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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31075-8.txt b/31075-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..40f9fd3 --- /dev/null +++ b/31075-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5757 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Ranks, by R. E. McBride + +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: In The Ranks + From the Wilderness to Appomattox Court House + +Author: R. E. McBride + +Release Date: January 25, 2010 [EBook #31075] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE RANKS *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + +[Illustration: R. E. McBRIDE.] + + + + + IN THE RANKS: + + FROM THE + + WILDERNESS TO APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE. + + + + + THE WAR, + AS SEEN AND EXPERIENCED BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER IN THE + ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. + + + + + BY REV. R. E. M'BRIDE. + + + + + A tale of the times of old. The deeds of days of other years. + --OSSIAN. + + + + + + CINCINNATI: + PRINTED BY WALDEN & STOWE, + FOR THE AUTHOR. + 1881 + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by + + R. E. M'BRIDE, + + In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In giving this book to the public we do so under the same plea which +justifies those pleasant gatherings called "reunions," where men of the +same regiment, corps, or army, meet to extend friendly greetings to each +other, to friends, and all comrades in arms. + +The writer has found it a pleasant task to recall the scenes of fifteen +years ago, when, a mere boy in years, he had a part in the events here +recorded. He is conscious of a kindly affection toward the men who were +his companions during those stirring times. Kindness, thoughtfulness, +forbearance, toward the boy-soldier, are not forgotten. If he found any +thing different from these in his intercourse with men or officers, it +has passed from memory, and he would not recall it if he could. + +We trust, also, that this work may have a mission of utility to the +generation that has grown up since the war. + +There is a certain almost indefinable something, which has been summed +up under the expression, "military traditions." This comes not alone +from formal histories of the wars of the nation, but more largely from +the history which each soldier carried home with him after the war was +over. It meant something more than a certain amount of small family +vanity, when men used to say, "My father was a soldier of the +Revolution;" "My father fought at Lundy's Lane." + +There lay back of this the stories told to wondering little ones while +they gathered around the arm-chair of the soldier grandfather. Here were +planted the seeds of military ardor that found expression at Gettysburg, +Vicksburg, Atlanta, and the Wilderness. It is thus the past of the +nation projects itself into the present. Our comrades that sleep down +yonder guard their country more effectually than if, full armed, they +kept unceasing watch on all her borders. Though dead, they yet +speak,--yes _live_, in the spirit which yet lives in the hearts of their +countrymen. The cause they died for our children will love; the +institutions they preserved at such cost, our sons will perpetuate by +intelligent devotion to freedom and her laws. + +Is it in vain, then, my comrade, that I sit down in your family circle, +and tell your children the story of our hardships, trials, reverses, +victories? + +This narrative is submitted to you almost as first written, when +intended only for the perusal of my own family. In recounting events +subsequent to August 19, 1864, when the One Hundred and Ninetieth is +spoken of, the One Hundred and Ninety-first is also included, as they +were practically one. + +Since completing the work, the author has learned that the report of the +Adjutant-general of Pennsylvania gives these regiments, the One Hundred +and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first, no credit for service +subsequent to the battle of Welden Railroad, in August, 1864. We give +an explanation of this in the closing chapter, and send forth this +volume, hoping that it may serve, in some measure, to do justice to as +devoted a body of men as Pennsylvania sent to the field. + +SENECA, KANSAS, March, 1881. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE. + + Alexander, John, 25 + + Appomattox Battle, 215 + + Amusements, 93, 158 + + + Bethsaida Church, 66 + + Birkman, Capt., 72, 118 + + Boggs, Lieut., 35 + + Baiers, Lieut., 21 + + + Carle, Col., 94, 100, 225 + + Coleman, Mike, 26, 68, 172, 182 + + Coleman, Sergt., 47, 72 + + Culp, Eckard, 68 + + Craig, Wm., 39 + + + Delo, Chaplain, 59 + + Dodds, Jasper, 21 + + Dunn, Geo., 134 + + Dillinger, 121 + + + Eshelman, Abe, 26, 85 + + Elliot, John, 28 + + Execution, 133 + + Edgar, John, 170 + + + Fort Federal Hill, 112 + + Fort Steadman, 162 + + Five Forks Battle, 188 + + + Gaines' Mill Battle, 20 + + Ginter, 217 + + Ghosts, 49 + + Graham, Daniel, 60 + + Gravelly Run Battle, 172 + + Grossman, Louis, 40 + + + Harris, Wm., 135 + + Hatcher's Run Battle, 148 + + Hartshorn, 73 + + Hayden, Lieut., 73, 221 + + Hop, 135 + + + Jones, Capt., 31 + + + Kinsey, Capt., 73, 120 + + Kenedy, W. H. H., 224 + + + M'Cullough, M. F., 31 + + M'Guire, J., 135 + + Miller, Ed., 182 + + Moreland, C. L., 63, 100 + + Mortars, 88 + + Mushrush, Benj., 27 + + + North Ann River Battle, 62 + + + Overdoff, 120 + + + Petersburg, 85 + + Pattee, Col., 73, 85, 118, 179, 219 + + Peacock, Lieut., 118 + + Preston, Geo., 121 + + + Quaker Road Battle, 171 + + + Robbins, 215 + + Rowanty Creek Battle, 148 + + Running the Gauntlet, 90 + + Rutter, Wm., 85 + + Ramrods, 93 + + + Stanley, John, 31, 69 + + Stewart, Joe, 25 + + Stewart, Capt., 22 + + Steen, David, 33 + + Shaffer, J., 68 + + Spotsylvania, 37 + + + Walb, L. C., 204 + + Welden Railroad, 118 + + Welden Raid, 124 + + White, Allen, 31 + + White Oak Swamp Battle, 75 + + Wilderness Battle, 30 + + Woods, O'Harra, 22 + + Wright, Ernest, 218 + + Whisky, 140 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +I have long purposed the following work, designing to put in a form +somewhat permanent my recollections of experiences in the great war, +believing it may be a source of satisfaction to my children in later +years. Already many of those scenes begin to appear dim and dreamlike, +through the receding years, and many faces, once so clearly pictured in +memory as seen around the camp-fire, in the march, and on the field of +battle, have faded quite away. These things admonish me that what is +done must be done quickly. + +In the following pages you will find the names of men otherwise unknown, +because their part in the great conflict was an humble one, yet none the +less grand and heroic. This is written during the brief and uncertain +intervals of leisure that may be caught up here and there amid the +pressing work of the pastorate. You will not, then, I trust, undervalue +it because of literary blemishes. It is _history_ as really as more +pretentious works. It is a specimen of the _minutiæ_ of history, a story +of the war as seen by a private in the ranks, not by one who, as a +favored spectator, could survey the movements of a whole army at a +glance, and hence could, _must_, individualize brigades, divisions, army +corps. It is the war in field, woods, underbrush, picket-post, +skirmish-line, camp, march, bivouac. During 1864 no memorandum was kept, +and a diary kept during the spring of 1865 was lost, within a year after +the close of the war. Hence I have depended on memory alone, aided in +fixing dates, etc., by reference to written works. Beyond this, the +histories consulted were of little assistance, as their record of events +sometimes differed materially from my recollection of them. In such +cases I tell my own story, as the object is to record these things as +they appeared to me. + +In recording events of which I was not myself a witness, I give the +story as heard from the lips of comrades. Such portions are easily +discernible in the body of the narrative. You can have them for what +they are worth. + + "I can not tell how the truth may be, + I tell the tale as 'twas told to me." + + + + +IN THE RANKS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +"WAR!" + + +It is a little word. A child may pronounce it; but what word that ever +fell from human lips has a meaning full of such intensity of horror as +this little word? At its sound there rises up a grim vision of "confused +noise and garments rolled in blood." April 12, 1861, cannon fired by +traitor hands, boomed out over Charleston harbor. The dire sound that +shook the air that Spring morning did not die away in reverberating +echoes from sea to shore, from island to headland. It rolled on through +all the land, over mountain and valley, moaning in every home, at every +fireside, "War! War! War!" + +Are we a civilized people? What is civilization? Is it possible to +eliminate the tiger from human nature? Who would have dreamed that the +men of the North, busy with plowing and sowing, planning, contriving, +inventing, could prove themselves on a hundred battle-fields a fiercely +warlike people? The world looked on with wonder as they rushed eagerly +into the conflict, pouring out their blood like water and their wealth +without measure, for a sentiment, a principle, that may be summed up in +the one word--"nationality." "The great uprising" was not the movement +of a blind, unreasoning impulse. A fire had been smoldering in the North +for years. The first cannon shot, that hurtled around the old flag as it +floated over the walls of Fort Sumter shook down the barriers that +confined it, and the free winds of liberty fanned it to a devouring +flame. + +The Yankee--let the name be proudly spoken--as he turned the furrow, +stood by his work bench, or listened to the jarring clank of his +machinery, had mused with heavy heart and shame-flushed cheek how a +haughty, brutal, un-American spirit had drawn a line across the land, +and said, "Beyond this is _not_ your country. Here your free speech, +free labor, and free thought shall never come." While this line was +imaginary, he had waited for better days and larger thought to change +the current of the times; but when it was transformed into bristling +bayonets and frowning cannon, the tiger rose up within him, and with +unquestioning faith he took up the gauge of battle. Men talked of the +"cold blood of the North." That blood had surged impetuously through the +veins of warrior freemen for a hundred generations. Here in the New +World it had lost none of its vigor. The sturdy spirit that in other +years ruled the hand that wielded the battle-ax, still ruled, when the +hand was employed in subduing mountain and prairie. The North was averse +to war, because it was rising to that higher civilization that abhors +violence, discards brute methods, and relies on the intellectual and +moral. Such a people, driven to desperation, move right forward to the +accomplishment of their object with a scorn of cost or consequences +unknown to a lower type. Hence it is that the people of the North, +without hesitation, grappled with a rebellion the most formidable ever +successfully encountered by any government. For a like reason their +great armies, melting away like frost before the sun when the rebel flag +went down, mingled again with the people without jar or confusion. + +Turning away from a half million graves, wherein they had buried their +slain, their bravest and best beloved, they forgot all bitterness for +joy that peace had come. No people in the world had greater reason for +severity than the victors in this strife. War, willful, unprovoked, +without the shadow of justification, had been thrust upon them. This had +been preceded by a series of usurpations the most unblushing ever +endured by a free people. These were a part of the plan of a band of +traitors, who had plotted for years to overthrow the existing order of +things, and establish an empire with human slavery for its chief +corner-stone. + +The "Golden Circle," with its center at Havana, Cuba, its radii +extending to Pennsylvania on the North, the isthmus on the south, and +sweeping from shore to shore, was the bold dream of the men who plotted +the destruction of the American republic. Their object was pursued with +a cold-blooded disregard of all right, human and divine, worthy of the +pagan brutality of the Roman Triumvirate. Prating about the +"Constitution" with hypocritical cant, they trampled upon every +safeguard of popular liberty, and at last, in defiance of even the forms +of law, plunged the people of the Southern States into a war with the +government, which, even if successful in securing a separation, could +only have been the beginning of woes, as their plans would develop. + +But notwithstanding the heinousness of the accomplished crime, not a man +was punished. It is doubtful whether popular opinion would have approved +the punishment of even the arch-traitor, Jeff Davis. The common +sentiment was expressed by the oft-repeated verdict: "Enough of blood +has been shed." Whether this was wise or not it is vain to inquire. +Perhaps the future will vindicate the wisdom of the generous course of +the government. Thus far it has seemed like folly. The South has shown a +persistent vindictiveness unequaled in the history of any people, a +cruelty toward the helpless victims of their hate that is shameful to +the last degree. The cowardly assassination of political opponents, the +brutal murder of black men, women, and children, has been defended +openly or covertly by pulpit, press, and platform. If any disapprove, +their voice is not heard in condemnation of the wrong. + +This may have resulted partly from the fact that many of the people of +the North, notably many so-called statesmen, ignored common sense and +gave way to gush and sentiment. There is nothing gained in this prosy +world by calling black white. The leaders of the rebellion were guilty +of the horrible crime of _treason_, and we baptized it something else. +The result is manifest to all who are not willfully and wickedly blind +to the facts. + +Yet it is the part of duty to hope for the speedy coming of an era of +calmer judgment, of real and healthy patriotism, when every American +citizen will claim our whole land as his _country_. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When the civil war began, my home was with the family of Mr. John Dunn, +in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The old gentleman was a Democrat, and at +first had little to say about the war. One evening he returned from the +village in a state of intense excitement. He had heard of the disastrous +battle at Bull Run. It is no exaggeration to say that he "pranced" +around the room, chewing his tobacco with great vigor, telling how many +of our "poor boys" had been slaughtered by the ---- rebels. His apathy +was at an end. He could see where the line lay between treason and +patriotism, when once that line was traced in blood. + +At this time two Butler County companies, C and D, of the Eleventh +Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, were in camp near Pittsburg. The +corps was sent forward to Washington at once, and from that time till +the close of their term of service, they gallantly represented the +Keystone State in every battle fought by the Army of the Potomac. My +brother, Wm. A., was a private in Company C. He enlisted June 10, 1861, +and fell, with many other brave men, at the battle of Gaines' Mill, June +27, 1862. + +From what I could learn from those who were present, the following are +the facts concerning the disaster which befell the regiment in this +engagement, and my brother's death: + +Late in the afternoon of the 27th, the Eleventh moved forward to relieve +a New Jersey regiment, which had been fighting in a piece of woods near +the center of the line. The rebels came swarming against them, line +after line, but were continually driven back by the relentless volleys +that blazed out from the ranks of the Eleventh. Unfortunately, about the +time they became engaged, the line on either side of them was driven +back, and they were left to contend alone against terrible odds. Neither +men nor officers knew their real situation until men began to fall, from +volleys poured into them from the flanks. Major Johns went in the +direction from which the fire was coming, thinking that some of our own +troops were firing on them through mistake. He was made prisoner. +Adjutant M'Coy was ordered to report the condition of things to General +Mead. On reaching the open ground, he saw the battle flags of nine rebel +regiments on the flank and rear. He at once reported to the colonel. +Orders were given to fall back, the intention being to hew a way out +through the enemy. At this point my brother fell. Having just loaded his +gun as the command was given to move toward the rear, he paused to give +a parting shot. A bullet struck him in the face, penetrating the brain, +and he fell dead. + +The regiment, hemmed in on every side by overwhelming numbers, with +one-fourth of their number killed or wounded, at last surrendered. +Company D lost eight men, killed, in this engagement, besides a number +mortally wounded or permanently disabled. Of the former was Jasper +Dodds, who was wounded in the knee by a rifle ball. After being removed +to Richmond, he wrote a cheerful letter to his mother and friends at +home, no doubt expecting to recover. He died July 18th. Jacob Baiers, +then sergeant, afterwards promoted to captain, was shot through the +lungs, and never wholly recovered. He continued in service, however, +until April, 1864. The regiment was exchanged in time to participate in +the second Bull Run battle, where again their loss was terrible. Seven +men of Company D were killed or mortally wounded. It is said that Jesse +Fry and Boss. M'Cullough were the only men of the company on their feet +and unhurt at the close of the battle. Scarcely were their ranks +somewhat filled up by returning convalescents, when the other great +battles followed. On every field they left their dead. "South Mountain," +"Antietam," "Fredericksburg,"--these words you can see in the muster +roll, after that word which even yet chills the heart, "killed." Captain +Stewart was struck through the breast at Fredericksburg, and died in two +hours. Young O'Harra Woods was promoted for gallant conduct in this +battle. The honor was well bestowed and nobly borne. He fell at +Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, bravely leading his men in that great battle. +But why particularize; brave men all. + + "Theirs not to make reply, + Theirs not to reason why, + Theirs but to do and die." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Butler County, famous for rocks, hills, buckwheat, psalm-singing, and +soap mines. Psalm singing? Yes. The sturdy Scotch-Irish that grew among +her hills, as a rule, would sing to the Lord with no other words than +those of the warrior king and the holy men of old. Have you heard their +solemn songs? I hear them to-night--it is not imagination, not "their +songs," but "our songs." A voice of singing floats down through the +years, very holy and very tender; for now all the singers are "evermore +before the throne," except two, whose infant lips could scarce pronounce +the words: + + "Lord, bless and pity us, + Shine on us with thy face; + That th' earth thy way, and nations all + May know thy saving grace." + +Yes, psalm-singing! But the soap mines? We protest! We have hunted +huckleberries on her hills; we have pursued the groundhog in her woods, +the 'coon around her cornfields; we have swum and fished in her +sparkling streams; from Dan to Beersheba we have worked, played, done +"many things we ought not to have done," and left undone many things it +was our duty to do; but we never saw a soap mine. We can testify before +all the world that the people of Butler County make their soap in the +usual innocent and odorous manner. + +PROSPECT, Butler County, a dreamy village of the olden time. +The houses accommodate themselves to the cross-roads. One road stretches +from the county seat westward; the other from the "stone house" goes +winding along toward Pittsburg. The houses have also a contented, self +satisfied look; the stores and the tavern seem to consider themselves +permanent factors in the world's machinery. On a pleasant day an +"honorable" or two might be seen sunning themselves in front of store or +tavern, whittling, and adding dignity to the surroundings. + +In this quiet village one chilly morning in December, 1863, the writer +mounted the stage-coach and went rattling over the frozen ground toward +Pittsburg, to enlist in the volunteer service. Just seventeen years ago +that very morning I had begun the business of life on rather limited +capital; and although it had been improved with considerable success, +yet the kindly prophecies, particularly of my copperhead friends, did +not portend a very lengthy nor brilliant military career. The next day I +made my way to the provost-marshal's office, and, after due examination, +was pronounced all right, and sworn into the service. If I lied about my +age, obliging memory has written it over with something else, and it is +gone from me. But I think Captain ----, of Prospect, did the lying; at +least let us hope that he has sufficiently repented of it long ere this. + +I selected Company D, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regular Volunteer +Corps, and was assigned accordingly. The recruits were retained for some +time at Camp Copeland, then about the dreariest, most uncomfortable +place I ever saw; shelter and provisions insufficient, bad whisky and +blacklegs abundant. Joe Stewart, John Alexander, and myself tented +together here. They had enlisted for the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, the +"Roundheads." Joe was an old acquaintance. He served gallantly till the +close of the war. John was a noble boy and found a soldier's death at +Cold Harbor. After one of the fruitless charges made there, when the +Roundheads came back foiled of their purpose, John was not with them. In +the darkness of night which quickly closed around, Joe went out to +search for him. As he was picking his way stealthily among the dead and +dying, he heard a well known voice calling softly near by, "Joe, Joe, is +that you?" It was John, lying there, shot through the breast. He warned +his rescuer to be very cautious, as the rebel videttes were near. With +much difficulty he got him back to our lines. This was the night of June +2d, and he died on the 4th. + +I left the latter part of January to join the regiment, then camped at +Bristoe Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. With me were two +recruits for Company E, Abe Eshelman and Mike Coleman. The former was +killed at Petersburg; the latter, a live Irishman, was mustered out at +the close of the war, after a year and a half of valiant service for his +adopted country. We went by Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington, +thence by the Orange and Alexandria road, every mile historic ground, +past Bull Run, where, the soldiers say, the dead would not stay buried, +and finally we alight at Bristoe Station. On the right over there are +the Bucktails; a little further toward the west the Second is camped. +Over the hill toward Brentsville, past the artillery camp, is the +Eleventh. + +Here I found John Elliot, who had served with the regiment since its +organization. He, brother William, and myself had been boy companions +before the war, although I was younger than they. I went into the mess +with him, S. L. Parker, and Benjamin Mushrush. After being with them but +a short time, I was taken with that scourge of the army, measles, and +was removed to the surgeon's tent. I was on picket when the disease made +itself felt. The day and night on which I was on duty were stormy, rain +and snow. As a result, I had a lively time of it. The disease left my +voice so impaired that, for a long time, I was unable to speak above a +whisper. During my stay at the surgeon's tent, I employed myself +studying his books on surgery, and acquired a knowledge on the subject +which was utilized at a later period. + +John Elliot had enlisted April 25, 1861, although not mustered into the +United States service until July 5th of the same year. He felt that he +should be mustered out at the former date of 1864. As the time drew near +we conversed frequently on the subject, and he was in some perplexity as +to duty in the case. The morning of the 25th found him on picket. I +prepared the morning meal for the mess and then relieved him until he +should breakfast. Soon he returned in a more than usually cheerful +spirit. After chatting pleasantly for a time, he spoke of his term of +enlistment. + +"I have that matter all arranged now," he said, "as far as I am +concerned. I am not certain whether the government has a right to hold +me any longer or not; but I will stay till it sees fit to discharge me. +The country needs soldiers this Spring. I would like to visit home. It's +been three years since I saw mother and the boys; but it's all right. +God has kept me safely through all these battles, and I can trust him +for time to come." + +This was the substance of his language, his exact words, as near as I +can remember. They are noble words; as grand as ever fell from the lips +of Christian hero. Many a time afterward they were an inspiration to me. +His face was bright that beautiful Spring morning with a joy that was +not of earth. The night watches had been spent communing with God,--yes, +face to face. Had he known that the midsummer sun would look down upon +his grave, would his decision have been different? I think not. He knew +too much of war and battles not to count the cost. From a Southern +prison-pen his brave spirit went up to God. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +April 29th we broke camp and proceeded to near Culpepper Court-house. +Before leaving camp we sent our extra baggage, clothing, etc., to +Washington, and, of course, never saw them again. During the night of +May 3d we marched for the Rapidan, crossing at Germania Ford. The next +evening we camped in order of battle near the Wilderness Tavern. The +following morning the division moved out on a country road toward +Robertson's Tavern. Passing through woods, we came to an open field, +where line of battle was formed. The Bucktails were in front, +skirmishing. We could see them on the ridge, and their occasional shouts +and rapid firing showed that the battle had begun. For the first time I +heard the whistle of the rifle ball, as a stray one now and then +whistled over the line of battle. After waiting thus for some time, we +moved back some distance, in the direction from which we had come. Here +I spoke a few words with John Elliot, the last we ever exchanged. In +the confusion which followed he was made prisoner, and died at +Andersonville. Soon the noise of battle began to deepen in our front and +at the right. Hurried orders were received; the line moved by the right +flank, double-quick. The Seventh Regiment deployed and vanished into the +woods, forward, and the Eleventh followed in line of battle. Moving on +through the thick underbrush, the enemy was quickly encountered. Their +first volley was deadly. A ball struck Boss. M'Cullough in the forehead. +He fell dead, a portion of his shattered brain lodging on the arm of +John Stanley, a boy of seventeen, who had come to us during the Spring. +John shuddered, shook it from the sleeve of his blouse, raised his gun +and began firing. Captain Jones, of Company A, White, of Company C, and +many others, fell dead before this first volley. Soon it was discovered +that the division was flanked. Our line was at right angles with the +position in which the subsequent fighting took place. To crown all, the +woods took fire, and soon the only problem that remained was to withdraw +as quickly and safely as possible. + +While this turmoil was progressing, to me so strange and bewildering, +the surgeon, Dr. Lyon, came across me, and directed me to go to a +certain point at the edge of the woods, east of the Wilderness Tavern, +to help care for the wounded. Thither I made my way. As I passed on +through the woods, I was soon out of reach of the bullets, which had +been flying thick and fast. When I came to the open ground, I saw more +clearly than ever the results of the battle, still going on in the woods +beyond. The multitude of wounded and dying men crowded the road. Some +were limping painfully along; others were being carried on stretchers, +or helped along by comrades. + +Reaching the designated place, I found the field tents erected, and all +full of suffering men. I took charge of one in which were twenty-seven +wounded, several amputations, and other bad cases. They lay with their +heads toward the canvas, a narrow path being left between their feet. +All that could be done for them was to give them food and water, bathe +their wounds, and render any little service by which their sufferings +might be mitigated. Their heroic patience astonished me. Men, torn and +mangled, would utter no groan, nor give any vocal expression to the +agonies which racked them, except sometimes when sleep or delirium found +the overmastering will off guard. + +Toward evening I learned that the regiment was just beyond the +Wilderness tavern; and, getting relieved for a short time, I started to +go to them, as I had the extra coffee of the mess. As I came in sight, +they moved hurriedly away toward the right, where the battle was raging +fiercely. It was useless to follow, and I began to retrace my steps. +Pausing a moment on an elevated knoll, I gazed on the strange scene that +spread out before me. From the right on the turnpike, a line, somewhat +curved, extended a distance of three or four miles to the left. On the +right the line was enveloped in woods, in which a terrific conflict was +going on. Sedgwick's corps was standing between the army and disaster. +In the center, on elevated ground, beyond some low woods, I could see a +rebel line of battle, while the sharp fire of skirmishers in front +showed that here the lines of blue and gray would soon smite together. +Further toward the left, a line of blue extended along the edge of a +narrow field, facing the woods just beyond, into which it poured +incessant volleys, while the smoke that rose up from the woods showed +that an active foe was there. Behind our line, flat on the ground, lay a +second one. A tragedy, grandly, awfully sublime, was enacting before me. +A hundred thousand men were grappling in deadly conflict. While I gazed +the line of battle slackened its fire; the second one rose from the +ground; then both swept forward across the field and into the woods +beyond, bearing the enemy before them. For a few moments there was +silence, and then the struggle was renewed as fiercely as ever. I +returned to the field-tents to go on with my work of mercy among the +suffering. + +As night drew on the battle ceased, and the men lay down to sleep where +they had fought, ready to renew the strife at the return of light. In +the tents there, while the army beyond was resting, part of our nation's +heroes continued the contest through the solemn hours of night. They +fought with the giant Pain, and some of them went down into the dark +valley, and close by the chill waters they faced the King of Terrors. + +I slept none that night. As morning approached, I went to the edge of +the little opening which had been cleared in the woods for the tents. +While I stood here looking off toward the scene of yesterday's battle, +the sound of a single rifle shot rang out on the air, then another and +another, and then a deafening roar of musketry burst forth and raged +along the whole line, continuing almost without interruption all day. + +In the afternoon Lieutenant Boggs and David Steen were brought in +wounded, the former by a rifle ball in the thigh, the latter severely +bruised by a fragment of shell. He had been wounded at Gaines' Mill and +Fredericksburg. After his return this time, I heard him say that he had +come to have more dread of going into battle since he had been wounded +so often. Still he never shrank from duty. He was killed the following +August at Welden Railroad. + +Here I saw the only instance of impatience on the part of a wounded man +of which I have any recollection. A young fellow lay about the middle of +the tent, wounded in the knee, a ball having cut the skin on one side +without injuring the bone. His long legs were extended almost across +the narrow path along which I was compelled to walk in passing from one +to another. He was grumbling and complaining, demanding and receiving +attentions in a gruff and uncivil manner. He would also mutter +threatenings of what he would do should I hurt him in stepping over his +crooked legs outstretched in my way. To all of this I paid no attention +and signs of ill-nature continued. Finally, a bright young man opposite, +whose leg was amputated at the thigh, raised himself on his elbow and +proceeded to express his opinion of such conduct in language much more +forcible than pious. + +From this place we moved some distance to the left, where the tents were +erected in an open field. Here an incident occurred which illustrates +the false estimate placed upon the civilization of the North by the +masses of the South. A wounded rebel, an intelligent-looking young man, +was brought in from the field in an ambulance. We came with a stretcher +to carry him into the tent. He looked at us with a frightened, helpless +look, and asked: + +"You won't hurt me, will you?" + +I assured him we would be just as careful as possible. He seemed +surprised to be treated with kindness, having been taught, evidently, +that the Yankee invader was a barbarian. Removed to the tent, I examined +his wound. A bullet had passed through the ankle joint, and the only +remedy was amputation. He inquired how it was. It seemed hard to tell +him that he must go through life maimed. + +"That is a bad foot; but the surgeons will do the best they can for it. +You may lose it." Some time after he was removed, I suppose to have his +foot amputated, and I saw him no more. + +The next move was to Spotsylvania. Grant had grappled with his enemy, +intending to hold on "all Summer." The same spirit seemed to animate his +army, from General Meade down to the latest recruit in the ranks. The +lines of blue came out from the smoking underbrush of the Wilderness, +their ranks torn and decimated, and closed in around the bristling +batteries and rifle-pits of Spotsylvania with a relentless courage that +was sublime. + +Here the tents were pitched in a little, open lot, a house to the right +as you faced the position where the fighting was in progress. The tents +were not sufficient to contain the wounded, and they lay on the ground +on the outside by thousands. Those long rows of suffering forms, gashed +and mangled in every conceivable manner, told a dreadful tale of human +wrath. That gallant division, the Reserves, had preserved their +well-earned reputation for stubborn valor at a terrible cost. Their +greatest loss was sustained in a single onset against the rebel +position. The enemy was posted in strong rifle-pits, beyond a narrow +strip of swamp. Orders were given to charge these works. The division +moved forward. They had never failed in such an undertaking. Their +charge had always pierced the enemy's line. This had been their record +during three years of warfare. But men can not accomplish +impossibilities. Baffled by the swamp, cut by the merciless fire that +blazed out from the pits, they are driven back, rally, re-form and +charge the second and third time, and then retire to the position from +which they had come out. + +The field-tents here were nearer the front than before. Bullets and an +occasional shell whistled over us. My work was still the same, caring +for the wounded, assisting the surgeon, or occasionally binding up a +wound myself. + +During the second day, while engaged at the farther end of the tent, I +heard at the front a familiar voice. As soon as I was disengaged I went +to the front end of the tent, eager to learn from whom the well-known +voice proceeded. There lay a large, noble-looking young man, severely +wounded in the thigh. He was conversing quietly with a wounded comrade +by his side. Voice and face were as familiar as if heard and seen but +yesterday. Puzzled and deeply interested, I did not speak, but proceeded +to bathe his wound. While thus engaged, his eyes fell upon my face. +Looking at me intently a moment, his face brightened, and he exclaimed: + +"You are Rob M'Bride, aren't you?" + +"Yes; and you are Billy Craig," was the immediate reply. + +As soon as he pronounced my name, it all came to me in a moment. We had +been school-mates at Courtney's School-house. He was then one of the +"big boys," and I a lad of nine or ten. I had not seen him since. He was +one of those large-hearted, royal souls, that could find pleasure in +little acts of kindness, that bound me to him very closely. He bore his +sufferings with heroic fortitude. When the time came to remove the +wounded, and they were being hurried away in ambulances and rough army +wagons, I went to Dr. Lyon and told him of the case. He went with me to +an ambulance and ordered room reserved in it for him. I then had him +carried to it, made him as comfortable as possible, bade him good-bye +and God speed, and saw him no more on earth. He died from his wound some +time in June. + +May 11th, Lewis Grossman, of Company C, was brought in, terribly wounded +by a shell. One arm and leg were crushed, and he was otherwise bruised. +I did not see him until after the arm and leg were amputated. He was a +young man of great physical endurance, or he would never have rallied +from the shock. He was as pale as a corpse when first brought into the +tent, but rallied in a little while, and was able to take some +refreshment. When left to himself his mind wandered, and he would talk +as if he were engaged in the quiet pursuits of peace. Unless prevented, +he would remove the bandages from the stumps of his amputated limbs. +When spoken to, however, he would refrain from this, and talk rationally +of the present circumstances. Dr. Lyon finally told me to give my +attention entirely to him. This I did until he was sent away. He told me +how his wound was received. He was in front, skirmishing. He was in the +road in front of a rebel battery, and in the act of loading his gun. +Perceiving they were about to fire, he still delayed a moment, thinking +to get in another shot before leaping to the shelter of a large tree +that stood near. It was a costly delay. + +The shell came screaming toward him, burst, and dashed him stunned and +mangled to the ground. As he concluded this narrative, he added, with +the utmost seriousness: "But they haven't made much off me, after all. +I've peppered them in almost every battle the Potomac army has fought +since the war began." + +He got along finely, and there seemed every prospect of recovery. When +some of the boys called on him at Washington, on their way home in June, +he requested them to say nothing to his friends about the extent of his +wounds. But from some cause--perhaps gangrene--he died August 3d, and +is buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington. + +Nearly opposite Lewis lay a young man of very fine face and attractive +appearance. He was mortally wounded. Most of the time his sufferings +were very great, but no earthly skill could bring any relief. As death +drew on, his mind wandered. He was fighting his battles over again. He +was not the poor, crushed mortality that lay here. His spirit was over +yonder, where the cannon's sullen roar and the awful din of musketry, +the cheers of the struggling combatants, told of a deadly strife. +Sometimes he was distressed and troubled, sometimes exultant. Anon his +face would light up with the strange fire of battle, and he would raise +his arm and cheer. Once he said quite distinctly: "Here is a chance for +a brave man." Later he became calm, and quietly fell asleep, to wake no +more on earth till the great day of God. + + "Soldier, sleep, thy warfare o'er, + Sleep the sleep that knows no waking, + Dream of battle-fields no more." + +One of the Bucktail Regiment lay on the ground in front of the tent, +shot through the chest. He was, perhaps, twenty-five years of age, +large and well-formed, his face stamped with the marks of intelligence. +While engaged near him, I saw another of that band of heroes coming +toward him with great strides, an expression of anguish on his face +which I can not forget. He threw himself on his knees by the wounded +man, kissed him, then covered his face with his hands, and his great +manly form shook with convulsive sobbings. Tears trickled down the +cheeks of the other. Not a word was spoken until, after a while, the +storm of emotion had passed. Then they conversed calmly for a while, and +parted with the quiet dignity of brave men who say farewell while the +shadow of death lies dark around them. + +A man was brought in shot through both thighs. I did not know his name, +but had heard his voice among the worshipers in the church-tent at +Bristoe Station, and knew that he was a man of God. After a brief +examination, the surgeon announced that amputation would be necessary. + +"Very well, doctor; get around to it as quick as you can. I suffer +terribly." + +Another was shot in the thigh, the bone shattered to the hip. When told +that the limb must be amputated he objected. + +"But you will die if it is not done." + +"I can't help that; it shall not be amputated with my consent." + +Within twenty-four hours he was dead. Whether wise in his decision or +not, he met the result without flinching or complaint. + +A boy with his arm torn off by a shell expressed his only complaint in +the words, "I never can fight any more." + +One evening, worn out by constant labor and watching, I lay down in a +vacant place in the tent, from which a dead soldier had been removed, to +find rest for mind and body in sleep. As I lay there thinking of the +dreadful scenes around me, of the wounded and dying here, the dead just +over yonder, I began to wonder what would be the sensations of a man +shot in the brain. Suddenly there came a shock, as if the whole +machinery of life had stopped at once. How long a time elapsed before +consciousness was resumed I do not know; the interval may have been +momentary; but as a dim sense of being stole over me again, I was quite +convinced that a stray shot had struck me in the head. Rousing myself, I +deliberately felt my head, to learn the exact state of things. To my +surprise and gratification, I found every thing in due order. I leave +it to those who are skilled in the mysteries of the nervous system to +explain the phenomenon; but you must allow me to believe that I know +something of what it is to be shot in the head. + +The time arrived, at length, when the field hospitals must be moved +because of the changed position of the army. A heavy rain began on the +11th, and continued for some days, making the roads almost impassable. +The wounded that remained were removed as speedily and as mercifully as +possible. Some had to be left behind. Nurses were detailed to remain +with them. As night came on every thing was in readiness, and the rest +of us were directed to take our departure without delay. Two of us +started together after dark. We made our way through the mud and intense +darkness about twenty rods, to the edge of a wood. We resolved to go no +further, come what might. Doubling myself up at the root of an old +stump, I was soon oblivious to both rain and danger. Just as day was +breaking, I awoke, and arousing my companion, we hastened away. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +This closed my experience in the hospital. I was so worn out by the +constant strain which such labor made on body and mind, that rest was +imperative. During all these days I could get no definite information of +the fate of John Elliot. The wounded reported that he was missing, but +whether among the dead or living they could not tell. It was difficult +to drive away the thought of the painful possibilities that imagination +would bring up. Had he been disabled that first day in the wilderness +and perished in the flames of the burning woods? Had he been mortally +wounded, and died alone in the thick underbrush which veiled so many +tragic scenes? Had death come more swiftly and mercifully, or was he a +prisoner and unharmed? Such were the questions that might be solved by +inquiry among the members of the company. + +After some delay I found the regiment by a little stream called the Ny. +The spot on which they were camped, or rather resting under arms, was +within beautiful shelling range of the rebel batteries, as I found out +afterward to my great discomfort and dismay. Toward evening, Sergeant W. +Coleman was taken quite sick, and at his request I started with him to +find the hospital. After proceeding some distance, he became so ill that +we could go no further, and some means of conveyance must be found. A +stretcher was procured, and two men to carry him. To these I confided my +charge, and began to retrace my steps. It was now after dark, a clear, +moonless night. Crossing the little stream at the point where I had left +the regiment a few hours before, to my great disappointment not a man +could be found. + +What to do was a puzzling question. The resolution was finally taken to +spend a few hours, at least, in trying to find them. At first I started +in a direction bearing toward the right, but soon met a column marching +toward the left. Reasoning that if troops were being moved to the left, +none would be moving at the same time toward the right, I fell in with +this column, determined to see what the outcome would be. Soon the open +ground was crossed, and the column began to bear to the right of its +line of march, through the woods. Presently I noticed that an unusual +silence was observed. Not a word was spoken above a whisper, every noise +and clatter incident to the march were carefully avoided. + +Growing weary at length, and reflecting that after all I might be going +away from the regiment instead of toward it, I dropped out of the line +and lay down against the root of a tree close to the road, to sleep till +morning. Half sleeping and half waking I lay there, dreamily watching +that army of shadows gliding stealthily by. Shadows they seemed as they +moved hurriedly along under the gloom of the overhanging trees, as +noiseless almost as an army of spirits from Homer's nether world. The +mystery of this secret night march served to quicken imagination, and I +could see this same column grimly marshaling in "battle's magnificently +stern array" in the dim light of the coming morning, ready to burst upon +some exposed point of the enemy's line. + +Opening my eyes a little later, the same ghostly procession was filing +past, but in an opposite direction. This meant that, sooner or later, +my rest must be disturbed, or I might be left in an exposed and +dangerous position. Present comfort, however, being the stronger motive +just then, prevailed, and I sank into unconsciousness again. From this I +was aroused by some one shaking me by the shoulder and warning me in a +whisper that I must wake up and come on. The muffled "tramp, tramp" had +ceased, the rear of that shadowy army was vanishing in the darkness; one +solitary figure waited, delaying a moment, to see if I was fully awake. +Rising, I followed. Reaching the open ground from which we had entered +the woods, I found myself alone and bewildered. Proceeding some distance +with rather a vague notion of direction, I determined to make a final +halt till morning. All that was necessary to make myself comfortable was +to sink down on the ground without removing any thing, my knapsack +fitting conveniently under the back of my head, supporting head and +shoulder as if intended for the purpose. Thus bestowing myself by the +side of a rail fence, I was soon sleeping soundly. + +But my rest was destined not to be undisturbed. Something awoke me. +What! Was this night given over to ghosts and spirits intangible? Again +the forms of men were gliding noiselessly about me. Above were the +twinkling stars, around were busy men, and silence everywhere. With +instinctive cautiousness I lay motionless, furtively noting the curious +scene. A moment's careful attention explained it in part. One by one the +rails of the fence were taken up with the utmost caution and borne away. +They were building breastworks somewhere. There was work to be done, I +thought, and preferred to finish my much delayed sleep, if allowed to do +so. I lay motionless, only sufficiently awake to dimly take in the +situation. Twice men came and stooped over me with their faces close to +mine, looked intently, and turned away in silence. Congratulating myself +on my good fortune, that I was going to sleep the night out while others +worked, I gave myself again to repose. + +When I awoke the sun had got fairly started on his course, and was +pouring his rays full into my face. The events of the preceding night +seemed like a dream; but there was evidence about me that my visitants +had not been as ghostly as they seemed. The fence by which I had lain +down had disappeared, and I was alone in an open field. Utterly +bewildered, I addressed myself to the somewhat difficult task of +deciding what must be done. On either side of me could be seen what I +knew to be earth-works, but not a living thing was visible. The field +gave evidence of having been fought over, for the well-known _débris_ of +a battle were strewn around. At length my mind was made up to go to the +rear, find the division hospital, and get information. + +But where _was_ rear? Where was front? Where was any thing? After +meditating profoundly on these questions, I decided that my course lay +in the direction of the earth-works on one side of the open ground. This +was the "rear," and these works had been abandoned in the progress of +advance. Proceeding leisurely in this direction, I had not advanced far +until I was surprised by the boom of a cannon behind me. A shell +screamed over my head, and exploded with a sharp ring against the +earth-works a few hundred yards ahead of me. Looking back, I saw a +Yankee officer standing on the earth-work, glass in hand, watching the +effects of the shot. This was a revelation. I was between the lines, and +heading for the rebel works. That shot saved me a trip to a Confederate +prison-pen. Hastily retracing my steps, I lost no time in reaching our +lines, expecting each moment that an artillery battle would break out +while I was between the combatants. The position was perhaps a half-mile +to the right of the spot where I had last seen the regiment. No infantry +was visible, but no doubt there were troops concealed in the woods near +by. The sharp ridges by which the open ground was broken were occupied +by artillery, the men standing by their guns. + +The day was before me, and I was resolved to have a little more +experience; the more so as I could make my observations in comparative +safety. Those guns frowning grimly over the earthen redoubts meant +mischief. I would see an artillery fight; my curiosity was soon amply +gratified. Standing near a vacant redoubt, looking toward the rebel +batteries, suddenly a white smoke burst forth, followed by the roar of +cannon and the hissing shriek of shells, as the noisy missiles came +tearing through the air toward us. After the first discharge, the rebel +fire was directed chiefly to the right of the earth-work behind which I +had taken refuge, though shells kept striking and bursting around. My +position, however, was favorable for a view of our own batteries, and +for observing the effect of the enemy's fire. Sometimes the shells would +strike the ground, sending the dirt many feet into the air, and go +tearing across the field, touching the ground and bounding again at +intervals. Others would strike the earth-works, or explode in the air, +and hurl their fragments far and near, whizzing and buzzing to the +earth. + +This noisy combat lasted for some time, and ceased,--not because either +of the combatants was seriously damaged, as far as I could see, but +because they were tired of it. + +This will be as appropriate a place as any to remark, that "shelling" is +usually quite harmless, except when the guns are served by skilled +artillerists, and under favorable circumstances. Unless the shell is +exploded at the proper distance and altitude in front of a line, it is +not likely to do any injury. A cannonade which, to the uninitiated, +would seem sufficient to destroy every thing before it, will be faced +with the utmost equanimity by veteran troops, if the artillerist have +the range too "long." It is always very annoying, however, as there is +no telling when a shell may prove a little "short," and distribute its +fragments for rods along the line. The men are usually ordered to lie +down, unless directly engaged. The shell cleaves the air with a +frightful sound, that is but faintly described by the word "shriek." Few +men can refrain from "dodging," as the dangerous missile comes over with +its unearthly sound. The writer has frequently tried it, but can +remember no instance of marked success, except while engaged, or +otherwise employed. Perhaps the most disagreeable sound of all, is when +the guns are charged with grape and cannister, and send their +destructive contents through the air with a grinding, groaning, gnashing +sound, that chills the blood of the listener. This may partly result +from association, as such a charge is seldom used except at close range, +on a charging line. Then, if directed by cool, determined men, the +effect is terrible. Those who have once heard this sound can never +forget it. It requires but little imagination to fancy that the fiend +which was sending forth such loud defiance just now, has grappled with +his adversary and is hissing out his horrid rage in the midst of Titanic +strugglings. A little experience will enable you to determine from the +sound what a gun is firing; shot, shell, or grape. The artillery-men +usually have little fear of shell, but dread a volley from infantry. +With the infantry the case is reversed. Generally the men preferred the +branch of service to which they were accustomed. Each did not envy the +other. + +The cavalryman rode all day; but at night he had to care for both +himself and horse. The infantryman had nothing to care for but himself. +He would make his coffee, and sleep all night, while the cavalryman must +scout, or picket front or flank. Sometimes the infantry must spend a +part of the night in throwing up breastworks, or making a night march; +but usually he considers himself more certain of rest and comfort than +his fellow-soldiers of the mounted force. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +I now continued my search for information as to the whereabouts of the +regiment. I had almost reached the little flat by the Ny, at the point +where I had last seen my comrades the evening before, when, to my +astonishment, the roar of cannon broke forth again, and the shells came +hissing over my head and bursting all around me. There was not even a +stump or stone for shelter from the pelting storm of iron, and in the +woods just over the stream, the trees were being torn and rent asunder +as if by thunderbolts. This was more of a joke than I had bargained for. +Reflecting a moment, I concluded to take my chances among the trees. A +slender foot-log over the stream afforded means of crossing. When about +the middle of the log a shell howled close to my head and dashed through +a tree with a fearful crash. Nothing deterred, I sat down at the root of +a sturdy oak which would shelter me from fragments, at least, and waited +for something to "turn up." The rebels evidently thought that troops +were concealed in the woods, and were determined to make it hot for +them. They made it lively for me; but unless that afforded them some +satisfaction, they might have saved their ammunition. + +Later I learned that the Reserves had moved to the left. Passing along +in that direction, I came to a hill on which a battery was planted. The +men were standing by their guns, ready for action. Close behind these, +on the face of the hill were the caissons, and back of these, men +holding the horses, the men themselves sheltered in holes which they had +dug in the hillside. Things looked decidedly breezy about that hill. My +curiosity to witness an artillery fight had been fully gratified some +time before; so I passed on without delay, and soon found the object of +my search some distance further to the left. + +Late in the afternoon of the 17th an orderly galloped to headquarters, +the bugle sounded "fall in," and we were moving toward the right at a +rapid pace. Heavy firing could be heard in the direction of our right +flank, and we were hurrying toward the scene of action, to strengthen +the threatened point. We arrived about dark. The fighting had almost +ceased, and the enemy were handsomely repulsed. The attack had been made +on a body of inexperienced troops, mostly heavy artillery, who were +marching from Fredericksburg to join the Army of the Potomac. They were +well-drilled and disciplined, and made a gallant and successful fight, +though with heavy loss. In their first fight they had faced Lee's best +veterans, and defeated them. The old soldiers were inclined to regard it +as rather a joke--the lively manner in which the rebs welcomed them to +the front. This disposition to see a bright, a laughable side to every +thing, may be set down as one of the peculiarities of the Yankee +soldier. In victory or defeat, success or disaster, ease or hardship, +some one of a group of soldiers could find something from which to +extract a jest or on which to found a pun. + +The next morning I went out over the field. Details of men were engaged +in burying their fallen comrades. The dead were collected in groups, a +trench sufficiently wide and deep was dug, and they were laid side by +side as decently as possible, and covered with two or three feet of +earth. When it could be done, the graves were marked. I have seen this +done by our men for the rebel dead, when there was time and leisure for +such care. + +Under an apple tree lay a rebel who had been shot in the forehead, a +little above the center. He must have been shot before sunset of the +previous day. It was about noon when I saw him, and strange to say, he +was still alive. He was unconscious, and probably had been from the +moment he was struck. + +In a negro cabin lay a young rebel soldier, a fair-faced, handsome boy, +shot through the right lung. I inquired after his wants, and made him as +comfortable as might be. He said he had not suffered for want of care. +Soldiers had been in frequently during the day, and all had been very +kind. He spoke of this with great satisfaction. I notified Dr. Lyon of +the case, and he was taken care of. + +The next day we advanced some distance toward the enemy. Skirmishers +were thrown forward, but no serious fighting took place. As the +skirmishers were going out, Chaplain Delo dryly inquired if he might not +accompany them, giving as his reason that he would like to get Captain +Coder's horse killed if it could be done conveniently. He had charge of +a horse belonging to the captain, who had displeased him about something +in connection with the horse. There was no opportunity of gratifying the +worthy chaplain's wishes. + +Again the army was in motion, leaving behind now as useless what before +had been fought for so tenaciously. As we moved away, the Eleventh was +in the rear, nothing between us and the enemy, but some cavalry, to +cover the rear of the column, as the army moved off to strike Lee from a +new position. We were passing over a wide, open piece of country. The +rebel cavalry and our own had become hotly engaged, and a spirited fight +was in progress clear across the open ground behind us. + +About this time Daniel Graham became quite ill, and was compelled to +fall out of the ranks. I remained with him to help him along. The +undertaking proved to be rather a serious one. He would struggle bravely +on for a while, and then sit down panting and exhausted. I carried his +gun and knapsack, and finally took him by the arm to keep him up. + +Meantime the battle going on behind us drew nearer and nearer, and the +bullets were whistling around us with uncomfortable frequency. At last +Daniel became utterly discouraged; and, as he dropped upon the ground to +rest at one of his frequent halts, he declared it was no use, he could +go no further. He urged me to leave him, and make my escape. + +"There's no use of talking that way. After you rest a few minutes, we'll +try it again." + +"But I'm clear used up, and there's no use of both of us being +prisoners." + +"We're not prisoners yet by a good deal. We are going to come out all +right. You are worth two dead men yet." + +But notwithstanding my brave words, I was almost of his opinion, though +not convinced that the time had come to give up all hope. It was my duty +to stay with him as long as there was any prospect of getting him off. + +Our cavalry was now nearly up to where we were, and I announced that he +must come along. Helping him to his feet, we started. Courage and +strength now seemed to revive. We made good progress, and were soon out +of danger. In the course of an hour or two he was able to take his gun +again, and in the evening we came up with the regiment. + +In trying to recall the scenes of this period, there are some that seem +like the fragments of a half-forgotten dream, distinct in themselves, +but without any definite connection as to time or place. They are but +pictures, some of them becoming faded and indistinct; others bright and +fresh, as if they had come from the painter's hand but yesterday. I see +a long column of weary soldiers, winding along over hill and valley, in +the night, gliding past a stately mansion, with beautiful grounds and +shaded walks, and everywhere the freshness and fragrance of Spring. +Again I see a line of battle stretching out across an open field, the +men resting lazily in their ranks. A little to the left, near some shade +trees, stands a battery, ready for action, the guns pointing toward some +unseen enemy beyond. It is noon, and the sunlight is pouring down upon +the scene, bright and clear. + +May 23d we came to the North Ann. We halted in open ground, before we +reached the river. Fighting was in progress at the front, where the +rebels were disputing the passage of the river. While we waited here, a +battery came thundering past at full speed, and soon the roar of their +guns told that they had found something to do. + +While this was in progress, we were ordered to move. The column was +headed, first to the rear, then toward our right. By a rapid march we +reached a ford, higher up the river. Without delay we waded right +through. The water was swift, and three or four feet deep in places. The +bottom of the river was stony, and the stones were slippery. This, with +the swiftness of the stream, made the footing of the most active rather +precarious. A German, named Moreland, a teacher by profession, and a man +of fine qualities, had joined the company but a little while before. He +was not very active at best, and at this time had very sore feet. As we +were hurrying across, suddenly a wonderful splashing and floundering +were heard toward the rear of the company, and Moreland's feet were +discovered twinkling above the surface of the water, while with his head +he seemed to be making a critical examination of the bottom of the +stream. At last he regained his footing, puffing and blowing like a +porpoise, amid the cheers and horse-laughs of his comrades. + +Once across, no time was to be lost. We had stolen a march on the +rebels, and if we would use our advantage we must be about it. The +movement was not long unknown to the enemy. As fast as the troops +reached the high ground on the other side, they formed line of battle, +keeping the left flank covered by the river, and facing down stream. As +the remaining troops crossed, they formed on the right, the line as it +formed advancing downward and outward from the river, in a curve. + +The Eleventh was not far from the left. They moved down the stream some +distance, and halted in the midst of a beautiful farm. Before them was a +valley, across which the Bucktails were advancing as skirmishers, and +beyond this the ground rose again, and curved off toward woods in the +distance. Scarcely had our line reached this point, when the enemy "came +down like the wolf on the fold." Judging from the promptness and vigor +with which they assailed us, they evidently counted on making our +enterprise another Ball's Bluff affair. + +As the Bucktails advanced, their rapid firing warned us that they had +discovered the advance of the enemy. Dust was seen rising on the high +ground beyond, and horses were dimly seen. We judged that batteries were +coming into position. We were not long in doubt. Suddenly a perfect +volley of artillery burst forth. The air seemed filled with the +shrieking shells and whizzing fragments. The men could do no more than +lie down and let the storm rage. For some time we had not a single gun +in position to reply, and the rebels poured in their fire without +hindrance. Soldiers who had been through all the battles of the Potomac +army, affirmed that they never experienced such a noisy onset, except at +Gettysburg. As quickly as possible our batteries came into position, on +both sides of the river. Now the tumult was doubled. The earth seemed to +shake. When our artillery opened in reply, the rebels turned their +attention in that direction; but on account of the awkwardness of their +gunners, we were annoyed almost as much as when under their direct fire. +On the right there was severe infantry fighting. Of this we could hear +little, on account of the terrible cannonading going on around us. The +losses of the regiment were slight, owing to the fact that the rebels +overshot us. A few were wounded, but I think none were killed. The loss +of the corps was about 350. The rebel loss was reported at 1,000, +including General Brown, who was in command. + +May was now drawing to a close, and with it would close the history of +the Pennsylvania Reserves. The 30th found us in the vicinity of +Bethsaida Church. We were moving on with those stops and starts which +indicate that the head of the column has met with some obstruction. +Skirmishing was going on in front, and from time to time the boom of +cannon came rolling up from the left. We were moving along a road which +led through open farm country, and through a strip of woods, beyond +which skirmishing was heard. During one of the frequent halts, while the +men were resting, some standing, others sitting or reclining at ease, a +rifle ball came whistling through the air, and struck with a sharp snap +in the rail-pile on which myself and others were sitting. It struck +between Jim Shaffer and myself. We both naturally squirmed a little at +the unpleasant nearness of the malicious little messenger. The affair +called forth laughter and jocular exclamations from those around: "How +are you _Johnnie_!" "Hit 'em again!" "Go _in_!" + +The incident would not have caused any special notice, had it not been +so unexpected, on account of our distance from the scene of action. + +Forward now through the woods, out upon the open ground beyond, where +the division is forming for its last battle. Their left now rests not +far from where their right was when they fought at Gaines' Mill, nearly +two years before. They advance some distance. "Some one has blundered." +They have no support on either wing. They are flanked, and, after a +brief struggle, are driven back. Some noble men were lost here. Parks, +of Company D, is mortally wounded; Daniel Graham is made prisoner. In +the retreat, two men carry back John Stanley, wounded in the arm and +side. At the wood they rally. A fence is torn down, and with this and +whatever is nearest at hand a breastwork is hastily improvised. A few of +the Bucktails have rallied on their right, and thrown up a similar +defense of logs, rails, any thing that can stop a bullet. Here the line +seems to terminate; but just beyond and a little back, is a brass +battery, concealed by bushes, every gun charged with grape and canister. +A house stands close behind the line, in a recess of the woods. + +Now the enemy is seen advancing. Line after line comes swinging out. +Shells come screaming over. One explodes in front of Company D. Its +fragments sever the flagstaff close to Jim Shaffer's head, rip open Mike +Coleman's cap, tear off Culp's arm near the shoulder. Another bursts in +the house, and sets it on fire. A woman, bearing a baby in one arm and +leading by the hand a little child, comes out of the house, still +unharmed. Frightened and bewildered, she is passing along the rear of +the line instead of hastening away from it. A kind-hearted soldier +directs her toward a place of safety. But now the rebel lines are within +rifle range. Volley after volley is poured into them, and their ranks +melt before the terrible fire. In our front they falter; but toward the +right they see a chance for victory. They will swing around our flank, +and crush us as they did but an hour before. With exultant yells, their +left comes sweeping on, wheeling to envelop our right. But now there +bursts from the underbrush a blast as if from the pit, crashing, +tearing, grinding, enfilading their lines, leaving in its track a swath +of dead and dying. This is decisive, and the battle is won. + +Over a hundred dead were counted in front of the Eleventh and the few +Bucktails on their right. One man was struck with a charge of grape, or +by a bursting shell, and his body from the knees to the neck was crushed +and torn into an indistinguishable mass. + +John Stanley, who was wounded in this action, was a brave, noble boy. +Looking along the company line, with its veterans of so many battles, +the remnant of a hundred as brave men as ever followed a battle flag, +you would not have guessed that this boyish face could be the calmest in +the hour of trial. During that month of battles, he was always in his +place, without bravado, but with unflinching courage, doing his duty. I +saw him at the woods, as they were taking him from the field. His pale +face was as calm as ever. He never returned to us, nor did I learn the +result of his wounds. + +The next morning the Reserves were withdrawn from the front. Their term +of service had expired. The veterans and recruits were reorganized, +forming the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first +Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The others started on their homeward +march. + +Of Company D, fourteen men returned--five non-commissioned officers and +nine privates. Eleven had re-enlisted. Thirty-five were dead, of whom +twenty-three had been killed in battle or mortally wounded; and six were +prisoners in the hands of the enemy, of whom two died. + +Of the eleven veterans, only seven were present, the others being +wounded or prisoners. By the close of the war, forty of the original one +hundred and one had died in the service. During the first three years, +twenty-four were discharged for wounds or sickness. Such is the record +of these heroic men. Mingled feelings of joy and sadness were in the +hearts of all, as good-byes were spoken, and they marched away. The +war-worn veterans, who now turned their footsteps homeward, and those +who stood there, watching their going that day, knew too well how +certainly these "good-byes" might be "farewells." I think I saw tears in +a certain brave colonel's eyes; and perhaps strong hands were clasped +with a little more than usual fervor, as friend looked into the face of +friend; but there was no "scene." These men were too much in earnest for +that. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Then came reorganization. It seemed like a "general breaking up." It +was. Instead of the mere handful of men that stood about the torn and +tattered colors of the old regiment but yesterday, nearly a thousand +were grouped together in the new organization. They might all be +considered veterans. Some had been in service since the beginning of the +war; all had, at least, the experience of the present campaign. It was +generally felt that the new regiment had in it some elements of success +not to be found in one brought into existence under ordinary +circumstances. The officers of both regiments were tried men, who had +the confidence of all. Most of them had risen from the ranks, and had +received promotion, step by step, with the approval of their comrades. +Sergeant William Coleman, of Company D, was made first-lieutenant of +Company I; and Lieutenant R. Birkman, of Company E, was promoted to +captain of Company A, of the One Hundred and Ninetieth. These both +served faithfully until the close of the war. Lieutenant Hayden, of +Company --, of the Eleventh, was transferred to the One Hundred and +Ninety-first, and lost a leg at Appomattox Court-house, the morning of +Lee's surrender. + +With organization still incomplete, these two regiments were pushed +forward to the front, and had a share in the terrible fighting at Cold +Harbor. As soon as possible, however, the organization was completed, +and the two companion regiments became the Third Brigade, Third +Division, Fifth Army Corps. William R. Hartshorn was commissioned +colonel of the One Hundred and Ninetieth, and Joseph B. Pattee +lieutenant-colonel. The latter, a brave and capable officer, commanded +the regiment during its entire history, except when absent, wounded, as +Colonel Hartshorn was absent, for some cause, most of the time. I was +assigned to Company C. Neri B. Kinsey was captain. Lieutenant Moses W. +Lucore was in command until some time after July, when Captain Kinsey +returned. He was severely wounded, in October, and discharged the +following March, on account of his wounds. The regiment adopted the +bucktail, in honor of the old "Bucktails," who were more largely +represented in the One Hundred and Ninetieth than any other regiment. + +In the afternoon of June 12th, we received marching orders, and soon +tents were struck, and we were on our way, none knew whither. At this +time we were short of provisions. I had a very small quantity of coffee, +but nothing else, except fresh meat, which had just been issued. When +orders came to strike tents for the march, I was engaged in cooking a +slice of fresh beef, by holding it to the fire, spitted on a sharp +stick. With an appetite sharpened by a more than orthodox fast, I was +watching the operation most devoutly; and the savory odor which rose +from the sputtering morsel awakened anticipations which only a +ferociously hungry man can imagine. But I was doomed to illustrate the +words of the Scottish bard: + + "The best laid plans of mice or men + Gang aft aglee." + +With my half-cooked meat in my hand, I swung on my knapsack, and we +marched away. The march continued, without intermission, during the +night, except now and then a brief halt for rest. Towards morning we +crossed the Chickahominy, at Long's Bridge. Here we halted for rest and +breakfast. My entire commissary outfit consisted of about one +teaspoonful of coffee. We had halted for breakfast, and might as well go +through with the programme. I went to the river and procured about a +pint of liquid from that famous stream, and boiled the coffee with due +circumspection, and drank the product. + +The final member of the above sentence is not inserted to inform the +reader that we did not _eat_ the "product"; but, in explanation, when we +thought of that Chickahominy water, the "old man" stirred mightily +within us, and we greatly desired to say that it was good, knowing well +with what unction every unfortunate that ever tasted it, would say, "O, +_what_ a lie!" We would like also to insert a few thoughts about G. +Washington, who could not tell a lie, but we forbear. We drank that +coffee as a war measure. + +Our course was then toward the right, a short distance along the river, +soon bearing away from it toward Richmond. During the forenoon we +reached White Oak Swamp, where the enemy was encountered in strong +force. We moved out past some timber to where the cavalry were +skirmishing with rebel troops posted in the woods beyond. Part of the +regiment deployed as skirmishers and advanced to where the cavalry were +fighting and joined in the fray. The rest remained in their rear as +support. We lay down in a slight depression of the ground about four +rods behind the skirmishers. As we were getting into position a few were +wounded; but after arrangements were completed, we lay in comparative +safety. About three hundred or more yards to the left, on a little +knoll, two guns were in position. Except these, which seemed +unsupported, I could see no other force. Where the other troops were or +how posted, I have not been able to make out. + +The day was warm, and after our night march, the men were fatigued and +sleepy. Before long many of them were sleeping soundly, unmindful of the +bullets that were whistling over. I do not know how long we lay thus. +There is a peculiar satisfaction in sleeping under circumstances of +danger. You are no more exposed than when awake, and you don't have to +do the thinking. Suddenly I awoke to a consciousness that something had +"broken loose." A volley of musketry was poured into us from the rising +ground in front of our skirmishers, and the bullets were hissing close +above us. I lay still a moment as they passed over, and then sprang to +my feet. The skirmishers were giving way, still facing the rebel line of +battle that was charging forward. On the left, our guns were belching +forth grape and canister into the rebel infantry, that came sweeping on +like ocean waves. I think these guns were lost. The last I saw of them +the rebel troops seemed to roll right over them. We were driven back to +the woods. Here we checked their advance, and held the ground till +night. A part of the Fifth Corps and one division of cavalry had been +thrown up in this direction to make a diversion, and also to cover the +flank of Grant's army while it crossed the Peninsula to the James River, +and placed itself before Petersburg. Hence there was not much object in +fighting except to hold our position for a sufficient length of time. In +the evening a heavy force of the enemy was reported moving toward our +left. For this reason, or in carrying out the original programme, we +marched in the same direction, starting just after dark. As we fell back +in the afternoon, I found a haversack containing some hard-tack. This +our mess divided. We did not fail to commiserate the unlucky chap whose +loss was our gain. This was a very unsatisfactory fight. It always +seemed to me like a scrub race. The rebels plunged in as if they thought +it was a 2.20 affair, at the least. The march continued all night. About +two in the morning I concluded that the thing had gone on about long +enough, and, without any ceremony, made my bed beside a stump in a +little opening in a strip of woods through which we were passing. It was +after sunrise when I awoke. Breakfast was not an elaborate affair, and +was quickly dispatched. It consisted of the vivid recollection of the +two delicious hard-tacks which I had eaten the day before. It was light +diet, but the best that could be afforded. I found that the column, +after keeping the road right on for some time, had about faced and +retraced their steps to a point opposite where I had slept. A road here +led to the left of our original line of march. This they followed a +couple of miles and camped. I found them without trouble. Here we +waited, with nothing to eat, till the evening of the 15th. This is the +only time I ever felt the pangs of extreme hunger. During three days and +nights of almost constant marching and fighting, I had eaten one ration +of fresh beef and two crackers. It seemed as if I was all stomach, and +each several cubic inch of that stomach clamoring incessantly for +"grub." + +The boys amused themselves laying out an imaginary bill of fare. The +merits of sundry inviting dishes were zealously discussed. Roast turkey +was eloquently extolled by one; another set forth the attractions of a +table to which forest, mountain-stream, or river had contributed +delights. Sometimes the grotesque imagination of some wild fellow would +conjure up a feast so full of horror that a famished cannibal might well +protest. In striking contrast with this was the gentle pathos of word +and manner as some boy told of dinner at the old farm-house among the +hills, where mother poured out the fragrant coffee, rich with honest +cream. + + NOTE.--Some additional facts have been learned + regarding this affair. The One Hundred and Ninety-first was + on our left, beyond the battery. The attack was made about + four in the afternoon. The One Hundred and Ninety-first had + fallen back, and Colonel Pattee had received orders to + withdraw. Deeming it hazardous to retire across open ground + under such a fire, he rallied the skirmishers on the + reserve, and met the charge of the enemy there. In a few + minutes the Colonel's horse was shot dead under him. After a + sharp fight the rebels broke, and we retreated to the woods + before they could rally. The battery was not captured. A + failure to hold our position here would have compelled a + general battle, and delayed the flank movement to the James. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +On the 16th we marched to the James River. I do not know at what point. +The rest of the corps, together with the Second, Sixth, and Ninth, had +crossed at Wilcox's Landing. I think we must have reached the river +lower down. We were crowded on board transports. Judging from the time +we were on board, we must have been carried a considerable distance up +the river. We landed on the south side. Here we rested awhile. I went +down to the river to bathe and to wash a shirt. Hundreds of soldiers +were in the water, plunging, splashing, diving, enjoying themselves like +schoolboys. After sharing in the sport to my heart's content, I washed +my shirt. The process was simple enough. The garment was well soaped, +then held on a large stone and pounded with a club or any thing +convenient. A final washing out completed the operation. This is the +usual _modus operandi_ during a campaign. When I have described this +process in these latter days, some of my good friends have manifested +an unreasonable and unnecessary skepticism as to the real and ultimate +object of the pounding. But I solemnly affirm that the purpose is to +expel the dirt from the garment. + +There is a little animal. Every soldier knows him. Noah Webster, LL.D., +knew him. Noah is good authority. He derives his name from the Gothic +verb _liusan_, to devour. + +The noble Roman knew him. He called him _pediculus_. He is truly +democratic in his instincts and disposition. + +[Illustration: HE IS A COPPERHEAD.] + +He loves a rebel. But a copperhead loves a fat army contract. So does +he. On this line he is cosmopolitan. He has some splendid business +qualifications. He is modest, retiring, persistent, insinuating. He +comes to stay. He will stay if you let him. He sticketh closer than a +brother. If you don't want him you must skirmish for him. You can not +argue him out of it. + +I once knew a warrior that cultivated him contrary to army regulations. +We protested. They were firm friends, like David and Jonathan. + +One day stern Law, embodied in a corporal and a file of men with +glistening bayonets, took that man down to the running brook, and, +regardless of the frosty air and chilly temperature, with a scrubbing +broom they cleansed and variously purified him, furnished him a new +outfit of regulation clothing, and brought him back as bright and rosy +as need be. He made some remarks. They were comprehensive, but not to +edification, and we will not reproduce them. If that veteran still +breathes the vital air, he voted for Hancock last Fall. + +This seems like a digression, but it is suggested by the facts of the +case. As before remarked, I washed that shirt. When I began it was only +an ordinary shirt. When I got through it was a most extraordinary +garment. There were "millions in it." I skirmished, and washed again. +The result was astonishing. I thought of Moses, Aaron, and Egypt, and +wondered why Pharaoh did not let the people go. It was a _moving_ sight. +It may be there yet, or it may have followed the army. I do not know. I +retired from the scene sadder, but wiser. + +During the forenoon the march to Petersburg began. The day was very +warm, and the dust which rose as the column pressed on rendered the hot +air stifling. The men suffered greatly from thirst. I do not remember +any march more trying in this respect. Late in the afternoon we halted +to rest. There was a strip of rough, broken ground on the right, a kind +of ravine, about half a mile away. I went over there in search of water. +Not a drop could be found. Returning to the column, I learned that there +was water some distance to the left. Here was a beautiful spring of +clear, cold water flowing in abundance. My intention was to drink very +moderately; but I forgot all about this when I raised my quart cup, +brimming full of the delicious beverage, to my lips. Of course I paid +the penalty of my imprudence, and before dark was so ill that I was +compelled to leave the ranks. I kept up with the column until after +dark, but finally gave up all hopes of keeping with them, and camped +till morning. The regiment, meantime, had reached the vicinity of +Petersburg, and during the severe fighting there, had suffered some +loss. Lieutenant-colonel Pattee was dangerously wounded. Lieutenant +Steel, of Company A, received a terrible wound in the face. Abe +Eshelman, formerly of the Eleventh, was mortally wounded, and died a few +days later at City Point. The regiment was on a sandy ridge in front of +woods, facing the rebel works, at a point nearly where the Norfolk +Railroad passed through their lines. Behind them, in such a position as +to fire almost over them, was a battery of rifled guns, which kept up a +fire of shells upon the rebel works at intervals day and night. The +rebel batteries responded at intervals of but a few minutes. This +position was also under a continual fire from rebel sharpshooters, their +balls reaching as far as the woods beyond with fatal effect. + +The second day we were here, June 18th, William Rutter was mortally +wounded. He had picked up a piece of corn-cake in the field back of the +works. Some jesting remark was made about the cake and the rebel that +made it, when he said he would go out and get some more. He was sitting +in the pit beside me. He rose, still laughing, to carry out his purpose; +but as his head and shoulders were exposed above the pit, there was a +sharp "crash," and he grasped his left shoulder with his right hand and +uttered a smothered exclamation of pain. A large rifle ball had +penetrated and crushed the shoulder joint. He was taken back at once, +and the arm amputated. It was reported that he did not survive the +operation; but I have since learned that he lived till the 15th of July. +We lost a number of men in this way and on the picket line. + +The pickets were changed during the night, usually between nine and ten +o'clock. This was the occasion for a lively time down on the line, in +which the artillery usually joined. Sometimes this picket firing, with +its accompaniment of booming cannon and screaming shells, would rise +almost to the dignity of a night battle. In front, from the picket pits, +rifles blazed and flashed with their crackling roar; and farther back, +the great guns belched forth their lurid flames, casting a momentary +glare over the weird scene. The gunners would range their guns before +dark, so as to give the rebels a good one when the time should arrive. +Every device was resorted to that would make this night-firing effective +and annoying to the enemy. + +Not long after the siege began, and while we were yet at this point of +the line, we got a mortar-battery--two guns--into position. One clear, +calm evening, the Yankees proceeded to try a little of this new-fangled +music on our friends across the lines. The mortars were planted some +distance to the right, and in such a position that we had a fine chance +for observation. The line had been unusually quiet, as if the beauty of +the tranquil sunset hour had subdued for a season the fierce spirit of +war in the hearts of men. The sun's last ray had faded from hill-top and +tree, and twilight was settling down upon the scene, when we heard on +our right a strange, grumbling, muffled roar; and with a rushing sound, +we saw what seemed two lighted tapers mounting upward, describing a +curve through the air, and descending upon the rebel works, followed by +two sharp, ringing explosions. There was a moment's pause, and then +"boo-oom," and again two curves of light were marked along the dark +sky, and the great shells descended upon the rebel works, exploding with +a terrific crash. Still no reply from the rebel guns. Again the mortars +boom out as before; but now, as if by a preconcerted signal, the +batteries for about a mile along the rebel line cut loose at once, a +perfect volley of cannon, all centered on the one point, around which +the shells burst and flashed like a thousand thunderbolts. Not a cannon +replied from our lines; only at intervals, for a while, would growl out +that "boo-oom," and above the flash of bursting shells and flaming +cannon would rise those two little points of light, curving slowly +upward and then down, with a seeming deliberation that contrasted oddly +with the whirl and bustle below. This continued a few minutes, and the +"boo-oom" ceased. The little mortar-battery was "knocked out of time." +Then there arose along our line a great "ha-ha"--an army laughing. Such +was the spirit in which the men had watched this unequal combat. But the +laugh quickly changed to a cheer, and a hundred cannon roared out their +savage thunder from either line. Gradually the noise of strife died +away, and an hour later the army slept. + +As before noted, our rifle-pits extended along a sandy ridge, the ground +open in front, sloping downward to the railroad. On our right the ground +was somewhat rough and broken; but immediately in front, at the +railroad, the ground rose abruptly for several feet, and then sloped +gradually upward toward the rebel works. Toward the left of this point, +the abrupt rise disappeared; but in general, the rebel works crowned +elevated ground beyond, and the entrenched picket-lines of the two +armies were in the open ground between the railroad and the rebel +entrenchments. On the right, as you would go down from our trenches to +the road, a kind of ravine extended toward the rebel works, and was +commanded by their rifles. A large and well-manned picket-pit was +established at its head, from which they sent their bullets hissing down +almost without hindrance. + +On the afternoon of June 19th, I think it was, word came in from our +picket-line that ammunition was running short, and a fresh supply must +be sent out. Myself and nine others were detailed to perform this rather +delicate operation. The ammunition wagons were beyond the strip of woods +in our rear, and we must run the gauntlet of sharpshooters, and risk +odd shells in going and returning over this route, before getting +started from the works. Taking each a piece of shelter-tent, in which to +carry cartridges, we started for the wagons. If any man, that has been +placed in similar circumstances, can say that he felt no unusual +agitation, in view of the possible consequences, I must be allowed to +suggest that he is got up on a different plan from myself. The truth is, +I was considerably shaken up over the matter. It would seem quite heroic +to be able to say that I was glad of it, when assigned to this dangerous +duty. I am free to confess I was _not_ glad of it. When selected for +this purpose, I went through with it. The world looks very bright, on a +fine June day, to a healthy boy of seventeen. He is not particularly +anxious to exchange it for another, least of all by way of minie balls, +when he has no chance to send back any in return. To do our work without +faltering, it was necessary to count on a hurried burial down there +between the lines that night. Whatever reckoning others made, this is +how it seemed to me, and we might just as well look the probabilities +square in the face. + +Taking as much ammunition as each could conveniently carry, we returned +to the rifle-pits, and thence to the skirmish-line. For some distance we +had partial protection from the rifle balls, by crouching low as we +walked; but as we advanced we drew the fire of the rebels more and more, +as they discovered us and our object. At last we reached the ravine. It +seemed as if a perfect stream of bullets was hissing down it; but we +must pass. One after another we dashed through. As I passed, I turned my +head to the right, and glanced up the ravine. The pit, at its head, +seemed to smoke, from the rapid fire of its occupants. As I turned my +head, a bullet clipped close to my face, and seemed to touch my hair. +Onward we went, at the top of our speed, and soon reached the shelter of +the high bank by the railroad. + +Here we rested a few minutes. All were safe thus far. A fine spring +bubbled out of the bank. How cool and refreshing its water seemed! Here +were a number of men who had been shot on the picket line, some dead, +others dying, one or two unharmed, caring for the wounded, until night +should permit their removal. The sight of these mangled, bloody forms +here was grimly suggestive. We must not _think_ too much. The most +dangerous part of our work still remained. The ammunition must go to the +picket pits--must be carried there under the close range of rebel +riflemen. During our progress thus far our pickets had kept up a sharp +fire on the enemy. As we started for the pits the fight became more +exciting. Both parties exposed themselves more recklessly, the rebels to +shoot us before we could complete our mission, and our men to keep them +down and make their fire less deadly. Bullets hissed at every step. I +went toward the left, past several pits, I know not how far, and stopped +at one in which was a lieutenant. Forgetting the situation for a moment, +I stood upright, and stretched myself for relief from the weariness of +carrying my heavy load. Instantly a bullet whizzed past my head, and +dashed into a tree in the rear of the pit. Quick as a flash the +lieutenant jerked me down, and warned me of the danger of exposure. +After resting awhile, I started to return. Back to the railroad, again +our only protection was the rapid fire and deadly aim of our riflemen. +Thence to the main line, the only point we dreaded much was passing the +ravine. The return was at last successfully accomplished. +Notwithstanding the severity of the fire to which we were exposed but +one of our number was injured--mortally wounded, I was told. Had it not +been for the return fire of our own men not one of us would have reached +the picket line alive. + +This was my first and only visit to the picket line at this point. The +same evening I was detailed for guard duty at brigade headquarters, +where I remained till after July 4th. + +On this part of the line it was not the custom to station videttes in +front of the picket pits at night, as was usually done. A constant fire +was kept up day and night. The boys used to invent various contrivances +for the special benefit of the "graybacks." I have seen them work for +hours to mold a bullet of such form as would make a particularly ugly +sound, and then fire it across with a double charge of powder. But the +favorite amusement was shooting iron ramrods. These could be picked up +by hundreds over the battle-ground of the previous days, and, with a +little careful fixing, could be made to fly with considerable accuracy. +They were thought to have peculiar penetrating power, if they could be +made to strike a picket pit with the sharp end. As they would send such +an unusual missile whizzing through the air, they would laugh and +chuckle over the anticipated consternation it would cause. One result +often prophesied was that they would "string" a goodly number of the +enemy on the ramrod. Whether such direful results were ever produced, we +had no means of knowing. + +Colonel Carle, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, then in command of +the brigade, had his headquarters in the woods about a hundred yards in +the rear of the line. Here we were exposed to shells and stray +rifle-balls, which occasionally reached us. The only damage inflicted +was the loss of a quart of coffee, which was overturned by a fragment of +shell striking in our fire while we were preparing dinner. About the +same time one man was wounded at division headquarters, a few rods to +our right. + +It is remarkable how indifferent men become to danger under such +circumstances. While myself and another soldier were engaged in washing +some clothes one day, at a little stream to the right of this place, a +bullet passed within a foot of our heads. The only effect was to turn +our conversation to the subject of the range of rifles. It would +naturally be supposed that, under such constant danger of death or +wounds, men would be in continual dread of what _might_ happen. As a +rule, it is quite otherwise. Feelings of dread and uneasiness gradually +give way to a sense of comparative security. + +Coming under fire for the first time, a man usually feels as if he were +about as large as a good-sized barn, and consequently very likely to +take in all the balls, shells, grape, and canister, and such odds and +ends, coming in his direction. After a while he begins to realize that +he is not so large, after all, and frequent and continued experience +confirms him in the view. That which unnerves the recruit is not alone +the fear of injury or death to himself, but also the very nature of the +terrible tragedy about to be enacted. He takes his place in line of +battle as they are forming for a charge, knowing that hundreds of men +who now stand with him there in the full flush of life and health and +the hopefulness of vigorous manhood, in one hour will lie dead in their +blood, or be racked with the agony of shattered limbs or torn flesh. +What man of ordinary humanity can be unmoved by such surroundings? No +man should regard war otherwise than with the utmost horror, nor +sanction it except as an awful, inevitable necessity. Some such feeling +as this is in the breast of most men on the eve of battle, modified +somewhat by the fact that the stern necessity is present. The difference +between a recruit and a veteran is, mainly, that the latter has learned +to command, perhaps to ignore, such feelings. + +For my own part, I can remember few occasions when such thoughts did not +oppress me during the waiting which is frequently incident to the +opening of an engagement. These thoughts soon vanish amid the noise and +excitement of battle. + +You may ask whether soldiers feel any scruples as to shedding blood. I +answer, first and in general, kill is the game. You know it, and prefer +that the killing should be confined as much as possible to the parties +over yonder. If this seems to you to be a cold-blooded way of looking at +things, please remember I am not representing the ideal, but the real. +Again, suppose the bullets are coming thick and fast from the woods +over yonder, you soon discover that the only way to stop them is to send +in your own as close as possible. + +In firing, we always took aim, though often we could not see the enemy +on account of trees or brush in which they were concealed. In such case +we took aim at the point where they were supposed to be, guided by the +smoke, a glimpse of a battle-flag, or the glitter of a gun here and +there. The men were sometimes ordered to keep up a fire when not an +enemy could be seen. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was generally sent on +the skirmish line. The men always preferred this, and did not like it if +this place was given to another regiment. Those who were not accustomed +to skirmishing dreaded it. On the other hand, our boys were uneasy if +placed in line of battle. As a matter of course, the skirmishers took +aim in fighting. It was not seldom a question of marksmanship between +two men, each the other's target. We took advantage of every thing +possible in the way of "cover," the main point being to go ahead, stir +up every thing in front, develop the enemy's position, drive in his +skirmishers. A line of skirmishers is always thrown forward when the +presence of an enemy is suspected. They will soon discover what is in +front. Advancing at a distance of five paces apart, the loss is not so +great as if a regular line were advanced in the same manner. In the +Summer of 1864 the One Hundred and Ninetieth was armed with the Spencer +rifle, an eight-shooter, and well adapted to work on the skirmish line. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +June 23d the brigade was withdrawn from this position for a day's rest. +Our stay at this point had been almost equivalent to continuous +fighting. We had lost men every day in killed and wounded. At +headquarters we had received orders to prepare to move. After we were +packed up ready to march, there was still a little delay before +starting. Young Robbins and myself sat down with our backs against a +tree, taking it easy. As we were sitting thus, a bullet came singing +over, and struck the tree close to our heads. The ball was so far spent +that it did not enter the tree, and was picked up by Robbins. We +concluded this would do as a parting salute, and soon got out of that +without any lingering regrets. + +On the morning of the 24th the brigade moved to the left, and went into +works before occupied by men of the Second Corps, on the Jerusalem +plank-road. They should have reached this position before daylight, but +did not. They could have reached the works with very little exposure by +coming in a little further to the right. Instead of this, the column was +led by Colonel Carle through open ground, less than eighteen hundred +yards from rebel batteries. These, of course, opened on them with shell, +causing considerable loss. Moreland, of our company, was among the +killed. A shell struck him in the chest. The men, without waiting for +orders, but without disorder, moved obliquely to the right, to reach the +protection of lower ground, which there led up to the works. This called +forth such violent protest and condemnation from Colonel Carle, that the +result was a serious mutiny in the One Hundred and Ninetieth. Both +officers and men felt that it was a blunder and an outrage to be thus +needlessly exposed; and when Carle cursed them as cowards, they resented +it. Confusion followed. The officers, almost to a man, refused to obey +orders, or do any thing, until the insult should be retracted. The men +were becoming dangerous. Carle rode up to Adjutant Wright, and ordered +him to restore order, and take the men on to the works. Wright replied +defiantly and profanely. Carle laid his hand on his pistol. Instantly a +score of rifles were leveled on him. Yells and curses resounded on every +side. He withdrew his hand, apologized to both officers and men, and +they moved on to the rifle-pits without further trouble. Carle had the +reputation of being a good officer; but it was said that he was under +the influence of whisky at this time. I was with the brigade tent and +baggage, and knew nothing of this until I visited the company the next +evening. Neither do I remember who was in command of the regiment on +this occasion. I think the colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major were +all absent, wounded. After we had been here a few days, arrangements +were made to desist from picket firing; and after this we were no longer +subjected to the peril resulting from this useless and barbarous +practice. The loss of men from this cause was said to be about eighty a +day in Grant's army, and was probably not less on the other side. Where +the lines were so close, it was probably necessary and justifiable. + +I remained at brigade headquarters until some time after July 4th, and +was then relieved and returned to the regiment. It was then posted on +the left of the Jerusalem road. Our camp was on sloping ground, the +rifle pit at the foot of the slope. A few rods in front rose a slight +ridge, and beyond this, a narrow fringe of timber shut out the rebel +works from direct view. In this timber, or just beyond it, were our +pickets. The well from which we obtained our supply of water was between +our rifle-pits and the ridge spoken of. Further to the left, our line +extended into woods, where the timber had been "slashed" in front for +several hundred yards. + +Back of where Company C's camp was, on the left side of the road as you +faced the works, we soon after began the construction of a fort, called +Fort Warren. It was four hundred feet square, strongly and carefully +constructed. When finished, the ditch must have been twelve feet deep. +The rebels did not get the range of our position at first, but annoyed +us a good deal at times by pitching shells around at a venture. In a few +days they would strike the vicinity of the fort with considerable +accuracy, and kept at it with a persistence which showed that they were +certain of the locality. After the work had progressed some time we felt +no concern about the shelling. If it became too lively, we would +stretch ourselves in the bottom of the ditch, and wait for the thing to +let up, with great resignation, as we preferred this to working. + +The confederate gunners had a way of sending shells "hopping" across, +which was rather uncomfortable. One evening they were entertaining us in +this fashion. The little ridge in front of our pits generally prevented +shells from striking them, though the camp on the sloping ground behind +was exposed. We had gone down to the works, waiting for the rebels to +get through with their fun, which we regarded as comparatively harmless. +We could see the flash of the gun, and by the time the shell would +arrive, we would be safely sheltered behind the pit. One of these, +however, struck the pit a few feet to my left. We waited a few seconds, +expecting to hear it explode. Thinking the fuse had been extinguished, +the men had risen up again and were indulging in jocular remarks over +the matter, when, to our astonishment, the shell exploded in the air +about ten feet high and nearly over the works, not far from where it +struck. Where it had been during the intervening seconds we could not +imagine. Fortunately no one was injured. + +At this time, one of the men, who had not yet had supper, became +impatient and started out for water. Just as he reached the well a shell +came bounding over and struck him. A single exclamation of pain +announced the result. Some of the men were at his side in a moment. A +stretcher was procured, and he was carried back to the ambulance stand, +to be taken to the hospital. The shell struck him about midway between +the knee and ankle, leaving the fragment dangling by a few shreds. + +While engaged in constructing Fort Warren we alternated in work with a +regiment of colored troops. They were fine, soldierly fellows, and stood +the shelling quite as well as any green troops. + +At the entrance of the inclosure, of course, there was no ditch, a space +being left about twelve feet wide. Passing along, one day, I saw a young +colored soldier standing on this narrow passage between the ditches, +curiously examining a twelve-pound shell which had been thrown over, and +had failed to explode. Addressing him and taking the shell in my hands, +I proceeded to give him a scientific explanation of how the thing +worked. After expatiating at considerable length and in glowing language +on the prodigious effects of such projectiles, I then unfolded to him +the manner in which this particular sample might be exploded. + +"Do you see that thing?" pointing to the fuse. + +"Yes, sah, I sees him," replied the dusky warrior. + +"Well, now, if I spit on that--the thing will go off. See here--_yeep!_ +_yeep!_" as I spat on it and hurled it into the ditch. With a yell and a +screech a Comanche might have been proud of, that darkey "lit out." As +he ran he turned his head, and seeing me dancing a war-dance to work off +the extra hilarity which his fright had occasioned, he pulled up and +joined in the laugh. + +Work at this place continued about two weeks. One morning we were roused +up before daylight and ordered to strike tents quietly. In ten minutes +the column was moving down the plank road toward the rear. We went about +half a mile and camped. The next morning we again struck tents before +daylight, and moving toward the front, we formed line of battle in the +rear of Fort Warren. Here we lay till after sunrise, when we returned to +about the same place from which we had started. What all this meant was +more than we could make out, but we supposed that an attack was +anticipated. + +We were then placed on picket still farther to the left. We called it +picket duty; but as far as I could ascertain, we were the only force in +front of the enemy on this part of the line. This ground had been fought +over. The Second Corps had been driven from here June 23d, with heavy +loss of men and guns. From the manner in which the trees were cut and +splintered by bullets and cannon-shot, it would scarcely seem possible +for a human being to remain alive on part of the ground. The loss had +been terrible. Many of the dead had been buried in the trenches. Others, +by the score, were buried where they fell, in rebel fashion, by throwing +some dirt over them where they lay. Now, after the lapse of a couple of +weeks, the dirt had washed from them, in some instances. Here and there +you might see an arm, a leg, or a ghastly head protruding from a slight +mound of earth. If any man was enamored of the glory of war, it was +good for him to sit down and meditate in such a field as this. + +Two of the boys sat down to their dinner, one day, near some bushes at +the edge of the woods. The coffee was poured out, the frying-pan, with +its contents of fried meat was beside the blackened coffee-cups. They +were squatted on the ground on either side eating with a hearty relish, +when one of them noticed more closely the bushes just overhanging the +frying-pan, within a few inches of it. A human hand, dried, black, +shriveled, protruded from the leaves, the distorted fingers in attitude +as if about to make a grab at the contents of the pan. You suppose they +turned away in horror at such an intrusion on their feast. Why so? The +dead were all around us. When we slept at night behind the trenches, we +made our beds by them. Under such circumstances human nature suffers a +reaction, and horrors become the common things of life. These young men +did nothing of the kind. With a light remark suggested by the idea of +such a party wanting to rob them of their dinner, they moved the pan a +little, and finished their meal. This done, they examined further, and +found it to be the half-buried remains of a rebel soldier. On a scrap of +paper they found the name, company, regiment, and State. The paper also +contained a request for the burial of the body. They prepared a grave +and buried him. Then as a matter of courtesy and humanity, one of them +went out between the lines and was met there by a rebel soldier, to whom +he related the circumstances, and requested him to join in this becoming +duty by preparing a properly inscribed head-board. This was cheerfully +done, and the board set up at the grave. In passing to and fro between +the lines other dead were found, and these, too, were decently interred. + +The days passed on pleasantly, and without special incident. No videttes +were kept out, except in the night. None were needed, as the ground was +open and level between us and the enemy. There was no picket firing, and +we had a very comfortable time of it. We could watch the artillery +"practice," which took place almost every evening, between the batteries +on our right, without any apprehension that they would practice on us. + +One evening I sat on the rifle-pit, watching this. Scores of the men +were doing the same, or were idling the time away as suited them best. +The sun had sunk from sight; but as the shells would burst over the +rebel redoubt, which was then the mark of our artillerists, they seemed +balls of silver, in the rays of the sun, now invisible to us. Then they +would expand, and roll away in little snowy cloudlets, almost before the +sound of the explosion would reach us. Suddenly a great column of smoke +shot upward from the redoubt; dark at first, but turning to a silver +whiteness, as the rays of the sun touched it. A sound that seemed to +shake the earth came rumbling through the air. A shell had reached and +exploded the magazine. A laugh, with a cheer here and there, ran along +our heavy picket-line. The rebels called out: "Stop laughing, Yanks!" +"Stop that laughing!" + +Whether this would have resulted in an outbreak between the pickets, is +uncertain; but a moment later a shell came screaming across, about ten +feet above the pits, passing a few rods to my right. Thinking this was +but introductory, the men dived for the pits, and the laugh was suddenly +and indefinitely postponed. Then a general "ha-ha" rose from the rebel +pickets, and good nature was restored. + +Some time in July I was taken sick with fever. I stayed a day or two at +the surgeon's tent, but can not remember much about what occurred. I +gave away every thing I had. Fortunately I gave my gun to Joe Bovard, +who took care of it. I remember nothing of this, but he told me so +afterward. I have also an indistinct recollection of being sent away in +an ambulance, of being very sick at City Point, of the dull, dreamy +indolence of convalescence. I was then sent to Davis' Island, New York. +I improved rapidly during the voyage. I was here but a few days when I +received a furlough, to report at Philadelphia, September 10th. The +patriotic people of Pittsburg had ample and generous arrangements to +care for the sick and wounded soldiers that passed through their city. +Arriving there weak and dispirited, a gentleman met me at the train, and +took me to a place where every convenience and comfort was provided. I +had looked so long on the forbidding, bloody front of war, that it was a +most pleasing revelation to discover that back here was the warm, loving +heart of Peace. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +I arrived at Philadelphia the night of September 10th. There had been a +serious riot during the evening, between the soldiers from the hospital +and some of those patriotic citizens who, although painfully loyal at +times, have a great antipathy to blue. I reached the Citizens' Hospital +without molestation. The next morning a large crowd of rioters gathered +in the vicinity of the hospital, and a murderous raid was anticipated; +but they dispersed without any demonstration. + +From Philadelphia I was transferred, at my own request, to Little York, +Pennsylvania. Although now quite recovered, I was detained here some +time, in the hospital drum corps, as a musician. We went out one night, +on the occasion of a Republican meeting. We started to parade the +principal streets with a transparency, the usual following of small +boys, etc. A crowd of patriots cheerfully greeted us with stones, +brickbats, and like tokens of sympathy. We returned to headquarters in +about twenty minutes, a demoralized outfit. The bass drum was broken, +one drummer's head was peeled, the transparency was smashed, and we were +mad. The managers gave us a dollar apiece; we disposed of our +instruments, and started up street to look for any little incident that +might afford balm for our wounded feelings. Opportunities were plenty, +and many a cracked head bore testimony to the zeal with which the great +national issues were discussed. + +About the middle of October, myself and a large number of other +convalescents started to rejoin our regiments, at the front. We went by +rail to Baltimore, and remained over night at Fort Federal Hill, to go +on by steamer, on the morrow. The "heavies," doing garrison duty here, +were accustomed to dealing with recruits, and counted on making them +step around in fine military style. This crowd was composed of men to +whom soldiering was no novelty, and they had no fancy for extras. Hence, +when they were ordered, with much pomp and assurance, to fall in line, +in front of the barracks that evening, for roll call, at nine o'clock, +there was something of a scene. The anathematical display has rarely +been equaled in modern times. Perhaps twenty-five men out of several +hundred at last took their place in a sort of line, with much gravity +and feigned decorum, playing green, standing in any thing but soldierly +attitude. Behind them, perched on the railing, windows, or wherever they +could best see the show, was about as unruly and uproarious a crowd as +could well be found. After vainly trying to bring order out of +confusion, the sergeant, in great disgust, began to call the roll. A +name is called: + +"Here!" + +"Here!" + +"Here!" + +On all sides the word "Here" is bellowed and screamed by a score of +voices. The face of the burly sergeant grows red with fury, but he +proceeds. + +"John Smith." + +Another chorus of hooting, jeering response, and then, in a momentary +lull of the hubbub, a stentorian voice solemnly announces: + +"He's gone to ---- long ago." + +This rather startling announcement is hailed with another outburst of +laughter, yells, and cat-calls, interjected with allusions to the +sergeant, which were far from complimentary. Finally, having exhausted +his extensive vocabulary of maledictions on that mob of obdurate +sinners, this patriotic officer took himself away, and the boys turned +in for the night. + +The next forenoon we went on board a steamer, but did not start down the +bay till toward evening. The vessel may be called "steamer" as a matter +of courtesy. The thing went by steam, but I would not care to ship a +cargo of hogs on such a contrivance, unless they were of the kind that +ran violently down the mountain. During the night the weather changed. A +strong wind, with rain, swept across the bay. I was asleep on the deck +when the storm came on, and awoke thoroughly wet and cold. Leaving my +water-soaked blanket where it lay, I started to go below. The door was +closed. A soldier, standing in the hatchway, suggested that by our +united efforts we could push it open. I put my shoulder against the +door, and he braced himself against me, and we gave a heave. The door +went open and I went in, plunging headlong into the crowd lying on the +floor, as close as packed herring. + +Nobody swore, except those who were most severely bruised by our feet. +There was an opening left in the side of the vessel, about two feet wide +by twelve feet long. In the slow-going days before the war, this stately +ship was probably used for transporting cattle, and the hole was made +for the humane purpose of giving the animals air. Now it let in both air +and water. I finally made my way down into the hold, and there, with the +coal, dirt, and other things, found a more agreeable temperature. We +reached Fortress Monroe the next evening. Here we were transferred to +another vessel, and went up the James River, arriving at City Point the +following evening. + +This trip was very unpleasant. Besides the discomfort caused by the +stormy weather, we were not provided with rations. No doubt provisions +were furnished, and somebody got the benefit of them. On the second day +those in charge of the vessel, in collusion with the officer in charge +of our escort, proposed selling us lunch at the rate of fifty cents for +a slice of meat and a piece of bread. Their enterprise did not pan out +very well. But few bought, preferring hunger to submitting to the +outrage. During the entire trip I ate not more than two ordinary +hard-tacks. + +Arriving at City Point, we were provided with a substantial supper. Our +hotel accommodations, however, were not strictly first-class. Recruits +and returning convalescents arriving here were provided with lodgings +during their stay in a huge board structure known by the expressive name +of "The Bull Pen." As to rooms, furnishings, and general appointments, +the government had been exceedingly frugal. In fact, the entire outfit +consisted of four walls, roof, and floor, joined together on principles +of the strictest economy. The floor was comfortably carpeted with mud to +the depth of about an inch and a half. Tobacco chewings, cigar stumps, +etc., added variety and flavor. + +On this particular occasion the institution was so crowded that you +could not get room to lie down, all to yourself. This was no serious +objection, as it furnished ample apology for resting your feet on the +other fellow's stomach. Thieves found the "Bull Pen" an excellent place +for plying their trade. The recruits and substitutes finding +entertainment here usually had some money. + +This night, after the lights were out, and all had been quiet for some +time, I lay doubled up on the floor still wide awake. In such a +gathering there are usually some splendid snorers. This crowd had some +performers of rare merit. My location was toward the end of the +building. Lying here, listening drowsily to the odd sounds about me, I +heard a slight commotion down toward the center of the building, then a +blow, and the cry of "Thief!" Then more blows, a general rising up of +that part of the congregation, and a pouring out of profane objurgations +that was surprising. The swearing and pounding went on with great vigor +for some minutes, those not directly engaged cheering the others on with +hoots and yells. In fact, a free fight was going on down there in the +intense darkness, every body thumping every one within reach, thinking +to spot the thief. Finally some one struck a match. As its flickering +rays lighted up the gloom, they revealed a dozen or so of disgusted +combatants glaring savagely on each other, and each wanting to know who +was the thief. Of course it was impossible to find him now. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The next day I reached the regiment, then on the Welden Railroad, near +the Yellow Tavern. I say "the regiment." I mean what was left of it. +Instead of the large, full organization I left in July, it was now but a +remnant. Four commissioned officers of the One Hundred and Ninetieth +remained. These were Colonel Pattee, Adjutant Wright, Captain Birkman, +and Lieutenant Peacock. Of Company C, there were but ten men, myself +making the eleventh. + +A terrible calamity had befallen them at the time the Welden Railroad +was taken from the enemy, August 18th and 19th. The brigade was sent +forward to skirmish. They advanced and drove every thing before them +till they struck the main force of the enemy. Here they fortified and +held their ground without support until the afternoon of the 19th, when +they were compelled to surrender. A few escaped by taking the suicidal +risk of running through a gap in the rebel lines. Mike Coleman, Captain +Birkman, and a few others escaped in this way. Mike told me he heard men +call "Halt! Halt!" on every side; but he looked neither to the right nor +left, and went ahead. Dave Steen was killed in this battle. A ball +struck him in the breast, a little to the right, and high up, severing +one of the large blood vessels. As he fell, two of the men ran to him. +He asked for his Bible--his only words. Hastily opening his knapsack, +they handed it to him. Almost as his fingers closed on the holy book, +his spirit hastened away from that scene of turmoil to the rest above. +He was a brave soldier and a true man. + +After the ground had been re-occupied, as it quickly was by men of the +Ninth Corps, his remaining comrades buried him, and placed around his +grave a rude framework to protect it from disturbance. The few that +escaped, together with returning absentees, represented the organization +under Colonel Pattee, who had now recovered from his wound. During +September and October the regiment suffered considerable loss in +fighting along the left of our line at various points. + +On one occasion they were ordered to advance and "feel" the enemy. The +design was merely to drive in his pickets, and compel him to show his +strength. As soon as the command "forward" was given, away they went +with a yell, sweeping the rebel pickets before them, and on into the +works beyond, before the enemy knew what was the matter or could recover +from his astonishment. An attempt was made to recall them as they went +rushing on toward the rebel works; but signals and bugle-calls were +unheeded. They entered, and for a time held a part of the rebel works. +Of course, this could not last long. It was not the intention to bring +on a general engagement, and they were not supported. In a little while +they were driven back again with serious loss. Captain Kinsey, of +Company C, was severely wounded, and never returned. In trying to bring +Captain Kinsey off the field, young Overdoff was killed, shot through +the head. When he first came to the company he was not very well liked; +but his kind and pleasant bearing soon made friends of all. From his +first experience in the Wilderness until his death, he was loved and +honored as a brave and fearless soldier. + +In the latter part of November the Ninth Corps was passing, one day, +and I went over to the road, and waited till the One Hundredth +Pennsylvania came along. Here were many familiar faces. George Preston +was there, his face as honest and bright as in boyhood's days; and +George Dillinger--or was his name Hugh? Names become confused as the +mind runs back over so many years. What I saw there was but a section of +the past slipped forward, and given a different setting. My earliest +recollections were connected with these faces, when, at church or school +in the pleasant Summer-time, in one we listened to the good Irish +pastor's "sixteenthly" and "seventeenthly" and "in conclusion" as +sedately as our seniors; and in the other we took our regular flogging, +as prescribed by the lamented Solomon. The stalwart boys in blue were +the same boys still; but now they were the heroes of many a hard-fought +battle. The hurried questions and answers of that brief interview +touched upon as tragic scenes as ever employed the pen of genius. They +told how one fell here, another there--dead for the land they loved. + +December 7, 1864, we started on a raid, the object of which was to +disturb the enemy's railroad communications toward the south. We +followed the Jerusalem plank-road one day's march, reaching Notaway +River in the evening, at Freeman's Ford. Our force was a strong one, +consisting of the Fifth Corps, under General Warren, and a division of +cavalry. With this force we felt quite at home within one day's march of +the main army. Once across the river, and at a greater distance, we +might stir up all the game we could take care of. Such was the feeling +expressed by the soldiers as they discussed the situation on the march +that day, and indulged in conjectures as to our probable destination and +the outcome of the expedition. Of course, the company wag had a hearing +while he expounded his views as to what we would do to the Confederacy +or the Confederacy to us. The soldiers had confidence in General Warren, +and regarded him as a prudent and efficient officer. He had the +reputation of being personally brave and fearless. + +As evening approached, we turned to the right from the plank-road, and +halted in a corn-field, not far from the river. As we were about to +break ranks we heard on our right the clatter and snapping of gun-caps, +which, in a regiment armed with muzzle-loading guns, usually follows +the command to prepare to load. This sounded like business; but nothing +further indicating trouble occurred, and soon the cheerful camp-fires +enlivened the scene, and we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable. + +It was the general impression that we would soon move on, and make a +night march; but as time passed, the men made down their beds, and +addressed themselves to sleep. About ten or eleven o'clock, +orders--perhaps delayed--were received for the men to camp for the +night, the march to be resumed at two in the morning. It at once entered +into the fertile brain of Lieutenant Peacock to extract a little fun +from the circumstances. Going to a group of men sleeping soundly under +their blankets, he deliberately roused them up and informed them that +they could sleep till two o'clock. + +"Well, what the ---- did you wake us up for, to tell us that?" + +"Why, you ---- lunatic, aren't two sleeps better than one?" + +Then would follow a volley of protestations and modified blessings from +one side and the other. + +At two in the morning we were again on the march. We passed Sussex Court +House and a place called Corman's Well. In the evening we reached the +North Cross House, on the Halifax road, thirty miles from Petersburg. +Here we struck the Welden Railroad, and the work of destruction began. +It was an exciting scene as the work progressed. There was an abundance +of ties along the road, and of these fires were built beside the track. +As far as the eye could reach the track was a line of blazing fires and +busy, shouting men. A brigade would stack arms on the bank beside the +track; then, taking hold of the rails, would begin to lift and surge on +it altogether, shouting in unison: + +"Ohé!" + +"Ohé!" + +"Set her _up_!" + +"Ohé!" + +Soon it would begin to give, and quickly would be hurled over from the +road-bed with a ripping, crashing sound, followed by the shouts and +cheers of the men. Then came the process of detaching the part thus +overturned from that still undisturbed, if this had not been previously +accomplished. Using a length of rail as a lever, this was quickly done, +and in a surprisingly brief space of time the rails of a half-mile of +road would be lying on blazing piles of ties. As a general rule, the +rails were laid on the fire, and the heating of the middle portion would +cause them to bend by their own weight, thus rendering them useless. +When there was time, the men twisted the hot rails around trees or +telegraph poles, or wreathed them together in fantastic shapes. We +worked nearly all night. Toward morning we halted in a field, and slept +for a couple of hours. Early in the morning the work was resumed, and +continued till evening, with only brief intermission for dinner. It +rained during the day, and became very cold toward evening. Night found +us near a stream; I do not know whether it was the Meherrin River or a +tributary of that stream. If the latter, it must have been near its +junction with the river. The town of Bellefield is on the Meherrin. We +tore up the road to that town. The town was held by a force of rebel +infantry, and also artillery to the number of seven or eight guns. + +A dismal storm of snow and sleet came on in the evening, and we could +only anticipate a night of discomfort. Not long after dark we were +ordered to fall in, with only arms and ammunition. The intention was to +surprise the rebel force at Bellefield, or, at least, this was the +belief of the men. If so, the project was abandoned. We crossed the +stream, and tore up some more track, and returned. At this time the only +man lost by the regiment during the raid was killed. + +As we overturned a stretch of rail, as before described, he was caught +under it as it fell. In the darkness and confusion no one noticed the +accident but myself; and such was the noise and shouting, it was some +time before I could make it known. As soon as possible we lifted the +rails and drew him out. His chest was crushed by the great weight, and +he scarcely breathed after he was extricated. + +We spent the night standing around the fires. Sleep was impossible. The +freezing mud was ankle deep, and, as the sleety storm swept by, it +encased the outer world in an icy covering. Muffled in rubber blankets, +crouched around the fires, to get what warmth and comfort they could, as +the driving wind whirled the flames this way and that, the soldiers +waited for the return of day. + +The next morning the return march began. Flankers were kept out on each +side of the column, to guard against surprise, and to prevent men from +straggling out from the column, as it was known that rebel cavalry was +hanging on our flank and rear, ready to inflict whatever damage they +could. There was an occasional dash on our rear; but this was easily +repulsed, and the day passed without special incident. + +We camped that night in woods, two days' march from Petersburg. The +storm still continued, but not so severe as during the previous night. I +was fortunate enough to secure a piece of board, by means of which I +provided myself comfortable lodging for the night. That board was torn +from the side of a church near by. It was none the worse for that. +Perhaps that church never before did any service in the cause of loyalty +and the Union. That night it kept some Union soldiers off the wet +ground. The next morning the march was resumed. Before we had gone far, +we made a discovery that was enough to bring the blush of shame to the +face of any civilized man. Some of our men, who had fallen behind in the +march out, had been inhumanly butchered. I suppose the citizens, with +their usual stupidity, thought we would never return, and no day of +reckoning would come; and, finding these men in their power, murdered +them with a cold-blooded brutality only equaled by the most degraded +savages. Some were found riddled with bullets and stripped of their +clothing; some had their throats cut, besides gunshot wounds. My first +information was from Mike Coleman, who told me, with a look of horror in +his face, of the blood-curdling sight he had just witnessed. + +This discovery had a peculiar effect upon the soldiers. Even those who +were usually undemonstrative gave vent to their feelings in hearty +curses on the rebellion, and every thing connected with it. The wish was +freely expressed that Lee might intercept us, and bring on the final +battle between civilization and barbarism. Up to this time there had +been no destruction of private property, except a mill, which had been +burned as a war measure, and a house, from which a cavalryman had been +treacherously shot; but now, either with or without orders, the men +began to burn and destroy every thing within their reach. Even the +fences were fired when it could be done. Not a single able-bodied man +could be seen along the route; they had fled from the wrath to come. + +The One Hundred and Ninetieth was on the flank most of the day. About +the middle of the afternoon, we reached a group of houses and +outbuildings, which might almost be called a village. Here the head of +the column halted, and the flankers drew in near the road. A large +dwelling-house stood on the left of the road, the side on which we were. +The buildings on the other side of the road were already in flames, and +men were preparing to fire the dwelling-house. An old man was looking +out of a little out-door kitchen. He was leaning on his staff, trembling +with age, cold, and terror. A woman, bearing in her arms a babe but a +few months old, came out of the house. Her pale face and quiet bearing, +as she walked hurriedly away from the door, touched the gentler nature +in the soldiers' hearts, that was now dominated by the tiger, which the +sight of blood unjustly shed had aroused. Sympathy was marked on every +face. Not an unkind word was spoken; but the house must burn. This +general distress must teach the lesson that even _war_ has its limit of +barbarity. + +That evening we recrossed the Notaway River, and camped about a quarter +of a mile beyond, where we camped the first night out. Here we were +joined by troops that had been sent down from Petersburg for that +purpose. + +A large house, perhaps a tavern, stood near the road, nearly opposite +the site of our former camp. We had not been long in camp till we saw +this house, and the buildings connected with it, wrapped in flames. From +the fact that the place was not fired at once, we supposed it would be +spared. The case was thus explained: When the men first came to the +house, they were informed, on inquiry, that there was no man about. The +woman who seemed to be the mistress of the house, claimed to be a widow. +Investigation revealed a Springfield rifle and the uniform of a murdered +soldier concealed about the premises. This was sufficient. The house was +fired; and, as the flames spread, a man ran out from some place of +concealment, and tried to escape. He received the mercy he had given. + +During the night the sky cleared, and by morning the ground was frozen. +You would suppose that the soldiers suffered from the cold. Most of them +slept as comfortably as you would at home, on such a night, covered over +with your quilts and blankets. How was it done? Every man wore an +overcoat, carried one wool blanket, a rubber blanket, and at least one +piece of canvas tent, five feet square. We "bunked" at least two +together, sometimes three. This gave two or three heavy wool blankets, +as many rubber blankets, besides the shelter tents. If the ground was +wet, we put a rubber blanket and a piece of tent under us; otherwise, +only one of these, and the rest over us. Then, with a fire on one side, +and a log on the other, there was no trouble about getting a good +night's sleep. Such were our sleeping arrangements this cold night. + +The march of the following day was very trying, because of the roughness +of the ground and the extreme cold. In the evening we arrived in the +vicinity of Petersburg, and took our place on the left of our lines, +rather toward the rear. The loss of the Union forces during this raid +was about one hundred, killed and wounded. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Our camp was in woods. The ground was somewhat flat and wet, but with +good facilities for draining. A deep ditch was dug around the camp on +three sides. We had plenty of timber near the camp for building tents. +The tents built by the soldiers for Winter-quarters were generally about +nine feet by seven, built of logs, five feet high. A ridge pole was +fastened up at the proper height, over which four shelter tents, +buttoned together, were stretched and brought down to the top log on +either side, and securely fastened. This formed the roof. The gable ends +were closed with pieces of shelter-tent, boards, or some substitute. + +A door about three feet high was left in the side next the company +street. A chimney, with fire-place, was made at one end, carried up a +foot above the roof. It was built of clay and sticks. Usually the tents +were uniform in this respect, the chimney of each at the same side of +the tent. Two beds or bunks, one above the other, were made of poles +covered with a layer of leafy twigs, if possible. On these were laid +wool blankets, rubber blankets, extra clothing, etc., making a very +comfortable bed. Cracker boxes furnished material for door, seats, and +table. The chinks between the logs were closed with clay mortar. The +Winter-quarters of a regiment was simply a neat, cleanly village of +small log houses, with this peculiarity, that only one row of houses +faced on a street. + +A military execution took place not long after our return from the +Welden raid. A man had deserted to the enemy from a Maryland regiment, +was captured, tried, and sentenced to be hung. The troops were ordered +out to witness the execution. A hollow square was formed around the +scaffold, and in due time the doomed man was led forth, accompanied by a +guard, provost-marshal, and chaplain. The prisoner promptly ascended the +scaffold, the sentence was read, and prayer was offered by the chaplain. +The rope was placed about his neck, and an attempt was made to draw the +cap over his head. It was found that the cap should have been put on +first, and they loosed the rope to change it. At this point the +trap-door gave way, and precipitated them all to the ground. The straps +with which the prisoner's knees had been bound were now loosed, so that +he could again ascend the scaffold. He sat on the steps while repairs +were made. When all was ready he took his place on the trap-door, first +testing it with his weight, to see whether it might again give way +prematurely. The cap was now drawn over his head, the noose adjusted, +and the trap sprung. After he had hung for some time, we marched back to +camp. + +Our stay at this camp was very pleasant. The location was supposed to be +unhealthy, and they issued whisky and quinine to the men for a while. +This did more harm than good. + +My tent-mates were George Dunn, Joe Bovard, and Andy Shank. Joe Bovard +had been in the service from the beginning of the war. He was over six +feet in height, a good-natured, manly fellow. George Dunn extended +upward to an altitude of at least six feet and a half, besides running +along the ground an extraordinary distance before being started in a +vertical direction. Our tent was larger than the ordinary, ten by +twelve feet, well daubed and comfortable. + +One day Jim M'Guire solicited "the hospitality of our tent for the +purpose of entertaining some friends." This meant that they wanted to +have a high old time, and our tent would be very convenient for that +purpose because of its size. Early next morning the festivities began. +Commissary whisky was provided in abundance. "Sport" (William Harris) +furnished music for the occasion, which he extracted from an old fiddle +procured from some unexplainable source. The ball opened with a good +pull all around from the canteen. Ordinary forms of entertainment and +social enjoyment soon became stale and they concluded to try the mazy +dance. Our tent was floored with puncheons, and the racket which they +kicked up was something marvelous. Occasionally I looked in to see how +the thing was progressing. "Sport" was perched upon the upper bunk, his +chin on the fiddle, his tongue protruding from his mouth, and wiggling +to and fro in time to the music, while on his face was a look of solemn +intensity, as if his life depended on his efforts. The dances were +necessarily limited to "French Fours," but these were rendered with +great animation and in the latest style of art. As George Dunn would +execute some of the fancy flourishes with which their figures were +profusely ornamented, his head would bob against the canvas roof. This +was suggestive. Procuring a stick of proper size, I crossed over to the +rear street, and stood back of the tent watching my opportunity. +Presently Dunn's head came bobbing against the canvas, and I brought the +stick down on it with a good, sharp crack. The effect was all that could +be desired. There came an unearthly bellow, accompanied, I grieve to +say, with many exclamations suggestive of the future prospects of the +culprit who had cracked the head of the festive dancer. Out they poured +through the little door in hot haste to chastise the offender; but he +was nowhere to be found. Failing in their search, they returned and +resumed their exercises. + +Although the day was quite mild and pleasant, there was some fire in the +tent, and a thin column of smoke rose lazily from the chimney top. +Thinking to add still further the spice of variety to the occasion, I +took a cast-off garment and spread it over the top of the chimney, and +awaited events. + +Meantime within, the dance waxed warm again. The fiddle shrieked, the +government stogies thundered upon the puncheon floor; but soon it was +evident that all things were not as they had been from the beginning. +Confusion first fell upon the fiddler. His dulcet notes, as they whirled +through their lofty flight, reeled, and staggered, and fell, to give +place to anathemas, steady and well sustained. Smoke filled the tent, +and came creeping out through every crevice. They rose up as one man and +cursed the chimney with great vehemence. They came scrambling out of the +door, wiping their weeping eyes. A brief investigation revealed the +cause of their discomfiture. In dislodging the offending garment from +the chimney they nearly wrecked that ornamental structure. As soon as +Shank saw what was the matter, he at once announced that "that ---- ---- +had done it. He had played that trick on him once before, when he was +getting dinner." From this and other remarks that were made, I thought +it prudent to withhold all further co-operation. Toward evening the +entertainment came to a close. This was hastened by unfavorable rumors +from regimental headquarters. After carefully reconnoitering the +position, I ventured to present myself at the tent. Dunn was deposited +on the lower bunk, overcome by the varied duties of the day. The upper +bunk had not proved equal to the emergency, and had broken down. The +table, seats, and door were broken. The canvas roof was torn loose at +one side and hung disconsolately from the ridge-pole. Shank was in the +tent; Joe Bovard was sitting on a stump in front, evidently holding a +discussion with his stomach. "Sport" was capering around with many sage +remarks and comical gesticulations intended to express his sympathy. +Just then Shank came out of the tent, and made for him, to chastise him +for some offense. "Sport" fled up the street and across a little bridge +to the parade-ground. The feet of his pursuer were heavy, and when he +came to the bridge he paused, reflected a moment, and deliberately tore +it up, and returned with a very satisfied expression of countenance, +remarking: + +"I've cu-cut off 'is communications off, anyhow." + +This little episode of camp life seems to reach a very flat conclusion. +But the facts leave no alternative. It required about two days' diligent +labor to clean up and repair, to say nothing about Dunn's head, stomach, +and general constitution. The working of prohibition was well +illustrated in the army. If the traffic had been "regulated" as it is +throughout a large portion of our country, the effectiveness of the army +would have been destroyed within six months. As it was, the officers in +charge of the commissary department were prohibited from selling to the +privates. They tell us now that there is no use of trying to reduce +drunkenness in this way. We cite the army as an illustration of +successful prohibition. If men had been inclined to evade the law, they +could have obtained liquor as readily as in civil life. If the evil had +become manifest, a remedy could have been applied more directly than in +civil life. But it was not necessary. If intoxicating liquors are made +difficult to obtain, multitudes who would otherwise use them and become +drunkards will not take the trouble to procure them. We affirm that this +was demonstrated in the Army of the Potomac. There was very little +drunkenness. A few would secure whisky, and become intoxicated. +Sometimes it was accomplished by forging the name of an officer to an +order. In the revel just described one of the men disguised himself in +the uniform of an officer, and bought the whisky. + +I never knew whisky to do the men any good. It was certainly one of the +strangest of follies to issue whisky rations, as was sometimes done on +occasions of peculiar exposure. The men who never tasted stimulants had +the most endurance, and suffered the least from cold or exposure of any +kind. We wonder at the delusions of witchcraft, and can scarcely +comprehend how men could so abandon common sense as to give credence to +such folly; but the absurdity of the use of alcoholic stimulants is not +less puerile. The time will come when it will be told with pitying +wonder how men of this day stupidly ignore the ghastly results of the +liquor traffic to themselves and others, and with supine meanness bow +their necks to the yoke which it fastens upon them. They will believe +the most barefaced lies, assent to the shallowest sophisms of the +liquor-dealers, and turn a deaf ear to the most evident dictates of +common sense, justice, and prudence. + +I think it is Thomas Carlyle says: "England has a population of thirty +millions, mostly fools." The same comment is fairly applicable to every +so-called civilized people in the world. The dealers say, "It is a +benefit to trade." The fools echo, "We can not have prosperity in state, +county, or town without the dram-shops." The brewers and distillers say, +"It enhances the value of property and products of all kinds." The fools +answer, with idiotic promptness and docility, "Yes, we must continue +this ulcerous cancer upon the body politic--this unclean, pestilential, +gangrenous sore, reeking with disease, vice, poverty, madness, to +increase the price of grain." Yes, gentlemen, grain is more profitable +deposited in the stomach of your son or your neighbor's son, in the form +of whisky, mixed with sundry deadly drugs to give it "tone," than in +pork, beef, or mutton, or transformed into the power which sets the +whirling spindles of the East in motion, fires up the black caverns of a +thousand furnaces, and fills unnumbered homes with joy and plenty. This +would do very well if you saw fit to wait till the redeemed drunkard +would recover health and manly ambition, and provide his family with +sufficient food, clothing, and shelter. But there is a more direct way +to turn your produce into money. Transform it into liquor. With this, +arm the vampires that suck the people's blood, and turn them loose after +him. Post them in every city, village, cross-roads. They will strip him, +ruin him, finally kill him; but never mind that. They will make you +quick returns in bright dollars. There is, however, one disadvantage +incident to this method, which is worthy of consideration. The victims +of the dram-seller die, and he must make more drunkards or his business +will be gone. He may get his clutches on your boy. He will, if he can. +This would be very unpleasant. However, if such a thing should occur, +you can drive your son away, banish him from your sight. Then, if you +should hear some time that he has ended the struggle with pistol, rope, +or poison, thus decreasing the income of yourself and your partner, the +dram-seller, you can console yourself with pious reflections on the +mysterious ways of Providence. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +At this time pickets were only changed every third day, "three-day +picket," we called it. We preferred this, as it gave us such a long time +without any duty of this kind, that the change was welcome. We were +almost two months in this camp, and during this time I was only on +picket twice. There was no enemy in our immediate front. The days passed +as tranquilly and as free from danger as if war had never been. Now and +then you could hear a boom of cannon far to the right; but if you wanted +to see a rebel, you had to travel four or five miles to get a glimpse of +one. + +The second time I was on picket, the weather was extremely cold. The +first day we were placed on reserve, at a substantial rifle pit, about +fifty yards back of the regular picket line. During the night, for some +reason, we had orders to strengthen the line. I was sent to the extreme +right of our brigade line, where we joined with pickets of German +troops. The posts were about a hundred yards apart, at each post a +strong rifle-pit. The fires were built at the right or left of the +rifle-pit, and carefully screened with bushes, so that those about them +could not be seen from the outside. Our line here was in woods, and the +timber was cut down between the posts. In front of the posts, videttes +were placed during the night, who were relieved every two hours. The men +at this post were from a Delaware regiment, and all strangers to me. + +It was very cold work, standing vidette two hours at a time; in fact, my +toes were slightly frosted the first night. We discussed the question, +and concluded we could relieve matters a little. We arranged with the +men on the post at our left to put out but one man from the two posts. +By alternating, we would only be on post one-half as long. The officer +in charge of the line would come from the left, and it was arranged that +the other post would signal us when he approached, and one of us would +go out. In this way we always had a man out from each post when he +inquired into matters. This was rather an irresponsible way of running +the Army of the Potomac, but it seemed to us an improvement. + +An incident occurred the second night, which convinced us that our plan +was open to objection. The men were all sleeping around the fire, except +one, a nervous fellow, of whose qualities I had not a high opinion. I +must have been sleeping but lightly. Suddenly I was aroused by a noise +outside the screen, to the right, as if some one had been passing +stealthily along and tripped, falling headlong. I was instantly on my +feet, and telling the men to scatter out and see what was the matter, I +hastened out toward the right, followed only by the nervous man. We +searched the ground carefully as far as the pit on our right. With our +bayonets we thrust among the brush, and examined every dark corner, +without any result. We returned, to find part of the men still at the +fire, and the rest behind the rifle-pit outside. A similar search toward +the left was equally fruitless. We never were able to explain the thing +satisfactorily, but concluded to keep out our videttes. + +After the Hatcher's Run campaign, I saw one of these men in rather +unfavorable circumstances. We had been in camp a few days, and were +engaged in building our tents, when we heard the sound of a fife and +drum approaching. As they drew near, we saw a corporal and a file of +men, and in their midst one of the heroes of the picket adventure, who +had shivered over the fire that night, when he should have been out +looking for the supposed intruder. Across his back was hung a board, +about three feet long by one in breadth, on which was inscribed, in +large letters: + + =COWARD.= + +The musicians were playing "Rogues' March," to which the soldiers had +adapted the following touching lines: + + "Poor old soldier, + Poor old soldier, + Bucked and gagged and sent to ----, + Because he wouldn't soldier." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The morning of February 5th found our camp in a bustle of preparation. +We had orders to march, leaving our tents "_in statu quo_," taking only +overcoats, arms, and haversacks. General Warren was mounted on his old +gray horse. This we regarded as a sure sign that a fight was on the +programme. The column headed toward the left. Then we knew that Warren +had done well to mount the old gray. A tender spot of the Confederacy +lay in that direction. The "Southside Railroad" was the main artery that +carried life-blood to the rebel army, and was guarded with jealous care. + +The morning was bright, crisp, and frosty. The men were in excellent +spirits. We had with us a number of waggish fellows that would be the +life of any company, jovial, hearty, able to bring forth a joke under +the most forbidding circumstances. One of these (Smith let us call him) +had served eight years in the regular army before the rebellion, and +had been in the volunteer service during the entire war. He was a +sturdy, big-hearted fellow, now becoming somewhat gray with years. His +favorite word was "Woo-haw," which he pressed into service quite +frequently. From this we called him "Old Woo-haw." + +Some time in the forenoon we found the enemy intrenched at Rowanty +Creek, just below the junction of Gravelly Run and Hatcher's Run. From a +slight ridge about three hundred yards back, open ground sloped down to +the run, where there were a few small trees on the bank, which sloped +abruptly to the water. The stream was perhaps fifteen feet wide. On the +other side the ground rose again as abruptly as on the side next to us; +and on the bank were the rebel rifle-pits, this side of the stream being +also covered with woods. It was not more than twenty-five or thirty +yards from the side of the stream on which we were approaching to the +pits beyond. + +At this time I was armed with a Springfield rifle, muzzle-loader, while +the rest had the Spencer. I never professed to have a natural appetite +for cold lead, broken bones, etc., and very much disliked to go into a +skirmish with a "long Tom." However, there was no help for it. The +sharp crack of carbines showed that the cavalry had met with stubborn +resistance. At the first halt after we heard firing, I loaded her up and +was ready. + +As the head of the regiment reached the ridge, we halted. The cavalry +were keeping up a lively fire just ahead and on the right, and there was +every prospect of an interesting time. Very soon we were ordered forward +to skirmish. As the order was received, Smith remarked, with a peculiar +twang to his heavy voice and an odd twist of his head: + +"Now, boys, the woo-hawin' is a-goin' to begin." + +We followed the road over the ridge, and filed to the right on a +farm-road which led in this direction. As we filed right Colonel +Pattee's voice rang out: + +"Deploy, skirmishers!" + +We came around the corner on a run, and as the order was given the men +faced toward the enemy, and advanced as they deployed. Before the rear +of the regiment had left the main road, the rest were charging down +through the open field. They looked like a mob as they broke ranks and +went pell-mell over the field, yelling like madmen. But there was +method in their disorder, and before they had passed over half the +distance they were in as good position as if they had gone about it in +the most formal manner. It was a reckless movement; but the officers +were not responsible for it, as no order was given except to deploy. + +Reaching the stream, we found it covered with ice, on which we hoped to +cross. One of the foremost boys stepped upon it, and it at once gave +way, and let him into the water. Just the top of his head stuck out +above the fragments of ice. He was fished out as expeditiously as +possible, and the idea of crossing in that way was abandoned. Men came +down with axes, and proceeded to fell trees across the run on which to +cross. While this was going on, we did our best to keep the rebels down +behind their works, and render their fire ineffectual. We soon succeeded +in this, but not until they had inflicted some loss. Sullivan was +standing a little below me, when a bullet clipped by his left hip, +cutting his pants about three inches, but doing no harm. A ball touched +my hand as I was capping my gun. Others struck close around. Soon the +trees were down, and part of the men crossed, while others kept careful +watch on the rebels, and fired rapidly to keep them down. When enough +had crossed, perhaps forty or fifty, then every body yelled, and those +who had crossed charged the pits, and the rest came crowding over. Some +of the rebels surrendered, and a few escaped. As the final charge was +made, the line of battle came down, reaching the run just in time to +lose some men. There may have been some reason unknown to us for +bringing them down; but as far as we could see, it was a mistake. Our +loss was fifteen wounded and one or two killed. + +The losses of a regiment do not always show its courage nor its +effectiveness as a military organization, but rather its lack of +discipline, and unskillful handling. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +composed of well-trained, veteran soldiers, and had good officers. This +fight shows how such a regiment may incur serious disaster without room +for just reflection on the skill, courage, or discipline of men or +officers. Had a much stronger force been behind those works, situated as +they were, our heedless charge would have resulted in a bloody repulse, +unless speedily supported by a charge from the line of battle, which +would have involved heavy loss. + +The road which we had followed is called the stage-road. Crossing the +run, we followed it in the direction of Dinwiddie Court House, until we +reached the Quaker road. The enemy was not encountered in our front, but +farther to the right there was severe fighting along Hatcher's Run. +During the night we moved to a position near Dabney's Mill. I think we +followed the Vaughan road. In crossing Gravelly Run, there was some +delay in getting the column over. After we had reached the other side, +and were waiting for the others, a colonel offended one of the men of +Company A, ordering him away from a fire by which the colonel was +standing. This called forth some of the liveliest sort of vituperation. +Such combinations of opprobrious epithets are rarely exhibited. That +man's relatives, near and remote, male and female, were brought into +requisition to define the exquisite meanness of his nature and origin. +The discomfited nabob appealed to Colonel Pattee for redress, who sent +Adjutant Wright back to quiet the boys. + +During the day we moved out from our position near the run, into the +woods in front, and formed line of battle. The One Hundred and Ninetieth +was in the line. The day was dismal. Rain and snow had fallen during the +preceding night, and now it was growing colder. Our line advanced over +ground partly swampy. In maneuvering to pass one of these difficult +places, the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania was massed behind us, and +came crowding close after. Some of the men would break through the crust +of ice, and sink into the mud beneath. Among others, George Dunn, +notwithstanding the size of his feet, went plunging in, half-way to his +knee. When the foot was withdrawn, it was found that the shoe had been +left in the depths below. George hesitated, thinking, perhaps, to +attempt a rescue; but it was too late. The Two Hundred and Tenth, coming +on in close divisions, trampled it down beyond all hope of recovery. +Advancing some distance, the line halted. The formation of the Second +Division must have been imperfect, on account of the nature of the +ground. This probably caused the delay. + +On the right a severe engagement was in progress, and in front was some +skirmishing. The men, as usual with them when placed in line of battle, +were uneasy and dissatisfied. Soon they began to go out, one at a time, +then by twos and threes, toward the front. No objection was made by the +officers, until the line began to grow thin. A little later, part of the +line became engaged; but, as the right of the corps had been checked, we +were soon withdrawn, and took a position not far from the run, where we +intrenched and held the ground. Here we were on the left, where our line +rested on the run. We were considerably annoyed by shells, which came +nearly from our rear. Our pits faced down the run, and afforded no +protection from shells coming from the enemy's position at our right. + +On the morning of the 8th we had orders to "fall in," and soon we were +in line, ready to move. Passing to the right a short distance, we +halted, at a gap in the rifle-pits, where a road led out to the front; I +think it was the Vaughan Road. Soon an aid rode up to Colonel Pattee +with orders. Some one inquired, of those standing nearest the colonel, +what the orders were. One of them replied, with the utmost seriousness: + +"The orders are for the One Hundred and Ninetieth to report in ---- in +less than ten minutes." + +We passed out on this road some distance, and then bore to the right, +over ground strewn with dead horses, that had been killed during the +cavalry fighting of the preceding days. After advancing about a mile, we +halted in open ground, and formed line of battle. On our right, and some +distance in front, was timber. We hastily intrenched, for this purpose +tearing down a house. We judged that the enemy would not let us remain +long undisturbed; nor were we mistaken. Through the still, frosty air we +heard the sound of preparation. We could hear the officers giving +orders, and the snapping of caps as they prepared to load. Their line of +battle extended far past our left, and a line was evidently preparing to +come down on our right flank. We threw up pits on each flank, and +waited, uncertain of the result. We knew of no arrangement to prevent +our being overwhelmed by numbers. This suspense continued for some time, +and we expected every moment that the vengeful storm would burst upon +us. But now an aid was seen galloping toward us, and we were ordered to +withdraw from our exposed position. We lost no time in regaining the +works we had left in the morning. What this little side show was for, we +could not imagine. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. + +The same day we recrossed Hatcher's Run, and began the construction of +permanent works on that side. We worked by reliefs, three hours on duty +and three off. We had run out of provisions, and a fresh supply failed +to arrive. The men became dissatisfied, and finally refused to work. +Threats of compelling them to work were made. The men answered by +gathering up their guns and starting for the woods, in the rear. At this +point General Warren came down and spoke to the men in a reasonable +manner. The mere fact of his coming among them had a good effect on the +men. He urged the necessity of the work, and told them that if +provisions were not on hand by a given time, he would consent to their +ceasing from work. The men then went to work cheerfully. + +Jack M'Bride and myself had previously solved, in a measure, the +difficult problem of reconciling the conflicting claims of an empty +stomach and the vigorous prosecution of the war. As night came on, we +retired some distance into the woods, built a fire, and made ourselves +comfortable. The next morning we found a piece of pork, which had been +lost or thrown away three or four days before. It was good. We scraped +the mud from it carefully, and ate it with a relish. We then came back +and went to work with the rest. + +After these works had been completed, we moved some distance down +Hatcher's Run, to a small branch of that stream, called Arthur's Creek. +Our position was on the left flank of the army, facing rather toward the +rear. For the third time this winter we built winter-quarters. Our camp +was pleasantly located, fronting a large farm, in the rear woods. +Brigade and division headquarters were in the woods, our picket-line in +the open ground beyond the farm-house, a mile from camp. + +On the 7th of February, the next day after the fight near Dabney's Mill, +I got a Spencer rifle, and kept it until we were mustered out. The +spiral spring of the magazine was damaged in some way, so that it would +receive only four or five cartridges, instead of seven. I repaired it by +taking the spring out entirely. It would then receive nine or ten, and +a little practice made the experiment a success. + +Duty was light, and our main business was amusing ourselves. For in-door +amusement, euchre was the favorite. There was not much gambling, but +many fine points were settled by "best three out of five." One form of +out-door amusement was the following: A peg was driven into the ground, +and to this were fastened two ropes, fifteen or twenty feet long. Two +men were then blindfolded, and placed one at the end of each rope, on +opposite sides of the peg. To one was given a notched stick, about two +feet long; and also another, to rub over it, making a scraping sound. He +was called the "scraper." To the other was given a pant-leg, or +something of this kind, stuffed with paper or rags. He was called the +"pounder," and it was his business to "pound" the scraper, if he could. +They were each required to keep hold of his rope. The boys would +sometimes stand around a circle of this kind by the hour, and watch the +fun. The two would move about with catlike caution, each listening for +the other. Sometimes the pounder would think he had the other, _sure_; +and, listening most earnestly, anticipated triumph shining from his +face, he would bring his weapon down on nothing. Again, the scraper, +thinking the pounder, who was right beside him, was far away, would rest +the end of his notched stick on the ground, and draw the other along it, +"scrape-scrape," when down would come the pant-leg on his head, followed +by shouts of laughter from the audience. + +The soldiers built a large tent for religious meetings, and a revival of +extraordinary interest took place during our stay here. The noble +Christian young men who did this work remember those meetings with +satisfaction now, whether they are on earth or in heaven. They conducted +them without the aid of a minister. No! they themselves were ministers +of God, anointed from on high for this work. + +Some of the conversions were remarkable. One young man, whom I had known +as a brave, fearless fellow, was converted during a meeting of peculiar +power. The change was plain and evident to all. His handsome face was +continually bright with the peace of God. He fell in battle, March 31st, +and died in the arms of his comrades, who were trying to carry him back +when our line was broken and routed. + +As Spring drew near came the reviews and various movements that indicate +the approach of active operations. Some changes were made in the +brigade. It now consisted of the fragments of three Pennsylvania +regiments, the One Hundred and Ninetieth, One Hundred and Ninety-first, +and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh; two Delaware regiments, now +consolidated into one, and the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania. The +latter was a one-year regiment, and almost as large as the rest of the +brigade. They were a fine body of men, reliable and well-drilled. There +were but five commissioned officers in the One Hundred and Ninetieth. +Colonel Pattee and Adjutant Wright, Captain Birkman, Lieutenants Coleman +and Peacock. Captain Birkman had charge of Companies A, B, and C. The +One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first acted +together as one regiment, under command of Colonel Pattee. The fragment +of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh--not more than forty or fifty +men--was regarded as a part of the One Hundred and Ninety-first. + +We held this little band in high esteem. They were heroes, every man of +them. Captain Carter was in command. We were the Third Brigade, Second +Division, Fifth Corps. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_THE BEGINNING OF THE END._ + + +On the morning of March 25th, I know not why, our camp was astir earlier +than usual. Heavy cannonading could be heard toward the right, but this +was nothing uncommon. As time passed on, the noise of strife continued, +and seemed to extend farther toward the left. Eating a hasty breakfast, +I started toward the scene of action, determined to ascertain the cause +of the unusual uproar. When starting from camp, I did not suppose it was +any thing more serious than an artillery fight of more than ordinary +interest. As I went on the sound swelled to a steady roar, which showed +that a determined battle was in progress. Drawing nearer, I saw the +troops in line of battle, the shells bursting, and cannon flaming as far +as the eye could reach. + +I was informed that Fort Steadman had been taken, and a part of our +works captured by the enemy. Supposing that we would be ordered to the +right to retrieve the disaster, I started to return to camp. I had not +proceeded far when I saw the head of the column approaching. I hurried +back to camp and procured my gun and accouterments and started to +overtake the troops. I was joined by Lewis, who had also been absent. +Only the pickets and ordinary camp guard remained. As we passed along we +met President Lincoln, General Meade, and staff, coming toward the left. +We concluded to greet them with due ceremony. As we met them we halted +on the bank by the road and presented arms. The President raised his +hat, and turned to General Meade with some humorous remark as they rode +on. It seemed a reversal of things for the head of the nation to pass in +review before a couple of stragglers. + +We found the Second and Third Divisions drawn up in the rear of the +works as support, awaiting events. A large number of prisoners passed to +the rear while we waited here. Farther to the left, the First Division +advanced on the enemy's works, and was repulsed with considerable loss, +but succeeded in establishing our lines nearer to those of the enemy. +We were not engaged, and returned to our quarters in the evening. + +The next morning I started early to visit an acquaintance belonging to +the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania, First Division. It was not +yet sunrise when I reached their camp. The acquaintance whom I had come +to visit was on picket, and I went out along the line to find him. The +pickets were stationed in woods, and the men were engaged in building or +strengthening their intrenchments. Passing along the line, I noticed +that the men kept close to the pits. I inquired if things were woolly +out there, and was informed that the latitude was decidedly unhealthy. + +I now noticed a Yankee vidette about twenty-five yards in front, rifle +in hand, sticking close to a tree, and scarcely fifty yards farther on, +a rebel vidette peered cautiously past another tree. The vigilance with +which they watched each other revealed both the danger and security of +the situation. If all were watching each other as jealously as these, I +could continue my observations with comparative safety. A little farther +toward the left I reached open ground. Arrangements had been made, +under flag of truce, for burying our dead who had fallen in the battle +of the previous day. Quite a number of dead lay scattered over the +field, some of them close up to the rebel works. They were carried back +within our own lines and buried there. They were carried on blankets, +one man taking hold of each corner, and thus bearing them along. + +Four men thus engaged, halted with their burden to rest as they were +passing near me. In the blanket lay a boy, certainly not more than +eighteen or nineteen years old. At first glance you could scarcely +believe that he was dead. Surely the grim King could not stamp upon +dying clay a smile so pleasant, a laugh so winning, as shone out from +those parted lips and half-closed eyes! But just over his heart, +half-concealed by his arm, that bloody rent in his blouse showed how he +died. + + "Somebody's darling is cold and dead." + +I looked upon that handsome, boyish face with wonder. The smile was so +happy and so life-like that the first impression was only that of light +and careless mirth; but the lines curved away into an expression of +solemn majesty, is if the passing spirit, thrilled with the full +perception of the grandeur of its own immortality, had left this impress +on the tenement of clay. + +On the way back to camp, evidences were everywhere visible that the +final act of the great national tragedy would quickly come on. That +afternoon I made ready for active operations by purchasing from the +"commissary" a couple of pounds of extra coffee. The regulation quantity +was sufficient while in camp; but after a hard day's march there was a +strong inclination to throw an extra handful into the old coffee-pot. As +a result, the inexperienced frequently found themselves short after a +few days, to their discomfort and actual disadvantage. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The next morning, March 27th, I went on picket. Some time after +midnight, on the 28th, we were withdrawn, and returned to camp. Orders +had come to prepare for the march. The camp was astir with busy life. In +a little while our tents, that looked so neat and trim last evening, +with their white canvas roofs and clean-swept streets, will be silent, +cheerless, and deserted. My tent-mates had taken down our shelter-tents, +and I had nothing to do but pack my knapsack, and all was ready. + +In some of the dismantled tents the fires still burned, casting their +flickering rays upward through the air, while about them, sitting or +lounging at ease, were men equipped for the stern work of war, ready to +fall into line at the word of command. The stirring scene had in it not +a little of sadness. We had passed pleasant hours in this camp. That +tender something of association which clings around the thought of "the +old campground" breathed through the darkness that night, and glanced +in the camp-fires that dimly lighted up the warlike scene. These would +be our last Winter-quarters. For some, the next night would bring the +quiet "bivouac of the dead." + +The strength of the Fifth Corps was as follows: + + First Division, General Griffin, 6,180 + Second Division, General Ayer, 3,980 + Third Division, General Crawford, 5,250 + ------ + Total, 15,410 + +The artillery consisted of twenty guns, and there was an escort of forty +cavalry. + +The march began at three o'clock on the morning of the 29th, the Second +Division in the advance. We passed down what was called the stage-road +toward Rowanty Creek, the same road on which we had marched February +5th, at the time of the Hatcher's Run fighting. We reached the vicinity +of the creek a little after daybreak, and formed line of battle in the +open ground south-east of the residence of W. Perkins. Much to our +dissatisfaction the One Hundred and Ninetieth was placed in the line, +and the Two Hundred and Tenth was deployed as skirmishers. They did not +advance till the line was formed, and then not far enough ahead of us to +be of any use. Fortunately no enemy was found; but time might have been +saved by a prompt advance of the skirmishers without waiting for the +line. + +Crossing Rowanty without opposition, we followed the stage-road to its +junction with the Quaker road. Up this we marched toward Gravelly Run. +The First Division, however, followed the stage-road some distance +farther. How far we advanced up the Quaker road I am unable to say; but +we finally turned to the left, and formed line of battle, facing the +west. In our front was quite an expanse of open ground sloping down +toward woods beyond. About a hundred yards to our left was a battery, +ready for action. The Two Hundred and Tenth was again sent forward to +skirmish. They advanced with due form and ceremony until they neared the +woods, when they opened fire with such a racket that we supposed the +enemy had been found in force. But they soon let up, and presently sent +back a solitary prisoner, about as forlorn, dilapidated looking a +specimen of grayback as could be imagined. + +While we were waiting, John Edgar went down to the battery, in which he +had served for a considerable time, detached from his company for this +purpose; but he had left it and rejoined his company without being +returned in due form. He was at once placed under arrest as a deserter +by the officer in command, the man whose brutal treatment had caused +Edgar's unauthorized return to the regiment. This made quite a +commotion, and might have produced serious trouble; but as soon as +Colonel Pattee learned what had occurred, he went down to the battery, +and demanded and secured Edgar's release without delay. + +After remaining here some time, we moved farther toward the left. Here +the One Hundred and Ninetieth deployed as skirmishers, and advanced into +the woods, facing the south-west. We remained in this position during +the night. Meantime the First Division had passed up the Quaker road. At +an old sawmill about half a mile from the Boydton plank-road they +encountered the enemy at four in the evening. A brief but terrific +conflict ensued, in which the enemy was driven back to the junction of +the two roads. We knew from the rapid discharges of artillery and the +heavy volleys of musketry that the great struggle had begun. The First +Division lost 367 killed and wounded, while the loss of the enemy was +heavier. + +At dark on the 29th rain began to fall, and continued during the night +and the following day, making the roads almost impassable. On the +morning of the 30th we left the position held during the previous night, +and moved up the Quaker road. Near the sawmill we turned to the left, +and crossed the Boydton plank-road near Mrs. Butler's. In the field +there were dark patches of blood on the ground, here and there, which +the rain had not yet washed out. Guns that had dropped from the hands of +wounded or slain, knapsacks, haversacks, accouterments stripped from +mangled men ere they were borne from the field, lay scattered on the +ground over which we passed. + +Near the plank-road, we deployed, and advanced across a branch of +Gravelly Run. The right of the regiment rested in open ground, near a +negro's house, and the left extended into the woods in a north-west +direction. I think the division formed on our left, facing the Whiteoak +Road; and we held a gap in our lines, between the Second Corps and our +own. Companies A, B, and C were on the right, in the open ground. + +In advancing to this point, we were under a sharp fire, to which we did +not respond, but hastened to throw up pits. On the left of the regiment +the firing was lively, as the men in the woods did not need to be in +such haste entrenching. We were ordered to "rally by fours," and each +group threw up a separate pit. + +I was in the group with Mike Coleman, and had a chance to notice one of +his peculiarities. As we advanced to this position, he seemed to be +dazed, and almost unconscious of his surroundings. When we halted to +entrench, with my most vigorous exhortations I could not arouse him to +any interest or exertion. We had no shovel, and must make a pit with +rails and stones, which we could gather up in front. I would urge him to +carry stones and put them in place. He would perhaps pick up a couple, +very leisurely, and lay them on the ground, back of the pit, and then +stand with his hands in his pockets. The bullets would whistle around, +or strike the ground near him, and he would look about as if he did not +understand what it all meant. Yet in battle, he was always cool, brave, +and daring. + +In a little while we had a pit, capable of stopping a rifle ball, and +considered ourselves ready for any ordinary emergency. During the day, +the rebels attacked the line on our right, and were repulsed, after a +sharp fight, with considerable loss. They also advanced in our front, +and opened fire on us; but only as accessory to the more determined +movement on our right. The left of the regiment returned the fire; but +we could not see the enemy, and there seemed no reason to justify a +random fire. + +There was a man in Company C who was usually troubled with a deficiency +in his knees at such times. Though sufficiently warlike and lion-hearted +by nature, no doubt, yet his legs were his undoing. They worked very +well, when steered for the rear, but otherwise they were a failure. When +the firing began on the right, he took his position behind the pit with +an air of great determination. Pointing his gun--a Springfield +rifle--toward the enemy, he sat crouching low, and looking intently +toward the brush in front. The boys were sitting or standing around, +dividing their attention between the skirmish, partly visible through +the trees, and R----, whose warlike attitude and evident terror called +forth good-natured raillery. + +"Steady on the left, R----!" + +"Cut her loose, R----!" + +"Give 'em ----, R----!" + +Such were a few of the cheering exhortations which greeted that +redoubtable warrior. To all these he paid no heed. I suppose, in spite +of his fears, a few shells, a sharp volley, or even a charge from the +enemy, would have given him profound satisfaction--if unharmed +himself--as a vindication of his prudent vigilance. Nothing of the kind +occurred, and soon things resumed their former comparative quiet. + +There was not much done during the day, except to get troops in position +and prepare for the struggle of the morrow. There was some skirmishing, +but our losses were not heavy--less than two hundred in the two corps, +the Fifth and Second. + +As night approached, a vidette was placed in front of each pit, near the +edge of the woods, which was about forty yards in advance. It was not +yet dark when the first man was posted here, and fire was at once +opened on him, by invisible marksmen in the woods. + +At first the bullets went whistling over, but soon they came lower, and +began to strike the fence by which he was standing,--right, left, +close,--with a savage snap. Up to this time our vidette stood it with +seeming indifference; but, as the splinters began to fly from the fence, +his indifference gave place to a lively interest, which called forth the +laughter of the sympathizing spectators. He threw down his gun, and +hastily piled rails together for a protection, and took refuge behind +them. + +Night came on, dark and gloomy, the rain continued to fall, and the +soldiers lay down on the water-soaked earth to take what rest they +could. I made a comfortable bed, by leaning two rails against the +rifle-pit. On these I bestowed myself, and drew over me my rubber +blanket. My knapsack was placed under my bed, to protect it from the +rain. My haversack served for a pillow, and, with my cartridge box, +which had not been removed since the morning of the 27th, still strapped +around me, and my rifle in my hands, I sank to sleep, the rain +pattering on the blanket over my head. + +About four o'clock, Sergeant Hasler woke me up to go on vidette post. I +arose and followed him in the deep darkness. Reaching the man whom I was +to relieve, instructions were given in a whisper, and in a moment I was +alone. + +This was the last watch of the night, and if a surprise was contemplated +by the enemy, the attempt would be made during these two hours. The +rebel pickets were close at hand, and occasional sounds and voices had +been heard by my predecessor. The rain dripped monotonously from the +trees, and now and then a breath of wind moaned drearily through their +branches. The ear alone could detect approaching danger; and thus, with +rifle in hand, I listened, jealously noting every sound. + +Time passed on, and at length the almost painful darkness began to +disperse. Objects very near could be indistinctly discerned. What if all +those weary men back there should sleep till clearer light should made +me a mark for the unseen foe, that did such good shooting last evening? +Why were not the videttes, at least, advanced into the underbrush, +instead of being posted at its edge, to be shot at by rebel +sharpshooters? Thoughts like these were running through my mind as +daylight approached. But all anxiety was allayed before long, by the +sergeant calling me to come in. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +We made a hasty breakfast, and then the waiting of the preceding day +continued. Every rifle stood loaded where it could be grasped in a +moment. As time passed on, there was an evident uneasiness on the left. +About ten o'clock, the occasional picket firing increased to the sharper +rattle of skirmishing, and then deepened to the roar of battle, as the +sound of continuous volleys rolled through the woods, mingled with the +bellow of cannon and the hiss of shells. Every man now stood with rifle +in hand, ready for the decisive moment which had evidently come. Above +the noise of musketry and cannon we could sometimes hear the well-known +rebel yell, and knew that they were charging with all their force. Now +the horrid uproar could be heard moving backward toward the run. But now +orders have come. Word is immediately sent along the line to assemble on +the right. The Sixteenth Maine will relieve us. Colonel Pattee mounts +his horse. + +"Fall in!" + +"Right face!" + +"Forward, double quick, march!" + +We plunge into the woods, following the road toward the left. Shells +crash through the trees, and bullets patter around like hail. The left +of the division was flanked and hopelessly turned. The right was +stubbornly resisting, but giving way before the overpowering force that +was crowding down upon it. We halted and faced the front, advancing a +short distance from the road toward the fighting. Wounded men were +limping past. We could see the smoke through the trees, and the men +slowly yielding, fighting as they came. + +Colonel Pattee gave an order, but we could not hear a word. We all knew +what it ought to be, and instantly deployed. The line, broken and +shattered, went back past us, and we met the enemy with the rapid fire +of our repeating rifles. We brought them to a stand in our front. If +fresh troops could have been thrown in on our left, the disaster could +have been retrieved at this point, and the rebel charge hurled back; +but our flanks were exposed, and we were many times outnumbered, and in +danger of being surrounded. There was nothing left but to get out of +that the best we could. + +Colonel Pattee rode to and fro along the line, mounted on his bay horse, +encouraging and directing his men, steadying and inspiring them by word +and example. Under a less devoted commander we would have been captured +or driven ingloriously from the field. Before we reached the edge of the +woods, the enemy had inclosed us in the form of a V, and were pouring +their fire upon us from the front and both flanks. We brought out most +of our wounded, but some had to be abandoned. Except these, not a man +was taken prisoner. Reaching the edge of the woods, I knew that no stand +could be made before crossing the branch of Gravelly Run. I "stood not +upon the order of my going," but went at once, and at a lively pace. +Colonel Pattee was the last man to leave the woods. He came down across +the narrow field, crouching close to the neck of his horse, which was +reeling and staggering from wounds out of which his life-blood gushed at +every plunge. Leaping from the back of his dying steed, he rallied his +men on foot. + +The trees on the side of the ridge which sloped down to the stream +opposite the open ground in which we had intrenched on the 30th, +afforded excellent cover. Here most of the One Hundred and Ninetieth, +and some from other regiments, rallied and faced the enemy. We were not +much more than a heavy skirmish line; but the tide must be stayed here, +at any cost. The rebel lines came surging on, elated with victory; but +before our steady fire they wavered and came to a halt. Thus, with +scarcely the space of a hundred yards between us, we stood and poured at +each other showers of deadly missiles. Rebel shells from somewhere on +our right were grinding through the trees and bursting all around, while +the fire from their infantry was beating on our thin line with terrible +effect. A man close beside me was struck through the face with a rifle +ball, and walked back toward the rear, pale and bleeding. Casting my +eyes toward the left, I saw our color-bearer holding the flag, his face +deadly pale. Brave old Woo-haw had just been struck down by his side and +carried to the rear. Mike Coleman was in his glory. Miller's face wore +its accustomed smile as with grave deliberation he loaded and fired. + +But this state of things could not long continue, and the most hopeful +were growing anxious. A few hundred were fighting the force that had +driven a division. But just now on the ridge behind us, a battery +wheeled into position, and sent charge after charge of grape and +canister whizzing across into the enemy's ranks. Still they did not give +way, and the battle raged more fiercely than ever. I had fired not less +than eighty rounds, and only a few cartridges remained. Others had +nearly exhausted their ammunition. At this point, to our great joy, we +saw a line of battle advancing to our support. Steadily, quietly, they +came on, their battle-flags gleaming through the trees, moving as +orderly as if on dress-parade. As they neared us they quickened their +pace, and charged forward with a tremendous cheer. It was a grand sight +as they swept on, every eye fixed on the smoking timber beyond. But the +little stream threw them into disorder, and they went rushing over the +field without waiting to re-form. As they went over the rising ground +which lay between them and the enemy, they received a terrible volley. +Half their number seemed to go down before it. Back they rolled in +confusion, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and wounded. They +came back to the narrow flat by the run. There, as by one impulse, they +rallied and proceeded to re-form their lines. Not a man shirked. While +they were forming, we opened fire again, over and past them. This lasted +but a few minutes, and they were ready to advance. Steadily, +irresistibly, their line passed up the slope, into the woods, driving +every thing before it. + +Our ammunition wagons had now come up, and we procured a fresh supply. +We immediately moved down the stream and crossed, to drive back the +enemy and retake the ground lost at this point. Here the bank on the +other side was abrupt, rising thirty or forty feet in a very short +distance, when level ground, partly open and partly wooded, extended +toward the west and north. On this steep bank we formed for the charge, +three lines of battle. The right of the regiment was detached, and +placed on the left of the lines of battle to cover the flank. When the +advance was made we deployed at skirmish distance, at a right angle +with the line, and moving in the same direction. In this advance, which +was made about two in the afternoon, we that were on the flank did not +fire a shot. We were not much exposed, though some bullets whistled +around. + +We finally reached a farm-house in the midst of a large plantation. Here +we halted. We found some of our wounded abandoned by the enemy, who +seemed to have disappeared from our front. Perhaps the decisive battle +might have been fought on this afternoon instead of the following day, +by pushing the Fifth Corps across the White Oak Road on the right of the +intrenched position of the rebels. The course followed was probably the +safer one. + +At first the house which we had reached seemed to be deserted; but a +little later we found the family, husband, wife, and daughter, concealed +in a cave in the garden. The man was a tall, gray-haired old gentleman, +all of them well dressed and evidently intelligent and refined people. +The old man was so frightened that he could scarcely speak. They seemed +to expect brutal treatment from the barbarians of the North, who, as it +happened, were quite their equals in culture and humanity. + +About five in the evening General Bartlett's brigade of the First +Division was sent across the country to threaten the flank of the enemy, +who had now pressed Sheridan back to Dinwiddie Court-house. They marched +out past us toward the south-west, and disappeared from sight. + +Darkness soon came on, and we prepared to pass another night under arms. +It had been a hard day. We had lost eighteen hundred men, and inflicted +a loss of one thousand on the enemy. Our losses fell chiefly on the +Second and Third Divisions. Since ten o'clock the struggle had been +almost continuous, and night found the enemy foiled in his purpose of +driving us from our advanced position, which we now held more firmly +than ever; but this was all the gain for either side. Some time after +dark rations were distributed, and we lay down to sleep. + +All the accounts of this battle that have come under my notice contain +statements which I am not able to explain, if they are correct. It is +generally stated that the corps advanced toward the White Oak road, the +Second Division in front, the Third next, and the First in the rear; +that the Second Division was driven back on the Third, both on the +First, and that all were forced back to or beyond the Boydton road. From +the preceding narrative it will be seen that this was not true of the +right of the corps. When we were compelled to fall back, in the +forenoon, we did not retreat more than three or four hundred yards. The +point at which we rallied must have been fully half a mile from the +plank-road. If the rest of the corps did not make a stand until they +reached the plank-road, it is rather surprising that a rebel force was +not thrown across the run on our left, by which we would have been +flanked and driven away or captured. The run was a favorable position +for defense, while the vicinity of the plank-road was not so good. +Veteran soldiers like those of the Fifth Corps would certainly rally at +the former point. It is probable that some went back farther, while +enough stopped at the run to check the rebel advance. We must have +fought nearly three-quarters of an hour before we were re-enforced. The +troops sent to our relief were from the Second Corps. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Pugnavimus ensibus. + We fought with our swords. + + --REGNER LODBROG. + + +About midnight the Second Division was ordered down the plank-road to +join Sheridan. Bartlett's brigade had proceeded as far as Gravelly Run, +reaching it at dark. They found the stream swollen, the bridge gone, and +the enemy strongly posted on the other side. The brigade was withdrawn +during the night. It was no easy task to move troops under the +circumstances. Orders had to go from corps commander down through +brigade, regimental, and company officers to the privates, who had to be +aroused from sleep and got into ranks without noise. + +Through the deep mud and intense darkness we moved toward Dinwiddie +Court-house. The darkness was so deep that we could tell nothing about +localities. We must have marched past the Court-house. We might easily +have passed the village without being aware of it. We then about-faced +and retraced our steps for some distance. There is a road leads north +from Dinwiddie toward Five Forks. We may have taken this, or we may have +followed the plank-road a couple of miles farther back to a road which +leads across to the one just mentioned. However this may be, daylight +found us confronting the enemy somewhere in this vicinity. The only +force found was a picket or skirmish line, which was easily driven away. +The Second Division massed near the residence of J. M. Brooks, on the +Five Forks road. Here we remained from about 7 A. M. until 10 A. M. +During this time the other two divisions arrived, and took position a +little north of us on the same road. When we reached this point the One +Hundred and Ninetieth was thrown forward in skirmish line. + +Meantime, the rebels had retired to their fortified position at Five +Forks. Their works extended more than a mile, east and west, making a +slight angle with the White Oak road, turning northward about a +half-mile east of the Ford road. A heavy skirmish-line was deployed in +front of their left, and extending some distance eastward, and south of +the White Oak road. This force consisted of fourteen hundred riflemen, +reputed the best in Lee's army. In this position they awaited our +attack. + +About ten o'clock we began to move, taking the road leading past +Gravelly Run Church. At first there seemed to be some uncertainty about +the movements and position of the enemy; but it was soon evident that +his entire force was in our front. The column advanced along the road, +with frequent brief halts, which indicated that we were nearing the foe. +Erelong we could hear skirmishing, and an occasional discharge of +cannon. Ambulances were passing, freighted with wounded cavalrymen, and +later, stretcher-bearers, with their bloody burdens, met us, as we moved +slowly toward the front. + +Near Gravelly Run Church, our line of battle was formed. The Second +Division was on the left, the Third on the right, the First in reserve, +close behind the other two, a little on the right of the center. The two +divisions in front were arranged as follows: Each division placed two +brigades in front, in two lines each, and the remaining brigade in the +rear of the center, in two lines. In the Second Division, the Maryland +Brigade was on the left, ours on the right, and Winthrop's in reserve. +The One Hundred and Ninety-first, including the fragment of the One +Hundred and Fifty-seventh, and the Fourth Delaware, were the first line +of battle, under Colonel Pattee. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +ordered forward to skirmish. We deployed in the woods, and waited for +the completion of the arrangements going on in our rear. A few rods +farther on there was open ground, which, in our front, gradually sloped +down to woods. Opposite the left of the regiment, the open ground +extended farther toward the north and west, and on that side was a +slight hollow, with rough, broken ground beyond. Rebel skirmishers were +in the woods in our front, now exchanging shots with cavalry in the open +ground near us. Our skirmish-line was ready for business in a few +minutes; but it was some time before the divisions were formed, in +readiness for the assault. + +If you should attempt to form an idea of that thin line of waiting men, +who were to lead the way in the decisive struggle, which all knew was at +hand, the mental picture would probably differ widely from the reality. +Cast your eye to the left, along the line. You can see a goodly +distance. The wood is not very dense. That does not look much like +"battle's magnificently stern array." There is nothing magnificent or +stern about it. You expected something of a scene. There is nothing of +the sort. Instead, these men surprise you by their quiet bearing and +seeming indifference. Most of them are young men. A few days ago they +were so neat and tidy in dress and appearance, you might almost mistake +that they were college students playing soldier. Now they are dirty, +smeared with mud, half wet still from the rain, which only ceased this +morning. Some are seated, leaning against the trees, taking it easy, +conversing as pleasantly as if these were the ordinary occurrences of +life. That bright-faced fellow, of Company E, is diligently polishing a +little rusty spot, which he has discovered on his gun barrel. If there +is time, he will scrape the mud from his shoes, and from his pants, +which are stiff with it, almost to the knees. A few are nervous and +anxious, but most of the really faint-hearted took advantage of the hard +march last night to secure absence to-day. Dunn is on hand,--he that +took himself from the field yesterday with such agility, at the +beginning of the fight, and gave such comical reasons for his +unceremonious flight, when he came up in the evening. R---- is in the +line, looking black, silent, and still troubled in his knees. Do these +careless men realize that they are about to decide the fate of a great +nation? Perhaps they are unconscious of the greatness of the present +hour; but what of that? They stood in their lot. + +But our waiting is over at last; and, at the word of command, every +soldier is in his place. These men were _not_ stolid, ignorant, nor +inexperienced. Their thinned ranks show how well they know what battle +means. You can see some pale faces, and lips compressed, as +"FORWARD" passes down the line. We pass out of the woods into +the open field. A few rods ahead, some mounted cavalrymen are firing +toward the woods, which conceal the enemy. We can see a puff of smoke +here and there among the trees. A little farther, and the cavalry gallop +away to the right, and bullets begin to whistle past, some over, some +tossing up the dirt at our feet. It would be a waste of powder to return +the fire at this distance; besides, we are going down there. But the +bullets begin to come closer. They are fairly hot as they hiss around +us. We quicken our pace. It is five hundred yards to the woods. The men +on our left open fire--four hundred yards, three, the line slackens a +little, and a volley, and another, and another, bursts in quick +succession from our Spencer rifles. Then a cheer, as we dash for the +woods at headlong speed, yelling and firing as we go. The rebel +skirmishers give way before our charge, and the woods are gained. + +Up to this time I had not looked back. I supposed we had advanced about +a thousand yards, and would soon encounter the main force of the enemy. +As we reached the woods, I turned to see if the line of battle was yet +in sight. My eyes fell upon the most stirring scene I ever witnessed. +This was the grandeur, the sublimity of war. The corps was coming in +order of battle, line after line sweeping on with steady step. Their +front extended nearly a mile across the open ground, guns at a +right-shoulder, glittering in the sunlight like silver, battle-flags +fluttering in the air. In front, the skirmishers were fighting savagely; +on the left a score of cannon were thundering, shells screaming out +their horrid warning, as they leaped from the smoking guns. But this +living avalanche swept on in stern silence, as if there breathed within +it a great soul, which scorned to speak or strike but once. A single +glance took in the inspiring scene. I gazed but a moment, and then +hurried into the woods. + +The ground here consisted of alternate ridges and depressions, covered +with trees and bushes, with occasional open places. It was hard ground +to fight over, every ridge serving as a rallying point, and affording a +superior position for defense. Our advance was now a succession of +charges. When the rebels were driven from one ridge, they rallied at the +next. A short distance from the edge of the woods, where we first +encountered them, was a little brook, running nearly east; along its +banks were some large rocks, while a few rods nearer were piles of wood, +logs, and other means of shelter. Quite a large group of rebels made a +stand here. Sergeant Hasler, Crocket, one or two others and myself, +centered our attention on these, and advanced upon them, at first taking +what cover we could among the trees, firing rapidly as we went. As we +were pressing forward, my foot tripped on something, and I came to the +ground with stunning force. Crocket, who was a few yards to my right, +hurried toward me, his face the very picture of anxious sympathy, and +inquired if I was struck. Recovering my breath, in a moment I was on my +feet again, and assured him I was all right. + +We now rushed on them with a cheer, and they broke and fled. We were so +close on them, that seven of their number took refuge behind a large +rock, while three or four more fled across the brook, leaving one of +their number wounded on its bank. The men behind the rock now waved hats +past it in token of surrender, and soon they were marching toward the +rear in charge of Crocket. The wounded rebel whom I had seen fall, lay +about a rod to the left, shot through the thigh. I gave him a drink, +filled my canteen, and went on. + +We had now become scattered, and made our way onward without much regard +to order or concert of action. For a while the two lines were mingled +together in the underbrush, so that you scarcely knew which way to look +for friend or foe. Sometimes I was with others, and again entirely +alone. The woods resounded with the yells of the combatants and the +crack of rifles, as the deadly fight raged along the line. + +Passing through the corner of an open field, I noticed some rebels eight +or ten hundred yards to the left and front in such a position that I +could give them a flank fire, while just a short distance from me in the +field was a stone pile. The temptation was too strong to be resisted. I +repaired to the stone pile and opened on them. At the first shot they +looked to see whence it came; the next, they dodged, and hugged close to +their rifle-pit, and then discovering me, they returned the fire. Their +first shots went wild, but they soon got the range, and began to strike +the stone pile. I gave them a few parting shots from my Spencer, and +went on into the woods. + +The skirmishing continued at close range, as before. The rebels fought +stubbornly from point to point. Their works seemed farther off than we +expected, but the crisis must come soon. We had just passed over a +ridge, and the rebels had made a stand among the timber beyond. A slight +depression lay between us, down which a gully had been washed by the +water. None of our men were in sight, but I could hear their firing in +the brush, right and left. + +Wishing to gain the timber beyond the gully, I started forward without +waiting to recharge my rifle, which I had just fired. The trees which I +wished to gain were not more than forty feet away, and the gully about +half that distance. I had gone but a step or two when a rebel soldier +rose to his feet in the gully, facing me, with rifle in hand. It was a +groundhog case. As he rose, I rushed at him, aiming at his heart and +calling on him to surrender. He instantly dropped his gun. It was all +over in less time than it takes to pen this sentence. His gun was loaded +and capped. We waited till the line of battle came up. As they pushed +through the brush behind us, seeing a rebel soldier, a dozen rifles were +leveled on us; but they saw how it was in time to withhold their fire. +Leaving my prisoner with them, I started forward again. + +We soon reached an abrupt rise of ground beyond which we could not +advance. Before us was the left of the enemy's intrenched position. We +had done our work. We had driven every thing before us, and others must +face the storm now. Some kneeling, others lying flat on the ground, we +continued to fire and waited for the line of battle. In a few minutes we +could see them coming on through the woods. A short distance behind us +was a small patch of swampy, boggy ground. As this was approached orders +were given and executed as coolly as if on the parade ground. The +portion of the line opposite the swamp folded back of the other toward +the left, and when the ground was passed, went back to place again +without the least delay or confusion. + +As they moved up the bank upon which we were, a volley burst upon them +before which they wavered and swerved backward a few paces, as here and +there a man reeled and staggered or sank to the earth. There was no +panic--not a back turned--only that instinctive shrinking which Life +sometimes feels when Death unexpectedly thrusts out his ghastly face +through the smoke of battle. A color-bearer sprang forward with the +battle-flag. He halted beside me and rested the end of the flagstaff on +the ground. He half-faced about toward the men. His voice rang out like +a bugle blast, as he raised his arm and shouted: + +"Here are your colors!" + +The line responded with a yell as it sprang forward, and soon was +wrapped in the sulphurous smoke of its volleys which it thundered +against the foe. + +As the line moved on, I stepped behind them and passed farther to the +right, and again went out ahead. The "left wheel" which the corps made +in this battle resulted naturally from the position of the forces +engaged. If we had moved directly forward in the direction in which we +started, only the left of the Second Division would have struck the +rebel's works; but the men posted in their front, as they were forced +back, retreated toward the north-west, and we naturally swung around in +following them. + +We were now in front of the Third Division, the rebels still contesting +every foot of ground. We finally drove them across an open field about a +hundred yards wide. A road was on our left; at least all the Bucktails +in sight were on the right of the road. A house stood near the road next +to the woods, out of which we had driven the rebels, who were now +firing from the farther side of the field. We were crossing the field, +and some had reached the woods beyond, when the line of battle came up +by the house behind us and opened fire. We hurried back to escape their +bullets, which we considered more dangerous than those of the enemy. I +stood behind them near the house, watching their firing, very much +disgusted with the performance. There was a young lady in the house, +apparently the only occupant. She was almost wild with fright, and gave +vent to her feelings in screams and cries of terror. + +A little lieutenant was prancing around back of the line, flourishing +his saber in gallant style. He accosted me, and demanded why I was +standing back, doing nothing. I replied that I did not belong on +his--line, and made some comments perhaps not strictly polite. This +added wrath to his excitement. I think this must have been the first +time he had smelled gunpowder, except at a distance, and he supposed +they were doing grandly. There was no telling how much effort it had +cost him to get his courage screwed up sufficiently to bring him thus +far; and to have this dirty, mud-bedraggled scrub of a boy intimate +that the whole outfit should be furnished with long ears, was too much. +As Homer would say, "his diaphragm became black all over." At this point +Captain Birkman appeared on the scene and announced that he was +responsible for me. This ended the matter. + +After firing awhile, this brigade started to advance across the field. +The regiment on the left moved up in good order as far as the edge of +the woods. The others straggled forward in disorder. Both officers and +men seemed to be confused. By the time they reached the woods they were +little better than a mob, and had to halt to re-form. I think the man in +command of the brigade was responsible for this. I now started out to +skirmish again, intending to keep in front of the regiment on the left. +As I reached the point where the road entered the woods, I met Mike +Coleman coming on a run, and greatly excited. + +"Why, Mike, I thought you were kilt! I heard you were shot in the head +back yonder." + +Scarcely pausing for a reply, he went on: + +"We've got them! we've got them! We're right in their rear. We'll take +them all! Why don't these men come on?" + +With this he hurried back to the men just behind us, and in a breath +told them the situation, and urged them to come on without delay. To his +great disgust, his appeals were unheeded, and he turned to me saying we +would go alone. But now we saw some of the Bucktails coming forward, and +soon about twenty of us were deployed at skirmish distance, advancing on +the rebel rear. Their line could be seen stretching far to right and +left. Our Spencers rattled among the trees as we rained the bullets upon +them. They turned on us savagely, and their rifles blazed and flashed in +reply. Presently their fire slackened. They right-faced, and began to +move off toward the west, at first with some order; but soon they were +only a panic-stricken mob, fleeing in all directions, some to the right, +some to the left, others toward us. The latter we disarmed and sent to +the rear without any guard, and kept up a fire on those who were running +to the right. They threw down their guns by hundreds, and surrendered. + +Toward the close a rebel soldier came toward me at full speed, with his +gun at a trail-arms. I did not notice him until he was within +twenty-five or thirty yards of me. I yelled at him to surrender; but he +came on without checking his speed. I stepped from the tree by which I +was standing, and leveled my rifle on him. + +"Drop that gun!" I yelled again. + +He dropped it as if it had burned him, and hustled off his +accouterments, and threw them on the ground. I made him stay with me, +intending to take him back myself. My cartridges were about exhausted, +and I fired all but one or two at the rear of the fleeing rebels, and +started back with the prisoner. + +The sun had now gone down. The moon was shining peacefully. How quickly +those fateful hours of battle had passed! I started for the point where +our line had formed, expecting to dispose of my prisoner there, and then +sleep all night. As we passed along, the dead lay scattered here and +there as they fell. There was something startlingly solemn in those +motionless forms, the stony eyes staring in the moonlight. + +Beyond the church I found a large number of prisoners, and turned over +my man to the guards, and started to return. I was joined by L. C. +Walb, who had also been back with prisoners. The church had been turned +into a hospital. It was full of wounded, and many were laid on the +ground outside. A few rods past the church we lay down to sleep. There +came a reaction after the excitement of the day. Nerves, strained to +their utmost tension for hours, relaxed, and seemed to tingle with the +pain of weariness. The jarring noises of battle were reproduced as the +senses glided through that strange interval between waking and sleeping, +and more than once I came back to consciousness with a start, scarcely +able, for a moment, to distinguish the real and the unreal. A low, +moaning sound came from the hundreds of wounded about the church; not +any single groan or cry of pain, but only a sound as if the hurried +breath from suffering lips smote upon the strings of an unseen harp, +which sounded out its sad cadences through the air. But at last I sunk +into a sound sleep. + +Our losses were less severe than on the preceding day. Eight hundred and +thirty-four were killed and wounded, and fifty-four were missing. The +opposing force of the enemy was practically annihilated. Three thousand +were killed and wounded, and five thousand five hundred were made +prisoners. Eleven stand of colors were taken, and four guns, with their +caissons; also wagons and other material. + +Captain Birkman, of Company A, says of this battle, in an extract kindly +furnished from his diary: "The most successful attack I ever witnessed." +It was a decisive battle, and settled the fate of the Confederacy. Since +leaving camp on the morning of March 29th, three days before, the Fifth +Corps had lost nearly one-fourth of its number in battles. + +In this engagement the direct assault was made by the Second Division, +the other divisions swinging around on the enemy's left flank and rear. +The Third Brigade first struck, and broke through the rebel works. +Sergeant Huck, with the colors of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, was +the first man across the rebel rifle-pits. Colonel Pattee, commanding +the first line, was the first mounted officer across, and leaped his +horse over the breastwork while the foremost of the assailants were +crowding over. They found themselves in the midst of the panic-stricken +rebels, who threw down their arms and surrendered in large numbers. The +Maryland brigade struck the rebel position almost at the same time, and +with like results. The division then passed on down along the rear of +the rebel position, doubling them up rapidly, and driving them in +confusion. + +We have read how the infantry faltered, till General Sheridan led them +to the charge. We venture the opinion that this is wholly imaginary. +These two brigades moved upon the rebel works as steadily and swiftly as +the nature of the ground would allow. General Sheridan's reputation does +not need any artificial bolstering, least of all at the expense of +deserving men and officers. + +The arbitrary removal of General Warren from the command of the Fifth +Corps was unknown to the soldiers until the following morning. We heard +only expressions of surprise and disapproval. It must be a cause of +regret to all fair-minded men, that he was not allowed to share in this +grand success with the men whom he had so long commanded. He was held in +high esteem by the private soldiers, who regarded him as a brave and +skillful officer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +The battle of Five Forks was fought on Saturday. Sabbath morning the sun +rose bright and clear. When we camped the night before, Walb and myself +planned for a substantial night's rest. For the first time since +breaking camp, on the night of March 28th, we unpacked our blankets and +made a bed. It was after sunrise when we awoke. Far to the right we +could hear the low grumble of artillery, sounding like the roar of +distant thunder. Since four o'clock in the morning a great battle had +been raging in front of Petersburg, from the Appomattox on the right, to +Hatcher's Run on the left. + +Without waiting for breakfast, we went on to find the regiment. They +were camped not far from where the roads crossed which formed the famous +"Forks." At an early hour we were in motion, toward the right, where +heavy and continuous firing could be distinctly heard. We passed by the +ground where we had fought the evening before. The rebel dead were +strewn far and near, like sheaves of grain in a harvest-field, showing +how destructive had been our fire. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +deployed on the flank, and moved parallel to the column, at skirmish +distance, about two hundred yards from it. + +After marching for some time in the direction of Petersburg, we bore to +the left, and about noon we reached the South Side Railroad, near +Southerland's Station, and marched some distance along it. Beyond the +road we found strong rifle-pits, which the enemy had abandoned. During +the day news reached us that the works in front of Petersburg had been +taken, and there was general rejoicing. That night we bivouaced near the +Appomattox River. + +April 3d we moved, at eight in the morning. Some firing was heard on our +left, and many prisoners met us as we marched along. We found cannon +abandoned in the road, and there was evidence on every hand that the +rebels were hard pressed. Our general course was along what is called +the river road, though we did not follow it all the time. Our movements +and progress had to be governed by the supposed movements of the enemy. +At one time we were deployed as skirmishers, and went down to the +river. I do not know the reason of this precaution, but no enemy was +found. We camped that night along the road. + +April 4th we resumed the march, soon after sunrise. We were short of +provisions, and foragers were sent out to secure what could be gathered +from the country. I was out in the afternoon. While returning in the +evening, after sun-down, I was shot at by some one, when quite near the +column. That night we reached the Danville Railroad, near Jettersville, +and camped in order of battle, about three miles from Lee's army. For +this reason no fires were made. We had been thrown between him and +Danville, which he was aiming to reach. Here Lee made a mistake. It was +his duty to know of our presence here during the night. He should have +attacked us promptly by daylight on the following morning; and, if +possible, overwhelmed us before the rest of the army could arrive. There +was little if any force confronting him, except the Fifth Corps, not +more than twelve thousand men. I think we reached Jettersville in +advance of the main body of the cavalry. + +The morning of the 5th found us intrenched, and expecting an attack from +the enemy. Rebel troops could be seen in the distance, and we supposed +they were forming for battle. We stood behind the works waiting. Their +skirmishers advanced and opened fire on our outposts. Hour after hour +passed. At length the Second and Sixth corps arrived, and Lee's +opportunity was lost. + +April 6th we advanced, at first with some caution. But Lee was in full +retreat toward Lynchburg, and we followed. During the day, a body of +rebel cavalry made a dash at the wagon train, and we were ordered back +to drive them off. We went back about three miles at double-quick. We +met quite a number of men who had been skulking with the train, now +rushing for the front at full speed. As we witnessed their +consternation, we were entirely reconciled to the loss of a few wagons, +just to see the "coffee brigade" shaken up. The rebels had been repulsed +by our cavalry before we reached the scene. We remained with the train, +and camped with it during the night. We marched twenty-nine miles, and +arrived within five miles of High Bridge. + +On the 7th we still remained with the train. We passed a place where a +rebel wagon train had been attacked by our cavalry. Ammunition and +stores of all kinds were strewn everywhere. Wagon loads of shells had +been emptied out, and lay scattered through the woods. + +Some time during the day, we had halted by the road, and, as our rest +was quite prolonged, some of the men had fallen asleep. Among others, +Captain Birkman was sleeping soundly, perhaps dreaming of the peace that +was now almost conquered. The woods were burning, a few rods on our +right. The fire at last reached a lot of shells, which had been thrown +from the wagons, to keep them from falling into the hands of the +Yankees. They went off with a frightful clatter. The captain bounced +from the ground as if a hornet had lifted him. "FALL IN!" he +shouted, grasping his sword. Of course, all who were awake comprehended +the situation, and prudently lay still, to avoid the flying fragments. +As the truth dawned upon him, the captain at first looked "sold" and +disgusted, and then joined in the general laughter. + +We halted that night near Prince Edward's Court-house, after a march of +eighteen miles. Here we rejoined the brigade. + +April 8th we made the most trying march of all. We lost some time by +going out of the way, and made frequent halts during the forenoon, as if +uncertain of the direction, or suspicious of the movement of the enemy. +About noon we reached Prospect Station, thirteen miles from Farmville. +In the afternoon we settled down to hard marching. We did not halt for +supper. The sun went down, night came on, and still we marched on. By +nine o'clock conversation had ceased--no breath could be wasted in +words. Even "Sport" could no longer muster spirit to crack a joke on any +body. You could only hear the "tramp, tramp" of feet, and the occasional +clatter of a saber. But there was no grumbling. We knew this was the +last forced march. One more blow, and treason would be crushed in the +dust. As the column, from time to time, became clogged by some +obstruction ahead, and halted for a moment, the men would sink down on +the ground, most of them just where they stopped, to catch brief rest +for their aching limbs. At such times I would be sound asleep in a +moment, and more than once the column was marching on and myself with it +when I awoke. + +Midnight came, and still we pressed on relentlessly. About one in the +morning we saw lights ahead, which indicated that a halt had been made. +Never did rest and sleep seem sweeter, nor a mile seem longer. It +required a distinct effort of the will to compel each single step. But +at last the task was accomplished. We had marched forty-two miles since +sunrise, and lay within striking distance of the enemy. + +The company was represented by Dunn, Bovard, Mike Coleman, Sergeant +Hasler, and myself. The rest had broken down under the terrible strain +and fallen behind. Without removing any thing, I threw myself on the +ground, and knew no more until I was aroused at daylight to go on. + +Just after sunrise we halted--for breakfast, they said. It was rather a +grim sort of a joke. Scarcely one in fifty had any thing to eat. A few +had coffee, and fires were made, and we went through the regulation +motions of getting breakfast. This done, we started on again. + +It soon became evident that the enemy had been brought to bay. The +confused noise of battle rang through the air. We had halted in the +woods, and stood in the road waiting, sure that the end had come. + +Colonel Pattee was on his horse, half faced about toward his men, +evidently impatient and eager. An aid gallops up with orders. Colonel +Pattee looks happy. He gives his old horse an extra jerk: + +"FORWARD! DOUBLE QUICK! MARCH!" + +On we go toward the scene of conflict. + +Again Colonel Pattee's voice rings out: "DEPLOY SKIRMISHERS!" +and in less than a minute a line of Bucktails stretches through the +woods, facing the enemy. There is no waiting. "FORWARD!" passes +down the line, and we move out into the open field in front. A hundred +yards ahead the cavalry are stubbornly facing a heavy force of rebel +infantry that is crowding on them and steadily pushing them back. Now +and then a man falls from his horse or rides back wounded. We were on +lower ground than they, and the bullets whistled above us; but as we +went up the rising ground, they began to hiss around our heads. We +double-quicked forward and began firing. + +Between us and the town there was a hollow, and on the farther ridge a +road led down through the village. There was a wood on the left at the +head of the hollow, and on the right a narrow strip of timber ran up to +within two hundred yards of the road. The right of the regiment extended +past the woods, or rather only a small portion of the left would strike +them in moving straight forward. As we came to the ridge overlooking the +hollow, we saw the rebel troops drawn up on the opposite slope. Soon +they gave way and moved off toward the town out of sight, and a battery +from the ridge opened with shell. + +As soon as the battery opened fire, Robbins, myself, and two or three +others started toward it. A rail fence ran along the hollow proper on +the side next to us. As we neared the fence, Robbins, who was a few +steps in advance, stopped. + +"We had better stay here," he said, as he deliberately aimed at the +battery. + +"There are rebels in the woods there," meaning on the left. As he spoke, +a bullet from the left clipped close over his gun barrel. + +"See that!" he added, his aim not in the least disturbed. The gunners +were shooting over us, as we supposed, at the line of battle farther +back. But we had only fired a few shots when a shell burst in front of +us, its fragments scattering dirt, fence rails, and splinters for yards +around. + +"Well! I think we'll go on," said Robbins. On we went to the farther +side of the hollow, and under shelter of the bank, we kept up our fire +with good effect. We would dodge their shells as they fired, and then +rise and fire till they were ready again. Some riflemen in the vicinity +of the battery gave us trouble, but failed to hit any of us. + +After this had continued for some time, the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth +Pennsylvania, a Zouave regiment, came down behind us on a double-quick, +deployed as skirmishers. As they neared the fence a shell from the +battery screamed over our heads, and exploding, killed one of their men. +They heeded this no more than if it had not occurred, and came on with a +cheer. Giving a parting shot to the battery which was now pulling out, +we started on, bearing to the right toward the town. As we neared the +point of the strip of woods on our right, Ginter, of Company E, stopped +and sat down flat on the ground, remarking that it was getting mighty +hot. I was of the same opinion, and halted a few feet in advance of him +and fired a few shots in a kneeling posture. While thus engaged, I heard +the sound of a blow behind me, and looking around, I saw Ginter tumbling +on the ground, his heels in the air. He quickly gathered himself up to a +sitting posture with a very rueful countenance, giving vent to his +feelings in sundry expletives, as soon as he could get breath enough to +deliver them properly. With many a doleful grunt he examined the extent +of his injuries. A bullet had struck the belt of his cartridge-box, +nearly over the heart. The ball had force enough almost to pierce the +leather belt and severely bruise the chest, raising a lump half as large +as a hen's egg, and very painful. Some fellow off to the left had +reached for us, and well-nigh finished Ginter. He did not go to the +rear, but kept on, holding his clothing from the painful bruise, too +much engaged in this to do any more shooting. + +A few minutes later, a rebel officer galloped along the line with a +white flag. We were almost to the road at this time, at the outskirts of +the town. We did not think of continuing the fight any longer, but some +rebel soldiers on the left past the town, fired on us when we exposed +ourselves, and we returned the treacherous fire, and advanced across the +road. By the road, facing us as we approached, stood a negro cabin, out +of which a rebel officer came as we reached it. A few words were +exchanged between him and Adjutant Wright, and I think he was allowed to +go down the road to where the main body of the rebel troops had halted. +Our fire continuing, Colonel Pattee rode up to us, excitedly, to learn +what it meant. Adjutant Wright explained that rebel skirmishers were +still firing at us. + +"Have this firing stopped at once," he said; and seeing a protest in +Wright's face, he went on: "I tell you, you're excited, adjutant, and +the men are excited. They've surrendered, and this must cease." + +"Excited!" was the reply. "If they want to surrender, let _them_ cease +firing." + +At this moment a bullet whizzed past the colonel's head, and killed a +cavalry man on the bank beyond him. He rode off to the right, and left +us to manage it to suit ourselves. In a little while the firing from +both sides ceased. The Army of the Potomac had accomplished its +mission. We had fought our last battle. The One Hundred and Ninetieth +and One Hundred and Ninety-first had proved themselves, to the last +hour, worthy successors of the Pennsylvania Reserves. + +The preceding narrative will be better understood by a fuller statement +of the part taken by the entire regiment in the engagement. The original +intention was for Colonel Pattee to connect the right of his command +with the First Division and the left with the command of General Ord. On +reaching the front, he discovered that the cavalry were hard pressed, +and would soon be dislodged from the woods, which would have to be +regained at great disadvantage, and perhaps serious loss. He, therefore, +ordered the regiment forward to their relief. Advancing rapidly, they +relieved the cavalry and engaged the enemy before the troops on either +flank were in position. Colonel Pattee now found his skirmish line +confronting heavy lines of battle, and back of these, on the ridge near +the village, in position to sweep all the open ground in front, Lee's +artillery was massed. He at once thinned the exposed center and right of +his line, strengthened the left, and charged boldly forward upon the +enemy, throwing his left around upon their flank. Meantime the right +pressed rapidly on, and engaged the rebel infantry in the open ground, +and, later, the artillery on the ridge. Their infantry was routed, and +driven back over the ridge, where their officers tried in vain to rally +and lead them forward. Their artillery resisted with desperation until +their commander was killed. By this time many of their horses had been +shot, and they tried to drag the guns away by hand. But now the left of +the regiment, under Colonel Pattee, came charging down on their right +flank, bursting upon them like a tornado; and literally mingled +together, almost fighting hand to hand, they went pell-mell toward the +village. Here the flag of truce met them, and soon hostilities ceased. +Rarely has a more brilliant and successful attack been executed in +modern warfare, and it reflects the highest credit upon Colonel Pattee +and his command. Rebel officers who witnessed it spoke in the highest +terms of the splendid and reckless courage with which this skirmish line +dashed upon the heavy masses of the enemy. + +The death of the cavalryman, to which reference has been made, was a +cause of great regret to all who witnessed it. He was a brave young man. +When relieved by the Bucktails, he might have retired from the field +with honor, as did most of the command to which he belonged. He +preferred, however, to remain. Falling in with Colonel Pattee, he fought +by his side during all the engagement, charged with him in the last +deadly onset, and escaped unharmed, to fall by the bullet of a cowardly +truce-breaker. + +Lieutenant Hayden, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, a brave young +officer, formerly of the Eleventh Reserves, lost a leg in this battle. +It seemed hard to suffer death or maiming in this, the last hour, let us +hope, that the nation will know of civil strife; but let us honor the +men who were thus faithful to the end. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Generals Grant, Meade, Ord, and others came down the road to the +village. General Lee and his associates came in the opposite direction. +They met at a house about two hundred yards from us, in full view of the +place where we stood. Here the surrender was completed. + +Twenty-six thousand men were surrendered. Besides those who had +straggled and scattered through the country, or willfully deserted, Lee +had lost in battle, since March 29th, 25,750 men. Both armies were much +exhausted, and if Lee could have shaken off the clutch of Sheridan, and +continued his retreat to Lynchburg, Grant would have been compelled to +abandon the pursuit within three days, from lack of food for his army. + +As soon as a few wagons came up with provisions, rations were issued to +both armies; but there was not a sufficient supply. We remained on the +skirmish line till the 10th, when we returned to the brigade. Several +days of wet weather followed, and the wagon-trains could not be brought +up. On the 15th we began the homeward march with empty haversacks. + +We camped that night at Pamplin's Station. In the evening George Dunn +stole a couple of the meanest, most diminutive, runty little hams you +ever saw. I helped him eat them, and am willing to bear a fair share of +the blame; but a country that can produce such hams needs +reconstruction. On the 16th we reached Farmville. The next day we camped +eight miles from Burksville. At the latter place we rested a few days, +before resuming the march to Washington. Here the news first reached us +of Lincoln's assassination. A number of men, who had been taken +prisoners during 1864, rejoined us. + +I was at headquarters one evening, for some purpose, when a soldier +accosted me and inquired for the One Hundred and Ninetieth. He was +ragged, thin, and pale. His hair and beard were of long growth. Looking +into his haggard face and sunken eyes, there was not an outline I could +recognize. + +"The One Hundred and Ninetieth is right here. I belong to it." + +"Are there any of Company D of the Eleventh Reserves here?" + +"Yes; I belonged to Company D." + +"You did!" + +He leaned toward me, looked intently a moment, then reached out his +hand. + +"Why, Mac; I'm glad to find you." + +As his face brightened I recognized him. It was Wm. Kenedy, of the old +company. He was made prisoner May 5th, in the Wilderness. He had escaped +from prison, and made his way through the country to our lines, +traveling by night, hiding by day, fed by the slaves, nursed by them +through a fever contracted in the swamps. Rest, food, and clean clothes +soon made him look like himself again. + +But my narrative must hasten to a close. We resumed the march, passed +through Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and camped at last on +Arlington Heights. We participated in the grand review. It was something +of more than ordinary interest, to see and compare the two great armies. +Most of Sherman's army had but just arrived, and were dusty and +travel-worn; while the army of the Potomac had been resting for some +time, and looked fresher and more sprightly. The latter wore caps, and +the former hats, which gave them a more somber appearance. I was also of +the impression that there were more young men in our army than in +Sherman's. + +June 28th we were mustered out, and started the next day for Harrisburg, +where we were discharged, July 2d. + +The report of the Adjutant-general of Pennsylvania gives these two +regiments, the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and +Ninety-first, no credit for active service subsequent to the battle of +Welden Railroad, August, 1864. At this time, Colonel Carle, of the One +Hundred and Ninety-first, and Colonel Hartshorn, of the One Hundred and +Ninetieth, were made prisoners, with the greater part of their +respective commands, and remained in captivity till after the cessation +of hostilities. The remainder of the two regiments acted together as one +organization, under command of Colonel Pattee, as mentioned on page 118, +until the close of the war. This was by far the longest and most +brilliant period of their history; but of this, the public records of +the State make no mention. At the time of the muster out, Colonel Pattee +was absent, and the report of the One Hundred and Ninetieth was made +out by, or under the supervision of, Colonel Hartshorn; that of the One +Hundred and Ninety-first by Colonel Carle. We suppose that these +officers neglected to insert the names of the engagements which occurred +while Colonel Pattee was in command. + +The following is a list of the battles in which the regiment took part: + + WHITE OAK SWAMP, {190th,} Col. J. B. Pattee. + June 13, 1864, {191st,} + + PETERSBURG, {190th,} Col. J. B. Pattee. + June 17, 1864, {191st,} + + WELDON RAILROAD, {190th,} Col. W. R. Hartshorn. + August 19, 1864, {191st,} Col. ---- Carle.[*] + + 2D WELDON RAILROAD, {190th,} Captain Birkman.(?) + August 21, 1864, {191st,} + + POPLAR GROVE, {190th,} Col. J. B. Pattee. + September 29, 1864, {191st,} + + HATCHER'S RUN, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + October 27, 1864, (191st,) + + ROWANTY CREEK, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + February 5, 1865, (191st,) + + HATCHER'S RUN, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + February 6, 1865, (191st,) + + GRAVELLY RUN, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + March 31, 1865, (191st,) + + FIVE FORKS, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + April 1, 1865, (191st,) + + APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + April 9, 1865, (191st,) + +* The two colonels in command, with the greater part of their men, were +made prisoners in this battle, after a heavy loss of killed and +wounded. + + +MAJOR R. M. BIRKMAN. + +Major R. M. Birkman was born in St. Louis in April, 1837, and spent his +childhood and early life in Harrisburg, Penn. He was in Philadelphia +when the war was inaugurated by the firing on Fort Sumter, and at once +enlisted in Company E, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves. He was made first +sergeant, then commissioned second lieutenant, then promoted to first +lieutenant, and after the reorganization, to captain of Company A, One +Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania. + +At the close of the war he received the rank of brevet major for +meritorious service. The following extract shows the esteem in which he +was held by the officers with whom he was associated. It is from a +letter of Brevet Brigadier-general Gwyn, who commanded the brigade in +which he served during the latter part of the war: + +"Captain, it affords me pleasure to testify to your bravery, ability, +and universal good conduct in the several bloody fights in which your +regiment was engaged during the late campaign. In the camp, no less than +in the field, your conduct bore testimony to your worth. Sober, steady, +and industrious, you set an example worth following." + +In the army, as elsewhere, he was the quiet, unassuming, conscientious +gentleman, doing his duty. + +After the war, he returned to Blairsville, Penn., where he married Miss +Mary L. Black, a most estimable lady of that city. He purchased the +Blairsville _Press_, and continued to be editor and publisher of that +paper till 1870. He then bought the _Indiana Register_ and _American_, +and merged the two papers into the _Indiana Progress_, which he +published until the 1st of March, 1880. His health had been gradually +failing for three or four years previous to this date; but he continued +to devote his attention to the work which he loved, until the advance of +disease warned him that his work was done. He then "set his house in +order," fearlessly committed himself to the God whom he had served and +loved, and waited calmly for the last of earth. + +As death drew near, his mind went back over the scenes of camp and +field, and he fought his battles o'er again. He died April 24, 1880. For +seven years previous to his death he had been an active member of the +Presbyterian Church, and proved himself an earnest, consistent +Christian. + + * * * * * + +BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOSEPH B. PATTEE. + +Brevet Brigadier-General Joseph B. Pattee is a native of Vermont. Of his +life previous to the breaking out of the war we have no information. +When the Pennsylvania Reserves were organized in 1861, he was +commissioned first lieutenant Company B, of the Tenth. December 10, +1862, he was promoted to captain. At Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864, he +was wounded in the knee by a grapeshot. He continued on duty, however, +although this wound troubled him for more than a year afterward. When +the reorganization took place, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of +the One Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania. Colonel Hartshorn being +absent, he took command of the regiment. June 17th, he was severely +wounded during the assault on Petersburg. A rifle ball struck him in the +center of the chest, and came out under his arm. This wound compelled an +absence of nearly three months. He returned September 13th, although +still suffering from this wound and the one received in May. During his +absence, Colonel Hartshorn and Colonel Carle, of the One Hundred and +Ninety-first, returned, and took command of their respective regiments. +These officers, with the greater part of their men, were made prisoners +August 19th, and so remained until after the cessation of hostilities. + +The remainder of the two regiments, increased during the Fall by +returning convalescents, numbered about five hundred men. Colonel Pattee +took command of these, and they acted together as one organization. To +his care, skill, and courage they owe the brilliant record which they +made during the rest of their history. At Gravelly Run his promptness +and decision saved the Union forces from serious disaster. His gallant +conduct in leading the assault on the rebel intrenchments at Five Forks +is mentioned in the account of that battle. At Appomattox Court-house he +was ordered forward with his regiment from the rear of the division, for +the purpose of making that last dash against Lee, and compelling his +surrender. For the prompt and skillful manner in which this attack was +executed, he was highly complimented by the generals in command, and +was brevetted brigadier-general. + +Since the close of the war he has been in the West, and is now engaged +in a land agency business at Canton, Dakota Territory. + + * * * * * + +The following muster-rolls are obtained from the "History of the +Pennsylvania Volunteers." The roll of Company C, One Hundred and +Ninetieth, is defective in that work, and we have added a few names from +memory. The following abbreviations need explanation: M. A. C. D. C. = +Military Asylum Cemetery, District of Columbia; V. R. C. = Veteran +Reserve Corps; N. C. = National Cemetery. The date which follows the +name and rank of an officer, or the name of a private, indicates the +date of enlistment. + +Company C, 11th P. R. V. C. + +MUSTERED OUT JUNE 13, 1864. + + S. Louden, Capt.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Sept. 26, '62. + + W. H. Timblin, Capt.; June 10, '61; Brev. Maj.; wounded in + Wilderness; must. out with Co. + + Newton Redic, 1st Lt.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + G. W. Fliger, 1st Lt.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. March + 12, '65. + + J. C. Kuhn, 2d Lt.; June 10, '61; died of wounds, Sept. 17, + '62. + + J. H. Sutton, 2d Lt.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, July 3, '63. + + W. J. Halderman, 1st Sergt.; Oct. 1, '61; trans. 190th, vet. + + G. W. Milford, Sergt.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Jan. 20, '63. + + J. H. Christie, Sergt.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June + 27, '62. + + G. A. Black, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + J. T. Kelly, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + G. W. Eby, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + M. Heckart, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + W. Prior, Sergt.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; died at + Andersonville, Nov. 28, '64; grave 12,191. + + Hiram Black, Corp.; June 10, '61; died of wounds, Dec. 18, '62. + + J. W. Campbell, Corp., June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + S. Cook, Corp., June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer. + + J. H. Meeder, Corp., June 23, '61; disc. on sur. cer. + + R. S. Harper, Corp.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. 190th; disc. Feb. 24, '62. + + J. S. Campbell, Corp.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. + 22, '64. + + R. S. Ray, Corp.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + W. P. Black, Corp.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + J. M. Varnum, mus., June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + J. Heckart, mus., June 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + +PRIVATES. + + Allen, D. S.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Adams, H. C.; Oct. 1, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 30, '62. + + Anderson, R. M.; Mar. 4, '62; disc. sur. cer. June 24, '62. + + Birch, D.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Black, J. R.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. 12, '64. + + Bell, S. M.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, May 20, '63. + + Brandon, Henry; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, Oct. 10, '62. + + Beatty, S. R.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds rec'd at Gaines' Mill. + + Bryan, W. A.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Feb. 11, 63. + + Bruner, S.; June 23, '61; pris. May 5, '65, to Ap. 17, '65. + + Black, U. J.; June 10, '61; died Dec. 26, '62; buried in M. A. + Cem., D. C. + + Beam, J.; June 10, '61; died Aug. 7, '62, of wounds rec'd at + Gaines' Mill. + + Brewster, J. C.; June 10, '61; died July 23, '62; buried in + M. A. Cem., D. C. + + Boreland, J. W.; June 10, '61; died May 22, '62. + + Campbell, I.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Christy, H. F.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Cannon, J.; June 23, '61; absent, sick, at muster out. + + Campbell, R. G.; Feb. 29, '64; trans. to 190th; pris., died at + Andersonville, Aug., '64. + + Campbell, Wm.; June 10, '61; died Aug. 1, '63, of wounds rec'd at + Gettysburg; bur. N. C., sec. D., grave 39. + + Clark, C.; died May 12, '65; bur. Cypress Hill Cem., Long Island + + Dobson, J.; June 10, '61; mort. wounded, May 30, '64. + + Donaldson, J.; June 10, '61; pris. May 30, '64; disc. Dec. 16, '64. + + Edgar, H. J.; June 23, '61; disc. for w'ds, Nov. 23, '62. + + Eshenbaugh, J.; June 10, '61; trans. to 190th; pris., May + 30, '64, to April 17, '65; must. out vet. + + Fliger, E. S.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Nov. 27, '61. + + Fliger, Jacob; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Nov. 27 '62. + + Graham, Jas. K.; June 10, '61; wounded; must. out with Company. + + Grossman, Lewis; June 10, '61; wounded, with loss of arm and leg, + May 11, '64; died Aug. 3, '64; bur. N. C., Arlington. + + Hindman, R. S.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Halstead, Jn.; June 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + Hilliard, W.; June 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + Hilliard, W. H.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., May 11, '62. + + Henlen, Jn. D. W.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Jan. 8, '63. + + Hoffman, Ed.: March 4, '62; trans. to 190th. + + Hilliard, Eli; June 10, '61; died at Richmond, Jan. 11, '63, of + wounds received at Fredericksburg. + + Hyskill, G.; June 10, '61; killed at Fred., Dec. 13, '62. + + Hart, Samuel; March 4, '62; died Aug. 10, '62. + + Karner, Wm.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Krause, R.; June 23, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 1, '65. + + Kepler, A. C.; Oct. 1, '61; w'd and pris. at Gaines' Mill; disc. + + Kautch, Wolfgang; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, Dec. 31, '63. + + Kenedy, B. F.; Mar. 4, '62; trans. to 190th; disc. at expiration + of term. + + Larden, T. P.; June 23, '61; wounded at Fred.; pris. May 5; disc. + Mar. 14, '65. + + Linsay, F.; June 10, '61; died Jan. 4, '63, of wounds rec'd at + Fred. Dec. 13, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C. + + Livermore, J.; Oct. 1, '61; trans. V. R. C., Dec. 31, '63. + + Miller, S.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, '65. + + M'Cleary, S. E.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, '65. + + M'Gill, W. B.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Dec. 30, '61. + + Malarkey, D.; June 23, '61; disc. Feb. 11, '63. + + Moore, W. E.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Sept. 1, '63. + + M'Murry, S.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Dec. 3, '62. + + M'Elhany, R.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Dec. 29, '62. + + M'Elvain, R.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Jan. 15, '63. + + M'Call, Alex.; Feb. 8, '62; disc. for w'ds, rec'd at Fred. + + Milford, J. P.; Aug. 26, '62; trans, to 190th. + + Monnie, F. H.; Sept. 21, '62; trans, to 190th; disc. at expiration + of term. + + M'Murry, R.; Feb. 8, '62; trans, to 190th; disc. at expiration of + term. + + M'Camy, J.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. V. R. C., Dec. 21, '63. + + Miller, Isaiah; June 10, '61; died Aug. 13, '62; bur. at Point + Lookout. + + Martin, Wm.; Sept. 21, '61; died of w'ds. Sept. 17, '62. + + M'Bride, W. A.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + Martin, P. G.; June 23, '61; deserted Mar. 20, '63. + + Patterson, H. B.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Pearce, J. M.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Oct. 29, '62. + + Pearce, R. C.; Aug. 26, '62; died Dec. 13, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C. + + Pettigrew, A. J.; June 10, '61; died July 11, '63, of wounds rec'd + at Gettysburg. + + Porter, J. R.; Oct. 5, '61; died Sept. 25, '62, of w'ds rec'd at + Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Rhodes, G. M.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Aug. 23, '62. + + Rothmire, G.; June 10, '61; disc. Sept. 12, '62, for wounds rec'd + at Gaines' Mill. + + Rinker, Wm.; June 10, '61; disc. Sept. 12, '62, for wounds rec'd + at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Russel, D. H.; Aug. 26, '62; trans. to 191st. + + Rosenberry, J.; June 10, '61; died at Macon, Ga., Dec. 24, '62, of + wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg. + + Russel, O. H. P.; June 10, '62; died at Richmond, Dec. 31, '62, of + wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg. + + Sloan, Wm.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Seaton, Amos; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Shryock, S, P.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, '65. + + Say, Hon. H.; Oct. 7, '61; trans. to 191st. + + Stevenson, J. H.; June 10, '61; killed at South Mountain, Sept. + 14, '62. + + Schmidt, C.; June 10, '61; killed at South Mountain, Sept. 14, '62. + + Shepard, J. M.; Sept 21, '61; disc. for w'ds, Feb. 24, '63. + + Taylor, J. L.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Thompson, W. S.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Aug. 2, '62. + + Thompson, J.; Oct. 13, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill. + + White, Allen; June 10, '61; killed at Wilderness, May 5, '64. + + +Company D, 11th P. R. V. C. + + Wm. Stewart, Capt.; July 5, '61; w'nded 2d Bull Run; killed at + Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, '62. + + Jacob Baiers, Capt.; July 5, '61; disc. April 9, '64, for wounds + received at Gaines' Mill. + + Jas. P. Boggs, Capt.; July 5, '61; Brev. Maj.; wd. twice, pris. + once, must. out with Co. + + J. S. Kenedy, 1st Lt.; July 5, '61; disc. June 13, '63, for wds. + received at South Mountain, Sept. 14, '62. + + Jesse Donaldson, 2d Lt.; July 5, '61; died at Alexandria, Va., May + 5, '62. + + J. O'Harra Woods, 2d Lt.; July 5, '61; killed at Gettysburg, July + 2, 63; N. C., sec. C., grave 35. + + Wilson R. Potts, 1st Sergt.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer. June 10, + '62. + + Wm. C. Coleman, 1st Sergt.; Sept. 8, '61; trans. 190th to 1st Lt., + Co. I; must. out June 28, '65. + + Robt. Ash, Sergt.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer. June 10, '62. + + Jn. Ganz, Sergt.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Sam'l J. Chrisley, Sergt.; July 16, '61; killed at 2d Bull Run, + Aug. 30, '62. + + Jac. B. Kinsell, Sergt.; July 5, '61; died Jan. 20, '63; wounds + received at Fred.; Alex, grave 691. + + G. W. M'Gaughey, Sergt.; July 5, '61; died Rich. Feb. 10, '63, + wounds received at Fred., Dec. 13, '62. + + David C. Steen, Sergt.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; wd. Gaines' + Mill, Fred., Wild.; killed Weldon R. R., Aug. 19, '64., vet. + + Geo. Weber, Sergt.; July 5, '61; wounded Fred.; pris. May 5, '64; + disc. Dec. 17, '64. + + Jas. M'Clelland, Sergt.; July 29, '61; must. out with Co. + + Jas. M. Graves, Sergt.; July 12, '61; pris. May 5, '64; must. out + Dec. 18, '64. + + Jn. Dunbar, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + Silas Amberson, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June + 27, '62. + + Robt. G. Gilleland, Corp.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., Feb. 4, + '63. + + David P. Stewart, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June + 27, '62. + + David S. Parks, Corp.; July 6, '61; killed May 30, '64. + + Jas. R. Moore, Corp.; July 29, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Feb. 7, + '63. + + Jas. B. Shafer, Corp.; July 29, '61; trans. 190th; must. out June + 28, '65. + + Dan'l Graham, Corp.; July 5, '61; pris. May 30, '64; died ----. + + Jesse Fry, Corp.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Chas. Minnemyer, Musician; July 6, '61; promoted to prin. must., + Nov. 1, '63; must. out with Co. + + Alf. Nixon, musc.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + +PRIVATES. + + Addleman, Lind. H.; Feb. 24, '62; died at home on Furlough. + + Barron, Barn. C.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 3, '62. + + Beers, Jn.; Feb. 8, '62.; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Berchtold, Jas.; Feb. 25, '62; trans. U. S. N., Nov. '62. + + Beers, Sm'l; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Beggs, Jn.; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Beatty, Jn. M.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + Bedillion, Peter; July 16, '61; died Jan. 17, '62. + + Beltz, Chas.; ----; died Sept. 4, '62; bur. Alexandria, grave 212. + + Boggs, Wm.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Brennamin, S.; March 18, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 18, '64; + not accounted for. + + Brown, Robt. J.; July 16, '61; trans. 190th; not accounted for. + + Brown, Jn. M.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Brunnermer, Geo.; Feb. 8, '62; trans. 190th; wd. May 30, Aug. 18, + '64; must. out, vet. + + Burr, Jacob; Feb. 25, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Cartwright, Linas; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 1, '64. + + Campbell, David; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 28, 63. + + Cowan, Jn.; July 5, '61; disc sur. cer. ---- + + Corans, Jn.; Sept. 12, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Cress, Dan'l; July 29, 61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Critchlow, A. W.; July 5, '61; died at N. Y., Oct. 2. '62. + + Critchlow, J. W.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + Cornelius, T. J.; July 29, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + Conders, Jn.; July 5, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Dodds, Jasper P.; July 12, '61; died at Richmond, July 18, '62, of + wds. received at Gaines' Mill. + + Dodds, W. F.; July 29, '61; disc. sur. cer., Oct. 7, '62. + + Deer, Jac.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 11, '63. + + Divinney, J. G.; Sept. 21, '61; disc. sur. cer, May 9, '62. + + Elliott, J. P.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; died--. + + Fleming, T. H.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; must. out with Co., + June 28, '65, vet. + + Frail, M.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + Fry, W. M.; July 5, '61; died at Washington, D. C., May 31, '62. + + Graham, D. W.; Sept. 21, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 18, '62. + + Gilleland, R. S.; Feb. 10, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + not accounted for. + + Gilleland, W.; Feb. 10, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Gilpatrick, M.; March 17, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + disc. July 5, '65. + + Gibson, Israel; March 17, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + disc. July 5, '65. + + Graham, D. W.; Aug. 19, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Greer, J. A.; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 9, '63. + + Hussleton, G. W.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. 22, + '64. + + Haslett, S. F.; Sept. 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Nov. 21, '62. + + Haslett, J. B.; March 3, '62; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Hare, Peter; July 12, '61; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; shot + Salis., N. C., Dec. 22, '64, vet. + + Hoyt, Oscar C.; Sept. 21, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Johnson, J. B.; July 25, '61; died May 30, '62; bur. M. A. C., + D. C. + + Johnston, Vernon; July 5, 61; died July 9, '61. + + Kenedy, Alex.; July 29, '61; disc. sur. cer., Feb. 9, '63. + + Kenedy, W. H. H.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; pris. May 5, '64; + must. out June 28, '65, vet. + + Kalb, Eckart; March 10, '62; trans. 190th; wd., loss of arm, May + 30, 64. + + List, Wm.; July 14, '61; must. out with Co. + + Lyon, Sm. A.; July 24 '61; k. Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Leonard, Jas.; July 5, '61; deserted Aug. 31, '61. + + M'Nair, Robt. A.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Mushrush, B. L.; July 5, '61; wd. May 5, '64; must. out with Co. + + M'Donald, D. (1); July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + M'Donald, D. (2); July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 25, '63. + + M'Aleer, B. W.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. 190th; pris, Aug. 19, '64; + not accounted for. + + M'Bride, R. E.; Dec. 15, '63; trans. 190th; must. out June 27, '65. + + M'Comb, J. H.; Feb. 9, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Miller, Ed.; Feb, 25, '64; trans. 190th; must. out with Co., June + 28, '65. + + M'Curdy, S. R.; Sept. 8, '61; trans, to Co. B., May 1, '62; disc. + sur. cer., June 4, '62. + + M'Knight, J.; Sept. 12, '61; trans. V. R. C., Feb. 5, '64. + + Moreland, C. L.; Apr. 22, '64; trans. 190th; killed at Petersb., + June 24, '64; bur. in Poplar Grove Cem., grave 173, sec. C. + div. D. + + M'Cullough, M. F.; July 6, '61; killed May 5, '64. + + Moore, Wm.; July 16, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + M'Kinney, J. A.; July 5, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + M'Neal, W. R.; Sept. 8, '61; died Oct. 25, '62, of wds. rec'd at + Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C. + + Nixon, J. E.; July 6, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 28, '64. + + Overdoff, W. C.; March 31, '64; trans. 190th; killed Oct. '64. + + Parker, S. C.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Pisor, D. W.; July 16, '61; died Nov. 16, '62; buried Camp Parole, + Hospital Cem. Annapolis, Md. + + Pherson, R. J.; July 29, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Rodgers, H.; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 23, '62. + + Richardson, W.; March 21, '62; trans. 190th; wd. at Fred.; must. + out June 28, '65, vet. + + Robertson, J.; Feb. 16, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + died ----. + + Rice, T. G.; Feb. 13, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died + Dec. 23, '64, Salisbury, N. C. + + Rosenberry, S. J.; Feb. 24, '62; died June 23, '62; bur. Mil. As. + Cem., D. C. + + Rouch, L.; Oct. 5, '61; died at home, Butler County, Sept. 8, '63. + + Smith, S. F.; Sept. 8, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 1, '62. + + Shearer, W. M.; Sept. 8, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 27, '62. + + Stevenson, B.; Feb. 24, '62; disc. sur. cer., March 25, '62. + + Snow, Alf. M.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died + Salisbury, N. C, vet. + + Shank, A.; Sept. 8, '61; trans. 190th; must. out June 28, '65., + vet. + + Shank, Jn.; Feb. 26, '64; trans. 190th; not accounted for. + + Silvers, M.; Sept. 21, '61; trans. V. R. C. + + Stanley, J. S.; March 31, '64; trans. 190th; wd. May 30, '64; not + accounted for. + + Sinott, Wm.; Sept. 8, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 29, '62. + + Summerville, J. H.; July 5, '61; died at Annapolis, Md., Feb. 28, + '63, of wds. rec'd at Fred. Dec. 13, '62. + + Teets, Al.; July 5, '61; absent at muster out. + + Thompson, R. W.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Thompson, G.; July 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + Williamson, Hugh; July 5, '61; wd. at Fred.; absent at muster out. + + Woods, Wm.; July 5, '61; died at Camp Pierpont, Dec. 6, '61. + + Young, Geo.; Feb. 8, '62; disc. sur. cer., June 11, '62. + + + + +Company C, 190th P. V. + + + Neri B. Kinsey, Capt.; June, 1, '61; Brev. Maj. Oct. 1, '64; + wounded Oct., '64; disc. Mar. 8, '65. + + Moses W. Lucore, 1st Lt.; June 1, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; must. + out June 28, '65. + + Benj. F. Wright, 2d Lt.; pris. Aug. 19, '64; must. out June 28, + '65. + + ---- Keeley, Sergt.; must. out June 28, '65. + + ---- Haslett, Sergt.; must. out June 28, '65. + + David C. Steen, Sergt.; killed Aug. 19, '64; sec. D., 11. + + Thos. H. Lindsay, Corp.; Dec. 21, '63; disc. gen. ord., June 1, + '65. + + +PRIVATES. + + Brown, Robt. J.; July 16, '61; vet., not accounted for. + + Beers, Jn.; Mar. 17, '62; vet., not accounted for. + + Burr, Jacob; Feb. 25, '64; vet., not accounted for. + + Brunnermer, George; Feb. 8. '62; ward 2; mus. + + Brennamin, Sl.; Mar. 18, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not accounted + for. + + Bovard, Joseph O.; June 8, '61; must. out with Co., June 28, '65; + vet. + + Conner, Wm.; Sept. 22, '62; pris. Aug. 19, '64; disc. gen. ord., + June 1, '65. + + Coleman, Mike; Dec. 15, '63; must. out with Co., June 28, '65. + + Dunn, Geo.; Sept. 22, '62; disc. gen. ord., June 1, '65. + + Edgar, Jn.; must. out with Co., June 28, '65, vet. + + Eshelman, Abram; Dec. 9, '63; died of wounds rec'd at Petersburg, + June 17, '64. + + Fulkerson, Smith; Mar. 31, '62; disc. at expiration of term. + + Fleming, Thorn. H.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co., June 28, '64; + vet. + + Fuller, Jn. A.; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury N. C., Dec. + 12, '65. + + Fairbanks, D.; pris. Aug 19, '64; died Nov. 24, '64. + + Gilpatrick, Mark; Mar. 15, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Oct. 8, + '64; disc. July 5, '65. + + Gilleland, Robt. S.; Feb. 10, '64; not accounted for. + + Gilleland, Wilson; Feb. 10, '64; not accounted for. + + Gibson, Israel; Mar. 17, '64; not accounted for. + + Hare, Peter; July 12, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury, + N. C., Jan. 30, '65, vet. + + Harris, Abram; Feb. 3, '64; disc. gen. ord., May 16, '65. + + Harris, Wm.; Feb. 3, '64; must. out with Co., June 28, '65. + + Kalb, Eckart; Mar. 10, '62; wounded, with loss of arm, May 30, '64. + + Kenedy, W. H. H.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; must. out with + Company, June 28, '65, vet. + + Klinglesmith, C.; Feb. 5, '64; must. out with Co., June 28, '65. + + Lewis, Wm.; Oct. 25, '64; disc. gen. ord., June 5, '65. + + Lyons, Owen; Dec. 21, '63; trans. V. R. C. + + M'Aleer, Bernard W.; Feb. 24, '62; not accounted for. + + M'Bride, R. E.; Dec. 15, '63; must. out with Co. + + M'Comb, Jas. H.; Feb. 9, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not accounted + for. + + M'Guire, Robt. R.; June 8, '61; mustered out with Company, vet. + + M'Guire, Jas. N.; June 8, '61; must. out with Company, vet., + wounded. + + Miller, Ed.; Feb. 25, '64; must. out with Company. + + Nicholson, Jn.; Dec. 31, '63; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Feb. 7, '65; + disc. June 12, '65. + + Overdoff, Wm. C.; Mar. 31, '64; killed Oct., '64. + + Payne, Wm.; Oct. 20, '61; disc. at expiration of term. + + Rice, Thos. G.; Feb. 13, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at + Salisbury, N. C. + + Richardson, Wm.; Mar. 21, '62; must. out with Co., wounded. + + Robertson, Jas.; Feb. 16, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at + Salisbury, N. C., Dec. 23, '64. + + Rutter, Wm.; wounded at Petersburg, June 18, '64; died July 15, + '64. + + Snow, Alf. M.; July 5, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury, + N. C., vet. + + Shank, Andrew; Sept. 8, '61; must. out with Co., vet., wounded. + + Shank, Jn.; Feb. 26, '64; not accounted for. + + Scott, W. D.; June 8, '61; disc. Jan. 23, '65, vet. + + Stohker, Abram; Dec. 21, '63; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Jan. 22, '64; + disc. June 12, '65. + + Sweeney, Chas.; June 8, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to March 1, '65; + disc. June 24. '65. + + Thiel, Anthony; Feb. 4, '62; disc. gen. ord., June 2, '65. + + Walb, Leonidas C.; June 21, '61; must. out with Company, vet. + + Youler, Benj. F.; June 20, '61; must. out with Co., vet. + + + + +GREAT WESTERN GUN WORKS, +Pittsburgh, Pa. + +[Illustration] + + +Breech-loading Shot Guns, $18 to $300. Double Shot Guns, $8 to $150. +Single Guns, $3 to $20. Rifles, $8 to $75. Revolvers, $1 to $25. Send +for free illustrated Catalogue. Great Western Gun Works, Pittsburgh, Pa. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +[Illustration: WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY + +NEW EDITION WITH SUPPLEMENT] + +NEW EDITION. Contains =1928 Pages=, +=3000= ENGRAVINGS, +=4600= New Words and Meanings, +=Biographical Dictionary,= +=9700= Names. + +Published by G. & C. MERRIAM, Springfield, Mass. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +Western Reserve Seminary, + +WEST FARMINGTON, OHIO. + +C. B. WEBSTER, A. M., Principal. + +INSTITUTION ESTABLISHED FIFTY YEARS. + +OPEN TO BOTH SEXES. + +Five Departments in Successful Operation: +Classical, Scientific, Commercial, +Normal, Music, and Art Courses, +Telegraphy, and Printing. + +TABLE $1.50 PER | TOTAL $100 TO $125 PER +BOARD, WEEK. | EXPENSES, YEAR. + +Competent Teachers in Each Department. + +Tuition Only $6.00 Per Term. No Incidental Fee. + +=SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.= + +For Catalogue, address the Principal. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + + +Organs and Pianos. + + +BEATTY ORGANS & PIANOS. + +=Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops. +Pianofortes.= Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,600=. =Sent on +trial warranted.= =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= + +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +BEATTY CABINET ORGANS. + +CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR. + +BEATTY PIANOFORTES, + +GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT. + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30, $40, $50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +_ORGANS_ + +14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, =ONLY $65=. =PIANOS=, =$125= up. Paper free. +Address =Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +BEATTY ORGANS & PIANOS. + +=Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 33 Stops. +Pianofortes.= Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,000=. =Sent on +trial warranted.= =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +ORGANS AND PIANOS. + +=BEATTY CABINET ORGANS.= + +=CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.= + +=BEATTY PIANOFORTES, GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.= + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30=, =$40=, =$50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington. N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +_=ORGANS=_ + +=14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, ONLY $65.= =PIANOS=, =$125= up. Paper free. +=Address Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=BEATTY CABINET ORGANS.= + +=CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.= + +=BEATTY PIANOFORTES, GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.= + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30=, =$40=, =$50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +_=ORGANS=_ + +=14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, ONLY $65.= =PIANOS=, =$125= up. Paper free. +=Address Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=ORGANS AND PIANOS.= + +=BEATTY ORGANS AND PIANOS.= + +=Organs, Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops.= +=Pianofortes=, Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,600=. =Sent on +trial warranted.= =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~ + +_=ORGANS=_ 14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, =ONLY $65=. PIANOS, =$125= up. Paper +free. Address =Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=BEATTY ORGANS AND PIANOS.= + +=Organs.= =Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops.= +=Pianofortes=, Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,600=. =Sent on +trial warranted=. =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=BEATTY CABINET ORGANS.= + +=CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.= + +=BEATTY PIANOFORTES, GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.= + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30=, =$40=, =$50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + + + + + +----------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 9 Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania | + | Page 26 steathily changed to stealthily | + | Page 26 Bristor changed to Bristoe | + | Page 27 Bristor changed to Bristoe | + | Page 37 Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania | + | Page 52 earthern changed to earthen | + | Page 74 cookiug changed to cooking | + | Page 129 Nintieth changed to Ninetieth | + | Page 146 Aross changed to Across | + | Page 174 redoutable changed to redoubtable | + | Page 237 Fredericksbug changed to Fredericksburg | + +----------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Ranks, by R. E. 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E. McBride + +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: In The Ranks + From the Wilderness to Appomattox Court House + +Author: R. E. McBride + +Release Date: January 25, 2010 [EBook #31075] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE RANKS *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> +A Table of Contents by chapter is provided +for the convenience of the reader after the +Contents. +<br /> +</div> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="40%" alt="R. E. McBRIDE." /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">R. E. McBRIDE.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>IN THE RANKS:</h1> + +<h3> <span class="smcap">FROM THE</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Wilderness to Appomattox Court-House.</span></h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3> THE WAR,<br /> +AS SEEN AND EXPERIENCED BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER<br /> +IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2> <span class="smcap">By REV. R. E. M'BRIDE.</span></h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> +<p class="cen"> A tale of the times of old. The deeds of days of other years.</p> +<p class="cen smcap"><span style="padding-left: 15%;">—Ossian.</span></p> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4> CINCINNATI:<br /> + PRINTED BY WALDEN & STOWE,<br /> + <span class="smcap">FOR THE AUTHOR.</span><br /> + 1881</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by<br /> +R. E. M'BRIDE,<br /> +In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>In giving this book to the public we do so under the same plea which +justifies those pleasant gatherings called "reunions," where men of the +same regiment, corps, or army, meet to extend friendly greetings to each +other, to friends, and all comrades in arms.</p> + +<p>The writer has found it a pleasant task to recall the scenes of fifteen +years ago, when, a mere boy in years, he had a part in the events here +recorded. He is conscious of a kindly affection toward the men who were +his companions during those stirring times. Kindness, thoughtfulness, +forbearance, toward the boy-soldier, are not forgotten. If he found any +thing different from these in his intercourse with men or officers, it +has passed from memory, and he would not recall it if he could.</p> + +<p>We trust, also, that this work may have a mission of utility to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +generation that has grown up since the war.</p> + +<p>There is a certain almost indefinable something, which has been summed +up under the expression, "military traditions." This comes not alone +from formal histories of the wars of the nation, but more largely from +the history which each soldier carried home with him after the war was +over. It meant something more than a certain amount of small family +vanity, when men used to say, "My father was a soldier of the +Revolution;" "My father fought at Lundy's Lane."</p> + +<p>There lay back of this the stories told to wondering little ones while +they gathered around the arm-chair of the soldier grandfather. Here were +planted the seeds of military ardor that found expression at Gettysburg, +Vicksburg, Atlanta, and the Wilderness. It is thus the past of the +nation projects itself into the present. Our comrades that sleep down +yonder guard their country more effectually than if, full armed, they +kept unceasing watch on all her borders. Though dead, they yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +speak,—yes <i>live</i>, in the spirit which yet lives in the hearts of their +countrymen. The cause they died for our children will love; the +institutions they preserved at such cost, our sons will perpetuate by +intelligent devotion to freedom and her laws.</p> + +<p>Is it in vain, then, my comrade, that I sit down in your family circle, +and tell your children the story of our hardships, trials, reverses, +victories?</p> + +<p>This narrative is submitted to you almost as first written, when +intended only for the perusal of my own family. In recounting events +subsequent to August 19, 1864, when the One Hundred and Ninetieth is +spoken of, the One Hundred and Ninety-first is also included, as they +were practically one.</p> + +<p>Since completing the work, the author has learned that the report of the +Adjutant-general of Pennsylvania gives these regiments, the One Hundred +and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first, no credit for service +subsequent to the battle of Welden Railroad, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>August, 1864. We give +an explanation of this in the closing chapter, and send forth this +volume, hoping that it may serve, in some measure, to do justice to as +devoted a body of men as Pennsylvania sent to the field.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Seneca, Kansas</span>, March, 1881.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div style="margin-left: 25%;"> +<ul><li> Alexander, John, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li> Appomattox Battle, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li> Amusements, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Bethsaida Church, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + +<li> Birkman, Capt., <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li> Boggs, Lieut., <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> + +<li> Baiers, Lieut., <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Carle, Col., <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li> Coleman, Mike, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li> Coleman, Sergt., <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> + +<li> Culp, Eckard, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li> Craig, Wm., <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Delo, Chaplain, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li> Dodds, Jasper, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li> Dunn, Geo., <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li> Dillinger, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Eshelman, Abe, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li> Elliot, John, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li> Execution, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li> Edgar, John, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Fort Federal Hill, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></li> + +<li> Fort Steadman, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li> Five Forks Battle, <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Gaines' Mill Battle, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li> Ginter, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li> Ghosts, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li> Graham, Daniel, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + +<li> Gravelly Run Battle, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + +<li> Grossman, Louis, <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Harris, Wm., <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li> Hatcher's Run Battle, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li> Hartshorn, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li> Hayden, Lieut., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + +<li> Hop, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Jones, Capt., <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Kinsey, Capt., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li> Kenedy, W. H. H., <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> M'Cullough, M. F., <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li> M'Guire, J., <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + +<li> Miller, Ed., <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li> Moreland, C. L., <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li> Mortars, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li> Mushrush, Benj., <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> North Ann River Battle, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Overdoff, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Petersburg, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></li> + +<li> Pattee, Col., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> + +<li> Peacock, Lieut., <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li> Preston, Geo., <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Quaker Road Battle, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Robbins, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li> Rowanty Creek Battle, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li> Running the Gauntlet, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li> Rutter, Wm., <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li> Ramrods, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Stanley, John, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li> Stewart, Joe, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li> Stewart, Capt., <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li> Steen, David, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + +<li> Shaffer, J., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> + +<li> Spotsylvania, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Walb, L. C., <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li> Welden Railroad, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + +<li> Welden Raid, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li> White, Allen, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> + +<li> White Oak Swamp Battle, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li> Wilderness Battle, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> + +<li> Woods, O'Harra, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li> Wright, Ernest, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li> Whisky, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> +</ul> + +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="40%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%">Chapter I</td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter II</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter III</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter IV</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter V</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter VI</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter VII</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter VIII</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter IX</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter X</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XI</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XII</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XIII</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XIV</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XV</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XVI</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XVII</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XVIII</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XIX</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chapter XX</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +<br /> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>I have long purposed the following work, designing to put in a form +somewhat permanent my recollections of experiences in the great war, +believing it may be a source of satisfaction to my children in later +years. Already many of those scenes begin to appear dim and dreamlike, +through the receding years, and many faces, once so clearly pictured in +memory as seen around the camp-fire, in the march, and on the field of +battle, have faded quite away. These things admonish me that what is +done must be done quickly.</p> + +<p>In the following pages you will find the names of men otherwise unknown, +because their part in the great conflict was an humble one, yet none the +less grand and heroic. This is written during the brief and uncertain +intervals of leisure that may be caught up here and there amid the +pressing work of the pastorate. You will not, then, I trust, undervalue +it because of literary blemishes. It is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span><i>history</i> as really as more +pretentious works. It is a specimen of the <i>minutiæ</i> of history, a story +of the war as seen by a private in the ranks, not by one who, as a +favored spectator, could survey the movements of a whole army at a +glance, and hence could, <i>must</i>, individualize brigades, divisions, army +corps. It is the war in field, woods, underbrush, picket-post, +skirmish-line, camp, march, bivouac. During 1864 no memorandum was kept, +and a diary kept during the spring of 1865 was lost, within a year after +the close of the war. Hence I have depended on memory alone, aided in +fixing dates, etc., by reference to written works. Beyond this, the +histories consulted were of little assistance, as their record of events +sometimes differed materially from my recollection of them. In such +cases I tell my own story, as the object is to record these things as +they appeared to me.</p> + +<p>In recording events of which I was not myself a witness, I give the +story as heard from the lips of comrades. Such portions are easily +discernible in the body of the narrative. You can have them for what +they are worth.</p> + +<p class="cen"> "I can not tell how the truth may be,<br /> +I tell the tale as 'twas told to me."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +<h2>In the Ranks.</h2> +<hr /> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2> + +<h2>"WAR!"</h2> +<br /> + +<p>It is a little word. A child may pronounce it; but what word that ever +fell from human lips has a meaning full of such intensity of horror as +this little word? At its sound there rises up a grim vision of "confused +noise and garments rolled in blood." April 12, 1861, cannon fired by +traitor hands, boomed out over Charleston harbor. The dire sound that +shook the air that Spring morning did not die away in reverberating +echoes from sea to shore, from island to headland. It rolled on through +all the land, over mountain and valley, moaning in every home, at every +fireside, "War! War! War!"</p> + +<p>Are we a civilized people? What is civilization? Is it possible to +eliminate the tiger from human nature? Who would have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>dreamed that the +men of the North, busy with plowing and sowing, planning, contriving, +inventing, could prove themselves on a hundred battle-fields a fiercely +warlike people? The world looked on with wonder as they rushed eagerly +into the conflict, pouring out their blood like water and their wealth +without measure, for a sentiment, a principle, that may be summed up in +the one word—"nationality." "The great uprising" was not the movement +of a blind, unreasoning impulse. A fire had been smoldering in the North +for years. The first cannon shot, that hurtled around the old flag as it +floated over the walls of Fort Sumter shook down the barriers that +confined it, and the free winds of liberty fanned it to a devouring +flame.</p> + +<p>The Yankee—let the name be proudly spoken—as he turned the furrow, +stood by his work bench, or listened to the jarring clank of his +machinery, had mused with heavy heart and shame-flushed cheek how a +haughty, brutal, un-American spirit had drawn a line across the land, +and said, "Beyond this is <i>not</i> your country. Here your free speech, +free labor, and free thought shall never come." While this line was +imaginary, he had waited <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>for better days and larger thought to change +the current of the times; but when it was transformed into bristling +bayonets and frowning cannon, the tiger rose up within him, and with +unquestioning faith he took up the gauge of battle. Men talked of the +"cold blood of the North." That blood had surged impetuously through the +veins of warrior freemen for a hundred generations. Here in the New +World it had lost none of its vigor. The sturdy spirit that in other +years ruled the hand that wielded the battle-ax, still ruled, when the +hand was employed in subduing mountain and prairie. The North was averse +to war, because it was rising to that higher civilization that abhors +violence, discards brute methods, and relies on the intellectual and +moral. Such a people, driven to desperation, move right forward to the +accomplishment of their object with a scorn of cost or consequences +unknown to a lower type. Hence it is that the people of the North, +without hesitation, grappled with a rebellion the most formidable ever +successfully encountered by any government. For a like reason their +great armies, melting away like frost before the sun when the rebel flag +went down, mingled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>again with the people without jar or confusion.</p> + +<p>Turning away from a half million graves, wherein they had buried their +slain, their bravest and best beloved, they forgot all bitterness for +joy that peace had come. No people in the world had greater reason for +severity than the victors in this strife. War, willful, unprovoked, +without the shadow of justification, had been thrust upon them. This had +been preceded by a series of usurpations the most unblushing ever +endured by a free people. These were a part of the plan of a band of +traitors, who had plotted for years to overthrow the existing order of +things, and establish an empire with human slavery for its chief +corner-stone.</p> + +<p>The "Golden Circle," with its center at Havana, Cuba, its radii +extending to Pennsylvania on the North, the isthmus on the south, and +sweeping from shore to shore, was the bold dream of the men who plotted +the destruction of the American republic. Their object was pursued with +a cold-blooded disregard of all right, human and divine, worthy of the +pagan brutality of the Roman Triumvirate. Prating about the +"Constitution" <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>with hypocritical cant, they trampled upon every +safeguard of popular liberty, and at last, in defiance of even the forms +of law, plunged the people of the Southern States into a war with the +government, which, even if successful in securing a separation, could +only have been the beginning of woes, as their plans would develop.</p> + +<p>But notwithstanding the heinousness of the accomplished crime, not a man +was punished. It is doubtful whether popular opinion would have approved +the punishment of even the arch-traitor, Jeff Davis. The common +sentiment was expressed by the oft-repeated verdict: "Enough of blood +has been shed." Whether this was wise or not it is vain to inquire. +Perhaps the future will vindicate the wisdom of the generous course of +the government. Thus far it has seemed like folly. The South has shown a +persistent vindictiveness unequaled in the history of any people, a +cruelty toward the helpless victims of their hate that is shameful to +the last degree. The cowardly assassination of political opponents, the +brutal murder of black men, women, and children, has been defended +openly or covertly by pulpit, press, and platform. If any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>disapprove, +their voice is not heard in condemnation of the wrong.</p> + +<p>This may have resulted partly from the fact that many of the people of +the North, notably many so-called statesmen, ignored common sense and +gave way to gush and sentiment. There is nothing gained in this prosy +world by calling black white. The leaders of the rebellion were guilty +of the horrible crime of <i>treason</i>, and we baptized it something else. +The result is manifest to all who are not willfully and wickedly blind +to the facts.</p> + +<p>Yet it is the part of duty to hope for the speedy coming of an era of +calmer judgment, of real and healthy patriotism, when every American +citizen will claim our whole land as his <i>country</i>.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>When the civil war began, my home was with the family of Mr. John Dunn, +in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The old gentleman was a Democrat, and at +first had little to say about the war. One evening he returned from the +village in a state of intense excitement. He had heard of the disastrous +battle at Bull Run. It is no exaggeration to say that he "pranced" +around the room, chewing his tobacco with great vigor, telling how many +of our "poor boys" had been slaughtered by the —— rebels. His apathy +was at an end. He could see where the line lay between treason and +patriotism, when once that line was traced in blood.</p> + +<p>At this time two Butler County companies, C and D, of the Eleventh +Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, were in camp near Pittsburg. The +corps was sent forward to Washington at once, and from that time till +the close of their term of service, they gallantly represented the +Keystone State in every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>battle fought by the Army of the Potomac. My +brother, Wm. A., was a private in Company C. He enlisted June 10, 1861, +and fell, with many other brave men, at the battle of Gaines' Mill, June +27, 1862.</p> + +<p>From what I could learn from those who were present, the following are +the facts concerning the disaster which befell the regiment in this +engagement, and my brother's death:</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon of the 27th, the Eleventh moved forward to relieve +a New Jersey regiment, which had been fighting in a piece of woods near +the center of the line. The rebels came swarming against them, line +after line, but were continually driven back by the relentless volleys +that blazed out from the ranks of the Eleventh. Unfortunately, about the +time they became engaged, the line on either side of them was driven +back, and they were left to contend alone against terrible odds. Neither +men nor officers knew their real situation until men began to fall, from +volleys poured into them from the flanks. Major Johns went in the +direction from which the fire was coming, thinking that some of our own +troops were firing on them through mistake. He was made prisoner. +Adjutant <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>M'Coy was ordered to report the condition of things to General +Mead. On reaching the open ground, he saw the battle flags of nine rebel +regiments on the flank and rear. He at once reported to the colonel. +Orders were given to fall back, the intention being to hew a way out +through the enemy. At this point my brother fell. Having just loaded his +gun as the command was given to move toward the rear, he paused to give +a parting shot. A bullet struck him in the face, penetrating the brain, +and he fell dead.</p> + +<p>The regiment, hemmed in on every side by overwhelming numbers, with +one-fourth of their number killed or wounded, at last surrendered. +Company D lost eight men, killed, in this engagement, besides a number +mortally wounded or permanently disabled. Of the former was Jasper +Dodds, who was wounded in the knee by a rifle ball. After being removed +to Richmond, he wrote a cheerful letter to his mother and friends at +home, no doubt expecting to recover. He died July 18th. Jacob Baiers, +then sergeant, afterwards promoted to captain, was shot through the +lungs, and never wholly recovered. He continued in service, however, +until April, 1864. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>The regiment was exchanged in time to participate in +the second Bull Run battle, where again their loss was terrible. Seven +men of Company D were killed or mortally wounded. It is said that Jesse +Fry and Boss. M'Cullough were the only men of the company on their feet +and unhurt at the close of the battle. Scarcely were their ranks +somewhat filled up by returning convalescents, when the other great +battles followed. On every field they left their dead. "South Mountain," +"Antietam," "Fredericksburg,"—these words you can see in the muster +roll, after that word which even yet chills the heart, "killed." Captain +Stewart was struck through the breast at Fredericksburg, and died in two +hours. Young O'Harra Woods was promoted for gallant conduct in this +battle. The honor was well bestowed and nobly borne. He fell at +Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, bravely leading his men in that great battle. +But why particularize; brave men all.</p> + +<p class="cen noin"> "Theirs not to make reply,<br /> + Theirs not to reason why,<br /> +Theirs but to do and die.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Butler County, famous for rocks, hills, buckwheat, psalm-singing, and +soap mines. Psalm singing? Yes. The sturdy Scotch-Irish that grew among +her hills, as a rule, would sing to the Lord with no other words than +those of the warrior king and the holy men of old. Have you heard their +solemn songs? I hear them to-night—it is not imagination, not "their +songs," but "our songs." A voice of singing floats down through the +years, very holy and very tender; for now all the singers are "evermore +before the throne," except two, whose infant lips could scarce pronounce +the words:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Lord, bless and pity us,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Shine on us with thy face;<br /></span> +<span class="i6">That th' earth thy way, and nations all<br /></span> +<span class="i8">May know thy saving grace."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + +<p>Yes, psalm-singing! But the soap mines? We protest! We have hunted +huckleberries on her hills; we have pursued the groundhog in her woods, +the 'coon around her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>cornfields; we have swum and fished in her +sparkling streams; from Dan to Beersheba we have worked, played, done +"many things we ought not to have done," and left undone many things it +was our duty to do; but we never saw a soap mine. We can testify before +all the world that the people of Butler County make their soap in the +usual innocent and odorous manner.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Prospect</span>, Butler County, a dreamy village of the olden time. +The houses accommodate themselves to the cross-roads. One road stretches +from the county seat westward; the other from the "stone house" goes +winding along toward Pittsburg. The houses have also a contented, self +satisfied look; the stores and the tavern seem to consider themselves +permanent factors in the world's machinery. On a pleasant day an +"honorable" or two might be seen sunning themselves in front of store or +tavern, whittling, and adding dignity to the surroundings.</p> + +<p>In this quiet village one chilly morning in December, 1863, the writer +mounted the stage-coach and went rattling over the frozen ground toward +Pittsburg, to enlist in the volunteer service. Just seventeen years ago +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>that very morning I had begun the business of life on rather limited +capital; and although it had been improved with considerable success, +yet the kindly prophecies, particularly of my copperhead friends, did +not portend a very lengthy nor brilliant military career. The next day I +made my way to the provost-marshal's office, and, after due examination, +was pronounced all right, and sworn into the service. If I lied about my +age, obliging memory has written it over with something else, and it is +gone from me. But I think Captain ——, of Prospect, did the lying; at +least let us hope that he has sufficiently repented of it long ere this.</p> + +<p>I selected Company D, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regular Volunteer +Corps, and was assigned accordingly. The recruits were retained for some +time at Camp Copeland, then about the dreariest, most uncomfortable +place I ever saw; shelter and provisions insufficient, bad whisky and +blacklegs abundant. Joe Stewart, John Alexander, and myself tented +together here. They had enlisted for the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, the +"Roundheads." Joe was an old acquaintance. He served gallantly till the +close of the war. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>John was a noble boy and found a soldier's death at +Cold Harbor. After one of the fruitless charges made there, when the +Roundheads came back foiled of their purpose, John was not with them. In +the darkness of night which quickly closed around, Joe went out to +search for him. As he was picking his way stealthily among the dead and +dying, he heard a well known voice calling softly near by, "Joe, Joe, is +that you?" It was John, lying there, shot through the breast. He warned +his rescuer to be very cautious, as the rebel videttes were near. With +much difficulty he got him back to our lines. This was the night of June +2d, and he died on the 4th.</p> + +<p>I left the latter part of January to join the regiment, then camped at +Bristoe Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. With me were two +recruits for Company E, Abe Eshelman and Mike Coleman. The former was +killed at Petersburg; the latter, a live Irishman, was mustered out at +the close of the war, after a year and a half of valiant service for his +adopted country. We went by Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington, +thence by the Orange and Alexandria road, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>every mile historic ground, +past Bull Run, where, the soldiers say, the dead would not stay buried, +and finally we alight at Bristoe Station. On the right over there are +the Bucktails; a little further toward the west the Second is camped. +Over the hill toward Brentsville, past the artillery camp, is the +Eleventh.</p> + +<p>Here I found John Elliot, who had served with the regiment since its +organization. He, brother William, and myself had been boy companions +before the war, although I was younger than they. I went into the mess +with him, S. L. Parker, and Benjamin Mushrush. After being with them but +a short time, I was taken with that scourge of the army, measles, and +was removed to the surgeon's tent. I was on picket when the disease made +itself felt. The day and night on which I was on duty were stormy, rain +and snow. As a result, I had a lively time of it. The disease left my +voice so impaired that, for a long time, I was unable to speak above a +whisper. During my stay at the surgeon's tent, I employed myself +studying his books on surgery, and acquired a knowledge on the subject +which was utilized at a later period.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>John Elliot had enlisted April 25, 1861, although not mustered into the +United States service until July 5th of the same year. He felt that he +should be mustered out at the former date of 1864. As the time drew near +we conversed frequently on the subject, and he was in some perplexity as +to duty in the case. The morning of the 25th found him on picket. I +prepared the morning meal for the mess and then relieved him until he +should breakfast. Soon he returned in a more than usually cheerful +spirit. After chatting pleasantly for a time, he spoke of his term of +enlistment.</p> + +<p>"I have that matter all arranged now," he said, "as far as I am +concerned. I am not certain whether the government has a right to hold +me any longer or not; but I will stay till it sees fit to discharge me. +The country needs soldiers this Spring. I would like to visit home. It's +been three years since I saw mother and the boys; but it's all right. +God has kept me safely through all these battles, and I can trust him +for time to come."</p> + +<p>This was the substance of his language, his exact words, as near as I +can remember. They are noble words; as grand as ever fell <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>from the lips +of Christian hero. Many a time afterward they were an inspiration to me. +His face was bright that beautiful Spring morning with a joy that was +not of earth. The night watches had been spent communing with God,—yes, +face to face. Had he known that the midsummer sun would look down upon +his grave, would his decision have been different? I think not. He knew +too much of war and battles not to count the cost. From a Southern +prison-pen his brave spirit went up to God.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>April 29th we broke camp and proceeded to near Culpepper Court-house. +Before leaving camp we sent our extra baggage, clothing, etc., to +Washington, and, of course, never saw them again. During the night of +May 3d we marched for the Rapidan, crossing at Germania Ford. The next +evening we camped in order of battle near the Wilderness Tavern. The +following morning the division moved out on a country road toward +Robertson's Tavern. Passing through woods, we came to an open field, +where line of battle was formed. The Bucktails were in front, +skirmishing. We could see them on the ridge, and their occasional shouts +and rapid firing showed that the battle had begun. For the first time I +heard the whistle of the rifle ball, as a stray one now and then +whistled over the line of battle. After waiting thus for some time, we +moved back some distance, in the direction from which we had come. Here +I spoke a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>few words with John Elliot, the last we ever exchanged. In +the confusion which followed he was made prisoner, and died at +Andersonville. Soon the noise of battle began to deepen in our front and +at the right. Hurried orders were received; the line moved by the right +flank, double-quick. The Seventh Regiment deployed and vanished into the +woods, forward, and the Eleventh followed in line of battle. Moving on +through the thick underbrush, the enemy was quickly encountered. Their +first volley was deadly. A ball struck Boss. M'Cullough in the forehead. +He fell dead, a portion of his shattered brain lodging on the arm of +John Stanley, a boy of seventeen, who had come to us during the Spring. +John shuddered, shook it from the sleeve of his blouse, raised his gun +and began firing. Captain Jones, of Company A, White, of Company C, and +many others, fell dead before this first volley. Soon it was discovered +that the division was flanked. Our line was at right angles with the +position in which the subsequent fighting took place. To crown all, the +woods took fire, and soon the only problem that remained was to withdraw +as quickly and safely as possible.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>While this turmoil was progressing, to me so strange and bewildering, +the surgeon, Dr. Lyon, came across me, and directed me to go to a +certain point at the edge of the woods, east of the Wilderness Tavern, +to help care for the wounded. Thither I made my way. As I passed on +through the woods, I was soon out of reach of the bullets, which had +been flying thick and fast. When I came to the open ground, I saw more +clearly than ever the results of the battle, still going on in the woods +beyond. The multitude of wounded and dying men crowded the road. Some +were limping painfully along; others were being carried on stretchers, +or helped along by comrades.</p> + +<p>Reaching the designated place, I found the field tents erected, and all +full of suffering men. I took charge of one in which were twenty-seven +wounded, several amputations, and other bad cases. They lay with their +heads toward the canvas, a narrow path being left between their feet. +All that could be done for them was to give them food and water, bathe +their wounds, and render any little service by which their sufferings +might be mitigated. Their heroic patience <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>astonished me. Men, torn and +mangled, would utter no groan, nor give any vocal expression to the +agonies which racked them, except sometimes when sleep or delirium found +the overmastering will off guard.</p> + +<p>Toward evening I learned that the regiment was just beyond the +Wilderness tavern; and, getting relieved for a short time, I started to +go to them, as I had the extra coffee of the mess. As I came in sight, +they moved hurriedly away toward the right, where the battle was raging +fiercely. It was useless to follow, and I began to retrace my steps. +Pausing a moment on an elevated knoll, I gazed on the strange scene that +spread out before me. From the right on the turnpike, a line, somewhat +curved, extended a distance of three or four miles to the left. On the +right the line was enveloped in woods, in which a terrific conflict was +going on. Sedgwick's corps was standing between the army and disaster. +In the center, on elevated ground, beyond some low woods, I could see a +rebel line of battle, while the sharp fire of skirmishers in front +showed that here the lines of blue and gray would soon smite together. +Further toward the left, a line of blue <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>extended along the edge of a +narrow field, facing the woods just beyond, into which it poured +incessant volleys, while the smoke that rose up from the woods showed +that an active foe was there. Behind our line, flat on the ground, lay a +second one. A tragedy, grandly, awfully sublime, was enacting before me. +A hundred thousand men were grappling in deadly conflict. While I gazed +the line of battle slackened its fire; the second one rose from the +ground; then both swept forward across the field and into the woods +beyond, bearing the enemy before them. For a few moments there was +silence, and then the struggle was renewed as fiercely as ever. I +returned to the field-tents to go on with my work of mercy among the +suffering.</p> + +<p>As night drew on the battle ceased, and the men lay down to sleep where +they had fought, ready to renew the strife at the return of light. In +the tents there, while the army beyond was resting, part of our nation's +heroes continued the contest through the solemn hours of night. They +fought with the giant Pain, and some of them went down into the dark +valley, and close by the chill waters they faced the King of Terrors.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>I slept none that night. As morning approached, I went to the edge of +the little opening which had been cleared in the woods for the tents. +While I stood here looking off toward the scene of yesterday's battle, +the sound of a single rifle shot rang out on the air, then another and +another, and then a deafening roar of musketry burst forth and raged +along the whole line, continuing almost without interruption all day.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Lieutenant Boggs and David Steen were brought in +wounded, the former by a rifle ball in the thigh, the latter severely +bruised by a fragment of shell. He had been wounded at Gaines' Mill and +Fredericksburg. After his return this time, I heard him say that he had +come to have more dread of going into battle since he had been wounded +so often. Still he never shrank from duty. He was killed the following +August at Welden Railroad.</p> + +<p>Here I saw the only instance of impatience on the part of a wounded man +of which I have any recollection. A young fellow lay about the middle of +the tent, wounded in the knee, a ball having cut the skin on one side +without injuring the bone. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>His long legs were extended almost across +the narrow path along which I was compelled to walk in passing from one +to another. He was grumbling and complaining, demanding and receiving +attentions in a gruff and uncivil manner. He would also mutter +threatenings of what he would do should I hurt him in stepping over his +crooked legs outstretched in my way. To all of this I paid no attention +and signs of ill-nature continued. Finally, a bright young man opposite, +whose leg was amputated at the thigh, raised himself on his elbow and +proceeded to express his opinion of such conduct in language much more +forcible than pious.</p> + +<p>From this place we moved some distance to the left, where the tents were +erected in an open field. Here an incident occurred which illustrates +the false estimate placed upon the civilization of the North by the +masses of the South. A wounded rebel, an intelligent-looking young man, +was brought in from the field in an ambulance. We came with a stretcher +to carry him into the tent. He looked at us with a frightened, helpless +look, and asked:</p> + +<p>"You won't hurt me, will you?"</p> + +<p>I assured him we would be just as careful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>as possible. He seemed +surprised to be treated with kindness, having been taught, evidently, +that the Yankee invader was a barbarian. Removed to the tent, I examined +his wound. A bullet had passed through the ankle joint, and the only +remedy was amputation. He inquired how it was. It seemed hard to tell +him that he must go through life maimed.</p> + +<p>"That is a bad foot; but the surgeons will do the best they can for it. +You may lose it." Some time after he was removed, I suppose to have his +foot amputated, and I saw him no more.</p> + +<p>The next move was to Spotsylvania. Grant had grappled with his enemy, +intending to hold on "all Summer." The same spirit seemed to animate his +army, from General Meade down to the latest recruit in the ranks. The +lines of blue came out from the smoking underbrush of the Wilderness, +their ranks torn and decimated, and closed in around the bristling +batteries and rifle-pits of Spotsylvania with a relentless courage that +was sublime.</p> + +<p>Here the tents were pitched in a little, open lot, a house to the right +as you faced <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>the position where the fighting was in progress. The tents +were not sufficient to contain the wounded, and they lay on the ground +on the outside by thousands. Those long rows of suffering forms, gashed +and mangled in every conceivable manner, told a dreadful tale of human +wrath. That gallant division, the Reserves, had preserved their +well-earned reputation for stubborn valor at a terrible cost. Their +greatest loss was sustained in a single onset against the rebel +position. The enemy was posted in strong rifle-pits, beyond a narrow +strip of swamp. Orders were given to charge these works. The division +moved forward. They had never failed in such an undertaking. Their +charge had always pierced the enemy's line. This had been their record +during three years of warfare. But men can not accomplish +impossibilities. Baffled by the swamp, cut by the merciless fire that +blazed out from the pits, they are driven back, rally, re-form and +charge the second and third time, and then retire to the position from +which they had come out.</p> + +<p>The field-tents here were nearer the front than before. Bullets and an +occasional shell whistled over us. My work was still the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>same, caring +for the wounded, assisting the surgeon, or occasionally binding up a +wound myself.</p> + +<p>During the second day, while engaged at the farther end of the tent, I +heard at the front a familiar voice. As soon as I was disengaged I went +to the front end of the tent, eager to learn from whom the well-known +voice proceeded. There lay a large, noble-looking young man, severely +wounded in the thigh. He was conversing quietly with a wounded comrade +by his side. Voice and face were as familiar as if heard and seen but +yesterday. Puzzled and deeply interested, I did not speak, but proceeded +to bathe his wound. While thus engaged, his eyes fell upon my face. +Looking at me intently a moment, his face brightened, and he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"You are Rob M'Bride, aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and you are Billy Craig," was the immediate reply.</p> + +<p>As soon as he pronounced my name, it all came to me in a moment. We had +been school-mates at Courtney's School-house. He was then one of the +"big boys," and I a lad of nine or ten. I had not seen him since. He was +one of those large-hearted, royal souls, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>that could find pleasure in +little acts of kindness, that bound me to him very closely. He bore his +sufferings with heroic fortitude. When the time came to remove the +wounded, and they were being hurried away in ambulances and rough army +wagons, I went to Dr. Lyon and told him of the case. He went with me to +an ambulance and ordered room reserved in it for him. I then had him +carried to it, made him as comfortable as possible, bade him good-bye +and God speed, and saw him no more on earth. He died from his wound some +time in June.</p> + +<p>May 11th, Lewis Grossman, of Company C, was brought in, terribly wounded +by a shell. One arm and leg were crushed, and he was otherwise bruised. +I did not see him until after the arm and leg were amputated. He was a +young man of great physical endurance, or he would never have rallied +from the shock. He was as pale as a corpse when first brought into the +tent, but rallied in a little while, and was able to take some +refreshment. When left to himself his mind wandered, and he would talk +as if he were engaged in the quiet pursuits of peace. Unless prevented, +he would remove the bandages from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>stumps of his amputated limbs. +When spoken to, however, he would refrain from this, and talk rationally +of the present circumstances. Dr. Lyon finally told me to give my +attention entirely to him. This I did until he was sent away. He told me +how his wound was received. He was in front, skirmishing. He was in the +road in front of a rebel battery, and in the act of loading his gun. +Perceiving they were about to fire, he still delayed a moment, thinking +to get in another shot before leaping to the shelter of a large tree +that stood near. It was a costly delay.</p> + +<p>The shell came screaming toward him, burst, and dashed him stunned and +mangled to the ground. As he concluded this narrative, he added, with +the utmost seriousness: "But they haven't made much off me, after all. +I've peppered them in almost every battle the Potomac army has fought +since the war began."</p> + +<p>He got along finely, and there seemed every prospect of recovery. When +some of the boys called on him at Washington, on their way home in June, +he requested them to say nothing to his friends about the extent of his +wounds. But from some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>cause—perhaps gangrene—he died August 3d, and +is buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington.</p> + +<p>Nearly opposite Lewis lay a young man of very fine face and attractive +appearance. He was mortally wounded. Most of the time his sufferings +were very great, but no earthly skill could bring any relief. As death +drew on, his mind wandered. He was fighting his battles over again. He +was not the poor, crushed mortality that lay here. His spirit was over +yonder, where the cannon's sullen roar and the awful din of musketry, +the cheers of the struggling combatants, told of a deadly strife. +Sometimes he was distressed and troubled, sometimes exultant. Anon his +face would light up with the strange fire of battle, and he would raise +his arm and cheer. Once he said quite distinctly: "Here is a chance for +a brave man." Later he became calm, and quietly fell asleep, to wake no +more on earth till the great day of God.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"Soldier, sleep, thy warfare o'er,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Sleep the sleep that knows no waking,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Dream of battle-fields no more."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>One of the Bucktail Regiment lay on the ground in front of the tent, +shot through the chest. He was, perhaps, twenty-five years of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>age, +large and well-formed, his face stamped with the marks of intelligence. +While engaged near him, I saw another of that band of heroes coming +toward him with great strides, an expression of anguish on his face +which I can not forget. He threw himself on his knees by the wounded +man, kissed him, then covered his face with his hands, and his great +manly form shook with convulsive sobbings. Tears trickled down the +cheeks of the other. Not a word was spoken until, after a while, the +storm of emotion had passed. Then they conversed calmly for a while, and +parted with the quiet dignity of brave men who say farewell while the +shadow of death lies dark around them.</p> + +<p>A man was brought in shot through both thighs. I did not know his name, +but had heard his voice among the worshipers in the church-tent at +Bristoe Station, and knew that he was a man of God. After a brief +examination, the surgeon announced that amputation would be necessary.</p> + +<p>"Very well, doctor; get around to it as quick as you can. I suffer +terribly."</p> + +<p>Another was shot in the thigh, the bone shattered to the hip. When told +that the limb must be amputated he objected.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>"But you will die if it is not done."</p> + +<p>"I can't help that; it shall not be amputated with my consent."</p> + +<p>Within twenty-four hours he was dead. Whether wise in his decision or +not, he met the result without flinching or complaint.</p> + +<p>A boy with his arm torn off by a shell expressed his only complaint in +the words, "I never can fight any more."</p> + +<p>One evening, worn out by constant labor and watching, I lay down in a +vacant place in the tent, from which a dead soldier had been removed, to +find rest for mind and body in sleep. As I lay there thinking of the +dreadful scenes around me, of the wounded and dying here, the dead just +over yonder, I began to wonder what would be the sensations of a man +shot in the brain. Suddenly there came a shock, as if the whole +machinery of life had stopped at once. How long a time elapsed before +consciousness was resumed I do not know; the interval may have been +momentary; but as a dim sense of being stole over me again, I was quite +convinced that a stray shot had struck me in the head. Rousing myself, I +deliberately felt my head, to learn the exact state of things. To my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>surprise and gratification, I found every thing in due order. I leave +it to those who are skilled in the mysteries of the nervous system to +explain the phenomenon; but you must allow me to believe that I know +something of what it is to be shot in the head.</p> + +<p>The time arrived, at length, when the field hospitals must be moved +because of the changed position of the army. A heavy rain began on the +11th, and continued for some days, making the roads almost impassable. +The wounded that remained were removed as speedily and as mercifully as +possible. Some had to be left behind. Nurses were detailed to remain +with them. As night came on every thing was in readiness, and the rest +of us were directed to take our departure without delay. Two of us +started together after dark. We made our way through the mud and intense +darkness about twenty rods, to the edge of a wood. We resolved to go no +further, come what might. Doubling myself up at the root of an old +stump, I was soon oblivious to both rain and danger. Just as day was +breaking, I awoke, and arousing my companion, we hastened away.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>This closed my experience in the hospital. I was so worn out by the +constant strain which such labor made on body and mind, that rest was +imperative. During all these days I could get no definite information of +the fate of John Elliot. The wounded reported that he was missing, but +whether among the dead or living they could not tell. It was difficult +to drive away the thought of the painful possibilities that imagination +would bring up. Had he been disabled that first day in the wilderness +and perished in the flames of the burning woods? Had he been mortally +wounded, and died alone in the thick underbrush which veiled so many +tragic scenes? Had death come more swiftly and mercifully, or was he a +prisoner and unharmed? Such were the questions that might be solved by +inquiry among the members of the company.</p> + +<p>After some delay I found the regiment by a little stream called the Ny. +The spot on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>which they were camped, or rather resting under arms, was +within beautiful shelling range of the rebel batteries, as I found out +afterward to my great discomfort and dismay. Toward evening, Sergeant W. +Coleman was taken quite sick, and at his request I started with him to +find the hospital. After proceeding some distance, he became so ill that +we could go no further, and some means of conveyance must be found. A +stretcher was procured, and two men to carry him. To these I confided my +charge, and began to retrace my steps. It was now after dark, a clear, +moonless night. Crossing the little stream at the point where I had left +the regiment a few hours before, to my great disappointment not a man +could be found.</p> + +<p>What to do was a puzzling question. The resolution was finally taken to +spend a few hours, at least, in trying to find them. At first I started +in a direction bearing toward the right, but soon met a column marching +toward the left. Reasoning that if troops were being moved to the left, +none would be moving at the same time toward the right, I fell in with +this column, determined to see what the outcome would be. Soon the open +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>ground was crossed, and the column began to bear to the right of its +line of march, through the woods. Presently I noticed that an unusual +silence was observed. Not a word was spoken above a whisper, every noise +and clatter incident to the march were carefully avoided.</p> + +<p>Growing weary at length, and reflecting that after all I might be going +away from the regiment instead of toward it, I dropped out of the line +and lay down against the root of a tree close to the road, to sleep till +morning. Half sleeping and half waking I lay there, dreamily watching +that army of shadows gliding stealthily by. Shadows they seemed as they +moved hurriedly along under the gloom of the overhanging trees, as +noiseless almost as an army of spirits from Homer's nether world. The +mystery of this secret night march served to quicken imagination, and I +could see this same column grimly marshaling in "battle's magnificently +stern array" in the dim light of the coming morning, ready to burst upon +some exposed point of the enemy's line.</p> + +<p>Opening my eyes a little later, the same ghostly procession was filing +past, but in an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>opposite direction. This meant that, sooner or later, +my rest must be disturbed, or I might be left in an exposed and +dangerous position. Present comfort, however, being the stronger motive +just then, prevailed, and I sank into unconsciousness again. From this I +was aroused by some one shaking me by the shoulder and warning me in a +whisper that I must wake up and come on. The muffled "tramp, tramp" had +ceased, the rear of that shadowy army was vanishing in the darkness; one +solitary figure waited, delaying a moment, to see if I was fully awake. +Rising, I followed. Reaching the open ground from which we had entered +the woods, I found myself alone and bewildered. Proceeding some distance +with rather a vague notion of direction, I determined to make a final +halt till morning. All that was necessary to make myself comfortable was +to sink down on the ground without removing any thing, my knapsack +fitting conveniently under the back of my head, supporting head and +shoulder as if intended for the purpose. Thus bestowing myself by the +side of a rail fence, I was soon sleeping soundly.</p> + +<p>But my rest was destined not to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>undisturbed. Something awoke me. +What! Was this night given over to ghosts and spirits intangible? Again +the forms of men were gliding noiselessly about me. Above were the +twinkling stars, around were busy men, and silence everywhere. With +instinctive cautiousness I lay motionless, furtively noting the curious +scene. A moment's careful attention explained it in part. One by one the +rails of the fence were taken up with the utmost caution and borne away. +They were building breastworks somewhere. There was work to be done, I +thought, and preferred to finish my much delayed sleep, if allowed to do +so. I lay motionless, only sufficiently awake to dimly take in the +situation. Twice men came and stooped over me with their faces close to +mine, looked intently, and turned away in silence. Congratulating myself +on my good fortune, that I was going to sleep the night out while others +worked, I gave myself again to repose.</p> + +<p>When I awoke the sun had got fairly started on his course, and was +pouring his rays full into my face. The events of the preceding night +seemed like a dream; but there was evidence about me that my visitants +had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>not been as ghostly as they seemed. The fence by which I had lain +down had disappeared, and I was alone in an open field. Utterly +bewildered, I addressed myself to the somewhat difficult task of +deciding what must be done. On either side of me could be seen what I +knew to be earth-works, but not a living thing was visible. The field +gave evidence of having been fought over, for the well-known <i>débris</i> of +a battle were strewn around. At length my mind was made up to go to the +rear, find the division hospital, and get information.</p> + +<p>But where <i>was</i> rear? Where was front? Where was any thing? After +meditating profoundly on these questions, I decided that my course lay +in the direction of the earth-works on one side of the open ground. This +was the "rear," and these works had been abandoned in the progress of +advance. Proceeding leisurely in this direction, I had not advanced far +until I was surprised by the boom of a cannon behind me. A shell +screamed over my head, and exploded with a sharp ring against the +earth-works a few hundred yards ahead of me. Looking back, I saw a +Yankee officer standing on the earth-work, glass in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>hand, watching the +effects of the shot. This was a revelation. I was between the lines, and +heading for the rebel works. That shot saved me a trip to a Confederate +prison-pen. Hastily retracing my steps, I lost no time in reaching our +lines, expecting each moment that an artillery battle would break out +while I was between the combatants. The position was perhaps a half-mile +to the right of the spot where I had last seen the regiment. No infantry +was visible, but no doubt there were troops concealed in the woods near +by. The sharp ridges by which the open ground was broken were occupied +by artillery, the men standing by their guns.</p> + +<p>The day was before me, and I was resolved to have a little more +experience; the more so as I could make my observations in comparative +safety. Those guns frowning grimly over the earthen redoubts meant +mischief. I would see an artillery fight; my curiosity was soon amply +gratified. Standing near a vacant redoubt, looking toward the rebel +batteries, suddenly a white smoke burst forth, followed by the roar of +cannon and the hissing shriek of shells, as the noisy missiles came +tearing through the air toward us. After the first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>discharge, the rebel +fire was directed chiefly to the right of the earth-work behind which I +had taken refuge, though shells kept striking and bursting around. My +position, however, was favorable for a view of our own batteries, and +for observing the effect of the enemy's fire. Sometimes the shells would +strike the ground, sending the dirt many feet into the air, and go +tearing across the field, touching the ground and bounding again at +intervals. Others would strike the earth-works, or explode in the air, +and hurl their fragments far and near, whizzing and buzzing to the +earth.</p> + +<p>This noisy combat lasted for some time, and ceased,—not because either +of the combatants was seriously damaged, as far as I could see, but +because they were tired of it.</p> + +<p>This will be as appropriate a place as any to remark, that "shelling" is +usually quite harmless, except when the guns are served by skilled +artillerists, and under favorable circumstances. Unless the shell is +exploded at the proper distance and altitude in front of a line, it is +not likely to do any injury. A cannonade which, to the uninitiated, +would seem sufficient to destroy every thing before it, will be faced +with the utmost equanimity by veteran <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>troops, if the artillerist have +the range too "long." It is always very annoying, however, as there is +no telling when a shell may prove a little "short," and distribute its +fragments for rods along the line. The men are usually ordered to lie +down, unless directly engaged. The shell cleaves the air with a +frightful sound, that is but faintly described by the word "shriek." Few +men can refrain from "dodging," as the dangerous missile comes over with +its unearthly sound. The writer has frequently tried it, but can +remember no instance of marked success, except while engaged, or +otherwise employed. Perhaps the most disagreeable sound of all, is when +the guns are charged with grape and cannister, and send their +destructive contents through the air with a grinding, groaning, gnashing +sound, that chills the blood of the listener. This may partly result +from association, as such a charge is seldom used except at close range, +on a charging line. Then, if directed by cool, determined men, the +effect is terrible. Those who have once heard this sound can never +forget it. It requires but little imagination to fancy that the fiend +which was sending forth such loud defiance just now, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>has grappled with +his adversary and is hissing out his horrid rage in the midst of Titanic +strugglings. A little experience will enable you to determine from the +sound what a gun is firing; shot, shell, or grape. The artillery-men +usually have little fear of shell, but dread a volley from infantry. +With the infantry the case is reversed. Generally the men preferred the +branch of service to which they were accustomed. Each did not envy the +other.</p> + +<p>The cavalryman rode all day; but at night he had to care for both +himself and horse. The infantryman had nothing to care for but himself. +He would make his coffee, and sleep all night, while the cavalryman must +scout, or picket front or flank. Sometimes the infantry must spend a +part of the night in throwing up breastworks, or making a night march; +but usually he considers himself more certain of rest and comfort than +his fellow-soldiers of the mounted force.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>I now continued my search for information as to the whereabouts of the +regiment. I had almost reached the little flat by the Ny, at the point +where I had last seen my comrades the evening before, when, to my +astonishment, the roar of cannon broke forth again, and the shells came +hissing over my head and bursting all around me. There was not even a +stump or stone for shelter from the pelting storm of iron, and in the +woods just over the stream, the trees were being torn and rent asunder +as if by thunderbolts. This was more of a joke than I had bargained for. +Reflecting a moment, I concluded to take my chances among the trees. A +slender foot-log over the stream afforded means of crossing. When about +the middle of the log a shell howled close to my head and dashed through +a tree with a fearful crash. Nothing deterred, I sat down at the root of +a sturdy oak which would shelter me from fragments, at least, and waited +for something to "turn up." The rebels evidently thought that troops +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>were concealed in the woods, and were determined to make it hot for +them. They made it lively for me; but unless that afforded them some +satisfaction, they might have saved their ammunition.</p> + +<p>Later I learned that the Reserves had moved to the left. Passing along +in that direction, I came to a hill on which a battery was planted. The +men were standing by their guns, ready for action. Close behind these, +on the face of the hill were the caissons, and back of these, men +holding the horses, the men themselves sheltered in holes which they had +dug in the hillside. Things looked decidedly breezy about that hill. My +curiosity to witness an artillery fight had been fully gratified some +time before; so I passed on without delay, and soon found the object of +my search some distance further to the left.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon of the 17th an orderly galloped to headquarters, +the bugle sounded "fall in," and we were moving toward the right at a +rapid pace. Heavy firing could be heard in the direction of our right +flank, and we were hurrying toward the scene of action, to strengthen +the threatened point. We arrived about dark. The fighting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>had almost +ceased, and the enemy were handsomely repulsed. The attack had been made +on a body of inexperienced troops, mostly heavy artillery, who were +marching from Fredericksburg to join the Army of the Potomac. They were +well-drilled and disciplined, and made a gallant and successful fight, +though with heavy loss. In their first fight they had faced Lee's best +veterans, and defeated them. The old soldiers were inclined to regard it +as rather a joke—the lively manner in which the rebs welcomed them to +the front. This disposition to see a bright, a laughable side to every +thing, may be set down as one of the peculiarities of the Yankee +soldier. In victory or defeat, success or disaster, ease or hardship, +some one of a group of soldiers could find something from which to +extract a jest or on which to found a pun.</p> + +<p>The next morning I went out over the field. Details of men were engaged +in burying their fallen comrades. The dead were collected in groups, a +trench sufficiently wide and deep was dug, and they were laid side by +side as decently as possible, and covered with two or three feet of +earth. When it could be done, the graves were marked. I have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>seen this +done by our men for the rebel dead, when there was time and leisure for +such care.</p> + +<p>Under an apple tree lay a rebel who had been shot in the forehead, a +little above the center. He must have been shot before sunset of the +previous day. It was about noon when I saw him, and strange to say, he +was still alive. He was unconscious, and probably had been from the +moment he was struck.</p> + +<p>In a negro cabin lay a young rebel soldier, a fair-faced, handsome boy, +shot through the right lung. I inquired after his wants, and made him as +comfortable as might be. He said he had not suffered for want of care. +Soldiers had been in frequently during the day, and all had been very +kind. He spoke of this with great satisfaction. I notified Dr. Lyon of +the case, and he was taken care of.</p> + +<p>The next day we advanced some distance toward the enemy. Skirmishers +were thrown forward, but no serious fighting took place. As the +skirmishers were going out, Chaplain Delo dryly inquired if he might not +accompany them, giving as his reason that he would like to get Captain +Coder's horse killed if it could be done conveniently. He had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>charge of +a horse belonging to the captain, who had displeased him about something +in connection with the horse. There was no opportunity of gratifying the +worthy chaplain's wishes.</p> + +<p>Again the army was in motion, leaving behind now as useless what before +had been fought for so tenaciously. As we moved away, the Eleventh was +in the rear, nothing between us and the enemy, but some cavalry, to +cover the rear of the column, as the army moved off to strike Lee from a +new position. We were passing over a wide, open piece of country. The +rebel cavalry and our own had become hotly engaged, and a spirited fight +was in progress clear across the open ground behind us.</p> + +<p>About this time Daniel Graham became quite ill, and was compelled to +fall out of the ranks. I remained with him to help him along. The +undertaking proved to be rather a serious one. He would struggle bravely +on for a while, and then sit down panting and exhausted. I carried his +gun and knapsack, and finally took him by the arm to keep him up.</p> + +<p>Meantime the battle going on behind us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>drew nearer and nearer, and the +bullets were whistling around us with uncomfortable frequency. At last +Daniel became utterly discouraged; and, as he dropped upon the ground to +rest at one of his frequent halts, he declared it was no use, he could +go no further. He urged me to leave him, and make my escape.</p> + +<p>"There's no use of talking that way. After you rest a few minutes, we'll +try it again."</p> + +<p>"But I'm clear used up, and there's no use of both of us being +prisoners."</p> + +<p>"We're not prisoners yet by a good deal. We are going to come out all +right. You are worth two dead men yet."</p> + +<p>But notwithstanding my brave words, I was almost of his opinion, though +not convinced that the time had come to give up all hope. It was my duty +to stay with him as long as there was any prospect of getting him off.</p> + +<p>Our cavalry was now nearly up to where we were, and I announced that he +must come along. Helping him to his feet, we started. Courage and +strength now seemed to revive. We made good progress, and were soon out +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>of danger. In the course of an hour or two he was able to take his gun +again, and in the evening we came up with the regiment.</p> + +<p>In trying to recall the scenes of this period, there are some that seem +like the fragments of a half-forgotten dream, distinct in themselves, +but without any definite connection as to time or place. They are but +pictures, some of them becoming faded and indistinct; others bright and +fresh, as if they had come from the painter's hand but yesterday. I see +a long column of weary soldiers, winding along over hill and valley, in +the night, gliding past a stately mansion, with beautiful grounds and +shaded walks, and everywhere the freshness and fragrance of Spring. +Again I see a line of battle stretching out across an open field, the +men resting lazily in their ranks. A little to the left, near some shade +trees, stands a battery, ready for action, the guns pointing toward some +unseen enemy beyond. It is noon, and the sunlight is pouring down upon +the scene, bright and clear.</p> + +<p>May 23d we came to the North Ann. We halted in open ground, before we +reached the river. Fighting was in progress at the front, where the +rebels were disputing the passage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>of the river. While we waited here, a +battery came thundering past at full speed, and soon the roar of their +guns told that they had found something to do.</p> + +<p>While this was in progress, we were ordered to move. The column was +headed, first to the rear, then toward our right. By a rapid march we +reached a ford, higher up the river. Without delay we waded right +through. The water was swift, and three or four feet deep in places. The +bottom of the river was stony, and the stones were slippery. This, with +the swiftness of the stream, made the footing of the most active rather +precarious. A German, named Moreland, a teacher by profession, and a man +of fine qualities, had joined the company but a little while before. He +was not very active at best, and at this time had very sore feet. As we +were hurrying across, suddenly a wonderful splashing and floundering +were heard toward the rear of the company, and Moreland's feet were +discovered twinkling above the surface of the water, while with his head +he seemed to be making a critical examination of the bottom of the +stream. At last he regained his footing, puffing and blowing like a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>porpoise, amid the cheers and horse-laughs of his comrades.</p> + +<p>Once across, no time was to be lost. We had stolen a march on the +rebels, and if we would use our advantage we must be about it. The +movement was not long unknown to the enemy. As fast as the troops +reached the high ground on the other side, they formed line of battle, +keeping the left flank covered by the river, and facing down stream. As +the remaining troops crossed, they formed on the right, the line as it +formed advancing downward and outward from the river, in a curve.</p> + +<p>The Eleventh was not far from the left. They moved down the stream some +distance, and halted in the midst of a beautiful farm. Before them was a +valley, across which the Bucktails were advancing as skirmishers, and +beyond this the ground rose again, and curved off toward woods in the +distance. Scarcely had our line reached this point, when the enemy "came +down like the wolf on the fold." Judging from the promptness and vigor +with which they assailed us, they evidently counted on making our +enterprise another Ball's Bluff affair.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>As the Bucktails advanced, their rapid firing warned us that they had +discovered the advance of the enemy. Dust was seen rising on the high +ground beyond, and horses were dimly seen. We judged that batteries were +coming into position. We were not long in doubt. Suddenly a perfect +volley of artillery burst forth. The air seemed filled with the +shrieking shells and whizzing fragments. The men could do no more than +lie down and let the storm rage. For some time we had not a single gun +in position to reply, and the rebels poured in their fire without +hindrance. Soldiers who had been through all the battles of the Potomac +army, affirmed that they never experienced such a noisy onset, except at +Gettysburg. As quickly as possible our batteries came into position, on +both sides of the river. Now the tumult was doubled. The earth seemed to +shake. When our artillery opened in reply, the rebels turned their +attention in that direction; but on account of the awkwardness of their +gunners, we were annoyed almost as much as when under their direct fire. +On the right there was severe infantry fighting. Of this we could hear +little, on account of the terrible cannonading going on around us. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>losses of the regiment were slight, owing to the fact that the rebels +overshot us. A few were wounded, but I think none were killed. The loss +of the corps was about 350. The rebel loss was reported at 1,000, +including General Brown, who was in command.</p> + +<p>May was now drawing to a close, and with it would close the history of +the Pennsylvania Reserves. The 30th found us in the vicinity of +Bethsaida Church. We were moving on with those stops and starts which +indicate that the head of the column has met with some obstruction. +Skirmishing was going on in front, and from time to time the boom of +cannon came rolling up from the left. We were moving along a road which +led through open farm country, and through a strip of woods, beyond +which skirmishing was heard. During one of the frequent halts, while the +men were resting, some standing, others sitting or reclining at ease, a +rifle ball came whistling through the air, and struck with a sharp snap +in the rail-pile on which myself and others were sitting. It struck +between Jim Shaffer and myself. We both naturally squirmed a little at +the unpleasant nearness of the malicious little messenger. The affair +called <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>forth laughter and jocular exclamations from those around: "How +are you <i>Johnnie</i>!" "Hit 'em again!" "Go <i>in</i>!"</p> + +<p>The incident would not have caused any special notice, had it not been +so unexpected, on account of our distance from the scene of action.</p> + +<p>Forward now through the woods, out upon the open ground beyond, where +the division is forming for its last battle. Their left now rests not +far from where their right was when they fought at Gaines' Mill, nearly +two years before. They advance some distance. "Some one has blundered." +They have no support on either wing. They are flanked, and, after a +brief struggle, are driven back. Some noble men were lost here. Parks, +of Company D, is mortally wounded; Daniel Graham is made prisoner. In +the retreat, two men carry back John Stanley, wounded in the arm and +side. At the wood they rally. A fence is torn down, and with this and +whatever is nearest at hand a breastwork is hastily improvised. A few of +the Bucktails have rallied on their right, and thrown up a similar +defense of logs, rails, any thing that can stop a bullet. Here the line +seems to terminate; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>but just beyond and a little back, is a brass +battery, concealed by bushes, every gun charged with grape and canister. +A house stands close behind the line, in a recess of the woods.</p> + +<p>Now the enemy is seen advancing. Line after line comes swinging out. +Shells come screaming over. One explodes in front of Company D. Its +fragments sever the flagstaff close to Jim Shaffer's head, rip open Mike +Coleman's cap, tear off Culp's arm near the shoulder. Another bursts in +the house, and sets it on fire. A woman, bearing a baby in one arm and +leading by the hand a little child, comes out of the house, still +unharmed. Frightened and bewildered, she is passing along the rear of +the line instead of hastening away from it. A kind-hearted soldier +directs her toward a place of safety. But now the rebel lines are within +rifle range. Volley after volley is poured into them, and their ranks +melt before the terrible fire. In our front they falter; but toward the +right they see a chance for victory. They will swing around our flank, +and crush us as they did but an hour before. With exultant yells, their +left comes sweeping on, wheeling to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>envelop our right. But now there +bursts from the underbrush a blast as if from the pit, crashing, +tearing, grinding, enfilading their lines, leaving in its track a swath +of dead and dying. This is decisive, and the battle is won.</p> + +<p>Over a hundred dead were counted in front of the Eleventh and the few +Bucktails on their right. One man was struck with a charge of grape, or +by a bursting shell, and his body from the knees to the neck was crushed +and torn into an indistinguishable mass.</p> + +<p>John Stanley, who was wounded in this action, was a brave, noble boy. +Looking along the company line, with its veterans of so many battles, +the remnant of a hundred as brave men as ever followed a battle flag, +you would not have guessed that this boyish face could be the calmest in +the hour of trial. During that month of battles, he was always in his +place, without bravado, but with unflinching courage, doing his duty. I +saw him at the woods, as they were taking him from the field. His pale +face was as calm as ever. He never returned to us, nor did I learn the +result of his wounds.</p> + +<p>The next morning the Reserves were withdrawn from the front. Their term +of service <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>had expired. The veterans and recruits were reorganized, +forming the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first +Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The others started on their homeward +march.</p> + +<p>Of Company D, fourteen men returned—five non-commissioned officers and +nine privates. Eleven had re-enlisted. Thirty-five were dead, of whom +twenty-three had been killed in battle or mortally wounded; and six were +prisoners in the hands of the enemy, of whom two died.</p> + +<p>Of the eleven veterans, only seven were present, the others being +wounded or prisoners. By the close of the war, forty of the original one +hundred and one had died in the service. During the first three years, +twenty-four were discharged for wounds or sickness. Such is the record +of these heroic men. Mingled feelings of joy and sadness were in the +hearts of all, as good-byes were spoken, and they marched away. The +war-worn veterans, who now turned their footsteps homeward, and those +who stood there, watching their going that day, knew too well how +certainly these "good-byes" might be "farewells." I think I saw tears in +a certain brave <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>colonel's eyes; and perhaps strong hands were clasped +with a little more than usual fervor, as friend looked into the face of +friend; but there was no "scene." These men were too much in earnest for +that.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Then came reorganization. It seemed like a "general breaking up." It +was. Instead of the mere handful of men that stood about the torn and +tattered colors of the old regiment but yesterday, nearly a thousand +were grouped together in the new organization. They might all be +considered veterans. Some had been in service since the beginning of the +war; all had, at least, the experience of the present campaign. It was +generally felt that the new regiment had in it some elements of success +not to be found in one brought into existence under ordinary +circumstances. The officers of both regiments were tried men, who had +the confidence of all. Most of them had risen from the ranks, and had +received promotion, step by step, with the approval of their comrades. +Sergeant William Coleman, of Company D, was made first-lieutenant of +Company I; and Lieutenant R. Birkman, of Company E, was promoted to +captain of Company A, of the One Hundred and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>Ninetieth. These both +served faithfully until the close of the war. Lieutenant Hayden, of +Company —, of the Eleventh, was transferred to the One Hundred and +Ninety-first, and lost a leg at Appomattox Court-house, the morning of +Lee's surrender.</p> + +<p>With organization still incomplete, these two regiments were pushed +forward to the front, and had a share in the terrible fighting at Cold +Harbor. As soon as possible, however, the organization was completed, +and the two companion regiments became the Third Brigade, Third +Division, Fifth Army Corps. William R. Hartshorn was commissioned +colonel of the One Hundred and Ninetieth, and Joseph B. Pattee +lieutenant-colonel. The latter, a brave and capable officer, commanded +the regiment during its entire history, except when absent, wounded, as +Colonel Hartshorn was absent, for some cause, most of the time. I was +assigned to Company C. Neri B. Kinsey was captain. Lieutenant Moses W. +Lucore was in command until some time after July, when Captain Kinsey +returned. He was severely wounded, in October, and discharged the +following March, on account of his wounds. The regiment adopted the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>bucktail, in honor of the old "Bucktails," who were more largely +represented in the One Hundred and Ninetieth than any other regiment.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon of June 12th, we received marching orders, and soon +tents were struck, and we were on our way, none knew whither. At this +time we were short of provisions. I had a very small quantity of coffee, +but nothing else, except fresh meat, which had just been issued. When +orders came to strike tents for the march, I was engaged in cooking a +slice of fresh beef, by holding it to the fire, spitted on a sharp +stick. With an appetite sharpened by a more than orthodox fast, I was +watching the operation most devoutly; and the savory odor which rose +from the sputtering morsel awakened anticipations which only a +ferociously hungry man can imagine. But I was doomed to illustrate the +words of the Scottish bard:</p> + +<p class="cen">"The best laid plans of mice or men<br /> +Gang aft aglee."</p> + +<p>With my half-cooked meat in my hand, I swung on my knapsack, and we +marched away. The march continued, without intermission, during the +night, except now and then a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>brief halt for rest. Towards morning we +crossed the Chickahominy, at Long's Bridge. Here we halted for rest and +breakfast. My entire commissary outfit consisted of about one +teaspoonful of coffee. We had halted for breakfast, and might as well go +through with the programme. I went to the river and procured about a +pint of liquid from that famous stream, and boiled the coffee with due +circumspection, and drank the product.</p> + +<p>The final member of the above sentence is not inserted to inform the +reader that we did not <i>eat</i> the "product"; but, in explanation, when we +thought of that Chickahominy water, the "old man" stirred mightily +within us, and we greatly desired to say that it was good, knowing well +with what unction every unfortunate that ever tasted it, would say, "O, +<i>what</i> a lie!" We would like also to insert a few thoughts about G. +Washington, who could not tell a lie, but we forbear. We drank that +coffee as a war measure.</p> + +<p>Our course was then toward the right, a short distance along the river, +soon bearing away from it toward Richmond. During the forenoon we +reached White Oak Swamp, where the enemy was encountered in strong +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>force. We moved out past some timber to where the cavalry were +skirmishing with rebel troops posted in the woods beyond. Part of the +regiment deployed as skirmishers and advanced to where the cavalry were +fighting and joined in the fray. The rest remained in their rear as +support. We lay down in a slight depression of the ground about four +rods behind the skirmishers. As we were getting into position a few were +wounded; but after arrangements were completed, we lay in comparative +safety. About three hundred or more yards to the left, on a little +knoll, two guns were in position. Except these, which seemed +unsupported, I could see no other force. Where the other troops were or +how posted, I have not been able to make out.</p> + +<p>The day was warm, and after our night march, the men were fatigued and +sleepy. Before long many of them were sleeping soundly, unmindful of the +bullets that were whistling over. I do not know how long we lay thus. +There is a peculiar satisfaction in sleeping under circumstances of +danger. You are no more exposed than when awake, and you don't have to +do the thinking. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>Suddenly I awoke to a consciousness that something had +"broken loose." A volley of musketry was poured into us from the rising +ground in front of our skirmishers, and the bullets were hissing close +above us. I lay still a moment as they passed over, and then sprang to +my feet. The skirmishers were giving way, still facing the rebel line of +battle that was charging forward. On the left, our guns were belching +forth grape and canister into the rebel infantry, that came sweeping on +like ocean waves. I think these guns were lost. The last I saw of them +the rebel troops seemed to roll right over them. We were driven back to +the woods. Here we checked their advance, and held the ground till +night. A part of the Fifth Corps and one division of cavalry had been +thrown up in this direction to make a diversion, and also to cover the +flank of Grant's army while it crossed the Peninsula to the James River, +and placed itself before Petersburg. Hence there was not much object in +fighting except to hold our position for a sufficient length of time. In +the evening a heavy force of the enemy was reported moving toward our +left. For this reason, or in carrying out the original <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>programme, we +marched in the same direction, starting just after dark. As we fell back +in the afternoon, I found a haversack containing some hard-tack. This +our mess divided. We did not fail to commiserate the unlucky chap whose +loss was our gain. This was a very unsatisfactory fight. It always +seemed to me like a scrub race. The rebels plunged in as if they thought +it was a 2.20 affair, at the least. The march continued all night. About +two in the morning I concluded that the thing had gone on about long +enough, and, without any ceremony, made my bed beside a stump in a +little opening in a strip of woods through which we were passing. It was +after sunrise when I awoke. Breakfast was not an elaborate affair, and +was quickly dispatched. It consisted of the vivid recollection of the +two delicious hard-tacks which I had eaten the day before. It was light +diet, but the best that could be afforded. I found that the column, +after keeping the road right on for some time, had about faced and +retraced their steps to a point opposite where I had slept. A road here +led to the left of our original line of march. This they followed a +couple of miles and camped. I found them without trouble. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>Here we +waited, with nothing to eat, till the evening of the 15th. This is the +only time I ever felt the pangs of extreme hunger. During three days and +nights of almost constant marching and fighting, I had eaten one ration +of fresh beef and two crackers. It seemed as if I was all stomach, and +each several cubic inch of that stomach clamoring incessantly for +"grub."</p> + +<p>The boys amused themselves laying out an imaginary bill of fare. The +merits of sundry inviting dishes were zealously discussed. Roast turkey +was eloquently extolled by one; another set forth the attractions of a +table to which forest, mountain-stream, or river had contributed +delights. Sometimes the grotesque imagination of some wild fellow would +conjure up a feast so full of horror that a famished cannibal might well +protest. In striking contrast with this was the gentle pathos of word +and manner as some boy told of dinner at the old farm-house among the +hills, where mother poured out the fragrant coffee, rich with honest +cream.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>.—Some additional facts have been learned +regarding this affair. The One Hundred and Ninety-first was +on our left, beyond the battery. The attack <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>was made about +four in the afternoon. The One Hundred and Ninety-first had +fallen back, and Colonel Pattee had received orders to +withdraw. Deeming it hazardous to retire across open ground +under such a fire, he rallied the skirmishers on the +reserve, and met the charge of the enemy there. In a few +minutes the Colonel's horse was shot dead under him. After a +sharp fight the rebels broke, and we retreated to the woods +before they could rally. The battery was not captured. A +failure to hold our position here would have compelled a +general battle, and delayed the flank movement to the James.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>On the 16th we marched to the James River. I do not know at what point. +The rest of the corps, together with the Second, Sixth, and Ninth, had +crossed at Wilcox's Landing. I think we must have reached the river +lower down. We were crowded on board transports. Judging from the time +we were on board, we must have been carried a considerable distance up +the river. We landed on the south side. Here we rested awhile. I went +down to the river to bathe and to wash a shirt. Hundreds of soldiers +were in the water, plunging, splashing, diving, enjoying themselves like +schoolboys. After sharing in the sport to my heart's content, I washed +my shirt. The process was simple enough. The garment was well soaped, +then held on a large stone and pounded with a club or any thing +convenient. A final washing out completed the operation. This is the +usual <i>modus operandi</i> during a campaign. When I have described this +process in these latter days, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>some of my good friends have manifested +an unreasonable and unnecessary skepticism as to the real and ultimate +object of the pounding. But I solemnly affirm that the purpose is to +expel the dirt from the garment.</p> + +<p>There is a little animal. Every soldier knows him. Noah Webster, LL.D., +knew him. Noah is good authority. He derives his name from the Gothic +verb <i>liusan</i>, to devour.</p> + +<p>The noble Roman knew him. He called him <i>pediculus</i>. He is truly +democratic in his instincts and disposition.</p> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/imagep082.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep082.jpg" width="35%" alt="HE IS A COPPERHEAD." /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">HE IS A COPPERHEAD.</p> +</div> + +<p>He loves a rebel. But a copperhead loves a fat army contract. So does +he. On this line he is cosmopolitan. He has some splendid business +qualifications. He is modest, retiring, persistent, insinuating. He +comes to stay. He will stay if you let him. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>sticketh closer than a +brother. If you don't want him you must skirmish for him. You can not +argue him out of it.</p> + +<p>I once knew a warrior that cultivated him contrary to army regulations. +We protested. They were firm friends, like David and Jonathan.</p> + +<p>One day stern Law, embodied in a corporal and a file of men with +glistening bayonets, took that man down to the running brook, and, +regardless of the frosty air and chilly temperature, with a scrubbing +broom they cleansed and variously purified him, furnished him a new +outfit of regulation clothing, and brought him back as bright and rosy +as need be. He made some remarks. They were comprehensive, but not to +edification, and we will not reproduce them. If that veteran still +breathes the vital air, he voted for Hancock last Fall.</p> + +<p>This seems like a digression, but it is suggested by the facts of the +case. As before remarked, I washed that shirt. When I began it was only +an ordinary shirt. When I got through it was a most extraordinary +garment. There were "millions in it." I skirmished, and washed again. +The result was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>astonishing. I thought of Moses, Aaron, and Egypt, and +wondered why Pharaoh did not let the people go. It was a <i>moving</i> sight. +It may be there yet, or it may have followed the army. I do not know. I +retired from the scene sadder, but wiser.</p> + +<p>During the forenoon the march to Petersburg began. The day was very +warm, and the dust which rose as the column pressed on rendered the hot +air stifling. The men suffered greatly from thirst. I do not remember +any march more trying in this respect. Late in the afternoon we halted +to rest. There was a strip of rough, broken ground on the right, a kind +of ravine, about half a mile away. I went over there in search of water. +Not a drop could be found. Returning to the column, I learned that there +was water some distance to the left. Here was a beautiful spring of +clear, cold water flowing in abundance. My intention was to drink very +moderately; but I forgot all about this when I raised my quart cup, +brimming full of the delicious beverage, to my lips. Of course I paid +the penalty of my imprudence, and before dark was so ill that I was +compelled to leave the ranks. I kept up with the column <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>until after +dark, but finally gave up all hopes of keeping with them, and camped +till morning. The regiment, meantime, had reached the vicinity of +Petersburg, and during the severe fighting there, had suffered some +loss. Lieutenant-colonel Pattee was dangerously wounded. Lieutenant +Steel, of Company A, received a terrible wound in the face. Abe +Eshelman, formerly of the Eleventh, was mortally wounded, and died a few +days later at City Point. The regiment was on a sandy ridge in front of +woods, facing the rebel works, at a point nearly where the Norfolk +Railroad passed through their lines. Behind them, in such a position as +to fire almost over them, was a battery of rifled guns, which kept up a +fire of shells upon the rebel works at intervals day and night. The +rebel batteries responded at intervals of but a few minutes. This +position was also under a continual fire from rebel sharpshooters, their +balls reaching as far as the woods beyond with fatal effect.</p> + +<p>The second day we were here, June 18th, William Rutter was mortally +wounded. He had picked up a piece of corn-cake in the field back of the +works. Some jesting remark was made about the cake and the rebel that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>made it, when he said he would go out and get some more. He was sitting +in the pit beside me. He rose, still laughing, to carry out his purpose; +but as his head and shoulders were exposed above the pit, there was a +sharp "crash," and he grasped his left shoulder with his right hand and +uttered a smothered exclamation of pain. A large rifle ball had +penetrated and crushed the shoulder joint. He was taken back at once, +and the arm amputated. It was reported that he did not survive the +operation; but I have since learned that he lived till the 15th of July. +We lost a number of men in this way and on the picket line.</p> + +<p>The pickets were changed during the night, usually between nine and ten +o'clock. This was the occasion for a lively time down on the line, in +which the artillery usually joined. Sometimes this picket firing, with +its accompaniment of booming cannon and screaming shells, would rise +almost to the dignity of a night battle. In front, from the picket pits, +rifles blazed and flashed with their crackling roar; and farther back, +the great guns belched forth their lurid flames, casting a momentary +glare over the weird scene. The gunners <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>would range their guns before +dark, so as to give the rebels a good one when the time should arrive. +Every device was resorted to that would make this night-firing effective +and annoying to the enemy.</p> + +<p>Not long after the siege began, and while we were yet at this point of +the line, we got a mortar-battery—two guns—into position. One clear, +calm evening, the Yankees proceeded to try a little of this new-fangled +music on our friends across the lines. The mortars were planted some +distance to the right, and in such a position that we had a fine chance +for observation. The line had been unusually quiet, as if the beauty of +the tranquil sunset hour had subdued for a season the fierce spirit of +war in the hearts of men. The sun's last ray had faded from hill-top and +tree, and twilight was settling down upon the scene, when we heard on +our right a strange, grumbling, muffled roar; and with a rushing sound, +we saw what seemed two lighted tapers mounting upward, describing a +curve through the air, and descending upon the rebel works, followed by +two sharp, ringing explosions. There was a moment's pause, and then +"boo-oom," and again two curves of light were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>marked along the dark +sky, and the great shells descended upon the rebel works, exploding with +a terrific crash. Still no reply from the rebel guns. Again the mortars +boom out as before; but now, as if by a preconcerted signal, the +batteries for about a mile along the rebel line cut loose at once, a +perfect volley of cannon, all centered on the one point, around which +the shells burst and flashed like a thousand thunderbolts. Not a cannon +replied from our lines; only at intervals, for a while, would growl out +that "boo-oom," and above the flash of bursting shells and flaming +cannon would rise those two little points of light, curving slowly +upward and then down, with a seeming deliberation that contrasted oddly +with the whirl and bustle below. This continued a few minutes, and the +"boo-oom" ceased. The little mortar-battery was "knocked out of time." +Then there arose along our line a great "ha-ha"—an army laughing. Such +was the spirit in which the men had watched this unequal combat. But the +laugh quickly changed to a cheer, and a hundred cannon roared out their +savage thunder from either line. Gradually the noise of strife died +away, and an hour later the army slept.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>As before noted, our rifle-pits extended along a sandy ridge, the ground +open in front, sloping downward to the railroad. On our right the ground +was somewhat rough and broken; but immediately in front, at the +railroad, the ground rose abruptly for several feet, and then sloped +gradually upward toward the rebel works. Toward the left of this point, +the abrupt rise disappeared; but in general, the rebel works crowned +elevated ground beyond, and the entrenched picket-lines of the two +armies were in the open ground between the railroad and the rebel +entrenchments. On the right, as you would go down from our trenches to +the road, a kind of ravine extended toward the rebel works, and was +commanded by their rifles. A large and well-manned picket-pit was +established at its head, from which they sent their bullets hissing down +almost without hindrance.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of June 19th, I think it was, word came in from our +picket-line that ammunition was running short, and a fresh supply must +be sent out. Myself and nine others were detailed to perform this rather +delicate operation. The ammunition wagons were beyond the strip of woods +in our rear, and we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>must run the gauntlet of sharpshooters, and risk +odd shells in going and returning over this route, before getting +started from the works. Taking each a piece of shelter-tent, in which to +carry cartridges, we started for the wagons. If any man, that has been +placed in similar circumstances, can say that he felt no unusual +agitation, in view of the possible consequences, I must be allowed to +suggest that he is got up on a different plan from myself. The truth is, +I was considerably shaken up over the matter. It would seem quite heroic +to be able to say that I was glad of it, when assigned to this dangerous +duty. I am free to confess I was <i>not</i> glad of it. When selected for +this purpose, I went through with it. The world looks very bright, on a +fine June day, to a healthy boy of seventeen. He is not particularly +anxious to exchange it for another, least of all by way of minie balls, +when he has no chance to send back any in return. To do our work without +faltering, it was necessary to count on a hurried burial down there +between the lines that night. Whatever reckoning others made, this is +how it seemed to me, and we might just as well look the probabilities +square in the face.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>Taking as much ammunition as each could conveniently carry, we returned +to the rifle-pits, and thence to the skirmish-line. For some distance we +had partial protection from the rifle balls, by crouching low as we +walked; but as we advanced we drew the fire of the rebels more and more, +as they discovered us and our object. At last we reached the ravine. It +seemed as if a perfect stream of bullets was hissing down it; but we +must pass. One after another we dashed through. As I passed, I turned my +head to the right, and glanced up the ravine. The pit, at its head, +seemed to smoke, from the rapid fire of its occupants. As I turned my +head, a bullet clipped close to my face, and seemed to touch my hair. +Onward we went, at the top of our speed, and soon reached the shelter of +the high bank by the railroad.</p> + +<p>Here we rested a few minutes. All were safe thus far. A fine spring +bubbled out of the bank. How cool and refreshing its water seemed! Here +were a number of men who had been shot on the picket line, some dead, +others dying, one or two unharmed, caring for the wounded, until night +should permit their removal. The sight of these mangled, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>bloody forms +here was grimly suggestive. We must not <i>think</i> too much. The most +dangerous part of our work still remained. The ammunition must go to the +picket pits—must be carried there under the close range of rebel +riflemen. During our progress thus far our pickets had kept up a sharp +fire on the enemy. As we started for the pits the fight became more +exciting. Both parties exposed themselves more recklessly, the rebels to +shoot us before we could complete our mission, and our men to keep them +down and make their fire less deadly. Bullets hissed at every step. I +went toward the left, past several pits, I know not how far, and stopped +at one in which was a lieutenant. Forgetting the situation for a moment, +I stood upright, and stretched myself for relief from the weariness of +carrying my heavy load. Instantly a bullet whizzed past my head, and +dashed into a tree in the rear of the pit. Quick as a flash the +lieutenant jerked me down, and warned me of the danger of exposure. +After resting awhile, I started to return. Back to the railroad, again +our only protection was the rapid fire and deadly aim of our riflemen. +Thence to the main line, the only point we dreaded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>much was passing the +ravine. The return was at last successfully accomplished. +Notwithstanding the severity of the fire to which we were exposed but +one of our number was injured—mortally wounded, I was told. Had it not +been for the return fire of our own men not one of us would have reached +the picket line alive.</p> + +<p>This was my first and only visit to the picket line at this point. The +same evening I was detailed for guard duty at brigade headquarters, +where I remained till after July 4th.</p> + +<p>On this part of the line it was not the custom to station videttes in +front of the picket pits at night, as was usually done. A constant fire +was kept up day and night. The boys used to invent various contrivances +for the special benefit of the "graybacks." I have seen them work for +hours to mold a bullet of such form as would make a particularly ugly +sound, and then fire it across with a double charge of powder. But the +favorite amusement was shooting iron ramrods. These could be picked up +by hundreds over the battle-ground of the previous days, and, with a +little careful fixing, could be made to fly with considerable accuracy. +They were thought to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>have peculiar penetrating power, if they could be +made to strike a picket pit with the sharp end. As they would send such +an unusual missile whizzing through the air, they would laugh and +chuckle over the anticipated consternation it would cause. One result +often prophesied was that they would "string" a goodly number of the +enemy on the ramrod. Whether such direful results were ever produced, we +had no means of knowing.</p> + +<p>Colonel Carle, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, then in command of +the brigade, had his headquarters in the woods about a hundred yards in +the rear of the line. Here we were exposed to shells and stray +rifle-balls, which occasionally reached us. The only damage inflicted +was the loss of a quart of coffee, which was overturned by a fragment of +shell striking in our fire while we were preparing dinner. About the +same time one man was wounded at division headquarters, a few rods to +our right.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable how indifferent men become to danger under such +circumstances. While myself and another soldier were engaged in washing +some clothes one day, at a little stream to the right of this place, a +bullet <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>passed within a foot of our heads. The only effect was to turn +our conversation to the subject of the range of rifles. It would +naturally be supposed that, under such constant danger of death or +wounds, men would be in continual dread of what <i>might</i> happen. As a +rule, it is quite otherwise. Feelings of dread and uneasiness gradually +give way to a sense of comparative security.</p> + +<p>Coming under fire for the first time, a man usually feels as if he were +about as large as a good-sized barn, and consequently very likely to +take in all the balls, shells, grape, and canister, and such odds and +ends, coming in his direction. After a while he begins to realize that +he is not so large, after all, and frequent and continued experience +confirms him in the view. That which unnerves the recruit is not alone +the fear of injury or death to himself, but also the very nature of the +terrible tragedy about to be enacted. He takes his place in line of +battle as they are forming for a charge, knowing that hundreds of men +who now stand with him there in the full flush of life and health and +the hopefulness of vigorous manhood, in one hour will lie dead in their +blood, or be racked with the agony of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>shattered limbs or torn flesh. +What man of ordinary humanity can be unmoved by such surroundings? No +man should regard war otherwise than with the utmost horror, nor +sanction it except as an awful, inevitable necessity. Some such feeling +as this is in the breast of most men on the eve of battle, modified +somewhat by the fact that the stern necessity is present. The difference +between a recruit and a veteran is, mainly, that the latter has learned +to command, perhaps to ignore, such feelings.</p> + +<p>For my own part, I can remember few occasions when such thoughts did not +oppress me during the waiting which is frequently incident to the +opening of an engagement. These thoughts soon vanish amid the noise and +excitement of battle.</p> + +<p>You may ask whether soldiers feel any scruples as to shedding blood. I +answer, first and in general, kill is the game. You know it, and prefer +that the killing should be confined as much as possible to the parties +over yonder. If this seems to you to be a cold-blooded way of looking at +things, please remember I am not representing the ideal, but the real. +Again, suppose the bullets are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>coming thick and fast from the woods +over yonder, you soon discover that the only way to stop them is to send +in your own as close as possible.</p> + +<p>In firing, we always took aim, though often we could not see the enemy +on account of trees or brush in which they were concealed. In such case +we took aim at the point where they were supposed to be, guided by the +smoke, a glimpse of a battle-flag, or the glitter of a gun here and +there. The men were sometimes ordered to keep up a fire when not an +enemy could be seen. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was generally sent on +the skirmish line. The men always preferred this, and did not like it if +this place was given to another regiment. Those who were not accustomed +to skirmishing dreaded it. On the other hand, our boys were uneasy if +placed in line of battle. As a matter of course, the skirmishers took +aim in fighting. It was not seldom a question of marksmanship between +two men, each the other's target. We took advantage of every thing +possible in the way of "cover," the main point being to go ahead, stir +up every thing in front, develop the enemy's position, drive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>in his +skirmishers. A line of skirmishers is always thrown forward when the +presence of an enemy is suspected. They will soon discover what is in +front. Advancing at a distance of five paces apart, the loss is not so +great as if a regular line were advanced in the same manner. In the +Summer of 1864 the One Hundred and Ninetieth was armed with the Spencer +rifle, an eight-shooter, and well adapted to work on the skirmish line.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>June 23d the brigade was withdrawn from this position for a day's rest. +Our stay at this point had been almost equivalent to continuous +fighting. We had lost men every day in killed and wounded. At +headquarters we had received orders to prepare to move. After we were +packed up ready to march, there was still a little delay before +starting. Young Robbins and myself sat down with our backs against a +tree, taking it easy. As we were sitting thus, a bullet came singing +over, and struck the tree close to our heads. The ball was so far spent +that it did not enter the tree, and was picked up by Robbins. We +concluded this would do as a parting salute, and soon got out of that +without any lingering regrets.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 24th the brigade moved to the left, and went into +works before occupied by men of the Second Corps, on the Jerusalem +plank-road. They should have reached this position before daylight, but +did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>not. They could have reached the works with very little exposure by +coming in a little further to the right. Instead of this, the column was +led by Colonel Carle through open ground, less than eighteen hundred +yards from rebel batteries. These, of course, opened on them with shell, +causing considerable loss. Moreland, of our company, was among the +killed. A shell struck him in the chest. The men, without waiting for +orders, but without disorder, moved obliquely to the right, to reach the +protection of lower ground, which there led up to the works. This called +forth such violent protest and condemnation from Colonel Carle, that the +result was a serious mutiny in the One Hundred and Ninetieth. Both +officers and men felt that it was a blunder and an outrage to be thus +needlessly exposed; and when Carle cursed them as cowards, they resented +it. Confusion followed. The officers, almost to a man, refused to obey +orders, or do any thing, until the insult should be retracted. The men +were becoming dangerous. Carle rode up to Adjutant Wright, and ordered +him to restore order, and take the men on to the works. Wright replied +defiantly and profanely. Carle laid his hand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>on his pistol. Instantly a +score of rifles were leveled on him. Yells and curses resounded on every +side. He withdrew his hand, apologized to both officers and men, and +they moved on to the rifle-pits without further trouble. Carle had the +reputation of being a good officer; but it was said that he was under +the influence of whisky at this time. I was with the brigade tent and +baggage, and knew nothing of this until I visited the company the next +evening. Neither do I remember who was in command of the regiment on +this occasion. I think the colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major were +all absent, wounded. After we had been here a few days, arrangements +were made to desist from picket firing; and after this we were no longer +subjected to the peril resulting from this useless and barbarous +practice. The loss of men from this cause was said to be about eighty a +day in Grant's army, and was probably not less on the other side. Where +the lines were so close, it was probably necessary and justifiable.</p> + +<p>I remained at brigade headquarters until some time after July 4th, and +was then relieved and returned to the regiment. It was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>then posted on +the left of the Jerusalem road. Our camp was on sloping ground, the +rifle pit at the foot of the slope. A few rods in front rose a slight +ridge, and beyond this, a narrow fringe of timber shut out the rebel +works from direct view. In this timber, or just beyond it, were our +pickets. The well from which we obtained our supply of water was between +our rifle-pits and the ridge spoken of. Further to the left, our line +extended into woods, where the timber had been "slashed" in front for +several hundred yards.</p> + +<p>Back of where Company C's camp was, on the left side of the road as you +faced the works, we soon after began the construction of a fort, called +Fort Warren. It was four hundred feet square, strongly and carefully +constructed. When finished, the ditch must have been twelve feet deep. +The rebels did not get the range of our position at first, but annoyed +us a good deal at times by pitching shells around at a venture. In a few +days they would strike the vicinity of the fort with considerable +accuracy, and kept at it with a persistence which showed that they were +certain of the locality. After the work had progressed some time we felt +no concern about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>the shelling. If it became too lively, we would +stretch ourselves in the bottom of the ditch, and wait for the thing to +let up, with great resignation, as we preferred this to working.</p> + +<p>The confederate gunners had a way of sending shells "hopping" across, +which was rather uncomfortable. One evening they were entertaining us in +this fashion. The little ridge in front of our pits generally prevented +shells from striking them, though the camp on the sloping ground behind +was exposed. We had gone down to the works, waiting for the rebels to +get through with their fun, which we regarded as comparatively harmless. +We could see the flash of the gun, and by the time the shell would +arrive, we would be safely sheltered behind the pit. One of these, +however, struck the pit a few feet to my left. We waited a few seconds, +expecting to hear it explode. Thinking the fuse had been extinguished, +the men had risen up again and were indulging in jocular remarks over +the matter, when, to our astonishment, the shell exploded in the air +about ten feet high and nearly over the works, not far from where it +struck. Where it had been during the intervening <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>seconds we could not +imagine. Fortunately no one was injured.</p> + +<p>At this time, one of the men, who had not yet had supper, became +impatient and started out for water. Just as he reached the well a shell +came bounding over and struck him. A single exclamation of pain +announced the result. Some of the men were at his side in a moment. A +stretcher was procured, and he was carried back to the ambulance stand, +to be taken to the hospital. The shell struck him about midway between +the knee and ankle, leaving the fragment dangling by a few shreds.</p> + +<p>While engaged in constructing Fort Warren we alternated in work with a +regiment of colored troops. They were fine, soldierly fellows, and stood +the shelling quite as well as any green troops.</p> + +<p>At the entrance of the inclosure, of course, there was no ditch, a space +being left about twelve feet wide. Passing along, one day, I saw a young +colored soldier standing on this narrow passage between the ditches, +curiously examining a twelve-pound shell which had been thrown over, and +had failed to explode. Addressing him and taking the shell in my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>hands, +I proceeded to give him a scientific explanation of how the thing +worked. After expatiating at considerable length and in glowing language +on the prodigious effects of such projectiles, I then unfolded to him +the manner in which this particular sample might be exploded.</p> + +<p>"Do you see that thing?" pointing to the fuse.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sah, I sees him," replied the dusky warrior.</p> + +<p>"Well, now, if I spit on that—the thing will go off. See here—<i>yeep!</i> +<i>yeep!</i>" as I spat on it and hurled it into the ditch. With a yell and a +screech a Comanche might have been proud of, that darkey "lit out." As +he ran he turned his head, and seeing me dancing a war-dance to work off +the extra hilarity which his fright had occasioned, he pulled up and +joined in the laugh.</p> + +<p>Work at this place continued about two weeks. One morning we were roused +up before daylight and ordered to strike tents quietly. In ten minutes +the column was moving down the plank road toward the rear. We went about +half a mile and camped. The next morning we again struck tents before +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>daylight, and moving toward the front, we formed line of battle in the +rear of Fort Warren. Here we lay till after sunrise, when we returned to +about the same place from which we had started. What all this meant was +more than we could make out, but we supposed that an attack was +anticipated.</p> + +<p>We were then placed on picket still farther to the left. We called it +picket duty; but as far as I could ascertain, we were the only force in +front of the enemy on this part of the line. This ground had been fought +over. The Second Corps had been driven from here June 23d, with heavy +loss of men and guns. From the manner in which the trees were cut and +splintered by bullets and cannon-shot, it would scarcely seem possible +for a human being to remain alive on part of the ground. The loss had +been terrible. Many of the dead had been buried in the trenches. Others, +by the score, were buried where they fell, in rebel fashion, by throwing +some dirt over them where they lay. Now, after the lapse of a couple of +weeks, the dirt had washed from them, in some instances. Here and there +you might see an arm, a leg, or a ghastly head protruding from a slight +mound <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>of earth. If any man was enamored of the glory of war, it was +good for him to sit down and meditate in such a field as this.</p> + +<p>Two of the boys sat down to their dinner, one day, near some bushes at +the edge of the woods. The coffee was poured out, the frying-pan, with +its contents of fried meat was beside the blackened coffee-cups. They +were squatted on the ground on either side eating with a hearty relish, +when one of them noticed more closely the bushes just overhanging the +frying-pan, within a few inches of it. A human hand, dried, black, +shriveled, protruded from the leaves, the distorted fingers in attitude +as if about to make a grab at the contents of the pan. You suppose they +turned away in horror at such an intrusion on their feast. Why so? The +dead were all around us. When we slept at night behind the trenches, we +made our beds by them. Under such circumstances human nature suffers a +reaction, and horrors become the common things of life. These young men +did nothing of the kind. With a light remark suggested by the idea of +such a party wanting to rob them of their dinner, they moved the pan a +little, and finished their meal. This <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>done, they examined further, and +found it to be the half-buried remains of a rebel soldier. On a scrap of +paper they found the name, company, regiment, and State. The paper also +contained a request for the burial of the body. They prepared a grave +and buried him. Then as a matter of courtesy and humanity, one of them +went out between the lines and was met there by a rebel soldier, to whom +he related the circumstances, and requested him to join in this becoming +duty by preparing a properly inscribed head-board. This was cheerfully +done, and the board set up at the grave. In passing to and fro between +the lines other dead were found, and these, too, were decently interred.</p> + +<p>The days passed on pleasantly, and without special incident. No videttes +were kept out, except in the night. None were needed, as the ground was +open and level between us and the enemy. There was no picket firing, and +we had a very comfortable time of it. We could watch the artillery +"practice," which took place almost every evening, between the batteries +on our right, without any apprehension that they would practice on us.</p> + +<p>One evening I sat on the rifle-pit, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>watching this. Scores of the men +were doing the same, or were idling the time away as suited them best. +The sun had sunk from sight; but as the shells would burst over the +rebel redoubt, which was then the mark of our artillerists, they seemed +balls of silver, in the rays of the sun, now invisible to us. Then they +would expand, and roll away in little snowy cloudlets, almost before the +sound of the explosion would reach us. Suddenly a great column of smoke +shot upward from the redoubt; dark at first, but turning to a silver +whiteness, as the rays of the sun touched it. A sound that seemed to +shake the earth came rumbling through the air. A shell had reached and +exploded the magazine. A laugh, with a cheer here and there, ran along +our heavy picket-line. The rebels called out: "Stop laughing, Yanks!" +"Stop that laughing!"</p> + +<p>Whether this would have resulted in an outbreak between the pickets, is +uncertain; but a moment later a shell came screaming across, about ten +feet above the pits, passing a few rods to my right. Thinking this was +but introductory, the men dived for the pits, and the laugh was suddenly +and indefinitely postponed. Then a general "ha-ha" <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>rose from the rebel +pickets, and good nature was restored.</p> + +<p>Some time in July I was taken sick with fever. I stayed a day or two at +the surgeon's tent, but can not remember much about what occurred. I +gave away every thing I had. Fortunately I gave my gun to Joe Bovard, +who took care of it. I remember nothing of this, but he told me so +afterward. I have also an indistinct recollection of being sent away in +an ambulance, of being very sick at City Point, of the dull, dreamy +indolence of convalescence. I was then sent to Davis' Island, New York. +I improved rapidly during the voyage. I was here but a few days when I +received a furlough, to report at Philadelphia, September 10th. The +patriotic people of Pittsburg had ample and generous arrangements to +care for the sick and wounded soldiers that passed through their city. +Arriving there weak and dispirited, a gentleman met me at the train, and +took me to a place where every convenience and comfort was provided. I +had looked so long on the forbidding, bloody front of war, that it was a +most pleasing revelation to discover that back here was the warm, loving +heart of Peace.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>I arrived at Philadelphia the night of September 10th. There had been a +serious riot during the evening, between the soldiers from the hospital +and some of those patriotic citizens who, although painfully loyal at +times, have a great antipathy to blue. I reached the Citizens' Hospital +without molestation. The next morning a large crowd of rioters gathered +in the vicinity of the hospital, and a murderous raid was anticipated; +but they dispersed without any demonstration.</p> + +<p>From Philadelphia I was transferred, at my own request, to Little York, +Pennsylvania. Although now quite recovered, I was detained here some +time, in the hospital drum corps, as a musician. We went out one night, +on the occasion of a Republican meeting. We started to parade the +principal streets with a transparency, the usual following of small +boys, etc. A crowd of patriots cheerfully greeted us with stones, +brickbats, and like tokens of sympathy. We returned to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>headquarters in +about twenty minutes, a demoralized outfit. The bass drum was broken, +one drummer's head was peeled, the transparency was smashed, and we were +mad. The managers gave us a dollar apiece; we disposed of our +instruments, and started up street to look for any little incident that +might afford balm for our wounded feelings. Opportunities were plenty, +and many a cracked head bore testimony to the zeal with which the great +national issues were discussed.</p> + +<p>About the middle of October, myself and a large number of other +convalescents started to rejoin our regiments, at the front. We went by +rail to Baltimore, and remained over night at Fort Federal Hill, to go +on by steamer, on the morrow. The "heavies," doing garrison duty here, +were accustomed to dealing with recruits, and counted on making them +step around in fine military style. This crowd was composed of men to +whom soldiering was no novelty, and they had no fancy for extras. Hence, +when they were ordered, with much pomp and assurance, to fall in line, +in front of the barracks that evening, for roll call, at nine o'clock, +there was something of a scene. The anathematical display <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>has rarely +been equaled in modern times. Perhaps twenty-five men out of several +hundred at last took their place in a sort of line, with much gravity +and feigned decorum, playing green, standing in any thing but soldierly +attitude. Behind them, perched on the railing, windows, or wherever they +could best see the show, was about as unruly and uproarious a crowd as +could well be found. After vainly trying to bring order out of +confusion, the sergeant, in great disgust, began to call the roll. A +name is called:</p> + +<p>"Here!"</p> + +<p>"Here!"</p> + +<p>"Here!"</p> + +<p>On all sides the word "Here" is bellowed and screamed by a score of +voices. The face of the burly sergeant grows red with fury, but he +proceeds.</p> + +<p>"John Smith."</p> + +<p>Another chorus of hooting, jeering response, and then, in a momentary +lull of the hubbub, a stentorian voice solemnly announces:</p> + +<p>"He's gone to —— long ago."</p> + +<p>This rather startling announcement is hailed with another outburst of +laughter, yells, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>cat-calls, interjected with allusions to the +sergeant, which were far from complimentary. Finally, having exhausted +his extensive vocabulary of maledictions on that mob of obdurate +sinners, this patriotic officer took himself away, and the boys turned +in for the night.</p> + +<p>The next forenoon we went on board a steamer, but did not start down the +bay till toward evening. The vessel may be called "steamer" as a matter +of courtesy. The thing went by steam, but I would not care to ship a +cargo of hogs on such a contrivance, unless they were of the kind that +ran violently down the mountain. During the night the weather changed. A +strong wind, with rain, swept across the bay. I was asleep on the deck +when the storm came on, and awoke thoroughly wet and cold. Leaving my +water-soaked blanket where it lay, I started to go below. The door was +closed. A soldier, standing in the hatchway, suggested that by our +united efforts we could push it open. I put my shoulder against the +door, and he braced himself against me, and we gave a heave. The door +went open and I went in, plunging headlong into the crowd lying on the +floor, as close as packed herring.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>Nobody swore, except those who were most severely bruised by our feet. +There was an opening left in the side of the vessel, about two feet wide +by twelve feet long. In the slow-going days before the war, this stately +ship was probably used for transporting cattle, and the hole was made +for the humane purpose of giving the animals air. Now it let in both air +and water. I finally made my way down into the hold, and there, with the +coal, dirt, and other things, found a more agreeable temperature. We +reached Fortress Monroe the next evening. Here we were transferred to +another vessel, and went up the James River, arriving at City Point the +following evening.</p> + +<p>This trip was very unpleasant. Besides the discomfort caused by the +stormy weather, we were not provided with rations. No doubt provisions +were furnished, and somebody got the benefit of them. On the second day +those in charge of the vessel, in collusion with the officer in charge +of our escort, proposed selling us lunch at the rate of fifty cents for +a slice of meat and a piece of bread. Their enterprise did not pan out +very well. But few bought, preferring hunger to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>submitting to the +outrage. During the entire trip I ate not more than two ordinary +hard-tacks.</p> + +<p>Arriving at City Point, we were provided with a substantial supper. Our +hotel accommodations, however, were not strictly first-class. Recruits +and returning convalescents arriving here were provided with lodgings +during their stay in a huge board structure known by the expressive name +of "The Bull Pen." As to rooms, furnishings, and general appointments, +the government had been exceedingly frugal. In fact, the entire outfit +consisted of four walls, roof, and floor, joined together on principles +of the strictest economy. The floor was comfortably carpeted with mud to +the depth of about an inch and a half. Tobacco chewings, cigar stumps, +etc., added variety and flavor.</p> + +<p>On this particular occasion the institution was so crowded that you +could not get room to lie down, all to yourself. This was no serious +objection, as it furnished ample apology for resting your feet on the +other fellow's stomach. Thieves found the "Bull Pen" an excellent place +for plying their trade. The recruits and substitutes finding +entertainment here usually had some money.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>This night, after the lights were out, and all had been quiet for some +time, I lay doubled up on the floor still wide awake. In such a +gathering there are usually some splendid snorers. This crowd had some +performers of rare merit. My location was toward the end of the +building. Lying here, listening drowsily to the odd sounds about me, I +heard a slight commotion down toward the center of the building, then a +blow, and the cry of "Thief!" Then more blows, a general rising up of +that part of the congregation, and a pouring out of profane objurgations +that was surprising. The swearing and pounding went on with great vigor +for some minutes, those not directly engaged cheering the others on with +hoots and yells. In fact, a free fight was going on down there in the +intense darkness, every body thumping every one within reach, thinking +to spot the thief. Finally some one struck a match. As its flickering +rays lighted up the gloom, they revealed a dozen or so of disgusted +combatants glaring savagely on each other, and each wanting to know who +was the thief. Of course it was impossible to find him now.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The next day I reached the regiment, then on the Welden Railroad, near +the Yellow Tavern. I say "the regiment." I mean what was left of it. +Instead of the large, full organization I left in July, it was now but a +remnant. Four commissioned officers of the One Hundred and Ninetieth +remained. These were Colonel Pattee, Adjutant Wright, Captain Birkman, +and Lieutenant Peacock. Of Company C, there were but ten men, myself +making the eleventh.</p> + +<p>A terrible calamity had befallen them at the time the Welden Railroad +was taken from the enemy, August 18th and 19th. The brigade was sent +forward to skirmish. They advanced and drove every thing before them +till they struck the main force of the enemy. Here they fortified and +held their ground without support until the afternoon of the 19th, when +they were compelled to surrender. A few escaped by taking the suicidal +risk of running through a gap in the rebel lines. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>Mike Coleman, Captain +Birkman, and a few others escaped in this way. Mike told me he heard men +call "Halt! Halt!" on every side; but he looked neither to the right nor +left, and went ahead. Dave Steen was killed in this battle. A ball +struck him in the breast, a little to the right, and high up, severing +one of the large blood vessels. As he fell, two of the men ran to him. +He asked for his Bible—his only words. Hastily opening his knapsack, +they handed it to him. Almost as his fingers closed on the holy book, +his spirit hastened away from that scene of turmoil to the rest above. +He was a brave soldier and a true man.</p> + +<p>After the ground had been re-occupied, as it quickly was by men of the +Ninth Corps, his remaining comrades buried him, and placed around his +grave a rude framework to protect it from disturbance. The few that +escaped, together with returning absentees, represented the organization +under Colonel Pattee, who had now recovered from his wound. During +September and October the regiment suffered considerable loss in +fighting along the left of our line at various points.</p> + +<p>On one occasion they were ordered to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>advance and "feel" the enemy. The +design was merely to drive in his pickets, and compel him to show his +strength. As soon as the command "forward" was given, away they went +with a yell, sweeping the rebel pickets before them, and on into the +works beyond, before the enemy knew what was the matter or could recover +from his astonishment. An attempt was made to recall them as they went +rushing on toward the rebel works; but signals and bugle-calls were +unheeded. They entered, and for a time held a part of the rebel works. +Of course, this could not last long. It was not the intention to bring +on a general engagement, and they were not supported. In a little while +they were driven back again with serious loss. Captain Kinsey, of +Company C, was severely wounded, and never returned. In trying to bring +Captain Kinsey off the field, young Overdoff was killed, shot through +the head. When he first came to the company he was not very well liked; +but his kind and pleasant bearing soon made friends of all. From his +first experience in the Wilderness until his death, he was loved and +honored as a brave and fearless soldier.</p> + +<p>In the latter part of November the Ninth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Corps was passing, one day, +and I went over to the road, and waited till the One Hundredth +Pennsylvania came along. Here were many familiar faces. George Preston +was there, his face as honest and bright as in boyhood's days; and +George Dillinger—or was his name Hugh? Names become confused as the +mind runs back over so many years. What I saw there was but a section of +the past slipped forward, and given a different setting. My earliest +recollections were connected with these faces, when, at church or school +in the pleasant Summer-time, in one we listened to the good Irish +pastor's "sixteenthly" and "seventeenthly" and "in conclusion" as +sedately as our seniors; and in the other we took our regular flogging, +as prescribed by the lamented Solomon. The stalwart boys in blue were +the same boys still; but now they were the heroes of many a hard-fought +battle. The hurried questions and answers of that brief interview +touched upon as tragic scenes as ever employed the pen of genius. They +told how one fell here, another there—dead for the land they loved.</p> + +<p>December 7, 1864, we started on a raid, the object of which was to +disturb the enemy's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>railroad communications toward the south. We +followed the Jerusalem plank-road one day's march, reaching Notaway +River in the evening, at Freeman's Ford. Our force was a strong one, +consisting of the Fifth Corps, under General Warren, and a division of +cavalry. With this force we felt quite at home within one day's march of +the main army. Once across the river, and at a greater distance, we +might stir up all the game we could take care of. Such was the feeling +expressed by the soldiers as they discussed the situation on the march +that day, and indulged in conjectures as to our probable destination and +the outcome of the expedition. Of course, the company wag had a hearing +while he expounded his views as to what we would do to the Confederacy +or the Confederacy to us. The soldiers had confidence in General Warren, +and regarded him as a prudent and efficient officer. He had the +reputation of being personally brave and fearless.</p> + +<p>As evening approached, we turned to the right from the plank-road, and +halted in a corn-field, not far from the river. As we were about to +break ranks we heard on our right the clatter and snapping of gun-caps, +which, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>in a regiment armed with muzzle-loading guns, usually follows +the command to prepare to load. This sounded like business; but nothing +further indicating trouble occurred, and soon the cheerful camp-fires +enlivened the scene, and we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable.</p> + +<p>It was the general impression that we would soon move on, and make a +night march; but as time passed, the men made down their beds, and +addressed themselves to sleep. About ten or eleven o'clock, +orders—perhaps delayed—were received for the men to camp for the +night, the march to be resumed at two in the morning. It at once entered +into the fertile brain of Lieutenant Peacock to extract a little fun +from the circumstances. Going to a group of men sleeping soundly under +their blankets, he deliberately roused them up and informed them that +they could sleep till two o'clock.</p> + +<p>"Well, what the —— did you wake us up for, to tell us that?"</p> + +<p>"Why, you —— lunatic, aren't two sleeps better than one?"</p> + +<p>Then would follow a volley of protestations and modified blessings from +one side and the other.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>At two in the morning we were again on the march. We passed Sussex Court +House and a place called Corman's Well. In the evening we reached the +North Cross House, on the Halifax road, thirty miles from Petersburg. +Here we struck the Welden Railroad, and the work of destruction began. +It was an exciting scene as the work progressed. There was an abundance +of ties along the road, and of these fires were built beside the track. +As far as the eye could reach the track was a line of blazing fires and +busy, shouting men. A brigade would stack arms on the bank beside the +track; then, taking hold of the rails, would begin to lift and surge on +it altogether, shouting in unison:</p> + +<p>"Ohé!"</p> + +<p>"Ohé!"</p> + +<p>"Set her <i>up</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Ohé!"</p> + +<p>Soon it would begin to give, and quickly would be hurled over from the +road-bed with a ripping, crashing sound, followed by the shouts and +cheers of the men. Then came the process of detaching the part thus +overturned from that still undisturbed, if this had not been previously +accomplished. Using a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>length of rail as a lever, this was quickly done, +and in a surprisingly brief space of time the rails of a half-mile of +road would be lying on blazing piles of ties. As a general rule, the +rails were laid on the fire, and the heating of the middle portion would +cause them to bend by their own weight, thus rendering them useless. +When there was time, the men twisted the hot rails around trees or +telegraph poles, or wreathed them together in fantastic shapes. We +worked nearly all night. Toward morning we halted in a field, and slept +for a couple of hours. Early in the morning the work was resumed, and +continued till evening, with only brief intermission for dinner. It +rained during the day, and became very cold toward evening. Night found +us near a stream; I do not know whether it was the Meherrin River or a +tributary of that stream. If the latter, it must have been near its +junction with the river. The town of Bellefield is on the Meherrin. We +tore up the road to that town. The town was held by a force of rebel +infantry, and also artillery to the number of seven or eight guns.</p> + +<p>A dismal storm of snow and sleet came on in the evening, and we could +only anticipate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>a night of discomfort. Not long after dark we were +ordered to fall in, with only arms and ammunition. The intention was to +surprise the rebel force at Bellefield, or, at least, this was the +belief of the men. If so, the project was abandoned. We crossed the +stream, and tore up some more track, and returned. At this time the only +man lost by the regiment during the raid was killed.</p> + +<p>As we overturned a stretch of rail, as before described, he was caught +under it as it fell. In the darkness and confusion no one noticed the +accident but myself; and such was the noise and shouting, it was some +time before I could make it known. As soon as possible we lifted the +rails and drew him out. His chest was crushed by the great weight, and +he scarcely breathed after he was extricated.</p> + +<p>We spent the night standing around the fires. Sleep was impossible. The +freezing mud was ankle deep, and, as the sleety storm swept by, it +encased the outer world in an icy covering. Muffled in rubber blankets, +crouched around the fires, to get what warmth and comfort they could, as +the driving wind whirled the flames this way and that, the soldiers +waited for the return of day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>The next morning the return march began. Flankers were kept out on each +side of the column, to guard against surprise, and to prevent men from +straggling out from the column, as it was known that rebel cavalry was +hanging on our flank and rear, ready to inflict whatever damage they +could. There was an occasional dash on our rear; but this was easily +repulsed, and the day passed without special incident.</p> + +<p>We camped that night in woods, two days' march from Petersburg. The +storm still continued, but not so severe as during the previous night. I +was fortunate enough to secure a piece of board, by means of which I +provided myself comfortable lodging for the night. That board was torn +from the side of a church near by. It was none the worse for that. +Perhaps that church never before did any service in the cause of loyalty +and the Union. That night it kept some Union soldiers off the wet +ground. The next morning the march was resumed. Before we had gone far, +we made a discovery that was enough to bring the blush of shame to the +face of any civilized man. Some of our men, who had fallen behind in the +march out, had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>inhumanly butchered. I suppose the citizens, with +their usual stupidity, thought we would never return, and no day of +reckoning would come; and, finding these men in their power, murdered +them with a cold-blooded brutality only equaled by the most degraded +savages. Some were found riddled with bullets and stripped of their +clothing; some had their throats cut, besides gunshot wounds. My first +information was from Mike Coleman, who told me, with a look of horror in +his face, of the blood-curdling sight he had just witnessed.</p> + +<p>This discovery had a peculiar effect upon the soldiers. Even those who +were usually undemonstrative gave vent to their feelings in hearty +curses on the rebellion, and every thing connected with it. The wish was +freely expressed that Lee might intercept us, and bring on the final +battle between civilization and barbarism. Up to this time there had +been no destruction of private property, except a mill, which had been +burned as a war measure, and a house, from which a cavalryman had been +treacherously shot; but now, either with or without orders, the men +began to burn and destroy every thing within their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>reach. Even the +fences were fired when it could be done. Not a single able-bodied man +could be seen along the route; they had fled from the wrath to come.</p> + +<p>The One Hundred and Ninetieth was on the flank most of the day. About +the middle of the afternoon, we reached a group of houses and +outbuildings, which might almost be called a village. Here the head of +the column halted, and the flankers drew in near the road. A large +dwelling-house stood on the left of the road, the side on which we were. +The buildings on the other side of the road were already in flames, and +men were preparing to fire the dwelling-house. An old man was looking +out of a little out-door kitchen. He was leaning on his staff, trembling +with age, cold, and terror. A woman, bearing in her arms a babe but a +few months old, came out of the house. Her pale face and quiet bearing, +as she walked hurriedly away from the door, touched the gentler nature +in the soldiers' hearts, that was now dominated by the tiger, which the +sight of blood unjustly shed had aroused. Sympathy was marked on every +face. Not an unkind word was spoken; but the house must burn. This +general distress <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>must teach the lesson that even <i>war</i> has its limit of +barbarity.</p> + +<p>That evening we recrossed the Notaway River, and camped about a quarter +of a mile beyond, where we camped the first night out. Here we were +joined by troops that had been sent down from Petersburg for that +purpose.</p> + +<p>A large house, perhaps a tavern, stood near the road, nearly opposite +the site of our former camp. We had not been long in camp till we saw +this house, and the buildings connected with it, wrapped in flames. From +the fact that the place was not fired at once, we supposed it would be +spared. The case was thus explained: When the men first came to the +house, they were informed, on inquiry, that there was no man about. The +woman who seemed to be the mistress of the house, claimed to be a widow. +Investigation revealed a Springfield rifle and the uniform of a murdered +soldier concealed about the premises. This was sufficient. The house was +fired; and, as the flames spread, a man ran out from some place of +concealment, and tried to escape. He received the mercy he had given.</p> + +<p>During the night the sky cleared, and by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>morning the ground was frozen. +You would suppose that the soldiers suffered from the cold. Most of them +slept as comfortably as you would at home, on such a night, covered over +with your quilts and blankets. How was it done? Every man wore an +overcoat, carried one wool blanket, a rubber blanket, and at least one +piece of canvas tent, five feet square. We "bunked" at least two +together, sometimes three. This gave two or three heavy wool blankets, +as many rubber blankets, besides the shelter tents. If the ground was +wet, we put a rubber blanket and a piece of tent under us; otherwise, +only one of these, and the rest over us. Then, with a fire on one side, +and a log on the other, there was no trouble about getting a good +night's sleep. Such were our sleeping arrangements this cold night.</p> + +<p>The march of the following day was very trying, because of the roughness +of the ground and the extreme cold. In the evening we arrived in the +vicinity of Petersburg, and took our place on the left of our lines, +rather toward the rear. The loss of the Union forces during this raid +was about one hundred, killed and wounded.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Our camp was in woods. The ground was somewhat flat and wet, but with +good facilities for draining. A deep ditch was dug around the camp on +three sides. We had plenty of timber near the camp for building tents. +The tents built by the soldiers for Winter-quarters were generally about +nine feet by seven, built of logs, five feet high. A ridge pole was +fastened up at the proper height, over which four shelter tents, +buttoned together, were stretched and brought down to the top log on +either side, and securely fastened. This formed the roof. The gable ends +were closed with pieces of shelter-tent, boards, or some substitute.</p> + +<p>A door about three feet high was left in the side next the company +street. A chimney, with fire-place, was made at one end, carried up a +foot above the roof. It was built of clay and sticks. Usually the tents +were uniform in this respect, the chimney of each at the same side of +the tent. Two beds <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>or bunks, one above the other, were made of poles +covered with a layer of leafy twigs, if possible. On these were laid +wool blankets, rubber blankets, extra clothing, etc., making a very +comfortable bed. Cracker boxes furnished material for door, seats, and +table. The chinks between the logs were closed with clay mortar. The +Winter-quarters of a regiment was simply a neat, cleanly village of +small log houses, with this peculiarity, that only one row of houses +faced on a street.</p> + +<p>A military execution took place not long after our return from the +Welden raid. A man had deserted to the enemy from a Maryland regiment, +was captured, tried, and sentenced to be hung. The troops were ordered +out to witness the execution. A hollow square was formed around the +scaffold, and in due time the doomed man was led forth, accompanied by a +guard, provost-marshal, and chaplain. The prisoner promptly ascended the +scaffold, the sentence was read, and prayer was offered by the chaplain. +The rope was placed about his neck, and an attempt was made to draw the +cap over his head. It was found that the cap should have been put on +first, and they loosed the rope to change it. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>At this point the +trap-door gave way, and precipitated them all to the ground. The straps +with which the prisoner's knees had been bound were now loosed, so that +he could again ascend the scaffold. He sat on the steps while repairs +were made. When all was ready he took his place on the trap-door, first +testing it with his weight, to see whether it might again give way +prematurely. The cap was now drawn over his head, the noose adjusted, +and the trap sprung. After he had hung for some time, we marched back to +camp.</p> + +<p>Our stay at this camp was very pleasant. The location was supposed to be +unhealthy, and they issued whisky and quinine to the men for a while. +This did more harm than good.</p> + +<p>My tent-mates were George Dunn, Joe Bovard, and Andy Shank. Joe Bovard +had been in the service from the beginning of the war. He was over six +feet in height, a good-natured, manly fellow. George Dunn extended +upward to an altitude of at least six feet and a half, besides running +along the ground an extraordinary distance before being started in a +vertical direction. Our tent was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>larger than the ordinary, ten by +twelve feet, well daubed and comfortable.</p> + +<p>One day Jim M'Guire solicited "the hospitality of our tent for the +purpose of entertaining some friends." This meant that they wanted to +have a high old time, and our tent would be very convenient for that +purpose because of its size. Early next morning the festivities began. +Commissary whisky was provided in abundance. "Sport" (William Harris) +furnished music for the occasion, which he extracted from an old fiddle +procured from some unexplainable source. The ball opened with a good +pull all around from the canteen. Ordinary forms of entertainment and +social enjoyment soon became stale and they concluded to try the mazy +dance. Our tent was floored with puncheons, and the racket which they +kicked up was something marvelous. Occasionally I looked in to see how +the thing was progressing. "Sport" was perched upon the upper bunk, his +chin on the fiddle, his tongue protruding from his mouth, and wiggling +to and fro in time to the music, while on his face was a look of solemn +intensity, as if his life depended on his efforts. The dances were +necessarily <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>limited to "French Fours," but these were rendered with +great animation and in the latest style of art. As George Dunn would +execute some of the fancy flourishes with which their figures were +profusely ornamented, his head would bob against the canvas roof. This +was suggestive. Procuring a stick of proper size, I crossed over to the +rear street, and stood back of the tent watching my opportunity. +Presently Dunn's head came bobbing against the canvas, and I brought the +stick down on it with a good, sharp crack. The effect was all that could +be desired. There came an unearthly bellow, accompanied, I grieve to +say, with many exclamations suggestive of the future prospects of the +culprit who had cracked the head of the festive dancer. Out they poured +through the little door in hot haste to chastise the offender; but he +was nowhere to be found. Failing in their search, they returned and +resumed their exercises.</p> + +<p>Although the day was quite mild and pleasant, there was some fire in the +tent, and a thin column of smoke rose lazily from the chimney top. +Thinking to add still further the spice of variety to the occasion, I +took a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>cast-off garment and spread it over the top of the chimney, and +awaited events.</p> + +<p>Meantime within, the dance waxed warm again. The fiddle shrieked, the +government stogies thundered upon the puncheon floor; but soon it was +evident that all things were not as they had been from the beginning. +Confusion first fell upon the fiddler. His dulcet notes, as they whirled +through their lofty flight, reeled, and staggered, and fell, to give +place to anathemas, steady and well sustained. Smoke filled the tent, +and came creeping out through every crevice. They rose up as one man and +cursed the chimney with great vehemence. They came scrambling out of the +door, wiping their weeping eyes. A brief investigation revealed the +cause of their discomfiture. In dislodging the offending garment from +the chimney they nearly wrecked that ornamental structure. As soon as +Shank saw what was the matter, he at once announced that "that —— —— +had done it. He had played that trick on him once before, when he was +getting dinner." From this and other remarks that were made, I thought +it prudent to withhold all further co-operation. Toward evening the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>entertainment came to a close. This was hastened by unfavorable rumors +from regimental headquarters. After carefully reconnoitering the +position, I ventured to present myself at the tent. Dunn was deposited +on the lower bunk, overcome by the varied duties of the day. The upper +bunk had not proved equal to the emergency, and had broken down. The +table, seats, and door were broken. The canvas roof was torn loose at +one side and hung disconsolately from the ridge-pole. Shank was in the +tent; Joe Bovard was sitting on a stump in front, evidently holding a +discussion with his stomach. "Sport" was capering around with many sage +remarks and comical gesticulations intended to express his sympathy. +Just then Shank came out of the tent, and made for him, to chastise him +for some offense. "Sport" fled up the street and across a little bridge +to the parade-ground. The feet of his pursuer were heavy, and when he +came to the bridge he paused, reflected a moment, and deliberately tore +it up, and returned with a very satisfied expression of countenance, +remarking:</p> + +<p>"I've cu-cut off 'is communications off, anyhow."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>This little episode of camp life seems to reach a very flat conclusion. +But the facts leave no alternative. It required about two days' diligent +labor to clean up and repair, to say nothing about Dunn's head, stomach, +and general constitution. The working of prohibition was well +illustrated in the army. If the traffic had been "regulated" as it is +throughout a large portion of our country, the effectiveness of the army +would have been destroyed within six months. As it was, the officers in +charge of the commissary department were prohibited from selling to the +privates. They tell us now that there is no use of trying to reduce +drunkenness in this way. We cite the army as an illustration of +successful prohibition. If men had been inclined to evade the law, they +could have obtained liquor as readily as in civil life. If the evil had +become manifest, a remedy could have been applied more directly than in +civil life. But it was not necessary. If intoxicating liquors are made +difficult to obtain, multitudes who would otherwise use them and become +drunkards will not take the trouble to procure them. We affirm that this +was demonstrated in the Army of the Potomac. There was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>very little +drunkenness. A few would secure whisky, and become intoxicated. +Sometimes it was accomplished by forging the name of an officer to an +order. In the revel just described one of the men disguised himself in +the uniform of an officer, and bought the whisky.</p> + +<p>I never knew whisky to do the men any good. It was certainly one of the +strangest of follies to issue whisky rations, as was sometimes done on +occasions of peculiar exposure. The men who never tasted stimulants had +the most endurance, and suffered the least from cold or exposure of any +kind. We wonder at the delusions of witchcraft, and can scarcely +comprehend how men could so abandon common sense as to give credence to +such folly; but the absurdity of the use of alcoholic stimulants is not +less puerile. The time will come when it will be told with pitying +wonder how men of this day stupidly ignore the ghastly results of the +liquor traffic to themselves and others, and with supine meanness bow +their necks to the yoke which it fastens upon them. They will believe +the most barefaced lies, assent to the shallowest sophisms of the +liquor-dealers, and turn a deaf ear to the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>evident dictates of +common sense, justice, and prudence.</p> + +<p>I think it is Thomas Carlyle says: "England has a population of thirty +millions, mostly fools." The same comment is fairly applicable to every +so-called civilized people in the world. The dealers say, "It is a +benefit to trade." The fools echo, "We can not have prosperity in state, +county, or town without the dram-shops." The brewers and distillers say, +"It enhances the value of property and products of all kinds." The fools +answer, with idiotic promptness and docility, "Yes, we must continue +this ulcerous cancer upon the body politic—this unclean, pestilential, +gangrenous sore, reeking with disease, vice, poverty, madness, to +increase the price of grain." Yes, gentlemen, grain is more profitable +deposited in the stomach of your son or your neighbor's son, in the form +of whisky, mixed with sundry deadly drugs to give it "tone," than in +pork, beef, or mutton, or transformed into the power which sets the +whirling spindles of the East in motion, fires up the black caverns of a +thousand furnaces, and fills unnumbered homes with joy and plenty. This +would do very well if you saw <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>fit to wait till the redeemed drunkard +would recover health and manly ambition, and provide his family with +sufficient food, clothing, and shelter. But there is a more direct way +to turn your produce into money. Transform it into liquor. With this, +arm the vampires that suck the people's blood, and turn them loose after +him. Post them in every city, village, cross-roads. They will strip him, +ruin him, finally kill him; but never mind that. They will make you +quick returns in bright dollars. There is, however, one disadvantage +incident to this method, which is worthy of consideration. The victims +of the dram-seller die, and he must make more drunkards or his business +will be gone. He may get his clutches on your boy. He will, if he can. +This would be very unpleasant. However, if such a thing should occur, +you can drive your son away, banish him from your sight. Then, if you +should hear some time that he has ended the struggle with pistol, rope, +or poison, thus decreasing the income of yourself and your partner, the +dram-seller, you can console yourself with pious reflections on the +mysterious ways of Providence.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>At this time pickets were only changed every third day, "three-day +picket," we called it. We preferred this, as it gave us such a long time +without any duty of this kind, that the change was welcome. We were +almost two months in this camp, and during this time I was only on +picket twice. There was no enemy in our immediate front. The days passed +as tranquilly and as free from danger as if war had never been. Now and +then you could hear a boom of cannon far to the right; but if you wanted +to see a rebel, you had to travel four or five miles to get a glimpse of +one.</p> + +<p>The second time I was on picket, the weather was extremely cold. The +first day we were placed on reserve, at a substantial rifle pit, about +fifty yards back of the regular picket line. During the night, for some +reason, we had orders to strengthen the line. I was sent to the extreme +right of our brigade line, where we joined with pickets of German +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>troops. The posts were about a hundred yards apart, at each post a +strong rifle-pit. The fires were built at the right or left of the +rifle-pit, and carefully screened with bushes, so that those about them +could not be seen from the outside. Our line here was in woods, and the +timber was cut down between the posts. In front of the posts, videttes +were placed during the night, who were relieved every two hours. The men +at this post were from a Delaware regiment, and all strangers to me.</p> + +<p>It was very cold work, standing vidette two hours at a time; in fact, my +toes were slightly frosted the first night. We discussed the question, +and concluded we could relieve matters a little. We arranged with the +men on the post at our left to put out but one man from the two posts. +By alternating, we would only be on post one-half as long. The officer +in charge of the line would come from the left, and it was arranged that +the other post would signal us when he approached, and one of us would +go out. In this way we always had a man out from each post when he +inquired into matters. This was rather an irresponsible way of running +the Army of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>Potomac, but it seemed to us an improvement.</p> + +<p>An incident occurred the second night, which convinced us that our plan +was open to objection. The men were all sleeping around the fire, except +one, a nervous fellow, of whose qualities I had not a high opinion. I +must have been sleeping but lightly. Suddenly I was aroused by a noise +outside the screen, to the right, as if some one had been passing +stealthily along and tripped, falling headlong. I was instantly on my +feet, and telling the men to scatter out and see what was the matter, I +hastened out toward the right, followed only by the nervous man. We +searched the ground carefully as far as the pit on our right. With our +bayonets we thrust among the brush, and examined every dark corner, +without any result. We returned, to find part of the men still at the +fire, and the rest behind the rifle-pit outside. A similar search toward +the left was equally fruitless. We never were able to explain the thing +satisfactorily, but concluded to keep out our videttes.</p> + +<p>After the Hatcher's Run campaign, I saw one of these men in rather +unfavorable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>circumstances. We had been in camp a few days, and were +engaged in building our tents, when we heard the sound of a fife and +drum approaching. As they drew near, we saw a corporal and a file of +men, and in their midst one of the heroes of the picket adventure, who +had shivered over the fire that night, when he should have been out +looking for the supposed intruder. Across his back was hung a board, +about three feet long by one in breadth, on which was inscribed, in +large letters:</p> + +<p class="cen"><span style="font-size: 150%;"><b>COWARD.</b></span></p> + +<p>The musicians were playing "Rogues' March," to which the soldiers had +adapted the following touching lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Poor old soldier,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Poor old soldier,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Bucked and gagged and sent to ——,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">Because he wouldn't soldier."<br /></span> +</div></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The morning of February 5th found our camp in a bustle of preparation. +We had orders to march, leaving our tents "<i>in statu quo</i>," taking only +overcoats, arms, and haversacks. General Warren was mounted on his old +gray horse. This we regarded as a sure sign that a fight was on the +programme. The column headed toward the left. Then we knew that Warren +had done well to mount the old gray. A tender spot of the Confederacy +lay in that direction. The "Southside Railroad" was the main artery that +carried life-blood to the rebel army, and was guarded with jealous care.</p> + +<p>The morning was bright, crisp, and frosty. The men were in excellent +spirits. We had with us a number of waggish fellows that would be the +life of any company, jovial, hearty, able to bring forth a joke under +the most forbidding circumstances. One of these (Smith let us call him) +had served eight years in the regular army before the rebellion, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>had been in the volunteer service during the entire war. He was a +sturdy, big-hearted fellow, now becoming somewhat gray with years. His +favorite word was "Woo-haw," which he pressed into service quite +frequently. From this we called him "Old Woo-haw."</p> + +<p>Some time in the forenoon we found the enemy intrenched at Rowanty +Creek, just below the junction of Gravelly Run and Hatcher's Run. From a +slight ridge about three hundred yards back, open ground sloped down to +the run, where there were a few small trees on the bank, which sloped +abruptly to the water. The stream was perhaps fifteen feet wide. On the +other side the ground rose again as abruptly as on the side next to us; +and on the bank were the rebel rifle-pits, this side of the stream being +also covered with woods. It was not more than twenty-five or thirty +yards from the side of the stream on which we were approaching to the +pits beyond.</p> + +<p>At this time I was armed with a Springfield rifle, muzzle-loader, while +the rest had the Spencer. I never professed to have a natural appetite +for cold lead, broken bones, etc., and very much disliked to go into a +skirmish with a "long Tom." However, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>there was no help for it. The +sharp crack of carbines showed that the cavalry had met with stubborn +resistance. At the first halt after we heard firing, I loaded her up and +was ready.</p> + +<p>As the head of the regiment reached the ridge, we halted. The cavalry +were keeping up a lively fire just ahead and on the right, and there was +every prospect of an interesting time. Very soon we were ordered forward +to skirmish. As the order was received, Smith remarked, with a peculiar +twang to his heavy voice and an odd twist of his head:</p> + +<p>"Now, boys, the woo-hawin' is a-goin' to begin."</p> + +<p>We followed the road over the ridge, and filed to the right on a +farm-road which led in this direction. As we filed right Colonel +Pattee's voice rang out:</p> + +<p>"Deploy, skirmishers!"</p> + +<p>We came around the corner on a run, and as the order was given the men +faced toward the enemy, and advanced as they deployed. Before the rear +of the regiment had left the main road, the rest were charging down +through the open field. They looked like a mob as they broke ranks and +went pell-mell <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>over the field, yelling like madmen. But there was +method in their disorder, and before they had passed over half the +distance they were in as good position as if they had gone about it in +the most formal manner. It was a reckless movement; but the officers +were not responsible for it, as no order was given except to deploy.</p> + +<p>Reaching the stream, we found it covered with ice, on which we hoped to +cross. One of the foremost boys stepped upon it, and it at once gave +way, and let him into the water. Just the top of his head stuck out +above the fragments of ice. He was fished out as expeditiously as +possible, and the idea of crossing in that way was abandoned. Men came +down with axes, and proceeded to fell trees across the run on which to +cross. While this was going on, we did our best to keep the rebels down +behind their works, and render their fire ineffectual. We soon succeeded +in this, but not until they had inflicted some loss. Sullivan was +standing a little below me, when a bullet clipped by his left hip, +cutting his pants about three inches, but doing no harm. A ball touched +my hand as I was capping my gun. Others struck close around. Soon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>the +trees were down, and part of the men crossed, while others kept careful +watch on the rebels, and fired rapidly to keep them down. When enough +had crossed, perhaps forty or fifty, then every body yelled, and those +who had crossed charged the pits, and the rest came crowding over. Some +of the rebels surrendered, and a few escaped. As the final charge was +made, the line of battle came down, reaching the run just in time to +lose some men. There may have been some reason unknown to us for +bringing them down; but as far as we could see, it was a mistake. Our +loss was fifteen wounded and one or two killed.</p> + +<p>The losses of a regiment do not always show its courage nor its +effectiveness as a military organization, but rather its lack of +discipline, and unskillful handling. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +composed of well-trained, veteran soldiers, and had good officers. This +fight shows how such a regiment may incur serious disaster without room +for just reflection on the skill, courage, or discipline of men or +officers. Had a much stronger force been behind those works, situated as +they were, our heedless charge would have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>resulted in a bloody repulse, +unless speedily supported by a charge from the line of battle, which +would have involved heavy loss.</p> + +<p>The road which we had followed is called the stage-road. Crossing the +run, we followed it in the direction of Dinwiddie Court House, until we +reached the Quaker road. The enemy was not encountered in our front, but +farther to the right there was severe fighting along Hatcher's Run. +During the night we moved to a position near Dabney's Mill. I think we +followed the Vaughan road. In crossing Gravelly Run, there was some +delay in getting the column over. After we had reached the other side, +and were waiting for the others, a colonel offended one of the men of +Company A, ordering him away from a fire by which the colonel was +standing. This called forth some of the liveliest sort of vituperation. +Such combinations of opprobrious epithets are rarely exhibited. That +man's relatives, near and remote, male and female, were brought into +requisition to define the exquisite meanness of his nature and origin. +The discomfited nabob appealed to Colonel Pattee for redress, who sent +Adjutant Wright back to quiet the boys.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>During the day we moved out from our position near the run, into the +woods in front, and formed line of battle. The One Hundred and Ninetieth +was in the line. The day was dismal. Rain and snow had fallen during the +preceding night, and now it was growing colder. Our line advanced over +ground partly swampy. In maneuvering to pass one of these difficult +places, the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania was massed behind us, and +came crowding close after. Some of the men would break through the crust +of ice, and sink into the mud beneath. Among others, George Dunn, +notwithstanding the size of his feet, went plunging in, half-way to his +knee. When the foot was withdrawn, it was found that the shoe had been +left in the depths below. George hesitated, thinking, perhaps, to +attempt a rescue; but it was too late. The Two Hundred and Tenth, coming +on in close divisions, trampled it down beyond all hope of recovery. +Advancing some distance, the line halted. The formation of the Second +Division must have been imperfect, on account of the nature of the +ground. This probably caused the delay.</p> + +<p>On the right a severe engagement was in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>progress, and in front was some +skirmishing. The men, as usual with them when placed in line of battle, +were uneasy and dissatisfied. Soon they began to go out, one at a time, +then by twos and threes, toward the front. No objection was made by the +officers, until the line began to grow thin. A little later, part of the +line became engaged; but, as the right of the corps had been checked, we +were soon withdrawn, and took a position not far from the run, where we +intrenched and held the ground. Here we were on the left, where our line +rested on the run. We were considerably annoyed by shells, which came +nearly from our rear. Our pits faced down the run, and afforded no +protection from shells coming from the enemy's position at our right.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 8th we had orders to "fall in," and soon we were +in line, ready to move. Passing to the right a short distance, we +halted, at a gap in the rifle-pits, where a road led out to the front; I +think it was the Vaughan Road. Soon an aid rode up to Colonel Pattee +with orders. Some one inquired, of those standing nearest the colonel, +what the orders were. One of them replied, with the utmost seriousness:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>"The orders are for the One Hundred and Ninetieth to report in —— in +less than ten minutes."</p> + +<p>We passed out on this road some distance, and then bore to the right, +over ground strewn with dead horses, that had been killed during the +cavalry fighting of the preceding days. After advancing about a mile, we +halted in open ground, and formed line of battle. On our right, and some +distance in front, was timber. We hastily intrenched, for this purpose +tearing down a house. We judged that the enemy would not let us remain +long undisturbed; nor were we mistaken. Through the still, frosty air we +heard the sound of preparation. We could hear the officers giving +orders, and the snapping of caps as they prepared to load. Their line of +battle extended far past our left, and a line was evidently preparing to +come down on our right flank. We threw up pits on each flank, and +waited, uncertain of the result. We knew of no arrangement to prevent +our being overwhelmed by numbers. This suspense continued for some time, +and we expected every moment that the vengeful storm would burst upon +us. But now an aid was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>seen galloping toward us, and we were ordered to +withdraw from our exposed position. We lost no time in regaining the +works we had left in the morning. What this little side show was for, we +could not imagine. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding.</p> + +<p>The same day we recrossed Hatcher's Run, and began the construction of +permanent works on that side. We worked by reliefs, three hours on duty +and three off. We had run out of provisions, and a fresh supply failed +to arrive. The men became dissatisfied, and finally refused to work. +Threats of compelling them to work were made. The men answered by +gathering up their guns and starting for the woods, in the rear. At this +point General Warren came down and spoke to the men in a reasonable +manner. The mere fact of his coming among them had a good effect on the +men. He urged the necessity of the work, and told them that if +provisions were not on hand by a given time, he would consent to their +ceasing from work. The men then went to work cheerfully.</p> + +<p>Jack M'Bride and myself had previously solved, in a measure, the +difficult problem of reconciling the conflicting claims of an empty +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>stomach and the vigorous prosecution of the war. As night came on, we +retired some distance into the woods, built a fire, and made ourselves +comfortable. The next morning we found a piece of pork, which had been +lost or thrown away three or four days before. It was good. We scraped +the mud from it carefully, and ate it with a relish. We then came back +and went to work with the rest.</p> + +<p>After these works had been completed, we moved some distance down +Hatcher's Run, to a small branch of that stream, called Arthur's Creek. +Our position was on the left flank of the army, facing rather toward the +rear. For the third time this winter we built winter-quarters. Our camp +was pleasantly located, fronting a large farm, in the rear woods. +Brigade and division headquarters were in the woods, our picket-line in +the open ground beyond the farm-house, a mile from camp.</p> + +<p>On the 7th of February, the next day after the fight near Dabney's Mill, +I got a Spencer rifle, and kept it until we were mustered out. The +spiral spring of the magazine was damaged in some way, so that it would +receive only four or five cartridges, instead of seven. I repaired it by +taking the spring out entirely. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>It would then receive nine or ten, and +a little practice made the experiment a success.</p> + +<p>Duty was light, and our main business was amusing ourselves. For in-door +amusement, euchre was the favorite. There was not much gambling, but +many fine points were settled by "best three out of five." One form of +out-door amusement was the following: A peg was driven into the ground, +and to this were fastened two ropes, fifteen or twenty feet long. Two +men were then blindfolded, and placed one at the end of each rope, on +opposite sides of the peg. To one was given a notched stick, about two +feet long; and also another, to rub over it, making a scraping sound. He +was called the "scraper." To the other was given a pant-leg, or +something of this kind, stuffed with paper or rags. He was called the +"pounder," and it was his business to "pound" the scraper, if he could. +They were each required to keep hold of his rope. The boys would +sometimes stand around a circle of this kind by the hour, and watch the +fun. The two would move about with catlike caution, each listening for +the other. Sometimes the pounder would think he had the other, <i>sure</i>; +and, listening most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>earnestly, anticipated triumph shining from his +face, he would bring his weapon down on nothing. Again, the scraper, +thinking the pounder, who was right beside him, was far away, would rest +the end of his notched stick on the ground, and draw the other along it, +"scrape-scrape," when down would come the pant-leg on his head, followed +by shouts of laughter from the audience.</p> + +<p>The soldiers built a large tent for religious meetings, and a revival of +extraordinary interest took place during our stay here. The noble +Christian young men who did this work remember those meetings with +satisfaction now, whether they are on earth or in heaven. They conducted +them without the aid of a minister. No! they themselves were ministers +of God, anointed from on high for this work.</p> + +<p>Some of the conversions were remarkable. One young man, whom I had known +as a brave, fearless fellow, was converted during a meeting of peculiar +power. The change was plain and evident to all. His handsome face was +continually bright with the peace of God. He fell in battle, March 31st, +and died in the arms of his comrades, who were trying <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>to carry him back +when our line was broken and routed.</p> + +<p>As Spring drew near came the reviews and various movements that indicate +the approach of active operations. Some changes were made in the +brigade. It now consisted of the fragments of three Pennsylvania +regiments, the One Hundred and Ninetieth, One Hundred and Ninety-first, +and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh; two Delaware regiments, now +consolidated into one, and the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania. The +latter was a one-year regiment, and almost as large as the rest of the +brigade. They were a fine body of men, reliable and well-drilled. There +were but five commissioned officers in the One Hundred and Ninetieth. +Colonel Pattee and Adjutant Wright, Captain Birkman, Lieutenants Coleman +and Peacock. Captain Birkman had charge of Companies A, B, and C. The +One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first acted +together as one regiment, under command of Colonel Pattee. The fragment +of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh—not more than forty or fifty +men—was regarded as a part of the One Hundred and Ninety-first.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>We held this little band in high esteem. They were heroes, every man of +them. Captain Carter was in command. We were the Third Brigade, Second +Division, Fifth Corps.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XV.</span></h2> + +<h2><i>THE BEGINNING OF THE END.</i></h2> +<br /> + +<p>On the morning of March 25th, I know not why, our camp was astir earlier +than usual. Heavy cannonading could be heard toward the right, but this +was nothing uncommon. As time passed on, the noise of strife continued, +and seemed to extend farther toward the left. Eating a hasty breakfast, +I started toward the scene of action, determined to ascertain the cause +of the unusual uproar. When starting from camp, I did not suppose it was +any thing more serious than an artillery fight of more than ordinary +interest. As I went on the sound swelled to a steady roar, which showed +that a determined battle was in progress. Drawing nearer, I saw the +troops in line of battle, the shells bursting, and cannon flaming as far +as the eye could reach.</p> + +<p>I was informed that Fort Steadman had been taken, and a part of our +works captured by the enemy. Supposing that we would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>ordered to the +right to retrieve the disaster, I started to return to camp. I had not +proceeded far when I saw the head of the column approaching. I hurried +back to camp and procured my gun and accouterments and started to +overtake the troops. I was joined by Lewis, who had also been absent. +Only the pickets and ordinary camp guard remained. As we passed along we +met President Lincoln, General Meade, and staff, coming toward the left. +We concluded to greet them with due ceremony. As we met them we halted +on the bank by the road and presented arms. The President raised his +hat, and turned to General Meade with some humorous remark as they rode +on. It seemed a reversal of things for the head of the nation to pass in +review before a couple of stragglers.</p> + +<p>We found the Second and Third Divisions drawn up in the rear of the +works as support, awaiting events. A large number of prisoners passed to +the rear while we waited here. Farther to the left, the First Division +advanced on the enemy's works, and was repulsed with considerable loss, +but succeeded in establishing our lines nearer to those of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>the enemy. +We were not engaged, and returned to our quarters in the evening.</p> + +<p>The next morning I started early to visit an acquaintance belonging to +the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania, First Division. It was not +yet sunrise when I reached their camp. The acquaintance whom I had come +to visit was on picket, and I went out along the line to find him. The +pickets were stationed in woods, and the men were engaged in building or +strengthening their intrenchments. Passing along the line, I noticed +that the men kept close to the pits. I inquired if things were woolly +out there, and was informed that the latitude was decidedly unhealthy.</p> + +<p>I now noticed a Yankee vidette about twenty-five yards in front, rifle +in hand, sticking close to a tree, and scarcely fifty yards farther on, +a rebel vidette peered cautiously past another tree. The vigilance with +which they watched each other revealed both the danger and security of +the situation. If all were watching each other as jealously as these, I +could continue my observations with comparative safety. A little farther +toward the left I reached open ground. Arrangements had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>been made, +under flag of truce, for burying our dead who had fallen in the battle +of the previous day. Quite a number of dead lay scattered over the +field, some of them close up to the rebel works. They were carried back +within our own lines and buried there. They were carried on blankets, +one man taking hold of each corner, and thus bearing them along.</p> + +<p>Four men thus engaged, halted with their burden to rest as they were +passing near me. In the blanket lay a boy, certainly not more than +eighteen or nineteen years old. At first glance you could scarcely +believe that he was dead. Surely the grim King could not stamp upon +dying clay a smile so pleasant, a laugh so winning, as shone out from +those parted lips and half-closed eyes! But just over his heart, +half-concealed by his arm, that bloody rent in his blouse showed how he +died.</p> + +<p class="cen">"Somebody's darling is cold and dead."</p> + +<p>I looked upon that handsome, boyish face with wonder. The smile was so +happy and so life-like that the first impression was only that of light +and careless mirth; but the lines curved away into an expression of +solemn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>majesty, is if the passing spirit, thrilled with the full +perception of the grandeur of its own immortality, had left this impress +on the tenement of clay.</p> + +<p>On the way back to camp, evidences were everywhere visible that the +final act of the great national tragedy would quickly come on. That +afternoon I made ready for active operations by purchasing from the +"commissary" a couple of pounds of extra coffee. The regulation quantity +was sufficient while in camp; but after a hard day's march there was a +strong inclination to throw an extra handful into the old coffee-pot. As +a result, the inexperienced frequently found themselves short after a +few days, to their discomfort and actual disadvantage.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XVI.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The next morning, March 27th, I went on picket. Some time after +midnight, on the 28th, we were withdrawn, and returned to camp. Orders +had come to prepare for the march. The camp was astir with busy life. In +a little while our tents, that looked so neat and trim last evening, +with their white canvas roofs and clean-swept streets, will be silent, +cheerless, and deserted. My tent-mates had taken down our shelter-tents, +and I had nothing to do but pack my knapsack, and all was ready.</p> + +<p>In some of the dismantled tents the fires still burned, casting their +flickering rays upward through the air, while about them, sitting or +lounging at ease, were men equipped for the stern work of war, ready to +fall into line at the word of command. The stirring scene had in it not +a little of sadness. We had passed pleasant hours in this camp. That +tender something of association which clings around the thought of "the +old <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>campground" breathed through the darkness that night, and glanced +in the camp-fires that dimly lighted up the warlike scene. These would +be our last Winter-quarters. For some, the next night would bring the +quiet "bivouac of the dead."</p> + +<p>The strength of the Fifth Corps was as follows:</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 170"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%">First Division, General Griffin,</td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%">6,180</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Second Division, General Ayer,</td> + <td class="tdr">3,980</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Third Division, General Crawford,</td> + <td class="tdr" style="text-decoration: underline;"> 5,250</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> Total,</td> + <td class="tdr">15,410</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>The artillery consisted of twenty guns, and there was an escort of forty +cavalry.</p> + +<p>The march began at three o'clock on the morning of the 29th, the Second +Division in the advance. We passed down what was called the stage-road +toward Rowanty Creek, the same road on which we had marched February +5th, at the time of the Hatcher's Run fighting. We reached the vicinity +of the creek a little after daybreak, and formed line of battle in the +open ground south-east of the residence of W. Perkins. Much to our +dissatisfaction the One Hundred and Ninetieth was placed in the line, +and the Two Hundred and Tenth was deployed as skirmishers. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>did not +advance till the line was formed, and then not far enough ahead of us to +be of any use. Fortunately no enemy was found; but time might have been +saved by a prompt advance of the skirmishers without waiting for the +line.</p> + +<p>Crossing Rowanty without opposition, we followed the stage-road to its +junction with the Quaker road. Up this we marched toward Gravelly Run. +The First Division, however, followed the stage-road some distance +farther. How far we advanced up the Quaker road I am unable to say; but +we finally turned to the left, and formed line of battle, facing the +west. In our front was quite an expanse of open ground sloping down +toward woods beyond. About a hundred yards to our left was a battery, +ready for action. The Two Hundred and Tenth was again sent forward to +skirmish. They advanced with due form and ceremony until they neared the +woods, when they opened fire with such a racket that we supposed the +enemy had been found in force. But they soon let up, and presently sent +back a solitary prisoner, about as forlorn, dilapidated looking a +specimen of grayback as could be imagined.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>While we were waiting, John Edgar went down to the battery, in which he +had served for a considerable time, detached from his company for this +purpose; but he had left it and rejoined his company without being +returned in due form. He was at once placed under arrest as a deserter +by the officer in command, the man whose brutal treatment had caused +Edgar's unauthorized return to the regiment. This made quite a +commotion, and might have produced serious trouble; but as soon as +Colonel Pattee learned what had occurred, he went down to the battery, +and demanded and secured Edgar's release without delay.</p> + +<p>After remaining here some time, we moved farther toward the left. Here +the One Hundred and Ninetieth deployed as skirmishers, and advanced into +the woods, facing the south-west. We remained in this position during +the night. Meantime the First Division had passed up the Quaker road. At +an old sawmill about half a mile from the Boydton plank-road they +encountered the enemy at four in the evening. A brief but terrific +conflict ensued, in which the enemy was driven back to the junction of +the two roads. We knew from the rapid discharges of artillery <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>and the +heavy volleys of musketry that the great struggle had begun. The First +Division lost 367 killed and wounded, while the loss of the enemy was +heavier.</p> + +<p>At dark on the 29th rain began to fall, and continued during the night +and the following day, making the roads almost impassable. On the +morning of the 30th we left the position held during the previous night, +and moved up the Quaker road. Near the sawmill we turned to the left, +and crossed the Boydton plank-road near Mrs. Butler's. In the field +there were dark patches of blood on the ground, here and there, which +the rain had not yet washed out. Guns that had dropped from the hands of +wounded or slain, knapsacks, haversacks, accouterments stripped from +mangled men ere they were borne from the field, lay scattered on the +ground over which we passed.</p> + +<p>Near the plank-road, we deployed, and advanced across a branch of +Gravelly Run. The right of the regiment rested in open ground, near a +negro's house, and the left extended into the woods in a north-west +direction. I think the division formed on our left, facing the Whiteoak +Road; and we held a gap in our lines, between the Second Corps <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>and our +own. Companies A, B, and C were on the right, in the open ground.</p> + +<p>In advancing to this point, we were under a sharp fire, to which we did +not respond, but hastened to throw up pits. On the left of the regiment +the firing was lively, as the men in the woods did not need to be in +such haste entrenching. We were ordered to "rally by fours," and each +group threw up a separate pit.</p> + +<p>I was in the group with Mike Coleman, and had a chance to notice one of +his peculiarities. As we advanced to this position, he seemed to be +dazed, and almost unconscious of his surroundings. When we halted to +entrench, with my most vigorous exhortations I could not arouse him to +any interest or exertion. We had no shovel, and must make a pit with +rails and stones, which we could gather up in front. I would urge him to +carry stones and put them in place. He would perhaps pick up a couple, +very leisurely, and lay them on the ground, back of the pit, and then +stand with his hands in his pockets. The bullets would whistle around, +or strike the ground near him, and he would look about as if he did not +understand what it all meant. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>Yet in battle, he was always cool, brave, +and daring.</p> + +<p>In a little while we had a pit, capable of stopping a rifle ball, and +considered ourselves ready for any ordinary emergency. During the day, +the rebels attacked the line on our right, and were repulsed, after a +sharp fight, with considerable loss. They also advanced in our front, +and opened fire on us; but only as accessory to the more determined +movement on our right. The left of the regiment returned the fire; but +we could not see the enemy, and there seemed no reason to justify a +random fire.</p> + +<p>There was a man in Company C who was usually troubled with a deficiency +in his knees at such times. Though sufficiently warlike and lion-hearted +by nature, no doubt, yet his legs were his undoing. They worked very +well, when steered for the rear, but otherwise they were a failure. When +the firing began on the right, he took his position behind the pit with +an air of great determination. Pointing his gun—a Springfield +rifle—toward the enemy, he sat crouching low, and looking intently +toward the brush in front. The boys were sitting or standing around, +dividing their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>attention between the skirmish, partly visible through +the trees, and R——, whose warlike attitude and evident terror called +forth good-natured raillery.</p> + +<p>"Steady on the left, R——!"</p> + +<p>"Cut her loose, R——!"</p> + +<p>"Give 'em ——, R——!"</p> + +<p>Such were a few of the cheering exhortations which greeted that +redoubtable warrior. To all these he paid no heed. I suppose, in spite +of his fears, a few shells, a sharp volley, or even a charge from the +enemy, would have given him profound satisfaction—if unharmed +himself—as a vindication of his prudent vigilance. Nothing of the kind +occurred, and soon things resumed their former comparative quiet.</p> + +<p>There was not much done during the day, except to get troops in position +and prepare for the struggle of the morrow. There was some skirmishing, +but our losses were not heavy—less than two hundred in the two corps, +the Fifth and Second.</p> + +<p>As night approached, a vidette was placed in front of each pit, near the +edge of the woods, which was about forty yards in advance. It was not +yet dark when the first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>man was posted here, and fire was at once +opened on him, by invisible marksmen in the woods.</p> + +<p>At first the bullets went whistling over, but soon they came lower, and +began to strike the fence by which he was standing,—right, left, +close,—with a savage snap. Up to this time our vidette stood it with +seeming indifference; but, as the splinters began to fly from the fence, +his indifference gave place to a lively interest, which called forth the +laughter of the sympathizing spectators. He threw down his gun, and +hastily piled rails together for a protection, and took refuge behind +them.</p> + +<p>Night came on, dark and gloomy, the rain continued to fall, and the +soldiers lay down on the water-soaked earth to take what rest they +could. I made a comfortable bed, by leaning two rails against the +rifle-pit. On these I bestowed myself, and drew over me my rubber +blanket. My knapsack was placed under my bed, to protect it from the +rain. My haversack served for a pillow, and, with my cartridge box, +which had not been removed since the morning of the 27th, still strapped +around me, and my rifle in my hands, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>I sank to sleep, the rain +pattering on the blanket over my head.</p> + +<p>About four o'clock, Sergeant Hasler woke me up to go on vidette post. I +arose and followed him in the deep darkness. Reaching the man whom I was +to relieve, instructions were given in a whisper, and in a moment I was +alone.</p> + +<p>This was the last watch of the night, and if a surprise was contemplated +by the enemy, the attempt would be made during these two hours. The +rebel pickets were close at hand, and occasional sounds and voices had +been heard by my predecessor. The rain dripped monotonously from the +trees, and now and then a breath of wind moaned drearily through their +branches. The ear alone could detect approaching danger; and thus, with +rifle in hand, I listened, jealously noting every sound.</p> + +<p>Time passed on, and at length the almost painful darkness began to +disperse. Objects very near could be indistinctly discerned. What if all +those weary men back there should sleep till clearer light should made +me a mark for the unseen foe, that did such good shooting last evening? +Why were not the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>videttes, at least, advanced into the underbrush, +instead of being posted at its edge, to be shot at by rebel +sharpshooters? Thoughts like these were running through my mind as +daylight approached. But all anxiety was allayed before long, by the +sergeant calling me to come in.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XVII.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>We made a hasty breakfast, and then the waiting of the preceding day +continued. Every rifle stood loaded where it could be grasped in a +moment. As time passed on, there was an evident uneasiness on the left. +About ten o'clock, the occasional picket firing increased to the sharper +rattle of skirmishing, and then deepened to the roar of battle, as the +sound of continuous volleys rolled through the woods, mingled with the +bellow of cannon and the hiss of shells. Every man now stood with rifle +in hand, ready for the decisive moment which had evidently come. Above +the noise of musketry and cannon we could sometimes hear the well-known +rebel yell, and knew that they were charging with all their force. Now +the horrid uproar could be heard moving backward toward the run. But now +orders have come. Word is immediately sent along the line to assemble on +the right. The Sixteenth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>Maine will relieve us. Colonel Pattee mounts +his horse.</p> + +<p>"Fall in!"</p> + +<p>"Right face!"</p> + +<p>"Forward, double quick, march!"</p> + +<p>We plunge into the woods, following the road toward the left. Shells +crash through the trees, and bullets patter around like hail. The left +of the division was flanked and hopelessly turned. The right was +stubbornly resisting, but giving way before the overpowering force that +was crowding down upon it. We halted and faced the front, advancing a +short distance from the road toward the fighting. Wounded men were +limping past. We could see the smoke through the trees, and the men +slowly yielding, fighting as they came.</p> + +<p>Colonel Pattee gave an order, but we could not hear a word. We all knew +what it ought to be, and instantly deployed. The line, broken and +shattered, went back past us, and we met the enemy with the rapid fire +of our repeating rifles. We brought them to a stand in our front. If +fresh troops could have been thrown in on our left, the disaster could +have been retrieved at this point, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>rebel charge hurled back; +but our flanks were exposed, and we were many times outnumbered, and in +danger of being surrounded. There was nothing left but to get out of +that the best we could.</p> + +<p>Colonel Pattee rode to and fro along the line, mounted on his bay horse, +encouraging and directing his men, steadying and inspiring them by word +and example. Under a less devoted commander we would have been captured +or driven ingloriously from the field. Before we reached the edge of the +woods, the enemy had inclosed us in the form of a V, and were pouring +their fire upon us from the front and both flanks. We brought out most +of our wounded, but some had to be abandoned. Except these, not a man +was taken prisoner. Reaching the edge of the woods, I knew that no stand +could be made before crossing the branch of Gravelly Run. I "stood not +upon the order of my going," but went at once, and at a lively pace. +Colonel Pattee was the last man to leave the woods. He came down across +the narrow field, crouching close to the neck of his horse, which was +reeling and staggering from wounds out of which his life-blood gushed at +every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>plunge. Leaping from the back of his dying steed, he rallied his +men on foot.</p> + +<p>The trees on the side of the ridge which sloped down to the stream +opposite the open ground in which we had intrenched on the 30th, +afforded excellent cover. Here most of the One Hundred and Ninetieth, +and some from other regiments, rallied and faced the enemy. We were not +much more than a heavy skirmish line; but the tide must be stayed here, +at any cost. The rebel lines came surging on, elated with victory; but +before our steady fire they wavered and came to a halt. Thus, with +scarcely the space of a hundred yards between us, we stood and poured at +each other showers of deadly missiles. Rebel shells from somewhere on +our right were grinding through the trees and bursting all around, while +the fire from their infantry was beating on our thin line with terrible +effect. A man close beside me was struck through the face with a rifle +ball, and walked back toward the rear, pale and bleeding. Casting my +eyes toward the left, I saw our color-bearer holding the flag, his face +deadly pale. Brave old Woo-haw had just been struck down by his side and +carried to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>rear. Mike Coleman was in his glory. Miller's face wore +its accustomed smile as with grave deliberation he loaded and fired.</p> + +<p>But this state of things could not long continue, and the most hopeful +were growing anxious. A few hundred were fighting the force that had +driven a division. But just now on the ridge behind us, a battery +wheeled into position, and sent charge after charge of grape and +canister whizzing across into the enemy's ranks. Still they did not give +way, and the battle raged more fiercely than ever. I had fired not less +than eighty rounds, and only a few cartridges remained. Others had +nearly exhausted their ammunition. At this point, to our great joy, we +saw a line of battle advancing to our support. Steadily, quietly, they +came on, their battle-flags gleaming through the trees, moving as +orderly as if on dress-parade. As they neared us they quickened their +pace, and charged forward with a tremendous cheer. It was a grand sight +as they swept on, every eye fixed on the smoking timber beyond. But the +little stream threw them into disorder, and they went rushing over the +field without waiting to re-form. As they went over the rising ground +which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>lay between them and the enemy, they received a terrible volley. +Half their number seemed to go down before it. Back they rolled in +confusion, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and wounded. They +came back to the narrow flat by the run. There, as by one impulse, they +rallied and proceeded to re-form their lines. Not a man shirked. While +they were forming, we opened fire again, over and past them. This lasted +but a few minutes, and they were ready to advance. Steadily, +irresistibly, their line passed up the slope, into the woods, driving +every thing before it.</p> + +<p>Our ammunition wagons had now come up, and we procured a fresh supply. +We immediately moved down the stream and crossed, to drive back the +enemy and retake the ground lost at this point. Here the bank on the +other side was abrupt, rising thirty or forty feet in a very short +distance, when level ground, partly open and partly wooded, extended +toward the west and north. On this steep bank we formed for the charge, +three lines of battle. The right of the regiment was detached, and +placed on the left of the lines of battle to cover the flank. When the +advance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>was made we deployed at skirmish distance, at a right angle +with the line, and moving in the same direction. In this advance, which +was made about two in the afternoon, we that were on the flank did not +fire a shot. We were not much exposed, though some bullets whistled +around.</p> + +<p>We finally reached a farm-house in the midst of a large plantation. Here +we halted. We found some of our wounded abandoned by the enemy, who +seemed to have disappeared from our front. Perhaps the decisive battle +might have been fought on this afternoon instead of the following day, +by pushing the Fifth Corps across the White Oak Road on the right of the +intrenched position of the rebels. The course followed was probably the +safer one.</p> + +<p>At first the house which we had reached seemed to be deserted; but a +little later we found the family, husband, wife, and daughter, concealed +in a cave in the garden. The man was a tall, gray-haired old gentleman, +all of them well dressed and evidently intelligent and refined people. +The old man was so frightened that he could scarcely speak. They seemed +to expect brutal treatment from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>barbarians of the North, who, as it +happened, were quite their equals in culture and humanity.</p> + +<p>About five in the evening General Bartlett's brigade of the First +Division was sent across the country to threaten the flank of the enemy, +who had now pressed Sheridan back to Dinwiddie Court-house. They marched +out past us toward the south-west, and disappeared from sight.</p> + +<p>Darkness soon came on, and we prepared to pass another night under arms. +It had been a hard day. We had lost eighteen hundred men, and inflicted +a loss of one thousand on the enemy. Our losses fell chiefly on the +Second and Third Divisions. Since ten o'clock the struggle had been +almost continuous, and night found the enemy foiled in his purpose of +driving us from our advanced position, which we now held more firmly +than ever; but this was all the gain for either side. Some time after +dark rations were distributed, and we lay down to sleep.</p> + +<p>All the accounts of this battle that have come under my notice contain +statements which I am not able to explain, if they are correct. It is +generally stated that the corps <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>advanced toward the White Oak road, the +Second Division in front, the Third next, and the First in the rear; +that the Second Division was driven back on the Third, both on the +First, and that all were forced back to or beyond the Boydton road. From +the preceding narrative it will be seen that this was not true of the +right of the corps. When we were compelled to fall back, in the +forenoon, we did not retreat more than three or four hundred yards. The +point at which we rallied must have been fully half a mile from the +plank-road. If the rest of the corps did not make a stand until they +reached the plank-road, it is rather surprising that a rebel force was +not thrown across the run on our left, by which we would have been +flanked and driven away or captured. The run was a favorable position +for defense, while the vicinity of the plank-road was not so good. +Veteran soldiers like those of the Fifth Corps would certainly rally at +the former point. It is probable that some went back farther, while +enough stopped at the run to check the rebel advance. We must have +fought nearly three-quarters of an hour before we were re-enforced. The +troops sent to our relief were from the Second Corps.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XVIII.</span></h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i9">Pugnavimus ensibus.<br /></span> +<span class="i9">We fought with our swords.<br /></span> +<span class="i12 smcap">—Regner Lodbrog.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<br /> + +<p>About midnight the Second Division was ordered down the plank-road to +join Sheridan. Bartlett's brigade had proceeded as far as Gravelly Run, +reaching it at dark. They found the stream swollen, the bridge gone, and +the enemy strongly posted on the other side. The brigade was withdrawn +during the night. It was no easy task to move troops under the +circumstances. Orders had to go from corps commander down through +brigade, regimental, and company officers to the privates, who had to be +aroused from sleep and got into ranks without noise.</p> + +<p>Through the deep mud and intense darkness we moved toward Dinwiddie +Court-house. The darkness was so deep that we could tell nothing about +localities. We must have marched past the Court-house. We might easily +have passed the village without being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>aware of it. We then about-faced +and retraced our steps for some distance. There is a road leads north +from Dinwiddie toward Five Forks. We may have taken this, or we may have +followed the plank-road a couple of miles farther back to a road which +leads across to the one just mentioned. However this may be, daylight +found us confronting the enemy somewhere in this vicinity. The only +force found was a picket or skirmish line, which was easily driven away. +The Second Division massed near the residence of J. M. Brooks, on the +Five Forks road. Here we remained from about 7 A. M. until 10 A. M. +During this time the other two divisions arrived, and took position a +little north of us on the same road. When we reached this point the One +Hundred and Ninetieth was thrown forward in skirmish line.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the rebels had retired to their fortified position at Five +Forks. Their works extended more than a mile, east and west, making a +slight angle with the White Oak road, turning northward about a +half-mile east of the Ford road. A heavy skirmish-line was deployed in +front of their left, and extending some distance eastward, and south of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>the White Oak road. This force consisted of fourteen hundred riflemen, +reputed the best in Lee's army. In this position they awaited our +attack.</p> + +<p>About ten o'clock we began to move, taking the road leading past +Gravelly Run Church. At first there seemed to be some uncertainty about +the movements and position of the enemy; but it was soon evident that +his entire force was in our front. The column advanced along the road, +with frequent brief halts, which indicated that we were nearing the foe. +Erelong we could hear skirmishing, and an occasional discharge of +cannon. Ambulances were passing, freighted with wounded cavalrymen, and +later, stretcher-bearers, with their bloody burdens, met us, as we moved +slowly toward the front.</p> + +<p>Near Gravelly Run Church, our line of battle was formed. The Second +Division was on the left, the Third on the right, the First in reserve, +close behind the other two, a little on the right of the center. The two +divisions in front were arranged as follows: Each division placed two +brigades in front, in two lines each, and the remaining brigade in the +rear of the center, in two lines. In the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>Second Division, the Maryland +Brigade was on the left, ours on the right, and Winthrop's in reserve. +The One Hundred and Ninety-first, including the fragment of the One +Hundred and Fifty-seventh, and the Fourth Delaware, were the first line +of battle, under Colonel Pattee. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +ordered forward to skirmish. We deployed in the woods, and waited for +the completion of the arrangements going on in our rear. A few rods +farther on there was open ground, which, in our front, gradually sloped +down to woods. Opposite the left of the regiment, the open ground +extended farther toward the north and west, and on that side was a +slight hollow, with rough, broken ground beyond. Rebel skirmishers were +in the woods in our front, now exchanging shots with cavalry in the open +ground near us. Our skirmish-line was ready for business in a few +minutes; but it was some time before the divisions were formed, in +readiness for the assault.</p> + +<p>If you should attempt to form an idea of that thin line of waiting men, +who were to lead the way in the decisive struggle, which all knew was at +hand, the mental picture would probably differ widely from the reality. +Cast <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>your eye to the left, along the line. You can see a goodly +distance. The wood is not very dense. That does not look much like +"battle's magnificently stern array." There is nothing magnificent or +stern about it. You expected something of a scene. There is nothing of +the sort. Instead, these men surprise you by their quiet bearing and +seeming indifference. Most of them are young men. A few days ago they +were so neat and tidy in dress and appearance, you might almost mistake +that they were college students playing soldier. Now they are dirty, +smeared with mud, half wet still from the rain, which only ceased this +morning. Some are seated, leaning against the trees, taking it easy, +conversing as pleasantly as if these were the ordinary occurrences of +life. That bright-faced fellow, of Company E, is diligently polishing a +little rusty spot, which he has discovered on his gun barrel. If there +is time, he will scrape the mud from his shoes, and from his pants, +which are stiff with it, almost to the knees. A few are nervous and +anxious, but most of the really faint-hearted took advantage of the hard +march last night to secure absence to-day. Dunn is on hand,—he that +took himself from the field <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>yesterday with such agility, at the +beginning of the fight, and gave such comical reasons for his +unceremonious flight, when he came up in the evening. R—— is in the +line, looking black, silent, and still troubled in his knees. Do these +careless men realize that they are about to decide the fate of a great +nation? Perhaps they are unconscious of the greatness of the present +hour; but what of that? They stood in their lot.</p> + +<p>But our waiting is over at last; and, at the word of command, every +soldier is in his place. These men were <i>not</i> stolid, ignorant, nor +inexperienced. Their thinned ranks show how well they know what battle +means. You can see some pale faces, and lips compressed, as +"<span class="smcap">FORWARD</span>" passes down the line. We pass out of the woods into +the open field. A few rods ahead, some mounted cavalrymen are firing +toward the woods, which conceal the enemy. We can see a puff of smoke +here and there among the trees. A little farther, and the cavalry gallop +away to the right, and bullets begin to whistle past, some over, some +tossing up the dirt at our feet. It would be a waste of powder to return +the fire at this distance; besides, we are going down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>there. But the +bullets begin to come closer. They are fairly hot as they hiss around +us. We quicken our pace. It is five hundred yards to the woods. The men +on our left open fire—four hundred yards, three, the line slackens a +little, and a volley, and another, and another, bursts in quick +succession from our Spencer rifles. Then a cheer, as we dash for the +woods at headlong speed, yelling and firing as we go. The rebel +skirmishers give way before our charge, and the woods are gained.</p> + +<p>Up to this time I had not looked back. I supposed we had advanced about +a thousand yards, and would soon encounter the main force of the enemy. +As we reached the woods, I turned to see if the line of battle was yet +in sight. My eyes fell upon the most stirring scene I ever witnessed. +This was the grandeur, the sublimity of war. The corps was coming in +order of battle, line after line sweeping on with steady step. Their +front extended nearly a mile across the open ground, guns at a +right-shoulder, glittering in the sunlight like silver, battle-flags +fluttering in the air. In front, the skirmishers were fighting savagely; +on the left a score of cannon were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>thundering, shells screaming out +their horrid warning, as they leaped from the smoking guns. But this +living avalanche swept on in stern silence, as if there breathed within +it a great soul, which scorned to speak or strike but once. A single +glance took in the inspiring scene. I gazed but a moment, and then +hurried into the woods.</p> + +<p>The ground here consisted of alternate ridges and depressions, covered +with trees and bushes, with occasional open places. It was hard ground +to fight over, every ridge serving as a rallying point, and affording a +superior position for defense. Our advance was now a succession of +charges. When the rebels were driven from one ridge, they rallied at the +next. A short distance from the edge of the woods, where we first +encountered them, was a little brook, running nearly east; along its +banks were some large rocks, while a few rods nearer were piles of wood, +logs, and other means of shelter. Quite a large group of rebels made a +stand here. Sergeant Hasler, Crocket, one or two others and myself, +centered our attention on these, and advanced upon them, at first taking +what cover we could among the trees, firing rapidly as we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>went. As we +were pressing forward, my foot tripped on something, and I came to the +ground with stunning force. Crocket, who was a few yards to my right, +hurried toward me, his face the very picture of anxious sympathy, and +inquired if I was struck. Recovering my breath, in a moment I was on my +feet again, and assured him I was all right.</p> + +<p>We now rushed on them with a cheer, and they broke and fled. We were so +close on them, that seven of their number took refuge behind a large +rock, while three or four more fled across the brook, leaving one of +their number wounded on its bank. The men behind the rock now waved hats +past it in token of surrender, and soon they were marching toward the +rear in charge of Crocket. The wounded rebel whom I had seen fall, lay +about a rod to the left, shot through the thigh. I gave him a drink, +filled my canteen, and went on.</p> + +<p>We had now become scattered, and made our way onward without much regard +to order or concert of action. For a while the two lines were mingled +together in the underbrush, so that you scarcely knew which way to look +for friend or foe. Sometimes I was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>with others, and again entirely +alone. The woods resounded with the yells of the combatants and the +crack of rifles, as the deadly fight raged along the line.</p> + +<p>Passing through the corner of an open field, I noticed some rebels eight +or ten hundred yards to the left and front in such a position that I +could give them a flank fire, while just a short distance from me in the +field was a stone pile. The temptation was too strong to be resisted. I +repaired to the stone pile and opened on them. At the first shot they +looked to see whence it came; the next, they dodged, and hugged close to +their rifle-pit, and then discovering me, they returned the fire. Their +first shots went wild, but they soon got the range, and began to strike +the stone pile. I gave them a few parting shots from my Spencer, and +went on into the woods.</p> + +<p>The skirmishing continued at close range, as before. The rebels fought +stubbornly from point to point. Their works seemed farther off than we +expected, but the crisis must come soon. We had just passed over a +ridge, and the rebels had made a stand among the timber beyond. A slight +depression lay between <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>us, down which a gully had been washed by the +water. None of our men were in sight, but I could hear their firing in +the brush, right and left.</p> + +<p>Wishing to gain the timber beyond the gully, I started forward without +waiting to recharge my rifle, which I had just fired. The trees which I +wished to gain were not more than forty feet away, and the gully about +half that distance. I had gone but a step or two when a rebel soldier +rose to his feet in the gully, facing me, with rifle in hand. It was a +groundhog case. As he rose, I rushed at him, aiming at his heart and +calling on him to surrender. He instantly dropped his gun. It was all +over in less time than it takes to pen this sentence. His gun was loaded +and capped. We waited till the line of battle came up. As they pushed +through the brush behind us, seeing a rebel soldier, a dozen rifles were +leveled on us; but they saw how it was in time to withhold their fire. +Leaving my prisoner with them, I started forward again.</p> + +<p>We soon reached an abrupt rise of ground beyond which we could not +advance. Before us was the left of the enemy's intrenched <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>position. We +had done our work. We had driven every thing before us, and others must +face the storm now. Some kneeling, others lying flat on the ground, we +continued to fire and waited for the line of battle. In a few minutes we +could see them coming on through the woods. A short distance behind us +was a small patch of swampy, boggy ground. As this was approached orders +were given and executed as coolly as if on the parade ground. The +portion of the line opposite the swamp folded back of the other toward +the left, and when the ground was passed, went back to place again +without the least delay or confusion.</p> + +<p>As they moved up the bank upon which we were, a volley burst upon them +before which they wavered and swerved backward a few paces, as here and +there a man reeled and staggered or sank to the earth. There was no +panic—not a back turned—only that instinctive shrinking which Life +sometimes feels when Death unexpectedly thrusts out his ghastly face +through the smoke of battle. A color-bearer sprang forward with the +battle-flag. He halted beside me and rested the end of the flagstaff on +the ground. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>half-faced about toward the men. His voice rang out like +a bugle blast, as he raised his arm and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Here are your colors!"</p> + +<p>The line responded with a yell as it sprang forward, and soon was +wrapped in the sulphurous smoke of its volleys which it thundered +against the foe.</p> + +<p>As the line moved on, I stepped behind them and passed farther to the +right, and again went out ahead. The "left wheel" which the corps made +in this battle resulted naturally from the position of the forces +engaged. If we had moved directly forward in the direction in which we +started, only the left of the Second Division would have struck the +rebel's works; but the men posted in their front, as they were forced +back, retreated toward the north-west, and we naturally swung around in +following them.</p> + +<p>We were now in front of the Third Division, the rebels still contesting +every foot of ground. We finally drove them across an open field about a +hundred yards wide. A road was on our left; at least all the Bucktails +in sight were on the right of the road. A house stood near the road next +to the woods, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>out of which we had driven the rebels, who were now +firing from the farther side of the field. We were crossing the field, +and some had reached the woods beyond, when the line of battle came up +by the house behind us and opened fire. We hurried back to escape their +bullets, which we considered more dangerous than those of the enemy. I +stood behind them near the house, watching their firing, very much +disgusted with the performance. There was a young lady in the house, +apparently the only occupant. She was almost wild with fright, and gave +vent to her feelings in screams and cries of terror.</p> + +<p>A little lieutenant was prancing around back of the line, flourishing +his saber in gallant style. He accosted me, and demanded why I was +standing back, doing nothing. I replied that I did not belong on +his—line, and made some comments perhaps not strictly polite. This +added wrath to his excitement. I think this must have been the first +time he had smelled gunpowder, except at a distance, and he supposed +they were doing grandly. There was no telling how much effort it had +cost him to get his courage screwed up sufficiently to bring him thus +far; and to have this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>dirty, mud-bedraggled scrub of a boy intimate +that the whole outfit should be furnished with long ears, was too much. +As Homer would say, "his diaphragm became black all over." At this point +Captain Birkman appeared on the scene and announced that he was +responsible for me. This ended the matter.</p> + +<p>After firing awhile, this brigade started to advance across the field. +The regiment on the left moved up in good order as far as the edge of +the woods. The others straggled forward in disorder. Both officers and +men seemed to be confused. By the time they reached the woods they were +little better than a mob, and had to halt to re-form. I think the man in +command of the brigade was responsible for this. I now started out to +skirmish again, intending to keep in front of the regiment on the left. +As I reached the point where the road entered the woods, I met Mike +Coleman coming on a run, and greatly excited.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mike, I thought you were kilt! I heard you were shot in the head +back yonder."</p> + +<p>Scarcely pausing for a reply, he went on:</p> + +<p>"We've got them! we've got them! <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>We're right in their rear. We'll take +them all! Why don't these men come on?"</p> + +<p>With this he hurried back to the men just behind us, and in a breath +told them the situation, and urged them to come on without delay. To his +great disgust, his appeals were unheeded, and he turned to me saying we +would go alone. But now we saw some of the Bucktails coming forward, and +soon about twenty of us were deployed at skirmish distance, advancing on +the rebel rear. Their line could be seen stretching far to right and +left. Our Spencers rattled among the trees as we rained the bullets upon +them. They turned on us savagely, and their rifles blazed and flashed in +reply. Presently their fire slackened. They right-faced, and began to +move off toward the west, at first with some order; but soon they were +only a panic-stricken mob, fleeing in all directions, some to the right, +some to the left, others toward us. The latter we disarmed and sent to +the rear without any guard, and kept up a fire on those who were running +to the right. They threw down their guns by hundreds, and surrendered.</p> + +<p>Toward the close a rebel soldier came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>toward me at full speed, with his +gun at a trail-arms. I did not notice him until he was within +twenty-five or thirty yards of me. I yelled at him to surrender; but he +came on without checking his speed. I stepped from the tree by which I +was standing, and leveled my rifle on him.</p> + +<p>"Drop that gun!" I yelled again.</p> + +<p>He dropped it as if it had burned him, and hustled off his +accouterments, and threw them on the ground. I made him stay with me, +intending to take him back myself. My cartridges were about exhausted, +and I fired all but one or two at the rear of the fleeing rebels, and +started back with the prisoner.</p> + +<p>The sun had now gone down. The moon was shining peacefully. How quickly +those fateful hours of battle had passed! I started for the point where +our line had formed, expecting to dispose of my prisoner there, and then +sleep all night. As we passed along, the dead lay scattered here and +there as they fell. There was something startlingly solemn in those +motionless forms, the stony eyes staring in the moonlight.</p> + +<p>Beyond the church I found a large number of prisoners, and turned over +my man to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>guards, and started to return. I was joined by L. C. +Walb, who had also been back with prisoners. The church had been turned +into a hospital. It was full of wounded, and many were laid on the +ground outside. A few rods past the church we lay down to sleep. There +came a reaction after the excitement of the day. Nerves, strained to +their utmost tension for hours, relaxed, and seemed to tingle with the +pain of weariness. The jarring noises of battle were reproduced as the +senses glided through that strange interval between waking and sleeping, +and more than once I came back to consciousness with a start, scarcely +able, for a moment, to distinguish the real and the unreal. A low, +moaning sound came from the hundreds of wounded about the church; not +any single groan or cry of pain, but only a sound as if the hurried +breath from suffering lips smote upon the strings of an unseen harp, +which sounded out its sad cadences through the air. But at last I sunk +into a sound sleep.</p> + +<p>Our losses were less severe than on the preceding day. Eight hundred and +thirty-four were killed and wounded, and fifty-four were missing. The +opposing force of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>enemy was practically annihilated. Three thousand +were killed and wounded, and five thousand five hundred were made +prisoners. Eleven stand of colors were taken, and four guns, with their +caissons; also wagons and other material.</p> + +<p>Captain Birkman, of Company A, says of this battle, in an extract kindly +furnished from his diary: "The most successful attack I ever witnessed." +It was a decisive battle, and settled the fate of the Confederacy. Since +leaving camp on the morning of March 29th, three days before, the Fifth +Corps had lost nearly one-fourth of its number in battles.</p> + +<p>In this engagement the direct assault was made by the Second Division, +the other divisions swinging around on the enemy's left flank and rear. +The Third Brigade first struck, and broke through the rebel works. +Sergeant Huck, with the colors of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, was +the first man across the rebel rifle-pits. Colonel Pattee, commanding +the first line, was the first mounted officer across, and leaped his +horse over the breastwork while the foremost of the assailants were +crowding over. They found themselves in the midst of the panic-stricken +rebels, who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>threw down their arms and surrendered in large numbers. The +Maryland brigade struck the rebel position almost at the same time, and +with like results. The division then passed on down along the rear of +the rebel position, doubling them up rapidly, and driving them in +confusion.</p> + +<p>We have read how the infantry faltered, till General Sheridan led them +to the charge. We venture the opinion that this is wholly imaginary. +These two brigades moved upon the rebel works as steadily and swiftly as +the nature of the ground would allow. General Sheridan's reputation does +not need any artificial bolstering, least of all at the expense of +deserving men and officers.</p> + +<p>The arbitrary removal of General Warren from the command of the Fifth +Corps was unknown to the soldiers until the following morning. We heard +only expressions of surprise and disapproval. It must be a cause of +regret to all fair-minded men, that he was not allowed to share in this +grand success with the men whom he had so long commanded. He was held in +high esteem by the private soldiers, who regarded him as a brave and +skillful officer.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XIX.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>The battle of Five Forks was fought on Saturday. Sabbath morning the sun +rose bright and clear. When we camped the night before, Walb and myself +planned for a substantial night's rest. For the first time since +breaking camp, on the night of March 28th, we unpacked our blankets and +made a bed. It was after sunrise when we awoke. Far to the right we +could hear the low grumble of artillery, sounding like the roar of +distant thunder. Since four o'clock in the morning a great battle had +been raging in front of Petersburg, from the Appomattox on the right, to +Hatcher's Run on the left.</p> + +<p>Without waiting for breakfast, we went on to find the regiment. They +were camped not far from where the roads crossed which formed the famous +"Forks." At an early hour we were in motion, toward the right, where +heavy and continuous firing could be distinctly heard. We passed by the +ground where we had fought the evening before. The rebel dead were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>strewn far and near, like sheaves of grain in a harvest-field, showing +how destructive had been our fire. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +deployed on the flank, and moved parallel to the column, at skirmish +distance, about two hundred yards from it.</p> + +<p>After marching for some time in the direction of Petersburg, we bore to +the left, and about noon we reached the South Side Railroad, near +Southerland's Station, and marched some distance along it. Beyond the +road we found strong rifle-pits, which the enemy had abandoned. During +the day news reached us that the works in front of Petersburg had been +taken, and there was general rejoicing. That night we bivouaced near the +Appomattox River.</p> + +<p>April 3d we moved, at eight in the morning. Some firing was heard on our +left, and many prisoners met us as we marched along. We found cannon +abandoned in the road, and there was evidence on every hand that the +rebels were hard pressed. Our general course was along what is called +the river road, though we did not follow it all the time. Our movements +and progress had to be governed by the supposed movements of the enemy. +At one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>time we were deployed as skirmishers, and went down to the +river. I do not know the reason of this precaution, but no enemy was +found. We camped that night along the road.</p> + +<p>April 4th we resumed the march, soon after sunrise. We were short of +provisions, and foragers were sent out to secure what could be gathered +from the country. I was out in the afternoon. While returning in the +evening, after sun-down, I was shot at by some one, when quite near the +column. That night we reached the Danville Railroad, near Jettersville, +and camped in order of battle, about three miles from Lee's army. For +this reason no fires were made. We had been thrown between him and +Danville, which he was aiming to reach. Here Lee made a mistake. It was +his duty to know of our presence here during the night. He should have +attacked us promptly by daylight on the following morning; and, if +possible, overwhelmed us before the rest of the army could arrive. There +was little if any force confronting him, except the Fifth Corps, not +more than twelve thousand men. I think we reached Jettersville in +advance of the main body of the cavalry.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>The morning of the 5th found us intrenched, and expecting an attack from +the enemy. Rebel troops could be seen in the distance, and we supposed +they were forming for battle. We stood behind the works waiting. Their +skirmishers advanced and opened fire on our outposts. Hour after hour +passed. At length the Second and Sixth corps arrived, and Lee's +opportunity was lost.</p> + +<p>April 6th we advanced, at first with some caution. But Lee was in full +retreat toward Lynchburg, and we followed. During the day, a body of +rebel cavalry made a dash at the wagon train, and we were ordered back +to drive them off. We went back about three miles at double-quick. We +met quite a number of men who had been skulking with the train, now +rushing for the front at full speed. As we witnessed their +consternation, we were entirely reconciled to the loss of a few wagons, +just to see the "coffee brigade" shaken up. The rebels had been repulsed +by our cavalry before we reached the scene. We remained with the train, +and camped with it during the night. We marched twenty-nine miles, and +arrived within five miles of High Bridge.</p> + +<p>On the 7th we still remained with the train. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>We passed a place where a +rebel wagon train had been attacked by our cavalry. Ammunition and +stores of all kinds were strewn everywhere. Wagon loads of shells had +been emptied out, and lay scattered through the woods.</p> + +<p>Some time during the day, we had halted by the road, and, as our rest +was quite prolonged, some of the men had fallen asleep. Among others, +Captain Birkman was sleeping soundly, perhaps dreaming of the peace that +was now almost conquered. The woods were burning, a few rods on our +right. The fire at last reached a lot of shells, which had been thrown +from the wagons, to keep them from falling into the hands of the +Yankees. They went off with a frightful clatter. The captain bounced +from the ground as if a hornet had lifted him. "<span class="smcap">Fall in!</span>" he +shouted, grasping his sword. Of course, all who were awake comprehended +the situation, and prudently lay still, to avoid the flying fragments. +As the truth dawned upon him, the captain at first looked "sold" and +disgusted, and then joined in the general laughter.</p> + +<p>We halted that night near Prince Edward's Court-house, after a march of +eighteen miles. Here we rejoined the brigade.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>April 8th we made the most trying march of all. We lost some time by +going out of the way, and made frequent halts during the forenoon, as if +uncertain of the direction, or suspicious of the movement of the enemy. +About noon we reached Prospect Station, thirteen miles from Farmville. +In the afternoon we settled down to hard marching. We did not halt for +supper. The sun went down, night came on, and still we marched on. By +nine o'clock conversation had ceased—no breath could be wasted in +words. Even "Sport" could no longer muster spirit to crack a joke on any +body. You could only hear the "tramp, tramp" of feet, and the occasional +clatter of a saber. But there was no grumbling. We knew this was the +last forced march. One more blow, and treason would be crushed in the +dust. As the column, from time to time, became clogged by some +obstruction ahead, and halted for a moment, the men would sink down on +the ground, most of them just where they stopped, to catch brief rest +for their aching limbs. At such times I would be sound asleep in a +moment, and more than once the column was marching on and myself with it +when I awoke.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>Midnight came, and still we pressed on relentlessly. About one in the +morning we saw lights ahead, which indicated that a halt had been made. +Never did rest and sleep seem sweeter, nor a mile seem longer. It +required a distinct effort of the will to compel each single step. But +at last the task was accomplished. We had marched forty-two miles since +sunrise, and lay within striking distance of the enemy.</p> + +<p>The company was represented by Dunn, Bovard, Mike Coleman, Sergeant +Hasler, and myself. The rest had broken down under the terrible strain +and fallen behind. Without removing any thing, I threw myself on the +ground, and knew no more until I was aroused at daylight to go on.</p> + +<p>Just after sunrise we halted—for breakfast, they said. It was rather a +grim sort of a joke. Scarcely one in fifty had any thing to eat. A few +had coffee, and fires were made, and we went through the regulation +motions of getting breakfast. This done, we started on again.</p> + +<p>It soon became evident that the enemy had been brought to bay. The +confused noise of battle rang through the air. We had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>halted in the +woods, and stood in the road waiting, sure that the end had come.</p> + +<p>Colonel Pattee was on his horse, half faced about toward his men, +evidently impatient and eager. An aid gallops up with orders. Colonel +Pattee looks happy. He gives his old horse an extra jerk:</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Forward! Double Quick! March!</span>"</p> + +<p>On we go toward the scene of conflict.</p> + +<p>Again Colonel Pattee's voice rings out: "<span class="smcap">Deploy Skirmishers!</span>" +and in less than a minute a line of Bucktails stretches through the +woods, facing the enemy. There is no waiting. "<span class="smcap">Forward!</span>" passes +down the line, and we move out into the open field in front. A hundred +yards ahead the cavalry are stubbornly facing a heavy force of rebel +infantry that is crowding on them and steadily pushing them back. Now +and then a man falls from his horse or rides back wounded. We were on +lower ground than they, and the bullets whistled above us; but as we +went up the rising ground, they began to hiss around our heads. We +double-quicked forward and began firing.</p> + +<p>Between us and the town there was a hollow, and on the farther ridge a +road led down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>through the village. There was a wood on the left at the +head of the hollow, and on the right a narrow strip of timber ran up to +within two hundred yards of the road. The right of the regiment extended +past the woods, or rather only a small portion of the left would strike +them in moving straight forward. As we came to the ridge overlooking the +hollow, we saw the rebel troops drawn up on the opposite slope. Soon +they gave way and moved off toward the town out of sight, and a battery +from the ridge opened with shell.</p> + +<p>As soon as the battery opened fire, Robbins, myself, and two or three +others started toward it. A rail fence ran along the hollow proper on +the side next to us. As we neared the fence, Robbins, who was a few +steps in advance, stopped.</p> + +<p>"We had better stay here," he said, as he deliberately aimed at the +battery.</p> + +<p>"There are rebels in the woods there," meaning on the left. As he spoke, +a bullet from the left clipped close over his gun barrel.</p> + +<p>"See that!" he added, his aim not in the least disturbed. The gunners +were shooting over us, as we supposed, at the line of battle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>farther +back. But we had only fired a few shots when a shell burst in front of +us, its fragments scattering dirt, fence rails, and splinters for yards +around.</p> + +<p>"Well! I think we'll go on," said Robbins. On we went to the farther +side of the hollow, and under shelter of the bank, we kept up our fire +with good effect. We would dodge their shells as they fired, and then +rise and fire till they were ready again. Some riflemen in the vicinity +of the battery gave us trouble, but failed to hit any of us.</p> + +<p>After this had continued for some time, the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth +Pennsylvania, a Zouave regiment, came down behind us on a double-quick, +deployed as skirmishers. As they neared the fence a shell from the +battery screamed over our heads, and exploding, killed one of their men. +They heeded this no more than if it had not occurred, and came on with a +cheer. Giving a parting shot to the battery which was now pulling out, +we started on, bearing to the right toward the town. As we neared the +point of the strip of woods on our right, Ginter, of Company E, stopped +and sat down flat on the ground, remarking that it was getting mighty +hot. I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>was of the same opinion, and halted a few feet in advance of him +and fired a few shots in a kneeling posture. While thus engaged, I heard +the sound of a blow behind me, and looking around, I saw Ginter tumbling +on the ground, his heels in the air. He quickly gathered himself up to a +sitting posture with a very rueful countenance, giving vent to his +feelings in sundry expletives, as soon as he could get breath enough to +deliver them properly. With many a doleful grunt he examined the extent +of his injuries. A bullet had struck the belt of his cartridge-box, +nearly over the heart. The ball had force enough almost to pierce the +leather belt and severely bruise the chest, raising a lump half as large +as a hen's egg, and very painful. Some fellow off to the left had +reached for us, and well-nigh finished Ginter. He did not go to the +rear, but kept on, holding his clothing from the painful bruise, too +much engaged in this to do any more shooting.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, a rebel officer galloped along the line with a +white flag. We were almost to the road at this time, at the outskirts of +the town. We did not think of continuing the fight any longer, but some +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>rebel soldiers on the left past the town, fired on us when we exposed +ourselves, and we returned the treacherous fire, and advanced across the +road. By the road, facing us as we approached, stood a negro cabin, out +of which a rebel officer came as we reached it. A few words were +exchanged between him and Adjutant Wright, and I think he was allowed to +go down the road to where the main body of the rebel troops had halted. +Our fire continuing, Colonel Pattee rode up to us, excitedly, to learn +what it meant. Adjutant Wright explained that rebel skirmishers were +still firing at us.</p> + +<p>"Have this firing stopped at once," he said; and seeing a protest in +Wright's face, he went on: "I tell you, you're excited, adjutant, and +the men are excited. They've surrendered, and this must cease."</p> + +<p>"Excited!" was the reply. "If they want to surrender, let <i>them</i> cease +firing."</p> + +<p>At this moment a bullet whizzed past the colonel's head, and killed a +cavalry man on the bank beyond him. He rode off to the right, and left +us to manage it to suit ourselves. In a little while the firing from +both sides ceased. The Army of the Potomac had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>accomplished its +mission. We had fought our last battle. The One Hundred and Ninetieth +and One Hundred and Ninety-first had proved themselves, to the last +hour, worthy successors of the Pennsylvania Reserves.</p> + +<p>The preceding narrative will be better understood by a fuller statement +of the part taken by the entire regiment in the engagement. The original +intention was for Colonel Pattee to connect the right of his command +with the First Division and the left with the command of General Ord. On +reaching the front, he discovered that the cavalry were hard pressed, +and would soon be dislodged from the woods, which would have to be +regained at great disadvantage, and perhaps serious loss. He, therefore, +ordered the regiment forward to their relief. Advancing rapidly, they +relieved the cavalry and engaged the enemy before the troops on either +flank were in position. Colonel Pattee now found his skirmish line +confronting heavy lines of battle, and back of these, on the ridge near +the village, in position to sweep all the open ground in front, Lee's +artillery was massed. He at once thinned the exposed center and right of +his line, strengthened the left, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>charged boldly forward upon the +enemy, throwing his left around upon their flank. Meantime the right +pressed rapidly on, and engaged the rebel infantry in the open ground, +and, later, the artillery on the ridge. Their infantry was routed, and +driven back over the ridge, where their officers tried in vain to rally +and lead them forward. Their artillery resisted with desperation until +their commander was killed. By this time many of their horses had been +shot, and they tried to drag the guns away by hand. But now the left of +the regiment, under Colonel Pattee, came charging down on their right +flank, bursting upon them like a tornado; and literally mingled +together, almost fighting hand to hand, they went pell-mell toward the +village. Here the flag of truce met them, and soon hostilities ceased. +Rarely has a more brilliant and successful attack been executed in +modern warfare, and it reflects the highest credit upon Colonel Pattee +and his command. Rebel officers who witnessed it spoke in the highest +terms of the splendid and reckless courage with which this skirmish line +dashed upon the heavy masses of the enemy.</p> + +<p>The death of the cavalryman, to which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>reference has been made, was a +cause of great regret to all who witnessed it. He was a brave young man. +When relieved by the Bucktails, he might have retired from the field +with honor, as did most of the command to which he belonged. He +preferred, however, to remain. Falling in with Colonel Pattee, he fought +by his side during all the engagement, charged with him in the last +deadly onset, and escaped unharmed, to fall by the bullet of a cowardly +truce-breaker.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant Hayden, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, a brave young +officer, formerly of the Eleventh Reserves, lost a leg in this battle. +It seemed hard to suffer death or maiming in this, the last hour, let us +hope, that the nation will know of civil strife; but let us honor the +men who were thus faithful to the end.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Chapter XX.</span></h2> +<br /> + +<p>Generals Grant, Meade, Ord, and others came down the road to the +village. General Lee and his associates came in the opposite direction. +They met at a house about two hundred yards from us, in full view of the +place where we stood. Here the surrender was completed.</p> + +<p>Twenty-six thousand men were surrendered. Besides those who had +straggled and scattered through the country, or willfully deserted, Lee +had lost in battle, since March 29th, 25,750 men. Both armies were much +exhausted, and if Lee could have shaken off the clutch of Sheridan, and +continued his retreat to Lynchburg, Grant would have been compelled to +abandon the pursuit within three days, from lack of food for his army.</p> + +<p>As soon as a few wagons came up with provisions, rations were issued to +both armies; but there was not a sufficient supply. We remained on the +skirmish line till the 10th, when we returned to the brigade. Several +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>days of wet weather followed, and the wagon-trains could not be brought +up. On the 15th we began the homeward march with empty haversacks.</p> + +<p>We camped that night at Pamplin's Station. In the evening George Dunn +stole a couple of the meanest, most diminutive, runty little hams you +ever saw. I helped him eat them, and am willing to bear a fair share of +the blame; but a country that can produce such hams needs +reconstruction. On the 16th we reached Farmville. The next day we camped +eight miles from Burksville. At the latter place we rested a few days, +before resuming the march to Washington. Here the news first reached us +of Lincoln's assassination. A number of men, who had been taken +prisoners during 1864, rejoined us.</p> + +<p>I was at headquarters one evening, for some purpose, when a soldier +accosted me and inquired for the One Hundred and Ninetieth. He was +ragged, thin, and pale. His hair and beard were of long growth. Looking +into his haggard face and sunken eyes, there was not an outline I could +recognize.</p> + +<p>"The One Hundred and Ninetieth is right here. I belong to it."</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> + +<p>"Are there any of Company D of the Eleventh Reserves here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I belonged to Company D."</p> + +<p>"You did!"</p> + +<p>He leaned toward me, looked intently a moment, then reached out his +hand.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mac; I'm glad to find you."</p> + +<p>As his face brightened I recognized him. It was Wm. Kenedy, of the old +company. He was made prisoner May 5th, in the Wilderness. He had escaped +from prison, and made his way through the country to our lines, +traveling by night, hiding by day, fed by the slaves, nursed by them +through a fever contracted in the swamps. Rest, food, and clean clothes +soon made him look like himself again.</p> + +<p>But my narrative must hasten to a close. We resumed the march, passed +through Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and camped at last on +Arlington Heights. We participated in the grand review. It was something +of more than ordinary interest, to see and compare the two great armies. +Most of Sherman's army had but just arrived, and were dusty and +travel-worn; while the army of the Potomac had been resting for some +time, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>looked fresher and more sprightly. The latter wore caps, and +the former hats, which gave them a more somber appearance. I was also of +the impression that there were more young men in our army than in +Sherman's.</p> + +<p>June 28th we were mustered out, and started the next day for Harrisburg, +where we were discharged, July 2d.</p> + +<p>The report of the Adjutant-general of Pennsylvania gives these two +regiments, the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and +Ninety-first, no credit for active service subsequent to the battle of +Welden Railroad, August, 1864. At this time, Colonel Carle, of the One +Hundred and Ninety-first, and Colonel Hartshorn, of the One Hundred and +Ninetieth, were made prisoners, with the greater part of their +respective commands, and remained in captivity till after the cessation +of hostilities. The remainder of the two regiments acted together as one +organization, under command of Colonel Pattee, as mentioned on page 118, +until the close of the war. This was by far the longest and most +brilliant period of their history; but of this, the public records of +the State make no mention. At the time of the muster out, Colonel Pattee +was absent, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>the report of the One Hundred and Ninetieth was made +out by, or under the supervision of, Colonel Hartshorn; that of the One +Hundred and Ninety-first by Colonel Carle. We suppose that these +officers neglected to insert the names of the engagements which occurred +while Colonel Pattee was in command.</p> + +<p>The following is a list of the battles in which the regiment took part:</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 228"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" width="50%">White Oak Swamp,</td> + <td class="tdl" width="15%">190th</td> + <td class="tdl" width="35%">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> June 13, 1864,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Petersburg,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> June 17,1864,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Weldon Railroad,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. W. R. Hartshorn.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> August 19, 1864,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. — Carle*</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">2D Weldon Railroad,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Captain Birkman.(?) </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> August 21, 1864,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Poplar Grove,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> September 29, 1864,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Hatcher's Run,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> October 27, 1864,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Rowanty Creek</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> February 5, 1865,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Hatcher's Run</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> February 6, 1865,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Gravelly Run,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> March 31, 1865,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Five Forks,</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> April 1, 1865,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Appomattox Court-house</td> + <td class="tdl">190th,</td> + <td class="tdl">Col. J. B. Pattee.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> April 9, 1865,</td> + <td class="tdl">191st,</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="3">* The two colonels in command, with the greater part + of their men, were made prisoners in this battle, after a heavy loss of killed + and wounded.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>MAJOR R. M. BIRKMAN.</p> + +<p>Major R. M. Birkman was born in St. Louis in April, 1837, and spent his +childhood and early life in Harrisburg, Penn. He was in Philadelphia +when the war was inaugurated by the firing on Fort Sumter, and at once +enlisted in Company E, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves. He was made first +sergeant, then commissioned second lieutenant, then promoted to first +lieutenant, and after the reorganization, to captain of Company A, One +Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>At the close of the war he received the rank of brevet major for +meritorious service. The following extract shows the esteem in which he +was held by the officers with whom he was associated. It is from a +letter of Brevet Brigadier-general Gwyn, who commanded the brigade in +which he served during the latter part of the war:</p> + +<p>"Captain, it affords me pleasure to testify to your bravery, ability, +and universal good conduct in the several bloody fights in which your +regiment was engaged during the late campaign. In the camp, no less than +in the field, your conduct bore testimony to your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>worth. Sober, steady, +and industrious, you set an example worth following."</p> + +<p>In the army, as elsewhere, he was the quiet, unassuming, conscientious +gentleman, doing his duty.</p> + +<p>After the war, he returned to Blairsville, Penn., where he married Miss +Mary L. Black, a most estimable lady of that city. He purchased the +Blairsville <i>Press</i>, and continued to be editor and publisher of that +paper till 1870. He then bought the <i>Indiana Register</i> and <i>American</i>, +and merged the two papers into the <i>Indiana Progress</i>, which he +published until the 1st of March, 1880. His health had been gradually +failing for three or four years previous to this date; but he continued +to devote his attention to the work which he loved, until the advance of +disease warned him that his work was done. He then "set his house in +order," fearlessly committed himself to the God whom he had served and +loved, and waited calmly for the last of earth.</p> + +<p>As death drew near, his mind went back over the scenes of camp and +field, and he fought his battles o'er again. He died April 24, 1880. For +seven years previous to his death he had been an active member of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>Presbyterian Church, and proved himself an earnest, consistent +Christian.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen">BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOSEPH B. PATTEE.</p> + +<p>Brevet Brigadier-General Joseph B. Pattee is a native of Vermont. Of his +life previous to the breaking out of the war we have no information. +When the Pennsylvania Reserves were organized in 1861, he was +commissioned first lieutenant Company B, of the Tenth. December 10, +1862, he was promoted to captain. At Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864, he +was wounded in the knee by a grapeshot. He continued on duty, however, +although this wound troubled him for more than a year afterward. When +the reorganization took place, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of +the One Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania. Colonel Hartshorn being +absent, he took command of the regiment. June 17th, he was severely +wounded during the assault on Petersburg. A rifle ball struck him in the +center of the chest, and came out under his arm. This wound compelled an +absence of nearly three months. He returned September 13th, although +still suffering from this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>wound and the one received in May. During his +absence, Colonel Hartshorn and Colonel Carle, of the One Hundred and +Ninety-first, returned, and took command of their respective regiments. +These officers, with the greater part of their men, were made prisoners +August 19th, and so remained until after the cessation of hostilities.</p> + +<p>The remainder of the two regiments, increased during the Fall by +returning convalescents, numbered about five hundred men. Colonel Pattee +took command of these, and they acted together as one organization. To +his care, skill, and courage they owe the brilliant record which they +made during the rest of their history. At Gravelly Run his promptness +and decision saved the Union forces from serious disaster. His gallant +conduct in leading the assault on the rebel intrenchments at Five Forks +is mentioned in the account of that battle. At Appomattox Court-house he +was ordered forward with his regiment from the rear of the division, for +the purpose of making that last dash against Lee, and compelling his +surrender. For the prompt and skillful manner in which this attack was +executed, he was highly complimented by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>generals in command, and +was brevetted brigadier-general.</p> + +<p>Since the close of the war he has been in the West, and is now engaged +in a land agency business at Canton, Dakota Territory.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The following muster-rolls are obtained from the "History of the +Pennsylvania Volunteers." The roll of Company C, One Hundred and +Ninetieth, is defective in that work, and we have added a few names from +memory. The following abbreviations need explanation: M. A. C. D. C. = +Military Asylum Cemetery, District of Columbia; V. R. C. = Veteran +Reserve Corps; N. C. = National Cemetery. The date which follows the +name and rank of an officer, or the name of a private, indicates the +date of enlistment.</p> +<br /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 130%;">Company C, 11th P. R. V. C.</p> + +<p class="cen smacap">Mustered Out June 13, 1864.</p> + +<div class="block2"><p class="hang">S. Louden, Capt.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Sept. 26, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">W. H. Timblin, Capt.; June 10, '61; Brev. Maj.; wounded in +Wilderness; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Newton Redic, 1st Lt.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, +June 27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>G. W. Fliger, 1st Lt.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. +March 12, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. C. Kuhn, 2d Lt.; June 10, '61; died of wounds, Sept. 17, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. H. Sutton, 2d Lt.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, July +3, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">W. J. Halderman, 1st Sergt.; Oct. 1, '61; trans. 190th, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">G. W. Milford, Sergt.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Jan. +20, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. H. Christie, Sergt.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' +Mill, June 27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">G. A. Black, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. T. Kelly, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">G. W. Eby, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">M. Heckart, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">W. Prior, Sergt.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; died at +Andersonville, Nov. 28, '64; grave 12,191.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hiram Black, Corp.; June 10, '61; died of wounds, Dec. 18, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. W. Campbell, Corp., June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">S. Cook, Corp., June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. H. Meeder, Corp., June 23, '61; disc. on sur. cer.</p> + +<p class="hang">R. S. Harper, Corp.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. 190th; disc. Feb. +24, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. S. Campbell, Corp.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. +Dec. 22, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">R. S. Ray, Corp.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">W. P. Black, Corp.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. M. Varnum, mus., June 10m, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. Heckart, mus., June 23, '61; must. out with Co.</p></div> + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>PRIVATES.</p> + +<div class="block2"><p class="hang">Allen, D. S.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Adams, H. C.; Oct. 1, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 30, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Anderson, R. M.; Mar. 4, '62; disc. sur. cer., June 24, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Birch, D.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Black, J. R.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. 12, +'64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Bell, S. M.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, May 20, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brandon, Henry; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, Oct. 10, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beatty, S. R.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds rec'd at +Gaines' Mill.</p> + +<p class="hang">Bryan, W. A.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Feb. 11, 63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Bruner, S.; June 23, '61; pris. May 5, '65, to Ap. 17, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Black, U. J.; June 10, '61; died Dec. 26, '62; buried in M. +A. Cem., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beam, J.; June 10, '61; died Aug. 7, '62, of wounds rec'd at +Gaines' Mill.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brewster, J. C.; June 10, '61; died July 23, '62; buried in +M. A. Cem., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Boreland, J. W.; June 10, '61; died May 22, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Campbell, I.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Christy, H. F.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Cannon, J.; June 23, '61; absent, sick, at muster out.</p> + +<p class="hang">Campbell, R. G.; Feb. 29, '64; trans. to 190th; pris., died +at Andersonville, Aug., '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Campbell, Wm.; June 10, '61; died Aug. 1, '63, of wounds +rec'd at Gettysburg; bur. N. C., sec. D., grave 39.</p> + +<p class="hang">Clark, C.; died May 12, '65; bur. Cypress Hill Cem., Long +Island.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>Dobson, J.; June 10, '61; mort. wounded, May 30, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Donaldson, J.; June 10, '61; pris. May 30, '64; disc. Dec. +16, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Edgar, H. J.; June 23, '61; disc. for w'ds, Nov. 23, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Eshenbaugh, J.; June 10, '61; trans. to 190th; pris., May +30, '64, to April 17, '65; must. out vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fliger, E. S.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Nov. 27, +'61.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fliger, Jacob; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Nov. 27 '62</p> + +<p class="hang">Graham, Jas. K.; June 10, '61; wounded; must. out with +Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Grossman, Lewis; June 10, '61; wounded, with loss of arm and +leg, May 11, '64; died Aug. 3, '64; bur. N. C., Arlington.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hindman, R. S.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Halstead, Jn.; June 23, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hilliard, W.; June 23, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hilliard, W. H.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., May 11, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Henlen, Jn. D. W.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Jan. 8, +'63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hoffman, Ed.: March 4, '62; trans. to 190th.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hilliard, Eli; June 10, '61; died at Richmond, Jan. 11, '63, +of wounds received at Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hyskill, G.; June 10, '61; killed at Fred., Dec. 13, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hart, Samuel; March 4, '62; died Aug. 10, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Karner, Wm.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Krause, R.; June 23, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 1, +'65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kepler, A. C.; Oct. 1, '61; w'd and pris. at Gaines' Mill; +disc.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kautch, Wolfgang; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, Dec. 31, +'63.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>Kenedy, B. F.; Mar. 4, '62; trans. to 190th; disc. at +expiration of term.</p> + +<p class="hang">Larden, T. P.; June 23, '61; wounded at Fred.; pris. May 5; +disc. Mar. 14, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Linsay, F.; June 10, '61; died Jan. 4, '63, of wounds rec'd +at Fred. Dec. 13, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Livermore, J.; Oct. 1, '61; trans. V. R. C., Dec. 31, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Miller, S.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, +'65.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Cleary, S. E.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. +5, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Gill, W. B.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Dec. 30, +'61.</p> + +<p class="hang">Malarkey, D.; June 23, '61; disc. Feb. 11, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Moore, W. E.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Murry, S.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Dec. 3, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Elhany, R.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Dec. 29, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Elvain, R.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Jan. 15, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Call, Alex.; Feb. 8, '62; disc. for w'ds, rec'd at Fred.</p> + +<p class="hang">Milford, J. P.; Aug. 26, '62; trans, to 190th.</p> + +<p class="hang">Monnie, F. H.; Sept. 21, '62; trans, to 190th; disc. at +expiration of term.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Murry, R.; Feb. 8, '62; trans, to 190th; disc. at +expiration of term.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Camy, J.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. V. R. C., Dec. 21, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Miller, Isaiah; June 10, '61; died Aug. 13, '62; bur. at +Point Lookout.</p> + +<p class="hang">Martin, Wm.; Sept. 21, '61; died of w'ds. Sept. 17, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Bride, W. A.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June +27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Martin, P. G.; June 23, '61; deserted Mar. 20, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Patterson, H. B.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Pearce, J. M.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Oct. 29, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>Pearce, R. C.; Aug. 26, '62; died Dec. 13, '62; bur. M. A. + +C., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Pettigrew, A. J.; June 10, '61; died July 11, '63, of wounds +rec'd at Gettysburg.</p> + +<p class="hang">Porter, J. R.; Oct. 5, '61; died Sept. 25, '62, of w'ds +rec'd at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rhodes, G. M.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Aug. 23, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rothmire, G.; June 10, '61; disc. Sept. 12, '62, for wounds +rec'd at Gaines' Mill.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rinker, Wm.; June 10, '61; disc. Sept. 12, '62, for wounds +rec'd at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Russel, D. H.; Aug. 26, '62; trans. to 191st.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rosenberry, J.; June 10, '61; died at Macon, Ga., Dec. 24, +'62, of wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p class="hang">Russel, O. H. P.; June 10, '62; died at Richmond, Dec. 31, +'62, of wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg.</p> + +<p class="hang">Sloan, Wm.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Seaton, Amos; June 10, '61; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Shryock, S, P.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. +5, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Say, Hon. H.; Oct. 7, '61; trans. to 191st.</p> + +<p class="hang">Stevenson, J. H.; June 10, '61; killed at South Mountain, +Sept. 14, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Schmidt, C.; June 10, '61; killed at South Mountain, Sept. +14, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Shepard, J. M.; Sept 21, '61; disc. for w'ds, Feb. 24, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Taylor, J. L.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Thompson, W. S.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Aug. 2, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Thompson, J.; Oct. 13, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill.</p> + +<p class="hang">White, Allen; June 10, '61; killed at Wilderness, May 5, +'64.</p></div> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 130%;">Company D, 11th P. R. V. C.</p> + +<div class="block2"><p class="hang">Wm. Stewart, Capt.; July 5, '61; w'nded 2d Bull Run; killed +at Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jacob Baiers, Capt.; July 5, '61; disc. April 9, '64, for +wounds received at Gaines' Mill.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jas. P. Boggs, Capt.; July 5, '61; Brev. Maj.; wd. twice, +pris. once, must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. S. Kenedy, 1st Lt.; July 5, '61; disc. June 13, '63, for +wds. received at South Mountain, Sept. 14, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jesse Donaldson, 2d Lt.; July 5, '61; died at Alexandria, +Va., May 5, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">J. O'Harra Woods, 2d Lt.; July 5, '61; killed at Gettysburg, +July 2, 63; N. C., sec. C., grave 35.</p> + +<p class="hang">Wilson R. Potts, 1st Sergt.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer. +June 10, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Wm. C. Coleman, 1st Sergt.; Sept. 8, '61; trans. 190th to +1st Lt, Co. I; must. out June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Robt. Ash, Sergt.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer. June 10, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jn. Ganz, Sergt.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Sam'l J. Chrisley, Sergt.; July 16, '61; killed at 2d Bull +Run, Aug. 30, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jac. B. Kinsell, Sergt.; July 5, '61; died Jan. 20, '63; +wounds received at Fred.; Alex, grave 691.</p> + +<p class="hang">G. W. M'Gaughey, Sergt.; July 5, '61; died Rich. Feb. 10, +'63, wounds received at Fred., Dec. 13, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">David C. Steen, Sergt.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; wd. +Gaines' Mill, Fred., Wild.; killed Weldon R. R., Aug. 19, +'64., vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Geo. Weber, Sergt.; July 5, '61; wounded Fred.; pris. May 5, +'64; disc. Dec. 17, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>Jas. M'Clelland, Sergt.; July 29, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jas. M. Graves, Sergt.; July 12, '61; pris. May 5, '64; +must. out Dec. 18, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jn. Dunbar, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June +27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Silas Amberson, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, +June 27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Robt. G. Gilleland, Corp.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., +Feb. 4, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">David P. Stewart, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' +Mill, June 27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">David S. Parks, Corp.; July 6, '61; killed May 30, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jas. R. Moore, Corp.; July 29, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Feb. +7, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jas. B. Shafer, Corp.; July 29, '61; trans. 190th; must. out +June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Dan'l Graham, Corp.; July 5, '61; pris. May 30, '64; died—.</p> + +<p class="hang">Jesse Fry, Corp.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Chas. Minnemyer, Musician; July 6, '61; promoted to prin. +musc., Nov. 1, '63; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Alf. Nixon, musc.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p></div> + + +<p class="cen">PRIVATES.</p> + +<div class="block2"><p class="hang">Addleman, Lind. H.; Feb. 24, '62; died at home on Furlough.</p> + +<p class="hang">Barron, Barn. C.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 3, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beers, Jn.; Feb. 8, '62.; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; +not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Berchtold, Jas.; Feb. 25, '62; trans. U. S. N., Nov. '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beers, Sm'l; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>Beggs, Jn.; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beatty, Jn. M.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June +27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Bedillion, Peter; July 16, '61; died Jan. 17, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beltz, Chas.; ——; died Sept. 4, '62; bur. Alexandria, +grave 212.</p> + +<p class="hang">Boggs, Wm.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brennamin, S.; March 18, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 18, +'64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brown, Robt. J.; July 16, '61; trans. 190th; not accounted +for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brown, Jn. M.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brunnermer, Geo.; Feb. 8, '62; trans. 190th; wd. May 30, +Aug. 18, '64; must. out, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Burr, Jacob; Feb. 25, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; +not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Cartwright, Linas; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 1, +'64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Campbell, David; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 28, 63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Cowan, Jn.; July 5, '61; disc sur. cer. ——</p> + +<p class="hang">Corans, Jn.; Sept. 12, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Cress, Dan'l; July 29, 61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Critchlow, A. W.; July 5, '61; died at N. Y., Oct. 2. '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Critchlow, J. W.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June +27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Cornelius, T. J.; July 29, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June +27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Conders, Jn.; July 5, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Dodds, Jasper P.; July 12, '61; died at Richmond, July 18, +'62, of wds. received at Gaines' Mill.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>Dodds, W. F.; July 29, '61; disc. sur. cer., Oct. 7, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Deer, Jac.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 11, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Divinney, J. G.; Sept. 21, '61; disc. sur. cer, May 9, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Elliott, J. P.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; died —.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fleming, T. H.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; must. out with +Co., June 28, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Frail, M.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fry, W. M.; July 5, '61; died at Washington, D. C., May 31, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Graham, D. W.; Sept. 21, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 18, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gilleland, R. S.; Feb. 10, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gilleland, W.; Feb. 10, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gilpatrick, M.; March 17, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; disc. July 5, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gibson, Israel; March 17, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; disc. July 5, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Graham, D. W.; Aug. 19, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Greer, J. A.; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 9, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hussleton, G. W.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. +22, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Haslett, S. F.; Sept. 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Nov. 21, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Haslett, J. B.; March 3, '62; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hare, Peter; July 12, '61; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; +shot Salis., N. C., Dec. 22, '64, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hoyt, Oscar C.; Sept. 21, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, +'63.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>Johnson, J. B.; July 25, '61; died May 30, '62; bur. M. A. +C., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Johnston, Vernon; July 5, 61; died July 9, '61.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kenedy, Alex.; July 29, '61; disc. sur. cer., Feb. 9, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kenedy, W. H. H.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; pris. May 5, +'64; must. out June 28, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kalb, Eckart; March 10, '62; trans. 190th; wd., loss of arm, +May 30, 64.</p> + +<p class="hang">List, Wm.; July 14, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Lyon, Sm. A.; July 24 '61; k. Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Leonard, Jas.; July 5, '61; deserted Aug. 31, '61.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Nair, Robt. A.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Mushrush, B. L.; July 5, '61; wd. May 5, '64; must. out with +Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Donald, D. (1); July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Donald, D. (2); July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 25, +'63.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Aleer, B. W.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. 190th; pris, Aug. 19, +'64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Bride, R. E.; Dec. 15, '63; trans. 190th; must. out June +28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Comb, J. H.; Feb. 9, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Miller, Ed.; Feb, 25, '64; trans. 190th; must. out with Co., +June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Curdy, S. R.; Sept. 8, '61; trans, to Co. B., May 1, '62; +disc. sur. cer., June 4, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Knight, J.; Sept. 12, '61; trans. V. R. C., Feb. 5, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Moreland, C. L.; Apr. 22, '64; trans. 190th; killed at +Petersb., June 24, '64; bur. in Poplar Grove Cem., grave +173, sec. C. div. D.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Cullough, M. F.; July 6, '61; killed May 5, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>Moore, Wm.; July 16, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Kinney, J. A.; July 5, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Neal, W. R.; Sept. 8, '61; died Oct. 25, '62, of wds. +rec'd at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Nixon, J. E.; July 6, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 28, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Overdoff, W. C.; March 31, '64; trans. 190th; killed Oct. +'64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Parker, S. C.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Pisor, D. W.; July 16, '61; died Nov. 16, '62; buried Camp +Parole, Hospital Cem. Annapolis, Md.</p> + +<p class="hang">Pherson, R. J.; July 29, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, +'62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rodgers, H.; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 23, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Richardson, W.; March 21, '62; trans. 190th; wd. at Fred.; +must. out June 28, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Robertson, J.; Feb. 16, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; died —.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rice, T. G.; Feb. 13, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; +died Dec. 23, '64, Salisbury, N. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rosenberry, S. J.; Feb. 24, '62; died June 23, '62; bur. +Mil. As. Cem., D. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rouch, L.; Oct. 5, '61; died at home, Butler County, Sept. +8, '63.</p> + +<p class="hang">Smith, S. F.; Sept. 8, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 1, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Shearer, W. M.; Sept. 8, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 27, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Stevenson, B.; Feb. 24, '62; disc. sur. cer., March 25, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Snow, Alf. M.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, +'64; died Salisbury, N. C, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Shank, A.; Sept. 8, '61; trans. 190th; must. out June 28, +'65., vet.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>Shank, Jn.; Feb. 26, '64; trans. 190th; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Silvers, M.; Sept. 21, '61; trans. V. R. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Stanley, J. S.; March 31, '64; trans. 190th; wd. May 30, +'64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Sinott, Wm.; Sept. 8, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 29, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Summerville, J. H.; July 5, '61; died at Annapolis, Md., +Feb. 28, '63, of wds. rec'd at Fred. Dec. 13, '62.</p> + +<p class="hang">Teets, Al.; July 5, '61; absent at muster out.</p> + +<p class="hang">Thompson, R. W.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Thompson, G.; July 23, '61; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">Williamson, Hugh; July 5, '61; wd. at Fred.; absent at +muster out.</p> + +<p class="hang">Woods, Wm.; July 5, '61; died at Camp Pierpont, Dec. 6, '61.</p> + +<p class="hang">Young, Geo.; Feb. 8, '62; disc. sur. cer., June 11, '62.</p></div> +<br /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 130%;">Company C, 190th P. V.</p> + +<div class="block2"><p class="hang">Neri B. Kinsey, Capt.; June, 1, '61; Brev. Maj. Oct. 1, '64; +wounded Oct., '64; disc. Mar. 8, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Moses W. Lucore, 1st Lt.; June 1, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; +must. out June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Benj. F. Wright, 2d Lt.; pris. Aug. 19, '64; must. out June +28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— Keeley, Sergt.; must. out June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">—— Haslett, must. out June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">David C. Steen, Sergt.; killed Aug. 19, '64; sec. D., 11.</p> + +<p class="hang">Thos. H. Lindsay, Corp.; Dec. 21, '63; disc. gen. ord., June +1, '65.</p></div> + + +<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>PRIVATES.</p> + +<div class="block2"><p class="hang">Brown, Robt. J.; July 16, '61; vet., not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Beers, Jn.; Mar. 17, '62; vet., not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Burr, Jacob; Feb. 25, '64; vet., not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brunnermer, George; Feb. 8. '62; ward 2; mus.</p> + +<p class="hang">Brennamin, Sl.; Mar. 18, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not +accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Bovard, Joseph O.; June 8, '61; must. out with Co., June 28, +'65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Conner, Wm.; Sept. 22, '62; pris. Aug. 19, '64; disc. gen. +ord., June 1, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Coleman, Mike; Dec. 15, '63; must. out with Co., June 28, +'65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Dunn, Geo.; Sept. 22, '62; disc. gen. ord., June 1, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Edgar, Jn.; must. out with Co., June 28, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Eshelman, Abram; Dec. 9, '63; died of wounds rec'd at +Petersburg, Va., June 17, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fulkerson, Smith; Mar. 31, '62; disc. at expiration of term.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fleming, Thorn. H.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co., June +28, '64, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fuller, Jn. A.; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury N. C., +Dec. 12, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Fairbanks, D.; pris. Aug 19, '64; died Nov. 24, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gilpatrick, Mark; Mar. 15, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Oct. +8, '64; disc. July 5, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gilleland, Robt. S.; Feb. 10, '64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gilleland, Wilson; Feb. 10, '64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Gibson, Israel; Mar. 17, '64; not accouonted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Hare, Peter; July 12, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at +Salisbury, N. C., Jan. 30, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Harris, Abram; Feb. 3, '64; disc. gen. ord., May 16, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>Harris, Wm.; Feb. 3, '64; must. out with Co., June 28, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kalb, Eckart; Mar. 10, '62; wounded, with loss of arm, May +30, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Kenedy, W. H. H.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; must. out +with Company, June 28, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Klinglesmith, C.; Feb. 5, '64; must. out with Co., June 28, +'65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Lewis, Wm.; Oct. 25, '64; disc. gen. ord., June 5, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Lyons, Owen; Dec. 21, '63; trans. V. R. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Aleer, Bernard W.; Feb. 24, '62; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Bride, R. E.; Dec. 15, '63; must. out with Co.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Comb, Jas. H.; Feb. 9, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not +accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Guire, Robt. R.; June 8, '61; mustered out with Company, +vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">M'Guire, Jas. N.; June 8, '61; must. out with Company, vet., +wounded.</p> + +<p class="hang">Miller, Ed.; Feb. 25, '64; must. out with Company.</p> + +<p class="hang">Nicholson, Jn.; Dec. 31, '63; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Feb. 7, +'65; disc. June 12, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Overdoff, Wm. C.; Mar. 31, '64; killed Oct., '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Payne, Wm.; Oct. 20, '61; disc. at expiration of term.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rice, Thos. G.; Feb. 13, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at +Salisbury, N. C.</p> + +<p class="hang">Richardson, Wm.; Mar. 21, '62; must. out with Co., wounded.</p> + +<p class="hang">Robertson, Jas.; Feb. 16, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at +Salisbury, N. C., Dec. 23, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Rutter, Wm.; wounded at Petersburg, June 18, '64; died July +15, '64.</p> + +<p class="hang">Snow, Alf. M.; July 5, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at +Salisbury, N. C., vet.</p> + +<p class="hang"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>Shank, Andrew; Sept. 8, '61; must. out with Co., vet., +wounded.</p> + +<p class="hang">Shank, Jn.; Feb. 26, '64; not accounted for.</p> + +<p class="hang">Scott, W. D.; June 8, '61; disc. Jan. 23, '65, vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Stohker, Abram; Dec. 21, '63; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Jan. +23, '64; disc. June 12, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Sweeney, Chas.; June 8, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to March 1, +'65; disc. June 24. '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Thiel, Anthony; Feb. 4, '62; disc. gen. ord., June 2, '65.</p> + +<p class="hang">Walb, Leonidas C.; June 21, '61; must. out with Company, +vet.</p> + +<p class="hang">Youler, Benj. F.; June 20, '61; must. out with Co., vet.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div style="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;"> + +<p class="cen"> +GREAT WESTERN GUN WORKS,<br /> +Pittsburgh, Pa.</p> + +<div class="img"> +<img border="0" src="images/gun.jpg" width="45%" alt="Shot Gun" /> +</div> + +<br /> +<p class="noin" style="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;">Breech-loading Shot Guns, $18 to $300. Double Shot Guns, $8 to $150. +Single Guns, $3 to $20. Rifles, $8 to $75. Revolvers, $1 to $25. Send +for free illustrated Catalogue. Great Western Gun Works, Pittsburgh, Pa.</p> +</div> + + +<hr /> + +<div style="margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;"> + +<p class="cen">NEW EDITION</p> + +<div class="img"> +<img border="0" src="images/websters.jpg" width="45%" alt="WEBSTER'S" /> + +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 45%;">Contains <b>1928 Pages</b>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><b>3000</b> ENGRAVINGS,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><b>4600</b> New Words anad Meanings,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><b>Biographical Dictionary,</b></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 45%;"><b>9700</b> Names.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> +</div> + + +<p class="cen">Published by G. & C. MERRIAM, Springfield, Mass.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Western Reserve Seminary,</h2> + +<h3>WEST FARMINGTON, OHIO.</h3> + +<p class="cen">C. B. WEBSTER, A. M., Principal.</p> + +<p class="cen">INSTITUTION ESTABLISHED FIFTY YEARS.</p> + +<p class="cen">OPEN TO BOTH SEXES.</p> + +<p class="cen">Five Departments in Successful Operation:</p> +<p class="cen">Classical, Scientific, Commercial, Normal, Music, and Art Courses, + Telegraphy, and Printing.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 249"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="11%">TABLE BOARD,</td> + <td class="tdc" width="16%" style="font-size: 130%;">$1.50</td> + <td class="tdl" width="13%">PER WEEK.</td> + <td class="tdlblp2" width="17%">TOTAL EXPENSES,</td> + <td class="tdc" width="24%" style="font-size: 130%;">$100 TO $125</td> + <td class="tdl" width="13%">PER YEAR.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p class="cen">Competent Teachers in Each Department.</p> + +<p class="cen">Tuition Only $6.00 Per Term. No Incidental Fee.</p> + +<p class="cen"><b>SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.</b></p> + +<p class="cen">For Catalogue, address the Principal.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h3>Organs and Pianos.</h3> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">ORGANS & PIANOS.</p> + +<p><b>Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops. +Pianofortes.</b> Grand, Square & Upright, <b>$125 to $1,600.</b> Sent on +trial warranted. Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">CABINET ORGANS.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">BEATTY PIANOFORTES,</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.</p> + +<p>Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World.</p> + +<p><b>ORGANS</b> <b>$30, $40, $50</b>, to <b>$1,000</b>, <b>2</b> to <b>32</b> Stops.</p> + +<p><b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up to <b>$1,600</b>. Every instrument <b>fully Warranted</b>. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and <b>Steel-Plate +Engraving free</b>. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><i><b>ORGANS</b></i></p> + +<p>14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, <b>ONLY $65</b>. <b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up. Paper free. +Address <b>Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</b></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">ORGANS & PIANOS.</p> + +<p><b>Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 33 Stops. +Pianofortes.</b> Grand, Square & Upright, <b>$125</b> to <b>$1,000</b>. <b>Sent on +trial warranted.</b> <b>Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.</b> Address +or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">CABINET ORGANS.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">BEATTY PIANOFORTES,</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.</p> + +<p>Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World.</p> + +<p><b>ORGANS</b> <b>$30, $40, $50</b>, to <b>$1,000</b>, <b>2</b> to <b>32</b> Stops.</p> + +<p><b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up to <b>$1,600</b>. Every instrument <b>fully Warranted</b>. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and <b>Steel-Plate +Engraving free</b>. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><i><b>ORGANS</b></i></p> + +<p>14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, <b>ONLY $65</b>. <b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up. Paper free. +Address <b>Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</b></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">CABINET ORGANS.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">BEATTY PIANOFORTES,</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.</p> + +<p>Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World.</p> + +<p><b>ORGANS</b> <b>$30, $40, $50</b>, to <b>$1,000</b>, <b>2</b> to <b>32</b> Stops.</p> + +<p><b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up to <b>$1,600</b>. Every instrument <b>fully Warranted</b>. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and <b>Steel-Plate +Engraving free</b>. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><i><b>ORGANS</b></i></p> + +<p>14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, <b>ONLY $65</b>. <b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up. Paper free. +Address <b>Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</b></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">ORGANS & PIANOS.</p> + +<p><b>Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops. +Pianofortes.</b> Grand, Square & Upright, <b>$125 to $1,600.</b> Sent on +trial warranted. Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><i><b>ORGANS</b></i></p> + +<p>14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, <b>ONLY $65</b>. <b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up. Paper free. +Address <b>Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</b></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">ORGANS & PIANOS.</p> + +<p><b>Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops. +Pianofortes.</b> Grand, Square & Upright, <b>$125 to $1,600.</b> Sent on +trial warranted. Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 200%;"><b>BEATTY</b></p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">CABINET ORGANS.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 150%;">BEATTY PIANOFORTES,</p> +<p class="cen" style="font-size: 120%;">GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.</p> + +<p>Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World.</p> + +<p><b>ORGANS</b> <b>$30, $40, $50</b>, to <b>$1,000</b>, <b>2</b> to <b>32</b> Stops.</p> + +<p><b>PIANOS</b>, <b>$125</b> up to <b>$1,600</b>. Every instrument <b>fully Warranted</b>. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and <b>Steel-Plate +Engraving free</b>. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person.</p> + +<p>Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen">Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page 9 Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania<br /> +Page 26 steathily changed to stealthily<br /> +Page 26 Bristor changed to Bristoe<br /> +Page 27 Bristor changed to Bristoe<br /> +Page 37 Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania<br /> +Page 52 earthern changed to earthen<br /> +Page 74 cookiug changed to cooking<br /> +Page 129 Nintieth changed to Ninetieth<br /> +Page 146 Aross changed to Across<br /> +Page 174 redoutable changed to redoubtable<br /> +Page 237 Fredericksbug changed to Fredericksburg<br /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Ranks, by R. E. McBride + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE RANKS *** + +***** This file should be named 31075-h.htm or 31075-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/0/7/31075/ + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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E. McBride + +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: In The Ranks + From the Wilderness to Appomattox Court House + +Author: R. E. McBride + +Release Date: January 25, 2010 [EBook #31075] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE RANKS *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Kosker and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + +[Illustration: R. E. McBRIDE.] + + + + + IN THE RANKS: + + FROM THE + + WILDERNESS TO APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE. + + + + + THE WAR, + AS SEEN AND EXPERIENCED BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER IN THE + ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. + + + + + BY REV. R. E. M'BRIDE. + + + + + A tale of the times of old. The deeds of days of other years. + --OSSIAN. + + + + + + CINCINNATI: + PRINTED BY WALDEN & STOWE, + FOR THE AUTHOR. + 1881 + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by + + R. E. M'BRIDE, + + In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +In giving this book to the public we do so under the same plea which +justifies those pleasant gatherings called "reunions," where men of the +same regiment, corps, or army, meet to extend friendly greetings to each +other, to friends, and all comrades in arms. + +The writer has found it a pleasant task to recall the scenes of fifteen +years ago, when, a mere boy in years, he had a part in the events here +recorded. He is conscious of a kindly affection toward the men who were +his companions during those stirring times. Kindness, thoughtfulness, +forbearance, toward the boy-soldier, are not forgotten. If he found any +thing different from these in his intercourse with men or officers, it +has passed from memory, and he would not recall it if he could. + +We trust, also, that this work may have a mission of utility to the +generation that has grown up since the war. + +There is a certain almost indefinable something, which has been summed +up under the expression, "military traditions." This comes not alone +from formal histories of the wars of the nation, but more largely from +the history which each soldier carried home with him after the war was +over. It meant something more than a certain amount of small family +vanity, when men used to say, "My father was a soldier of the +Revolution;" "My father fought at Lundy's Lane." + +There lay back of this the stories told to wondering little ones while +they gathered around the arm-chair of the soldier grandfather. Here were +planted the seeds of military ardor that found expression at Gettysburg, +Vicksburg, Atlanta, and the Wilderness. It is thus the past of the +nation projects itself into the present. Our comrades that sleep down +yonder guard their country more effectually than if, full armed, they +kept unceasing watch on all her borders. Though dead, they yet +speak,--yes _live_, in the spirit which yet lives in the hearts of their +countrymen. The cause they died for our children will love; the +institutions they preserved at such cost, our sons will perpetuate by +intelligent devotion to freedom and her laws. + +Is it in vain, then, my comrade, that I sit down in your family circle, +and tell your children the story of our hardships, trials, reverses, +victories? + +This narrative is submitted to you almost as first written, when +intended only for the perusal of my own family. In recounting events +subsequent to August 19, 1864, when the One Hundred and Ninetieth is +spoken of, the One Hundred and Ninety-first is also included, as they +were practically one. + +Since completing the work, the author has learned that the report of the +Adjutant-general of Pennsylvania gives these regiments, the One Hundred +and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first, no credit for service +subsequent to the battle of Welden Railroad, in August, 1864. We give +an explanation of this in the closing chapter, and send forth this +volume, hoping that it may serve, in some measure, to do justice to as +devoted a body of men as Pennsylvania sent to the field. + +SENECA, KANSAS, March, 1881. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE. + + Alexander, John, 25 + + Appomattox Battle, 215 + + Amusements, 93, 158 + + + Bethsaida Church, 66 + + Birkman, Capt., 72, 118 + + Boggs, Lieut., 35 + + Baiers, Lieut., 21 + + + Carle, Col., 94, 100, 225 + + Coleman, Mike, 26, 68, 172, 182 + + Coleman, Sergt., 47, 72 + + Culp, Eckard, 68 + + Craig, Wm., 39 + + + Delo, Chaplain, 59 + + Dodds, Jasper, 21 + + Dunn, Geo., 134 + + Dillinger, 121 + + + Eshelman, Abe, 26, 85 + + Elliot, John, 28 + + Execution, 133 + + Edgar, John, 170 + + + Fort Federal Hill, 112 + + Fort Steadman, 162 + + Five Forks Battle, 188 + + + Gaines' Mill Battle, 20 + + Ginter, 217 + + Ghosts, 49 + + Graham, Daniel, 60 + + Gravelly Run Battle, 172 + + Grossman, Louis, 40 + + + Harris, Wm., 135 + + Hatcher's Run Battle, 148 + + Hartshorn, 73 + + Hayden, Lieut., 73, 221 + + Hop, 135 + + + Jones, Capt., 31 + + + Kinsey, Capt., 73, 120 + + Kenedy, W. H. H., 224 + + + M'Cullough, M. F., 31 + + M'Guire, J., 135 + + Miller, Ed., 182 + + Moreland, C. L., 63, 100 + + Mortars, 88 + + Mushrush, Benj., 27 + + + North Ann River Battle, 62 + + + Overdoff, 120 + + + Petersburg, 85 + + Pattee, Col., 73, 85, 118, 179, 219 + + Peacock, Lieut., 118 + + Preston, Geo., 121 + + + Quaker Road Battle, 171 + + + Robbins, 215 + + Rowanty Creek Battle, 148 + + Running the Gauntlet, 90 + + Rutter, Wm., 85 + + Ramrods, 93 + + + Stanley, John, 31, 69 + + Stewart, Joe, 25 + + Stewart, Capt., 22 + + Steen, David, 33 + + Shaffer, J., 68 + + Spotsylvania, 37 + + + Walb, L. C., 204 + + Welden Railroad, 118 + + Welden Raid, 124 + + White, Allen, 31 + + White Oak Swamp Battle, 75 + + Wilderness Battle, 30 + + Woods, O'Harra, 22 + + Wright, Ernest, 218 + + Whisky, 140 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +I have long purposed the following work, designing to put in a form +somewhat permanent my recollections of experiences in the great war, +believing it may be a source of satisfaction to my children in later +years. Already many of those scenes begin to appear dim and dreamlike, +through the receding years, and many faces, once so clearly pictured in +memory as seen around the camp-fire, in the march, and on the field of +battle, have faded quite away. These things admonish me that what is +done must be done quickly. + +In the following pages you will find the names of men otherwise unknown, +because their part in the great conflict was an humble one, yet none the +less grand and heroic. This is written during the brief and uncertain +intervals of leisure that may be caught up here and there amid the +pressing work of the pastorate. You will not, then, I trust, undervalue +it because of literary blemishes. It is _history_ as really as more +pretentious works. It is a specimen of the _minutiae_ of history, a story +of the war as seen by a private in the ranks, not by one who, as a +favored spectator, could survey the movements of a whole army at a +glance, and hence could, _must_, individualize brigades, divisions, army +corps. It is the war in field, woods, underbrush, picket-post, +skirmish-line, camp, march, bivouac. During 1864 no memorandum was kept, +and a diary kept during the spring of 1865 was lost, within a year after +the close of the war. Hence I have depended on memory alone, aided in +fixing dates, etc., by reference to written works. Beyond this, the +histories consulted were of little assistance, as their record of events +sometimes differed materially from my recollection of them. In such +cases I tell my own story, as the object is to record these things as +they appeared to me. + +In recording events of which I was not myself a witness, I give the +story as heard from the lips of comrades. Such portions are easily +discernible in the body of the narrative. You can have them for what +they are worth. + + "I can not tell how the truth may be, + I tell the tale as 'twas told to me." + + + + +IN THE RANKS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +"WAR!" + + +It is a little word. A child may pronounce it; but what word that ever +fell from human lips has a meaning full of such intensity of horror as +this little word? At its sound there rises up a grim vision of "confused +noise and garments rolled in blood." April 12, 1861, cannon fired by +traitor hands, boomed out over Charleston harbor. The dire sound that +shook the air that Spring morning did not die away in reverberating +echoes from sea to shore, from island to headland. It rolled on through +all the land, over mountain and valley, moaning in every home, at every +fireside, "War! War! War!" + +Are we a civilized people? What is civilization? Is it possible to +eliminate the tiger from human nature? Who would have dreamed that the +men of the North, busy with plowing and sowing, planning, contriving, +inventing, could prove themselves on a hundred battle-fields a fiercely +warlike people? The world looked on with wonder as they rushed eagerly +into the conflict, pouring out their blood like water and their wealth +without measure, for a sentiment, a principle, that may be summed up in +the one word--"nationality." "The great uprising" was not the movement +of a blind, unreasoning impulse. A fire had been smoldering in the North +for years. The first cannon shot, that hurtled around the old flag as it +floated over the walls of Fort Sumter shook down the barriers that +confined it, and the free winds of liberty fanned it to a devouring +flame. + +The Yankee--let the name be proudly spoken--as he turned the furrow, +stood by his work bench, or listened to the jarring clank of his +machinery, had mused with heavy heart and shame-flushed cheek how a +haughty, brutal, un-American spirit had drawn a line across the land, +and said, "Beyond this is _not_ your country. Here your free speech, +free labor, and free thought shall never come." While this line was +imaginary, he had waited for better days and larger thought to change +the current of the times; but when it was transformed into bristling +bayonets and frowning cannon, the tiger rose up within him, and with +unquestioning faith he took up the gauge of battle. Men talked of the +"cold blood of the North." That blood had surged impetuously through the +veins of warrior freemen for a hundred generations. Here in the New +World it had lost none of its vigor. The sturdy spirit that in other +years ruled the hand that wielded the battle-ax, still ruled, when the +hand was employed in subduing mountain and prairie. The North was averse +to war, because it was rising to that higher civilization that abhors +violence, discards brute methods, and relies on the intellectual and +moral. Such a people, driven to desperation, move right forward to the +accomplishment of their object with a scorn of cost or consequences +unknown to a lower type. Hence it is that the people of the North, +without hesitation, grappled with a rebellion the most formidable ever +successfully encountered by any government. For a like reason their +great armies, melting away like frost before the sun when the rebel flag +went down, mingled again with the people without jar or confusion. + +Turning away from a half million graves, wherein they had buried their +slain, their bravest and best beloved, they forgot all bitterness for +joy that peace had come. No people in the world had greater reason for +severity than the victors in this strife. War, willful, unprovoked, +without the shadow of justification, had been thrust upon them. This had +been preceded by a series of usurpations the most unblushing ever +endured by a free people. These were a part of the plan of a band of +traitors, who had plotted for years to overthrow the existing order of +things, and establish an empire with human slavery for its chief +corner-stone. + +The "Golden Circle," with its center at Havana, Cuba, its radii +extending to Pennsylvania on the North, the isthmus on the south, and +sweeping from shore to shore, was the bold dream of the men who plotted +the destruction of the American republic. Their object was pursued with +a cold-blooded disregard of all right, human and divine, worthy of the +pagan brutality of the Roman Triumvirate. Prating about the +"Constitution" with hypocritical cant, they trampled upon every +safeguard of popular liberty, and at last, in defiance of even the forms +of law, plunged the people of the Southern States into a war with the +government, which, even if successful in securing a separation, could +only have been the beginning of woes, as their plans would develop. + +But notwithstanding the heinousness of the accomplished crime, not a man +was punished. It is doubtful whether popular opinion would have approved +the punishment of even the arch-traitor, Jeff Davis. The common +sentiment was expressed by the oft-repeated verdict: "Enough of blood +has been shed." Whether this was wise or not it is vain to inquire. +Perhaps the future will vindicate the wisdom of the generous course of +the government. Thus far it has seemed like folly. The South has shown a +persistent vindictiveness unequaled in the history of any people, a +cruelty toward the helpless victims of their hate that is shameful to +the last degree. The cowardly assassination of political opponents, the +brutal murder of black men, women, and children, has been defended +openly or covertly by pulpit, press, and platform. If any disapprove, +their voice is not heard in condemnation of the wrong. + +This may have resulted partly from the fact that many of the people of +the North, notably many so-called statesmen, ignored common sense and +gave way to gush and sentiment. There is nothing gained in this prosy +world by calling black white. The leaders of the rebellion were guilty +of the horrible crime of _treason_, and we baptized it something else. +The result is manifest to all who are not willfully and wickedly blind +to the facts. + +Yet it is the part of duty to hope for the speedy coming of an era of +calmer judgment, of real and healthy patriotism, when every American +citizen will claim our whole land as his _country_. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When the civil war began, my home was with the family of Mr. John Dunn, +in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The old gentleman was a Democrat, and at +first had little to say about the war. One evening he returned from the +village in a state of intense excitement. He had heard of the disastrous +battle at Bull Run. It is no exaggeration to say that he "pranced" +around the room, chewing his tobacco with great vigor, telling how many +of our "poor boys" had been slaughtered by the ---- rebels. His apathy +was at an end. He could see where the line lay between treason and +patriotism, when once that line was traced in blood. + +At this time two Butler County companies, C and D, of the Eleventh +Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, were in camp near Pittsburg. The +corps was sent forward to Washington at once, and from that time till +the close of their term of service, they gallantly represented the +Keystone State in every battle fought by the Army of the Potomac. My +brother, Wm. A., was a private in Company C. He enlisted June 10, 1861, +and fell, with many other brave men, at the battle of Gaines' Mill, June +27, 1862. + +From what I could learn from those who were present, the following are +the facts concerning the disaster which befell the regiment in this +engagement, and my brother's death: + +Late in the afternoon of the 27th, the Eleventh moved forward to relieve +a New Jersey regiment, which had been fighting in a piece of woods near +the center of the line. The rebels came swarming against them, line +after line, but were continually driven back by the relentless volleys +that blazed out from the ranks of the Eleventh. Unfortunately, about the +time they became engaged, the line on either side of them was driven +back, and they were left to contend alone against terrible odds. Neither +men nor officers knew their real situation until men began to fall, from +volleys poured into them from the flanks. Major Johns went in the +direction from which the fire was coming, thinking that some of our own +troops were firing on them through mistake. He was made prisoner. +Adjutant M'Coy was ordered to report the condition of things to General +Mead. On reaching the open ground, he saw the battle flags of nine rebel +regiments on the flank and rear. He at once reported to the colonel. +Orders were given to fall back, the intention being to hew a way out +through the enemy. At this point my brother fell. Having just loaded his +gun as the command was given to move toward the rear, he paused to give +a parting shot. A bullet struck him in the face, penetrating the brain, +and he fell dead. + +The regiment, hemmed in on every side by overwhelming numbers, with +one-fourth of their number killed or wounded, at last surrendered. +Company D lost eight men, killed, in this engagement, besides a number +mortally wounded or permanently disabled. Of the former was Jasper +Dodds, who was wounded in the knee by a rifle ball. After being removed +to Richmond, he wrote a cheerful letter to his mother and friends at +home, no doubt expecting to recover. He died July 18th. Jacob Baiers, +then sergeant, afterwards promoted to captain, was shot through the +lungs, and never wholly recovered. He continued in service, however, +until April, 1864. The regiment was exchanged in time to participate in +the second Bull Run battle, where again their loss was terrible. Seven +men of Company D were killed or mortally wounded. It is said that Jesse +Fry and Boss. M'Cullough were the only men of the company on their feet +and unhurt at the close of the battle. Scarcely were their ranks +somewhat filled up by returning convalescents, when the other great +battles followed. On every field they left their dead. "South Mountain," +"Antietam," "Fredericksburg,"--these words you can see in the muster +roll, after that word which even yet chills the heart, "killed." Captain +Stewart was struck through the breast at Fredericksburg, and died in two +hours. Young O'Harra Woods was promoted for gallant conduct in this +battle. The honor was well bestowed and nobly borne. He fell at +Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, bravely leading his men in that great battle. +But why particularize; brave men all. + + "Theirs not to make reply, + Theirs not to reason why, + Theirs but to do and die." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Butler County, famous for rocks, hills, buckwheat, psalm-singing, and +soap mines. Psalm singing? Yes. The sturdy Scotch-Irish that grew among +her hills, as a rule, would sing to the Lord with no other words than +those of the warrior king and the holy men of old. Have you heard their +solemn songs? I hear them to-night--it is not imagination, not "their +songs," but "our songs." A voice of singing floats down through the +years, very holy and very tender; for now all the singers are "evermore +before the throne," except two, whose infant lips could scarce pronounce +the words: + + "Lord, bless and pity us, + Shine on us with thy face; + That th' earth thy way, and nations all + May know thy saving grace." + +Yes, psalm-singing! But the soap mines? We protest! We have hunted +huckleberries on her hills; we have pursued the groundhog in her woods, +the 'coon around her cornfields; we have swum and fished in her +sparkling streams; from Dan to Beersheba we have worked, played, done +"many things we ought not to have done," and left undone many things it +was our duty to do; but we never saw a soap mine. We can testify before +all the world that the people of Butler County make their soap in the +usual innocent and odorous manner. + +PROSPECT, Butler County, a dreamy village of the olden time. +The houses accommodate themselves to the cross-roads. One road stretches +from the county seat westward; the other from the "stone house" goes +winding along toward Pittsburg. The houses have also a contented, self +satisfied look; the stores and the tavern seem to consider themselves +permanent factors in the world's machinery. On a pleasant day an +"honorable" or two might be seen sunning themselves in front of store or +tavern, whittling, and adding dignity to the surroundings. + +In this quiet village one chilly morning in December, 1863, the writer +mounted the stage-coach and went rattling over the frozen ground toward +Pittsburg, to enlist in the volunteer service. Just seventeen years ago +that very morning I had begun the business of life on rather limited +capital; and although it had been improved with considerable success, +yet the kindly prophecies, particularly of my copperhead friends, did +not portend a very lengthy nor brilliant military career. The next day I +made my way to the provost-marshal's office, and, after due examination, +was pronounced all right, and sworn into the service. If I lied about my +age, obliging memory has written it over with something else, and it is +gone from me. But I think Captain ----, of Prospect, did the lying; at +least let us hope that he has sufficiently repented of it long ere this. + +I selected Company D, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regular Volunteer +Corps, and was assigned accordingly. The recruits were retained for some +time at Camp Copeland, then about the dreariest, most uncomfortable +place I ever saw; shelter and provisions insufficient, bad whisky and +blacklegs abundant. Joe Stewart, John Alexander, and myself tented +together here. They had enlisted for the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, the +"Roundheads." Joe was an old acquaintance. He served gallantly till the +close of the war. John was a noble boy and found a soldier's death at +Cold Harbor. After one of the fruitless charges made there, when the +Roundheads came back foiled of their purpose, John was not with them. In +the darkness of night which quickly closed around, Joe went out to +search for him. As he was picking his way stealthily among the dead and +dying, he heard a well known voice calling softly near by, "Joe, Joe, is +that you?" It was John, lying there, shot through the breast. He warned +his rescuer to be very cautious, as the rebel videttes were near. With +much difficulty he got him back to our lines. This was the night of June +2d, and he died on the 4th. + +I left the latter part of January to join the regiment, then camped at +Bristoe Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. With me were two +recruits for Company E, Abe Eshelman and Mike Coleman. The former was +killed at Petersburg; the latter, a live Irishman, was mustered out at +the close of the war, after a year and a half of valiant service for his +adopted country. We went by Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington, +thence by the Orange and Alexandria road, every mile historic ground, +past Bull Run, where, the soldiers say, the dead would not stay buried, +and finally we alight at Bristoe Station. On the right over there are +the Bucktails; a little further toward the west the Second is camped. +Over the hill toward Brentsville, past the artillery camp, is the +Eleventh. + +Here I found John Elliot, who had served with the regiment since its +organization. He, brother William, and myself had been boy companions +before the war, although I was younger than they. I went into the mess +with him, S. L. Parker, and Benjamin Mushrush. After being with them but +a short time, I was taken with that scourge of the army, measles, and +was removed to the surgeon's tent. I was on picket when the disease made +itself felt. The day and night on which I was on duty were stormy, rain +and snow. As a result, I had a lively time of it. The disease left my +voice so impaired that, for a long time, I was unable to speak above a +whisper. During my stay at the surgeon's tent, I employed myself +studying his books on surgery, and acquired a knowledge on the subject +which was utilized at a later period. + +John Elliot had enlisted April 25, 1861, although not mustered into the +United States service until July 5th of the same year. He felt that he +should be mustered out at the former date of 1864. As the time drew near +we conversed frequently on the subject, and he was in some perplexity as +to duty in the case. The morning of the 25th found him on picket. I +prepared the morning meal for the mess and then relieved him until he +should breakfast. Soon he returned in a more than usually cheerful +spirit. After chatting pleasantly for a time, he spoke of his term of +enlistment. + +"I have that matter all arranged now," he said, "as far as I am +concerned. I am not certain whether the government has a right to hold +me any longer or not; but I will stay till it sees fit to discharge me. +The country needs soldiers this Spring. I would like to visit home. It's +been three years since I saw mother and the boys; but it's all right. +God has kept me safely through all these battles, and I can trust him +for time to come." + +This was the substance of his language, his exact words, as near as I +can remember. They are noble words; as grand as ever fell from the lips +of Christian hero. Many a time afterward they were an inspiration to me. +His face was bright that beautiful Spring morning with a joy that was +not of earth. The night watches had been spent communing with God,--yes, +face to face. Had he known that the midsummer sun would look down upon +his grave, would his decision have been different? I think not. He knew +too much of war and battles not to count the cost. From a Southern +prison-pen his brave spirit went up to God. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +April 29th we broke camp and proceeded to near Culpepper Court-house. +Before leaving camp we sent our extra baggage, clothing, etc., to +Washington, and, of course, never saw them again. During the night of +May 3d we marched for the Rapidan, crossing at Germania Ford. The next +evening we camped in order of battle near the Wilderness Tavern. The +following morning the division moved out on a country road toward +Robertson's Tavern. Passing through woods, we came to an open field, +where line of battle was formed. The Bucktails were in front, +skirmishing. We could see them on the ridge, and their occasional shouts +and rapid firing showed that the battle had begun. For the first time I +heard the whistle of the rifle ball, as a stray one now and then +whistled over the line of battle. After waiting thus for some time, we +moved back some distance, in the direction from which we had come. Here +I spoke a few words with John Elliot, the last we ever exchanged. In +the confusion which followed he was made prisoner, and died at +Andersonville. Soon the noise of battle began to deepen in our front and +at the right. Hurried orders were received; the line moved by the right +flank, double-quick. The Seventh Regiment deployed and vanished into the +woods, forward, and the Eleventh followed in line of battle. Moving on +through the thick underbrush, the enemy was quickly encountered. Their +first volley was deadly. A ball struck Boss. M'Cullough in the forehead. +He fell dead, a portion of his shattered brain lodging on the arm of +John Stanley, a boy of seventeen, who had come to us during the Spring. +John shuddered, shook it from the sleeve of his blouse, raised his gun +and began firing. Captain Jones, of Company A, White, of Company C, and +many others, fell dead before this first volley. Soon it was discovered +that the division was flanked. Our line was at right angles with the +position in which the subsequent fighting took place. To crown all, the +woods took fire, and soon the only problem that remained was to withdraw +as quickly and safely as possible. + +While this turmoil was progressing, to me so strange and bewildering, +the surgeon, Dr. Lyon, came across me, and directed me to go to a +certain point at the edge of the woods, east of the Wilderness Tavern, +to help care for the wounded. Thither I made my way. As I passed on +through the woods, I was soon out of reach of the bullets, which had +been flying thick and fast. When I came to the open ground, I saw more +clearly than ever the results of the battle, still going on in the woods +beyond. The multitude of wounded and dying men crowded the road. Some +were limping painfully along; others were being carried on stretchers, +or helped along by comrades. + +Reaching the designated place, I found the field tents erected, and all +full of suffering men. I took charge of one in which were twenty-seven +wounded, several amputations, and other bad cases. They lay with their +heads toward the canvas, a narrow path being left between their feet. +All that could be done for them was to give them food and water, bathe +their wounds, and render any little service by which their sufferings +might be mitigated. Their heroic patience astonished me. Men, torn and +mangled, would utter no groan, nor give any vocal expression to the +agonies which racked them, except sometimes when sleep or delirium found +the overmastering will off guard. + +Toward evening I learned that the regiment was just beyond the +Wilderness tavern; and, getting relieved for a short time, I started to +go to them, as I had the extra coffee of the mess. As I came in sight, +they moved hurriedly away toward the right, where the battle was raging +fiercely. It was useless to follow, and I began to retrace my steps. +Pausing a moment on an elevated knoll, I gazed on the strange scene that +spread out before me. From the right on the turnpike, a line, somewhat +curved, extended a distance of three or four miles to the left. On the +right the line was enveloped in woods, in which a terrific conflict was +going on. Sedgwick's corps was standing between the army and disaster. +In the center, on elevated ground, beyond some low woods, I could see a +rebel line of battle, while the sharp fire of skirmishers in front +showed that here the lines of blue and gray would soon smite together. +Further toward the left, a line of blue extended along the edge of a +narrow field, facing the woods just beyond, into which it poured +incessant volleys, while the smoke that rose up from the woods showed +that an active foe was there. Behind our line, flat on the ground, lay a +second one. A tragedy, grandly, awfully sublime, was enacting before me. +A hundred thousand men were grappling in deadly conflict. While I gazed +the line of battle slackened its fire; the second one rose from the +ground; then both swept forward across the field and into the woods +beyond, bearing the enemy before them. For a few moments there was +silence, and then the struggle was renewed as fiercely as ever. I +returned to the field-tents to go on with my work of mercy among the +suffering. + +As night drew on the battle ceased, and the men lay down to sleep where +they had fought, ready to renew the strife at the return of light. In +the tents there, while the army beyond was resting, part of our nation's +heroes continued the contest through the solemn hours of night. They +fought with the giant Pain, and some of them went down into the dark +valley, and close by the chill waters they faced the King of Terrors. + +I slept none that night. As morning approached, I went to the edge of +the little opening which had been cleared in the woods for the tents. +While I stood here looking off toward the scene of yesterday's battle, +the sound of a single rifle shot rang out on the air, then another and +another, and then a deafening roar of musketry burst forth and raged +along the whole line, continuing almost without interruption all day. + +In the afternoon Lieutenant Boggs and David Steen were brought in +wounded, the former by a rifle ball in the thigh, the latter severely +bruised by a fragment of shell. He had been wounded at Gaines' Mill and +Fredericksburg. After his return this time, I heard him say that he had +come to have more dread of going into battle since he had been wounded +so often. Still he never shrank from duty. He was killed the following +August at Welden Railroad. + +Here I saw the only instance of impatience on the part of a wounded man +of which I have any recollection. A young fellow lay about the middle of +the tent, wounded in the knee, a ball having cut the skin on one side +without injuring the bone. His long legs were extended almost across +the narrow path along which I was compelled to walk in passing from one +to another. He was grumbling and complaining, demanding and receiving +attentions in a gruff and uncivil manner. He would also mutter +threatenings of what he would do should I hurt him in stepping over his +crooked legs outstretched in my way. To all of this I paid no attention +and signs of ill-nature continued. Finally, a bright young man opposite, +whose leg was amputated at the thigh, raised himself on his elbow and +proceeded to express his opinion of such conduct in language much more +forcible than pious. + +From this place we moved some distance to the left, where the tents were +erected in an open field. Here an incident occurred which illustrates +the false estimate placed upon the civilization of the North by the +masses of the South. A wounded rebel, an intelligent-looking young man, +was brought in from the field in an ambulance. We came with a stretcher +to carry him into the tent. He looked at us with a frightened, helpless +look, and asked: + +"You won't hurt me, will you?" + +I assured him we would be just as careful as possible. He seemed +surprised to be treated with kindness, having been taught, evidently, +that the Yankee invader was a barbarian. Removed to the tent, I examined +his wound. A bullet had passed through the ankle joint, and the only +remedy was amputation. He inquired how it was. It seemed hard to tell +him that he must go through life maimed. + +"That is a bad foot; but the surgeons will do the best they can for it. +You may lose it." Some time after he was removed, I suppose to have his +foot amputated, and I saw him no more. + +The next move was to Spotsylvania. Grant had grappled with his enemy, +intending to hold on "all Summer." The same spirit seemed to animate his +army, from General Meade down to the latest recruit in the ranks. The +lines of blue came out from the smoking underbrush of the Wilderness, +their ranks torn and decimated, and closed in around the bristling +batteries and rifle-pits of Spotsylvania with a relentless courage that +was sublime. + +Here the tents were pitched in a little, open lot, a house to the right +as you faced the position where the fighting was in progress. The tents +were not sufficient to contain the wounded, and they lay on the ground +on the outside by thousands. Those long rows of suffering forms, gashed +and mangled in every conceivable manner, told a dreadful tale of human +wrath. That gallant division, the Reserves, had preserved their +well-earned reputation for stubborn valor at a terrible cost. Their +greatest loss was sustained in a single onset against the rebel +position. The enemy was posted in strong rifle-pits, beyond a narrow +strip of swamp. Orders were given to charge these works. The division +moved forward. They had never failed in such an undertaking. Their +charge had always pierced the enemy's line. This had been their record +during three years of warfare. But men can not accomplish +impossibilities. Baffled by the swamp, cut by the merciless fire that +blazed out from the pits, they are driven back, rally, re-form and +charge the second and third time, and then retire to the position from +which they had come out. + +The field-tents here were nearer the front than before. Bullets and an +occasional shell whistled over us. My work was still the same, caring +for the wounded, assisting the surgeon, or occasionally binding up a +wound myself. + +During the second day, while engaged at the farther end of the tent, I +heard at the front a familiar voice. As soon as I was disengaged I went +to the front end of the tent, eager to learn from whom the well-known +voice proceeded. There lay a large, noble-looking young man, severely +wounded in the thigh. He was conversing quietly with a wounded comrade +by his side. Voice and face were as familiar as if heard and seen but +yesterday. Puzzled and deeply interested, I did not speak, but proceeded +to bathe his wound. While thus engaged, his eyes fell upon my face. +Looking at me intently a moment, his face brightened, and he exclaimed: + +"You are Rob M'Bride, aren't you?" + +"Yes; and you are Billy Craig," was the immediate reply. + +As soon as he pronounced my name, it all came to me in a moment. We had +been school-mates at Courtney's School-house. He was then one of the +"big boys," and I a lad of nine or ten. I had not seen him since. He was +one of those large-hearted, royal souls, that could find pleasure in +little acts of kindness, that bound me to him very closely. He bore his +sufferings with heroic fortitude. When the time came to remove the +wounded, and they were being hurried away in ambulances and rough army +wagons, I went to Dr. Lyon and told him of the case. He went with me to +an ambulance and ordered room reserved in it for him. I then had him +carried to it, made him as comfortable as possible, bade him good-bye +and God speed, and saw him no more on earth. He died from his wound some +time in June. + +May 11th, Lewis Grossman, of Company C, was brought in, terribly wounded +by a shell. One arm and leg were crushed, and he was otherwise bruised. +I did not see him until after the arm and leg were amputated. He was a +young man of great physical endurance, or he would never have rallied +from the shock. He was as pale as a corpse when first brought into the +tent, but rallied in a little while, and was able to take some +refreshment. When left to himself his mind wandered, and he would talk +as if he were engaged in the quiet pursuits of peace. Unless prevented, +he would remove the bandages from the stumps of his amputated limbs. +When spoken to, however, he would refrain from this, and talk rationally +of the present circumstances. Dr. Lyon finally told me to give my +attention entirely to him. This I did until he was sent away. He told me +how his wound was received. He was in front, skirmishing. He was in the +road in front of a rebel battery, and in the act of loading his gun. +Perceiving they were about to fire, he still delayed a moment, thinking +to get in another shot before leaping to the shelter of a large tree +that stood near. It was a costly delay. + +The shell came screaming toward him, burst, and dashed him stunned and +mangled to the ground. As he concluded this narrative, he added, with +the utmost seriousness: "But they haven't made much off me, after all. +I've peppered them in almost every battle the Potomac army has fought +since the war began." + +He got along finely, and there seemed every prospect of recovery. When +some of the boys called on him at Washington, on their way home in June, +he requested them to say nothing to his friends about the extent of his +wounds. But from some cause--perhaps gangrene--he died August 3d, and +is buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington. + +Nearly opposite Lewis lay a young man of very fine face and attractive +appearance. He was mortally wounded. Most of the time his sufferings +were very great, but no earthly skill could bring any relief. As death +drew on, his mind wandered. He was fighting his battles over again. He +was not the poor, crushed mortality that lay here. His spirit was over +yonder, where the cannon's sullen roar and the awful din of musketry, +the cheers of the struggling combatants, told of a deadly strife. +Sometimes he was distressed and troubled, sometimes exultant. Anon his +face would light up with the strange fire of battle, and he would raise +his arm and cheer. Once he said quite distinctly: "Here is a chance for +a brave man." Later he became calm, and quietly fell asleep, to wake no +more on earth till the great day of God. + + "Soldier, sleep, thy warfare o'er, + Sleep the sleep that knows no waking, + Dream of battle-fields no more." + +One of the Bucktail Regiment lay on the ground in front of the tent, +shot through the chest. He was, perhaps, twenty-five years of age, +large and well-formed, his face stamped with the marks of intelligence. +While engaged near him, I saw another of that band of heroes coming +toward him with great strides, an expression of anguish on his face +which I can not forget. He threw himself on his knees by the wounded +man, kissed him, then covered his face with his hands, and his great +manly form shook with convulsive sobbings. Tears trickled down the +cheeks of the other. Not a word was spoken until, after a while, the +storm of emotion had passed. Then they conversed calmly for a while, and +parted with the quiet dignity of brave men who say farewell while the +shadow of death lies dark around them. + +A man was brought in shot through both thighs. I did not know his name, +but had heard his voice among the worshipers in the church-tent at +Bristoe Station, and knew that he was a man of God. After a brief +examination, the surgeon announced that amputation would be necessary. + +"Very well, doctor; get around to it as quick as you can. I suffer +terribly." + +Another was shot in the thigh, the bone shattered to the hip. When told +that the limb must be amputated he objected. + +"But you will die if it is not done." + +"I can't help that; it shall not be amputated with my consent." + +Within twenty-four hours he was dead. Whether wise in his decision or +not, he met the result without flinching or complaint. + +A boy with his arm torn off by a shell expressed his only complaint in +the words, "I never can fight any more." + +One evening, worn out by constant labor and watching, I lay down in a +vacant place in the tent, from which a dead soldier had been removed, to +find rest for mind and body in sleep. As I lay there thinking of the +dreadful scenes around me, of the wounded and dying here, the dead just +over yonder, I began to wonder what would be the sensations of a man +shot in the brain. Suddenly there came a shock, as if the whole +machinery of life had stopped at once. How long a time elapsed before +consciousness was resumed I do not know; the interval may have been +momentary; but as a dim sense of being stole over me again, I was quite +convinced that a stray shot had struck me in the head. Rousing myself, I +deliberately felt my head, to learn the exact state of things. To my +surprise and gratification, I found every thing in due order. I leave +it to those who are skilled in the mysteries of the nervous system to +explain the phenomenon; but you must allow me to believe that I know +something of what it is to be shot in the head. + +The time arrived, at length, when the field hospitals must be moved +because of the changed position of the army. A heavy rain began on the +11th, and continued for some days, making the roads almost impassable. +The wounded that remained were removed as speedily and as mercifully as +possible. Some had to be left behind. Nurses were detailed to remain +with them. As night came on every thing was in readiness, and the rest +of us were directed to take our departure without delay. Two of us +started together after dark. We made our way through the mud and intense +darkness about twenty rods, to the edge of a wood. We resolved to go no +further, come what might. Doubling myself up at the root of an old +stump, I was soon oblivious to both rain and danger. Just as day was +breaking, I awoke, and arousing my companion, we hastened away. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +This closed my experience in the hospital. I was so worn out by the +constant strain which such labor made on body and mind, that rest was +imperative. During all these days I could get no definite information of +the fate of John Elliot. The wounded reported that he was missing, but +whether among the dead or living they could not tell. It was difficult +to drive away the thought of the painful possibilities that imagination +would bring up. Had he been disabled that first day in the wilderness +and perished in the flames of the burning woods? Had he been mortally +wounded, and died alone in the thick underbrush which veiled so many +tragic scenes? Had death come more swiftly and mercifully, or was he a +prisoner and unharmed? Such were the questions that might be solved by +inquiry among the members of the company. + +After some delay I found the regiment by a little stream called the Ny. +The spot on which they were camped, or rather resting under arms, was +within beautiful shelling range of the rebel batteries, as I found out +afterward to my great discomfort and dismay. Toward evening, Sergeant W. +Coleman was taken quite sick, and at his request I started with him to +find the hospital. After proceeding some distance, he became so ill that +we could go no further, and some means of conveyance must be found. A +stretcher was procured, and two men to carry him. To these I confided my +charge, and began to retrace my steps. It was now after dark, a clear, +moonless night. Crossing the little stream at the point where I had left +the regiment a few hours before, to my great disappointment not a man +could be found. + +What to do was a puzzling question. The resolution was finally taken to +spend a few hours, at least, in trying to find them. At first I started +in a direction bearing toward the right, but soon met a column marching +toward the left. Reasoning that if troops were being moved to the left, +none would be moving at the same time toward the right, I fell in with +this column, determined to see what the outcome would be. Soon the open +ground was crossed, and the column began to bear to the right of its +line of march, through the woods. Presently I noticed that an unusual +silence was observed. Not a word was spoken above a whisper, every noise +and clatter incident to the march were carefully avoided. + +Growing weary at length, and reflecting that after all I might be going +away from the regiment instead of toward it, I dropped out of the line +and lay down against the root of a tree close to the road, to sleep till +morning. Half sleeping and half waking I lay there, dreamily watching +that army of shadows gliding stealthily by. Shadows they seemed as they +moved hurriedly along under the gloom of the overhanging trees, as +noiseless almost as an army of spirits from Homer's nether world. The +mystery of this secret night march served to quicken imagination, and I +could see this same column grimly marshaling in "battle's magnificently +stern array" in the dim light of the coming morning, ready to burst upon +some exposed point of the enemy's line. + +Opening my eyes a little later, the same ghostly procession was filing +past, but in an opposite direction. This meant that, sooner or later, +my rest must be disturbed, or I might be left in an exposed and +dangerous position. Present comfort, however, being the stronger motive +just then, prevailed, and I sank into unconsciousness again. From this I +was aroused by some one shaking me by the shoulder and warning me in a +whisper that I must wake up and come on. The muffled "tramp, tramp" had +ceased, the rear of that shadowy army was vanishing in the darkness; one +solitary figure waited, delaying a moment, to see if I was fully awake. +Rising, I followed. Reaching the open ground from which we had entered +the woods, I found myself alone and bewildered. Proceeding some distance +with rather a vague notion of direction, I determined to make a final +halt till morning. All that was necessary to make myself comfortable was +to sink down on the ground without removing any thing, my knapsack +fitting conveniently under the back of my head, supporting head and +shoulder as if intended for the purpose. Thus bestowing myself by the +side of a rail fence, I was soon sleeping soundly. + +But my rest was destined not to be undisturbed. Something awoke me. +What! Was this night given over to ghosts and spirits intangible? Again +the forms of men were gliding noiselessly about me. Above were the +twinkling stars, around were busy men, and silence everywhere. With +instinctive cautiousness I lay motionless, furtively noting the curious +scene. A moment's careful attention explained it in part. One by one the +rails of the fence were taken up with the utmost caution and borne away. +They were building breastworks somewhere. There was work to be done, I +thought, and preferred to finish my much delayed sleep, if allowed to do +so. I lay motionless, only sufficiently awake to dimly take in the +situation. Twice men came and stooped over me with their faces close to +mine, looked intently, and turned away in silence. Congratulating myself +on my good fortune, that I was going to sleep the night out while others +worked, I gave myself again to repose. + +When I awoke the sun had got fairly started on his course, and was +pouring his rays full into my face. The events of the preceding night +seemed like a dream; but there was evidence about me that my visitants +had not been as ghostly as they seemed. The fence by which I had lain +down had disappeared, and I was alone in an open field. Utterly +bewildered, I addressed myself to the somewhat difficult task of +deciding what must be done. On either side of me could be seen what I +knew to be earth-works, but not a living thing was visible. The field +gave evidence of having been fought over, for the well-known _debris_ of +a battle were strewn around. At length my mind was made up to go to the +rear, find the division hospital, and get information. + +But where _was_ rear? Where was front? Where was any thing? After +meditating profoundly on these questions, I decided that my course lay +in the direction of the earth-works on one side of the open ground. This +was the "rear," and these works had been abandoned in the progress of +advance. Proceeding leisurely in this direction, I had not advanced far +until I was surprised by the boom of a cannon behind me. A shell +screamed over my head, and exploded with a sharp ring against the +earth-works a few hundred yards ahead of me. Looking back, I saw a +Yankee officer standing on the earth-work, glass in hand, watching the +effects of the shot. This was a revelation. I was between the lines, and +heading for the rebel works. That shot saved me a trip to a Confederate +prison-pen. Hastily retracing my steps, I lost no time in reaching our +lines, expecting each moment that an artillery battle would break out +while I was between the combatants. The position was perhaps a half-mile +to the right of the spot where I had last seen the regiment. No infantry +was visible, but no doubt there were troops concealed in the woods near +by. The sharp ridges by which the open ground was broken were occupied +by artillery, the men standing by their guns. + +The day was before me, and I was resolved to have a little more +experience; the more so as I could make my observations in comparative +safety. Those guns frowning grimly over the earthen redoubts meant +mischief. I would see an artillery fight; my curiosity was soon amply +gratified. Standing near a vacant redoubt, looking toward the rebel +batteries, suddenly a white smoke burst forth, followed by the roar of +cannon and the hissing shriek of shells, as the noisy missiles came +tearing through the air toward us. After the first discharge, the rebel +fire was directed chiefly to the right of the earth-work behind which I +had taken refuge, though shells kept striking and bursting around. My +position, however, was favorable for a view of our own batteries, and +for observing the effect of the enemy's fire. Sometimes the shells would +strike the ground, sending the dirt many feet into the air, and go +tearing across the field, touching the ground and bounding again at +intervals. Others would strike the earth-works, or explode in the air, +and hurl their fragments far and near, whizzing and buzzing to the +earth. + +This noisy combat lasted for some time, and ceased,--not because either +of the combatants was seriously damaged, as far as I could see, but +because they were tired of it. + +This will be as appropriate a place as any to remark, that "shelling" is +usually quite harmless, except when the guns are served by skilled +artillerists, and under favorable circumstances. Unless the shell is +exploded at the proper distance and altitude in front of a line, it is +not likely to do any injury. A cannonade which, to the uninitiated, +would seem sufficient to destroy every thing before it, will be faced +with the utmost equanimity by veteran troops, if the artillerist have +the range too "long." It is always very annoying, however, as there is +no telling when a shell may prove a little "short," and distribute its +fragments for rods along the line. The men are usually ordered to lie +down, unless directly engaged. The shell cleaves the air with a +frightful sound, that is but faintly described by the word "shriek." Few +men can refrain from "dodging," as the dangerous missile comes over with +its unearthly sound. The writer has frequently tried it, but can +remember no instance of marked success, except while engaged, or +otherwise employed. Perhaps the most disagreeable sound of all, is when +the guns are charged with grape and cannister, and send their +destructive contents through the air with a grinding, groaning, gnashing +sound, that chills the blood of the listener. This may partly result +from association, as such a charge is seldom used except at close range, +on a charging line. Then, if directed by cool, determined men, the +effect is terrible. Those who have once heard this sound can never +forget it. It requires but little imagination to fancy that the fiend +which was sending forth such loud defiance just now, has grappled with +his adversary and is hissing out his horrid rage in the midst of Titanic +strugglings. A little experience will enable you to determine from the +sound what a gun is firing; shot, shell, or grape. The artillery-men +usually have little fear of shell, but dread a volley from infantry. +With the infantry the case is reversed. Generally the men preferred the +branch of service to which they were accustomed. Each did not envy the +other. + +The cavalryman rode all day; but at night he had to care for both +himself and horse. The infantryman had nothing to care for but himself. +He would make his coffee, and sleep all night, while the cavalryman must +scout, or picket front or flank. Sometimes the infantry must spend a +part of the night in throwing up breastworks, or making a night march; +but usually he considers himself more certain of rest and comfort than +his fellow-soldiers of the mounted force. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +I now continued my search for information as to the whereabouts of the +regiment. I had almost reached the little flat by the Ny, at the point +where I had last seen my comrades the evening before, when, to my +astonishment, the roar of cannon broke forth again, and the shells came +hissing over my head and bursting all around me. There was not even a +stump or stone for shelter from the pelting storm of iron, and in the +woods just over the stream, the trees were being torn and rent asunder +as if by thunderbolts. This was more of a joke than I had bargained for. +Reflecting a moment, I concluded to take my chances among the trees. A +slender foot-log over the stream afforded means of crossing. When about +the middle of the log a shell howled close to my head and dashed through +a tree with a fearful crash. Nothing deterred, I sat down at the root of +a sturdy oak which would shelter me from fragments, at least, and waited +for something to "turn up." The rebels evidently thought that troops +were concealed in the woods, and were determined to make it hot for +them. They made it lively for me; but unless that afforded them some +satisfaction, they might have saved their ammunition. + +Later I learned that the Reserves had moved to the left. Passing along +in that direction, I came to a hill on which a battery was planted. The +men were standing by their guns, ready for action. Close behind these, +on the face of the hill were the caissons, and back of these, men +holding the horses, the men themselves sheltered in holes which they had +dug in the hillside. Things looked decidedly breezy about that hill. My +curiosity to witness an artillery fight had been fully gratified some +time before; so I passed on without delay, and soon found the object of +my search some distance further to the left. + +Late in the afternoon of the 17th an orderly galloped to headquarters, +the bugle sounded "fall in," and we were moving toward the right at a +rapid pace. Heavy firing could be heard in the direction of our right +flank, and we were hurrying toward the scene of action, to strengthen +the threatened point. We arrived about dark. The fighting had almost +ceased, and the enemy were handsomely repulsed. The attack had been made +on a body of inexperienced troops, mostly heavy artillery, who were +marching from Fredericksburg to join the Army of the Potomac. They were +well-drilled and disciplined, and made a gallant and successful fight, +though with heavy loss. In their first fight they had faced Lee's best +veterans, and defeated them. The old soldiers were inclined to regard it +as rather a joke--the lively manner in which the rebs welcomed them to +the front. This disposition to see a bright, a laughable side to every +thing, may be set down as one of the peculiarities of the Yankee +soldier. In victory or defeat, success or disaster, ease or hardship, +some one of a group of soldiers could find something from which to +extract a jest or on which to found a pun. + +The next morning I went out over the field. Details of men were engaged +in burying their fallen comrades. The dead were collected in groups, a +trench sufficiently wide and deep was dug, and they were laid side by +side as decently as possible, and covered with two or three feet of +earth. When it could be done, the graves were marked. I have seen this +done by our men for the rebel dead, when there was time and leisure for +such care. + +Under an apple tree lay a rebel who had been shot in the forehead, a +little above the center. He must have been shot before sunset of the +previous day. It was about noon when I saw him, and strange to say, he +was still alive. He was unconscious, and probably had been from the +moment he was struck. + +In a negro cabin lay a young rebel soldier, a fair-faced, handsome boy, +shot through the right lung. I inquired after his wants, and made him as +comfortable as might be. He said he had not suffered for want of care. +Soldiers had been in frequently during the day, and all had been very +kind. He spoke of this with great satisfaction. I notified Dr. Lyon of +the case, and he was taken care of. + +The next day we advanced some distance toward the enemy. Skirmishers +were thrown forward, but no serious fighting took place. As the +skirmishers were going out, Chaplain Delo dryly inquired if he might not +accompany them, giving as his reason that he would like to get Captain +Coder's horse killed if it could be done conveniently. He had charge of +a horse belonging to the captain, who had displeased him about something +in connection with the horse. There was no opportunity of gratifying the +worthy chaplain's wishes. + +Again the army was in motion, leaving behind now as useless what before +had been fought for so tenaciously. As we moved away, the Eleventh was +in the rear, nothing between us and the enemy, but some cavalry, to +cover the rear of the column, as the army moved off to strike Lee from a +new position. We were passing over a wide, open piece of country. The +rebel cavalry and our own had become hotly engaged, and a spirited fight +was in progress clear across the open ground behind us. + +About this time Daniel Graham became quite ill, and was compelled to +fall out of the ranks. I remained with him to help him along. The +undertaking proved to be rather a serious one. He would struggle bravely +on for a while, and then sit down panting and exhausted. I carried his +gun and knapsack, and finally took him by the arm to keep him up. + +Meantime the battle going on behind us drew nearer and nearer, and the +bullets were whistling around us with uncomfortable frequency. At last +Daniel became utterly discouraged; and, as he dropped upon the ground to +rest at one of his frequent halts, he declared it was no use, he could +go no further. He urged me to leave him, and make my escape. + +"There's no use of talking that way. After you rest a few minutes, we'll +try it again." + +"But I'm clear used up, and there's no use of both of us being +prisoners." + +"We're not prisoners yet by a good deal. We are going to come out all +right. You are worth two dead men yet." + +But notwithstanding my brave words, I was almost of his opinion, though +not convinced that the time had come to give up all hope. It was my duty +to stay with him as long as there was any prospect of getting him off. + +Our cavalry was now nearly up to where we were, and I announced that he +must come along. Helping him to his feet, we started. Courage and +strength now seemed to revive. We made good progress, and were soon out +of danger. In the course of an hour or two he was able to take his gun +again, and in the evening we came up with the regiment. + +In trying to recall the scenes of this period, there are some that seem +like the fragments of a half-forgotten dream, distinct in themselves, +but without any definite connection as to time or place. They are but +pictures, some of them becoming faded and indistinct; others bright and +fresh, as if they had come from the painter's hand but yesterday. I see +a long column of weary soldiers, winding along over hill and valley, in +the night, gliding past a stately mansion, with beautiful grounds and +shaded walks, and everywhere the freshness and fragrance of Spring. +Again I see a line of battle stretching out across an open field, the +men resting lazily in their ranks. A little to the left, near some shade +trees, stands a battery, ready for action, the guns pointing toward some +unseen enemy beyond. It is noon, and the sunlight is pouring down upon +the scene, bright and clear. + +May 23d we came to the North Ann. We halted in open ground, before we +reached the river. Fighting was in progress at the front, where the +rebels were disputing the passage of the river. While we waited here, a +battery came thundering past at full speed, and soon the roar of their +guns told that they had found something to do. + +While this was in progress, we were ordered to move. The column was +headed, first to the rear, then toward our right. By a rapid march we +reached a ford, higher up the river. Without delay we waded right +through. The water was swift, and three or four feet deep in places. The +bottom of the river was stony, and the stones were slippery. This, with +the swiftness of the stream, made the footing of the most active rather +precarious. A German, named Moreland, a teacher by profession, and a man +of fine qualities, had joined the company but a little while before. He +was not very active at best, and at this time had very sore feet. As we +were hurrying across, suddenly a wonderful splashing and floundering +were heard toward the rear of the company, and Moreland's feet were +discovered twinkling above the surface of the water, while with his head +he seemed to be making a critical examination of the bottom of the +stream. At last he regained his footing, puffing and blowing like a +porpoise, amid the cheers and horse-laughs of his comrades. + +Once across, no time was to be lost. We had stolen a march on the +rebels, and if we would use our advantage we must be about it. The +movement was not long unknown to the enemy. As fast as the troops +reached the high ground on the other side, they formed line of battle, +keeping the left flank covered by the river, and facing down stream. As +the remaining troops crossed, they formed on the right, the line as it +formed advancing downward and outward from the river, in a curve. + +The Eleventh was not far from the left. They moved down the stream some +distance, and halted in the midst of a beautiful farm. Before them was a +valley, across which the Bucktails were advancing as skirmishers, and +beyond this the ground rose again, and curved off toward woods in the +distance. Scarcely had our line reached this point, when the enemy "came +down like the wolf on the fold." Judging from the promptness and vigor +with which they assailed us, they evidently counted on making our +enterprise another Ball's Bluff affair. + +As the Bucktails advanced, their rapid firing warned us that they had +discovered the advance of the enemy. Dust was seen rising on the high +ground beyond, and horses were dimly seen. We judged that batteries were +coming into position. We were not long in doubt. Suddenly a perfect +volley of artillery burst forth. The air seemed filled with the +shrieking shells and whizzing fragments. The men could do no more than +lie down and let the storm rage. For some time we had not a single gun +in position to reply, and the rebels poured in their fire without +hindrance. Soldiers who had been through all the battles of the Potomac +army, affirmed that they never experienced such a noisy onset, except at +Gettysburg. As quickly as possible our batteries came into position, on +both sides of the river. Now the tumult was doubled. The earth seemed to +shake. When our artillery opened in reply, the rebels turned their +attention in that direction; but on account of the awkwardness of their +gunners, we were annoyed almost as much as when under their direct fire. +On the right there was severe infantry fighting. Of this we could hear +little, on account of the terrible cannonading going on around us. The +losses of the regiment were slight, owing to the fact that the rebels +overshot us. A few were wounded, but I think none were killed. The loss +of the corps was about 350. The rebel loss was reported at 1,000, +including General Brown, who was in command. + +May was now drawing to a close, and with it would close the history of +the Pennsylvania Reserves. The 30th found us in the vicinity of +Bethsaida Church. We were moving on with those stops and starts which +indicate that the head of the column has met with some obstruction. +Skirmishing was going on in front, and from time to time the boom of +cannon came rolling up from the left. We were moving along a road which +led through open farm country, and through a strip of woods, beyond +which skirmishing was heard. During one of the frequent halts, while the +men were resting, some standing, others sitting or reclining at ease, a +rifle ball came whistling through the air, and struck with a sharp snap +in the rail-pile on which myself and others were sitting. It struck +between Jim Shaffer and myself. We both naturally squirmed a little at +the unpleasant nearness of the malicious little messenger. The affair +called forth laughter and jocular exclamations from those around: "How +are you _Johnnie_!" "Hit 'em again!" "Go _in_!" + +The incident would not have caused any special notice, had it not been +so unexpected, on account of our distance from the scene of action. + +Forward now through the woods, out upon the open ground beyond, where +the division is forming for its last battle. Their left now rests not +far from where their right was when they fought at Gaines' Mill, nearly +two years before. They advance some distance. "Some one has blundered." +They have no support on either wing. They are flanked, and, after a +brief struggle, are driven back. Some noble men were lost here. Parks, +of Company D, is mortally wounded; Daniel Graham is made prisoner. In +the retreat, two men carry back John Stanley, wounded in the arm and +side. At the wood they rally. A fence is torn down, and with this and +whatever is nearest at hand a breastwork is hastily improvised. A few of +the Bucktails have rallied on their right, and thrown up a similar +defense of logs, rails, any thing that can stop a bullet. Here the line +seems to terminate; but just beyond and a little back, is a brass +battery, concealed by bushes, every gun charged with grape and canister. +A house stands close behind the line, in a recess of the woods. + +Now the enemy is seen advancing. Line after line comes swinging out. +Shells come screaming over. One explodes in front of Company D. Its +fragments sever the flagstaff close to Jim Shaffer's head, rip open Mike +Coleman's cap, tear off Culp's arm near the shoulder. Another bursts in +the house, and sets it on fire. A woman, bearing a baby in one arm and +leading by the hand a little child, comes out of the house, still +unharmed. Frightened and bewildered, she is passing along the rear of +the line instead of hastening away from it. A kind-hearted soldier +directs her toward a place of safety. But now the rebel lines are within +rifle range. Volley after volley is poured into them, and their ranks +melt before the terrible fire. In our front they falter; but toward the +right they see a chance for victory. They will swing around our flank, +and crush us as they did but an hour before. With exultant yells, their +left comes sweeping on, wheeling to envelop our right. But now there +bursts from the underbrush a blast as if from the pit, crashing, +tearing, grinding, enfilading their lines, leaving in its track a swath +of dead and dying. This is decisive, and the battle is won. + +Over a hundred dead were counted in front of the Eleventh and the few +Bucktails on their right. One man was struck with a charge of grape, or +by a bursting shell, and his body from the knees to the neck was crushed +and torn into an indistinguishable mass. + +John Stanley, who was wounded in this action, was a brave, noble boy. +Looking along the company line, with its veterans of so many battles, +the remnant of a hundred as brave men as ever followed a battle flag, +you would not have guessed that this boyish face could be the calmest in +the hour of trial. During that month of battles, he was always in his +place, without bravado, but with unflinching courage, doing his duty. I +saw him at the woods, as they were taking him from the field. His pale +face was as calm as ever. He never returned to us, nor did I learn the +result of his wounds. + +The next morning the Reserves were withdrawn from the front. Their term +of service had expired. The veterans and recruits were reorganized, +forming the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first +Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The others started on their homeward +march. + +Of Company D, fourteen men returned--five non-commissioned officers and +nine privates. Eleven had re-enlisted. Thirty-five were dead, of whom +twenty-three had been killed in battle or mortally wounded; and six were +prisoners in the hands of the enemy, of whom two died. + +Of the eleven veterans, only seven were present, the others being +wounded or prisoners. By the close of the war, forty of the original one +hundred and one had died in the service. During the first three years, +twenty-four were discharged for wounds or sickness. Such is the record +of these heroic men. Mingled feelings of joy and sadness were in the +hearts of all, as good-byes were spoken, and they marched away. The +war-worn veterans, who now turned their footsteps homeward, and those +who stood there, watching their going that day, knew too well how +certainly these "good-byes" might be "farewells." I think I saw tears in +a certain brave colonel's eyes; and perhaps strong hands were clasped +with a little more than usual fervor, as friend looked into the face of +friend; but there was no "scene." These men were too much in earnest for +that. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Then came reorganization. It seemed like a "general breaking up." It +was. Instead of the mere handful of men that stood about the torn and +tattered colors of the old regiment but yesterday, nearly a thousand +were grouped together in the new organization. They might all be +considered veterans. Some had been in service since the beginning of the +war; all had, at least, the experience of the present campaign. It was +generally felt that the new regiment had in it some elements of success +not to be found in one brought into existence under ordinary +circumstances. The officers of both regiments were tried men, who had +the confidence of all. Most of them had risen from the ranks, and had +received promotion, step by step, with the approval of their comrades. +Sergeant William Coleman, of Company D, was made first-lieutenant of +Company I; and Lieutenant R. Birkman, of Company E, was promoted to +captain of Company A, of the One Hundred and Ninetieth. These both +served faithfully until the close of the war. Lieutenant Hayden, of +Company --, of the Eleventh, was transferred to the One Hundred and +Ninety-first, and lost a leg at Appomattox Court-house, the morning of +Lee's surrender. + +With organization still incomplete, these two regiments were pushed +forward to the front, and had a share in the terrible fighting at Cold +Harbor. As soon as possible, however, the organization was completed, +and the two companion regiments became the Third Brigade, Third +Division, Fifth Army Corps. William R. Hartshorn was commissioned +colonel of the One Hundred and Ninetieth, and Joseph B. Pattee +lieutenant-colonel. The latter, a brave and capable officer, commanded +the regiment during its entire history, except when absent, wounded, as +Colonel Hartshorn was absent, for some cause, most of the time. I was +assigned to Company C. Neri B. Kinsey was captain. Lieutenant Moses W. +Lucore was in command until some time after July, when Captain Kinsey +returned. He was severely wounded, in October, and discharged the +following March, on account of his wounds. The regiment adopted the +bucktail, in honor of the old "Bucktails," who were more largely +represented in the One Hundred and Ninetieth than any other regiment. + +In the afternoon of June 12th, we received marching orders, and soon +tents were struck, and we were on our way, none knew whither. At this +time we were short of provisions. I had a very small quantity of coffee, +but nothing else, except fresh meat, which had just been issued. When +orders came to strike tents for the march, I was engaged in cooking a +slice of fresh beef, by holding it to the fire, spitted on a sharp +stick. With an appetite sharpened by a more than orthodox fast, I was +watching the operation most devoutly; and the savory odor which rose +from the sputtering morsel awakened anticipations which only a +ferociously hungry man can imagine. But I was doomed to illustrate the +words of the Scottish bard: + + "The best laid plans of mice or men + Gang aft aglee." + +With my half-cooked meat in my hand, I swung on my knapsack, and we +marched away. The march continued, without intermission, during the +night, except now and then a brief halt for rest. Towards morning we +crossed the Chickahominy, at Long's Bridge. Here we halted for rest and +breakfast. My entire commissary outfit consisted of about one +teaspoonful of coffee. We had halted for breakfast, and might as well go +through with the programme. I went to the river and procured about a +pint of liquid from that famous stream, and boiled the coffee with due +circumspection, and drank the product. + +The final member of the above sentence is not inserted to inform the +reader that we did not _eat_ the "product"; but, in explanation, when we +thought of that Chickahominy water, the "old man" stirred mightily +within us, and we greatly desired to say that it was good, knowing well +with what unction every unfortunate that ever tasted it, would say, "O, +_what_ a lie!" We would like also to insert a few thoughts about G. +Washington, who could not tell a lie, but we forbear. We drank that +coffee as a war measure. + +Our course was then toward the right, a short distance along the river, +soon bearing away from it toward Richmond. During the forenoon we +reached White Oak Swamp, where the enemy was encountered in strong +force. We moved out past some timber to where the cavalry were +skirmishing with rebel troops posted in the woods beyond. Part of the +regiment deployed as skirmishers and advanced to where the cavalry were +fighting and joined in the fray. The rest remained in their rear as +support. We lay down in a slight depression of the ground about four +rods behind the skirmishers. As we were getting into position a few were +wounded; but after arrangements were completed, we lay in comparative +safety. About three hundred or more yards to the left, on a little +knoll, two guns were in position. Except these, which seemed +unsupported, I could see no other force. Where the other troops were or +how posted, I have not been able to make out. + +The day was warm, and after our night march, the men were fatigued and +sleepy. Before long many of them were sleeping soundly, unmindful of the +bullets that were whistling over. I do not know how long we lay thus. +There is a peculiar satisfaction in sleeping under circumstances of +danger. You are no more exposed than when awake, and you don't have to +do the thinking. Suddenly I awoke to a consciousness that something had +"broken loose." A volley of musketry was poured into us from the rising +ground in front of our skirmishers, and the bullets were hissing close +above us. I lay still a moment as they passed over, and then sprang to +my feet. The skirmishers were giving way, still facing the rebel line of +battle that was charging forward. On the left, our guns were belching +forth grape and canister into the rebel infantry, that came sweeping on +like ocean waves. I think these guns were lost. The last I saw of them +the rebel troops seemed to roll right over them. We were driven back to +the woods. Here we checked their advance, and held the ground till +night. A part of the Fifth Corps and one division of cavalry had been +thrown up in this direction to make a diversion, and also to cover the +flank of Grant's army while it crossed the Peninsula to the James River, +and placed itself before Petersburg. Hence there was not much object in +fighting except to hold our position for a sufficient length of time. In +the evening a heavy force of the enemy was reported moving toward our +left. For this reason, or in carrying out the original programme, we +marched in the same direction, starting just after dark. As we fell back +in the afternoon, I found a haversack containing some hard-tack. This +our mess divided. We did not fail to commiserate the unlucky chap whose +loss was our gain. This was a very unsatisfactory fight. It always +seemed to me like a scrub race. The rebels plunged in as if they thought +it was a 2.20 affair, at the least. The march continued all night. About +two in the morning I concluded that the thing had gone on about long +enough, and, without any ceremony, made my bed beside a stump in a +little opening in a strip of woods through which we were passing. It was +after sunrise when I awoke. Breakfast was not an elaborate affair, and +was quickly dispatched. It consisted of the vivid recollection of the +two delicious hard-tacks which I had eaten the day before. It was light +diet, but the best that could be afforded. I found that the column, +after keeping the road right on for some time, had about faced and +retraced their steps to a point opposite where I had slept. A road here +led to the left of our original line of march. This they followed a +couple of miles and camped. I found them without trouble. Here we +waited, with nothing to eat, till the evening of the 15th. This is the +only time I ever felt the pangs of extreme hunger. During three days and +nights of almost constant marching and fighting, I had eaten one ration +of fresh beef and two crackers. It seemed as if I was all stomach, and +each several cubic inch of that stomach clamoring incessantly for +"grub." + +The boys amused themselves laying out an imaginary bill of fare. The +merits of sundry inviting dishes were zealously discussed. Roast turkey +was eloquently extolled by one; another set forth the attractions of a +table to which forest, mountain-stream, or river had contributed +delights. Sometimes the grotesque imagination of some wild fellow would +conjure up a feast so full of horror that a famished cannibal might well +protest. In striking contrast with this was the gentle pathos of word +and manner as some boy told of dinner at the old farm-house among the +hills, where mother poured out the fragrant coffee, rich with honest +cream. + + NOTE.--Some additional facts have been learned + regarding this affair. The One Hundred and Ninety-first was + on our left, beyond the battery. The attack was made about + four in the afternoon. The One Hundred and Ninety-first had + fallen back, and Colonel Pattee had received orders to + withdraw. Deeming it hazardous to retire across open ground + under such a fire, he rallied the skirmishers on the + reserve, and met the charge of the enemy there. In a few + minutes the Colonel's horse was shot dead under him. After a + sharp fight the rebels broke, and we retreated to the woods + before they could rally. The battery was not captured. A + failure to hold our position here would have compelled a + general battle, and delayed the flank movement to the James. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +On the 16th we marched to the James River. I do not know at what point. +The rest of the corps, together with the Second, Sixth, and Ninth, had +crossed at Wilcox's Landing. I think we must have reached the river +lower down. We were crowded on board transports. Judging from the time +we were on board, we must have been carried a considerable distance up +the river. We landed on the south side. Here we rested awhile. I went +down to the river to bathe and to wash a shirt. Hundreds of soldiers +were in the water, plunging, splashing, diving, enjoying themselves like +schoolboys. After sharing in the sport to my heart's content, I washed +my shirt. The process was simple enough. The garment was well soaped, +then held on a large stone and pounded with a club or any thing +convenient. A final washing out completed the operation. This is the +usual _modus operandi_ during a campaign. When I have described this +process in these latter days, some of my good friends have manifested +an unreasonable and unnecessary skepticism as to the real and ultimate +object of the pounding. But I solemnly affirm that the purpose is to +expel the dirt from the garment. + +There is a little animal. Every soldier knows him. Noah Webster, LL.D., +knew him. Noah is good authority. He derives his name from the Gothic +verb _liusan_, to devour. + +The noble Roman knew him. He called him _pediculus_. He is truly +democratic in his instincts and disposition. + +[Illustration: HE IS A COPPERHEAD.] + +He loves a rebel. But a copperhead loves a fat army contract. So does +he. On this line he is cosmopolitan. He has some splendid business +qualifications. He is modest, retiring, persistent, insinuating. He +comes to stay. He will stay if you let him. He sticketh closer than a +brother. If you don't want him you must skirmish for him. You can not +argue him out of it. + +I once knew a warrior that cultivated him contrary to army regulations. +We protested. They were firm friends, like David and Jonathan. + +One day stern Law, embodied in a corporal and a file of men with +glistening bayonets, took that man down to the running brook, and, +regardless of the frosty air and chilly temperature, with a scrubbing +broom they cleansed and variously purified him, furnished him a new +outfit of regulation clothing, and brought him back as bright and rosy +as need be. He made some remarks. They were comprehensive, but not to +edification, and we will not reproduce them. If that veteran still +breathes the vital air, he voted for Hancock last Fall. + +This seems like a digression, but it is suggested by the facts of the +case. As before remarked, I washed that shirt. When I began it was only +an ordinary shirt. When I got through it was a most extraordinary +garment. There were "millions in it." I skirmished, and washed again. +The result was astonishing. I thought of Moses, Aaron, and Egypt, and +wondered why Pharaoh did not let the people go. It was a _moving_ sight. +It may be there yet, or it may have followed the army. I do not know. I +retired from the scene sadder, but wiser. + +During the forenoon the march to Petersburg began. The day was very +warm, and the dust which rose as the column pressed on rendered the hot +air stifling. The men suffered greatly from thirst. I do not remember +any march more trying in this respect. Late in the afternoon we halted +to rest. There was a strip of rough, broken ground on the right, a kind +of ravine, about half a mile away. I went over there in search of water. +Not a drop could be found. Returning to the column, I learned that there +was water some distance to the left. Here was a beautiful spring of +clear, cold water flowing in abundance. My intention was to drink very +moderately; but I forgot all about this when I raised my quart cup, +brimming full of the delicious beverage, to my lips. Of course I paid +the penalty of my imprudence, and before dark was so ill that I was +compelled to leave the ranks. I kept up with the column until after +dark, but finally gave up all hopes of keeping with them, and camped +till morning. The regiment, meantime, had reached the vicinity of +Petersburg, and during the severe fighting there, had suffered some +loss. Lieutenant-colonel Pattee was dangerously wounded. Lieutenant +Steel, of Company A, received a terrible wound in the face. Abe +Eshelman, formerly of the Eleventh, was mortally wounded, and died a few +days later at City Point. The regiment was on a sandy ridge in front of +woods, facing the rebel works, at a point nearly where the Norfolk +Railroad passed through their lines. Behind them, in such a position as +to fire almost over them, was a battery of rifled guns, which kept up a +fire of shells upon the rebel works at intervals day and night. The +rebel batteries responded at intervals of but a few minutes. This +position was also under a continual fire from rebel sharpshooters, their +balls reaching as far as the woods beyond with fatal effect. + +The second day we were here, June 18th, William Rutter was mortally +wounded. He had picked up a piece of corn-cake in the field back of the +works. Some jesting remark was made about the cake and the rebel that +made it, when he said he would go out and get some more. He was sitting +in the pit beside me. He rose, still laughing, to carry out his purpose; +but as his head and shoulders were exposed above the pit, there was a +sharp "crash," and he grasped his left shoulder with his right hand and +uttered a smothered exclamation of pain. A large rifle ball had +penetrated and crushed the shoulder joint. He was taken back at once, +and the arm amputated. It was reported that he did not survive the +operation; but I have since learned that he lived till the 15th of July. +We lost a number of men in this way and on the picket line. + +The pickets were changed during the night, usually between nine and ten +o'clock. This was the occasion for a lively time down on the line, in +which the artillery usually joined. Sometimes this picket firing, with +its accompaniment of booming cannon and screaming shells, would rise +almost to the dignity of a night battle. In front, from the picket pits, +rifles blazed and flashed with their crackling roar; and farther back, +the great guns belched forth their lurid flames, casting a momentary +glare over the weird scene. The gunners would range their guns before +dark, so as to give the rebels a good one when the time should arrive. +Every device was resorted to that would make this night-firing effective +and annoying to the enemy. + +Not long after the siege began, and while we were yet at this point of +the line, we got a mortar-battery--two guns--into position. One clear, +calm evening, the Yankees proceeded to try a little of this new-fangled +music on our friends across the lines. The mortars were planted some +distance to the right, and in such a position that we had a fine chance +for observation. The line had been unusually quiet, as if the beauty of +the tranquil sunset hour had subdued for a season the fierce spirit of +war in the hearts of men. The sun's last ray had faded from hill-top and +tree, and twilight was settling down upon the scene, when we heard on +our right a strange, grumbling, muffled roar; and with a rushing sound, +we saw what seemed two lighted tapers mounting upward, describing a +curve through the air, and descending upon the rebel works, followed by +two sharp, ringing explosions. There was a moment's pause, and then +"boo-oom," and again two curves of light were marked along the dark +sky, and the great shells descended upon the rebel works, exploding with +a terrific crash. Still no reply from the rebel guns. Again the mortars +boom out as before; but now, as if by a preconcerted signal, the +batteries for about a mile along the rebel line cut loose at once, a +perfect volley of cannon, all centered on the one point, around which +the shells burst and flashed like a thousand thunderbolts. Not a cannon +replied from our lines; only at intervals, for a while, would growl out +that "boo-oom," and above the flash of bursting shells and flaming +cannon would rise those two little points of light, curving slowly +upward and then down, with a seeming deliberation that contrasted oddly +with the whirl and bustle below. This continued a few minutes, and the +"boo-oom" ceased. The little mortar-battery was "knocked out of time." +Then there arose along our line a great "ha-ha"--an army laughing. Such +was the spirit in which the men had watched this unequal combat. But the +laugh quickly changed to a cheer, and a hundred cannon roared out their +savage thunder from either line. Gradually the noise of strife died +away, and an hour later the army slept. + +As before noted, our rifle-pits extended along a sandy ridge, the ground +open in front, sloping downward to the railroad. On our right the ground +was somewhat rough and broken; but immediately in front, at the +railroad, the ground rose abruptly for several feet, and then sloped +gradually upward toward the rebel works. Toward the left of this point, +the abrupt rise disappeared; but in general, the rebel works crowned +elevated ground beyond, and the entrenched picket-lines of the two +armies were in the open ground between the railroad and the rebel +entrenchments. On the right, as you would go down from our trenches to +the road, a kind of ravine extended toward the rebel works, and was +commanded by their rifles. A large and well-manned picket-pit was +established at its head, from which they sent their bullets hissing down +almost without hindrance. + +On the afternoon of June 19th, I think it was, word came in from our +picket-line that ammunition was running short, and a fresh supply must +be sent out. Myself and nine others were detailed to perform this rather +delicate operation. The ammunition wagons were beyond the strip of woods +in our rear, and we must run the gauntlet of sharpshooters, and risk +odd shells in going and returning over this route, before getting +started from the works. Taking each a piece of shelter-tent, in which to +carry cartridges, we started for the wagons. If any man, that has been +placed in similar circumstances, can say that he felt no unusual +agitation, in view of the possible consequences, I must be allowed to +suggest that he is got up on a different plan from myself. The truth is, +I was considerably shaken up over the matter. It would seem quite heroic +to be able to say that I was glad of it, when assigned to this dangerous +duty. I am free to confess I was _not_ glad of it. When selected for +this purpose, I went through with it. The world looks very bright, on a +fine June day, to a healthy boy of seventeen. He is not particularly +anxious to exchange it for another, least of all by way of minie balls, +when he has no chance to send back any in return. To do our work without +faltering, it was necessary to count on a hurried burial down there +between the lines that night. Whatever reckoning others made, this is +how it seemed to me, and we might just as well look the probabilities +square in the face. + +Taking as much ammunition as each could conveniently carry, we returned +to the rifle-pits, and thence to the skirmish-line. For some distance we +had partial protection from the rifle balls, by crouching low as we +walked; but as we advanced we drew the fire of the rebels more and more, +as they discovered us and our object. At last we reached the ravine. It +seemed as if a perfect stream of bullets was hissing down it; but we +must pass. One after another we dashed through. As I passed, I turned my +head to the right, and glanced up the ravine. The pit, at its head, +seemed to smoke, from the rapid fire of its occupants. As I turned my +head, a bullet clipped close to my face, and seemed to touch my hair. +Onward we went, at the top of our speed, and soon reached the shelter of +the high bank by the railroad. + +Here we rested a few minutes. All were safe thus far. A fine spring +bubbled out of the bank. How cool and refreshing its water seemed! Here +were a number of men who had been shot on the picket line, some dead, +others dying, one or two unharmed, caring for the wounded, until night +should permit their removal. The sight of these mangled, bloody forms +here was grimly suggestive. We must not _think_ too much. The most +dangerous part of our work still remained. The ammunition must go to the +picket pits--must be carried there under the close range of rebel +riflemen. During our progress thus far our pickets had kept up a sharp +fire on the enemy. As we started for the pits the fight became more +exciting. Both parties exposed themselves more recklessly, the rebels to +shoot us before we could complete our mission, and our men to keep them +down and make their fire less deadly. Bullets hissed at every step. I +went toward the left, past several pits, I know not how far, and stopped +at one in which was a lieutenant. Forgetting the situation for a moment, +I stood upright, and stretched myself for relief from the weariness of +carrying my heavy load. Instantly a bullet whizzed past my head, and +dashed into a tree in the rear of the pit. Quick as a flash the +lieutenant jerked me down, and warned me of the danger of exposure. +After resting awhile, I started to return. Back to the railroad, again +our only protection was the rapid fire and deadly aim of our riflemen. +Thence to the main line, the only point we dreaded much was passing the +ravine. The return was at last successfully accomplished. +Notwithstanding the severity of the fire to which we were exposed but +one of our number was injured--mortally wounded, I was told. Had it not +been for the return fire of our own men not one of us would have reached +the picket line alive. + +This was my first and only visit to the picket line at this point. The +same evening I was detailed for guard duty at brigade headquarters, +where I remained till after July 4th. + +On this part of the line it was not the custom to station videttes in +front of the picket pits at night, as was usually done. A constant fire +was kept up day and night. The boys used to invent various contrivances +for the special benefit of the "graybacks." I have seen them work for +hours to mold a bullet of such form as would make a particularly ugly +sound, and then fire it across with a double charge of powder. But the +favorite amusement was shooting iron ramrods. These could be picked up +by hundreds over the battle-ground of the previous days, and, with a +little careful fixing, could be made to fly with considerable accuracy. +They were thought to have peculiar penetrating power, if they could be +made to strike a picket pit with the sharp end. As they would send such +an unusual missile whizzing through the air, they would laugh and +chuckle over the anticipated consternation it would cause. One result +often prophesied was that they would "string" a goodly number of the +enemy on the ramrod. Whether such direful results were ever produced, we +had no means of knowing. + +Colonel Carle, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, then in command of +the brigade, had his headquarters in the woods about a hundred yards in +the rear of the line. Here we were exposed to shells and stray +rifle-balls, which occasionally reached us. The only damage inflicted +was the loss of a quart of coffee, which was overturned by a fragment of +shell striking in our fire while we were preparing dinner. About the +same time one man was wounded at division headquarters, a few rods to +our right. + +It is remarkable how indifferent men become to danger under such +circumstances. While myself and another soldier were engaged in washing +some clothes one day, at a little stream to the right of this place, a +bullet passed within a foot of our heads. The only effect was to turn +our conversation to the subject of the range of rifles. It would +naturally be supposed that, under such constant danger of death or +wounds, men would be in continual dread of what _might_ happen. As a +rule, it is quite otherwise. Feelings of dread and uneasiness gradually +give way to a sense of comparative security. + +Coming under fire for the first time, a man usually feels as if he were +about as large as a good-sized barn, and consequently very likely to +take in all the balls, shells, grape, and canister, and such odds and +ends, coming in his direction. After a while he begins to realize that +he is not so large, after all, and frequent and continued experience +confirms him in the view. That which unnerves the recruit is not alone +the fear of injury or death to himself, but also the very nature of the +terrible tragedy about to be enacted. He takes his place in line of +battle as they are forming for a charge, knowing that hundreds of men +who now stand with him there in the full flush of life and health and +the hopefulness of vigorous manhood, in one hour will lie dead in their +blood, or be racked with the agony of shattered limbs or torn flesh. +What man of ordinary humanity can be unmoved by such surroundings? No +man should regard war otherwise than with the utmost horror, nor +sanction it except as an awful, inevitable necessity. Some such feeling +as this is in the breast of most men on the eve of battle, modified +somewhat by the fact that the stern necessity is present. The difference +between a recruit and a veteran is, mainly, that the latter has learned +to command, perhaps to ignore, such feelings. + +For my own part, I can remember few occasions when such thoughts did not +oppress me during the waiting which is frequently incident to the +opening of an engagement. These thoughts soon vanish amid the noise and +excitement of battle. + +You may ask whether soldiers feel any scruples as to shedding blood. I +answer, first and in general, kill is the game. You know it, and prefer +that the killing should be confined as much as possible to the parties +over yonder. If this seems to you to be a cold-blooded way of looking at +things, please remember I am not representing the ideal, but the real. +Again, suppose the bullets are coming thick and fast from the woods +over yonder, you soon discover that the only way to stop them is to send +in your own as close as possible. + +In firing, we always took aim, though often we could not see the enemy +on account of trees or brush in which they were concealed. In such case +we took aim at the point where they were supposed to be, guided by the +smoke, a glimpse of a battle-flag, or the glitter of a gun here and +there. The men were sometimes ordered to keep up a fire when not an +enemy could be seen. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was generally sent on +the skirmish line. The men always preferred this, and did not like it if +this place was given to another regiment. Those who were not accustomed +to skirmishing dreaded it. On the other hand, our boys were uneasy if +placed in line of battle. As a matter of course, the skirmishers took +aim in fighting. It was not seldom a question of marksmanship between +two men, each the other's target. We took advantage of every thing +possible in the way of "cover," the main point being to go ahead, stir +up every thing in front, develop the enemy's position, drive in his +skirmishers. A line of skirmishers is always thrown forward when the +presence of an enemy is suspected. They will soon discover what is in +front. Advancing at a distance of five paces apart, the loss is not so +great as if a regular line were advanced in the same manner. In the +Summer of 1864 the One Hundred and Ninetieth was armed with the Spencer +rifle, an eight-shooter, and well adapted to work on the skirmish line. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +June 23d the brigade was withdrawn from this position for a day's rest. +Our stay at this point had been almost equivalent to continuous +fighting. We had lost men every day in killed and wounded. At +headquarters we had received orders to prepare to move. After we were +packed up ready to march, there was still a little delay before +starting. Young Robbins and myself sat down with our backs against a +tree, taking it easy. As we were sitting thus, a bullet came singing +over, and struck the tree close to our heads. The ball was so far spent +that it did not enter the tree, and was picked up by Robbins. We +concluded this would do as a parting salute, and soon got out of that +without any lingering regrets. + +On the morning of the 24th the brigade moved to the left, and went into +works before occupied by men of the Second Corps, on the Jerusalem +plank-road. They should have reached this position before daylight, but +did not. They could have reached the works with very little exposure by +coming in a little further to the right. Instead of this, the column was +led by Colonel Carle through open ground, less than eighteen hundred +yards from rebel batteries. These, of course, opened on them with shell, +causing considerable loss. Moreland, of our company, was among the +killed. A shell struck him in the chest. The men, without waiting for +orders, but without disorder, moved obliquely to the right, to reach the +protection of lower ground, which there led up to the works. This called +forth such violent protest and condemnation from Colonel Carle, that the +result was a serious mutiny in the One Hundred and Ninetieth. Both +officers and men felt that it was a blunder and an outrage to be thus +needlessly exposed; and when Carle cursed them as cowards, they resented +it. Confusion followed. The officers, almost to a man, refused to obey +orders, or do any thing, until the insult should be retracted. The men +were becoming dangerous. Carle rode up to Adjutant Wright, and ordered +him to restore order, and take the men on to the works. Wright replied +defiantly and profanely. Carle laid his hand on his pistol. Instantly a +score of rifles were leveled on him. Yells and curses resounded on every +side. He withdrew his hand, apologized to both officers and men, and +they moved on to the rifle-pits without further trouble. Carle had the +reputation of being a good officer; but it was said that he was under +the influence of whisky at this time. I was with the brigade tent and +baggage, and knew nothing of this until I visited the company the next +evening. Neither do I remember who was in command of the regiment on +this occasion. I think the colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major were +all absent, wounded. After we had been here a few days, arrangements +were made to desist from picket firing; and after this we were no longer +subjected to the peril resulting from this useless and barbarous +practice. The loss of men from this cause was said to be about eighty a +day in Grant's army, and was probably not less on the other side. Where +the lines were so close, it was probably necessary and justifiable. + +I remained at brigade headquarters until some time after July 4th, and +was then relieved and returned to the regiment. It was then posted on +the left of the Jerusalem road. Our camp was on sloping ground, the +rifle pit at the foot of the slope. A few rods in front rose a slight +ridge, and beyond this, a narrow fringe of timber shut out the rebel +works from direct view. In this timber, or just beyond it, were our +pickets. The well from which we obtained our supply of water was between +our rifle-pits and the ridge spoken of. Further to the left, our line +extended into woods, where the timber had been "slashed" in front for +several hundred yards. + +Back of where Company C's camp was, on the left side of the road as you +faced the works, we soon after began the construction of a fort, called +Fort Warren. It was four hundred feet square, strongly and carefully +constructed. When finished, the ditch must have been twelve feet deep. +The rebels did not get the range of our position at first, but annoyed +us a good deal at times by pitching shells around at a venture. In a few +days they would strike the vicinity of the fort with considerable +accuracy, and kept at it with a persistence which showed that they were +certain of the locality. After the work had progressed some time we felt +no concern about the shelling. If it became too lively, we would +stretch ourselves in the bottom of the ditch, and wait for the thing to +let up, with great resignation, as we preferred this to working. + +The confederate gunners had a way of sending shells "hopping" across, +which was rather uncomfortable. One evening they were entertaining us in +this fashion. The little ridge in front of our pits generally prevented +shells from striking them, though the camp on the sloping ground behind +was exposed. We had gone down to the works, waiting for the rebels to +get through with their fun, which we regarded as comparatively harmless. +We could see the flash of the gun, and by the time the shell would +arrive, we would be safely sheltered behind the pit. One of these, +however, struck the pit a few feet to my left. We waited a few seconds, +expecting to hear it explode. Thinking the fuse had been extinguished, +the men had risen up again and were indulging in jocular remarks over +the matter, when, to our astonishment, the shell exploded in the air +about ten feet high and nearly over the works, not far from where it +struck. Where it had been during the intervening seconds we could not +imagine. Fortunately no one was injured. + +At this time, one of the men, who had not yet had supper, became +impatient and started out for water. Just as he reached the well a shell +came bounding over and struck him. A single exclamation of pain +announced the result. Some of the men were at his side in a moment. A +stretcher was procured, and he was carried back to the ambulance stand, +to be taken to the hospital. The shell struck him about midway between +the knee and ankle, leaving the fragment dangling by a few shreds. + +While engaged in constructing Fort Warren we alternated in work with a +regiment of colored troops. They were fine, soldierly fellows, and stood +the shelling quite as well as any green troops. + +At the entrance of the inclosure, of course, there was no ditch, a space +being left about twelve feet wide. Passing along, one day, I saw a young +colored soldier standing on this narrow passage between the ditches, +curiously examining a twelve-pound shell which had been thrown over, and +had failed to explode. Addressing him and taking the shell in my hands, +I proceeded to give him a scientific explanation of how the thing +worked. After expatiating at considerable length and in glowing language +on the prodigious effects of such projectiles, I then unfolded to him +the manner in which this particular sample might be exploded. + +"Do you see that thing?" pointing to the fuse. + +"Yes, sah, I sees him," replied the dusky warrior. + +"Well, now, if I spit on that--the thing will go off. See here--_yeep!_ +_yeep!_" as I spat on it and hurled it into the ditch. With a yell and a +screech a Comanche might have been proud of, that darkey "lit out." As +he ran he turned his head, and seeing me dancing a war-dance to work off +the extra hilarity which his fright had occasioned, he pulled up and +joined in the laugh. + +Work at this place continued about two weeks. One morning we were roused +up before daylight and ordered to strike tents quietly. In ten minutes +the column was moving down the plank road toward the rear. We went about +half a mile and camped. The next morning we again struck tents before +daylight, and moving toward the front, we formed line of battle in the +rear of Fort Warren. Here we lay till after sunrise, when we returned to +about the same place from which we had started. What all this meant was +more than we could make out, but we supposed that an attack was +anticipated. + +We were then placed on picket still farther to the left. We called it +picket duty; but as far as I could ascertain, we were the only force in +front of the enemy on this part of the line. This ground had been fought +over. The Second Corps had been driven from here June 23d, with heavy +loss of men and guns. From the manner in which the trees were cut and +splintered by bullets and cannon-shot, it would scarcely seem possible +for a human being to remain alive on part of the ground. The loss had +been terrible. Many of the dead had been buried in the trenches. Others, +by the score, were buried where they fell, in rebel fashion, by throwing +some dirt over them where they lay. Now, after the lapse of a couple of +weeks, the dirt had washed from them, in some instances. Here and there +you might see an arm, a leg, or a ghastly head protruding from a slight +mound of earth. If any man was enamored of the glory of war, it was +good for him to sit down and meditate in such a field as this. + +Two of the boys sat down to their dinner, one day, near some bushes at +the edge of the woods. The coffee was poured out, the frying-pan, with +its contents of fried meat was beside the blackened coffee-cups. They +were squatted on the ground on either side eating with a hearty relish, +when one of them noticed more closely the bushes just overhanging the +frying-pan, within a few inches of it. A human hand, dried, black, +shriveled, protruded from the leaves, the distorted fingers in attitude +as if about to make a grab at the contents of the pan. You suppose they +turned away in horror at such an intrusion on their feast. Why so? The +dead were all around us. When we slept at night behind the trenches, we +made our beds by them. Under such circumstances human nature suffers a +reaction, and horrors become the common things of life. These young men +did nothing of the kind. With a light remark suggested by the idea of +such a party wanting to rob them of their dinner, they moved the pan a +little, and finished their meal. This done, they examined further, and +found it to be the half-buried remains of a rebel soldier. On a scrap of +paper they found the name, company, regiment, and State. The paper also +contained a request for the burial of the body. They prepared a grave +and buried him. Then as a matter of courtesy and humanity, one of them +went out between the lines and was met there by a rebel soldier, to whom +he related the circumstances, and requested him to join in this becoming +duty by preparing a properly inscribed head-board. This was cheerfully +done, and the board set up at the grave. In passing to and fro between +the lines other dead were found, and these, too, were decently interred. + +The days passed on pleasantly, and without special incident. No videttes +were kept out, except in the night. None were needed, as the ground was +open and level between us and the enemy. There was no picket firing, and +we had a very comfortable time of it. We could watch the artillery +"practice," which took place almost every evening, between the batteries +on our right, without any apprehension that they would practice on us. + +One evening I sat on the rifle-pit, watching this. Scores of the men +were doing the same, or were idling the time away as suited them best. +The sun had sunk from sight; but as the shells would burst over the +rebel redoubt, which was then the mark of our artillerists, they seemed +balls of silver, in the rays of the sun, now invisible to us. Then they +would expand, and roll away in little snowy cloudlets, almost before the +sound of the explosion would reach us. Suddenly a great column of smoke +shot upward from the redoubt; dark at first, but turning to a silver +whiteness, as the rays of the sun touched it. A sound that seemed to +shake the earth came rumbling through the air. A shell had reached and +exploded the magazine. A laugh, with a cheer here and there, ran along +our heavy picket-line. The rebels called out: "Stop laughing, Yanks!" +"Stop that laughing!" + +Whether this would have resulted in an outbreak between the pickets, is +uncertain; but a moment later a shell came screaming across, about ten +feet above the pits, passing a few rods to my right. Thinking this was +but introductory, the men dived for the pits, and the laugh was suddenly +and indefinitely postponed. Then a general "ha-ha" rose from the rebel +pickets, and good nature was restored. + +Some time in July I was taken sick with fever. I stayed a day or two at +the surgeon's tent, but can not remember much about what occurred. I +gave away every thing I had. Fortunately I gave my gun to Joe Bovard, +who took care of it. I remember nothing of this, but he told me so +afterward. I have also an indistinct recollection of being sent away in +an ambulance, of being very sick at City Point, of the dull, dreamy +indolence of convalescence. I was then sent to Davis' Island, New York. +I improved rapidly during the voyage. I was here but a few days when I +received a furlough, to report at Philadelphia, September 10th. The +patriotic people of Pittsburg had ample and generous arrangements to +care for the sick and wounded soldiers that passed through their city. +Arriving there weak and dispirited, a gentleman met me at the train, and +took me to a place where every convenience and comfort was provided. I +had looked so long on the forbidding, bloody front of war, that it was a +most pleasing revelation to discover that back here was the warm, loving +heart of Peace. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +I arrived at Philadelphia the night of September 10th. There had been a +serious riot during the evening, between the soldiers from the hospital +and some of those patriotic citizens who, although painfully loyal at +times, have a great antipathy to blue. I reached the Citizens' Hospital +without molestation. The next morning a large crowd of rioters gathered +in the vicinity of the hospital, and a murderous raid was anticipated; +but they dispersed without any demonstration. + +From Philadelphia I was transferred, at my own request, to Little York, +Pennsylvania. Although now quite recovered, I was detained here some +time, in the hospital drum corps, as a musician. We went out one night, +on the occasion of a Republican meeting. We started to parade the +principal streets with a transparency, the usual following of small +boys, etc. A crowd of patriots cheerfully greeted us with stones, +brickbats, and like tokens of sympathy. We returned to headquarters in +about twenty minutes, a demoralized outfit. The bass drum was broken, +one drummer's head was peeled, the transparency was smashed, and we were +mad. The managers gave us a dollar apiece; we disposed of our +instruments, and started up street to look for any little incident that +might afford balm for our wounded feelings. Opportunities were plenty, +and many a cracked head bore testimony to the zeal with which the great +national issues were discussed. + +About the middle of October, myself and a large number of other +convalescents started to rejoin our regiments, at the front. We went by +rail to Baltimore, and remained over night at Fort Federal Hill, to go +on by steamer, on the morrow. The "heavies," doing garrison duty here, +were accustomed to dealing with recruits, and counted on making them +step around in fine military style. This crowd was composed of men to +whom soldiering was no novelty, and they had no fancy for extras. Hence, +when they were ordered, with much pomp and assurance, to fall in line, +in front of the barracks that evening, for roll call, at nine o'clock, +there was something of a scene. The anathematical display has rarely +been equaled in modern times. Perhaps twenty-five men out of several +hundred at last took their place in a sort of line, with much gravity +and feigned decorum, playing green, standing in any thing but soldierly +attitude. Behind them, perched on the railing, windows, or wherever they +could best see the show, was about as unruly and uproarious a crowd as +could well be found. After vainly trying to bring order out of +confusion, the sergeant, in great disgust, began to call the roll. A +name is called: + +"Here!" + +"Here!" + +"Here!" + +On all sides the word "Here" is bellowed and screamed by a score of +voices. The face of the burly sergeant grows red with fury, but he +proceeds. + +"John Smith." + +Another chorus of hooting, jeering response, and then, in a momentary +lull of the hubbub, a stentorian voice solemnly announces: + +"He's gone to ---- long ago." + +This rather startling announcement is hailed with another outburst of +laughter, yells, and cat-calls, interjected with allusions to the +sergeant, which were far from complimentary. Finally, having exhausted +his extensive vocabulary of maledictions on that mob of obdurate +sinners, this patriotic officer took himself away, and the boys turned +in for the night. + +The next forenoon we went on board a steamer, but did not start down the +bay till toward evening. The vessel may be called "steamer" as a matter +of courtesy. The thing went by steam, but I would not care to ship a +cargo of hogs on such a contrivance, unless they were of the kind that +ran violently down the mountain. During the night the weather changed. A +strong wind, with rain, swept across the bay. I was asleep on the deck +when the storm came on, and awoke thoroughly wet and cold. Leaving my +water-soaked blanket where it lay, I started to go below. The door was +closed. A soldier, standing in the hatchway, suggested that by our +united efforts we could push it open. I put my shoulder against the +door, and he braced himself against me, and we gave a heave. The door +went open and I went in, plunging headlong into the crowd lying on the +floor, as close as packed herring. + +Nobody swore, except those who were most severely bruised by our feet. +There was an opening left in the side of the vessel, about two feet wide +by twelve feet long. In the slow-going days before the war, this stately +ship was probably used for transporting cattle, and the hole was made +for the humane purpose of giving the animals air. Now it let in both air +and water. I finally made my way down into the hold, and there, with the +coal, dirt, and other things, found a more agreeable temperature. We +reached Fortress Monroe the next evening. Here we were transferred to +another vessel, and went up the James River, arriving at City Point the +following evening. + +This trip was very unpleasant. Besides the discomfort caused by the +stormy weather, we were not provided with rations. No doubt provisions +were furnished, and somebody got the benefit of them. On the second day +those in charge of the vessel, in collusion with the officer in charge +of our escort, proposed selling us lunch at the rate of fifty cents for +a slice of meat and a piece of bread. Their enterprise did not pan out +very well. But few bought, preferring hunger to submitting to the +outrage. During the entire trip I ate not more than two ordinary +hard-tacks. + +Arriving at City Point, we were provided with a substantial supper. Our +hotel accommodations, however, were not strictly first-class. Recruits +and returning convalescents arriving here were provided with lodgings +during their stay in a huge board structure known by the expressive name +of "The Bull Pen." As to rooms, furnishings, and general appointments, +the government had been exceedingly frugal. In fact, the entire outfit +consisted of four walls, roof, and floor, joined together on principles +of the strictest economy. The floor was comfortably carpeted with mud to +the depth of about an inch and a half. Tobacco chewings, cigar stumps, +etc., added variety and flavor. + +On this particular occasion the institution was so crowded that you +could not get room to lie down, all to yourself. This was no serious +objection, as it furnished ample apology for resting your feet on the +other fellow's stomach. Thieves found the "Bull Pen" an excellent place +for plying their trade. The recruits and substitutes finding +entertainment here usually had some money. + +This night, after the lights were out, and all had been quiet for some +time, I lay doubled up on the floor still wide awake. In such a +gathering there are usually some splendid snorers. This crowd had some +performers of rare merit. My location was toward the end of the +building. Lying here, listening drowsily to the odd sounds about me, I +heard a slight commotion down toward the center of the building, then a +blow, and the cry of "Thief!" Then more blows, a general rising up of +that part of the congregation, and a pouring out of profane objurgations +that was surprising. The swearing and pounding went on with great vigor +for some minutes, those not directly engaged cheering the others on with +hoots and yells. In fact, a free fight was going on down there in the +intense darkness, every body thumping every one within reach, thinking +to spot the thief. Finally some one struck a match. As its flickering +rays lighted up the gloom, they revealed a dozen or so of disgusted +combatants glaring savagely on each other, and each wanting to know who +was the thief. Of course it was impossible to find him now. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The next day I reached the regiment, then on the Welden Railroad, near +the Yellow Tavern. I say "the regiment." I mean what was left of it. +Instead of the large, full organization I left in July, it was now but a +remnant. Four commissioned officers of the One Hundred and Ninetieth +remained. These were Colonel Pattee, Adjutant Wright, Captain Birkman, +and Lieutenant Peacock. Of Company C, there were but ten men, myself +making the eleventh. + +A terrible calamity had befallen them at the time the Welden Railroad +was taken from the enemy, August 18th and 19th. The brigade was sent +forward to skirmish. They advanced and drove every thing before them +till they struck the main force of the enemy. Here they fortified and +held their ground without support until the afternoon of the 19th, when +they were compelled to surrender. A few escaped by taking the suicidal +risk of running through a gap in the rebel lines. Mike Coleman, Captain +Birkman, and a few others escaped in this way. Mike told me he heard men +call "Halt! Halt!" on every side; but he looked neither to the right nor +left, and went ahead. Dave Steen was killed in this battle. A ball +struck him in the breast, a little to the right, and high up, severing +one of the large blood vessels. As he fell, two of the men ran to him. +He asked for his Bible--his only words. Hastily opening his knapsack, +they handed it to him. Almost as his fingers closed on the holy book, +his spirit hastened away from that scene of turmoil to the rest above. +He was a brave soldier and a true man. + +After the ground had been re-occupied, as it quickly was by men of the +Ninth Corps, his remaining comrades buried him, and placed around his +grave a rude framework to protect it from disturbance. The few that +escaped, together with returning absentees, represented the organization +under Colonel Pattee, who had now recovered from his wound. During +September and October the regiment suffered considerable loss in +fighting along the left of our line at various points. + +On one occasion they were ordered to advance and "feel" the enemy. The +design was merely to drive in his pickets, and compel him to show his +strength. As soon as the command "forward" was given, away they went +with a yell, sweeping the rebel pickets before them, and on into the +works beyond, before the enemy knew what was the matter or could recover +from his astonishment. An attempt was made to recall them as they went +rushing on toward the rebel works; but signals and bugle-calls were +unheeded. They entered, and for a time held a part of the rebel works. +Of course, this could not last long. It was not the intention to bring +on a general engagement, and they were not supported. In a little while +they were driven back again with serious loss. Captain Kinsey, of +Company C, was severely wounded, and never returned. In trying to bring +Captain Kinsey off the field, young Overdoff was killed, shot through +the head. When he first came to the company he was not very well liked; +but his kind and pleasant bearing soon made friends of all. From his +first experience in the Wilderness until his death, he was loved and +honored as a brave and fearless soldier. + +In the latter part of November the Ninth Corps was passing, one day, +and I went over to the road, and waited till the One Hundredth +Pennsylvania came along. Here were many familiar faces. George Preston +was there, his face as honest and bright as in boyhood's days; and +George Dillinger--or was his name Hugh? Names become confused as the +mind runs back over so many years. What I saw there was but a section of +the past slipped forward, and given a different setting. My earliest +recollections were connected with these faces, when, at church or school +in the pleasant Summer-time, in one we listened to the good Irish +pastor's "sixteenthly" and "seventeenthly" and "in conclusion" as +sedately as our seniors; and in the other we took our regular flogging, +as prescribed by the lamented Solomon. The stalwart boys in blue were +the same boys still; but now they were the heroes of many a hard-fought +battle. The hurried questions and answers of that brief interview +touched upon as tragic scenes as ever employed the pen of genius. They +told how one fell here, another there--dead for the land they loved. + +December 7, 1864, we started on a raid, the object of which was to +disturb the enemy's railroad communications toward the south. We +followed the Jerusalem plank-road one day's march, reaching Notaway +River in the evening, at Freeman's Ford. Our force was a strong one, +consisting of the Fifth Corps, under General Warren, and a division of +cavalry. With this force we felt quite at home within one day's march of +the main army. Once across the river, and at a greater distance, we +might stir up all the game we could take care of. Such was the feeling +expressed by the soldiers as they discussed the situation on the march +that day, and indulged in conjectures as to our probable destination and +the outcome of the expedition. Of course, the company wag had a hearing +while he expounded his views as to what we would do to the Confederacy +or the Confederacy to us. The soldiers had confidence in General Warren, +and regarded him as a prudent and efficient officer. He had the +reputation of being personally brave and fearless. + +As evening approached, we turned to the right from the plank-road, and +halted in a corn-field, not far from the river. As we were about to +break ranks we heard on our right the clatter and snapping of gun-caps, +which, in a regiment armed with muzzle-loading guns, usually follows +the command to prepare to load. This sounded like business; but nothing +further indicating trouble occurred, and soon the cheerful camp-fires +enlivened the scene, and we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable. + +It was the general impression that we would soon move on, and make a +night march; but as time passed, the men made down their beds, and +addressed themselves to sleep. About ten or eleven o'clock, +orders--perhaps delayed--were received for the men to camp for the +night, the march to be resumed at two in the morning. It at once entered +into the fertile brain of Lieutenant Peacock to extract a little fun +from the circumstances. Going to a group of men sleeping soundly under +their blankets, he deliberately roused them up and informed them that +they could sleep till two o'clock. + +"Well, what the ---- did you wake us up for, to tell us that?" + +"Why, you ---- lunatic, aren't two sleeps better than one?" + +Then would follow a volley of protestations and modified blessings from +one side and the other. + +At two in the morning we were again on the march. We passed Sussex Court +House and a place called Corman's Well. In the evening we reached the +North Cross House, on the Halifax road, thirty miles from Petersburg. +Here we struck the Welden Railroad, and the work of destruction began. +It was an exciting scene as the work progressed. There was an abundance +of ties along the road, and of these fires were built beside the track. +As far as the eye could reach the track was a line of blazing fires and +busy, shouting men. A brigade would stack arms on the bank beside the +track; then, taking hold of the rails, would begin to lift and surge on +it altogether, shouting in unison: + +"Ohe!" + +"Ohe!" + +"Set her _up_!" + +"Ohe!" + +Soon it would begin to give, and quickly would be hurled over from the +road-bed with a ripping, crashing sound, followed by the shouts and +cheers of the men. Then came the process of detaching the part thus +overturned from that still undisturbed, if this had not been previously +accomplished. Using a length of rail as a lever, this was quickly done, +and in a surprisingly brief space of time the rails of a half-mile of +road would be lying on blazing piles of ties. As a general rule, the +rails were laid on the fire, and the heating of the middle portion would +cause them to bend by their own weight, thus rendering them useless. +When there was time, the men twisted the hot rails around trees or +telegraph poles, or wreathed them together in fantastic shapes. We +worked nearly all night. Toward morning we halted in a field, and slept +for a couple of hours. Early in the morning the work was resumed, and +continued till evening, with only brief intermission for dinner. It +rained during the day, and became very cold toward evening. Night found +us near a stream; I do not know whether it was the Meherrin River or a +tributary of that stream. If the latter, it must have been near its +junction with the river. The town of Bellefield is on the Meherrin. We +tore up the road to that town. The town was held by a force of rebel +infantry, and also artillery to the number of seven or eight guns. + +A dismal storm of snow and sleet came on in the evening, and we could +only anticipate a night of discomfort. Not long after dark we were +ordered to fall in, with only arms and ammunition. The intention was to +surprise the rebel force at Bellefield, or, at least, this was the +belief of the men. If so, the project was abandoned. We crossed the +stream, and tore up some more track, and returned. At this time the only +man lost by the regiment during the raid was killed. + +As we overturned a stretch of rail, as before described, he was caught +under it as it fell. In the darkness and confusion no one noticed the +accident but myself; and such was the noise and shouting, it was some +time before I could make it known. As soon as possible we lifted the +rails and drew him out. His chest was crushed by the great weight, and +he scarcely breathed after he was extricated. + +We spent the night standing around the fires. Sleep was impossible. The +freezing mud was ankle deep, and, as the sleety storm swept by, it +encased the outer world in an icy covering. Muffled in rubber blankets, +crouched around the fires, to get what warmth and comfort they could, as +the driving wind whirled the flames this way and that, the soldiers +waited for the return of day. + +The next morning the return march began. Flankers were kept out on each +side of the column, to guard against surprise, and to prevent men from +straggling out from the column, as it was known that rebel cavalry was +hanging on our flank and rear, ready to inflict whatever damage they +could. There was an occasional dash on our rear; but this was easily +repulsed, and the day passed without special incident. + +We camped that night in woods, two days' march from Petersburg. The +storm still continued, but not so severe as during the previous night. I +was fortunate enough to secure a piece of board, by means of which I +provided myself comfortable lodging for the night. That board was torn +from the side of a church near by. It was none the worse for that. +Perhaps that church never before did any service in the cause of loyalty +and the Union. That night it kept some Union soldiers off the wet +ground. The next morning the march was resumed. Before we had gone far, +we made a discovery that was enough to bring the blush of shame to the +face of any civilized man. Some of our men, who had fallen behind in the +march out, had been inhumanly butchered. I suppose the citizens, with +their usual stupidity, thought we would never return, and no day of +reckoning would come; and, finding these men in their power, murdered +them with a cold-blooded brutality only equaled by the most degraded +savages. Some were found riddled with bullets and stripped of their +clothing; some had their throats cut, besides gunshot wounds. My first +information was from Mike Coleman, who told me, with a look of horror in +his face, of the blood-curdling sight he had just witnessed. + +This discovery had a peculiar effect upon the soldiers. Even those who +were usually undemonstrative gave vent to their feelings in hearty +curses on the rebellion, and every thing connected with it. The wish was +freely expressed that Lee might intercept us, and bring on the final +battle between civilization and barbarism. Up to this time there had +been no destruction of private property, except a mill, which had been +burned as a war measure, and a house, from which a cavalryman had been +treacherously shot; but now, either with or without orders, the men +began to burn and destroy every thing within their reach. Even the +fences were fired when it could be done. Not a single able-bodied man +could be seen along the route; they had fled from the wrath to come. + +The One Hundred and Ninetieth was on the flank most of the day. About +the middle of the afternoon, we reached a group of houses and +outbuildings, which might almost be called a village. Here the head of +the column halted, and the flankers drew in near the road. A large +dwelling-house stood on the left of the road, the side on which we were. +The buildings on the other side of the road were already in flames, and +men were preparing to fire the dwelling-house. An old man was looking +out of a little out-door kitchen. He was leaning on his staff, trembling +with age, cold, and terror. A woman, bearing in her arms a babe but a +few months old, came out of the house. Her pale face and quiet bearing, +as she walked hurriedly away from the door, touched the gentler nature +in the soldiers' hearts, that was now dominated by the tiger, which the +sight of blood unjustly shed had aroused. Sympathy was marked on every +face. Not an unkind word was spoken; but the house must burn. This +general distress must teach the lesson that even _war_ has its limit of +barbarity. + +That evening we recrossed the Notaway River, and camped about a quarter +of a mile beyond, where we camped the first night out. Here we were +joined by troops that had been sent down from Petersburg for that +purpose. + +A large house, perhaps a tavern, stood near the road, nearly opposite +the site of our former camp. We had not been long in camp till we saw +this house, and the buildings connected with it, wrapped in flames. From +the fact that the place was not fired at once, we supposed it would be +spared. The case was thus explained: When the men first came to the +house, they were informed, on inquiry, that there was no man about. The +woman who seemed to be the mistress of the house, claimed to be a widow. +Investigation revealed a Springfield rifle and the uniform of a murdered +soldier concealed about the premises. This was sufficient. The house was +fired; and, as the flames spread, a man ran out from some place of +concealment, and tried to escape. He received the mercy he had given. + +During the night the sky cleared, and by morning the ground was frozen. +You would suppose that the soldiers suffered from the cold. Most of them +slept as comfortably as you would at home, on such a night, covered over +with your quilts and blankets. How was it done? Every man wore an +overcoat, carried one wool blanket, a rubber blanket, and at least one +piece of canvas tent, five feet square. We "bunked" at least two +together, sometimes three. This gave two or three heavy wool blankets, +as many rubber blankets, besides the shelter tents. If the ground was +wet, we put a rubber blanket and a piece of tent under us; otherwise, +only one of these, and the rest over us. Then, with a fire on one side, +and a log on the other, there was no trouble about getting a good +night's sleep. Such were our sleeping arrangements this cold night. + +The march of the following day was very trying, because of the roughness +of the ground and the extreme cold. In the evening we arrived in the +vicinity of Petersburg, and took our place on the left of our lines, +rather toward the rear. The loss of the Union forces during this raid +was about one hundred, killed and wounded. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Our camp was in woods. The ground was somewhat flat and wet, but with +good facilities for draining. A deep ditch was dug around the camp on +three sides. We had plenty of timber near the camp for building tents. +The tents built by the soldiers for Winter-quarters were generally about +nine feet by seven, built of logs, five feet high. A ridge pole was +fastened up at the proper height, over which four shelter tents, +buttoned together, were stretched and brought down to the top log on +either side, and securely fastened. This formed the roof. The gable ends +were closed with pieces of shelter-tent, boards, or some substitute. + +A door about three feet high was left in the side next the company +street. A chimney, with fire-place, was made at one end, carried up a +foot above the roof. It was built of clay and sticks. Usually the tents +were uniform in this respect, the chimney of each at the same side of +the tent. Two beds or bunks, one above the other, were made of poles +covered with a layer of leafy twigs, if possible. On these were laid +wool blankets, rubber blankets, extra clothing, etc., making a very +comfortable bed. Cracker boxes furnished material for door, seats, and +table. The chinks between the logs were closed with clay mortar. The +Winter-quarters of a regiment was simply a neat, cleanly village of +small log houses, with this peculiarity, that only one row of houses +faced on a street. + +A military execution took place not long after our return from the +Welden raid. A man had deserted to the enemy from a Maryland regiment, +was captured, tried, and sentenced to be hung. The troops were ordered +out to witness the execution. A hollow square was formed around the +scaffold, and in due time the doomed man was led forth, accompanied by a +guard, provost-marshal, and chaplain. The prisoner promptly ascended the +scaffold, the sentence was read, and prayer was offered by the chaplain. +The rope was placed about his neck, and an attempt was made to draw the +cap over his head. It was found that the cap should have been put on +first, and they loosed the rope to change it. At this point the +trap-door gave way, and precipitated them all to the ground. The straps +with which the prisoner's knees had been bound were now loosed, so that +he could again ascend the scaffold. He sat on the steps while repairs +were made. When all was ready he took his place on the trap-door, first +testing it with his weight, to see whether it might again give way +prematurely. The cap was now drawn over his head, the noose adjusted, +and the trap sprung. After he had hung for some time, we marched back to +camp. + +Our stay at this camp was very pleasant. The location was supposed to be +unhealthy, and they issued whisky and quinine to the men for a while. +This did more harm than good. + +My tent-mates were George Dunn, Joe Bovard, and Andy Shank. Joe Bovard +had been in the service from the beginning of the war. He was over six +feet in height, a good-natured, manly fellow. George Dunn extended +upward to an altitude of at least six feet and a half, besides running +along the ground an extraordinary distance before being started in a +vertical direction. Our tent was larger than the ordinary, ten by +twelve feet, well daubed and comfortable. + +One day Jim M'Guire solicited "the hospitality of our tent for the +purpose of entertaining some friends." This meant that they wanted to +have a high old time, and our tent would be very convenient for that +purpose because of its size. Early next morning the festivities began. +Commissary whisky was provided in abundance. "Sport" (William Harris) +furnished music for the occasion, which he extracted from an old fiddle +procured from some unexplainable source. The ball opened with a good +pull all around from the canteen. Ordinary forms of entertainment and +social enjoyment soon became stale and they concluded to try the mazy +dance. Our tent was floored with puncheons, and the racket which they +kicked up was something marvelous. Occasionally I looked in to see how +the thing was progressing. "Sport" was perched upon the upper bunk, his +chin on the fiddle, his tongue protruding from his mouth, and wiggling +to and fro in time to the music, while on his face was a look of solemn +intensity, as if his life depended on his efforts. The dances were +necessarily limited to "French Fours," but these were rendered with +great animation and in the latest style of art. As George Dunn would +execute some of the fancy flourishes with which their figures were +profusely ornamented, his head would bob against the canvas roof. This +was suggestive. Procuring a stick of proper size, I crossed over to the +rear street, and stood back of the tent watching my opportunity. +Presently Dunn's head came bobbing against the canvas, and I brought the +stick down on it with a good, sharp crack. The effect was all that could +be desired. There came an unearthly bellow, accompanied, I grieve to +say, with many exclamations suggestive of the future prospects of the +culprit who had cracked the head of the festive dancer. Out they poured +through the little door in hot haste to chastise the offender; but he +was nowhere to be found. Failing in their search, they returned and +resumed their exercises. + +Although the day was quite mild and pleasant, there was some fire in the +tent, and a thin column of smoke rose lazily from the chimney top. +Thinking to add still further the spice of variety to the occasion, I +took a cast-off garment and spread it over the top of the chimney, and +awaited events. + +Meantime within, the dance waxed warm again. The fiddle shrieked, the +government stogies thundered upon the puncheon floor; but soon it was +evident that all things were not as they had been from the beginning. +Confusion first fell upon the fiddler. His dulcet notes, as they whirled +through their lofty flight, reeled, and staggered, and fell, to give +place to anathemas, steady and well sustained. Smoke filled the tent, +and came creeping out through every crevice. They rose up as one man and +cursed the chimney with great vehemence. They came scrambling out of the +door, wiping their weeping eyes. A brief investigation revealed the +cause of their discomfiture. In dislodging the offending garment from +the chimney they nearly wrecked that ornamental structure. As soon as +Shank saw what was the matter, he at once announced that "that ---- ---- +had done it. He had played that trick on him once before, when he was +getting dinner." From this and other remarks that were made, I thought +it prudent to withhold all further co-operation. Toward evening the +entertainment came to a close. This was hastened by unfavorable rumors +from regimental headquarters. After carefully reconnoitering the +position, I ventured to present myself at the tent. Dunn was deposited +on the lower bunk, overcome by the varied duties of the day. The upper +bunk had not proved equal to the emergency, and had broken down. The +table, seats, and door were broken. The canvas roof was torn loose at +one side and hung disconsolately from the ridge-pole. Shank was in the +tent; Joe Bovard was sitting on a stump in front, evidently holding a +discussion with his stomach. "Sport" was capering around with many sage +remarks and comical gesticulations intended to express his sympathy. +Just then Shank came out of the tent, and made for him, to chastise him +for some offense. "Sport" fled up the street and across a little bridge +to the parade-ground. The feet of his pursuer were heavy, and when he +came to the bridge he paused, reflected a moment, and deliberately tore +it up, and returned with a very satisfied expression of countenance, +remarking: + +"I've cu-cut off 'is communications off, anyhow." + +This little episode of camp life seems to reach a very flat conclusion. +But the facts leave no alternative. It required about two days' diligent +labor to clean up and repair, to say nothing about Dunn's head, stomach, +and general constitution. The working of prohibition was well +illustrated in the army. If the traffic had been "regulated" as it is +throughout a large portion of our country, the effectiveness of the army +would have been destroyed within six months. As it was, the officers in +charge of the commissary department were prohibited from selling to the +privates. They tell us now that there is no use of trying to reduce +drunkenness in this way. We cite the army as an illustration of +successful prohibition. If men had been inclined to evade the law, they +could have obtained liquor as readily as in civil life. If the evil had +become manifest, a remedy could have been applied more directly than in +civil life. But it was not necessary. If intoxicating liquors are made +difficult to obtain, multitudes who would otherwise use them and become +drunkards will not take the trouble to procure them. We affirm that this +was demonstrated in the Army of the Potomac. There was very little +drunkenness. A few would secure whisky, and become intoxicated. +Sometimes it was accomplished by forging the name of an officer to an +order. In the revel just described one of the men disguised himself in +the uniform of an officer, and bought the whisky. + +I never knew whisky to do the men any good. It was certainly one of the +strangest of follies to issue whisky rations, as was sometimes done on +occasions of peculiar exposure. The men who never tasted stimulants had +the most endurance, and suffered the least from cold or exposure of any +kind. We wonder at the delusions of witchcraft, and can scarcely +comprehend how men could so abandon common sense as to give credence to +such folly; but the absurdity of the use of alcoholic stimulants is not +less puerile. The time will come when it will be told with pitying +wonder how men of this day stupidly ignore the ghastly results of the +liquor traffic to themselves and others, and with supine meanness bow +their necks to the yoke which it fastens upon them. They will believe +the most barefaced lies, assent to the shallowest sophisms of the +liquor-dealers, and turn a deaf ear to the most evident dictates of +common sense, justice, and prudence. + +I think it is Thomas Carlyle says: "England has a population of thirty +millions, mostly fools." The same comment is fairly applicable to every +so-called civilized people in the world. The dealers say, "It is a +benefit to trade." The fools echo, "We can not have prosperity in state, +county, or town without the dram-shops." The brewers and distillers say, +"It enhances the value of property and products of all kinds." The fools +answer, with idiotic promptness and docility, "Yes, we must continue +this ulcerous cancer upon the body politic--this unclean, pestilential, +gangrenous sore, reeking with disease, vice, poverty, madness, to +increase the price of grain." Yes, gentlemen, grain is more profitable +deposited in the stomach of your son or your neighbor's son, in the form +of whisky, mixed with sundry deadly drugs to give it "tone," than in +pork, beef, or mutton, or transformed into the power which sets the +whirling spindles of the East in motion, fires up the black caverns of a +thousand furnaces, and fills unnumbered homes with joy and plenty. This +would do very well if you saw fit to wait till the redeemed drunkard +would recover health and manly ambition, and provide his family with +sufficient food, clothing, and shelter. But there is a more direct way +to turn your produce into money. Transform it into liquor. With this, +arm the vampires that suck the people's blood, and turn them loose after +him. Post them in every city, village, cross-roads. They will strip him, +ruin him, finally kill him; but never mind that. They will make you +quick returns in bright dollars. There is, however, one disadvantage +incident to this method, which is worthy of consideration. The victims +of the dram-seller die, and he must make more drunkards or his business +will be gone. He may get his clutches on your boy. He will, if he can. +This would be very unpleasant. However, if such a thing should occur, +you can drive your son away, banish him from your sight. Then, if you +should hear some time that he has ended the struggle with pistol, rope, +or poison, thus decreasing the income of yourself and your partner, the +dram-seller, you can console yourself with pious reflections on the +mysterious ways of Providence. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +At this time pickets were only changed every third day, "three-day +picket," we called it. We preferred this, as it gave us such a long time +without any duty of this kind, that the change was welcome. We were +almost two months in this camp, and during this time I was only on +picket twice. There was no enemy in our immediate front. The days passed +as tranquilly and as free from danger as if war had never been. Now and +then you could hear a boom of cannon far to the right; but if you wanted +to see a rebel, you had to travel four or five miles to get a glimpse of +one. + +The second time I was on picket, the weather was extremely cold. The +first day we were placed on reserve, at a substantial rifle pit, about +fifty yards back of the regular picket line. During the night, for some +reason, we had orders to strengthen the line. I was sent to the extreme +right of our brigade line, where we joined with pickets of German +troops. The posts were about a hundred yards apart, at each post a +strong rifle-pit. The fires were built at the right or left of the +rifle-pit, and carefully screened with bushes, so that those about them +could not be seen from the outside. Our line here was in woods, and the +timber was cut down between the posts. In front of the posts, videttes +were placed during the night, who were relieved every two hours. The men +at this post were from a Delaware regiment, and all strangers to me. + +It was very cold work, standing vidette two hours at a time; in fact, my +toes were slightly frosted the first night. We discussed the question, +and concluded we could relieve matters a little. We arranged with the +men on the post at our left to put out but one man from the two posts. +By alternating, we would only be on post one-half as long. The officer +in charge of the line would come from the left, and it was arranged that +the other post would signal us when he approached, and one of us would +go out. In this way we always had a man out from each post when he +inquired into matters. This was rather an irresponsible way of running +the Army of the Potomac, but it seemed to us an improvement. + +An incident occurred the second night, which convinced us that our plan +was open to objection. The men were all sleeping around the fire, except +one, a nervous fellow, of whose qualities I had not a high opinion. I +must have been sleeping but lightly. Suddenly I was aroused by a noise +outside the screen, to the right, as if some one had been passing +stealthily along and tripped, falling headlong. I was instantly on my +feet, and telling the men to scatter out and see what was the matter, I +hastened out toward the right, followed only by the nervous man. We +searched the ground carefully as far as the pit on our right. With our +bayonets we thrust among the brush, and examined every dark corner, +without any result. We returned, to find part of the men still at the +fire, and the rest behind the rifle-pit outside. A similar search toward +the left was equally fruitless. We never were able to explain the thing +satisfactorily, but concluded to keep out our videttes. + +After the Hatcher's Run campaign, I saw one of these men in rather +unfavorable circumstances. We had been in camp a few days, and were +engaged in building our tents, when we heard the sound of a fife and +drum approaching. As they drew near, we saw a corporal and a file of +men, and in their midst one of the heroes of the picket adventure, who +had shivered over the fire that night, when he should have been out +looking for the supposed intruder. Across his back was hung a board, +about three feet long by one in breadth, on which was inscribed, in +large letters: + + =COWARD.= + +The musicians were playing "Rogues' March," to which the soldiers had +adapted the following touching lines: + + "Poor old soldier, + Poor old soldier, + Bucked and gagged and sent to ----, + Because he wouldn't soldier." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The morning of February 5th found our camp in a bustle of preparation. +We had orders to march, leaving our tents "_in statu quo_," taking only +overcoats, arms, and haversacks. General Warren was mounted on his old +gray horse. This we regarded as a sure sign that a fight was on the +programme. The column headed toward the left. Then we knew that Warren +had done well to mount the old gray. A tender spot of the Confederacy +lay in that direction. The "Southside Railroad" was the main artery that +carried life-blood to the rebel army, and was guarded with jealous care. + +The morning was bright, crisp, and frosty. The men were in excellent +spirits. We had with us a number of waggish fellows that would be the +life of any company, jovial, hearty, able to bring forth a joke under +the most forbidding circumstances. One of these (Smith let us call him) +had served eight years in the regular army before the rebellion, and +had been in the volunteer service during the entire war. He was a +sturdy, big-hearted fellow, now becoming somewhat gray with years. His +favorite word was "Woo-haw," which he pressed into service quite +frequently. From this we called him "Old Woo-haw." + +Some time in the forenoon we found the enemy intrenched at Rowanty +Creek, just below the junction of Gravelly Run and Hatcher's Run. From a +slight ridge about three hundred yards back, open ground sloped down to +the run, where there were a few small trees on the bank, which sloped +abruptly to the water. The stream was perhaps fifteen feet wide. On the +other side the ground rose again as abruptly as on the side next to us; +and on the bank were the rebel rifle-pits, this side of the stream being +also covered with woods. It was not more than twenty-five or thirty +yards from the side of the stream on which we were approaching to the +pits beyond. + +At this time I was armed with a Springfield rifle, muzzle-loader, while +the rest had the Spencer. I never professed to have a natural appetite +for cold lead, broken bones, etc., and very much disliked to go into a +skirmish with a "long Tom." However, there was no help for it. The +sharp crack of carbines showed that the cavalry had met with stubborn +resistance. At the first halt after we heard firing, I loaded her up and +was ready. + +As the head of the regiment reached the ridge, we halted. The cavalry +were keeping up a lively fire just ahead and on the right, and there was +every prospect of an interesting time. Very soon we were ordered forward +to skirmish. As the order was received, Smith remarked, with a peculiar +twang to his heavy voice and an odd twist of his head: + +"Now, boys, the woo-hawin' is a-goin' to begin." + +We followed the road over the ridge, and filed to the right on a +farm-road which led in this direction. As we filed right Colonel +Pattee's voice rang out: + +"Deploy, skirmishers!" + +We came around the corner on a run, and as the order was given the men +faced toward the enemy, and advanced as they deployed. Before the rear +of the regiment had left the main road, the rest were charging down +through the open field. They looked like a mob as they broke ranks and +went pell-mell over the field, yelling like madmen. But there was +method in their disorder, and before they had passed over half the +distance they were in as good position as if they had gone about it in +the most formal manner. It was a reckless movement; but the officers +were not responsible for it, as no order was given except to deploy. + +Reaching the stream, we found it covered with ice, on which we hoped to +cross. One of the foremost boys stepped upon it, and it at once gave +way, and let him into the water. Just the top of his head stuck out +above the fragments of ice. He was fished out as expeditiously as +possible, and the idea of crossing in that way was abandoned. Men came +down with axes, and proceeded to fell trees across the run on which to +cross. While this was going on, we did our best to keep the rebels down +behind their works, and render their fire ineffectual. We soon succeeded +in this, but not until they had inflicted some loss. Sullivan was +standing a little below me, when a bullet clipped by his left hip, +cutting his pants about three inches, but doing no harm. A ball touched +my hand as I was capping my gun. Others struck close around. Soon the +trees were down, and part of the men crossed, while others kept careful +watch on the rebels, and fired rapidly to keep them down. When enough +had crossed, perhaps forty or fifty, then every body yelled, and those +who had crossed charged the pits, and the rest came crowding over. Some +of the rebels surrendered, and a few escaped. As the final charge was +made, the line of battle came down, reaching the run just in time to +lose some men. There may have been some reason unknown to us for +bringing them down; but as far as we could see, it was a mistake. Our +loss was fifteen wounded and one or two killed. + +The losses of a regiment do not always show its courage nor its +effectiveness as a military organization, but rather its lack of +discipline, and unskillful handling. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +composed of well-trained, veteran soldiers, and had good officers. This +fight shows how such a regiment may incur serious disaster without room +for just reflection on the skill, courage, or discipline of men or +officers. Had a much stronger force been behind those works, situated as +they were, our heedless charge would have resulted in a bloody repulse, +unless speedily supported by a charge from the line of battle, which +would have involved heavy loss. + +The road which we had followed is called the stage-road. Crossing the +run, we followed it in the direction of Dinwiddie Court House, until we +reached the Quaker road. The enemy was not encountered in our front, but +farther to the right there was severe fighting along Hatcher's Run. +During the night we moved to a position near Dabney's Mill. I think we +followed the Vaughan road. In crossing Gravelly Run, there was some +delay in getting the column over. After we had reached the other side, +and were waiting for the others, a colonel offended one of the men of +Company A, ordering him away from a fire by which the colonel was +standing. This called forth some of the liveliest sort of vituperation. +Such combinations of opprobrious epithets are rarely exhibited. That +man's relatives, near and remote, male and female, were brought into +requisition to define the exquisite meanness of his nature and origin. +The discomfited nabob appealed to Colonel Pattee for redress, who sent +Adjutant Wright back to quiet the boys. + +During the day we moved out from our position near the run, into the +woods in front, and formed line of battle. The One Hundred and Ninetieth +was in the line. The day was dismal. Rain and snow had fallen during the +preceding night, and now it was growing colder. Our line advanced over +ground partly swampy. In maneuvering to pass one of these difficult +places, the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania was massed behind us, and +came crowding close after. Some of the men would break through the crust +of ice, and sink into the mud beneath. Among others, George Dunn, +notwithstanding the size of his feet, went plunging in, half-way to his +knee. When the foot was withdrawn, it was found that the shoe had been +left in the depths below. George hesitated, thinking, perhaps, to +attempt a rescue; but it was too late. The Two Hundred and Tenth, coming +on in close divisions, trampled it down beyond all hope of recovery. +Advancing some distance, the line halted. The formation of the Second +Division must have been imperfect, on account of the nature of the +ground. This probably caused the delay. + +On the right a severe engagement was in progress, and in front was some +skirmishing. The men, as usual with them when placed in line of battle, +were uneasy and dissatisfied. Soon they began to go out, one at a time, +then by twos and threes, toward the front. No objection was made by the +officers, until the line began to grow thin. A little later, part of the +line became engaged; but, as the right of the corps had been checked, we +were soon withdrawn, and took a position not far from the run, where we +intrenched and held the ground. Here we were on the left, where our line +rested on the run. We were considerably annoyed by shells, which came +nearly from our rear. Our pits faced down the run, and afforded no +protection from shells coming from the enemy's position at our right. + +On the morning of the 8th we had orders to "fall in," and soon we were +in line, ready to move. Passing to the right a short distance, we +halted, at a gap in the rifle-pits, where a road led out to the front; I +think it was the Vaughan Road. Soon an aid rode up to Colonel Pattee +with orders. Some one inquired, of those standing nearest the colonel, +what the orders were. One of them replied, with the utmost seriousness: + +"The orders are for the One Hundred and Ninetieth to report in ---- in +less than ten minutes." + +We passed out on this road some distance, and then bore to the right, +over ground strewn with dead horses, that had been killed during the +cavalry fighting of the preceding days. After advancing about a mile, we +halted in open ground, and formed line of battle. On our right, and some +distance in front, was timber. We hastily intrenched, for this purpose +tearing down a house. We judged that the enemy would not let us remain +long undisturbed; nor were we mistaken. Through the still, frosty air we +heard the sound of preparation. We could hear the officers giving +orders, and the snapping of caps as they prepared to load. Their line of +battle extended far past our left, and a line was evidently preparing to +come down on our right flank. We threw up pits on each flank, and +waited, uncertain of the result. We knew of no arrangement to prevent +our being overwhelmed by numbers. This suspense continued for some time, +and we expected every moment that the vengeful storm would burst upon +us. But now an aid was seen galloping toward us, and we were ordered to +withdraw from our exposed position. We lost no time in regaining the +works we had left in the morning. What this little side show was for, we +could not imagine. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. + +The same day we recrossed Hatcher's Run, and began the construction of +permanent works on that side. We worked by reliefs, three hours on duty +and three off. We had run out of provisions, and a fresh supply failed +to arrive. The men became dissatisfied, and finally refused to work. +Threats of compelling them to work were made. The men answered by +gathering up their guns and starting for the woods, in the rear. At this +point General Warren came down and spoke to the men in a reasonable +manner. The mere fact of his coming among them had a good effect on the +men. He urged the necessity of the work, and told them that if +provisions were not on hand by a given time, he would consent to their +ceasing from work. The men then went to work cheerfully. + +Jack M'Bride and myself had previously solved, in a measure, the +difficult problem of reconciling the conflicting claims of an empty +stomach and the vigorous prosecution of the war. As night came on, we +retired some distance into the woods, built a fire, and made ourselves +comfortable. The next morning we found a piece of pork, which had been +lost or thrown away three or four days before. It was good. We scraped +the mud from it carefully, and ate it with a relish. We then came back +and went to work with the rest. + +After these works had been completed, we moved some distance down +Hatcher's Run, to a small branch of that stream, called Arthur's Creek. +Our position was on the left flank of the army, facing rather toward the +rear. For the third time this winter we built winter-quarters. Our camp +was pleasantly located, fronting a large farm, in the rear woods. +Brigade and division headquarters were in the woods, our picket-line in +the open ground beyond the farm-house, a mile from camp. + +On the 7th of February, the next day after the fight near Dabney's Mill, +I got a Spencer rifle, and kept it until we were mustered out. The +spiral spring of the magazine was damaged in some way, so that it would +receive only four or five cartridges, instead of seven. I repaired it by +taking the spring out entirely. It would then receive nine or ten, and +a little practice made the experiment a success. + +Duty was light, and our main business was amusing ourselves. For in-door +amusement, euchre was the favorite. There was not much gambling, but +many fine points were settled by "best three out of five." One form of +out-door amusement was the following: A peg was driven into the ground, +and to this were fastened two ropes, fifteen or twenty feet long. Two +men were then blindfolded, and placed one at the end of each rope, on +opposite sides of the peg. To one was given a notched stick, about two +feet long; and also another, to rub over it, making a scraping sound. He +was called the "scraper." To the other was given a pant-leg, or +something of this kind, stuffed with paper or rags. He was called the +"pounder," and it was his business to "pound" the scraper, if he could. +They were each required to keep hold of his rope. The boys would +sometimes stand around a circle of this kind by the hour, and watch the +fun. The two would move about with catlike caution, each listening for +the other. Sometimes the pounder would think he had the other, _sure_; +and, listening most earnestly, anticipated triumph shining from his +face, he would bring his weapon down on nothing. Again, the scraper, +thinking the pounder, who was right beside him, was far away, would rest +the end of his notched stick on the ground, and draw the other along it, +"scrape-scrape," when down would come the pant-leg on his head, followed +by shouts of laughter from the audience. + +The soldiers built a large tent for religious meetings, and a revival of +extraordinary interest took place during our stay here. The noble +Christian young men who did this work remember those meetings with +satisfaction now, whether they are on earth or in heaven. They conducted +them without the aid of a minister. No! they themselves were ministers +of God, anointed from on high for this work. + +Some of the conversions were remarkable. One young man, whom I had known +as a brave, fearless fellow, was converted during a meeting of peculiar +power. The change was plain and evident to all. His handsome face was +continually bright with the peace of God. He fell in battle, March 31st, +and died in the arms of his comrades, who were trying to carry him back +when our line was broken and routed. + +As Spring drew near came the reviews and various movements that indicate +the approach of active operations. Some changes were made in the +brigade. It now consisted of the fragments of three Pennsylvania +regiments, the One Hundred and Ninetieth, One Hundred and Ninety-first, +and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh; two Delaware regiments, now +consolidated into one, and the Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania. The +latter was a one-year regiment, and almost as large as the rest of the +brigade. They were a fine body of men, reliable and well-drilled. There +were but five commissioned officers in the One Hundred and Ninetieth. +Colonel Pattee and Adjutant Wright, Captain Birkman, Lieutenants Coleman +and Peacock. Captain Birkman had charge of Companies A, B, and C. The +One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and Ninety-first acted +together as one regiment, under command of Colonel Pattee. The fragment +of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh--not more than forty or fifty +men--was regarded as a part of the One Hundred and Ninety-first. + +We held this little band in high esteem. They were heroes, every man of +them. Captain Carter was in command. We were the Third Brigade, Second +Division, Fifth Corps. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_THE BEGINNING OF THE END._ + + +On the morning of March 25th, I know not why, our camp was astir earlier +than usual. Heavy cannonading could be heard toward the right, but this +was nothing uncommon. As time passed on, the noise of strife continued, +and seemed to extend farther toward the left. Eating a hasty breakfast, +I started toward the scene of action, determined to ascertain the cause +of the unusual uproar. When starting from camp, I did not suppose it was +any thing more serious than an artillery fight of more than ordinary +interest. As I went on the sound swelled to a steady roar, which showed +that a determined battle was in progress. Drawing nearer, I saw the +troops in line of battle, the shells bursting, and cannon flaming as far +as the eye could reach. + +I was informed that Fort Steadman had been taken, and a part of our +works captured by the enemy. Supposing that we would be ordered to the +right to retrieve the disaster, I started to return to camp. I had not +proceeded far when I saw the head of the column approaching. I hurried +back to camp and procured my gun and accouterments and started to +overtake the troops. I was joined by Lewis, who had also been absent. +Only the pickets and ordinary camp guard remained. As we passed along we +met President Lincoln, General Meade, and staff, coming toward the left. +We concluded to greet them with due ceremony. As we met them we halted +on the bank by the road and presented arms. The President raised his +hat, and turned to General Meade with some humorous remark as they rode +on. It seemed a reversal of things for the head of the nation to pass in +review before a couple of stragglers. + +We found the Second and Third Divisions drawn up in the rear of the +works as support, awaiting events. A large number of prisoners passed to +the rear while we waited here. Farther to the left, the First Division +advanced on the enemy's works, and was repulsed with considerable loss, +but succeeded in establishing our lines nearer to those of the enemy. +We were not engaged, and returned to our quarters in the evening. + +The next morning I started early to visit an acquaintance belonging to +the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania, First Division. It was not +yet sunrise when I reached their camp. The acquaintance whom I had come +to visit was on picket, and I went out along the line to find him. The +pickets were stationed in woods, and the men were engaged in building or +strengthening their intrenchments. Passing along the line, I noticed +that the men kept close to the pits. I inquired if things were woolly +out there, and was informed that the latitude was decidedly unhealthy. + +I now noticed a Yankee vidette about twenty-five yards in front, rifle +in hand, sticking close to a tree, and scarcely fifty yards farther on, +a rebel vidette peered cautiously past another tree. The vigilance with +which they watched each other revealed both the danger and security of +the situation. If all were watching each other as jealously as these, I +could continue my observations with comparative safety. A little farther +toward the left I reached open ground. Arrangements had been made, +under flag of truce, for burying our dead who had fallen in the battle +of the previous day. Quite a number of dead lay scattered over the +field, some of them close up to the rebel works. They were carried back +within our own lines and buried there. They were carried on blankets, +one man taking hold of each corner, and thus bearing them along. + +Four men thus engaged, halted with their burden to rest as they were +passing near me. In the blanket lay a boy, certainly not more than +eighteen or nineteen years old. At first glance you could scarcely +believe that he was dead. Surely the grim King could not stamp upon +dying clay a smile so pleasant, a laugh so winning, as shone out from +those parted lips and half-closed eyes! But just over his heart, +half-concealed by his arm, that bloody rent in his blouse showed how he +died. + + "Somebody's darling is cold and dead." + +I looked upon that handsome, boyish face with wonder. The smile was so +happy and so life-like that the first impression was only that of light +and careless mirth; but the lines curved away into an expression of +solemn majesty, is if the passing spirit, thrilled with the full +perception of the grandeur of its own immortality, had left this impress +on the tenement of clay. + +On the way back to camp, evidences were everywhere visible that the +final act of the great national tragedy would quickly come on. That +afternoon I made ready for active operations by purchasing from the +"commissary" a couple of pounds of extra coffee. The regulation quantity +was sufficient while in camp; but after a hard day's march there was a +strong inclination to throw an extra handful into the old coffee-pot. As +a result, the inexperienced frequently found themselves short after a +few days, to their discomfort and actual disadvantage. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The next morning, March 27th, I went on picket. Some time after +midnight, on the 28th, we were withdrawn, and returned to camp. Orders +had come to prepare for the march. The camp was astir with busy life. In +a little while our tents, that looked so neat and trim last evening, +with their white canvas roofs and clean-swept streets, will be silent, +cheerless, and deserted. My tent-mates had taken down our shelter-tents, +and I had nothing to do but pack my knapsack, and all was ready. + +In some of the dismantled tents the fires still burned, casting their +flickering rays upward through the air, while about them, sitting or +lounging at ease, were men equipped for the stern work of war, ready to +fall into line at the word of command. The stirring scene had in it not +a little of sadness. We had passed pleasant hours in this camp. That +tender something of association which clings around the thought of "the +old campground" breathed through the darkness that night, and glanced +in the camp-fires that dimly lighted up the warlike scene. These would +be our last Winter-quarters. For some, the next night would bring the +quiet "bivouac of the dead." + +The strength of the Fifth Corps was as follows: + + First Division, General Griffin, 6,180 + Second Division, General Ayer, 3,980 + Third Division, General Crawford, 5,250 + ------ + Total, 15,410 + +The artillery consisted of twenty guns, and there was an escort of forty +cavalry. + +The march began at three o'clock on the morning of the 29th, the Second +Division in the advance. We passed down what was called the stage-road +toward Rowanty Creek, the same road on which we had marched February +5th, at the time of the Hatcher's Run fighting. We reached the vicinity +of the creek a little after daybreak, and formed line of battle in the +open ground south-east of the residence of W. Perkins. Much to our +dissatisfaction the One Hundred and Ninetieth was placed in the line, +and the Two Hundred and Tenth was deployed as skirmishers. They did not +advance till the line was formed, and then not far enough ahead of us to +be of any use. Fortunately no enemy was found; but time might have been +saved by a prompt advance of the skirmishers without waiting for the +line. + +Crossing Rowanty without opposition, we followed the stage-road to its +junction with the Quaker road. Up this we marched toward Gravelly Run. +The First Division, however, followed the stage-road some distance +farther. How far we advanced up the Quaker road I am unable to say; but +we finally turned to the left, and formed line of battle, facing the +west. In our front was quite an expanse of open ground sloping down +toward woods beyond. About a hundred yards to our left was a battery, +ready for action. The Two Hundred and Tenth was again sent forward to +skirmish. They advanced with due form and ceremony until they neared the +woods, when they opened fire with such a racket that we supposed the +enemy had been found in force. But they soon let up, and presently sent +back a solitary prisoner, about as forlorn, dilapidated looking a +specimen of grayback as could be imagined. + +While we were waiting, John Edgar went down to the battery, in which he +had served for a considerable time, detached from his company for this +purpose; but he had left it and rejoined his company without being +returned in due form. He was at once placed under arrest as a deserter +by the officer in command, the man whose brutal treatment had caused +Edgar's unauthorized return to the regiment. This made quite a +commotion, and might have produced serious trouble; but as soon as +Colonel Pattee learned what had occurred, he went down to the battery, +and demanded and secured Edgar's release without delay. + +After remaining here some time, we moved farther toward the left. Here +the One Hundred and Ninetieth deployed as skirmishers, and advanced into +the woods, facing the south-west. We remained in this position during +the night. Meantime the First Division had passed up the Quaker road. At +an old sawmill about half a mile from the Boydton plank-road they +encountered the enemy at four in the evening. A brief but terrific +conflict ensued, in which the enemy was driven back to the junction of +the two roads. We knew from the rapid discharges of artillery and the +heavy volleys of musketry that the great struggle had begun. The First +Division lost 367 killed and wounded, while the loss of the enemy was +heavier. + +At dark on the 29th rain began to fall, and continued during the night +and the following day, making the roads almost impassable. On the +morning of the 30th we left the position held during the previous night, +and moved up the Quaker road. Near the sawmill we turned to the left, +and crossed the Boydton plank-road near Mrs. Butler's. In the field +there were dark patches of blood on the ground, here and there, which +the rain had not yet washed out. Guns that had dropped from the hands of +wounded or slain, knapsacks, haversacks, accouterments stripped from +mangled men ere they were borne from the field, lay scattered on the +ground over which we passed. + +Near the plank-road, we deployed, and advanced across a branch of +Gravelly Run. The right of the regiment rested in open ground, near a +negro's house, and the left extended into the woods in a north-west +direction. I think the division formed on our left, facing the Whiteoak +Road; and we held a gap in our lines, between the Second Corps and our +own. Companies A, B, and C were on the right, in the open ground. + +In advancing to this point, we were under a sharp fire, to which we did +not respond, but hastened to throw up pits. On the left of the regiment +the firing was lively, as the men in the woods did not need to be in +such haste entrenching. We were ordered to "rally by fours," and each +group threw up a separate pit. + +I was in the group with Mike Coleman, and had a chance to notice one of +his peculiarities. As we advanced to this position, he seemed to be +dazed, and almost unconscious of his surroundings. When we halted to +entrench, with my most vigorous exhortations I could not arouse him to +any interest or exertion. We had no shovel, and must make a pit with +rails and stones, which we could gather up in front. I would urge him to +carry stones and put them in place. He would perhaps pick up a couple, +very leisurely, and lay them on the ground, back of the pit, and then +stand with his hands in his pockets. The bullets would whistle around, +or strike the ground near him, and he would look about as if he did not +understand what it all meant. Yet in battle, he was always cool, brave, +and daring. + +In a little while we had a pit, capable of stopping a rifle ball, and +considered ourselves ready for any ordinary emergency. During the day, +the rebels attacked the line on our right, and were repulsed, after a +sharp fight, with considerable loss. They also advanced in our front, +and opened fire on us; but only as accessory to the more determined +movement on our right. The left of the regiment returned the fire; but +we could not see the enemy, and there seemed no reason to justify a +random fire. + +There was a man in Company C who was usually troubled with a deficiency +in his knees at such times. Though sufficiently warlike and lion-hearted +by nature, no doubt, yet his legs were his undoing. They worked very +well, when steered for the rear, but otherwise they were a failure. When +the firing began on the right, he took his position behind the pit with +an air of great determination. Pointing his gun--a Springfield +rifle--toward the enemy, he sat crouching low, and looking intently +toward the brush in front. The boys were sitting or standing around, +dividing their attention between the skirmish, partly visible through +the trees, and R----, whose warlike attitude and evident terror called +forth good-natured raillery. + +"Steady on the left, R----!" + +"Cut her loose, R----!" + +"Give 'em ----, R----!" + +Such were a few of the cheering exhortations which greeted that +redoubtable warrior. To all these he paid no heed. I suppose, in spite +of his fears, a few shells, a sharp volley, or even a charge from the +enemy, would have given him profound satisfaction--if unharmed +himself--as a vindication of his prudent vigilance. Nothing of the kind +occurred, and soon things resumed their former comparative quiet. + +There was not much done during the day, except to get troops in position +and prepare for the struggle of the morrow. There was some skirmishing, +but our losses were not heavy--less than two hundred in the two corps, +the Fifth and Second. + +As night approached, a vidette was placed in front of each pit, near the +edge of the woods, which was about forty yards in advance. It was not +yet dark when the first man was posted here, and fire was at once +opened on him, by invisible marksmen in the woods. + +At first the bullets went whistling over, but soon they came lower, and +began to strike the fence by which he was standing,--right, left, +close,--with a savage snap. Up to this time our vidette stood it with +seeming indifference; but, as the splinters began to fly from the fence, +his indifference gave place to a lively interest, which called forth the +laughter of the sympathizing spectators. He threw down his gun, and +hastily piled rails together for a protection, and took refuge behind +them. + +Night came on, dark and gloomy, the rain continued to fall, and the +soldiers lay down on the water-soaked earth to take what rest they +could. I made a comfortable bed, by leaning two rails against the +rifle-pit. On these I bestowed myself, and drew over me my rubber +blanket. My knapsack was placed under my bed, to protect it from the +rain. My haversack served for a pillow, and, with my cartridge box, +which had not been removed since the morning of the 27th, still strapped +around me, and my rifle in my hands, I sank to sleep, the rain +pattering on the blanket over my head. + +About four o'clock, Sergeant Hasler woke me up to go on vidette post. I +arose and followed him in the deep darkness. Reaching the man whom I was +to relieve, instructions were given in a whisper, and in a moment I was +alone. + +This was the last watch of the night, and if a surprise was contemplated +by the enemy, the attempt would be made during these two hours. The +rebel pickets were close at hand, and occasional sounds and voices had +been heard by my predecessor. The rain dripped monotonously from the +trees, and now and then a breath of wind moaned drearily through their +branches. The ear alone could detect approaching danger; and thus, with +rifle in hand, I listened, jealously noting every sound. + +Time passed on, and at length the almost painful darkness began to +disperse. Objects very near could be indistinctly discerned. What if all +those weary men back there should sleep till clearer light should made +me a mark for the unseen foe, that did such good shooting last evening? +Why were not the videttes, at least, advanced into the underbrush, +instead of being posted at its edge, to be shot at by rebel +sharpshooters? Thoughts like these were running through my mind as +daylight approached. But all anxiety was allayed before long, by the +sergeant calling me to come in. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +We made a hasty breakfast, and then the waiting of the preceding day +continued. Every rifle stood loaded where it could be grasped in a +moment. As time passed on, there was an evident uneasiness on the left. +About ten o'clock, the occasional picket firing increased to the sharper +rattle of skirmishing, and then deepened to the roar of battle, as the +sound of continuous volleys rolled through the woods, mingled with the +bellow of cannon and the hiss of shells. Every man now stood with rifle +in hand, ready for the decisive moment which had evidently come. Above +the noise of musketry and cannon we could sometimes hear the well-known +rebel yell, and knew that they were charging with all their force. Now +the horrid uproar could be heard moving backward toward the run. But now +orders have come. Word is immediately sent along the line to assemble on +the right. The Sixteenth Maine will relieve us. Colonel Pattee mounts +his horse. + +"Fall in!" + +"Right face!" + +"Forward, double quick, march!" + +We plunge into the woods, following the road toward the left. Shells +crash through the trees, and bullets patter around like hail. The left +of the division was flanked and hopelessly turned. The right was +stubbornly resisting, but giving way before the overpowering force that +was crowding down upon it. We halted and faced the front, advancing a +short distance from the road toward the fighting. Wounded men were +limping past. We could see the smoke through the trees, and the men +slowly yielding, fighting as they came. + +Colonel Pattee gave an order, but we could not hear a word. We all knew +what it ought to be, and instantly deployed. The line, broken and +shattered, went back past us, and we met the enemy with the rapid fire +of our repeating rifles. We brought them to a stand in our front. If +fresh troops could have been thrown in on our left, the disaster could +have been retrieved at this point, and the rebel charge hurled back; +but our flanks were exposed, and we were many times outnumbered, and in +danger of being surrounded. There was nothing left but to get out of +that the best we could. + +Colonel Pattee rode to and fro along the line, mounted on his bay horse, +encouraging and directing his men, steadying and inspiring them by word +and example. Under a less devoted commander we would have been captured +or driven ingloriously from the field. Before we reached the edge of the +woods, the enemy had inclosed us in the form of a V, and were pouring +their fire upon us from the front and both flanks. We brought out most +of our wounded, but some had to be abandoned. Except these, not a man +was taken prisoner. Reaching the edge of the woods, I knew that no stand +could be made before crossing the branch of Gravelly Run. I "stood not +upon the order of my going," but went at once, and at a lively pace. +Colonel Pattee was the last man to leave the woods. He came down across +the narrow field, crouching close to the neck of his horse, which was +reeling and staggering from wounds out of which his life-blood gushed at +every plunge. Leaping from the back of his dying steed, he rallied his +men on foot. + +The trees on the side of the ridge which sloped down to the stream +opposite the open ground in which we had intrenched on the 30th, +afforded excellent cover. Here most of the One Hundred and Ninetieth, +and some from other regiments, rallied and faced the enemy. We were not +much more than a heavy skirmish line; but the tide must be stayed here, +at any cost. The rebel lines came surging on, elated with victory; but +before our steady fire they wavered and came to a halt. Thus, with +scarcely the space of a hundred yards between us, we stood and poured at +each other showers of deadly missiles. Rebel shells from somewhere on +our right were grinding through the trees and bursting all around, while +the fire from their infantry was beating on our thin line with terrible +effect. A man close beside me was struck through the face with a rifle +ball, and walked back toward the rear, pale and bleeding. Casting my +eyes toward the left, I saw our color-bearer holding the flag, his face +deadly pale. Brave old Woo-haw had just been struck down by his side and +carried to the rear. Mike Coleman was in his glory. Miller's face wore +its accustomed smile as with grave deliberation he loaded and fired. + +But this state of things could not long continue, and the most hopeful +were growing anxious. A few hundred were fighting the force that had +driven a division. But just now on the ridge behind us, a battery +wheeled into position, and sent charge after charge of grape and +canister whizzing across into the enemy's ranks. Still they did not give +way, and the battle raged more fiercely than ever. I had fired not less +than eighty rounds, and only a few cartridges remained. Others had +nearly exhausted their ammunition. At this point, to our great joy, we +saw a line of battle advancing to our support. Steadily, quietly, they +came on, their battle-flags gleaming through the trees, moving as +orderly as if on dress-parade. As they neared us they quickened their +pace, and charged forward with a tremendous cheer. It was a grand sight +as they swept on, every eye fixed on the smoking timber beyond. But the +little stream threw them into disorder, and they went rushing over the +field without waiting to re-form. As they went over the rising ground +which lay between them and the enemy, they received a terrible volley. +Half their number seemed to go down before it. Back they rolled in +confusion, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and wounded. They +came back to the narrow flat by the run. There, as by one impulse, they +rallied and proceeded to re-form their lines. Not a man shirked. While +they were forming, we opened fire again, over and past them. This lasted +but a few minutes, and they were ready to advance. Steadily, +irresistibly, their line passed up the slope, into the woods, driving +every thing before it. + +Our ammunition wagons had now come up, and we procured a fresh supply. +We immediately moved down the stream and crossed, to drive back the +enemy and retake the ground lost at this point. Here the bank on the +other side was abrupt, rising thirty or forty feet in a very short +distance, when level ground, partly open and partly wooded, extended +toward the west and north. On this steep bank we formed for the charge, +three lines of battle. The right of the regiment was detached, and +placed on the left of the lines of battle to cover the flank. When the +advance was made we deployed at skirmish distance, at a right angle +with the line, and moving in the same direction. In this advance, which +was made about two in the afternoon, we that were on the flank did not +fire a shot. We were not much exposed, though some bullets whistled +around. + +We finally reached a farm-house in the midst of a large plantation. Here +we halted. We found some of our wounded abandoned by the enemy, who +seemed to have disappeared from our front. Perhaps the decisive battle +might have been fought on this afternoon instead of the following day, +by pushing the Fifth Corps across the White Oak Road on the right of the +intrenched position of the rebels. The course followed was probably the +safer one. + +At first the house which we had reached seemed to be deserted; but a +little later we found the family, husband, wife, and daughter, concealed +in a cave in the garden. The man was a tall, gray-haired old gentleman, +all of them well dressed and evidently intelligent and refined people. +The old man was so frightened that he could scarcely speak. They seemed +to expect brutal treatment from the barbarians of the North, who, as it +happened, were quite their equals in culture and humanity. + +About five in the evening General Bartlett's brigade of the First +Division was sent across the country to threaten the flank of the enemy, +who had now pressed Sheridan back to Dinwiddie Court-house. They marched +out past us toward the south-west, and disappeared from sight. + +Darkness soon came on, and we prepared to pass another night under arms. +It had been a hard day. We had lost eighteen hundred men, and inflicted +a loss of one thousand on the enemy. Our losses fell chiefly on the +Second and Third Divisions. Since ten o'clock the struggle had been +almost continuous, and night found the enemy foiled in his purpose of +driving us from our advanced position, which we now held more firmly +than ever; but this was all the gain for either side. Some time after +dark rations were distributed, and we lay down to sleep. + +All the accounts of this battle that have come under my notice contain +statements which I am not able to explain, if they are correct. It is +generally stated that the corps advanced toward the White Oak road, the +Second Division in front, the Third next, and the First in the rear; +that the Second Division was driven back on the Third, both on the +First, and that all were forced back to or beyond the Boydton road. From +the preceding narrative it will be seen that this was not true of the +right of the corps. When we were compelled to fall back, in the +forenoon, we did not retreat more than three or four hundred yards. The +point at which we rallied must have been fully half a mile from the +plank-road. If the rest of the corps did not make a stand until they +reached the plank-road, it is rather surprising that a rebel force was +not thrown across the run on our left, by which we would have been +flanked and driven away or captured. The run was a favorable position +for defense, while the vicinity of the plank-road was not so good. +Veteran soldiers like those of the Fifth Corps would certainly rally at +the former point. It is probable that some went back farther, while +enough stopped at the run to check the rebel advance. We must have +fought nearly three-quarters of an hour before we were re-enforced. The +troops sent to our relief were from the Second Corps. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Pugnavimus ensibus. + We fought with our swords. + + --REGNER LODBROG. + + +About midnight the Second Division was ordered down the plank-road to +join Sheridan. Bartlett's brigade had proceeded as far as Gravelly Run, +reaching it at dark. They found the stream swollen, the bridge gone, and +the enemy strongly posted on the other side. The brigade was withdrawn +during the night. It was no easy task to move troops under the +circumstances. Orders had to go from corps commander down through +brigade, regimental, and company officers to the privates, who had to be +aroused from sleep and got into ranks without noise. + +Through the deep mud and intense darkness we moved toward Dinwiddie +Court-house. The darkness was so deep that we could tell nothing about +localities. We must have marched past the Court-house. We might easily +have passed the village without being aware of it. We then about-faced +and retraced our steps for some distance. There is a road leads north +from Dinwiddie toward Five Forks. We may have taken this, or we may have +followed the plank-road a couple of miles farther back to a road which +leads across to the one just mentioned. However this may be, daylight +found us confronting the enemy somewhere in this vicinity. The only +force found was a picket or skirmish line, which was easily driven away. +The Second Division massed near the residence of J. M. Brooks, on the +Five Forks road. Here we remained from about 7 A. M. until 10 A. M. +During this time the other two divisions arrived, and took position a +little north of us on the same road. When we reached this point the One +Hundred and Ninetieth was thrown forward in skirmish line. + +Meantime, the rebels had retired to their fortified position at Five +Forks. Their works extended more than a mile, east and west, making a +slight angle with the White Oak road, turning northward about a +half-mile east of the Ford road. A heavy skirmish-line was deployed in +front of their left, and extending some distance eastward, and south of +the White Oak road. This force consisted of fourteen hundred riflemen, +reputed the best in Lee's army. In this position they awaited our +attack. + +About ten o'clock we began to move, taking the road leading past +Gravelly Run Church. At first there seemed to be some uncertainty about +the movements and position of the enemy; but it was soon evident that +his entire force was in our front. The column advanced along the road, +with frequent brief halts, which indicated that we were nearing the foe. +Erelong we could hear skirmishing, and an occasional discharge of +cannon. Ambulances were passing, freighted with wounded cavalrymen, and +later, stretcher-bearers, with their bloody burdens, met us, as we moved +slowly toward the front. + +Near Gravelly Run Church, our line of battle was formed. The Second +Division was on the left, the Third on the right, the First in reserve, +close behind the other two, a little on the right of the center. The two +divisions in front were arranged as follows: Each division placed two +brigades in front, in two lines each, and the remaining brigade in the +rear of the center, in two lines. In the Second Division, the Maryland +Brigade was on the left, ours on the right, and Winthrop's in reserve. +The One Hundred and Ninety-first, including the fragment of the One +Hundred and Fifty-seventh, and the Fourth Delaware, were the first line +of battle, under Colonel Pattee. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +ordered forward to skirmish. We deployed in the woods, and waited for +the completion of the arrangements going on in our rear. A few rods +farther on there was open ground, which, in our front, gradually sloped +down to woods. Opposite the left of the regiment, the open ground +extended farther toward the north and west, and on that side was a +slight hollow, with rough, broken ground beyond. Rebel skirmishers were +in the woods in our front, now exchanging shots with cavalry in the open +ground near us. Our skirmish-line was ready for business in a few +minutes; but it was some time before the divisions were formed, in +readiness for the assault. + +If you should attempt to form an idea of that thin line of waiting men, +who were to lead the way in the decisive struggle, which all knew was at +hand, the mental picture would probably differ widely from the reality. +Cast your eye to the left, along the line. You can see a goodly +distance. The wood is not very dense. That does not look much like +"battle's magnificently stern array." There is nothing magnificent or +stern about it. You expected something of a scene. There is nothing of +the sort. Instead, these men surprise you by their quiet bearing and +seeming indifference. Most of them are young men. A few days ago they +were so neat and tidy in dress and appearance, you might almost mistake +that they were college students playing soldier. Now they are dirty, +smeared with mud, half wet still from the rain, which only ceased this +morning. Some are seated, leaning against the trees, taking it easy, +conversing as pleasantly as if these were the ordinary occurrences of +life. That bright-faced fellow, of Company E, is diligently polishing a +little rusty spot, which he has discovered on his gun barrel. If there +is time, he will scrape the mud from his shoes, and from his pants, +which are stiff with it, almost to the knees. A few are nervous and +anxious, but most of the really faint-hearted took advantage of the hard +march last night to secure absence to-day. Dunn is on hand,--he that +took himself from the field yesterday with such agility, at the +beginning of the fight, and gave such comical reasons for his +unceremonious flight, when he came up in the evening. R---- is in the +line, looking black, silent, and still troubled in his knees. Do these +careless men realize that they are about to decide the fate of a great +nation? Perhaps they are unconscious of the greatness of the present +hour; but what of that? They stood in their lot. + +But our waiting is over at last; and, at the word of command, every +soldier is in his place. These men were _not_ stolid, ignorant, nor +inexperienced. Their thinned ranks show how well they know what battle +means. You can see some pale faces, and lips compressed, as +"FORWARD" passes down the line. We pass out of the woods into +the open field. A few rods ahead, some mounted cavalrymen are firing +toward the woods, which conceal the enemy. We can see a puff of smoke +here and there among the trees. A little farther, and the cavalry gallop +away to the right, and bullets begin to whistle past, some over, some +tossing up the dirt at our feet. It would be a waste of powder to return +the fire at this distance; besides, we are going down there. But the +bullets begin to come closer. They are fairly hot as they hiss around +us. We quicken our pace. It is five hundred yards to the woods. The men +on our left open fire--four hundred yards, three, the line slackens a +little, and a volley, and another, and another, bursts in quick +succession from our Spencer rifles. Then a cheer, as we dash for the +woods at headlong speed, yelling and firing as we go. The rebel +skirmishers give way before our charge, and the woods are gained. + +Up to this time I had not looked back. I supposed we had advanced about +a thousand yards, and would soon encounter the main force of the enemy. +As we reached the woods, I turned to see if the line of battle was yet +in sight. My eyes fell upon the most stirring scene I ever witnessed. +This was the grandeur, the sublimity of war. The corps was coming in +order of battle, line after line sweeping on with steady step. Their +front extended nearly a mile across the open ground, guns at a +right-shoulder, glittering in the sunlight like silver, battle-flags +fluttering in the air. In front, the skirmishers were fighting savagely; +on the left a score of cannon were thundering, shells screaming out +their horrid warning, as they leaped from the smoking guns. But this +living avalanche swept on in stern silence, as if there breathed within +it a great soul, which scorned to speak or strike but once. A single +glance took in the inspiring scene. I gazed but a moment, and then +hurried into the woods. + +The ground here consisted of alternate ridges and depressions, covered +with trees and bushes, with occasional open places. It was hard ground +to fight over, every ridge serving as a rallying point, and affording a +superior position for defense. Our advance was now a succession of +charges. When the rebels were driven from one ridge, they rallied at the +next. A short distance from the edge of the woods, where we first +encountered them, was a little brook, running nearly east; along its +banks were some large rocks, while a few rods nearer were piles of wood, +logs, and other means of shelter. Quite a large group of rebels made a +stand here. Sergeant Hasler, Crocket, one or two others and myself, +centered our attention on these, and advanced upon them, at first taking +what cover we could among the trees, firing rapidly as we went. As we +were pressing forward, my foot tripped on something, and I came to the +ground with stunning force. Crocket, who was a few yards to my right, +hurried toward me, his face the very picture of anxious sympathy, and +inquired if I was struck. Recovering my breath, in a moment I was on my +feet again, and assured him I was all right. + +We now rushed on them with a cheer, and they broke and fled. We were so +close on them, that seven of their number took refuge behind a large +rock, while three or four more fled across the brook, leaving one of +their number wounded on its bank. The men behind the rock now waved hats +past it in token of surrender, and soon they were marching toward the +rear in charge of Crocket. The wounded rebel whom I had seen fall, lay +about a rod to the left, shot through the thigh. I gave him a drink, +filled my canteen, and went on. + +We had now become scattered, and made our way onward without much regard +to order or concert of action. For a while the two lines were mingled +together in the underbrush, so that you scarcely knew which way to look +for friend or foe. Sometimes I was with others, and again entirely +alone. The woods resounded with the yells of the combatants and the +crack of rifles, as the deadly fight raged along the line. + +Passing through the corner of an open field, I noticed some rebels eight +or ten hundred yards to the left and front in such a position that I +could give them a flank fire, while just a short distance from me in the +field was a stone pile. The temptation was too strong to be resisted. I +repaired to the stone pile and opened on them. At the first shot they +looked to see whence it came; the next, they dodged, and hugged close to +their rifle-pit, and then discovering me, they returned the fire. Their +first shots went wild, but they soon got the range, and began to strike +the stone pile. I gave them a few parting shots from my Spencer, and +went on into the woods. + +The skirmishing continued at close range, as before. The rebels fought +stubbornly from point to point. Their works seemed farther off than we +expected, but the crisis must come soon. We had just passed over a +ridge, and the rebels had made a stand among the timber beyond. A slight +depression lay between us, down which a gully had been washed by the +water. None of our men were in sight, but I could hear their firing in +the brush, right and left. + +Wishing to gain the timber beyond the gully, I started forward without +waiting to recharge my rifle, which I had just fired. The trees which I +wished to gain were not more than forty feet away, and the gully about +half that distance. I had gone but a step or two when a rebel soldier +rose to his feet in the gully, facing me, with rifle in hand. It was a +groundhog case. As he rose, I rushed at him, aiming at his heart and +calling on him to surrender. He instantly dropped his gun. It was all +over in less time than it takes to pen this sentence. His gun was loaded +and capped. We waited till the line of battle came up. As they pushed +through the brush behind us, seeing a rebel soldier, a dozen rifles were +leveled on us; but they saw how it was in time to withhold their fire. +Leaving my prisoner with them, I started forward again. + +We soon reached an abrupt rise of ground beyond which we could not +advance. Before us was the left of the enemy's intrenched position. We +had done our work. We had driven every thing before us, and others must +face the storm now. Some kneeling, others lying flat on the ground, we +continued to fire and waited for the line of battle. In a few minutes we +could see them coming on through the woods. A short distance behind us +was a small patch of swampy, boggy ground. As this was approached orders +were given and executed as coolly as if on the parade ground. The +portion of the line opposite the swamp folded back of the other toward +the left, and when the ground was passed, went back to place again +without the least delay or confusion. + +As they moved up the bank upon which we were, a volley burst upon them +before which they wavered and swerved backward a few paces, as here and +there a man reeled and staggered or sank to the earth. There was no +panic--not a back turned--only that instinctive shrinking which Life +sometimes feels when Death unexpectedly thrusts out his ghastly face +through the smoke of battle. A color-bearer sprang forward with the +battle-flag. He halted beside me and rested the end of the flagstaff on +the ground. He half-faced about toward the men. His voice rang out like +a bugle blast, as he raised his arm and shouted: + +"Here are your colors!" + +The line responded with a yell as it sprang forward, and soon was +wrapped in the sulphurous smoke of its volleys which it thundered +against the foe. + +As the line moved on, I stepped behind them and passed farther to the +right, and again went out ahead. The "left wheel" which the corps made +in this battle resulted naturally from the position of the forces +engaged. If we had moved directly forward in the direction in which we +started, only the left of the Second Division would have struck the +rebel's works; but the men posted in their front, as they were forced +back, retreated toward the north-west, and we naturally swung around in +following them. + +We were now in front of the Third Division, the rebels still contesting +every foot of ground. We finally drove them across an open field about a +hundred yards wide. A road was on our left; at least all the Bucktails +in sight were on the right of the road. A house stood near the road next +to the woods, out of which we had driven the rebels, who were now +firing from the farther side of the field. We were crossing the field, +and some had reached the woods beyond, when the line of battle came up +by the house behind us and opened fire. We hurried back to escape their +bullets, which we considered more dangerous than those of the enemy. I +stood behind them near the house, watching their firing, very much +disgusted with the performance. There was a young lady in the house, +apparently the only occupant. She was almost wild with fright, and gave +vent to her feelings in screams and cries of terror. + +A little lieutenant was prancing around back of the line, flourishing +his saber in gallant style. He accosted me, and demanded why I was +standing back, doing nothing. I replied that I did not belong on +his--line, and made some comments perhaps not strictly polite. This +added wrath to his excitement. I think this must have been the first +time he had smelled gunpowder, except at a distance, and he supposed +they were doing grandly. There was no telling how much effort it had +cost him to get his courage screwed up sufficiently to bring him thus +far; and to have this dirty, mud-bedraggled scrub of a boy intimate +that the whole outfit should be furnished with long ears, was too much. +As Homer would say, "his diaphragm became black all over." At this point +Captain Birkman appeared on the scene and announced that he was +responsible for me. This ended the matter. + +After firing awhile, this brigade started to advance across the field. +The regiment on the left moved up in good order as far as the edge of +the woods. The others straggled forward in disorder. Both officers and +men seemed to be confused. By the time they reached the woods they were +little better than a mob, and had to halt to re-form. I think the man in +command of the brigade was responsible for this. I now started out to +skirmish again, intending to keep in front of the regiment on the left. +As I reached the point where the road entered the woods, I met Mike +Coleman coming on a run, and greatly excited. + +"Why, Mike, I thought you were kilt! I heard you were shot in the head +back yonder." + +Scarcely pausing for a reply, he went on: + +"We've got them! we've got them! We're right in their rear. We'll take +them all! Why don't these men come on?" + +With this he hurried back to the men just behind us, and in a breath +told them the situation, and urged them to come on without delay. To his +great disgust, his appeals were unheeded, and he turned to me saying we +would go alone. But now we saw some of the Bucktails coming forward, and +soon about twenty of us were deployed at skirmish distance, advancing on +the rebel rear. Their line could be seen stretching far to right and +left. Our Spencers rattled among the trees as we rained the bullets upon +them. They turned on us savagely, and their rifles blazed and flashed in +reply. Presently their fire slackened. They right-faced, and began to +move off toward the west, at first with some order; but soon they were +only a panic-stricken mob, fleeing in all directions, some to the right, +some to the left, others toward us. The latter we disarmed and sent to +the rear without any guard, and kept up a fire on those who were running +to the right. They threw down their guns by hundreds, and surrendered. + +Toward the close a rebel soldier came toward me at full speed, with his +gun at a trail-arms. I did not notice him until he was within +twenty-five or thirty yards of me. I yelled at him to surrender; but he +came on without checking his speed. I stepped from the tree by which I +was standing, and leveled my rifle on him. + +"Drop that gun!" I yelled again. + +He dropped it as if it had burned him, and hustled off his +accouterments, and threw them on the ground. I made him stay with me, +intending to take him back myself. My cartridges were about exhausted, +and I fired all but one or two at the rear of the fleeing rebels, and +started back with the prisoner. + +The sun had now gone down. The moon was shining peacefully. How quickly +those fateful hours of battle had passed! I started for the point where +our line had formed, expecting to dispose of my prisoner there, and then +sleep all night. As we passed along, the dead lay scattered here and +there as they fell. There was something startlingly solemn in those +motionless forms, the stony eyes staring in the moonlight. + +Beyond the church I found a large number of prisoners, and turned over +my man to the guards, and started to return. I was joined by L. C. +Walb, who had also been back with prisoners. The church had been turned +into a hospital. It was full of wounded, and many were laid on the +ground outside. A few rods past the church we lay down to sleep. There +came a reaction after the excitement of the day. Nerves, strained to +their utmost tension for hours, relaxed, and seemed to tingle with the +pain of weariness. The jarring noises of battle were reproduced as the +senses glided through that strange interval between waking and sleeping, +and more than once I came back to consciousness with a start, scarcely +able, for a moment, to distinguish the real and the unreal. A low, +moaning sound came from the hundreds of wounded about the church; not +any single groan or cry of pain, but only a sound as if the hurried +breath from suffering lips smote upon the strings of an unseen harp, +which sounded out its sad cadences through the air. But at last I sunk +into a sound sleep. + +Our losses were less severe than on the preceding day. Eight hundred and +thirty-four were killed and wounded, and fifty-four were missing. The +opposing force of the enemy was practically annihilated. Three thousand +were killed and wounded, and five thousand five hundred were made +prisoners. Eleven stand of colors were taken, and four guns, with their +caissons; also wagons and other material. + +Captain Birkman, of Company A, says of this battle, in an extract kindly +furnished from his diary: "The most successful attack I ever witnessed." +It was a decisive battle, and settled the fate of the Confederacy. Since +leaving camp on the morning of March 29th, three days before, the Fifth +Corps had lost nearly one-fourth of its number in battles. + +In this engagement the direct assault was made by the Second Division, +the other divisions swinging around on the enemy's left flank and rear. +The Third Brigade first struck, and broke through the rebel works. +Sergeant Huck, with the colors of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, was +the first man across the rebel rifle-pits. Colonel Pattee, commanding +the first line, was the first mounted officer across, and leaped his +horse over the breastwork while the foremost of the assailants were +crowding over. They found themselves in the midst of the panic-stricken +rebels, who threw down their arms and surrendered in large numbers. The +Maryland brigade struck the rebel position almost at the same time, and +with like results. The division then passed on down along the rear of +the rebel position, doubling them up rapidly, and driving them in +confusion. + +We have read how the infantry faltered, till General Sheridan led them +to the charge. We venture the opinion that this is wholly imaginary. +These two brigades moved upon the rebel works as steadily and swiftly as +the nature of the ground would allow. General Sheridan's reputation does +not need any artificial bolstering, least of all at the expense of +deserving men and officers. + +The arbitrary removal of General Warren from the command of the Fifth +Corps was unknown to the soldiers until the following morning. We heard +only expressions of surprise and disapproval. It must be a cause of +regret to all fair-minded men, that he was not allowed to share in this +grand success with the men whom he had so long commanded. He was held in +high esteem by the private soldiers, who regarded him as a brave and +skillful officer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +The battle of Five Forks was fought on Saturday. Sabbath morning the sun +rose bright and clear. When we camped the night before, Walb and myself +planned for a substantial night's rest. For the first time since +breaking camp, on the night of March 28th, we unpacked our blankets and +made a bed. It was after sunrise when we awoke. Far to the right we +could hear the low grumble of artillery, sounding like the roar of +distant thunder. Since four o'clock in the morning a great battle had +been raging in front of Petersburg, from the Appomattox on the right, to +Hatcher's Run on the left. + +Without waiting for breakfast, we went on to find the regiment. They +were camped not far from where the roads crossed which formed the famous +"Forks." At an early hour we were in motion, toward the right, where +heavy and continuous firing could be distinctly heard. We passed by the +ground where we had fought the evening before. The rebel dead were +strewn far and near, like sheaves of grain in a harvest-field, showing +how destructive had been our fire. The One Hundred and Ninetieth was +deployed on the flank, and moved parallel to the column, at skirmish +distance, about two hundred yards from it. + +After marching for some time in the direction of Petersburg, we bore to +the left, and about noon we reached the South Side Railroad, near +Southerland's Station, and marched some distance along it. Beyond the +road we found strong rifle-pits, which the enemy had abandoned. During +the day news reached us that the works in front of Petersburg had been +taken, and there was general rejoicing. That night we bivouaced near the +Appomattox River. + +April 3d we moved, at eight in the morning. Some firing was heard on our +left, and many prisoners met us as we marched along. We found cannon +abandoned in the road, and there was evidence on every hand that the +rebels were hard pressed. Our general course was along what is called +the river road, though we did not follow it all the time. Our movements +and progress had to be governed by the supposed movements of the enemy. +At one time we were deployed as skirmishers, and went down to the +river. I do not know the reason of this precaution, but no enemy was +found. We camped that night along the road. + +April 4th we resumed the march, soon after sunrise. We were short of +provisions, and foragers were sent out to secure what could be gathered +from the country. I was out in the afternoon. While returning in the +evening, after sun-down, I was shot at by some one, when quite near the +column. That night we reached the Danville Railroad, near Jettersville, +and camped in order of battle, about three miles from Lee's army. For +this reason no fires were made. We had been thrown between him and +Danville, which he was aiming to reach. Here Lee made a mistake. It was +his duty to know of our presence here during the night. He should have +attacked us promptly by daylight on the following morning; and, if +possible, overwhelmed us before the rest of the army could arrive. There +was little if any force confronting him, except the Fifth Corps, not +more than twelve thousand men. I think we reached Jettersville in +advance of the main body of the cavalry. + +The morning of the 5th found us intrenched, and expecting an attack from +the enemy. Rebel troops could be seen in the distance, and we supposed +they were forming for battle. We stood behind the works waiting. Their +skirmishers advanced and opened fire on our outposts. Hour after hour +passed. At length the Second and Sixth corps arrived, and Lee's +opportunity was lost. + +April 6th we advanced, at first with some caution. But Lee was in full +retreat toward Lynchburg, and we followed. During the day, a body of +rebel cavalry made a dash at the wagon train, and we were ordered back +to drive them off. We went back about three miles at double-quick. We +met quite a number of men who had been skulking with the train, now +rushing for the front at full speed. As we witnessed their +consternation, we were entirely reconciled to the loss of a few wagons, +just to see the "coffee brigade" shaken up. The rebels had been repulsed +by our cavalry before we reached the scene. We remained with the train, +and camped with it during the night. We marched twenty-nine miles, and +arrived within five miles of High Bridge. + +On the 7th we still remained with the train. We passed a place where a +rebel wagon train had been attacked by our cavalry. Ammunition and +stores of all kinds were strewn everywhere. Wagon loads of shells had +been emptied out, and lay scattered through the woods. + +Some time during the day, we had halted by the road, and, as our rest +was quite prolonged, some of the men had fallen asleep. Among others, +Captain Birkman was sleeping soundly, perhaps dreaming of the peace that +was now almost conquered. The woods were burning, a few rods on our +right. The fire at last reached a lot of shells, which had been thrown +from the wagons, to keep them from falling into the hands of the +Yankees. They went off with a frightful clatter. The captain bounced +from the ground as if a hornet had lifted him. "FALL IN!" he +shouted, grasping his sword. Of course, all who were awake comprehended +the situation, and prudently lay still, to avoid the flying fragments. +As the truth dawned upon him, the captain at first looked "sold" and +disgusted, and then joined in the general laughter. + +We halted that night near Prince Edward's Court-house, after a march of +eighteen miles. Here we rejoined the brigade. + +April 8th we made the most trying march of all. We lost some time by +going out of the way, and made frequent halts during the forenoon, as if +uncertain of the direction, or suspicious of the movement of the enemy. +About noon we reached Prospect Station, thirteen miles from Farmville. +In the afternoon we settled down to hard marching. We did not halt for +supper. The sun went down, night came on, and still we marched on. By +nine o'clock conversation had ceased--no breath could be wasted in +words. Even "Sport" could no longer muster spirit to crack a joke on any +body. You could only hear the "tramp, tramp" of feet, and the occasional +clatter of a saber. But there was no grumbling. We knew this was the +last forced march. One more blow, and treason would be crushed in the +dust. As the column, from time to time, became clogged by some +obstruction ahead, and halted for a moment, the men would sink down on +the ground, most of them just where they stopped, to catch brief rest +for their aching limbs. At such times I would be sound asleep in a +moment, and more than once the column was marching on and myself with it +when I awoke. + +Midnight came, and still we pressed on relentlessly. About one in the +morning we saw lights ahead, which indicated that a halt had been made. +Never did rest and sleep seem sweeter, nor a mile seem longer. It +required a distinct effort of the will to compel each single step. But +at last the task was accomplished. We had marched forty-two miles since +sunrise, and lay within striking distance of the enemy. + +The company was represented by Dunn, Bovard, Mike Coleman, Sergeant +Hasler, and myself. The rest had broken down under the terrible strain +and fallen behind. Without removing any thing, I threw myself on the +ground, and knew no more until I was aroused at daylight to go on. + +Just after sunrise we halted--for breakfast, they said. It was rather a +grim sort of a joke. Scarcely one in fifty had any thing to eat. A few +had coffee, and fires were made, and we went through the regulation +motions of getting breakfast. This done, we started on again. + +It soon became evident that the enemy had been brought to bay. The +confused noise of battle rang through the air. We had halted in the +woods, and stood in the road waiting, sure that the end had come. + +Colonel Pattee was on his horse, half faced about toward his men, +evidently impatient and eager. An aid gallops up with orders. Colonel +Pattee looks happy. He gives his old horse an extra jerk: + +"FORWARD! DOUBLE QUICK! MARCH!" + +On we go toward the scene of conflict. + +Again Colonel Pattee's voice rings out: "DEPLOY SKIRMISHERS!" +and in less than a minute a line of Bucktails stretches through the +woods, facing the enemy. There is no waiting. "FORWARD!" passes +down the line, and we move out into the open field in front. A hundred +yards ahead the cavalry are stubbornly facing a heavy force of rebel +infantry that is crowding on them and steadily pushing them back. Now +and then a man falls from his horse or rides back wounded. We were on +lower ground than they, and the bullets whistled above us; but as we +went up the rising ground, they began to hiss around our heads. We +double-quicked forward and began firing. + +Between us and the town there was a hollow, and on the farther ridge a +road led down through the village. There was a wood on the left at the +head of the hollow, and on the right a narrow strip of timber ran up to +within two hundred yards of the road. The right of the regiment extended +past the woods, or rather only a small portion of the left would strike +them in moving straight forward. As we came to the ridge overlooking the +hollow, we saw the rebel troops drawn up on the opposite slope. Soon +they gave way and moved off toward the town out of sight, and a battery +from the ridge opened with shell. + +As soon as the battery opened fire, Robbins, myself, and two or three +others started toward it. A rail fence ran along the hollow proper on +the side next to us. As we neared the fence, Robbins, who was a few +steps in advance, stopped. + +"We had better stay here," he said, as he deliberately aimed at the +battery. + +"There are rebels in the woods there," meaning on the left. As he spoke, +a bullet from the left clipped close over his gun barrel. + +"See that!" he added, his aim not in the least disturbed. The gunners +were shooting over us, as we supposed, at the line of battle farther +back. But we had only fired a few shots when a shell burst in front of +us, its fragments scattering dirt, fence rails, and splinters for yards +around. + +"Well! I think we'll go on," said Robbins. On we went to the farther +side of the hollow, and under shelter of the bank, we kept up our fire +with good effect. We would dodge their shells as they fired, and then +rise and fire till they were ready again. Some riflemen in the vicinity +of the battery gave us trouble, but failed to hit any of us. + +After this had continued for some time, the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth +Pennsylvania, a Zouave regiment, came down behind us on a double-quick, +deployed as skirmishers. As they neared the fence a shell from the +battery screamed over our heads, and exploding, killed one of their men. +They heeded this no more than if it had not occurred, and came on with a +cheer. Giving a parting shot to the battery which was now pulling out, +we started on, bearing to the right toward the town. As we neared the +point of the strip of woods on our right, Ginter, of Company E, stopped +and sat down flat on the ground, remarking that it was getting mighty +hot. I was of the same opinion, and halted a few feet in advance of him +and fired a few shots in a kneeling posture. While thus engaged, I heard +the sound of a blow behind me, and looking around, I saw Ginter tumbling +on the ground, his heels in the air. He quickly gathered himself up to a +sitting posture with a very rueful countenance, giving vent to his +feelings in sundry expletives, as soon as he could get breath enough to +deliver them properly. With many a doleful grunt he examined the extent +of his injuries. A bullet had struck the belt of his cartridge-box, +nearly over the heart. The ball had force enough almost to pierce the +leather belt and severely bruise the chest, raising a lump half as large +as a hen's egg, and very painful. Some fellow off to the left had +reached for us, and well-nigh finished Ginter. He did not go to the +rear, but kept on, holding his clothing from the painful bruise, too +much engaged in this to do any more shooting. + +A few minutes later, a rebel officer galloped along the line with a +white flag. We were almost to the road at this time, at the outskirts of +the town. We did not think of continuing the fight any longer, but some +rebel soldiers on the left past the town, fired on us when we exposed +ourselves, and we returned the treacherous fire, and advanced across the +road. By the road, facing us as we approached, stood a negro cabin, out +of which a rebel officer came as we reached it. A few words were +exchanged between him and Adjutant Wright, and I think he was allowed to +go down the road to where the main body of the rebel troops had halted. +Our fire continuing, Colonel Pattee rode up to us, excitedly, to learn +what it meant. Adjutant Wright explained that rebel skirmishers were +still firing at us. + +"Have this firing stopped at once," he said; and seeing a protest in +Wright's face, he went on: "I tell you, you're excited, adjutant, and +the men are excited. They've surrendered, and this must cease." + +"Excited!" was the reply. "If they want to surrender, let _them_ cease +firing." + +At this moment a bullet whizzed past the colonel's head, and killed a +cavalry man on the bank beyond him. He rode off to the right, and left +us to manage it to suit ourselves. In a little while the firing from +both sides ceased. The Army of the Potomac had accomplished its +mission. We had fought our last battle. The One Hundred and Ninetieth +and One Hundred and Ninety-first had proved themselves, to the last +hour, worthy successors of the Pennsylvania Reserves. + +The preceding narrative will be better understood by a fuller statement +of the part taken by the entire regiment in the engagement. The original +intention was for Colonel Pattee to connect the right of his command +with the First Division and the left with the command of General Ord. On +reaching the front, he discovered that the cavalry were hard pressed, +and would soon be dislodged from the woods, which would have to be +regained at great disadvantage, and perhaps serious loss. He, therefore, +ordered the regiment forward to their relief. Advancing rapidly, they +relieved the cavalry and engaged the enemy before the troops on either +flank were in position. Colonel Pattee now found his skirmish line +confronting heavy lines of battle, and back of these, on the ridge near +the village, in position to sweep all the open ground in front, Lee's +artillery was massed. He at once thinned the exposed center and right of +his line, strengthened the left, and charged boldly forward upon the +enemy, throwing his left around upon their flank. Meantime the right +pressed rapidly on, and engaged the rebel infantry in the open ground, +and, later, the artillery on the ridge. Their infantry was routed, and +driven back over the ridge, where their officers tried in vain to rally +and lead them forward. Their artillery resisted with desperation until +their commander was killed. By this time many of their horses had been +shot, and they tried to drag the guns away by hand. But now the left of +the regiment, under Colonel Pattee, came charging down on their right +flank, bursting upon them like a tornado; and literally mingled +together, almost fighting hand to hand, they went pell-mell toward the +village. Here the flag of truce met them, and soon hostilities ceased. +Rarely has a more brilliant and successful attack been executed in +modern warfare, and it reflects the highest credit upon Colonel Pattee +and his command. Rebel officers who witnessed it spoke in the highest +terms of the splendid and reckless courage with which this skirmish line +dashed upon the heavy masses of the enemy. + +The death of the cavalryman, to which reference has been made, was a +cause of great regret to all who witnessed it. He was a brave young man. +When relieved by the Bucktails, he might have retired from the field +with honor, as did most of the command to which he belonged. He +preferred, however, to remain. Falling in with Colonel Pattee, he fought +by his side during all the engagement, charged with him in the last +deadly onset, and escaped unharmed, to fall by the bullet of a cowardly +truce-breaker. + +Lieutenant Hayden, of the One Hundred and Ninety-first, a brave young +officer, formerly of the Eleventh Reserves, lost a leg in this battle. +It seemed hard to suffer death or maiming in this, the last hour, let us +hope, that the nation will know of civil strife; but let us honor the +men who were thus faithful to the end. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Generals Grant, Meade, Ord, and others came down the road to the +village. General Lee and his associates came in the opposite direction. +They met at a house about two hundred yards from us, in full view of the +place where we stood. Here the surrender was completed. + +Twenty-six thousand men were surrendered. Besides those who had +straggled and scattered through the country, or willfully deserted, Lee +had lost in battle, since March 29th, 25,750 men. Both armies were much +exhausted, and if Lee could have shaken off the clutch of Sheridan, and +continued his retreat to Lynchburg, Grant would have been compelled to +abandon the pursuit within three days, from lack of food for his army. + +As soon as a few wagons came up with provisions, rations were issued to +both armies; but there was not a sufficient supply. We remained on the +skirmish line till the 10th, when we returned to the brigade. Several +days of wet weather followed, and the wagon-trains could not be brought +up. On the 15th we began the homeward march with empty haversacks. + +We camped that night at Pamplin's Station. In the evening George Dunn +stole a couple of the meanest, most diminutive, runty little hams you +ever saw. I helped him eat them, and am willing to bear a fair share of +the blame; but a country that can produce such hams needs +reconstruction. On the 16th we reached Farmville. The next day we camped +eight miles from Burksville. At the latter place we rested a few days, +before resuming the march to Washington. Here the news first reached us +of Lincoln's assassination. A number of men, who had been taken +prisoners during 1864, rejoined us. + +I was at headquarters one evening, for some purpose, when a soldier +accosted me and inquired for the One Hundred and Ninetieth. He was +ragged, thin, and pale. His hair and beard were of long growth. Looking +into his haggard face and sunken eyes, there was not an outline I could +recognize. + +"The One Hundred and Ninetieth is right here. I belong to it." + +"Are there any of Company D of the Eleventh Reserves here?" + +"Yes; I belonged to Company D." + +"You did!" + +He leaned toward me, looked intently a moment, then reached out his +hand. + +"Why, Mac; I'm glad to find you." + +As his face brightened I recognized him. It was Wm. Kenedy, of the old +company. He was made prisoner May 5th, in the Wilderness. He had escaped +from prison, and made his way through the country to our lines, +traveling by night, hiding by day, fed by the slaves, nursed by them +through a fever contracted in the swamps. Rest, food, and clean clothes +soon made him look like himself again. + +But my narrative must hasten to a close. We resumed the march, passed +through Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and camped at last on +Arlington Heights. We participated in the grand review. It was something +of more than ordinary interest, to see and compare the two great armies. +Most of Sherman's army had but just arrived, and were dusty and +travel-worn; while the army of the Potomac had been resting for some +time, and looked fresher and more sprightly. The latter wore caps, and +the former hats, which gave them a more somber appearance. I was also of +the impression that there were more young men in our army than in +Sherman's. + +June 28th we were mustered out, and started the next day for Harrisburg, +where we were discharged, July 2d. + +The report of the Adjutant-general of Pennsylvania gives these two +regiments, the One Hundred and Ninetieth and One Hundred and +Ninety-first, no credit for active service subsequent to the battle of +Welden Railroad, August, 1864. At this time, Colonel Carle, of the One +Hundred and Ninety-first, and Colonel Hartshorn, of the One Hundred and +Ninetieth, were made prisoners, with the greater part of their +respective commands, and remained in captivity till after the cessation +of hostilities. The remainder of the two regiments acted together as one +organization, under command of Colonel Pattee, as mentioned on page 118, +until the close of the war. This was by far the longest and most +brilliant period of their history; but of this, the public records of +the State make no mention. At the time of the muster out, Colonel Pattee +was absent, and the report of the One Hundred and Ninetieth was made +out by, or under the supervision of, Colonel Hartshorn; that of the One +Hundred and Ninety-first by Colonel Carle. We suppose that these +officers neglected to insert the names of the engagements which occurred +while Colonel Pattee was in command. + +The following is a list of the battles in which the regiment took part: + + WHITE OAK SWAMP, {190th,} Col. J. B. Pattee. + June 13, 1864, {191st,} + + PETERSBURG, {190th,} Col. J. B. Pattee. + June 17, 1864, {191st,} + + WELDON RAILROAD, {190th,} Col. W. R. Hartshorn. + August 19, 1864, {191st,} Col. ---- Carle.[*] + + 2D WELDON RAILROAD, {190th,} Captain Birkman.(?) + August 21, 1864, {191st,} + + POPLAR GROVE, {190th,} Col. J. B. Pattee. + September 29, 1864, {191st,} + + HATCHER'S RUN, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + October 27, 1864, (191st,) + + ROWANTY CREEK, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + February 5, 1865, (191st,) + + HATCHER'S RUN, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + February 6, 1865, (191st,) + + GRAVELLY RUN, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + March 31, 1865, (191st,) + + FIVE FORKS, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + April 1, 1865, (191st,) + + APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, (190th,) Col. J. B. Pattee. + April 9, 1865, (191st,) + +* The two colonels in command, with the greater part of their men, were +made prisoners in this battle, after a heavy loss of killed and +wounded. + + +MAJOR R. M. BIRKMAN. + +Major R. M. Birkman was born in St. Louis in April, 1837, and spent his +childhood and early life in Harrisburg, Penn. He was in Philadelphia +when the war was inaugurated by the firing on Fort Sumter, and at once +enlisted in Company E, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves. He was made first +sergeant, then commissioned second lieutenant, then promoted to first +lieutenant, and after the reorganization, to captain of Company A, One +Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania. + +At the close of the war he received the rank of brevet major for +meritorious service. The following extract shows the esteem in which he +was held by the officers with whom he was associated. It is from a +letter of Brevet Brigadier-general Gwyn, who commanded the brigade in +which he served during the latter part of the war: + +"Captain, it affords me pleasure to testify to your bravery, ability, +and universal good conduct in the several bloody fights in which your +regiment was engaged during the late campaign. In the camp, no less than +in the field, your conduct bore testimony to your worth. Sober, steady, +and industrious, you set an example worth following." + +In the army, as elsewhere, he was the quiet, unassuming, conscientious +gentleman, doing his duty. + +After the war, he returned to Blairsville, Penn., where he married Miss +Mary L. Black, a most estimable lady of that city. He purchased the +Blairsville _Press_, and continued to be editor and publisher of that +paper till 1870. He then bought the _Indiana Register_ and _American_, +and merged the two papers into the _Indiana Progress_, which he +published until the 1st of March, 1880. His health had been gradually +failing for three or four years previous to this date; but he continued +to devote his attention to the work which he loved, until the advance of +disease warned him that his work was done. He then "set his house in +order," fearlessly committed himself to the God whom he had served and +loved, and waited calmly for the last of earth. + +As death drew near, his mind went back over the scenes of camp and +field, and he fought his battles o'er again. He died April 24, 1880. For +seven years previous to his death he had been an active member of the +Presbyterian Church, and proved himself an earnest, consistent +Christian. + + * * * * * + +BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOSEPH B. PATTEE. + +Brevet Brigadier-General Joseph B. Pattee is a native of Vermont. Of his +life previous to the breaking out of the war we have no information. +When the Pennsylvania Reserves were organized in 1861, he was +commissioned first lieutenant Company B, of the Tenth. December 10, +1862, he was promoted to captain. At Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864, he +was wounded in the knee by a grapeshot. He continued on duty, however, +although this wound troubled him for more than a year afterward. When +the reorganization took place, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of +the One Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania. Colonel Hartshorn being +absent, he took command of the regiment. June 17th, he was severely +wounded during the assault on Petersburg. A rifle ball struck him in the +center of the chest, and came out under his arm. This wound compelled an +absence of nearly three months. He returned September 13th, although +still suffering from this wound and the one received in May. During his +absence, Colonel Hartshorn and Colonel Carle, of the One Hundred and +Ninety-first, returned, and took command of their respective regiments. +These officers, with the greater part of their men, were made prisoners +August 19th, and so remained until after the cessation of hostilities. + +The remainder of the two regiments, increased during the Fall by +returning convalescents, numbered about five hundred men. Colonel Pattee +took command of these, and they acted together as one organization. To +his care, skill, and courage they owe the brilliant record which they +made during the rest of their history. At Gravelly Run his promptness +and decision saved the Union forces from serious disaster. His gallant +conduct in leading the assault on the rebel intrenchments at Five Forks +is mentioned in the account of that battle. At Appomattox Court-house he +was ordered forward with his regiment from the rear of the division, for +the purpose of making that last dash against Lee, and compelling his +surrender. For the prompt and skillful manner in which this attack was +executed, he was highly complimented by the generals in command, and +was brevetted brigadier-general. + +Since the close of the war he has been in the West, and is now engaged +in a land agency business at Canton, Dakota Territory. + + * * * * * + +The following muster-rolls are obtained from the "History of the +Pennsylvania Volunteers." The roll of Company C, One Hundred and +Ninetieth, is defective in that work, and we have added a few names from +memory. The following abbreviations need explanation: M. A. C. D. C. = +Military Asylum Cemetery, District of Columbia; V. R. C. = Veteran +Reserve Corps; N. C. = National Cemetery. The date which follows the +name and rank of an officer, or the name of a private, indicates the +date of enlistment. + +Company C, 11th P. R. V. C. + +MUSTERED OUT JUNE 13, 1864. + + S. Louden, Capt.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Sept. 26, '62. + + W. H. Timblin, Capt.; June 10, '61; Brev. Maj.; wounded in + Wilderness; must. out with Co. + + Newton Redic, 1st Lt.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + G. W. Fliger, 1st Lt.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. March + 12, '65. + + J. C. Kuhn, 2d Lt.; June 10, '61; died of wounds, Sept. 17, + '62. + + J. H. Sutton, 2d Lt.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, July 3, '63. + + W. J. Halderman, 1st Sergt.; Oct. 1, '61; trans. 190th, vet. + + G. W. Milford, Sergt.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Jan. 20, '63. + + J. H. Christie, Sergt.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June + 27, '62. + + G. A. Black, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + J. T. Kelly, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + G. W. Eby, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + M. Heckart, Sergt.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + W. Prior, Sergt.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; died at + Andersonville, Nov. 28, '64; grave 12,191. + + Hiram Black, Corp.; June 10, '61; died of wounds, Dec. 18, '62. + + J. W. Campbell, Corp., June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + S. Cook, Corp., June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer. + + J. H. Meeder, Corp., June 23, '61; disc. on sur. cer. + + R. S. Harper, Corp.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. 190th; disc. Feb. 24, '62. + + J. S. Campbell, Corp.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. + 22, '64. + + R. S. Ray, Corp.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + W. P. Black, Corp.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + J. M. Varnum, mus., June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + J. Heckart, mus., June 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + +PRIVATES. + + Allen, D. S.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Adams, H. C.; Oct. 1, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 30, '62. + + Anderson, R. M.; Mar. 4, '62; disc. sur. cer. June 24, '62. + + Birch, D.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Black, J. R.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. 12, '64. + + Bell, S. M.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, May 20, '63. + + Brandon, Henry; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, Oct. 10, '62. + + Beatty, S. R.; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds rec'd at Gaines' Mill. + + Bryan, W. A.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Feb. 11, 63. + + Bruner, S.; June 23, '61; pris. May 5, '65, to Ap. 17, '65. + + Black, U. J.; June 10, '61; died Dec. 26, '62; buried in M. A. + Cem., D. C. + + Beam, J.; June 10, '61; died Aug. 7, '62, of wounds rec'd at + Gaines' Mill. + + Brewster, J. C.; June 10, '61; died July 23, '62; buried in + M. A. Cem., D. C. + + Boreland, J. W.; June 10, '61; died May 22, '62. + + Campbell, I.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Christy, H. F.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Cannon, J.; June 23, '61; absent, sick, at muster out. + + Campbell, R. G.; Feb. 29, '64; trans. to 190th; pris., died at + Andersonville, Aug., '64. + + Campbell, Wm.; June 10, '61; died Aug. 1, '63, of wounds rec'd at + Gettysburg; bur. N. C., sec. D., grave 39. + + Clark, C.; died May 12, '65; bur. Cypress Hill Cem., Long Island + + Dobson, J.; June 10, '61; mort. wounded, May 30, '64. + + Donaldson, J.; June 10, '61; pris. May 30, '64; disc. Dec. 16, '64. + + Edgar, H. J.; June 23, '61; disc. for w'ds, Nov. 23, '62. + + Eshenbaugh, J.; June 10, '61; trans. to 190th; pris., May + 30, '64, to April 17, '65; must. out vet. + + Fliger, E. S.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Nov. 27, '61. + + Fliger, Jacob; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Nov. 27 '62. + + Graham, Jas. K.; June 10, '61; wounded; must. out with Company. + + Grossman, Lewis; June 10, '61; wounded, with loss of arm and leg, + May 11, '64; died Aug. 3, '64; bur. N. C., Arlington. + + Hindman, R. S.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Halstead, Jn.; June 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + Hilliard, W.; June 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + Hilliard, W. H.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., May 11, '62. + + Henlen, Jn. D. W.; June 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Jan. 8, '63. + + Hoffman, Ed.: March 4, '62; trans. to 190th. + + Hilliard, Eli; June 10, '61; died at Richmond, Jan. 11, '63, of + wounds received at Fredericksburg. + + Hyskill, G.; June 10, '61; killed at Fred., Dec. 13, '62. + + Hart, Samuel; March 4, '62; died Aug. 10, '62. + + Karner, Wm.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Krause, R.; June 23, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 1, '65. + + Kepler, A. C.; Oct. 1, '61; w'd and pris. at Gaines' Mill; disc. + + Kautch, Wolfgang; June 10, '61; disc. for wounds, Dec. 31, '63. + + Kenedy, B. F.; Mar. 4, '62; trans. to 190th; disc. at expiration + of term. + + Larden, T. P.; June 23, '61; wounded at Fred.; pris. May 5; disc. + Mar. 14, '65. + + Linsay, F.; June 10, '61; died Jan. 4, '63, of wounds rec'd at + Fred. Dec. 13, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C. + + Livermore, J.; Oct. 1, '61; trans. V. R. C., Dec. 31, '63. + + Miller, S.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, '65. + + M'Cleary, S. E.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, '65. + + M'Gill, W. B.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Dec. 30, '61. + + Malarkey, D.; June 23, '61; disc. Feb. 11, '63. + + Moore, W. E.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Sept. 1, '63. + + M'Murry, S.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Dec. 3, '62. + + M'Elhany, R.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Dec. 29, '62. + + M'Elvain, R.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Jan. 15, '63. + + M'Call, Alex.; Feb. 8, '62; disc. for w'ds, rec'd at Fred. + + Milford, J. P.; Aug. 26, '62; trans, to 190th. + + Monnie, F. H.; Sept. 21, '62; trans, to 190th; disc. at expiration + of term. + + M'Murry, R.; Feb. 8, '62; trans, to 190th; disc. at expiration of + term. + + M'Camy, J.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. V. R. C., Dec. 21, '63. + + Miller, Isaiah; June 10, '61; died Aug. 13, '62; bur. at Point + Lookout. + + Martin, Wm.; Sept. 21, '61; died of w'ds. Sept. 17, '62. + + M'Bride, W. A.; June 10, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + Martin, P. G.; June 23, '61; deserted Mar. 20, '63. + + Patterson, H. B.; June 10, '61; must. out with Co. + + Pearce, J. M.; June 10, '61; disc. for w'ds, Oct. 29, '62. + + Pearce, R. C.; Aug. 26, '62; died Dec. 13, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C. + + Pettigrew, A. J.; June 10, '61; died July 11, '63, of wounds rec'd + at Gettysburg. + + Porter, J. R.; Oct. 5, '61; died Sept. 25, '62, of w'ds rec'd at + Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Rhodes, G. M.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Aug. 23, '62. + + Rothmire, G.; June 10, '61; disc. Sept. 12, '62, for wounds rec'd + at Gaines' Mill. + + Rinker, Wm.; June 10, '61; disc. Sept. 12, '62, for wounds rec'd + at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Russel, D. H.; Aug. 26, '62; trans. to 191st. + + Rosenberry, J.; June 10, '61; died at Macon, Ga., Dec. 24, '62, of + wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg. + + Russel, O. H. P.; June 10, '62; died at Richmond, Dec. 31, '62, of + wounds rec'd at Fredericksburg. + + Sloan, Wm.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Seaton, Amos; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Shryock, S, P.; June 10, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Mar. 5, '65. + + Say, Hon. H.; Oct. 7, '61; trans. to 191st. + + Stevenson, J. H.; June 10, '61; killed at South Mountain, Sept. + 14, '62. + + Schmidt, C.; June 10, '61; killed at South Mountain, Sept. 14, '62. + + Shepard, J. M.; Sept 21, '61; disc. for w'ds, Feb. 24, '63. + + Taylor, J. L.; June 10, '61; must. out with Company. + + Thompson, W. S.; June 10, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Aug. 2, '62. + + Thompson, J.; Oct. 13, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill. + + White, Allen; June 10, '61; killed at Wilderness, May 5, '64. + + +Company D, 11th P. R. V. C. + + Wm. Stewart, Capt.; July 5, '61; w'nded 2d Bull Run; killed at + Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, '62. + + Jacob Baiers, Capt.; July 5, '61; disc. April 9, '64, for wounds + received at Gaines' Mill. + + Jas. P. Boggs, Capt.; July 5, '61; Brev. Maj.; wd. twice, pris. + once, must. out with Co. + + J. S. Kenedy, 1st Lt.; July 5, '61; disc. June 13, '63, for wds. + received at South Mountain, Sept. 14, '62. + + Jesse Donaldson, 2d Lt.; July 5, '61; died at Alexandria, Va., May + 5, '62. + + J. O'Harra Woods, 2d Lt.; July 5, '61; killed at Gettysburg, July + 2, 63; N. C., sec. C., grave 35. + + Wilson R. Potts, 1st Sergt.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer. June 10, + '62. + + Wm. C. Coleman, 1st Sergt.; Sept. 8, '61; trans. 190th to 1st Lt., + Co. I; must. out June 28, '65. + + Robt. Ash, Sergt.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer. June 10, '62. + + Jn. Ganz, Sergt.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Sam'l J. Chrisley, Sergt.; July 16, '61; killed at 2d Bull Run, + Aug. 30, '62. + + Jac. B. Kinsell, Sergt.; July 5, '61; died Jan. 20, '63; wounds + received at Fred.; Alex, grave 691. + + G. W. M'Gaughey, Sergt.; July 5, '61; died Rich. Feb. 10, '63, + wounds received at Fred., Dec. 13, '62. + + David C. Steen, Sergt.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; wd. Gaines' + Mill, Fred., Wild.; killed Weldon R. R., Aug. 19, '64., vet. + + Geo. Weber, Sergt.; July 5, '61; wounded Fred.; pris. May 5, '64; + disc. Dec. 17, '64. + + Jas. M'Clelland, Sergt.; July 29, '61; must. out with Co. + + Jas. M. Graves, Sergt.; July 12, '61; pris. May 5, '64; must. out + Dec. 18, '64. + + Jn. Dunbar, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + Silas Amberson, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June + 27, '62. + + Robt. G. Gilleland, Corp.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., Feb. 4, + '63. + + David P. Stewart, Corp.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June + 27, '62. + + David S. Parks, Corp.; July 6, '61; killed May 30, '64. + + Jas. R. Moore, Corp.; July 29, '61; disc. on sur. cer., Feb. 7, + '63. + + Jas. B. Shafer, Corp.; July 29, '61; trans. 190th; must. out June + 28, '65. + + Dan'l Graham, Corp.; July 5, '61; pris. May 30, '64; died ----. + + Jesse Fry, Corp.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Chas. Minnemyer, Musician; July 6, '61; promoted to prin. must., + Nov. 1, '63; must. out with Co. + + Alf. Nixon, musc.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + +PRIVATES. + + Addleman, Lind. H.; Feb. 24, '62; died at home on Furlough. + + Barron, Barn. C.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 3, '62. + + Beers, Jn.; Feb. 8, '62.; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Berchtold, Jas.; Feb. 25, '62; trans. U. S. N., Nov. '62. + + Beers, Sm'l; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Beggs, Jn.; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Beatty, Jn. M.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + Bedillion, Peter; July 16, '61; died Jan. 17, '62. + + Beltz, Chas.; ----; died Sept. 4, '62; bur. Alexandria, grave 212. + + Boggs, Wm.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Brennamin, S.; March 18, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 18, '64; + not accounted for. + + Brown, Robt. J.; July 16, '61; trans. 190th; not accounted for. + + Brown, Jn. M.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Brunnermer, Geo.; Feb. 8, '62; trans. 190th; wd. May 30, Aug. 18, + '64; must. out, vet. + + Burr, Jacob; Feb. 25, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Cartwright, Linas; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 1, '64. + + Campbell, David; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 28, 63. + + Cowan, Jn.; July 5, '61; disc sur. cer. ---- + + Corans, Jn.; Sept. 12, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Cress, Dan'l; July 29, 61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Critchlow, A. W.; July 5, '61; died at N. Y., Oct. 2. '62. + + Critchlow, J. W.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + Cornelius, T. J.; July 29, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, + '62. + + Conders, Jn.; July 5, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Dodds, Jasper P.; July 12, '61; died at Richmond, July 18, '62, of + wds. received at Gaines' Mill. + + Dodds, W. F.; July 29, '61; disc. sur. cer., Oct. 7, '62. + + Deer, Jac.; July 5, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 11, '63. + + Divinney, J. G.; Sept. 21, '61; disc. sur. cer, May 9, '62. + + Elliott, J. P.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; died--. + + Fleming, T. H.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; must. out with Co., + June 28, '65, vet. + + Frail, M.; July 5, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + Fry, W. M.; July 5, '61; died at Washington, D. C., May 31, '62. + + Graham, D. W.; Sept. 21, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 18, '62. + + Gilleland, R. S.; Feb. 10, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + not accounted for. + + Gilleland, W.; Feb. 10, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Gilpatrick, M.; March 17, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + disc. July 5, '65. + + Gibson, Israel; March 17, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + disc. July 5, '65. + + Graham, D. W.; Aug. 19, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Greer, J. A.; July 5, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 9, '63. + + Hussleton, G. W.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; disc. Dec. 22, + '64. + + Haslett, S. F.; Sept. 10, '61; disc. sur. cer., Nov. 21, '62. + + Haslett, J. B.; March 3, '62; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Hare, Peter; July 12, '61; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; shot + Salis., N. C., Dec. 22, '64, vet. + + Hoyt, Oscar C.; Sept. 21, '61; trans. V. R. C., Sept. 1, '63. + + Johnson, J. B.; July 25, '61; died May 30, '62; bur. M. A. C., + D. C. + + Johnston, Vernon; July 5, 61; died July 9, '61. + + Kenedy, Alex.; July 29, '61; disc. sur. cer., Feb. 9, '63. + + Kenedy, W. H. H.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; pris. May 5, '64; + must. out June 28, '65, vet. + + Kalb, Eckart; March 10, '62; trans. 190th; wd., loss of arm, May + 30, 64. + + List, Wm.; July 14, '61; must. out with Co. + + Lyon, Sm. A.; July 24 '61; k. Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Leonard, Jas.; July 5, '61; deserted Aug. 31, '61. + + M'Nair, Robt. A.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Mushrush, B. L.; July 5, '61; wd. May 5, '64; must. out with Co. + + M'Donald, D. (1); July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + M'Donald, D. (2); July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 25, '63. + + M'Aleer, B. W.; Feb. 24, '62; trans. 190th; pris, Aug. 19, '64; + not accounted for. + + M'Bride, R. E.; Dec. 15, '63; trans. 190th; must. out June 27, '65. + + M'Comb, J. H.; Feb. 9, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not + accounted for. + + Miller, Ed.; Feb, 25, '64; trans. 190th; must. out with Co., June + 28, '65. + + M'Curdy, S. R.; Sept. 8, '61; trans, to Co. B., May 1, '62; disc. + sur. cer., June 4, '62. + + M'Knight, J.; Sept. 12, '61; trans. V. R. C., Feb. 5, '64. + + Moreland, C. L.; Apr. 22, '64; trans. 190th; killed at Petersb., + June 24, '64; bur. in Poplar Grove Cem., grave 173, sec. C. + div. D. + + M'Cullough, M. F.; July 6, '61; killed May 5, '64. + + Moore, Wm.; July 16, '61; killed at Gaines' Mill, June 27, '62. + + M'Kinney, J. A.; July 5, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + M'Neal, W. R.; Sept. 8, '61; died Oct. 25, '62, of wds. rec'd at + Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62; bur. M. A. C., D. C. + + Nixon, J. E.; July 6, '61; disc. sur. cer., March 28, '64. + + Overdoff, W. C.; March 31, '64; trans. 190th; killed Oct. '64. + + Parker, S. C.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Pisor, D. W.; July 16, '61; died Nov. 16, '62; buried Camp Parole, + Hospital Cem. Annapolis, Md. + + Pherson, R. J.; July 29, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, '62. + + Rodgers, H.; July 16, '61; disc. sur. cer., June 23, '62. + + Richardson, W.; March 21, '62; trans. 190th; wd. at Fred.; must. + out June 28, '65, vet. + + Robertson, J.; Feb. 16, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; + died ----. + + Rice, T. G.; Feb. 13, '64; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died + Dec. 23, '64, Salisbury, N. C. + + Rosenberry, S. J.; Feb. 24, '62; died June 23, '62; bur. Mil. As. + Cem., D. C. + + Rouch, L.; Oct. 5, '61; died at home, Butler County, Sept. 8, '63. + + Smith, S. F.; Sept. 8, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 1, '62. + + Shearer, W. M.; Sept. 8, '61; disc. sur. cer., Aug. 27, '62. + + Stevenson, B.; Feb. 24, '62; disc. sur. cer., March 25, '62. + + Snow, Alf. M.; July 5, '61; trans. 190th; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died + Salisbury, N. C, vet. + + Shank, A.; Sept. 8, '61; trans. 190th; must. out June 28, '65., + vet. + + Shank, Jn.; Feb. 26, '64; trans. 190th; not accounted for. + + Silvers, M.; Sept. 21, '61; trans. V. R. C. + + Stanley, J. S.; March 31, '64; trans. 190th; wd. May 30, '64; not + accounted for. + + Sinott, Wm.; Sept. 8, '61; killed at Bull Run, Aug. 29, '62. + + Summerville, J. H.; July 5, '61; died at Annapolis, Md., Feb. 28, + '63, of wds. rec'd at Fred. Dec. 13, '62. + + Teets, Al.; July 5, '61; absent at muster out. + + Thompson, R. W.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co. + + Thompson, G.; July 23, '61; must. out with Co. + + Williamson, Hugh; July 5, '61; wd. at Fred.; absent at muster out. + + Woods, Wm.; July 5, '61; died at Camp Pierpont, Dec. 6, '61. + + Young, Geo.; Feb. 8, '62; disc. sur. cer., June 11, '62. + + + + +Company C, 190th P. V. + + + Neri B. Kinsey, Capt.; June, 1, '61; Brev. Maj. Oct. 1, '64; + wounded Oct., '64; disc. Mar. 8, '65. + + Moses W. Lucore, 1st Lt.; June 1, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; must. + out June 28, '65. + + Benj. F. Wright, 2d Lt.; pris. Aug. 19, '64; must. out June 28, + '65. + + ---- Keeley, Sergt.; must. out June 28, '65. + + ---- Haslett, Sergt.; must. out June 28, '65. + + David C. Steen, Sergt.; killed Aug. 19, '64; sec. D., 11. + + Thos. H. Lindsay, Corp.; Dec. 21, '63; disc. gen. ord., June 1, + '65. + + +PRIVATES. + + Brown, Robt. J.; July 16, '61; vet., not accounted for. + + Beers, Jn.; Mar. 17, '62; vet., not accounted for. + + Burr, Jacob; Feb. 25, '64; vet., not accounted for. + + Brunnermer, George; Feb. 8. '62; ward 2; mus. + + Brennamin, Sl.; Mar. 18, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not accounted + for. + + Bovard, Joseph O.; June 8, '61; must. out with Co., June 28, '65; + vet. + + Conner, Wm.; Sept. 22, '62; pris. Aug. 19, '64; disc. gen. ord., + June 1, '65. + + Coleman, Mike; Dec. 15, '63; must. out with Co., June 28, '65. + + Dunn, Geo.; Sept. 22, '62; disc. gen. ord., June 1, '65. + + Edgar, Jn.; must. out with Co., June 28, '65, vet. + + Eshelman, Abram; Dec. 9, '63; died of wounds rec'd at Petersburg, + June 17, '64. + + Fulkerson, Smith; Mar. 31, '62; disc. at expiration of term. + + Fleming, Thorn. H.; July 5, '61; must. out with Co., June 28, '64; + vet. + + Fuller, Jn. A.; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury N. C., Dec. + 12, '65. + + Fairbanks, D.; pris. Aug 19, '64; died Nov. 24, '64. + + Gilpatrick, Mark; Mar. 15, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Oct. 8, + '64; disc. July 5, '65. + + Gilleland, Robt. S.; Feb. 10, '64; not accounted for. + + Gilleland, Wilson; Feb. 10, '64; not accounted for. + + Gibson, Israel; Mar. 17, '64; not accounted for. + + Hare, Peter; July 12, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury, + N. C., Jan. 30, '65, vet. + + Harris, Abram; Feb. 3, '64; disc. gen. ord., May 16, '65. + + Harris, Wm.; Feb. 3, '64; must. out with Co., June 28, '65. + + Kalb, Eckart; Mar. 10, '62; wounded, with loss of arm, May 30, '64. + + Kenedy, W. H. H.; July 5, '61; pris. May 5, '64; must. out with + Company, June 28, '65, vet. + + Klinglesmith, C.; Feb. 5, '64; must. out with Co., June 28, '65. + + Lewis, Wm.; Oct. 25, '64; disc. gen. ord., June 5, '65. + + Lyons, Owen; Dec. 21, '63; trans. V. R. C. + + M'Aleer, Bernard W.; Feb. 24, '62; not accounted for. + + M'Bride, R. E.; Dec. 15, '63; must. out with Co. + + M'Comb, Jas. H.; Feb. 9, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; not accounted + for. + + M'Guire, Robt. R.; June 8, '61; mustered out with Company, vet. + + M'Guire, Jas. N.; June 8, '61; must. out with Company, vet., + wounded. + + Miller, Ed.; Feb. 25, '64; must. out with Company. + + Nicholson, Jn.; Dec. 31, '63; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Feb. 7, '65; + disc. June 12, '65. + + Overdoff, Wm. C.; Mar. 31, '64; killed Oct., '64. + + Payne, Wm.; Oct. 20, '61; disc. at expiration of term. + + Rice, Thos. G.; Feb. 13, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at + Salisbury, N. C. + + Richardson, Wm.; Mar. 21, '62; must. out with Co., wounded. + + Robertson, Jas.; Feb. 16, '64; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at + Salisbury, N. C., Dec. 23, '64. + + Rutter, Wm.; wounded at Petersburg, June 18, '64; died July 15, + '64. + + Snow, Alf. M.; July 5, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64; died at Salisbury, + N. C., vet. + + Shank, Andrew; Sept. 8, '61; must. out with Co., vet., wounded. + + Shank, Jn.; Feb. 26, '64; not accounted for. + + Scott, W. D.; June 8, '61; disc. Jan. 23, '65, vet. + + Stohker, Abram; Dec. 21, '63; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to Jan. 22, '64; + disc. June 12, '65. + + Sweeney, Chas.; June 8, '61; pris. Aug. 19, '64, to March 1, '65; + disc. June 24. '65. + + Thiel, Anthony; Feb. 4, '62; disc. gen. ord., June 2, '65. + + Walb, Leonidas C.; June 21, '61; must. out with Company, vet. + + Youler, Benj. F.; June 20, '61; must. out with Co., vet. + + + + +GREAT WESTERN GUN WORKS, +Pittsburgh, Pa. + +[Illustration] + + +Breech-loading Shot Guns, $18 to $300. Double Shot Guns, $8 to $150. +Single Guns, $3 to $20. Rifles, $8 to $75. Revolvers, $1 to $25. Send +for free illustrated Catalogue. Great Western Gun Works, Pittsburgh, Pa. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +[Illustration: WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY + +NEW EDITION WITH SUPPLEMENT] + +NEW EDITION. Contains =1928 Pages=, +=3000= ENGRAVINGS, +=4600= New Words and Meanings, +=Biographical Dictionary,= +=9700= Names. + +Published by G. & C. MERRIAM, Springfield, Mass. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +Western Reserve Seminary, + +WEST FARMINGTON, OHIO. + +C. B. WEBSTER, A. M., Principal. + +INSTITUTION ESTABLISHED FIFTY YEARS. + +OPEN TO BOTH SEXES. + +Five Departments in Successful Operation: +Classical, Scientific, Commercial, +Normal, Music, and Art Courses, +Telegraphy, and Printing. + +TABLE $1.50 PER | TOTAL $100 TO $125 PER +BOARD, WEEK. | EXPENSES, YEAR. + +Competent Teachers in Each Department. + +Tuition Only $6.00 Per Term. No Incidental Fee. + +=SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.= + +For Catalogue, address the Principal. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + + +Organs and Pianos. + + +BEATTY ORGANS & PIANOS. + +=Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops. +Pianofortes.= Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,600=. =Sent on +trial warranted.= =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= + +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +BEATTY CABINET ORGANS. + +CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR. + +BEATTY PIANOFORTES, + +GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT. + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30, $40, $50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +_ORGANS_ + +14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, =ONLY $65=. =PIANOS=, =$125= up. Paper free. +Address =Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +BEATTY ORGANS & PIANOS. + +=Organs. Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 33 Stops. +Pianofortes.= Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,000=. =Sent on +trial warranted.= =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +ORGANS AND PIANOS. + +=BEATTY CABINET ORGANS.= + +=CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.= + +=BEATTY PIANOFORTES, GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.= + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30=, =$40=, =$50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington. N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +_=ORGANS=_ + +=14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, ONLY $65.= =PIANOS=, =$125= up. Paper free. +=Address Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=BEATTY CABINET ORGANS.= + +=CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.= + +=BEATTY PIANOFORTES, GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.= + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30=, =$40=, =$50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +_=ORGANS=_ + +=14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, ONLY $65.= =PIANOS=, =$125= up. Paper free. +=Address Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=ORGANS AND PIANOS.= + +=BEATTY ORGANS AND PIANOS.= + +=Organs, Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops.= +=Pianofortes=, Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,600=. =Sent on +trial warranted.= =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= +Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J. + +~~~~~~~~~ + +_=ORGANS=_ 14 Stops, 4 Sets Reeds, =ONLY $65=. PIANOS, =$125= up. Paper +free. Address =Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=BEATTY ORGANS AND PIANOS.= + +=Organs.= =Church, Chapel and Parlor, $30 to $1,000, 2 to 32 Stops.= +=Pianofortes=, Grand, Square & Upright, =$125= to =$1,600=. =Sent on +trial warranted=. =Illustrated Catalogue with Steel-Plate FREE.= +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + +~~~~~~~~~~ + +=BEATTY CABINET ORGANS.= + +=CHURCH, CHAPEL AND PARLOR.= + +=BEATTY PIANOFORTES, GRAND SQUARE AND UPRIGHT.= + +Best and Sweetest-Toned Instrument in the World. + +=ORGANS= =$30=, =$40=, =$50=, to =$1,000=, =2= to =32= Stops. + +=PIANOS=, =$125= up to =$1,600=. Every instrument =fully Warranted=. +Sent on trial. Beautiful Illustrated Catalogue and =Steel-Plate +Engraving free=. Those desiring to buy are requested to visit my factory +here, and select the instrument in person. + +=Address or call on Daniel F. Beatty, Washington, N. J.= + + + + + +----------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 9 Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania | + | Page 26 steathily changed to stealthily | + | Page 26 Bristor changed to Bristoe | + | Page 27 Bristor changed to Bristoe | + | Page 37 Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania | + | Page 52 earthern changed to earthen | + | Page 74 cookiug changed to cooking | + | Page 129 Nintieth changed to Ninetieth | + | Page 146 Aross changed to Across | + | Page 174 redoutable changed to redoubtable | + | Page 237 Fredericksbug changed to Fredericksburg | + +----------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In The Ranks, by R. E. 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