + +"What, sir?" said Harry, rising like a rocket, his Saxon blood mounting +to the very roots of his red hair. + +"I order you to black those boots, sir," was the repeated and more +insolent command. + +"And I'll see you d----d first," retorted Harry, doubling his fist. + +The aid not liking the furious flush upon Harry's face, with wise +discretion backed out, muttering after he was fairly outside of the +tent, something about a report to the Brigadier. Report he did, and very +shortly after there was a vacancy in his position upon the Staff of that +Officer. Harry, at his own request, was in the course of a week relieved +from duty, and restored to his Company. Ever after he had a tongue. + +The reply of the Lieutenant to Harry's remarks has all this time been in +abeyance, however. + +"Harry," said that officer, "we must follow the stars without murmuring +or muttering against the judgment of superiors,--but one can't help +surmising, and," the Lieutenant had half mechanically added when the +Sergeant-Major saluted him. + +"Where is the Captain, Lieutenant?" + +"Not about, at present." + +"Well," continued the Sergeant, "reveille at four, and in line at five +in the morning." + +Those beds of thickly littered straw were hard to leave in the chill +mist of the morning. The warning notes of the reveille trilling in +sweetest melody from the fife of the accomplished fife-major, +accompanied by the slumber-ending rattle of the drum, admitted of no +alternative. Many a brave boy as he stood in line that morning, ready +for the march, the first sparkle of sunrise glistening upon his bayonet, +wondered whether father or mother, sister or brother, yet in their +slumbers, doubtless, in the dear old homestead, knew that the army was +on the move, and that the setting sun might gild his breast-plate as in +his last sleep he faced the sky. + +"Oh! why did you go for a soldier?" sang our little news-boy, +tauntingly, as he capered behind a big burly Dutchman in the rear rank, +who had encountered all manner of misfortune that morning,--missing his +coffee--and what is a man worth on a day's march without coffee--because +it was too hot to drink, when the bugle sounded the call to fall in, his +meat raw, not even the smell of fire about it, and his crackers half +roasted; his clothes, too, half on, belts twisted, knapsack badly made +up. As he grumbled over his mishaps, in his peculiar vernacular, +laughter commenced with the men, and ended in a roar at the song of the +news-boy. + +A crowd gathers food for mirth from the most trivial matters. Incidents +that would not provoke a smile individually, convulse them collectively. +Men under restraint in ranks are particularly infectious from the +influence of the passions. With lightning-like rapidity, to misapply a +familiar line-- + + "They pass from grave to gay, from lively to severe." + +Snicker's Gap, which drew its euphoneous name from a First Virginia +family that flourished in the neighborhood, was one of the coveted +points. In the afternoon our advance occupied it, and the neighboring +village of Snickersville; fortunately first perhaps, in force, or what +is most probable, considering results, amused by a show of resistance to +cover the main Rebel movement then rapidly progressing further down the +valley. From whatever cause, firing--musketry and artillery--was heard +at intervals all the latter part of the afternoon; and as the troops +neared the Gap, they were told that the Rebels had been driven from it +across the river, and that it was now in our possession. Night was +rapidly setting in as the division formed line of battle on the borders +of the village. A halt but for a few moments. Their position was shortly +changed to the mountain slope below the village. Down the valley sudden +flashes of light and puffs of smoke that gracefully volumed upwards, +followed by the sullen roar of artillery, revealed a contest between the +advancing and retreating forces. That fire-lit scene must be a life +picture to the fortunate beholders. Directly in front and on the left, +thousands of camp fires burning in the rear of stacks made from +line-of-battle, blazed in parallel rows, regular as the gas-lights of +the avenues of a great city, and illumining by strange contrasts of +light and shade the animated forms that encircled them. Far down to the +right, the vertical flashes from the cannon vents vivid as lightning +itself, instantly followed by horizontal lurid flames, belched forth +from their dread mouths, lighting for the instant wood and field, formed +the grandest of pyrotechnic displays. Rare spectacle--in one magnificent +panorama, gleaming through the dark mantle of night, were the steady +lights of peaceful camps, and the fitful flashing of the hostile cannon. + +"Fall in, fall in!" cried the officers, at the bugle call, and in a few +moments the Brigade was in motion. Some in the ranks, with difficulty, +at the same time managing their muskets and pails of coffee that had not +had time to cool; others munching, as they marched, their half-fried +crackers, and cooling with hasty breath smoking pieces of meat, while +friendly comrades did double duty in carrying their pieces. The soldier +never calculates upon time; the present is his own when off duty, and he +is not slow to use it; the next moment may see him started upon a long +march, or detailed for fatigue duty, and with a philosophy apt in his +position, he lives while he can. + +The road through Snickersville, and up the romantic gorge or gap between +the mountains, was a good pike, and in the best marching condition. At +the crest the Brigade undoubled its files, and entered in double ranks a +narrow, tortuous, rocky road, ascending the mountain to the left, +leading through woods and over fields so covered with fragments of rock, +that a country boy in the ranks, following up a habit, however, not by +any means confined to the country, of giving the embodiment of evil the +credit of all unpleasant surroundings, remarked that "the Devil's +apron-strings must have broke loose here." That night march was a weary +addition to the toil of the day. A short cut to the summit, which +existed, but a mile in length, and which the Commander of the Force to +which the Brigade formed part, could readily have ascertained upon +inquiry, would have saved a great amount of grumbling, many hard oaths, +for Uncle Toby's army that "swore so terribly in Flanders," could not +outdo in that respect our Grand Army of the Potomac,--and no trifling +amount of shoe-leather for Uncle Sam. The night was terribly cold, and +the wind in gusts swept over the mountain-top with violence sufficient +to put the toil-worn man, unsteady under his knapsack, through the +facings in short order. Amid stunted pines and sturdy undergrowth, the +Regiments in line formed stacks, and the men, debarred fire from the +exposed situation, provided what shelter they could, and endeavored to +compose themselves for the night. Vain endeavor. So closely was that +summit shaved by the pitiless blasts, that a blanket could only be kept +over the body by rolling in it, and lying face downwards, holding the +ends by the hands, with the forehead resting on the knapsack for a +pillow. Some in that way, by occasionally drumming their toes against +the rocks managed to pass the night; many others sought warmth or +amusement in groups, and others gazed silently on the camp-fires of the +enemy, an irregular reflex of those seen on the side they had left--here +glimmering faintly at a picket station, and there at a larger +encampment, glowing first in a circle of blaze, then of illumined smoke, +that in its upward course gradually darkened into the blackness of +night. To men of contemplative habits, and many such there were, though +clad in blouses, the scene was strongly suggestive. Our states emblemed +in the lights of the valleys and the mountain ridge as the much talked +of "impassable barrier." But faith in the success of a cause Heaven +founded, saw gaps that we could control in that mountain ridge which +would ultimately prove avenues of success. + +"Captain, where did you make the raise?" inquired a young Lieutenant, on +the following day,--one of a group enjoying a blazing fire, for the ban +had been removed at early dawn--of a ruddy-faced, sturdy-looking +officer, who bore on his shoulder a tempting hind quarter of beef. + +"There is a little history connected with this beef," as he lowered his +load. "Lieutenant," replied the Captain, interlarding his further +statement with oaths, to which justice cannot and ought not to be done +in print, and which were excelled in finish only by some choice ones of +the Division General. "I went out at sunrise, thinking that by +strolling among the rocks I might stir up a rabbit. I saw several, but +got a fair shot at one only, and killed it. While going into a fence +corner, in which were some thorn bushes, that I thought I could stir +another cotton tail from, I saw a young bullock making for me, with +lowered horns and short jumps. I couldn't get through the thorn bushes, +and the fact is, being an old butcher I didn't care much about it, so I +faced about, looked the bullock full in the eyes, and the bullock eyed +me, giving at the same time an occasional toss of his short horns. Now I +was awful hungry, never was more hollow in my life--the hardees that I +swallowed dry in the morning fairly rattled inside of me. By-and-by I +smelt the steaks, and a minute more I felt sure that he was a Rebel +beast. Our young cattle up North don't corner people in that way. What's +the use, thought I, and out came my Colt, and I planted a ball square +between his eyes. As I returned the pistol he was on his side kicking +and quivering. While looking at him, and rather coming to the conclusion +that I had bought an elephant after all, as I had not even a penknife to +skin it with, I spied that sucker-mouthed Aid of Old Pigeon-hole coming +from another corner of the field, cantering at full jump. I left, +walking towards Camp. + +"'Captain, where was that picket-firing?' + +"I pointed towards the wood, and told him that I thought it was along +the picket-line." + +"'It must have been, I suppose,' said the Aid, in a drawling manner. +'The General was sure it was a rifle. The rest of us thought it a pistol +shot,' he said, as he rode off. + +"When he got into the wood I returned to the bullock, cursing Old +Pigey's ears for want of experience in shots. They made me come mighty +close to being arrested for marauding. + +"'Oh! whar did you git the jump-high?' said a darkie, who came up +suddenly, pointing to the rabbit which I had put on the fence, with +mouth open and a big show of the whites of his eyes. When he saw the +carcass he fairly jumped. + +"'Massa has had me shinning it round de rocks all morning. When I'm on +de one side de jump-high is on de oder; and if I go back widout one +he'll cuss me for a d----d stumbling woolly-head. Dat's his name for me +any way.' + +"I struck a bargain with the boy; he loaned me his jack-knife, and held +the legs, and I had the skin off as soon as a two-inch blade (hacked at +that) would allow, and I gave him the jump-high, and told him if he'd +watch the beef till I carried this quarter home, I'd give him a fore +quarter. I knew his Master was as bad off as myself, and would ask no +questions, and then I sneaked up in rear of the General's quarters." + +"That's what I'd call Profane History," said the Lieutenant, as the +Captain resumed his load. + +"Well, boys! Go into the Third Cavalry four months, as I did; and if any +of you swear less than I do, I'll treat." + +"One fault with the story, Captain," said another Lieutenant, detaining +him; "you make no application." + +"I didn't intend it as a sermon; what application would you make?" + +"A very practical one, Captain. I would apply half a quarter to one man, +half a quarter to another. Make a distribution among your friends." + +The Captain, somewhat sold, told them to send down a detail, and he +would distribute. + +The detail returned, well loaded, having performed their duty +faithfully, with the exception of trimming Sambo's fore-quarter "mighty +close," as he phrased it. + +That bullock turned out to be merely the first course of a grand flesh +carnival, which lasted the remaining two days of the stay on Snicker's +summit. The wood and fields almost swarmed with rabbits and quails; but +although furnishing amusement to all, they were but titbits for the +delicate. By some remissness of vigilance under the stringent orders, +cattle, sheep, and hogs were slaughtered on all sides. There was an +abundance of them; the farmers in the valley having driven them up, as +was their custom, for the pasture and mast to be found in the fields and +woods. Half wild, the flavor of their flesh was a close approach to that +of game. As may be supposed, where licence was untrammelled, there was +much needless slaughter. Fine carcasses were left as they fell, with the +loss only of a few choice cuts. As the beasts, especially the pigs, +which looked like our ordinary porkers well stretched, could run with +great speed, the chase was amusing as well as exciting. Red breeches and +blue fraternized and vied with each other in the sport, to quarrel, +perhaps, over the spoils. + +Few will fail to carry to their homes recollections of that pleasing +episode in the history of the Regiment: the feasts of fat things, the +space-built inclosures around the camp-fires that sheltered them from +the blast, and were amphitheatres of amusement--recollections that will +interest many a future fireside, destined, with the lapse of time, to +become sacred as family traditions of the Revolution. And have they not +equal claims? The Revolution founded the country; this struggle must +save it from the infamous and despotic demands of a most foul and +unnatural Rebellion. + +"Halloo! Doctor! where did that 'animile' come from," inquired the +Major, who formed one of a crowd, on the afternoon of the last day of +their stay in the Head Quarters Spruce Retreat, as the little Dutch +Doctor strutted alongside of a Corporal of an adjoining regiment, who +led by a halter, extemporized from a musket-strap and a cross-belt, a +small light dun horse. + +"Mine, Major! Pay forty-five tollar--have pay five, only forty yet to +get. How you like him? What you tink?" + +The "only forty yet to get" amused the crowd, but the Major, with the +gravity of a connoisseur, walked around the beast, nipped his legs, and +opened his mouth. + +"Doctor, it's a pity to use this beast--only two years old, and never +shod. Is he broke?" + +"No. No broke anywhere. Have look at whole of him." + +The crowd laughed, and the Major with them. + +"You don't understand me. Can you ride him?" + +"Me no ride him, no saddle. Corporal, him ride all round." + +The Corporal stated that he was broken in so far as to allow riding, and +was very gentle, as indeed was apparent from the looks of the animal. + +"When did you get him, Corporal?" was the query of one of the crowd. + +"I bought four yesterday for four hundred and seventy-five dollars +Confederate scrip." + +"Why, where did you get that?" + +"Bought it in Washington, when we first went through, of a boy on the +Avenue for fifteen cents. I thought there might be a show for it some +day or other." + +The Corporal was a slender, lantern-jawed, weasel-faced Monongahela +raftsman, sharp as a steel-trap. + +"The old fellow," continued he, "hung on to five hundred dollars for +about an hour. He took me into his house, gave me a nip of old apple +brandy, and then he'd talk about his horses and then another nip, till +we felt it a little, but no go. I had to jew, for it was all I had. I'd +just as leave have given him another hundred, but I didn't tell him so. +I told him I got it at Antietam." + +"You d----d rascal," said he, "I had a son killed and robbed there, +maybe it's his money. It looks as if it had been carried a good while." + +"I had played smart with it, rubbed it, wet it, and in my breast pocket +on those long marches it was well sweated." + +"Suppose it was your son's," said I, "all is fair in war." + +"That's so," said the old Rebel. "I have two other sons there; I would +go myself, it I wasn't seventy-eight and upwards." + +"Well, looky here," said I, "this isn't talking horse; we'll manage your +sons, and you, too, if you don't dry up on your treason slang. Now, old +covey, four hundred and seventy-five or I'm back to camp without them." + +"I turned and got about ten steps, when he called me back and told me to +take them. I got a bully pair of matches, fine blacks, that a Colonel in +the Regiment paid me one hundred and twenty-five for at first sight, and +a fine pacing bay that our Major gave me seventy-five for, and this +one's left." + +"Doctor, I'm about tired of trotting around after them other forty. +They're givin' out cracker rations, and I don't want to be cheated out +of mine, and I must go," said the Corporal, turning quickly to the +Doctor. + +The latter personage snapped his eyes, and kept his cap bobbing up and +down, by wrinkling his forehead, as he somewhat plaintively asked the +crowd for the funds. + +"Good Lord! Doctor, you might as well try to milk a he-goat with a +bramble bush as to get money in camp now," said the Major. + +"Corporal," said the Adjutant, a fast friend of the Doctor's, and being +of a musical turn, his partner in many a Dutch duet, as a bright idea +struck him, "you don't want the money now--there are no sutlers about, +suppose the Doctor gives you an order on the Pay-Master." + +"Well," said the Corporal, after some little study, and keeping a sharp +look-out on the Adjutant, whose features were fixed, "that's a fact, I +have no use for the money now. If one of you Head-Quarter officers +endorses it, I will. 'Spose it's all straight." + +The Adjutant drew the order, and one of the Field-Officers endorsed it, +after the manner of documents forwarded through regular military +channels: + +"Approved and respectfully forwarded." + +It was handed to the Corporal, and he turned to go, leaving the horse +with the Doctor, and giving the crowd an opportunity for their laugh, so +far suppressed with difficulty. He had gone but a few paces when an +exclamation from the quondam Third cavalryman called him back, and ended +for the moment the laughter. + +"Where does the old fellow live, Corporal?" + +"Keep out that lane to the left, then across lots by a narrow path. +Can't miss it. He has no more horses." + +"Don't want horses." + +"That apple brandy it's no use trying for." + +"Boys," said the Captain, "I'm good for half a dozen canteens of the +stuff, I'll bet my boots on it. Who'll go along?" + +"I," replied a sturdy brother Captain. + +"Recollect now. All here at nine to-night to receive our report. No use +to tell you that, though, when whiskey is about," said the first +Captain, as the crowd dispersed. + +And that report was given by his comrade to the punctual crowd as +follows: + +"When I came out to the charred pine stumps on the lane, where I was to +meet the Captain, it was a little before dusk. I was just about clear of +the wood, when the Colonel's big black mare, ridden by the Captain, came +bouncing over a scrub pine and lit right in front of me. The d----l +himself couldn't have made me feel a colder shudder. + +"'What's the matter? Where's your horse?' + +"'I thought we had better walk,' said I, recovered from the fright; +'it's only a short distance.' + +"'That ain't the thing. There must be some style about this matter.' + +"I had noticed that the Captain had on the Colonel's fancy Regulation +overcoat, a gilt edged fatigue cap, his over-long jingling Mexican +spurs, and the Major's sabre dangling from his side. I came back, got +the Adjutant's horse, and rejoined him. + +"'Now, I want you to understand,' said the Captain, putting on his +prettiest, as we jogged along the lane, 'that I'm General Burnside. How +does that strike you?' + +"'That you don't look a d--n bit like Burney. He is no fancy man. Your +style is nearer the Prince's,--Fitz John. All you want are the yellow +kids,' rejoined I. + +"'Too near home, that. How will Gen. Franklin do?' + +"As I knew nothing about Franklin's appearance, I said I supposed that +would do. Before respectable people I'd have hated to see any of our +Generals wronged by the Captain's looks, but as it was only a Rebel, it +didn't make any difference. And then the object overcame all scruples. + +"'Well,' continued the Captain, 'you are to be one of my aids. When we +get near the house, just fall back a pace or two.' + +"And off he rode, the big mare trotting like an elephant, and keeping my +nag up to a gallop. Keeping back a pace or two was a matter of +necessity. The Captain was full a hundred yards ahead when he halted +near the house to give me time to get in position, his black mare +prancing and snorting under the Mexican ticklers in a manner that would +have done credit to Bucephalus. He pranced on up towards the house, +which was a long weather-boarded structure, a story and a half high, +with a porch running its entire length. The building was put up, I +should judge, before the war of 1812, and not repaired since. A crabbed +old man in a grey coat, with horn buttons, and tan-colored pantaloons, +looking as if he didn't know what to make exactly of the character of +his visitors, was on the porch. Near him, and somewhat in his rear, was +a darkie about as old as himself. + +"'Won't you get off your critters?' at length said the old man, his +servant advancing to hold the horses. + +"The Captain dismounted, and as his long spurs jingled, and the Major's +sabre clattered on the rotten porch floor, the old fellow changed +countenance considerably, impressed with the presence of greatness. + +"'I am Major-General Franklin, sir, commander of a Grand Division of the +Grand Army of the Potomac,' pompously said the Captain, at the same time +introducing me as his Aid, Major Kennedy. + +"'Well, gentlemen officers,' stammers the old man, confusedly, and +bowing repeatedly, 'I always liked the old Union. I fit for it in the +milish in the last war with the Britishers. Walk in, walk in,' continued +he, pointing to the door which the darkie had opened. + +"We went into a long room with a low ceiling, dirty floor with no carpet +on, a few old chairs, with and without backs, and a walnut table that +looked as if it once had leaves. In one corner was a clock, that stopped +some time before the war commenced, as the old man afterwards told us, +and in the opposite corner stood a dirty pine cupboard. While taking +seats, I couldn't help thinking how badly the room would compare with a +dining room of one of the neat little farm houses that you can see in +any of our mountain gaps, where the land produces nothing but +grasshoppers and rocks, and the farmers have to get along by raising +chickens to keep down the swarms of grasshoppers, and by peddling +huckleberries, and they say, but I never saw them at it, by holding the +hind legs of the sheep up to let them get their noses between the rocks +for pasture." + +This latter assertion was indignantly denied by an officer who had his +home in one of the gaps. + +"'Well,' continued the Captain, 'I only give it as I heard it. The old +man talked Union awhile, said he tried to be all right, but that his +sons had run off with the Rebels; and he hemmed and hawed about his +being all right until the Captain, who had been spitting fips a long +time, got tired, especially after what the Corporal had said. + +"'Well, my old brother patriot,' said the Captain, bending forward in +his chair, and putting on a stern look, 'it don't look exactly right.' + +"'How! What! gentlemen officers,' said the old Rebel, pretending, as he +raised his hand to his ear, not to hear the Captain. + +"The Captain repeated it louder in his gruff voice, and with a few more +airs. + +"'Why, gentlemen officers?' said the old man, rising, half bowing, and +looking about, ready to do anything. + +"'You know as well as we do,' said the Captain; 'that you wouldn't let +two of your neighbors be this long in the house without offering them +something to drink. Now, my old friend, as you say you're all right, +we're neighbors in a good cause, and one neighborly act deserves +another; you might be wanting to have your property protected, or to go +to the Ferry, or to send something, and you could hardly get a pass +without a Major-General having something to do with it.' + +"At this last the old fellow's face brightened up somewhat. + +"'I'll lose a right smart lot of crops,' said the old man, drawing his +chair close to the Captain in a half begging, confidential sort of a +way, 'if I don't get to the Ferry this fall. They're stored up there, +and I want to go up and show them I am a Union man all right. George,' +turning to the darkie, who, cap in hand, stood at the door, 'strike a +light and get the waiter, and three glasses, and bring up some of the +old apple in a pitcher. Be careful not to spill any. Liquor is mighty +scarce,' continued he, turning to us, 'in these parts since the war. +This 'ere I've saved over by hard squeezin'. It was stilled seven years +ago this fall--the fall apples were so plenty.' + +"George had the tallow-dip, a rusty waiter, three small old-fashioned +blue glass tumblers, and a pitcher with the handle knocked off, on the +table in good time. We closed around it with our chairs, and the Captain +filled the glasses, and rising, gave for the first round 'The old +Union.' Our glasses were emptied; the old man had but sipped of his. + +"'My old friend, you fought in 1812, you say, and hardly touch your +tumbler to the old Union. Come, it must have a full glass.' The +authority in the tone of the Captain made the old man swallow it, but as +he did so he muttered something about its being very scarce. + +"'Now,' said the Captain, refilling the glasses, 'Here is The Union as +it is.' + +"The old Rebel feeling his first glass a little, and they say anyway +when wine goes in the truth comes out, said in rather a low, trembling +tone, + +"'Now, the fact is, gentlemen officers, some Yankees--not you! not you! +but some Yankees way up North, acted kind of bad.' + +"'That's not the question,' said the Captain, 'there are bad men all +over, and lots of them in Virginia. The toast is before the house,'--the +Captain had already swallowed his--'and it must be drunk;' and the +Major's sabre struck the floor till the table shook. + +"With a shudder at the sound the old man gulped it down. The glasses +were refilled and the pitcher emptied. + +"'Here's to The blessed Union as it will be, after all the d----d Rebels +are either under the sod or swinging in hemp neck-ties about ten feet +above it,' the Captain shouted, waving at the same time his uplifted +glass in a way that brought a grin on George's face, and made the old +man look pale. + +"'Now! now! now! gentlemen officers,' gasped the old traitor, as +if his breath was coming back by jerks, 'that is pretty hard, +considerin'--considerin' my two sons ran off 'gainst my will--'gainst +my will, gentlemen officers, understand, and jined the Rebels;' and +then, as the liquor worked up his pluck and pride, he went on, 'and old +Stonewall when he was here last, told me himself at this very table that +such soldiers the South could be proud of; and Turner Ashby told me the +same thing, and it would be agin all natur for an old man not to feel +proud of such boys, after hearing all that from such men, and now you +want me to drink such a toast. That----' + +"'Yes, sir,' broke in the Captain, who had emptied his glass, 'and it +must be done.' + +"'The fact is, gentlemen officers,' the liquor still working up his +pluck, 'we Southerners _had_ to fit you. You sent old Brown down to run +off our niggers, and then when we hung him, you come yourselves. Every +cussed nigger--and I had forty-three in all--has left me and ran away +but old George and two old wenches that can't run, and are good for +nothin' but to chaw corndodgers.' The whiskey now worked fast on the old +man, and making half a fist, he said, 'I reckon when hangin' day comes +some Blue Bellies will have an airin'.' + +"'You d----d grey-headed old traitor!' roared out the Captain, 'the +liquor has let the treason out. Now, by all that's holy, drink that +toast standing, head up, as if there was patriotic blood in your +veins--as if you lived in the State Washington was born in--or you'll +find out what it is to talk treason before a Major-General of the army +of the United States.' Another stroke of the sabre on the floor that +rattled the broken glass in the windows followed. The old man gave +another shudder, straightened up, steadied himself at the table with his +left hand, and with a swallow that nearly strangled him, drank off his +glass. + +"'Ha! old fellow,' said the Captain, grinning, 'you came near cheating +hemp that clip.' + +"'George, show us where the apple brandy is,' he continued, addressing +the darkie. + +"The darkie bowed, grinned, and pointed to the door leading to the +cellar way. + +"'Oh, Lord! my spirits! Don't take it, gentlemen officers, I must have a +morning dram, and it's all I've got. Let me keep the spirits.' + +"'You old d----l!' exclaimed the Captain, as he eyed him savagely, +'spirits have made all the trouble in the country. Yes, sir. Bad whiskey +and worse preaching of false spiritual doctrines, such as slavery being +a Divine institution, and what not, started the Rebellion, and keep it +up. Spirits are contraband of war, just as Ben Butler says niggers are, +and we'll confiscate it'--here the Captain gave me a sly look--'in the +name and by the authority of the President of the United States. Major, +where's your canteens?' + +"I produced three that had been slung under my cape, and the Captain as +many more. + +"As the old Rebel saw the preparations he groaned out, 'My God! and only +four inches in the barrel George! mind, the barrel in the corner.' + +"Knowing the darkie would be all right, we followed under pretty stiff +loads, the old man bringing up the rear, staggering to the door and +getting down the steps on his hands and knees. + +"The Captain tasted both barrels. One in a corner was commissary that +the darkie said 'Massa had dickered for just the day afore.' The other +was well nigh empty. George, old as he was, had the steadiest hands, and +he filled the canteens one by one, closing their mouths on the cedar +spigot. As he did it, he whispered, 'Dis'll make de ole nigger feel +good. Massa gets flustered on dis and 'buses de ole wimin. De commissary +fotches him--can't hurt nuffin wid dat.' + +"'There's devilish little to fluster him now,' said the Captain, as he +tipped the barrel to fill the last canteen. + +"The old man had stuck at the bottom of the steps. George fairly carried +him up, and he lay almost helpless on the floor. + +"'That last toast,' said the Captain, as we left the room, 'will knock +any Rebel.' + +"George held the horses, and I rather guess steadied our legs as we got +on, well loaded with apple juice inside and out. The Captain's spurs +sent the black mare off at a gallop, over rocks and bushes, and he left +me far behind in a jiffy. But I did in earnest act as an aid before we +got to camp. I found him near the place where we turn in, fast between +two scrub oaks, swearing like a trooper at the pickets, as he called the +bushes, for arresting him, and unable to get backward or forward. His +swearing saved him that clip, as it was dark, and I would have gone past +if I hadn't heard it." + +"I move the adoption of the report, with the thanks of the meeting to +Major-General Franklin and his genuine Aid," said the Adjutant, after a +stiff drink all around. + +"I move that it be referred back for report on the Commissary," said a +Lieutenant, after another equally stiff round. + +The Adjutant would not withdraw his motion,--no chairman to preserve +order,--brandy good,--drinks frequent, and in the confusion that ensued +we close the chapter, remarking only that the Commissary was spared to +the old Rebel, through an order to march at four next morning, that came +to hand near midnight. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_The March to Warrenton--Secesh Sympathy and Quarter-Master's +Receipts--Middle-Borough--The Venerable Uncle Ned and his Story of the +Captain of the Tigers--The Adjutant on Strategy--Red-Tapism and +Mac-Napoleonism--Movement Stopped--Division Head-Quarters out of +Whiskey--Stragglers and Marauders--A Summary Proceeding--Persimmons and +Picket-Duty--A Rebellious Pig--McClellanism._ + + +The order to march at four meant moving at six, as was not unfrequently +the case, the men being too often under arms by the hour shivering for +the step, while the Staff Officers who issued the orders were snoozing +in comfortable blankets. Be the cause what it might that morning, the +soldiers probably did not regret it, as it gave them opportunity to see +the lovely valley of the Shenandoah exposed to their view for the last +time, as the fog gradually lifted before the rays of the rising sun. The +Shenandoah, like a silver thread broken by intervening foliage, lay at +their feet. Far to the right, miles distant, was Charlestown, where old +John's soul, appreciative of the beauties of nature at the dread hour of +execution, seeing in them doubtless the handiwork of nature's God, +exclaimed "This is indeed a beautiful country." In the front, dim in the +distance, was Winchester, readily discovered by the bold mountain spur +in its rear. Smaller villages dotted the valley, variegated by fields +and woods--all rebellious cities of the plain, nests of treason and +granaries of food for traitors. A blind mercy that, on the part of the +Administration, that procured its almost total exemption from the +despoiling hand of war. + +Some in the ranks on Snicker's Summit that fine morning could remember +the impudent Billingsgate of look and tongue with which Mrs. Faulkner +would fling in their faces a general pass, from a wagon loaded with +garden truck for traitors in arms at Bunker Hill--but an instance of +long continued good-nature, to use a mild phrase, of the many that have +characterized our movements in the field. Well does the great discerner +of the desires of men as well as delineator of the movements of their +passions, make Crook Richard on his foully usurped and tottering throne +exclaim, + + "War must be brief when traitors brave the field." + +At a later day, in a holier cause, the line remains an axiom. Nor at the +time of which we write was the policy much changed. While all admit the +necessity, for the preservation of proper discipline, of having Rebel +property for the use of the army taken formally under authorities duly +constituted for the purpose, and not by indiscriminate license to the +troops, none can be so blind as to fail to see the bent of the +sympathies controlling the General in command. During the march to +Middle-Borough, horses were taken along the route to supply deficiencies +in the teams, and forage for their use, but in all cases the women who +claimed to represent absent male owners--absent doubtless in arms--and +who made no secret of their own Rebel inclinations, received +Quarter-Master's receipts for their full value--generally, in fact, +their own valuation. These receipts were understood to be presently +payable. The interests of justice and our finances would have been much +better subserved had their payment been conditioned upon the loyalty of +the owner. A different policy would not have comported, however, with +that which at an earlier day placed Lee's mansion on the Peninsula under +double guard, and when you give it the in that case sorry merit of +consistency, its best excuse is given. + +Beyond some lives lost by a force of Regulars who ventured too near the +river without proper precautions the day after we occupied the Gap, and +the loss of a Regimental head-quarters wagon, loaded with the officers' +baggage, broken down upon a road on which the exhorting Colonel, after +deliberate survey, had set his heart as the safest of roads from the +Summit, nothing of note occurred during the stay. Our evacuation of the +Gap was almost immediately followed by Rebel occupation. + +The statement that nothing of note occurred may, perhaps, be doing +injustice to our little Dutch Doctor, who had the best of reasons for +remembering the morning of our departure from Snicker's Summit. To the +Doctor the mountain, with its rocks, seemed familiar ground. A Tyrolese +by birth, he loved to talk of his mountain home and sing its lively +airs. But that sweet home had one disadvantage. Their beasts of draught +and burden were oxen, and the only horse in the village was a cart-horse +owned by the Doctor's father. Of necessity, therefore, his horsemanship +was defective, an annoying affair in the army. Many officers and men +were desirous of seeing the Doctor mount and ride his newly purchased +horse, and the Doctor was quite as anxious to evade observation. His +saddle was on and blankets strapped as he surveyed the beast, now +passing to this side and now to that, giving wide berth to heels that +never kicked, and with his servant at hand, waiting until the last files +of the Regiment had disappeared in the woods below. Not unobserved, +however, for two of the Field and Staff had selected a clump of scrub +pines close at hand for the purpose of witnessing the movement. A rock +near by served him as a stand from which to mount. The horse was brought +up, and the Doctor, after patting his head and rubbing his neck to +assure himself of the good intentions of the animal, cautiously took his +place in the saddle and adjusted his feet in the stirrups. + +The animal moved off quietly enough, until the Doctor, to increase his +speed, touched him in the flank with his spur, when the novel sensation +to the beast had the effect of producing a sudden flank movement, which +resulted in the instant precipitation of the Doctor upon his back among +the rocks and rough undergrowth. The horse stood quietly; there was no +movement of the bushes among which the Doctor fell, and the mirth of the +observers changed to fear lest an accident of a serious nature had +occurred. The officers and servant rushed to the spot. Fortunately the +fall had been broken somewhat by the bushes, but nevertheless plainly +audible groans in Dutch escaped him, and when aware of the presence of +the observers, exclamations in half broken English as to what the result +might have been. The actual result was that the horse was forthwith +condemned as "no goot" by the Doctor; an ambulance sent for, and +necessity for the first time made him take a seat during the march in +that vehicle, a practice disgracefully common among army surgeons. The +horse in charge of the servant followed, but was ever after used as a +pack. No amount of persuasion, even when way-worn and foot-sore from the +march, could induce the Doctor to remount his charger. + +Middle-Borough, a pretty place near the Bull Run Range of mountains, was +reached about ten o'clock in the forenoon of the day after leaving the +Gap. After the first Bull Run battle the place was made use of, as +indeed were all the towns as far up the country as Martinsburg, as a +Rebel hospital. Some of the inmates in butternut and grey, with surgeons +and officers on parole in like color, but gorgeous in gilding, were +still to be seen about the streets. Greyheaded darkies and picaninnies +peered with grinning faces over every fence. The wenches were busily +employing the time allowed for the halt in baking hoe-cakes for the men. + +In front of the principal mansion of the place, owned by a Major in the +Rebel service under Jackson, a small group of officers and men were +interesting themselves in the examination of an antique naval sword that +had just been purchased by a Sergeant from a venerable Uncle Ned, who +stood hat in hand, his bald head exposed to the sun, bowing as each new +comer joined the crowd. + +"Dat sword, gemmen," said the negro, politely and repeatedly bowing, +"belonged to a Captain ob de Louisiana Tigers dat Hannar Amander and me +nussed, case he came late and couldn't get into de hospitals or houses, +dey was so full right after de fust big Bull Run fight. His thigh was +all shot to pieces. He hadn't any money, and didn't seem to hab any +friends but Hannar Amander." + +"Who is Hannah Amanda?" said one of the crowd. + +"My wife, sah," said the old man, crossing his breast slowly with his +right hand and profoundly bowing. + +"Hannar Amander said de young man must be cared for, dat de good Lor +would hold us 'countable if we let him suffer, so we gab him our bed, +shared our little hoe-cake and rye coffee wid him, and Susan Matildar, +my darter, and my wife dressed de wound as how de surgeon would tell us. +But after about five days de surgeon shook his head and told de Captain +he couldn't lib. De poor young man failed fast arter dat; he would moan +and mutter all time ober ladies' names. + +"'Reckon you hab a moder and sisters?' said my wife to him one morning. + +"'Oh, God! yes,' said de fine-looking young man, for, as Hannar Amander +said, he was purty as a pictur, and she'd often say how much would his +moder and sisters gib if dey could only nuss him instead of us poor +culled pussons. He said, too, he was no Rebel at heart--dat he was from +de Norf, and a clerk in a store at New Orleans, and dey pressed him to +go, and den he thought he'd better go as Captain if he had to go, and +dey made him Captain. 'And now I must die a traitor! My God! when will +my moder and sisters hear of dis, and what will dey say?' and he went on +so and moaned; and when we found out he was from up Norf, and sorry at +dat for being a Rebel, we felt all de warmer toward him. He called us +bery kind, but moaned and went on so dreadfully dat my wife and darter +didn't know what to do to comfort him. Dey bathed his head and made him +cool drinks, but no use. 'It's not de pain ob de body,' said Hannar +Amander to me, 'it's ob de heart--dat's what's de matter.' + +"'Hab you made your peace wid God, and are you ready for eberlasting +rest?' said my wife to him. + +"'My God!' groaned he, 'dere's no peace or rest for me. I'm a sinner and +a Rebel too. Oh, I can't die in such a cause!' and he half raised up, +but soon sunk down again. + +"'We'm all rebels to de bressed God. His Grace alone can sab us,' said +my wife, and she sung from dat good hymn + + "'Tis God alone can gib + De bliss for which we sigh.' + +"'Susan Matildar, bring your Bible and read some.' While she said dis, +de poor young man's eyes got full ob tears. + +"'Oh, my poor moder! how she used to read to me from dat book, and how +I've neglected it,' said he. + +"Den Susan Matildar--she'd learned to read from her missus' little +girls--read about all de weary laden coming unto de blessed Sabiour. +Wheneber she could she'd read to him, and I went and got good old +Brudder Jones to pray for him. By un by de young man begin to pray +hisself, and den he smiled, and den, oh, I neber can forget how Hannar +Amander clapped her hands and shouted 'Now I know he's numbered wid de +army ob de Lor'! kase he smiles.' Dat was his first smile; but I can +tell you, gemmen, it grew brighter and brighter, and by un by his face +was all smiles, and he died saying he'd meet his moder and all ob us in +Hebben, and praising de bressed Lor'!" + +The old man wiped his eyes, and there was a brief pause, none caring +even in that rough, hastily collected crowd to break the silence that +followed his plain and pathetic statement. + +"But how did you get the sword?" at last inquired one. + +"Before he died he said he was sorry he could not pay us for our +kindness," resumed the old man. "Hannar Amander said dat shouldn't +trouble him, our pay would be entered up in our 'ternal count. + +"And den he gab me dis sword and said I should keep it and sell it, and +dat would bring me suffin'. And he gab Susan Matildar his penknife. De +Secesh am 'quiring about de sword. I'd like to keep it, to mind de young +man by, but we've all got him here," said the old man, pointing to his +heart. "I'd sooner gib it to you boys dan sell it to de Rebels, but de +Sargeant yer was good enough to pay me suffin for it, and den I cant +forget dat good young man, I see his grave every day. We buried him at +de foot ob our little lot, and Susan Matildar keeps flowers on his grave +all day long. Her missus found out he was from de Norf and was sorry +'fore he died he had been a Rebel, and she told Susan Matildar she +wouldn't hab buried him dere. But Hannar Amander said dat if all de +Rebels got into glory so nice dey'd do well; and de sooner dey are dere +de better for us all, dis ole man say." + +This last brought a smile to the crowd, and a collection was taken up +for the old man. + +"Bress you, gemmen! bress you! Served my Master forty-five years and hab +nuffin to show for it. Our little patch Hannar Amander got, but I tries +to sarve de Lor at de same time, and dere is a better 'count kept ob dat +in a place where old Master dead and gone now pas' twenty years, will +nebber hab a chance ob getting at de books." + +The old man had greatly won upon his hearers, when the bugle called them +to their posts. + +Our corps from this place took the road to White Plains, near which +little village they encamped in a wood for two nights and a day, while a +snow-storm whitened the fields. + + * * * * * + + "Let the hawk stoop, the bird has flown," + +said a boyish-faced officer who was known in the Regiment as the +Poetical Lieutenant, to the Adjutant, as he pushed aside the canvas door +of the Office Tent on one of those wintry evenings. The caller had left +the studies of the Sophomoric year,--or rather his Scott, Byron, Burns, +and the popular novelists of the day,--for the recruiting service in his +native county. The day-dreams of the boy as to the gilded glory of the +soldier had been roughly broken in upon by severe practical lessons, in +tedious out-post duty and wearisome marches. He could remember, as could +many others, how he had admired the noble and commanding air with which +Washington stands in the bow of the well loaded boat as represented on +the historic canvas, and the stern determination depicted upon the +countenances of the rest of his Roman-nosed comrades--(why is it that +our historic artists make all our Revolutionary Fathers Roman-nosed? If +their pictures are faithful, where in the world do our swarms of pugs +and aquilines come from worn by those claiming Revolutionary descent? Is +it beyond their skill to make a pug or an aquiline an index to nobility +of soul or heroic resolve?)--as they keep the frozen masses borne by +that angry tide at safe distance from the frail bark--but he then felt +nothing of the ice grating the sides of the vessel in which he hoped to +make the voyage of life, nor shuddered at the wintry midnight blast that +swept down the valley of the Delaware. His dreams had departed; but +poetical quotations remained for use at every opportunity. + +"What's the matter now?" says the Adjutant. + +"One of the Aids just told me," rejoined the Lieutenant, "that the +Rebels were in force in our front, and would contest the Rappahannock, +while the possession of the Gap we have just left lets them in upon our +rear." + +"The old game played out again," says the Adjutant. "Another string +loose in the bag. Strategy in one respect resembles mesmerism--the +object operated upon must remain perfectly quiet. Are we never to +suppose that the Rebels have plans, and that their vigilance increases, +and will increase, in proportion to the extremity of their case? Our +theorists and routine men move armies as a student practises at chess, +as if the whole field was under their control, and both armies at their +disposal. With our immense resources, vigorous fighting and practical +common sense would speedily suppress the Rebellion. Where are our old +fighting stock of Generals? our Hookers, Heintzelmans, Hancocks, and men +of like kidney? Why must their fiery energies succumb to a cold-blooded +strategy, that wastes the materiel of war, and what is worse, fills our +hospitals to no purpose? Those men have learned how to command from +actual contact with men. The art of being practical, adapting one's self +to emergencies, is not taught in schools. With some it is doubtless +innate; with the great mass, it is a matter of education, such as is +acquired from moving among men." + + "We have the Pyrrhic dance as yet; + Where is our Pyrrhic phalanx gone? + Of two such lessons why forget + The nobler and the manlier one?" + +broke in our Poetical Lieutenant. + +"D--n your Pyrrhics," retorted the Adjutant, snappishly. "For the +Pyrrhics of past days we have Empirics now. Our phalanxes of old have +been led to victory by militia Colonels, who sprang from the thinking +head of the people, glowing with the sacred fire of their cause. Do you +not believe," continued he enthusiastically, "that the loyal masses who +sprang into ranks at the insult upon Sumter would have found a leader +long ere this worthy of their cause, whose rapid and decisive blows +would have saved us disgraceful campaigns, had the nation been +unencumbered by this ruin of a Regular Army, that has given us little +else than a tremendous array of officers, many of them of the +Pigeon-hole and Paper order,--beggarly lists of Privates,--Routine that +must be carried out at any cost of success,--and Red Tape that +everywhere represses patriotism? And then to think, too, of the +half-heartedness and disaffection. How long must these sneaking +Catilines in high places abuse our patience? But what can be expected +from officers who are not in the service from patriotic motives, but +rather from prospects of pay and position? End the war, and you will +have men who are now unworthy Major and Brigadier Generals, subsiding +into Captains and Lieutenants. Their movements indicate that _they_ +realize their position fully; but when will the country realize that +'strategy' is played out?" + +"The whiskey at Division Head-quarters is played out, any way," said a +Sergeant on duty in the Commissary Department, who had entered the tent +while the Adjutant was speaking. + + "'And not a drop to drink,'" + +rejoined the Lieutenant. + +"Then, by Heaven, we are lost," continued the Adjutant. "Strategy played +out and our General of Division out of whiskey. Yes, sir! those mishaps +end all further movement of this Grand Army of the Potomac. But when did +you hear that?" + +"I was in the marquee of the Brigade Commissary when a Sergeant and a +couple of privates on duty about Pigey's Head-quarters came in with a +demijohn and a note to the Commissary, presenting the compliments of the +General commanding Division, and at the same time the cash for four +gallons of whiskey. The Captain read it carefully and told the Sergeant +to tell the General that he didn't keep a dram-shop. I expected that +this reply would make sport, and I concluded to wait awhile and see the +thing out. In a few minutes the Sergeant returned, stating that he had +not given that reply to the General, through fear, I suppose, but had +stated that the Captain had made some excuse. He said further that Pigey +said he was entirely out, and must have some. + +"'Tell him what I told you,' said the Captain, determinedly. Off the +Sergeant started. I waited for his return outside, and asked him how +Pigey took the answer. 'Took it?' said he, 'I didn't tell him about the +dram-shop, but when he found I had none, he raved like mad--swore he was +entirely out--had been since morning, and must and would have some. He +d----d the Captain for being a temperance fanatic, and for bringing his +fanatical notions into the army; and all the while he paced up and down +his marquee like a tiger at a menagerie. At last he told me that I must +return again and tell the Captain that it was a case of absolute +necessity, and that he knew that there was a barrel of it among the +Commissary stores, and that he must have his four gallons.' + +"I followed the Sergeant in, but he could not make it. The Captain had +just turned it over to the Hospital. + +"So the Sergeant went back again with the empty demijohn. He told me +afterwards that the General was so taken aback by his not getting any, +that he sat quietly down on his camp stool, ran his fingers through his +hair, pulled at his moustache, and then 'I knew,' said the Sergeant, +'that a storm was brewing, and that the General was studying how to do +justice to the subject. At length he rose slowly, kicked his hat that +had fallen at his feet to one corner of the marquee, d----g it at the +same time; d----d me for not getting it any how, and clenching his fists +and walking rapidly up and down, d----d the Captain, his Brigadier, and +everything belonging to the Brigade, until I thought it a little too +hard for a man who had had a Sunday School education in his young days +to listen to, and I left him still cursing.'" + +"He will court-martial the Captain," said the Colonel, who had entered +the tent, "for signal contempt of the Regular Service. I recollect a +charge of that kind preferred by a Regular Lieutenant against an +Adjutant of the ---- Maine, down in the Peninsula. In one of our marches +the Adjutant had occasion to ride rapidly by the Regiment to which the +Lieutenant belonged. The Lieutenant hailed him--told him to stop. The +Adjutant knowing his duty, and that he had no authority to halt him, +continued his pace, but found himself for nearly a month afterward in +arrest under a charge of 'Signal contempt for the Regular Service.'" + +Sigel's hardy Teutons lined the road in the vicinity of New Baltimore, +through which village the route lay on the following day. Part of his +corps had some days previously occupied the mountain gaps in the Bull +Run range on the left. Other troops, led by a Commander whose strategy +was singularly efficacious to keep him out of fights, were passing to +the front, leaving a fighting General of undoubted prowess in European +and American history, in the rear. Inefficient himself, and perhaps +designedly so, his policy could not, with safety to his own reputation, +allow of efficiency elsewhere. + +That night our Regiment encamped in one of the old pine fields common in +Virginia. The softness of the decaying foliage of the pine which covered +the ground as a cushion was admirably adapted to repose, and upon it the +men rested, while the gentle evening breeze sighed among the boughs +above them, as if in sympathy with disappointed hopes and sacrifices +made in vain. + +"Stragglers and marauders, sir," said a Sergeant of the Provost Guard, +saluting the Colonel, who was one of the circle lying cozily about the +fire, pointing as he spoke to a squad of way-worn, wo-begone men under +guard in his rear. "Here is a list of their offences. I was ordered to +report them for punishment." + +"A new wrinkle, that," said the Colonel, as the Sergeant left. "Our +Brigadier must be acting upon his own responsibility. Our General of +Division would certainly never have permitted such an opportunity slip +for employing the time of officers in Courts-martial. That list would +have kept one of our Division Courts in session at least three weeks, +and have given the General himself an infinite amount of satisfaction in +examining his French authorities, and in strictures upon the Records. +What have we here, any how?" + +No. 1. "Straggling to a persimmon tree on the road-side." + +"That man," said a Lieutenant, "when he saw our Brigadier coming up, +presented him with a couple of persimmons very politely. But it was no +go; the General ordered him under guard and eat the persimmons as part +of the punishment." + +"Well," rejoined the Colonel, "we'll let you off with guard duty for the +night." + +No. 2. "Killing a shoat while the Regiment halted at noon." + +The man charged was a fine-looking young fellow whose only preparation +for the musket, when he enlisted, was previous practice with the yard +stick in a dry goods establishment. Intelligent and good-natured, he was +popular in the command, and was never known to let his larder suffer. + +"Was it a Rebel pig?" inquired a bystander. + +"A most rebellious pig," replied he, bowing to the Colonel. "He gave us +a great amount of trouble, and rebelled to the last." A laugh followed, +interrupted by the Colonel, who desired to hear the circumstances of the +case. + +"Right after we had halted on the other side of New Baltimore," +continued the man, "I saw the pig rooting about a corn shock, and as my +haversack was empty, and myself hungry, I thought I could dispose of +part of him to advantage, and before I had time to reflect about the +order, I commenced running after him. Several others followed, and some +officers near by stood looking at us. After skinning my hands and knees +in trying to catch him by throwing myself upon him, I finally caught +him. When I had him skinned, I gave a piece to all the officers who saw +me, saving only a ham for myself, and I was dressing it when up came a +Lieutenant of the Provost Guard and demanded it. I debated the matter as +well as a keen appetite would allow, and finally coming to the +conclusion that I could not serve my country as I should, if half +starved, I resolved to keep it, and refused him, and he reported me, and +here I am with it at your service," clapping his hand on a well filled +haversack. + +One-half of the meat was confiscated, but the novelty of the sergeant's +patriotic plea saved him further penalty. + +No. 3. Caught in a negro shanty, in company with an old wench. + +The crowd laughed; while the subject, a tall cadaverous-looking fellow, +protested earnestly that he was only waiting while the wench baked him a +hoe-cake. + +"Guard duty for the night," said the Colonel. + +"Poor devil! He will have to keep awake, and can't sing--'Sleeping I +dream, love, dream, love, of thee'"--said the poetical Lieutenant, who +chanced to be one of the group. + +No. 4. Caught by the General Commanding Division, twenty feet high on a +persimmon tree, and Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 on the ground below; also +"Lying." + +"Another persimmon crowd. Every night we are troubled with the persimmon +business," said the Colonel; "but what does the 'also Lying' mean?" + +"Why," said a frank fellow of the crowd, "you see when the old General +came up, I said it was a picket station, and that the man up the tree +was looking out for the enemy. It was a big thing, I thought, but the +General didn't see it, and he swore he would persimmon us." + +"Which meant," said the Colonel, "that you would lose your persimmons, +and go on extra police duty for forty-eight hours each." + +The crowd were lectured upon straggling, that too frequent offence of +Volunteers, and after a severe reprimand dismissed. + +The country abounded in persimmon trees, and their golden fruit was a +sore temptation to teeth sharpened on army crackers. As the season +advanced, and persimmons became more palatable, crowds would thus be +brought up nightly for punishment. This summary procedure was an +innovation by the Brigadier upon the Red-Tape formulary of +Courts-martial, so rigidly adhered to, and fondly indulged in, by the +General of Division. The Brigadier would frequently himself dispose of +delinquencies of the kind, telling the boys in a manner that made them +feel that he cared for their welfare, that they had been entrusted to +him by the country for its service, and that he considered himself under +obligations to their relatives and friends to see that while under his +command their characters received no detriment, and while becoming good +soldiers they would not grow to be bad citizens. He made them realize, +that although soldiers they were still citizens; and many a man has left +him all the better for a reprimand which reminded him of duties to +relatives and society at large. How much nobility of soul might be +spared to the country with care of this kind, on the part of commanders. +Punishment is necessary--but how many to whom it is intrusted forget +that in giving it a moral effect upon society, care should be taken +that it may operate beneficially upon the individual. The General who +crushes the soul out of his command by exacting infamous punishments for +trivial offences, is but a short remove from the commander who would +basely surrender it to the enemy on the barest pretext. Punishment has +too often been connected with prejudice against Volunteers in the Army +of the Potomac, controlled as it has been too much by martinets. That a +nation of freemen could have endured so long the contumely of a proud +military leader when his incapacity was so apparent, will be a matter of +wonder for the historian. The inconsistency that would follow the great +Napoleon in modelling an army and neglect his example in giving it +mobility, with eminent propriety leaves the record of its exploits to +depend upon the pen of a scion of the unmilitary House of Orleans. + +But the decree "thus far shalt thou come," forced upon an honest but +blindly indulgent President by the People, who will not forget that +power is derived from them, had already gone forth, although not yet +officially announced to the Army; and it was during the week at +Warrenton, our halting-place on the morrow, that the army, with the +citizens at home, rejoiced that the work of staying the proud waves of +imbecility, as well as insult, to our Administration, had commenced. The +history of reforms is one of the sacrifice of blood, money, and time. +Frightful bills of mortality, shattered finances, nineteen months of +valuable time, do not in this case admit of an exception. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Camp near Warrenton--Stability of the Republic--Measures, not Men, +regarded by the Public--Removal of McClellan--Division Head-Quarters a +House of Mourning--A Pigeon-hole General and his West Point +Patent-Leather Cartridge-Box--Head-Quarter Murmurings and +Mutterings--Departure of Little Mac and the Prince--Cheering by Word of +Command--The Southern Saratoga--Rebel Regret at McClellan's Departure._ + + +Writers prone to treat of the instability of Republics, will find +serious matter to combat in the array of events that culminated at +Warrenton. Without the blood that has usually characterized similar +events in the history of Monarchies, in fact with scarcely a ripple upon +the surface of our national affairs, a great military chieftain, or to +speak truly, a commander who had endeavored, and who had the grandest of +opportunities to become such, passed from his proud position as the +leader of the chief army of the Republic, to the obscurity of private +life. Proffered to a public, pliant, because anxious that its +representatives in the field should have a worthy Commander, by an +Administration eager to repair the disaster of Bull Run,--puffed into +favor by almost the entire press of the country, the day had been when +the loyalty of the citizen was measured by his admiration of General +McClellan. + +Never did a military leader assume command so auspiciously. The +resources of a mighty nation were lavishly contributed to the materiel +of his army. Its best blood stood in his ranks. Indulged to an almost +criminal extent by an Administration that in accordance with the wishes +of the masses it represented, bowed at his beck and was overly +solicitous to do his bidding, no wonder that this ordinary mind became +unduly inflated. He could model his army upon the precedents set by the +great Napoleon; he could surround himself by an immense Staff--the +talent of which, however, but poorly represented the vigor of his +army,--for nepotism and favoritism interfered to prevent that, as they +will with common men; drill and discipline could make his army +efficient,--for his subordinates were thorough and competent, and his +men were apt pupils; but he himself could not add to all these the +crowning glories of the field. Every thing was there but genius, that +God-given gift; and that he did not prove to be a Napoleon resulted +alone from a lack of brains. + +Now that the glare of the rocket has passed from our sky, and its stick +has fallen quietly enough among the pines of New Jersey, citizens have +opportunity for calm reflection. We are not justified, perhaps, in +attributing to McClellan all the evils and errors that disfigure his +tenure of office. Intellect equal to the position he could not create +for himself, and ninety-nine out of one hundred men of average ability +would not have descended from his balloon-like elevation with any better +grace. It is in the last degree unjust to brand with disloyalty, conduct +that seems to be a result natural enough to incompetency. That upon +certain occasions he may have been used for disloyal purposes by +designing men, may be the consequence of lack of discrimination rather +than of patriotism. + +Whatever might have induced his conduct of the war, the nation has +learned a lesson for all time. Generals who had grown grey in honorable +service were rudely set aside for a Commander whose principal merit +consisted in his having published moderately well compiled military +books. Their acquiescence redounds to their credit; but their continued +and comparatively calm submission in after times, when that General, +regardless of soldierly merit, placed in high and honorable positions +relatives and intimate friends, who could be but mere place-men, +dependent entirely upon him for their honors, and committed to his +interests, is strong proof of devoted patriotism. Slight hold had these +neophytes upon the stern matter-of-fact fighting Generals, or the +equally devoted and patriotic masses in ranks. In their vain glory they +murmured and muttered during and subsequent to this week at Warrenton, +as they had threatened previously, in regard to the removal of +McClellan. They knew not the Power that backed the Bayonet. In the eye +of the unreserved and determined loyalty of the masses, success was the +test of popularity with any Commander. Not the shadow of an excuse +existed for any other issue. Our resources of the materiel of war were +well nigh infinite. Men could be had almost without number, at least +equal to the Rebels in courage. There was, then, no excuse for inaction, +and none knew it better than our reflecting rank and file. + +The effort to inspire popularity for McClellan had been untiring by his +devotees in position in the army. In the outset it was successful. Like +their friends at home, the men in ranks, during the dark days that +succeeded Bull Run, eagerly caught at a name that received such +honorable mention. That this flush of popularity did not increase until +it became a steady flame like that which burned within the breasts of +the veterans of the old French Empire, is because its subject lacked the +commanding ability, decision of character, and fiery energy, that made +statesmen do reverence, turned the tide of battle to advantage, and +swept with resistless force over the plains of Italy and the mountains +of Tyrol. + +It was with mingled feelings of pleasure and uncertainty, caused by the +change, that the Regiment broke to the front in column of company, and +encamped on a beautifully wooded ridge about two miles north of +Warrenton. Pleasure upon account of the change--as any change must be +for the better,--uncertainty, as to its character and extent. In their +doubtful future, Generals shifted position, and succeeded each other, +very much as dark specks appear and pass before unsteady vision. Who +would be the successor? Would the change be radical? were questions that +were discussed in all possible bearings around cheerful camp-fires. + +Whatever the satisfaction among subordinate officers and the ranks, +Division Head-quarters was a house of mourning. To the General removed +solely it owed its existence. Connected with his choice Corps, it had +basked in the sunshine of his favor. With the removal already ordered, +"the dread of something worse"--a removal nearer home was apprehended. +As a Field Commander, the officer upon whose shoulders rested the +responsibilities of the Division, was entirely unknown previously to his +assuming command. His life hitherto had been of such a nature as not to +add to his capacity as a Commander. Years of quiet clerkly duty in the +Topographical Department may, and doubtless did in his case, make an +excellent engineer or draughtsman, but they afford few men opportunities +for improvement in generalship. During the McClellan regime this source +furnished a heavy proportion of our superior officers. Why, would be +difficult to say on any other hypothesis than that of favoritism. Their +educational influences tend to a defensive policy, which history proves +Generals of ability to have indulged in only upon the severest +necessity. To inability to rise above these strictures of the school, +may be traced the policy which has portrayed upon the historic page, to +our lasting disgrace as a nation, the humiliating spectacle of a mighty +and brave people, with resources almost unlimited, compelled for nearly +two years to defend their Capital against armies greatly inferior to +their own in men and means. + +Independently of these educational defects, as they must be called, +there was nothing in either the character or person of the Division +Commander to command respect or inspire fear. Eccentric to a most +whimsical degree, his oddities were the jest of the Division, while they +were not in the least relieved by his extreme nervousness and fidgety +habits of body. That there was nothing to inspire fear is, however, +subject to exception, as his whims kept subordinates in a continual +fever. The art of being practical--adapting himself to circumstances--he +had never learned. It belongs to the department of Common Sense, in +which, unfortunately, there has never been a professor at West Point. +His after life does not seem to have been favorable to its acquirement. +Withal, the hauteur characteristic to Cadets clung to him, and on many +occasions rendered him unfortunate in his intercourse with volunteer +officers. Politeness with him, assumed the airs and grimaces of a French +dancing-master, which personage he was not unfrequently and not inaptly +said to resemble. Displeasure he would manifest by the oddest of +gestures and volleys of the latest oaths, uttered in a nervous, half +stuttering manner. Socially, his extensive educational acquirements made +him a pleasant companion, and with a friend it was said he would drink +as deep and long as any man in the Army of the Potomac. Once crossed, +however, his malignity would be manifested by the most intolerable and +petty persecution. + +"He has no judgment," said a Field-Officer of a Regiment of his command; +a remark which, by the way, was a good summary of his character. + +"Why?" replied the officer to whom he was speaking. + +"I was out on picket duty," rejoined the other, "yesterday. We had an +unnecessarily heavy Reserve, and one half of the men in it were allowed +to rest without their belts and boxes. The General in the afternoon paid +us a visit, and seeing this found fault, that the men were not kept +equipped; observing at the same time that they could rest equally well +with their cartridge boxes on; that when he was a Cadet at West Point he +had ascertained by actual practice that it could be done." + +"Do you recollect, General," I remarked, "whether you had forty rounds +of ball cartridge in your box then?" + +"He said he did not know that that made any difference." + +"Now considering that the fact of the boxes being filled makes all the +difference, I say," continued the officer, "that the man who makes a +remark such a the General made, is devoid of judgment." + +But he was connected both by ties of friendship and consanguinity with +the hitherto Commander of the Army of the Potomac. His Adjutant-General +was related to the same personage. The position of the latter, for which +he was totally unfitted by his habits, was perhaps a condition precedent +to the appointment of the General of Division. + +The fifth of November, a day destined to become celebrated hereafter in +American as in English history, dawned not less inauspiciously upon the +Head-quarters of the Corps. They too could not appreciate the dry humor +of the order that commanded Little Mac to report at Trenton. They +thought alone of the unwelcome reality--that it was but an American way +of sending him to Coventry. The Commander of the Corps had been a great +favorite at the Head-quarters of the army--perhaps because in this old +West Point instructor the haughty dignity and prejudice against +volunteers which characterized too many Regular officers, had its +fullest personification. His Corps embraced the largest number of +Regular officers. In some Regiments they were ridiculously, and for +Uncle Sam expensively, plentiful,--some Companies having two or three +Captains, two or three First or Second Lieutenants,--while perhaps the +enlisted men in the Regiment did not number two hundred. But these +supernumeraries were Fitz John's favorites, and whether they performed +any other labor than sporting shoulder straps, regularly visiting the +Paymasters, adjusting paper collars and cultivating moustaches, was a +matter of seemingly small consequence, though during depressed national +finances. + +The little patriotism that animated many of the officers attached to +both of these Head-quarters, did not restrain curses deep if not loud. +Pay and position kept them in the army at the outbreak of the +Rebellion; and pay and position alone prevented their taking the same +train from Warrenton that carried away their favorite Commander. A +telegram of the Associated Press stated a few days later that a list of +eighty had been prepared for dismissal. What evil genius averted this +benefit to the country, the War Department best knows. It required no +vision of the night, nor gift of soothsaying, to foretell the trouble +that would result from allowing officers in important positions to +remain in the army, who were under the strongest obligations to the +General removed, devotedly attached to him, and completely identified +with, and subservient to, his interests. It might at least be supposed +that his policy would be persevered in, and that his interests would not +suffer. So far the reform was not radical. + +"Colonel," said one of these martinets who occupied a prominent position +upon the Staff of Prince Fitz John, as with a look of mingled contempt +and astonishment he pointed to a Lieutenant who stood a few rods distant +engaged in conversation with two privates of his command, "do you allow +commissioned officers to converse with privates?" + +"Why not, sir? Those three men were intimate acquaintances at home. In +fact, the Lieutenant was a clerk in a dry-goods establishment in which +one of the privates was a junior partner." + +"All wrong, sir," replied the martinet. "They should approach a +commissioned officer through a Sergeant. The Inspecting Officer will +report you for laxity of discipline in case it continues, and place you +under arrest." + +The Brigadier, when he heard of this conversation, intimated that should +the Inspecting Officer attempt it, he would leave the Brigade limits +under guard; and it was not attempted. + +Nonsense such as this is not only contemptible but criminal, when +contrasted with the kind fellowship of Washington for his men,--his +solicitude for their sufferings at Valley Forge,--Putnam sharing his +scanty meals with privates of his command,--Napoleon learning the wants +of his veterans from their own lips, and tapping a Grenadier familiarly +upon the shoulder to ask the favor of a pinch from his snuff-box. Those +worthies may rest assured that marquees pitched at Regulation distance, +and access through non-commissioned officers, will not, if natural +dignity be wanting, create respect. How greatly would the efficiency of +the army have been increased, had the true gentility that characterized +the noble soul of Colonel Simmons, who fell at Gaines' Mills, and that +will always command reverence, been more general among his brother +officers of the Regular Army. + +These evil results should not, however, lead to a wholesome condemnation +of West Point. The advantages of the Institution have been abused, or +rather neglected, by the great masses of the Loyal States. In our moral +matter-of-fact business communities it has been too generally the case, +that cadets have been the appointees of political favoritism, regardless +of merit; and that the wild and often worthless son of influential and +wealthy parents, who had grown beyond home restraint, and who gave +little indication of a life of honor or usefulness, would be turned into +the public inclosure at West Point to square his morals and his toes at +the same time at public expense, and the act rejoiced at as a good +family riddance. Thus in the Loyal States, the profession of arms had +fallen greatly into disrepute previously to the outbreak of the +Rebellion, and instead of being known as a respectable vocation, was +considered as none at all. Had military training to some extent been +connected with the common school education of the land, we would have +gained in health, and would have been provided with an able array of +officers for our noble army of Volunteers. Among other preparations for +their infamous revolt, the Rebels did not fail to give this especial +prominence. The Northern States have been great in peace; the material +is being rapidly educated that will make them correspondingly great in +war. + +"November's surly blasts" were baring the forests of foliage, when the +order for the last Review by McClellan was read to the Troops. Mutinies +and rumors of mutinies "from the most reliable sources" had been +suspended above the Administration, like the threatening sword of +Damocles; but Abraham's foot was down at last, and beyond murmurings and +mutterings at disaffected Head-Quarters no unsoldierly conduct marked +the reception of the order. So far from the "heavens being hung with +black," as a few man-worshippers in their mad devotion would have +wished, nature smiled beautifully fair. Such a sight could only be +realized in Republican America. A military Commander of the greatest +army upon the Continent, elevated in the vain-glory of dependent +subordinates into a quasi-Dictatorship, was suddenly lowered from his +high position, and his late Troops march to this last Review with the +quiet formality of a dress parade. What cared those stern, +self-sacrificing men in ranks, from whose bayonets that brilliant sun +glistened in diamond splendor, for the magic of a name--the majesty of a +Staff, gorgeous, although not clothed in the uniform desired by its late +Chief. The measure of payment for toil and sacrifice with them, was +progress in the prosecution of their holy cause. The thunders of the +artillery that welcomed _him_ with the honor due to his rank, reminded +_them_ to how little purpose, through shortcomings upon his part, those +same pieces had thundered upon the Peninsula and at Antietam. + +Massed in close columns by division along the main road leading to +Warrenton, the troops awaited the last of the grand pageants that had +made the Army of the Potomac famous for reviews. Its late Commander, as +he gracefully sat his bay, had not the nonchalance of manner that he +manifested while reading a note and accompanying our earnest President +in a former review at Sharpsburg; nor was the quiet dignity that he +usually exhibited when at the head of his Staff, apparent. His manner +seemed nervous, his look doubly anxious; troubled in the present, and +solicitous as to the future. Conscious, too, doubtless, as he faced a +nation's Representatives in arms, how he had "kept the word of promise +to the ear," and how "he had broken it to the hope;" how while his +reviews had revealed a mighty army of undoubted ability and eagerness +for the fight, his indecision or proneness to delay had made its +campaigns the laughing-stock of the world. His brilliant Staff clattered +at his heels; but glittering surroundings were powerless to avert the +memories of a winter's inactivity at Manassas, the delay at Yorktown, +the blunders on the Chickahominy, or the disgrace of the day after +Antietam. How closely such memories thronged upon this thinking +soldiery, and how little men who leave families and business for the +field, from the necessity of the case, care for men if their measures +are unsuccessful, may be imagined, when the fact is known that this +same Little Mac, once so great a favorite through efforts of the Press +and officers with whom he had peopled the places in his gift, received +his last cheers from some Divisions of that same Army by word of +command. + + "A long farewell to all his greatness." + +Imbecile in politics as in war, he cannot retrieve it by cringing to +party purposes. The desire that actuates our masses and demands able and +earnest leaders has long since dissolved party lines. + +This leave-taking was followed a few days later by that of the Corps +Commander. Troubled looks, shadows that preceded his dark future, were +plainly visible as the Prince passed up and down the lines of his late +command. + +Another day passed, and with light hearts the men brightened their +muskets for a Review by their new Commander, Major-General Burnside, or +"Burney," as they popularly called the Hero of Carolina celebrity. + +But the day did not seem to be at hand that should have completed the +reform by sweeping and garnishing disaffected, not to say disloyal +Head-Quarters--removing from command men who were merely martinets, and +who were in addition committed body and soul to the interests of their +late Commander, and who, had they been in receipt of compensation from +Richmond, could not have more completely labored by their half-hearted, +inefficient, and tyrannizing course, to crush the spirit of our +soldiery. + +"What's the matter with Old Pigey?" inquired a Sergeant, detailed on +guard duty at Division Head-Quarters, as he saluted his Captain, on one +of these evenings at Warrenton. + +"Why?" rejoined the Captain. + +"The General," continued the Sergeant, "was walking up and down in front +of his marquee almost all of last night, talking to himself, muttering, +and at almost every other step stamping and swearing. He had a bully old +mad on, I tell you, Captain. He went it in something of this style." + +And the sergeant himself strode up and down, muttering and stamping and +swearing, to the great amusement of the Captain and some bystanders. + +The unwillingness to bow to the dictation of the President as +Commander-in-Chief in his most righteous removal of their favorite, +caused much heart-burning, and gave rise to much disloyal conduct. That +it was tolerated at all was owing to the unappreciated indulgence or +hesitation of the Administration, lest it should undertake too much. The +operation, to have been skilful and complete, required nerve. That +article so necessary for this crisis is in the ranks, and let us trust +that for the future it will be found in greater abundance at Washington. + +The Southern Saratoga, as Warrenton has been styled among the +fashionables of the South, has much to commend it in situation and +scenery, as a place of residence. The town itself is an odd jumble of +old and new buildings, and is badly laid out, or rather not laid out at +all, as the streets make all possible angles with each other. Yankee +enterprise appears to have had something to do with the erection of the +later buildings. Like other towns of that neighborhood its cemetery is +heavily peopled with Rebel dead. At the time of our occupancy many of +its larger buildings were still occupied as hospitals. + +On the day of McClellan's departure the streets were crowded with +officers and men, and the sympathies of the Rebel residents seemed +strangely in unison with those of the chieftain's favorites. The +representatives of the clannish attachments which made McClellanism a +species of Masonry in the army, were there in force. In these banded +interests brotherly love took the place of patriotism. Little wonder! +looking at the record of the McClellan campaigns, that the Rebels +present fraternized with these devotees in their grief. + +"You have thrown away your ablest commander," said an elderly man, of +intelligent and gentlemanly appearance, clad in the uniform of a surgeon +of the Rebel army, who stood conversing with one of our own surgeons, on +the sidewalk of the main street of the place, while the crowd gathered +to witness the departure of the General. + +"Do you really think so?" rejoined the Union Surgeon, as he earnestly +eyed the speaker. + +"Yes, sir," said the Rebel, emphatically. "It is not only my opinion but +the opinion of our Generals of ability, that in parting with McClellan +you lose the only General you have who has shown any strategic ability." + +"If that be your opinion, sir," was the decided reply, "the sooner we +are rid of him the better." + +And to this reply the country says, Amen! + +"But what a shame it is that military genius is so little appreciated by +the Administration, and that he is removed just at this time! Why, I +heard our Colonel say that he had heard the General say, that in a few +days more, he would have won a decisive victory," remarked a young +officer, in a jaunty blue jacket, to a companion, gesticulating as he +spoke, with a cigar between the first and second fingers of his right +hand. + +An older officer, who overheard the remark, observed, drily:--"He was +not removed for what he would do, but for what he had done." + +"And for what he had not done," truthfully added another. + +Never had General, burdened with so many sins of omission and +commission, as the conversation indicated, been so leniently dealt with, +now that the Rebels in their favorite, and with him successful game of +hide and seek, had again given him the slip, and were only in his front +to annoy. As they had it completely in their power to prevent a general +engagement at that point, his remark as to what would have been done was +a very rotten twig, caught at in the vain hope of breaking his fall. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_A Skulker and the Dutch Doctor--A Review of the Corps by Old Joe--A +Change of Base; what it means to the Soldier, and what to the +Public--Our Quarter-Master and General Hooker--The Movement by the Left +Flank--A Division General and Dog-driving--The Desolation of Virginia--A +Rebel Land-Owner and the Quarter-Master--"No Hoss, Sir!"--The Poetical +Lieutenant unappreciated--Mutton or Dog?--Desk Drudgery and Senseless +Routine._ + + +"It's about time, Bill, for you to have another sick on," said a lively +lad, somewhat jocosely, as he rubbed away at his musket-barrel, on one +of our last mornings at the Camp, near Warrenton. "Fighting old Joe has +the Corps now, and he will review us to-day, the Captain says, and after +that look out for a move." + +"Don't say," drawled out the man addressed; a big, lubberly fellow, +famous in the Regiment for shirking duty--who, when picket details were +expected, or a march in prospect, would set a good example of +punctuality in promptly reporting at Surgeon's call, or as the Camp +phrase had it, "stepping up for his quinine." "Well," continued he, +"Lord knows what I'll do. I've had the rheumatics awful bad," clapping +at the same time one hand on his hip, and the other on his right +shoulder, "the last day or two, and then the chronical diarrhoear." + +"You had better go in on rheumatism, Bill," broke in the first speaker. +"The Doctor will let you off best on that." + +"That's played out, isn't it, Bill," chimed in another; and to Bill's +disgust, as he continued, "It don't go with the little Dutch Doctor +since Sharpsburg. Every time his Company's turn would come for picket, +while we were at that Camp, Bill would be a front-rank man at the +Hospital, with a face as long as a rail, and twisted as if he had just +had all his back teeth pulled. The little Dutchman would yell out +whenever he would see him--'What for you come? Eh? You tam shneak. +Rheumatism, eh? In hip?' And the Doctor would punch his shoulder and +hip, and pinch his arms and legs until Bill would squirm like an eel +under a gig. 'Here, Shteward,' said the Doctor the last time, as he +scribbled a few words on a small piece of paper, 'Take this; make +application under left ear, and see if dis tam rheumatism come not out.' +Bill followed the Steward, and in a few minutes came back to quarters +ornamented with a fly-blister as big as a dollar under his left ear. +Next morning Bill didn't report, but he's been going it since on +diarrhoea." + +"He wasn't smart, there," observed another. "He ought to have done as +little Burky of our mess did. He'd hurry to quarters, take the blister +off, clap it on again next morning when he'd report, and he'd have the +little Dutchman swearing at the blister for not being 'wors a tam.'" + +Bill took the sallies of the crowd with the quiet remark that their turn +for the sick list would come some day. + +The Review on that day was a grand affair. The fine-looking manly form +of Old Joe, as, in spite of a bandaged left ancle not yet recovered +from the wound at Antietam, and that kept the foot out of the stirrup, +he rode down the line at a gait that tested the horsemanship of his +followers, was the admiration of the men. In his honest and independent +looking countenance they read, or thought they could, character too +purely republican to allow of invidious distinctions between men, who, +in their country's hour of need, had left civil pursuits at heavy +sacrifices, and those who served simply because the service was to them +the business of life. With hearts that kept lively beat with the +regimental music as they marched past their new Commander, they rejoiced +at this mark of attention to the necessities of the country, which +removed an Officer, notorious as a leader of reserves, and placed them +under the care of a man high on the list of fighting Generals. +"Waterloo," says the historic or rather philosophic novelist of France, +"was a change of front of the universe." The results of that contest are +matter of record, and justify the remark. At Warrenton a great Republic +changed front, and henceforth the milk and water policy of conciliating +"our Southern Brethren" ranked as they are behind bristling bayonets, or +of intimidating them by a mere show of force, must give way to active +campaigning and heavy blows. + +A rainy, misty morning a day or two after the review, saw the Corps pass +through Warrenton, en route for the Railroad Junction, commencing the +change of direction by the left flank, ordered by the new Commander of +the Army. The halt for the night was made in a low piece of woodland +lying south of the railroad. In column of Regiments the Division +encamped, and in a space of time incredible to those not familiar with +such scenes, knapsacks were unslung and the smoke of a thousand +camp-fires slowly struggled upwards through the falling rain. Its +pelting was not needed to lull the soldiers, weary from the wet march +and slippery roads, to slumber. + +At early dawn they left the Junction and its busy scenes--its lengthy +freight-trains, and almost acres of baggage-wagons, to the rear, and +struck the route assigned the Grand Division, of which they were part, +for Fredericksburg. "A change of base" our friends will read in the +leaded headings of the dailies, and pass it by as if it were a transfer +of an article of furniture from one side of the room to the other. +Little know they how much individual suffering from heavy knapsacks and +blistered feet, confusion of wagon-trains, wrangling and swearing of +teamsters, and vexation in almost infinite variety, are comprised in +these few words. It is the army that moves, however, and the host of +perplexities move with it, all unknown to the great public, and +transient with the actors themselves as bubbles made by falling rain +upon the lake. The delays incident to a wagon-train are legion. +Occurring among the foremost wagons, they increase so rapidly that +notwithstanding proper precaution and slowness in front, a rear-guard +will often be kept running. The profanity produced by a single chuck +hole in a narrow road appears to increase in arithmetical proportion as +the wagons successively approach, and teamsters in the rear find their +ingenuity taxed to preserve their reputation for the vice with their +fellows. + +Why negroes are not more generally employed as teamsters is a mystery. +They are proverbially patient and enduring. Both the interests of +humanity and horseflesh would be best subserved by such employment, and +the ranks would not be reduced by the constant and heavy details of +able-bodied men for that duty. Capital and careful horsemen are to be +found among the contrabands of Virginia, and many a poor beast, bad in +harness because badly treated, would rejoice at the change. + +Quarter-masters, Wagon-masters, Commissaries, _et id genus omne_, have +their peculiar troubles. Our Regiment was particularly favored in a +Quarter-Master of accomplished business tact, whose personal supervision +over the teams during a march was untiring, and whose tongue was equally +tireless in rehearsing to camp crowds, after the march was over, the +troubles of the day, and how gloriously he surmounted them. In his +department he held no divided command. + +"Get out of my train with that ambulance. You can't cut me off in that +style," he roared in an authoritative manner to an ambulance driver, who +had slipped in between two of his wagons on the second day of our march. + +"My ambulance was ordered here, sir! I have General ----" The driver's +reply was here interrupted by the abrupt exclamation of the +Quarter-Master-- + +"I don't care a d--n if you have Old Joe himself inside. I command this +train and you must get out." And get out the driver did, at the +intimation of his passenger, who, to the surprise of the Quarter-Master, +notwithstanding his assertion, turned out to be no less a personage than +General Hooker himself. + +"It is the law of the road," said the General, good-humoredly--candid to +his own inconvenience--"and we must obey it." + +This ready obedience upon the part of the General was better in effect +than any order couched in the strongest terms for the enforcement of +discipline. The incident was long a frequent subject of conversation, +and added greatly to his popularity as a commander. The men were fond +of contrasting it with the conduct of the General of Division, who but a +few days later cursed a poor teamster with all manner of profanely +qualifying adjectives because he could not give to the General and his +Staff the best part of a difficult road. + +But perhaps the men held their General of Division to too strict an +accountability. He was still laboring under the spell of Warrenton. His +nervous system had doubtless been deranged by the removal of his +favorite Chief, or rather Dictator, as he had hoped he might be. "No one +could command the army but McClellan," the General had said in his +disgust--a disgust that would have driven him from the service, but +that, fortunately for himself and unfortunately for his country, it was +balanced by the pay and emoluments of a Brigadiership. Reluctant to +allow Burnside quietly, a Caesar's opportunity to "cover his baldness +with laurels," his whimsical movements, now galloping furiously and +purposeless from front to rear, and from rear to front of his command, +cursing the officers,--and that for fancied neglect of duty,--poorly +concealed the workings of his mind. + +In one of these rapid rides, his eye caught sight of a brace of young +hounds following one of the Sergeants. + +"Where did those dogs come from?" + +"They have followed me from the last wood, sir." + +"Let them go, sir, this instant. Send them back, sir. D--n you, sir, +I'll teach you to respect private property," replied the General, +deploying his staff at the same time to assist in driving the dogs back, +as notwithstanding the efforts of the Sergeant to send them to the rear, +they crouched at a respectful distance and eyed him wistfully. "D--n +you, sir, I am the General commanding the Division, sir, and by G--d, +sir, I command you, as such, to send those dogs back, sir!" nervously +stammered the General as he rode excitedly from one side of the road to +the other in front of the Sergeant. + +The affair speedily became ridiculous. Driving dogs was evidently with +the General a more congenial employment than manoeuvring men. But his +efforts in the one proved as unsuccessful as in the other, as +notwithstanding the aid afforded by his followers, the dogs would turn +tail but for a short distance. After swearing most _dogmatically_, as an +officer remarked, he turned to resume his ride to the head of the +column, but had not gone ten yards before there was a whistle for the +dogs. Squab was sent back to ferret out the offender. The whistling +increased, and shortly the whole Staff and the Regimental officers were +engaged in an attempt at its suppression. But in vain. Whistling in +Company A, found echoes in Company B; and after some minutes of +fruitless riding hither and thither the General was forced to retire +under a storm of all kinds of dog-calls, swelled in volume by the +adjacent Regiments. + +That authority should be thus abused by the General in endeavoring to +enforce his ridiculous order, and set at naught by the men in thus +mocking at obedience, is to be deprecated. The men took that method of +rebuking the inconsistency, which would permit Regular and many +Volunteer Regiments to be followed by all manner of dogs, + + "Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound, + And cur of low degree," + +and yet refuse them the accidental company of but a brace of canines. A +simple report of the offender, supposing the Sergeant to have been one, +would have been the proper course, and would have saved a General of +Division the disgrace of being made a laughing-stock for his command. + +"Talent is something: but tact is everything," said an eminent man, and +nowhere has the remark a more truthful application than in the army. + +A favorite employment after the evening halt, during this three days' +march, was the gathering of mushrooms. The old fields frequent along the +route abounded with them, and many a royal meal they furnished. To +farmers' sons accustomed to the sight of close cultivation, these old +fields, half covered with stunted pines, sassafras, varieties of spice +wood, and the never-failing persimmon tree, were objects of curiosity. +It was hard to realize that we were marching through a country once +considered the Garden of America, whose bountiful supplies and large +plantations had become classic through the pen of an Irving and other +famous writers. Fields princely in size, but barren as Sahara; +buildings, once comfortable residences, but now tottering into ruin, are +still there, but "all else how changed." The country is desolation +itself. Game abounds, but whatever required the industry of man for its +continuance has disappeared. + +Civilization, which in younger States has felled forests, erected +school-houses, given the fertility of a garden to the barren coast of +the northern Atlantic and the wild-wood of the West, could not coalesce +with the curse of slavery, and Virginia has been passed by in her onward +march. This field of pines that you see on our right, whose tops are so +dense and even as to resemble at a distance growing grain, may have been +an open spot over which Washington followed his hounds in +ante-revolutionary days. The land abounds in memories. The very names of +the degenerate families who eke out a scanty subsistence on some corner +of what was once an extensive family seat, remind one of the old +Colonial aristocracy. Reclamation of the soil, as well as deliverance of +the enslaved, must result from this civil war. Both worth fighting for. +So "Forward, men," "Guide right," as in very truth we are in Divine +Providence guided. + +The long-haired, furtive-looking fathers and sons, representatives of +all this ancient nobility, after having given over their old homesteads +to their female or helpless male slaves, and massed their daughters and +wives apparently in every tenth house, were keeping parallel pace with +us on the lower bank of the Rappahannock. It was the inevitable logic of +the law of human progress, declaring America to be in reality the land +of the free, that compelled these misguided, miserable remnants of an +aristocracy, to shiver in rags around November camp-fires. "They are +joined to their idols"--but now that after years of legislative +encroachment upon the rights of suffering humanity, they engage in a +rebellious outbreak against a God-given Government, we will not +let them alone in an idolatry that desolates the fair face of nature +and causes such shameful degeneracy of the human race. Justice! slow, +but still sure and retributive justice! How sublimely grand in her +manifestations! After years of patient endurance of the proud contumely +of South Carolina, New England granite blocks up the harbor of +Charleston--Massachusetts volunteers cook their coffee in the fireplaces +of the aristocratic homesteads of Beaufort, and negroes rally to a +roll-call at Bunker Hill, but as volunteers in a war which insures them +liberty, and not as slaves, as was once vainly prophesied. + + * * * * * + +"Who commands you?" inquired a long, lean, slightly stooped, +sallow-faced man of about fifty, with eyes that rolled in all directions +but towards the officer he addressed, and long hair thrown back of his +ears in such a way as to make up an appearance that would readily +attract the attention of a police officer. + +"I command this Regiment, sir," replied the Colonel, who, at the end of +the day's march, was busied in directing a detail where to pitch the +Head-quarter tents. + +"Goin' to stay yer--right in this meadow?" continued the man, in the +half negro dialect common with the whites of the South. + +"That is what we purpose doing, sir. Are you the owner?" + +"Y-a-a-s," drawled out the man, pulling his slouch felt still further +over his eyes. "This meadow is the best part of my hull farm." + +"Great country, this," broke in the Quarter-Master. "Why a kill-deer +couldn't fly over it without carrying a knapsack. You don't think that +camping upon this meadow will injure it any, do you?" + +"Right smart it will, I reckon," rejoined the man, his eyes kindling +somewhat, "right smart, it will. $1500 at least." + +"What! What did the land cost you?" + +"Wall, I paid at the rate of $15 the acre for 118 acres, and the +buildings and 12 acres on it are in this meadow, and the best bit of it, +too." + +"Then you want to make us pay nearly what the whole farm cost you for +using the meadow a single night?" + +"Wall, I reckon as how the rails will all be gone, and the sod all cut +up, and----" + +"Well, I reckon," interrupted the Quarter-Master, "that you ought to +prove your loyalty before you talk about claiming damages from Uncle +Sam." + +"Oh! I'm on nary side, on nary side;" and he looked half suspiciously +about the crowd, now somewhat increased. "I'm too old; besides, my left +knee is crippled up bad," limping as he said so, to sustain his +assertion. + +"Where are your children?" + +"My two boys and son-in-law are off with the South, but I'm not +'countable for them." + +"Well, sir, you'll have to prove your loyalty before you get a receipt +from me for any amount." + +"Prove my loyalty?" he muttered, at the same time looking blank. "What +sort of swearin' have you for that?" + +"Don't swear him at all, at all," broke in the little Irish Corporal. +"Swearing is no substitute for swinging. Faith! he's up to that +business. It's mate and drink to him. Make him whistle Yankee Doodle or +sing Hail Columbia. Be jabers, it is not in his looks to do it without +choking." + +Terence's suggestion met with a general laugh of approval. The old +fellow, finding himself in a crowd slow to appreciate his claim for +damages when his loyalty was at a discount, made off towards his house, +a dingy, two-story frame near by, reminded by the Colonel as he left +that he would be expected to keep closely within doors while the troops +were in that vicinity. + +This sovereign of the soil was a fair specimen of the landed gentry of +Virginia. "On nary side," as he expressed it, when the Federal troops +were in his neighborhood, and yet malignant and dastardly enough to +maltreat any sick or wounded Union soldier that chance might throw into +his hands. The less reserved tongues of his daughters told plainly +enough where the family stood on the great question of the day. But +while they recounted to some of the junior officers who were always on +the alert in making female acquaintances, their long lists of famous +relatives, they had all the eagerness of the Yankee, so much despised in +the Richmond prints, in disposing of half-starved chickens and heavy +hoe-cakes at extortionate prices. With their dickering propensities +there was an amount of dirt on their persons and about the premises, and +roughness in their manners, that did great discredit to the memory of +Pocahontas. + +"You have the old horse tied up close," casually remarked a spruce young +Sergeant who, in obedience to orders from Division Head-quarters, had +just stationed a guard in the yard of the premises, alluding to an old, +worn-out specimen of horseflesh tied up so closely to the house that his +head and neck were almost a straight line. + +"Yon's no hoss, sir. It's a mare," quickly retorted one of those +black-eyed beauties. + +The polite Sergeant, who had dressed himself with more than usual care, +in the expectation of meeting the ladies, colored somewhat, but the +young lady, in a matter-of-course strain, went on to say, + +"She's the only one left us, too. Preston and Moncure took the rest with +them, and they say they've nearly used 'em up chasing you Yanks." + +Her unlady-like demeanor and exulting allusion to the Rebel cavalry +tested to the utmost the Sergeant's qualities as a gentleman. A dicker +for a pair of chickens, accomplished by his substituting a little ground +coffee for a great sum in greenbacks, soon brought about a better +understanding, however, on the part of the damsel. + +A few hours later saw the Adjutant and our poetical Lieutenant snugly +seated on split-bottomed chairs in a dirty kitchen. Random conversation, +in which the women let slip no opportunity of reminding their visitors +of the soldierly qualities of the Rebels, interrupted by the occasional +bleating of sheep and bawling of calves in the cellar, made the +evening's entertainment novel and interesting. So much so that at a late +hour the Lieutenant, who had invested closely the younger of the two, +said, half sighing, as he gave her a fond look, + + "With thee conversing, I forget all time, + All----" + +"Wall, I reckon I don't," broke in the matter-of-fact young lady. "Sal, +just kick yon door around." As Sal did her bidding, and the full moon on +the face of an old fashioned corner clock was disclosed, she continued, +"It's just ten minutes after eleven, and you Yanks had better be off." + +Although the Adjutant was + + "Like steel amid the din of arms; + Like wax when with the fair," + +this lack of appreciation of poetic sentiment so abruptly shown, brought +him out in a roar, and completely disconcerted the Lieutenant. They both +retired speedily, and long after, the circumstance was one of the +standing jokes of the camp. + +One of the most prominent and eagerly wished-for occurrences in camp, is +the arrival of the mail. The well filled bag, looking much like one of +the bags of documents forwarded by Congressmen for private purposes at +Uncle Sam's expense, was emptied out on the sod that evening in front of +the Colonel's marquee, and bundles containing boots, tobacco, bread, +clothing of all kinds, eatables, and what-not,--for at that time Uncle +Sam's army mails did a heavy express business,--were eyed curiously, by +the crowd impatient for distribution. Most singular of all in shape and +feeling was a package, heavily postmarked, and addressed to the Colonel. +It contained what was a God-send to the larder of the mess,--a quarter +of fine tender meat. But what kind of animal, was the query. The Major, +who was a Nimrod in his own locality, after the most thorough +inspection, and the discovery of a short straight hair upon it, +pronounced it venison, or young kid, and confirmed the Colonel in the +belief that he had been remembered by one of his Western friends. But +deer or dog was a matter of indifference to hungry campaigners. A hearty +meal was made of it, and speculation continued until the Brigadier, who +had perpetrated the joke upon the Colonel, saw fit, long after, to +reveal that it was mutton that had been taken from some marauders during +the day's march. + +During the first and second days of the march, cannonading had been +heard at intervals on the right flank. This day, however, the silence +was ominous; and now at its close, with our army in close proximity to +Fredericksburg, it indicated peaceable, unopposed possession, or delay +of our own forces. But of the delay and its cause, provoking as it was, +and costly as it has proved, enough has probably been written. An +Investigating Committee has given the public full records. If we do not +learn that delinquents have been punished, let us hope that the warning +has been sufficient to avoid like difficulties in the future. + +Our army quietly turned into camp among the wooded heights of Stafford, +opposite the town of Fredericksburg. The Rebels as quietly collected +their forces and encamped on the heights upon the opposite side of the +river. Day by day we could see them busily at work upon their +fortifications. Each morning fresh mounds of earth appeared at different +points in the semi-circular range of hills bounding Fredericksburg upon +the South and West. This valuable time was made use of by the pontoon +train at the rate of four miles per day. + +The three Grand Divisions, now that their stately march by the flank was +over, had settled comfortably down among the hills of Stafford. Wood and +water, essentials for camp comfort, were to be found in abundance. While +the little parleying between the Commander of the Right Grand Division +and the civil authorities of Fredericksburg continued, matters were +somewhat in suspense. But a gradual quiet crept over the army, and in a +few short weeks that heavily timbered country was one vast field of +stumps, with here and there clusters of pine trees left standing for the +comfort of different Head-quarters. As the timber disappeared, the tents +and huts of the army before concealed in the forests were disclosed, and +the whole country in the vicinity of the railroad was a continuous camp. +The few open fields or barrens afforded fine review and drill grounds, +and the toils of the march were scarcely over before in all directions +could be heard the steady tramp of solid columns engaged in the +evolutions of the field. + +Those who think that duties are light in camp, know nothing of the +legions of reports, statements in duplicate and triplicate, required by +the too often senseless formalities of red tape. These duties vary +greatly in different divisions. With a place-man, mechanical in his +movements, and withal not disposed to lighten labor, they multiply to a +surprising extent, and subs intrusted with their execution often find +that the most laborious part of the service is drudgery at the desk. +Night after night would repose at Regimental Head-quarters be +interrupted by repetitious and in many cases inconsistent orders, the +only purpose of which appeared to be, to remind drowsy Adjutants and +swearing Sergeant-Majors that the Commanding General of Division still +ruled at Division Head-quarters, and that he was most alive between the +hours of nine and twelve at night. Independently of the fact that in +most cases in ordinary camp-life there was no reason why these orders +should not have issued in business hours, their multiplicity was a +nuisance. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but in all conscience +when the pen has been through necessity ignored, and the sword is +uplifted for rapid and earnest blows, and the heart of a nation hangs in +heavy suspense upon its movements, these travelling Bureaux had better +be abolished. Superadded to all this, was the labor resulting from the +mania for Court-Martialing that raged at Division Head-quarters. +Mechanical in its movements, not unfrequently malignant in its designs, +officer after officer, earnest in purpose, but in some instances perhaps +deficient in detail, had been sacrificed to an absolutism that could +order the charges, detail the Court, play the part of principal witness +for the prosecution, and confirm the proceedings. + +"Our volunteer force will never amount to much, until we attain the +exact discipline of the French service," was the frequent remark of a +General of Division. Probably not. But how much would its efficiency be +increased, had the policy of the great Napoleon, from whose genius the +French arms derive their lustre, prevailed, in detailing for desk duty +in quiet departments the mechanical minds of paper Generals. His master +tact in assigning to commanders legitimate spheres of work, and with it +the untiring zeal of a Cromwell that would run like a purifying fire +through the army, imparting to it its own impetuosity, and ridding it of +jealousy and disaffection, were greatly needed in this Grand Army of the +Potomac. Nobler men never stood in ranks! Holier banners never flaunted +in the sunlight of Heaven! God grant its directing minds corresponding +energy and wisdom. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_Red Tape and the Soldier's Widow--Pigeon-holing at Head-Quarters and +Weeping at the Family Fireside--A Pigeon-hole General Outwitted--Fishing +for a Discharge--The Little Irish Corporal on Topographical +Engineers--Guard Duty over a Whiskey Barrel._ + + + ----, Penna., Nov.--, 1862. + + MY DEAR GEORGE:--This is the first spare time that I have been able + to get during the last week for a letter to my dear husband. And + now that there is quiet in the house, and our dear little boys are + sound asleep, and the covers nicely tucked about them in their + little trundle, I feel that I can scarcely write. There is such a + heaviness upon my heart. When I saw the crowd at the telegraph + office this morning while on my way to church, and heard that they + were expecting news of a great battle on the Rappahannock, such a + feeling of helplessness, sinking of the heart, and dizziness came + over me, that I almost fell upon the pavement. The great battle + that all expect so eagerly, may mean our dear little children + fatherless and myself a widow. Oh, George, I feel so sad and + lonely, and then every footstep I hear at the door I am afraid some + one is coming with bad news. Your last letter, too, I do not like. + I am afraid that more is the matter with you than you are willing + to admit. You promised me, too, that you would apply for a + furlough. Lieut. H---- has been twice at home since he went out. + You know he is in Sickles' Division. + + Our precious little boys keep asking continually when papa will + come home. Little Georgie says he is a "du-du," you know that is + what he calls a soldier, and he gets the old sword you had in the + three months' service, and struts up and down at a great rate. They + can both say the Lord's prayer now, and every night when they get + through with it, they ask God to bless papa and mamma, and all the + Union "du-dus." I do wish that you could see them in their little + "Gadibaldis," as Harry calls them. When I see Mr. B----and others + take their evening walks with their children, just as you used to + do with Georgie, it takes all the grace and all the patriotism I + can muster to keep from murmuring. + + Mr. G---- says that we need not trouble about the rent this + quarter, that he will wait until you are paid. The neighbors, too, + are very kind to me, and I have been kept so busy with work from + the shops, that I have made enough to pay all our little expenses. + But for all, George, I cannot help wishing every minute of the day + that "this cruel war was over" and you safe back. At a little + sewing party that we had the other day, Em D---- sang that old song + "When wild war's deadly blast was blown," that you used to read to + me so often, and when I heard of "sweet babes being fatherless," + and "widows mourning," I burst into tears. I do not know why it is, + but I feel as if expecting bad news continually. Our little boys + say "don't cry, mamma," in such a way when I put them to bed at + night, and tell them that I kiss them for you too, that it makes me + feel all the worse. I know it is wrong. I know our Heavenly Father + knows what is best for us. I hope by this time you have learned to + put your trust in him. That is the best preparation for the + battle-field. + + Do not fail to come home if you can. God bless you, George, and + protect you, is the prayer of + + Your loving wife, + MARY. + +On a low cot in the corner of a hospital tent, near Potomac Creek, +propped up by some extra blankets kindly loaned him by his comrades, +toward the close of a December afternoon, lay a slightly-built, rather +handsome man of about thirty, holding with trembling hand the above +letter, and hurriedly gathering its contents with an eager but unsteady +eye. The Surgeon noticing the growing flush upon his already fevered +cheek, suggested that he had better have the letter read to him. So +intent was the reader, that the suggestion was twice repeated before +heeded, and then only drew the remark "Mary and the boys." A sudden fit +of coughing that appeared to tear the very life strings came upon him, +and at its close he fell back exhausted upon his pillow. + +"What luck, Adjutant?" inquired the Surgeon in a low tone, as he went +forward, cautiously treading among the sick, to admit that officer into +the tent. + +The Adjutant with a shake of the head remarked that the application had +gone up two weeks previously from Brigade Head-quarters, and that +nothing had been heard of it since. "As usual," he added, "pigeon-holed +at Division Head-quarters." + +"Poor Wilson has been inquiring about it all day, and I very much fear +that should it come now, it will be too late. He has failed rapidly +to-day." + +"So bad as that? I will send up to Division Head-quarters immediately." + +The Lieutenant, a week previously, had been brought into the hospital +suffering from a heavy cold and fever in connexion with it. For some +weeks he had been in delicate health; so much so, in fact, that the +Surgeon had urged him to apply for a furlough, and had stated in his +certificate to the same, that it was absolutely necessary for the +preservation of his life. As the Surgeon stated, a furlough, that might +then have been beneficial, promised now to be of little avail. The +disease had assumed the form of congestion of the lungs, and the +Lieutenant seemed rapidly sinking. + +When the Adjutant left the hospital tent he sought out a Captain, an +intimate acquaintance of the Lieutenant's, and charged him with a +special inquiry at Head-quarters, as to the success of the application +for a furlough. Thither the Captain repaired, through the well trodden +mud and slush of the camp ground. The party of young officers within the +tent of the Adjutant-General appeared to be in a high state of +enjoyment, and that functionary himself retained just presence of mind +sufficient to assure the Captain, after hearing his statement and urgent +inquiry--"that there was no time now to look--that there were so d--n +many papers he could not keep the run of them. These things must take +their regular course, Captain,--regular course, you know. That's the +difficulty with the volunteer officers," continued he, turning half to +the crowd, "to understand regular military channels,--channels." As he +continued stammering and stuttering, the crowd inside suspended the pipe +to ejaculate assent, while the Captain, understanding red-tape to his +sorrow, and too much disgusted to make further effort to understand the +Captain, retraced his steps. Finding the Adjutant he told him of his +lack of success, and together they repaired to the hospital tent to +break the unwelcome news. + +At the time of his entry into the Hospital the Lieutenant was impressed +with the belief that the illness would be his last, and he daily grew +more solicitous as to the success of his application for a furlough. +Another coughing fit had, during their absence, intervened, and as the +two cautiously untied the flaps and entered the stifling atmosphere of +the crowded tent, the Surgeon and a friend or two were bending anxiously +about the cot. Their entry attracted the attention of the dying +Lieutenant; for that condition his faint hurried breathing, interrupted +by occasional gasps, and the rolling, fast glazing eye, too plainly +denoted. A look of anxious inquiry,--a faint shake of the head from the +Captain--for strong-voiced as he was, his tongue refused the duty of +informing the dying man of what had become daily, unwelcome news. + +"Oh, my God! must I,--must I die without again seeing Mary and the +babies!" with clasped hands he gasped, half rising, and casting at the +same time an imploring look at the Surgeon. + +But the effort was too much. His head fell back upon the blankets. A +gurgling sound was heard in his throat. With bowed heads to catch the +latest whisper, his friends raised him up; and muttering indistinctly +amid his efforts to hold the rapidly failing breath, "Mary and the +babies. The babies,--Ma----" the Lieutenant left the Grand Army of the +Potomac on an everlasting furlough. + +Mary was busily engaged with the duties of her little household a week +later, enjoying, as best she might, the lively prattle of the boys, when +there was the noise of a wagon at the door, and closely following it a +knock. "Papa! papa!" exclaimed the children, as with eager haste they +preceded the mother. With scarcely less eagerness, Mary opened the door. +Merciful God! "Temper the wind to the shorn lambs." Earthly consolation +is of little avail at a time like this. It was "Papa;"--but Mary was a +widow, and the babies fatherless. + +By some unfortunate accident the telegram had been delayed, and the +sight of the black pine coffin was Mary's first intimation of her loss. +Her worst anticipations thus roughly realized, she sank at the door, a +worthy subject for the kind offices of her neighbors. + +A fortnight passed, and the Adjutant was disturbed in his slumbers, +almost at the solemn hour of midnight, to receive from an Orderly some +papers from Division Head-Quarters. Among them, was the application of +the Lieutenant, returned "approved." + +Measured by poor Mary's loss, how insignificant the sigh of the monied +man over increased taxes! how beggarly the boast of patriotic +investments! how contemptibly cruel, in her by no means unusual case, +the workings of Red Tape! + + * * * * * + +Occurrences such as these, may sadden for the moment the soldier, but +they produce no lasting depression. + + "Don't you think I had oughter + Be a going down to Washington + To fight for Abraham's Daughter?" + +sang our ex-news-boy Birdy, on one of those cold damp evenings in early +December, when the smoke of the fires hung like a pall over the camp +ground, and the eyes suffered terribly if their owner made any attempt +at standing erect. + +"And who is Abraham's Daughter?" queried one of a prostrate group around +a camp fire. + +"Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," continued Birdy, to another popular +air, until he was joined by a manly swell of voices in the closing +line-- + + "Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!" + +"Not much life here," continued Birdy, seating himself. "I have just +left the 2--th. There is a high old time over there. They have got the +dead wood on old Pigey nice." + +"In what way?" inquired the crowd. + +"You know that long, slim fellow of Co. E, in that Regiment, who is +always lounging about the Hospital, and never on duty." + +"What! The fellow that has been going along nearly double, with both +hands over the pit of his stomach, for a week past?" + +"The same," resumed Birdy. "He has been going it on diarrhoea lately; +before that he was running on rheumatism. Well, you know he has been +figuring for a discharge ever since he heard the cannonading at the +second Bull Run, but couldn't make it before yesterday." + +"How did he make it?" inquired several, earnestly. + +"Fished for it," quietly remarked Birdy. + +"Come, Birdy, this is too old a crowd for any jokes of yours. Whose +canteen have you been sucking Commissary out of?" broke in one of his +hearers. + +"Nary time; I'm honest, fellows. He fished for it, and I'll tell you +how," resumed Birdy, adjusting the rubber blanket upon which he had +seated himself. + +"You see old Pigey was riding along the path that winds around the hill +to Corps Head-Quarters, when he spied this fellow, Long Tom, as they +call him, sitting on a stump, and alongside of the big sink, that some +of our mess helped to dig when on police duty last. Tom held in both +hands a long pole, over the sink, with a twine string hanging from +it--for all the world as if he was fishing. On came old Pigey; but Tom +never budged. + +"'What are you doing there, sir?' said the General. + +"'Fishing,' said Tom, without turning his head. + +"'Fishing! h--l and d--n! Must be crazy; no fish there.' + +"'I've caught them in smaller streams than this,' drawled out Tom, +turning at the same time his eyes upon the General, with a vacant stare. +'But then I had better bait. The ground about here is too mean for good +red worms. Just look,' and Tom lifted up an old sardine box, half full +of grubs, for the General to look at. + +"'Crazy, by G--d, sir,' said the General, turning to his Aid, 'Demented! +Demented! Might be a dangerous man in camp; must be attended to,' +continued the General; striking, as he spoke, vigorous blows across his +saddle-bow, with his gauntlet; Tom all the while waiting for a bite, +with the patience of an old fisherman. + +"It was after three in the afternoon, and the General took the bait. + +"'Must be attended to. Dangerous man! dangerous man!' said he, adjusting +his spectacles. + +"'Your name and Regiment, sir?' + +"Tom drawled them out, and the General directed his Aid to take them +down. + +"'Go to your Quarters, sir,' said the General. + +"'Havn't caught anything yet, and hard tack is played out,' replied Tom. + +"At this the General put spurs to his horse, and left. Half an hour +afterward, a Corporal's Guard came after Tom. They took him up to the +marquee of the Surgeon of the Division. Tom played it just as well +there, and yesterday his discharge came down, all O.K., and they've got +the Commissary on the strength of it, and are having a high old time +generally." + +"Bully boy with a glass eye! How are _you_, discharge!" and like slang +exclamations broke rapidly and rapturously from the crowd. + +"But," said one of the more thoughtful of the crowd, as the condition of +a brother then lying hopelessly ill, with no prospect of a +discharge,--although it had been promised repeatedly for months +past,--pressed itself upon his attention, "how shameful that this +able-bodied coward and idler should get off in this way, when so many +better men are dying by inches in the hospitals. A General who +understood his command and had more knowledge of human nature, could not +be deceived in that way." + +"Tom had lounged about Divisions Head-Quarters so much, that he knew old +Pigey thoroughly, and just when to take him," said a comrade. + +"All the greater shame that our Generals can be taken off their guard at +any time," retorted the other. + +"Oh, well," continued he, "about what might be expected of one educated +exclusively as a Topographical Engineer, and having no acquaintance with +active field service, and with no talent for command; for it is a talent +that West Point may educate, but cannot create." + +"And what is a Tippo, Typo, or Toppographical Engineer, Sergeant?" broke +in the little Irish Corporal, who chanced to be one of the group, rather +seriously. "Isn't it something like a land surveyor; and be Jabers, +wasn't the great Washington himself a land surveyor? Eh? Maybe that's +the rayson these Tippos, Typos, or Toppographical Engineers ride such +high horses." + +"Not badly thought of, Corporal," replied the Sergeant, amid laughter at +Terence's discovery, and his attempt at pronunciation; "but Washington +was a man of earnestness and ability, and not a guzzler of whiskey, and +a mouther of indecent profanity. There are good officers in that Corps. +There is Meade, the fighter of the noble Pennsylvania Reserves; Warren, +a gentleman as well as a soldier. Others might be named. Meritorious +men, but kept in the background while the place-men, cumberers of the +service, refused by Jeff. Davis when making his selections from among +our regular officers, as too cheap an article, are kept in position at +such enormous sacrifices of men, money, and time. I have heard it said, +upon good authority, that there is a nest of these old place-men in +Washington, who keep their heads above water in the service, through the +studied intimacy of their families with families of Members of the +Cabinet--a toadyism that often elevates them to the depression of more +meritorious men, and always at the expense of the country,--but-- + + 'Dark shall be light.' + +Keep up your spirits, boys." + +"Keep up your spirits," echoed Birdy; "that is what they are doing all +the time at Division Head-Quarters,--by pouring spirits down, Jim," +continued he, turning suddenly to a comrade, who lounged lazily +alongside of him, holding, at the same time at the end of a stick, a tin +cup with a wire handle, over the fire, "tell the crowd about that +whisky barrel." + +Some of the crowd had heard the story, from the manner in which they +welcomed the suggestion, and insisted upon its reproduction. + +"Can't, till I cook my coffee," retorted Jim, pointing to the black, +greasy liquid in the cup, simmering slowly over the half-smothered fire. +Jim's cup had evidently been upon duty but a short time previously as a +soup-kettle. "But it is about done," said he, lifting it carefully off, +"and I might as well tell it while it cools." + +"About one week ago I happened to be detailed as a Head-Quarter guard, +and about four o'clock in the afternoon was pacing up and down the beat +in front of the General's Head-Quarters. It was a pleasant sun-shiny +spring day,--when gadflies like to try their wings, and the ground seems +to smoke in all directions,--and the General sat back composedly in the +corner of his tent on a camp stool, with his elbow on his knee and his +head hanging rather heavily upon his hand. The flaps were tied aside to +the fly-ropes. I had a fair view of him as I walked up and down, and I +came to the conclusion from his looks that Pigey had either a good load +on, or was in a brown study. While I was thinking about it up comes a +fellow of the 2--th, that I used to meet often while we were upon +picket. He is usually trim, tidy-looking, and is an intelligent fellow, +but on that day everything about him appeared out of gear. His old grey +slouch hat had only half a rim, and that hung over his eyes--hair +uncombed, face unwashed, hands looking as if he had been scratching +gravel with them, his blouse dirty and stuffed out above the belt, +making him as full-breasted as a Hottentot woman, pantaloons greasy, +torn, and unevenly suspended; and to foot up his appearance shoes +innocent of blacking, and out at the toes. When I saw him, I laughed +outright. He winked, and asked in an undertone if the General was in, +stating at the same time that he was there in obedience to an order +detailing one man for special duty at the General's Head Quarters, 'and +you know,' said he, 'that the order always is for intelligent +soldierly-looking men. Well, all our men that have been sent up of that +stripe have been detained as orderlies, to keep his darkies in wood and +water, and hold his horses, and we are getting tired of it. _I_ don't +intend running any risk.' + +"'Don't think you will,' said I, laughing at his make-up. + +"Just then I noticed a movement of the General's head, and resumed the +step. A moment after, the General's eye caught sight of the Detail. He +eyed him a moment in a doubtful way, and then rubbing his eyes, as if to +confirm the sight, and straightening up, shouted-- + +"'Sergeant of the guard! Sergeant of the guard!' + +"The sergeant was forthcoming at something more than a double-quick; and +with a salute, and 'Here, sir,' stood before the General. + +"Old Pigey's right hand extended slowly, pointing towards the Detail, +who stood with his piece at a rest, wondering what was to come next. + +"'Take away that musket, sergeant! and that G--d d--n looking thing +alongside of it. What is it, anyhow?' said the General, with a +significant emphasis on the word 'thing.' + +"And off the sergeant went, followed by the man, who gave a sly look as +he left." + +"Pretty well played," said one of the crowd; "but what has that to do +with a whisky barrel?" + +"Hold on, and you will see; I am not through yet. + +"About half an hour afterward another man from the same regiment +presented himself, and asked permission to cross my beat, saying that he +had been detailed on special duty, and was to report to the General in +person. This one looked trim enough to pass muster. He presented himself +at the door of the tent and saluted; but the General had taken two or +three plugs in the interim, and was slightly oblivious. Anxious to see +some sport, I suggested that he should call the General. + +"'General,' said he, lowly, then louder, all the while saluting, until +the General awoke with a start. + +"'Who the h--l are you, sir?' + +"'I was ordered to report to you in person, sir, for special duty.' + +"'Special duty, sir! Has it come to this? Must I assign the duty to be +performed by each individual man, sir, in the Division, sir!' + +"The disheveled hair, flashing eyes, and fierce look of the General, +startled this new Detail, and he commenced explaining. The General broke +in abruptly, however, as if suddenly recollecting; and rubbing his +hands, while his countenance assumed a bland smile: + +"'Oh, yes; you are right, sir, right; special duty, sir; yes, sir; +follow me, sir.' + +"And the General arose and with somewhat uncertain strides left his +marquee, and, followed by the man, entered a Sibley partly in its rear. + +"'There, sir,' said the General, pointing, with rather a pleased +countenance; 'do you see that barrel, sir?' + +"'Yes, sir,' replied the Detail, saluting. + +"'That barrel holds whisky, sir--whisky;'--rising upon his toes and +emphasizing the word; 'and I want you to guard it G--d d----d well. +Don't let a d--n man have a drop, sir. Do you understand, sir?' + +"'Yes, sir,' rejoined the Detail, saluting, and commencing his beat +around the barrel. + +"The General was about leaving the Sibley, when he turned suddenly; + +"'Do you drink, sir?' + +"'Once and a while, sir,' replied the Detail, saluting. + +"'Have you had any lately?' + +"'No, sir.' + +"'By G--d, sir, I'll give you some, sir;' and he strides into his +marquee and returns with a tin cup full of liquor, which he placed upon +the barrel, and told the man to help himself. After the General had +gone, the Detail did help himself, until his musket lay on one side of +the Sibley and himself on the other." + +"The General knows how to sympathize with a big dry," said one, as the +crowd laughed over the story. + +Pen cannot do justice to the stories abounding in wit and humor +wherewith soldiers relieve the tedium of the camp. To an old campaigner, +their appearance in print must seem like a faded photograph, in the +sight of one who has seen the living original. Characters sparkling with +humor, such as was never attributed to any storied Joe Miller, abound in +every camp. The brave Wolfe, previously to the victory which cost him +his life, is reported to have sung, while floating down the St. +Lawrence: + + "Why, soldiers, why, + Should we be melancholy, + Whose business 'tis to die?" + +Whether induced in his case by an effort to bolster up the courage of +his comrades or not, the sentiment has at all times been largely +practised upon in the army of the Potomac. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_The Battle of Fredericksburg--Screwing Courage up to the Sticking +Point--Consolations of a Flask--Pigeon-hole Nervousness--Abandonment of +Knapsacks--Incidents before, during, and after the Fight._ + + +In this wintry weather, striking tents meant stripping the log huts of +the bits of canvas that ordinarily served as the shelter-tents of the +soldiers. The long rows of huts thus dismantled,--soldiers at rest in +ranks, with full knapsacks and haversacks,--groups of horses saddled and +bridled, ready for the rider,--on one of these clear, cold December +mornings, indicated that the army was again upon the move. Civilians had +been sent back freighted with letters from those soon to see the serious +struggle of the field; the sick had been gathered to hospitals nearer +home; the musicians had reported to the surgeons, and the men were left, +to the sharp notes of sixty rounds of ball cartridge carried in their +boxes and knapsacks,--in the plight of the Massachusetts regiment that +marched through the mobs of Baltimore, to the music of the +cartridge-box, in the first April of the Rebellion. + +The time intervening between the removal of McClellan and the battle of +Fredericksburg, was a period of uneasy suspense to the nation at large +and its representatives in the field. Dear as the devoted patriotism, +the earnest conduct of the Rhode Island Colonel--the hero of the +Carolinas and now the leader of the Grand Army of the Potomac--were to +the patriotic masses of the nation, the fact of his being an untried +man, gave room for gloom and foreboding. With the army at large, the +suspense was accompanied by no lack of confidence. The devotion of the +Ninth Army Corps for its old commander appeared to have spread +throughout the army; and his open, manly countenance, bald head, and +unmistakable whiskers, were always greeted with rounds for "Burny." The +jealousy of a few ambitious wearers of stars may have been ill concealed +upon that morning, only to be disclosed shortly to his detriment; but +the earnest citizen-soldiery were eager, under his guidance, to do +battle for their country. Time has shown, how much of the misfortune of +the subsequent week was attributable to imperfect weeding of +McClellanism at Warrenton. + +Like a lion at bay, restless in easy view of the hosts of the +Rebellious, the army had remained in its camp upon the heights of +Stafford until the arrival of the pontoons. For miles along the +Rappahannock, the picket of blue had his counterpart in the picket of +grey upon the opposite shore. Unremitting labor upon fortifications and +earthworks, had greatly increased the natural strength of the +amphitheatre of hills in the rear of Fredericksburg. Countless surmises +spread in the ranks as to the character and direction of the attack; +though the whims of those who uttered them were variant as the +reflections of a kaleidoscope. But the sun, that through the pines that +morning, shone upon burnished barrels, polished breast-plates, and +countenances of brave men, radiant, as if reflecting their holy +purpose, has never, since the shining hosts of Heaven were marshalled +for the suppression of the great prototype of this Rebellion, seen more +earnest ranks, or a holier cause. + +The bugles call "Attention," then "Forward." Horses are rapidly mounted; +and speedily coming to the shoulder, and facing to the right, the army +is in motion by the flank towards the river. Far as the eye could see, +in all directions, there were moving masses of troops. Cowardly beneath +contempt is the craven, who in such a cause, and at such a time, would +not feel inspirited by the firm tread of the martial columns. + +"Hear 'em! Oh, Hear 'em!" exclaimed an earnest-looking country boy, +hastily closing a daguerreotype case, into which he had been intently +gazing, and replacing it in his pocket, as the booming of a heavy siege +gun upon the Washington Farm, followed instantly by the reports of +several batteries to the right, broke upon the ear like volleyed +thunder. A clap of thunder from a clear sky could not have startled him +more, had he been at work upon his father's farm. His earnest simplicity +afforded great amusement to his comrades, and for a while made him the +butt of a New York Regiment that then chanced to be marching abreast. +Raw recruit as he was, cowardice was no part of his nature, and he +indignantly repelled the taunts of his comrades. Gloom deep settled was +visible upon his countenance, however, although firm his step and +compressed his lip. + +"Terence," said he, to the little Irish Corporal who marched by his +side, as another suggestive artillery fire that appeared to move along +the entire front, made itself heard, "may I ask a favor of you?" + +"Indade ye may, John, and a thousand ov them if ye plaze, to the last +dhrop in my canteen." + +One of those jams so constant and annoying in the movements of large +masses of men, here gave the opportunity for John to unbosom himself, +which he did, while both leaned upon the muzzles of their pieces. + +"Terence, I do not believe that I will be alongside of you many days," +said John, with an effort. + +"Why, what's the matter wid ye, boy? if I didn't know ye iver since you +thrashed that bully in the Zouaves, I wud think ye cowardly." + +"It is not fear, Corporal," continued John, more determinedly. "I'm +looking the danger squarely in the face, and am ready to meet it, and I +want to be prepared for it." + +"Be jabers, John," retorted Terence, "ye should have prepared for it +before you left home. I saw Father Mahan just before I left, and he +tould me to do my duty like a thrue Irishman; and that if I was kilt in +such a cause I wud go straight through, and be hardly asked to stay over +night in Purgatory. There's my poor brother, peace to his soul;--and did +ye hear----" + +"But, Terence," interrupted John, "I am not afraid of death; and for the +judgment after death I have made all the preparation I could in my poor +way, and I can trust that to my Maker; but"----and here John clapped his +hand over his left breast. + +"Oh, I see," said Terence. "It's a case of disease of the heart." + +"I want you, in case I fall, to take the daguerreotype that you will +find in the inside pocket on the left side of my blouse, and a sealed +letter, and see that both are sent to the address upon the letter," +continued John. + +"Faith, will I, John. But who tould you that you wud be kilt, and meself +that's alone and friendless escape? Well, I'll take them, John, if I +have to go meself; and it's Terence McCarty that will not see her +suffer; and maybe--but it's hard seeing how a girl could take a fancy to +a short curly-headed Irishman, like meself, after having loved a +sthrapping, straight-haired man like you." + +How John relished the winding-up of the corporal's offer could not well +be seen, as an order to resume the step interrupted the conversation. + +Progress was slow, necessarily, from the caution required in the +approach to the river. Over the rolling ground, to an artillery +accompaniment unequalled in grandeur, the troops trudged slowly along. +Here and there was a countenance of serious determination, but the great +mass were gay and reckless, as soldiers proverbially are, of the risks +the future might hold in reserve. + +After a succession of short marches and halts, the forward movement +appeared to cease about four o'clock in the afternoon, and the men +quietly rested on their arms, as well as the damp, and in many places +muddy ground would allow. Towards evening countless fires, fed by the +dry bushes found in abundance upon the old fields of Virginia, showed +that amidst war's alarms the men were not unmindful of coffee. + +Throughout the day, with but brief cessation, artillery firing had +continued. The booming of the siege guns, mingled with the sharp rattle +of the light, and the louder roar of the heavy batteries, all causing +countless echoes among the neighboring hills, completed the carnival of +sound. + +Night crept gradually on, the fires were extinguished, the cannonading +slackened gradually, then ceased, and the vast army, save those whom +duty kept awake, silently slept under frosted blankets. + +Cannonading was resumed at early dawn of the next day, and the slow +progress of the troops towards the river continued. Before night our +advance had crossed upon the pontoon bridges, notwithstanding a galling +fire of the Rebel sharpshooters under cover of the buildings along the +river, and was firmly established in the town. Late in the day our +Division turned into a grove of young pines, a short distance in the +rear of the Phillips House. Upon beds of the dead foliage, soft as +carpets of velvet, after the fatigues of the day, slumber was sound. + +The reveille sounded at early morn of the next day,--Saturday, the +memorable thirteenth of December,--by over three hundred pieces of +artillery, again aroused the sleeping camps to arms, and in the grey +fog, the groves and valleys for some miles along the river appeared +alive with moving masses. As soon as the fog lifted sufficiently, a +large balloon between us and the river arose, upon a tour of +observation. It was a fine mark for a rifled battery of the Rebels, and +some shells passed close to it, and exploded in dangerous proximity to +our camp. + +Under an incessant artillery fire the main movement of the troops across +the river commenced. Leaving our camp and passing to the right of the +Phillips mansion, we found our Division, one of a number of columns +moving in almost parallel lines to the river. On the western slope of +the hill or ridge upon which the house stood, we came to another halt, +until our turn to cross should come. + +Whatever modern armies may have lost in dazzling appearance, when +contrasted with the armies of old that moved in glittering armor and +under "banner, shield, and spear," they certainly have lost nothing in +the enginery of death, and in the sights and sounds of the fight itself. +A twelve-pound battery under stern old Cato's control, would have sent +Caesar and his legions howling from the gates of Rome, and have saved the +dignity of her Senate. The shock of battle was then a medley of human +voices, confused with the rattle of the spear upon the shield; now a +hell of thunder volumed from successive batteries,--and relieved by +screaming and bursting shell and rattling musketry. The proper use of a +single shell would have cleared the plains of Marathon. More +appropriately can we come down to later times, when + + "The old Continentals, + In their ragged regimentals, + Faltered not," + +for the ground upon which our army stood had repeatedly been used as a +rallying point for troops, and a depot for military stores in +Continental and Revolutionary times. How great the contrast between the +armies now upon either side of the Rappahannock, and the numbers, arms, +and equipage then raised with difficulty from the country at large. Our +forefathers in some measure foresaw our greatness; but they did not +foresee the magnitude of the sin of slavery, tolerated by them against +their better judgment, and now crowding these banks with immense and +hostile armies. Since that day the country has grown, and with it as +part of its growth, the iniquity, but the purposes of the God of battles +prevail nevertheless. The explosion that rends the rock and releases the +toad confined and dormant for centuries, may not have been intended for +that end by the unwitting miner, nor the civil convulsion that shatters +a mighty nation to relieve an oppressed people and bestow upon it the +blessings of civilization, may not have been started with that view by +foul conspirators. + +But while we are digressing, a cavalcade of mounted men have left the +area in front of the Phillips mansion, and are approaching us upon the +road at a full gallop. The boys recognize the foremost figure, clad in a +black pilot frock, his head covered with a regulation felt, the brim of +which is over his eyes and the top rounded to its utmost capacity, and +cheer upon cheer for "Burney" run along the column. With a firm seat, as +his horse clears the railroad track and dashes through the small stream +near by, he directs his course to the Lacy House on the bank of the +river. + +It was near noon when we passed over the same ground, and taking a road +to the right of the once tasteful grounds of that mansion, debouched by +a narrow pass cut through the bank to the water's edge. As we did so, +some shells thrown at the mounted officers of the Regiment passed close +to their heads and exploded with a dull sound in the soft ground of the +bank. With a steady tramp the troops crossed, scarcely the slightest +motion being perceptible upon the firm double pontoon bridge. Another +column was moving across upon the bridge below. Gaining the opposite +bank, the column filed to the left, in what appeared to be a principal +street of the town. Here knapsacks were unslung and piled in the store +rooms upon either side. + +The few citizens who remained had sought protection from the shells in +the cellars, and not an inhabitant of the place was to be seen. +Notwithstanding the heavy concentrated artillery fire,--beyond some few +buildings burned down,--nothing like the destruction was visible that +would be imagined. Deserted by its proper inhabitants, the place had, +however, a heavy population in the troops that crowded the streets +parallel with the river. The day previous the Rebels had opened fire +upon the town. It was continued at intervals, but with little effect. +Z-i-i-s-s! a round shot sings above your head, and with a sharp thud +strikes the second story of the brick house opposite, marking its +passage by a tolerably neat hole through the wall. P-i-i-n-g! screams a +shell, exploding in a room with noise sufficient to justify the total +destruction of a block of buildings. The smoke clears away, ceilings may +be torn, floors and windows shattered, but the building, to an outside +observer, little damaged. + +From an early hour in the morning the musketry had been incessant,--now +in volleys, and now of the sharp rattling nature that denotes severe +skirmishing. On the left, where more open ground permitted extended +offensive movements, the firing was particularly heavy. But above it all +was the continuous roar of artillery, and the screaming and explosion of +shells. To this music the troops in light order and ready for the fray, +marched up a cross street, and in the shelter of the buildings of +another street on the outer edge of the place and parallel with the +river, stood at arms,--passing on their way out hundreds of wounded men +of different regiments, on stretchers and on foot, some with ghastly +wounds, and a few taking the advantage of the slightest scratch to pass +from front to rear. Legs and arms carelessly heaped together alongside +of one of the amputating tents in the rear of the Phillips House, and +passed in the march of the day before, had prepared the nerves of the +men somewhat for this most terrible ordeal for fresh troops. Many of the +wounded men cheered lustily as the men marched by, and were loudly +cheered in return, while here and there an occasional skulker would tell +how his regiment was cut to pieces, and like Job's servant he alone +left. + +From this point a fine view could be had of the encircling hills, with +their crowning earthworks, commanding the narrow plateau in our +immediate front. On the right and centre the Rebel line was not to be +assailed, but by advancing over ground that could be swept by hundreds +of pieces of artillery, while to protect an advancing column our +batteries from their position must be powerless for good. A stone wall +following somewhat the shape of the ridge ran along its base. Properly +banked in its rear, it afforded an admirable protection for their +troops. As there was no chance for success in storming these works, the +object in making the attempt was doubtless to divert the Rebel attention +from their right. + +Column after column of the flower of the army, had during the day +charged successively in mad desperation upon that wall; but not to reach +it. Living men could not stand before that heavy and direct musketry, +and the deadly enfilading cannonade from batteries upon the right and +left. The thickly strewn plain attested at once the heroic courage of +the men, and the hopelessness of the contest. + +"Boys, we're in for it," said a Lieutenant on his way from the right. +"Old Pigey has just had three staving swigs from his flask, and they are +all getting ready. There goes 'Tommy Totten,'" as the bugle call for +"forward" is familiarly called in the army. + +Our course was continued to the left--two regiments marching +abreast--until we neared a main road leading westward from the town. In +the meantime the movement had attracted the Rebel fire, and at the last +cross street a poor fellow of the 2--th Regiment was almost cut in two +by a shell which passed through the ranks of our Regiment and exploded +upon the other side of the street, but without doing further damage. At +the main road we filed to the right, and amid dashing Staff officers and +orderlies, wounded men and fragments of regiments broken and +disorganized, proceeded on our way to the front. There was a slight +depression in the road, enough to save the troops, and shot and shell +sang harmlessly above our heads. When the head of the column--really its +rear--as we were left in front, was abreast of a swampy strip of meadow +land, at the further end of which was a tannery, our Brigade filed again +to the right. The occupation of this meadow appeared to be criminally +purposeless, as our line of attack was upon the left of the road; while +it was in full view and at the easy range of a few hundred yards from a +three-gun Rebel battery. The men were ordered to lie down, which they +did as best they could from the nature of the ground, while the mounted +officers of the Division and Brigade gathered under the shelter of the +brick tannery building. + +The movement was scarcely over, before one head and then another +appeared peering through the embrasures of the earthwork, then a mounted +officer upon a lively sorrel cantered as if for observation a short +distance to the left of the work. Some sharpshooters in our front, +protected slightly by the ground which rose gently towards the west, +tried their breech-loaders upon him. At 450 yards there was certainty +enough in the aim to make the music of their bullets unpleasant, and he +again sought the cover of the work. An upright puff of smoke,--then a +large volumed puff horizontally,--shrill music in its short flight,--a +dull, heavy sound as the shell explodes in the soft earth under our +ranks,--and one man thrown ten feet into the air, fell upon his back in +the ranks behind him, while his two comrades on his left were killed +outright, his Lieutenant near by mortally wounded, a leg of his comrade +on the right cut in two, and a dozen in the neighborhood bespattered +with the soft ground and severely contused. Shells that exploded in the +air above us, or screamed over our heads; rifle balls that whizzed +spitefully near, were now out of consideration. The motions of loading +and firing, and as we were in the line of direction, the shell itself, +could be seen with terrible distinctness. There was the dread certainty +of death at every discharge. All eyes were turned toward the battery, +and at each puff, the "bravest held his breath" until the smothered +explosion announced that the danger was over. From our front ranks, who +had gradually crept up the side of the hill, an incessant fire was kept +up; but the pieces could be worked with but little exposure, and it was +harmless. Fortunately the shells buried themselves deeply before +exploding, and were mainly destructive in their direct passage. Again +the horseman cantered gaily to his former place of observation on the +left; but our sharpshooters had the range, and his fine sorrel was +turned to the work limping very discreditably. This trifling injury was +all that we could inflict in return for the large loss of life and limb. + +"Well, Lieutenant, poor John is gone!" said the little Irish Corporal, +coming to the side of that officer. + +"What, killed?" + +"Ivery bit of it. I have just turned him over, and shure he is as dead +as he was before he was born. That last shot murthered the boy. It is +Terence McCarthy that will do his duty by him, and may be----" + +"Corporal! to your post," broke in the Lieutenant. "Old Pigey is taking +another pull at the flask, and we will move in a minute." + +The surmise of the Lieutenant was correct. "Tommy Totten" again called +the men to ranks, and right in front, the head of the column took the +pike on another advance. The Rebels seeing the movement, handled their +battery with great rapidity and dexterity, and shells in rapid +succession were thrown into the closed ranks, but without creating +confusion. Among others, a Major of the last Regiment upon the road, an +old Mexican campaigner, and a most valuable officer, fell mortally +wounded just as he was about leaving the field, and met the fate, that +by one of those singular premonitions before noticed in this +chapter,--so indicative by their frequency of a connexion in life +between man's mortal and immortal part,--he had already anticipated. + +It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon. The day was somewhat +misty, and at this time the field of battle was fast becoming shrouded +by the commingled mist and smoke. + +On the left of the road the Brigade formed double line of battle along +the base and side of a rather steep slope which led to the plateau +above. The ground was muddy and well trodden, and littered with dead +bodies in spots that marked the localities of exploded shells. Hungry +and fatigued with the toil of the day, yet expectant of a conflict which +must prove the death scene of many, the men sank upon their arms. From +this same spot, successive lines of battle had charged during the day. +Brave souls! With rushing memories of home and kindred and friends, they +shrank not because the path of duty was one of danger. + +We were there as a forlorn hope for the final effort of the field. With +great exertion and consummate skill upon the part of its Commander, a +battery had been placed in position on the summit of the slope. Officers +and men worked nobly, handling the pieces with coolness and rapidity. +What they accomplished, could not be seen. What they suffered, was +frightfully apparent. Man after man was shot away, until in some +instances they were too weak-handed to keep the pieces from following +their own recoil down the slope, confusing our ranks and bruising the +men. Volunteers sprang forward to assist in working the guns. The +gallant Commander, almost unaided, kept order in what would otherwise +have been a mingled herd of confused men and frightened horses. No force +could withstand the hurricane of hurtling shot and shell that swept the +summit. + +"Lieutenant, take command of that gun," was the short, sharp, nervous +utterance of a General of Division, as in one of his tours of random +riding he suddenly stopped his horse in front of a boy of nineteen, a +Lieutenant of infantry, who previously to bringing his squad of men into +service, a few brief months before, had never seen a full battery. + +"Sir!" he replied, in unfeigned astonishment. + +"By G--d! sir, I command you as the Commanding General of this +Division, sir, to take command of that piece of artillery." + +"General, I am entirely unacquainted with----" + +"Take command of that piece, sir. You should be ready to enter any arm +of the service," replied the General, flourishing his sword in a +threatening manner. + +"General, I will do my duty; but I can't sight a cannon, sir. I will +hand cartridge, turn the screw, steady the wheel, or I'll ram----" + +"Ram--ram!"--echoed the General with an oath, and off he started on +another of his mad rides. + +"Fall in," was passed rapidly along the line, and a moment after our +Brigadier, cool as if exercising his command in the evolutions of a +peaceful field, rode along the ranks. + +"Boys, you are ordered to take that stone wall, and must do it with the +bayonet." + +Words full of deadly import to men who for long hours had been in full +view of the impregnable works, and the field of blood in their front. +Ominous as was the command, it was greeted with cheers; and with +bayonets at a charge, up that difficult slope,--preserving their line as +best they could while breaking to pass the guns, wounded and struggling +horses, and bodies thickly strewn over that most perilous of positions +for artillery,--the troops passed at a rapid step. The ground upon the +summit had been laid out in small lots, as is customary in the suburbs +of towns. Many of the partition fences were still remaining, with here +and there gaps, or with upper rails lowered for the passage of troops. +For a moment, while crossing these fallow fields, there was a lull in +the direct musketry. The enfilading fire from batteries right and left +still continued; the fierce fitful flashes of the bursting shells +becoming more visible with the approach of night. Onward we went, +picking our way among the fallen dead and wounded of Brigades who had +preceded us in the fight, with feet fettered with mud, struggling to +keep place in the line. Several regiments lying upon their arms were +passed over in the charge. + +"Captain," said a mounted officer when we had just crossed a fence +bounding what appeared to be an avenue of the town, "close up on the +right." The Captain partly turned, to repeat the command to his men, +when the bullets from a sudden flash of waving fire that for the instant +lit up the summit of the stone wall for its entire length, prostrated +him with a mortal wound, and dismounted his superior. Pity that his eye +should close in what seemed to be the darkest hour of the cause dearest +to his soul! + +Volley after volley of sheeted lead was poured into our ranks. We were +in the proper position on the plain, and a day's full practice gave them +exact range and terrible execution. In the increased darkness, the +flashes of musketry alone were visible ahead, while to the right and +left the gloom was lit up by the lurid flashing of their batteries. This +very darkness, in concealing the danger, and the loss, doubtless did its +share in permitting the men to cross the lines of dead that marked the +halting-place of previous troops. Still onward they advanced,--the +thunder of artillery above them,--the groans of the wounded rising from +below;--frightful gaps are made in their ranks by exploding shells, and +many a brave boy staggers and falls to rise no more, in that storm of +spitefully whizzing lead. + +Regularity in ranks was simply impossible. Many officers and men +gathered about a brick house on the right--a narrow lawn leading +directly to the fatal wall was crowded; indeed, caps bearing the +regimental numbers were found, as has since been ascertained, close by +the wall, and a Lieutenant who was stunned in the fight and fell almost +at its base, was taken prisoner. Nearly every officer who had entered +the fight mounted, was at this time upon foot. In the tempest of bullets +that everywhere prevailed the destruction of the force was but a +question of brief time, and to prevent further heroic but vain +sacrifices the order to retire was given. With the Brigade, the Regiment +fell back, leaving one-third of its number in dead and wounded to hallow +the remembrance of that fatal field. + +"This way, Pap! This is the way to get out safe," shouted a Captain as +he rose, from the rear of a pile of rubbish, amid the laughter of the +men now on their backward move. The burly form of the exhorting Colonel +was seen to follow the no less burly form of the Captain, and father and +son were spared for other fields. + +An effort was made to reform after the firing had slackened, but the +increased darkness prevented the marshalling of the thinned ranks. Out +of range of the still not infrequent bullets and occasional shell, and +drowsy from fatigue, the men again lay upon their arms at the foot of +the slope; and the battle of Fredericksburg was over. + +What happened upon the left, where the main battle should have been +fought, and why Franklin was upon the left at all, are problems that +perhaps the reader can pass upon to better advantage than the writer of +these pages. His "corner of the fight" has been described, truthfully +at least, whatever the other failings may be. + +We had left the field; but the Rebels had not as yet gained it. Pickets +were thrown out to within eighty yards of their line, and details +scattered over the field to bear off the wounded. No lights were +allowed, and the least noise was sure to bring a shell or a shower of +bullets. In consequence, their removal was attended with difficulty. The +evil of the practice too prevalent among company commanders, of sending +skulkers and worthless men in obedience to a detail for the ambulance +corps, was now horribly apparent. Large numbers of the dead, and even +the dying, were found with their pockets turned inside out, rifled of +their contents by these harpies in uniform. + +But little rest was to be had that night. At 8 P. M. the troops were +marched back into the town, only to be brought out again at midnight and +re-formed in line of battle about a hundred yards distant from the wall. +The moon had now risen, and in its misty light the upturned faces of the +dead lost nothing of ghastliness. Horrible, too, beyond +description--ringing in the ears of listeners for a lifetime--were the +shrieks and groans of the wounded,--principally Rebel,--from a strip of +neutral ground lying between the pickets of the two armies. Whatever the +object of reforming line of battle may have been, it appears to have +been abandoned, as after a short stay we were returned to the town and +assigned quarters in the street in front of the Planters' House. + +Fredericksburg was a town of hospitals. All the churches and public +buildings, very many private residences, and even the pavements in their +respective fronts, were crowded with wounded. In one of the principal +churches on a lower street, throned in a pulpit which served as a +dispensary, and surrounded by surgical implements and appliances, +flourished our little Dutch Doctor, never more completely in his +element. Very nice operations, as he termed them, were abundant. + +"How long can I live?" inquired a fine-looking, florid-faced young man +of two-and-twenty, with a shattered thigh, who had just been brought in +and had learned from the Doctor that amputation could not save his life. + +"Shust fifteen minutes," was the reply, as the Doctor opened and closed +his watch in a cold, business way. + +"Can I see a Chaplain?" + +"Shaplain! Shaplain! eh? Shust one tried to cross, and he fell tead on +bridge. Not any follow him, I shure you. Too goot a chance to die, for +Shaplains. What for you want him? Bray, eh?" + +The dying man, folding his hands upon his breast, nodded assent. + +"Ver well, I bray," and at the side of the stretcher the Doctor kneeled, +and with fervid utterance, and in the solemn gutturals of the German, +repeated the Lord's prayer. When he arose to resume his labor, the +soldier was beyond the reach of earthly supplication; but a smile was +upon his countenance. + +The Sabbath, with the main body of our troops, was a day of rest. Chance +shots from Rebel sharpshooters, who had crept to within long range of +the cross streets, were from time to time heard, and shell occasionally +screamed over the town. To ears accustomed to the uproar of the +preceding days, however, they were not in the least annoying. Over +one-half of the army were comfortably housed, bringing into requisition +for their convenience the belongings and surroundings of the abandoned +dwellings. Notwithstanding our slow approach, the evidences of hasty +exit on the part of the inhabitants were abundant on all sides. +Warehouses filled with flour and tobacco were duly appreciated by the +men, while parlors floored in Brussels, and elegantly ornamented, were +in many instances wantonly destroyed. + +"Tom," said a non-commissioned officer, addressing a private whom we +have before met in these pages, "where did you get that box?" + +"Get it? Why I confiscated it. Just look at the beauties," and opening a +fine mahogany case, Tom disclosed a pair of highly finished duelling +pistols. + +"What right have you to confiscate it?" retorted the Sergeant. + +"It is contraband of war, and Rebel property. Record evidence of that. +Just look at this letter found with it," and Tom pulled out of an inside +pocket of his blouse a letter written in a most miserable scrawl, +assuring some "Dear Capting" of + + "Here's my heart and here's my hand, + For the man who fit for Dixy land." + +Monday passed in much the same manner. About 9 P. M. of that day the +Regiment, with others, was employed in throwing up breastworks, and +digging rifle-pits on the west of the town. Expecting to hold it on the +morrow against what they knew would be a terrible artillery fire, the +men worked faithfully, and by midnight, works strong as the ground would +admit of, were prepared. It was a perilous work; performed in the very +face of the enemy's pickets;--but was only an extensive ruse, as at 1 A. +M. we were quietly withdrawn and assigned a position in the left of the +town. The sidewalks were muddy, and disengaging shutters from the +windows, loose boards from fences,--anything to keep them above the +mud,--the men composed themselves for slumber. Before 2 o'clock an +excited Staff officer had the Brigade again in line, and after moving +and halting until 4 A. M., we crossed the lower bridge in much lighter +order than when we entered the place; for notwithstanding urgent +solicitations of officers, from Brigadier down, permission was refused +the men to obtain their knapsacks. Besides the loss of several thousand +dollars to the Government in blankets and overcoats, hundreds of +valuable knapsacks, and even money in considerable sums, were lost to +the men. The matter is all the more disgraceful when we consider the +abundance of time, and the fact, that details had been sent by the +Colonels to arrange the knapsacks upon the sidewalk, in order that they +could be taken up while the command would pass. It was marched by +another route, however, and in the cold, pelting rain, the men, while +marching up the opposite slopes of the Rappahannock, had ample reason to +reflect upon the cold forethought that could crowd a Head-quarters' +train, and deprive them of their proper allowance of clothing. Six hours +later, our Division had the credit of furnishing about the only booty +left by the army that the Rebels found upon their reoeccupation of the +town. + +Sadly and quietly, the troops retrod the familiar mud of their old camp +grounds. The movement had been a failure--a costly one in private and +national sacrifices,--and no one felt it more keenly than the +broad-shouldered, independent, and much injured Burnside. Strange that +this costly sacrifice should have been offered up on ground hallowed in +our early struggle for freedom--that the bodies of our brave volunteers, +stripped by traitor hands, should lie naked on the plain that bears a +monument to that woman of many virtues, "Mary, the mother of +Washington"--that ground familiar to the early boyhood of the Great +Patriot, should have been the scene of one of the noblest, although +unsuccessful, contests of the war. Fit altar for such a sacrifice! A +shrine for all time of devout patriots, who will here renew their +vows,--of fidelity to this God-given Government,--of eternal enmity to +traitors,--and thus consecrate to posterity the heavy population we have +left in the Valley. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_The Sorrows of the Sutler--The Sutler's Tent--Generals +manufactured by the Dailies--Fighting and Writing--A Glandered +Horse--Courts-martial--Mania of a Pigeon-hole General on the +Subject--Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel in Strait-Jackets._ + + +If the reader can imagine the contents of his nearest corner grocery +thrown confusedly together under a canvas covering, he will have a +tolerably correct idea of the interior of a Sutler's tent. Probably, to +make the likeness more truthful, sardines, red herring, and cheese, +should be more largely represented than is customary in a corner +grocery. + +Our Sutler, although upon his first campaign, was no novice in the +craft. He could be hail-fellow-well-met with the roughest of crowds +thronging the outside of his rude counter, and at the same time keep an +eye upon the cash drawer. And he was behind no one in "casting his bread +upon the waters," in the shape of trifling presents and hospitable +welcomes, in order that it might return at the next pay-day. +Notwithstanding all his tact, however, Tom Green was in many respects an +awkward, haphazard fellow, continually in difficulty, although as +continually fortunate in overcoming it. His troubles were known to the +Regiment, as the Sutler's interests were individualized to a great +extent, and while all might be amused, he was never beyond the pale of +sympathy. During the long winter evenings, the barrels and boxes in his +tent seated a jovial crowd of officers, who in games and with +thrice-told stories, would while away what would otherwise be tedious +hours. Not unfrequently was the Chaplain, who quartered close by, +disturbed with a "sound of revelry by night," to have his good-humor +restored in the morning by a can of pickled lobster or brandied +cherries. + +On one of the merriest of the merry nights of the holidays, our Western +Virginia Captain was the centre of a group of officers engaged in gazing +intently upon a double page wood-cut, in one of the prominent +illustrated weeklies, that at one time might have represented the +storming of Fort Donelson, but then did duty by way of illustrating a +"Gallant Charge at Fredericksburg." + +"There it is again," said the Captain. "Not one half of our Generals are +made by honest efforts. Their fighting is nothing like the writing that +is done for them. They don't rely so much upon their own genius as upon +that of the reporter who rides with their Staffs. By George, if old +Rosey in Western Virginia----" + +"Dry up on that, Captain," interrupted a brother officer. "Old Pigey is +the hero of the day. He understands himself. Didn't you notice how +concertedly all the dailies after the fight talked about the cool, +courageous man of science; and just look at this how it backs it all up. +Old Rosey, as you call him, never had half as many horses shot under him +at one time. Just see them kicking and floundering about him, and the +General away ahead on foot, between our fire and the Rebels, as cool as +when he took the long pull at his flask in the hollow." + +"And half the men will testify that that was the only cool moment he saw +during the whole fight." + +"No matter," continued the other, "he has the inside track of the +reporters, and he is all right with all who 'smell the battle from +afar.'" + +"Well, there's no denying old Pigey was brave, but he was as crazy as a +boy with a bee in his breeches," said the Captain, holding up the +caricature to the admiration of the crowded tent. "Our Division gets the +credit of it at any rate. Bully for our Division!" + +"Not one word," breaks in the Poetical Lieutenant, "of Butterfield, with +his cool, Napoleonic look, as he rode along our line preparatory to the +charge; or of Fighting Old Joe, unwilling to give up the field; or of +our difficulty in clambering up the slope, getting by the artillery, +which made ranks confused, and so forth, but + + 'On we move, though to self-slaughter, + Regular as rolling water.' + +Never mind criticizing, boys. It will sound well at home. We did our +duty, at any rate, if we did not do it exactly as represented in the +picture. The reporter was not there to see for himself, and he must take +somebody's word, and it is a feather in our cap that he has taken +Pigey's." + +The conversation was at this stage interrupted by the sudden entry of +the Adjutant, with a loud call for the Sutler. That individual, +notwithstanding the unusual excitement of the night, had been singularly +quiet. Rising from his buffalo in the corner, he approached the +Adjutant with a countenance so full of apprehension and alarm as to +elicit the inquiry from the crowd of "What's the matter with the +Sutler?" + +"He hasn't felt well since I told him a few hours ago," said a +Lieutenant, a lawyer by profession, "that Sutlers were liable to be +court-martialed." + +"And he'll feel worse," adds the Adjutant, "when he hears this letter +read." + +Amid urgent calls for the letter, the Adjutant mounted a box, and by the +light of a dip held by the Captain, proceeded to read a letter signed by +the Commanding General of the Division, and considerably blurred, which +ran somewhat in this wise: + + "COLONEL:-- + + "Is your Sutler sagacious? + + "Has he ordinary honesty? + + "Has he the foresight common among business men? Is he likely to be + imposed upon?" + +The letter was greeted with roars of laughter that were not diminished +by the dismay of the Sutler. The Adjutant was forthwith requested by one +of the crowd to suggest to the Colonel to reply-- + +"That our Sutler was a sagacious animal. That he had the honesty +ordinary among Sutlers. That if the General was disposed to deal with +him, he would find out that he had the foresight common among business +men, especially in the way of calculating his profits; and that as far +as making change was concerned, he was not at all likely to be imposed +upon." + +Loud calls were now made upon the Sutler for an explanation, and with +look and tones that indicated that with him at least it was no laughing +matter, he commenced-- + +"On the forenoon of the day that we crossed into Fredericksburg----" + +"We crossed!" roared the Captain. "Well, that's cool for a man who +suddenly recollected when that Quarter-Master was killed by a shell near +the Lacy House, just before our brigade crossed, that he had business in +Washington." + +"Well, then, that _you_ crossed," continued the Sutler, correcting +himself hastily, to allow the crowd to make as little capital as +possible out of his blunder, "the General sent for me, and said that he +had been informed that I thought of going to Washington, and wanted to +know whether I would take a horse with me;--pointing to one that was +blanketed, and that one of his orderlies was leading. I looked upon it +as an order to take the horse, and thought that I might as well put a +good face on the matter. So I told him that I would take it with +pleasure. Well, I mounted the horse, thinking that I might as well ride, +and took the road for Aquia. But I found out after half an hour's +travel, that the horse was very weak,--in fact hardly able to bear me, +and so I took the halter strap in hand and trudged along by his side. +Presently I noticed a very bad smell. Carrion is so common here along +the road that I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but the smell +continued, and got worse, and I thought it strange that the carrion +should keep with me. By and by I noticed his nostrils, and then found +out to my rage that I, a Regimental Sutler, accustomed to drive good +nags, was leading a glandered horse in a country where horse flesh was +cheap as dirt. Well, at Aquia we had a great time getting the horse on +the boat,--indeed, he fell off the gangway, and we had to fish him out +of the water. The passengers crowded me, with the horse, into a little +corner in the stern of the boat, and looked at me as if I deserved +lynching for bringing him on board. But that was nothing to the trouble +I had with him in Washington. After the boat landed, I led that horse +around from one stable to another in Washington for four mortal hours, +but couldn't get him in anywhere; and besides they threatened to +prosecute me if I did not have him shot. Finding that I could do nothing +else, I gave a man three dollars to have him taken away and shot. The +thing bothered me mightily. I did not want to write to old Pigey, for +fear that he might take some course to prevent me from collecting the +greenbacks due me in the Regiment, and I did not like to tell him in +person. Well, I have been putting it off and off for nearly a week past +since my return--my mind made up to tell him all about it, but delaying +as long as possible, until this afternoon he happened to see me, and in +about half an hour afterward sent for me. It was after three o'clock, an +unsafe time with the General, and I expected there would be the d----l +to pay. From the way in which he asked me to be seated, shook hands with +me, and went on inquiring about my stock and business, and so forth, I +saw at once that he knew nothing of it. All the while I was fairly +trembling in my boots. At last says he: + +"'Well, how did you leave the horse?' and without waiting for an answer, +went on to say that he was a favorite animal, highly recommended by the +Ohio Captain he had purchased him from, and wound up by repeating the +inquiry. + +"There was no chance to back out now, and gathering my breath for the +effort, said I-- + +"'General, I regret to say, that your horse is dead.' + +"'Dead! did you say?' echoed the General, rising. + +"'Yes, sir; I was compelled to have him shot.' + +"'Shot! did you say, sir?' advancing; 'shot! compelled to have him shot, +sir! By G--d, sir, I would like to know, sir, who would _compel_ you to +have a horse of mine shot, sir.' + +"'He was glandered,' said I timidly. + +"'Sir! sir!! sir!!! d----d lie, sir,--mouth as sweet as sugar. D----d +lie, sir,' retorted the General. + +"The General was furiously mad, his eyes flashing, and all the while he +took quick and long steps up and down his marquee. + +"I attempted an explanation, but he would listen to none; and kept on +repeating 'glandered!' 'shot!' and scowling at times at me;--saying, +too, 'By G--d, sir, this matter must be investigated.' + +"'General,' said I, at length, 'in justice to myself, I would like'---- + +"'Justice to yourself!' shouted the General, looking at me as if he +believed me mean enough to murder my grandmother. 'Who the h--l ever +heard of a sutler being entitled to any justice?----you, sir, I'll teach +you justice. Get out of my tent, sir.' + +"I thought it best not to wait for another opportunity to get away, and +as I sloped I heard the General swearing at me until I had passed the +Surgeon's tent. You see what makes the matter worse with the General is, +that he has been told several times that the horse was unsound, but +would not admit that as much of a horseman as he professed to be, had +been taken in by the 'Buckeye Officer.'" + +The recital of the story appeared to have lightened the load upon the +breast of the sutler, and he wound up somewhat humorously, by telling +the crowd that there was another on the list to be court-martialed, and +that they must give him all possible aid and comfort. + +"Be easy, sutler! there are too many ahead of you on that list," +observed an officer. "Your case can't be reached for some time yet. It +is admitted on all sides that our material, officers and men, are as +good as any in the army; and, for all that, although one of the smallest +divisions, we have more courts-martial than any other division. Why, +just look at it. A day or two before the battle of Fredericksburg, +twenty-three officers were released from arrest. Thirteen of them, +Lieutenants under charges for lying, as old Pigey termed it, when, in +fact, it was nothing more than a simple misunderstanding of one of his +night orders, such as any men might make. Poor fellows! over one-half of +them are out of his power now; but I wouldn't wonder if the General +would be presumptuous and malignant enough to respectfully refer their +cases to the Chancery of Heaven, with endorsements to suit himself!" + +"Well, that brave Lieutenant," said the Captain, "who asked permission +of the Colonel to charge with our regiment when himself and squad had +become separated from his own, has been reinstated. You know that at the +time old Pigey gave permission to the Colonels to send Volunteer +Officers before the board for examination, the Lieutenant-Colonel of his +regiment, instead of sending him a written order, as was customary, +sought him out when engaged in conversation with some non-commissioned +officers of his command, and in an insulting manner gave him a verbal +order to report. They had some hot talk about it, and in the course of +it the Lieutenant said that 'he'd be d----d if he came into the army to +study tactics; he came to fight,' and on the strength of that, the +General had him tried and dismissed. Our Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel +sent up a statement to 'Burney,' giving a glowing account of his gallant +conduct in the fight; and the General seeing how dead in earnest he was +when he said he came to fight, restored him to his position." + +"I am very much afraid," said the Lieutenant, slowly, interrupted by +frequent whiffs at a well-colored meerschaum, "that the Colonel and +Lieutenant-Colonel will have difficulty to save themselves." + +"Save themselves!" echoed several, from different parts of the tent, +their faces hardly visible through the increasing smoke. "Why, what's in +the wind now?" + +"A good deal more than a great many of you think," continued the +Adjutant. "I think I see the dawning of considerable difficulty. The +Colonel, you recollect, was compelled to correct our Division-General in +some of his commands, to prevent confusion; and the General, although +clearly in the wrong, submitted with a bad grace; and then at the last +review you all remember how a whiffet chanced to yelp at the heels of +the Staff horses, and how the General--it was after three, you +recollect, G--d d----d the puppy and its ancestry, particularly its +mother, until his Staff tittered behind him, and the Regiments of his +command, officers and men, particularly ours, fairly roared. And then, +too, when General Burnside saluted the colors, and requested Pigey to +ride along, how he started off with his Staff, leaving us all at a +'Present Arms;' and how the quick eye of Old Joe saw the blunder; and +how he called the General's attention to it, without effect, until +'Burney' sharply yelled out, 'General, you had better bring your men to +a shoulder, sir;' and then, how the General, amid increased tittering +and laughter, rode back, and with a face like scarlet squeaked +out--'Division! Shoulder arms!' Now I have heard that the General blames +the Field Officers of our Regiment with a good deal of that laughter; +and that and this Sutler matter will make him provide a pretext for +another Court-martial at an early day." + + "Double, double, toil and trouble," + +said the poetical Lieutenant. "Why, the Adjutant talks as if he could +see the witches over the pot; certainly-- + + 'No lateness of life gives him mystical lore.'" + +"No, but-- + + 'Coming events cast their shadows before.'" + +continued the Adjutant, finishing the couplet. "I do not know that any +gift of prophecy is given unto me, but I will venture to predict that +the pretext will be that very order,--outrageous and unreasonable as it +is,--that our Brigadier not only flatly and positively refused to obey +before he left, but told his command that it was unlawful and +unreasonable, and should not be obeyed." + +"What! that dress-coat order," cried the Western Virginia Captain, +springing to his feet; "compel a man who has two new blouses, and who +belongs to a regiment that came out with blouses and never had +dress-coats, to put a dress-coat in his knapsack besides, when his +clothing account is almost exhausted, and the campaign only half +through. Is that the order you mean? By George, you must think that old +Pigey is only going to live and do business after three o'clock in the +afternoon, if you think that he will insist upon that order. Our +Brigadier did right to disobey it. Old Rosey would have put any officer +in irons, who----" + +"But, Captain," resumed the Adjutant, "unfortunately we are not in +Western Virginia, and not under old Rosey, as you call him, but in the +Army of the Potomac, where Red Tape clogs progress more than Virginia +mud ever did, and where position is attained, not so much by the merit +of the officer, as by the hold he may be able to get upon the favoritism +of the War Department." + +"Is it possible," continued the Captain, thrusting his hands into the +lowest depths of his breeches pockets, and casting upon the Adjutant a +half inquiring, half reflecting look, "that this Regiment, which the +General himself admits is one of the best disciplined in his Division, +and which has been one of the most harmonious and orderly, is to be +imposed upon in this way by a whimsical superior officer, who, whatever +his reputation for science may be, has shown himself over and over again +to have no sense! I tell you, our men can't stand it. Just look at my +own Company, for instance, nearly all married men, families dependent +upon them for support, and now when they have each two lined blouses, as +good as new, and their clothing account about square, they are to take +seven dollars and a half of their hard earned pay--more than half a +month's wages--and buy a coat that can be of no service, and that must +be thrown away the first march. I do not believe that the Government +designs that our Volunteer Regiments should be compelled to take both +blouses and dress coats. The General had better enter into partnership +with some shoddy contractor, if he intends giving orders of this kind. +I tell you, the men will not take them." + +"Come, Captain, no 'murmuring or muttering' against the powers that be," +said the Adjutant. "The men will either take them, in case the order is +made, or go to the Rip-raps. I am inclined to think that the Field +Officers will not see the men imposed upon. And at the same time they +will not bear the brunt of disobeying the order themselves, and not let +the men run any risk. It is hard to tell," continued the Adjutant, in a +measured tone, refilling his pipe as he spoke, "what it will result in; +but Pigey is in power, and like all in authority, has his toadies about +him, and you may make up your minds that he will not be sparing in his +charges, or in the testimony to support them. Our Colonel and +Lieut.-Colonel, I know, feel outraged at the bare idea of being +subjected to such an order. They are both earnest men, have both made +heavy sacrifices to enter the service, and have never failed in duty, +although, like most volunteer officers of spirit, they are somewhat +restiff under authority. The Colonel, being an old soldier, and +thoroughly acquainted with his work, is especially restiff under the +authority of an officer so poorly fitted for his position as our +Division General. But our turn must come. Every Regiment in the Division +has suffered from his Court-martialling and studied interference, and so +far we have been fortunate enough to escape. And with the insight I now +have, I believe the glandered horse and the little whiffet that yelped +and disturbed the General's ideas of a proper Review, will prove to be +at the bottom of the whole matter." + +"Tom," interrupted the Captain, "you will have to put your record in +better shape." + +"How can I do it?" said the Sutler. + +"By sending Pigey a bill for the three dollars you paid to have the +horse shot." + +The crowd boisterously applauded the proposition, and insisted upon its +execution. Desultory conversation followed until "Taps" dispersed them +to their quarters. + +Grumbling is claimed as a soldier's privilege, and the Sutler's tent +being a lounging place when off duty, becomes a place of grumbling, much +like the place of wailing that the Jews have on the outskirts of +Jerusalem. + +A fortnight later saw the crowd in their old position, but with +countenances in which it was difficult to say whether anxiety or anger +predominated. + +"Fellows, it is terminating just as the Adjutant prophesied a short time +ago in this very place," said a Captain slightly past the prime of life, +but of vigorous build. "In trying to keep the men out of dress coats, +the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel have got themselves into all manner +of trouble, and there is no let-up with old Pigey. I saw them this +morning both as cheerful as crickets, and determined to have the matter +thoroughly investigated." + +"Did they intimate any opinion as to what we ought to do?" inquired the +Adjutant. + +"Not a word. In that respect they say just as they did before they were +placed in close confinement, that it is a case in which each man must +act for himself. They are willing to shoulder the responsibility of +their own acts, and were very indignant when they heard that Pigey had +ordered the other Brigade under arms, and two pieces of artillery to be +trained upon our camp, as if the whole Regiment was guilty of mutiny, +when there was not at the same time a more quiet or orderly Regiment in +camp." + +"They understand," remarked the Adjutant, "however, why that was done. +The General must have something to justify this unusually harsh +treatment. A charge of simple disobedience of orders would not do it, so +he charges them with mutiny, and trumps up this apprehension and parade +to appear consistent. The Lieutenant-Colonel anticipated it, I know. I +heard him say, while under simple arrest, that he believed that after +three o'clock they would be placed in close confinement, and on the +strength of it some letters were sent by a civilian giving full details. +Well, I am glad that they are in good spirits." + +"In the very best," replied the Captain, "although the General starts as +if he intended giving them a tough through. The Sibley that they were +turned into late last night, was put up over ground so wet that you +couldn't make a track upon it without it would fill with water, and the +Lieutenant-Colonel had to sleep upon this ground with a single blanket, +as it was late when his servant Charlie came to the guard with his roll +of blankets, and the General would not permit him to pass. In +consequence he awoke this morning chilled, wet through, and with a fair +start for a high fever. And then they are denied writing material, +books, even a copy of the Regulations. The General relented +sufficiently, to tell an aid to inform them, that they might correspond +with their families if they would submit the correspondence first to +inspection at Division Head-quarters; to which they replied--that 'the +General might insult them, but could not compel them to humiliate their +families.' No one is permitted to see them unless by special permission +of the General." + +"And when I saw those three guards to-day pacing about that Sibley," +excitedly spoke the Virginia Captain, "I felt like mounting a +cracker-box in camp and asking the men to follow me, and find out on +what grounds, this puss-in-boots outraged in this way men more +well-meaning and determined than himself in the suppression of this +rebellion. But it will all come right. They are not to be crowded clear +out of sight in a single day. One of my men told me that he was present +on duty when that wharf-rat of an Adjutant, that the exhorting Colonel +is trying to make an Adjutant-General of, came into the General's tent +with the Lieutenant-Colonel, and he said that the General asked the +Colonel whether he was still determined to disobey the lawful order of +his superior officer, the Commanding General of the Division? + +"'The legality of the order is what I question,' said the Colonel. 'An +order to be lawful should at least be reasonable. That order is +unreasonable, unjust to the men, and I cannot conscientiously obey it.' + +"'This money for the coats does not come out of your pocket,' said the +General, blandly. 'Why need you concern yourself about it?' + +"'It comes out of the pockets of my men, General,' said the Colonel, +'and I consider it my duty to concern myself sufficiently to prevent +imposition upon them.' + +"'Tut,' said the General. 'You wouldn't hear a Regular officer say +that.' + +"'The greater shame for them,' said the Colonel. 'My men are my +neighbors and friends. They look to me to protect their interests. As a +general thing the Regulars are recruited from the purlieus of great +cities, and are men of no character.' + +"'Colonel,' said the General, sternly, 'listen to this definition of +'Mutiny,' and then, as you are a lawyer, think of your present +position.' + +"The Colonel heard it read and replied that 'it had nothing whatever to +do with the case, as there was no mutiny, nor even an approach to it.' +Considering the time of day, the General, so far, had been unusually +cool, but he could keep in no longer. + +"'Colonel,' said he, in a loud, angry tone, as he advanced towards him, +'by G--d, sir, you are mutinous, sir!' + +"'General,' replied the Colonel, coolly, and looking him full in the +eye, 'with all due deference to your superior rank, permit me to say, +that if you say I am guilty of mutiny you overstep the bounds of truth.' + +"The Colonel's confident manner rather staggered the General, and he +turned to the Adjutant, who has been his runner throughout this matter, +and called upon him to substantiate his assertion; which he did. + +"With the remark that he would not dare to make such false assertions +away from the General's head-quarters, the Colonel turned upon him +indignantly, and the General called for the Provost Guard to conduct him +to the Sibley. Now I tell you, fellows," continued the Captain, "the +General will make nothing out of this matter." + +"He has his malice gratified by the present punishment he is subjecting +them to, as if fearful that they might come unharmed from a +Court-martial. But I don't believe that he will be able to get the +Regiment into dress coats," remarked the Adjutant. + +The Adjutant was right. The Regiment did not get into dress coats; +although its Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel slipped into strait-jackets. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_Dress Coats versus Blouses--Military Law--Bill the +Cook--Courts-Martial--Important Decision in Military Law--'A Man with +Two Blouses on' can be compelled to put a Dress Coat on top--A Colored +French Cook and a Beefy-browed Judge-Advocate--The Mud March--No +Pigeon-holing on a Whiskey Scent--Old Joe in Command--Dissolution of +Partnership between the Dutch Doctor and Chaplain._ + + +Necessity knows no law. Military law springs from the necessity of the +case, and may be said, therefore, to be equivalent to no law. However +plausible the principles embodied in the compact periods of Benet and De +Hart may appear, in actual practice they dwindle to little else than the +will of the officer who details the court. General Officers, tried at +easy intervals, before pains-taking courts, in large cities, may have +opportunity for equal and exact justice; but Heaven help their inferiors +who have their cases put through at lightning speed, before a court +under marching orders, and expecting momentarily to move. + +The Act of Congress, with a wise prescience of the jealousies and +bickerings always arising between Regulars and Volunteers, provides that +Regulars shall be tried by Regular, and Volunteers by Volunteer +Officers. In practice, the spirit of the law is evaded by the +subterfuge, that a Regular Officer, temporarily in command of +Volunteers, is _pro tempore_ a Volunteer Officer. In the Mexican War, +where the number of Volunteer Officers was comparatively small, there +may have been a necessity for this. With our present immense Volunteer +force there can be none whatever; and the practice is the more +inexcusable, when we consider the great amount of legal as well as +military ability among the officers of this force. The gross injustice +of this violation of the act, must be apparent to any one upon a +moment's reflection. Officers, whose only offence may be their belonging +to the Volunteer Service, are too frequently subjected to the tender +mercy of a Board of Martinets;--men of long service and tried ability, +degraded by the fiat of a court composed of officers as tender in +intellect as in years, and whose only recommendation to be members of +the court, is their recent transfer from lessons in gunnery and +drills;--with patent leather knapsacks, to field or higher positions in +the Volunteer Service. Thus, the officer whose earnestness in the cause +and heavy sacrifice of family ties and business affairs, first raised +the command,--who grew with its growth during months, perhaps years, of +hard service,--saw through his untiring efforts the awkwardness of his +men change gradually for the precision of the veteran,--not unfrequently +by the snap judgment of men whose only service has been in Pay, +Quarter-Master, Commissary Departments,--anywhere but in a Fighting +Department,--finds himself dishonored, his service thrown aside for +naught, and his worst enemy the misuse of the laws he had taken arms to +vindicate. + +Not an officer or soldier but must recollect a case in point. Now, this +mainly arises from the undue and unjust deference paid by the War +Department to Regular Officers, and the curse that attends them and +upholds them--Red Tape. _Undue and unjust deference._ Does not the +history of the Army of the Potomac prove it? Its heroic fighting, but +ill-starred generalship! + + * * * * * + +"Halloo, Bill! what news from the Sibley?" shouted one of a group of +officers who sat and lay upon the ground, cheerfully discussing hard +tack and coffee in the camp of a grand picket reserve, near the +Rappahannock. The man addressed would, in build, have made a good +recruit for the armies of New Amsterdam in their warfare against the +Swedes, so graphically described by Irving. Short and thickly set, with +a face radiant as a brass kettle in a preserving season, trousers thrust +in a pair of cast-away top boots, the legs of which fell in ungainly +folds about his ankles, a greasy blouse, tucked in at the waist-band, +and a cap ripped behind in the vain effort to accommodate it to a head +of Websterian dimensions. With all his shortcomings, and they were +legion, Bill's education, unfailing humor and kindness of heart made him +a favorite at regimental Head-quarters, where he had long been employed +as an attendant. When the sickness of the Lieutenant-Colonel grew +serious in the Sibley, Bill took his post by the side of his blankets, +and in well-meaning attention made up what he lacked in tenderness as a +nurse. + +"Nothing new since the trial," drawled out Bill, seating himself +meanwhile, and mopping with his coat sleeve the perspiration that stood +in beads upon his forehead. + +"Since the trial!" echoed the officer. "Why, they have not had notice +yet, and the General said he would give them ample opportunity for +preparation for trial." + +"So he did," continued Bill. "They were put into the Sibley on Monday +night, and on Thursday night following, about half-past ten, when it was +raining in torrents, and storming so that the guards and myself could +scarcely keep the old tent up, that sucker-mouthed Aid of old Pigey's +popped his head inside the flaps and handed the Colonel and +Lieut.-Colonel each a letter. Both letters went on to say, that their +trial would take place the next day, at ten o'clock, at Pigey's +Head-quarters, and that each letter contained a copy of the charges and +specifications, and that, in the meanwhile, they could prepare for +trial, provide counsel, and so forth. The best part of two sheets of +large-sized letter paper was filled with the charges against each, all +in Pigey's hand-writing. + + "'Disrespectful language towards the General Commanding Division;' + 'Conduct tending to Mutiny;' 'Disobedience of Orders;' and + 'Violation of at least half a dozen different articles of war.' + +"The ink was green yet, as if it had all been done after three o'clock. +The Lieutenant-Colonel, you know, told that wharf rat of an Adjutant +before the General, that he would not dare to make such mis-statements +away from Division Head-quarters. Well, on the strength of that, he had +him charged with sending a challenge to fight a duel, and telling his +superior officer that he lied. Lord! when I heard them read, I thought +they ought to be thankful that one of the darkies about Division +Head-quarters hadn't died in the meanwhile, or there would have been a +charge of murder. It might just as well, at any rate, have been murder +as mutiny, that we all know. Time for trial!--lots of time! Just the +time to hunt a lawyer, consult law books, and drum up testimony." + +"Timed purposely, of course," broke in the officer, indignantly, "and +the Court, no doubt, packed to suit. But," his face brightening, "there +is an appeal to Father Abraham." + +"It is all very well to talk about Father Abraham," continued Bill, in +the same drawling tone; "but if you have to hunt up Honest Old Abe +through the regular military channels, as they say you have to, he'll +seem about as far off as the first old Father Abraham did to that rich +old Cockey that had a big dry on in a hot place." + +"Bill," said the officer, as he saw the crowd inclined to laugh at the +remark, "this is by far too serious a matter to jest about. Here are two +men of character and position, devoted to the cause body and soul, +completely at the mercy of an officer whose conduct is a reproach to his +command, and who is malicious alike in deeds and words." + +"Especially the latter," interrupted Bill, more hurriedly than before. +"The Colonel says he was chief witness, and swore the charges right +straight through, without wincing. The Judge Advocate, they said, was a +right clever gentlemanly fellow, but ignorant of law, and completely at +the disposal of the General. I saw him several times when I was passing +backwards and forwards, and he looked to me as if the beef was a little +too thick on the outside of his forehead, for the brains to be active +inside. Still, the Colonels have no fault to find with him, except that +between times he would talk about drinking to Little Mac, and brag about +the prospect, as the papers seem to say, of Fitz John Porter's being +cleared. But then most of the Court did as much at that as he did. He +did his duty in the trial, I guess, as well as his knowledge and old +Pigey's will would allow." + +"Well, Bill, give us some particulars of the trials, if you know them," +suggested an officer of a neighboring regiment--the party during the +conversation being increased by additions of officers and privates. + +"I only know what I saw passing back and forth, and what I heard from +the Colonels themselves. They wouldn't allow any one to go within three +yards of the tent in which they held Court; but I'll give you what I +have, although to do it I must go back a little:--Before it was light on +the day of trial the Major posted off to our Corps Commander with an +application for a continuance, on the ground of want of time for +preparation. About daylight the General came out, rubbing his eyes, +wanting to know who that early bird was? + +"'Playing Orderly, sir,' said he, as his eye lit upon the letter in the +Major's hand. 'Fine occupation for a man of six feet two, with a Major's +straps upon his shoulders.' + +"The Major wilted till he felt about two feet six, but mustered presence +of mind sufficient to tell the General his errand, and how his personal +solicitude had prompted him to perform it himself. The General heard him +kindly; stated that he had no doubt but that the Court would act +favorably upon the application, and that it should be referred to them. +The Court, when it met, acted favorably, so far as to give the Colonel, +who was tried first, fifteen minutes to hunt a lawyer. But they wouldn't +let the Lieut.-Colonel act, as he was a party, and several others were +excluded on the ground of being witnesses, although they took good care +not to call them. Both pleaded guilty to the 'simple disobedience of +orders,' and the Court was ashamed to try them upon anything besides but +the 'disrespectful conduct;' in regard to which old Pigey's assertions +were taken, instead of the circumstances being proved. The Colonel was +too indignant at the treatment to set up any defence, but the +Lieutenant-Colonel cross-examined old Pigey until his testimony looked +like a box of fish-bait. The General swore that he had given him 'the +lie,' but upon being questioned by the Colonel, stated that 'he did not +believe the Colonel intended to call his personal veracity into +question.' In the same manner he had to explain away that duelling +charge. At last he got so confused that he would ram wood into the stove +to gain time, bite the ends of his moustache, play with the rim of his +hat, and when cornered as to the Lieutenant-Colonel's character as an +officer, to relieve himself, stated;--that he must say that the Colonel +had hitherto obeyed every order with cheerfulness, promptitude, great +zeal and intelligence, and that his intercourse with the Commanding +General had been marked by great courtesy at all times." + +"The Colonel also stated further, that he had testimony to contradict +that Adjutant, or Wharf-Rat, as you know him best by. He had told me +before the trial to tell that young law student, Tom, a private of Co. +C, who heard the conversation that the Adjutant had testified to, to be +within calling distance during the trial, with his belt on, hair combed, +and looking as neat as possible. Well, in Tom came, his face and eyes +swelled up from a bad cold, a stocking that had been a stranger to soap +and water for one long march at least, tied about his neck to cure a +sore throat, his belt on properly, but his blouse pockets stuffed out +beyond it with six months' correspondence, and his matted and bleached +head of hair, through the vain effort to comb it, resembling the heads +of Feejee Islanders, in Sunday-school books. A smile played around the +lips of the gentlemanly old Massachusetts Colonel, who presided over the +Court, as he surveyed him upon entering, and a titter ran around the +Board, especially among some of the young West-Pointers. The Colonel's +face colored, and the Judge Advocate's eyes glowed as if he had a soft +block. But Tom was a singed cat; he always was a slovenly fellow, you +know, and he turned out to be a file for the viper. + +"'Colonel,' said the Judge Advocate haughtily, 'have you any officers +who are prepared to vouch for the character and credibility of this +witness, as I see he is but a private?' + +"'Yes, sir, if the Court please,' retorted the Colonel +indignantly,--then remembering how this same Judge Advocate had upon +former occasions affected to despise privates, he added: 'His character +and credibility are quite as good as those of half the shoulder-strapped +gentry of the Corps.' + +"'Colonel,' said the President, blandly, 'there is an old rule requiring +privates to be vouched for, rarely insisted upon, at this day, however,' +casting, as he said this, a half reproachful look upon the Judge +Advocate; 'but we desire you to understand that your word is as good as +that of any officer before this Court.' + +"The Colonel vouched for him, and Tom was examined, and contradicted +still further than his own cross-examination had done, the statement of +the Adjutant, besides snubbing the Judge Advocate handsomely. A string +of witnesses, from our Brigadier down to all the line officers of the +command, was then offered to prove character, but the Court very +formally told the Colonel that a superior officer, the Commanding +General of the Division, had already testified to this, and that this +rendered the testimony of officers inferior in rank quite superfluous. +So you see from this and Tom's case, Justice don't go it blind in +Courts-Martial, but keeps one eye open to see whether the witness has +shoulder-straps on or not." + +"But, Bill," inquired a lawyer in the crowd, "did not the Colonel offer +to prove that the Regiment was amply supplied with clothing, and that +the order was unreasonable, and that it was not therefore a lawful +order, as the law is supposed to be founded upon reason?" + +"Oh, yes, both did; but the Lieutenant-Colonel was told by the +President, that if General Burnside were to order the President to make +a requisition in dog-days for old Spartan metal helmets for his +Regiment, he would make the requisition. + +"Said the Colonel, 'the President of the United States is by the +Regulations empowered to prescribe the uniform.' + +"'That,' said the President, 'General Burnside must judge of. I must +execute the order, however unreasonable it may seem, first, and question +it afterwards.' + +"'Suppose the General would order you to black his boots; or,' said the +Colonel, thinking that a little too strongly put; 'suppose that you were +second in command of a battery lying near a peaceful and loyal town, and +your superior, drunk or otherwise, would order you to shell it, would +you obey the order, and question it after having murdered half the +women and children of the place?' To which questions, however, the Court +gave the go-by, remarking simply, that they did not suppose that the +Colonel had any criminal intentions in disobeying the order. So, really, +it is narrowed down to the disobedience of, to say the least, a most +uncalled for order." + +"And faithful, well intentioned officers are, for what is at most but an +honest blunder, treated like felons," said one. + +"From their lively and confident manner," said Bill, "I believe that +they have assurances from Washington that all will be right. There is no +telling how long the Lieutenant-Colonel will last under this +confinement, however. He has failed greatly, and although so weak as to +be unable to walk alone, the General insists upon the guards being upon +either side whenever he has occasion to leave the tent. Even the sinks +were dug at over one hundred yards distance from the Sibley. And the +tent itself is located in such a manner that old Pigey can at all times +have his vengeance gratified by a full view of it, the three guards +about it, and my assisting the Lieutenant-Colonel from time to time. But +the guards esteem, and we all esteem the officers inside the Sibley more +than the General, who abuses his power in his marquee. Letters and +newspapers come crawling under the canvas. Roast partridges, squirrels, +apples, and delicacies that officers and men deny themselves of, find +their way inside, and while my name is Bill Gladdon they shan't suffer +through any lack upon my part, and I know that this is the opinion of +all of us." + +"You all recollect the Sibley," said a Lieutenant, "that stands in the +rear of old Pigey's marquee, in which he gave the collation after the +last corps review, and welcomed our officers as he steadied himself at +the table, with 'Here comes my gallant 210th.' The Court met in that." + +"Yes," resumed Bill, "the same. It stands near his cook tent, and while +his darkies were serving up French cookery, the Judge Advocate did the +work allotted him in endeavoring to justify by the trial, in some slight +manner, the General's outrageous conduct. I heard that Tom said, that +after the Judge Advocate had asked that he be vouched for, and the +Colonel became indignant, the Judge Advocate said somewhat blandly, + +"'You must remember, Colonel, that this is not one of your ordinary +Courts of Justice.' + +"'That it is not a Court of Justice,' retorted the Colonel, 'is very +apparent.' + +"Both were put through in a hurry, at any rate. The different members of +the Court said that they all had marching orders, and they had no sooner +left the Sibley than they were upon horseback and on the gallop towards +their different commands. Our Doctor had detailed an ambulance to take +the Colonels in the rear of the Division. Old Pigey, in his usual +morning survey of the premises, saw it in front of the Sibley, and sent +an Orderly to take the rather lively, good-looking bays that were in it +and exchange them for the old rips that haul the ambulance his cooks +ride in. But we did not move then, although they say we will certainly +to-morrow." + + * * * * * + +That inevitable "they say," the common prefix to rumors in camp as well +as civil life, had given Bill correct information. For next morning, in +spite of the lowering sky, the camps were all astir with busy life, and +during the course of the forenoon column after column trudged along over +the already soft roads in a south-westerly direction. The movement was +the mad desperation of a Commander of undaunted energy. A vain effort to +appease that most capricious of masters, popular clamor. The rains +descended, and that grand army of the Potomac literally floundered in +the mud. + +In an old field, thickly grown with young pines, very near the farthest +point reached in the march, our Regiment rested towards the close of the +last day of the advance, or to speak more truly, attempted advance. +Fatigued with the double duty of struggling with the mud and corduroying +the roads, the repose was heartily welcome. + + "It does a fellow good to feel a little frisky," + +sang, or rather shouted, a little Corporal, whom we have met before in +these pages, as he made ridiculous efforts to infuse life into heels +clodded with mud. + +"Talk as you please about old Pigey, boys, he's a regular trump on the +whiskey question. He'll cut red-tape any day on that. Don't you see the +boys?" continued the Corporal, addressing a crowd reposing at full +length upon the freshly cut pine boughs, conspicuous among whom was the +Adjutant;--pointing as he spoke to several men in uniform, but boys in +years, who were being forced and dragged along by successive groups of +their comrades. + +"Couldn't stand the Commissary--stomachs too tender. Ha! ha! Pigey and +myself are in on that." + +"What is up now, Corporal?" queried the Adjutant. + +"Nothing is up; it's all down," retorted the Corporal, in a half +serious air, as he saluted the Colonel respectfully. "You see, Adjutant, +they are bits of boys at any rate, just from school, and the Commissary +was too much for their empty stomachs. I was sent back to hurry up the +stragglers, and while we were catching up as rapidly as possible, old +Pigey came ploughing up the mud alongside of us, followed by that +sucker-mouthed Aid. I saw at once that Division Head-quarters had a good +load on. With a patronizing grin, said the General stopping short +alongside of a wagon belonging to another corps, and that was fast +almost up to the wagon-bed, while the mules were fairly floating, +'What's in that wagon?' and without waiting for answer, 'whiskey, by +G--d,' he broke out, snuffing at the same time towards the wagon. 'Boys, +unload a couple of barrels,' he continued, good-humoredly, as if trying +to make up for the outrage he has just committed upon the Regiment. The +driver protested, and the wagon guards said that it could not be taken +without an order; but it was after three, and old Pigey ripped and swore +that his order was as good as anybody's, and the guards were frightened +enough to let our boys roll out two barrels. No pigeon-holing on a +whiskey scent! One barrel he ordered up to his head-quarters, and the +head of the other was knocked in, and he told us to drink our fill, and +at it the boys went. Tin cups, canteens, cap-covers, anything that would +hold the article, were made use of, and they are a blue old crowd, from +the General down. The boys had had nothing but a few hard tack during +the day, and it was about the first drink to some, and from the way it +tastes it must have been made out of rotten corn and not two months old, +and altogether straggling increased considerably." + +"Straggling! why they are wallowing like hogs in the mud, Adjutant! It +is a shame, and if some one of my superiors will not prefer charges +against the General and his Adjutant, I will. Men of mine are drunk that +I never knew to taste a drop before," indignantly exclaimed the Western +Virginia Captain, as, with hat off, face aglow with perspiration, eyes +flashing, and boots that indicated service in taking the soundings of +the mud on the march, he came panting up with rapid strides. "Now, sir, +fourteen of my best men are drunk--the first drunken man I have had +during the campaign--and I'll be shot to death with musketry, sooner +than punish a single man of them." + +"But discipline must be kept up," said the Adjutant. + +"Discipline! do you say, Adjutant?" retorted the Captain. "If you want +to see discipline go to Division Head-quarters. Why old Pigey is +prancing around like a steed at a muster,--crazy! absolutely crazy! His +cocked hat is more crooked than ever, and the knot of his muffler is at +the back of his neck, and the ends flying like wings. Just a few minutes +ago he stopped suddenly while on a canter, right by one of my men, lying +along the road-side, that he had made drunk, and chuckled and laughed, +and lolled from side to side in his saddle, and then at a canter again +rode to another one and went through the same performance. And his +Adjutant-General--why one of my men not ten minutes ago led his horse to +Head-quarters. He was so drunk, actually, that his eyes looked like +those of a shad out of water a day,--his feet out of the stirrups, the +reins loose about his horse's neck, his hands hanging listlessly down, +and the liquor oozing out of the corners of his sucker mouth. And there +he was, his horse carrying him about at random among the stumps, and +officers and men laughing at him, expecting to see him go over on the +one side or the other every moment. Now, it is a burning shame. And I, +for one, will expose them, if it takes the hide off. Here are our +Colonels confined just for no offence at all,--for doing their duty, in +fact,--and this man, after having Court-martialed all that he could of +his command, trying to demoralize the rest by whiskey. Now, sir, the +higher the rank the more severe the punishment should be. Just before we +started Burney had an order read that we were about to meet the enemy, +and that every man must do his duty. And here is a General of Division, +in command of nine thousand men, as drunk as a fool." + +"Let Pigey alone on the whiskey question, Captain," interrupted the +Corporal, who had in the meantime been refreshing his inner man by a +pull at his canteen. "He's a regular trump--yes," slapping his canteen +as he spoke, "a full hand of trumps any time on that topic. Like other +men, he drinks to drown his grief at our poor prospect of a fight." + +"A fine condition he is in to lead men into a fight;--but not much worse +than at Fredericksburg," slowly observed the Preacher Lieutenant, who, +as one of the crowd, had been a listener to the story of the Captain. +"Drunkenness has cursed our army too much. But we cannot consistently be +silent in sight of conduct like this on the part of Commanders. The +interests of our men"---- + +"Have a care, Lieutenant," quietly observed the Adjutant, "how you talk. +'The interests of the men' have placed our Colonels under guard in the +Sibley." + +"Not bolts, nor bars a prison make," resumed the Preacher more +spiritedly, "and I would sooner have a quiet conscience in confinement, +than the reproach of disgraceful conduct and command a Division." + + * * * * * + +Corduroying the entire route had not been proposed, when the army +commenced its movement; but it became apparent to all that progress was +only tolerable with it, and without it, impossible. On the day after the +above conversation, the army commenced to retrace its steps. Some days, +however, intervened before the smoke ascended from their old huts, and +the men in lazy circles about the camp fires rehashed their +recollections of the "mud march." + +Like our repulse at Fredericksburg, it was, as far as our +Commander-in-Chief was concerned, a misfortune and not a fault. A change +in command was evident, however, and the substitution of the +whole-hearted, dashing Hooker for the equally earnest but more steady +Burnside, that took place in the latter part of January, occasioned no +surprise in the army. The new Commander went much farther, than old +attachments had probably permitted his predecessor in going, in removing +McClellanism. Grand Divisions were abolished; rigid inquiries into the +comforts and conveniences of the men were frequent, and senseless +reviews less frequent. Bakeries were established in every Brigade, and +fresh bread and hot rolls furnished in wholesome abundance, to the great +benefit of the Government, for hospital rolls were thereby depleted, and +reports for duty increased. Rigid discipline and daily drills too were +kept up, as "Old Joe" was a frequent visitor, when least expected. His +constant solicitude for the welfare of the men, manifested by close +personal attention, which the men themselves were witness to, rather +than by concocted newspaper reports, by which the friends of the soldier +in their loyal homes might be imposed upon, and the soldier himself not +benefited, endeared him to his entire command. + + * * * * * + +One clear, cold morning, during these palmy days of the army, the men of +the regiment nearest the Surgeon's Quarters were greatly surprised by +the sudden exit of a small-sized sheet iron stove from the tent occupied +by the Surgeon and Chaplain, closely followed up by the little Dutch +Doctor in his shirt sleeves, sputtering hurriedly-- + +"Tam schmoke pox!" and at every ejaculation bestowing a vigorous kick. +At a reasonably safe distance in his rear was the Chaplain, in half +undress also, remonstrating as coolly as possible,--considering that the +stove was his property. The Doctor did not refrain, however, until its +badly battered fragments lay at intervals upon the ground. + +"Efry morn, and efry morn, schmoke shust as the Tuyfel. I no need +prepare for next world py that tam shmoke pox. Eh?" continued the +Doctor, facing the Chaplain. + +"Come, Doctor," said the Chaplain, soothingly, "we ought to get along +better than this in our department." + +"Shaplain's department! Eh! By G--t! One Horse-Doctor and one Shaplain +enough for a whole Division!" + +The sudden appearance of Bill, the attendant upon the Colonels in the +Sibley, at the Adjutant's quarters, had the effect of transferring +hither the crowd, who were enjoying what proved to be a final +dissolution of partnership between the Chaplain and the Doctor. + +"I know your errand, Bill," remarked the Adjutant, looking him full in +the face. "An orderly has just handed me the General Order. But what is +to become of the Lieutenant-Colonel?" + +"You only have the order dismissing the Colonel, then. There was a +message sent about ten o'clock last night, a little after the General +Order was received at the Sibley, stating that at day-break this morning +the Colonel should be escorted to Aquia under guard, and that before +leaving he should have no intercourse whatever with any of his command. +Old Pigey also tried further to add insult to injury, by stating that +the Lieutenant-Colonel, who cannot, from weakness, walk twenty steps, +even though it would save his life, would be released from close +confinement, and might have the benefit of Brigade limits in our new +camp ground for exercise. You know that is so full of stumps and +undergrowth that a well man can hardly get along in it." + +"So an officer of the Colonel's merit and services," remarked the +Adjutant, "was dragged off before daylight, and disgraced for what was +in its very worst light but a simple blunder, made under the most +extenuating of circumstances. Boys, if there be faith in Stanton's +pledged word, matters will be set right as soon as the record of the +case reaches the War Department. I am informed that he denounced the +whole proceeding as an outrage, and telegraphed the General; and we all +know that the General has been spending a good portion of the time since +the trial in Washington." + +"And he came back," observed Bill, "yesterday morning, in a mood unusual +with him before three o'clock in the afternoon. He had his whole staff, +all his orderlies and the Provost Guard out to stop a Maine Regiment +from walking by the side of the road, when the mud was over shoe top in +the road itself,--and he flourished that thin sword of his, and raved +and swore and danced about until one of the Maine boys wanted to know +who 'that little old Cockey was with a ramrod in his hand,--' and that +set the laugh so much against him that his Aids returned their pistols +and he his sword, and he sneaked back to his marquee, and issued an +order requiring his whole command to stand at arms along the road side +upon the approach of troops from either direction." + +"Which," remarked the Adjutant, "if obeyed, would keep them under arms +well nigh all the time, and would provoke a collision, as it would be an +insult to the troops of other commands, to whom the road should be +equally free. But it is a fair sample of the judgment of Pigey." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_The Presentation Mania--The Western Virginia Captain in the War +Department--Politeness and Mr. Secretary Stanton--Capture of the Dutch +Doctor--A Genuine Newspaper Sell._ + + +Presentations by men to officers should be prevented by positive orders; +not that the recipients are not usually meritorious, but the practice by +its prevalency is an unjust tax upon a class little able to bear it. A +costly sword must be presented to our Captain,--intimates a man perhaps +warmly in the Captain's confidence. Forthwith the list is started, and +with extra guard and fatigue duty before the eyes of the men, it makes a +unanimous circuit of the command. Active newspaper reporters, from the +sheer merit of the officer, may be, and may be from the additional +inducement of a little compensation, give an account of the presentation +in one of the dailies that fills the breasts of the officer's friends +with pride, while the decreased remittance of the private may keep back +some creature comfort from his wife and little ones. Statistics showing +how far these presentations are spontaneous offerings, and to what +extent results of wire-working at Head-quarters, would prove more +curious than creditable. + +Our Brigade did not escape the Presentation Mania. Never did it develop +itself in a command, however, more spontaneously. The plain, practical +sense of our Brigadier was the more noticeable to the men, on account of +its marked contrast to the quibbles and conceit of the General of +Division. The officers and men of the Brigade had with great care and +cost selected a noble horse of celebrated stock upon which to mount +their Brigadier, and, on a pleasant evening in March, a crowd informally +assembled was busied in arranging for the morrow the programme of +presentation. The General of Division, so far in the cold in the matter, +was just then making himself sensibly felt. + +"Colonel," said an officer, who from the direction of Brigade +Head-quarters neared the crowd, addressing a central figure, "you might +as well take the General's horse out to grass awhile." + +"Explain yourself," say several. + +"Pigey has his foot in the whole matter nicely. The General, you know, +just returned this evening from sick leave. Well, he and his friends, +who came with him to see the presentation ceremonies, had not been at +Head-quarters an hour before that sucker-mouthed Aid made his +appearance, and said that he was directed by the General Commanding the +Division to place him under arrest. The fellow was drunk, and the +General hardly deigned to notice him. As he staggered away, he muttered +that there were fifteen charges against him, and that he would find the +General's grip a tight one." + +Amid exclamations, indicating that the perplexity of the matter could +not prevent a sly smile at the ludicrous position in which the Brigadier +and his friends from abroad were placed, the officer continued-- + +"But the General brings good news from Washington. The Colonel and +Lieutenant-Colonel of the 210th return at an early day." + +"Yes, sir, that is so," broke in our Western Virginia Captain, who had +just returned from enjoying one of the furloughs at that time so freely +distributed. "At last the War Department, or rather Mr. Secretary +Stanton, for all the balance of the department, as far as I could learn, +thought the delay outrageous, fulfils its promise. After the +Lieutenant-Colonel had been at home on a sick leave for some time, and +we all thought the matter about dropped; what should I see one day but +his name, with thirty-two others, in a daily, under the head of +'Dismissals from the Army.' There it was, dismissed for doing his duty, +and published right among the names of scoundrels who had skulked five +times from the battle-field; men charged with drunkenness, and every +offence known to the Military Decalogue. My furlough had just come, and +I started for Washington by the next boat, bound to see how the matter +stood. The morning after I got there, I posted up bright and early to +the War Department, but a sergeant near the door, with more polish on +his boots than in his manners, told me that I had better keep shady +until ten o'clock, as business hours commenced then. I sat down on a +pile of old lumber near by, and passed very nearly three hours in +wondering why so many broad-shouldered fellows, who could make a sabre +fall as heavy as the blow of a broad-axe, were lounging about or going +backward and forward upon errands that sickly boys might do as well. As +it grew nearer ten, able-bodied, bright-looking officers, Regulars, as I +was told, educated at Uncle Sam's expense to fight, elegantly +shoulder-strapped, passed in to drive quills in a quiet department, +'remote from death's alarms,' and I wondered if some spirited clerks and +schoolmasters that I knew, who would have been willing to have gone bent +double under knapsacks, if the Surgeon would have accepted them, would +not have performed the duty better, and have permitted the country to +have the benefit of the military education of these gentlemen." + +"I see, Captain, that you don't understand it," interrupted an officer. +"Our Regular Officers are not all alike patriotic up to the fighting +point; and it is a charitable provision that permits one, say,--who is +married to a plantation of niggers, or who has other Southern sympathies +or affinities, or who may have conscientious scruples about fighting +against our 'Southern brethren,'--to take a snug salary in some peaceful +department, or to go on recruiting service in quiet towns, where +grasshoppers can be heard singing for squares, and where he is under the +necessity of killing nothing but time, and wounding nothing but his +country's honor and his own, if a man of that description can be said to +possess any. In their offices, these half-hearted Lieutenants, Captains, +and Colonels, are like satraps in their halls, unapproachable, except by +passing bayonets that should be turned towards Richmond." + +"Well, if I don't understand it," resumed the Captain, "it is high time +that Uncle Sam understood it. If these men are half-hearted, they will +write no better than they fight, and I guess if the truth could be got +at, they are responsible for most of the clogging in the Commissary and +Quarter-Master Departments. But you've got me off my story. At ten +o'clock I staved in, just as I was, my uniform shabby, and my boots +with a tolerably fair representation of Aquia mud upon them. Passing +from one orderly to another, I brought up at the Adjutant-General's +office, and there I was referred to the head clerk's office, and there a +pleasant-looking, gentlemanly Major told me that the matter would be +certainly set straight as soon as the court-martial records were +forwarded; that they had telegraphed for them again and again; and that +at one time they were reported lost, and at another carried off by one +of General Burnside's Staff Officers. As I had heard of records of the +kind being delayed before, I intimated rather plainly what I thought of +the matter, and told him that I wanted to see the Secretary himself. He +smiled, and told me to take my place in the rear of an odd-looking mixed +assemblage of persons in the hall, who were crowding towards an open +door. It was after two o'clock and after I had stood until I felt +devotional about the knees, when my turn brought me before the door, and +showed me Mr. Secretary himself, standing behind a desk, tossing his +head, now on this side and now on that, with quick jerks, like a +short-horned bull in fly time, despatching business and the hopes of the +parties who had it from their looks, about the same time. Right manfully +did he stand up to his work; better than to his word perhaps, if reports +that I have heard be true." + +"A pretty-faced, middle-aged lady approached his desk, and I thought +that I could see a rather awkward effort at a smile hang around the +upper corners of his huge, black beard, as his eye caught her features +through his spectacles, and he received her papers. But the gruff manner +in which he told her the next moment that he would not grant it, showed +I was mistaken. + +"'But I was told, Mr. Secretary,' said the woman, in tremulous tones, +'that my papers were all right, and that your assent was a mere +formality. I have three other sons in the service, and this boy is +not'---- + +"'I don't care what you have been told,' retorted the Secretary, in a +manner that made me so far forget my reverence that my toes suddenly +felt as if disposed to propel something that, strange to say, had the +semblance of humanity, and was not distant at the time. 'You had better +leave the room, madam!' continued the same voice, somewhat gruffer and +sterner, as the poor woman burst into tears at the sudden +disappointment. 'You only interrupt and annoy. We are accustomed to this +sort of thing here.' + +"I looked at him as he took the papers of another for examination, and +wondered whether we were really American citizens--sovereigns as our +politicians tell us when on the stump, and whether he was really a +public servant. But I couldn't see it. + +"Now, civility is a cheap commodity, and, in my humble opinion, the +least that can be expected of men filling public positions is that they +should possess it in an ordinary degree. + +"Three o'clock came, but it was not my turn yet. In fact, the treatment +of the lady had so disgusted me, that I was quite ready to leave when a +servant announced that business hours were over. That evening, I found +out to my great satisfaction that men considerably more influential than +myself had held the Secretary to the promises he had made them, and that +notwithstanding all his backing and filling the order for their return +would be issued." + +The disappointment of the morrow was a standing topic in camp and on the +picket line for the ensuing three weeks. The only doubt that existed +with the Court convened for the trial of the Brigadier appeared to be +whether the numerous charges excelled most in frivolity or malice, as a +slight reprimand for writing an unofficial account of an engagement,--an +offence of which several members of the Court had, by their own +confession, repeatedly been guilty,--was the sole result of its labor. +His restoration to command, the presentation, and the return of the +Colonels followed in rapid succession amid the rejoicings of officers +and men. + +--Amid the waste of meadow and woodland that characterized the face of +that country, the houses of the farmers, or rather, to use the +grandiloquent language of the inhabitants, "the mansions of the +planters," were objects of peculiar interest. In their quaint appearance +and general air of dilapidation, they stood as relics of the +civilization of another age. Centuries, seemingly, of important events +in the law of progress are crowded into years of our campaigning. The +social status of a large country semi-civilized--whether you regard the +intelligence of its people or the condition of its society--is being +suddenly altered. The war accomplishes what well-designing men lacked +nerve and ability to execute--emancipation. The blessings of a purer +civilization will follow as naturally as sunshine follows storm. + +And yet here and there these old buildings would be varied by one +evidently framed upon a Yankee model. Such was what was widely known in +the army as "the Moncure House." On a commanding site at the edge of a +meadow several miles in length, and that seemed from the abrupt bluffs +that bordered it to have been once the bottom of a lake, this two-story +weather-board frame was readily discernible. Its location made it a +prominent point, too, upon the picket line, and it was favored above its +fellows by daily and nightly occupancy by officers of the command. At +this period the Regiment almost lived upon the picket line. An old +wench, with several chalky complexioned children, whose paternal +ancestor was understood to be under a musket of English manufacture +perhaps, somewhere on the south side of the Rappahannock, occupied the +kitchen of the premises. She was unceasing in reminding her military +co-lodgers that the room used by them as head-quarters,--from the window +of which you could take in at a glance the fine expanse of valley, +threaded by a sparkling tributary of the Potomac,--was massa's study, +and that massa was a preacher and had written a "right smart" lot of +sermons in that very place. In the eyes of Dinah the room was invested +with a peculiar sanctity. Not so with its present occupants, who could +not learn that the minister, who was a large slaveholder, had remembered +"those in bonds as bound with them," and who were quite content that +artillery proclaiming "liberty throughout the land" in tones of thunder +had driven away this vender of the divinity of the institution of +slavery. + +In this room, on seats rudely improvised, for its proper furniture had +long since disappeared, some officers not on duty were passing a +pleasant April afternoon, when their reveries of other days and rehashes +of old camp yarns were interrupted by the sudden advent of an officer +who a week previously had been detailed in charge of a number of men to +form part of an outer picket station some distance up the river. His +face indicated news, and he was at once the centre of attraction. + +"Colonel!" exclaimed he, without waiting to be questioned, "two of our +best men have been taken prisoners, and the little Dutch Doctor----" + +"What has happened to him?" from several at once. + +"Was taken prisoner and released, but had his horse stolen." + +His hearers breathed freer when they heard of the personal safety of the +Doctor, and the officer continued-- + +"And the loss of our men and his horse has all happened through the +carelessness,--to treat it mildly,--of the exhorting Colonel. He is in +command of the station, and yesterday afternoon the Doctor was on duty +at his head-quarters. In came one of the black-eyed beauties that live +in a house near the ford, about half a mile from the station, boo-hooing +at a terrible rate--that the youngest rebel of her family was dying with +the croup--and that no doctor was near--and all that old story. The +Colonel was fool enough to order the Doctor to mount his horse and go +with the woman. Well, the Doctor had got near the house, when out sprang +two Mississippi Riflemen from the pines on either side of the road and +levelled their pieces at him. The Doctor had to dismount, and they sent +him back on foot. Luckily the Colonel, who, as black Charley says, has +been praying for a star for some time past, had borrowed the Doctor's +dress sword on the pretence that it was lighter to carry, but on the +ground, really, that it looked more Brigadier-like, or he would have +lost that too. I was on duty down by the river hardly two hours after it +happened, and as there is no firing now along the picket line the +soldiers were free-and-easy on both sides. All at once I heard laughter +on the other side, and looking over, I saw a short, thick-set Grey-back +riding the stolen horse near the water's edge. Presently two other +Grey-backs sprang on either side of the horse's head, and with pieces +levelled, in tones loud enough for us to hear, demanded his surrender. + +"'Why, shentlemen Rebels, mein Gott, you no take non compatants, me +surgeon,' said the Grey-back on the horse, in equally loud voice. + +"'No, d--n you! Dismount! We don't want you. You can be of more service +to the Confederate cause where you are. But we must have the nag.' + +"'Mine private property,' he replied, as he dismounted. + +"'In a horn,' said one of the Grey-backs, pointing to the U. S. on the +shoulder of the beast. 'That your private mark, eh?' + +"'You no shentlemen. By G--t, no honor,' retorted the Grey-back who +personated the Doctor, as he swelled himself and strutted about on the +sand in such a high style of indignation as to draw roars of laughter +from both sides of the river. + +"That rather paid us with interest for the way we sold them the day +before. You know they have been crazy after our dailies ever since the +strict general order preventing the exchange of the daily papers between +pickets. Well, that dare-devil of a law student, Tom, determined to have +some fun with them. So when they again, as they often had before, came +to the river with hands full of Richmond papers, proposing exchange, Tom +flourished a paper also. That was the old signal, and forthwith a +raw-boned Alabamian stripped and commenced wading toward a rock that +jutted up in the middle of the river. Tom stripped also, and met him at +the rock. Mum was the word between them, and each turned for his own +shore, the Grey-back with Tom's paper, and Tom with several of the +latest Richmond prints. A crowd of Rebel officers met their messenger at +the water's edge and received the paper. The one who opened it, bent +nearly double with laughter, and the rest rapidly followed as their eyes +lit on the stars and stripes printed in glowing colors on the first page +of the little religious paper that our Chaplains distribute so freely in +camp, called 'The Christian Banner.' One old officer, apparently of +higher rank than the rest, cursed it as he went up the bank as a 'd----d +Yankee sell,--' which did not in the least lessen our enjoyment of Tom's +success. + +"But with our two men and the Doctor's horse they have squared accounts +with us since, and all through the fault of the Colonel." + +In response to inquiries as to how, when, and where, the officer +continued-- + +"There was a narrow strip of open land between a belt of woods and the +river. The Colonel posted our two men on the inside of the woods, where +they had no open view towards the enemy at all. That rainy night this +week the Rebs came over in boats and gobbled them up. The Colonel +attributed their loss to their own neglect, and next morning their place +was supplied by four old soldiers, as he called them, from his own +Regiment. That same day at noon, in broad daylight, they were taken." + +"And if he were not a firm friend at Division Head-quarters there would +be a dismissal from the service for cause," said an officer of the +crowd. + +"Our Corps Commander is too much of a soldier to let it go by," resumed +the officer, "if our Brigadier can force it through Division +Head-quarters, and bring it to his notice." + + * * * * * + +The order that introduced into the service the novelty of carrying eight +days' rations on a march, had been discussed for some time in the +Regiment. That night the Regiment was withdrawn from the picket line, +and preparations were forthwith made for a practical illustration of the +order on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_The Army again on the Move--Pack Mules and Wagon Trains--A Negro +Prophetess--The Wilderness--Hooped Skirts and Black Jack--The Five Days' +Fight at Chancellorsville--Terrible Death of an Aged Slave--A +Pigeon-hole General's "Power in Reserve."_ + + +It was some weeks after a Rebel Picket, opposite Falmouth, had surprised +one of our own, who had not as yet heard of the change in the usual +three days' provender for a march, by asking him across the river +"whether his eight days' rations were mouldy yet?" that the army +actually commenced its movement. While awaiting the word to fall in, +this mass of humanity literally loaded with army bread and ammunition +resembled, save in uniformity, those unfortunate beings burdened with +bundles of woe, so strikingly portrayed in the Vision of Mirza. To the +credit of the men, it must be stated, however, that the greatest +good-humor prevailed in this effort to render the army self-sustaining +in a country that could not sustain itself. + +Another novel feature in the movement was the long strings of pack +mules, heavily freighted with ammunition, which were led in the rear of +the different Brigades. Wagon trains were thereby dispensed with, and +the mobility of the army greatly increased. Stringent orders were +issued also as to the reduction of baggage, and dispensing with camp +equipage and cooking utensils. + +In lively ranks, although each man was freighted with the prescribed +eight days' provender and sixty rounds of ball cartridge, our Division, +of almost 9,000 men, moved, followed by two ambulances to pick up those +who might fall by the way, in the rear of which were five additional +ambulances for the especial use of Division Head-quarters. For a General +of whom reporters had said that "he was most at home in the field," the +supply of ambulances, full of creature comforts, was unusually heavy. On +we moved over the familiar ground of the Warrenton Pike, in common with +several other Army Corps in a grand march; our Division, with its two +ambulances; our General with his five,--and our proportionate number of +pack horses and mules. The obstinacy of the latter animal was sorely +punished by the apparent effort during that march to teach it perpetual +motion. Halt the Division did statedly, but there was no rest for the +poor mule. Experience had taught its driver that the beast would take +advantage of the halt to lie down, and when once down no amount of +tugging and swearing and clubbing could induce it to rise. Hence, while +the command would enjoy their stated halts by the wayside, these strings +of mules would be led or driven in continuous circles of steady toil. +Despite the vigilance of their drivers, a mule would occasionally drop, +and his companions speedily follow, to stand a siege of kicks, cuffs, +and bayonet pricks, and to be reduced, or what would be more appropriate +in their case, raised at length by the application of a mud plaster to +the nostrils, which would bring the beast up in an effort to breathe +freely; from which may arise the slang phrase of "bringing it up a +snorting." + +Onward they marched, those wearers of the cross, the square, the circle, +the crescent, the star, the lozenge, and the tripod; emblemed +representatives of the interests of a common humanity in the triumphal +march that the world is witness to, of the progress of Universal +Emancipation. Landed aristocracies of the Old World may avow their +affinity to the aristocracy of human flesh and blood that has so long +cursed the New; but now that the suicidal hand of the latter has caused +the forfeit of its existence, we are the centre of the hopes, fears, and +prayers of the universal brotherhood of man in the effort to blot out +for ever the only foul spot upon our national escutcheon. + + * * * * * + +"De Lor bress ye. I know yez all. Yez, Uncle Samuel's children. Long +looked for come at las," said an old wench on the second day of our +march, enthusiastically to the advanced ranks of our Division, as they +wound around the hill in sight of Mt. Holly Church, on the main road to +Kelly's Ford, curtesying and gesturing all the while with her right +hand, as if offering welcome, while with her left she steadied on her +head the cast-away cover of a Dutch oven. A pair of half-worn army shoes +covered her feet, and the folds of her tow gown were compressed about +the waist, beneath a black leathern belt, the brass plate of which +bearing the letters "U. S.," wore a conspicuous polish. + +"Massa over yonder," continued she, in response to a query from the +ranks, pointing as she spoke across the river. "Hope you cotch him. +Golly he'um slyer than a possum in a hen-roost." + +The anxiety of the wench for the capture of her master, and her +statement of a pre-knowledge of the visit of the troops, were by no +means exceptional. Rarely indeed, in the history of the Rebellion, has +devotion on the part of the slave to the interest of the master been +discovered. The vaunted fealty that would make his cause their own, +lacks practical illustration. An attempt to arm them will save recruits +and arms to Uncle Sam. Nat Turner's insurrection developed their strong +faith in a day of freedom. Their wildest dreams of fancy could not have +pictured a more auspicious prelude to the realization of that faith than +the outbreak of the Rebellion. Well might + + "Massa tink it day ob doom, + But we ob Jubilee." + +The face of the country at this point was adorned by the most beautiful +variety of hill and dale. Compared with the region about Aquia, it had +been but little touched by the ravages of war. When it shall have been +wholly reclaimed under a banner, then to be emphatically "the Banner of +the Free," an inviting door will open to enterprising business. + +A few miles further on we rested on our arms upon the summit of a ridge +overlooking that portion of the Upper Rappahannock known as Kelly's +Ford. The brilliant cavalry engagement of a few weeks previously, that +occurred upon the level ground in full view above the Ford, invested it +with peculiar interest. Who ever saw a dead cavalryman? was a question +that had been for a long time uttered as a standing joke. Hooker's +advent to command was attended by a sharp and stirring order that +speedily brought this arm of the service to a proper sense of duty. +Among the first fruits of the order was this creditable fight. While no +excuse can be given for the slovenly and ungainly riding, rusty sabres, +and dirty accoutrements, raw-boned and uncurried horses that had too +often made many of our cavalry regiments appear like a body of Sancho +Panzas thrown loosely together; it would still be exceedingly unfair to +have required as much of them as of the educated horsemen and superior +horseflesh that gave the Rebel cavalry their efficiency in the early +stages of the war. Since then the scales have turned. Frequent +successful raids and resistless charges have given the courage, skill, +and dash of our Gregg, Buford, Kilpatrick, Grierson, and others that +might be named, honorable mention at every loyal fireside. + +While on the top of this ridge, Rush's regiment of lancers, with lances +in rest and pennons gaily fluttering beneath the spear heads, cantered +past the regiment. Their strange equipment gave an oriental appearance +to the columns moving toward the ford. With straining eyes we followed +their movement up the river and junction with the cavalry then crossing +at a ford above the pontoons. The Regiment had been almost continually +broken up for detached service, at different head-quarters, or for the +purpose of halting stragglers. With many of the men, their service +appeared like their equipment, ornamental rather than useful, and in +connexion with their foraging reputation, won for them the expressive +designation of "Pig Stickers." + +Darkness was just setting in when our turn came upon the pontoon bridge, +and it was quite dark when we prepared ourselves, in a pelting rain, for +rest for the night, as we thought, in a meadow half a mile distant from +the road. At midnight, in mud and rain, we resumed the march, in convoy +of a pontoon train, and over a by-road which from the manner its +primitive rock was revealed, must have been unused for years. The +streams forded during that night of sleepless toil, the enjoined +silence, broken only by the sloppy shuffle of shoes half filled with +water, and the creaking wagons, the provoking halts that would tempt the +eyes to a slumber that would be broken immediately by the resumption of +the forward movement, have left ineffaceable memories. A somewhat +pedantic order of "Accelerate the speed of your command, Colonel," given +by our General of Division, as the head of the Regiment neared his +presence towards morning, reminded us of the "long and rapid march" that +the Commander-in-Chief intended the army to make. + +On the last day of April we crossed the Rapidan, fording its breast-deep +current, considered too strong for the pontoons, and wondering, +especially as the cannonading of the evening previous indicated +resistance ahead, that our advance was not at this point impeded. +Artillery planted upon the circling hills of the opposite shore would +have made the passage, if even practicable, perilous to the last degree. +As it was, however, _in puris naturalibus_, with cartridge-box on the +musket barrel, and the musket on the shoulder, clothing in many +instances bundled upon the head, the troops made the passage. The whys +and the wherefores of no opposition--the confidence of Old Joe having +stolen a march upon Johnny Reb--and the usual surmises of the +morrow--increased in this instance by our having surprised and captured +some Rebel pickets when just about halting, constituted ample capital +for conversation during our night's rest in a pine grove two miles south +of the ford. + +With the Army of the Potomac the merry month of May had a lively +opening. After a march from early dawn, we found our Division, about the +middle of the forenoon, massed in a thick wood in the rear of a large +and imposing brick building, which, with one or two buildings of minor +importance, constituted what was designated upon our pocket maps as the +town of Chancellorsville. The region of country was most appropriately +styled "The Wilderness." A wilderness indeed, of tall oaks, and a dense +undergrowth known as "black-jack." There were but few open places or +improved spots. In one of the largest of these, at a point where two +prominent roads forked, stood the large building above mentioned. The +day previous General Lee and his staff had been hospitably entertained +within its walls. Now our fine-looking Commander and his gay and gallant +staff were busily engaged in its lower rooms, while the ladies of the +house of Secesh sympathies kept themselves closely in the upper +story,--their curiosity tempting them however, to occasional peeps from +half-opened shutters at the blue coats below. + +At twelve, precisely, just as we had taken a position in the open ground +abreast of the house, the sharp report of a rifled piece, followed +quickly by the fainter explosion of a shell, was heard upon our left. +Another and another succeeded,--indicating that the wood was being +shelled preparatory to an advance in that direction. Slowly we filed to +the left, proceeding by a narrow winding wood-road until the head of our +column had almost reached the river. A sudden order at this stage for +the right about created considerable surprise, which ceased shortly +after, as the sharp rattle of musketry, now as if picket firing, and now +swelling into a volleyed roar, told us of a Rebel movement upon our +flank. That our advance upon them in that direction had been quite +unexpected, was apparent from their hastily abandoned camp grounds; rows +of tents left standing, but slit from ridge-pole to pins; abandoned +caissons and ammunition; and the tubs in which their rations of flour +were kneaded, with undried dough in the corners. That they had rallied +to regain their lost ground, was also apparent. + + * * * * * + +"What's the matter, Dinah?" shouted one of our boys to an active young +wench, who was wending her way from the direction of the firing as +rapidly as the frequent contact of an extensive hooped skirt with the +undergrowth would allow. + +"Dunno zackly, massa! Don't like de racket at all down yonder," she +replied, making at the same time vigorous efforts to release the hold +some bushes appeared to have upon her, upon either side. A sudden roar +of artillery, apparently nearer by, brought matters to a crisis, and +screaming "Oh, Lor," she loosened her clothing, and sprang out of the +skirt with a celerity that showed the perfection of muscular +development, and won shouts of applause from the ranks. + + * * * * * + +A sharp engagement was in progress upon a lower and almost parallel +road. The roar of cannon, the explosion of shells, the rattle of +musketry,--now ragged as if from detached squads,--and now volleyed as +from full ranks, mingled with the shrill cheers or rather demoniac yells +of the Rebels, pealing their banner cry of "Hell," in their successive +charges, and the gruff hoarse shouts of our troops, as they duly +repulsed them, formed a most martial accompaniment to our march. The +unity of sound of well executed volleys, told us how Sykes's Regulars +attacked, whilst marching by the flank, halted at the word, faced to the +left with the precision of an ordinary drill, and delivered their fire +with murderous exactness. + +A few stray bullets flying in the direction of a temporized corral of +pack-horses in a corner of the wood in the rear of the brick house, +frightened their cowardly drivers, who commenced a stampede to the rear; +and as we emerged from the road to our old position, the beasts were +rapidly divesting themselves of their packs, in their progress through +the undergrowth. In conjunction with this the frequent and fierce +charges of the Rebel massed columns, favored by the smoke of the burning +woods, made a panic imminent among the troops upon the lower road. The +quick eye of old Joe saw the danger in a moment, and rushing from the +house and springing upon his horse, he dashed down that road unattended, +his manly form the mark of many a rebel rifle. Shouts of applause +greeted him, and the continuous rattle of our musketry told us of the +regained confidence of the men, and the renewed steadiness of our line. + +It was now four in the afternoon--the usual time with the Rebels for the +execution of their favorite movement--charging in massed columns. On +they came in their successive charges, howling like fiends, and with a +courage that would have adorned an honorable cause. The steady musketry, +but above all the terrific showers of canister from cannon that +thundered in doublets from right to left along the line of our +batteries, could not be withstood, and they fell back in confusion. The +nature of the ground did not permit an advance of our forces, and we +were compelled to rest content with their repulse. An hour later our +Division moved by still another road to the left, to a ridge in the +neighborhood of Banks's Ford. Upon its wooded summit, with no sound to +break in upon us save the screaming of whip-poor-wills, which the boys +with ready augury construed to mean "whip-'em-well," and picket firing, +that would occasionally appear to run along the line, we passed a +comfortable night. + +Breastworks were the order of the day following, and at noon we were +enjoying our coffee in a cleared space, behind a ridge of logs and limbs +that fronted our entire Division, and which we would have been content +to hold against any attacking force. Cannonading continued at intervals, +with occasional musketry firing. As it was considerably to our right, we +were not disturbed in our enjoyment of supplies of provisions obtained +from vacated Rebel houses in the neighborhood. Our amusement was greatly +contributed to, by the sight of some of the men dressed in odd clothing +of a by-gone fashionable age. But perhaps the most interesting object +was a Text-book upon the Divinity of Slavery, written by a Reverend +Doctor Smith, for the use of schools; its marked lessons and dirty +dog-ears shewing that it had troubled the brains and thumbs of youthful +Rebels. Instilled into infant minds, and preached from their pulpits, we +need not wonder that they, with the heartless metaphysics of northern +sympathy, should consider slavery "an incalculable blessing," and should +now be in arms to vindicate their treason, its legitimate offspring. + +Cannonading had been frequent during the day; its heavy booming at times +varied by the light rattle of the rifle. From four until eleven P. M. it +was a continuous roar, save about an hour's intermission between five +and six. At first sounding sullenly away to the right, then gradually +nearing, until at nightfall musketry and artillery appeared to volley +spitefully almost upon our Division limits. It was apparent that our +line had been broken, and apprehending the worst we anxiously stood at +arms and awaited the onward. Nearer and nearer the howling devils came; +louder and louder grew the sounds of conflict. The fiercest of fights +was raging evidently in the very centre of the ground chosen as our +stronghold. If ever the Army of the Potomac was to be demoralized by the +shock of battle, that was the time. But the feeling was not one of fear +with our citizen soldiery--the noblest type of manhood--rather of +eagerness for the troops in reserve to be called into the contest. Just +before six we heard an honest shout, as the boys would call the cheers +of their comrades. It grew fainter; the firing became more +distant--slackened and ceased at six, to be resumed again at seven, upon +another and more remote line of attack. + +The terrible distinctness of this alternate howling and cheering--as +perceptible to the ear during the thunders of the fight, as the silver +lining that not unfrequently fringes the heavily-charged cloud is to the +eye,--is a striking illustration of the power of the human voice. We +were to have another, however, and that of but a single voice, which +from the agony of soul thrown into it, and its almost supernatural +surroundings, must eternally echo in memory. + +About three hundred yards distant from the left of our Brigade line, in +an open field, on elevated ground, stood a large and comfortable +looking farm-house. In the morning it had been occupied; but as its +inmates saw our skirmishers prostrating themselves on the one side in +double lines that ran parallel to our breastworks, and the Rebel advance +at the same time attain the edge of the wood upon the opposite +side,--and the skirmishing that occasionally occurred along the lines +giving promise of a fight that might centre upon their premises,--they +packed up a few valuables and left for a place of safety. But not all. +We read of noble Romans offering their lives in defence of faithful +slaves. That species of self-sacrifice is a stranger to our Southern +chivalry. In the garret of the building, upon some rags, lay an old +woman, who had been crippled from injuries received by being scalded +some months before, and had thus closed a term of faithful service which +ran over fifty years, of the life of her present master and of that of +his father before him. Worn out, and useless for further toil, she had +been placed in the garret with other household rubbish. Her poor body +crippled,--but a casket, nevertheless, of an immortal soul,--was not one +of the valuables taken by the family upon their departure. As the +thunders of the thickening fight broke in upon her loneliness, her cries +upon the God of battles, alone powerful to save, could be heard with +great distinctness. Isolated and under the fire of either line, there +was no room for human relief. Her strength of voice appeared to grow +with the increasing darkness, and above the continuous thunder of the +cannon were the cries--"God Almighty, help me!" "Lord, save me!" "Have +mercy on me!" shrieked and groaned in all the varied tones of mortal +agony. Long after the firing had ceased, in fact until we moved at +early dawn, our men behind the works and in the rifle pits in front +could hear with greater or less distinctness, as if a death wail coming +up from the carnage of the field, the piteous plaints of that +terror-stricken soul. Rumor has it, that before the building was fired +by a shell in the middle of the following forenoon, her spirit had taken +its flight; but whether or not, it could not mitigate the retributive +justice to be measured out by that God over us all to whom vengeance +belongs, upon the heads of the ingrates who had left her to her fate. + +We moved, as we have before mentioned, at early dawn on one of those +fair, bright Sabbath days so happily spoken of by "good old George +Herbert;" marching by the right flank along our works, with a hurried +step. It was between five and six when we neared the front,--passing on +our way out, hosts of stragglers and disorganized regiments of the +Eleventh Corps. They had suffered badly--some said, behaved badly--and +some said, posted in such a way that they could not but behave badly. +The merits of the case must remain for decisive history. Conceding +equally good generalship to both, it is not amiss to say, that what +happened under Howard might not have happened under Sigel. The desultory +firing along our changed front showed too plainly the ground we had lost +the day before. In the wood, alongside of the road fronting the right +centre of our line, our Regiment lay at arms,--listening to awfully +exaggerated stories from stragglers,--watching the posting of artillery +in our immediate front, the entry of Brigades into the wood upon our +left, and their exit under skilful artillery practice,--and now and then +dodging at the sound of the stray shells sent as return compliments from +Rebel batteries. + +"Good-bye, Colonel; these brass-bull pups will roar bloody murder at +Johnny Reb to-day," said a fine-looking, whole-souled Lieutenant, in +command of an Ohio battery, pointing to his pieces with pride, as he +hurried by at a trot, to relieve a battery on our left centre. + +Poor fellow! How blind we are to futurity! His pieces were scarcely in +position before a shell struck the caisson at which he was adjusting +fuses, and his head, picked up at the distance of a hundred yards, was +all that remained unshattered of his manly figure, after the explosion. + + * * * * * + +Files of wounded upon foot, full ambulances, and stretchers laden with +the more serious cases, passed us here. + + * * * * * + +"I am done for, fellows," said a slightly built, pale-faced sergeant, +resting upon his elbow, and pointing to his shattered side, as he was +carried by on a stretcher; "but stick to the old flag; it is bound to +win." + +His passage along the line was greeted with cheers, that must have +sounded gratefully to ears fast closing to earthly sounds. + +But why individualize? The heroism that may be told of such a day, is +but a drop compared with the thousand untold currents of unselfish +patriotism and high resolve that well up in the bosoms of our Union +soldiers. Not that daring deeds are not performed by Rebel ranks, but-- + + "True fortitude is seen in great exploits, + That justice warrants, and that wisdom guides; + All else is towering frenzy and distraction." + +About nine in the forenoon, to the sound of lively musketry on our left, +our Brigade left in front, crossed the open space in front of the wood, +and in the rear of a white plastered farm-house. A narrow wood-road led +us into the wood, and filing to the left we connected with troops +already in line of battle. The position was hardly taken before the zip! +zip!! zip!!! of Minie balls informed us that we were objects of especial +interest to Rebel sharpshooters. In another minute flashes of flame and +puffs of smoke, that appeared to rise from among the dead foliage of the +wood--so closely did their Butternut clothing resemble leaves--revealed +a strong, well-formed, but prostrate Rebel line. The firing now became +general upon both sides. Fortunately our position was such that they +overshot us. Our men continued to aim low, and delivered an effective +fire. Three times they tried to rise preparatory to the charge, and were +as often thrown into confusion, and forced again upon the ground. For +nearly two long hours the rattling of musketry was incessant. Finally, +the Rebels made the discovery that the supply of ammunition was +exhausted upon the right, and the right itself unsupported. It, of +course, was the point to mass upon, and on they came in solid columns to +the charge, completely outflanking our right. + +To hold the ground with our formation was simply impossible. The order +to retire was given; and facing by the rear rank--the Regiments +preserving their ranks as best they could in that thicket of black-jack, +and carrying their wounded,--among them our Major, shot through the +chest--made their way to the open space in rear of the wood. The colors +of our regiment were seized,--but the first Rebel hand upon them relaxed +from a death shot,--another was taken with the Regiment,--and the flag +brought off in triumph. So completely had they gained our flank that +our ranks became mixed with theirs, and nothing but the opportune fire +of our batteries prevented their taking away a Field Officer, who twice +escaped from their hands. + +As our Brigade re-formed in the rear of the batteries, treble charges of +canister swept the woods of the Rebel ranks. We had suffered heavily, +but nothing in comparison to the destruction now visited upon the +Rebels. To complete the horrors of the day, the wood was suddenly fired, +evidently to cover their retreat, and the fire swept to the open space, +enveloping in flame and smoke the dead and wounded of both sides; and +all this at the very time when throughout the length and breadth of this +Christian land, thousands of churches were resonant with the words of +the Gospel of Peace. But "Woe be unto those by whom offences come." +"They have taken the sword, and must perish by the sword." + +So completely were the Rebels masters of the only available fighting +ground that no further effort was made to advance our lines, and the +army stood strictly upon the defensive. The open space, in which stood +the Chancellorsville mansion, at this time a mass of smoking ruins, was +in their possession. At arms behind the breastworks we awaited the +onset; but although there was occasional firing, no general attack was +made during the remainder of the day. With the thanks of our Corps +Commander publicly given for services during the fight, our Brigade +rested at night, speculating upon which side the heavy firing told then +heard in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. + +During the next day we were stationed as a Reserve upon the right, and +called to arms frequently during the day and night, when the Rebels +with their unearthly yells would tempt our artillery by charging upon +the works. On the day after we were moved to support the centre, and +kept continually at arms. In the afternoon a violent thunderstorm +raged--the dread artillery of Heaven teaching us humility by its +striking contrast to the counterfeit thunder of our cannon. Rain +generally follows heavy cannonading. All that afternoon and the greater +part of the night it fell in torrents. Cannonading in the direction of +Fredericksburg had ceased during the day. Sedgwick's disastrous movement +was not generally known,--but our wounded had all been sent off;--our +few wagon trains and our pack-horses had crossed,--and notwithstanding +the show of fight kept up in front, enough was seen to indicate that the +army was about to recross the Rappahannock. + +Favored by the darkness, battery after battery was quietly withdrawn, +their respective Army Corps accompanying in Regiments of two abreast. + +The movement was in painful contrast to the spirited order that gave +such a merry May-day to our hope upon the first of the month. In blouses +that smoked that wet night around camp fires kept up for the purpose of +misleading the enemy, our men stood discussing the orders, and the +counter-orders, and what had happened, and what might happen, from the +step. Hooker had credit for the successful execution of his part of the +programme. What was wrong below was conjecture then, and does not yet +appear to be certainly understood. + + * * * * * + +"Where is Old Pigey?" said one of a group of officers, suddenly turning +to a comrade, as they stood about one of their camp fires. "He has not +been near our Brigade during the day." + +"No! nor near the other, except to damn it in such a style as to draw +down the rebuke of a superior officer," replied the man addressed. +"Follow me, if you desire to see how a 'cool, courageous man of +science,' one, whose face, as the Reporters say of him, 'indicates +tremendous power in reserve,' meets this crisis." + +The two retired, and on a camp stool, with cloak wrapped closely about +him, in front of a fire whose bright blaze gave him enormous proportions +upon the dark background of pines, surrounded by his Staff, his hat more +pinched up and askew than usual, and receiving frequent consolation from +a long, black bottle, evidently his power in reserve upon this occasion, +the General was discovered in a pensive mood. + +"Do you know," continued the officer, "that he reports, as a reason for +his absence to-day, that he did not consider it prudent to be near our +Brigade during the loading and firing exercise." + +"The torturing of a guilty conscience," was the reply. "Our men, as true +soldiers, know but one enemy in the field." + + * * * * * + +At length, at two in the morning of the 6th of May, we cautiously +commenced our movement to the river. The dawn of a rainy day saw us +formed in line of battle, supporting artillery planted to protect the +crossing. About eight our turn came upon the swollen stream. The rain +pelted piteously as we ascended the steep slope of the opposite bank, +and after a day's march over roads resembling rivers of mud, we slept +away our sorrows under wet blankets, in the comfortable huts of our old +camp ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_The Pigeon-hole General and his Adjutant under Charges--The Exhorting +Colonels Adieu to the Sunday Fight at Chancellorsville; Reasons +thereof--Speech of the Dutch Doctor in Reply to a Peace-Offering from +the Chaplain--The Irish Corporal stumping for Freedom--Black Charlie's +Compliments to his Master--Western Virginia at the Head of a Black +Regiment._ + + + "HEAD-QUARTERS, ---- DIVISION. + "---- ARMY CORPS, _7th May, 1863_. + + "General Orders, No. 22. + + "The term of service of six of the eight Regiments forming my + Division is about to expire. In the midst of the pressing duties of + an active Campaign there is but little time for leave-taking, yet I + cannot part from the brave officers and men of my command without + expressing to them the satisfaction and pride I have felt at their + conduct, from the time when I assumed command, as they marched + through Washington, in September last, to join the Army of the + Potomac, then about to meet the Enemy, up to the present eventful + period. + + "The cheerfulness with which they have borne the unaccustomed + fatigues and hardships which it is the lot of the soldier to + endure; their zealous efforts to learn the multifarious duties of + the soldier; the high spirit they have exhibited when called on to + make long and painful marches to meet the enemy, and their bravery + in the field of battle have won my regard and affection. I shall + part from them with deep regret, and wish them, as the time of each + regiment expires, a happy return to their families and friends. + + "---- ----, + "Brig. Gen'l Com'g Division." + +However profound the _regret_ of the General at parting, he must, from +the phraseology of the above Order, have been conscious, that in his own +conduct was to be found the reason that such regret was not in the least +reciprocated by his command. So completely had he aliened the affections +of officers and men that the ordinary salute in recognition of his rank +was given grudgingly, if at all. When there is no gold in the character, +men are not backward in proclaiming that they consider + + "The rank is but the guinea's stamp." + +As their campaign approached its close, he added studied insult to long +continued injury. His inconsistency, and willingness to make use of a +quibble for the accomplishment of tyrannical purposes were shown by his +non-approval of the requisition for dress coats, when it was handed in +by the officer in command of the Regiment, a short time after the +removal of the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel for refusing to obey the +order requiring it. Charges had been preferred against his +Adjutant-General for repeated instances of "Drunkenness upon Duty," +"Disgraceful Conduct," and "Conduct unbecoming an Officer and a +Gentleman." They were returned to the Brigadier, through whom they had +been submitted, with an insulting note, in which the General took +occasion to state, by way of pre-judgment, that the charges were +malicious and false, notwithstanding the scores of names appended as +witnesses;--and that no _Volunteer Captain_ had a right to prefer +charges against one of his Staff; and that it was the duty of the +Brigadier to discountenance any charges of the kind. They were again +forwarded, with the statement of the Brigadier, that the charges were +eminently proper, and that he himself would prefer them, should +objection be taken to the rank of the officer whose signature was +attached. But pigeon-holing was a favorite smothering process at +Division Head-Quarters, and the drunken and disgraceful conduct of the +Adjutant-General remains unpunished. + +Charges supported by a large array of reputable witnesses, ranking from +Brigadier to Privates, were preferred against the General himself, for +"Drunkenness," "Un-officerlike conduct," "Conduct tending to mutiny," +and the utterance of the following treasonable and disloyal +sentiments:-- + + "That he wished some one would ask the army to follow General + McClellan to Washington, and hurl the whole d----d pack into the + Potomac, and place General McClellan at the head of the + Government,--that the removal of the said General McClellan was a + political move to kill the said General; and that the army had + better be taken to Washington, and turned over to Lincoln." + +The charges and specifications, of one of the latter of which the above +is an extract, alleged that the offence was committed at Camp near +Warrenton, about the time of McClellan's removal. Whether they too have +been pigeon-holed at Division Head-Quarters is not known. Attention to +their merit was promised by superior officers. The patriotic sacrifices +of our citizen soldiery are surely worthy of an unceasing and unsparing +effort to procure loyal, temperate, and capable commanders. A timely +trial, besides affording a salutary example, might have done much in +preventing the disgraceful Rebel escape at Williamsport, which alone +dims the glory of Gettysburg. + + * * * * * + +The last that was seen of the exhorting Colonel and his Adjutant, was +their sudden exit from the wood at Chancellorsville, in an early stage +of Sunday's fight,--the one with a slight wound, and the other with a +headache caused by the cannonading, as alleged. A performance which has +not, thus far, brought the coveted star. + + * * * * * + +"I propose the health of the Assistant Surgeon," said the Chaplain, at a +supper given by the Sutler on the day of our muster out, and the +occasion of the presentation of a costly sword to our worthy +Colonel,--proposing thereby to make an advance towards healing their +differences. The Doctor could not escape; and winking, as usual with him +during excitement, he rose to his feet. + +"My ver goot kind friend, the English language he am a shtranger to me. +No shpeak so goot as Shaplain, but py tam," and the Doctor struck the +table until the plates rattled--"was py the Shaplain over six month, +and my opinion is, Shaplains, women, and whiskey not goot for soldiers." + +The Doctor's look and tones were irresistibly ludicrous, and a roar of +laughter at the expense of the Chaplain ran round the board. + + * * * * * + +The Regiment returned with ranks sadly thinned. Many of the survivors; +among them, most of the Field and Staff, the poetical and the preacher +Lieutenants, and privates Tom and Harry,--have re-entered service. The +two latter now carry swords. + + * * * * * + +Bill the cook is the presiding genius of a restaurant; his face, in the +way of reminding one of hot stews and pepper-pot, his best sign. +Charlie, his assistant, was last noticed in a photographic establishment +in Philadelphia; inclosing a full length card portrait of himself in +uniform, as a Corporal in a Black Regiment, for the benefit of his +master's family in Dixie. + + * * * * * + +The little Irish Corporal was heard to tell a brawling peace man,--as he +menaced with the stump of an arm,--lost at Chancellorsville--in a saloon +a short time after his return, to "hould his tongue; that the boys who +had lost limbs in defence of the country were the chappies to stump for +freedom, and that they would keep down all fires in the rear, while our +brave boys are fighting in front." + + * * * * * + +A late mail brings the news that our Western Virginia Captain is soon to +take the field at the head of a Black Regiment, and that the happiest +results are anticipated from his enforcement of military law and +tactics, as learned by him under "Old Rosy," in Western Virginia. + + * * * * * + +Thus we go on. Necessity hastens the progress of civilization and +freedom. Desolating war--protracted by mistaken leniency--has educated +the nation to a proper sense of the treason, and nerved it to the +determination to crush it by all possible means and at every hazard. The +man who has heretofore objected to Negro enlistments, acquiesces when +his own name appears upon the list of the Enrolling Officer. The day +that saw the change in the miserable, not to say treasonable, policy of +alienating the only real friends we have had in the South, and their +successful employment as soldiers, stands first in the decline of the +Rebellion. Its suppression is fixed, and is to be measured by the vigor +with which we press the war. + + "Vengeance is secure to him + Who doth arm himself with right." + + + THE END. + + + + +NEW BOOKS + +And New Editions Recently Issued by + +CARLETON, PUBLISHER, + +(Late RUDD & CARLETON,) + +413 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. + +N.B.--The Publisher, upon receipt of the price in advance, will send any +of the following Books, by mail, POSTAGE FREE, to any part of the United +States. This convenient and very safe mode may be adopted when the +neighboring Booksellers are not supplied with the desired work. State +name and address in full. + +=Victor Hugo.= + +LES MISERABLES.--The only unabridged English translation of "the +grandest and best Novel ever written." One large octavo vol., paper +covers, $1.00, or cloth bound, $1.50 + +LES MISERABLES.--A superior edition of the same Novel, in five handsome +octavo vols.--"Fantine," "Cosette," "Marius," "St. Denis," and +"Valjean." 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Davies. 12mo. cl., $1.25 + EDGAR POE AND HIS CRITICS.--By Mrs. Whitman, do. 75 cts. + HARTLEY NORMAN.--A novel do. $1.25 + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +The author, "A Citizen-Soldier", is pseudonym for William H. Armstrong. +"Old Pigey" is believed to be based on General Arthur A. Humphreys. + +This text has been edited to standardize representation of censored +words. Additionally, hyphens have been added to some phrases, to provide +consistency. + +"=" has been used in this text edition of the book to indicate where +the original book used bold fonts; + has been used to indicate a font +change. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals, by +William H. Armstrong + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RED-TAPE AND PIGEON-HOLE GENERALS *** + +***** This file should be named 23565.txt or 23565.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/6/23565/ + +Produced by D. 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